#they deserve everything single award for script writing out there and then a few more

[vincentsleftear]

wishing the writers of this show a very merry “Fuck You”.

[fansofvow]

Interview with Eve Golden Woods!

Many of you know who is Eve is. She's a writer and artist, a part of Dreamfeel studios whose beautiful game If Found won Best LGBTQ Narrative and Best LGBTQ Indie game at the first ever Gayming Awards presented by EA games. I am really excited I had the chance to ask Eve some questions about herself, her time at Lovestruck and her creative process.

Congratulations on the two Gayming Awards (Best LGBTQ Narrative, Best LGBTQ Indie Game) for "If Found" from your game studio, Dreamfeel. What was the inspiration behind making the game?

If Found... was a game that emerged out of a collaboration between Llaura McGee, the founder of Dreamfeel, and artist Liadh Young. Liadh's background is as a comic artist, and so when they started working together Llaura had the idea of showing off Liadh's art by making a diary game, and using an erasing mechanic she had previously developed to let the player move through the diary in a fun way. By the time I came on board at the start of 2019, the game had already been in development for a while, so in some ways my work on that game was similar to the work I did for Voltage, because it was taking existing characters and concepts and writing a lot of scripts for them. Unlike Voltage, though, my work for Dreamfeel was a lot more collaborative and I had a lot more creative input. I really enjoy taking something and helping to make it the best version of itself that it can possibly be, but I was also really happy that I got to reflect a lot of my own experiences in If Found. Llaura and I both grew up on the west coast of Ireland, and although If Found... isn't autobiographical for either of us, it was definitely really meaningful to be able to tell a story that reflected our own experiences of growing up as queer teens in a similar kind of environment. Since the game came out we've had fans reach out to us and tell us that they also connected to the experiences of the main characters, and as far as I'm concerned, that makes me feel like I achieved everything I wanted to.

You are a writer and a visual artist. Does one come easier to you than the other?

I used to think of art and writing as talents, and I always felt like my art was at a very mediocre level (that's probably still true, lol). So when I was younger I focused a lot more on writing. It was only later that I started genuinely trying to improve as an artist, but when I did, I think I had a much healthier mindset, and approached it as a skill I could learn with patience and effort. Because of that, even though I still have a lot more confidence in my writing, I find art more fun and relaxing, and I don't stress about it as much.

Did you always know you would follow a creative path?

Kind of? Both my parents are artists, and I grew up surrounded by artists and writers, so it was something that was always very familiar and accessible to me. On the other hand, I didn't exactly have a clear idea of how to make it into a career, or what kind of work would be involved. But there's never been a point in my life where I wasn't doing something creative, even if it was only writing fanfiction.

What did your path to working professionally as a writer/artist look like?

I did a creative writing masters in college, but after that I spent years teaching English as a second language. That was really fun and I got to live abroad, but it was so busy and tiring that I didn't have time to do any writing outside of the occasional fanfic. I only started to take art seriously again when I became interested in games and comics as ways of telling stories. I did some critical writing, which led me to speak at a few local events and get involved in zine fairs. That was how I met Llaura, the director and lead of the Dreamfeel studio, and it's also what gave me the confidence to start applying for actual writing jobs.

Is there any work of art, visual or written, that you look to for inspiration?

So many! I try to read and watch as widely as I can, although there are touchstones I always return to, like the works of Ursula Le Guin and Terry Pratchett. Right now I feel very passionate about the actual play podcast Friends at the Table, which manages to combine really thoughtful worldbuilding and storytelling with cool, fun characters and great action scenes. I'm also reading a book called The Memory Police by Youko Ogawa, which has extremely beautiful prose.

Do you have a favorite piece of your own art, whether it is something you’ve drawn, a screenshot of something you’ve written or something else?

My favourite piece of art is usually whatever I finished most recently (I think that's true for a lot of people). Especially with visual art, once a bit of time has gone by you look back on it and start to notice all your mistakes, which is very annoying. But actually I do still really like the first piece of Fiona fanart I did last year. I managed to use some effects to give it a kind of nineties anime quality that I find really fun, and I think it conveys an emotion pretty effectively. That's always one of the hardest things to predict with visual art, whether the different parts will come together to create the exact mood you're looking for.

I also really like the compass I did for Bycatch. Krissy (@xekstrin) was the one who suggested filling it with fingernails, which was such a good, gross idea! As soon as I heard that I knew it was perfect and that I had to try and draw it.

Many people who read this blog know you as a writer for Lovestruck. When you look back on your time there, what stands out in your mind?

Lovestruck was very important to me when I first started because it was my first ongoing, regular, paid writing work. It gave me a lot of confidence and helped me to get into the habit of writing consistently and rapidly, which is a really useful skill to have. I know I was right to leave when I did, though, because I am just brimming with energy to work on my own projects, and channeling that power into something that you can't control will always end up disappointing you. Also, I made a ton of incredible friends, through Lovestruck itself but then even more so through VOW (@vowtogether), and that is more than worth all the difficult parts.

Is there any character that you would have liked a crack at writing?

Oh gosh, what a fun question! There are so many, but one I do sometimes think about is Axia, just because I know there are a bunch of fans who want her route, and because I had fun writing her as a villain in Zain's route. I can see in my head the shadow of a storyline that takes place after Zain's route is over, where she's in prison and trying to understand how she lost the battle with Zain and MC. I think there's, like, a gap there, where you could see her downfall forcing her to reconsider her assumptions about power, and that could build into a very interesting redemption story. But maybe it's for the best I never got to do that, because I would have wanted full creative control over it, and also I think the story in my head is very different to the sexy, in control, menacing version of Axia that her fans enjoy.

Do you have any upcoming projects you can talk about?

Most of my current work is under NDA, but I will say that I'm doing something very exciting with other VOW members that we should be able to talk about soon(ish). Maybe I can even give a little teaser... It's not a game, but it is something you can read, and my part involves cakes, swamps, and a museum.

Do you have a favorite quote or song lyric?

It's a big long, but there's a section from The Dispossessed by Ursula le Guin that has stayed with me ever since I read it:

"For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of deserving, the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think."

It's such a profoundly radical way of imagining the world, so different to everything I was raised with, but whenever I think about it I feel like I can see something very beautiful and powerful that I hope to come closer to understanding some day.

And of course, "Solidarity forever, the union makes us strong."

I was a big fan of the show Inside the Actor’s Studio. Host James Lipton asked every single guest the same 10 concluding questions. I’ve picked 3 of them:

-What is your favorite word?

My favourite word: for sound, I like words you can really roll around on your tongue. Chthonic, alabaster, insinuation. For meaning, I think simple words that encapsulate big concepts have a kind of power to them. We use them so often we forget how big they are, how much weight they really have, but they give us the space to imagine new possibilities. Love. Freedom. Revolution.

-What is your least favorite word?

I've heard that "moist" is a lot of people's least favourite word but it doesn't actually bother me. My least favourite word is probably one where I feel like the sound doesn't match the meaning. One of the Irish words for rain is báisteach, which I feel has a much weightier and more onomatopoeic sound than rain. Rain is just very flat and uninteresting.

-What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Oh, so many! I love history, and I think being a historian/archaeologist would be fascinating. Or something that had a physical component to it, like being a potter or a carpenter. I don't think I'd be any good, but I'd love to take the time to learn.

What would be your advice to anyone who wants to pursue a creative career?

All the work you do matters. Even the failed experiments, the things you hate when they're finished. It all helps to make you better. Also, creative career paths are often really unexpected, so chase any opportunity that seems remotely interesting. Don't work for free for anyone who can afford to pay, but work for yourself and put it somewhere. On a blog, twitter, whatever. You'd be amazed how many people get noticed and get offered opportunities because of something they made in their spare time. You'll probably have to work another job for a long time, so don't be hard on yourself if you're too tired to devote much energy to creative work. Try to make art consistently, but don't feel like that has to mean every day. Don't chase after celebrities. Make friends with your peers.

[petersasteria]

Write Like Hamilton - Tom Holland

Pairing: Tom x Author!Reader

Requested? Yes! By anon x

Hamilrequest #41

“I wrote my way out when the world turned its back on me.”

I actually really like this request! Thanks for this anon <3

P.S. there’s some truth in this one. Hint: it’s the Chris Colfer thing. Let’s just say that Y/N was based on me lmao. I’m also finding it cute that this has 1998 words hihi

Everyone has opinions about someone or something. These opinions root from an issue that went viral and spread like wildfire. Regarding the said issue, the audience may say good things or bad things. Of course those who are victims of the said issue speak out and for some reason get hate or love for it, depending on the audience. Some victims choose not to speak out and they get all the hate in the world for addressing something the audience aren’t even included in. Some victims speak out, out of nowhere and just like that, they win in the issue.

An example of that would be James Charles, who single-handedly saved his own career by releasing a video. We won’t dig deeper into that, but James really did well in that part. Of course, there were people who still hated him, but at this point, I’m sure he doesn’t care about that anymore.

Like James, you became a victim of a certain issue that sparked out of nowhere. You were a very successful author. You wrote a lot of things from short stories to novels and from poetry to children’s books. You really wanted a wide range of people reading your books and that’s why a lot of people liked you, because families can read all of your books in one household and you were proud of yourself for that. 

With the money that you earned from writing, you were able to donate books to different schools around the world especially in third world countries who really needed it. You were basically an angel in the community of education.

Of course, not all people thought of that. They thought you were pretentious and that you were only doing it for publicity and money. They even had the audacity to say that you had a ghost-writer, but that was immediately debunked by your loyal readers and yourself, because you uploaded a video on your YouTube channel about the process of you writing a book. 

Life went well after that. Your career was sky-rocketing and you were able to catch the attention of the world’s famous heartthrob, Tom Holland.

He tweeted you first when you were bored out of your mind and decided to take a break from writing. You thought it would be a fun idea to interact with your fans, because they deserved it after all the times they’ve supported you and backed you up. So you tweeted that you’d be doing a #AskY/N. Tom obviously had your notifications on, because he was such a fan and he got really excited when he saw that. 

He wasn’t an active Twitter user and he normally wouldn’t check it, but he decided ‘fuck it, I’ll send in a question’. He wanted his question to be different from others so he asked you if you’ll be releasing a book that year.

You saw it and you were surprised that THE Spider-Man actually liked your work. You, of course, responded in a professional way: “@TomHolland1996 as a matter of fact, yes! I’ll be releasing a book this year. I’m actually working on it right now as we speak. It’s a children’s book.”

From then on, you both started talking a lot and somehow ended up dating. You’ve been dating for two years now and you loved every second of it. Both of you were really supportive in each other’s passion and career. Sometimes, he would even help you in writing a plot. In return, you would help in practicing his lines. You’d also help him and Harry with the script that they were working on. 

Your life could’ve been better if it weren’t for that person on Twitter who had a lot to say about you. That person tweeted something about you stealing ideas from Chris Colfer.

Glee star. People’s Choice Award winner. Teen’s Choice Award winner. Golden Globe award winner. Screen Actors Guild Awards winner. Emmy nominated actor turned author, Chris Colfer.

The tweet went viral and most of them didn’t know how to feel. Some people didn’t know who Chris was. Some people didn’t think you were stealing ideas from him. Some people agreed with that Twitter user who started it. Some took the time to read both yours and Chris’ books that apparently had major similarities and concluded that there were none.

You didn’t know what to do. You didn’t cry, because if you were being honest, that situation wasn’t worth crying for. The people who knew the truth was you and the people around you who knew where your ideas are from. You were really hurt, because of the accusation made against you.

You saw what happened to James Charles after Tati Westbrook uploaded that ‘BYE SISTER’ video. He was destroyed. You knew that the issues that were brought up against you and James were very different, your situation wasn’t. It was very similar.

Like Tati’s video, the tweet came out of nowhere. In this situation, the Twitter user was Tati and you were James. You couldn’t imagine how James must’ve felt when his mentor did him dirty like that. You also couldn’t imagine how alone James felt when he lost everyone.

You decided that you’d address the situation once everyone has calmed down. Tom wanted to argue, because he was really mad. He wanted to defend you like the good boyfriend he was. After all, before he met you, he was a massive fan and he still was. He read all of your books so he had no problem defending you.

You told him that he didn’t have to, because you had it under control. Besides, he couldn’t defend you when he hasn’t read the books of Chris Colfer, himself. You told him that he should at least read one book from Chris Colfer before saying anything. Tom felt stupid, because he never even thought of that. You assured him that it was alright, though.

You were really thankful that, like you, Chris Colfer hasn’t said anything. He’s an unproblematic public figure and you wanted him to live his best life.

The storm like issue started to calm down and as promised, you addressed the issue. You didn’t want to write a really long thread on Twitter, because you wanted to express everything that was going on in your mind for the past week. You made a wise decision by speaking out about it on your blog. You wanted it to be short and simple yet concise and full of information. After that, you tweeted: “Here’s my take on the issue said against me. *insert link to your blog*”.

Tom was really proud of you for writing your way out of that messy situation single-handedly. The person who accused you publicly apologized on Twitter and of course, being the forgiving person that you were, you forgave them and decided that the past was in the past.

After reading your statement, Chris Colfer tweeted you and said that he knew what was going on, but he wanted to hear your side instead of other people. He thanked you for being honest and he even DMed you on Twitter, asking if you wanted to collaborate for a children’s book.

Hi! It’s Y/N and in this week’s topic, I’ll be talking about the issue that I was involved in. I’ve been writing since I was fourteen and it wasn’t until I was eighteen when I started REALLY writing books. I sold my first book ever and I was really happy it was a success.

Then it turned into a full-time job over the years and I couldn’t believe it. All my dreams were coming true all because I decided to write down my imaginations and turn it into books. I haven’t stopped since and I don’t plan on stopping which is why I wanted to clear my name.

Out of all my years in writing, this issue was the first to really drag my name down and I’m not proud of it. After all, who would be proud to have their name dragged around for something they didn’t do?

To those of you who are confused, I was recently accused of stealing ideas for children’s books from Mr. Chris Colfer. Specifically, my first children’s book. A Twitter user said that when they read my first children’s book, it was very similar to Chris Colfer’s ‘The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell’. I haven’t had the blessing of meeting Chris Colfer yet, but we both follow each other on Twitter. You could say that we’ve became acquaintances over the years of replying to each other’s tweets and participating in every QnA one of us tweets.

I’ve known Chris for a long time more so than he’s known me. You see, I’ve been a fan of his ever since he starred in Glee. You know, the tv show about these teens in glee club and their struggles in high school. This show has been diverse ever since the beginning and it’s one of the reasons why I love it. 

Chris was the reason why I wanted to write books and publish them. I was first in line when he released his first book ‘The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell’ and it wasn’t until his third book ‘The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning’ when I realized that I wanted to write and publish my own book. I sold my first ever book a year later and it was a success. 

For those of you who really know me, you’ll know that my first book wasn’t a children’s book. My first book was a love story and it was inspired by real people and my brain just decided it would be cool to mash them all up together. Kind of like that movie Valentine’s Day. 

The moment I realized that I could write a children’s book was when I babysat my niece and she asked me to tell her a bedtime story. Naturally, I picked a book from her book shelf but she told me she wanted story that was done by me. I wouldn’t tell her the story of the romance books I’ve written so, I racked my brains out to produce a story that a 6 year old could understand and like. She liked it. No, she loved it. I thought it wasn’t book worthy so after she went to sleep, I just wrote it in my drafts to include it in a short story compilation. I forgot all about it, but then a few months later, she died in a car crash. I was so heartbroken. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to grieve.

Then I remembered the story I told her, the one I made up on the spot; the one she loved. I decided that instead of crying my eyes out, I would continue writing that story. That, my friends, was how my first children’s book was born. That book was to pay homage for my 6 year old niece who would never grow up to see and feel the magic of life. That plot of that book was sincerely made on the spot and I kept making things up as I continued writing it. I’m very sure that there were no similarities from my book and Chris’ book. I know this because I’ve read ‘The Land of Stories’ a bunch of times. Maybe the magical part was the only similarity, but all kids love magic. It’s a given when you’re going to write a children’s book. Magic would be the first one to come up.

I don’t want to fight. Instead, I’ll be the bigger person. This statement is simply just addressing all the facts. I do not wish for my name or Chris’ good name to be sullied.

I’d like to end this statement by thanking Chris Colfer for inspiring me to pursue this career and Chris, if you’re reading this, I just want to tell you that I love your work and I support you and I hope we get to meet each other one day.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

* * * *

wow that was a long one and I loved this!! I’m really really proud of this one so I hoped y’all liked it <3

𝐓𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @abrielleholland​​​​​​​ @peachmaybnx​​​​​​​ @superheroesaremytea​​​​​​​ @ella-whyte

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @marvelousell​​​���​​​ @justasmisunderstoodasloki​​​​​​​ @rubberducky-jrr​​​​​​​ @petersholland​​​​​ @osterfieldnholland​​​​​ @miraclesoflove​

[charliejrogers]

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Review & Analysis

What a weird, wonderful movie. Miracle on 34th Street is quite possibly the oddest Christmas movie I’ve ever seen. In part this is due to the fact that some stuff just doesn’t age well. How many old, strange men are you willing to let your seven-year-old daughter hang out alone with, Ms. Doris Walker?! But also it’s weird because because despite its typical Christmas-movie themes of faith/belief, true love, family, etc… it’s a wholly unique film that doubles as a legal drama!

This was my first viewing of the perennial classic, a film which started as a story by Valentine Davies and was adapted for the screen and then subsequently directed by George Seaton. Though baptized a Roman Catholic, Seaton himself grew up in a Jewish neighborhood of Detroit. He even had a bar mitzvah. I wonder how much of Seaton’s upbringing affected the final product we see. The central theme of holding faith in something that doesn’t make sense to those around you probably resonated strongly for the director who as a kid who became interested in a religion that was foreign to both of his Swedish immigrant parents.

From a direction standpoint, it’s fairly by the books and of its time, with a few notable exceptions, one being the opening credits sequence which shows a lone man walking slowly about the NYC streets from behind. He’s dressed in all black and we have no idea who he could be. He could literally be anyone in the world. Then all of a sudden, like magic, his face is revealed: the man we’re following is Santa Claus! Or, at least it looks a whole lot like him. What is Santa Claus doing in New York? Is this even Santa Claus?

These are questions that end up being central to the movie and just straight up never get answered. I loved that writing choice. The writing is the first of the film’s three big stars. This film won the Oscar for both best story and best adapted screenplay and it deserves every ounce of those awards. The story is so sublimely clever. Put shortly, the movie is about a man who claims to be Santa Claus and due to his uncanny resemblance to the jolly holiday figure, his natural aptitude for talking to children, and his almost savant-like knowledge of toy stores in Manhattan, he gets hired to be the mall Santa for Macy’s flagship Manhattan store. However, not everyone is as convinced that he is the real Kris Kringle. Certainly the Macy’s company psychologist does not. An uptight and unpleasant man, he (like others) thinks Kringle is utterly delusional but (unlike others) he also thinks these delusions presage future violence whenever inevitably others may challenge Kringle on this delusion. The psychologist thus schemes to get Mr. Kringle committed to *cue thunderclaps* Bellevue!

What ensues is a legal battle. I can’t imagine any other Christmas movie whose climax ends in a courtroom but it’s an incredibly satisfying thing to watch. We have the idealistic lawyer, Mr. Fred Gailey, who believes that Kringle, while clearly delusional, poses no actual threat to the community and actually does the community a great service in spreading kindness. Nevertheless, has to prove that Mr. Kringle is legally THE Mr. Kringle lest Kringle spend the rest of his life in the looney bin. Note… I have a very healthy and “modern” view of mental health, and would never use the term “looney bin” to describe today’s mental health hospital… but I use the term here because the images we get in the film of Bellevue’s inpatient psych ward are of sedated men in all-white clothing… in other words the movie certainly thinks of being in a psych ward as a looney bin, which adds a bit of dramatic tension to the story.

There’s certainly some not-so-subtle condemnation of psychology going on this movie (at least of the kind practiced by the Macy’s psychologist, Mr. Sawyer (a snivelling Porter Hall)). This was coming at a time when increasingly science was taking the place of religion, so it makes sense that psychology would be an enemy in a movie about faith and clinging to things that don’t make sense. The trial over the existence of Santa Claus almost serves as an inverse Scopes Monkey trial; Kringle even ironically compares his lawyer to Clarence Darrow, the lawyer on behalf of science.

What this movie nails so absolutely perfectly is that honestly… I don’t know if Kringle really isn’t Santa Claus. I’m not claiming that Santa exists in the real world, but in the world of this film, it’s really not obvious whether the film leans one way or another. That’s an ambiguity that tends to make art shine when it’s present. We see through Gailey’ legal maneuvering that the legal defense for Santa Claus’ existence is tenuous at best. At one point he calls the prosecutor’s child to the witness stand to argue that Santa Claus must be real since that is what his Dad (the prosecutor) has always told him. Therefore it seems like the film’s psychological explanations are probably the most likely. Yet at the same time… when a little Dutch girl comes to see Santa at Macy’s because she can “just tell” he’s the real Santa… why else would Kringle know Dutch songs about Santa off the top of his head? Why does an old man who lives in an old folk’s home on Long Island know so much about Manhattan’s toy stores?

And then there’s the more practical questions about Santa lore. Why is Santa in New York? He says he was born in the North Pole… so why did he leave? If he’s real, then why does he need to direct parents on where to buy the best toys? Is it merely that the world has outgrown him?

There’s also a whole economic piece of the script that I won’t even fully touch on. But basically Kringle in attempt to do right by parents, doesn’t merely recommend toys from the Macy’s toy department, but lets them know about better deals on toys that are located in stores elsewhere in Manhattan, including those that are rivals of Macy’s! This policy is such a hit with customers, it ushers in a revolution in department store policy, with department stores across the nation vying to extend more goodwill to customers. As I said, there’s something in there about the power of the free market and how capitalism doesn’t have to be evil... but I’ll leave it there and return to the central questions of the film. Like... does Santa Claus exist?

I don’t know! But the film raises really interesting questions and just leaves them there for us to sit with. Everything that the film tells us points us to the common sense conclusion that this man is NOT the genuine Jolly fellow… yet we want to believe there’s something more and that’s what makes this film so special. We literally as the audience go through the same mental charades as the characters in the film.

Thus far, I’ve attributed this brilliance to the plot, but there’s another absolutely vital element: the performance by Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle. This guy deserves every ounce of his Oscar for his performance. There’s not a second that he’s on screen that he doesn’t ooze charisma and charm. This whole movie would fall apart were it not for him, good plotting be damned, since we need to believe, even for mere fits and flitters, that this man is Santa Claus.

Never is he more convincing than when he interacts with children. There’s the absolutely magical scene with the little Dutch girl I mentioned above, but it’s when Kringle chats with little Susan Walker (played to heart-melting perfection by nine-year-old actor Natalie Wood whose got a stink face that never ceased to make me chuckle) that this movie achieves greatness. Though the trial scenes put the theme of faith vs. psychology at the forefront, the real heart of this movie is the conflict of faith vs. practicality. Little Susan is raised by her mother (and her Black nanny/house-caretaker who gets depressingly little credit… or screentime), and her mother Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) is a thoroughly practical women. She’s a high-up exec at Macy’s, and seemingly one of the only women to be in such a position. As such, she’s a unique character for her time. Rigidly pragmatic, she eschews any and all attempts at fun and imagination for her daughter (as well as for herself). We get the sense that a different film, a different story, might dive deep into Walker’s struggles as a single mother in the 1940’s trying to be taken seriously in the business world. In a sense, she’s a forerunner to Faye Dunaway’s character in Network. She was clearly hurt by romance in the past (she and her husband divorced, which I imagine was rather scandalous at the time), and this fear of getting hurt by romance is what compels her to teach her daughter to avoid the stuff completely.

Clearly, there’s some cool gendered stuff going on here. Imagination, romance, faith: these are all things that are stereotypically more female-coded, while business, pragmatism are more male-coded. You inherit your father’s name but your mother’s religion as the old tradition went. And in our society at least, the latter (pragmatism/business) is supposed to make you successful and get you places… the former (faith/romance) does not. Yet in this movie, we have idealism and romance of our male lawyer Fred Gailey (John Payne) and the pragmatism of our female businesswoman Doris Walker. It’s a fun play on typical gender norms, but more interesting is to see how this duality plays out in the development of little Susan under the dual influences of her mother and the combination of Misters Gailey & Kringle.

Natalie Wood goes down in the pantheon of all-time great child actors, up there with the kid from Kramer vs. Kramer. She’s precocious but not in a way that’s off-putting. The way she evaluates the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in such a matter-of-fact way is hilarious, and as I mentioned the stink eye she gives Kringle when he tries to tell her that he’s Santa is nothing short of perfect. Over the course of the film, we see her more harsh nature melt away and she becomes a kid. It’s a beautiful reminder of that childhood only comes once in a lifetime. If this movie shows us nothing, it’s how hard it is to maintain a sense of levity once one becomes an adult. We have to start worrying about what our bosses might think, what the press/public might think, what voters(!) might think. Never again will it be fully OK to have your heads in the clouds and believe in nonsense, so why take that away from children.

As much as this is a perfect film, I could have done without the romance plot. Mostly because it seems unnecessary. Doris seems to change in her attitudes towards Kringle and towards raising her daughter that constitute enough character growth thata having her all of a sudden fall head over heels for Gailey just seems forced. For that matter… Gailey’s a weird dude. This movie romanticizes a weird, creepy type of romance where Gailey spends time with a small girl just to get time with that girl’s mother. Walker and Gailey are such opposites and share no on-screen chemistry, that I just didn’t buy the plot.

But that’s OK. It’s a small blemish on an otherwise wonderful film. It hits different emotions than, say, It’s A Wonderful Life, but it’s magical all that same, and one that I can actually imagine children wanting to watch. It’s unceasingly clever plot, matched by a once-in-a-lifetime performance by Edmund Gween as Kris Kringle and a great child actor performance from Wood make this a must-see movie for any holiday movie fan.

***/ (Three and a half out of four stars)

[writer-at-heart96]

When the stars align - Chapter 1

Sat next to Emilia and Kit, she'd never imagined she'd ever sit here. Even after four years of living this life, of being as famous as she'd become. Sure she'd attended the Academy awards for the first time last year. But even then she'd never have expected to be sat here the following year as one of the nominees.

Four and a half years around New years during her final year of her nursing student she'd finally published to of her then finished books. And they'd taken her on a whirlwind story so far. She'd published books, become a successful actress, philanthropist, spokeswoman, successful author and writer for movies.

One of the people who she wrote most often with was Kit, they were the current dream team. As once Dan and Dave had been for Game of Thrones had been. They'd shot themselves in the foot by the worst ever ending for the best TV series ever. George was a mentor of a sort to her and he'd been the one to put her in contact with the Game of Thrones cast and how Emilia came to be one of her best friends. Kit was like the bigger brother she'd never had and her partner when it came to writing.

"And now presenting the academy awards for best original screenplay, Morgan Freeman." the announcer called out as she turned to look at Kit with a nervous smile. The pressure was on for them both. Alexis had won countless awards by now for her writing ability, she had no doubt in her ability to write anymore.

But still, an academy award would be the top of everything as she turned back to the stage as they finished running through the nominees.

"and the Academy awards for Best Original Screenplay goes to..." Morgan paused as he opened the envelope as Kit took her hand in his. "The nation's Crussador, Kit Harrington and Alexis Mertens." he called out as she turned to Kit with a stunned expression to which he only let out a chuckle, before pulling her up. "come on sis," he whispered in her ear as he gave her a hug. Placing her hand in the crook of Kit's elbow they walked to the stage, careful that she didn't trip over her gown, that would just be her luck as she accepted the award.

"First of all, we want to thank the people who've been able to turn the script we wrote into such a brilliant movie. A script is only as good as how the actors portray it, so thanks for making the characters we made come to life. To the people who've supported us through the years." Kit started as she stood to his side as she gave him a small nod for him to continue. When they'd been nominated they'd laughed and joked about it.

Then last week they'd sat together, realising they might actually win this. Their movie had gotten award after award in lots of categories, and they'd figured what they'd say together.

"When we started writing this story, the only thing we said to each other was that we wanted something than what we were used to." Kit chuckled, looking back at Alexis as she let out a chuckle, whilst tilting her head in amusement. "I think we've made accomplished to do that." he chuckled as he turned back to the crowd, finishing up his speech before they were whisked away to the back to talk to the world's press.

"I still can't believe it," Alexis whispered as they made their way to their seats. "Start believing it." Kit teased her as he nudged her side and she rolled her eyes. She couldn't sit still for long as she and Emilia had to present an award as the Targaryen rulers. This summer the final instalment of Ages of Conquest was going to air and she couldn't be happier. Four years of hard work on a Prequel Game of Thrones movie. She was mostly finished, just a few more pick up's and than she could officially hang up her wig of Visenya Targaryen.

"Maybe we'll finally find you a guy." Emilia teased her s they waited to be called on stage. "I doubt that'll ever happen," she told her with a shake of her head. Even though she and Henry had broken up about eight months ago, she wasn't ready to go out there yet. They'd been co-stars on Age of Conquests, him playing her brother and her husband. They'd only lasted less than a year, it didn't seem he understood the work she put in. She had done so many movies already in such a short span of time, but she wanted to prove herself, not only as an actress but as a writer and more. She had two organisations, ECIAS was celebrating its third birthday soon and RISE was going to be turning two in April. Both were causes close to her chest for different reasons.

Though they were run by others and capable people for her, she still knew what happened there and was updated every fortnight. Then she had her publishers breathing down her back, which lessened in the last few months since she ripped them a new one. she'd published seven books in under five years and no small ones either. She'd told them that if they wanted books worthy of being sold they'd have to wait. They'd become very rich from her books, not that she wasn't rich either from them. She was headed to being a billionaire from all her work. But still, she put a lot of work in everything. For a movie she was shooting now she'd gotten her helicopter license which she just loved. For another one, Mission Impossible seven she'd gotten her biking license and so it went on. The next movie to shoot was a sequel to one she'd shot with Emilia and Emma: Eden's treasure two.

"You can't stay single forever." Emilia tried, now that she'd found happiness with Scott, after all the failed relationships she was putting pressure on her to get the same. She'd introduced Scott and Emilia about two years ago when she'd shot a movie with him called Toff guys. She'd just broken up when she'd dragged her to a cast dinner and they'd hit it right off. And now two years later they were happily together and living together in England.

"I know, I'm just not ready I think. I have such a hectic life Emilia, maybe I shouldn't be getting with anyone, it's what broke us up in the first place," she told her as Emilia nudged her shoulder. "You deserve it more than anyone," she told her as they were called on the stage.

***

"Oh please." Alexis snickered as she lifted the flute of champagne to her mouth. "What, come on admit it you find him hot as shit." Emilia tried as Alexis threw her head back in full blown laughter, getting the attention of few people close by at the afterparty. "Fine, I'll admit," Alexis smirked at her as Emilia grinned at her mischieviously. "Why don't you go up to the Avengers, I think they might be looking for a goddess of mischief." she teased her best friend and now it was her turn to start laughing.

"I always thought you found me hot." Emilia grinned as both of them laughed when Kit walked up to them with a frightened look. "What are the two of you to planning on doing?" he asked them with a fearful glint in his eyes. Whenever those two got together, which was a lot since they were best friends they always got up to something. The last time he was with them at an event they'd told the press to ask him if he'd ever kissed a guy. they always got up to mischief and the laughing and teasing looks in their eyes, well it had him a little wary.

"You're scared of us." Emilia pointed out with a small wave of her hand. "With good reason, I've known you for 15 years Emilia and Alexis for almost four and a half years and you've been best friends since then. You two are always up to something, it's like Sophie and Maisie." he compared the two pairs of best friends as both Emilia and Alexis raised their brows at him, before looking at one another conspiringly.

"That's my cue to get out of here before the two of you get up something with me at the end of it," he told them as he pointed his finger at the two of them as he wrapped his arms around his pregnant wife and walked off. "Chicken," Alexis called out after him as he flapped his arms like a chicken as she rolled her eyes. It was so much fun to rile him up and it was so easy to do. Certainly, when she and Emilia were together, they tended to get up to trouble. "Excuse me." Alexis apologised when she bumped into someone and she immediately felt a pair of arms steady her.

"No trouble at all, it's you." the voice said as she turned to look at Chris Evans with a cheeky grin on his face. "yes, it's me." she chuckled with a smile on her face. "congrats on the award tonight." he congratulated her as she gave him a soft smile. "thanks it was a team effort, Kit and I only made the script, the cast made it comes alive," she told him as he tilted her head at her with studious face.

"Still, you guys did a pretty good job with that script." he complimented her as she gave him a sheepish smile, her cheeks reddening. "Thank you," she whispered to him as he nodded his head. "Want to have another drink?" he asked as she took a subtle look of where Emilia and the rest of her friends were, they were all scattered and talking as she nodded her head.

"Sure." she smiled, nodding her head as the turned to walk towards the bar, him following her as she ordered a Bellini and he a beer.

"I really like your work, by the way, I think you're an incredible writer and author." he told her as they went to sit on one of the lounches outside beneath the Christmas lights. "thank you, I put a lot of work and effort into it, I'm glad you enjoy it as much as I had making it and writing it," she told him with a tiny smile as she adjusted the slit of her gown so she wasn't flashing anything as she pulled her other leg underneath her. With all the camera's gone and the attention, she could finally let her hair down. She loved what she did, don't get her wrong and her fame gave her all she had, her career opportunities, the voice in which she advocated a lot of things for.

But she wasn't an attention seeker, it was great when she needed it for work and things she supported. But outside of that, she was still the shy, geeky, sheepish, uncertain person, at the core she was still the very same person she'd always been. She wanted to remain grounded and not float, she'd seen how it shouldn't be and she never wanted to be one of those people to disrespect others cause she had a great job and lots of money. She remembered her roots and where she came from and it had basically been from nothing.

And right now though she was surrounded by all the celebrities, she'd gotten used to being surrounded by them. It had taken her quite a while and sometimes she was still star struck. But she could hide it better, but right now all she wanted to do was put her feet up, have a drink, celebrate tonight and relax.

"there you are cap." she heard a voice behind her say and she turned around to face most of the Avengers cast. "And it seems you got a lovely woman's attention." Robert teased them as she ducked her head sheepishly. "It's very lovely to meet you." they all greeted her as she replied in the same sentence. "congrats on tonight's award," they told her as she thanked them. "It was a team effort," she told them with certainty in her voice.

"You writing anything at the moment?" Scarlett asked her as she lifted her new drink to her lips. "I probably should get started on my books, but I can't seem to get myself to sit down to do the research. I think a small break from them is in order and besides that not really anything concrete yet. Kit and I are meeting up next week at home to see if we can come up with a new script." she explained to them as she thought of her house in the English countryside, she loved it there. It was so green and beautiful, she had a beautiful property. It was a private place and she loved spending time there by herself or having friends and family over.

"Already a new one." Mark chuckled as she shrugged her shoulders. "Of course, we don't go long without writing together. We understand each other when it comes to writing and we understand what we're working towards. I've worked together with Kit, writing together for four years now and if we don't write for two months it's a rarity." she explained to them as she rested her glass on her knee.

"You mostly write with Kit?" Luke asked her as she nodded her head. "When I'm not writing by myself, I write with Kit," she explained to them as she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Emilie there. "Hey guys." she greeted everyone, before looking back down at her best friend. "I'm not feeling too well, I'm going to head back to the hotel," she told Alicia as she started to get up. "You want me to come along? what's wrong?" she asked her with a tilt of her head. "just my stomach and no stay here, do you have the keycard to our suite?" Emilia asked her friend as she watched her open her clutch to check it out. "Yes I've got it with me," she reassured her. "Great, I'll see you tomorrow morning," she told her as she said goodbye, promising to catch up with those she knew later on and then she was off. "You two really are best friends." Scarlett pointed out as Alicia nodded her head. "Yes, We're pretty close and I'm glad to have had her for so many things," Alicia admitted to herself and to the people around her.

She was incredibly lucky to have her best friend, she'd taught her a hell of a lot about acting and so much else. she was a true friend, something which was hard to come by and she looked forward to being her maid of honour at her wedding in May to Scott.

Sure she still had friends home in Belgium, close friends, but they could never understand the life she now lived.

"Would you like to write for the avengers?" one of the producers asked her as she turned to look at him with a thoughtful look on her face. "I don't know, maybe given a chance, but knowing me I won't be loyal to the comics at all, I've never even read them," she told them with a chuckle as they waved it off. "You have brilliant ideas of your own, I'm sure you could make it work." The guy told her as she tilted her head to the side. "I wouldn't be against it let's keep it at that," she told them as they all gave her curious looks, to have her write for them. One of the two biggest writers at the moment, her and Kit. Well, that would certainly be something to take a hold of with both hands.

"How long are you in LA for?" the producer asked her as she took a sip of her glass. "Four more days," she told them as they nodded their heads. "Maybe we could come to London?" he suggested as she shook her head. "I'm heading for Ireland and then I'll be in Dubrovnik for the pick up's for conquests," she explained to them with an apologetic tone and look on her face. "I could come by tomorrow or the few days I'm still here if you'd want that." she offered up to them as they nodded their heads as they exchanged numbers. they'd be calling her tomorrow morning with when the best time would be to meet up.

It wasn't much longer than the bosses ran off and the kids could play as she always called it. Everyone always behaved till the producers were gone and then things went loose.

Kit had come to say goodbye not much later, wanting to return to the hotel with Pregnant Rose. "We'll see each other soon sis," he told her as he kissed her cheek as she said goodbye to her two good friends. "So you might come aboard MCU?" Chris asked her after some thought he'd extended his contract to play Captain America a bit longer. And now that Alicia might be writing on it, well it was just another confirmation that he needed to do this. "Yes, don't know what though," she told him as she gave him a small smile, still sat on the place they'd sat on. His castmates and friends had dispersed now as well as they kept talking.

"I'm sure that whatever you do, it'll be amazing," he commented as she gave him a sheepish smile. "Thanks," she whispered as he nodded to her glass. "Another one?" he asked her as she shook her head. "No thank you, I better get back, if they're going to call me tomorrow morning," she told him, it was already four in the morning and she wanted to be clear-headed when they did call.

"oh, I'd love to have talked a bit more," he told her with an honest tone, he'd been fascinated by this young woman since she started making a name for herself. First with her books, then as an actress and screenwriter. She was a multiversed person and there wasn't a person who hadn't wanted to talk to her tonight, people had come over to her all night. Interrupting their quiet fascinating and amazing chat.

"You've got my number," she told him with a cheeky grin on her face. "Why don't we go out to dinner tomorrow? Emilia can come with, it'll be nice to catch up," he suggested as she thought about it for a moment and figured why not. "Sure, send me a text with the details," she told him as she got up and he helped her as she gave him a tiny smile. "I had a lot of fun talking tonight," she told him as he nodded his head at her.

***

Chris: 'Up yet?' came to his text as she stepped inside of her suite, Emilia was sat on the couch, looking at something on her computer.

"How was it?" Emilia asked, looking up from where she was reading a new script. "Great, I'll be writing the next Avengers movie," she told her, still in disbelief, those movies were huge, to be writing for them, it was a very daunting task. She hoped to be up to the task, all actors had extended their contracts and were looking forward to the next Avengers movie. She still had to think about what she would write about. LA wasn't a good writing environment, it didn't work for her so she'd have to get started on it once she reached Belfast. And then she hoped not to disappoint the people she'd met last night and the people having faith in her. So far she'd only written two movie scripts all by herself, this would be her third. talk about pressure and she wasn't sure if she'd be able to do live up to the name she'd made for herself. Her brain was already running full speed ahead and she was starting to think that this might not have been the smartest either. Thanos had been such a great villain, to outlive that one, well she wasn't sure if she'd be able to do it. They'd assured her that they could find out a new villain behind a lot of conspiracy, leading up to another end game in a way. But still, it didn't give her much comfort and she was starting to get worried.

'Yes, just came back from the meeting, get to write next Avengers movie.' she texted Chris back before she forgot, she knew how distracted she tended to come and replying to messages could sometimes last hours.

"You'll do fine, you can't write a bad story," Emilia told her as Alicia gave her a doubtful look, before putting her stuff down in her bedroom. "So you coming to dinner?" she asked her as she sat down next to her best friend. "Hell no, a hot guy like Chris Evans asks you out for dinner and I would have to tag along. No way no hell, this is your chance," she told her as Alicia let her head drop back on the backrest with a groan.

"Emilia, stop setting me up, the only thing I can seem to be good at is career making. I'm not meant for happiness in my private life," she told her with a shake of her head. It's what it felt like at least when it came to her career, well many things could be said about it, but not that she didn't have a brilliant career.

When it came to her personal life, not that she'd gone through a list of guys, only one. She was pretty old fashioned when it came to relationships and she hadn't wanted to focus on a relationship when it would end badly again. Henry and Jens before him, nothing would ever work out for her when it came to her love life.

"Yes you are Li if one deserves to be happy and in love, it's you," she told her as she turned to look out the window behind them. "Just go out and enjoy an evening with a handsome and hot guy." Emilia tried as Alicia turned to look at her best friend when her phone buzzed.

Chris: 'Great, can't wait to read with what you come up with. You up for Italian?' came the questions and half a minute later came. 'Is Emilia joining us?'

"See I was even an afterthought, he wants you to have dinner with, not me." Emilia pointed out and she couldn't really deny that as she turned back to her phone. "Sounds great and no, she won't be able to make it," Alicia replied as she went to get her computer to start some research.

'Great, I'll pick you up, at the Waldorf right?' came the question. "Yes," she replied. "I'll pick you up at seven." cames his reply as she checked the clock to see it was only two in the afternoon, so she could still work for four more hours.

"Li, shouldn't you be getting ready?" she heard Emilia's voice say all of a sudden to her left. "I still got time," she told her as she continued to type on her laptop. "Yea, it's 6:15, Chris will be here in 45 minutes," Emilia told her with an amused sing a song tone as Alicia looked at the time and realised she'd just worked for four hours without realising it. "Crap," she called out, saving the document, closing her laptop and running to the bathroom in her room. "You couldn't have said anything earlier?" she called out to her best friend still in their living room as Emilia sat on the couch shaking her head in amusement. Only Alicia could be so entranced and occupied in thought to forget the time.

She'd seen her do it countless times whenever they shared a room. Which they tended to do when they had to go somewhere together. Mostly it was a suite with two bedrooms, they were best friends, had seen each other naked and knew each other's secrets. At times they'd even shared a bed when a suite hadn't been available. She could literally say that she knew her best friend well and could predict most of the things she'd do, and since Alicia was pretty unpredictable, that was an achievement in itself.

"What am I even going to wear?" Alicia asked herself as she rushed to get ready, washing her hair, shaving her legs and armpits, washing her body in record time. Wrapped in a towel, she dried her hair with another towel and let it to air dry whilst she brushed her teeth and applied the tiniest bit of makeup. She wasn't one that liked wearing make up a lot, for an event like the Oscars last night, then she'd wear makeup. Now it was only a bit of eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss, nothing else. Pulling her hair back from her face she did a knot at the back of her head and went to find out what she was going to wear. She still had 15 minutes to go, thank god for that, she looked to her right when she heard Emilia laughing. "hurricane Alicia is in the house." she teased her, the nickname she'd earned herself.

Since Alicia her mind ran up to a thousand miles an hour at times, she was called that. In a span of five minutes she could come up with subjects that weren't even closely related that it didn't make sense, but somehow she managed to connect the dots. She was able to go from writing to acting to doing other stuff, that's why she'd been given the nickname hurricane. Not that she minded at all, but looking around her room, it had been a mess before, it was even worse now.

"You should help me instead of laughing at me," she told her with a nervous chuckle as Emilia took pity on her and walked over to a dress lying on the floor. "This one, you'll look beautiful in it." Emilia told her as she eyed the dress doubtfully. "a part of my stomach is going to be bare." she told her, she didn't want Chris to get the wrong impression. Yes, last night, their conversation had been refreshing and amazing, but she didn't want to read to much into it either. And that dress in her mind did exactly that.

"Put it on," Emilia told her as she pushed it into Alicia's hands and she pulled off her towel, found the right bra to put on, her knickers she'd already had on and put on the dress. "You look incredible." Emilia told her as she looked at her best friend and hoped that she could return the favour she'd done for her two and a half years ago. The reason why she was getting married in three months time to an amazing man. And Chris, she knew him from previous encounters, if someone would be able to keep Alicia's attention and mind at bay, it would be him. The more she thought about it, the better it actually sounded and seemed. "Now go down and have fun." she told her as she nudged her out of their room with five minutes to spare she arrived at the lobby.

'I'm outside.' came the text from Chris as she went to look for him. She found him standing beside a Lexus car. "Hey, you look beautiful," he told her as she went to kiss his cheek. "Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself." she smiled as he held her door open to get in the car. "didn't want to disappoint," he told her as she slid in the car and he closed the door.

He knew that this wasn't just dinner and wanted to make sure that it was okay with her before they left the curb. So when he got inside of his car, he turned to look at her. "I probably should have said this earlier, but I'd like this to be more of a date than dinner." he told her as he looked at her, she looked so beautiful, the bare amount of make up. "you okay with that?" he asked her as she looked at him with a small smile on her lips. "it is," she reassured him, resting her hand on his that rested on the console between them. "Great." he grinned at her as he turned in his seat and drove them towards the restaurant.

"Really?" she asked with a surprised tone to learn that he'd spend nearly four weeks in India with Buddhist monks. "Yea really." he chuckled as she tilted her head to the side with an interesting look. "Must have been eye-opening I imagine," she noted and it was the first time that he got that response when he told someone. "Oh definitely, our head monk, at the time I had such a noisy head." he told her as he looked up at her from across the table. "and I always wanted to talk and talk and he'd say shhh, every time. I learned how to just be with my thoughts and like you said it was eye opening and life changing for me." he told her, wanting to tell her. They'd been at the restaurant for two hours already and they didn't want the night to end as he got to know her and she got to know him.

Never in his entire life had he felt such an instant and right connection than with her. Sure there had been situations close to it, but none as with Alicia. When she looked at him, it felt like she was stripping him naked and not in the wrong sense. But that she stripped him naked in understanding him, in getting him what he was saying. And he had a feeling that it was the same for her by some of the looks that she gave him.

For Alicia, though she didn't want to believe it and fought it, that feeling in the pit of her stomach. It only grew throughout the night, not once had a person got her as Chris did. Sure Emilia was her best friend and understood her better than most people in her life. But with Chris, it felt different like he saw through her, something no other person had ever made her feel. It made her feel vulnerable and dare she say exposed. She loved the saying the stars were aligned when her career finally started to come through. She might have to say the same in years to come about this moment.

"I could probably use that," she admitted with a chuckle as Chris tilted his head with a smile on his lips. "The mind of a writer?" he asked her as she nodded her head. He couldn't understand what she did, he admired her, respected her for what she did. Loved her work, for every word she manages to put down and make stories come to life in the only way she could. But he couldn't imagine what it must be like in her head. "sometimes I feel like my mind is miles ahead of me and I'm left to catch up." she explained to him with a shrug of her shoulders and small shake of her head.

"you meditate?" he asked her as she shook her head at him. "I don't have much patience for that I think. I think my mind just doesn't know how to be quiet," she explained with a smile on her face. "I'd suggest going to India." he teased her as she nodded her head. "Buddism has always fascinated me, maybe that's the way my mind can finally slow down a bit. I've already learned to say no," she admitted as he tilted his head at her in question.

"When my books first came out, I was in my final year of nursing school, I had five more months to go and then I was finished. By the time I graduated they'd already taken over the world by storm. I was under such pressure to get it right, to produce the next big novel, the sequel everyone wanted to read. Reviews and opinions from all over the world came in. So I pushed myself, then I had the chance of living a childhood dream and do another form of story telling by acting. I kept saying yes cause the chances were so good and I wasn't sure if I'd ever get them again. My publisher was on the phone every day demanding to see more of me. a few months ago I finally caved a bit under all the pressure, only Emilia and a few other close friends know. And I knew that always saying yes was going to be undoing of my health. I already regret pushing the four books I've published since the first three came out. I should have taken my time with them as I did with the three first one's." she explained to him as he nodded his head for her to continue.

"I finally told my publisher that if she wanted to settle for bad stories she should continue pushing me. George had a chat with them and told them to back off that good stories could only be written when taken the time for them," she explained to him as he gave her a small smile.

"so you finally said no." he pointed out as she nodded her head. "I did, now I finally have some breathing space again. I'm letting Ganuura and the M'Ark for what they are at the moment, they need some time to breathe as I say, so I can mull them over in my mind. no more pressure from now on." she admitted as she looked up from where she was wiping away an invisible thread.

"I'm glad you did, I can't imagine having to be under that amount of pressure. Sure I have contracts and commitments, but my manager doesn't call me every day to get it done and ready," he told her as he slowly reached out to cover her hand with his. "Neither is mine now, I'm sure my manager now gets most of the calls and she's a very capable woman of telling them off if need be," she told him with a chuckle as he finally took her hand in his and they looked down at their heads as they felt the small shock go through them.

Their moment was broken however when the waiter arrived with their dessert. forest fruit cheese cake for Alicia and Chris moelleux. "So one with a sweet tooth?" she teased him with a cheeky grin in his direction as he let out a sheepish chuckle. "Yes, I have a sweet tooth, although yours doesn't look too bad either," he told her, looking at her plate as she motioned her hand towards it. "Want to try it?" she offered as he gave her a questioning look to which she nodded. Reaching over he took a spoon of what she was having and he had to agree, it did taste amazing. "want to switch?" he asked her with a cheeky grin as she let out a chuckle and tucked a strand of hair that had come lose behind her ear.

"I think that's our cue to leave," Alicia admitted, she'd been having such fun, talking and getting to know Chris, they'd lost sight of time. Everyone around them was already gone, they were the only two left at the restaurant. The lights in the kitchen had just gone out and yet neither of them had wanted to leave yet. "Too bad, I could have stayed a bit longer," he told her as he motioned for the waiter to bring the bill. "Me too," she admitted, which even surprised herself at this point.

"Let me," she told him as they discussed who was going to pay the bill. "Let me," he told her, covering her hand that rested above the bill. Looking in his eyes she finally nodded her head and pulled her hand away. When they got out of the restaurant, the night had cooled significantly and she cursed herself not to have brought a jacket as she shivered a little.

"Cold?" he asked her as he started to shrug off his blazer. "A little it's fine," she assured him when she felt him warm jacket being draped over her shoulders. "Thank you," she whispered, looking at him he nodded his head, fighting the urge to wrap his arm around her and pull her closer.

Opening her side again, she slid in his car. "You free tomorrow?" he asked her as he started the car. "I have a meeting and an audition in the morning, I should be free after noon," she explained to him as he nodded his head. "Want to do something together?" he asked her as she nodded her head. "I'd like that," she whispered, her head turned in his direction.

Though he'd have wanted to kiss her, he didn't want to do it yet, he wanted to wait till tomorrow. He wasn't sure what he was going to get up to, but he wanted to spend more time with her, wanted to see if what they had tonight could be continued tomorrow.

Walking her to her door of the suite she was staying in, she slid in the key card. "You want to come in?" she asked him, opening the door to see the living room in darkness, at least Emilia was asleep. "I shouldn't," he told her with a small shake of his head. "Okay," she whispered, not being able to hide the slightly disappointed tone in her voice.

He'd intended to just walk her to the door and nothing else, but hearing that tone and the look in her eyes. He walked up to her so they were just hidden from the cameras in the hallway and in the small entrance of her suite. Looking up at him, his head slightly bend she hesitated slightly to rest her hand on his chest as they leant closer to each other. Their breaths mingling with each other as the space between their lips got smaller and smaller. Their eyes connected, just before they closed and their lips connected, his stubble brushing against her skin as their lips met in a soft peck and another without breaking away. His hand coming to cup her cheek in his hand as he kissed her lips again.

Never had felt something as right as this to both of them. Just the slight brush of their lips, a small kiss. "I should go," he whispered, resting his head against hers, her head still cupped in his hand as she nodded her head slightly. "I'll see you tomorrow, I'll pick you up at 1," he told her as she nodded her head. He pecked her lips one final time and then he was out of the door, pulling himself away from a night he'd never thought to get to experience. Alicia let herself fall back against the wall beside the door, her hand on her chest. trying to calm her heart. "I saw that." said a voice that nearly made her jump through the roof.

Amelia’s outfits 

Amelia at the oscars 

Amelia dinner with Chris 

Alicia's Instagram. (I try my best to edit pictures, but logically I can't them all to precision so when a picture meets the requirements I'll use that instead of a pic with the real people. It's all about the idea behind it :-p) 

Amelia’s wikipedia Page 

[reblogthiscrapkay]

Some Thoughts on “Hadestown” and the Tony Awards

I do not claim to be an oracle of who will win the Tonys but here are my ideas, culled from a lot of time spent online reading hot takes and the smaller theater award winners, discussions with my two biggest theater friends who I have been discussing theater with for over 12 years, and also brief chatting with an acquittance who is Tony-nominated adjacent (one day, she will have her own instead of just getting mentioned in speeches!).

Here are what I think the odds are of "Hadestown" winning Tonys.

Best Musical

"Hadestown" has a really good chance of winning but it is by no means guaranteed. Mostly everyone thinks it's going to come down to "Hadestown" or "Tootsie." No one is talking about "Ain't Too Proud", "Beetlejuice" doesn't seem to be a viable candidate (described by my friend as fun but nothing to write home about), and "The Prom" seems to only be really endorsed by the New York Times writers who have an unreasonable amount of power when it comes to what goes to Broadway (they are why "Hadestown" got changed so much and why "Fortress of Solitude," the best musical you've never heard of, never went to Broadway) but not necessarily the deciding vote.

The thing here is really whether the voters want to go safe and traditional with "Tootsie" or new and unique with "Hadestown." In the past few years, they have definitely tended towards the new and unique, but they also have a clear bias against sung-through musicals (see 2017 when "Come From Away" won Best Director but lost Best Musical to "Dear Evan Hansen" in spite of doing really well at the smaller awards). "Hamilton" is a recent exception to this but "Hamilton" was an exception in so many ways.

Overall "Hadestown" is the better show. Both shows have issues with their books but "Tootsie" is tighter and also less interesting. And "Hadestown" has vastly better music. Personally, I'll be surprised if "Tootsie" wins but these kinds of things have happened before.

Best Director

Basically everyone seems to say it will be Rachel Chavkin even if they don't think "Hadestown" will win best musical, and this is very interesting to me as someone who knows a bit more about the interworkings of the Oscars than the Tonys. The Oscars have done this weird and possibly bad thing a lot over the last few years where they give Best Direction to the most artistic and interesting film but Best Picture to whatever movie they enjoyed the most. Last year this was painfully obvious with Alfonso Curon winning for his direction for "Roma" but "Green Book" winning Best Picture. The Tonys don't do this as they usually give both to the same show or they give direction to a revival that will then win Best Revival. But again, 2017 this changed.

That being said "Oklahoma!" seems like the only real competitor here and if Daniel Fish wins over Rachel, I'd be okay with it. "Oklahoma!" was a revelation (and better win Best Revival over "Kiss Me Kate").

Best Book

Here's one where I think "Hadestown" is likely to lose. First of all, the book of "Hadestown" is messy. I love "Hadestown," it's probably my favorite musical of all time, but the book is messy. There are places that are overexplained and a lot of imbalance in how the themes are woven into the story (while still being totally brillant but yeah). There are things that should have been fixed in all the transfers, but they weren't, and it started to feel a bit like writing wack-a-mole following this show since the New York Theatre Workshop.

Also a lot of people find "Hadestown" confusing, which is a problem, but I find this is often a problem of people not being good readers more than anything having to do with the show.

Additionally, Tony voters have no idea what the book is with a sung-through musical. Basically, they don't think there is one. Dialogue is only part of what makes the book, guys.

"Tootsie" will probably win instead. It's got a very tight script and is truthfully very funny. Even though there are as many oops-you-should-edit moments as in "Hadestown," the comedy and the appeal to the particular demographic they were shooting for will win it.

Best Original Score

I feel like "Hadestown" has this one locked down. Even people who find the show incomprehensible seem to love the music. David Yazbek won last year for "Band's Visit" (a vastly better show than "Tootsie") so it's safe to say he's out of the running. I've got nothing else here.

Best Orchestrations

"Hadestown" has a damn good chance here too. Its music is one of its strongest qualities, and if you compare the NYTW to the Broadway in terms of orchestration, there's a lot going on here and it's all good. "Oklahoma!" is a potential opponent because of how they managed to change around the original to make it all read so much better to a modern audience.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role

I'm going to say Eva has only a 25% chance of winning. Stephanie J. Block seems to be a likely winner because of her previous nominations and the fact that the Tonys often give out awards for career work instead of the single show they are in. Otherwise, "The Cher Show." Really. Some people think Kelli O'Hara has a chance because the Tony voters love their generic starlets but since she's already got a Tony, I think Stephanie and Eva are much more likely competitors. "The Prom" girls seem to cancel each other out (more on the canceling effect two categories below).

If Eva wins I will be PUMPED, but I'm not counting on it.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Featured Role

Everything here comes down to Amber Gray versus Ali Stoker. The "Tootsie" actresses cancel each other out (more on the canceling effect one category below), but Ali is far and away a standout over Mary Testa. To quote my acquaintance, "Amber Gray will win because she's the most interesting woman on Broadway, like how Katrina Lenk won last year." I think she could be right here, but I will propose an additional theory for why Amber may win: Amber originated a role, one she has been working on for years. Ali stole the show in "Oklahoma!" but she stole the show with a classic show stealing role. Also, because those voters like career work, Amber has been around longer (although she wasn't nominated, she was the best thing about "Natasha Pierre" for me). Ali is young and at this point mostly known for her small role in Deaf West's "Spring Awakening."

Ali will be a Tony winner. Maybe this Sunday. Maybe in a few years. If she wins I'll be happy for her and there's no denying she will deserve the award, but I'm rooting for Amber.

Best Performance By An Actor In A Featured Role

I have gone on a journey with this category. Let me start by saying it seems like Andre DeShields will win. Now let me back up and tell you the long adventure I went on to conclude this.

I have now mentioned "canceling out" a lot, which has a tendency to happen with shows where multiple people are nominated (usually in acting). The important thing to note is that just because two people are in the same category does not mean they automatically cancel each other. Daveed Diggs won for featured actor for "Hamilton" over his costars Chris Jackson and Jon Groff, and there's a clear reason why: of the three he was the standout. He was the most dynamic and had the meatiest role. This only works when there isn't an obvious winner in that show. And this is why figuring out this category has been so damn difficult and I still may be wrong.

Originally one of my friends said he thought Andre and Patrick Page would cancel each other out and that the two guys nominated for "Ain't Too Proud" would cancel each other out and we would have the award going to the guy from "Tootsie" (sorry I don't have the names, but for the reference that guy was literally my favorite thing about "Tootsie"). I initally argued that while both "Hadestown" guys do clearly dominate the category in general, Patrick could win because he plays a dynamic character while Andre plays a static one. My friend countered that the Tony voters really love narrator characters, and well, he's right. This idea was expanded by my other friend who pointed out that Andre opens and closes the show and has a lot of the theme-dropping lines, while Patrick doesn't make his entrance until halfway through Act One and that this leaves an impression.

But ultimately it probably comes down to this: career. Andre will get the award because of his career. Every middle aged gay man I've spoken to who didn't understand the show was very proud to tell me that they saw him in "Ain't Misbehavin" in the 70s (to which I said I saw him in "Fortress of Solitude" a few years ago as a jest that none of them seemed to be amused by).

The canceling theory may still play here, but it's hard for me to imagine that the award won't at least go to one of the "Hadestown" guys.

Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography

I'm talking about these three together because my explanation for all three is basically the same. In all three of these categories, "Hadestown" feels like an underdog because it is not flashy in the way shows like "Beetlejuice" or "King Kong" are. They don't have the grandiosity or diversity of costumes of "The Cher Show" or the traditional choreography of "Tootsie."

But "Hadestown" is literally creating a time and place that doesn't really exist; it's not even fantasy, just otherworldliness. The scenic design and costumes anchor you in a place that is like our world but isn't and everything about the choices made, from the shifting set to the details of the costumes, is meant to create this place of kinda New Orleans, kinda 1930s, but also kinda anywhere and now. If "Hadestown" wins scenic design or costume design it will be very deserved and very unconventional.

The choreography has a similar effect. The only real 'dance' numbers are "Living It Up On Top" which is very traditional, "Way Down Hadestown" which feels more frenetic and unplanned, and "Lover's Desire" which is literally a slow dance. The thing is, the choreography throughout the show tells you so much about characters, what they are thinking, and how they are feeling in a way traditional choreography doesn't. Interesting enough Amber Gray was nominated for a dance award for the show. Like with scenic design and costume design, if "Hadestown" wins it will be deserved but a bit uexpected.

Best Lighting Design

Those "Wait For Me" lights will probably win them this Tony but it's worth acknowledging that this show has a lot of amazing lighting design from those swinging lights to the lanterns the Fates use to how Eurydice is able to disappear with the use of light, smoke, and turntable, to the lights of Hadestown, to those colored lights in "How Long" that I am now weirdly obsessed with. But those swinging lights are so iconic that they just might win it on that alone.

Best Sound Design

I know nothing about sound design and no one else seems to either. I noticed some sound design. I also noticed some sound design in "Oklahoma!" I don't know anyone who saw "King Kong" or "Ain't Too Proud." Who knows.

[cjdemooi]

The problem with performing

When I told a few friends in the entertainment industry I was going to write this piece, they begged me not to post it. They all agreed with what I wanted to say but desperately tried to persuade me I had to ‘play the game’ and under no circumstances criticise those who might be in a position to give me a job.

However, I found myself in an unfortunate yet unique position. After the last 4 years and through no fault of my own, I’m utterly toxic so can speak out with no consequences. After all, I can’t get more unemployable! If I was willing to play tedious games, I’d still be on television, have regular auditions and a career. Now I’ve been permanently deprived of those and am no longer willing to work with people I don’t trust, there’s nothing to keep me quiet or compliant. That rules out large swathes of opportunities but so what?

Smiling sweetly while being dismissed as a worthless commodity is something performers endure every day. The simple fact is, if you’re not willing to toe the line and do what’s expected, there are countless others who will. My response is, and always has been, screw that! The performance arts aren’t jobs, they’re callings. From a very early age, we all knew what we wanted to be and that fire only grew more intense. Of course there are sacrifices to be made but a line has to be drawn somewhere. I personally don’t believe that integrity and personal ethics are worth giving up for a dream.

Please understand that is only my view and I don’t in any way diminish those who strive tirelessly to succeed. Decisions have to be made and weighed up against such incredibly fine margins that distinctions become blurred. I’ve made my choices but each to his or her  own. 

I spoke out and criticised the BBC for the lack of same sex representation and racism. I lost my job because of it and was subjected to a smear campaign of lies in the national press. The implicit threat was, we pay you so do as you’re told. That’s a price very few people would be able or willing to pay and ultimately, I couldn’t afford it either. I lost everything because I didn’t shut up as was demanded of me. Honestly though, I don’t regret it.

Actors are treated with utter disdain. The recent interview with Mena Massoud in which he revealed he hadn’t had a single audition since Aladdin is a case in point. If the lead in a billion dollar movie is struggling to be seen, what chance does anyone else have? I have an impressive and award nominated CV but 4 auditions in 5 years speak for themselves and yet I’m still relatively lucky. Thousands of others are in far worse positions. 

Recently there has been a campaign to persuade casting directors and producers to let auditioning performers know if they haven’t been successful. Hanging around, waiting and hoping to hear about a role is not only frustrating, it causes people to miss out on other opportunities. A bulk email would take 5 minutes and allay a lot of fears but such a simple courtesy seems beneath a lot of people. We don’t need an apology or meticulous dissection of our technique. Just a quick ‘Sorry, not this time’ is all that’s required!

My worst experience, and there have been more than I care to remember, was a few years ago when I was called in for the national tour of Rent. I was sent 3 songs and dialogue for an audition 4 days later. I worked hard and managed to learn it all, travelling to London the night before to prepare. The next morning I had a singing lesson to warm up and set off up Tottenham Court Road. Literally as I was about to knock on the door, I received a text saying the producer had changed his mind and didn’t think I was right for the role. After all that effort, they wouldn’t even allow me 5 minutes to show what I could do. I was incensed so emailed him back expressing my disappointment and asking where I should send the invoice for my time and expenditure. He replied with indignant pomposity saying that was the way things were and if that’s how I was going to be, he was glad he didn’t have to work with me but I sent him the bill anyway. 

Of course this damaged my reputation with him and many others he spoke to but the fact he considered it completely acceptable to treat hard working professionals in such a manner was unforgivable. You may not want to work with me but I assure you, the feeling’s more than mutual. As actors, all we want is a chance. If we’re not good enough, fine but at least give us a few moments to try and impress you. 

I’ve burnt my bridges with a lot of industry professionals because I’m strong willed (or arrogant, depending on which side of the desk you’re sitting) but I’ve never once wished I’d kept my mouth tightly closed and my opinions to myself. I’m nothing if not brutally honest and direct. No doubt that attitude has cost me a lot of roles. 

A casting director who’d rather give a job to someone who’s become available from another production rather than sit through 3 days of auditions because the pay’s the same either way. A producer who consistently advertises jobs without pay because he’ll still be inundated with eager young things desperate for their break. A director who rehearses for 10 days then cuts your role to the bare minimum in order to give himself a big scene (and yes, this happened to me in panto in Clacton) Playwrights who promise you a script then go back on their word expecting you’ll bend over backwards to assure them it’s all fine. If nobody has to face any consequences, where is the incentive to change?

Too often, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Although thankfully no longer as common as it once was, it’s also not what you know but who you’re willing to sleep with. I wish that this wasn’t true but I can say from personal experience and stories from others that it most certainly is.

Potentially the most harmful barrier is the competition, very little of it healthy, between artists themselves. This rarely produces a buoyant environment of support for each other. It’s always been a case of how can I knock the other person down rather than raising myself up? I can reluctantly understand why this would be the case when trying to secure an audition but it happens all too frequently when there’s no direct or obvious rivalry. The whole industry seems to be predicated on survival of the fittest, so talent and kindness are often reduced to irrelevancies. I truly believe most performers are caring and encouraging but they’re battered down by a system that’s relentless and ruthless. The fact may very well be that I’m not good or obedient enough to succeed as an actor and those who are clever and subtle enough manipulate the system to their own advantage are the ones who will make it big. I honestly congratulate them as they’re better and more skilled than I ever will be.

We are taught there are standards to be upheld such as unrealistic body image or heteronormativity and these have been immensely damaging in the past. Fortunately, at least in this aspect, times are changing. I’ve been honoured to work with some amazing and nurturing people who’ve actively fostered workplaces of support and inclusivity. I hope these very positive models will soon represent the rule over the above examples rather than the exception. 

The problem is, drama schools are churning out increased numbers of students every year. They’re not taught how to cope in the outside world and find themselves ill equipped to vie for a finite number of jobs. The vast majority hold down multiple jobs just for a brief glimpse of their dreams. The time between sinking into debt during drama school and having to give it all up in order to live is probably only 3 or 4 years. That’s an cruelly narrow window to achieve something they’ve been yearning after for decades. The harsh reality is, most will never have a professional contract and will all too soon have to give up in order to survive. Surely casting directors and producers can appreciate that and at least give a few more chances to a few more desperate people?

I know these aren’t popular opinions but I believe them to be the truth. I refuse to play those ridiculous games pretending everything’s fine and not making waves with anyone with the power to employ me. I’m under no illusion that this article will obliterate any slim chance I had of ever working again so that gives me a free pass to call out what I believe to be wrong with the industry I love. Only when we come together in respect will we move forward in solidarity and strength. Performing is one of the very toughest communities to be a part of so I beg you, please, treat everyone in it with consideration and they’ll do the same in return.

 We all deserve that.

[ahouseoflies]

The Best Films of 2018, Part V

We’re finally here. Thank you for reading. Or at least scrolling around to the movies that you care about. GREAT MOVIES

12. Minding the Gap (Bing Liu)- In part because it's produced by Steve James, Minding the Gap's easy short-hand is "Hoop Dreams for skateboarding." Because most of the film's pleasures come from following the subjects over the course of five or six years, that makes sense. What differs is that director Bing Liu is so young, which makes this a promising film if a less definitive one than James's feature debut. It’s trying to do so much, but it never feels calculated or constructed as it expands. Boldly, Liu seems to suggest that people don't really change that much, that what drives them or gnaws at them just manifests itself in different ways. The cycle of abuse ends up being a common element for the three skaters, and, as Liu admits on camera, domestic violence is the reason he made the film. (The treatment of it is raw, a blunt object when a more delicate instrument might work better.) He got the hard part right though: delicately getting us to care about people who sometimes don't care about themselves. 11. A Quiet Place (John Kransinski)- Strong early Shyamalan vibes from this lean chiller. Krasinski's directing debut, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, didn't do much for me, and I skipped his obligatory man-comes-back-to-hometown-because-his-mom's-dying follow-up. But the filmmaking really impressed me here just by understanding how to set the table of this kind of movie. A close-up on an important nail sticking out of a floorboard here, an effortless explanation of a rule there. The hang-up for a film this high-concept is that you get distracted by all of the unanswered questions. (How did he get a printer quiet enough to print out all of those radio call signals?) But this world is fleshed out enough, especially an eerie dinner sequence, to bypass that kind of stuff for me. More than anything, there's a sort of elasticity of shot selection that serves the suspense. A tender early scene in which the central couple is dancing while wearing headphones goes on for maybe twice as long as one might expect. So later, the cross-cuts and smash-cuts have even more weight because the camera was allowed to linger earlier. Here's maybe the biggest reason for the movie's success: The characters are all slightly smarter than the audience, whereas the temptation might have been to go the other way with it. 10. Black Panther (Ryan Coogler)- I don't know if I can add anything to the discourse on this meditative yet ambitious film. I do think one early scene points at what makes it special for the genre. When T'Challa is first named king, he has to be drained of the Black Panther powers to fight anyone who wishes to challenge the throne. A member of an outsider tribe challenges him and nearly beats him. It shows a) the world-building of this noble, fair culture, b) the existence of this fully developed clan that will be important later, c) just how human T'Challa is if his reign can come so perilously close to ending just as it has begun. Every scene like that has a logical purpose. Of course, once Killmonger, the best, most realistically motivated Marvel villain of all time, gets introduced, we return to that method of challenging the throne, and writers Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole aren't afraid to let the worst possible thing happen to T'Challa. What occurred forty-five minutes earlier makes this fight seem like a fait accompli. And it's in this sort of narrative detail that the film is able to work up to its thematic purpose. The first half is about, to quote T'Chaka, whether a good man can be a good king. But the second half is about the responsibility of goodness. Show me where Iron Man bit off that much. 9. Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski)- Although it takes place mostly in one location during one day, Support the Girls has a bigger world going on in its margins. We hear it on radios, or we see it in the people taking a pitstop in Double Whammies while they're on their way somewhere better. But the force that's really encroaching on the characters' insulated environment is Mancave, the national chain that threatens to put them out of business. "They have commercials and everything," one character complains, and we get snatches of those commercials that were presumably directed by Andrew Bujalski himself. It's ten seconds of content maybe, shot in a bigger, broader style than the modest approach of the rest of the film. But the key to understanding how far Bujalski has come is realizing that he is no longer making fun of the people in the commercial, even if they're jacked bros screaming for a boxing match. That portrayal is amplified, sure, but Bujalski is mature enough now to not ridicule those people. It's okay that they're just not the people he's interested in. He's supernaturally empathetic toward the rogue's gallery of people he is interested in, who spin the ordinary challenges of the working class into something extraordinary. The sunniest member of the team is played by Haley Lu Richardson, who deserves special recognition as the indefatigable Maci. I can't think of parts that are much different from her roles in this, Columbus, and Split, to the extent that people probably don't realize they're played by the same woman, but she rules in every single one. The sky is the limit for her. When a workplace is described as "a family," it's usually just a way for the boss to take advantage of workers when the "family" designation does nothing to help them: "I know I shouldn't ask you to work off the clock, but can you help me out as a FAMILY MEMBER?" Occasionally though, it does feel like a family when people work closely to one another for hours on end and depend upon one another for real life needs. This movie is about what happens when a work family is both control and support.

8. Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)- The trailer for Children of Men advertises itself as "from the director of The Prisoner of Azkaban and Y Tu Mama Tambien," and I remember an audience giggling at that strange CV. For one thing, at the time people didn't understand yet why someone would brag about contributing to a Harry Potter movie. But to pair that children's picture with either a Spanish title they hadn't heard of or a movie that they knew was sexually explicit? Who was this guy? Roma is who he is. I like some of his other films more--I would argue that his approach hurts the performances here--but it seems impossible for him to make anything this personal again. The baldly emotional highs that it reaches come not only from the direct simplicity of the story but also from the sophisticated perspective with which it's being downloaded directly from Cuaron's memory. (It's also, accidentally or purposefully, quite a political film at this moment in time. It insists, sometimes in the dialect of Mixtec, that these people around us silently washing dishes or picking up dog poo are, in fact, part of our family.) There's a moment when one brother throws something at another's head, barely missing, and they both stop in their tracks with fear about how tragically things could have ended up. My dad experienced a similar moment in his childhood, and he would tell the same story about Uncle Steve throwing a shoe at him any time we passed the wooden door with a dent in it at my grandma's house. What a tiny moment to live on for decades, in tangible and intangible ways. Cuaron claims that all of these moments shape us, and taking us to the moon was only a warm-up for resurrecting them for us. 7. Happy As Lazzaro (Alice Rohrbacher)- Alice Rohrwacher won the screenplay award at Cannes, probably because her script for Happy As Lazzaro is fundamentally unpredictable. Games of checkers are unpredictable though. That word doesn't quite cover the way the viewer is forced to guess at something as elemental as "What year is this taking place?" And none of the twists and turns of the storytelling--I refuse to spoil--would gel if Rohrwacher as a director wasn't teaching you how to watch the film the whole time with a rich, warm, light touch. Considering the purity of this vision as a fable, buoyed by realistic labor concerns on the other hand, it's a pity that people are calling Birdbox "crazy" when something like this is just a few clicks down on that service. 6. The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)- When assessing The Favourite, the easy temptation is to say that because it isn't stuffy, because of its scabrous wit or its intimate filming techniques, that it "isn't your mother's chamber drama." It is invigorating, but in a lot of ways, the film isn't saying anything that the average Masterpiece Theater production doesn't. Instead it takes cultural touchstones about the emptiness of power and distorts them, much like the fish-eye lenses that Yorgos Lanthimos favors to photograph the palace. It says an easy thing in a hard way, with conviction to burn. Lanthimos seems freed by not having to write the screenplay, and every decision of his is rooted in making things more narrow. The barrel distortion of the fish-eye seems apt for this idea, but so do the secret passageways that Queen Anne gets wheeled through to avoid the lower rungs of the estate. Of course there's no outside world to intrude upon her majesty. But there's even an inner world to the inner world. (It's impossible to watch Olivia Colman's gonzo depiction of Anne's incurious indolence and not think of Trump.) I'm convinced that Emma Stone can do anything, and the final shot, an all-timer, only validates that suspicion. 5. Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (Gus Van Sant)- You have to check out every Gus Van Sant movie, even after a few missteps, because you never know: He might take the emotional climax that you didn't even know you wanted and score it to inter-diegetic "Still Rock 'N Roll to Me," thus grounding real poignance with even realer goofiness.I'll admit that the bar is low, but this is probably the most authentic, least treacly movie ever made about addiction recovery. Van Sant, who wrote, directed, and edited, tells the story with patient command. We take Joaquin Phoenix for granted at this point, but everybody on the poster is exceptional. And Udo Kier gets to say, "Pop, pop. It's always about penises." INSTANT CLASSICS

4. A Star Is Born (Bradley Cooper)- In one scene Cooper's Jackson Maine wears a black leather jacket under a brown leather vest, and the movie itself risks that kind of hat-on-a-hat silliness and redundancy. But instead it comes off as the best kind of big swing, a comforting and warm serving of Old Hollywood. Cooper's camera knows how to embrace silence and let the leads play off each other to craft raw, touching performances. Sometimes the close-ups are so intense and focused that, when he cuts back to a master, it's disorienting to be reminded that there are other people in that space, in the world at all.The movie's deficiencies come from "Wait, how much time has passed?" moments in the writing, problems that I always have had with Eric Roth projects. But it's easy to get swept up in a movie of moments that believes so much in itself.

3. Mission: Impossible- Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie)- The pattern of Mission: Impossible- Fallout is: infodump that explains the stakes and the strategy of what we're about to see, followed by an action sequence that is somehow even more thrilling than the one that came before it. Imagine a really interesting day of grade school classes, in which you learned, like, multiplication, followed by recess every other period. As for T.C., what more could you possibly want out of a human being?

2. Wildlife (Paul Dano)- When Jerry, Jake Gyllenhaal's groundskeeper of pathetic pride, figures out that his boss is about to fire him in front of his son, he smiles and, through clenched teeth, asks if this talk can happen tomorrow. Part of him actually believes that postponing the meeting will help; maybe the boss's temper will cool overnight. But this is a man who is bound by the same desperate spirit as his wife Jeanette, who muses, "Tomorrow something will happen that will make us feel different." When people are living day-to-day, clinging to their dignity--he refers to himself as a "small person" at one point--tomorrow really does offer a regenerative power. Those characters are the same-pole magnets that inform this coming-of-age tale, and the subtext of the film is "Can you believe Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal have a fourteen-year-old son?" It works for the 1960 setting because these are people who defined themselves before they knew who they were, and they'll now do anything to re-define themselves as brave/sexy/valuable. But it works for the actors too. Gyllenhaal in particular is tender and heartbreaking in a true supporting role, allowing himself to look his age, framing himself with the dad akimbo arms. But Mulligan's fake confidence is great too, especially in a scene in which she nearly begs her husband to let her work. Something tells me that I should credit a director for coaxing two career best performances from two great actors. Some people just have it, and Paul Dano does.

1. First Reformed (Paul Schrader)- In 1998 I dragged my father to see Paul Schrader's Affliction, a movie that was kind of about my father's father. When the end credits rolled on that bleak, wrenching film, my dad turned to me and said, "I feel like I have to take a shower." We walked around a nearby hotel and talked for an hour, not that he was able to articulate why he was so shaken. We discussed the difference between entertainment and art and what makes a piece of either successful. Even though he hated the experience, he couldn't deny that it was an experience. He kept on saying, "That's not why I go to the movies." And no matter what I, fifteen at the time, told him, he couldn't understand that's exactly why I go to the movies. First Reformed had the same mesmerizing effect as the best of Schrader's work: When I exited the building, I stumbled into the sunlight because I had been trapped in someone else's mind for almost two hours.

Part of that effect comes from the narrative device of Reverend Toller's journal, which plants us in his headspace from the beginning. Part of it comes from the intimate scale of the film, which features only a handful of locations. But if what I'm explaining seems small, then I'm doing a bad job. The canvas expands. Schrader insists that our care for the environment is our most immediate responsibility; this film historian has no problem with planting the film at 2017 in dialogue. And that emphasis is matched only by his disdain for how big business encroaches on personal aspects of our lives. There's even a scene that tries to account for a recent rise in extremism among young people. As if to prove that he isn't being pedantic, he has one character communicate one of those ideas, letting you assume that role is his mouthpiece, then he has another character reply with something just as convincing. First Reformed weaves in those elements, but it's ultimately a character piece that humanizes the type of person we think we know but for which we have no frame of reference. In Ethan Hawke's piercing performance, we see a Reform minister who punishes himself actively and passively for what he thinks are sins. He uses faith as an armor and as an excuse, being so of the mind and--as another character puts it--"in the garden" that he denies himself medical care. No matter what anyone else tells him, he is convinced of one of the tenets that Schrader could never shake from his Calvinist upbringing: There's nothing you can do to save yourself.

[oscar-isaacs-number-one-bitch]

“Widows” Movie Review

Widows is the latest entry in an increasingly impressive catalogue from both director Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame, 12 Years a Slave) and writer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects). The film stars Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, and Elizabeth Debicki as a group of three women who become widowed when their husbands are killed after an attempted heist goes horribly wrong. Now left to face the consequences of their husbands’ criminal world, the widows are backed into a corner when the man their husbands stole from comes to collect. Using a notebook and a set of blueprints left by her husband Harry (played by Liam Neeson), Veronica (Davis) and the other widows must pull off their own heist in order to pay off a debt with a time bomb attached to it. With an all-star cast that also includes Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Daniel Kaluuya, Brian Tyree Henry, Robert Duvall, Jacki Weaver, and Jon Bernthal, Widows sets out to answer the question: can Steve McQueen pull off a mainstream hit?

The answer? Resoundingly so, and better than most. Widows is not just one of the best movies of the year, it’s one of the greatest heist movies ever committed to film. There’s so much to unpack about this movie that I hadn’t even thought about when I was watching it because I was just so blown away by the quality of the art on screen. This film includes some of the best show-don’t-tell commentary on police brutality, racism, sexism, trauma, domestic violence, political corruption, and gentrification that I’ve ever seen, and it’s all just under the surface, waiting to be discovered the more one considers the layering of Steve McQueen’s thriller. That might get lost on some viewers (including me until this morning) who get so wrapped up in the plot machinations of the entire proceeding, how artfully crafted those machinations are, and how quickly the pacing moves that you don’t even have time to unpack it all, but it eventually seeps its way into your head like a seed that just needed to sit for a few hours before deciding to spring up from the ground.

And that’s the thing about making this a Steve McQueen picture: this man takes a premise that sounds just kind of okay to sit through under a less experienced eye, and turns B movie entertainment into a canvas on which to paint grade A art. The cinematography (here brought beautifully to screen by Sean Bobbitt) alone would land this film an Oscar nomination, and yet McQueen never settles for just a pretty looking film. Every shot has a point, every frame an idea, and only a director like this can pull off a film like that. He drops you right into the middle of the action, but not before reminding you what the point of this movie really is. The film opens on a shot of Liam Neeson and Viola Davis sharing a kiss in bed together, reminding us all that this film is not just a heist picture, it’s a picture of grief, confusion, ticking clocks, trauma, and the ultra-complex world of dealing with loss in a criminal enterprise. And it reminds you of how dangerous that world is by the next shot which features one of the most impressive action sequences in heist film history: the back of a van racing across the streets of Chicago, trying to escape police. Ultimately, it’s a movie about the ripple effect of consequences faced when someone close to you leads this kind of life.

Steve McQueen has layered this film with so much to ponder that it’s hard to know if one will even have time to consider it all by the time one goes in for a repeat viewing. In fact, a repeat viewing may be required in order to spend enough time with just the first layer that one feels comfortable moving on to the second. Widows establishes him as not just an arthouse voice for the Academy to love, but a bona fide expert in the craft who’s ready to swing for the larger fences and hit his mark every single time. He’s now right up there with Alfonso Cuarón and Denis Villeneuve as one of the most exciting directors working today.

I could praise Steve McQueen’s direction of this film until the end of time, but I also want to give due credit to writer Gillian Flynn for crafting yet another incredible script for McQueen to work from. Flynn is a master at tension and twists, and no less than twice does she pull off some of the best twists in heist storytelling I’ve seen on screen. Between Gone Girl, Sharp Objects, and now Widows, Flynn is quickly becoming not just one of screen’s greatest writers, but one of the most thrilling writers to watch in any medium. She is a master craftsman, especially when it comes to characterization through action, and her pacing is as frenetic as being on any actual heist.

Perhaps this goes without saying given the pedigree involved by just having this talented of a cast, but every performance in this film is top notch. Everyone fits exactly where they’re supposed to go, and the chemistry between them works out perfectly. One doesn’t often hear chemistry between actors mentioned without a romantic or comedic context (often both), likely because people just assume you don’t need it to be as strong outside of those contexts, but it is nonetheless vital to the survival of any film, especially in the heist subgenre, and all these performers pull it off spectacularly. Viola Davis, the commander-in-chief of any film she’s in, once again pulls off here an astounding power only an actress of the highest caliber can conjure, and is perfectly paralleled by Liam Neeson, proving that even with minimal screen-time, he can out-act almost anyone (just not Viola Davis – it’s a pretty evenly matched performance). Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Jacki Weaver, Jon Bernthal, Brian Tyree Henry, and (hey, look who’s back) Robert Duvall are all fantastic in however large or small a part they play in the film as well, but if we talked about all of them at length, this review would be 10 pages long, and even I don’t want that.

Michelle Rodriguez does play the same character she plays in most things, so I wouldn’t say it’s too much of a stretch for her, but because the writing of her character is so good due to Gillian Flynn’s expert abilities, she fits perfectly in with the rest of the ensemble and is quite entertaining to watch. But the true standouts in this film are supporting actress and actor Elizabeth Debicki and Daniel Kaluuya. Debicki is often cast as just “one of the pretty people,” in things like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but here gets to show off that not only does she have real acting chops most American audiences haven’t seen yet, those chops are some of the best they’ll see in 2018, and it’s a shame that because it’s not necessarily a showier role, she likely won’t get that Oscar nomination her performance is absolutely deserving of.

There is an actor in this movie, however, who’s familiar with the Academy Awards, former nominee Daniel Kaluuya. Kaluuya has burst onto the scene with brilliant performances in Get Out (for which he was nominated for Best Actor) and the largest smash hit of the year, Black Panther, but now he’s been allowed to fully explore his villainous side, and it is terrifying. Kaluuya plays a sort of enforcer and though I won’t spoil for who or for what purposes, the way he sets out to accomplish what he needs to do in order to achieve his goals is some of the most harrowing villainy in all of 2018. He is truly a fear-inducing presence – just seeing the screencaps of him in this movie make my skin continue to crawl. It’s a master performance from one of the singular most talented new actors on scene today, and if any performance in this movie (aside from Viola Davis) were to get Oscar recognition, it would be this one.

I haven’t even talked at length about how beautiful this movie looks, but I won’t here now; you really should just see it for yourself. Widows was everything I wanted it to be and more – a thrilling heist movie, a gorgeous chorus of brilliant cinematography and performances, a masterclass in direction and screenwriting, a layered exploration of crime and consequence, and a resounding testament to the talents of one of the most exciting directors to burst onto the scene within the decade. It’s an incredibly kinetic ride with some of the best pacing, action, and exploration of narrative themes in heist film history, and to boot, one of the best movies of the year.  

I’m giving “Widows” a 9.6/10

[applegelstore]

So we (=my sister plays, I watch her and do other stuff besides) have finally marathoned through Tales of Berseria (only the post-game sidequests left). So here’s excerpts of my final verdict (mostly in contrast to Zesty because sorry but I can’t help it. Plus, it’s the prequel for Maotelus’ sake). Cut for massive length and very heavy spoilers, obviously! No reviews, though, just incoherent ramblings. Many, many incoherent ramblings.

-The plot is indeed kinda more exciting than Zestiria. Which isn’t particularly hard. I mean there are many reasons why I love Zestiria, but the plot (and the villains) sure aren’t one of them. The plot was kinda just… there and didn’t do any harm, but honestly I could just have watched a 200 episode show of plotless party banter and would have enjoyed it just the same. The plot in neither game makes particularly much sense, tho.

-I have a billion questions and somehow most of them concern Zaveid’s gun in both games. Like, how does it actually work? It separates fusings, but it’s the basis for the invention of the armatus? Apparently it also boosts magic? Idk. And where does it come from? Let me guess, there was that super advanced sci-fi-civilization that lived on the planet like 20 000 years ago and is now forgotten *insert dramatic music here*

-How on earth did Velvet get out of that volcano…? But as long as Morgrim is safe, I’m good.

-On that note, Velvet literally screaming WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!! at the volcano made me kinda happy

-whenever she has facepalm/I’m so done/I’m surrounded by idiots moments, I feel her very much

-Despite the headscratchers, I’m totally digging the Berseria/Zestiria worldbuilding, like hell

-Sue me but I still like the Zestiria characters lightyears better than the Berseria characters. Mostly because they’re funnier, more relatable, and also because I honestly don’t like the Darker and Edgier trope. But also because the costume designs are goddamn awful, Magilou is an obnoxious pest, and it takes Eleanor far too many hours of game play to get that other people than abbey members have human rights (I ended up liking her in the end but honestly getting there was a pain). BTW yes, Velvet, Phi and Eleanor probs have more dramatic changes in personality over the course of the game than the Zesty squad combined, but can anybody explain to me what kind of character development Eizen, Rokurou and Magilou display? …Thought so. Also, no, dramatic 180° turn character development is NOT a prerequisite for good character writing in my opinion, thank you very much. I also think that mental breakdowns aren’t a prerequisite, just in case you were wondering. I’m honestly not a big fan of the Heroic B.S.O.D. trope, although there might be some exceptions where I thought it was well done. I still prefer to do without.

-At least I can tolerate Magilou and Eleanor now that the former got a backstory and the latter finally learned how not to be a dick

-Phi’s constant complaints that he doesn’t want to be treated like a child (I’ve got bad news for you sweetie, you’re TEN) do horrible things to my headcanon that he simply stays physically 10 for eternity, but don’t think I’d give up too soon

-however, I guess we can establish that he plays splatter games with a burning passion

-I am very glad that the monster doggies and the monster bird are safe and sound in the epilogue

-WHERE IS FIRE MUM

-How on earth do people defend the opinion that Berseria was less of a button smasher game than Zestiria?? Because honestly in Zestiria I never managed to win battles by doing nothing but frantically smashing X/Square/Triangle/Circle without any plan or order.

-THE BATTLE CAMERA IS SO MUCH BETTER THO I can control it freely! Oh bless the new camera. I want that so hard in Zestiria. It would help a bunch.

-the equipment upgrade and drop system is also a billion times more effective in the sense that you don’t have to carefully plan your fusings (guess who’s always too lazy to do that) and fruitlessly try to farm the drops for that for hours (guess who’s too lazy for that as well, and also helplessly underlevelled because she’s so lazy and ends up with bosses one or two hitting an armatus even on normal mode *coughs*). Bless.

-I mean the new equipment system in Berseria is basically Final Fantasy IX but for lazy noobs. There’s ups and downs to that, I guess?

-Meirchio is so goddamn pretty, I didn’t even realise that in ToZX. Guess I was distracted by how bad the trainwreck is. Anyway I love everything about this town

-Aball and its surroundings incl. Taliesin also deserve awards

-the dungeons and field areas weren’t anymore interesting than Zestiria, tho

-btw Aball=Avalon? Magical apple island and stuff? Just asking because honestly some of the Arthurian references are pretty obscurely named (it took me quite a while to get the Lastonbell=Glastonbury reference, too, trollolol. Anyone else reminded of Good old Ah! My Goddess translation sins? I mean, come on… Verdandi to Belldandy? Apparently, correctly transcribing Roman letters into Japanese script is even more difficult than Ancient Avarost)

-Morgrim, let me love you, please take all my blessings, you are purrfectly pleasantly plump and I want to cuddle you and give you kisses

-why exactly was Shigure one of the bad guys?? It still escaped me after we cut him in half, sacrificed his soul to some ancient deity, and killed his deceased, reincarnated, dragonised mum

-speaking of which, is it really clever to use the souls of your mortal enemies to revive gods that you want to be on your side!?

-anyway, screw you, Melchior, in particular

-Bienfu is a strong contender for most annoying mascot ever and I still wanted to throw him into the ocean hours into the game. I swear if I have to hear him yell BIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN just once more in my life I’m gonna punch the screen.

-I’m with Jude on the pengyons. I mean I guess killing and eating them is preferable to killing them but not eating them, but still. Everyone speaks about representation, where’s my representation? Is there a single JRPG in which at least one of the playable characters is a vegetarian?

-I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Jude and Milla cameo, cracktastic as it was. Milla was actually my favourite in Xillia, although I had and still have severe problems with her character. But here I only saw of her what I love about her, and it made me happy. You go, Milla

-The skit writing with the constant “all males are perverts”, “all women are deceitful whores” and “men and women are fundamentally different and will never understand each other or be friends unless they’re incestuous siblings” is goddamn awful, period.

-apparently if your vessel becomes malevolent even the tiniest bit (no need to go full tainted), that physically hurts your malak/seraph. I’m glad that doesn’t happen in Zesty.

-Zaveid. Buddy. I feel sorry for you. But it also kinda shocks me how fast you get over your girlfriend’s death. I also have bad news: Eizen’s little sister will still look like a 12-year-old in a 1000 years from now. I actually hope you’re NOT into that.

-btw Zaveid and Eizen jump from mortal enemies to true name basis pretty fast holy shit

-I wouldn’t have minded more Aifread’s Pirates shenigans and nobody is surprised

-I want the cracktastic enemy book back

-I want my elemental powers back. Fuck this don’t ya try to talk down my beloved Magical Dragqueen mode IT’S THE POWER OF LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE y’ignorants

-dear malak NPCs, thank you for establishing that the abbey version armatus is a sucky beta version which will be replaced with the awesome real thing in a couple of centuries, and will eventually symbolise harmony between humans and malakhim. Bonus points for carrying along the motherfucking Galahad ruins bow to drive home the point

-I’m a little too amused by the fact that the ending credit cards are a “everyone’s happy, nobody ever died, and everybody’s friends with each other” AU

-uhm, guys? Did they give Artorius’ sword to Sorey’s gay pride armatus in the anime? I didn’t like it even back then but now I hate it even more, pls no

-I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want

-I know there will never be a Zestiria sequel because it didn’t sell well enough for that, but just in case: the only premise I’ll accept is “Phi, Sorey and Mikleo free Velvet from her prison and finally tear Innominat apart for good”. I don’t know how that would work without killing Velvet and Phi, but hey, I’m sure we’re gonna find a solution because it’s as JRPG and all we need is the POWER OF LOVE *dundundundun*

Everyone is happy. Also what is this “reborn Malakhim aren’t the same people they died as anymore” crap, don’t give me this heartbreak material you assholes

-is it wrong if I wanna play Zestiria after finishing Berseria? Actually, we would have gotten there far sooner if I hadn’t insisted taking breaks so I could play a few hours of Zestiria in between. Whoops.

-my sister was worried that Phi would miss his auntie Velvet very much and suggested Sorey and Mikleo should adopt him once the sweet baby slumber party is over. At this point I’m wondering whether I should give her fanfic recs to brighten her days, or whether that will cause her to forever ban me from her Playstation and refuse to cook for me ever again

-after watching the Zesty DLC, she also told me: “I don’t know what was the point of it, but Rose and Alisha were very cute.” She’s on the path to righteousness.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior’s Top 25 of 2019

This was such a good year for movies. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The amount of good or great movies and the amount of variety among the better movies made it hard to know where to cut off my annual top 25 and to which movies to give “Honorable Mentions” instead. As has always been the case, I make an effort to see the better movies two or sometimes even three times before deciding where they place, and that was the case with most of the movies below.

There have been quite a few years where I haven’t rewarded a single movie a 10 out of 10, and this year, there are FOUR! Even so, 2019 will forever be known as the year I started to appreciate and even love the music of Elton John and George Michael, although only one of those movies made my list.  Just a reminder that this is a list of my favorite movies of the year and it’s based solely on my own opinion. If you don’t like one of the movies on my list that’s fine – it’s your prerogative – but if there’s something you may have missed and you check it out based on inclusion here and you like it, then please let me know!

Also, if you just want to peruse everything that I wrote this year, you can find all of it at my Weekend Warrior Blog.

25. Wild Rose (NEON)

I’d be remiss if I ignored this wonderful film directed by Tom Harper that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2018 but finally was released this year. It stars Jessie Buckley as a Glaswegian country singer, a single mother freshly released from prison who just can’t get her act together, even though she is a terrific singer with a real passion for country music.  Buckley is such a revelation in the role, and I just loved the songs written for the movie, and I’m not even remotely a fan of country music. (So I guess that’s a third type of music I began to appreciate this year.)

24. Fighting with my Family (U.A. Releasing)

Another terrific and nearly forgotten film this year was this wrestling biopic about WWE superstar Paige, as played by Florence Pugh (she’s gotta be this year’s actor of the year, right?). Written and directed by Stephen Merchant and co-produced by Dwayne Johnson, Paige’s story really is pretty fantastic, as you follow her trying to make her way in the WWE where she’s nothing like the other women wrestlers. The movie was warm and funny and not at all what you’d expect from a WWE Films movie, but it’s definitely the studio’s finest work to date.

MY REVIEW

23. Plus One (RLJE Films)

One of the nicer surprises out of Tribeca this year was this twist on the rom-com by filmmakers Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer, starring Jack Quaid and Maya Erskine as two best friends who decide to attend all their weddings together to act as wingmen to help each other hook up. It’s a plan that works out well at first but starts to falter once they realize they might have feelings for each other. It’s classic rom-com territory but the movie is hilarious (Erskine is an absolute gem!) and you’re on board even when it goes to somewhat predicable places. (Some of the wedding speeches given by Jon Bass, Beck Bennett are particularly funny.) This is a movie that I’m bummed I haven’t had a chance to see a second or third time, as I’m sure it might be higher up on my year end list if I had.

22. Spider-Man: Far from Home (Sony)

You can’t argue when the fans are right but when Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios came on board to produce Spider-Man: Homecoming, it actually was pretty good and you had to have confidence they could make a sequel just as good or better. There was a lot to love about this one including the decision to take Spider-Man out of New York, which makes sense when you realize all the space-faring he’d been doing in Infinity War and Endgame. Then there was Jake Gyllenhaal as “Mysterio,” a fun and twisty take on the classic Spider-Man villain that also allowed director Jon Watts to play with some of the ideas introduced in Avengers: Endgame, while also giving Samuel Jackson’s Nick Fury more to do than he has in many movies. I can’t wait to see what Tom Holland’s Spider-Man gets up to next!

MY REVIEW

21. One Cut of the Dead (Shudder)

The Japanese META zombie movie that’s been winding its way through the genre festival circuit for most of the past year, it’s an amazing bit of mind-fuckery where you think it’s merely about a zombie attack on a low budget movie but as we learn after the first 30 minutes, there’s a lot more going on than what seems… and that’s about all I can say, because it’s the kind of movie that’s more amazing when you go in not knowing what’s happening. And yet, you probably should know that there’s a lot more going on since the first 30 minutes on their own aren’t very good.

20. The Irishman (Netflix)

Don’t get me wrong. I really liked and appreciated Martin Scorsese’s reunion with De Niro and Pesci, as well as their pairing with Al Pacino to tell the story of the man responsible for the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, but just not as much as other movies. Granted, Scorsese continues to be one of the best filmmakers working today but it did feel like he and De Niro were returning to familiar and popular territory to try to claim back their cinematic throne. I guess it worked, because The Irishman is a great film, and heck, I’d watch it a thousand more times on Netflix if I didn’t have other things to watch.

MY REVIEW

19. Little Women (Sony)

I just wrote about Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott last week, and I’m probably more surprised by most about how how much I loved this movie, maybe even more than Lady Bird. Those performances by Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh and Timothée Chalamet just makes this film so wonderful at times and heartbreaking at others. It’s always been a great story but Gerwig found an original way into it that made it a wonderful follow-up to Lady Bird.

18. Sword of Trust (IFC Films)

I’ve been a Lynn Shelton stan for a number of years now, mostly from Your Sister’s Sister, but I generally like much of her work, whether it’s all improvised like that one and Humpday, or scripted like her pairing with Jay Duplass for Outside In. This one was really special, as it paired her with her Glow star Marc Maron and a trio of really great actors to bounce off of, including Jillian Bell and Michaela Watkins (from the almost equally great Brittany Runs a Marathon), as well as Jon Bass. The interaction and improvisation between these four actors as they deal with a sword from the Civil War with a controversial past makes this one of Shelton’s more entertaining movies, deserving of its placement in my year-end list.

Thoughts from My Column

17. Good Boys (Universal)

You’ll notice that I have quite a few comedies on my Top 25 this year, and that shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone who has read my reviews over the years. I love comedies and I love to laugh, and this high concept comedy about three 6thgraders, one of them played by Jacob Tremblay, just cracked me up so much. No surprise that it’s from the mega-comedy-kings Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who produced this movie from the team of Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who are best known for “The Office” and a number of not-so-great comedy hits like Bad Teacher. Like Booksmart (see below), this one involved a fairly simple all-in-day quest by the three main characters but it led to some absolutely hilarious situations. Totally reminded me of myself when I was their age. Can’t wait to see what Brady Noon and Keith L. Williams get up to next as they’re amazing.

16. Late Night (Amazon)

While Mindy Kaling’s feature film might have come out of the whole SJW virtue signaling movements that surfaced post-Trump, her movie loosely, based on her own experiences working on the staff at a late night show, was a beautifully insightful look into the business. It starred Emma Thompson as veteran late night host Katherine Newbury, who is forced into diversifying her writing crew by hiring the less-than-experienced Molly (Kaling’s character). Over the next few months, Molly tries to make her way through the ins and outs of writing for late night, dealing with sexism and even some racism, even from Newbury.  Unlike the recent Bombshell, this is a comedy and both Kaling and Thompson were both terrific, to the point that it was a bummer that Amazon decided not to give this any sort of awards push by sending out screeners with some of their other movies.

MY REVIEW

15. Peterloo (Amazon)

While I’ve been a fan of filmmaker Mike Leigh almost as long as I’ve been writing about movies, I always seem to be in the minority when I’m not as into some of the movies my fellow critics love (like Mr. Turner), but this amazing movie about the political climate of England in the 16thCentury and the violence spurred on by a peaceful protest is an amazing bit of writing/directing by the British master. This is another movie that I wish got a lot more attention because the writing and cast were so good, and it just seemed to come and go without much fanfare. A real shame.

MY REVIEW

14. Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (Sony)

I probably won’t have too much to add about Tarantino’s movie beyond my earlier review, but this is a movie that I liked quite a bit the first time and even more the second time I saw it.  It’s just a fun portrait of Hollywood in 1969 through the eyes of a filmmaker who was six years old at the time. The performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie drove this film about what it was like trying to make a living as an actor in the climate of the late ‘60s with peace and love… and brutal murder in the form of the Manson Family. And yet, Tarantino found a way to give the Sharon Tate story a happy ending. Go figure.

MY REVIEW

13. Pain and Glory (Sony Pictures Classics)

Pedro Amodovar has been a bit hit or miss in recent years, so seeing him reunite with his regulars Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz to write his best (and possibly most personal?) screenplay to date made Pain and Gloryone of the year’s nice surprises. Despite doing a lot of questionable movies in recent years, Banderas once again proved his worth as an actor, giving a performance as a has-been director that hopefully will get him his very first Oscar nomination.

12. First Love (Go West USA)

Another filmmaker whose work I’ve loved but who has also made some real dogs is Japan’s Takashi Miike. His latest take on the crime genre ended up being one of his best movies in twenty years. It may even be better than Audition, which celebrated its 20thanniversary this year. It’s a simple story of a young Japanese boxer who encounters a young woman who has been sold into sex slavery, but in helping her to escape, they get caught up in a gang war that includes some of the craziest characters to ever appear in a Miike movie. But as the title says, this is a love story more than anything, and that helped Miike prove that he has not gone soft, but still knows what it means to be human.

11. The Two Popes (Netflix)

I just wrote about this dramatic two-hander, written by Anthony McCarten and directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God), last week, after putting it off for far too long. (It’s hard to get inspired to write reviews of movies when you’re not being paid to do so, let me tell you.) It’s an amazing film about the relationship between Popes Benedict and Francis, as played by Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce. While you wonder how McCarten researched a movie between two very private public figures, neither of whom have written about this meeting, this is another great film from Netflix this year that’s proving that the studio is not going away and it’s going to produce quality films as great as the big boys.

10. Avengers: Endgame (Marvel Studios)

It shouldn’t be too big a surprise that a Marvel movie has made my top 10, as there have been others, like last year’s Ant Man and the Wasp, Iron Man, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy. Oddly, only one of the three Russo Brothers movies made my list – Captain America: The Winter Soldier – but with Avengers: Endgame, they managed to create a culmination of everything that’s come before but also made a Marvel movie that is the most like the Avengers comics I love, even to the point of having various members going off on their own missions. I’ve seen this movie three or four times now, and I still love some of the big moments like Captain America stating, “Avengers Assemble!” (finally) and this more than made up for Infinity War, which was good but not great.

9. Waves (A24)

A rather late addition to my year’s best is the new movie from Trey Edward Schutts, which delivered another amazing performance by Kelvin Harrison, Jr, who was also fantastic as the little-seen drama, Luce. The energy Schutts gives the movie with the use of music is fantastic, but it’s just an interesting character portrait that halfway through, throws you for a major loop before switching gears to follow the characters played by Lucas Hedges and the equally talented Taylor Russell. And then on top of that, you have Sterling K. Brown giving a moving performance as Harrison and Russell’s characters, who just doesn’t know how to deal with what’s going on with his family. There have been some great teen coming-of-age dramas over the years but Waves is one for the ages.

8. Book Smart (UA Releasing)

Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut has been compared both favorably (and sometimes unfavorably) to a female Superbad, but I think a better comparison would be a modern-day Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Like Good Boys, it was a single night movie where two best friends (Beanie Feldstein, Kaitly Dever) decide to spend their last night in high school rebelling against their overly studios nature by going out to a party and have fun. What happens to them and the crazy characters they interact with makes this one of the funniest movies of the year. What was really amazing, besides the entire cast, was that I could watch this movie and see stuff that would have happened in my own high school days (which was more in the Ridgemont High days), and to see that high school just doesn’t change despite the technology and all the different standards and morals that come along.  Wilde is one filmmaker who I can’t wait to see what she does next and same for her entire cast. I’ve been saying since seeing this that I’d love to see Wilde do another movie with the exact same cast, all of them playing different characters, as I think we’ll see that these actors can do anything.

7. Yesterday (Universal)

Here’s a surprise for you all, but again, if you realize how many Danny Boyle movies have been in my top 10 over the years, you’ll know what a big fan I am of the Oscar-winning filmmaker. Teaming him with Richard Curtis for a high concept comedy where the world has forgotten the Beatles’ music and a young busker named Jack (Himesh Patel) who remembers them starts to make a career for himself by claiming the music as his own. I loved the lead, but it was especially his friendship/romance with Lily James’ Ellie Appleton that made me love this movie enough to put it in my top 10.

6. Marriage Story (Netflix)

While I really appreciated Noah Baumbach’s latest movie quite a bit when I first saw it at the New York Film Festival back in September, it was my rewatch on Netflix more recently that really made me appreciate what Baumbach has accomplished after nearly twenty years making movies. Granted, the movie might be seen as a bit of a downer, but you know what? Sometimes, I have to even out all the laughs and humor with something more serious.  Having a friend who went through a (far less litigious) divorce with a small child, I couldn’t help but thinking how much worse it could have been. As much as this was about Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson’s characters and the change in their relationship, it was a good lesson in how ugly things can get when lawyers get involved with Baumbach having a powerful trio in Laura Dern, Ray Liotta and the wonderful Alan Alda in those roles. This created a beautiful bookend to Baumbach’s earlier film The Squid and The Whale, based on his parents’ divorce, but this didn’t seem autobiographical as much as it showed the work of a mature filmmaker who has created his most personal and best work.

5. Knives Out (Lionsgate)

Speaking of dysfunctional family relationships, Rian Johnson’s look at the death of a wealthy mystery author’s (played by Christopher Plummer) and how his greedy family might be responsible, as investigated by Daniel Craig’s “gentleman detective” Benoit Blanc and the author’s maid, played by Ana de Armas. Besides putting a clever a spin on the ensemble whodunnit typified by the work of Agatha Christie and others, the movie was insanely funny thanks to the cast assembled by Johnson, which was literally an all-star team doing some of their funniest work. Really, there wasn’t a weak link in delivering Johnson’s best screenplay to date, and I look forward to seeing if we’ll get another movie in this realm. As with most of the movies in my Top 10, this is a movie I could see repeatedly and get more out of each time.

MY REVIEW

4. Rocketman  (Paramount)

And here it is, the Elton John movie that made me a fan of Elton John’s music after nearly 40 years of mostly shunning it. What director Dexter Fletcher and star Taron Egerton did in telling John’s story though his music, essentially creating an original jukebox musical on screen was the perfect way to frame the music and story. A lot of people compared this to last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody– which I also liked, mind you – but however much work Fletcher did to finish that movie after Bryan Singer’s firing, this was clearly something he had a clear vision of from beginning to end. This is one of the few movies I’ve seen this year three times, and I’ve been going down the Elton John rabbit hole of music ever since.

MY REVIEW

3. Ford v Ferrari (20thCentury Fox)

When I reviewed James Mangold’s Le Mans racing movie, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, back in October, I gave it a 9.5/10, and then I saw it again in IMAX and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I took off half a point. The movie is just about perfect.  This is such a great story and the way the action is framed by the relationship between the former’s Ken Miles and the latter’s Carol Shellby with all the other players in the mix just made the movie one that was extremely watchable. And boy, those racing scenes! I haven’t seen action that exciting in years and that includes some of the best recent action movies, including Baby Driver and some of the “Fast and Furious” movies.

MY REVIEW

2. 1917 (Universal)

This was almost my #1 because it’s such a masterful achievement in all aspects of filmmaking that it also earned a rare 10 out of 10. Granted, I’ve been a Sam Mendes fan for many, many years, and he probably has had a few movies in my top 25 over the years, most notably with his second film, The Road to Perdition, which was actually my #1 movie that year. I’ve generally followed Mendes’ career with interest with only one or two movies just not working for me, but with just eight movies in 20 years, it’s amazing that it took that long for Mendes to be back in the Oscar conversation after winning for American Beauty. Frankly, I think this is unequivocally one of the best movies of the year between the screenplay, co-written with Kristy Wilson-Cairns, and the performances by George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, making it a movie that’s a wonder to marvel at how they achieved such a powerful cinematic experience to behold.

MY REVIEW

1b. The Biggest Little Farm  (NEON)

As with every year, I like to pick one documentary as my favorite and best of the year, but instead of deciding where it fares among the narrative features, I just make it a tie for #1. My favorite doc of the year was John Chester’s movie about show he and his wife Molly decided to move out to a farm and try to get it work fiscally despite tons of issues, some they could control, others they couldn’t. While I also liked Apollo 11, and I’m sure that will win the Oscar, the way Chester told this story was done in such a wonderful way that it was far more enjoyable and entertaining than most docs. (And as you know, I do LOVE docs!)

1a. The Farewell (A24)

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed me on Twitter, where Lulu Wang’s China-set dramedy has been my profile picture almost since I first saw it in June – I’ve seen it three more times since then, each then having the same emotional reaction. Based on a story from Wang’s own life, it stars Awkwafina as Billi a poor starving New York artist who travels to China when she learns her Nana (the terrific Chinese veteran actor Shuzhen Zhao) was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her family has decided not to tell Nana that she may be dying, but they all return to Mainland China under the guise of a wedding for Billi’s cousin, but she knows the truth and has to skirt around while trying to spend possibly her last time with her beloved Nana. The movie was emotional but also quite amusing and entertaining, really showing what life in China is like in a way that was far more personal and human than last year’s Crazy Rich Asians i.e. that was more fantasy than this movie’s reality.

Some More Thoughts

Honorable Mentions: Motherless Brooklyn, Les Miserables, Honey Boy, Long Shot, Toy Story 4, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (As I said above, it was tough to leave a couple of these out of my top 25.)

Top 12 Docs

Not going to write too much about all of these but this was a pretty fantastic year for docs, and if you have a chance to watch any of the below, I would jump on it, especially since some of them barely got a theatrical release.

1. The Biggest Little Farm

2. Apollo 11

3. The Cave

4. WRESTLE

5. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

6. Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love

7. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

8. 63 Up

9. Agnès on Varda

10. One Child Nation

11. Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy

12. Love, Antosha

I used to do a TERRIBLE 25 as a separate thing, but this year, I’m just going to list six movies, although a few of these I saw so long ago, I barely remember why they sucked so bad.

In fact, Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s REPLICAS was one of the first movies released in 2019 picked up by Entertainment Studios from TIFF the year before. It’s funny how much love Keanu Reeves got this year for John Wick: Chapter Three and other stuff, but everyone seemed to completely forget that he started the year with this stupid high concept sci-fi thriller about a man obsessed with bringing his family back from the dead.

Also, not many people saw Joe Chappelle’s AN ACCEPTABLE LOSS, which opened just a week after Replicas, but it was a political thriller starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Tika Sumpter that was so poorly written and so boring that I felt bad for Sumpter, who was giving her all.

I probably have said as much as much about Tom Hooper’s CATS as I plan to – you can read my review over at The Beat– but it’s also the most recent of this year’s bad movies, so it’s the freshest on my mind on how awful it was. I’m not going to pile on any further.

It’s been a while since I saw Tim Story’s SHAFT sequel/reboot, and as excited I was to see Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree back in the role, it’s Jessie T. Usher’s presence as John Shaft, Jr, meant to be the main running gag of the action-comedy that made it one of the worst movies of the year.

Another remake that really didn’t need to happen was this Neil Marshall remake of HELLBOY, and sure, maybe I was a bit biased, having loved Guillermo del Toro’s movies, particularly Hellboy: The Golden Army, but this just wasn’t a good movie as hard as it seemed to try. (You can read my review of that here.)

And yet, that wasn’t even the worst movie of the year. No, that would be Rob Zombie’s 3 FROM HELL, a movie so abhorrible that I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I called it the “worst movie of the year” back in September, and that sentiment didn’t change.

Before we wrap things up, here are some of my favorite records of the year. You may have heard of a few of them. Maybe not others? Most of them should be on Spotify.

1. Smiley’s Friends - In the Sixth Sense

2. Kevin So - S.O.U.L.

3. Pixies - Beyond the Eire

4. The Alarm - Sigma

5. Silversun Pickups - Widow’s Weeds

Best concert of the year? Easy one. Dave Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets with my buddy Jonathan Baylis when former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters shows up to perform one of the classic Pink Floyd songs! Possibly one of the best concert moments of the last couple decades!

That’s it for 2019... onto 2020!

[operawindow9-blog]

What’s missing from our list of 2018’s best TV?

As we wind down 2018, our best-of coverage continues with the following question:

What’s missing from our list of the year’s best TV?

Kyle Fowle

There’s hardly reason to argue with almost any year-end list these days because of the sheer number of good TV shows out there, but I’m genuinely surprised that HBO’s High Maintenance didn’t make our list. The second season of the HBO run keeps with the anthology-esque spirit of the show, but it goes deeper in ways surprising and touching. So, there’s still the random characters that populate New York and The Guy’s life, but what’s different this time around is a narrative through-line involving The Guy’s ex. That character arc, one of pain and jealousy and moving on, adds so much to a season that’s already achingly honest. Add in the fact that one of the year’s best episodes—“Globo,” reckons with the election of Donald Trump, and the completely indescribable feeling of moving through the world on the morning of November 9, 2016 in a smart, poignant, and stirring way—and you have a season of TV that’s more than worthy of any year-end list.

Myles McNutt

It’s difficult for an established reality show to make it into a best of TV list: Beyond the fact that critical conversation privileges scripted programming, reality shows are built on iteration, and that feels less novel or memorable when we reach the list-making time of year. And I’m part of this problem, because I failed to put CBS’ Survivor on my own list despite the fact that its fall cycle has been absurdly enjoyable for a show in its 37th—not a typo—season. Yes, the David Vs. Goliath theme is profoundly dumb. No, I couldn’t tell you a single thing that happened during the season that aired in the spring, so 2018 wasn’t all great for the series. But something about the alchemy of casting and game-play has created a season with a succession of satisfying twists and turns, reminding us that although we may not instinctively think of it as list worthy, a reality show 18 years into its run can still create some of television’s best drama and comedy. (I’ll never hear the name “Natalie” without laughing now.)

Eric Thurm

Making reality TV really pop is an artform: There are hundreds of hours of interactions to film, comb through, and precisely edit into a narrative that will make sense, delight viewers, and feel just slightly off, like humans hanging out too many years in the future to quite make sense to us. So every year, I become more and more impressed with the reigning queen of the genre: Vanderpump Rules. The sixth season is one of the show’s best; over half a decade in, Vanderpump Rules remains an examination of fame, misfired charisma, and the terrors of tenuous social status that would put any 19th century novel to shame. Whether it’s Jax Taylor maybe falling in love with his reiki master Kelsey while his relationship with Brittany Cartwright festers like an untreated sore, Stassi Schroeder’s then-boyfriend creating a new god tier of social faux pas by grossly hitting on Lisa freaking Vanderpump, or the slow-moving car crash of James Kennedy ignoring the “best friend” he was clearly sleeping with (not that anyone else cared), Vanderpump Rules remains mesmerizing. The cast of past, present, and future SUR employees are stuck with each other forever, and it’s incredible. It’s not about the pasta; it’s about dread.

Clayton Purdom

Aw, come on—am I the only person who thought Maniac was one of the year’s best? Well, apparently. Cary Joji Fukunaga’s 10-parter was far from perfect, but it aimed admirably high, wrangling spy action, elven fantasy, late-capitalist malaise, intense family dynamics, corporate psychotherapy and more into a freewheeling caper across several levels of reality. It also got career-best comedic performances out of Emma Stone and Justin Theroux and a fine, sad-sack turn from Jonah Hill. And Ben Sinclair! Not all of its ideas stuck, but it was messy, smart, and light in a way I’d love to see more sci-fi attempt.

Dennis Perkins

I’ll admit, I was worried going into the new, Mary Berry-less (not to mention Mel- and Sue-less), Great British Baking Show era, but I am pleased as rum baba to say that this enduringly endearing and delightfully stressful baking competition series has marched on just as sweetly. Sure, there’s a lingering bitter aftertaste to the great British baking show schism that led to those departures, but not on the Great British Baking Show itself, which rides remaining judge Paul Hollywood’s gruff charms alongside new judging partner Prue Leith and celebrity goofballs Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig without missing a trick. The key ingredient to this series’ success has always been the utterly generous heart that goes into every episode, and Fielding and Toksvig, if anything, seem more emotionally invested in the fates of the contestants they have to expel, one-by-one, from the show’s famous tent. And if Hollywood and Leith continue the necessarily merciless judging of soggy bottoms, overworked and under-proved doughs, and the occasional collapsing confectionary disaster, they, too, provide warmly constructive criticism rather than the traditional reality show scorn. A series—as the departed Berry was wont to say—“cram-jammed” with delights, The Great British Baking Show remains one of the most cozily exciting TV experiences going. [Dennis Perkins]

Alex McLevy

Maybe it’s the curse of distance that comes from being released way back in January, or maybe it’s simply a victim of the era of Too Much TV, but I’m bummed out to find the Steven Soderbergh-helmed Mosaic failed to crack our top 25. The miniseries is everything you could want in superlative television: a sharply nuanced and well-written mystery, performed by a coterie of uniformly strong actors at the top of their game (longtime character actor Devin Ratray deserves to be getting award nominations for his star turn), and an ace director brilliantly shooting and editing the whole thing into an intriguing puzzle? It’s the one thing I have felt comfortable recommending to anyone all year long who’s asked me what great show they should check out, regardless of individual tastes, and sadly, not a single person to date has responded with, “I’ve already seen it.” (Feel free to ignore the accompanying multimedia app as an experimental lark on Soderbergh’s part.) You’d think an HBO series from an Oscar-winning director wouldn’t need underdog-status championing, and yet here we are. Give it a watch if you haven’t yet—and odds are, you haven’t.

Caroline Siede

Come on you guys, Netflix’s Queer Eye gave us two full seasons and a special in 2018, and we couldn’t even give it a spot on our list?! I get that it can be hard to stump for reality TV when there’s so much great scripted stuff out there, but Queer Eye at least deserves a special award for being one of the most unexpected joys of 2018. The new Fab Five offered an updated spin on the early ’00s Bravo original, emphasizing self-empowerment, confidence, and empathy along with styling tips and home makeovers. Karamo used his vague “culture and lifestyle” assignment to deliver some really thoughtful therapy sessions, Tan invented a whole new way to wear shirts, Jonathan established himself as an instant icon, Antoni put avocado on stuff, and Bobby did five times as much work as everyone else while getting barely any credit for it. Whether we were bonding over tear-jerking transformations or mocking Antoni’s complete inability to cook, Queer Eye was the rare cultural unifier based on something lovely and uplifting, rather than dark and depressing. I’m guessing we’re still going to need that in 2019, so it’s a good thing the show has a third season on the way. Until then, I’ll just be rewatching A.J.’s episode on a loop.

Lisa Weidenfeld

I watched and loved a lot of TV this year, but it’s possible Wynonna Earp is the show I looked forward to the most, and also the one I wish I was seeing on more best-of lists this December. It’s a Western, a procedural, a Buffy descendant, a horror comedy, and probably a few other things as well. But mostly it’s fun. Its wildly entertaining third season was the strongest yet, and featured a potato-licking mystery, a Christmas tree topper made out of tampons, and one of TV’s sweetest ongoing romances—the usual stuff of great drama. The show’s mythology keeps expanding into an ever larger battle between forces far more powerful than its scrappy team of heroes, but it’s the writing and character work that make the show shine. Wynonna may be tough and merciless in her pursuit of victory, but it’s her sense of humor that keeps her human and compelling, and the bond between her and sister Waverly has provided a grounding emotional force on a show with an increasingly complex central plot. There just aren’t enough shows on TV that would work a Plan B joke into their heist sequence.

Vikram Murthi

Even correcting for James Franco’s involvement, which might put people off for legitimate reasons, it blows me away that The Deuce didn’t crack AVC’s main list. David Simon and George Pelecanos’ bird’s-eye view of the inception and proliferation of the sex industry in the United States represents some of the most mature, compelling television of the year. Simon’s detail-oriented, process-focused approach comes alive when examining a side of American culture that functions as a metaphor for everything: gentrification, the rise of cultural conservatism, urban renewal, late capitalism, and, most potently, the filmmaking process. This season, Simon and Pelecanos pushed their subjects toward broader freedoms that quickly revealed themselves to be traps in disguise. Not only does all social progress come with a price, but also it’s limited to those pre-approved by those controlling the purse strings. Yet, Simon and Pelecanos never forget that the tapestry of human experience is neither exclusively tragic nor comprehensively optimistic. Some people discover happiness, and others lose their way. Rising and falling in America has always been a permanent state because social environments and political context circumscribe life-or-death choices. It’s been a decade since The Wire ended, but its worldview lives on through Simon’s successive work: everything’s connected, follow the money, and bad institutions fail good people every damn day.

Danette Chavez

Although the show’s title addresses a certain demographic, Dear White People has so much to say beyond calling out the oblivious and privileged. Yes, Justin Simien’s adaptation of his 2014 film of the same name wears its politics on its sleeve, but they’re right next to its heart. The show is much more a winning coming-of-age dramedy than it is a polemic, and even then, it’s still miles ahead of most college-set series in both style and substance. Simien’s created his own visual language to capture both the intimacy of the relationships among the core cast, as well as the microscope they’re under as black students at an Ivy League school. And I really cannot say enough about the dialogue, which crackles and informs. Season one had such a moving coming-out storyline, made all the more so by DeRon Horton’s vulnerable performance; the new season follows Lionel’s adventures in dating and dorm sex, with hilarious and poignant results. Really, the whole cast should be commended, from Logan Browning, who provides a wonderfully complex center as Sam, to Antoinette Robertson, who may have given the series’ best performance in season two’s “Chapter IV.” Dear White People still makes a point of punching up—at racist and sexist institutions, tangible and otherwise—but many of its most extraordinary moments have come from characters like Sam, Gabe (John Patrick Amedori), and Reggie (Marque Richardson) recognizing their personal foibles. Thankfully, Netflix has already renewed Dear White People for a third season, giving you all a chance to get it together.

Gwen Ihnat

The odd Amazon sitcom Forever had a lot to say about the monotony of monogamy and marriage: Can you really stay with someone happily for the rest of your life? (Or afterlife, as the case may be.) With anyone but Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph cast as that main couple, Forever might have slowly slid into bland drudgery. But the two gifted comic actors injected a lot of life into the monogamy question, aided by a spirited supporting cast including Catherine Keener, Julia Ormond, and Noah Robbins. Sure, there are some days when you want to talk to anyone but that person sitting across from you at the breakfast table. But who else would discuss with you, ad nauseam, banal topics like the perfect way to spend a half-hour, or the best way to sit in a chair? The standalone episode “Andre And Sarah” makes achingly clear how much finding (or not finding) that person who makes you shine steers the path your life will eventually take, all in a mere 35 minutes.

Allison Shoemaker

While I’d love to praise one of the many things that aired this year that I’m sure to revisit in future—someone else is going to mention Wanderlust, Salt Fat Acid Heat, and the dazzling Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert, right?—I feel compelled to bring up a program I’m almost certain I’ll never watch again. It’s unlikely that when HBO snapped up The Tale at Sundance this year, the network was thinking of the benefits of the pause button. Yet it’s a benefit all the same. The debut narrative feature from documentarian Jennifer Fox follows a fictionalized version of the director (played by Laura Dern) as she re-examines a traumatic childhood experience she’d filed away in her mind as loving and consensual, managing to be both gentle and almost unbearably upsetting all at once. Dern’s simple, seemingly relaxed performance belies the nightmare which fuels it, and that pause button may prove invaluable to some—it certainly was for me. The Tale is a film which seems to demand that you witness, rather than merely watch it. Should you need to walk away for a minute, it’ll keep.

Noel Murray

I know, I know: At least once or twice a year someone tells you about some cool animated series you should be watching, and talks about how trippy and ambitious and strangely deep it is. But guys, trust me: You need to catch up on Cartoon Network’s Summer Camp Island. Only half of season one has aired so far (20 10-minute episodes, mostly non-serialized), with the rest of the first batch reportedly set to debut before the end of the year. It’s a show parents can watch with grade-school-aged kids or on their own—a treat for animation buffs, and for anyone who enjoys a the kind of surrealism that’s more adorable than upsetting. With its snooty teen witches, dorky monsters, and never-ending parade of anthropomorphic clothes, toys, plants, and foodstuffs, Summer Camp Island is like a weird old Disney cartoon crossed with an ’80s teensploitation picture. And it is glorious.

A.A. Dowd

Mike Flanagan is a Stephen King guy. You could guess that from his adaptation of Gerald’s Game and from the news that he’s doing King’s Shining sequel Doctor Sleep next. Or you could just watch his work and marvel at how plainly influenced it is by the author’s, at how well it captures that signature King touch—the division of perspective among multiple characters, the interest in history and trauma, the graceful juggling of timelines. There’s much more King than Shirley Jackson in Flanagan Netflix take on The Haunting Of Hill House. The miniseries didn’t scare me as much as it seemed to scare a lot of my friends and colleagues—while well-executed, its jolts were mostly of the familiar James Wan spirits-slithering-up-walls variety. But I loved the intricacy of the storytelling, the way Flanagan moved fluidly from the childhood scenes to the adulthood ones and back again, mapping the entwined lives of these damaged siblings to suggest the way that our past and present remain in constant conversation. (It’s memories, of course, that are really haunting the Crain family.) In the end, I found Haunting Of Hill House a better, more spiritually faithful adaptation of It than the real one from last year. Guess that makes me a Mike Flanagan guy.

Erik Adams

The contents of The Big List demonstrate that it’s a great time for television comedy of all stripes: Animated, musical, workplace, detail-oriented genre parody, surrealist examination of the agony and ecstasy of existence. And while I would’ve liked to have seen some notice for the humble charms of NBC’s Superstore or a nod to that episode of Joe Pera Talks With You where Joe hears “Baba O’Riley” for the first time, I’m surprised that we didn’t heap more praise on another Michigan-set cable show co-starring Conner O’Malley. Like Myles with Survivor, I’m willing to accept that I’m part of the problem: Detroiters didn’t make my ballot’s final cut, despite all the hearty laughs, shoddily produced TV commercials, and General Getdown dance routines (“He’s a general—he’s the best”) the Comedy Central series gave me this year. Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson’s love letter to their shared hometown will always be powered by the stars’ explosively silly onscreen connection, but season two did some stellar work at fleshing out their characters as individuals, whether it was Sam reuniting with an ex to record a sultry grocery-store jingle or Tim (loudly) grappling with the family legacy of Cramblin Duvet Advertising. If nothing else, these episodes proved that when it comes to comedic news anchors, sometimes the inspiration for Ron Burgundy outstrips the legend himself.

Source: https://tv.avclub.com/what-s-missing-from-our-list-of-2018-s-best-tv-1830979080

[mrmichaelchadler]

Home Entertainment Consumer Guide: March 14, 2019

16 NEW TO NETFLIX

"Apollo 13" "Blue Jasmine" "A Clockwork Orange" "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" "Doubt" "Dr. No" "The Hurt Locker" "Junebug" "Layer Cake" "The Notebook" "Strangers on a Train" "Synecdoche, New York" "Tyson" "W." "Wet Hot American Summer" "Winter's Bone"

11 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

"Bedazzled"

When Stanley Donen passed away last month, the rapturous praise for his career was pretty overwhelming. He made movies that mattered to a lot of people, including widely-cited classics like "Singin' in the Rain," "On the Town," and "Two For the Road." The same year he released that last film, he dropped a comedy classic starring Dudley Moore and Peter Cook called "Bedazzled," coincidentally just released on Blu-ray by the great company Twilight Time. Conceived by Cook as a vehicle for him and his comedy partner, "Bedazzled" is a comedy riff on Faust that really highlights their great comic timing and reminds one that Donen really could do anything. The fact that this and "Two For the Road" came out within three months of each other is remarkable.    Buy it here 

Special Features Isolated Music & Effects Track Peter Cook & Dudley Moore on The Paul Ryan Show  A Bedazzled Conversation with Harold Ramis  Original Theatrical Trailers

"Burning"

One of the best films of 2018 gets a relatively lackluster Blu-ray release, although the trend away from physical media should make us happy it's getting an HD disc at all, I suppose. Criterion has released Lee Chang-dong's work before, so we can also hope that they do their magic upgrade thing for this movie soon. Until then, just rent or buy this version of a movie that's both thriller and social drama, containing some of the best writing, direction, and acting of 2018. This not even being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, when it arguably should have won, is a crime. (Steven Yeun deserved a nod too). The less you know about this movie, the better. Just watch it. You won't regret it. 

Buy it here 

Special Features About the Characters - Featurette Trailers

"Creed II"

I have to admit that when I started seeing previews for "Creed II" that they made me a little sad. "Creed" is a fantastic film and not one that demands a sequel. (Although it's arguable that neither did "Rocky".) The good news is that this is far from the disaster that it could have been, largely because Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, and Sly Stallone don't treat it like a cash grab. They invest themselves completely in these characters yet again, especially Jordan, who continues to prove that he's one of the best actors of his generation. They bring depth to a script that isn't as nuanced as the first and direction that's not as accomplished as Coogler's but this is a totally solid sequel, a step down from the first movie but nowhere the collapse that I once dreaded. 

Buy it here 

Special Features From Father to Son, Blood Runs Hot - Featurette Finding the Authentic - Featurette The Women of "Creed II" - Featurette The Rocky Legacy - Featurette Deleted Scenes

"Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald"

We generally only include releases in this column that we can recommend but enough people love this series that we'll make an exception for the most dour blockbuster of 2018. Seriously, when did this world get so depressing? With the exception of a few top-notch tech elements and the always-welcome appearances of Jude Law and Zoe Kravitz, there's little to warrant a look other than if you feel an obligation to keep up with what's happening in J.K. Rowling's world, one that started with such joy and wonder but now seems content to wallow in its worst tendencies. 

Buy it here 

Special Features EXTENDED CUT OF THE FILM (141 min). THEATRICAL CUT OF THE FILM (134 min). J.K. Rowling: A World Revealed Wizards on Screen, Fans in Real Life Distinctly Dumbledore Unlocking Scene Secrets: The Return to Hogwarts Unlocking Scene Secrets: Newt's Menagerie Unlocking Scene Secrets: Credence, Nagini and the Circus Arcanus Unlocking Scene Secrets: Paris and Place Cachée Unlocking Scene Secrets: Ministere des Affaires Magiques Unlocking Scene Secrets: Grindelwald's Escape and the Ring of Fire Deleted Scenes

"The Favourite"

The Oscar winner for Best Actress (and a nominee for Picture, Director, Screenplay, and much more) is already available for rent and purchase. Yorgos Lanthimos most acclaimed film is a sharp comedy that really works best as a platform for its three incredibly talented stars. It's rare to see a movie that gives roles this juicy to not one actress but a trio of them, and then gets performances this incredible from all three. Personally, the script doesn't work as well for me as it does for some people (neither do the fish-eye lenses) but as a performance piece? It's easily one of the best of the last few years.

Buy it here 

Special Features Deleted Scenes The Favourite: Unstitching the Costume Drama

"Green Book"

Maybe you've heard of it? The most divisive Best Picture winner of the decade is already on the home market for people to see what all the fuss is about. What I've found helpful is to just listen to the conversation around "Green Book." There has been some incredible writing about problems that people have with this film's troubling grasp on history and white savior narrative. Even if you don't agree and want to embrace the movie's crowdpleasing aspects, take the time to hear the other side. So much of what divides this country comes down to a complete unwillingness to listen to counterpoints. And if you like this movie, you probably point to its "can't we all get along" aspect as one of its strengths. Well, follow that lesson and truly listen to the people who are honestly offended that this movie even exists, much less was named the best of 2018. I'm not saying your mind will be changed or that it should, but great cinema should start conversations, and you have to listen to have one of those. 

Buy it here 

Special Features Virtuoso Performances – Go behind the scenes with Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali as they discuss their characters and the lengths they went to accurately portray them. An Unforgettable Friendship – Cast and filmmakers discuss the friendship between Don Shirley and Tony Lip. Going Beyond the Green Book – Filmmakers and cast discuss the significance of The Green Book.

"The Guilty"

One of the best thrillers of 2018 is a film that you probably haven't seen, but it's now available on Blu-ray and DVD. This award-winning German film is a single-set piece that plays beautifully with perspective and miscommunication. It tells the story of a worker at an emergency call center who gets a call that will change his life. Convinced he's speaking to a kidnapped woman, the worker does everything he can to save her life, but he learns that he's made a few assumptions about exactly what's happening on the other end of the line. Smart, tightly-written, and thrilling, this is another foreign language film of 2018 that deserves your attention. 

Buy it here 

Special Features

None

"The Little Mermaid"

Want to feel old? "The Little Mermaid" is as old now as "Sleeping Beauty" was when Ariel's story came out in 1989. To celebrate the film's 30th anniversary, Disney has pulled it from the vault and given it a shiny polish for a 4K release. Watching it with my family, I was actually startled at how old it did look, as we've become so accustomed to CGI animation in 2019. The hand-drawn charm of this one remains and the colors and line details have never looked better. The storytelling may be thin by modern terms, but the music is still the real draw. It almost makes one long for the day when all Disney movies were musicals, especially when the original songs were this unforgettable.

Buy it here 

Special Features Sing-Along Mode  Alan Menken & the Leading Ladies Song "What I Want From You…Is YOUR VOICE"  Stories From Walt's Office – Gadgets & Gizmos  #TreasuresUntold  DCapella "Part of Your World" Music Video Deleted Character: Harold The Merman Under The Scene: The Art Of Live Action Reference Howard's Lecture Audio Commentary With Ron Clements, John Musker and Alan Menken

"Ralph Breaks the Internet"

There's little music and nothing hand-drawn in "Ralph Breaks the Internet," also recently released on Blu-ray and DVD. Will people still be watching this one in 30 years? I do wonder how the film's heavy emphasis on technology will age. However, the main theme of this film is timeless in that it's really about how Ralph's insecurity takes over his world. Who can't relate to that? Most of all, I love that one of the main themes of this film is allowing your friends to have their own pursuits and interests. An overwhelming amount of family films are about "getting people together" that it's nice to see one that says it's you can still love your friends when you're apart too.

Buy it here 

Special Features How We Broke the Internet Surfing for Easter Eggs  The Music of Ralph Breaks the Internet  Deleted Scenes  BuzzzTube Cats  Music Videos – "Zero" by Imagine Dragons and "In This Place" by Julia Michaels Baby Drivers – Slaughter Racing School 

"The Standoff at Sparrow Creek"

Turnaround times on indie films from theater to DVD can often be incredibly quick. Take this little thriller that we reviewed in January and is already on Blu-ray. With echoes of David Mamet and Quentin Tarantino, this is the kind of flick that should have a long life on the home market, passed along through word-of-mouth. It's smart, tense, and really clever. Be the first one in your circle of friends on the bandwagon to watch it and then tell everyone you know to do the same. 

Buy it here 

Special Features The Making of The Standoff at Sparrow Creek - Featurette Photo Gallery

"To Sleep with Anger" (Criterion)

The Ebertfest presentation of this Charles Burnett film in 2017 was one of the highlights of that year. It's a challenging film to describe to people. Even the plot synopsis is deceptively simple: "An enigmatic drifter from the South comes to visit an old acquaintance who now lives in South-Central LA." Yeah, that's part of what fascinates people about this movie, along with arguably Danny Glover's best performance, but it really only hints at the depth in Burnett's work. This is a conversation starter, a film designed to get people talking not only about the plot of the movie they just watched but the mood, tone, and cinematic language. Check it out as soon as you can.  

Buy it here    Special Features New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director Charles Burnett, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray Of Family and Folklore, a new interview program, featuring Burnett, actors Danny Glover and Sheryl Lee Ralph, and associate producer Linda Koulisis A Walk with Charles Burnett, a new hour-long conversation between Burnett and filmmaker Robert Townsend that revisits Burnett’s films and shooting locations Short video tribute to Burnett produced for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards ceremony in 2017 PLUS: An essay by critic Ashley Clark

from All Content https://ift.tt/2VYOrur

[nicksinardreviews-blog]

The 5 Best PAID eBook Creator Software

Finding The Best PAID eBook Creator

In my last article I covered the best free ebook creator software, and in this one I'm covering the best ebook creator apps that will cost you some money. Searching around for the right ebook software before you buy is super important, as many people are selling trash.

Hello, my name is Nick Sinard! I generally review products, but today I am showing you some of the best software for ebook authors. If you have some feedback or found some better software, then don't hesitate to comment on this!

#1 Sqribble

Sqribble is brand new ebook creator app that exploded when it launched. Over 11,500+ copies were sold in the past month!

Features

I have written a whole review of Sqribble, if you want to

see a more in-depth description.

Here are just a few of its great features:

50 Stunning eBook Templates to help make your ebook look great.

Automatic Page Numbering so you don't have to tediously insert them.

Unlimited Pages

300+ Google Fonts to help you customize your ebook.

FREE Commercial License (Go to my review and make sure they still have this bonus!)

What Are Customers Saying about Sqribble?

Actions speak louder than words, and the 11,500+ sales in one month with a ~8% refund rate tells you that buyers love it. I personally rated it 4.75/5 Stars, and if you go by buy/refund rate, then the customers give it 4.6/5 Stars.

From their own testimonials:

Sqribble makes it more easy and accessible for anyone to create ebooks in a matter of minutes. It's the BEST I've seen! The training and support is fantastic.

Is There An Issue?

There is a single issue that I can see with Sqribble that the support team is saying they are working on right now. That problem is that Sqribble cannot export to PDF. A minor issue considering it can easily convert to other popular formats, and considering they are fixing it.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

As I said in my review of Sqribble,

Sqribble is one of the best ebook programs. No questions asked. It has so many features and removes a ton of hassle from the author.

So, yes, it most definitely deserves to on this list, and deserves to be #1. It brings so much to the table, including the ability to make ebooks in just a few minutes.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

You can grab Sqribble at a discount price when you click through my link in my full review of Sqribble.  If you look at my review, then there is no way you are going to miss the coupon code for it.

The discounted price ($47) is very comparable to the other ebook creator apps in this list.

#2 Scrivener 3

Scrivener is a popular  ebook creator software that has some impressive features. Scrivener 3 is a big upgrade from the last version!

Scrivener 3 is only available for Mac OS as of me writing this, but they say they are working on a Windows version. You can also get Scrivener for IOS.

Features

Helps you manage your text by letting you instantly switch between the whole manuscript and 1 section. Focusing can be difficult, and this helps you focus.

It has the standard word processor features such as bold, italics, etc.

Their "Styles" feature let's you format different ways when you create different files.

Scrivener 3 can import tons of file types, including Word and OpenOffice documents, plain text files, Final Draft scripts, images, PDF documents, movies, sound files and web pages.

The Corkboard feature gives every section a index card that you can focus on individually, and when you rearrange them you rearrange the whole book accordingly.

"Outliner" let's you to have folders and subfolders so you can see an overview of your book, and it also tells you meta data and word count! Want to move a whole chapter? As easy as drag & drop.

Create your own templates.

Annotate and comment on your manuscript.

It has footnote support, and it includes templates for writing in MLA, APA and other common formats.

You can have 4 different documents up on the same screen so you can cross-reference! No more windows that cover up others.

Set targets for your writing!

Major revision in your future? "Screenshot" it to restore it later.

Compiling is more flexible and much easier to use than before.

Epub 3 and improved Kindle export have been added with Scrivener 3!

What Are Customers Saying About Scrivener 3?

Another user in a thread from Scrivener's home site said:

Do I love Scrivener? Yes, it's essential for my everyday work...

I can't really find too much negative feedback on Scrivener. The best I can find is comparisons between Scrivener and Word, but even then many won't talk badly of Scrivener.

One Big Problem (For Some)

Scrivener 3 is not on Windows OSs yet! They only have it up for Mac. The developers say they are working on it, so be patient and hope they aren't too far away from releasing it.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

Absolutely. I have seen almost nothing but positive reviews on Scrivener 3. If we go by user reviews, then it definitely deserves to be on the top 5 list of ebook creator software.

I'm writing a book myself, and reading up on this has gotten me to consider it.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

New users will need to pay $45 for Scrivener 3 for Mac, and old users will only need to pay $25 for Scrivener 3. So, if you already have it, then consider upgrading for a discounted price! If you want more details on the discount, then visit their own page detailing how to get the discount.

#3 Ulysses

Ulysses is the Apple Design Award Winner 2016, so you can tell that they know a little something about how to make a great app.

This is another app that definitely deserves a place among the best ebook creator software!

Features

Utilizes Apple's sleek and clean design to minimize distractions and clutter.

Handles regular word processor features as well such as footnoting.

You can adjust what your editor looks like, e.g. color.

You don't need a mouse. You can use your keyboard for absolutely everything.

Typewriter mode allows you to fix the text you are writing – top, center, bottom, or whatever.

Ulysses' library holds everything you ever write, and easily search it with the help of filters.

Break the text into groups and subgroups.

You can add images, PDFs, notes, etc. in your manuscript as well!

It also provides auto-save and auto-backup, so no more worrying about losing hours of work because of a mistake, dead battery, or some freak accident.

You can also track your writing goals.

Since it really adopts the Apple identity, it only makes since that it can fully sync with the iCloud.

Exports as HTML, PDF, DOCX, or ePub.

Direct Ulysses to Wordpress publishing!

What Are Customers Saying About Ulysses, Another eBook Creator App?

On the App Store it has the composite review score of 4.1/5 Stars! Here are just the headlines from the 3 latest reviews:

A must-have app for professional writersThe best! If you are serious about writing, this is the App!The best application for writers

I'm not kidding either!

Okay, What're The Issues?

There are two main issues with Ulysses, and both can be big problems for many people.

The first is that it can only be used on Apple products, so this rules out any non-Apple product users.

The second is that it is text only. That is, you need to know some markup to operate Ulysses. They try to spin this as a feature and benefit since you don't have to lift your fingers to move to some button.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

The award it received alone justifies it being here, and besides that it has many great features. It is a no-frills ebook creator that definitely will appeal to some writers. Writer's block is dangerous, but distractions are the more common and sometimes more derailing enemies.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

You can subscribe on a monthly ($4.99) or yearly ($39.99) basis. If you are a student, then you can also get a discount.

You can download the app and immediately get a 14 day free trial!

P.S.

The Ulysses team has a great tutorial section on their website, so make sure you check it out if you get it!

#4 Microsoft Word, The All-Purpose Word Processor

Everybody knows of MS Word as it is probably the most popular word processor. Let's talk about Word as an ebook creator app.

Features

You get what you see with Microsoft Word. While it has many features that can be somewhat hidden, it is pretty straightforward. I feel like I don't need to cover this too much as millions have used Word in their lifetimes.

Of course, Word is fantastic for the fact alone that so many programs require DOCX files.

You can also go to Microsoft Office's site and find free templates for things such as invoices, newsletters, brochures, etc.

What Are Customers Saying About Microsoft Word?

Millions use Microsoft Word daily, so customer satisfaction must be relatively high.

Out of 272 reviews, MS Word has a review score of 4.7/5 Stars.

My Biggest Issue

Microsoft Word is the most popular word processor and is versatile; however, the versatility might be its downfall for ebook creation. In order to create an ebook one would still need to use a software like Calibre.

It's doable to use Word like an ebook creator, but there are other, better software for the task.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

Yes, purely for the fact that it is the most popular word processor in the world. You can write your ebook on Word and make an ebook with some supplementary software such as Calibre. So, as an ebook creator it is incomplete, but it does a fine job of letting you write your manuscript.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

You can try it for free for 1 month. There are a few payment plans.

You can buy the Office 365 Home suite that includes Word for $79.99/yr or $9.99/mo for 1 year. You can buy Office 365 Personal for $69.99/yr or $6.99/mo. If you are a student, then you can buy it for a one time purchase price of $119.99.

#5 Ultimate eBook Creator

Ultimate eBook Creator has more reviews on Amazon than any other ebook creator software, and is, in fact, Amazon's Choice when it comes to ebook software.

That said, its overall rating is 3.5/5 stars on Amazon, so let's get into it.

Two Immediate Problems

Here's the biggest problem: It only can be used on Windows 7, 8, and 10, so Mac users would need to download one of those 3 OSs to use this software.

The second biggest problem is that it was created back in May 2014; however, some reviewers in 2018 are still saying it is a great product.

Features

Here are the features of Ultimate eBook Creator:

Advanced formatting like MS Word

Spell Checker - Over 80 languages

User Interface in English, German

Auto generates Table of Contents

Import manuscript in Word, PDF

Insert text, images

Create Links

Bookmarks & link to bookmarks

Embed Audio, Video

Create Interactive, Quiz eBooks

Physical books, Amazon Createspace

Amazon MOBI for all Kindle Devices

EPUB - iBookstore, Android devices & Tablets

PDF - Clickable Table of Contents

Microsoft Word (doc, docx) Clickable Table of Contents

ConversionsWord to MOBI

Word to EPUB

Word to PDF

PDF to EPUB

PDF to MS Word

PDF to HTML

PDF Password Protection

EPUB to PDF

What Are Customers Saying About Ultimate eBook Creator?

There are some more critical reviewers, and one in particular calls out some very specific issues with this software. Let's look at it in bits.

So, while it does convert Word docs into other formats, it might be quirky in that it only accepts Word docs formatted by certain versions of Word.

Since they leave out what versions worked for them, we can only do trial & error to find out which is fine. Considering this is the only review I have seen that mentions this quirk, we cannot rule out it is just their computer.

While the automatic table of contents is advertised as a feature, it might actually become an nuisance for some authors as there is no option to get rid of it.

If the reviewer is correct, then it also is biased towards a less popular ebook format, which could be a problem for some.

From what I can tell there are some other quirks in the software that aren't mentioned in that review, e.g. text and images sometimes fight against you.

Does It Deserve to be on Here?

The reason why I included it is because the high amount of people that liked the product. You can see more positive and negative testimonials on their site.

What's The Price, and Where Can I Get It?

If you want to buy it, then you can pay $14.99 on Amazon for the CD or go to their site and buy it directly from the creator.

My Final Thoughts

There are plenty of premium ebook creator software, and sorting through it all can be difficult. Through my own judgement and customer reviews I've made this top 5 list, with Sqribble at #1 and Scrivener 3 being a close second.

Ultimate eBook Creator came in last because of the two major problems I mentioned, which gave MS Word, not a specialized ebook creator program, the #4 spot.

I hope this has helped you decide on which to buy, and remember I do have a list of the top free ebook creator software.

[ber39james]

Everything You Need to Know on How to Write a Movie Review

You love watching movies. You show up early and breathe in the trailers, mentally noting each coming attraction you’d like to see—which is most of them. You invite your friends to linger afterward so you can discuss and digest the film’s best, worst, and most intriguing aspects.

If this sounds like you, you might already be a film critic at heart. But it takes some effort to structure your thoughts, so it’s good to have a place to start. Here’s everything you need to know about writing movie reviews:

Some details are essential.

Film criticism is a wide-open art form—there is no cookie-cutter template to follow. But there are a few facts that anyone reading your review should take away:

Who directed the movie?

Who starred in it?

Is it a sequel, adaptation, or remake?

Some publications, like Variety, simply list the director and key actors near the top of each review. But others, like The New Yorker—where the erudite Anthony Lane reigns supreme—instead weave in such information throughout the piece.

If you opt for the latter approach, throw in some helpful context as you go. Not every reader of your review of The Shape of Water will recognize Guillermo del Toro’s name, but mentioning his earlier works, like Pan’s Labyrinth, might jog a few memories.

Here’s a tip:  Grammarly runs on powerful algorithms developed by the world’s leading linguists, and it can save you from misspellings, hundreds of types of grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and words that are spelled right but used in the wrong context. Learn More 

Other bits are fine to leave out.

While it’s good to provide context, don’t overdo it. One or two telling details will often suffice—no need to recapitulate anyone’s entire filmography. Likewise, if your review includes a comprehensive summary of the movie’s plot, you’re doing it wrong.

To be sure, you need to make clear whether the movie is a soft-spoken arthouse film or the latest installment in the ever-growing pantheon of big-budget superhero flicks, and whether it’s set in 9th century China or on Mars. Beyond that, it’s almost never a service to the reader to spoil the twist that sets up the third act. Leave some suspense intact.

How do I decide what makes the cut?

As a test, when you’re not sure a particular detail merits inclusion, ask yourself: If I omit this, and a reader later learns it elsewhere, will they feel like I blew it?

You don’t want someone to finish your review of Lady Bird, go see it, and only later feel astonished to discover that, like her film’s protagonist, director Greta Gerwig attended Catholic school in Sacramento, and drew from that experience in writing Saoirse Ronan’s character.

Such information should not be news to your audience; they read your review, after all.

Ratings systems might just be overrated.

Film reviews are subjective. You’re under no obligation to rate movies on a hard scale—A+, 9/10, a solid four coffin emojis out of six feet under, etc.

In fact, many a movie buff scoffs at the notion of dispensing just a single award, Oscar or otherwise, for Best Picture. Trying to pit such dissimilar films as Get Out or The Post against Dunkirk, the argument goes, is absurd.

Rather than grasp for an arbitrary value, state plainly what a movie called to mind, or how it didn’t quite land with you, and explain why.

Study the greats.

There’s no shortage of opinions on movies in the world, but try focusing on one or two critics whose work resonates with you. Make a habit of examining their latest each week. Look for patterns. Try to notice what they’re noticing.

The most telling reviews sometimes occur when a critic singles out something bizarre for praise. Would you have bet on the aforementioned Lane to laud a documentary about a dumb Canadian metal band from the 1980s?

Both Lane and New York Times longtimer A.O. Scott were influenced by the legendary Pauline Kael, who Roger Ebert eulogized in 2001 for having “a more positive influence on the climate for film in America than any other single person over the last three decades.”

I…I…liked RED SPARROW. https://t.co/p1dWhDXIKg

— Amy Nicholson (@TheAmyNicholson) February 28, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Every name in the above paragraph is worth knowing, as is one other veteran critic and fan of Kael: Amy Nicholson. Her podcast The Canon debates in exacting detail which films deserve to live on for all time, sometimes pitting classics brutally against each other, and features a rotating guestlist of equally sharp critics.

Your job’s not done if you haven’t considered…

To instill trust in your readers, you have to think and write about movies holistically. You might have strong opinions on martial arts and Victorian fashion, but your audience will doubt you if you judge a film solely on its action sequences or costuming.

True, many viewers of, say, Blade Runner 2049 are watching for robots, uppercuts, and noir, but a good critic is alive not just to the quality of the special effects but also the visual storytelling—the malevolent buildup surrounding the movie’s villains, say, or the occasional comedic beat between Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford.

In this spirit, you’d be remiss to ignore:

The quality of the acting

Whether the camerawork held your interest and felt deliberate

Whether the world felt inhabited or thrown together

If that all seems like a lot to hold in your mind until the movie ends and you can start writing, we have one more tip:

Take notes.

In a dark theater, you generally can’t pull out your smartphone or tablet to dash off ideas on a glowing screen without getting hissed at and asked to leave. Fortunately, film critics whose careers predate such devices have devised this alternative—take a notebook and pen.

You may need some time (and practice) to decipher what you’ve scrawled in the dark. But as the house lights come up, try looking back through your scribbles and add clarifications or more details while your memory is fresh.

You don’t want your final draft to read like you wrote it while watching movies in the dark. Grammarly’s free app can help tidy up those reviews before they go out. Find out more here.

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[sarahburness]

If Your Life Story Depresses You or Holds You Back, Change It

“The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.” ~Pema Chodron

Too often we let stories from our past define us. We tell them over and over to ourselves and to others until it becomes our truth. What if, without deviating from actual facts, we choose to tell different stories? What if these new stories could bring us more freedom and strength?

Below are some true facts about my own life. I'll follow each one with the stories I could be telling myself about each one, followed by the story I choose to go with.

Fact Number One

My father abused my teenage mother when she was pregnant with me and left us when I was just a few days old. I’ve never seen him again.

The stories I could be telling myself now:

Men are bad.

Men can't be trusted.

The reason I can't hold on to a relationship is because my father left me.

I'm unwanted.

I'm unlovable.

The true story I choose to go with:

They were young. He felt trapped and scared. His fears drove him to behave very badly. He had his own issues from his own childhood.

It sucks, but it doesn't define me or shape my views of men or myself.

If I'd held onto the negative self talk or views about men, it could have prevented me from being the happy, loving, loved person I am today.

Fact Number Two

In my tween / teen years my mother worked nights in a factory and I didn't see her before or after school. There was never a parent attending my school music and sporting events or awards presentations and I found my own way home afterward, often walking back in the dark, freezing cold winters of Minnesota.

I got myself up and to school on time, oversaw my own homework, dinner, and bedtimes, and often that of my younger brother too.

The story I could be telling:

My mother didn't care about me. She was irresponsible. She put me in danger and neglected my needs.

I have to fend for myself in this world or nobody else will. I need to look out for number one. This is why I'm lonely. This is why I never succeeded. I was handed a bum deal compared to my friends. I could have made more of my life if I'd felt supported and had good guidance at pivotal stages of my youth.

The story I choose to go with:

My mother was doing the best she could with what she had.

Being very independent from a young age taught me responsibility.

I’m truly motivated to be present in the lives of my own children, attending their events, encouraging and offering guidance. The past has made me a better mother.

Fact Number Three

The boyfriend I fell madly in love with in my twenties verbally and physically abused me until I was finally hospitalized with cracked ribs. I gave up my career and possessions in California to move to London to be with him. I knew nobody except his friends.

The stories I could be telling myself now:

History repeats itself. I was abused because my father abused my mother.

I deserved it for being such an idiot.

I'm not worthy of proper love and respect.

Men are all assholes.

The story I choose:

I didn't know my boyfriend well enough before I moved abroad to be with him. I felt unable to move back to the U.S. as I'd given up my job, home, car and life there. I continued to stay with him for too long out of fear and ignorance.

I'm smarter now. I learned what I don't want in a relationship and it enabled me to recognize what I do want and to find it. I'm stronger and I know myself now. I love myself. I am worthy.

Do you know anybody who's been dealt a crappy deck and now tells the first kinds of stories? Do they blame past circumstances for their present life? Do they begrudge the people who have mistreated them?

Which stories from your past do you tell yourself and others over and over? Are these stories helping you or holding you back?

Rewriting the script in your head isn't easy, especially if you've been telling it for a very long time.

Here are some ways to begin to dump the old stories and replace them with new ones.

1. Recognize when you're telling them and press your mental pause button. Stop giving it fuel.

2. Write down the fact, as I’ve done above, then the story you're presently telling. Now write a more positive interpretation of it. What good has come out of it? What have you learned? How would it feel if you dropped the old story and told a new one? Explore this on paper and see what it brings up.

3. Use EFT Tapping. Emotional Freedom Technique is effective for bringing your story to the surface, getting real about your feelings, then changing the narrative about it. For deep rooted stuff, work with a qualified EFT practitioner.

4. Practice “loving what is.” Have a notebook handy as you read the book Loving What Is by Bryron Katie. Write your answers to her four powerful questions. It only works when you do the work. This book single-handedly healed my relationship with my mother.

Self-limiting beliefs often stem from stories you’re clinging onto that aren’t serving you. They hold you back from true happiness and success.

Begin to bring a gentle awareness to these stories and see if you can give them new meaning. It isn’t about forgetting your past and making things up. It’s about choosing to tell the truth in a less victimizing and more empowering way.

About Kelly Pietrangeli

Kelly Pietrangeli is the creator of Project Me for Busy Mothers, helping women find a happier balance between the kids - and everything else. Mixing practicality with self-awareness, Kelly helps mothers get on top of their endless to-do’s and see life beyond the laundry pile. Grab her free Life Wheel Tool for discovering what needs your focus first.

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