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breckstonevailskier · 7 days

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One ticket for… THE FALL GUY (2024)

Directed by. David Leitch

Written by. Drew Pearce

Starring. Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddigham, Winston Duke, Stephanie Hsu

Stunt Designer. Chris O'Hara

The Fall Guy was such a surprise! While predictable, this film is just a bloody fun time. I was lucky enough to see this in a packed theatre with strong audience reactions. Laughs, gasps, and cheers regularly filled the theatre.

Everyone played their roles perfectly. Ryan Gosling brought what everyone loves about Ryan Gosling- charm, humor, and sincerity. What sticks out to me about Gosling is that he never really takes a role he does not believe in. You can see that with the amount of heart he puts into this project. Gosling truly wants to shoutout the stunt actors who make the films we love. For example, Logan Holladay, who was Goslings stunt double in this film.

Emily Blunt nails the first-time director vibe and I could see Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing a pompous asshole forever. Winston Duke is a master of comedy and was just a delight to see in this. I'm glad that Stephanie Hsu got to be apart of some action scenes as well! Reminded me of how good her action scenes were in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).

And of course, the stunts. Now, I never considered myself to be an action fan (until I watched John Wick and realized that oh yes, I do love action). A film like this where one can kick back with some popcorn and be thrilled by stunt piece after stunt piece will captivate every time. Sometimes we just want to see someone get up after taking hit after hit. This film empathizes that those hits hurt. Even though it is a stunt mans job to get hurt, it still, well, hurts.

What helps is that The Fall Guy riffs on the filmmaking process itself. Gosling's interaction with the in-universe camera, the process of filming a fire stunt, and use of stunt cars (for the record breaking 8 1/2 cannon roll, which is reference din the film) all show the cast and crews awareness of the tedious process of filming stunts. The scene where Gosling's character explains how the sand is wrong for filming (and is right) shows the audience all the small details that a stuntman needs to be aware of to keep everyone safe.

The Fall Guy is a love letter to not just stunts but to filmmaking as a whole. The pro-practical effects themes and anti-deepfake plot was unexpected but appreciated. Hannah Waddigham playing the "we fix it with VFX" producer felt all too real. You can tell that this film was made by those who genuinely love their industry. They give a shoutout to the underdogs and remind audiences of what goes into the films they love.

Side note: along with Barbie (2023), it is great to see Gosling pursuing films that prioritize practical sets and SFX.

Other aspects of this film that I loved:

The score and soundtrack! The recurring riff from "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by Kiss was a treat. The scene with Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" made me want to laugh and sing at the same time.

Metalstorm as a concept. Every time that fake score played the audience was crying laughing. The most yellow movie I have ever (not) seen.

Highlighting the lack of an Academy Award for stunts, the world record eight-and-a-half cannon roll, and the inaugural credit of Stunt Designer for Chris O'Hara. Let's appreciate those stunts, folks!

All in all, I highly recommended The Fall Guy. It's a bloody good time that spreads awareness and appreciation for the art of stunts. I hope to see it in a theatre again soon! For years I have wanted Best Stunts or Choreography to be added to The Academy Awards. This film is a promising step in the right direction.

#film review #the fall guy #ryan gosling #emily blunt

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breckstonevailskier · 7 days

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Allow me to present the defense case for Peggy Carter.

I don't mean the PC who is in What If BTW. I don't know who she is, but she's not Peggy. I mean the original version from 2011-2014, especially from recently re-watching The First Avenger.

Peggy comes off as being very aloof, detached and rather condascending at times. I argue that's because she had to be. Its very hard for women in the armed forces even today- but back in the 1940s it would have been even more difficult for a woman to hold her own in a male dominated context like the army. She'd have had to worked many times harder to prove herself and to gain the respect which her male counterparts took for granted purely by virtue of their gender and rank. If she showed any kind of emotional vulnerability or it seemed like she didn't know what she was doing, the men would have pounced on it and taken it as "evidence" she was just a weak and feeble woman who didn't belong in "thier" world. Even then... we still see people being insubordinate and talking down to her. When she punched that soldier who was making lewd remarks (can't remember his name) I don't see her being a bully.I see a woman having to deal with the type of casual sexism she probably experienced on a daily basis. When men who were far below her in rank treated her with contempt or just saw her as a sex object. No way that soldier would *ever* have spoken to a senior ranking male like that...She was also dealing with it in a very masculine way. Like another soldier would. In regards to Steve: again I don't think Peggy is ever intentionally mean or cruel to him. Yes, she's sassy and snarky, but I think she had to learn to be like that to hold her own among men. Her interactions with him in the movie are actually quite positive overall: she smiles when he uses his ingenuity and jumps on a dummy grenade, she doesn't talk about how weak he was she views him as a proper soldier when a lot of others don't: including Colonel Phillips. Even after the Serum Philips just sees him as some glorified performer whereas she trusts his judgement: reluctantly at first but willingly afterwards.

For his own part, Steve never talks down to her or views her as inferior. He was probably one of first men who did that only after Howard Stark perhaps.

When she said that Bucky was probably dead: again I don't think she was being uncaring. That line came after just after saying the 107th had been through "more than most" upon seeing an ambulance bringing an injured soldier back from the front. It seems to me she didn't want to see *another* man die in what she had every reason to think was a suicide mission. I mean, its very likely she'd lost friends before, maybe even had family members killed. Besides of which, she ended up helping Steve go on that rescue mission by persauding Howard to drop him near the HYDRA facility on his plane. Then didn't apologize for her actions afterwards even though Colonel Philipps basically threatened to basically demote her.

Finally, that scene where she fires her gun at Steve's shield: again I don't see that as bullying. When he kissed that other woman (*who did it very deliberately in front of Peggy*) it was quite obviously an attempt to make her jealous. (Not on Steve's part, but the other woman). I think in that moment she felt betrayed, because she believed Steve was different to the other men she encountered. Men who just saw her as a conquest or an airhead. She thought he was behaving "just like the other soldiers"- i.e treating women as objects, and she had an emotional reaction. She was actually wrong, but that proves she's flawed. She's human after all!

So yeah, Peggy in The First Avenger is great. She's sassy and snarky but she does seem to genuinely care for Steve as well. I see them as having a lot in common: both people who struggle to be accepted by others but find their place eventually.

Okay, before I start, I want to say that I did like her mannerisms when I first saw CATFA, because I like no-nonsense female characters. However, movies!Peggy was not a fully formed character — just as movies!Bucky wasn’t. One was the token love interest, the other was the token best friend. Hence, there are specific traits embedded in Peggy’s characterisation, or rather her story roles, that are factors of a male author writing a female love interest for a genre about macho superhero men. Which in itself is a product of the misogynistic nature of 2010 MCU.

Firstly, she’s never actually had her rank or her professional role specified. She introduced herself as an “agent supervising all operations of this division”, but all she does is hover around Howard and Philips in their offices. She’s not on the battlefield with Steve (no matter how her own series tried to rewrite it). She’s not in the field acting as a spy/agent. We are told she’s important, because somehow as an agent she’s giving orders to military trainees — a weird role but we can give her that suspension of disbelief — but we are never shown her doing anything important to contribute to war efforts. More than this being Peggy is a useless person, it’s a symptom of the writer not knowing how to handle a female professional in WW2, to the point of calling her an agent but having her both being in the science division and giving military trainee orders but hanging around looking like a secretary. And why exactly could Philips threaten to demote her? Who does she even work for? He could demote her if she’s military but she’s not. So it’s never clear that those soldiers are her subordinates, because they’re not. She’s not in the chain of command! And so why should they respect someone who’s not in their chain of command telling them that she’s going to give orders? She does have to earn it.

You and I remember that kissing scene very differently. Firstly, Lorraine pulled him into a kiss, Steve didn’t kiss her. We need to get the instigator clear here. We can debate how much of a willing participant Steve was, because that scene can be read anywhere from “Steve was unsure at first but then started to enjoy it” to “Steve was in shock the whole time and his hands came up to push her away”. Secondly, there’s no suggestion that either Lorraine or Steve knew Peggy was within watching distance, so I don’t agree with the interpretation that anyone did it to make Peggy jealous. Thirdly, Peggy and Steve were not an item at that stage, so it’s rather presumptuous of her to “feel betrayed”. What did he betray? He said he was waiting for the right partner, he didn’t say the right partner was her. She’s the one who’s taken it upon herself to demand his faithfulness. He never indicated he was happy to enter into that social contract. Fourthly, you’ve acknowledged that her emotional response to another woman kissing Steve was “flawed”, but object to that violent retaliation being called “bullying”. So let’s call it for what it is: unprofessional, unethical, unromantic, and bloody unhinged.

I’m sorry, there is no possible justification for discharging a gun at a man (and specifically in this case a man who is not in a relationship with you) over a kiss in an enclosed space at work where other bystanders could get injured.

But you know what? That scene is another symptom of male writers not knowing how to write a strong female love interest. In 2010 everyone knew it would be bad form if a man hit a woman for being kissed by another man, but violent anger from a woman directed at a man? That was seen as cute and funny and sweet. And that view exists because of the infantilisation of women. Female anger is seen as “not that hurtful” and “not that important”, dismissed as a momentary “emotional outburst” because women are prone to emotional outbursts, it’s a womanly thing to suddenly lose grip on logic over a jilted love. Where in a man that emotional volatility and violence would be a major character flaw that would turn him into a villain, in a woman that’s…cute and harmless.

So you know, Peggy was at the same level of neglect that Bucky-with-two-birthdates was. She was not a character they cared enough about to even give her a proper professional role in the army. She’s there because the movie needed a love interest. She’s there to show how unwanted Steve was before the serum, and how desirable he became after the serum. She appears, every now and then, to remind the audience she exists, but never in a way that directly affects the plot. @amarriageoftrueminds has multiple excellent metas explaining why the story could have proceeded without Peggy being present. She’s a character we are continuously told is important, but the narrative gives her only counselling type dialogues, and while those conversations are placed at narratively important milestones, none of her suggestions make any sway on Steve’s original plans before he started talking to her, making her someone who has minimal impact on Steve’s arc and on the story as a whole.

#anti peggy carter #anti captain brexit #anti steggy

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breckstonevailskier · 7 days

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@captainwidowspring has noted that one reason people probably don't look at Peggy shooting at Steve as the red flag it is is because of the music choices:

In The First Avenger, after Peggy shoots at Steve, a melody that sounds very similar to the Captain America theme plays. This repeats twice: one time when she puts the gun down and stalks away, and again while Steve and Howard are so shocked by what Peggy just did that they stare after her even as they continue their conversation. This is quite disgusting, as it rather implies that Peggy just did something noble and honorable, or something that Steve would approve of, when this is not even close to the case. Steve would never be so thoroughly irresponsible and reckless, nor would he approve of such pettiness, or partake in it himself. Indeed, it is clear to see how betrayed Steve felt when he was cautiously ensuring that she was done shooting at him. The music also disingenuously tries to reframe the characters' reactions to her outburst as positive. The fact that the almost-Captain-America theme continues after Peggy leaves Steve and Howard staring after her endeavors to make it seem like their reaction is because they're impressed, rather than because they are stunned and dismayed as is far more likely.

Similarly, it's the framing and the choice of music that leads people to not see Peggy's later sexual assault of Steve as that. Pvt. Lorraine kissing Steve is framed with ominous music, and Steve is given plenty of opportunity to voice his discomfort. But when Peggy does it, Steve has no opportunity to express said discomfort, and more importantly the moment is scored with heroic-sounding music.

And none of this helped by the fact that Marvel has really been trying to retcon things to make Steve's whole character revolve around Peggy. And basically making Peggy into a Mary Sue of sorts.

Aside from a few brief references where he was heavily objectified, pretty much the only place we have seen or heard of Steve since Endgame is in What If: and in his episodes, if he played any significant role, he was basically an accessory for Peggy. Steve was not given much chance to stand on his own, and his other close relationships were basically ignored. While some acknowledgement was given of his connection with Bucky, Marvel was careful to keep them from seeming too close: and as for Steve’s relationship with Natasha, Marvel was so concerned with keeping the two of them apart that they might as well have been wearing hazmat suits. (And of course, Sam basically didn’t show up at all.) As for Peggy herself, Marvel has devolved into complete hero-worship of this dishonorable person. We already saw how Marvel treated her with great preference she did not deserve since her first appearance, and it has only gotten worse from there. Following Endgame, after her pretty random appearance in Multiverse of Madness, she was in two episodes in season 1 of What If, and then four episodes in season 2. And in these, Marvel glorified her even further. Most all of the characters loved her, even villains who had literally no reason to, and she was randomly with no explanation able to do things, such as very pointedly being able to save Bucky when Steve couldn’t. Indeed, it is pretty clear that Marvel is attempting to shill her into prominence, and possibly trying to make her more prominent than Steve. This sort of attempted replacement is harmful because Peggy is completely opposed to much of what Steve stands for, which incidentally is part of the reason why they never would have worked as a couple. Steve cares about people and seeks to lift them up, and he is not afraid to call out and fight against injustice when he sees it: but as we have seen multiple times, this is not the case with Peggy.

I imagine that this is a combination of them viewing Peggy as a "safe" choice, but more importantly because she's very pro status quo (as @valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn has noted a few times). She's not one who will fight to change the status quo like Steve does, she's one who would rather fight to maintain the status quo.

Allow me to present the defense case for Peggy Carter.

I don't mean the PC who is in What If BTW. I don't know who she is, but she's not Peggy. I mean the original version from 2011-2014, especially from recently re-watching The First Avenger.

For his own part, Steve never talks down to her or views her as inferior. He was probably one of first men who did that only after Howard Stark perhaps.

#long post #catfa meta #antipeggy #antisteggy #cynthia glass #mcu critical #steggy is hydra trash party #steve rogers #anti peggy carter #anti steggy #anti captain brexit

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