#they're already cartoonish in that film

[thekittyfox2999]

I think every Swedes mind would explode if Sällskapsresan was turned into a cartoon.

But I would 10000% watch it, enjoy it, and talk about it constantly

STOP no more live-action remakes. We're going the other way now. Animated Casablanca. Animated The Godfather. Animated Oppenheimer. Animated Fight Club.

[drdemonprince]

The Barbie Movie is confused -- and it is confused on purpose, because it can't actually acknowledge the role that capitalism and white supremacy play in the patriarchal system that it wants to give itself credit for acknowledging. And so the film introduces patriarchy as a force with no agent or system behind it.

Ken, an oafish goof is able to find the concept of patriarchy and transmit it to the entirety of his society simply by learning about it and speaking about it to his fellow Kens. There is no use of force, no political organizing (notably, the Kens try to take over the political system after they have already taken hold of the culture), no real persuasion even -- simply by hearing about patriarchy the women in Barbieworld somehow become brainwashed by it.

This means we never have to really see the Kens as genuine antagonists, we can still laugh at their bizarrely crammed-together multiple dance numbers and forgive them when they, like the women, are freed of the patriarchy simply by women speaking about the fact that sexism exists. Both the origins of patriarchy and the solution to it is as simple as an individual person telling their story.

The CEOs that run Mattel in the Real World in the film are similarly cartoonish and devoid of real agency. They're even portrayed as generically interested in the idea of Barbie being inspiring to girls. The movie can't even acknowledge their profit motive, and it can't make any of the men running the company look too powerful or even too morally suspect -- but the film does still want to have Barbie encounter sexism in the real world and grapple with the harm "she" (the consumer product, and not the social forces and human beings that created her) has supposedly done.

In the Barbie Movie, patriarchy is a genie in a bottle, and no one is to blame - except maybe Barbie herself, since the movie spends a significant amount of time discussing how she is responsible for giving women unrealistic beauty standards.

And so Barbie is depicted as both sexism's victim and sexism's fault. She's dropped into a patriarchal world that the film acknowledges has a menacing, condescending quality -- but the film can't even have an underlying working theory of where this danger comes from, and who had the power to create this patriarchy in the first place, because that would require being critical of Mattel and capitalism.

And in the film, ultimately the real world with all its flaws and losses and injustices is still preferable to Barbieworld, because you get to have such depth of feeling and experience and you get a vagina, so how bad could really be? And hey, when you think about it, the Barbieworld is just an inversion of the real world, isn't it? A world with women in power is just reverse sexist, so it was justifiable for the Kens to want to take over, and what does it say that all things being equal Barbie still would prefer to leave behind her matriarchy and join the patriarchal capitalist world? That's the real world. Real world is struggle and sexism and loss and pain and capitalism and death and we must accept all of it but it's worth it..

It's not that I'm surprised the film's a clarion call for personal choice white feminism and consumer capitalism. I just expected the call to be a little more seductive or in any way coherent. I wanted to have frothy fun, and instead I was more horrified by the transparency of its manipulation than I was by even the most unsettling moments in Oppenheimer.

[cafeleningrad]

just watched Nosferatu [Spoilers ahead! Press "J" on the keyboars if you want to skip]

Honestly, I seriously don't mind the mustache. The entire wardrobe and hair is a well researched visual hint that Orlock is indeed centuries too old to be alive. His attire is one of Hungarian (depends on which time he died exactly, the Hungarians and Romanians war fighting bitterly over exactly these regions) counts from the 16th century.

Speaking of which: Nice nod to the original Nosferatu! The script writer, Henrik Galeen, tried to avoid full-on copyright infringement of "Dracula", so he switched the setting from Romania to Hungary. So Orlock was a Hungarian count in the Kaparta region which was then by 1838 Romanian.

I don't know why the Orthodox monastry scene made me so happy but it was some extra attention spent on an Orthdox setting.

They even had a schema-nun!

I already hard what... takes are going around. However I really appreciate Mr. Eggers for digging into the variety that the folkloric and the literary Vampire represents.

Gosh, I hope the Anglosphere will shut up one day how the only vampire could only ever be about "sexuality". That Mormon-sexfantasy teenage book really screwed the anglos literary more than expected. (That or you have a rip-off alien variant the Mr.President can maul down like earnest-hardworking G.I.'Murican he is. Gosh, I hate the 2010s US Vampire.)

Eggers went more into the fantastical than his previous more grounded period dramas. Still, I really like the way he depicted the relationship Friedrich and Thomas had with woman in their lives respectively. The Biedermeier era in post-Vienna-Congress Germany was a horrible time and place to be a woman. Except for Frantz, all them have trouble and even are unwilling to listen to Ellen. At least until Thomas himself is subject to Orlock's violence.

Still, even though Friedrich could've been an easy stand-in for the cartoonish upper middle class Biedermeier guy with burgeois home and values, it's deeply lovely to see how earnestly he loves the women in his life. Not as property of part of the Biedermeier family but for themselves. He's genuinely affectionate to Anna, and will listen to her persuasion for Ellen's sake. They're sexual desire is very much mutual, so is their will to have children. Friedrich loves his daughters in the same way. He will ease the worries and stay with Clara and Louise when they're scared. Not only to be the fun dad to scare away monsters but also when they're genuinely worried he holds them close. The death of his wife, and daughters lets his grief spiral into necrophilia. Not merely out of madness but because them not living is the end of his life. I don't know, maybe it's a general lack of genuine love between men and women (romatic or not) depicted on screen making me gush so much. Or I think Eggers really nailed the sentiment how all the destruction Orlock harbrings, are deeply tragic as Orlock can just consume but not share, even less so love.

Another really lovely nod to the original "Nosferatu": In 1922, the setting of Wisborg was filmed in the Hanseatic city of Wismar in Northern-East-Germany. In 1838 the city would've been under Swedish siege. Eggers could've chosen any Hanseatic city but he payed tribute to the original movie's setting. So even the city soldier's uniforms are period and place place appropriately Swedish.

Next to me sat an entire row of gorgeous goth girls who swooned at every cat appearing on screen. Rightfully so. At the end of the movie they discussed that their lover should kiss them when become a gorgeous goth girl corpse. Semmelweis úr, please don't turn in your grave, it's just an aesthetic fantasy. (I helped my brother preapre for his pathology exam one hour before the movie... Please don't touch corpses with your bare skin.)

Of course, Eggers' brand has become thorough research. Yet it isn't out of vanity but out of genuine love, so the world is enriched with the little details, the micro-organisms that make the movie live.

Babelsberg era scare shadow! There's the famous Babelsberg scare shadow tribute! Robert, I love you for this!

2024 wasn't such a honourable horror year for Bill Skarsgård. This year bodes well for him though! (I always forget that he actually doesn't like horror.)

I really would like to know it Eggers bothered Skarsgard with Sweden-in-Wismar history facts.

Hollering at the credits when "adapted writings of "Dracula"" appeared. Florence Stoker's ghost shall not be wakened, it seems. ("Dracula" is in public domain nowdays any way, so one might as well be transparent about the ordeal.)

[princesssarisa]

My thoughts on the teaser trailer for Disney's live action Snow White:

*It seems that Disney may have changed their approach to marketing this movie. Previously, they put so much emphasis on how this Snow White will be different, fresh, and more "progressive" than the animated classic, and they got so much negative backlash for it. But this trailer doesn't show much of anything that's different from the original film. It shows famous scenes, other scenes that might not be identical but are very similar... The new selling point seems to be "See how faithfully we've recreated the original in live action and CGI!" Maybe they've realized that "See how we're improving on the original!" has gotten more negative response than positive, so they're changing their marketing strategy.

*That said, I think the clip we see of Snow White and the dwarfs in "Whistle While You Work" strongly hints at a "feminist" rewrite. Instead of cleaning for the dwarfs, it seems Snow White will teach them to do their own cleaning instead. I can already imagine the divisiveness about this. Disney will probably promote it as progressive and empowering, and many fans will agree, "She doesn't let them use her as a housekeeper, she makes them shape up and clean for themselves," etc. But other fans will hate it and passionately defend the original film: the dwarfs do an enormous favor for Snow White by letting her live with them, at greater at risk to themselves if the Queen should find her, so the least she can do in return is take care of their house for them. Besides, when she thinks they must be orphaned children before she meets them, her choice to surprise them with a clean house and a good dinner shows her kindness and compassion. At any rate, the dwarfs and Snow White cleaning the house together isn't a brand-new idea anyway: the 1955 German film already has a sequence like that.

*I don't think Walt would care much for Snow White's costume. The animated Snow White's skirt is a pale yellow, almost ivory or cream colored, and her bodice and sleeves are subdued shades of dark and medium blue. This was part of Walt's vision of the whole movie as having elegantly subdued colors. The live action Snow White's dress is a little garish by comparison: maybe in the finished film it will work, but it looks more cartoonish than the cartoon version.

*It looks as if Gal Gadot will be a hammier Queen than the animated version: more of a Prima Donna than a Grim Sorceress.

*I'm reserving judgment on the CGI dwarfs until we see more of them in action.

*The think I'm probably the most curious about is how they'll handle the final part of the story. They're obviously not cutting the poisoned apple: the trailer includes dramatic shots of its creation and of the Queen giving it to Snow White. Yet the interviews have repeatedly said "The Prince doesn't save her in this version." Now, it seems that Snow White's new love interest, Jonathan, isn't a prince, but if he still wakes her from Sleeping Death in the end, and it's only "progressive" because he's a commoner, that would be false advertising. So what will happen? Will it take the Mirror, Mirror approach and avoid having Snow White eat the apple altogether? Or take the Snow White and the Huntsman approach and have her wake earlier than in the original film, then directly battle the Queen and defeat her at the climax? Or the Legend of Snow White approach, where in "death" her spirit helps her love interest to defeat the Queen? Or the Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs approach, where her love interest sacrifices his life to revive her, but then her kiss brings him back to life? Or will Disney shock us and do something completely original? Whatever they do, I hope they don't take the Mirror, Mirror approach. The very heart of the animated Snow White is the love that forms between Snow White and the dwarfs, culminating in the dwarfs' heartbreaking grief at her "death" and ecstasy when she revives. To cut that in the name of "empowering" Snow White, as Mirror, Mirror did back in 2012, would be the biggest insult to the original film's legacy.

We'll just have to wait and see what the movie is like. I'm not expecting greatness, but we'll see.

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

I just want to know what Ewan meant by Aemond being gray this season as opposed to being completely black last season (which he wasn't). Aemond's "different shades" so far have only been shades we've already seen in s1, he actually had more emotions after Luke's death than he did in s2 and we saw glimpses of his vulnerability in ep9. He even felt grief for Viserys of all people (confirmed by the script). Was Ewan really talking about the two brief brothel scenes that took less than two minutes of screentime? And if Aemond does banish his mother.... That's something I can see the showrunners doing because women must always suffer from evil men, but that's so cartoonish at this point, I can't take it seriously. They can't have Alicent leaving her daughter but they have to remove her from Kings landing before the fall because god forbid show Alicent would defend the city like her book counterpart... This is insane. Why does everyone get new storylines and Emond just becomes a scapegoat for the showrunners who have to take the blame so everyone else gets whitewashed, but he can't even get proper time for his villainy? They're only turning into a boring villain. But I'm just really confused why would Ewan say that one of Aemond's motivations is to make his mother happy (in his mind) if he treats her like that? And that Aemond remembers Driftmark and how she was the only one who stood by him. Or this is another lie from Ewan just like "Aemond's redeeming quality is his loyalty"? I don't like it when the cast is setting the expectations only to subvert it on screen.

Hello!

Right, I (just like pretty much everyone in the fandom, I believe) noticed the discrepancies between the things Ewan said in the interviews and what we have (or haven't) seen on screen. To be fair, it concerns other actors as well (like Tom stating multiple times that Aegon and Aemond love each other no matter what and talking about Aegon's growing respect for Helaena, Fabien mentioning "he wants what she wants" thing about Criston and Alicent, Steve painting Corlys and Rhaenys' marriage in a better light that it actually looks in the show) with Aemond/Ewan situation merely being the most glaring example. And the reason it is the most glaring example is that Aemond IMO got the clumsiest and most meaningless character butchering of them all.

As for the reasons the actors (Ewan among them) keep misleading the viewers, there are several possibilities (that can - and IMO do - coexist):

While I don't think HotD cast are merely parroting the words put in their mouths by HBO team, the latter definitely give them some instructions with regards to the way they are supposed to talk about their characters and the things they need to/can't say. So, in some cases, the actors basically have to deceive the audience.

For some time now I've had an impression that the actors don't have full information on which scenes actually make it to the final version and which get cut before they see the show (once again remembering Matt Smith not knowing about "Daemon fighting Crabfeeder and his army" scene being a silent one for his character). And even if they are actually told beforehand which scenes are included in the show, I think that actors' perception of their characters are influenced by every scene they filmed (and even by some they didn't - but that's point number 3). So, during the promo the cast might take into account some scenes or plot points that we, the viewers, might never even learn about.

Each actor has their own view and opinion on their character - and this view is based not only on the script but on their own thoughts and even headcanons. I believe that is the case for the brotherly love (albeit a "weird" one) that Aegon and Aemond feel for each other according to Tom (by the way, he also mentioned the readiness for backstabbing between them being a mutual thing - define backstabbing) or for Aemond having some kind of love for and loyalty to his brother according to Ewan (define loyalty). In part this also might go for the "coloring" assigned to Aemond by Ewan.

There could be one more adjacent reason - and the saddest one: Ewan is not happy with the way Aemond's story is being told in the show (it could be noticed during several moments in the promo) and was trying his best to make the audience see the Aemond that he sees. And, well, I can't speak for other people (either fans or casual viewers) but I personally don't have it in me to judge him (or any other HotD actor doing the same thing) for it - even though, just like you, I'm not fond of being misled. Imagine giving so much thought, time, energy and love to a character, having high hopes for his development - only to be given... this. Combine it with the point number 1 (at best actors are not allowed to reveal much of what's actually going on with their characters during the promo, at worst they are told to tell lies or half-truths) and the fact that Ewan has very little experience in the 'doing promo' department - and we might just get what we, in fact, got.

[sideprince]

A movie question I wanted to throw your way: what do you think about the decision to use a decent amount of physical acting on Rickman’s part for comic effect? I’m thinking his snatch of thin air in Philosopher's Stone, his creeping along the table towards Ron and Harry in Chamber, his dramatic point in that same scene, his walk up to the stage for Dueling Club, his whacking students in Goblet and Order, etc.

On one hand, I feel like this does match the tone of the books; he canonically lurks and prowls and points and snatches at the air, and his menace is often undercut by a physical description that’s meant to be some level of comedic. On the other hand, we don't see Snape nearly as much in the movies as we do in the books, so this aspect of his character seems somewhat overinflated by the movies?

TLDR I don’t think these decisions in the movie were completely out of left field, but it also feels off for some reason. Idk I don’t know how exactly to verbalize my feelings on the matter and wanted to hear your thoughts!

It will probably come as no surprise that I feel like any answer to this question is inseparable from the absolute hatchet jobs that are Steve Kloves' screenplays for the HP franchise. This reply is going to end up inevitably long (you ask me about my favorite subject, you suffer the consequences), but all of it is ultimately framed by the problem of having to make the best of a badly written script. (**edit: This post is way too long. Run away. Don't look back.)

The writing doesn't support the story

The first thing that jumps out to me is that there's a separation between where and how these comedic moments are used, up until the end of GoF and after. They're more a part of the story only until Harry's story arc reaches the point of Cedric's death, when he first witnesses death in the way that allows him to see thestrals after. GoF is when the story takes its first dark turn, and up until then the tone and story is much more in line with children's literature, so it makes more sense that Snape is portrayed in a bit of a playful way. After GoF - even though the films reveal it as an aside and much later than the original story does - Snape resumes his role as spy and becomes more integral to the story as a key character and is thus no longer just a foil in a children's story. I think what doesn't work about it is the inconsistency. The books have comedic moments with Snape too, which are cartoonish, up until the end of DH - I feel those are also out of place, but at least their existence gives a basis to what's done in the films.

Nevertheless, one of the biggest problems with the films is that they're badly edited. I'll leave that analysis for another post (you're welcome), but essentially these comedic moments feel inconsistent in part because there's often a disconnect between the performance a director has asked of his actors and the tone that's established in the editing room once pacing and a soundtrack are added. Any vision a director had for these films was muddled by the involvement of big studio producers and limitations. This is made more jarring by the way that Kloves has interjected light, funny moments in awkward ways throughout the scripts. He struggles overall to convey the world that Rowling has created, and if it weren't for the brilliant production design of Stuart Craig, Kloves' failures would be much more obvious (again, worthy of its own roast post).

Take the scene where Snape whacks Harry and Ron on the head in Gof: why are the students all studying in the Great Hall? Why are various years sitting together? Why is Snape overseeing them? It's a scene almost verbatim out of the book (Fred asks Angelina to the ball casually, he and George tell Ron and Harry to get dates "before all the good ones are gone," we find out Hermione already has a date), but like pretty much every scene that originally takes place in the Gryffindor common room, this one is moved to another location for no discernible reason. The main difference in the change is how restrictive it is: in the common room the children are free to be themselves, but in the Great Hall, under a strict teacher's nose, they have to be quiet and restrained. Another subject that would need its own post is the myriad of ways Kloves goes out of his way to rewrite settings and characters to avoid allowing them to express themselves or grow as characters, and how hard he works to stifle and limit them in ways that are convoluted and work against the story, as if he himself couldn't deal with any kind of emotional vulnerability (in a way, his scripts are a desperate cry for help). This directly contributes to why so many of Snape's comedic moments feel off.

The changes in the scene in GoF don't even make sense from a production perspective, as they required more actors, more lighting, and more setups. Instead of using the cozy setting of the common room to establish camaraderie between the students, Kloves replaced that energy and lightheartedness with Snape in a way that's uncharacteristic. The scene, as he wrote it, is already light and has humor, but Kloves doesn't trust it - he feels the need to exaggerate it and the casualties, as always, are the characters and their portrayal. It's as though he's following a formula and saying, "this page number/scene number must provide relief from the tension of the story" and then doesn't consider how following that directive fits into the rhythm of the narrative. It's closer to being an isolated scene akin to a comedy sketch than to a scene that's part of an act that's part of a film. It's worth noting that, in GoF, Kloves interjects this scene as if he's forcing this moment of comic relief into a story that didn't require it and then relies on playing off of Snape's usual seriousness as its crux. In OOtP, when there's a callback to it as Snape smacks Ron with a book again, it's no longer the point of the scene, but an aside in a comical montage focused on Umbridge (OOtP was also the only film not written by Kloves, so this moment is more likely the result of Michael Goldenberg trying to maintain a consistency with Kloves' work). Overall, I think that feeling of something being off is, again, more rooted in the writing than the performance.

Rickman as an actor playing Snape

There's a lot of criticism in the Snapedom of how Alan Rickman portrays Snape, but not enough acknowledgment that none of the characters are portrayed well, and most of it comes down to Kloves' writing of them. Book!McGonagall insists that all students under 17 are evacuated before the Battle of Hogwarts, where Movie!McGonagall only cares that the Slytherin students are locked in the dungeon, everyone else can stay, what does she care if first years die? Book!Hermione is intelligent and empathetic while Movie!Hermione is a two dimensional maternalistic harpy whose main job is to be a mouthpiece for plot exposition. Book!Ron is funny and brave and fiercely loyal, while Movie!Ron throws Hermione under the bus, is cowardly, and is reduced to a flatly written sidekick. Book!Harry is complex and while I could list a million examples, I'll stick to this one: in PoA when he finds out Sirius betrayed his parents, he's enraged but has no reply when asked if he'd want to kill Sirius. Movie!Harry says with conviction, and without prompting, that he wants to find Sirius with the explicit purpose of killing him. Every single character takes a hit because of how Steve Kloves writes them, and Snape is, sadly, no exception.

While some film shoots allow for improvisation, a big budget production on a tight schedule with scenes that require a lot of prep work can't afford to make many changes. So, for example, while Ralph Fiennes was asked to improvise his scene as Voldemort at the end of DH2 when he re-enters Hogwarts victorious (and that's why the dialogue is redundant and that weird hug with Draco continues to plague us), it could be done because the wardrobe and set and cast were already in place and the time required had already been scheduled in. It wouldn't be possible, though, to add an additional scene - like Snape going feral in the hospital wing at the end of PoA - unless it was written into the script. Additional actors would be required, which would mean coordinating with their schedules and adding them to the budget, not to mention scheduling in additional days with the crew who may already have other work lined up. It would require either pushing every other shooting day back - which is near impossible - in order to use the hospital wing set while it's still up, or tacking on production days to the end of the shooting schedule and rebuilding the set on those days. This can be done for necessary pickups that round out existing scenes, but you can't really say, "hey I decided we need a scene here that didn't exist before" without causing huge problems. Because of how contracts work, any significant scene changes would have to be sent back to Kloves who would have to write alternate scenes and/or dialogue, and even then if you wanted to fix a specific character's arc - like Snape's - you would have to add in so much that it just wouldn't be feasible. Screenplay lengths have to fall within a certain number of pages, because each page is approximately a minute of screen time, so adding a few more to a finished script mid-production is very difficult. The actors have to make the best of what's on the page. Which brings us to Alan Rickman, his choices as an actor, and what informed both him and the character of Snape.

Alan Rickman was a RADA trained actor, so his approach to a character involved a lot of physical work as well as character analysis. As far as I know, he was the only actor to contact JK Rowling directly to ask about his character, because he wanted to make an informed decision about how to play him since Snape was so nuanced and gray. Unlike some of the other actors (like Michael "DIDYAPUTYANAMEINDAGOBLETOFFIYAH" Gambon) Rickman read the books - those that were available when he took on the role, and each as they came out afterwards - and used them to inform his understanding of his character beyond what Kloves wrote (presumably in crayon with all the e's backwards). In interviews and Q&A's it's clear Rickman was fond of the HP books and story, and had a thoughtful process taking on Snape's character. He did not see him as a villain, because, as he's said, he didn't approach characters with that kind of judgment. And while I'm sure the egregious amounts of cash Warner Brothers threw at the actors was inevitably a factor for all of them, several of the ones playing teachers or other adults have said that they took on their role because a child in their life insisted on it, despite them being unfamiliar with the books, whereas Rickman's process was to read Rowling's books in order to decide whether to take the role. Again, he was a RADA trained actor, and thus had a meticulous approach to his work that followed a thoughtful, considered process and a decision based on whether he felt he could embody a character in a way that did them justice/if they were interesting enough to him. By the time he started shooting PS, he also had experience directing a film and was working as a director in theatre as well as still acting, so he understood the process from the perspective of not just an actor, but also as someone behind the camera, someone working with actors both as a peer and director, and someone sitting in an editing room.

We know from his diaries that he became increasingly frustrated with how his own process and expectations clashed with that of the producers on Harry Potter. He wasn't interested in renewing his contract after the first few films (goodness knows how much money they offered him in the end - his wife has said that he never let anyone else pick up a tab in a restaurant and if they argued, he would just say "Harry Potter."). He writes about seeing the films at premieres and being frustrated with how little story and development there is (especially for Snape), which makes me think there are deleted scenes somewhere that haven't been released. At one point he writes about a premiere party where he had internally lost patience with the three Davids (Yates, Heyman, and Barron). It's obvious that there's a discord between the work he wanted to do with Snape's character and what choices the production made:

He describes how, during the filming of the Yule Ball scene in GoF, there was an attempt to get him to dance but he refused because he didn't think Snape would dance:

It was a rare moment of potential for improvisation because, again, the set and cast and timing were already accounted for, and in this case there wasn't even dialogue. The scene where he smacks the boys with the notebook - as far as I know - was scripted. So there's a difference there in how much freedom he had, as an actor, to say no to what he was asked to do. Even in the above diary entry it's clear that, given his way, he felt the character wouldn't even be present in that scene, but he had no choice. This tells me that when he had more freedom to make choices, he did so based on his understanding of Snape as a character and, given that he was an actor who was both very respected (and got away with more than most) and also someone who could get argumentative about his character choices, I think this is the most apt lens to examine his physical work with Snape through.

Knowing that he wasn't interested in continuing the role of Snape after the first couple of films and that he was often frustrated with the lack of characterization and story arc, his physicality in his first scene in CoS (when he reprimands Harry and Ron for flying the car) says a lot. (Caveat that one of the reasons he didn't want to renew his contract was that the shooting schedule restricted his schedule and he wanted work on other projects, but I can't help but wonder if that had been the case had HP provided a more satisfying process.) It's almost certain that he had read all the available books by the time the scene in CoS was filmed, including PoA where Snape becomes apoplectic with rage in a way that, to a child reader, is comical (and intended to be) and to someone analyzing Snape is clearly rooted in triggered trauma.

Alan Rickman knew from the outset that Snape's motivation was his love for Lily, so he would have understood the dynamic between his character and Sirius re: who Snape thought sold Lily out to Voldemort. He would also have understood that Snape's reaction in PoA was more about distress and anxiety, and that this was connected to the promise Snape had made to protect Harry for Lily's sake. This would have therefore informed his portrayal of Snape's anger at Harry in CoS, and it's reasonable to assume that Rickman was trying to walk the line between the way Rowling portrayed Snape in full unhinged rage in PoA, what this tells him about this character when angered, and the connection between the moments in PoA and CoS when it comes to Snape's anxiety over Harry's safety. Unlike the author of a book however, who has full control of how they tell a story, Rickman was an actor in a film - an inevitably collaborative medium which therefore made his portrayal reliant on the decisions of others as well.

Chris Columbus, the HP movies, and feral Snape

PS and CoS were directed by Chris Columbus, the guy who directed both Home Alone and Home Alone II and Mrs. Doubtfire. He was a successful director from the 90s tradition of children's movies whose sensibility was informed by the era's attitude towards children's media: kids wanting to see themselves in narratives, in ways that felt empowering and allowed them to process the confusion of a world run by adults in playful, quasi-cartoonish ways within a 3 act structure where the villains - mean adults - get their comeuppance because it feels fair. One thing that set Harry Potter apart was that the villain was not the mean adult; Snape, the mean adult, is a character kids can hate and project their own experiences onto, but Voldemort is a true villain who represents evil and is vanquished by the hero. Chris Columbus established a tone for the first two films that was no longer apt by PoA, not only because it didn't work for the story, but because that 90s era of children's movies had ended and the culture moved on to more complex narratives (and Columbus has focused more on producing than directing since, because his style doesn't work for audiences anymore).

What's ironic about the way Snape's scene at the start of CoS comes off is that, in the book, there's a great comedic moment that's left out:

This is cut from the film, and instead it's Filch waiting at the top of the marble stairs who catches Ron and Harry being late and delivers them to Snape (I don't know why, the scene in the book is much more dynamic and would have taken up about as much time on screen). Rickman, meanwhile, is using the information he's gotten on who Snape is from the books, and imbuing some of that feral Snape energy into his portrayal of a Snape who is genuinely angry:

(Thank you for making these gifs @smilingformoney , they are truly the gift that keeps on giving.)

The thing is, no matter how much of feral Snape Rickman brought to this, no matter how menacing his performance is, this moment still lives within the dynamics of a Chris Columbus children's film. It gets cut off by Dumbledore's entrance - meant to be a comeuppance for Snape, since Dumbledore (being the voice of wisdom and fairness in this world) prevents him from punishing Harry and Ron (you know what, at least in the books they got detention, but ok). Despite Rickman's performance, Columbus as a director has framed this scene in the same context as the one Kloves cut. The tension is brief, and the focus is on Snape being foiled, because it's what children want to see - a mean adult experiencing consequences. It's down to the editing and soundtrack, choices Columbus made in the editing room. In addition, we don't know how many different ways an actor tries a scene, only what ends up in the final cut of a film. The process of the work done on a set is often much richer and more diverse than what an audience sees in the finished film.

Tbh I think this is also why Snape's feral moments were cut from PoA: it's a darker film, but had to straddle the line between being for both children and tweens and not getting too playful, nor too intense. As much as I want to see feral Snape on screen, it's extremely difficult to make work in a narrative that is about Harry and his friends. It either skews too intense, making the audience uncomfortable because seeing an adult becoming unhinged and in pain is difficult and frightening for most young people, even adults, and would therefore take away from Harry's goals and narrative as well as his changing relationship to Sirius (all of which is already barely supported by Kloves' writing). Alternately, it could also skew too comical and over the top, which takes the audience out of the tension of the film's climactic moments.

If Snape's story had gotten more focus and screen time, an unhinged moment would be better justified because the audience would have been more invested in the character and their arc. PoA sidesteps pretty much all of the most compelling parts of the book, which is the realization that Harry is not only connected to Sirius personally, but that his dad, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew created the Marauders Map, that they were animagi, that Harry's patronus takes the form of his father's stag, and that Snape was initimately connected to all of them as well. For me, reading the end of PoA was what cemented Snape as someone who would be crucial to the narrative and whose role would increase as the series went on. As a result of Kloves skimming over these essential plot twists, Snape is a minor character in the film, showing up mostly as a foil who tries to expose Lupin and then catches him and Black in the Shrieking Shack (this also sets his character up to be minimized in every film down the line, which has a worsening impact as Snape becomes increasingly integral to the plot).

One thing I find interesting is that Snape's comical physicality changes over the films. In PS and CoS he's menacing, a looming, larger than life figure the children fear and easily assume to be a full-fledged villain. By GoF there's a relationship embedded in how he interacts with Harry and his friends. He's no longer terrifying, just intimidating, more of an adult Harry challenges than someone he must defeat. The comedic effect now comes from a rapport within an established dynamic between characters. By HBP, the only comical moment is at Slughorn's party, and it's no longer Rickman who uses physicality - the action happens around him, and the comedic effect is in his lack of reaction to any of it. In other words, he's no longer the comic one, he's become the straight man in a (badly written) comedy sketch (with abysmal timing, what even).

Ultimately, as with most of the characters in the HP films, Snape is undermined by the writing. Rickman was stuck working within the confines he was given. No matter how well he may have understood the character, the limited screen time and character development were always going to stifle how Snape was portrayed on screen. I'm very much pro Let Snape Be Feral but I also don't fault Rickman in how little we saw of that.

How Feral is Snape?

If I'm honest, I feel like the Snapedom has taken the Let Snape Be Feral thing and has started forgetting that he wasn't all-feral-all-the-time. The point of Feral Snape is that it's a heightened state of tension in a character whose trauma is being triggered. Apoplectic Snape wouldn't have an impact at the end of PoA if that was his usual way of being. And, as you so brilliantly showed @said-snape-softly Snape's speech patterns are primarily quiet and controlled, his speech gets softer the more dangerous his mood, and it's only after he reassumes his role as a spy that the description of his speech becomes increasingly volatile (but is still controlled). Feral Snape's definitive aspect is the lack of control shown by a character who usually is so exceptionally capable of self restraint and compartmentalization. So again, while I would have loved to see Feral Snape on screen, I think it's also important to acknowledge that this is not the defining feature of his character and is more about what those moments mean to his arc. Their absence is primarily due to poor writing that didn't create space for them (including what leads up to them), and the direction that didn't carve out any kind of niche for them, not Rickman's choices as an actor.

In fact, Snape as a character is defined by descriptors of his voice more than any other character by far. I have my own theory about why this is, and it has to do with Alan Rickman being inextricably connected with how Snape is written. Chris Columbus said that Alan Rickman was always Snape as far as he was concerned, because when JK Rowling showed him a sketch of Snape she had made, it looked exactly like Rickman. I don't think this is accidental.

Alan Rickman was always intended to be Snape

First, what's important to remember is that before Harry Potter, Alan Rickman was best known in the 90s for playing both villains and sad romantic leads. His signature defining feature was his voice. I think it was Ang Lee who described the casting choice of Greg Wise and Alan Rickman in Sense and Sensibility as wanting Willoughby (Wise) to be dashing and Brandon (Rickman) to be sexy (if this was Emma Thompson and not Ang Lee, my apologies, I can't remember where I read this and can't find the source). This is how Rickman was perceived by audiences up until Harry Potter. And I know a lot of the Snapedom considers him to be sexy as Snape too, but the general audiences of the films don't, so please don't @ me, I'm just setting up a point here.

This is relevant because, as we find out in the end of the books, Rowling wrote Snape's motivations to be rooted in romantic love (I'm very nobly putting aside, for the sake of focusing on Rowling's intentions, my personal interpretation that Snape's feelings for Lily were platonic, please acknowledge how brave I am for this). She pulls a lot from gothic tropes into how he's written, and as much as she's talked about the character having been inspired by a chemistry teacher she disliked, and as much as she's talked about Snape being both morally grey and someone she personally dislikes, she also romanticized him. Between this and what Chris Columbus said about her sketch of him, it's hard for me to ignore that this character, conceived of in the 90s, wasn't written with Alan Rickman in mind from the beginning, especially since Rowling herself has said that she envisioned him in the role. Whether or not he lived up to Rowling's imagination is, frankly, his choice and Rowling's problem.

The story of how Harry Potter was written according to JK Rowling is that it started with the idea coming to her on a train ride in 1990. She completed the PS manuscript in 1995. While everything I'm about to say is absolute conjecture, I can't help but wonder at the connection between these films and the way Snape was written (spoilers ahead, no regrets, these films have been out for over a quarter of a century - forgive my reviews, I can't help myself):

1988: Die Hard comes out. Alan Rickman plays Hans Gruber, a villain who is a genius, composed, controlled, and soft-spoken. (Great film, a classic, the only valid Christmas movie.)

1990: Truly, Madly, Deeply. Rickman plays a man whose wife can't get over his tragic death, nor can his own ghost, who comes back to spend more time with her. No one else can see him, and they can't really share a life anymore. She eventually lets him go as she realizes that his spirit doesn't belong in the mortal world and her own life can't move on as long as she clings to it. (Beautiful film, will break your heart and put it through a shredder.)

1991: Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. Rickman is the Sheriff of Nottingham, an unhinged, feral villain who wears all black complete with billowing cape. (Terrible film, disaster of a period piece, Rickman's performance is the only redeeming thing about it. Halfway through its press tour talk shows started booking Rickman instead of the lead, Kevin Costner, because Rickman stole every scene.)

1995: An Awfully Big Adventure. Rickman is an actor who comes back to his hometown to revive his role as Captain Hook in a local theatre production of Peter Pan. In the process he has an affair with a young ginger stagehand who reminds him of his lost love, a vivacious woman named Stella with bright red hair who, as far as he knows, birthed his child - a son - before she died. It turns out the girl he has an affair with is his daughter, which he realizes when he visits her home where she lives in the care of her aunt and uncle - whose name is Vernon - and connects the dots of who this girl's mother was. (He then rides his motorcycle out to the pier, screams "Stella" at the heavens like he's in a revival production of Streetcar Named Desire, trips and hits his head on the edge of the pier and falls into the water, drowning. I can't make this up. Mike Newell directed this. The same guy who directed GoF. As if following in the vein of the 90s movie obsession with incest as the controversial-trope-du-jour wasn't enough. I don't even need to review this, just sum it up.)

1995: Sense and Sensibility. Rickman plays Colonel Brandon, a forlorn, grieving man who lost his first love at a young age and spends most of the film pining for the only other woman he's ever had a romantic interest in. Wears all black, rides a black horse.

Given what a well-known actor Rickman was in the 90s - especially in England - and how connected his characters all seem to be to various aspects of Snape, it's hard not to see a connection. The entire premise of Truly, Madly, Deeply sounds like the inspiration for the Resurrection Stone in Deathly Hallows. The redheaded lost love whose child is left in the care of an Uncle Vernon in An Awfully Big Adventure is difficult to look past. All of these characters either exude menacingly soft-spoken Snape energy, feral Snape energy, or forlorn because of his lost love Snape energy. As a result, I feel like it's almost inevitable that Rickman inspired Snape, especially when you consider how known he was for his voice and how frequently Snape's voice is used to describe him. When Rowling said that she envisioned him in the role, it makes me wonder if she meant during the casting process for the first film, or well before it. I think his previous roles were a contributing factor in how the character was written in the books. After Tim Roth - who was originally cast in the role - had to back out due to scheduling conflicts, she got her way. Authors don't often get to choose who plays their characters, but in this case it worked out as the production thought Rickman was a good fit as well.

I'm done, I promise

So where does this leave things at the end of this horrendously long post? Rickman's choices of how he physicalized Snape - comedic or not - are only part of a larger whole. He was playing a character who was written based on his other roles, and limited by the shortcomings of how Steve Kloves translated that character from Rowling's books into his own screenplays. Whatever Rickman did on set was limited by that writing, by the directors he worked with, and by the choices made in the editing room.

I'm fascinated by the idea that Rickman was playing a character written with him in mind - but not really him, the him who embodied other characters whose echoes show up in Snape. It's difficult enough to contend with an actor playing a character in a screenplay you wrote with them in mind when you're directing your own script, because they'll never be what you imagined in your head. But for that process to get filtered through several directors, a team of producers, another writer who changes your work, and an editor, let alone throughout a decade of films - that's downright wild. The original intention gets lost and reinterpreted like a game of telephone, and I think that a lot of the consistencies between Movie!Snape and Book!Snape are down to Alan Rickman's nuanced and generous nature as an actor. If I'm honest, I'm not convinced that every Snape moment that comes off comical was meant to be so by Rickman. But again, film is such a collaborative medium that his intentions aren't the only ones that matter, ultimately, at least they aren't the only thing that ends up in the final cut.

My take, personally, is that I'm more interested in critical analysis than personal criticism. I respect that everyone has their own vision of a character and fandom is absolutely here for, among other things, having a place to share those thoughts and feelings. But a character is rarely going to appear on screen the same way you see them in your head, and that's not always going to be a fault, even if it's a disappointment to you. It's interesting to hear different people's perceptions, but there isn't that much to discuss there - you can't refute how someone feels, and you can't argue that their truth is what it is, to them. Whereas with critical analysis there's a lot more to talk about and examine, so it's where my own interest is much more invested.

[beatrixst0nehill]

Valery was a natural FF and somewhat shy about her big breasts, but her family found it extremely cute that she was so busty, constantly asking to see and touch her breasts at family functions. At the age of 20, her uncle, Paul, surprised her with a gift. She didn't know what to expect, opening the box only to see a huge, round implant. The family was ecstatic as her announced that he bought Valery a pair of 3500CC implants. She was shocked, almost mortified. She disliked having big boobs and to receive implants as a gift felt almost cruel.... But she couldn't exactly turn them down, so she got the stuffed into her already big breasts.

Her family fell in total love. They became obsessed with her body, pushing her to start glamour modeling. After a half a year of that, they pushed her to start doing porn. Valery felt completely incapable of controlling her own life. Suddenly her family was on the phone with agents and directors constantly. Her schedule filled up like crazy with modeling and porno shoots. Her family even started playing her porn videos in the background at functions with no kids around. Valery was extremely embarrassed, but just went along with it. Her family constantly groped them and took them out of her clothes, filming TikToks or other live recordings to post on social media involving the girl's oversized, fake tits. Valery wanted to go to college and become a vet, but it seemed like none of that would happen; her family made sure she was too busy with porn and glamour shoots to ever pursue anything else.....

On her 22nd birthday, her uncle Paul said he had another gift, and drove her to a clinic nearby with her parents, younger brother, aunt, and two cousins..... They made sure to record her reaction as a nurse removed a sheet from a new set of implants. Her heart sank. They were 5000CCs. With another 800CC set of implants on the table nearby.

"You seriously want me to go bigger!?" Valery asked.

"Of course, those things are probably roughed up anyway from all those hardcore shoots your folks have you do," Paul joked, as her parents snickered. "The way some of those guys smack and punch those things I think for sure I'm gonna see one go kaboom but they're hanging in there, miraculously."

"But they're gigantic!"

"Awww, they aren't that big, darling. Don't you like them?"

Not wanting to sound rude, Valery nodded. "Of course I like them. They're amazing. But I don't even know if they'll fit in my boobs!"

The nurse laughed. "Trust me, the surgeon will make them fit. They'll be taut as a pair of balloons, but I doubt you'll mind, will you?"

"I guess not..... what about these smaller implants?" Valery pointed to the 800CC implants, which some women would consider big on themselves, but they looked downright tiny next to Valery and her new play things sitting nearby.

Paul smiled. "Well, I couldn't help but notice after my gifts got installed, those cute puffy areolas of yours turned flat as pepperoni. So, the surgeon is going to create a pocket, and these are going in your areolas, so they'll be nice and puffy again. Don't worry, your nipples will still protrude. Your folks just have to use this pump I bought you to make your nipples nice and thick."

Valery's mom smiled ear to ear. "It's going to be so fun! Three times a day, your father and I will have to pump up your nipples and make them nice and thick and juicy looking like before you got surgery."

Valery was stunned. "My areolas will be this big.....? This puffy and thick?" Her face went beat red. There'd be no way to even try to look remotely respectable. She'd have the most cartoonish, ridiculous looking breasts anybody had ever seen...... They'd be all anyone would ever care about when talking about her. She'd forever be defined by her giant tits and nothing else...... She slouched a bit, feeling lightheaded.

"What's the matter, dear?" her mom asked. "Aren't you excited?"

Paul nudged in Valery's direction. "Just think, guys will be able to grope those big puffy things like a second pair of tits. They'll be bigger than a handful all by themselves!"

Valery's heart pounded. She knew she should be appalled, say no, demand her current implants get removed, stop modeling, stop doing porn. But part of her was already picturing her new, cartoonish, absurd porn tits. How men would treat them. Strangers. Her perverted family. Her pussy felt wet, her clit begged to be rubbed. She drooled softly, and shook her head, looking at her uncle, smiling like a good bimbo. "They're perfect, uncle Paul! I can't wait to show them off to the family! Oooo, and I can't wait for all those muscular guys to have their way with them on set! I bet those porno guys will have so much fun playing with them and giving them a nice beating. Gotta break my new toys in, right, uncle Paul?"

"Good girl. Oh, and by the way..... we noticed you have been a bit gloomy. We asked your doctor and he's prescribing IQ-lowering drugs, should help you keep that perky attitude on set much easier."

"Oh....!" Valery started giggling moronically. "That's great news! I definitely need to shave off fifty or so points from my IQ....."

"Well, you're at about a 164, according to his tests. He and the rest of us want you down to about a 50."

Valery blushed super hot red. "Ummmmm, O-OK, uncle Paul! I can't wait to get that dumb..... Bet I'll just love doing as much porn as you guys can book me in!"

Paul smiled knowingly. "That's the idea, darling."

[chalkrevelations]

Oh. Oh, dear.

So I'm actually looking in on We Are, and I think I'm just going to have to file this under "not my bag."

I am. Oh. Oh, I'm literally only watching for the Winny and Satang bits, already. Their characters are genuinely the only couple thing I'm actually enjoying? Mn, I'm kind of OK with Ciize's Obligatory Female Side Character, but we only see her for 1.36 minutes per ep, so it certainly would not be enough to keep me watching.

I can see why they went ahead and gave me a scene of Toey making cow eyes at Q while Q guides Toey's hand through shading three minutes into the first ep, because the promise of more of that is, tbqh, the only thing that got me through that interminable, excruciating drinking/drunk sequence that then took up a good third of Ep 1.

I can see why they dangled the drunken lap nap in front of me during the preview for Ep 2 - because it is, again tbqh, the only thing that made me start watching Ep 2 - and I can then see why they saved it for the last six minutes of the ep, to string me along on the promise of finally seeing that scene. (I do appreciate them hitting me with the "Nong" as a reward.)

And I can see why they hit me with the clay tussle in the preview for Ep 3, because quite frankly, it's the only reason I'm getting ready to hit "play" on this ep. Particularly given the way they made it look like Toey is going to be a tiny bit more assertive. Not that I'm not living for watching Satang doing ... what is the Thai equivalent of saijiao, because I'm not entirely sure it's reached the actual level of bratting? Yet? Or maybe it has?

Anyway, I'm not going to get my hopes up that they'll do something with a little bit of depth, character-wise, as we move into an artistic medium that we haven't seen Q work in so far, and where we therefore have the potential to see some leveling of ground, if it's a medium that Toey has more of an affinity for - even if I wish that would happen. I've seen precisely 47 seconds of this show so far that make me think it has any more depth than a puddle after a 30-second rainstorm (YES, Peem, simplicity can be good!), and I frankly have little hope of seeing anything further on that front.

So, here's where I'm at: I have no pre-existing emotional investment in a PondPhuwin pairing because I got irritated at NLMG about one-third of the way in and then fast-forwarded through the rest to watch the Chopper cut. I'm tired of GMMTV trying to hand me (Engineering) bullies and creeps who the narrative wants me to think are a-OK! no, really! - tired enough that I don't even care to spend enough time with the PhumPeem storyline to find out whether Peem full-on Penelopes that painting and has to re-paint it every night or if he just finishes fixing it and then lies about it, saying it's not done, in order to spend more time as Phum's "slave." I'm a tiny bit sad about all that, because I'm finding Peem 1.75x more interesting than what I've seen Phuwin do up until now, but I have zero hope that Peem's going to make Phum actually pay for being the asshole he is. I'm absolutely not the audience for the super-broadly comedic, practically cartoonish, bit they appear to be doing with Aou. And who's this kid .... Pun? - I need him to be at least one-half as stupid as he appears to be if they're going to drag him out in his pajamas, get him shit-faced drunk, and harass him while filming him for posterity - or I need all that to be an actual issue, which I do not trust will happen.

Also, the writing is ... not good. Particularly the supposed banter during friend-group scenes. Maybe it's actually translation's fault, how try-hard it all sounds, but with everything else going on, I'm not going to count on that.

I probably need to wait for a QToey supercut and just watch that, but I can't guarantee that will happen, so I guess I'm going to fast-forward through 8 more eps and hope the bits and pieces of Phum's smug, punchable face that I actually see don't make me throw the remote control at my screen.

[mk-wizard]

In regards to Disney deciding to put live action Snow White on the drawing board... I think that's a great idea if they're really not happy with it and think they can do better. It wouldn't be the first time and heck, even I do it. All artists have a change of heart and that's good thing. It means they have the humility to accept that they made a mistake and it's better to correct it than to settle for it. It wouldn't be the first time...

In Frozen, Elsa was originally slated to be the villain, but she got rewritten into the most iconic Disney heroine and the most relatable for being a kind hearted misfit.

In Toy Story, Woddy was originally slated to be the villain, but he rewritten to overcome his jealousy towards Buzz and become wiser for it.

In E.T. The Estra Terrestrial, it was originally called Dark Skies and it was going to be a horror movie about an alien invasion, but instead it got rewritten to be a family friendly movie due to Steven Spielberg recalling his experience with having an imaginary friend during a tough part of his childhood.

In the Sonic the Hedgehog film, Sonic was going to look "realistic", but he got redesigned to retain his signature cartoonish look and the movie was better for it.

And time for my confession.

In Cupcake War Machine (my webcomic that got Nominated for an Aurora Award 2023).... I have a huge confession: it was originally slated to be a sci-fi drama with some horror elements. It was going to introduce a whole slew of former war machine android banding together to regain their former glory and starting a war of which Warrick would have an ethical crisis between wanting to be a war machine again and not wanting to hurt the family that took him in, but after the birth of my son, I changed all that. I changed it to be wholesome story about Warrick dealing with abandonment trauma and how family unity can help heal.

For my first series MK's Jekyll & Hyde, there was going to be a book 4, but it felt tacked on the because the main plot had already been dealt with which was defeating the board of governors, so I ended it. There was also a sequel in the works, but I decided to just let that go too because I wanted to move onto other projects. I also felt it was best to leave Jekyll & Hyde as it was which was letting it end on a high note.

In short, its ok to go back to the drawing table. It's just part of being an artist. Disney's not the exception and considering classic Snow White paved the way for its success, I can't blame it for wanting to make sure the new version will be one of its best work too. And if it mean reworking it, that's ok.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles marks the fifth time the heroes in a half shell appeared on the big screen. With this many strikes, I'm thinking it just can’t be done successfully. Certainly not as a live-action picture. This film’s characters are thin and uninteresting. Worse, there are so many of them they leave no room for any kind of clever plot. The attempts at humor fall flat and often make the film unintentionally creepy. Never mind the sometimes dodgy special effects. Combined together, they make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feel like a trip to the sewers.

Reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) witnesses a group of mysterious assailants fighting back against the Foot Clan, a gang of ninjas terrorizing New York. Michelangelo (voiced by Noel Fisher), Raphael (voiced by Alan Ritchson), Leonardo (voiced by Johnny Knoxville) and Donatello (voiced by Jeremy Howard) are mutated turtles who grew up beneath the city and were taught martial arts by their “father”, an equally mutated rat named Splinter (voiced by Tony Shalhoub). Only by working together can they thwart The Shredder (Tohoru Masamune) and his minions.

This film was doomed the moment executives decided to make it live-action. With all of the technology director Jonathan Liebesman had at his disposal, the heroes previously created via rubber suits in the '90s are now computer-generated 8-foot-tall masses of muscle that just don’t fit in the real world. I know the sewer-dwelling heroes have brought many people joy since their creation but let’s not kid ourselves. They were created to be ridiculous and by failing to embrace this, writers Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec and Evan Daugherty will have you rolling your eyes. It would be too cartoonish for the turtles to be randomly named after Italian Renaissance painters so April named them as a kid. She also gave them their love of pizza. It would be too silly for Splinter to have learned martial arts from a human master so instead, he picked up his techniques from dirty books he somehow knew how to read. The attempts to clean up and make the story more realistic don't work. We paid to go see a movie named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We’re ready to suspend our disbelief and will gladly do so if the story is worth telling.

Even if you forgive the clumsy exposition, the characters are terribly written. All of the turtles are one-note. Raphael is angry and unwilling to follow the orders of his blue-bandanna-wearing brother, the one with the purple stuff is the nerdy one, and so on. If you didn't already know their names, you wouldn't bother to learn them. Then, we have Michaelangelo. Whenever he and April are on-screen together, he comments about how attractive she is. It’s supposed to be funny in a “he’s like a little kid crushing on the teacher” kind of way but you won’t laugh; instead, you’ll be scared we're about to witness a remake of Humanoids from the Deep. It isn’t just him; it’s also her useless co-star, played by Will Arnett. He’s 16 years older than she is. Seeing so many people slobbering at Megan Fox in this kind of movie makes you feel ill.

As bad as the heroes are, they're as complicated as a paper on astrophysics compared to the villains. The Shredder is a nothing of a character. He’s evil for evil’s sake, complete with a “let me kill my minions for kicks” attitude and an evil plan that makes NO SENSE. The only good decision made about the Turtles’ arch-enemy is to put him in an insanely futuristic suit of armor during the climax. Martial arts or not, there’s no way the character (who by my calculations, has to be at least 80) could stand a chance against the four giant, bullet-proof, radioactive reptiles with weapons. By making him a completely CG creation, it also helps make the carnage of their big fight somewhat believable.

I could go on and on about what doesn’t work in this film. Splinter’s creepy design and his unbelievable prehensible tail, the role William Fichtner’s Erick Sack’s plays in the story, the fact that draining a four-liter canister’s worth of blood from the turtles has no effect on them, April’s worthless reporting skills, the idea of an antidote to a virus that kills within minutes, the fact that - as a mutant - Splinter’s blood should contain the same mutagen as his children but for no explainable reason doesn’t, the fact that the turtles meant so much to April as a child she couldn’t even remember their names until she watched her own video diary, and the numerous plot holes throughout. Just about the only good thing about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a comedic scene during an elevator and a long chase down a mountainside that’s actually inspired. The rest is a big headache for anyone other than 12-year-olds who are hopped up on candy and soda. (June 4, 2021)

[feuqueerfire]

Be My Favorite Live Blogging

Haven't been really watching shows and haven't watched anything long since literally August but now that it's nearing the end of the semester and I have big, big projects due that I'm not close to being done, clearly it's the correct time to watch this.

I've been anticipating this for so long, I hope I love it.

Ep 1 (Nov 23)

1-1

hijabi side character

12 years after 1st year, so are they 30 years old now?

not Pisaeng being a liar! lol

1-2

oh yeah, Kawi is a translator!

the time travel has started

1-3

omg him getting a call from his dad and going to see him and hug him T.T because his dad passed away in real life T.T

oh the first time travel iteration, i'm having fun

"Do you like me? [...] What should I think?"

1-4

The way Kawi has already begun to act unlike himself and getting out of his shell like with Pisaeng in the locker room and dancing drunk in the bar, even if it involves first stealing Pisaeng's clothes and next his money

Fun start!

Ep 2 (Nov 24)

2-1

ohh okay so doing that takes you to the same moment as when you twisted it? both in the present and past

2-2

Ahh, his time travel affecting the current timeline, he's now besties with Pisaeng and isn't a recluse

2-3

Kawi's repeatedly using Pisaeng's money and whining is offputting. like i fully know that a large portion of his inferiority complex comes from the lack of money and how he thinks that people think of him poorly because of it but omg it's so ew

2-4

I would hate to be in Pear's situation so much omg she was hoping to get have lunch with the guy she's known for a while + probably has a crush on and now he's left her at this restaurant with some random dude who has definitely been trying to get closer to her... rip but she's being nice about it

ah, the kissing the best man on the day of the wedding

the coming-back-to-win-prize is extremely expected lol

Krist's expressions are too much fr, reminds me why I don't like certain slap-stick cartoonish jBLs. paired with the whining? please I need it to lessen over time

Ep 3 (Nov 24)

3-1

Pear inviting a friend as soon as she realized Pisaeng had ditched and now she's having lunch alone with this guy who could misconstrue this as a date, exactly so true

For all my ehh feelings about Khai's mannerisms, the way he says "Then who do you like? O.O" is so good

3-4

I know the point is that Kawi is unlikeable and doesn't quite know how to navigate people or relationships but he's supposed to grow throughout the show but man he bothers me fr like the way he keeps being cruel to Pisaeng is just. I know it's cuz he doesn't want Pisaeng to fall for him and leave Pear on their wedding day but it's like girl...

actually more than just terating him shitty, it bothers me that every time Kawi acts like he doesn't get why Pisaeng is hurt. "Oh just this hurt you?" "Why are you mad?" etc

loll the lottery ticket thing is so true

I was whatever about Gawin in Not Me and wasn't really someone I wasn't someone I was drawn to in general but I really like him in this role! Hot boy Pisaeng let's go

Ep 4 (Nov 25)

4-1

The way Kawi wears his backpack only on one shoulder bothers me cuz it doesn't look light

4-2

broo Kawi put your fucking backpack on properly like the whole game whatever is dumb and annoying obviously but don't be silly

I hate these confession things so much, fuck Not for real. ofc it's a lot of pressure on Kawi to confess but I also hate these things that definitely pressure the girl into feeling like she has to say yes

4-3

okayy at least they're all leaving the two of them together, rather than witnessing the confession but I kinda thought they were gonna film him get rejected or smth

oh lmfao they're eavesdropping on him knowing he'd get rejected such bastards

I knowww the point is that Kawi has many shortcomings but goddamn being 30 in a freshman's body and still making stupid decisions is so annoying to watch, why are you going to the nightclub rn bffr and he knows Not is an asshold, he almost slipped up when he tried to make Not and Pisaeng go back to being friends so why is he hanging around Not still smh

Not stop trying to get a girl to sleep with a drunk Kawi omg

4-4

annoying, including what Pisaeng is saying

although drunk Kawi jumping past!Pisaeng for the crimes for current Pisaeng is funny though, Pisaeng is confused as hell

ah Pisaeng gay and avoidant

Damn, Kawi really got Pisaeng to confess to Pear that he doesn't like her and never will, good job

wait... Pear asking to sit with Kawi... knowing that she doesn't have a chance with Pisaeng... are we gonna get groom Kawi in the new future?

bro wtf he's not going to go back to the present? how are you not curious enough smh but I guess he doesn't know that Pisaeng said no to Pear

Ep 5 (Nov 25)

5-1

Oh, he wants to accomplish his last goal of dating Pear or whatever before going back...

oh Pisaeng taken with seeing boys kissing at the club he works at

5-2

ahh Pisaeng going to the gay club!

aww him running out as soon as he saw Max and got recognized

ah Max good head

5-3

I don't want Kwan to be nice to Nott, she's too good for him

I don't quite agree with Max because what do you mean people don't care or gossip or talk about where you go and what you do

lol did Kwan being nice to Nott make Nott be nice to Kawi. will it last

not Kawi running to meet Pisaeng and actually apologizing gj

Pisaeng really confessed

5-4

Corny scene of Kawi and Pisaeng but better than the whining

damn singer Kawi

oh the next episode has the drunk scene with Kawi asking why Pisaeng likes him... it's in every edit + trailer I think

Ep 6 (Nov 26)

6-1

lol is a business tycoon that good to watch, Max?

Pear whining to her dad to treat Kawi's father is so... eh? idk it's a serious topic but idk

oh damn the dinner with Pear's father is going really sideways

Pisaeng shouldn't have told Pear but that's one thing, I don't think Pear also shouldn't have just started talking about Kawi's dad to her dad without consulting him

but also was Kawi planning on asking Pear's dad without telling Pear beforehand?

Kawi's little drunk ramble here is pretty good

6-2

wtf why is Nott being cute and smiley to Pear...

oh the drunk Kawi and Pisaeng kissing

what are we doing why are we unbuttoning the drunk guy's shirt bro

okay sorry I think this would've been better if I though Kawi was attractive

not Kawi falling asleep omg pls

6-3

she may be a capitalist businesswoman but at least she supports queer people and her son being queer

oh my bad spoke too soon! she's like keep it quietttt

oh so Nott is there to tell Pear he thinks Kawi isn't straight?

lol not the time-travelling sleep-talking

crying why didn't Pisaeng shut Kawi up quicker

6-4

oh Pisaeng has become bold

Ep 7 (Nov 26)

7-1

ahhh tragic the way Pisaeng

aw, I'm proud of Kawi, mans really accomplishing his goals

girl what kaljdsfkljadsf omg

7-2

so how does memory work here? Does Kawi just know the lyrics even though it's a song he never learned in a life he hasn't lived?

but i'm assuming there's still stuff wrong with his life and him being so happy is out of character?

girl not Nott D: Pear no

oh nooo Pear and Kawi had been dating but he's been putting her through it?

Can they show what actually lead to Kawi and Pear's breakup?

omg ? did Kawi cheat on Pear with Pisaeng or smth?

7-3

omg Nott is suchhh a dickhead, how is he getting both Kwan and Pear smhhh

girl so you're pregnant, get an abortion plsss ik it's not as easy as i'm saying it but T.T tying yourself to Nott for life?

okay at least Kawi didn't cheat on Pear, he just didn't wanna marry her and settle down

7-4

I guess Kawi let Pisaeng be true to himself but leading him to discover him being gay?

ahh Pisaeng giving Kawi gift for his "confession" anniversary even 8 years down the line, how are you so down bad omg Kawi and Pisaeng are both kings of holding onto crushes, though at least Pisaeng has been around Kawi this whole time, unlike Kawi having like no contact with Pear lol

Okay my confession is that Nott and Kwan are both very attractive to me and kinda want to see them play a couple together

Ep 8 (Nov 27)

8-1

tragic reaction to the kiss

so did Kawi often kiss Pisaeng while drunk? and forget or what?

8-2

aw man the dad died right away

i mean... Pisaeng's mom isn't wrong here tbh

dang, Kawi gave Pisaeng his diary

I feel like Kawi should've given Pisaeng some more concrete proof ngl

8-3

forever gotta love a queer ralley or info session or whatever in a BL

plsss not all this dramatics while Pisaeng prlly just dropping his mother off at the airport but i suppose it'll move Kawi along in his feelings bravery journey

8-4

girl not the time travel man almost getting to Pisaeng's car

Ep 9 (Nov 28)

9-1

is the writer or director of this show a child of divorce with a shitty mother who is obsessed with her work and never there for her kid or smth? because pear, kawi, pisaeng all have separated parents, pear and kawi love and are in contact with their fathers while their mothers left for work and a diff family respectively. pisaeng is living with his mom technically but she's also never there and busy with her work. we could've at least examined why women are forced into these scenarios for at least 1 situation instead of having 3 shitty moms for no reason lmao

9-2

agh Not is a problem fr

idk i kinda don't care about Kawi and Pisaeng cuteness negl even though I feel like I should be having fun with it... I'm just kinda bored of this show rip even though it's like objectively not bad and probably not actually boring

9-3

bro Not isn't just calling Pear but discussing it with a group in public, get fucked fr

aw Pear

9-4

Kwan needs to get over Nott and Pear needs to not entertain him either aghhh this fucker

Kwan is so pretty fr I cannot see her like Nott fr T.T and Nott is nicef to look at too, why can't he be a decent guy

ah Pear asking Nott to not tell anybody, she's kind but he's an asshole who's already told everybody so

and at least she's not falling for him, yes a win

At first I was watching this show on 1.25 but I started doing 1.5x because I kinda want it to be done

Ep 10 (Nov 28/29)

10-1

Nott pushing Kwan like that??? die

10-2

hehe making up with friends Pear and Max

awwww this tragic Pisaeng moment with his mother

ohh so the mother approved finally

10-3

Kawi is a 30 year old virgin who figured out he likes guys also like a week ago so I understand why he's shy, its not out of character for him the way it is for many of the other BL characters but it's still so awkward T.T

just gonna ignore Max's response to possibly asexuality but whatever lol

[Linguistics] Oh, then discussing stopping gu/mueng and using Khun or smth instead because they're dating now

10-4

not even gonna lie, skipped the entire intimate scene thing because it's making me uncomfortable idk like it's not giving horniness vibes which is definitely fine, i love tender and sweet but for some reason it's giving me the ick here - maybe cuz I actually wanted it to go a different way of maybe not leading to sex and going in an ace route?

i saw a glimpse of the kissing and yeah not into it

Actually, I wonder if not watching anything risque or sexual in a show for the past few months has made me averse to it again? but idk bout that cuz I've been enjoying the Pit Babe edits lmfao (although the edits don't really show much actual NC content, just convos before or interactions)

Anyway 2 more episodes, I can do this. idk why i'm so meh about this show when I've been hoping to love it while many people who were so apprehensive about it like it way more than me

Ep 11 (Nov 29)

11-1

Aw Pear and her mother making up

having to skip through the continuation of the Kawi and Pisaeng sex scene to get to the interweaved character stories lmfao

11-2

Graduation gift? How fucking long has Kawi been living in the past

the compilation of Kawi and Pisaeng (+friends at Christmas) is cute, aw

11-3

wait Pearmai wedding invitation? Is this still in the past?

the constant Khun is so confusing now

11-4

I'm so confused by the passing of time this episode, ig it's been a few days since Kawi got sick?

ohhhh so the reason nothing happened with Pisaeng the first time is because it was his first time spinning the snowglobe so he's back there on his second try

omg just one more episode left, i'm so tired of this show i want it to be done

Ep 12 (Nov 30)

Last day of the month and I'm finally almost done whooo 1 last episode on 1.5x let's go

12-1

Ohh, nice choice to make Kawi reflect on not wanting to actually become famous

12-2

I don't get the aging thing either

Okay my bad I really skipped through this last ep to get the just of what's going on

Overall:

It is such a tragedy that despite looking forward to this show for so long and enjoying some aspects and moments, ultimately, it fell flat for me. I feel like a lot of this show was objectively done well like the character arcs and acting and stuff but I'm not attached to any of it. The romance didn't make me feel giddy even though I really wish it had like it's strange that I didn't care at all about all those cute moments Kawi and Pisaeng had or the established relationship montages when usually they're some of my favourite aspects of a BL. agh whatever ig at least the show didn't treat Pear terribly.

Rating: 5.5/10

[elentary]

I may have an idea a couple of ideas about why we experience that "nostalgic feelings" with Good Omens ost.

First of all, I think David Arnold and whoever was involved with music, editing and filming followed a simple Morricone rule: "Music needs room to breathe".

They made possible for the music to flow with whatever we are seeing on screen. They used ost or songs or classical music when they needed them. And they also used silence (something that some artist have forgotten).

I also believe that David Arnold has "played" with our memories about all the music we have heard in our life.

David Arnold has designed some leitmotivs for character or places and he has "spiced" them using different instruments or "vibes".

I swear he was inspired and used many ideas from different music genres we already have heard in our life: carnival, church music, lullabies, far west ost, sci-fi, boring telephone or lift jingles... ...and he had tied them together flawlessly even if they're so different.

I'll try to put some of my thoughts on the ost.

The opening theme is a lovely valzer.

To me it's the perfect balance between slow and fast tempo, ethereal and occult "sounds", enchanted and haunted "vibes", with both instruments (a full orchestra with some rock band) and voices (like a "lullaby" or "celestial harmonies").

It gives you a lovely mix between Crowley and Aziraphale, heaven and hell, human and supernatural, seriousness and silliness.

That's how "Good Omens" is.

The "Chattering Nuns" feels ominous (a sort of dark lair) at some times but you can feel the "cartoonish" sound of someone hopping around to cause some mischief and failing spectacularly.

It has the same vibes the "Three Card Switch" ost, with the silliness taken up to eleven ("room 3"). It feels like a circus song or a carousel in some places. Obviously, when God is mentioning the Antichrist ("the Adversary, the Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Prince of This World and Lord of Darkness") the darkest tones swell and triumph (I swear I can almost quote word by word that part when I hear the music because it's almost on the same tempo).

Warlock's and Adam's themes both play between silliness and darkness. But Adam's theme is more glorious (and it's not completely demonic).

To be fair, we shouldn't forget the "drunk version" of Shubert's "string quintets": it was a glorious way to set how drunk Crowley and Aziraphale were.

I love the "Lullaby". It's so peaceful. It's not demonic at all (just a bit malinchonic in the middle).

It has a classic sound of a music box (/carillons).

It's funny how discordant is with the words sung by Crowley (David Tennant has a lovely voice, btw)

"Hell hound" has an ominous "clocking" sound at first (The same is heard during the discussion between Crowley and Aziraphale when they chose to be godfathers). It helps us to remember there is no more time. The "dark sound instruments" enhances that.

I love the mood whiplash of "Wrong boy": dark, complete silence and the bucolic/happy theme. It happens twice in the past and however we are lest with a dark sound underneath the happy music (we are happy for the Little Dog but Armageddon is getting closer and closer). And the last ost of the first episode, "We are doomed", just underlined that (twice), flawlessly melding with the ending theme.

The ending themes are all gorgeous and peculiar, each one with its "vibe". I really adore the name of the first ending: "The theme that got left in the Car". Lovely Queen vibes (and hellish sound).

I'll end this part now at the end of episode one (because it's long enough).

I have noticed there are some missing soundtracks: they arre similar to some in the album but frankly quite different. The worst crime was letting out the "violin OST" from the bombing church scene. I demand that!

I'd like to tackle every ost but I'll need time.

does anyone else listen to the good omens soundtrack and just feel so overcome with joy and nostalgia that they just -- like -- i can't -- it's --

it's not even just GOOD OMENS specifically, it is like EVERY WEIRD LITTLE STORY i've ever read, from other people who are just as weird (even if different ways) as I am. like this is the theme song for all of the strange little fantasies, all the maladaptive daydreams i ever had. i didn't even start watching until 2020 how nostalgic can it be? but, somehow, it all taps into every core memory of my childhood and my adolescence and my adulthood.

and if it's not the opening theme song (which is a 😍 waltz 😍 i still can't get over that) it's the other songs -- the chattering nuns is so CHEEKY, and also reminds me of how fucking abnormal it was to become a parent (IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT) (i have Feelings about that esp watching the baby swap while holding my own baby that was awful) (it was also awesome) (not watching the baby swap, that was horrifying as a new parent, no, becoming a new parent was awesome, in the literal sense of the word that it was terrifying and ineffably full of awe) (i'm digressing aren't i)

i feel like that must be why i've been drawn to it so much. it's like every whimsical escape i've ever taken in my childhood and every other life-hood from my normal life, every story that made me feel seen and heard and validated.

thanks for coming to my friday night ted talk about why good omens is best omens i'm definitely not drunk the point is dolphins

[vinkunwildflowerqueen]

Ask game for Fanfiction Writers. Questions: 9, 18, 28, 44, 47, 63, 73, 76, 77, 79, 89, 90, 94, 95, 96, 97. Sorry it's so long, I just wanna be like you with my writing. Love your writings. My personal Favorite is Come What May. I find it very deep. - Musical Obsessed Anon

Thank you so much! That's really nice of you to say :)

9. In an ideal world where you’re already super successful and published, would you want to see a TV or movie adaptation of your work? Why or why not?

I guess it would depend on this successful story I have hypothetically published, and also how much control I get over the adaptation. Do I get to help with casting and deciding what to cut/change/add?

Also, I feel like if I was involved in these decisions, I'd annoy a lot of people, because I'm not one of those "the character doesn't look like how I imagined them so now I'm mad" people.

Unless a physical feature, race, gender, sexual orientation whatever, is super essential to the plot, I don't really mind when they change things in adaptations. As long as the actor suits the character!

18. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

Most favourite- when people read it and have an emotional response.

Least favourite- trying to transfer a scene from how I see it in my head into words.

28. Handwritten notes or typed notes?

I have done both. The pro-side of typed notes is that I can't lose them, and I don't have to try and decipher my own handwriting.

The cons of typed notes is that being able to read them doesn't necessarily mean they're going to make sense when I read them back later.

(Cue me squinting at my screen- "E talks with G about life and biscuits"? What the hell does that mean?)

44. Any writing advice you want to share?

The Emotion Thesaurus

My favourite book for writing to help with showing emotions, not merely telling them.

I have it in both Kindle form and paperback, so it's always at hand.

47. What story are you most proud of?

Ohhh, this is tricky. So many, for so different reasons.

Even old fics that make me cringe somewhat now, there's always something to be proud of (look, sometimes I re-read Far Longer Than Forever, and I'm like... "where is the plot? What is the point of this?" but it was my first big multichap for the Wicked fandom, which is an achievement).

I think any fic where I've learned something from it is one I'm proud of.

63. What’s the best insult you’ve read in a fic?

Huh... you know, suddenly my brain has forgotten every single thing I've ever read.

73. How do you visualize scenes? Do you see it like a movie in your head, or do the words just flow?

Movie, at least as a starting point. Sometimes you start trying to describe the scene that you see in your head and then it unlocks a flow.

It depends on the scene, really.

76. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

Make them realistic, not cartoonish. Unless that is the vibe you're actually going for, of course.

Motivation is important- few people do something for no reason. There's always a reason (even if it only makes sense to them) and it always starts somewhere (but hopefully it's more grounded than 'this person was mean to me one time, so now I'm gonna destroy them').

77. How do you write kissing scenes?

Vaguely. Lol.

Look, I read and watch a lot of romance books/films and that helps.

You may not be aware of this, unless you look at my avatar here super close and are familiar with your LGBT flags, but I'm ace. So, kissing is not a thing I have personal experience with to write from.

So, books are my friends here. I don't know whether any of my kissing scenes are done especially well, but I'm yet to hear any complaints.

79. Are you an over-writer, under-writer, or just-right-er?

I have probably done all three at some stage, really. So I'm not sure how to answer that.

"Just right" is always the goal, but I don't know if I'm the one to determine where the finished product falls on that spectrum.

89. Sarcastic narrators: entertaining or overdone?

I think they can be entertaining if done right. I enjoy them, but it depends on the medium. The thing about sarcasm is that so much depends on tone, otherwise people miss it.

So, it can be hard to communicate.

But I am one who finds sarcastic humour funny. There's a reason why Chandler is my favourite character on Friends.

90. Do you notice your own voice in your writing style?

Yes, but mostly in a negative way... which I don't know how to explain.

94. Do you prefer dialogue or description?

Depends on the character. Some characters are really hard for me to write dialogue for (Frex and the Wizard come to mind), so in those cases description is much easier to write.

I think there has to be a fairly even balance of both, but I probably have a bit more description in there than dialogue.

95. Do you describe a character’s appearance all right away or in pieces?

With a canon character, I don't really explain their appearance much at all- because everyone knows what they look like (Fiyero probably has the most range across the fandom, depending on whether you're writing bookverse or musicalverse and which actor(s) you picture for him).

With OCs, I guess in pieces? But still kinda vaguely.

I always just remember all the Baby-Sitters Club books I read as a kid, and they always had chapter 2 or 3 where they just described every single character in detail. I always skipped that chapter.

96. romantic/social sideplots: interesting or irritating?

Depends on the story and how they're done.

There's a lot of movies that are more action or drama based that have a romantic sideplot and sometimes it is like "this adds absolutely nothing to the story". But at the same time, if you're telling a story about people's lives, they have to live their lives. And for a large part of the population, romance is a part of that.

So I want to say "interesting when done well, irritating when done badly".

97. Abstract or detailed romance scenes?

Depends on my mood, and what kind of romantic scene we're talking about.

A proposal? Love the detail.

Weddings can go either way for me. I've written both (more detailed than not probably).

Love confession, detail.

Full List Here

Thanks for all the questions, anon!

[happymetalgirl]

Pensées Nocturnes - Grand Guignol Orchestra

I have stated my distaste for the overdone try-hard edginess of the dark carnival aesthetic in film and television (and separating the band Avatar from that aesthetic has been a necessary task for me to prepare myself for their music), but something about applying it to the self-aware campiness of metal had me kind of intrigued to see what the exaggerated horror of metal could do for the often butchered scary circus aesthetic. I mentioned not too long ago that metal has always had its foot in parody through excess, and after all, isn’t the whole carnival thing supposed to be excessively cartoonish itself too? Maybe it could work. And that seems to be the hypothesis by which Pensées Nocturnes have approached this album.

Pensées Nocturnes are a french band who have been rather prolific over the past decade, Grand Guignol Orchestra being the group’s sixth full-length album over the course of their decade-long existence. And the band have consistently sought to tinker and experiment with the more highly supplemented style of black metal passed down by the likes of Dimmu Borgir and Emperor, but Grand Guignol Orchestra is definitely their boldest and most out there experimentation with black metal’s orchestral, neo-classical side.

Following through beyond simply the visual aesthetic, the band really does capture on a sonic level the vibe that the album’s cover implies. I had written about The Ogre Packet Slammers’ use of Shrek on their album’s cover potentially to encourage the description of their generic slam as “Shrek metal” when simply using Shrek as part of their subject matter in the format of an established genre probably wouldn’t constitute enough to deem it a whole other genre. But if “circus metal” isn’t already an established obscure subgenre, Pensées Nocturnes may have just done enough to found it with this album, as the warped carnival sounds of wonky horn sections, demented accordion dances, and freakish jazzy string arrangements serve to add a truly tangible layer of anxiety to the band’s manic black metal instrumental foundation. If black metal is largely differentiated from death metal by way of their featuring of differing vocal techniques, then this album could potentially be differentiated from strict black metal by a similar degree as the already bad-trip instrumental mayhem is all topped off by these tormented clownish howls and shouts, which sometimes feature a touch of psychotic vibrato or even originate from purely campy operatic vocals, that bring the nightmarish carnival aesthetic home.

Indeed, this album really has its aesthetic figured out down to a tee to the point that it could be argued that it’s not really an experimental metal album anymore because it doesn’t feel like an experiment. Pensées Nocturnes seem to know exactly what they're doing. The band’s experience with experimentation prior and neo-classical black metal really helps them structure these songs in ways that give at least a sense of compositional order to organize the sonic aesthetic madness as they mash deathly blast beats and thick blackened guitar riffage with sinister playful whistles and horn sections, and campy piano and pipe organ melodies into a twisted, jazzy, metallic fever dream.

Cursory listens for the spectacle of the weird aesthetic might make Grand Guignol Orchestra easy to write off as a novelty album, and the nature of the image of circuses being designed as spectacles to gawk at perhaps contributes to this. But like circuses (in their ideally ethical state) I think that passing this album off as a mere exercise in aesthetic eccentricity is a disservice to the genuine talent on display here. Pensées Nocturnes have clearly spent a lot time intentionally crafting this truly unique sound beyond something simply wacky and attention-grabbing for the sake of it, which I think must be tragically ironic in some way to be overlooked in the same way the talent of the very basis of its distorted aesthetic is, because this really is one of the best albums of the year.

A new species of nightmare/10

[gerbu]

I posted 25,693 times in 2022

That's 14,507 more posts than 2021!

167 posts created (1%)

25,526 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@cabybapa

@sunsetwaffle345

@cabbagezonk

@dingdongyouarewrong

@shortgremlinman

I tagged 1,487 of my posts in 2022

#nashing my teeth violently - 105 posts

#fave - 82 posts

#unreality - 36 posts

#shining nikki - 27 posts

#stranger things - 24 posts

#strangerthingsedit - 14 posts

#yes - 13 posts

#art - 13 posts

#illustration - 13 posts

#will byers - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#being an unabashed fan… writing fanfic… being so preoccupied with songs and driving through the mountains and iced lattes and my little gays

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

How s5 Byler would go down if I was in charge:

Will officially comes out (and he actually says he’s Gay. Like no just “I like men” he says the word gay)

Mike feels threatened by this because of his own internalized homophobia and sexuality, and gets upset

Will is understandably heartbroken and mad

Jonathan blows up at Mike

Next episode

Mike and Will haven’t resolved this yet, both are still upset and visibly uncomfortable w each other

Will and Jonathan talk about what happened, Jonathan is a fantastic brother once again

Dramatic shot of Mike staring at Will’s painting

He is visibly frustrated trying to figure himself out, thinking about Eleven etc., angry at himself for losing his best friend

Next episode

Mike thinks back to the “crazy together” scene

Realizes if he is gay and Will is gay, they can be gay together (platonically, not a couple in his eyes yet) just like they said in that scene

Mike tries to talk to Will, Jonathan refuses to leave them alone together, they end up talking in a closet for privacy with Jonathan outside the door “just in case”

Mike admits to Will he got upset because he is also gay and didn’t want to admit that to himself, they do the “crazy together” thing again, sappy mushy stuff, they hug and are best friends again.

Important that they are not romantically involved yet because Will still hasn’t fully gotten over Mike’s outburst. Jonathan is still wary of Mike despite Will forgiving him

Romantic tension is rebuilt over the following episodes

During the climax of main plot there is a Byler kiss (maybe Mike does it to save Will or vice versa)

Also side non-byler details: all the other gay characters get to actually call themselves gay or lesbian, and Robin gets a girlfriend. Mike gets more character development other than “boyfriend guy” and Eleven decides that she doesn’t need a man, or anybody.

66 notes - Posted July 9, 2022

#4

kitten school newsletter call that a school mewsletter

92 notes - Posted October 5, 2022

#3

amaury guichon will ask if somebody's already made something out of chocolate and not wait for an answer

104 notes - Posted September 28, 2022

#2

Among us babies are like butterfly wings when you touch them the color comes off on your fingers

112 notes - Posted February 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

As much as everybody's justifiably railing on Chris Pratt for his acting, after watching the new trailer I honestly don't think Anya Taylor-Joy is a very good fit for Peach either. The problem isn't that they're bad actors, it's that they are not voice actors. When I hear Anya's or Chris's voice I don't picture Peach and Mario, I picture two regular adult people who wouldn't stand out in a coffee shop. Which isn't the point of animated movies and voice acting! ESPECIALLY with Mario! This is supposed to be a movie about cartoonish characters in a video game fantasy world saving the day, and their voices should fit with that theme. That's why Charles Martinet's Mario voice works so well, because it makes sense for what Mario is supposed to be. This trend of giving voice acting specific jobs to non-voice actors who have no experience with this kind of work is detrimental to animation and film! It is removing job opportunities from people who have spent their lives learning this craft and handing it over to a celebrity with no experience just because they're famous. The beauty of voice acting and animation in general is how you are completely creating a character. The whole point of voice acting is that you don't point to a character in a film and say, "hey, that's Chris Pratt" the point is that people will point to the charcater and go "oh, new character!" This movie is more and more frustrating to me the more I realize how much it feels like a money grab exclusively because of the casting. The animation, the music, and the effects are all completely perfect for a Mario movie, but so many of the acting choices feel like someone just rifled through a list of "100 most popular celebrities" and chose whoever was vaguely similar to "average white man voice" or "average white woman voice". No matter how popular these people are or how good they are at acting in front of a camera or on stage, they can not voice act.

10,140 notes - Posted November 29, 2022

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[ihatetheinternetandeveryoneonit]

There's something kind of intangible about his flavor of humor that really speaks to me.

Let me compare him to his most obvious silent "competitor," Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin flicks were very pathos-driven. Lots of close-ups on the face, lots of emphasis on getting/helping/saving the girl. The goals are very emotional and as much as I love Chaplin's movies, they could border a little on saccharine at times.

Buster pictures played a lot more with structure and bending logic. Cartoonish or otherwise absurd humor. There was humor in such tiny little details like a funny way of framing a shot that made the humor feel effortless or incidental. Reaction shots were funny in how subdued they were.

ND's have you ever had the experience of just talking about something, especially if you were impassioned by it, and somebody just going "oh my gosh, you're SO funny!" just out of the blue? There's just that same feel that Buster isn't being funny on purpose. It's just him being him and the humor being incidental. It's just baked into his trademark deadpan expression and his eccentric shots and stunts and the controlled chaos of his physicality that many autistics can recognize in themselves.

Keaton's movies usually already had him with a girlfriend, or a low-stakes flirtation, and keeping her or winning her over was just the catalyst for the plot rather than the emotional core of the story. Buster's characters had intense passions outside of the realms of romance and relationships--whether it be a beloved train or the ambitions of becoming a detective. There's a profound respect for his characters' "inner worlds" that's insanely difficult to express in film (especially silent film) where your character isn't outwardly expressive in a traditional way, but you know what makes them tick, what they love, and why they love it. You can read his thoughts and feelings in any given scene, and they're often very quiet thoughts and feelings.

It's a quiet that I appreciate. I feel like I can understand his quietness where other's can't understand mine. It's his cozy confidence with things and techniques rather than people and the overwhelming earth-shattering drama from other filmmakers or other artists. Beyond any of that, it's very hard to explain--as I said before, intangible. So I hope that any of what I said makes some sense.

I’d love to hear from my fellow autistic Buster Keaton fans. 

What is it about Buster that is so appealing to neurodiverse people? Perhaps a familiarity in his motionless face? Are silent films evocative of non-verbal communication? I’ve clocked plenty of fans who are on the spectrum and I’d love to open up this discussion.