jilyandbambi

[jilyandbambi]

ASSAD ZAMAN as Armand

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (2024) 2.08 – And That's The End of It. There's Nothing Else.

[jilyandbambi]

Heavy on this. What we're looking at here, folks is a cast full of assholes.

Justine is a functioning alcoholic who goads her ex -- a recovering alcoholic -- into breaking his sobriety. Btw, this is the main reason Donna is specifically pissed at Justine, bc she's doing everything possible to support Paul through his addiction, and Justine, acting on pure selfishness, helped Paul throw himself off the wagon. Marcus spells it out in the first 15 minutes of the movie, "It's all about [her]."

James is a homeless addict who burgles homes to pay for his addiction, and is on the outs with his family after ripping them off one too many times.

Archer is glaring neon sign reading TOXIC MASCULINITY, who rallies the rest of the parents into blaming and harassing Justine, while being so checked out of his kid's schoo life he had no idea he was raising a bully.

Paul is a shitbag corrupt beat cop, who probably only still has his job bc he's married to his boss' daughter, who he's cheating on.

All of these people SUCK, majorly. And yet, they're still sympathetic and contain layers beyond their flaws because they're not meant to be rote metaphors for the film's thesis, they're meant to be three-dimensional.

you're gonna sit there and tell me... on god we're gonna teach y'all some media literacy today.

SPOILERS

did none of you watch Barbarian? mid-movie plot twist to some off the wall bonkers supernatural-adjacent fuckery that was only BARELY foreshadowed is Cregger's schtick.

Gladys wore a wig because she was trying to hide the fact that she's 98% bald, not because she's doing drag ffs

she wore makeup like that because the movie implies she's incredibly old. like, ancient enough to not know how modern makeup is used type of old

she's kidnapping children to steal their youth because it's HOW SHE PROLONGS HER LIFE have none of you seen hocus pocus

Justine is a bad person. Defending women's wrongs? this is unironically that. not every woman in every piece of media has to be secretly the sweetest person alive or have good motivations under all those layers of shitty.

Most of the main cast is shitty, even aside from the tragedies they suffer.

Paul commits POLICE BRUTALITY (while fucking sober, mind) and his father-in-law the chief agrees to try to cover it up

speaking of, we're told that the police and feds are looking, but like. none of them thought to track what direction the kids were running? it's giving 🤌 nothing. incompetence abound.

Archer STALKS AND HARASSES A WOMAN.

also? at the end when the kids are just... there? in the basement? he's very "not my kid, not my fucking issue." and after the chase when the spell breaks, he takes his son and leaves. doesn't give a shit about the other kids or the torn apart corpse. just fuckin books it.

also, he raised his son in such a way that his kid is ALSO shitty.

James may suffer being houseless, but he also just... didn't give a shit about the kids? even during his lucid moments, he makes it clear he's in this for the money.

One of the few main characters that winds up being even remotely a good person is Marcus, and he ends up getting killed because he's too polite to send away the woman who is clearly trying to manipulate him and his husband.

Gladys killed a gay couple because one of them is the principal who was requested to check on the family of the one kid who didn't apparently get fucking kidnapped- whose house she happens to be fucking squatting in

also, THE GUN DOESN'T SAVE THE DAY. ALEX DOES.

jfc if anything, the gun saves two fucking self-centered assholes, but it kills two people in the process. Paul and James don't get to wake up from their mind control when Alex breaks the spell, seeing as their minds are spilt across the floor

if you really think about it, neither Justine nor Archer does more than maybe cause a distraction- and that's me being charitable. Alex actually knows what's going on, he makes his own plan, he risks his own life, and he's the reason anyone is saved. neither Justine nor Archer even knows what fucking happened, just that it stopped happening. if anything their interference makes shit worse (i.e. killing two people)

But hey, kids can be assholes, too. sure, Alex wanted to save his parents, but he was willing to sacrifice everyone in his class to do it!

Why was he willing to sacrifice them? OH RIGHT they were also shitty and bullied him- especially Archer's shitty kid

the characters have layers, and the director kinda writes to like... avoid metaphor? none of these characters is representative of anything except themselves.

Justine isn't a composite character of ~*women*~ she's a manipulative alcoholic who was inadvertantly framed for a pretty serious crime. she suffered a tragedy and was harassed by the town, but her life was kinda a fucking mess even before the kids skeedaddled. Gladys isn't an allegory for queer culture, she kidnaps kids to steal their youth (unironically, a common trope). Archer isn't a symbol for all dads, Alex's dad was just a nice fucking guy. Marcus and his husband aren't "victims of homophobia", he was a guy just doing his job who was too nice for his own good.

if this movies says anything, it says "fuck cops" while still somehow managing to humanize one of them. wild.

[jilyandbambi]

"warner brothers is in talks to develop a prequel to weapons"

[jilyandbambi]

Much like Barbarian, writer-director Zach Cregger masters the art of using enough breadcrumbs to entice us along the path to unraveling the mystery before hitting a climactic point and then switching up the story at the height of our “holy shit!” moment. 

It’s not a J. J. Abrams mystery box, it’s not an M. Night Shyamalan twist, it’s a brilliant structural tactic that keeps you glued to the screen and heavily invested in the events. 

Also like Barbarian, we get a great blend of horror and comedic moments—Cregger is, after all, one of the founding members of The Whitest Kids U’ Know. He’s so skilled with balancing tones, giving us something disturbing and horrific and then letting us relieve some tension with a laugh. 

Similar to Jordan Peele, whom he is frequently compared to as a comedian-turned-horror auteur, Cregger brings a unique voice to the horror space. Weapons confirms that Cregger is a must-watch filmmaker and one I’ll be cheering on throughout his career.

Read my full non-spoiler review on Trashwire here or watch the quick review on Instagram here.

[jilyandbambi]

my only take from Weapons - the commentary on how community doesn't exist in america unless tragedy knocks at their doorstep. hard. even then what people form - it's not a community, more like a mob. and no one wants to work together (that mom who didn't want to share cctv footage). no one listens (911 operator didn't inform the police right away about the call from the drug addict; no matter how ridiculous that call sounded, they had to check it out bc it's been a month! and they had no leads! and yet...). no one talks (that teacher who saw Alex at the parking lot waiting alone). the system affects us all. it doesn't differentiate between big cities and small towns. it doesn't care and it will never care.

[jilyandbambi]

Now do my makeup.

[jilyandbambi]

Daniel comes out to his daughters

[jilyandbambi]

The demonization of actual charities/orgs in favor of individual GFMs has done nothing but stripped marginalized people of their privacy + dignity by forcing them to become internet celebrities in order to get their needs met as opposed to an org that could privately help them if said org had the funding!!!! Also it’s why people feel the need to go as far as to fake their own kidnappings just to get traction! Not to mention it’s just made the lives of grifters so much easier

[jilyandbambi]

[jilyandbambi]

playwright!daniel begrudgingly working with director!marius even if he doesn’t like the man because he wants to cast armand in the lead role but the two of them come as a set for some reason and he is only allowed to act in productions if marius is directing them.

[jilyandbambi]

i do find it funny that movie everlark are always serious and brooding around each other while in the book they bicker over if peeta’s icing skills would be useful if the arena was a giant cake or not

[jilyandbambi]

Last Departure

Summary: Daniel and Armand go on a luxury train trip after Dubai. It might be a second honeymoon. It could be a farewell tour. Armand tries to sell Daniel on the benefits of Snowpiercer as an answer to environmental collapse. It all might be a metaphor for wanting to finally turn his beloved.

Notes: My piece for @devilsminionzine with amazing illustrations by @str-dusts, who I am in absolute awe of <3

[jilyandbambi]

maybe top 10 posts ever

[jilyandbambi]

there is a characterization of loumand's dynamic in fics i see more and more often wherein armand will wax hannibal-esque poetic about the nature of humanity or the world or something in a tumblr ass introspective way that is quite frankly uncharacteristic and then louis will basically be like um... so THAT just happened lol and not get it. this is in direct contradiction to the louis in the show who incredibly well-read, verbose, witty, and enthusiastic to add on to conversations. he is also far more introspective on himself and humanity than armand is lmao. that is not to say armand is not intelligent obviously the two rival each other well which we see over and over again in s2 - "arguing as foreplay". armand just tends to be more detached and less inward-looking in his philosophical debates and we actually see him shut down louis' train of thought multiple times - when louis is discussing the painting for example. this bastardization of their respective behaviors and intelligence may just be a product of shitty fanon and writers' inability to write a dynamic that isn't the smart/dumb trope but it comes off as racist. there's nothing wrong with messing up characterization - its fanfic - but this trend seems to point to a larger issue in the iwtv fandom of incorporating racist stereotyping into interpretation of the show.

[jilyandbambi]

armandisms i find particularly endearing

[jilyandbambi]

this is a month old now (it's part of something) but i'm posting it as an offering! Van trying to impress Tai with a ball trick

[jilyandbambi]

Alexa Barajas as MARI IBARRA — season 3 hairstyles (seasons 1-2)