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aion-rsa · 3 years

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A Clockwork Orange at 50: Malcolm McDowell Revisits Kubrick’s Film

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“I think I’ve always been my own kind of person, and you know sometimes to my detriment,” says Malcolm McDowell, chatting to Den of Geek via Zoom, 50 years after the release of A Clockwork Orange.

“I’ve never really played the Hollywood card, I’m not really an insider, that’s just not my thing. And I like to be able to say no. And that’s it.That’s not probably a politically correct thing to do. However, too bad. I’m still here 50 years later.”

McDowell is talking to us from LA, his accent a soft mix of Yorkshire, where he grew up, and California where he has resided for much of his professional life. He is funny and charismatic, with a hint of the mischievous, he says people still find him “a little intimidating” – traits which he brought out in spades for his breakout roles, first as rebellious school boy Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson’s If… and then as violent delinquent Alex Delarge in Stanley Kubrick’s bold, blistering and controversial satire A Clockwork Orange.

Watching it today it seems hard to believe the movie is 50 years old – it’s lost none of its power. Set in a futuristic dystopian Britain, McDowell plays gang leader Alex, who with his band of ‘droogs’, gets high on ‘milk plus’ and commits a horrible home invasion and rape, and later a murder. Apprehended by the police, Alex agrees to participate in a new kind of aversion therapy which makes him physically unable to commit crimes, causing pain and nausea at the very thought, in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Alex is robbed of freewill, becoming the Clockwork Orange – an organic thing with a machine inside – of the title. It’s a movie of big themes, of totalitarian governments controlling citizens and left wing dissidents exploiting individuals, it’s a discussion of goodness and evil, of youth and authority, which is visually striking and often shockingly so. And to many it’s a masterpiece.

Kubrick’s film is an adaptation of the novel by Anthony Burgess, which like the movie uses a language Burgess called Nadsat (from the Russian suffix meaning ‘teen’) – a mix of Russian, English and Cockney rhyming slang.

McDowell recalls his first meeting with Kubrick which took place at Kubrick’s house in Boreham Wood, during McDowell’s lunch hour filming Bryan Forbes’ Long Ago, Tomorrow. Kubrick said he’d seen If.. four or five times and it had made a big impression on him.

“We had a very nice chat but he didn’t mention anything and at the end I said ‘Well, I’ve got to get back to work. Was there anything you wanted to talk to me about in particular?’ And I could see his discomfort, at having to actually tell me that, yeah, he was thinking of making this book into a movie. And anyway, he begrudgingly gave me the title, gave me a copy of the book and told me to read it and call him,” McDowell smiles.

He describes the book as “a damn difficult read on the first go” but by the third go he was convinced. “I read it and I went, Holy crap, what a part! Oh geez!”

No kidding. Alex is front and centre of the entire film, he’s the narrator and charged with delivering difficult lines about ‘ultraviolence’, ‘weepy young devotchkas’ and how the treatment is affecting his ‘gulliver’.

Burgess was a linguist and his decision to make a new hybrid youth slang was a practical one. He wanted the youths in this world to feel ‘other’ and separate from the grown ups but felt if he’d chosen to use contemporary slang that the book would date quickly. It was a shrewd move that Kubrick stuck to, helping the film have a sense of timelessness.

Then there were the iconic costumes worn by Alex and his droogs – removed from any particular era of fashion they were simple but immediately intimidating. The look came about via a moment of serendipity between McDowell and Kubrick when Kubrick asked his star what he had in mind for the costume himself.

“I said ‘Futuristic, I don’t know!’” McDowell laughs. “He goes, ‘What have you got?’ I went ‘What have I got? I mean I’ve got jeans and a T-shirt and I’ve got my cricket gear in the car’. He goes, ‘We’ll put it on. And then ‘What’s this?’ I went, ‘Well, that’s the protector’. He said ‘Wear it on the outside’. And that’s the iconic costume, right there, boom.”

McDowell says he had around six months of prep time where he got to know Kubrick really well, where Kubrick grew to trust him which he describes as being really fun. That trust between the two was important – McDowell had heavy lifting to do physically, including the indelible scenes of the ‘Ludovico technique’ which saw his eyelids pinned back (he scratched a cornea) and the humiliation scene, after his conversion, (he cracked several ribs). McDowell plays this down, “Most of the time it was fun to do. I had a couple of injuries but they weren’t life threatening. They were fairly painful, but it was really a small price to pay.”

On a rewatch these moments still standout, though there are others too – an extended sequence where Alex is being drowned in a trough by his former friends knocks the breath out of you.

“To be honest with you, it’s a complete cheat,” says McDowell of the scene. “There’s one cut right at the beginning. That water was cold and they coloured it with Bovril. I mean can you imagine beef extract? It stank to high heaven, it was absolutely like shit! And it was cold because we shot it I think in November. So they couldn’t heat the water because it steamed. I could only literally last three to five seconds before I had to come up for air. And so he put a tank of oxygen in there with a mouthpiece, and I spent my time trying to find the mouthpiece, which was bobbing around. It was harrowing.”

Not to mention he was being beaten with a billy club at the same time.

“Admittedly, it’s rubber, but it still hurts,” McDowell recalls. “You can still feel it, and you feel like you’re in a nether world, you’re underwater, you’re sort of like drowning, but not quite. It’s a pretty good shot though.”

As well as the language, the soundtrack, the costumes and McDowell’s performance, the movie is also remembered for the controversy surrounding it. Allegations of copycat crimes as well as death threats sent to the director prompted Kubrick to pull the film from UK distribution in 1973, making it difficult to see in Britain until after Kubrick’s death in 1999. McDowell says the withdrawal didn’t especially affect him at the time, since he was in another country filming, and the movie had already been shown for a year. “It wasn’t like he pulled it at the height of its success so people couldn’t see it.”

Though it remains tough to watch in part, McDowell says younger audiences seem more comfortable with the comedy and satire elements of the film, a strand that was always intended.

“It is a black comedy and that’s how it was made. And I would have to say that that element of it has caught up, and kids when they see the movie now just roar with laughter and that makes my heart sing because that’s what I thought when I made it,” he says. “When it first came out, my god! It was total silence in the cinema, nobody moved out of their seats.”

When we ask McDowell what he hopes new viewers coming to the film today might take from it he’s typically candid: “I really have nothing to say about that. You know they can take whatever they want.” Though he says he thinks it’s amazing that the film is still relevant which he attributes to Burgess’s book even more than Kubrick’s adaptation.

Then after a beat he follows up with an anecdote.

“Well, actually I did go to a screening for the 40th anniversary at the Egyptian, I also gave a bit of a talk. At the end I was walking towards the bathroom and a young kid passed me, and goes ‘Oh my god! Clockwork right?’ I went, ‘Yeah!’ he goes, ‘Which part?’ I went, ‘The old guy’. He goes, ‘The old guy! Oh!’ I went, ‘No! the young guy! It’s 40 years old!’ he went, ‘Oh!’ he didn’t even connect,” McDowell chuckles. “I don’t know what he was smoking.”

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To mark its 50th anniversary, A Clockwork Orange Ultimate Collector’s Edition is now available to own here and includes the feature film on a Ultra HD Blu-ray™ disc in 4K with HDR and a Blu-ray™ disc with the feature film and special features. Fans can also own A Clockwork Orange in 4K Ultra HD via purchase from select digital retailers.

The post A Clockwork Orange at 50: Malcolm McDowell Revisits Kubrick’s Film appeared first on Den of Geek.

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vickielou · 4 years

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Home isn’t a place, It’s a feeling (Tom Holland Fanfiction)

Chapter One

The cameras flashed everywhere around me, I tried to pretend I wasn’t anxious at the thought of being seen at this thing. Premier Nights weren’t my favourite part of being friends with actor. They filled me with a sense of anxiety that before Tom got famous I’d never felt before. I felt a hand at my elbow. “You look worse than Tom and he’s the one everyone came to see” Harry laughed. Harry Holland. Little shit. Twin #2.

“I hate these things” I muttered, his hand tapped at my elbow in reassurance. I tried to find it reassuring. I failed. “You can hide behind me if you want” he offered, I think he noticed my unease. The uneven pattern of my breathing and most obvious, I was biting my nails like crazy, my mother was going to have a fit when she saw them. I smiled at Harry, I tried to smile like I wasn’t panicking but I think Harry saw straight through me. A side effect of spending so much time around the Holland Boys. “Thanks for the offer, but Sam is still my favourite twin” I replied, a joke seemed the right way to go. Harry sent me a dirty look. “He got you the guitar for Christmas three years ago, let it go,” He said shaking his head in disapproval. I snorted.

He was right. Three years ago on Christmas day Sam Holland, other little shit and Twin #1 had gifted me a Fender FSR CC-60s Mahogany Concert Acoustic Guitar and it was still the light in my life. You would think that my best friend would have been the one that had bought me the greatest present I’d ever received but Tom didn’t understand guitars and we had a deal that meant that Tom wouldn’t buy me anything to do with music and I wouldn’t buy him anything to do with golf because I couldn’t understand golf to save my life.

I’d been spending part of my Christmas holiday with the Hollands since I was 10 years old. My mother and Nikki had been neighbours (-and best friends!) as long as either of them could remember. My mother worked as a care assistant and more often than not she had to work 12-hour shifts around the Christmas period so I learned from a very young age that the Hollands were like a second family to me. Every time my mum had to work overtime to make ends meet or couldn’t come and get me from school because she just couldn’t get her half an hour break yet, I would go to the Hollands and looking back now that time I spent at their house became some of the best memories of my childhood.

The cameras flashed again and the sound of the crowd outside the cinema got infinitely louder bringing me kicking and screaming back to the present. “Guess Tom’s here” I muttered. I heard the sound of tyres squealing outside and the sound of chanting got louder. Damn those fangirls and their seemingly infinite lung capacity. “Tom! Tom!” They shouted I leaned on the door frame and watched the scene unfold. At some point during Tom’s grand entrance, Harry went to find Sam and I was left alone. I wasn’t fond of being left alone but Sam was doing photographs for the premier and he needed help. The cinema seemed bigger than it had been all the times I’d been there before. Somehow leaning against the door waiting for my best friend to come waltzing through it, when he was done sighing autographs, the place seemed to be the size of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. The dress that I’d squeezed myself in to for the occasion felt tighter than ever, my chest painfully constricted.

I had been thinking about leaving when the door in front of me opened and a familiar face was hurried through by security men that were three times his size, that was saying a lot recently. Tom had been working his arse off in the gym and was around twice the size he used to be.

I took my time to take in his appearance before he noticed me, his face was flushed. His navy suit was dishevelled, the grey shirt underneath was flecked with sweat and his hair was sticking to his forehead with the same sweat from running around signing autographs and taking pictures with the aforementioned fangirls.

“Tommy” I called, he jumped a mile and looked over to where I was standing by the door. I saw the relief cross over his face that I wasn’t someone he didn’t know watching him at what could be considered a vulnerable moment. I was the only person who could call him that.

“Jules, thank god.” He smiled walking over, I watched his eyes take me in as he came closer. He reached out his hand for mine and I happily let him pull me towards where the crowd of people were heading towards the cinema room for the first showing of Toms new movie ‘ONWARD’. I’d heard most of the movie in the clips that Tom had messaged me whilst he was on set, I hadn’t actually seen the animation though and I was excited to see what he’d been making the months he’d been away.

We sat in the seats towards the back, two seats on Tom’s left side were reserved for Sam and Harry when they finally got around to joining us. Tom’s arm immediately went around my shoulder, allowing me to lean back into his embrace. I’d missed this. Yeah, I’d seen him since he came back from New York but I hadn’t seen him for a while it was nice to have him close to me again.

“I’m so glad you came” he was whispering, leaning closer to my ear, I felt his breath tickling the shell and I sighed happily. His breath smelt minty fresh like he’d brushed his teeth minutes ago but I hadn’t missed the gentle pop of his gum. Smart boy, no tuna breath on premiere night. “Wouldn’t be anywhere else” I replied. Tom’s gentle smile was the last thing I remember seeing before the lights went off and the opening credits to the film started.

Before anyone can say it, I know what you’re thinking. You lucky bitch. You’re best friends with Tom Holland. I understand that because Tom is one of the greatest guys that you’ll ever meet. But not for the reasons that most of the fangirls think. Yeah, the man was fucking gorgeous, I’m his best friend but I have eyes. Buffer than a Norse god and more swag that a billionaire playboy philanthropist but that wasn’t the reason that I was so lucky. I saw a side to him that most people didn’t, I saw sleepy Tom falling asleep in front of the TV watching reruns of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. I saw Tom shitting himself watching the remake of IT. I saw him crying over a puppy video on his Facebook and I saw him proudly smiling at his phone when he finally did something right on Instagram. He was and always had been a great guy.

But enough about Tom, let’s get back to where we were.

The premiere went better than expected and I loved the new film, Tom had the gall to laugh at me when I was sobbing towards the end of the movie. That earned him a punch to the stomach that Nikki would have been proud of. Stupid boy, I can’t get through a damn one of his movies without tearing up. Damn almost had a crying fit when I watched The Impossible. Now, remember I was around 13 when the premiere of that film happened and the thought of anything happening to Tom back then was more than my pimpley hormone fuelled heart could take. Tom had to come out of the premiere and hold me for twenty minutes whilst I sobbed, repeatedly reminding me it was a film and he wasn’t going to leave me anytime soon. Yeah, It wasn’t my proudest moment. It was one of my favourite Tom memories though.

“So, What did you think?” Tom asked as the lights came back on. I looked up at him through my panda eyes where my mascara had run and gave him the dirtiest look I could manage. “You said it wasn’t sad” I accused, rubbing at my eyes profusely “You lied to me”

“You cry at every one of my premieres, when are you going to learn to wear waterproof mascara?” Toma asked, pulling his sleeve down over his hand and taking a swipe at the mascara running down my cheeks. “What’s life without a little risk?” I smirked, he shook his head at me, his hand gripping my chin tighter as he gently wiped my face, in the back of a movie theatre with the sleeve of his suit. Oh the class

“You have got to stop rewatching Harry Potter” He sighed

“Says the person who bought me the boxset” I returned. “Not to watch everyday” He laughed, seeming happy enough with his handiwork. He let go of my face. Part of me instantly missed his touch. “And I suppose a great muggle like yourself is going to stop me?” I laughed. Tom looked at me with great disapproval. Tom had never understood my obsession with Harry Potter. A diehard Marvel fan instead, there was no room in his head for anything except Spiderman. The more I think about it, the more I realise that him not being Spiderman for the MCU was utterly preposterous. The man had spiderman bedding, granted Paddy currently slept on those but still, the man lived and breathed Marvel.

“You’re lucky I put up with your arse. Now, what did you actually think?” He asked standing up and holding his hand out to help me up and out of the mostly empty theatre.

“I love it” I smiled. “You really pulled at my heartstrings. Are you going to introduce me to Chris Pratt now?” I asked, fluttering my wet eyelashes at Tom in faux flirtation

“And have to bail you out of prison after you flash at him? No chance” He laughed, gripping my hand tighter and scoffing at my flirtation persuasion attempt. “Indecent exposure is a misdemeanour, I’ll skip prison” I replied. “I’m still not introducing you, in fact. I’m skipping the afterparty all together” He smiled. We’d reached the door to the cinema. Everyone was pretty much gone. There were a few stragglers that were walking around talking on the phone or waiting for taxis home I imagined. There was a teenaged girl that looked up when she saw Tom and let out the most adorable squeak. I pulled on his hand and made him stop to take a picture with her, not that Tom needed forcing to be nice to his fans but Tom could be oblivious and she struck me as the type of girl that wouldn’t have the balls to come over and ask for a picture.

“So, want me to drop you off?” he asked, sliding into the driver’s seat. I heard the leather screech and he settled himself comfortably and reached for his seatbelt.

“To the house exactly three doors down from yours?” I laughed, sliding into the passenger’s seat and instantly reaching for the radio, turning on signal one on low.

“Well actually,” He said pausing and waiting for me to fasten my seatbelt before starting the car “I was wondering if I could stay at your house tonight?” He asked. “My house? With my mother?” I asked, knowing that my mother wasn’t at the house but playing hard to get all the same.

“Isn’t she working at the care home tonight?” He pointed out. The beams from the traffic lights bounced across his face as he drove and I found myself watching the patterns with interest. “I’m not sure if I should find it creepy that you know her rota or not, why are you planning on getting me alone?” I asked, regarding him with a fake expression of fear and distrust.

“I want to spend time with my best friend, and also not be surrounded by my parents right now” He replied, his shoulders tensed at the mention of his parents and I instantly understood. “I see where this is going, Nikki still hasn’t come around to the idea of you moving out, has she?” I asked laughing, “She would come around to it a lot easier if you’d come live with me,” He said turning on to our street. The sight of the familiar street made my heart happy in a weird way. “And add fuel to our families attempts at marrying us off?” I asked. I watched the smirk stretch across his face, Tom found our parents inability to accept our friendship as what it was utterly hilarious, I, however, found every single attempt that they made to push us closer together completely humiliating. “Why ruin the habit of a lifetime?” He said as he parked perfectly in front of my house. I got out of the car in lieu of answering the question. I turned to head up the path my front garden, slowing my pace only slightly in order for Tom to catch up to me, and also because my feet were killing me in these heels.

As I suspected, Tom appeared at my side within seconds and I sent him a bemused smile. I opened the door and headed inside. I kicked my heels off and turned around to hang my coat up, to find Tom still outside the door. I cocked my head at him in question.

“What are you a vampire? Need an invite?” I asked. He didn’t laugh

“You never actually said I could stay over,” He said in explanation, digging his feet in the dirt as if he actually expected me to deny him access to what I suspected has become like a second home to him too. He really was a perfect gentleman.

“Come in, you fucking idiot”. I laughed. “You better not hog the blanket this time”

#Tom Holland #TomHolland #Fanfiction #Bestfriends #FLuff #Cute #Tom #Holland #TomHollandFanfiction

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joecial-distancing · 4 years

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2019 in review in review:

A few years ago I started tracking yearly goals, books read, movies watched etc in a year, along with overview blurbs, in private posts. End of 2019/beginning of 2020 I was really frazzled/burned out about a lot of stuff and just never finished up making the thing. 8 months later, got the urge to read back what I’d got done, then figured I’d maybe go ahead and see about finishing.

Media tracking below the break. thoughts/blurbs written in 2020 italicized, 2019 not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_____________________________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Didn’t do so hot on explicit personal goals, but had a lot of stuff go ok around them this year.

School’s been fine/better than fine.

Job’s probably the biggest failing. Still with same job, haven’t made the firm moves to jump off, dragging my feet too much on exploring stuff w/ Columbia/NASA GISS.

Did not get better with covid, lol

Dating life still non-existent, but I’ve registered on apps, gotten more comfortable with selfies, improved general social life dramatically, been flirted with, updated my wardrobe, and generally started to get comfortable accepting that I’m a hot person.

Somehow got extremely better during covid.

Books

Grant (finished)

We stan a taurus legend

Guy was good at exactly one job, and was fortunate enough to have been in the right place/right time to get to do it.

Mort (discworld)

Definitely best discworld I’ve gotten to so far.

Don Quixote p. II

Really entertaining in a way that part 1 wasn’t; I was shocked how much the meta element landed for me.

Consider the Lobster (DFW collection)

had zero context on who DFW is/was when I read, and still don’t exactly tbh. Wanted to wait for a pause in The Discourse before diving into more of him, but dunno if I’m ever going to get that.

Crime and Punishment (revisited)

Weirdly didn’t get much more out of this than I did the first time I’d read it

Better Than Sex (HST Gonzo papers)

Xerox/widespread fax accessibility opening citizen access to mass media in a manner really reminiscent of what social media would go on to do at a much larger scale. Has a much more deliberate narrative arc than the other gonzo papers collections, also has that excellent HST richard nixon eulogy

The Brothers Karamazov

SPQR

Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Didion collection)

Pet Sematary

Not my favorite King, but not bad

Sourcery (discworld)

still funny/charming, but Mort really made clear/reminded me how much the hapless sadsack Rincewind mold of protagonist wears on me after a while.

The Devil's Teeth

My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Liked it a lot more once I realized it was doing a Fear and Loathing thing.

Homage to Catalonia

This should be the Orwell that gets taught in schools. Make it a followup to All Quiet on the Western Front or something, jeez.

Lyndon Johnson I

Having now finished all of them, this one’s probably the least-interesting but sets up a bunch of important context that the others still then feel the need to retread.

The Razor's Edge

Recommended to me as a “white guy discovers eastern mysticism” book, but also is more interesting in its treatment of that than I’d expected (helps it was written in the 40s).

Cat's Cradle

There’s a part in this where Vonnegut’s making fun of people who try to bond with strangers over being Hoosiers, and my dumbass immediate thought was “ooh, Vonnegut’s a hoosier? Me too!”

Lyndon Johnson II

Robert Caro felt compelled to apologize for spending so much words lionizing Coke Stevens, segregationist opponent to Johnson’s senate run. His goal was pretty clearly to show lbj’s lack of campaign charisma by contrast, definitely definitely overcommitted in his own narrativising.

Libra

I want to go back to this after reading some more De Lillo.

Gravity's Rainbow

This book absolutely kicked my ass

Overstuffed and referential in a specific way that really keeps me hooked in instead of put off. When I learn about some piece of cultural context that I retroactively recognize as being referenced in this, I want to go back and reread the entire thing.

From Caligari to Hitler

Kind of fails both as film criticism and cultural analysis, but absolutely made me want to run for the hills when considering current relationship between mainstream movies and demands of pop culture.

I took a class on Weimar cinema in undergrad that I now realize was probably biting pretty heavily from this and never once referenced it.

Movies

Venom

Movie itself is not as fun as the Tom Hardy hype coverage. PG13 was the absolute worst space to aim for, PG- or R- versions of this could have been a blast.

Harryhauser Argonauts

Was tripping when I put this on, and it was all kinds of fun.

2001: a Space Oddyssey

First time seeing this, all-time classic for a reason!

A Good American (the NSA doc)

Dr. Strangelove

Mel Brooks History of the World p. I

Not my favorite Brooks, best joke was at the beginning.

In Bruges

Had been a while since I saw a proper dark comedy.

Spiderverse

Fukkin awesome!

Visually great, and extremely better than usual superhero stuff for being aimed at PG instead of PG-13.

You Only Live Twice

Highlander (Revisited)

I watched The Old Guard on netflix recently and it mostly just made me wish I was watching Highlander instead, because at least Highlander knows exactly how goofy it is

Moonraker

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Much like The Shining, I though this would have been 100% spoiled for me by cultural osmosis, but turns out it wasn’t, and even the scenes I had seen *totally landed* in-context still.

Kung Fu Hustle

Ichi the Killer

Really gross, really fun

Matrix Reloaded (watched thru highway scene) (Revisited)

The highway scene was not nearly as cool as I remembered it being.

John Wick 3*

Probably dumbest plot of all of them, best choreography. I like how every single fight had its own distinct flavor. “Knife museum fight” “horse fight” “halle berry dogs fight”

Akira

A classic

Pet Sematary * (ugh, bad)

Why can’t john lithgow be in good movies anymore

The Revenant

MCU Spiderman

Fuck this was awful.

MCU Spiderman 2*

Really weird, complete Rorschach Test of a movie: it’d be totally valid to read into this that global warming is Fake News, for instance.

Lmao this was completely awful

Rites

Dredd (non-stallone)

oh hey Lena Headey’s in this

For All Mankind!

Watched in honor of moon landing anniversary

Lion King *

Watched it way too stoned, was like dark side of the moon + wizard of oz except instead it’s a lion king script reading + nature footage edited for lip syncing.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood *

Many scenes of very long setups for really stupid shaggy dog jokes, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. I do kinda want to rewatch now knowing more about manson, which I knew pretty much nothing about beforehand

Blowout

A good john lithgow movie

also I think I like travolta in things.

Lord of War

A Good cage movie

I like when Eamon Walker shows up in stuff.

Taxi Driver

A classic

Snowpiercer

Watched in a bar with only one speaker working, which is the correct way to watch. Weirder and funnier than I thought it was going to be, which still doesn’t make it good, but,

dbz big green dub

Exorcist III

Brad Dourif just tearing it apart

Deep Red (argento)

Suspiria (1977)

Watched the remake in 2020, which was ok, but nothing tops the Goblin score.

Elf Bowling

Thanks, Gnome

Parasite *

Interesting to me that this one seems poised to hang around people’s good esteem for a while

FMA: B

Rick & Morty

Saw some episodes, generally pretty funny, some misanthropy that’s probably appealing to a certain type of teen al a something like House, but ultimately I don’t totally Get the intensity of discourse about it.

Leterkenny

Mob Psycho 100

One Punch Man

Deadwood

Watchmen

Only watched like half of it. Was playing around with a lot of hefty imagery/thematics, but didn’t really seem ready to rise above playing (tho also I feel like it’s weird on some level to *expect* them to rise above that in the first place)

Music

New Avantasia

HEALTH/ show

lol remember concerts

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard/ show

Just learned about King Gizz in 2019 and got completely obsessed with them. I don’t tend to expand my music selection very readily, and a lot of what I currently *do* know is old/inactive stuff, so it was/is incredibly exciting to have an active group with good momentum just immediately win me over like that.

Mistimed the edibles and ended up with a really good finale and a really long subway ride home.

New Yeasayer

Sad they split up

Steve Wilson Tull remixes

Aqualung’s a good album and the sound mixing’s kinda bad, so I liked this project.

Stonefield

Opened for Gizzard. Really good as studying music

Video Games

Civ VI: Gathering Storm

Hades

Turns out Supergiant’s design proclivities all work *extremely well* on a roguelike

Baba is You

Untitled Goose Game

Cute, if maybe a bit overhyped

finally fucking finished Pillars of Eternity

Had fun with it, but too long, and really dour for how long it is.

Pillars II

Kinda drifted off it eventually, but I do genuinely like that the flavor of the fantasy is colonial era rather than medieval.

There’s a Balancing Bastard Factions element where it’s like the writers are just being smartasses after a while. Having to go extremely out of their way to make siding with colonizers seem like a competitive option.

Pokemon shield

Cuphead

pisses me off, which was a nice outlet when I was stranded by flight cancellations during thanksgiving

Celeste

Also very difficult, but really easy to stay patient with, which is nice.

Disco Elysium

None of the discourse made me want to play this, but people talking about the mechanical stuff it did got me extremely interested. Mostly Delivered IMO.

Breath of the Wild

You can approach the nodes of the main quest in the order you choose, and the second one I chose made ninjas start fucking spawning everywhere when I’m just trying to explore, and there’s no way to make it stop. May go back to it one day.

Podcasts

Relentless Picnic Patreon feed

The treats really helped me start distinguishing individual personalities, compared to the regular eps.

Picnic Discord!

FatT Counterweight

Fun, but also I think Mechs are not my shit.

FatT Spring in Hieron/ end of that particular world

8 months since I’ve last tuned into FatT. ah well.

Law School

He’s in everythiiiing!

You Must Remember This: Manson family

*There’s* the context

Misc.

Kindle train guy

Times Square sleeping guy + kids taking selfies w/ him

toddler singing along after Psycho killer (a, ya, ya ya, ya)

drunk and dragged to a drag show

Central park football family

Soft Steel Drum Subway Busker

Weird old lady going to grand central for oysters

2018 in review (cards):

MySelf (CC)

Self: Tower

Blocked: 10 Cups

Ethereal/subconscious: 8 Swords

Material: 3 Swords

Past: Justice

Future: Page Wands

Attitude: Sun

External: King Swords

Hopes/Fears: 5 Coins

Trajectory: High Priestess

Also Self:

Hierophant

7 Cups

7 Coins

Blind Spot:

(self & others): 5 cups || (others not self): High Priestess

(self not others): Moon || (nobody): 3 Cups

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jtb1963 · 5 years

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On the 7/11/13, a Thursday, Nowhere Boys first premiered.

I remember the trailer for the first episode. The show looked interesting. Boys go missing in a forest then get home to find that no one knows them and reality is altered? You’ve got my attention. I’ll check it out for sure. I also remember the individual Bremin 4 trailers. I only got to see Felix’s and Jake’s and that annoyed me. I wanted to see all of them. I wanted to know the characters.

I immediately deemed Felix as my favourite even before the show started because I was heavily into Pewdiepie at the time. That quickly changed during the show. No hate on Felix, I just preferred Jake after a few episodes.

I watched the first episode and I enjoyed it greatly, as well as the rest of the season. The ending of the first episode when Oscar stood up was stunning. Trying to figure out if the boys were in another world or had manipulated their own, what and who the fifth element was, why had this predicament happened in the first place was fun. This show was so exciting. I became a full-on fangirl quickly.

It was also relatable for me. As an Australian teenager the show was so homely in this weird way. Hearing magpies squawk in the background and the bogan-ness of the characters were nice because most of the shows that interested me like this weren’t Australian. It was 2013 and I was in 10th grade like the characters which was pretty cool too, but 2013 was the beginning of the rough patch of my life. I won’t get too deep into it because this post isn’t about that but I will briefly go over it. I started getting sick, massive stomach cramps almost every day, and all sectors of life started to falter because of them.

Before the season final, three of the Nowhere Boys, Joel (Andy), Matt (Jake), and Dougie (Felix), were doing a live Q and A. It was hectic. Once you posted your question you wouldn’t see it for another ten minutes. Some replies I could only see once the Q and A was over. I asked two questions and got two replies. I felt like the luckiest person in the world that I didn’t just get one but two replies.

For the below question I asked Matt what he was afraid of.

Then Season 1 was left on a cliffhanger. They had powers, of course, that made sense. And Alice was back and ready to cause trouble. I couldn’t wait to see what could happen.

I remember thinking that Nowhere Boys wouldn’t get a second season. I knew it was successful, it won a Logie and an AACTA, but I just didn’t think that it would. So I was very excited when we did get a second season confirmed, especially as it was a very bad day I had. We were going to get answers to every question we had from those last few minutes of Season 1.

I remember the sneak preview of Season 2. It was Halloween and I had to tape it because I was over my friend’s, NN (only using initials in case she doesn’t want to be named), for Halloween like usual. I remember thinking that Andy couldn’t be missing for the whole season. He’s one of the Bremin Four. He’s got to be fine in about three episodes, right? Yeah, no, okay…

Season 2 felt a lot more serious to me in general too, stakes felt higher. Other than Andy going missing and for the first half of the season we had no clue where he was we had a death technically with Saskia, we had a proper villain with Alice, someone we could see and fear, we had real life consequences for the Nowhere Boys with the police investigation, etc. I really liked season 2.

Then the most horrid year of my life happened, 2015. Again, I won’t go into deep detail as this post isn’t about that, but every month something horrible happened. People died, pets died, my school life died and I felt like I was dying as I was in pain every day.

I fell into a deep depression and really didn’t want to live. One of the only things that kept me going, kept me motivated, was Nowhere Boys. I became obsessed with it. Every waking second I thought about the show. It was what I needed. I needed something to take over and give me some kind of structure to live with. I needed a positive outlet to fill my day as there was hardly anything positive for me.

I was researching elements and other things involved with Nowhere Boys, I was making art (that no one will see because most are pretty terrible), I was writing fanfic (again, that no one will ever see, not right now anyway), I was coming up with insane theories, I even made this blog so I could post theories (which I didn’t really do for some reason). Everything revolved around the show, and I wouldn’t say this type of obsession is healthy, but at the time it was. It anchored me to life.

I invited NN around to watch the final of Season 2. She missed about five episodes so I rewatched them with her and we got them done in time before the new episode aired. However, something happened. About an hour before the episode was going to air, my entire suburb had a power outage. I was livid. I can’t miss this episode. This could be the last episode ever and I’m going to miss it.

I knew that I would be able to watch it eventually, ABC iView is a thing and so are repeats, but I really wanted to watch it when it premiered. A first world problem I know, but my obsession was that serious. It was also about 30 degrees Celsius so we were sweating a lot. After the episode aired and was uploaded to iView we watched it and Andy finally came back.

Season 2 ended and again I thought that was it, no more Nowhere Boys. I even made another ‘ode’ post because I thought that was the end. It made me sad to think about the end. The show had ended on another cliff hanger, and I thought we’d never find out the truth of it (which we technically didn’t).

I wanted to make a bucket list of things that I wanted to do, as mortality became a thing I thought about a lot at the time, and at the top of the list was meeting someone who had worked on Nowhere Boys. An actor, a writer, a camera operator, an extra... it didn’t matter. I just wanted to meet someone who had worked on this show that helped me live and thank them for it. I didn’t think that would happen but I hoped. Maybe somehow with some weird coincidence it would happen, weird things can happen.

I have very weird dreams and during this time they mainly resolved around meeting the Nowhere Boys, but they were never coherent. There’d always be some weird scenario like I was at my local shops and some of the Nowhere Boys were there somehow, or I had powers and I was helping them defeat some monster. There were probably whackier ones but I cannot remember them.

Then on 14/5/15, Nowhere Boys: Book of Shadows was announced and it was amazing. I remember thinking that there would be a premiere for it like with the first four episodes of Season 1 and 2, and that maybe there’d be a competition. That’d be cool. Maybe I could win. Maybe not, again weird things can happen.

I remember the cinema locations and being disappointed there weren’t any near me. I knew it wouldn’t be possible to travel an hour to see a movie in some dingy theatre. There’s no way I could have convinced my mum to take me that far to see a movie, and with it premiering on ABC3 early the next year, what would the point be? I understood that I’d have to wait, even if I didn’t want to. Everyone else had to and I was like everyone else, again it’s a first world problem. A competition would change things though. My mum would take it seriously if I won a competition and it wouldn’t just be to see the movie. It’d be more important.

2015 wasn’t a good year, until one thing happened.

On the 7/12/15, I woke up with this gut feeling that something had happened with Nowhere Boys. I turned my phone on and went on the ABC3 FB page, and there it was: A competition to win tickets to the world premiere of Nowhere Boys: Book of Shadows and to meet the cast. I freaked out. This is exactly what I said would happen. I need to win this. I’m going to win this.

I messaged NN and I told her to enter. I would take her and she would take me if either of us won. She agreed and I then immediately got to crafting the most perfect response I could make. The rule to enter was ‘write who your favourite character is and why in 25 words or less.’ At first I was unsure which character to use. I was tossing up whether to use my actual favourite character, Jake, or the most popular character, Felix. I wanted the best chance to win. Should I go with my heart or cater to the people choosing the winners? After a little deliberating I went with my heart. If I was going to lose this competition I would lose it by doing what felt right. I perfected a sentence that I felt wasn’t too over the top but seemed like it had some amount of effort put into it, and I commented it and waited.

It’s three days later when I got a notification from the ABC3 FB page. All it said was that they had replied to my comment. My heart started beating faster, and in my gut I knew what it would say, but I tried to be level headed. Maybe they’re informing me that I lost, but would they go through every losing comment and say sorry? No they wouldn’t. I click on the notification, and there it is. “Hi (my name) You’ve won!”

I cried. I was so happy I just cried. My dream was about to come true. I left my room and entered the front room freaking out my mum. The last time she had seen me leave my room in tears I told her somebody I knew died. I managed to tell her that I won the competition. At first she’s confused, then shocked, then concerned. She’s terrified of being on planes and we’d have to go on one.

Oh yeah, we had to go on a plane. The premiere was in Melbourne, Victoria, and I lived an hour from Sydney, New South Wales. I needed to be in Melbourne in two days. I needed plane tickets and a place nearby the cinema to stay in in two days. I had been saving money for years in case there was a circumstance like this or an emergency. I guess it paid off, literally.

My mum called my great aunt, her aunt, and asked her for a very big favour. Would she accompany me, my nan, and NN to Melbourne? Luckily, she said yes. I hastily messaged NN as my family and I drove to the nearest travel agency. We’d never travelled anywhere like this, we’d never gone on holiday so not only was it very stressful to get everything in time we had no clue what we were doing. Luckily everything turned out alright. The agent we went to and spoke to was very kind and helped us out.

Two days later I was in Melbourne. The hotel we stayed in was nice. It wasn’t a five star hotel or anything, we got one of the cheaper ones because it didn’t matter, but it was so fancy to me. We had two suites but they were conjoined, so NN and I stayed in one, and my nan and her sister stayed in the other.

We had a nice view of the petrol station which mind sound sarcastic as it wasn’t very scenic, but I did think it was a nice view. The drawers in the kitchen were weird though. You pushed them in and then they’d open. I almost hit NN in the head with one.

NN and I went to bed watching Lord of the Rings, which was really good. I’d never watched it before. Don’t judge. Then the next day came by so quickly.

We got into our outfits, not too over the top but still something nice, this was a movie premiere after all. Then an hour and a half before the premiere, 2:30pm, we hopped in the taxi and went to Lido Cinema.

It was situated in this long hallway of shops. In the centre were the stairs up to the cinema and Book of Shadows.

There were a few people there but the place started buzzing about 30 minutes later. Most people probably don’t remember but there was a host of ABC3 named Tim and he turned up with a cameraman to showcase the event for the channel. NN and I freaked because this was someone from TV, which might sound a bit sad but seeing people from TV isn’t a thing that happens.

It got really awkward though because we somehow got wedged between the ensuing interview Tim was conducting and the nearby wall. We couldn’t move and the interview was a metre away. The interview wasn’t very good as the people he interviewed had no idea who the characters of the show were which confused me. Why are you here if the show doesn’t matter that much to you?

After the incident which was the weird interview, the first actors of the show started turning up. The first person from Nowhere Boys to arrive was Daniel Di Giovanni (Vince, Sam’s brother). Then we saw Joel. That was exciting. There’s a Nowhere Boy right there about 30 metres away from us. Then everyone started to pile into this corridor in what felt like the next five minutes.

It was like a school hallway but with a little more breathing room, somehow. Us fans all slowly shuffled to the cast in a surprisingly, orderly fashion, even if it did look chaotic. Then NN and I got to the front of the crowd. I let NN go first as my anxiety started to play up, but then it was my turn and they looked to me. I wanted to meet all of them but at that moment my eyes were only for Matt. I asked him for a hug and he obliged. I got my photos with Matt, Joel and Rahart (Sam), and then we moved to the next group which was Dougie and Sean (Oscar).

It was a lot less crowded for the onscreen brothers which surprised me as I always thought, and still believe, that Felix was the most popular. Because there wasn’t anyone around, NN talked to Dougie about fashion and I talked to Sean about ‘Kath and Kim’ and it was very surreal for both of us. We then got our items signed (NN’s DVD and my book) and moved on back to the previous three as Dougie and Sean moved on too.

We chatted a little bit, Rahart especially as he seemed the most calm and collected. I know he’s doing, and has done, pretty well for himself so meeting fans must be second nature to him now. I told them about my 2015 and thanked them for just being them, inadvertently helping me in the process. I gave Rahart the letter I had written and he said he would read it, but I don’t believe he got to it which I completely understand. The day was hectic for me so I can’t imagine what it was like for him and the others.

Then it was time to go upstairs and watch the movie. I tripped up the stairs twice but luckily didn’t fall flat on my face. It would have been memorable but not for a good reason. I had trouble finding two seats next to each other in the theatre but I managed to find one eventually. Before the movie aired the creators and the cast spoke for a bit, and they were so funny and nice.

Then we watched the movie. It was heartbreaking, funny, interesting, and all these emotions. It was goodbye to the original Nowhere Boys and so the happiness of what was happening around me mixed with sadness that it was goodbye.

After the movie we wandered around a bit, still soaking in the atmosphere but knowing this moment was about to end. We then got to meet Darci (Ellen) and she was very nice, and she was shorter than me. Somehow I met someone shorter than me. That was surprising.

We also got an interview after Michala Banas (Phoebe) which in hindsight was horrible. I spoke in clichés because I had no idea what to say and now I wish I would have said something a tiny bit insightful. It turned out that I didn’t have to worry though, as all those interviews are nowhere, no pun intended. I’ve searched for the cast interviews but I can’t find them, but I’m not too mad about that.

We said goodbye to the boys, congratulated them on the movie, and got hugs one last time. I was very worried that I pestered them. I genuinely tried not to. Of course this would have been incredibly overwhelming for them so I tried to keep that in mind. Side note though, Joel gave the best hug. He almost cracked my bones.

There was almost an awkward moment with Matt. He asked if we would see the movie in cinemas with our friends, and I was going to reply with ‘no, because the cinemas are too far away’, right after we told him we were from Sydney. Luckily NN had a plausible and legitimate answer to his question and a fangirl disaster was avoided. Thanks NN for swooping in.

As soon as we left the corridor and walked back into the street and reality, I fell from the high I was just on. I plummeted back to reality and became very home sick. I was fine when I got home. I was still sad it was over but mostly happy that I got this once in a lifetime experience. I still think about it almost every day and get teary because it truly was the best day of my life and I will never forget it.

I was left with one thought after all of this: Where does Nowhere Boys go from here? The Nowhere Boys had lost their powers and given up magic… but there’s a season three and a heavy implication at the end of Book of Shadows that others would have powers… so a new cast. This wasn’t confirmed yet but of course there would be a new cast. I knew people would be apprehensive about a new cast. The originals were and still are amazing. They were what we fans knew, and change usually isn’t welcome. I had hope though. I wouldn’t judge anything until I saw it.

The new cast was announced a few months later, and of course there were unhappy comments, but I had faith in them. I knew the show would not just shut out the past three years. There would be a legacy of some kind. I knew the creators would not let this show waste away by writing a rubbish story or hiring the wrong actors. It could work, people just needed faith.

Fast forward a few months to 11/11/16, a Friday. The new cast debuted and they were great. The episode and the ensuing storyline were intriguing and it just felt like Nowhere Boys. I knew there were different faces but it felt right. It didn’t feel like anything different, and I really appreciated the mentions of previous events and the cast throughout the series.

Luckily though, by the time Season 3 rolled around I had gotten a lot better physically and mentally. I still watched the show religiously but my obsession had calmed down, not a lot but a bit. I didn’t dedicate my life to the show anymore. It was more like a hobby, a branch of my life instead of the whole tree.

I did create more art like a talisman and some other designs. Some that even got noticed by the creators of the show which was awesome.

I had also been writing some more fanfiction at this time. I was intrigued with what happened between Season 2 and Book of Shadows, and there were little things I saw in the show that didn’t make sense. If I was going to write something then I wanted it to be accurate, but what if I couldn’t find the answers anywhere to the questions I had? Well, you ask the person who has the answers.

I went to Twitter and looked at Tony Ayres’ (creator) account. He replied to some fans of his shows and I knew that maybe I could get a reply too. I had a lot of questions but picked out the one I wanted answered the most.

I spent most of the day pacing around my house, my finger fumbling over the tweet button. Should I tweet him? I knew he was a busy man working on about 5 different shows so maybe he couldn’t reply to me right then, but I thought maybe he would. Weirder things have happened, so I tweeted him.

Then I get a notification a few hours later, he replied. I first asked him if I could ask him about Nowhere Boys and he said yes. I replied back with my question and he answered it. I was very grateful, but his answer led me to question more things, so I tweeted him again.

He didn’t reply to me after this though, and I don’t know why. Maybe he was busy and forgot, maybe he didn’t want to, maybe he got annoyed by me, maybe I had just rumbled a plothole that he couldn’t explain. I don’t know, but I don’t really care. I got two replies and that was cool. He isn’t owed to message me back and I certainly am not mad about it. I didn’t get to meet him at the Book of Shadows premiere so this made me happy.

As I have done before, I worried that the show had ended, but this time I believed I had reason to worry. Nowhere Boys should have been announced/aired at a certain time, like the rest of the seasons, but it hadn’t. It was about to be November 2017 and if we were getting a fourth season then it should have been airing this month… but it wasn’t.

Then it was confirmed in the middle of November that we were getting a Season 4, but it wasn’t all good news. The article I read was conflicting but was the first outlet to mention that Season 4 would be the last. I saw it coming, of course I did. I was waiting for this since Season 1 ended, but it didn’t make me feel better. Most times it feels good to be right, but not this time.

In January 2018, we got more news about Season 4 including confirmation that filming had begun. There was some added exciting news that came with this though. We were getting an original Nowhere Boy back. Some of my old habits came back too. I cried a little bit and then immediately went into investigation mode. I follow the cast on Insta and noticed that two were confirmed to be in Melbourne the time of filming of Season 4; Matt and Rahart. Who were we most likely to get back, what circumstances could I think of that would help me figure out which character could return? I was reading the comments on Insta and someone said Matt was the only original Nowhere Boy following the official account, but then Rahart started posting old photos of Nowhere Boys so… I just had to wait and see.

I also started editing the Nowhere Boys Wiki, but not too much. I saw that a lot of the characters’ biographies were, and still are, incomplete and thought that I could fill them in. I messed it up a little bit, but Mia’s is now almost complete, and I majorly messed up Nicco’s. I managed to somehow have gaps in all my writing and I panicked I’d ruined everything. Luckily I fixed it up the next day. There are still things that need to be changed but for the moment it’s good.

Not too long after the Wiki incident, we got our first trailer for Season 4. It was short and sweet and intriguing, but one part had people talking, a part I didn’t even take in. A man we didn’t see in the trailer spoke and only a few people figured who it was; Jake Riles. At first I didn’t believe it, but then I played the sound bite over and over. That was Jake Riles. Oh my God, it’s Jake. Jake is back! I even made my mum listen to the clip compared with another clip of Jake so she could confirm it. Then a week later we got the full trailer, and who did we see in it? Jake Riles. This was the best news. The trailer made him out to be a villain, however. It must be some trickery for us viewers. He can’t be a bad guy. No, I don’t believe it.

With this newest trailer we got the premiere date of Season 4, 3/12/18. I mapped out that Season 4 would end in February. I would have plenty of time to come to terms with the episodes, make a few theories, and accept the end of this show, but then I couldn’t. I read an article informing me that episodes would air consecutively every day, the day before the premiere. I wouldn’t be saying goodbye in two months but two weeks. I was happy that I would be able to watch an episode a day but I knew those two weeks were going to go by so fast.

It’s still very strange though, even when I’m writing this, the show ending and me. The show returned when I thought it wouldn’t and now it’s confirmed as the final season I can’t believe it. That’s really dumb of me.

I’ve enjoyed Season 4 but I don’t know if I’ve enjoyed it to the full extent. I haven’t had a whole week to mull over each episode, everything felt like it’s happening so quickly, this was the last season and I’ll never experience first viewing jitters again.

There were many things we did get that I enjoyed. We got to see Hicco/Neath become a real couple, Ben redeem himself from the previous season, we got a cool new character with Zeb, we had more LGBT+ inclusion (even if we didn’t get the Darius/Jesse kiss. Not going to lie, disappointed we didn’t see it), Ellen still being a badass and with Mr Bates as the only characters/actors to have done every single Nowhere Boys chapter, and we got Jake back (I know it wasn’t the real universe Jake who we watched for years, but he was virtually the same.)

So today is the 15/12/18, a Saturday, and the last episode of Nowhere Boys just aired. It’s over. That episode was epic. Seeing all the worlds come back, the guardian being activated, the first spell of the show being it’s last... there was a lot to smile about. I do have a lot of questions however, but this isn’t the place to ask them. I’m incredibly sad but I’m okay.

Well, it’s not completely over I guess. I can still watch the reruns, there are plenty of Wiki pages to be edited, there are plenty of gifs to be made and posted on here, more art can be made… It’s just the show that’s finished…

This show is the best. It’s got great storylines, great characters, cool visual effects (I know they’re not Hollywood standard but of course they wouldn’t be). It’s diverse with race, sexuality, gender, disabilities. It’s not afraid to talk about things that are serious like bad injuries or someone coming out and telling the world who they are. It’s not afraid to show the realism of bullying in school, or the effect of a troubled home life on a child. It’s won countless awards for different aspects of the show (music score, directing, etc). It even had a tie-in video game for the first season which does answer some unanswered questions from the show (the Roland conundrum).

I would like to write every name of every single person who has contributed to this show but I know I would miss people out so I’m not going to do that, but I still want to thank them.

Thank you to the creators of the show, to the cast, to camera crew, the producers and the directors. Thank you to the designers, the makeup and hair artists, the music composers, editors, and the VFX crew. Thank you to the accountants, camera operators/grips, electricians, safety supervisors and stunt coordinators. Thank you to the nurses, the tutors that made sure the young cast got an education, the sound crew, the location crew and the people who allowed the show to be filmed on their property including the traditional owners of the land. Thank you to the art department and costume department, the casting officials, the drama coaches, the catering crew, and everyone involved with legal. Thank you to the companies that helped produce and develop the show, companies who helped fund the show, and the companies that distributed the show all over the world. Thank you to the people who helped in the most minor way and who weren’t credited. Thank you to every other fan who watched the show and helped it stay on air for over five years. Thank you to everyone else I’ve forgotten.

Thank you Nowhere Boys.

#nowhere boys #nowhereboys #spoilers #long text post #goodbyenowhereboys #i know this is dramatic and over the top #but this show means so much and I had to say goodbye

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theonceoverthinker · 6 years

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OUAT 2X14 - Manhattan

I don’t have a pun for this time, but I wanted to say that this is probably one of the episodes that I was the most excited to cover for this rewatch for a few reasons. First, I haven’t watched it since my initial watch of the series so apart from the broad strokes of the story, I’ve forgotten a great deal of it. Second, it’s one of the biggest and best received episodes of the season from a General Audiences standpoint from what I understand. Third, I’ve never had a real opinion on Neal because I binged Seasons 2 and 3, so this episode will provide me the opportunity to do just that! Finally, it takes place in New York and who doesn’t love New York!

...Don’t answer that! Anyway, I hope you’ll read my review of this episode which is just under the cut, so I’ll CUT to the chase. Ha! Turns out I did have a pun in me! Okay! Let’s get started!

Press Release While Mr. Gold, Emma and Henry go in search of Gold’s son Bae in New York, Cora, Regina and Hook attempt to track down one of Rumplestiltskin’s most treasured possessions. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Rumplestiltskin realizes his destiny while fighting in the Ogres War. General Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness Past We gotta talk about the forking Seer and how she relates to Rumple. First, on a strictly aesthetic level, look at the way that the Seer moves her hands as she asks for water! It looks a bit like how Rumple moves his hands when he gets the Seer’s powers. Also, even her voice is sing-songy in the scene as per the captions, matching Rumple’s. Second, on a more narrative level, it’s really interesting to examine just how much of the Seer ended up becoming part of Rumple. When we see Rumple first become the Dark One, while manipulative at times, because said manipulation happens with Bae as a child, it’s played as more of manipulation that any authority figure could conceivably do cranked up to 11. And when he’s not with Bae and he’s dealing with others, he’s blunter, not as cunning as he grows to be later. But the Seer, like him in later flashbacks, picks upon more vulnerable parts of Rumple’s psyche, like how she brings up Milah and Rumple’s fears of his past and cowardice.

So I know that there are some complaints about Rumple’s discussed reasoning for turning back from the Ogres Wars was changed to being about Bae to about Rumple’s cowardice, and I actually couldn’t disagree more. This entire flashback’s setup isn’t about Rumple’s excitement to be a father, but about how he is more scared than he realizes of fighting and dying in the war. That’s how, as I mentioned before, the Seer initially gets him: by mentioning his father’s cowardice and his desire to stray away from that path. In the next flashback scene, Rumple shows much more explicit fear at those harmed in the war and one of the most poignant lines from that scene is about praying for a quick death and the final words he says to what he thinks is the Seer is “and I’m gonna die.” I honestly feel like this was a revelation that was always supposed to come out. It doesn’t lessen Rumple’s love for Bae or that that loves is any less powerful, for he wants to live for Bae, but from a story perspective, the main throttle of Rumple’s decision to harm himself does lean more towards cowardice. Hell, even Milah hits the ball on the head: “You left because you were AFRAID.”

“It will require a curse -- a curse powerful enough to rip everyone from this land.” Note that the Seer says this as Rumple’s asking for the truth about him finding his son to be revealed. I feel like people forget about this line and how it pertains to Rumple’s journey back to Bae. Many in the fandom (Myself included) mock Rumple for needing a curse to traverse realms while there are many other ways to travel them as revealed over the course of the series. Now, I get that yeah, to an extent, that’s true. New magical MacGuffins are introduced so that new characters can be introduced and so that we can see our current cast battle the fairytale elements with their modern mindsets and emotional problems (I personally find it more annoying when it’s mocked to the point where it’s used as an actual story critique, forking Cinema Sins and the mentality they’ve introduced for many who criticise films over minute details rather than how the work functions as a story -- this is why you will never see me take a point off for a plot hole). But back on topic, Rumple was told by both the Blue Fairy and now the Seer that he’d need a curse to get back to Bae, and so he kept that in mind. Present I know that a major point of contention is Emma not telling Neal about Henry when he brought up the idea of something good coming of their relationship, and I think it’s more of a complicated situation, one akin to both her initial lie to Henry in “True North” and her decisions in “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree,” where to say that something is objectively right or wrong is missing the point. Yes, Emma shouldn’t have lied and the episode is very explicit with how that was the wrong decision. However, look at what she’s dealing with. A vulnerable time in her life is now being further bastardized with the knowledge that it was all a conspiracy and while I like Neal, he didn’t exactly broach the subject with tactful bedside manner, instead trying to rationalize something so personal and painful to her. Also, I want to point out how Emma on some level knows this. That’s why she calls Mary Margaret in the very next present scene. But she doesn’t do the right thing. Look, this isn’t the easiest episode to be an Emma fan during, and I know that well. And I swear, I’m doing my best to keep my fan goggles off, but I’m not going to pretend that it’s not a nuanced situation when it is. And finally, Emma is chewed out for her decision. Henry gives her a “Reason You Suck Speech,” calling her just as bad as Regina, a line that hurts but is justified and given with an appropriate level of painfulness from an eleven year old. And even her initial apology isn’t enough.

So, that first confrontation between Rumple and Neal. Wow. What I like about Neal as he pertains to Rumple is that he immediately gives Rumple no leniency. I talked about this briefly during my review of “The Return,” but this is such an important distinction to Rumple’s other biggest loved one, Belle, who has somewhat looser parameters. From the second Neal sees Rumple again, he’s blunt about his intentions and exactly what he thinks about what Rumple’s capable of. I don’t want to say that there’s no love there, but it is pushed back in terms of Neal’s priorities, buried under decades of bitterness. And at the same time, while full of love, Rumple is still using his old tricks to get Neal to talk to him. He leverages his deal with Emma for more time to talk to him and while it works, it only serves to get more ire out of Neal. Rumple’s apology is likewise undeniably sincere, but the manner in which it is both gotten and attempted to be implemented completely miss the point that the anger produced can’t be healed so easily. I mean, just look at Neal’s face when he says that there’s magic in Storybrooke. Every benefit of every doubt is abandoned like the Stiltskin boys across portals. That having been said, with three minutes of time for an apology, I feel like we almost got more out of Rumple’s apology to August in “The Return” than we did here. Where are the tears? Why isn’t Rumple saying as much as he possibly can? It’s not enough to take points off or anything, but this meeting is partially what the first season and a half were building towards, and I kind of wanted more umph to it. That also having been said, I get that because Neal is a different person from August’s rendition of him entirely, of course the reactions are going to be different, and Neal’s speech after he’s done talking blows the conversation away. Credit to Michael Raymond James because in this scene, he completely kept up with Robert Carlyle, and that’s not always an easy feat, especially in such an emotionally charged scene. Insights - Stream of Consciousness -It is so bizarre to see Rumple and Milah happy. It’s a great contrast to how bad things got between them and is a great show of how Rumple’s cowardice really affected Milah, turning her from someone who looked so content into the miserable woman from the flashback in “The Crocodile.” All throughout the scene, they’re so dopey-eyed and in-sync towards the end. I honestly would love to read a fic where they managed to come to terms with their past and maybe be able to forgive each other, and I know I’m alone in this, but there is a story there. -”My weaving days are over.” *thinks about how in roughly 250 years, he goes by Weaver* Suuuuuure, Rumple. -Okay, seeing an adorably excited non-Dark One non-present timeline Rumple is just the best. Robert Caryle really shows Rumple’s youth here, excited, bouncy, full of music and light. It’s an honest job and plays against the cowardly spinster we see in “Desperate Souls,” the blunter Mr. Gold and the silly, but frightening Dark One version of Rumple, it makes for such a unique contrast! -Milah also gets such a unique contrast in another respect, being the more cautious half of the relationship compared to how she is after Rumple arrives home. -”But to the world?” So, when in the series finale, the idea of “the Rumplestiltskin the world will remember” came up and kept being echoed like it was this important thing, I felt that it kind of came out of nowhere because I hadn’t ever seen Rumple concerned with his legacy beyond the more isolated well being of his children, grand and great-grandchildren, and wife. However, as I hear this line, it makes a bit more sense to me, especially because this is the same episode that discussed the Henry prophecy, which was also touched upon in the series finale. -So, Rumple does that bug-eyed thing that I complained about in the last episode, but here, because the confrontation between Rumple and Bae is impending and is isolated as the main reason for his concern, it works sooo well! -Killian, thank you for breaking up that horrible mother/daughter moment! -”Names are what I traffic in, but sadly, no.” This line cracked me up! XD -”I’m not answering anything until you tell me the truth.” That’s a pretty solid rule of thumb, Emma. Neal’s definitely no villain, but just going forward, that’s a good mindset to have! -”I am the only one allowed to be angry here!” She’s got a point, Neal. You’re not really explaining yourself in a way that you’d be justified in being angry. -I love spotting bloopers as they’re happening. It’s like the OUAT version of finding Hidden Mickeys! -”My son’s been running away for a long time now.” When?! He ran away ONCE and he wasn’t even trying to run from you. He was trying to take you with him, in fact! Did you forget that?! -Henry and Rumple get a great scene! -I know you’re Baelfire.” Fun fact, last year at NJ con, I got this question wrong in the true/false game. But now I know the truth, and I’m coming for you again, Jersey! -Gotta give all the credit in the world to Jennifer Morrison here. There’s so much pain in her voice as Neal’s revealing the truth to Emma and Jen just captures how Emma’s barely holding her shirt together because now even more of her life has been shown to be a lie, and this time, a more vulnerable memory has been made even worse because of this new knowledge. -”To remind myself never to trust someone again.” That is such a tragic line. Even as Storybrooke has done a major job of changing Emma’s mindset in that regard, you do still see bits of that distrust in her personality. That’s why I like the concept of Emma’s walls being a constant in the series. -”You’ll never have to see me again.” Neal, you do know that your father is clearly still chasing you, right? You think he’s gonna give up so soon? -I like how as Rumple agreeing to watch the Seer, you can already see that his face has fallen and that he’s grown more haggard, showing some of that fear already striking him now that some of the initial adrenaline has worn off and the reality of the war is settling in. -”Who are you?” Jeez Belle, why not say “hi” like a decent person? -Regina, you know, instead of playing The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, it could be easier to, you know, look in her bag instead. -David, Thanksgiving with your family would be the best thing EVER! -Apparently, Bae learned to be a locksmith from Rumple. Neat! -Another great use of the weather from OUAT! The snow really helps to accentuate the dire straits of the war and is just adds a nice bit of texture to the scene so that it’s not just dirt against a night sky. -On the opposite end, Rumple hurting himself, especially as someone who is overcoming some serious orthopedic issues right now, is so uncomfortable to watch. Rumple’s screams actually gave me shudders. -As if I didn’t have enough reasons to praise the living daylights out of Robert Carlyle, just look at the moments when he enters Neal’s apartment. It’s the first glimpse that he gets of everything his son went through as a result of his actions and it’s subtly heartbreaking. -To add to this Robert Carlyle acting chain, his eyes as he screams “tell me” is forking hysterical! -Rumple’s splint makes me so uncomfortable. Go see a better doctor! -”A strong name!” Rumple straight up indignation as he says that cracks me the fork up! -I like Milah’s buildup of frustration as Rumple arrives home. At first, she’s almost smiling as she tells Rumple Bae’s name, but as she quickly confronts him and learns the facts, she gets angrier until we see the beginnings of the misery that sets off “The Crocodile.” I also want to note that Milah’s anger is for Bae’s sake, not for her own like in “The Crocodile,” and I think that is such an important distinction. A lot of people condemn Milah for her choice to leave Bae and my degree of agreement with that statement varies if you’re asking me to view it in terms of her choice as an individual vs comparisons with other characters, but I think it’s important to show that love for Bae. -forking hell. Die, Cora! -I think I do enough of a job complimenting the effects team to be able to laugh at the New York backdrop during Emma and Henry’s conversation. -I ADORE the design of the Seer, by the way. The stitched up face and the eyeballs on her hands is just so cool! -It’s interesting to note that the last scene of the flashback happens after the events of “The Crocodile’s” flashback, as Rumple states that his wife ran away, and not “died.” -Rumple, to quote a magnificent show of great quality, “If you could gaze into the future, you’d think that life would be a breeze, seeing trouble from a distance, but it’s not that easy. I try to save the situation, then I end up misbehaving. Oh-oh-o-o-o-oh!” (I’ll write a ficlet for the first person to tell me what I’m referencing). -”Okay. I get it. We’re all messed up.” *Takes a deep breath* Ookay, Neal. You sent Emma to jail, and while it may have helped break the curse, it also put her through some serious shirt. You don’t get to make light of that. -”In time, you will work it all out.” Yeah, about 250 years, but he does get there, and it’s pretty freakin’ awesome when he does! Arcs - How are These Storylines Progressing? Rumple finding his son - I probably should’ve listed this as an arc long ago, but I forgot. In any case, Rumple finally found him! The journey from the start of the series here was a fantastically well done one! I feel like it never dragged or took any longer or shorter than the season and a half that it ended up lasting. And now, it kind of gets a second life. Rumple is now physically with his son, but emotionally couldn’t be further from him, and we get to see Rumple trying to bridge that gap. I don’t remember liking this part of it, but on concept alone, it’s so fascinating to see that next step. Emma lying to Henry - I like that Emma gets to have a flawed moment with Henry and that Henry actually reacts to it so negatively. For a season and a half now, Emma’s been Henry’s hero so of course when she not only lies, but to such an extent, he’s going to have a bad reaction because he’s put her on a pedestal. Not only is it an interesting character moment for Henry, but as I mentioned before, it’s a good job on the narrative’s part in punishing Emma for her lie. Favorite Dynamic Rumple and Henry. To be honest, Neal and Rumple should absolutely go here, but their entire conversation is more story based, and I talked about them ad nauseum up in that category, so why not highlight another dynamic? Rumple and Henry are so supportive and kind to each other here, and it feels like both good foreshadowing of their familial relationship, a show of the progress both characters had made thus far when it comes to how they treat their loved ones, and a tragic setup for not only the let down they both get from their respective loved ones, but also of the prophecy. For the latter one, for most of he episode, it felt a little weird seeing Rumple talk to Henry so softly despite knowing the prophecy. It felt a bit like him raising a pig for slaughter. However, the end of the episode makes it clear that Rumple was just now remembering the prophecy as he watched Neal and Henry bond, and it works well enough for me. Their time together in the episode is just so gentle and in an episode that’s more or less full of harsh moments (those gentle moments included in hindsight), the break that Henry and Rumple give is desperately needed. Writer Adam and Eddy are really good at writing intricate storylines. When you look at their other episode like the “Pilot,” “A Land Without Magic,” and “The Queen of Hearts,” you notice that the situation the characters are put into are never so simple. Just like someone can’t or shouldn’t be expected to straight-up hate Regina in the “Pilot,” one can’t or shouldn’t be expected to hate Emma, Neal, Henry, or Rumple here (Except Cora. We can hate Cora allllll we want), no matter who you’re a fan of. That’s because they’re careful with their framing and character work as to never let one forget their full picture. And I think that holds especially true in “Manhattan.” Culture In my intro, I said I was excited to finally get an impression of Neal for myself. When you’re in a certain shipping camp like I am (Captain Swan), Neal tends to be thrown through the ringer. Hell, even my best friend in the fandom hates him. However, when you’re as anti-salt as I am, you tend to take a lot of the shirt thrown at him with a grain of...well, salt. This is part of the reason why this rewatch appealed to me so much. I always found Neal to be pretty average in my book. I remember liking him, but not having much of a reaction to either his actions or his death in Season 3 (I also feel like I should disclose the fact that I wasn’t in either of the shipping camps throughout Neal’s entire present existence on the show), and I feel like I’d be remiss not to talk about him a bit now, especially as this is his debut present episode and affords him the most perspective.

So here goes.

I like Neal. I don’t love him. If you asked me to line up every character in the show, he’d probably end up near August, and I like August too, though not as much as major characters like Rumple, Regina, and Emma.

What’s appealing to me about Neal is his non-exaggerated blunt personality. The way he curb stomps Rumple’s apology is so in-your-face, as if to scream to an audience that already finds sympathy for Rumple that his pain matters too and it will be paid attention to. This works by keeping him a sympathetic character, but also giving him a compelling dynamic. As for Emma, that bluntness also helps, but in a way that makes Emma more sympathetic. I mentioned before that Neal’s exposition about his part in the conspiracy of sending Emma to jail was less than ideal, and it’s part of what contributes to her decision to lie about finding him. Neal is a bit of a jerk, obviously not devoid of either the heroism or love of his former selves, but it’s a character quality all the same and a good one, especially because to my memory, it stays around and is pretty organic. It paints the trauma that he’s had at the hands of the world since his abandonment as it’s such a stark contrast to his Enchanted Forest self.

Rating Golden Apple. What a great episode! It goes in with the promise of payoff for quite a few major story elements and does exactly that. It’s unwaveringly harsh in many respects, but that’s why it works as well as it does. Neal’s addition to the main cast shakes things up and provides new opportunities for characters, for as harsh as it is to watch, seeing Emma lie about Neal and be punished for it was a good narrative choice, and the flashback was utterly fantastic in its storytelling! Flip My Ship - Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness” Swan Fire - Listen to that vulnerability as Emma says Neal’s name and that happiness that Neal just can’t keep out of his voice as he says Emma’s! That’s just fantastic! Also, he keeps the dreamcatcher! Also also, that “leave her alone” was romantic as all hell! Captain Floor - I’m very pissed at myself for not mentioning the best ship ever at any point before this. Like, Killian and the Floor just belong together, and to not acknowledge that was a callous mistake on my part! My sincerest apologies to my reader base, and I beg for you not to think I’m at all an anti! ()()()()()()()()() It feels so good to give this season a high grade again!!!! Woohoo!! Thank you for reading and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales for putting this project together!

Next time...someone DIES!!!

...I’m saying that like we all don’t know who it is that dies… ...Please come back…I’m so lonely...

Season 2 Tally (124/220) Writer Tally for Season 2: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis: (39/60) Jane Espenson (25/50) Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (24/50) David Goodman (16/30) Robert Hull (16/30) Christine Boylan (17/30) Kalinda Vazquez (20/30) Daniel Thomsen (10/20)

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 2x14 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat

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blaisebambini · 7 years

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FILMS 14-23

14. Perfect Strangers, Paolo Genovese

I believe this is the first full foreign film I’ve watched with subtitles, and I’m quite happy that it is. I usually get irritated when technology, particularly cellphones, are depicted as inimical objects. There’s always a paranoia that I’m being subjected to propaganda geared towards retrograde progress, yet this film deals with the issue in a different light. It presents the phone as an accepted element of society, not something to be rallied against, while maintaining an ominous quality around it. It comments on the abuse of its aid in the way that we can become slaves to little black boxes. We entrust our entire selves to them. It’s a matter of checking oneself in the perspective of the extent of damage that the worst case scenario can produce upon its unravelling. It’s sad how we can get complacent in pouring more of ourselves int o the recesses of our phone, rather than actually spitting it out and dealing with the consequences. There was also a very clear eclipse motif, which I almost found too blatant and subsequently cheap, but the way they played on the concept of an eclipse (passing and the moon becoming normal again) redeemed it. The movie was paced really well, the dissolution of all their relationships taking place in the span of a dinner made it feel like an inconspicuous weight was slowly setting on your shoulders until it suddenly dropped at its peak.

15. The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos

I DON’T THINK I CAN FIX MY NOTES FOR THIS ONE, BUT IT’S REALLY GREAT. IT’S A CONTENDER FOR FAVOURITE FILM IN 2016:

Bi sexual several operational problems There are no half sizes for shoes

Revert to animals if you don't find a suitable match Second chance but restrictions Aversion to being single Simulated or arranged controlled Perfectly matched and having similarities

Tudor Phoenix

Beautiful

Ruin relationships show how unmatched they were Love is blind

16. Nerve, Ariel Schulman & Herny Joost

I’m writing this in 2017, forgive me, but I still think of this film fondly. Upon watching the trailer, I though to myself, “This seems fun and like a one-time joyride type of film, I want to watch this.” It has proven itself to be more than that. Theses one of the few movies that I would be happy to watch again. The plot, as interesting as it is, also contains substance. In the frenzy of the game, it spoke to the tendencies of social media, namely the way people can get sucked into all this stimulus that appear on their feed, living vicariously through other people or the way some are dictated by online reactions, projecting images of themselves that are then shaped by the audience’s reception—both paths leading into the same endless black hole. Throughout the film, these things were represented very cleverly in the visuals. The one that struck me the most was the image of all figures in the shot being a shapeless black, allowing the lit phone screens to dominate, in the same way that people can just hide behind the anonymity of online personas and the cold indifference of typed words or human actions filtered through non-living mechanisms. The entire film was held together by the tension and stress that it captured precisely. I’m still struck with the resonance of the film and its themes, but certainly a fraction of its success can be attributed to the soundtrack, which very accurately represented the current time period without resorting to mainstream music. Also, the cinematography was on point, very fast-paced, yet well focused (in terms of what the eye is drawn to or conveying/ representing the main ideas and elements in a particular scene), and the color grading was very stark, the colors were neon and very clean. AND THE ROMANTIC PLOT WAS CUTE TOO, BY THE WAY.

17. Music & Lyrics, Marc Lawrence

This is one of my favourite films from my early childhood. Apart from The Little Mermaid, this is the first film I remember thoroughly enjoying to the point that I would gladly watch over and over.

18. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, David Yates

I was honestly very skeptical walking into the movie because I was scared it would ruin the entire franchise. I was afraid that its aim was to garner profit, especially with the five succeeding movies already being planned. Nonetheless, all I wanted to do in the moments after the end credits scrolled up was rewatch the movie or better yet, watch the next film. The film had such an excellent opening montage of newspapers. It was a really good way to get the audience focused by projecting familiarity, establishing the imminence of Grindelwald and dark magic, as well as pointing out that it was an international issue given the foreign language newspapers featured in it. I’ll admit, I entertained a few nostalgic tears because I finally got to see the entire world again, the world where everyone carried around wands and moved with corresponding grace. The characters in themselves are endearing in true Harry Potter style. They were perfectly clear and commanded authority independently, forming immediate bonds with the audience. What I enjoyed most was that the film took a turn from Harry Potter, creating an entirely different, and considerably darker, story. The obscurus, although a new concept, fit logically and congruously into the Wizarding World. The entire film with the integration of the beasts and acting was great. One thing I wish was in one of the books is the manner of execution in the pool that looks like a giant pensieve. That was eerily real. I like how you can see how much image quality and cinematography have improved through the years because although this is set in the 1920s and characters and settings are adorned correspondingly, it looks and feels much more modern compared to the first Harry Potter film. SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT ONE HEHE <3

19. Moana, Ron Clements

I actually watched this in the cinema twice and I’m still in awe of the score and animation, especially of the water. I liked how all of the songs had a distinct voice and tone that catered to the story more than just entertainment. Speaking of which, I didn’t know the Rock could sing; I was pleasantly surprised to hear him singing “You’re welcome,” something he could definitely get away with. My favourite was Shiny, sung by Tamatoa. It was such good villain song, and it acted as a great anti-thematic song. The song and its accompanying animation were glorious digs at falling into a dark pit and choosing wealth and external satisfaction over the ultimate message of following what your heart is calling you to do, going beyond your comfort zone or the “reef” or status quo you’ve been brought up hardly knowing you’ve been hedged in until it’s almost too late. I liked how they reconciled that idea with the very Ithaca theme of the journey being more important than the destination because you will always end up back home in a way. It’s interesting how the entire story had been a fluke, something linear with a simple alternative used to drive home these two themes, as the god Teka had actually been a bitter, dried out Tahiti lacking her heart. It’s also real in the sense that Maui had done all these things yearning for love, but knew he couldn’t stay on the island with Moana and her people. There’s also the question of being the chosen one, of succeeding down the path you thought you had so much faith in.This was a fairly funny film, there was something new in its ability to make remarks about Disney princesses who are next in line and have talking animal friends (and she hadn’t been accompanied by the pig that everyone, I suspect, expected). In that respect, aside from having the film set in Polynesia, they’ve decided to break barriers. It reminds me of the Bechdel test and the conditions that need to be satisfied in order for a character not to be classified as a manic pixie dream girl (my Grade 10 research paper was on how YA fiction—or all well-written fiction—deconstructs the manic pixie dream girl archetype).

As per usual, Disney screens an animated short before the actual film. In this case, I think it supplement the film really well, what with the literal depiction of finding the slightly skewed balance between head and heart.

20. Cafe Society, Woody Allen

The cinematography is great. The emotional build-up, execution, and resonance of the plot were exceedingly satisfying. It was so creatively done, especially the introductory encounter with the hooker to illustrate the naivety and discomfort at being in a foreign environment. The way Vonnie had been backlit and framed with a halo in the early scenes until the image she had been presenting, feeding him with angsty comments on being disillusioned by Hollywood, fell through and broke the innocence of the film at the point of Bobby’s brother being condemned and executed for his crimes, a connection Bobby had been ignoring. It’s a dreamlike film where they settle into complacency, into the derided “cafe society” and tables turn when Bobby has the pleasure of showing Vonnie around, their minds always on what could have been.

Too bad though, that dream ended with Woody Allen and the cases of child molestation against him. That just makes the film feel almost like a parody, a justification, or a platitude like food once savoury and now only a sour aftertaste of chyme.

21. Miss Stevens, Julia Hart

Nothing great, but I would like to commend the film for being able to do a lot within such a small place and concept. I’ll say this is only memorable because I have a vested interest in the arts and teaching English, but I was struck when one of the students commented on the student teacher relationship and how a lot of communication takes place but they don’t really know each other. There’s also the idea that some institutions restrain expression like school and the intangible boundaries that enclose it, evident when Miss Stevens curses in the car although she had reprimanded the students within the four walls for it. It’s interesting to attempt to fathom the conditions of a situation and why it definitely sounded weird to have Billy call Miss Stevens “Rachel,” how although they weren’t in school, they still were. Also, Miss Stevens mentioned how she was used to “talking at people” and in that moment it made me sad but also something so familiar from Lit Beadle and VP stuff. In addition to this, having the other English teacher explain the allure of an English teacher—someone wiser, inspiring you and telling you what to do. It’s something that sounds so organic, but in this light is very formulaic and I can’t shake that. Of course I want to go into the profession talking about themes and inspiring, but does that leverage from speaking of universal themes and essentially teaching students how to be human take away from the nobility, success, and satisfaction of the career. The film felt pretty ambitious but not cohesive enough. It certainly has compassion and made me think in the moment, but if not for my notes, I would have hardly remembered more than the basic plot.

22. Roman Holiday, William Wyler

Every scene was so interesting and aesthetically pleasing despite the film being devoid of color. The characters were endearing and engaging, and the actors behind them were equally so.

23. Sunday Beauty Queen, Baby Ruth Villarama

It was such a struggle for me to find someone willing to watch this film with me, but it was definitely worth it. I would have felt no resentment had I actually gone to see it alone. I think this was a great conclusion to the position paper I had written this semester. My partner and I had decided to focus on the lack of educational programs provided to kasambahay, branching out into the causes and effects of the issue, the links with the national issue of kasambahay sector being integral parts of the economy yet being treated as second class citizens, and the international issue of OFW stereotyping. One of our last submissions for the Political Science/English for Academic Purposes finals was an AVP that summed up the position paper.

By no means was the issue discussed anything new, yet the film was able to match its gravity without being overwrought. The film found a path into the issue from an unhackneyed angle, enshrining it in the Sunday beauty pageants that take place in Hong Kong. At the thought of the films premise, I was already so close to tears—the simple joys of escaping for a day and being the apples of someone’s eyes for a change. It’s a nice idea to be giving them a little glory, and it is this calm before the storm that serves as a voice for the entire film. The cameras don’t just shut off at the end of the pageants, it follows the domestic workers through the trains bound for their employers homes. In those moments, they’re in liminal states and you feel the heaviness of the situation sinking in as they remove their make-up and try to push back that feeling of being light on their feet from earlier in the day. The film doesn’t romanticise anything, revealing the way some are terminated so quickly, with no mercy for the early hours of the night. Everything is real and candid. The documentary doesn’t even attempt to be poetic or scripted, it’s just that the words coming out of their mouths speak of a greater truth that I don’t believe could have been fully developed if the issue was dealt with in any other way.

As mentioned, the film hadn’t sugar coated anything, at the pageants they would poke fun at the contestants, asking them questions that “agitated” them and edited none of the slightly ineloquent strings of English they had pulled together. With this they also presented a sample of the array of issues all of them put up with because of the strict contractual policies of Hong Kong, particularly the 14-day grace period in between jobs before they are sent back to the Philippines. We are shown the side of the story where they are glorified, they build rapport with accepting families who sometimes even support them on Sundays and consider them part of the family like Mr. Jack and the ballet teacher, but those sit alongside the poor working conditions, harsh regulations, and how they have to take care of other people’s children and sacrifice their time just to support their own. I can’t tell you how many times I teared up during the film. Every one hit hard and made me think about being more compassionate. I used to be bothered by the people loitering in the underpass areas or subways/ making commissions in the streets, thinking them people of no class, but now I understand the frenzy and excitement they're in.

Although the film left me downcast, the documentary itself was balanced out by a very Filipino humor, like “Beauty and the Best, where Best is the les” or the enjoyment people get from watching the contestants perform and the difficulty they have in answering in English. And the bottomline is not that it’s about something as shallow as outward beauty, but giving them the nourishment the inside needs, doing something fun for them that will also benefit other charities.

#film #mine

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