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#excellent work Brian Tyler
socialanxietyrabbit · 2 years
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SPOILERS for Locke and Key season 3 episode 8 (final episode)
Ok, I'm done. Wow, feels weird, honestly. Can't believe it's actually over...
So, first up, Gordie and Sam. I knew it, I freaking knew it. Doesn't mean I wanted it to happen though. Gordie dying, actually giving his last breaths to make sure Kinsey, Tyler and Ellie would make it out alive... ouch. Even worse, he tried to stop Gideon from breaking free. He tried, knowing that he was gonna die, to create a literal mental block strong enough to withhold Gideon. He didn't know the echo's strength so he failed, tragically. I know he was really only important for one episode but I hoped he'd make it. And as for Sam... as mentioned in previous posts, I cared a shit ton for that guy and his involvement. He definitely deserved better that that. Although I know that it was meant as payment and "debt forgiveness". Still hate it.
Now, Gideon. Wow I hate that guy. Cheers to the actor though, I don't know his name, but the way he delivered, man, he made me angry. Real impressive acting. And super happy this dude is gone!
Rufus, Ellie, Jamie and Josh, you know I love you guys, you're great, please always stay the way you are. Love how things ended for them, eventhough I'm a little sad Josh is never gonna know the truth and Jamie will forget eventually.
Duncan and Brian deserve happiness more than anything. I love them.
Gald to know The Savinis managed to finish the film and that it was really such a big success! Good for them. I could've watched the Q&A for hours, no problems. Really surprised Scot showed up but yay! (Shave though, please. He looks so... mature. Old.) Cool line with the Good, Better and Excellent thing. And I'm happy Kinsey might join him soon <3 I would have liked to see Jordan again though, just for old times sake, yknow?
I'm glad Tyler has found his peace, or at least some kind of it. I'm still not a huge fan of the whole Carly-thing, but a road trip sounds great and if Tyler really likes Montana so much, that's amazing! I know he'll miss keyhouse and I think he's gonna come back a lot of times, as often as possible. Even without any event, just because he wants to.
I know Nina is gonna do fine. She has Josh and her Kids and Ellie. She'll be happy. Bode too. He found a best friend in Jamie and is working on being on good terms with Josh (which, BTW, amazing! Love how the made that little peace offering. I think these twos will have a great relationship and will become very close friends).
Now as for what actually happened... I do like that the keys are gone now. And I like how they chose to resolve everything. Throwing the keys in meaning closing the portals was brilliant and brings everything to a nice end. I loved the montage for it, showing bits and pieces of what the keys did and what the characters went through with them (not everything, not a lot or even the main points, just moments were it fit, nothing to sad or emotional, just... epic, in a very simple way). It was well done, that's all I have to say.
And for maybe the most important scene I can just say yes. Yes, wow, thank you. I honestly had a few tears forming when they saw Rendell again. The conversation with him brought me closer to crying than anything this season has and the hug at the end let the tears spill. It fit perfectly but was also so sad to just suddenly see them in the hallway again, still hugging, just without Rendell. It was good to have that last conversation, I think.
For now, that's all I have. It's literally 45 min till midnight and I want to sleep, but watching it was worth it. Feels like some weird sense of closure at the moment.
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mainsfact · 1 year
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Download recipes, add custom reports, discuss brewing and be part of one of the largest online home brewers. Beersmith vs brewersfriend Blog Download banner mania software Year to year growth chart excel for mac Total annihilation kingdoms controls Chemical equation balancer. I really like the way Brewer's Friend's water calculator is integrated into the recipe builder, and it calculates a projected mash pH that tends to be very accurate. Home BeerSmith alternative Top 15 BeerSmith Alternative and Similar Softwares Mar. MacBarley is a Macintosh application that allows a home brewer to formulate beer recipes and calculate bitterness, gravity, alcohol, color etc. BeerSmith is unmatched as far as ingredient analysis, recipe creation, and process annotation goes. It is written in Cocoa (Objective C) and is compatible with Mac OS 10.5 or later. I've looked at and tried several recipe construction interafaces. It will continue to support you as your skills progress, Making mead, wine and cider as well as BeerSmith.īeerSmith 3.3.0 Activation Code is the best and great home brewing software that allows you to find beer recipes from thousands of websites, view and download them easily. Your typical 10 year old with a smartphone could figure out BeerSmith it's so basic. As you gain experience, BeerSmith grows with you. Download NOW BeerSmith 3.3.0 Crack + Serial Code freeloadīeerSmith Crack gives you a variety of tools to plan beer recipes as a calculator, converter and timer as a reminder that lets you make the perfect beer, integrated with desktop software and a recipe cloud service, making it easy to view recipes on the go.
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8dpromo · 2 years
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Sleight of Hands - Lipstick Shades (Green Gorilla Lounge)
8DPromo · Sleight of Hands - Lipstick Shades (Green Gorilla Lounge)
The Green Gorilla Lounge crew have been big movers and shakers on the San Francisco underground scene since the mid-'90s and Sleight Of Hands is the label's flagship combo. This collaboration between collaboration between DJ M3 and Phil Collis is responsible for singles on Smoke N' Mirrors, remixes for Om Records, and consistently working crowds on the club and festival circuit. Now Sleight Of Hands come at dancefloors with a potent collection of tracks from their Lipstick series. Behold: Lipstick Shades! This beauty batch of beats is 10 cuts strong and explores a range of influences, from jungles of Tulum to old school electro to synthwave for late night drives, The vintage-meets-the-new vibe of "Yucatech" is pure nightclub bliss, as are the sleazy midtempo handclap strut of "Arpwave" and the ecstatic Chicago House homage "Are You With Me." Sleight Of Hands are also ready to deliver more pensive sounds, such as the dreamy techno of "Lone Driver" and the dubbed-out Balearic House Remix of "Thankful." Championed around the scene, heard round the block, now's the time to grab some shade.
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evilwriter37 · 3 years
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The song Deliverance from Thor: The Dark World hurts like a bitch every time I listen even though I know Loki’s alive.
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themosleyreview · 3 years
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The Mosley Review: Those Who Wish Me Dead
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Remember when action thrillers were actually thrilling? You were on the edge of your seat once the hero and the person they were trying to protect were surrounded by an almost unstoppable threat. The impending doom was around every corner and even the environment seemed to work against them. The classic conflicts and themes of the hero vs the villain, hero vs nature and hero vs themselves were all on display and expertly woven throughout the story. A lot of late 90's action thrillers did it well and this film did it in spades. I loved that the table is perfectly set within the first 10 minutes and to a fun pace that takes it time, but doesn't over reach for your attention. Each event in the film builds to a satisfying and pulse pounding end while propelling the story forward. That is so rare nowadays since the attention spans are so short. The film allows you to stay with each character as their lives are fleshed out in front of your eyes. I found myself rooting for so many of them to succeed and/or fail. Its rare for a film to keep me locked it so intently as this film did.
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The cast across the board was stellar and strong. Angelina Jolie was excellent as Hannah Faber. I loved that she is not the typical heroine that is tough and has guns blazing while delivering cheesy one liners. Hannah is flawed, she’s haunted by a horribly traumatic moment from her career and throughout the film you see her battle the guilt of her past and she eventually has to make a choice to face it or not. You feel the damage she takes in the more physical scenes and she doesn't shake it off easily and I loved that Jolie brought out the humanity within the character. Jon Bernthal is always great and he was beyond magnetic as Ethan Sawyer. I felt the friendly bond between him and Hannah. Medina Senghore was amazing and badass as his wife Allison Sawyer. I won't say alot about what she does in the film, but don't count her out. She is not the typical pregnant house wife and she nearly steals the film. Ethan and Allison stole my heart in the film as they were perfectly casted and had this infectious energy about them. You feel the strength of their love in every moment they're together. Another great standout performance comes from Finn Little as Connor Casserly. Jake Weber plays his father Owen and their scenes were excellent as they truly felt like father and son. The boy holds his own throughout the film and shines as bright as Angelina Jolie. The chemistry between the two of them was great and their bonding moments felt natural and weren't forced. The antagonists in the film were just perfectly cold and mission driven. Aiden Gillen has built a career on being the sometimes layered and sympathetic villain or the straight out for blood kind of evil. As Jack Blackwell, he took charge and was easily quick to pull the trigger and get the mission done, but there was a twinkle of conscience behind his murderous nature. Nicholas Hoult plays his partner Patrick Blackwell and he was just as murderous, but way more cold blooded. I liked seeing Nicholas play a more unruly and vicious character. Tyler Perry was their employer Arthur Philip and it was a surprise to see him step out of the comedy realm and play a sort of mob type boss that sends out killers.
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The score by Brian Tyler was excellent and really gave life to the building doom of a wild fire. I have to say that the fire in this film really was the third and relentless villain and I loved it. Very few films use the elements as a character and much like Backdraft, the fire was a character in of itself. Taylor Sheridan has become one of my favorite storytellers with his impressive body of work. Sicario and Hell or High Water are my favorite films he’s written and his direction of this film was so expertly done. His layered, gritty and adrenaline filled storytelling technique is once again on display and it was the adrenaline shot I didn't know I needed. It is currently in theaters and streaming on HBO Max and I can't gush enough about how fantastic this film is. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in comments below. Thanks for reading!
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copperplatebeech · 3 years
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Chapter 9, “A Most Excellent And Secret Oath,” now up!
If you’re enjoying this one, please reblog!
Chapters: 9/11 Fandom: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Sergeant Shadwell/Madame Tracy (Good Omens), Anathema Device/Newton Pulsifer Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), Madame Tracy (Good Omens), Deirdre Young, Hastur (Good Omens), Newton Pulsifer, Anathema Device, Ligur (Good Omens), Beelzebub (Good Omens), Arthur Young | Mr Young (Good Omens), The Them (Good Omens), Adam Young (Good Omens), Pepper (Good Omens), Brian (Good Omens), Wensleydale (Good Omens), R. P. Tyler (Good Omens), Greasy Johnson (Good Omens), Gabriel (Good Omens), Thaddeus J. Dowling, Harriet Dowling, Warlock Dowling Additional Tags: Lower Tadfield (Good Omens), Rocky Horror Picture Show References, Savoy Operas, amateur orchestra, Dom/sub, Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, Light Bondage, Eventual Smut, Mild Smut, Gay Bar, Gentle Dom Aziraphale (Good Omens), Sub Crowley (Good Omens), Implied/Referenced Blow Jobs, Implied Anal Sex, Coming Untouched, Aziraphale is "just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing" (Good Omens), Crowley is a Mess (Good Omens), Bassoonist Aziraphale, Flautist Crowley, French Hornist Gabriel, fake marriage but not really, Alternate Universe - Human, Crowley is Good With Kids (Good Omens), First Kiss, Marriage Proposal, Don't copy to another site, Aziraphale Loves Crowley (Good Omens), Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Protective Crowley (Good Omens) Summary:
Anthony Crowley, marketing consultant and competent amateur flautist, finds he can at least flee the smoke and congestion of London if not the golden handcuffs of his job. He’s got no personal life to leave behind; he likes things anonymous, and rough, and even a little dangerous, and far enough from home that he won’t have to deal with entanglements. So what’s he doing obsessing about a mannerly, daintily groomed, kindly man who he’s not even sure is gay? And how’s he going to cope with a hotbed of gossip, a lovelorn tubist serenading the witch next door, and an irascible music director with a Black Belt in baton-throwing?
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aion-rsa · 3 years
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Superman & Lois Episode 3 Review: The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower
https://ift.tt/3rzwEKz
This Superman & Lois review contains spoilers.
Superman and Lois Episode 3
“Morrissey’s a xenophobic has-been.”
This one line, delivered with deadpan perfection by Alex Garfin’s Jordan Kent pretty much sums up why Superman & Lois episode 3 is so good. Wait, really? Yes, stay with me for a minute…
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I loved the first two episodes of Superman & Lois. There’s no question about that. But there was a very slight nagging feeling in the back of my mind, that maybe this show was going to be a little too serious for its own good. That maybe in the process of making Jonathan and Jordan Kent as believable as possible, and as “relatable” (god, I hate that word) to young audiences as they needed to be, that the show would end up trying just a little too hard, get a little more wrapped up in its “family drama, but with Superman” high concept than it strictly needed to, and maybe forget to lighten up every now and then. I could excuse it in those first two episodes, which play like one feature length pilot when watched together, and which had a lot of work to do to get us to buy this very different take on the Man of Steel, but I wasn’t sure if the tone would sustain over a longer stretch of episodes.
And then along comes “The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower” to put those fears at ease. To be absolutely clear, this is absolutely not a drastic change in tone from what has come before. But now that we’ve gotten to know the Kents and their neighbors and classmates, and that the Smallville setting feels very much like the natural setting of the show, there’s a little more fun to be had. No, this isn’t suddenly The Flash and STAR Labs with a team of folks cracking wise at every opportunity, and it’s certainly not my beloved Legends of Tomorrow, but the humor is here, it’s subtle, and it works at every opportunity.
The opening scene with the family trying to paint the old Kent home is a charmer, a moment broken by Clark hearing a bridge collapsing in China which he speeds off to save. It’s another near-cinematic action sequence for this show, but the special effects aren’t really what sell this scene, it’s the moment of terror to relief to pure joy of a single fisherman as he realizes he’s witnessing Superman hold up a bridge…and Superman’s wordless interaction with him is equally joyful. This is something that simply hasn’t been done in live action interpretations of Superman since the Christopher Reeve years, and I honestly rank those few seconds with Supes and the fisherman as one of the best screen moments in the character’s history.
This episode is full of moments like that, even though Tyler Hoechlin once again spends most of his screentime as Clark rather than Superman. But even there, this is certainly Hoechlin’s finest performance as the character so far, bouncing effortlessly between Man of Steel to “Clark the superpowered dad dealing with problems new even to him” to “Clark who has to act like there’s nothing special about him.”
I worry slightly that Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane still doesn’t quite have enough to do as they build her Morgan Edge investigation through the Smallville Gazette. In every other aspect, moving the family to Smallville has worked, particular in regards to exploring completely new facets of the Clark/Superman dynamic, but Lois so far feels a little out of place. On the other hand, I should probably be thankful that they aren’t trying to “do a journalism” the way it’s so often been portrayed on Supergirl or The Flash, and maybe the slow burn is the more prudent move here. Anyway, it doesn’t change the fact that Tulloch is a delight in every scene, and she is quickly becoming the definitive screen Lois for me.
But the real highlights for this episode come in the form of Jonathan and Jordan, the two characters I was most skeptical about going into this show. I’ll confess, despite some terrific comics by the likes of Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Dan Jurgens, Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Reis, and others in recent years, I’ve never been the biggest fan of the “Superman as dad” concept. I tend to like my Superman stories a little more unencumbered (or some might say traditional, but whatever). But Jordan Elsass’ Jonathan and Alex Garfin’s Jordan are just so darn likeable, and the story being written for them so compelling, that I can’t really complain.
The idea that Jordan would try out for the football team despite his burgeoning powers seems a ridiculous one, and I honestly thought that sequence was going to be revealed as a daydream (similar to Clark’s in the first episode of Smallville). But it’s real, and it doesn’t go quite where I thought it would. Jordan excels at football…as it turns out, he’s a bit more powered up than Jor-El suspected last episode. You’d naturally expect this to lead to friction with Jonathan, who has yet to get the hang of his new team, and for a brief period it does, but then the show does something unexpected.
This isn’t about football going to Jordan’s head or even about him “getting even” with the guys who have been bullying him. Instead, it’s the first time he’s felt part of something. After absolutely leveling Sarah Cushing’s boyfriend (well…ex-boyfriend now) on the field, he offers his hand and apologizes for that awkward kiss at the Shuster Mines. Jonathan, meanwhile, sees the good the team is doing for his brother and advocates for him with a Clark who is understandably annoyed that his son is using his powers to gain an advantage on the football field.
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Superman & Lois: Behind the Scenes of The New DC TV Show
By Mike Cecchini
I know, I know, this all sounds far weightier than the Morrissey joke I quoted at the start of this, but it all unfolds with a little charm, and some surprisingly light touches here and there. Jonathan and Jordan reacting to an incredibly awkward moment with Sarah and Lana, Clark overdoing his “dorky, eager dad” routine, and other little touches just make this feel like the show is settling into a rhythm with these characters and getting more comfortable being playful.
It’s perhaps a little worrisome that Wolé  Parks’ mysterious Captain Luthor is nowhere to be seen this episode, with the only superhuman punch-up coming in the form of guest star Daniel Cudmore’s mysterious, nameless goon who makes the mistake of trying to take out Lois during her investigation. That leads to a really sharp (but quick) punch-up between him and Superman, with a terrific sequence where Superman freezes him with super-breath before delivering a perfect uppercut that would look right at home in a comic panel. If this show continues to work out creative ways to use Superman’s powers the way they have with Barry on The Flash, I think we’re gonna have some real fun in the coming episodes.
But then there’s that ending. As Lois asks, why DOES Morgan Edge have someone with super powers working for him? More than one, apparently, as Cudmore’s mysterious baddie is vaporized by a woman with heat vision named…Larr. So far, the formula for Superman & Lois seems to be to give us a family drama heavy episode, punctuated by moments of cinematic action, and then to close with a mind-bendingly cool reveal. Well, if they insist, who am I to argue?
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There’s not a ton of DC or Superman Easter eggs this episode, so I don’t think it’s necessarily worth its own post. But, here’s what I’ve got…
The bridge collapse scene does faintly call to mind Superman saving the Golden Gate Bridge during the earthquake in Superman: The Movie.
Jonathan telling Clark that “if you’re not actually allowed to be special” etc feels like a subtle nod to teenage Clark telling Jonathan Kent in Superman: The Movie that he could excel on the football field if he wanted to, which Jonathan forbids, saying that Clark isn’t here to “show off.” But that Clark’s answer was a philosophical “is a bird showing off when he flies?”
Cudmore’s nameless character is apparently “Subjekt-11” a designation which calls to mind “Subjekt-17” an alien raised by the Soviets to make Superman’s life miserable in Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco’s incredibly underrated run on the Superman comics.
Sharon Powell may not be a character from the comics, but the folks at Kryptonsite used their X-Ray vision to point out that the actress who plays her, Jill Teed, was known for portraying Maggie Sawyer on Smallville!
Tyler Hoechlin finally gets to talk a little baseball on this show. Before going into acting, he was a baseball prodigy.
It seems that’s Morgan Edge’s right hand woman, “Leslie Larr” vaporizing our mysterious baddie. The closest I can find to her is a “Lesla Larr” who was an obscure Supergirl villain. THAT version of Larr hailed from Kandor (post shrinking) and she made Supergirl’s life miserable from time to time. I don’t expect this version of the character to have too much in common with her comics counterpart, but it seems like “evil Kryptonians” are definitely gonna be a thing on this show going forward.
The post Superman & Lois Episode 3 Review: The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower appeared first on Den of Geek.
from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3buqKEW
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piratewithvigor · 3 years
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If you could make up your ultimate band, who would be in it?
This is going to be a long and thought-out process that I am not going to be nice about. Gotta think about the perfect qualities of a band and who can best deliver that vision. For the ultimate band, I want thoughtful and intricate songs that don't go too far into prog, but also don't shy away from it either. I want talent, showmanship, and if they're cuties, they get bonus points.
So starting out, we need a songwriter to get anywhere. Although John Lennon or Paul McCartney would be an easy selection, being two of the most successful songwriters in history, success is not always what you want. I love the Beatles dearly and everything they did, but the quality of their work has the tendency to get over-hyped. But the greatest lyricist who could go mainstream when he had to and was able to cut loose and get creative when given the opportunity was Neil Peart. Not only does he cover lyrics, but he was one of the greatest drummers in the world and can fill that category too.
Now, since I’m a little prog-leaning, I want a keyboardist as well. Not every band has one and even the ones who do don’t always feature keyboards or piano, but every single band I listen to frequently has used a piano as a feature instrument on at least one song. I could say Freddie Mercury or Elton John here, and while they’re both excellent, they don’t compare to the wizard of keys, Keith Emerson. No one on the planet plays so fast or so accurately. He plays the organ like Keith Moon plays the drums. 
To round out the rhythm section, I need someone on bass. If I went with my basal instincts, I would choose Geddy Lee in a heartbeat. Even after considering for a few minutes, there are only three who could maybe take his place: John Paul Jones, Duff McKagan or Donald “Duck” Dunn. Duff isn’t as talented as the other two, but he does have a fuckton of showmanship to his style and knows far more instruments and is a bonafide cutie. Jonesy isn’t too showy, but he has technical skills beyond reproach. Donald is arguably more skilled than either of them, but he doesn’t go quite into the same style as the band I’m trying to put together. R&B isn’t prog-leaning rock. While I think he could handle it easily, he doesn’t quite have the right vibe. I just have to go with Geddy.
Now comes the trickiest part: the guitarists. I’ve got at least two spots, but so many names who could take them. Jimmy Page, Mick Mars, Brian May, Slash, Eddie Van Halen. Although I want them all, the only reason I’ll be able to give any of them the boot is due to their styles. Slash and Mick go because they are hard-rockers to their core. I don’t think they’d be able to deal with the proggy vibe, no matter how much I want them to. Eddie is much more of a toss-up. He could probably handle the vibe, but it wouldn’t be his forte and he wouldn’t be happy. Jimmy and Brian are two different stories. Not only have they each been voted greatest guitarists of all time on different occasions, but each of their bands have dipped their toes in the waters of prog, and I think they could take the vibe and run with it happily. Also, they’ve both been solo guitarists in their respective bands, and could likely handle tossing the baton of lead guitar back and forth.
Finally, the singer. Almost every band I listen to could put a singer into the mix. Robert Plant, Axl Rose, Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison, Paul Stanley, Dan Avidan, David Bowie, Steven Tyler, Steve Perry, the list goes on. The problem is finding who has the right mix of talent and a forte in proggy styles. Robert, Freddie, Dan, David and Steve meet those criteria, but only one of them has actually recorded prog songs, and that’s Dan (everyone else WILL be making guest appearances on songs).
So my ultimate band is composed of Neil Peart, Keith Emerson, Geddy Lee, Jimmy Page, Brian May and Dan Avidan.
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Starship (Rewatch #4, 9/30/2020)
YouTube publish date: April 30, 2011
Number of views on date of rewatch: 4,171, 828
Original Performance Run: February 11-23, 2011 at the Hoover-Leppen Theatre in Chicago
Ticket price: $25
Director: Matt Lang
Music and Lyrics: Darren Criss
Book: Brian Holden, Matt Lang, Nick Lang, and Joe Walker
Cast album price and availability: $8.91 on Amazon and iTunes
     Release date: April 29, 2011
Parody or original: original content, inspired by Starship Troopers, The Little Mermaid, and Alien
Main cast and characters:
Bug - Joey Richter
February - Denise Donovan
Commander Up - Joe Walker
Taz/Buggette - Lauren Lopez
Tootsie Noodles/Pincer - Dylan Saunders
Mega-Girl - Meredith Stepien
Junior - Brian Holden
Roach - Brant Cox
Specs - Julia Albain
Krayonder - Joe Moses
Musical numbers
Act I
“I Wanna Be” Characters: Bug, Roach, and Ensemble (playing inhabitants of the Bug World)
“Get Back Up” Characters: Taz, Up, and Starship Rangers
“Life” Characters: Bug
“Hideous Creatures” Characters: Starship Rangers and Bugs
“Kick It Up A Notch” Characters: Pincer, The Mosquitoes, and Bug
“Status Quo” Characters: Bug
Act II
“The Way I Do” Characters: Tootsie Noodles, Mega-Girl, February, and Bug
“Beauty” Characters: Roach and Bugs
“Kick It Up A Notch (Reprise)” Characters: Junior
“Beauty” Characters: Company
Notable Notes:
This production won the 2011 “Best New Work” award from BroadwayWorld’s Chicago theatre awards
Starship is Starkid’s first show that they produced independently from the University of Michigan! The show opened in Chicago, where the following few shows were produced before a majority of the most active members moved to Los Angeles prior to The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, which opened in 2018
StarKid had their own short segment on MTV that highlighted certain aspects of the production such as Criss’ music and the puppetry (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlnIXIGrjVg). At that point in time, Darren Criss was already a television favorite due to his role as Blaine Anderson on Glee, who joined the cast during its second season
The show’s cast album debuted at number one on Billboard’s Top Cast Albums within three days of its release and at the 134th spot during that week’s Billboard’s Top 200 chart (x)
The opening sequence features cameos from other StarKid members such as Chris Allen, Tyler Brunsman, Richard Campbell, Britney Coleman, Arielle Goldman, Devin Lytle, Lily Marks, Nicholas Joseph Strauss-Matathia, and Brian Rosenthal.The same sequence was narrated by actor Bob Joles (AKA Man Ray in Spongebob Squarepants)
***Fun Facts provided by Abby:
Nick and Dylan think the worst StarKid song is ‘Hideous Creatures’
During a rehearsal, Joey told Nick that he thought the choreography for ‘Beauty’ was boring. Then Nick asked him, “Do you want to choreograph the number?" and then walked out of the room.
There was a theoretical sequel to Starship in which Taz and Up arrest Spaceclaw but get injured by an explosion. Up ends up in the hospital because of his injuries, and while Taz waits for him to heal, she has flashbacks of when they first met and the missions they went on together (Taz’s quinceañera, etc.)
Lauren: I'd like to imagine that Taz has that same hairstyle just in a big quinceañera dress
Once during rehearsal, they were all in a bad mood during ‘Beauty’. Darren wanted to surprise the cast with a visit, so he burst into the theatre singing the song and was just met by silence
At LeakyCon 2014 on Orlando, StarKid were invited as guests and performed a staged reading of a one-act sequel to Starship called Starship: Requiem.
Official synopsis: The story follows the adventures of Mega-Girl the robot and her half-witted Starship Ranger husband. The newlyweds are sucked into a black hole of trouble when they go to visit Mega-Girl’s human-hating family, including her overbearing mother-unit, her jealous sister-unit and the return of her hunky ex-boyfriend-unit. (x)
Cultural Context: 2011
The production’s MTV segment aired a little over a week after Glee’s “Original Song” episode, which featured Kurt and Blaine’s long-awaited first kiss [rip Pavarotti]
Prince William and Kate Middleton get married
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 premieres on July 15th
Beyoncé announces her pregnancy during her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards
“Friday” by Rebecca Black gets released in March
In early May, President Obama announces that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces
New York becomes the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage on June 24th
The 9/11 Memorial Museum opens to the public on the tenth anniversary of the attacks
Content Analysis:
During my time on social media, I have found that Starship is one of the StarKid shows that gets discussed the least. Up until the show’s debut in StarKid’s history, the only shows they’ve done were AVPM and AVPS, both major viral hits, and MAMD, which reached popularity partly because it was released after StarKid became known for AVPM. Coming off of their great and unexpected successes with these productions, one would think that there would be a bigger fandom for Starship. It’s their second show that is based on original content rather than being a parody, and the production quality is the strongest in their repertoire, considering the funds they gained from their album sales for MAMD and their growing merchandise sales for their Potter musical series.
Personally, it’s one of my favorite StarKid shows because of the production quality and because the performances are so strong. Joey Richter makes a perfect leading man, and seeing how his general abilities as a performer have grown since MAMD has been delightful. His vocal range got stronger and more pronounced and he has a very confident stage presence, especially since Starship was StarKid’s first production independent of the University of Michigan’s monetary assistance and performance space. Lauren Lopez and Dylan Saunders do such an incredible job at playing two completely different characters themselves within the same show. Saunders plays Tootsie Noodles, a lovable idiot with a heart of gold who falls in love with a robot of all things, while also playing Pincer, the villainous instigator of the plot. Lopez has a similar about-face in character portrayal. She plays Buggette, a bug who’s in a helpless one-sided romantic relationship with Bug, and then two seconds later Lopez transforms into Taz, a kickass Latina Starship Ranger with excellent comedic presence and the undisputed leader of the group before Up regains his confidence as commander.
Starship is very unique in that about half of the characters in the show are portrayed by puppets, which themselves are incredibly designed, but unlike other productions that use puppets, they do not detract from the actor’s performance of the character. StarKid did a very good job in ensuring that the puppets are not a gimmick, but rather a compliment, to their individual actor’s portrayal of the character. All actors who play puppet roles do such a great job of vocalizing their character that, despite the design of the puppet not having the ability to change facial features, make the puppets feel so alive that it’s almost like watching a live-action animated movie (the good kind we’ve yet to experience, not the Disney kind). If there is any one thing that Starship represents for the company as a whole, it’s that character creation and embodiment make up the heartblood of the performances. Aside from the vocal performances, the facial expressions and physicality of the performances add so much to the puppetry performances, even when the focus on the character isn’t their physical representation but their dialogue and place in the plot. Regardless of whether or not the recording is emphasizing the puppet itself during a scene, the actor controlling the puppet is using perfect facial expressions and has matching body language with the puppet, which not only helps the actor stay in character, but gives more life to the puppet itself.
While I am eternally grateful that StarKid to this day ensures that their musical productions are put on YouTube for free, there are two very clear downsides that make themselves especially present in the recording. One is that, unlike in live theatre where any audience member can choose who and what to look at onstage at any given time, the camera is the one dictating what each audience member can focus on. Generally speaking, that isn’t too much of a detriment as most of the shots StarKid uses tend to showcase the most important characters during each scene, which any audience member would do if they were to attend a production live, but because StarKid members are so adept at character performance, it really makes me wish that I can look more at the ensemble’s performances during group scenes, or secondary character’s reactions during smaller scenes in which their character may not be the main focus.
Another thing was the general editing style. Though it did not necessarily take away anything from the performance itself or make watching the recording any less enjoyable, there were some editing choices that I felt were too distracting for what the scene called for in the show. For example, when Crayonder mentions to Taz that he thinks that Commander Up has “gone soft” since the injury he sustained in the Robot War, twice does the camera pause on his face and a record scratch and ‘booooo’ track is heard overlaid onto the scene. I understand the comedic nature of that bit in retrospect, but for a viewer, regardless of whether or not they are watching the show for the first time, it’s very distracting and forcibly shifts the audience’s focus on the story and the characters to a one-off joke. For a first-time viewer, that editing choice especially does not have as much impact as it does for a recurring viewer, as at that point in the story, the audience is only just being introduced to the characters and has no personal connection to Up and his backstory, making the effect of the joke less successful. As well, throughout the recording, and during the first act in particular, the show has a lot of quick and experimental cuts in the frame that I feel don’t allow the audience to sit enough with the action and the performance happening onstage, instead making the audience pay more attention to quick facial gestures rather than allowing the audience to take in the performance of an individual actor or an entire scene as a whole. Overall, the editing just reminds me that I am watching this beautifully done live-performance through a screen rather than being there for the performance in person, and lessens the potential impact of the recording as a whole.
Regardless of the editing, Starship still has some of the best character performances and musical numbers in StarKid’s production history. One that really stood out for me during this rewatch was Denise Donovan’s portrayal of February. Her character gets introduced as a classic ditzy character who initially doesn’t have a lot of agency in the story, but through good writing and likable performance, grows into the most sympathetic and dynamic character in the show. Donovan’s performance makes February more human than the trope she represents, and plays off her character so well that her jokes make her more endearing than a throw-away character that’s used just for laughs and a love-interest. Starkid tends to do this with a lot of the trope-y roles that they write for their productions . The writing and the direction have a very unique way of taking seemingly predictable, one-dimensional characters and fleshing them out into entire human beings with backstories and arcs, making their comedic impact all the more enjoyable because the audience genuinely likes them.
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