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mrbigbrother · 1 year

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The Black Cat (1934) an early horror classic with a dark revenge storyline.

Edgar Allan Poe may never be truly adapted to the screen due to the nature of his work. The Black Cat is a story of a diseased man with an intense and all consuming horror of cats. And that is all that makes it into universals first of only two attempts to adapt Poe in some form.

Bela Lugosi plays (Dr. Werdegast) the closest thing to a hero that he was ever allowed to. It shows that he was capable of playing characters that weren't always evil or demented. At least for a little while until the Dr. finally gets his revenge. We can see that there is a decent man who would still not see the young couple be mixed up in his game, either out of kindness, or out of worry that they could interfere. "where the soul is slowly killed." says everything we need to know, and there is no one living or dead actor that could have played this character better. There is something truly sinister in the performance, about his desire for revenge that led him to doing something to Poelzig that is poetic and deserved, but equally disturbing and gruesome. I also enjoyed The Raven (1935) that gave Lugosi the chance to go further with this sinister performance. In that film, I like to think that maybe it was a what if Werdegast survived, but after torturing his worst enemy to death, he became addicted to it. Now that would make for a fine fan edit.

'The skinning scene effectively uses the power of suggestion to convey the horrible deed with shadows, and somehow that makes it more shocking. Horror isn't always seen, but it can always be felt. I don't need to show you a man being skinned alive to scare you; If the characters are strong enough, it only takes a good director to use the power of suggestion to get under peoples skin (pun intended.)

That's the beauty of horror fiction, as it is an exploration of the feeling that pushes our minds into new territories to meditate on. Is that not what Poe did? Just as Poe was an early pioneer of the genre in his time, so was early horror cinema in the 30s.

I wish that this film was longer and had more to it than a little more than an hour runtime. Werdegast's fear of cats doesn't really play much into the plot save for a few moments. It could suggest that the inuman torture he lived through as a P.O.W. involved cats in some way maybe. That and the fact that his daughter was alive with Poelzig, didn't add any real stakes to the story like it should have, other than showing the cruelty and madness that both men share for each other. The production is nothing shy of what was as good a film that was being made at the time. Every shot is a dreadful and haunting image of this pleasure palace built on war scorned land that tells just as much of the story. The music isn't bad; overbearing at times, but can be striking in other sequences. Performances that are not only career highlights, but do stand tall. These are truly fleshed out and ghastly men stalmated in their game of death, that I have no problem believing has lasted for decades.

Boris Karloff plays maybe his most menacing and inhumanly evil character ever; and yet Poelzig is as mortal as we. Not a man sewed together from body parts, or a thousand year old mummy who woke up and went for a little walk. nope. Poelzig is just a man that is as soul dead as Werdegast from his time in the war. Only he is a satanic priest of his own coven who has guests over for rituals and sacrifices of beautiful women who can't resist his charms. Oh and he tends to keep them on display as well...The satanic elements not coming off as over the top or campy like other works about satanic cults. It's just an element to his character. Which satanism is more about worship of the self rather than the devil. And I could see Poelzig as being so vane to sacrifice people to himself as he fancies himself his own dark lord. Boris had a screen presence that was and is still unmatched. He was able to generate such a real tangible menace without speaking a word. And this was one of the first films that allowed him to speak dialogue, and that gave him the opportunity to show how soft and hypnotizing his voice was. When he speaks, we listen. When he is silent, we feel his very auro that echoes despite being without a soul; that people are just objects at his disposal.

The Black Cat (1934) is a truly effective horror film that realizes its horror through great characters and the legendary performances behind them. It is a trip to the darkest depths that a man's soul is capable of descending to. One consumed by the evil of his actions and only able to find peace when others are suffering; and the other consumed by a hatred that slowly killed his very own soul, and has come all this way to lay about 15 years worth of wraith upon him.

It is a great film, but I have to admit that it isn't a very good adaptation of Poe. And I don't blame it for that. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be. I see how the story has influenced many elements of the screenplay. I also have to say, that a remake wouldn't be a bad idea here if universal decides to do so. I doubt it would happen; It didn't have mainstream appeal then, and it doesn't now. But I would love to see some talented filmmakers explore the ideas and characters further. Robert Eggers comes to mind; he would understand, and would go to great pain staking lengths to achieve the same surreal malice, that universal achieved almost 90 years ago.

#the black cat #the black cat 1934 #boris karloff #bela lugosi #edger allen poe #satanic

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max--phillips · 2 years

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The Bubble: hot mess, a bit incoherent at points, dragged on

Triple Frontier: It's your dad's circle jerk style "relive our glory days but not really" vet movie, it's what you put on for all the dads and uncles after thanksgiving dinner and football. and the only reason it stays on with little complaint is because all the main characters are hot

WW84: don't take it too seriously, it took itself too seriously and suffered for it. one of the lettrbox reviews was basically "Pedro thinks he's in a dif movie, and idk if it's better or worse, but it is def funnier." and yeah, cause he leaned into the campiness of it

GC: A lot of problems, and not just the out of left field feeling of the Whiskey reveal.

the first one was "eccentric billionaire thinks population control is an urgent and necessary concern, gives out sim card that make phone's produce a frequency that causes extreme aggression and decreased inhibitions."

It's outlandish, but sounds vaguely plausible because we do know there are frequencies that we cannot consciously perceive that make us feel things (usually fear)

and over population has been a back of the mind concern since about the late 70s early 80s. cause all the boomers were old enough to have kids and the birthing trend was regularly multiple kids per family and infant mortality rates shot down very suddenly and blah, blah, blah....

GC's plot is "Drug cartel kingpin poisons their supply and holds all of their customers to ransom." now... this plan is stupid, not just in general, but in the world of kingsmen itself.

because the Valentine plan did work for about prob 20 in world minutes, considering how much of the bathroom door Eggsy's mom had gotten through by the time the whole thing was over

the world population has already been shot, now you're gonna do it again? and with your customers? huh?

also... illicit substances being poisoned to punish the people partaking in them has been done before... like actually in the real world done before.

during prohibition in the US cops and people who wanted to "clean up the neighborhood" would poison liquor before putting out on the market. with the justification being, "If they're gonna break the law, they may as well suffer some consequences." not seeming to comprehend that the crime and the punishment were extremely unequal.

Also, Kingsmen didn't have any scenes where it cut to the president openly stating he's on board with the idea of a mass culling, but GC had a few... and the only reason they didn't make him look and sound like nixon was because that rotten turnip was in office

what im saying is GC is a very bad movie and one i have a lot of issues with it on a narritive and moral level

All points above, agree. Like, the bubble was just… bad, and maybe a little tone deaf vis a vis timing but it wasn’t actively malicious (that I remember). Triple Frontier was exactly as stated above; I still hold out that it had potential that simply was not reached, but yeah. WW84 also had potential but unfortunately it was also not good but also also had some. Weird racism & pro-Israel propaganda. But yeah re: TGC I fully agree & I don’t have anything to add other than: people poisoned/cut their alcohol during prohibition with methanol, which is toxic. Also, do not forget that the war on drugs was 100% caused by the US government, and double also it’s the fed’s fault crack is a problem, and TRIPLE also the reason fentanyl is a problem right now is ALSO because of the feds. Anyway

#tori answers questions #max answers questions #humanransome-note

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katsrnerstories · 3 years

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BillDip SlowBurn FanFic Chap. 1

Bill had destroyed Dipper's mind.

It has been a few years since weirdmageddon. Since Dipper and Mabel defeated demons from hellish planes of existence and saved the world and their friends from soul and mind crushing madness.

Dippers a freshman in college now. It was a moment that he had wished for for years. Highschool had been…

Well it wasn't the worst it could have been. Dipper hit a major glow up around the beginning of junior year (with Mabel's help of course) and life was a little easier. He was asked out on dates, went to a few parties here and there that people dragged him to, had some typical highschool fun in the city...

Until around that same time he started getting replies from colleges his senior year, he started to see Bill again. Every once in a while his mind would wander back to that summer, but it was always the good things or nightmares of the horrors they saw.

It started with just a little glimpse here and there. An eye in the back corner of his periphery, some yellow glimpse in a dark room.

A ghostly hand on his shoulder.

But these things were nothing to the first time Dipper realized something was wrong.

Dipper saw Bill in his dreams. And those dreams were beyond nightmares.

He had had nightmares before. Nightmares of weirdmageddon were common for both dipper and Mabel. But these… these were real; as much as a dream could be.

Because of Gravity Falls, Dipper really wasn't afraid of a lot of things that would have scared him. The unknown was comforting to him. Maybe because it wasn't too unknown to him and Mabel.

But bill. During those nightmares, brought everything he feared to the frontlines.

It had been a while since Mabel and him shared a room, so Mabel really didn't know about the fear Dipper experienced those nights.

She was more focused on getting to LA.

She wants to be a criminal psychoanalyst. To look at the minds of people and figure how they tick. Criminals especially.

Dipper could swear that Bill had done something to her to make her go down such a dark career path, but he couldn't say anything; he neither had a psychology degree nor was untouched by Bill himself.

Who really knows, it could have been anything else that happened to her in those hellish four years of highschool.

She had moved away quickly after highschool ended to learn in LA. Of course they facetime and text all the time, but the separation was still felt by both of them.

Everyone missed her presence. Her positivity, her unique personality.

That had transformed into something much darker come junior and senior year. She found out after a few failed boyfriends that she was not only Asexual, but that guys and even girls, can’t seem to give that part of a relationship up. Some even found it offensive that she felt that way.

Dipper went back to oregon. Of course he was in the city, but on weekends he would visit the Mystery Shack and Gravity Falls.

Soos was happy to give him one of the rooms in the basement. Sometimes even Grunkle Stan or Grunkle Ford would visit.

They decided shortly after Dipper and Mabel left that they would travel. Of course Ford's labs still sit under the mystery shack, but when Mabel and Dipper visited Soos the summer of their junior year Ford gave them full control of the labs (as long as Dipper kept everyone safe. Which he did too much annoyance of Mabel)

Soos and his wife at that time had just had a little baby boy, and now have a comfortable four kids, two boys and two girls (three of them were triplets) and run the shack not to much better than Stan did, with the same soul in the campy attractions and overpriced merchandise.

Wendy is in her senior year at a community college in Oregon city, right around the same place Dipper decided to go to school. They hang out pretty regularly, just around weekly.

Robby left gravity falls as soon as he got his GED. Went for New York, looking for a punk career. He sends Wendy emails every once in a while about his music and where he's at.

Shockingly, Pacifica stayed in Oregon, going to the same college Dipper goes to. They see each other, and after leaving her family, she found a lot out about herself and became a much better person.

She found she loved a good smoke and art. Apparently, something she hid from the world was that she loved art. She was probably one of the best artists Dipper had seen. After she left the hell hole of her family, she became really chill. Calm. even nice.

Her and Dipper have coffee pretty much every day. She was one of the only people who also knew what he had gone through.

And she was the only person who noticed as Dipper got worse and worse for wear.

Bill had been particularly evil the past few weeks, taking much more joy in Dippers struggle. Long ago Dipper had just sort of given up on screaming for Bill to stop. But he always refused to make a deal with him to stop the fear. Not again.

“Another nightmare again?” Pacifica asks, as Dipper requests 5 shots of caffeine in his already bitter caffeinated black coffee.

“Yeah. it's getting harder and harder to say no every night. And honestly the empty dorm isn't helping.”

“Why don't you just move in with me? I've got an extra room that's got your name written on the door if you want it.”

Dipper almost accepted, but decided against it. It was kind of weird, no matter how good of friends they were, to live with the ex that made you realized you were gay.

It wasn't her fault, it was just…

He liked a different kind of ass, as Mabel had said when he came out.

No, the daily overpriced coffee meetup was enough.

“Have you talked about it to Ford? Hes got to know something about it if he went through the same thing?”

“I don't want to bother them with it. They thought they got rid of Bill that summer, we all did. Bills my problem now.”

Pacifica gives him a knowing look. She knew that he was breaking, but couldn't figure out how to help him.

“Hows journalism?” Pacifica takes her coffee as she changes the subject.

“As boring as it ever is. Graphic design?”

“As confusing as ever.” Dipper takes a big sip from his steaming coffee. It's a briskly cold morning, enough he brought out his knit set Mabel had made for him on their 18th birthday. He had no shame in wearing it, and it in fact felt comforting today, to know that she was still with him in heart at least.

She never grew out of her sweater thing. She still makes sweaters, using it to get her to the next rent payment sometimes. Everyone can count on a big box with sweaters from her every Christmas here in Oregon.

With their coffees in hand, Dipper and Mabel head off to campus. And once they made it there they said their goodbyes with a hug and went their separate ways to start the day.

Dipper wanders into the lecture hall for his advanced maths class. People filter in as he types away on his computer.

The students around him wanted to be scientists, economists, etc. everyone found it weird that a creative writing major was not only taking advanced maths, this early in the morning, but was killing it. His grades spoke for themselves.

The class starts and Dipper still types away on his computer. He had been bored the night before as he was staving off sleeping and had read a chapter ahead in their textbook. He taught himself the three hour lesson that day in an hour.

It was no doubt that Dipper took after his great uncle Stanford. Grunkle Ford told him at one point that Dipper reminded him of a young Dr. Fiddleford. Dipper didn't really like being compared to the scientist that started a whole cult under Gravity Falls before going batshit crazy himself for a very long time.

He only hoped that he wouldn't end up like him. He didn't want to be some crazy man who roams the town.

Dipper had a story that he needed to finish for his next class. He had started to wear away the stories of Gravity Falls with his creative writing classes that he now had to actually think about what story to write. Mabel helped him out with the premise of the story last night. So he spent that class writing a simple flash fiction of one roaming the backrooms. (an urban legend Mabel had read about in an article somewhere.)

He found comfort in knowing that one thing did not exist to him. That one thing did not sit in the pits of Gravity Falls waiting for Dipper or one of them to unearth it.

The story reminded Dipper of falling through the endless pit just outside the Mystery Shack. A hole where they reminisced on days of the summer as they spent the day, or who knows how long, falling. they were all lucky that it was not, truly, endless.

And quickly the story was finished and the class closed early.

Dipper went for an early lunch. He scrolls through his phone, seeing Mabels three new instagram posts and all the other people she introduced him to.

After Mabel found out Dipper was gay, she went on a mission to hook him up with some LA guy. Oregons not terrible with their acceptance, but it's not something to be very open about. Plus Dipper wasn't the kind to walk pride without someone like Mabel hyping the both of them up. Because god knows that she needs just as much hyping up with who she is as Dipper.

When he walks into his empty apartment, anxiety wells up in Dippers chest. Quickly he turns on the TV, letting it run as white noise as he makes his lunch. The apartment had been empty since his recent relationship ended. Dipper is glad it ended, as the abuse just got too much; yet it was bad for Dipper to be left alone with his thoughts. Especially in an apartment that seemed to hold so much sadness and bad memories.

Mabel, after helping Dippers style, had made him a whole cookbook for him. It had all different kinds of foods, but the main dishes all were healthy. She had gone on a fitness rampage her sophomore year and had never truly grown out of it. It was from a bad place, but she turned it to a positive. As she always does.

She had told him that it was the first thing other than sleep to keep alive longer. She had made him promise that he would try to stay alive.

At this point it was the only thing keeping Dipper alive.

Bill had taxed his mind so much it was rare to find him not paranoid. Bill made Dippers anxiety beyond chronic, and the lack of sleep did not help his depression.

That had developed after Pacifica. It wasn't because of the break up, more at the fact that she had helped him so much.

She had accepted him being gay. She had helped him gain friends during their relationship, and she even helped him when money wasn't the best.

All this caused his anxiety to get to his head.

What if they think I’m evil for breaking it off with her? What if she'll never want to see me again? What if, what if, what if…

His depression had just gotten worse after the breakup and dealing with being alone again. It was the reason Dipper stayed with someone like that for so long.

All of the depression and anxiety ended up crashing down at the same time Bill Cypher ended up crashing into the picture.

At that point Bill only came to terrorise Dipper a few nights a month. It was easier to deal with. Now it's every night.

Dipper finishes making his food, sitting down in front of the TV to watch a show on Netflix.

He had been getting through the true crime shows. He swore that eventually he'd eventually either run a show like it with Mabel or be one of the cold cases lost to the world.

Yet within only a few minutes Dipper not only found himself asleep, but stuck in the mindscape.

“Been trying to avoid me, Pine Tree?”

Dipper no longer was shocked by Bill's voice. In fact the more and more he heard his voice, the more and more it began to sound almost human.

#billdip #gravity falls #whump writing #slow burn #fanfiction #writers #fandom #fanfic #bill x dipper #dipper pines #bill cipher #mabel pines #gravity falls pacifica #adult dipper pines #powerless bill cipher

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gone-series-orchid · 3 years

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I know you've said before that you think Caine and Drake are pretty one-dimensional (and I agree completely). I was wondering if there were any other villains that you wish had been explored more instead of giving those two more page time in later books. Or if there were any characters that you thought could have had villainous potential that were unexplored??

wow, interesting question! i think my main problem with caine and drake is that they’re just kind of blandly evil, one-dimensional like you said. i think, ideally, villains should feel like real people.

funnily enough, i think zil probably comes closest to embodying that in this series. he’s mean-spirited from the beginning, but it’s only under lance’s influence (from what i remember) that he becomes a real threat due to his gaining confidence. i think it would have been nice to see more of him in the series—he’s insecure in his role as leader of the human crew, which makes him fallible. he’s also kind of unnerved by lance’s neo-nazism. he’s arguably the most intelligent out of the crew aside from lance. he’s not sympathetic, per se, but he is compelling.

i would’ve liked to see him interact more directly with the protagonists—especially astrid, because i think she should get a chance to one-up him in some way after he was thinking creepy thoughts about her in hunger. also, i think astrid, being the smartie she is, would probably be most likely to try to persuade him to turn over a new leaf—she’s a normal, and a white, aryan-looking (gag) normal at that, which would probably satisfy lance, and she still has distinct power in the fayz. though zil could probably poke a hole in her argument by pointing out that she only really has that power because she’s sam’s girlfriend, which is true. anyway, they could have words about it.

i think zil is compelling because he has the potential to be redeemed. it’s a slight potential, because he’s already done some pretty evil things, but he’s not totally evil—he has to justify the violence he commits in order to accept it, which is more than caine or drake does. we never forget that, at the end of the day, he’s still an insecure, blustering twelve-year-old. he’s an anti-moof bigot, but he could change. i think lance, more than zil, represents total irredeemable evil. he represents what zil could descend into being. he’s the devil on his shoulder (astrid could potentially be the angel if she maybe switched tactics from lawful punishment to direct emotional manipulation).

i’m a sucker for human villains and natural disasters being the principal antagonists, which i think is why the first four books work so well? i think fear and light suffer from the gaiaphage taking control of the narrative, villain-wise, when i think it worked best when used sparingly. gaia is pure evil, nothing more. she’s fun to read about in her own way because she’s so villainously campy, but that’s kind of it. she’s not really interesting, imo.

i think the reason why i harp so much on the insufficient “humanity” of antagonists like caine and drake is because that’s the principal strength of books (lord of the flies, battle royale) in the “kids trapped in place and forced to survive” genre: what do the actions of the characters say about human nature? about society? about morality? in lord of the flies, the message conveyed is ultimately a bleak one: the kids all descend into savagery in one way or another, with the purest one of them all, simon (the jesus figure) being driven insane, and the intellectual (piggy) being murdered. the story is all about “the darkness in the human heart,” to paraphrase the last line of the book.

in battle royale, on the contrary, the message is ultimately one of hope. despite the characters living in a dystopian fascist society that sacrifices one class of students to a killing game, the main character shuya clings to the idea that he and his classmates can figure out an alternate way to survive the titular battle royale aside from murdering each other. his compassionate view of humanity is validated by the pov vignettes given to all his classmates. all of them are given distinct personalities; some are kind, like shuya and his allies noriko and shogo, and some are drake-esque sadists, while the majority fall somewhere in between (my personal favorite characters are the girls that team up with one another in order to protect themselves from possible sexual violence from the boys. they hole up in a lighthouse!). but all are tragic in the sense that they’re children thrust into an unfair and cruel situation. even then, though, the nobility of certain characters shines through.

for instance, there are two girls at the beginning of the game who are best friends and don’t want to kill anyone. they (foolishly or bravely) use a megaphone to call out to the other kids in hiding, asking if they can all band together. shuya and several other characters are tempted, but sadly the girls are both fatally shot soon after their announcement. they die in each other’s arms after affirming their friendship, tears in their eyes. shuya and several other kids are devastated by the girls’ deaths. while some more callous characters deride them as being stupid and naïve, the reader is ultimately meant to mourn their deaths and the lost potential of a class-wide alliance. they know that their enemy isn’t their classmates, but rather the fascist government that makes them kill each other in the first place.

anyway—tangent aside—i think those two aforementioned novels are really solid examples of the genre gone is in. gone has more of superhero vibe to it, given the focus on powers and mutations and paper-thin evil villains, but i almost think the way that’s executed almost detracts against the aforementioned “kids surviving, etc.” genre? like, that’s all about the messiness of morality and human nature and whatnot, and while superhero comics can weave that into their narratives (watchmen, the brat pack) those are usually deconstructions of the genre than straightforward examples of it. the superhero genre is usually morally black-and-white and really action-focused. this is why i think we get the strange tonal mixture of kids reacting realistically to the trauma of starving versus reacting fairly unrealistically when faced with brutal superpowered violence, such as when brianna decapitates drake like it’s nbd. or anything brianna does, really.

there’s a shift from the realistic to the unrealistic that’s fun, but tonally dissonant from each other. so there’s this sort of disconnect, at least for me. i sympathize greatly for astrid when she’s slapped by drake and forced to call little pete a slur, for instance, but how many times does drake or caine murder a kid in cold blood? at some point it gets...idk, old? as the violence gets more cartoony the less it interests me aside from morbid fascination, and there’s just so much of it. it gets desensitizing after a while. i think that’s why, even though i think it’s handled fairly believably in gone, i had a lot more trouble with the monster trilogy’s blend of absurdism (the animorphs-style mutations like dekka turning into a cat woman with medusa hair and another character turning into a praying mantis with super speed, etc.) vs. grimdark realism (ICE forcibly deports a character’s father, terrorist violence is a common theme, the san francisco bridge is destroyed, a baby boy is mutated into a giant fuzzy caterpillar and then gets blown up by the military—like this is budding dystopia-level dark and the narrative doesn’t seem to realize it). it just feels too heavy and too light at the same time. the contrast of tones does a disservice to both of them. idk what i’m saying let’s get back to your actual question lol

as for characters with villainous potential...hmmm. tbh i think astrid has villainous potential? i mean, i like the idea of her moral righteousness escalating in a way that makes her more morally gray. she’d have to probably latch onto more powerful kids in order to have any leverage over sam and the gang, given her powerlessness. maybe she could manipulate orc into being her bodyguard while she plots to usurp sam or something asgjsjk. i think she could be a powerful threat if she wanted to be! it’s fun to ponder. i heard of an au where she joins the human crew that i thought was sort of interesting!

what do you think, @goneseriesanalysis? any villains you wish had been dived into more, and/or characters with villainous potential you think would have been cool to explore?

#gone series #michael grant #the gone series #fayz

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monkey-network · 3 years

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Good Stuff: Kamp Koral

As if I wasn't increasingly excited for this to come out. I've had my confusing gripes with this as somebody that still loves Spongebob in its entirety. Naturally I was against it with the poor timing of its announcement coinciding with Hillenburg's passing and the idea that he wasn't for spin-offs in general. Sponge on the Run didn't help because that was a derivative, less memorable film that felt like a backdoor promo for Kamp Koral. But over time, even when I wasn't digging the sneak peek of the show itself, I couldn't stay mad at it for reasons. It's been a back and forth leading up to the release but now that it's out... was it worth it? Well, one thing is for certain...

The Premiere Was Not Good

I mean it. For 22 minutes, setting everything up, it was the most meandering and sandpaper paced episode that was not a great way to immerse gamers into the Kamp Koral open world environment. Moments can drag on and I can't help but imagine kids'll feel like they'll say "get on with [the punchline]". That isn't to say there aren't good moments, which I'll get to later, but they can be brought down by a stretched out chase scene or moments where a minute can feel like five. I believe kids'll enjoy the animation, all over the place as it is, but there have been 22 minute Spongebob specials with far better pacing. And for the first episode, that is a bad, utter shame. Especially since I enjoyed the other episodes.

Things certainly work better when time was shortened down. Couple endings can feel abrupt, but the 10 other episodes we got were enjoyable in the same vein as I enjoy modern Spongebob. It doesn't get as much laughs, and I never wanted to see Mr. Krabs in the nude, but I was indeed smiling just seeing the characters do their thing. Narlene and her bro are fun additions, it's great seeing Spongebob, Pat and Sandy as a trio, I love computer assistant Karen, Gary's episode was the best. It's still Spongebob only with a different context, and for what they're doing it's okay. Nothing groundbreaking but I can't say the camp feels like a worthless they went with in making this.

And there's always Camp Lazlo if you're up for it

The animation is alright, honestly it's fantastic with the given. I found that Jimmy Neutron had the better character movement, nothing can top that show, but it is well expressive in spite of how dated the rendering can look. Keep in mind, CG animated cartoons of the west are not common so for this being the first time we got a whole CG Spongebob series, I can't hate it. I wasn't expecting quality on the same level as the 3rd film, but what they've accomplished so far is admirable.

My one real issue and you'll find this hilarious is when they acknowledge continuity and how it's a prequel. You think, "they are addressing it rightfully" but who will really care beyond the hardcore Spongebob fans that knew about it? Hate to say it, but pointing out the stupid doesn't make it less stupid; it wasn't great whenever Teen Titans GO! did it. I wanna be reasonably blunt in saying it is on them for bothering with a canon that has hardly existed for years when beyond my gripes, past and present, I never had a problem with this being its own thing. It's a minor issue but one I fear will span across the series in a noticeable way. It's better than the Madagascar babies cartoon.

No joke, this is the most embarrassing thing I will ever see and I continue to wish that it didn't exist in the Madagascar franchise. I swear to god, I'll gladly watch all of Kamp Koral if it means never watching another episode of this again.

Otherwise, this is the kind of spin-off you can give and/or take. For me, the characters are what keep this from being bad, hell it's its biggest strength. Everything changed feels just right to where the antics feel like a far step up from what you find Muppet Babies or Baby Looney Tunes to be like. The cast feels like they giving it as much 100% as the main series where the bouncy spirit of the... franchise doesn't feel like it's being milked as bad as many would believe (yet). It can hit or miss when it comes to humor, but I've honestly loved modern Spongebob for its energy and character and I'll admit that this is delivering.

I'll say it, Kamp Koral has in the least earned its existence in its start. This is coming from somebody that's worked past the initial resentment, understanding that this isn't an utter bastardization of Spongeboy's legacy (yet). It doesn't and won't replace the main show, I doubt it's blowing children's minds, but I want to respect that it's offering minor but decent changes without stripping away what makes Spongebob enjoyable regardless, better than the likes of Planet Sheen or Las Casangrandes where it could've slipped into a bad extreme. You can see it and have an enjoyable time, a feeling Stephen would've at least wanted whether he was around for it or not.

7 Out Of 10. A nice, campy change of scenery

#Spongebob #spongebob squarepants #spongebon squarepants #sb #Kamp Koral #nickelodeon #cartoons #reviews #analysis #long post #Good Stuff

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stargazetheseries · 3 years

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OPEN CASTING CALL FOR STARGAZE: “THE PILOT” EPISODE & TRAILER VISIT: https://stargazetheseries.com/casting-call/ FOR DETAILS OR READ BELOW: A Borken Creative Production Sept 27, 2021 STARGAZE is a queer campy sci-fi adventure short-form adventure series intended for OTT. Executive Producers: Jill Golick, Carrie Cutforth Director: Regan Latimer Writer: Carrie Cutforth Union: ACTRA TORONTO (NEW MEDIA) Shoot: The pilot will begin shooting for 5 to 6 days between October 25-Nov 17th, 2021 Location: Toronto STORYLINE: A disparate group of rookie oddballs join an elite squad commissioned to save the Queerverse (from itself) only to discover the STARGAZE program is a sham make-work initiative to keep the crew from rocking the boat by sending them out on a fool’s quest (led by two elder queer chaperones who despise each other). Think: A 2SLGBTQIA+ The Facts Of Life meets The Breakfast Club in space! *BIPOC STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY **MUST BE 18+ TO SUBMIT EVEN IF CHARACTER IS LISTED AS YOUNGER THE STARTGAZE RECRUITS: SAF RON (she/her): Character is 20, cisgender woman, lesbian, open to all ethnicities; some physical comedy required. LEAD. Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore, Saf joins STARGAZE with high expectations. If the adults won’t save the day, she will… and finally get the credit she deserves! But can this lone wolf learn to connect with others, stop being a control freak, relax her unreasonably high expectations of others (and herself), and step into the leadership role for which she is destined? First, she’ll have to stop seeing anyone getting in her way as a mustache-twirling villain, learn to see her crewmates’ value, accept help, and open herself up vulnerably. Gets apoplectic when mad; Has a knack for creating very convoluted protest chants that no one can follow. WHIT SPRINKLES (he/him): Character is 19, cisgender man, gay, open to all ethnicities. Must be able to walk elegantly in high heels. LEAD. A social media influencer famous for his snarky and bitter ’reads,’ charismatic Whit has developed a parasocial relationship with his stans. Living life performing in the spotlight from a very young age, Whit has no idea who he really is, what his real interests are, or his beliefs outside of what his analytics tell him: “My fans are gonna love this!” Only joining STARGAZE under pressure from his stans, his inability to forge true intimate connections is exacerbated by his relationship with his mother/manager Mumsy Sprinkles, a talentless hack/narcissistic stage mother living her dreams through her kid. If Whit was a meme he would be: ‘Bitch, I dun give a fuck!’ But he does, indeed, give a fuck. ESSA T. HATCH (they/them): Character is 18, non-binary or agender, asexual, demiromantic, neurodivergent, open to all ethnicities. LEAD. Adorkable Essa is an introvert who doesn’t really ‘get’ people. The explorer among the crew with an engineering mind and a love of mapping places and spaces, they know every nook and cranny of the ship and are usually the first to forge ahead (i.e. wander off) on every expedition. Essa mostly wants to be left alone to their own devices because they actually prefer their own company (neurotypicals can be so exhausting!). This normally wouldn’t be such a problem except Essa was pressured to join STARGAZE to make friends and widen their social net out of parental concern (‘We won’t be around forever, Essa!’). Loves to knit, make Venn diagrams of relationships; speaks in emojis when emotionally drained. LEW D’SHUS (he/him): Character is 21, transgender man or transmasculine, pansexual, open to all ethnicities. LEAD. When babelicious Lew looks at you with his rapt attention and dreamy eyes, you feel like the only person in the ‘verse until his short attention span snaps away and he forgets you’re there. “Good vibes, only!” Lew will gladly give you your Tarot card reading, but not before taking the negative cards out first. With his strict ‘the universe is love, we are love,’ mantra, Lew never wants anyone to feel bad even when they are deadass wrong! His philosophy of

appeasement can cause conflict amongst the crew and his inability to take sides in crucial moments will often put them in danger. No, we cannot just hug everything out, Lew! CHRYSTRAH SNU (she/her): Character is 17 (must be 18+ to apply), cis-gender woman, identifies as ‘queer’ but just figuring it all out. LEAD. Chrystrah is a fresh-off-the-belt queer who has arrived with big expectations: ‘I’m here, I’m queer! Direct me to my spot on the rainbow carpet!’ The trauma of her homophobic upbringing has left Chrystrah without any real sense of self; her identity loosely held together like a fragile cracked egg. Any criticism, no matter how gentle, feels like an attack, causing Chrystrah to act abrasive, territorial, and defensive. She is always overcompensating in big bombastic ways because she feels so inadequate for not knowing the right words, behaviours, and codes. She is jealous of Saf (some might say obsessed) who does seem to get it all right. Fiercely loyal, Chrystrah is the first to run headlong into danger to save someone. She has a steep learning curve ahead. THE ELDER QUEER CHAPERONES: BAE TORGA (she/her): Character is late 30’s-early 40’s, cisgender woman, bisexual, bipolar, open to all ethnicities. PRINCIPAL. A war hero (or war criminal depending on who you ask), Bae sees STARGAZE as an opportunity to redeem herself in the eyes of former mentor and friend Oracle Cain. She is someone who struggles with self-loathing and self-doubt even though she’s spent her adulthood righting her past wrongs and reining in her bipolar disorder, which contributed to her past rash and reckless mistakes. Possessing a tough, gruff demeanor, Bae is outwardly sardonic but really a bleeding heart who holds back out of fear that any demonstration of affection and empathy will be seen as a commitment. ORACLE CAIN (she/her): Character is middle-aged or older, transgender woman, ambulatory wheelchair user or wheelchair user, open to all ethnicities. *Note, as this is sci-fi, younger than middle age may apply. PRINCIPAL. A founding figure of the Queerverse, Oracle has done her service, done her duty, and now she’s done. She wants a peaceful existence to guard her limited energy and manage her physical pain. Instead, she’s pulled out of retirement to command a ship full of bickering youths. She also has to contend with spoiled brat and former colleague Bae reminding her of the past that Oracle is trying hard to forget. But duty is duty and it’s not like complaining ever got her anywhere. Talking to Oracle can feel like playing a chess game where the aloof commander is always five steps ahead: you never quite know where you stand with her. ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS ELP WHIPP (they/them or xe/xem): Character is middle-aged or older, gender-fluid, open to all ethnicities. Leader of the coalition of non-profit planets (each with its own conflicting Gay Agenda) that rule the Queerverse, Elp Whipp is a career bureaucrat/bean-counter who often gets caught in the trappings of their own political web — meaning much of nothing ever gets accomplished and progress is never made. Elp will appear throughout the series in that ‘Dean of the school’ role, occasionally showing up to demand overdue reports, warn the crew that their funding is at risk, and generally throw a wrench in the works. CARDIGAN JACK (she/her): Character is 30s, cis-woman, lesbian, open to all ethnicities. Cardigan Jack is a ‘pussy-hat’ wearing neo-liberalist feminist with a pirate vibe. She is the ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ of TERFs, and Saf Ron’s nemesis. TO SUBMIT: Borken Creative is committed to diverse and inclusive casting. For every role, please submit qualified performers without regard to disability, race, age, colour, sexual orientation or gender identity, or any other basis prohibited by law, unless otherwise specifically indicated, subject to legitimate casting directives. DEADLINE: Oct 8, 2021 EMAIL: [email protected]. SUBJECT LINE: Character(s) Role, Performer’s First and Last Name, pronouns. BODY OF EMAIL: Please provide contact info including phone number.

Please confirm you are 18 or over in the body of email if applying for a Stargaze recruit character. Submit headshot and resume as attachments to [email protected]. Resume should be in a scannable text file format (such as .doc, .pdf, .txt). First round selects will be invited to submit either a video clip audition or zoom audition invite. Only successful candidates will be contacted.

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#lgbtq #lbtqia #lgbtqplus #queer sci fi #casting call #auditions

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saccharineomens · 3 years

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@artisttrainer: SORRY it took me a second to respond but i always love to talk horror >:) you have very good taste and i have significantly less refined taste which is a very fun combination i think i'm also glad you're having fun in the class! it definitely sounds really fun

hahaha i guess 'good taste' is one way to put it. i avoided horror for so long bc i just hate being too afraid to fall asleep?? i have enough sleep/insomnia problems, thank u. and even though i loved it, Stranger Things kept me up a few nights, you know? Get Out and A Quiet Place didn't keep me awake, though.

i just really like horror that has something to say. like, using horror to express the human psyche, or criticize society. i LOVE how our class is diving into the origins of film horror, and how german expressionists came along and revolutionized filmmaking and genres like horror and film noir. (i'm also taking the film studies: film noir class and i'm a huge-ass fan of that so hmu :3c) At first i thought that meant my interests aligned more with Classic Horror rather than Modern Horror, but that might change after i see a few more modern horror movies in class.

my thesis film is even a classic horror! i was initially inspired to make a zombie flick about a girl who quits making art because she's never happy with what she makes, but those terrible art projects come to life and haunt her until she appreciates them for what they are. it didn't get very far into development before the story changed wildly to what it is now, but the inspiration of 'the art pieces coming to life are manifestations of the artist's imposter syndrome, insecurities, and fears' remained.

i really liked 'the black cat' (which i had never heard of before this class??) because it was a criticism of war. texas chainsaw massacre was a criticism of american capitalism and privilege (which i did NOT expect from that film tbh). get out was a criticism of white liberals and empty gestures. those were all such fantastic films!

i mean i even loved buckets of blood because it was absolutely campy, ridiculous, and terrible and i (and most my class) laughed half the time! and even *that* could be seen as a critique of pretentious high art critics!

oh and also we talked about something SUPER interesting -- how horror is a wildly disrespected genre. my teacher's a BIG horror fan, which makes her the perfect person for me to learn about horror from, and she hates it when modern critics are like 'oh, Get Out/Midsommar/A Quiet Place aren't *real* horror films, they're *better*' and it's like....no, they *are* horror films, and they're *good* horror films.

so yeah i'm really enjoying this class lmfao XD

#about me #horror #film #axbox #another horror film i liked from a very young age was 'little shop of horrors'#which was just about the only horror film i liked for a really long time #and then i fell in love with paranorman too

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craters-of-joy · 3 years

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Oh a frido fan and wynonna Earp fan! Let me ask what you thought about the second to last episode that wrapped up all the BB, garden, Clayton stuff? Personally I was let down by it. When waverly turned into the demon angel I was like 😵 but then the fog just gone and the whole garden thing was just oh okay Nicole will stay in ghost river forever and regular waverly back... felt like lazy writing that they didn’t know what to do. Also was disappointed we never seen eve. I always thought she was going to make a appearance from the garden. Onto to Clayton story- so the sister didn’t want to be heir, saved billy then tried marking wynonna and left, and the doc somehow knew and put bullets in wrong... again the Clayton atuff felt to easily wrapped up. The BB stuff was okay since they did have the fight at the headquarters. But the rest of the big stories just felt to easily wrapped up in the last few min of that episode. Also idk why but Nicole/waverly never getting to leave the ghost river triangle also kinda sad. The wedding/finale was great and wynonna/doc ending 🥰 I knew they get back but wasn’t expecting the way it was and all. Happy Jeremy getting a date butnalso was expecting robin back. Also way overuse of the fuck word. Seemed odd. Overall while I did love the show it felt to campy at times in later seasons with dialogue, but a show and the main couple through most of it is W/w 🙏🏻.

I’m a Frido and everything else fan. I’m a huge nerd, trust me. Personally, I liked it a lot and because no one I know watches the show, I’m going to enjoy this ask and go in deep.

The main problem was time. Emily said that, originally, that episode and the Dark Angel Waverly stuff was supposed to be six episodes, but they knew that there was a high chance that the fifth season would be cancelled, so they decided to cut a lot of that story line and a lot of other ones as well.

One of the best things about this show is that they established almost all of the storylines at the very beginning and those that were introduced later on, made a lot of sense in the general plot of the show. For example, we got to see a lot of the Clanton story line in the fourth season, but in the first episode of season one, the OK Corral was mentioned a lot and then again in later episodes. The Dark Angel Waverly was presented already in season one as well (when Bobo say they are kin) and reinforced early in season two (when Goonona talks to Waverly). I thought that the Angel Shield plotpoint was a very clever way of opening more future storylines, because it’s linked to that particular Waverly storyline and like Nicole said, everything she loves is already there (also we don’t actually know how big the GRT is, it might be huge as far as we know).

Going back to the time problem, the Eve story line was cut due to that fear of being cancelled. If they had dealt with that, maybe we would’t have seen another important thing that happened during the season (Emily said that if they get a fifth season, that would be a very important plotpoint). That it’s probably why you feel like it’s rushed. They didn’t want to leave a lot of storylines opened in case we never had the chance to see it.

Doc didn’t know exactly what was gonna happen, but he could sense it, the same as Mercedes. I think he put the wrong bullets just in case.

I loved the Jeremy/Robin storyline this season. I think that if there had been a fifth season, we would have seen a lot more of it. I liked that he magically didn’t get his memories back, because in tv that’s what happens all the time and I know first hand that that is not how it works in real life. Some people might get all their memories back, some others might remember just enough to recognize their families or people that are the closest to them and some others might never get them back.

Don’t get me started in the wedding. That was without a doubt the BEST ending I have ever seen on TV. I don’t know why, but I love that they didn’t end it with the wedding scene and instead there was a lot of plot after that scene. If we ever get to see more of this show, all I ask for is to see Jeremy happy, that man deserves the world. Also, can we talk about Emily’s cameo? Best thing ever. And the scene of Waverly’s fucks you? A-ma-zing. (It might be because I’m Spanish and we swear a lot, but I didn’t feel like it was said too much.)

To sum up, this might be a shitshow but it’s our shitshow and it is amazing.

#wynonna earp

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jisssooyah · 4 years

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Hi you... if you were going to curate a little season of films for me, which ones would you choose and why? They don't need to be horror, I'm just curious what you would choose 🌸

I don’t know if you’ll like these movies, or if you’ve already watched them, but after i watched these films, i felt like they might need to belong to you now. i hope they make you smile, roll your eyes, and cry just as much as i did.

1. city of god (2002): this is one of the most immersive and gorgeously shot films i’ve ever seen. it’s set in rio de janeiro during the 60s and spans decades exploring the drug culture in the slums and how this can affect kids just as they are trying to figure their own selves out. the way this film is shot, feels like you were at the sea with them as the sand crunched underneath your feet. but the way that the director captures these individuals, makes you so fucking relieved that you don’t live through any of the circumstances that they go through.

2. the dreamers (2004): set in 1968, this film follows three students in Paris who come of age and explore one another and their limits during the revolution. while these students prop themselves up as individuals obsessed with sex, running underneath themselves is a current of jealousy, obsession, and blurred familial relationships that made me increasingly uncomfortable. you find yourself feeling bad for the children, and ultimately upset at their upbringing because of their parents.

3. if beale street could talk (2018): this movie is based off of james baldwin’s titular 1974 novel. in it, the director expertly and vigorously explores love: a love that feels so real that it hurts. the cast is what sold this film to me. the way they talk, laugh, cry, and smile at one another is achingly beautiful and terrifyingly sad. i wanted to transport myself back to their time period and watch the main characters fall in love because the film didn’t seem like enough.

4. the neon demon (2016): this film follows an emerging model who sacrifices herself to the demands of the industry in order to be attractive and beautiful. there are so many stunning colors in this film that it makes you dizzy, like you’re in a trance and that’s what this world is for the main character: a trance. as she oscillates between reality and fantasy, her world and the characters in it, increasingly seek out to alter her personality.

5. death becomes her (1992): a deliberately ultra-campy parody of trashy, pandering "women's pictures," soap operas and paperbacks from the '80s and '90s. The three leads all do some of their best work - it's hilarious watching Meryl Streep play a terrible actress, Goldie Hawn is particularly hilarious during her character's cat lady phase, and all around just a really fun and eccentric film.

6. princess cyd (2017): i can’t think of anything to write for this but i just wanna say that this is literally one of the most pleasant movie experiences i’ve ever had. so much light and genuine interaction in warm sun rays radiating positive energy and an openness that is far too uncommon in movies nowadays. people talk, people connect, people grow bonds and are allowed to be sexual or intimate or personal without an air of shame or judgement. just pure kind and curious human association.

7. spiderman: into the spiderverse (2018): the message of Spider-Verse is not "gentrify yourself! stop expressing your personality and just conform to what society wants you to be!" After all, what makes you different makes you Spider-Man, and Miles' final expression of himself as a superhero still retains much of his personality and individuality...they're just being used in more productive and fulfilling ways. It's the little things that drive the point home, like noticing that the title page for Miles' finished Great Expectations essay has been stylistically doodled and colored like street art. Rather than seeing his artistic gifts as an opposition to his schoolwork, Miles infuses them together to make the best of the hand he's been dealt.

8. my life as a zucchini (2016): initially heartbreaking and sad, but slowly becoming more joyful and heartwarming as the plot moves along. The film really feels like it captures the essence and child like wonder of these kids, all of them going through hardships but managing to find something to help each other out. It’s so refreshing to see the actual orphanage portrayed in a more positive light, not the usual horrid dump that a lot of lesser movies play them out as. The animation is stunning. One of the best uses of stop motion I’ve seen, everything is so colourful and detailed. There’s some moments set in snowy mountains and these look incredible. There’s clearly been so much love and care put into each and every scene here. The music too, sounds spectacular, it really works well with each scene.

9. lovesong (2016): Mindy and Sarah have that type of relationship where they don't need words because they speak in a language made out of glances and touches. This movie is about the fear of ruining a meaningful friendship and losing an important person, about love that is so complicated that one might not even try because the outcome seems to be so obvious.

10. her (2013): Heartbreak is formative: it changes you heart side out, and leaves your muscles a little stronger, your skin a little thicker, your bones easier to repair. Before this film, I’d never seen anything constructive in having your insides pulled apart by the seams by another person, but this film taught me how. Being in love and then being forced out of it is an experience that changes you fundamentally, but Her taught me its purpose – you don’t need them to leave you so that you can find someone who’s a better fit, because perhaps you never will. You need it to participate in humanity. The common denominator is being hurt, and without it, you’re barely alive.

11. shoplifters (2018): bittersweet and richly transportive, Shoplifters is a film that nonchalantly eases you into its tragic beauty in a way that doesn't punch you hard until the end. It simultaneously made me want to be part of the film's world and also very glad that I'm not. The setting the characters live in is messy and cluttered and full of dysfunction and lies, but it's also got family, and laughter, and fist-bumps, and slurping warm noodles while rain pings on the tin rooftop. So nuanced, so many tiny moments of delicate beauty and unassuming heartbreak, so many people making terrible decisions with good intentions.

12. god’s own country (2017): though it is a love story between two men, this aspect is only addressed briefly in a single scene. Rather, the film is about finding someone who makes you want to be a better person, someone who comes into your life just when you needed it most. Gheorghe helps Johnny open up and realize the beauty of the simple life. From this relationship, Johnny begins to feel comfortable with expressing himself, and his love and gratitude towards others. He also begins to appreciate life in the country, surrounded by stunning landscapes and the beauty of simplicity. Addressing the Yorkshire countryside, Gheorghe says "It is beautiful, but lonely." Johnny is presented with the notion that he doesn't have to be cold and miserable, slaving and drinking his days away. He is presented with the possibility of no longer being alone and finally finding happiness and contentment - and it is more than gratifying to see him accept it.

13. disobedience (2017): a tender star-crossed daydream. the three main character dynamics are special enough on their own, but the romance that blooms at the center is cathartically intimate and even magical: a reunion that feels so inevitable. catching glimpses of a past life, details we aren’t privy to. all the stolen kisses and whispers and promises. a bond so strong that they fall back in sync with each other like second nature, even if they try to fight against it. even if it won’t work. and yet they choose each other, even if for a few minutes.

14. raw (2016): this film is so gross and I like that. There is tons of blood and unique body horror and it all works perfectly for the tone the film is attempting to set. The use of color, specifically neons, creates a constant feeling that you are traveling through some sort of weird ghost world, which I really like. Overall, it's a very well put together film with flashes of brilliance.

15. the night is short, walk on girl (2017): what an absolutely magical adventure of a film. Essentially this is a heavily episodic look at a night in the lives of several people, centered on a woman and a man as she gleefully floats from event to event while he neurotically obsesses over how to "coincidentally" talk to her. The storytelling is incredible; while the overarching narrative is simple there are countless threads woven together to connect everyone in the story to each other. That in itself is a big theme: connections between people, how everything is interrelated, and what a large impact seemingly insignificant things people do can have an impact on everyone around them.

16. coraline (2009): Coraline is the best stop motion movie ever made in my opinion. Before the film released in 2009, I read the book and was completely blown away by its creativity and story. It’s a pretty dark tale featuring many scenes of fright that work well in both a horror setting and an animated kids setting. On surface value, this film is quite horrifying, which is something I’ve always loved about it. While it does make a few minor changes to the book, it improves upon a piece of art that was already jaw-droppingly good. Coraline feels like a real little girl with some real problems. She’s selfish but likable which is something most films cannot translate well. Of course, she has a pretty awesome arc as well which brings this movie to a perfect close for her character. The other-mother is also perfectly done. She is almost exactly how I imagined her in the book and the animation on her is spookily gorgeous. There is not one dull moment in this film. It is literally a perfect piece of cinema.

17. the third wife (2019): haven’t seen a film this visually delicate in a while. Ash Mayfair works with the looming mountain surroundings to make her characters —these women, these girls— as small as possible, as isolated as possible. Uneasiest of all is the protagonist May, so young and so weighed by responsibility, her position blurs between being one of the wives and being one of the daughters. It’s an extremely bleak tale of circumstance. An old tale, certainly, but so beautifully crafted it doesn’t matter. Mayfair holds a fearful tension throughout, and it only ever shatters in the cruelest of ways.The abundance of women and display of sisterhood begin as a comfort, but horror takes over as we realize how conditional and fragile that comfort is. Even the daughters are subconsciously aware, one of them praying to the gods to grow up and become a man, shearing her hair off in naive triumph. It’s a doomed cycle of girls performing roles which are unfortunately their best option, right up until the final scene of May with her daughter, still in their mourning clothes. She, like the older wives, finally realizes they’re the same as the cattle laying on their side for too many days.

#asks #shortcake-kaspbrak

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spacebabe51 · 4 years

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Thoughts on 1991 Dark Shadows

You guys asked for it, but I warn you, I'm stupid long winded. I’ll spare you the long intro I was originally gonna tack onto this post because it’s already way too long. Basically this is just my thoughts on Barnabas, Victoria, Willie and Julia and why and where I think they fail to capture the audience’s attention.

So let’s start in the obvious place; Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins. Now. I have a lot of sympathy for pretty much anyone who tries to take on this role: Jonathan Frid just has this unhatable quality to him, which makes the ill-advised nonsensical hypocritical B.S. that spurts from the character of Barnabas Collins like a fountainhead somehow forgivable. It would be really hard to give this role to anyone and maintain that odd mix of unlikeable and endearing. Ok, now that I’ve said that I can say this: I don’t like him. I don’t like this Barnabas.

It’s not because he’s young; I understand why that choice keeps getting made, although I disagree that it’s essential. The original show does go in narrative circles pretending that Frid/Barnabas is much younger than he looks or just avoiding the subject altogether. A young actor can play Barnabas; a hot actor can even play Barnabas; and I’ll grin and bear it as long as he’s entertaining. Cross is not entertaining. I don’t know if it’s fear of doing something wrong or if he watched the original Dark Shadows and saw Frid hamming it clutching a rubber bat to his throat and said “couldn’t be me”, but he will not emote and it absolutely kills the character for me. Barnabas is a lot of things in his first few episodes on the show. He’s suave, he’s scared, he’s unhinged, he’s mournful, he’s triumphant, he’s cruel...but one thing he never is is boring. Even when he’s standing around looking off into nothing and reciting long verses of meaningless prose, we’re engaged. Frid, after all, was a trained Shakespearean actor. Staring into nothing and reciting prose is what he’s best at.

Another thing Frid is is visually nervous; he was out of his depth on a vampire soap opera as well as constantly at a loss to remember his lines, and it shows; in ways that somehow endearingly make the character seem lost and out of his depth in a new time and in a fate he doesn't enjoy. All Cross ever really shows us is suaveness; stillness, and a vaguely constipated expression. He isn’t nervous. He seems calculated. It makes scenes like the one near the end of the pilot way more terrifying. He goes from telling Vicky the story of Josette and Barnabas’ love and her death to savagely beating Willie with nearly the same facial expression and inflection; he comes across as a cold blooded sociopath more than an unhinged impulsive killer. There isn’t much humanity to him, and that makes him hard to root for, either as a villain or a sympathetic monster.

Joanna Going’s Victoria Winters:

Hey, what a surprise! I actually don’t hate her. At least, I didn’t at first. Now, Vicky is a fairly easy character to cast- because let’s face it, she’s a pretty textbook example of a gothic romance protagonist. You know, the kind that are always running away from houses on book covers?

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to find someone the audience will connect with and like. The protagonist needs to be a little something more than a blank slate, which is something the original character suffered with, (not in the first season, but in every subsequent one) Going’s Victoria seemed at least a smidgen more self-aware and spunky(?), which is refreshing. Or, at least, I thought. And then episode three came along and suddenly she was 100% on board with Barnabas’ gross stiff romance. So never mind, scratch all that. The actress is fine for the character, but the character is still being sold a bill of goods by the writers.

Jim Fyfe’s Willie Loomis

Let’s get to the real meat of it, shall we? I have to first say that I am probably not qualified to talk about this, being fairly neurotypical and knowing little about the state of representation in the media for intellectually disabled individuals. Secondly, I have to say that I have at least some respect for Fyfe for being one of the few people to go against the grain and actually act on this show, and he is slightly less boring to watch than a lot of the others, if...not in a pleasant way. In any case I don’t think we can blame what I’m about to talk about on his acting per say.

That said...uh...there were some, ahem, bad choices made in terms of Willie’s character. And yes, of course I'm talking about coding him as intellectually challenged and then treating it like a joke, or a character flaw (?). In fact the more I think about it, the worse it gets. Now this is just conjecture, but the choice to cast Willie as conventionally unattractive and intellectually challenged, in order to, I guess, justify or explain the dislike everyone has for him, is incredibly bad for any goodwill the show already isn’t trying to establish among the rest of it’s main cast. Karlen’s Willie, by comparison, is set up as a scumbag from long before Barnabas arrives. He harrasses women, steals, lies, starts fights; etc. Even in the “House” movie, we get a few seconds of him being gross towards Maggie to imply this is normal behavior from him. The most we see Fyfe’s Willie do is be kind of surly and annoying at a bar where he’s already been denied service. He seems more like a guy who isn’t good at social cues, and who is just genuinely sick of being pushed around for no good reason. If Dark Shadows had for some reason decided it wanted to do a story about inequality and social stigma in the midst of it's vampire fever dream, then fine, but that's not what this is; It’s almost like the show wanted to rely on his looks and supposed “mental insufficiency” to make the audience dislike him. He seems more like Collinsport’s long time scapegoat than a drifter who came into town to start trouble, and combining that with the coding paints a very dark picture and makes the already emotionless Collins’ family seem pretty terrible. (and I won’t even go into the whole “Barnabas beats Willie and then two episodes later they’re best friends” thing here because there aren’t enough expletives in the world for it) ALSO also, and this is nit-picky, I have a problem with the fact that Fyfe can’t pick an accent. Sometimes he seems to be trying to imitate Karlen’s Booklynese, sometimes he sounds vaguely Southern, sometimes he sounds like he’s trying to impersonate Goofy...it’s very distracting. Not more distracting than all the other terrible things, but distracting.

Barnabas Steele’s Julia Hoffman: As anyone who follows me knows, I sort of worship Grayson Hall, so I almost feel bad saying I don’t like someone in this role, because, duh. For me, there will only ever be one Julia Hoffman. Is that gonna stop me from saying it? Hell no.

Steele’s Julia suffers from nearly the exact flaw Cross’ Barnabas does; an inability or unwillingness to emote in any fashion. Add on, however, a nauseating lack of chemistry with any of the other actors, and you have a recipe for eyes glazing over by act two. I think, honestly, the biggest flaw of trying to recast this show is this; Dark Shadows is, essentially, a play. It was a troupe of mainly theater actors, working in close proximity, live, on a shabby theater-like set. When you strip away those elements and add in true soap opera people and plots and camera angles, you lose that magical experimental, campy, electric element the original had. I know I’m talking more vaguely about the show now and less about Steele’s Julia, but honestly there's not much to say about her? She doesn’t come across as particularly clever, or bold, or any of the things that made us root for Julia when we were pretty sure she was on the fast track to getting killed her first few weeks. She just sort of meanders through plot points and talks like she’s controlling a ventriloquist dummy somewhere offscreen. She’s not interesting, and when it comes to Julia Hoffman, psychiatrist, blood specialist, hypnotist, fake historian, etc, that’s the worst thing she can be.

If you've read this far, thank you! I would love to hear you guys' thoughts, whether you agree or disagree or think I missed the mark entirely. I'm only on episode 6: I'm going to continue watching, purely out of obligation since they're taking the show off Amazon Prime at the end of the month, and I may make some memes/follow up posts when we get to Angelique, 1795, etc.

#dark shadows #ds #dark shadows 1991 #91 dark shadows #barnabas collins #ben cross #jonathan frid #Victoria winters #Vicky winters #Joanna going #alexandra moltke #willie loomis #jim fyfe #john karlen #Julia hoffman #dr Julia hoffman #Barbara steele #grayson hall #dan curtis

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dalekofchaos · 4 years

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Things I would change about the Elm Street Franchise

I absolutely love the Elm Street series, but if I could change anything about the series it would be this.

My other Horror changes

Halloween

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

Texas Chainsaw 3D

Leatherface

Friday The 13th

Before we begin. I need to address the elephant in the room. One of the crucial things I would change is just cutting out the campy humor. There is a problem when trying to make Freddy Krueger funny? In the original film, there really aren’t that many jokes coming from Freddy, at least not ones that aren’t meant to have frightening double meanings. Otherwise it’s just mocking and cajoling the various victims as he picks them off one by one. Freddy Krueger is a violent psychopathic child rapist who returns from the dead to seek revenge against the children of the people who murdered him. What about that setup sounds remotely funny? Sure the concept is out there enough for humor to be found, but the sequels just keep getting goofier and goofier as they went on. Granted, this isn’t to say they weren’t fun to watch but they came at the cost of the genuine existential terror that Krueger instilled in the audience.

A Nightmare On Elm Street

The only thing I would change about the original is that I would keep in the deleted scene that had Nancy’s mother explains that Nancy, Glen, Rod and Tina all had siblings that Freddy killed during his Springwood Slasher days. “You weren’t always an only child,” This additional dialogue serves to better explain why Marge and Donald were directly involved in the killing of Fred Krueger, and it also adds an emotional new layer to the ongoing battle between Nancy and Freddy – she wasn’t just trying to survive, she was also trying to get revenge for the murder of the sibling Freddy took away from her.

A Nightmare On Elm Street 2:Freddy’s Revenge

Since this movie is considered an LGBT movie by fans and has been labeled a Gay Horror movie, fuck it go all in. Make Jesse and Grady boyfriends. Lisa and Grady help bring Jesse out of Freddy’s possession. It'd be a nice addition; that the straight girl is nothing but loving and supportive of Jesse and Grady, which would be a hell of a good message in a movie that came out right in the midst of the AIDs crisis.

A Nightmare On Elm Street 3:The Dream Warriors

Dream Warriors is perfect, so nothing would be changed.

A Nightmare On Elm Street 4:The Dream Master

Keep Patricia Arquette as Kristen

Cut out the campy humor. Keep the unique dream kills, but just make Freddy as dark and twisted as he was in the first movie

Do not kill off Kristen, Kincaid and Joey. The entire point of Dream Warriors is they are the final Elm Street Children. Freddy’s entire motive is he is killing the children of the people who killed him. Take that away and you pretty much have nothing. You made Freddy no different from Jason or any other slasher villains.

Have a romance between Kristen and Kincaid. I always thought there was something that could’ve been between Kristen and Kincaid in Part 3, so there would be a romance between the two

Everyone who is introduced in Dream Master is killed off. Alice is the last to die. Freddy forces Kristen to watch as they all die one by one.

Kristen and Kincaid are the final survivors. Pretty much the same way that Freddy died, but Kristen is the one to do it.

A Nightmare On Elm Street 5:The Dream Child

Cut out the campy humor. Keep the unique dream kills, but just make Freddy as dark and twisted as he was in the first movie

Kristen and Kincaid have a child and her name is Alice in memory of Alice Johnson.

The little girl Kristen has been seeing since the third movie IS Kristen’s daughter and the dream child in place of Jacob

Joey is the one to die in the motorcycle dream death

Both Kristen and Kincaid take this hard and mourn for their friend

Kincaid frees Amanda’s spirit

After Freddy fails to trick Alice to come to him, Kincaid enters the dream to beat the shit out of Freddy. Freddy gets the upperhand and before Freddy can kill Kincaid and Kristen, Amanda appears and puts an end to Freddy

Freddy’s Dead:The Final Nightmare

Cut out the campy humor. Keep the unique dream kills, but just make Freddy as dark and twisted as he was in the first movie

As time moves on, Kristen returns to Elm Street. She still feels Freddy is alive and she has to put an end to it. Kristen and Kincaid are still together, but facing Freddy alone is something she has to do so Alice will be safe from Freddy

I like the idea of Kristen being the final Elm Street child. It gives Freddy a cat and mouse chase and killing everyone around her and Kristen finally facing the nightmare to protect her family.

The plot of Freddy using Kristen to get closer to his daughter remains the same, but Kristen is able to live and tell Maggie

Kristen and Maggie work together to bring an end to Freddy

As both Kristen and Maggie work together to bring Freddy out in the real world, the spirit of Nancy comes to Kristen and tells her how to bring an end to Freddy once and for all. It would be similar to how the first movie ended Nancy’s idea of belief weakening him is one step, the thing in Part 2 about love is another big step (any kind of love, romantic or platonic). Part 3 had the “gotta fight back against him” thing. And altogether, that’s how they can defeat him for good. They take away every bit of power they gave to Freddy and stripping Freddy of belief and outright refusal to acknowledge Freddy’s existence is what ultimately ends him. Freddy’s daughter and his past victims ultimately ends him for good. This comes into play in FVJ when the town erases him and everyone forgets about Freddy

I honestly think it would be worth it to have the last of the Elm Street children to live and for Kristen and Kincaid to have a happy ending

Freddy vs Jason

Freddy uses Jason to spread fear so he can return to Elm Street

Instead of Lori, it’s Alice and Joey Parker, the children of Kristen and Kincaid.

Freddy gets more kills. One of my biggest problems with Freddy vs Jason is the fact that Freddy only gets one kill. So to fix this I would have Freddy and Jason be tied with the killings. At the rave Freddy possesses one of the teens and doses the drinks with sleeping pills. So Freddy and Jason are tied 20-20

Upon hearing about the Elm Street massacre, Kristen and Kincaid return one final time to face Freddy, they are not the only ones. Tommy Jarvis comes to Elm Street to warn them all about Jason and helps them

When Alice is put to sleep and can’t wake up, Kristen and Kincaid go to sleep to save their daughter. Kristen hits Freddy in the face and Kincaid loudly yells “HEY FREDDY, REMEMBER ME? TIME TO BEAT YOUR CRISPY ASS ALL OVER DREAMLAND ALL OVER AGAIN MOTHERFUCKER” and then proceeds to beat the unholy shit out of Freddy for even daring to come after his kids after all this time.

Kristen and Kincaid pull out Alice, while Freddy follows them. Freddy thinks he has them, when Jason appears, ready to kick Freddy’s ass

The fight scenes between Freddy and Jason remains the same.

Kristen decapitates Freddy and Tommy stabs Jason in the heart. The movie ends with Jason rises from the grave and takes Freddy’s head to his shack and Freddy winks at the end

#A Nightmare On Elm Street #Freddy Krueger #Nancy Thompson #Kristen Parker #Roland Kincaid #Joey Crusel #Maggie Burroughs #Jesse Walsh #Ron Grady #My Changes

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