#this in. saying other audio dramas are horror shows when they re not

[lucifer-kane]

Guy who’s only listened to TMA listening to any other podcast. Getting a lot of TMA from this one

[sandybrett]

Here are my completely honest thoughts on a bunch of audio dramas I've checked out. (Don't worry, nothing scathing, they're all reasonably good. But please proceed with caution, or don't proceed, if you're involved in creating any of these shows.)

In the order I first listened:

The Storage Papers: Nine episodes in. A little slow paced, but I've heard it picks up in the later seasons. My only real concern is that it seems like a lot of the horror revolves around "this thing looks sort of like a human but it's Wrong somehow. also it kills people (or cats)." I hope at some point we meet a creature that looks and acts as unsettling as the Grinner but is nice, or at least complicated.

The Cellar Letters: Seven episodes in. I LOVE it. I love the natural-feeling messiness of it, the way Nate and Steve talk in circles and go back and forth on what to believe. It's made me laugh out loud multiple times. I can't wait to learn more about that weird little room full of letters with that one random word written on the wall (I forget what).

400 Words a Horror: Three episodes in. I had to re-listen to the first episode because I hadn't been paying enough attention, but I think that particular episode rewards re-listening anyway. Also it is the only show on this list that genuinely frightens me so I have to pace myself. Very good.

Tin Can Audio Presents: Middle:Below: Two episodes in. I won't say I'm hooked, but I am somewhat interested. It's a lot more relaxing than the other podcasts on this list, so I keep thinking I'll save it for listening closer to bedtime, then not getting around to it.

The Grotto: Six episodes in. Very much enjoying. I was SO proud of myself for correctly guessing the twist in the second episode. I love the characters and am extremely intrigued by the mysteries. My only criticism is that the musical interludes drag on too long. And I'm saying that as a WOE.BEGONE fan.

Soul Operator: Three episodes in. It's good but there isn't any particular element that's drawing me in just yet. There's a lot I don't know about the world yet, though, so there is still plenty of time for me to fall in love with this show. (Irrelevant note: I always get "Smooth Operator" by Sade stuck in my head when I think about this show.)

Shadows at the Door: Listened to half of the first episode. It was somewhat interesting, but I decided I had higher priorities for my listening time than disconnected hour-long episodes that are only *somewhat* interesting.

Archive 81: Five episodes in. Quite possibly going to become a major obsession. It's got everything: playing with point of view; the Power of Storytelling but in a menacing way; vivid character voices; probably a cult. I particularly love the way conversations play out on this show--I don't know exactly how to explain it but there's a certain... friction that happens in real conversations but rarely in fictional ones outside cringe comedy. I don't usually enjoy that sort of thing when it's played for laughs, but for realism or suspense? I eat that up. It does make me a little tense so this is another show I pace myself with and I'm glad the episodes are short.

Alice Isn't Dead: Two episodes in. I'm not going to make it a priority--it's got a similar sort of surrealism to Night Vale, but with higher stakes and less humor, and I had enough trouble getting immersed in Night Vale. I could probably enjoy it if I gave it enough time, but for now I'd rather focus on *gestures at some of the shows above*

The Silt Verses: Listened to the first ten minutes of the first episode and got bored, which I think says as much about me as it does about the show. It does get off to a bit of a slow start and leaves more space between lines of dialogue than most of these shows do, but I could probably get into it with adequate time and sleep. Not prioritizing it, for similar reasons to Alice.

[chaos0pikachu]

tldr: bitches want gay shit, not het shit, with data and numbers to back it up; bonus Bible’s booty

so thinking about @discluded​‘s essay on Mile and Apo’s upcoming historical drama, and Thailand’s bid for soft power got my brain thinking thoughts. I’ve talked about Thailand noticing the soft power of their BL media before along with why I think Chinese, South Korean, and other East Asian media (from television to novels, etc) are popping off in popularity in the last 5 years or so. Idk where those posts are and I’m to lazy to link them thus is life

The point! The point is tho reading discluded’s post made me think about F4 Thailand. Ironic, I know, since F4 is a het drama based off Boys Over Flowers a shojo manga from Japan that was released in 1992 and ended serialization in 2008. 

Firstly, Boys Over Flowers FACINATES me b/c the god damn chokehold this series has on various Asian countries. I told a friend it’s comparable to like, Romeo and Juliet, in that it’s been adapted, remade, re-adapted, re-booted, re-imagined, and so on over and over and over again. Like there’s audio dramas, there’s films, there’s multiple live action TV shows, there’s an anime. Japan’s made two feature films, and two seasons of a TV. Taiwan had two seasons of a TV show, Korea had a tv show, China had two versions of the same show (one was a remake), Indonesia had two tv shows, India had a tv show, and finally Thailand was the latest to adapt it into a TV show in 2021 - 2022. The legacy of this story can’t be denied. 

Now, my point? Okay so my point is I witnessed online the marketing for F4 Thailand in real time. It was interesting to me b/c I very rarely - and have not since - seen a ton of talk about a Thai drama that wasn’t BL or a horror or action film. 

When it comes to the Thai film industry, the three genres I see discussed are: BL, Action, Horror. You can see this in what Netflix (America) offers in regards to Thai series specifically what ones they dub which shows like: Girl From Nowhere (which Netflix invested in a s2 and is a thriller/horror drama), The Whole Truth (a horror film), and Thai Cave Rescue (which they also have a documentary based on). Netflix is still (STUPIDLY) reluctant to purchase a license for any SK or Thai BL content (I know Semantic Error would blow the FUCK up on Netflix you idiots!!!) probably b/c investors are like, hmmmm but would gays of color sell? I would say they also have Your Name Engraved Herein but that’s an easier sell b/c its a drama and has more of that classic gay Oscars vibe (this isn’t an inherent bad thing don’t come for me). 

Okay back to my point I s2g I have one. 

So marketing for F4 Thailand was interesting b/c I actually saw it. I don’t see marketing cross over into my international waters for Thai het dramas. What helped this, and I fully believe this was done purposely, is the casting of Bright and Win who gained international popularity from 2Gether. Like, it seemed pretty obvious to me that casting Bright and Win was a bid to peak the interest of the international market, combined with casting them specifically in an adaption of one of the most famous and well known Asian romantic dramas of the last 30 years or so. This show was set-up to be A Hit. 

But I don’t think it really worked internationally; bare with me, numbers time. 

Now, ratings for F4 averaged at .441% on Thai TV, higher than Bad Buddy (which aired on the same network) which averaged at .121% and Kinnporsche which averaged at .314%. 

I compared F4 to these two shows specifically b/c they aired in a similar timeframe (all three shows aired over the course of 2021 - 2022 except KP which only aired in 2022) and arguably Bad Buddy and Kinnporsche were the biggest BL shows in Thailand in those respective years. 

F4 also did well in the Philippines, and ended up dubbed into Filipino, and it’s scheduled for re-broadcast in 2023. Honestly, it’s difficult to see how well F4 did internationally as there’s not a ton of information available on it. When I google “F4 Thailand reception” there’s not a lot of results, if I google “boys over flowers Thailand reception” I get this: 

ngl I think it’s pretty funny that one of the top four most asked questions is if F4 is BL and again, it’s def b/c of Bright and Win’s casting. But given that there’s not a ton of information available, I glean that F4 didn’t do great in the western (American/Latin American/European) market. Not to say it didn’t do well. 

On Google ratings: F4 Thailand lands at a 4.9 rating with 2619 reviews/ratings and Bad Buddy stands at a 5.0 with 1085 reviews/ratings

On MyDramaList F4 has a rating of 8.5/10 from 11,982 users, and Bad Buddy has a 8.5/10 from 26,445 users

On IMDb: F4 has a rating of 7.8/10 from 2.3k users, and Bad Buddy has 8.8/10 rating from 5k users

This isn’t a comparison about quality, but activity. I’m not here to make judgements on either shows quality, but rather international impact and relevancy. Outside of Google, Bad Buddy has more active users who left a rating or review on the website than F4, almost double in fact. 

If you go to GMMTV’s official Youtube page and look at the most popular videos on the channel it’s majority....2Gether. Like my god so much 2Gether the CHOKEHOLD this show had on y’all:

More date and a comparison of F4 and Bad Buddy’s international numbers below, we’re getting into the meat now. 

Now the actual F4 official trailer has 3.7 million views on GMMTV’s channel. Bad Buddy official trailer, also on GMMTV’s official channel, has 2.7 million views. Both are set at 1 year ago so they’re within the same or similar time frames for comparison. 

To throw in there, the Kinnporsche official trailer was released 10 months ago and has clocked 7.1 million views total on Be On Cloud’s official channel. To keep up with the comparison, F4′s OST Who Am I clocked 21 million views at 1 year, while KP/Jeff Satur’s OST Why Don’t You Stay has clocked 36 million views at 8 months. 

(completely unrelated sidenote but Vegas/Bible’s ass has 3.4 million views and I just find that fucking hilarious, the man’s booty got more youtube views than other studios episodes. The power of Bible booty) 

You can watch episode 1 of F4 on GMMTV’s official youtube channel, but only episode 1 the rest are just previews for other episodes. Idk why, other series whether het or BL they have all the episodes available. There’s apparently 80 videos that are hidden, I’m wondering if you have to pay Youtube premium to access those. Since I only have episode 1 to compare, for comparisons sake, we can look at those numbers of F4′s ep01 and Bad Buddy’s, both of which are clocked at 1 year each, are as follows:

Bad Buddy ep01 [1/4]: 9.6 million

Bad Buddy ep01 [2/4]: 5.4 million 

Bad Buddy ep01 [3/4]: 4.9 million

Bad Buddy ep01 [4/4]: 5 million

F4 Thailand Begins ep01 [1/4]: 1.7 million

F4 Thailand Begins ep01 [2/4]: 848k 

F4 Thailand Begins ep01 [3/4]: 3.3 million 

F4 Thailand Begins ep01 [4/4]: 747k 

If you crunch these numbers, Bad Buddy’s total view count for episode 1 is around 25 million views. F4′s total view count is around 7 million views (if I’m doing my math correctly a bitch doesn’t work in maths). 

Now, I don’t know what the premiere numbers for either of these series was. BUT, this shows that one series, Bad Buddy, has legs and the other, F4, didn’t. 

Either way that’s a pretty sizable gap and a lot of international fans use Youtube as a means to legally watch and support these shows as shown in the availability of subtitles.

F4 has subtitle options in: English, Korean, Chinese (Taiwan), Portuguese, Turkish and Spanish

Bad Buddy has subtitle options in: English, Turkish, French, Indonesian, Spanish, Chinese (Hong Kong), Korean, Chinese (Taiwan), Vietnamese, Arabic, Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Burmese, Chinese (Simplified) and Bulgarian.

Bro, BULGARIAN.

As far as I can tell, IQIYI doesn’t release streaming data that I could find, so idk what the numbers are for Kinnporsche. I do know that Kinnporsche, since airing, has never let the sites Top 10 list which is an impressive feat after ending months ago. 

So like, what does all this information mean~ exactly? Am I saying F4 Thailand was a flop? No, not even a little bit lol I don’t have enough data to really say definitively F4 was a flop nor is that really the point here. 

The point here is about international impact, and the fact that in my humble ass opinion, Thailand’s het shows ain’t hitting internationally all THAT much. Not as much as their BL shows are and have been. 

Objectively, going by Thai ratings, F4 did a lot better than Bad Buddy, but internationally? Internationally there’s a pretty visible gap from everything I’ve seen. 

I think what GMMTV was hoping was by casting Bright and Win they’re pull in that international audience they had cultivated with the 2gether series. But het dramas are high key a dime a dozen in American/European/Latin American audiences. Folks go to Kdramas or Cdramas for het dramas (and I have theories on why those hit, namely Cdramas for the high fantasy aspects that Europe and America doesn’t deliver on and kdramas for being unashamedly high quality produced romances. Also the one-and-done factor). 

Given the juggernaut success of Kinnporsche, not just in the west but also in other Asian countries I imagine that’ll influence other studios to try to follow suit even more to gain even a half-slice of that visibility and profitability. Kinnporsche, imo, is an outlier, it’s success is sorta like 2gether and TharnType in that there were a lot of factors outside of the show itself that led to it’s individual success. 

Like, flat, argue with the wall, 2gether is NOT a good series. But, it was released right when lockdown began (literally, ep01 aired Feb 21, 2020), in a way 2gether was like Animal Crossing, GMMTV didn’t expect it to do THAT well especially internationally but it did partially b/c what the fuck else we people gonna do in lockdown? Watch a simple but cute gay romcom which there was a gap for - Love, Victor wouldn’t air it’s first episode until June 17th, 2020, and that was marketed less as a queer romcom and more as a queer coming of age story. There’s also the factor of The Untamed having ended - final episode August 20th, 2019 - and folks catching on to the growing and active existence of international queer media that wasn’t boxed in and tied down by American conventions. 

I think what we’re going to see is the “next era” of BL. We saw the uptick in overall content post 2019/2020 with the success of 2Gether and TharnType, following the success of series like Why R U, Love By Chance, 1000 Stars, Lovely Writer, etc along with other countries getting in more on the game (namely South Korea) and the overall uptick in the amount of BL (and now GL!) shows across the board. 

After 2gether we saw more BL shows, I think after Kinnporsche we’re going to see higher quality BL/GL shows. And I think we’re already seeing that. Semantic Error was a nice change of pace for SK b/c it was longer than 15mins, I think going forward given the success of SE we’re going to see SK branch out slowly into developing longer shows (no longer than 30 to 35mins tho to keep costs down) and better workshopping (some kisses in KBLs...my guys). While for Thailand I think we’re gonna see better quality shows. Not Me dropped the ball in some regards but visually the show was great. Cutie Pie’s story was incoherent sure but visually? Hot damn that was a good looking show. We’re also getting more interesting concepts out of Thailand too; like that Prince/bodyguard show coming out, the fact Kinnporsche did eventually get made and MileApo’s upcoming historical film. 

this all got away from me but whatever, bitches want gay shit, peace

[chemicallywrit]

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! What a delightful and spooky Halloween week. As usual, this list is not comprehensive, but this is what stood out to me this week. Some spoilers ahead, in the shape of vibes~

🩸Hemophobia did NOT disappoint. My word. The strange disconnected way the story was told; the fact that the sermons were more coherent and clear than the action; the Extremely Teenage Teens. Man. I cannot wait to listen to this next episode.

🦀 THE SILT VERSES. Every day I think about Faulkner. The person he is. The apostle and the fool. Jeez louise. I can’t tell if he’ll save the faith or obliterate it and take everyone down with him. @thesiltverses

🌊 Modes of Thought In Anterran Literature - is that Felix Trench??? On the one hand, hearing a familiar voice does break the immersion a little, like the most unnerving part of this show is how real it feels; on the other hand, Felix did such a good job, the immersion break didn’t last long. This new character sucks, i love him.

👻 Palimpsest!!!! New palimpsest!!!! Easily one of my favorite single-narrator shows, and this one is set in the 1920s, which is one of my favorite historical periods. They’re also very good at a horrible subtle twist, so I can’t wait to hear more about this ghost.

😈 Kakos Industries is literally always good, but I really feel for Corin being like “PLEASE leave me alone on Halloween.” Man, this show is funny. Why isn’t it more popular. Please listen to Kakos Industries. They’re on hiatus, there’s no better time to catch up. @kakosindustries

🍔 Mayfair Watcher’s Society always knows how to get to me. It’s like, the absolute corruption of the Normal into something horrific and wretched is the point of the show, especially when it’s something you always suspected was messed up. Like a fast food job. I shudder.

🌲HALLOWOODS JEEZ. Mx Wellman did in fact try to kill me. I survived. I WISH SOME OTHER FOLKS HAD. @hellofromthehallowoods

❄️ Red Valley. Man alive. One of the things I love about this show is how there are no real heroes, but this season from the POV of the villains—the architects of the apocalypse, in a lot of ways. Creeps. It’s delicious. Today’s episode, watching Clive finally reaping what he sowed, was absolutely glorious. @redvalleypod

🦷 Welcome to Night Vale - HOBOY. Idk if the return of Kevin is going to be a plot point, but it’s the perfect idea for a Halloween ep. Chilling work as always, Kev! It’s also fun to listen to him seethe about his loss of power.

🅿️ Podcube is always a delightful treat, but this week had a fantastic little bit of sound design, which I’m told is this sound designer’s first attempt at such a thing. He did a great job! I love this show, everyone listen to PodCube. @podcube

👑 Malevolent: We’re Back To The Horrors. I’m honestly relieved. Arthur having friends and family is so scary, I keep waiting for something horrible to happen to them. And now something has! Which is not to say more terrible things won’t happen, but i feel like the other shoe has dropped. This is not a criticism at all, Harlan is so good at this.

🌞 I finished Fall of the House of Sunshine this week and…it made me cry? This goof goof show made me CRY? It really is just You Make Your Own Meaning The Musical, isn’t it? If this show had to have a moral, then “even if all you can do is something small, it matters” is a pretty good one. The fact that there was a moral at all is pretty miraculous. I’m going to go listen to the soundtrack a million times now.

🧛🏻‍♂️ Re: Dracula is coming to an end in just a few days and here is a secret: i haven’t heard these last few eps yet. Tal and Stephen finished working on them while I was in the thrall of New Job, so I get to hear their excellent sound work new with you. I am so excited for the final showdown, let’s GO. @re-dracula

🧟‍♀️ The Dead premiered this week! Go subscribe to it, it’s about to get REAL WEIRD. We did some table reads for the next story this weekend (and we have one more today!) and if you think zombies on a plane are scary…

Go check it out!

Now that all is well on the job front, I hope to get back to recording Inn Between soon, because I Want It To Exist. If you want to help us out or you just like what I got up to today, please drop by my ko-fi!

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 8th October ✨

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! I feel like we’re really in spooky season this week with all the horrors on offer from the audio drama community!!

Big old spoilers below!

🌲 @hellofromthehallowoods (136) I looove when stories show escalating tension at the heart of the story through environmental change elsewhere!! And neither Danielle nor Clem knowing if the shaking was normal hurt my heart a little. They’re babies, your honour! I can’t wait for Danielle and Nikignik to chat again 🤞

HFTH does action SO well and the scene with Mort, Creep and Cindy was just masterful. I was cycling in to work but mentally I was right there. I really hope that Cindy’s plan works - I’ll not get into the ethics of utilitarianism here, but I’ll be so sad if her death isn’t ‘worth it’.

But HELL YEAH, let’s get Ralph back! Time to be useful, my man! Don’t fuck it up!

It’s safe to say that I didn’t have ‘Grug saving Diggory from the Phantom Radio Station’ on my end of S3 bingo. It is very interesting to me that they think their purpose is to die. I think it’s actually vital that the grave digger isn’t dead, but maybe that’s just me?

This final arc is such a white knuckle ride!! I can’t wait to see what happens next!

🦀 @thesiltverses (33) We’re all in agreement that Val is absolutely terrifying, right? Right. Good. We’ve heard the noose tighten a little around Faulkner’s throat, but will he be a different man now that he knows Carpenter is alive? I’m so excited to hear this plan fail.

👁️ @malevolentcast (36) The John memory scenes are done SO well because I literally cannot tell if he is lying or not. I usually want to have the upper hand as the listener and it’s so difficult to not know!! I *think* I’m glad that Arthur is trying to make friends but I did immediately assume that Oscar had run off with that book. Maybe this show has given me trust issues…

🌒 @monkeymanproductions Moonbase Theta, Out (Epilogue) SUCH A GOOD AND PERFECT ENDING. Oh MAN. There was so much to unpack here, but everyone seems content with their choices which makes my heart happy and THEY BROUGHT THE GIRLS TO THE MOON 😭😭😭😭😭 thank you, Deej, that is the best thing that could have happened.

🧛‍♂️ @re-dracula I’ve been trying and failing to catch up with the action this week but the early eps have made me feel very strongly that: WE MUST TALK TO EACH OTHER. Evil wins when good people stop communicating. Talk to your loved ones, reach out to people to might be struggling. No issue is too small for the people who love you. Aaand don’t be sexist lol. That is my Dracula related PSA. Thanks for listening!

🥾 @doyoucopypod (12) Do You Copy really do be about grief!! Poor Reese! But it is good to know that they were both rescued! I really can’t wait to get the final pieces of this puzzle and see how it all fits together!

⚓️ What a delight to catch the first episode of @eelerschoice! I knew this show would be right up my street and the first episode did not disappoint! Also, what a CAST! Very much looking forward to hearing more familiar voices!!

Have a good weekend everyone! 🥰 and if you’re the wishing/praying kind, please do shoot off a few desperate ones for amc’s laptop. my wife spilled water on it last night and we’re too scared to turn it on 🥲

[itmeblog]

hey! i have context for you, re: the thing that both tonia and the person on bluesky would have have been responding to. it's towards the end of anonymousad's hellishly long and weird shelterwood takedown and it, uh, doesn't exactly make them look any better. if you want to see if you can """read and understand""" (lmao, you're right, that sucks so bad) the true meaning of their words, here they are, in full context so as to avoid accusations of cherrypicking! "as an example, let's look at the Afflicted Season 2 crowdfunding campaign that just ended in failure.

this was a FIXED GOAL campaign. they were asking for $23,500 USD and they only made it to $13,283, just over 50% of the way there. so they got none of it. it was all or nothing and the result this time was nothing.

and that really sucks for a lot of reasons.

I had some criticisms about that campaign that I kept to myself at the time, in part because diverse voices in audio drama is really important. Afflicted provided a lot of opportunities for marginalized creators to get established and share their unique voices. so often the campaigns that are getting met are the ones that continue to prop up the same types of voices and experiences as we've all heard before.

I am much more interested in the unique horror that a show like Afflicted is bringing to the table as a production driven by a Black woman than I am with hearing from the same types of voices we are used to. we have a lot of similar people making stuff in the community, and frankly a lot of our "diversity" is mostly driven by being white and queer. these voices are important too and there's a lot that is good, but that is the majority in this space. that's why we need to make sure we are getting opportunities to the people who don't have the privilege or connections.

this is a personal opinion, not one everyone will agree with. but we are better as a community when we do extra work to make sure that more varied diversity is highlighted and supported.

Afflicted planted their foot saying "this much or nothing" and took the gamble that most of these high number campaigns are unwilling to do. a gamble that they succeeded in last year to fund the first season.

the difference is partly that the economy looked really different last year. disposable income, rent prices, general cost of living. it wasn't great, but it was better than it is now and that MATTERS. we all know how fucking bad it is right now, especially in the US, so to be asking these massive amounts of money is tone deaf. in this case, Afflicted was even asking for MORE than they raised for season 1. you could argue some of that is because they already managed to prove themselves as creators who were good for the money and deserved that kind of chance.

but the fact of the matter is that people just don't have that kind of cash to give over and over.

which leads into my main point.

every time I see a campaign with this high of a goal I think one thing:

"this is hurting the community."

now, that may not sound reasonable to some of you, especially if you are one of the people who believes that numbers this high are justifiable.

when we talk about supporting each other from a audio drama creator standpoint, it is done so freely and with an understanding that new listeners isn't really a thing we're going to run out of. if I recommend 10 podcasts I like, that doesn't hurt MY show. it just helps the community by sharing things we generally enjoy and care about it. this is how you end up with the networks of support that we've seen in newer places like the Audio Drama Lab.

unfortunately, money is not the same.

the amount of money that each of us has to give to support the things we like is limited based on our individual situations. anyone recommending a specific crowdfunding campaign to give money to DOES have an impact on the amount of money left in the pool for others.

so when something like Shelterwood or Arden or Afflicted or Among the Stacks or The Magnus fucking Protocol asks for these amounts, this is ACTIVELY impacting whether other campaigns will succeed."

Ooooh, okay, okay, okay.

So

Thank you for sending me the context, I do quite enjoy reading drama at times

I actually don't mind accusations of cherry picking, it's fine either way but thank you for your concern. It's very sweet.

The main reason I'm about to do what I'm about to do is because I've actually had microaggressions on the brain for plot reasons and this is positively wonderful practice to put these things into words.

Alright, so OPs argument here is that there's a set amount of money in the AD pool from which we can draw from, and that taking bigger draws for a production leaves too little for the rest of the AD community.

I'm not going to argue whether this is true or false right now (but I am going to point out...what this echoes later and why I do not like the argument) and instead am going to continue as if this statement is fact.

My question is why bring up the race and gender of Afflicted's creator? The entire diversity statement here is completely unnecessary. If the argument is that big budget audio dramas are taking too much money, and that is detrimental to ADs economic ecosystem then it does not matter if Afflicted's show runner was an alien from Venus. OPs decision to bring up the race and gender of the showrunner and then point out that the actions from this particular production is harming the AD community was a contextual...decision.

And as a result the following is now colored by the acknowledgment of the creator's race and gender so things like hinting at the aggressiveness of the campaign

"Afflicted planted their foot saying 'this much or nothing'"

and that she's taking too much for the ecosystem to survive

"every time I see a campaign with this high of a goal I think one thing: 'this is hurting the community'"

...is just a bad look. Because these comments simply don't exist in a vacuum.

I also have to wonder why the chose Afflicted in the first place. This could have been avoided if they had brought in the numbers of the Magnus Archives Protocol (whose numbers are still available ~700,000 pounds) or Arden (a successful campaign that aimed for 26,000 but made a tidy $12,065 and will use that money to continue production) or Shelterwood (which aimed for $26,000, made ~$6,000 and will also be going into production). Because...why use a "failed campaign" to highlight the money this one production is taking and "harming the community" with, when they, in reality, took nothing at all?

Why choose Afflicted? Was it timing? Was it because they were at hand? Was it because it gave OP a chance to talk about how accepting they were to different types of diversity?

Let's zoom out for a moment. We've heard this argument before the "there's not enough to go around and some people are taking too much and leaving too little for everyone else"...in things like affirmative action, and immigration. It's a very faint, "if you blink you might miss it" replacement theory argument.

And it begins to fall apart when they bring up this argument

when we talk about supporting each other from a audio drama creator standpoint, it is done so freely and with an understanding that new listeners isn't really a thing we're going to run out of. if I recommend 10 podcasts I like, that doesn't hurt MY show. it just helps the community by sharing things we generally enjoy and care about it.

Because if there's an understanding that new listeners aren't really a thing the AD community is going to run out of...while claiming that the funds (coming from people who donate, aka the pool of listeners that is ever growing) is stagnant the argument fails to hold up.

All in all, very odd. I'd claim there's a lot here that I didn't touch upon such as the acknowledgment that the AD pool is majority white and that the one production in this list that is asking for the least amount cash at highest stakes that contains the highest concentration of diverse voices is somehow taking money from the acknowledged "majority" is a bit of a hot mess, but I digress.

[radiosandrecordings]

re: kiss noises, gotta say that having a kiss in a podcast can be very hit or miss. creators have to be extremely comfortable and 110% behind it for it to work imo. it's why it works for me, say, in the penumbra podcast, but I would feel super weird about one in TMA. (also genre I think is also a factor but that's a whole other thing.)

Genre is exactly the thing I was going to write a follow up post about actually, I’ve been discussing it along with direction style and tone with my friends and I think the comparisons to Penumbra is specifically where a lot of people are finding issue?

Because TMA and TPP are both audio dramas. But they’re nothing alike! Not in story line, not in direction style, not in sound design, not in tone or genre. It’s like trying to compare Deadpool and Dunkirk because ‘... They’re both movies I guess?’. It doesn’t work because they’re nothing alike, TMA and TPP are just popular audio dramas and it’s such a niche market they get lumped together. 

TPP is very big. It’s a fast paced cheesy noir sci-fi thriller about a detective on mars and it has the directing, writing, tone and soundscaping to match. It makes you laugh, cry and completes an entire story arc in like an hour and a half. It’s also a romance in one of it’s largest capacities and Sophie Kaner has personally talked about the kisses in TPP and why they’re so much. It’s because they wanted to give representation, because TPP is an inherently queer narrative (ONE straight character! ON THE PLANET!) and they wanted to utilise kissing for that. It fits with a soundscape that’s as loud and encompassing as the rest of the show, and also: the kissing is plot relevant, it’s not just thrown in to gross your ears. 

TMA is a very different show! It’s a lot more grounded and serious, I’d say realist if not for the horror. When it uses gross soundscapes, they’re supposed to be gross, like I said in the original post. It’s a lot more subtle in it’s soundscapes, keeping it quiet and definitely telegraphing movement a lot less than Penumbra, because that’s its style. It’s not a show with constant movement like Penumbra where they drive cars and run about cities, the majority of episodes are just. Jon. Reading. 

Something I would actually liken to TMA in terms of tone and direction is The Bright Sessions, something that has been often forgotten by the new wave of audio fans, since in two weeks it’ll have been two years since it ended. It was a show that contained supernatural elements, but was largely grounded in reality. Mischa Stanton did a great job on it’s soundscaping in that was basic in the way that if they were doing their job right, you wouldn’t even remark on it at all. It was Normal. Not big and brash like Penumbra. And it had a kiss scene. And it was gross. Far too long, just mouth sounds of two teens making out in a car (a m/m couple if you’re trying to draw comparisons between Sophie’s representation philosophy), and as far as I can remember, it’s not even particularly plot relevant. It just didn’t work since it was a show that hadn’t really set a precedent for that kind of invasive, loud sound in my opinion. The directing style had been too different so far to allow for a full on make out to flow with it. 

You’ve got to know what show you’re making and go with how it’s flowing. Sounds are the only tool audio dramas have at their disposal, and if something sounds different from your normal tone, people will notice, and it will sound weird.

[all-souls-matinee]

The Best of Inside No. 9

Inside No. 9 (2014-) has the best Halloween special of anything ever. It’s actually one of my favorite episodes of television ever and I want more people to see it, thus today’s primer on a random show that has nothing to do with Halloween or with movies. It’s a precursor to an episode I won’t spoil in any way but that you need to have seen at least a few other episodes to appreciate.

This list is broken down by series; I’ve gone through the arduous task of choosing my two favorite episodes from each season (though not necessarily the best) and compiling them into a helpful list. The premise of the show is that each can be watched as a stand-alone; all unique short stories with totally different characters across an array of genres. The things uniting them are:

Every episode stars creators/writers Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton to some capacity

Every episode’s setting has something to do with the number 9 (an homage to 1944′s Gaslight) 

Every episode has some sort of a twist ending or revelation

It’s drawn a lot of comparisons to other things but there’s nothing quite like it. The Twilight Zone maybe comes closest in terms of plot structure/episode length, which is why these reviews are shorter than usual! No spoilers, but trigger warnings on request (for a dark comedy things can get downright nasty.)

S1E1- Sardines

This one has such a seamless transition from silly hijinks into a downright upsetting twist that it was difficult to believe they could ever top it. It’s a story about a simple party game of hide-and-go-seek, and as with any family gathering, buried secrets. 

S1E2- A Quiet Night In

This one shows off the more technical side of the show and how far they were capable of taking things, as it’s done with no real dialogue to speak of (haha.) The audio we get is instead diegetic sounds and reactions, including the soundtrack, as we follow a very tense burglary that doesn’t go as planned.

S2E1- La Couchette

This one is funny! And gross! And set in a train car (the world’s greatest setting!) Banter between so many characters we don’t know or have any reason to care about is extremely tricky to write, and they’d already pulled it off once with the first episode so this is just showing off. The twist is a lot of fun too.

S2E2- The Twelve Days of Christine

This one is heartbreaking, and in a change for In9 it’s not one of the more original twist endings they’ve had (maybe that was the real twist all along.) What matters here is some incredible acting from Sheridan Smith, as we follow a single mother through several off-kilter years of her life.

S3E3- The Riddle of the Sphinx

This one is batshit insane. Series three has the most consistently solid episodes of the whole collection so there were a lot of runners-up here, but I have to demur to the one that tried for way way WAY too many twists. It’s confusing and ridiculous and- at its most literal- an instruction in solving a crossword puzzle.

S3E5- Diddle Diddle Dumpling

This one is... odd, but in a way that I find so charming I can’t even describe it. It’s easily one of the more refined and down-to-earth episodes, but we’re also getting into how far the number 9 can take us. Here it applies it to a shoe size.

S4E3- Once Removed 

This one is a screwball comedy, but evil. Nonlinear storytelling! A hit gone wrong! Poisoning! Concealed weapons! Grievous injuries! Literal games of telephone! Estate agents! Andrew Lloyd Webber! And a twist that will shock and delight you!!!!!

S4E6- Tempting Fate

This one is set up like a story in the horror collections I used to love so much as a kid, but the payoff is better than anything those had to offer. Three contractors are clearing out the house of a dead man when they find an object that may be able to grant wishes, and there’s just enough meta-ness to make them wary, but not quite enough to stop some terrible decision-making...

S5E4- Misdirection

This one is the magician episode! Unfortunately, as someone who was addicted to watching The Prestige 2005 all day every day when I was 17 I think it might be one of my ultimate favorites. I could watch it over and over again it’s so well-written and so satisfyingly horrid.

S5E6- The Stakeout

This one is what it says on the tin- opening in media res on a crime scene and taking the form of a police procedural through the lens of a nightly stakeout. It’s quieter, measured, and chock full of hints as to what’s in store.

I fully recommend watching all 30+ episodes as even the worst of them bring something to the table; if these plots don’t sound appealing but you’re hooked by the concept or by Reece and Steve’s other work there is at least one that’ll get to you (the s2 domestic drama episode! the s5 football episode! the s4 rhyming theater kid episode not to be confused with the s4 non-rhyming theater kid episode!)

Happy Halloween <:-) 

[misterbitches]

Hello! @flootweed replying to the post from before. the long format was killing me. why does tumblr look like this...

I haven’t watched episode 8 yet...or have I? If it’s the most recent one. No.

Is the hornbill a bird? It probably is but I have a terrible memory and I’m dumb so. I skipped the last few weeks because I’m scawwed. How are you liking it? I did see someone say that the hornbill makes sense (without knowing what it is...at all) bc heart transplant patients only live like 5-15 years after but someone in those comments pointed out that he was so young when he got his and that’s pretty rare so he has a higher likelihood of survival. Frankly, this is the only way I will proceed. Since when did shows ever care about the heart transplant health? Never and it needs to stay that way!

What did we think of ep 6? LMAO. I need opinions! And omg it makes me feel special when I can point things out to people because I so...rarely get to LOL. Editing is like one of my favorite things ever so I can be super particular about it but I try to do the thing you do when you’re supposed to see if it works within its context. I’d like to go in with scissors and glue but alas. 

THe mic covering....the rustling....it’s like guys...please. Ironically the audio today wasn’t great. I don’t know why. IDK if you watch c-dramas but I am not even sure what’s worse between them because they dub their dramas. But actually no it’s best to have the dubbing because even tho it is painful they have to put a lot of effort into it. LOL. 

Right? @ Aey! It’s just weird if they would show us more about what he’s done instead of saying he’s done sth bad and not even explaining that....like you could even do some shitty exposition. I think if he is to be a true villain then we really need to be privvy. All the warnings make it seem like he’s a fuckin’ serial killer so when we get the scene of him at home it’s like....actually this is really serious? Maybe his pain is like...for a reason. Althought you won’t even TELL US WHAT HE’S DONE WRONG BESIDES BE JUST FUCKING WEIRD AND ANNOYING! So from what we have it’s just a realllllllll fucked up sad person lol. god i forgot about the dinner! and i totally agree. he really needs them to succeed. i like your theory because it would make the scene where he like blocks the twitter user make more sense. he also says they dont really know each other etc so it’s realllllyyyyy probable that he just sees it as a way out. if not then we shall pretend u wrote it :)

god yea i wouldnt say it is art but i also guess we technically have to since it is technically. in the way that technically performance artists are artists but mostly i uh technically ignore them. Also one of my fav BLs is called the best twins. If you do not know what it is I will not elaborate further.t 

i want to know more abt poli sci majors lmao but they sound DRAMATIC/ hopefully most ppl in ur cohort arent losers! 

hahahha i understand. there was just a thing on twitter about DSA and then the day before about reading discourse. the same thiings. over. and over. and over. and over. we are our own worst enemies but also our own best friends? but i hate tankies and that wont change. but hasan’s a decent guy. he said sth abt black ppl during biden’s primaries in GA or whatever and i was like chill. but he’s insecure and has adhd which means ur more open to being wrong and changing otherwise u will suffocate and die. 

and totally about hiding fuck ups. i’ve tried really hard bc of organizing IRL to like...be honest, question, etc but also like...approach it naturally? because if you’re trying to be perfect and so worried you’ll fuck up you don’t realize that puts  more stress on you, makes you seem like a robot, and could potentially not make you realize the mistkaes you made. also if we’re privileged in certain spaces there is just no possible way we won’t get something wrong. im light and i know that honestly any way to speak up on colorism is going to be difficult and that’s a space where i have power so i just have to figure it out. we should be uncomfortable because we have to sit with unpleasant feelings and sort through our own whatever. that just makes the next time even better and people can trust u more.  i think some people sweat it sooo much or maybe they think their personal life and what theyve been through is more the norm? on the other hand people can be sf reactionary in the worst way and idk what their issue is. there was also a user who said sth very inch arresting about tankies which i thoroughly enjoyed (how like violent lefitsts or tankies / ppl who are like ooh a gun whatever just want to be violent in another space so they have shit tendencies from jump and nothing of substance which i think i agree with tbh fo ra lottttt of ppl. like their anger is actually like “no im about to beat that ass” instead of what we actually want to get done) 

sort of in the same vein re: taking it easy...we coudl all be more understanding too. to slow it down like you mentioned about not being privvy to fucking eveyrthing and saying anything on our mind. i saw this person talk about y2k which was a huge deal while happening bc it was the turn of the millenium (bruh were u even alive?) but this twitter user grew up in a super super SUPER religious household and was like why do ppl make jokes about Y2K it was insanely traumatizing? though my first instinct was confused ive tried hard to like look more before i judge especially thanks to a friend of mine. turns out that with the further reading the more we found out he was just really traumatized; it was very common in religious households to be afraid of 2000. so we could have come at him with no understanding and he could have thought that everyone had the same experience with that year that he did. his feelings sit precedent though but i think it was just very hard for him to fathom. 

i didnt reply bc he didnt need that and what could i have said? he’ll see what the truth is with exposure and unfortunately this was something he really did go through. 

and that’s what makes most people think others could be over the top. because it sounded ridiculous but then it was this huge traumatic thing that we could have never known about. so maybe when someone sounds like actually crazy they have an explanation? of course some ppl are just batshit or annoying but that’s anywhere not just leftists it’ just means more i guess when a ~~librul is annoyed~ but it can be easy to want to make fun of ppl too. lmao.  basically what i am saying is the internet? especially twitter? for leftists? in this economy? bitch it’s the wild west out here.

i am 29! idk if i said it or not. i am OLD u probably werent even born in the year i was talking about wah. i know not old-old or old at all but compared to you i’m due for a colonoscopy.

omg i hope u can get vaxxed soon! are you wfh rn? i hope ur also not in a bad state as in state state not state as in ur being :| bleh what a fucking time. it sucks that you have to fucking do work. well unless u like school. which i hope u do. i just assume everyone hates it cos i did lmao

was it the lindsay ellis drama? that bitch is dumb. if there was other drama oh wait the drama i was referring to it all happened on the same day. idk book twitter that well but i saw something from someone who was abt that shit and wowie! the american people are not that.....intelligent to put it lightly.

i’ll get better. ppl tell me they miss me and im like aw. i have insanellllyyy bad insomnia and a lot of stuff happened this year HOWEVER I SLEPT FOR TWO DAYS FOR 8 HOURS AT A REASONABLE TIME. im a new woman.  anyways you too! i hope ur not too burnt out with school. we just dont know when the burnout is or we just dont know we are burnt out until we are. the panaramiciccici hit and all the things i was ignoring kind of just fell on me and sooo much happened at once. and frankly it’s hard to take care of ourselves. lord. 

Like if you aren’t interested in expanding on the issue in a way that hasn’t been done before all you gotta do it like… spread resources and donate if you can. I dont see the point in having to say something about every issue especially if you (not at you specifically just in general) aren’t immediately impacted by the issue. Like is the 14 yr old white marxist named sarah on twitter really gonna have meaningful insight on anti-asian violence ?

this is part of why i cannot telecommunicate. i dont want to do shit on the internet. i am able bodied so i know that this time has been of such ease for other people. but mentally i just can’t. i don’t have a comment on hand like that and i hvae no desire to engage with ppl that way. i am a super super super solitary person but thats bc it’s MY time so when it’s like all this effort with other people i dont ever want to be alone. it’s the same with the way i approach filmmaking. it isnt a sole thing so i hate it not together. that’s part of how u can get so sucked in and repeat doom scrolling. i was in this webinar last may after [redacted] and this black woman prof said “read with a community and talk” because otherwise she said we are torturing ourselves. you can’t carry that weight all on your own. unfortunately i hate zoom, discord, slack, signal, whatsapp, facetime. you name it this panera has made it evi.. L

you make a really excellent point. i think the young young gen zers are really really just interesting because it’s like this whole new world for them with leftist politics and they just can’t grasp the horrors of the world and the kind of freedom being a leftist can bring. and so many people don’t grow out of it. those people so happen to be the “least productive” in terms of how much time they spend IRL withe these issues. naturally, younger kids are gonna have a harder time. they are not as mobile as well so the internet becomes this place. but then it’s this echo chamber. and many times just things posted without sources. and social media NEEDS that to exist.

i think of the irony of leftist kids on tik tok and while i am happy it’s reaching them it’s just....different. very different. the growth of social media is so good but also so fucking sad, it’s too much! i think the point about not writing everything is major. even i have to do this which is part of the disappearing.y ou need to detach and make sure your head is on straight again. but when you think eveyrone has to be privvy to every thought and you can’t just sit back....which twitter and social media doesn’t encourage. you have to join in. that’s often why when i have something to say it is dense because i don’t feel like repeating it. ever. lmao ust ever. i cant pay attn. social media is a fucking minefield for my brain u can get so lost in it and absorb it but once u start talking you may not be able to stop. 

i think a big part of that is it not being a leisurely thing but sort of just in our lives always. this sounds like a grandpa rant but ykwim. We dont have to see the same thing over and over again. And eventually it gets sincerely diluted or its diluted bc of capitalism or whatever. Or if theyre very young or maybe they don’t have like the greatest way of sharing the knowledge? then it can be butchered. I hope this is making sense...i’m talking beyoond the boring surface-level milquetoast shit. i see really ahistorical stuff on there from leftists (like this thing about NK + africa and it being a beneficial rship as opposed to a um not beneficial one. and it isn’t.  beneficial but this young black girl was talking abt it and noname rtd and i was like it’s just too complex. there’s no good/bad here just bc it’s not america. dont get me started on this.)

but Lol that was kinda off topic but I think what I meant in my last reply about not turning off the voice in my head is about when I consume media, not necessarily when I’m online talking about. Even if I have criticism for something, I’m usually pretty chill when consuming fandom content bc I think being serious online all the time is kinda boring. Like sometimes I’m analyzing theme and shit but really most of the time im memeing.

exactly.........gotta laugh. thats why sometimes im like i cant think lmao. unfrotunately i have been ARGUING with ppl on the internet for rly no reason when  i could have replied to ur very nice fun wholesome message. i love torture. i miss memes.

“ i think the people who get the least enjoyment out of that are those so obsessed with getting upset with anyone thinking outside of their lines as if it equates to them “ EXACTLYYYYY

kekekekeke im glad u got it. it’s like with conservatives throwing around snowflake. now im beginning to question who the real complainers are. 

LMAO exactlyyyy. i posted a screenshot of this writer from twitter saying that exact thing. Like first of all, I’m...an adult? and if you are as well uh? i’m sorry for you but are we 12? But how is it affecting u this viscerally? And if it does why dont u...do...research? pihgofuaipoajghou but honestly everything u said. we’re trained to go into it with nothing. i was only around ur age when i started to get more serious about this stuff but you’re like lightyears ahead of where i was at 21. did i say this but i’m in iww and literally i can tell u in 2016 i did not think 2019 me would be in a union bc i told my friend in a train station that we don’t need unions. i was 23...but the thing is i didnt know what i was talking about. at all. and i knew i didnt know and she knew i didnt know and now i am the clown.

also yes at critical engagement. i had to learn so much through experience and this is tuff that i coudlnt be shielded from. there’s an empathy you kinda have to develop and this understanding that you move through the world as this person who is “nowhere and everywhere; nothing and everything” so i’ve always had to think about things differently just to survive. that’s also what can drag a lot of people towards it like theres so many black kpop fans bc i think a lot of the pain in SK can be mirrored (sort of) through our history. and theres currently a history now but it had to be forged. uh what was my point oh yea however i wouldnt have been able to move further if i didnt have my background to go off of  bc i knew something was off when i started getting into all these things (ill give u a hint) but if i had no prior knowledge and didnt have to think about it then the critical approach is either stale or stupid. 

i had to research but i dont understand how ppl are so bold with little to no research and understanding? thhey just inherently know with also like ZERO experience in what they need experience in. engaging critically means “how i see the world” with dashes of trying to be open adn understanding or whatever. actually that’s another thing like being afraid of criticizing things bc theyre foreign to you so u give it a pass (like we discussed) but it doesnt hAVE TO BEEEE JUST REAAAAAD and then take all the info ur teensy brain and apply it. be a normal human being and dont be fucking rude and racist. thats it! u can complain abt literally anything without being a dick.

as we start with LW and end with LW.....what do we think (i asked this already) omg please share wbl thoughts i THINK i know what ur talking about. well it could be two things; their rship when they came back and the physicality and then pei shou yi. i almost dont even want to use my brain to fucking look at that. i think wbl can get away with more bc of visual~*~*~* reasons (like literally, the look of the show. there’s more space to get lost in the frames. many thai dramas are a lot more literal? this isn’t the right word but it’s very heavily character focused particularly bc of $ i think) though good production also underscores flaws so i am also wrong. but like do u know what i mean? u have to kinda focus on it? or maybe it’s just cos like.....ur so used to it in thai bl idek. i’ve seen tw bl ofc. 

look i swear i will justify this forever bc there are some things we miss right but if u feel like someone’s a bad actor....theyre bad. it’s about tone movement etc etc etc and since most thai bl productions have 0 interest in that....well. they take these newbies and put them in these situations. we dont understand thai but if we see them and we’re like “wow this is really bad” then they’re bad lmao. IDC i will never be like cos idk what theyre saying NO WHY HE LOOK LIKE A ROBOT???????? DOES HE EMOTE? why is he CRYING WITH NO TEARS? and it’s not even a total requisite to cry with tears(i mean for me it is) but it’s just like what is happening on ur face right now young man????????

painful.

the inflection stuff is very valid ooh good point tho but that’s only a part of the piece. plus we get used to the way they communicate. like the ppl from sotus were prtty bad. i dont like that show but thats an ex of ppl liing the actors and the person i thought was better other ppl dont think that? well apparently hes a shitty guy but. um. so when theres decent acting its so glaring.

although i must say even tho i dont care for 2gether anymore and would never like to be reminded about its existence (only bc i just cringe lol) i honestly....didnt think bright was a bad actor? but people keep saying he is and i am much more inclined to believe them than myself. though i am not often dickmatized that could have been it. until he opened his mouth and ruined it and then i stopped paying attn.

although honestly i’m so much more critical than i could be positive. i have ben stumped for the last day about how i wasnt mad at his acting in the show. is it me? is it him? who’s......the wrong one.....(me) 

oh shit they have been denied? i haven’t been paying attn to whats been going on recently. i just got into it on MDL because of snowdrop. sometimes i literally cannot engage bc ill just be like alright well im black so this power button in my head is going off when ppl talk abt that shit. back in the day when kpop jawns were saying some real outta pocket anti black shit (now everyone is slick with it) it’d always be THEY DONT HAVE GOOGLE THEYVE NEVER SEEN A BLACK PERSON but really it’s like no...maybe they are just racist? that’s ok too.

also the past 2 weeks have been um atrocious bc how fucking easily people fell into the pit of white supremacy and started to turn their ire towards black people and making a competition between our groups just like they wanted. it’s not about the women who are dead anymore, who were sex workers, their womanhood, being asian, being poor anymore. it’s about how much black people get attention and why people only pay attn to us. i am not feeling very generous this week for ppl to excuse that hsit.

on a lighter note, ppl say that abt the whole husband and wife thing. i dont know how to explain how angry that shit makes me but maybe it’s because i do not want to think of my body in relation to a fucking penis at all hours of the day. if bls could kindly not do that it would be nice lmao 

yes there are a lot of those. who are only there to gawk lmao. and just idk worship bc of the cult of personality thing bc of how weird and open they have to be as actors. some of the others are people who /think/ theyre really smart (i think im asmart but i also think i am very dumb and i have adhd to prove that MEDICALLY!!!) but are actually not? or their observations arent great? or idk if they are they arent interesting? but i think well..........we have more refined palettes :P

jk also theres just different personalities. you and  i mesh more bc we have a lot of the same beliefs and are coming from the same place. that makes it easier to understand as well. i really try to remember that but some people are really weird so. again just...the perception of certain things even down to acting skills. but i also dont like.......believe this genre can really do anything at all. on one hand i want them to do it right bc it’s a piece of work so they should. be proud of it. cos most things arent advancing us bc representation and culturalism are a lie bla bla. it’s just that when the depictions are negative or not done well it adds to the problem as opposed to the things that are well done are fairly benign and can’t really pull us back (perf example is the black panther film. i woudl definitely not say it was transgressive as a literal work but visually it’s just stunning. and it’s sad that it’s stunning and surprising but still with basically an all black cast of mostly dark people abd like what it means in the zeitgeist yes. it’s also just a good movie. but it’s still imperialist prop and unfortunately and this is fucking pathetic to say it “opened eyes” in other countries where they hate black ppl and ignore their own racialized minorities HENNYWAYSSSS a better ex is moonlight except moonlight isnt mainstream and is indie tho...still thru a funnel of capital bc a24 but who cares bleed the fuckers dry is my motto. my point is moonlight is both a great work and doesnt bring any failures to the table and its existence helps in ways outside of art but they arent the defining things giving us material advancement sooooo i mean it’s complex (this is my conclusion to everything um guys it’s complex) 

er i had one more point in conjunction to above. oh yea so i like dont need all these extra things to make it progressive. like people really want more women in the show and i am honestly like i really dont. i dont want them to actively do this. if they cant do it naturally then let someone else do it. i am not asking for more bc i dont want it from them. when something comes along i embrace it but i do not see why women should be represented when the genre RELIES on patriarchy. there is no complete satisfying existence for the women in these series. i dont want it. i dont ask people to show us~*~* or respect~* like fuck no the people who make it make it and hopefully more will make it in the future but i will not beg bc THEY DONT WANT TO DO IT SO WOULD FORCING IT MAKE IT BETTER? just fucking leave them out entirely. that’s the answer if theyre gonna make nasty female characters then those bitches can geaux. we have other plcaes to be. booked. and. BUSY!

[kanasmusings]

[Translation] SERVAMP Admission Drama CD - Sloth Pair

Remember how Alice in the Garden came with special drama CDs during the release~? Here’s the one for Sloth Pair! Thank you to @lia-snow who shared the audio with me!

SERVAMP Special Admission Drama – Sloth Pair Chapter

※ Please don’t re-post the English translations without permission.

※ Also, if anyone knows where I can find the Alicein Brothers’ admission drama CD, please do tell me so I can translate it as well ^^

Under the cut, enjoy~

SERVAMP Special Admission Drama – Sloth Pair Chapter

  (Kuro playing video games)

MAHIRU: Kuro, you have nothing to do today, right? Wanna go out for a bit?

KURO: Huh? If it’s a supermarket timed sale I won’t go.

MAHIRU: Today’s different! I was thinking of watching a movie once in a while.

KURO: Movie?

MAHIRU: Yep! I got special one-time viewing tickets from Uncle.

KURO: I’m busy.

MAHIRU: You’re just playing games! You’ll get fat if you keep eating potato chips and lying around!

KURO: Oh, don’t mind me. I’m the type who doesn’t get fat no matter how much I eat.

MAHIRU: … It’s true so I won’t retaliate…!

KURO: We don’t really have to go to the theatre if it’s just a movie.

MAHIRU: The ticket’s valid for today only! There’s the SERVAMP-Eve distance limit too so let’s go.

KURO: (munching on potato chips) What a troublesome contract.

MAHIRU: Don’t you say that!

KURO: Is that a movie you really wanna see?

MAHIRU: Yeah, the preview on the news this morning looked super interesting.

MAHIRU: An athletic team on the verge of closing down’s aiming for Nationals, it said!

KURO: You really do love that kind of cliched youth story, huh?

MAHIRU: Well, sorry for being cliched! Simple’s good, isn’t it?

KURO: Then, feel free to re-enact that trailer you saw.

MAHIRU: E-eh?! Re-enact?! Me!? U-um…

(Mahiru and Kuro begin re-enacting)

MAHIRU: “I’m Shirota Mahiru, a first year high-school student.”

MAHIRU: “I’m your average track-and-field club member. Is what it’s supposed to be but…”

(sudden dramatic music)

MAHIRU: “What?! Me, participate in a town revival project marathon?!”

KURO: “Mahiru, it all relies on those legs of yours.”

MAHIRU: “B-but, I only run short distances.”

KURO: “A 100 meter track or a 42 kilometer one is no different [from each other] in this planet’s long history.”

MAHIRU: “If I don’t run the marathon then… the world will be swallowed in darkness?!”

KURO: “In order to stop that vampire’s wild ideas, the only thing you can do is overcome your personal best record.”

KURO: “We’ll do some training in C3’s special facilities!”

MAHIRU: “I was supposed to be an average high-school student!!”

KURO: “And so, it will be revealed… A deep connection between vampires and a marathon. Right now, a seal shall be placed on Mahiru’s right leg…”

MAHIRU: (groaning) “M-my leg…”

MAHIRU: (in pain) “S-somehow… My body is… hot…!”

MAHIRU: “Why must I—Something like this…?!”

KURO: (in a cheerful out-of-character tone) This spring, the curtain will rise on the best youthful story!

KURO: “The SERVAMP movie, “Mahiru On the Road!” will be coming to theaters near you this coming spring on April 7, 2018!”

KURO: “We will be… one with the wind!”

(re-enactment finishes)

MAHIRU: NO, WE WON’T!!

KURO: Do it, Mahiru. With the winds of Hakone.

MAHIRU: Who was that doing the last narration?! Was it you, Kuro?! Stop using a cheerful tone all of a sudden!

KURO: Guess I have no choice. I got interested so let’s go to the theater.

MAHIRU: What part of that “trailer” interested you?!

  ***

  KURO: Uwah… There’s too many people.

MAHIRU: This is normal for a theater on a weekend, you know? Come on, let’s go.

KURO: Impossible… Can’t deal. I’m going home.

MAHIRU: Wait a sec! Don’t go home!

MAHIRU: I’ll be fine even if it’s a movie that you wanna see so, come on.

KURO: What about “Mahiru on the Road?”

MAHIRU: That movie never existed from the beginning!

MAHIRU: Ah, anyway, it looks like they’re not showing the movie I wanna see in this theater.

KURO: Look that stuff up first before coming here.

MAHIRU: Sh-shut up! Sorry…

KURO: It’d be exposed that you’ve never had a movie date before.

MAHIRU: Sh-shut up! Leave it!

MAHIRU: Ah, look. What about this action movie? O-or this animal story, Nya-“Nyanderland…?” or something? It looks like it’s a tear-jerker.

KURO: Getting soothed by me is better than seeing Nyanderland, right? I’m much cuter than those actor cats. And moreover, mine’s natural.

MAHIRU: You just have too much confidence on your cat form—

(Kuro transforms into a cat)

MAHIRU: Ah!

KURO: Meow~ Meow~ It’s the soothing Kuro-chan’s big adventure~ Meow~

MAHIRU: Don’t turn into a cat in a place like this!

KURO: “I, the Healing Cat hero, go on an adventure together with my companions, the Hedgehog and the Fox in order to find a mysterious flower that blooms only on a full moon in order to wake Mahiru who’s fallen into an eternal sleep after pricking his finger on a spindle.”

MAHIRU: Th-that’s long…

KURO: “It’s to save Mahiru! Kitty Cat Punch~”

MAHIRU: What sort of movie is that?

KURO: (grunts) “Wh-who would’ve thought that Tsubaki would betray me?!”

MAHIRU: Tsubaki’s been our enemy to begin with.

KURO: (mimicking battle sounds) Nya, nya, nya, nya!

MAHIRU: Wai--what? You’re only doing sound effects now! Explain! What’s this cat doing?!

(Kuro transforms back into a human)

KURO: Well, all jokes aside…

MAHIRU: I can’t keep up with your “jokes” sometimes…

KURO: Shall I teach Mahiru-kun who’s never been on a movie date a smart way to buy tickets?

MAHIRU: That’s none of your business!

MAHIRU: I’ll go to the teller now so you wait there! Ah, don’t you go home either! (Mahiru walks away)

KURO: (sighs)

  ***

 MAHIRU: Hey, Kuro, sorry for the wait—Not here!

MAHIRU: Did that guy really go home…?!

KURO: You’re late, Mahiru.

MAHIRU: Kuro! Where did you—

KURO: (munching something) The shops.

MAHIRU: That’s too much no matter how you look at it! Why are you holding like, what, a bucket of popcorn?! I can’t see half of your face!

KURO: A popcorn and soda is a must when watching a movie. (Kuro slurps from his drink) Oh, and also, ice cream and churros…

MAHIRU: You said it was troublesome and now you look like you’re enjoying…

KURO: I’m a cat with high adaptability after all.

MAHIRU: Don’t say your specialties!

KURO: So, what movie are we gonna see?

MAHIRU: Eh? Some are full so I bought one that had some seats still left…

KURO: Hmm…

KURO: “A cursed melancholic mansion. Unexpected happenings that will dye it red…”

MAHIRU: Um, yeah… It’s a little scary but I had no choice so…

KURO: Eh~ I can’t handle horror though… And also brutal things.

MAHIRU: You’re a vampire, what are you saying…?

KURO: Y’know? Things like where zombies are running around or where there’s blood all over. I can’t handle things like that.

MAHIRU: But you make my blood spill all over, you know?!

KURO: Huh? I haven’t done it that bad. Compared to other vampire works, mine’s still mild.

MAHIRU: D-don’t compare… You’ll get scolded.

KURO: I’m a qualified scholar when it comes to vampire-related stuff.

MAHIRU: Where did you get qualified?!

KURO: We’ll have to go see if that’s something up to my standards—Huh?

MAHIRU: Hm, what?

KURO: This movie… The director, lead actor, screenplay writer…

KURO: It’s Tsubaki…

MAHIRU: Tsuba—EH?!

KURO: Actor: Belkia, Sounds: Watanuki Sakuya… Hey, hey, aren’t they all from Melancholy?

MAHIRU: Why are those guys making a movie? Are they bored?!

KURO: I won’t lose… We have to make the movie about the Healing Cat’s adventures, too…!

KURO: The director is… Simply thinking, it should be…

MAHIRU: Me! Wait, no, don’t make me say that!

KURO: Ah, the movie’s starting.

MAHIRU: Are we watching this?! I can only sense a lot of danger from it!

  ==END==

※ Please don’t re-post the English translations without permission.

[misterclandestine]

My Favorite Stuff from 2017

It’s been a tough one, but there was a lot of awesome stuff that made it easier. Here are some of my favorites in no particular order.

DAMN by Kendrick Lamar, Album - The World felt different once this was in it. Kenny’s 4th release proved he’s just as thoughtful, agile, and hungry as ever.

everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too by Johnny Sun, Book - You can go through this hybrid graphic novel/picture-book in one sitting, but there’s so much to chew on here that I recommend taking time with this story, which follows Jomny, a misspelling aliebn sent to earth to study human behavior. The brief, direct interactions simply, & hilariously reveal everything beautiful and tragic about what it is to be alive.  

Abstract: The Art of Design, Series - This Netflix series drops you into the lives of 6 masterful creators moving through subcultures of artistry (i.e Footwear Design, Illustration, Stage Design). Each revealing their varying methods, ideas, and joys about creativity. The standout episode follows Christoph Niemann, an illustrator for the New Yorker, and his blue-collar approach to his work.

Game of Thrones: The Spoils of War, TV Series - Though this season was rushed, clumsy and arguably unrecognizable from the compelling and prestigious drama that has unprecedentedly impacted our culture, you won’t find a more gripping hour of television. You know a show is wilding out when you don’t know who the hell to even root for anymore (Get em, Drogo! Wait, not Bronn! Wait, not the incestuous child killer!)

Insecure: Season 2, TV Series - The show you didn’t know you needed. Issa Rae’s hilarious dramedy paints a picture of what it’s like to be young, ambitious, unapologetic, lonely, intelligent, sexy, successful, and losing.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Season 4, TV Series - Oliver’s weekly recap simultaneously manages to be enlightening, funny, depressing, and hopeful. His takedown of Alex Jones was one of the most satisfying things I consumed all year.

Do Not Disturb by Drake, Song - the final track of More Life, a surprise ‘mixtape’, samples ‘Time’ by Snoh Alegra, and is one of his most personal songs to date. Without a chorus, he raps for 3 minutes about not needing romance, fear of irrelevancy, and the quickening passage of time. Gracefully shifting between insecurity and arrogance with dizzying fervor, Aubrey continues to capture the emotional woes of an entire generation.

Get Out, Film - Jordan Peele’s directorial film debut is the rare instant classic, and it’s not because it has one of the most crowd-pleasing endings of all time. The satirical, social commentary cloaked in the guise of a horror comedy, refuses definition, and peels back layers of race, and class previously untouched in cinema.

Melodrama by Lorde, Album - With a kajillion pounds of pressure on her shoulders to follow up one of the best pop debuts of all time, Ella delivers. She croons on top of Jack Antonoff’s unruly production about heartbreak, fame, and the feeble impact of acclaim. As one Twitterer put it “I gain an extra chromosome when the beat drops in ‘Sober II’.

mother!, Film - I can’t say I enjoyed this movie because it was the second most excruciating sit I had at the theater all year (kudos to Justice League), but it left me SHOOK. It’s clearly allegorical, but what makes it masterful is that the way you take this movie in is colored almost entirely by your own personal experiences.

Master of None: Season 2, TV Series - A perfect double-feature to Insecure (give me a shared universe where Dev and Issa are a power couple). Ansari’s relentlessly entertaining series accomplishes what every second season strives for. It tops the first, while redefining and expanding itself. The show is tirelessly committed to the experiences of ‘others’ (a deaf person, a lesbian, a non-believing muslim, service workers in NYC etc.) It’ll leave you crying, laughing, and hungry.

Split, Film - When we’re lucky, films hit ya with “SURPRISE, muthafucka” moments that Jesus himself would not see coming. Shyamalan’s second hit in a row (after a run of all time duds) ends with one 17 years in the making. The iconic villain terrifyingly played with razor-sharp swiftness by the world-class James McAvoy is the icing on the cake.

Isaiah Thomas, Athlete - If not for Russell Westbrook’s record breaking response to Kevin Durant’s betrayal, the “King in the Fourth” takes home the MVP. Watching him play through tears the day after his sister died in a car accident will stay with me forever. His 53 point performance on her birthday a few weeks later starkly reminded me of the unifying, powerful spirit of sport.

Moonlight’s Best Picture Win - I’ll begin by saying that I really liked La La Land. A month after we swore in Don, we got it wrong again… psych! I’ll never forget the roller coaster of emotion that came over me in this moment. Barry Jenkin’s tale told through 3 untraditional acts (titled ‘Little’, ‘Chiron’ & ‘Black’) was gorgeously shot, flawlessly acted, and supremely helmed. It arrived at a time we needed it most and Mahershala Ali FINALLY got his shine.

Coco, Film - We got one shot this year, and we NAILED it. This breathtaking portrait of Mexican culture demands to be seen on the big screen and illuminates the importance of dreams, family, and tradition. No manches!

‘No Man’s Land’ scene in Wonder Woman - There were two times in the theater this year that I felt that sinking drop of a roller coaster in my belly, this was one of them. Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins must be emboldened and protected at all cost.

Woody Harrelson, Actor - The rare movie-star actor quietly had a phenomenal year, further etching the grooves of his name into Hollywood lore. His turns in The Glass Castle, The War for the Planet of the Apes, and Three Billboards in Ebbing Missouri prove he’s STILL at the top of his game. I’m shocked that his heartbreaking portrayal of a drifting, alcoholic yet whimsical and passionate father in The Glass Castle hasn’t gotten more attention.

S - Town, Podcast - The colder you go into this one, the better. All I’ll say is that you’ll step away from this one feeling some type of way about people, the feeble sustainability of the planet, and clocks.

The World Series, Sports - The. Best. Ever. After being devastated by Hurricane Harvey, the Astros grant Houstonians some restoration via their first World Series Championship in a thrilling 7-game series that was literally witnessed by the World.

The Keepers, Documentary Series- This 7 episode series documenting the varying controversies surrounding the Catholic Church left me epiphanized about what it means to remove the seemingly impenetrable powers of institutions. Targeting one single individual, or a group of individuals or an organization won’t get it done. We must take down the viral ideas themselves.

Bladerunner 2049, Film - Aside from being wondrously constructed technically (you won’t see better production design or cinematography - give Deakins his Oscar now dammit), this story about a robot serves up a surprising amount of soul. Denis Villeneuve, solidifying his auteur status, delivers a nostalgic yet entirely unique follow up to the beloved sci fi classic.

‘Throne Room’ scene in The Last Jedi - This was the other time I felt like I was falling in the theater. Despite considerable problems, Rian Johnson showed us stuff we’ve never seen before in the SW universe. It’s the showdown you dream about as a kid.

The Big Sick, film - Kumail Nanjiani’s autobiographical story of how he met his lover is sorta the woke edition of Meet The Parents. Like Dev on MON, Kumail struggles to blaze trails while upholding loyalty to family and falls in love for a white girl along the way. Ray Romano and Holly Hunter turn in a pair of the year’s best performances.

Big Little Lies, Mini Series - I resisted the marketing for this one initially: dissatisfied, rich folk in Monterey. But the re-teaming of Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild, Dallas Buyers Club, Demolition) & Reese Witherspoon seemed promising. Momentum grew with each weekly installment (I overheard people theorizing whodoneit in restaurants), which is refreshing in the Netflix age. The leads are all stellar (believe the hype about Kidman) and Zoe Kravitz proves she should be working more.

Creature Comfort by Arcade Fire, Song - A painful examination of youth that’s equally heartbreaking and melodic.

Homecoming Season 2 - The fictional podcast about the remnants of a government coverup of a failed rehabilitation program for distressed veterans makes some questionable narrative choices in it’s second season and Oscar Isaac is absent throughout most of it (likely due to a loaded schedule). He does “appear” at the end of the second episode ‘CIPHER’, in a brilliant usage of audio storytelling, and it left me in puddles.

Mindhunter, TV Series - We all know Fincher is a technical maestro, but I don’t think he gets enough credit for being a complete storyteller, which he clearly is. The 13-episode made-to-binge Netflix series based off the book by the same name follows Holden Ford, an idealistic FBI profiler, and Bill Tench, played by Holt McCallany subverting every macho character role he’s ever taken on as a highly intelligent, hardened fed, as they attempt to break ground on our understandings of serial murderers. All of Fincher’s trademarks are there with sprinkled elements of Seven, & Zodiac.

Tyler the Creator’s Tiny Desk Concert, Podcast - I enjoyed ‘Flower Boy’, but didn’t find myself returning to it. That all changed after this. In a year of fantastic TDCs (i.e: Thundercat, Chance the Rapper) Tyler’s stands out. With help from a pair of stellar background singers, his array of talents are on full display, namely: composing and orchestrating melody and harmony.

Colin Kaepernick, Athlete - it’s not about the flag or the military don’t @ me.

20th Century Women, Film - Released wide in January, it remains one of the year’s best. Set gorgeously in 1970′s Santa Barbara, Mike Mills’ deeply personal tribute to motherhood, women, & outcasts overflows with heart.

Kamala Harris, (D) CA Senator - She is so bad, can we get started on the 2020 bumper stickers now?

What Now by Sylvan Esso, Album - ‘Hey Mami’ from their 2014 debut popped up on my Pandora one day and I was IN. Amelia Meath’s angelic vocals layered over Nick Sanborn’s unpredictable production is sublime. The “Echo Mountain Sessions” include dope af live recordings of the album’s standout tracks.

Logan, Film - The Wolverine movie we deserve also features a star-making performance from Dafne Keen and an unrecognizable Professor X. With a decade between the last time he inhabited his iconic portrayal of Charles Xavier, Sir Patrick Stewart strides (wheels?) back into the role with award worthy tact.

Fargo Season 3, TV Series - The best season yet and that’s really saying something. David Thewlis is haunting as Varga, the creepiest, most frightening villain in the series’ history and a collection of top-tier thespians rounds out the rest of the cast. There’s also a moment in one of the later episodes similar to the ending of ‘Split’ that’s a real delight.  

Mr. Robot Season 3, TV Series - Showrunner Sam Esmail moves us through this complex dystopia, which has begun to bear resemblance to our reality lately, with complete CTRL. We see Mr. Robot AND Bobby Canavale like never before. That oner episode is pretty cool too, but it’s not even the season’s best.

Other Notables: Patton Oswalt: Annihilation, Girls Trip, The Leftovers Season 3, Glow, Twin Peaks: The Return, Ingrid Goes West, BEAUTIFUL THUGGER GIRLS by Young Thug, Add Violence by NIN, Good Time, Stranger Things: Season 2, Legion, Dunkirk, Crashing, NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES by N.E.R.D, 4:44 by Jay-Z, Dirty John, Wind River, Dear White People

FYI: I still haven’t seen/listened to a lot of stuff, namely all the big award contending films.

[singlehole9-blog]

Phoenix Forgotten [Blu-Ray] (2017)

Synopsis: 20 years after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of mysterious lights appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition. Runtime: 87 min. Price: $39.99 Release Date: 8/1/2017 Bonus: ? Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Justin Barber and Actors Florence Hartigan, Chelsea Lopez and Justin Matthews ? �Sophie�s Story� Featurette ? �Phoenix Found� Featurette ? Trailer and Previews ? DVD Copy Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (August 3, 2017) A new entry in the �found footage� genre, 2017�s Phoenix Forgotten takes us to the Arizona location alluded to in the title. On March 13, 1997, sightings of strange lights over Phoenix create curiosity and intrigue among the locals. In that regard, three teens � Ashley Foster (Chelsea Lopez), Josh Bishop (Luke Spencer Roberts) and Mark Abrams (Justin Matthews) � look into the source of the visuals. They vanish and 20 years later, Josh�s sister Sophie (Florence Hartigan) reopens the investigation into their disappearance. Forgotten tells its story via the framework of Sophie�s research, and it uses a documentary setup to show us the info. The movie tells us that Sophie uses this format as her entry point into her pursuit of the truth. Because of that, Forgotten largely comes across as a documentary, though not one with a concise focus. Honestly, it seems unclear how much of the movie shows Sophie�s final product and how much depicts her work on this project. Stylistic confusion aside, Forgotten fails to turn into anything scary, intense or memorable. It mixes its styles in a coherent enough manner but it can�t do anything to churn drama out of its material. During the film�s first two-thirds, we mainly follow the mix of Sophie�s investigation and the �1997� footage. These moments set up the story but don�t seem especially intriguing, as they feel like they exist to fill time more than anything else. When the third act arrives, we focus entirely on the teens in 1997, and in theory, this ratchets up the action. The kids deal with the mysteries of what they find in the Arizona desert and we get some form of resolution about their disappearance. However, nothing especially exciting occurs. The movie tosses loud noises and attempts at intensity our way, but none of these muster an impact. Instead, we�re left with a lot of meandering around the desert and the occasional jolt. The movie uses a framework with a Blair Witch Project feel, as amateur filmmakers go into a remote area and confront the unknown. Blair Witch managed a certain sense of dread, but Forgotten doesn�t present a similar impact. The characters seem to do little more than say �did you hear that?� or �did you see that?� to each other, and their observations fail to connect. All of this leaves Forgotten as a toothless thriller. We never invest in the characters and we don�t really care what happens to them. Their adventures lack drama and impact, as does the dull movie itself. Phoenix Forgotten appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc, though the clips supposedly from 1997 used a 1.33:1 ratio. �Found footage� movies always look erratic, and that was the case here. But since I expected that, I couldn�t complain. The �2017 shots� actually looked very good, as they offered nice sharpness and clarity. Colors were a bit subdued but they seemed fairly full, and blacks/shadows displayed solid delineation. As expected, the �1997 footage� looked much worse. These videotaped elements tended to be soft and murky, with artifacts and other interference. Colors became muddy and bland as well. Again, this made sense, as the �1997� material seem flawed. In the end, this left us with an appropriate transfer for a movie that mixed attractive and ugly visuals. Whereas some other �found footage� films featured broad soundscapes, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Forgotten veered more monaural. For much of the movie, the audio focused on the front center channel. Matters expanded in a mild manner at times, which meant some use of the sides and rears, but those moments usually did little to expand the soundfield. Occasional snatches of score did the most with the side/rear channels, and a few sequences during the third act brought the surrounds to vivid life � too vivid, honestly, since these elements violated any sense that we actually watched circa 1997 videotape. Speech was fairly natural and concise; some lines got buried but that felt appropriate. Music seemed full and warm, while effects appeared adequate, with decent delineation. Not much here excelled but the audio suited the material � even if I remain bothered by the surround usage for the �1997� footage. A few extras flesh out the disc, and these open with an audio commentary from writer/director Justin Barber and actors Florence Hartigan, Chelsea Lopez and Justin Matthews. All four sit together for a running, screen-specific look at events that inspired the film and story/characters, sets and locations, various effects, cast and performances, and related topics. I admit I didn�t expect much from this track, but it actually covers the film fairly well. We get a good overview of relevant areas and the discussion moves at a nice pace. Nothing here threatens to become stellar, but it�s a solid commentary. Two featurettes follow, and Sophie�s Story runs three minutes, 12 seconds. This one purports to show a TV report about the Sophie character�s investigation. It acts as a decent teaser for the movie but it doesn�t give us anything else. Phoenix Found goes for seven minutes, 16 seconds and offers notes from Barber, Matthews, Lopez, producers Wes Ball, Mark Canton and Ridley Scott, writer TS Nowlin, and actor Luke Spencer Roberts. We get background about the events that inspired the film as well as aspects of casting and the shoot. This becomes a fluffy PR piece and little more. The disc opens with ads for Alien: Covenant, Morgan and The Belko Experiment. Sneak Peek adds a promo for American Horror Story: Hotel and we also get the trailer for Forgotten. A second disc provides a DVD copy of Forgotten. It contains the same extras as the Blu-ray. If you hope Phoenix Forgotten will reinvigorate the �found footage� genre, you�ll encounter disappointment. Click Here and dull, the movie never connects with its subject matter. The Blu-ray offers appropriate picture and audio as well as a smattering of supplements. This ends up as a less than enthralling thriller.

[glittership]

Episode #60 — "Unstrap Your Feet" by Emma Osborne

Download episode. 

And here’s the RSS feed: http://glittership.podbean.com/feed/

Episode 60 is a GLITTERSHIP ORIGINAL and is part of the Spring 2018 issue!

Support GlitterShip by picking up your copy here: http://www.glittership.com/buy/

      Unstrap Your Feet

by Emma Osborne

    The mud on your legs covers you from knees to toes so I can’t quite tell where the soft leather of your boots meets your flesh until blood blooms from your ankles.

I offer you wine. You take a long sip and hand me back the glass as you unstrap your feet. Your hooves shine as you toss your humanity into a pile by the door.

You sniff the air. You take in the saffron, the lemon, the scorch of sage.

“Darling,” you say. “I thought I told you I was sick of fish?”

You did, but that was a year ago and I thought we’d come around to it again. My eyes linger on your slim patterns. They’re thin like a doe’s legs; one good crack with a cricket bat would bring you down.

  [Full story after the cut.]

  Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip Episode 60! This is your host, Keffy, and I’m super excited to share this story with you. Today we have a GlitterShip original, “Unstrap Your Feet” by Emma Osborne and a poem, “The Librarian” by Rae White.

Both pieces are part of the new GlitterShip issue that is now available. The Spring 2018 issue of GlitterShip is available for purchase at glittership.com/buy and on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. If you’re a Patreon supporter, you should have access to the new issue waiting for you when you log in. The new issue is only $2.99 and all of our back issues are now $1.49.

GlitterShip is also a part of the Audible Trial Program. This means that just by listening to GlitterShip, you are eligible for a free 30 day membership on Audible, and a free audiobook to keep.

If you’re looking for an excellent book with queer characters, Rivers Solomon’s An Unkindness of Ghosts is an amazing listen. The story features a colony ship having power problems and some internal unrest. Our protagonist, Aster, is a brilliant scientist and doctor trapped in an extremely socially and racially segregated society. The book also deals with non-neurotypicality, intersex, and fluid/questioning gender identity. An Unkindness of Ghosts is part mystery, part colony ship drama, and part coming of age story (though it is not YA). Rivers has amazing prose, and the narration in this audio book sets it off wonderfully.

To download An Unkindness of Ghosts for free today, go to www.audibletrial.com/glittership — or choose another book if you’re in the mood for something else.

There are content warnings on this episode for a very, very sexy poem and descriptions of domestic emotional abuse in “Unstrap Your Feet.”

    Rae White is a non-binary poet, writer, and zinester living in Brisbane. Their poetry collection Milk Teeth won the 2017 Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize and is published by the University of Queensland Press. Rae’s poem ‘what even r u?’ placed second in the Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Rae’s poetry has been published in Meanjin Quarterly, Cordite Poetry Review, Overland, Rabbit, and others.

    The Librarian

by Rae White

    locked in ∞ nostalgia after dark ∞ thumb through favourites: nin-like erotica ∞ with storms simulating hunger, flirting & fireworks, cruise ship kisses ∞ here, every heel

click is echo-church, like the ruckus I make at funerals ∞ every movement casts my shadow: spells spilling over bookshelves ∞ I’m not trapped, I have a key ∞ but I stay curled in the wicker chair ∞ waiting

for echo-click of ribs and what remains ∞ the flossed fragments of my midnight ghost with her yawn-wide kiss & skinless skull ∞ her cartilage grip & gasp & pelvic bone clasped tight to my thigh ∞ her shiver-glitches, each more grating & copper-tasting than the last ∞ her brittle pushes as she groans ∞ against my knuckled hand ∞ I taste soot & swordfish

later ∞ I press her between folds of wildflower books & sing timidly of the moon as she sleeps

      Emma Osborne is a queer fiction writer and poet from Melbourne, Australia. Emma’s writing has appeared in Shock Totem, Apex Magazine, Queers Destroy Science Fiction, Pseudopod, the Review of Australian Fiction and the Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror, and has fiction forthcoming at Nightmare Magazine.

A proud member of Team Arsenic, Emma is a graduate of the 2016 Clarion West Writers Workshop. Emma is a former first reader at Clarkesworld Magazine, and current first reader at Arsenika.

Emma currently lives in Melbourne, drinking all of the coffee and eating all of the food, but has a giant crush on Seattle and turns up under the shadow of the mountain at every opportunity. You can find Emma on Twitter at @redscribe.

    Unstrap Your Feet

by Emma Osborne

    The mud on your legs covers you from knees to toes so I can’t quite tell where the soft leather of your boots meets your flesh until blood blooms from your ankles.

I offer you wine. You take a long sip and hand me back the glass as you unstrap your feet. Your hooves shine as you toss your humanity into a pile by the door.

You sniff the air. You take in the saffron, the lemon, the scorch of sage.

“Darling,” you say. “I thought I told you I was sick of fish?”

You did, but that was a year ago and I thought we’d come around to it again. My eyes linger on your slim patterns. They’re thin like a doe’s legs; one good crack with a cricket bat would bring you down.

“I want to eat something warm-blooded,” you say, as you divest yourself of your coat, your scarf. “Ribs. A steak. Liver.”

You smell of honey and rosemary; honey for sweetness and rosemary for fidelity, remembrance and luck. I wonder how long it’ll take to re-make dinner.

Too long.

My fingers tangle in my pocket, deep down where you shouldn’t be able to see. Maybe I can talk you around. Your eyes sketch over my shoulder, my elbow. You can see the tension in my muscles, can map my posture and my heart rate and you know that my nails are digging into my palms nearly before I feel the skin split.

“We’ll order something,” I say, but it’s risky to have something delivered to the door when you’ve taken off your feet. Once, somebody saw, and then they didn’t ever see anything again. There’s still a stain in the laundry that I can’t scrub away. 

You pause for a moment, just for the pulse of a few seconds, but it’s enough for my stomach to plunge and my mind to spin out infinite possibilities. The end of each thread is a broken finger or a pair of shattered wine glasses or just a cool, detached look that I’ll turn over and over in my head at night, knowing that despite our vows, sealed with blood and smoke and iron, you’ve decided that you’re going to have to kill me after all.

“Fine,” you say, “anything but pizza.”

These are the kinds of conversations that normal people have, every night, every month, with wrinkled brows and hunched shoulders and with a creased blazer hung up for another weary tomorrow.

You take your time in the shower while I call for dinner. With any luck you’ll stay there, or in the bedroom, until the delivery comes.

I’ve decided on BBQ from the place three streets away. They don’t ask questions if we order mostly meat, although I add a couple of sides—mac and cheese and some fries—for show. When the food arrives, I take care to open the door only a few inches, to take the bags and construct a “Thanks!” and to give a reassuring smile. I can hear you clattering around in the kitchen. I can nearly hear you scowling at the unwanted fish, scraped into a bowl for me to eat tomorrow.

I plate up dinner and you join me at the table with your canines glinting. I would have thought you’d have dull herbivore teeth, what with the hooves, but you have your father’s jawline, his bite. Sometimes I run my tongue over my own teeth, fearful that they’re sharpening and wondering what it would mean if they did. The food smells glorious, though I’m the only one who eats the sides. The mac and cheese is chewy and rich and creamy and I savor every bite after a diet so heavy in meat.

“Tell me about your day,” I say, nibbling on a forkful of pulled pork. I don’t care, not really, but it’s one of the only ways I can get news of the outside world on an ordinary, everyday level. The news is good for broad strokes, but I don’t get to hear about the lavender blooming in Mrs. Dancy’s yard or the color of the sky in midwinter dusk.

You’re in a good mood from the food so you appease me with small stories whilst you tear rich, fatty meat from a rib-bone. You’ve got a smear of sauce on your chin. The scent of hickory smoke has soaked into your skin. When I remember the days I had dared to drag my fingers through your hair, I tamp down a shudder and wonder if your budding horns rasp more like bones or fingernails.

Our wedding feast was nothing like this, but I suppose I’d always known you had secrets. Still, the feast was glorious and fine, a celebration for the ages. Oh, that night. We’d hoisted my mother’s crystal and downed the finest champagne after the ceremony under the oak tree.

My father was in charge of speeches and keeping cups full. Your mother roasted us a pair of swans. We ate them with silver forks and our fingers. There were charred potatoes and glass jars full of honey and red apples baked into pies. Bowls of cherries as bright as blood dotted the groaning tables and the air was heavy with the scent of roasted figs.

I hadn’t known then that your feet came off. I’d only known that your smile made my heart bloom like a blushing rose and that your kisses tasted of jasmine.

Your father was in charge of the music, and soon enough everyone was spinning, dancing, stamping to his wild fiddle, all red-faced and heaving, their legs shaking as they gasped for breath.

I was happy that night. Sometimes I think I can still smell it, as if happiness is a hint of perfume saved in a handkerchief that I’ve tucked into the pocket of an old coat.

You’re finished with your food so I load the dishwasher. I used to like washing the dishes by hand and carefully wiping them clean with my favorite faded red dishtowel, but we both agreed that the dishwasher is better for the environment.

It’s curious, the things you care about.

I try not to make any unnecessary noise as we wind down the hours before bed. Sometimes I can get away with reading on the couch for a few hours. If I’m almost entirely still, your eyes skip over me when you’re restlessly roaming the house, your hooves clacking on the floorboards.

I tried to get out once.

I still have the scars on my ribs from your teeth.

I try not to care what you are doing, but tonight in the basement it involves knives and the squeal of metal on metal. I can’t help but look up when you walk past the lounge room, your muscled arms popping with excited veins, your face flushed, your hair a mess.

Our eyes meet. I’m usually more careful than that, and look away, but this time I smile in my panic.

You smile back, delighted.

All I can see is your teeth.

I used to be so much bigger, so much more. I had dreams and loves and fancies; my heart was spun sugar and grace. That me is dead now, my delicate heart crushed. You have eroded me like a hard rain erodes a mountain: bit by bit; thousands of tiny strikes.

You’re cooking something in the kitchen that smells like apples and roasted flesh. It’s rare enough for you to do so, and anxiety tightens my chest as I wonder what it means. I try to tune it out, to hold my breath, but the house is full of the smell.

When you finally call me to bed, I slide a marker into my book. The pages are sharp on my fingertips.

“Goodnight, darling,” you breathe into my ear after you’ve kissed me.

“Goodnight,” I say, my eyes squeezed shut in the dark.

You know the catch of my breath when it hitches; you know the sound of my tears as they track down my cheeks. I’ve learned to lie flat and still under the smoke-gray blankets, to move only when necessary, to not roll. When I was young, I’d sleep carelessly, roaming about the bed like a slumbering explorer, one leg out at an angle and with an open palm up to the sky. These days it’s all straight lines and aching bones from a lack of shift.

Most nights, I don’t sleep. Not until you’ve gotten up and strapped your feet back on and gone into the world. When the sun peeps through the curtains and I’m sure you’ve gotten clear of the house I collapse onto the couch, tuck a blanket around me. The bed reminds me of nothing but cold misery.

Soon you’ll be home again, and we’ll feast again, smile carefully at each other over bone-white plates and French cutlery with scarlet handles.

I spend the rest of the day cleaning with vinegar and lemons. I square your sharpened tools away, grant symmetry to the house. I listen to news radio as I tidy, desperate for the sound of another human voice.

Sometimes I write on scraps of paper, on anything that will take my mark. I write about me and you, and I am sure that it reads like a fairy tale, or a biblical nightmare, or perhaps something stitched together from their forgotten parts. I can’t risk you finding my words. When I have covered every scrap of surface with truths I place the paper on my tongue, pulp it with my dull human teeth, and devour us.

I check my body over in the shower when I make it under the hot water in the sun-bright afternoon. My scars are days old, weeks old, a hundred years old. There’s nothing poking through my scalp yet, and my feet are just feet. You are the one who changed.

This evening when you come home you’re carrying something in a leather satchel that smells of blood and beeswax. You hold my eye with a wild smile as you snap it open.

Inside is a new pair of feet.

I know them because they’re my feet, right down to the cracked heels and the crooked little toes.

“These are for you,” you say, measuring my calves with your eyes and squinting at my shoes. “Now that you’re ready.”

Your eyes are sharp, loving, sparking like struck flint.

What did I do to make you think that this is what I wanted? My face twists into a grimace that you mistake for a smile.

I take the feet.

You grin like the sun coming up and slip past me into the kitchen. I merely stand, horrified but absently holding the feet that I could use to walk outside.

When you return, you’re holding a small plate heavy with warmed-up dark meat and pale apple flesh.

“Baked apples, lungs, and liver, with plenty of butter,” you say. The fruit of temptation. Organs of the breath and soul. Milk and meat.

So that’s what you were cooking.

I know my legends well enough to know that eating from this plate will change me forever. I gently place my new feet near the door next to yours and take up the silver fork.

“Let me,” you say. The last time I saw your face this bright was under the light of a thousand fireflies on our wedding day.

Refusing you has always been an impossibility.

You ease a slice of liver into my mouth. As I chew I feel my calves split like an inseam. I thought it would hurt when my old feet slid off, but you kneel before me and tug my ankles and look, they’re free and loose and bloody. It smells like a slaughterhouse in here. Blood and sharpness.

You must hold me upright as I kick out of my old feet. My new hooves haven’t hardened yet; they’re still feathery and glistening from their birth. There’s bile in my throat and I can only hope you put my wild pulse down to excitement.

You ease me onto the couch with your strong arms and kiss my forehead. I’m panicking, but I hold myself as still as I can. What have I become? What will I become?

I am nauseous but suddenly terribly hungry, for meat and flowers and fresh air. I scuff my hooves on the floor. You trace the rubbery feathers with a loving fingertip. In an hour, maybe two, my hooves will be firm and ready to encase in their disguise of flesh, and the two of us will leave the house, together.

“Darling,” you say, “What do you feel like eating?” You clasp my fingers, too tight.

“Whatever you want,” I whisper, trying desperately to keep my voice steady. You look so happy.

I’ve gotten everything wrong, everything. Yes, I will walk outside, and yes I will lift a neighbor’s rose to my eager inhale, but you will be there beside me every single second.

I laugh, unable to contain my tears.

Now it’s the whole world.

The whole world is my cage.

We go.

  END

  “The Librarian” is copyright Rae White 2018.

“Unstrap Your Feet” is copyright Emma Osborne 2018.

This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the Google Audio Library.

You can support GlitterShip by checking out our Patreon at patreon.com/keffy, subscribing to our feed, or by leaving reviews on iTunes. You can also pick up a free audio book by going to www.audibletrial.com/glittership or buying your own copy of the Spring 2018 issue at www.glittership.com/buy

Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back soon with a reprint of “To Touch the Sun Before it Fades” by Aimee Ogden.

Episode #60 — “Unstrap Your Feet” by Emma Osborne was originally published on GlitterShip

[colbertnegotiatedrugby]

Video Editing Techniques

Video Editing Techniques

Software

Picking the right software is a personal preference choice, however depending on your editing style one particular software might work better than others. The top four at the moment are Premier Pro, Avid, Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve, but others include Lightworks, Sony Vegas and Autodesk Smoke.

Premier pro is known for its consistent updates, multi-cam editing, a customizable interface and is helpful when linking with other Adobe software. Its probably the most popular software for video editors to work on. The best thing about Premier Pro is being able to swap between different Adobe programs like After Effects, Audition, SpeedGrade and Media Encoder. Being able to send timelines between programs is really handy. The only downside is that you have to be subscribed to Creative Cloud which is £50 a month, luckily for us we have free up to date access to all of Adobe's software.

Avid costs £39 a month. Its really good for working on large projects, has server rendering compatibility and a huge feature set, but it can be rather clunky and harder to learn than other software's out there. It is favoured by Hollywood productions and normally used to edit feature length projects due to its non-destructive editing (NLE). Avid is designed to edit using just keyboard shortcuts alone which saves a lot of time in post production.

Final Cut Pro is the most expensive software out there for video editing costing £299. Its fast, has multi-cam support, compound clips and a sleek simple interface. The only downside is that it is Mac only; luckily for us we both have Macs. FCPX is a non-linear editing system so it performs non-destructive editing on your footage which is helpful, as well as background rendering and multi-cam editing. For the price though, it is very similar to Premier Pro and Avid.

DaVinci Resolve has great colour features, a sleek design, node-based effects and most importantly is free. Its the lesser known of the four as only recently has it become more than just colour correction software and doesn't have a lot of tutorials for editing. It is being constantly updated by Blackmagic and could become more used than other editing software out there soon.

Learn the Shortcuts

Learning your shortcuts is the best way to streamline your editing process. Once you figure out that the “L” button speeds up your playback, you’ll never want to sit through an interview in real time ever again.

Add Music and SFX

If learning shortcuts is the easiest way to speed up your editing process, then the addition of music and sound effects to your project is the easiest way to add depth and layers to your project. With music, make sure you choose something that fits with your visuals. A metal song doesn’t really work with a glorious shot of a field of tulips (unless they’re like, totally metal tulips), and a slow motion shot of a car-chase explosion doesn’t really warrant an upbeat disco track (although I would love to see it). Make sure to cut to the beat of the song, because it matters. A well-timed cut to the beat can be iconic, or it can be completely forgettable, if it’s done right or wrong.

For sound effects, subtle crowd noises, background sound effects, and other audio cues help the audience feel like they’re really experiencing what they’re seeing on the screen. If you’ve ever seen any behind-the-scenes videos of productions, you’ll notice that there’s rarely music or sound effects being played in real time; it’s all added in post.

For post-production, you should also always properly mix the music and sound effects with your footage audio to make it sound as natural as possible. As something of a side note, all of Pond5’s music and sound effect are available within the Adobe Premiere interface with our free Adobe Add-on, so you can plug temporary tracks into your project directly and see how they fit before you decide to purchase.

Ramp It Up… Or Down

Speed ramping is used for action scenes where something needs to be emphasized in either slow or fast motion, but starts in real time (see: 300, Inception, Transformers, Saving Private Ryan). It can also be used to finesse your clips so that they fit together better within your sequence. If you’ve got a three-second hole in your sequence, but your clip is currently 3.5 seconds, experiment with ramping up the speed to the right duration to make it fit. Conversely, you can slow it down if the gap is longer than your clip. Just make sure it fits and looks realistic!

When in Doubt, Cover It Up

If you’re editing an interview, or if your subject is telling a story and it seems to drag, the best thing to do is to add some b-roll or a+b roll to keep it interesting. Cut back to the person who’s talking if they’re saying something powerful or important, but don’t linger too long before cutting away just to break it up. If you’ve shot a lot of interviews, you’ll know that some subjects say “um,” “uh,” and “you know” a lot, and may ramble at times. You can cover up all these cuts while keeping the story moving. It also doesn’t hurt to go away to some live audio (a+b) of them to re-set, transition, or introduce the audience to another setting.

Space It Out, for Dramatic Effect

By adding footage to either cover up cuts, make your video flow more authentically, or transition to another location or idea, you’re making for a better piece — but these may not add any drama or tension. You can make your subject’s impactful statements stand out more if you give them some breathing room and let the viewer reflect on what they’ve just seen and heard. Keep the visuals going, but stop the a-roll and let the music and/or visuals aid the pause by increasing the volume or putting in the perfect visual cap on the soundbite. This video is a great example of letting the statements breathe while showing the wonderful visuals to enhance the story.

Stabilize It

In addition to poor-quality audio, having shaky footage can be a death sentence for your project. The good news is, there are great plug-ins and tools that will help you stabilize your footage that are out there, and even built-in to your editing software. Become very well-acquainted with them, because this can be a game-changer. Warp Stabilizer in Adobe Premiere/After Effects and SmoothCam in Final Cut X are the big ones, but there’s a powerful third-party plugin called ReelSteady that works really well in After Effects, from my experience. You can find apps that stabilize your phone video, as well, such as the well-reviewed Emulsio.

Re-Frame, If You Can

These days, cameras are shooting higher and higher resolutions, which has created the ability for editors to re-frame and push/pull the footage to interesting effects. Since 1080p is still the standard delivery resolution across many jobs, you have a lot of space to explore with 2K-and-above resolutions. Try adding a subtle push-in during a tense scene, or position your subject in the center of the frame if their eye-line was off. You can possibly even get two shots out of one clip if you’re shooting ultra hi-res and downscaling it.

The MAJOR caveat to this is to not go overboard, and try to avoid scaling up beyond 110% — especially if your camera isn’t that great. Pixelated footage is very noticeable, and a re-positioned clip doesn’t work if the actors or subject look out of place.

Colour Grading & Correction

The terms “color correction” and “color grading” are often used interchangeably, but refer to different processes of editing color in video. Color correction is usually done first. This is because raw footage tends to be over-saturated and the colors need to be balanced out. The process of color correcting does just that, by making sure footage looks exactly the way that the human eye sees things. If the white and black levels match what the human eye sees as white and black, then the other colors should be balanced as a result.

Color grading is the next step, where you create the actual aesthetic of your video. But this is an entirely optional process, especially if the film is meant to be a realistic as possible. However, the right color grading does help convey a visual tone or mood to heighten the narrative. For example, you may use darker tones to elevate the storytelling in a horror film.

[mrmichaelchadler]

Home Entertainment Consumer Guide: April 19, 2018

5 NEW TO NETFLIX

"Beyond Skyline" "Eddie Murphy: Delirious" "Lakeview Terrace" "Nowhere Boy" "Porto"

7 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

"The Awful Truth" (Criterion)

I love when the Criterion Collection digs into the comedy archives and unleashes films like those of Preston Sturges or the prime of Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. And so I was ecstatic to hear they were restoring the truly phenomenal "The Awful Truth," one of the best films of its kind ever made. He made a lot of wonderful films over the course of his notable career, but if you wanted to put one movie into a capsule and shoot it into space for other worlds to know about the star power of Cary Grant, this might be the one. He's so effortlessly charming here, and his work is well analyzed by David Cairns on a special feature. As for other bonus material, this one is a little light when compared to other Criterions, but you get an amazing film and an essay by the singular Molly Haskell. That's reason enough to click on the link below.

Buy it here 

Special Features New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray New interview with critic Gary Giddins about director Leo McCarey New video essay by film critic David Cairns on Cary Grant’s performance Illustrated 1978 audio interview with actor Irene Dunne Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1939, starring Grant and Claudette Colbert PLUS: An essay by film critic Molly Haskell

"The Commuter"

Seeing this film at Ebertfest on the same day I caught a screening of Andrew Davis' "The Fugitive," I was reminded why I like the Liam Neeson action films, especially those directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (who did this, "Unknown, "Non-Stop," and "Run All Night"). I actually think history will be kind to these movies, especially in the "watch every time they're on cable department". This one is blissfully simple as Neeson plays a man on a commuter train who is offered $100k simply to find someone. When he realizes why he has to find this person, he tries to turn the tables on the people involved and, well, things get crazy. I'm a sucker for streamlined action films and the great majority of this movie takes place on one train. It's effective and fun. Kind of like the story of Richard Kimble.

Buy it here 

Special Features End of the Line Off the Rails

"Knowing"

Alex Proyas' "Knowing" has been a fascinating film for me since it was released for one simple reason: Roger Ebert gave it four stars! It's often pointed to as one of those films that illustrates how much Roger was willing to go out on a limb. We're increasingly in a world of film criticism that often feels like it's built around consensus, in which everyone has to agree that something is fantastic or awful, but Roger never cared about that. Not once. He always went his own way, and he was willing to embrace a movie like this that spoke to him even if the rest of the critical body didn't agree. It's been re-released in a 4K Blu-ray and it's a better film than you remember (even if Roger's perfect rating may not be something I agree with) but it's a reminder that it's important to be in the minority sometimes when it comes to opinions. It's what makes us human.

Buy it here 

Special Features Audio Commentary with Director Alex Proyas Knowing All: The Making of a Futuristic Thriller Featurette Visions of the Apocalypse Featurette 5 Things Worth Knowing About Knowing Featurette (4K Blu-ray Only)

"Mohawk"

Ted Geoghegan is a long-time associate as a publicist and a friend, but I really don't think that colors my opinion of his work as a filmmaker. His startling "We Are Still Here" announced a director who was willing to do things a little differently from the rest of the indie horror scene, and this film really makes his unique voice clear in that it doesn't feel like anything else that came out last year. It's a story of Native American culture that's also a thriller and a story of empowerment, and in an era in which so many genre films look alike, it's so refreshing to see something like "Mohawk" that stands apart from the crowd. You should check it out.

Buy it here 

Special Features -None

"Molly's Game"

This column largely consists of films that I would recommend to buyers or renters, but I often extend it to include things that I realize more people like than I do, which is the case with Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut. I recognize that my opinion of this film is in the minority and that people who like it may want to know it's on Blu-ray and DVD. I will say that I still find it highly overrated, largely because of the issues I have with Sorkin's writing lately, and the deep misogyny embedded in it. Even this story that should be empowering given its protagonist culminates in a scene that fractures the entire narrative purpose of the story. I will say that the performances here are uniformly strong, including Jessica Chastain, Michael Cera, and Bill Camp, but I wish another director could have smoothed out some of Sorkin's rough edges.

Buy it here 

Special Features Building an Empire

"Phantom Thread"

There are no rough edges in P.T. Anderson's latest, a film that I'm increasingly thinking might actually be the best of 2017. Talk about a film that holds up well on repeat viewing. This movie is a masterpiece of tonal balance and production value, anchored by not just one great performance but three. I love everything about "Phantom Thread," and have written about it too many times to add anything new to the conversation, other than to mention that it's a film that has gotten better every time I see it. That's not uncommon for Anderson films. 

Buy it here 

Special Features Camera Tests – With audio commentary by Paul Thomas Anderson For the Hungry Boy – A collection of deleted scenes. Music by Jonny Greenwood House of Woodcock Fashion Show – Fashion Show narrated by Adam Buxton Behind the Scenes Photographs – Photographs from the film by Michael Bauman with demo versions of Jonny Greenwood's score

"The Post"

I am a HUGE fan of Steven Spielberg's historical dramas, going to bat for "Lincoln," "Munich," and "Bridge of Spies" as being among the best works of his career. And so I was remarkably excited for "The Post," but consider second-tier Spielberg, in the good-not-great category of his career. Sure, the film is technically unimpeachable, and it contains the most interesting Meryl Streep performance in years, but it's easy to see how rushed this production was, and I wish everyone involved had taken a little more time to round out the reasons why they were making it and imbue it with a bit more heart and soul. Still, second-tier Spielberg is well-worth seeing.

Buy it here 

Special Features Layout: Katharine Graham, Ben Bradlee & The Washington Post Editorial: The Cast and Characters of The Post The Style Section: Re-Creating an Era Stop the Presses: Filming The Post Arts and Entertainment: Music for The Post

from All Content https://ift.tt/2HMxQ7f

[flickdirect]

Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal was released in 1982 and became a staple of many 1980's kids' film experiences. The film, while geared towards children, wasn't a typical fluff piece that the 1980s family/children film genre can be guilty of. Through it, we were introduced to a whole new world of characters that have endured in our hearts throughout the past 35 years.

The film follows Jen (voiced by Henson himself), who is raised by a race called the Mystics and is the last known survivor of his race, the Gelflings. He is sent on a journey by his master to repair the Dark Crystal, which was responsible for the balance in their universe. After the crystal was broken, an evil race called the Skeksis gained control and brought corruption to their planet, Thra. If Jen can repair the crystal, the balance will be brought back to the universe and the rule of the Skeksis will end. Along his journey, Jen learns that he isn't the only Gelfling to survive when he meets Kira, who was raised by Podlings after her parents were killed. Together they must set out to complete the task of repairing the crystal, the task that is only destined to be completed by a Gelfling, and save their universe.

It's safe to say Jim Henson was a groundbreaking artist in the field of puppetry. With The Dark Crystal, we see Henson's designs come to life through complicated animatronics and puppets. His characters were partly influenced by the artwork of Lewis Carroll, showing crocodiles wearing elaborate wardrobes and living in a palace. He also wanted to bring a darker sense of storytelling back to the children film world, because he felt as if it wasn't realistic to always make stories so "happy" and "safe". He wanted to instill a bit of anxiety into the viewer; for them to feel the gravity of the film. He also pulled inspiration for the film from The Land of Gorch, which featured a more adult form of puppetry, and was featured as skits on Saturday Night Live. His team's artistry and commitment to perfecting every move is evident and the realistic look shines through.

The video is presented in it's original 2.39:1 aspect ration and encoded in HEVC / H.265 coded with 2160 lines of resolution using HDR10. The picture itself is absolutely amazing. Henson and Froud made every aspect down to the smallest detail of the film true. Even the finest blade of fake forest grass looks absolutely stunning and with the HDR10 balance thrown in. It truly feels like you are actually there in the world of The Dark Crystal and it is impressive. The real treat for this re-release of the film is the inclusion of a Dolby Atmos soundtrack that been created just for the theatrical release and this 4K UHD version of the film. It is amazing and truly something to hear. Instead of just having the world of the Crystal surround you, it actually takes up the entire room. From left to right, from top to bottom there is no escaping the world of fantasy that Henson created.

This 4K UHD release IS the definitive release for any casual or full-fledged fan of this fantasy classic. Aside from the amazing new transfer of the film, it includes over two hours of special features including an all-new featurette entitled, The Myth, Magic and Henson Legacy — a behind the scenes look at the making of The Dark Crystal narrated by Lisa Henson and Toby Froud. This as well as the other special features: a deleted funeral scene, audio commentary with creature designer/illustrator Brian Froud, Picture-in-picture storyboard track, Original Skeksis language scenes with introduction by screenwriter David Odell, The World of The Dark Crystal documentary, Reflections of The Dark Crystal: "Light on the Path of Creation" & "Shard of Illusion", Photo galleries, theatrical teaser & trailer all combined to make repeat viewing of the disc almost guaranteed.

The Dark Crystal is a considered a classic for those that grew up in the 1980s and is a film that still translates well to this generation of children. In an era where so many things are CGI, it's refreshing to experience this film all over again and see the true artwork that is showcased. This 4K UHD release is the best The Dark Crystal has ever looked on or off the screen. It is highly recommended you pick up this "definitive edition" of this classic film.

Also be sure to turn into Netflix late this summer for the 10-episode series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

About Maureen Buccellato Maureen's taste in film and television is across the board; from horror to romantic comedies, drama to science-fiction, she likes them all.

Read more reviews and content by Maureen Buccellato.

via FlickDirect Entertainment News and Film Reviews