#this movie seems ridiculous AND big hype

[lilwoofs]

HRIDKSIISJENDKEKSJSJ

LOOK AT THEIR CLOTHES

DO I EVEN NEED TO SAY IT-

AHHHHHHHHHHH

We’re winning

[yakichoufd]

Is it weird that I don't feel excited for the Deadpool and Wolverine movie?

I feel like X-Men 97 already scratched that X-Men itch and obsession in my head. Plus I feel satisfied with artists like you making Wolverine polycule fanart and fancomics.

Is something wrong with my head???

I think your feelings are valid cause you don't need to watch something else if you already feel satisfied. I am hype for that movie because I enjoyed the first two Deadpool movies. I am not expecting to fall in love of Logan there, or the other x-men we might see. I am expecting to watch a ridiculous movie with silly jokes and funny action scenes. I am hoping Scott will have a cameo but I think it won't happen. I've never been a super fan of Logan movies. He is fun and interesting (plus the actor is very handsome so my eyes are always happy when he is on screen), but his big lone wolf energy was a bit too much for me. Maybe he is too handsome and awesome and in the animated serie, he is a grumpy short king who has a lot to say and his lone wolf personnality seems more understandable to me. I really enjoy how unhinged he is in the 92 show and how he was in 97. It satisfies me a lot. I think you can take whatever please you in any adaptation and play around that. You don't need to enjoy every new adaptation from a franchise you like. There are some X-men comics where I find Scott really boring and not interesting at all. I enjoy very specifics things about him and therefore it makes me very picky about how he is portrayed. I still think I am a fan. I am a picky fan, but a fan regardless. Even if I mostly know the animated shows. I am tired of that childish fight "Oh I am a better fan cause I read the comics!" it is not a competition lmao! Enjoy whatever you want!! I personnaly read the comics cause I want more Scott content. That's my personnal reason. I want to know everything about him haha! I think we are many to be tired of the Jean/Scott/Logan drama ( where they are rivals instead of lovers) cause that rivality, usually, has a layer of misogyny and sexism. Jean is the prize and the 2 males love interests can't think straight and have to claim her. As if Jean has no choice but to accept the one who fight the hardest. I'm sorry but that is really stupid, and not how feelings work imo. That kind of relationship is based on something so weak, it will break at the first issue they would meet . I personnaly find that kind of writting insulting for every character involved, and it breaks the sincerity and depth of the romance. It removes all kind of feelings, character development and personnalities. It makes them so immature too. The polycule road on the other hand shows they could build something different. They could break the rules and be free to make their own. And as mutants, they don't care about humans society stupid rules. The can write what works for them and gain maturity over their relationship and sexuality. I am not saying every couples have to become a polycule to be mature. But for Scott, Jean and Logan it seems like a better fit for them. They can still act silly and fight over randoms things, but removing that very unhealthy incomplete love triangle and make it an actual love triangle, where each individual have romantic feelings for each other is better for them imo.

[hathay]

twst first years halloween headcanons<3

warnings: none!

(tis but just small silly hc’s. i may make some hc’s for the other years too im not sure yet😍😍)

♡ace♡

- will literally take candy from children. doesn’t matter how he has to, he will brisk right on by, snatching a handful from a child’s bag. using a magic trick to distract a big group of the to get more? he will. he has no shame.

- couldn’t care less about wearing an attractive costume, would wear something awful and stupid like a banana or like one of those inflatable dinosaur costumes. (he still thinks he looks so attractive in that costume too)

- actively steals parts of the other first years costumes and just waits menacingly for them to notice.

- will discreetly (sometimes.) judge other people’s costumes (even though he looks ridiculous).

- INSISTS they take group photos especially if they’re in awful costumes, and will post the worst photos of everyone off guard.

- he will also force everyone to watch horror movies afterwards, but only ones he’s seen so he can seem like everyone else is a scaredy cat when in reality, his first time watching them he almost peed himself.

♤deuce♤

- takes halloween seriously.

- absolutely loved being home for halloween and helping him mom decorate to liven up the holiday.

- he calls his mom on halloween from NCR and even sends her pictures of his costume, and later group photos.

- volunteers to hand candy out to kids, absolutely LOVES IT.

- doesn’t know what he wants to dress up as, but will take suggestions and loves group costumes.

- has to HIDE his candy because he doesn’t trust ace nor grim enough to just leave it lying around, it is quite literally under his bed within like 3 different boxes.

- hates the horror movies ace puts on, literally cannot stand them. almost punched ace in the leg MULTIPLE times when he was jumpscared but jack put a stop to that.

❆epel❆

- sometimes joins ace in snatching candy from kids, sometimes he smacks aces hand away and thinks he’s definitely stolen too much.

- definitely with deuce in enjoying group costumes, it makes him feel included, but definitely wants to dress cooler than sometime goofy

- almost brawls with adults who try and say they’re “too old” to be dressing up and getting candy

- LOVES trick or treating since he was one of the few kids in his hometown, he loves being able to go door to door with other people and seeing kids running around in costumes just beaming.

- so hyped about candied apples, gets everyone some but tells them he could could make some better ones in his hometown for them one day!

- tries to get everyone to trade candy because he doesn’t want some of the ones he got, but he doesn’t wanna give them away for nothing!

- def hides all his candy from vil, it’s hidden so well in a bag, in a bag, in a box, in his closet, with shoes on top and all.

☾jack☾

- sometimes gives off the “too cool” for halloween vibes, but absolutely loves it. he finds it so fun to dress up.

- used to help out around his house, making sure his siblings had their costumes on, taking them door to door just to see them smile.

- would dress in whatever people wanted him to, group costumes, solo ones, coordinated, he’s down! (his sister once tried to get him to wear a matching princess dress and he refused, but she did end up convincing him to wear a tiara with her)

- will carry everyone’s candy bags if they need be, also scolds ace every time he steals a child’s candy, taking it back n stealthily putting it back into the kids bag.

- (secretly adores the photos they take in costume and even posts some on magicam)

- at some point may also end up holding grim under his arm like a rag-doll when grim decides he doesn’t feel like going around anymore.

- he only keeps a little bit of the candy he gets, giving most of it to other first years, or ruggie later.

- he will give you some of his candy if he knows it’s your favorite and he doesn’t want it.

♞sebek♞

- definitely acts like he’s above dressing up for halloween. untilllll he overhears malleus discussing how excited he is for halloween, dressing up, all the festivities and suddenly sebek is over the wall for it.

- only goes out with the first years on halloween when lilia & malleus practically force him to.

- acts like he would rather be anywhere else doing anything else, but is actually having so much fun.

- thinks it’s odd parents just let their children run amuck.

- he brings back candy/treats for lilia, malleus, and silver that he’s sure they’re gonna enjoy. (considered bringing back trick candy that ace used on him for silver)

- the horror movies ace forces upon them, he lowkey cannot stand. he thinks the people are foolish because for WHAT REASON are they to walking around where they heard someone scream without any weapons??

(also @kasdan has some slay writings as well so you should check her out🥳)

[almadesarrollo]

MLB NEWS THIS DOESN'T STOP! THE NEW ANIMATION TEAM AND MORE ABOUT THE ENGLISH DUBBING

Very good, I come with more news, THIS DOESN'T STOP, WE HAVE GONE FROM BEING LITTLE INFORMED TO RECEIVING MORE AND MORE NEWS AHAHA OK LET'S GO IN PARTS.

NEWS 1

Ezra returns to the fray with the dubbing, and with Chloe, well we can say that she just uploaded this:

He says: pov: "when everyone says your character is off the show" and Ezra appears in his video with Selah (Chloe).

Then we have a post from Selah, the voice actor, where she says: "To all the people who have sent us a message asking if Chloe is off the show… she's back in the booth, baby. Don't be RIDICULOUS, this queen isn't!" going nowhere!! What's your favorite Chloe line from season 5?"

Well, the first thing is to note that it says #SEASON6 so we can confirm a little the doubt we had in the previous post and that is that all these dubbing audios are for S6, it is not 100% sure, but we have less doubt... 2nd is that clearly, she is going to participate a lot in this S6 and she is not out of the show, I never thought this, I don't know why there are people who thought that, just because she WENT to NY does not mean that she would never go out again, that It would cost less, but not that, so this doubt is clarified.

As for whether there is any other clue for S6, I don't detect anything here, but its role will be important, because they are giving it a lot of hype, for a reason... remember that through it we are given clues about kagami and KAGAMI IS A VITAL CHARACTER FOR THE PLOT BECAUSE OF THE WHOLE ISSUE OF THE TSURUGI....SO THERE IS SOMETHING BIG OUT THERE or the theory that I mentioned in my previous POST is real (CHLOE SENTI)

NEWS 2

Well we have more news about the animation of season 6, it seems that the DWARF studio will be in charge, and little by little they are progressing, with it we will have a more fluid animation and with more detail, which is ideal since we know that this season Our protagonists have another type of trait, they are older, and then take into account that JEREMY and Thomas wanted to create a BIG SUPERHERO universe LIKE DC AND MARVEL IS, AND FOR THAT IT REQUIRES GREAT ANIMATION, I mean THIS IS SERIOUS, THE SEASON 6 WOULD BE VERY IMPORTANT, IT WILL BE A REALLY SERIOUS BEGINNING AND WHERE THE REAL STORY BEGINS (that's why there are so many felinette jujuju tracks), BECAUSE IF NOT, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE CHANGED THE ANIMATION, BECAUSE YOU CLEARLY NOTE THAT IT IS MORE EXPENSIVE, NOT REACHING THE LEVEL FROM THE MOVIE, BUT APPROXIMATE, it will look a little more realistic, so we will have a quality show, THEY ARE VERY SERIOUS!!! WHAT AN EXCITION!!!!

NOW as for the clue itself about the S6, I don't see anything here, I do see people zooming in on some images, but no matter how much I look I can't see who they are...so if you want a clue you'll have to see my post about Jeremy's video, he uploaded a video of what the animation would look like with this studio (the streets of Paris) and there is a lot of clue of what is to come IN S6.

Without a doubt, season 6 will be noticed with a great and fresh start. ARE YOU WANTING IT? I YES

Like, reblog and follow me if you liked the post, and follow me to see more content of this type

See you in future posts.

[themushroomgoesyeet]

Questions about wizarding world building: what happens in the other wizarding schools and why aren't there more of them

Shhhhhh this post isn't a day late & I definitely didn't forget to do it

What with the - somewhat - recent releases of the fantastic beasts movies, I feel like there's been a bit of a hype about wizarding schools in other countries, specifically Ilvermourney (I really hope I spelled that right) in America. As we all know, there was a brief period of time where you could get sorted into Ilvermourney houses on the official website and read some lore tidbits about the school, but realistically we don't really know much about what goes on there.

Nor do we know anything about Beubaxtons (France why do you spell like this) or Durmstrang, or any of the other wizarding schools throughout the world. Seeing as there's at least one book in this franchise where information like that is fairly relevant, I honestly feel like we got cheated on this subject.

How do the other schools teach their kids? What do they look like? Why don't they have any exchange programs? And yes, I realize that question may be kinda stupid bc many schools don't have exchange programs, but since there seems to be a significantly smaller number of wizarding schools I think that question is still justified.

Speaking of, why are there so few schools? One school for the entire UK I can understand since it's roughly the size of Utah state, but one school for the entire US? or the entirety of France? France May still be smaller than the US, but that doesn't negate how huge it is compared to the UK. To be fair, we don't know that each of these countries have only one school, but at this point I would not be surprised if that were the case. You simply cannot assign one school to the US, it's so ridiculous and impractical! At the very very least, we would need maybe seven big schools across the country based on the size of wizarding populations in the US and really how willing you are to stretch this thing out, but it would be even more practical to have at least one school for every state.

It also sounds to me like there are different learning rates for different schools - or at least between Hogwarts and Ilvermourney (seriously? You wrote a whole ass book about two other schools but the school that gets name dropped exactly once in the first FB movie is the one that gets the spotlight?) - I remember reading on the official site that Ilvermourney kids start at a much younger age than the Hogwarts kids - I might be remembering wrong but I'm pretty sure it was kindergarten age (5-6 years for those who don't know), which means that the Ilvermourney kids would progress a lot sooner and faster than the ones at Hogwarts; if these schools did to exchange programs it would be very annoying for both parties bc the Americans have to relearn stuff they already know & the British kids have to try and catch up ons things that would normally be considered "too advanced" for them (advanced my ass, if Harry Potter, the dumbass who lived, can master a patronus in third grade then so can the rest of his peers)

[callmearcturus]

1) i am interest, what does the "brachtian lens" mean in your MI post? 2) i did google pathologic and seems interesting but i don't know if its for me, would you recommend it? (you have good taste)

Brechtian, a Brechtian lens.

Okay so everyone brace yourself for the most unhinged take you've ever heard. I'm gonna caveat this up front by pointing out that I don't know if I actually myself ascribe to this read, it's just the kind of thing that happens when you are at work listening to the Codex Entry performance of Pathologic: The Marble Nest and the adderall hits just right.

I'm an undereducated pleb so I'm not going to go into the full history of Brecht, hit up any of your local pretentious media nerds for that. But one of the things associated with Brecht is the Alienation Effect. One of his primary concerns as a playwright was the idea that audiences were becoming complacent and were watching plays and observing art without internalizing everything. He had this idea that as the artifice of theatre became more and more immersive, as the Theatre of the Real so to speak became more seamless, audiences weren't actually connecting to what they were seeing. It's hard to impart wisdom and propose hard questions when the audience is just out here vibin', basically.

So Brecht's whole thing was to make the artificiality of the theatre as conspicuous and obvious as possible. There were a few tactics for this, including fun stuff like spoiling the plot of the story at the very start, casting very incongruous actors in specific roles, making the violence over the top to the point of being ridiculous, etc.

The point of these tactics was to jolt the audience out of their Vibe, to remind them they were watching a play, a performance. And in doing so, in theory, it would get the audience to pay more attention to the content of the play. When you are not passively absorbing the story, you will in theory give more consideration to what you are observing and actually THINK about what is being presented to you. Audiences tend to feel empathetic to characters in media, and you wanna jolt them out of that comfy zone.

Okay so how the fuck can I apply this lens to Mission Impossible? Besides being the most pretentious bitch on your dashboard obvsly.

One common interpretation of MI is that the movies are documentaries of their own productions. I have heard this idea parroted many times by people I broadly respect. Now... I don't personally ascribe to that take, but lets hypothesize for a moment that it's true, that there is a purposeful artificiality to MI. One of the things people point to with this theory is the fact that the first footage of MI: Fallout ever shared wasn't a trailer or teaser or anything.

It was footage of TC breaking his ankle doing that rooftop jump. It was a behind the scenes moment of ultra-reality that affected production. Because the hype cycle around MI is linked inextricably to "oh man what bullshit is TC gonna pull in THIS one" as a conscious marketing tactic.

It's accurate to say that yes, some people just go to see MI for the stunts. And the marketing knows it and promos it. There is an effort to focus on the physical, practical feats of the movie.

What I find interesting is that McQ and TC both share an ethos, that the only reason audiences give a shit about the stunts is because they are a vehicle of characterization. There is more overt writing and acting in MI than it gets credit for. It's like the stunts are a Loss Leader of the movie, yanno? Here is the big spectacle to get people to show up, and once people are in the theatre, you can talk to them.

So, what I'm positing is that if you believe that there is a heightened artificiality to MI, if you think its just a sequence of bombastic set pieces, if you think Ethan Hunt is just TC's alter ego, blah blah blah (again, not my belief) then it should in theory become difficult to sink into passivity with these movies.

If all that is correct, then there is a forced artificiality to MI that mimicks the Brechtian-style, leading to the Alienation Effect. Therefore, the text of the movies, what they are saying about, for random instance, the encroaching threat of uncontrolled AI in a digital world, that message should become more stark and harder for audiences to glaze their eyes over and miss.

And ALL OF THAT is the kind of bullshit you too can cogitate on if you inflict Pathologic on yourself and let it rewire your fucking brain! If you want a primer of what the fuck Pathologic is, look up hbomberguy's legendary Pathologic video, then come hit me up for further links.

[xplrvibes]

Thoughts on todays video? I liked it more than the first one, felt like more happened and more investigating was going on, plus the end legit felt scary. Hyped for the next one, though I'm not fond of the guests in the finale so we'll see if I can like the video despite Kris and Celina being in it.

I actually really liked it.

Especially the last 30 minutes or so. When those two are firing on all cylinders with the editing, pacing, and storytelling, they really fire on all cylinders.

I like the Sturniolos too, so this is not a knock at them, so put the blade sharpener down lol. Their part was a normal, fun snc video.

But once they left and snc really started to get into it, it felt much more....big and Hell Week-esque.

Spoilers and opinions behind the cut, so beware:

A few random observations:

1. They've really built up the suspense of this boiler room. I know some of it is them purposefully building up suspense - but fuck it. I like that sometimes. The place seems like it's going to be the focal point of the final video and I LIKE that. Again, great storytelling there.

2. In line with #1, anybody who thinks that Colby Brock is acting should put his reaction in that boiler room up to his ridiculous voice over at the end of their Halloween movie before they try to tell me he's *that* good of an actor lmao. Colby Brock is many things; a good actor is not one of them. He was legit scared in the boiler room.

3. I know a thing or two about grave digging. I'm telling you right now, Samuel Golbach did not dig that grave with a shovel and a pick-axe. Especially not with the type of digging he was showing on screen. Nice try, but no lol.

4. In line with #3, I actually didn't think that whole challenge was as bad as it first sounded. It was more manual labor than anything actually scary or dangerous for Sam (unless he pulled a muscle "digging" lol). When I first heard that challenge in the previous episode, I audibly cringed because it sounded so...stupid. It sounded like one of their challenges, and you know I hate those damn challenges. But it actually wasn't that dumb, or that traumatizing. It was weird but it oddly fit the whole vibe of the video. I surprisingly didn't hate it the way I thought I would.

5. Colby demolishing that door when he kicked it in was...something lol.

6. Sam immediately naming himself the Fred of the Scooby Gang and Colby just casually mentioning that he was Thelma cause Thelma "got a fat ass," was very in tune with their personality types and their psychological makeup and someone with more skills in that arena than me could've probably made a whole post on that alone. As it was, I just nodded sagely and went, "Yep, yep."

7. I like that their security guy told them that they had the principals office wrong the entire time, and they just left that in the video instead of trying to correct that in editing. Other people may disagree, but I like the transparency.

8. I actually legit felt bad when Colby said he felt betrayed by the ghosts. Poor guy 😂.

9. The last 5 seconds of the video, showing them sleeping and the (probably bug but maybe orb lol, I don't even care what it was cause it fit the theme) thing flying towards Colby right before the video cut was just cool. I just really liked the way they edited this one, guys.

10. That promo for the last video...wow. They don't do trailers often anymore, but when they do, they really sell it.

I only have two critiques:

1. As much as I did like them setting up the boiler room as this portal to hell and general bad news, I do think they were maybe losing track of logic at the end there and were making some very obvious and Zak Bagans-esque conclusion jumping assumptions. Hearing a drip in a boiler room when you literally walked in and saw a bucket over a leaky ceiling earlier, does NOT a ghost make. I get they were freaked out but I would've just left stuff like that out of the edits at the end.

2. When the Sturniolos were doing the Estes and were very clearly getting whole sentences from radio stations ("Iowa's best rock" or whatever) there was a moment before they decided to try and fix it where it almost seemed like they were trying to fit that into their ghost narrative and with the way the debunkers dig their teeth into shit like that, I audibly cringed lol. Again, just cut that type of stuff out entirely, next time.

Overall thoughts: this one was way spookier than the last one and really set the tone for what is going to be the grand finale. I actually genuinely liked it and will probably watch it again this weekend. I love their storytelling, their suspenseful editing, and the way they just naturally bounce off each other. All in all, this was a solid 8/10.

[chirpingfromthebox]

A Case for Chaos

With team names and logos coming out today(?), I figure I should dust off this ol' draft of mine and beat the clock to submitting my pitch for PWHL Minnesota's team name.

Since I did one for New York I figure I am duty-bound to make a case for my own team as well.

This way if they pick something stupid, I will have solid proof that I could (and did) come up with a better idea.

And, dear readers, I will ride that small sense of superiority until the wheels fall off.

Part 1:

These Options Are Bad

Let's start by killing some of the other options I've heard floated around for all these months.

The Superior.

Everyone in the Twin Cities has a weird obsession with Lake Superior and I do get it: it's pretty amazing. And I too love the north shore. If I were to move out of the cities I would probably dip to Duluth.

But here's the thing: we are just one of the states and provinces bordering the lake. And we are not even close to being the one with the most area connected to it! So it's far from a distinctly Minnesotan thing. And it isn't even connected to the city they actually play in!

In spite of what happened the last time we named a sports team after lakes, I do love the idea of referencing lakes somehow. And yet I still think trying to claim Superior as our own is as silly as a team being called the Atlantic or something.

And if all that wasn't enough, the biggest reason against it is this: if you call yourself "The Superior" and you lose? You look like such an idiot.

"And with that loss the Superior will continue their seven game losing steak."

I mean, look at that. The jokes against you write themselves.

If you lose you sound ridiculous and if you win you sound pompous. It's a lose-lose situation.

The Valkyries.

Even if it's not intentional it seems way too much like an play on Minnesota's football team The Vikings.

As such: automatic disqualification.

The Reign.

I get it. Purple is a historically royal color. There's the whole Purple Rain play on words from Minnesota native Prince's 1984 movie/album/song. It's clever.

And more importantly it actually works with their prechosen color of purple, which is honestly a hard one to match.

I love wordplay too much to be mad if they went for it. But once again: the loftier your name is the more you sound like an idiot if you lose.

If you went on a losing streak someone on the playground call you the "reigning losers."

And that's just a wicked burn.

The Frost / The Freeze.

I've heard this one floated around since those teaser pictures dropped. But I stand firm that "The Minnesota Freeze" sounds like some sort of Midwest twist on a sno-cone.

It will not get me hyped, it will make just make me want a treat.

The Monarchs.

The Monarch butterfly is the state butterfly. The word can also mean royalty. Purple is a royal color. I see what they're doing here.

But Monarch butterflies are Orange.

Having that on a team with Purple jerseys would constantly give me psychic damage.

(listen, this is my post and I will disqualify things under whatever criteria I want, okay?)

The Grey Ducks.

Honestly? I can't say I don't like it. It's silly so no big league team would pick it. But I like silly things!

People not from around here probably don't get it, but for some reason or another Minnesota seems to be the only state that plays the child's game Duck, Duck, Grey Duck, while everyone else plays Duck, Duck, Goose.

You all already know what I'm going to say here though, right?

Grey is not Purple.

It's weird. It bugs me. And for that reason: No thank you.

Part 2:

Chaos Reigns

With some of the things I don't want out of that way, let's get to what I do want.

My choice for team name would be:

The Minnesota Chaos.

I love this one.

I think it's a strong word. It sounds really cool while also sounding fun. It's a primordial concept, something that was here since the beginning and will be here after the end.

And it's fitting.

Minnesota was all over the place this inaugural season (and post season). They truly could not be predicted. They traded their 2nd round draft pick mid-season. Despite only needing a single point to clench the playoffs they instead went on a massive losing streak at the end of the season, got in anyway, lose two more games, and then reverse sweep to make it into the playoffs? Friggin' wild stuff.

And the great thing about Chaos? It works if you're winning or losing. Chaos can be something strong and it can be something weak. So you sound great no matter how you're doing.

And you've already learned I'm weird about colors, so does purple work here as a color?

Yes!

Your tagline could be "Chaos Reigns" and cash in on that royalty angle. And purple is also often associated with mysticism and magic, and those things have a very chaotic vibe to them if you ask me.

And you know what? There's just a lot of weird fun you can have with chaos.

Part 3:

Getting Weird With It

I personally hate mascots, because costumed characters make me uneasy and I don't know how to interact with them. However, there's some fun you could have with this.

Like the mascot could have one name, but then have like 3 or 4 different mascot costumes and every home game roll a die to determine which mascot is used that day.

Heck, pick up as many different mascot costumes as you can find and use a different one every time. Mix and match pieces from different costumes.

Maybe a mascot from an entirely different team would show up instead? Who knows! But it would be weird good fun seeing who the mascot for the day was.

Look! T.C. Bear is here in a Chaos jersey. Why? Why not?!

Likewise I would sell some merch with the logo spot blank so people could sew in whatever random thing they wanted.

(They would never go for this though, because people hate extra work and the league would want to have a distinct identity to sell their product. But once again this is my post and I can dream whatever silly things I want!)

I doodled out some possible logo ideas, but I can't nail down one I love. But I like the idea of maybe doing some sort of riff on a butterfly symbol to have a chaos theory connection?

--------------

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Anyways, I've got a million more ridiculous ideas for why this would be a fun idea and I could go on and on. But I'll save y'all from further silliness.

Thank you for sticking around for this silly post. And happy name day to us all. Hopefully we got some goods ones?

[inkofamethyst]

November 20, 2023

Weekend thoughts.

So I've had an album to help deal with anxiety for the past couple of years, and I think I now have an album to promote self-confidence and hype myself up before an event. Beyonce's Renaissance has been played regularly this semester (almost) straight through. It's great for a power walk to campus.

UGH okay so six months to the day after my last day of undergrad my school-supplied free HBO Max subscription was cruelly ripped from my grasp without warning. I knew it was coming eventually, and I've been working on clearing my watchlist for months. Unfortunately, their bet was totally on point. I immediately resubscribed. And best believe imma watch every CENT's worth (I watch a minimum of 1-2 Batman episodes a day these days, and when you consider the convenience, the cost isn't bad). So it seems that my streaming service hopping has begun, as it's neither necessary nor responsible to pay for several services that all have the same role. (I might let Max go over break to focus on reading and watching shows on my parents' accounts at home.)

My... ceramics-friend (a cohort member) invited me to a friendsgiving she was hosting (she knows a lot of people who live in the area), and it was not a bad time at all. I get nervous in situations (lol there could be a full stop right here) where I only know the host, but a couple of people I knew/was acquainted with showed up and that made things a bit better. I employed my usual strategy of "find a place to sit and then stay there" and that was good. I didn't stay to the end, but pretty close. I did meet some really cool people!! (Side note: I don't really drink bc I don't care for the taste, but we're now at the age where a goldenish drink is more likely to be gin with other flavors than apple juice and now I know that it is absolutely necessary to ask what something is before filling a glass (but best believe I finished my whole (tiny) glass like a big girl). I tell people that I'm a bit stunted due to covid but truthfully it's just because I'm pathetic boring uh uhh.. intensely introverted (still gotta mind how I talk about myself these days, even an unchecked joke could set my progress back)).

This summer I'd bought two pairs of Docs (one on a whim and then another that I'd wanted for years and years) because they were both ridiculously discounted. I'd broken in the impulse pair over the last several months (1461 patents, they're going to be my ~conference docs~ I think) then a week or so ago decided to start breaking in the other pair (1460 Nappa). Ngl, I thought they were a huge mistake at first. Tight, inflexible, tough to put on. My feet HURT. But. After a couple of days out (only a few hours at a time), they feel quite a bit better. Still months to go, I know, but I feel relieved.

Last thing: after having my third eye opened to the idea of building equity through a house and feeling intense rage against the idea of renting for the rest of my life (specifically if I choose to settle in one place), I've come to realize that this foreverrent thing touches more than just housing. I want to own my favorite albums now, my favorite movies, shows. I don't want my ability to consume my favorite media to be at the mercy of a streaming service. The most difficult part of that though (after figuring out the list of what I want to own and also paying for it over time) is figuring out where to store the hard copies. This might be a problem I spend more time working out this summer when there's less going on, but now that I'm ~radicalized~ I just wanted to state that it's on my radar. It's probably not reasonable to chip away at this while I'm in this apartment since it won't be my final place in grad school and I don't want to move more boxes than needed.

Today I'm thankful for.. uhm uhh OH I'm thankful that the clicking noises don't wake me up at night anymore.

I wonder how much of that half circle skirt I'll be able to complete at home over break [edit, four days later: none]. May have to hem during winter break.

Also the M9 reunion post-apogee was SO FUN k bye

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Secret Invasion - Excellent performances and interesting ideas squandered with mediocre execution....

I was actually pretty psyched for Secret Invasion when the trailers came out. I didn't feel there was a whole lot of hype around the show but I was looking forward to it. After the fairly jokey nature of recent MCU, I was looking forward to the pivot towards more darker material, similar to TWS, and TFATWS. Now I didn't think TFATWS was great but it was solid and TWS is arguably my favorite MCU film to date and the trailers for Secret Invasion definitely felt like they were more that tone.

Having seen the series, it really feels like Marvel just don't have a handle on how to pace and structure their tv shows. Secret Invasion, at 6 episodes and such an intricate storyline, had no business being a slow burn show with a rushed ending. This should have been a fast paced paranoid thriller. Maybe all of it should have been set within a very short window of time. Instead, as a lot of these MCU shows have done, there are episodes where very little happens, and then there are episodes where a lot happens and it feels rushed. Given that this is now a common occurrence in the MCU tv shows, it seems obvious that the writers don't have a handle on how to pace these 6 episode series. Also, this show was oddly small for a show that was about something so big. There was a lot of sidestepping to try and explain why Fury was the person who had to be the one who stopped Gravik and why he couldn't involve some of his powered friends. While the explanation works up to a point, when the world is on the brink of WWIII, the explanation starts falling apart. Then there are certain relationships that are very essential to the emotional weight of the show, which have far too little screen time for us to really care. The marriage of Fury and Priscilla/Varra is a bond that is brought up throughout the back half of the season, but the truth is that it is treated with a sort of reverence in the show which it has not earned from the audience, which is a damn shame because Jackson and Woodard do some excellent work in their scenes together. Then there is the whole ending of the show. While they do shake up the status quo a bit, which I hope will be followed up in the next Captain America movie, there are some very dumb decisions taken as well. For example, the decision to make G'iah into a superpowered being who is ridiculously overpowered is something that will be a ramification the MCU will have to deal with for a while. Maybe they will have this make more sense in a future MCU project, but for now, it does seem strange that they made such an OP character all of a sudden. Also, the bait and switch in the finale cheapens a very fine scene. The entire scene between Gravik and Fury was actually very meaningful, but having Fury be G'iah all along makes that scene loose its emotional value because we don't know if that is what Fury feels.

The damn shame about the show is that there is actually a fair amount of stuff that is actually pretty good. There is some excellent acting work in the show. Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Olivia Colman, Don Cheadle, and Charlayne Woodard all do some excellent work on the show. The actual story of the show is interesting because we actually do genuinely see that the Skrulls have very legitimate grievances against Fury. He is a man who used the Skrulls as agents, gained power within SHIELD as a result, but did not find a new home for the Skrulls and did not have the courage to admit that finding a new home wasn't possible. And then he deserted them on Earth and went to Saber. The resentment built up in the Skrulls is totally understandable. And Jackson does an excellent job showing a much more brittle and guilt ridden man, as opposed to the confident operative we have seen in the past. His dynamic with Talos is one of the highlights of the show. Ben Mendelsohn was insanely likable as Talos and his death was honestly one of the most gut wrenching deaths in the MCU. Olivia Colman just looked like she was having a ball of a time and boost of witty energy whenever she's on screen. Don Cheadle does some of his best work. The scenes between Fury and Rhodey, both before and after Fury find out that he's a Skrull, are impeccable. Kingsley Ben-Adir does a lot to make Gravik was a very understandable villain, even though his backstory is half baked and told rather than shown. Similarly, Charlayne Woodard is excellent, even though her character gets the sort of reverence from the show which is never earned by the writing. The scenes with her and Jackson are excellent and they are able to get that "married for a long time" feel despite barely any setup. Emilia Clarke is a bit of a mixed bag. She's forced to be rather stoic throughout most of the show, so she doesn't get to stand out despite being a significant part of the show.

The tone and story of the show is interesting. The idea of infiltration and creating paranoia is a good concept and when the show leans into that, its pretty good. But the show then also tries to be a bit too big for its boots by introducing super Skrulls and attempting to start WWIII. So it sometimes feels like the showrunners and writers aren't sure what show they are trying to make.

All in all, this isn't a bad show, but it had potential to be much better. If executed right, it could have been up there with MCU's best. Its a show that actually had some major character deaths like Maria Hill and Talos, and at least seems to have rattled the status quo of the Earth and not every thing is settled by the end of the show, but the execution of how things led to that point felt a little lacking. I would say this ranks around a 5 to 6/10.

[omegatheunknown]

Top 10 of 2023 -- Theatrical Releases

Started using letterboxd as a journal two years ago, mostly so I could remember just how recently I'd watched Big Trouble in Little China or Hot Fuzz, but also to hit 'em with of the moment reviews and ratings fresh from the theatre. Which is to say, I'm a little nervous to see what'll come up at the top, but let's take a trip.

10- The Boogeyman (**1/2) - Technically in theatres for a week or two. Buried otherwise, a low stakes King adaptation/remake/reboot that makes the list so I don't have to say anything about AntMan, Elemental, Renfield, or, god forbid, Mario. Effective horror, kind of a neat creature at the center of it, pleasantly surprised that I didn't hate it.

9- Asteroid City (***) - Did lead to a minor personal epiphany, so not all bad. The amount of meta-fictional artifice (lest we for a second want to empathize or consider Wes' paper doll characters in his paper doll theatre as being recognizably human) has gone well-beyond the 'as Royal Tenenbaum' and 'let me tell you about my boat,' past the authorial frame of the Grand Budapest and as of The French Dispatch, Mssr Anderson is now almost entirely preoccupied with stories within stories and it is actually very annoying. (The minor epiphany is that I have also been doing this, as metafiction delights me too, Wes, but why should anyone else care?) Anyway, highlight here is the usual meticulous design, the ridiculous stop-motion sequence, some crackerjack dialogue (muted because now every character has the same blunted affect and without subtitles I sorta glazed over in parts) and these movies remain quite funny.

8- Barbie (***1/2) - Watched a lot of pablum this year, most of it with very naked corporate ambition. Barbie's central trick is to critique itself and the very cynical context in which it critiques itself and hopefully contain within it the entire discourse (good luck to you.) Wish I hadn't had to listen to people earnestly tell me how brilliant and resonant certain 'pause for applause' moments were, but the humour may well stand the test of time, and people were rightly hyped on Ryan Gosling's over-delivery on what once was seen as an unlikely bit of casting.

7- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (***1/2) - Not too proud to admit I was, in 2023, still kind of excited to see this one (1) marvel movie. Crisp Rat aside, the Guardians deliver best on the comic-to-screen vibe and rarely seem embarrassed with their source, leading to the intense emotional journey of a CGI mutant raccoon bounty hunter reckoning with his maker, no winking involved. Rocket Raccoon is my fucking guy, anyway, no more of these, please and thanks.

6- Dungeons and Dragons, Honor Among Thieves (***1/2) - Yeah, okay, more popcorn flick pablum. Hasbro hoping to further capitalize on the pop culture rise of and monetize and micro-transaction-atize and thereby enshitiffy one of my dearest hobbies (I am diversifying away from D&D TM) looming large in the background here, given the whole OGL blowback it was briefly reasonable large portions of diehards might boycott this thing. Anyway, saw it, liked it, succeeded wildly in the goal of effectively conveying what it's actually like to play a fantasy ttrpg, all the weird in-jokes, wild variations in tone, hand-waving and quirks of 'the rules' there for snorts of recognition. Cannot imagine this was much fun for non-players, but maybe.

5- Across the Spider-Verse (****) - Extremely hyped, but hopefully not the zenith of the trilogy, a lot is riding on part 3, which is thankfully due, uhhh, sometime next year? Dragged out its ending laying more groundwork, but before then, another ceiling breaking exercise in contemporary animation, an almost non-stop kinetic kaleidoscope of visual creativity that augurs well for animation's continued evolution.

4- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Mutant Mayhem (****) - Speaking of. Now, I've loved the Turtles since I was 4 years old, so my personal belief has always been, even though I love the 1990 rubber-suited cash grab, that the central premise is something that in the right hands can actually be objectively good, as opposed to personally delightful to me. This is that movie, the good Ninja Turtles movie. 'Teenage' -- to the point of being endearingly, obnoxiously immature, 'Mutant' -- to the point that the world around them is just as grody and fucked up looking as they are, 'Ninja' -- with sly handheld camera angles and satisfyingly fluid motion to rival Spiderverse, and uh, 'Turtles' -- they sure fucking are. I loved this. Jackie Chan forever.More, please.

3- Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (****) - Exceedingly Quebecois take on the contemporary hipster vampire movie, Can-con for my list. Canadian Indies in 2023 are strikingly similar to American Indies from 2008, if that at all recommends. Ranks high for efficient self-contained everything, very charming, funny, just bizarre enough.

2- The Boy and the Heron (****1/2) - Easy to feel like this is a Ghibli greatest hits compilation, easier to remember that's what we all kinda want-- cute and unsettling creatures, delicious looking food, spirit worlds, quiet moments of reflection, arcane rules for how any and everything works... yet also maybe the truest return to the titanic achievements of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away (especially.) Story forms a suitably esoteric thesis about grief and creation and, ultimately, endings. I think Miyazaki might actually be done this time.

1- Godzilla Minus One (*****) - An entirely different movie than Shin Godzilla, very possibly even better. It's tense (Godzilla hasn't felt creepy like this for a while.) It's emotional (rivals Godzilla vs Biollante in its human story.) It's very naked in its message (ah, the guilt.) The action is superb. I do not know where Godzilla goes from here. (Mothra!)

(Haven’t seen: Poor Things, Bottoms, Napoleon, the Killer, a bunch of other crap.)

[22degreehalo]

The thing is... you're not supposed to care about the kens.

That's why they're portrayed as just generic privileged pathetic white guys. They're just kind of a joke.

(And that's some parts 'men are privileged and it's not our responsibility to coddle them' and some parts 'men are expected to be independent and take care of themselves and not have feelings.' It's not a coincidence that the kens being insecure, or crying, or making obliviously homoerotic statements, are part of them being a joke. That's just how you portray people as ridiculous: you make them super emotional about things that don't really matter, and you associate them with campy, queer, over-the-top things.)

I said in previous posts that, while I am most likely overthinking it, it seemed a failure of the movie to introduce this setting and then not really engage with it. I recall a popular post on tumblr about 'bit-ism', or the willingness of a movie to commit to the bit; insofar as the setting is entwined with the message of the movie, I've rarely seen a movie fail as hard as Barbie. It introduces an inverted society, but then only seems interested in that society to the extent that real life changes it. If I'm not supposed to care about the kens, why establish them as the oppressed parties at all?

But that's all assuming that what people say about it is true: that it's a thoughtful piece about gender and misogyny. That it Has Things To Say about men and patriarchy and gender dynamics.

And maybe it is actually just not nearly as deep as I'm trying to make it.

Maybe it really is just a movie intended to go 'haha, wouldn't it be funny if men were oppressed instead of women?! Take that, men!!'

Which. Is exactly what conservative commentators say, of course. So I've tried not to lean in that direction. I highly admire Greta Gerwig as a director (Little Women is one of my favourite films of all time!), so I really wanted to read something very interesting into it.

But the more I think on it, the more I think that the 'take that, men!' interpretation is... the more generous one?

Because. Let's be clear. This is a movie in which an Asian character reacts with comedic excitement at the idea of their people being allowed one circuit court justice. And the (mostly white) people in power smile and roll their eyes because they are definitely NOT going to allow them any more than that, lol, but isn't it so cute to see how happy they are? (Cue laugh track and applause.)

If this movie really does have things to say about gender and power... they suck!! Big time!!! It only only makes sense if misogyny is the only oppression at all, or at least the only one that matters. That is some straight-up radfem/TERFy anti-intersectionality bullshit!!

Ken being uncomfortable in Barbieland even before he encountered the real world isn't anything about the patriarchy and how men are harmed by it, because that logically just doesn't make any sense. Ken is unhappy during the movie because a) the plot needs it and b) so Barbie can not return his feelings and make that whole feminist statement about it. That's it.

The movie just exists to make women laugh and pump their fists and clap.

And that's okay, I think...? The movie is a power fantasy. That's fine. Those are allowed to exist. Not every movie has to be Morally Perfect.

But. I think it's kind of rich to expect men to, like, be super hyped about it. Getting extremely angry is an overreaction... but there are two options, here: the movie is designed to make fun of men in a silly and deliberately mean-spirited way, or it genuinely and sincerely argues that any oppression men face is universally beneath concern.

As for myself? In a way, I'd rather overthink it. Because alas, I am nought but a simple baby sensitive snowflake hyper-empathetic autist. And I just do not like it when people are mean, especially when the victims are quite clearly powerless and pathetic and emotional. But I understand that I am unusual in that way, and that snark and mockery have their place in the world, and are capable of doing good.

Maybe the movie doesn't intentionally express damaging ideas about how oppression works. Maybe it is just kind of mean. I think that will probably prevent me from ever properly enjoying it. But there are worse crimes than Making A Movie I Don't Like.

[bitimdrake]

I posted 10,175 times in 2022

That's 4,343 more posts than 2021!

468 posts created (5%)

9,707 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@queerwizarrds

@lemontongues

@sagely-n-a-i-v-e

@captainragtag

@broke-bruce-wayne

I tagged 10,165 of my posts in 2022

#dc - 3,802 posts

#tim drake - 818 posts

#txt - 815 posts

#critical role - 796 posts

#dick grayson - 643 posts

#* - 476 posts

#art - 463 posts

#laugh tag - 462 posts

#misc - 427 posts

#vid - 368 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#anyway these people remind me of a childhood friend who would constantly declare she hated things and then try them and realize she didn’t.

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

wait i would also like to present a concept

A friend of Tim (chose your favorite, let’s say Ives) is super hyped about this new movie coming out, and Tim is like, I’m a rich boy, I can make dreams come true. He pulls strings for them to go to the premiere and be right up next to the red carpet.

Tim knows nothing about this movie. Ives’s rambling has gone in one ear and out the other. He has not looked up a single thing about it. He’s just doing this because it’s a cool thing to do for his friend.

This will prove to be a mistake.

Down the red carpet comes one of the actors, a man long down on his luck, who has finally made his big break in a real Hollywood movie. We’ll call him Not-Eddie. An actor not known for such roles as: Tim’s fake uncle to stop Bruce from adopting him.

Actor Not-Eddie makes eye-contact with Tim. Tim makes eye-contact with Actor Not-Eddie.

Actor Not-Eddie would very much like no one to know he once accepted money to help a teenager commit fraud. (It’s tough making a living, okay?)

Tim would very much like no one to know he once paid someone to help him commit fraud, exclusively so he could prevent the billionaire who has since adopted him from adopting him back then because they were Going Through A Thing. Tim would especially like no one to know that he committed this fraud so effectively that every government database in existence still holds records for his uncle Eddie, who looks weirdly like that cool new actor.

They have been staring too long. Ives, oblivious, says, “Hey, you know that guy from somewhere?”

Tim panics.

1,328 notes - Posted September 17, 2022

#4

actually I think people who complain about superhero comics with stuff like “ugh it’s so silly Cyborg turned into a planet” or “Jason Todd being resurrected by Superboy Prime punching the universe is ridiculous :/” are akin to people who don’t like musicals saying “actually musicals are bad because it doesn’t make sense that the characters break into song”

1,565 notes - Posted January 2, 2022

#3

A lot of people assume that almost all superheroes fit a standard of having masked (literally or metaphorically) hero identities and separate civilian identities they keep stringently secret. In reality, the identity management across the DCU is wide and varied and includes:

The classic: people who grew up as regular civilians, and later took on masked identities, hiding the connection between the two (e.g. most Bats)

As above, except minus the mask, with such seeming forthrightness heroes that no one realizes they even have a secret identity too (e.g. Clark/Superman)

Characters who once had secret identities, until those identities got revealed and they could no longer have any secrecy (e.g. Cassie/Wonder Girl)

Characters who have civilian identities and hero identities, but make no effort to hide that they’re the same person (e.g. Dinah/Black Canary)

Heroes who have fully abandoned any pretense of duel identity at all and literally just use their own name for heroing (e.g. Donna Troy)

Characters who can’t have secret identities, because their identity is blatantly obvious on first sight (e.g. Vic/Cyborg, Kory/Starfire)

Characters whose “hero name” is actually their real name--often because they’re not from earth--and for whom the dichotomy of “adopted hero identity and real civilian identity” just wouldn’t make sense (e.g. og Raven)

As above, but they later create a secret civilian alias to live as, which may or may not become more than an alias (e.g. Raven as “Rachel Roth”, Diana/Wonder Woman as “Diana Prince”, Kon-el/Superboy as “Conner Kent”)

Characters who are just really, really bad about keeping their secret identity secret and might not even care (e.g. just. all of the Arrows)

2,030 notes - Posted August 9, 2022

#2

red hood and the outlaws? no, no, you misheard me. red hood and the INlaws. local teenage crime lord gets unwillingly mentored by his big brother's most determined friends.

2,177 notes - Posted February 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i do really love the idea of Time Shenanigans leading to ~13-year-old Damian meeting all former Robins at the same age, because every single one of them is just the exact opposite of what he’d expect.

Dick, who Damian expects to be the cool nice supportive one, at thirteen is fucking furious at the idea that there are any Robins after him. Stephanie, far from the perky optimist he knows, is a hardcore cynic who thinks Batman is super cool and hasn’t even become a vigilante yet. Jason, who has previously interacted with Damian mostly via bullets, is a sweetheart who’s exceptionally insecure at the idea of Bruce getting another Robin.

And meanwhile Tim at thirteen is like “oh you’re the next Robin? Heck yeah, that’s awesome, glad it worked out.”

7,796 notes - Posted March 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[futilefangirl]

I’m here late with Ryan Gosling movies ranked mainly because I need to get my opinions out of my system. Thank you for asking and I hope you can enjoy:

These movies are spectacular and also feel special to me:

1 - Drive, just gorgeous throughout, and tells a perfect story. Gosling’s character was totally riveting. I was along for the ride from the first moment; even the opening credits drew me in more.

2 - Blade Runner 2049. Amazing sci-fi world, philosophical. Again, I was with Gosling’s character every step of the way. It made me think about his life and the world he was in, it made me think about what it meant to be human and what it meant to him.

3 - Place Beyond the Pines. Luke Glanton as a character stayed with me. His love for his son is haunting. The music is haunting. It made me think about my Dad and what it means to be a parent.

These are wonderful movies I find pretty flawless:

4 - First Man. It made me feel like I went to the actual moon, like I knew the guy, and could feel his love for his daughter. It was kind of like what Interstellar was trying to be.

5 - La La Land. Gorgeous, inspiring, passionate.. the long ending scene makes me feel regret like nothing else. I love the music in it.

6 - Blue Valentine. Real, miserable present-day scenes and the most real, intimate flashback scenes. Amazing performances made through a process that really worked for this movie. It made me significantly more interested in indie movies. The end credits are haunting.

7 - The Nice Guys. Deserves the spot just for making me laugh out loud at multiple points like I haven’t done in a while. Now and then a gif of a scene will still make me snort.

8 - Lars and the Real Girl. A potentially weird premise handled well. I felt for Lars; Ryan Gosling really seemed to transform for this character. I felt his love for the doll at the end. That was a movie for those of us with imaginary friends.

9 - Barbie. Deserves the hype. Such a joyful blockbuster, infectious, and it made me think. Ken as a character made me laugh, made me feel for him and kind of broke my brain a bit because it’s so ridiculous but taken so seriously. The Ken song was arguably his finest moment.

10 - Half Nelson. I liked the friendship between the lead characters, how real it is. I like how it isn’t a white saviour movie and it’s aware of that.. and the moment of clarity scene near the end is unforgettable.

12 - The Notebook. I love it for the chemistry between the leads, it’s so good I buy everything, no matter how sappy or unrealistic

11 - Crazy Stupid Love. Good movie overall. I love the relationships between Gosling’s character and Steve Carell’s and also Emma Stone’s. The only pick up artist character I thoroughly enjoy.

These are possibly flawed movies I still found great and well worth the watch:

12 - The Believer. The character is fascinating and sympathetic, the performance is amazing. The movie is a meaningful exploration of what it’s like to stuggle with hating yourself and where you came from.

13 - Stay. Brilliant performance and a clever, tragic premise executed well. Reminds me of a Stephen King short story. I felt for that guy and his family.

14 - The Big Short. Talks about the financial crisis which deserves to be talked about more. Amazing performances and Ryan Gosling’s character really stood out

15 - Only God Forgives. I didn’t get it first watch and I think it’s the only movie where Gosling’s performance fell short for me - he was too blank I thought, but the movie still had great scenes, looked incredible and was going for something.

These movies are kind of generic but all right:

16 - The Grey Man. It’s definitely generic but I turned my brain off and enjoyed the action. I also like the character Ryan Gosling was creating and wouldn’t mind watching a franchise, sue me. The well scene was especially cool.

17 - Fracture. I liked the plot, and he turns in a great performance across from Anthony Hopkins. It was still kind of generic, which is why it isn’t ranked higher.

18 - Murder by the Numbers. I admit I enjoyed the weird, fucked up relationship of the two wanna-be criminals. The detective’s arc was meaningful to watch too.

19 - Ides of March. It had some good scenes but it’s again kind of generic. I don’t see much change in Ryan Gosling’s character, it’s a good performance but he’s just reacting to the circumstances.

These I thought were quite bad with only some redeeming value:

19 - The United States of Leland. The premise could have been interesting but I don’t know know what the film was trying to say and it was hard to follow.

20 - All Good Things. Fucked up in a not good way, I just watch the true story of a guy who killed his wife play out. Good performances, that’s it.

21 - Gangster Squad. Pretty boring and generic which is a feat given its premise; the only thing I enjoyed was the relationship between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone’s characters in period costume

22 - Song to Song. I could kind of follow Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara’s characters’ relationship and be invested but for the most part I don’t know what it was about. It looked beautiful visually and the cast is stacked but it seemed incredibly pretentious.

Bonus:

Lost River

Would have ranked around 15/16 for me. I like the mood and the visuals. I really like the drowned town fairytale aspect of it, it kind of reminded me of things that would capture my imagination as a kid. But I found I couldn’t connect with the characters- they didn’t seem real somehow which prevented me from being as invested as I could be. I enjoyed myself though and I would still love to watch it in a dark theatre if I could.

Didn’t rank it:

Remember the Titans. It’s a brilliant and touching movie but Ryan Gosling’s not really in it and I wasn’t really watching him.

The rest of the movies in his filmography I haven’t watched.

Thanks again for receiving this ridiculously long list.. what are your opinions if you still feel like talking about it?

okay okay okay thank you for your response!!!

so im just going to try and simplify my thoughts as much as possible and don't judge me haha

favorites: the notebook, lars and the real girl, blue valentine, murders by numbers (how attractive and sick one ryan gosling be)

movies i need to re-watch for reasons: drive, place beyond the pines half nelson: amazing i have this very specific memory of somehow recording the slaughter rule on vhs in like 6th grade and thinking it was amazing 'young ryan' is like the most nostolgic feeling to me i also have united states of leland on vhs young ryan was everything fracture: i enjoyed it at the time of its release, been a while anthony is everything always so you know stay: cast is love felt like the ending was missing something remember the titans: obviously love gangster squad: not great

la la land: i saw once in theatres and did not enjoy but have been meaning to revisit forever, at first watch the characters just didnt seem realistic to me i felt like i should have been more moved than i was

the grey man: actually not bad, and quite literally the most action packed movie i have ever seen

song to song: i haven't seen but feel like i would love blade runner: not really my genre would like to rewatch the nice guys: was good, felt good to watch, i like that style of movie like kiss kiss bang bang or something the big short / ides of march: poop even with evan ides of march was just not it only god forgives: i actually enjoyed this one more than most people did first man: i havent seen!!!! all good things: frightens me deeply but i have seen it multiple times

barbie: was good, am moved by his dedication to the character

[pcrtgasdace]

Thoguhts on the one piece live action? I was skeptical at first but I’m kinda excited now 👀 and who would you like to see cast as the rest of the crew?

I am excited! At first I was skeptical too, long before the cast was announced actually... because the reputation of live action adaptations speaks for itself... But this cast? They've charmed me, honestly. And I think it says a lot that Oda chose them and met them and agreed with the choices.

The cast ifself exceeds such strawhat energy and they are all so genuine and excited!! And you can see them trying not to let the pressure get to them by being optimistic. I mean, they've done their research, they're interactive with the fandom, they're fans themselves and I'm optimistic overall that their acting performances will be well done.

I am not nitpicking about certain changes in character design like the lack of Usopp's ridiculously long nose or Sanji's eyebrow. They look fine as it is. I think people have to realise that when adapting into another medium you can't just do it 1:1... it wouldn't work, it would seem like a cosplay movie that doesn't take itself seriously. Being open for creative changes is the only way to look at a live action and so far I'm actually looking forward to see what they've accomplished. And I can't wait to introduce others to OP this way, especially my dad, lol.

I am not setting my expectations too high, but if the OP LA show can at least be entertaining in it's own right and be a somewhat cringy but still fun watch, I am totally fine with that! I am not expecting a master piece. I just hope they don't squeeze too much into little episodes.

The CGI is something I am not too fond of, regarding the sea dragon mostly, I am sure they could do better, but I thought Luffy's stretching looks just as ridiculous as I imagined! In a good way. Because that's his power! The devil fruit is meant to be crazy and silly! And I think with the shot we've seen it looked fairly decent.

I was impressed that they did the green hair with Zoro, I was actually not sure they'd do it because it's hard to get the right tone in real life and make it not look bad. But they did a good job, honestly. The action sequences we've seen so far also looked promising.

I love that the team and cast are dedicated to be close to the source material as possible, but still take different approaches and do minor changes.

I am so excited about a lot of things actually, seeing little Luffy and SHANKS (Peter Gadiot as Shanks is still a casting I am so so hyped about!). Luffy's and Zoro's meeting and the little girl trying to feed Zoro the rice balls... they've already casted those characters so we will definitely get to see those moments and I am wondering how emotional Arlong Park is going to be - especially the Nami-stabbing scene (if they even do it, but I'd really hope they won't erase this fundamental moment).

If the LA ever gets that far, I could see Anya Chalotra actually as a nice Robin, even though she isn't Russian she's got the tan and looks and she can act. But then again, I don't really have a preference - I trust the team to find the right people. Though I have seen some fancasts like Elizaveta Boyarskaya and Yulia Persild that I liked.

Yasmeen Fletcher as Vivi, also a fancast, but a good one.

I am pretty open about that, I mean, see how nice the cast is we got. We don't need big Hollywood names. But then again, if big Hollywood actors WANT to be a part of it, then why not? Jaime Lee Curtis loves One Piece and it would be awesome if she could play Dr Kureha. I am pretty sure if the show suceeds and continues that they'd invite her into this. Anyway, it's still time left and we can only wait and see how the show turns out. Either way, I am optimistic and even if it turns out bad, it won't change my opinion of the cast - they don't deserve any hate or negativity for simply doing their job. You can't make everyone happy and that's it.

[444lpblue]

Oshi No Ko #1 - Mother and Childern

Screenplay: Jin Tanaka Storyboard: Daisuke Hiramaki, Saori Tachibana, Asami Nakatani Episode Director: Daisuke Hiramaki, Saori Tachibana, Asami Nakatani, Ryota Ito, Chengmin Jin Chief Animation Director: Kanna Hirayama Animation Director: Kanna Hirayama, Shun Sawai, Masaaki Yamano, Takeshi Osame, Maho Yoshikawa, Shuuta Sato, Manato Onishi, Tomoko Uno, Tomoya Atsumi, Asami Hayakawa, TOMATO, Miki Matsumoto, Honoka Yokoyama, Honoka Hada

To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect from the show. I am not a big fan of idol culture in general, and I typically find it quite toxic based on what I've seen. Also, I had no knowledge of the plot of this series at all aside from that aspect. Plus, completely unrelated to my thoughts on idols, the sheer size of the first episode was quite intimidating for me. It's not extremely hard to find time for a 20-minute episode and write about it, yet I've already missed many episodes this season. Will I have time to watch a show like this and still have time to write about it? With all those thoughts floating around in my head, I decided to watch it.

And what are my thoughts? I actually loved it. It's definitely floating near the top of the season for me and I can say that as the first episode was equivalent to 4 episodes of most other shows.

Somehow, I managed to steer clear of most of the trailers, so this is my real first time seeing the character designs of Hirayama Kanna. Honestly, they are very pretty. I'm not familiar with the manga, but the faces of the characters are extremely expressive, and the eyes are gorgeous and very unique. There are literal stars in some of the character's eyes that on paper feel ridiculous but it's extremely charming. The idols they want you to fawn over, like Ai, look irresistible in terms of design.

The story itself is very hard to describe without just spoiling it in its entirety, but I think the story functions well due to the self-awareness of the toxicity that lies within the idol industry. Unlike shows like Heroines Run the Show, they don't try to convince us to like this industry or applaud the toxicity within idol culture.

There are a lot of lies, there are toxic fans, and people you like as idols might be forced to upkeep appearances, or they might not be telling their fans anything. How should fans react to lies? The show doesn't seem to tell us how; it simply shows how people might react to it. And I do appreciate that respect for the viewer's own mindset on idol culture.

The show is about two idol fans who are reincarnated as babies to the idol they adored. As babies, they are named Ruby and Aquamarine.

Is it weird? It's a bit weird, but this whole plot point was definitely the reason the show was 90 minutes for its first episode. It's a lot of things to set up, including introducing idol culture to those unfamiliar, introducing our characters in their past lives and their lives as babies, Ai's idol path, and Ruby and Aqua's own path. And I found it all very entertaining and became more engaged in the story as I watched. The hype for this show is very large, and at first, I wasn't completely buying it as it wasn't even really available to watch till yesterday. Yet, it already had a rating on MAL from the theatrical release in Japan, but I'm sold. So far this season, my top shows have been "Heavenly Delusion," "The Ancient Magus' Bride," "Skip and Loafers" and this is right up there with them. The one hour and thirty minutes never felt too long, and believe me, I watched this at a very inconvenient time for me. Right till the end the comedy hit me, the wholesome scenes hit me, and the emotional ones hit me. I had a great time.

We don't know who directed what part, as this is a movie-length production and there are multiple episode directors listed here, but the direction/storyboard took a noticeable improvement and I really enjoyed it. I'll leave off with some images from the 2nd half of the episode. There were some shots I wanted to include, but those ones are spoilers even at a glance.