#their watchers love their kids cameos

[superloves4]

Modern AU Fëanor and Nerdanel have a couple’s youtube craft channel Evan and Katelyn style

[simplylove101]

2024 Horror Challenge: [28/?]

↳“I think you're looking for me.” Trap (2024) dir. M. Night Shyamalan

Plot: A father and his teen daughter attend a pop concert only to realize they've entered the center of a dark and sinister event.

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills & Alison Pill (and featuring Kid Cudi & Russ)

Last catchup review for the day (even tho I definitely have other horror movies I watched lately) since these were the big four that I wanted to type up on here. I saved this review for last because I actually went to go see this one in the theater. Yeah, a M. Night movie, me, in the year 2024. Who would have thought? Mostly because as I previously stated in my reviews of Old, Knock at the Cabin & The Visit (and his daughter's The Watchers), my track record with him is, quite frankly, not the best. lol But hey, I love Signs. I was mildly amused by The Visit. Split, while problematic, is pretty entertaining imo. And I've actually never properly watched The Sixth Sense in its entirety (I already knew the plot twist so lol) but hey, that's considered a classic. So, I don't hate M. Night. Just not all of his movies are my cup of tea BUT I was actually pretty excited for this one. The premise intrigued me, despite there not seeming much elsewhere for the story to go based on the trailer. And a chance to see Josh Harnett as a villain, hello??? Sign me up! Also, I just really love the idea of a horror movie at a concert. Now, while I didn't hate this... I gotta get into the negatives. lol Overall, it is kinda mid. BUT it's because while there are some twists near the end in typical Shyamalan fashion, most of the first half was already spoiled for us in the trailer, so that's a bummer. Basically trailers these days suck because they think we actually want the whole story told to us before we see it when um, no. We want to be surprised. Now, as I said, there are some surprises later on, but those do seem a bit contrived as well. But also, the movie itself felt incredibly longer than it needed to be. We're at the concert quite a while considering plenty of the movie takes place outside of it in the second half. Not to mention, there's actually a good portion of it dedicated to the musical performances instead of plot. Now I will say, the music was good ngl, at least to me. lol So, that part is a positive. But that also brings me to one of the big negatives: This is a definite nepotism movie. XD The focus on M. Night's daughter's character grows in the second half in a way that had me go, hmmm interesting because it's not remotely believable. Partly because, sadly, Saleka's not a very strong actor imo. She tried her best but making her have a bigger part in the story was definitely a choice (not a very good one) Now, to the biggest positive of the movie: Josh. HE CARRIED THIS THING ON HIS BACK. Like, he was soooo good. He's very much why I can't say I hated this watch. He's what makes it work at all. Definitely my fave performance by him I think. Just deliciously evil. I will say, Allison Pill was really good with what she had to work with too. And you know, props to Ariel Donoghue really being dedicated to playing up the fangirl role as much as she did. She committed. Also, shoutout to Kid Cudi. He's really just a cameo but he def ate his small role. I love him. lol So, at least, acting-wise, there were positives. The concept was cool, it's just the execution (kinda as per se usual why M. Night's movies tend to be a miss for me because they're slightly off in a way that isn't always my thing) but it is decent. I didn't even mind that I paid money seeing it in the theater since it was enjoyable enough. Also, I watched it with an interactive enough audience that it felt like a pleasant experience. Now, I just gotta know, that ending... is M. Night just being silly or is he hinting at a sequel?? Because honestly, it did keep feeling like he genuinely didn't know how to end the movie because it just kept going. There were certain beats where it felt like we reached a conclusion and then, nope. And then we got that. Like, what??? LOL okay. Anyway, this one was interesting. I still have thoughts. So, yeah. That's all.

[apple-jorts]

((I’m responding via reblog since I have a lot to say !! <3

Don’t worry being so critical and rambling!! Everything you say is literally so true and I love hearing ur thoughts! it’s really funny that even a casual watcher can even point out how annoying the show is lol- I’m gonna go down a number list of things I hate the most ab the show personally :))

Here’s a general contents table:

1. What the show has become / shock value

2. Lazy writing

3. Contradictory “centrism”

4. South park’s creepy writing staff / art department

5. Trey and Matt are dicks

6. Final thoughts

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1. South Park has been going on for 27 years now and has 328 episodes; initially when the show became popular it wasn’t for the reason it is today- the show started off in 1997 and gained its popularity for being silly- like that’s literally it— it was four young boys in a weird little town dealing with aliens, zombies, genetic engineering, Satan, etc. and now it’s just like.. watching a bunch of high schoolers be racist & self righteous- like- if I wanted to see that I’d go on Twitter.

The issue with turning them into Twitter user high schoolers just shows.. Like you said.. that they’ve gotten LOST in their shock value obsession. Shock value is fine when you can.. ya know.. BE shocking— but hearing cartman slur over and over isn’t.. interesting anymore— there’s only so many times he can rag on Black, Mexican, Jewish, etc. people before it’s just a GROANER. And it lost its “”charm”” back in season 5 at best.

s1 consisted of a melting pot of different plots that ALWAYS kept you on your toes.. but you watch s26 for example and it’s always EXACTLY what you’re expecting is going to happen. Bc southpark has dried up, and they have nothing left to do but reuse lines and plots back from the early days. (One of the most annoying parts of this is there IS things they can still do… but they just don’t bc they’re cowards now.)

But I think they’ve gotten too lost in trying to be shocking than to try and return to their roots.. bc they feel as if they need to cover every current event in order to stay relevant.. bc season 26 consisted of:

-making fun of Kanye West / TikTok

-the Harry and Megan debacle

-hyping up bidets(?) / Andrew Tate cameo

-chat GPT

-Trump still interacting with his supporters

And season 26 is one of their worst seasons to date- I wonder why /s ,, It’s just gotten so stale!

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2. Lazy writing. It probably takes a phyco who watches the show too much to point out some of the shit they’ve reused, but I’m that guy so here we go. South Park has an issue of taking a joke/plot and forgetting they used it already.. some examples include..

Turd Burglers & The End Of Obesity

- Several of the mothers of southpark both form a mini club involving weight loss. In Turd Burglars they were injecting fecal matter into themselves to loose weight, in The End Of Obesity they were injecting ozempic. Same concept, different setting.

Member Berries & Back to the Cold War

- Being scared and finding comfort in nostalgia

Quintuplets 2000 & Pajama Day & I’m a Little Bit Country

- Making fun of protesters who don’t know what they’re actually protesting / protesting because it benefits them in some way

Ass Burgers & The End Of Obesity

- Representatives/Mascots of Fast food / Cereals who band together to take down those who are threatening them. Same concept, different setting

Dead Kids & World War Zimmerman & Cartman finds Love & The China Problem & The Snuke &

- Cartman being racist- like- the whole plot of the episode is him being disgustingly racist- where it’s not funny, it’s not shocking, it’s just annoying and grating. This list is episodes I will deliberately skip when they come on bc they’re so gross.

((And ya know that’s not even all of em, those are off the top of my head. They’ll even reuse jokes over and over and be beating a dead horse 🙃

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3. Centrism. As annoying as Trey and Matt’s centrism is.. I think the more annoying bit is the fact that they’re not even FULLY centrist. Their views will teeter from left to right, shine through, contradict, and so on. They’ll be for gay rights.. and then they won’t be- they’ll act like global warming isn’t real.. then they’ll act like it is- they’ll say that trans people transitioning is stupid and bodily mutilation, and then they’ll say they can go in whichever bathroom is the most comfortable to them and that it shouldn’t matter who you present as???? It literally makes no sense.. you can’t be for full out centrism and then constantly go against it,,, then Ppl will defend them and say “well they hate everyone, so you can’t actually be offended!” Like.. fuck you- they don’t hate everyone, they literally just love themselves.

—I’m gonna use their stances on gayness as my prime example here bc it’s a relevant, ongoing, back and forth thing that happens in the show.

I’m not gonna fw people who can’t give a straight answer on if they’re for gay rights or not- that should be a pretty straight forward human right that you should use your platform to elevate (like family guy or something!)— and that’s the WORST part- they do! I swear they have more gay/bi men & woman characters than any other cartoon I’ve seen?? All of them are pretty relevant recurring characters too- they have Big Gay Al, Principal Victoria, Mr. Slave, Liane Cartman, Stan’s dog, Harrison Yates, Steven Stotch, Ned & Jimbo, Father Maxi, Harold Cartman, Tweek & Craig, Mr. Garrison, Bill & Fosse, Towlie, Bradley, Ms. Ellen, Rick, and so on.

So why put in all that effort to showcase gay people in your show, just to also say gay people don’t deserve rights.. but also say that they do?? See my issue here? It’s mental gymnastics.

Also chalk this up to lazy writing where throughout the years they actually FORGET their stance on a subject so it changes..

And say that this gay thing is just another puzzle piece in the “we hate everyone” bigger picture.. then why is there never an episode defending a conservative crowd? Never an episode defending the pro-life far righters? Jesus freaks? Bc they DONT BELEIVE in the right.. They CONSTANTLY make fun of the right, and advocate for gay rights / civil left ideology..

-they have an episode where Stan and Kyle leagalize gay marriage and make some REALLY good points that totally take down the “gays can’t have kids” crowd

-the kid’s defend Gay Al in his fight against the Scouts, the whole town has a freak out when someone spray paints “get out fags” on the wall

-the whole town LOVES Tweek x Craig and have fanart of them hanging in all their houses and all over the town (also, the whole episode was Craig’s dad trying to come to terms with his son being gay and was the only one really struggling with the change, but by the end of the episode gave the most heartwarming scene arguably in the whole show, which probably spoke VOLUMES to whatever dad irl was dealing with the same issue!)

-Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat ride (s1 btw) defends the gay experience and shows that everyone needs to be accepting and love their friends and family gay or not. I mean COME ON…… is that NOT a point towards what their main opinion on the matter is??

But then of course they’ll turn around and make dumb homophobic quips and weird preachy speeches and outwardly shun celebrities for standing for gay rights. It’s like they don’t know where to stand and it’s ANNOYING.

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((Cw for discussing more se*ual content that the show deals with.. all words will be partially hidden and it’s all in reference to the show !!))

4. The show is progressively getting more fetishy. Now call me insane for this one, but watching the show consistently you pick up on how much this stuff is done and it’s just so.. creepy.

I’m not a butters fan so I MIGHT sound biased (and I’m sorry if u are, this is more aimed at the writers than it is at the character!) but I swear that the general purpose of his character is to be p*do bait— the fact that he ma*terbat*s and c*ms frequently, performs se*ual depraved acts, and it’s all excused under the guise of “immaturity of a child”, is really, really strange.

Have you also noticed butters consistently stays naive despite all the characters maturing? They’ll use his mature side so rarely it’s like it’s not even a thing he’s capable of…. He just seems to exist to be infantilized and se*ualized. It’s the immaturity of a child talking about adult topics that seems to be a big thing with butters, and it’s just weird.

Have you also noticed the progression of the characters feet getting steadily more detailed? It’s gotta be a fetish thing— the whole show is in a simplistic construction paper style… until the feet.. (this is like super relevant in the newest special too it’s fucking off putting)

Like it definitely hasn’t gone unnoticed by their fans either.

But anyways, there’s just an odd, odd, odd, amount of butters specifically being se*ualized by the writers when this doesn’t happen nearly as much / at ALL with the other characters.. and if there IS se*ulaizing content, it’s IMPLIED.. like Kenny dying from a bj! It was Implied!

But with butters I’ve had to hear him j*ck it, watch him have w*t dreams, watch him get b*ners, listen to him DESCRIBE getting b*ners, get an anal probe inserted in him, seen him dry h*mp another character, heard his physical preferences of women, seen his c*m closet, seen his p*nis way too many times, seen him almost get a d*ck in his mouth, and MORE- fucking MORE— it’s gotta be some kinda fan-service pedo bait thing there’s literally no explaining ur way out of this….

Or just maybe, this is ANOTHER shock value thing that honestly falls flat on its face bc of how creepy it is and now many times it happens—

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5. It amazes me that 90% of the SP fandom loves Trey and Matt and find them cute and charming… they are like actually the worst I’m not even kidding. They are tone deaf, ass bag, cis, straight, white guys who try and act oppressed while also jerking themselves off with every episode they make or press conference they release.

There’s a sub Twitter called mattreytwt and they like.. babify these 50 y/o men it’s INSANE??

Now onto my biggest qualms with these men!

Like I previously said, Trey and Matt NEVER know where they stand.. there’s a difference between being centrist and making some points you believe in and then disagreeing with those points later—- like they make fun of everyone in a way that comes across as centrist, like how they make fun of every religion out there- but then they turn around and make an episode like Mr. Garrison’s fancy new vagina, that’s completely biased that spreads outright misinformation and totally butchers the trans experience and compares gender reassignment surgery to getting a surgery to turn you into an animal ://

Now I’m gonna list a slight few of the most jaw dropping shit they’ve done:

-I was listening to one of their creator commentaries for the movie BLU, and they talk about how one of them had met an actress who was super stoked to meet him and she said something like “I’ve been waiting so long to finally get to know you” and tried to make a joke and said back “and now that I have I realize you’re a piece of shit” and the woman took it as HIM calling HER a piece of shit and she walked away and he joked that he never talked to her again and he was laughing ab it???

-They also said that the inspiration for Cartman’s anti-cussing shock chip in the movie was inspired by him putting a shock collar on his dog and laughing at the dog kept barking and shocking itself,,,

-You also wanna know the main reason that Trey and Matt hate Barbara Streisand so much? It’s bc she was against Colorado's Amendment 2, which repealed gay-rights legislation in that state. She called Colorado a bunch of hicks for standing up proud against gay rights, and Trey and Matt hated her for that- and then had the AUDACITY to make Big Gay Al a character

-They’ve admitted numerous times that they pride themselves on being hated and get a small kick out of every time they burn a bridge with another celebrity and it’s “part of the gig”

-Speaking of Big Gay Al.. in the episode “Cripple Fight” Al was kicked out of his position as Scout Leader for being gay, so the boys tried to get him back in and succeeded, shunning the scout group for not allowing gays— all well and good.. until Trey and Matt (again.. two straight men) wrote a gay man saying that it was the scouts “personal decision” who to let into their club and that should be respected…. Fucking FLOORED. FUCK you, gay rights are not up for “personal preference”

-then in the episode Timmy 2000 their shining moral at the end of the episode says that “it’s totally fine laughing at disabled people as long as they don’t know that you’re laughing at them” jaw dropped, sorry.

-the episode Cartman’s Silly Hate Crime 2000 was also INSANE.. they were trying to get the viewer to agree that there “is no such thing as a hate crime…” as if ppl didn’t and still don’t get hurt just for existing,,,, like tf you mean “all crime is a hate crime” ://///

-In order to hold up their Centrism and their “we make fun of anyone!” Ideology.. they decided to make an episode making fun of Scientology. Now, that’s fine, Scientology is a cult and I agree with that… but the fact that they were close friends with Isaac Hayes (Chef) at the time who was an OPEN scientologist.. it’s weird that they literally decided to sever ties with him FOREVER just to make a half hour episode.. like it really shows how little care they have for even people they care about in the long run.

-the PETTINESS is insurmountable.. Phil Collins won the Oscar back in 1999 for a Lion King OST.. Blame Canada from the South Park movie was a nominee, and lost to Phil Collins. For the next few years their hatred for Phil Collins showcased in the show is just.. bordering on middle school drama.. from two grown ass men.

-pettiness pt 2. You might of heard that South Park has had a total of 5 episodes pulled over it’s lifespan.. and you wanna know WHY? It’s because Trey and Matt kept fucking with the SAME concept.. the episode Super Best Friends aired back in 2001 and featured a depiction of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Now the episode got pulled because of this, and now you won’t find it anywhere aside from pirate sites. They probably should have stopped after this point, knowing that this is a threat to their show.. but no- they then released a 2 parter special in 2006 badmouthing Family Guy and making Muhammad their center focus again. The depiction in that episode of Muhammad was censored by Comedy Central and the episodes were pulled. Great, THREE times now. Then in 2010 for their 200th episode special, they released ANOTHER two parter special titled 200 and 201.. and guess who the center focus was? And of course the animation budget for that special and the lore they dropped was pretty much all for nothing since the episodes got yanked! They also had a big spiel on censorship at the end of the episode that ironically got censored out by Comedy Central. It’s just so babyish to KEEP going even if they KNEW what their fate was gonna be..

-pettiness pt 3. In more recent news, EVERYONE is tired of Randy.. Randy opened a weed farm In an episode from April 2018.. and he is still running the weed farm currently! A little over 6 years this joke has been going, and ppl are pretty obviously sick of it.. now in the Streaming Wars specials, that aired in 2022, Randy “snapped out” of his weed phase, and spent most of the episode apologizing to people “about the weed stuff”… now at the end of the episode, he had to go back into weed mode for some reason I forget, and then he went back to continue running the farm. This just shows that they know everyone is tired of Randy and his weed bs, but they just don’t care! And find poking fun at the fan’s irritation.

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6. Now, If I raised ANY of these issues I have to the southpark fandom, I’d prolly get called a pussy snowflake and be told to not watch the show! “You can’t like the show without liking the creators!” Watch me hoe.

Now, I’m not saying I necessarily hate the show, clearly I’m a SP fan! and there ARE things to love about the show!… but there’s just a lot of things to hate about it too.. and to see if a fan is willing to bring up the many flaws and issues with the program that there are, really proves if they’re a mature adult or not.

Trey and Matt were trailblazers in the entertainment industry back in 1999 and I think they’re still chasing that high, and haven’t ever quite been able to get it again since the early 2000s back when they had original ideas.

Clearly they were successful in their treck through the entertainment industry.. they’re both millionaires now!

A lot of the issues I currently have with the show kinda just stem from it going on too long. South Park is over and has been over for a long time.. and the current fans of this show and the current direction it’s been heading in for the past 7 years is truly incredible! It’s just so bad it’s incredible!

South Park will always have a special place in a ton of people’s hearts, and that’s not a bad thing by any means.. I grew up on the show, as did a lot of other people, and Trey and Matt have been really sweet to their staff and fans, like the Mr. Hanky’s Christmas Classics episode had a tribute to one of their main voice actors Mary K. Bergman who died back in 1999, and that can get anyone teary! But there’s two sides to every coin.. no one can be perfect, and any show can be ripped a new one if it goes on long enough.. I haven’t watched a single episode of Simpsons and even I can see how far that’s gone downhill!

So I guess expecting a show to stay good forever is unrealistic.. but god, hire better writers if you’re gonna keep pushing onward.

South Park overall is a good show, with a lot of good concepts and ideas they’ve been able to bring to light over the years.. but god, it can get annoying with how many bad apples there are.. and some of them can just be so bad that they sour the show forever.. (cough cough, Mr. Garrison’s Fancy New Vagina cough cough)

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So yeah!! Hope you enjoyed my general thoughts :)) congrats if you made it to the end! I always have too much to say ab this show!! And sorry this came so late! I’ve been busy for a minute :) hope you have a good one!!

when I say "I don't really watch many shows" what I actually mean is "the only TV show I want to talk to you about is freaks and geeks, the Simpsons on occasion, and maybe South Park but not in a good way"

[thats-it-im-fallingdown]

I’ve finally reached season 7 of the clone wars. it’s been an awesome ride! here are my thoughts as a first time watcher of all things prequel-era. after this, I’ll watch revenge of the sith (yes, for the first time. yes i live under a rock. no there is no room for anyone else. find your own.) and Star Wars rebels, and I’ll have finally watched all of the main Star Wars stuff!

Ahsoka’s walkabout arc

-i love the martez sisters. i have an older sister myself, and while our dynamic is pretty different, they didn’t do too bad at capturing the feel of sister duos.

-español subtitles, my beloved. it is so good to have you back in my arms after being without you for season 6. I missed you more than you will ever know. you may not be a perfect translation of the audio, but i love you flaws and all

-I’m definitely skewed from coming to this straight after crystal crisis on Utapau, but the animation is really improved. Rafa’s hair actually moves and people’s lips move more naturally.

-I’m glad that ahsoka left that tube top behind. i hated how impractical her clothes looked in the early seasons

-I’ve reblogged a post about this a bit ago, but i wanted to say this myself. the way the jedi have taken the reputation hit for the senate is interesting to see from the perspective of your average citizen of coruscant. To trace, the war is just life getting harder for her and her sister. she wants to escape to the stars— but that’s where the fighting is happening. and the burden of blame shouldn’t fall so heavily upon the jedi. the Jedi order and it’s principles are themselves victims of the war.

-seeing Bo katan make an appearance was surprising, but ig she had to come back in eventually

-ahsoka’s plan in the final episode was so satisfying to watch. usually saying one thing to an enemy and another to a friend dialogue is super obvious, but it was done well here imo

-how could maul almost see her through the hologram? usually you only see other people, not their surroundings on the other end

-it’s really unlikely, but perhaps leaving her bike with them means the martez sisters will make another appearance. star wars loves cameos, i think it’s reasonable for me to hold out hope

The bad batch story reels

-I’m fond of the design of Anaxes. crunchy, crunchy glass. and a sky so pretty it was hard to focus on the dogfighting

-the way the bad batch pointedly makes fun of “regs” is interesting to me. it isn’t super mean spirited, but it’s biting and frequent enough to make me wonder how clones are perceived by civilians, and how they see themselves. from the clone bar on coruscant, we know there’s some, though admittedly little (because wartime) interaction with civilians who aren’t inhabiting the planets they fight on. you know philosophers in the gffa would be having a field day with the ethics of cloning soldiers. see, there’s some things in this universe you have to write off because of context— like the padawans technically being child soldiers. we can write that off because it’s a show that includes children in its target audience, and kids deserve to see themselves going on adventures. but this isn’t the case with clones. pong krell, for one. the famous “we’re clones sir, we’re meant to be expendable” among other lines, make it clear the essential humanity (lack of a better word) of the clones is in question by the inhabitants of the in-universe. in a roundabout way, I’m suggesting it’s possible the bad batch’s jabs at “regs” come from a place insecurity about their own individuality as much as it does a reaction to being shunned for not fitting in with their brothers. since they’re mutated, different, they have biological proximity to naturally born people. they’re similar to their progenitor, jango fett, but very distinct in personality and appearance, like how I’m similar and distinct from my parents.

-man, i don’t get why people rag on mace windu so much. he’s a generally good dude and a cool character. he’s firmly lawful good, which can be boring when it’s played wrong. windu is not played wrong. his character works, and i like the episodes where he’s gotten more screen time, and this is one of them.

-no disrespect if you like them, but i am. not sold on the bad batch. maybe things are different in the bad batch show, but here, they don’t feel like complete characters. like, this is a fine foundation for a four (five after echo joins) man band, but you’ve got to put those guys back in the oven they aren’t done yet. as I’ve rambled about above, I’m not averse to the concept of mutated clones because there’s some really neat potential to explore how clones and non-clones view one another and each other. the 100% success rate thing is pretty corny even for Star Wars, but i also don’t think tbb undermines the regular clones individualities, provided there’s some follow up on that how-does-clone-prejudice-work thing. what i am averse to is changing their facial features (mainly tech, but also crosshair) to be more typically white, like thinner noses, in an attempt to make them more visually distinct. the other aspects of their designs, physical and character-wise, make them plenty distinct. let them look like Morrison dammit! this is why I’m probably not going to watch tbb show. it was hard enough to sit through a four episode arc with them, i don’t think i can make it through a whole season.

-oo, foreshadowing anakin’s fall to the dark side when he kills trench. i love a good tragedy

-obi wan definitely knows padme and anakin are boning, right? who doesn’t know that they’re a couple at this point, honestly. and the ones who don’t should be able to figure it out pretty quick when padme’s pregnant and the father is ~unknown~ cmon.

Siege of Mandalore arc

-man hang on a minute. i need a minute alright

-i see potential for a short that follows what bo-katan and ahsoka have gotten up to in between oba dias and the siege. they’ve clearly gotten to know each other a little, and while it makes sense that we don’t waste any time on their relationship, it could be cool to see how their partnership developed. would also have the benefit of filling out how Bo-katan has progressed as a character.

-maul is so obsessed with obi wan and kenobi just.. doesn’t care all that much about his arch nemesis. yeah I killed him once, it didn’t stick. have fun fighting him ahsoka!

-you really don’t notice how much a character has grown on you until you realize you care about them deeply even when they have plot armor huh? yeah, ahsoka and rex have entrenched themselves in my heart.

-now, I only know revenge of the sith from cultural osmosis, but that’s enough to not only understand what’s going on off screen at the same time, but to effectively be in darth maul’s place. everything is falling to pieces and nobody but you can see it yet. the jedi, the republic, the separatists, all of it

-this arc got allll the crunchy visual effects. breaking glass, embers, smoke, the works. wish they didn’t make maul’s lightsaber bizarrely skinny

-I especially loved maul and ahsoka together in this. they parallel each other in a way that I hasn’t noticed before, how they’re both apprentices who failed (from a certain pov) in a way that saved themselves

-maul’s dialogue and voice acting is mwah mwah. he’s gentlemanly without being aristocratic, or becoming a cliche mob boss kind of character

-katee sackoff is truly perfect as bo katan, and I’m not just saying that because I had a crush on Starbuck in battlestar galactica. i cant imagine a better (voice) actress for the role

-hello, ursa wren. how have you been holding up among the hordes of aggressively blond blue eyed whites? there surely must be better ways to add Viking influence that aren’t making the mandalorians look like Swedish racists

-ahsoka technically isn’t a jedi, but in this arc it’s really obvious that she had the skill to be a jedi knight. she would’ve become one if she hadn’t left the order. her skill at adapting under high pressure and at combat (she’s a match for maul himself!) don’t let you forget that she is well past being at padawan level

-i’m sure i violated so many viewing guides by watching this before revenge of the sith but it worked out fine, so •_•

-the painted helmets….

-hey, hey. don’t cry. Fives saved rex and ahsoka, okay? think about that. his death wasn’t a complete waste in the end at least

-I’m looking forward to seeing what rex gets up to after this. i know he shows up in rebels, ahsoka too, which will also be interesting to watch

[takaraphoenix]

Buffy Season 9: Review

It wasn’t... bad, it was actually... good? It didn’t personally offend me, anger me or confuse the living daylights out of me like season 8 did, so I guess major improvements there. It even had a lot of good or interesting things that I found enjoyable or even well-handled (which is a surprise after s8, quite honestly).

I’m annoyed that once again we play the “let’s all blame Buffy for everything” game. That spiel’s gotten annoying... quite frankly, that time everyone betrayed her and kicked her out of her own house in season 7, like that was kind of where everyone lost their “blame Buffy” privileges for me.

Zombie vampires sure were something I personally didn’t need, but I actually genuinely liked the approach here. The thought that okay so vampires are human corpses possessed by demons, but what if the portal to hell is closed for business? And the result was an interesting new angle.

The introduction of generic white nice guy was a bit, you know, boring. The character himself really does just feel like that. Generic white nice guy. Doesn’t really have a personality, just exists so Buffy can have another mayhaps with A Nice Normal GuyTM. Even though we have really exhausted that approach too, in my opinion. She’s not into that. She keeps trying to fool herself into it but she’s not. Move on.

I do dig the angle of police actually training to deal with vampires though. The idea of the supernatural as an open secret is fun but it actually just being open is something I really like, the way it’s going to integrate into our society. I do like that we’re finally seeing more of that. Demons working day jobs, vampires having reality shows and being idolized (which, genuinely figures). That’s interesting.

I admit very personal bias here, but On Your Own was amazing and I loved it. The whole pregnancy scare is a bit of a cliche, but seeing Buffy go through that and how she went about it - talking to Dawn, to Robin, to Spike - the way she approached it and also the painful choice she made in the end. Also, here’s the personal bias, as a Spuffy shipper I obviously very much relish in the fact that her first gut-reaction was to run away with Spike to raise the kid. And her final reaction was to seek him out so he could support her through the abortion. The way it all unfolded in the end was... something else, but okay. And I loved just how feral and angry Spike got on her behalf. Though, gotta say, bit frustrated with how they wrote Andrew here because at this point in time it does feel OoC for him to non-consensually remove Buffy’s mind from her body and into a robot. Not after the actual years they have now been working together.

Wasn’t a fan of the Kennedy stint, that story arc didn’t do much for me and I don’t quite know how I feel about the whole slayers on a payroll thing. Also, seriously, Kennedy was being preak brat again. I don’t like when she’s brattish.

A very interesting element this season was Billy. For one, a boy Slayer is... new. But also just, the entire framework here. Gay boys. Yay. That hasn’t happened before. And Billy and Devon are really cute together? On a more general level I’d like to say that the way they introduced Billy just made me think “yes. this is how you do the soft reboot too, please” - because man I was scared when they first talked about a reboot, but when they backtracked to clarify it’ll be about a new Slayer and not an actual reboot, that was a huge relief. And I do think that Billy showed that that can work, very easily. Heck, even easier on the show, if it ignores the comics (which I assume) and just dives in with a “couple years ago, there was only one Chosen One. Now there are many. I am one of them” and like, that’s it. You need neither Buffy nor anyone else in it (though the cameos would be appreciated), but you can really just... tell the story of a different Slayer, protecting their own town. Sorry, I got sidetracked there. To bring it back: It was really nice and refreshing to see a new Slayer, protecting his own town, learning how to be a Slayer, with his own watcher. Was a bit of a back to the roots.

What I also really enjoyed was Willow in Wonderland. For one, loved the art style of that comic in particular. For another, it was... really interesting? Willow on a one woman journey, trying to restore magic, while actually learning a lot about herself and also snake girlfriend returns? Sign me up. Could have done without the surprise twist toward the end about Rack though. Please, comics, stop bringing dead bad guys back that I never wanted to see again, I beg you.

The finale didn’t... I don’t know... it felt like it was overcompensating, to be honest?

The whole season was quite down to Earth - Buffy working a day job, struggling with that and with rent, going through a personal emotional crisis, that was all very much reflective of s5, seeing the cops try to integrate into this world, new members joining the gang, it felt much more grounded. And then we have a sudden new apocalypse because the evil Slayer teamed up with the siphon and also Xander betrays Buffy for a hot sec because why not and all hell breaks loose, including the demon that first created vampires. The stakes went up a little too high at the end, for my taste, if I compare just how incredibly low-stake and slow-paced this season had been until the final arc.

Generally, I really hated Xander’s writing this season. His constantly rising temper was so... genuinely uncomfortable to watch for me? Having him raise his voice at Dawn, punch walls in anger when she doesn’t immediately obey, slap things out of her hand when her coughing annoys him, yell at her about things. He’s been written like an abusive partner throughout this season and I have so many red flags and alarm bells going off in my head about it. I kept thinking that something magical must have influenced him, but... no? It was just... that he had pent-up anger? And apparently some PTSD or something about everything, I guess? But that’s... that’s really not good reasons for his bevaior toward his girlfriend and all I could think of was the fake vision from Xander and Anya’s wedding and how fake Xander had acted toward her in that. Because that is the Xander he is becoming right now. And I don’t like it. I really hope they backpedal on that one next season.

[getreadytosmash]

Me: I love HatAoS I only have a few ideas tho

Also me:

- More emphasis on Skaar's background where he starts having nightmares and causing earthquakes on his sleep. Can hear "messages" in the Earth and it's actually Hiro-Kala calling him home to prevent galactus from eating them all

- Caiera is alive and Hulk remembers her after his mind had been wiped when he got lost in space on an Avengers mission

- Skaar taking some time to stay on Sakaar and during this period we get to meet Lyra, who has come to kill and fulfill her destiny in her future

- Big fight scene goes on as Lyra begins to wage war on both sides of her character - shows how she's been a child soldier but wants to change and learn how to be someone of her own character for once

- Little filler episodes that feature other gamma mutates as a way to show how hulks are helping people and are actually slowly bundling up a team community

- Lyra finally decideds to join them when Weapon X captures Hulk - slight romance subplot between Lyra and Laura Kinney

- Lyra dealing with being an agent of smash, has bonding moments with Jen and eventually Red while fighting against Hulk when he tries to understand her at first

- Skaar comes back and we get to see the contrast between them and yet similarities after we've both had a long enough time as an audience to get to know and understand these two characters

Pt 2

-Red episodes that develop into his past and how he now makes amends, I loved the Ghost rider episode and I want it to touch on his PTSD more

- Red episode where he eventually forms a team with the Circle of Four to save the other Agents of smash!! The Red Rider!!

- Jen episodes as she teams up with Hellcat and many other female heroes and eventually wants to focus on training Lyra and getting a good law job

- Hulk gets trapped in his mind and we meet the alters and it's like a "teach kids about systems" episode before we learn that Brian is actually the big bad of the oncoming seasons

- ties in with,,,,Leader redemption arc where he and the agents team up when his brother, Madman makes an appearance and turns out to be worse

- Marlo episode that show Rick's character as Marlo is near the same age and acts much like he did at the beginning. It let's us see how he is now a young man who inspires others yet now has someone he can bond and tease with

Pt 3

- Joe casino episode that gives us a first flick at Brian as well as giving us a dip at Jen's truama where she too goes grey

- Jen's grey arc where she now deals with her own truama manifesting and an episode where she kinda goes off to deal with it

- Jen missing for an episode or two, in which we meet Clay the Hulkverine after Weapon X makes a comeback and he shows the contrast of how Hulk still fears family and hurting it that allows us flashbacks to his past

- episode where Joe and the ptjet alters come up to help Hulk and Bruce to look for Jen and finding out that Betty had gone missing two months before

- Epsiode that focuses on Leaders change of character and mistakes as well as Red's as they all search for Jen and Betty before discovering that Abomination assisted in kidnapping and "killing Betty" while Jen is seemingly trapped in her Trauma form

Pt 4

- New season where Jen deals with being as big as Hulk and her new form while also having Marlo try to help out and add some fun to her life

- Leader trying to fix it while Red descends into despair with Hulk that ends when a mysterious Red She-hulk appears alongside a new hero duo called Scorpion and Brawn

- We see brief cameos of other gamma mutates that appeared and how they recount fights of these new gamma mutates as they were attacked and Red She-hulk (....Cardinal) attacked them and absorbed their gamma

- epsiode features relationships between all the hulks and their gamma and the way they contrast yet bond to together for it

- aided help with Avengers and X men that hav a time of good cameos tbh

- we find out in a big fight that Leader goes missing and it's actually Abomination and who was hired after Madman died to work with Weapon X and is actually possessed by Brian Banner

- Identifies of the new team to be Betty, Amadeus and Carmilla to be shown and the shock of what they've done

- Big fight that ends with the bad guys being defeated and the new trio coming out of their brainwashing

- Flashback to neat cameos where all the hulks had incidents with Betty as Cardinal that suddenly make so much sense now

- Including Fight with Jen that almost had Betty breaking free and one where Red catches a look at Betty's human form from behind before Carmilla knocks him out

- Lots of tension before Red gets possessed by Xxazx and fights the big ass armour when he punched the watcher before Betty saves him and she reconciles with them all

- Little further episodes that feature James bond esque episodes with Joe, Betty and Rick

- Jungle epsiode of Hulk, Jen, Lyra and Skaar to show the contrast of siblings and family

- Female power epsiode of Jen, Betty, Lyra, Carmilla and Marlo!

- Big ass epsiode where Brian comes back and Leader helps Hulk defeat Brian, becoming a king of hell but instead choosing to stay with his family when Ghost rider kneels before him

[jennycalendar]

I just read issue 12 and I’m like !!!!! Because Jenny has her own character arc and narrative and she doesn’t need Giles and SHE RODE A GIANT BAT IN ORDER TO SAVE HER KIDS she is a darling + self appointed scooby mom and I love. Her. Also I will be emailing Jodie thanking her for it and No One can stop me

tbh? i am very tempted to do the same. this issue was a DELIGHT, and seeing jenny making decisive decisions that have nothing to do with giles is something that has NEVER happened in ANY canon.

and y’know what here we go here is my meta:

at BEST, i assumed that jenny’s arc from here on out would still be tied to giles. i thought that maybe we would see her in cameos if they never got back together, or once again they Would get back together & the story would again be about giles reconciling his role as a watcher with his role as someone’s partner, or...i don’t know. i was bouncing around a lot of ideas in my head. jordie had solidly convinced me before issue 12 that jenny would not be brutally fridged a la canon, but i wasn’t entirely sold that she’d be able to detach jenny from giles and create a fully realized person.

and that’s absoLUTELY not on jordie: that’s on the 20 years of show canon and fandom culture that have repeatedly tied jenny to giles. even i myself spent a lot of time pontificating on What This Will Mean For Calendiles, and didn’t actually think too hard about what their breakup meant for *jenny.* i honestly wasn’t expecting jordie to bring her back...

and CERTAINLY not in THIS context! not making a decision that led to supernatural power being unleashed YET AGAIN, this time in a hugely positive capacity! i came into issue 12 expecting that any jenny appearance would again be tied to giles -- but jordie did not do that. jordie instead chose to once again tie jenny to the narrative as someone who will ALWAYS choose to help, no matter what the state of her relationship with giles. because her relationship with giles is not half as important as her compassion, her strength, and her intelligence. she sees the shit going down, she finds her boyfriend’s pocket monster, she unleashes it, and she RIDES IT TO TUNAVERSE to scoop the kids up! (and sweep anya off her feet!)

and MOST surprising to me? issue 12 made me realize that i don’t CARE whether giles and jenny get together anymore. it mattered so much to me because i was afraid that without giles to tie her to the narrative, jenny would yet again slip away into the nebulous background, no longer needed for the story that the reboot is telling.

but issue 12 has once again said, in more explicit terms than any canon ever has, that jenny is valued because she is jenny. not because she is giles’s girlfriend, but Because She Is Jenny.

and that is such a resonant and wonderful message.

(i’m gonna be crying for the rest of my life.)

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol.2

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews And Before We Begin I Would Like To Apologize For The Lack Of Clips In My Doctor Strange Review...

I Looked And Looked All Over YouTube For Clips But I Honestly Couldn't Find Any That I Could Use Except For The One I Used, So If You Were Slightly Bored By My Review Because Of That, I Apologize...

Anyway, Today We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

Where Today We Catch Up With Star Lord And The Rest Of The Guardians Of The Galaxy As We Look At Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2...

After Saving Xandar From Ronan The Destroyer, The Guardians Are Recognized As Heroes. Now The Team Must Help Star Lord (Played Again By Chris Pratt) Uncover The Truth Behind His Parentage When A Being Named Ego Appears, Claiming To Be His Father...

Will The Other Guardians Discover The Truth About Ego Before It Costs Them The Whole Galaxy?...

Let's Find Out As We Watch Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2...

The Film Starts On Earth In 1980, Where We See Star Lord's Mom Driving With Star Lord's Father, Ego (Played By Kurt Russell) To A Dairy Queen Where They Go Into The Woods Where He Shows Her A Weird Plant That He Planted...

Not That Weird Plant...

Telling Star Lord's Mom That These Plants Will Soon Be All Across The Universe, They Kiss Which Is When We Cut To 34 Years Later (I.E. Now) On The Planet Sovereign Where The Guardians Are Preparing For A Fight Against A Rather Large Enemy Before The Title Credits Roll With Baby Groot...

Yeah I Know, He's Cute, We All Love Him And The Intro Just Adds To His Cuteness...

Eventually Defeating The Monster, The Guardians Meet With The Leader Of The Sovereign, Ayesha (Played By Elizabeth Debecki) Who Gives Them Their Reward For Defeating The Monster Which Just So Happens To Be Amy Pond...

You're Welcome For The Reference, Dr. Who Fans...

No, Actually It's Nebula Who Got Caught Stealing One Of Their Batteries, Which Of Course They Cannot Allow...

So, What Happens Next? Well, Rocket (Played Again By Bradley Cooper) Steals One Of Their Batteries...

And Now The Guardians Are Wanted By The Sovereign...

Eventually Hitting The Milano, The Guardians Are Saved When An Unknown Spacecraft Destroys All Of The Sovereign's Ships They Sent After The Guardians As The Milano Crashes Down On A Nearby Planet...

Once On The Planet, Their Savior Reveals Himself To Be The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes...

All Right, Actually It's Ego And His Assistant, Mantis (Played By Pom I Don't Know How To Spell Your Last Name) Who Reveals That Ego Is Peter's Father...

Meanwhile On The Planet Contraxia, Yondu (Played By Michael Rooker) And His Ravager Crew Enjoy A Little Downtime Only For Yondu To Run Into His Old Mentor, Stakar (Played By John Spartan) And His Partner, Martinex (Played By The Best Lex Luthor Ever)

Seriously, Michael Why Weren't You In Crisis?!?

Anyway, These 2 Don't Like That Yondu Took Star Lord When He Was A Kid And In Turn Believe That Yondu's A Sellout And That He Betrayed The Code The Ravagers Stand For, So They Exile Him...

This In Turn Has Some Of His Crew Including Taserface (Played By Toby From This Is Us) Questioning Yondu's Leadership. But Soon Ayesha Arrives To Hire Yondu To Recapture The Guardians For Her...

Back On Planet Unknown, Ego Tells Quill That He Hired Yondu To Pick Him Up When His Mom Passed Away But Instead Yondu Kept Him And He's Been Looking For Him Since...

Inviting Quill, Gamora (Played Again By Zoe Saldana) And Drax (Played By Batista) To His Home Planet They All Accept As Rocket And Baby Groot Decide To Stay Behind To Repair The Milano And Guard Nebula...

But As They Are On Their Way To Ego's Planet (Which Is Right By Gilligan's Planet) Yondu And The Ravagers Attack Rocket, Groot, Nebula And The Milano..

Capturing Rocket, Rocket Tells Them That He'll Give Them The Batteries As Long As He Spares Groot. Yondu Agrees To Rocket's Terms As He Doesn't Want The Nova Corp On Their Asses...

But With Taserface And His Crew Believing He's Really Saving Quill, They Question Yondu's Leadership And Taserface Leads A Mutiny Against Yondu As Nebula Gets Free And Captures Groot...

Arriving On Ego's Planet Which Is An Extension Of His Body, Ego Reveals To Them That He Is A Celestial Who Created A Humanoid Avatar To Travel The Galaxy And Interact With Other Species

Back On Yondu's Ship, Taserface Kills Everyone Loyal To Yondu While Nebula Takes A Ship To Ego's Planet So She Can Finish Off Nebula Before Attempting To Kill Her Father, Thanos...

Apologizing For Not Being There When Him And His Mother Needed Him Most, Ego Asks Peter To Give Him The Chance To Be The Father He Wanted To Be By Teaching Him About The Planet And The Light Within Him...

Asking Him To Close His Eyes And Concentrate, Peter Creates Energy Within His Hands Before Forming It Into A Ball That He Plays Catch With Ego With...

While Drax Becomes Friends With Mantis Who Tries To Reveal Something To Him Only For Gamora Interrupt Them When She Wants To Know Where They'll Be Staying...

Back On Yondu's Ship, Taserface Throws Rocket And Yondu In A Cell Until They Can Be Delivered To The Kree Tomorrow, While Imprisoned, Rocket And Yondu Discover That They're Alot Alike As Yondu Explains How He Became A Ravager...

Explaining That After Escaping From A Kree Slave Camp, Stakar Offered Yondu A Place With The Ravagers Saying That All He Had To Do Was Keep To The Code But Being Young, Greedy And Stupid They Exiled Yondu. But Knowing That They Have To Get Out Of There, Yondu Comes Up With A Plan That Involves Groot...

Luckily Groot Escapes When Most Of The Ravagers Fall Asleep After Turning Groot Into Their New Mascot, And Decides To Help Yondu And Rocket Escape By Getting Him A Prototype Fin For Him To Control His Arrow..

(Start At 0:49)

Getting Yondu His Fin, Yondu's Second In Command Kraglin Asks For Forgiveness For His Actions Stating That He Didn't Know That Taserface Would Kill His Friends, So Telling Kraglin To Get His Escape Ship Ready, While Rocket Gets The Fin On His Head Leading To One Of The Best Scenes Of This Movie...

Hitting The Main Reactor, Yondu Launches His Escape Ship As The Rest Of The Ship Blows Up But Before It Does, Taserface Sends The Sovereign Yondu's Ship's Coordinates As Yondu's Ship Jumps To Wacky Face Speed Which Leads To Our Stan Lee Cameo...

Stan Lee Cameo!

And Yes, Those Are Watchers Talking To Stan...

Back On Ego's Planet, Quill And Gamora Have A Moment For Romance On The Planet But It Gets Slightly Ruined When Gamora Admits To Peter That She Feels That There Is Something About Ego And This Place That Doesn't Feel Right But Believing That Gamora Is Jealous Of His New Powers, Gamora Walks Off...

Only To Be Attacked By Nebula Who Fires At Her From The Ship She Got From The Ravagers While Gamora Is Sitting In A Field. Eventually Though The 2 Sisters Reach An Uneasy Truce When They Explore The Caverns Beneath Ego's Planet Only To Find Skeletal Remains...

Talking With Ego In His Room, He Decides To Tell Peter His Plan Called The Expansion, Saying That After He Travelled The Universe, Ego Found The Lifeforms In It Disappointing, So He Planted Seedlings On Thousands Of Worlds So He Could Use Them To Terraform Them Into Versions Of Himself...

But In Order To Do It, He Needed The Power Of A Second Celestial To Activate The Seedlings, So He Conceived Children With Hundreds Of Women All Across The Galaxy And Hired Yondu And His Ravagers To Collect Them, But None Of Them Except Peter Were Able To Access The Celestial Power So He Had Them All Killed...

I Know, Right? That's Messed Up...

Asking About His Friends And His Mother, Ego Tells Peter That Gods Are Beyond Such Things As Friends And As His Mom, Ego Admits He Did Love Her To The Point That He Wanted To Stay With Her But Not Wanting To Jeopardize His Purpose In Life, He Put The Tumor In Her Head That Killed Her...

Finding That His Son Lacks Vision (As He Transforms Into David Hasslehoff For Some Reason) Ego Uses Quill As A Battery While He Starts Activating The Seeds On Thousands Of Planets Including Earth...

However, While Ego Was Telling Quill His Plan, Mantis Told Drax That He Was In Danger Which Lead To Them Reuniting With Gamora And Nebula While Rocket, Yondu And Groot Arrive In The Region Of Ego's Planet On Board Yondu's Ship...

Calling Gamora, Rocket Tells Her To Keep The Transmitter Active So He Can Find Them On The Planet As All Of Them Except Kraglin Go Down To Ego's Planet In A Pod Yondu Once Used To Rob A Bank...

Using The Element Of Surprise, Yondu's Pod Lands On Top Of Ego As Gamora, Drax And Mantis Enter To Help Peter Who Gets An "I Told You So" From Gamora...

Time And Place, Gamora, Time And Place...

Attempting To Come Up With A Plan To Stop Ego, Peter Suggests Going To Ego's Core Where A Thick Shell Protects Ego's Brain, Eventually Escaping Ego's Palace, They Use The Lasers In The Pod To Journey To The Center Of Ego But Unfortunately The Sovereign Have Sent More Drones To Ego To Deal With The Guardians...

Taking Out The Pod's Main Generator That Powers The Lasers, Rocket Creates A Bomb Out Of The Sovereign's Batteries For Groot To Place On Ego's Brain...

Powering The Lasers Through Nebula's Robotics, Yondu Manages To Destroy All The Sovereign's Drones, Last Starfighter Style...

Overloading The Ship, It Blows Up As Nebula, Quill And Yondu Escape...

As We Get Probably The Best Line Of The Entire Movie, Everyone Say It With Me....

"I'm Mary Poppins, Y'all!"

Telling Kraglin Meet Him For Extraction, Drax Goes To The Surface With An Unconscious Mantis As Ego Finds Them Causing And Earthquake Which Leads To Nebula And Gamora Falling And Rocket And Yondu Dealing With Ego's Energy Tentacles As Peter Faces Ego In One Last Fight...

Despite Nearly Being Defeated By Ego, Groot Sets The Bomb And The Other Guardians (Except Yondu Who Is Going Back For Peter) Make It To The Surface...

Telling That If The Bomb Blows, His Powers Will Disappear Forever, And Telling Him What's Wrong With That, The Bomb Exploded And Ego Dies As Yondu Saves Quill, By Sacrificing His Life To Do So...

Ah, What The Hell...

As The Guardians Hold A Small Funeral For Yondu, As Gamora Says Goodbye To Nebula Who Is Off To Kill Her Father, Thanos Kraglin Gives Quill A Zune Device (Would Have Sprung For An Ipod But That's Me) And The Ravagers Including Judge Dredd Give Yondu A Ravager's Funeral As The Movie Ends...

Now Unlike Most Of The MCU, That Feature 1 Mid-Credits Scene And 1 End Credits Scene, This Has 3 Mid Credits Scenes And 1 End Scene..

Mid Credits Scene 1, Sees Kraglin Trying To Learn How To Use Yondu's Arrow With No Real Success...

Mid Credits Scene #2, Sees Rocky Balboa Reuniting His Old Team Which Includes The Flash From The Justice League Animated Series And 3 Others Charlie-27 (Played By Ving Rhaymes) Aleeta Orgood, (Who Is Rambo's Wife Or Sister, Played By Michelle Yeoh) Krugarr (Who Is Unvoiced) And Mainframe (Played By Hannah Montana, I Really Wish I Was Joking On That) In Honor Of Yondu's Death...

Mid Credits Scene #3 Sees Ayesha (Embarssed By Her Defeat At The Hands Of The Guardians) Decides To Send The Warrior Who Is Inside Of A New Pod After The Guardians...

Who Is in This Pod?

Well, Ayesha Gives Us A Clever Hint That His Name Is Adam As A Clue That Adam Warlock Will Be In The Next Movie...

And Finally Mid Credits Scene 4, Sees Baby Groot Evolving Into Teenage Groot As Quill Walks In On Him Playing With A Video Game...

But For Our End Credits Scene, We Have A Continuation Of The Stan Lee Cameo With The Watchers, Which Really Wasn't Needed In My Opinion....

I Really Love The Stan Lee Cameos But We Saw It There Was No Need To Continue It And Having It There Is Like Them Giving Us A Big Middle Finger For Us Staying Till The Credits Ended...

If Anything They Should Have Had The Ayesha Scene Here With Adam Warlock But Having This Here Is Like Them Saying...

(Start At 0:06)

Anyway, That Was Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol.2 And I Liked It...

The Story Was Interesting, The Characters Were Written Great And The Villain Was Interesting However I Feel That There Were Too Many Mid Credits Scenes During The Credits And As I Said That End Credits Scene Didn't Need To Be Added Either Way Though I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[spaceorphan18]

Marvel Movie Night: X2 X-Men United

For some reason, I have the full screen version of this.  Not sure what I was thinking when I made that decision.  Anyway....  

What exactly are you a professor of?   Art

There was a time when X2 was considered the best comic book movie ever.  And judging from everything I’ve watched up to this point -- I can understand why it got the reputation.  The film is much more philosophical, the story more intellectually stimulating than a bunch of good guys beat up a bunch of bad guys.  There’s humor to it, and good action, and it makes for a (mostly) good popcorn flick.  But a lot like the first film, it doesn’t hold up nearly twenty years later.  

The story mixes the famous X-Men graphic novel God Love, Man Kills with Wolverine’s backstory.  And while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, the X-Men’s subtext has always been about the ostracization, fear, and discrimination of minorities, a more intimate and philosophical story may not balance well in an action film filled with characters who mostly don’t get to do things until their one or two scenes happen.  

Watching it over again, I still think it works overall.  The story is relatively tight, weaving the two stories together pretty well -- and Wolverine continues to be the main protagonist.  I think it does a decent job telling the story it’s interested in telling.  But this is where I lament that X-Men isn’t a TV series.  Each of these characters (besides Wolverine) deserve their own stories to be told -- and a two hour film is very limiting when it comes to the character’s own arcs.  X2 is wise not to go crazy chasing every tangent, and stick close to the story, but at the same time, the potential of all these characters often seems wasted.  

The special effects are much better in this film, and the film does take the time to showcase everyone’s powers.  My one big issue with the action, however, is that it’s limited to one person at a time.  What makes X-Men so special is that they’re a team -- and we don’t get to see team dynamics at all in the film, which is a shame, since there are so many good players on the board.  On top of that -- this kind of turn based action kind of makes the film feel sluggish in parts.  (Though - I’m sure it’s just me being a modern action film watcher watching something of a different time.) 

So, let’s talk about the characters, shall we? 

Wolverine - Of course, since Wolverine is the most popular X-Men is going to be focused on.  We get development of his backstory, and I think the bits and pieces we’re given work well.  If you know his backstory, it’s a fun little tease, if you don’t, I’m sure they give enough to piece it together.  The unfortunate thing, however, is that this film is so plot driven, the only character development stuff (besides his backstory) ends up being with Jean and.... ug, I hate this love triangle stuff (but I’ll whine about this later).  

That said - I think my favorite aspect of Wolverine’s story in this film is when he gets to play babysitter.  His actions with the kids make an interesting dynamic, and I could just watch a whole move with Wolverine trying to run a school.  

Professor X and Magneto - Of course, the heart of the philosophical story comes here again, much like it will in every X-Men film.  I very much enjoy any time Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen get to be together on screen.  The unfortunate thing is that there’s so much plot to cover, and so many characters to service, they don’t get a whole lot to do in the film.  But what we do is a delight. 

Jean Grey and Cyclops - I keep laughing every time they say Dr. Grey.  What??  

Anyway, Famke Jansson continues to be a delight as Jean.  Other than Xavier and Magneto, she seems to be the closest to her comic counter part (mostly).  And she does really well with all the hints they lay about the Phoenix force.  It’s a shame the third film is going to truly do a great story a disservice.  

Meanwhile, though, we have Cyclops.  And, geez, I just feel so bad for James Marsden, because he gets such an iconic character to play, and literally has nothing to do with him.  He even overacts in his emotional scenes with Jean, and it’s almost as if he’s like he’s trying make up for not having anything to do.  It’s a real shame because Cyclops, believe it or not, is a fascinating and complex character, who really deserves so much more than the one-note character this trilogy portrays him as.  

As for the love triangle... I hate love triangles in general, but this one is just even worse than usual.  It’s barely a triangle, because the film doesn’t even bother with one third of it.  I could go on a whole diatribe, but I’ll spare you.  If you’d really like to know - send me a message! Otherwise, I’ll leave it at - I hate love triangles. 

Storm - You can tell Halle Berry asked for more to do.  And, like, most of the rest of the characters, she gets more lines, but not much more character development.  I still feel she’s incredibly miscast here.  Where’s the woman who did her voice for the cartoon? That was a Storm. But, Berry’s acting aside, Storm is another character who is complex and varied, and it’s a shame so little of her comes through in these films. 

Nightcrawler -- We get a new character! It’s kinda weird that they steal some of the unpopular traits he has in the comics (the religious leanings) and tone down some of his more notable characteristics -- like his goofing around and swordplay.  I get why they did this, somewhat for plot, somewhat to make philosophical points.  But I do miss the charming, Errol Flynn wanna be of the comics.  That said -- I think Alan Cummings did a great job with his role, and the action sequences with NIghtcrawler look great! 

Rogue and Bobby -- **sigh** I won’t bore you too long with my feelings about Rogue.  Anna Paquin is fine.  The character makes sense for what this universe has made her out to be.  I just... I miss my girl from the comics.  I hope some day we do get to see a closer to comics version of her -- sassy, brassy, and yet very vulnerable.  But -- since the plot doesn’t need her (or her powers) she’s relegated to second string.  

Bobby gets more to do, and having read a ton of comics since this first came out, I have a much bigger appreciation for Iceman.  I love the actor who plays him here - he’s great! I do enjoy the little bit that he gets to do.  And the scene where he ‘comes out’ to his parents is perfect on a lot of levels.  (Even funnier, now that comic book Iceman is gay.)  

I still don’t think, overall, Rogue and Bobby make much sense as a couple, but for the purposes of this universe, it works fine enough. 

The Brotherhood -- Okay, so this is primarily this is Mystique and Pyro.  Where are the others? Well, this film is a little stuffed already.  Mystique is fine - this film has no interest going into her psyche, and while she is a character who deserves development, the next trilogy is going to kill any interest in a film version, so I’m fine here.  I’m still confused as to why she’s naked, though.  I miss her white, flowy dress of the comics.  

Meanwhile, in the comics, Pyro is a third rate villain.  They bring him in here to offset Iceman.  I get it. He’s fine.  Whatever. 

I get why they bring the villains over to side with the X-Men, but not going to lie when they’re not fighting each other, and just humans, I don’t think it’s as exciting, but that’s just me.  

Oh, and before someone gets upset that I don’t mention her -- Lady Deathstrike.  Is in the film.  It’s an extended cameo.  It’s fine, I don’t really care all that much about Lady Deathstrike, so I’m fine with it. 

William Stryker - The main villain of the whole thing.  I think he works on paper, and he’s fine.  I’m not going to lie - I find scenes with him pretty boring, but plot revolves around him, and that’s fine.  Interestingly, I think his son, Jason, was a nod to Jason Wyngarde - Mastermind, who can project different realities around you.  I feel like that’s a nice little nugget there.  But other than that, I don’t have a whole lot to say about the main villain of the film.

Cameos and Easter Eggs -- there are a lot of little nuggets in here, and I’m not going to go through them all, but it’s nice to see a lot of other mutants scattered around, as well as nods to the comics.  It does add a fun layer onto the film.  

Final Thoughts:  I think the ending sequence works to great effect - but I still say this film’s thinner, and more philosophical plot leaves most of the characters by the wayside.  It was a great step forward for comic book films, it was lighter than the first one, had more humor, had some great talking points, and some good action sequences.  It’s still, unfortunately, wastes the potential of nearly all of its characters.  

Next Up: Oh, god, there’s a Hulk movie worse than Incredibly Hulk.... 

[zolganif]

A-- I am.... artistic athletic adventurous ambidextrous agitated angry agnostic animated angelic anorexic autistic asexual American African B---I like... books beer baseball basketball bouncing best friends beetles brownies bean bag chairs basements boxes boasting bickering brilliance C--I've met a.... Cameron Cameo Camilla Camille Catherine Carlotta Carly Camden Casey Charlotte Cheri Cheyenne Celeste Chase D---I can... dance draw daydream all day dream big do the splits deck the halls dicker someone down diet do the macarana do a dare drum doodle dump someone without feeling bad dawdle E--I've met someone named... Ellery Eliana Edward Elsa Ella Eliza Ember Ezra Ethan Evonne Erica Emily Eternity Epiphany F--I like the names... Fiona Francesca Felicia Fauna Flora Flavia Felicity Forever Fragrance Flower Fawn Florida Fancy Friday G--I am.... girly graceful grateful generous gorgeous gay gigantic a good guesser a girl a garden gnome collector gentle gleeful going somewhere going nowhere H--I like... hot dogs hula dancing horses hibiscus hummus humming hummingbirds health class hearts hoodies helping others Hannah Montana helmets hating I---I am... imaginative interesting intelligent insane irked irate icy illiterate idiotic impossible intriguing Irish Indian Islamic J--I like... jokes juice juggling jogging jaguars justice jubilee jam jelly J.K. Rowling's books Jimmy Neutron janitors  janitorial work jeggings K--I have never been... kissed kicked killed  kicked out of my house a klutz a kite flyer kind a kid a king a khaki pants wearer a kindred spirit to someone a kazoo player a Kentucky native a kimono wearer L---I am... lovely lively loving loved loud labeled as a free spirit labeled as worthless liked learning every day laughing right now lucky literate lanky looking fine! M--I want... money more mushy love moccasins a monkey a mansion macaroons a mission to be a missionary millions of dollars mice more Mondays in the week a mother a mixer N---I've met a... Noelle Noel Natalie Nolan Nathan Nehemiah Nicole Nikki Natasha Nathalie Nora Nori Nevada Nina O---I like... orange October oranges oceans orbs odd things opportunities over-dressing ordering take out open doors order oven mitts Oscar the Grouch opals P---I like the name... Penelope Persephone Phoebe Paisley Parsley Primrose Periwinkle Palace Paris Peyton Parker Preston Pixie Paige Q--I own a... quilt Queen of Hearts costume book of questions quarreling tongue questioning mind quarter quacking duck quiet apartment book with "Quest" in the title Quaker Oats product quill pen quadrilateral queasy stomach Quebec souvenir R---I like to... run read race smell roses rock hunt ride horses ride my bike redecorate my room reminisce respond rapidly repeat things raise the roof! ramble on realize things S--I am... serene silly shy stupid smart stylish a soldier sexual spiritual sensitive sore sick senile a soccer player T---I like... toast toddlers Taco Bell tarantulas Texas truth tamales Trix Twinkies turtles total commitment tales the Trinity troublemaking U--I own... a ukelele underwear an umbrella a utensil a useful skill an understanding spirit Uggs something ugly an ugly face an uppity attitude a useless pile of junk a Utah souvenir an Uncle Sam hat a U of M hoodie V--I have a... good voice violin violet rug victorious testimony vision for my future vision problem vein problem valentine veil very common name viola velvet robe voter sticker van W--I am a .... worshipper woman wordsmith whisperer wishful thinker wise person witty person wench witch whale watcher warrior wedding planner wedding photographer wading swimmer X---I am... extreme exciting extraordinary exceptional extra-special extremely rare entertaining egotistic an egghead enchanting enticing echoing an elephant fan English  Y--I like... yams yellow yawning yo-yos yachts yacking yarn yodeling Yemen you saying yes yesterday's memories yards yardsticks Z---I have met a... Zoey Zander  Zora Zayne Zahi Zayara Zayana Zion Zionna Zoe Zeke Zachariah Zachary Zelda

[dmydfilmreviews]

STAN THE MEN

 What a guy. He loved creating things, we love arbitrarily ranking cameos he made in big-budget productions of the amazing things he created! Excelsior!

SHOES USED FOR PHYSICS DEMONSTRATION

This is from Thor: The Dark World!

‘MR SMILES’

He’s horny!

BARTENDER WITH LUIS’ VOICE

This is Luis’ superpower, he actually momentarily possesses all these people across time and space! He’s terrifying!

‘SUPERHEROES? IN NEW YORK? GIMME A BREAK!’

Yeah, OK.

REHEARSING PLAYING HIMSELF IN MALLRATS!

This is a still from MALLRATS not CAPTAIN MARVEL! CAPITALS!

GENERAL MISINFORMED ABOUT THE HEIGHT OF CAPTAIN AMERICA EITHER BY MILITARY INTELLIGENCE NEGLIGENCE OR THE RANDOM POSTULATIONS OF HIS OWN WAR-ADDLED MIND

‘I thought he’d be taller...’

PULLING AT A MYTHICAL HAMMER WITH A TRUCK

He LOVES driving that truck!

MISTAKEN FOR POPULAR BROADCASTER LARRY KING

MISTAKEN FOR FAMOUS DISGUSTING PERVERT HUGH HEFNER

This is the same joke twice! Like Iron Man one and two!

DRINKS HULKS’ PISS

GIVING BIG FAT TEN AT THE MISS CHATTANOOGA PAGEANT

He’s horny!

GAMBLER WHO FUCKS OFF MARTIN FREEMAN

Fuck off Bilbo Tim! Sherlock!

SEEN IT ALL BUS DRIVER

‘What’s the matter, haven’t you kids ever seen a two hundred and seventy eight year old man drive a bus before?’

GUY READING ‘THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION’ ON A BUS

Is this how he eventually got to drive the bus? By breaking down the constraints of reality? AGAIN? FUCK OFF SHERLOCK

FED EX DELIVERY MAN WHO CALLS TONY STARK ‘TONY STANK’

Peter’s last words should have been ‘I’m sorry... Mr Stank...’

GUY THAT REGRETS TAKING MASSIVE QUANTITIES OF HALLUCINOGENIC PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS IN THE NINETEEN SIXTIES DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY HELPED HIM CREATE AN ENDLESS SELF-REPLICATING FICTIONAL UNIVERSE THAT WILL LONG OUTLIVE ANY CORPOREAL LIFEFORMS ON THIS PLANE OF REALITY

VETERAN DRUNK OFF HIS ASS AT AVENGERS TOWER

This guy gets fucked up.

INTERGALACTIC BARBER

He makes Thor cry! It’s very sweet that he’s dressed in clothes based on the timeless designs of his old collaborator! 

HERALD OF THE WATCHERS

Of course. Happy trails Stan, have fun across the universe!

‘MARJORIE, HOW ARE YA? HOW’S YA MOTHER?’

What a nice guy.

[zenosanalytic]

Movie Buzz

So I went to go see the new Bumblebee movie and I liked it.

I wouldn’t call myself a transformer fan. I was big into the series when I was but a wee snek, but I never followed the comics, or made a Thing out of owning the toys, or really got into any of the shows other than Beast Wars, and I’ve never really been into collecting in general(except for a short period where I was big into fantasy model building&painting), which seems to be a big part of the fandom.

And, of course, the Bay films --as the audio-visual manifestation of an inner ear infection-- make me physically ill(this is not metaphortalk), and --as the audio-visual manifestation of macho marketized misanthropy -- morally disgusted/exhausted(a reaction which certainly isn’t alleviated by the whole, aforementioned, “making me nauseous” thing).

So it isn’t something I would have typically thought of as my sort of thing or bothered to go see in theaters.

But, I follow Lindsay Ellis on Twitter, and sub both Her Youtube and Black Nerd’s(and I’m a long-running David Willis fan), and they’re big Transformers fans, so I kinda have my ear vaguely to the earth re: Transformers stuff and when Ellis and Meadows made a Reaction Video/Review for Bumblebee, I saw it and thought “ok I have to see this film”.

And it’s just great. I don’t want to spoil anything(and btw that reaction vid has spoilers so, watcher beware) so I’ll just say this about it: Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts. Which, kinda cribs from Ellis a bit, tbh, but it’s really the most accurate thing to say about the film’s emotional impact on me. It’s a fun, sincere, competent, visually coherent movie. And I want to emphasize the “Visually Coherent” bit: The Transformers LOOK like Transformers, they are individually distinct, they can be easily identified, they’re even-flipping-color-coded(as in canon). The two main villains even have an inverted Red Oni Blue Oni dynamic it’s Gr8. Bumblebee lifts some visuals and story elements from The Iron Giant, the first Men in Black, and (yes, I’m not kidding)The Shape of Water; it’s view of the late 80s-early 90s period is probably a bit too rose-tinted; and it’s antagonists are cartoonishly villainous, but none of that hurt the movie for me. In fact that stuff, in that they are all common elements of the anticynical, pre-Edge 80s-90s films like Flight of the Navigator which it is obviously a love-letter to, make the film stronger, in my opinion.

It’s certainly a very nostalgic film(verging on being too nostalgic; there were a few 80s references which were almost too on-the-nose, but in the moment I felt they fit the characters and I laughed), but I personally felt like that helped to establish and strengthen the Sincere Sentimentality which Travis Knight and the rest of the crew wanted to make its emotional heart. While they skirted up to the cliff separating time-distorted-fondness from commercialized memory, they thankfully didn’t tip over it. There’s also some, shall we say, oblique symbolism in a few scenes for the weirdos out there which, being a weirdo myself, I really enjoyed uwu

It’s also a very funny film, which brings me to my My Main Concern about it. I worry that the nostalgia may get in the way for people who didn’t live through(or in the cultural wake of) the 80s. I worry this because, while my theater was verging on full attendance(very good for a Thursday early morning show), me and maybe 3 other people seemed to be doing most of the laughing. Given, audiences in my particular end of Texas tend to be pretty subdued/polite, but the film had about the same joke-concentration as Deadpool and definitely NOT the same laugh-concentration. The thing is I don’t know if this is because of younger audiences not connecting with the older setting- and reference-jokes, or because of the humor being subtle and situational rather than the super-obvious reference and physical comedy that Deadpool deals in. Anyway, while all of the performances are great and funny John Cena, in particular, does an excellent job in a simultaneously comedic and antagonistic role as, what I’ve read, is supposed to be a GI Joe cameo, setting up a potential spin-off franchise.

The only complaint I have --and it’s not really a complaint so much as a taste difference or maybe just even a plot-bunny watching it left me with-- is, and this is potentially

<<<+++SPOILER+++>>>

territory here, so be advised, but:

I wish she’d gone with him. I feel like it’d have been a more interesting and honest-to-the-character(and franchise, given TF always has a human audience-standin character) ending, though I also see how it’d have gone against the feel, themes, and homage they were going for with the movie, and been a bit too confident about getting a sequel-chance.

Oh, and having Bumblebee turn into the Camaro at the end I didn’t like. But, then, I ALWAYS thought the Bay films having BB be a Camaro was a dumb and asinine decision, and it’s a big reason why I never watched any of them in theaters to begin with. BB’s supposed to be a friendly, reliable, and approachable character who makes it easy for audiences to sympathize with and care for the Autobots(and thus boo the Decepticons for putting him in danger), and there’s nothing more friendly, reliable, and approachable than a slugbug. Turning him into a Camaro was always an act of pathetic male insecurity; since their reissue in the late 90s, Volkswagen Bugs have been heavily marketed to women in the US(I’m convinced because they’re small and quiet), and so Bay --a man whose whole career is basically an audio-visual cathedral to his masculine insecurity-- couldn’t stand that, and made him a generic “muscle-car”(*requisite gigantic, space-visible wanking motion*) instead. I get that they had to include some nods to this being a “prequel” rather than a reboot, but I’d have preferred this not be one of them.

But Anyway: Hailee Stanfeld was Great, Pamela Adlon was Great, Lendeborg and Drucker were Great; I loved how they focused on friendship over romance and Memo was cool with it; it’s just a really Competent, Good, Fun movie you guys.

Aaaaaand I guess I had more to say about it than just “Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts” :p :p If any of this sounds appealing to you and you’ve got the free time&cash, plz go see it, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week #94

My 6th and 7th films by Mike Leigh:

🍿 "En-ra-ha!" -  His light and pleasant film, Happy-go-lucky is another insightful look into the lives of ordinary people. Sally Hawkins (Photo Above) dominates the story as the bubbly, always-spirited primary school teacher, but this is not a feel-good movie: Pathos bubbles to the surface through the character of Eddie Marsan, the anti-social driving instructor, who harbors so much anger, it blackens his teeth. 8/10.

🍿 On the surface, Vera Drake did not seem to be very compelling: A story of a working class, middle age woman in 1950 who secretly provides abortions to desperate young women who “needs her help”. But the good-hearted, saintly mother who helps everybody around her, and who has to pay the price for it, is a hero for our time. Subtly, without commentary or judgement, it tells a tragic tale of suffering without redemption. 10/10.

It’s the best of the Mike Leigh’s films that I saw so far, and my best film of the week.

🍿

The Ornithologist, my first from gay Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues. What a strange, maybe unusual film! It starts with a quiet view of a bird watcher in nature whose kayak capsizes. As he finds himself lost and then found, he experiences a sequence of odd and symbolic adventures: Two young Chinese missionaries hang him up in a Shibari set in the forest, intending to castrate him. Some tribal men perform pagan rituals at night. A deaf and mute goat herder named Jesus makes love to him and then he kills him. He sermons to some koi fish he finds in an abandoned mission abbey. Eventually it becomes obvious that the film is an odd erotic-religious allegory, about the teachings of a local Saint, Anthony of Padua. 5/10. 🍿

3 more by François Truffaut:

🍿 First watch: Shy Charles Aznavour in Shoot the piano player. Loose, non-linear, low-key homage to American Noir. 4/10 

🍿 “You can’t make love all day. That’s why work was invented...”

I wanted to revisit The man who loved women for a long time, and couldn’t find a copy until now. The sweet Don Juan fantasy is about compulsive womanizer Charles Danner, addicted to the process of seducing every single woman that crosses his path. He loves women so much, that he smashes his car just so he can meet another driver, and eventually he even dies while crossing the street following another stranger. He is not a misogynist pick-up artist, but his story could not be made today. In spite of its problematic gender politics and exclusive male-gaze, I still enjoyed it.

With the magnificent Brigitte Fossey (24 years after ‘Forbidden Games’) and a cameo by Truffaut a-la-Hitchcock.

🍿 “Grégory il a fait boum!”...

The magical L'Argent de poche (Small Change) is from the same period, done in the same episodic, romanticized style, but with ‘Kids’ instead of ‘Love’ for its theme. This has not only been my all-time favorite movie about children, and my favorite Truffaut movie (Even more than his ‘400 blows’ and ‘The last Metro’) - it’s probably one of my top 50 films of all time. With another 2-second Truffaut cameo at the beginning. 10/10.

🍿

2 by (Māori-Jewish!) New Zealander Taika Waititi:

🍿 I’ve only seen one film by Waititi, ‘Jojo Rabbit’ (which I hated very much). His early film Boy was much better. It’s a simple coming-of-age story about 11-year-old boy whose mother is dead, and father returns suddenly from prison. Low-budget, charming and poignant, reminded me a bit of a sad ‘Napoleon Dynamite’. The young actors were terrific, especially the main boy. It ends with a lovely mid-credits Haka dance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller! 7/10.

🍿 2 cars, one night (2004) was his Oscar-nominated early short, another terrific and sweet story about 3 Māori kids waiting in a parking lot while the grown-ups are busy with drinks at the pub. 9/10.

🍿

First watch: “...Don’t be redic!...” Billy Wilder’s overdramatic The lost weekend, with hopeless alcoholic Ray Millard going on a bender. An early entry in the long tradition of stories about drunks, like ‘The verdict’, ‘Under the volcano’, ‘Leaving Las Vegas’, Etc. 🍿

2 more by Tunisian Kaouther Ben Hania, directed before her ‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’:

🍿 Beauty and the Dogs, a harrowing abuse story that was incredibly hard to watch. A young woman is raped by two policemen and then spend a traumatic night trying to report it at the same police station. Brutal and not for the faint of heart.

The only ‘good’ thing about it, is what happened to the real-life policemen who committed the crime on which this film is based: The convicted rapists were sentenced to 7 years in prison, and after protests it was extended to 15 years.

🍿 Sheikh's Watermelons, After her acclaimed ‘Beauty, she filmed a 23-minute short about a power struggle between an imam in small mosque and his duplicitous assistant. (This Vimeo copy is in French without subtitles.)

🍿

The Fool, grim and dark kitchen-sink Russian drama from 2014. It tells a depressing story about an honest plumber, who discovers that an apartment building with 820 tenants in it is about to collapse, due to faulty structural construction. His earnest attempt to save the people there clashes with apathy, corruption and drunkenness of the authorities in this provincial northern town.

🍿

“...Don’t you believe in medicine, doctor?

- Do you believe in justice, judge?...”

And Then There Were None (The first 1945 version), based on the ‘world's best-selling mystery novel’ by Agatha Christie. I recently saw the latest BBC 3-part adaptation with Charles Dance, which was faithful enough for this original. Solid entertainment. Agatha Christie was as bloody macabre as Hitchcock! - I should try to watch other films that are made from her books.

🍿

Re-watch: I used to love reading the early crime novels of David Baldacci. Absolute Power, based on his novel, is peak Clint Eastwood who directed, starred in, composed, produced, etc. and with an excellent William Goldman scrip. Eastwood used to play such ‘salt-of-the-earth’ types. The full cast is terrific: Gene Hackman as the sadistic POTUS, E. G. Marshall in his final role, Laura Linney, Hector Salamanca as ‘Red’, Richard Jenkins as an assassin, others.

🍿

“...What’s up?...” The new Bros, which was heralded as “one of the first gay romantic comedies released by a major (American) studio”, but which bombed in box office (due to off-kilter marketing). It wasn’t ‘When Harry met Sally’, and still a pretty decent rom-com (even though the Billy Eichner character was loud and obnoxious). 6/10. 

🍿

2 wordless Shorts:

🍿 Nuisance Bear, a short New Yorker documentary about what happens in Churchill, Manitoba, when polar bears' migration paths crosses this northern town.

🍿 Seven Boats, a simple, black-and-white short from Iceland. A single, 360-degree shot that leaves a mark.

🍿

An interesting genre to enjoy: At night, when all is calm, I am diving into a Mellow Psychedelic Journey. Later on I will find other meditative Psychedelic slow trance videos to relax with. 

🍿 

“I would rather die with you, than live in this world without you... “

Why am I so obsessed with Palm Springs, that I keep watching it again and again? It’s my all-time favorite Time-loop Rom-com, and it is based on a perfect script. I can’t find any fault in it. I even posted it to r/Moviesinthemaking, and discovered that there are others who watch it multiple times.

It’s also very funny: “She’ll be OK! This dentist glues teeth!”

🍿  

“So-bad-I-couldn’t-finish-it-films” X 2

🍿 Another time loop romance but one so bad I couldn’t finish: 50 First Dates. A horribly-directed cringe-fest with unfunny and artificial acting from Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore and Rob Schneider (?). I lasted 20 minutes before having to turn it off.

🍿 Strippers who steal? Glamorized pole dancers? Hustlers (2019) received some positive reviews from critics, and its hook of female and economic revenge appealed to me. But in spite of all the noise, curves and titillation, it was flat, boring, idiotic. I soldiered on for painful 29 minutes.

🍿

(My complete movie list is here)

[surveyhoursss]

185

[joybucket]

A-- I am....

artistic

athletic

adventurous

ambidextrous

agitated

angry

agnostic

animated

angelic

anorexic

autistic

asexual

American

African

B---I like...

books

beer

baseball

basketball

bouncing

best friends <3

beetles

brownies

bean bag chairs

basements

boxes

boasting

bickering

brilliance

C--I've met a....

Cameron

Cameo

Camilla

Camille

Catherine

Carlotta

Carly

Camden

Casey

Charlotte

Cheri

Cheyenne

Celeste

Chase

D---I can...

dance

draw

daydream all day

dream big

do the splits

deck the halls

dicker someone down

diet

do the macarana

do a dare

drum

doodle

dump someone without feeling bad

dawdle

E--I've met someone named...

Ellery

Eliana

Edward

Elsa

Ella

Eliza

Ember

Ezra

Ethan

Evonne

Erica

Emily

Eternity

Epiphany

F--I like the names...

Fiona

Francesca

Felicia

Fauna

Flora

Flavia

Felicity

Forever

Fragrance

Flower

Fawn

Florida

Fancy

Friday

G--I am....

girly

graceful

grateful

generous

gorgeous

gay

gigantic

a good guesser

a girl

a garden gnome collector

gentle

gleeful

going somewhere

going nowhere

H--I like...

hot dogs

hula dancing

horses

hibiscus

hummus

humming

hummingbirds

health class

hearts

hoodies

helping others

Hannah Montana

helmets

hating

I---I am...

imaginative

interesting

intelligent

insane

irked

irate

icy

illiterate

idiotic

impossible

intriguing

Irish

Indian

Islamic

J--I like...

jokes

juice

juggling

jogging

jaguars

justice

jubilee

jam

jelly

J.K. Rowling's books

Jimmy Neutron

janitors

janitorial work

jeggings

K--I have never been...

kissed

kicked

killed

kicked out of my house

a klutz

a kite flyer

kind

a kid

a king

a khaki pants wearer

a kindred spirit to someone

a kazoo player

a Kentucky native

a kimono wearer

L---I am...

lovely

lively

loving

loved

loud

labeled as a free spirit

labeled as worthless

liked

learning every day

laughing right now

lucky

literate

lanky

looking fine!

M--I want...

money

more

mushy love

moccasins

a monkey

a mansion

macaroons

a mission

to be a missionary

millions of dollars

mice

more Mondays in the week

a mother

a mixer

N---I've met a...

Noelle

Noel

Natalie

Nolan

Nathan

Nehemiah

Nicole

Nikki

Natasha

Nathalie

Nora

Nori

Nevada

Nina

O---I like...

orange

October

oranges

oceans

orbs

odd things

opportunities

over-dressing

ordering take out

open doors

order

oven mitts

Oscar the Grouch

opals

P---I like the name...

Penelope

Persephone

Phoebe

Paisley

Parsley

Primrose

Periwinkle

Palace

Paris

Peyton

Parker

Preston

Pixie

Paige

Q--I own a...

quilt

Queen of Hearts costume

book of questions

quarreling tongue

questioning mind

quarter

quacking duck

quiet apartment

book with "Quest" in the title

Quaker Oats product

quill pen

quadrilateral

queesy stomach

Quebec souvenir

R---I like to...

run

read

race

smell roses

rock hunt

ride horses

ride my bike

redecorate my room

reminisce

respond rapidly

repeat things

raise the roof!

ramble on

realize things

S--I am...

serene

silly

shy

stupid

smart

stylish

a soldier

sexual

spiritual

sensitive

sore

sick

senile

a soccer player

T---I like...

toast

toddlers

Taco Bell

tarantulas

Texas

truth

tamales

Trix

Twinkies

turtles

total commitment

tales

the Trinity

troublemaking

U--I own...

a ukelele

underwear

an umbrella

a utensil

a useful skill

an understanding spirit

Uggs

something ugly

an ugly face

an uppity attitude

a useless pile of junk

a Utah souvenir

an Uncle Sam hat

a U of M hoodie

V--I have a...

good voice

violin

violet rug

victorious testimony!

vision for my future

vision problem

vein problem

valentine

veil

very common name

viola

velvet robe

voter sticker

van

W--I am a ....

worshipper

woman

wordsmith

whisperer

wishful thinker

wise person

witty person

wench

witch

whale watcher

warrior

wedding planner

wedding photographer

wading swimmer

X---I am...

extreme

exciting

extraordinary

exceptional

extra-special

extremely rare

entertaining

egotistic

an egghead

enchanting

enticing

echoing

an elephant fan

English

Y--I like...

yams

yellow

yawning

yo-yos

yachts

yacking

yarn

yodeling

Yemen

you :)

saying yes

yesterday's memories

yards

yardsticks

Z---I have met a...

Zoey

Zander (or Xander)

Zora

Zayne

Zahi

Zayara

Zayana

Zion

Zionna

Zoe

Zeke

Zachariah

Zachary

Zelda

[sionfaileas]

Stan Lee @ A Panel Quotes

Person at the mic : Thank you for my childhood.

Stan Lee: "That's all very nice, send me money."

¤

Person at the mic: Who's your favourite of your children?

Stan Lee: "Spiderman!"

¤

Stan Lee:"Jack Kirby was simply the greatest. In fact I gave him the nickname, Jack "King" Kirby."

¤

Person at the mic: Out of all the characters you've made which one best represents you?

Stan Lee: "Tony stark of course, he's handsome, intellegent. No, they all represent me I made them up damnit! Especially the hulk..."

¤

Stan Lee: "Comics should represent all people. They're should be overweight, skinny, bald..."

¤

Stan Lee: "I'm going to prove to you what a bad memory I have. You may have wondered why all of my characters have the same initials for their first and last name, like Peter Parker, whatever...because if I could get the first name then I knew the last started with the same letter!"

¤

Person at the mic: Are you a watcher?

Stan Lee: "I don't like an ordinary civilian to probe with a question of such magnitude. I am not permitted to give you a direct answer, but let me say, in no precise way, you're on the right track."

¤

Stan Lee: "I have never thought I write stories for any special group of people. I like to think in writing stories for me...Its easier to please yourself - if you get that excited about what you're writing the chances are that your readers are going to get excited in the same way...When you write please yourself, write something that you are interested in, and the chances are you aren't that unique, there are going to be a lot of people that think and like the same things."

¤

Stan Lee: "I would never try to change what another writer writes."

¤

Person at the mic: What do you feel about the captain America hydra arc?

Stan Lee: "CAPTAIN AMERICA WENT TO HYDRA!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING? I don't read the books anymore either, because my eyesight is going, why did he do that?"

Person at the mic:So I take it you disapprove?

Stan Lee: "YES."

Mod:"Stan Lee is officially pissed off!"

 Stan Lee: "Yes."

¤

Stan Lee: "If you were writing the the word comic book how would you write it? A lot of people would write c-o-m-i-c space b-o-o-k. THAT IS SO WRONG. comics are not a funny book, and if you write comic space book, you mean a funny book, and Batman is not funny."

¤

Person at the mic: What do you feel is the best message to tell the kids today?

Stan Lee: "Read Marvel. *laughter* Well I actually have a cause that I'm espousing right now, I'm starting something called respect and it's a black hand shaking a white hand in an expression of solidarity.       Whatever religion you belong to or don't belong to, the most important thing tthta human beings can live up to, and it's only one sentence and ten words, and life would be paridise. Do unto others as you'd have others do unto you.

¤

Person at the mic: Any words of encouragement for creativity?

Stan Lee: "Everybody does things his or her own way. There are no secrets, I don't know what advice to give people...reach the point where you become a good judge yourself...If you reach the point where you can become a good critic of what other people do, then when you go to do it you can do well because you already know what to do and what not to do...I just fell into it, I was making comics and they decided to make them into movies, and suddenly I've become the words most famous cameo star."

¤

Person at the mic: Are you going to be doing a cameo in infinity war?

Stan Lee: "If they ask me to, I certainly will. I love doing them...I was in North Carolina recently, and I did four cameos for four different movies and I don't even remember, but if it's a movie I'm probably in it."

¤

Stan Lee (on Cap's shield in the First Avenger): "I HATED THE TRIANGULAR SHIELD, I MADE THEM CHANGE THAT TO ROUND."

[bringbackwendellvaughn]

Terminus: A Great Villain Ruined by One Writer

Terminus is one of the worst villains in the Marvel Universe. I even listed him on a really old list I made of characters I can't stand. He is terminally boring and pathetic and his stories are a snoozefest.

That's what I thought, anyway. 

I was introduced to the character in Quasar #7 where his convoluted backstory and complete lack of any real threat did not endear him to me. Then I read the “Terminus Factor” storyline which was even worse for both those things and gave him even more convoluted backstory. Then I read Uncanny X-Men Annual #12 which was the worst comic of the bunch.

I hated the character. I thought he was absolute stinking garbage.

Then I read John Byrne's Fantastic Four arc which introduced him and Roger Stern's Avengers arc which used him and... they were both really good. Terminus was a legitimate threat and a pretty sweet villain.

Byrne envisioned him as a "thug version of Galactus" but it was Roger Stern who maybe gave him his big Galactus level feat; he utterly obliterated the Savage Land and killed most of it's population. I won’t get into whether it was a good idea to get rid of the Savage Land (it was) but these two stories were great and written by two of the top talents in comics at the peak of their game. 

And it all fell apart when Chris Claremont got his hands on him.

I loathe Chris Claremont. I think he is the worst and most damaging thing to have ever happened to comics. He's a sacred cow who all the current writers want to imitate and that is why modern comics are shit. Rather than read a wide berth of comics for inspiration, they just read the same Claremont X-Men and Miller Daredevil. At least the latter is good, but Claremont was never good. His best output was due to the intervention of sane minds; John Byrne, Jim Shooter, Dave Cockrum. Claremont wanted the Dark Phoenix Saga to end without the iconic ending of Jean's sacrifice or her love for Scott winning out, he wanted the Watcher to show up and wave a hand and everything is fixed and Jean doesn’t die. Any run on a book by Claremont just sees him take random characters from any other books, be territorial about anything he touches, indulging in long transparent rip-offs of then-movies (Carrie, Alien, Neverending Story) and mostly just overwrites whatever woman he’s currently wanking himself off to into being “strong” (his idea of a “strong” woman is not a strong woman but instead a woman who is faultless and perfect, constantly achieving and mastering anything and getting nonsensical power-ups or “claims to fame”) or trying his hardest to romanticize Magneto.

And, like so many other characters, he fucked Terminus hard. Maybe it was driven by bitterness towards his former collaborator Byrne, maybe it was anger about other writers deciding the fate of "his” Savage Land, maybe it loony orders from DeFalco to undo a Shooter thing, or maybe Claremont is just flat-out awful. He does a story where he reverses the destruction of the Savage Land, completely. Where Terminus is a total chump who gets his ass kicked. And then the big fuck-up, he revealed Terminus wasn't really Terminus in this appearance or the appearance in Stern's Avengers.

So, Claremont not only uselessly deflated a villain by making him shit and reversing his big feat but then burdened him with a nonsensical retcon. Also, the story was awful. At one point, Storm whips out a random magic crystal to open a portal to a sideways dimension ripped off from the Neverending Story where she is worshiped as a queen and Colossus has fathered a kid. Fucking dross.

So then we get to Quasar #7, my introduction to the character. And while I thought it was annoying and boring originally, now I mostly just feel a lot of pity for it. You see, Claremont - in typical Claremont style - fucked something over and then left it broken. He never bothered to explain or flesh out anything, this wasn't an idea Claremont had, this was just Claremont being his usual shitty self and doing bogus trash that if any other writer did wouldn't be hailed as gold. So, naturally, it fell to someone like Mark Gruenwald to pick up the character and try to fix them. Unfortunately, he can't. Well, he could - by simply ignoring or casting shade on Claremont's story - but Mark is a better man than me and he tried to honour what Claremont said and explained how basically the Terminus in Avengers wasn't Terminus but was a Deviant (who oddly looks exactly like Terminus). Quasar #7 was an attempt at a fix fic. It is not a good issue or a good fix, but I see it in a far better light than I originally did. This is someone trying to salvage something. Which is a tad ironic considering Terminus is a Cosmic scavenger.

Then we get around to Terminus Factor. Despite Gruenwald's attempt at fixing the character, it never really explained the original Terminus. So now Roy Thomas did an Avengers mega-crossover featuring Terminus where we learn all about his origins and how it’s all convoluted and boring. Now, there's loads of Termini and five stages of incubation and... it's all dire. Maybe it was because when I read it I didn't like Terminus, maybe it's so rubbish because of the past retcons and fixes to Terminus or maybe it is just a rubbish idea anyway. Terminus, Termini, Terminex... it's all uninteresting. I do want to read it again now that I know there's a good idea in Terminus somewhere but I’m guessing at most I’ll maybe only enjoy one or two pages where I can remove context (like U.S.Agent fighting him is genuinely cool!).

Terminus hasn't made any particularly big appearance since then. Mostly all done-in-ones or cameos. And it's no surprise.

I think with Terminus, the way forward is to ignore everything post-Stern. Not undo it or retcon it, that wouldn’t help - you’re just convoluting something convoluted more. Just ignore it. Don't address it. Don’t refer to it. Just have Terminus show up and be a "thug version of Galactus". He should be a Summer blockbuster disaster movie style monster. Not some stupid armor some stupid Claremont Storm-fuel character can wear, not some viral biological lifeform, not some boring multi-armed monster with multiple stages. Just a gigantic planet busting villain.

I think at the end of the day, Terminus is one of the worst villains in the Marvel Universe. He is terminally boring and pathetic and his stories are a snoozefest. But for his first year or so, he wasn’t.