#just let me look at cary elwes.

[hosseinis]

CARY ELWES as DR. LAWRENCE GORDON ↳ "Bravo. To be able to sustain such a traumatic experience and yet find the positive in that grisly act. It's a remarkable feat indeed."

#cary elwes #lawrence gordon #saw 2004 #saw franchise #sawsource #sawedit #saw #my edits #I TRIED TO GET THIS DONE ON CHRISTMAS BUT PHOTOSHOP FOUGHT ME #just let me look at cary elwes. #anyway merry belated christmas here's a larry to match my adam gifset

[mama-qwerty]

Wade's Bedroom

Okay. So, in the trailer for the Knuckles series, we see Knux take out a bounty hunter in what appears to be Wade's bedroom. I'm thinking this is his bedroom at his mother's house, so when he was a teen.

You can tell a lot about a person by how they decorate their personal space. And since I love Wade and am on my knees begging for better characterization, I wanna see what they put in the guy's bedroom.

Let's break it down.

1 - Little Robots

I can't tell exactly what robots these are, whether they're action figures from games or movies, or some model kits he's built himself. If they're models it shows Wade spent a lot of time on his own, and had the opportunity to focus on building something that required attention and patience.

2 - Books

There are a lot of books on his shelves, and the ones especially between Knux and the bounty hunter look like a series. Obviously we can't read the titles, but Wade strikes me as someone who'd enjoy manga, and the Choose Your Own Adventure stories.

3 - A Little Rainbow Sticker

This may indicate he knows someone who is LGTBQ+, or possibly he himself is. Or maybe he just likes rainbows.

4 - "Pistol" Pete Whipple poster

I'm not exactly sure how Pete is related to Wade, but I'm going under the assumption that Pete is his uncle. (Cary Elwes is 20 years older than Adam Pally, so while it's possible he's a brother, it's unlikely.) Here's this very impressive and 'famous' Whipple, who everyone looks up to and admires. (I'm assuming.) Wade feels so unimportant, he has this poster to remind him that he's related to greatness, and maybe he too can be important some day.

5 - Addams Family movie poster

I'm pretty sure this is the first movie, and Wade likes it because it shows people who are strange, people who don't look or act like everyone else, people who have odd hobbies and interact with the world in their own unique manner. And yet they love each other, Gomez in particular would do anything for his brother. Considering the nonchalant way his sister and mother behaved when he was yanked off the porch in the trailer, maybe Wade never really felt a connection like that.

6 - Robin Hood Prince of Thieves movie poster

The most famous example of helping those less fortunate than you, and being a hero to those on the receiving end of that help. Wade wants to help people. He wants to stand up for those who can't. I have no idea what his relationship with his father is/was like, but maybe the whole 'stand up to a corrupt authority' resonated with him for personal reasons as well.

7 - Speed movie poster

Maybe he wished he was Keanu Reeves, the hero with a calm head and always knew what to do. Maybe he always pictured himself as Sandra Bullock, an average person pulled into something dangerous and assuming an important role that helps save others.

8 - Ren and Stimpy poster

Okay, so he's a teen boy in the 90s. He's gonna like that gross-out humor.

9 - Total Recall movie poster

This movie is about an average joe who discovers he's actually someone Very Important. Wade has always thought of himself as a nobody. Deep down he wants to be someone Very Important. At least someone competent who isn't brushed off as a joke.

10 - TMNT bedsheets (and he was wearing a TMNT shirt under his robe before he's dragged down the street)

Obviously he's a man of good taste. But again, a group of teens fighting bad guys. The man just wants to be a hero so badly.

Based purely on the way he acts as an adult (and I'm trying to look past the "oh boy isn't he dumb!" pathetic characterization the movies have so far given him) I see Wade as a lonely man. He's likely never had many friends, always feels like the odd man in every situation, and just isn't very comfortable in his own skin.

In the trailer scenes where Knuckles decides to train Wade, there are posters and notes tacked all over the room with encouraging messages to himself regarding working out. Maybe he's trying to change his image because he thinks that will make others like him more. Maybe he's just trying to get a date. Maybe he's wrestling with his own self-worth.

Whatever is going on with Wade, I think pairing him with Knuckles is a good way to have them both realize things about themselves they'd never known before. Wade will help Knux realize that it's okay to let his guard down and enjoy himself, and Knuckles can help show Wade that there's more to him than anyone (including himself) thinks.

Maybe I'm waaaaay off base with these. Maybe I'm thinking way too hard about it. Wouldn't be the first time. But I love Wade and I really want to understand him, and hope to see him grow and become more confident by the end of the series.

#knuckles series #wade whipple #thinking too hard about fictional characters again

[kaiserin-erzsebet]

I know that I talk about how much I dislike the 90s Dracula movie often. So....here's a list of things I really like about it (which contribute to me finding this version so frustrating):

The Casting (for the most part)

The movie nails the casting of the suitors.

Cary Elwes was an inspired choice for Arthur.

Quincey also spends the whole movie looking like this:

I'd also say that I think Keanu Reeves could have been a fantastic Jonathan Harker. The script just gives him so little to work with.

He may not look much like Van Helsing in the book, but Anthony Hopkins was also playing the best Van Helsing he could, and it's really engaging to watch.

I've never felt like Lucy is well cast, but that is more a product of how much her character changes for this movie's plot.

2. This brief moment where the movie pretends it's going to let Lucy and Mina be more than friends:

They kiss once and it is never mentioned again in the entire movie. It's very male gaze-y. You spend the rest of the movie wondering if you imagined it or if it was a dream sequence.

But, for a brief moment, if you watch it in isolation, this scene looks like it is going to veer into a queer reading of Dracula. (It doesn't, but there is a moment)

3. The Costuming

Pretty much all of the costumes in this movie are a treat to look at.

Like this dress:

or this one:

The men's costuming is also fantastic. It's no wonder that this movie won an academy award for costumes.

I mean, look at Drac being uncharacteristically fashionable:

It comes down to this: My great frustration with the movie is that it looks how I want a Dracula adaptation to look. It has great actors, and for the most part it cast them in good roles. It has the budget, the soundtrack, the costuming. It could have been an amazing Dracula adaptation.

But then it veers off into some truly strange narrative choices and utterly changes pretty much all of the characters in the process. So you end up watching something that looks good, but does not resemble the book by the final act.

#dracula daily #dracula #my thoughts on the matter #since I'd say its the adaptation that frustrates me the most #i have more or less the same issues with the musical #i mourn the movie it could have been with a book accurate script

[maespri]

collection of my favorite moments from watching leigh whannell, james wan & cary elwes' commentary on saw (2004)

this post is long as hell but by god did i get a lot of laughs out of watching it i had to write everything down

cary (referring to opening title card): that was a beautiful font- how did you decide on that font, james? james: we put a bunch of fonts on the wall and threw darts

cary: there it is. this is one of the best openings of all time james: who says that cary: me

cary (referring to adam getting out of the bathtub): well it’s great. there you are, flopping onto the ground like a fish.

leigh: if i had opted to sleep in the bathroom every night, would you have done the same just to be my brother in method acting? cary: not a chance leigh (sadly): ok cary: i don’t care, you can call me what you want- leigh: and i have on several occasions-

cary: here’s adam listening to the tape now leigh: ah yes, the look on his face of… something james: this was me giving leigh instructions. i was saying to him, “leigh, now… (laughter) what i want you to do is act the way you did when i first told you what your prospects were as an actor. i want that same look of… despair” leigh (laughing): that same look of DREAD (laughter from all three)

cary: i gotta tell you leigh, even though we’re friends- james: you suck! cary (laughing): you suck! no, no. you did a really great role. it was a really great performance, i was really impressed leigh: thank you. i would say to you, there’s obviously room for improvement, but you- y'know (jokingly) if you keep going the way you’re going, you’ll be a fine actor one day cary (solemnly): thank you

leigh (talking to cary): i remember mocking you on several lines. you’d be like ‘give me the tape,’ and i’d be like ‘gIvE mE tHe tApE’

james: saw is the best comedy i’ve ever made

cary: no but you gotta figure- we’re trapped in this little room where they’ve sealed us off, and… we were stuck in there for seven days, and if you didn’t get along in that little space, man, it was gonna be a long, long, shoot leigh: and it was (laughter)

james: saw was never about just killing people in cool ways cary: well that’s part of it

cary: i remember seeing [the reverse bear trap] when you guys sent this little dvd to me, and i thought right away, “you two have to be the most twisted people ever to come up with this concept.” and THIS? [referring to billy] the doll- WHICH YOU MADE! james: i made it in my bedroom. this is what i do in my spare time. leigh: it’s quite scary actually. you go over to james’ house and as you approach his house you just see like a light sparking in the window like a mad scientist, and a scarecrow in the front- cary: and the scarecrow is just him in disguise (laughter)

james: but no, we’re not really this twisted in real life cary: that’s what was amazing, i met you guys in real life and you were so… so boring

cary: who was operating billy anyway james: i was cary: you weren’t letting anyone else touch that doll james: yeah man, only i get to stick my hand up that dolls butt

leigh: i called this doctor and said, “so im writing a script- what drug is there that you can inject someone with and they wouldn’t be able to move but they can still feel pain?” and this doctor’s like “…what’s this for?” (laughter) and im like “it’s for a script i’m writing” and he’s like, “riiiight…”

cary (talking about makenzie, who plays diana): do you remember off-camera where she had to cry for about 2-3 minutes and she… she just went into a place james: she just found a place and she went there cary: and i thought, “how old is she, six? what six year old can do that?!” james: i turn to leigh, and im like, “look at her, man! you should be taking lessons!” leigh: i actually saw cary with her in the corner one day and i was like, “isn’t that sweet- cary, the more mature, more experienced actor is giving makenzie advice," and when i got closer i heard cary asking, ‘how do you do it?!’” (laughter)

cary: i should point out, by the way- james wasn’t even sitting in a chair for the first few days of the shoot, like for about a week leigh: he couldn’t reach. those chairs are so high. (laughter) james: NO- leigh: he was like, “somebody get me an apple box!” cary: i just kept thinking, “my god, get this man a CHAIR!” james (joking): well my producer said to me, “if we get you a chair, that’s gonna break the budget” (even more laughter) james (continuing to quote producer): “we can’t afford a chair, james. what the fuck do you think this is? this is not a hollywood film!”

cary (seeing the pig mask on a table): there’s the famous pig head… which i don’t remember seeing in this version leigh: you were ASLEEP by this stage of the sundance screening (laughter) leigh: i had to keep nudging you like, ‘cary… the films still going, cary…’

leigh: and like any good villain, jigsaw smokes out his lair with fog and beautifully placed lights

cary: where did jigsaw go to school to learn these incredible talents? james: arch-nemesis school

leigh: certainly when people watch saw the first thing they think of is italian renaissance art cary (referring to the scene of adam pretending to die of blood poisoning): or really renaissance acting in this scene (laughter)

cary: and we find out here when adam gets zapped that they’ve got us on some... electrical wiring system... leigh: don’t go into it too much, cary, it’s best not to (laughter) leigh: just- of course it’s electrified, why wouldn’t it be? james: just do what i do and kind of glaze over it...

lawrence (in the film): oh, stop acting leigh: i’ve always thought that moment with cary was a slip into reality where cary goes, “stop acting!” (laughter)

leigh: certainly, i mean, when you make a film, you... you have to account for the unintelligent people out there, and i think we kept that in mind (laughter) cary: what do you mean by that leigh? leigh: well- i- james: that was spoken by LEIGH WHANNELL, he lives at THIS ADDRESS-

james (talking about billy in adams apartment): the doll actually wasn’t meant to be in this scene, but i remember when we sent the script to the producer, he goes, “we need more doll,” and this was the only scene i could think of sticking him in cary: and billy was available, wasn’t he? yeah… (laughter) leigh: after fierce negotiations with his agent, we managed to get him

cary: do you wanna tell people where you came up with the idea for the pig mask? james: cary, that’s just another one of my fetishes that i don’t wanna get into right now

leigh (making fun of adam): the only surveillance photographer in the world that uses a flash leigh: he’s had two private hire-ers fire him

(after a pause of silence) leigh (quietly): i think my favorite line in the film is coming up cary (thoughtfully): i like this scene here james: are we actually watching the film now??

leigh: this is actually a line i repeated lawrence (in the film): he’s a bottom-feeder, just like you leigh: that line- i went (mockingly), “hE’s a bOtToM fEeDeR, jUsT lIkE mE?” and i thought, ‘that’s gonna be great, that’s gonna make the final cut’ cary: (losing it laughing) james: yeah that was the first thing i cut out

leigh: james would hold a- i think it was a prop gun- to my head and say, “act, you bastard, act!”

leigh: a lot of people ask why lawrence didn’t take his shirt off to reach the cell phone in this scene, and james’s response to that is… james: james: thanks for that, leigh (leigh & cary laughing) james: just throw the spotlight on me, sure…

leigh: a lot of people ask why they didn’t just shoot the chain or shoot the lock with the gun, and um… leigh: leigh: well to that i say you’ve stumped me

leigh: this punch that you’re about to see actually accidentally hit [zep's actor]. i felt so bad. cary: ow- did you really hit him? leigh: yeah! cary: oh, brother- leigh (joking): and then toilet lid, too! i just kept getting him in the head! that’s real blood! (laughter)

james: do you know that i went online, cary, and i found some great saw fan sites, and one of them had a link to a site that was filled with all this saw fanfiction. people who had written stories about saw- cary: no, you’re joking- james: -and one of them was about- from your character's point of view, after he crawled out of the bathroom… was about three pages of just this inner monologue going, ‘oh god. my foot’s missing. what do i do now.’ (laughter) james: it was great stuff

#saw 2004 #adam faulkner stanheight #saw movies #leigh whannell

[ivanzplaid]

hiii i just read a bunch of your lawrence gordon hcs and i love them <3 could i please rq a fic with him and a gender neutral reader? something along the lines of lawrence getting jealous maybe and being overprotective over the reader? thank you so much!

YESSSS OH MY GKD LAWRENCE GORDON LOVERS HI

im back from my.... undefined hiatus and was looking thru my inbox and OF COURSE OMG, im feeling verh cary elwes and this is just soing it for me rn so of course of course i love myself some jealous lawrence

also because if my months long hiatus my writinf feels so weird so im literally so sorry if this is shit😭

requests r open, masterlist is up :)

Jealous Lawrence Gordon x Gn! Reader | Look At Me | Short Fic

------------------------------------------------------------

The relaxed atmosphere of the hospital's annual Christmas party was to Lawrence's liking. He couldn't stand over-the-top encounters, especially when he had to bring you along with his coworkers. He felt consumed by his work at times, and while you'd think that having the peacemaker of his life with him would soothe his nerves, his coworkers bashed this thought by being a little too comfortable.

"Oh Larry, you gotta bring this beaut around more often. We're always in need of someone new. Especially someone as gated as you are. What's your name?"

Your face contorted to a small laugh, it wasn't often that people were as interest in you than Lawrence. The feeling of blood rushing to your cheeks was inevitable as the flattery continued, and it seemed the focus of a handful of workers went to you.

"Need a drink? I'd always be happy to go and..-"

"That's enough. We're doing just fine without your services, Doctor Marsh."

Lawrence's voice was stern, matching the hand that had over time been creeping around your waist. Silently, yet clearly setting the message that he wasn't amused. Yet when you peered to his face, there was a strained smile, making an effort to keep his cool for you.

His eyes met yours, signaling to you that if you said a word to them, he'd set up repercussions he felt necessary.

You tilted your head to his ear, gently trying to calm his down as you whispered,

"Thanks baby.. Wanna go ahead to the car? We've been here for a while already, its late too y'know."

A small breathe was let out, but the rough hand on your waist only seemed to guide you out of the building, making no change to its hold. You could feel Lawrence's finger pads circling your side, grounding himself with your presence.

//

As you made it to the car, the stillness of the air prompted you to look up, meeting his eyes whom were already on you. There was an undetected expression on Lawrence's face, he was hiding something from you.

"If they- or anyone treats you that way again, talk to me."

An awkwardly hidden smile crept on your face. Your Lawrence was jealous.

He hates displaying a ton of affection in public, especially infront of his coworkers. He hates acting like a teenage couple. But he hates seeing others pander to whats his the most. Its only natural that he takes initiative, and shows them (and you) who you're with, and who you belong to at a moments notice.

"Of course, you'll never have to worry about that, honey."

#slasher #lawrence gordon #lawrence gordon x reader #saw 3d #sawposting #lawrence gordon x gn reader #my babygirl #husband #real #saw #saw franchise #dr lawrence gordon #lawrence gordon x you #jealousy #protective

[maddipoof]

There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort 🌷- pick a character or a few and come up with a prompt and I’ll write a fluff blurb <3

hi hi can u do robin buckley and her asking u to go out with her (which u assume is just as friends) but then she confesses to u on the date and it's just super cute

this is so awkward why cant i phrase things normally

Eeeeeeee thank you, I love you, this has been sitting in my docs for forever but you're finally back so it can finally see the light of day!!!

a/n: ummm to many princess bride references but I love it more than anything soooooo i'll reference it til I die <3 wc:2.4k Also, like, hardly proofread :( but I hope you like it <3 (you're an amazing friend and everyday I'm so grateful for you sara)

“Steve,” Robin rushed behind the counter and kept her back to the edge, a poor attempt to not be recognized. “Steve, Steve, Steve, please, I beg, I can’t do it. You have to help me. When do I ask you for anything?”

“Literally every day.”

“Steve, please, literally I am asking you to help the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen and you’re saying no.”

“I still don’t understand why you can’t talk to her.”

“Why can’t I talk to her?!” She looked around frantically trying to find you, making sure you weren’t close enough to hear her panicking. “Jesus Christ! Have you met me?! I’m a disaster. Last time I talked to her, I couldn’t stop!”

“I remember, Keith got all bent out of shape cus you left a line of 3 people.”

“Heh, yeah,” she agreed with a sarcastic laugh. “Also, I was saying so many things even I couldn’t keep up. It was horrible. It was so bad, I—” Steve turned her around by the shoulder and you smiled at her and held up the VHS in your hands. She finished the other half of the rotation and stopped Steve from running off to the back. “You cannot leave me alone, please, I beg of you,” she mouthed.

He twirled his finger around in the air, meaning ‘turn around,’ and pushed the swinging door open with his back, mouthing “Do it”. Leaving Robin to her own devices indefinitely.

“Hi, um, just this.” You put The Princess Bride on the counter. The 5th time you’ve rented it in 6 months (which she definitely knows from the records on your account and definitely not because she’s been keeping a mental note of everything you like. That’d be ridiculous).

“You really like this one.”

Your eyebrows kind of twitched in a way that made her regret so much as breathing wrong around you, but it vanished before she got the chance to grovel for forgiveness. “Yeah, uh, I really like it.”

She doesn’t even need to ask for your phone number anymore. It’s been on constant repeat in her mind since last Saturday and every Saturday before that. “And your phone number?” But she thought it’d be weird, too forward for you to know she knew it by heart.

“You don’t know it by now?” You raised an eyebrow and she gave you a half smile. She typed it in faster than you could watch her fingers to make sure she got it right, and the lack of hesitation did not go unnoticed by you. She really knew it.

“Uh, did you know…while they were filming, Andre the Giant needed an ATV to get around set since it was like, up on a big hill?” She asked while you counted out the change. She didn’t even want exact change. She’d put up with it. She’d make 97 cents for you, even though they’re fresh out of dimes.

“I did know that. Did you know Cary Elwes broke his toe on said ATV?”

“I did not. How’d he manage that?”

“His foot got caught on the petal and I guess it was enough to break his toe.”

“Oh wow.”

“Sorry, it’s uh, a little over.” Your fingers brushed her palm as you handed her the coins.

“Thank you,” she whispered and you felt the chill of her hand, but you wanted nothing more than to warm them in yours and never let go. She never counted change so fast, just to get to give it to you faster; for your fingertips to brush again. “Um, heh–“ she cut herself off for fear of further embarrassment.

“Sorry?”

“What?”

“You were saying something.”

“Yeah, it was dumb. I don’t–“

“It’s not dumb.”

“Yeah?”

“Now I’m curious so you kind of have to tell me now.”

“I suppose I do then. Do you want–” she huffed and started over. “Are you doing anything Thursday night?”

“I’m working til 6, but I’m free after that.”

“Yeah, at the- the arcade.”

“The arcade, yes. But what were you thinking?”

“Hm?”

“You asked if I was busy, was that just out of curiosity or did you want to go out?”

“Go out?”

“Is that a question?”

Robin just then noticed how close both of you were leaning on the counter. “Um, heh,” she cleared her throat with an awkward laugh. “They're having a special showing, at the drive in, just a town over, and uh, I was wondering if you–If you’d wanna go with me?”

“I’d love to, but I don’t have a car, my brother has it that day.”

“I don’t either.”

“My brother usually picks me up, we get off work at the same time so he could just drive me over to yours and we can figure out something else?”

“If you really want to go, we should go. I really want to take you.” You both smiled brighter than the sun at that. But then Robin had to go and have the worst idea of her life. Worse than following a middle schooler into a secret Russian bunker. “Maybe, uh, Steve could drive us?” She definitely saw the way both corners of your mouth dropped, but you were quick to pick them back up.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s uh, that’d be great. Pick me up at 6:15, yeah? Give me a chance to get ready and then we’ll go?” Robin nodded, mortified, dying on the inside, how could she be such an idiot. You spoke while walking backwards towards the door, “Great, you have my number. Give me a call if anything changes.” You never speed walked to the car. You didn’t even have the chance to turn the key in before you were throwing your head back against the rest. “Fuck, fuck, fuuuck,” then you realized you walked out empty handed. No tape in sight. “Goddamn it.” You were not going back in there.

***

“Oooohhh, is somebody ready for their big date?” Cecelia, your coworker, walked into the bathroom where you were checking your eyeliner in the mirror.

“It’s not a date.”

“The drive in with Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington? Sounds like a date to me.”

“He’s just dropping us off.” You so, so, so carefully fixed a flake of mascara without messing up the rest of the look.

“Oh, so you’re going with someone else?” Cecelia leaned her back against the small cabinet diagonal from the 2 stalls. “Tell me everything.”

“You know the girl he works with, Robin?” She cocked her head. “Buckley?” Still nothing. “Dirty blonde, in the marching band, plays the trumpet, took AP Spanish freshman year? It was a whole thing.”

“Oh her. Yes, yes, I know her…You’re going on a date with her?”

“Well, I was kinda hoping yeah, but now she’s having Steve drive us ‘cause neither of us have a car, so now I just don’t know.”

“But you want it to be a date?” She stepped up to you and licked her thumb to fix your lipstick.

“Yeah.”

“Then kick him out. Make him fetch you guys some drinks, some popcorn. Tell him to see how many numbers he can get before the Fire Swamp.”

“They’re like a bonded pair! I can’t just separate them like that.”

“You can and you must.” And then she checked her watch. “Better watch it, Sappho. You’re cuttin it close. All that yearning is gonna make you late.”

“Fuuuuckkk.” You groaned then practically ran out the door.

Right out the door and right into Robin.

“Hi,” you smiled regardless of the disappointment in the lack of romantic undertones. You smiled big, and so did she, like your faces didn’t know how to do anything else when you looked at each other.

“Hi, how– how are you? I didn’t mean to scare you, they told me you’d be back here and I didn’t want to seem like a jerk and wait in the car for you to come out because that’d be– that’d be pretty, really shitty. And… yeah, how are you?” You were surprised she didn’t run out of breath, she hasn’t run herself out like that to you in a while. She hasn’t been nervous around you like that in a while.

“I’m good, better now that you’re here. How are you?”

“Good, really good. It starts at 7 but we should get going now if you want a good spot.”

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

“Perfect…I, uh, I hope you don’t mind, Steve brought Max and El, the boys had a campaign and they were all bored.”

Everything she says makes this less and less of a date. Whatever, doesn’t matter, you’ll take her in whatever way you can get her.

“No, that's ok. They’re cool.”

“The coolest.” She offered you her arm which you gladly took.

You’d known each other for months, why did it feel like you didn’t know what to do with each other.

“Hey, how’s it goin?” Steve asked when he got out to open the back door for both of you.

“Good, pretty good. I’m excited for tonight.”

“Good. I should warn you, me and the kids–” “We’re not kids.” “ –will probably be taking off early, Max wants to go look at some supernatural museum she found nearby, but we’ll definitely be back to pick you guys up. It’s a pretty short walk.”

“We have to walk there?!” Max asked with enough attitude to rival Mike’s. Steve gave her a look paired with a sharp nod trying to get her into the front seat. Trying his hardest to be a good wingman.

She shook her head and mouthed fine, then El took the middle seat and Max did the same head nod with her to get her to one side. Robin slid in first to take the middle and you got the seat next to her.

It was a fun ride, Steve and the girls were at their funniest, doing their best to paint Robin in only the most complimenting light. You got the perfect spot. Not too close to the front or back, the perfect distance to see the whole screen but not have it in your face and the concession stand was far enough that it was a walk but there’d be none of it’s traffic buzzing around you.

Somehow, Robin convinced you to stay behind and fix the radio to the right frequency while Steve took her to get a pep talk drinks and popcorn before he left.

“You’re gonna be fine. You were great in the car.”

“Steve, no, listen to me, I cannot do this alone. You cannot leave me.”

“Robin, listen to me. Ok? The whole time in the car she was smiling, she’s having a great time. She really likes you. You feel that electricity?”

“What?”

“The electricity? Between you guys, it’s like off the charts. You got this, man. You’re fine.” He put a hand on her shoulder and El handed her the massive popcorn from one side and Max gave her the extra large slushy with two straws from the other. Then they both gave her big smiles and two thumbs up.

“You got this,” El said and Max gave her another pat on the shoulder and off she went.

You had just got the radio right when you saw her coming down the row of cars. Clearly, her hands were overfull so just as she came up to the car you opened the door and oh fuck.

In a flash of blue, slushie was all over. All over Robin, that is. “Oh thank god none of it got in the car.” She gasped, though her lips were on their way to turning just as blue.

“Robin, no, what about you?!” The urgency was enough to pull you over the center console rather than out the door and around the front to brush off the few pieces that clumped together. “Are you ok?! I don’t care about the car. I’m so sorry, my depth perception has been so messed up from staring at the computer all day, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was– I wasn’t thinking.”

“I don’t think that’s how that works,” she mumbled.

“Come on, let’s go change.” You started pulling her in the direction of the bathrooms.

“Into what, I’m soaked.”

“Yeah and if you don’t get into something dry; like my sweatshirt that I promise you I don’t need before you try and tell me I’ll be cold; you’ll freeze.”

“I really don’t– You don’t have to.”

“Yes, I do. Come on.”

You took her into the family one, the big clean one right in the center of all the rest. “Here.” You pulled off the big, fluffy, crew neck and she thought she’d drop dead when she caught sight of the way your shirt rose up the slightest bit. You held it out to her and it took her a second to remember that she wasn’t dreaming.

“Thank you,” and leave it to Robin Buckley to say the dumbest joke at the worst moment. Just as she was about to pull her soaked shirt over her head, “Wow, and here I was thinking we’d get to at least a third date before you got me in such a compromising position.” She said with an unforced laugh at the end with her head still deep inside her sweatshirt so she didn’t see the feature film that was your face trying to figure out what she meant.

“This is a date?”

Really catching her off guard while she’s pulling a soaked bra, now probably stained blue, out of the sleeve.

“Uh, did you– I just– I thought–” She tried to go for the door but you caught her eye.

“I want it to be.”

“You do?”

“I’ve been tearing myself up all week ‘cause I wasn’t sure. But I really wanted it to be. So,, is it?”

She nodded fervently, “Yes, yeah, absolutely.”

“Good, so uh, do you maybe wanna go get some hot chocolates instead and we can take that blanket Steve was trying to be sneaky about and cuddle in the back seat?”

“As you wish.”

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked it and if you did I'd love to hear what you think <3 Comments and reblogs mean the world to me 💕💕💕 Support your creators babes

#robin x reader #platonic steve and robin #robin buckley x reader #robin buckley #wlw fanfic #sapphic fanfic #robin buckley fanfiction #robin buckley blurb #robin buckely #platonic stobin #stranger things fan fic #stranger things fic #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things #dell's fics #sara 🌷 #della celebrates 100

[invisibleraven]

Holiday (bonus points if it's Halloween) / GPP

"Everyone ready?" Willie called from their room.

"Why are we doing a costume reveal again?" Carrie griped.

"Because it's fun!" Kayla exclaimed. "You remember fun right Care Bear?"

"I am plenty fun, thank you very much," was Carrie's reply.

"Yeah you are doll face!" Reggie shouted, and they could all hear the leer in his voice.

"Let's get on with it, I'm already regretting my life choices," Alex said.

Doors opened, and everyone emerged, and immediately, Willie laughed. "Yes, no one doubled this year!" At Kayla's confused expression, he explained. "Last year Luke and Reggie were both Han Solo."

"I was totally the beter Han," Luke grumbled, "But I let Reg have it."

"You made an equally cute cowboy," Julie assured him with a kiss to his cheek.

"Not as cute as Alex is this year!" Willie exclaimed.

"Excuse you, I am Ken," Alex replied, tilting his hat. "At your insistence, may I add."

"Well yeah, because you refused to be Alan," Willie replied, adjusting his red wig.

"I am so glad I decided to not go as Barbie," Carrie stated, though she had still stuck to her favourite colour palate in her Glinda the Good Witch costume, mirroring Kayla in her Elphaba get up; all green and black.

"You would have made a terrific Barbie," Flynn assured her, fixing her eyeliner in the mirror, her sparkly Cinderella dress leaving traces of glitter everywhere as she did.

"We ready for the party?" Julie asked, straightening her tight red dress and ensuring her horns were right.

"Ready as we'll ever be," Luke replied, blowing the blonde fringe out of his eyes. "Though next time I insist on going as Cobain, someone tell me to get a better wig."

"At least you look good with the facial hair," Reggie offered, picking at the fake little moustache he was sporting. "Cary Elwes should have words with the costume designer for this atrocity."

"Well you aren't allowed to grow a real one," Julie stated. "Not after last time."

There was a collective shudder. "You looked like a math teacher," Aex quipped.

"Yeah yeah, yuk it up," Reggie grumbled. "See if I share any of my discount candy tomorrow with you."

"I liked the goatee," Kayla stated.

"You can have the Tootsie pops then," Reggie replied.

"Sweet, those are my favourites anyways," Kayla replied.

"Ew, no one likes Tootsie pops," Carrie said, scrunching up her nose.

"I do."

"Your taste is questionable," Carrie argued back.

"I'm with you aren't I?"

Carrie hummed and pulled her in for a kiss. "You are, so for that I can forgive your awful taste in candy."

"Let's go lesbians," Flynn said, offering her arms to the girls. "And the rest of you queers as well."

"To the party!" everyone chorused.

"So... no to trick or treating at the fancy mansions along the way?" Reggie asked.

In the end, they may of hit up just a few houses. Hey, twas the season after all!

Plus, it meant full sized bars and gourmet chips, which no one was gonna turn down, not even Carrie.

#filled prompts #ficlet #the greater polyphantoms polycule #julie and the phantoms

[signalwatch]

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Watched:  10/21/2023

Format:  Amazon

Viewing:  Second, I think

Director:  Francis Ford Coppola

Firstly, this isn't Bram Stoker's actual Dracula.  This is Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).

I very much remember Coppola, with whose work I'd just become acquainted at age 15 or so, announcing he was going to remake the Universal Monster stuff using the source material.  And as a teen, I was jazzed.  Let's kick the dust off, ditch the stuffy 1930's stylings (I'd never seen the movies at this point) and lets make a Dracula for the 90's!  

All I can really remember from that first movie is that it was... a lot.  The reviews were mixed, but everyone was going to see it, and I was in a packed theatre when I watched it myself.  

Honestly, I remember thinking "well... that was a lot.  And I get why the reviews were mixed."  Halloween night of '93, I went to see the original, and was like "oh, wow.  This is rad.  I get why people love this." and, in fact, my interest in horror movie monsters I'd had as a kid was reignited (along with a VHS copy of Phantom of the Opera) to the point where I'm annoying about it to this day!

Over the years, I've not returned to the Coppola movie because (a) I didn't like it all that much to begin with, and (b) there's so many Draculas.  And one gotta catch 'em all.  

Since seeing this back in '92, I've since read the novel, watched the 1930's original many, many times, seen some sequels to that, watched the Hammer films, watched a clutch of other vampire films and Dracula adaptations - including stage plays, read Carmilla, and basically laid down what I think is a solid foundation.

This movie is super strange.

Like, look.  It's got some amazing ideas, and beautiful visuals.  My exposure to the movie in the internet age has been largely through stills and gifs, and given the dedication to the visual that this movie embraces, its a reminder that the film has some stunning photography, FX, design, costuming, etc....  It's an absolute "spared no expense" endeavor.  

I actually love the fact that the movie uses weird edits and dissolves - the peacock feather to the sun, etc... 

You can't ask for a better cast in 1992.  This is a post Silence of the Lambs Anthony Hopkins getting to play all the cool roles, a height of her fame Winona Ryder, Richard E. Grant, Cary Elwes, Billy Campbell, Keanu Reeves, and fucking Tom Waits as Renfield.  And, of course, a young Gary Oldman showing everyone what Gary Oldman can do.

Look, the movie isn't the book, full stop.  Since Lugosi made women swoon in the stage show of Dracula and then in theaters (no, really), the story of Dracula has become weirdly morphed from "agent of Satan slowly murders virgins" to "eternal love story".  

The book provides nothing like the pre-credits sequence to explain why the Count became an agent of the devil other than it sounded like a fun sort of thing to do.  There's no suicide of a wife, no war with the Turks.  There's no attempt to humanize Dracula by giving him a reason he might turn to the forces of darkness with which the audience might sympathize.  

There's just no love story between Dracula and anyone else in the book.  There's Mina having a mix of shocking sympathy for her tormentor (because she's a good person) and a bit of Stockholm Syndrome in the final chapters.   I have read that a lot of the past lives stuff is borrowed from a different Stoker novel about mummies, but it feels straight taken from the Boris Karloff movie The Mummy.  Which makes me wonder what Coppola planned to do for his remake there, had they proceeded as planned.  

There's nothing wrong with making the story a romance - that's what vampire stuff does, I guess.  But Bram Stoker's Dracula essentially turns the story of Dracula into Mina cheating on her boyfriend while he's at work with a dude with no job and a soul patch.  She'll insist they made such a connection (and, ironically, he's also juggling three other ladies she doesn't know about) and she's going to act nuts about it because she's invested so much into her secret little fling when she should write her dude and admit she's banging someone else.

The end result is that no one in the movie is anyone you care about except for maybe Van Helsing.  Mina seems like a dupe, Jonathan is wishy-washy, Lucy is narrative cannon fodder as the horny girl in a horror movie, and the three suitors are stripped of any qualities other than they sure are in the movie, and one has a hat.

Because the movie leans into Mina and Vlad's secret affair, it chews through a lot of plot time and also sets the pacing of the movie somewhat different from the novel.  By necessity, this means - so the movie isn't even longer than what feels like a very, very long two hours - the other characters get some short shrift and plotlines get condensed.  And that's... fine?  

Surely this movie's love affair works for someone out there, just as the Bella/ Edward romance works for a lot of people.  And I'm not opposed to it on its face, I just don't think this movie pulls it off in a way that makes you (a) cheer for the romance or (b) be horrified by Mina's seduction.  It just sorta rolls out, and the dramatic irony of Mina having no idea what's really happening becomes tedious.  And tedious is not good for movies.

I don't blame either actor here (even if sometimes Ryder's Ryderism in her voice gives the game away).  Oldman is maybe at an 8 at his lowest and an 11 for good chunks of the film, but that's what's called for.  Ryder is playing what she's got, but it's hard to know what that is.  We don't get much of who Mina is until she's already in crisis.

What we clearly do get is the idea that this is sexual repression, Victorian style.  And Dracula is supposed to prey on the unspoken horniness of the women - with Mina clearly trying to push Jonathan's Victorian sensibilities, and of which Lucy seems keenly aware as she uses the barest hint of a sexual nature to keep three dudes with options on the line.  

At the time of the movie's release, between fighting prudishness and lots of blood, this was seen by some as a movie for the AIDS/ HIV era, which... I don't think Coppola probably thought about even once.  It's the sort of observation made that is more about how the movie reflects the times, and what the viewer might bring to the film.  I don't think (but don't know) it was made for such a comparison - especially when the novel is clearly about science wrangling with unknown diseases, and the movie skips a lot of that element.  Except...

Our intro to Van Helsing has him discussing syphilis in a medical classroom, and making clear connections between STDs and the moral nature of man, which was quite the rage in the 90's.  I doubt that bit would make the cut in 2023, and it's an odd tie to Van Helsing as mystic scientist and Dracula-chaser. 

Flipping the script of the seduction of Mina is the imprisonment and seduction of Jonathan.  What is curious is that the movie never deals with what Mina knows about Jonathan's time away, how he delivered that info, etc... as it seems she's fully aware of the situation, and  we are robbed of her own reaction.  It's a lot, and she just seems like she's taking it all in stride.  Which, I guess if you've been shtupping a mysterious Eastern prince, you don't make a lot of fuss when your man tells you three hot women forced him into sex daily for a month.

What the movie does offer is spectacle upon spectacle.  And that isn't necessarily wrong.  The portion of the novel that's Jonathan's POV gets really weird, really fast.  But it can be the difference between Jonathan seeing a glimpse of what seems to be wolves in the woods and us seeing Jonathan's wagon from the shoulder POV of wolves, as the movie does.  The suggestion that the count moves unnaturally versus the obvious floating and zipping around the count does on screen that leaves nothing for the viewer to share Jonathan's uncertainty.  But this is a matter of taste.

I do enjoy the "this is a soundstage" look and feel to the exterior shots and the swing-for-the-fences design, including some of the stuff that's a bit risky to try as it can *feel* like it's trying.  The movie really is gorgeous, and there's a reason the stills that people post every Halloween have made me want to revisit the movie.  

Is it scary?  I mean - I think it has its moments.  And it embraces the weirdness of Renfield and Dracula himself as well as any version.  But without really *caring* about Mina or Lucy, the horror of what's happening is more indicated than visceral.  The scariest bit is probably, really, the dudes going into Lucy's crypt, with the first fifteen minutes in Dracula's castle a close second.  There's a lot of space in-between those scenes and after.

What's odd is that this is really considered the other Dracula film, the primary version still the 1931 Lugosi version or the Spanish version.  There have been innumerable versions before and since the 1992 version, but no one really seems interested in just telling the story in the book.  That said, this one is certainly closer than most.  

With endless streaming services, it seems like *someone* would just give it a go.  

By the way, I still think the guy who played the best Dracula in a movie in recent years was Nic Cage in Renfield.  I can only imagine if Coppola had cast his nephew for this what we could have had.

#dracula #francis ford coppola #movie review #horror movies

[the-rewatch-rewind]

New episode! Script below the break

Hello and welcome back to the Rewatch Rewind! My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I talk about my most frequently rewatched movies after 20 years of keeping track. Today I will be discussing my 37th most watched movie: Act III Communications’ 1987 fantasy adventure comedy The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner, written by William Goldman based on his novel, and starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, and Mandy Patinkin.

This is another film like Mary Poppins that I’m not even sure I have to summarize, I feel like it’s so deeply ingrained in popular culture that anyone who is even vaguely familiar with the concept of movies knows Princess Bride. Even if you somehow haven’t seen it, you’ve almost certainly heard it quoted: I mean, it’s got “Inconceivable!” and “As you wish” and “Mawaige” and of course “Hello, my name is Iñigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!” among many many other extremely quotable lines.

But, just in case you’ve forgotten what it’s about, let me explain…No, there is too much. Let me sum up. The Princess Bride is a story being read to a boy (Fred Savage) by his grandfather (Peter Falk) and tells of the beautiful young woman Buttercup (Robin Wright) and her handsome farm boy Westley (Cary Elwes), whose love overcomes a plethora of obstacles, including pirates, kidnappers, eels, cliffs, swords, poison, fire, quicksand, large rodents, a sadistic 6-fingered count, a torture machine, and a prince who wants to marry but also murder Buttercup.

This movie used to be on TV all the time when I was young, so I remember catching bits and pieces of it a lot, but I can’t recall exactly when I first watched it all the way through. The main first impressions I remember are being terrified of the ROUSes (rodents of unusual size) and not really understanding what was going on. But I know I had figured it out and grown to appreciate it well before I started tracking the movies I watched. Once I started keeping track, I saw it once in 2003, once in 2004, twice in 2005, once in 2006, twice in 2007, once in 2008, twice in 2009, and once each in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2021: 15 times total.

If you’ve listened to my previous episodes, you may be wondering how on earth I’m going to argue that The Princess Bride is not a romantic film, and the answer is…I’m not. Though there is a lot of non-romantic stuff going on throughout the movie, I think we can all agree that the extremely romantic love between Westley and Buttercup is the main driving force of the story. And that’s okay, I’m not anti-romance simply because I’m aromantic; I’m anti-amatonormativity, the idea that every human wants and needs a long-term romantic partner. And while The Princess Bride is a love story, it is not amatonormative. None of the other characters besides Westley and Buttercup seem to be looking for romance, even though they are extremely well developed and do have clear objectives. Iñigo (Mandy Patinkin) wants to avenge the death of his father; Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) wants power; Fezzik (Andre the Giant) wants to be useful; Count Rugen (Christopher Guest) wants to torture people; and even Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) only wants to get married so he can start a war over the death of his bride. Granted, not all of these are presented as good objectives, but at no point is it suggested that any of these characters should abandon their quests and instead search for romance. A significant amount of screen time is devoted to loving but platonic friendship, especially the one between Iñigo and Fezzik, which is fun and beautiful. The camaraderie between them and Westley when the three join forces is a major highlight of the film. Of course, it’s all in pursuit of romance (and vengeance), but that doesn’t diminish the strength of their friendship. Obviously no one can deny that a major recurring theme of the film is that true love (which is generally implied to be inherently romantic) is the greatest thing in the world, besides a nice MLT – a mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich – which I assume is that world’s version of cake or garlic bread and Miracle Max is an ace icon, but anyway. My point is that the movie emphasizes that the kind of love between Westley and Buttercup is rare. If you find it, you should hold onto it, but not everybody is going to find it, so don’t sit and wallow in self-pity or despair if you don’t. And this is kind of how I always thought of romance for myself, before I knew that being aromantic was a thing. It would be great if I happened to find it, but if not, there are other things to focus on. So amatonormativity and its consequences – people desperately trying to find a partner, any partner, just to have one; expressions of pity toward single people; etc – really confused me. As did the knowledge, once I figured it out, that most people enjoy romantic movies because of the romance, and not despite it, as I eventually realized I was almost subconsciously doing. Like the kid hearing this story, I tolerate the kissing parts if the rest of the story draws me in enough, which Princess Bride absolutely does. The grandpa telling him “someday you might not mind so much” about kissing rather than something like “someday you will like kissing” was almost certainly not intended to fight amatonormativity, but we can choose to see it that way. The fact that the kid wants to hear about the kissing at the end could be interpreted as “he’s finally growing up and accepting that romance is part of life”; but, it can also be interpreted as, “he’s so into the story that he’ll put up with the kissing at the end so it doesn’t go unfinished,” and that I relate to. I also appreciate that the movie ends with the grandpa saying “As you wish” to his grandson. By echoing the way Westley said “I love you” to Buttercup, the grandfather is implying that those two different kinds of love are equal, refusing to play along with the amatonormative idea that romantic love is far superior to any other form of love.

While I’m sure that a lot of people do watch The Princess Bride at least partly for the romance, I think that unlike many romantic films, the reasons I enjoy it are also the main reasons most other people enjoy it. The script is clever, quotable, and fun; the characters are eclectic and fascinating and perfectly brought to life by fabulous actors; and the tone is unique. Apart from the scenes in the kid’s bedroom, what we’re seeing is not the actual story; we’re seeing what the kid pictures as he’s hearing the story, which is such a cool way to tell it. Everything feels larger-than-life, but in an honest, pure way that makes it feel realistic even in its absurdity. The Princess Bride is a delightful blend of a child’s imagination and an experienced storyteller’s writing skills, and I think that is a major contributor to its enduring popularity, even if most of its fans wouldn’t necessarily articulate it that way. It lives in that elusive space between childhood and adulthood where both children and adults feel at home, and therefore love to revisit. I read the book the movie is adapted from once as a teenager, and I remember being struck by how, even though many of the plot points had changed, the humor and tone were perfectly consistent between the novel and the film, which made it, in my opinion, an extremely faithful adaptation. Of course this makes sense because William Goldman wrote both, and Rob Reiner, the film’s director, was a big fan of the book. But often novel-to-feature-film adaptations get so focused on figuring out how to shorten the story without omitting important plot points that they lose sight of the heart of the original story. That absolutely did not happen here, and that’s a big part of why so many people love this movie. Sure, the plot points are interesting, but we’re really here for the unique comedic tone that was taken directly from the book. Changing the sharks to eels and eliminating the Zoo of Death were no big deal, but trying to tell the story without witty jokes simply would not have worked.

I think of all the movies I’ll be talking about on this podcast, The Princess Bride is the one I’ve watched the most in large groups. Most of my movie watching has been done at home, maybe with a few family members or friends, and I’ve certainly watched this one that way as well, but I remember seeing it several times at big movie night events. While I’ve definitely encountered people who don’t love it and think it’s overrated, most people I know are always up for a Princess Bride rewatch. And because of its wide appeal and quotable script, it’s very fun to see with a big crowd. While I’m too young to have seen it in a theater when it was first released, I did go to a 30th anniversary screening in 2017, which was awesome. My favorite part of that experience was after Buttercup hears that Westley’s ship has been captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts, who famously takes no prisoners, and says, “I will never love again,” a kid sitting behind me muttered, “Well THAT seems a little extreme” and I’ve been laughing about it ever since.

In addition to crowded viewings themselves, just being familiar with this movie in general has been a very social experience. As a teenager who loved old Hollywood and frequently referenced movies most kids my age had never heard of (I know the movies I’ve talked about here so far are fairly well-known, but just wait), it was fun to be able to bring up this one and have most people know what I was talking about for once. A few years ago I got to participate in a Princess Bride script reading with some friends, and I read for Vizzini and a few other minor characters, and it was so fun! I kept losing my place because I was so caught up watching everybody else. The joy of reading this excellent script with other people who also love the movie cannot be expressed in words. Also, a former coworker of mine LOVES this movie, and we used to quote it to each other all the time when we worked together. At one point everyone in our office got these “mood indicators,” which were desk calendar looking booklets where every page had a different emotion and a colorful emoji-style face on it – I guess to give people who approached our desks a heads up on how we were doing that day? I’m not sure how other people used theirs, but this coworker liked to cut out post-it notes in the shape of hair and various props and speech bubbles to add to them, so the ones in our department would quote bits of Princess Bride, mostly parts of the scene when Fezzik keeps rhyming with Iñigo and winding up Vizzini. I’ll post pictures I took of them on Tumblr – have I mentioned that this podcast has a Tumblr? It’s the-rewatch-rewind. The link will be in the show notes. I know most people stopped using Tumblr a while ago but it’s still my favorite social media platform, so that’s where I’ve been putting the transcripts of this podcast.

Anyway, while 15 is a lot of times to watch a movie, it feels like I’ve watched Princess Bride way more than that in the last 20 years, partly because of how frequently it comes up in life. Some films are more memorable than others, and this one leaves a deep impression every time I revisit it, so each viewing feels like multiple. I’m also still noticing new things about it – it took me until writing this episode to appreciate the humor of the man with the extra finger being a count. Obviously, the movie isn’t perfect; it could certainly use more female characters and racial diversity, for a start. But overall I think it deserves its popularity and devoted followers. It’s a well-told story with an excellent sense of humor featuring an ensemble of fascinating characters; what’s not to love?

Thank you for listening to me discuss another of my most-rewatched movies! Remember to rate and review, and subscribe or follow on your podcast platform of choice if you’re enjoying this and want to hear more. Next episode will be the first one to feature a movie that was made after I started keeping track, so stay tuned to hear about something a little more recent. As always, I will leave you with a quote from that next movie: “I don’t have a skull. Or bones.”

#rewatch rewind #princess bride

[adrianicsea]

so uh. the saw 7 survivor group blog posts. lawrence has one highlighted post of his own there (credit goes to @absolutedoorknob for finding this blog and posting about it in the first place, and to @macabre-angst for linking me to the post!)

this post is interesting enough in its own right, because we don’t have much of ANYTHING canon to work off of when it comes to lawrence. whoever wrote for him did a really good job— the writing doesn’t sound exactly like lawrence’s speech pattern, but it DOES read like it would if lawrence sat down to write something. (fwiw, this post DOES read a lot like cary elwes’ own writing voice in his princess bride memoir, which wasn’t published until a year or two after this blog was made. so that’s... interesting.) the one or two typos add a bit of character, and i’m VERY intrigued by the way jigsaw isn’t always capitalized, and that he seems to prefer writing it in lowercase to capitalizing it. lawrence being so adamant that his job was NEVER to nurture or heal is.... well. i’ll be honest it makes me want to scream and cry and throw up. to me, it reads very much as him having lost any and all idealism or self-worth/self-illusion about his job and falling fully into the nihilism of being an apprentice. it would be so painful to admit that you had gone from healing people to willfully hurting them— wouldn’t it just be easier to lie to yourself and say that you had never been a healer at all? wouldn’t that hurt less? if you never had a heart, then you don’t know what you’re missing. having a heart and having it torn out of you is the worst pain there is.

anyways it would all be well and good if it were just lawrence’s solitary post on the blog— and at a cursory glance, it is. the other posts are either from bobby dagen or the other survivors in the group. but when you look a little closer at the comments... there’s one anonymous poster who shows up over and over again. first on simone’s post...

now, a bit of metatextual context— saw 7 had its wide release on october 29, 2010. when this comment was written, the vast majority of the public hadn’t seen the movie, so how would they know about the fake survivor? it’s also apparent from looking through the comments that this person deliberately chose to be anonymous, as the way blogger sets up its guest accounts looks different.

but like. really and truly... look at the writing style and voice. curious! let’s see if we can spot this anonymous poster in the comments on any of the other survivors’ po—

AH.

it really doesn’t get much more obvious than that, does it? at this point in the series, nobody has seen adam’s corpse who’s still alive to talk about it. amanda is dead, eric is dead, john is LONG dead, daniel may as well be dead because he’s not mentioned at all in 7. this comment has a double meaning: lawrence has seen adam’s body (likely, given his longstanding apprenticeship), but it also reads as him being haunted by guilt and uncertainty over adam, for people who don’t know what’s REALLY going on with lawrence.

i really don’t have it in me to do a full fledged meta analysis of this comment yet bc honestly i’m just reeling from FINDING it. ask me again later if you’re interested. either way, it’s clear from the consistent tone and subtext (think critically about your trap and what you learned, don’t listen to bobby) that this is the same person who commented on simone’s post, and the slip about adam is pretty much a smoking gun that it’s lawrence. so what else did lawrence say to his fellow survivors?

i don’t have much to say about these, partially bc i haven’t seen any of the movies that are being referenced in these posts. it’s more of the same, really— lawrence being backhandedly-supportive, while warning against bobby. his “darker ghosts” comment is... interesting, but i don’t really know what to make of it yet.

what’s really haunting is the last comment i saw that can reasonably be attributed to him:

this is the one I’m LEAST sure about, because it’s so out of time sequence with the rest of them. but again, the way the anonymous account looks is VERY different from “real” guest/anon comments on the blog posts, and the way it’s written sounds like the same person who wrote the others. this... speaks VOLUMES to lawrence’s true guilt and feelings about the person he’s become.

anyways sorry for clogging up everybody’s dash with this but i could not for the life of me get a read more to work. and again, credit for finding/posting about this blog to @absolutedoorknob because i wouldn’t have had any clue this existed otherwise! please hit me up to talk about this bc it’s got me lying facedown in the darkness

#saw #lawrence gordon #saw meta #saw vii #saw the final chapter

[shopwitchvamp]

Would you ever do cons again or is that something that you have grown past the need of?

I really don't want to do them anymore. Long answer incoming as usual~ Like, maybe I'll attend them as a regualr attendee for fun again someday, but even before the pandemic I would get sick ALL THE TIME from going to cons. So for one thing I'm extra afraid about that. They're also not particularly profitable unless it's a local con and you don't need to travel/stay at a hotel. Or you're like.. Cards Against Humanity's table that can make 5 figures in a day. (lol ok so i googled what i was remembering, their table selling out in 50mins, and nevermind i was so wrong. if you're them you can make -$35k in 51mins at a con. negative 5 figures in an hour...)

At my peak (and only because I'd started incorporating more clothing) I made $7k in a weekend, which sounds amazing, but like half or more would disappear into flights, the hotel, the table/badges, food, and the cost of what I was selling. At that point I was paying for my own room just so I could sleep at all at night.. Way back in the day we'd do the whole 6 people in 1 room thing to save money, and then I'd spend a whole weekend unable to sleep. And then I'd get sick ;__; rinse and repeat like 8 times a year. Misery. Also those $7k cons happened like 3-4 times in my con career. 2010-2015 before clothing I think it was more like $2-3k was an outstanding weekend. More than once I made negative money at a con (not as negative as Cards Against Humanity thank god). I'm looking at you Anime Atlanta! Everyone told me and my friend that con was SO GOOD so we drove for 2 or 3 days to get there. We slept on a concrete floor at a friend's SCAD dorm room. OMG AND I JUST REMEMBERED when that happened I had just had surgery too!! All of that and I made way less than what my expenses were because the con was just dead that year (a different con had moved it's dates and was the same weekend I think? competition made both cons worse that year from what I remember). One of many sad con tales. At this point I'm too old for it, or just too unwilling to put up with the suffering. I start thinking about how many cons wouldn't let us artists bring food in, the ridiculously long 12hr+ days with no break, how many times I couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom if someone wasn't with me, weird BS like AFest trying to blacklist anyone that didn't stay for Monday when it wasn't held on labor day weekend anymore and the con's Monday wasn't a holiday, cons that put artists in bizarre and dangerous conditions (a parking garage?? or MechaCon that year there were no lights????), how often guests or staff were incredibly rude.. and honestly I just get really angry about the way cons are for artists. I wish I'd tried to start a union or something. Instead I just walked away. And then as for growing past the need for it, yeah definitely. But it's more like, I was able to grow because I let go of them. I actually knew I needed to stop doing cons like 2ish years before I did. I knew the churn was keeping me from reaching the next level, I was always recovering from a con or preparing for a con or dying at a con. But it was so hard to jump out from that cycle because I always needed the money from the next con. I'm really not even sure how I escaped, but I'm very glad I did. Definitely won't go back to that life. (There were, of course, some good times too. Like I got to meet James Marsters and Cary Elwes. Sometimes I was living the dream!) ᴾˢ ᴱᴰᴵᵀ ᴬˢᵏ ᵐᵉ ᵃᵇᵒᵘᵗ ᴶᵘᵍᵍᵃˡᵒ ᶜʰᵘʳᶜʰ ᶜᵒⁿ

#wow yeah this is a lot #i could sure go on #it's not an easy life and i wouldn't want to go back to it #like i said before maybe if i were invited as a guest #but i will not pay to be hundreds to be mistreated at an artist alley table anymore #all of my support to those that still do it though #you're stronger than me that's for sure #ask #witch vamp #cons #convention #reply

[blessyourhondahurley]

Stronger Than Any Spell

Dean and Cas have widely differing opinions on a movie.(Warning for both men getting a bit triggered around past trauma...)

Suptober prompt: Enchanted Flufftober prompt: Love Language Fictober prompt: "It’s my name on the line." Inktober prompt: Crabby

(Read on AO3)

“Dean, please don't be crabby about this with me,” Cas pleaded.

“I'm not being crabby,” Dean replied crabbily. “I just don't understand why you would want to get up and walk out in the middle like that. It's a good flick, man. I thought you'd be into it. If my movie recommendations are that far off base, well, it's kinda like it's my name on the line, y'know?”

~~~~~

Movie night had started the way it always did: with Dean unilaterally deciding which film they'd be watching.

“Tonight I'm showing you Ella Enchanted. I know it's not our usual kind of thing, but with Sammy out of the Bunker I figure we can watch one of my more, uh, offbeat favorites. You need to promise to never tell him about this, though, okay? Okay. Anyway, yeah, it's like a fairy tale or whatever, but it's funny, and there's a good soundtrack. Plus it's got Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy and Vivica A. Fox and Cary Elwes and Minnie Driver in it, which, mmm, that is a buffet right there...”

He'd continued to orate in this manner for several more minutes. Cas had tuned him out and used the time to mentally plan their grocery list for the coming week, as usual. Dean always had much to say about any given movie, to the point that he'd seem to be trying to convince Cas to like it ahead of time. Regardless of Dean's powers of verbal persuasion, though, they'd be watching this movie tonight anyway, and Cas preferred to avoid “spoilers” beforehand.

Finally, Dean's speech had trailed off, and he'd hit Play on the remote. Cas had settled in next to him and relaxed, content to let the story unfold.

This story, however, had unfolded in a rather upsetting manner. The Fae custom of giving magical gifts to certain high-born infants rang true to his experience. But the fact that the poor child was placed under an onus of obedience had made him itch a bit, metaphorically speaking. As the film had continued, and it became clear that the story hinged on a pair of lovers kept apart by, essentially, mind control, Cas had started to feel nauseated and a bit weepy. Unable to abide these feelings, but not wanting to disturb Dean's enjoyment, he'd assumed a quick retreat to be the correct course of action.

No sooner had he stood, though, than Dean had stopped the movie and stood with him, his face contorted with worry.

~~~~~

“I don't get it, sunshine,” Dean wheedled. “I thought you liked movie night.”

“Dean, you know I do,” Cas replied. “Quality time is my 'love language' just as much as it is yours.”

“Then where are you going??” There was a note to his voice, an edge of panic. Belatedly, Cas realized that his abrupt attempt at departure had been as triggering for Dean as the movie had been for him. He decided that perhaps it was time to begin airing some of their old wounds.

“I feel... Uncomfortable... With the 'enforced obedience' aspect of this plot. The fact that Ella is being controlled, prevented from acting as she wishes with the man she loves due to external forces... You could say it hits a little too close to home.” He looked at his boyfriend beseechingly, willing him to understand.

After a moment, Dean did. “Oh... Oh, shit. Uh. Oops. I didn't connect those dots when I picked this movie. I'm so sorry, baby.” Dean stepped closer to him, and they wrapped their arms around each other.

“It's alright Dean, you can't be expected to anticipate my reaction to every stimulus. For my part, I did not realize in the moment that it would be upsetting to you if I were to leave suddenly.” Pressed chest to chest as they were, Cas could feel their racing hearts starting to slow as they each calmed from their respective trauma response.

“Guess we've both still got a lot of baggage, huh?” Dean murmured in his ear.

“We do. At least we can help each other in carrying it.”

“I like that, sweetheart.” Dean chuckled and pecked him on the cheek. “Well, I think this movie night is a bust. Here, let me just skip to the end. There's a dance number that I know you're gonna love.”

#suptober22 #flufftober2022 #fictober22 #destiel #supernatural #day 10

[huggybearsunshine]

Fewer Things 6

[Part 6] Dean is dealing with a lot and Cas is just happy to be there for him.

When Dean came out of his room again, he was alone in the hallway, grateful for this small mercy. He went to the kitchen, piling his arms up with beer and popcorn before heading to the cave. Surprisingly though, Cas was the only one there.

“Sam got a video call from Eileen,” Cas filled him in as if reading his thoughts, “He said we could start without him.”

“Oh, he’ll miss half the movie then,” Dean couldn’t help but smirk at that.

Then a silence settled that let him know Cas had something stewing in his mind, and sure enough…

“Dean, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier-“

“No, Cas, you didn’t do anything wrong,” he sighed, setting the drinks and popcorn bowl on the side table, “I’m just… don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

“I always worry about you,” Dean’s eyes shot up at the sincerity in the other man’s voice and were instantly locked in place there.

“Cas…” he softened and his lips parted as if to speak, but the former Angel’s eyes rose over his shoulder, and Dean had to swallow the lump that had grown within his throat.

Sam walked passed him, still staring down at the phone in his hand, clothed in flannel pajama pants and a sweater.

He had a twizler hanging from his lips that he was absentmindedly chewing on when his gaze finally rose toward the others.

“Eileen had to run… break in the case,” he flopped into a chair, “What are we watching?”

“Cas can choose,” Dean rubbed the back of his neck, pulling three bottles from the pack of beer and nearing the others.

The former Angel looked nervous until a thought seemed to cross his mind.

“Actually there’s something I’ve been wanting to see since Metatron imbued me with his media knowledge…” Cas’ brow creased thoughtfully, “I believe it’s called the Princess Bride..? I know it has Princess in the title, but-“

“No, that’s good,” Dean’s lip tugged upward as he fell into the seat next to him, “Princess Bride always get a pass.”

This seemed to please Cas, and though Sam would normally tease Dean about only liking the movie because he had a crush on Cary Elwes, he thankfully kept his comments to himself.

“Sammy, get the lights!” the elder Winchester called out even though he was plenty close to him to be heard at a normal volume.

“On it,” Sam’s voice strained as he pushed his body up from the chair and moved toward the switch.

They were submerged in darkness with a loud click until the tv came to life and offered a softer glow to the room.

Dean found the movie with ease and pressed play.

What he wasn’t prepared for though was the way his own eyes decided to betray him.

He couldn’t keep them on the screen, as watching Cas’ face seemed to be all they were willing to do.

A smile began to creep up the former celestial’s face after a while, indicating he was more than aware of the other man’s attention.

The only thing that seemed to distract him was the sudden onset of Sam snoring to his left about an hour into the film.

Both green and blue eyes darted over and Cas’ expression softened when Dean turned to him again.

“He’s kinda been taking care of everyone,” he explained, “I should…”

He motioned over his shoulder and Cas nodded sweetly.

“Hey,” Dean’s voice took on a tone Cas rarely heard in it, a sort of gentle and parental sound to the words, “Sammy, come on,” he patted the bigger man’s knee like he was a kid again, a sudden desire to caregive, “You’re snoring and drowning out the whole movie.”

“Like you were even watching it,” his brother’s groggy voice grumbled out.

Dean’s throat went dry, but he tried to play it off, “Apparently more than you were- now come on, man…”

“Okay,” he sighed back and his eyes finally cracked open, “I’m going, I’m going…”

He stood with Dean’s help and shuffled along on his way down the hall, but with his parting words and descending form, Dean found it hard to turn around again.

Then the sound on the screen went quiet and curiosity forced him back.

He found the tv paused and blue eyes locked on him when he did.

“Sorry,” he found himself voicing, uncertain of exactly why.

“It’s fine, Dean… I didn’t know if you wanted to take a break…” Cas responded softly.

“No, I wanna keep doing this…” Dean replied a little shyly, “This is… this is perfect.”

“Okay,” Cas nodded and settled back in, “Could I have some more popcorn?”

Dean’s lips tilted up, the blue light from the screen catching on his features in a way that softened them even more.

“Yeah,” he nodded, picking the bowl up off the floor and heading out of the room to make more, “Be right back.”

The hunter neared the kitchen and felt his eyes welling up, for seemingly no reason, but there they were. Tears stinging the edges of his eyes and bottom lip quivering against the top.

By the time his hand found the counter, it was shaking and his knees gave out.

Crouched on the floor and still clinging to the counter, a sob wretched it’s way out of him, loud and wet and clawing.

Then after minutes or hours, he really wasn’t sure, he felt it. A hand gripped his shoulder, bringing back the sound and feel of the room around him and grounding him there once again.

His hand grabbed at the one that brought him back and felt it close around his in response.

Then the other man knelt behind him, legs kicking out until he was sat on the floor. Cas tugged and Dean went, pulled into his arms. It felt like fire and ice all at the same time. It was too much, and after only a moment of indulgence, he ripped himself away.

Stumbling onto his weak legs, he felt his whole body scream for him to run, but it wouldn’t. Nothing would move an inch.

He just stayed there, standing over him as they stared into each other’s eyes.

Eventually his mind calmed, and he reached out.

“Sorry, Cas,” he welcomed the former Angel’s fingers as they slid between his, and pulled him up.

“Dean, are you-?”

“I’m okay,” he nodded, wiping his face with his free hand.

He bent to pick up the bowl and laughed a bit at himself before waving it between them.

“Popcorn…” he commented as if nothing had happened, “We’re almost at my favorite part of the movie. You want another beer? I need another beer.”

“Okay,” Cas replied softly, looking so confused.

“Good,” Dean nodded, unable to explain away his concern.

So he ignored it, and Cas seemed okay with letting it go for now too.

Dean would’ve given him the world for that.

Minutes later, they found themselves headed back for the abandoned room, side by side and shoulders bumping.

Dean’s focus drew to his side and he noticed it for the first time since Cas’ return.

His posture was different.

He stood taller, shoulders back, and he had this self-assurance to him that hadn’t been there before.

Then a color caught his eye, pink spreading up Cas’ neck to his cheeks and behind his ears.

And it hit Dean that he was staring again, and Cas knew it.

His eyes must have just been trailing up the other man’s body in the most obvious way.

Suddenly self-conscious, he forced his gaze ahead as they reached the door.

“After you,” he remarked, cringing after he said it.

“Why am I being so weird?” his thoughts chastised him, “Just be fucking normal.”

But he wasn’t sure normal was an option anymore or what that even was.

———————

@destiel-wings @destieliscanon5nov

#dean winchester #castiel #sam winchester #eileen leahy mentioned #castiel x dean #destiel #destiel fanfic #destiel fic #spn #supernatural #the empty #castiel is saved #confident castiel #soft dean #supportive sam winchester #winchester movie night #dean has ptsd #Dean is bad at feelings #post series #prequel series #the few things

[magikborn]

welcome to london, WESTLEY ROBERTS! did anyone ever tell you that you look just like CARY ELWES? well, no matter, we hear that you are 29 and working as a FISHERMEN. we also hear that you currently DON’T have your memories from PRINCESS BRIDE and have a tendency to be CHARMING as well as SMARTMOUTHED.

name: westley roberts

aliases: westley Roberts, dread Pirate Roberts

birthday: April 22nd 

age: 29

occupation: fishermen

sexual orientation: biromantic (no lean) / demi - sexual

pronouns: he / him

abilities: none

I, Felix Raymond Ryan, of Boodle, outside Liverpool, now dub thee, Westley, the Dread Pirate Roberts. All we need is to land, take on some new young pirates. I will sail along for a few days as Ryan, your first mate, and will tell everyone about my years with you, the Dread Pirate Roberts. Then you will let me off when they are all believers, and the waters of the world are yours.' - Felix Raymond Ryan to Westley.

While it was thought that Westley had been killed, his life had been spared by the pirate after pleading that he keep him alive. Roberts asked why, after which Westley explained his deep love and affection for Buttercup.This intrigued Roberts, so he proposed a deal. Westley became his valet, since that was something Roberts had never had but wanted, and, in exchange, Roberts kept him alive, saying every night, "Goodnight, Westley. Good work, sleep well, I'll most likely kill you in the morning."

Westley learned to "fence, fight, anything" anyone on board would teach him, and eventually, he and Roberts became friends. Three years after Westley's capture, Roberts had grown so rich that he wanted to retire. Knowing that he could trust Westley, he brought him to his cabin. He told him his wishes and then revealed a secret: "I am not Roberts. My real name is Ryan, and I inherited this ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, who was not Roberts either. His name was Cummerbund. The real Roberts had been retired for over 15 years, and living like a king in Patagonia." Ryan then explained that the name Dread Pirate Roberts was the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear because no one would surrender to "the Dread Pirate Westley." So, they sailed ashore, assigned an entirely new crew, and Ryan took up the position of first mate, all the time calling Westley "Roberts." Once the crew believed, he left the ship, and Westley had been the Dread Pirate Roberts ever since.

The day before he was supposed to rescue Buttercup, he woke in London and settled as a fisherman with no memories of his life before.

#wal: intro #⤷ westley roberts. // info #; bio

[campmurderparty]

emmylou & miguel.

Emmylou was ecstatic that miguel seemed to like her gift. Just finding him reading it, even if he ended up hating it, was enough to satisfy. She was beaming like she was on stage, guitar in hand. With the state of the world, maybe she should be glad there was still something to be happy about. Her mother always chided her, telling her daughter not to get her self-esteem from the approval of men, only to turn around and do the exact same thing she warned her daughter again. (fat lot of good it did for either of them.) hopefully, this was a situation where that would be okay, being so happy that he was reading the book that she gifted him. Settling next to him, she leaned against the bannister and folded her arms comfortably around her waist.

“A few times before. Cary elwes was such a heartthrob to little me–he’s in the movie–so that helped it to stay in mind. All the other girls were into jtt or garth brooks but i was all about the dread pirate roberts!” like most of their conversations, emmylou started off on one topic and then moved onto another without a beat. It was her conversation partner’s responsibility to keep up with her. If they got lost, that was their own fault. In emmy’s opinion, anyway. Her volubility was a defined, recognized trait that sometimes got her into trouble, but mostly earned everyone’s ire. She had been a chatterbox all her life and she had grown used to people thinking she was annoying. She was used to people telling her to shut up and then continue on talking anyway, ignoring them. That’s what she liked about miguel–he never made her feel stupid or unwanted. It was kind of like talking to a wall, even if it was impolite to think that. A wall that let her say whatever she wanted and responded if he felt like it, but usually just listened.

A customer once told her about a stinking flower that blooms once a year for a few days at a time. That it was so special because it gave off a decayed stench and stuck around for a brief amount of time, which made it incredibly rare and a beautiful thing to see, despite the smell. The customer told emmylou about it and she thought it was the opposite. How horrible it would be to only be known for your odor and how short you lived. Sighing, emmylou looked down the staircase, unsure why she thought of that customer in that moment, but she thought maybe it had to do with miguel. How he only showed a passion for life in rare glimpses. How he only seemed to light up when bill was around. Despite their numerous conversations, she still knew so little about him, and that made her sort of sad. That was why she stuck around, even after he subtly rejected her romantic advances. She wanted to see him bloom.

“Well, i don’t want to keep you from readin’, i just wanted to check on ya.” emmy tore her gaze away from the lower lever, turning her attention back to miguel. Then an idea suddenly popped into her head. “Actually, i wanted to see if you were willing to plan somethin’ with me. Maybe… i don’t know, a talent show? For the casino? Just somethin’ to get our spirits up or, i don’t know, promote unity…” there was a little selfish need to show off her own singing, but maybe it would help lighten the mood. Ever since becks let the californians in, tensions were still steadily rising. She feared something bad might happen. “What do you think?”

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (McQuarrie, 2023)

I view these movies mostly as set piece machines*, and there are number of pretty fun ones here, including a surveillance-assisted foot chase through an airport, a car chase where characters are handcuffed together that may or may not be an extended women drivers joke, a dangerous looking skydiving stunt that's unfortunately been spoiled by the promotional materials, a vertical climb through some falling train cars. I don't think any of these are quite as good as the helicopter climax from the sixth movie or the Burj Khalifa wall climb from the fourth movie, and the special effects seemed more obvious this time than in previous entries, but there is a fundamental sturdiness here, of intricate setups** and complication-prone execution, depicted with cleanness and assurance. Christopher McQuarrie in his earlier directorial efforts struck me as someone who gets the nuts and bolts of good action sequences, and he's turned out to be a good match for the complex, large scale set pieces that define this series. There is something a little breathtaking about the way he lets the camera just observe a truly formidable stunt, especially if you see it on the biggest screen you can. I am not in love with the runtime, especially as it's only first half of this particular story, but all in all I had quite a good time. I am less moved when these movies try to make me care about the hero's emotions, but whatever, I like seeing Tom Cruise onscreen.

Like with Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise has finally started to show his age, even if his refusal to have done so for so many years seemingly through willpower (and whatever sinister scientific advances a man of his means has access to) seems part of his characters in both series. This movie somewhat softens the blow by casting him alongside a bunch of actors whose age is more obvious, like Henry Czerny, the king playing of untrustworthy bureacrats***; silver fox Esai Morales, who as big a laugh out of me with a weird line reading as any of the actual jokes; Cary Elwes, who gives Czerny competition in the untrustworthy bureacrat department; and Shea Wigham, who brings some real "too old for this shit" Danny Glover energy. I guess Ving Rhames is old too, but he's looked exactly the same since the mid-90s so he doesn't count. In any case, it's always nice to see him and his little pork pie hat, and Simon Pegg doing his thing, and I guess they got rid of Jeremy Renner, and I wish there was more Rebecca Ferguson, who's been a highlight of the series since she was introduced as a deviously sexy assassin in the fifth movie, devious because one cannot be all that good at spycraft without a bit of cunning. As far as new cast members go, Hayley Atwell turns out to be a great addition, with whom Cruise has more chemistry than he's had with any female co-star in... a while.

Like Maverick, this is a throwback in pretty overt ways, taking the affect of Cold War geopolitics (Russian submarines, CIA shenanigans) and stripping them of overt jingoism. The enemy this time around is an AI, which many of the parties involved foolishly believe they can control but Cruise and friends know better.**** Blockbusters certainly have had technophobic worldviews in the past (you can go back to at least Terminator 2, which used state of the art special effects to warn of the dangers of misusing technology, and lots of other examples I'm too lazy to think up), but as Cruise is one of the last remaining stars on whose name a movie can be sold, and the recent push by studios to use AI to replace the creatives in the creative process, there is a certain potency in the material. And given that Cruise's movies are now about him as a star as about whatever their plots consist of, certain elements, particularly the handling of the female characters, is certainly interesting in light of his offscreen exploits. In fact, in that scene where's he's handcuffed to Hayley Atwell as they're being chased by more and more pursuers, you could argue that the pursuers represent the paparazzi hounding him for sordid details about his personal life or just the outside world poking their noses into the Church of Scientology's affairs and that Atwell represents the real life wife with whom he's very much in a Real Loving Marriage with and who totally doesn't want to run away and... Okay, okay, I'll stop now.

*I hold that the second movie, often cited as the series' worst, is actually pretty good, while the better liked third movie is definitely the worst (and the only bad movie in the series) for the simple reason that John Woo is good at directing action and J.J. Abrams is not.

**The movie often flirts with self-parody in its expository scenes, the camera whipping about, cutting quickly as either Ving Rhames or Simon Pegg explain all the details, the former with glee, the latter with worry. There's even a good fakeout where Hayley Atwell imagines her future as an IMF agent and the improbably plan she has to help execute. If you're gonna dump a lot of info on the audience, you might as well have fun doing it.

***Czerny got some of the biggest laughs in my screening when he explained what IMF stood for.

****If I were Cruise, I would have just destroyed the key to the AI, but then the movie would have been five minutes long instead of almost three hours for just part one of two.

#film #movie review #mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one #christopher mcquarrie #the movies are back! #you cruise you lose