#working with like just the special effects and the costumes would be so incredible
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i wanna make a movie so bad :'D
#genuinely if i had like the funding to pay animators and artists and everything it would be so so cool#it's been done already but like. i would love to make a live action aladdin movie#working with like just the special effects and the costumes would be so incredible#i would love to act as the genie by the way#like#i love media so much#augh i love art :'DDD#AND SIREN HEAD. BTW.#i would literally love love love to make a movie about that thing i promise id do it justice#tldr someone give me money i wanna make a movie /j
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Fangs of Fortune (Bai Ze Ling): perfect on pure aesthetics alone, but also it will tear your heart out while being very gay.
I was lured in to this show by Tumblr gifsets and friends on Bluesky talking about how queer and poly this show is. I'm old and I've been in fandom more than half my life. I know how to read queer subtext. I'm also pretty well versed in cdramas, so again, I know how to read subtext. So I went into this ready to, well, read the subtext.
But no this show is just puts the queer it right there in the text. The vague information we have about Chinese censorship repeatedly left me asking, 'wait how are they getting away with this?' Like some of these jokes and implications are just so blatant it seems incredible this show ever made it to being broadcast. It just feels very much like queer media made for queer people even if t's more subtle than something western like Queer as Folk.
Even without the heavy coloring of gay this show is incredible and so much more than I expected from the title and the promo. The premise is essentially the death of the goddess, who governed relations between humans and demons, leads to an influx of demons in the human world. This brings together the goddess's disciple, Wen Xiao--seeking to restore the goddess's power. WX's childhood sweetheart, Zhuo Yichen--seeking to restore the demon-hunting bureau after the powerful demon Zhu Yan killed his father and brother. It opens on Zhu Yan, in human disguise as as Zhao Yuanzhou, volunteering to help the imperial court restore the demon-hunting bureau to quell the chaos. They are joined by Pei Sijing, a retired female general from the rival demon hunting sect, and a very young doctor (and comic relief) named Bai Jiu. It starts off as a sort of monster-of-the-week with a grim Scooby gang doing detective work and fighting monsters. Each major demon has a mini arc that relates to the larger case (restoring the power of the goddess to balance the realms), and they are repeatedly blocked by either the demons or the rival demon hunting sect. Each mini arc also acts as a mirror or parallel story to slowly revealed backstory of all the main characters as well. In true cdrama fashion it's a mix of adventure, intense emotional drama, romance, and comedy. And queer and poly jokes and romance. It also has a kind of manga vibe in the way the comedy is woven into the more serious story, and in the fantastical depiction of the characters and how the story unfolds.
It is also just insanely beautiful. Every single shot is lovely. The costumes, make up, and hair are incredible. The casting director made all the major demons inhumanly beautiful. The sets are spectacular. The effects are nicely done. Every bit of has the vague surreality of a fairytale. The perfection of each shot ads to the manga vibe, as if we're seeing each critical storytelling panel come alive. There's recurring water-based special effects that are just gorgeous. Based on aesthetics alone this show would be worth watching to me. That it is combined with a complex, very emotional story is a spectacular gift to the watcher. A lot of the negative reviews of this complain about the staginess or that it's overly contrived in how each scene is shot. But I think it's gorgeous, works perfectly with the storytelling, and if we criticize art on whether it achieves the goal it intended then this show is doing exactly and perfectly what it means to do and doing it beautifully.
Additionally the acting is also very good, but Neo Hou is the stand out for sure. I enjoyed him in Back from the Brink, especially the later part of the story, but in Fangs of Fortune he's transformed, utterly embodying the role, the way Dylan Wang is Dongfang Qingcang in Love Between Fairy and Devil. Neo Hou has the right look, a slightly uncanny beauty perfect for a gorgeous immortal not of this world. The show does incredible things with his styling between the various looks and personas the role requires. But in acting he somehow manages to utterly transform his face and demeanor to manifest each aspect of the character as story demands changes from him.
There is a lot of crying in this drama. Like early on I joked that there was going to be a character crying a single perfect tear in every ep. Lol nope. Multiple single perfect tears per ep and many outright full on sobbing scenes. This show is just waiting to rip your heart out and you see it right from the beginning. But it was such sweet pain all the way through. Just a truly engaging and utterly wrenching set of intertwined stories.
My only criticism is that the pacing falls apart in the last 3 episodes. But overall the story is solid through the end, though like so many cdramas, it's saved by the epilogue.
You should absolutely watch it if you want the chaotic bi polycule (it's her, her girlfriend, her boyfriend, her boyfriend's boyfriend who is also her boyfriend, their two idiot sons, and her boyfriend's ex-who is also eventually sort of his boyfriend again), or if you want your heart torn out and stomped on. Or even if you just like really gorgeous cinematic things. Also if you watch, please don't skip the ending credits, as they change as the arcs change, and the radiant joy Tian Jiarui has as he dances is an excellent antidote to the emotions of each episode.
#Fangs of Fortune#大梦归离#Bai Ze Ling#cdrama#Hou Minghao#Neo Hou#侯明昊#Zhao Yuanzhou#Chen Duling#Wen Xiao#Tian Jia Rui#Zhuo Yichen#Cheng Xiao#Pei Sijing#Lin Ziye#Bai Jiu#Yan An#Li Lun#ab-HMH-mine#ab-reviews#it's really the xianxia polycule of dreams#which I didn't know to hope for until this show spoonfed it to me
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Not In The Exhibit Brochure
It was a hot summer day and the city was filled with people coming to be a part of one of the biggest fantasy conventions in the country. Video games, board games, tabletop RPGs, LARP, movies, TV shows, theater shows, even musicals. If one fancied themselves a fan of a franchise that existed in any of these forms, they could be found spending a sunny August weekend in the convention center.
Mark meandered between countless people in the Second Pavilion, getting tired having spent the last five hours walking around the convention area, being asked for pictures and catching up with his friends. This year he came wearing a full cosplay of one of the characters from his favorite first person shooter. He put on a tactical vest, helmet with a full headset, a tactical belt with a bunch of accessories and camo pants. In his hands he was bearing a perfect replica of the most famous gun from the game.
He spent a long time perfecting the costume, both by searching for just the right gear and by spending hours in the gym. Now his broad and thick shoulders, football-sized biceps and veiny forearms were visible for all attendees, which garnered Mark a lot of attention, which he enjoyed.
It was exhausting, however. The temperature inside the convention center got uncomfortably high at times, so he decided to take a break. He fold the few friends who joined him during the day that he was leaving for a while to take in some relatively fresh air, then pushed his way through the crowds until he got to the exit.
Thanks to the fact that the center was basically in the middle of the city he didn't have to go far to get to a park and relax, then find a place to eat and just take a walk through the city.
Mark was aware that many businesses and institutions had various perks for the convention ticket holders, to keep the attendees in the city for longer and spread the economic effects of the convention. He was reminded of this fact just as he was walking by the giant building of the art museum. His curiosity was piqued and he checked if he would get a discount of a ticket. It turned out he could walk in for free, the only requirement was to show his pass at the entrance.
What Mark saw after getting through a quick but awkward security check truly amazed him. He slowly walked from one part of the building to the next, taking his time to watch every piece, all displayed in a well air-conditioned space, which was a nice bonus. The museum had a bunch of different special exhibits currently open to the public and they were all pretty stunning, each in its own way.
Finally, Mark made his way to a part of the museum furthest away from the entrance where he saw a recent collection of sculptures from a local artist. Each statue was an extremely realistic depiction of a person, and they were supposed to collectively represent modern society. There were athletes mid-run, businessmen in the middle of walking in between offices, chefs tasting their newest creations, it was all incredible to watch, every sculpture most likely taking weeks or months to complete. Mark stood in the middle of the room as he looked around and every time he managed to find a new detail in one of the statues. While his eyes were jumping from one piece to another, inspecting every curve and small detail, he was unaware of just how much time has passed since he entered this space.
And then he tried to move.
Mark heard his phone buzz loudly in his pocket. It was probably one of his friends wanting to check up on him. He tried to move his hand to take the phone and answer the call, but it wouldn't move. Neither would his head. Or any part of his body. He was immediately alarmed. Mark tried as hard as he could to get any element within his human form to move even an inch, but it didn't work. His whole body was suddenly completely stationary and he could not control its movements, because he couldn't cause any movements. He started to panic and hoped someone would notice that he wasn't well. There were a lot of people at the museum so it would be just a matter of time before one of them came to this room and noticed a guy in a military cosplay was standing weirdly still.
Except this did not happen. Visitors just passed by him with no interest in the person standing frozen in the middle of the room. As Mark looked with his unmovable eyes at the tourists wandering around the space right in front of him he felt like he was losing the track of time. Was it a minute ago that he realized he couldn't move? No it mus have been almost an hour by then. Nah, it couldn't be.
Then Mark realized something horrifying. Not only was no one coming up to help him, they began to stop in front of him and just look at him, as if he was just another...
Did he turn into a fucking statue?! That terrifying thought seeped deep into his mind wreaking havoc along the way. How could this have happened? Magic? But magic wasn't real! That was impossible, this was a dream, for sure! He tried to move his body even a little bit, but again he failed every time. He desperately tried to force his hand to move so that he could pinch himself and wake up from this terrifying nightmare. But no part of his arm changed position, not even an inch.
A larger group of tourists, mostly retirees, led by a young woman slowly moved through the exhibition space and passed by Mark, who continued to struggle and try to move.
"Huh, the guide didn't say anything about this one. Did that lovely lady talk about this soldier, Harold?" An elderly couple stopped in front of Mark and they stood there and admired him for a moment.
"No, Mary, I'm pretty sure I'd remember" The man, Harold, took a step closer towards the statue.
"Harold!" The woman shouted at him. "You can't walk up too close to the sculptures dear."
"Oh, calm down" Harold responded, slightly annoyed at his wife's comment. "I'm in an art museum so don't tell me to not look at the art." The older man stood just a few steps away from Mark. "There's no plaque or rope or anything, this is a free country, Mary!" He was a few inches shorter than Mark, so he couldn't clearly see everything but it seemed he was just looking at Mark's gear.
"Look. The artist — that Gary what's-his-name — knew what he was doing with this one. I recognize all that gear this man is wearing. Nice work." Harold's tone of voice suggested he was weirdly pleased with the statue that used to be Mark. "This is what a real man's supposed to look like. Not some sissy sitting behind the desk all day."
"Of course Harold, of course" The woman walked up to her husband and put her arm around him, then started gently pushing him towards the other statues.
Mark's brain struggled to comprehend what he had just witnessed. He had really turned into a statue! People thought he was a part of the exhibit! How could this have happened? He couldn't come up with any even remotely plausible explanation for what he was experiencing. He then thought that his only hope would be his friends - they knew he was downtown, maybe some would guess that he used the opportunity to get into the art museum for free, which would lead them to the place where Mark was currently stranded.
The group of retirees came back, walked next to Mark and was about to leave the room when the tour guide looked at him and murmured to herself.
"This statue was not a part of the exhibit. How did it get here?" She grabbed her phone and quickly led her group towards the rest of the museum.
Mark again realized he couldn't tell how much time had passed since any of the recent events. It was as if his internal clock had stopped working, ran out of batteries. This whole experience was so confusing that he had issues fully registering everything. He tried counting in his head, but got lost after 20, maybe? The only thing he was sure of, for now, was that the day had not yet ended, but he could not tell what part of the day it was, as the whole museum was constantly lit with this slightly weird diffused lighting.
Three people suddenly came into view and stood some distance away from Mark, clearly looking at him. He couldn't hear the conversation they were having because of the noise from surrounding visitors, but he could clearly see that they were all agitated, talking over each other and aggressively pointing at themselves and Mark. As he looked closer he realized they were all museum employees, meaning they were probably debating what to do with a statue which has suddenly appeared within the premises of the musem they worked for, a rather uncommon occurrence.
Not long after they left Mark's view and he was once again stuck in this feeling ot timelessness. Tourists stopped in front of him every now and then, looked at him for a moment and moved on, while he stood still, holding the gun in his hands as if ready to fight, and yet incapable of it because of some indescribable force.
The employees from before came back, one of them holding in their hands a metal stand of come kind. It had something written on it at the top, but Mark couldn't see what it was. What he could see was the employee putting the stand in front of him and them all looking at it.
"That will have to do for now" One of them said. This time they were standing closer and Mark was able to hear what they were saying.
"Yeah, I won't be able to make a proper one until tomorrow."
"Okay, but it has to be there by Monday afternoon, otherwise we're fucked. Jesus Christ, still'can't believe this happened."
"No time for moaning, Jacob. We have work to do." Another one replied. They all nodded their heads, took one last look at the stand and quickly left the scene.
Mark thought about what he had just witnessed, and it took him a moment to understand - this was a stand with information about the statue, which meant him. It was the same kind as dozens more throughout the museum that visitors could look at for further information that was meant to enrich their experiences. This was meant to hide the fact that he was not here just mere hours, or minutes, or days, or-- he was certainly not here when the exhibition was opened. That fact was probably what had made them so angry and confused before - from their perspective a random statue of a soldier randomly appeared in the museum.
His mind immediately asked one question - I wonder what did they write on there? What was his title, his author, his artistic description or statement? Wait, his author? That was a strange line of thought, Mark realized.
I am Uncontrolled Power.
Wait, what was that? Who said that? Where was that deep voice coming from?
I was created by Greg Duchaime Arreman.
Was there someone standing behind him?
I am meant to represent unchecked aggression and power of the Military Industrial Complex.
Wait a second, what this voice inside his head?
I am the physical manifestation of toxic masculinity and bravado.
Holy fuck, this was a voice inside his head. Was this... what they had written about him on this stand?
Fuck yeah, I'm an alpha who follows orders and crushes any sign of disloyalty.
The voice was talking to Mark. Shit, the voice was talking to him! What the fuck?
You scum, get ready to experience the primal, animalistic force of a toxic man! I'm gonna crush you!
Mark wanted to sigh loudly, but of course he couldn't. Great, the museum employees with their great art wisdom made him a stereotypical aggressive soldier. Obedient muscle. The armored tool of American imperialism. And this soldier character seemed to have appeared inside his head.
I am here to blindly follow orders, enforce them and show everyone what masculinity really means!
If Mark could have rolled his eyes, he would. He was stuck, like an NPC frozen mid-frame, standing in the middle of an art museum, possibly forever. And from now on he would represent toxic masculinity, aggression and military prowess.
Whoever stands in my way will be violently crushed with the power of the American Military and my primal force! Toxic and proud, that's who I am!
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Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, and others talking about Jam Reiderson.
Here's a compilation of bits and pieces from various interviews about these two men's beautiful friendship. Will be updating as new promo for subsequent seasons comes out!
(Long post, so keep reading!
- there's SO MUCH good stuff)
Pride.com
Q: You guys have incredible chemistry. It hinges on that. Can you talk a little bit about how you built that kind of connection?
JA: I find it so difficult to talk about chemistry. Because me and Sam… like each other.
SR: Yeah. I think we’re very similar in a lot of ways, and that was a big relief. It’s a very bizarre job to do when you’re doing it, cause you’re shooting entirely at night, you have amazing costumes and contact lenses and accents and teeth and blood. The scenes, while they feel like they have a flow to them, there’s a lot of splitting up while we do it because we’ve got to have special effects come in or the blood come in, or we’re on a rig of some kind. So it’s a weird experience, and we also had these extraordinary lines of dialogue to say as well. And so to have somebody who’s similar, can process these things the same way as you and bounce off of and decompress with is vital.
JA: Yeah, and the first step is you just have a common language that you find, and sometimes it clicks and sometimes it doesn’t. And we were just lucky that we, you know…
SR: Yeah. Yup.
Amc Talk
Q: The relationship between Louis and Lestat is rife with complications, but at its core there's obviously a real connection there. What was it like crafting this tumultuous relationship on screen with Sam Reid? You two are quite good friends having come out the other end of Season 1.
JA: Yeah, we were good friends when we were doing it and I think that's part of why it worked out for us! We didn't put too much emphasis on trying to figure everything out. The scripts are so beautiful, the writing is so dense and so full of life and detail that you don't need to discuss it too much. Obviously, we talked to the directors, and they'd have ideas and we'd have ideas, but I think, in terms of me and Sam finding it, I think we just paid attention to each other. We just trusted the writing, trusted each other, and it meant that we’d already be prepared for whatever was going to come up. We felt comfortable with each other, so we could try things and it felt safe. It felt like we could play around with body language and with eye contact and all these things. But it was unspoken, I think. It wasn't something that we spent a lot of time discussing. Everything's intentional to a certain extent, but there's this other thing that is just about instinct and listening really.
Q: And having the right scene partner where that happens.
JA: Yeah, I felt really lucky! Sam gives you so much. There's so much to play off and I hope that I did the same for him. Our first day of shooting we did the opera house stuff, and I was so excited. It's the scene where he talks about loneliness, and I remember thinking even though I'd got to know him a little bit and we'd done a bit of rehearsal and we'd become friends by that point, I was like, "Oh wow, this is going to be really special! I'm going to get to do this every day. I'm going to get to watch this character come to life and respond to it." That's a gift. Sam Reid is a gift!
Q: The relationship between Louis and Lestat is rife with complications, but at its core there’s a real connection there. What was it like crafting this tumultuous relationship on screen with Jacob Anderson? You two are quite good friends having come out the other side of Season 1 so if anything, I’m sure the experience brought you closer together?
SR: Yeah, definitely. It definitely brought us closer together. It was really crazy this stuff that we were doing together. We'd have these massive scenes, and it would be just him and I in the middle of the night playing opposite each other, not really being able to see each other all the time with the contact lenses. You just rely so heavily on one another. You also rely on each other because you're like, "Have we pushed it too far? Is it too much? Is it enough? Like, do we believe each other?" Because it's this very intense relationship but we’re also supernatural beings. So, you're constantly having to reframe the way that you look at a relationship and say, "Well, hang on, my character has all this power." Like in Episode 4, I remember saying, when all the police are coming over to the house, I was like, "Why are we even worried about this? I don't understand why I would be even concerned about this at all." But you're negotiating with someone who's going, "Yeah, but my desire to have a connection to humanity makes this important," and so you're like, "Oh, okay." We managed to balance off each other in that way, because my character's way past any connection to humanity and Jacob's character is holding onto those last threads of his humanity. When we'd both be examining a scene, we'd both be coming at it from different angles. Because of the love between the two characters, there's always that negotiation and blunting of the other's real intention. I couldn't really imagine doing it with anybody else! We did all of it, everything, together, really.
Gold Derby Daniel Hart Interview
Q: In what ways does the show’s really rich visual palette and then of course Sam and Jacob’s lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry on screen influence some of the choices that you made on the score throughout your process?
DH: There’s a theme that I would call their love theme, and it’s sprinkled throughout the first episode but it played in full over the end credits in a piece called “In Throes of Increasing Wonder”. And that theme appears in almost every episode, I think, in some form or another. I don’t think that theme was possible before I had seen some of that interaction between Jacob and Sam as Lestat and Louis. It’s born of their emotional reactions to each other.
IWTV Podcast
Ep2
Q: You and Jacob did your chemistry tests over Zoom? Which, I mean, does anyone have chemistry over Zoom?
SR: Yeah, I don’t really know what they were looking for or how you’re supposed to gauge chemistry from that, because it was really glitchy and we were all speaking on top of each other and trying really hard to act into the camera, which just wasn’t working. But look, I really… Jacob is such a lovely person, such a really fantastic actor and so easy to be around. And I could see that he was going to be a very easy person to fall in love with. So it was fun. In fact I just came from having ice cream with Jacob and he says hello.
Q: Oh my God, I’m obsessed. I want these moments. Give me that footage, okay? I want ice cream footage, I want strolling the streets of downtown New Orleans footage.
SR (laughs): Yeah, I mean we hang out all the time and we’ve become very, very good friends. Cause it is a crazy journey that we’re on and it was a crazy job, so it’s really lovely to have such a good friend.
Ep3
Q: Talking about Sam, how much time did y’all get before you started actually shooting? It’s like “Okay, we’re in love now and it’s going to be very tortured and complicated” – Rolling!
JA: Yeah. I don’t know if I completely believe in luck, but I think there’s like a weird cosmic luck in this whole thing. It is a huge roll of the dice. The first day we met each other, obviously we both had our masks on, and we had a hug and we were like “Oh hi”. And then we just spent the next day walking around New Orleans and getting to know each other. And I truly love that man, so much. Like, we connected so quickly and just found like… And I think part of that as well is that there’s a level of trust that we had to have, otherwise we weren’t going to be able to do this at those hours, and those scenes, and the intimacy of their relationship, and also the toxicity and the fire in it. We had to really hold each other and be like “All right, have we got each other’s back?” And we did, we were just like “We’re in this together. Let’s listen to each other and try and have fun.” And we did, we had a lot of fun. I thought that taking on this role would be quite triggering for me in lots of different ways. I thought it was going to force me to have to reconcile with lots of feelings that I had. I thought it was going to be just a guilt and shame and despair fest for six months. And actually I just found it really, really cathartic being Louis, and Louis has helped me a lot. I think there’s something about acceptance in Louis and acceptance of self, and like “This is who I am, this is who I’ve been, and I’m enduring, I’m choosing to keep going. I’m choosing to accept who I am.” And that was really helpful for me. So rather than feeling tortured, I think I ended up just feeling very… held, very comforted by the whole thing, in a weird sort of way.
Ep7
Q: I’m wondering what you guys would do or how you would hang out on set. Is there hanging out or are you more like “Okay, they’re setting up a light, I gotta go lay down, I can’t with you right now.”
JA: No, we were pretty inseparable, to be fair. There wasn’t really any hanging out. We just were. At a certain point, we just were. We didn’t share a trailer, but it was like, a wall separating us. And we’d just end up sitting on the stairs or texting each other through the wall.
SR (laughs): Through the wall, just texting all the time.
JA: We became a hive mind.
SR: We did, yeah.
Q: Were you still a hive mind once you wrapped? Would you still text and stuff?
JA: Yeah.
SR: Yeah.
JA: We’re going to the theatre tonight. We’ve seen each other every day for the last week. We’re still choosing to spend time together. It’s probably not very healthy. Very co-dependent (laughs).
Ep8
Q: Obviously viewers are in love with Jacob and Sam. People are tweeting me photos of them eating ice cream. We call ourselves #icecreamhive. The fandom is strong. Can you tell me about how you found Jacob and Sam, and the process of deciding they were Louis and Lestat?
Rolin Jones: Well, obviously 9 billion people auditioned. You kind of get down to ten actors that you like on both sides. The simple math of it is the second those two got into their Zoom rooms together, it was very clear something very dynamic was happening. On Jacob’s side, there’s this sort of genuine warmth, kindness, humanity. You’re like “Okay, for a character who’s going to make a number of questionable choices, how do you make them want to love him?” And on Sam: I saw his face and I said “No fucking way! No fucking way that guy, this chiselled, stupid chiselled, with his locks and his dreamy eyes. I was like no, no, no, no. And then I pressed play, and he really knew how big we were going to go. He was wildly specific and subtle. It was in his voice. There was something a little Jeff Bridges/Starman about it, and I was like “Oh, this guy feels like an alien and he feels other than us”. They both won the audition, that’s basically what happened. Although I’ll tell you, here’s a dirty secret: ready for this? Sam bought this piece of technology, that you can do a push-in close-up right when the scene is getting a little juicy. And I just started laughing my ass off. I was like “Oh my God, this guy wants this so hard.”
Mark Johnson: You called me the first time you had seen Sam, and you were just so excited about the potential of this guy and you basically said: “He’s going to be next to impossible to beat.” And sure enough, nobody could really touch him. But from the very first time you saw his audition you were pretty convinced that we had our Lestat.
Keep It Podcast
JA: Sam is just like my… partner-in-crime, and I feel so lucky that I got to spend every day with him. We had to do a lot of stuff in this show and when I say a lot of stuff I mean, those nights are no joke. Knowing those scenes and working on those scenes together at that hour – you can only do that with somebody that you like, even if the scene calls for tension. I think you would just kill each other if you didn’t like each other.
New York Post (October '22)
JA: For anything I got to do with Sam, that relationship is so fun to play. You bond in a really particular way when you're working nights and dealing with these lofty themes. The feelings are huge in every scene. If you don't have that common language and find that chemistry... I don't think me and Sam needed to find it, there was something natural that we found together. It would be rough if we didn't like each other an awful lot.
PaleyFest
Q: Jacob and Sam, I feel like the show wouldn’t work unless the chemistry’s there between Louis and Lestat. There’s a lot riding on that. So how did you two form this immortal bond, if you will, during filming, knowing how important it was?
JA: We just spent a lot of time together even when we didn’t need to (laughs). I don’t know, like, how do you put that kind of thing into words? It’s just, like… I really love Sam. I like spending time with him. I like working with him. I find the way that we talk about what we’re doing… Well, we’re not talking about what we’re doing all the time but I think we have a similar language. I dunno, it’s ki(smet?)… It’s, like, how do you describe a vibe? (laughs)
Q: Sam, how do you describe the vibe?
SR: I think the work, the world and the characters are so extreme and it’s a very intense thing to do. And I think we leant on each other a lot throughout the process and we were very grateful for the friendship that we had built to be able to get through six months of night and some pretty intense scenes. And to have someone that you can look across the room and have a private giggle with and get on with the job and debrief with at the end of the day is invaluable. Chemistry with actors is a complicated beast because it is our job to manufacture it, but when you don’t have to and it just comes naturally it makes everything so much more easy and enjoyable, particularly when you’re nude and bleeding (laughs). You’re really happy you have a buddy (unintelligible).
Q: I was in the Entertainment Weekly suite when all you guys came through for Comic Con at the Hard Rock Hotel and, I mean, I was watching you all interact. Bailey, break it down for me: these two, do they have like a super-bromance going on? Like, what is happening?
Bailey Bass: They’re best friends! They really are, it’s really precious. (Delighted grin from Jacob) Look at Jacob’s face! (laughs)
JA: Are we best friends, Sam?
SR: Yeah, you’re my best friend.
Eric Bogosian: I have to say, I have to throw in: I have two sons who are roughly the age of these guys, and we all went over to Comic Con, us three. And walking around was like being with my kids. The two of them are just like together (clasps hands together) getting into everything and I’m following them around, like “Wait a second, wait a second! Let me catch up with you there!” I didn’t really get it when I first got to set, I didn’t understand what was going on with these two guys, because they were so happy and they were so tired and they were so bonded and I was like “What dimension have I entered here?”
Reddit AMA (2022)
Q: Many of the scenes in the show are very emotionally demanding for even just a viewer of the series […] Is it taxing on yourselves as people or is it something you can simply switch off?
JA: It really helped having Sam there. We just went and sat on a bench and checked on each other. Without Sam I think I might have found it a lot harder.
Rotten Tomatoes
About the casting process:
JA: I asked (Alan Taylor): “How did you guys decide that it was the right thing?” And he was like: “To be honest, by that point” – cause we did like eight rounds of auditions – “it was more about the way that you interacted when you weren’t doing the scenes. It was about how you listened to each other.” It’s just that we got on, we were pretty comfortable between the things.
Schön magazine
Q: Tell me more about the dynamic between Jacob and you who plays Louis, your love interest?
SR: Jacob and I get on well, we have a close friendship. We bonded strongly throughout the making of this show. He’s one of my favourite scene partners I’ve ever had because it’s just such an easy working relationship. There’s a lot of trust between the two of us. You know, it’s a fucked up toxic relationship. It’s messed up. But at the core of it is like this intense, inescapable love. So, we have to play out a very morbid, obsessive, passionate relationship. I think it would be really hard to do if you hated the person opposite. I’m so grateful that we get on.
ScreenRant at SDCC 2022
Q: Louis and Lestat have an iconic relationship: epic, spanning years and continents, lives ruined, bloodshed. What is it like bringing that to the screen and working together to really establish that immortal bond?
JA: It’s been the greatest partnership – creative partnership – in my life.
SR: Awww.
JA: No, I’m not joking, it really has!
SR: I’d agree, actually. It’s very hard, it’s a very intense relationship that they have, and you have to believe in that relationship. The things they do to each other are so extreme and painful and hurtful. And it’s been fun to have a real buddy to go through that and debrief with at the end of the day.
JA: I’m not sure how we could’ve done everything that we’ve done if we didn’t really trust each other.
SR: Yeah, it would’ve been awful if we hated each other.
JA: And it’s one of the great… you know, in the books, when they join together again – even when you know how awful they’ve been to each other – it’s just like you’re home, and I think that’s something that we always subconsciously tried to make sure was in there. They are kind of like home to each other, particularly after Louis’ human attachments start to fall away.
Eric Bogosian: I just want to say, these two guys (pointing to Jacob and Sam), it’s great watching them, their bonding and everything. The only difference between them and the guys in the fictional world: I’ve never seen them fight.
Bailey Bass: They were walking together alongside the San Diego beach. (To Jacob and Sam) You were! I mean, how adorable is that?
JA: We’re quite co-dependent. I don’t know if that’s a problem (laughs).
SDCC 2022 Panel
SR: It’s the greatest gift that I’ve ever been given, really. And then of course (pointing to Jacob) this guy.
JA: Awww!
SDCC 2022 Press Conference
Eric Bogosian: As a witness to what was going on, watching the way these guys (pointing to JA & SR) interacted was amazing. They had a chemistry that I’ve actually never seen before, and it continues even as we’ve been here for Comic Con. It’s wonderful to watch. I won’t get into it too much, I don’t want to characterise what goes on between them, but there was a great feeling on our set.
TV Insider at SDCC
Q: The level of intimacy that you two have to establish early on is really impressive. Did you know each other? Did you get to spend time hanging out before you got to be these immortal entwined characters?
JA (to SR): What did we do? We had like one Facetime call…
SR: Yeah, we had a Facetime call and then we were texting. We texted a lot, so we go to know each other via text.
JA: Me and Sam talk to each other every day, by the way. We couldn’t cut the cord.
TV Insider’s Trivia Night
SR & JA: Hi, we’re Jam Reiderson and we’re from Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire!
Holding up boards that say:
SR: [I won!]
JA: [But I won (really) at life]
SR: Bastard!
JA: Because I get to be with you, Sam, all the time! That’s the twist.
TV I Say Podcast
JA: Me and Sam spent 40 minutes yesterday in a sticker shop. Like, just looking at stickers and buying stickers. That’s not a thing that you ever really talk about. You don’t go like “Are you into stickers?”, you know? (…) I feel like Sam and I end up mentioning things in passing like “Do you wanna go do this or do you wanna do this?” and the other person’s like “Yeah!” But then, we have… There are so many crossovers. You wouldn’t expect it because we grew up in very different ways in very different countries. But we have crossovers of weird things or very niche things that we’d never discussed, really, right up until the point of promoting this show and doing press, that we’re like, “Great!” Like we’re going to go to Universal today. And I thought “Oh, is it a bit of a weird thing to ask?” Like, I don’t know if it’s awkward to… Normally, I wouldn’t ask a friend if they just wanted to go to Universal. But with Sam, I’ll be like “Should we go to Universal Studios?”, and he’s like “Yeah! Let’s do it!” Do you know what I mean? It’s just, I dunno, we just have similarities that we couldn’t have really… We couldn’t have known that we were so similar, but it really helped us when we were working, even if we didn’t know it at the time.
W Magazine (Oct ’22)
Q: Is there anything specific that you read first thing in the morning?
JA: Realistically, text messages. In the last few months it’s been texts from Sam Reid, who plays Lestat in the show, because he’s in Australia and I’m in the UK. So there’s always some kind of really nice conversation waiting in the morning.
Young Hollywood
JA: I don’t know, we just liked each other straight away. We just had similar thoughts about what this was, about what we were doing. He’s one of my favourite people I’ve ever met in my life, let alone worked with. We just work well together. I can’t even really pinpoint exactly why. We’re going to hang out now, like after this we’re going to go to the Grove…
Q: Oh he’s in LA?
JA: Yeah!
Q: Oh my God, that’s perfect! I was going to say when was the last time you talked to him?
JA: Like half an hour ago.
Q: What’s the best thing that came from IWTV for you?
JA: That’s hard to… Sam Reid. Let’s say Sam Reid.
SFX Magazine – May 2024
That being said, [Rolin] Jones admits that it was a tough adjustment for Anderson and Reid to navigate this season. “It’s very clear, they’re very, very good friends,” Jones observes. “They really do talk every day together. So generally speaking last year, they had each other. They would get off the scene, they’d go to the bench and they would talk.”
92NY Season 2 Advance screening
JA: [Working with Sam on S02] was like slipping on a glove. Like, a glove that fits really well, wasn’t it? (laughs) Wait, is that dirty? (laughs)... An old sock!
Eric Bogosian: I have to say, I’ve never seen two actors in a company behave the way these two guys do. When I got to set and I first met them, they were already as if they were stuck to each other like brothers. (…) And then I watched them just… They follow each other around, like, whenever they’re not in scenes they’re like two puppies playing together.
Instinct Magazine (May ’24)
JA: I think the chemistry between Sam and I is based on a similarity in approach, and the way I think about these characters. Also, we just get on – I think that translates in a way.
AMC Talk (May ’24)
Re working with Sam on “DreamStat”
JA: We didn’t work on it too much ahead of time. Sam and I really trust each other. So, we’d just show up and be like, “we’ll be fine. We’ll just figure it out as we go.” We really listen to each other. (…) [Louis and Lestat’s] dynamic this season is very different. They’re not fighting. They’re not shouting at each other. That kind of intensity has gone a bit, which was fun! That was a new thing for me and Sam to play, this kind of companionship thing. It was fun and I was just glad that Sam was there, and that I was going to get to work with him.
JA: Sam and I have talked about how nice it would’ve been to have had a little mini-series where you just see Lestat and Louis just hanging out in New Orleans. (…) And not necessarily hunting, just like walking, sitting on a bench, chatting, really like the norm.
People Magazine Interview ‘24
Q: What’s a headline you’d use to describe your friendship in real life?
JA & SR: Sam and Jacob go to the movies (laughs)…
JA: … and walk around the city…
SR: … sit in a park and chat for hours.
Sam Reid answers fan questions (AMC)
Q: Who makes you laugh the most on set?
SR: Jacob.
Question from Jacob 😏 (SR reaction: Jacob Anderson? Who's that? 😚): Why is Jacob Anderson your favourite person to work with?
SR: He is very talented and he does some extraordinary work in this season. I feel very lucky to work with him… aside from the fact that he’s a dick. 🥰
Salon (May ’24)
SR: They’re trauma bonded, Louis and Lestat…
JA: … And Jake and Sam also trauma bonded!
Roxane Duran interviewed by Autumn Brown (June ’24)
RD: When I first met Jacob and Sam… They’re just the kindest souls and they really, really take care of each other and of everyone around. […] Jacob and Sam really have that sort of really beautiful friendship, and you see them and they’ve got a huge joy being around each other and also being around everybody else.
Vanity Fair / Little Gold Men Podcast (June ’24)
Q: Can you talk a bit more about Sam as a scene partner, the connection you two have developed over the years?
JA: The key thing that Sam and I have is complete and utter trust. We trust each other. We know that wherever the scene goes, it’s going to be safe. We also know that we’re going to surprise each other. […] Sam always does things with his chest and that is also how I like to work. Say it with your chest; mean it. I don’t think he’s ever doing anything out of a sense of vanity. It’s like, you exhaust as many possibilities as you possibly can and you’re unafraid to look silly or to go to a really heightened place. I think we hopefully see that in each other. When Sam and I are in a room together and we’re about to shoot a scene as these characters, it’s exciting. You don’t always find that, where you just have a symbiotic, or completely common language in the way that we work together. Even though we’re quite different. I think that’s what it is. I think we speak the same language in the way that we relate to these characters and this story.
Variety (June ’24)
JA, about filming the S2E8 reunion scene with SR:
“We held each other’s hands, and we just fucking jumped.”
TV Guide (June ’24)
Rolin Jones about shooting the S2E8 reunion scene:
They arguably did not get enough takes to do that scene. It’s just one of those things that when we turned on the camera, you could feel three years of their friendship. I knew on this side of the camera I needed two takes. I was like, “Jesus, what just happened?” But they wanted to stay there forever.
About the unheard words in the scene:
I don’t know, to this day, I don’t know, nobody knows, except those two, what they said. We wrote it in. That was the gift, to say, “You guys, not only your friendship, but where you’ve taken the characters, you should have something private for the rest of your lives. And go ahead, have it.”
AMC “Inside IWTV S2” Special
SR: I speak to Jacob every day, nonstop, all the time.
JA: Any day where Sam is there is a good day for me.
Den of Geek at SDCC ‘24
Q: How do you go about building such rippling chemistry with another human being, with Jacob? And I know the answer is “chemistry is chemistry”, but how? How do you do it?
SR: Well, I don’t “build” anything. Unfortunately I’m going to give you that same answer. But we’re very good friends. We’re really close. I don’t know if that chemistry happens before you become friends or after, but there’s a lot of trust and we just have a lot of fun making this show. I think chemistry isn’t just two actors or two people together: it’s the whole group, it’s everyone who makes the show. It’s the space, it’s the feeling when you come on set, and you feel like you can do things, try things, be experimental, push the boundaries a little bit. And that creates a sense of play and trust. You might think that it’s just Louis and Lestat’s chemistry, but it’s actually the whole chemistry of every cast member and every creative and every director, every piece of beautiful dialogue we have, the design, down to every crew member. Everyone puts a lot of chemistry into it, so it’s a pot – a big, bubbly pot.
Rolin Jones: Bowling, too. They do a lot of bowling.
SR: We go bowling, yeah. I should’ve said that.
Assad Zaman: Ice cream.
SR: Yeah, we eat a lot of ice cream. And we do sticker play (laughs).
Q: Care to elaborate on sticker play?
SR: Make it up.
Q: A lot of bowling alleys in Prague?
SR: They build them for us on set. It’s contractual.
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Our Flag Means Death season 2 shot a crucial scene in the Avatar 2 tank
A behind-the-scenes look at how Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby shot their big merman moment
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Our Flag Means Death, Season 2, Episodes 3]
Season 2 of David Jenkins’ pirate comedy-romance-drama Our Flag Means Death has finally premiered on Max, with an opening three-episode arc that’s guaranteed to get the series’ fandom buzzing. The third episode in particular ends with a sequence that feels like it was intentionally crafted to inspire the crowds of fan artists who have turned the series into an obsession. Polygon talked to the series’ VFX supervisor, David Van Dyke, about what went into shooting that sequence — and how James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water helped out.
At the end of episode 3, Ed “Blackbeard” Teach (Taika Waititi) is in limbo after being assaulted and nearly killed by his crew. There, he meets his former captain Benjamin Hornigold (another of the series’ historical pirate characters, played by Mark Mitchinson), who tries to help him through his emotional crisis over being abandoned by Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby). Except Hornigold mostly helps by pointing out Blackbeard’s failings, then tying a stone to his waist and throwing him off a cliff into the sea — where he sees a vision of Stede as a fish-tailed merman, coming to save him.
“Just so you know, Rhys and Taika did very well underwater,” Van Dyke told Polygon about shooting the scene. “Rhys is not an Olympic synchronized swimmer, but he’s a strong swimmer. They were both very comfortable underwater. They both did a really good job of being mermen.”
Van Dyke says he was originally asked whether he could do the scene with CG versions of the two men, for safety reasons. He explained that it was possible, “but that’ll cost millions and millions of dollars, and we don’t really have that.”
Instead, he ended up shooting the scene practically. Season 1 of Our Flag Means Death was shot on a soundstage in Los Angeles, but for season 2, production moved to New Zealand. That gave Van Dyke a lot of advantages in terms of shooting natural backdrops to use on the production’s giant virtual environment screen, and in using experienced crews from past special-effects-heavy productions, from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies to James Cameron’s Avatar movies.
“There were definitely a few pieces that were serendipitously to our advantage,” Van Dyke says. “New Zealand was where they shot a lot of Avatar stuff, and there just so happens to be an enormous tank on the lot. There are a bunch of Avatar crew who are SCUBA certified, because they’ve been shooting in that tank forever. This was not something we had to figure out — we didn’t have to send a bunch of grips and lighting technicians off to SCUBA school. So they were there, they had really amazing underwater photography teams, and obviously a really good stunt team that was able to train up Taika and Rhys to make sure the scene was working.”
Van Dyke points to New Zealand’s thriving mermaid freediving community as a boon when it came to designing Darby’s merman outfit. “There are a lot of incredible mer-tails out there,” he said. “We were able to take those, and [costume designer Gypsy Taylor] and her team brought them together to make these beautiful physical pieces, so Rhys was able to actually sell it and do the performance underwater.”
For Van Dyke, the sequence really started with the cliff-jump sequence, which actually used considerably more CG than the underwater shots. “That cliff sequence was a great culmination of effects, merging physical photography and our LED wall, because you can’t really put those two guys on a thousand-foot cliff,” he said. “The insurance alone would be out of control. Also, we’re not really in the business of having people fall to their deaths.”
The cliff sequence began with sequences shot off New Zealand’s Bethells Beach, using drones to capture images looking inward from the ocean and photogrammetry of a specific ledge for production designer Ra Vincent and the art department to reproduce in the studio.
“The wide shots use production plates of those cliffs, and the tighter shots use photography we shot specifically to build out the stitching of the cliff sequence,” Van Dyke said. “Hornigold and Blackbeard are standing on a cliff set. We tied in drone plates of the actual cliffs so we can see the ocean and really set up how terrifying [the drop would be]. Then he falls into the ocean, falls into our tank.”
Once Waititi was in the tank, the next step was the shot where the stone tied to a rope around his waist pulls him deep underwater. That part of the scene required more conventional, practical production trickery than the rest of the sequence.
“The tank is massive, but it’s not 300 feet deep. It’s pretty darn big, but it’s never big enough, as they say,” Van Dyke says. “So when Taika is being tugged by the rock, we actually shot that sideways. By turning the camera sideways, you get more length to the shot. The problem is the bubbles — they should be streaming off him and then rising to the surface, but if you’re going sideways, they’re going to come off him and then go up, perpendicular to him. So we took over with CG to make sure our bubbles were traveling toward where the surface was supposed to be.”
The CG in the underwater sequence was mostly used to hide the lighting and rigging necessary to shoot it, Van Dyke says. “Anytime you’re shooting anything underwater, there’s gonna be a lot of gear. There’s no way you can get around that. So we’re making sure we have [convincing deep-sea] lighting and the bubbles. And then there’s his performance — that’s a real performance.”
For Van Dyke, the real complication was the costuming and makeup for both Darby and Waititi. “Taika’s wig — I was amazed that thing stayed on so long. It’s a long shoot. He was shooting all day, all weekend. But things stayed on. It’s a heavy weight. And Rhys is really working underwater, so his tail has to be working, so it all feels seamless.”
The shot in the underwater sequence that seems most likely to be a CG creation has both men just floating deep in the sea, facing each other above a seemingly endless abyss. Again, Van Dyke says, he used very little CG for that shot, and it was mostly to hide the tank walls.
“In that case, we were not shooting sideways,” he said. “It’s essentially a locked shot. It was about getting them at the right depth underwater, and making sure the shafts of light above them were working properly. We don’t have to track as much, we don’t have all these moving elements, we don’t have to worry about where the bubbles are going. That one was really just about cleaning up the tank, doctoring out the sides of the shot, where we can see the water receding into blackness, then giving the base of the tank true depth, so it really feels like they’re suspended a hundred feet below the surface.
“Obviously, a fair amount of CGI and visual effects had to go into it. But at the same time, it was a moment where we really needed to let the story take over, and have the visual effects just get out of the way, man.”
The first three episodes of Our Flag Means Death season 2 are now streaming on Max.
Source: Polygon
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Inside Hello, Goodbye • Part 3
🧵 Outlander_Starz: The wedding wasn't the only moment tugging on heart-strings this episode... Roger meeting his father Jerry was so bittersweet and filled with emotion.
The actors had a challenge: acting in 10°F weather! Said Director Jan Matthys, "The temperature helped Richard get to that emotional level... What I've learned in Scotland is you'd better embrace the temperature and weather and use it in the scene. It's special effects. The condensation from breathing... that adds to the heroic atmosphere."
Jerry's costume not only established his character as an RAF pilot, but helped Roger and Buck track him down as they locate parts of his uniform on the road.
Military plane cockpits at this time were very cold, so while Roger and Buck found Jerry's uniform jacket, pilot's helmet, and leather helmet, we still find him wearing a woolen sweater and leather jacket with lining, which were standard issue for pilots in those days.
🧵 Outlander_Starz: The Errochty Stones that Jerry goes through mark yet another set of iconic standing stones for Outlander! See some of the original renderings below.
🧵 Outlander_Starz: Because Outlander gained access to working dam sites, shooting time was limited. That meant that the scenes of Brianna in the tunnels in Part 1 and Jemmy in the tunnels in Part 2 were actually shot at the same time.
The dam site was incredible... Jemmy goes through a similar journey to what Bree went through. So we really shot it one for one. I'd go in, we'd shoot the sequence, l'd come out. Blake would go in, shoot the sequence, and come out. We'd watch each other to replicate what the other did...
It was freezing in there and very dark but beautiful actually. The way that they have it lit almost looks like fairy lights... It was a great place to see. It was very different for Outlander. — SOPHIE SKELTON, BRIANNA MACKENZIE
🧵Outlander_Starz: Can we give it up for Blake Johnston-Miller and Rosa Morris, who play Jemmy and Mandy this season? Hear from Director Jan Matthys and Sophie Skelton about what it was like to work with these stars in the making.
The key to working with kids is to make it playful. They have a natural tendency to play. To be very honest, I still have it as well... Blake, who plays Jemmy, we actually did sort of an acrobatic act together at the end to celebrate our collaboration. With Blake... I could raise the bar and ask him for difficult things... For Rosa, I made it very playful and brought her literally into that playful world. It's more stealing moments. You have to be very flexible as a director....
Sophie is key in that collaboration. She also finds a way to get the best performances out of the kids. She becomes like a co-director in these moments. — JAN MATTHYS, DIRECTOR
I've had so much fun with Rosa and Blake this season... It's such a lovely feeling and so rewarding when you see these kids who first look at you like you're a complete stranger start to really trust you...
There was a scene when Brianna goes into the graveyard in Season 7, Part 1. There was one take where Rosa tripped on a pebble and fell. The chaperones are there, who she trusts. Her dad was there. But she ran to me. And it was so sweet. She didn't want to do another scene. She was just crying on me for ages. So I was like, "Shall we tell off the stone?" We said "bad stone," hit the stone, and wiped her tears. I asked, "Better now?" and she said “Yeah, let's do one!" They're just such great kids. We are very fortunate. — SOPHIE SKELTON, BRIANNA MACKENZIE
🧵 Outlander_Starz: That's a wrap on this episode's "Inside Outlander!" See you here next week for more. In the meantime, hear even more insights from our cast and creative team:
youtube
Inside Hello, Goodbye • Part 3 of 3
Threads 🧵
Remember… what I've learned in Scotland is you'd better embrace the temperature and weather and use it in the scene. It's special effects. The condensation from breathing... that adds to the heroic atmosphere. — Jan Matthys, Director
#Tait rhymes with hat#Good times#Outlander#inside Outlander#S07E13#Hello Goodbye#Part 3#Threads#Youtube
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God they just gave the fuck up on movies huh?!
I’m watching Alien right now. It came out in 1979 and the sets, costume, special effects, all that, hold up to today. Sure maybe not some aspects. But it really looks incredible. And you can tell how much work went into making it look incredible.
“Capitalism breeds innovation”… then explain to me how movies haven’t gotten better (and in some cases have gotten worse visually).
Studios now have to pump out shows and movies constantly. So there’s no longer any time to hire the right people to do the right work. Everything’s green screen so it can be edited in post. So people aren’t coming up with cool new ways of making things look good on screen!
In one of the scenes in Alien, they used child actors to make the set look bigger! They dressed them in spacesuits the same as the adult cast, then had a shot of them walking next to the space jockey. Therefore it looks even bigger! Similar to how they played with perspective in lord of the rings to make the hobbits look small.
Ugh why is nobody doing cool clever things like that anymore?
Like of course there are people doing it, but it’s becoming less common. A good example is the saw franchise. It is one of my favourite of all times. And one of the biggest aspects I’ve enjoyed is the way all the traps are actually designed and engineered so that they could work. And the blood and guts are special effects makeup! I was worried with the newest movies Saw X they would move away from this. But thankfully they didn’t. They doused that old man in fake blood!
More practical effects! Death to green screen!
#and I know people will come at me with examples of modern movies that are doing these things#and I agree! I have found many of the movies coming out enjoyable and visually stunning#horror is my favourite genre so that’s where my experience lies#just rambling#movies#films#alien franchise#alien 1979#horror#horror movies#anti capitalism#capitalism#late stage capitalism#special effects#lord of the rings#lotr#saw#saw franchise#saw x
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Wheel of Time Season 2 Thoughts
Now that the season is over and I’ve had a few days to process I thought I’d put some of my thoughts about the season. No major book spoilers but I do make mention to some of the changes they’ve made while adapting the first two books. I might make a more book spoilery post later.
-Overall I really enjoyed the season. I think it was well written, tight and delivered both storywise and character wise. The costuming, special effects and art direction continues to be top tier and I found the season highly watchable and compelling. I did not love absolutely every moment and decision and definitely have a few nitpicks but as a whole I really liked it. I will say that I think a lot of the issues I did have with the season can be boiled down to the limited amount of time they had to tell the story they needed to tell. I really think this show would benefit from at least 10 episodes and season if not more, and I know that’s an opinion many have echoed.
- I loved all the White Tower stuff in the first half of the season. It was a good set-up for tower politics, different factions, how The One Power works and it introduced us to a lot of important characters.
-Hi Elayne! I love you and you are perfect girl!
-Nyneave’s Tower story and block was A+
-I personally didn’t mind Siuan’s book scenes being given to Liandrin. I think it was necessary to tell the story they needed to tell in the time they needed to tell it. And I thought Liandrin’s whole story, the explanation of why she turned to the Black Ajah was interesting both to make her a more compelling villain and to set up the stakes of the universe. We need to be worried that our heroes will choose the dark at some point, and for that to be a real threat we need good reasons why other have. All of her scenes were great. Loved her scenes with Nyneave, Egwene and Lanfear. And her petty fighting with Suroth. *chef’s kiss*
-I’m just gonna say it ok? Are you ready? I LOVE show!Alanna. Book fans can give me the stink eye if they want, but as she’s been portrayed on screen so far she rocks. The actress is incredible and the writing has done an excellent job as setting her up as a genuine, moral, strong and honestly necessary pillar of light in the dark. You really feel she is fighting on the side of good with everything she has, no matter what it costs her. She’s also a genuinely good teacher in the Tower! The way she fights for the girls, and for Moiraine, and later for Rand. We love to see it. Her story in many ways mirrors Moraine’s. The show has done a very good job of making her a character that you are strongly empathizing with and rooting for. And honestly book knowledge has only made me feel that more strongly. Knowing how many darkfriends she is holding the line against, you FEEL how necessary and important the work she does is. And I am starting to understand how she, like Moiraine and Siuan this season, and Rand in the story to come, might start feeling weighed down by that. My girl fits right in with the themes of the story. Sorry not sorry. I am weak for MILFs.
-Egwene’s entire storyline this season kicked ass. I think she had, hands down, the best story arc from beginning to end. I have very little to say about it because it was all perfectly done. And when she killed Rena, instead of sparing her like you’re expecting, oh boy did I cheer.
-Rand’s storyline, if you knew who Lanfear was from the outset was fun all the way through. Though I have it on good authority from @steel-wings that if you went in blind, it was quite slow in the beginning. I do have to say that the introduction to Rand this season being “he’s sleeping with an innkeeper for room and board” was the funniest and best thing I have ever seen. Dana The Darkfired from last season continues to give. No honestly, this is genuine foreshadowing (Selene is also *gasp* a Darkfriend) and character work. They decided to show Rand’s declining mental state and self esteem by contrasting how willing he was to sugarbaby this season with how against it he was last season. 10/10 no notes.
-Rand is a Mental Health Worker! I’m going to cry! Yes I know he has reasons for doing this but watching Rand with that old man, knowing he’s been doing this job for almost a year. Excuse me I need a moment.
-The Lanfear reveal kicked ass. She is so crazy and so evil and so manipulative. Love to see it in a villain. The scene where she “learns” Rand can channel was honestly hilarious. Although this was the moment that @steel-wings lost her patience with the storyline.
Steelwings: Ugh. This is so boring. She’s just there for his manpain. I can’t watch any more of this. It would have been better if she was evil.
Me knowing my wife is at the end of her patience and is about to abandon this show I love but not knowing how long they’re planning to draw the reveal out, pausing the tv: Do you want me to spoil you?
Steelwings: Yes! Spoil me! PLEASE tell me she’s evil.
Me: She’s evil :D She’s the most evil bitch whose ever lived. She’s so evil and so crazy and so manipulative. She’s Oppenheimer if he worshipped the devil and *horrifying spoilers*
Steelwings settling back in to watch: Love that for her. 🙂
-Perrin’s storyline was the least ineteresting and slowest of the mains but with the rest of the show so jam packed it felt like a nice break in some ways to have some breathing room with Perrin. We’ve got Egwene being tortured by the Seanchan and Mat being tortured by the Forsaken and Rand being imprisoned by the Amyrlin. Meanwhile, Perrin has met a cute girl and a dog. Good for him.
-MAAAAT. MAT! My baby boy Mat Cauthon. You are having a no good very bad life huh? And it’s only season 2 *cries* I did love the way he turned the dagger into a spear there at the end and also…HE’S A HERO OF THE HORN! I thought that was a perfect choice. Really made sense with his storyline and character arc. It also gives them a really good plot excuse for him to suddenly know how to fight with his big stick. Mat’s “I remember” and his Old Tongue and his immediate military Glow Up. So good. So fun. I will be screaming forever.
-Speaking of screaming forever the Cauthor reunion had me screaming and crying and dying. I will never be the same. It was giving big stars fading (but i linger on) by @butterflydm vibes. If you haven’t read it, it’s a fic that also adapts The Great Hunt as season 2 by saying “what if Rand just hung around Carhein playing Sugar Baby and getting dicked down while everyone else hunted for the horn?” (It’s really good and you should read it.) Hey @butterflydm how does it feel to be so smart and correct all the time?
-I was expecting the Mat stabs Rand moment to be caused by Compulsion, not friendly fire. It would have given him a really good reason to go searching for something to protect him from the OP in the future. But I’m not mad. We got some top tier cradling out of it. Although this is the second time Ishy has pulled that move (the first was with Rand at the Eye). Boy is not an original thinker.
-I know a lot of people were sad that Rand did not get cool sword battles this season. And look, I get it, the books lean hard in to the cool power fantasy moments with Rand, so if that’s your thing and what you came for, this show probably is letting you down. But I gotta say, as someone who has always been here for the characters and themes and narrative, I LOVE what they did with the battle here. AND with Rand’s learning curve.
-I love that Rand knows exactly one weave at this point, and that that weave is “make knife.” I LOVE that Lan is the one who taught it to him. (Miss me with your Lan hate.) I love that the first thing he did with it wasn’t fight an enemy but free Moiraine from her bonds, heal her, even though he’s not a healer. A knife is a tool and you can use it to heal or to fight. Just as Ryma used her healing weaves to rip Damane bodies apart, Rand uses his knife weaves to “heal.” I love that the second thing he uses that weave for IS to destroy Turak’s fighting force. I did not at all feel I had been robbed of a sword fight. I cheered! Excellent little Indiana Jones moment, right there. Rand WAS badass. And most of all I love that he wasn’t able to to defeat Ishmael on his own, that he needed Egwene and Perrin and Mat and Moiraine and Elayne and Nyneave. Like that’s the point! Lanfear is running around the city trying to dump the other Forsaken in the ocean. Ishmael is standing on that tower alone and betrayed with no allies. But Rand has friends! He has people who come to help him! And that is why he wins. That’s whole point. Hello theme of friendship and connection, I love you, never go anywhere.
-Also Moiraine being like I would kill thousands of people to help Rand made me snort and go “Ok Mom.” Yeah yeah scorched earth morality. Ruthlessness. She is on a mission to save the world even if she has to destroy the world in the process. But also Moiraine IS that meme from Parks and Rec. She has only had Rand Al’Thor for a year but if anything happens to him she will kill everyone in this room and then herself. Now fly the Dragon Banner.
-All that being said, there was one storyline this season that really did not hit for me, and I am sorry to say it was the Siuan Sanche of it all. I have spent a lot of time turning that episode over in my head and I still haven’t put all my thoughts together but ultimately I will say this. Yes, if you were expecting Siuan from the books her actions were definitely character assassination. She makes the exact opposite choices in the show. However, I understand why, both narratively and time wise those changes were made so I’m going to do my best to react to the story they told and the character they wrote, not the one I was expecting. The real problem I think with the story they told is that they didn’t give us enough time in Siuan’s POV and with Siuan’s story to really truly empathize with the decisions she’s making. We spend the episode in Rand and Moiraine’s POVs and honestly I think that’s a big mistake, because we don’t learn any new information about either of them. But in order for that moment at the end with Moiraine to truly be heartbreaking, in order for us to really understand why she’s imprisoning Rand at all we need to see her struggles and her fears and her beliefs. I talked earlier about how they do a good job showing what Alanna and Moiraine are up against but they needed to give us that with Siuan. We’re told she has enemies in the tower, we’re told she’s been depending on Moiraine and Rand to be the ace up her sleeve in the last battle, but we don’t see the emotional toll of that. And at the end there I think the writing needed to make it perfectly crystal clear that Siuan believes that Moiraine is black ajah. A casual viewer should understand and feel for Siuan who is doing this terrible thing because she believes she is saving the world, saving Rand, from a Forsaken and a darkfriend who has lied to her and betrayed her. But it's just not there. I understand that this plot point and this story serves a narrative purpose. It sets up Rand's relationship with the White Tower and the Aes Sedai as a whole. It draws a thematic parallel between the three Oaths and the Seanchan oaths and damane system. It brings up the theme of how power corrupts, how even good people who are doing their best to help the many, can use their power to do horrifying things when they believe it is necessary. But I think it still needed more set up and more character development and more room to breathe. I have…a lot more to say on the subject but I might need to make it it’s own post. I definitely think the writers have set themselves up for a headache when it comes to next season but that’s spoilers so I’ll end this here.
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so, like, why clowning ?
some worldbuilding headcanons about imps & clowning ! cw for mentions of classism ( fantasy, but still ) that also borders on racism ( fantasy but STILL and i'm trying not to touch that as much as i can ).
let's get out of the way that viv just seems to really love a good circus theme - like, yeah, okay, it's everywhere. we can understand that as an aesthetic choice, and then dig into why it's interesting and honestly, why it fits! because it does fit.
o1. wow, it's brutal out here.
hell is not kind to imps. it's explicitly in the text of the show that imps are not well respected or privileged within hell, and widely held that they actively hold the position of the bottom of the social ladder. specifically, we know that economically there's very little room for mobility - see, striker's it's rare to see an imp start their own business. we also see the assumptions and prejudice faced outside of wrath, see the waiting room scene in western energy, and striker's monologue about hard lives in the same episode.
entertainment in general is not a vein that is even particularly conducive for imps, just one where they can succeed. the most famous performers that we see in the hellaverse are angel, a mortal sinner, vox and alastor, mortal overlords, verosika, a hellborn succubus, and ozzie and mammon themselves, deadly sins. even the performers at mammon's contest aren't exclusively imps - most of them are just another form of hellborn, and the glam sisters in particular seem to come from envy and have money behind them.
fizz is unequivocally the most famous imp performer, and most famous imp in general, that we see. even in the flashbacks, the buckzo circus was billed as the all imp circus - indicating that it's not a common practice.
given how hard it is to find a foothold in economic and social mobility, it makes sense that the one venue we do see it in, performing, is extremely important.
o2. i've ( don't ) got the magic
thus far, imps and hellhounds are the only beings in hell that we've seen without any access to magic. even sinners are granted some inherent power and we see that increase dramatically if they gain power as an overlord. it is, simply put, hard to stand out in a world where some people can snap their fingers and conjure up the most incredible displays, or even just neatly get the job done.
a lot of the social / economic mobility we see for imps comes from their willingness to put in the work. I.M.P. has access to the living world, which is not unheard of but rare, but they are also willing to hunt down a target and get blood on their hands on behalf of those who can't get to the living world (and we know the other ways to access that living world are rare and expensive). striker also does assassination work - but largely for those who are simply not a position to get the job done themselves.
we explicitly see how hard fizz works to have the station and reputation he does - how much pressure he puts on himself to be perfect. in the flashbacks, we see that blitz & fizz (and barbie presumably) are already performing real shows at the age of five or six, and cash is already putting an enormous amount of pressure on fizz as one of his highest earners and biggest draws. it would be a lot easier to attract attention or create these entertaining displays if you have access to magic - or at least MONEY for a better tent, better costumes, better special effects.
so to succeed as a clown as an imp? you have to be very, very good. the pressure is always on, which leads me to -
o3. you're simply the best
when you're working with a deck that's not nearly as stacked as everyone else's, you have to be on top of your fucking game, no questions. the reason fizzarolli wins that contest every year, the reason why he's the face of mammon's brand, is because he's so utterly charismatic - a real showman. magic and pyrotechnics may get you some fancy spectacle, but there's no replacement for being an absolute fucking delight with a killer joke and banger music and a natural rapport with the crowd.
it's why, even if blitz wasn't as skilled as fizz - or at least TOLD he wasn't - his acrobatic skills are above and beyond. those circus instincts come in handy on a daily basis - he has to be quick thinking, fast on his feet, able to improv and roll with the punches, able to distract someone with patter and banter, and yeah - he needs some Sick Flips.
he holds a little shame that he never really pursued a clowning career, mostly because it was such a fundamental part of his life for the entirety of his formative years. he didn't LOVE it - in fact, he was deeply disillusioned by first his father and then mammon - and it only got worse as he got older, but we see on screen how much the idea of performing can send him into a spiral - and how much it means to him if he succeeds.
when you can hold your own against people you're told are better than you, it means a hell of a lot - it's a source of pride, a way to make a life, and an unwitting tradition among some circles of imps.
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“It’s over now, the music of the night” now has a whole new meaning…
(Description below mostly copied and pasted from my Instagram)
Tonight, the original Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera will be giving its last ever performance.
It goes without saying that nothing lasts forever, and I knew this day would come eventually, but I still was so unprepared. I remember how my heart nearly stopped when I heard the news that it was closing. I just felt shattered, too much for words. Like Broadway itself as I knew it was coming to an end.
I can’t even begin to put into words what this show means to me. Not only is the music, the costumes, the special effects, heck, everything about it incredible, it got me through some pretty tough times in my life and pushed me to pursue my ultimate dream of becoming a musical theatre performer. I was also lucky enough to have seen it on Broadway back in 2019, with Peter Joback as the Phantom and Kaley Ann Voorhees as Christine. It was an experience I will always cherish, as long as I live, and especially now.
I know this musical holds so many happy and exhilarating memories, not only for me and everyone else who has seen or heard it, but all the incredible cast and crew involved in the Broadway production and has worked so hard to make it come alive. And these memories will last beyond all time. Also, this is, of course, certainly not the end of Phantom. It’s already left its mark - a humongous mark at that - on theatre and storytelling as we know it, and will continue to live on and enter the hearts of millions.
In honor of this amazing show and production, I whipped this up. I apologize if it’s not my best work, since I haven’t had too much time for making quality colored pencil artwork during school, but I hope my heart still shines through.
Also, thank you Andrew Lloyd Webber , thank you Ben Crawford, thank you Emilie Kouatchou, thank you to EVERYONE who’s been involved in this production over the past 35 years, for making it happen, for making a legacy, and for making me who I am today. Thank you, for everything. May your work and passion never die.
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C-Drama Review: My Journey to You
Broadcast: iQIYI, 2023, 24 Episodes Genre: Romance, Wuxia
My Rating 7/10
A beautiful show with a promising premise, ultimately disappointing with a poorly realized asynchronous story-telling and unsatisfactory ending.
Acting: 6/10 World-building: 7/10 Production: 9/10 Storytelling: 4/10 Pacing: 7/10 Re-watch Value: 6/10 Bonus: for Jolin Jin's and Tian Jiarui's characters. One of my favorite big sister and little brother!
Summary with minor spoilers: My Journey to You tells the story of two assassins, Yun Weishan (played by Yu Shuxin) and Shangguan Qian (played by Lu Yuxiao), who are sent to infiltrate an enemy sect territory, the Gong residence, disguised as potential brides. However, their respective objectives are in conflict with each other, and so are their targets. They encounter two very different young masters and their respective families. Young Master Gong Ziyu (played by Zhang Linghe) surprisingly attains the title of Sword Wielder of the Gong family, but faces accusations about the legitimacy of this status and title. Only by completing three challenges can he prove himself and take up his family's legacy. He falls in love with Yun Weishan early on, meanwhile Shangguan Qian future husband Gong Shang Jue (played by Cheng Lei) distrusts his new bride. In a balancing act, she must win his trust without revealing her true intentions. Thus begins a dangerous game, wherein the lines between friend and foe are blurred. The price? Freedom from the oppressing employers - and their own survival.
My review - spoilers ahead!
The show started out incredible promising: A captivating premise, a darker tone in both cinematography and theme, beautiful sets and costumes, decent special effects and a different voice for Esther Yu. And while the show had great moments, it overall failed to deliver what it promised. So what went wrong?
The short version is that the show suffered from the typical shortcoming: mediocre acting, misguided directing and bad writing.
Esther Yu and Zhang Ling He never stood out to me as particularly great actors, and this holds true in this show as well. However, I don't think the problem with My Journey to You can be blamed on their unconvincing acting, but is rather a product of the direction the writing took them.
The tension arcs get boring really fast: Again and again the female leads are in danger of being exposed (or better: exposing themselves), but by the third time it doesn't feel exciting anymore. The other major plot line is the conflict surrounding the succession of the sword wielder title, which I was never able to care about. I think a different story-line for the ML would have greatly benefited the drama. Trying to make the audience care about him by putting a lot of emphasis on his hard childhood early on in the show, didn't work, because it felt so irrelevant compared to the backstories of the other characters. It didn't give him depth, it actually took it away. Therefore, the dynamic between the main couple wasn't working either - she was too cold, he was too immature for them to create any interesting chemistry.
The second couple not only had the better written characters, their storyline had more suspense. I have seen mainly Esther Yu being criticized for this drama, so my potentially controversial opinion is, that it's actually the fault of the dull main storyline and the bland ML.
The other big problem are the poorly build-up plot twists. Some of these plot twists themselves were great, like the switch of the medical document and the death of the little sister. While these were great plot points, the narrative build-up wasn't. In retrospect, it made sense we got so much information about the MLs unhappy childhood and complex relationship with his parents, because that build-up both to the medical record swap and the betrayal of the older brother, however... it was just done in such an annoying way, that it made the ML look unnecessary whiny and the storyline boring.
As the show progressed, they increasingly used the element of time-jumps and flashbacks to tell the story. There should have been a better way to deliver tension and twists, than constantly making jumps in order to catch the audience off guard. Part of the fun in mysteries like this is to make guesses while watching, but that only goes so far, when it is all in the editing and crucial information is simply being withheld. And what made this even worse, it that the final plot twist (e.g. the brother coming back) was so predictable, all the asynchronous story-telling wasn't even necessary!
Worst of all was the ending: A twin sister out of nowhere? A villain that was poorly build up? No resolution for the second couple? A cliffhanger for a next season that does not fit the tone of the first 23 episodes and is unlikely to ever happen? Frustrating.
It wasn't all bad: The supporting cast was great. Ryan Cheng, Jolin Jin and Tian Jiarui were amazing! The dynamics between all the other couples were engaging as well. Gong Zishang was my favorite comic relief in any cdrama, and she gave the whole show such a unique vibe! Tian Jiarui's character was right done my alley - I just love my twisted little psychopath in emotional turmoil!
Just one last thought ... please no more Chen Duling? She has been in most shows I have watched this summer and has failed to charm me every time. She is a decent actress, but the type casting of "sad, whiny girl" isn't doing her any favors.
Overall, I think this was a decent drama. I still would recommend you to watch this show, especially if you value intriguing characters over plot!
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What did you like most about everything everywhere all at once?
Oh god 😭😭😭
How can I even begin to answer that question? I mean there are just so many aspects in that movie that are absolutely incredible, from the cast to the costumes to the special effects it's all a bunch of exceptional pieces of a puzzle put together to make a work of art that is possibly one of the best films we've ever seen
But if I was forced to pick just One Thing about the movie I like the most, I would definitely have to say the writing
The script and the writing behind it are the main reason this movie is as good as it is, without it this movie would have been nothing, I mean there's a reason why it took the Daniels almost a decade to write this thing. They started coming up with the premise and doing research all the way back in 2010 and there is no doubt in my mind that those years taken to perfect the script before ever starting production are completely responsible for this movie being so incredible.
They didn't put their first draft on the screen. They put their 50th draft on the screen
How many movies can you think of with great premises that have absolutely shit execution? And it all begins in the writer's room. The writing process is so important to making a film or TV show successful and the reason why Everything Everywhere All At Once is so good is because the Daniels took that process seriously and took their vision seriously, unwilling to press record on the camera until the script was as perfect as they could possibly get it and be proud of their work
It took the Daniels 8 years to write this script, and then they filmed everything within a production schedule of only like 30 days (before reshoots) and then about a year of editing and post production before the film was in theaters. That is a ridiculously fast turn around for a movie and without those 8 years of perfecting the script there's no way on earth the production schedule would have been as easy and as fast as it was
I could wax poetic about basically every aspect of this movie till I'm blue in the face, but the writing is the framework and the solid foundation that allows every other bit of the production to stand as tall as it does and I will forever be chasing that kind of brilliance in all of my own writing for the rest of my time on this planet for sure.
I mean there's a reason why this movie doesn't have just one singular overly famous quote, but in fact has like 20, from "In another life I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you" to "No one is unloveable there is always something to love" and "You think because l'm kind that it means I'm naive, and maybe I am. It's strategic and necessary. This is how I fight." and "Please be kind, escpecially when we don't know what's going on" and "We can do whatever we want. Nothing matters" and "Right is a small box invented by people who are afraid. And I know what it's like being stuck in that box" and "I'm useless alone. We're all useless alone, it's a good thing you're not alone" and so on and so forth, there is line after line of dialogue that reaches straight into your chest to physically touch your heart with their words. How many movie quotes can do that without the actor's inflection and performance backing it up? How many lines can break you just from reading them the way half the quotes from this movie do? How many movies even have a singular line that can hit you the way ALL of these lines in EEAAO hit you? The cast and their deliveries are absolutely incredible and 100% aid and elevate the source material, but these quotes were already powerhouses when they were just print on a page, putting them into the talented mouths of the movie's cast only elevates them even further
Actors are taught how to make shit writing sound like good writing, the amount of actors I've seen having to fight an uphill battle to make garbage dialogue work is basically every film put out these days, but the writing in EEAAO isn't forcing these actors to fight with reality to make their lines sound like words a real human being would say, it's already so incredible that the actors can play and discover a different kind of truth within every word instead of forcing themselves to find the truth within words no real human has ever passed through their lips
Bottom line, I suppose to me, the best part of EEAAO is the writing behind it, because without good writing, you would have absolutely nothing
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The movies I watched in 2023
and what I thought of them....
See How They Run: It was a pretty solid movie to start the movie watching for the year. It had fun characters, a nice mystery and just had a really good style to it that I really enjoyed. Just charming overall.
Pinocchio (2022): I loved all those old-feeling special effects, all the props, scenery and costumes in this film. The film felt sincere and imaginative, which I would expect from an Italian film that was almost reclaiming its own fairytale from Hollywood.
The Menu: Some of the speculations and comments that the film presents might sometimes feel a bit stilted at times, but the film certainly offers a fun black comedy with interesting plot twists that you can't exactly foresee as you watch it, and the cast is wonderful.
Troll: the action was fun, and I enjoyed the folktales and myths features of the story, but damn the plot was so predictable and the clichéd dialogue was so heavily styled from some heroic Hollywood movie that doesn't work in a Nordic film.
Banshee of Inisherin: An incredibly personal, quiet and interesting film that ends up being slightly lengthy at times.
Mr. Malcolm's List: I adore being immersed in this kind of costume-drama and this movie kind of checked most of the boxes I want to be ticked when it comes to a romance costume drama of this kind. A very fun watch.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande: A sincere, humorous, and interesting character story about an older woman experiencing her own body and such things for the first time in her life.
Wakanda Forever: I just thought it was nice, and it's certainly not as formulaic as most of those marvel movies that are coming out right now. But it didn't move me as much as I thought it would.
Viking Wolf: everything about this movie was pretty predictable and typical of such a monster movies. I was a bit bored.
Volaða Land: A rather slow, bitter and sad film, which is totally in the spirit of the subject matter and there are a few humorous scenes in between to break it up, but I still thought it was a bit too long.
Sisu: Incredibly fun action and bloodshed and although the scenarios often felt a bit unrealistic it does feel part of the fun and the film is very exciting and time flies by while you're watching it.
Coccaine Bear: The trailer for this film made it look a lot more fun than it turned out to be. I was tired of the humor present there after about half an hour.
Dungeons and Dragons – Honor Among Thiefs: funny and just the fine little adventure film. I didn't expect it to go super deep on the characters or anything. It is just such a fun popcorn movie, and I was happy with that.
The Last Kingdom – Seven Kings Must Die: I watched this one with one eye open, not really caring about any of it, but I was just trying to finish it off so I could finally see how the tv show that preceded this movie was going to end.
Nimona: Followed the comic very well and expanded on it and just was one of the most entertaining animations I have seen in a while. There is good humor in it, and the characters are awesome. Loved the animation as well.
Indiana Jones 5: This is just a fun Indiana Jones movie. That’s pretty much it. Maybe the third best Indiana Jones movie in my opinion. You basically get everything you want from Indiana in this one, even though Ford is getting a little tired and it shows.
Hansan – Rising Dragon: It's a grand and spectacular visual film that puts a lot of effort into everything but ends up being a little too long in my opinion.
Dream: While the film certainly has heart and humor, it still felt like the story was in a bit of a hurry to get to the finish line before it's completely earned it.
Harry Potter 7 and 8: I started watching the first movie with my little niece and then she got into the books (before Rowling went full on terf) and I have sort of just allowed her to enjoy the world that I once found solace in. Now my little aunt had finished the last book and I kept my promise to her to watch the movies it with her once she did.
Lord of the Rings 2: My little niece was once too afraid to watch Lord of the Rings but before the summer she had watched the first one – just not with me. But she wanted to hold on to this until I came over to her part of the country in the summer so we could watch it together. Also this is my favorite of the Lord of the Rings movies.
Polite Society: a strange mixture of Bollywood splendor and very dry British humor that works so fantastically well. A cool action-comedy with very charming characters and all sorts of fun shenanigans and wonderful female friendships.
Zom 100 - Bucket List of The Dead: Japan and Korea seem to be far better at making zombie movies than the Americans. This one was so much fun, before it lost its steam.
Barbie: The only movie of the year I watched twice because it was just excellent entertainment. Colorful and campy yet with a big heart and seemed to have something to say about the society we live in – although through a very narrow lens. Interesting and thoughtful, but sure was interesting that the one that got the most hype from the internet of such a female-centric film the main male character of the story. But that’s also telling of the society we live in.
Downton Abbey – New Age: Although I find the formula that these stories follow little tired now and you tell that from this film how some of the conversations and jabs and almost don’t come natural sometimes, I do think the characters are awesome and I've followed most of them for so long that they do have a dear place in my heart. Downton still makes me cry.
Ehrengard - The Art of Seduction: This film has its funny moments, and it is a fun little period piece. But Ehrengard, the title character, is more of a plot device than a character for most of the film, which I thought was a little silly.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter: A very good horror movie that made me cover my eyes and cry out as I sat alone in the movie theater watching it. Good horror, interesting characters, and thrilling storytelling. Great fun.
Sister Death: It's has a really cool style to it, but that's kind of the only thing I thought the movie had going for it. There was something about it that made it difficult to follow the story, in my opinion.
The Marvels: It felt like another draft of a script that had been written with the same old story structure that Marvel still hasn't updated in a long time. It still somewhat works, but it's also really predictable and tired. I knew almost what each character would say before they said it, because Marvel has become a real cliché.
In Love and Deep Water: Just a really adorable Japanese romcom movie. Cute characters with a funny little murder mystery lurking around in the background. Just good fun.
We have a Ghost: a fun idea and the cast was awesome, but wow this script felt stilted.
The Hunger Games – the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Followed the book very well – I haven't read in years, so therefor I didn't do a proper review. There's a lot crammed in there in a rather short period of time, but I thought they were able to deliver Snow's character so the message of self-satisfaction and the promise of comfort and power trumps everything else for many people in this a position of privilege, even if other people suffer because of it. Did everything they needed to do.
This is Christmas: a cute little Christmas movie that, in a sense, is just a traditional romcom set around Christmas. But still it does manages to have a little more going for it than just two strangers falling in love around Christmas and I did enjoy the characters a lot.
1000 Miles from Christmas: romcoms like this don't usually have the structure of pining and the buildup that I enjoy in a romcom. I thought things were happening a bit too fast here, but the story was adorable and the characters were fun though predictable. And although I thought all the little fact that one of the main characters 'hated Christmas' was a little overdone he didn't seem to be cured too swiftly of that ‘ailment’. But I would have liked more depth to it all, but there just wasn't time for that.
Monster: A heartwarming and heartfelt Japanese film where the three changing perspectives of the film keep surprising you until the very end without feeling too dramatic. Very attentive and compassionate.
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Thank You Very Much for our Individual Event!!!Have a Happy New Yearー!Yumigeta Ako (23.12.09)
Good evening🌝
I'm Yumigeta Ako🛑
Thank you very much for your comments yesterday!
That figure is really so amazing right〜…
I didn't think it would be so incredibly realistic…
It's my first figure、but I totally understand why people collect them。I want to collect them now、a new obsession!
Actually、I also really wanted this Jiro-chan figure which has special effects and where she's wearing her costume and she looks super duper cool
But that one cost about 15000 yen… (T/N $100/£80)
I wanted to buy it straight away to join my new figure collection、but I know I need to manage my money carefully so I didn't buy it。
But I realllllly want it‼️‼️‼️
Maybe I'll buy it as a 1st anniversary present to myself…?
I bought this figure as a present to myself for finishing my first tour‼️
...
So for now I'll keep working hard…
With Jiro-chan's power………🎶
Also today
We had an individual talk eventー!!!!!!
Thank you very much!
Today I was taking a selfie and Oda-san was standing in front of me
And she suddenly angrily yelled 「Ako-chan!」 。
Maybe Oda-san thought I was using my back camera to take a secret photo of Oda-san…???
When I said
「No!It's a selfie!!!A selfie!」
She said
「I know!」
How disappointing。
So after our little comedy act I said to Oda-san
「Let's go for our two shot Cheki event」 and we took this photo together♪
Oda-san is so cute♪
Then Ishida-san who was nearby said
「No physical contactー Please separate yourselvesー」。
How disappointing。
💜+🤍💙💜+🤍💙💜+🤍💙💜+🤍💙
Everyone thank you very much for today!!!
Our last one this year…
It's only been about half a year since I first met you all but we've been able to do so many things together that when I said 「Have a Happy New Year〜」 it was like I was talking to family members which was nice。
I guess we won't be able to talk for a while now!
I wonder when our next individual events will be…
But lots of you said 「I'll watch M Station and FNS Music Festival!」 ot 「I'm going to your Christmas event!」 or that you're going to Countdown Japan Fes so I know you'll keep supporting us、and I'm just really happy that so many people are watching over us!
...
I feel like I felt more relaxed at today's individual event than ever before❗️
I had so much fun!
I hope that you all had fun too!
Thank you very much for coming out in the cold!
Take care of your health…
The last spurt of 2023‼️
Let's all keep working hard until the very end💪🔥
And And And And、
For some reason、loads of people ask me this question at every individual event!
My favourite school meal is
「Kakuae pickled salad」❗️
I can nevvvvver remember its name
So I've always given a weird answer like
「That thing〜 with cucumbers〜 and pickled daikon radish〜 the Shizuoka dish〜」…
Sorry for using 7 seconds of our precious time together just for this confusing answer…😭🙏
It's Kakuae…
I love it so much my friends give me their portions……
Please give it a try……
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Well then it's time for today's 【Gettaa Life】✨
Today、
I ate
「Wasabi Flavoured Grilled Seaweed」!!!!
It's super delicious!!!!
They also have a plum flavoured version、so I always eat the plum version but today I had the Wasabi version!
It tasted way better than I was expecting…!
What was particularly delicious is how spicy it was!
Or rather、it wasn't spicy
But it had the spicy aftertaste that fresh Wasabi gives you‼️
It must have such high quality ingredients…
I was instantly hooked。
I'll buy them again。
I bought them at New Days❗️
Everyone please GET them if you see them okay💚
I Getted 「A tasty spicy snack」✨
This is yet another snack story、
But recently I bought quail eggs from Family Mart's snack corner and they were surprisingly delicious!
They were so flavourful!
Seven Eleven's version is kombu soy sauce flavoured which is lighter while Family Mart's is deeper!Like char siu!
Definitely GET this too✨
That's all!This has been 【Gettaa Life】!
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T/N News and information has not been translated
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From Santa Ako…
Here is… a slightly early
christmas present♡
My booth today looked like this✨
🌙.*🎄ෆෆ•*🎅*•¸🎶✨🎼ෆෆ•*🎅*•¸🎄🌙.*
Well then I'll see you tomorrow!
This has been YumiGettaa Ako!Good night🦅🦅🦅
#hello pro blog#17ki#17ki members#ako yumigeta#getta#gettaa#haruka inoue#hello pro#hello project#hello project blog#morning musume 23#Mm23#17ki member#yumigeta ako#Morning Musume#getta translations#getageta#hello project blog translations#hello project member#hello pro blog translations#morning musume blog translations#morning musume translations#morning musume blog#morning musume members#sakura oda#Oda sakura#11ki#japanese idol#japanese#japan
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Music Monday #229: aespa - Better Things release: August 2023 genre: Kpop cw: little bit of flashing, an "it's complicated" body image warning *
Oh I know, it's been a hot minute since I did one of these, hasn't it? You know you missed me and my Kpop nonsense. ;)
Sure, it's way too late to declare a song of the summer, at least up here in the northern hemisphere, but if you were looking for a light summer bop, you could do worse than this light late-summer release from aespa. That up-tempo beat combined with fairly simple lyrics offered in mellow 2-4-part harmony means this requires an earworm warning - gods know I've caught myself humming this at all hours and often can't resist singing along when it comes up on my stations and playlists.
The official music video has a definite tropical vibes flare, even when they're swallowed by the giant fish. The whole thing is a bit lush - from tropical plants to decorative costumes to special effects to fun dance moves, every watch-through I find myself getting caught by something else. The short skirts, the long nails, the acrylic puzzle Ningning's playing with and that we've seen before, the whale sounds at the end. How any of them are supposed to seriously do anything with those decora nails is a whole ass thing all right. XD
From the start, aespa has been a lore group, although this video feels less like story and more like rest. The song is self-referential rather than anything to do with the hero version of aespa or their virtual world counterparts, although considering they step through their fridge into another world, one could perhaps argue the fact that the video is indeed about their hero personas. It's a dream, of course, complete with being swallowed by a giant fish whose insides are ... a ball pit? Well, no one's ever said dreams have to make a whole lot of sense. A fancy goldfish is perhaps a strange choice of avatar to call the girls back to work, but then again....
In addition to the music video, there are also two official performance versions (performance video and performance stage), the latter of which in particular puts me in my gender feels. And then, if that wasn't enough, last week they released an animated version which is drawn in a different style than previous animations, but just as full of magic or maybe just virtual reality.
"Better Things" and its remixes are out now wherever you like to get your Kpop fix! This is no longer their most recent release, but ZOOM ZOOM is going to have to wait a bit. ;)
* here's the thing - body image is a huge problem in Kpop as idols are held to sometimes ridiculous beauty standards. Women especially must be beautiful - slender body lines, long hair, flawless skin - but it's an incredibly thin line between acceptable and not. Aespa in general and Karina in particular have a history of getting a lot of shit from fans for being on the wrong sides of the line and while I feel a certain way about warning about body image when the girls are just being themselves, Karina feels especially tiny in this video. Believe me, I'm well aware that outward appearance is not a way to measure health, but I also know body image is a whole tangled Thing, so do what you need to do to take care of yourself, lovelies. Want to see Music Monday deep dives more often? Sponsor a song selection! For the low, low price of one (1) KoFi, I'll write up the song of your choice. ANY song of your choice. Yes, even that one that's been played to death. Yes, your obscure faves too. With sponsors, I can stop skipping weeks and falling further and further behind in the releases! Sponsor a current CB for the next open Music Monday slot or sponsor a throwback for a Thursday feature! But seriously, if you've been enjoying my selections and analyses, we (me and the foster kittens) would love a KoFi in thanks. DW | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord | Twitch
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The Legacy of The Dark Knight
With Oppenheimer generating so much talk about Christopher Nolan, there still might be some that are maybe unfamiliar with his work, and why this director/writer/producer is so highly regarded. In short, one of the main reasons why he has become so well-known is because of his take on The Caped Crusader in The Dark Knight, and with 2023 celebrating 15 years since its release, we thought it might be a good time to reflect on the movie, and attempt to uncover why it achieved such critical acclaim. The Legacy of The Dark Knight When Batman Begins was released in 2005, fans were not ready for what Christopher Nolan was going to do to one of the most iconic superheroes to ever exist. He stripped back that ridiculous feeling that emitted from predecessors like Batman Forever & Batman & Robin and based his vision of Bruce Wayne/Batman in a much more solidified way. Ultimately, it felt like Bruce Wayne was living in the same world as us. With a stomping soundtrack from Hans Zimmer (You can hear it right now can’t you?) along with a whole host of legendary performances from Cillian Murphy (Fun fact, Cillian Murphy auditioned for the role of Batman before becoming Scarecrow), Liam Neeson (Ra's al Ghul), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), to name just a few, Batman Begins was a monumental hit and a refreshing reminder of how important this DC character is. As the title suggests, it was just a taste of things to come, and what came next was something truly special... If you ask anyone in the street to name a Batman villain, the first one that would come to mind for most is The Joker! When it was confirmed that The Joker would be making an appearance in The Dark Knight, fans and cinema attendees alike went into complete overdrive with excitement. Let’s not forget though, that at the time, fans were skeptical of Nolan’s decision to pick Heath Ledger as The Joker due to him being famous for projects that some thought weren’t in a similar vein to the seriousness of The Dark Knight, but when the credits started to roll, Nolan earned trust, and Heath proved every single doubter wrong. Heath Ledger’s take on The Joker is nothing short of iconic, and as someone who watched this film in the cinema when it came out, I can still remember just how silent the audience was every time Heath did a scene, his laugh, and frenzied presence was terrifying. Michael Caine famously mentioned how scared he was to just be on set with Heath when he was in costume as The Joker, and I believe him. With his unfortunate passing, The Dark Knight is just a snapshot of Heath’s diverse acting ability, and as a viewer, you can’t help but wonder what incredible roles he would have taken on next if he was still with us. A tragic loss to say the least. Now, I haven’t mentioned Christian Bale’s take on Batman yet, so let’s get stuck into that. In short, he is in my opinion one of the best Batman’s we have ever seen. He nailed the voice, and his nipple-free look as the Batman itself, is a modern, spot-on style, that again harks realism. Christian glues the plot together, he gives us a professional and streamlined Batman/Bruce Wayne, whilst giving space for supporting characters to thrive. Also, when it comes to cinematography, it doesn’t get much cooler than watching his version of Batman cruise around the streets of Gotham on his Batmobile, or Batbike, with Hans Zimmer’s heart-pounding soundtrack racing in the background. Going back to realism, that is certainly another key reason why this movie has lasted the test of time, and practical effects are nothing short of legendary here. There’s that classic sequence where Nolan flips a whole truck (this is NOT CGI), and the opening sequence with zip lines, clowns, and a bank robbery, instantly pulls in the viewer. Encasing the movie are standout performances from Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes), Gary Oldman (James Gordon), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) and not forgetting a breakout role from David Dastmalchian. Just like Batman Begins, The Dark Knight features an outstanding cast. There are a ton of reasons why The Dark Knight is so well known (You could write an essay on the importance of each main character alone!), and this article only covers just some of those crucial points, so why not celebrate its 15th anniversary by revisiting the movie today. Read the full article
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