#they’re all in Norwegian which is interesting

[ladywaterfall]

I stumbled across a website that has a lot of the covers of the early 2000s Disney Princess magazines. On top of being very nostalgic for me, it’s also got such fun additions like Esmeralda, Jane and Alice before the official Princess lineup was set in stone. Will probably start posting them by year in case anyone else is nostalgic for them

[redafi]

OH THIS IS SOMETHING I ACTUALLY KNOW A BIT ABOUT

Basically, “purebred” cats are really more of a recent thing. Unlike dogs, they didn’t need to be bred for specific purposes to do their jobs. They are born with the natural instinct to hunt mice. (My cat apparently excluded.) (well not excluded, she tries, shes just really bad at it)

Source? Well for christmas I managed to get a DNA testing kit for my cat (from my kinda-mostly-estranged paternal grandfather and step-grandmother, who I recently realized are probably looking at the wishlists sent out for the “young’uns” in my family and just buying the most expensive thing on it.)

And hurray, they gave me a BUNCH of information on the history of cat breeds. And now I know that I should schedule a vet appointment for Blair to specifically check out her teeffers. Because apparently she has bad breath (I don’t know if id be able to tell) and medium risk of periodontal disease.

Point? Well, selective breeding for cats has only been going on for about 200 years or so now (started in the 19th century). And this makes it so that it’s impossible to really define individual breeds—they aren’t as clearly laid out as dogs, with their thousands of years of selective breeding.

As the “history of cat domestication and breeding” section in my beloved beautiful-and-elegant-little-turd’s genetic report says: “The extremely short timeline of human-driven selective cat breeding has yet to overcome the much longer history of cats reproducing freely. Therefore, modern-day cats rarely have ancestors of a defined breed, and the feline genetic code has remained exceptionally diverse even within established pedigree breeds.” (This is from Basepaws. Expensive, but even just the first report—because they send you more as more tests process (or i assume thats why theres a different timeline)—has 68 pages. Granted, some of that is general information, not all of it is about my cat. But regardless whooPEE thats a lot of info and i think that i certainly got my… well, my rather estranged californian set of paternal grandparents… money’s worth from it.)

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

PHIA SABAN INTERVIEWED FOR CONTENTMODE MAGAZINE.

CONGRATULATIONS ON HOUSE OF THE DRAGON! HOW HAS THE PROCESS BEEN SO FAR?

"Thank you! It’s a cool thing."

"When we’re working on it we’re in our own little microcosm with each other and those characters, and now it’s coming out and we’re seeing it all link up and become something else."

"It’s very new to me."

"Acting on screen still feels very new to me."

"I am so lucky to get to work with this group of people, they are so clever and loving."

"Recently we’ve been promoting the show and have been asked for opinions and explanations about our characters and the story."

"I’ve found it a new and funny facet of the job, to be asked sometimes to represent myself and speak from the character and for the bigger picture."

"It can feel different from acting, where you engage with the contradictions and spend more time with the mystery and the magic than the answers."

"I guess I’m saying that I’ve found this process contains multitudes."

"And watching the show is surreal — there are all my pals in wigs!"

MANY DIE-HARD GAME OF THRONES FANS HAVE READ THE BOOK SERIES AND ANTICIPATE PLOT POINTS IN THE TELEVISION SERIES. HOW DO YOU PROVIDE A FRESH TAKE ON FAMILIAR MATERIAL?

"It’s major to be part of something that people already feel passionate about, but it’s also exciting to have the chance to subvert expectations."

"It’s fun to make up little secrets that only you know about."

"As a viewer, I always like to be surprised anyway."

"I think it’s important (and fun) to have some irreverence for the genre so that you’re not patronizing your audience."

"The hope is to be part of something that challenges people!"

YOU'VE FOUND SUCCESS IN THE FANTASY AND DRAMATIC GENRES. ARE THERE ANY OTHER GENRES YOU'D LIKE TO EXPLORE?

"Yes! I miss being in plays so much."

"I cannot wait to be in the theater again."

"I’ve never been in a film, I’d love to make an independent one."

"Oh! To be in something people call a ‘picture’!"

"Recently I’ve been fantasizing about learning motion-capture and playing some sort of animal or creature."

"I’d love to be part of a suburban coming-of-age film, like the ones I obsessed over growing up."

"I’d like to do a great limited series, an intense crime one."

"And I could narrowly avoid being eaten by a shark, or an alien."

"I have dreams of doing a time-spanning project."

"I’d like to be the voice of an animation!"

"I‘d love to have a go at the present day."

"And maybe a dystopian future."

"And a Western?"

"I always want to do something funny."

"And strange."

"There are so many TA and filmmakers I admire (I won’t list them but they’re always being lovingly scribbled in my notebook.)"

"I’ll learn Norwegian and French for them!"

"I’m excited to keep finding new people too."

"More than all these, there are so many more things I hope to do, if I’m lucky."

"Not that I give it much thought or anything…"

HAS YOUR REAL LIFE INSPIRED YOUR APPROACH TO YOUR CHARACTER IN ANY WAY?

"Sometimes a character can be an expansion pack for your real life, like a new way to see things."

"So maybe it’s more that the fantasy inspires your real life!"

"It’s been really fun to explore Helaena’s interests."

"I’ve thought quite a lot about bugs."

"I get a huge kick out of investigating how her mind works and finding all the ways her’s overlaps with mine."

"I do lots of people-watching, which is great because now when I’m staring at people on the bus I can tell myself that I’m ‘working’."

WHILE FANTASY CAN SEEMS UNTETHERED FROM REALITY, DO YOU THINK IT CAN REFLECT THE REAL WORLD?

"Haha I hope so, otherwise that would be boring!"

"I suppose these stories are full of archetypes, which should mirror universal truths."

"But maybe that’s just good TV?"

WHAT TYPES OF NARRATIVED DO YOU FIND YOURSELF DRAWN TOWARDS WHEN READING SCRIPTS AND CHOOSING ROLES?

"Something surprising and honest that doesn’t tell me what to think!"

"And I love it when a script lets sad things be funny."

WHAT INSPIRES YOU AS AN ACTOR?

"Other actors, a lot."

"On a good day, almost everything can…"

"That might be one of the best things about being an actor."

[grigori77]

2023 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 2)

20.  THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER – Norwegian director Andre Øvredal EXPLODED onto the scene back in 2010 with one of the very best found footage horror movies ever made, Troll Hunter, and immediately declared himself as one to watch in the future.  It’s been frustrating, then, that he’s largely failed to truly deliver on that promise since – subsequent offerings such as The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark are noteworthy but ultimately underwhelmed me, while Mortal had some really great ideas but turned out to be a clunky mess that left me cold … but he FINALLY made good with one of the best horror offerings of 2023, a film which Stephen King himself counted as one of the best horror movies he saw all year (seriously, look it up).  Screenwriters Bragi Schut Jr. and Zak Oikewicz have taken an interesting tack here, delivering a brand new take on Dracula by not adapting the whole novel YET AGAIN but instead basing their jumping off-point on what’s usually little more than a footnote in most screen takes (if not just ignored altogether), the dark chapters detailing the fateful final voyage of the good ship Demeter, which transported the undead Count’s earth-filled coffins from Transylvania to England before finally running aground on the coast at Whitby with all hands lost.  The result is a deliciously harrowing, thumbscrew-tightening masterclass in slowburn suspense and ratcheting tension which follows the ill-fated crew who discover far too late that their cargo contains a monster that feeds exclusively on the blood of the living, Øvredal expertly overseeing an oppressively atmospheric gothic thrill-ride which offered up some of the year’s biggest and best scares while milking every drop of pure terror out of the simple conceit that once they’re on the open water there is NO VIABLE ESCAPE from their dread predicament.  It certainly helps that the crew themselves are a well-rounded collection of characters we come to really sympathize with and root for – Corey Hawkins (Kong: Skull Island, In the Heights, The Tragedy of Macbeth) is a strong hero as new ship’s doctor Clemens, slowly bonding with the likes of Liam Cunningham’s grizzled but kind captain Eliot, The Suicide Squad’s David Dastmalchian as the Demeter’s gruff, cynical quartermaster Wojchek and Eliot’s grandson, the ship’s cabin boy, Toby (The White princess’ Woody Norman), as well as Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale), who delivers a turn of intense wounded poise and troubled vulnerability as Anna, a Transylvanian peasant girl unwillingly smuggled onboard in the cargo for Dracula (portrayed, through some impressively effective mocapped digital effects, by REC, Mama and Slender Man’s Javier Botet) to feed on during the voyage, whose rescue when she’s discovered sets the overarching horrors loose upon the crew.  Ultimately it’s easy enough to see what Stephen King saw in this – this is a genuine BLINDER of a horror movie, scary as hell, emotionally darker than the blackest night and shot-through with an edge of genuine exquisite NASTINESS that leaves a deep, lasting impression on you LONG after the credits have rolled.  As an intriguing and surprisingly original piece of standalone horror cinema this really is something special, but if it WERE to be the start of a larger cinematic story I certainly wouldn’t say no, not if Øvredal and this talented writing duo remain on board …

19.  THEY CLONED TYRONE – while cinemas may finally be properly getting back into the full swing of things now, with many of the big budget offerings that were long delayed by COVID finally emerging to fill up the year’s international moviegoing calendar, streaming services don’t seem to be letting that slow their own steam (granted, it’ll be interesting to see how things look by THIS year’s end, when the fallout from the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes REALLY starts to hit, but I’m not about to get into THAT debate here), and Netflix is no exception, still leading the pack with their Original filmmaking offerings.  BY FAR the most interesting, original and downright FIENDISHLY INGENIOUS offering they dropped in the past year HAS TO BE this thoroughly unique sci-fi satire from up-and-coming screenwriter Juel Taylor (Creed II, Space Jam: A New Legacy), who makes his feature directing debut in truly BLINDING fashion.  The concept itself is an absolute belter, although while the title may sound DECIDEDLY spoiler-heavy already, it’s actually just the very TIP of the iceberg, and giving much of anything about the plot away would reveal some pretty key twists to anybody who didn’t already see the trailer.  So if you DON’T wanna get spoiled, just rest assured this is a PHENOMENAL FILM and it really MUST BE SEEN, and just check it out good and cold … still here?  Okay then … John Boyega continues to stretch his legs away from Star Wars as Fontaine, a mid-level drug dealer in a suburban American ghetto simply known as The Glen who’s gunned down in a turf dispute, only to wake up unharmed the next day with no recollection of said events.  As he investigates this uncanny twist, he ropes in the dubious help of two acquaintances – pimp Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) and hooker Yo-Yo (If Beale Street Could Talk and The Marvels’ Teyonah Parris) – only to discover a dark and twisted labyrinthine

conspiracy that stretches far beyond the urban confines of their beleaguered neighbourhood.  The results are one of the slickest and most brain-bakingly twisted chunks of speculative science fiction I’ve come across in a good long while, constantly throwing the viewer narrative curve balls while posing a dizzying series of moral and socially critical thematic quandaries, all the while presenting a brilliantly off-beat reimagining of classic “blaxploitation” tropes (indeed, this is among the very best examples of this quirky little sub-genre I’ve EVER come across).  It’s also got a LETHALLY devious sense of humour to it, beautifully subverting expectations to bring a delightfully skewed inner-city slice-of-life POV to proceedings which it then mines for the purest nuggets of comedy gold it can find.  That being said, there are times it gets pretty dark too – while it’s never particularly violent or harrowing (despite some of the obvious elements of its subject matter), the way the conspiracy itself unfolds as its monstrous nature is revealed gets truly existentially terrifying at times, and in the current political climate feels a little TOO possible … and then there’s the cast, who tie everything together PERFECTLY, the three leads in particular taking what could have been a joke set-up trio of the genre’s classic trope archetypes and invest them with genuine heart, soul and complex nuance – Boyega is endearingly vulnerable and effortlessly likeable as our sort-of hero, while Foxx brings both requisite quirky charisma and surprising deeply-hidden sympathy to what’s usually one of the most classically despicable character tropes out there, but the real STAR here is Parris, who effortlessly steals the film out from under her peers as a smart, plucky and brilliantly resourceful amateur sleuth who’s frequently miles ahead of everybody else as the mystery unfolds around them; meanwhile Kieffer Sutherland brings delightfully sleazy “cracker” energy as Nixon, the brutally amoral bureaucrat nominally in charge of this nefarious far-reaching plot.  Taylor handles proceedings with admirable skill and an impressively artful visual flair while crafting one of the year’s most intriguing and thought-provoking films so far, and immediately marks himself as a clear rising star with a hell of a lot of one-to-watch potential for the future.  I look forward to whatever it is he does next …

18.  BLUE BEETLE – as for moving the big screen DCU moving forward, here’s a project that, apparently, is actually making the leap from old to new very much in one piece.  Despite being long developed as a flagship film for the original DCEU, Gunn seems to be folding this cinematic origin story for the second generation of one of the DC Universe’s lesser known (but still iconic and beloved) superheroes into his new vision.  Which basically means that THIS, right here, is our first real taste of what’s to come in the NEW vision … and, if I’m honest, if this IS a good indicator, then I’m actually all for it.  Marking the big break of up-and-coming Puerto Rican filmmaker Angel Manuel Soto (who made a small but potent impact with his feature debut Charm City Kings), this is also EXTREMELY notable for being the first major studio movie about a Latino superhero, namely Jaime Reyes (Cobra Kai’s Xolo Mariduena), an impoverished young pre-law graduate from the fictional metropolis of Palmera City’s Edge Keys who finds himself essentially FORCED into taking up the long-vacated mantle of the Blue Beetle after accidentally symbiotically bonding with a mysterious alien superweapon system simply known as the Scarab.  Unfortunately, this device is being zealously sought by psychopathic weapons corporation CEO Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), who wants to use its unique programming as the basis for her world-changing OMAC weapon system, and she’ll do ANYTHING to get hold of it … that’s really all you need to know about the story, the film proving to be a welcomely lean and impressively streamlined classic archetypal hero’s journey original story which also EFFORTLESSLY sets up the story moving forward into what are, I’m sure, gonna be some EVEN MORE impressive adventures once the new DCU proper gets off the ground, and the end result makes for one of the year’s most genuinely ENJOYABLE superhero movies.  Mariduena makes for an endearing young hero here, investing Jaime with wide-eyed innocence and precociously earnest charm that belie some pure steel when he has to learn to man up and get in the fight for real, and the rest of the Reyes clan are similarly well established here too, particularly wildly popular stand-up comedian George Lopez (who here shows he has ONE HELL of a high pitched scream) as conspiracy nut Uncle Rudy and Hocus Pocus 2’sBelissa Escobedo as Jaime’s sweet, acerbic and FANTASTICALLY sassy little sister Milagro, while almost IMPOSSIBLY beautiful Brazilian actress Bruna Marquezine thoroughly impresses as Victoria’s estranged granddaughter Jenny, the tough and resourceful daughter of original Blue Beetle Ted Kord.  And then there’s the villains, and OH MY GODS does this film pay off

BIG TIME by genuinely OUTPERFORMING when it comes to the all-important job of giving the hero suitably heavyweight antagonists by providing us with a pair of genuine STARS here – Sarandon is frequently downright CHILLING as a stony PSYCHOPATH who doesn’t care about ANYTHING but making her own twisted, perverse technological dream a reality, while Apocalypto’s very memorable Big Bad Raoul Max Trujillo handles the muscular side of things with consummate professionalism and brooding feral intensity as her pet special forces killer Ignacio Carapax, the recipient of the OMAC prototype and therefore, essentially, Jaime’s first nemesis.  There’s some INCREDIBLE action on offer here, the visual effects delivering magnificently to bring the Scarab AND OMAC’s versatile capabilities out in fine style, but for the most part this is a film which rides high on a glorious mixture of good old fashioned light-hearted humour and a massive dollop of emotional heft and pure HEART, delivering some genuinely POWERFUL heartbreaking character beats once things get REAL before finally paying off in a wonderfully cathartic old fashioned Hollywood happy ending.  In many ways this film feels almost like a THROWBACK to simpler times, but it also paves the way impressively well for the future of the franchise if Gunn and co are INDEED intent on following this kind of formula moving forward.  Certainly this is a prime example of how to do a bright and cheerful primary coloured superhero movie WELL, and I look forward to plenty more of the Blue Beetle when they finally get their shit together again …

17.  EVIL DEAD RISE – sometimes you just can’t keep a good franchise down, and that’s ALWAYS been the case with the Evil Dead movies.  That being said, each movie has always happily been its own thing too, so even when Sam Raimi was making his original trilogy they were all movies you could easily pick up and watch as a standalone without needing to see the others too.  Better, though, is the fact that every offering so far has been consistently GREAT, even 2013’s sort-of reboot from Don’t Breathe and The Girl In the Spider’s Web writer-director Fede Alvarez, which did a genuinely spectacular job of bringing the franchise kicking and screaming into the new Millennium while also delivering something which was unapologetically old school in the very best way.  Thankfully this is definitely the way that the latest writer-director, relative newcomer Lee Cronin (The Hole In the Ground), has decided to do things, although he’s also taking this newly-rebooted story in a fresh new direction with a MAJOR setting change as the Deadites are, for the first time (at least on the BIG screen) unleashed in the big inner city.  It’s a bold move, but certainly has the instant charm of doing something we’ve never seen before, bringing the claustrophobic madness of the originals into a very different but equally close-quarters environment as we’re now seeing the demonically possessed monsters terrorising their victims in tiny apartment rooms, cramped corridors and malfunctioning elevators which make for a whole host of new opportunities to change up the scares, the action and the direction of the thoroughly skewed plot.  Best of all, this is BY FAR the most female-centric film in the franchise to date, making for a much more interesting and far less testosterone-heavy atmosphere this time around as the women get to take the lead far more than they did in the previous movies.  The gods know that’s VERY MUCH my shit right there … Vikings’ Alyssa Sutherland is a veritable FORCE OF (UN)NATURE as Ellie, the downtrodden single mother trying to keep her three kids and her whole life from going off the rails until she’s taken over by the Evil when her calamitously foolish young wannabe DJ son Danny (Storm Boy and The End’s Morgan Davies) finds and reads from the Book of the Dead, while Picnic At Hanging Rock’s Lily Sullivan is endearingly vulnerable and fallible but ultimately steely as her Ellie’s estranged kid sister Beth, who comes home in a bad spot just in time to get thrown into the middle of the ensuing chaos; Gabrielle Echols (Reminiscence) and Nell Fisher (Northspur), meanwhile, are both similarly exceptional and thoroughly memorable as Ellie’s teen and pre-teen daughters Bridget and Kassie.  The majority of the action plays out in the impressively squalid confines of the newly-condemned apartment building, turning uncomfortably familiar surroundings into downright TERRIFYING nightmarish hellscapes as the horrors unfold within, Cronin pulling out every trick in the book to deliver a knuckle-whitening scare-fest that skilfully works its way under your skin and grips your heart tight enough to make it explode with sheer anxiety, and, like every one of its predecessors, he has managed to pull it all off with the absolute BARE MINIMUM of digital assistance, this film representing another resounding triumph for spectacularly NASTY physical effects.  This was definitely the NASTIEST thing I saw in a genuinely GREAT YEAR for horror cinema, but more than that it’s ENTIRELY lived up to its legacy, earning its place in one of the greatest horror franchises of ALL TIME with pride.  I look forward to seeing what Cronin does next, and I can’t wait to see what the series is gonna throw at us next, either …

16.  BALLERINA – nope, NOT the Ana de Armas-starring John Wick spinoff, we still got ‘til the summer to wait on THAT ONE.  That being said, seems that one now has an ADDITIONAL benchmark to live up to given what we got with THIS sneaky little South Korean surprise gem that snuck in under the radar on Netflix in the autumn ... now I LOVE Korean cinema, there’s SO MUCH great stuff that’s come out from this market over the years, not just from the greats like Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho, but lesser known hits and overlooked hidden gems that run the gamut of genres.  So I was already intrigued when I heard that Netflix’ latest under-the-radar release was getting RAVE REVIEWS across the board, and then when I heard the premise, never mind the title, I was even MORE interested.  I mean a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes is NEVER to be sneezed at, and this one DEFINITELY deserves the hype – it’s a tight, taut little suspense thriller with a simple premise which up-and-coming writer-director Lee Chung-hyun (The Call) nonetheless turns into an intriguingly twisty piece of work indeed.  Jeon Jong-soo (Burning, The Call) stars as Jang Ok-ju, a reclusive loner who comes a bit unstuck when her one real friend, the titular ballerina Choi Min-hee (Drive My Car’s Park Yu-rim), commits suicide, leaving her a parting note begging her to avenge her death by killing a brutal local sex trafficker named Choi Pro (My Cute Guys and Natalie’s Kim Ji-hoon), whose monstrous drug-induced rape of her and subsequent blackmail using a cruelly acquired sex-tape of the crime led Min-hee to take her life in shame.  It just so happens that Ok-ju is perfectly equipped for this, being a retired executive bodyguard with some seriously LETHAL combat training giving her that most coveted “certain set of skills” … this is SUCH a great stripped back, slowburn action flick, taking its time to establish just how deep the bad guys have fucked up without even realising before finally unleashing one hell of a badass new screen heroine on them.  Jeon Jong-see genuinely is a star in the making, surely destined for great things given what we see from her in this, understated but deeply nuanced as a withdrawn introvert fully capable of turning, without warning, into a cold blooded KILLING MACHINE if provoked, and she is a PERFECT driving force for this film; Kim, meanwhile, is a genuinely NASTY piece of work here as Choi Pro, a nihilistic sexual sadist who relies on his classic K-pop boy band good looks to put his victims at ease before destroying their lives, and Park Yu-rim is just the right balance of sweet and sassy in her flashback appearances to make the loss of her character hurt all the more, thoroughly justifying her bereaved friend’s roaring rampage of revenge.  Lee Chung-hyun also proves he's going to be a filmmaker worth watching in the future here, weaving an entrancing spell as he draws us in with the atmospheric first half before finally unleashing the fury in the second when it comes time to deliver a series of blistering, bloody and beautifully put together action sequences.  Like I said, that OTHER Ballerina movie’s gonna have to work hard to beat THIS one …

15.  EXTRACTION 2 – back in 2020, when the Pandemic was really ramping up and not only the Summer but the whole year’s cinematic calendar looked like it was going in the toilet, the streaming services stepped up and took up the slack in fine style, and none carried more of the weight than Netflix with their Original Films.  One of the year’s most impressive offerings was their fascinating team-up with MCU filmmaking heavyweights the Russo Brothers, who produced and co-wrote the first Extraction, an unadulterated two-hour adrenaline shot of an action movie that blew all our socks off and announced to the world that debuting stuntman-turned-director Sam Hargrave was going to be a proper future star in his own right in the most demanding of cinematic genres.  Needless to say Netflix was IMMEDIATELY clamouring for more, just like the rest of us, so Hargrave and co returning with this equally blistering non-stop thrill-ride of a follow-up was a genuine no-brainer.  Thor himself Chris Hemsworth returns as former Australian special forces soldier-turned mercenary hostage extraction expert Tyler Rake, battling to recover from his near-death experience at the end of the first film in order to rescue Ketevan Radiani (Abigail’s Tinatin Dalakishvili), the sister of his ex-wife Mia (Olga Kurylenko), and her children from the brutal Georgian prison they’re trapped in alongside Ketevan’s monstrous husband, Davit (Tornike Bziava), who’s facing a ten year stretch for his crimes as a bigshot in the Georgian mafia.  Except that during the breakout Tyler’s forced to kill Davit, which sets the whole mob, led by his furious brother Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani), hot on their heels … like its predecessor, this is a film that, after taking a little time to set things up, hits the ground running with one INSANE action sequence on top of another and keeps going full-throttle for pretty much the entirety of its remaining runtime, Hargrave and his RIDICULOUSLY hard-working and committed stunt team delivering some of the year’s most spectacular set-pieces as they constantly up the ante on EVERYTHING they did in the first film.  Once again the absolute highlight is a genuinely INSANE unbroken single-shot sequence that takes at least twenty minutes all told to tell its mesmerising story, and this set piece alone really is the equal to anything we got in the John Wock movies.  Hemsworth again proves that he really IS the God of Thunder even when he ISN’T playing Thor, kicking arse and taking names like few other action heroes are capable of doing, but this time it's an absolute JOY to actually get to see returning co-stars Golshifteh Farahani (Body of Lies, Paterson, Invasion) and, in particular, Adam Bessa (The Blessed, Mosul, Harka) both get a MUCH bigger slice of the action themselves as brother and sister Nik and Yaz Khan, Tyler’s trusted mercenary partners, both proving as viciously lethal in action as our main protagonist; Gogrichiani, meanwhile, makes for an agreeably FERAL villain as a grieving butcher determined to get blood for blood no matter the cost, while Dalakshvili tugs hard on our heartstrings as a desperate mother willing to go to extraordinary lengths to keep her children safe.  Altogether this is another undeniable POWERHOUSE action thriller, relentlessly effective and blissfully engaging from start to finish, and in many ways it’s EASILY an improvement on its predecessor.  Needless to say a third film is ALREADY in development, and after this I’m SUPREMELY confident it should be just as much worth the wait …

14.  PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH – my first candidate for top animated feature of 2023 was an interesting one because, while I am a MASSIVE fan of Dreamworks Animation Studios’ output in general and the Shrek films in particular, I have to admit that the FIRST standalone spinoff featuring Antonio Banderas’ awesome fairy-tale character left me somewhat underwhelmed … yes, I know, it’s a travesty, STONE ME!!!  I know I deserve it … but really, even with Salma Hayek on board it just didn’t reach the same levels of sheer unadulterated COOL that the Shrek movies did for me.  So I approached the EXTREMELY belated follow-up with a definite sense of trepidation, despite the intriguing new animation style makeover that’s clearly HEAVILY inspired by the recent success of the first Spider-Verse movie and the massive anticipation for its incoming sequel.  It looks GORGEOUS, but as we’ve learned to our cost over the years with this kind of filmmaking, looks DO NOT always automatically mean it’s gonna be a belter.  Thank the gods, then, that I was proven wrong THIS TIME … yup, for his sophomore spinoff movie, Puss FINALLY got a vehicle he could truly be PROUD OF.  It’s got a BRILLIANT premise which PERFECTLY fits with the amount of time that’s passed since the first one, and definitely means that the older fans among us (like myself) can definitely find A LOT to resonate with in terms of the themes here – Puss discovers that he’s only got ONE of his nine lives left and it sends him into a DEEP existential crisis as he realises that he’s pretty much WASTED much of the time he had, and technically that means he’s only got ONE CHANCE left to truly be alive.  So he abandons his riotous adventurer lifestyle and “retires” as a lap-cat for one SERIOUSLY weird cat-lady, Mama Luna (High Fidelity’s Da’Vine Joy Randolph) … only for his past to catch up to him in the form of a quartet of bounty hunters, Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman and beloved up-and-coming British comic Samson Kayo). 

This prompts Puss to escape onto the road for one final adventure reuniting with his long-lost love Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), who’s none too happy to have him back in her life after he abandoned her at the Altar, as well as a deeply odd new companion, Perrito (What We Do In the Shadows’ Harvey Guillen), a diminutive therapy dog who was masquerading as one of Luna’s cats, as they set out in search of the Wishing Star, a fallen star that can grant whoever finds it their heart’s desire, which means Puss could get his other Eight Lives back.  Except that they’ve still got the bounty hunters on their trail, along with (now decidedly) BIG Jack Horner (John Mulaney), a magic-item collecting entrepreneur who has a score to settle with Puss which definitely coincides with his fervent desire to claim the Star for himself, and a mysterious Wolf (the irresistibly silky tones of Narcos’ Wagner Moura) who may actually be Death Himself, who has his own, much darker reasons for finding Puss.  Y’know how they say you judge a hero by the strength of the villains he faces?  Well with antagonists of THIS calibre, Puss just might have finally met his match … and even better, EVERYTHING ELSE about this movie is as strong as the Big Bads – it’s one of the most well-written, well-directed and deeply, affectingly resonant movies that Dreamworks have EVER DONE, EASILY on a par with the rest of the Shrek canon and even matching up impressively well with true Gold Standards like Kung Fu Panda and the How To Train Your Dragon movies, everyone involved in this project clearly giving it their all in a total labour of pure, unadulterated LOVE that pays VAST dividends on the screen.  The cast, of course, are among the greatest key ingredients in this, and as we’ve come to expect from these movies they’re all pulling their weight MAGNIFICENTLY – Guillen and Mulaney in particularly deliver SPECTACULARLY in their respective roles, while Pugh and

her cohorts are at once hilariously good fun but also elevate their characters FAR ABOVE their one-note bad guy potential thanks in no small part to some VERY intelligent, well-rounded and deeply complex character development from the writers, but in the end the main weight of the film OF COURSE rests on the shoulders of Banderas and Hayek, and once again they’ve both proven they are MUCH MORE than capable of bearing it with grace, professionalism and a glorious evergreen twinkle in their eyes.  As for the animation and design, this is a BEAUTIFUL piece of work, definitely one of the year’s most visually arresting films as well as, quite simply, one of the most gorgeous films that Dreamworks have EVER put together, the studio effortlessly adapting to this sexy new style that made Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Netflix’ Arcane such glorious feasts for the eyes, and the animation team deserve JUST AS MUCH praise as director Joel Crawford, a storyboard veteran who previous proved his helming pedigree in fine style with 2020’s wonderfully oddball The Croods: A New Age.  Ultimately, given the storyline, themes and the way the film ties things off so neatly, I suspect this really will be the last we see of Puss In Boots on the big screen, but if that really is the case then I gotta admit it’s ONE HELL of a swansong …

13.  THE KILLER – a new David Fincher flick is ALWAYS cause for my celebration, since he’s steadily become one of my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE filmmakers.  Ever since his singularly SPECTACULAR breakthrough with Seven in 1995, I’ve been following his career with RABID interest, and he’s NEVER let me down, impressing me EVEN with his rare misfires (see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), so I was REALLY looking forward to seeing what would happen when he FINALLY reteamed with screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven, 8mm, Sleepy Hollow) for a fresh new thriller for Netflix following his lucrative new production deal that started with 2020’s brilliant biopic Mank.  Adapted from a cult French indie graphic novel series from Alexis “Matz” Nolent and Luc Jacamon, it doesn’t so much tell the story of a ruthlessly efficient professional hitman as provide a fascinating procedural peek into the meticulous modus operandi of an obsessive compulsive serial killer-for hire.  You’re not SUPPOSED to root for the hero in this – Michael Fassbender’s nameless assassin is a cold-blooded, emotionless cypher who maintains a painstakingly precise lifestyle regimen powered by a stringent personal mantra to make sure he never makes ANY mistakes and makes himself as impossible to trace as possible during the execution of each of his kills, Fincher intentionally making him seem almost CARTOONISHLY bland in order to make it clear this is a man who can just fade into the background even in the most heightened and harrowing of events.  That being said, there’s still something so bafflingly COMPELLING about following the Killer on his blood-soaked adventures as he goes about tracking down the person who’s trying to have him killed after inexplicably botching a hit in Paris, which I’m sure was also ENTIRELY intentional on both Fincher and Walker’s part.  Fassbender, meanwhile, is clearly enjoying himself with a MASTERCLASS in subtlety, effortlessly delivering swathes of emotional detail in the subtlest of ticks, blinks and double-takes while his toneless narration delivers ponderous insight on his surprisingly poetic inner-monologue.  Ultimately this is VERY MUCH his film, the narrative largely focusing on the Killer sliding anonymously through the world as he ruthlessly executes his plans, but some of the film’s most rewarding moments are watching just how alien this individual REALLY IS through his interactions with others, particularly ill-fated encounters with on-point talents like Charles Parnell (All My Children, The Last Ship) and a typically peerless Tilda Swinton.   Fincher has sometimes been labelled as one of Hollywood’s most cold and emotionally detached auteurs and I don’t doubt that this one will definitely be used as fuel for that continued critical fire, but I can’t help loving this one even so – this is thriller cinema at its most exquisitely cynical, an intense work of razor sharp ART from a filmmaker I cannot help bowing down to WORSHIP yet again, and I cannot WAIT to see what else he’s going to do as he continues with this already incredibly successful deal with Netflix …

12.  THE MARVELS – oh boy, do I have A LOT to say about THIS ONE … those who follow my blog probably know how vocal I was about the truly SHAMEFUL treatment this received upon its release, or even just in the runup from its own studio … seriously, Marvel just GAVE UP on this one before it even came out, didn’t they?  And then the way they threw director/co-writer Nia DaCosta (Little Woods, 2021’s Candyman) under the bus after she DARED to speak out about her own treatment during production?  I mean the MCU’s been struggling for a while now, but to actually SELF-SABOTAGE themselves like this, it’s unfathomable.  Fuck … no, I’ve decided I’m NOT going to rant about that whole mess any more, I just want to get the word out on WHY I think all the naysayers and the haters and toxic fanboys who couldn’t even be bothered to TRY and give it a chance before it even arrived are just WRONG, how this is actually one of THE BEST MCU films we’ve had for a good while … certainly since Endgame dropped and we reached what was clearly the smart CLOSING POINT for the series before the bean-counters went NUTS over the profits and insisted on keeping the whole crazy train rolling … back in 2019, I was one of the first Captain Marvel movie’s strongest supporters, I LOVED that flick, but then I guess I WAS kind of biased since Carol Danver IS my absolute favourite Avenger, so I was SO PSYCHED when it was confirmed that we were gonna be getting a follow-up.  Especially once it was made clear that this one would also fold in Maria Rambeau’s sweet little girl Monica, now grown up into a superhero in her own right (while she never actually gets her monicker here, I always really liked Photon), as well as the star of one of the VERY BEST of the Disney+ Marvel shows, Ms Marvel herself, Kamala Khan.  I held onto that fervent hope even as the MCU started to go progressively more off the rails, with properties tanking left and right or stalling before even getting off the ground, I just dug my fingers in and HOPED that we could at least hang on for THIS ONE to save everything, because I KNEW it was gonna be good.  It HAD TO BE.  And oh my gods, it actually WAS …

it’s an absolute, unbridled JOY getting to spend more time with Brie Larson’s criminally underrated Carol Danvers, now wrestling with a newfound vulnerability after her own attempts to end the tyranny on the Kree homeworld of Hala just ended up making things SO MUCH WORSE, especially once events transpire to bring her into the orbit of Monica (the brilliant Teyonah Parris, returning to the grown-up role after her equally excellent introduction in Wandavision) and Kamala (the irrepressible and genuinely EFFERVESCENT Iman Vellani), and the trio must learn to fight as a unit when their powers become intrinsically entangled in such a way that they end up swapping places each time they’re used.  The central trio are clearly having an almost INDECENT amount of fun here, visibly bonding as their characters learn to appreciate each other for who they REALLY are and get over the various pieces of emotional baggage that they’ve brought into the relationship (particularly Kamala, a Captain Marvel MEGA-fan who comes to love Carol far more as a real person, fallible but ultimately with a good heart who’s TRYING HER BEST); meanwhile it’s always rewarding to get to see the lighter, more irreverent side of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, especially after the frustratingly dour wasted opportunity that was Disney+’s Secret Invasion, as well as getting more of Zenobia Shroff (The Big Sick) and Mohan Kapur (Hostages) as Kamala’s parents and Saagar Sheik as her big brother Aamir.  And then there’s the villain … thank you Marvel for giving us another genuinely GREAT, surprisingly sympathetic screen villain like Namor in Black Panther – Zawe Ashton (Fresh Meat, Velvet Buzzsaw) is ON FIRE as embittered Kree warlord Dar’benn, who uses a galactic McGuffin to empower herself in order to take revenge on Carol through brutal, genocidal force for the woes that she believes the “Annihilator” (Captain Marvel’s new name among the Kree) has wrought upon Hala … this really is a step up from the somewhat muddy nemesis dynamic we got in the otherwise great first film.  The decision to deliver it all in such a significantly SHORT feature this time round actually also proved to be a real saving grace too – this is a tight, stripped back affair that wastes no time getting to the point and telling its story quick and efficiently, not seeming to carry ANY fat in its sleek run-time … although I will admit I had SO MUCH fun with this one I wouldn’t have MINDED an overstuffed two-and-a half hour movie if it could’ve meant getting more time with my girls.  It really is almost as much fun as the OTHER major MCU WINNER we got in 2023 (but more on THAT in a minute), delivering on the action stakes and bringing us suitably ROBUST feels but ultimately winning us over through its truly IRREPRESSIBLE sense of humour, frequently dropping genuine BELLY-LAUGHS on us (particularly in a truly inspired needle-drop montage that renders events wonderfully BIZARRE for a little while), as well as some exquisite little winks and nods for the pure fans among us.  The end result was a proper CLASSIC for the franchise and once again I have to ask WHAT THE FUCK, MARVEL?  Why the hell did this get such a rough go of it?  It’s genuinely unfair, I swear …

11.  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 3 – time for the obligatory top MCU entry, then … but for once, this doesn’t feel like I’m trying to dress up a pig, either – YET AGAIN writer-director James Gunn has proven that he is, quite simply, THE BEST, most consistently ON-FUCKING-FIRE filmmaker working in the franchise, which perhaps makes the fact that he’s now OFFICIALLY jumping ship to permanently defect to DC particularly bittersweet, I guess.  This is WITHOUT A DOUBT the best MCU movie since Captain America: Civil War, and it couldn’t have come along at a better time since the series has been in SUCH a tough spot of late … anyway, the worst, least reliable, most unrepentantly despicable bunch of space-faring A-HOLES for-hire in the entire galaxy are back, now set up full time in their base of operations in Knowhere and looking to get back to business now the Universe has finally gotten over all that unpleasant post-Thanos Snap fallout.  But the crew themselves are still suffering some lingering after-effects from that shake-up, particularly Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt), who’s a pretty much permanently drunk, despondent, emotionally broken MESS since the Gamora (Zoe Saldana) that came back after Endgame ain’t HIS Gamora, which leaves Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Nebula (Karen Gillen) propping things up in his essential absence as the current nominal leaders of the crew.  This shaky status quo is torn asunder when an explosively violent encounter with the Sovereign’s new superpowered agent of vengeance Adam Warlock (The Maze Runner’s Will Poulter) leaves Knowhere in chaos and Rocket critically injured and in need of urgent emergency care due to a previously undiscovered proprietary kill-switch built into his cybernetic implants making it impossible for them to heal him without killing him, leading them to enter into an uneasy alliance with Gamora in order to steal an override code from

Rocket’s creator, the High Evolutionary (Peacemaker’s Chukwudi Iwuji), a megalomaniacal evil genius obsessed with manufacturing a perfect race to populate his envisioned utopian civilisation.  Not only is this one of the very best films in the entire MCU canon to date, but it’s EASILY the best in Gunn’s trilogy, essentially a pitch perfect up reinvention of the classic overblown science fiction space opera archetype which also pays immense respect to the fascinating core group of characters it’s helped to introduce cinemagoing audiences to.  It’s also a film expressly about ROCKET himself, even though he doesn’t actually have all that much screentime here, spending much of the film fighting for his life in the sick bay, but we’re treated to extensive flashbacks to his origin story as he was created (or rather TORTURED), refined and essentially brought up by the High Evolutionary, and found his first makeshift found family among his fellow pieced-together cyber-augmented animals, sweet and gentle otter Lyla (Linda Cardellini), wheeled goofball walrus Teefs (Click & Collect’s Asim Chaudry) and spider-limbed bundle of hyperactive joy rabbit Floor (The Suicide Squad’s Mikaela Hoover), who are the cutest bunch of anthropomorphic cyber-critters you could possibly imagine and, as a result, responsible for some of the biggest feels (and BY FAR the most thoroughly devastating emotion sledgehammer moments) in the entire movie.  Needless to say Cooper is on top form throughout, as are the rest of the eclectic, irreverent and absolutely TOP DRAWER cast – while you may still be making unfair jokes about him being “the Worst Chris”, I think this is THE BEST performance Pratt has EVER put in, he’s an absolute REVELATION in this one, plumbing previously unfathomed depths of raw intensity and naked vulnerability as Quill’s forced to get over his shit in order to save his best friend, Saldana gets to bring a much darker and more edgy, unhinged take to Gamora, Gillen finally completes Nebula’s redemption arc to bring her fully into the realm of true HERO, and Dave Bautista and Pom Klementieff, as Drax and Mantis, continue to be THE ABSOLUTE FUNNIEST, most full-on unapologetically HILARIOUS agents of chaos in this entire trilogy, all while getting to further expand and develop their own characters too

… and, of course, Vin Diesel again brings a hell of a lot of range to just three words as lovable walking talking tree Groot; meanwhile it’s also nice to see other returning faces get plenty to do, such as Sean Gunn’s endearingly prickly former Ravager Kraglin, Elizabeth Debicki’s bitchy Sovereign despot Aisha, the GOTG Holiday Special’s fan favourite Cosmo the Space Dog (again adorably voiced by Bodies Bodies Bodies and Fairyland’s Maria Bakalova), and even Sylvester Stallone, returning from GOTG 2 as Gamora’s new adoptive “uncle”, mighty Ravager hero Stakar Ogord.  Then of course, there are the series newcomers, who bring their own brands of intriguing charm to proceedings, particularly Poulter, who does a fantastic job of taking a truly badass, virtually unstoppable supreme being like Adam Warlock and essentially making him a thoroughly clueless, emotionally immature man-baby who largely doesn’t have a clue what’s going on half the time, Gunn-regular Nathan Fillion, stealing every one of his scenes in another brilliantly arch comedic cameo, and, of course, Iwuji, who brings us what HAS TO BE the trilogy’s VERY BEST villain, investing the High Evolutionary with a supremely entitled sense of moral superiority and truly monstrous ego while also managing to make him a genuinely credible intellectual THREAT to our heroes.  Needless to say, this amazing cast are just part of the precisely concocted recipe that’s brought this franchise highlight to such exquisite life, Gunn and co creating a pitch perfect sci-fi adventure chock full of action, suspense, thrills, wonderfully weird new extra-terrestrial locales, yet another gold calibre eclectic soundtrack, a TRULY MASSIVE amount of winning humour and a genuinely humongous dollop of pure, unadulterated FEELS.  Congratulations James Gunn, you made me cry again.  TWICE, damn you.  And I love you for it …

[charlotte-of-wales]

Might be a controversial opinion but the British receive more criticism because they’re under a lot more scrutiny than the other royals. Everyone, even non-Brits have an opinion on the British royals. People like gossip about the BRF hence why the Oprah interview was such a bombshell adn why Diana’s panorama interview was such a big deal.

If a Swedish, Norwegian, danish or any other royal tried the same thing. There wouldn’t be any interest. The Belgians are fuxkinh messy with albert and Laurent and all their dirty laundry which pales with the mainline British royals mess. But there was hardly any coverage about the Belgians because no one really cares. I’m Belgian and I fucking swear I hear more about the British than I do about our own royals.

Nobody would be able to recognise, Philippe and Mathilde or Mary, Frederick or haakon if you showed random people on the streets their photo. You show someone a pick of Charles or William and they’ll recognise them.

it's like I said in a previous ask, it all comes down to being successful at positively marketing yourself according to your country's traditions and needs. yeah the british press is more ruthless than the press in other countries but the BRF has known that for like......decades. they really can't be surprised by how they act anymore and the fact that they still don't seem to get that doing x, y and z will invite negative press is shocking.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Witch Club Satan - S/T

I’m gonna be real for a minute — most black metal sucks. Maybe I’ve said that before, but I don’t like a lot of black metal, especially the 90s classic run that so many metal nerds cream their jeans over. Most of those bands are racist, sexist, and homophobic right-wing extremists, but even then, the music itself is poorly produced and annoying drivel that sounds like it was recorded on a potato. It sounds bad, so I don’t know why metalheads love it. Maybe it was because of the time, and metalheads are nostalgic for the “good old days,” but times are a-changing, grandpa. Black metal, along with metal itself, is a lot more unique these days, and metal has evolved. Metal is a lot more inclusive these days, especially with a lot more women and POC are in the genre, but black metal is still slow to catch up.

Enter Norwegian trio Witch Club Satan with their self-titled and self-released debut album that was released a few months ago. I randomly found them while looking on Facebook, and the article about them from Metal Hammer was fascinating, so I wanted to hear the record itself. I’ve spent the last week with it, and I’ve got thoughts on this album, but they’re all positive. I don’t know if this record is a top ten album of the year for me, but it’s an album worth hearing if you’re not hugely into black metal and want something more refreshing than your average corpse-painted Nazis. This band is composed of three college-age women, and both the lyrics and aesthetic are very feminine, which is a great thing.

The lyrics talk about things like sexual assault, feminine rage, sexism, and just what it’s like being a woman, versus talking about Satan, or stupid stuff like that (a lot of which feels very played out, especially within black metal). Their sound is where the album falters slightly, partially because the first half is pretty generic black metal, complete with shrill vocals and tremolo riffs, but the second half is where this album gets interesting. It has a more atmospheric sound, and there are some clean vocals that pop up from time to time. It just feels like a random turn when the album switches up, but that’s not to say that the first half is bad. It’s pretty good, albeit basic black metal that doesn’t offer anything else other than standard riffs and vocals, but it’s done well enough.

This is a debut project from relatively young women, so it makes sense that this may not be perfect. I happen to enjoy this thing quite a bit, but it does get slightly stale after awhile, especially when the first half just isn’t as interesting. This band has potential, though, and I can’t wait to hear what they do next, because if the whole album was weird, interesting, and unique, it might have made more of an impact. In the meantime, this is a solid album, so I’d say give this a listen, even if won’t necessarily blow your mind. It’s an interesting little album from a band that’s surely to fly under the radar.

[retrieve-the-kraken]

9 favourite books

Thank you @gwiazdziarka for tagging me (and thanks for all those book recs, I’m adding all of them to my list, except for the ones that I’ve already read), and I agree, maybe all of these won’t be my absolute favorite books, but they’re either books that I think about a lot, or books that have a special place in my heart, but not necessarily something that I go back to over and over.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exúpery

This one is definitely a favorite. It’s a book that I’ve reread many times, because I feel that it has a different feel every time, depending on what I’m going through at that moment. Also a classic. Love it so much that I’ve started to collect editions in different languages; so far I have Spanish (of course), French, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Euskera (possibly one of the rarest), and Swedish (of course, because I intend to be able to read it by next year).

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Also an absolute favorite, classic down-the-rabbit-hole type story that takes place in London Below. Fell in love with it, with the world-building within an already existing world. If i actually had to list 9 of my favorite books, pretty sure the whole list would be Neil Gaiman, but this book is both entertaining and comforting, so I pick this one. The BBC radio drama adaptation starring James McAvoy and Natalie Dormer is also excellent. Still waiting for the book sequel, though…

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

The most charming book in history, composed entirely of letters between an aspiring writer and rare books collector in New York and the manager of a rare books bookshop in London. Their relationship is platonic, and yet one of the most romantic things I have ever read. The movie adaptation is equally charming and it has Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench in it. Read the book first, then watch the movie, then cry endlessly. Rinse and repeat.

Like a Hole in the Head by Jen Banbury

You should know that I get a lot of book recommendations from TV shows, so I decided to hunt down this book when Monica was reading it in more than one episode of Friends (felt like a subliminal message). And it was fucking worth it. Also a book about a book. A dwarf comes into a bookshop where the protagonist works, to sell a first edition of Jack London’s White Fang, and only after he’s gone she finds out just how rare it is. Heist plot ensues. It’s equally strange and exciting, mind-blowing and cathartic.

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

Very melancholy, this book is a collection of essays, poems and short stories published posthumously, as Keegan died in an accident at 21. She was very talented and could write convincingly about many things. Can’t even pick a favorite one out of the collection, because they’re all very good in very different ways. Very bittersweet.

Los Caballos Estornudan en la Lluvia by Dimas Lidio Pitty

Another short story collection (the title literally translates as “Horses Sneeze in the Rain”), from a Panamanian author, from the region where I spent my childhood summers, which still holds a very special place in my heart, and which has a mysticism about it that he helps preserve in these stories. Dimas Lidio Pitty was very good at magical realism. One of the stories in particular is so brief, but it’s incredible how good it is in such a short narration.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I’m a huge fan of classic dystopic science fiction, and this one has got to be my favorite. The narrative is interesting, moves along at an excellent pace, and it covers everything. Another book about books too. If you haven’t read Fahrenheit 451, the premise is simple: in this dystopic society, firemen don’t put out fires, they start them… to burn books. Book banning to the extreme. What happens next? You need to read it to find out.

El Misterio del Solitario by Jostein Gaarder

I have been obsessed with this book (The Solitaire Mystery in English) by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder since I started reading all his books when I was a teen (I don’t even know how I came across him, I just picked one up one day and went with it, it wasn’t even Sophy’s World, it was Through a Glass, Darkly). Of course Sophy’s World is probably the most famous, and it was very good, but this one is so strange and magical that I read it several times ages ago, and it was such a comforting book, and now I would like to reread. Maybe one day soon I’ll read it in Norwegian!

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Another classic and favorite, which I have also read many times. Some people like Alice in Wonderland, some like Peter Pan, I like the Wizard of Oz. I like anything Oz related, the movie, the musical, Wicked (the musical, not the book, tho), everything. But the source material is still where it’s at.

No pressure tags: @makingupachangingmind , @voldiebeth , @raincitygirl76 and @phoebenpiperx .

[rottingwaysofmisery]

Black Metal bands that Slow the Fuck Down!

The title may confuse you, honestly I’m still not sure what to title it, but I’m essentially going to be recommending a series of Black Metal bands that hardly or don’t use tremolo, are mid-paced, have an old school first-wave approach, or some sort of doom metal influence. Assuming you’re already familiar with Bathory and its slower moments I will be avoiding the more known bands.

Root

This really fucking raw and dark approach to heavy metal that sometimes borders on thrash metal with these slower grand moments, I would highly recommend their debut “Zjevení“ from 1990.

Master’s Hammer

The evil twin of Root, even though they’re both evil. Jokingly called the first “Norwegian Black Metal band” by Fenriz of Darkthrone (the joke being they’re Czech). If you give any of their albums a try I’d recommend “Ritual” from 1991.

Mortuary Drape

I’ve talked about them before on a post about the Italian metal scene, but essentially it’s this raw and primitive form of black metal that thrashes about. You may enjoy their debut “All the Witches Dance” from 1994. I feel I must clarify, my use of the word “primitive” here is more so in reference to the sound of the Old School, and not meant to imply anything that would give you the impression this is a Bestial Black Metal/War Metal or otherwise noisey band.

Barathrum

Black/Doom Metal band from Finland, their first few albums sound cavernous and yet fuzzy (God I wish they were on Spotify), but their later stuff is alright. Check out this song if you so dare.

Negative Plane

I’m not exactly sure how to describe this one, they’re definitely a unique band. I would definitely recommend them though.

Born for Burning

Specifically, the Swedish band that released “The Ritual” in 2019. Since they’re named after a Bathory song, you’d assume I’d recommend them to fans of Bathory, and you’d be right! Check this one out!!

Amen Corner

Root’s Brazilian cousin. I would recommend most highly their debut “Fall, Ascension, Domination”.

Decayed

I think this might be one of my favorite bands from the Portuguese scene, the speeds of their songs vary but I’d recommend this one.

Countess

This band is difficult to navigate through bc they have a lot of stuff that’s just eh. Surprisingly, the album I recommend most highly is not going to be their debut but their eighth album “Heilig Vuur”, I would also recommend this song.

Deinonychus

Oooo this is the juicy stuff. I would highly recommend “The Silence of December” and “The Weeping of a Thousand Years”, because texturally they’re some of the most interesting in all of extreme metal, at least in my opinion.

Samael

I’m not recommending all of this band’s discography, but particularly their albums “Worship Him” and “Blood Ritual”.

Diabolical Masquerade

The speed of their music varies and they have more traditionally second wave-esque songs, so I would recommend most highly this one.

Hades/Hades Almighty

For fans of Bathory, especially “Blood Fire Death” era. The double name is because they were formerly known as Hades but changed their name to Hades Almighty to differentiate themselves from an American band of the same name, but despite that they’re still known as “Hades” on some streaming platforms. I would recommend most their first two albums, “...Again Shall Be” and “The Dawn of the Dying Sun”.

Acheron

Sometimes closer to Death Metal, I would recommend “Rites of the Black Mass” on the warning that there’s really annoying and unnecessary intros to each song.

Ancient

While varying in speed, they don’t tend to rely on tremolos and blast beats as often as, say, Marduk. I would like to highlight their third album, “Mad Grandiose Bloodfiends” in particular, which has a flavor of vampirism and necromanticism and an excellent cover of Mercyful Fate.

Tyrannic

I would most highly recommend their sophomore release “Mortuus Decadence”, generally just some excellent black metal with influences from doom and traditional heavy metal.

Rotting Christ

Pioneers of the Greek-style of Black Metal, a style that blends more traditional heavy metal grooves with Black Metal. To recommend one album out of their discography, check out “Thy Mighty Contract”.

[bihansthot]

Okay so I'm a suckered for self torment regarding food flavors that are spicy (due to some slight traditions i've picked up in recent years), so this got me thinking.

Is Bi Han tolerant to such flavors? Are his brothers? (Kuai Liang, Hallvard and Tomas), your kiddos and other Lin Kuei? I understand the Lin Kuei would be the type to have a strict diet to follow, but on that off chance they got to eat food outside this restriction, who's likely to have the better tolerance?

I like to think Bi-Han handles spicy very well, but that’s just a personal headcanon? There are a lot of spicy cuisines in China so I don’t think the brothers are strangers to spice. I tend to think Bi-Han and Kuai Liang are part Teochew, a Chinese minority; based on one of Noob’s shadow gears in MK11 so a lot of the food they ate growing up was Teochew Cuisine. It’s known mainly for their braised dishes but there are also spicy noodle dishes, so Bi-Han and Kuai Liang would be used to the spice from an early age on. The Lin Kuei diet I imagine is primarily protein heavy and vegetable heavy for nutrients and probably isn’t Teochew since the Lin Kuei is most likely in Heilongjiang and is mostly known for stews and spicy, rich, salty dishes, so there’s still the element of spice in the local cuisine, but please take what I say with a grain of salt. I’m going off of food blogs about Heilongjiang province and Teochew cuisines, I’m not very familiar with them myself, but we do have Sweet and Sour Pork here which is a very famous Heilongjiang speciality! I love asks like this by the way, it makes me research and look up fun and interesting new facts and I get to learn new things!

Tomas and Hallvard eat what the others eat, but Hallvard is kind of a wuss when it comes to spice, us Norwegians are not exactly known for spicy food, we just have shitty fermented shark that smells and tastes like piss. I personally haven’t eaten it since it’s against my morales to eat shark, but it’s common amongst my peoples and since Hallvard is like a boy me, he’d be familiar with it, especially since he was raised in a fishing village. Tomas is a little better with spicy, but nothing like the Sub-Zero brothers are who handle it without problem. Tomas and Hallvard always complain when the four of them go out for hot pot and Bi-Han and Kuai Liang want to get the mala base and Hallvard and Tomas want the chicken base, thankfully most hot pots allow for two different flavors and all the boys are happy. Out of the four it probably goes Kuai Liang, Bi-Han, Tomas and Hallvard, due to his pyromancy Kuai Liang tolerates all things hot a little bit better than his brother does, including spice, but they are fairly evenly matched. They’re both excellent at eating hot temperature foods, Bi-Han’s breath cools it off and the burning food just doesn’t bother Kuai Liang in the slightest because he often runs warmer than the food he’s eating.

When it comes to my kiddos, they have a good tolerance for spice thanks to their father introducing them to his native cuisine from what he remembers from his Mother’s cooking and dishes he had in the Lin Kuei, but they have a far more Cantonese style diet since a lot of the foods I love are traditionally Cantonese. They also get some Scandinavian fare from me, like my excellent Swedish Meatballs, but those aren’t spicy in the slightest. I would say the boys have a better spice tolerance than I do, but Bingbing doesn’t really at spicy yet as she’s not even three yet.

[xomby]

hi you have an excellent taste in music could i ask about the yates playlist i would very much like to hear about the yates playlist!! :)

OMG HI first of all thank you and i’m so excited you’re interested in the playlist!!! i guess the basic rundown i can do is what songs goes to what events, and hopefully you see where i’m coming from cause some of these are insane to me in terms of yates 🤧

1-5: of little to no relevance they’re just early yates fun, also i definitely put genres and sounds that i think seem like the characters regardless of lyrics so they’re all just music i think yates would like basically idk

gotta get up- harry nilsson: beginning of his burnout. idk it’s about growing up and life getting less fun and seeming busy and serious which seems so real for him

chemical world- blur: GREEN DEATH BABY. most of the song is obviously referencing the progression of our “chemical world” to a point of emptiness and dysfunction which is real for the serial and also ik these lyrics:

are about drugs but in any context anything about something eating away at you/ diminishing identity can be soooo gutting in yates context..

got a feelin’- the mamas & the papas: no lyrical relevance but another green death song just cause it would ball on the soundtrack for when he’s brainwashed

life line- harry nilsson: first of all shoutout to the point! for being an incredible movie. secondly, this song is so definitively the yates getting un-brainwashed by the metabelis crystal. i have a whole 70s style psychedelic animation of it planned out in my head that i hope to make to this song someday. god it’s incredible just listen to it and picture yates pov metabelis crystal un-brainwashing please. these are the final lyrics

set me free- the kinks: post brainwashing agony song

look at me now- elo: invasion of the dinosaurs song 🤒 i think it does sooo well capturing the stress and like awful feelings of his arc in that serial

breakdown- suede: operation golden age fails he loses everything and everyone and then his mind finally becomes a little clearer and he’s left with nothing 👍

who loves the sun- the velvet underground: this one goes along with what i imagine would be a time of being quietly resigned to misery.. he’s trying sort himself out and come to some kind of peace, but it’s the early days of healing from trauma which are literally awful

fender bender- kid koala: just very late-arc yates music based on sound alone idk

new world rising/ocean breakup reprise- elo: planet of the spiders yayyy!!! this one has such a positive sort of tune paired with such intense instrumentals it’s a good parallel for the serial.. yates is trying actively to heal and be positive and forgive himself, while around him things keep on being a mess, but much more lighthearted than the 2 prior adventures

norwegian wood- the beatles: post planet of the spiders. peaceful, whimsical, hippyish.. very much the vibe i think he wants by the end. this one feels like a positive closing note for his character

SO that’s very long but that’s the gist of it!!! i hope i explained this decently and our minds are on the same yates wavelength cause i know soooo much of the relevance of these are conjecture or just personal opinion…. but i hope this is kind of what you’re looking for, and again i’m so happy you’re into the playlist!!!!! 😋😋

[pvffinsdaisies]

❣️🍽️💝 for Norway!

Original post

❣️ - what’s their love language?

Quality time!! Cuddling with his partner on the settee, helping out with house work and chores. Just being with the other person when he has the option to be alone. But also, I think, a little bit of gift giving. Wouldn’t buy expensive stuff, ew no, but he would them a jumper if they’re cold, or a blanket or a scarf.

🍽️ - what’s their favourite food?

Food I always find tricky to talk about with Norway. Mainly because I’m no expert on Norwegian cuisine! You have nordic tex-mex tacos, and grandiosa pizza which are both comfort foods. Fish in general is also comforting. And he enjoys binging on chocolate every once in a while. But I think his favourite food is one that i discovered a few months back. Butter on fish. Which is a real thing in Norway, but the name of it I can’t remember at the moment. He doesn’t eat it too often, he’s trying to cut butter out of his diet 🫠

💝 - what gestures do they really appreciate? How do you get on their good side?

You don’t.

Okay, in all seriousness, it’s tricky but it’s not impossible. Nor hates small talk, and he doesn’t like receiving gifts, nor does he appreciate someone offering to help him with pretty much anything (he doesn’t like the implication that he’s capable of handling himself). He’s a very closed off person. I think the best thing to do is talk to him about his interests- folklore & mythology, skiing, hiking, etc- ask him questions. Nor needs to feel like the interaction is flowing naturally and isn’t forced in anyway shape or form. Talk to him about shared interests and he might eventually consider you a friend.

[moviemunchies]

Is this movie, strictly speaking, good? No. Is it, however, fun to watch? Well, that depends on your mood and how much BS you’re willing to put up with in a historical action movie.

Pathfinder (at least the Hollywood film from 2007; it’s a remake of a Norwegian film) is, in theory, about Native Americans versus Vikings. In actuality, it’s this one Norse guy versus a bunch of Vikings, and the Native Americans help when they don’t get in the way.

So let me back up and give you the story of the movie. The Norse tried to settle North America, and it didn’t go so well. One day an indigenous woman is walking and she finds a wrecked Norse ship. Everyone in it is dead (for some reason…) except a young boy. She adopts the boy into her village, where he grows up known as “Ghost” for his pale skin, with the only piece of his past left to him is his father’s sword.

Fast forwarding to fifteen years later, Ghost is an adult, but because he’s haunted by his past the tribe does not let him become a brave. But then Vikings return, intent on killing everyone so that they can build their own settlements in their place. So Ghost has to use his ancestral sword and his willingness to do anything for his adopted homeland, goes and kills as many of them as he can.

It’s fine, I guess, if you want something really dumb.

Okay, I get that they’re evil racist Vikings, but why the fudge did they conclude that the best way to build a settlement was to kill all the neighbors? Look, colonialism is dumb, but it’s not THAT dumb. The Norse really were driven out in large part by the Native Americans fighting them off, but those conflicts weren’t started because the Norse wanted to kill them all, they were (if I remember my history correctly), from misunderstandings. If the Norse started off killing potential neighbors, they knew that was a great way to get overwhelmed by angry locals. The reason the Vikings raided the way they did in Europe was because they could hop in their ships and sail away when they were done. Doing that to your neighbors is bound to get you killed.

Why they even want to settle here isn’t clear at all. It’s not even that they want revenge for past failed expeditions, they just… want to live here, and the only way they think they can do that is by killing everyone who already lives there. It’s very silly motivation.

Truth be told, I like the idea of a movie that’s “Vikings versus Native Americans.” But this isn’t really that. It’s more like, “Here’s one Norse guy raised by Native Americans but still using Norse weapons driving off Viking invaders.” So it’s… a White Savior narrative. We’re given the general impression that if it weren’t for this one white guy, the Vikings would have utterly massacred the natives.

Look, I know that the Vikings have as many fighting men as is dramatically necessary for whatever scene they’re doing, but even with that–they’re vastly outnumbered in North America! Regardless of armor and metalwork, the indigenous people should easily be running circles around these guys by making traps, knowing the landscape, and beating them to death. An iron helmet isn’t foolproof if someone’s repeatedly braining you with a club!

[Also I’ve read that the language the Vikings speak is Icelandic, but that all the pronunciation is absolutely wrong. Which happens in movies all the time, but is still interesting.]

Pathfinder is a remake of a Norwegian film from the 80’s with much the same premise–except instead of fighting Native Americans, the Vikings are fighting Sami 

This movie might be more forgivable if there were likable and interesting characters, but as it is the characters are boring and have very little development. Heck, I couldn’t even tell you the love interest’s name until pretty close to the end of the movie because that’s how long it takes for her name to be spoken.

It’s Starfire. And she’s also not played by an indigenous actor, in case you were curious.

There is supposedly a director’s cut or unrated edition that exists out there, which has more character development, but also more explicit violence and a sex scene. I’m not exactly motivated to track it down.

Look, if you want a loud, dumb movie, and/or something to talk about, it’s fine, I guess? I watched it with my dad, and we had fun, but that’s because we just wanted a noisy action film to watch and talk about afterward. The actual film is kind of a thing that exists, but it’s so nonsensical and lacking in Plot it’s difficult to really get attached to it. It’s got Karl Urban running around swinging a sword, and Clancy Brown growling in broken Icelandic, and some violence. But not much else.

I’d only recommend this if you’re really curious (as I was) or have nothing better to do.

[ireceived-p8250000]

Exams are in full force this week. I paid my tuition and got my permits on time, so now I’ve got to review a lot. I saw Estella but ignored her and gave her a silent “fuck you.”

I finally got a locker, which is a nice change. I talked to my parents about installing the internet at home, explaining that it’s also useful for contacting Sally. I approached the topic calmly, hoping they’d understand. My cousins are arriving soon, which should be interesting.

I’m still continuing my violin classes but plan to stop by the end of the year and just keep practicing on my own. After classes, I go straight home.

Exams have been fine since I studied a lot. I managed to get through maths and Natural Sciences chemistry, especially the balancing parts. I still have to visit a computer cafe or stay in the library to access the internet. One late night, I sat at the same table with Sir Apollo. In the Science building, I sit at the front row, right in front of the teacher’s table.

He acknowledged me, and I just nodded back before continuing my work. I still blog, but I really wish I had a good camera. The iPad is great for sketching, so I must practice hard.

Finally, exams are over. I can continue reading Norwegian Wood. As a reward, I bought myself a Candy magazine. Sir Apollo was there again and watched me carefully unwrap my magazine.

By the end of the week, we saw our results and grades. I did well in the Prelims:

Math 101: 86

Filipino 1: 93

NatSci 1: 89

Hist101: 95

GenPsych: 90

Engl1: 94

I’m the highest in all classes except for Math and NatSci. Someone else took the top spot there. But for all the rest, I was at the top. I showed my grades to my parents, and they’re agreeing on getting the internet connection.

[havnblog]

I Just Want a Nice Browser!

Two sad browser stories

I’ve followed the Spicy Takes™️ surrounding the Arc Browser recently, that started in the Ruminate podcast and went on to the MacStories Weekly Issue 408.

And I agree with most of what John Voorhees is saying, and also Matt Birchler, who said: «The Browser Company feels gross to me right now».

Much of it is about ethics and AI. In general I agree with them, but this subject won’t be the focus of this post. (I’ve written more about AI here and here.)

Instead I’ll tell my browser story, and explain why both Arc and Firefox makes me sad.

I’ve been browsing for browsers

I avoided Arc for a long time because I really, really didn’t want to use a Chromium browser.

First, I used Safari for a while, which is fine. Then I used Orion, which was better, but a bit too buggy. 1 I also tried SigmaOS a bit, but at the time they wouldn’t let you change their hotkeys, and those default ones were terrible for my Norwegian layout.

My Firefox wish

Then, because I really want Mozilla and Gecko to exist, I spent a year trying to like Firefox. But it was very hard, and I failed miserably. It just feels like using a product where no one really cares about the user experience. I mean, which features, aimed at bettering this, have they shipped recently? 2

But I’m not saying that the developers doesn’t care! It just feels like they don’t have time to care — that the leadership hasn’t made it a priority. Mozilla recently downsized, and said that they’re refocusing on Firefox. 3 I hope they reach the conclusion, that the first step to compete, is to be the best browser.

I want to write a separate post, someday, on what I miss about Firefox. 4 But I’ll mention some things I like about Arc later, and know that Firefox has more or less nothing of this. Now, I get that The Browser Company is VC funded, and can just build on Chromium — but their team still isn’t that large. So my wish for the new Mozilla CEO, is to create a team and say: «OK, so you don’t have any responsibilities to the Gecko engine or our other services. Just make Firefox a joy to use — on every platform.» 5

Corruption Arc

In the podcast linked up top, Voorhees said he didn’t understand the hype around Arc, and that it just had a bunch of «animations that gets in the way». I agree that animations can get in the way — but when they’re well done, they make software a pleasure. For a great example, try to type, and move elements around, in Bike Outliner, by Jesse Grosjean, and tell me that’s not a truly special software experience.

I think Arc screams of being made by someone who cares about browsers and software quality. And I think that’s where they started, before being led astray by the lure of AI. It might not be a bad business move — but it’s not what I want, and the ethics, as both Voorhees and Birchler talk about, are very questionable.

It all started with what The Browser Company calls:

Arc II

And that started with this video:

I want to pinpoint the moment I felt, the Browser Company and I started to drift apart:

The entire premise of Arc II, is that «browsing the web sucks», so they would like to do it for me. But I don’t agree — I like to browse the web — I just want a nice browser to do it in!

Now, they haven’t stopped shipping enjoyable features since this 6 — and I still think they care about being a nice browser. But I was grossed out enough by using a Chromium browser, and now they’re leaning into something that I’m not interested in and that I question the ethics behind…

I really have to think about if I can keep using the browser… While I do that, let me highlight why I like Arc so much. Maybe it can serve as inspiration to other browser makers?

Being a good browser

Looks and feel

I just think everything in arc looks good — like the border around the window and icons. And there are plenty of whimsical animations, that doesn’t get in the way and often helps in understanding what’s happening. There’s also completely useless stuff, like this:

When adjusting the dials on the theme on a trackpad, you get haptic feedback!

Great shadows on the pop-up, and a cute top-left corner.

I’m a sucker for stuff like this: The downloads icon animates, and the blur above the files looks great. My Number of spaces/Tab bar width ratio is too high for it to show all the icons. They’ve solved this elegantly IMO. Notice how the little dots give room as I hover.

Useful utilities

Nice playback controls - for a tab in another space. I can also pop it out in their great picture in picture.

If you hit **Cmd + T** or **Cmd + L** (the latter won’t create a new tab), you’ll get this command bar. It’s pretty useful, but also just nice. (Notice the transparency.)

They have an AI feature I like, and I don’t think The New York Times minds either: If I hit Shift + Enter, it will go straight to the site it thinks you want. And since {my search engine} doesn’t earn money on my data or clicks, _it_ doesn’t mind this feature either!

Hitting Cmd + Shift + C copies the current URL without having to mark it in the address bar. The squares around the box, are more whimsical animations, and the share button opens the share sheet. That last detail is a perfect example of what I mean about _care_.

And yes, it even strips the trackers automatically!

Boosts: A neat little feature, from when the focus whan on making browsing a joy - instead of doing it for me..

Spaces

I love how easy it is to make and move between spaces, and that you can choose which of them share logins and not. Moving tabs between them, is also a breeze, and the haptic dials makes some good-looking themes.

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container video { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Animation from Arc, showing off space themes.

I like the vertical tabs 7 — but I would be fine with just horizontal tabs in a browser if the spaces integration was on this level.

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container video { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Animation from Arc, showing off changing spaces.

They also have notes and something they call easels — but I don’t use them personally.

Little Arc 🫶🏻

This little guy is my favourite Arc feature! If I hit a link while in another app, it opens a small-ish browser window, called Little Arc. In the example below, I was browsing Mona, and found a link I wanted to check out — and then I got this:

This is to avoid gunking up your current browser window.

Top left you can see that I’m currently on my personal profile (so logins etc. works in these little windows) — and only by hitting Cmd + O, will it be added to my current space («Blogg»). I can also send it to a different space.

My favourite detail here, is that if I do two-finger swipe to «go back», it just closes the window, and sends me back to Mona.

I��ll stop now because this is only making me sad.

Sad, because it seems like Arc is moving away from what I like about it,

and sad because it’s still, by far, the best browser — but I’m not sure I «can» keep using it…

Maybe I’ll give SigmaOS another try, while I hope Firefox becomes nicer? Have you tried SigmaOS? And are there any other nice browsers out there?

However, that team also makes Kagi Search, which is amazing. ↩︎

That wasn’t focused on pushing their own services, like Pocket, VPN and spoof emails. ↩︎

And AI. 😔 ↩︎

Come on, at least use the native macOS text engine! ↩︎

Oh, and make it much easier for third parties to build on Gecko - which I’ve heard is a nightmare. ↩︎

And I love how they always highlight the specific engineers who’s worked on a shipped feature! ↩︎

Even though I wouldn’t mind them being in trees. ↩︎

[thewaynorth-trilogy]

Titles and descriptions for the Norwegian saga

Having finished the two books, I’ve just sat down and tidied up the descriptions I’ve written for them. In case anyone is interested in what they’re about, here they are: 

Book I: Above the Fields, Beneath the Fells (working title)

The first of two volumes in a family saga. Set in Lillehaugen, a manor farm in the valley of Gudbrandsdal in Norway, volume one follows four generations of one family living in the High Middle Ages, as they confront betrayal, adultery, forbidden love, the stigma of ignoble birth, and bitter feuds between houses. Quite apart from these everyday struggles, however, the farm and its people find themselves subject to the scrutiny of a strange group of mysterious others, who at turns infiltrate them, kidnap them, and interfere at odd moments in their lives, seeking from them some unknown end. The book features not only compelling stories, but also memorable characters: from Jon Haftorssøn, a bastard born of a dairymaid and a stable hand, looked down on by all, to Jorunn, a young woman caught in a tempestuous marriage, to Lagman Bearcloak and Herbrand Weathersky, heroic masters of two farms in the storied Gudbrandsdal — and all manner of people in between. Above the Fields, Beneath the Fells is an intricate tapestry of human drama, foregrounded by the texture of Norway’s peasant culture: familiar yet different from that of Europe, informed as much by the hard and unrelenting climate of Northern mountains and fjords as by the bracing charity of medieval Christendom.

Book II: The Way North

The conclusion of a two-volume family saga set in Norway, The Way North centers on Søren and Sigmund Halseth, two brothers who have been estranged since childhood when their mother left their father for a wealthy Austrian businessman. Now a student at the University of Bergen, Sigmund is surprised to hear that their father, a Lutheran priest who never ate or drank to excess, has suddenly died without any signs of illness. When he meets Søren again at the funeral, for the first time in six years, they do not have much of a chance to heal old wounds before long hidden family history begins to crop up in the person of Marit, an aunt they never knew they had. With the help of Aunt Marit, the brothers begin to piece through the strange facts of their ancestors’ lives, researching their way backward in time through the Nazi occupation of Norway, the great flood of 1789, and the Protestant Reformation, among other great events. All through this history runs a strange chain of people who know more than they should about the family, and who seem to have a mysterious interest in their destiny. More chillingly, a pattern begins to emerge from the old records: every time two brothers have been born together, the elder must suffer a tragic and untimely death. When the girlfriend of Søren, the eldest of the two, disappears, things speed furiously toward a conclusion in which the brothers confront those who have long pursued them, and learn the surprising truth not only about their own destiny, but about the destiny of those mysterious others as well.

What do you think?

(Originally posted around August 18, 2013.)

[thewomanwhowatchedchristmas]

A Storm for Christmas (2022)

1:1 Episode 1

I’m seeing some familiar actors to when I watched Home for Christmas because we’re in Norway again baby! The Oslo International Airport to be specific, and all the flights are grounded due to a nasty snowstorm. We follow various travelers with a myriad of final destinations (though none from Oslo because they could just leave the airport) and the reasons they are traveling and some struggles. There’s kind of a ton of distinct characters with parallel plot lines (we have already had some overlap), so I might not talk about any characters at all and just go vibes. Because rn the vibe is frantic. But I’m very into it.

1:2 Episode 2

There are even more characters now so I’m glad I didn’t try to talk about specifics in the first episode. But I do think we have the set-up for the rest of the season from something a character said about writing an album about 12 different people at the airport. I honestly don’t know how many plot lines we have at this point because I don’t remember most of their names, but I’m also not trying to. The jerking around has me hooked. Also, I don’t usually include quotes or conversations, but I’m gonna be thinking about this one for a while.

What happened between you and your mother?

She prefers the person she wishes I was to the person I am.

1:3 Episode 3

So. By the end of this episode, we are halfway through the season. I still have no idea what at least half the characters’ names are or how this is going to all come together because it keeps getting more chaotic. We didn’t get new central characters in this episode (thank the gods) but some side characters, yes. Also, some of the groups are fracturing and mingling with others, which will definitely make things even more interesting.

1:4 Episode 4

Wow. What a shift. Things were getting grim at the end of the previous episode and they have swung the opposite direction. People are being kinder to each other and overall less grumpy in general. Still unsure that anyone will make it to their destination before Christmas because we are hours away from Christmas Eve. I’m also considering seeking out Norwegian shows that are unrelated to Christmas because I think I might be a fan of those as well.

1:5 Episode 5

Y’all what a f****** episode. Like, I am speechless by the absolute highs and lows in this episode happening simultaneously but with separate characters. There is only one character that I’m not really sure about, like why that story is being told, but all of the others I can see where they’re going with it. Also Lasso the dog’s storyline is bit weird. Like, who boards a dog on an airplane and then doesn’t claim it?

1:6 Episode 6

What an ending. Everything got tied up, but there were even more surprises. I would say mostly happy for everyone, although the happy can be bittersweet for some. Overall, for the season, 5 stars.