#(not even factoring in his crimes of shooting my favourite character)

[littledeadling]

I can’t watch the new mandalorian trailer I’m still so burned by the shitshow ending of TBOBF 💀💀💀 long rant in the tags sorry please don’t mind me

[filmmakerdreamst]

Xena: Warrior Princess Review

During Pride Month 2020, I finally got around to watch ‘Xena’. A show that had been in my to-watch list for years, but never got around to start. And when I finally did, I was pleasantly surprised. It was not what I expected and it was everything I think my 11 year old self would have loved.

The one thing that surprised me about the show, was the lack of packaging. Even though it was a fantasy, it also played with different kinds of genres too. I’ve talked about this before in my other review - ‘Xena’ was made at a time when TV had very few rules/rarely had a set audience, since there were parts of the show that were clearly for kids and there were other parts that were clearly for adults (therefore had much more flexibility). I admired how they weren’t afraid to break barriers and touch on deep themes such as religion, morality, redemption, spirituality, motherhood, forgiveness etc - even more than shows of today are able. I also loved how they played into the idea of ‘murder’ and how much it can damage a person - not just the person who commits the act, but the many people affected afterwards. I wasn’t expecting it to be that extreme. It made me think that this must of been the inspiration for ‘Game of Thrones’. 

I see a lot of comments here and there, saying how ‘cheesy and terrible’ it was but to just accept it because its part of the fun. And while like any show it does suffer from the occasional spell of bad writing (the whole of season 5) but it was also shown to be very aware of that fact and never took itself too seriously - unlike some shows I could mention. 

And regarding the ‘cheese’ factor (what 90s show wasn’t) It definitely can be, but I would call it ‘camp’ and ‘experimental’ more than anything else. (Don’t diss the poor use of CGI - I’m personally sympathetic to what was avaliable to them at the time) The style of humour reminded me of Taika Waititi’s filmmaking. If you’ve watched any of his films such as ‘Hunt for The Wilderpeople’ or ‘Jojo Rabbit’, then you know what I’m talking about. I liked how little they cared about being accurate or logical, which added to the ‘bonkers’ element in the show - which you can see in all of Taika Waititi’s films.

In all seriousness, a show centered around two women in their late twenties, who are realistic sizes (not trying to play teenagers). One of whom is a reformed mass murderer, who has lived a life experience, trying to do good in the world for the first time, picking the other one up who has no life experience prior (after they bugged them until they said ‘ok fine’) in their path to redemption. Just two women who become friends travelling the world together, fighting crime, having a laff, learning from one another without any toxicity - when suddenly when the stakes are raised - they realise ‘oh I'm actually falling in love with this person’ I have watched a lot of badly written shows in my childhood enough to know that, that’s not ‘cheesy’. I’ve never seen a story like that in my entire life. I’m not at all surprised that Russel T Davis was inspired by it while writing the Doctor and Rose’s relationship in ‘Doctor Who’ since he’s gay himself.

What’s more amazing about their love story is how they’re both develop as separate people as well. There was this video essay explaining ‘Why you should watch Angel’ the spin off series to Buffy; how ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer ‘was all about growing up and ‘Angel’ was all about being an adult. With Xena: Warrior Princess, you have both of those stories at the same time. 

Xena’s character was such a multifaceted experience to watch. And I can’t imagine anyone else who could play her as well as Lucy Lawless. What planet did they get that actress from? She's flawless! The amount of skill she has to put herself into a very physical role is astonishing. I personally had a love/hate relationship with her character all series long. Not in the way that I hated her, just that I couldn’t trust if she was all good or bad, which I know was intentional on the writers part. I haven’t seen a character quite like her before. She felt very much like a fallen angel; almost like the villain of her own story. Some of my favourite episodes come from fleshing out her character and dark past (‘Locked up and Tied Down’ is one of them) which reminds the audience that's she's not the stereotypical hero everyone expects. I loved her transformation from being this incredibly stoic warrior to being content and happy with who she is in season six, all because of a woman she fell in love with along the way. 

I’ve always thought of Gabrielle as the real hero and narrator of ‘Xena’. She’s the prime example of ‘a normal person becoming extrodinary’. Gabrielle’s coming of age story starting out as an innocent girl from a poor village dreaming of adventure, and ending as this vicious warrior who realises the ‘adventure’ wasn’t how she made it out to be is honestly the best character arc that I’ve ever seen. I loved how travelling with Xena made her realise her passion for writing (which was never going to happen in her home town, given the ‘sexist’ and ‘heteronormative’ ideas) and that she became a amazon princess like Xena. In regards to her sexuality, which is more up for debate than Xena’s (which I think we can all agree is bisexual) I personally interpret her as gay, just in terms of how she was written. Theres this moment in season 4 where she's being held up her hair, and Xena “symbolically” cuts it off ‘freeing her’. And she never really gets with a man afterwards, unless she’s being ‘possessed. It reminded me of a moment in one of Hayao Miyasaki’s films ‘Laputa, Castle in the Sky’ where the bad guy Moska shoots Sheeta’s ‘princess hair off’ which symbolises her transition from child to adult.

The cinematography was breathtaking. There was some great utilisation of New Zealand as the scenery. So was the soundtrack. You could tell it was made by experienced filmmakers. One of my favourite things about the show was the domestic elements - moments in the show where time seemed to stop - which made the world around the characters seem very real and magical. Even though it was a show that featured a lot of action/adventure, there was also this gentleness to it as well. For example, you could feel the wetness of the rain, the warmth of the sun and the clashing of the waves. This technique is used in Hayao Miayasaki’s work a lot .

The technique is referred to as ‘MA’ 空虚 meaning emptiness in Japanese. ‘Miyasaki describes this as the time between a clap’

“If you just have non stop action, with no breathing space at all, its just busyness. But if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension” - Hayao Miyasaki

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The episode ‘A Day in the Life’ in season two is a really good example of this technique being used.

To my understanding, they used a lot of the local actors in New Zealand, which according to Lucy Lawless, consisted of ‘African immigrants and other different ethnicites’. It was so refreshing to see such a diverse show (despite some slip ups) especially in the 90s. I appreciated the idea that if the actors or extras couldn’t do an ‘american accent’ people could just talk in their natural speech which was also very refreshing. 

The LGBT representation was surprisingly amazing. I never expected so many queer characters in one show - especially under the censors. There was this one episode where they had a trans woman - played by an actual trans actress - win a beauty contest. It made me cry. Not to mention the actress was an aids activist. It was actually Lucy Lawless’ idea to kiss her which was incredibly controversial at that time considering how everyone thought you could catch aids just by kissing. I can definitey see how it validated people back in the 90s.

When people told me that Xena: Warrior Princess was one of the greatest love stories, I thought they were exaggerating a little. But no, watching the show in context, I found out that it really is. Despite its obvious restrictions, It made me realise (regarding token gay couples today) how often television writers rely on physicality and drama to convey a ‘love story’ and how much of it is actually pandering the audience. One of the reasons why Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship felt so genuine is because it was built on mutual respect/compassion and they were also best friends. I felt like I was witnessing something very real and private. It didn’t need kissing scenes or drama to make it interesting. 

It really helped that most of the writers were queer also. There’s this opening scene in season 4, panning over to Gabrielle giving Xena a massage (metaphor for sex - because they weren’t able to show that on screen) which I consider to be one of the most iconic scenes in media - considering how I wanted to sick up my supper when I watched the 10 minute ‘empty’ explicit sex scene in ‘Blue in the Warmest Colour’. The difference when something is written by a queer women vs a straight man.

Because the creators weren’t allowed to write their love story in the normal way, due to the studio forbidding them to, they found creative ways to showcase that love on screen - which made for a very magical/sensual experience. And I can safely say, if anyone has doubts about watching ‘Xena’, whenever I expected to be queer baited at a few points in the show, I was proved wrong time and time again. It’s the most romantical show I’ve ever seen in my life!

[jaytheredbird]

🌞 and 💫 for the ask meme! :D

🌞 Do you have one canon character you love that not many have heard of? What do you like most about them?

@javechan_

Hmm I don't know if he's a lesser known character or if I 'love' him, but from a purely character design perspective: I liked Dane of Elysium (Earth-11) because DC chose to put him in a skirt instead of pants :B. I did not like his personality/characterization that much but I appreciated that DC designed a male version of Wonder Woman & stayed true to the actual WW costume, unlike Wonderous Man (Earth-11).

@wajjs

I do! He's from a kind of forgotten Elseworlds comic, Thomas 'Tom' Wayne aka Robin 3000. But actually, I also like Moon and Aki from those same comics. I think what drives me to them is the potential they all have as characters, plus the good stories that could come from Tom being the last of the Waynes and the last of the Robins. Moon is a very sweet and innocent character, and Aki is very loyal but also very human.

@glaciya

I really want to have an answer for this but I cannot for the life of me think of a decent or relevant one Dx

@spartanbunjess

Henry Adams from the Arkham Knight game. He manages to convince Bruce and Tim that he’s immune to Joker’s infection which leads to them losing control of Panessa Studios for a time. Plus he manages to get Harley to work with him before he’s even captured by Batman showing just how calculating he can be.

@firefrightfic

At first I was struggling to think how to answer this because pretty much all of my favourite DC characters are pretty well known already, but then I remembered the Sandman Universe stories I've been reading, House of Whispers and The Dreaming. HoW focuses heavily on an Hoodoo goddess called Erzulie, who is triple natured, big and beautiful, and has three husbands who adore her! She's also a certified badass who cares deeply for her charges and husbands and goes through some real challenges over the course of the story to keep them safe.

Meanwhile in The Dreaming, you have Dora, a monstess woman searching for her true identity, who is brash and brazen and unapologetic, and I really love her design and personality. Both need some more love from fans

💫 If you could make the crossover teamup of your dreams happen, which characters would you have working together?

@javechan_

I don't have enough comic knowledge to answer this. But, I have occasionally entertained thoughts about a team-up between Deadpool & Red Hood because I think the banter between the two would be interesting.

@wajjs

I'd actually really like a crossover between Spiderman (Peter Parker) and Nightwing (Dick), but! with adult Peter and not his teen self. Their dynamic could be very interesting and I think they have quite a few things in common when it comes to how they approach crime fighting. And Peter already has a crossover with Bruce, so I don't see why this can't happen.

@glaciya

Oh Wade Wilson and Jason Todd for sure! They are two of my favorite fictional characters and I feel like they have the potential to bring out both the worst and the best in each other depending on the situation. Both are two dudes that have been through lots of hardship(including torture and death) but both of them have kept their hearts throughout it all. I think the want to be the ideal hero and the need to ruthlessly kill all evil is at war in both of their minds and they could definitely bond over those conflicting feelings and their previous experiences. 10/10 for two wonderful men with bloody pasts not afraid to Get Shit Done.

@spartanbunjess

If I could make any crossover happen it’d be with Blue Team (Halo), Tom and Lucy (also Halo) and the five Outlaws. It’d be interesting to see how much of a headache they’d give Fred-104 as he is the unofficial dad of Blue Team. Master Chief John-117 would be excellent with Jason as his planning seems to be ‘save as many people as possible no matter the risk to myself’ and he understands the difference between spending lives and wasting lives. Kelly-087 is like Halo’s version of a speedster and id love to see how quick she’d be with access to the speed force. Jason deserves to have his own speedster and she’d be excellent at it. Especially as she’s known for flipping off the enemy and just generally winding them up/snarking at them. The Outlaws would be excellent parents to Tom and Lucy. They’ve been through so much trauma that Jason et al would be best suited to helping them heal and find ways to cope. They need that family atmosphere to flourish. Plus every member is badass. Linda-058 would take both Roy and Jason in a shooting competition and Floyd/Slade would pale in comparison to her.

@bloodthirstymerc

A lot of crossovers come to mind, but my favourite that involves DC would have to be the Teen Titans with the Young Avengers. My main reasoning might be a little controversial and biased, but my boyfriend and I both love TimKon and Wickling and often talk about them meeting and it very quickly became a fave of mine with the four of them together. But I think that all members of both teams would find little factors about each other that they'd get along with.

(I also think that Roy Harper and Clint Barton would have a blast together, obvious reasons why that pairing would be a good idea aside. They're both just messes that I adore wholeheartedly.)

(And wouldn't object to Wade Wilson (Deadpool) meeting up with a vast majority of DC characters either.)

@firefrightfic

Bucky Barnes and Jason Todd. Both have similar elements in their stories. Both are former sidekicks who died and struggled to find their way in the world after, out of the shadow of their mentors. I think they'd be really interesting together!

I'd also adore a series where Deathstroke and Deadshot are forced to work together long term. There'd be so much snide commenting and bullying, and also I'd love comparisons of Floyd as a villainous parent to Slade's... uh... practices. It'd be great fun.

[hag-lad]

Digging Deeper

Thank you to my radiant wonderful friend @alienfuckeronmain for sending me EXACTLY the type of self indulgent wind-down activity I wanted on this otherwise depressing weekend! If anyone else wants to answer FORTY-NINE QUESTIONS about themselves, I’m super nosy and will read it all! @fight-the-seether @ptolemyofchaos @butchwizard @metalbutch @nyndelion @comrade-ziltoid @leatherdear @kristalknobb Enjoy, friends!

1. Do you prefer writing with a black pen or blue pen? I prefer black, but I always feel like I write neater in blue??

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or city? The city, but only if it has breathable air, green infrastructure, and decent public transit. So like... definitely no city in America lmao

3. If you could learn a new skill what would it be? The ability to quickly become fluent in another language! I’ve been struggling with Spanish for literal YEARS and it’s honestly pathetic. My brain is so stuck on English.

4. Do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? Look pal. If I wanna drink sugar, I’m gonna have a soda, not herb water or bean juice.

5. What was your favorite book as a child? I was OBSESSED with The Wish List, by Eoin Colfer (of Artemis Fowl fame). I remember being so fascinated by how dark it was?? It’s an afterlife adventure, where the main character has to escape purgatory by atoning for her crimes of robbery and fraud and whatever. I had a crush on her, so basically this book made me want to pursue a life of crime, even though it explicitly condemns crime and depicts Hell as a very real and horrible place. I was in like fourth grade and was super morbidly curious about Hell and the possibility of going there! Lol

6. Do you prefer baths or showers? Baths... but only when I’m not actually dirty going in. A bath is leisure, not hygiene.

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which one would you be? 100% fae! I would build my dwelling within a sidhe mound, steal shiny things in the middle of the night, make bastardly little contracts for no reason, and cause harmless mayhem and mischief because mortals really are fools (go off, robin goodfellow!) Also I love mushroom circles and dancing in the moonlight.

8. Paper or electronic books? Paper all the way! I read much more content electronically, but it’s usually in the short story or article format. Books are much better in print, I think.

9. What is your favorite item of clothing? Probably my rust-brown overalls.

10. Do you like your name or would you like to change it? I’ve always hated my name but no alternative has ever stuck, unfortunately. My name is Amy, and I don’t think it fits at all. If I knew I’d never have to correct anyone on it, I’d probably just change it to Amelia?

11. Who is a mentor to you? My little brother! He’s this genius musician, and he has taught me so much about song structure, polyrhythms, guitar technique, production tricks, all kinds of trivia that really deepen my appreciation for music and the LABOR that goes into it.

12. Would you like to be famous and if so, what for? No, never, not for anything. I cherish my anonimity so much, I don’t even put searchable tags on this blog cuz I get an adrenaline spike from anxiety if too many people interact with me. I also just think fame is a fucking hideous construct. I don’t think it’s even slightly cool or desirable.

13. Are you a restless sleeper? No, I’m a fucking log. I can easily sleep for 12 hours straight. Thanks, depression!

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic person? No, actually. I’m very much in love, and it brings me lots of joy to do nice things with and for my partner! But romance feels very difficult for me to connect with. I’m super domestic, like, I love the idea of marriage but not necessarily a wedding, or a moonstruck romance or whatever. Those dramatic gestures feel very awkward for me.

15. Which element best represents you? EARTH. Specifically, like... dirt, or soil.

16. Who do you want to be closer to? I want to be geographically closer to my family. We’re thick as thieves, but we all live like 50 miles apart from each other. I miss my brothers and my parents so much, I feel so incomplete and depressed without them to hang out with, especially since quarantine.

17. Do you miss someone at the moment? See above! Lol

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory. When my little brother was a baby, he had this grey car seat with a folding mechanism which held his legs in place. It made a very satisfying clicking sound when the mechanism moved, AND when it was fully unfolded, it looked a lot like a Klingon battle cruiser. (Or so my five year old brain thought.) So! My older brother and I would take this seat out of the car CONSTANTLY so that we could unfold it and “sing” the Klingon theme music from Star Trek: The Motion Picture while we scooched our car seat battle cruiser across the living room floor, pretending to shoot phasers into the TV or the dining table or whatever else got in our way.

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten? Gifilte fish, maybe?

20. What are you most thankful for? My family, including my wonderful partner and all the cats in our lives!

21. Do you like spicy food? Yes! But my tolerance for extreme spice decreases every year, unfortunately. So I can’t handle as much heat as I used to, but I do enjoy a good kick.

22. Have you ever met someone famous? Lmaooo I made the regretful decision to PAY FOR a meet&greet with Fall Out Boy in like 2006, which was so fucking awkward and painful, I vowed to never approach that level of lame again.

23. Do you keep a diary or a journal? TONS! I’m an obsessive record keeper. Some years I journal more than others, and I’ve found that it is super difficult to keep up with it while working full time. But it’s absolutely one of my favorite hobbies.

24. Do you prefer to use a pen or pencil? Pen for writing. Pencil for drawing, and math.

25. What is your star sign? Virgo sun, Aquarius moon, Scorpio rising 🙃

26. Do you like your cereal soggy or crunchy? Crunchy! A shallow bath in that milk is key.

27. What would you want your legacy to be? My artwork. I go through these aesthetic phases every year that I become super obsessed with/ focused on, and I’ve always meant to catalogue them in annual art journals, but I’ve NEVER FINISHED ONE! They always get pushed aside by the need to work, and I hate that so much. If I could just take a year off work and backfill all of my missed concepts into completed books, I would be so happy. But I literally have NO WAY to pay for that, absolutely none. I fucking hate capitalism.

28. Do you like reading, what was the last book you read? I love to read, but finishing a whole book has been A STRUGGLE lately! Right now I’m chipping away at Tending Brigid’s Flame, which is a quaint lil devotional for the Celtic fire goddess. Very new agey, like cheesy Wiccan vibes. I love that shit!

29. How do you show someone you love them? Quality time!

30. Do you like ice in your drinks? Only if I have a straw. Ice touching my teeth kinda makes me wince.

31. What are you afraid of? Incompetance, doing a bad job, letting someone down, taking up too much space, being a nussiance, etc

32. What is your favourite scent? Incense! Especially cinnamon, dragon’s blood, and amber.

33. Do you address older people by their name or surname? I always call people, regardless of age, by the name they ask me to use. Sometimes it’s a surname or title, usually it’s a first name. I’ll ask their preference if I’m unsure. But I definitely don’t default toward a surname, that’s weird.

34. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life? COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY!!!!!! The need for money rules literally every single hour of my entire life, and I hate it so much. I’m naturally nocturnal, but my job requires me to get up super early and sit in a car for 11 hours a day. I wake up at 5am, come home front work at 5pm, spend an hour or two trying to unwind, then go to bed and do it all over again. I hate my life! Really! I never see the stars, I never exercise, I am completely exhausted and burnt out all the time, and I barely get any quality time with my partner. If money were no object, I would sleep til noon or 1, make art and hike all day, ride my bike and stargaze all night, stay up til 4am reading and playing with my cats, and sleep like a baby. My partner and I would cook dinner for each other and watch Star Trek and collaborate on art projects and I would be so happy.

35. Do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean? Here’s my hierarchy: Private pool > ocean > public pool

36. What would you do if you found £50 on the ground? I’d look around to see if anyone obviously dropped it and try to give it back. If I couldn’t find anyone, I’d exchange it for dollars and deposit that shit into my account!

37. Have you ever seen a shooting star? Of course!! Hundreds!

38. What is the one thing you would want to teach your children? America is evil and needs to be destroyed.

39. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? Lmao this is so cute. If you HAD TO HAVE a tattoo! I really wanna finish my damn sleeves, they’re literally 9 years in the making and barely half finished. But I’d also love more art on my legs! I DESPERATELY want Ziltoid in a lacy valentine heart on my thigh.

40. What can you hear now? Our fish tank water bubbling and my fan on full blast.

41. Where do you feel the safest? Home alone, doors locked, windows covered, lights low. I absolutely LOVE to not be seen or perceived in any way.

42. What is the one thing you want to overcome/conquer? My fear of discomfort

43. If you could time travel to another era, which one would you choose? I feel like I’d want to be a teen in the 80’s and an adult in the 90’s. Does time travel work that way?

44. What is your most used emoji? 😭 or 😎

45. Describe yourself using one word. Defeated

46. What do you regret the most? Convincing myself that math was too hard or boring (or something?) when I was in middle school. I feel like I’m actually a pretty intelligent person who could’ve totally overcome that difficulty and gone on to understand all kinds of patterns and concepts which have eluded me to this day! It’s so frustrating to try and fight that formative self-concept, which now comes naturally but ultimately sabotages me. 💀

47. Last movie you saw? I made my partner watch Troop Beverly Hills, one of my childhood faves. It’s so fun! I love chick flicks so much.

48. Last tv show you watched? Deep Space Nine. Getting through the first season has been harder than expected. It’s actually my favorite Star Trek show?? (Orrrr maybe that’s TNG, ahh! It’s so hard to choose!) But season one is so baffling and awful! Why is there so much space capitalism??! And racism? And war? And drinking alcoholic beverages? #notmystartrek

49. Invent a word and its meaning. I used to call a single strand of curly hair a “curly quink” when I was a child. Therefore, a “quink” is a section of hair, usually a particularly cute or iconic one.

[blue-mint-winter]

About Roslin and Baltar’s trial

I’ve been thinking about Roslin’s reasons behind putting Baltar on trial, because I’ve seen many different opinions on that and whether she was right or wrong. The show itself suggests a few times that she’s doing it for revenge, while her fans are taking her side. I think as always on BSG, the truth is more complicated than that.

To preface this, I am in the unique position because I am a big fan of both characters. Roslin is my favourite female character and Baltar is my favourite male character on the show. Watching their separate stories is so much fun to me and when they have scenes together is always a special delight. I love seeing how their paths cross, how they run in parallel, how they are foils to each other, everything about them is interesting. There is a symmetry to them as they exchange their roles in the show which I deeply enjoy and appreciate. They’re both very human characters, flawed, imperfect, but striving to be better. I don’t see Roslin as some paragon of virtue because she’s clearly not and never was. She made too many awful decisions for that, but she’s made quite a lot of good calls too. A lot of her ruthlessness comes from a sense of vulnerability. She can’t afford to show kindness or mercy to the enemy and potential threats have to be dealt with or the humankind won’t survive. That’s her M.O. She’s an iron lady, not some bleeding heart of a naive schoolteacher.

Season 3 of the show is all about New Caprica. Even when the characters are lightyears away from that planet, they still carry it and what happened there in their hearts. New Caprica tainted them all and left wounds they all spent the rest of the season healing. But there is one wound left for the last - Gaius Baltar. He is the symbol of New Caprica. He gave people the promised land but it turned into a living nightmare. He was a shitty president even before the Cylons came, so it was easy to place all the blame for NC squarely on his shoulders. However, it wasn’t as if he was voted in and people followed him there, rather it was the other way around - people wanted to go to NC, so they voted for him. People trusted Baltar because he was a genius scientist, because he claimed he cared, because he was an attractive political alternative to Roslin. Humanity made a bad choice, but it is easier for them to erase the physical reminder of that mistake than admit to it. Hence the ubiquitous hatred for Baltar in the Fleet.

But Roslin’s not just an average citizen, she’s much closer to Baltar. Of course she regrets not going through with stealing the election. She had a chance to prevent all this tragedy from happening and she didn’t. She chose the higher road in the end, to be the better person and she let Baltar win. Her own nobility doomed humanity. That’s a bitter pill to swallow. It must haunt her. And I think it certainly informs her ruthless decisions in S3, like ordering the Cylon genocide. NC taught her that morals can and should be sacrificed for the sake of survival. She doesn’t want to make that same mistake again.

S3 features a fascinating reversal of roles between Roslin and Baltar. It starts with him as the puppet president and her a powerless schoolteacher. Their first scene together is when he visits her in detention center where she’s held. The show never makes it clear whether Roslin was tortured and how (I suspect food and/or sleep deprivation), but she knows others were. Regardless, she is a victim of the occupation, unjustly imprisoned. Her name is on a death list, signed by Gaius Baltar.

There are many things Laura Roslin is and I believe that one of those is vengeful. She remembers everything good or bad, and she also holds grudges. One of those grudges is for Cylons who she has a certain propensity to airlock. Not unfounded of course. That combined with her regret for not stealing the election and her belief that Baltar is a traitor and traitors should be killed is a deadly combination for Gaius.

The graphic demonstration of Roslin’s grudge against Baltar is the entire episode 3x13 Taking a Break from All Your Worries. The tables have turned, the reversal of roles is complete, but what’s done is the same thing. Roslin’s doing to Baltar what was done to her. From the very beginning of the episode we have Baltar in prison, making the noose. It’s night but the guard wakes him up when he nods off. That’s the start of torture - sleep deprivation. Then Roslin’s first visit to his cell is a purposeful replication of his visit to her cell on NC. Through the episode, she continues with various methods of torture, to interrogate him and get the admission of guilt that she so desperately wants from him - which will justify what is done to him illegally. Which will validate her despicable actions against him, because he would admit to actually deserve them. But just like Roslin did not give Gaius the information or cooperation he wanted on New Caprica, Gaius doesn’t give in to her brutal methods here. Another similarity between them is that he didn’t wish her to suffer on NC and her crying when she has him tortured. Torture horrifies both of them and I think for Roslin that was a moment when she became horrified at herself and what she was doing. No Cylon was making her do this. Her conscience woke up and it couldn’t be silenced. (Still, Gaeta got only a slap on the wrist for murder attempt on the prisoner. Interesting how Roslin’s justice works when she can better empathize with Gaeta for wanting to kill Baltar, than with Gaius who she’s deliberately putting through the exact same things she’s personally gone through. As if she can transfer her own horrors to him and finally be free of NC.)

The last on her list of things to reenact is the death warrant. Adama offers to have Gaius quietly disappeared, just like Roslin was supposed to be killed back on NC. Out of sight, out of mind. But Roslin decides to give Baltar the trial for several reasons. I think the most important one is that she wants him dead for being a traitor but she also wants the moral high ground. His torture already made her too close to being like the enemy. When Baltar is tried and found guilty - and in her belief he cannot not be found guilty - he will be legally sentenced. She will not have his blood on her hands. She will not kill him just because she has the power and means to, not as a whimsy of the President. He has to be objectively judged and sentenced to death that he deserves for his own actions. Roslin fully believes her own judgment of Baltar is correct and objective. She refuses to acknowledge her own subjectivity when it concerns him. That’s why she allows the trial - because she is convinced it will go the way she wants it and Baltar will be sentenced to death. The last factor of why she decides to put him on trial is that she’s wanted to do this since she learned about his involvement with Six before the attack. She couldn’t have done it before because the only proof she had was a memory that resurfaced when she was dying and heavily medicated. It would’ve been just her word against his. But occupation of NC gives her all the reason and proof to finally convict him for his crimes. It’s tangible, real, it didn’t happen only to her. Everyone was there, everyone suffered. She has the public with her on this.

As an aside, it’s pretty hypocritical that Zarek gets away scot free. The man was the political mastermind behind Baltar’s presidential campaign, but because he got lucky and Cylons didn’t shoot him when he refused to cooperate and then he was with Roslin on the death list, he gets a free pass from her. A lot of help he was, rotting in a cell for the whole occupation. But now he’s her pal, he gave her back the presidential seat so all is cool between them. Even more hypocritical that Roslin banned Zarek’s secret tribunal killing collaborators right and left, but for Baltar she recreates it and makes it public for everyone to watch/listen to on radio.

It’s almost funny how Baltar makes Roslin lose her cool, how easily angry he can get her. She’s completely unobjective when it comes to him. He writes a book and she’s frothing mad. She imprisons a man because he read that book. She jokes about burning the book. She humiliates Baltar to make him stop writing, she lies to make him feel small, powerless, unheard. That’s how deep her grudge against him goes. If Adama is the equivalent of Zeus, Roslin fits the characteristics of Hera to a T.

One thing I really love about the show is that in the end, it doesn’t present the ideal solution to the issue of Baltar’s trial and punishment. I’d say that the actual message is that of mercy, but there’s no whitewashing his character. Baltar during and after the trial is shown at his smarmiest, but the justice is blind. It doesn’t care about likeability of the accused, it cares about evidence.

Was Roslin right or wrong? Was it right that Baltar was exonerated? What would be a just punishment for him? That’s left for the viewers to ponder about. In my opinion, the majority of S3 already showed Baltar’s punishment. Let’s not pretend that he was having a picnic when everyone else was suffering. He’s been imprisoned, horrifically tortured TWICE, he’s been almost killed multiple times, he tried to commit suicide. He had little to no control over his life, all he could do was to cling to it. His own guilt and self-loathing poisoned him and his love with Caprica Six. He’s lost everyone he cared for and became the most hated man in the universe. He was betrayed by Gaeta. And Baltar’s informal punishment isn’t going to go away just because he was freed by the court. Season 4 barely started and already someone attempted to murder him.

I spent hours writing this meta, so sorry if I rambled too much. I’ve just got a lot of feelings and opinions about the trial, Roslin and Gaius.

[grigori77]

2019 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 2)

20.  FROZEN 2 – so, another year, then, and once again Disney doesn’t QUITE manage to net the animated feature top spot on my list, but it’s not for lack of trying – this long-awaited sequel to the studio’s runaway hit musical fantasy adventure is just what we’ve come to love from the House of Mouse, but more importantly it’s a most worthy sequel, easily on a par with the much beloved origin.  Not much of a surprise given the welcome return of all the key people, from directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (who also once again wrote the screenplay) to composer Christophe Beck and songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, as well as all the key players in the cast.  It’s business as usual in the kingdom of Arendelle, where all is seemingly peaceful and tranquil, but Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) is restless, haunted by a distant voice that only she can hear, calling to her from a mysterious past she just can’t place … and then she accidentally awakens the four elemental spirits, sending her homeland into mystical turmoil, prompting her to embark on a desperate search for answers with her sister Princess Anna (Kristen Bell), ice harvester Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his faithful reindeer companion Sven, and, of course, living snowman Olaf (Josh Gad). Their quest leads them into the Enchanted Forest of Northuldra, a neighbouring kingdom, ruled by simple, elemental magic, that has remained cut off from Arendelle for decades, where they discover dark, hidden truths about their own family’s past and must make peace with the spirits if they’re to save their home and their people.  So, typical Disney family fantasy fare, then, right? Well, Frozen 2 certainly dots all the Is and crosses all the Ts, but, like the original, this is no jaded blockbuster money spinner, packed with the same kind of resonant power, skilful inventiveness and pure, show-stopping WOW-factor as its predecessor, but more importantly this is a sequel that effectively carves out a fresh identity for itself, brilliantly taking the world and characters in interesting new directions to create something fresh, rewarding and worthwhile on its own merit.  The returning cast are all as strong as ever, Menzel and Bell in particular ably powering the story, while it’s nice to see both Groff and Gad getting something new to do with their own characters too, even nabbing their own major musical numbers; there’s also a welcome slew of fresh new faces to this world, particular Sterling K. Brown (This is Us, Black Panther, The Predator) as lost Anrendelle soldier Mattias and former Brat Pack star Martha Plimpton as Yelena, leader of the lost tribe of Northuldra. Once again this is Disney escapism at its very best, a heart-warming, soul-nourishing powerhouse of winning humour, emotional power and child-like wonder, but like the first film the biggest selling point is, of course, that KILLER soundtrack, with every song here a total hit, not one dud among them, and there are even ear-worms here to put Let It Go to shame – Into the Unknown was touted as the major hit, and it is impressive, but I was particularly affected by Groff’s unashamedly full-bore rendition of Lost in the Woods, a bona fide classic rock power ballad crafted in the fashion of REO Speedwagon, while the undeniable highlight for me is the unstoppable Show Yourself, with Menzel once again proving that her incredible voice is a natural force all in itself.  Altogether, then, this is an absolute feast for the eyes, the ears AND the soul, every inch the winner that its predecessor was and also EASILY one of Disney’s premier animated features for the decade.  So it’s quite the runner-up, then …

19.  ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD – since his explosion onto the scene twenty-seven years ago with his runaway smash debut Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino has become one of the most important filmmakers of his generation, a true master of the cinematic art form who consistently delivers moving picture masterpieces that thrill, entertain, challenge and amuse audiences worldwide … at least those who can stomach his love of unswerving violence, naughty talk and morally bankrupt antiheroes and despicably brutal villains who are often little more than a shade different from one another.  Time has moved on, though, and while he’s undoubtedly been one of the biggest influences on the way cinema has changed over the past quarter century, there are times now that it’s starting to feel like the scene is moving on in favour of younger, fresher blood with their own ideas.   I think Tarantino can sense this himself, because he recently made a powerful statement – after he’s made his tenth film, he plans to retire.  Given that OUATIH is his NINTH film, that deadline is already looming, and we unashamed FANS of his films are understandably aghast over this turn of events.  Thankfully he remains as uncompromisingly awesome a writer-director as ever, delivering another gold standard five-star flick which is also most definitely his most PERSONAL work to date, quite simply down to the fact that it’s a film ABOUT film.  Sure, it has a plot (of sorts, anyway), revolving around the slow decline of the career of former TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo Dicaprio), who languishes in increasing anonymity in Hollywood circa 1969 as his former western hero image is being slowly eroded by an increasingly hacky workload guest-starring on various syndicated shows as a succession of punching-bag heavies for the hero to wale on, while his only real friend is his one-time stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), a former WW2 hero with a decidedly tarnished reputation of his own; meanwhile new neighbours have moved in next door to further distract him – hot-as-shit young director Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha), riding high on the success of Rosemary’s Baby, and his new wife Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie).  Certainly this all drives the film, along with real-life events involving one of the darkest crimes in modern American history, but a lot of the time the plot is largely coincidental – Quentin uses it as a springboard to wax lyrical about his very favourite subject and pay loving (if sometimes irreverently satirical) tribute to the very business he’s been indulging in with such great success since 1992.  Sure, it’s also about “Helter Skelter” and the long shadow cast by Charles Manson and his band of murderous misfits, but this is largely incidental, as we’re treated to long, entertaining interludes as we follow Rick on a shoot as the bad guy in the pilot for the Lancer TV series, visit the notorious Spahn Ranch with Cliff as he’s unwittingly drawn into the lion’s den of the deadly Manson Family, join Robbie’s Tate as she watches “herself” in The Wrecking Crew, and enjoy a brilliant montage in which we follow Rick’s adventures in Spaghetti westerns (and Eurospy cinema) after he’s offered a chance to change his flagging fortunes, before the film finally builds to a seemingly inevitable, fateful conclusion that Tarantino then, in sneakily OTT Inglourious Basterds style, mischievously turns on its head with a devilish game of “What If”.  The results are a thoroughly engrossing and endlessly entertaining romp through the seedier side of Hollywood and a brilliant warts-and-all examination of the craft’s inner workings that, interestingly, reveals as much about the Business today as it does about how it was way back in the Golden Age the film portrays, all while delivering bucket-loads of QT’s trademark cool, swagger, idiosyncratic genius and to-die-for dialogue and character-work, and, of course, a typically exceptional all-star cast firing on all cylinders. Dicaprio and Pitt are both spectacular (Brad is endearingly taciturn, playing it wonderfully close to the vest throughout, while Leo is simply ON FIRE, delivering a mercurial performance EASILY on a par with his work on Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street – could this be good enough to snag him a second Oscar?), while Robbie consistently endears us to Tate as she EFFORTLESSLY brings the fallen star back to life, and there’s an incredible string of amazing supporting turns from established talent and up-and-comers alike, from Kurt Russell, Al Pacino and a very spiky Bruce Dern to Mike Moh (in a FLAWLESS take on Bruce Lee), Margaret Qualley, Austin Butler and in particular Julia Butters as precocious child star Trudi Fraser.  Packed with winning references, homages, pastiches and ingenious little in-jokes, handled with UTMOST respect for the true life subjects at all times and shot all the way through with his characteristic flair and quirky, deliciously dark sense of humour, this is cinema very much of the Old School, and EVERY INCH a Tarantino flick.  With only one more film to go the implied end of his career seems much too close, but if he delivers one more like this he’ll leave behind a legacy that ANY filmmaker would be proud of.

18.  CRAWL – summer 2019’s runner-up horror offering marks a rousing return to form for a genre talent who’s FINALLY delivered on the impressive promise of his early work – Alexandre Aja made a startling debut with Switchblade Romance, which led to his big break helming the cracking remake of slasher stalwart The Hills Have Eyes, but then he went SPECTACULARLY off the rails when he made the truly abysmal Piranha 3D, which I wholeheartedly regard as one of THE VERY WORST FILMS EVER MADE IN ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY. He took a big step back in the right direction with the admittedly flawed but ultimately enjoyable and evocative Horns (based on the novel by Stephen King’s son Joe Hill), but it’s with this stripped back, super-tight man-against-nature survival horror that the Aja of old has TRULY returned to us. IN SPADES.  Seriously, I personally think this is his best film to date – there’s no fat on it at all, going from a simple set-up STRAIGHT into a precision-crafted exercise in sustained tension that relentlessly grips right up to the end credits.  The film is largely just a two-hander – Maze Runner star Kaya Scodelario plays Haley Keller, a Florida college student and star swimmer who ventures into the heart of a Category 5 hurricane to make sure her estranged father, Dave (Saving Private Ryan’s Barry Pepper), is okay after he drops off the grid. Finding their old family home in a state of disrepair and slowly flooding, she does a last minute check of the crawl-space underneath, only to discover her father badly wounded and a couple of hungry alligators stalking the dark, cramped, claustrophobic confines. With the flood waters rising and communications cut off, Haley and Dave must use every reserve of strength, ingenuity and survival instinct to keep each other alive in the face of increasingly daunting odds … even with a premise this simple, there was plenty of potential for this to become an overblown, clunky mess in the wrong hands (a la Snakes On a Plane), so it’s a genuinely great thing that Aja really is back at the height of his powers, milking every fraught and suspenseful set-piece to its last drop of exquisite piano-wire tension and putting his actors through hell without a reprieve in sight.  Thankfully it’s not JUST about scares and atmosphere – there’s a genuinely strong family drama at the heart of the story that helps us invest in these two, Scodelario delivering a phenomenally complex performance as she peels back Haley’s layers, from stubborn pedant, through vulnerable child of divorce, to ironclad born survivor, while reconnecting with her emotionally raw, repentantly open father, played with genuine naked intensity in a career best turn from Pepper. Their chemistry is INCREDIBLY strong, making every scene a joy even as it works your nerves and tugs on your heartstrings, and as a result you DESPERATELY want to see them make it out in one piece.  Not that Aja makes it easy for them – the gators are an impressively palpable threat, proper scary beasties even if they are largely (admittedly impressively executed) digital effects, while the storm is almost a third character in itself, becoming as much of an elemental nemesis as its scaly co-stars.  Blessedly brief (just 87 minutes!) and with every second wrung out for maximum impact, this is survival horror at its most brutally, simplistically effective, a deliciously vicious, primal chill-ride that thoroughly rewards from start to finish.  Welcome back, Mr Aja.  We’ve missed you.

17.  SHAZAM! – there were actually THREE movies featuring Captain Marvel out in 2019, but this offering from the hit-and-miss DCEU cinematic franchise is a very different beast from his MCU-based namesake, and besides, THIS Cap long ago ditched said monicker for the far more catchy (albeit rather more oddball) title that graces Warner Bros’ last step back on the right track for their superhero Universe following the equally enjoyable Aquaman and franchise high-point Wonder Woman.  Although he’s never actually referred to in the film by this name, Shazam (Chuck’s Eugene Levy) is the magically-powered alternate persona bestowed upon wayward fifteen year-old foster kid Billy Batson (Andi Mack’s Asher Angel) by an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou) seeking one pure soul to battle Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), a morally corrupt physicist who turns into a monstrous supervillain after becoming the vessel for the spiritual essences of the Seven Deadly Sins (yup, that thoroughly batshit setup is just the tip of the iceberg of bonkersness on offer in this movie).  Yes, this IS set in the DC Extended Universe, Shazam sharing his world with Superman, Batman, the Flash et al, and there are numerous references (both overt and sly) to this fact throughout (especially in the cheeky animated closing title sequence), but it’s never laboured, and the film largely exists in its own comfortably enclosed narrative bubble, allowing us to focus on Billy, his alter ego and in particular his clunky (but oh so much fun) bonding experiences with his new foster family, headed by former foster kid couple Victor and Rosa Vazquez (The Walking Dead’s Cooper Andrews and Marta Milans) – the most enjoyably portions of the film, however, are when Billy explores the mechanics and limits of his newfound superpowers with his new foster brother Freddy Freeman (It Chapter 1’s Jack Dylan Glazer), a consistently hilarious riot of bad behaviour, wanton (often accidental) destruction and perfectly-observed character development, the blissful culmination of a gleefully anarchic sense of humour that, until recently, has been rather lacking in the DCEU but which is writ large in bright, wacky primary colours right through this film. Sure, there are darker moments, particularly when Sivana sets loose his fantastic icky brood of semi-corporeal monsters, and these scenes are handled with seasoned skill by director David F. Sandberg, who cut his teeth on ingenious little horror gem Lights Out (following up with Annabelle: Creation, but we don’t have to dwell on that), but for the most part the film is played for laughs, thrills and pure, unadulterated FUN, almost never taking itself too seriously, essentially intended to do for the DCEU what Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man did for the MCU, and a huge part of its resounding success must of course be attributed to the universally willing cast. Eugene Levy’s so ridiculously pumped-up he almost looks like a special effect all on his own, but he’s lost none of his razor-sharp comic ability, perfectly encapsulating a teenage boy in a grown man’s body, while his chemistry with genuine little comedic dynamo Glazer is simply exquisite, a flawless balance shared with Angel, who similarly excels at the humour but also delivers quality goods in some far more serious moments too, while the rest of Billy’s newfound family are all brilliant, particularly ridiculously adorable newcomer Faithe Herman as precocious little motor-mouth Darla; Djimon Hounsou, meanwhile, adds significant class and gravitas to what could have been a cartoonish Gandalf spoof, and Mark Strong, as usual, gives great bad guy as Sivana, providing just the right amount of malevolent swagger and self-important smirk to proceedings without ever losing sight of the deeper darkness within.  All round, this is EXACTLY the kind of expertly crafted superhero package we’ve come to appreciate in the genre, another definite shot in the arm for the DCEU that holds great hope for the future of the franchise, and some of the biggest fun I had at the cinema this past year.  Granted, it’s still not a patch on the MCU, but the quality gap finally seems to be closing …

16.  ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL – y’know, there was a time when James Cameron was quite a prolific director, who could be counted upon to provide THE big event pic of the blockbuster season. These days, we’re lucky to hear from him once a decade, and now we don’t even seem to be getting that – the dream project Cameron’s been trying to make since the end of the 90s, a big live action adaptation of one of my favourite mangas of all time, Gunnm (or Battle Angel Alita to use its more well-known sobriquet) by Yukito Kishiro, has FINALLY arrived, but it isn’t the big man behind the camera here since he’s still messing around with his intended FIVE MOVIE Avatar arc.  That said, he made a damn good choice of proxy to bring his vision to fruition – Robert Rodriguez is, of course, a fellow master of action cinema, albeit one with a much more quirky style, and this adap is child’s play to him, the creator of the El Mariachi trilogy and co-director of Frank Miller’s Sin City effortlessly capturing the dark, edgy life-and-death danger and brutal wonder of Kishiro’s world in moving pictures.  300 years after the Earth was decimated in a massive war with URM (the United Republics of Mars) known as “the Fall”, only one bastion of civilization remains – Iron City, a sprawling, makeshift community of scavengers that lies in the shadow of the floating city of Zalem, home of Earth’s remaining aristocracy.  Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) runs a clinic in Iron City customising and repairing the bodies of its cyborg citizens, from the mercenary “hunter killers” to the fast-living players of Motorball (a kind of supercharged mixture of Rollerball and Death Race), one day discovering the wrecked remains of a female ‘borg in the junkyard of scrap accumulated beneath Zalem.  Finding her human brain is still alive, he gives her a new chassis and christens her Alita, raising her as best he can as she attempts to piece together her mysterious, missing past, only for them both to discover that the truth of her origins has the potential to tear their fragile little world apart forever. The Maze Runner trilogy’s Rosa Salazar is the heart and soul of the film as Alita (originally Gally in the comics), perfectly bringing her (literal) wide-eyed innocence and irrepressible spirit to life, as well as proving every inch the diminutive badass fans have been expecting – while her overly anime-styled look might have seemed a potentially jarring distraction in the trailers, Salazar’s mocap performance is SO strong you’ve forgotten all about it within the first five minutes, convinced she’s a real, flesh-and-metal character – and she’s well supported by an exceptional ensemble cast both new and well-established.  Waltz is the most kind and sympathetic he’s been since Django Unchained, instilling Ido with a worldly warmth and gentility that makes him a perfect mentor/father-figure, while Spooksville star Keean Johnson makes a VERY impressive big screen breakthrough as Hugo, the streetwise young dreamer with a dark secret that Alita falls for in a big way, Jennifer Connelly is icily classy as Ido’s ex-wife Chiren, Mahershala Ali is enjoyably suave and mysterious as the film’s nominal villain, Vector, an influential but seriously shady local entrepreneur with a major hidden agenda, and a selection of actors shine through the CGI in various strong mocap performances, such as Deadpool’s Ed Skrein, Derek Mears, From Dusk Til Dawn’s Eiza Gonzalez and a thoroughly unrecognisable but typically awesome Jackie Earle Haley.  As you’d expect from Rodriguez, the film delivers BIG TIME on the action front, unleashing a series of spectacular set-pieces that peak with Alita’s pulse-pounding Motorball debut, but there’s a pleasingly robust story under all the thrills and wow-factor, riffing on BIG THEMES and providing plenty of emotional power, especially in the heartbreaking character-driven climax – Cameron, meanwhile, has clearly maintained strict control over the project throughout, his eye and voice writ large across every scene as we’re thrust headfirst into a fully-immersive post-apocalyptic, rusty cyberpunk world as thoroughly fleshed-out as Avatar’s Pandora, but most importantly he’s still done exactly what he set out to do, paying the utmost respect to a cracking character as he brings her to vital, vivid life on the big screen.  Don’t believe the detractors – this is a MAGNIFICENT piece of work that deserves all the recognition it can muster, perfectly set up for a sequel that I fear we may never get to see.  Oh well, at least it’s renewed my flagging hopes for a return to Pandora …

15.  AD ASTRA – last century, making a space exploration movie after 2001: A Space Odyssey was a pretty tall order. THIS century, looks like it’s trying to follow Chris Nolan’s Interstellar – love it or hate it, you can’t deny that particular epic space opera for the IMAX crowd is a REALLY tough act to follow.  At first glance, then, writer-director James Gray (The Yards, We Own the Night) is an interesting choice to try, at least until you consider his last feature – he may be best known for understated, gritty little crime thrillers, but I was most impressed by 2016’s ambitious period biopic The Lost City of Z, which focused on the groundbreaking career of pioneering explorer Percy Fawcett, and couldn’t have been MORE about the indomitable spirit of discovery if it tried.  His latest shares much of the same DNA, albeit presented in a VERY different package, as we’re introduced to a more expansive Solar System of the near future, in which humanity has begun to colonize our neighbouring worlds and is now pushing its reach beyond our own star’s light in order to discover what truly lies beyond the void of OUTER space.  Brad Pitt stars as Major Roy McBride, a career astronaut whose whole life has been defined by growing up in the shadow of his father, H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), a true pioneer who led an unprecedented expedition to the orbit of our furthest neighbour, Neptune, in order to search for signs of intelligent life beyond our solar system, only for the whole mission to go quiet for the past sixteen years.  Then a mysterious, interplanetary power surge throws the Earth into chaos, and Roy must travel farther than he’s ever gone before in order to discover the truth behind the source of the pulse – his father’s own ill-fated Lima Project … this is a very different beast from Interstellar, a much more introspective, stately affair, revelling in its glacial pacing and emphasis on character motivation over plot, but it’s no less impressive from a visual, visceral standpoint – Gray and cinematographer Hoyt van Hoytema (who, interestingly, ALSO shot Interstellar, along with Nolan’s Dunkirk and his upcoming feature Tenet) certainly make space look truly EPIC, crafting astonishing visuals that deserve to be seen on the big screen (or at the very least on the best quality HDTV you can find).  There’s also no denying the quality of the writing, Gray weaving an intricate story that reveals far greater depth and complexity than can be seen at first glance, while Roy’s palpable “thought-process” voiceover puts us right into the head of the character as we follow him across the endless void on a fateful journey into a cosmic Heart of Darkness.  There is, indeed, a strong sense of Apocalypse Now to proceedings, with the younger McBride definitely following a similar path to Martin Sheen’s ill-fated captain as he travels “up-river” to find his Colonel Kurtz-esque father, and the performances certainly match the heft of the material – there’s an impressive collection of talent on offer in a series of top-quality supporting turns, Jones being just the icing on the cake in the company of Donald Sutherland, Liv Tyler, John Ortiz and Preacher’s Ruth Negga, but the undeniable driving force of the film is Pitt, his cool, laconic control hiding uncharted depths of emotional turmoil as he’s forced to call every choice into question.  It’s EASILY one of the finest performances of his career to date, just one of the MANY great selling points in a film that definitely deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time sci-fi greats of the decade. An absolute masterpiece, then, but does it stand tall in comparison to Interstellar?  I should say so …

14.  BRIGHTBURN – torpedoing Crawl right out of the water in the summer, this refreshing, revisionist superhero movie takes one of the most classic mythologies in the genre and turns it on its head in true horror style.  The basic premise is an absolute blinder – what if, when he crashed in small-town America as a baby, Superman had turned out to be a bad seed?  Unsurprising, then, that it came from James Gunn, who here produces a screenplay by his brother and cousin Brian and Mark Gunn (best known for penning the likes of Journey 2: the Mysterious Island, but nobody’s perfect) and the directorial big break of his old mate David Yarovesky (whose only previous feature is obscure sci-fi horror The Hive) – Gunn is, of course, an old pro at taking classic comic book tropes and creating something completely new with them, having previously done so with HUGE success on cult indie black comedy Super and, in particular, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and his fingerprints are ALL OVER this one too.  The Hunger Games’ Elizabeth Banks (who starred in Gunn’s own directorial debut Slither) and David Denman (The Office) are Tori and Kyle Breyer, a farming couple living in Brightburn, Kansas, who are trying for a baby when a mysterious pod falls from the sky onto their land, containing an infant boy.  As you’d expect, they adopt him, determined to keep his origin a secret, and for the first twelve years of his life all seems perfectly fine – Brandon’s growing up into an intelligent, artistic child who loves his family. Then his powers manifest and he starts to change – not just physically (he’s impervious to harm, incredibly strong, has laser eyes and the ability to disrupt electronic devices … oh, and he can fly, too), but also in personality, as he becomes cold, distant, even cruel as he begins to demonstrate some seriously sociopathic tendencies.  As his parents begin to fear what he’s becoming, things begin to spiral out of control and people start to disappear or turn up brutally murdered, and it becomes clear that Brandon might actually be something out of a nightmare … needless to say this is superhero cinema as full-on horror, Brandon’s proclivities leading to some proper nasty moments once he really starts to cut loose, and there’s no mistaking this future super for one of the good guys – he pulverises bones, shatters faces and melts skulls with nary a twitch, just the tiniest hint of a smile.  It’s an astonishing performance from newcomer Jackson A. Dunn, who perfectly captures the nuanced subtleties as Brandon goes from happy child to lethal psychopath, clearly demonstrating that he’s gonna be an incredible talent in future; the two grown leads, meanwhile, are both excellent, Denman growing increasingly haunted and exasperated as he tries to prove his own son is a wrong ‘un, while Banks has rarely been better, perfectly embodying a mother desperately wanting to belief the best of her son no matter how compelling the evidence becomes, and there’s quality support from Breaking Bad’s Matt Jones and Search Party’s Meredith Hagner as Brandon’s aunt and uncle, Noah and Meredith, and Becky Wahlstrom as the mother of one of his school-friends, who seems to see him for what he really is right from the start.  Dark, suspenseful and genuinely nasty, this is definitely not your typical superhero movie, often playing like Kick-Ass’ deeply twisted cousin, and there are times when it displays some of the same edgy, black-hearted sense of humour, too.  In other words, it’s all very James Gunn. It’s one sweet piece of work, everyone involved showing real skill and devotion, and Yarovesky in particular proves he’ll definitely be one-to-watch in the future.  There are already plans for a potential sequel, and given where this particular little superhero universe seems to be heading I think it could be something pretty special, so fair to say I can’t wait.

13.  STAR WARS EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER – wow, this one’s proven particularly divisive, hasn’t it? And I thought The Last Jedi caused a stir … say what you will about Rian Johnson’s previous entry in the juggernaut science fiction saga, while it certainly riled up the hardcore fanbase it was at least well-received by the critics, not to mention myself, who found it refreshing and absolutely ingenious after the crowd-pleasing simplicity of JJ Abrams’ admittedly still thoroughly brilliant The Force Awakens.  After such radical experimentation, Abrams’ return to the director’s chair can’t help feeling a bit like desperate backpedalling in order to sooth a whole lot of seriously ruffled feathers, and I’ll admit that, on initial viewing, I couldn’t help feeling just a touch cheated given what might have been if similarly offbeat, experimentally-minded filmmaker Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed, Jurassic World) had stayed on board to helm the picture.  Then I got home, thought about it for a bit and it started to grow on me, before a second viewing helped me to reconcile all everything that bugged me first time around, seemingly the same things that have, perversely, ruffled so many more feathers THIS TIME.  This doesn’t feel like a retcon job, no matter what some might think – new developments in the story that might feel like whitewash actually do make sense once you think about them, and the major twists actually work when viewed within the larger, overarching storyline.  Not that I’m willing to go into any kind of detail here, mind you – this is a spoiler-free zone, thank you very much.  Suffice to say, the honour of the saga has in no way been besmirched by Abrams and his co-writer Chris Terrio (sure, he worked on Batman V Superman and Justice League, but he also wrote Argo), the final film ultimately standing up very well indeed alongside its trilogy contemporaries, and still MILES ABOVE anything we got in George Lucas’ decidedly second-rate prequels.  The dangling plot strands from The Last Jedi certainly get tied up with great satisfaction, particularly the decidedly loaded drama of new Jedi Rey (Daisy Ridley) and troubled First Order Supreme Leader Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (Adam Driver), while the seemingly controversial choice of reintroducing Ian McDiarmid’s fantastically monstrous Emperor Palpatine as the ultimate big bad ultimately works out spectacularly well, a far cry from any perceived botched fan-service.  Everyone involved was clearly working at the height of their powers – Ridley and Driver are EXCEPTIONAL, both up-and-coming young leads truly growing into the their roles, while co-stars John Boyega and Oscar Isaac land a pleasingly meaty chunk of the story to finally get to really explore that fantastic chemistry they teased on The Last Jedi, and Carrie Fisher gets a truly MAGNIFICENT send off in the role that defined her as the incomparable General Leia Organa (one which it’s still heartbreaking she never quite got to complete); other old faces, meanwhile, return in fun ways, from Anthony Daniels’ C-3PO FINALLY getting to play a PROPER role in the action again to a brilliant supporting flourish from the mighty Billy Dee Williams as the Galaxy-Far-Far-Away’s own King of Cool, Lando Calrissian, while there’s a wealth of strong new faces here too, such as Lady Macbeth’s Naomie Ackie as rookie rebel Jannah, Richard E. Grant as suitably slimy former-Imperial First Order bigshot Allegiant General Pryde, The Americans’ Keri Russell as tough smuggler Zorii Bliss and Lord of the Rings star Dominic Monaghan as Resistance tech Beaumont Kin.  As fans have come to expect, Abrams certainly doesn’t skim on the spectacle, delivering bombastic thrill-ride set-pieces that yet again set the benchmark for the year’s action stakes (particularly in the blistering mid-picture showdown between Rey and Kylo among the wave-lashed remains of Return of the Jedi’s blasted Death Star) and awe-inspiring visuals that truly boggle the mind with their sheer beauty and complexity, but he also injects plenty of the raw emotion, inspired character work, knowing humour and pure, unadulterated geeky FUN he’s so well known for.  In conclusion, then, this is MILES AWAY from the clunky, compromised mess it’s been labelled as in some quarters, ultimately still very much in keeping with the high standards set by its trilogy predecessors and EVERY INCH a proper, full-blooded Star Wars movie.  Ultimately, Rogue One remains THE BEST of the big screen run since Lucas’ Original Trilogy, but this one still emerges as a Force to be reckoned with …

12.  JOKER – no-one was more wary than me when it was first announced that DC and Warner Bros. were going to make a standalone, live-action movie centred entirely around Batman’s ultimate nemesis, the Joker, especially with it coming hot on the heels of Jared Leto’s thoroughly polarizing portrayal in Suicide Squad.  More so once it was made clear that this WOULD NOT be part of the studio’s overarching DC Extended Universe cinematic franchise, which was FINALLY starting to find its feet – then what’s the point? I found myself asking.  I should have just sat back and gone with it, especially since the finished product would have made me eat a big slice of humble pie had I not already been won over once the trailers started making the rounds.  This is something new, different and completely original in the DC cinematic pantheon, even if it does draw major inspiration from Alan Moore’s game-changing DC comics mini-series The Killing Joke – a complete standalone origin story for one of our most enduring villains, re-imagined as a blistering, bruising psychological thriller examining what can happen to a man when he’s pushed far beyond the brink by terrible circumstance, societal neglect and crippling mental illness. Joaquin Phoenix delivers the performance of his career as Arthur Fleck, a down-at-heel clown-for-hire struggling to launch a career as a stand-up-comic (badly hampered by the fact that he’s just not funny) while suffering from an acute dissociative condition and terrible attacks of pathological laughter at moments of heightened stress – the actor lost 52 pounds of weight to become a horrifically emaciated scarecrow painfully reminiscent of Christian Bale’s similar preparation for his acclaimed turn in The Machinist, and frequently contorts himself into seemingly impossible positions that prominently accentuate the fact.  Fleck is a truly pathetic creature, thoroughly put-upon by a pitiless society that couldn’t care less about him, driven by inner demons and increasingly compelling dark thoughts to act out in increasingly desperate, destructive ways that ultimately lead him to cross lines he just can’t come back from, and Phoenix gives his all in every scene, utterly mesmerising even when his character commits some truly heinous acts.  Certainly he dominates the film, but then there are plenty of winning supporting turns from a universally excellent cast to bolster him along, from Zazie Beetz as an impoverished young mother Arthur bonds with and Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under, American Horror Story) as Arthur’s decidedly fragile mother Penny to Brett Cullen (The Thorn Birds, Lost) as a surprisingly unsympathetic Thomas Wayne (the philanthropic father of future Batman Bruce Wayne), while Robert De Niro himself casts a very long shadow indeed as Murray Franklin, a successful comedian and talk show host that Arthur idolizes, a character intentionally referential to his role in The King of Comedy.  Indeed, Martin Scorsese’s influence is writ large throughout the entire film, reinforced by the choice to set the film in a 1981-set Gotham City which feels very much like the crumbling New York of Mean Streets or Taxi Driver.  This is a dark, edgy, grim and unflinchingly BRUTAL film, frequently difficult to watch as Arthur is driven further into a blazing psychological hell by his increasingly stricken life, but addictively, devastatingly compelling all the same, impossible to turn away from even in the truly DEVASTATING final act.  Initially director Todd Phillips seemed like a decidedly odd choice for the project, hailing as he does from a predominantly comedy-based filmmaking background (most notably Due Date and The Hangover trilogy), but he’s actually a perfect fit here, finding a strangely twisted beauty in many of his compositions and a kind of almost uplifting transcendence in his subject’s darkest moments, while his screenwriting collaboration with Scott Silver (8 Mile, The Fighter) means that the script is as rich as it can be, almost overflowing with brilliant ideas and rife with biting social commentary which is even more relevant today than in the period in which it’s set.  Intense, gripping, powerful and utterly devastating, this truly is one of the best films of 2019.  If this was a purely critical Top 30 this would have placed in the Top 5, guaranteed …

11.  FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS HOBBS & SHAW – summer 2019’s most OTT movie was some of THE MOST FUN I had at the cinema all year, a genuinely batshit crazy, pure bonkers rollercoaster ride of a film I just couldn’t get enough of, the perfect sum of all its baffling parts.  The Fast & Furious franchise has always revelled in its extremes, subtle as a brick and very much playing to the blockbuster, popcorn movie crowd right from the start, but it wasn’t until Fate of the Furious (yup, the ridiculous title says it all) that it really started to play to the inherent ridiculousness of its overall setup, paving the way for this first crack at a new spin-off series sans-Vin Diesel.  Needless to say this one fully embraces the ludicrousness, with director David Leitch the perfect choice to shepherd it into the future, having previously mastered OTT action through John Wick and Atomic Blonde before helming manic screwball comedy Deadpool 2, which certainly is the strongest comparison point here – Hobbs & Shaw is every bit as loud, violent, chaotic and thoroughly irreverent, definitely playing up the inherent comic potential at the core of the material as he cranks up the humour.  Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham take centre stage as, respectively, DSS agent Luke Hobbs and former SAS black operative Deckard Shaw, the ultimate action movie odd couple once again forced to work together to foil the bad guy and save the world from a potentially cataclysmic disaster.  Specifically Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), a self-proclaimed “black superman” enhanced with cybernetic implants and genetic manipulation to turn him into the ultimate warrior, who plans to use a lethal designer supervirus to eradicate half of humanity (as supervillains tend to do), but there’s one small flaw in his plan – the virus has been stolen by Hattie Shaw (Mission: Impossible – Fallout’s Vanessa Kirby), a rogue MI6 agent who also happens to be Deckard’s sister.  Got all that?  Yup, the movie really is as mad as it sounds, but that’s part of the charm – there’s an enormous amount of fun to be had in just giving in and going along with the madness as Hobbs and the two Shaws bounce from one overblown, ludicrously destructive set-piece to the next, kicking plenty of arse along the way when they’re not jumping out of tall buildings or driving fast cars at ludicrous speeds in heavy traffic, and when they’re not doing that they’re bickering with enthusiasm, each exchange crackling with exquisite hate-hate chemistry and liberally laced with hilarious dialogue delivered with gleeful, fervent venom (turns out there’s few things so enjoyable as watching Johnson and Statham verbally rip each other a new one), and the two action cinema heavyweights have never been better than they are here, each bringing the very best performances of their respective careers out of each other as they vacillate, while Kirby holds her own with consummate skill that goes to show she’s got a bright future of her own.  As for Idris Elba, the one-time potential future Bond deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time great screen villains ever, investing Brixton with the perfect combination of arrogant swagger and lethal menace to steal every scene he’s in while simultaneously proving he can be just as big a badass in the action stakes; Leitch also scatters a selection of familiar faces from his previous movies throughout a solid supporting cast which also includes the likes of Fear the Walking Dead’s Cliff Curtis, From Dusk Till Dawn’s Eiza Gonzalez and Helen Mirren (who returns as Deckard and Hattie’s mum Queenie Shaw), while there’s more than one genuinely brilliant surprise cameo to enjoy. As we’ve come to expect, the action sequences are MASSIVE, powered by nitrous oxide and high octane as property is demolished and vehicles are driven with reckless abandon when our protagonists aren’t engaged in bruising, bone-crunching fights choreographed with all the flawless skill you’d expect from a director who used to be a professional stuntman, but this time round the biggest fun comes from the downtime, as the aforementioned banter becomes king.  It’s an interesting makeover for the franchise, going from heavyweight action stalwart to comedy gold, and it’s a direction I hope they’ll maintain for the inevitable follow-up – barring Fast Five, this is THE BEST Fast & Furious to date, and a strong indicator of how it should go to keep conquering multiplexes in future.  Sign me up for more, please.

[dawnfelagund]

Silmarillion M-Thing!

I was tagged by @jane-ways​! Thank you! :D

How do you think the Oath worked practically?

I don’t think the Oath was an actual force, physically compelling the Fëanorians to act in its service. I think it operated psychologically. First of all, I think there was a cultural norm against oath-breaking that was so strong that the thought of flagrantly violating it was mortifying. (Think of the most taboo thing you can think of doing while knowing that everyone will know you’ve done it.) I also think there is an element of the sunk cost fallacy. (I really like @simaethae​‘s thoughts on the Oath here, in particular what it would have meant had Maedhros and Maglor tried to break it at the end of the First Age ... and succeeded.) Essentially, they reach a point where the Oath has compelled their lives and their choices (especially their bad ones) to the point where they feel it can’t be abandoned.

Were the Valar in the right to bring the Elves to Valinor?

This is a thorny one for me. I’ve written before (here and here) about how I think it was a mistake verging on a crime against humanity to isolate the Light of the Trees in Valinor. I think that bringing (some of) the Elves to Valinor helped mitigate the seriousness of that decision, like, “Well we asked. Those who didn’t come to the Light had every opportunity but they chose to stay in darkness and danger.” (This even reflects in how the so-called “Moriquendi” are discussed in Laws and Customs and Quendi and Eldar as people who chose darkness rather than choosing their homeland or independence or any other number of ways that the decision of the Avari could be framed.) And that allowed the Valar to mostly forsake those who remained in Middle-earth, including Mortals later on in time.

I think the decision to bring the Elves to Valinor reveals also the lack of understanding of the Valar toward the Elves, especially the Noldor, namely that they needed to feel that their work had meaning in the world. Where were the Noldor to find meaning in an already beautiful land, where their work just made things nicer for the already privileged? I see Fëanor’s dissatisfaction with his place in Valinor less about pride and more about purpose.

Which Silm character do you find the most relatable personally and why?

Honestly, I connect to the Avari the most. I’m heathen and love a simple life of independence. I value connection to the earth. I connect as well to the Noldorin drive to create but not the violent, colonialist shape it often takes.

If you could ask one character one question (to get clarification on their motives, to ask their opinion etc), who would you ask and what?

Oh my.  Fëanor, do you regret it?

Would you have gone with Fëanor, Fingolfin or Finarfin?

Fëanor! I have a rebel streak and distrust authority. I also feel very compelled, as I think Fëanor did as well, that my work have a meaningful purpose. I think I would have understood his need to go to Middle-earth and would have felt inspired too to think of what might be done to make life better there.

I like to think I would not have participated in the kinslaying.

What do you think was the determining factor/reasoning behind the Doom of the Noldor? Does it hold for scrutiny in your opinion?

I think it was the misguided notion that it is possible to punish a person into good behavior. Like, “You did this horrible thing! If I punish you harshly enough, you won’t do it again!” When, in reality, I think that true prosocial change in a person has to come from within the person, and that is ultimately a negotiation between the wrongdoer and the wronged party. The Valar could have facilitated that; they did not.

I wonder what the Valar hoped to get out of exiling the Noldor? Did they think that was going to make better the situation in Middle-earth--a situation that was partly of their creation--by continuing to isolate themselves from what they find difficult or troubling?

I do think part of that choice was because of the kinslaying. But I think that the Noldorin rejection of Valinor was part of it too. We’ve all been there: We give something profoundly of ourselves and react with anger when we perceive it is not fully appreciated or, as in this case, outright rejected. I think the kinslaying gave them a good reason but, even in its absence, don’t think the Valar would have been a positive force for good in Middle-earth or in the fight of the Noldor against Melkor.

Who is the scariest of Tolkien’s characters?

Probably Sauron: both fair-seeming and cruel. There are shades of psychopathy in that ...

Even his name sounds scary.

Any other versions of a story you prefer over the version published in the Silm?

I love some of the details from the earlier drafts that add layers of complexity to the characters that I think Tolkien removed as he got older. (My pet theory is that he began to question, as a Christian author, after the insane popularity of LotR and assuming a large audience as well for the Silm, the wisdom of depicting characters sympathetically who embodied Northern pagan values [and frequently acted as well with Northern pagan abandon]. I have no proof for this.) But I love, for instance, details like Celegorm and Curufin originally sneaking Angrod, Aegnor, and Orodreth over the Middle-earth on the ships and, of course, the details about Nerdanel and Fëanor’s marriage; it complicates the characters and conflict in a way I really like.

And of course I love the attributions to the “loremasters,” which I think keeps that there is a point of view from which the Silmarillion was written more firmly in mind than the sort of pseudo-omniscient thing going on in the published book.

Favourite story of the legendarium and why?

I will always, always love the story of Nerdanel and Fëanor, partly because the love of my own life also chose someone beneath him in the social pecking order--to the astonishment of me at the very least! (We were also very young.) This was maybe the first act that helped me climb out of the cesspit poor self-esteem. So I love that element in their story and also how personal their story feels at times (in the HoMe materials) when compared to many of the other Silmarillion stories.

The latest thing you learned that made you reconsider or change your view on something in Tolkien’s world?

@ingwiel made the best case I’ve seen for a Numenorean narrator here. Yes, I still think the narrator was Elven, but this post made me think more about the arguments against my position than I ever had.

Thoughts on Fëanor not wanting to share the Silmarils after the Darkening?

I take Fëanor at his word that destroying the Silmarils would kill him, and that’s a big ask of someone. This has been on my mind a lot lately, with all the talk of school shootings and being a teacher. My teacher friends were unanimously sympathetic to the armed guard who didn’t choose to go into MSDHS to face the shooter. Doesn’t it cross all of our minds when we have our bimonthly lockdown drills, when we stand there with our bodies between our students and the door, of whether we’d have the courage to give our lives to save our kids? I think I would, but I say that from the safety of this moment. I think it’s a very different thing to choose your own sacrifice, especially to remedy someone else’s mistake. After all, it was the Valar who trusted Melkor, despite knowing the Music and his role in it, despite knowing Melkor the source of the strife among the Noldor ... and they exile Fëanor but only Tulkas pursues Melkor? It is little wonder to me that Fëanor didn’t want to give his life and return the Light to those who were so careless to begin with.

Tagging @nimium-amatrix-ingenii-sui, @vefanyar, @hhimring, @independence1776, @joyfullynervouscreator, @maedhrosrussandol ... sorry if you’ve been tagged already (I’m back to work this week and so out of the loop!), and please consider yourself tagged if you want to play.

[spicynbachili1]

Review: My Hero One’s Justice

My Inexperienced Naruto: Final Hero Storm

Have you learnt My Hero Academia? How about Boku no Hero Academia? Should you’re conscious of the blockbuster manga and anime collection, that goes by both a type of names, then My Hero One’s Justice may simply be the combating sport for you.

Should you’re by some probability not conscious of it… properly, it’d nonetheless be the combating sport for you, although at that time you may should ask your self how a lot you just like the Naruto Final Ninja Storm collection.

My Hero One’s Justice (PS4 [Reviewed], Xbox One, Nintendo Change, PC) Developer: Byking Writer: Bandai Namco Video games Launched: October 26, 2018 MSRP: $59.99

[Observe: This overview might comprise spoilers for the My Hero Academia anime.]

On the off probability that somebody is confused concerning the reasonably awkward title, this sport is certainly the English launch of My Hero Academia: One’s Justice. Regardless of the shenanigans  that precipitated this awkward re-branding could also be, they haven’t affected the sport beneath in any method I can detect. Followers can relaxation assured that they gained’t must report this sport to the @bootleg_stuff Twitter account. Then once more, it’s onerous to make that mistake when you really see the content material. The sport’s so marinated in My Hero Academia that it virtually assumes gamers have, at minimal, seen a big chunk of the anime collection.

For the completely uninitiated, although, the setup is fairly easy both method. Within the close to future, human society has gone superhuman, as most individuals are actually born with a superpowered means, or “Quirk”. The change has led to the rise of a brand new kind of celeb civil servant: the crime-fighting Professional Hero. Chief amongst them is All May, the ultra-strong “Image of Peace” and mentor to collection protagonist Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, a hero-obsessed fanboy born “Quirkless”. Deku is chosen by All May to inherit his energy (a mighty Quirk referred to as “One For All”), and enrolls into U.A. Academy, the premier instructional institute for aspiring professional heroes. There he meets his classmates, and makes some enemies, notably the League of Villains, an delinquent group led by a murderous jerk named Tomura Shiragaki, and “All For One”, a strong supervillain and All May’s arch-nemesis.

All of the above is just about coated within the opening crawl, after which the marketing campaign mode leaps straight into the center of the second anime season, overlaying occasions as much as concerning the center of the third season, with principally no deviation past barely remixing circumstances to permit for extra brawling. In any other case, it is a straight retread of what is gone earlier than, that includes many of the principal Hero Academia forged. To pad issues out a bit, the identical occasions might be performed from the Villains’ perspective, placing gamers answerable for characters comparable to Tomura, Dabi, Himiko Toga, and even All For One himself. Future characters, like Shoto Todoroki’s dad, Endeavor, and an alternate model of Deku utilizing his “Shoot Type” combating strategies, have been introduced as DLC downloads.

Marketing campaign phases might be replayed to satisfy problem targets and unlock new customization choices for multiplayer. A extra distinct “Mission Mode” imposes stricter circumstances, a primary Coaching mode supplies an area to observe, whereas an Arcade mode rounds out the single-player choices with a fast six-match run in opposition to AI opponents. Multiplayer-wise, primary on-line matchmaking, foyer, and native versus choices are offered, however event modes or the form of community-boosting measures that extra severe fighter followers may want are absent.

There’s lots to get foolish with for My Hero Academia followers, although, because the in-game foreign money store can unlock all method of customization choices, together with alternate voice strains for intros, alternate win screens, participant profile flairs, and alternate colours and equipment for the in-game fashions. It is nowhere close to as strong because the character creators for the likes of Tekken 7 and Soul Calibur, however for those who ever needed to battle because the bird-headed Tokoyami whereas carrying an enormous masks of his personal head on prime of his precise head, that is undoubtedly the place to be.

It is also the place to be for those who’ve been jonesing for an additional combating sport within the mould of the Naruto-based Final Ninja Storm video games. For all intents and functions, the core mechanics of My Hero One’s Justice so carefully mimic Cyberconnect2’s landmark anime fighter that I would consider you for those who instructed me this was some type of My Hero Academia-themed whole conversion of the latest PC version of Final Ninja Storm four. And that is not a nasty factor in any respect, since these video games are amongst my favourite fighters of all time.

Just like the Final Ninja Storm titles, One’s Justice is an input-light fighter with Three-D motion set in a big area. Characters can transfer round freely, in addition to use numerous auto-aimed ranged and melee assaults to shut the space and arrange air juggles. Regular assaults and “Quirk Specials” are simply accessed on the face buttons, and inputs hardly ever get extra difficult than merely pushing the stick in a route and hitting a key. 

Filling an excellent meter lets a participant toss out a “Plus Extremely” assault, which usually is available in two varieties that take up a number of “fees” of the tremendous bar. For youthful gamers and people who need a better time, an “auto” mode will robotically string collectively primary combos, permitting gamers to only hammer the assault button repeatedly. Tellingly, this the default “Regular” setting, with a barely trickier “Guide” mode letting extra superior contenders make the most of cancels and different enjoyable stuff.

Although the inputs are principally uniform throughout the roster, each character behaves pretty otherwise based mostly on their Quirks and different traits. Deku and All May are pretty simple energy fighters, however Bakugou works finest when he can nook his opponent and feed them a gradual weight loss plan of explosive demise. Tokoyami, who can name out a shadow-like buddy to battle with, can assault from two instructions without delay, whereas Todoroki, along with his dual-mode ice and hearth powers, works fairly otherwise within the air from how he does on the bottom.

That stated, even combating pretty brain-dead AI opponents in story mode shortly surfaced a number of the annoyances of fight. The reliance on homing assaults and air juggling makes the combating really feel a bit floaty and unresponsive, and just about everybody has too few methods to interrupt out of a combo as soon as they get caught in a single. Bar a “counter” assault that has an uninterruptible animation, many fights simply boiled right down to who may stun-lock their opponent lengthy sufficient to land an excellent.

In the end, the combating in My Hero One’s Justice feels prefer it lacks the fine-tuning and extra elegant qualities of the Final Ninja Storm video games it cribs from. Additional, some facets simply do not look proper within the context of the supply fiction. Byking’s legacy, making high-flying video games like Gunslinger Stratos and Rise of Incarnates, reveals itself in simply how a lot of the sport might be performed within the air. Jumps and dashes commonly take characters floating excessive into the sky, even when only a few within the roster even have the flexibility to hover. In a number of the phases that characteristic a ring-out mechanic, it was hilarious to see two characters simply dashing and double-, triple-, quadruple- and quintuple-jumping to combo one another off of the protected floor. It was like the sport was inadvertently channeling Smash Brothers at instances, and sadly not in a great way.

That being stated, it does get the spectacle proper elsewhere. The sport appears beautiful, and in contrast to many combating video games, takes the aesthetic enchantment of a super-fight simply leveling the zone critically. Although solely beauty, there is a stage of consideration given to environmental destruction within the sport that I discover completely joyful. Over the course of a spherical gamers will flip locations like clear metropolis streets, immaculate school rooms, peaceable houses, and the frontage of U.A. Academy itself right into a charred, smoking wreck. The sheer quantity of particles flying round and oddly weightless ins and outs being knocked about by the shockwaves, explosions, and super-powered hammer-throws is sufficient to make my base mannequin PS4 flip its cooling followers on full blast (it seemed like I used to be enjoying subsequent to a vacuum cleaner). Bar a couple of noticeable drops when a whole lot of hearth or particle results on display screen, the sport moved at a excessive, pretty constant, framerate.

How a lot you get out of My Hero One’s Justice will doubtless rely on how a lot you take pleasure in both My Hero Academia or how a lot you want a extremely accessible, style-over-substance fighter. On condition that we reside in a time with a seemingly unprecedented variety of completely improbable anime fighters, that is perhaps an enormous ask for some. In the long run, the sport’s greatest sin could also be not embodying U.A.’s “Plus Extremely” spirit, and easily settling for being an honest, handsome combating sport tackle a well-liked anime franchise.

[This overview is predicated on a retail construct of the sport offered by the writer.]

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      My Hero Academia: One’s Justice reviewed by Josh Tolentino

6.5

ALL RIGHT

Barely above common or just inoffensive. Followers of the style ought to take pleasure in it a bit, however a good few will likely be left unfulfilled. How we rating:  The destructoid opinions information

        from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/review-my-hero-ones-justice/

[mst3kproject]

Monster on the Campus

This movie has one of the best MST3K pedigrees I’ve seen.  The cast includes Whit Bissell, the mad scientist from I Was a Teenage Werewolf, and director Jack Arnold also brought us Revenge of the Creature and The Space Children (and four episodes of Love, American Style).  That alone would qualify it as an Episode that Never Was, but wait... there’s more!  Monster on the Campus boasts a veritable menagerie of background weirdnesses that the Brains could have gone to town on, including an inexplicable bust of Genghis Khan, a woman who appears to have her dress on backwards, and a door in constant use despite being marked USE OTHER DOOR.  Add a werecreature plot even more bizarre than Track of the Moon Beast and I am at an utter loss for how they managed to miss this one.

Professor Donald Blake (no, not that Donald Blake) is a paleontologist who has just received an exciting new specimen: a preserved coelacanth, all the way from Madagascar!  He hopes this will take him down roads of science few have ever trod, and oh, boy, will it ever.  When Blake cuts himself on the prehistoric fish’ teeth, he transforms into an ape-man and sets out on a rampage.  The police investigate his trail of murder and vandalism, while the coelacanth (which Blake pronounces 'silla-canth') continues to infect anything it touches with a sort of de-evolution, like the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Genesis except much, much sillier.

I didn't think coelacanths actually had teeth, but I googled it and it turns out they do.  This is possibly the most scientifically accurate part of the movie.  The rest of Monster on the Campus' science is on a par with things like the carbon-dated metal statue in Terror from the Year 5000 or Glenn Manning's single-celled heart in The Amazing Colossal Man.  As a major part of its premise, this film proposes that somehow, coelacanth blood actually resists evolution.

This is really, really not how evolution works.  If you could sequence the genes of a modern coelacanth and compare them with those of its ancestors eighty million years ago, you'd find that genetically it's about as closely related to them as we are to whatever little possum-like creatures were around back then. Coelacanths might look like they haven't changed, but that's simply because, like sharks or cockroaches, they have happened upon a body plan that works so well for what they do that there's been no reason to change it.  Instead, the tweaking happens on the inside – mutations accumulate whether they cause physical changes or not, and modern coelacanths must deal with completely different environmental conditions than prehistoric ones.  Factors like predators, prey, temperature, ocean and atmospheric chemistry, and diseases are changing constantly and means that coelacanths must evolve, even if they do so where we can't see it.

Another thing this movie apparently believes about evolution is that creatures in the past were innately angrier and more violent than modern ones.  We see several 'primitive' life forms over the course of this story: a saber-toothed German Shepherd that apparently represents the ancestor of modern dogs (and makes about as much evolutionary sense as the saber-toothed squirrel in the Ice Age movies), a giant dragonfly, and the caveman Dr. Blake becomes.  All three are shown attacking anything that moves, and sometimes things that don't.  There is some implication that the caveman has access to Blake's memories even it can't make sense of them, but its reaction to the things it thus 'recognizes' is still violence.  The idea that the past was 'brutal' and modern man must overcome his instincts to progress is a constant running thread in the movie.

This is taken so far, however, that it leaves the viewer wondering – if we evolved from such violent creatures, how did we ever get to where we are?  An argument might be made that the prehistoric dog was vicious because it had not yet been domesticated.  Fine, but how were humans domesticated?  How did the ape-man we see ever stop smashing, raping, and killing long enough to settle down and invent civilization?  Its behaviour shows very little evidence of what we'd recognize as intelligence.  Maybe the female was a civilizing influence.  We never see a prehistoric woman in the movie, and Dr. Blake's display of 'the faces of man' inadvertently implies that woman is the highest form of human evolution.  If, as the stereotypes tell us, men are intrinsically domineering and violent while women are supposed to be kind and nurturing, maybe the more feminine humanity becomes, the better.

Oh, wait, there's one more thing the movie's science gets right: the idea of preserving tissues through irradiation.  This works exactly the way Blake explains: by killing off all the bacteria in the target material.  It's actually a very safe and effective way to prevent food from spoiling – it never really caught on, however, probably mostly because of movies like this one spreading the idea that radiation = oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die.

If we can accept all that, however, the movie is actually very entertaining.  The music is pretty good and the effects are not convincing, but they're fun to look at.  The caveman doesn't appear on screen until nearly the end, but this is done in such a way that it is suspenseful rather than annoying.  We know that something strange has happened to Dr. Blake, and that it's equivalent to what became of Samson the dog and the dragonfly – but the characters don't, at least not at first, and their conclusion that Blake is being stalked by an unknown enemy is an entirely reasonable one given the facts they have.  The theory becomes harder to fit to the facts as more facts appear, and the police struggle to keep it plausible.  The dog and the dragonfly give us some monster action to keep us interested while we wait for the big reveal.

The reveal itself is not as satisfying as it ought to be, because the caveman makeup is pretty damned bad.  The mask almost looks more like a werewolf than an ape-man.  The way Blake gets his doses of coelacanth blood is also pretty contrived.  The first time, when he cuts his hand on the fish' teeth, kind of works, but the second time, he allows blood to drip into his pipe and them smokes it.  This is hilarious in both concept and execution, and even Blake, discussing his theory with his superiors, dismisses a second accident as unlikely.

Donald Blake himself is a reasonably sympathetic character, both the hero and the villain of his own story.  We never entirely like him, but that's mainly a product of the movie's age. The first line we hear him say is as he makes a mold of his girlfriend's face to add to his 'faces of man' exhibit - “the female in the perfect state – helpless and silent!”  This probably seemed harmlessly funny in the 50's – in the 21st century it makes him seem like a pig and it's kind of an uphill struggle to regain any respect for him. The slow burn of him figuring out who the monster is, and the confusion and terror that accompany it, help a lot – as does the behaviour of his colleagues, who understandably think he's going nuts.

At the end of the movie, Blake decides to perform an experiment – he will inject himself with the coelacanth blood a third time and see what happens.  He records a last message, saying “I pray only for the courage to destroy the monster within me.”  Sure enough, the caveman re-emerges and threatens Blake's girlfriend Madeline.  Upon seeing the photographic evidence, he convinces his colleagues to shoot him, so that the monster will die with him.

I think we're supposed to consider this a tragedy: like Oedipus, Blake could not stop pursuing the truth, and the truth in the end destroyed him.  The problem with this is that his suicide seems, quite honestly, totally unnecessary.  To keep from committing any more violent crimes, all Blake would have to do is not come into contact with radioactive coelacanth blood, and it doesn't seem like this ought to be a difficult substance to avoid.  In fact, he probably has the world's entire supply right there in his lab – burn the damn fish, and you're done!  Committing suicide over a problem that easy to solve is the act of a drama queen, Dr. Blake.

It's especially ridiculous when this movie's entire point is that the capacity for brutal violence is latent within all of us, just waiting for an excuse to bubble to the surface.  Is the movie trying to say that we should all kill ourselves to avoid the crimes we might commit?  I could probably kill somebody if I felt it was necessary – do I deserve to be pre-emptively locked up for that?  Blake seems to know that he's not responsible for what his prehistoric alter-ego does, even if the irrational part of him feels guilty regardless. Certainly he doesn't blame Sampson the dog for nearly attacking Madeline while under the influence of the coelacanth blood, so why blame himself?  The point made earlier in the movie was that we must resist our urge to violence, to choose to evolve away from it – but rather than rejecting his animal nature, Blake seems to lose all hope of ever doing so.

Confused as the movie is, this is one of the good ones.  It had me on its side from the moment it included a Meganeura, one of my favourite under-used prehistoric animals – but even outside of that it's a fun story that keeps the audience engaged.  It's definitely not perfect, but the annoying parts don't annoy me enough to detract from the fun ones.  Any lover of silly 50's sci-fi should definitely check out Monster on the Campus.

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

'The Pocket book' Shocker - Ryan Gosling REFUSED To Movie With Rachel McAdams!

http://tinyurl.com/y6rl3hkr Are you able to imagine it’s the 15th anniversary of The Pocket book?? The basic romance adaptation that made us all fall in love with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams got here out approach again on June 25, 2004. So what higher time than to relay our favourite not-so-fun truth concerning the filming? Related: Netflix CHANGED The Notebook Ending! Everyone knows Ryan and Rachel dated in actual life after assembly on the film — that chemistry was actual, y’all! — however do you know they sort of HATED each other, too?? Apparently they’d kind of a love/hate factor going? Director Nick Cassavetes spilled the tea from behind the scenes of The Pocket book about how in the future Ryan flat-out refused to shoot together with his future girlfriend. He informed VH1: “Possibly I’m not supposed to inform this story, however they have been actually not getting alongside in the future on set. Actually not. And Ryan got here to me, and there’s 150 folks standing on this massive scene, and he says, ‘Nick come right here.’ And he’s doing a scene with Rachel and he says, ‘Would you are taking her out of right here and herald one other actor to learn off digicam with me?’ I mentioned, ‘What?’ He says, ‘I can’t. I can’t do it along with her. I’m simply not getting something from this.’” “I’m simply not getting something from this”?? Wow. To assume, they dated after he mentioned that. Who can neglect their kiss on the 2005 MTV Film Awards?? / (c) Nikki Nelson/WENN Or perhaps they have been courting on the time, and it was actually some sort of lover’s spat they have been maintaining on the DL from their director? Neither has ever commented on the story, so we guess it’ll simply have to stay a secret. BTW, Ryan and Rachel weren’t the one stars to refuse to shoot collectively. Ch-ch-check out another notorious feuds from the historical past of TV and films (under)! Jerome Flynn & Lena Headey (c) HBO/YouTube In accordance with a tea-spilling Sport Of Thrones crew member, Queen Cersei and Ser Bronn of the Blackwater are by no means in scenes collectively as a result of the celebs gained’t even be in the identical room! Imagine it or not, the 2 characters have by no means exchanged a phrase on the present, and have solely ever been in the identical shot as soon as in a scene — with out even each other. That is as shut as they ever obtained, and she or he doesn’t spare a look his approach. / (c) HBO/YouTube Followers will bear in mind within the Season 7 finale Bronn leaves to “have a drink whereas the flowery of us discuss.” And in Season 8, Episode 1 Cersei hires Bronn — however she sends her proper hand man Qyburn to talk to him. Rumor has it the actors, who briefly date IRL in 2002, had such a contentious breakup they now should be saved aside in any respect prices. We don’t know what they did to at least one one other, but when they’re prepared to make a whole TV manufacturing plan round them it should have been BAD. The Rock and Vin Diesel (c) Common/YouTube From their first assembly in Quick 5, Dominic Toretto and Luke Hobbs have been on reverse sides of the regulation — however it turned out that animosity prolonged past the display. Through the filming of the eighth film within the Quick and Livid franchise, The Rock posted on social media about coping with a “sweet ass” on set. It shortly grew to become clear which costar he was speaking about. Vin Diesel could have copped to the feud — however by no means to the preliminary motive. The closest we obtained was Johnson happening the report to Rolling Stone: “Vin and I had just a few discussions, together with an necessary face-to-face in my trailer. And what I got here to understand is that we now have a basic distinction in philosophies on how we method moviemaking and collaborating. It took me a while, however I’m grateful for that readability. Whether or not we work collectively once more or not.” The results of all of this appears to have been the delay of FF 9, with The Rock’s spinoff with Jason Statham, Hobbs And Present, being pushed into manufacturing subsequent — much to the chagrin of Tyrese Gibson, who began his personal beef over the necessity to receives a commission on one other of those movies. We doubt if The Rock will even return to the franchise correct, particularly now that Vin has introduced his wrestling rival John Cena is becoming a member of the subsequent installment. He completed his assertion to RS: “Proper now I’m concentrating on making the spinoff nearly as good as it may be. However I want him all one of the best, and I harbor no ailing will there, simply due to the readability we now have… Truly, you may erase that final half about ‘no ailing will.’ We’ll simply maintain it with the readability.” The shade! Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts (c) Buena Vista/YouTube I Love Bother is essentially forgotten, however the feud at its middle will dwell in Hollywood infamy. The 1994 movie, about two reporters dealing with down hazard to uncover a serious crime, was meant to evoke the screwball romantic comedies of the 1940s, with Roberts and Nolte enjoying hated rivals who find yourself teaming up after which falling in love. Nevertheless the enmity between the 2 stars was all too actual. In accordance with Julia, her costar was abrasive and threw tantrums on set — and she or he did all the pieces she may to remain away. Ultimately regardless of their onscreen romance, the 2 needed to be filmed individually with stand-ins! Years afterward Roberts was quoted as calling Nolte “fully disgusting” in a NY Instances interview. Nolte responded by saying: “It’s not good to name somebody ‘disgusting.’ However she’s not a pleasant particular person. Everybody is aware of that.” DAMN. Ryan Reynolds and Wesley Snipes (c) Warner Bros/YouTube For these of you who don’t even bear in mind Blade: Trinity, allow us to take you again to a time earlier than Marvel Studios had nailed the comedian e-book film method. In 1998, Wesley Snipes slayed as Marvel Comics’ resident vampire hunter within the action-packed Blade. By 2004, he had gotten a bit… tough, from what we’ve heard. He reportedly stayed in character and would solely talk to the director by way of notes signed “Blade.” Enter Ryan Reynolds. Lengthy earlier than he was enjoying Deadpool, he was all the time principally Deadpool. He was an motion hero within the making who couldn’t assist himself from improvising and cracking smart on set, ad-libbing in his personal jokes. Reynolds could receives a commission the large bucks to do exactly that lately, however it was one thing Snipes supposedly couldn’t take. Phrase is, he would solely come to set for his closeups for scenes with Ryan, leaving him to movie all the pieces else by himself or with a stand-in. Channing Tatum and Emma Watson (c) FayesVision/WENN Each stars made appearances in Seth Rogen‘s star-studded apocalypse comedy This Is The Finish — however their cameos initially overlapped! In the direction of the tip of the movie, Channing Tatum seems in a gimp masks because the intercourse toy of Danny McBride. Apparently Emma Watson was purported to be in that scene, too. However she regarded round at what was occurring, and it was simply an excessive amount of. In fact, a lot of the wild debauchery was within the script — however in keeping with an additional, Channing breakdancing in his leather-based intercourse masks made her stroll off set and name her agent. Costar James Franco just about confirmed the story later, although he graciously by no means talked about Emma by identify, telling the story to Interview journal: “This actress — I gained’t say who, however she had a smaller position within the movie — walked off the film in the course of a scene. What was happening round her was, I assume, too excessive for her…And she or he mentioned, ‘Yeah, I’ve obtained to depart.’” We perceive saying no to that sort of a scene once you’ve obtained a squeaky clear Hermione picture you wish to defend — however why conform to a script with an enormous satan penis and an impaled Michael Cera (separate scenes, LOLz!) within the first place?? Helen Hunt And Invoice Paxton (c) Common Footage/YouTube This one you’d by no means be capable of inform by the film — as a result of it technically wasn’t within the film. Tornado was one of many first trendy catastrophe films and nonetheless one of many largest hits. And on the middle of the 1996 flick was a His Woman Friday-style love story about two divorced meteorologists performed splendidly by Helen Hunt and Invoice Paxton. However issues on set didn’t have fairly so pleased an ending. Rumors flew on the time the celebs didn’t get alongside behind the scenes — which couldn’t have been helped by the actual fact Hunt hated taking pictures the film altogether. Years later she described the “nightmare” to Huffington Put up, saying: “They didn’t paint within the hail with the pc. They made a hail machine and dropped large balls of ice on us. I imply, it was loopy… That they had firehoses pointed at us, and also you couldn’t hear something, which isn’t the most secure approach to make a film, so I used to be actually pleased to make it by means of in a single piece.” We’re unsure how Invoice Paxton made it worse, however the two apparently did NOT get alongside. However Helen Hunt has been an actress since she was a baby, and she or he was an expert and did her job… till they determined to make a trip. The Tornado… Trip It Out trip was a mainstay at Common Studios in Orlando for 17 years. When you rode, you most likely bear in mind the filmed bits earlier than the trip started, wherein Helen and Invoice warned you concerning the energy of wind — solely they didn’t do it collectively. Yep, the celebs acknowledge each other on completely different TV screens, and this wasn’t finished to utilize the area. (c) Common Studios/YouTube No, the celebs reportedly wouldn’t even movie the temporary scripted interplay collectively and needed to be shot individually. [Picture by way of Warner Bros./WENN.] Source link

[amateurfan227]

Shitlist Halloween Reviews - American Horror Story 1-2 1 of 5

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Amateur Fan 2.27 and welcome to this year’s Halloween specials of the Shitlist where bad movies burn, through the next few weeks I’ll be looking over some shows and movies that relate to the traditional holiday that’s been going on for century’s Halloween. And seeing that the new Halloween is coming around the corner (which I am excited to see by the way) I thought it would be interesting to start this year in a different perspective when it comes to the Horror genre.

Anthology Horror.... it’s been around since the early 60s starting with the cult classic horror movies like the Vault of Terror or Tales from the Crypt or in modern times such as the Tales from the Crypt TV series or this weeks TV series... American Horror Story

For those who don’t know American Horror Story is currently one of the best horror shows that’s presently going with a strong fan-base due to the writing, characters and plots per season. It’s also one of few shows that changes location per season such as setting one in an institution for the criminally insane towards a cursed hotel.

The show is created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk who some of you may remember for creating Glee, Nip/Tuck and Scream Queens, and released from 5th October in 2011 on FX but escalated to 10 seasons with the ongoing 8th season Apocalypse which I’ve yet to see.

As said before the show is known for switching different locations as the series progress but it also changes time zones as well such as Asylum (being my favourite season which I will get to shortly) is set in the 60’s or Freakshow being set in the 50’s or the recent series from Murder House and Coven being set in the present day which also benefits the story per season.

Now for something that is known for the series is the actors that the series presents such as Evan Peters from X-men fame for portraying Quicksilver in the Fox series (which technically should be the MCU’s version as Disney has legally bought FOX studios. Sarah Paulson (The People v. O.J.Simpson: American Crime Story) and Lily Rabe (Miss Stevens) who are regulars to the series as they star in pretty much every season.

Though other cast members have been in the series such as Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Taissa Farmiga, Denis O’Hare, Zachary Quinto, Frances Conroy, Emma Roberts and Finn Wittrock though some of those I’ve mentioned have been in several series of the show but apart from 3 leading actresses who I think personally stole the show when it came to the series, Jessica Lange who stars as the leading villainess in the first 4 seasons, Kathy Bates who stars from season 3-6 as characters of support and finally Angela Bassett who is more of a powerful character depending on the season.

For this review I’ll be focusing on the first 2 seasons of the show starting with Murder House, a season based on a family moving to L.A from Boston after an affair was caught out which leads them to living in a mansion which dark secrets, which also deals with infidelity, depression family and school violence, which I’ll attempt to ignore that factor the best I can, as well as sexuality of both genders.

After that it will be Asylum, again one of my favourite seasons of the show, which is set in 1964 based in a mental institution for the criminally insane in Massachusetts following an mechanic accused of being a murderer being sent into the asylum along with a journalist being sent there due to her sexuality which mixes along with demonic possession, extraterrestrial abduction and supernatural/scientific influences among patients. The season is obviously based on insanity ut it holds more themes towards Religion against science, racism, faith and corruption.

Before I start, I’m only going to be stating my personal opinions on each season which some of you may not agree with but before you grab your pitchforks, this is only opinion based and for this moment I am only going to go against the characters and not the actors.

 Murder House or known as the first season to several fans is in my opinion is one of the weaker seasons and I’ll give my reasons shortly, the season is based on the Harmon family who left Boston due to the wife Vivien catching her husband Dr Ben Harmon having an affair with one his students following a miscarriage.  This does lead to some creative ideas towards the family when they move to L.A. they attempt to do what they can to survive a marriage as well as saving a family especially when it comes towards their daughter Violet who gets into trouble at her new school.

The other characters are quite unique in their own way such as Constance Langdon, their next door neighbour who has some secrets to hide of her own, her daughter Adelaide and her dead son Tate who has a darker secret which lead to a major reveal on his own character differently as the show progresses, and not forgetting Larry Harvey or known as the Burned Man, a former owner of the House the Harmon’s currently resides in.

I like the characters of Vivien and Ben as they are in desperate need of rejoining their marriage from separation, especially when it comes down to affairs, though it is hard to discuss when it is literally taken and written in a realistic tone, I’ve to admit, these characters are my favourite throughout the season.

Violet however is something different, from when she appeared, I knew for a fact that she was going to be a downer towards the end of the season, granted they attempted to make her a key character as she does reflect the events between her parents’ marriage but christ her annoyance gets out of hand very quickly, but there was a twist that some saw coming though I saw different which I will reveal shortly.

Tate Langdon.... I may get this character over and done with, from the moment I saw this character, I knew for a fact that he was going to be trouble, especially when it came to the history of the house as well as an impact towards the family and I mean a BIG impact... You see this season going into different time segments, such as one set in 1922, one in 1965 and one in 1994, Tate is portrayed as a teenager but one thing that I was surprised at was that he committed a massacre at a local school in the show which came back to bite him badly.

He does show interest in several actions as he’s misunderstood, sociopathic and mainly has psychological problems such as outbursts leading to shooting up a school as well as burning Larry which I will get to shortly, I admire the way they came to this character but due to the crimes that the characters has done has seemed to close to home especially what’s going on in America at the current moment, for my American brothers who are reading this, I am sorry for your losses and my prayers who have fallen.

Larry who used to live in the house has a different action towards the Harmons especially towards Ben who is informed that the house has major problems very quickly before things get worse, he did live in the house as they reside in but tragedy does emerge as his burns are explained, you see the House does have the ability to revive those who died their making them ghosts who can’t leave the house, I’ll get to that in a moment.

Larry was once married to Constance shortly after living in the house to Tate’s disapproval which leads him to kill one of Constance’s children to her request against child services, which leads to Tate to snap and go on a rampage leading to burn his step-father alive as well as to go on a massacre.

Constance, who you may think is a nice lady next door but she’s far from bloody nice, at the beginning of the series, she’s seen as a thief, a liar, a monster but she’s more a motherly figure towards her children, she too has connections to the house as well as personal experiences with the ghosts.

She even knows that her son resides in the house because she used to live there with her family, only to move next door due to the tragedy, she lived there with her ex-husband who she killed along with her maid following a rape-attempt which also ended with the maid getting killed in the process.

The other characters are Adelaide who is Constance’s daughter with learning difficulties who is killed during a hit and run on Halloween, Chad Warwick and his lover Patrick who were killed in the house by Tate, Hayden McClaine, the student that Ben slept with who is emotionally obsessed with. Crazed surgeon, Charles and Nora Montgomery and their son turned monster known as the Infantata. And finally Moira O’Hara played by both Frances Conroy and Alexandra Breckenridge, a maid who was murdered by Constance.

The House itself is interesting to look at as well which is known for the crimes that occurred there from different time periods, leading those who died at the residence will have the ability to reappear as ghosts dressed from that error leading them to haunt the location as it is their final resting place, I will discuss the crimes momentarily but first I would state the house or Mansion at this point is one of the key locations of the series and the most well known as it’s the iconic look of the season, you know trouble is about to happen with it as well as its history.

Crimes have occurred there starting with the 1920s with the Montgomery’s with their son Thaddeus being taken killed and then dismembered leading Charles with grief to mend the son with the best of his abilities making the child into a monster known as the Infantata, an abomination from medical science.

1947 It was the location of a dentist where a young actress was to be seen only to be raped and killed following an anaesthetic overdose leading her to be dismembered and thrown into a field leading her identity to be Elizabeth Short, the infamous Black Dahlia.

1968, it was the sorority house which was known as the resting place of two students Maria and Gladys who were killed by an unknown man leading their souls to be trapped there.

1978, it was an abandoned mansion where two twins Brian and Tory planned on destroying it only for Addie to warn them, leading them to be in the basement and violently killed by the Infantata.

1983: Moira was brutally murdered with Hugo Langdon following a rape attempt gone wrong by Constance.

1994. Following requests from his new wife, Larry kills one of Constance’s children in the attic of the house due to him being deformed and not wanting social services to take him, leading Tate to go on a rampage (overdosed with cocaine/crystal meth) killing over 15 students in Westfield High School, leading for a S.W.A.T. team to invade the house and gun him down in front of Constance.

2010: A couple Chad and Patrick are planning a nice Halloween leading to an argument between them leading for Patrick to leave for the Rubber Man (Tate in disguise) to brutally strangle Chad and stab Patrick when he returns.

2011: The Harmon family moves in following the uncover of an affair the husband was having with a student, leading to the ghosts to appear leading Tate to manipulate the family leading towards the daughter Violet to suicide via overdose, Addie to be involved with a hit-and-run, Vivien to be raped by Tate without consent leading her to be pregnant with twins leading her to die due to complications via birth with one of her twins Joseph and Ben Harper to pass when the Ghosts get revenge on the family for leaving.

The history of the house is vague but you have to watch it in order to understand what is going on with the house, I found this season in particular to be weak though following an interesting idea on how the supernatural can infect the world of reality. The problem with it is the characters that reside in the house alone especially when it comes to the teenage daughter, especially when it comes to surviving a broken marriage along with parents.

Now for Asylum which is set in the year 1964 in the mental institution, Briarcliff Manor, an asylum for the criminally insane which is possibly the strongest season of the show due to storylines between characters as well as the setting itself like in Murder House, the setting is home to a series of dark secrets, mainly towards the doctors who run the facility starting with a long list of characters which I will get into momentarily.

This raises a few good ideas towards faith and religion going against science and nature which is a good idea if I’m entirely honest but this also raises a few problems when it comes to questioning our morals in faith and religion. There is also a twist as there is a serial killer known as Bloody Face, a murderer who preys on women with skill that leaves no evidence untouched. Let’s begin with the characters.

Lana Winters played by Sarah Paulson is a journalist who seen closer to home when she is locked in the facility following blackmail against her female lover who is against lead antagonist, I have high respect for this woman to survive the ordeal especially when it came to going through literal hell when it she’s forced against her own sexuality.

Kit Walker played by Evan Peters is thrown into Briarcliff following accusations of being Bloody Face after the disappearance of his wife Alma in attempt to keep their interracial marriage secret, only for her to be abducted. In Briarcliff he is blackmailed by another leading character as well as beaten by both guards and inmates for his ‘crimes’ but he does get his comeuppance at the end.

Grace Bertrand played by Lizzie Brochere is a French immigrant who was thrown in Briarcliff for murdering her family but is a major character in supporting Kit due to believing that he’s not the murderer but he thinks over wise when it comes to her case as she is known as a manipulator in the Asylum.

Sister Jude Martin played by Jessica Lange is known as the major fist of Briarcliff bringing a powerful authority figure towards the inmates leading the guards of Briarcliff with her orders, she also has a hidden past containing a hit-and-run following a drunken encounter with a small girl (fortunately she survived), she is known as wrecking ball in her own way when it comes towards her power of Briarcliff.

Dr Arthur Arden AKA Nazi war criminal Hans Gruper is played by James Cromwell is the chief physician in Briarcliff who has a strong history of violence towards women, including a character I will get to next week when I continue the series at hand. Arden is known to torture his patients even performing sadistic experiments on patients with no family to mutilated patients that surround the woods by the facility.

Sister Mary Eunice McKee plated by Lily Rabe is a young nun who works with Sister Jude closely who favours her naivety as an act of purity, she is one of the interesting characters of the series as it’s seen as she is a sympathising character who becomes more of a monster as the season progresses in the later episodes, she becomes possessed by something deadly when an exorcism attempt is failed.

Monsignor Timothy Howard played by Joseph Fiennes is Sister Jude’s Superior and the object that she infatuates over; though they both run the facility together he is quite aware of Arden’s experiments with the other inmates of Briarcliff. But as a major character of Briarcliff Manor, he’s also one of the strangest characters as he changes his morals before questioning his beliefs first.

Dr Oliver Thredson played by Zachary Quinto is the psychiatrist of Briarcliff hired by Sister Mary Eunice, he’s one of the manipulating characters of this season and possibly the most dangerous characters following his beliefs of the treatment of Briarcliff’s patients though his methods of his occupation are incredible but his methods are over stepped when his identity of Bloody Face is revealed.

The story is pretty obscure to say the least as it is honestly based on insanity alone, mainly because that’s the trick of the season is how it actually works with insanity being the main focus towards the characters on their survival of Briarcliff and how they left with their sanity intact. I highly recommend watching this season because the season is so easily paced between different perspectives in characters especially the villains.

This would be the strongest season by far because it explores religion against our own moral judgement; the writing behind that alone is possibly the best I’ve heard in a long time, especially when it’s from a horror based TV-series. The character development is interesting to look at but it raises a major question against the setting, especially towards their survival in a hostile location. If I’m honest this is possibly my favourite season of the show by far and I’ve yet to see Roanoke and Cult.

As I said before this is part 1 of 5 reviews that I’ll be going over this Halloween, starting with the first 2 seasons of American Horror Story and the next 2 which will be Coven and Freakshow, and after that on the third week I’ll be going over something special for you guys so hopefully you guys will enjoy; aside from that, I hope you guys have a nice Halloween and enjoy the holiday.

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Adil Hussain on the response to Delhi Crime, energy of streaming, and why he is not a reactionary anymore- Leisure Information, Firstpost

http://tinyurl.com/yxuflrft Adil Hussain finds his newfound golden patch in mainstream cinema amusing. He truly laughs out loud. Maybe it’s the modified perspective of an actor’s worth in current day Hindi cinema and streaming primarily based content material, at 55, Adil Hussain has discovered his place within the solar. “I’m loving it (working in Hindi movies). There are two causes that make me need to work in mainstream movies. Filmmakers search credibility of their actors immediately so components come your manner. Second, it helps me subsidise my participation in impartial cinema. Folks get to see an actor acquainted from Hindi movies in content material pushed, impartial movies and that helps. I get time to be with my nine-year-old son, prepare dinner for my household and give attention to them.” Hussain’s plate is full with coveted components for critically acclaimed filmmakers, new age impartial administrators and mainstream filmmakers. He’s slated to begin taking pictures for Jahnu Barua’s subsequent with Manisha Koirala this month. He started one more challenge within the USA in April. “I depart finish of this month for Geeta Mallick’s India Candy and Spicy. Ivanhoe Footage (of Loopy Wealthy Asians fame) will produce this movie. We shoot throughout Atlanta,” he says. Adil Hussain. Picture through Twitter/@khaskhabar He has loved working in a Dharma Productions movie completely. The truth is, his current expertise of taking pictures for Good Information, set to launch this December, validates positives of mainstream films. “I had a gala time. Working with Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kiara Advani and Diljit Dosanjh was an absolute pleasure. My co-actor, Tisca Chopra is a delight to work with. Akshay Kumar may be very punctual, and he wanders round units, milling about and talking to everybody. They (Dharma) take excellent care of actors and the crew.” Bridging the mainstream and content-oriented cinema is Hussain’s subsequent Hindi function as main man, Prakash Jha’s Pareeksha. A return to roots for the gritty filmmaker, Pareeksha is the story of an auto-rickshaw driver, and his aspirations for his son. “The movie attracts from a real story, and it’s an exquisite story. Priyanka Bose, Sanjay Suri co-stars within the movie, and Shubham Jha, the younger actor that performs our son stands out. Prakash Jha has written and directed the movie and has had it in thoughts for years. It’s a heartwarming story centered on training, a universally related subject.” Having quietly launched a primary look poster, Jha’s movie will launch in the course of the summer season. A theatre veteran and star from his days on the Nationwide College of Drama, and a stint on the London stage, Hussain’s recall amongst millennial audiences has grown massively, due to his distinguished presence on alternate content material on streaming platforms. “We’re grooming and educating a special set of viewers with streaming platforms, which I hope will seep over to bigger, widespread viewers. You see the charges at which 4G and now 5G are being provided to Indians, and with enormous entry in all places, there’s enormous quantity of appreciation for recent, undiscovered content material and movies. Content material led collection are larger attracts immediately. We’re sitting right here in Assam and watching Narcos. This wouldn’t have been doable just a few years again. And it is a incredible state of affairs for actors,” he says. Hussain’s Norwegian movie, What Will Folks Say, is an Oscar-nominated International Language movie and pretty common on Netflix. He’s additionally within the competition favourites Un-Freedom, Maaj Rati Keteki (Assamese), Arunodoy Dawn amongst different movies. However the quantum leap in viewers recall is his flip in Delhi Crime, the Netflix collection. As unique content material from India, this collection has reached audiences worldwide successfully and suits the format of police procedural, a universally common type of collection. “Richie Mehta and I’ve recognized one another for 5-6 years and have been discussing a challenge with a Hollywood manufacturing firm for a while now. When he provided Delhi Crime, I used to be already taking pictures in Delhi for a movie. Because the function concerned simply a few days’ shoot, I agreed. I met Mr Neeraj Kumar, former Police Commissioner, Delhi Police, a gathering that Richie facilitated. Whereas I didn’t mimic him, I did imbibe components of his persona in creating the character. Richie has a incredible sensibility in relation to appearing, which is real looking. I had a superb collaboration with Shefali Shah and Rajesh Tailang, my classmate from NSD days. We’ve completed loads of performs collectively, so taking pictures for Delhi Crime, and the response to the collection, has been gratifying. Streaming is just not limiting, it means the present was accessible on 190 nations worldwide. I’ve been getting reward and compliments from throughout, Jap Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, America.” Hussain’s stint with worldwide cinema follows up on a stellar profession in theatre right here in India and in London, the place he fine-tuned his training within the subject. However with Abhishek Chaubey’s Ishqiya and Lootera by Vikramaditya Motwane, he started work in mainstream Hindi movies, coinciding with the start of the present new wave. His main function in Hindi cinema was reverse Sri Devi in English Vinglish, as her husband who tended to downsize her capability. The liberty to interpret his function, as he understood it, clinched his determination to work on this Gauri Shinde movie. “I didn’t see the husband as a villain. I advised Gauri that I needed to play him as a male chauvinist who merely didn’t imagine his spouse was able to some issues. I had seen males like that, all my life, together with my father. They weren’t imply or nasty however simply chauvinistic naturally. When the movie launched, compliments poured in particularly from ladies, who might relate to the husband’s behaviour.” A consummate performer, he credit his new give attention to movies to the evolving Indian filmmaker at residence and overseas, a brood that’s open to concepts and eager to experiment. He traverses multilingual cinema commonly. Developing is Gautam Ghose’s Raahgir, a global movie titled The Unlawful and Jahnu Barua’s subsequent. As our dialog attracts to an in depth, a query within the present polarised political local weather turns into important – why has Hussain, an outspoken man in relation to intolerance up to now, chosen to keep away from taking a political stance with fellow artistes? “I was pretty reactive up to now, usually voicing my opinion in opposition to sure conditions right here at residence and throughout the globe. Then for fairly a while I grappled with the question- as actor, what’s my Swadharma? What’s my function in society? I can’t be a partial activist but I’ve an urge to protest and to precise. It was each emotionally upsetting and disturbing for me so I spoke to my appearing trainer, my guru who lives in Puducherry. What he mentioned to me made full sense. He mentioned that as an artiste, our function is to construct empathy with those who we hate. We’d have completely contrarian factors of view, however our function is to convey society collectively. Artwork is glue that brings folks collectively. I see my function as that one who may even construct empathy for Hitler amongst folks. Relatively than be a reactionary, I want to give attention to this.” Politics apart, Adil Hussain’s progress as a performer in cinema in his fifties units a brand new commonplace for the altering norms of appearing in current day India. It additionally paves a path of hope for many who come from the remotest locations however have a present and tenacity to see their ardour by means of. Up to date Date: Jun 01, 2019 15:58:26 IST Your information to the most recent election information, evaluation, commentary, dwell updates and schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on firstpost.com/elections. Comply with us on Twitter and Instagram or like our Facebook web page for updates from all 543 constituencies for the upcoming common elections. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function() {n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)} ; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '259288058299626'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.9&appId=1117108234997285"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Source link

[amateurfan227]

Shitlist Reviews - Batman: The Killing Joke - 2016

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Amateur Fan 2.27 and welcome back to the first Shitlist review of the new year of 2018, As you can see from the title above, this review is based on the animated film based on the comic following the same name but this review is going to be pretty hard to discuss as not only is it my favourite story on Alan Moore’s bibliography but also the origin to one of my favourite characters in DC in general... the Joker.

This review is going to be hard to do as the comic itself doesn’t just define the relationship between 2 of the biggest DC stars of all time but also defines the Joker in general on how he came to be the man he is today as well as why he does; it’s best to talk about the comic first.

For those who don’t know, The Killing Joke was written by veteran writer, Alan Moore, who’s most recognisable for Watchmen and V for Vendetta as well as drawn by Brian Bolland known from Judge Dredd. The Killing Joke however is one of those comics that have indeed spread controversy on the DC universe such as how the comic truly ended or what would happen if someone had just one bad day.

The comic displays the Joker shooting Barbara Gordon (Batgirl at this point) as well as kidnapping Police Commissioner Jim Gordon leading towards a speech on how insanity can be broken due to a very bad day, which also leads to the epic conclusion on Batman fighting his way towards the Joker leading to a conversation on how both of them are so alike.

The movie however does expand that idea but it causes some damage towards the relationship between some of the batman family as well mainly towards Batgirl and Batman, I will explore this when the movie is being reviewed. It also explores the madness that the Joker endures through his cycle of chaos which is understandable as he is known as the Clown Prince of Crime.

There is another reason why I wanted to do this as this will continue the Comic-to-Adaptation review series (first review was League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and coincidentally the second Alan Moore based review I’ve ever done...

Now seeing that I did the history from Comic, now for the film; in 2011, during the San Diego Comic Con International, Mark Hamill stated that he wanted to quite the Joker but is willing to play the clown prince of crime for one last time for The Killing Joke which encouraged the fans to make an adaptation which also lead to a campaign.

In 2013, Bruce Timm also expressed desire for the project saying that it was a possibility that was confirmed during the Justice League: Gods and Monsters panel which would be released in 2016. Sam Liu (Batman: Year One) would direct the movie which would include a 15 minute prologue which would set up the story. On July 27, Kevin Conroy (Batman.... literally he is Batman) agreed to reprise his role as Batman which was confirmed in March 2016.

Timm announced that more-story would be added to the film as the source novel wasn’t long enough for a feature length movie; in April of 2016, the Killing Joke was the first movie from the DDC Universe Animated Original Movies series and the second Batman movie to receive an R rating from the MPAA and Warner Bros. Animation president Sam Register explaining that they were planning on remaining faithful towards the original story.

The movie was released on July of 2016 with a deluxe edition released a month later; Batman: The Killing Joke was released with a budget of $3.5 million and received $4.4 million back from the domestic box office, but received mixed reviews due to changes on one character in particular... Batgirl.

Now I’ve seen the movie once and boy is this going to hurt a lot for saying this, I should placed on my official thoughts for Batman AND Batgirl’s professional relationship before diving into the movie’s portrayal of that relationship. Batgirl’s relationship with Batman is strictly professional which leads her to be a valuable member of the family as well as a strong relation towards her mentor as well as her father (Jim Gordon).

Batgirl is also one of my favourite characters in the Batman series due to her independence as well as her unique look on how she fights crime, aside from fighting criminals for the greater good, she also fights it to prove that the system of Justice has been broken for an extended time in Gotham City, this is also proven when she becomes Oracle after this incident.

The movie however... destroys everything I have just written above... which is strictly from the works of Brian Azzarello, the same person who wrote Harley Quinn as a Stripper in the Joker Graphic Novel, I’d repeat that, he wrote one of the most popular characters in DC History, written by PAUL FREAKING DINI....Into a stripper for a story; another character that I really enjoy reading destroyed due to the work of Brian Azzarello. (And people wonder why I prefer to review movies.)

Batgirl in The Killing Joke is written as a newbie pupil in the Batman family, though she is written pretty good at the beginning of the movie but very shortly her character has changed greatly as she has turned from a strong independent female superhero into a sexual icon that literally SLEEPS WITH BATMAN...

That is wrong on so many levels and increases the creep factor beyond 1000 as from the comics; she only has a professional working relationship with Batman. And the worst case scenario is that she is literally changed from a pupil sleeping with her mentor to a damsel in distress when the main story begins.

And that’s not all folks as through the comic she was tortured brutally... but in the film, there are strong implications that she was raped by the Joker... which makes things even more disgusting as Batman is seen question prostitutes in random scenes only for one of them to state that he goes there for a ‘good time’ but hasn’t been there due to finding a new girl instead.

Let that sink in for a moment: Barbara Gordon, who was shot in the stomach by the Joker.... was raped when he was looking for a good time... I am literally attempting to write the rest of the review without cringing or bursting into literal tears of anger I have for Brian Azzarello for this particular moment.

With that said... Let’s dive into the movie... I suppose...

The movie begins with Batgirl telling a reciting on how fighting crime in Gotham used to be good, even residing the fact that she’s worked with Batman for three years at a strict relationship, as she says this, we see her monitoring a meeting between Batman and Police Commissioner Jim Gordon over a robbery that’s being committed by Paris Franz aka Parry Francesco, nephew of mob boss, Carlos Francesco.

After stopping the Robbery of an armoured car via truck leading both Batman and Batgirl to pursue via Batmobile and Batbike, Batman takes the armoured car as Batgirl confronts the driver revealing it to be Paris, who manages to manipulate his way to escape Batgirl almost having a connection to her.

Batgirl confronts the henchmen who were left behind as the trucks cargo=hold was detached via the chase leading for Batman to intervene and interrogate the henchman... as well as committing vehicular manslaughter as the Batmobile hits a henchmen at an incredible speed (nice work Azzarello...) .

Barbara however is at the university studying (I think) when she talks with one of her friends (Reese) over a certain ‘guy’ that she’s dating only for her to find the location of Paris in an alley nearby a warehouse. Paris however is told by his uncle to stay out of the spotlight due to the amount of men he’s hired is being beaten by the Batman, even laying a threat to his nephew’s life.

Batgirl however infiltrates the warehouse that Paris is stalking and challenges him to a fight which leads him to overpower her despite Batman’s orders on engaging him when going in alone. After being overpowered, Batgirl manages to evade him leading to Batman to rescue her only to give her a scolding on what she did wrong.

The next day, Paris starts developing an unhealthy addiction to Batgirl, even having sex with prostitutes who resemble her image (lovely thought), he hides on a private boat with the loot that he stole from the warehouse leading for his father’s hitmen to kill his nephew, though is proven wrong as Paris manages to evade his attackers and leave the boat before it explodes due to a rigged bomb onboard.

Barbara however also informs her colleague at the university that her ‘date’ is rougher than usual and then leads to stating that she can handle it... so I’m not too sure on what the hell Azzarello was writing here, as it sounds like she has become more sexually obsessed with the Batman who is also her Partner/mentor as well as being aroused with the thrills that she’s caught in... Christ even typing this is making me cringe...

Later that evening Batman and Batgirl intercept a message by Paris who only wants Batgirl to find him for a sexual engagement of cat and mouse, of course Batman informs her not to go due to her being inexperienced as well as him using her as a personal gain rather than a straight up fight. He leaves leading her to go towards a used car park where Paris hides a gift for her.

That gift meaning a camera phone with a live feed between him and her, which leads Paris to take her to the Francesco penthouse where she discovers that he’s killed his Uncle... and this was rated a 15... Nicely done DC Animation... She is easily over powered by the henchmen still surrounding the penthouse only to be saved by Batman once again.

He takes her to the rooftop to scold her once more and informs her that she is off the case due to personal attachment due to her arrogance. She doesn’t take this so lightly leading to viciously attack him both verbally and physically which leads to... (Sigh) that scene. She manages to get on top of him and proceeds to have sex with him DESPITE BEING MUCH TOO YOUNGER THAN HIM AS WELL AS BEING CLOSE TO PHEDOPHILIA.

Yeah Maybe I should have mentioned that in the comics, Barbara is at least coming towards the late teenage years, which makes it way too creepy towards the whole Batman family as well as the partner scheme... Azzarello... what in the actual hell where you thinking when you wrote this into the script... if you wanted a strict relationship as Batman was being too hard on her then that would be fine but leading them to make sex... I’m at a loss for words when I see this, as well as how disgusting as it brings back a lot of mixed memories I’ve seen them both in, comics and television shows included.

You’ve just destroyed the best partnerships in The Batman series through one swift action, you could have changed everything but no, you made this happen... normally I would stop her but seeing that it’s close to the end of this story, I may as well proceed.

The following morning, she is filled with regret (with a bloody good reason) leading to a discussion between her and Reese over what happened, only for him to advise her to talk with him. At a diner, she leaves after hearing that a manhunt for Paris Franz has begun leading her to literally assault a random bystander due to an argument about space (nicely done Azzarello, turn a strong independent female into a random douchebag)

Later that night, Batgirl sits on a water tower and calls Batman leading for him to state that he’s found Franz over a tip that he was hiding at the docks, she offers help but is immediately turned down, though she does ask if they were back in business but he states that they will talk later leading her to assert that it was meaningless sex (cringe alert) and begs things to go back to the way they were, he repeats that they will talk later.

Suddenly an explosion is heard at the Docks as the Batmobile is struck with an RPG, fortunately Batman escapes in time but is surrounded by Paris’s henchmen, Batgirl manages to get there in time due to her Batbike and beats the henchmen leading a fight between him and Paris.

She relentlessly beats the hell out him stating that he ruined everything between her and Batman and loses control quite quickly; fortunately she manages to come round and sees that there is blood over her gloves. The next morning she sees a report that Franz is hauled into arraignment declaring his love for Batgirl (on the bright-side, she’s got a fan).

Later that night, she comes across Batman and addresses to him that she is retiring the Batgirl persona, understanding that he can’t protect Gotham and her at the same time, also stating that she saw the abyss he was talking off earlier on and doesn’t know how to resist it. (Batman states that the abyss is where you don’t care anymore and all hope dies). This causes her to retire the role of Batgirl indefinitely.

Seeing that was one part of the story, let me stop it here before I start on The Killing Joke arc, the first 26 minutes of the movie was completely horrendous and doesn’t sound like a Batman movie at all more like a story based on Batgirl, mainly towards her retirement or struggles between being different personas at the same time.

This is strongly the weakest part of the film because it raises so many bloody questions on why, or better yet how, though there were some parts that were interesting such as the Abyss that Batman was speaking off on how he can resist the urge of a murderous rage or how he can control his students when on the field but they were quickly changes over towards Batgirl as it felt like it was her story alone.

The first third act is without a doubt one of the worst animated stories I’ve seen DC perform, especially towards the relationship and partnership between Batman and Batgirl... Azzarello, you remember when you wanted to start a fight over this following a question from one of the fans,  it appears that you were out of your frigging mind when you stated that because you were a fool for writing an atrocity like this.

I can think of other writers they would use to create a better Batgirl story than you, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, Jeph Loeb, hell Scott Snyder can write a better Batgirl story than you and this is the best you can come up with, it comes to show that you are really losing your touch when it’s creating character development, stick to Vertigo as that is where your writing is best (not Hellblazer by the way, mostly 100 Bullets.)

Now that is out of the way, let’s continue to remaining 46 minutes of the film.

Batman investigates a warehouse that’s surrounded by Police and is greeted by detective Harvey Bullock leading to a room filled with numerous dead with white smiling faces. Bullock states that the coroner would suggest that they’ve been dead for over three years but would need an autopsy to rectify the facts though Batman states they were murdered by ‘him’; Also stating that he needs to so ‘him’.

We skip to Barbara finishing a jog through Gotham Park towards her apartment; as she enters her apartment, she gets a phone call from her dad stating that he won’t be there to see her due to a favour from Batman. At Arkham Asylum, Batman is greeted by Gordon who wants to know why he is there, only for Batman to state that he is there because he needs to be.

He enters the Joker’s cell leading to Batman to discuss their relationship which is both a fragile and steady relationship, though it appears that the Joker isn’t listening to Batman’s response leading him to viciously grab his hand leading the Joker to pull away quickly leaving white paint over Batman’s glove leading Batman to forcefully grab the Joker wannabe.

The scuffle echoes to Gordon leading him to break into the room stating the law will interfere due to the interactions against the inmates, which leads towards a carnival on the other side of Gotham where the owner is attempting to sell the funfair to a mysterious man in purple, he states that it’s run down and broken but purchases it nevertheless revealing it to be the Joker.

The Joker also talks on how money isn’t an issue by stating that his colleagues have already dealt with the owner’s lawyers over the property meaning that it was his already. This leads over to a flashback of the Joker’s past leading to him as a sane failed comedian who lived with a pregnant wife, though he breaks down emotionally due to the fact that he can’t hold a steady job and enough money to leave for a safer neighbourhood with his wife.

The flashback breaks away leading to the Joker killing the owner via Joker Poison with his sideshow freak henchmen to run amok the carnival. At the Batcave, Batman is researching everything that he has about the Joker only for Alfred to join him, though only to comfort him when he’s attempting to discover his identity, leading to a good question which is from the graphic novel, how can two people hate so much without knowing each other?

At Barbara’s apartment, Gordon is placing some news clipping into a scrapbook about the Joker’s escape and comes to the point that when he gets locked up, he ends up escaping nevertheless only for the police to pray that he doesn’t do something tragic, though this is in the graphic novel as well, why isn’t Gordon at the GCPD looking for information on the Joker for his location.

Barbara tells him not to worry about it only for the door to ring leading Barbara to answer it believing it to be a friend, she answers it to greet two things, the man who scared from childhood, The Joker and the barrel of a revolver that he’s holding, he shoots her through the spine, causing her to land on the coffee table to Gordon’s surprise, Joker has his henchmen beat him to unconsciousness leading him to take Barbara’s clothes off by stating “to prove a point.”.

Another flashback ensues as we see him meeting up with two mafia goons looking to prove that he can be a resourceful husband and a father by helping them break through the Ace Chemical’s factory he worked for to the Playing Card Company next door, though they give him a mask in order to conceal his identity and to prevent him from being caught in the form of the Red Hood.

He reluctantly agrees when it comes to the fact that the Red Hood is wanted by the police leading to the end of the flashback. In the present we see Barbara in the hospital in critical condition, Detective Bullock is there as well as Batman and informs him that he stripped her clothing and took photos of the scene leading him to be left alone with his former pupil, he wakes her up (good idea there Bruce) only for Barbara to tell him what Joker told her.

Gordon wakes up at the Carnival leading to carnies to brutally attack him, stripping him nude in the process, and forces him to the Joker where he reveals that he wants to break down all traces of memory and sanity till they both break to drive him insane, even stating that Madness is the Emergency Exit.

In another flashback, Joker is seen with the two goons from earlier on and is eager to continue the job but is seen to by the police when they have some terrible news for him, they pull him outside of the bar only to inform him that due to a freak accident, his wife has died due to an electrical short with a baby-bottle heater. He attempts to leave the job but they persuade him to continue on the job.

Batman on the other hand interrogates some criminals including Maroni (crime boss) only for him to state that they are scared of Batman but they are terrified of the Joker, he even sees the prostitutes that I mentioned earlier on and states that he’d found a new girl... christ even saying that makes me uncomfortable.

Gordon however is placed on a ghost train where Joker sings a song about going insane by removing away all traces of reality and the forces of sanity to escape into madness, doing this he also tortures Gordon by showing him photos of a naked and tortured Barbara. After the ride Joker realises that his mind has been broken and orders his men to take him away.

Another Flashback follows leading for the robbery that the goons were planning they enter safely only for things to go wrong when security sees the Red Hood and starts firing at them killing the mobsters leaving the Red Hood to be pursued by Batman, this causes the Red Hood to fall into a vat of chemicals when the Batman gets close leading the Red Hood to wake up through a river of purified toxic chemicals.

He wakes up and notices his face and laughs... and by god this scene was exactly from the comic it’s creepy, dark and somehow satisfying at the same time... kudos.

Batman manages to find the Joker’s location via a carnival ticket that he sent to the GCPD and goes there to stop the Joker’s madness and help his long time friend; He takes down some of the carnies one by one leading for a confrontation between the Joker leading the clown prince of crime to leave into a fun house.

Batman reconciles with his old friend who manages to come round from his brace of insanity and informs him that he’s ok though Police are on their way, as Batman goes for the Joker, Gordon warns him that he wants him being brought in by the book stating that ‘we have to show him that our way works’.

Batman enters the Fun House and evades some of the Joker’s traps while he speaks on the speaker system that all it takes to change your mind into eternal darkness and madness is just one bad day stating that Batman too had one bad day, I think that this speech alone is the closest statement that anyone can become a broken mess, all it takes is one bad day for all sanity to be broken.

He confronts the Joker and both of them fight leading to Batman to literally punch the joker out of the fun house, giving the Joker the opportunity to grab the same gun to kill Batman only for it to be empty, Joker pleads for Batman to beat the hell out of him and take him in for his crimes, though Batman has a conversation with him on telling his arch-rival that though he hates him for his crimes, he is willing to help him regain his sanity.

Joker refuses stating that it is and always too late for him to be saved leading for him to tell his nemesis a joke about two men breaking out of an asylum leading for both the Clown Prince of Crime and the Dark Knight Detective to both laugh among each other only for the Batman to laugh the longest.

In the mid-credits, Barbara is seen in a wheelchair coming home from a sport for the disabled as well as on the phone to her father, she states that she will see him later only for her to open a private door via her wheelchair revealing a secret room for her new persona... Oracle is born.

 And that was The Killing Joke.

 I may as well address the Elephant in the room by stating it was possibly the WORST IDEA to hire Brian Azzarello to recreate this story, he doesn’t know the relationship between the relationship between Batman and his pupils as well as the story behind Batgirl as well as her own story of independence and being a hero to begin with.

It pains me to say that the script in this movie is poorly handled from the start but when it comes to the main story then it would be more interesting if they actually told more of a decent story instead of the private ramblings of a horny teenager who’s in love with her mentor. The worst of the beginning story is that it made no sense on her constant aggression towards Batman to begin with, hell in the comics, she understood his pain as well as the things he did to begin his story.

Hell the Barbara Gordon from Arkham Origins was more understandable towards Batman than the Barbara in this piece of crap; Azzarello, read a freaking comic on Batgirl and not something you make up on the spot. And the less I say about that Sex Scene the better I feel, though the same can’t be said as I’m going to be remembering that for a good bloody while...

Now for the script towards the Killing Joke story, granted it was a nice nod towards Alan Moore’s works but the best they could do was to add his name in the credits as it was very close to the story, though if there would be a nitpick, I wish that the script would be a bit longer as it looked short in my opinion, especially towards the ending with Joker’s Speech towards Batman on having a Bad Day.

Now for the benefits, the animation was incredible to look at... aside from that one scene, the animation was pretty accurate towards the comic, especially when it comes to the Joker scenes as well as his origin which at one point was better than the graphic novel, the colour setting in the flashbacks stood out the most as well as the modern day setting.

The voice acting was incredible especially from 2 veteran voice actors who are well known for portraying their roles dead on, out of the Animated DC movie’s I’ve seen this is the most accurate I’ve heard from voice actors. Direction on the other hand was good but it could have been handled better, especially in some scenes that were there for the sake of being there.

Aside from the heinous script and the terrible ideas that were placed in the movie, it’s a fun flick, if you want to watch the Killing Joke just for the story based on the novel, skip the first 26 minutes in the film and you will start to enjoy it. The last 47 minutes of the movie is totally worth it and if there was a choice on redoing the film again, please add more scenes in like the second story in the deluxe edition, it would interesting to watch.

So the rating for this movie is on the Hitlist for its accuracy to the classic Alan Moore and Brian Bolland story, the voice acting by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as they both shared chemistry in their roles as well as the animation.

If you want to read the story then I recommend purchasing it at your local comic book story, trust me it’s completely worth it.

I’m Amateur Fan 2.27 and I’ll see you guys in the next review, good night and god bless.