#which is another reason as to why he is so unique among disney princes

[darkspellmaster]

In defense of Princess Jasmine

Apologies for this being late.

So where do I start with this one? I guess after seeing the reactions about the Aladdin movie, and then seeing how people changed their tune, and it got to me, a bit more. See Aladdin has a special place in my heart, being the Disney Animated movie that I connected to the most. It’s my favorite followed by Robin Hood and the Black Cauldron, and when I was reading the reaction to Jasmine, I was rather surprised by some of the hostility, since the whole place is an amalgam of different cultures and the original story itself seems to be a mixed story as well.

I have to say this though, Jasmine, in Aladdin, isn’t the lead. Her role is important, and clearly a huge part of the overall story for Aladdin, but she’s not the main lead. This story wasn’t about her learning and changing, although she does, but about Aladdin learning to be himself. So it’s weird when people lambast Jasmine about the movie, but ignore her more prominent role in the animated show, which is part of the cannon. It’s also strange to me that she gets hit with a lot of comments that you would fling at a lead character, but her role is more akin to the roles of the Princes in the Disney Movies. Jasmine is, for the most part, like Jane from Tarzan, and a character that aids Aladdin in maturing and becoming the person that he needs to be, rather than the lead herself. This drastically changed in the new movie, as she’s become a sort of a co-protagonist in the story.

So where to start here I guess on one of the bigger things I hear about Jasmine:

1.       Jasmine is too sexy for a teenager.

Here’s the thing, Jasmine isn’t a teen, or at least that’s not what was in the movie. Her father specifically says “You must be married, to a prince, by your next birthday.” Leaving it open to guess what her birthday is. In recent years the Princesses Line gave her the age of 16, so while it’s official it’s not official (I know weird), whereas it’s hinted that Aladdin himself is 18 at oldest. The thing is that her outfit, while not traditional or historically accurate, is based more on the older idea of Arabian style costumes associated with Hollywood. Look at any of the movies from the late 1930s and into the 1970s and you’ll see that the designs for Jasmine’s outfit seem to be very much in line from the old swashbuckling epics of that period.

Jasmine, for the most part, doesn’t act sexual at all in the movie. Rather most of the time she’s actively trying to learn more about her people and the world outside of the palace. Allowing for her tiger to tear off the pants of the young prince, sneaking out against the rules of her father, and easily following Aladdin around the city, “I’m a fast learner.” Showing that she has a great deal of wit and intelligence for someone raised in a “gilded cage.”

The only time she uses her sexuality is as a distraction for Aladdin and the reaction to her kissing him is one of utter disgust from other members of the hero’s band, Genie with the Jaw drop, Abu with an “eww” sound, and Aladdin himself in some state of shock. Showing that this was not something that could be seen as a sexualized thing, more of something that would be seen as “gross” to those that were seeing it and clearly not the most appetizing thing for Jasmine to do herself. Moments later we see her actively trying to pull the snake scepter away from Jafar, indicating that she’s willing to put herself in harm's way to save her friends, and it’s only when he knocks her back and traps her in a sand hourglass, that Jasmine isn’t willingly trying to find ways to get out of her situation. She’s constantly, prior to Aladdin and the others coming in, making faces that show she’s utterly disgusted with Jafar, and it’s clear that the outfit he has her it is for his own amusement to humiliate her. The look is actually one that matches the outfits worn by the girls in, what appears to be, a brothel of sorts, that we meet early on in the movie during the ‘One Jump song’.

Therefore, at no time does Jasmine willingly flaunt herself, or act overtly sexual in the movie, outside of the one distraction scene.

Jumping over to the TV show, we see her actively fight alongside her friends, and the only time she’s wearing an outfit that’s similar to the look for what she wears in Jafar’s throne scene is the black outfit that she starts to wear during the time she’s being controlled by Mozenrath and believes she’s a bad guy. Then later that’s used for sneaking around on covert missions where black would be the look that would work best during night.

2.       Jasmine is always in danger and needs saving.

The only times this at all happens in the movie is really when she is threatened to have her hand cut off, and later when she’s trapped inside a sand hourglass and is going to die from suffocation.

Never once, in the show, or the movie, does Jasmine gives up and not try to fight for herself. In the movie, outside of those two instances, Jasmine is always ready to stand up for herself and others. Even if it means getting into trouble. For example, in the moment when the vender is threatening her before Aladdin comes in, she tries to explain why she did what she did, and even after she’s grabbed she tries to pull away from him. Later in the Hourglass she’s banging on the glass and looking for ways to get out, up until she’s completely buried in the sand. When she and Aladdin are being chased, she actively pulls off her disguise in order to save him, and later goes to confront Jafar chastising him for his actions and reminding him that once she’s the queen she’s getting rid of him, and he knows it, “Or worse beheaded.”

 Jasmine doesn’t screw around, in the show she actively fights with a sword, got into a full-on tussle with Sadira (a fellow enemy turned friend). Worked insanely hard to try to undo a curse on herself as she’s turning into a Snake and was willing to let Aladdin go to allow him to not have to deal with the pain she was dealing with turning into a snake. She’s fought with not only Mozenrath but saved Aladdin a number of times in the show, along with her father.

Jasmine, I would say, is the most adventure driven of the Princesses, outside of say, Kida, and possibly Moana, and Mulan. So the idea that she needs to be saved seems out of place to me.

The thing about Aladdin is that a good part of the movie seems to be focusing on movie musicals from the 1950s in regard to the story structure and aspects about it. Modern viewers tend to ask why a lot of the movie doesn’t seem to focus on the traditions of the location where it’s supposedly taking place from. One of the reasons, I think, is because it’s supposed to invoke that sort of movie from that period of time. It’s not supposed to be a classic piece based on tradition, rather it’s designed to be an ode to the Hollywood epics of yore with, at the time, a more modern twist in regard to how American and western audiences at the time viewed roles for boys and girls in various ways. By the end of the movie, the Sultan has learned that some traditions need to be bucked and changed to bring his kingdom forward into a modern age where his daughter can have some control over her destiny. In the newest movie, along with the musical, that’s been pushed even farther by outright saying that Jasmine will be ruler and Aladdin is Prince Consort, making her very much like the Queen of England and her husband.

What’s interesting to me is that not enough people look to the animated series to see the growth of the characters from the movies. Jasmine advances more in her development here, learning about her people and the kingdoms around her. She’s shown to be far more willing to listen to things, and be less stubborn than her father, and can actually explain things to him. As per the episode where she was taken by a “god” like being who the Sultan took a rose from, and, upon his defeat, after Jasmine had spent time with him, she expressed grief over his loss and that her father’s actions were really in the wrong, and that he should learn from others rather than assuming that they were monsters, to begin with.  It’s a story that has a lot going on with it and a strong message for kids.

Jasmine, by the time the Forty thieves movie has come about, is older and wiser, and she’s able to fully understand Aladdin’s desires to find out about his father and bring him to their wedding. This is not the same girl that snuck out of the palace from the first movie, this is a young woman who’s matured enough to understand how family is an important part of her husband’s life and his need to know where he comes from. This is something I don’t think enough people actually look into when they start writing about how Jasmine is not a good role model.

Another thing about Jasmine is that like Philip before her, she rejects the notion of how the world is working right now. She wants to connect to her people and even falls in love with a boy who is poor and below her station. While yes Aurora is a princess, this is not something he knew about when he fell for her, and the same is for Aladdin. Jasmine falls for him even though she actively knows he’s beneath her station and the reaction from her in regard to all this is “I want to marry for love,” which would mirror Phillips “Father it’s the 14th century,” showing that both view the idea of being in love and married for love over an arranged union as a stronger and better thing in their version of the modern world.

It’s something that makes Jasmine unique among all the other princess, excepting Kida, in that she is not the main character in the story. Or rather she, like Philip, plays a significant role, but her story is on the side and is important, but the changes the viewpoint we mostly go through is Aladdin’s. As with Atlantis, Milo is the main POV, and Kida is the character that comes in to explain what we’re seeing. The only character I can think of that follows this idea is Esmeralda, who, again, plays a huge role in the story but isn’t the main POV of the story of the Hunchback. It’s something that Jasmine has that makes her aspect in the following animated show more interesting as a number of episodes are from her POV and show her as The protagonist in the Animated series. We see her grow alongside Aladdin, wherein the movie, she does grow some in her character, in that she learns about trusting in some ways, it’s more about him and his story.

[ruminativerabbi]

COVID-Diary, Week Ten

The prize for Scripture’s least celebrated rhetorical question should probably go to Zechariah ben Berechia ben Iddo, one of the three prophets who presided over the initial stages of Israel’s mid-sixth century BCE return to Zion after captivity in Babylon.

Looking out at the unfinishedness that characterized basically everything his eye could see—the so-far-only-partially-rebuilt walls of Jerusalem, the so-far-unsuccessful effort to rebuild the Temple and turn it into a functioning place of worship, the so-far-fruitless effort to place a scion of the House of David on the throne of Israel, and the so-far-failed effort to bring the descendants of the original exiles en masse back to the Jewish homeland and there to re-establish themselves, if not quite as a free people in its own place, then at least as a semi-autonomous ethnicity within the vast reaches of the Persian Empire—looking out at all that (and possibly remembering his older prophet-colleague’s promise that theirs was to be a day of “wholly new things”), the prophet acidulously asks his best question. Mi baz l’yom k’tanot? Are you really going to disrespect our moment in history as a nothing but a yom k’tanot, as “a day of small things” and negligible accomplishments?

It won’t matter in the long run, he promises, because the naysayers and scoffers will eventually all abandon their pessimism and rejoice in the nation’s future successes in all of the above undertakings. And, the prophet adds, the eyes of God are truly trained on the people at this specific juncture in their history, taking it all in and watching to see whether the people can summon up the will to do the right thing, to persevere, to keep at it…even despite the overwhelming nature of each single one of the tasks facing it. And who can say that small successes won’t turn into big ones? If I can summon up optimism in the face of the overwhelming nature of the tasks facing us all, the prophet almost says out loud, so why shouldn’t you also feel at least slightly hopeful? Is that really asking too much?

It’s one of my favorite passages in all the prophetic books, bringing together all my favorite COVID-era themes: guilt, irony, hope, resilience, and courage. And this truly is a day of small things, of small advances that feel unimportant in the larger picture. Last week, I wrote to you all about the dangers of magical thinking. This week, I’d like to write about a different danger facing us all: the danger of sinking into depression born of what we perceive to be realism, of doing precisely what the prophet forbade: being dismissive of small things because they aren’t big things, thus missing the opportunity to build on what already exists and, at least possibly, make small accomplishments into large ones.

The plague has taken a lot from each of us and some things from us all. Pleasures that once seemed have-able merely for the asking—heading out with a friend for a walk or a coffee somewhere, successfully finding an hour in an otherwise jammed week to work out at the gym, or to go for a swim, or to stop by the kids’ place to take the grandkids for an unexpected ice cream—even these simplest of life’s pleasures have all been taken from us. And yet these horrific weeks in which deaths in New York State have almost hit the 30,000 mark (of which almost 2,000 in Nassau County alone), these weeks that have taken so much from us and made us afraid to turn on the news at night lest we hear even more bad news, these weeks have also brought us small things—Zechariah’s k’tanot—to be grateful for.

There are lots of things I could mention. The curve has clearly flattened. At least some of the most dramatic efforts to deal with COVID—the transformation of the Javits Center into a US Army-run COVID hospital, for example, or the setting up of a field hospital for COVID patients in Central Park—have been abandoned as local hospitals have become more able to deal with all the COVID patients who require hospitalization. The transformation of society—something I once thought Americans, and particularly New Yorkers, would balk at taking seriously—feels almost completely successful: I went for my daily 2-mile walk yesterday and do not believe I passed a single person in the street who wasn’t wearing a protective mask. We’ve all learned how to deal with risks that must be taken—learning how to go shopping at 6 AM, for example, or how to order groceries without venturing into a grocery store—and the disruption feels, to me at least, minimal. Yes, these are all small things. Yes, well over 80,000 Americans have died in the course of the last few months. Yes, almost 1.4 million Americans have been confirmed as COVID-ill, which number is definitely far too low since, as of today, a mere 9,623,336 Americans have been tested for the virus…out of a population of over 331,000,000. Yes to all the above! But mi baz l’yom k’tanot? Are we really going to look past the successes because they are, in the end, our latter-day version of the prophet’s small things? It wasn’t a good idea in ancient times. And it’s not a good plan for today either.

I have lately sought solace in familiar places. You all know that I read a lot, that reading is my refuge from the world, my go-to place when I need to withdraw for a bit from the maelstrom and regroup internally and intellectually. It’s been that way with me my whole life, even when I was a boy and certainly when I was a teenager. And in this way too the boy became the father to the man—but it’s the direction of my reading that the age of COVID has altered. I’m usually all about new fiction. In my usual way I will share with my readers—possibly in this very space—an account of the books I have read in the past year and recommend as summer reading. And I’ve read some new authors this year that I’m eager to share with you all—American authors like Richard Morais or Madeline Miller, but also writers from more exotic climes like Cixin Liu, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, or Daniel Kehlmann. For the last few weeks, however, I’ve been finding solace and calm by returning to some familiar places and expanding those specific horizons slightly.

I somehow realized that I had read all of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novels but one, so I found and read a copy of his first book, Fanshawe, a work he was later on so ashamed of that he personally bought up all the unsold copies he could find and burned them in his own oven. That led me to notice that I had read all of Herman Melville’s novels (regular readers of these letters will know how great a fan I am) except for The Confidence Man (his last novel other than the unfinished Billy Budd), so I read that too. And now I have moved on to Mark Twain.

I am among those who think of Huckleberry Finn as the single greatest American novel. Like most people my age, I first read it when I was in high school. (I’m sure I had no real idea what it was about, which was true of any number of books assigned to us back in the day.) My idea was to re-read it, possibly after re-reading Tom Sawyer. But then I began to realize just how many holes there were in my effort to read all of Twain. It turns out there are “other” Tom Sawyer novels, books I don’t recall even hearing about and am certain I never read. So I decided to read them now…and then moved on to my current plan to read or re-read all of Twain. And it’s working, too: the more I read of Twain, the more comfortable I’ve been feeling, the more grounded, the more calm, the more ready to contextualize this whole corona-thing and see it in the context of the larger pageant of life in these United States over the last century and a half.

I began with The Prince and the Pauper, yet another of Twain’s books I somehow never actually read. Does reading the Classic Comics version count? Probably not. Nor should it matter that I remember watching the book’s three-part adaptation on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color with my parents in 1962. Nor that I loved the 1977 movie version featuring Rex Harrison, Charlton Heston, Ernest Borgnine, George C. Scott, Oliver Reed, and Raquel Welch, which was for some reason distributed in the U.S. under the title, Crossed Swords. Twain didn’t write any of the above: he wrote a novel, published it in 1882 (just after the birth of one of my grandmothers and just before the other’s), and that is what I set myself to read.

On the surface, it’s a funny story about two eight-year-old boys, one the crown prince of England and the other an impoverished beggar living with a violent, angry father, and about how they manage (almost believably) to trade places and try on each other’s life for size. It’s well done, too—lots of surprise plot twists and a very engaging style that held my interest for as long as I was reading even despite the fact that I knew how it ended. But on a deeper level, it’s about something else entirely—about the nature of identity, about the question of whether you are how you perceive yourself  or how others perceive you, about the fragility of individuality, and about the fluidity of the sense of self we all take for granted when we look in the mirror and, seeing ourselves looking back, take that experience as reflective of immutable reality.

And, for readers in the age of COVID, it’s also about finding a way to retain our sense of ourselves as unique beings when the entire world changes on a dime, when the palace vanishes and you find yourself suddenly on your own in a world you barely recognize, when you wake up one morning and—for reasons even you yourself can’t really fathom—nothing is as it was and your sole choice is between negotiating a brand new normal or being left behind as the universe moves forward. It’s a clever book about the nature of self-awareness, about the durable nature of personality, about the ability of the background to alter the foreground—but also about the limits that inhere in that ability when the people standing at the front of the stage insist on maintaining their allegiance to their own personalities even under the most peculiar and unforeseen circumstances.

If you’ve never read it, I recommend Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper as a good place to re-introduce yourself to one of our greatest authors. I plan to keep reading too, and I’ll report back to you as I make progress. When summer comes, I’ll share with you my recommendations for summer reading as I always do. But in the meantime, it’s just me and Sam Clemens on my back porch when the afternoon coffee is ready and I find the courage to turn my phone off for forty or fifty minutes and step into the world of a great man’s imagination. Within the context of appropriate social distancing, I invite you all to join me!

[scrawnydutchman]

Coco Movie Review

Note: this review contains spoilers highlighted by bold letters for readers convenience. If you have not seen the film yet skip the bold sections and come back to read them once you HAVE seen it.

So I just came back from the theater after seeing Pixar’s Coco with a friend. An adventurous little romp about a Mexican boys’ supernatural journey to find his destiny, Coco is a spectacularly colorful, visually stimulating, heartfelt and clever little masterpiece that shows that in spite of recent worries many people have been having (myself included) Pixar isn’t losing their touch in creating marvelously original animated pieces. Granted this film borrows a lot of stylistic choices from Disney Animation Studios as well as other animated films (cough *BOOK OF LIFE* cough) but it also arguably takes those choices and makes them better. I’ll delve into more detail about that in a bit, but let’s tackle this film one section at a time, starting with story.

Story:

Synopsis: Miguel is a young boy who is part of a large family in Mexico and has aspirations to become a great musician. But music is banned in his family due to an ancestor of his leaving his wife and child behind to selfishly pursue a career in it. This doesn’t stop Miguel from striving for greatness though as he feels it’s in his blood to play music. One thing leads to another and Miguel ends up transporting himself to the realm of the dead where he decides to learn more about his families past to find out just what happened all those years ago. But it’s a race against the clock as Miguel finds out if he doesn’t leave the realm of the dead fast enough he will end up staying there forever. Will he be able to find his destiny and discover the truth about his family in time?

This is a pretty typical Disney plot setup. Young protagonist wants to achieve something greater than what his family has planned for him, goes on big misadventure to discover his true destiny, his family learns an important lesson about letting their kid follow their heart. If you’ve seen a Disney movie you know the ropes. But while this storyline is undeniably common among Disney films, Coco actually has a unique take on the subject matter that I haven’t seen previous entries ever do before. The lesson of the family letting Miguel follow his dreams is still present, but this time around it isn’t as clear cut and dry as, say, Pixar’s Ratatouille, which also had an ongoing theme of passion vs. family. While in Ratatouille the family pretty much has to concede to Remy as the film demonstrates he was right all along, Coco has the angle that Miguel is also at fault for a lot of his actions and has to know the importance of family as well. The film also has a great plot twist that makes the point that there IS such a thing as going too far for your dream. Truth be told it’s probably the most refreshing take on the subject matter I’ve ever seen either Disney or Pixar do.

The plot twist in this film is arguably the most effective twist I’ve ever seen either a Disney or Pixar film pull off. Matter of fact it’s very similar to the plot twist in Disney’s Frozen, but I would argue Coco succeeded where Frozen failed. In Frozen the true bad guy is hidden through a cheat in the narrative. The prince acts all starry eyed and innocent even when in the context of the scene nobody is around him, and so it’s a bit of a cheat to have it be executed in this fashion. With Coco, the bad guy is shrouded in mystery for the majority of the film. Ernesto de la cruz plays a very similar role to Gusteau in Ratatouille, where he’s a role model the protagonist never really interacts with outside of watching films and pretending to be there with him. At least that’s what it is for the majority of the movie. But when we DO finally meet him and learn his dark terrible secret, and that he cheated and murdered his way to his success, it’s not unbelievable, because just like the main character we as the audience only saw what he wanted us to see. We only ever saw his on screen persona and heard other people talk about him, whereas again, in Frozen the context implies the prince is virtuous even behind closed doors. It doesn’t feel out of nowhere because the narrative doesn’t progress in a way where betrayal was ruled out. And this twist is beyond clever because, again, it takes the moral we all see coming and puts a completely different spin on it. There IS such a thing as going too far for your dream, and there IS a certain extent where you have to put your family before your aspirations. It’s a much more profound look than kids are used to.

Beyond the compelling plot twist and the clever spin on an otherwise overdone message, it’s a pretty cookie cutter Disney movie. There’s a comedic foil, an adorable sidekick, an ambitious young protagonist, and this time around more than a few tear jerker moments. But hey, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. And man, when it comes to the tear jerkers, this film comes from the realest place since Pixar’s Up. The last 30 minutes are especially gut wrenching, which I for one think is a welcome compensation after Moana was pretty lacking in the sad stuff (though I will admit as a result this movie is lacking in the more comedic side). Also there’s a more than healthy dosage of Mexican culture to really break up the monotony of the story we’ve heard millions of times.

Animation/Art Design:

This. Film. Is. GORGEOUS!!! Absolutely colorful, inventive backgrounds, great use of contrasting blue with orange, dripping with Mexican atmosphere, and it really showcases some of the most impressive and inventive visuals I’ve ever seen in a Pixar movie. For one, this movie is not afraid to zoom in on all the intricate guitar playing, and for good reason. You can see every detail, every plucked string, every held note in the guitar playing. You might think this is a minor point, but take it from an animator; animating guitar or piano playing is EXTREMELY difficult especially if you want to make a point on being as accurate as possible. There’s a reason why in most animated media they zoom out, zoom in to the face or depict the playing from the other side of the piano to hide the fact that they probably aren’t hitting the right notes. Also, the way the skeletons move is wonderfully creative and interesting. So much thought went into how they walk, how they interact with their environment, how they rebuild themselves after splitting into several pieces. I especially love the squash and stretch the skeletons have; it makes them look appealingly jagged and really sells how lightweight they are without all that flesh and meat. This films is dripping with inventive visuals from beginning to end. The use of colous are on point, the lighting is great, the Textures are the best Pixar has pulled thus far. It’s a visual marvel. The character designs are great too, especially Dante the very derpy looking dog. The way his eyes and tongue look make for an effective comedic foil as well as the way his lanky scrawny body moves. In fact, the animal creatures in this movie are all very appealing in different ways. Many people including myself were skeptical about the designs of the skeletons, particularly with the big expressive Disney-esque eyes. While I’ll admit at first I thought they looked a little too odd they grew on me over time.

Also this movie is great at using it’s visuals to better progress the story, like how Miguel’s body is becoming more of a skeleton to sell the passage of time without verbally pointing it out too often.

There is just one very VERY minor issue I have with the visuals. I’m not 100% certain on this as I’ve only seen the film once thus far so it’s possible there’s just something wrong with my sight or some other reason, but I think the film uses motion blur to it’s disadvantage at times. There are scrolling shots in this movie that are supposed to showcase how massive an environment is and how many people are present in a location, but the use of motion blur makes it too fuzzy to really take in and I honestly think they laid it on too thick at times for how fast the camera actually moves. It got to a point where trying to follow the movement actually strained my eyes a little bit. It would have benefited the film more if they just left it out in certain points to make the image pop as clear as day. All well, it’s a minor knitpick that for all I know might not actually be a problem, but for the time being i’m docking a wee bit from the overall score. Besides that, it’s an undeniably beautiful flick.

Acting:

Pretty standard Disney and Pixar quality here. Every voice actor and actress in this movie does a stellar job. The cast is authentically Mexican and it shows (lncluding a Gabriel Iglesias cameo), making for greater immersion into the scenery. No performance seemed out of place, everybody got the proper emotions across. Not a whole lot else to say really.

Sound Design:

Again, pretty standard Disney and Pixar quality. Being that this movie has a heavy music theme in it, the soundtrack is beautiful and, again, authentically Mexican. The recurring song “Remember Me” is especially beautiful. This is one of those movies where the music is actually so good that I ended up getting the soundtrack on Spotify. Also, though it’s a minor addition, the mariachi cover of the music for the opening Disney logo is a nice touch. The sound effects were effective as always.

EDIT: I forgot to mention this the first time around. Not only is the music stellar but it actually plays into the plot as well in a way that’s very effective in retrospect. The song “Remember Me” has 2 versions; the opening bombastic one done by the villain of the movie and the softer, more sentimental version done by the real musician. This is actually brilliant foreshadowing to the types of characters each of them are. de la Cruz is a self absorbed, entitled asshole, and so his version of the song reflects that by being a big over the top dance number. The phrase “Remember Me” in this case is more about him telling his audience about how important he is. In contrast, the lullaby version is soft, sentimental and genuine. It isn’t superficial and it’s beautifully simple. This is a reflection of the writer. He didn’t write it to become a star. He didn’t write it because he wanted attention or glory. He wanted to make a connection with his daughter before he left. A touch like this is brilliantly subtle.

Conclusion:

Coco is tightly written with a clever and refreshing take on a recurring Disney trope. It’s visually stunning, very inventive, dripping with Mexican atmosphere and culture, and showcases some of the most heartfelt visuals and audibles I’ve seen come out of Pixar in a very long time. Really, my only problem with it was the use of motion blur at times, and that’s me REALLY stretching for something bad to say about it that I’m not even entirely sure I can back up. It’s a great film to take your kids to or to see for yourself if you’re an animation fan.

Story: 2/2

Animation/Art Design: 3.9/4

Acting: 2/2

Sound Design: 2/2

Final verdict; 9.9/10 - DAMN close to perfect.

[furederiko]

Time for November's 1st Random-News-Digest! And specially released on November 17th, 2017... despite being several hours late. LOL.

(Images courtesy of Nintendo, Warner Bros, 20th Century FOX, Square Enix, and The Pokemon Company/GameFreak. Taken from Official Trailers and/or Official Sites)

Super Mario Bros

Hold on to your Yoshis, because Mario Mario is coming back (yes, after that dreadful live action attempt in 1993) to Hollywood. This time, in an animated movie created by Illumination. If the report is to be believed, then Nintendo will be partnering with Universal to produce and release this movie. In case you live under a rock and doesn't know Illumination, that's the studio in charge of the "Despicable Me" and "The Secret Life of Pets" series. I know what you're thinking, I can already see the Toads being treated as the new Minions. LOL.

This project is said to be just in early stages, so it might take a few more years before it is ready for release. The average process to develop a big screen animated movie takes roughly 3 to 5 years, so if the deal moves on this month then we can expect the movie to arrive in... 2020. Which is the year of the Japan Olympics!!! Aaaaah, I see what you did there Nintendo. Honestly, I'm not expecting much of this project. As long as it's as entertaining as SONY's "The Angry Birds Movie", and unlike those numerous dull live action attempts... then I'll be okay. I'm pretty much sold by the word ANIMATED anyway, because forcing a live action adaptation to Mario and Luigi would be... a HUGE NO.

Metal Gear Solid

Now for this one, I'm... NOT so sure. Not just because I'm not big on KONAMI's "Metal Gear Solid" franchise as a game, but because it's live action. And we all know there's an eerie curse looming over live action adaptations for video games title. Look no further than "Assassin's Creed"... among many others.

The good news is, Derek Connolly is writing the script, and Jordan Vogt-Roberts is directing. The former has worked on "Jurassic World" and "Star Wars", while the latter is determined to make a watchable video game movie. LOL. Vogt-Roberts is most definitely a unique and seemingly fun guy, I'll give you that. This pair has worked together creating "Kong: Skull Island", which was an entertaining movie. Hmmm... now that I think about it, the whole espionage Special Forces theme would be somewhat similar to what Vogt-Roberts did in that King Kong movie. I genuinely think he actually CAN pull this off! Let's just hope the project moves on to higher stages, and not fizzles out like... it has always been.

Disney Animation

This was actually a news from last month. Yeah, I got pretty caught up with many personal ordeals, that I've completely missed out on mentioning this movie on my previous R-N-D. "Gigantic", Disney's version of the classic "Jack and the Beanstalk" story had been cancelled.

Said news was quite startling, considering the title was still part of their D23 Event... even if it was in a very minor way. It also has been in development by co-directors Meg LeFauve and Nathan Greno for quite some time, with a fixed 2020 release window. 'Creative process' was mentioned as reason for its cancellation, with Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studio president Ed Catmull calling the movie as 'not working'. The studio has moved on to another original project, that is expected to open in Thanksgiving 2020. Will we be getting another Disney Princess movie, following last year's "Moana"? Here's hoping. For now, the studio still has "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2" set to open on November 21st, 2018, and the sequel to their hit title "Frozen" on November 27th, 2019. We can still look forward to those ones...

Disney Live Action

The live action department also hit a bump. Director Sam Mendes has departed his live action re-telling/adaptation for "Pinocchio". This is the second time he has walked out from a Disney project, with "James and the Giant Peach" being the first one. There's a rumor that Mendes might be moving to the franchise he worked on before, but that's the topic for a different category.

It's unclear if Disney will continue to work on this title by finding another director, or take a completely different approach and shelves it like what they just did to "Gigantic". Right now, two titles that are in active production is Guy Ritchie's "Aladdin", and Jon Favreau's "The Lion King" that will open on July 19th, 2019. If I'm not mistaken, Niki Caro's "Mulan" is still in pre-production, along with other titles.

We can also add a new title "Prince Charming", that is set to be written and directed by Stephen Chbosky. Chbosky is famous for his recent work "Wonder" that is set to be released this weekend, as well as the critically acclaimed "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". As the title suggests, it will focus on a young Prince and all the struggle he faces to live up to the family name. Of course, since the name Prince Charming typically refers to the one from... "Snow White" and/or "Cinderella", I can't help but wonder if this will be connected as prequel or some sort to either. It doesn't sound like it, but who knows, right? Let's just wait for more information in the near future...

Star Wars

Remember the time when many people speculated Rian Johnson would take over Collin Trevorrow's directorial seat for the tentatively titled "Star Wars - Episode IX"? Lucasfilm had expressed positive response to the director, and he himself was genuinely excited, giddy, and extremmely passionate about his love to experience in the franchise. It felt like a sure if not most plausible thing. But then we all knew that didn't happen, because it's J.J. Abrams instead who returned for the job.

But why didn't Johnson take the movie? Surprise surprise, turns out, he has other BIGGER project planned... for the franchise. Yes, he's not leaving the franchise anytime soon. Lucasfilm indeed had a great mutual time with Johnson, that they not only want him to work on another "Star Wars" movie, but to set up an entirely NEW non-Skywalker trilogy for them! The word 'bigger' would be an understatement now, right? He will be writing and directing at least the first one of this trilogy, while long time collaborator Ram Bergman is producing.

We can safely assume that this means the Skywalker-focused storyline will be wrapped up in "Episode IX", and afterwards, we'll be seeing a new route for the franchise in the foreseeable future. This new trilogy might not be episodic in nature, and will introduce entirely new characters from the universe. A "blank canvas" as Kathleen Kennedy said. Many fans have expressed both praises, and approval, as well as concerns, and disapproval for this approach, but if you ask me, I'm welcoming this with open arms. I've never been an avid fan of this space opera before, so this could be my official entry point. Without the need to explore previous movies, that is! LOL. I wonder if this new trilogy will be connected to the newly announced live action TV series?

Of course, this means that his work on "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" has completely left Lucasfilm VERY satisfied. Johnson himself might be REALLY anxious about it (a humble response, by the way), but this is by all means an expression of HIGH confidence from the studio. As evidenced by the departure of Trevorrow, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and others, they wouldn't give Johnson such massive responsibility if they are not overly pleased collaborating with him. He might be such a good polite and down to earth guy, eh? If you're curious about his work, then you only need to wait a bit longer. "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" arrives in less than a month on December 15th, 2017!

James Bond

Yep, thanks to walking out of the Disney live action project, Sam Mendes has immediately been rumored to direct the untitled "Bond 25". This naturally makes sense. Mendes worked on "Skyfall" and also "Specter", and the next movie might very well be Daniel Craig's last foray. Would be nice to see Mendes returning to deliver Craig's swan song as well as to wrap it up as his final 007 trilogy. Christoph Waltz had stated that he's not coming back as Blofeld though, so I wonder if that might affect Mendes' decision. Sure, Waltz teased that the role could be re-cast, but who can really tell what the future, I mean James Bond holds. Also, MGM announced earlier this month that Annapurna will help bring the franchise to the theatre. Does this mean the studio has won the bidding war? It's unconfirmed for now, but that seems to be the case. Quite surprising too, because it felt like a lesser entity when compared to other bigger names on the mix. But I guess as long as the franchise can still hit theatres, it's a victory for Bond's devoted fans nonetheless.

Dark Universe

Sad to say, this could be the LAST time for this category to be featured in my R-N-D. According to recent report, Universal has pulled the plug on its ambitious Dark Universe. At the very least, it's in critical condition.

All signs have totally led to this. Tom Cruise's "The Mummy" was a big failure that didn't make enough good impression (could you imagine what would have happened had Tom Cruise agreed to play Tony Stark in the first "Iron Man"? Marvel Studios dodged an bullet right there). And then production for Bill Condon's "Bride of Frankenstein" was halted not long after it begun, and the movie had since been removed from the planned release date. None of the other projects like "Invisible Man", "Wolf Man", or some others showed real progress. Next thing that happened, both Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan who seem... (or to be precise USED) to be the overseer to this Monster-based universe, have each moved on to other projects. That pretty much sealed the deal, don't you think? For the record, this isn't the first time Kurtzman abandons a cinematic universe. Don't ever forget Paramount's Transformers and also SONY's Amazing Spider-Man series.

Of course, it doesn't mean that the idea is gone for good. Universal can still pull off a soft reboot or some sort, simply by planning more properly before jumping towards another dark waters. President of production Peter Cramer even stated, "We are not rushing to meet a release date and will move forward with these films when we feel they are the best versions of themselves.". This implied that at least, Condon's movie might still become a reality sometime in the future.

I'm personally feeling VERY disappointed to hear this, knowing the probability of seeing Russell Crowe reprising his Dr. Jekyll is now close to zero. I really want to see him 'Hulk Out' and becomes a massive monstrous Edward Hyde... which we didn't really fully get in "The Mummy". But who am I to say, right? All I can say is, I hope Universal will inspire other studios to think ahead and NOT just try to snobbishly copy Marvel Studios' success without analyzing what makes their universe works. Heck, they have even proved that it's never to late to course-correct things. So don't give up Universal, and just do it one step at a time, okay!

DC Films

Uhmm... so yeah, embargo for critics reviews (both social media on November 10th, and full essays on November 14th) for Warner Bros' "Justice League" has been uplifted earlier this week. And well, true to the nature of DC Films (at least its first three movies, with "Wonder Woman" being the not-that-surprising exception), the response is a mixed-bag. Immediately, it has divided critics both fans and non-fans of DC Comics alike with polarizing opinions. Some said that Joss Whedon's clear influence doesn't gel well with the 85% done by Zack Snyder, but others said it worked just fine to elevate the movie. If you visit one entertainment site, you'd likely stumble on a review that paints the movie in a moderate-to-good light by calling it 'Pretty Good', while elsewhere you'll be greeted by review that sees it as bad-to-awful by calling it 'Pretty Bad'. Suffice to say, despite leaning to positive, things do not look completely 'PRETTY' for WB and DC.

By the way, RottenTomatoes deliberately delayed their aggregated score for the movie. My initial assumption when I saw the headline? "Ain't this cheating, huh?". Those who think RT is being paid by Marvel Studios... looks like WB is the one paying them instead, am I right? After all, this studio is infamous for constantly blaming RT for their movies' own critical failures. Of course, despite the fact that WB DOES have a stake in this site (feel free to make your own conclusion with that), that is NOT the actual reason. It's more inline with the site's Facebook show, or something like that. Of course, said score have been officially (it was leaked before hand) released now, and no surprise... as of writing (October 17th, 08:50PM local time), it's currently sitting at 37%. That is already a tad lower than its initial number. YIKES!

General consensus is calling the movie as fun but flawed. A narrative mess, but at least it gets the characters correctly now. An entertaining spectacle, but visually it's ugly and tacky. So at the very least, it's not a trainwreck and is still BETTER than the dreadful "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" nor the abominable snowma-... er, "Suicide Squad".

Ironically, WB tried to be boastfully 'different' three times, and failed miserably. Eventhough, in a way they WERE mimicking or parroting Marvel Studios. Just admit it, "Batman v Superman" was consciously made to rival Captain America 3, and "Suicide Squad" was their version of Guardians of the Galaxy. This year, they blatantly and openly COPY that 'competitor' movies. "Wonder Woman" was an amalgam of the first Captain America with elements of Thor, while "Justice League" is clearly DC's version of the 2nd Avengers. And my oh my, look what they've gotten! Good to POSITIVE responses!!! The morale of the day, if you can't compete, just follow suit. Oh, and also... use talented people who have worked on the opposite side. I mean, duh... Patty Jenkins, Joss Whedon, and Brian Michael Bendis? "Justice League" opens today on November 17th, so let's hope it will perform better financially than critically.

David F. Sandberg's "Shazam!" is moving along nicely as the movie next to be seen after next year's "Aquaman" (to be released in... *drumrolls* December 2018). After casting Disney Prince Zachary Levi as the heroic version, the movie obviously needs the human version, the little kid named Billy Batson. Remember when acclaimed young actor Jacob Tremblay (who similar to his Oscar-winner BFF, deserves BETTER roles) was said to be in contention? Well, the role ended up on young Asher Angel's hand instead. Name doesn't sound familiar? Well... he is one of the leads of "Andi Mack" on... Disney Channel. See? If you can't beat them, snatch their actors too. Grace Fulton is said to be portraying the female lead, and actor Mark Strong was said to be in negotiation to play the antagonist Dr. Sivana... whoever that is. Should he decide to take the job, this would be Strong's second DC character for WB after his short turn as Sinestro.

Interestingly, WB desperately wants this franchise to be noticed. Why is that? Just think about it, the movie is set to open in Spring 2019, so it's going to be released not far behind a particular Marvel Studios movie called... "Captain Marvel". I'm sure you know where I'm leading to with this, right? Yes... because Shazam used to be called by the same name. Coincidence? Highly UNLIKELY. It's another game of chicken by good'ol always-competitive WB (no matter how many try to scoff it off, their rivalry to Marvel is apparently REAL), folks! And a rather ballsy albeit rude one too. I mean for crying out loud, in this kind of political situation that sees a president continuously provoking people to hate a previous female opponent like a sore loser, and numerous reports of mistreatments of women by Hollywood top names... WB wants to use a testosterone-manchild-themed movie to directly challenge a FEMALE-led movie just because the two shared the same name? I call that suicide.

How about Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam then? That character is the nemesis of Shazam, so it's natural if we get to see him too in the movie. But noooope, apparently WB is planning to put him in another movie instead. And surprise surprise, it's not his own solo movie as the studio repeatedly promised, but Gavin O'Connor's "Suicide Squad 2". I literally slapped myself in the face when I read this, because dang it... wasn't it enough to throw a sexist Enchantress, that they just HAD to pit the broken Squad against another supernatural character? This is not confirmed for now, but since the movie still has a long way before starting production in October 2018... let's just hope WB has a more sane way for combining the "Suicide Squad" and "Shazam!" franchise. Hold on... did they just confirm that "Shazam!" is part of the current continuity then? Then I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that... (read: there goes half of my interest in seeing the movie.). I really want this to be its own separate thing, and not boggled in the failed universe. I guess I expected too much too soon, huh?

About "The Batman", there's a hint that Ben Affleck might be stepping out the Matt Reeves movie after all. Though he was singing a different tune during this year's San Diego Comic-Con International, the actor has since been saying a complete opposite. In a press junket for "Justice League" in London, he even openly said that he does NOT know what the future holds. That sounds like a guy who's thinking of gracefully bowing out from the DC Films... as soon as possible. He even mentioned the exact same thing to USA Today not long after. Quite surprisingly, the internet also expressed their agreement to see him leave. Some already even fancasting and speculating a replacement (that one actor, I hope its NOT true). OUUCH! Looks like what once a bright star, is slowly fading away like a comet that visits a solar system every hundred of years. Hmmm... I wonder if Henry Cavill will follow suit after this...

Last but not least, Patty Jenkins' much anticipated "Wonder Woman 2" has vacated its December 13th release date to arrive 6 weeks earlier. CALLED IT! Yep, I knew WB would end up doing this because competing directly with "Star Wars" would be waaaay too risky. I'm just surprised that it took this long for the studio to announce the shift. I guess they were waiting for Marvel Studios to prove that early November is a good spot for comic book adaptation, huh? Don't worry, Gal Gadot is expected to reprise her role, because WB had said that the report of her 'refusal' (originated at PageSix) is NOT true. "Wonder Woman 2" will now open in November 1st, 2019.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Would you look at that?! I can't believe this, but WB has mischievously prepared a contingency plan for the negative response to "Justice League". I assume based on past experiences, WB is aware that critics would still be divisive (no different situation, a bit worse than "Man of Steel" even) about their DC movies, so they immediately releases official synopsis and cast photo for the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" sequel. Come on, releasing this on the same day the DC ensemble movie is released? Can't be a coincidence. A pretty darn good distraction, if I should add! Not to mention, this comes on the heels of that recently announced Niantic AR game.

The new official title has immediately generated mixed response. After all, "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" OBVIOUSLY put the focus on Johnny Depp's villainous character Gellert Grindelwald. It could be a good thing, if his name was still as big as it used to be in the past, but we all know that the world has changed. Thankfully, one character stood out the most among the confirmed cast members. It's none other than Jude Law's young Albus Dumbledore. I must say, he doesn't look the way I expected to be, but I'm definitely not complaining. Hey, a charming dashing Dumbledore would be a great selling point for the new franchise that hasn't been able to be on par with its "Harry Potter"... sequel.

We got FIVE couples now. The four core characters from the first movie are here, hopefully in a bigger and more memorable inclusion. We have Claudia Kim's cursed 'Maledictus' character, who seems to be pairing up with Ezra Miller's Credence and could very well be serving as an antagonist. And then there's Zoe Kravitz's Leta Estrange who is engaged with Callum Turner's Theseus Scamander. Indeed, Theseus is Newt's big brother, so here's hoping Eddie Redmayne isn't sidelined completely and get to showcase actual dramatic involvement in this sequel.

Say what you will about the first movie, but it was surprisingly entertaining enough to make me see more. It might be not at the heights of the "Harry Potter" series, but I'd gladly take this over the DC Films anytime. Directed by David Yates based on a screenplay from J.K. Rowling, this movie is set to arrive precisely one year from now on November 16th, 2018. Aaaah, I get it now.

X-Men Universe

Let's address the elephant in the room first. When we talk about Marvel character owned by 20th Century FOX nowadays, then you should be aware of a recent report that has taken the world by storm. That's right, the House of Mouse Disney is in negotiation to purchase FOX's film and TV division, because the other company wants to focus on news and sport. That literally means, all the movie rights for X-Men and Fantastic Four will be reverted back to Marvel! Yes, every characters from those faction might be returning home in the foreseeable future, because despite the report that talk has ended, the possibility is still very much high. Assuming Comcast or Verizon doesn't suddenly come out of left field and snatches this opportunity instead, of course.

If you ask me how I feel if FOX and Marvel Studios arrange an agreement similar to what the latter did with SONY and Spider-Man? Then I would not hesitate to say "No Thanks". Combining Marvel Studios' movie universe with FOX's sloppy, botched, and well... generally uninspiring one would be a disaster. FOX tend to disregard good characters, and treat them badly more often than not. But if this deal DOES become a reality, then I'd be REALLY happy. That means we WILL be getting the much-needed reboot that the X-Men and Fantastic Four are desperate for, and not just a soft-reboot that producer Simon Kinberg had been boasting out and about... that ended up with his "X-Men: Dark Phoenix". I don't know about you, but Kinberg clearly doesn't know what he is doing, so I want to see him OUT of and AWAY from any Marvel stories for good. Of course, there's a downside to all things. Through FOX movie division, we were able to get more comic adaptations in a yearly basis. Not just that, we also got titles like "Logan" or the upcoming "The New Mutants" that run in R-rated route, one that Marvel Studios or Disney in general would be highly unlikely to explore. That might be an outcome that many fans might be hard to swallow...

Anyways, amidst that rumbling news, Deadpool kept on walking proudly, as if it doesn't care about what would happen to its own crumbling universe. After all, one comment on social media said that Wade Wilson is the only Marvel character who could easily address the change casually without the need to mind its own continuity. Don't forget, this is the guy who is consciously confused which Professor X he should report to. LOL. "The Untitled Deadpool Sequel" (that's the placeholder title, which I hope would be the official title because it just fits the character so much) movie released a holiday-themed first official poster, as well as a Bob Ross inspired second teaser that well... if you ask me, pretty much stole a bit of buzz from WB's movie premiere. LOL.

This teaser suggests that despite the change in director, the movie still retains the same idiosyncratic atmosphere. I'm glad that the returning characters aren't forgotten in this one, and if some people catch this one theory right, we might be getting a rather 'sinister' antagonist as the super villain. WOW. "The Untitled Deadpool Sequel" (I'm still laughing here!) arrives on June 1st, 2018, so if you're a fan of the first movie, make sure you mark your date.

One more thing, would you like to see a movie featuring... a mutant character called "Multiple Man"? Well, James Franco might be starring in one. So whether you want it or not, it's still probably coming in the future. Who's behind this bizarre and preposterous idea? Duuuh... Kinberg of course. Who else? LOL.

SONY Marvel Universe

Situation in the SONY side, is a 'little' different. Not content with "Venom" (showing us a first look of Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock after just 2 weeks of production) and "Silver & Black", the studio is already moving forward with another title. This time, "Morbius the Living Vampire". Earlier this week, it was revealed that the writers of this year's "Power Rangers" Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama had submitted their script to the studio. The two previously worked on several underwhelming movies like "Dracula Untold" and "Gods of Egypt".

To be honest, I'm actually surprised when I found out that Dr. Michael Morbius belongs to SONY. He's a long time antagonist of Blade, and as far as I know, that character has reverted back to Marvel. Of course, I just discovered that the Roy Thomas and Gil Kane's creation debuted in "Amazing Spider-Man" #101. It makes sense now, because it's almost the same situation to the character Kingpin. Problem is, similar to Venom and other Spider-Man related characters, the BIG question is will these character work without Spidey himself... Or in Morbius case, without Blade? I seriously doubt it. I believe just the fact that these characters will not interact with the ones from Marvel Studios, is already strongly pessimistic. Let's just wait and see if SONY can prove that it DOES have what it takes to jumpstart their own Spidey-less Marvel Universe.

Marvel Studios

Let's talk about "Thor: Ragnarok" first! Eventhough this weekend the movie's might would likely be overthrown by DC's first ensemble movie, Taika Waititi's comedy has managed to at least stay on number 1 for two consecutive weeks. It's making huge money, even more than Chris Hemsworth's first two solo movies. Seriously though, should we even be surprised? This buddy comedy is genuinely FUN and hilarious, and plenty of its memorable scenes will be etched into your brain... forcing you to laugh or giggle whenever the memory strikes. Like a lunatic? Well, if you say so. LOL. Really though, you couldn't see me now but I'm currently cackling upon remembering that... uhm, naked scene. LOL.

By the way, Waititi has openly expressed his desire to make another Thor movie with Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo. What do you think? Should he get his second Ragnarok movie? If it means we'll get another 'Get Help' moment, or more of Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster? Waititi might not have a vast or deep knowledge of comic book, but since "Ragnarok" pretty much creates a clean slate for Thor Odinson and the Asgardians... he can pretty much do anything. And I honestly look forward to see that.

Disney has begun campaigning the movie and James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" for Oscar race too. Since many of the Award's regular players have been lambasted with various kinds of sexual misconduct allegations, can we expect members of the Academy to turn towards comic book adaptations now? I certainly hope so. We know that 'Best Visual Effects' and in some cases 'Best Make Up' will be the usual entry, but I sure hope these movies get a chance in other categories too. 'Best Score' or 'Sound Editing' perhaps? I do think Mark Mothersbaugh deserves an appreciation for his work in "Ragnarok".

"Black Panther" is now officially three months away from release! Well, for the US region at least... because several other countries (like yours truly) usually get it earlier. To celebrate this, Marvel Studios have released a batch of single character posters that includes Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa, his royal family members, up to Andy Serkis' Ulysees Klaue. As far as I recall, we haven't had one for Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger... or did I miss anything? The movie also have tested positively in early screenings according to report, so we're in for another Marvelous time. "Black Panther" arrives on February 16th, 2018.

Fans have been actively demanding the D23/SDCC trailer for "Avengers: Infinity War", to the point that people started doing illegal stuff like posting leaked images and all. We got the first look for Proxima Midnight, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow's new hairdo and costume that resembled another Marvel character, as well as Paul Bettany's Vision and Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch looking in despair. These pictures are great, but HOW we get them is the morale question here. I'm not particularly fond of this attitude, because it only shows the dark and negative side of fandom.

Obviously there are VALID reasons why Marvel Studios is withholding that trailer, thus is it so hard to just WAIT until it is released officially? The reason can be a simple one, like the need to add quality Visual Effects to it, or a bigger one like... the potential of spoilering other movies. In particular, "Ragnarok" and "Black Panther". I'll use "Ragnarok" for example. Thor's appearance in the trailer shown exclusively last Summer was INCONSISTENT compared to how he ended up in "Ragnarok". In the end of "Ragnarok", we know that he got a 'permanent scar', and he didn't look like that at all in the "Infinity War" trailer. And then there's that scene with Loki holding the Tesseract. Also, Thor ran into a gigantic vessel, that Marvel Studios President has confirmed to be the Sanctuary II. The owner? Josh Brolin's Thanos. See? It's a massive spoiler already. Who knows what kind of secret from "Black Panther" it would spoil in advance!

I personally feel what we all need to know, is that the movie will undoubtedly be HUGE. Like Ruffalo himself hyped stated, it has "all of the Marvel characters in it. All nine franchises. I mean, it’s mind-boggling. Everyone has their moment to shine. Everyone is still their characters.". Feige admitted that even the filming felt overwhelming and surprisingly emotional everyday. And also, that the movie is some kind of a... heist movie? HUH? Yeah, co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo specifically said so to CNET, which honestly made me wonder. They were pretty specific that the heist would be Thanos' play, as he collects all 6 Infinity Stones. Hmmm... let's just stop right here, because now I've become curious to see the trailer. LOL. But nope, I know for sure that I'm going to be watching this movie. At least, ONCE. That's why Marvel Studios can even delay the trailer forever or not release it at all, and I won't mind. Because I don't really need any more convincing to see it.

As far as I know, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" has completed production. I'm not really sure about this though, but I think I did see like some kind of celebration for it on Twitter. Regardless, both Walton Goggins and David Dastmalchian have completed their parts earlier this week. Dastmalchian even gave us a look for Randall Park's Agent Jimmy Woo. Here's hoping we'll be getting a teaser trailer soon.

Laurence Fishburne who would soon be seen as Bill 'Goliath' Foster in the movie, opened up to Collider that because he grew up with Marvel, he actually pitched himself to Marvel Studios! Intriguingly, he also came with several ideas, and has been developing one secretly with Marvel. He hoped that "It’s gonna change the world". Hmmm.... this is intriguing. Fishburne didn't specifically say movie, so it could very well be a comic series, or even a TV one. Something related to Blade perhaps? or some others? Hmmmm...

Recent report by Variety claimed that Ben Mendelsohn has been approached to play the antagonist in "Captain Marvel". If his interview with Collider was any indication, it seems he might have officially come onboard the movie... or at least in final talks. His response reminded me greatly to when Paul Rudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, and also Carol Danvers herself Brie Larson tried to play coy about their roles. These are obviously polite and sincere actors, so they couldn't really hide that big of a secret. Since this is feeling like a dejavu, let's just say we shouldn't be surprised if Mendelsohn ends up antagonist-ing Larson in the movie when it arrives on March 8th, 2019.

This is the last one for the category folks! More SPOILER-ish (as usual, you might want to skip to the next category if you avoid one) information surrounding "Avengers 4" has been flying over the internet. One particular bit teased the reenactment, a flashback, or perhaps a time travel twist involving "The Avengers". Not only because Robert Downey Jr. was spotted wearing the exact same shirt from the 2012 movie, Hemsworth himself posted a photo (with his daughter) wearing a costume precisely from the same movie. Actor Frank Grillo and Maximiliano Hernández were also suspiciously present in Atlanta. Does this mean Crossbones and Agent Jasper Sitwell are alive in the movie? Hmmm. Could we be seeing a reality alteration here? Especially if we consider the ability of the Reality Stone. According to report that can't really be considered credible, these will all be scenes generated by Tony Stark using his B.A.R.F. simulation that we saw in "Captain America: Civil War". To who? Ty Simpkins' Harley Keener, who has been confirmed to appear in the movie. Hmmmm... now I'm really curious about this movie too. But let's just focus on "Infinity War" first, shall we?! One day... I mean one movie at a time.

Marvel TV

Oh hey, Marvel's "Inhumans" has officially ended with its eight episode. I think it was last Friday, if I'm not mistaken. How would I know, if I couldn't even care less about it. Personal preference aside, that means the 5th season of Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is about to air very soon. And if you're among devoted Marvel fans who are already counting days, then the show has released an official trailer to wet your appetite for this new season.

The trailer was... uhmm, okay I guess? I'm still on the fence to follow this season, so I can't really tell if this manages to persuade me or not. One thing for sure, it's action packed and filled with creepy aliens. It's really nice to see Henry Simmons' Mack and Natalia Cordova-Buckley's Yo-Yo get more presence and involved in more action. We also see bits of the new characters: Jeff Ward's ambiguous Deke, Eve Harlow's Tess, Pruitt Taylor Vince's commander Grill, and Coy Stewart's possible-Nuhuman Flint.

And then there's that confirmed report of Nick Blood returning in some capacity as Lance Hunter. What about Adrienne Palicki's Bobby Morse? Last we heard, she won't be making an appearance due to her tight schedule in the equally space-themed alien-filled "The Orville". That doesn't mean she's not open to reprise her role though, because she has had a great time and is still in touch with the cast. Here's hoping the stars will align somehow, and we get to see her official return in the series. "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." will begin the new season on Friday, December 1st, 2017, with a two-episode premiere entitled "Orientation Part 1 & 2".

Marvel's "Runaways" is set to premiere next week, on November 21st. Its first three episode will hit the streaming platform Hulu on the same day. To prepare for this, Entertainment Weekly has released official posters and banners for each of the six lead characters, while IGN dropped additional ones showcasing their super-powered abilities. They looked neat, and teased the teenager's signature skillset. Currently being praised as the teenage soap-opera side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, let's just hope that this series attracts enough viewers and good rating to warrant another season.

Meanwhile, Marvel's "New Warriors" has departed Freeform... even before it is even aired. Although Kevin Biegel's 10-episodes first season was initially meant to debut in the network, the pilot was so well-received to the point it attracted several high-level Disney execs. Freeform was unable to set a time slot for this show (I guess they prefer Marvel's "Cloak and Dagger" more?). Thus Marvel Entertainment pulled it out, and has been actively searching for a partner that can launch it next year as planned... as a direct two-seasons package! Surely it won't land on Netflix, given Disney's plan to launch their very own streaming service in 2019. This is just a wild guess, but I think Hulu would end up becoming its new home.

Speaking of Disney's upcoming new service, CEO Bob Iger confirmed that it will feature at least one new Marvel series among others. I wonder what that is? I just hope, and sincerely hope that it is not concerning Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel. It would be such a waste to utilize that massively popular character in a TV setting, when it would make the most in movie format. She's an Avenger, so she's better of to be with the other members, right? Not to mention, Marvel TV doesn't exactly have a good track record to pull their projects off properly (Inhumans, anyone?). I prefer that rumored "Power Pack" movie to switch places if that's indeed the case. Crossing my fingers!

Netflix

Eventhough Marvel's "The Punisher" is catching everyone's attention, and receiving mostly positive response from entertainment critics (general drawbacks are inevitably concerning the gun violence), Marvel fans need to be prepared with the possibility of it being the final Marvel title on Netflix. As has been widely reported, Disney is intent on creating their own streaming service. One that will include new live action show for "Star Wars", animated series based on "Monsters Inc.", and also Marvel series.

It's unlikely if the service will ONLY have one series. So it makes perfect sense for Disney to end their contract with Netflix, and pull out movies and shows like Marvel's "Daredevil", Marvel's "Jessica Jones", Marvel's "Luke Cage", Marvel's "Iron Fist", and Marvel's "The Defenders" from the platform to be exclusives alongside their 'future family'. After all, Disney had openly stated that Netflix would end up becoming their competitor when the time come. I doubt Netflix would be threatened, with a vast library of original series and movies in their pockets. But this might have a bitter result to fans of the series. Sure, this might not be as bad as many fans are worrying about, because these shows might simply move to a different place. Then again, we also need to remember that Netlfix co-financed these series, so the most likelihood is that these series will be put to a close. Can fans handle that? I don't think so.

For now, "Daredevil" begins filming Season 3 this week. I think the 2nd seasons of "Jessica Jones" and "Luke Cage" had wrapped, while the one for "Iron Fist" will start next month. At the very least, these shows are still set to air in 2018 since Disney won't be launching their service until the following year. Come 2019? Come what may. All episodes of "The Punisher" should already be available today, so you might want to enjoy it as much as possible... while you still can.

Final Fantasy

"Episode of Ignis", the third character DLC for "Final Fantasy XV" has received an official release date. Square Enix announced at the Paris Games Week 2017, that it will be available on December 13th, 2017. The storyline will take place after the "Trial of Leviathan", where Ignis is tasked to protect the unconscious Noctis as they make their way to safety. Ravus will also join forces with Ignis, likely to protect his sister Lunafreya. The story will have multiple endings, and feature new music from "Chrono Trigger" composer Yasunori Mitsuda. You can check out the official trailer for this DLC on Youtube.

Noctis himself, is set to have his own... uhmmm, 'adventure'. As in, he will be guest starring as a playable DLC character in... "Tekken 7". Yes, I know I should've put this in a separate "Tekken" category, but moreso than Geese Howard who came from "The King of Fighters" series, Noctis IS the LEAD of "Final Fantasy XV". It would be more appropriate to feature him here in his own turf, right? Ahahaha... good excuse, eh. Noctis will be available in Spring 2018. The announcement trailer sees him receiving an in-game invitation/request from Lars Alexandersson, and features his three travelling companions too (who unfortunately are only present as cameo). Go check it out, it's a fun video...

Dynasty Warriors

KOEI Tecmo has announced the release date of the English version of "Dynasty Warriors 9". While the original Japanese version will arrive for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on February 8th, 2018, countries in North America and Europe will have to wait a few days later for a release on February 13th, 2018. I doubt this will spark complaints though, because unlike previous titles, this one only sees a delay that is only less than a week away.

Pre-ordering the game will reward players with a set of extra costumes for the character Zhao Yun, Guan Yinping, Diaochan, Sun Shangxiang, Lu Lingqi, Wang Yi, and Wang Yuanji. I know what you're thinking, Zhao Yun's the only male on the list! I guess that's because he's the unofficial poster boy for the franchise, so he gets the privilege to be surrounded by the ladies. Fans of the series can already book their copy of the game right away, whether in physical or digital version.

Ace Attorney

Nintendo Switch has taken the world by storm, and rightfully so. While its launch lineup was pretty scarce, third party developers have begun noticing the potential and strong selling point of the hybrid console. One of them, is of course CAPCOM.

According to recent report, they are preparing THREE... yes, not one or two, but three titles from the "Ace Attorney" franchise to be released in 2018. The first two, are compilation titles set to be released between April and October 2018. The first one compiles the first three games (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Trials and Tribulations), and the second compiles the next three (Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice). All those titles have been exclusively available or re-released for Nintendo 3DS, so I doubt it will take long for them to be transferred into a Switch version.

The third title, is going to be an entirely new title that features Phoenix Wright as the lead protagonist once again. This is good because the latest title released was the 19th century setting "The Great Ace Attorney 2: Ryunosuke Naruhodo’s Resolution", and just like its prequel, it didn't get an English-language version. Having Phoenix at the spotlight means fans might get an international version, albeit via digital services. This news is still regarded 'rumor' for now, but as I said, Switch is getting all the buzz, so I won't be surprised if it ends up becoming actual fact and not just fan fiction.

ARIKA

The company's so-called 'Mysterious Fighting Game' has been given an official title. It's "Fighter EX Layer".... Whooaa--HUH? Hold on, Layer? Why Layer, what's the point? I wonder why they don't just call it "Fighter EX Arena" or something. Japan and their Engrish sometimes throws you for a loop, huh? LOL.

ARIKA will start beta testing on December 11th, with six playable characters: Kairi, Garuda, Skullomania, Darun Mister, Allen Snider, and Shirase. Those who attend PlayStation Experience 2017 on December 9th and 10th, will also be able to play a demo version. The game will utilize a system called 'Gougi', which sounds a little hard to describe or comprehend. Apparently, this will allow players to have different ways to play, so the flow of matches will be changed. To put it simple... it's difficult to make sense of until I can get my hands on it. LOL. "Fighting EX Layer" will arrive next year, so for the time being, check out the new trailer to get more... uhm, understanding about it.

Pocket Monsters

DC fans have gotten a "Justice League" movie, while Marvel fans received "The Punisher" series this very day. There's still one more, and this one is dedicated for Pokemon fans worldwide. Yes, the high-scored "Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon" is now officially available in market! Yaaaay...

Since the start of the month, The Pokemon Company has been releasing new promotional materials to convince gamers to grab the new and final adventure on Alola Region. Did you know that every Legendary Pokemon and their alternate forms are set to appear via Ultra Wormhole? Make sense, because this would be the last title for Nintendo 3DS. Some of them are version exclusives (like Ho-Oh is Ultra Sun while Lugia is in Ultra Moon), and some even requires special conditions (Giratina can only appear if version exclusives Dialga and Palkia are present), but all the Legendaries from Generation I to VII is here.

What about Team Rainbow Rocket? It's a villainous organization created by... previous bosses from past games. Yes, Team Rocket's Giovanni is bringing Team Magma's Maxie, Team Aqua's Archie, Team Galactic's Cyrus, Team Plasma's Ghetsis, and Team Flare's Lysandre to challenge the protagonist. There's also The Battle Agency that allows players to use Rental Pokemon, and also Totem Stickers that enable them to obtain totem-sized Pokemon. You can check out the details on these features on Gematsu, or check out the official trailer.

The latest one focuses on Necrozma, because the so-called 'Strange Evil' contains another enlightening "Secret". This refers to a report that the poster Pokemon/Ultra Beast will have a new form in these games, and not just the Dusk Mane or Dawn Wings. Read the details of this news on Gematsu.

Those who don't have a 3DS, has no other choice but to rely on "Pokemon GO" your Smartphone. Hey, there's a free Alolan costume now... to make it seem like we're also playing "Ultra Sun & Moon". LOL. Problem is, what would happen now that Niantic is actively developing a new title? Should casual and devoted players alike be nervous? Well... if Niantic's statement could be hold accountable (they... generally do, by the way), then players should NOT be worried. The company openly promised that inspite of "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite", "Pokemon GO" will still be continuously improved and updated. They even say that the team is 'doubling down' on new improvements, particularly in the year 2018. Hmmm... that means we won't be getting the rest of Generation III until at least January, huh? Bummer.

With a new 'copycat' app already 'stealing' the buzz by implementing most-requested features that "Pokemon GO" has been sorely lacking, it looks like Niantic will be pushed to step up their game much faster. Producing updates in a slow pace simply won't cut it anymore, unless they are planning on losing more and more players by relying on the same gameplay that... well, ends up becoming tedious and boring after a while. So yeah, let's just keep a close tab on this 'promise' and whether the company will be able to be true to their words or the opposite. That's when the judgement will be strike down. Am I right? *wink*

[feellikearainbow]

LOUIS: “My Heart Zayn-s for you.” HARRY: “What the f*ck are you talking about?” LOUIS: “You are my Zayn. I have Zayn feelings for you. I Zayn you.” HARRY: (blinks) “You love me like Zayn loves me? Or you love me like I love Zayn? Because those are a bit different.” LOUIS: (quickly) “I don’t love you” HARRY: “But you just —” LOUIS: “Look I don’t love you. I just…” HARRY: (amused, finishing his sentence) “Love you?”

— JeddieJay

(In case you were wondering ‘why Zayn though?’) 

Time Bomb by  ThisSentimentalHeart

The one where Louis has everything: a lead role in a giant Hollywood franchise, a glittering new house with an entertaining Irish neighbor, and a steady, normal boyfriend who he probably loves. Louis never expected to become a household name among young Hollywood overnight. He also never expected to find something endearing about the enigmatic rockstar who keeps showing up on his back porch.

CHAPTERED | 291555 | Actor Louis, Rockstar Harry 

(This fic ruined me for all the other fics. It broke me and it made me. It was an epic journey that I wish I could forget so I can read it again and feel excatly how I felt when I read it for the first time. There were times when I screamed at my friend who recced it to me because these two beautiful people love each other so much it fucking hurts.) 

Confessions of a Gay Disney Prince by  JeddieJay

“You’re way off here, darling, because there is no gay in dis-nay, nor will there ever be. You’re not a damsel. You’re just in distress but I won’t be saving you. Save yourself.”

Or the one where Louis Zayn Harry 

CHAPTERED | Harry and Louis work at Disney World

*Disclaimer: THIS FIC IS ON WATTPAD* 

(This is possibly the only fic that I will ever rec from wattpad but also possibly the only fic I will rec forever. The writing of the fic is in script format, very easy to read and so beautifully written. See: intro para. It will make you laugh as much as it will make you cry. This fic is everything to me.)

Relief Next To Me by  dolce_piccante

What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

CHAPTERED | 333703 | Baker Harry, Graphic designer Louis | Smut

(If there is no mention of RNTM is it even a fic rec? I think not. If for some reason you havn’t read this fic, go read it. This is the fic that I read in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. Yes, my dude, I quoted HIMYM)

Young & Beautiful by  Velvetoscar

Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn’t stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

(Can you believe this fic exists? Actually no, it’s not a fic its literature - a classic if you will.)

the impossible now by  stylinsoncity

A wish on Christmas Eve sends Louis to an alternate dimension where Harry is a member of One Direction.

CHAPTERED |  54264 | Pop star/ Photographer Harry, Botanist Louis

(Do you really need Christmas to read a Christmas fic? This is one of the most unique fics out there. I am frankly waiting for a sequel with alternate dimension Harry’s POV since 2016.) 

Another hazy may by  deLILAh

louis is a terrible poet and harry lives in the now and they have six weeks to fall in love but, really, it only takes six seconds. bookshop meets military meets summer romance au ft. marlboros, the backstreet boys, and underrated literary devices.

ONE SHOT |  41042 | Writer Louis, Soldier Harry 

(What can I say about this fic that will justify how beautifully it is written? I don’t think I have any words that will do justice to its beauty. If you are looking angst, this is the fic for you. Since I have no words I will write ‘beautiful’ one more time: beautiful.)

Crave Me: The 30-Day Smut Challenge 

Harry and Louis are happily married with two kids, but their sex life has grown stale. During October, they accept the 30-Day Sex Challenge. That’s 30 days of sex. No exceptions. No excuses.

Each story or “chapter” written by a different author and centered on a unique prompt/sexual act, making this the first large-scale author collaboration within the Larry fandom.

(If by any chance you missed the smut October 2016, go read them. They are really well written one shots and I am still amazed by how in the hell the authors managed to be in sync with each other. You can pick and read if you like they are all stand alone but all are fantastic and smutty and wow.)

Fading by  tothemoonmydear

Louis knows about beauty; the combination of qualities that pleases the aesthetic senses. He creates that combination every day in the garments he designs while studying fashion at uni. The cut of the design, the color of the fabric, the intricacy of the stitching; it all comes together to create something beautiful. When the science student with the long legs and dimpled smile agrees to model for him, Louis decides he’s found beauty personified. Harry just thinks Louis needs someone to show him how beautiful he is.

CHAPTERED |  202393 | College AU 

(Read this fic only if you are ready to cry forever.)

California Sold by  isthatyoularry

Notoriously closeted boyband member Harry Styles is famous on a global scale, meanwhile Louis, as his best friend, is back home in Manchester, living the typical life of a 24 year old. When Harry needs Louis with him in LA, a publicity stunt gone wrong changes their friendship forever.

or A fake-relationship AU between two lifelong best friends.

CHAPTERED | 123536 | Famous/non-famous AU

(This is a really cute well-written fic where larry are BFFs.)

Larry Podfics by  frecklebombfic (frecklebomb)

For the times when you can’t read a fic so you listen to one. 

(I feel like our fandom is lacking so much on the audiofic/podfic side, we really need more of these. Narrating fanfics is not easy, frecklebomb has done incredibly wonderful job in converting the fanfics into audio she deserves much more credit and love from this fandom.) 

So that’s it for me now. Happy reading or listening !! 

[thesagechronicles]

“The studio behind the upcoming Aladdin remake (directed by Guy Ritchie) reportedly struggled to cast a Brown actor who can act, sing, and dance—after much Internet uproar, newcomer Mena Massoud and the light-skinned white and Indian actress Naomi Scott were cast as Aladdin and Jasmine. Besides the obvious issues with a major studio saying there simply wasn’t a “right fit” among 2,000 actors who auditioned for this role, there’s definitely an elephant in the room, and this time, it’s not Abu in the second half of the movie. That elephant is the source material of Aladdin itself—a misogynist, xenophobic white fantasy. No surface-level representation such as casting Mena Massoud, Dev Patel, or Riz Ahmed in the lead role would have changed that.

Aladdin is set in nonsense “Agrabah,” a faraway place that’s “barbaric, but hey, it’s home,” a line so racist Disney changed it the year after. Agrabah is basically “Arabland,” a fictional place that real Americans are down to bomb, replete with popular imaginations of the Middle East as a sandy desert under the rule of violent Islam. In the opening scene, after we are introduced to the exotic climate by a heavily-accented vendor who tries to sell us his wares, Aladdin skillfully avoids being punished for thieving. He later saves Jasmine from the same fate—if you steal in a violent place like Arabland, you lose your hand.

Aladdin is a white fantasy, and that’s hardly surprising, because the film is basically some white guy’s foggy notion of the Orient. It’s most likely a made-up story, added to a translation of A Thousand and One Nights by a French guy in the 18th century. Directed by white guys Ron Clements and John Musker, the 1992 movie was written by them and other white guys Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Its cast featured not even one Arab or South Asian voice actor.

Disney may be catching flak now for its poor representation of the POC experience, but let’s not forget that at the time, Disney was known for making stories just about white people and marketed Aladdin to people “of all races” in its “biggest ethnic marketing campaign ever, selling the film to Black and Hispanic children in the U.S. Disney thus conceives of “Brown” as a monolith that could encompass Middle Eastern, South Asian, Black, and Latinx experiences, so a “Brown” story could appeal and represent all shades of skin—making “representation” yet another careless rendition of the Other. Aladdin is thus fixed firmly within the gaze of white supremacy—the superior, Christian society that is not mentioned directly, but alluded to in juxtaposition to the brutal depictions of a hybrid Arab-South Asian culture and the film’s underlying anti-Islam messaging. At the time of its release, Aladdin served as a panacea, a sweeping solution to the vacuum of non-white narratives for children, callously delivered in a continuation of its rich racist legacy. This movie was, essentially, a way to justify neocolonial, imperialist white feminism. The film director Jean-Luc Godard noted Americans tell the “best stories” because they “invade a country and immediately construct a narrative justifying it.”

Misrepresentation of Islam is a uniquely Western weaponization of oriental tropes. As Edward Said said of depictions of orientalism,”whenever in modern times there has been an acutely political tension felt between the Occident and its Orient (or between the West and its Islam), there has been a tendency to resort in the West not to direct violence but first to the cool, relatively detached instruments of scientific, quasi-objective representation.” At the core of this Aladdin remake is a response to rising Islamophobia, but not the woke kind you hope for. Because of the Islamophobic nature of the source material, without significant changes, this remake  is in tacit support of Islamophobia. As Said goes on to explain,“in this way Islam is made more clear, the true nature of its threat appears, an implicit course of action against it is proposed.” Between the timing of the movie during a huge rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes and the (mostly white) people behind the camera, it’s hard to be hopeful about Disney’s motives.

The 1992 movie’s racism extends beyond its setting by presenting a plethora of classic, deleterious Othering: It mispronounces Arab words including “Allah,” depicts nonsense scribble instead of real Arabic script, and codes its characters to reinforce racist and Islamophobic tropes. Main characters that the audience is meant to admire, like Aladdin and Jasmine, have Western features, lighter skin, and American accents, while nefarious or impoverished characters like Jafar and shopkeepers have beards, hooked noses, and thick, Middle Eastern accents. Jafar’s evil is further manifested in his curly beard, traditional clothing, and “queer coding”—while Aladdin is clean-shaven, mostly shirtless, and very hetero. These kinds of audiovisual cues are not accidents in the slightest. Want to know the real reason it’s “impossible” to find a good Brown fit for Aladdin? It’s because Aladdin’s character design was inspired by Tom Cruise.

Let’s not forget Genie, an important non-human character who embodies the vile trope of the magical negro, a term popularized by Spike Lee in 2001 to describe a saintly Black character who exists to illuminate a white character’s emotional journey. Genie, who lives only to serve, complains throughout the film of eternal servitude, and longs for freedom. This character is going to be played by Will Smith in the live-action film, and I only hope Disney agrees that the character is due for an upgrade.

Embedded deep within the obvious orientalism in Aladdin’s landscape is an unsolvable issue, unsolvable because it is inextricable from this boys’-adventure tale plot. It’s Jasmine. Jasmine, who has a decidedly non-Arabic, but still oriental and feminine name, and was named after a non-Arab actress, is introduced to us as a probably-teenager who is being forced “by law” (and her Santa-faced, bumbling father) to marry within three days of the movie’s beginning. She is the canvas on which white feminism paints its own image: She doesn’t wear a hijab (except for when she’s masquerading as a poor and thus “backward” Muslim) and longs for love in a marriage while playing with caged birds. She’s the “right kind of Muslim”—the rich woman who bears little cultural markers of difference and rejects the shackles of her religion for liberated sex. She is voiced by blonde Linda Larkin, who gave the character a breathy baby voice, fitting in with the rest of her persona: a barely-clad, animated sex doll whose fate revolves around the men in the story (This is where white feminism as written by white dudes fails miserably).

Jasmine has very little agency; her role in the film is entirely dependent on the men around her—her father, who admits that it’s not just because of the law that he’s forcing her to marry, but because he wants a man to “take care of her;” Jafar, who first wants to marry her for the power but then reveals it’s just lust for young flesh; an Aladdin, who spends most of the movie stalking her, going so far as to break into her bedroom at night and lie about his identity. And let’s not forget that sex slave scene, where a cuffed Jasmine seduces Jafar in what could only be BDSM fodder.

Jasmine has a few moments of self-determination, even if tinged with desperation—she escapes the palace to see the world, and invokes her role as princess to save Aladdin. But unlike Gautama Buddha who escaped his sheltered life as a prince to understand suffering, Jasmine goes on a joyride-sans-car to find romance and adventure in the arms of a prototypical aspirational street rat who’s obsessed with proving his “worth” and watches her palace from afar with unabashed longing. This rapscallion can show her a “whole new world,” access that he has on account of his secular inherent value as a “diamond in the rough.” Jasmine is only released from the “law” at the end of the movie when her father tearfully looks on as Aladdin and she canoodle, finally happy that the ownership of the “beautiful bloom” is satisfactorily passed onto a man who has proven he can protect her—a man who brings Americanized ideals of love marriages and cross-class pairings to Jasmine’s fettered life. Ella Shohat notes in “Gender in Hollywood’s Orient,” ”darker women, marginalized within the narrative, appear largely as sexually hungry subalterns.”

The most damning evidence of the intersectional misogyny of Aladdin? Jasmine is the only woman character. That is, if you don’t count the “loose” women and commoners who make fleeting cameos in songs with no real lines. Orientalism colludes with misogyny to subjugate women of color in a unique way.

This is the problem with fairy tales. They present alternate universes that explain our own. They’re peddled by oppressors and designed to make us feel better about our lack of awareness and our privilege. Your beloved Aladdin explains why Brown people are an evil monolith, and need to be subjugated by Western imperialism and liberated by white feminism.

In Agrabah, people are barbaric but a select few are just like us—in search of love, sweet secular love. Bemoaning the casting choices of white ass Guy Ritchie and his film bro crew is not going to improve POC representation in Hollywood or change the basic issue with Aladdin—which is Aladdin itself. Trust me.”

-ADITI NATASHA KINI

[bluezey]

Dissecting the old, beginning from the new

So something happened today. I was watching random internet videos when I came across someone who was rating the five worst animated films of 2016. Among them was Trolls.  That I can see, though I haven’t seen the film the trailer does look super bright and sugary and playing on common clichés.  Then the interviewer said that he was worried Trolls is part of a trend that began with The Lego Movie, that a film about an existing property did so well that everyone is gonna try to make a film on a property because they think that’s what sells.

That kind of makes sense, until something happened while I was watching Nostalgia Critic reviews while playing Fallout 4.  NC is doing Sequel Month: The Sequel and I’ve noticed he has reviewed Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, Smurfs 2 and will be reviewing Garfield 2.  Do you see a comparison between these three movies?  They are all movies based on an existing property that were released BEFORE the success of The Lego Movie.

So it made me wonder, why is this person noticing this now if Hollywood has made films based on existing properties before?  And the only thing I could think of was, because The Lego Movie did it right.

Think back on the existing property films of the last few decades.  They all take a property, look into how it works, then for one reason or another they write a film based on film clichés and dated trends that were popular at the time.  What you get is a jumbled mess that either flops or makes some kind of profit one way or another.  But The Lego Movie was different.  It took an existing property, looked into how it works, then wrote a story around it with memorable characters, funny jokes, and made their own jokes and clichés in the process.  They made a success over effort.

Then I began thinking what film has made a success like The Lego Movie?  What film was based off an existing property AND did well, just like The Lego Movie?  I thought very hard, thinking back as far as I could, even back to toys from the 1970s and… I couldn’t think of anything.  Maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough, or maybe I wasn’t that into a specific toy line that had a movie that did do successfully well like The Lego Movie.

But then I realized that there are films that are not based on toys or cartoons, but are based on existing properties.  In fact, almost every film they made is based on an existing property.  Hell, even their first movie was based on an existing property.  That company is Disney.

I mean, look into it. Their very first film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based on a fairy tale.  In fact, most of their films are based on folk lore, stories fairy tales, with an occasional step into mythos, books and history puffed up by fiction. Sure, there is a rarity here and there like Lilo and Stitch or Home on the Range, but every other film was based on something that has existed.  I mean, really think about it, before we had toys and cartoons, you could consider fairy tales and stories existing properties.  It’s just that now in the day we think of toys, cartoons, comic books, video games and now apps and emojis as existing properties.

Now here’s where it gets interesting.  Snow White was just a telling of Snow White, they didn’t do anything new to it.  Same thing with the other earlier works like Dumbo, Cinderella and Pinocchio.  It’s almost as if they didn’t try when it came to story.  So how did they succeed when today’s movies that don’t try fail? Because, based on the time they came out, they did try.  No one made a full length animated film before, so Snow White and the films that came after it were fascinating and amazing to the audience.  They didn’t have to try a lot on story, because just seeing the story move on screen through ink and paint was more than enough effort.

However, even Disney can get caught on following trends.  And I know what you’re thinking, timeless Disney films can be dated? Well, let me tell you about the Disney films of the 40s and 50s.  First, there were two films about Donald Duck visiting South America and Mexico, how odd is that?  Well, this was a product of the time.  Due to some things I can’t delve into properly because I’m not a historian, Disney was set to make two films to teach American movie goers about South America and Mexico’s culture, basically sell the country and continent.  So, due to the time period of the forties, they did something fascinating but dated.  Then there’s two films called Make Mine Music and Melody Time.  These two films were a collection of shorts told through story and music, from Peter and the Wolf, Pecos Bill, Hatfields and McCoys, Johnny Appleseed, just to name a few.  But among them were also shorts told through jazz music, a popular musical style at the time, but is now considered dated today.  

Now I know what you’re thinking, wasn’t there a movie before Make Mine Music and Melody Time that was also about music and wasn’t dated by popular music during the 40s and 50s? And yes, Fantasia, it was the third film Disney made.  But despite being the third film they put a lot of effort and originality into it!  Fantasia was not only ground breaking by being a movie about music, but it traveled trough road shows introducing something ground breaking that would basically become surround sound.  Something that is above and beyond and definitely shows they did more than try, and even shows they can try something new and innovative! Fantasia flopped.  I’m not kidding.  What was considered a classic today did not make a profit in its first run.

So, long story short, even Disney themselves have had original ideas that flopped, and have followed popular dated trends that still pulled in a profit.  Basically, they’re doing what any other film today could do.

So, what’s the correlation? What’s the formula that can make a movie on an existing property work?

Well, I don’t think there is a formula, and I think it stems on the fact that practically every idea has been done before.

I mean, Disney has made movies mostly on stories and fairy tales that existed before even movies existed. And, looking at Dreamworks, Prince of Egypt was based on an existing story from the Bible, and Shrek was not only based on the idea of mixing up fairy tales, but it was also based on an existing children’s book.  I’ve seen videos comparing Toy Story to a Jim Henson’s Christmas special about toys coming to life, but isn’t that because toys coming to life have been done before? Hell, kids think about it!  And come to think about it, let’s look at those conspiracy stories about films ripping off other films.  We can exclude Antz and A Bug’s Life because we know the behind the scenes about that fiasco, so let’s look at some others.  Like, Finding Nemo and Shark Tale.  Despite different stories and different ideas, people think one is a copy of the othert because they’re about talking fish.  But, talking animals have been done since way before Aesop’s fables.  Some people think Monsters Inc ripped off a film called Little Monsters because they’re about monsters that live in closets.  But, even kids have thought of that idea.  Hell, I’ve even heard people say Despicable Me and Megamind are the same film because they involve super villains that become super heroes.  First, Gru didn’t openly become a super hero until Despicable Me 2, in the first one it ended with him as a father and his alignment unknown.  Second, I’m pretty sure comic books have had story arcs about heroes become villains and vice versa.

Basically, if you cut it down to its basic ideas, every idea has been done.  We all think about what toys and pets do when we’re out of the room, that’s why Toy Story and Secret Life of Pets sound so similar.  Talking animals have been done so many times, that’s why Flushed Away and Ratatouille sound similar to people just because they both have talking rats.  Cars and Doc Hollywood sound so similar because we’ve all heard of the same stories of people getting lost and finding themselves in a small town.

So, what’s my point in my rambling that we’ve done everything?  Well, think back to The Lego Movie.  They could have done clichés and trends and be every other diluted film based on an existing property.  But, they didn’t.  They took an existing property and did something different with it.  That’s what made it stand out, that’s what made it fascinating, and basically that’s what made it successful.

Another example is Inside Out.  Now when we heard of the idea of personified emotions in a person’s mind, we thought at first it was an original idea.  Then we looked back and realized it wasn’t.  We’ve had Osmosis Jones, which is personified cells running a body like it’s a city. We’ve had shoulder angels and shoulder demons, little cartoon imps dressed like angels and demons that persuade us to do right or wrong.  We’ve had Herman’s Head, a TV show about a group of personification of feelings running the mind of a person- holy crap I just repeated the idea of Inside Out by reading the premise of a dull 90s sitcom!  It’s been done that much!  So, what made Inside Out such a success?  What did Inside Out have that these ideas didn’t?  It did something new with the pre-existing idea.  While the previous ideas were just personifications of emotions, Inside Out used the personification of emotions to explain how the mind works, how memories work, and even something as complex as how life changes can affect and change your personality to kids, as well as explain to kids and adults in a society that is afraid of anything other than bliss and happiness that it’s okay to feel sad.  It’s similar to how The Lego Movie was a success.  It made likeable, relateable characters, funny jokes, a unique story that looks original but has probably been done before, to only pull a fast one on us by showing us this whole story is about a father-son relationship becoming strained, a story that we know for a fact has been done before!  But then it does something original by showing us that, even as adults, it’s okay to drop your guard and become a kid again, just by using another overused trope of saying how everyone is special.

I think the point I’m trying to sum up is we’re seeing trends we’re tired of seeing in movies because, even before movies were invented, everything has already been done. From storyline to the basic elements of a story, we’ve all heard it before.  What makes a success these days with movies is to do something different with them.  Use the same tropes to tell a different story, use unique advancements to tell the same tropes in a different way, or use the same ideas to explain something in a way that hasn’t been seen in that way before.  It’s why Zootopia is the same old movie about talking animals, but it explains something as controversial and complex as racism and society.  It’s why Frozen took the same princess story and explained the complexity of anxiety as well as making fun of old Disney tropes while making new Disney tropes. It’s why Sausage Party not only draws a crowd because we still haven’t done enough animated films about cartoons dropping four hundred sexual innuendos and f-bombs in under a running time yet, but it uses the cliché of non sentient things having sentience under our noses to explain the complexities of living with faith versus living for the day.  Dammit, I can’t let that go, that’s too damn clever!  So, to sum up, I don’t think there’s a trend of bad movies based on pre-existing properties.  I think we’ve just become so self aware of everything already been done that we should keep dissecting and reassembling some things old until we come up with ideas that make them new again.

[wineanddinosaur]

10 Reasons to Drink Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin

Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin: a mouthful, yes, and one of the more unique mouthfuls to come out of an Irish distilling boom that’s seen plenty of new whiskeys (more in the last five years than the prior 50), but also a surprising rise in the Irish gin category, which went from marginally inoffensive to the fastest-growing spirits category in the country.

In fact, it’s such a crowded market that standing out in the gin crowd takes work. Fortunately, Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin is as much a passion project as it is a plucky young Irish gin brand. Brainchild of three-decade drinks industry veteran P.J. Rigney (who once worked as executive director at Baileys), the gin is a mini-travelogue of sorts, its 12 distinct spices and botanicals a record of Rigney’s career-long world travel, everything he learned about the eastern practice of distilling herbs and botanicals. Nor is that just token eclecticism; Drumshanbo is about bringing the journey home, quite literally bottling the fruits of discovery of a curious mind.

The result is a gin that tastes uncommonly good thanks to an uncommon marquee ingredient, combines drinking traditions from cultures 5,000-plus miles apart, pays homage to a love story when two paths crossed in the local iron mines (see No. 7), and, incidentally, helped one small Irish town called Drumshanbo find new economic opportunity.

2019 kicked off with Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin winning the Best Gin “Oscar” at the prestigious Flaviar New York Spirit Awards — one of the world’s most competitive drinks contests, awarding only five of 22,000 entrants.

See below for 10 reasons to try it.

1. It Slakes a Century of Thirst.

Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin is distilled at The Shed Distillery of P.J. Rigney the “Curious Mind,” located in Drumshanbo, a small village in the wild, unmanicured heart of rural Ireland, built on iron and coal mining that’s since settled into pockets of small-scale industry (including the lesser-known field of “iron mine tourism”). Among the reasons Rigney founded his distillery here is that the 2014 opening of The Shed made it the first distillery to open in the entire Irish province of Connacht in 101 years. (We’re guessing locals were thirsty.) The Shed continues to create ambitious, international brands with a “Curious Edge,” setting new standards to compete with the best the world’s leading brands have to offer.

2. You’re (Sort of) Drinking Tea!

The “gunpowder” in the Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin name refers to Chinese gunpowder green tea, one of the four botanicals that are vapor-distilled into the gin (after it’s been pot-distilled with eight others). It might sound easy to get lost in a dozen botanicals, but the specific green tea Rigney chose for the gin lends a distinctive note to the final flavor, unique in the gin world, where juniper is more often primarily complemented by things like citrus, cucumber, and spice. And no, the tea has no ballistic uses; it’s called “gunpowder” because of the shape of the tea leaves, which are rolled into individual pellets for better preservation.

3. It’s Wildly Global and Extremely Local.

For the final botanical bouquet, Rigney chose 12 botanicals, fruits, and spices, including the aforementioned green tea as well as ingredients like Moroccan orris root, Indian cardamom, and Macedonian juniper. Even with a mini-U.N. spice cabinet, Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin throws in one more highly local ingredient: meadowsweet from the town of Drumshanbo itself. Meadowsweet lends a delicate floral sweetness to the overall bouquet, complementing the green tea notes.

4. The Drumshanbo Mascot is a Drinker, Too.

In case you’re not up on your North American mythical zoology, the creature on the Drumshanbo label is a jackalope — a legendary creature supposedly conceived in a lightning storm, with rabbit body and deer antlers that variously terrified and (apparently) sang to cowboys in the old timey American West. In case you’re wondering, “Why is that on an Irish gin label?”, according to Rigney, the brand mascot “couldn’t be any other creature.” Like his gin, the jackalope is the result of ”disparate cultures and traditions brought together in a single flash” (of inspiration, in this case, not lightning). Bonus points: According to legend, the best way to catch a jackalope was an open whiskey flask. Just crack it and wait for the mythically adorable beast to drink up and hop-stagger into your net.

5. It’s Made with the John Wayne of Teas

No, it’s not small artillery, but Gunpowder Green tea can pack a punch. Rigney first encountered it as part of a Moroccan tea ceremony, where recipes typically call for fresh spearmint or peppermint to be mixed with a quantity of gunpowder green tea before brewing with water and sugar. The reason a tea from the Tang Dynasty ended up as a key component of Moroccan tea ceremonies (likely) has to do with the tea’s paradoxically delicate-but-bold taste. Yes, it brews up a lovely soft golden color, but gunpowder green has an intricate, semi-tannic backbone, with savory, herbal, dried green notes that make it a worthy match for a flavor as strong as mint — or, in Drumshanbo’s case, a match for 11 other equally assertive flavors. All without overpowering the overall delicacy. Think of it as having a quiet strength of flavor — like the John Wayne, or Groot, of ancient teas.

6. It’s Not a “Sloe Gin,” but It Is Deliciously Slow Gin.

Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin is quite literally a “slow gin.” Despite how efficiently gin can be produced, Rigney intentionally slows the process, combining the two major gin distilling methods. Rigney combines vapor distillation of fresh Chinese lemons, kaffir limes, and Oriental grapefruits, along with the intriguing gunpowder tea, with the pot-still distillation of eight other botanicals ranging from Chinese star anise to local Drumshanbo meadowsweet. The gin is then rested for up to 30 days, allowing the oils to settle, after which it undergoes a very light cold filtration. It’s an extra step, but it’s essential for Rigney’s ideal flavor profile: Certain botanicals go bitter if you boil them. Add to that the fact that it’s all done in medieval-style copper stills (the increased copper surface area acts to “purify” the flavors) and you’ve got a serious labor of love. Every precious drop of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin is slow-distilled by hand and proudly bottled, sealed, and labelled by the team in the distillery.

7. You’re Drinking a Love Story.

A seasoned world traveler, Rigney might have settled his spirits venture anywhere on the map, but he chose Drumshanbo because the cozy Irish hamlet was the same town where his mom and dad first met — his dad, Seamus, was the auditor who took the train down from Dublin, and his mum Mary worked in the accounts department in the Arigna Mines in the 1950s. (Yes, if you fall in love in the less-than-Disney-perfect setting of a working coal mine, chances are it’s the real thing.)

8. You’re Also Supporting Small-Town Economic Recovery

No doubt Rigney’s glad to be part of the Irish gin boom, but the 30-year entrepreneurial veteran founded his distillery just as much to create economic opportunity in the town and surrounding County Leitrim as to make some damn good gin. As he told The Independent earlier this year, Rigney saw how economically depressed Drumshanbo and the surrounding area were back in 2013, before founding The Shed. His solution: Found a distillery, make spirits, create jobs. Rigney’s entrepreneurship was driven by a vision of partnership, sustainability, employment and a thriving rural community. His journey led him to the heart of rural Ireland, and this community was determined to mitigate hundreds of job losses. With a growing team, the Shed Distillery now employs 28 people, and apart from Head Distiller Brian Taft, originally from the U.S., the team at The Shed is entirely local.

9. The Gin Is a Preview of Sorts… for the Whiskey

Even as you crack a bottle of Drumshanbo gin, a large stock of whiskey distilled is quietly aging its way to full-flavored maturity at The Shed. Rigney’s behind both. It’s not uncommon for distilleries in Ireland (and elsewhere) to make whiskey, lay it down for maturation, then make another spirit that needs little to no aging time. (The Shed Distillery is the first multi-purpose distillery of its kind in Ireland.) While you drink the gin, you can anticipate the coming of a “premier grand cru-style Irish whiskey,” as Rigney described it to The Irish Times in 2017. Once the whiskey operation gets going (something like 250,000 liters a year), don’t expect Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin to disappear; it’s far too popular. Just make room on the shelf.

10. Drinking Drumshanbo? You’re Practically a Prince.

Prince Albert of Monaco was among the first purchasers of the forthcoming “grand-cru Irish whiskey” currently maturing in Drumshanbo (we can only assume he has a whiskey-themed countdown calendar). So meanwhile, if you buy Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, you’ll have something in common with the Prince of Monaco. (Or something else in common with him if your given name also includes the words “His Serene Highness,” or you went to Amherst College).

This article is sponsored by Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin.

Satisfy your ‘Curious Mind’ and follow Explore Your Pour for Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin inspired cocktails and more! @ExploreYourPour

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