#wanted to make my eleanor design look like her from the original movie
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hauntjester · 5 days ago
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‘I am Eleanor,’ Theo said, ‘because I am wearing blue. I love my love with an E because she is ethereal. Her name is Eleanor, and she lives in expectation.’
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bluetortoist · 17 days ago
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I think ur gods au is really cool, would love to hear more about it :)
I made a few rough sketches of Jervis and Eleanor real quick. Cuz of course they're on my mind 😂 Champion!Jervis is still a little unhinged and socially awkward when it comes to making friends, but I like to think he still had a bit of refinement to him because his parents were well-liked tailors. He doesnt always like to show his face without his helmet, but when he dawns the armor, he feels a lot more confident in the power he yields and more drive for the training he goes through.
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Goddess!Eleanor always had an affiliation with rabbits due to their gentle, yet tricky and cunning nature. Convey innocence, yet still wild and unpredictable to those who underestimate them; just like a child.
Her abilities that she can bestow on Jervis is the rapid speed and flexibility like a rabbit AND the ability to manipulate the illusions of others into whatever fantasy that makes them happy. (Basically like his mind controlling tech in the show.) When he calls on her for assistance, her power up is that she can make multiple versions of him out of stardust so he can gang up on his foes and deal much more damage.
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I know I have a solid idea for Mavis and Penguin and giving her cool claw blades on her talons like the owls from that ga'hool movie! She truly looks like a regal ruler of the roost. I wanted to go for some sort of high-priest or council look for Oswald with the long robes, and he has a scar and artificial eye (in place of his monocle) after being punished.
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I know these designs don't look too much different from their original looks, but I also didn't want to deviate too much from the BTAS design since these specific characters are what I'm wanting to use for this AU.
But thank you so much for listening to my rambling and the awesome ask! 💙
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zeondraws · 8 months ago
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Eleanor the Rotating Silver Star Project
Ok I will try to use tumblr a bit more and see if I wanna continue with this one or another website next to instagram.
So this project is something I wanted to do for a whiiiilleee. I often wanted to draw Eleanor in something different, because I felt very inspired by the new Dune movies. And I have been working on her lore for a while. Tho in comparison to other characters I have not worked on her lore too much. There are different versions of her actually. And the one shown in these drawings is Eleanor Blossom, who doesn't strictly belong to the main lore, but will be an important factor to it. Next to her Advisor Idris, who is featured in the finished painting.
Now there is an earlier depiction of Eleanor Blossom, together with WIPs I did not continue, due to them lacking something I felt unhappy with.
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I get inspiration from various songs while drawing her, tho there is never just one song. Usually multiple.
I had sketched her with a potential crown at one point, but had to put the project aside for a while
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So when I decided to draw her again (after an Instagram vote) I thought to myself "OK, I wanna draw her throne room, how do I do that?" I wanted to get inspiration from Mercedes Benz but I can't go to the bus plant. So I figured to check out the Museum Instead! I tried doing a bit of research of Mercedes Benz history before heading there. The story of Bertha and Karl Benz is really interesting.
The fact the Museum looks like the star from above is giving me an aneurysm
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Tho, I arrived there in the afternoon and didn't know what to expect, but ended up staying there up until half an hour before closing time.
I might need to keep details out for the youtube video I wanna make, so I will showcase a screenshot of pictures I took while being there
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I sketched a bit (also including pictures of sketches that I made on other days)
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After the trip I sat down and designed her clothing/crown some more. And I was very happy with the results.
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I also started to design the room from a top view. I had a few itterations but stayed with one similar to the top view of the museum.
And I tried making some test thumbnails of how the final image could look like
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I figured to tint it in blue rather than cold red/grey and this is also the first time where I decided to use blender properly for the first time.
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I was very confused at first, but after a while I understood the basics and just built something SUPER basic and use this to help myself with the perspective.
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Honestly haven't felt so anxious about a drawing until this one, I kept drawing other things out of procrastination and in the 3rd and final week I told myself "ok, last week to work on it, afterwards I need to move onto the next project" and it did help me to continue forward even if I didn't feel like it. And in the end I was able to pull something off!
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I feel very happy to be able to take what I have imagined for so long, and turn it into reality in some shape or form. I don't think anyone ever put an eCitaro into a dress heuheueh
and not to forget, here are some other doodles I've made while working on this.
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Originally there were other doodles but for Instagram I left them out
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My ass has never worked on something so complex before until this painting. Very rewarding but makes me so anxious.
I will try and start the next drawing this week and see how that one will go- aaaaa
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roseofithaca · 4 years ago
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King Takes Knight (Part 5)
Shawn gets just what he hoped for.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
(TW: Torture, captivity, ‘nails’)
This was a glorious day. Victory Day. Maybe he’ll make it a national holiday to commemorate the occasion. Every employee will have a microsecond less work to do than usual. He can be generous like that.
Shawn watches from the stage as a Bad Janet enters, bending the arm of that pesky mutated Good Janet in front of her as she marches her down the steps. Behind them are some generic demon guards who he will have to learn the names of, if only so he can reward them for grabbing a human each between them. The four irritating losers who are behind this whole mess. 
He can’t help but laugh! How stupid can they be to have all come at once? Now there’s no one left to run their ridiculous experiment.
“Good evening, dickweeds!” He greets them cheerily, amused by the defeated looks on all of their faces - though Mendoza looks as gormless as ever; “So glad you could attend the show.”
“Oooh, what show? Is it Shrek the Musical?” Jason asks, lifting his chin up.
The large guard holding him gives his arm a painful tug, making the dumbass yelp like a cat with its tail caught in the door.
“I’m afraid not. But I’ll definitely be keen on making you sing soprano when I have them saw your balls off.” He gloats.
With a wave of his hand, he instructs the guards to walk the four of them forward, up the steps, and then force them to their knees at the front of the stage. The Bad Janet struts to stand next to him and Shawn allows her to give him a low five at his side in celebration.
Not that it took much effort.
“I applaud you for trying. But that really was a pathetic attempt to save Michael. You really thought we wouldn’t have Molotov-proofed the doors after last time?” 
Tahani turns to tut at Jason; “Told you!”
“Well I told you guys it was a trap but none of you listened!” Eleanor hisses.
Oh, this is wonderful. He would be happy to simply lock them in a room and watch them blame and scrap with each other, just as Michael originally intended, rather than all this wholesome chummy crap that ended up happening. How ironic.
“Such a shame that Chidi couldn’t be here to join you all. I guess he’s busy getting all loved up with his fellow nerd Simone, right Eleanor?”
He grins as that hits a nerve and Shellstrop darts forward, looking to go for him, before the guard grabs her hair and yanks her back down.
“Don’t worry. I have to keep my word to the Judge, after all. So I’ll be happy to let the experiment carry on, with Chidi and the others under the ‘safe’ guardianship of my employees wearing your skin suits.” He taunts them, “They won’t even notice you’re gone...especially as they will, literally, be the same skin torn from your bodies!”
“You twisted wanker.” Tahani glares at him, the British brat suddenly baring fangs; “Where is Michael?!”
“Y’know, she’s so right...Michael should be here to watch us slowly slice that fat skin off of them, shouldn’t he.” Bad Janet sways her hips, looking knowingly to Shawn with that glint in her eye; “Want me to go fetch him and give him the front row seat?”
This Bad Janet must not have got the memo.
“Oh I wasn’t foolish enough to have Michael be here. I just needed these filthy rats to think that’s where he was by the video.” He brags, watching the shock quickly drain the anger on their faces into hopelessness; “I had Michael moved a nice, cosy location far, far away. You weren’t even close to getting to him, idiots!”
“FUCK!” Eleanor swears, not even looking as though she can enjoy the opportunity to curse; “I told you all, it was too easy!!”
“No biggie.” Bad Janet rolls her eyes; “I can still stream him the footage to wherever that dingus is, can’t I? I sooo want him to see us cut Tahani’s hair into an uneven bob.”
“No! No! NOOOO!” The wannabe princess screams until the guard gives her a slap.
The Bad Janet has a point though. It wouldn’t be worth torturing Michael’s precious humans unless he was there to watch it, even if the plan with the Michael-suit fell through. Damn Vicky and Glenn both being blown up meant he had no duplicate to use, especially as he forgot to share the design with other skinsuit manufacturers (shut up, Glenn!). 
He’s certain there is very little of Michael’s awareness left after how much they’ve inflicted on him over the past few...well, it was only a handful of months but, thanks to Jeremy Bearimy, he’s endured a lifetimes worth of restraints, freezing, impalement, whipping, electrocuting, bad Adam Sandler movies, and soo much worse. There had been a time when he’d looked into those blue eyes and seen so much raw hatred. Now, whenever he took a glance at his wretch of a former employee, the light was flickering out, as if he’s conscious of nothing except the constant pain and loneliness. 
Just like the humans he adores so much that end up here, where they belong. Because they’re terrible and that’s all that needs to be known. He should have left well enough alone. 
At least now, finally, Shawn gets to have some entertainment.
“You’re right, Bad Janet. Set up a connection to the Tenth Circle, Sector B. I left one Bad Janet on duty there with Nicole who’s currently ‘taking care’ of Michael. And by that I mean making him very miserable.” Just in case the humans are too dumb to get the expression.
Bad Janet texts on her phone, popping another piece of gum.
“Tenth Circle...Sector B....Got it.” She raises her head, an oddly pleasant smile spreading across it, eyes suddenly bright and pleasant; “Thanks for that!”
“What-?”
The not-so-Bad Janet karate chops him in the side of the head and knocks him to the floor. He hears her make a shout, the theatre spinning around him, unable to find his feet quick enough before the humans get to their feet and surround him.
Shawn blinks, rapidly, as they proceed to take out some rope and tie his wrists and ankles together.
“What is the meaning of this?! GUARDS! DON’T JUST STAND THERE! GET THESE STINKING HUMANS OFF OF ME!” He rages, trying his best to break out of their puny hold but they’re, for some reason, freakishly strong.
The Bad Janet continues to smile at him.
“Oh they’re not your guards...and these aren’t the humans. You were being so smug that you didn’t see what’s right in front of you, did you?” She says.
Shawn frowns. What is she talking about?!
He glances up at Tahani leaning over his head, trying to spot the....Oh. Farts.
They’ve fooled him again. That’s no Bad Janet. And these humans have no auras. They don’t even smell! They’re the same as her. They’re...
“Meet my Janet Babies. I produced a bunch more to come with me. We just needed to know where Michael was really being kept and now we do. And I’ve forwarded that to our Team Two so, thanks!”
She gives Shawn a kick in the teeth before her group stand back at her command.
He spits, wriggling, bound and prone on the wooden floor.
The fake Jason stuffs a green stress ball into his mouth to gag him before all of them leave him there, muffled curses being hurled at them, before they lock the door and leave him in the empty theatre. He fucking hates Good Janets!
*
*
*
She likes to use the metal hooks to dig into his flesh and give them a tug, eager to get a reaction out of him despite his near frozen state. Every now and then she’ll manage to hit somewhere extra tender and a whimper will break out of his lips. 
She has a schoolgirl's giggle.
“This is like ice fishing. And you’re my big piece of frozen shrimp.” She teases him as they sit in the inside of a giant glacier. 
She doesn’t seem to be affected by the code, only wearing a pink slip dress. There’s not even any goosebumps on the arms of her suit.. 
The new one they’ve left with him is one he hasn’t seen before. She seems new to torture, possibly even new to the slim skinsuit she’s been given, still fascinated by the way her own fingers move. The way she caresses his face and sticks her tongue out makes him suspect she’s some kind of giant leech monster. The kind they used to let suck humans brains out with straws. Or cut their skulls open and lick them out like a kid with a bowl of cake mix.
Definitely not a fire squid, whatever she was.
“I bet Shawn’s almost finished making your buddies feel at home here. If you’re really good to me, Mikey...I might ask him to bring you their heads as a treat.” Nicole, as she said was her name, informs him.
He’s beyond attempting to beg for them to be left alone anymore. He’s beyond expecting any sort of mercy.
Everything he had tried for so long....everything he had hoped to avoid.
All of his efforts for the past few years were for nothing.
I’m sorry, I’m so sorry... He thinks as more tiny crystallised tears sting from the corners of his eyes.
A loud bang outside makes him start.
Nicole turns to the Bad Janet at the door; “What was that? Go check on it, will you!” she orders like a spoiled brat to her butler.
The Bad Janet rolls her eyes, flipping the bird and then doing as she’s told.
Nicole turns back to kneel in front of Michael.
He tries to escape into his hallucinations but she wants his focus on her. Her hand grips his cheek and squeezes tight.
“I dunno what you did to get the Boss to hate you so much, I don’t really give a toss about current affairs...But m’just glad I get this as my first job! Punishing a dirty traitor...” She runs the tip of an ice pick up his face, towards his nostril; “...And all the other dirty things I hear about you...My mate Kath said you had the hots for one of them humans...You creeps should keep that fetish on the internet where it belongs! Look where it’s got you now...”
She takes a small hammer out from her pocket and puts it to the bottom of the ice pick, shoving it up Michael’s nose.
“I wish you had a brain in there so this could get the same effect it does with those creatures...But the simulation is good enough.”
He wishes he could laugh through the binding in his lips. He wishes that her wish could come true. Give him a lobotomy? Take away his memories of constant failure? Make him oblivious to how he’d loved for nothing and lost everything? She would be doing him the greatest favour.
As it is, he’ll just sit there and take the pain of a nail through his fake skull. He’ll let her have her fix until she gets her reprieve and he’s left alone to his own personal inner torment. His guilt. His regrets.
Just let go, Michael. Just...forget.
Nicole leans in close, ready to fiercely tap; “Hold still. This will only hurt a-.”
She doesn’t get a chance to finish her taunting before her skin suit explodes, sending a wave of pink goo across Michael’s face. 
He blinks. Something happened.
The ice pick and the hammer clatter to the floor.
Wha...
Eleanor Shellstrop stands at the door, clutching a Bad Janet marble in one hand, pointing Janet’s demon exploder in the other. 
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duallygirl178 · 4 years ago
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Dearest O'Malley Introduction
Introduction
"My life had started on a conveyer belt at a Chevrolet manufacture in 1967. I was white as a cloud but glossy with shine. It was all at a factory in Arlington Texas united states. There are two Chevrolet factories located in the USA; one in Texas and the other in Bowling Green Kentucky. There is also one in Ingersoll Ontario, Canada and another in South Korea in current use. Usually Chevrolet Malibu cars were made in Hamtramck, Michigan and in Detroit as my ancestry goes back, but I was proudly born and raised in Texas. My mother came from Detroit and my father came from the longhorn state in Texas where the longhorn cattle roamed and nestled and also where the football team played in the kick-off at the stadium. When I was 12 months old, I was weaned, sold, and transported to Farmington New Mexico. There in that town, were some parts that reminded me of Texas...since I was born there that reminded me of my home that Farmington had so I didn't get homesick. I had one sister, and three older brothers that were shipped into different states of America that I never saw again. My lucky brother; Edgar ended up on Route 66, close to my mother's home state and he was living like a king. As again, I was rowdy and wild outside, but kind-hearted inside for a young stud from Texas. I sure didn't have the accent, but I fought like one and if they got fresh with a Texan, they'd better watch out. They were tough and bared no mercy on the sinners making fun of them.
My story had a unique pattern where it starts as fiction-like back-story and plays onto historical events and comes back to fiction again. Now, I know it sounds like an unusual autobiography, but I heard stories that were like that just like Eleanor Roosevelt before she met her husband or like President John F. Kennedy, but with a true story that it just had some parts missing and covered up because it was unbearable to put in the textbooks. it was so classified that even historians took it out so the teachers wouldn't tell their students about what those parts happened that got covered up like the happening where John was invited to an extraterrestrial space craft and the real assassination on him for sharing alien information that wasn't suppose to know. Right now, I'll lay out a summery of what's ahead in my story. First I'll start by coming from an abusive husband that would kick me, then going home to Gladas Kennedy to Joe Popplewell, to be driven around a while by Jan and Randy to bonding with Nathan and to making a match for him by meeting Natalie. There was a lot in my life that happened. I had many moments where I got attention from people in town that I was a nice car and it delighted me to see people interested in legends like myself to be out and rolling, unlike the cars made today that are made out of plastic and look nothing like the original cars like the chargers and the newest Malibu designs. When people passed me by, some of them would laugh, which could only mean one thing; they were blind and had no taste. I didn't usually give a care on the insult and I just drop it and walk away not caring to look into the bother. I did things years ago that I enjoyed and never looked back at because it was long gone that happened in the years, put behind me such as trouble with the law and moon shining in the woods and getting familiarized with marijuana laws in states that allow it like in Colorado. They call it medicine when it can make you high for days. Now, New Mexico was working on getting it legalized because hey, Colorado spreads the word that it can help cure and reduce pain. Durango had a lot of stoners that say they were impressed and why in the world does New Mexico need more tweekers? In the 60s, marijuana was a gateway into serenity rather if you were a hippie or just horsing around. It still was a thing then and will be now. There is a lot of advantages of growing up in the 1960s like dating, diners road racing, moon shining, cruising, groovy television shows that weren't terrible and the swap meets that weren't bad. I even got to see my first movie at the drive in with a female on a date called "American Graffiti" and I kissed in the back while settled in "park" so I could get a far away seat. My eyesight was far sighted and felt comfortable I the back. The love of my life which was a 67 impala treated me out for our second month anniversary of our relationship. I had remembered when I first met her at a random club where I was singing about my life just for her in 1968.
When the 1970s arrived, my friend; Impa went missing, Gonzo; my best friend, went AWOL Texas-ape crazy and we had the cops search the entire woods...nothing was found except Impa's keychain. So they gave up and I never saw Impa again but I wondered what happened to him. I went to my second home and my owner; Gladas drove me around to work, grocery stores, and church. I met some pretty bad and rotten eggs that needed the "Texas-boy treatment" and to be taught a lesson at Gladas's work which I took the honors of beating them up.
Then, I came to my third home in the 1980s where I met Joe and Carol; the grandparents of Nathan in whom I didn't meet Nathan until later right after Gladas stopped driving me. Joe took the charge of caring for me when I needed something. I'd start right up for him. I met Ian, a blue Buick under the carport which was my stall mate. Carol didn't like him, but Carol liked me because I was so big. I also had met Randy and Jan in a reunion and at the time, Jan was carrying a little bundle of joy when she came to see Joe. Unfortunately, I've never been a father because I've never met the right female that wanted ankle biters running around. When 1992 had come, Nathan was born and to get to know each other, Jan and Randy would take Nathan for a ride in me while Nathan was seated in the backseat. Jan thought I was a scary ride, but Randy thought I was pretty cool. Randy and I got along like beans and cornbread. For being borrowed until Jan got a new car, I enjoyed being the only car to be driven. So I was driven once again to work in and to the grocery stores.
When 2014 hit, Nathan was already handing out with girls. There was a basic one named Shay I didn't like her because she didn't appreciate classic cars as much as Nathan or Natalie did. She weighed 240 pounds and it was like carrying a giant boulder. I think she wasn't worth hanging around because she'd ditch Nathan to go hang out with Jerome. I had to do something to keep Nathan supported and so I kept my eyes on him. When shay was out of the picture, I had my picture taken in 2014 at a car show and again in 2015. Seeing the same brunette girl made me realize that she would be perfect for Nathan, but she seemed so shy. A few years later. I parked in the carport again and nowadays I had wished Nathan would open up and meet people like the one they used to in my day. However, it was all online. When Natalie came along, she changed everything in Nathan’s life forever. He didn't used to like watching movies, but now he does. I had never seen him so happy and it was all thanks to me who opened the door to make them a couple
Therefore, here's how my life started out as the way it is
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upontheshelfreviews · 5 years ago
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Whenever I discuss Sleeping Beauty with someone who doesn’t share my enthusiasm for Disney, they have an irksome tendency to get it muddled with Snow White; their excuse being “it has the same plot”. I’ll admit, there are some surface similarities that even the most casual viewer can pick up on: a fairytale where a princess is forced into unconsciousness and wakes up with some necking, the comic relief and villain being the most beloved characters, a little frolic in the forest with animals, the antagonist plunging off a cliff, you get the idea. In fact, Sleeping Beauty even reuses some discarded story beats from Snow White, mainly our couple dancing on a cloud and the villain capturing the prince to prevent him from waking his princess. Yet despite that, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are two wholly different movies shaped by the era and talents of the time.
I’ve discussed how Walt Disney was never one to stick to a repeated formula, no matter how successful it was. He must have noticed the parallels between his first movie and this one, but decided to make one crucial change for Sleeping Beauty that would forever differentiate the two: the look. We all know the traditional Disney house style: round, soft shapes, big eyes; charming as it was and still is, Walt was sick of it after several decades. Meanwhile, artists like Mary Blair and Eyvind Earle were producing gorgeous concept art that rarely made a perfect translation into the Disney house style.
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Walt wanted to make a feature that took the pop artistry of their designs and made the animation work for it instead of the other way around – which brings us to another animation studio that was doing well at the time, United Pictures Animation, or UPA.
UPA didn’t have the kind of budget Disney normally had for their animated projects, but what they lacked in fluidity they made up for in style. Watch The Tell-Tale Heart, Gerald McBoing-Boing and Rooty-Toot-Toot to see what I mean. UPA were pioneers of limited animation, taking their scant resources and creating some striking visuals with bold geometric designs. Through this, they defined the look of 50’s animation. Though perhaps unintentional, Sleeping Beauty comes across as Disney’s response to UPA, or what would happen if UPA had the funds they deserved. The characters’ contours are angular but effortlessly graceful, defining their inherent dignity and royalty. And the colors, ohhh the colors…
Because of the immense amount of work required to animate in this difficult new style (and in the Cinemascope ratio, no less) as well as story troubles and Walt barely supervising the animation studio now that he had his hands full with live-action films, television, and a theme park, Sleeping Beauty had a turbulent production that lasted the entirety of the 1950s. For a time, Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame was set to direct. Director Wilfred Jackson suffered a heart attack partway through production and Eric Larson, one of the Nine Old Men, took the mantle from there before Walt Disney replaced him Clyde Geronimi. And even after that, Wolfgang Reitherman teamed up with Geronimi as co-director to get the film finished after no less than three delays. Also, Don Bluth got his foot in the door as an assistant animator for this feature, beginning his short-lived but impactful tenure at Disney. Did all this hamper the movie, or did they succeed in what they set out to accomplish?
Well, one of the reasons why this review took so long was because I had a hard time not repeating “MOVIE PRETTY” and “MALEFICENT AWESOME” over and over. Make what you will of that.
The story begins as most fairy tales do with your typical king, Stefan, and his queen suddenly blessed with a baby girl after years of wishing for a child. They christen their daughter Aurora (middle name Borealis, localized entirely within their castle) and throw a huge celebration in her honor. People come from all over the kingdom to pay homage to the princess and OSMKFKSBFHFGILWBHBFC…
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Movie pretty…
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Movie pretty…
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MOVIE PRETTIEEEEEE…
John Hench, Academy Award-winning special effects man and art director, turned Walt on to the idea of basing the look of Sleeping Beauty on classic medieval artwork. Thanks to him and Eyvind Earle’s insanely detailed designs and backgrounds, this is one of Disney’s most visually distinct and beautiful films. A single still from this feature wouldn’t feel out of place up in The Cloisters.
Among the party guests is King Stefan’s old friend King Hubert (Bill Thompson) bringing his young son Prince Philip. Stefan and Hubert wish to unite their two kingdoms and formally announce Philip’s betrothal to the infant Aurora.
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“We were going to do it during the second trimester, but we decided to wait until she was more mature.”
By the way, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is Aurora’s mother, Queen Leah, alive and well and named. And frabjous day calloo callay, she even gets some lines! The most common joke about Disney princesses is that they don’t have moms (even Ralph Breaks The Internet went out of its way to highlight that), so as a hardcore Disney fan who often has to put up with this generalization, Leah’s existence leaves me feeling vindicated.
Once that happy revelation is out of the way, we’re introduced to our main protagonists.
Oh, you thought I was referring to Philip and Aurora? Nonononono, my friends. THESE are the true heroes of Sleeping Beauty, the Three Good Fairies.
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The fairies started off as one-note side characters sharing the same personality. Think pre-Ducktales-reboot Huey, Dewey, and Louie in dresses. But the studio had a difficult time giving Aurora more depth and was having a lot more fun developing the fairies. Naturally, they became so fascinating and appealing that more screentime was given over to them. Now the story’s carried by three wonderfully fleshed out ladies who are distinct in both looks and personality: Flora’s the pragmatic tradition-adhering leader, Fauna’s the sweet scatterbrain who mediates, and Merryweather’s the feisty young upstart.
With the plot now focused on characters who held a traditionally minor role, it’s easy to read this as a perspective-flipped version of the fairytale, but there’s more to it than that. Remember in my Clash of the Titans review how I mentioned the gods literally play chess using the heroes as pieces? I tend to view the main conflict of Sleeping Beauty in the same way. The Three Fairies and Maleficent are in a constant game of good vs. evil, moving Aurora, Philip, and the rest of the royals as pawns in their plans. There’s plenty of plotting and intrigue, with both sides constantly guessing and second-guessing the other’s next maneuver, and even if you’re already familiar with the story’s trajectory you’re still left on the edge of your seat as it inches towards the fiery climax.
And dare I say it but…the fairies and their power dynamic make this Disney’s most feminist film. Yes, really. You could argue that some of the other animated movies from the Renaissance and Revival period have more notable, stronger female protagonists, and many of the live-action remakes try to be woke without really grasping the concept, but consider this: The cast of Sleeping Beauty is mostly female, the leads aren’t objectified in any manner (that is if you count Aurora as a supporting character), nor does their gender factor into their competency, each one differs in age and body type, and most of them are working together towards a common goal as opposed to against each other. Name a movie in the past decade that does the same and still manages to be entertaining (no, really, I’d love to see it). There’s even one scene that unintentionally provides great commentary on the divides in the feminist movement, but more on that later.
Flora and Fauna bless the baby with beauty and song respectively which are accompanied by a short chorus and some sumptuous graphics. I don’t think I need to reiterate that when this movie goes extra with the visuals, it GOES EXTRA with the visuals. Next comes Merryweather with her gift. To this day, no one knows what Merryweather intended to give Aurora. Flora’s the most traditionally feminine of the three so her giving Aurora beauty comes as no surprise. By comparison, Merryweather is the most forward (or unconventional, depending on your point of view). I wouldn��t put it past her to favor Aurora with intelligence, or humor, or passion, or creativity or humility or confidence or decisiveness or physical fitness or great swordsmanship or telekinesis or ice powers or one million YouTube subscribers or comfort in her female sexuality.
Me personally, I think I’ve got the best gift of all:
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“O Princess, my gift shall be…getting all reviews posted on time for once!”
Alas, before Merryweather can bestow such a wondrous quality upon the child, she’s interrupted by a horny party crasher.
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Maleficent. The Mistress of All Evil. Chernabog’s right-hand witch. The Disney villain all Disney villains strive to be. She has it all – the looks, the poise, the power, the laugh, the cunning, the ruthlessness! She doesn’t even need to sing a song because she’s already awesome enough without one. Marc Davis’ gothic design cuts a fine figure and Eleanor Audley’s subtle icy voicework is trés magnifique. As much as I enjoy Audley as Cinderella’s evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine was but an appetizer in comparison to the four-course banquet of pure villainy that is Maleficent.
This leads to a small point of contention some viewers have with Maleficent in spite of hitting top marks elsewhere: her motivation. Putting a hit out on a child for not getting invited to a measly party? Not exactly compelling, is it? And yes, it isn’t a deep motive…is what I would say if I wasn’t well-versed in folkloric tradition. In the original fairy tale and the movie (though it isn’t outright stated in the latter), the party for Aurora isn’t just your average royal kegger, it’s a christening. Back in ye olden days, christenings were very big deals. To not receive an invitation to one was a grave insult, so not extending an invite to your semi-omnipotent magical neighbor is just asking for trouble. In the fairy tale’s defense, no one had seen the evil fairy for years and assumed she was dead, though I can’t imagine how nobody thought Maleficent wouldn’t find about it eventually.
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“You dare to deny me, foolish mortals? Very well, then! I shall have my own christening! With blackjack! And strumpets!”
Maleficent is proof that sometimes you don’t have to have an elaborate backstory, a god complex, a tragic past or the unfortunate luck to be on the wrong side of a conflict. Sometimes all you need is some magic, brains, class, and a whole lot of flair to be a perfect, intimidating, and unquestionably iconic villain.
Basically what I’m saying is these movies never happened. Got it?
Maleficent is disarmingly polite over being snubbed, even after Merryweather bluntly tells her nobody wanted her to come. She even brought her own gift for the baby – sixteen years of life cut short by the prick of a spinning wheel spindle, because why change into a dragon and destroy everyone all at once when you can draw the torture out over an agonizingly long time and deliver the coup de grace in the prime of a young woman’s life? That’s how Maleficent rolls, baby. She could dole out capital punishment when she has to without batting an eyelid, but causing human suffering is her bread and butter.
Stefan begs the fairies to undo Maleficent’s curse, but it’s too strong for them. Flora and Fauna insist, however, that Merryweather can use her gift to lessen the spell’s potency. Now instead of dying from that fatal prick, Aurora will sleep until she receives True Love’s Kiss™. Stefan’s not one to throw caution to the wind though, so he orders all of the kingdom’s spinning wheels to be burned in the meantime.
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I just pray his kingdom’s economy wasn’t based on textiles otherwise they’re screwed.
As the peasantry celebrates Guy Fawkes Day several centuries early, the fairies ponder their next move. They’ve been around long enough to know that removing spinning wheels from the equation won’t put a damper on Maleficent’s scheme. This scene is incredibly effective in establishing two things:
Maleficent’s near-omniscient presence in the film
How well the fairies’ differing  personalities play off each other
Maleficent rarely miscalculates her opponents, and that guile puts her one step ahead of the heroes, making her one of the few Disney villains to nearly reach their goal. The only mistake she makes in the entire movie is trusting her henchmen to do their jobs when she isn’t directly supervising them, though that’s more on them than her. The different methods the fairies propose to deal with Maleficent fantastically illustrate what kind of people they are. Fauna believes she’s just a miserable soul who could be reasoned with if they talk things over. Merryweather would rather take the fight to Maleficent and turn her into a toad. Flora, however, is wise enough to know Maleficent’s too wicked to plead to, too clever to bargain with and too strong to face head-on, so their best course of action is to focus on protecting Aurora through any means necessary. Her initial idea is to enchant the princess into a flower (her namesake is her specialty, after all), but Merryweather reminds her that Maleficent enjoys creating bitter frosts just to kill her flowers.
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“Well we could try that but stick her in a castle with a beast for a while…nah, that’ll never work.”
Yet never one to give up, Flora alters the plan so they’ll raise Aurora as a peasant girl out in the woods. This means disguising themselves as humans and giving up magic for sixteen years so as to not attract Maleficent, but that amount of time is like twenty minutes to the fair folk. Stefan and Leah reluctantly agree to the plan, and the fairies spirit little Aurora away from the castle that very night.
Sixteen years later, Maleficent is infuriated that her minions have failed to locate Aurora, even more so when one reveals that they’ve spent the whole time looking for a baby instead of a maturing woman. In an interview with the Rotoscopers podcast, Don Bluth called Maleficent a very flat antagonist because she surrounds lackeys dumber than her so she could be the smart one among them and, again, her supposed lack of motivation. But come on, let’s not entirely condemn the bad guys for having too much faith in their underlings. It’s difficult to find minions smart enough to carry out orders but dumb enough to stay unquestioningly loyal. Usually you have to register as Republican in order to get some.
Maleficent gets her anger out in the most therapeutic way – throwing lightning bolts at her orcs, awesome – then leaves the job of finding Aurora up to her trusty raven Diablo. We then finally see the grown-up Aurora herself, whom the fairies renamed Briar Rose as a nod to the Brothers Grimm version of this tale.
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I know I’ve made the occasional case for the princesses from Walt’s era compared to the present day, and yet I have a hard time defending how…I don’t want to say bland. Bland would mean there’s nothing interesting about Aurora, and that’s a lie. She’s gorgeously designed and drawn, and even in her peasant dress she has an air of elegance and sophistication. She carries herself like a queen; her innate royalty reveals itself in her graceful movements. Mary Costa also gifts her with an excellent set of pipes. Hearing her song echoing through the forest is nothing short of magical. She’s a flower child who can talk to animals. She has dreams of escaping her adopted aunts’ loving but stifling care and being allowed to grow up, see the world, actually talk to people, and even find a life partner. She has some strong potential. It’s not that Aurora’s boring, she’s just not quite as developed as we’ve come to expect our animated female protagonists to be. I’m grateful for what we’ve got, but I only wish we could have more. What was her childhood like? How did she learn to communicate with animals? When did the fairies trust her enough to let her spend time out on her own? Did the fairies ever subtly teach her lessons in royalty through lessons and games? Heck, nobody bothers to keep her informed about Maleficent or her curse, and they act surprised when she’s shocked to learn she was a princess the whole time. I want to see what Aurora could have been like if she had known the truth already and what kind of steps she would take to defend herself. Blame the source material for this; it’s difficult to write a compelling main character when she’s supposed to sleep through most of her story.
The fairies send Aurora on a fetch quest so they can plan a surprise birthday party for her. Merryweather wants to bring their magic wands back out for the job, but Flora insists on taking no chances now that they’re in the home stretch. Fauna gets to live her dream of baking an elaborate cake (it’s thanks to her referring to a teaspoon as a “tsp” that I do it too), and Flora insists on making Aurora a gown fit for a princess using Merryweather as a dummy. And we also get one of the best burns in the Disney canon:
Merryweather: It looks awful! Flora: That’s because it’s on you, dear.
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The fairies fall into reminiscing over raising Aurora and get teary over having to let her go soon. I see where they’re coming from, they’re the ones who raised her for sixteen years. They must have so many fond memories, not to mention they put all that work into learning to properly raise a child let alone live like normal human beings seeing how two of them still can’t sew or cook without magic. I wonder what that was like –
No, NO, you CGI abominations DO NOT exist! Go back to the fires from whence you came!!
“Ugh, I’m gonna need something strong to expunge that from my eyes.”
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There we go.
Aurora wanders through the forest, drawing out the usual bevy of cute woodland critters with her singing. She also catches the attention of a grown-up Prince Philip (Billy Shirley) who’s more dashing and considerably less blonde than he was sixteen years ago.
By this point, the Disney animators were far more confident in their ability to draw realistic but expressive leading men, hence Philip’s expanded role from the story. He’s also the first Disney prince to have a personality; not a terribly deep or defined one, but it’s a step up from his nameless plot-device predecessors. There are some signs of him being a hopeless romantic, he gets a few funny lines here and there, has a sturdy friendship with his horse Samson, and is fiercely determined when it’s time to kick some ass. He does have the same problem as Aurora in he randomly decides to stop talking for the rest of the movie once he reaches the midway mark (at least Aurora has the excuse that she’s sleeping for that remainder), but I suppose you could chalk this up as to him wanting to spite Maleficent with his silence.
The animals steal some of Philip’s clothes so they can pretend to be Aurora’s dream prince. Aurora plays along as she sings the movie’s standout song, “Once Upon a Dream”. Philip and Samson watch until he smooths his way into the dance. Once Aurora discovers the switch, Philip gets a little too up in her personal space for my liking, constantly grabbing her hand so she doesn’t run off and pulling her closer to him. Not as horrible as what the prince does to the sleeping princess in the original story (a questionably consensual kiss is a trifle compared to how the scumbag of a prince treats her there), but still a bit iffy.
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“It’s a good thing my aunts taught me to never go anywhere without a loaded pistol taped to my back.”
But once Philip backs off a little and joins in her song, they both dance together and OEHSGBJSGBLL…
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I think I’m going to need surgery to get my jaw off the floor back into its proper place thanks to this movie.
As per Disney tradition, Aurora and Philip’s waltz means the two are head over heels in love with each other. But when it comes time to finally exchange names, Aurora panics and runs away, though she sticks around long enough to tell Philip to meet her family at the cottage that evening.
Back at home, the party preparations aren’t proceeding as planned. Flora’s dress looks as good as my attempts at dressmaking, and Fauna’s dessert wouldn’t feel out of place on Cake Wrecks.
A fed-up Merryweather reads Flora and Fauna the riot act and convinces them to finally take up their wands again. This produces more desirable results, though Merryweather still gets stuck with cleanup duty.
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Enchanting a broom to come to life and do your dirty work? I don’t see this going wrong in any possible way.
Things start to go south when Flora and Merryweather argue over the dress color and it escalates into a full-blown wizard’s duel. This gag was supposedly based on the animators’ arguments over what was Aurora’s proper dress color. I think they should have compromised and combined both colors to make purple, which would go lovely with Aurora’s violet eyes, but what do I know. I’m just the illustration major writing a blog. Unfortunately, while the fairies remembered to cover every door, window, and crack that could expose their magic, they overlooked the fireplace. The sparkly residue of Flora and Merryweather’s fight fly up the chimney, alerting Diablo to their hideaway.
Going back to what I said earlier about this movie providing some commentary on feminism, consider this: Flora is obsessed with pink, a traditionally female color, and she gives Aurora an attribute that is oft preferred in a woman but not the most important quality, beauty. Merryweather, on the other hand, is all about blue, a color usually geared towards boys, and she has much more common sense and practicality about her. Though Merryweather and Flora are able to put aside their differences in personalities and approaches for a common goal, it’s when they refuse to compromise and begin prioritizing which color – ie. which ideology and extension of themselves – that they want Aurora to step into that they lose sight of what’s important, and allow everything they worked for to collapse on itself. It’s played for laughs very well, sure, but if not’s symbolic of the dichotomy between traditional femininity and modern sensibility that tears apart the feminist movement then I don’t know what is.
The fairies manage to fix their messes in time for Aurora’s return. She’s thrilled with their gifts but shocks them all when she announces her new boyfriend is coming over for dinner. They come clean about her heritage and betrothal to Prince Philip, and Aurora runs up to her room in tears over the fact that she’ll never see her one true love again. That and her entire life has been a lie and she’s being carted off to meet parents she knows nothing about to marry a man she’s never met and rule an entire kingdom with no prior experience or knowledge. But mostly the true love thing.
Meanwhile, Stefan and Hubert are making wedding plans over wine with “Skumps”, the preferred toast between me and my friends. Also adding to the humor is a minstrel who keeps stealing sips until he literally drinks himself under the table.
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This was also his way of getting through the Black Plague, co-opted by the rest of the world six hundred years later.
Philip returns and Hubert goes to greet him. He thinks his son is thrilled at the prospect of marrying Aurora but is disappointed to learn that he’s fallen for an anonymous peasant.
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“At least tell me if she’s royalty in disguise so you don’t elope to Sicily!”
Philip rides back into the woods for his big date, leaving Hubert with the unenviable task of breaking the bad news to Stefan. As for Aurora, the fairies smuggle her into the castle and prep her for her homecoming. She’s still blue over having to ghost her forest hubby though, so the fairies give her some time to herself.
Biiiiiiiiig mistake.
So imagine you’re me, growing up watching this movie on tape on a television set with a very standard but not spectacular sound system. Then years later you download the remastered soundtrack and give it a listen while you’re falling asleep. You’ve got the whole score memorized, the volume is nice and low, it’s all good.
And then, just as you’re drifting off, you hear a ghostly voice singing in your ear “Auroraaa…Auroraaaaa…”
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That reminds me, I haven’t had a chance to talk about the music yet, haven’t I? Forgive me for waiting so long to do so but my reaction to it is equivalent to the visuals. The score is taken straight from the Sleeping Beauty ballet by Tchaikovsky, the same composer as The Nutcracker, and it is lush, sweeping, sumptuous, just…
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While George Bruns was mostly faithful with how the score was represented within the context of the ballet, at certain points he took the same approach as The Nutcracker Prince and rearranged the music order to underscore totally different scenes to staggering effect. The beautifully ominous music where Maleficent appears as a ball of green flame and leads the hypnotized Aurora to her doom? It’s from one of the ballet’s divertissements where Puss in Boots dances with his girlfriend. But tell me which is more fitting for a musical composition such as this – two cats pirouetting around each other in a crowded ballroom, or eerie pitch-black spiral staircases illuminated by green fire as a cursed princess inches closer to her dark destiny against her will?
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The fairies realize their error and frantically search the maze of secret passages for Aurora. Though the princess resists Maleficent’s commands for only a moment, they are still too late to save her from fulfilling the curse. Maleficent gloats and leaves the fairies to wallow in their failure. It’s made even worse as the merrymaking from the oblivious revelers below ring out while they put Aurora to bed in a tower and mourn over her. It’s heartbreaking: they raised and loved her as if she were their own daughter, and they still couldn’t protect her. Everyone talks about “Baby Mine” and Bambi’s mom as huge tearjerkers, but why is this scene constantly forgotten?
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Stupid onions, stupid stupid onions…
Fauna and Merryweather can’t even begin to imagine how heartbroken Stefan and Leah will be, but Flora has a solution: put the kingdom to sleep along with Aurora until she is woken up. I understand her wanting to spare Aurora’s family some pain, but conking out an entire principality for god knows how long to cover up their failure? AND at a time when Europe was all about invading and conquering itself? Are we sure this isn’t just part of Maleficent’s overarching plan for revenge? This sounds more like something she would come up with instead of the leader of the good guys.
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“So what happens if one of the neighboring kingdoms decides to attack while everyone’s sleeping?”
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“Then we’ll put them and their armies to sleep, too.”
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“And once Aurora is saved, both kingdoms will immediately wake up to find themselves thrust into a war they’re barely prepared for, is that correct?”
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“Oh, you’re right, that’s a terrible idea.”
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“Finally, thank you.”
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“I’ll just turn them all into flowers.”
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“THAT’S NOT AN OPTION!!!”
The fairies flitter about the castle grounds spreading their spell over the unwitting royal court, even putting the candles and sconces out. We have another reprise of the “Gifts of Beauty and Song” chorus now altered to sound like a lullaby, providing an interesting bit of symmetry between it and its earlier use in the film. Whereas it first underscored their blessings upon Aurora, now it plays as the fairies are giving the “gift” of sleep to the entire castle.
While Flora knocks out the throne room, she overhears Hubert muttering about Philip eloping with a peasant girl and she makes the connection. The fairies speed to the cottage just as Philip arrives there. But once again Maleficent beats them to the punch. Her goons ambush Philip and she watches them wrestle and bond him with fiendish glee.
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You magnificent, kinky bitch.
Maleficent was only out to capture the one man who could break Aurora’s curse; the fact that he’s really the son of her nemesis’ allies is just icing on the cake. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather resolve to rescue him from Maleficent’s fortress in the Forbidden Mountain.
Some movies reach the brink of greatness only to falter when it comes to the final act. Sleeping Beauty is not one of them. Everything that happens from the moment we slowly zoom in through the purple mist on to the Forbidden Mountain itself up until the storybook closes is perfection. The perfectly paced action, the animation, the music, Maleficent’s hideaway in all its decaying glory (I swear it’s like Jean Cocteau meets Frank Frazetta meets Giotto) all make for the climax of climaxes.
The fairies shrink to insect size and silently sneak through Maleficent’s creepy domain, narrowly running into guards and gargoyles at every turn. They traverse the stronghold until they find her overseeing a hellish bacchanalia in honor of her supposed victory.
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“My old gaffer would have a thing or two to say if he could see us now.”
Soon Maleficent gets bored and goes to “cheer up” her captive. Then we have it: The Moment.
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I’ve talked about this before, that one small, devious step further the villain takes to make themselves more heinous in our eyes. It’s the Wicked Witch taunting Dorothy with visions of Aunt Em. It’s the Beldam hanging Other Wybie’s remains. It’s virtually everything Heath Ledger’s Joker does. And it is this simple scene where Maleficent details what she plans to do with Philip. She spins “a charming fairy tale come true” of Aurora sleeping without aging, waiting for her prince to come to wake her. And Philip will escape the dungeon, ride to her rescue and prove true love conquers all – in one hundred years, when he’s a broken old husk of a man on the brink of death. DAMN. If you want to know why Maleficent is considered the best of all the Disney villains, it’s not just all her previously praised qualities, it’s her sheer sadism and the pleasure she takes in it.
The fairies enter and free Philip once Maleficent departs. The course of true love never runs smoothly though, so they arm him with the Shield of Virtue (licensed by Carefree Maxi-Pads), and the Sword of Truth to aid in his escape.
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“So, why’s it called the Sword of Truth?”
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“Anyone who’s subjected to it speaks only the truth…as they bleed out and die, of course.”
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“Cool, cool. On an unrelated note, I think I’m gonna go to DC for my honeymoon.”
Diablo sounds the alarm and the Battle With the Forces of Evil kicks off with Philip slashing his Sword of Truth through Maleficent’s goons.
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“I steal lunches from the break room fridge!” “I broke wind last Tuesday and blamed it on the dog!” “I cried like a little girl during The Good Place finale!” “I only wash my hands for NINETEEN seconds at a time!”
Philip makes his getaway on Samson and the music reaches truly operatic levels as Maleficent does everything in her power to end him. Yet Philip soldiers through it like a boss. Crumbling mountainsides, Maleficent hurling lightning from the sky and summoning a forest of thorns to block the way? Fuck that shit, he’s gotta go save his girl.
Then, as Philip cuts his way through the briars, Maleficent looks at her watch, realizes it’s No More Fucking Around O’Clock, zooms over to the castle, throws down the most intimidating challenge ever  –
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“Now you shall deal with me, O Prince, and all the powers of HELL!!”
– and with that, she takes her final form: a massive fire-breathing dragon.
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Every Disney villain who’s gone kaiju in the final act owes everything to this gorgeous terrifying beast. The dragon is an awe-inspiring unholy fusion of style, power and darkness. There’s a reason why she’s the final boss in Fantasmic; the chance to watch a live dragon battle is too cool to pass up.
Speaking of battles, Maleficent’s dragon form was animated by Woolie Reitherman, who previously brought us such gargantuan monster clashes as the T-rex brawl in Fantasia and the escape from Monstro The Whale in Pinocchio. And when you have a dragon confronting a fairytale prince, well, you know what’s coming.
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Maleficent backs Philip on to a cliff surrounded by flames, leaving him only one desperate shot. With a little extra magic from the fairies, he throws his Sword of Truth at Maleficent and it plunges right into her heart.
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“I liked…Frozen 2…more than the first one…”
Maleficent’s spells die with her, clearing the way for Philip. He gives Aurora that wake-up smooch and everyone in the castle slowly rouses, owing their inexplicable simultaneous twenty-minute blackout to the unusually strong wine.
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He can attest to that fact.
The royal families are happily reunited, and the film ends on Flora and Merryweather fighting over Aurora’s dress color yet again as she and Philip waltz together on the clouds using animation Beauty and the Beast would borrow thirty-two years later.
Sleeping Beauty is a movie I can never have on in the background because the moment I look up from my work I am spellbound by it. Do I need to elaborate on how this is one of the most beautiful looking and sounding movies Disney’s ever produced? Sleeping Beauty is the swan song of Disney’s first golden age of animation. For better or for worse, their animation process would switch to the rough, cost-cutting Xerox process starting with their next feature, 101 Dalmatians, and few films would reach Sleeping Beauty’s level of gorgeousness ever since.
Though a massive financial and critical hit on release, it wasn’t enough to make up for the monstrous production costs, not unlike Fantasia. Thankfully, home video sales revived interest and made it Sleeping Beauty of the top-selling VHS tapes of the decade, cementing it as a bonafide classic. It’s one of my favorites from Disney for its stunning visuals, gorgeous music, phenomenal villain and overlooked but great cast characters. Revisit it if you haven’t already.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this review, please consider supporting this misfit on Patreon. Patreon supporters receive great perks such as extra votes for movie reviews, movie requests, early sneak-peeks and more! Special thanks to Amelia Jones, Gordhan Rajani and Sam Minden for their contributions!
Artwork by Charles Moss.
Screencaps from animationscreencaps.com
March Review: Sleeping Beauty (1959) Whenever I discuss Sleeping Beauty with someone who doesn't share my enthusiasm for Disney, they have an irksome tendency to get it muddled with Snow White; their excuse being "it has the same plot".
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nillewritings · 6 years ago
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You’ve Got Mail - Chapter One
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Chapter One - The First One
Pairing: Harrison Osterfield x Original Character (Elle)
Words: 950+ words
Warnings: None... Well, A LOT of rambling, but that’s Elle!
A/N: And here’s Chapter One! This was what I wrote first. Even before story notes or anything. If the emails are already taken, that was not my intention. They are from my imagination, so yeah. Again, this is in NO WAY related to the Tom Hanks / Meg Ryan blockbuster, “You've Got Mail”. It just has the same title as it seemed to fit.
Series Masterlist // Taglist
To: Unknown [[email protected]] From: Eleanor Richardson [[email protected]] Date: June 15, 2018; 22:35:54 GMT Subject: Post-it note of luck?
Dear… Well, I actually don’t know, soo… Hi there!
So, I found this post-it note in all my notes and other things (that shall not be named) on my desk today. On the aforementioned post-it note was this email address. I do not usually write emails to people I don't know, but this is an exception, I feel like. I hope it is okay that I have sent you this mail.
I might as well introduce myself. My name is Elle Richardson, well, my full name is Eleanor Marie Richardson, but I like Elle so much more. I’m an almost 21-year-old Interior and Spatial Design student, who is slowly finding her way in life while being obsessed with different sports and actors/actresses coming out with new movies (You are more than welcome to suggest some, as I need to broaden my knowledge of movies, as my roomie would say).
I’m not good at making friends, but the ones that I have, I’m tightly knit with and they mean so much to me, I can’t describe it. Last summer, two of my friends and I moved in together in a nice apartment in South Hackney. It’s an old, renovated industrial building and it can easily be seen on some of the fixtures, but it’s home and it all has its charms. We have now been living here for a good year and we are still good friends. My two roommates are Georgina “Georgie” Wright (Seriously, DO NOT EVER call her Georgina. I did once and she locked herself in her room for a week, only coming out to grab something to eat), a 23-year-old “struggling” singer/songwriter/youtuber (She’s absolutely AMAZING, but you didn’t hear that from me 😜), and Julia Graham, a 19-year-old with a cooking talent and temperament that could easily battle Gordon Ramsay's (I’m about 85% sure, she did the “Idiot Sandwich” before him). And while Julia is the youngest, she’s also the most motherly and mature out of the three of us. she makes sure that Georgie and I remember our laundry (“Because I’m not doing them as I’m not your mother!” - and that’s an ACTUAL direct quote from a few nights ago), makes sure there’s always food in the house, to be honest with you I could go on for hours about all things she does. And this is all while she’s doing a full-time culinary degree and works 16 hours shifts when not studying. The girl’s nineteen. How?? But, yeah, both Georgie and I agree that Julia needs to be protected at all costs.
My family is just me, my almost 18-year-old brother Nathan, our parents James and Alice, and the family dog, a labradoodle called Mols. Her name is supposed to be Molly, but when we got her, Nate was dealing with a speech impediment that meant he only could say Mols. Also, my mother’s family comes from the Danish island, Mols, so it’s also a tribute to that part of the family roots. While I have moved to London, my parents and Nate still live in Guildford. Since I can remember, we have lived in the same house in Guildford. It really is my childhood home. A bit about my parents and brother. My father is an inspector in the Surrey Police force in Guildford and my mother is a secondary school teacher. She currently has Nate in her advanced math class and he absolutely hated it the first few months until they agreed that in class they were student and teacher first and family second. I was lucky to escape the possibility of having my mum as a teacher as I didn’t take maths for my A-levels. Nate is just finishing up his A-levels and has decided to take a gap year before going to Exeter to study Civil Engineering. It’s kinda weird that my baby brother is almost done with his A-levels. I feel like it was yesterday that he came into my room in his superhero pajamas, crying about how Dad was a bad cop for not scaring away the monsters under the bed and in the closet. Anyway, that’s enough about my baby brother.
As for myself, as I said at the start, I’m trying to find my way. That means studying Interior and Spatial Design at UOTA in London, working a few design jobs here and there, trying to do my bit in the apartment, emerging myself with editing work (I dabble in writing and I edit/”beta” other’s fanfictions on different websites), and being taste tester for Julia. I took two gap-years to try to find an education that suited me and my hobbies and that ended up being interior design. I’m still trying to enjoy the small time off that I have, by pursuing other ideas and opportunities that I may encounter. If I find something that I really want to do, I’m able to take most of my courses online, which eases up much of my planning.
So, I just went back and read all that I wrote. I’m a rambler. That is definitely clear. I had been told by others that they thought I was a rambler, but I have not really noticed it myself before now. Well, I can mark that down as one of my many quirks. I have probably revealed far too much about myself, my family and my friends, but when I get started, it easily flows out of me. I think slight nervousness is also mixed into all this.
I would absolutely love a reply, so just try to follow the points that I have used, like friends, family, living situations, work/studying, THE FUTURE, etc. I look happily forward to your reply,
Love, Elle.
TAGLISTS
Permanent:
@spideycentral-1 // @micki-smiles // @hazhasmycoffee // @stardxstparker // @secretly-spider-man // @imagineholland // @mikahjosephine // @sweethosterfield //
Harrison Osterfield:
@mischiefmanaged49  // @sunshine112 // 
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vincent-marie · 7 years ago
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A Look Back on TREASURE PLANET
So recently I rewatched TREASURE PLANET for the first time in about fifteen years and… I'm not gonna lie, it's still my personal favorite of the 2D Disney animated features from the early to mid-2000s.
Let's be real. Of the 2D features Disney released around that time period, TREASURE PLANET is one of the more solid films. ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE had some interesting ideas and some really nice design work and animation, but it really needed to be at least two hours long if it wanted to flesh out the characters and the world-building without requiring supplementary material (like a special edition of Disney Adventure magazine). Hardly anybody remembers BROTHER BEAR was even a thing, and the less said about HOME ON THE RANGE, the better. (Seriously, that movie wasn't even worth the Steve Buscemi cameo.)
The only other film of that era that has really held up was LILO AND STITCH, and I'll admit it's probably a better film than TREASURE PLANET. It took more risks in terms of character, setting and originality, and emotionally it leaves more of an impact. (That scene when Nani sings to Lilo makes me cry like a baby every time.) My only problem with it is it always felt like two entirely different movies collided with each other and it never felt like they really meshed well. Otherwise, I agree with most fans that it’s a good film.
Also, of course, there was the excellent THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, which was just such a huge departure from Disney’s normal schtick and trying something more Tex Avery-esque, only for it to be a perfect storm instead of a total crash and burn. That is much to be proud of.
Going back to TREASURE PLANET, I can understand that most folks walk away saying it’s an "okay" film. I, however, am not one of those people. I've had a real soft spot for this movie ever since I saw it, but now I appreciate this film for additional reasons.
Namely, the animation and effects work. Holy crap, is this movie gorgeous! It's like watching Don Bluth's ANASTASIA, except I don't have to feel guilty about historical inaccuracies. (Now it’s just scientific inaccuracies, but STAR WARS gets away with that all the time.)
Directors John Musker and Ron Clements had apparently wanted to do a sci-fi retelling of "Treasure Island" since before they started working on THE LITTLE MERMAID. With that in mind I do feel like this movie would have fared better with critics back in the early 90s during the Disney Renaissance. However at that time they would not have had such elaborate and detailed CG effects within arm's reach. There's something I really enjoy about the use of 3D backdrops so that they may do sweeping camera movements, and that's not even getting into the lighting effects to establish atmosphere.
What's more, there are a lot of subtleties to the character animation that I never appreciated until now. You could just pick one character and focus on him or her during the whole movie and find a lot of fun little quirks in their dialogue or walk cycles.
Admittedly, much of this film’s appeal probably depends on how much of an animation fan you are. In my case I was watching John Silver’s animation and I suspected that Glen Keane was probably in charge of animating him (as there are moments when Silver looks so much like Ratigan). Those suspicions were confirmed during the end credits and I was delightfully geeking out about it.
It’s also easy to see where this film might not have had a lot of mass appeal. Most of the focus on the story is on Jim Hawkins and his daddy issues, which by the early 2000s was already a cliche of a character arc. And it’s not helped by the fact that Jim himself is... well, kind of on the bland side as a protagonist. There’s not a lot about him that makes him any more or less interesting than any other teenage male lead. But for what it is I think the movie did fine at establishing and building the relationship between Jim and Silver, which does have its warm and comforting moments. For both of them.
And at least the film is straightforward with its plot and characters and it’s not a structural mess like HERCULES, a previous venture by Musker and Clements.
Something I’ve noticed over the years is that TREASURE PLANET has a little bit of a cult following. I distinctly remember this one time when I was taking a storyboard class in college; we were assigned to do a “Master Study” assignment by recreating the key story frames in our favorite scene in a favorite animated movie. One of my classmates picked the scene when Jim is brought home to the inn by the police and embarrasses his mother. I recall being so impressed, and even a little envious, that she got the character design style down to a T. (If you’re wondering what movie/scene I picked for my Master Study, I picked the Big Ben scene from THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE.)
Then, of course, some friends and I suspect that TREASURE PLANET might have fared better if it had been released a bit later, more towards the height of the Steampunk craze. It’s not quite what I would call “Steampunk”, as it takes place in a sort of alternate universe version of the 18th century and not the Gothic era, and most of their transport is solar-powered and not steam-based. Nevertheless it’s easy to see how fans of Steampunk could find it appealing, with its mostly earth-tone color pallet to evoke the painted illustrations of the classic novel it was based on. Also that combination of a pre-20th century aesthetic with out-of-this-world science fiction elements is pretty much, in my opinion, what makes Steampunk so much fun to play around with. Also, a robot made out of copper. End of story.
In terms of why this film didn’t do so well when it was released, I suspect what stunted its success was the marketing. I could be wrong, as I was actually living in Honduras at the time of the film’s release, but we got some TV stations from Denver, Colorado. I remember a lot of the TV spots spent most of their time highlighting the goofy comic relief moments with Morph, and there was a real emphasis on the presence of B.E.N., even though he's in less than one-third of the movie. In other words, the film's success might have been partially sabotaged by a marketing team that seemed to think if you don’t take your film seriously at all that will somehow draw in the crowd.
Although speaking of the comic relief characters, I actually don’t mind them that much. I always thought Morph had a lot of cute, funny moments that weren’t too obnoxious. As for B.E.N., I kind of have mixed feelings for him. On one hand, the directing team made better use of Martin Short’s improvisational skills than PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN or WE’RE BACK! ever did. But on the other hand, does B.E.N. have to be so loud and shouty? However, while B.E.N. is a real screw-up, he’s not so much to the point where I want to see him get smashed with a sledgehammer. He’s generally likable, not at all loathsome, and just annoying enough, but not TOO annoying.
However while we’re still on the subject of B.E.N., I’d just like to add that the CG animation on him is really nice. Making him 3D gives him a sort of sense of solidity compared to his hand-drawn humanoid compadres, and to top it off his animation isn’t at all stiff or feels like the CG is holding him back. There is some really expressive squashing and stretching going on with his dialogue. It’s so subtle in places that you’d probably miss it if you’re not looking for it. A lot of CG animation studios at the time like Pixar and Dreamworks had not quite mastered squashing and stretching themselves, so kudos to Disney for pulling it off so well.
Now if I may indulge a little on why I remember this film fondly, my favorite characters were always Dr. Doppler and Captain Amelia. They are both fun and engaging on their own, but together they are weirdly adorable. Granted, I've always thought them getting together at the end was a bit rushed, but I still totally buy it.
(What I don't buy is that they'd be so eager to have kids after Doppler showed such annoyance and revulsion towards that toddler alien girl at the beginning. I get that the creators wanted some visual shorthand to indicate that they're an official couple, but they could have just been wearing wedding rings or throw in a little more of them dancing together.)
Part of the reason I love these characters on their own is the casting. I was already familiar with Emma Thompson from Ang Lee's adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, and her character of Eleanor Dashwood was very quiet and reserved. You can imagine my disbelief and delight hearing her play an assertive, witty badass as Amelia. (As if I didn't already think Amelia’s design was cool.)
As for David Hyde Pierce, I had only occasionally watched FRASIER growing up, but when I saw this movie I was familiar with him through some other memorable voice acting roles, particularly that excellent Season 8 episode of THE SIMPSONS, “Brother From Another Series.” In other words, I already knew him to be funny, snarky and charismatic.
While I'm on about the casting, I feel like there's a totally wasted opportunity to have these two characters in a room together, say, before the black hole scene, exchanging witty banter to show how compatible they are in a casual setting. It’s a shame that Emma and David didn’t record their dialogue together, because with her being an accomplished writer and with his skills at improvisation, there could have been some good verbal combat by way of “Much Ado About Nothing-Meets-Frasier.”
But looking back, I remember I immediately loved Captain Amelia just on principal. As a kid I never really gravitated that much to any of the Disney princesses. I can’t really describe why, but it was mostly how they were marketed as just looking pretty and (arguably) kind of passive in their own stories. Not to mention how when Disney Princess became a brand, they really amped up the girly cutesy-ness to their preexisting images. Not to say there’s anything inherently wrong with cute or feminine things, but it really made me feel like a weirdo who somehow wasn’t fit to be called a girl.
Captain Amelia, on the other hand, had her own style of femininity by wearing a classy, more masculine captain’s uniform along with thigh-high high-heeled boots (that she has no problem running in). She had a no-nonsense attitude, she was focused and cool-headed in a stressful situation, she was downright snarky and took crap from no one. In other words, she was the type of woman I wanted to be when I grew up, and to this day she is my favorite Disney Lady, bar none.
And while I’m at it, I’m just going to add that I’ve always found Dr. Doppler more attractive than your standard Disney prince. Besides his character design looking like a canine version of Roger from 101 DALMATIONS, he just always seemed like he’d be fun to get a coffee with.
Well, that’s about all I really want to talk about regarding TREASURE PLANET. It’s a shame it’s not remembered by more people as it does have some really good elements to it, but in some regards I can kind of see why it wasn’t a huge critical success. If you haven’t seen it already I recommend checking it out as it’s a pretty solid standalone film that doesn’t need supplementary material and covers all the bases with the plot and some fun character moments here and there. If you’re an animation fan I cannot stress enough how you really need to watch it, or even rewatch it, because, again, the animation and effects work is just a real feast for the eyes.
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devilsskettle · 3 years ago
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7 & 15?
7. if you could remake a horror movie of your choice, which one would it be? how would your remake look like?
i would want to re-adapt either the haunting of hill house or we have always lived in the castle because neither has ever gotten a proper film adaptation imo. my version of the haunting of hill house would be a bit like wes anderson does gothic horror, in the sense that it would have a focus on the design and cinematography — i think it’s really important to correctly translate the vibe of hill house to the screen, and the movie from the 60s did a pretty good job, but the ending isn’t very book accurate and it’s in black and white, so i think you could really make a lot out of the different color rooms that each character gets out in (like eleanor’s room is entirely blue) and the costumes and set design in general (you could do more with them dressing like “stray sunbeams” to ward off the gloom of the house, theo’s flashy style could be more overt making it even more obvious when she has to wear eleanor’s clothes that they’re becoming doubles for each other, maybe eleanor would wear red at the beginning and then slowly start to shift to blues as hill house starts to take over). in fact you could code each character with the color of their rooms that by the end they start wearing more and more of (which would be green for theo, yellow for montague, and pink for luke). there’s a lot of things described in the book that i imagine quite vividly, like the amazing food, the land surrounding the house, the drive up, the library (! and the creepy scrapbooks about religion and hell !), the story of the crains.
also i feel like the original movie doesn’t do much with the ghost hunting, partially because they cut out mrs. montague’s whole thing, and i think you could really lean into the comedy there to contrast the psychological horror. i also feel like no adaptation has done a great job of adapting luke or montague — luke needs to be likable, classy, and charming at first! his personality shouldn’t be grating until we realize how egotistical he is (which should be after they find eleanor’s name on the wall — same with theo) and how he’s a thief and a liar etc. dr. montague is a pseudoscientist but we need to buy his bluff until around that point as well, when he stops being able to give answers. he cannot be a skeptic! he can also not be a love interest! he needs to have a kindly old professor vibe. nell and theo are basically correct in the 60s film (and theo is the single thing they got right in the 1999 film too lol).
also my version would be very character focused and framed as a psychological thriller, NOT as a supernatural horror film, and would be written much like a play, with focus on conversation between the characters (so we can see just how much they misunderstand each other) and it would be entirely via eleanor’s perspective. we’d need to find a way to make film (a typically 3rd person “objective” medium) communicate the 1st person subjective. also i can clearly see how i would open the film and introduce each character — montague sends them the letter of invitation and it shows them each at home and how they decide to get to hill house. i think it would be theo first, dismissing the letter and forgetting about it, cut to luke at a high society social event charming all his rich aunt’s friends and picking their pockets being given the letter, cut to eleanor at her sister’s place doing housework being given the letter, cut back to theo fighting with her gf and then remembering the letter deciding to go and packing a bag — montage of them all packing for the trip — over a voiceover of the contents of the letter read by montague — at the end of the v.o. it goes to the first scene of dialogue, where eleanor tries to convince her sister to let her borrow the car. then it would go on from there. i think i’d lift a lot of the dialogue straight out of the book tbh. i think i would have it be set present day but have a lot of the fashion and tech be older and slightly anachronistic (like stoker or a series of unfortunate events lol) instead of placing it in the 50s/60s. so some of the dialogue would have to change to reflect that, as well as to communicate what i think the dynamic between the characters should be, because i think other screenwriters have interpreted the relationships quite differently than i do lol. and then they could use a lot of modern ghost hunting gadgets which could be fun! also it would be explicitly gay.
15. you're offered the chance to privately talk to a horror villain of your choice, currently kept secure in a government facility. your safety during the encounter is guaranteed. do you take the offer? and if you do, who do you pick? why?
honestly i would rather meet a horror villain outside a government facility so we could hang out and in that case i’d say amanda young saw, inside a government facility i would want to meet chucky. i want to put him in a jar and shake it and study him like a bug. i also think he’d be fun to talk to but i don’t want him loose
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papermoonloveslucy · 4 years ago
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LUCY BUSY WITH PLAY, TV, FAMILY
January 1, 1961
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On the first day of 1961 the Associated Press (AP) published a story about Lucille Ball, and her transition from TV star in California, to Broadway star in New York City.  In the below article - reprinted verbatim - footnotes have been added for historical perspective.  This story appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on New Year’s Day 1961, but may have been published elsewhere on other dates. 
NEW YORK (AP) Television fans who believed the 3,000 miles and legal action now separating Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz meant a wind-up to the adventures of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo can in take heart. 
Plans are in the works to film a semi-biographical "Lucy Goes to Broadway'' right after New Year's Day. (1)
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The setting will be New York and all the "I Love Lucy" regulars are to be present and accounted for. 
Meanwhile, Lucille Ball spent a sabbatical rehearsing for her first Broadway show, “Wildcat." (2)
Concurrently, Lucy was involved in exploitation plans for the movie, "The Facts of Life," which she recently made with Bob Hope (3); regular sessions with a voice coach; in making occasional guest appearances on television (4); in getting her family settled in a new East Side Manhattan apartment; and in getting the children settled in school. 
HAPPILY OVERWORKED 
"I'm over-working and I'm over-booked. I don't have time even to see friends," she said, looking slim, happy and healthy. "But I love to work and I love to try new things. It's good for me." 
The comedienne, her two children and her mother have moved into a handsome apartment in a building so new that most of the lower floors still are uninhabitable and mechanics still are installing elevators. (5)
The apartment, done in light cool colors and the walls hung with colorful oil paintings every one done by friends of Lucy, is still in the process of being furnished. 
A big terrace overlooks the city, and Lucy says the two children, Lucie, 9. and Desi, 7, like this best.
"Desi has been watching the fireman, and he's decided he'll be one," she said, gesturing toward the building where men were being hauled on ropes up and down the side of the building.  
“And Lucie's going to be a nurse she's got a pair of binoculars and she knows every time one of the children in the hospital cries," she said pointing east to a children's hospital. (6)
Recently, Lucille collaborated with a professional writer on a magazine piece in which she explained the circumstances surrounding her divorce from Desi after almost 20 years of marriage. 
She wrote the piece, she says, because she wanted to explain the situation once and for all. Now she will not go into the marital matter again, although references to Desi are casually and affectionately scattered through her conversation, and pictures of him are prominent in her bedroom, the living room, and of course in the children's rooms.
~FOOTNOTES~
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(1) “Lucy Goes To Broadway” was a scripted TV special about Lucille Ball performing on Broadway. Although the script was written, it was never produced. 
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(2) The Philadelphia tryout of “Wildcat” opened on October 29, 1960. The scheduled Broadway opening had to be postponed when trucks hauling the sets and costumes to New York were stranded on the New Jersey Turnpike for several days by a major blizzard. After two previews, the show opened on December 16 at the Alvin Theatre. The cast included Paula Stewart and Swen Swenson, with Valerie Harper among the chorus members. Hampered by lukewarm reviews and Ball's lingering illness, it ran for only 171 performances, closing on June 3, 1961. 
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(3) “The Facts of Life” was a comedy from United Artists that opened on November 14, 1960, starring Lucille Ball and Bob Hope. It won an Academy Award for costume design and Lucille Ball was nominated for a Golden Globe. 
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(4) During Fall 1960 until the end of the year, Ball appeared on television on “The Garry Moore Show” (September 27), “Eleanor Roosevelt’s Diamond Jubilee Plus One” (October 7), and “The Jack Paar Tonight Show” (December 29). Coincidentally, on the same day this AP story was published (January 1, 1961) Lucille Ball appeared as a mystery guest on “What’s My Line?” Ball used a low, hushed voice to answer questions posed by blindfolded panelists. Faye Emerson correctly guesses Lucy’s identity by saying “Are you a red-headed wildcat?” Lucy says she’s lost twelve pounds doing the musical. She says how much she owes to “I Love Lucy.” Emerson reminds everyone that Lucy and Bob Hope have a new film coming out, The Facts of Life.  Emerson suggests it could be up for an award.
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(5) Lucille Ball’s Manhattan address was 150 East 69th Street, in the Imperial House, just a short distance from the fictional location of “I Love Lucy” 623 East 68th Street. The Imperial House is a white brick building designed by Emery Roth & Sons and built in 1960. It is situated on 69th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues with a large circular driveway leading to the covered entrance. The 30-story building has 378 apartments. Originally a rental building, it was converted to a cooperative in 1971. The building's lobby was designed by William Raiser of Raymond Loewy William Snaith. 
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(6) Needless to say, Desi Jr. and Lucie (above in 1961) both followed in their parents footsteps and went into show business. He did not pursue firefighting and she did not become a nurse. 
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dweemeister · 7 years ago
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2017 Movie Odyssey for-fun awards
The 2017 Movie Odyssey Awards are being posted sometime soon, but, as is tradition on this blog, here are some for-fun honors and dishonors based on a year of watching 200+ films that were new to me this calendar year.
Actor I wanted to smack most in the face: Mark Wahlberg, The Happening (2008)
Good lord, he was AWFUL. “Planning on murdering me in my sleep?” “WHAT, NO!” Here’s Wahlberg talking to a plastic tree.
Attempted political messaging, but says less than it wants: State of the Union (1948)
Frank Capra, you are better than this!
Attempted religious messaging, but says less than it wants: Conflagration (1958, Japan)
Best Film Title: What Dreams May Come (1998)
Best individual cue from an original score: “End Titles” from Independence Day (1996), composed by David Arnold
Best lyrics passage from an original song: From “No Wrong Way Home” from Pearl (2016 short)
One blue-green world, round as a pearl, doesn’t matter which road you take, you’ll wind up in the same place. That’s not philosophy, it’s geometry, and if things don’t look the same, well it’s only you who’ve changed.
There’s some interesting messaging and rhyming going on here. Damn.
Best Moment: An act of sportsmanship, followed by a grandstand finish, Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
If you have kids and they haven’t seen this movie, find this movie. If you haven’t seen this movie, find this movie.
Best Montage: Body-switching and “Zenzenzense”, Your Name (2016, Japan)
Best Movie Dad: Raymond from My Life as a Zucchini (2016, Switzerland)
The first non-biological father to win here, I think. It matters not, though. He is wonderful here.
Best Movie Family Member, non-parent: Aunt Mattie (Clara Blandick), A Star Is Born (1937)
For supporting Esther’s dreams of going to Hollywood without fail. You go, Aunt Mattie. She really is not in this movie long enough.
Best Movie Mom(s): All of the Boatwrights (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo) and Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson), The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
Again, a first in that these are adopted parents. Thanks to a good friend of mine for introducing to me the book.
Best on-screen friendship: The friendship between all the orphans in My Life as as Zucchini
Best use of non-original music (and best musical callback to a past movie): The many uses of “You’ll Never Know” from Hello Frisco Hello (1943) appearing in The Shape of Water (2017)
Hello Frisco Hello remains on my watchlist… we’ll get there someday!
Best dance segment (for two): Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire in “I’m Old Fashioned”, You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Best dance segment (solo): Donald O’Connor in “A Man Chases a Girl (Until She Catches Him)”, There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954)
Best sword fight: Errol Flynn v. Basil Rathbone, Captain Blood (1935)
Yeah, sorry folks who expected Rey and Kylo Ren v. Praetorian Guards or Kylo Ren v. Luke here.
Bestiality: The Red Turtle (2016, France/Belgium/Japan)
SPOILERS!!!
Biggest Disappointment: Marnie (1964)
Oh god, this may be the first Hitchcock movie I truly loathed (nor do I think it will be the last… I’ve basically seen all the greats by now).
Biggest (pleasant) surprise: Pear Cider and Cigarettes (2016 short)
I was worried about the explicit content for this Oscar-nominated short film, and that it might meander around its topic a bit. But no it didn’t. Well done, well deserved nomination.
Biggest (unpleasant) surprise: Detroit (2017)
It becomes torture porn in the final third. The black victims are not nearly developed enough here as they should be.
Bloodbath: Logan (2017)
Is it the movie with the highest body count? Maybe not, considering I saw both Independence Day movies this year. But it was certainly bloody!
Bravest: Parvana, The Breadwinner (2017)
Going full-out Mulan to help her family survive in pre-American invasion Afghanistan? I was astounded by Parvana’s resilience.
Don’t take opiates, kids: Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982)
Greatest Discovery (Actor): Pierre Étaix, Yoyo (1965, France)
Greatest Discovery (Actress): Brooklynn Prince, The Florida Project (2017)
Greatest Discovery (Director): D.A. Pennebaker, Don’t Look Back (1967) and Monterey Pop (1968)
Hardest ending to watch: The Coward (1965, India)
Satyajit Ray pulling no punches here.
Hypnotic: Notes on a Triangle (1966 short)
A beautiful experimental animated short film. Someone’s going to connect it to the Illuminati or some vast Canadian conspiracy somehow.
Kept me on the edge of my seat: Seven Days to Noon (1950)
A Cold War thriller at the very beginning of the Cold War has so much going for it than so many modern thrillers can never hope to achieve.
Kick-ass moment: This riding scene from The Man from Snowy River (1982)
I’d like to see a chimpanzee with dual-wielding machine guns do that! Make it happen, 20th Century Fox!
Laziest (not worst) film title: Summer Magic (1963)
I mean, the songs are decent and Hayley Mills is, too. But come on, Disney!
Least funny comedy: That Funny Feeling (1965)
Least likely to deserve my negative review 10 years from now: Justice League (2017)
Because you know Zack Snyder will find a way to screw the DCEU up even more.
Least likely to deserve my positive review 10 years from now: I have a hunch it’s gonna be Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)… but I don’t want that to be official here.
Line I will repeat the most down the years: “Apes. Together. Strong.”, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Made fashion designers compelling: Funny Face (1957)
Most Inspiring: Swim Team (2016)
A documentary that follows three members of a New Jersey Special Olympics swim team. All those kids have autism, and it is fantastic to see them learn, grow, and live over time. It isn’t a Hoop Dreams, but it doesn’t need to be.
Made me laugh the most: Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968)
And I’m not ashamed to say that. It’s not the best comedy by any means, but I got more laughter and mileage out of this one than anything else.
Most Memorable Use of an Icepick: Scarlet Street (1945)
Don’t spoil if you know!
Most Overrated Picture: Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Casey Affleck had no business winning that Academy Award.
Most Underappreciated: The Great Man (1956)
In our world of “fake news”, this movie - which also comments on how we idealize our heroes - has many echoes on today. It’s a good journalism/news media movie, even if it’s concentrated on early TV and especially radio.
Most Underseen: Bardelys the Magnificent (1926)
A good, entertaining adventure-romance silent film with John Gilbert and Eleanor Boardman. The reason why it’s underseen was because it was considered a lost film until recently, when a near-complete print turned up in France.
Movie I most wished to write on, but wasn’t able to (because I ran out of October to do it): A retrospective on Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and regular reviews for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Movie that I’m most eager to rewatch: Castle in the Sky (1986, Japan)
There was so much going on, and so many departures from Nausicaa that I need time to do a Retrospective review on this some day. It’s a gorgeous film.
Nearly resulted in someone killing me in a theater: In This Corner of the World (2016, Japan)
Yeah, if the main character had gone to Hiroshima, I would have been a goner (and it wouldn’t have been by my own hand).
Raunchiest: Destry Rides Again (1939)
Holy hell. There are so many entendres in here, and Marlene Dietrich is going all out on the sexuality! How did this get pass the Hays Code?
Sorry, I didn’t get it, and I still don’t get all the love for David Lynch (even though Mulholland was great): Eraserhead (1977)
Sounds most like a porno (other than Octopussy because that’s too easy): Peeping Tom (1960)
With apologies to Michael Powell.
Star Trek alumni award: Patrick Stewart, Logan (2017)
Surprisingly relevant political commentary: They Won’t Forget (1937)
Northern-Southern attitudes in the United States? Even a touch of racial relations? Now if only Warner Bros. kept the defendant in the movie Jewish, as he was in real life.
Underrated: Lonely Are the Brave (1962)
One of the best neo-Westerns you are likely to see.
Worst film title: The Hound That Thought He Was a Raccoon (1960)
For chrissakes, Disney.
Worst Moment: All the rapey-ness of Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
It reminded me why the 1980s is in contention for my least favorite decade of filmmaking.
Stay tuned, the 2017 Movie Odyssey Awards will be up shortly! Thank you all for following. Thank you all for being here for as long as you have. Thank you for supporting all this blog does.
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uacboo · 7 years ago
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Think you know everything there is to know about Poldark? Here are some surprising facts about BBC One’s hit period drama:
1. Aidan Turner (Ross Poldark) and Phil Davis (Jud Paynter) both appeared as series regulars in BBC Three’s supernatural drama Being Human, but never shared the screen. Turner played vampire Mitchell in the first three seasons, and Davis played villain Captain Hatch in the final season.
2. Poldark make-up artist Jacqueline Fowler has to hide Aidan Turner’s tattoos before filming. She revealed: “I only had to cover up his tattoos—he’s got two on his upper arm, one of them is Chinese writing, the other I can’t remember—if he was shirtless or in bed.”
3. The character of Caroline Penvenen is often seen carrying Horace the pug in Season 2 to disguise the fact that actress Gabriella Wilde was pregnant during filming.
4.Charles Poldark was the final role of Warren Clarke before he died. The Lancashire-born actor was best known for his lead roles in Dalziel & Pascoe and Down to Earth.
5. Aidan Turner likes to stay out of the headlines so that fans can believe in him as Ross Poldark. He says: “It’s important to me that people don’t know too much about me because I’m trying to play characters. Sometimes you see actors who are really good, but you have trouble separating that actor from the celebrity profile. I don’t want to be one of those guys.”
6. Kyle Soller, who plays Francis Poldark, is actually an American – born and raised in Connecticut! He perfected his British accent during his time studying drama in London at RADA.
7. Heida Reed, who plays Elizabeth, from Iceland. She moved to the UK when she was 20 to study drama in London.
8. John Nettles, who plays Ray Penvenen, is one of the few Poldark cast members who is genuinely from Cornwall. The former Midsomer Murders star was born in St Austell, one of the largest towns in Cornwall, situated on the coast just south of Bodmin.
9. Aidan Turner is trained in Latin American and Ballroom dancing.
10. Poldark creator Winston Graham based the character of Demelza on his own wife Jean. The “physical characteristics” of Ross Poldark were based on an injured flying officer who he once met on a train during World War 2.
11. The author hated how Demelza was portrayed in the BBC’s original 1970s TV series. His daughter said: “He was so angry about the way they had changed Demelza into a floozy that he wanted to get the production halted. He was absolutely livid. In the novel she was a spirited tomboy, but the producers had some salacious need to make her sexually loose.”
12. Graham’s daughter reckons her father would be a fan of the current Poldark series. She commented: “I think my dad would be very proud of what the BBC have done. Eleanor’s Demelza is wonderful and her Cornish accent is good. It isn’t too strong but enough to know where she is supposed to be from.”
13. Robin Ellis, who plays Reverend Halse, starred as Ross Poldark in the BBC’s previous TV adaptation of Poldark in the 1970s. (Buy the complete original series box set on Amazon here.)
14. Aidan Turner always worries that his fight scenes will look rubbish. He explained: “There’s something weird about my experiences of fight scenes, they always feel like they’re not good. The nature of them is missing and over-responding, repetition. You always think, ‘Oh god that’s not going to work’, and then you see it and it’s like magic.”
15. Eleanor Tomlinson, who plays Demelza, is naturally a blonde. She had the idea of making her character a redhead. Her entire wardrobe is based around this stylistic choice, with the costume designers creating her wardrobe using the colours of copper at its various stages of ageing, from bright orange to turquoise green – reflecting the show’s mining theme.
16. Poldark producer Damien Timmer wasn’t always sure that fans would find their choice of Ross Poldark handsome enough. Apparently he questioned early on during shooting of the first season; “Do you think women will find Aidan attractive?”
17. Caroline Blakiston, who plays Aunt Agatha, is better known to Star Wars fans as Mon Mothma in 1983’s Return of the Jedi.
18. Aidan Turner’s hair isn’t a wig. The actor revealed: “We had hair extensions for a little while until it grew, and then we took them out. Yeah, it really is my hair, as wild as it is!”
19. Beatie Edney, who plays Prudie, played Christopher Lambert’s love interest Heather MacLeod in the 1986 movie Highlander.
20. Aidan Turner doesn’t have any social media profiles – so if you thought you were following him, beware, it’s fake! He confirmed: “I don’t do social media – maybe people should know that, because there’s probably a bunch of fake Twitter things out there, Instagrams and all that, and Facebooks. I don’t do any of it.”
Source: britishperioddramas.com
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stellakapezanou · 8 years ago
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At Home with Jenny Kakoudakis
Posted in Guest Curators by Rise Art on 19th June 2017
Rise Art guest curator Jenny Kakoudakis of Seasons in Colour, picks her top 5 artworks
It's safe to say that Jenny Kakoudakis knows a thing or two about colour. This interior stylist and award winning blogger spends her days writing about the latest interior design trends, and offering her readers plenty of tips and tricks on how best to light up their home (and their lives) with a splash of colour. She has a bit of a thing for art (no wonder we like her so much...) and we were pretty excited when she let us pick her brain about all things art and interiors. We invited her to curate her own collection on Rise Art, so read on for her top tips, and to find out why green is the colour to covet right now.
Photography by Anna Batchelor
Tell us about you & what you do
I am Jenny Kakoudakis and I am an interiors stylist managing the award winning blog Seasons in Colour.  Although my background is in legal - I trained as a lawyer and currently work full time in the financial services industry - I stumbled into the world of interiors during the purchase and decoration of our first home. Architecture, interior design and even styling are all very creative, and as a creative person myself, researching and subsequently starting to share my views around this subject made real sense to me. Somehow, people liked to read my posts and the blog gained in popularity which has been fantastic.
What inspires you in your work and life?
I get a lot of inspiration from my travels, nature and also advertisements! Branding, logos and tongue in cheek ads all play a role in how I style my home. While some people are drawn to the moody, monochromatic palette of the Scandinavians, I feel more comfortable around saturated colours and I think TV and movies have played a role in that.
Photography by Anna Batchelor
Is art & design important to you and why?
My academic training is very classical, as I studied History of Art back in the day. I also love free hand drawing, and would often draw ancient greek temples during my school days. Having visited various archeological sites around Greece - where I originate from - and studied the intricacies of Greek design over the centuries, I feel it is part of my heritage. Art is a great talking point and I often use it to break the ice when I meet new people.
How integral do you think art is to interior design?
Art definitely influences interiors. One of the most recent examples this year was the David Hockney exhibition at Tate Britain. Immediately before and after the exhibition, all interiors magazines had features on how to use Hockney's colour schemes and bring colour blocking into a space. I also had a feature on this on my blog and it was one of my most creative posts. It was only whilst researching for this post that I realised just how interconnected art and interior design are.
Do you collect art or anything else? If so what do you collect, and when and how did you start?
I started collecting street art around 2007. Banksy was out of reach for me at the time, so I invested in Dolk, Zeus and similar artists that used their art to send messages. I like that street art can be tongue in cheek or humorous even. Some of the pieces I have bought have increased in price, so the investment was worth it.
Photography by Anna Batchelor
Have online art galleries changed the way you discover and buy art?
Absolutely. I do visit art fairs annually to get inspiration and meet some of the artists themselves, but when it comes to choosing, I like taking my time and even playing around with superimposing art over photos of my home to see how it would fit in situ. Of course, the concept of renting art has also come along, which is great if you want to live with a picture for a while before making the significant investment of buying it.
Where's your favourite place to travel to?
I am originally from Greece and I genuinely enjoy going back home, especially during the summer months. I love the contrast that Greece has to offer: blue and green, sea and mountain, sometimes all in the same place. It is all very familiar, and it is home.
Photography by Anna Batchelor
What do you surround yourself with at work or at home?
My work environment is very sterile, impersonal. My home office on the other hand is full of personality, from bold accent walls and murals, to the art that I have collected over time. It is a creative place that keep me motivated and inspired. Blogging is all about staying creative, and because it is such a lone hobby, sometimes it is easy to lose your motivation or get 'writer's block'. Having a tidy desk and magazines close by always helps with my inspiration!
Favourite inpirational quote?
"Do one thing every day that scares you" - Eleanor Roosevelt. It reminds me to step out of my comfort zone every now and then and try something new.
Photography by Anna Batchelor
Do you Instagram or Pinterest? Who do you follow?
Both are really integral to my blog but are incredibly time consuming so I have to be really smart about how I work with them. I like to mix up who I follow - not just interiors bloggers and companies but also sources of inspiration for photography, flat lays, and quotes.
On Instagram specifically I enjoy those who show dedication and consistency in their feed with a certain style of photography, like My Paradissi, who work with minimalistic interiors and black and white colour schemes. To stay on top of interiors trends I follow designer feeds like Sophie Ashby, Em Henderson, and Studio McGee to name a few.
Are there any interior design trends you've spotted emerging in 2017?
There are so many trends coming out that it's sometimes hard to follow them all. With summer approaching, everyone is feeling more relaxed and in tune with nature so the botanical and neo-bohemian trends are currently picking up. In terms of colours, Green is a strong colour to have and worth investing in. It is also the colour on which my curated Rise Art collection is based, and this has to do with my own home colours and background. Green is relaxing to have around but it also has an element of surprise to it. Combined with dark walls it really pops out, working well with geometric patterns.
JENNY KAKOUDAKIS' TOP 5 RISE ART PICKS
1 Brit Pond, Stella Kapezanou
It's obviously a summer scene and always makes me wonder - what is this woman looking at? Has she just arrived and is looking for her friends? Has she packed up and is ready to go home and looking for her kids to come back from play (possibly losing her patience with them)? I love the vivid colours in it.
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quintesequential-blog · 8 years ago
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Wednesday Comics on Thursday (April 6, 2017)
It was a decent size release week for comics. Coming off a fifth week where DC gave us Hanna Barbara cross overs and Marvel handed us the fate of the X-Men and the Inhumans and not a whole lot else happened, it was nice to have a few new series and some of my favorites back in my stack. It also helps that it was a REALLY great week for comics. 
Black Cloud #1 [Jason Latour, Ivan Brandon, Greg Hinkle, Matt Wilson]
There wasn’t much that was particularly live-blog worthy in this book, but it was a solid first issue, nonetheless. The story drops you into some narration about the dream world that Zelda comes from and lays out her scheme of selling access those dreams to the population of trust-fund kids that seem to make up most of the population in the city. There are some interesting dynamics at play between Zelda and the people she interacts with when she enters dream worlds. The inhabitants don’t seem to like her every much and I’m curious to see what’s going on with that. The art is solid and having Matt Wilson on colors can only ever improve a project and he’s definitely playing with some interesting elements here. I really dig Zelda’s character design and I’m loving her drop-crotch pants.
Story: 8  Art:  9 Rec? Give it another issue, then decide to drop or trade wait.
Eleanor & The Egret #1 [John Layman, Sam Kieth, Ronda Pattinson]
This book is absolutely delightful. I am a massive fan of almost everything Aftershock is putting out and Eleanor & The Egret falls perfectly in their line up of off beat, independent, books. Eleanor is an unassuming, regular person who just so happens to be a master of disguise and a master art thief. Also, her parter in crime is a talking Egret. The style of both the story and art can only be described as whimsical. The character designs and tone make it hard to place this in a specific time, which doesn’t work against it in a way that I thought it might. I’m really excited to see where this goes. More and more, Aftershock comics are becoming the books I look forward to the most every week.
Story: 9  Art: 9  Rec? Absolutely
Extremity #2 [Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer]
I don’t think I have any buttons left unpushed by this book. War in a sci-fi landscape, a fallen family, sibling drama, warrior girl and her family seeking revenge, big ass dinosaur monsters with a bunch of eyes, and a very soft boy with daddy issues and a brand new (slightly used?) robot friend named Shiloh. There’s nothing really worthwhile to say about this book because you should just read it. The art is beautiful, the story is compelling as hell, and I can’t wait to see what happens with all these characters. There are so many pieces already in play. It was just announced that this and the first issue are getting second and third printings respectively, so if you haven’t already, absolutely pick these up.
Story  10  Art 10  Rec? 100%
Paper Girls #13 [Brian K. Vaughn, Cliff Chang, Matt Wilson]
If you’re not already reading Paper Girls, then I don’t really know what to tell you except that you’re really missing out. While this isn’t the best place to jump on at all, the first two arcs have been collected in trade already. This is one of my default recommendations at work to people who come in looking for something new. Brian K. Vaughn has always impressed me with his ability to write believable teenagers, going all the way back to his Runaways days. As much as I love Saga, Paper Girls gives him a broader avenue to stretch that particular talent and I’m always excited to see that. While the girls are still split up somewhere in the distant past, Mac makes a discovery about the Hockey Stick they found in the future and KJ learns some interesting things about the future. There’s a panel towards the end that I’ve already posted that I kinda lost my shit over.
Story 9  Art  10  Rec? Stop what you’re doing right now and read this series.
Rock Candy Mountain #1[Kyle Starks]
This is a pure action comic with lots of homo-fighting and clever dialogue. While Jackson is in search of a mountain from a folk song, it looks like the literal devil is in search of Jackson in this post WWII homage to action movies and hobos. I might be completely wrong, but I think this is the first ongoing series for Kyle Starks? If I’m not wrong, then previous work with Image has been released in Graphic Novel form. If you’re a fan of any of his previous work, this book is not at all a departure from that. It falls right in line with Sexcastle in the ways in which it plays with genre conventions. I wish I had been able to find a digital copy floating around in the internet without paying for it a second time, because there are some truly fantastic panels in it, including the use of “bitch” as a sound effect. 
Story 8  Art 9  Rec? “He’s got punch diarrhea and their faces are the toilet bowl.”
Shade the Changing Girl #7 [Cecil Castellucci, Marguerite Sauvage, Kelly Fitzpatrick, Dan Parent (back up)]
Saved the best book for last. Shade has become my favorite book over the last few months, it is weird and gorgeous in all the right places. Marguerite Sauvage was a flawless choice of fill in artist for this stand alone issue that establishes a lot of the background information on Loma--an alien from Meta who is considerably different from the original Metan, humanoid Roc Shade. This book also establishes a WHOLE BUNCH of delightfully canon queerness. Loma, a female identified alien bird, is shown laying on top of a self-identified “Meta Girl” and River is canonically bi. Not to mention the fact that Teacup mention’s having two mothers multiple times over the course of the issue. Sauvage kills it. Her style maintains the dreamlike quality of the book while adding her own identifiable style to the book.
Story 10  Art 10  Rec? Buy it immediately!
Not-So-Honorable Mentions:
Royals #1-- I am so curious about where Al Ewing is going to take the Inhumans coming out of IvX but man I wish Marvel would stop paring him with such bad artists. Meyer’s almost-but-not-really-manga style made this book impossible to read. I felt the same way about New Avengers, a book that starred several of my favorite characters. Jagged hair and small faces with disproportionate eyes are not typical aesthetic markers for superhero comics and they don’t work well at all. Marvel wants me to care about Inhumans and I am more than willing to give them a shot but I can’t with this art.
Still to read:
X-Men Gold #1-- I want to catch up on X-Men comics and IvX before I dive into this one, even though I now I probably don’t need to. Expect this one to be blogged about later. I have been letting myself become cautiously more excited about the X-Line as ResurrXion takes shape and now I’m at a point where if it’s bad, it will hurt my feelings. I don’t want to have my feelings hurt, so I’m putting it off.
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cynthiajayusa · 6 years ago
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Keira Knightley Werks the Queer Narrative, Talks ‘Colette’
You know what’s to love, actually? How Keira Knightley has now played enough feminist roles to know her character, Juliet, in the bubbly holiday classic Love Actually doesn’t exactly fall into that category. In the Christmas rom-com, Juliet is the object of not one but two men’s desire, and copious close-up shots insist on telling us what we’ve already known: Keira Knightley is breathtakingly beautiful.
The 33-year-old actress was just 17 when 2003’s Love Actually was filmed. Since then, Knightley’s genre-spanning roles throughout her 23-year career have often positioned her as a heroine in girl-power period films, women characterized by their liberated state of mind (2008’s The Duchess) and patriarchal-defying genius (2014’s The Imitation Game, as Alan Turing’s mathematician-fiancée Joan Clarke). Real-life bisexual novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, who ghost wrote for author-husband Henry Gauthier-Villars (known as “Willy” and played by Dominic West) until she reclaimed her autonomy and byline, is right within Knightley’s wheelhouse of women smearing their male oppressors. Take Colette, whose 1944 book Gigi was adapted into a movie musical that won nine Oscars in 1959, including best picture.
Written and directed by out director and fellow Englander Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice), Colette is a tribute to his late husband and collaborator, Richard Glatzer, who died from the progressive neurodegenerative disease ALS. In the hospital before he passed away in 2015, Glatzer, who could not speak, typed “C-O-L-E-T-T-E” to Westmoreland on an iPad to communicate that his – but in many ways, their – next project should be “Colette.”
Recently, Knightley called to talk about her special connection to gay directors such as Westmoreland (and James Kent, who directs her in the forthcoming The Aftermath), her enthusiastic response to a Bend It Like Beckham sequel where best friends Jules and Jesse are lesbian lovers, and her desperate plea to drag queens.
youtube
 You’re so good in this I wouldn’t be mad if all you do is play period bisexuals for the rest of your career. 
Well, thank you very much! I’ll quote you on that.
Is there a special relationship between gay directors and female actors such as yourself that helps in telling a story like this one? 
That’s an interesting question! Yes, I think so. I think that there’s that quality of having to fight for your space and fight for your right to be who you feel you are and fight for your voice. So yes, I think there’s a similarity in those two aspects, and one I think, probably, Wash identified with in the story of Colette.
When it comes to the male gaze, is there a difference in having a gay director direct a sex scene? 
Yes and no. He did actually turn around when I think it was me and Eleanor (Tomlinson, who portrays bisexual American heiress Georgie Raoul‑Duval) and he was like, “You know, it’s really great ’cause there’s no male gaze here,” and I’m like, “Wash, there are only men in this room!” (Laughs) He’s like, “Yes, no – you know what I mean!” (Laughs) So yes, because sex is sort of taken out of it in a way, because obviously he doesn’t find me attractive, and that’s great (laughs). But I still think male sexuality in all of its forms is probably slightly different from female sexuality, so there are probably still subtle differences. But it is very nice to know that when I took my clothes off he didn’t get off on it at all.
Are there any other films you’ve worked on where you felt having a gay director helped in doing the story justice? 
Yes. I worked with… oh my god… my brain’s just literally gone blank and I’ve forgotten every single other person’s name that I’ve ever worked with before. Wait, what the f*ck? He directed Aftermath. I can see his face. Oh my god, this is really annoying because literally I just spent eight weeks with him and he’s the loveliest man in the entire world.
But I don’t know whether it’s sexuality that does it or just – I think it’s the individual. Possibly gay men, because of their fight for their identity and to be accepted and accepting of themselves, understand that there’s a level of emotional intelligence, which often – not always – a heterosexual man will simply try to shut down. So I think that helps if you’re dealing with emotions, which you are when you’re making a film. It helps to have an emotional vocabulary and intelligence and openness. And look, I’m a heterosexual woman, so maybe I’m completely talking out of turn, but I do feel, because there is still a process of acceptance that gay men go through, that emotionally they can be very, very intelligent and open and accepting.
Did Colette’s approach to sexuality speak to you in any profound or personal way? 
Yes, because she was entirely natural to herself and she acted without shame. What a wonderful, positive way of looking at your sexuality and the people that you fall in love with. I really respected that about her. I loved that she was herself and that any rule that didn’t fit she just broke and made the life that she wanted to live. I think that’s a wonderful, empowering story, both from a feminist point of view and from the point of view of her sexuality.
Speaking of feminism, I have a feeling Colette wouldn’t love your character in Love Actually. 
Probably not. (Laughs)
The men in that movie seem to have all the power, while your character is silent, cute; lots of close-ups of you looking pretty. How do you reflect on that role and what it says about women? 
I hadn’t really until you just said that! But yes, I can see that. I was 17 when I played that one and I was so excited about just getting a role in a Richard Curtis film. You know, I think there were some pretty good strong women in that. Not that one, but the Martine McCutcheon character and the Emma Thompson character, which is so heartbreaking. I don’t know. I’d have to look at it again with that frame of my mind. I do, however, know Scarlett Curtis, who is Richard Curtis’ daughter and a radical-feminist activist, so he’s done something right there.
As for Emma Thompson, she sobs to Joni Mitchell. And her story doesn’t have the happiest or even most empowered of endings. 
But strong people are allowed to break down; it doesn’t mean you don’t have emotions. You just have to then pick yourself up and stand up again. See, the problem is, I haven’t actually seen it since it came out, which was over 10 years ago, so actually I don’t remember quite enough to be able to argue either way. You really, really know it, so I feel like I’m just gonna have to go with whatever you say. (Laughs)
You played gay computer scientist Alan Turing’s fiancée in Imitation Game. Have you ever fallen in love with a gay man before? 
No, luckily. I feel very fortunate in that, ’cause that would be tricky!
Rumor has it that Bend It Like Beckham was originally written as a lesbian love story? 
I never read that version of the script! I mean, not as far as I know. But you might have information that I don’t have. No, the only version of the script that I ever read was the one that we shot, so it was as it was.
A lot of people in the LGBTQ community wanted Jess and Jules to be a couple in the end. 
Fuck yeah! That would’ve been amazing. I think they should’ve been too. I think that would’ve been great. We need a sequel.
You’ve worn some fabulous period wigs over the years – is that your real hair in Colette? 
No, I don’t think so. I think we had wigs, always through. Because there were so many different styles, and short, long. I think when it’s long we used some of my hair with some extensions, and then when it was short, it was a wig.
Do you realize how many drag queens are gonna be jealous of the one you wear in your role as the Sugar Plum Fairy in your forthcoming film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms? 
Oh, dude, yes. Hell yes. You know, we actually designed it with them in mind. I was so pleased. It was my first time where I could actually be like a drag queen, and I was so excited. We were all talking about it at the time; we were like, “Come on, this is the most amazing drag outfit,” and honestly, I was really excited because normally you have to be so subtle in films and I got these really long, fake eyelashes – I can’t remember whether we used them – but with bits of glitter over them, and we were all like, “This is perfect drag queen attire.” It was so amazing, and I think there are some amazing drag queens out there who are gonna wear it even better than I did. I hope that this film inspires some amazing costumes.
You sound like you could be an avid watcher of RuPaul’s Drag Race. 
Everybody’s a fan! Yeah, there’s a bit of Drag Race watching. And then there’s a great drag night in East London, which I used to go to when I could go out before I had a child, which was always fun. So can I just put that out there: Please, please let there be a drag queen somewhere who will be in a Sugar Plum Fairy outfit.
As a teenager, you were told your kiss with a gay female friend you went to prom with wasn’t appropriate. What did that experience teach you about LGBTQ discrimination, and how did it influence you as an ally for the community? 
I thought it was bullshit at the time. Bullshit… bullshit! Our picture was not put up (on the event’s photo wall) because it was deemed not appropriate. I’m not sure it was that particular experience that influenced me; I just remember thinking that was stupid and I think I’ve thought that – always along the line – any discrimination against people because of their sexuality has been utterly ridiculous. It was the way I was brought up, and so I’ve never questioned gay rights. So yes, that was one of them; but no, I don’t think that was my sort of awakening. I’ve always had family with many gay friends, and people in the LGBTQ community have always been around me all my life and have been wonderful friends.
source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/10/04/keira-knightley-werks-the-queer-narrative-talks-colette/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2018/10/keira-knightley-werks-queer-narrative.html
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demitgibbs · 6 years ago
Text
Keira Knightley Werks the Queer Narrative, Talks ‘Colette’
You know what’s to love, actually? How Keira Knightley has now played enough feminist roles to know her character, Juliet, in the bubbly holiday classic Love Actually doesn’t exactly fall into that category. In the Christmas rom-com, Juliet is the object of not one but two men’s desire, and copious close-up shots insist on telling us what we’ve already known: Keira Knightley is breathtakingly beautiful.
The 33-year-old actress was just 17 when 2003’s Love Actually was filmed. Since then, Knightley’s genre-spanning roles throughout her 23-year career have often positioned her as a heroine in girl-power period films, women characterized by their liberated state of mind (2008’s The Duchess) and patriarchal-defying genius (2014’s The Imitation Game, as Alan Turing’s mathematician-fiancée Joan Clarke). Real-life bisexual novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, who ghost wrote for author-husband Henry Gauthier-Villars (known as “Willy” and played by Dominic West) until she reclaimed her autonomy and byline, is right within Knightley’s wheelhouse of women smearing their male oppressors. Take Colette, whose 1944 book Gigi was adapted into a movie musical that won nine Oscars in 1959, including best picture.
Written and directed by out director and fellow Englander Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice), Colette is a tribute to his late husband and collaborator, Richard Glatzer, who died from the progressive neurodegenerative disease ALS. In the hospital before he passed away in 2015, Glatzer, who could not speak, typed “C-O-L-E-T-T-E” to Westmoreland on an iPad to communicate that his – but in many ways, their – next project should be “Colette.”
Recently, Knightley called to talk about her special connection to gay directors such as Westmoreland (and James Kent, who directs her in the forthcoming The Aftermath), her enthusiastic response to a Bend It Like Beckham sequel where best friends Jules and Jesse are lesbian lovers, and her desperate plea to drag queens.
youtube
  You’re so good in this I wouldn’t be mad if all you do is play period bisexuals for the rest of your career.
Well, thank you very much! I’ll quote you on that.
Is there a special relationship between gay directors and female actors such as yourself that helps in telling a story like this one?
That’s an interesting question! Yes, I think so. I think that there’s that quality of having to fight for your space and fight for your right to be who you feel you are and fight for your voice. So yes, I think there’s a similarity in those two aspects, and one I think, probably, Wash identified with in the story of Colette.
When it comes to the male gaze, is there a difference in having a gay director direct a sex scene?
Yes and no. He did actually turn around when I think it was me and Eleanor (Tomlinson, who portrays bisexual American heiress Georgie Raoul‑Duval) and he was like, “You know, it’s really great ’cause there’s no male gaze here,” and I’m like, “Wash, there are only men in this room!” (Laughs) He’s like, “Yes, no – you know what I mean!” (Laughs) So yes, because sex is sort of taken out of it in a way, because obviously he doesn’t find me attractive, and that’s great (laughs). But I still think male sexuality in all of its forms is probably slightly different from female sexuality, so there are probably still subtle differences. But it is very nice to know that when I took my clothes off he didn’t get off on it at all.
Are there any other films you’ve worked on where you felt having a gay director helped in doing the story justice?
Yes. I worked with… oh my god… my brain’s just literally gone blank and I’ve forgotten every single other person’s name that I’ve ever worked with before. Wait, what the f*ck? He directed Aftermath. I can see his face. Oh my god, this is really annoying because literally I just spent eight weeks with him and he’s the loveliest man in the entire world.
But I don’t know whether it’s sexuality that does it or just – I think it’s the individual. Possibly gay men, because of their fight for their identity and to be accepted and accepting of themselves, understand that there’s a level of emotional intelligence, which often – not always – a heterosexual man will simply try to shut down. So I think that helps if you’re dealing with emotions, which you are when you’re making a film. It helps to have an emotional vocabulary and intelligence and openness. And look, I’m a heterosexual woman, so maybe I’m completely talking out of turn, but I do feel, because there is still a process of acceptance that gay men go through, that emotionally they can be very, very intelligent and open and accepting.
Did Colette’s approach to sexuality speak to you in any profound or personal way?
Yes, because she was entirely natural to herself and she acted without shame. What a wonderful, positive way of looking at your sexuality and the people that you fall in love with. I really respected that about her. I loved that she was herself and that any rule that didn’t fit she just broke and made the life that she wanted to live. I think that’s a wonderful, empowering story, both from a feminist point of view and from the point of view of her sexuality.
Speaking of feminism, I have a feeling Colette wouldn’t love your character in Love Actually.
Probably not. (Laughs)
The men in that movie seem to have all the power, while your character is silent, cute; lots of close-ups of you looking pretty. How do you reflect on that role and what it says about women?
I hadn’t really until you just said that! But yes, I can see that. I was 17 when I played that one and I was so excited about just getting a role in a Richard Curtis film. You know, I think there were some pretty good strong women in that. Not that one, but the Martine McCutcheon character and the Emma Thompson character, which is so heartbreaking. I don’t know. I’d have to look at it again with that frame of my mind. I do, however, know Scarlett Curtis, who is Richard Curtis’ daughter and a radical-feminist activist, so he’s done something right there.
As for Emma Thompson, she sobs to Joni Mitchell. And her story doesn’t have the happiest or even most empowered of endings.
But strong people are allowed to break down; it doesn’t mean you don’t have emotions. You just have to then pick yourself up and stand up again. See, the problem is, I haven’t actually seen it since it came out, which was over 10 years ago, so actually I don’t remember quite enough to be able to argue either way. You really, really know it, so I feel like I’m just gonna have to go with whatever you say. (Laughs)
You played gay computer scientist Alan Turing’s fiancée in Imitation Game. Have you ever fallen in love with a gay man before?
No, luckily. I feel very fortunate in that, ’cause that would be tricky!
Rumor has it that Bend It Like Beckham was originally written as a lesbian love story?
I never read that version of the script! I mean, not as far as I know. But you might have information that I don’t have. No, the only version of the script that I ever read was the one that we shot, so it was as it was.
A lot of people in the LGBTQ community wanted Jess and Jules to be a couple in the end.
Fuck yeah! That would’ve been amazing. I think they should’ve been too. I think that would’ve been great. We need a sequel.
You’ve worn some fabulous period wigs over the years – is that your real hair in Colette?
No, I don’t think so. I think we had wigs, always through. Because there were so many different styles, and short, long. I think when it’s long we used some of my hair with some extensions, and then when it was short, it was a wig.
Do you realize how many drag queens are gonna be jealous of the one you wear in your role as the Sugar Plum Fairy in your forthcoming film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms?
Oh, dude, yes. Hell yes. You know, we actually designed it with them in mind. I was so pleased. It was my first time where I could actually be like a drag queen, and I was so excited. We were all talking about it at the time; we were like, “Come on, this is the most amazing drag outfit,” and honestly, I was really excited because normally you have to be so subtle in films and I got these really long, fake eyelashes – I can’t remember whether we used them – but with bits of glitter over them, and we were all like, “This is perfect drag queen attire.” It was so amazing, and I think there are some amazing drag queens out there who are gonna wear it even better than I did. I hope that this film inspires some amazing costumes.
You sound like you could be an avid watcher of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Everybody’s a fan! Yeah, there’s a bit of Drag Race watching. And then there’s a great drag night in East London, which I used to go to when I could go out before I had a child, which was always fun. So can I just put that out there: Please, please let there be a drag queen somewhere who will be in a Sugar Plum Fairy outfit.
As a teenager, you were told your kiss with a gay female friend you went to prom with wasn’t appropriate. What did that experience teach you about LGBTQ discrimination, and how did it influence you as an ally for the community?
I thought it was bullshit at the time. Bullshit… bullshit! Our picture was not put up (on the event’s photo wall) because it was deemed not appropriate. I’m not sure it was that particular experience that influenced me; I just remember thinking that was stupid and I think I’ve thought that – always along the line – any discrimination against people because of their sexuality has been utterly ridiculous. It was the way I was brought up, and so I’ve never questioned gay rights. So yes, that was one of them; but no, I don’t think that was my sort of awakening. I’ve always had family with many gay friends, and people in the LGBTQ community have always been around me all my life and have been wonderful friends.
from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/10/04/keira-knightley-werks-the-queer-narrative-talks-colette/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.tumblr.com/post/178729119780
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