#there’s like. a ton of movie theaters in the city that are so cool and awesome and yeah. when i’m a grown up in less than a year

[carsickcrow]

i need to start applying to colleges and stuff and the good news is i’m actually motivated to do so. hopefully i’ll be able to go visit the two schools i’m considering that i haven’t been to before soon. and then i need to figure out my portfolio..actually i should probably start that now ish. i definitely have enough art made and i can add stuff if i make anything good in class in the next month or so. but i should start narrowing down what pieces to include and making sure they all have titles and writing down their measurements and materials and organizing all of that information….

[samkiszkasfacialhair]

Move My Way

Move My Way

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x Female Reader but every other member of GVF gets some kisses.

Summary: Take a shot… or strip.

Warnings: Alcohol, kissing, implications of sex, spicy Jake

Word Count: 3.5k

This was one of those times in movies where the main character narrates a scene and tells the audience “You may be wondering how I got here.” 

You were on the floor of Josh’s apartment surrounded by three half naked Kiszka boys and Danny who was also in his boxers, reaching for a bottle of vodka on the floor. 

Here’s how you got here- a thunderstorm, a citywide blackout, one of Jake’s teenage memories, and jealousy.

Speaking of teenage memories, you’d been friends with Josh since high school. You did theater with him and remained close as the years went on. Your friendship began including Jake over the years and stayed pretty strong despite the small crush on Jake you’d pushed aside year after year. Sam and Danny had always been around as well and you had a good bond with them too. Even as they became successful and began touring and eventually moving out of Michigan, you remained friends with all of them.

You planned a weekend trip to Nashville to see them and go out to some of their favorite spots now that they’d lived there and got acclimated for a few months now. However, when you originally planned your trip, you didn’t plan on a huge storm hitting while you were there, preventing you from going out bar hopping with the guys like you originally planned.

Instead, everyone was sprawled out over couches, chairs, and the floor of Josh’s living room watching movies and eating popcorn when his TV screen went black and every light in his apartment went out. 

You all tried your phones, no wifi. 

Any phone service you had was limited.

Jake stood up from the floor and used his phone flashlight to guide him to a window. He pulled back the living room curtains to be met with nothing but a sea of black with wind and rain whipping at the window.

“It’s a blackout!” he said excitedly, “The entire city is down, look!”

Danny and Sam eagerly got up and ran to the window to see like two little kids while Josh headed for his bedroom

You followed behind him, already knowing what he was headed for.

He dug around in the bottom drawer of his nightstand in the darkness for a second, before pulling out a bunch of candles and handing you some.

You headed back into the living room and placed the candles on his coffee table. 

“Does anyone have a li-”

You didn’t even need to finish your sentence before Sam was tossing you a lighter. 

“Thanks,” you said as you caught it and began lighting up the candles you had set on the table.

Josh joined you all in the living room with more candles, lighting the rest of them and giving his apartment a warm glow.

“So, now what do we do? Wait it out?” Sam asked.

“And do what, Sam? It could be like this for hours,” Jake replied.

Sam shrugged and looked at the floor. 

Josh didn’t have much. He had only moved here a few months ago and with all the work they were doing, he didn’t spend a ton of time in the apartment. For entertainment, he had a TV, a few books, and a mostly empty bar cart.

“You got beer, Josh?” Jake asked.

“Yeah, I think-” Josh answered as he got up to go to the kitchen when Danny stopped him.

“Don’t open the fridge if you don't have to. Keep the cool air in or else everything in there will go bad,” Danny advised.

He was right as always. 

So for the better part of 30 minutes, you all sat around, trying to come up with ideas of things to do.

Eventually the conversation went onto discussing childhood and teenage memories. 

It moved from reminiscing about toys you once had, to people you once knew, to people you’ve each kissed. 

Josh made the executive decision that everyone must share their first kiss stories. And since you had nothing better to do…

Danny was fifteen. It was with a girl he went to camp with who he never saw again. 

Josh’s was when he was fourteen. It was for a play. Romeo and Juliet. Enough said. 

Sam was seventeen and it was with the girl he had just broken things off with last month after being together two years. 

You were just about to share yours when Jake interrupted. 

Jake wasn’t really a participant in the whole group conversation. Instead, he laid on an area rug and played around with a bottle of vodka, spinning it around on the hardwood floor close by.

“My first kiss was because of a bottle of Tito’s,” he said with his eyes fixated on the bottle, “Sixth grade. Kaylee Kowalski’s basement. Spin the bottle.”

Jake was in a daydream of teenage memories with a small smile on his face.

You stared at him with a hint of jealousy stinging in your chest. You were at that party. You watched him kiss Kaylee Kowalski in front of everyone, wishing it was you instead of her. 

Back in middle school, everyone knew Jake and Kaylee liked each other. It was like that party in Kaylee’s basement was made for them to kiss. You watched all his friends cheer him on and watched all her friends giggle. You remember thinking to yourself how lucky she was. From across the room, you watched him talk to her the rest of the night while she twirled her hair stupidly. 

You remembered becoming friends with Josh and seeing Jake around, hoping somehow, one day, you could be the one he wanted the same way he wanted Kaylee Kowalski.

And now, even though you were both adults, that was way in the past, and Kaylee’s family moved away a few years later, for some reason, those teenage feelings came back full force and made you bubble with anger and jealousy. 

You woke him up from his day dream real quick when you gasped as an idea for redemption hit you.

“What?” he asked hesitantly, catching a sinister look in your eye.

“Spin the bottle,” you replied, practically jumping out of your chair.

“Spin the bottle?” he repeated. He was asking a question but at the same time, he wasn’t.

“Yes, spin the bottle! Besides, what else is there to do?”

“Not kiss my brothers?” 

You rolled your eyes and took the bottle from his hands.

“You don’t have to kiss your brother’s look… If the bottle lands on yourself or someone who you don’t want to kiss, you have two options. Take a shot… or...” you paused, looking around the room for another option. 

“Or strip,” Jake interrupted bluntly.

Immediately, Sam, Josh, and Danny started protesting but you tuned them out as you caught Jake’s eyes staring you down from across the circle. 

All of it sounded like background noise as your eyes dropped from Jake’s eyes, to his lips, and finally to his bare chest peeking through his half buttoned shirt.

“M’kay,” you said, smirking and regaining eye contact with him once more.

“That’s not fair!” Sam shouted, bringing you back to reality. You looked at him in just a pair of shorts and a short sleeve button up shirt. 

“What? Both alternatives are equally as humiliating as me having to kiss each of you in front of everyone here. BUT! The game will end when I have kissed each of you. Or until someone’s naked,” you explained.

After shutting Sam down, you looked around the circle of them, all shrugging their shoulders. They knew this game was the best alternative to doing absolutely nothing. Plus it was bound to give you all some silly entertainment, get the group tipsy, and give you what you’d wanted since you were thirteen.

“Well,” Jake began, “ladies first,” he said as he placed the bottle on the rug and sat back down across from you.

“No way, I’m outnumbered! You go first!” you shot back.

Being the gentleman he was, he smiled, reached forward, and gave the bottle his best. The five of you watched it in anticipation as it slowed down. 

It came to a stop facing Danny.

You all broke out into fits of laughter and Danny puckered his lips out to Jake jokingly.

Without hesitation, Jake reached for the bottle and took a swig of it effortlessly.

Lame.

That was how the first couple rounds went. No one wanted to be the first one to kiss someone, understandably, so you all opted for the alternatives.

After a bit of time, you had each had a few shots and you all were getting hit with the effects of them. At that point, everyone except Josh stopped taking shots and started stripping. 

Jake and Danny kept their jeans on but so far were shirtless. You were just as they were, but in your bra. Sam was in nothing but a pair of boxers. And Josh, being stubborn, was fully clothed but a lot drunker than anyone else.

Next up to spin the bottle was Josh. You knew he was ready to take a break from drinking but he was also stubborn enough to be the last one completely clothed just so he could say he won. After all, you knew the other three guys were a bit more interested in kissing a girl than he was. He spun the bottle and it came to a stop at Jake. 

You all giggled, including Jake who figured Josh would give in and take off a piece of clothing. Josh however, was never afraid to shake things up and did the exact opposite of what Jake anticipated.

“Alright since none of you have any balls,” he said as he leaned forward on his knees, grabbed Jake’s face, and gave him a dramatic kiss on the lips, pulling back with a “MWAH” sound as Jake pushed him back off him, laughing.

Even if it was a joke, it was the first kiss of the night.

Jake wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand as all of you laughed hysterically at what had just happened. Jake was a good sport about it and it was all for fun. 

After a few jokes directed to Jake, everyone's laughter faded and it was your turn again.

You spun the bottle and waited for it to finish spinning. 

Josh kissing Jake as a joke pushed the game into a new direction- you knew whoever it landed on, you’d have to kiss.

And who did it land on? Josh.

The look of shock on his face sent you all into another fit of laughter. 

“Come on, Josh, kissing a girl won't kill you,” you teased as you turned to him and sat up on your knees.

Josh rolled his eyes playfully and lifted his chin up just a bit, waiting for you.

But you weren’t going for just a peck or a joke. It was game time. You wanted Jake to see this. You wanted Jake to be able to see himself in Josh, kissing you. 

The same nose, brushing against yours.

The same lips, wrapping around yours.

The same tongue, teasing yours.

You sat on your knees in front of him and cupped his jaw as he fought back a smile.

You inched your face closer to his and the second your mouth hit his, both of you broke into laughter that blew out of your puckered lips, practically spitting on eachother.

You couldn’t help it. Kissing Josh felt incredibly weird. 

But you weren’t worried. You had all night, clothes to lose, and two more unkissed boys in the circle. 

Next up to spin the bottle was Sam.

He reached for the bottle. You all knew what Sam was thinking. He was hoping for himself so he wouldn’t have to kiss anyone or for Danny so he could make a joke out of it like Josh did.

He got the exact opposite. 

He got you. 

There was no way he could say no to you without his brothers teasing him for the rest of his life, especially now that the game had taken on a new tone.

Even in the candlelight, you watched his face turn a shade of pink.

Sam was nineteen and still didn’t have much experience with girls- that much you all knew. He had one girlfriend his entire life so far. You knew he wasn’t a saint, but you knew he’d only ever been with one person.

To have to kiss a girl in front of his older, more experienced brothers was a living nightmare for him. Plus, out of everyone, he had the least amount of clothes on, which added to his embarrassment.

But at that moment, you figured you could help Sam out. You were about to give him the kiss of his life. This had the potential to end Jake and Josh’s teasing forever. And it could in turn help you out too. 

You watched Jake clench his jaw when the bottle landed on you. You could see daggers in his eyes as he looked at Sam. He was jealous. 

Good.

On your hands and knees, you crawled over to Sam slowly and met him across the circle where he sat criss-crossed and trying incredibly hard not to look at your chest. 

He was breathing through parted lips and once you got close enough to him, he tilted his face up to meet yours.

“Close your eyes,” you whispered right before your mouth connected to his.

You went for it with Sam. 

You kissed him hard and he kissed back. One of his hands naturally grabbed your ass and the other grabbed the back of your head and pushed you further into his mouth, deepening the kiss both figuratively and literally. 

Sam had nice lips and even though he was a little inexperienced and therefore a little sharp with his movements, you had to admit, the kiss was decent. 

You lapped your tongue at him just enough and Sam involuntarily hummed into your kiss, seemingly forgetting where he was. You pulled back and broke the kiss, watching a look of shock appear on Sam’s face as he opened his eyes.

He shook his head like a wet dog and swallowed hard before running his hands through his hair and looking around the circle. 

“You okay, Sammy Boy?” Jake asked with a hint of laughter in his voice. 

His tone was condescending. You took notice of what he called Sam. 

Sammy Boy.

He did that on purpose. He wanted Sam to feel young and small, like a little kid. 

“Yes,” Sam stated matter of factly, “I’ve never been better, actually!” 

Danny, Josh, and you all laughed with Sam. 

Sam’s sweetness overshadowed Jake’s harshness and completely backfired on him, making him look like an asshole to the rest of the people in the room.

Perfect.

You waited it out with Jake. You spun the bottle and it landed on him. But you rolled your eyes and took your pants off, leaving you in just your bra and underwear (which thankfully matched and was a cute set).

Eventually he caught on. He spun the bottle when it was his turn and of course, it landed on you. So what did he do? He took his pants off.

The air was filled with tension. Josh, Sam, and Danny stared at each other awkwardly, knowing exactly what was going on at that point.

The game continued on for a bit. Jake took shots so he wouldn’t have to kiss his brothers or Danny in his underwear. Besides, he was waiting it out for you. 

You, on the other hand, kissed his brothers and Danny in your underwear just to make him madder. 

The boys took shots and stripped sock by sock while you went for the kisses. You gave Danny and Sam gentle kisses but you did make sure you gave Sam just a tiny bit more feeling. You and Josh gave each other pecks that ended in laughter because you couldn’t take each other seriously. 

Then, it was your turn again. However this time, all you had left on was your bra and underwear. Taking anything else off would be too much. And you couldn’t handle another shot of vodka burning it’s way down your throat and feeling it swish around in your stomach. 

You leaned forward to spin the bottle and you could feel Jake’s eyes practically burning into you.

For what felt like an eternity, the bottle spun. Finally slowing itself down after passing Sam, Danny, and Josh. It came to a halt, pointed in between Jake and Sam, but was tilted just a bit more in Jake’s favor. 

Finally.

You and Jake locked eyes from across the circle and it was game time. 

“C’mere,” he said as jutted up his chin and sat back on his hands, opening up his lap for you.

Sure your kisses with Danny were sweet and your kisses with Sam were hot but they meant nothing. This one was about to be real and it had been building up not only for the past hour, but for the past 10 years. 

You crawled around Josh and over to Jake. You could tell every single eye in the room was on the two of you and you didn’t care. In fact, you liked it. 

While keeping eye contact, you straddled his lap.

The hair on his legs brushed against your skin and the only thing between the two of you were a couple thin layers of cotton. You could literally feel his dick on your thigh through his underwear.

His eyes were dark and tired as he looked up at you. 

He reached one hand up, now only supporting his body weight with the hand still resting on the floor behind his back, and gently gripped it around the back of your neck, rubbing his thumb along your jawline. 

“I bet Kaylee Kowalski wishes she was you right now,” he whispered.

“Shut up and kiss me,” you replied, also in a whisper, closing the gap between the two of you. 

The second your lips hit his, you found yourself in heaven. This had been what you’d been wanting since you were thirteen. Only now, Jake wasn’t cute with his Beiber cut and braces. Now he was a man and he was sexy. 

Jake started slow. His pillow soft lips fit perfectly on yours and made you want more with each kiss. 

His mouth tasted like vodka combined with the flavor of cherry lime vape juice, and just the sweet flavor of that alone had you humming into his mouth. 

You sucked his bottom lip in and pulled at it just a bit with your teeth before he broke the kiss and sat up to pull you closer to him. 

As he went deeper, his tongue teased at your lip and you did the same to him, letting them slide against each other as your lips continued moving. 

Jake was taking you to a completely different world. You were completely lost in him and his kisses and you had to thank God you were adults now and not teenagers in a basement party so you could really do what you wanted to do to him. 

Unfortunately, the sound of Josh, Danny, and Sam letting out celebratory cheers brought you out of your Jake induced daydream and back to reality. 

You broke away from Jake with a smack of your lips and looked around Josh’s apartment to see every light on. 

“Alright games over, get a room!” Josh, who was still fully clothed, yelled dramatically as he picked up the bottle of vodka and headed to his bedroom for the night.

Sam and Danny laughed everything off as they threw their shirts back on and threw themselves onto Josh’s couches for the night with the TV now on as background noise for them to fall asleep to.

Now able to fully see and after a taste of each other that you’d both been wanting for 10 years, you and Jake looked at each other and laughed. 

“I like this game,” he said. His voice was soft but gravely at the same time.

Even though the power was back, it was late and the night was over for the entire city; except you and Jake. 

Thankful for Josh’s two bedroom apartment, you whispered, “You wanna keep playing?”

Without saying a word, he started to get up, urging you to get off him first. The two of you got off the floor and headed for Josh’s guest room, leaving your clothes behind on his living room carpet. 

Upon entering, Jake closed the door, locked it, and turned off the light, leaving you two in darkness once again. 

He pulled you in close to him and kissed you gently before speaking just above a whisper.

“You said the game was over when you kissed everyone right?” 

“Mhm,” you hummed, “that or once someone is completely naked.”

Jake smirked as he walked you backwards towards the bed. The back of your knees hit it and you fell back with Jake on top of you. You could see nothing but his teeth and the whites of his eyes in the dark room when he whispered,

“Game over.”

Author's Note: This one has been in the drafts for a while. Don't come for me about incest because this is far from it. It's all silly. They kiss each other on stage anyway.

[rosemelon82]

i'm not going to pretend like i think nobody is interested cuz this is the best movie of 2023 and you cannot tell me otherwise and also everyone has been waiting for this for forever so

SPOILER WARNING I AM RANTING ABOUT SPIDERMAN ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE SO BEWARE IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET

im writing this because i wasnt able to fully rant to my friends and my family doesnt want to listen so i dont really care and im screaming out into the void of tumblr. will someone hear me? i wonder

ANYWAYS (listening to the fire soundtrack as i write this)

that was the best movie i've ever seen and arguably even better than the first one. i am simply obsessed with every single detail of this movie and i cannot stop thinking about it. also me and friend were basically freaking out about everything cuz it was so damn good i cannot even stop.

there was a huge amount of parallels to the other spiderman content that we've seen and i love the way they incorporated them. the way miles saved gwen when falling during that one fight scene with spot. the bus scene with pavitr and gayatri who btw i am totally obsessed with. the way all the words that O'Hara said to miles were basically opposite of what his mother said to him earlier in the movie. the way he was listening to music on his bed when gwen showed up. the scenes from other universes where its mcu canon??? the reference to earth 19999 from miguel??? and a ton more of course

because i am also desi (lore reveal!) and also just because he was done so well. im just sad that they did not include more of him in the movie after his earth canon event was disrupted. it felt pretty raw to see almost the same scene from no way home in across the spiderverse with pavitr instead of tom holland. i also like that regardless of what consequences it has later, even if he doesnt know yet, he's able to save inspector singh. also mentionable is that they switched from mira jain to gayatri singh. in the spiderman india comics they had mira jain and props to the creators for the rep for jains cuz they don't get seen in media very much or at all for whatever reason. maybe cuz most of it is now like gwen stacy canon or whatever? idk someone if u know explain to me please

not related to parallels i almost cried at gwen's speech just cuz it resonated with me so much. thats all about that anyways anyways anyways

the art

god i could go on about the art forever. HAVE YOU SEEN IT? TELL ME THAT IS NOT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCENE EVER!!!!!!!!!!! every single city scene just blew my mind and the coloring and style of every single spiderman and scene was just stunning and how was it the most amazing thing i've ever seen?????? i cannot get over the coloring for half the scenes. i love the cities differences and the way that everything falls together in each world. my friend pointed out that when miles put his jacket on in earth-42, it was colored purple and black instead of his usual colors, which indicated so much of how he was prowler in this world instead of spiderman. i think it was interesting also to see that switch of character and did you see the way that his face was much more aged as prowler? there were a lot more lines there and he looked more mature in a way. miles morales from earth-1610 had cleaner lines and a lot more chill vibe. also like the character design for miles morales earth 42 holy shit bro that was so cool i cannot even did u see the lines on his chest and the helmet/headpiece thing the way it opened and his hair and voice and omg

ughh don't even mention the ending cuz why did they have to leave on such a cliffhanger like that??? we have to wait until i think next year for the next movie and i will be in the theaters on that premeire night regardless of what i have to get done that night i dont care. im so excited to see what they will do next i can already imagine some of it and its gonna be so beautiful!!!!!!!!!! <333

thanks for reading to the end. i love you guys!

[likecrapthroughagoose]

Godzilla x Kong gets... probably a 7.5 or 8 out of 10 from me. I liked it a lot, but the last act felt like it was rushing (which should never be the case for a 2+ hour movie). The action was really good though and the visual effects, while dwarfed by Minus One, were excellent.

Spoiler-y opinions below:

Okay so- Kong's portions of the movie were actually really strong. Granted, I'm easily amused by anything that involves monkeys falling down a lot. But in all seriousness, you can tell they had the most story ideas for Kong. His fights are good, the monsters his arc introduces are cool, and the way they've aged his design is also pretty nifty. You will believe a gorilla can be daddy.

That said, the strength of Kong's part of the movie brings me to my main complaint. The other two focal points, Godzilla and the human cast really didn't feel like they had as much to do. Less so for the human cast, which I'll get to in a moment, but it kinda felt like Godzilla was sidelined.

Weirdly, that isn't to say he wasn't in the movie. Godzilla's scenes are almost as plentiful as Kong's, if not equally so. The movie, to its credit, does a pretty good job of giving everyone equal-ish screentime, so Godzilla does get plenty of scenes. The problem is that most of them are just him going from point A to point B to point C and so forth.

In fairness, Goji's scenes are at least entertaining. He gets some superb city destruction and the best fights in the movie (and it has plenty) are his. Though speaking of fights, I am disappointed that we didn't get to see any new-old monsters. Scylla is a cool enough design on its own that I don't mind it, but Tiamat is similar enough to Manda that I felt like SOME acknowledgement could be made. I mean shoot, just have them be called Titanus Ebirah and Titanus Manda on the computer radar thingie they keep cutting to. Problem solved.

At least we get Godzilla sleeping in the Colosseum like a cat. It's a cheap pop, but I'm still here for it.

The human story is decent, if nothing special. The only returning cast are Rebecca Hall, Kaylee Hottle, and Brian Tyree Henry. Dan Stevens joins them as... I guess Kong's veterinarian for lack of a better word, rounding out the quartet of focal characters. I don't know if I enjoyed his character or if he annoyed me. Hottle and Hall deliver more of the "constantly mildly uncomfortable deaf girl who just wishes everyone would leave her pet gorilla alone and her overprotective adopted mother" stuff. It was fine in the last movie, it's fine here. Henry's conspiracy theorist character is... less irksome than he could have been. While in the previous film he was a surprising amount of depth for the archetype he was portraying, here he's firmly in the comic relief role. It never quite veers into annoying, but there are parts where it does leave you going, "okay, but why does he need to be here?" He at least makes it out better than Stevens, who may be the world's first example of a token white guy.

All that said, the human plot was actually kinda working for me. The whole "lost civilization deep within the hollow earth that harnesses mysterious natural powers and also worships/summons Mothra" thing felt like a really fun tribute to the kind of story you'd see in the classic Showa Era films without being anachronistic.

As much as I complain, there was something I noticed beyond the movie itself that made me happy. The theater was packed, which is great to see, but more than that there was a ton of kids in there, right around the same age I was when I was first getting into Godzilla. The same age I was when I got picked on for liking it. I couldn't help but look around the theater after the movie and feel vindicated. I was right, this shit is cool as fuck. Suck my ass, Samuel from fifth grade.

Anyway yeah it's fun. Worth seeing.

[saber-kite]

I just saw Hamilton

WOW.

I've seen the movie and listened to the original cast recording to the point that I can sing along with most of the whole play, but seeing it live.

Wow.

This cast comes from different Hamilton shows across the world. Rachel Ann Go, who was the original West End Eliza Schuyler-Hamilton, reprised her role for this leg of the tour. I love how familiar the songs were but since each actor had their own take on the songs, it was still different. I love each one of them.

It was also cool to see the details and nuances that weren't visible or obvious in the recordings/movie. And in the recordings they didn't include some things that you'll only see in the play. That was gut-wrenching, especially when they mirrored each other. And the sound was so different too. Like, Cabinet Battle?!

And that line about the vice-president's job? Geezas.

I'm gonna shut up now. I know the play's been around for so long there really isn't any spoilers, but I know there's still ton of us who are waiting to watch it.

The Philippine stop marks the debut of Hamilton: The Musical in Asia. This cast comes from different Hamilton shows across the world.

The show will run until November 2023 at Solaire Theater in Pasay City, Philippines.

Edited to add this photo of my view from my seat in the balcony (KK9) and it's not bad. The the theater is small so no matter where you are you'll see the stage clearly. Of course center is always the best, as you can see there's some area on the right that's hidden to me. But otherwise it's quite good.

[destinyc1020]

Agree with you on the impact of a press tour. I think most stans forget that most people just watch one or 2 interviews of actors promoting their projects and maybe see a post of a premiere if it looks cool with the costumes and general design. Few people have the time to follow a press tour and that's why so many interviews are repetitive because they get the same basic questions over and over again. So the success of a project has to do with that initial perception plus word of mouth because if your friends that have similar tastes to you tell you that a movie sucks, you are likely to believe them and not waste your money going to a theater to watch it, regardless of who's acting in it. But if your friends tell you "it's ok, not the best thing ever, but I had a good time" and it stars someone that you really like, you're more likely to watch it than if it starred unknown actors. So the actors still have an influence, regardless if people want to call them movie stars or not

And don't get me wrong! Press tours, premieres, etc, they all build up HYPE for the film...especially in the cities where they're held, and in the areas where some fans are able to see advance screenings and/or meet their faves in person on the red carpet. 🥰

This ALL helps to build excitement and word of mouth for the film, so that it can perform as well as possible at the box office! 😊

Why do you think WB fought tooth and nail to have the Dune cast be able to promote this film? 😅 They even pushed back the release dates several months so that the strikes would be over by the time the cast needed to promote this film.

WB spent a TON of money on this film, and they want their payback rofl 🤣

So yea, the cast and the press tour was definitely instrumental in helping this film sell well (Are you kidding me? WB wasn't going to waste that chance with these 4 hot stars).

My point though is that MOST avg movie-goers are not following a press tour so intently like we are, so they aren't seeing every single interview, every interaction, or everything being said on the red carpet lol. 😅

Most ppl over 30 have full time jobs, rent or bills to pay, and just don't have time for this intense scrutiny lol. The ET networks just take bits and pieces and other highlights and sound bites from the press tours and red carpet looks and put it all together in a neat little bow... and ppl may see it on Entertainment Tonight and whatnot, but they're just not following stuff as closely as we do.

They see a cool trailer and an awesome cast, and they're SAT. And if friends have good word of mouth about it too, then they're definitely going. 😊👍🏾

[robinreadscomics]

spider-man: across the spider-verse (2023) review

(very spoilery after the cut)

let’s do things differently this time.

my name is robin moon, and i review comic books and movies. i loved this movie, and i’m not the only one.

let’s start from the beginning. a few years ago i saw into the spider-verse in theaters, and immediately fell in love. it brought comic books to the screen in a way that absolutely blew everyone away. it also perfectly threaded the needle of not taking itself too seriously to have fun but also taking its characters & story completely seriously, and delivering moments of staggering emotional intensity.

the secret ingredient in both cases is the same: genuine, obvious, unironic, un-selfconscious love for the medium being adapted, plus unparalleled artistic skill. it’s frankly pretty unfair.

so then they did it again.

and you think you know the rest, but you don’t. because it was actually somehow even better the second time? which is really not how these things are supposed to go. but who cares about how things are “supposed” to go? that’s been the point of miles’ story since the very beginning, and this movie puts that front & center once again.

it did the whole “bringing comic books to life in a movie” thing even better than the first one, because with all the world-hopping it does it goes out of its way to develop a visual style that really fleshes out each world. pavitr’s world, for example, is all bright colors & lush, natural lighting. the world miles finds himself on towards the end of the movie starts out seeming like his, but it’s just a little bit off. the lighting isn’t the same, the colors are just a bit different. everything is just a little “off,” until the twist gets dropped on us like a ton of bricks and miles goes out onto the roof and we get that zoom out reveal that huge parts of the city are literally on fire in a world without spider-man.

by far my favorite addition though has to be gwen’s world. it has that gorgeous painted style with a vivid & expressive use of color and bringing things in & out of focus. this is often combined with her drum motif to create such an amazing vibe. there is so much storytelling in her scenes done through visuals & soundtrack, and it’s just the best.

part of what makes the visual style of the first movie & the parts of this movie that focus on miles so great is that it’s informed by miles’ chosen artistic medium, graffiti. that the style of gwen’s world is also so expressive & so informed by her own artistic medium & style is just such a great choice. i love it so hecking much.

the villain (no, not spot, the other villain) gets a fucking thanos speech, and importantly it’s very obvious that he’s wrong. i don’t know if this was intentional or not, but part of me very much wants to believe that this is a direct commentary on the mcu. (a much larger part of me doesn’t even slightly care, and feels a little icky about even bringing it up.)

the first movie was about miles learning to fly. when he really put everything together, really came into his own, it was so good at sweeping you up in the fact that he was soaring, literally & figuratively.

it’s really freaking cool how something so integral to the character of spider-man is used for storytelling & character-building. this movie starts with gwen, and her web-assisted flight is skillful, graceful, controlled. in a word, cool. it’s very her.

miles’ own web swinging is much more confident than it was in the first movie, but no less joyful. when the two of them swing above the streets together, it feels like a conversation. it feels almost flirty. it isn’t just a way to get them from plot point to plot point, it’s a living part of the story.

then there’s miles’ desperate flight through the streets of what he thinks is his brooklyn to save his father. every insecurity, every terrible thing that’s been said to him, is all crashing down on him in the pouring rain. and he’s just desperately, frantically, determinedly forcing his way through it all through sheer willpower alone.

this is oftentimes a silly movie. it keeps things light, it lets its characters breathe… but when it goes hard, it goes hard.

the first time i saw it, the rug was totally pulled out from under me when you realize that miles is in the wrong universe. they did such a good job of wrapping you up in his emotions, in building up towards him telling his mom his secret… it’s incredibly deft sleight of hand. i noticed a lot of details on rewatching it that i easily could have noticed if i weren’t so swept up in where i thought the story was going, and frankly that’s the absolute best way to deliver a twist.

i knew this was going to be a trilogy, but i was not expecting it to fully end with a literal “to be continued.” i actually kinda shriekgasped out loud the first time i saw it.

so, that’s it for now. i’m pretty sure i know the rest, but i still can’t wait to see how it plays out.

(oh, p.s., if being bound with an excessive amount of restraints to a punching bag by my hot evil parallel universe counterpart is an option, i would very much like to have that happen immediately please, thank you.)

s-rank

[unlimitedhorsepower]

Tagged by: @thevoiceofthanatos​

Favorite color: warm bright yellow, mustard yellow & old gold, and just yellow in general. its a good colour. it makes me happy

Currently reading: idk, probably star trek fanfic my friend @rubbertplant​ was writing to give my opinion on it. i often read through my own stuff too lol, like whoah i wrote that??? ADHD has taken everything from me including my capability to read though, for real. ive been thinking of trying to listen to some audiobooks recently though, this cannot continue... its just that i also have no ears disease so idk how well that would go. determined to try though

Last song you listened to: havent been listening to music so much bc ive been playing videos instead but my last.fm has all my spotify listens so itll stay up to date on whatever i listened to last. currently seems to be “please play-bite” by pinocchioP. i often just let spotify play me whatever it recommends anyhow so theres variance. and i only started this account like a few months ago max so its not really a full picture of my music-listening

Last movie (in theaters): its not really a movie, but if it counts, the first ginga nagareboshi gin stageplay (recorded and released in finland in theaters with subs)

ginga was always huge in finland for some reason. idk. the anime is so violent though that i got really afraid of bears for some reason. theres so much blood... i never read the manga either i just knew of the anime and partook in my share of wolf roleplays (dogs were uncool! so i didnt do dog roleplays. iirc that really was my reason).

heres some funny wolves from my wolf rp days

2010. one of the first things i coloured digitally... i painstakingly cleaned the scanned pencil lineart with a mouse

2011. i had gotten my first drawing tablet as a birthday/xmas gift and practiced a ton around this time (more than just wolves lol)

Last series I watched: trigun stampede. even changed my phone bg into vash... but millions knives is probably my favourite. he just does everything wrong and makes his life worse. and everyone elses life too bc he sucks. but hes multifaceted so hes also my meow meow and whatever. i hope a ford explorer drives over him

if it counts though, ive seen some star trek TOS episodes and movies because my friends have been watching them. im not super into it but its always fun to hang. i also dont watch a lot of stuff. i dont even know what i do. guy who doesnt read or watch things but listens to jerma videos on youtube without actually looking at them while i “draw” and “write”

Craving: food honestly. i should cook something lmfao. i also want soda so bad but i dont have any. id make some tea but its disgustingly warm in my house so i only want cool drinks. could kill for a nice milkshake or a smoothie rn i think

Tea or coffee: tea... im the only finnish person who doesnt drink coffee for real. also got really into loose leaf tea bc i befriended a chinese lady who is really into tea and has a tea shop in the city near where i live

Currently working on: drawing this and trying to think how i want to do it. somehow want to incorporate flat colours and maybe shade his body naturally, and make the blood look realistic instead of flat colours... hmm not sure yet what i want to do

other than that im trying to proofread the chapter of my ryanyuri fanfic i already published because theres a lot of typos and strange sentences in there but its been a chore bc my body breaks down when it gets too warm smfh... not looking forward to when my apt goes over 30 degrees celsius it is unlivable. im also trying to complete a “lookbook” of my tnb sims. but i always start huge projects that take three million years to complete and im really slow lmfao

Tag people you’d like to get to know better: i could just ask these questions from everyone i talk on discord with. fuck my friends i know irl or otherwise, only asking people who r my friends through tumblr. no need to do this though. also this isnt probably meant to be answered so long-windedly... thats just me. i cant answer with one word i gotta write an essay. heres three tags though @basslinegrave​ @vita-divata​

(record scratch before 3rd tag) and @rubbertplant​ bc they were streaming a game in discord when i started typing this and i was like hey wanna do it and they were like yeah

i expect replies on my desk by 5pm TOMORROW!!!!get to work!!!! no i jest, do it or dont, i dont mind either way, just if you feel like doing this. if you see this and want to do it feel free to consider yourself tagged. godspeed

[your-time-is-gonna-come]

As a northerner who grew up without AC:

insulation works both ways - cover your windows in the day time but once it gets cooler outside than in, open your windows and try to get a cross breeze. If you have two windows on opposite sides of your home, open them and put fans in each, one blowing in and the other blowing out. This will help move the (comparatively) cool air & cool down your house. Once it starts warming up in the morning, take down the fans, close the windows, and close the blinds. Your house will stay a lot cooler.

Cold showers will shock your system so take cool ones instead. I like to set it so the water is just a little bit cooler than room temp. Once i'm in the shower I will wait until i've acclimated to the temperature (and it starts to feel warm) and then i keep turning it down a scooch as I get acclimated.

If it's too hot to sleep and you don't want to take a shower, a wet washcloth on your face will help cool you down.

I've heard all sorts of claims about efficacy of "pressure points" but I've found that holding your wrists under a cold faucet can help cool your whole body down

(this is the opposite for the southern hemisphere but) the sun is overall to the south. The sides of buildings that do not get as much direct sunlight (north in the northern hemisphere) tend to be cooler. Avoid spending time in rooms (esp ones with windows) on the southern side of your house.

Obviously you can't control where the trees are but if you are looking for a home, having a large shade tree on the southern side of your house (again, opposite for southern hemisphere) will help keep you cool

If you need to do manual labor outdoors, the earlier the better. I love sleeping in as much as the next bitch but god take advantage of the cooler hours

There are a lot of public places that (in the US anyway) tend to be air conditioned - you can hang out in a library or shopping mall for free. If you're willing to spend a little bit of money, movie theaters usually have their AC blasting in the summer. Going to a movie is what we'd do when we exhausted all of our other ways of staying cool at home.

AC is still a luxury in a lot of the world, and it also uses a TON of energy - major cities can have city-wide blackouts during heatwaves caused by everyone using their AC. If you have AC, make sure to turn it off when you're not home and consider only using it when the other methods of staying cool are insufficient. The last thing you want is to experience a blackout during the hottest day of the year and not be able to use your AC or a fan

For all of the northerners that stood up for Texas during our freeze and said, "Don't make fun of them, they've never dealt with this before. Their infrastructure isn't made for snow and freezing."

This one is for you.

Where I live 108°F with 80% humidity with no wind is normal.

Pacific North West is dealing historic best waves 35-40°C or 95-105°F.

First of all. Don't make fun of them for bitching about the heat. Just like Texas isn't built for a freeze and our pipes burst, Pacific North West isn't built for heat and a lot of their homes don't have AC.

If you live somewhere with a high humidity like 80+ HUMIDITY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. The "humidity makes it feel cooler" is a lie once it gets beyond a point.

If you live somewhere with a lower humidity, misters are nice to cool off outside.

Once you get over 90°F (32°C) a fan will not help you. It's just pushing around hot air. (I mean if you can't afford a small AC unit because they're expensive as hell, by all means a fan is better than nothing).

If you have pets, those portable AC units aren't safe. If your pets destroy the outtake thing, it'll leak CO2. Window units are safer.

Window AC units will let mosquitoes or other small bugs in. Sucks, but that's life.

Now is not the time to me modest. If you have to cover for religious reasons, by all means. If you don't, I've seen people wear short shorts and a swim top. It's not trashy if it keeps you from getting heat stroke.

If you do have to cover up for religious reasons, look for elephant pants or something similar. They're made with a breathable material.

Shade is better than no shade, but that shit it just diet sun after some point. Don't think shade will save you from heat stroke.

I know the "drink your water" is a fun meme now, but if you're sweating excessively you need electrolytes. Drink Gatorade, Powerade, or Pedialite PLEASE. I don't care if you're fucking sitting in one spot all day. That shit WILL save you from heat stroke.

Most importantly. RESEARCH THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEAT STROKE AND HEAT EXHAUSTION PLEASE!

If you're diabetic and can't drink Gatorade, mix water, fruit juice, and either lite salt or pink salt

If you can afford it, cover windows with thick curtains to insulate the house

If you have tile floors, lay on them with skin to tile contact. If you don't, laying your head on cool counters works too.

If the temperature where you're at is hotter than your body temperature, don't wear heat wicking clothing. Moisture wicking is safe though.

Check your medication labels. Many make you more susceptible to sun and heat

-Room temperature water will get into your body faster. This is something I learned doing marching band in high summer in Georgia, and it saved all of our asses. Sip it, don't gulp it, especially if you're getting into the red; same goes for whatever fluid you're drinking. And just in general drink during the day.

-If you are moving from an air conditioned space to an un-air conditioned space, if at all possible try to make the shift gradual. When my dad and I were working outside and in un-ac houses a few years ago, he'd turn the air down to low in the truck about ten-fifteen minutes before we got where we were going. This way your body doesn't go from low low temps to high temps. S'bad for you.

-If you can, keep your lights off during the day. Light bulbs may not generate a lot of heat, but the difference is noticeable when it gets hot enough. I literally only turn my bedroom light on in the evening when it gets too dark.

Don't be afraid to just like... pour water on yourself if you need to. The evaporation will cool you off.

Put your hand to the cement for 15 seconds. If you can't handle the heat, it'll burn your dog's paws. Don't let them walk on it.

Dogs with flat faces are more prone to heat stroke. Don't leave them out unsupervised.

Frozen fruit is delicious in water.

Wet/Cold hat/handkerchief on your head/neck will help you stay cool.

Pickle juice is great for electrolytes! You can even make pickle juice Popsicles!

Heat exhaustion is more, "drink water and get you cooled off." Heat stroke is more "Oh my god call 911."

Image Description provided by @loveize

[Image description: an infographic showing the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The graphic is labeled "Heat Dangers: First Warning." Signs of heat exhaustion: faint or dizzy, excessive sweating, cool, pale, clammy skin, rapid, weak pulse, muscle cramps. If you think you or someone else may be experiencing heat exhaustion, get to a cool, air-conditioned place, drink water if conscious, and take a cool shower or use cold compress. Signs of heat stroke: throbbing headache, no sweating, red, hot, dry skin, rapid, strong pulse, may lose consciousness. If you think you or someone else may be experiencing heat stroke, call 911. End description]

Be safe.

-fae

[saucy-mesothelioma]

October 31st: Meso's Honorable Mentions | Bones

Bones was released in 2001 and was directed by Ernest Dickerson. In 1979, Billy Bones (played by Snoop Dogg), a beloved and respected gangster, was betrayed and killed by a corrupt cop named Lupovich (Michael T. Weiss). Now, twenty-two years later, teenagers Patrick (Khalil Kain), Bill (Merwin Mondesir), Tia (Katharine Isabelle), and Maurice (Sean Amsing) decide to turn the building Bones once owned into a night club despite warnings from Bones's former lover Pearl (Pam Grier). Their renovations, however, soon lead to the awakening of the spirit of Billy Bones, and he won't let anybody stand in his way of enacting vengeance on those who had betrayed him.

Ernest Dickerson wanted to shoot Bones like the Blaxploitation films of the 70s, such as Blacula, Abby, Blackenstein, and Sugar Hill, and Dickersong himself stated that New Line Cinema didn't know how to properly promote the film without turning to stereotypes or without marketing it as a "Black movie". Once again as a white person, I am not in the least qualified to talk about the varying effects of Blaxploitation as well as the social commentary on the effects of drugs on African American communities that this movie covers, so I highly recommend checking out the documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror directed by Xavier Burgin, which I mentioned before when I covered Candyman. It gives a wonderful history of black filmmaking and representation in the horror genre, and Ernest Dickerson actually did an interview for it. From a filmmaking perspective, Bones has some wonderful cinematography and a captivating story as it mixes elements of classic Universal Monster movies, early German Expressionist cinema, and 70s Italian horror films. Dickerson also set a big priority on using practical effects whenever he could, and this absolutely pays off with having some of the most unsettling practical effects, especially for such a lesser-known film.

It can be watched for free on Tubi

Content Warnings for the Film (may contain spoilers): violence, blood, a shit ton of maggots, dog attack (it's a demon-dog), blood, forced drug use, use of the N-word by a white character, corpses

And since Dickerson made a point to use practical effects as much as possible, you know I'm gonna give it some attention because fuck is it good. Probably the coolest effect in this entire movie is when Bill is laying in bed listening to music, and the wall behind him suddenly reveals a writhing mass of spirits from the City of the Dead. It was accomplished by special effects artists Ariel Shaw and Tony Gardner by building a 2-story frame chock full of sculpted animatronics, puppets on rods, and empty spaces for the human actors (many of them mimes). The actors were airbrushed black, given prosthetics, and then covered in a tar-like slime. The technique they used to have the wall give way to the City of the Dead was actually a classic theater trick: the wall itself was something called a theatrical scrim, which is a then gauze-like fabric, with a bright light shining on it. When the light was turned off, the City of the Dead was revealed behind it in all of its disturbing glory. And the rejuvenation effects fro Bones's body were very similar to that of Frank's in Hellraiser which I covered earlier today: a body cast was made of Snoop Dogg (in his fuckin garage which is cool as shit), and then three different versions of the body were created from that mold for the varying states. Much like in Hellraiser, layers of skin and muscle were made with wax and then melted, so when the footage was played in reverse it looked like the body was reforming.

[olchowys2024]

We took the train to the Roman city of Chester. It is a beautiful very Victorian town with a cool clock dedicated to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her 60th bday. Tons of neat buildings! And, the Cathedral? Wow all over again! We loved it. 900 years old! Tons of stained glass windows and even a history of glassworks was provided. There was a neat story of a local saint who loved a local flock of geese. When one was slaughtered and cooked, she was very upset. She gathered the bones from the pot and the goose was rebuilt or remade as a miracle. 🪿🪽The stained glass was great! I ate a gf treat in the church’s cafe and basically it felt a lot like hanging out in an epic medieval castle with a church in the middle, theee were so many hallways and areas that weren’t the sanctuary. The church also has some links maybe to a Roman building.

It really started to rain at this point so we stepped into the museum of medicine and death. It was awesome! We learned that medieval folks really got stuck on the idea that bad smells make you sick so all you have to do is put our fine near your nose and you’re golden. Not, you know, make it so human waste isn’t in the streets…. That definitely slowed down advances sanitation and medical progress. Also, we learned about why the Barbers pole is white and red. It’s not for happy reasons….

The Roman finds here are epic for England but not that epic compared to, say, Taoromina’s… So we saw but didn’t linger. Which was good as it got to raining again. We ducked into a Southern USA themed BBQ restaurant and were very amused by the British take on American culture. They dropped off a bag of popcorn to our table instead of bread and each of our bevies of choice were brought with fully the wrong style of cup. There was also a small (like 6 seater) movie theater near the bathrooms, playing Frozen. Very cute! Pics will be on the next post.

[i-didnt-hate-it]

I got The Acolyte, now I'm gonna work my way backwards with movies I've seen in theaters until I get back to where I left off with IF.

I didn't hate "In A Violent Nature," it was very interesting and creative. Potential spoilers ahead, of course.

I'll be honest, I haven't seen a ton of slashers. I watched a few Friday the 13th movies like 6 years ago (omg that was a long time) as part of a marathon, but it was mostly just something that was on, and I don't really remember where one stopped and the next started, I just got kind of enraptured by it.

So aside from Psycho, this may or may not count as my first slasher I've seen all the way through, though it's definitely the first I've seen in theaters.

In a Violent Nature is one of those movies that I pretty much only watched for the filmmaking concept. Like if you told me Challengers was filmed solely from the perspective of a tennis ball, I would've been front row on opening night (tbh I still would've been no matter what if I hadn't gotten really sick the week it premiered). I still need to see Challengers.

Anyway, not going into too many details, but if you've heard or seen anything about In a Violent Nature, you probably know it takes a third person perspective of the killer, the "Jason Voorhees" type. Well, it mostly takes that perspective. It changes sometimes to give a better angle of the (very creative) kills, but other times it leaves the killer completely out of frame to focus on the soon-to-be-killed.

I love slowburns that just let you live in the world with the characters, so I enjoyed just walking behind the killer as he clomped through the forest.

If you're a fan of movies like The Birds using a lack of music to build uneasiness and highlight the sound design, you'll love this. With only a few songs from radios here and there, most of the movie is just filled with the sound of leaves crunching beneath the killer's feet.

It's not my favorite movie of the year, but it was the first movie I've watched in theaters with another person since Wonka and Godzilla Minus One back in January, so that was pretty cool.

I've also already got an idea for a sequel floating around in my head, so I definitely didn't hate it. If they don't call it "Out of a Violent Nature" and it's about how the killer goes to a city for his next round of killings, they shouldn't even bother.

Chris Nash hire me, I've already got the basic plot, lemme be a cowriter... pretty please 🥹

[starsinmylatte]

🥹 I can see why!

Hmmm I'm going to guess Alabama, because I know so many online friends from Alabama. But it's super cool that you get into the festivities from the other parts of your family! I like to do that too, especially looking into the heritage and lineage of my family can be so interesting.

Ohhh! There's still a drive-in theater near my city. There used to be this super cool one during the summer of 2020 that played all these old movies. I went to watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off that summer and it was badass!

I'm from Tennessee/Appalachia like Dolly Parton (my queen)!! I've lived in a ton of the south though, and I spent quite a few years in Alabama!

Oooh, that would be such an excellent movie to see in a drive through. I'd love to see a bunch of classic horror movies back to back to back. Especially if it was in the summer and it was a summer/camp themed slasher marathon?? That would be amazing

[greensparty]

Happy Birthday Coolidge Corner Theatre!

Today marks the 90th birthday of one of my favorite movie theaters in the world! Coolidge Corner Theatre opened 90 years ago in Brookline, MA.

It is one of the most prominent and respected independently owned and operated indie movie theaters in the U.S. I first went there as a teen around 1991 when my friend brought me to see Spike and Mike’s Festival of Animation there. It was such a cool grand cinema and they play older films as well as indie films. Over the years, I’ve seen countless films there including the re-release of The Graduate, a midnight showing of 12 Monkeys, anniversary screenings of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and 2001, a concert that followed Echo in the Canyon, and of course Independent Film Festival Boston screenings. But of all the awesome films I’ve seen there over the years, my favorite was in 2018 when they did a special one-night sold-out screening of my documentary Life on the V: The Story of V66! 

My 2018 screening of Life on the V: The Story of V66 was at Coolidge Corner Theatre and I (far right) was joined by V66ers David O'Leary, Rochelle Joseph and John Garabedian

Another very special memory I have of Coolidge Corner Theatre happened in June 2021. I hadn't been to a movie theater in over a year. My return to the cinema happened a few weeks after I had gotten my COVID vaccine I went to the Coolidge to see one of my favorite movies of all time, David Lynch's Blue Velvet , which really is an audience movie: like a lot of Lynch’s films there’s a ton of moments of pure weirdness and bizarre acting, which lends itself to the communal experience of movie-going. Getting back to the big screen experience after being in-doors for so long was something super-special for a film geek like me!

marquee of the Coolidge when they re-opened in 2021

Since then, I have gone to Coolidge numerous times and the projection and sound is always high caliber, i.e. seeing Moonage Daydream there last year or Asteroid City this past Summer.

Happy 90th Coolidge and here's to 90 more!

[redheadinjapan]

Niigata City History Museum: Minatopia *Activity Archive*

Last month during Golden Week, I didn’t travel outside of Niigata, but I still made the most of my time by visiting several places in the city. One place that I’d been wanting to go to was the Niigata City History Museum, also known as Minatopia. Minatopia, as its more formal name would suggest, is a museum focused on the history of Niigata all the way from the Jomon period to modern times.

From the minute you step onto the grounds of the museum, you’re struck by the history of the place. The first building you see is a beautiful old red and white building which you walk through to get to the museum grounds. This is the former customs building, and includes some free areas where you can read about Niigata and rest. There are also several other historical buildings on the grounds, each marked by a sign with a description (in Japanese, but that’s what Google translate is for). They even have some cool water features and tons of beautiful plants if you go in the spring or summer, which, along with the view of the Shinano river, makes for some beautiful scenery.

The Niigata City History Museum itself is the biggest building on the grounds, with the only other one coming close being the hall right across from it that has bathrooms and a restaurant (which looked temporarily closed when I went). The museum almost looks like a palace or a government building with its high ivory walls, simple designs, and mock columns. While it’s free to roam the grounds, Minatopia has an admission fee of 300 yen for the regular exhibit about Niigata on the second floor. Or, for 400 yen you can get a combination ticket to the museum and the Ozawa family residence, an old merchant's house a 15 minute walk away. Minatopia also has a rotating special exhibit on the first floor, but the price for that is separate and depends on the exhibit.

Once upstairs, you can scan a QR code to access both English and Chinese guided tours, as long as you don’t miss the paper like I did the first time. Each section has a number that you can use to listen to the right explanation. However, even if you miss the translated guided tour like me, you can still have fun. You might want to translate some of the explanations, but there’s plenty to simply look at too, including old artifacts, replicas of artifacts or places, and videos about how things were made. One side takes you through a timeline of Niigata from the Jomon period to the late 1900s, while the other side dives deeper into the lifestyle of people in Niigata before modern times. Plus, your regular admissions ticket also allows you to see some of the showings at the museum theater to learn more. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to see any this time, so I can’t be sure whether the short movies are all in Japanese or if there are any subtitles.

(The original Bandai Bridge stretching across the Shinano River in Niigata)

The Niigata City History Museum is great for a couple hours of fun looking at the history of the city. There’s a lot to see and do for a pretty good price. I spent a good two hours walking around on the grounds and the regular exhibit before I had run off for lunch, but you could easily spend an entire afternoon. And if you’re worried about young kids finding it boring, there’s even an “experience room” for kids on the first floor too. Minatopia is open everyday except Mondays, though if Monday is a holiday, it’s closed on Tuesday instead, so people can go see the museum on their days off. If you’re interested in the general history of Niigata City or have some time to kill, this is definitely the place to go.

[poipoipoi-2016]

I think the finesse here is that everyone's basically correct.

It's RARE that they explicitly say "Stop enforcing laws" . Though my current city just said explicitly to stop enforcing traffic laws because they were giving too many black people traffic tickets.

American police are a (more professional than you'd expect) law unto their own... whose main incentives are surviving long enough to get their pensions and also maybe 3% of the force who really REALLY love beating the hell out of people. And then the other 97% are, once again, not raising waves because of that glorious glorious pension.

The LAPD is a bunch of literal street gangs we gave badges to, most actual PD's are at least better than the literal Crips.

We also don't have nearly enough of them by global standards and then we try to make up for it with prison, but yes, I'd strongly expect the malls in the hood to have fewer mall cops and way way way fewer actual cops backing them up. Hence a murder clearance rate of like... 40%.

The one exception to that? The NYPD which is something like 80% of a comparable European force, has fewer excess force complaints than you'd expect... and has managed to keep the post-COVID Bronx at a dull roar of 10 murders/100K residents which is lower than Portland despite being on the wrong/right end of literally EVERY correlation (Incomes, density, immigration rates, ESL rates, yes percent black...).

And even then, those cops totally respond to incentives which is why the SFPD arrested a third fewer people pretty much the second Boudin got into office, looked at the Floyd conviction, and kept doing it to the point traffic citations are down >95%. Because everyone can see that writing on the wall and they're filling out suburban job applications while sitting in a donut shop collecting overtime pay.

And the net result HAS been fewer urban cops, those urban cops doing a lot less, and meanwhile the public parks are full of random sketchy homeless dudes doing things as well as the downtown sidewalks right in front of the cool old theater playing historic movies.

And you know, I'm really not a fan.

/Which gave Boudin a ton of time to personally call crime victims and drop actual conviction rates of those remaining 2/3rds by 40% or so, subtle issue.

//Also see the current discourse where a bunch of women on Twitter post a video of NYC subway crime and go "Why won't anyone intervene!" and the sort of people who would intervene go "Because you arrested Penny. I mean that. Violence is a box and when I open it, I don't totally know where it's going to lead. So I won't open the box.... ever anymore. Not in blue cities at least."

The weather doesn't help (The sheer number of surprise thunderstorms is now up to two hands and the number of surprise unexpected thunderstorms with hurricane force winds is now two), but yeah....