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rhymingteelookatme · 3 years

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The Dolls of New Albion 2014 review

Production details: Clockwork Hart Productions, presented at Corpus Christi Auditorium, Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford.

~First of all, I know a low-budget production when I see one; I’ve been in a fair few myself. I have all the sympathies. I do feel they made the most of what they had vis-à-vis set pieces, lighting, etc.

~I loved the costume design, by and large, with only one exception: the opening ensemble outfits. The actors appeared to be cosplaying as Annabel’s notes. It was mean of me to laugh, I know; thank god they couldn’t hear me.

~Deeply appreciate the visual signal of actors portraying dolls by putting a line of buttons straight down the center of each of their costumes.

~Give it up for our own Ben Below on the drums and accordion!

~The Narrator is engaging without being ostentatious. And, oddly, she is also barefoot. They must keep that stage very well swept indeed.

~Act-by-act notes under the cut.

Act I

~Annabel had the acting down, if not always the singing. She was charming and I enjoyed her portrayal so very much. That’s a face to win hearts on sight.

~The dual portrayal of Jasper in Act I- the dancer as his soul, the singer as him in the doll- excellent choice, excellent. Doesn’t hurt that dancer!Jasper is so skilled. Those legs! For days I tell you! And then we hear the singer hit the perfect reedy timbre to portray the doll’s radio “voice”, and I was completely sold.

~Jasper’s makeup design: also excellent. Really hits the center of the Venn diagram between ventriloquist dummy, the emcee from Cabaret and the Somnambulist from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Eerie and sympathetic and compelling. Those little bee-sting lips! Love that! Not to mention that neat triangle design beside his left eye, which also manages to look like a skewed capital A. Annabel bby you wanted him to be your angel so much, I’m so sorry.

~The dancers during “Annabel Has A Doll” are the perfect expression of Annabel’s mood during the bulk of that number.

~It was certainly a choice to depict the destruction of Jasper’s initial doll body via the ensemble-as-notes snapping his neck.

Act II

~What’s it time for? That’s right, it’s time for OUR OWN TIM LEDSAM AS EDGAR, WHAT WHAAAT!

~He looks so good. So good! Again, I’m sure they’re glad I wasn’t there, as I would have been barely able to contain my squees the instant he came onstage at the top of the show. Now here he is with his goggles and his hair all neatly braided back and his snazzy pinstripe SUIT, oh my GOD-

~Of course I took pictures. I’ll be posting those separately. They’re kinda fuzzy screencaps but I will Take what I can Get!

~Ah yes, the restaurant song, for which my note reads “TIM MY BOY WE DINE AT CHEZ REHEARSAL BOX.” Again, I fully recognize the limited budget here, but something about that damn rehearsal box wrapped in black tablecloth is just so funny and I’m so sorry.

~Very good choice of Fay; she acts the part well, and as a bonus her voice sounds v. nice with our Tim’s.

~His face, his face, I know he’s merely portraying his heartbreak in stellar fashion but it breaks our hearts to watch.

~Oh look, it’s the return of dancer!Jasper, along with what seems to be dancer!Annabel, during “The Old Trunk in the Attic.” I like that choice a whole lot! It works well with the ghostly melody.

~Tim finds a fur-collared coat in the said trunk, not only Annabel’s notes. Yes! Add that bulk to your shoulders, that’ll show you’re a Snappy Entrepreneur.

~”Edgar Builds A Business” is so well staged: Tim standing on the rehearsal box that was our erstwhile restaurant table, whilst three dancers perform as dolls around him. He has an excellent air throughout of that false self-deprecation that can so greatly aid salesmanship.

~Then of course we come to the deeply skeevy coercion of Fay, for which the box becomes a table once again. Loooove the way Tim/Edgar arranges the bottle, glasses and chairs just so.

~Dang, Fay, slugging right from the bottle. She’s got the fire.

Act III

~Three words: Byron’s leather pants.

~we LOVE those leather pants, they are sending me beyond space and time

~I spy those stripy Sally-esque socks on Amelia. I see what you’re doing there, costumer. And then they even have her do the left-hand-clutching-right-forearm pose during “The Movement 2.” Oh yes, I see what we’re doing here.

~Byron really has the spirit, well done that man. The foolish grandstanding in his speeches, the barely-contained inner torment over his hopeless love for our unfortunate doll.

~Don’t think you can hide our Tim from me, I see him in the ensemble. Got a shot or two of him here as well.

~The general look of the Voodoopunk costumes is, again, a Choice. I will say that the silvery circle pendants indicating membership in the cult sometimes sit confusingly with the buttons on the dolls. I also wonder whether the cast members were given some free reign to choose their own costumes for this act. Visually they do all mostly hang together.

~Did we mention dancer!Jasper’s unhinged shoulders? He has those. It’s incredible.

~”Elysium” staging was a beautiful thing: doll!Jasper gets to move freely as the rest of the cast remain frozen, staring at the spot from whence he begins and ends the song. Note how he pays attention particularly to Amelia. Also, at some point he’s acquired gold eyeshadow, and it really accentuates those soulful eyes.

~What’s this? Why it’s a lightning fast appearance of Tim as Amelia’s horrible father during her last number. An unexpected bonus for we Mech fans.

~Said final number ends with Amelia up on the infamous rehearsal box, one arm raised, falling backwards into the arms of a select few ensemble members. Unclear whether this is meant to depict hanging or a deliberate casting herself out the window.

~Slightly underwhelmed by “Bonfire of the Dolls” and Byron’s performance therein. However, I do like the dance in the red spotlight to cover the rest of the cast as they flee offstage to change costumes for the final act.

Interlude

~Oh, I know, I know, this could have been a perfect Jonny song.

~The Narrator has been shedding costume elements throughout the show; she now appears in the core of her costume—that is, her pants, white shirt, necklace, and omnipresent off-center head goggles.

~Love to watch those dancers whirl round and round to the accordion refrain. Although I do question having them keep it up for the duration of the number, considering that the Gambler (hi, Fay’s actress) and Monk are sat on the floor. Could we not have moved the rehearsal boxes further downstage? Let them sit on those?

Act IV

~Priscilla is very sweet in a desaturated green floral dress. Then she opens her mouth and she sings just as sweetly as she looks. A feat, considering that she and Jasper are also on the ground with their own eternal card game. It’s not the easiest position to sing in, let’s put it that way.

~The soldiers’ white full-face masks are extremely creepy; a fantastic design choice. However, it is odd that only Soldier 7285 gets a snappy hat to go with his costume. I suppose hats wouldn’t stay on with the masks.

~There is a tendency, and I fully recognize this in my own attempts at casting, to assume that it’s not important if Soldier 7285 isn’t the strongest or most in-tune singer. This could not be further from the truth. He gets the final emotional punch of the show; he needs to be every bit as good as our other named characters.

~Dancer!Jasper returns, this time with a dancer!Priscilla, during the actual P & J’s first duet. This is some good stuff, but I did find it a bit distracting, despite the clear intent to have the choreography reflect the content of the lyrics. It would perhaps have been better to have them accompany “Priscilla Contemplates.”

~Instead, a few ensemble members come on to gesture rhythmically to our final heroine’s solo. However, Tim is among them, so I am pleased to watch him.

~The soldiers are miming their weapons, which I suspect was deliberate rather than a mere lack of funds.

~Oh, it’s the return of the neck snap to send our poor Jasper finally back to the afterlife. And he has an excellent death pose. Priscilla, meanwhile, gets gunned down in a hail of invisible bullets. This is realistically excessive.

~Again, I feel terrible for laughing, but the way the other soldiers leave the stage one by one so that 7285 can have his big solo moment strikes me funny.

--And then it’s bows time, and I cheered wildly for our Tim and Ben, and I had a marvelous time overall!

#The Dolls of New Albion #long post #suicide mention #Tim Ledsam #Ben Below #The Mechanisms #reviews #uh-oh Theater Kid Rhymingtee is out in full force #i revel in minutiae

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captainshazamerica · 3 years

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The redhood nightwing fight scenes look like they're gonna be dope af like thats all I'm thinking about how awesome the fight scenes are (hopefully) gonna be (I'm already finding it difficult to see this jason as redhood cuz he's like literally a child but I dunno what age he redhooded in the comics so??)

I had no idea tim was even gonna be in it !?! Can I please get some kind of recognition from the batboys that they actually view each other as brothers and family! 😢

Someone needs to kill the joker It'd be kinda interesting if old bruce killed joker and it'd be nice if that was the last thing he did as batman buuuttt then again it'd be a nice touch if dick killed joker for jason, it would personally be disappointing if joker was just let live not gonna lie i really want bruce to kill him and that be the reason he gives up being batman because he failed to protect jason and then he broke his no killing thing so he just hangs up the cape

we are getting FEAR TOXIN yassssss cue awesome nightmare ish fearscapes (no idea if that's an actual word but that's what I call when you get to see everyone's fear hallucination)

Kory I love you, I do ship dickkory however I feel like she's too good for dick and should marry me instead lol I wanna see how donna is still alive? and I know there's people who are like ughh hank dawn go away already but I really freakin like hank and dawn as characters even though their suits are ridiculous did they break up last season I can't remember? Hank needs a break poor man someone give him a blanket and a hug and let him sit the fuck down everybody leave hank alone

That line where babs is like don't try be your father and dick is like excuse me what you saying there Commissioner Gordon, that will never not be funny 😅😅😅

I ain't in love with this show it has so much potential it could be so lit but I do like it anndd they got suits now whoop!

Wait is this my previous Titans anon? (The one where we ranted about Jason, or the one thinking they hadn’t seen S2 but went to watch it and realized they had? Or are you the same person? xD )And if so are you the same one who asked for the comic and fic recs? Just wondering in terms of if I’m talking to one person or not hahaha

But ahh I got so excited when I saw I got an ask about this 😍

Omg the nightwing red hood fight already got me so stressed lol. It looks great but ahh angst! But I think Jason is like 19ish in most versions when he comes back? Though tbh I forgot what age Jason is in this , I’ll have to see when i rewatch it soon. Curran, the actor, is actually 23, he just looks super young/short. He got pretty buff though. But yeah, that is an unfortunate thing wi the them rushing it already but also, I’d rather have it like this than if they were gonna spread it out through the seasons then it gets cancelled or something (poor Gotham s5, RIP). I think he was the PERFECT robin jason Todd though. Like I love his acting and portrayal of Jason(“Titans are back bitches!” classic Jason), he just is young looking and short. Gosh I still wanna know if they are going with the Lazarus pit for Jason or not! But like that also begs the question of whether they are doing a time skip cause normally Jason is dead for like 2-3ish years, but it doesn’t look like it from the trailer.

And yes, I’ve been looking forwards to Tim!!! While the trailer didn’t show it, the actor was on set a lot over these last couple of months (I’ve been keeping up with their instagrams xD) and seemed super close with the cast! I can’t believe the first look we got if Tim was him nearly crying, though that look already won me over, I love him and he is my son now. But RIGHT! That’s all I want, is the bat bros platonic love, gosh dang it😭 that’s all we want DC😭

BRO! OLD MAN BRUCE KILLING JOKER WOULD BE FREAKING PERFECT. Dang it! Now I’m gonna be so disappointed if that doesn’t happen 🤣gosh it would be perfect, and normally I would be like it’s Bruce, they would never do that, BUT, this show does that kind of “edgy” stuff anyway so if it’s ever gonna happen(without the Batman who Laughs plot line happening(which would make a perfect dc animated movie btw)), it would happen in this show, especially with what was shown in the trailer with him giving Batman up. Man, now my hopes are up for that xD though I wouldn’t mind if Dick killed him. I would be shocked though if they had the balls to actually kill off joker though, dc seems to refuse to do that :/

Omg I squealed at the scarecrow part omg. Dr freaking Crane is a big reason I spiraled down this entire fandom tbh. Like literally a year ago I got obsessed with him for some reason and that led into the Bat hole where I am currently WAY deeper than I ever would have thought 😂 and while I’m not hyper fixated on him anymore, I still love him so much and is my 2nd fav rogue, and it mainly started with Jonathan 🥺 we barely even see his face and I am already in love with the casting, the voice is perfect. And I LOVE when villains have to help the heroes, that is like one of my fav tropes ever omg, I was really hoping they were gonna do that to him. I hope he is in it for more than one episode tho. And oh lordy, like those poor Titans need even more trauma in their lives and now fear gas is in the equation. Oh no, I bet poor Gar is gonna get hit cause they just love to torture that poor boy. And tbh I hope the fearscapes(perfect word for it) will be better than most of the Gotham ones, those seemed a tad cheesy tbh

Lmao about you and kory😂 she is too good for him, but also, this Dick needs someone who can kick his ass and get his head out of his martyr butt 😂 tho tbh, I’m still not fully sold on Dickkory, Like I don’t hate it but I don’t LOVE it in many versions, like they can be cute but no strong feelings, the Original Teen Titans cartoon is like the only exception, I def ship those 2

Omg I low key forgot Donna “died”😂🤦🏻‍♀️ I feel like I knew it wouldn’t last so it didn’t have a big impact on me lol. Like I had/have a feel raven is gonna bring her back. I wanna know what happened to Rose/Joey! Like are they not gonna be in it at all? Especially with Jason going off the deep end?!

Lmao, hawk and dove’s suits😂 I think they did break up, I’ve only seen the series once through tbh, planning to rewatch before S3 tho(and try to force my mom to watch it tho she is convinced everything DC is too dark for her lmao), yeah, I don’t mind them, like I don’t want the focus on them but like they deserve to be happy/need a break, omg yes! That boy needs to be wrapped in a blanket and given a break, that grumpy boy is TIRED. Let him rest!

Lmao! That babs line is so great😂

I’m just so excited for all this live action Batfam content, considering the live action movies NEVER give us Batfam 😭(we aren’t talking about the 80’s/90’s live action robin lmao)

Also so sorry this was so long 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️

#long post #Titans #titans season 3 #Titans S3 #Titans speculation #speculation #predictions #Meredith gets an ask #anon #ask #asks #Jason Todd

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michelles-garden-of-evil · 3 years

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Ian Martin’s Strange Paradise, Part II: The Top 5 Worst Things

Last week, I listed my top five favorite things about the first 44 episodes of Strange Paradise, when Ian Martin was headwriter and when the show had a very different feel to it than in the final four weeks of the Maljardin arc. But no creative work is perfect, and, despite my fondness for this show, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think that the writing for early Maljardin had several glaring flaws. Unlike Danny Horn, I don’t think that Ron Sproat was a better writer than Martin (actually, I consider Sproat the worst writer on SP), but that doesn’t mean that I don’t also feel that his writing needed some improvement. Note that this entry is specifically about the writing during this period, so things outside his creative control (e.g. the Conjure Man’s questionable casting) will be excluded from the list.

That said, here are my top five least favorite things about the writing in the first nine weeks of Strange Paradise:

5. Cheesy dialogue

More specifically, (1) bad jokes and (2) slang that was already outdated when these episodes originally aired in 1969. This one is #5 because, while these lines are cheesy, I can’t hate them because most of them make me laugh. Even my personal least favorite of Jacques’ jokes, the “pose” line from Episode 18, is kind of funny in an ironic, anti-humor sort of way, like the dad jokes that have become fashionable in recent years. While there are some jokes in this show that I find genuinely funny--Elizabeth’s Song of Solomon joke, for instance, or “the lady doth detest too much”--most others are the epitome of cornball. Sometimes you hear both in the same episode: Episode 21 is loaded with Devil jokes/puns that would be unforgivably corny if Colin Fox didn’t possess enough charisma to sell them, and yet the same episode also features a genuinely hilarious double entendre. The good jokes sneak up on you, sometimes amidst a hurricane of bad ones.

As for the slang, some comments that I’ve read mention that it was largely out of date even in the late sixties. My good friend Steve (with whom I often discuss SP) has told me that “you might not be aware of how campy that slang sounded in 1969 since you obviously did not live through the Sixties--this happened with a lot of TV shows during that period, the most egregious examples being the various ‘evil druggie Hippie’ episodes of DRAGNET.” Apparently Martin became infamous for using outdated slang later on when he wrote for CBS Radio Mystery Theater, putting lines like “I dig a man who’s far-out!” and “I think bein’ around here’s gonna be kicks!” in the mouths of some of his younger characters. Even if he had used up-to-date slang, it most likely would have still aged poorly (as slang typically does), especially for generations born after phrases like “the most” and “making the ___ scene” fell out of use.

4. Slow pace and excessive repetition

This one is also low on the list, because slow pace and repetition weren’t flaws when the show originally aired, but instead have aged poorly because of advances in technology that made them unnecessary. Before the advent of the programmable VCR, you had to be able to catch the program you wanted to watch on time or have someone you knew catch it on time and record it--which, in 1969, would have meant an audio-only tape recording. This meant that only the most fortunate and/or most loyal viewers would have been able to watch Strange Paradise every day, making it necessary to recap all the major events in subsequent episodes for those who missed out. This is also likely the reason why early SP (like most soaps of the time) has a relatively slow pace: if too much happens in one episode, you have to recap more and the people who missed the big episode are more disappointed.

Nowadays, with DVRs, video streaming, and DVD sets--not to mention certain legally-questionable means--it’s nearly impossible to miss an episode of your favorite show (with few exceptions), making extensive recap largely obsolete. Screenwriters can cram as many plot points as they want into one episode and no longer have to write five episodes of the other characters reacting to the news if they don’t want to.

Even so, just because the constant recap served a function at the time doesn’t mean I have to like it. It gets annoying hearing the same plot points reiterated episode after episode. Like I said while reviewing Episode 21, “if someone were to remake this show for Netflix or another streaming service, they could safely ignore about 75 percent of the original scripts and condense the remaining 25 percent quite a bit without omitting anything important.”

And don’t even get me started on the lampshading of absent cast members, like in Episode 9 when Jean Paul and Quito wasted two minutes searching for Raxl just to slow the plot down. It’s nothing compared to Ron Sproat’s “we must search for Quito” filler episode in Desmond Hall (Episode 78), but still, those scenes were pointless.

3. Extreme artistic license with certain historical/cultural details

Although Ian Martin did a surprising amount of research on certain subjects for Strange Paradise, there are some subjects where he either didn’t do enough research, or (more likely) made extensive use of artistic license. The first one is his portrayal of Jacques’ wife Huaco as an Inca princess despite their marriage occurring over a century after the fall of the Inca Empire. I discussed this all the way back in Part II of my review of the pilot, where I invented the theory of Jacques traveling back in time to marry her, but other possible explanations include Huaco being a 17th-century descendant of Inca royalty (as the Quechua people are still alive today), extreme artistic license, and/or critical research failure. I don’t know if we would have eventually gotten a good explanation if Martin had continued writing the series, but we would need a damn good one for the approximate equivalent of having a 21st-century character marry the Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief and accept it considering that this is a fantasy series, but it still creates a lot of plot holes that need to be filled.[1]

Another example of artistic license about which I feel more ambivalent is the conflation of voodoo with the Aztec-inspired indigenous religion of Maljardin, which I’ve discussed before both in my Episode 23 review and Part I of this post series. I’m not sure if this is genius--religious syncretism is a real phenomenon throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, and some people today do syncretize the vodou Serpent God with Quetzalcoatl--or just an instance of Martin playing fast and loose with facts. I would like to think it’s the former, but it could just as easily be the latter (hence why I referenced it on both lists--I have mixed feelings about it).

2. Annoying inconsistencies

Does Raxl know that Jean Paul is possessed by Jacques Eloi des Mondes? Does Vangie? Why does Jacques’ portrait disappear in some episodes after he possesses Jean Paul, but not in others? All three of these things vary from episode to episode, and change annoyingly often as the plot demands. Steve and I have also discussed this subject in the past, and he believes that Martin used this device to make the story easier to follow; if that’s the case, it appears that he used Raxl and Vangie as audience surrogates, especially for new viewers or people who didn’t tune in every day. But surely there were other ways to do that without creating continuity errors? It may have served a function, but that doesn’t make it good writing. What Martin is essentially doing is filling and reopening the same plothole, episode after episode.

Regarding the portrait, I don’t know how much to blame Martin’s scripts for this inconsistency and how much to blame the directors, as I don’t have access to any SP scripts beyond the pilot script and the Vignettes. However, I’m going to assume that he’s at least partially to blame, because at least the pilot script mentions the disappearing portrait (which literally disappears in all three of the Paperback Library novels), Also, while none of the characters ever mention the portrait vanishing (unlike in the tie-in novels), some of his episodes have characters looking at it while Jacques is controlling Jean Paul and commenting on the uncanny resemblance. See also the diegesis tag for more discussion and analysis of the disappearing portrait.

1. Tim’s subplot

It should surprise none of my regular readers that Tim’s subplot is my #1 least favorite thing about the first nine weeks of Maljardin. I’ve already written an entire post about why I dislike this subplot, so I’ll keep my discussion of it here brief. Jean Paul saves the life of artist Tim Stanton when he hires him to paint Erica’s portrait, but then does nothing to make the commission easy for him--which is not a bad set-up for a plot in and of itself, but the execution is terrible. Tim chooses to use Holly as his model despite her barely resembling Erica, and Martin mostly uses their subsequent interactions to drive the old, tired, clichéd plot where two people who bicker and hate each other at first eventually fall in love (or at least he appears to be setting that up[2]). The payoff for the Holly portrait subplot finally occurs in Episode 33, but it’s underwhelming (not to mention barely recapped) and the already bland Tim quickly becomes a background character. In short, his subplot is a boring waste of time and should have either had more payoff or--preferably--been scrapped altogether.

That concludes my list of the worst things about Ian Martin’s Strange Paradise. Stay tuned for my review of Episode 45 within the next two weeks.

{<- Previous: The Top 5 Best Things }

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[1] Interestingly, there is a possible (if unlikely) historical explanation for Huaco’s sister Rahua having “skin as white as goat’s milk” and “hair like ripened wheat.” An early Spanish account of the Chachapoya people (aka Cloud People) of the Northern Andes describe them as “the whitest and most handsome of all the people that I have seen, and their wives were so beautiful that because of their gentleness, many of them deserved to be the Incas’ wives and to also be taken to the Sun Temple.” Assuming the Spanish account isn’t made up, this proves that reality is sometimes unrealistic.

[2] Thankfully, given the soap opera genre, it’s unlikely that Tim and Holly would have stayed together forever, even if they had eventually fallen in love during their painting-and-bickering sessions. Even so, that doesn’t make it a good subplot.

#strange paradise #ian martin #maljardin arc #review #analysis #arc review #list #bruce gray was a good actor but tim stanton is zzzzzzzzz #even jean paul agrees ;)

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loisinherlane · 3 years

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damian and cass!!!!

rimi i love you. you are a god among us mortals.

Damian Wayne

Sexuality Headcanon: Gay. I could take him as bi, but he’s not straight. He is, however, still young and figuring this out. Gender Headcanon: Trans boy. One of the many things he shares with Tim that he is not happy about sharing with Tim. I’ve also liked demiboy or other nb headcanons I’ve seen for him! In general, this baby’s got some Gender. A ship I have with said character: Jon Kent/Damian, but very specifically as adults, like waaaaay in the future. I’ve got Opinions. A BROTP I have with said character: Maps Mizoguchi! Maya Ducard! Colin Wilkes! Jon Kent! I also like Damian and anyone in the Batfam because my baby deserves all the attention. A NOTP I have with said character: So sorry to have to say this clearly, but all the Batfam ships. Disgosting. A random headcanon: Best Ending: Damian stops being involved in hero work to be a civilian. (He’s a veterinarian and runs an animal sanctuary with Jon Kent.) Good Ending: Damian stays involved in hero work with his family. Bad Ending: Damian goes back to the League of Assassins. Worst Ending: Damian goes back to the League of Assassins and is a villain. Note: I like Bad Endings sometimes, but it has to be done RIGHT. For an actual headcanon, he idolizes Cass the most of all his family, which is why he can get shy around her. He feels like he needs to live up to the example she seets. General Opinion over said character: He’s..... baby. I love him so much. I think his character development is fascinating, and he really does try so hard. I also love his friendships. Damian has friends as messed up as him who give him that Connection and friends who are normal enough to show him how to be a kid. Good boy.

Cassandra Cain

Sexuality Headcanon: Lesbian babey!!! Her het relationships are comp het. Gender Headcanon: Woman but not like hard woman. She does not think too hard about gender. A ship I have with said character: StephCass. My gorls... A BROTP I have with said character: StephCass again. Tim and Cass are cute too! Can’t forget Babs and Cass either. Their relationship is so special. A NOTP I have with said character: Repeating what I said about. Don’t ship the Batkids. (Stephanie is an exception because she is not one of Bruce’s kids.) A random headcanon: Cass’s body language reading ability allows her to know people’s sexualities and gender better than they can, sometimes, but this does not allow her to put it into words. Because these are things that are complcated and can change over time, everyone else’s lack of surety in their sexualities can confuse her about her own. (Is this... the premise of my soon-to-come fic, maybe? :3c) General Opinion over said character: I love her!!! I got super nervous reading her solo series because I was worried about their portrayal of her speech and language disorders. It’s not as bad as I thought, though I will acknowledge that it’s not perfect. Also she’s a lesbian. I said this above, but I can’t help thinking about how comp het her short-lived relationship with Kon was.

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writersblocktango · 5 years

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Fan-Casting the Batfam

So DC Titans has me super pumped and hopeful for the future of DC’s favorite family. In my opinion, they absolutely nailed casting Dick and I have great aspirations for their casting of Jason. But who else will fill in our favorites?? Here’s how I imagine it.

To remind you here’s Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson and Curran Walters as Jason Todd.

So there are our first two batsons, but what about the Bat himself? Now, I’m still holding out for Titans to unite with the DCEU, but should that not happen, I envision either Jason O’Mara or Thomas Gibson playing the caped crusader. They’re both exceptional intense actors and have both already voiced Batman in the cartoons. Who could be more perfect?

Next we have to cast the first of the Batgirls. Certainly no damsel in distress, Barabara “Babs” Gordon joined Batman’s side soon after Dick’s departure in the comics as the kickass sidekick Batgirl and later became her own heroine known as Oracle. Smart, driven, and fiery I see her being played by a quippy and quick-tongued Carson Young.

Next comes another fan-favorite member of the Batfam: Timothy Drake, Robin III. Now there was originally a huge campaign for Ryan Potter to play Tim, but for obvious reasons (hello Beastboy) that won’t be happening. But who will fill that spot? Tim is a genius and one of the first people to ever discover the identities of Batman and Robin I, and after the [[SPOILER] death of Jason Todd 😭], Tim approaches Bruce and asks to become the next Robin, realizing how much Batman needs Robin. Most importantly, Tim has to be wickedly smart and full of a dark dry sense of humor. He also struggles with severe anxiety, depression, and sleep deprivation, as well as a run in the comic books where he’s turned into a broken minion of the Joker, so whoever plays him will have to add a great deal of depth and nuance to the character. I imagine Cameron Boyce, Israel Broussard, or Froy Gutierrez as being equal to the task, and while I can see each of them bringing something special to the role I would admittedly like to see Israel Broussard (pictured center) take on the cowl most of all.

After Tim came Cassandra Cain, expert martial artist and all around lethal weapon. Raised with limited human contact with the sole intent of being formed into the worlds greatest assassin, she becomes a ward of Babs, at the behest of Bruce Wayne, after saving the life of Babs’ father, Commissioner Gordon. Cassandra soon becomes trained as the next Batgirl and later becomes her own interpretation, Black Bat. Cass is often quiet and somewhat aloof, not having a childhood, friends, or family before. Her portrayal will rely largely on physicality and body language. Depending on what age she’s meant to be portrayed as I can see Lana Condor, Arden Cho, or Jamie Chung taking on the role.

After Cassandra, the next person to join the Batfam was Stephanie Brown. Daughter of a Gotham criminal and villain, Cluemaster, Stephanie donned the alter ego of Spoiler to patrol and stop her father’s schemes. Deciding she likes her life as a crime fighter she continues patrolling and begins to connect with Robin III, Tim Drake. Later, at a point when Tim is away, she even dons the Robin suit basically demanding her way to Batman’s side as the first female Robin, and still fights even after Bruce demands she give it up. Stephanie embodies the perfect balance of style, joy, enthusiasm, fire, whit, and confidence. That being said, I imagine her as being played by Hunter King or Ellie Fanning.

Next we have the youngest member of the Batfam and another fan-fave, Damian Wayne. The only biological child of Bruce Wayne, Damian was born from an ill-advised tryst between Batman and, sometimes enemy/sometimes lover, Talia Al Ghul. Raised as the inheriting leader of the League of Assassins and only deposited at his father’s front door around age 10, it’s fair to say Damian has some pretty serious issues. He struggles with morality, compassion, self-control, boundaries and authority, but hey growing up is hard. It’s also important to note that for a while, after [[SPOILER]the supposed death of Bruce Wayne], Damian serves as a sidekick and almost as a son to Dick. Depending on what age they decide to go with I’d like to see Damian played by Robert Daniel Sloan, Ethan Andrew Castro, or Aidan Gallagher.

Later, after Damian mellows out a bit, Batman takes on another sidekick: Duke Thomas. One of the latest additions to the Batfam, Duke is one of many in Gotham to take up the role of Robin in the year that Batman goes missing. Bruce later brings Duke into the fray integrating him into Wayne Interprises during the day, and training him to patrol as the hero The Signal by night. While I can imagine lots of people bringing this well-meaning justice seeker to life, my favorite for the role is Alfred Enoch.

And finally, last but not least, we have the latest edition to the Batfam Harper Row aka Bluebird. A punkie Gotham engineering student, Harper feels eternally grateful to Batman after he protects her brother and herself from being assaulted in the streets. But how can he show this gratitude? By suiting up and joining him on the streets as the crime fighter Bluebird of course! Known for her purple hair and being a bit of a wild card, Harper is brilliant and talented but volatile, and effortlessly cool. I’d love to see her played by someone equally as awesome such as: Victoria Justice, Paris Berelc, or Sydney Park.

*BONUS ROUND*

We’ve already seen Wonder Girl, Donna Troy, in Titans and a few members of the Bat Family, but what about the Superman family? If we’re expanding the DC Universe and possibly setting up Young Justice they’re essential, so here are my casting ideas for Conner “Kon-El” Kent and Jonathan Kent.

Max Lloyd Jones as Connor Kent and Noah Schnapp as Jon Kent.

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weekendshowcase · 7 years

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Spider-Man Returns Home

by Antonio Garland

Spider-Man: Homecoming, the newest Spider-Man film, is properly titled as it symbolizes Spider-Man’s reunion with the other Marvel heroes since Marvel found its new home at Disney. Guess Disney and Sony finally broke bread with each other on how to share Spidey.

Without giving too much away, the film follows the events after Captain America: Civil War, with Peter Parker attempting to prove to Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, that he should be made a full-fledged Avenger. However, Mr. Stark isn’t as enthusiastic, especially with Parker still being a high school student and Stark dealing with his own business and affairs.

Off the bat this film gets points for not being another origin story. While this is technically another Spider-Man reboot, it doesn’t tell the same story of how Parker became Spider-Man. I mean we had two film series before that did it since 2002, so why should we have to do it all over again? Even before the film begins, Spidey is already an established character—not enough to be an Avenger, but enough to where people knows who he is.

Speaking of which, this Spider-Man is portrayed by actor Tom Holland. This portrayal is more lighthearted and adorkable compared to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions. Here he’s seen as an awkward teen still in high school with one close friend (portrayed by Jacob Batalon) and is a bit of a nerd with a crush on the hottest girl in school, Liz (portrayed by Laura Harrier). The love dynamic doesn’t really hit it as you could tell that she was much older than a high school student. Other characters include Zendaya’s character, who’s just sort of there, Tony Revolori as the designated school bully, and of course the typical Stan Lee cameo.

Another mandatory character was Aunt May, played by Marisa Tomei, whom I always personally thought was cute. Her version of Aunt May is much younger than other portrayals and is somewhat more relatable to Peter, being more of a mother than a grandmother. She really doesn’t appear too often; actually, the whole Uncle Ben story was only referenced once by Peter. This was a good thing since we all already know the story and by telling it again would have taken away from this movie’s main focus. Pretty much, she was in the parts she was needed in—short, sweet, and to the point.

Of course I couldn’t talk about the film without the main antagonist. Michael Keaton portrays the aerial villain Vulture in the film. When I first heard this, of course I thought Keaton trading his batwings for feathered wings was wonky, but unique. Is Beetlejuice really going to be a serious threat now? Joking aside, I liked Keaton’s portrayal of Vulture. Structure-wise, it seemed that the villain just sort of shows up now and then and near the end they attempt to dump character development to give him purpose. However, character development or not, there’s just something about Keaton that lights up the screen and makes you look forward to seeing him. Maybe it’s because I grew up on the Tim Burton Batman films (and Beetlejuice), but I always liked Keaton. Vulture and other villains did feel evil for evil’s sake, and while he does have motivation for doing what he does, it still felt generic. When you see Vulture appear on screen, he does feel intimidating coming down from the sky. During his confrontations with Spidey, he felt like a threat and like there were stakes against him.

One final character I want to mention is another obvious one, Tony Stark/Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr. is his typical snarky self here, and added much of the comedy in the film. I did like the way he was portrayed as a mentor/older-brother type who never stole the spotlight from Spider-Man. Well, maybe except for one scene at the end of the second third of the film. Then again, that did add development for Parker’s character later on.

Since this is a more lighthearted film, there are plenty of jokes to go around. While I felt one or two were a bit cheesy, none of them overstay their welcome (looking at you, Family Guy). Many jokes revolved around Spidey’s clumsiness and awkward moments. Most of the film felt this way; however, it only really felt serious when Vulture appeared and during an earlier bank robbery scene. It was mostly comedic but serious when it needed to be, such as dealing with Peter’s teen angst.

Visuals were pretty good. However, I wasn’t really a fan of the CGI Spidey. I felt it was overused just a bit and seeing so much CGI, you can easily tell the difference with its artificial jerky movements. Also, I’m not too much of a fan of Spidey’s new squinting eyes, though there is a comedic moment halfway through involving them that I though was pretty funny. Vulture’s mechanical suit was done excellently and you could feel the weight of him when he came from the sky. He often felt like an evil version of Iron Man with his suit and mechanical gadgets. I did have an issue with another villain that appears in the film (well, actually two), as the visuals of what they did in the film didn’t accurately portray the character.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. It was bright, colorful, and fun—something that many superhero films these days don’t really do. The music was appropriate for the moments it appeared in; I was surprised to hear A Flock of Seagulls in this film. As I mentioned before, it’s a reboot without retelling the story. In my opinion, the better superhero movies are usually those that have an already established superhero. All the actors chosen were good, though I felt a few were just kind of there. There isn’t a lot of character development, especially with characters barely appearing, but you quickly get over that by focusing more on the jokes and visuals. Though this review may seem negative, I still give the film an 8 out of 10. It may not be perfect, but if you like lighthearted fun, you’ll find yourself enjoying it.

#weekend #showcase #antonio #garland #blog #movies #film #spider #spidey #spider-man #spiderman #homecomng #2017 #tom #holland #robert #downey #zendays #jon #watts #mcu #marvel #summer

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nintendoduck-blog · 6 years

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