#86 acting credits

[meatychunks]

Conan the Barbarian and how it correlates to Mike's inner struggles

I know the topic of Mike's bedroom has been talked to death, whether it's the one-way sign or the buff dragon with nipples poster. However, rarely do I ever see talks on the Conan the Barbarian poster or even on the film itself, which is properly due to the film being somewhat notorious for its terrible treatment of women.

Whenever I do see it, people usually stick it up to being a part of his gay sexual awaking, which was sprinkled throughout his introduction in this season. And while I agree that's a part of it, I believe that they choose this film specifically rather than its sequel (which was only two years old in 86') for its depictions of minorities and masculinity to perfectly sum up his struggles with not only conformity but also toxic masculinity of the 1980s.

A HEADS-UP WITH TALKS OF SEXISM, RAPE, HOMOPHOBIA PLUS BREIF NUDITY.

Let's start with how it portrays sensitivity among men. Right off the bat, we see the film favours traditional masculine values with a conversation between Conan and his father shortly before the massacre of his tribe by the doom cult, with him telling Conan not to trust anyone and allow himself to be vulnerable, only trusting the steel of his sword which, in the film's own words, was founded by men.

Rather than this being a critique on how men are often been forced out of emotional availability by generations before them, it's taken as words of wisdom that Conan takes to heart as we see him from a scrawny kid that lost everything to a muscular killing machine, stripped from sensitivity and is seen by other characters as the prime specimen of man.

Male sensitivity is often depicted as a weakness and is unsurprisingly lumped with homosexuality as something to be ridiculed. We see this as Conan tries to sneak into the temple of the cult by pretending to be a shy and nervous bystander while wearing flowers (to which he says "for a girl" when being asked the purpose of them the scene prior), this attracts the attention of a priest who makes suggestive comments about his body all while caressing his chest. He asks to continue their discussion in private, an obvious implication of a hookup, and ends up getting killed by Conan.

Not only it's presented as something antagonistic with the act of desiring another man seen as something perverse, but also, the implications of GNC men shouldn't be taken seriously and only seen as a target for sexual assault.

Traditional masculinity carries into how women are represented. With it not only their screen time is few and far between but also only serve as sexual reward to male characters or to show off their power, women who don't fall into this category are usually ridiculed by our main protagonist, often being called sluts or hoes. They are disregarded shortly after their introduction by being killed and/or raped (including a woman being raped by Conan during his montage to power).

The only recurring female character is Valeria (we only find that's her name in the film's credits, so take that what you will) who gives the illusion of a strong character with being able to fight aside the male characters and her snarky attribute during her introduction, but ultimately ends up being a tool for Conan by falling into the wife role with her never being able to have true goals of her own. She disappears from narrative, only to show up towards the end for a tiny bit to meet her demise.

The poster reflects her role in the narrative with its composition, with her kneeling down so the viewers' eyes lead up to the main piece Conan, just an add-on to show his power.

Now that's not to say it doesn't cater to female viewers (and unknowingly to queer men) by taking full advantage of the female gaze with multiple lingering close-up shots of Conan, some framed in suggestive angles and even scenes only exiting just to show off Arnold Schwarzenegger's muscular frame (take the random sex scene with the witch for example). And while there is female nudity, like women in this film, it's treated with a lot less care with being in wide shots and going just as quickly as it appears.

Which finally brings us to this film's queer coding. It's common for macho action films to fall into homoerotic undertones due to their misogynistic tendencies, this film being no different with it being parodied in other media, even during its initial release, particularly in underground comics.

An example I like to bring up is Conan's "first time" in a fight. He's confused and nervous as he's thrust into battle bare apart from a loin cloth and is attacked by his opponent, but as the fight progresses, he gets more confident and begins to relish in it.

Overall, the film does serve escapism for it's male audience with its power fantasy elements, but rather of it being done through our main protagonist, it's done through the world where the narrative inhabits with it taking pride that worth is achieved through physical strength, wealth and sexual conquest. And while the narrative is the classic trope of the underdog going against a figure of high power, even they can't help finding his lifestyle appealing.

Now....

What does this tell us about Mike?

Well, we know that his family often emotionally neglect him and encourage him to give up vulnerability (i.e., making him give up his childhood toys that have emotional value and viewing his outbursts as just "delinquent behaviour").

His poor treatment towards El starting when they are together at the start of season 3. Starting off somewhat small with implicitly being disinterested in her when they are actually alone, take their conversation during his bike ride to the mall during his introduction or him jumping on the first chance he got on reducing their time together when Hopper stepped in (despite going against his wishes when it came to looking for Will in season 1).

However, when she starts to gain some independence through Max and stops being "his pet", rather than admit his mistakes and apologise like how Lucas does with Max or how he does to Will shortly after upsetting him, he starts using sexist language and starts to get controlling when said independence is applied to her use of powers.

His implicit homophobia during his projection, when Will (Who is canonically considered GNC during this time) implies his changed in behaviour as something negative.

And this might be a stretch, but maybe him tying his self-worth to whether or not he is able to provide and protect is also due to the societal pressures of gender roles and him feeling inferior to El could possibly be a hint of jealousy due to her being able to fulfil said roles despite her gender.

And we all know he has a certain type when it comes to men.

#stranger things #mike wheeler #gay mike wheeler #byler #it's impiled so it counts #less of an analysis and more of a ramble after rewatching one of my gay awakening films after like five years #conan the barbarian #st #character analysis #Had to rewrite this three times due to tumblrs dogshit layout #This post is a bit all over the place so let me know if anythings confusing

[svtminji]

SEVENTEEN’s MINJI PROFILE

mizuki doi  ❪ japanese: 土井 瑞希, hepburn: doi mizuki, born august 15, 1995 ❫, known mononymously as minji  ❪ korean: 민지; japanese: ミンジ ❫, is a japanese-american singer based in south korea. she the only female japanese member of the south korean co-ed group seventeen, formed in 2015 by pledis entertainment. known for her energetic and cheerful personality, she has received recognition in both south korea and abroad, and her popularity has been credited with helping to improve relations between japan and south korea. in gallup korea's annual music poll for 2018, minji was voted the 17th most popular idol in south korea, the highest-ranked japanese individual in the poll. she ranked 15th in the 2019 poll. in 2019, minji also ranked as the most popular female k-pop idol in a survey of soldiers completing mandatory military service in south korea.

｡ ﾟ ꒰ঌ ✦໒꒱ ༘*.ﾟ‣     BASIC INFO

୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ NAMES -> birth name — doi mizuki english name — mariana doi cortez hiragana — どい みづき kanji — 土井 瑞希 ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ NAME MEANING -> mizuki — from japanese, 瑞 (mizu) meaning "felicitous omen, auspicious" and 希 (ki) meaning "hope”. however, as a girl's name it is most commonly written with the characters for "beauty" and "moon". mariana — is a feminine name of portuguese origin similar to marianna, meaning "star of the sea." traditionally used by families in portuguese and spanish-speaking countries, mariana has been popular in the u.s. since the 1980s. ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ NICKNAMES -> seventeen — mizu, miji, jiji jeonghan — mizuji carats — jinny, human prada, shiba inu parents — mari, mariposa ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ BIRTHDATE & LOCATION -> birthdate — august 15, 1995 age — 28 zodiac sign — leo birthplace — fresno, california, united states hometown — los angeles, california residency — fresno, california ❪ 1995 - 1996 ❫, los angeles, california ❪ 1996 - 2013 ❫, seoul, south korea ❪ 2013 - present ❫ nationality — japanese-american ethnicity — japanese ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ LANGUAGES -> korean — 90% japanese — 95% english — american, 100% spanish — latin america, 80% ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ PHYSICAL DETAILS -> height — 164 cm ❪ 5'5" ❫ weight — 47 kg ❪ 107 lbs ❫ blood type — a negative hair color — brown ❪ naturally ❫ eye color — brown ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ CLAIMS -> face — sana ❪ twice ❫ vocal — sana ❪ twice ❫ / seulgi ❪ red velvet ❫ rap — yeri ❪ red velvet ❫ dance — bada lee ❪ choreographer ❫ / sana ❪ twice ❫ ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ GENDER & SEXUALITY -> gender — female pronouns — she / her sexual orientation — non-labeled relationship status — engaged ❪ est. 2023 ❫

｡ ﾟ ꒰ঌ ✦໒꒱ ༘*.ﾟ‣     CAREER

୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ NAME -> stage name — minji ❪ pronounced meen-jee ❫ hangul — 민지 origin — since she has japanese descent, she wasn’t completely sure on using her birth-name and asked what could be the best possible names for her. minji was soon chosen as it. ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ INDUSTRY WISE -> company — sm entertainment ❪ 2007 - 2013 ❫, pledis entertainment ❪ 2013 - 2020 ❫, hybe labels ❪ 2020 - present ❫ trainee period — 8 years ❪ 2007 - 2015 ❫ dancing period — ballet ❪ 2000 - 2013 ❫, jazz ❪ 2003 - 2013 ❫, pointe ❪ 2009 - 2013 ❫, contemporary ❪ 2007 - 2015 ❫, hip-hop ❪ 2007 - 2015 ❫ ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ ENDORSEMENTS -> prada — brand ambassador graff — ambassador miisha — ambassador espoir — ambassador ysl beauty — muse a'pieu — model wakemake — model ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ SEVENTEEN WISE -> debut age — 19 ❪ seventeen ❫, 22 ❪ solo ❫ group — seventeen subunit — performance unit positions — co-leader, main dancer, visual, face of the group, sub vocalist representative emojis — 🦢 / 🌺 representative color — light blue individual fandom — ministers ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ RANKING -> vocal — 9 / 10 rap — 6 / 10 dance — 10 / 10 visual ❪ korean standard ❫ — 8 / 10 stage presence — 8 / 10 acting — 8 / 10 producing — 4 / 10 songwriting — 7 / 10 choreography — 10 / 10 leadership — 8 / 10 public speaking — 8/ 10 overall ranking — 86 / 100

｡ ﾟ ꒰ঌ ✦໒꒱ ༘*.ﾟ‣     PERSONAL

୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ MBTI -> intp-t, the logician description — a logician ❪ INTP ❫ is someone with the introverted, intuitive, thinking, and prospecting personality traits. these flexible thinkers enjoy taking an unconventional approach to many aspects of life. they often seek out unlikely paths, mixing willingness to experiment with personal creativity. ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ EDUCATION -> whitney high school — 2009 - 2013 ucla — 2016 - 2020 ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ PHOBIAS -> claustrophobia — fear of closed spaces acrophobia — fear of heights autophobia — fear of being alone ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ ALLERGIES -> pollen — flower pollen ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ LIKES -> taking long walks, hard liquor, animal crossing & minecraft, decorating, decluttering, gossip, driving, monster energy, working out, gaming, building lego sets, painting ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ DISLIKES -> being late to events, camping, animal abuse, jump scares, creepy dolls, tomatoes, onions, pickles & pickle juice, playing horror games ୧ ‧₊˚ 🎐 ⋅ FAVORITES -> color — blue, gray & black food — ice cream, bimbimbap, mochi, kimchi, tacos, burritos, tamales drink — mango fruit lemonade, sparkling water, blue raspberry flavored drinks, mountain dew, jarritos movies — the batman, twilight, forest gump, a silent voice, la la land, kill bill, guillermo del toro’s pinocchio, american psycho tv series — criminal minds, euphoria, south park, breaking bad, one piece, jujustu kaisen, spy x family, death note, the crown, the queen’s gambit, teresa, bridgerton, narcos emojis — 🫶🤍👍😭☺️🫡 number — 2 season — fall

#svtminji #seventeen oc #seventeen 14th member #💾 ; minji’s profile #kpop #kpop oc #seventeen female addition #seventeen female member #seventeen female oc #kpopidol #kpop original character #kpop gg #fictional kpop oc #fictional idol oc #fictional idol community #fictional kpop idol #fake kpop idol #seventeen added member #seventeen addition #kpop idol

[xonaisu]

┈─ 𖧷 grief is perhaps the last and final translation of love. this is the last act of living someone. and you realize that it will never end. you get to do this to translate this last act of love for the rest of your life.

BIRTH NAME ⸝⸝ naiyana chantarangsu

STAGE NAME ⸝⸝ NAISU

RACE ⸝⸝ asian

NATIONALITY ⸝⸝ thai

ETHNICITY ⸝⸝ thai

GENDER ⸝⸝ female

PRONOUNS ⸝⸝ she / her / hers

SEXUALITY ⸝⸝ unlabeled

HEIGHT ⸝⸝ five foot six ( 5’6 / 167.64 cm )

FACECLAIM ⸝⸝ namtan tipnaree ( tipnaree weerawatnodom )

𖧷

DATE OF BIRTH ⸝⸝ october fifth, nineteen ninety-eight ( 10.05.98 )

PLACE OF BIRTH ⸝⸝ bangkok, thailand

ZODIAC SIGN ⸝⸝ libra

CHINESE ZODIAC ⸝⸝ tiger

MBTI ⸝⸝ ISTJ ( introverted, sensing, thinking, judging )

LANGUAGES ⸝⸝

ENGLISH ( 100 % )

THAI ( 100 % )

KOREAN ( 86 % )

JAPANESE ( 73 % )

FAMILY ⸝⸝

SAKDA CHANTARANGSU ( biological father )

NIN BANNARASEE ( biological mother )

JEONG JIHO ( adoptive mother )

𖧷

BORN IN THE CAPITAL OF THAILAND, naiyana’s introduction to the world was bloody and wretched. full moon hanging outside the window like an omen, she would emerge screaming as her mother’s breaths faded in the delivery room. stricken with grief, it wouldn’t take much for her father to fall down the lowly rabbit hole of neglect and despair. to his credit, her father tried. enrolled her in school, tried his best to attended her spelling bees, hung her quizzes with full marks on the fridge. but he, too, would be consumed by swirling dark thoughts, leaving her naiyana with no immediate family willing to take her in. the only thing he left her with was an ominous sit down and a crumpled piece of paper with a series of numbers.

‘if you don’t see daddy come home in the morning to make your breakfast, call this number okay? a nice lady will come pick you up. daddy loves you so much… he’s just so tired. and he misses mommy badly.’

that nice lady would turn out to be a madame jeong jiho, wife to the late ceo of jeong & co. naiyana was whisked away from thailand with nothing but her clothes and the locket her father wore containing a picture of her parents at their wedding. insisting on being called just jiho to the young girl, naiyana was brought up in a style of luxury—the perfect little girl. etiquette, professionalism, class. she was a doll, jiho’s doll, dressed in frills and pretty pinks to forget the broken family she came from. and when she wasn’t crying for an emptiness she could not understand, she danced. she danced because jiho loved when she danced.

school is a flurry of names and faces she does not remember. graduation is a ceremony dulled by endless pictures and gifts from strangers she’s never met. she might have fallen in love, once. she doesn’t remember her name. only that jiho caught them behind a pillar and it sent a tremor through her bones that hasn’t quite left since. she danced because her m jiho loved when she danced, enrolled in singing lessons, and was whisked to seoul to audition at a company she didn’t know. because she ought to put her talent to good use, no?

𖧷

COMPANY ⸝⸝ GLASSHOUSE INC.

OCCUPATION ⸝⸝

IDOL / SOLOIST ( 2022 — )

TRAINING PERIOD ⸝⸝ 2019 - 2022

REPRESENTATIVE EMOJI(S) ⸝⸝ 🌑 ( official ), 🎀 ( fan selected )

FANDOM NAME ⸝⸝ moonsu ( official )

#fake idol community #fake idol oc #fictional idol soloist #fictional kpop community #fictional idol oc #fictional idol community #fictional kpop soloist #fictional kpop idol #fictional idol company #fictional kpop oc

[itsjustjelly]

[SPOILERS for JRWI Riptide up until episode 86]

As someone who adores Chip's characterization in JRWI, I feel like not a lot of people give him credit for all the development he's gone through.

Of course Chip was inherently selfish towards the beginning, and it's obvious when you look at the entire Loffinlot arc and the fight in episode 15.

But Chip has grown so much since then, and a lot of people seem to overlook that. He has gone out of his way to show his crew that he cares about them time and time again. Not only that, but he's also shown that he's grown from being selfish to incredibly selfless.

In the Noctis arc, Chip gave up a chance to free himself from the nightmare curse to instead save the people that died during the murder mystery party. He gave Ichabod the insane butter knife with nothing in return. He rowed out into a storm and got himself struck by lightning to free his friend. He spent an entire night building an arena from scratch just to try and make his friend happy.

For a while, Chip has stopped pulling pranks or making jokes, he cares and it's clear, even if he's not great at showing emotion. He wants the best for his crew and would do anything to make them succeed, even when in his mind, the best thing for them would be for him to leave. Despite everything that's happened to him he still cares. I feel like because Chip isn't as open to comforting or being comforted, people act like he cares less, which simply isn't true.

From a writing standpoint, Chip is Incredible and has gone through crazy development that goes pretty far back into the campaign. Calling him a bastard doesn't even really fit anymore, because really, when was the last time he did something bastardy in the campaign?

Anyway I'm a Chip apologist and if he ever did anything wrong, no he didn't, Chip solos, only takes dubs, goodnight

#jrwi riptide #jrwi spoilers #jrwi #jrwi chip #jrwi 86

[petspeopletogether]

From @white_coffee_cat on Insta: Pets are family! See me wearing the bowtie my human made me. When we got Coffee he quickly became a part of our family, bringing joy to our lives. He also gives us unconditional love that we can’t find anywhere else. Did you know that even if you aren’t a pet owner, there are ways you can help keep pets and people together?

Here are some:

🌟 Short-term Foster: Provide a temporary home, endless love, and care. If you happen to know someone, whether it’s a close friend or neighbor, who is going through a huge life change such as a move, a job transition, or a medical emergency, you can make a meaningful difference by offering to care for their beloved pets during this time.

💕 Donate: Donate to local food pantries, pet groomers, pet hospitals, or veterinary clinics to help those who may need some assistance in caring for their pet.

🤝 Reunite: Help bring families and pets back together. If you encounter a lost pet, you can knock on your neighbors’ door near where you found them. You can also check for ID tags or microchips, post their picture on your local community social media page, and keep them safe until you find their family.

🌟 Did you know 86% of pet owners credit their furry companions for boosting mental well-being?

🌟 Join me in being a game-changer! Whether providing a temporary haven during crises or reuniting a wandering soul, every act of kindness counts. Learn how to #BeAHelper at PetsAndPeopleTogether.org and be part of keeping pets with their families. Let’s make a difference, one paw (and bow tie) at a time! 🐾🏠

#pets #pets and people together #be a helper #please reblog

[fivegems]

Rolling Stone ‘The 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music’

#16: Lucifer (SHINee) - After having a monster debut with ‘Replay,’ SHINee established themselves as one of K-pop’s most respected boy  groups for their boundary-pushing production and performance concepts. Their daring aesthetics are exemplified by the punchy electro-pop hit ‘Lucifer’, Whose insistent chorus likens an angel-faced lover to the devil herself– not to mention a cowriting credit for a then-18-year-old Bebe Rexha. While it’s unison-sung refrain is immediately sticky, it’s verses and post-chorus allow each member to showcase the individual personalities that make SHINee such a commanding act. –M.J

#86: Move (TAEMIN)- Having already made an impact as the wunderkind of forward-thinking boy group SHINee, Taemin opened doors for the androgynous expression in K-pop with his 2017 solo single, “Move.” Combining Eighties New Wave synths with sensual R&B melodies, the pulsating track captures delicately shifting dynamics between lovers. “Your elegant gestures/your subtle gaze,” he whisper-sings, building a sense of enigmatic seduction. These phrases were set to moves by choreographer Koharu Sugawara that are equally fluid; Taemin said his intention was to “[mix] both feminine and masculine movements together.” though the song wasn’t a commercial smash, its genderless choreography became a sensation among idols and dancers, and it remains icons for its alternative representation of sexuality. –M.H.K

#shinee #onew #jonghyun #key #minho #taemin #230720 #articles #infos #e:hard #tm:mentions #tm:articles #tm:hard #move #bebe rexha #lucifer

[offender42085]

Post 862

Zachary Quinn Bieski, Michigan inmate 480452, born 1993, incarceration intake in 2018 at age 25, scheduled for earliest release 11/19/2032 with full release on 11/19/2042

Homicide, Child Abuse

Tattoos:

-1- Chest - Longhorn bull skull -2- Left Arm - Left arm full sleeve containing a deer, fox, hawk, owl and wolf -3- Right Arm - elk skull & "Pabst Blue Ribbon" -4- Right Forearm -5- Right Hip - "Amber" -6- Right Leg - Orange Browning deer logo

A Midland man has been sentenced to 15 to 25 years in prison for the death of his 20-month-old daughter.

Zachary Quinn Bieski, 25, was sentenced on charges of second-degree homicide and second-degree child abuse for the death of his daughter, Delilah Quinn Bieski, last fall.

Bieski and his attorney, Robert J. Dunn of Bay City, stood directly in front of Midland County Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Beale who levied the sentence for the second-degree murder charge. For child abuse in the second degree, Bieski also will serve 86 months to 10 years. Both sentences are to run concurrently. Bieski was given credit for 311 days in jail.

“It is unfortunate that this is the defendant’s first criminal conviction of any sort,” Beale said.

A packed courtroom included some family members wearing memorial T-shirts that reminded everyone of their, “SUPERHERO Delilah.”

“The very person that the child should look to for safety and comfort is the very person that took away a life. There were so many things along this timeline where things might have been reversed. Where things might have been done to prevent the ultimate result,” Beale added.

Before Beale pronounced the sentence he gave Bieski a chance to comment.

“I feel horrible for my actions and all the pain and suffering I’ve caused the family,” Bieski said as he choked up.

After Beale pronounced the sentence, a Midland County deputy ushered the teary eyed Bieski out of the courtroom.

Both Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks and Beale mentioned that hopefully others will learn the terrible consequences that an action might have.

“As he has acknowledged, Mr. Bieski did an act that he should have known better, and he should have known how serious of an injury it could cause, and it did cause, and it took little Delilah away from us forever,” Brooks said. “Just the slightest decision and bad act can have tremendous consequences on the child and family forever.”

At an earlier plea hearing, Bieski admitted responsibility while pleading guilty to charges of second-degree homicide and second-degree child abuse in the death of his daughter.

Bieski was originally charged with first-degree homicide, first-degree child abuse and second-degree homicide.

At the plea hearing, Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks described the plea offer, which entailed dismissing both first-degree counts and an agreed upon sentence of 15 to 25 years in prison for second-degree homicide. The maximum sentence for second-degree child abuse is 10 years in prison.

Bieski has been jailed without bond since the conclusion of the Midland Police investigation that began on Oct. 26 when officers were called to MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland for a report of an injured child.

Delilah was transferred to Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw, where she died the next day.

An affidavit filed in the case states investigators learned Delilah had been in the care of Bieski's girlfriend when the child fell to the floor, began having a seizure and stopped breathing. The girlfriend dialed 911 and was instructed to perform CPR until paramedics arrived.

Doctors found Delilah had suffered a skull fracture on the back of her head, retinal hemorrhaging and bleeding in the brain, the affidavit states.

3f

[justforbooks]

“He’d kill us if he got the chance.” Those words, spoken by a bespectacled, beige-suited young man (Frederic Forrest) as he wanders through Union Square in San Francisco with his lover (Cindy Williams), are secretly recorded by the surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) in The Conversation (1974). Their meaning, mulled over at length, becomes vital in unlocking the story’s mysteries. One of the key thrillers of its decade, Francis Ford Coppola’s film was also an eloquent expression of paranoia in a country reeling from Watergate.

Forrest, who has died aged 86, was the ideal actor to throw certainties into doubt. In The Conversation, he is bookish, furtive and opaque. The audience never becomes properly acquainted with him, though recordings of his voice and image are repeatedly offered up for our scrutiny so that the act of studying his expressions and intonations becomes central to experiencing the film. Without realising it, we channel a good deal of energy into deciphering his motives.

If we are never quite successful, that may explain why Forrest did not become the star that some predicted he would. He was a consummate character actor, too complex and mutable to be limited to any persona. This seemed to be a source of mild frustration to him. “I would like not to have to fit into somebody else’s story and have my scenes cut because I’m too strong,” he said in 1979.

It was in that year that he was seen in the two films which brought him closest to stardom. Working again with Coppola on the Vietnam war epic Apocalypse Now, based on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Forrest played Chef, member of a platoon led by Willard (Martin Sheen), which ventures into Cambodia to kill the wayward Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando).

Forrest’s role here was nothing like his one in The Conversation, demanding instead a raucous, baffled bluster which is seen most demonstrably when he suffers a breakdown after a nocturnal encounter with a tiger. His wide, startled eyes, soup-strainer moustache and floppy hat with its upturned brim lent him a goofy, knockabout air. Even amid the film’s widespread carnage, his grisly eventual demise was strongly felt.

Also in 1979, he starred in The Rose, directed by Mark Rydell, whom he credited with teaching him how to “personalise” his acting through looseness and spontaneity. Bette Midler played a hard-living rock star based on Janis Joplin; Forrest was the sunny-eyed, straight-shooting Texan chauffeur with whom she connects emotionally and romantically. He received an Oscar nomination for the performance.

Coppola used him in two further projects. He was cast – or, arguably, miscast – as the dreamy romantic lead, a mechanic at the Reality Wrecking Company, in the ill-starred musical One from the Heart (1981). The movie was shot at crippling expense on glitzy sets designed to evoke a garish, heightened Las Vegas. He also played an automobile engineer in Coppola’s Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988).

He was at his most winning in Martha Coolidge’s intelligent teen romcom Valley Girl (1983), in which he was the adorably laidback manager of a health food restaurant whose daughter (Deborah Foreman) is dating a Hollywood punk, played by Nicolas Cage. That young actor, who happened to be Coppola’s nephew, may have stolen the show, but seeing the two men together made it feel as if Forrest was passing on the mantle of risk-taker to a new generation.

Born in Waxahachie, Texas, he was the son of Virginia (nee McSpadden) and Frederic, who ran a furniture business and owned greenhouses from which he sold plants to local shops. Frederic junior was educated at Texas Christian University, in Fort Worth. His acting ambitions led him to New York, where he studied under Sanford Meisner. After a stint in the army, he made his stage debut in the off-Broadway show Viet Rock in 1966, then had small parts in both the 1968 stage version and 1969 film adaptation of Futz, a comedy about a farmer in love with a pig.

His first major screen roles were in When the Legends Die (1972), in which he starred as an 18-year-old Native American rodeo rider – though Forrest was 36 at the time – who is mentored by a seasoned veteran (Richard Widmark); and the crime drama The Don is Dead (1973). He played the title role in Larry (1974), the factually based story of a man wrongly admitted to a psychiatric institution for 26 years.

He also appeared in The Missouri Breaks (1976), a western with Brando and Jack Nicholson, and played Lee Harvey Oswald on television in Ruby and Oswald (1978). He was twice cast as the novelist Dashiell Hammett, first in Wim Wenders’s wryly speculative Hammett (1982), which proposed that the writer was caught up in a real-life mystery that inspired him to pen The Maltese Falcon, and later in the TV movie Citizen Cohn (1992), where he suavely resists the efforts of the virulent lawyer Roy Cohn (James Woods) to intimidate him into naming names during the anti-Communist witchhunts.

Other films include Abel Ferrara’s Elmore Leonard adaptation Cat Chaser, Costa-Gavras’s war-crimes drama Music Box (both 1989), the tardy Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes (1990), directed by Nicholson, and Trauma, a rare US excursion for the Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. In the thriller Falling Down (also 1993), Forrest had a scene-stealing turn as a cartoonishly villainous racist in a Los Angeles military surplus store.

On television, he starred in Stephen Frears’s Saigon: Year of the Cat (1983), written by David Hare, and was part of the sprawling ensemble in the acclaimed western Lonesome Dove (1989). In the BBC2 series Die Kinder (1990), he played a private detective hired by a woman (Miranda Richardson) whose children have been kidnapped by their father. John Frankenheimer directed him in the US civil war drama Andersonville (1996).

He also starred in The Brave, the only film to be directed by Johnny Depp, and Wenders’s The End of Violence (both 1997). His final appearance was alongside Sean Penn and Jude Law in All the King’s Men (2006), a political drama adapted from the Robert Penn Warren novel previously filmed in 1949.

His two marriages, to Nancy Ann Whitaker (1960 to 1963) and the actor Marilu Henner (1980 to 1983) both ended in divorce.

🔔 Frederic Fenimore Forrest Jr, actor, born 23 December 1936; died 23 June 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #Frederic Forrest #in memoriam

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

James Gandolfini as Cousin Marv in The Drop (2014). James died one month after filming ended for The Drop. Jim was born in Westwood, New Jersey, and had 50 acting credits from 1987. His entries among my best 1001 are She's So Lovely, The Man Who Wasn't There, and Enough Said.

He is best known as Tony Soprano on 86 episodes of The Sopranos 1999-2007.

#james gandolfini #drop

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins (Taiwan, 1991)

We continue our exploration of the Gaijin Live-Action Trilogy with the second live-action adaptation of Dragon Ball, a movie called “Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins.”

I’d like to think the Taiwan studio behind this movie saw South Korea’s “Fight, Son Goku!  Win, Son Goku!” in 1990, and was inspired to make their own unlicensed film a year later.  But despite a number of similarities, the two movies have different styles.  “Fight/Win” was a very juvenile kind of film, using puppets and theme-park-style costumes to capture the cartoony aesthetic of the franchise.  It adapted Akira Toriyama’s butt-fart-poop jokes and worried that the movie might be too highbrow for its audience, so they threw in a scene where Turtle bites Master Roshi’s scrotum, and several moments where characters grab each other by hooking their fingers in each other’s nostrils.

The Magic Begins is probably also aimed at children, but it has a little more dignity.  It’s basically a standard kung-fu movie with Dragon Ball characters and situations.  For the most part, it’s a direct remake of the first animated Dragon Ball movie from 1986, what we now call Curse of the Blood Rubies.  So let’s be clear about the lineage here. 

First there was the original story arc, covered in the first 23 chapters of the Dragon Ball manga from November 1984 to May 1985.  You know the tale: Goku meets Bulma, they go searching for Dragon Balls, and eventually meet Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar, then end up having to thwart the evil scheme of Emperor Pilaf. 

Then, there was the Dragon Ball anime, which retold that same story arc in the first thirteen episodes across the spring of 1986.

Then there was the December 1986 movie, originally just called Dragon Ball, then renamed “The Legend of Shenron”, and then “Curse of the Blood Rubies”.  This tweaked the plot by replacing Pilaf with a different villain, King Gurumes, who was planning to wish for a cure from the curse that had afflicted him. 

Then Korea adapts the anime into “Fight/Win” in 1990.

Finally you get “The Magic Begins” in 1991, which takes the plot of the ‘86 movie, swaps Pilaf back in, and makes a few other tweaks.

 So yeah, if you’re looking for something original out of this film, forget about it. 

I always have trouble telling this movie from the Korean one, so I’ve put up a helpful image at the top to remind me.  On the left is the flag of Taiwan, and on the right is a white parrot, who played the role of “Snow White”, this movie’s version of Puar.  You might be thinking of the Puar puppet that smoked a cigarette, but he’s in the Korean movie.  In Taiwan, it’s all about white parrots.  Or maybe that’s a parakeet.  Who knows?

Everyone got new names in this movie.  I don’t know if that was a feeble attempt to protect the studio from Toei’s legal team, or if someone genuinely thought this would make the characters wholly original.  I have a hard time keeping them all straight, so I’m probably going to just refer to them by their true identities.  But for the record, the aliases are as follows:

First up, we have the Pilaf Gang.  Pilaf (center) is known as “King Horn” in this movie.  On his left is Shu, aka “Zebrata”, and the blonde on the right is Mai, aka “Malilia.”   Shu and Mai act a lot more like Bongo and Pasta from Blood Rubies, but their visuals are completely unique, so I’ll give them some credit here.  As for “King Horn”, he looks like Pilaf if he were tall and competent.  He also has some super-powers, and he leads his troops into battle, so he really has no connection to King Gurumes at all, except for his role in the plot. 

Next we have Son Gohan (left), who is known as “Sparkle”.  On the right is his adopted grandson, Son Goku, known here as “Monkey Boy”.  During the movie, it’s said that “Monkey Boy” is the 91st Descendant of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from the ancient story “Journey into the West”. 

Then we have Pansy on the left, who is known as “Jade” in this movie.  If you don’t remember Pansy, that’s okay, she was a movie-only character who appeared in Blood Rubies, most notable for her all-red costume.  As “Jade”, she doesn’t stand out much here.  On the far right is Bulma, aka “Seetou”, and standing between her and Goku is Oolong, who is known as “Piggy”. 

Finally, we have Yamcha on the left, who is renamed “Westwood”, and on the right is Master Roshi, now called “Turtle Man”.   So for the most part, everyone’s pretty recognizable.  Roshi has a turtleshell, Oolong looks mostly human but his schtick is unmistakable, and the bad guys may be different but there’s no mistaking them for villains.  I think the only point of confusion would be Bulma and Jade, but they’re the only girls in this thing, and Jade is smaller, so it’s not too hard to work out who’s who. 

All right, let’s get started.  So the movie opens in Jade’s village, where her father, the new chief, receives the village’s prize Dragon Pearl in a ceremony.  Then Pilaf’s army invades, and basically mows down the entire population.  The chief and the local monks all pray in the temple.  Pilaf barges in and takes the Dragon Pearl by force, and kills everyone.  Since Pilaf already had a Dragon Pearl, that brings his count up to two.  And he already knows where to find the third. 

Meanwhile, Gohan and Goku are meditating in their home, when Gohan has a Bad Feeling About This.  He reminds Goku of their duty to protect their Four-Star Dragon Pearl, but doesn’t explain why they protect it or what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands.  Goku is confident that he can defend the Pearl, as he is armed with his magic staff, which can extend in length when he twirls it around.  Also it comes to him when he calls, sort of like the Silver Surfer’s board.

Then Gohan gives Goku a test of his abilities, by which I mean a pretty kick ass fight scene out in their back yard.  This is easily the coolest part of the movie.  I’m not familiar with the kung-fu genre at all, so maybe this movie is trash by comparison, but I’m pretty impressed with the action.  It’s hardly a breakthrough in special effects, and it’s definitely hokey, but it’s still fun, which is something I’ve needed after slogging through all of Dragon Ball GT.

This also seems to be the film’s main contribution to the wider Dragon Ball mythos.  We’ve never really gotten to see what life was like for Goku back when Grandpa Gohan was still alive.  All we know is based on their reunion during the Fortuneteller Baba arc, and various throwaway lines of Goku’s when he would reminisce about living alone in the woods with his grandfather. 

This is the first time I know of where I’ve gotten to see the kind of nonsense they might get up to during the day.  We know Gohan trained Goku, and this feels like the sort of exercises they would have had.  Just two guys bouncing off trees, shooting fireballs and trying to hit each other in the balls with the Nyoi’bo. 

I’m not sure why Gohan looks like Robin Williams playing Harry Potter, but otherwise, it seems pretty authentic.

For instance, at one point, Gohan catches Goku’s staff and uses it to fling Goku into the well  by their house.  But he doesn’t come up right away, so when Gohan gets concerned and goes to check on the boy...

BAM, Goku suckers him into taking a punch to the face.  Cool!

So Goku wins the test of strength, but then he loses a Rock-Paper-Scissors game and has to cook dinner, so he goes fishing.  And by “fish”, he means “crocodile”, because Goku doesn’t have a tail in this movie, so instead of doing what he did in the manga, he just swims up to a crocodile and shoves his staff into its mouth to incapacitate it.

On the way back, Goku runs into Bulma, and I think we pretty much know how that goes.  She nearly runs him down, but he stops her car with his super-strength, so she starts shooting, but the bullets don’t kill him.  Goku thinks she’s a monster or a witch, until she explains that she’s a girl, and thankfully we don’t get into the part where she offers to let him touch her butt.  However, once Bulma learns that Goku and his grandfather have the next Dragon Ball she’s looking for, she realizes that Gohan is in danger.  A couple of tanks filled with Pilaf’s goons drove past her earlier, and she now realizes they were headed for Gohan’s place.

But by the time they get there, it’s already too late.  Mai and Shu have wrecked the whole house and there’s no sign of Gohan.  Goku and Bulma chase after the bad guys but Bulma’s jeep gets destroyed.   This is playing out pretty much like Curse of the Blood Rubies, except the chase was aerial.  Also, when Bulma’s vehicles got wrecked, she would just get out another one from her store of Hoi Poi Capsules.   But none of that seems to exist in this movie, so instead Goku recruits an elephant to take them where they need to go.

This leads to the part where Oolong is chasing after Pansy, except... well, Oolong looks very problematic to say the least.  In Blood Rubies, he looked like a giant red monster, but here, he’s normal-sized, and the actor is covered in black paint. I’m... pretty sure this is not as accidental as the studio would probably like you to believe.

Fortunately, his true form just looks like a regular dude with a dumb haircut, so we can move on. 

Then Yamcha and Puar show up.  At first, Yamcha looks like a gunslinger from a Western film, but when Goku deflects his machine gun fire, he removes his hat and poncho to reveal...

Revolutionary Girl Utena?  They went to a lot of trouble to recreate the scene from Blood Rubies where Yamcha draws his sword all cool-like. 

It’s a pretty cool fight, which ends with them grabbing each other by the nostrils, a la Polnareff and Hol Horse in Stardust Crusaders, but then Bulma shows up and Yamcha loses his nerve. 

It’s basically the same as Blood Rubies, although Parrot Puar kind of changes things up.  He’s not a shapeshifter like the real Puar, so he doesn’t have a backstory with Oolong, so instead they just argue over who will win the Goku/Yamcha fight.  Then, after Yamcha flees in terror from Bulma, Puar mimics Bulma’s voice to terrorize him some more.

Later, Bulma asks Pansy about her backstory, and she reveals that her father was the village chief from the start of the movie.  Her parents were killed during Pilaf’s invasion, and before she died, Pansy’s mother told her to flee and seek help from Master Roshi.  Oolong has heard of Roshi and knows where he lives.  Bulma quickly realizes that Pilaf must be the one behind the attack on Goku’s house, and he must be planning to gather all seven Dragon Pearls so he can summon the Dragon and have his wish granted.  Pilaf said as much at the start of the film, and Bulma knows the same legend.  What the gang doesn’t know is that both Yamcha and Mai are spying on them, and they each run off to act on what they’ve learned. 

As in Blood Rubies, Yamcha plans to get the Dragon Pearls for himself and wish for courage around women, so he can finally marry.  Unlike Blood Rubies, he already had a Dragon Pearl in his treasure horde.  This doesn’t affect the plot much at all, but it’s treated like it’s important later.

So while he rides a jet ski (!) to get to Roshi’s island first, Mai reports back to Pilaf, who plans his own attack on Roshi and the others to shut them down before they can interfere.

So now we enter into the Roshi part of the movie.  I don’t know why, but the people who made this movie really love Master Roshi.  I say this because the scene on his island starts at about 42 minutes in and continues until the 65 minute mark.  Plotwise, it’s virtually identical to the Roshi’s Island scene from Blood Rubies, but it gets heavily expanded.  Here, we actually see Yamcha contact Roshi and warn him about Goku. That’s pretty superfluous, but what’s worse is that they show Roshi even before Yamcha arrives.  He tries to use the Magic Cloud, but it won’t obey his instructions.  In this continuity, he can stand on the cloud, but he falls off as soon as he tells it to do anything. 

When Goku and the others arrive, Goku and Yamcha fight a little, then Roshi settles things with the cloud, and since Goku can ride it, that proves he’s telling the truth, so Roshi gives it to him for keeps.   As for Yamcha, Roshi tells him he can’t leave the island unless he surrenders his own Dragon Ball to Bulma. Yamcha agrees, and when Bulma kisses him in gratitude...

His eyes turn into slot machine rollers and they land on hearts.  He panics and flees on his jet ski. 

But we’re still not done, because Roshi has his own Dragon Ball, and he offers it to Bulma in exchange for nudity.  As in Blood Rubies, Bulma convinces Oolong to impersonate her.  Oolong agrees, but demands nudity for himself as payment.  Bulma’s like “Dude, you can look exactly like me whenever you want.  You can see me nude any time you feel like it.”   That doesn’t seem to bother her much at all.  Anyway, Oolong-as-Bulma meets Roshi on his front steps and they do some weird dance together before she takes off her top. 

But we’re still not done, because the gang decides to ask Roshi if he knows where the seventh Dragon Ball might be located, since they now have six accounted for.  Roshi is too horny to think straight, so he can’t answer.  It’s like they forgot that Bulma has a machine that detects Dragon Balls.  Wait, Dragon Pearls.  Sorry.  Maybe her Dragon Radar got lost when her Jeep was wrecked?  I don’t think so. 

Then the bad guys attack and blow up Roshi’s house, just like in Blood Rubies, but not quite.  This time, Roshi shoots some ki blasts at them, but he doesn’t blow them away like he did with his Kamehameha from that movie.  None of his attacks make any difference, as the bad guys can just teleport back into their aircraft once they have the Dragon Pearls.  Roshi tells the others to flee on the Magic Cloud while he holds them off, and it seems like he’s killed in the battle...

But no, we’re still not done with this guy, because he shows up to meet the heroes when they regroup on the mainland.  And this is where things start to deviate from the plot of Blood Rubies, because in that movie, Roshi refused to help Pansy save her people, because she had already gathered all the help she needed from Goku, Bulma, and the rest.  Here, Roshi’s pissed about his house, so he’s rarin’ to give the bad guys a whoopin’.  Then Yamcha shows up and asks to join their team because his Dragon Pearl got stolen too.

So now we have five characters--Goku, Bulma, Pansy, Roshi, and Yamcha-- each personally connected to a Dragon Pearl stolen by Pilaf.  So the whole team has a stake in this, except Oolong, who....

No, wait, it turns out Oolong had a Dragon Pearl this whole time.  He said it was given to him by the Pig Fairy, his distant ancestor who had some connection to the Monkey King.  Oolong says that he was told to keep it a secret, but somehow he knew these guys were part of his destiny, I guess?   Anyway, he says that this was why he chased Pansy in the first place, because he knew it would bring him into contact with the other five Pearl-Bearers.  I mean, I’m kind of paraphrasing it, but that’s the way I understood what he said.

So then the good guys just storm into Pansy’s village and start shooting everyone.  Oolong takes out a bunch of Pilaf’s soldiers and even kills Mai while she’s fighting Goku and Yamcha.  What the fuck?  Why is Oolong suddenly so important?  Anyway, Roshi fights with Shu, and then Bulma shoots Shu in the back while he’s distracted.  This seems a bit underhanded to me.  Mai and Shu are ridiculously OP in this movie, but still.

Then Pilaf comes out and reveals he has Gohan held captive, and threatens to kill him if Goku’s group doesn’t surrender the last Dragon Pearl.  Goku wants to give in, but Roshi reminds him that they’ll all be killed if Pilaf gets his way.  So Pilaf tosses aside his hostage and tries a different trick...

Zombies!  I think?  He uses some kind of power to put a blue filter over the camera, and then all of the townsfolk appear and start attacking the heroes.  Maybe they’re still alive and they’re just being mind-controlled, but Pansy’s parents are included in the group, and Pansy said they were dead.

Things look hopeless until Goku summons the Magic Cloud and rides it over the villagers’ heads, knocking down Pilaf and cancelling his spell.  Then all the villagers collapse, so I think they’re all dead.

Then Gohan and Roshi get together and Gohan tells him that the other six pearls must be in Pilaf’s stomach.  I’m not sure how he knows that, but he must have seen Pilaf swallow them, or he watched Curse of the Blood Rubies and remembered that this was where King Gurumes hid his Dragon Balls.  So Roshi decides that they’ll put the seventh Pearl in his mouth and that way Pilaf will explode when the Dragon emerges.   This all made a lot more sense when Bulma figured all this out with the Dragon Radar in the Blood Rubies film.

Anyway, it works, and Goku usess his staff to drive the last Pearl down Pilaf’s throat, so at least he helped kill the bad guy.  Then this yellow thing shows up and says it’s the Dragon.  I’ll just take his word for it.

Pansy wishes for her village and its people to be restored, and then her parents turn out to be okay, so maybe they were resurrected, but I’m not sure.  Anyway, the good guys win.

Then Yamcha turns to Goku and goes “I have one more wish.  I wish to fight with you!”  And Goku’s like “Well your wish is granted, buddy boy, let’s rock!” and the movie ends with them leaping at each other.   Weird how they went with this instead of Bulma and Yamcha getting together, but that plotline didn’t seem to get as much attention as it did in other versions.  Also, you’d think Goku would be more relieved to have his Grandfather back. 

And that’s the end.  Akira Toriyama is completely un-credited here, even though he created all the characters and like 70% of the plot.  Maybe more than that, depending on how much input he had on Blood Rubies. 

It’s a fun little movie to watch, but definitely not something I’d recommend to newer fans.  On the other hand, you can find the English dub of the movie on YouTube, so the price is right. 

For my part, I’ve heard about this thing for years, and I always wanted to check it out, and now I’m happy to say that I’ve scratched that itch.

#dragon ball #2023dbapocryphaliveblog #the gaijin live action trilogy #dragon ball: the magic begins #goku #grandpa gohan #master roshi #bulma #pansy #yamcha #oolong #puar #(but he's a bird in this one) #emperor pilaf #mai #shu

[fastcardotmp3]

almosts and such…pls <3 if u feel so inclined <333

I DO feel so inclined anything for you dear liv! 💖

Maybe it’s the company he’s kept for the past six months; maybe it’s because it’s actually more embarrassing to only show up for half the day during finals week because you need to finish getting one credit but not the other; maybe Eddie just thinks it’s too early in the year to call 1985 a bust. 

This can still be his year, this can still be the time he gets his act together and things start going smoothly all so he can graduate next year. This is the foundation on which ‘86 will be built and by god if Eddie is going to let this shitshow take him down again. 

So Eddie takes his finals. He passes the ones he needs to pass and tries to make a mental note to write down later all the bullshit he can’t answer on the others for use next year, and he doesn’t graduate. 

He doesn’t graduate and that’s fucked and that makes him feel small and that is still, somehow, according to Steve Harrington, not the end of the world. 

Like, the guy can go fuck himself, but also Eddie isn’t all that torn up about it when, on the night of the final one-shot at the Game Preserve before Dustin leaves for camp nerdy shithead or whatever, the jingling bells above the door alert them to a visitor. 

✨ bully me into working on my wips (again) ✨

#ask #dot post #why is this such a large chunk?? well you see eddie like myself tends to just go on and on and on and-

[mzannthropy]

Sam Claflin on Rotten Tomatoes

I thought I'd do a post on Sam's RT ratings. He has FOUR films rated at 90% or over: Journey's End and Enola Holmes both have 91%, and Their Finest and Hunger Games Catching Fire have 90%.

Also certified fresh are The Nightingale (86%) and My Cousin Rachel (76%).

The highest rated thing he was in is Peaky Blinders at 93%. As a guest star, he can hardly claim credit for that, but it's not like any amateur can be cast in such a prestigious show! (Plus it's one of his best performances. At least according to me. And I'm right.)

Riot Club, Adrift, the two Mockingjays and Charlotte are all fresh.

The lowest rated are Huntsman the Winter's War (it used to be 19%, now showing as 20%), in which he only has a short appearance, and Every Breath You Take (also 20%). The rest are 30% and above.

Sam's very first acting job, Pillars of the Earth has 77%, so not a bad start. Daisy Jones and the Six has 70%.

Link

#sam claflin #samblogging #rotten tomatoes #films #i actually agree with most of them #hence why i discard imdb ratings #also imdb ratings are wrong. at least in sam's case #i wish my cousin rachel was higher and i don't get enola's high score but whatever #i like snow white & huntsman and book of love but i wouldn't expect them to get critically acclaimed #tho snow white could have done better but it was a bit clumsy #also the corrupted was a wasted opportunity but i'll always like sam in it #same for potc4. not a good film but sam & mermaid have my heart! #mypost

[heloflor]

Something random I find interesting about Bowser is how his “modern” personality was actually there very early on, but it took forever for it to become a thing in the games.

(Tl;Dr is basically the last paragraph)

Like, when the first Super Mario Bros came out, Bowser was shown as a conqueror, destroying the Mushroom Kingdom and turning its inhabitant into blocks just because he could, only kidnapping Peach because she had magic that could counter his. All in all, he was nothing more than a monster.

But then one year later came the 1986 anime movie “The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach”, and for this movie, Bowser was completely revamped. Suddenly he became a hopeless romantic who kidnaps Peach to marry her, tries to comfort her at two instances which shows some level of being genuine in his feelings, and is a bit of a dumbass at times. It’s actually pretty funny to see the contrast between Bowser in this movie having done terrible actions (which we see through Mario and Luigi’s quest) but then when the focus is on him, he’s kind of adorable actually. Also there’s that post credit scene with him working where the brothers used to early on that shows him as nice.

And the funny thing is, that new side of Bowser that this anime brought actually stuck around…in everything except the games. In the following games (Mario Bros 2 Lost Levels, 3 and Mario World), Bowser is still the same monster who’s destroying things and kidnapping Peach for the heck of it. But outside of the games, we see that softer/goofier side of him shine. Or at the very least, in instances where he’s still pretty horrible/doesn't show that softer side, his motivation remains to marry Peach instead of going back to him wanting power first and foremost. And even then his defeats have some comedy to it.

It’s especially visible with Mario World and how, while the game doesn’t expand on him, there’s an interactive anime where he mentions wanting to marry Peach, and the Manga Super Mario Kun version of this game shows him to be a lot like in the 1986 movie, at least in his first appearance (I only found the first few chapters of this comic translated in english so I don’t know how he acts past that scene where he gives Peach an oversized ring; wouldn’t recommend those mangas btw, unless you like absurd humor with a plot that goes nowhere and wastes your time on stupid stuff). Same for the “Super Mario Adventures” comic where’s he’s yet again both a softie and a moron.

And outside of Mario World, there’s also a commercial for the very first Super Mario Bros with Bowser giving Mario flowers with no evil intention to it, or those three very badly made retelling of stories with Mario characters, two of which have Bowser wanting to marry Peach (for those wondering how the hell did I know about this compilation, I found a reaction to the 86 anime and the channel also had a reaction to those, so it was through sheer luck ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).

So overall, Bowser being more comedic and endearing through being an idiot + having romantic feelings had been a thing since pretty much the beginning, Nintendo just took a while to put it into the games. And even then, from my understanding, the first show of Bowser’s softer side was in the RPGs, with Super Mario RPG having him as part of the team and Paper Mario 64 apparently being the first time his crush on Peach was put into a game (for context I know very little of both of these games so I don’t know exactly how they portray Bowser, I just know RPG has a crying sprite + he’s a team member and Paper has him crushing on Peach). So it basically took a good decade for it to become his game personality.

(Note that him becoming a playable character as early as the first Mario Kart and remaining playable in most sport games could also be a sign of Nintendo wanting him to be seen as less threatening, but those games don’t exactly have a story to truly showcase it so I wouldn’t exactly take them into account)

As for the mainline games, we had to wait even longer to see that side of him, up until Super Mario Sunshine in the early 2000s. And funnily enough, Nintendo has ever since been much more open about taking Bowser a lot less seriously in mainline games (Mario Galaxy ends with the group waking up at Peach’s castle and Bowser seems rather chill in that moment, New Bros Wii and U have funny cutscenes at the end, same for 3D Land, New Bros 2, his losing animation on his car + him in the credits in 3D World, and Mario Odyssey also ends on a comedic note for him).

And since I’m talking Sunshine which showcases his softer side through his kid, that’s also a good show of how long it took for him to be like that in the games. Bowser had been a father since Super Mario Bros 3 with the introduction of the Koopalings, yet neither this game nor Mario World show the kids interacting with their dad. We had to wait until New Bros Wii for that to happen in a mainline game (the ending cutscene). And while I wasn’t born back in the 90s so I can’t fully back up this claim, from what I’ve seen Bowser in general mainly interacted with the Koopalings outside of the games, like with the Adventures comic (tho even then it’s minimal) and the US cartoons which focus on him as a dad.

So yeah, all-in-all, I find it interesting how Nintendo had clearly always seen Bowser as more of a comedic character, mostly through being a hopeless romantic and a dumbass with a soft edge despite his horrible actions, but for the longest time they put this wish to the side. It wasn’t until the RPGs that this side of Bowser came out, and it took even longer for it to become a thing in the mainline games. And while of course this makes sense given Nintendo is known for not having stories in Mario games, meaning there’s no point in making Bowser anything more than the bad guy, it’s still funny how, the second they gave Bowser that comedic edge in one mainline game, it was the push they needed to run with it and never look back. As a result, nowadays, even in the instances where Bowser is at his most dangerous/intimidating like Galaxy, Bowser’s Fury or the 2023 Movie, there’s always still at least one moment where he’s not taken that seriously.

(Last second addition : I guess it is worth pointing out how Bowser being less threatening started with his romantic feelings, with his role as a father not being that important; but nowadays it's sort of the opposite with him being a parent first and foremost while his feelings for Peach, though still very much core to his character, take a bit of a backseat at times, or at least him having Junior and parenting him is brought up more often than his desire to be with Peach)

#Super Mario #Bowser #King Koopa #Flor talks #long post #not as long as other ramblings but it takes a good 3 scrolls to go through so I'm putting it under read more #for those asking why I'm linking some things and not others; it's because of how obscure the ones I'm linking are #meaning not everyone knows about it and might be curious but not know where to find it #also guys PLEASE watch the 3 terribly animated shorts(?) ; they're SO bad it's hilarious ! #btw this post was 100% made due to seeing some people talking about how Bowser mellowed out as time went on #or seen some say Bowser liking Peach wasn't a thing until Paper Mario #he's actually always been like this guys; it just took a while to see it in games #then again I'll take any excuse to ramble anyways #and I do find it very interesting how it took one little year for Bowser to be like that; and two more small years before he became a dad #idk the fact that Nintendo wanted to soften him up this early into the character's existence is just interesting to me #and it's interesting how for a long time they didn't fully commit to it; but once the door was open they went full into it

[superman86to99]

Superman ‘86 to ‘99 Extra: Erica Durance Saskatoon Expo ‘22 Panel Transcript!

Art by @donsparrow​

Our own Don Sparrow had the privilege of hosting a panel centered on Smallville’s Erica Durance during this year’s Saskatoon Expo and got to ask her about killing it as Lois Lane, Supergirl’s mom, and her many other projects. She, in return, got to receive the original inks for the awesome artwork by Don seen above, so it was win/win. Here’s a full transcript of the panel as transcribed by Don. Enjoy!

RELATED: Some years ago Don also got to interview his famous pal Tom Grummett, so here’s the link to that interview in you’ve never seen it.

VAGUELY RELATED: And speaking of Tom Grummett, check out our recent post about his return to Superman comics in the new Earth-One series (which was accidentally posted privately first, so it looks like not a lot of people saw it).

Don:

Hello Saskatoon Expo!  How good does it feel to be back? It’s very exciting.  My name is Don Sparrow and I am Saskatoon’s resident Superman expert, and therefore the host of this panel.  How many Saving Hope fans do we have here?

(Some applause)  

We’ve got a few.  How many Supergirl fans do we have here?

(More applause)

A few more.  And how many Smallville fans do we have here?

(Big applause)

We got a whole bunch.  So, without further ado, let me introduce: Many fans know Erica Durance as Lois Lane from Smallville for which she starred for seven years on the show.  Most recently, she was seen on the CW series Supergirl as Alura Zor-El.  Erica was a producer and lead actress on CTV’s hit medical drama Saving Hope, playing the role of Dr. Alex Reid, for which she garnered Canadian Screen Award nominations in 2013 and 2017. Her many notable guest appearances include Harry’s Law, Charlie’s Angels remake, Stargate SG1, Andromeda and Tru Calling.  Durance’s film credits include her tour-de-force performance as twin sisters in the Italian film Jemelle.  She also starred in the Hallmark movie Wedding Planner Mystery.  In 2011, Durance was nominated for a Saturn Award, and a Teen Choice Award for Best Actress for her work in Smallville. In 2012, Hello Canada Magazine listed her as one of Canada’s 50 most beautiful people, and Buddy TV ranked her #9 on its TV’s 100 Sexiest Women. Durance is a supporter of a very worthy cause, World Vision Canada and lives in Vancouver, B.C. with her husband and their three sons.  Please give a warm Saskatoon welcome to Erica Durance!

(Applause)

Erica:

That’s quite a bio.

Don:

I read the whole thing.

Erica:

Well done.  

Don:

Welcome here.  So, I’m going to start off with a few questions, we also do have a microphone in the middle, which we’ll open up pretty quick here.  So, welcome to Saskatoon.

Erica:

Thank you.  Thank you for having me.  First thing I want to say is: out in the audience today is my second mother, and her daughter Deanna, who is like my adopted younger sister.  Now, Cathy—where are you?—there she is—is the reason that I act or sing at all. So, I was five years old looking for something to do with all of me, and my emotions, and I found Cathy, and I followed her around like a lost puppy, and then she decided to adopt me.  So, she lives here in Saskatchewan, and I wanted to introduce her.  

Don:

That is very exciting.  (To Cathy) Well, thank you for giving us Erica Durance.  We are thrilled.

(applause)

So we’re gonna get to some Smallville questions, but my wife—who is in the audience--and I are huge Hallmark movie fans.  I’m not afraid to admit it, we love these movies.  And we’ve noticed some of your post-Smallville roles have tended to be more wholesome family entertainment.  We’re very excited about “Colour My World With Love” which looks really interesting. Is that an intentional direction you’ve gone in as an artist, or is it a reflection of being a parent?  A bit of both?

Erica:

It’s a little bit of both.  I want to put out things into the world that are positive, that families can join around, and watch together.  And just takes a little bit of the load off of life, which is--in this world of information, where we get it just crammed down our throats all the time, and yes, we do need a sense of reality, and what’s actually going on, and all those kind of things—people desperately need stories that are hopeful, and kind, and well, and we know we can sit down and no worry about some kind of horrible thing happening (laughs).  And so it was partially that, and partially the fact that it provides for me a way to take care of my two boys, and they’re still really young.  They’re five and seven, and so these jobs are very short.  We shoot all these movies in fifteen days so I’m able to stay at home, go out, do that, come back, and jump back into motherhood.

Don:

That’s excellent.  And many are filmed in Canada as well, so that makes it easier.

Erica:

Yes.

Don:

Moving to Saving Hope: I’ve read that your family comes from a faith background, and thinking of Alex Reid being such an evidence-based, and just the facts sort of character, was that tension of medical procedural and supernatural drama, by the end of it, a challenge?

Erica:

Well, yes and no.  I think it was really good for me to take on something where I would be challenged to think the opposite of the way I was taught, all growing up. And so I wanted to take a character that would basically just embrace only science, and learn about that way of life and way of thinking of things, and then slowly having to adjust to the fact that there may be something else out there.  That we can believe in things, and that there is a higher power, there is something to believe in.  Plus to be honest, I loved all the science, I loved all the doctor stuff.  By the end I thought I was a doctor. (laughs) I got an honourary degree from the chief of surgery (laughs).  

Don:

The jargon could be a mouthful, and you did very well with that.

Erica:

(laughs) Thanks.

Don:

Were you ready for that show to end? Are you ever ready?  I know the life of an actor means every job is fairly temporary.  Do you think there were places they could have gone with those characters?

Erica:

No, I think that show was ready to be wrapped up.  I think that we wanted to end it a certain way, and we did and some people loved it, and some people didn’t love it. But it had finished its journey, and I certainly had as well in that particular character.  And then practically, I was pregnant again.  So I had both my sons while I was shooting that show, and it gave me a newfound appreciation for women that work and have their babies and try to do it all.  So I was ready to enter that chapter of my life.

Don:

Excellent.  So, Lois Lane. Perhaps your most famous role.  How did you approach taking on such an iconic role?  Did it help that you were playing a version of Lois that was less established?  Or was it more pressure, not having that framework?

Erica:

No, it was absolutely my saving grace! (laughs) Because I could just say, you know what?—this is a whole new story we’re telling. It’s an origin story, so then most people…well, there were some people who had a problem with it, but you know, for me when I got it, it was such a surprise.  You know, I’m this girl from Alberta, a small farm, I’m out in Vancouver just kind of trying, auditioning for things here and there. And then this opportunity presents itself.  I remember telling this story a couple of times.  I just said “you know, I’m not doing this, because they’re going to pick somebody from LA, it’s just the way it goes.  And I don’t know if that attitude coming into the audition somehow had an opposite effect, but I felt like I just got swept away with it and all of a sudden I was just filming, and then you just go with the flow.  And I depended so much on the creators of the show, and where they wanted to take her.  Many, many people were upset that Lois was there early, because that’s not the mythology.  But that filming still happened in a day and age where you could shut out some of the excess nonsense, right, so you’re not constantly inundated by opinions of everybody all over the world about what they want or don’t want.  And yeah, I just took the stand that, well I’m sorry if you don’t like it—then don’t want it.  You don’t have to watch me. (laughs)

Don:

Exactly.

Erica:

But I think I kind of wore them down through the years and then people seemed to kind of accept her.

Don:

Well I think that was what made Smallville so unique was the Clark Kent persona—the nerdy, bumbling Clark Kent persona—was an invention of Lois Lane.  That had never been done before, and I just thought that was so cool, I just loved it.  

But take me through the early days of that show, being introduced to that show.  It’s a hit show and you’re playing one half of one of the best romances in fiction, and then in a very early scene, you’re dodging a naked guy in your car.

Erica:

Oh yeah! (laughs) Yeah, one of my first scenes was shooting that. And they do that to us all the time, when you’re filming.  You end up doing what would be considered the most awkward scene.  But I just embraced it because it would be awkward anyway and of course, what we show you guys we see is not all of what we see. It’s much more tame than what people think it is.  But I have to say it was kind of embarrassing, right, because I had originally booked the background.  I was an extras agent, so I had booked all of Tom’s photo doubles and all of that kind of stuff and all of a sudden I’m sitting in here and I’m working with the guy so that was (laughs) awkward, and so that kind of birthed the whole part of Lois that was neurotic and a little bit odd and everybody thinks it was a real choice, but it was me just trying to embrace the fact that here I was feeling like an imposter working on this show.

Don:

Very unique trial by fire.  

Erica:

(laughs) I’d love to say that it was methodically thought out, but it really wasn’t.

Don:

“I demand that I dodge a naked guy in my first episode!”

Erica:

(Laughs)

Don:

One of the things that stuck out to me in your interpretation of Lois Lane was that it was quite egalitarian in the show’s treatment of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Not to get too in the woods, but there’s a great moment in an early episode where your character gets separated while you’re fighting some commando types, and you see the panic on Clark’s face, as he realizes he’s left you alone, and you must be in danger, because Lana was in danger every episode.  And as he comes over the hill to check on you, and unlike Lana, we see that you’re handling these guys just fine—your kung fu moves—so is that fun to play? The damsel not in distress?

Erica:

Yes! (laughs) Yes, that’s why I liked it. Kristin’s character got a bad rap on that and if any of you have ever met her, or been at a convention you see that what a strong and independent wonderful woman she is.  And one of her biggest frustrations was that she was in this space that she never could rescue herself. But we all realize that we are given those role and we’re meant to play them out and it’s part of the gig. And so, when people say “oh I love how you did Lois and she was so independent and amazing” I always say “and I thank you for that, but I also lucked in a role where they allowed me to do that”.  And I really liked that I would pick up a script and one episode I would be doing lots of stunts, and be really feisty and then the next episode I would be the lady that needed help, and I would get to be vulnerable and all of those things and people wondered about that and they would ask me about the consistency of that. And I said, first of all if you knew me you’d know I am very contradictory and you never know which personality you’re going to get in the morning anyway. But human beings do contradict themselves, so you’re going to have her do that sometimes, and then the next time it’s going to be--you know--she’s going to be right back in his face again.

Don:

And sometimes you’re a vampire.

Erica:

And sometimes I’m a vampire, or—I think I was a zombie once, that one was really difficult.  The one thing I will say, as the years went on, I would get a little bit lippy about it, was the fact that we’d be out in the middle of the night, usually fighting bad guys, it’s cold, I’m wearing heels and a very skimpy dress, and (Tom) comes out with his workboots, and about five layers of clothes on and he’s so comfortable, and I was like “Ok, wait a minute”.  So I remember doing a couple of things like that which were taking it up even a notch, because I’m fighting, and I’m kicking, but I’m running up the stairs backwards wearing high heeled boots, right, and I pointed that out occasionally. And they didn’t care. (Laughs)

Don:

Well, we appreciated it, your sacrifice. I’ll ask one more and then maybe we’ll open it up to the floor for a bit.  

Returning to the role of Lois Lane recently, in the Crisis storyline. Comic fans, particularly Superman fans, as you sort of hinted at, can be passionate about what they like, or don’t like.  So a big decision like Clark giving up his powers in the wrap up there could be one of those divisive things.  How did you feel about it, and what has the reaction been at these kind of shows?

Erica:

The reaction has been really really good. I think because it was a less is more scenario.  And how do you insert them into that universe that already has a Lois and Clark?  All those kinds of things.  And beloved characters that, you know, are set in stone in a certain way in people’s minds.  And so for the most part, people were really really excited about it.  And anytime they asked Tom (Welling) about how he felt about it, he was so positive about the way he was portrayed, that he had wanted that, and I think people kind of fell along, into line with that, because it’s how he felt about it.  He was fine.  And I still got to bug him, which is nice.  I had like four lines, and I still was in his face, which was great.  

Don:

It was like a high school reunion.

Erica:

It was like “ah, Tom, you need it.  Somebody’s gotta do this to you.”

Don:

And if people didn’t like it, it’s just an alternate Earth.

Erica:

Yeah, exactly.  And, just switch the channel if you don’t like it.

Audience Member 1:

Hi, I’m Greg from Moose Jaw.  I’m sure I speak for everyone here, but you certainly couldn’t have gotten to the show soon enough.  You made the show, and I don’t care what anyone else says.  You could have been there from season one, it would have been perfect.

Erica:

Oh, thank you. (applause)

Audience Member 1:

Just a question I had there, was there anyone that you enjoyed working with most, or any funny story you have with someone there? Just someone that you got along with, or developed a friendship with?

Erica:

Well, It would be really fun if I could make a joke and say ugh I hated everybody, but I was known as the one that was there that was always very keen to be there, with lots of energy and excitement and everybody else either had been there for a long time, or just had a different personality.  I got to know Cassidy Freeman pretty well when she came in in the latter seasons.  So Cassidy, and Laura (Vandervoort) and I, we hung out a lot.  Kristin we kinda didn’t see each other too much.  We’re actually much better friends now, after the show. We see each other quite a bit.  I loved working with Justin Hartley.  We laughed a lot.  We were both the new people on the show at the time, and so we had a really great camaraderie.  But yeah, I’d say working with Tom, because I did it so much.  I was just lucky that we got on very very well.  And our personalities matched.  We understood each other, we had the same sense of how to work, and the way we wanted to work.  It was really cool.  

Don:

Excellent.  While we wait for another question from the floor, I’ll ask another one here.  I know you’re a busy actress, with a thriving career, so you don’t get as much downtime as you probably want, but what is your current binge watch, when you’re at home.  

Erica:

I just finished watching Sanditon on PBS.  I love PBS and British shows, so I just finished watching that one.  Do you guys ever have that, too?  Where you know you sit and watch lots of Netflix, and Amazon, but then somebody says “what’s your favorite” and you’re like completely blank. I know I finished watching a ton of stuff.  Let me think about it.  The name is gonna drop in when the panel is over and I’ll yell it out somewhere, but that’s one of them. 

Audience Member Mike Fisher (head honcho for the convention):  

Yeah, I can’t remember if I had a bigger crush on you or Justin when you both came on the show

Erica:

(laughs)

Mike Fisher:

You guys were such a breath of fresh air.

Erica:

I mean, you know what we did do, is we compared waists and I think his waistline was probably as thin as mine.

Mike Fisher:

I just don’t know if that guy is human.  

Erica:

(laughs)

Mike Fisher:

He’s like an experiment from another planet.

Erica:

He is! He is.

Mike Fisher:

He is.

Erica:

He never slept, he ate doughnuts all the time.  

Mike Fisher:

What?

Erica:

Yeah.

Mike Fisher:

That is so frustrating to hear.

Erica:

All the time.  And I would be sitting there with a tuna cup, and I was like, “I hate you”.

Mike Fisher:

Yeah I know. I’ve seen Tom eat at conventions, and I’m like what is happening? These guys just get away with murder.  

Erica:

They’re so lucky, they don’t seem to get old and wrinkly, or leathery. Everybody goes “Oh you look so handsome, you’ve really grown into yourself”

Mike Fisher:

Distinguished. When you get older, right, it’s “distinguished”.

Erica:  

Distinguished yeah. I don’t get that.  

Mike Fisher:

So, shoutout to Three Hills, shoutout to the prairies. I’m just wondering, when you move to Vancouver, when you’re doing work in LA, was there a part of you that felt like you weren’t going to fit there? Just where you grew up wasn’t a match for being in LA with the way you were raised?

Erica:

Absolutely!

Mike Fisher:

So how did you deal with that?

Erica:

(Laughs) How much time do you have?  I really just tried to see it all with a bit of a sense of humour.  I am who I am, I couldn’t be anybody other than who I am, and so you just take it or you leave it.  But I tended to withdraw quite a bit. Especially in a new scenario, so that I could kind of observe the room, observe how everything works, and find my way to fit in.  But I didn’t ever change who I was.  They just either had to accept it, or not.  But it’s a very foreign kind of world to be in.  I still look for that revolving door to kick me right out the back.  That they have in the saloon.  Why am I still here?  You can’t, and I don’t want to change who I am.  But really, you can’t change that first blueprint of where you came from.  And I’m proud of it.

Mike Fisher:

Thank goodness.

Erica:

(laughs)

Audience Member #3:

Hi, Mike from here in the city.  My daughter wanted to say hi, because she’s super nervous.  She wanted to ask a question but she’s super nervous. First I’m going to sing your praises, like everybody else, honestly since Margot Kidder, when you came to be Lois Lane, I have compared every other Lois to you since you made your first appearance, you were fantastic. Not just how you look, your act, everything was just perfect.  So far no one’s come even close, to me, my personal opinion.  I’d like to see a lot more of that.  So to my question, when you came back many years later to play Lois again, with Tom on the crossover, and then plus doing your appearance on Supergirl, was it easy to get right back to that Lois role, and go into that kind of world again, or was it like riding a bike?

Erica:

It was like riding a bike.  The thing about playing in Supergirl is that it just felt a little bit surreal.  It was like that I was the adult in the group, and I was watching these kids.  And it was some of the same sets, a lot of the same gags.  It felt like it was home, but not quite.  And you were there to do the support piece. It came around so quickly for me.  I’d just had my son, and then they called and they said could you come and do this part, they had their other actress ended up going and doing other things, and so, it was just again, like most things in my life, I don’t plan for it, and I end up on set looking around going “Ok, so now I’m Alura, and I’m Supergirl’s mom”.  As far as the Lois thing, it was really cool, and that’s how you know you’ve met people in your life, or people come across in your life that are just—it’s as if you’ve met them before.  And that’s how it is with Tom and I.  It was always like that.  When we first met, it was really easy.  We didn’t see each other for ten years, and I showed up on that set, and it was so easy, it was so nice, it was like coming back home again.  So we had great laughs and a good time.   

Don:

So shifting back to Hallmark for a moment, and Christmas Stars—a favourite around our house by the way.  You got to sing!  

Erica:

I did!

Don:

Was that something you’d love to do more of?

Erica:

I would love to.  I’d love to do it in a way that wasn’t so rushed. Again it was very new for me, and I ended up showing up there and working with JT (Hodges), who is really great. He wrote the songs.  And I got a cold.  So I was basically singing the whole time with a cold—(turns to Kathy) Kathy—not in my register at all.  Here’s my debut singing, and I’m doing alto, which I’m not an alto. Anyways, it was really fun, it was just something different.  Originally, I wanted to be on Broadway, and do theatre, where I can mix it all up, and it would be spontaneous, and fresh every time, and so that was as close as I got to mixing some of the things I’d love to do

Don:

So far.

Erica:

So far!  That’s a positive way to look at it.

Don:

Saskatoon doesn’t have an NHL team so you’re safer here than most cities.

Erica:

Kinda.

Don:

Kind of.  Is there a hockey team you grew up cheering for, or cheer for now?

Erica:  

Oh.  I grew up cheering for the Calgary Flames.  Because I’m from Alberta, and I was closest to Calgary, and I always felt like they were the underdogs. Because at that time—this is gonna age me—but the Oilers had Gretzky. And I was like “ughh, they win every time!”  So I just had to cheer for Calgary, and there’s still that competition, every time I go to Alberta, if I’m in Edmonton or Calgary, boy those two do not like each other. Just some principle.

Don:

A little vocal.

Erica:

Yeah.

Don:  

Is Tom Welling’s cartoon gonna happen?  This cartoon Smallville he’s very excited about?

Erica:  

Let me text him. (laughs) You know what?  I’m always the last to the party.  Whether it’s Smallville, or their thing.  I think that it’s definitely in the works, but that’s as much as I know.  And then they’ll call me and be like “are you gonna do this thing”.  And I’ll say “yeah, sure, of course.  I’m game”.  I hope so.  How fun would that be?  I would love that.  Yeah.

Don:

So we’ll do some rapid fire.  

Erica:

Oh! Ok.

Don:

Pizza or tacos?

Erica:

Tacos.

Don:

Beatles or Stones?

Erica:

Stones. (pause) I feel like I’m being judged harshly (laughs)

Don:

No, those are both correct answers.

Erica:

Ok, ok, ok!

Audience Member #4:

Hi, Matthew from Saskatoon.  Any thoughts of…(trails off)

Erica:

(helpfully) Any thoughts…

Audience Member #4:

Any chance of being in the Marvel cinematic universe?

Erica:

If they would answer my calls.  (laughter) Nobody answers my calls!  I don’t have the right number.

Don:  

That is a good question.  So if you could play—I mean we saw you sort of as Wonder Woman, on Smallville—so if you could play any other superhero who would you want to be?

Erica:

Other than Wonder Woman? I still want to be Wonder Woman. I still think she’s the best.

Don:

I think there’s a few people who would want to see you play Wonder Woman. (applause)

Erica:

I still think it would be fun.  But I’m not gonna do anything now, because Gal (Gadot) is out there, so forget that. (laughter) Way too stressful.  I could talk about the new Hallmark movie I just did.

Don:

Yes, please do.

Erica:

“Color My World With Love”

Don:

Yes!  You were promoting this a bit on your Instagram, and it looks very interesting, so please do.

Erica:

Yeah.  So it’s coming out on June 12th, and I got to play the mother of the lovely Lily D. Moore.  And it is a story based on her love life, and her falling in love, and what I like what they’re doing with Hallmark right now is they’re trying to tell different types of love stories, and not just the basic “guy meets girl, they’re both of the same socio-economic status or whatever” there’s no levels, it’s just the one love story.  Which is fine.  But now they’re starting to do the love stories where, for example, just my love for my daughter, right?  How do I raise my child?  How do I let her go?  How do I let her experience love and see the world through her eyes, and make mistakes, and fall in love, and get hurt? And all of those things, and so, yeah, it’s a good show.

Don:

And we don’t see performers that look like her (Moore has Down syndrome) on TV enough, and so I’m really excited to check that out, and I’m just excited to have Hallmark quality movies year round.  Same with the mystery movies—they don’t have to be in a Christmas resort town—

Erica:

(laughs) We’ve done enough of those!

Don:

We like those.

Erica:

We laugh about it, too.  We’re like “are we in a cherry orchard or an apple orchard, there’s always the red truck” but I like to watch them myself.  There’s always that red truck in every movie!

Don:

I’ll have to add that to our Bingo sheet.

Erica:

(laughs)

Don:

We have a few entries on the bingo sheet.

Erica:

So you do like a Bingo game when you’re watching Hallmark?

Don:

Absolutely. Yes.

Erica:

That’s good.  It’s safer than a drinking game.

Don:

(laughs) It’s safer than a drinking game! Exactly. The kids are in bed, we’re gonna—

Erica:

No, but I joke.  They’re good movies, and they make people feel good, and lots of people gather around and watch them together.  

Don:

Absolutely.

Erica:

(There is a gap in the questions from the audience) You’re all so polite.  I love Canada.

Audience Member 1:

I wanted to give someone else a chance, but I definitely have more questions.  I just wanted to hear a bit more about your auditioning process on Smallville, and stuff like that.  How you got there, who was involved in getting you in, and what it was like, your first foray, I just like hearing origin stories.

Erica:

Oh, Ok.  I just went through the regular audition process.  You just go in, in Vancouver and you give it a go.  I was actually brought down to LA before that, so I think I got Lois because I was brought down earlier, and I went in to audition for a show called Tarzan, and there was a very very well known director named David Nutter, who launched a lot of these shows—he actually launched Smallville—and he saw me in the audition room, and he brought me to LA to audition for his show, and that’s where I met Warner Brothers.  And they signed me onto what’s called an exclusivity deal, which is—I would only do something for them.  And that year I ended up doing Gramercy Park, which was a pilot for them, and so I kinda got on their radar.  And as things happen—nothing happened.  That is a lot of this business as well, you can shoot a ton of pilots and nothing goes.  And we went a full year, and then the Lois character came out and I remember my manager was so excited, “oh four episodes, you get to play Lois, its gonna be amazing, you’re gonna go in for this” as I said, I didn’t want to do it.  I was kinda pouting.  So I went in to audition, and then what happens is they take you down to test, and so you go down to LA, and you go to the studio first, and you just go into this room—they make the process really stressful for the actor, as stressful as possible.  And they all sit there and eat lunch and judge you, and you’re usually in a real like theatre, so they’re like in these riser chairs, and you come in, and do your audition.  So you have to pass the studio first, and if the studio likes you, then you make it to the next round.  So you’ll know right after, because they’ll basically say “kay, thanks, bye, go home” and then you’re with like four or five other girls, and then it slowly goes down. So then I went to the network, and then I waited and waited, and didn’t hear anything.  And I was about to get on my plane to Vancouver, and that’s when my manager called and he goes “you’re playing Lois!” and I went “No way!” and I yelled really loud in the airport.  And then what I didn’t realize—and I’ve told this story a ton—that was the Friday night, and then on the Saturday, I went to the studio to take pictures and do the whole deal, and I was just gonna meet Tom and say “hi”.  And I was like Ok, cool, part of the team, I can do this. We were supposed to read a scene we were doing on Monday. I didn’t know if he didn’t like me, I would get fired! (laughs) So, and he’ll deny that to this day, but I know that it was the final hoop that I had to go through that if I didn’t meet his standards of not annoying, and not threatening, not making his life difficult—that I would not be working on Monday.  So—phew—I’m glad I didn’t know that! And then I ended up working on Monday, and then had to shoot that scene where I saw him scantily clad, and that was awkward, because I barely knew him.  And the rest of kind of history.  And what was really great about Tom is that he understood what it was like to be part of a show with almost no experience, and so four years later, he meets this person that’s thrust into a rather large role, and in that way he took me under his wing, and he kinda showed me the ropes, and gave me hints, and helped me out with some things that I was awkward about.  And I think that was kind of a basis for such a good friendship, and it helped with our work.

Audience Member 1:

Perfect, good to hear, I appreciate it.

Audience Member #5:

Thanks so much for joining us in Saskatoon.

Erica:

Thanks for having me.

Audience Member #5:

There was a question about Marvel Cinematic Universe, but is there a character or a franchise that you would love to be involved with in the future, or anything like that? That you can see, like, oh I want to be in a Star Wars movie, or something like that?

Erica:

How do I put this? As an actor, I’m game for anything, pretty much, that’s respectable.  Like I’m at a point where I want to do stuff that I’m not ashamed of, and that I don’t want my kids to be embarrassed about what their mother is doing.  But, you know I’ve never really had to project, and go, I’m gonna work toward this particular job, or that particular job.  And I lucked into two jobs that lasted really long, and I’m getting jobs offered to me so to have the imagination to sit and go, of I’d love to go do this.  I’d love to work again, steadily, but I really love series work.  I don’t want to do really dark independent movies that depress me, and depress people that watch it.  And sometimes, in certain acting circles, that will diminish me quite a but in their eyes.  But I’ve gotten to a point in my life where if something is a little bit too dark, I just don’t want to be in that zone.  So I am quite happy to play on a network TV show, like a procedural; little bit of crime, little bit of sci-fi. I’d like to bring sci-fi back into things because it makes it so much more fun.  Because you can become other characters whilst being a detective or something.  Maybe something fun like that.

Don:

Excellent.

Audience Member #6:

(Nervous) Hi.  So have you ever considered like going into like voiceover animation, or would you prefer to just like stick to doing more live action, just out of curiosity.

Erica:

I would love to do voiceover, which is why I’m hoping that Tom (Welling) and Mike (Michael Rosenbaum)’s thing works, because then I could do that.  You see how I’m just like, ugh, why pursue it if there’s other people who are gonna give me the job?  No, honestly I would.  And I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding, that it’s something that’s easy to get into.  I find that you get onto a highway, or a certain road as an actor, and you’re in that space.  And there’s many of us that would love to try those other things, but the opportunity isn’t always there.  But I think it would be such an interesting way to use my craft and figure out how to make something come alive by just being in the studio, and rolling in there and doing that. And seeing what the wonderful artists could do with it.  For sure.

Audience Member #6:

Yeah I hope it happens.  Good luck.

Don:

So I think this will be the last question, the guy with the appropriate shirt (wearing a Superman t-shirt)

Audience Member #7:

Are you going to go on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast again soon.  I watched it this morning

Erica:

Yes.  He is relentless.

Don:

That’s a good word.

Erica:

No, we just did another one. We did one a year ago, and he keeps calling “are you gonna do it, are you gonna do it?” NO, I don’t want to do it, I don’t have anything to talk about, what am I gonna talk about?  So there’s another one coming out, and I get quite nervous, and just texted him the other day, I was like “did I say something weird in our interview?” “No, it’s great.” It will come, and then you guys can judge it.

Audience Member #7:

Right on, awesome.

Don:

On behalf of Saskatoon Expo, and everybody here, and Superman fans everywhere, we just thank you for your body of work, and for coming here today, we have so appreciated all these answers and just your presence.

Erica:

Well thank you for having me, and for your lovely questions, I hope you guys have a really great weekend. Bye!

#superman #erica durance #smallville #saskatoon expo #don sparrow #supergirl #saving hope #hallmark channel #interviews

[nctsirius]

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STAGE NAME : sirius (시리우스)

BIRTH NAME : wang sirius (왕시리우스)

KOREAN NAME : wang minjun (왕민준)

ENGLISH NAME : sirius

NICKNAMES : siri, junnie

BIRTHDAY : jun 3, 2000

ZODIAC SIGN : gemini

BIRTH PLACE : edinburgh, scotland, united kingdom

NATIONALITY : scottish

ETHNICITY : korean

GENDER : male

PRONOUNS : he/him

SEXUALITY : demisexual

RELATIONSHIP STATUS : crushing

FAMILY : his parents, younger sister, and grandparents from both sides

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BLOOD TYPE : AB

BODY MODIFICATION : total of four piercings, two on his left ear and two on his right

FACE CLAIM : choi yeonjun ( txt )

VOCAL CLAIM : kang taehyun ( txt ) park jeongwoo ( treasure )

RAP CLAIM : kang taehyun ( txt )

DANCE CLAIM : choi yeonjun ( txt ) kwon soonyoung ( seventeen )

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POSITIVE TRAITS : loyal and devoted, sensitive to feelings, caring and interested in others, works well alone, values close relationships, good at seeing "the big picture"

NEGATIVE TRAITS : having difficulty accepting disappointment or failure, taking criticism too personally, struggling to share about himself, potentially overlooking fine details, neglecting to consider his own wants and needs

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[strangertheories]

but joseph quinn’s intention with the scene in the forest was for eddie and chrissy to be flirting. he said in an interview he would like to see them as a couple. the duffers wanted to see them as a couple and regret killing her off so soon, grace van dien wanted them to be a couple too. the music, the lighting all indicate a cute flirty moment. people aren’t just seeing a boy and girl interact and going omg they should date, the show is TRYING to get you to root for them as a couple. their acting was amazing throughout and shouldn’t be discredited like that! and regarding the age issue, all that we know about eddie’s age is that he’s older than dustin. it’s never stated he is older than steve. he could still be 17! it’s also never confirmed he failed two years, in fact he could have just been planning what he wanted to do at the graduation ceremony for two years with his friends, which is why they’ve made a joke. he’s not stupid, he’s actually show to be very intelligent just maybe not applying himself like he should. the tattoos mean nothing because he’s never been supervised by an adult he could have don’t them himself or gotten them done by a tattoo shop that didn’t care he was 17. people need to stop spreading headcanons as canon. all we know for sure from canon is that he’s 17 (according to his uncle). maybe it wasn’t a mistake at all? maybe he’s always been 17. i mean joseph quinn even talked about playing a ‘teenager’. 20-21 is not a teenager!

Sorry for not responding to this ask sooner, I've been super busy lately. But yes, you're probably right. I didn't really view that scene as romantic but that's not because I don't think the acting and directing was good. I mean the chemistry was off the charts. I just didn't feel like that chemistry couldn't be platonic. Not saying it is! I'm also rubbish with tone, even whilst watching TV sometimes, so I could've not picked up on it. The reason I talk about people shipping it because they're a guy and a girl is less about them as a couple but more about how people are willing to accept they like each other after one scene but people shipping a same sex pairing have to spend ages justifying it. I also ship Steddie (not passionately but it's a nice ship) so I'm probably biased against it being romantic anyways.

In terms of the age thing, I'm really not sure. But I always got the vibe from him saying he's going to graduate this year and them saying he's said that for two years before that has me inclined to believe he's repeated his senior year and is around 19, which is still a teenager. Someone was telling me about credits and extra classes meaning that's what he could be talking about which I'm not going to comment on as I have no idea how the American schooling system works. The 17 thing feels like a plot hole (same with them getting Chrissy's birth year wrong). But I still don't think that makes the age gap iffy. I mean he's probably 19-ish and she's 17-ish (the file is a plot hole because she is graduating in 86) which is just not that big of a deal to me. There's also no power imbalance, no maturity gap and they're at the same stage in life. And as you've said, the actors ship it.

Thanks for the ask (:

#stranger things #stranger things four #st4 #eddie munson #chrissy cunningham #eddie x chrissy #steddie