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politalysis · 3 years

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# What has happened to JK Rowling?

Growing up in the early 2000s immediately made Harry Potter a huge part of your childhood. Even if you never read the books or watched the films, you can probably name the three main characters. Even if you weren’t interested in Harry Potter in the slightest, you probably know your Hogwarts house. It’s incredible what Harry Potter did for our generation all over the world. Children would stay up on their eleventh birthdays anxiously awaiting a Hogwarts acceptance letter, knowing full well that owl was never going to come. Our imagination kept the dream of going to Hogwarts and learning magic alive anyway. Even now at the age of 23, I can for the most part keep a conversation flowing with anyone who has read the books or even just watched the films. You could even go as far as to say it was our generation’s Lord of the Rings.

JK Rowling came from very humble beginnings. She suffered with depression in her childhood and early teens, and lost her mother to multiple sclerosis in 1990. These struggles inspired her a lot when writing Harry Potter. She channeled her grief and pain into her writing. In 1992, she married a man she had met whilst living in Portugal, but Rowling suffered domestic abuse at his hands and the couple separated a year later. She lost her job and moved to Edinburgh in Scotland, where she had to sign up for welfare benefits, which left her a poor and depressed single mother spending her time writing in coffee shops. When she finished writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, twelve publishers rejected the opportunity to publish the book. Once someone finally agreed to publish the book, it became the best selling children’s book of the year.

We all know how the story goes from there. Rowling wrote six more Harry Potter books, eight films were made, and Rowling went from a poor vulnerable single mother to a multi millionaire in the space of a few short years. Harry Potter is now a global brand estimated to be worth about $15 billion. The last four books have each consecutively set the record for the fastest selling book in history. Rowling is now the richest author in the world, with a net worth of $92 million. But as well as money, JK Rowling has over 14 million followers on Twitter. This gives her massive influence as well as money. Rowling seemed to initially use this influence for good, spreading mental health awareness, LGBT inclusivity, interacting with fans and creating a website for all us Harry Potter fans to determine our houses and let our wands choose us.

I remember being 8 years old when Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was released, and I was attending a religious school where some parents complained and called to ban Harry Potter over the controversial decision JK Rowling made regarding Dumbledore’s sexuality. Rowling had made the claim that Dumbledore was gay. Looking back, the controversy was ridiculous and I can only imagine how embarrassed some of those parents must be. I also remember as I got older, re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I noticed more that the emotion behind Dumbledore’s relationship with Grindelwald was one he held with a romantic love. So years later, when several members of the LGBT community attacked Rowling for only deciding Dumbledore’s sexuality after the books were written, I publicly defended her with my knowledge that that simply wasn’t true. I had this image of Rowling in my mind, that she had always been on the right side of this debate. She had always been inclusive and supportive of LGBT people as far as I could see, and I just didn’t understand the issue. Rowling had always expressed a centre-left political perspective, and although I didn’t agree with all her views, they seemed relatively uncontroversial.

When Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released, I hated it. It was a literary disaster, completely disrespectful of the original book series, the characters were a shell of the characters we had grown up with, the plot was almost deliberately ridiculous and overly elaborate and I immediately dismissed it as not canon. I have never forgiven JK Rowling for publicly stating the book was canon. She almost destroyed a whole two decades of her own hard work and the franchise that she’d built that had been like a home for a whole generation. All because she wanted to grab a few extra quid for a terrible book she didn’t even write. To this day I can’t help but wonder if she has even read the book. If I had written the masterpiece that is Harry Potter, I would view the Cursed Child as an insult. Perhaps I’ll even write a review one day, just for fun. Rowling also annoyed me by going back on her story, regretting pairing Ron and Hermione together and not pairing Hermione with Harry. Ron and Hermione are my favourite couple from the story, and their relationship had so much meaning. I couldn’t believe that the author who wrote such a clever and consistent relationship between two beloved characters could ever regret it. At this point in my life, I was beginning to wonder if perhaps Rowling was losing her mind. It was almost like she was trying to destroy her legacy.

As more years passed, the Fantastic Beasts films were released. The first film looked promising, but the second film was yet another disaster. Again, it was inconsistent with the franchise as we knew it, for some reason Hogwarts was full of people wearing 3 piece suits instead of the robes they wore in the Harry Potter series and Minerva McGonigall appeared as a teacher despite the fact that canonically there is no way she could have been old enough. The film was a disaster with both fans and critics hating it. Amongst this mess came controversy in December 2019. Rowling lost all respect she had once held amongst the transgender community when she made a public statement supporting Maya Forstater, a British woman who lost her employment tribunal case against her employer who fired her over transphobic comments. Six months later on June 6 2020, Rowling criticised the term “people who menstruate” and stated: "If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives." Rowling’s views on these issues were heavily criticised by GLAAD and even by the actors from the Harry Potter movies including lead actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

Rowling published a 3,600 word essay in response to the mass criticism of her views four days later. The essay did her no favours, as she wrote: “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.” She seemed to be suggesting that trans women are often just men disguised as women in order to trick or even harm other women. This obviously angered the transgender community even more, and women’s refuge shelters that allow trans women were reporting no rise in violence as a result, children’s charities that support gender non conforming children were criticising Rowling, she was being made to give back awards and ultimately Rowling was labelled a Trans exclusionary radical feminist, a term often abbreviated to TERF.

JK Rowling is the perfect example of how money and influence can make someone forget their roots so easily. For someone who survived poverty, domestic abuse and sexual assault, she is so lacking in self awareness and how the things she has said and done can be harmful to transgender people. It is widely reported that transgender women are at more risk of harm in female restrooms than cisgender women. With acceptance becoming the norm, transgender people are feeling more safe to come out now than ever before, and so the rise in numbers of the community is huge, especially amongst our generation who grew up with Harry Potter. For a young transgender teenager to grow up wondering how Hogwarts would accommodate them, only to hear the author who gave us Hogwarts in the first place disapprove of equal rights for transgender people, must be very disheartening. However, JK Rowling has proven that she has no idea how powerful the legacy her books created really is. She was tasked with following up the Harry Potter series, and what she gave us was inconsistent and very poorly written screenplays. I have read better sequels on tumblr. Lots of them. Hogwarts doesn’t belong to JK Rowling, it belongs to the fandom. And I’ll be willing to bet my last penny that if Professor McGonigall witnessed any bullying of transgender students in her classroom (or indeed the girls bathroom!) she’d absolutely defend the victim without a moment’s hesitation. Hermione would decorate the Gryffindor common room with little blue, pink and white flags in support of a transgender first year who’d just been sorted into Gryffindor. Luna Lovegood would sit and befriend any trans student who looked lonely, and Ginny would dish out a bat bogey hex to anyone who dared pick on them. No matter what JK Rowling thinks, Hogwarts is not hers to ruin. It is ours. Regardless of what makes us different, Hogwarts is our home.

#jk rowling #harry potter #hogwarts #gryffindor #hufflepuff #ravenclaw #slytherin #gay dumbledore #trans rights #edinburgh #professor umbridge #fuck rowling #cursed child is not canon #ron and hermione #lgbtq #lgbt representation #writing

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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There Are No Secrets of Dumbledore Worth Adding to the World of Harry Potter

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The sunk cost fallacy is a powerful thing. Despite the fact that the current pandemic has audiences more desperate than ever for tentpole films, no one has exactly been clamoring for the continuation of the Fantastic Beasts series, slated to have five movies in total. So it was with muted fanfare that Warner Bros. announced the upcoming release of the third Fantastic Beasts film, set to premiere in April 2022 under the title Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Those who watched The Crimes of Grindelwald will remember the prominent role of a young Dumbledore played by Jude Law—clearly the series isn’t quite finished exploring the famously eccentric wizard’s backstory. But given J.K. Rowling’s history of not knowing when to stop opening up the vault, unloading new factoids that simultaneously demystify the wizarding universe and cast its characters in a poor light, you have to wonder: Might everyone be better off if the secrets of Dumbledore were left untold?

The Fantastic Beasts series has never exactly set the world aflame with its brilliance. The initial film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, approached the success of the original Harry Potter film series, earning $814 million on a $200 million budget. (Notably, it was the eighth highest grossing film in 2016, when each of the other Harry Potter films were in the top three highest grossing for their respective years.)

The final bait-and-switch reveal of Johnny Depp as the notorious Hitler-esque villain of the series did little to whet the appetites of moviegoers, and the second film fared considerably worse at the box office. The Crimes of Grindelwald made $150 million less than its predecessor, the worst showing of any Harry Potter film by far.

It was roundly criticized for its less than inspired plot and borderline offensive imagery surrounding some of the non-white characters. More than anything, audiences were turned off by the perceived pointlessness of the series: this was not an expansion of the Harry Potter universe that anyone was really asking for. And yet, the franchise soldiers on, kept alive more out of sheer bloody-mindedness than anything else. At this point, surely the kindest thing to do would be to put the poor dear out of its misery, releasing Eddie Redmayne from the shackles of a multi-million dollar contract and letting him go back to making inspirational period dramas. But as long as Rowling has life left in her body, she’s committed to tearing down her own legacy. So here we are: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

It’s no, well, secret that name-dropping Dumbledore in the title is a Hail Mary borne out of the desperate hope that evoking one of the most popular characters in the series will drive audiences back to the theaters. But realistically, it seems like Dumbledore’s backstory (and any hidden revelations contained within) has already been fairly well-mined. We’ve seen him as an old man, the wizened mentor of Harry Potter as headmaster of Hogwarts. We’ve seen him in flashbacks at various points in what we have to assume is an unusually extended middle age, thanks to Harry’s exploration of the Pensieve in an effort to learn more about Voldemort’s shadowy past. We’ve gotten first hand accounts of his early life from his brother Aberforth, and we’ve even read excerpts from an (admittedly potentially libelous) biography published posthumously by Bathilda Bagshot.

And now with The Crimes of Grindelwald, we’ve seen him as a roguishly handsome young Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts in the 1920s, thanks to Law in an impeccably tailored three-piece suit. Does Dumbledore even have any secrets left?

Setting aside all of the substantial on-screen exploration of Dumbledore’s past, we haven’t even begun to take into account one of the most powerful vessels of canonical Harry Potter intel: the famous Rowling info dump. Ever since Harry Potter put J.K. Rowling on the map, it’s been clear that she has veritable notebooks full of background information that didn’t make it into the books and films, and nothing delights her more than sharing some of these details. Some of them are puzzling but harmless, like the time she posted on Pottermore (apropos of nothing) that Hogwarts didn’t used to have indoor plumbing, and that witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood and magically vanished the evidence.

Others add nuance to beloved characters: the revelation she shared shortly after the release of the final Harry Potter book, for example, which told us Dumbledore was gay. Learning all of this shapes our understanding of the series, but it also feels a little bit like a cheat. If it was important to Rowling that we know Dumbledore’s sexuality, why did she wait until after the ink was dry to tell us, and not simply include it in the text? In many ways, it’s a half measure; an opportunity to pay lip service to progressive values but without any inherent risk. (And the more that we learn about Rowling’s views on gender politics, the more it comes across as disingenuous.)

To be frank, audiences have reason to distrust Rowling’s attempts to elaborate on characters from the original series. Historically, this has not always improved said characters. Nagini, for instance, began as an intriguingly intelligent snake, one able to maintain a powerful bond to Voldemort when he was unable to connect with any of his own species in the same way. Everyone just sort of accepted that character as read, and no one asked for more of an explanation. The universe did not need a Nagini prequel.

But in The Crimes of Grindelwald, Rowling couldn’t resist the opportunity to tinker, and then we end up with a Nagini that is an incredibly problematic depiction of an Asian woman. She is enslaved by a circus owner and burdened with a blood curse that initially gave her the power to transform into a snake but, by the events of the original Harry Potter series, she is permanently fixed in snake form. Who in the world thought adding that to Nagini would make her a more compelling character? Proof that there is creative danger in becoming so rich and powerful as an artist that no one is willing to tell you, “No. That’s a bad idea.”

So while there are diehard fans out there, presumably thrilled by the news that the Fantastic Beasts franchise lives another day, there is a notable sense of dwindling enthusiasm amongst audiences at large. The Secrets of Dumbledore does little to inspire hope that this installment will prove itself worthy of existence, feeling more akin to a cynical attempt to capitalize on his popularity. Instead of making fans excited to learn more about the enigmatic Albus Dumbledore, it can’t help but evoke a feeling of dread. People still like Dumbledore, even with his questionable beliefs and actions in his early life, but what will happen when Rowling takes another swing at him?

No matter how much she intends to add to the character, there’s the very real risk she’ll take something away. Indeed, it seems obvious to everyone but the production team that she’s long since reached the point where the best thing for her own legacy would be for Rowling to put down the pen and walk away. Stop it before she does irreparable damage to the characters that a generation of children grew up with.

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doomonfilm · 4 years

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Ranking : Christopher Nolan (1970 - present)

From the moment he kicked the door down on the scene with the breathtaking Memento, the name Christopher Nolan has rung synonymous with high thinking, high level and high entertainment film. He always finds fresh and unique ways to tell stories, be it visually, narratively, or some combination of the two, and many of his conceptual deep dives have opened real conversations in regards to different aspects of space and time. For an artist, the impact the Christopher Nolan has had on the populous as a whole is impressive, which is why after recently seeing Tenet, I felt it necessary to take a look back at all of his films and determine where they stood in relation to one another (in my eyes).

11. Insomnia (2002) As stated with every instance of ranking the work of a director, there’s always one film that’s got to take the bottom of the list hit, and for Nolan, it was Insomnia. The film in itself is not a bad one, and it does offer some strong visuals in regards to the unrelenting amount of sunlight that one experiences in Alaska, but it does suffer not only from being a remake, but a remake that pales in comparison to the original. For my money’s worth, Nolan works best with original ideas, with one specific trilogy standing as an exception to that notion.

10. Memento (2000) While not his debut film, this was the film that put Nolan on the map. The story is unique and intriguing, and the manner in which it is told really makes it work, as a standard A to Z telling of the film would eliminate much of the dramatic tension felt. That being said, this film suffers from a similar fate to that of films like The Sixth Sense : it’s cool the first time you see it, it really wows you the second time you see it, and then further viewings find diminishing returns in regards to the experience of the “gimmick” (for lack of a better word). Definitely worth seeing if you’ve never seen it, or are looking for a gateway into the work of Nolan, but underwhelming when held up against his future work.

9. Batman Begins (2005) As previously stated, Nolan (in my opinion) works best as a writer/director of original ideas, so like many, I was slightly surprised when he was tapped to handle the Christian Bale edition of the Batman movie canon. There wasn’t so much doubt about his ability to pull things off visually, but with such a beloved franchise and character in his hands, there were thoughts about whether or not his style would translate in a way that an already dedicated fanbase would appreciate. Batman Begins was an effective table-setter for his Dark Knight trilogy, but due to the necessity of having to address an already familiar backstory, many of Nolan’s best ideas would have to wait until the sequel.

8. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) This film found itself the unfortunate victim of an all too familiar national tragedy in the form of a mass shooting during an early screening, forever putting a sort of black cloud over the film as a result. That being said, the film was a stellar entry in the Dark Knight trilogy, anchored by an instantly iconic Tom Hardy performance. If this film was attributed to any other director, it would possibly stand as one of their top works, but Christopher Nolan is a man of such depth and style that The Dark Knight Rises merely stands as above average output from a creator who is pulling back a bit to fit the Hollywood ideal (or his version, anyway) of a comic book film.

7. Following (1998) Quite possibly the most personal of all Nolan films, which makes sense, considering it was his first. It was the buzz that this film generated during the 1997 festival season, along with an already completed script for Memento, that turned Nolan from an aspiring director to a household name. Following gives us a bit of insight into Nolan’s creative process, presenting us with a highly stylized version of an observational writer, forever receptive to the stimulus around him. The look of the film displays Nolan’s eye for location and cinematography, and the non-linear nature of the story served as a sneak preview to a format of storytelling he would soon master and manipulate beyond our ability to initially understand. Though a bit on the short side for a feature film, it is certainly a fun ride with much indication of where its creator was headed.

6. Interstellar (2014) Throughout the 2010s, it seemed that Nolan was hell-bent on warping our brains through the entertainment medium, and after the warning blast that Inception was, Interstellar served as a sort of thematic and spiritual double-tap for our psyche. Nolan took the basic structure for a story of familial, unconditional love and skewed it by thrusting our protagonist into the uncharted depths of space, skewing his perception of time so radically that the people he loved became old while he did not age, which in itself is enough of a heartbreaking concept to build a film off of. Add to this the fact that we are presented with (to the best of our knowledge, anyways) the most photo-realistic depictions of a Black Hole and a tesseract, and the end result is a powerful genre-blending journey that stands in rare company, with films like Tarkovsy’s Solaris and Kubrick’s 2001 : A Space Odyssey serving as the closest points of comparison.

5. Tenet (2020) When you have a track record like that of a Christopher Nolan, it is inevitable that people are waiting on your downfall, and with 2020 changing the way we take in films, many tried to seize this opportunity and label Tenet as this moment in time. To me, this is an absurd stance to take... not only is Tenet one of the most intriguing films I’ve seen in years, but its efficiency in storytelling trims away so much fat that we are left with archetypical characters with subtle amounts of depth shepherding us through a narrative line that folds in and overlaps on itself numerous times. With this premise set and our characters deeply devoted to their functionality (though not at the expense of performance), we are left with the spectacle of some amazing choreography and in-camera special effects work that makes you really and truly have to stop at times just so you can try and process what it is you are seeing. Hopefully, in repeat viewings, the “gimmick” won’t take precedence over the film itself, as I believe there is enough going on outside of the visual trickery to keep one interested time and again.

4. Dunkirk (2017) It’s no secret that Christopher Nolan has the talent to build vast, textured and deeply imaginative worlds with his films, but up until the point of Dunkirk, Nolan had not attempted a “period piece”. Luckily for us film lovers, Nolan decided to try his hand at that style in the form of a war movie, and the result was the extremely moving and powerful experience of Allied troops in World War II caught in a situation where death seemed inevitable. Despite the vastness of the beach and sea we are shown, the feeling of being trapped permeates through and through, and it is enhanced by stellar cinematography and practical effects. Even with a cast full of familiar names and faces, the experience of hopelessness created soon eliminates the familiarity that comes with star power, and we are left with nothing but our investment in the story.

3. The Dark Knight (2008) Simply put, The Dark Knight really has no business being as good as it is. You’d think that its placement between the two trilogy bookends would give it a transitional nature, potentially only existing to move the story forward to its conclusion. What we are given, however, is one of the most nuanced looks at heroes, villains, anti-heroes, and just how much those roles can alternate based on the perspective of those applying the title. For all of the horror that the Scarecrow character brought, or the pure intimidation of Bane, The Dark Knight gives us a complex agent of chaos in the form of Heath Ledger’s instantly iconic (and tragically final) performance as the Joker. All of the pacing issues that weigh down the other two films are completely absent in this middle offering, and the movie hangs around in your mind well after the final credits roll. To many viewers, this film set the artistic benchmark for what a so-called “comic-book” movie had the potential to be.

2. Inception (2010) For many, Inception marks the culminative peak of all that Christopher Nolan brings to the table as a director and storyteller. His ability to coherently weave together a narrative that deals with the perception of time as one goes deeper and deeper into the psyche is impressive in its own right, but the amount of breathtaking nuance, visual effects and mental gymnastics used to tell the story would bring a lesser director to their knees. If The Revenant and 2015 served as the culmination of Leonardo DiCaprio finally receiving much-deserved recognition as an actor via an Academy Award, then Inception feels like the starting point for that final leg of his journey. Everyone brought their A-game to this table on both sides of the camera, leaving us with a true visual and storytelling spectacle for the ages.

1. The Prestige (2006) Irony is a funny thing... I bring that up because Christopher Nolan has literally taken on (and, in some ways, conquered) space, time and perception in his films, all of which would be incredibly lofty concepts to illustrate and visualize, let alone make entertaining. With all of that in mind, it’s ironic that his best film would be one that does not rely on all of the aforementioned lofty aspects and visual tricks. The Prestige, at a base level, is a story about jealousy and how it can drive you mad, but it’s the way that this story is told that makes it possibly the best film in the Nolan canon. Christian Bale’s performance (or performances, at the risk of spoilers) is enough to put this film in a class of its own, but the balance that Hugh Jackman’s performance brings to the overall equation keeps you guessing on whom we are supposed to root for right up until the final frame. The triangle of love triangles in this film further serve to build up the eventual scale of damage that is presented when everything falls completely apart on both sides of the narrative coin. Most importantly, like any good magic trick, the film sets you up with expectations, only to wow you in the end. If you had to pick one Nolan film to watch, this would be the one that I recommend, hands down and without question.

Who knows where Christopher Nolan plans to take us next. I, for one, would not consider myself clued-in enough to hazard a guess on this, but I would almost certainly put money on the fact that wherever he chooses to take us, he will entertain us and amaze us, if not both at the same time, as he always does.

#ChiefDoomsday #DOOMonFILM #ChristopherNolan #Insomnia #Memento #BatmanBegins #TheDarkKnightRises #Following #Interstellar #Tenet #Dunkirk #TheDarkKnight #Inception #ThePrestige

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myevilmouse · 5 years

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In Defense of The Rise of Skywalker

Or...how I learned to stop hating and enjoy a movie

Spoilers and random thoughts below the cut.

I hate the abomination that was/is The Last Jedi. Let’s get that out of the way. I’ve already explained the hundreds of reasons why, the biggest and most unforgivable being the character assassination of Luke “I call him Jake” Skywalker and the invalidation of every victory of the OT. I resent this making people lump me into a “gatekeeper” sect, or accuse me of racism (Rose was annoying and ruined Finn’s heroism, jeopardizing hundreds of lives for her own selfish reasons without building up a convincing romance and blah blah etc). It has nothing to do with her gender, race, or anything. It has to do with poor character development and inconsistent motivations/messages.

I’m also not a huge fan of The Force Awakens, mainly for its lack of originality and the treatment of Han/Leia, but otherwise I thought it was OK. I liked Finn, wanted him to become a Jedi, found Poe to be a worthy heir to our antihero mold. Rey left me indifferent and Kylo Ren was a temper-tantrum throwing teenager, but anyway...

Let’s keep that as background/context and not get bogged down.

Since they announced the title of this movie, I have been livid with rage. How dare they use my man’s name to sell their disgusting imitation of a beloved universe? I was certain, ever since it was announced, that Rey would take Luke’s surname, despite having treated him so horribly in TLJ, despite having done nothing to earn it, despite having spent far more time with Leia, so if anything a Solo/Organa family name would make more sense. It was just to sell tickets and I was furious.

I read all the spoilers. Worst fears: confirmed. I looked at leaked photos. I raged over the inanity of the plot and the sad conclusion to the Skywalker Saga, which in my mind will always end with ROTJ.

Still, I love Mark Hamill, and I decided to treat this film as a MH film. The completist in me required theatrical viewing. Rare to get our man in a cinematic release. So I went, ready to hate watch, prepared to dull the bitterness and betrayal with wine.

But….JJ Abrams directed a fix it fic. And it’s good. This film not just address the real injustices and horrible story decisions of TLJ, but also addresses some of the major problems of TFA too.

I tried to go in with an open mind, but obviously I had many preconceived notions, and already knew almost every single story point and character beat. I was ready to roll around in my hate and slam the abomination. I want to emphasize that I am one of those people that was COMPLETELY prepared to hate EVERYTHING about this.

There are flaws.

But there is so much that is great.

I really really liked it.

No one is more shocked than I at my own reaction. I was ready/willing/wanting/primed to hate everything about this. Please keep that in mind. Hahah and no one is paying me to write this post 😉

I decided to write this because I also read all the negative critical reviews online from the pro critics yelling FAN SERVICE. And I’m like…damn straight? Ever since George Lucas made Han shoot second, fandom has understood that we understand this franchise better than film executives. We aren’t concerned with adding an extra dewback or improving special effects. We love these films the way we first experienced them, and they cannot and should not be “improved” to the ultimate detriment of the brand.

I’m here to tell you that the critics are not being fair. The spoilers on reddit were true, but the movie works. Let’s accept, before we go further, that Abrams couldn’t entirely rewrite the mess that he stepped into/helped create. So I can’t defend the fact that Finn isn’t a Jedi yet or the mess that is the new Rebellion/failure of the old. I, like many fans, wish we had been given a different/better story from the beginning. Sadly, we were not.

That is something we don’t have to accept (I certainly don’t consider these films “canon” in my mind—Mara Jade forever!) but let’s approach this film in the spirit it seems to be intended: An attempt to address the very valid criticisms loudly voiced about the others in the trilogy, with the caveat that we are stuck with TFA and TLJ no matter how much we hate them.

First, the music is amazing, as we all knew it would be. The acting is stellar.

Some of the things Abrams “fixed:”

“Rey is perfect/Mary Sue/good at everything”. There is a conscious effort in this film to show her training, with Leia as her Master. There is a good scene foreshadowing her final struggle, where she strains to hear the voices of Jedi past and fails. There are several signs that she is not a Jedi yet, including how Palpatine talks about her, and perhaps my favorite, when she tells Leia she hasn’t earned Luke’s lightsaber.

Me: Damn straight you haven’t.

And Leia AGREES, keeping Luke’s weapon because Rey isn’t ready for it. She’s still learning.

Further proof of her non-Jedi status, when Rey is killed, she doesn’t join the Force. She is a corpse. On the other hand, Ben Solo, once redeemed, disappears as we would expect a good Jedi to do. A clear distinction between the two of them.

And speaking of Leia:

Leia’s character: TFA and TLJ Leia is weak and sends other people to fight, whereas our brave Princess from the OT is volunteering for suicide missions, grabbing weapons from the hands of her rescuers, and running into danger for a good cause. It always bothered me that she didn’t go after Kylo herself (or with Han). In this, we see her as a Jedi Master, training Rey, with her own lightsaber. Leia is once more a badass, true to her character. A legitimate Jedi who also joins the Force (although not sure why it took her so long post-mortem, that was weird).

Luke’s character: Hello, I am A LUKE FANATIC. The biggest sin of TFA and especially TLJ was this idea of Luke hiding out and becoming the disgusting, pessimistic coward he was shown to be. Abrams ignores this pretty much entirely, starting with the revelation that Luke was actually going on missions with Lando to hunt for a Sith artifact to help the Rebellion. Luke kept notes, he was busy and ACTIVE. He wasn’t giving up; he was leaving a trail to help anyone who followed. The best ‘fuck you’ in the whole movie was Luke catching Anakin’s lightsaber when Rey throws it away. The ultimate rejection of his TLJ characterization.

Luke’s conversation with Rey echoes very much the ROTJ “you must confront Vader” conversation. There are many echoes of ROTJ but given the restrictions on what we are working with, I accepted this parallel. Much like Luke had to face his unfortunate inheritance, so must Rey. It’s not terribly original, but these films aren’t.

I also loved the simple line “I was wrong” when Rey asks why he did what he did in TLJ. This to me is simply “Rian Johnson was wrong/The Last Jedi was wrong.” There is no excuse that is acceptable, but this is a filmmaker acknowledging an injustice, and I appreciated it. (Did I mention these films are not canon for me? They aren’t, just giving credit for this attempt.)

Han’s character: I hated SO MUCH how they turned Han into a failure in TFA. A buffoon, not even a good smuggler anymore, a failure as a father, a husband. When I heard he was going to be in this I was like HUH? But this “memory” of his father that Kylo Ren sees after Rey heals him and departs, after he’s lost his mother, is another attempt to redeem the injustice to Han’s character. Han is the one in the movie who brings Kylo Ren back to the Light, not Rey. It is a very short scene, but effective. The acting is poignant, with the “Dad” working for me. Maybe I’m a softie. But I appreciated this brief proof that Han Solo, in the end, didn’t suck as a father, and ultimately, even as a hallucination, inspired the love that saved his son.

Chewbacca got a medal: I said Abrams was fixing things in the sequels, but I admit I was choked up to see this fixit from A New Hope. Finally Chewie gets the medal he is LONG overdue.

Team dynamic with the new characters: Finally we understand why these people care about each other. They go on shared adventures, they have banter (and some good jokes, not the stupid bathos of TLJ), and there is finally some sense of camaraderie that was discarded in TLJ. There are several references to Rey’s “new family,” clearly referring to this band of Rebels, and it was far more compelling than in earlier films.

Finn’s Force Sensitivity: I, like many, desperately wanted Finn to be a Jedi. Since TFA, it seemed inevitable! I loved how he used the lightsaber, how he seemed to have Force abilities (that were never really explored). TLJ ignored that potential completely, sidelining him on that stupid Canto Bight quest and pulling him away from Rey. There are so many signs that he is destined to be a Jedi in this film, I was thrilled to see them. Knowing things without explanation, doing amazing things, sensing things, trusting his feelings, it’s another ‘fuck you’ in my opinion, to RJ for ignoring this former stormtrooper’s destiny in favor of overblown set pieces and pointless CGI theatrics. When he says, towards the end “I can feel it,” I wanted to fist pump. YOU GO BE A JEDI FINN! THE FORCE IS WITH YOU. Personally, I would have loved for Finn to be the main protagonist of all three films, but I appreciate us getting what we got, since we can’t get what we want.

Stuff that worked:

The Wedge cameo: Yeah.

Lando: Wonderful. His dialogue, especially at the beginning, does a lot to fix our view of Luke.

Kylo’s redemption: See above re: Han. I’ve seen a lot of criticism about the kiss. I get the whole “female character’s purpose is to validate the evolution of the male” criticism, but I want to point out a couple things about this. First of all, it’s not a “Reylo” kiss. Kylo is gone. This is well after Kylo is redeemed. He’s been of the Light for a while before this, it’s clearly Ben at this point. It’s also obvious Rey knows that, and like Luke forgave Vader for his abuse, she forgives Ben Solo for his. So I understand also the criticism that is making people puke about Rey kissing her abuser, but again, Luke sheds tears for the father he loves, who maimed and traumatized him. Star Wars is about redemption and forgiveness that accompanies it, and I don’t have the same issue with this. If she kissed KYLO without him being redeemed before he died, for example, I would be disgusted. This is not that.

The cinematography/pacing/story: So many critics and the spoilers made it sound like this was a convoluted mess. I went to see it with a non-native English speaker and neither of us had any trouble following the plot. Yeah, a lot happens, but it all is linear and consistent within the film.

The humor/dialogue: Felt way more Star Wars-y and better placed than the last two films.

The Jedi Helping Rey: As much as I thought I would hate this, it was really well done, largely, I think, due to the foreshadowing during her earlier training. When Palpatine says all the Sith live in him and we know what she’s gonna say but it still works SO WELL. I was rooting for her and I’ve never been a huge fan. But at that climactic moment, I was a believer.

Major flaws

Of course there are some. For me the most major:

A Jedi Strikes Not In Anger: In every single lightsaber battle (pretty sure, I only saw the film once), Rey is the first to strike. She always seems to be fighting from anger and with negative emotion. This is not at all Jedi-esque and I found it particularly jarring in her duels with Kylo Ren. This bothered me more than almost anything else in the film because it is never addressed. She fights ANGRY and she fights FEARFUL and then somehow when she’s supposed to strike down Palpatine, she has it in her to resist. This, above all else, makes me not like her as the “heir to the Jedi”. I thought it was a real problem, and makes her ultimate evolution at the finale less convincing.

Rey Skywalker: I get why they did it, but I stand by my earlier thoughts regarding taking the Solo or Organa name. I have nothing against adopted families. And I found it SLIGHTLY more palpable because since the Emperor refers to Ben as “the last Skywalker” and then since he transfers his entire life force into her, you can argue that she has “Skywalker” literally in her spirit now. OK fine. But I still don’t really think she earned it. She came CLOSER than I thought she would and I didn’t ultimately want to burn down the cinema as I expected I would want to.

Force Resurrection: No. Just no. This changes so much and makes so much of the earlier films moot. Why wouldn’t Anakin just resurrect Padme? Don’t get me started.

Other random new Force things: Like Force Ghosts touching shit. Yeah I know Obi Wan sat on the tree in Dagobah, I know, but we keep learning new and more powerful Force shit each film. Teleportation of objects (that lightsaber?!), astral projection, rapid healing, and now playing catch with your ghost friends. I get they are important to the story but it feels lazy. But my exception here was Luke catching the saber because FUCK YOU RJ. 😊

Redemption=Death: I wanted Kylo Ren to die for his sins too, but I recognize this strange thing we have going on in the GFFA that if a baddie goes good they die. It’s the equivalent of the horror movie “fuck and the killer gets you” trope. I didn’t necessarily mind Ben dying, but it seemed … lazy.

The final shot: It was a mistake to even touch this iconic moment. It wasn’t earned. Make your own legend/iconic moment and leave my farmboy his.

Something no one can fix: The sucky destinies of Luke Jake, Han, and Leia. They didn’t live happy lives, they didn’t see the end of tyranny, they all died with only the hope of success. I will never forgive the attempted destruction of the legacy of the OT (attempted cause it’s still how it all ends in my world), this disregard of the triumph of the Rebellion over the Empire, and I will never believe that the New Republic failed so completely and miserably. Bring on the EU/Legends and forget this shit.

Final thought: I went to this expecting the cinematic equivalent of a back alley abortion and instead I got what felt like an apology. An entertaining and polished and sincere apology. We deserved better, and I think the people who made this film realized that and did their best. TROS had to wrap up something that was divisive and imperfect and misguided, and tried as hard as it could, in my opinion, given what they were working with.

It was a good movie. Ambitious, with flaws, but I am glad I saw it, and I hope you will be too. <3 May the Force be with you.

#tros spoilers #the rise of skywalker spoilers #ix spoilers #my thoughts

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iabsolutelyresentthiswebsite · 5 years

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Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (SPOILER-LITE Review)

Y’know, I would absolutely love to post a non-spoiler review, but to be quite honest, I don’t give a flying unholy rat from hell what I do right now. This movie is only worth seeing if you are determined, after The Last Jedi, to see the cremation of the beloved franchise.

Review starts under the cut.

As 99% of you know if you followed my blog two years ago, I absolutely detested The Last Jedi. I was able to pick out and critically explain many, many things wrong with the movie, as many others were as well. If you want, you can /tlj-hate or /the-last-jedi-sins on my blog to find all the sins to see what I’m getting at.

My expectations going into this movie were so low they were actually in hell. Like Satan was having a good time with them. But somehow, my expectations weren’t even low enough because Disney dug even deeper than hell and found I guess the fuck where Palpatine was hiding for 30-40 years.

Let’s start by saying this: The movie was utter trash, nothing made any sense, and the plot was DAMAGE CONTROL FROM THE LAST JEDI.

Like, honestly, I can’t tell where the damage control ends and the actual vision for the movie begins.

There were some interesting elements that, if The Last Jedi didn’t exist, may have actually been cool and make sense. The score was awesome, as per usual. John Williams is a musical deity. There was a cute new little droid, whom I love and would adopt as my son.

But other than that, the movie was 100% damage control.

The backlash from The Last Jedi, everything very justified because the movie single-handedly, corrupted beyond repair the future of this franchise. I blame this movie on The Last Jedi, namely on Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy who allowed that abomination to hit theatres. Their mistakes, short-sightedness, and selfish masturbatory anathema they dared allow enter Star Wars main canon forced JJ Abrams, a decent- not good- director, into excusing, explaining, and atoning for their sins. There is not a chance in hell I will ever believe that THIS is what JJ envisioned when he wrote The Force Awakens.

So, Rey is a Palpatine...even though there was no precedent for that. But honestly, I couldn’t give a damn less who her father, grandfather, or second great-cousin thrice removed on her great uncle’s side is or was or would be. I don’t care anymore.

But she’s a Palpatine, which is so objectively a consolation prize and backtrack on “your parents were nobody- filthy junk traders” and she has this grand prophecy (a la Anakin Skywalker) that she would strike Palpatine, whom is hiding in his galaxy basement playing with and creating damn starships to make the Final Order- his next project, down and become one with him, giving him another body to transfer his life energy into like he’s always done since the beginning as he’s- oh yeah!- every. fucking. Sith Lord. Ever. Oh yeah, and our good Sheev insinuated that he created Anakin Skywalker (is his father), thus making her indirectly related to Kylo Ren and the Skywalkers.

I’m sorry, what?

I think I just had an aneurysm.

How damn MANY FAN THEORIES ABOUT HER PARENTAGE ARE YOU GONNA TRY TO FIT IN???

Like holy damn. So, she’s a Palpatine, a Skywalker-relative, and oh, Snoke is really Palpatine’s body clone because Palpatine just changes bodies every now and again.

THESE. WERE. ALL. FAN. THEORIES.

They KNEW we were mad about her not being related to anyone, mad about her not being a Skywalker, which she was intended to be, and mad Snoke’s presence literally meant nothing. I think Disney forced JJ to go on Tumblr or AO3 to find a few great theories and throw them into a soup just to make us happy.

Binch, you didn’t make us happy. You made us even madder and made yourselves so WEAK. You can’t even stick to your guns and make a decent movie? I wanted her parentage retconned like any normal person did, but w-what did you do? It’s like they tried too hard and not at all at the same time.

You can’t make everyone happy and sacrifice your movie for it. Make some course corrections and adjustments, yeah, but they built this movie solely for damage control. It’s honestly disgusting.

Moreover, many, many, many people were pissed with the missed chances with Kylo’s redemption arc and they did it, but...at what cost??? I mean, if he wasn’t redeemed, Rey would have been fucked and Palpatine!Rey/Kylo would have reigned supreme forever. But they made it make no sense. Kylo!Ben found out at the very beginning of the movie that none of his interactions with his supposed grandfather, Snoke, or any other Sith Lord were not genuine and that he was being manipulated and controlled like a fucking puppet to bring Rey to Palpatine. He discovered early on he was a TOY to Palpatine...and he allowed it.

Are you for real?

This Kylo Ren, who I am supposed to believe is fully descended and pledged to the Dark Side and by the movie’s own admittance, sought to destroy anything/anyone questioning his power, is allowing himself to be a playtoy for this crusty-ass dude hiding in his grandparents’ basement?

But honestly, I can’t with that.

The biggest damage control that I can think of right now after a 9 hour shift at work and heading directly to the theatre to watch 155 minutes of prolonged Chinese water torture is this: REYLO.

So, they maybe sorta had a thing for each other? I mean, Rey kissed him after he brought her back to life by transferring some of his life energy into her after she died (????????????????????????????????????????????). They like made out a bit and then Ben died, lol.

Okay, so now we have Reylo as semi-sorta-canon. But it was beyond forced. It truly, truly, truly felt like JJ just needed one last demographic to please and just said, “Fuck it. Have ‘em lock lips.” They really just threw it in there for y’all Reylos, so congrats.

The most awful part about that is...I have always hated Reylo, but because this movie was so damn bad, that was honestly the only scene I even sort of liked. And I now have the unquestioned KNOWLEDGE that they are in fact 1st or 2nd cousins once removed. They are related and I liked that they kissed.

I feel so dirty that that is the one thing I could half-way tolerate from this movie.

Honestly though, I am done for tonight. More to come at a later date.

Rest in Peace Star Wars (1977-2019)

#tros #star wars tros #tros spoilers #star wars #virginia speaks #review #trps review

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that-shamrock-vibe · 5 years

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Movie Review: Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the day the movie formally drops in the U.K, so if you haven’t yet seen the movie don’t read on.

General Reaction:

This is singularly and categorically the most frustrating movie I have ever seen and I genuinely mean that!

I have walked away from this, I believe, two and a half hour movie and have had maybe 3 hours to digest what I have just seen and I still do not know whether or not I enjoyed what I saw or found it completely frustrating.

I know I've talked about my history with Star Wars with the last 4 movies that Disney has released, but I for these two reviews it is imperative to cement my relationship with this universe going in because it should help make my case for my opening statement.

To clarify, when it comes to the Star Wars universe, I only know the movies. I am not old enough to have grown up with the original saga before seeing The Phantom Menace but I did complete the original trilogy before seeing Revenge of the Sith and have watched those first six movies in chronological order numerous times because I am that sad.

When it comes to the Disney-era movies, as I mentioned I have seen all four that have come before Episode IX and again enjoyed all of them to different degrees.

I have not however seen any TV series, as in the animated Clone Wars and Rebels series nor The Mandalorian. I don't really have time to commit to TV shows, particularly the length of animated shows, and with regards to the recent Mandalorian I've had university work to keep me occupied.

I have also not read any Star Wars novel or comic, the main reason for both of these, aside from the time constraints, is because I don't enjoy homework and that's what both the TV and book series feel like.

I get the point of movies these days is to franchise with an expansive universe and, to it's credit, Star Wars was the first franchise to start this despite the MCU simply doing it better.

However, I am not as die hard a Star Wars fan that I want to find the time to fit all of this expansive universe viewing and reading in to get the most out of my enjoyment of the movies, let alone can. I enjoy the movies just fine, and have not yet found a situation in the movies to dig a little deeper into the Star Wars mythology...save for one particular scene in Solo: A Star Wars Movie which I’ll get into during my spoiler review.

The reason I won’t go into why I felt a small urge in Solo of all Star Wars movies is because the element in question from that movie I would have used during this movie but they don’t. In fact, The Rise of Skywalker should really be called The Fandom Menace because, despite the fact this movie promises a lot and delivers some good stuff, it does not deliver on what the Star Wars fandom has either theorised or to a degree been promised, again save for two aspects of fan service that go absolutely nowhere.

In fact “The Rise of Skywalker” as a title is the biggest tease and letdown of the movie. It’s the movie’s biggest promise and equally its greatest obstacle particularly after you’ve seen it once and discover why it is such a letdown.

I will also say, because of how shaky this “sequel trilogy” has been in the development of the characters, they seem to be wanting to wrap everything up, promising this as the “End of the Skywalker saga” which seems to also be a false promise when your title is “The Rise of Skywalker” which in itself is a complete and utter cheat and I will definitely talk about that in the spoiler review, but what the to-do list is really is to both wrap up the original trilogy because they included the original characters and borrowed from the actual original movies HEAVILY, but also wrapping up this new trilogy because I do believe that Disney have heard the backlash this trilogy have been getting and so are trying to not have us go back to this trilogy in future as was the biggest mistake for this trilogy.

But what actually happens is not only do the “wrap ups” seem either rushed, forced and/or sloppy as hell, but then you have new things cropping up or still unanswered questions which either prod or demand exploration in a sequel. I know Star Wars is getting the Disney+ spin-off series treatment but I don’t think LucasFilm are as bold as Kevin Feige, or as successful, and therefore won’t bombard the Disney+ schedule with shows.

It is a shame this trilogy has somewhat fizzled out the way it has because there are new characters and concepts introduced during the trilogy that I would enjoy seeing continue, because I’ve either liked them from the start or have been rooting for them and they finally had their pay-off moment here.

But if Star Wars ever wants to stand a chance at reclaiming its former glory not only as one of the most beloved universes in film but also, even with the prequel trilogy, one of the most successful cinematic universes, then I believe this extended hiatus is a blessing since Benioff & Weiss dropped out of a future trilogy for everyone in-house from Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy to even the actors involved such as the newer main cast to revise what the last four years have amounted to for the franchise and what the takeaways can be from it.

Cast:

All this being said, there are still good and impressive points to this movie, largely in the cast of the movie. It is just a shame that for the large part they will be affiliated with such a shambles of a movie.

The sequel trilogy’s new trinity of characters finally all come into their own in this movie with not only the three of them actually sharing a reasonable amount of screen time together but also the three of them falling into their respective roles that particularly made the likes of Han, Leia and Luke so loved.

However, while Daisy Ridley finally comes into her own as a Jedi and the bromance between Poe and Finn is reignited, the writing and pacing of the movie does very much fall back into that rushed wrapping up I touched on earlier because they haven’t really been that way for the entirety of The Last Jedi.

I really don’t understand the fascination with either Kylo Ren or Adam Driver personally. While I do think they’ve played on the two sides of the same coin angle not just with Rey and Kylo but also Kyle and Ben rather well and Driver does play both quite well, Kylo Ren is no Darth Vader yet that’s the road they’ve been trying to take the character down.

It’s also a very sad and somewhat distracting aspect for this to be Carrie Fisher’s final outing as Leia, Distracting because of course Carrie Fisher’s tragic passing almost three years ago to the day casts a looming shadow over this movie, but sad because as great as digital reconstruction can be, and Star Wars can definitely say they are early pioneers of it, doesn’t change the fact that there Leia’s scenes are being scrutinised to see which lines are archive footage, where there’s a body double and ultimately how the character and actress will be honoured in their final scenes...unfortunately as a whole they do not pay off.

But speaking of old favourites, three aspects of this franchise that will never get old for me are the Droids, Chewie and Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian. As much as Donald Glover tried during Solo, no one does Lando like Billy Dee.

Chewie I became surprisingly emotionally invested in during this movie.

Meanwhile, R2-D2, BB-8, C-3PO and even new droid D-O are essentially the house fixtures, you could not imagine a Star Wars movie without them.

The rest of the cast are serviceable, despite their roles either being minimal or laughable. Not only do the returning minor characters continue to either be minor or practically invisible, but the new characters they introduce simply take away extra screen time to further develop our main cast.

Recommendation:

I can’t not advise people to see this movie, particularly if you have followed the Skywalker saga (all nine-movies or even just this trilogy). I do not believe a virgin to this universe seeing this movie would get any enjoyment out of it aside from the occasional laugh either with it or at it.

It’s definitely not a great movie, I can’t even say it’s commercially a good movie but I think it’s a movie that needs to be seen for the pure and simple reason of closure for the trilogy. I for one as an Aspergic OCD individual cannot leave things unfinished. If I start something I have to finish it and I do believe for the foreseeable this is finished.

What I will say in the movie’s defence is if you do find something in this movie you like, defend and support the movie for it because I feel it is going to need all the help it can get.

So that’s my non-spoiler review of Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews as well as other reviews and posts.

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timeagainreviews · 5 years

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Doctor Who and Video Games

We live in the era of the franchise. Everything it seems is getting the franchise treatment. After the success of the MCU, everyone wants that sweet sweet money. We’ve got the failed Universal Monsters reboot, the Harry Potter extended universe, and endless Star Wars movies. However, some franchises, it would seem, struggle to grow further than their core narrative. Star Wars never strays very far from the battle with the Empire. Which is one thing you can’t really say about Doctor Who. Doctor Who has done fantasy, sci-fi, period drama, schlocky horror, whimsy, and utter rubbish. I’ve always admired Doctor Who’s flexibility as a property. It lends itself beautifully to a wide range of mediums, such as audios and comic books. But what about video games? Are there any good Doctor Who video games? Could there be?

Over the past week, in preparation for this article, I've completely immersed myself in the world of Doctor Who video games. I feel uniquely qualified to have an opinion on the subject. But before we continue, I give a word of caution. I'm talking directly to you, now. Never in your life, should you ever play "Doctor Who: Return to Earth," for the Nintendo Wii. It's not worth the £1.80 that I spent on eBay. You don't ever deserve to do that to yourself. I don't care what you've done, nobody deserves that. If like myself, you have played this game, you have my deepest sympathies, especially if you paid for it new.

It doesn't interest me to make a list of the worst Doctor Who video games, as many people have done this already. It's nothing new to say that Doctor Who has a video game problem. When I wrote that Doctor Who should be run by Disney, I don't actually mean it should happen. I was merely illustrating that Disney knows how to take care of its properties. I would venture that Doctor Who has always had a bit of a management problem. Merchandise from Doctor Who has always reminded me of Krusty the Clown merchandise. So much of it is some bullshit they slapped a Dalek on said: "10 quid please!" Barring the occasional home run or third-party licensing, a lot of the merchandise is pretty uninspired. Which is bananas, because the world of Doctor Who has so much colour and potential.

Video games based off of movies and television are almost always as bad as movies and television based off of video games. They're rarely breaking the mould in their new medium. Most of the time, tie-ins such as these are quick soulless cash grabs. You can see this a lot in the Matt Smith era. There are at least seven games featuring his Doctor, and then a sudden decline. Matt Smith was the Doctor during one of the show's biggest points in popularity. Never before had the show been embraced on such an international level. Of course, the Beeb wanted to push as many video games out as possible.

The problem is, they didn't throw a lot of money at it, and not one project seemed to get the focus it deserved. I won't pretend to know the motivation behind the BBC's forays into video games, but it seems to be a trend with them to overdo something, and then be scared of it in the future. They changed the 5.5" figurine set to a 3.75" scale and nobody wanted them. Because of this, we haven't seen nearly as many 5.5" figures since. They once put out a figure of Lady Casandra's frame after she exploded into gore. We used to get figures like Pig Lazlo and the Gran from "The Idiot's Lantern." Now we'll be lucky if we get everyone's favourite- Graham O'Brien. They also did it with the Doctor Who Experience. They make this brilliant Doctor Who museum with the OK'est walkthrough story, and then put it right in the middle of Cardiff. They wondered why it never made any money. I've been twice, and I gotta say- they should have put it in London. It would still be open.

This isn't to say all of Matt Smith's video games are bad. In fact, the Eleventh Doctor adventure games referred to simply as "The Doctor Who Adventure Games," are some of my favourite in the entire lot. And as much as I would like to blame the BBC for their lack of caring, the fact is Doctor Who is not easy to translate into video games. Even if they do care, they still need the right team on the job. Oddly, it's one of the Doctor's greatest charms that makes Doctor Who hard to translate into a video game, and that's the Doctor's stance on violence. If the Doctor could pick up a laser pistol and just frag some Daleks, we'd probably have an entire series on our hands. Unfortunately, most developers go one of two ways. They either ignore the pacifism or we get countless mind-numbing puzzles.

Puzzles are by far the worst element of any Doctor Who game. In the browser-based "Worlds in Time," there were a plethora of Bejewelled type mini-games and pipe matching puzzles. The puzzles got increasingly harder even if the player wasn't also getting increasingly better. Even the platformer "The Eternity Clock," was mired in constantly stopping to do puzzles. They pop up in the Adventure Games, but other than the infuriating "don't touch the sides," puzzles, they don't detract much from the gameplay. There were moments where I felt a bit like a companion because I was decoding a Dalek computer for the Doctor, which is really the money spot for a Doctor Who video game. Any time a Doctor Who game can make you feel like you're in Doctor Who is time well spent.

When asking my friends what kind of Doctor Who video game they would like to see, many of them mentioned they would like a survival horror type game. We sort of get this in many of the Smith era games. In "Return to Earth," the mechanic is sloppy and infuriating at best. In "The Eternity Clock," and the Adventure Games, it's a little more manageable. It's a nice way to add a challenge to a non-violent gameplay style. It would be interesting to see what a game team from something like "Thief," or "Resident Evil," might do with the sneaking aspect.

Another way the games have completely side-stepped the non-violence and puzzles is by having the Doctor act as a secondary character. The player is put in the position of the companion or perhaps a UNIT soldier as in the case of "Destiny of the Doctors." If you've not played DotD, I wouldn't blame you. I was hitting my head against the wall just trying to figure out what to do. The only real reason to play that game is for one last chance to see the fabulous Anthony Ainley reprise the role of the Master. He's in totally smarmy ham mode, even if it's a bunch of gibberish they shot in a day. You can find the entirety of the footage on YouTube and it's surreal.

youtube

The problem with having the Doctor be violent is that it doesn't feel true to the character. Sure, Three did some Venusian aikido, Four broke that dude's neck in "Seeds of Doom," and even Twelve socked a racist in the face, but these are isolated incidents. The spirit of the Doctor is lost in 1992's "Dalek Attack," when the Doctor is forced to go full on bullet hell on a Dalek hover cart. It's funny then that one of my favourite Doctor Who games incorporates a violent Doctor. In the Doctor Who level of "Lego Dimensions," the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to make villains fall apart in a very safe Lego style violence. I can excuse this mostly because the game is not primarily a Doctor Who game at heart.

Funnily enough, the Lego game does something I've always wanted in a Doctor Who video game. I've always wanted to have a Doctor Who game where you could regenerate into different Doctors, and also go into their respective TARDISes. Sure, some of the games on the Commodore 64 allowed you to regenerate, but it was pretty naff in its execution. I tell no lies when I say I spent a lot of time regenerating and reentering the TARDIS to explore the Lego versions of their respective console rooms. Really, the biggest problem with the Lego Doctor Who game is that it wasn't it's own game. Lego Dimensions was its own failure. If TT Games would come out with an entire Doctor Who game, I would buy it yesterday.

The overarching problem with every Doctor Who game is the same problem Torchwood had- if it wasn't attached to Doctor Who, we wouldn't be interested. While I did have a lot of fun with the Adventure Games and Lego Dimensions, not one Doctor Who game has every element right. One has a good story, but poor mechanics, another has great mechanics but doesn't feel right. It's a bit of a tight rope to find the perfect balance, but I don't feel it's impossible

One of the reasons I would love to see a proper Lego Doctor Who game is that they have a history of good adaptations. They're not exactly beloved games, but I myself play a lot of them. One of the most impressive things I've seen them do was in Lego Batman 3, where they made each of the planets in the Green Lantern mythos a visitable world. Could you imagine the same treatment for Doctor Who? Visiting Telos and Skaro, and then popping off to medieval earth or Gallifrey? You could get different missions depending on which Doctor you were, or what time you arrive in. And the collectable characters! So many companions, and Doctors, and baddies, and costume variations to unlock! Doesn't that sound nice? You can buddy Jamie and Amy with Seven and Twelve and have an all Scottish TARDIS! A Zygon could ride K9!

The fact is, we probably won't see a very expansive Doctor Who game. I would be very enthusiastic for an open world Doctor Who game, but even as I type it, it sounds difficult to pull off. I may be able to say what doesn't work about the games, but saying what would work is admittedly, not as simple, but this doesn't mean I can't think of at least one good game. Piecing together some of the things I mentioned earlier, I think the best genre for Doctor Who is point-and-click adventures. I know I keep singing the praises of the Doctor Who Adventure Games, but it's because I think they were actually onto something. It's sad then that they scrapped any further developments to work on the inferior "Eternity Clock."

Could you imagine a point and click Doctor Who in the same vein as "Day of the Tentacle," or "Thimbleweed Park"? You walk around as the Doctor, pick up bits, talk to funny characters and solve complex problems. If you throw in a bit of horror survival, you've basically got the Adventure Games, which is my point- Do more with what they've already done. Grow the concepts. Improve the mechanics. A Doctor Who game should be jammed packed with Easter eggs, unlockables, and mystery. The point is, do more. Even their phone apps are abysmal. You know how much I would play a “Pokémon Go,” style Doctor Who game? You go around trapping baddies in cages you set off with your sonic screwdriver or something. I. Would. Catch. Them. All.

We still have “The Edge of Time,” coming to PC and consoles in October, and I'm pensively excited. While the graphics seem really top notch, in no way does it feel like anything more than a fun little VR experience. The game is going to remain exclusive to that small subsection of gamers that own a VR headset. Before it has even been released, it's closed itself off to yet another section of its very wide audience. Let's just hope that it doesn't scare the BBC away from making a proper Doctor Who game in the near future. And in the meantime, I'm going to have to borrow my friends' VR set, because of course, I'm going to play it. It's Doctor Who.

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Well friends, thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun “researching,” this article. Playing Doctor Who games all week? Oh no, twist my arm! Sadly, a lot of these games are no longer available from their original sources. I was able to find a lot of them on the Internet Archive. If you want to give them a go, I would definitely suggest it. A couple of them are even capable of being emulated on your browser from the Internet Archive. The game I had the hardest time locating was “The Gunpowder Plot,” but I was eventually able to find it after some digging. I didn’t play any of the text-based games because I’m not very good with spatial awareness, and so text-based games are usually a nightmare for me. Sadly, Worlds in Time is lost forever, but I remember my character fondly. I also discovered I’m pretty good at Top Trumps: Doctor Who. Go figure.

#Doctor Who #video games #tardis #bbc #matt smith #eternity clock #edge of time #mines of terror #return to earth #nintendo #wii #playstation #xbox #lego dimensions

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miranda-pfeiffer · 4 years

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Move Over Oscars, It’s The Pawscars™!

Pauley Perrette and Lou Wegner Host Annual American Humane Association Awards revealing top creature stars of the year; See it today online!LOS ANGELES, CA February 18, 2015 -- Proceed, Oscars! Now, American Humane Association is showing the REAL champions of the year's top acting awards with all the PAWSCARS ?, honoring the very best animal stars in film and television. Hosted by TV superstar Pauley Perrette and Lou Wegner, the 2015 American Humane Association PAWSCARS are now available for viewing online at www.americanhumane.org.

And the 2015 PAWSCARS visit...Best Puppy Under Stress --"The Interview"

One of the most notorious movies from 2014 has been"The Interview," and its own most adorable star was certainly Wolfie, a King Charles spaniel who appeared in the film. American Humane Association always made sure Wolfie was kept secure, especially in the middle of all the chaos and action. He was not near any of the explosions, gunfire, or loud sound -- all that was added in post-production, or a stuffed double was used. In the boat scenes, Wolfie was always kept strapped-in for safety, while in between takes, he was kept warm with a hot water bottle.

Best Magical Cow -- "Into The Woods"

While"The Interview" didn’t receive any Oscar nominations, this PAWSCAR winner got three Oscar nominations too. "Into The Woods" is Disney’s variant of the Stephen Sondheim fairy tale mash-up musical. The award for Best Magical Cow belongs to “Milky White” played by animal actor Tug. In the film, Jack trades his household ’s white cow for magic beans. From the scene where Jack milks her, American Humane Association Certified Animal Safety Representatives ? proved just off camera ensuring she stood still and Jack was taught the way to milk the cow before trying it . In the scene where Tug is eating strange things like hair and old shoes, she was actually fed edible replacements and at the scene where she awakens it was not her at all, it was a fake squirt bunny.

Greatest Speeches Performance --"Dolphin Tale 2"

In this sequel to"Dolphin Tale," Winter’s companion Savannah, dies of old age and the aquarium has only 30 days to find Winter a new mate. Once an injured baby dolphin can be found stranded on a sandbar, they name her Hope from the “hope” which she'll become Winter’s new companion. American Humane Association assessed all swimming places for potential hazards and saw that the dolphins never worked over an hour without a break. When audiences watched Savannah lying at the base of the tank, it was not a true dolphin, but an animatronic prop.

Best Chase Sequence --"Sex Tape"

In this movie, Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz attempt to track down their personal sex tape which has inadvertently been sent to their pals. As Segal is looking one buddy ’s residence, he encounters a German shepherd -- performed by both Nicki and King -- and the chase is on; American Humane Association Certified Animal Safety Representatives were on set for those scenes. At the treadmill gag, the machine was never running as soon as the dog was on it; stuffed animals and CGI were used for all of the dangerous parts and the full scene was assembled in post-production.

Best Supporting Equine -- "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes"

"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is part of a hugely successful franchise that frequently gets awards for its visual effects. It wins a PAWSCAR, not for its apes, but for a horse called Dale ridden from the apes' leader, Caesar. It looks like he -- and another Apes -- are riding bareback but that is just another example of movie magic. The actors playing the apes on horseback used saddles, so Dale and the other horses had been dotted with particular effects markers which allowed the saddles to be eliminated in post-production. American Humane Association made sure those markers were non-toxic and they also had the horses fitted with rubber hooves for scenes if they were on sidewalk. In scenes in which there was gunfire, flames, or explosions, the horses were filmed separately from this action. Even when they jumped over"fire," the horses were only leaping over a 1 foot high bar with flickering lights.

Greatest Young Animal Performer(s ) ) --"The Fall"

"The Fall" is a stressed cop play notable for being James Gandolfini’s closing film. At the heart of its story is a pit bull pup named Rocco. Since puppies grow up so quickly, the production had to use three individual dogs, Puppers, and Ice -- to maintain age continuity. Because different dogs were utilized to perform the exact same character, some make-up was required to make them all match. American Humane Association made sure that the makeup utilized was nontoxic. Certified Animal Safety Representatives ensured that none of the pups were overworked, asked to do anything outside of their capabilities, and that they had a secure and comfortable surroundings in place and off.

Finest Ensemble --"Wild"

This award may appear to be an odd choice considering that the film is about Reese Witherspoon’s personality hiking the Pacific Crest Trail . But she’s not alone, and across the way she encounters a horse played by Muffet, a fox played by Dharma, a rattlesnake played with Fred, a puppy played by Tess, a bunny played with Sport, and even a llama played by Taiga. American Humane Association Certified Animal Safety Representatives assessed every place where the animals worked and supervised the scenes to be sure none were placed in damage ’s way. In the scene where frogs are released on to Witherspoon, the region was surrounded with an individual foot-high barrier so that none of them got away and 40 hens were kept safe.

This season, American Humane Association's"No Animals Were Harmed " program celebrates 75 years since the sole official film-industry sanctioned group ensuring that the humane protection, safety and welfare of animal actors on the sets of movies, tv shows, and commercial shoots. Each year the program manages the protection of over 100,000 animal actors on more than 2,000 places from the U.S. and around the globe. In honor of this special anniversary, American Humane Association represented on the history of animal actors and requested America who its favorite cat and dog celebrities of all time were. With 2,527 votes, the results have been....

Best Dog Star of all Time -- Lassie

This lovable collie's been around for at least 75 years. Her first movie was"Lassie Come Home" with Elizabeth Taylor in her first starring role. Taylor was paid $100 per week, but Lassie got $250. There have been many more films since then in addition to a very successful television set. Lassie was the very first monster celebrity to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the first inductee to the Animal Actors Hall of Fame. She's a long relationship with American Humane Association, winning 11 of its Animal Television Star Awards, the PATSYs.

Top Cat Star of Time -- Sassy

This Himalayan kitty starred in Disney’s"Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" and the sequel,"Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco." In both films, Sassy was played by a cat named Tiki and voiced by Oscar winner Sally Field.

Finally, a very special Lifetime Achievement Award was given to....

Lifetime Diva Achievement Winner -- Crystal

This cherished capuchin monkey was a creature star for 18 years starring in over 25 movies such as the"Night At The Museum" series,"The Hangover: Part two,""American Pie," and the"Dr. Doolittle" movies, in addition to tv shows, and advertisements. 1 amazing truth about Crystal is that she is a rescue animal. Crystal is far from the only rescue creature working now: roughly 80 percent of the dogs and cats that you see on the large and small screen are rescues or adopted from predators. This fighter is so beloved that the late Robin Williams called her"his favourite leading lady."

"Our 2015 Pawscars champions are truly worthy of the honor for all they've done to entertain us not only over the last year, but indeed, in Lassie's instance, for decades and decades," said Dr. Robin Ganzert, American Humane Association's president and CEO. "Animal stars really are such an significant part the movies and TV shows we see every day and this year's PAWSCARS are our distinctive way of paying tribute to the rich history of animal actors. Our deepest thanks to Pauley Perrette and Lou Wegner for co-hosting this year's series and to everybody who voted for their favourite cat and dog stars of all time."

To give audiences the inside scoop on even more of the Garbos and Gables of animal actors, a brand new publication was published together with the 75th anniversary of the"No Animals Were Harmed" app. American Humane Association President and CEO Dr. Robin Ganzert composed and published the book"Animal Stars: Behind the Scenes with Your Favorite Animal Actors," with Allen and Linda Anderson, the husband-and-wife founders of the Angel Animals Network. Featuring a foreword by"America's Veterinarian," Dr. Marty Becker,"Animal Stars" provides a peek at the fascinating world of animals and animal trainers in today's movie and television industry -- along with the celebrities with whom they operate. Proceeds from the sale of this publication support American Humane Association's lifesaving work and programs protecting America's kids and animals. Dr. Ganzert traveled the country on a book registering for"Animal Stars" last autumn. To watch the full 2015 PAWSCARS, please visit www.americanhumane.org, see them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/americanhumane or @americanhumane on Twitter. Media can acquire broadcast-quality footage in https://bit.ly/2015pawscars-video. To learn more concerning the"No Animals Were Harmed " program, including reviews of the films it has tracked through time, please visit www.humanehollywood.org.

About American Humane Association

American Humane Association is the country's first national humanist organization and the only one dedicated to protecting both children and animals. Since 1877, American Humane Association has been at the forefront of virtually every major advance in protecting our most vulnerable by cruelty, neglect and abuse. Now we are also leading the way in understanding the human-animal bond and also its role in therapy, medicine and society. American Humane Association reaches millions of people daily through groundbreaking research, instruction, training and services which span a wide network of associations, agencies and businesses. You can help make a difference, too. Visit American Humane Association atwww.americanhumane.org now.

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johnatthemovies · 7 years

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John’s Top 10 Movies of 2017

So here we are, another year in the books. Let’s take a moment to put out another list among thousands and thousands of lists. If you don’t agree, you can start your own blog. Maybe you’ll be better at providing content on a regular basis than I am.

HONORABLE MENTION: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (December 15)

I can’t rank a Star Wars film in good conscience, especially one as polarizing as this one. It was a great film (The Star Wars Nothing But Star Wars Retrospective will continue soon, trust me), but I still believe that the Star Wars saga is its own thing altogether that has managed to transcend its medium, yadda yadda yadda, pretentiousness. So it takes the honorable mention in this list.

HONORABLE MENTION II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: The Disaster Artist (December 9)

I’ve put this as an honorable mention because, being the die-hard fan of The Room that I am, it’s the one movie I desperately wanted to see this year, but as of press time, I have not yet made it to see it. First, it took forever for any of my local theaters to show it. Then, there was a one-two punch of Christmas and a death in the family when it finally graced the tri-state area with its presence. Then this weekend, my car broke down and no one would drive me. Seriously, someone up there does not want me to see this fucking movie.

10. Power Rangers (March 22)

This film was a very welcome surprise. With such a beloved franchise, a reboot could only end in disaster. And yet, it was a fun, refreshing, character-driven film that even non-fans, like myself, can enjoy. I just wish that it could somehow get a sequel.

9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5)

I’ll admit, this one wasn’t as good as the first one. It had its moments, like the Mr. Blue Sky opening (because I just can’t quit ELO), Ego’s big reveal, and the heartbreaking finale, but some of the jokes outstayed their welcome and weren’t as funny as the jokes from the original. However, my opinion changed after I watched Lindsay Ellis’ wonderful essay on the film. Give it a watch.

8. Kong: Skull Island (March 10)

So many studios have tried to replicate the lightning of a bottle that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Universal had its Dark Universe, which has had three different starting points, and none of them stuck. Warner Bros.’ DC universe is barely a success in box office numbers alone. And then there’s Legendary Entertainment’s MonsterVerse, which hit the ground running with 2014’s Godzilla, and followed that up with a damn good King Kong movie. Kong’s first scene is terrifying, as is Samuel L. Jackson’s Captain Ahab-esque character who will not stop until Kong is dead. 2019’s Godzilla: King of The Monsters cannot come soon enough.

7. Thor: Ragnarok (November 3)

This film was an absolute delight. It’s deliciously funny, there are some scenes that appear to come straight from the pen of Marvel legend Jack Kirby, and other scenes that are just begging to be painted on the side of a ‘70s panel van. This one has to be the best Marvel film of 2017 hands down, with maybe Spider-Man Homecoming coming close. That scene in the car with Peter and Vulture/Batman/Birdman, though.

6. IT (September 8)

IT was probably the first horror movie I’ve actually watched in theaters, and to be honest, it’s probably the best one I’ve seen that didn’t come out in the ‘80s. Bill Skarsgård is ridiculous and terrifying in equal measure as Pennywise, even though I still hope that should I ever come across a clown hiding in the sewer, it’s Tim Curry.

5. Logan (March 3)

This is the solo Wolverine movie that fans wanted to see. It’s gory, it’s brutal, it’s thrilling, it’s heartbreaking to watch, and of course, the perfect swan song for two iconic performances: Patrick Stewart’s Professor X and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Third time’s the charm, eh?

4. Dunkirk (July 21)

I made a mistake this year in not seeing Dunkirk on the big screen. It demands to be seen in IMAX with the best sound system money can buy, especially when it comes to the dogfight scenes. Being a World War II airplane nerd, seeing those Spitfires and hearing those Rolls Royce Merlin engines (“The sweetest sound you could hear out there,” a character remarks) in those well-shot and choreographed fight scenes make it worth the astronomical price of admission. Or at least, I’d think so.

3. Logan Lucky (August 18)

This was another welcome surprise for me. It’s probably one of the funniest movies of the year, with show-stopping moments like the warden arguing with the prison inmates over the perpetually-delayed final books of the A Song of Ice And Fire series or Daniel Craig’s character stopping the heist in its tracks to give a chemistry lesson on how gummy bears, a bleach pen and imitation salt can make an improvised explosive device. However, I cannot suggest that you try this at home. Also, this year must’ve been really good for John Denver’s estate. How many movies can you possibly shove “Take Me Home, Country Roads” into?

2. Blade Runner 2049 (October 7)

This film should not work. A sequel to one of the most beloved sci-fi movies of all time made 35 years after the fact shouldn’t be the masterpiece that it is. And yet, Denis Villeneuve and his cast and crew managed to pull it off. It’s as beautiful to look at, as enigmatic, and sadly, as much of a financial heartbreaker as the original. Seriously, I haven’t been as personally hurt by a film’s underperformance at the box office since Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

And our Number One: Baby Driver (June 28)

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, If It’s Edgar Wright, You Can’t Go Wrong. Spacey be damned, this film is another masterpiece by a director that has long been my favorite living director and my second all-time favorite, next to Kubrick, of course. The soundtrack, the editing, the stunts, all top-notch. On a more personal note, outside of a wonderful trip to Chicago, my summer had been a depressing trainwreck. I bashed my eye against an endtable moving out of my college dorm, my grandmother died, I couldn’t find a job, it was a mess. Then I went and saw Baby Driver. When I saw the Bellbottoms Chase for the first time, it made me happier than I’d been in a while. So thanks, Edgar. Whatever you’ve got planned next, I’ll be in line day one.

#power rangers #guardians of the galaxy vol 2 #kong skull island #thor ragnarok #it #logan #dunkirk #logan lucky #blade runner 2049 #baby driver #goodbye 2017 #and good fucking riddance

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jezfletcher · 5 years

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The Oscars 2020

The last two years (2018 and 2019), I've managed to watch every single Oscars feature film, partially at least due to being in the US in the lead up to the Oscars, so being able to capture those last few films that seem to be nowhere else in the world besides a few bespoke cinemas in New York or Los Angeles.

This year, however, I knew well ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to do this, and as a result, my completist tendencies were broken enough to make me not even bother seeing all the films I could see. In fact, this year, I missed 7 films, 3 of which I couldn't find by any legitimate means, and 4 of which I could have seen but just went "eh...". Missing from the former category are the foreing films Corpus Christi and Les Misérables, plus Richard Jewell, which infuriatingly comes out in cinemas here in Australia on Thursday. The films I actively decided to skip were Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (I'd subjected myself to the first one, which was enough for me), the "live action" remake of The Lion King, Frozen II (only up for Best Song), and Breakthrough, an evangelical Christian film again only up for Best Song. I feel comfortable with my choices here.

I also, as usual, watched the short films, which I'll talk about at the end. This time, I watched all the Live Action and Animated films, and 3/5 of the short documentaries. The other two I couldn't find before the Oscars.

I'll probably be a bit briefer in my write-ups of some of these films than I usually am, mostly due to time pressure. But some which deserve it (both good and bad), I'll give the regular treatment to. Anyway, let's get started:

1. Knives Out

Topping my Oscars list this year is Knives Out, which was an absolute delight of a film. Often times, I enjoy finding the hidden treasures in the Oscars list: films like Away From Her, First Reformed, On Body & Soul or The Broken Circle Breakdown. But this year I have to give Best Film to one of the actual Best Film nominees. Because this was just a brilliant piece of filmmaking. At times, it delivers the best whodunnit story of the past decade, at others it feels like it's lampooning every whodunnit since Agatha Christie, but it's done with such joy and love with every frame that I couldn't help but watch this with a permanent grin on my face. It's an excellent cast they've assembled here, and you could talk about the pitch perfect performance from anyone, but you have to single out Ana de Armas as MArta Cabrera, the suspect who throws up when she tells a lie (I mean, what a concept), and Daniel Craig as the "southern gentleman" detective Benoit Blanc (I will watch a hundred movies revolving around him solving cases, please make this a franchise). What's more, the film kept me guessing right up to the end, thanks to a whip-smart script from writer-director Rian Johnson, one of the most inventive and exciting directors working at the moment. I wasn't exactly sure, before I started this writeup, what would actually end up at #1 this year, but seeing Knives Out at the top of the list I realise it should have been obvious.

2. Little Women

Another truly wonderful film this year was Greta Gerwig's Little Women. I'd seen Gillian Armstrong's adaptation from 1994, and loved it, but this is better. Taking the smart choice to tell the tale in non-linear time, it manages to cleverly pull together contrasts between the youth and early adulthood of the characters, and play on our sympathies in new and revelatory ways. In many respects, this film makes you see the story in a different light to any adaptation that's come before it, and it's a rare thing to be able to do that with such a canonical text; the result is honestly very moving in a way I'd not found from this story before. The performances throughout are excellent, of course, Saoirse Ronan is always very strong, of course, but I also loved the support, especially from Florence Pugh and Emma Watson, who is genuinely putting her early-years-of-Harry-Potter far behind her. Timothée Chalamet honestly always feels like he's playing the same character to me, but somehow it continues to be charming on screen. All up, an excellent, affecting film. Oh, and can we just mention how hard done by Gerwig can feel for not getting a Best Director nod? Hmm?

3. The Lighthouse

Thirdly, we have The Lighthouse, a nightmarish comic horror, which is completely predicated on being compelled by Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. And I'm only human, so of course this worked for me. The two leads are brilliant here: Dafoe's lighthouse supervisor is a thrilling antagonist, with enough mystery to engage you. Pattinson's newcomer is unsettled in a way that mirrors the audience, especially as the film progresses. It's shot in stark, wonderful black-and-white, with a cinematic style that dovetails perfectly with the desolation and destruction of the film, while the 1:1 aspect ratio adds to the overall sense of claustrophobia. It's a quite singular film, one of the most original and interesting pieces of cinema I've seen in many years.

4. For Sama

Topping the documentary stakes this year is For Sama, a film set during the siege of Aleppo, from the point of view of a mother narrating the early life of her young daughter, born as the regime forces encircle, and ultimately recapture the city. It's quite a brilliant, emotional and affecting piece of filmmaking; one, I must admit, that I had to pause half way through to get myself together again. There are scenes here that are stark and harsh, such as the parents exiting the city for Turkey, avoiding the encircling army via back roads, all with Sama strapped inside a baby carrier on her father's chest. It was a beautiful exposition of life under siege, because it brought to the fore that shared human experience. It was an extremely powerful film, and one which I truly hopes ends up taking out the award in its category.

5. Pain & Glory

Next up we have a truly excellent film from Pedro Almodóvar, his best in many many years. Helming the performances is Antonio Banderas as an aging director dealing with a lack of creativity and a degredation in his health. Reconnecting with the actor with whom he most famously collaborated, he takes up heroin, and reminisces about his early life as a young boy, and the discovery of his sexuality. It's such a rich film, without an easy narrative. It's a film that, like life, shows the many turns and dead-ends that lead us to the present. Like I said, I think this is one of Almodóvar's best, and for a director with such a rich oeuvre, that's no small thing.

6. Parasite

Eveyone in the world seems to have been absolutely blown away by this film, in a way that I was not. That's not to say that this isn't a good film, because here it sits at #6 in my list of Oscar movies. But this feels like another entry in what's a really strong cinematic tradition coming out of South Korea at the moment. It doesn't help that I find Bong Joon-ho one of the less subtle directors from the country (for example, I deplored Snowpiercer, admittedly, a much, much worse film than this one). But even compare this film against another Korean film from last year, Lee Chang-dong's Burning, and this feels like an almost cartoonish portrayal of similar themes. I know, this writeup talks mostly about not-this-film, but I'm probably mostly talking about how much better Korean cinema is than this one example. Anyway, when Parasite inevitably wins Best Internation Feature this year, it will hopefully get more people interesting in the excellent cinema coming out of this country. And that's nothing but a good thing.

7. The Two Popes

I honestly found this film to be thoroughly engaging and amusing, and found myself rapt in the machinations of the elections of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, as well as the theological debates between the two when Benedict was considering his resignation. It helps that the pairing of Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins is perfect, with each an ample match for the other. And the script sparkles with a cleverness that often wrings a wry smile from your lips. I very much enjoyed it—and while it feels like the kind of film which just rounds out the numbers come Oscars time, I hope that it will have the longevity it deserves.

8. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Another charmingly unassuming film, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood follows the story of an investigative reporter, known for being hard on his subjects, who gets assigned the task of interviewing beloved children's entertainer Mr Rogers. In this latter role, Tom Hanks is brilliant: so warmhearted and human that you get a sense of Mr Rogers both on and off screen (subtly different but no less magical in either). It's perhaps fair though that Best Supporting Actor is this film's only nod. Otherwise, it's fairly straightforward, but no less affecting for it.

9. Harriet

I was really pleasantly surprised by this film: a biopic of abolitionist Harriet Tubman from Kasi Lemmons, which has been received in fairly lukewarm terms by critics more generally. It follows something of a standard biopic format, but it always manages to ensure the story ticks along. I was thoroughly engaged throughout the film, and always enjoyed wherever the film was taking me. At least part of the appeal comes from the strong central performance from Cynthia Erivo (an O away from an EGOT, I'll point out), who presents the strength of Tubman with a human realness. A much better film than you've probably heard, if you've heard about it at all.

10. Marriage Story

Another very affecting film, that explicates the trauma that divorce can be, even when undertaken in the most amicable situation imaginable. It's the kind of film which feels a bit like an emotional workout. There are good performances throughout, especially, I feel from Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver in the leads, and weirdly, less so from Laura Dern, who actually gets a nod for Best Supporting Actress here (she was better in Little Women). She’s the short priced favourite to actually win it though, so good for her I guess.

11. 1917

Apparently the front-runner to take out Best Picture, this is indeed a good film, and a technically excellent one. It tells the tale of an impossible mission of two young men sent from the trenches into enemy territory, and does so in a carefully edited way to make it look like one continuous take. As a result, it gains a senss of immediacy and power that other films lack (especially ones which rely on rapid fire cuts to capture the madness of a battle). It's honestly one of the best war films I've seen in, well, probably ever. It's not a genre I generally like all that much, but the fact that this managed to find itself so high on this list is a testament to its quality.

12. Klaus

I found this an utterly charming animated film. It's from a new studio, created from ex-Disney animators whose goal apparently is to see if they could capture what traditional animation would have become had the big studios not all switched to computer animation instead. The answer is that it is quite beautiful, in particular the way they integrate the characters and the scenery. The film itself tells an alternative origin story of Santa Claus, and a redemptive tale of a rich playboy sent to prove his worth in the world (which doesn't work out exactly as you might expect). It's honestly just a lovely piece of film making. It perhaps feels like it's from a different age, and that's both to its advantage and disadvantage. But there's certainly something worthwhile in it. I'll honestly look forward to what Serio Pablos does next.

13. Toy Story 4

Hot on the heels of Klaus is Toy Story 4. You know the deal by now. Just when you think there's a nice easy place for ending the Toy Story franchise, they come up with another way to extend it, and it fits perfectly. Where 3 explored the themes of what happens to toys when their children grow up, 4 explores what happens when toys get lost or forgotten altogether. It also amusingly touches on the whole concept of toys becoming alive—what is a toy, and what is garbage becomes a key question of the film. It's also beautifully animated, with a level of detail which is exquisite—and yet it still feels like it's suitably within the style of the franchise overall. A good film. I feel like Toy Story as a whole could finish here happily. But I've felt that since the first film, and I've always been proven wrong. So, Toy Story 5, have at me.

14. American Factory

An interesting film, about a Chinese corporation which opens a factory in the midwest USA, thereby bringing back the vaunted manufacturing jobs to working class America. The conflict comes from the cultural disconnects between the expectation of the corporation and the workers, especially as there are moves to unionise the workforce. There's a lot to unpack here, especially when you consider the incentives that were given to the corporation to open where they were. But it's not overly political either—rather, it is, but it's presented in such a way as to appear neutral; letting you the audience make up your own mind. The fact that this is the first film produced by the Obama's production company is not lost on me.

15. Ad Astra

I'm honestly surprised this is as high as it is, because in many ways this is a bad film. There's some truly shockingly poor science and plot points in this, and the emotional connection of the film is weak. But what I honestly loved, and which I kept coming back to, is the world building. As we move out through the solar system, we see the wilder and less civilised reaches of space come through piece by piece. From the genteel comfort of a Virgin Galactic flight to the moon, to the rough and rugged outpost of Mars, to the isolation of a solo flight to Neptune. There's something so believable and meditative about it. But, like I said, the brilliance of this doesn't eradicate the bad parts, and if you don't particularly enjoy what I did in this film, it's easy to focus on jumping between spaceships through Neptune's rings using a door as a shield. I mean, jeez.

16. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

I really, really wish that Tarantino would realise what he's really good at as a filmmaker. And it's not violence or shots of women's feet, like he thinks it is. He is truly excellent in managing to extract tension and drama from otherwise benign and potentially overextended conversational set pieces. It's most infuriating in this film, because in so many ways, this film is excellent: one of his best, right up until the last sequence, when you feel as though Tarantino lost the will to resist his natural urges. It's such a shame, because it could have been the moment when you feel like Tarantino has matured as a film maker. But no, let's have a flamethrower, yeah?

17. I Lost My Body

An interesting animated film about a young man in Paris finding his own path in the world, juxtaposed with the bizarre counter story of a dismembered hand searching for its body again. It's beautifully animated, and actualyl quite emotional when it gets to its conclusion. Not the best animated film this year, but another that shows the interesting places animated film can go.

18. Rocketman

Another fairly straight forward biopic, but I feel one which does its job admirably. It's honestly a fairly intriguing story, and one which director Dexter Fletcher tells admirably. Especially good is the integration of the music into the picture, which is often something that feels janky, or else cops out by ensuring that all music is diegetic. Anyway, I thought a pretty good film all up.

19. The Edge of Democracy

Another good documentary, this one explicating the fight for democracy in Brazil, in particular the threat of corruption tainting otherwise socially responsible politicians, and the rise of the far-right in recent years. There are a lot of parallels to be seen in this film and other western democracies, and the story of Brazil is told to be both personal and universal.

20. Jojo Rabbit

I was honestly more disappointed in this than anything else, because the premise is wack, and I trusted Taika Waititi to pull it off. But it's tonally very odd, in a way that is obviously intentional, but which often means that its impact is blunted. I really wanted to be pummelled between the extremes of the humour and the horrors of the end of the Nazi regime, and this film feels like it pulls its punches at every turn, possibly because each element numbs the other. It's not all that funny, nor is it that emotionally impactful as a result, as much as it probably wants to think it's both. Anyway, it's a shame, because I wanted more from this.

21. The Irishman

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Martin Scorsese. But I can appreciate his craft, and there's certainly something to be said for a film like this, which is genuinely very much the kind of picture he was making in his heyday. It's also a fine moment to get Pacino and De Niro back together, as well as a technical achievement in their de-aging, which is seamlessly done. But what you'll find I'm not talking about is the plot, or the characters. They're fine, but they don't grip me on a human level, and while it's kind of fun to watch the endless stream of gangsters arrive and depart, they leave very minimal impact. That's generally my problem with it, I guess. Epic in scope, but no space for real human connection.

22. Judy

A reasonable biopic, documenting the latter period of Judy Garland's life, leading up to her last marriage and death. It's a sympathetic portrait, in particular when engaging with Garland's early years (told in flashbacks). The main draw, of course, and the sole nomination it receives here, is Renée Zellweger in the lead, who can be quite challenging as an actress to me, but who here completely disappears into the role of Garland. The rest is only so good, but it's a fair nomination for Best Actress.

23. Ford v Ferrari

This film honestly has some things going for it, and I'm going to probably malign it unfairly for being too much of a banal historical drama in the way that biopics often can be. Partly, the choice of story is poor, because there's a true sense that Henry Ford Jr the Fourth or whoever he is, is a really nasty piece of work, and for too long in the story he is at least the force behind the protagonists, if not the protagonist himself. That really put me off to some extent, and managed to completely detach me from any true emotion in the story. Otherwise, it's a fairly straightforward, stock-standard success-against-the-odds underdog story. There's a place for that, but not a place near the top of my list.

24. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Eh, the discourse has already covered this for me hasn't it? This was a disappointing end to the Star Wars trilogy, especially after Rian Johnson had managed to inject something meaningful into the previous episode. But, there's still at least the spectacle to be had, and there's always something intrinsically enjoyable about spending time in this universe, even when it's done as blandly as this.

25. How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

I'm honestly not a huge fan of this franchise, although I have a soft spot for this particular film now, as it's the first film I've managed to watch all the way through with my son Hal (he is now an avowed fan of all things Toothless). This particular outing sees the village grappling with the question of what is truly best for the dragons themselves, especially as Toothless starts to find himself enamoured of a female Night Fury. It's perhaps an interesting place to take the film, thematically, but as with all of these films, what happens in between the big strokes of the idea is largely interchangeable.

26. Honeyland

It's probably actually a bit surprising that this is so low, because this is a very much acclaimed documentary, about a woman who lives off the land in North Macedonia, in particular using traditional techniques for gathering wild honey. The conflict arises when a nearby family tries to modernise the process, thereby damaging the natural hives on which the woman relies. There's things to enjoy about it, but aside from the obvious thematic elements, I found the film rather dour and tired. It's one of those films which has merit for merely showing that there are stories everywhere in life. But that wasn't enough for me this time around.

27. Joker

I was quite ambivalent about this film when I first saw it, but my ambivalence has turned one way rather than the other as time has passed, so it finds itself down towards the bottom of this list. Firstly, the good: Joaquin Phoenix is always a compelling presence on screen, and even when his characters are inscrutable as Arthur Fleck, there's something engaging about watching him doing his thing. But thematically, this film is a mess, especially in its engagement with violence, and its questions about the underlying discontent in the populace at large. You could read this as an indictment of the masses' willingness to be spurred to evil through a charismatic leader and bit of misinformation. But I'm more inclined to believe that director Todd Phillips just doesn't really know what he's doing, and so the film is unintentionally ambiguous on this. I haven't even gotten into the fact that plot-wise, it, shall we say, "borrows liberally" from Scorsese's The King of Comedy (actually, one of his best, despite my lukewarm Scorsese appreciation above). So yeah, in the end, the more I thought on this film, the less I liked it. Betting wise, you'd be a fool to go against Phoenix to take home the award though.

28. Bombshell

I was quite surprised at how much I didn't like this film, because I feel as though there was the potential for this to be a wonderfully astute indictment of a whole world. But instead, this took the very disappointing route of taking down Roger Ailes and not what he represents. There's a sense at the end of the film that everyone can dust off their hands and say "good job, sexism is solved forever". And this is not something that they engage with in this film—that is to say, they don't examine the fact that this is a potential interpretation. In fact, at the end of the film, the tone is more celebratory because "yeah, we won! The good guys won!". It makes the film feel overall very shallow or hollow.

29. Missing Link

Lowest of the Best Animated feature films, is this very underwhelming stop-motion number. Animation-wise, it's quite nicely done, and technically very strong. But the plot and the characterisations are very bland. Zach Galafianakis's sasquatch is annoying to the point of tears, and the other characters are stereotypes. There's not enough that's interesting in the film. That's the problem. I do feel a little bit bad for the film, because this was also an amazing box-office bomb. And it feels more like it just "wasn't for me" than it feels like it deserved to fail spectacularly. But, to be honest, I do think it has itself to blame for both.

30. Avengers: Endgame

A perennial entry towards the bottom of my Oscars list is the latest Marvel film, in particular the Avengers films. The problem with all of the Avengers films is that they cannot at all give enough screen time to any character to warrant their inclusion in the film, and as a result the whole film feels pointless. This is never more obvious than in Endgame, where they're attempting to both wrap up an entire era of the Marvel enterprise, and include all of the characters they've introduced to this point. I really, really, don't get the appeal, and I honestly think this is one of the messiest examples of the Avengers films. I would have thought the time travel aspect would have given me something to enjoy at least. But, no.

31. The Cave

Bottom of the list this year is a very surprising entry, but one which ultimately I felt I could justify being this low. It's another film from Syria, again telling of doctors working in a beseiged region of the country, this time Ghouta, as the forces of Bashar al-Assad bomb and attack. But this film was honestly, so unbelievably dull. It very much has the philosophy of "point a camera at something and see what happens", but very much misses out on constructing anything interesting from the resulting footage. There's a sense of, yes, claustrophobia and anxiety as the bombs come ever closer. But there's almost no narrative thrust. There's no human connection. There's not enough focus on any character to feel like you're connecting with them. I was unsurprised after this film, when I discovered that its director also directed Last Men in Aleppo, a documentary short I watched a couple of years ago, which also managed to turn what should have been an excellent idea into something boring. I think it's extremely telling that when there are two films covering such similar ground in the same year (as For Sama above does), one can be so emotionally devastating and one can be so dull.

Anyway, that's it for the features. As always, I also attempted to watch the short films. I didn't manage to see all of them this year, as two of the documentary shorts (St. Louis Superman and Learning To Skateboard In A War Zone (If You’re A Girl)) weren't available before the Oscars telecast. But the rest I'll present in order here from favourite to least favourite. But as always, all of these are excellent, and all (maybe apart from the bottom) worthy of your time:

1. Une Soeur (A Sister) (Live Action) 2. In the Absence (Documentary) 3. Hair Love (Animated) 4. Sister (Animated) 5. Brotherhood (Live Action) 6. Life Overtakes Me (Documentary) 7. Nefta Football Club (Live Action) 8. Memorable (Animated) 9. The Neighbors' Window (Live Action) 10. Saria (Live Action) 11. Daughter (Animated) 12. Walk Run Cha-Cha (Documentary) 13. Kitbull (Animated)

And, last, but not least, is my annual Oscars ballot. How would I vote if I could, and the only things I could vote for are the nominees? Read on:

Best Picture: Little Women Best Actor: Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) Best Actress: Cynthis Erivo (Harriet) Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) Best Supporting Actress: Florence Pugh (Little Women) Best Animated Feature: Klaus Best Cinematography: The Lighthouse Best Costume Design: Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood Best Director: Sam Mendes (1917) Best Documentary Feature: For Sama Best Documentary Short: In the Absence Best Film Editing: Parasite Best International Feature: Pain and Glory Best Makeup & Hairstyling: Judy Best Original Score: Little Women Best Orignal Song: "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from Rocketman Best Production Design: Parasite Best Animated Short: Hair Love Best Live Action Short: A Sister Best Sound Editing: Ford v Ferrari Best Sound Mixing: 1917 Best Visual Effects: The Irishman Best Adapted Screenplay: Little Women Best Original Screenplay: Knives Out

And we're done. See you again next year.

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omniversalobservations · 6 years

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“The Rise of Mash-Up Cinema”

In the opening minutes of Ralph Breaks the Internet, John C. Reilly’s Ralph and Sarah Silverman’s Vanellope Von Schweetz — stars of the film’s 2012 predecessor, Wreck-It Ralph — sit in a sort of Grand Central Terminal for video-game characters and play a round of “I Spy.” “I spy with my little eye, something that is round, yellow, and eats dots,” one of them says to the other. That something is, of course, Pac-Man. There’s a bit of banter about that fact, all of it only funny if you know who Pac-Man is. The bit is predicated on you being at least a little excited by the existence of Pac-Man in this movie, which is not a movie about Pac-Man. He’s making a special guest appearance, one brand hopping into another. That intended frisson of recognition, of wonder that a thing could cross over with another thing, is the foundation upon which the Wreck-It Ralph franchise is built.

As of 2012, such crossovers were a rarity. When critics praised the first film, they took note of how potent the idea was. “It’s impossible not to feel a strong sense of nostalgic amusement, if not sheer delight, at the comings and goings of all these characters,” said The Globe and Mail’s Dave McGinn in a characteristic write-up. “I don’t own an MRI machine, but I guarantee that just seeing Sonic the Hedgehog lights up the Gen X amygdala like a house on fire.” Not just Gen X, either: those younger could marvel at the presence of the host of Dance Dance Revolution, those older could giggle when the paddles and ball from Pong popped up. Street Fighter’s Zangief and Chun-Li waved hello, Q*Bert played a memorable role, and so on. It was a shock-and-awe tactic: viewers were supposed to sit back and wonder, How is any of this legal?

The answer is: it’s legal because, really, what corporation wouldn’t want to have its intellectual property appear in a cheery Disney cartoon that’ll be in front of the eyeballs of millions of consumers? All the House of Mouse had to do was ask, pay the licensing fees, and put the characters into situations deemed appropriate by the copyright holders. Everybody wins. The idea makes so much sense that it’s becoming increasingly commonplace. Indeed, it’s not unreasonable to expect that branded mash-ups are on their way to becoming a staple aspect of blockbuster cinema. It’s not necessarily a cheery thought.

The past 17 months will have seen the release of no fewer than four movies that fall into this basket. First came The Emoji Movie, a saga in which anthropomorphized pictograms ventured through an array of popular apps inside a teen’s phone. Then there was Ready Player One, the most infamous of these offenders, derided for relying on the weaponized nostalgia of an array of cultural artifacts from the 1980s and beyond. Disney’s Avengers: Infinity War brought together virtually every strand of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Spider-Man, a character Disney doesn’t own the film rights to but borrows from Sony. These were all hits of one size or another. The market is speaking.

It’s hard to imagine Ralph Breaks the Internet breaking that streak. It’s a decently written kids’ movie with a constant stream of amusing gags and comforting character beats. It offers up the kind of clean whiz-bang CGI visuals that we’ve come to expect in a post-Pixar animation environment. The voice acting is often delightful. But these factors, on their own, can only take the flick so far. What its creators clearly believe is that viewers will be over the moon at the melange of familiar brands that agreed to throw their lot in with Ralph and Vanellope.

There are appearances from game characters, but the real action this time around is in the tech sector. Thanks to a newly installed modem at the arcade in which they dwell, Ralph and Vanellope leave their respective games and embark on a quest inside the internet. The film’s visualization of the world wide web is a gleaming hyper-metropolis of flying vehicles and impossible skyscrapers, something between Tokyo and Coruscant. As our protagonists venture through it, they find all the behemoth brands made manifest: here’s the endless warehouse of Amazon, there’s a tower that Pinterest calls home, watch out that you don’t crash into the Fandango building — and why not make a little pit stop at Snapchat HQ?

“This is the most beautiful miracle I’ve ever seen,” Vanellope declares upon entering the internet, and we are given no reason to disagree. This is the digital utopia that tech CEOs verbally conjure when they attempt to sell us on their agendas, a marketplace of dollars and ideas where everyone’s free to satisfy their desires and escape the disappointments and inefficiencies of fleshy existence. Sure, there’s a brief excursion to the darknet, where viruses and scams lurk, but no brands appear there, and it’s presented as a marginal portion of the landscape. This is not the Internet as it truly is — Ralph encounters no racist Facebook memes, Vanellope never accidentally wanders into Pornhub — but rather as it is sold to us.

The brands are not strictly bits of set-dressing, either. The instigating conceit of the plot is that Vanellope’s arcade game breaks and, in order to save it from being decommissioned, she and Ralph attempt to purchase a replacement part via eBay. The filmmakers could have chosen a generic stand-in auction site, but going with eBay is a win-win for creators and licensors, alike. In this vision of the company’s service, fast-talking, old-timey auctioneers bark at the avatars of potential buyers in a bustling, capacious work space. Ralph and Vanellope don’t have sufficient funds to pay for the part and have to find the cash within a set time period, during which they’re periodically hit with automated reminders that take the anthropomorphized form of a plucky little bellboy (Ralph calls him eBoy). The soullessness of an online transaction is thus replaced by charmingly anachronistic human faces seeking to engage you as a human being. One can imagine an eBay boardroom erupting in delight at an early screening. There would be nothing for them to complain about.

The same goes for all of these excursions into cinematic corporate symbiosis. The Emoji Movie is a curdled yogurt of perfunctory storytelling and Bible-page-thin characterization, but it sure is nice to its beloved mobile apps. The heroic emojis ride a boat through the “music streams” of Spotify, dance their little yellow butts off in Just Dance, and satisfy their sweet teeth over at Candy Crush — and I’ll be forever haunted by my colleague Emily Yoshida’s description of hearing a child at a screening delightedly bellow, “It’s Instagram!” upon the appearance of the beloved photo app. Ready Player One was a binder stuffed near to bursting with pop-culture love letters: the leads hung out in the world of The Shining, drove around in a Back to the Future DeLorean, and fought a grand video game battle royale alongside the Iron Giant, Voltron, and Spawn, all of which accounts for maybe 1/1000th of all the references in the film. Infinity War was easiest to pull off from a licensing perspective, given that Disney owns the film rights to all the non-Spidey Marvel characters therein, and it is what all of these movies aspire to be: a billion-dollar picture that milks every bit of excitement that can come from having its various pieces of IP hang out together.

It’s long been obvious that studios are trying to ape the Marvel model by building their own cinematic universes in which various characters are established in their own movies and then thrown together for crossover appearances. But crucially, no one has succeeded in their imitation attempts. The DC Extended Universe is moving away from interlinked stories, the Valiant universe is years behind schedule, and only the maddest of scientists would say Universal’s monster-filled Dark Universe has a promising future. All of that leaves the higher-ups with a conundrum: how can you synthesize Marvel’s crossover thrills without going through the trouble of building a shared universe that people give a rat’s ass about?

Brand-synergy movies offer an alternative that’s expensive in dollars but cheap in creative effort. If you can’t build out a pantheon of characters that you convince an audience to become familiar with, why not just rent a bunch of properties they’re already familiar with, duct-tape them together, hoist them aloft before the camera, and declare that movie magic has been made? That way, the viewer gets to feel the thrill of seeing people, places, and things that come from different worlds coexist for a moment in time, but you don’t have to put in the work of establishing these properties.

It’s the next level up from mere cinematic adaptation. We no longer feel any particular elation when it’s announced that someone is making a filmed version of our favorite brand — that’s become de rigueur in the nostalgia economy. If you want to feel that old excitement, now you have to see your favorite brand be adapted in conjunction with another one of your favorite brands, and another, and another, until you have a filmic turducken of corporate interests. The ante has been upped, and as long as the big players in Hollywood can play nice with corporate partners, it will only elevate further.

This trend doesn’t have to be a death knell for creativity in blockbuster cinema. A turducken can be baked and seasoned well by the right cooks. The ne plus ultra of this phenomenon actually predates our present trend by 25 years: Robert Zemeckis’s 1988 Disney flick Who Framed Roger Rabbit? In preparation for Ralph Breaks the Internet, I rewatched Roger Rabbit for the first time since childhood and was amazed by how well it holds up. Sure, it gets its fair share of kicks out of constructing a world inhabited by classic Disney animated characters, their Looney Tunes competition, and a cavalcade of other cartoon stars. But their appearances in this surprisingly daring neo-noir are sparing and clever: Daffy and Donald Duck in an increasingly violent dueling-pianos competition, a black-and-white Betty Boop struggling to prove she’s still got it it in the world of color cartoons, a headline reading, “GOOFY CLEARED OF SPY CHARGES,” and the like.

Roger Rabbit uses these cameos as building blocks for story and world-building, not mere showing-off. Okay, there’s a little bit of showing-off — I mean, how cool is it that Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse signed a truce long enough to appear together for a gag in the third act? — but for the most part, these characters are present to help critique show business. The toons, disrespected by humans and isolated in Toontown, are stand-ins for marginalized groups (particularly black people) whose labor has fueled the entertainment economy while being exploited by greedy white people who exclude them from the highest echelons of the industry. When we see Dumbo literally working for peanuts, it’s not just a joke about elephants’ preferred diet, but also a way to make our hearts break at the injustice of one of our most beloved figures being nickel-and-dimed by a crass studio chief. There’s just so much good storytelling and acting — not to mention still-impressive integration of 2-D animation and live action — that you can’t help but get caught up in the ride. These things can be done well.

But it seems all too likely that they will be done poorly. One struggles to imagine brands being okay with Roger Rabbit–level subversion these days. It’ll all be focus-group-approved portrayals that advance the joint agendas of the creators and the companies, alike. The temptation to take a dull plot and spice it up with branded guest appearances is simply too strong. Such a process can create an illusion of familiarity and comfort that masks mediocre workmanship, and lord knows Hollywood will take any chance to spray a new perfume on a turd. To paraphrase Orwell: If you want a vision of the future, imagine Luke Skywalker and Jean-Luc Picard fighting Voldemort — forever.

Source: Vulture

(images via YouTube)

#movies #Wreck It Ralph #Sonic #Mortal Kombat #Alien #Thanos #Iron Man #Spider-Man

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towtiems-blog · 7 years

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The great media deterioration

The great media deterioration.

Another whiskey fueled read is coming guys, brace yourselves. I am writing this article having just seen the new Star Wars film. And I got to tell you, it was a nice film. A generic adventure flick that got the blood pumping, had us riding the emotional rollercoaster at times too. Was it the gem that all us nerds were expecting? No, by any stretch of the imagination it was not. It wasn’t even close to what it was supposed to be. In this article, I will touch on a couple of subject, including the whole Star Wars issue, that in my opinion describe completely the attitude that major corporations have towards us, the consumers.

In some cases it is more understandable that a not so straightforward marketing tactic, ie. milking, makes more sense than others. For instance I remember that show, How I met your mother. They stretched that show so much that it got unbearable to watch. It was like they were telling it to our faces: “ You are all idiots, and we will treat you as such.” It got so bad I stopped watching, and I loved that show. It was a Friends substitute and it felt good for a while. After they saw the success of it however, they decided to milk that cow for as long as they could in order to make more money off of it. And that resulted in deteriorating quality and loss of fan base, although in the long run it proved more profitable. In that case it is slightly more understandable mainly because of the fact that a show like that can only provide so much. There is an upper limit as to how much the public can take of a specific product and How I met your mother was reaching that limit fast. So in a way, I am willing to excuse such an indiscretion. Nobody was fully invested in that show the way all us were in Star Wars.

On the other hand, Star Wars, has not only been a simple movie. For most of us, it has been stories that as children helped us grew. We were taught from it. Lessons about humility, anger, kindness. It had such a great impact on our lives, at least those that really got into it that, it became synonymous to a childhood memory. And that nostalgia exactly is what makes us so passionate about it. And we are not alone. Even the creator of it, George Lucas, treated the movies as him own magnum opus and that really showed. We were blaming him for ruining the franchise with the second trilogy, in the order they were released, but now, looking back, was he right? Looking at what this beloved franchise has become, wouldn’t we rather have him lead us through the story? Me myself, I remember my father bringing home illegal DVDs with foreign subtitles, of all the Star Wars movies just to show them to me. Once I became a bit older, he took me to the cinema with him and it became an event for me that bonded me with him even more. I believe most of us nerds had similar experiences. Thus we treat Star Wars with the same passion.

Therefore, Star Wars in not to be excused from such an indiscretion. And I am quite aware of the fact, that if I said that to anyone involved with the movie he would laugh in my face. And to which I answer: Do you really think that if you released a million Star Wars movies, I wouldn’t go to see them? I would go to see ALL of them. There is absolutely no need for this non-sense. I would support the franchise and millions more would do the same. We have proven that time and time again. We stood by it when Kristensen destroyed Vader, we stood by it when Luke was drinking green milk for fucks sake. We stood by it when it left the hands of its creator and was owned by a corporation completely irrelevant with anything Star Wars, a company which due to recent event we can certainly say has nothing to do with the reality. Of course I am talking about Disney, and by the way, say hello to the new Disney princess, the Xenomorph queen mother.

Despite all that, despite the passion that the fans have shown, they keep going in a direction were the franchise is mutilated with the sole purpose of making more money. What baffles me the most is the fact that we have proven our loyalty, yet they insist on providing second grade material.

I am sorry guys, but I now got it out of my system. Let’s move on.

As started in previous articles, competitions drives companies to do anything necessary to gain the upper hand and control the market. This time is by getting us, the consumers, even more hooked in a drug that doesn’t seem to be available all that too often. So we wait, without a pedestal to voice our opinions. We wait patiently for the next dose to arrive. To pay for it, for some other man to get reach off of it. We have seen records breaking, the highest opening weekend, the highest pre-order sales, multi platinum records and all that shit. All kindle to make a fire burn brighter. To make us want that dose a bit more. A bit more every single time, until we are consumed by it, and all we do it stare at our phones, looking for information about it. But that is a topic for another article. Has it really reached that point where major corporations can control our lives like that? Is that a new low to our society?

Today I read a Reddit IamA, that Snowden took part in it, about a new law that the congress is trying to sneak in, to expand the surveillance capabilities of the homeland surveillance program. It makes you wonder, if all that doping mentioned above, serves a higher purpose.

Is the fact that most of us today are completely and utterly mesmerized by the vast stream of information available to us, beneficial to others? Is the fact that we idolize the Kardasians a leverage for those to think, to hold above us?

Another great fuck up that hasn’t gone unnoticed, is the great Marvel movies those are a spectacle, aren’t they? They took the comics, they made couple of nice movies in the beginning and then they rode that train all the way to the orient. They spitting them out faster that Wendy’s spits out nice tweets. A movie is in the works before another is released. They keep adding depth to it by adding more character an in the minds of some this justifies the situation. Comic books was another big thing for me growing up. It was all about all out silliness really. Nowadays, it is all dumbed down to appeal to a larger audience, once again deteriorating quality. And yes, the original creators did it before it was cool, but then again, in the golden age of comics, the stakes weren’t so high. And with higher stakes, comes greater desire for profit, therefore greater exploitation.

And I wont stop there. Even in books we have seen similar cases. It hurts me greatly to say, since the Stephen King is one of my absolute favorite authors, but he too is guilty of riding that wave. He has released so many idiotic books I can’t even begin to describe. He wrote something good that caught on, and then proceeded to repeat himself, once every six month or a year. An example would be Desperation. King, you disappoint me.

I specifically mentioned King however, because he uses a medium which can easily be translated into another medium. Book to movies. The recently releases It film was a good one by the way, highly recommended. King sells the rights to his books, as history has shown, with no regard as to what quality of film, the producers will provide. We have seen his books being transferred to the big screen and failing miserable. Dark tower, the mist, Dreamcatcher and more. Carrie. That’s a big one.

So what is really happening same as with King and Star Wars, they find something that we like and we are hooked on, and they stretch it as much as possible to maximize profit all while, the quality of the product deteriorates rapidly, resulting in us fans being disappointed. Nowadays it is hard to imagine a world where we get what we want. This behavior allows for companies to have greater control in our lives, have a stronger grip to what we want to watch, how we entertain ourselves and as a natural consequence, what types of subliminal messages get across to us.

Will that ever stop? No, I do not think so. I see things getting much more profit oriented, by each step they take. Is that something that bars us from having quality entertainment however? I think not. Nor should you. One does not cancel the other out. We can have both situations coexist. They can milk the franchises as much as they want, while still maintaining a healthy fan base.

In conclusion, the great media deterioration is upon us. Reduced quality of all sorts of media in the name of profit. Flicks being pushed out the door as soon as possible and major studios maintaining a year by year release schedule. A tactic acceptable as long as the quality is not hindered as much as it is now.

Towtiems

#thelastjedi #starwars

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