#i still love it because visually it did capture the book almost accurately | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thewraith8 · 3 years

Text

Shadow and Bone Netflix Show - Brief Analysis

In this post I am going to break down the things I liked, the things I did not like, and just a general overview of my thoughts on the Shadow and Bone Netflix show. This is coming from someone who has read the Shadow and Bone trilogy about three years ago, the Six of Crows duology about a year ago, and has just recently watched the show when it premiered. I am a big fan of the duology and I did find the trilogy decently enjoyable at the time that I read it.

I would like to preface this by saying that, as this is an overview, I will not be going into a lot of detail with regards to every scene. I may do something like that in future posts where I discuss each scene or character separately but this is more of a general overview. I would also like to clarify that I will not be addressing anything super in depth about the racism in the show as I am not very educated on the topic. I know that a lot of people have many different views on it and as someone who is Asian, my personal view is that it was fine. Some pieces of dialogue would occasionally feel a little forced but I personally do not believe it was a bad idea to make Alina a mixed race character. I know sometimes it can really feel like the producers and writers are trying to be diverse by adding POC to the cast and having the character face some form of discrimination every other scene but this show did not feel like it was pushing it super hard. There was so much else going on in the show that I did not mind those few scenes where they did address racism.

So this is going to be divided into three parts. The first is production quality. The second is casting, acting, and character portrayals. And third is the writing and storytelling. So now let’s get into it.

Production quality:

This was one of the biggest things I feared would be terrible about the show and would greatly impact my opinion of it because in a visual medium it is very difficult to get past bad visual effects, sets, etc. I knew it would be the first thing I would notice upon starting the show and I was very pleasantly surprised to see that money was clearly spent in the production with the incredible effects, costumes, props, set designs, and cinematography. I will say I am not educated on the subject of filmmaking and cinematography but from the little I do understand I think it was done very well.

There were also certain aspects I noticed when comparing the filming of scenes between the two storylines. Mal and Alina’s scenes such as when they are writing letters to each other or when we get flashbacks of them at the orphanage, are more slow and soothing almost like gentle waves swaying back and forth on a beach. Their voices and dialogue are also soft and warm and this really gives a good sense of their relationship and dynamic. In contrast, when you look at scenes involving the crows, the filming is a lot quicker and snappier and things are generally more fast paced. Their dialogue, which involves a lot of banter or back and forths, is also great in showing their dynamic as well as their own individual character.

Moving on to set designs and costumes, I think these were done really well. The throne room of the Little Palace was almost exactly as I had imagined it to look and the palace in general with the rooms and hallways did appear to be high quality. The Fold was also very well done though something I found a little strange was the occasional bursts of lightning in the sky. I think that sort of defeats the purpose of it being this completely dark place. Other than that it was exactly as I would imagine it to look. Ketterdam was also exactly as I imagined it to be with the dark alleys and dingy streets. With regards to the costumes, I think they were beautiful. Alina’s costumes in particular were really well done. I loved the way they did her hair and make up in certain scenes like when they go through the Fold that last time. The Keftas that the Grisha wore were incredible and accurate to the books with the different colours of each for the different kinds of Grisha. The crows’ costumes were also exactly what I imagined each of them to look like and felt really connected to their characters. Overall I think the set designs and costumes were fantastic.

All in all I would give production a 9.5/10.

2. Casting, acting, and character portrayals:

Casting was also one of my fears for this show since the characters for me are the most important part of any story and if the cast is not good then the characters will not come across in the best way possible. I was once again so pleasantly surprised with the actors and actresses chosen for each role. I was worried about cringy acting as well and I am so glad there was no point at which I was cringing at any of the acting. The actors all appeared to have great chemistry and it came across wonderfully on screen. I’m going to briefly go through each of the main characters and the actor or actress that plays them and my thoughts on the acting and character portrayals alone. Later in the thrid section of this long post I will talk about each character with regards to how they were written.

Alina: I personally believe Jessie Mei Li played a perfect Alina Starkov. She really gave off the vibe of being this important figure, a Sun Summoner, without it feeling annoying or as though she knows she is the main character of the story. I think her acting and expressions were generally well done.

Mal: Though Archie Renaux was not how I imagined Mal to look, I think he did a great job of portraying the character. His interactions with Jessie Mei Li also felt very natural and they definitely had good chemistry.

Darkling: Again, I think Ben Barnes was the perfect casting for the Darkling and his portrayal of the character was very well done. There were times where he would get teary eyed when talking to Alina and I understand that it was part of his character in being manipulative but it looked just a bit weird because crying is just something that almost humanizes him which I think does not fit with the idea and aesthetic of his character. You can still have him be manipulative and appear a victim to Alina without him crying or getting teary eyed. I think he would be able to get that across better with a tragic expression and tone of voice. But overall I think he made a great Darkling.

Kaz: Once again perfect casting with Freddy Carter. And really for this one, props to the directors and others who cast him for this role because this was a diffcult character to get the perfect casting for. Kaz’s character is probably the one that I have the biggest problem with but that has more to do with the writing aspect of his character. With regards to the casting and acting, I think Freddy Carter was amazing. First of all, he looks exactly as I would imagine Kaz to look. Second, his expressions and mannerisms were on point. And third, he had really good chemistry with Amita Suman (Inej) and Kit Young (Jesper).

Inej: I feel like I keep repeating myself but once again I think this casting was perfect. Amita Suman as Inej just felt very right. Her portrayal of the character was amazing, she looked just as I imagined Inej would, and her chemistry with the other actors was incredible.

Jesper: Once again great casting with Kit Young as Jesper. He got across that charisma and humour that Jesper is known for extremely well through his expressions and body language. He also appeared to have great chemistry with the rest of the cast.

Nina: Another great choice to cast Danielle Galligan as Nina. I think she captured Nina’s energy or “vibe” perfectly with her voice and body language.

Matthias: Calahan Skogman is exactly as I pictured Matthias to look so I think he was a great choice as well.

Overall I think the casting, acting, and character portrayals in this show were spectacular so I would give it a 10/10.

3. Writing and storytelling/ How it was as an adaptation:

This is, in my opinion, the section with the most issues even though they were very few.

Overall I think the writing was great. There were a few cliche pieces of a dialogue but those were very few. The dialogue for each of the characters felt natural and never felt out of character. As I mentioned previously, Mal and Alina’s dialogue had a warmth to it and their dynamic of childhood best friends came across really well through their dialogue. It did not feel as though they were trying really hard to have that dynamic. I also think it was a great decision to have the letters they wrote to each other be narration for many of the scenes that we saw them in. This was a great method of really getting across what they were feeling while they were apart and allowing the viewer to empathize with them. On the other hand a similar sort of technique was used with the crows. Whenever they were carrying out some sort of heist or mission, Kaz would be narrating the plan while we were watching it physically play out on screen. The dialogue between the crows was generally good and mostly in character. Their dynamic came across really well in a lot of their banter.

With regards to the storytelling and as an adaptation, I also think the show did a pretty great job. Alina’s storyline was coherent and had a logical progression from beginning to end, following the major plot beats of the book. The main issue I have with it is that it felt rushed. I think adding an episode or two may really have helped with the pacing. It felt as though Alina learns about her powers and is taken to the Little Palace where she’s conflicted for maybe an episode and then suddenly she feels at home and like she belongs. We barely get to see her training at the Little Palace with Baghra or Botkin or see the development of her friendships with Marie and Nadia as well as with Genya. That part of her arc, which was a major part of it, felt rushed. Other than that I think the show did a good job of getting her from point A to B in a cohesive way.

The crows storyline, I thought, was incredible because, since I am a big fan of the duology, I loved getting to see the crows and how they were before the events of Six of Crows. I think it was fun seeing their lives in Ketterdam and the way they worked before Nina, Matthias, or Wylan joined them. I was worried about how they would be incorporated in the story and that it would not feel natural but I think the decision to make their goal be to get Alina was a great way to tie them into the main storyline. It made sense with their characters that they would do something like that to get money and it made Alina’s storyline even more interesting. Getting to see interactions between the characters of both the trilogy and duology was one of the best parts of the show for me. Think about it. These were interactions we could only have hoped to see in the books and the show brought that to life and gave us those interactions. The crows’ storyline did feel a little less cohesive than Alina’s but this also made sense with their characters and the mission they had to carry out. There were many parts of the plan that needed to be completed, different heists and side missions, in order for them to reach their end goal which was kidnapping Alina from the Little Palace so it made sense that their storyline was a little less straightforward. Overall I think they had a very interesting and captivating story.

As an adaptation I think the show did quite well. Further down in this post I am going to discuss the major issues I had with the show as part of this section where I am discussing writing, storytelling, and the show as an adaptation. But in general I think the show did well in adapting the characters as well as Alina’s storyline. The crows’ storyline was obviously something that was not taken from the books but something that I could definitely see them doing. I think the show also did a great job of adapting the world and all of its intricacies as well as giving off that atmosphere that you get a sense of when reading the books. I also liked that there were many pieces of dialogue taken straight from the books which really made the characters of the show feel exactly like those of the book.

Okay, now breaking down the few issues I had:

Kaz’s character: I think if we look at Kaz in the books, we can break his character down into two parts, the two defining parts:

His intelligence, wit, and strategic mind.

His cruel and brutal nature.

I think the show got both of these wrong on different levels. One of these can be explained while the other cannot. In the show, Kaz is not nearly as intelligent or strategic as he is shown to be in the books. We see on a number of occasions in the show that he has been taken advantage of or that he is not in the upperhand of a situation. I think that is a major change from his character in the book where one of the things you remembered about Kaz was how he was always ten steps ahead of his opponent. But this is an issue that can be explained and given depth by considering that the crows’ storyline in the show takes place prior to the events of Six of Crows and that at this point in time, Kaz hasn’t become that quick-witted, mastermind, strategist we know him to be in the books. We can see the beginnings of that character in the way he is portrayed in the show and can understand that his natural progression would be to the character from the books in the aspect of his intelligence. On the other hand however, there is still the second major part of his character and that part is a little bit of a bigger problem. That has to do with his completely cruel and brutal nature from the books. This was one of his major defining features and was very strongly rooted in his backstory. It was his past with Pekka Rollins and the death of his brother Jordie that brought about this ruthlessness in him. And what made his character so interesting and dynamic was how he was very slowly becoming a more caring person. It was a very slow progression but it was there nonetheless. You could see it in the way he cared for Inej and the rest of the crew. By the end he was still no where near being a gentleman, but there was still a change in him from the beginning to end. This is where I think the show messed up a little and it is an issue that I don’t really think can be resolved. The show made Kaz more soft and kind in nature. He definitely wasn’t entirely nice but you could tell he was a lot nicer compared to his book counterpart. Certain scenes in which he is talking to Inej felt a little too soft in particular the scene in which it almost seems as though he is about to confess something to her when she rushes out of the room and he calls after her. I don’t imagine book Kaz would ever do that. Or when he tells her that no one is like her. These are all moments where he appears to be much softer compared to the Kaz in the books that was cold and cruel. This is also an issue that cannot really be fixed in future seasons because the natural progression for the show then would be that he gets softer then he already is which means we will not get to see the Kaz from the books at all or with any accuracy. If future seasons do make him exactly as he is in the duology then there will be the issue of it not feeling consistent with the character he was made to be in the shows. However I will end off by saying that even despite his character not being entirely accurate to that of the books, I still very much enjoyed watching every scene he was in and this issue did not ruin the overall experience of the show for me. I think what they did with his character still worked really well with the story, so overall it was not a major issue for me in changing my opinion of the show.

Nina telling Matthias why she got him imprisoned as a slaver: This I find to be a greater problem that could have so easily been fixed by taking out just a few pieces of dialogue. I think a big part of what made Nina and Matthias’ story so heartbreaking was this pivotal moment when Nina turns him in as a slaver to save his life. And he doesn’t learn the truth until they reunite in the present day of Six of Crows. He spends that time in Hellgate believing that she betrayed him and that she really was the deceitful and dishonest witch he believed her and all other Grisha to be. Then when he finally does learn the truth, it is this big moment and then he has a slow progression to eventually believing it. The show eliminated the entire part of what made their story so tragic by having Nina tell him the truth of what happened immediately after she has him captured. So there is no possibility of this slow journey that Matthias has of accepting that truth. In the show he almost seems mean now for not believing or at least trying to believe what Nina tells him. Overall this is probably one of my biggest gripes with the whole show.

The Darkling creating the Fold: Another issue that could quite easily have been fixed is how the Darkling created the fold. The show made it to be that he came across a small slip of paper, he read what was on it, and then he gained the ability to create the Fold. That is too simple of an explanation for how something as grand as the Shadow Fold was created. I think this could have rather easily have been fixed so that even if it was still easy it wouldn’t be as easy as just happening upon a slip of paper. They could have done it by showing a montage of him looking through all the books in the archive and figuring out that there is some sort of code that he needed to put together and when he does piece it together and perform some sort of ritual, then he gains this ability to create the Fold. That would have made it more believable and the scene would only have been slightly longer than what it was in the show.

Crows letting Alina escape: This was another issue I had that sort of adds to how they changed Kaz’s character because book Kaz would never have allowed Alina to escape so easily. Even the Kaz in the show would not have been outsmarted by Alina. This was one thing that felt a little out of character for the crows because, fine, I can understand that Alina blinded them for those few seconds with her light and Inej was not in on the plan of capturing her anymore, but how was Alina able to run out of sight so fast that neither Kaz nor Jesper saw where she went. Then on top of that, they aren’t discreet about finding her, as Kaz is always careful to be. Instead they go around the streets describing how she looks and asking people if they’ve seen her. I am not entirely sure what they could have done to solve this issue but I don’t believe the solution was very difficult. Maybe they could have explained through a short piece of dialogue that Alina used her power in a way that blinded them for more than thirty seconds which gave Alina enough time to get out of sight. Whatever the reason, I think this should not have been an issue because, despite seeming small, I think it says a lot about the crows’ characters. And I definitely don’t think this was a bad scene at all because I loved seeing this interaction and seeing Inej’s reaction to Alina. I just think the issue of Alina escaping so easily should have been addressed.

For now, after watching the show just once, those were the major issues in writing and storytelling that I had with the show. If I have more thoughts about this after watching it again, I will make another post about it. Now I want to talk about some things that the show added that were not in the books and what was changed or kept from the books, that I liked.

Mal’s character: The change that was made to Mal’s character in the show was probably the biggest and best change that could have been made. One of the major reasons I do not like the Shadow and Bone trilogy anywhere near as much as the Six of Crows duology is the characters. Sure, I found the world and plot interesting when I read the trilogy a few years back and even at times the characters were good, but a lot of the time I was either annoyed with Alina or with Mal. Most of the time it was Mal because he didn’t really feel like he was a great friend to Alina because of the way he treated her for being Grisha. I think a lot of my frustration with him also came from the story being entirely in Alina’s perspective so we never got to see any of what Mal was going through. The times that we did see him, he was either angry at or overly protective of Alina and there were only few occasions where he was being a good friend. The show really changed that with allowing us to see his perspective and all the difficulty and trauma he was going through to be with Alina. The show succeeded in making him an empathetic character and I think that is one of the most necessary things in creating a likeable character. Through his dialogue and actions, we were able to see how much he really cared for Alina. There were never any long stretches of time where he was angry with her or, on the other hand, where he was being overly protective of her. He was continuously being a good and supportive friend and that made the biggest difference in my liking his character. It is also what made me really enjoy Alina’s storyline as well because there was no point at which I found either Alina or Mal or any other character involved in their story, annoying to watch.

No mourners no funerals: I was overjoyed when this line came up in the show because it is such an iconic line from the duology that I absolutely love and it was great to see it said on screen. Similarly, I was so glad that we also got to see Kaz say the line, “The deal is the deal.” and say it to Alina.

Interactions between S&B and SoC characters: This was probably one of my favourite things about the show. It really felt like watching two worlds collide. I loved watching Kaz and Inej posing as guards and trying to escort Alina so they can take her. Watching Inej’s reactions to Alina was one of the best things. Then, Mal teaming up with the crows when they are in the Fold was one of the strangest but coolest interactions. Alina giving Inej the knife that she later names Sankta Alina was one of the best interactions I could have hoped for with the crossing of these two casts of characters. And to end it with Alina giving Kaz that valuable piece of jewelry, an interaction I never thought I would see, was incredible.

Conductor: The addition of this character I think was a great idea. He definitely added to the storyline of the crows and was an interesting character on his own. He was the cause of a lot of the funniest dialogue and moments in the show like when the crows are crossing the fold for the first time. Overall, I think it was a good decision to add him in.

Now last but not least, the thing that stole the show and beat everything else by far was:

(Drum roll)

Milo the goat!

And with nothing more to say about that, we’ve reached the conclusion of this very long post. My overall rating for this third and last section, which is regarding the writing and storytelling, would be an 8.5/10, a very good score.

If I were to rate the show over all, I would give it a 9.3/10 because I think it was spectacular in many aspects. The few gripes I did have were not anything too major, though if those aspects were fixed I think this would be a top-tier show and adaptation for me.

What do you think about everything that I said? Do you agree or disagree? I’d love to have a discussion so feel free to reach out and comment!

13 notes · View notes

365days365movies · 3 years

Text

May 9, 2021: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) (Recap: Part Two)

So, this is an adaptation of Pinocchio, right?

I mean...yeah, it definitely is. It’s a story about an artificial boy, brought to life and given to a parent to raise, learning lessons about humanity all along the way. Hell, they use the Collodi story as an element of the plot, so there’s no way it isn’t an adaptation of the original story. Here, I’ll break it down.

First, he’s given life by Hobby, who represents both his creator and the one who gives the artificial boy life. In other words, he’s a portmanteau of two characters: the Blue Fairy and Geppetto. The latter created him, while the former gives him life. Really, I’d argue that he’s more of the Blue Fairy.

So, who’s Geppetto? Obviously, Monica. She’s the (semi) loving parent that ACTUALLY makes David her son...literally. Remember the Winter Soldier awakening sequence? Monica is a flawed parent who obviously doesn’t quite know how to care for the little artificial boy, similar to how Geppetto is normally portrayed. And, like him, she never gets to teach her new son about the world before releasing him into it.

Of course, Geppetto didn’t physically abandon Pinocchio in the woods, but whatever. At least this Pinocchio’s been left with his Jiminy Cricket. Unlike the traditional version, though, this one is fuzzy.

Teddy, the stuffed bear supertoy, is clearly meant to be Jiminy Cricket, the conscience meant to guide David along his way, and along his journey. He subtly guides David, giving him advice that he sometimes ignores. And, given that David probably wasn’t built with a conscience, it makes sense to give him an internal one. Speaking of, let’s talk about David, because this simile might actually be more important than one would think in understanding this film.

David, of course, is creepy as FUCK. He’s trying hard to be a real boy that his mother can accept, but he’s so goddamn creepy. And initially, I thought that this might just be bad acting or direction. But then, I walked away for a little bit, and I realized something: what if that’s on purpose? Because here’s the thing: David isn’t real. And neither is Pinocchio, but with Pinocchio, you KNOW that.

Pinocchio is, after all, a puppet. And that point is obvious visually, both in the basically flawless Disney film, and in the original book. But David is, after all, played by an ACTUAL real boy, and therefore appears real to the audience. So, how to make him appear artificial? By emphasizing the fact that David’s behavior and actions are not natural. They are programmed and artificial. And so, when the journey begins, David hasn’t yet learned to be a real boy. And therefore, he isn’t yet real. And now, of course, he’s on the journey not only to become a real boy, but also to earn that chance. Just like Pinocchio.

But we’re only one-third through this film, and a LOT more happens in the story of Pinocchio. I’m not suggesting that this movie perfectly follows the book or Disney film by any means, but it’s definitely following some of its structure. And if Pinocchio is known for anything, it’s known for its most iconic villains and adversaries. I’m talking these guys:

And I’m...looking forward to seeing how these guys are adapted? Wait, wait, wait, hold on...I railed HARD against Act One (which you can read right here), whose writing and plot I still think were poorly thought out. But, after this mental recontextualization...am I actually enjoying this movie?

Shit, maybe. Thinking about it in these terms actually helps. OK, Kubrick, Spielberg...hit me with your best shot.

Recap (2/3)

With Act Two, enter Gigolo Joe (Jude Law). Yes. Really.

Gigolo Joe is a “lover Mecha”, a model built specifically for sexual gratification. Joe’s an interesting case, as he’s obviously built to be quite seductive, in a physical and a sensual manner. He’s been hired by a woman trying to get away from her abusive husband, and proceeds to woo her with sweet nothings, easing her discomfort with the idea of sleeping with a Mecha. And I’m gonna be honest: Joe is a CHARMING motherfucker, smooth and slick as a robot ought to be, with the ability to change his appearance and voice to please his customers.

And as I’m watching him, trying to figure out if he’s the Fox or the Cat, or both combined, he’s suddenly framed for murder by the jealous husband of one of his clients! Shit! Understanding exactly how fucked he is, he takes the necessary precautions and removes his identification chip. I’m not entirely sure who he is, but I’m interested in revisiting that plot, that’s for sure.

David, meanwhile, is wandering around in the woods, where he comes up with the idea to find the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, who will surely turn him into a real boy. But while wandering through the woods, what does he find but another group of robots like himself, scavenging from parts that’ve been dumped in the woods. And the CGI here is absolutely fantastic looking, as the robots outfit themselves with technology.

Also stumbling upon this display is Joe, on the run. But as they all appear in the same place, the moon suddenly rises. And it’s gorgeous.

This is not the Moon, but a gorgeous hot-air balloon from something called the Flesh Fair. With men on the ground on specialized motorcycles called “Hounds”, and with an eye-in-the-sky belonging to commander Lord Johnson-Johnson (Brendan Gleeson). He and his men hunt down Mecha to take them to the Flesh Fair, where robots are destroyed for the sport of human observers.

They chase down and capture all of the robots assembled, including David, Joe, and THIS spectacular special effect.

Yeah, holy shit, that’s amazing.

Anyway, it’s here that David loses his conscience, as Teddy falls out, only to be brought to the Flesh Fair and taken as a lost toy, placed in the lost-and-found. And, now that we’re here, it’s time we acknowledge what this appears to be: Stromboli’s Circus.

Given the fact that the “puppet show” is clearly replaced by the abuse and destruction of robots (including one weirdly resembling and voiced by Chris fucking Rock of all people), and that it has a ringmaster in the form of Johnson-Johnson, this is definitely meant to be a replacement for Stromboli’s puppet show. Albeit, one colored by anti-Mecha racism, but whatever.

A little girl wanders up to the cage where David’s kept, and confuses him for a human child. She goes to her father, who’s astonished by the existence of a robot child, and he goes to Johnson-Johnson, who gives not a single shit, and brings him up to be destroyed with the rest in the flesh fair. Dude REALLY doesn’t like robots. David, understandably scared, has his Damage Avoidance System kick in, and he grabs onto Gigolo Joe for safety, dragging him along to their deaths.

As he’s about to be melted by concentrated acid in front of a crowd (all of whom are affected by seeing a child be melted, robot or not), David cries out in fear. This leads to the audience STRAIGHT-UP REBELLING, as they refuse to believe that David is anything but human. He immediately takes off, alongside Gigolo Joe and Teddy.

We head back to Cybertronics, where it’s revealed that David is actually a facsimile for Hobby’s departed son. Which is...weird. Real talk, this is extraordinarily odd, and Hobby clearly has some massive issues he needs to figure out. In the forest, Hobby and Joe get to know each other. He recommends getting to Rouge City to find the Blue Fairy, whose location they will ask for from a “Dr. Know”, as there is nothing he doesn’t.

Also, Jude Law’s giving a fuckin’ soliloquy about robot prostitution right now, and I’m not gonna lie to you; I can dig it. It’s a Queen Mab speech about gettin’ down on that robodick, and it’s actually quite entertaining. And with that, we not only head to Rouge City, but we also discover who Joe is meant to represent. If Rogue City is Pleasure Island (and it OBVIOUSLY is), Gigolo Joe is meant to be both the Fox (AKA Honest John, AKA J. Worthington Foulfellow), AND Lampwick. Neat! Anyway, Rouge City...

...is not even a little subtle, goddamn. It’s literally a sex-island. And yet, once there, David is introduced to Dr. Know (Robin Williams), a kiosk where you pay for information, which makes me appreciate Wikipedia so goddamn much. To the good Doctor, they ask for the location of the Blue Fairy. And by accurately using keywords (a skill under-appreciated in Google Searches), they get an eerie reading of Hobby’s book, beginning with a Yeats poem.

With this information, they discover that Hobby (and the secret to David becoming a real boy) is at the end of the world, in a place called “Man-hattan”. David is filled with new determination, but Gigolo isn’t quite sure if this is real. David fights back, saying that his mother loves him and that the Blue Fairy must become real. But Joe insists that she likely did not love him, and simply liked how she made him feel. And while David refuses this idea outright...he’s almost certainly correct.

They go outside, and Joe is about to be taken away by the police, presumably for that murdered woman. However, the helicopter they came in is taken by David, who plans to use it to get to Manhattan. Joe escapes and joins him, and the two head to Manhattan.

End Act Two. See you in Act Three!

#a.i. artificial intelligence #ai artificial intelligence #steven spielberg #stanley kubrick #haley joel osment #jude law #frances o'connor #brendan gleeson #william hurt #science fiction may #sci-fi may #user365 #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year #usermichi

12 notes · View notes

tigerseye46 · 3 years

Note

I kinda have this headcanon that if sandy is Sha Wujing, that Pigsy is the only one He’s told. So imagine the Jasminetea angst when it is revealed, Tang is understandibly upset at Sandy for telling Pigsy and not him. (a fact made worse if they are dating at the time) - Pixel Anon

Honestly I can see it since Pigsy went to Sandy to go Flower Fruit Mountain and they exchanged glances during the Lunar New Year special so even if he doesn’t know Sandy is Sha Wujing, he at least knows something. And I love that Jasminetea angst >:)

———

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all.

Why did it seem as if Pigsy knew more about his boyfriend than Tang did?

He knew they were close, had known each other before Tang and Sandy. Pigsy was the one to introduce them to each other after all and he was grateful his best friend had done so, he was grateful for a lot of things his best friend had done for him over the years but that wasn’t the point.

It always seemed as if Pigsy knew more than the scholar did. That left him jealous when they exchanged glances over a private matter that only they knew. In the end, he would step away for a bit under the guise of getting some fresh air and he’s sure they knew he was angry based on the way he stomped out the door.

He just wanted to know more about his boyfriend, was that so wrong?

And he had asked about Sandy’s past, trying to gain information but the demon was shut tighter than a drum. It was always “it’s not important, Tang” or complete silence.

It was important! He wanted to know more about him. He knew of Sandy’s past as a rage filled warrior but he didn’t know details.

What made him become so rage filled? What feats did he accomplish as a warrior?

Okay so maybe they weren’t the best questions to ask (and he never did ask them) since Sandy was content forgetting that part of his life.

But what about before he became one? Where did he grow up? What was his family like? Did he have a good relationship with them? What stories did he have that had been passed down generation from generation?

He just wanted to know, he wanted to be let in like Pigsy was. There would always be a thought in the back of his mind if Sandy told Pigsy everything, why don’t they date instead? He was getting in the way of them.

He was aware that wasn’t true, Sandy loved and chose him above all else and he had chosen him in return. Sandy was a sweetheart and would never use him, if he wanted to date the chef, he would have done so.

He was being a bit selfish but he was a curious man, always trying to pull information from anything and everything around him.

Tang sighed as he threaded his hair through his dark locks and read his book, his eyes analyzing every word and pretending as if he wasn’t affected by his lack of knowledge about his partner. Sandy pressed a kiss to his cheek and laid an arm around his shoulder. “Hey, starlight,” the demon greeted with another peck.

“Hey, dream boat,” he greeted with a nuzzle.

“What are you doing?”

“Thinking about you,” he answered with a smile. Thinking about how little I know.

Sandy grinned. “Rather cheesy, Tang.”

“Well you make me cheesy,” he responded.

He snorted, “Not like I haven’t heard that line before.”

“Has someone else said that to you?” He asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Nope but one of my brothers was quite a flirt so I heard every line possible while I was with him. He used to flirt with every gorgeous women he came across.” He smiled fondly at the memories.

Tang took in this information, he didn’t know Sandy had brothers and he voiced this, “I didn’t know you had brothers.”

Sandy rubbed the back of his neck as if he didn’t mean to reveal that fact. “Yea, I do.”

The scholar quickly bombarded the demon with questions. “How many do you have? What are their names? Are you the oldest or youngest? What do they do? How come you haven’t mentioned them before?”

Sandy’s lips pressed tight and Tang cursed himself for asking since he wasn’t going to get any answers. “It’s not important.”

The scholar narrowed his eyes, he despised that answer even if it he had expected it. “Not important? Not important! You have a family!” He wanted to know about his future in-laws (because Sandy and him were definitely going to get married one day). “A family that is going to be my family one day!”

“Look… it’s… it’s.”

“It’s what?”

There was a clear pain in the tea lover’s eyes and Tang let it go in an instant, “Forget about it.”

“Tang, I’m-”

“It’s okay, sweetie. Just forget about it.”

Sandy said with complete adoration, “I don’t deserve you.”

The human nudged him in the chest. “And don’t you forget it.” He was hoping he would be let in one day before their relationship went further down the line. He was hoping it didn’t take until they were married and possibly with kids for the demon to finally open up about his past.

The human pushed that out of his mind and went back to reading his latest purchase of Journey to the West. As a scholar, he loved to see how each translation compared and rather they were accurate. He had a lot of copies of the adventures, this one had visuals.

The visuals were beautiful and he loved scanning every bit of it… well… almost everything. The pictures of Sha Wujing (his celebrity crush) could use some work. It seemed as if no one could get the sand demon right, no one could properly capture his beauty. The demon was way handsomer than depicted surely!

The demon was probably as handsome as his boyfriend. After all, they did share a slight… resemblance. He squinted at the picture of Sha Wujing then glanced at his partner from the corner of his eye. They did look really similar.

It was almost as if they were twins! He laughed in his head then thought of it no further even when the back of his mind told him to do the opposite.

He should have listened… because weeks later they were in the midst of a fight with a demon that knew Sandy and he had called him… Sha Wujing.

Then it clicked, Sandy didn’t resemble Sha Wujing, he was him. Xiaotian, Xiaojiao and him were shocked by the revelation. Who wouldn’t be? Unless… unless they knew.

Pigsy was the only one who didn’t have a reaction out of the group. Oh he knew, he fucking knew.

And Tang was pissed. How could the pig have known and he hadn’t?

When the battle finished and words were exchanged between Pigsy and Sandy along with questions from Xiaotian and Xiaojiao, the scholar hissed and approached them. “Sandy,” he yelled.

Sandy stared at him with concern. “Tang, are you okay?”

Pigsy glanced between the two, perfectly aware of what was about to transpire. “Uhhh, big guy.”

“Yea?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tang asked with his fists clenched and eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were Sha Wujing?”

A bead of sweat appeared on the demon’s face and Pigsy quickly pushed the kids out of there so the two could talk. “Uhhh…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He repeated. “Yet you told Pigsy.”

“Maybe we should go somewhere else for this,” he suggested, trying to dodge the question. He walked towards the boat where his partner followed, his arms crossed.

They went in Sandy’s home, the demon preparing tea to soothe the other. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I heard you the first three times, Tang,” Sandy said.

“Well you haven’t answered me. So?”

Sandy sighed. “I told Pigsy because I trust him.” His eyes widened at his wrong choice of words.

Tang hissed, “So you didn’t trust me?”

“No! Of course I did! It’s… it’s…”

“It’s what?” He would give the other a chance to explain himself.

“I was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

Wujing rubbed the back of his neck. “Scared of how you would take it.”

“That’s a stupid reason.”

“I know. I know. I told Pigsy because we knew each other a long time. It was before I met you. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you hurt.”

Tang held out his arms to indicate he was already hurt. “Well I’m hurt but not physically.”

“And I’m grateful that you aren’t, physically at least.”

“Any other excuses you want to give me?”

“Well I said I was scared of how you would take it and I was. Back before you told me you liked me, it always felt as if you didn’t, you know? I just didn’t think you enjoyed having me around and it didn’t seem like you liked me as Sha Wujing either so I didn’t say anything. Didn’t want to see the look on your face when it was revealed.” He chuckled, aware of how ridiculous it sounded especially since it was proven the scholar loved him.

Tang took in his words. “Did I make you feel that way?”

“No, it wasn’t your fault. It was all my imagination and it doesn’t give me an excuse.” Tang walked closer to him until they were face to face. “I wish you would have told me that but you’re right. It doesn’t. I am pissed but there is way to make it up to me.”

“And that would be?”

“If actually tell me the truth. Every story from you I want to hear. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“I also want a lot of kisses and hugs to make up for it. And you and Pigsy better watch your backs because I will strike when you least expect it.”

Sandy gulped and nodded. “Okay. I accept that.”

Tang had a mischievous glint in his eye even though he was still hurt. He wrapped his arms around him. “You better. I love you but you have a lot of making to do.”

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“I believe you, dream boat. At least I have the somewhat amazing Sha Wujing as my boyfriend.”

“Somewhat.”

“Yep. Somewhat.” He nuzzled his chest before realizing something. “Wait... does this mean the Monkey King will be my future brother in-law?”

“Yea.”

Tang pursed his lips. “I might forgive you sooner if you introduce me.”

“Deal.”

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #jasmineteashipping #jasminetea #sandy #monkie kid sandy #lmk sandy #mr tang #tang #pigsy #lmk pigsy #philo/tiger writes #hoping I didn’t make tang seem selfish in this #too selfish cause there is a line about him acknowledging he might be a bit selfish

5 notes · View notes

peremadeleine · 4 years

Text

Droopy Sleeves and Tiny Bonnets: Watering Down the Romantic Aesthetic in BBC’s Les Mis

I wasn’t exactly blown away by the costumes in the BBC production of Les Mis, and Cosette’s in particular, cute as Ellie Bamber is, were thoroughly “just okay.” But I didn’t put much more thought into it...

Well, not until Gentleman Jack--set in the exact same time period--blew BBC’s Les Mis out of the water with its costume design. Then more recently, when I started researching the fashion of the early 1830s, all the ways in which poor Cosette’s costumes fell short became glaringly obvious.

Disclaimer: I am not as much of a stickler for historical accuracy in period drama costumes as this little essay is going to make me out as being. I’m not a Frock Flicks kind of gal; I just want to be entertained and look at pretty clothes. So as far as I’m concerned, as long as the basic silhouettes are there and the costumes are nice to look at, I’m there. (I find the wildly inaccurate costumes of The Tudors a lot more visually appealing than the ones in Wolf Hall. And everyone knows Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette was highly stylized, but those costumes are to die for and still embody the rococo aesthetic very well.)

That said, Cosette is a character who’s very invested in fashion, and the general look of the 1830s isn’t unknown to English productions, being the setting of Queen Victoria’s adolescence, Jane Eyre, Wives and Daughters, and many a Dickens adaptation among others.

So where did they go wrong?

Being honest, most of the Les Mis productions from the past two decades or so failed to put Cosette in high-fashion or even noteworthy costumes. Only the 2012 film for all the ways it failed her as a character hit it out of the park. Cosette gowns were damn near perfect--and they were actually pretty to boot! Unfortunately in the actual film you can’t even see the floral gown and you can barely see the blue one...thanks Tom Hooper.

The belts/buckles, the enormous sleeves, the delicate floral prints and embroidery, the lace collars...pat the costume designer on the back! (Her wedding dress was also on-point, but we’ll get to that.)

Claire Danes and Virginie Ledoyen had passable-and-sometimes-good costumes, too. Though Claire Danes’ were generally not very pretty, their overall silhouette was correct. Virginie Ledoyen gets a couple of knock-out, very period-appropriate gowns; the rest sort of fall into the nebulous “well, I guess you tried” category without being unattractive.

But the BBC production just...dropped the ball for reasons unknown.

Now, in the book Cosette overhears some ladies calling her “pretty but badly dressed.” She’s shocked, because she thinks she’s ugly but well-dressed. She then goes on a charming quest to become the best-dressed woman in Paris, and the BBC adaptation even has a scene where she goes to the seamstress. It’s really cute. Too bad that the dresses are...really not.

Here are some fashion plates from 1830-32. Keep in mind that Cosette lives in Paris, of all places; she would be aware of what was and was not fashionable.

This is the height of Romantic fashion: giant (“gigot”) sleeves and bonnets, full skirts with hems at or just above the ankle, lace accents, silk stockings and slippers, elaborate hairdos. The 2012 costumes, again, capture this quite well.

And even if the BBC designer had taken liberties and had fun while preserving the overall aesthetic--think what Sandy Powell did in Cinderella, set in roughly the same period--I wouldn’t be making this post. But there’s curiously little 1830s to be found in Cosette’s wardrobe at all.

I guess we should start with the BBC’s Good/Accurate Stuff. This coat Cosette wears is, apart from the deep fur-lined V-neck, almost a carbon copy of the extant coat on the right. And she has a bonnet!

Cosette’s best/most accurate dress is, naturally, the most difficult to see and has the least screentime of all her costumes:

From what I can tell, the sleeves, though delicate and sheer, are very full, as is the skirt, and the whole thing seems both pretty and en vogue...despite the questionable neckline. It’s also detailed--embroidery on the sleeves and with pleats (?) to create visual interest at the shoulders and on the bodice!

Here are a selection of other short-sleeved gowns from the period for comparison (both extant garments and costumes/reconstructions).

Tbh Ellie’s costume should be as stunning as the blue gown (far left) that an extra wore in Cinderella, but...maybe someday, in some Les Mis production, that gorgeous Sandy Powell creation will reappear. *sigh* (Virginie Ledoyen’s best Cosette gown is on the far right, btw.)

Anyway, that’s...that’s about it for the “Good” category.

Next up: her teal/turquoise dress(es). (She also wears a red one that looks exactly like this.)

Someone didn’t tell the costume designer that Cosette was supposed to be a fashionista, I guess. During my research, I did find a couple of dresses that resembled these two...but they would both be several years out of date by the time Cosette was going on her fashion crusade:

Even the yellow dotted dress has more style and “oomph” than what poor Cosette got stuck in--her sleeves look comparatively small, deflated, and underwhelming, all the more so when compared to actual 1830s gigot sleeves.

In the interest of being fair, some extant gowns from the right dates also look somewhat like these two.

But they all look, well...better. They all make me wish Cosette’s gown had bigger sleeves, a more-defined neckline, less wrinkly fabric...anything that would take it up a notch. (Also of note: as plain as some of these dresses look, they would not have been worn alone--accessories like wide belts, shawls, bonnets, etc., would have been part of the outfit when they were actually worn.)

And when it comes down to it, Cosette--who wants, after all, to be wearing the most fashionable gowns, like those in the fashion plates--should be wearing gowns more like...

The detailing, the fabric choices, the tailoring, and (sorry) the size and position of the sleeves makes all the difference here. A little more effort, even just padding for Cosette’s poor limp sleeves and a belt, would be enough to bump her looks from “kind of sad” to “something I believe this character would really wear.”

My personal favorite gown in the production was very pretty, flowing and delicate--and look: I’m willing to accept that Cosette wouldn’t always be wearing a fashion plate while chasing butterflies (something no film Cosette has, tragically, ever done...) That said, it still wasn’t very 1830s.

This purplish gown is the closest extant I could find to something like what Cosette wears here, but once you look at the details of both--fabric, neckline, whatever is happening around waist--all you get is “???” A lovely dress, but one that doesn’t make much sense.

So finally we come to what ought to be the showiest of all Cosette’s costumes: her wedding gown.

This costume ought to be Stunning for a lot of reasons. The “Fauchelevents” have money! The Pontmercys have money, and they have society friends! Cosette is a fashionista, and she’s head-over-heels in sweet young love! And one an assume that Valjean wants to send off the light of his life, if send her off he must, in style--he’s heartbroken but also knows, from this moment, that he will never have to worry about her safety or well-being again.

With all that in mind, this is what Ellie’s Cosette wears...

Oh. Okay. Is it her freaking wedding day, or is she just going to a church picnic???

At least she IS wearing a bonnet in this scene, but it’s the same color as her hair (?!) and it’s tiny...just like her sad, deflated sleeves. The necklime and waistline both are at least accurate here, but like the sleeves, the skirt isn’t voluminous. Not a single thing about the dress makes a statement...unless it’s a shrug. The impression is, once again, “meh?”

At least a veil (which some women did wear on their wedding bonnets) would emphasize the “wedding day” vibe. How about, if they weren’t going to give it any volume, some detail on the gown...any detail...floral embroidery...a BELT...a contrasting color or fabric (lace, hello?!)...anything??? It’s just so plain and low-key. Just like everything Cosette wears in this miniseries.

Here are some period wedding gowns, two of which Cosette wears in other adaptations. They all have the wow factor this dress lacks.

Big sleeves! Lace! Belts! Veils! Lush fabric! Frills! Different colors/fabrics to create visual interest! Hairstyles that pop instead of blend together! These are the kind of gowns that say “I’m the bride and this is my day.” Not “I’m going to the church picnic.”

I want to reiterate that, after ALL that rambling...my big issues are that a) these dresses are not--by and large--attractive or interesting and b) that they fail to embody Cosette’s love of fashion. The fact that they’re so inaccurate for the time period is secondary. However, paying more attention to the fashions of 1830-32 would, I think, have helped make the costumes prettier and more suited to the character. How you dress a character is also a factor in how their character is perceived and can be a subtle means of character development. No chance of that here. (Post-marriage, Cosette wears such a blase dark blue coat that, sans fur trim, looks identical to her previous one. Yawn.)

I’m just a fan, yet it still took me only three days of basic research to put this post together. Expecting a costume designer to put in at least a few days of light research is not a huge leap. I’m going to venture a guess and say that this designer did not bother to do that. And it shows.

It’s a shame, because Cosette gets a lot more screentime here--for the first time since the 2000 production--and she deserves so much more than shapeless gowns and barely-styled hair.

And also more than Andrew Davies...but that’s a rant for another time.

#cosette #bbc les mis #Les Miserables #historical fashion #romantic era

56 notes · View notes

smokeybrand · 4 years

Text

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: The Devil is in the Details

I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter abut this Netflix movie, The Devil All the Time. It’s been getting mixed reviews but they skew mostly positive. What is really surprising is all of the buzz this thing has been getting. The word-of-mouth for this flick is mad profound. No less than six people that i know personally, have told me I'd love it. This thing was definitely on my list, Netflix has stepped their cinema game up considerably, but i have been distracted by other shows like The Boys, Raised By Wolves, and Ratched. The former two are weekly releases but i wanted to finish the latter completely before i took in any more new fare. Plus, Marebito is gnawing at me for a viewing. Still, i did finish Ratched and Marebito is an older title so i figure i might as check out this Netflix produced, Tom Holland vehicle for myself and see if the best Peter Parker can really step outside the MCU and impress, like his costar, Zendaya, does. Shout out to Zendaya on that Emmy win.

The Good

I love the direction of this film. It’s very controlled, very deliberate. This film started as a gook so there is already a story to be told, the trick is telling that story but in a way that not only represents the feel visually, but staying true to the tone of those pages. I’ve read this book years ago and never expected that it would get a film adaption but this one is pretty good at that. I credit this clearly to the deft touch of Antonia Gampos. He knows this story and he tells it well. Surprisingly, this is only his fifth directorial outing. Dude should be getting much more work after this though.

This is easily one of the most f*cked up stories ever captured on film. It feels like Silence of the Lambs in that sense but far more brutal and far less controlled. I remember the book being a great deal to finish, it’s just so goddamn cruel, and seeing that translated on film is just as brutal. I love it. I love when film challenges you like this one does. I love when there is real brutality displayed because humans can be brutal. I’m a card-carrying misanthrope so this narrative is par for the course for me.

This film is violently visceral. I mean there is gore galore but it’s never gratuitous. It’s almost always in service to the plot to prove how goddamn cruel the world within this narrative truly is. It can be shocking, it can be grotesque, it is definitely off-putting, but it’s never just for the sake of shock. I always respect when films show restraint with this kind of stuff. The gore is to accentuate not the other way around.

This cast is straight up lousy with talent. Jason Clarke, Sebastian Stan, Eliza Scanlen, Pokey LaFarge, Harry Meiling, and Haley Bennett, all turn in decent performances. It was dope seeing Mia Wasikowska in something new and Riley Keough can surprise when she has a role to chew on. They even incorporated the author of the original book, Donald Ray Pollock, as the narrator. I appreciate that nod.

Tom Holland didn’t disappoint. This dude is a real talent and seeing him in something completely different than the role that made him a star, Peter Parker, is f*cking jarring. It speaks to his range and a ridiculously bright future in this business ahead of him. His turn as Arvin Eugene Russell was staggeringly emotional. This performance, alone, should devastate any talk of type casting because kid can do it all. Seriously, there is level of barbaric malice that just infects the entirety of this the younger Russell’s life and Holland captures that underlying malice perfectly

Robert Pattinson keeps showing me why he’s one of the best in the business. The more he keeps turning in performances like Connie Nikas and Young, the more he distances himself from f*cking Edward. Reverend Preston Teagard is another one of those showings that proves Pattinson is a real actor and not some pretty face or, in the case of The Batman, a jaw for a cowl. It’s wild seeing BatPats as a fat-ass, sleazy ass, southern preacher with a disgustingly accurate drawl.

I would be remiss if i didn’t mention Bill Skarsgard as Willard Russell. Dude has been one of my favorite actors since his stint on Hemlock Grove, another Netflix property, and he’s been excellent in everything I've seen him since then. Mark in Assassination Nation, Pennywise in IT, Markel in Atomic Blonde; Dude was even part of the ill-fated X-Force in Deadpool, too, as Zeitgeist. Bill is riddled all over sh*t i enjoy and his take on the elder Russell is just another reason why.

The Bad

This thing kind of jumps all over the place with the narrative. You have to pay close attention because it does take place between two generations and several families. Everyone is interconnected, which lends itself to a novel but can be quite the burden to properly display on film. It can be a little much to keep up with everything but, if you can, if you take the time, it rewards you with an incredibly well constructed relationship tree.

It feels like a lot of this cast was wasted. There re so many great actors in this thing that only get a few minutes, a few scenes, to shine and it's a little bit of a waste. I'm not saying what they gave us wasn't excellent, i was just left wanting, just left longing for more. Seemed like a missed opportunity to me.

This thing is kind of a slog. It’s a little over two hours long and, while you watch it at your leisure, in your home, it’s still a rather large committed to demand from the common viewer, especially when there isn’t any real action to be had. I’m built for slow burn movies. I love atmosphere and purposeful film making like Alien, Blade Runner 2049, or The VVitch so this is right up my alley. Those films, however, are acquired tastes that not so many people in the general public have acquired.

As much as i can praise the overall narrative and how unapologetically adapted it’s been to film, this sh*t is not an easy watch. It is truly f*cked up and a real hard story to witness. While i, personally, believe the utter barbarism on display is riveting, I've sat through Irreversible and Raw a few times so my tolerance is pretty high to the horrid, i can see how people could be turned off by all of this f*cked up. This is a story of awful people caught in even worse circumstances. Every one who is even remotely decent, dies. There are no happy endings to be had here. This movie is an exercise in the worst of humanity so if you’re looking for a light-hearted romp to get your mind off the state of the world, this ain’t, bud.

The Verdict

I loved this film. It is an absolutely excellent picture from start to finish. The way it’s shot, the vision on hand, the adherence to the time period - all of it is masterfully guiding by the expert direction from Campos. Tom Holland turns in a brutally forceful performance that carries this film filled with one of the best casts I've seen in years. Seriously, this movie has an embarrassment of riches on hand and they use them to full effect, mostly. I enjoyed every second of this movie but i can honestly say, it ain’t for everyone. This is not a fun tale. This not a good time. This is one of those movies that leaves you disgusted with humanity and that might be way too much to ask of people, especially during this, the f*cking apocalypse in real life. If 2020 were a film, it would be The Devil All the Time. Sh*t’s that bleak and it asks a lot of your time to slum it in this sordid, bloodied, world. The performances and visuals are absolutely outstanding and the way the film has been crafted makes for great cinema but, f*ck, is it a monstrous watch. If you can stomach it, i give it the highest of recommendations but this thing can be excruciating to see.

2 notes · View notes

bayeis · 5 years

Text

The Goldfinch is a cinematic masterpiece and here’s why

As I work in the movie theater I constantly see what people are watching and what they think about it. Having read The Goldfinch and loving it, I was confused as to why it had so little people watching it and why the only reviews seemed so negative. Especially since the trailers looked so on par to the enchanting book. So, I moved my plans of seeing it forward and watched it tonight. I was in shock. Not only are the visuals and human emotion metaphors hidden in them spectacular but it is the single most accurate book-to-movie film I have ever seen. Almost every word was taken straight from the beauty that is Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch and every single character was captured in a whirlwind of exquisite actors and film style. One of the greatest movies ever seen- as we left the theater my father (a roman catholic republican) asked if he could borrow the book because he was so enthralled and in love with this story of drugs, drinking, occasional gay moments, and human faults. There was not enough people in the theater and even if it was sold out it still wouldn't be enough to do the film justice. People are scared to watch this movie as the plot is practically impossible to describe. Yet that is another thing the movie did right. You cannot explain the plot to life. The book showed us an amazing the story and the film did nothing but take the images your mind created and put them on screen. Absolutely stunning.

#the goldfinch #movie review #spoiler free #finn wolfhard #ansel elgort #donna tartt #box office #rotten tomatoes

84 notes · View notes

sometimesrosy · 5 years

Note

Hi Rosy! i've read one of your recent asks and in one of them you said something about a hand metaphor? i'm kinda new to the fandom and was wondering if you could explain that metaphor to me. Thanks ;)

Sorry for not answering this earlier. I’m trying to clean out my inbox which is at 125 backlogged asks right now. I won’t answer them all, because some will be outdated, and some are questions I didn’t want to answer and some are parts of multiple asks that i did answer but didn’t erase, so this is my housekeeping time, (while I have turned off anon.) A lot of these questions might be things that felt like really big questions that i had to focus on and didn’t have the time or brain power to do. This falls into that category. So let me see what I can do with this.

It’s actually a really striking visual story that has been happening since season 1.

Bellarke’s relationship can be illustrated by the close up shots of their hands, and the way they touch each other. It’s hands and wrists. The contact between that part of their bodies, is VERY interesting. That the camera has a tendency to focus in on them is a sign that they want us to PAY ATTENTION to that. Because it is not part of the script or dialogue or even action, usually, we don’t necessarily READ it as part of the story, but it’s a visual story that affects our feelings, often unspoken, about their relationship, and works on a subconscious level.

The first time we saw it, was when Bellamy caught Clarke as she fell into the trap. He saved her by her wrist. The camera focused on that. This was the moment when both of them realized that he could easily have gotten rid of his rival by letting her go, but that he couldn’t, that it wasn’t his instinct, means this was NOT who he was. They both came out of that with a different experience of Bellamy.

Then we saw the hands touching again, when, after torturing Lincoln, he reaches down and removes the awl from her hand, taking the burden of the morality from her, telling her “who we are and what we need to be to survive are two different things.” This goes back to when she killed Atom for him because the burden was too much for him to bear. Their relationship has become one of mutual support. BIG change.

let me think. The next time was, I think, in Day Trip, when he’s trying to teach her to shoot and his hand on her back gives him the shivers. Or he is thrown by the intimacy. Notice that her hand was not involved. So it was more about how his feelings towards her have moved forward, and she is still unaware.

There is physical hand contact after that, but I’m trying to focus on the close up shots on camera. Because the act of shooting a close up is not just about characters moving through the action who might touch each other but is about part of their storytelling intention. Because of that, I’m not counting the full body shots where their hands touch each other, like the reunion hug in season 2. And I might very well have forgotten some moments, in which case, it can be your job to do the investigation and watch for hand touches in the Bellarke relationship. Or if you want, look for them with other characters (I don’t think we actually GET that kind of shot with other characters, but you can look for it.)

So I think the next time we get a focus on hand touching is when Clarke is pulling the lever, and Bellamy puts his hand on hers, and they say “together.” One thing I noticed in that shot was, even though that was hand on hand action, they were still separated from skin to skin touch by some impressive armored fingerless gloves that Clarke was wearing. But, even despite the separation, that hand touch was a sign that they were together, and supportive… although, since she left him shortly afterwards, that barrier she had between him and her really, perhaps, DID keep them apart.

The next hand closeup? I think when Bellamy finds her captured by Roan. The first thing he sees is her hand, tied to the post. Then he touches his hand to her hair/face. She does not return his touch because she is tied up.

Then there is Hakeldama. BIG scene. Big for hands. Because he kneels down and takes her hand… no he takes her wrist. And she takes his. And they stroke each other’s wrists with their thumbs. Very intimate, and infact, rather sexual. Mutual. But over the clothes. They are still holding something back. It is almost like proposal scene. I personally think that’s when Bellamy realizes he’s in love with her. She’s just glad to get him back, but he’s so freaked out by the intimacy and realization of love, that he panics and handcuffs her. Which is, well, not a good sign for their relationship.

After that? The next hand touching? Is wrists. And it’s in Nevermore. He takes her wrists and wraps her wounds. Followed, shortly after, by her taking his hand and wrapping his wounds. Mutual care for each other, although each time, the touch is not returned. They are still separated, not on the same page, but show mutual care and attention. And their love for each other does seem to be equal, if not open to being received. I’d say they aren’t ready to be together. But they are ready to be partners again.

The next hand touch is pretty significant. When Clarke is taking the flame and she is afraid. She reaches out for Bellamy and he takes her hand. This is full skin contact, mutual hand contact. Not him touching her or her touching him but both touching each other, and there is nothing in their way. There is also no narrative reason to touch. No excuse. No tool. She just wants his hand because she’s afraid and wants to hold onto him. And he holds onto her to give her strength. That’s it. It is ENTIRELY about their relationship and feelings for each other. They are emotionally in the same place. They are emotionally laid bare to each other. They are mutually caring and needing and trusting.

The next hand touch is ALSO pretty significant. It’s the list scene. He puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, and she puts her hand on his, to deepen the contact. And THEN she presses her cheek to their hands, making it even more intimate and taking their touch, and their relationship to another level. Yes. A romantic level. I maintain that is Clarke making a romantic move on him, because it is the same move she made on Niylah, but this time with emotion involved. He however, is again thrown by the intimacy and maybe worried about what it means. Whatever it is. He leaves. Vulnerable. (he forgets his armor aka his jacket. that’s another symbolic piece of storytelling that was confirmed by cast and crew. the jacket is his emotional armor. if it’s off he’s vulnerable, if it’s open, he’s comfortable.) She takes it as rejection. Their emotional relationship takes a few steps backwards, and is teetering on the edge, with lots of uncertainty on both their parts.

The next hand shot? Hmm. IDK. I’m now thinking about solo hand shots. For instance, when Bellamy is bloodying his wrists to get out of confinement. And when Clarke is holding the gun on him and her hand is shaking. They are definitely separate there, but reacting to something the other has done.

No. The next hand shot where they are touching is actually when Clarke hugs him on science island. He comforts her, and she, still thinking she’s about to die of radiation poisoning, grabs onto him tightly, clenching her own hands around him, not wanting to let him go. This is a decision on HER part. That she wants to hold onto him, that perhaps she’s not letting go of him and he is the good in the world. Actually, even though we know she lost him in the following 6 years, that is an accurate assessment of her thoughts of him. She held onto him thought he was gone and her memory of him is what kept her going. And he was the good in the world.

The next touch is actually 6 years later when the reunite. And THAT’S where we get Bellamy’s hand on her back, with all her bare skin, in a shot that looks like a love scene. But isn’t. This represents HIS OWN emotional state on getting her back. She’s not there yet. We don’t really get hand closeups from her during that. Just him. And his hand is so gentle and intimate and protective of her. That is a lovers hand. But she is not on the same page, still reeling from his absence and torture and near death and having him back.

I don’t think there were any other hand close ups, but I feel like I’ve forgotten some.

Anyway. I think there are various elements that can go into the symbolic reading of what the Bellarke hand close ups mean in their relationship.

Is there bare skin contact? Or are there clothes and other barriers in the way?

Is it mutual? Is he touching her? Is she touching him? Are they touching each other at the same time?

Is it hand to hand or hand to wrist?

You can also look at the touches that AREN’T given close up status. They might also contribute to how their relationship grows, but for the symbolic story? I’m sticking to close ups.

And if you think this is all just bullhonkey, and I”m making a big deal about random touches that don’t mean anything (i mean go ahead and insult the filmmakers, cinematographers and editors, but okay,) then COMPARE the way Clarke and Bellamy touch each other to the other characters. Or RATHER, compare the way the Bellarke touches are treated ON SCREEN as opposed to the way OTHER touches are treated on screen.

My specialty is the written word. I analyze story and character and books and text. But I also have a LOT of training in art, which is often about symbolism, and a little training in film, which is a VISUAL medium. If you only look at dialogue or scripts when analyzing film, then you are missing a lot of the story.

So take a look at the visual, symbolic story of Bellarke hands, and try to think about what it means to the larger story.

Oh. Well. It doesn’t mean A THING to the larger plot. It does not relate to the plot. It ONLY RELATES THE TO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLARKE GRIFFIN AND BELLAMY BLAKE. And it’s a story that goes back to season 1. When they still hated each other.

#the 100 #bellarke #hands #symbolism #cinematography #visual storytelling #you can also check my tags because i've written about this stuff before

56 notes · View notes

mysticsparklewings · 5 years

Photo

MakeUp By Artists: Mystic Space Palette

At long last, I have gotten off my lazy bum and participated in my own tag/challenge/whatever If you'd like to try this #MakeUpByArtists thing to make your own makeup collection, you can download the Premium template that I used with shading and textures and all that here, OR you can download the completely Blank template here. So this is, essentially, what it would look like if I was approached by a brand or suddenly given the funds and means to make my own makeup collection based solely on myself. I'll be honest, I spent waaaayyyyy too long deciding on some of the color names, but for the most part, the colors themselves were relatively easy to come up with. The lipsticks I just based off of my favorite colors to wear in real life, and the eyeshadows were a mixture of colors I use a lot, colors I wish I had in eyeshadow, and just my favorite colors in general. Even the name of the collection was a little tricky for me since I didn't want it to just be point-blank my name. (But that's definitely an option, I just wasn't feeling it myself.) I started with "Stars and Sparklers," but then as I was trying to name the colors in the collection I felt minorly obligated to make them line up with that as a theme. But that's not what I wanted; I wanted a "theme" that was just me if someone threw my personality in a machine and turned it into a makeup collection. (I can always play with different themes and stuff in other palettes later; this one was just supposed to be about myself.) So I went back and ended up going with "Mystic Space" because it sounds kinda snappy like a typical makeup palette/collection name, but it's also accurate: use these makeup products and you're stepping into my (Mystic) Space. The overall look, likewise, I went with some galaxy stuff for the logo/item theming. I had decided pretty quickly that given the choice, I'd have all the metal portions as that opalescent/holographic-white color that shifts to a kind of pale green or lavender in the light. So I did my best to capture that and going also with that the brush bristles would also be white, both to match and because that way I could more easily see how much color I've actually picked up on it. The lace edging on everything was actually a later addition. My general disposition in terms of style volleys between Pastel and Punk (and often combines the two), and so after some thought I came upon the idea of having white lace accents (IRL, I imagine this would be actual lace somehow tied or otherwise attached to all the different things) against all the stark black. It's pretty nice visual contrast and reflects me pretty well. (I'll also picturing a white bow over the spot where the palette would open/close, and maybe in the store, there were be white bows wrapped around the boxes?) And now I'm going to very quickly run down where each of the color names come from and what they would look like as makeup products, starting with the eyeshadows (order is left-right, top-bottom). I came up with all the colors first, then went back and did names as they came to me: • Sugar Water - A bright white, shimmery shade. Originally the name was going to have something to do with dandelions or Baby's Breath, since I really love those flowers, but more integral to me as a person is definitely that pretty much all I ever drink is soda, and I will often actually put sweetener in plain water when we go out to restaurants.

• Enchanting - A buildable matte, light seafoam shade. It is a little more cyan than I originally intended, but this still works. Mint/seafoam/robin's egg kind of colors really draw my eye, and I imagine as an eyeshadow with few layers and lots of blending this would work as a lighter mint shade, or the more intense cyan with more layers and less blending, so it hits both of those. The name I derived from "Enchantix," my favorite Winx Club transformation, as this color reminds me a lot of Bloom, the main character from the show, and her Enchantix outfit.

• Mew Know It - A very shimmery/glittery baby pink/rose gold. I use this kind of color a lot when actually doing my makeup, and it happens to remind me of a cat's nose or paw pads, and thus a pun for the name encompassing my love of cats was born.

• Mummy's Tome - High-Impact, metallic-glitter gold. Also a color I use a lot of IRL. The name here is a 2-in-1. Mummy because I have an inexplicable fascination with Ancient Egypt, and Tome because not only does that make a nice pun on "Mummy's Tomb, but it also references my avid readership. (I was really happy went I came up with this name; I thought it was so clever! ) Cheshire - Another pink, this one more on the matte side and much more intense. I don't use this color a lot, but it is one of my favorites to use in art making (which may or may not be obvious if you know me) and I wish I could use a color like this on my eyes more. Named after the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, naturally. Specifically from the 1951 version, as it is my favorite Disney movie.

• Apple of my Iris - A mostly (very subtle shimmer) matte neon purple. I'd use this color if I had it, but I don't! Also one I like to play with in art, though. Originally I was going to call this one "Joker Country" after one arc of my favorite manga, Alice in the Country of, but the next one was also going to have an AiW kind of name originally, and I really didn't want to have three with the same name theme right in a row. I also thought I could do with more puns, so I thought this one up and went with it.

• Faulted Star - An opalescent/holographic electric sapphire blue. My personal favorite out of the palette! I'd find every excuse I could to use this if it was a real thing! Based off of my absolute favorite color in the entire world. The name derives from The Fault in Our Stars, my second favorite John Green book. (It was my #1 before Turtles All the Way Down came out.) And it is also an accurate statement of myself.

• Parade - A highly shimmery/glittery black shade. I do use black eyeshadow a lot, but mostly for intense eyeliner and in small doses to bring out other colors. But I've yet to obtain a really nice, super sparkly black to use. This one probably has my favorite name though; Originally I was trying to force a Winx Club Wizards of the Black Circle reference in, but I just couldn't do it. And then the thought appeared to me: It's Black. And what is the most popular song by my favorite band (My Chemical Romance)? Welcome to the Black Parade. From there, the reference/pun was entirely too good to pass up. And I still love it. Comparatively, the lipsticks didn't have quite as much thought put into their names: • Freak du Chic - An opalescent hot pink, satin finish. I actually have a lipstick this color, but I don't wear it much because A. It's a lot, and B. over the years the actual lipstick has gotten kind of beat-up, so I have to be extra careful when I do use it that it goes where I want it to. Originally I had just named it "Blue Rose," but that was so plain and I had entirely too many things with B names. So I went with a Monster High reference instead, since I strongly associate hot pink with the brand.

• What in Carnation - A highly shimmery baby pink. This is probably the kind of lipstick I wear the most often since it looks pretty inoffensive on my face but still looks like I am indeed wearing lipstick. The name was also the very first pun I came up with for the names and once I thought of it I couldn't bear to let go of it. I also really love the look of carnation flowers, so that works out.

• Bloody Berry - Deep, almost pinkish matte red. Surprisingly, I will usually go for red lipstick if I'm not wearing the previously mentioned shimmery pink. I'm not really sure what it is, but I like a nice matte, red shade. (My mother doesn't care for the matte look, but they're my lips, right? ) The name is sort of my poking fun at traditional "berry" names and also sort of a distant reference to the interest I've had in vampires that I've had since I was like ten. Also, I like most berries.

• Beachy Keen - Satin finish, peachy/apricot/pinky-fleshy/nude shade. I'd wear this more often if I could find exactly the right color, but most are usually not quite what I'm looking for in one way or another. Still, I do like the subtle look sometimes. The name is really purely a pun, but it also works since I like the beach but I don't really like eating peaches. ... I think that's everything! Clearly, I had a lot of fun with and put a lot of thought into this, but that was the point from the very beginning, waaaaaayyyy back when I first started toying with the #MakeUpByArtists idea. So I think I've properly come full circle with it. I just really hope I'm not the only one that ever does this, or this is going to look kind of silly. Oh well, I had fun and did what I originally set out to do, so no harm was done, I suppose. ____ Artwork & Template (c) me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble | Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

#makeupbyartists

2 notes · View notes

that-shamrock-vibe · 5 years

Text

2018 Round-Up: My Favourite Movies of 2018

Disclaimer: 2018 has been another feast for movie goers all year round, so with the new year just around the corner I have decided to disclose my favourite movies of the year. Careful for spoilers for movies that have recently come out as a couple are on this list.

#10. Love, Simon

As I mentioned in my review, I enjoyed this movie. I still think it accurately captures a teenage coming out story, not THE teenage coming out story because everyone has their own story and the endings aren’t always good but this one definitely showed the good without over-fantasizing it.

I mean okay, I still think this movie doesn’t do enough to show the dangers of emailing virtual strangers outside of the fact that you get your private information shared but again that balances out with the fact it is only a school-centric forum so I give the movie a pass on that. Also I do feel bad for saying there are “better” ways to come out because as I did follow immediately up with saying, everyone has their own story.

But overall I do really think this is a great movie and an underrated one at that. The characters are all likeable and relatable, Nick Robinson surprisingly proves himself as a leading man and Keiynan Lonsdale gives his best performance.

#9. Venom

I always had in mind that Venom would make my favourites list. Not only is Tom Hardy finally getting the chance to shine in a superhero role, but I finally get to see one of my favourite anti-heroes brought to life in the right way on the silver screen. I loved this movie, I thought this was a great spin-off in the Spider-Verse and a great start to Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters.

I know for a fact this movie has problems, Riot as a villain isn’t the most compelling, the movie does play like it’s set within the 90s Spider-Man Animated Series and that Carnage tease was a let down in the casting department. However, this movie gives us Venom and allows him to be Venom. Yes the comedy is slightly damp at times but Tom Hardy sells himself as an action hero, comedy star and stunt performer. I do hope this movie gets a sequel because I really want to see more.

#8. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

I am in the minority of people that enjoy this movie, but am in the majority of people that feel the end reveal was completely nonsensical. However I am giving J.K. and the team a pass on this movie and that is why it takes the #10 slot.

It is a great movie visually, it has all the traditional sceneries and locales that you would expect from a Wizarding World movie, the world building of exploring not just the British but also the French Ministries of Magic was a fun addition, Grindelwald shrouding Paris as a way of summoning his followers was visually appealing and of course seeing Hogwarts again brings back all the nostalgic feels a Potter fan could ask for.

I will continue to defend Johnny Depp in the role of Grindelwald as I feel he is very well suited to the role and that he was one of the better things about this movie. Like I said in my reviews he kind of book-ended this movie with two great scenes first when he escaped captivity and then when he addressed his followers, both were well acted, well shot and largely counted of Depp’s performance which he mastered.

My biggest complaint with the movie is that I did expect more of a mythos built movie than the focus being on characters we already said goodbye to in the first one, but that’s not to say what I did get was bad it was just not how I would have taken the story going forward.

Eddie Redmeyne and the cast from the first movie are all still charming and have more character development to carry them through to the next movie, while Jude Law and Zoe Kravitz are both really great additions.

I will wait and see what the third installment in this franchise has in store before deciding my final opinion on the movies as a whole but I do think J.K. has some work to do to keep people on board.

#7. Christopher Robin

This was a complete nostalgia trip for me, I really had a good time watching this movie. Not only did it really hit at the emotional core of anyone who grew up with Winnie the Pooh but it was just so charming, so quaint and made me feel like a kid again.

Ewan McGregor as an adult Christopher Robin was very well cast, not only did he go through the arc that apparently every working adult goes through in losing his child-like wonder only to be reminded of it and realizing what is truly important in life, but Ewan is an actor who can do it with such charm that a tired old story like this seems fresh.

Also this story is made fresh by the fact that it does centre on the characters of Winnie the Pooh. The visual effects used to bring these characters to life are so well done. I loved the behind the scenes knowledge of knowing that they created toy replicas of these characters and then digitally animated them throughout the movie. It just adds a sense of realism to the movie and makes it more enjoyable.

Mary Poppins Returns did a similar story arc with Michael as they did with Christopher but in my opinion this story is told a lot more organically. I’m happy with the movie and glad I now own it.

#6. Incredibles 2

14 years in the making and still worth the wait. I had a blast watching this movie. Not only was it a direct follow-up to the first one but I felt the story managed to progress our favourite characters in an organic way that still kept in theme with this being a superhero family franchise.

I thought the focus being on Elastigirl being the focal superhero as opposed to Mr. Incredible this time around was a fun change of pace and didn’t feel like a cry for feminism as other movies and TV shows do.

Meanwhile having Mr. Incredible being the stay-at-home dad learning to cope with his teenage daughter’s drama and super-baby discovering his powers was a lot of fun and led to some very comedic moments.

Also the hilarious moments in the first movie were still here in this one from Frozone and his wife to Edna Mode. The whole movie just felt that, even though it had been over a decade since the first movie, it just felt like coming home it was so inviting.

The main problem is the reveal of the villain because anyone with half a brain would be able to tell that while they tried the red herring of Win Deavor being the evil Screenslaver, the fact it was Evelyn Deavor wasn’t a shock. Evelyn Deavor...Evil Endeavor...it was obvious.

But overall a really enjoyable movie and hopefully we won’t have to wait another 14 years for the threequel.

#5. Avengers: Infinity War

The movie event of the year but that doesn’t mean it was the movie of the year. This was such a spectacle and celebration of 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that I could not get enough of it.

Everything worked well in this movie, all the characters we’ve seen throughout the last ten years working together was such a treat and a promise that only Kevin Feige’s MCU could deliver on.

There are so many things right about this movie, I thought the plot for the movie really brought a genuine threat and splender to the MCU that managed to almost fix the MCU’s villain problem, Thanos was a genuine threat despite the fact that he had not been shown as formidable in any of the previous movies, then there’s the Black Order who present both a brilliant and fun henchmen group.

The heroes all coming together for the first time isn’t as big of a deal as made out because aside from the Guardians teaming up with Iron Man, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, everyone else who teams up has teamed up before aside from a brief interaction between Shuri and Bruce Banner.

Regardless, this was such a fun movie, a slight complete deviation from the comics event as the key characters aren’t in play for the MCU just yet. However, this was very much the movie of the summer and definitely an event everyone was talking about. I loved it and roll on Avengers: Endgame.

#4. Bohemian Rhapsody

I love Queen, I love everything about the band and more to the point I love Freddie Mercury. I love everything that he stands for and everything that makes him an icon for the LGBT community. Throw in Rami Malik and you have everything I am looking for in a movie like this.

A Star Is Born did not make my list and in fact almost falls into my Least Favourite Movies list because I just didn’t really like it as a movie and the two movies are often compared. But while A Star Is Born had okay songs and an okay story, Bohemian Rhapsody had fantastic songs and a fantastic story because they all came from a raw and talented source.

I get there is some controversy with the movie as the remaining members of Queen tried to make it more of a Queen origin story than a Freddie Mercury biopic but the best thing about this movie is it is a perfect blend of both stories because you can’t have one without the other.

Also, the movie recreated Live Aid in such a mirrored way that it was almost like a straight-up recording with the actors in place of the actual people. This movie should definitely garner praise and accolades for that alone.

It’s just such a fantastic movie and provides such a potent love-note to all Freddie fans, I can’t say enough good things about it.

#3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Best Spider-Man movie ever! This is a statement I found myself saying throughout this movie and a couple of days after seeing it I still think it, this is the best Spider-Man movie ever created. I’m not including Venom in that because it’s from the same material but is more of a spin-off from the mainstream Spidey movies than what has come featuring the red and blue webslinger.

But yes, I had reservations about this movie. Not only do I not know Miles Morales that well but I genuinely thought they were going to go down the Spider-Man origin route again and to be honest I don’t think I can sit through another retelling of that. Now this movie has one trope that goes in line with the traditional Spider-Man story which doesn’t exactly damage the movie but doesn’t seem necessary for the movie.

Also this is an all-age animated movie, that is very hard to do without pandering more to one age demographic and traditionally if they go down the adult animation route it’s often offensive and vulgar whereas this had none of that. Instead it dealt with several mature themes, mixed with some brilliant action sequences and quite hardcore violence. I mean it, Kingpin goes all out here.

In terms of the overall movie, there is a disclaimer right at the start before the opening credits that is specific to this movie saying “Do not copyright”...In the first 4 minutes you understand why. This movie is choc-full of twists, spoilers and treats for any Spidey fan and I personally guarantee there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Furthermore, because it is an animated movie, the entire story plays out like a comic-book practically like a live motion comic partially because of the use of captions used just they are in comics. The movement of the characters and the artistic scenery adds to what makes this movie so unique and so special.

Voice talent wise, Chris Pine makes a surprising vocal appearance as the Peter Parker of Miles’ Earth who dies towards the start, but then you have Jake Johnson, Nicholas Cage, Liev Schreiber, Hailee Steinfeld and Mahershala Ali all providing great support to Shameik Moore who himself is brilliant.

All in all, as everyone has said, this is the best Spider-Man movie to be released, I am very much looking forward to seeing where this movie takes the universe in the future.

#2. Aquaman

This movie came so close to being my #1 because I genuinely believe it is the best movie of the year, however #1 is my favourite and that’s what this list is about.

If someone had told me Aquaman would be DC’s best movie since The Dark Knight I would have laughed in their face. I cannot believe how much I enjoyed this movie. Visually stunning, there is not a lot more I can say about how gorgeous this movie is that everyone else has not said.

Jason Momoa takes to this role like Gal Gadot takes to Wonder Woman and Hugh Jackman took to Wolverine. He has so much joy in this movie and you can tell he, Amber Heard and the other cast members love being part of this world.

I will reiterate what I said in my non-spoiler review, this movie essentially showed us the scenary of a live-action Little Mermaid complete with Ariel in Amber Heard’s Mera and yet we are still looking forward to Disney’s live-action version of the movie. I guarantee you there will be a lot of comparisons between these movies, even if Zendaya gets cast because she will be compared to both Mera and Aquaman as both the lead and lead female.

This movie does what Wonder Woman could not and that is nail the final act and the climactic battle sequence. Oh my god it was like watching Lord of the Rings underwater it was so magnificent.

What they set up for a hopeful sequel is very juicy, you have Nicole Kidman as Aquaman’s mother still alive, you have Aquaman and Mera finally together, you have Orm still alive so there’s potential for either redemption like Loki or a return to form in a future movie. Also Black Manta will hopefully become more formidable in a future movie considering he was essentially a side-villain in this movie.

I want a sequel, I want a sequel for Aquaman more than I want any other DC Movie coming out. I cannot wait.

#1. Black Panther

Without question this movie outshines most movies in any genre. I still think Aquaman is the best movie because it is solidly brilliant from beginning to end, but Black Panther is miraculous in terms of visuals, music and the representation of African culture.

It is in some ways an origin movie because it’s how T’Challa adapted to becoming king of Wakanda, however because we already met T’Challa during Civil War, much like Spider-Man it wasn’t a question of needing to know their origins it was more about exploring them as individuals and what makes them superheroes.

However, surprisingly, Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther was not the most compelling part of this movie. Don’t get me wrong he’s still a brilliant actor and an integral part of the movie, but the way Ryan Coogler accurately portrays African culture, from the tribal combat tradition of earning the mantle of king, to the styling of each tribe to make them distinct, even with what the inclusion of the superhero angle brings with Wakanda being a technologically advanced nation and the visuals that they bring.

Just like Aquaman, this movie had a great main villain but a somewhat weak side-villain. Both Orm and Killmonger were brilliant but Killmonger outshines Orm because what he stands for divided audiences and even created a social media storm with the hashtag #Killmongerwasright. Yes Ocean Master also had a sense of righteousness because of what he stood for with believing the surface world to be the sea inhabitants enemies which sparks an environmental debate but Killmonger struck a core with African history. His final line of “Bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors that jumped from the ships, because they knew death was better than bondage.” is still probably the best line in any superhero movie for the power of the message it gets across.

Also T’Challa has been often critiqued for being outshined by his female supporting characters Shuri, Okoye, Nakia and Ramonda. I personally agree with this critique but again it’s not to the detroment of T’Challa or the movie because if anything it makes the movie that much better for having strong female characters who aren’t just “the love interest” or “the family” because yes that is what they essentially are but they’re celebrated for that.

Also, Letitia Wright is the breakout star of this movie, I would say Danai Gurira but she has The Walking Dead under her belt. Shuri is not the stereotypical princess character as not only is she 18 and head of the science and technology division of Wakanda but she has the personality and drive to easily take over the Black Panther mantle as she did in the comics.

Overall, this is not quite a perfect movie but it is definitely one of the best movies of the year, century and MCU in total. Not only is it a cultural milestone in terms of movie representation but also it is a movie that has earned numerous award nods and deserves to win all of them.

So that’s my list of my favourite movies of 2018, as I said it was a truly brilliant year for movies and I cannot wait to see what the new year has in store for us. In the mean time you can check out more Movie Reviews and other posts.

Happy New Year to all!

#2018 #2019 #black panther #aquaman #spider-man: into the spider-verse #love simon #bohemian rhapsody #avengers: infinity war #incredibles 2 #christopher robin #venom #fantastic beasts: the crimes of grindelwald #the crimes of grindelwald

4 notes · View notes

crystalized-dreams · 6 years

Text

So, if you frequent Twitter and/or Facebook, you’ll probably know I’ve been pretty sick. While I’m about halfway through my medicine (and hopefully feeling 100% once more), my focus is… very shake-y, at the moment, to say the least. As someone who normally multitasks a loot, it’s so… frustrating to essentially just be stuck staring at one thing and struggling to even accomplish that.

I don’t really like leaving things unfinished and right now, my unfinished pile feels kind of unbearable and there’s not much I can do about it. To make matters worse, because of the previous mentioned problem of not being able to focus, my mind is constantly thinking up ideas (whether drawings, stories, or something else entirely) that I just… do not have the time or talent to put into fruition and it’s pretty disheartening, honestly.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to write this entry since earlier this week and wanted to get it up before Pocket Camp came out because I was going to say how likely it’d be to come out the 21st/22nd because the Fortune Event ended then and it was also when the dailies ended for the current round instead of it being the usual 10–of course, I was right with that, but I never actually managed to… get that post done. On the bright side, I did manage to get all the wallpapers in the Fortune event:

As you can see, I apparently got Bitty: I don’t really think it’s that fitting, but I don’t really like to keep retaking these quizzes. I just wish they’d stop with the “shortened” quizzes–most people would prefer to answer all the questions to get a more accurate result and so it’s frustrating when it’s essentially powered by RNG to an extent because I don’t feel it’s entirely accurate.

As for the progress in the game, it’s mostly been slow… Ignoring server issues since the huge increase of people with the game releasing, as I’ve mentioned before, there’s just not much I can do right now. I did manage to get the level 5 Merry-go-Round completed: And currently have the level 5 Pool being built so I just have the Treehouse and Concert left to level up. I also have crafted everything I currently have unlocked at least once so the only things I have left are from getting villagers to level 15. I still have 21 villagers to go and I keep debating on if I should use my Request tickets to try and rush these or save them to rush being able to host when new villagers get added instead. Marshal is likely coming in the new batch of villagers due to being one of the options in the Fortune Event and it’s possible some of my own favorites could make their way in that batch too which would be nice as currently my only favorite villager in the game is Peanut.

As for the game itself, the trees and grass also changed shortly before the game opened for everyone and it’s quite nice: I’m looking forward to us getting snow. I am surprised we didn’t end up having a Harvest Festival ingame, but maybe they felt it was too soon after opening…

My struggles are still heavily with the resource mechanics though–especially with being sick, it makes it hard to keep my stock up since it’s hard to really play much and when I do have those short bursts where I feel up to more, I once again get hit by that item limit wall. Most of the limits and things, I can understand. The timers, the rotations, the crafting things… But the item limit is just such an issue. Especially because you get SO little from selling items, it doesn’t feel worth the effort to get them just to sell them so when your inventory is full, it’s like “Well, now what do I do?”. Prices are what you’d expect for clothing and furniture and to craft, but the prices for selling things from your inventory is just too small to cover that. 10 Bells for “common” stuff is just so disheartening. And it also gives me less of a reason to play when my requests are done honestly and removes a lot of the relaxing part of AC and playing how you like.

While my inventory management continues to be a nightmare, I’m doing pretty well catalog-wise. I currently have all market furniture available, everything from Labelle, and only need one thing from Kicks. I have about 13 things left from the Able Sisters, including one of the dresses (The Plum Coat) that I actually really want But the RNG with it all makes it… frustrating.

In the meantime, when I’ve needed a bit of a break from Pocket Camp due to just running out of things to do or just not having the energy for it, I’ve been having a lot of fun with Tiny Bird Garden which came out on November 15th. If you enjoy Neko Atsume and/or really like birds, you’ll probably enjoy Tiny Bird Garden. It is of the same nature as Neko Atsume (lay out toys and food for birds to come), but a bit more… immersive in a way with NPCs you can talk to and actually getting to talk to and befriend the birds in a way. You can give them treats and hats and it’s just a… very sweet game?

I mean, seriously, look at some of these birds:

I especially relate to Cherry:

And even the NPCs have sweet things to say:

Even the Credits as well:

I’ve managed to see all the birds at least once and give them all their favorite Treats so I just need to figure out all their favorite toys now. They all seem… a lot less picky than the cats in Neko Atsume though which both makes it a bit easier to see them all but also a bit harder if you’re specifically going for one.

Regardless, if you like cute birds and/or just need some kind of casual pick-me up, I really do recommend it–even if just for some positive reminders that you matter.

Right now, Super Mario Odyssey is a bit on hold which makes me… quite sad to be honest. I really love the game, but at the same time I just feel frustrated with it. I think a lot of the Moons are pretty fun, but at the same time it feels like way too much. It just feels packed just to be packed and I just don’t find that very fun. It makes them feel less special. That said, my least favorite ones have to be the high score ones I don’t mind doing the activities a certain amount of times, but there’s… not much fun in spending hours trying over and over to hit a score in the same monotonous activity. And you have to do this in two different ones.

The time trial ones are also fairly frustrating. I’ve long stopped enjoying the races and really just wish the only one was in the Mushroom Kingdom.

I’m sure we’ll get back to the game eventually and I really do want to hit the 999 Moons + get all the costumes, but right now I just feel discouraged and frustrated.

Finally, what I’ve been doing especially these last few months is getting myself a bit lost in visual novels. I love reading, but unfortunately our… living situation isn’t the best to really be situated *to* read books for long periods of time and still be comfortable. Let alone even… keep track of books 😦

I started playing My Candy Love aka Amour Sucré in March of last year and it’s been a… rollercoaster of feelings. I talk a lot about the game over on a Tumblr I have dedicated to it and other Beemoov games, but I wanted to bring it up here too for once because there’s a lot I really want to say about it.

I’m incredibly picky with Otome games. I don’t usually have the same tastes in guys as most people so it’s hard for me to find one appealing. Plus, when many games have you dating girls instead and you’re not particularly interested in girls, you’re usually playing more for story reasons then (Which is why I won’t play any… mature rated ones).

I think Otome games can be quite interesting though if they have a good focus on story and characters and that’s generally what I look for, though, I can be picky with art style. And while the art style in MCL can vary (especially with some of the older episodes’ illustrations), something about it still drew me in and I’m not entirely sure what. My one regret is mostly finding about it so late–the game started in 2011 and so I’ve… missed a lot Both onsite event-wise and merchandise-wise.

One thing that’s been especially frustrating to me is there was a short episode available for those who got a code from their booth at Japan Expo in 2013 that was only available for France and there is only video of one of the routes and I can’t find any transcripts of the other routes and this haunts me so much and is killing me slowly because of all kinds of problems. It’s rare, but hey, if you had unlocked the Japan Expo 2013 ring and now no longer can replay the episode, please report it so maybe someone can… finally upload the other routes and dialogue ._.

Moving to the game itself and despite some of my issues above and sadness of missing out, I wish I knew what captured me about the game. I found myself interested in all the characters and definitely found a favorite of the cast. The game takes place in a high school, towards the end of the school year (though, don’t actually try and figure out the timeline–it’s a complete and utter mess).

I think in a way, especially since my school life was absolute trash, it almost feels therapeutic for me. Even though the focus is the 5 main guys, you get two best friends and have a handful of other classmates as well. And even if on episode where you get completely screwed over, people are still there for you and sometimes a lot of it is just what I needed to hear and didn’t realize.

The game currently is at 37 episodes (with 38 coming out any day now honestly– a lot o people are expecting the trailer tomorrow) and you don’t even start dating the guy you want to go for until the end of Episode 28/start of Episode 29 so there’s a long build up (though, you may find the first 10 episodes kind of slow). There’s character arcs as well, some stronger than others, but honestly, I just have fun with it even if I genuinely think they could use a better translator, the censoring is awkward, and some lines are… a bit cringe-y, but it’s just… truly fun.

They have a Black Friday sale going on so I’m debating on buying a bunch of AP and $ and maybe doing a huge story replay to fix some decisions and things I’m not super happy with and also take opportunities to explore the school more so I’ll be less likely to miss dialogue and stuff too.

I would likely stream the big replay too so if someone is interested in the game, but doesn’t want to play, well, that could be an option!

I will say the game is a bit hard to get into–besides some of the older art style in illustrations, the game unfortunately uses an Action Point system. Once you’re caught up, you’ll usually manage to earn enough to play the next episode by the time it comes out, but until then, it’s a very slow grind trying to play each day and can be super demotivating honestly

Once thing I do wish Beemoov would do (besides an alternative to the AP system) is just… better jobs with merchandising to their other servers. There’s such a big focus on France as it’s the main server and where the company is located, but it really makes other servers feel left out. The manga, as an example, has only been published in French, Spanish, and German. It’s been years with no update on if we will ever see it outside those languages. The Artbooks have only been in French and English. And most merchandise hasn’t been outside France at all. It’s pretty discouraging (and also makes it all the harder to FIND older merchandise…).

Despite all this, the game’s taking place in France actually helped rejuvenate my love for France’s culture too. France was the first country I ever wanted to go to and the first language I wanted to learn when I was just 2-3 years old. It meant a lot to me and after some issues when I finally got to go to Paris, France, a piece of my heart got… incredibly hurt due to certain things that happened and it’s… really nice to have it mended and just between this and Miraculous Ladybug feel that love for France again (Also my French has gotten a lot better with all the things I’ve been looking up for character reasons so that’s pretty awesome).

Beemoov’s other visual novel is Eldarya which is much more fantasy-styled and more mature in general. It has the same kind of thing with a lot more characters besides just the love interest and the other servers are *nearly* caught up with France’s. It’s fun despite some… problematic decisions in plot, but I’m genuinely really excited to see where the story goes.

While I play MCL more for the characters as the story is mostly just… school with some character arcs, Eldarya’s overall story has me incredibly invested with where it’s going to go.

Of course, I don’t only play Otome game-Visual novels. One of Beemoov’s other visual novels is Henri’s Secret which is just a general romance story–you don’t have a character and you follow Lyla’s PoV for the most part (though, the game takes place mostly from a third person view). Even though the secret was super obvious from the get-go (and you learn it pretty quick in the story too–though Lyla and her friends have yet to…), I find myself still interested in the characters and story and really want to see their reactions when they learn Henri’s secret.

As for a non-Beemoov game, I’m actually super into SakeVisual’s Jisei series. I love mysteries and all the characters are super well-written. The fourth part is currently in production and I genuinely can’t wait. It’s such a good series, the art and voice acting is phenomenal and I haven’t played a game from SakeVisual that I haven’t enjoyed, honestly. I still have to finish Backstage Pass, but… stats and schedule stuff in games is hard for me x__x

But yes, this is what I’ve been up to recently! I’m still doing training in Miitopia, but it’s… very slow so that may be a while. I also do hope to get back to Lady Layton as SOON as I’m feeling better. I miss it, but I’m just… in no condition to do puzzles right now.

A bit of an update on things and games I’m currently playing~ So, if you frequent Twitter and/or Facebook, you'll probably know I've been pretty sick. While I'm about halfway through my medicine (and hopefully feeling 100% once more), my focus is...

#Opinion Piece #PC #Mobile Games #Visual Novels #Blog Related #Eldarya #Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp #Henri&039;s Secret #Jisei #Beemoov #My Candy Love #Nintendo Switch #Sakevisual #Super Mario Odyssey #Tiny Bird Garden

2 notes · View notes

syntaxeme · 6 years

Text

Name: Natalie “Nat” Cordova

Callsign: Estrella Flux (formerly Firefly)

Species: human (mutant)

Age: 19

Gender/sexuality: cis bi girl

Ethnicity: Mixed Latina. Her father is Mexican, and her mother is Cuban (grew up in America; her parents immigrated before she was born).

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Body: 5’ 7”. Medium brown skin, notably darker than Myles as she spends more time in the sun. Her freckles aren’t as numerous as Myles’s, but they’re there if you look closely. Pointing them out or complimenting them seems to embarrass her, because she knows it means you are looking closely. She’s slim, almost lanky, like her brother, but with more muscle; think gymnast. She doesn’t have much going for her in the T&A department, but it doesn’t really concern her. She feels like her body fits her perfectly. She has numerous scars, all earned in various ways but for the same reason: her overconfidence outmatched her skill/control. She kind of likes them, though. The only one she doesn’t like is a particularly nasty gash down her left temple and cheek, and she’s always used her bangs to try to cover it up.

Body language: What’s the opposite of “ladylike”? That’s what Nat is. Maybe it’s intentional, maybe it’s subconscious, but she can often be seen taking up as much space as possible, stretching her legs out open instead of crossing them, lying out full length and taking up two seats on the bus, etc. Her stance is very firm, not to be shaken; as previously mentioned, she is incredibly self-confident. She has no qualms about making eye contact and will not back down if pushed. The only time she may not be quite so immovable is during an especially manic spell; for that period of time, she’ll become more hyper, restless, almost jittery, and she’ll feel she needs to constantly be moving.

Hair: Thick, black, wavy. Since disappearing out of her family’s life, she’s cut off practically the entire length of it, something she didn’t dare do while in school. The sides and back are buzzed short, but the top still has some length so she sort of has bangs to hang over her forehead.

Eyes: Very light, very bright blue; they mark her as a mutant right off the bat to anyone who knows what they’re looking at, especially when the rest of her is so dark. When they moved schools in the seventh grade, she started wearing brown contacts so people would stop staring and teasing her. They’re deep set and slightly narrow.

Powers: Energy manipulation. Her control applies to several kinds of energy: potential, kinetic, thermal, radiant, and electric. To be clear, these are the types she’s learned to work with; it’s possible she may learn to do more in the future. She’s tried to work with sound and found that she can’t; that’s Myles’s territory. Because energy can’t be created or destroyed, she’s only able to transfer and convert the energy in question. This means she’s able to transfer live electric energy from one device to another or sacrifice heat energy to create light, etc. The larger the conversion, the more concentration it takes from her. She does have a great deal of stamina, however, having built it up over the years, so she’s capable of some pretty impressive feats when (let’s say) fully-rested. Because her abilities are so versatile, it would be very easy for them to become dangerous in the wrong hands. Nat tries her best to prove that she’s worthy of them and that she can control them. She does, however, question whether that’s true herself.

Background: Since the age of thirteen, Nat has been doing hero work with her parents and her twin, Myles. She was advocating for them (her and Myles) to join in the hero stuff since they were ten, and their parents insisted that they weren’t old enough (heroes can’t become officially sanctioned until they’re legal adults). They changed their mind about that when the twins were captured by an enemy and held hostage. This was when Nat got the scar on her face. She tried to fight their captors, using her powers, but since she had no training and not much experience controlling them, she pretty much got the shit kicked out of her. But she kept Myles from getting hurt, which was the important part to her. After their parents rescued them, it was clear to everyone that they needed to be taught how to defend themselves. That quickly led into them becoming involved in the work itself. Nat took to hero work easily, as it gave her an outlet for her practically-boundless energy. She did have some extracurricular gymnastics to occupy her, but learning MMA from her mother was even better. Learning to control her powers was also very intellectually stimulating for her; it led to her developing an interest in physics, which entailed a lot of research on her part. Through study and practice, she’s gotten very good at precisely controlling her power. The idea of justice is also very appealing to her; she can’t stand to see people get less (or more) than they deserve. At around sixteen, Nat began experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia: she started to see and hear things that others didn’t, started to perceive others (outside her family) in ways that weren’t accurate, and developed the powerful believe that she was “supposed” to be enacting justice where it hadn’t turned out naturally, that it was what she was made to do. She was diagnosed at age seventeen, but she had a mortal fear of medication for it. They were told that her condition could be managed, so her parents let her choose to do so. She doesn’t hallucinate “normal” things, like everyday conversations or images that could easily be real; they’re almost always fantastic enough to make her question them right away. This leads to her often asking those around her for reality checks, e.g. “are you seeing this happening right now?” Her auditory hallucinations are usually very clear and easy to understand, most often insulting her decisions and telling her that other people can’t stand her. They don’t really have distinct, recurring voices that she’s noticed.

Personality: Outgoing, playful, confident. She’s a bit cynical, a bit sarcastic sometimes, but rarely in a way that’s meant to be hurtful. She doesn’t see any reason to be rude to others unless they started it. She’s generally very friendly and likes attention, likes making friends. For the most part, she’s pretty open about her mental condition and doesn’t mind talking about it. If people look at her funny when they find out, she doesn’t care; she does want to be liked, but some other person’s approval isn’t worth lying about who she is. Ever. It’s not uncommon for her to have mood swings that are difficult to explain to other people (not that they happen for no reason, but the reasoning wouldn’t make sense to most others).

She has a habit of speaking and acting without thoroughly considering the consequences; she sometimes needs to be reminded or informed of a potential problem with what she’s doing/saying/planning in order to rethink it. Sometimes she listens, usually if it’s in regards to other people’s safety or wellbeing. If her own ability is being questioned, however, she instead feels the need to prove that she knows what she’s doing. She rarely worries about her own safety, as one of her persistent delusions makes her feel like she’s pretty much invincible. The only time she really questions herself is when her naysaying voices are being especially persistent.

Misc.:

She’s fluent in both English and Spanish. I think she prefers Spanish, and she probably has several Spanish-speaking friends. Usually if she’s speaking privately to someone in her family, it’s in Spanish.

Nat is as contemporary as one can possibly be. Her pop culture interests are all 100% modern, and she doesn’t really care for “deep” shit that has to be deciphered. She wants music that’s fun to dance to, often with sexual and/or aggressive lyrics (Ke$ha is one of her favorites), she wants movies that are fun and engaging to watch (art films and anything depressing are o-u-t), and she has an easier time getting engrossed in a comic book than in a novel. Comics led her to manga, which led her to anime, so she likes that, too.

She uses the words “schizo” and “psycho” to describe herself on occasion, usually in a negative way. However, she will not stand for the word “crazy.” Hearing it in passing (e.g. “the traffic here is crazy”) bothers her, but hearing it directed at a person, especially herself, makes her absolutely furious, which quickly leads to her being aggressive and physically violent toward the person who used it. “Loco/loca” will get a similar reaction.

Clothing:

Civvies – Cut-off shorts, crop tops and bralettes, sneakers, whatever allows her to move most easily. She has no issues with showing skin. She hates dresses and skirts. Just. Hates them with a passion. They inhibit her movement and make fighting difficult, especially long ones, so she avoids them whenever possible. She likes boots and jackets. She likes the colors blue and green. And she loves galaxy print. Or anything to do with stars.

“Work”

Her theme color is cobalt blue. She wants to look cute and flashy, but functionality comes before anything else. Meaning nothing strapless, nothing restrictive (like tight leather pants), nothing she’ll have to worry about slipping or coming off, etc. For some reason, peplum shorts are really speaking to me. And a ¾ sleeve crop top. Maybe with some fun sheer details.

In order to leave her fingertips and palms to be exposed (for whatever energy-based purpose she may need) but not cut up her knuckles, she wears knuckle guards like one would use for boxing.

Her mask is the opposite of what most heroes wear; rather than covering her eyes, it covers the lower half of her face (from her nose down). When she’s working, she doesn’t bother with her contacts (unless it’s a sudden, spur-of-the-moment thing), so her eyes don’t look the way they normally do, so she figures this is okay.

Visual refs:

#ta-daaah there she is #Myles's bff and foil #loud excitable energy-control babe #Natalie Cordova #superheroes #next comes Hadrian #my OCs

1 note · View note

smokeybrandreviews · 4 years

Text

Cheeseburgers

The Infinity Saga is over. The MCU is moving forward into uncharted waters. Disney+ has pushed back certain shows and moved up WandaVision. Black Widow finally has a well deserved movie, postmortem. The future is wide open but, before we get on a brand new pain train, i wanted to take a look back and talk about some of my favorite movies from the first eleven years of the MCU.

Avengers: Infinity War

This movie, man, is probably peak MCU. There are better films in the series but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a film that walks the line of comic book and cinema to deftly. This is the penultimate tale for that first decade and what a f*cking climax it was. Holy sh*t! There was just so much good in this film, from character development to visual flair to legitimate stakes. I’m a massive Marvel fan and i am well aware of the Infinite Gauntlet saga in the comics but seeing this sh*t? Seeing Thanos actually Snap? I never though in a million years that would happen onscreen. And then it did. It was at that point i absolutely knew the MCU was about that life. I knew to expect the unexpected because , with the wealth of the Marvel universe to draw from, they were going to craft some motherf*ckers of stories.

Like, I f*cking cried when Pete got dusted. I shed legitimate tears and I’m not even embarrassed to say it out loud. For a film to move me like that? and it’s not Forrest Gump? Motherf*cker had to be on point, for sure. The entire theater was silent as those strings hummed and Thanos sat on his farm, smiling contently. I had never experienced that before The entire auditorium - completely silent. We were in disbelief. We were in mourning. I saw Infinity War in theaters four times and literally every time, the same thing happened. In two hours and some change, Marvel had gave a theater full of people straight emotional trauma. Your movie has to be absolutely on point for that to occur.

Speaking of Thanos, yo, how was this big ass purple grimace looking motherf*cker one of the best antagonists of film, period? How was this cat written so well? I lost my sh*t when they teased him at the end of Avengers and that little bit we got of him in Guardians was cool but i was not prepared for how goddamn formidable he turned out to be. Josh Brolin brought this character to life but the writing gave me real agency. I was flabbergasted by how great this character turned out to be. Thanos felt real. He felt flawed. He felt legitimate. Id have to put him up there with The Dark Knight Joker and Hans Landa as one of the best antagonists ever.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

I adore Spider-Man. Ive written at length about that love. He’s the reason i even picked up that Marvel comic all those years ago. I’ve seen every cinematic iteration of Webhead and i mst say, this portrayal is the truest to the source material i have ever seen. Cats get on the MCU about making him Tony Stark jr. but most people don’t understand that’s where he was going anyway. Most people don’t know that, in the comics, he’s basically Reed Richards jr. and since the MCU has no Reed, Tony is a pretty smart substitute. But that argument is inconsequential because the core of who Spider-Man is, the actual spirit of the character, has been captured so perfectly by this version of Pete, it’s borderline miraculous. I love Tobey McGuire’s take in Pete because he was the first to do it. Kind of like how i have such nostalgia for the 89 Batman. That version of Spider-Man felt like the old Lee/Ditko version from the 60s. Andrew Garfield was adequate. He didn’t get a fair shake though, mostly barbecue the writing in his run was so goddamn terrible. But this new kid? This casting was as perfect as RDJ was to Iron Man.

Tom Holland kills it as Spider-Man. His version of the character feels right. It feels modern. It feels like Ultimate Pete but grounded in the spirit of the 90s cartoon version. He’s this massive geek, this kid really, granted power in tragedy and it feels so goddamn authentic, i couldn’t believe it. The second he showed u in Civil War, i absolutely knew Underoos was about to be a star in these films and that is saying a lot considering how loaded this cast has become. Homecoming was the first film we got to see Pete stretch his legs and it was f*cking brilliant. Everything about this movie is what a great Spider-Flick should be and the MCU nailed it! if i never got another Spidey appearance, this movie was more than enough to sate my appetite. Homecoming is my second favorite MCU movie. I loved every second of it!

Also, how about that Aunt May stinger, though?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Look, i love the Dark Knight. For me, that is the pinnacle of a capeflick. That movie was a great crime thriller first, a Batflick second. Nolan approached it with a grounded sense of reality that left you, as an audience, breathless. It is one of the best films i have ever seen in my entire life and Ledger gave one of the most brilliant performances ever captured on celluloid. There is nothing as good as that film in the MCU. The Winter Soldier comes f*cking close, though. This movie made me sit up and realize that the MCU had some teeth. Until this thing came out, i thought we were going to get a bunch of flamboyant costumes and snarky Wedonisms. I wasn’t mad, mind you, Avengers was dope, but Winter Soldier took all that campy bullsh*t out back and murdered it. This movie was the MCU growing up and almost everything afterward has been brilliant. The Winter Soldier forced everyone to step their game up with how goddamn brilliant it turned out to be. I can’t say there were any performances as great as Ledger’s Joker but i can make the argument the overall writing was better than The Dark Knight, and that is stupid high praise.

Guardians of the Galaxy

This film has no right to be as good as it is. I went into this thing on a whim, mostly because I thought it was going ti be filler like Ant-Man or something, and then it wasn’t. It was great. Legitimately great. I had no idea the MCU could take a C-rate team like the goddamn Guardians and uplift them so beautifully. James Gunn took those characters and wrote the best Star Wars film since f*cking Empire and I didn’t think that was possible, not with this wayward branch of Marvel History. Seriously, if you do even a minuscule amount of research on who the Guardians are, they’re a joke. I mean, they have a f*cking talking Raccoon on the team! Gunn had the wherewithal to lean into that and he produced one of the best in the entire MCU. He took these loser clowns and injected so much emotion and humanity into them, you couldn’t help but love their rag-tag asses. This was the first MCU movie to move me to tears. That stuff about Quills mom? I felt that. Both times. On an extremely personal level. I was the young Quill. I watched my grandma, the only person who i believe loved me unconditionally up to that point, die just like Quill’s mom; Cancer and everything. I was about his age when it happened, too. That sh*t f*cked me up. To this day, i have nightmares about it. Seeing that sh*t so accurately captured in a capeflick was the most for me and I legit had to leave the theater until the first part of the movie passed. To this day, i can’t watch that scene. I can just barely make it through the Dance of to Save Th Universe, but that opening gambit? No way. It hits way too close to home for me. Still, for a comic book movie to solicit such a response? It has to be special and Guardians is one of the best.

Iron Man

Boy, we’ve come a long way since Tony Stark uttered those fateful word, “I am Iron Man.” But none of these other films would even have the opportunity to exist if he hadn't said them. Iron Man had the tall order of being the first, proper, MCU film AND compete with The Dark Knight. N one thought a film about B-List superhero, narcissistic billionaire, and straight up lush, Tony Stark, would amount to anything. How wrong everyone turned out to be. I knew, from that second i saw the teaser and concept art by Adi Granov, that Marvel was taking this sh*t crazy serious. Then there’s the casting of Robert Downey Jr. That sh*t was a boon, for real. The entire cast of this first film was impeccable but RDJ makes this movie. He IS Tony Stark. Even before he got comfortable with the character like in the later films, fresh out the box with the scripts, you can tell he knows how to bring this tinkerer to life. You had to nail that aspect in order to have any chance to build something great and Marvel hit a goddamn bullseyes, for sure. Revisiting this flick, Iron Man isn’t as good as the later films in the Infinity Saga but it still holds up against the vast majority of entries and that’s saying something.

I love these films, man. As a geek growing up reading these stories, reenacting them with their action figures, sitting glued to the television every Saturday as their cartoons aired, I never imagined id see such a berth of fantastic media brought to life on the silver screen. Seriously, some of my favorite interpretations of these characters appear exclusive in the MCU. War Machine, Thor until recently, Ant-Man, f*cking Hulk? i never gave these assholes the time of day in the comics but in the MCU? They’re fantastic! And it has everything to do with how well written they are in-universe. There are over twenty films in this run an i love all of them to varying extents. Spider-Man: Far From Home, Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Ragnarok, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 all could have made this list. For sure, they’re 6 - 11 or whatever, but that speaks to the sheer depth of the MCU. I’m not even counting flicks i would consider B-tier like Captain Marvel or Avengers or Iron Man 3 or Doctor Strange; All of which are still dope in their own right.

There is just SO much great in these films and i can’t wait to see where we go next. With Disney acquiring Fox, Marvel finally has the full toy box to play with and i am absolutely a tizzy with the potential arcs they can adapt. Secret Wars? Annihilation? Age of Apocalypse? Avengers Disassembled? Dark Reign? F*cking Onslaught?? I have no idea where we are going but i am, for sure, jumping on this pain train once again.

#Marvel #MCU #Infinity Saga

2 notes · View notes

smokeybrand · 4 years

Text

Cheeseburgers

Avengers: Infinity War

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Also, how about that Aunt May stinger, though?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Guardians of the Galaxy

Iron Man

2 notes · View notes

katiaelizabethanderson-blog · 7 years

Text

Lecture 1: The Photograph as a Document

Notes from today (27/09/2017) Lecture by Neil Matheson

WHAT IS A PHOTOGRAPH? MY OWN SUMMARY

A photograph is a representation of reality - to an extent. Whatever the reality, it is still being recorded as it is seen, staged or not, unless you edit the image in post production. However there are things we cannot re create with the use of a camera. We cannot replicate the sound, or the 3d aspect of objects. But, even if you use a prop, a stage, set up people or actors to pose a certain way, you are still recording information, how those people look and what the location is like. Even if the photograph is subjective (photographers goal or point of view or metaphor within the image being conveyed to the audience) the evidence of what is there in front of the camera is real.

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

A photograph is a documentation of reality and most commonly used as a way of scientific documentation. Photographers like Anna Atkins (in 1843 created a series titled ‘British Algae’) would take physical plants, specimens, and place them onto a paper creating a realistic and accurate representation of whatever flower or plant it was. Scientists used photography as a method of documentation, from a very early stage. The process used was called Cyanotype, and old process. Another example would be ‘Dog Grave’ by Thomas Mailander.

Using the Cyanotype to create art is very interesting to me, I love the impressions made onto the paper as well as the colours of blue and the ‘scientific’ element to them.

The photograph was first invented as a dark room, which within stood an artist. one of the walls would have a small hole in the middle, and the idea was that whatever was outside would be projected through the dark room and onto the wall on the other side; a moving, live image of what was going on outside around them. Then the artist in the middle of the dark box would trace the outline of the projection.

Then this idea was simplified, from a room to a box. This time the image appears onto a mirror, and again is traced by an artist. So, the next step was to actually ‘capture’ and freeze the image still.

In 1844 the Daguerrotype was invented, the first image being of the photographer and creator himself, a self portrait in the form of a positive film. This began the idea of the image creating itself in a way, the machine creating the image ‘without human intervention’.

Soon after Daguerre came out with his technique, so did Henry F Talbot in the same year 1844. “The open door”. His process created a much softer image, using wax paper and producing a negative film. The process produced less detailed or precise images. One of his photos is titled “Articles of China”. Henry’s view on the process was that it was “The Pencil of Nature”. An idea of nature reproducing itself, again automatically without man’s intervention.

His image, articles of china, shows the practical uses of the photograph early in it’s making. Taking a photograph of his plates or china, shows what possessions he had, and this would be photographic evidence of that, and if they were stolen he would use the photograph as proof - and considering that photography was still being seen as a mechanical operation or scientific form of documentation, it would be socially accepted by a court of law as proof (if submitted).

TYPES OF IMAGES

Semiotics - the study of signs. “Marks with meaning”, a visual language of photography.

Icon - looks like what it represents, e.g. a photo of jesus christ would represent the catholic church

Index - an image which has a direct connection with something, e.g. pictures of smoke - as the saying goes “no smoke without fire” so we know fire is related, and is the direct connection to the picture of smoke. Or close up of a finger print, you know it’s a finger, on a hand, on a human etc.

Symbol - An image containing a purely conventional relationship.

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Richard Avedon

He had a subjective view on his photographs, by telling his own truths. He believed that every decision you make affects the reality of a photograph. E.g. lighting makes you think their nose is smaller. Richard would photograph people behind a makeshift white roll background, taking his subject out of their natural habitat in a way and creating slightly surreal portraits with white backgrounds.

SCIENTIFFIC TO ART

So now we see photography go from scientific (objective) to more of a controlled approach, subjective.

One realist perspective on a photograph would be that photographs share the reality of what they represent, which I think is an accurate statement, because photographs are almost like a mirror image, even if you have altered reality by lighting choices, sets, or props then you still take a photograph of what’s in front of you, what you created or simply un-staged reality. But both are real, and the camera will only ever imitate that which is in front of it.

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER -

HOW TRUTHFUL IS A PHOTO?

We accept photos that have a story, that have social acceptance. Since a photograph can be used in a court of law, sometimes it’s hard to dispute that a image is evidence. The lack of focus in the famous image of the loch ness monster makes the image seem more plausible as if it was set up it would be in focus and there would be more detail. The man who took the image was a surgeon, making the person sound intellectual and therefore trustworthy, and this man never changed the story to his grave - he swore it was real. So the story and the way the image was taken, the amateur style, the graininess of the photograph, makes it all seem a bit more realistic. However of course people still question this.

PHOTOGRAPHER

JOHN FONTCUBERTA - FAUNA SERIES

Using taxidermy creates fantasy images of ‘monsters’ in realistic settings. Making it hard to define a photograph as a documentation of reality. Because they are obviously not real, however they are real in the sense that someone has made them and they are there at the moment the photo was taken. He took these images and added text an diagrams, looking scientific to prove the existence of these ‘mythical’ beings.

SEMOTICS

the way we read an image affects the way we think about it. If we see an image with the scientific elements, we consider it to be more realistic for example. When an image is accepted socially, as an accurate image, e.g. a image of prisoners, then used and justified by courts and other institutions, it becomes socially expected and makes the photograph seem more powerful, more accurate, if people (seemingly important) back them up by using them.

PHOTOGRAPHY USED BY CAMPAIGNS

1874-83 the “Personal History of a Child at Barnado’s Home” campaign was a series of ‘before’ and ‘after’ images which reflected a poverty stricken child, which was “helped” by the charity, and then transformed into a useful member of society. The company which funded this campaign was later fined for bending the truth - using models instead of real people who had benefited from the charity’s expenses. This was the beginning of documentary photography.

DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY

As the photographic process was still a slow one, with a big bulky camera and expensive big prints, the slow camera process meant that sometimes things would have to be staged in order to be able to capture them. This meant the spontaneous type of documentary photography we are use to now was not very possible in this time.

John Thompson photographed “Survivors of the street floods in Lambeth” in the 1870′s. Documenting the people affected by floods in a staged photograph, he was still able to capture the reality of the people, what they looked like, what clothes they wore, what the location looked like.

Jacob Riis - “Home of an Italian Rag Picker”

Documenting poverty and migration Jacob Riis photographed people who were trying to make it in America. This series was aimed at a middle class audience to inform people of the undercover side of America, what it was really like for people who didn’t live the middle class life, to convince them to donate and help these people.

He used the invention of the flash, a dangerous process involving magnesium to almost entertain the middle-class, somewhat insulting the poverty stricken people, by using them to entertain the rich ones. He later wrote a book called “The other half” which shows how he did not see himself to be on the side of those people, although coming from a migrant background himself.

Lewis Hine - “Slav Immigrant” 1905 Ellis Island

Unlike Jacob, Hine was not a article writer, and did not come from that background. He was an artist, he documented the poverty in a more dignified way, showing empathy in his photographs of the poor - he was on the side of the people and did not consider himself different, unlike Jacob Riis. He would sneak into factories, using different identities to get in with his camera he would sneakily take photographs of the child workers employed there, to later use in a campaign to inform the middle class (aired with statistics) that this is what these companies were doing to children. It was necessary to use a different identity and hide his gear in order to obtain this documentation of the life of a child worker, life inside a factory. Using statistic and fats as well as the images combined to make them socially excepted as ‘facts’.

Hine became a photographer of high integrity because of this, unlike Jacob.

“Lewis W Hine, Coalbreakers” image

DOROTHEA LANGE, Street demonstration

an image with a figure of a police officer, standing tall amung the protestors. The image contains a strong visual metaphor of the authority vs the community.

Documentary photography at this point was ofter a set brief given by an employer, with a subjective view, like the FSA, it’s director had a very strict and nostalgic view of ‘America’.

Another example of a photograph with a subjective view implanted:

Graveyard, Houses, and Steel Mill. 1935 Walker Evans

BIRTH, WORK, DEATH.

Walker Evans - an artist who did not want his photographs used as propaganda. He left soon after joining the FSA project, although some of his best work came from his short time there.

DISCUSSION Q N A

HOW TO EVALUATE AN IMAGE& IT’S SUCESS?

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT?

BEST WAY TO PRESENT? magazine, newspaper, book, gallery, exhibition etc

HOW SUCCESSFUL ARE THE PROJECTS? WHY?

Bruce Davidson - Magnium Photos photographer, captured “Brooklyn Gang” in 1959. He had a subjective view, gaining access to one gang in particular, “The Jokers” and got to know them, so he could eventually hop into the back of cars with them and just hang out with them really. He ended up romanticizing the ‘gang’ culture, making them seem just like normal kids, doing normal youth things. He didn’t portray them as a threat to society, like the middle class would describe them ‘gangs’, instead he portrayed them as positive members of society, a community of their own choosing.

East 100th Street Project, 1966

images are composed well, of mostly children and other people who are poor in new york during a hot summer. The images are interior and exterior, sometimes focusing on squares and boxes (like the ones we put ourselves in) and he seemed to like walls as he would use them in his photos to show a metaphor of a very big authority, vs the tiny people. Or their big problems, vs. those unfortunate people who feel small or helpless. His photographs were empathetic also towards these people. Although they are composed well they still seem uncomfortable in a way.

#HISTORY #PHOTOGRAPHY #LECTURE ONE #LECTURE 1 #THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE #4IMAG001W #TYPES OF IMAGES #ICON #INDEX #SEMIOTICS #SYMBOL #NOTES WRITTEN UP

1 note · View note