#'west why-' i like mythology. sue me :

[pan3m]

okay time for a real thought. penelope king (nee, florence) is the youngest of three sisters: medea (seven years older), helen (three years older), and then herself. their parents are octavia and septimus florence. penny's eldest sister, medea, volunteered during the second quarter quell and placed 2nd. helen was never a very strong fighter or had any real talents despite trying her best and was never on the list to volunteer. penny was borderline picture perfect and even said in her interview she'd win for medea's sake. however, given her actual performance in her game (crying/showing genuine remorse every time she had to kill) she was considered a disgrace by her family, her academy, and her friends. years later the only family member she still talks to is helen, who's now a jewelry maker.

[itcameuponamidnightqueer]

a happier 2019 wrap-up

every year for new year’s, my mom gets everyone one-a-day calendars tailored to their interests. for 2020, she got me a calendar of funny/stupid answers people have written on tests. 

but for 2019, she gave me a calendar with a different trivia question every day. i had two rules for this calendar: 1) i had to write down an answer for each question, even if what i wrote down was the dumbest shit in the world, and 2) i wasn’t allowed to look at the answer until the day after. 

i saved up all of the ones that i got right bc i like to quantify things, so if nothing else, i know 93 things—

january 18: many musicians have recorded and performed the song “hallelujah.” who wrote it?

january 29: thurl ravenscroft was an accomplished voice actor who sang “you’re a mean one, mr. grinch.” however, ravenscroft was best known for voicing which TV commercial icon?

february 7: who was the first african american appointed to the US supreme court?

february 12: mount rushmore features the giant carved faces of george washington, abraham lincoln, thomas jefferson, and which other US president? 

february 13: what is ninjitsu? 

february 26: mae c. jemison went into space in 1992 aboard the endeavor, earning her what distinction?

february 27: who wrote and first recorded the song “big yellow taxi”?

march 2: what is the longest running show in broadway history?

march 5: what is the largest library in the world?

march 8: what two novels did the lesser-known brontë sister, anne, write?

march 12: which reptile can breathe through its rear end?

march 16: the winner of best picture at the 2017 oscars was moonlight—but, in an historic mix-up, the announcers initially declared which other nominee to be the winner?

march 21: which is the smallest planet in our solar system?

march 22: why is a pound cake called a pound cake? 

march 23: the hit musical wicked is based on a 1995 novel by which author?

march 24: billy eichner, comedian and host of billy on the street, once had a role on which beloved NBC sitcom?

march 27: name the star who plays offred in the hulu series the handmaid’s tale?

april 6: the 2015 song “fourfiveseconds” was a collaboration between rihanna, kanye west, and which other legendary musician?

april 8: why do apples turn brown when sliced?

april 16: what is a pooh-bah?

april 19: what is the belgian town of duffel’s claim to fame?

april 29: what ancient babylonian king created a compendium of 282 laws to guide society in 18th century BCE?

may 2: what is the name for the condition in which a dog’s feet smell like corn chips? 

may 5: in mary shelley’s frankenstein, which character is named frankenstein?

may 7: name the australian pop star whose debut studio album blue neighborhood included hits “youth” and “wild”.

may 10: which superhero did british actor benedict cumberbatch play in a 2016 film?

may 16: which american film tradition began this day in 1929?

may 17: in science, what does “triple point” refer to?

may 26: what function do cats’ whiskers serve?

may 27: where is the tomb of the unknown soldier located?

june 1: which cult classic film popularized the red swingline stapler? 

june 3: who is barbie (the doll) named after? 

june 4: eid al-fitr is an annual muslim festival that marks the end of what?

june 10: which actor was offered a role on the o.c. but turned it down for a role on one tree hill?

june 11: the sport that americans call soccer is known as football in many other countries. where did the term “soccer” originate?

june 17: there is a species of horsefly known as bootylicious. which celebrity inspired the nickname?

june 18: the amc series the walking dead is based on a series of comic books penned by which accomplished writer?

june 24: which actress played wonder woman in the 2017 film of the same name?

june 27: what makes chili peppers hot? 

june 28: which architectural engineering feat allowed the ancient incans to cross canyons and rivers with ease?

june 29: the word “scuba” is an acronym. what does it stand for? 

july 3: who is the bestselling fiction writer ever? 

july 5: which animated film was the first to be nominated for best picture at the oscars? 

july 9: which item did women living in the dust bowl during the great depression commonly fashion into clothing? 

july 16: in nintendo’s mario video games, the nefarious wario is mario’s foil. who is luigi’s foil and archrival? 

july 18: pop stars taylor swift and zayn malik teamed up to record the song “i don’t want to live forever” for which 2017 film soundtrack? 

july 22: which is the only letter that doesn’t appear on the periodic table? 

july 23: which novel is considered frank herbert’s masterpiece? 

july 25: name the three women who were cast in the first season of SNL in 1975. 

july 26: during which years did the olympics award official medals for the arts, including painting, architecture, sculpture, music, and literature?

july 28: what are the ingredients of a moscow mule?

august 2: which “luxury” music festival was supposed to take place in the bahamas in april 2017 but dissolved into chaos and was eventually canceled after attendees began to arrive?

august 3: what is the claim to fame of anchor bar in buffalo, NY? 

august 8: the la brea tar pits are a popular tourist attraction and fossil excavation site. what does “la brea” mean in spanish? 

august 9: the popular board game clue goes by which other name in the UK, where it was invented?

august 11: what is earth’s largest ocean? 

august 12: who wrote johnny cash’s “a boy named sue”?

august 13: what were the original 3 pokemon that players could choose from at the start of pokemon red and pokemon blue, the first pokemon video games released internationally?

august 14: what kind of music did katy perry release as a teenager before she became a pop star? 

august 20: philip k. dick’s novel do androids dream of electric sheep? inspired which 1982 film with a different title?

august 30: batman is to gotham city as superman is to what? 

september 6: what is the hottest planet in the solar system? 

september 9: the first book of the “his dark materials” trilogy is known as the golden compass in the US, and what in the UK? 

september 15: one of the classic monopoly player tokens is a dog. what breed is it?

september 16: why are spiders technically not considered insects?

september 22: on her debut album, lily allen included a song called “alfie” about her little brother. alfie allen is best known now for his role on which TV show?

october 2: a killer whale isn’t technically a whale. what is it?

october 8: name the breed of large domestic cats native to new england 

october 10: which company uses the slogan “because we’re worth it”?

october 12: which female pop star had a brief stint in an R&B group called basic instinct in the 1990s?

october 16: if you ordered a berliner in a cafe in wisconsin, what would they serve you?

october 21: in 1943, when many NFL players were drafted for service in WWII, which two teams combined forces and formed a team called the steagles?

october 25: virginia was the birthplace of 8 US presidents. which state follows close on virginia’s heels as the birthplace of 7 US presidents?

october 28: bram stoker’s legendary vampire dracula is widely thought to be inspired by which real-life romanian prince?

october 30: in european folklore, what is a familiar? 

november 1: what does nanowrimo stand for?

november 13: name the movie that imagines how playwright j.m. barrie came to write peter pan.

november 14: which US state has the smallest population?

november 16: who technically owns all of the unmarked swans in england?

november 19: which entertainment icon was offered the role of phoebe in friends but turned it down?

november 22: robert louis stevenson’s novel treasure island features a cast of colorful characters, including the infamous long john silver. what is the name of the novel’s young protagonist, an innkeeper’s son who ends up serving as a cabin boy on a sea adventure?

november 23: where is dollywood?

november 28: not surprisingly, americans eat more food on thanksgiving than they do on any other day of the year. which day boasts the second-highest food consumption?

november 29: “swish swish”, a song on katy perry’s 2017 album witness, was rumored to be a diss track about which other pop star?

november 30: which actor wore a hairpiece every time he played james bond?

december 2: in greek mythology, perspehone was the goddess of the underworld and the wife of hades. who were persephone’s parents?

december 3: which prominent magazine declined to run an excerpt of the catcher in the rye on the grounds that the characters were unbelievable and the writing was “show-offy”? 

december 12: which comic book series featured batman’s first appearance? 

december 14: what was elvis presley’s natural hair color?

december 21: a 16th century da Vinci manuscript known as the codex leicester sold for over $30 million. who was the wealthy buyer?

december 23: ancient egyptian queen cleopatra had relationships with both julius caesar and mark antony. which of the two men was she buried next to?

december 27: which of the following hollywood stars did not get their start on the disney channel—shia labeouf, hayden panettiere, keri russell, ellen page, ryan gosling

december 29: technically, peanuts aren’t nuts. what are they?

[letterboxd]

Ten Things We Learned at the Rise of Skywalker Press Conference.

Director J.J. Abrams and the key cast spill some beans about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Although we’re gifted more Star Wars content than ever these days—all hail baby Yoda—a new Star Wars film still means something. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker “is wrapping not one film, not three films, but nine,” says director J.J. Abrams, “so the responsibility was significant.”

Abrams is only the second two-time Star Wars director after George Lucas, lured back because “we live in a crazy time, and Star Wars to me was about hope. It was about community, it was about the underdog… Seeing all oddballs represented and the most unlikely friends. It really is about hope, and it’s about coming back to a sense of possibility.”

As the culmination of the nine-film Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has the dual burden of wrapping up one of—if not—the most beloved cinematic stories ever told, and helping the franchise move on from the often toxic divisiveness associated with the previous film, Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi. Which was amazing, by the way.

Daisy Ridley (Rey) and Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’.

Letterboxd’s West Coast reporter Dominic Corry reports his learnings from a press event with the key cast, plus Abrams, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy, and co-writer Chris Terrio (an Oscar winner for Argo).

1. Sure, the fans are everything, but you can’t think about them. “My job as director was to make sure that all the pressures of all the obvious things—fan expectations and studio—weren’t on the set, so that on the set we could have a buoyancy, a sense of being spry,” says J.J. Abrams. “While it was never quite an ‘indie’ on the set of this movie, we needed to keep the thing feeling as human as possible, and not like a massive machine.” Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) agrees: “The way we approached shooting a lot of these scenes, there was a looseness to it. There were things shot in big, beautiful, choreographed takes that are just astounding to watch.”

2. It’s all good when you have the right people. “We didn't know at the beginning of The Force Awakens exactly what it would look like with Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac and John Boyega,” says Abrams. “What would that cast be like? On the first day of Rise of Skywalker, we knew those things were working. What we didn’t know was everything else. The scale of the movie is pretty enormous, [but] none of that would matter if you didn’t care deeply and track with the people. So the most important thing—people—we were good with. We knew we had this incredible cast, who I think have gone beyond people’s expectations and are extremely spectacular in the film.”

Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron).

3. Isaac and Boyega fail, again, to quell the Poe and Finn-shipping frenzy. “When Oscar first came in, the chemistry was blatant,” John Boyega (Finn) reminisces. “There was a natural vibe between me and Oscar. I don’t know why. I just liked the guy.” Oscar Isaac elaborates in, er, more detail. “He came into my dressing room, he was so sweet. He was like, ‘You wanna run the scene before?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah!’ In the dressing room we were like butt-to-butt and ran the scene together and from then on we’ve been in that position.”

4. Rian Johnson’s Last Jedi set things up nicely for Skywalker. “Larry Kasdan and I, and Michelle Rejwan and Kathy [Kennedy], the producers, we had talked about quite a few things back [on The Force Awakens], so it was a bit of picking up where we had left off,” Abrams explains of Rise of Skywalker’s storyline. “What Rian Johnson had done in The Last Jedi had set up some things that were wonderful for the story. One of the things being that the cast was separated. The characters weren’t together for the entire movie, essentially, so this was the first time this group got to be together.”

Getting together with co-writer Chris Terrio to pick up the threads, Abrams says, “we immediately wanted to tell a story of an adventure, there were some very specific things that we were both drawn to immediately. We just started doing that thing that you do, which is you say: ‘what do you desperately want to see? What feels right?’”

5. Keri Russell freaked J.J. Abrams out. New cast member Keri Russell, who plays the mysterious bad-ass Zorii Bliss, kept her mask on between takes. “J.J. emailed me and said: ‘Do you wanna be in Star Wars?’, and I was like, ‘Yeah!’ Then he told me the idea about the mask. Personally I loved the mask. That’s my fantasy: that I can see everyone, in a super-tough version of myself in costume, and nobody can see me. That’s my dream. It’s a real power play. Because no one can really see what you’re thinking, and you can see everyone else.”

Keri Russell as Zorii Bliss.

The problem was, says Abrams, “Keri loved the mask so much that the first two days she worked as Zorii, the entire two days, I never saw her face. She could have, like most people, taken the mask off between takes. Or after a couple of hours. Or after two whole days! I got to work with Keri for a couple of days and never saw her. It was weird.”

6. There are horses in space. Space horses. Fellow new addition Naomi Ackie, who plays mysterious freedom fighter Jannah, found her character through Jannah’s physicality. “I felt like Jannah’s strength was in her body, so when I got to training, that’s when I was like, ‘I’ve got this’, being able to do pull-ups and horse riding, and with that came the confidence that I hadn’t previously experienced.” (Those space horses have a name: orbaks.)

Naomi Ackie as freedom fighter Jannah.

7. Richard E. Grant broke the review embargo and was not sued (yet). Third major new cast addition Richard E. Grant, who plays Allegiant General Pryde, feared he was in deep trouble for tweeting his reaction to the movie after a cast screening the night before this press event. “I thought that Disney would sue me, because I think you’re not supposed to say anything about it. But I didn’t tweet any spoilers,” he promised, before going on to review the film some more.

Just seen the 1st cast screening of @starwars #THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. What it achieves, weaves & resolves, is a total emotional meltdown & resurrection of the Spirit. Bravo to @jjabrams & his astonishing cast & creative crew 💥🚀💥🚀💥🚀💥🚀💥🚀💥🚀 pic.twitter.com/EwtYghYTXK

— Richard E. Grant (@RichardEGrant)

December 4, 2019

“Having seen the first one when I was a theater student when I was twenty years old, before many of this cast were even born, it’s an extraordinarily emotional thing to see just the passing of time that goes through all of these movies. It felt really like a combination of everything I’d read in the Bible, Greek mythology, The Wizard of Oz all rolled into one. It delivers an emotional wallop at the end that I was totally unprepared for. I was wiped out and I barely slept. So thank you very much for having me.”

8. Carrie Fisher is everywhere. “I, like everyone who knew her, loved Carrie,” says Abrams. “The idea of continuing the story without Leia wasn’t a possibility, and there was no way we were gonna do a digital Leia. There was no way we would ever re-cast it. But we couldn’t do it without her. And when we went back to look at the scenes that we hadn’t used in The Force Awakens, what we realized is we had an opportunity and we could use that footage, use the lines that she was saying, use literally the lighting, the… [at this moment a stage light suddenly and unexpectedly turns off] …that was amazing. That was creepy. Hi Carrie. That’s so Carrie, by the way, to do that. Weird.

The late Carrie Fisher (Leia) hugs Daisy Ridley (Rey).

“In any event,” Abrams continues, “we knew we had an opportunity to use the footage to create scenes that Leia could be in. And of course, had Carrie been around—and it’s still impossible for me to believe she isn’t, because we’ve been editing with her for about a year, and she’s been very much alive with us in every scene—if we’d had Carrie around, would we have done some different things here and there? Of course we would have. But we had an opportunity to have Carrie in the movie, and working with all the actors, including Billie Lourd, her daughter, who’s in scenes with her, we were able to do something that Carrie herself, I’d like to think, would be happy with. She’s great in the movie, of course. And it’s still emotional and moving to think of her and how sad we all are that she’s not sitting here with us.”

9. Everyone is emotional. Daisy Ridley found the emotional demands of playing Rey more trying than the physical burden. “With the physical stuff, you train and train and train… obviously the stamina needs to be there for you to continue to do the thing. But I would say it was more demanding emotionally, because there really wasn’t a day where I was like, ‘Oh, it’s just a quick scene’. Coming from the last one, which was quite heavy, even the joyous scenes I found very strange to do. That was probably the most tricky thing, to sustain that emotion. There’s a singular intention that was tiring.”

Likewise, Oscar Isaac found his character’s optimism tested. “He’s always had a bit of wild-card energy in figuring out where he fits in the story, and I remember J.J. getting excited about dirtying up the squeaky flyboy image that he’s had for a bit and just revealing a bit more of his personality. [We see] the hope that I think he in particular brings, a kind of relentless, almost aggressive optimism that he has. And how that is tested. And how he tries to push them all even when it seems quite hopeless.”

10. John Boyega has no time for shit-talking. “I really do genuinely respect J.J. because he’s not into bullshit,” Boyega says. “When you come into this industry the way I did, you get a whole bunch of promises. A whole bunch of people telling you, ‘this is gonna happen and that’s gonna happen’. J.J. was like: ‘I really liked you in Attack the Block and we’re gonna get you in something’, and in my head I was like, ‘I’ll see you in twenty years mate, champion’. But I auditioned at [Abrams’ production company] Bad Robot several times before Star Wars. For TV shows and other stuff. And it just so happens that Star Wars was what I was right for. I appreciate him not being like the rest of this industry, talking shit half the time.”

‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ is in theaters from December 20. Related: read our recent interview with Rian Johnson about his new whodunit, ‘Knives Out’. The Star Wars films, ranked by weighted average rating (‘The Empire Strikes Back’ takes the top spot), and by overall popularity (‘The Force Awakens’ rules). Naomi Ackie appeared in ‘Lady Macbeth’ with Florence Pugh. See the rest of her film history here.

[themonsterblogofmonsters]

Monsterblog Recommends: Favourite Greek Myths by L.S. Hyde

Previously - Monsterblog Recommends: Two Books By Cassandra Khaw

This is a bit of a throwback for me, because this was one of the earliest books I had that was mine. Definitively and utterly mine. Not shared with siblings, not one of the books given by cousins for general use, but mine. After I expressed an interest in mythology, my dad gave me this book. It was old. It was sun-bleached and had tea stains on a few of the inner pages because it was second-hand.

And I love it with my whole heart.

[Yes, that is my own personal copy]

1. What is Favourite Greek Myths by L.S. Hyde?

Favourite Greek Myths is, well, just what it says on the tin, really - a selection of relatively well known/popular myths (though perhaps obviously, not the especially long ones), laid out in a clear format with occasional illustrations in the form of images sculpture and paintings. It starts out with creation and etiological myths (that is, myths which explain why things are as they are - Prometheus, for example, to explain humans and fire, Pandora to explain pain, Persephone to explain winter and so on) and then going on to mythic events - Midas, Perseus, the Labours of Hercules, Apollo and Daphne.

Not every story will have an illustration, but enough do, usually carefully selected single images, placed in to illustrate a corresponding event in the story on one side of the print-page, and something vaguely applicable or interesting on the other - for example, the other side of the Apollo and Daphne sculpture you see above, is a depiction of Homer with a lyre.

2. Why I’m recommending it.

Because while I loved mythology before I got this book, this is the book which really cemented it for me. It tells these old myths not as some grand series of events or holy scripture but like fairytales. Things follow certain formulas because of course they do, its fairytale logic, even if these are far from the usual fairytales. There’s recurring characters and archetypes and they’re all told in this beautiful flowing and straightforward way that makes them feel beautifully unreal - just like a fairytale.

They’re also told in a way that’s simple and sensical. There’s a progression to the stories, each one flows into the next. You start with Prometheus, then Pandora, then the myth when Zeus floods the world, then some small etiological myths to introduce characters it’s useful to know for the next big one of Persephone. It goes on like that, small stories between bigger ones, each building on what happens in the last ones, so you recognise the gods, and you recognise the formulas and it makes sense. There’s a natural progression so you’re never left out of your depth or without sufficient context to grasp what’s going on.

It also has a skilful knack of explaining old Greek concepts, such as Xenia - hospitality - without even ever using the term, and using context that you’d understand in a modern setting - be good to guests for you may be hosting angels in disguise, kind of thing. It does this with possibly one of the most particular Ancient Greek myths to have this moral of hospitality and yet it flows perfectly:

[the entry for Philemon and Baucis and yes that is my old bookmark there. sue me, i love this story. its whole moral is be decent to people]

It takes Philemon and Baucis, a tale which is very specifically about a very specific Ancient Greek cultural value with very specific rules that there isn’t entirely a ready context for in the West, even with the whole “be good to guests lest they be angels in disguise” thing, because there are rules of exchange to Ancient Greek guest-right, where guests give gifts of some kind to their host in thanks and it makes it make sense.

At the end, when the visitors gift Philemon and Baucis a grand reward its not just because they have the power to give something so great, its because the pair were perfect hosts and so deserved a gift to reflect that.

And the book makes that come across. 

It’s also a book that I reread repeatedly as a child and will still sometimes reread now as an adult. It has a way of capturing your attention and it delights me for it, especially given that it ends with one of my favourite myths of all time:

Eros and Psyche. I love this myth. Its a combo of what is basically the original Beauty and the Beast - young beautiful woman with mean older sisters is spirited away to live in the home of an apparent monster who seeks to wed her, but who eventually proves to be a handsome young man of considerable standing and wealth - and possibly one of my favourite obscure fairytales, that of the Three Princes/The Queen Bee, wherein three princes one after another attempt to solve several tasks and the elder two fail but the younger, just as Psyche does, receives help along the way for help and kindness and general appreciation for them as a person and so eventually succeeds.

It’s also just a genuinely delightful tale with a genuinely happy ending and its very clear from the behaviour of Eros and Psyche both just how much they care for each other - Eros scolds his own mother for putting Psyche through hell (kinda literally) and Psyche willingly goes through some pretty hefty trials to get to him and to try to help him. Because they both care.

Its delightful and I love it.

Also, the book has a pronunciation guide in the back, which is handy when you, like me when I was small, have no idea how to pronounce half the names.

3. Less Good Things / Trigger Warnings

It tends to use some quite formal and out of date language at points (for example the term “fagots”, which used to be more commonly in use to mean a bundle of wooden sticks for the fire, but since became a slur. You may recognise it more with a second “g”) and a lot of the time it’ll use Roman or Romanised names. It also has some of the more horrifying stories scattered in amongst it or... the more cruel and upsetting ones, and some of the more bittersweet ones.

Off the top of my head, Phaethon features a child dying, as does Hyacinthus.  The tale of Procne and Philomela involves spousal abuse, and Comatas and the Honey-bees features the abuse of a slave-shepherd.

4. Spoilers and Further Points

It’s ancient myths. I really don’t think I can spoil most of them.

5. Further Reading

None this time around. Though if you end up finding this book as much a delight as I do and/or want more sources of myths, fear not, I’ll be doing another rec on something akin to it later on.

[ginnyzero]

Knock Offs, Counterfeits, Clones, and Plagiarism

And how does this apply to Fashion and writing.

I’m a fashion person. I’m also a writer person. And the last three years or more I’ve spent more time being a writer person than I have been a fashion person. (My current dream job is putting together a girl targeted AAA noncombatant horse MMO with enough clothing skins to rival GW2. Yes. Goals! GW2 is known as Fashion Wars.) But both industries, and a lot of industries have a major problem with theft.

I’m not going to talk about outright e-book download theft and how that hurts authors. I’ve already done that.

No. I’m talking about creative theft. Writers and Fashion Designers stealing from other Writers and Fashion Designers. I’m talking about companies stealing the designs/ideas of Designers and Writers and copying them. I’m talking about knock offs and counterfeiting, genre clones and plagiarism.

Theft is the reason why we have copyright, trademarks and patents. Because human beings like to steal from each other for some reason and the easiest thing to steal are ideas. Ideas are hard to prove to be original. It’s hard to prove who had the idea first. (Fashion is just beginning to tiptoe into patents. Trademarking has been standard for years.)

So, what is the difference between a knock-off and a counterfeit?

Well, both are stealing. The knock off however doesn’t try to pretend that it’s from a famous brand name.

A knock off design is a long standing tradition in fashion. Designers like Worth would put out their designs for the new seasons in the windows, other seamstresses would come and sketch the designs and go back to their studios and make the same designs out of different fabric at a lower price. (And quite possibly a lower quality.) Apparently, I had a relative that could do this! She could go look at the designs in the window, sketch them and come home and pattern them out for herself. As far as I know, she did this without any formal training.

I could probably do this, but I do have formal training. I choose not to.

The knock off design isn’t pretending to be a gown from Worth or any current famous day designer. The Knock Off looks the same usually in different materials at a different price point and gives the customer a feeling that they have luxury goods even if the label is different.

In Asia, the customers are so obsessed with brand names and labels, that the high end companies have made it a point to have their products in three or four different price points so that all the customers can have their goods. (Or else no doubt knock offs and counterfeits would abound even more than they already do.) Now, this was a good decade ago. It might have changed. This policy hasn’t been instituted anywhere else that I’m aware of. But this is one way that big name brands can discourage knock offs, basically, by doing it themselves by embracing more than their “core customer.”

A knock off in writing. Well, it’s a clone.

Remember when the Hunger Games came out and everyone compared it to Battle Royale? And Suzanne Collins swore up and down that she’d never read that series or seen the movies or even heard of it. (Unless she was into anime, I’d believe her. Battle Royale was a bit niche even for anime.)

Dungeons and Dragons “ripped off” Tolkien. (As did Forgotten Realms.) Warhammer “ripped off” Dungeons and Dragons. WarCraft “ripped off” Warhammer. (Only because Warhammer backed out of a game deal with Blizzard and they had too much money invested to abandon the project. I bet Warhammer is wincing now.) And lots of MMOs ripped off World of Warcraft.

They’re clones. They’re genre clones. The difference between all of them is that none of them are claiming that they’re Tolkien. (Tolkien created a mythos based off the legends and tales of Europe, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and Christianity.)

It doesn’t become a counterfeit or plagiarism until the writer directly lifts words from the other writer or tries to pass the garment/handbag/pair of shoes as coming from a high end company when they really don’t.

We’ll get to trademark infringement in a moment.

Using someone’s design stitch for stitch, color for color and putting in a label that can be mistaken for a high end company’s label like Gucci or Fendi etc is counterfeiting. Taking someone’s words, word for word, from another book, more than 50 words, without credit is plagiarism.

It’s stealing

Stealing is wrong.

Now, yes, to a certain extent knock offs are wrong too. Let’s not get into the idea that “oh, because I presented it as my own, it’s okay.” Knock offs and genre cloning are really this grey area. So, here is where we get into trademarks.

Trademarks were created by the gov’t in order to protect, along with copyright, intellectual property. Trademarks deal with words and visuals and in fashion, they deal with overall design details. Trademarks, the applying of trademarks and not applying for frivolous trademarks and trademark infringement is one of those things that gets lawyers involved and no one makes any money.

The Lord of the Rings is a trademark. Elves aren’t trademarked. Dwarves aren’t trademarked. The Lord of the Rings as a property is trademarked.

That eye searing color of pink that T-Mobile uses on its products and stores. Trademarked.

The double stitching on denim back pockets, the red tag on the back right pocket and the specific leather back tag on Levi Jeans, trademarked. (In fact, they even might be registered which is a step beyond trademarking.)

These are things that make each brand different. If you want to write high fantasy, you can’t use the series title “the Lord of the Rings.” Sure, go ahead and have rings in your story. The Shannara Chronicles did it, there is another series that did it that I can’t remember the name of. But you can’t title it, “The Lord of the Rings.”

If you’re a phone company, don’t even think about bothering to use anything close to that color of pink that T-Mobile uses. They’ll sue you for trademark infringement. Customers might confuse your store for theirs. And they can’t have that!

If you want to design a jean, don’t use double stitching across the back pockets, ban the color red from all your tags and for all that is holy don’t think to use the Levi Logo on a brown leather square on the back of the waistband (or that color of brown for that matter.) Those are Levi’s. People may see those things and think you’re wearing Levi’s. (And I mean, no line of double stitching in any design. It’s a no go.)

Creative people draw from other works of art and writings and from the world around them all the time. There are trends in media and there are writers/corporations/designers that want to jump onto those trends and try to get a bit of that money that everyone is spending on that particular trend at that particular time. (All the dystopian novels that came out after the Hunger Games. All the little WoW MMO Clones. Kanye West’s designs showing up in the windows and on the racks of H&M.)

There are literally writers dedicated to writing stories to fit Amazon search term/graphs. There are writers who take the themes and stories from other writers, dress it up in slightly different trappings and try to peddle it as original. They clone the work without changing it significantly. They use imagery and ideas and even words similar to other popular writers in order to try and leech off those other writer’s fan bases.

Now, I have an entire rant about not worrying about being too original because it’s all been done before.

What I’m saying here is don’t be so unoriginal and draw only from one work of stories or deliberately tread into another author’s trademarked series in order to try and present their works and brand as your own works and brand.

There’s a difference between a Lord of the Rings clone and a Lord of the Rings fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off. A clone is going to do more than just change the  “setting” and the “names.” A clone is going to introduce new plots and new ideas drawn from other sources than just Tolkien. Yes. It’s going to be, “Oh, this is similar to Lord of the Rings.” (The first Shannara book didn’t stray quite as far as it should have from Tolkien, for example.) But it’s still going to be different enough to say, “oh, and I see other mythologies and new themes are being explored and it’s advancing the genre.”

And if it doesn’t, then it’s a bad clone even if the names and settings have been changed. It remains that fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off of it.

In fashion, in general, I wince at “brands” that I can tell or have explicitly stated that they’re knock off brands.

They may not realize they’re knock off brands. If part of your company story is going to a store, buying a product and then finding out how to recreate it at a lower price point, then you’re a knock off brand. They may not get this because some, not all, the people who do this don’t have fashion training. And don’t know how fashion business works and why knocking off “styles” of stuff is bad. They didn’t design that style. They didn’t put thousands of dollars into researching how to make that shoe and make it comfortable from sole to last. They went and bought it at a store and copied it. Then they’re presenting it as their own under their name.

Why are they knocking off that handbag? Or shoes? Or item of clothing? Mostly, to make money. But their voice, their point of view as a person isn’t coming through because honestly, most of the time, they don’t have one. I’m talking about fashion brands here started by not fashion people who haven’t gone to school, or companies that don’t hire fashion designers. They make me whimper and cringe. Why? Why? Why? Money. Ohkay, profit isn’t a dirty word, but don’t you feel the least bit dirty taking someone else’s design and remaking it? How can you be remotely proud of that?

It bugs me.

Writers who deliberately want to make a Narnia clone or a Star Wars clone or insert popular trend of the moment clone make me wince as well. I have to ask myself, though I don’t ask them, what they think they’re bringing to the genre by just making another rendition of a popular thing? What questions are they asking? What themes are they exploring? Or are they just trying to make money? Do they really have their own story to tell? Where is their voice? Where is their personal experience?

Personally, if I want to read more of a popular universe, I go to AO3 or FF.net and I read fanfiction. Not only is it free, there’s roughly the same amount of good to bad that I’ll find on bookshelves. The characters are the characters I know and love and leaving a kudo or comment can make someone’s day! (Okay, leaving a review of someone’s book can also make an author’s day. Seriously! Leave reviews!)

When I sat down to write the first book of Heaven’s Heathens. I wanted to write Urban Fantasy. I like the worlds that Kim Harrison and Jim Butcher and Patricia Briggs and Laurell K. Hamilton create. And there is a lot of Urban Fantasy on the shelves and it’s mostly mysteries. And it’d be easy, oh so easy, to create a clone of one of those worlds to put in all the different races and the tensions and try to put my own spin on that. (And there are plenty of writers who have done that!)

And I do have an idea like that. My idea draws on another popular genre as well. (And I’m amazed at how popular that genre is to be honest. It baffles me like Amish romances baffle me.)

But that didn’t feel right at the time. I didn’t want to be another clone of another urban fantasy. I didn’t want to be dystopia either. Even though that was popular at the time. I wanted to write about bikers and werewolves and touch upon themes that were important to me; belonging, family, emotional labor, feminism, healthy masculinity, different types of dating.

Straight up urban fantasy didn’t seem a good fit. Putting it in today’s world might be a bit touchy. And the only place I could think of where leather was accepted was post-apocalyptic fiction. And with that, I could set it into the future and have fun with technology making it science fantasy instead of just pure urban fantasy. There’s more adventures in science fantasies and I’m good at writing adventures and action. (And silliness, I’m good at silliness.)

Originality comes from taking the building blocks of different ideas and different designs and fitting them together in different ways to say new and meaningful things in your own voice. Remember, stealing from one person is plagiarism. Stealing from many is research.

Knock offs and cloning, counterfeiting and plagiarism, the deliberate and with intent stealing of other people’s creative work, words, writing and designs and presenting them as your own is wrong. Counterfeiting and plagiarism is straight up illegal. Knock offs and clones aren’t as long as they don’t stray into trademark infringement. Though there is a very good question about morals and ethics if you want to knock off another design or another book.

The reason why there are so many kitchen sink urban fantasies out there outside of the popularity of the genre, is because they don’t stray into trademark infringement, the worlds are different, the protagonists are different even if they are essentially all doing the same thing; solving mysteries. And there is nothing wrong with having 101 different types of kitchen sink urban fantasy mysteries with private eye wizards or mechanics or nurses or bounty hunters or security people or line cooks at bbq joints that double as assassins. (And those are the ones I’ve read.) Because the world building is different, the characters are different, the rules are different. They may be clones but they aren’t direct copies trying to pass themselves off as from super popular writer.

And readers like this because that means there are more kitchen sink urban fantasies for them to read (regardless of quality.)

So, if you want to write a kitchen sink urban fantasy go right ahead. Just, remember, you need to take your voice and your experience and your themes and infuse them into your writing by creating your own characters and writing in your own world instead of using someone else’s.

In fashion, it’s the same way. There are basic building blocks to fashion. There are basic ideas for clothes, the tailored jacket, the 5 pocket jean, the basic t-shirt, the pencil skirt and so on and so forth. And if you want to create a fashion label, then by all means, create a fashion label and remember that these basic building blocks (that everyone needs) are launching and jumping points for higher designed clothing. Don’t go out and buy someone else’s pencil skirt or t-shirt or bootie and cut it apart and trace their pattern. Take your voice, your experience with clothing and try to find out what is important to you in fashion, what types of things do you want to wear and others like you want to wear. Those are the fashion details you bring to your clothes!

Be yourself. Find your voice. Then, you don’t have to worry about being a clone or a knock off or being sued for copyright or trademark infringement. (Though looking into various fashion trademarks is a good idea to be honest.) If you have something you want to say and it’s important to you, you’ll find a way to say it without relying on the ideas of others.

[amateurfan227]

Shitlist Reviews - Man of Steel (2013)

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Amateur Fan 2.27 and welcome back to the Shitlist, where bad movies burn, this movie has been going on my mind for a good couple of years since it’s official release back in 2013 and especially since the arrival of multiple sequels as well as a spin off relating to events from the first sequel.

The movie I’m talking about is the reboot of an American hero that appeased the eyes of many including yours truly, Man of Steel; as a movie itself, there are a lot of negative reviews towards it which is surprising as several Marvel movies from the MCU are complete garbage which have none-sensed villains as well as plots that have either been used before or not been thought clearly.

Before I start the main review including the production history I’m going to bring a full statement which would cover the review entirely on why I think this movie is the perfect example of Superman’s Origin as well as the fact that everybody seems to miss out on important moments of the Superman mythology, including the story from Clark Kent becoming Superman which is based on the comics (both old and new).

I’ve seen countless reviews on this especially on the Nostalgia Critic’s review where I strongly disagree with him on major parts, which takes my side over towards Angry Joe who defends in on multiple barriers, especially as the movie is based towards emotion on the character as well as the moral standards of the superhero entirely... something which has surfaced on the internet a couple of weeks ago.

I’ve also watched the first 2 movies to cover this though the second movie from the 80’s will be reviewed later after this review but definitely before BVS (which will be done next year at most) and I’ve got some major problems with the Donner versions which might trigger a couple of original fans... I also reviewed the first movie as well and to be honest, it’s a great movie but suffers from heavy flaws.

I will cover all this in the review as well as the story towards Superman is a pretty dark one as well, for those who don’t know the origin of the Man of Steel, Kal-El was the last survivor of the planet called Krypton before it blew-up from within due to an unknown reason which caused his parents, (scientists) to send him to Earth as it has a similar and breathable atmosphere to theirs though with a potential problem as Our planet has a more younger sun which would grant him the powers he possesses.

And with this said, the movie focuses straight on it, as well as a creative way on how General Zod wants to eradicate Jor-El as well as his own heir, as well as the technology the Kryptonians use for the Phantom Zone; the addition of Lois Lane as well as the Daily Planet, the addition to the Military as well as the main aspect of the character development on Clark Kent.

What I love about this movie is the character development that people seem to look over, especially when it comes towards Clark Kent as it’s more of a story driven towards his actions with other characters and his discovery on his new born powers and abilities, and the idea towards his morals on judgement against the others. The idea towards it makes him more human which I admire the most, almost like he is more human than the other superheroes from the DC universe.

One more thing that I find interesting about this movie is Zack Snyder’s direction towards the main character as making him more emotional towards his fight between humanity as well as his other Kryptonians including Zod which makes an intriguing direction towards his faith in humans. Including the most notable scene of the feature which is Zod’s demise which everyone hates towards how it was performed, I will get into that later on in the review which I praised for Kal’s humane action towards it.

Aside from the appraisal of the movie I found problems that might have the opposite effect, such as some of the science in the feature most notably the fact that the Kryptonians were focused on terraforming the Earth, granted that was an interesting idea but effecting the earth’s gravity would cause more damage than what was seen especially for the amount of time that was given in the film.

The idea of having the atmospheres of Krypton and Earth were interesting ideas but raised a question on what would happen to Lois’s biology when she entered the ship as well as Kal’s.

Another question I would give is the main explanation behind the cloning process of birth towards the Kryptonians as they had to take samples from ‘the core’ skull, would that suggest that they’ve never had the ability to fully populate in the most mature form of pure birth instead of cloning their own DNA?

Another question behind that is what was the coming of the war that Zod was bringing up before the destruction of Krypton as he had other motives to suggest that they were being attacked rather than just being blown up; along with that is the crime Zod was really responsible for when he forced his way into the Academy of Science.

Another thing that had got me confused was the messages that Jonathan Kent was bringing Clark towards his moral standing when he was growing up, I managed to watch those scenes a couple of times and in its defence, I believe it’s his way of expressing his emotions towards his adoptive son when Clark discovers his true heritage, and when he comes towards his teenage adolescence which makes him question his own morals aside from Jonathans...

Aside from the minor references as well as the product placements, it was a pretty harmless movie which told the story of the Man of Steel that many were looking for, though it was heavily debated to be the worst of DC which is questioning as they brought us atrocities such as Steel, Catwoman, Batman and Robin and most strangest of all, Superman IV: A Quest for Peace.

I thought the movie itself is similar to the morals from other character standing points such as idolising the hero as Jesus which does get on a lot of people’s nerves for all the wrong reasons and in some cases it does get on mine as well but in different movies with different perspectives such as Neo in the Matrix series.

For the reason why I prefer this movie towards the others is simple but very difficult to explain, this is more of a coming of age story of the Superman mythology rather than an a simple origin movie towards his status especially following inspiration from reboots in comics such as the World One Superman as well as the new 52 series which is heavily influenced on the movie due to its science-fiction feel as a superhero movie.

The movie was more toned towards true believers with new comers as well towards the Superman franchise as well which I applaud and bring Zack Snyder in the idea of rebooting the series is a pretty interesting idea by far due to his recreation of the impossible, look at the Watchmen for example, granted some parts of it weren’t able to come through such as the message of the Watchmen (which is explained more in the comic) as well as ending...

I applaud the idea of having him in the director’s chair of both Man of Steel and Batman Vs Superman for his outlook on the heroes and sending different messages towards their own sense of morality as well as giving fans the impossible, movies that we (the fans) were refused, but seeing him away from the movie Justice League is understandable which I pray for his family as well as his friends... (Sorry Zack).

Aside from this Man of Steel is possibly the best recreation of Superman that we needed, the movie that we deserved as it’s the movie that brought us hope aside from rage and self-satisfaction. Aside from all the input I’ve placed in the paragraphs above, though some of the facts that I’ve repressed will be explored later on in the review at hand; now for the usual routine, time for the production history which is an interesting one at that.

Man of Steel was produced by Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment, Syncopy Inc (Christopher Nolan’s private company) and Cruel and Unusual Films (Zack Snyder’s Company) and was developed through Warner Bros. Pictures; featured as the first movie toward the DC Extended Universe (with Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad to follow) the movie was written by David S. Goyer, who brought us the Dark Knight Trilogy.

Previous development started in 2008 after Warner Bros. Took pitches from multiple writers and directors in attempt to revamp the franchise to a modern day audience; though in 2009 a court ruling sided with Jerry Siegel’s family (one of the two creators of Superman) to retain the rights to Superman’s origins and Siegel’s copyright.

The decision stated that Warner Bros. didn’t owe the families additional support from the previous incarnations but if they didn’t begin production before the end of 2011, the Shuster (Joe Shuster, the second creator) and Siegel estates would be able to sue for due to no revenue on an unproduced movie. Though Christopher Nolan pitched the idea from Goyer after story discussion on the Dark Knight Rises which lead to Snyder being the film’s director in October 2010 leading filming to start in August 2011 in West Chicago, Illinois before moving to Vancouver and Plano, Illinois.

In June of 2008, Warner Bros. took pitches from comic-book writers and directors on how to restart the Superman film series, which lead to Grant Morrison to state “I told them, it’s not that bad. Just treat Superman Returns as the Ang Lee Hulk” which is interesting to mention as both of them are different concepts, one is an Alien who’s praised as a hero as the other is a metaphor of the destruction of gamma radiation...

In August of the same year, Warner Bros. Suggest a complete reboot of the franchise as Studio executive Jeff Rebinov explained “Superman Returns didn’t quite work as a film in the way that we wanted to. It didn’t position the character the way he needed to be positioned.” Paul Levitz stated in an interview that Batman held the key to the reboot stating “Everyone is waiting for Nolan to sign on for another Batman, once that happens, the release date for Superman and all other projects will follow.

August of 2009 arrives leading a court ruling in Jerry Siegel’s family to capture 50% of the rights to the origins and the share of the copyright to Action Comics #1, the reset is above for further information.

The plot of Man of Steel employs a nonlinear narrative to the character as well as exploring more of the story in flashbacks; during story discussions for The Dark Knight Rise in 2008, Goyer told Nolan his idea towards Superman being presented in a modern day world on how we would react if there was an alien on our world; This impression Nolan leading him to pitch the idea to the studio causing him to produce the film with Goyer to write it following the major success on The Dark Knight.

Robinov, Present of Warner Bros. Pictures Group spoke to Entertainment Weekly and allowed a peek over the wall surrounding DC Comics plans, which included references to other heroes alluding possibilities of expanding it towards a larger universe; casting for the film were debated towards Robert Zemeckis (back to the future) Matt Reeves and Tony Scott until casting came down to Zack Snyder who confirmed that Booster Gold and Batman references were placed in the film.

Filming began in 2011 on August 1st in an industrial park near DuPage Airport under the name Autumn Frost; Snyder expressed reluctance to shooting it in 3-d due to technical limitations of the format and chose to shoot the movie two-dimensionally and convert the film into 3-D in post production. He also chose to shoot the movie on film instead of digitally because it would make the movie, “a big movie experience”.

Filming was estimated between 2-3 months which lead to production to take place in Plano, Illinois on August 22nd to 29th, According to Michael Shannon during an interview, filming would continue the following year, Man of Steel filming in the Chicago area, California and Burnaby’s Mammoth Studios was transformed to Superman’s home planet of Krypton as well as mixed extraterrestrial aircrafts. Metro lands on Vancouver’s North Shore waterfront hosted for the oil-rig scene which introduces the character.

Ucluelet and Nanaimo of British Columbia feature in the movie leading the remainder of the movie to take place in the Chicago Loop from September 7-17.

The design of the suit gathered everybody’s attention which was redesigned by James Acheson and Michael Wilkinson; the costume preserves the colour scheme greatly with the S Logo but adopts darker tones which removes the addition of the red trunks that’s usually worn by the hero, Snyder and the producers attempts to devise a suit with the red trunks but it couldn’t match the fit of the tone in the film.

Acheson was tasked in designing the suits while Wilkinson would finish development when he designed the other characters costumes which leads to other problems; as for General Zod, due to the substantial weight a practical suit would yield, the Kryptonian armour for the villain was created through CGI in order to give Shannon freedom of movement.

John “DJ” Desjardin served as the visual Supervisor for the feature with Weta Digital, MPC and Double Negative providing visual effects for the movie as Snyder wanted the movie to “appear natural because there are some very fantastical things in there and he wanted people to suspend their disbelief”.

For the first act of the movie that took place on Krypton, Weta Digital placed alien-like planet environments, creatures and the principal means of display using technology called liquid geometry; Weta Digital Supervisor Dan Lemmon explains, “It’s a bunch of silver beads that are suspended through a magnetic field, and the machine is able to control that magnetic field so that the collection of beads behave almost like three-dimensional pixels, and they can create a surface that floats in the air an describes whatever the thing is you’re supposed to be seeing.

The sequences where Superman utilizes close-combat fight scenes with the other Kryptonians proved to be a major challenge for the filmmakers and visual effects crew; Desjardin explained “When we do these fights and these hyper-real things, we don’t want to do the traditional, ‘OK I’m a cameraman, I’m shooting a clean plate, I’m going to pan over here to follow the action that’s not really there yet but we’ll put the action in later’ Because that’s us animating the characters to the camera.”

“So we would do that Animation with the characters- grappling, punching or flying away-and we would take the real guys up until the point until they were supposed to do that and we’d cut. Then we’d put an environment camera there and take the environment; and then a camera for reference of the actors and get each moment. So then we had a set of high-res stills for the environment and the characters. Then, in post, we take the digi-doubles and animate them according to the speeds we want them to move in our digital environment”.

MPC handled the visual effects for the Smallville scene, before providing the effects; the shots were previsualized for the fight choreography. After the previsualizations, live action portions of the scene would be filmed in small pieces a camera rig would then obtain key frames of the choreographed actor.

On set a camera rig was used to capture the environment of the sequenced, dubbed ‘enviro-cam’, the visual effects crew would mount a Canon EOS 5D and a motorized nodal head, allowing the crew to capture the environment at the 360-degree angle with 55k resolution for every show, the process would take a minimum of 2 to 4 minutes. The set capture resulted in lighting and textures that could be reprojected onto geometry.

Full-screen digital doubles were a major component for the fighting sequences. Digital armour was also added along with the energy-based Kryptonian helmets. Cyberscan and FACS were conducted with the actors and polarized and non-polarized reference photos were taken, Superman’s cape and costume were scanned in high detail- the cape in particular became direct extensions of Superman’s Actions.

For the scenes involving the terraforming of Metropolis, Double Negative took over the visual effects for the sequence. In order to construct a Metropolis that seemed convincing and realistic, Double Negative utilized Esri’s (Environmental Systems Research Institute) CityEngine to help procedurally deliver the city. For the destruction of the buildings, the studio rewrote its own asset system to focus towards its dynamic events. The Bullet physics software was a powerful component for the utilization of the destruction; Fire, smoke and water stimulation tools were provided by Double Negative studios which transitioned between the existing propriety volumes rendering software to rendering in Mantra for elements such as fireball Sims.

The movie was released with a budget of $225 million dollars and received almost 3 times its original budget back in the box office and premiered at the Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City on June 10th 2013, which featured the attendance of the principal cast members, with a wide release on June 14th.

Marketing for the film gave a more interesting action towards the movie especially on its website which had deep space radio waves which had different messages which were translated for the You Are Not Alone speech from the film.

Critical reception was mixed from critics and the public, on Rotten Tomatoes gave it an unfair advantage by giving it 55% stating that it was a generic blockbuster movie and the same for Metacritic, the critics blamed it mostly on the reboot as it was expressing the discovery of Clark going through the characteristics on learning his abilities rather than showing the audience his abilities straight away.

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times stated, ‘we’ve plunged into a mostly underwhelming film with underdeveloped characters and supercharged-fight scenes that drag on and offer nothing new in the way of special effects creativity’ it’s clear that he didn’t get the message as this was a retelling of the mythos rather than a traditional superhero movie.

There were some interesting reviews praising the movie in that sense such as Kofi Outlaw, Editor-in-Chief at Screenrant.com stating that “Man of Steel has more than earned its keep, and deserves to be THE iconic Superman movie for a whole new generation.”

As this was the first movie, the success of the film starts Warner Bros. plans to extend the DC Universe with other characters bringing Goyer to write a sequel for the film as well as a Justice League script, in San Diego Comic-Con on the same year, Snyder announced that the next feature would show Superman and Batman meeting for the first time in a cinematic format with Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburne to reprise their roles.

I did state in previous reviews that I will review this when I have the time but now it’s officially time to dive into the movie that changed DC movies for a good while and for good reason, this is Man of Steel.

 The movie begins on Krypton which I have to admit is a very impressive look on Superman’s world especially when it comes to the design,  granted they went with a more artificial look on the land and I have to admit, it kinda works especially with Superman’s origins... We also see Lara Lor-Van played by Ayelet Zurer along with her husband, Kryptonian Scientist Jor-El (played by Russell Crowe) as she gives birth to their first-born and Krypton’s latest natural born son... this will be explained later...

In the meantime, Jor-El is called into the council of Krypton to discuss something relating to the core of Krypton collapsing at a rapid level due to harvesting its power which the council refuses to believe only for the terrorist war criminal, General Zod (played by Michael Shannon) to interfere claiming power over the council to Jor-El’s disapproval only for Jor-El to evade captivity leading to a war between Zod’s militia and the army of Krypton which I have to admit is pretty amazing for an introduction.

Jor-El leaves the ruins of the council in finding the codex, a genetic code that was once used to be of natural Kryptonian birth; for those who don’t know majority of Kryptonian members are born synthetically apart from the main superiors such as councillors scientists, generals and others with more power in their title as for Jor-El who was born naturally as for his new born son was born natural as well, this will be included when I review BVS.

Side note, the outlook on Krypton looks incredible especially when it comes down to layers of CGI, granted I hate the use of it but when it comes to making an impossible task like making a planet like Krypton exist, it makes sense for it to be heavily used to make the appearance of the planet deceiving yet believable, kudos to the special effects team.

Jor-El manages to get the codex back to Lara before sending Kal-El into orbit before being followed by Zod only for Jor-El to place the Codex within the DNA of her new child, only Lara to reveal a world for their only hope to live on. Now here’s where the science of superman that everyone seems to ignore kicks in, most of you think that Superman’s story isn’t interesting towards how his powers generally work, especially when it comes to numerous individuals asking that if his powers work,  how come they don’t work on Krypton.

Krypton is in a solar system of a Red Star before converting into a Supernova as well as for Earth as for our solar system has a younger star as the sun meaning it’s yellow which gives off more energy, there are other examples of uses of stars relating to the Superman mythos such as the Blue Star which does a lot more damage as it increases Superman’s powers rather than the Yellow Star; The Red Star on Krypton would just make Superman into an average human removing his powers instantly, this too will be shown later on in the film.

They discuss on what will happen to him only for Jor-El to state that he will be a god to us once upon arrival, only for Zod to arrive too late as Lara places the child in the rocket as the codex is fused into his DNA leading Jor-El to place the key (plot point) into the cot that Kal-El is secured too. Jor-El prepares his battle armour as Zod breaks through the doors in order to confront them... and to be honest; I think Shannon’s performance as Zod is more laughable rather than forceful.

Zod is easily thrown around by Jor-El only to be killed when Lara launches the rockets through the phantom drive leading to Zod’s arrest as well as his militia when the Army of Krypton arrives to take Zod in. Days later the surviving members of Zod’s previous attack of the Council send Zod and his allies through to the Phantom Zone for reconditioning after his crimes only for Zod to announce to Lara that he will find her child; later on that day Krypton is indeed destroyed from within when the core has finally collapsed. Despite all the reviews I’ve seen including the Nostalgia Critic’s review I believe they were wrong as it is a powerful scene as it lands a hand on how Krypton was really destroyed, you can tell that they were following the Earth One story arc from DC’s Earth One series (which I recommend).

We skip to the rocket that Kal was sent on leading towards Smallville near the Kent farm only to skip again to Kal-El/Clark Kent played by Henry Cavill (who I’m referring to as Clark at this point which will lead me to change his name later as the story progresses) as a fisherman whose nearly crushed by a falling cage, fortunately saved by one of his colleagues, his boss informs his team that there is an oil rig that is need of help which they tend to ignore.

Only for Clark to leave that order and manages to save the men inside from burning leading to another scene which does get me confused on him risking his own identity for saving a bunch of guys, like I said before on morality I believe that this is both a good and bad use of his morality as it would show he’s only there for helping them, including when they are saved by helicopter, but also for him to reveal who he really is.

Like I said previously, they are saved only for the oil rig to crush him to the ocean which reveals a flash-back to Clark discovering his abilities for the first time, mainly X-ray vision as well as super hearing and laser vision as a child, his mother Martha Kent (played by Diane Lane) is there to support him as his class mates mock him when he runs from the class into the school closet.

I have to admit this is a pretty interesting move to make because not only does it show the sympathy side of the future Superman but it shows the human side of the alter ego; Again, kudos to the writer as well as the director.

Clark does manage to wake up only in water this time, exiting the flashback only for him to literally steal some dry laundry in order to return to humanity, he walks past a school bus entering another flashback to when his superhuman strength is seen as this time he lifts a school bus of his class-mates out of the water, leading for one of the children’s parents to confront the Kents over the incident.

To be honest love I’d be more thankful rather than claiming someone to be a freak (which is inclined in her conversation) actually coming to think of it why were you confronting them to begin with? This leads to a conversation towards Clark and Jonathon which is pretty convincing on what Jonathon wants his son to do which majority of the internet seems to ignore, it’s not about showing Clark the way on how to act on what he is more on how to act on what he’s to become, again another conversation over morality, not just pleading him to let the kids drown...

It’s also another conversation over how to become more welcome to humanity over that Clark’s alien nature, which is introduced to the next scene when Jonathon shows Clark the ship he arrived on as well as the key which he took for testing only to be unrecognized by science as if it’s an alien object. You can see that it’s coming from the Earth One story because the script is exactly the same.

We skip the present as we see Clark working as a barman in a saloon only for one of the patrons to flirt on one of the bar-maids leading to an aggressive argument which causes Clark to leave only for the next scene to see the patron’s truck (semi-truck from the looks of it) to be completely destroyed. Clark (after hearing a discussion with several soldiers) leaves for Canada (I think) where the army is planning an exploration mission on an unknown object beneath the ice.

We see Reporter Lois Lane (played by Amy Adams) is following the mission with Colonel Hardy (Christopher Meloni) and Dr Emil Hamilton from DARPA (Richard Schiff) whom talks about the object leading it to be over 12 thousand years old. Later that night, Lane follows Clark (who hides as one of the workmen) into the cavern, into a large ship leading it to be one of the Kryptonian scouting ships.

Though he manages to move around the ship at ease and bypasses the security, he uses the key that was given to him at an early age and activates the ship, leading him to explore the ship, Lois on the other hand manages to make way through the ship only to get injured when a security android injures her through the stomach, Clark destroys the android and heals her injuries only to leave with the ship leaving Lois on an island not far away.

Lois does come around however, releasing her report to Perry White (Lawrence Fishburne) who disapproves her report stating that it was a hallucination; he refuses her report only for Lois to send her report to another associate known as Woodburn who releases her report willingly. Clark on the other hand meets the holographic image of his biological father whose consciousness was placed into the key before passing (like in the comics) and reveals to him the history on what he really is.

I think this is a powerful scene to the series as the original adaptations ignore this greatly on how Clark becomes Superman especially when it comes to his discovery of his homeworld. Jor-El reveals to him that they’ve used great machines to terror form planets into landscapes for their species to live in, though it came to a problem when space exploration missions were abandoned as well as overpopulation of artificial children were raising.

Which lead to the core of Krypton to become unstable leading for General Zod to intervene in attempt to safe Krypton, he also shows Clark the Genesis chamber, a chamber full of the ingrown Kryptonian babies that are still in hibernation; again another story of real morality between father and son.

This leads to the suit that Jor-El prepared for him when his conscious was built into the machine, leading for him to discuss the S on the symbol is a meaning as well as his families logo, but a meaning of Hope, which causes Kal to place the suit on as well with the radiation of the sun to give Kal the ability that no other human could posses, flight.... another scene that I love greatly.

Most people misunderstand the science in the Superman mythos, and then this film is greatly accurate towards the mythos as it tells you everything about his abilities...

Lois however is looking for Clark’s past by talking with people who knew Clark through careers or friends, leading to Martha which informs her to go to the graveyard where Jonathon’s tombstone is stored. Clark arrives behind her leading her to ambush interview him, granted this is going towards Lois’s ambitions to become a reporter but ambushing him through his family is definitely a low blow Lane...

Clark has another flashback to when Clark was leading to another conversation that the Kent’s weren’t much of a family to support Clark’s abilities; AGAIN another story with morality (seeing the difference NC?) though this is interrupted when a tornado arrives killing Jonathan when he manages to save numerous people though orders Clark to remain in order to save his son one last time from revealing his identity.

Another powerful scene, though in the present Clark reveals his story leading Lois to return to the Planet only to get suspended without pay by Perry though he has other thoughts about it when he claims on how everyone would react when someone like Clark would actually exist.

Clark returns to his home however to be greeted by his adoptive mother who is eager to meet him only to discuss what he’s been going through as well as his species; the U.S. Army however have found something else which is interesting, a large UFO hanging outside the hemisphere of Earth leading to the Lieutenant General Calvin Swanwick (Harry Lennix) to deduce that whom is controlling the ship will most likely be hostile.

However, all around the world, the power shuts off everything leading to a broadcasting signal from the UFO stating that You Are Not Alone, leading for General Zod to request that Kal-El must return to Zod, otherwise the Earth will be destroyed.

With the world scared, Lois watches the news only to discover her associate Woodburn has revealed her name as the primary source Perry to announce that he does believe her to Kal the live on Earth, though this is changed however when Lois is taken by the F.B.I. for questioning.

Clark however goes to a church to discuss with a father one whom he really is only to discuss his identity and how he needs to do the right thing only for the priest to agree with him on trusting faith and leaving trust for later, Kal places on the costume only to turn himself in to the military only to be questioned, he has an interview with Lois which is cut short only to have a discussion with Swanwick and Hamilton about his identity leading Kal to surrender to Zod.

Before Zod arrives, Clark and Lois have a brief moment together on how he would do the right thing, only for a smaller ship from Zod’s larger ship to collect Kal, it turns out to be one of Zod’s commander, Faora (Antje Traue) who accepts Kal and also Lois (which is confusing though she was more as damsel in distress caused by this action).

Kal and Lois arrive onto the ship leading to Zod’s introduction though for Kal it’s different as he falls due to the amount of pressure which is given from the ships close atmosphere towards Krypton rather than with Earth’s. Kal awakens in a vision of Smallville with Zod teaching him how he was freed from the imprisonment due to the Phantom Zone being destroyed when the link with Krypton blew up.

He also states that he creates a hyper-drive which would travel among galaxies in order to find Kal in order to help creating a new Krypton to replace the home that was once destroyed, only for Zod to reveal that the ship Kal used earlier sent of a signal to the ship that Zod was using, though through his journeys, Zod salvaged what he could of old Kryptonian colonies including a world engine which would be used for terraforming worlds.

The vision turns dark on how Jor-El hid the codex with Kal when he sent him on Earth for Krypton to be reborn again, leading for Zod to state that he will use the codex in order to create a new Krypton leaving Earth to be destroyed and the residents on it. Ending the vision, Kal remains chained in a separate section with Zod who interrogates him more stating that he will find the codex in order to create Krypton.

Lois however manages to place the key (god knows how she manages to get it in the first place) into Zod’s ship only for Jor-El to teach her how to help Kal in order to escape, though Zod has left with another ship in order to find the codex where Kal was born; Jor-El manages to help her get into an escape pod, while killing some of Zod’s followers as well as changing the atmosphere to earths, giving Kal an aid to escape.

Kal however manages to break through his chains due to the atmosphere change leading him to talk with his father for one last time, with some inspiration by his father’s words, Kal leaves the ship and manages to leave for Lois to save her from impact on landing back on Earth. He manages to save her though it comes to an issue that Zod has already arrived at the Kent’s home.

He brutally interrogates her by destroying her house as well as finding the ship that Kal was found in only for the Codex to be missing. Again this is followed with more humorous lines by Michael Shannon which leads to a full on brawl between Kal (whose now officially accepted his role as Superman) and Zod which escalates into Smallville.

Aside from the constant product placements like 7/11 and I-hop think it’s a decent fight and a pretty incredible one to express Superman’s abilities, though the same can’t be said for Zod as his armour is destroyed only for his abilities to break down on him when the atmosphere is too strong, Faora and Zod’s henchmen leads to a larger fight which includes the U.S. Military,  

Though some lines given from Faora are rather misleading especially when she states that Evolution always wins? She does get her comeuppance though when Superman manages to destroy her breathing helmet though Supes has his own problem when the other Kryptonian throws a train carriage at him.

He does recover though stating the main obvious that he is on their side, Superman leaves to check on his mother though only to find the house in ruin though she is alright, though Lois comes in to state that she’s got a plan to stop them; Zod on the other hand finds a weakness to Superman as one of his scientists discovers the codex was in his DNA which leads Zod to release the World Engine and plans to kill Superman for his blood.

The U.S. military find out that the ships are separating one two remote locations, the ocean and Metropolis as it starts operating, terraforming the earth at the same time, manipulating the gravitational pull. Lois and Superman arrives with Superman’s craft stating that if they place the craft between the phantom drive of the world engine then the machines would self destruct in a black hole like matter... which I’m thinking would be extremely dangerous as it would not-only destroy the machines but also destroy the earth as well...

The Army will take the craft towards Metropolis while Superman takes on the world engine on the other side, Zod finds Superman’s ship he used earlier and managed to come across the genesis chamber leading him to take over the ship completely; Superman however is having some issues with the World Engine as it proves too tough for him when the gravitational pull is resembling Krypton’s...

Metropolis is getting completely destroyed by the other World Engine, with the U.S Military having severe issues taking it down, Zod takes the ship away from the Arctic towards Metropolis to align with the World Engine, as Superman manages to overcome the gravitational pull and faces the machine head on destroying it, ceasing the terraforming process.

Lois and Hamilton manage to get the craft ready with the Key...WAIT...wait a minute... WAIT A MINUTE... Where the bloody hell did she get the key from, the last time I saw it, it was on Zod’s Ship, come one Snyder, at least show us how she got the key, it’s not like there’s numerous amounts of them as we’ve clearly seen that there was ONE BLOODY KEY... as I was saying; they manage to get it in but a huge problem as it won’t fit in fully,.

The U.S military are attacked however when Zod returns to finish the job only for Superman to destroy the ship the Zod has taken, which Superman uses his heat vision to literally cause it to crash in Metropolis, destroying the genesis chamber in the process. Hamilton manages to fix the problem before Faora returns for revenge only to trigger the black hole leading Lois to fall out of the cargo ship falling only to Superman to save the day once again.

Zod’s Army are killed off through the Black Hole as Superman escorts Lois to safety where he confronts Zod for one last time, leading for a major problem, now that Superman has foiled his plans, Zod is willing to kill everyone in Metropolis and the entire world for revenge. This leads to a huge fight in metropolis with Zod out of his suit understanding the abilities of the younger sun, giving an equal advantage for the fight.

Again over use of destructive tones are incredible which you can see the tones from Superman Earth One, as well as some other references to the Superman Mythos, They both land in a train station where Zod finally challenges Superman where he prepares to kills several passengers which leads to a pretty humane death where he breaks Zod’s neck, killing him in the process.

This is a pretty emotional scene, especially for a Superman movie, a lot of people hate this film because of this scene and to be honest, I actually enjoy it because it connects towards the emotion of Kal-El as well as Clark Kent, as much as people say that Superman doesn’t kill anyone, how about in Superman 2 where he removes the powers of Zod and his allies and literally throws them into the frozen pits of the Fortress of Solitude killing them and the smirks about it.

In this scene you get pure blooded emotion for the hero which is something I enjoy, something that makes it more than an Alien movie, it relates to the characters as well, as much as I enjoy Christopher Reeves performance in the 70’s edition, Henry Cavill, performs it way better when it comes to showing the human side of Superman aside from just being there to save the day.

Lois arrives at the station (which raises on how she would get there which is literally miles away from where they were fighting) to comfort him in his time of need, Swanwick however manages to have a brief meeting with Superman when he destroys a droid... so much for a superhero... Superman informs him that he won’t attack the American nation as long as the government allows him.

Later Clark and Martha are walking past the graveyard speaking on how much they miss Jonathan which leads to a flashback on when Clark was playing a hero when he was a kid, which is symbolic to the man he’s become, Martha raises him a question on what he’s going to do when he’s not saving the world leading him to work for the Daily Planet being introduced to Lois Lane by Perry White.

And that was Man of Steel...

Possibly one of the best introductions to the Superman series ever made, granted I did ignore some questions that were raised by multiple viewers of this movie such as why the suit was there to begin with when it was clearly explained in the movie, there were multiple which I will leave for good reason.

A few reasons on why I prefer this movie than the 70’s version is because of a few simple reasons that I revealed earlier on, it’s more scientifically based to the character which debunks major questions that were raised before the movie was even released and raises more theories about the Man of Steel.

The acting was questionable on numerous actors mainly Michael Shannon which I won’t interrogate further which his performance in Midnight Special was more impressive, though half the time I thought it was more in a comical tone rather than a serious performance that Terrance Stamp had.

Amy Adams as Lois Lane.... now it’s a good idea of bringing her in but why on earth was she dragged into every scenario that Superman was in; I think it was more easier on bringing someone like Lana Lang into her past as she knew Clark more but her of all people? Come on Snyder, clearly you knew something was going on here.

And finally the best till last... Henry Cavill as Superman... possibly the best Superman I’ve seen for a good while, now saying that I’m probably going to get a lot of hate,  but let me put on thing first, Christopher Reeves only plays Superman as a coy rather than placing emotion in his role, Cavill does however mainly the remark on when I placed when the death of Zod came forth. But does he surpass the original, most definitely I know the original will always be the best but the new one has passed it by far.

The action was pretty incredible to see especially with the realistic tones of the comic series by far, well in DC standards at least, at least it’s more realistic than Marvel as they seem to avoid major questions that science raises; though it is overused when it comes to product placements it’s still acceptable action.

The score brought the movie more enjoyment such as especially bringing an alien tone to the movie’s environment, though some parts are questionable such as when Jonathan passed away... the special effects really out done themselves this time, I seriously mean it, they literally made a fictional planet look quite alive, especially with the life-forms and technology that they’ve used, kudos.

So now for a final judgement from yours truly... This movie will be on my Hitlist for a good while, I know that I’ve been away for a good while but due to work, medical problems in my personal life as well other altercations I have to say one simple thing, that I am back and back for good, aside from the Halloween reviews I’ll be doing 1 review fortnightly and trailer talks weekly, I hope you guys enjoy this review as it took me a good while to finish it off,  as well as timing restraints to finish the review as for that I apologise in advance.

I’m Amateur Fan 2.27 and you’ve just read the Shitlist review of Man of Steel...next time we’ll dive into something more....monstrous...

n