#Now I go to work listening to either DVD commentary of the movies or the ost

[andrewknightley]

Wake up early in the morning at 6am and spent 2 hours looking and putting on queue cornetto trilogy posts made in 2013 how are you guys

[dreamsinger-rose]

Reply to @somuchflippinglitter’s commentary of my TWT Branch’s Character Growth Post

(Did anyone notice how often we see Branch in monochrome in TWT, basically Gray Branch again?)

Hi! @somuchflippinglitter I’m actually happy to see such a long, thoughtful post. You make some good points, and there are other points that, if I may, I’d like to explain my reasoning more clearly. BTW this is a verrry long post that I thought would work better as a separate post rather than a reply to a reply.

The original post (scroll through the comments to see the commentary I’m replying to)

https://dreamsinger-rose.tumblr.com/post/616517422712848384/twt-spoilers-branchs-character-growth

Some of Branch’s actions can be seen as out of character, yes. For me, the main one is how much more mature he seems in some ways, such as not acting as sarcastic as in the first movie, but I have assume that he’s had at least a year of being social and developing meaningful relationships with the other trolls, who no longer regard him as the ‘crazy guy who lives in a bunker and still thinks the bergens are out to get us’, because he did turn out to be right. So he has less reason to be sarcastic, and more reason to care what other people think of him.

Yes, Branch was definitely the “love interest” here. But because he was, he was the one person with the influence to make Poppy listen when it really mattered. Also, I guess you could say it was “rubbed in your face”, but then, he literally told her he loved her in the first movie (which could have been friendship-love). I can see two reasons for Dreamworks to emphasize his love-interest status: to clearly tell the audience he’s IN love with Poppy, and to show he’s grown emotionally-open enough to make the choice to confess to her. This also implies time passing and character growth.

I looked up the symptoms of PTSD and he fit all of them, (in the first movie). But his PTSD wasn’t caused by the singing and dancing that attracted Chef to capture his grandma, it was caused by the trauma of her loss and his subsequent guilt and grief. The ‘not wanting to sing or dance’ was a symptom of his PTSD, not the cause itself.

That’s why after Poppy and the others comforted him and didn’t heap blame on him after he confessed how it was his fault his grandma got killed, Branch’s grief, and especially his guilt (and self-blame) lifted, and right afterward we started to see him healing. His symptoms began to subside. That “happy shout” came after his confession, not before. He was able to sing when Poppy needed it, and that broke the no-sing/no-dance block in his mind, and that helped him heal even more.

I personally have been considering Trolls Holiday canon, and TBGO as an alternate universe, since we know both have wormholes and thus it’s canon, ironically, for there to be other versions of Branch. For example Branch’s bed is vastly different in each. TBGO Branch does have the same basic personality as movie/special Branch but somewhat different experiences.

Either way, Branch’s basic personality to me is someone who is guarded and not very trusting and therefore prone to anxiety when things happen that are outside his control, like how he got all stuttery in Holiday “D-did you say wormhole?” The Trolls to Trolls clips in particular gave me a lot to think about, since he acts a lot less confident in some of them compared to his confidence in the first movie. Totally blew my mind that all Poppy had to do to make him cave in (high-pitched voice/submissive body language) was MENTION his bunker, never mind its location.

It’s true that sexiness is in the eye of the beholder, but actually I have some solid scientific/aesthetic reasons for thinking of Branch as sexy. First, Branch’s character has been designed to look masculine: large nose, mouth, hands, feet. Broad face. Bigger teeth, compared to Poppy. Thick hair, which implies virility, something females unconsciously look for in a mate. Also, rather than letting his hair grow random and kind of ragged like the other male trolls, Branch’s hair is always neatly trimmed, which implies good hygiene, which is also something people find attractive. Whether he’s an animated troll or not, he’s been designed to look very male and therefore appealing to those who like guys.

Second, I’ve read articles/studies on body language and dance choreography. The “hip sway/push toward us” in particular is characteristic of someone trying to attract a romantic partner. His open arms are seen as inviting/welcoming, which is appealing. Also, him pointing his toes toward someone, biting his lip, and what looks like direct eye contact are also body language that says “he’s into you”. The eye contact in particular will be seen as attractive because it implies confidence, which is universally considered one of THE most attractive traits for either/all sexes.

So my point is it’s not so much that he’s an animated troll, but that a live human who has similar features (big hands, etc) and uses the same body language and eye contact is going to be seen as attractive by a large number of viewers, who will respond on an unconscious level. The outward appearance – blue-green skin, long ears, is not really what we’re responding to as far as attractiveness goes. Thus, to me, an adult female; Branch is sexy.

So, by ‘acting out of character’, did you mean because he was (selfishly) having fun as he danced to the new-to-him Kpop and Reggaetron music? Or do you mean you thought since he left Poppy that meant that he was being selfish and protecting only himself?

You’re right that he cared less about music than other things, although since he was the one who liked Country music and he seemed to understand the Funk troll’s story on a deeper level than Poppy, it was my understanding that he DID care. The reason he seemed out of character is because despite Branch’s love for Poppy, we have to remember his basic, unshakable core characteristic: protection/defense.

In the first movie, he built a bunker to protect himself. He expanded that protection to Poppy and his friends and eventually Bridget, because he came to care about them all. We assume that he’s now friends with much more of the village. (I take his random comment “Ah, what a troll,” when talking about Legsly as support for this.) So now his entire village is under his protection.

He had to make the hard choice to go protect the village when he knew Barb would be heading there (Barb didn’t know Poppy had the string) since Poppy wasn’t doing it. And he couldn’t make her, he could only try to persuade her, which he did. So he was behaving true to himself. He IS loyal to Poppy, but when she essentially abandons her post to go to the Rock trolls’ home, he has to step up and do what he feels is the right thing, no matter how badly he wants to keep Poppy safe. That’s why I think he’ll be a good king, since he put the welfare of his people ahead of his need to stay with Poppy.

Branch didn’t go all untrusting with Hickory because Branch didn’t KNOW Hickory betrayed them. He wasn’t there when the disguise came off.

In your take on Branch and Poppy’s relationship, it’s true that them not having a “good connection” felt a little too convenient after all the relationship-building they’d had over the past year or so. To be fair, if you were writing the movie’s script and you needed some reason for Branch to get motivated to try to confess his feelings for Poppy, what do you think might have been a better scenario?

Me, I liked the high-five because it was symbolic of the progress of the relationship – no contact in the first movie, trying but unable to get a strong connection at the beginning of TWT and a strong connection at the end of TWT. But yeah, not being able to make contact made it sound like their relationship had backtracked instead of progressed, which is out of sync with all the previous progress we’ve seen.

I would have loved to have seen more “vulnerable Branch”. They probably had scenes like that, but had to cut them to keep the movie short enough. It could have been laziness, I suppose. But if there had been more scenes like that, the movie would have been a romance story rather than an adventure, and kids probably wouldn’t have liked it as much. I hope we get to see some cut scenes on the DVD. (Me, I would have liked the movie to be like a half-hour longer and all Broppy scenes, haha).

Thanks for taking the time to give me your beautiful long reply to my post, @somuchflippinglitter You were very respectful :) and I honestly think analyzing a kids’ character is really important since kids learn a lot about the world by what they see on TV. Not so much the fantasy, but the way people relate to one another. Like, Branch could have tried to take Poppy back to the village by force, but he let her make the choice that she thought was right, while he did the same. Each respected the other. And I respect you.  

[lunawings]

My history with King of Prism and worries for the future

Poor Nikkanen. They made us wait TWO YEARS for the release of the full version of his ONLY song. I don’t think Prism Rush was supposed to end when it did, and the unreleased songs are more or less proof of that. (I mean what were they saving them for? I doubt the “Best Of” collection was what they originally had in mind.) I had always assumed that some time after SSS ended we’d start getting new songs on Prism Rush again and get another Prism Rush compilation CD. But that did not happen. 

Did SSS not do well? I mean... having been in a sold-out theater many a time I had assumed that it did quite well. But maybe the TV ratings and/or DVD sales weren’t what they should have been. (Then again, if we’re just talking about Prism Rush, it wouldn’t matter how well SSS did or didn’t do if people didn’t spend enough money on the app to warrant releasing new songs for it.) 

But that aside... it is a bit concerning to not only have Prism Rush ending, but over a year after SSS, to have nothing on the horizon in the future except for some “Best Of” discs... Maybe they’ll announce something at the Zoom show? Maybe they won’t. 

It may be too early to start mourning the King of Prism series as a whole, but...

But I can’t help but feel myself starting to mourn at least my own future with it.  With no new Prism Rush content and without ability to go to in-person cheering shows, I... I just I... I feel like I may find it hard to keep as passionate as I have been in the past. And to make matters worse, I’m not going to be able to work on my translations as much as before either. When I was translating 2-3 events a month on my Prism Rush translation blog, I had no job and then like... half a job. To make a long story short recently that first job not only got upgraded to full time, but I got another job as well. So now I have a job and a half and... a lot less free time. 

For a long time my main fandom has been split something like 49%/51% Love Live/King of Prism, but with the constant stream of accessible new Love Live content and lack of much of anything King of Prism I think that percentage will soon change...

And so, while feeling emotional about all this, I started mentally revisiting my favorite moments from my time in the King of Prism fandom. (It’s all stuff I’ve talked about before, but if you’d like me to dig up the post or explain the details, do let me know...)

(In somewhat chronological order-ish)

*Stepping out of Toho Cinemas and into the Bay City Nagoya Mall in early January 2016 not knowing how to process what had just happened. I’d heard people talk about how exiting to the parking lot after seeing Star Wars the first time in the 1970s was a bizarre experience. They didn’t know how to tell people the world was different now. I thought to myself that this was probably the same feeling. How could I tell people the world was sparkling now?

*Three weeks and three showings later, realizing I did not want to trade after I opened up my Shin filmstrip bonus. “I think I like him.” 

*Hanging up said filmstrip and my other original theater bonuses on the wall of my apartment. “King of Prism won’t be in theaters much longer”, I thought to myself. “It was fun while it lasted.”

*The radiance exploding from me as I talked to OTHER PEOPLE who had seen King of Prism for the fIRsT tIME (a thing that did not happen for several months). 

*Tokyo cheering shows back in the heyday. Looking around a giant, screaming, sold-out theater in Ikebukuro after many months had passed and realizing I was a part of something much bigger than I had realized. 

*The first Animate Cafe in Kyoto. Everyone gleefully answering “Naaaani” while listening to the explanation of how the cafe worked. The miracle of getting my first, and still favorite, cafe Shin badge.

*Screaming at the Over the Rainbow event live viewing when they announced Pride the Hero. We did it. We really did it. We were actually getting the sequel I once thought was impossible.

*The midnight showing of Pride the Hero. People crying before it even started and the thunderous applause after it finished that I thought would never end. (People in Japan usually never clap after movies.) 

*Music Ready Sparking. (The first concert.) The feeling of seeing SePTENTRION (long before they were called that) rising up to the stage to perform live for the first time. 

*The realization that I knew all the words to Dramatic Love, despite having never sang it before. (The instrumental began during the credits at the concert and we all... just... started singing. Japanese fandoms usually never sing at concerts unless directed to.) This is probably still my favorite moment of all time in the King of Prism fandom.

*The announcement of the Prism Rush app and the golden age of the game. Biting my nails with anticipation over what would happen next in the White Day event.

*Screaming in the theater during the Rose Party 2018 event live viewing when they announced SSS. We did it. We REALLY did it this time. We got an actual anime. We reached the mainstream.

*The adventure that was reading Road to SSS for the first time on Prism Rush and trying to predict what all the duos would be only to be blindsided by completely new characters. Going from “the heck are these guys” to “MY SONS” regarding the Amamoto twins over the course of about an hour.  

*Listening to everyone (not so) silently laughing, screaming, crying, and otherwise sUfFeRiNg during the non-cheering midnight premiere of SSS Part 1 and realizing I had never felt so emotionally connected to any such other large group of complete strangers before. 

*Going from the Nagoya premiere straight to the SSS greeting show in Tokyo where Junta Terashima looked at me... maybe. (I’d like to think he did.)

*When the OP played for the first time during our very first SSS livestream on Rabbit and seeing y’all just typing “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” into the chat.

*In Tokyo, walking out of KFC in the POURING rain and stumbling upon SePTENTRION’s shopping street despite having completely missed it the first time. IT WAS REAL. 

*Glancing over at my TV screen during our very last SSS livestream on Rabbit and having the color drain from my face when I saw Shin in his Daisuki Refrain outfit (which was not shown in theaters) for the very first time two minutes before you guys in the chat would see it, and having no idea how to contain this emotion. 

*Clicking to another tab after our last SSS livestream to type my commentary post and then clicking back to see you guys collectively making the Wiki page for SePTENTRION on Rabbit.

*Prism dolphin show.

*The CLOUD of real (fake) money flying through the air during Kakeru’s prism show on the during all-night Prism Shower showing of SSS. (Also people offering to pay for young Alexander to go to the Prism King Cup.)

*The miracle moment when I finally got the livestream for the Rose Party 2019 on Stage to work on Kast despite a typhoon and an earthquake. THE PRISM SPARKLE PREVAILED. Dangerously walking back to my hostel in said typhoon and sleeping for about an hour and not even caring because I was convinced more than ever that the prism sparkle is real.  

*Seeing Shota Aoi live for the first time, realizing I was looking at a literal angel, and not knowing how to contain this emotion. 

*The chills during an orchestral Dramatic Love.

*A very overdue performance by my favorite boy during the Best Ten movie. It was worth the wait. Feeling I may actually be able to leave Japan with no regrets thanks to Daisuki Refrain.

*The Best Ten greeting show in Nagoya where Masashi Igarashi jumped an original Nagoya-themed prism jump. 

*Finally telling Junta Terashima and Masashi Igarashi my feelings in the letters I spent days writing to put in their present boxes at the SSS live. 

*Dropping all my luggage when I stumbled upon the very place, the very scaffolding under which Minato met Kouji for the first time in Shizuoka. IT WAS REAL.

*Masashi Igarashi waved to me at the end of the 2nd performance of the SSS live... maybe. (I’d like to think he did.) 

*Hearing the “Naaaani” response to anything ringing through the Makuhari Messe hall before the SSS live and just thinking about how far we’ve come as a fandom and yet how much has stayed the same. 

Like I mentioned earlier, I had a moment in early 2016 when I hung up all the King of Prism stuff I had on my wall and thought “It was fun while it lasted.” 

It looked like this:

Nowadays I have two FULL photo albums filled with concert tickets, theater bonuses, post cards, coasters, stickers... (Not to mention an entire drawer filled with my collection of Shin merch.)

Everything inside is a memory of some event I went to, something I ate at a cafe, some kind of experience I had such as the ones I talked about in this post... It’s always been pretty disorganized because I was constantly getting new things all the time.

But now that I have no idea when (...or if) it will be added to, I can finally take it all out and organize it by character or something. 

But I’ve been avoiding it. 

Because I know when I do, there will probably be a moment where I close the cover and think to myself “It was fun while it lasted.”

[atamascolily]

lily liveblogs “terminator 2: judgement day” for the first time

Nothing says "Christmas season" like watching bloody action movies! Well, there is "Die Hard," but I'm watching Terminator 2: Judgement Day, aka "James Cameron Was Mad He Didn't Put Those Ten Minutes of Subplot He Filmed Into the Theatrical Cut of the First Terminator, So He Made An Entire Movie About It Instead Because He Could”.

Ok, so I have the "Extreme Edition", whatever that means. The menu options for the DVD include "Sensory Control" (for subtitle options) and "Jump Into Timeline". Every now and then a super-creepy T-2 metallic head drops into frame to remind you to press play. I'm loving this.  

Cars in L.A. traffic. Children laughing on a playground in the '90s. Cut to the Apocalyptic Nightmare Future with the busted cars and skeletons for drivers. Everything's STILL IN PLACE the way it was when Judgement Day happened. Oooh, yeah, just cut to the wrecked playground with a pile of human skulls, in case we didn't get the memo.

(for the record, I'm pretty sure nuclear winter would actually NOT WORK LIKE THIS, but it looks cool, and James Cameron seems to be really good at this kind of parallels between present and future, so I'm rolling with it.)

Sarah Connor narrates the introductory spiel, and we're treated to basically the same opening as T1, except much higher budget everything. Lots of laser beams and explosions and fireballs, plus scary metal Terminators roaming around that the last movie did NOT have the budget for. (plus the audiences have already seen that in T1, so it's okay to show them in the intro, since I assume an EVEN SCARIER TERMINATOR FINAL FORM is coming).

We're only 3 minutes into the movie and the filmmakers have already spent like a tenth of their total budget on SFX and twice the total costs of the first movie. 

It occurs to me as Sarah is narrating, who is she narrating to? Just us, or some other characters? I strongly suspect we'll see some other characters when this film finally cuts to her.

How does Sarah know about a second strike? Didn't we establish in the last movie that there was only one Terminator that went through the portal before the humans got to it?? Are they retconning that now?

Instead of '80s synth and logo during the credits, we get a more symphonic treatment of the main theme, plus THE PLAYGROUND ON FIRE because SYMBOLISM for the destruction of CHILDHOOD INNOCENCE, amirite?? And then we cut to the SCARY METALLIC RED-EYED TERMINATOR SKELETON IN FLAMES because THAT is the defining image of this francise, the one that James Cameron had NIGHTMARES about that he decided to give to EVERYBODY ELSE by making these films.

I just realized how much the Terminator head in that shot looks like a human skull, THAT'S SO INTENTIONAL AAAAAH.

Cut to a truck driving off without its cargo, trash on the ground. Sparks fly, a wind picks up, it's night, we've been here before... This time the budget is higher, so we actually get to SEE the sphere instead of people just kind of appearing... and it carves a hole in one of the trucks. This ALSO didn't happen in T1. Nudity is still mandatory, though. It's still Arnold. You can tell it's an upgraded model Terminator based on his computer system menus. He still beats up tattooed punks to steal their clothes, only instead of stoned punks, these are long-haired motorcycle dudes in some sort of pool bar.

Oh, wow, there are a lot of people in this bar. A woman with a cigarette and a nose ring is checking the Terminator out. This is going to go well. Country music blares on the soundtrack.

He's looking for the dude with the best motorcycle. Tells him to give him his stuff. This is just like the first movie, but different. The dude is unimpressed, though why I'm not sure, because the Terminator is super-intense, and super-buff.

But the motorcycle dude blows smoke in his face--the T2 model scan says "carcinogen vapors", which is a) hilarious, and b) SO DIFFERENT FROM THE "EVERYBODY IS ALWAYS SMOKING EVERYWHERE" vibe of 1984--a sign of the evolving social norms. Then the motorcycle dude grinds his cigar into the Terminator's bare skin... and of course there's no reaction.

One dude goes through a window onto the front window of what may well be his car(?). The original dude goes flying into the kitchen and lands on a stove, which is horrific, but also karmic payback. Another gets stabbed with his own knife. I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE, CAMERON. Burned guy tries to pull a gun on the Terminator, but surrenders his keys and his clothes without a fight. Terminator goes outside in record time, because the dude he tossed on the car window is still there.

The bartender comes out with a gun, fires a shot into the air, and tells the Terminator to get off the bike. This is going to end poorly for him, especially since "Bad to the Bone" is playing in the background. Terminator takes both the gun and the guy's shades while the dude just watches, incredulously. YOU GOT LUCKY YOU'RE NOT HIS TARGET/MISSION, pal.

(also: this movie is such an obvious social commentary about how being armed really doesn't help you against a real threat, American fantasies to the contrary)

Cut to more blowing trash, more buildings, more trucks, a police car, electricity. The future is calling! (Oh good, this person's either going to be chased by the police OR Take their stuff.)

Dramatic hole in the fence from the future sphere thing. Yeah, this definitely wasn't a thing in the first movie, but it does look cool in this shot! Yep, there goes the policeman!

New dude's first order of business is to look up John Connor's name in the computer in the police car. Apparently, John Connor has a criminal record - trespassing, shoplifting, disturbing the peace, vandalism. He doesn't live with Sarah... he's got a guardian, and the address is in the computer.

Cut to the suburbs. It's wholesome, white-bread America. His foster mother yells at him. John is a teenage motorcycle punk, but in a clean, wholesome way. His friend has very '90s hair, though.

John's friend thinks that his foster mom is a "dick," but frankly, I see no evidence why we should hate her thus far. Her husband comes out to tell John to clean his room, but he and his little friend are already zipping away on their motorcycle, and the little friend is holding a miniature boombox, and it's so '90s, I have to pause so I can laugh for a while. Also, this rebelliousness is what's going to save his life when the Terminator comes for him. I guess the foster parents are framed as nagging assholes so we don't care so much when they die??

(also, what do you want to bet Sarah taught John to ride a motorcycle??)

John Connor is a little dick who thinks he's so clever, and he doesn't have to do anything because these aren't his real parents. His foster dad smokes, and doesn't say anything, probably because he's already made it clear to his wife that room cleaning is not high on his priority list. Fuck him.

Sarah's doing pull-ups in her cell. THOSE ARM MUSCLES, OH MY GOD. She's 29 years old. SUCH A CHANGE from the waitress with the '80s hair from the first film. Everything's so white, it's a state psychiatric ward for women. Men in suits discussing Sarah's case.

THIS IS WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO KYLE IF THE TERMINATOR HADN'T BUSTED THE POLICE STATION. *sob*

Is Silbermann - the psychiatrist who examined Kyle in T1 still around? He left the police station right before the Terminator's attack, so I assume he lived... what does he make of Sarah's case? Does he ever follow up? I wonder what's going through his head.

I like how we don't see Sarah's face until she turns to face the doctors. I like how wild and unhinged she looks, how feral. She's changed so much in what, ten years? Thirteen? I think it's 1997, just before Judgement Day, but idk if that's been confirmed yet. Thirteen looks about right for John Connor, so I'm going with that.

Oh, god IT IS DR. SILBERMANN, THAT ASSHOLE!!! How does he explain how both Sarah AND Kyle have schizophrenia, when Sarah was perfectly normal before? And he *know* someone was murdering other Sarah Connors and seemed to be gunning for her, so why...? Was he really that much of an asshole not to suspect that *something* was going on, and Sarah wasn't crazy??

Also, I love "How's the knee?" because she totally hurt him, and I love her. I love how calm she sounds, like she's the one in control not them, because she can hurt them more than they can hurt her.

Sarah stares at the female doctors, and I realize now that Silbermann is doing a tour of the facility LIKE IT'S A ZOO, and... yeah, wow, he really is an asshole. He's the one with delusions, who can't see outside his own sheltered bubble...

I wonder what would happen if Sarah could talk to one of the female doctors? If they could make a connection? Maybe they would believe her. God knows Silbermann isn't going to listen to anyone who doesn't already agree with him.

God, the orderlies are sadist assholes. I fucking hate them. That shot of Sarah lying crumpled on the floor is so beautiful because everything is angelic pristine white and sunny, and so horrifying.

The police dude shows up at John's foster parents' house. We're supposed to think he's good because he's not Arnold, but this person has no facial expressions and he's too calm - compare with Kyle's frantic fumblings. This is not somebody from the human resistance of T1, at least not without some serious retconning. He's too poised and professional, too adept at the 1990s, whereas Kyle Reese had the social skills of a feral racoon and wore pants he stole from a homeless man. Totally different vibe going here.

The knock on the door sequence is so parallel to the original Terminator going to the first Sarah Connor's house in T1... same suburban paradise... and you can get anything when you're a clean-shaven, short-haired white cop, can't you??

Cut to: '90s tech. John and his little friend hacking an ATM. God. Their clothes, their hair, the ATM... everything is peak early '90s, and I can't handle it. We learn that Sarah Connor taught her son how to hack, because of course she does.

John keeps the photo of Sarah in his backpack, awwww. John is so not impressed by his mother, calls her crazy because she took the war to Cyberdyne and WENT BACK AND TRIED TO BLOW UP THE COMPUTER FACTORY AGAIN AFTER KYLE DIED!! (and her son was born)

Q: what did she do with John while she did that? Was he outside waiting for her somewhere? How did the police find him??

It doesn't matter who your parents are, EVERY teenager thinks their parents are "total losers". John has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide. His little punk friend thinks Sarah is so cool, and he doesn't know any of this, so I guess they're not THAT good friends??? Since it's John's motorcycle, John's driving, and John's stolen money, I guess the little unnamed punk friend is only hanging out with John because John is so much cooler than him, and needs someone to exposit to??

That shot of a drugged Sarah slumped over her knees on her bed in the shaft of sunlight, with her hair combed is SO BEAUTIFUL, too bad she's a drugged shadow of her usual self...

OH MY GOD, MICHAEL BIEHN IS IN THIS MOVIE, AND HE COMES TO HER, AND HE'S WEARING HIS TRENCH COAT AND TELLING HER SHE HAS TO WAKE UP OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG MY SHIPPER HEART asfhgfkgkfdgjkfdlgf *incoherent screaming* I need a thousand GIF sets of this scene PRONTO.

Kyle: "Where's our son???"

god, Sarah's EYES when she says they took him from her

Kyle is so earnest, so desperate, so much less bedraggled than he ever was in T1... god, he's even wearing that stupid gown under his trench coat that he got in the police station in T1, that detail wrecks me, oh my god, oh my god, this scene is so beautiful, I just want an entire movie of THIS, oh my god...

Sarah is begging Kyle for help, and he grabs her shoulders and tells her she's strong, stronger than she ever thought she could be, LIKE HE'S ALWAYS DONE, OH MY GOD, beautiful cinnamon roll, too good for this world, I love him.

AHHHHHHHHHHH, and then he says "On your feet, soldier!" which is what she said to HIM right before he DIED, and he forces her UP and they EMBRACE and she's sobbing into his shoulder and he hells her he loves her and he always will, and HKGKSFJALFNDBJNJN

I am a melting pile of shipper goo right now, this shot of them in the sunlight is so fucking beautiful, James Cameron HOW DARE YOU THIS IS EVERYTHING I WANTED IN A MOVIE EXCEPT THAT KYLE IS STILL DEAD, DAMN IT, YOU DIDN'T RETCON THAT.

He says he'll always be with her... and he is, because he's a voice in her head, a memory.... ahhhhhhhh my heart...

And he tells her "The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves," which is what SHE SAID TO HIM, oh my GODDDDDDDD.

And they hug and kiss and I could watch a whole movie about this, and then she slumps back and she's alone in her cell in a shaft of sunlight and I just want to cry. whhhhhyyyyy do you have to hurt me this way, why, why why why why whyyyyyy?

Oh wait, he's at the door to the cell, and it's open, telling her there's not much time... and walking away, and she goes out to follow him as he's walking down the hall and everything's so eerily perfect white and shiny and beautiful and SURREAL, fuck, I am so HERE FOR THIS!

God, this is all beautifully shot as she chases after him - and we get a good view of her amazing forearm muscles without objectifying her. The nightgown she's wearing is NOT standard institutional outfit - it looks more like lingerie than State Mental Hospital Standard Issue - but it's not especially revealing, either.

She opens the doors and she's outside and there's that playground again with all the children playing... SYMBOLISM AGAIN.... Sarah is locked out, away from the children, yelling to save them... and then fire.

And she wakes up in her cell and her hair is a mess again, so this time we know it's real -- and her outfit's changed, too, back to the tank top she was originally wearing, so I guess her outfit was part of the dream, too.

(ngl, I wasn't expecting even THIS MUCH of Michael Biehn in this movie, so I will happily take it, but stilllllllll... I WANT MORE, GODDAMN IT!!!)

(this got long, so I’m breaking it up into parts)

[brokehorrorfan]

15 Things We Learned from the Jigsaw Commentary

Jigsaw - the eighth entry in the wildly-successful Saw franchise - introduces new blood (pun intended) to the series while retaining its signature elements. Perhaps a bit too beholden to the past, the film's attempt to appeal to both longtime fans and newcomers ultimately fails to fully satisfy either crowd. It delivers the sadistic traps and clever twists for which the Saw movies are known, but it does more to muddle the surprisingly intricate mythology than expand upon it.

With the previous installments churned out annually for seven years, viewer fatigue quickly set in. Jigsaw arrives after seven years of dormancy, which gave the creative team ample time for development. I was curious to gain insight into that process, and producers Peter Block, Mark Burg, and Oren Koules deliver just that on the audio commentary that accompanies the film's home video release.

Here are 15 things I learned from the Jigsaw commentary track. Spoilers follow, so don’t read on until after you’ve seen the movie.

1. The film opens with a revamped version of Charlie Clouser's instantly-recognizable Saw theme. The composer was given the freedom to rework the music with something he never had much of the previous films: time. This is the first of many examples of the producers trying to inject new life into the established franchise. "One of our goals was to make it a Saw movie and not a Saw movie at the same time," explains Koules.

2. Josiah Black, who plays Edgar in the opening scene, was cast out of Vancouver, but the shoot took place in Toronto. Instead of telling anyone he didn't have a way of getting there, the actor and his new wife bought a car for $500 to make the cross-country drive. The vehicle died on the trip, so they had to buy a second one, which also broke down before they reached the destination.

3. The opening sequence - which consists of a chase scene and a rooftop standoff (filmed at an old Palmolive factory) - was originally scripted to be around 15 minutes. In the final film, it lasts a little over three minutes due to budgetary restraints. Block thinks it was for the best, as it's still exciting in its truncated form and gets to the Saw game faster.

4. The three principal actresses had their hair dyed for the production: Laura Vandervoort went from blonde to brunette; Brittany Allen went from brunette to blonde; and Hannah Emily Anderson went from strawberry blonde to redhead.

5. Mandela Van Peebles - the son of Mario Van Peebles and the grandson of Melvin Van Peebles - asked for his character, Mitch, not to be killed first. The producers agreed to avoid the horror movie cliche of the black character dying first.

6. A dead body prop was briefly left hanging from an overpass to shoot later. In the interim, a train want by, which prompted many of its passengers to call the police to report the presumed suicide. The police showed up, and the whole situation landed Jigsaw in the local papers.

7. Koules' daughter, Sam Koules, plays Melissa, the young daughter of Logan (Matt Passmore). The filmmakers were impressed with her arm in the scene in which she plays catch with Logan.

8. In their first meeting, directors Michael and Peter Spierig - newcomers to the franchise - expressed their desire to update the Billy puppet to put their own spin on the iconic prop. They ended up giving it glowing red eyes, which everyone agrees was effective.

9. Although he does not go into detail, Block notes that there is a distinction between the tape recorders that say "Play me" in red ink and in black ink throughout the franchise. They were careful to stay consistent with the new film, as it is important to who writes it.

10. Although the trap is well thought out, Block admits the scene in which Ryan's (Paul Braunstein) leg gets trapped doesn't quite work logistically. "If Ryan doesn't step there, his leg doesn't get caught, and he doesn't find [the tape recorder] by trying to get out, how do they ever get in the silo room? And the answer is: Ask Josh [Stolberg] and Pete [Goldfinger]," placing the blame on the writers with a laugh. "They screwed that up. We never understood it, but it works really well!"

11. For the tense sequence in which Mitch (Van Peebles) has to reach through trap wires to retrieve a tape recorder, the sound designer was asked to create a sound similar to the one in 127 Hours right before James Franco's character cuts into his arm.

12. The silo trap was originally going to fill with water, but it was deemed too similar to a trap from Saw V. Ants and maggots were also considered before ultimately deciding on grain, then adding sharp objects dropping at the end to elevate it. The actors were freestanding with a shoulder-height canopy covered with grain to give the illusion they were being buried.

13. Arabella Oz, daughter of TV's Dr. Oz, plays the lab technician who explains John Kramer's DNA match. The producers were impressed with how good she was in the small role, despite her lack of experience.

14. Block conceived the concept of Anna (Vandervoort) and Mitch (Van Peebles) spilling out of the silo. He was inspired by a scene in which characters tumble down a waterfall in one of his "all-time favorite guilty pleasure movies:" Romancing the Stone.

15. Although another Saw movie has not been confirmed, the producers tease potential ideas for future installments several times throughout the commentary track. Most notably, we could see more of Edgar (Black) and how he got drawn into the story that unfolds in Jigsaw.

If you're hungry for more information about Jigsaw after listening to the audio commentary, you'll be happy to learn that the 4K and Blu-ray releases include a feature-length documentary that delves even deeper into the making of the film, along with a featurette about props.

Jigsaw is available now on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 23 via Lionsgate.

[janiedean]

for the meme thing... the first theon/robb meeting in a sweet something sparkled in those eyes of his from “You aren’t all right. And – you know it’s forbidden to treat servants like that? I mean –” to But then he wonders, why if he was the one Luwin wanted me to meet?

OKAY LET’S C/P BECAUSE THIS IS LONG-ISH I’ll just go piece by piece u__u

“You aren’t all right. And – you know it’s forbidden to treat servants like that? I mean –”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not – I mean. I didn’t – come into this willingly. But – that’s all I can say. It wouldn’t… work for me. But – that’s valiant of you. I suppose. M’lord.”

“I haven’t heard of lords named Snow,” Robb says, unable to keep amusement from his tone. He’s pretty sure that if Theon’s a commoner, he must have been very well learned at some point – it’s obvious that he has to put an effort in sounding like a commoner at all. “People just call me Robb.”

now, the first thing I should probably say about this that would make sense as far as the dvd commentary thing goes is that I had actually based it on the *opera* version of cinderella, not a specific version of the fairytale and not the live action movie (I wrote it before seeing it and then laughed my ass off because branagh TOTALLY knows his rossini and stole the part where they meet before and she doesn’t know who he is and he lies about her identity from the opera IT’S NOT IN ANY OTHER VERSION). which means I should probably link you the actual scene so you have in mind what I was watching/listening to while writing this. btw: the title was EXACTLY FROM THIS DUET so xD

just press play it should give you the love duet with subs. 

(also if you want a version with two people who are acting it a bit closer to how I’d imagine them being but you don’t mind not having the subs watch this one it’s lovely ;; there’s even the almost kiss lol)

obviously robb is the prince and theon is cinderella. you can most probably notice that they’re supposed to fall immediately for each other and that when they start talking she starts deflecting but obviously they couldn’t have the same dialogue so here the idea was that robb’s intrigued and theon’s pretty much surprised af that robb is giving him the time of the day. obviously since robb is observant he noticed that theon’s faking the commoner speech (same as roose did in canon ops). 

“Like the prince? Must be weird. I’m sorry, I –”

“It’s fine. Well, yes, everyone has joked about that at some point. But I guess being a knight is the next best thing.”

“Sure it would be. You have the valiant part down, anyhow.”

“Why, thank you.” Robb also can’t help smiling just a fraction, and then Theon does the same looking as if he’s not thinking about it, and gods but he does have has a nice smile indeed. If only he went all the way with it. “Does that make you the fair maiden?”

this one was just me expanding on the concept ie theon’s kind of having the conversation he’d have had with robb if they met in regular circumstances before remembering he shouldn’t, robb’s going with his ruse and looking like the prince charming he technically is even if he’s lying about it and theon actually smiles for real around robb OPS ROBB IT WORKED YOU CHARMED HIM. also I recycle the fair maiden joke for both theon and jaime half of the time but bear with me they are the fair maidens of their ships, so.

Admittedly, Robb had been trying to make him laugh – he gets a snort instead, and one that’s not quite amused.

“Sorry to shatter that fantasy, but unless you’re one, there are no maidens in this room.” And he sounds bitter as he says it, and Robb would really want to ask, but –

First, he hears noise from down the road – Jon must be getting here.

Second, someone calls for damned Reek again, which means that Theon should leave right now.

this actually was sorta mirroring the duet because in the original he asked her who she was and stuff and she stammered around and he was enchanted anyway except that obviously theon has a way darker backstory so I was trying to introduce the subtle past theon/ramsay stuff in robb’s pov because obv we know from theon’s but also the fact that theon’s actually showing emotion that’s not being demure or anything of the kind in front of robb even if he doesn’t realize it was supposed to be a thing, hopefully it was obvious. also I had to introduce poor jon at some point xD

Except that he just can’t let it go like this – damn, however this whole thing turns out, he’s going to make sure House Bolton dies with Ramsay the moment he steps up to his role.

And Theon seems completely miserable now, when just a moment ago he looked as if he was enjoying having their little conversation.

Well then.

that was basically robb being his prince charming self because OBVIOUSLY HE WOULD BE and of course theon just had to realize that he didn’t have too much time left with the guy who was making him feel like a normal person again oooops. also the thing was that in the original the moment they got called they still spent five minutes singing while the evil sisters were calling poor cinderella down so I figured those two could take some more time to get to know each other.

He takes a step closer, vowing to be quick. “I’m going to wait for the prince and let you go now, but allow me to say one thing first.”

“Sure.”

“Maybe there are no maidens in this room, but it doesn’t mean that there can’t be fairness somewhere, does it? And just so you know, I hardly think of myself as fair.”

I highly doubt robb in canon thinks he’s attractive himself (YEAH I KNOW) so it worked in this case since he wanted to tell theon that he was to him at least but admittedly the thing is that one of my favorite lines of the original duet is that they both look at each other while they have to leave and say I’m leaving my heart with him/her, it’s not mine anymore and I thought it was the that seemed appropriate ;)

He sees Theon’s eyes go so very, very wide, and before he can think twice about it he moves forward, presses a soft kiss to Theon’s cheek, tasting ash on his skin, and then turns his back to him and leaves the room before he can think twice about it and blow this mummer’s farce.

He doesn’t see Theon clutching at his cheek with his left hand for a moment before dashing up on the stairs.

But then he wonders, why if he was the one Luwin wanted me to meet?

... wow that should have been what if and I never noticed and no one else did now I feel horrible I WILL CORRECT IT ASAP GREAT THANKS FOR GIVING ME THIS SNIPPET X°DDDD

that said obviously since it’s robb pov I can’t say what theon’s thinking but hopefully you all figured out that he hadn’t been expecting it at all and that he was taken by surprise by robb doing the chivalrous/courteous cheek kissing thing, which on robb’s part was like... very spontaneous and possibly TOO SOON but hey he was supposed to be leaving his heart there, right? XD and then he was supposed to go like OH SHIT DID HE REALLY by touching his face (I like my body language guys) and admittedly if I ever got to direct that opera I’d have the cheek kissing happen but never mind that because it’s sadly not my job xD obviously theon also has to blow that joint so he can’t see the reaction u__u anyway the ending was one of my digs at the only thing in the opera that never made sense to me ie that the prince doesn’t immediately get a feeling that the person his teacher wanted him to meet is actually cinderella (later he asks his lackey if the two step-sisters are good choices and the lackey’s like ARE YOU SERIOUS THEY’RE TERRIBLE which I sort of cut off in my version ie they never actually think ramsay’s a choice XD) because it was like obvious so since robb’s a smart cookie he figured it out from the beginning u__u so I was already setting them up to figure it out early ;)

... and here you have it. you accidentally end up with HOW I REWORK OPERA STUFF INTO FANFIC OPS. xD

[asctx]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hollywoods-evil-secret-mxsb5f3zl Sunday Times (London, England). (May 22, 2016) ================== Oliver Thring met Elijah Wood to talk about his latest film, but the Lord of the Rings star and former child actor had other ideas. Out poured revelations about convicted paedophiles working openly in Hollywood — and deep relief that he had escaped unscathed ================== Elijah Wood was just eight when he arrived in Hollywood, the blue­-eyed son of Iowa delicatessen owners. He had been modelling in Midwestern shopping centres for four years when his mother brought him to California to launch his career in show business. Long before Peter Jackson cast him as Frodo Baggins, the hobbit protagonist of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Wood was a child star. He took the lead in a remake of the dolphin film Flipper and before that shared top billing with Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son. Now he knows he was lucky to escape childhood unharmed. Allegations that powerful figures in Hollywood have been sheltering child abusers have become impossible to ignore in recent years. During the past decade several convictions have been secured —­­ and far more accusations levelled ­­— against wealthy and important people in the industry. Some of these criminals have left prison, returned to Hollywood and begun working again with children. Sitting in a Los Angeles restaurant to promote his latest film, The Trust, Wood compares revelations of child abuse in Hollywood to those that surfaced in Britain after the death of Jimmy Savile. "You all grew up with Savile —­­ Jesus, it must have been devastating. Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organised. There are a lot of vipers in this industry, people who only have their own interests in mind. There is darkness in the underbelly —­­ if you can imagine it, it's probably happened. "What upsets me about these situations is that the victims can't speak as loudly as the people in power," he adds. "That's the tragedy of attempting to reveal what is happening to innocent people: they can be squashed, but their lives have been irreparably damaged." Wood says his mother, Debra, protected him: "She was far more concerned with raising me to be a good human than facilitating my career. I never went to parties where that kind of thing was going on. This bizarre industry presents so many paths to temptation. If you don't have some kind of foundation, typically from family, then it will be difficult to deal with." Other child actors did not have his luck. Corey Feldman was perhaps the biggest child star of the 1980s, a hero in such hits as Gremlins, The Goonies, Stand by Me and The Lost Boys. In 2011 Feldman decided to speak out about the abuse he had suffered as a young actor. "The No 1 problem in Hollywood was and is —­­ and always will be —­­ paedophilia," he said, adding that by the time he was 14 he was "surrounded" by molesters. Feldman met another child actor, Corey Haim, on a film set in the mid-­1980s. They became best friends, starring in numerous movies together and sharing their own television show. Describing their first meeting in his memoir, Feldman wrote: "An adult male had convinced Corey that it was perfectly normal for older men and younger boys in the business to have sexual relations ... So they walked off to a secluded area between two trailers ... and Haim allowed himself to be sodomised." Haim asked Feldman: "So I guess we should play around like that too?" He replied: "No, that's not what kids do, man." In 2012 Feldman told a British tabloid: "When I was 14 and 15, things were happening to me. These older men were leching around like vultures. It was basically me lying there pretending I was asleep and them going about their business." Both actors went on to suffer mental health problems, alcoholism and addiction to drugs including crack and heroin. In 2010, aged 38, Haim died of pneumonia, having reportedly entered rehab 15 times. Feldman said a "Hollywood mogul" was to blame for his friend's death, adding: "The people who did this to me are still out there and still working ­­— some of the richest, most powerful people in this business." "PEOPLE look at Corey Feldman and think he's a drug addict, so why should they listen to him?" says Anne Henry, co­founder of the BizParentz Foundation, an organisation established to protect child actors. "But that plays into the predators' hands. They don't want victims to be believed. We estimate that about 75% of the child actors who 'went off the rails' suffered earlier abuse. Drug addiction, alcoholism, suicide attempts, wandering through life without a purpose —­­ they can all be symptoms." In the mid-­2000s Henry was the proud mother of an 11-­year-­old child actor when she spotted shirtless photographs of him trading on eBay for up to $400 each. "My kid wasn't famous," she says. "But pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio when he was 11 were only selling for 10 bucks so I was worried." She realised that a number of eBay users were trading photographs of young boys, who were often semi­-naked and staring up into the camera in positions that mimicked child abuse. Henry says her research led her "to websites where men boasted about following these kids, where they 'screencapped' little boys on the TV every night. We found fetish sites: one still exists that is focused on little boys working in the entertainment industry, full of pictures of them in wet swimsuits. We eventually learnt that our kids' photographs were being used as gateways to child pornography sites." Bob Villard, an agent who managed the young DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, was convicted of selling images of children on eBay. As far back as 1987 Villard had been found in possession of child pornography and in 2005 he was sentenced to eight years in prison for committing a "lewd act" on a 13­-year-­old boy who had asked him for acting lessons. There is no suggestion that DiCaprio or Maguire was ever a victim of abuse. Henry felt ill at what she had discovered. She began educating other parents of child actors —­­ including several famous ones ­­— about what was taking place. And then, she says, the stories of sexual assault began to pour in. In the past 10 years Henry claims she has heard hundreds of episodes of alleged abuse of child actors in Hollywood, ranging from inappropriate comments to sexual violence and rape. "We believe Hollywood is currently sheltering about 100 active abusers," she says at home in Los Angeles. "The tsunami of claims has begun. This problem has been endemic in Hollywood for a long time and it's finally coming to light." WHAT should have brought the issue even greater attention is a documentary called An Open Secret by the Oscar-nominated director Amy Berg. The film, which is not easy to watch, either in practical terms or because of its content, tells the stories of five former child actors who claim to be victims of serious abuse. Some of their attackers have gone to jail. Evan Henzi, 22, tells me by email that "sexual abuse is a huge problem in Hollywood and there is absolutely no support system". He was molested dozens of times over several years from the age of 11 by his agent, a paedophile named Martin Weiss. In home­-movie footage recorded at a birthday party in the Henzi family home, one young boy turns to the camera and says: "I'm getting a massage and it feels great, and I don't care whether or not it looks bad." "It's above the waist," says Weiss, who is touching the boy. "It's not bad." Henzi eventually helped to secure Weiss's conviction after, he writes, "a moment of truth for myself. I secretly recorded an hour-­long conversation in which my abuser admitted he sexually abused me. I decided to beat fear with truth." But Weiss spent just six months in prison. "I was worried that he could try to harm me because he threatened me when I was younger," Henzi once said. Weiss is now rumoured to be working again in the entertainment industry. The most explosive allegations of Hollywood paedophilia surround "pool parties" at a Los Angeles mansion in the late 1990s. These were hosted primarily by one man, Marc Collins-­Rector. He had co­founded Digital Entertainment Network (DEN), a precursor to YouTube and Netflix, which generated its own content —­­ some of it with overtly pederastic tones —­­ for online release. DEN attracted almost $100m of investment from Hollywood giants, including David Geffen and Michael Huffington, as well as Bryan Singer, now one of the most feted directors in Hollywood, and the film maker behind The Usual Suspects and the billion dollar­-grossing X-­Men franchise. Geffen, Huffington and Singer are all alleged to have been at the parties but none is accused of any wrongdoing. At these parties, Collins­-Rector and other men are said to have sexually assaulted at least six teenage boys, according to lawsuits filed in 2000 and 2014. Michael Egan, who was a teenager at the time of the alleged abuse in 1999, sued Singer and two other men, alleging serious sexual abuse. He had to drop this suit after he was found to have been contradicting himself. A federal judge also accused him of lying in court. Singer has denied all claims of child abuse and said the accusations against him were a "sick, twisted shakedown". Another convicted paedophile, Brian Peck, was also a guest at the parties. Singer had given him cameo roles in two of the X­-Men films and asked him to join him for the director's commentary on one of the movies' DVDs. In 2004 Peck was found guilty of abusing a famous young actor on the Nickelodeon network. After prison Peck returned to Hollywood, where he accepted a role as a dialogue coach on the sitcom Anger Management, starring Charlie Sheen. Peck later went on to play, of all things, a sex education teacher in a film. Henry is outraged that Peck still works in Hollywood: "I'm disgusted with the people who continue to hire him. I hope audiences will vote with their wallets. Don't watch these films: make it clear to the studios that you won't have anything to do with organisations that re­-employ convicted predators." And if you were considering seeing An Open Secret, that may not be easy. Matthew Valentinas, its executive producer, has said: "There was major interest at Cannes [in 2014]. They'd say, 'We love it, don't show it to anyone else.' But then someone on the business side would step in and all of a sudden there was no longer interest." The film failed to find a distributor and apparently never will, though online message boards suggest viewers are keen to see it and it can be found on YouTube. To make matters worse, its other executive producer, Gabe Hoffman, apparently fell out with its director and was last year reported to be taking her to court for not "co­operating" in the film's promotion. Valentinas referred me to Hoffman when I asked to speak to him about child abuse in Hollywood; neither Hoffman nor Berg returned my emails. HOLLYWOOD'S reluctance to promote An Open Secret can be contrasted with its enthusiasm for films dealing with child abuse that took place elsewhere. As Henzi says: "In recent years, the movie industry has done a great job bringing these issues to the fore, but when it comes to sex crimes committed by its own, everyone is more hush-­hush." Spotlight, the account of an American newspaper's dogged investigation into child rapists in the Catholic church, won the best picture at the Oscars in March. Berg herself was previously nominated for an Academy Award for her 2006 documentary into a similar scandal, Deliver Us From Evil. Consequently, questions of a cover-­up have surfaced. "I don't believe that the most powerful people in Hollywood are sitting in a darkened room plotting to spread paedophilia," says Henry. "But very bad people are still working here, protected by their friends. Worse, the media and entertainment industries have a cosy relationship in this country —­­ and we've already had one Hollywood actor become president. This is why we've been relying on British media to report this story much more than American media." Hoffman has said An Open Secret "makes it clear that Hollywood is not adequately policing itself". And Wood told me that having seen An Open Secret, he believes the film "only scratches the surface. I feel there was much more to this story than it articulates." Roman Polanski was charged in 1977 with five offences, including rape, drugging and sodomising, against a 13­-year­-old girl. He did a plea bargain and was convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Fearing a jail sentence, Polanski fled the US and has never returned. He continues to make films in Europe and has received an Oscar while being the subject of an Interpol "red notice" for absconding. "Everyone wants to f*** young girls," he once opined in an interview. The tragedy of that gruesome Hollywood trope, the "casting couch", is its victims: young actors of both sexes forced to grant sexual favours to directors and producers, and damaged as a result. Henry says she and her family have received numerous death threats from "emissaries of people accused of abuse ... We've had to move home twice, increase our security. People have parked outside our house and watched us. We're tired and weary —­­ but with the evidence we have, we could have made 10 films like An Open Secret." Henzi writes in an email: "The thing about Hollywood is that there is not some secret 'illuminati' or top agenda. Just because someone is a famous director or actor does not give them immunity from the law. My dream is to see an established presence in Hollywood advocating against child sexual abuse, rape, sexual harassment and all sex crimes." He may have some time to wait. I ask Wood whether he believes this is still a problem for Hollywood. "From my reading and research," he says, "I've been led down dark paths to realise that these things probably still are happening. If you're innocent, you have very little knowledge of the world and you want to succeed, people with parasitic interests will see you as their prey."

[bog-o-bones]

Today I received three Blu-Rays from bootleg website Showa Video. Since they are a relatively unknown website in the greater kaiju community, I thought I’d do a review of the releases I bought from them. Check it out in the Read More link below!

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Discs: 1

Audio: Japanese LPCM 2.0 & TrueHD 5.1

Extras:

Trailer

1970 Champion Festival cut

8mm Promotional Footage for Mothra (1961)

Storybook Gallery w/ narration

Interview with Yuji Sakai

Behind-the-scenes photo gallery

Concept Art/Storyboards feature

(Assumed) Japanese audio commentary from 2003 Toho DVD

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)

Discs: 1

Audio:  Japanese LPCM 2.0. TrueHD 5.1, & Dialogue-less track (Sound FX and Score only)

Extras:

Trailer

1971 Champion Festival cut (re-titled Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: The Greatest Battle on Earth)

8mm Behind-the-scenes footage (HD) (Narrated in Japanese)

Interview with Haruo Nakajima

8mm Promotional footage

(Assumed) Japanese audio commentary from 2003 Toho DVD

Destroy All Monsters (1968)

Discs: 1

Audio: Japanese 2.0 & 5.1, AIP/Titra dub, International dub

Extras:

Rare Media Blasters commentary by Steve Ryfle & Ed Godziszewski from recalled DVD/Blu-Ray

Trailer

1972 Champion Festival cut (re-titled Godzilla: The Grand Blitz Operation)

Interview with Yukiko Kobayashi

Storyboards & Designs by Yasuyuki Inoue

Three narrated storybooks

8mm Promotional Footage for Atragon (1963)

8mm Promotional Footage for Destroy All Monsters (1968)

Theater program gallery

Japanese audio commentary from 2003 Toho DVD

For those who don’t know, Showa Video is a bootlegging website that sells unofficial copies of various unreleased Japanese science-fiction movies and television shows. The selection is mind-boggling and at times, it’s hard to not fawn over the releases they have. Not to mention, a flat $6.75 shipping rate (U.S. only) is quite a deal. Arguably their greatest “line of products” is their Toho Godzilla Blu-Rays which are bootleg copies of the Japanese Blu-Rays released by Toho. The bootlegs are almost entirely the same as their Japanese counterparts but with the added bonus of English subtitles which the genuine copies do not have. These subtitles appear to be direct translations as opposed to dubtitles usually found on official releases. 

I won’t go over audio or video on these reviews as I’m not particularly well-versed in film quality know-how so I’d be lost in my element trying to compare the quality to Region 1 DVDs or any other releases around the world. From my own viewing, the films look great on Blu-Ray. I’ve read some reports that on Toho Blu-Rays, colors like black and blue tend to be washed out during night scenes and that it’s recommended to adjust your TV settings accordingly. This was apparent on the Showa Video releases and it’s not a huge deal to me personally as I am always fiddling with my TV’s visual settings. The audio was also of good quality on these releases, the voices are clear and there isn’t any hissing found on films like Godzilla (1954).

Now on to the main attraction (and the reason most Godzilla fans are interested in these releases): special features! Yes, it’s true; the Japanese Blu-Rays come packed with all kinds of bonus material that puts their American counterparts (both DVD & BR) to shame. The most prominent feature found on all three releases is the inclusion of the Champion Festival cuts of the films. Here is a wonderful article on the Champion Festival if you do not know what it is. Basically, these are “kiddie matinee” versions of the film that Toho released in the late 60′s/70′s that are edited to be shorter and sometimes even feature new titles. These cuts have never been released on Region 1 DVD and it’s a real pleasure to finally see them in their entirety. I did not check if these cuts of the film feature subtitles, but I do not think that they do. Regardless, their inclusion is great for those who are interested in the history and different versions of these films.

But what is probably the best out of all three discs is the 8mm Behind-the-Scenes featurette on the Ghidorah disc. This feature is not only in pretty good quality for such old footage, it’s the only actual film footage I’ve ever seen of BTS for the Showa-era. To see Ghidorah in his early stages of creation as well as a rare public appearance by Haruo Nakajima in the 1964 suit is an absolute treat and well worth the $15 asking price for the Blu-Ray. I only hope that there is someone out there who is willing to translate the commentary on it so we can learn more awesome BTS details about one of the greatest films in the Showa era.

Some other noteworthy features were on the Destroy All Monsters disc, most notably the inclusion of the Media Blasters commentary by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski. It’s a shame that this was taken off of the disc before shipping as the information in it is astonishing and well worth a listen. It’s made me appreciate DAM a lot more. Another awesome inclusion is the original AIP/Titra Studios dub of the film, which is how it was released in America. This dub was previously unreleased on home video (the ADV VHS contains the arguably inferior International dub) until the release of the Media Blasters DVD/Blu-Ray which has become considerably rare these days.

Other extras include a strange feature which is basically a slideshow of vintage storybooks from the late 70′s (maybe?) with voiceover narration. I’m unsure as to what exactly this is, but the artwork is reminiscent of those weird crossover images that are passed around on Tumblr a lot these days. Then of course, you’ve got your standard photo galleries, interviews (in this case, Yuji Sakai, famed Godzilla sculptor, Haruo Nakajima, and Yukiko Kobayashi, the lead woman in Destroy All Monsters), and standard trailers. There appears to be Japanese-language audio commentary on the Mothra and Ghidorah discs, but from what I tried, I can’t get either to work. I don’t think this is a fault of Showa Video, it’s probably something I’m doing wrong myself.

Overall, Showa Video may sell nothing but bootlegs, but I’ll be damned if these aren’t some of the best bootleg discs I’ve ever owned. They all come in high-quality cases with colorful and wonderfully printed artwork (which themselves are just awesome in their design). I highly recommend anyone who is impatient with companies like Classic Media or Universal to give in to the underground bug and purchase some of Showa Video’s releases. They are manufactured on-demand so stock will never run out. I’m honestly considering selling my R1 Godzilla Blu-Rays so I can replace them with these bootlegs, they are that good.

Overall Ratings:

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964): 4.9 stars. This would’ve gotten a perfect five if it included the American cut.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964): 4.9 stars. This would’ve gotten a perfect five if it included the American cut.

Destroy All Monsters (1968): 5.0 stars

[cookiedoughmeagain]

Haven DVD Commentaries - Season Five, Episode Two

5.02 - Speak No Evil. Commentary with Shawn Pillar and Lloyd Segan, Executive Producers

As with 5.01, this was directed by Shawn. The commentary follows straight on from the commentary for 5.01 so the sound quality is still utterly, utterly terrible. Shawn also talks really quickly and gets into some technical director speak which I can’t follow, so this doesn’t have everything. But it does have some interesting stuff :)

SP: So as I said in the previous commentary, each of these is like a two hour movie where we do one story over two episodes. Which really allowed the actors and the writers to go deeper into their story arcs, we didn’t have to reset it for each episode. They really got to play a longer arc which allowed for longer character scenes and just better production values because we were able to prep for 12 days and shoot for 12 days.

[As we see Duke’s landrover parked next to the bronco on the beach] LS: And there’s another of those fabulous helicopter shots. SP: Yep. We CG’d in Eric’s truck. [As Duke sits down next to Nathan by the bronco] This was the last scene of the day that we shot and it was a fun thing to figure out [so that Duke wouldn’t see the bullet wound in Nathan’s shoulder]. LS: He looks so pale and tired SP: He’s actually freezing. It was the last shot of the day so it was very very cold.

[They wonder what the temperature actually was, but veer off into a complicated discussion of the maths behind converting celsius to fahrenheit without ever getting to any figure in either.] SP: This is a good example of a scene that doesn’t look as good on digital as it would have looked on film. This is a scene in this new structure that TW Peacock shot for me under his schedule. He was the director after me. I did one and two, he did the next two. And I gave him this scene because I trusted him, he’s a great director. That’s a CG pencil. I told him how I wanted it shot and he did a great job. And the colour timing we were able to bring that down because it had to match the scene that preceded it, which was a more overcast day so we tried to darken that scene as much as we could and take out some of the contrast. LS: What does TW stand for? SP: I don’t know. I’ve known him for 5 years, I’ve never asked.

[As Duke and Nathan are asking each other if they’re going to be OK] SP: I love these two actors together. Eric Balfour and Lucas, they are just - I always say this is the real love story in Haven. Bromance. LS: Absolutely. Listen, these guys know each other more than anybody else, right? They’re the version of Vince and Dave without being [blood?] brothers.

SP: So this is where we got to see Mara choose her wardrobe. She killed that girl, took her clothes because she liked her jacket. And this is where we really get into what Mara looks like, where it starts to deviate what Audrey looks like. LS: Fabulous performance from Molly Dunsworth. SP: Molly is adorable and beautiful, and I have a think for blue eyes, I like to cast people with blue eyes and as you can see these two [Molly as Vickie and Emily as Mara] have amazing blue eyes. And I liked the idea that Mara just stabbed that girl in the eye, stole her clothes and is now walking off with Molly. That was also a scene that I did not shoot, TW shot that one. I scouted it, told him how I wanted it shot. Out of 151 days of shooting this year I directed 72 days. LS: We should acknowledge our fantastic directors [there are some names here I can’t catch]. Our casting director out of Halifax.

[As Dwight talks to Vince in Dave’s hospital room] SP: There was another scene we shot the same day in this room; we shot an entire day in the hospital room, different scenes, a lot of page count. So the good thing about the new shooting structure is as well as the main characters’ story arcs running over two episodes, you also get to play even the guest stars arcs over two episodes. So you really get to know and care about the guest stars before we kill them. Or before we, put them through the wringer. LS: So we saw Dwight’s phone there and people don’t realise that has to be created. SP: Yeah the props department either has it before so it’s ready on the day or you shoot those close ups to insert later. LS: But they are specifically created for that scene.

[As we see Dave’s dreams rushing through the forest] SP: So this is something I shot later. We used slow motion on a C300 camera. And we sort of separated that out and those visions become important later. But we block shot a lot of that stuff and then we shot some more as we shot more scenes and intercut that with Dave’s dreams as he’s passed out.

[As we see Vickie drawing for Mara] SP: So this was fun to shoot. A lot of directing is knowing how you’re going to cut it together, and how you’re going to get the required shots fast and efficiently. So those drawings were pre-done, we had photos of the location and then they had the drawings ready on set for the day. LS: I think one of the people it’s important to acknowledge is Mr Wood from Stargate who oversees the visual effects [ie the thinny that Mara tries to walk through]. He’s on set and he’s designing these with you. SP: Yes we have a lot of meetings. First we work with the writers to try to keep it on budget. Every episode has a pre-determined budget that I do at the beginning of the season. So the writers try to write to that, what we call A, B or C budgets. The season openers and finales have bigger budgets and other episodes have smaller ones. The writers write to that and then it’s never a complete match so we sort of carry the running totals forward.

[As Duke’s walking up the jetty with the fisherman] SP: I love this shot. I love cranes out in the water. This is an actor that we brought back from an episode I directed in season two I think, Horace who was the boat captain of a different boat that Duke’s father owned at one point. LS: And I think those are the actor’s actual overalls that he’s wearing there. SP: Those are his overalls, he just showed up like that. He’s such an interesting actor. We actually had him take out his teeth. He did the scene once with his teeth in and then we had him take them out because I thought it was more interesting with his teeth out.

[As Nathan is signing out the shotgun] SP: We finally got to shoot the gun locker. We built this gun locker. That’s on stage in the hockey rink with the police station. And we finally got the gun locker in there! LS: And the sets have expanded over the course of the seasons, right? SP: Yeah we keep making the sets bigger and bigger. And this was fun because we got use this set and to see Jayne as Gloria who is just so amazing. Jayne Eastwood is so brilliant and funny. Seeing her freaked out here where she thinks it’s mice. So that’s a partial CG shot [of the aether vibrating around]. LS: Is that on shaky cam? SP: A little bit of hand held shaky cam and then we added on the CG. And all those monitor images we shot [the CCTV where Gloria sees Mara coming into the building]

[As we see Nathan arrive at the morgue] SP: This was a fun shot to shoot, to destroy this whole place, and I really wanted to get this high angle shot of Gloria being pulled out. I really like to mix the humour and the heart and the scary.  So we shot that from a studio crane, shooting down. It’s actually a difficult shot to get as the drawer moves open.

[As Dwight pulls up to Duke at the jetty to take him to the Barrow’s] SP: So this location became a character in the story that we pay off over time as we find out that this is Duke and Jennifer’s spot to meet in a crisis, so they could get in that boat and take off. So everyone is kind of out in their own place, and then other characters come and pull them back into the storyline, which is kind of interesting and thematic. You don’t realise it’s important until later when it comes out and Nathan confronts Duke. LS: Another beautifully framed shot [looking at Duke through the window of Dwight’s truck] SP: Thank you. So I love the conflict between those two characters and whenever Duke and Dwight get to fight is super fun.

SP: So here’s a thing, I love this scene with the Tab, but this is my grandmother in Jugs Ahoy. My grandmother was an actress in the 50s and 60s, and 70s. Sandra Giles. So we re-purposed a photo from Getty Images that we found, and the art department made Jugs Ahoy. I didn’t tell my mom or my grandmother so they were watching the episode they were like; Oh My God! These two actors Richard and John [Vince and Dave] are so funny, they are two of my favourite actors to direct, ever. And the writers write beautiful scenes. Truly these are great characters, switching from comedy to mystery, and the secrets they have between them. It’s just amazing. LS: This is a great example of actors who have depth and the experience and elevate everything that they do. SP: We did a little CG enhancement on these [Dave’s] bruises. John is so good.

SP: So here they [Dwight and Duke] have gone back to the [Barrow] house and we pulled off the door. We spent a lot of time trying to work out how that door would be kicked in and what it would look like.

[As we see Gloria talking to Nathan about the ‘real original’ Audrey Parker and who Mara is] SP: The writers did a great job keeping all the story balls in the air and following the characters and what they’re going through, as they follow the investigation and how the different story lines intertwine, so we get to see not only the mystery unfold but we get to see the interpersonal relationship between the two characters, which is just a really good job. LS: It’s great, it makes the story telling so much more compelling. So, is that a real actor [that Gloria is digging a bullet out of]? SP: That is a real actor, that’s the same actor that got shot in the head by Mara in the [coffee shop] store room. LS: That’s not an easy job, he has to stay so still. SP: So there’s quite a lot going on in this scene and I love when the writers write these multi-layered multi-action scenes, where you see him putting things together and making decisions while you see her doing what she’s doing. It’s fun for a director and it’s fun for the actors to try and pull all that off, where people aren’t necessarily seeing what the other person’s going through.

[As Nathan walks from the morgue to the bronco] SP: So it’s one of the few shots I do like this but I felt the hand held effect here escalates the tension. And when you have good actors like Lucas Bryant, you can pull it off without cuts, which is great. LS: Yeah he can do more with a look than anything else right?

SP: So this is our hospital set with the new nurses station. We’ve always had the hallway but we knew we were going to be playing more stuff in the hospital. And you’re starting to get a sense now that this trouble is getting worse, because Duke’s always there when someone’s getting sewn up. So the idea is that the audience should be starting to figure it out. But making this stuff scarier was my biggest fear that we wouldn’t be able to pull it off, so you really want to make sure that the camera is accentuating and escalating the tension.

[The scene with the Barrow family and Collette’s father] SP: This is a fantastic actor we flew out from LA and he just blew us away. He is in his mid to late 80s and crushed it so hard. His face is so interesting and we got so into it that we just couldn’t get enough of him. Just shooting his face was so interesting, and he did a really good job. So the cool thing about this character, and the people of Haven, is their defence mechanism of just changing the subject or lying, and covering up these secrets for all these years, and how lies in families travel through time and are never really dealt with, they just perpetuate. So this is a fun father-daughter scene with an old guy who may or may not be remembering something. Or is he just in denial, is he not wanting to tell the truth. LS: There’s also some very specific wardrobe here, with the bowtie. SP: We tried to get a lot of texture in there. The layers on Dwight and the layers on him. LS: Beautiful layers on him and I actually love the layers on her as well. SP: I do like a close up and on this actor I was just in love with his face and he was doing so much and it’s just a story with so much dialogue here that it has to be compelling and you have to be drawn into it. So I felt like we needed that extra close up. So we did it with him and we did it with the other actors as well.

SP: So you need to open up some of these scenes and I really wanted to use this hospital corridor for movement coming in and out of the scenes. Which is a fun and difficult thing with our tight budget figuring out how many days we could afford with how many different actors. So a lot of times we’ll clump scenes together based on actor availability and try to keep the budget down for cast. Which is a challenge sometimes with the schedule.

SP: This is an interesting scene where we actually CG’d Jennifer’s face onto a dummy. Because we didn’t have her back, so we found a shot of her in the cave and CG’d it there. LS: And we got her permission to do so. SP: Of course. From a story telling standpoint, it took us all the way through episode one and half way through episode two looking for Jennifer before we finally got to see her there.

LS: So for those people who are really studying production, this episode is an excellent example of how we’re really utilising our standing sets. We were able to intersperse exterior locations with interior sets extensively.

[Where we see the flashback to a season one conversation between Audrey and Nathan in the office] LS: We actually debated about this too because we want to misdirect the audience a little bit, about whether that was a real sequence, whether he was thinking about it or whether it was a vision, all of those kinds of things.

[As Mara phones Nathan to ask him for the aether] SP: I thought Lucas, and Emily, did a wonderful job in this scene and this is the first time we see him stand up to her and we see what he’s going through. I love when actors actually react and give you so much that you can actually take the other side of a phone call and their lines’ off camera so you can see the reactions. I think the cast has gotten so good at just giving so much when they’re not talking and it’s just much more compelling to see their reactions. LS: I also want to point out again Eric Cayla’s beautiful lighting and the diffusion of the light with Nathan here. SP: It’s beautiful.

[As Vince is getting the dashcam footage from the uniformed cop] SP: So this is a good young actor we found, Larry. And it was fun to give him an arc in this episode. And also playing the difference between Vince being the old head of the Guard and the conflict with Dwight. LS: The role of Larry really brought a nice piece of business to that scene. SP: Dwight and Vince sort of have this father-son thing going on. They’re both tall. I always thought in my mind that Vince was Dwight’s dad. They kind of look alike and they have the same build. So this is step two in the Dwight and Vince conflict where he ultimately challenges him for leadership of the Guard. And it’s about is he getting too old, is he too stuck in the past, is his agenda torn too much with his brother, and the conflict between the old guard and the new guard. LS: Yeah this is a big dramatic moment. [They discuss the shots taken from outside the room and how they used these towards the end of the scene just before Nathan comes in, so it’s kind of showing Nathan’s point of view.] SP: So this is Dwight owning it as the Chief and Nathan being more subservient or, he doesn’t care. But this is a big moment and we tried to built it out with looks between them [Dwight and Nathan] LS: Well there’s a lot of choreography in this scene too. And it’s lit once so that you could do that. SP: It was three and half pages of dialogue so it was worth all the additional shots, from the additional angles. For me in these talking scenes you’ve got to have a moving camera, you’ve got to have something going on or the audience is going to get bored, even with the great dialogue. You’re always trying to find the most dramatic, visual way to tell the story. LS: Yes and always to be moving the camera not for the sake of moving it but for the purposes of the story. SP: And you want to also give the actors the freedom to go where they want to go, so that they can make it real. It doesn’t matter how great your shots are if the writing’s not realised by the actors.

[As Nathan finds Duke on the pier] SP: This was another very cold day. And it’s another scene on the dock and I really tried to make each scene there look different and shoot different parts of the dock. LS: This is a big emotional moment here. SP: It’s really hard - I’ve got to give the actors credit - it is really hard to be this good and pull this off. And look how cold Eric is, he’s freezing, and it plays into the uncomfortablness and the emotional craziness of what they’re going through. And I like how the writers go from something dramatic, to the mystery plot, to a little bit of comedy and it gives you a sense of their relationship. And to me that’s, when you get humour and heart in the same scene, that’s what life is. That’s what makes it feel real to me. SP: And this is the first time we see one of the characters on camera get sewn up. And the conflict here is Nathan knows he’s confronting him and he’s going to be the one to do it. And he knows he’s got to get through to him before he gets sewn up and dies. So it’s very heroic of Nathan to come here and confront his friend who’s in denial. And Lucas did a great job acting this scene knowing that his eyes were going to be shut, and then later he had to pretend that his mouth; he coudln’t breathe. So it’s a lot for these actors to play. [Where we see Duke’s flashbacks to his time with Jennifer] SP: So this montage wasn’t scripted this was something we came up with in post and pitched it to Matt and Lloyd and the gang and just said; we don’t have Jennifer in the episode but we need her in the episode, we need to feel her and see that relationship otherwise this sequence isn’t going to work. So we intercut it with [Nathan] choking and really milked it with slow motion. And this song is actually a song that we used in another episode when Duke kills Gloria’s step-son. And we temp’d the cut to that sequence and I couldn’t find another song that worked so well, so after a big survey with Lloyd and the gang and the music supervisors, and they all said, yes of course you can use that song again because it’s emotionally Duke’s point of view. LS: And I think Gabrielle really supported that notion from her perspective bringing an important female point of view to this entire sequence. SP: Well one of the great things about Matt and Gab is having a male and a female perspective, although in some ways Matt’s more female than Gab, and Gab’s more male, but they have that nice balance of humour and heart, and then they just nail the plot and they just keep the mystery going and try to keep all three things going at the same time. So we always knew this was a big, big scene, a big moment. And some of this was engineered because we didn’t have an option on Emma, who played Jennifer. She went off to get married and explore other things, so the writers really crafted this story line and this arc around her availability. LS: And to keep Jennifer’s memory fresh and to understand and make that connection as to why Duke is mourning her loss.

[As Nathan meets Mara in the woods to hand over the aether] SP: This sequence was fun and difficult to shoot. We actually had three cameras this day; we just had so much to shoot we had three cameras. Sometimes having three cameras slows you down. I like to shoot with as many cameras as I can get, to get more in less time. We didn’t have time for make up [for the black aether on her hand], so we just went CG. It’s one of those things if we had to change her hand out it would have cost and extra 10 minutes here, five minutes there.

SP: Poor Nathan! He gets punched in every episode.

SP: So this is one of my favourite Lucas moments here where he handcuffs Mara. There’s no dialogue here, he just has to pull it off. LS: It’s an emotional moment here.

[About the dashcam footage that Vince and Dave watch] SP: So that’s actually doubles we shot; we just got some doubles to look like them. We didn’t want to go all the way back to the lighthouse so we just put up a fence and had some doubles that looked like them walking away so it was like the car POV.

[The opening of the scene with Gloria and Duke on the pier] SP: This is a scene I love, it’s off the crane over the water. We had the crane for the day so every scene gets a crane shot and this is a shot I absolutely love. And this was another scene that was freezing that we shot that same day, Eric had a really busy day this day. And this wind was crazy. This was the last scene we shot of the day, the coldest scene of the day. And Jayne Eastwood’s just so great. The two of them together is just so good. LS: The wind really brings some wonderful texture to this scene. SP: It’s funny, when we were shooting it everyone was saying it was too much wind, but I was telling them it would be fine by the time we cut it together; we just cut out the windiest parts. And you think you can’t hear them because you’re listening on these little headphones, but later when the microphones are there and you’re actually mix it you can hear them pretty well. LS: And in some cases the wind might be a distraction to the eyes, but I think in this instance you’ve managed to cut it in such a way that it adds to the scene. SP:  And again for the transition from film to digital we couldn’t have had better days. LS: All credit to Shawn Pierce here in managing this emotional transition [in terms of the music] SP: And this scene transition here we go from close ups on Duke to Nathan, because the two of them are so connected.

[As Nathan waits for Dwight to come get Mara] LS: And now we have a huge piece of business coming up. SP: These two episodes really set the tone of what’s going to happen in the next two episodes. Emily did a great job with this scene. This is one of these segments we did a couple weeks later, when the actors were available.

[daleisgreat]

Deck the Halls

A few months back when reviewing the Joy Ride films I mentioned how my mom will always get me a random movie out of the $5 DVD bin as a Christmas tradition. Last year she gifted me a Christmas-themed film in the form of 2006’s Deck the Halls (trailer). I always try to watch a couple Christmas movies around this time of the year so now it seemed fitting to get it into the rotation. Steve Finch (Matthew Broderick) has a successful career and a nice big house for his family. All he wants for the holidays is to have a classic Christmas season for his family doing all kinds of traditional customs he was raised on like the annual family greetings photo, caroling, decorating the tree, etc. The Christmas season is thrown for a loop for him when the Hall’s move in next door. Buddy Hall (Danny Devito) is far more free spirited than Steve and it is not too long before the two get into a heated rivalry into the Christmas season.

All Buddy wants for Christmas is the absurd goal to get his house so festive with Christmas lights that it is seen from space, and Steve tries multiple times to wreck that goal after Buddy unintentionally ruins a couple of his precious Christmas traditions early in the film. The two constantly try to one up each other in their blood feud, with Steve often being on the far worse end of the deal. Eventually it gets so bad that both Buddy’s and Steve’s families abandon them for Christmas at a hotel and then Steve and Buddy must cast aside their differences to win back their families in time for Christmas. Deck the Halls has a straightforward plot, but the journey throughout is lackluster at best. There are a couple cringe-worthy scenes where Steve rocks a cheesy wannabe-stealth outfit in attempts of cutting the power to the Hall’s. Steve and Buddy amp up their feud by seriously competing in children’s games at the town’s local Christmas festival, and I get what the filmmakers were going for, but it is just painful to get through. I could never fully buy into Buddy getting more and more lights on his house throughout the film either as it appeared he was trying to poorly legitimize the classic satirical take of Griswold fully lighting up his house in Christmas Vacation. The film’s final act where the Steve and Buddy try to work together is not that convincing, and the film gets sillier in the final minutes when the whole town tries to help Buddy realize his dream.

There are a surprising amount of extra features on the BluRay. I usually do not point out subtitle options out that often unless the extra features are subtitled (which they are here!), but aside from that the main film itself probably has the most languages available in captions than I have ever seen before with a whopping 30(!) languages available for subtitles. Ludicrous caption options notwithstanding, there are several minutes of bloopers and deleted scenes. There are three features totaling around 15 minutes about the stage and lighting setup that I would suggest checking out to see how the film pulled off shooting a Christmas movie in July and how they rigged up the ambitious Christmas lights on the Hall household. Finally there is a commentary track with Danny Devito and director John Whitesell. I listened to several random scenes of the film with their commentary, and minus an occasional lull, the two have a good rapport about filming the feature during the summer and their chemistry with the cast and crew. Bottom line, Deck the Halls is a Christmas movie for the kiddos, and if I was before my teens I could have seen myself loving a lot of the campy scenes I loathe now. If you want a family-friendly film to keep the kids at bay during the holidays while the adults can engage in fellowship then maybe Deck the Halls would fit that bill. When I was a kiddo, that family-friendly Christmas movie was Babes in Toyland that we got for free with a McDonalds Value Meal and my siblings and I must have seen that film close to a dozen times within a few years. On a side note, I was so underwhelmed by Deck the Halls (sorry mom!) that it inspired me to chance a couple Christmas movies on streaming apps that I enjoyed far more in forms of Merry Friggin’ Christmas and Small Town Santa and I will likely track those down soon on home video so be on the lookout for potential blogs on those films. Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Guardians of the Galaxy Hercules: Reborn Hitman Ink Joy Ride 1 & 2 The Interrogation Interstellar Jobs Man of Steel Man on the Moon Marine 3-5 Mortal Kombat National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets The Replacements Rocky I-VII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars The War Wild The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Days of Future Past

[circlesandsoundwaves]

"Humor... puts things in to perspective.”: Interview with Rozwell Kid

Photo and interview by Molly Louise Hudelson.

Earlier this summer, Rozwell Kid released their latest album, Precious Art, on SideOneDummy Records. Don’t let the name fool you, though; rather than a high-brow piece of art that few are meant to understand, it’s down-to-earth and an incredibly fun record full of pop-culture references and plenty of self-aware humor.  That’s Rozwell Kid for you though; and in a way, the sheer absurdity of calling their album Precious Art- or making a music video that’s ten hours long- is exactly the point of doing so. Regarding the title, lead singer and guitarist Jordan Hudkins said, “You either get the joke or you think we are so full of ourselves. And that’s funny to me.”

While Precious Art, as well as antics like playing “Wish Man” three or more times in a row on stage, might make you laugh, it also might strike a chord deep inside. I met up with Hudkins for an interview before their recent Long Branch, New Jersey show, where we talked about using humor to cope, his love of The Simpsons, getting better at touring, and more. Read on for the interview!

CIRCLES & SOUNDWAVES: For the record, could you state your name, what you play in Rozwell Kid, and a fun fact about yourself?

Jordan Hudkins: Yes. I am Jordan Hudkins from Rozwell Kid and I play guitar and sing the vocals and write the songs, and a fun fact about me is I was valedictorian in my high school.

C&S: Really?

JH: Yeah. One of five, I think. We didn't have weighted grades so there were five people with a 4.0.

C&S: My high school did not do valedictorians at all. I hear stories about people competing over the valedictorian title; was it really competitive for you?

JH: I wasn't very competitive about it- I guess maybe a couple of people were. It was cool at the time, I felt proud, I guess- but it really isn't a big deal.

C&S: Did you give a speech at graduation?

JH: That was the only reason I wanted to be a valedictorian was to give a speech at graduation, and I did give a speech at graduation.

C&S: What'd you talk about in your speech? I always wished I could've been a valedictorian so I could've given some grandiose speech.

JH: I based my whole speech around some Clint Eastwood quote about buying a toaster.

C&S: Okay.

JH: Yeah, I don't really remember. [Laughs.] But I talked about toasters a lot. It was fun.

C&S: So you're currently out on your first proper full-US headlining tour- you've been touring pretty consistently for a couple years now, but how has it been being out on a headliner specifically?

JH: It's been really fun- it was nerve-wracking at first because I didn't know what to expect but all the shows have been great. We've been pleasantly surprised and it has exceeded our expectations.

C&S: Being in a band on the road, obviously shit happens and no band is immune to that. Having been touring for a few years now, do you feel like you can handle stuff better or when hiccups happen, like any kind of van issues or whatever, is it still a total freak-out?

JH: You know we've had our share of freak-outs in the past but I think we've gotten to a point now where we're pretty streamlined when it comes to dealing with the crisis. I guess we've done it enough to know what needs to get done and when it needs to get done and to quickly prioritize things and solve the problem as quick as possible.

C&S: Have there been any particular standout shows on this tour?

JH: Boston the other night was wild. Orlando was crazy. The whole East Coast has been great. The West Coast was amazing, Phoenix was really good… everywhere we went!

C&S: You just put out a record called Precious Art and I was reading other interviews where you said essentially, "Well, we're a rock band- if no one is gonna call what we make 'precious art', we might as well call it that." So it's that ironic, very self-aware humor I guess. Have people gotten that or do people ever actually think, "Wow, they really think this is the most pretentious piece of precious art?"

JH: I think for the most part, anybody who listens to our music and likes what we do seems to have the same sensibility that we do. So I think everybody gets it for the most part. I'm sure there's someone out there who doesn't know the band at all, saw the record title, and was like, "Who the hell do those guys think they are?" [Laughs.] Which, also, in a way, is pretty rock and roll and badass too, so I feel like it's a win-win title for us. You either get the joke or you think we are so full of ourselves. And that's funny to me.

C&S: There's a lot of humor on the record and in your music in general you tend to use humor to cope with and explain situations that are going on. Is that how you typically deal with things in life?

JH: Yeah. For sure. I mean- I don't make a joke out of everything and I know when to be sincere and treat things with the gravity they deserve, and maybe it's a defense mechanism or whatever- but I feel like humor is always my go-to just to diffuse a situation or to make me feel better about something that I'm bummed about, because it puts things in to perspective.

C&S: From my own experience, as I've been recovering from knee surgery the past several months- it sucks, but I'm making all these jokes about how like, "Oh, I get a frequent buyer card at my surgeon now" because I've had multiple surgeries.

JH: Right- there's nothing you can do to change your situation- you might as well…

C&S: Change how you look at it.

JH: Yeah, exactly! It can brighten your perspective a little bit and just make it not such a hellacious thing to deal with. It eases the pain.

C&S: Right- if you can't change your surroundings, ease the pain through humor.

You're a big Simpsons fan. What about The Simpsons is it that you enjoy?

JH: It's just some of the most unbelievably clever and hysterical writing that I've ever seen or heard. I feel like I've seen a lot of comedy, I've watched a lot of TV, but the writing on it- they had such an amazing team of writers in the first few seasons of that show, just these geniuses all working together in one room creating this phenomenal sitcom. And I know what people think about it now- whether or not the quality has dropped off- I don't really watch it anymore, I haven't watched it for years.

C&S: Will you still go back and watch reruns?

JH: Oh yeah, yeah- all the time. I have the DVDs up through Season 14. I've watched them so much that I go back and watch them with the commentary now. That's like, my new jam to chill out.

C&S: Well then you get to the level where- okay, so my favorite TV show of all time is Degrassi. I've gotten to a point with that show where I've watched every episode so many times that I'm starting to know the commentary. Have you gotten to that point with The Simpsons yet?

JH: No, I don't have the commentary memorized- not yet.

C&S: You'll get there!

JH: I will, I can't wait! [Laughs.]

C&S: It's a weird place, I will tell you.

JH: That's commitment. That's cool.

C&S: You put out a music video for "Wendy's Trash Can" that is ten hours long. Have you watched the whole thing through?

JH: No, I have not watched all ten hours. Someone live-tweeted themselves doing it over the last couple of days so I think there's a couple of people that have watched the whole thing- but I have not watched all ten hours.

C&S: I felt like I was slacking in my research that I didn't watch the entire thing straight.

JH: No, it's totally fine.

C&S: Well, the absurdity of the fact that it's ten hours is the point.

JH: And funny story about that- after the video came out I got a text from Tanner from You Blew It! and he said, "Dude, love the new video- I found the Easter egg in hour seven" and I didn't say anything. The next morning I got a text from him that said, "Hey, I just want to say that was a joke- I was joking about finding the Easter egg in hour seven." And I was like, "Okay, cool- I didn't want to admit that I hadn't watched my own ten-hour music video."

C&S: Whose idea was it to loop it for ten hours?

JH: We were brainstorming with Thomas, the director, about how to begin and end the video. We came up with the idea that it should end where it starts- and then Thomas just flippantly said, "Oh yeah and then we just loop it for ten hours" and we were all like- "Actually, yeah- let's do that. Can we loop the video for ten hours?"

C&S: Do people get that the whole point is just this complete absurdity or have people been like, "Come on, what are they doing?"

JH: I haven't seen any feedback where people have been upset about it, you know- I mean I'm sure there are people who have rolled their eyes at it, but I mean- whatever.

C&S: I'll be honest- when I first saw it, I was like, "Oh my god, Rozwell Kid made a ten-hour music video- I don't know if I can commit to that!"

JH: It's cool because I think we set people up with the headline and the video title, "Ten Hours"- and then when you watch it and you get that it's a loop, it's an emotional roller coaster. You're upset that you're gonna watch ten hours of a video and then you're relieved that it's looped over and over and you don't have to watch the rest- but if you wanted to, you could.

C&S: Unless you want to find the Easter egg in hour seven.

The song "Michael Keaton" is based on this idea you had for a screenplay about trying to meet him- if that screenplay were to actually be written and made into a movie, who would star in it? Would you?

JH: Michael Keaton. I think so- well, I don't know.

C&S: Would he play every role?

JH: Well, the main characters are children, so I don't think he could do that- I guess he could, I don't know. I figure Michael Keaton would be in it- but also, when I was thinking about the movie, I had this thought that maybe it would be kind of badass if they never found Michael Keaton. Like if he was the whole driving force behind the movie but they never actually met him. Maybe that would be cool. 

C&S: That would kind of tie in to that proverb of "life is about the journey, not the destination"- the search for Michael Keaton, not finding Michael Keaton.

JH: Yeah- Michael Keaton was in us all along. [Laughs.] Or the other idea was they get to Hollywood and he accidentally hits them with his car and then it's another three hours of courtroom drama.

C&S: As we talked about The Simpsons, if Rozwell Kid were to be in a Simpsons episode, what would you want the plot to be?

JH: I like the musical cameos that they always do, like where the Ramones played Mr. Burns' birthday party or where the Red Hot Chili Peppers were playing at Moe's bar - I'd like to do that. I wouldn't want to be a part of the plot, I would just wanna have a cameo playing in the episode.

C&S: It's less stress but it's still just as cool to be like, "Yeah, we were on the Simpsons."

JH: Yeah, maybe where we're playing a school dance or something, like a prom. Like Lisa petitions for them to have an elementary school prom.

C&S: You have a little bit left of this tour; what else do you have on the plate for the fall and the rest of this year?

JH: We're just gonna keep touring and touring. Try to go overseas [again] as soon as possible. We went to Australia last fall and we went to Europe last Spring.

C&S: How were those shows?

JH: It was awesome. It was really fun- we were in Europe with Into It. Over It. and The Hotelier, so it was a really lucky package to be a part of. In Australia, we toured with this band called The Bennies and it was just so much fun- it was amazing. I can't believe we got to go to Australia.

C&S: I've heard in Australia, everything is so far apart that you have to fly between a lot of cities.

JH: Yeah, we had to fly to gigs- it was cool.

C&S: Was that stressful? Anytime I have to fly with my camera gear, it's a little stressful.

JH: No, it wasn't that bad- I feel like their airport security laws are a little more lax there. It's not as much of a headache, and also everywhere we flew to there would be a backline of gear to use so we didn't have to take amps- just a bag and a guitar pretty much.

C&S: Did you do the koala thing in Australia?

JH: No, we did not- it was closed that day. I was bummed. Or we didn't have time- something happened.

C&S: Touring is weird because you travel and go all these places but you don't always actually get to do the fun thing.

JH: Yeah, that's what I've explained to people back at home. Someone's like, "Did you get any good food in San Francisco?"

C&S: It's whatever's across the street from the venue or like, Taco Bell or Burger King- whatever you find first on the highway. 

JH: Speaking of crisis solutions and solving problems on the road, another thing that you get good at after a while is figuring out how to make time to actually do shit and see stuff. So the more that we've gone out, the more that we're able to weasel our way around and do things.

C&S: Cool. Alright, well, thank you so much.

JH: Yeah, totally!

C&S: Anything else you want to say or anything else to add?

JH: No, I'm pretty good- thank you.

Thanks Jordan! You can watch the full, ten-hour “Wendy’s Trash Can” video here and listen to Precious Art on Spotify here. You can see a full list of Rozwell Kid’s upcoming shows (including a few recently announced shows for September and November) on their official website. Keep up with the band on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

[lorrainecparker]

ART OF THE CUT with Atomic Blonde editor Elisabet Ronaldsdottir

Elisabet Ronaldsdottir was born and raised in Reykjavik, Iceland and has been editing film at home and across Europe and America since the days of editing on film. Her first credited work as a feature editor was in 1998. Her films include Contraband, The Deep, John Wick, and her latest work with director David Leitch on the film Atomic Blonde. She has won several Edda Awards for Best Editing in Iceland and has been an active member of Iceland’s film industry guilds and academies. Art of the Cut interviewed her while she worked on Deadpool 2 in Vancouver.

HULLFISH: So you are working on Deadpool 2?

RONALDSDOTTIR: We’re shooting now. It’s fun. Fun but a lot of work. The biggest fun is being back with the clan that was also behind John Wick and Atomic Blonde: Director David Leitch, Producer Kelly McCormick, Director of Photography Jonathan Sela  Production Designer David Scheunemann and my Assistant Editor Matt Absher.

HULLFISH: What was the schedule for Atomic Blonde?

RONALDSDOTTIR: We started principal shooting in Budapest. I think it was beginning of November 2015. I arrived a bit before the beginning of principal photography – maybe two weeks before – so we probably started principal photography late November and we were shooting in Budapest until February or March. Then we moved from Budapest to L.A. where we finished post, but not completely because there was a production deal with a company in Sweden: Chimney Pot. So we did the color grade, graphics and some sound pre-mix in Sweden and Chimney in Berlin did all the visual effects.

HULLFISH: So you’ve done a bunch of these very high action films like John Wick and Atomic Blonde and now Deadpool 2. Let’s talk about the challenges of editing these highly choreographed stunts and working with stunt people that you have to then hide.

RONALDSDOTTIR: I’m pampered because I’ve been working with some of the best stunt choreographers and directors. So for me, it’s easy. I find it so easy to edit well-choreographed action. But then again, I come from a dance background and I’ve made many dance films. So I understand the basics of dance choreography – and action is kind of the same thing.

On-set editing on Atomic Blonde.

What I don’t understand is the idea that post should hijack the film once it’s shot. You have amazing professionals, for example, the stunt choreographers, doing magic and you need to talk to them, involve them directly in the editing dialogue during the cut. This is what we did with both John Wick and Atomic Blonde — we get the stunt choreographer and we have a discussion. Because you have to think of so many things. It’s not just the stunt itself. It’s also how it flows with the rest of the film, how it peaks or ebbs, etc. So it’s important to have this discussion and maybe the person involved can point out a better take where the stunt has a cleaner movement or something else. I remember on John Wick, the stunt choreographer pointing out to me, “He needs to put his foot behind him like this,” because that’s a very specific move in judo and I had cut it out. But then we discuss, “Sure, the action is better in this take, but we don’t see this person in the back as well.” And then we find the middle ground that works best for the film.  On Atomic Blonde we have this bad ass sequence that runs for almost 12 min. meant to look like one take. For that I was editing on set to make sure we got a cut that worked but also to try to assist in not losing sight of keeping the story strong – “can we pan a bit over to this guy so we don’t lose track of him” but most of the time I was just sitting there mesmerized over Charlize, she is amazing.

HULLFISH: With choreography in film it’s about showing the whole body, right? Yet, with someone like Charlize who is so beautiful you probably think, “Oh let’s be on her face” but you can’t do a fight scene on Charlize’s face because you’ve got to see the motion.

Director David Leitch and Elisabet Ronaldsdottir doing the “DVD Commentary” for Atomic Blonde. (Nice that they include the editor! This is one commentary I’ll have to listen to.)

RONALDSDOTTIR: David Leitch is a director that understands the importance of emotion in action sequences. In John Wick, we were on his face a lot because it was an emotional ride. We had to see that he didn’t want to do what he was doing but that he was really good at it and respectful of his opponents and the art of getting them down. Also in Atomic Blonde, the fight sequences are such an important part of Charlize Theron’s character’s emotional journey, and then we always made sure to follow up with a close up, but of course it would never work without an actor that has an amazing connection with the audience through the lens, and both Charlize and Keanu have that. The one thing that is similar with both movies is that they have very tall main characters doing the fighting and there’s something about the aesthetics of that that changes everything. It’s very different to see tall people fight. You get bigger movements of the body: legs fly higher. And a great example of that is the silhouetted fight scene in Atomic Blonde behind the screen in the East German movie theater. I think it’s stunning. I think it’s beautiful.

HULLFISH: Do you have a process for watching dailies?

Oscar® winner CHARLIZE THERON explodes into summer in “Atomic Blonde,” a breakneck action-thriller that follows MI6’s most lethal assassin through a ticking time bomb of a city simmering with revolution and double-crossing hives of traitors.

RONALDSDOTTIR: I go through the dailies. I throw them very roughly together. Just to make sure that we have it covered. For me, I still have the story so clear in my head after reading through the script several times. And I also look at all the source material that is made before principal shooting, storyboards and like for the stunts… they do pre-vis that is very helpful.

I like to be involved at the end of the script process because if there is anything you feel could be emphasized better or we need to skip, I need to discuss it before we shoot, and even though no one agrees with me, at least I got a chance to say it. There are so many rewrites of those scripts and sometimes there are ghosts hanging around in the script. Those ghosts are a part of the process, but being new to the script it’s easier to spot the ghosts and point them out. The story is the most important part of the editing process for me. No matter how fun the action sequences are, it’s the story and the character arc that stand out. I have a great respect for what the audience brings to the theater: their brains. So I don’t think we should be force-feeding the audience. But you try not to leave too much of a gap, so they don’t have to take too much of a leap to follow the story. 

HULLFISH: You mentioned “ghosts” in the script and for those that might not understand that, I think I know what you’re talking about. I had the same issue in the last film that I cut. There were so many versions of the script done before I came on board and then I got the script and I was lost about certain things. When I asked about certain plot points the producers said, “Oh, that’s because this happened and this happened in previous versions of the script.” And I had to point out: that’s not in the script anymore. So there are these “ghosts” of previous script versions that can affect the story in negative ways. They’re the thing that people on the development side of the movie remember happening but they no longer happen because they’ve been taken out of the script in the revision process and those can be huge problems right?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Yes exactly. And that’s why it’s important to get someone that’s not involved in the script writing to come in and be more objective.

HULLFISH: I want to be much more granular in our discussion of how you watch dailies. Do you watch last take to first? Do you take notes? Do you start building selects reels immediately?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Back in the day, we would sit in the cinema and just watch dailies and discuss them. Now we don’t do that. We try once or twice, during principal shooting, to watch dailies together, but it’s hard to find the time in everyone’s busy schedule and those who need to watch dailies do it either online or get them delivered on an iPad. 

I’ve been in this business for a long time. I started editing on film: a Steenbeck with a splicer and the white gloves. Then they shipped all the Steenbecks away and brought in the computer. Suddenly the producers thought that would cut post production time in half. But nothing up here (she points to her head) is going any faster. Plus with the computer, it’s so easy to make different versions and test out things that you couldn’t really do with film. So you’re actually expanding the post-production time because it just takes more time when you have so many options and can try out so many different things. 

Sometimes I don’t manage to see all the dailies as they arrive because all of a sudden I’m halfway through editing the scene. It doesn’t mean I don’t look at all the dailies at some point, to find the best takes or dialogue, but I might be watching and I just get this great idea and I have to just try it. 

HULLFISH: I heard a great quote this week from Carol Littleton: “You can’t know in week two what you know in week ten.”

RONALDSDOTTIR: A great quote. Yes absolutely. I’m not stuck in my ways in that sense. Sometimes I look at the rushes that just arrived but I’ll go and edit something from last week because today’s rushes gave me a better insight for that particular scene.

HULLFISH: How do your assistants set up your bins?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Matt Absher has worked with me forever and he builds the foundation for us to work on. He generally keeps the bins structured by scene order in Frame View, but sometimes you will have a massive action sequence that they shoot in pieces and it gets more complicated, so we divide them up by blocking. And then I have my lined script and so it makes it less overwhelming as the shot ratio gets higher.

HULLFISH: Since switching to film have you always been on Avid?

RONALDSDOTTIR: I’ve done everything, I think. I can’t even remember the name of the first software with the door and the fish?

HULLFISH: Maybe Lightworks? That’s the one Thelma’s Schoonmaker uses.

RONALDSDOTTIR: LIghtworks!  Maybe I should have stuck with that… I’m not a technical editor. I’ll cut on anything. I’ve worked on FCP7, which I liked a lot before they changed it to FCP-X and I’ve edited on Premiere. If you give me scissors and glue, I’ll do it. But if you’re going to hand me a computer it better be a fast computer.

HULLFISH: So was Atomic Blonde cut on Avid?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Yes. Avid.

HULLFISH: So, you’re cutting Deadpool 2 now. What about that? The first one was cut on Premiere.

RONALDSDOTTIR: We’re back on Avid. We have a very condensed production schedule and with great respect to all other soft- and hardware we felt Avid had the most solid pipelines already in place, can easily handle the amount of data we will be receiving, and also the whole team is accustomed to that system. 

HULLFISH: Let’s talk about temp music.

RONALDSDOTTIR: Well I try to be very careful because you don’t want people or yourself to fall in love with something that’s not going to be used. I never ever edit to music. Never ever. I think it’s so important to find the music and the rhythms within the scene itself. I listen to a lot of music, even as I´m editing but don’t cut to the music. For me, it’s most important that people can actually watch an edit without any music. Maybe it’s just my overblown ego, but I really believe there is music in the editing and if you can get the rhythm right, you can put any good music on it and it will work. I’m excited to use music that isn’t necessarily on the same emotional level as what’s happening in the scene, not in the same tone, I don’t like to layer-cake the emotion, and to me, it actually feels more emotional to contrast the emotions on the screen. But now I know I’m generalizing too much and might even sometimes completely disagree with myself.

HULLFISH: So were there a lot of 80s pieces of music in the Atomic Blonde that had been pre-selected for specific scenes?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Absolutely, David was very specific about what he wanted and had researched on it for a long time, I believe the playlist he made for the film was his first introduction to the project to me, along with the comic book. And almost every track made it into the soundtrack even though some got moved to other scenes than originally planned.  David even shot some scenes to playback of the music he had chosen. 

HULLFISH: When you’re cutting action, do you find that you have to personally put in a lot of sound effects to get the rhythm right?

RONALDSDOTTIR: I do use a lot of sound effects, Matt always takes a pass after the first rough cut of a scene, but all those gunshots and hits do affect the rhythm immensely.

HULLFISH: One of the things that you talked about was the emotion of some of these action scenes INSIDE the action scene but you also need to have that emotional connection BEFORE we get to an action scene so that we have an emotional connection to a character, right?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Do we? Well, it’s very popular in films to start with a blast of action. And why would you not be able to emotionally connect with a character through a fight scene? But yes, at some point you want to be emotionally connected to the person that you’re looking at. Atomic Blonde is such a different film from anything else that I’ve participated in. And it’s especially a different film from John Wick. John Wick is a simple revenge story, like the Nordic Sagas. Some one slaps you in the face and 300 people have to die and no one questions the revenge. “You killed my dog. I’m going to kill all of you.” Emotionally we can relate to the anger and frustration over something that has been taken away from you.

Atomic Blonde is so different. If we are talking about it on an emotional level it’s about people who build walls because they have so much to hide, there are just too many secrets, and they’re  each so compromised. They can’t talk because the truth might slip out, and the truth will not only put them in danger but anyone close to them, so they become disconnected. That’s what this film, in my mind, is about and that’s what made it so complicated to edit.  Lorraine, Charlize Theron’s character, tells us the story of what unfolded in Berlin late 1989, the week leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. It’s not a revenge story. It’s not a who-did-it story. It’s more of a journey.  You are told a story and then things turn out to be more complicated than we are told to begin with. So the story itself is very complicated and we put a lot of work into trying to make it so people could enjoy it on different levels. So if you like a complicated spy movie, with twists and turns, you should be fine. If you don’t like that and you just want to see beautiful people and beautifully shot action, you should be fine. Do you need to emotionally connect to a character? Yes. But emotions are complicated and how you connect is complicated and how we feel entering the theatre matters and affects our ability to connect just as much as anything else. I’ve watched a movie and almost peed myself laughing and then saw it less than a year later thinking – what in the world did I find so funny?  What made my journey with Atomic Blonde — which we always knew as The Coldest City — but they changed the name recently, was trying to balance that we were working with a character that is keeping you at a distance the whole time, for a good reason, and our need as audience to connect emotionally with that character. 

HULLFISH: There’s the text of the story, then there’s the subtext. Are you trying to keep that subtext in mind as you are choosing performances?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Absolutely! That’s extremely important. Yes. That’s part of the work we do. In Atomic Blonde there’s a lot of subtext about the useless political games played and how they affect people – lot of references to the game and how we are gaslighted even when the poles are shifting, changing lives. To make that point, to conclude, we moved Percival’s monologue towards the end: “what was it all about, who won?” instead of having it opening the film as it was scripted. We also combined different scenes to add to Lorraine’s dialogue: “My superior? You just didn’t want your dirty little secrets out” – and moved it closer to the end of the final interrogation scene, plus added some ADR here and there, for various characters, in the hope of punctuating that specific point. We worked on making the TV a character that tells us the story of the wall coming down, we wrote the news anchor’s dialogue in the editing room,  based on real news and we had an actor come in to read it, and we closed the TV character with MTV: “hey, that’s all cool but let’s talk sampling, is it art or plagiarism.” I hope people will be able to enjoy Atomic Blonde, either on that level or as a spy thriller and for the internal struggle of people who are living dangerously and lying to everyone: family and friends; or as a beautiful rock action video.

HULLFISH: Talk to me about making story decisions; because I’m sure there were things that had been over-explained in the script then you had to determine where and when you have to let the audience use their brain, and when do you have to make sure the audience absolutely gets this or else nothing else makes sense.

RONALDSDOTTIR: Yeah. And that was difficult to find that line on this film because some people are extremely cinema-savvy and then you have to respect that most people aren’t, and it’s a fine line. We, at one point, deconstructed the whole story, the dialogue part that happens in the interrogation,  and then put it together again where we tried to keep the threat, we deemed important, steady through the whole story. There are very, very few scenes that we cut completely out but we shortened most of them a lot, but don’t worry – we didn’t shorten the action.

Screenshot of Avid timeline for Atomic Blonde. This was for one of the screenings of the movie before the final, but there was a full audio mix, hence the look of the timeline audio tracks.

HULLFISH: I want to discuss a little bit more about balancing the story. What were the discussions or what did you sense before you balanced it? What did you sense the problem was? I’ve been on films where you say, “it’s too long before we introduce this character the way it is now, so how can we get this character earlier?” What were the discussions on Atomic Blonde?

RONALDSDOTTIR: This film has very important information coming through dialogue. It’s not a linear film. And we did play a lot with that, in order to get a better control of the story. We even went non-linear within the linear parts of it. Crazy fun. It was very important to get certain information in the beginning as it is crucial for the end twist to work, but we still didn’t want to drown people in dialogue and force feed all the clues. I´m sure some people will not get all the twist in the first viewing but I trust they will still be able to enjoy the ride and will be ready to get a different experience, though just as fun, on a second viewing.

The discussion also centered on how to reveal all the lies. Because our central character, Lorraine, is telling us her story. We see everything from her point of view and then it kind of switches towards the end where the two timelines get closer to each other. Also, some energy went into building up the antagonist, even though I always saw the patriarch, in the form of C and Gray played by James Faulkner and Toby Jones, as being her main antagonist, so we did some work on Percival’s arc, who is played by James McAvoy, so we could root for Lorraine.  One of the beauties about this film is that no one is really good or bad, they just all have issues.

HULLFISH: Let’s talk a little bit about performance and what makes you feel like this is a great performance. Then also, how are you forced, even with a great performance to mold or shape it to be what needs to be?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Great performance are great performances. Something I find I have to be very careful with in my work is that sometimes some actors might have slight problems with their performances not necessarily due to any fault of their own. It could be the character or some kind of external problems that come up, but it means that you spend a lot of time on those more troubled characters and performances. And so then the other characters that just had an amazing performance – get less time. I try to avoid that because every great performance deserves attention and love.

I don’t feel like I’m molding great performances. It’s how you let them shine, without over-cutting everything, especially the main character. You have a main character and that’s the one that should shine and when you have supporting actors you don’t want them to shine necessarily brighter.

HULLFISH: I was more thinking of the temperature of the performance because you can have a great performance that is very strong and could be correct for a story. But then when you look at it in the context of the overall film you decide that you need to use different takes because some other editing has changed the arc of the character from where it was in the script.

RONALDSDOTTIR: Yeah. Absolutely, and we do a lot of that. Sometimes we have to adjust using ADR, if we don’t have the means for reshoot or pick-ups. 

And then we have to deal with those endless test screenings, that can call for added ADR etc, and that’s probably very, very helpful up to a point. It’s a fine line, because you can’t please everyone

HULLFISH: My thing that I’ve discussed with so many editors is that you don’t need to wait for the notes after a screening, Right? All you need to do is sit in a room with an audience.

RONALDSDOTTIR: Yes, you sense it and that’s very important. Both David (director, David Leitch) and Kelly (producer Kelly McCormick) and I turned up for every single test screening to feel the room. Test screenings have become a thing of their own. There are people that look out for those test screenings and they want to be there. It has become their thing and they are writing whole essays on how to make those films better. I don’t want to be rude or aggressive but I think it’s a double-edged sword. Because also, people feel like they should say something because they’re there for a reason. So they start digging and pointing out stuff they would never have thought of if they saw the film on their own. Then there’s the “professional” test screening audience and I understand their interest in it but it’s very tough perhaps how to deal with those notes. I have great respect for those notes, but…

HULLFISH: …but that’s why it’s better to just be there in the screening right? Not so much for the notes but the overall reaction.

RONALDSDOTTIR: Absolutely. And I always go out and stand in the door when everyone walks out so I can listen to what they’re talking about.

HULLFISH: What is your method of collaboration and does it have to change from director to director?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Yeah, it does change from one director to another in the sense that I’m a bit of a chameleon. It’s very important to me to listen to the director – what their words are, what their vision is, and I try to visualize what they are seeing. 

I’ve been extremely lucky and I’m always learning, which I love. The day I stop learning something in this job is the day I need to go and do something else. I’ve been able to collaborate with some great directors in Iceland as well as in America. And in the future I would love to work with more female directors.

HULLFISH: I just did interviews with the editors for Kathryn Bigelow (Detroit) and Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman).

RONALDSDOTTIR: I just think it’s important for all of us as an audience to have as many voices and as broad a vision as possible. Not always men. And I have nothing against men. Some of my best friends are men (she winks), but the more women the merrier.

HULLFISH: That’s my motto! Let’s talk some more about the social aspect of editing and discuss the balance between having a very strong ego, because you said that you have a very strong ego and yet you know that you have to subvert that ego to the director’s vision but also to provide the director with enough of your own vision that you are valued.

RONALDSDOTTIR: I think this is like any communication with anyone in your whole life. Film is a bunch of massive egoists coming together and trying to figure it out. It’s not only the actors. We’re all massive prima donnas and crazy people. I mean that’s what we love about this movie business anyway. I think it’s important to talk, and I would never just let something pass. Let’s say a director shoots a scene, and I think, “This is not working for me.” I would definitely say, “I don’t understand what’s happening here. It’s not working for me.” It’s not that I’m accusing him or anything. It’s more to get the dialogue going and maybe he will explain something to me that I didn’t think of, and I get guided into the right direction of how to handle that scene or the director will say, “No, you’re right. It’s completely fucked. We need to shoot it again.” 

My biggest rule and only rule in the editing room is honesty. I have great respect for actors because they have to be so honest in their work on the screen. And I sincerely believe that that’s why some actors have such a great connection through the lens because they’re so honest. I sincerely believe that’s the reason. That’s why I respect what they bring to the table and the same goes for all of us that work in the film industry: we have to be honest about it. 

So for me, the biggest thing is honesty. We have to be able to talk about things — difficult things. We have to be able to talk about ideas … So I do a lot of talking in the editing room. I think probably 70% of what I do is talking. Talk, talk talk. Talk about feelings; talk about the characters; talk about the story. Everyone is working for the same goal. Everyone wants the same thing. It’s just that the only way to get there together is through dialogue.

HULLFISH: You said the number one rule in your editing room is honesty and I’ve heard from so many people that the number one rule is trust.

RONALDSDOTTIR: Yeah, yeah, yeah. They go completely together. I wouldn’t go on a project if I didn’t have complete trust. It’s very difficult, to be honest without trust. If I didn’t trust the director I’d rather do something else. Film is an emotional art form. People are very emotional about their films and it’s an emotional journey to make a film. There is no way around that. So the whole emotion needs to be honest so the audience can trust when they watch the film. And they can hate it or love it, but they have to be honest about it. That’s my opinion. My super inflated ego opinion of what I think… I do take my work seriously but I don’t think people should take them selves too seriously, it can cause all kinds of health problems. 

HULLFISH: You said that the day you stop learning is the day you have to find something else to do. So often our mistakes are what teach us something. What was the last mistake you made that taught you something?

RONALDSDOTTIR: Well, OK, now you got me cornered. But I am learning more and more that there are no mistakes in editing, there are choices. And of course your choices might not be right, but if you made them with honesty and respect for the story and for the characters then that´s the best you can do. And this is one of the things that´s so amazing working with David Leitch, because he´s so willing to risk “mistakes” in order to experiment with story and character. I mean the past year with Atomic Blonde was just like a roller coaster in discovering new ideas and approaches to experiment with what works for an audience and what doesn’t. And as a result, I feel like we extended the form of storytelling in a sense. Everything may have been done before, but we just haven´t done it before. So at least we got to expand our experience of storytelling.

HULLFISH: Do you have anything to say about any of these scenes from Atomic Blonde?

This is when Lorraine goes to meet Lasalle. Beautifully shot by Jonathan Sela. I believe we had a two-minute track of Lorraine walking up to the bar, but as stunning as it was we cut it down for the sake of pacing.  We did cut out some dialogue and, as in many other scenes, it was a challenge as they are always both in frame. We all know Charlize Theron is an amazing actress but Sofia Boutella was a discovery for me, I find her amazing as well.  

I was editing on set for this scene as it’s meant to feel as one single take. We shot it chronologically and tested each edit to make sure it was working. I did it on my laptop and got playback files from the camera on a memory stick. I worked closely with our VFX supervisor from Berlin, Michael Wortmann, we proudly claim we invented the Budapest stitch but it was freezing cold and I can’t remember the details of that genius invention, but it worked. 

Lorraine is taking an ice-bath to ease the consequences of her earlier fights. The wide shot of the room is repurposed from the beginning of this scene that we cut out and we slightly zoomed digitally into it to add movement and tension.  Also, when Lorraine attacks Percival with the bottle I did a split screen in order to delay Percival’s reaction to it. This was such a fun scene to edit, also the dialog that follows but is not included in this clip, as the chemistry between Theron and McAvoy is so charged.

HULLFISH: Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. It was an absolute delight to talk to you.

RONALDSDOTTIR: Thank you. Same and I hope you like the movie when you see it.

This interview was transcribed with SpeedScriber.

To read more interviews in the Art of the Cut series, check out THIS LINK and follow me on Twitter @stevehullfish

The first 50 Art of the Cut interviews have been curated into a book, “Art of the Cut: Conversations with Film and TV editors.” The book is not merely a collection of interviews, but was edited into topics that read like a massive, virtual roundtable discussion of some of the most important topics to editors everywhere: storytelling, pacing, rhythm, collaboration with directors, approach to a scene and more. Oscar nominee, Dody Dorn, ACE, said of the book: “Congratulations on putting together such a wonderful book.  I can see why so many editors enjoy talking with you.  The depth and insightfulness of your questions make the answers so much more interesting than the garden variety interview.  It is truly a wonderful resource for anyone who is in love with or fascinated by the alchemy of editing.” In CinemaEditor magazine, Jack Tucker, ACE, writes: “Steve Hullfish asks questions that only an editor would know to ask. … It is to his credit that Hullfish has created an editing manual similar to the camera manual that ASC has published for many years and can be found in almost any back pocket of members of the camera crew. … Art of the Cut may indeed be the essential tool for the cutting room. Here is a reference where you can immediately see how our contemporaries deal with the complexities of editing a film. … Hullfish’s book is an awesome piece of text editing itself. The results make me recommend it to all. I am placing this book on my shelf of editing books and I urge others to do the same.”

The post ART OF THE CUT with Atomic Blonde editor Elisabet Ronaldsdottir appeared first on ProVideo Coalition.

First Found At: ART OF THE CUT with Atomic Blonde editor Elisabet Ronaldsdottir

[doctorwhonews]

The Mind Of Evil (AudioBook)

Latest Review: Novelization By -Terrance Dicks (based on a story by Don Houghton) Read By - Richard Franklin Released: 6th April 2017 Available On DIgital Download, or on CD - (4 CDs) Approx Duration - 246 Minutes BBC AUDIO This unabridged recording is the latest such release from BBC Audio to cover the novelizations of the Third Doctor Era, following different adventures featuring Daleks, Axons, and The Master (as here depicted in typically brilliant fashion by Chris Achilleos, on the retained book cover).  --- Mind is a distinctive adventure in that whilst it immediately followed Terror Of The Autons, it was strongly implied that the Doctor, Jo, and UNIT all kept very busy, looking to consolidate their role as a professional group of defence - both for their native country, and the wider world in general. The Master also has kept himself occupied, and (for once) chooses to use a pseudonym in ‘Emile Keller' which gives no hint at his true nature. The original TV story was for many years notorious for having a paucity of actual colour material, and yet by being in black-and-white it actually took on a more adult and 'horror-surreal' tone, than Don Houghton or Timothy Combe ever intended. Eventually it became 're-colourised' for DVD release, and works well enough in the format it was intended to be shown. Some Doctor Who stories have only mildly above-average scripts, but become strong or even outstanding due to first-rate work by their director. I would certainly place the opening and closing stories from Season Thirteen in that bracket. With Mind, there was a potential story idea to rival the first effort from Houghton, but the tale as transmitted did have some consistency and logic issues. It mattered little, as virtually the whole cast and the production values are as robust as any from the Jon Pertwee Years. This adaptation comes courtesy of Terrance Dicks; which was the case for so many TARGET books at the time. The first half of the book seems to signify greater effort from the story's original script-editor, in terms of expanding on the characters and explaining the overall set-up of the story. Thereafter, nothing vital is lost, but opportunities to get into the inner thoughts of the principle characters, as well as to really explore the threat to Earth in terms of the missile and the shaky political situation are not really seized upon. However, choosing to keep the titular monster/machine as mysterious as possible is a good move, as much of its creepiness lies in the lack of clarity behind how it is alive, and how it is able to kill with greater ease as the narrative progresses. Jo Grant in her second story would rarely have such strong material again - only The Curse of Peladon, and most of her final season would again see such heights of maturity, quick thinking and sheer likeability. Whilst Katy Manning never turned in a half-hearted televisual interpretation, she was forced to often portray a semi-helpless damsel, needing aid from the Doctor or one of the supporting characters. The Doctor’s ‘Moriarty’ is rarely better than here, being both ruthless and generally very sure of himself, with only the autonomous Keller Machine getting him truly flustered. At one point, he is totally convincing when he threatens the Doctor - "You'll do nothing, or I'll put a bullet through both your hearts." Surely this is one of the few ways that a regeneration can be cut off and thus lead to a Time Lord's premature demise. (Turn Left gave us another example). And during the finale, the brutal manner in which the Master escapes a trap laid by the Doctor - partly due to the after-effects of his machine being tested on the hardened criminal Barnham - is a notable moment where a fictional character created for escapism, feels chillingly credible as a threat. The biggest problem I have with the story - apart from how the Kellar Machine actually helps with the ‘World War Three plan - is the portrayal of the Chinese. The Talons of Weng Chiang has come under fire in the years following its transmission, but this story does itself even less favours. The sheer number of repeated references to a "Chinese Girl" (which is already suspect,given that she is an adult woman) are carried over into this novelisation. There is also some broadly played humour over the Doctor being able to speak to Fu Peng, but the Brigadier completely struggles to understand a single word. Also, the Doctor's somewhat boasting references to meeting Chairman Mao seem to be a somewhat questionable choice of political commentary by Barry Letts and Dicks, and have only become further awkward over the ensuing years. Finally, the TV cliffhanger for Episode Two was risible in the extreme. I could never credit a world-weary diplomat having any kind of phobia of a ceremonial symbol like a 'Chinese Dragon'. That Dicks tries to explain this away as a strong distrust of the Chinese in general perhaps was acceptable when the book was published, but is glaringly dated now. And for good measure, it really makes no sense that the others who intervene on Chin Lee (channelling the Kellar Machine) in this assassination attempt would see the same thing. In this novel version the Master having a chauffeur of Afro-Caribbean roots is barely acknowledged, but then the original TV story gave no dialogue to the character either, and furthermore he is simply missing by the end of the story. Whether he was hypnotised or simply on good pay was also left to one’s interpretation. This is a more minor reservation I have, however,. The Master really does make a great initial appearance with cigar in hand, whilst cruelly giving his latest destructive orders to the mesmerised Captain, from the comfort of his limousine. Also slightly disappointing is how economical the author is when it comes to UNIT ‘turning the tables’ at Stangmoor. A fantastic set piece - indicative of the TV production being so polished as to qualify as a borderline TV movie – is condensed to its barest details. This was presumably due to the restrictions of page count that the author had to meet. The Invasion of Time, (previously reviewed on this site), had many moments that could be condensed down, or left without embellishment, as the original story was made in trying circumstances and did not fully justify six episodes. But this 1971 action-thriller had a lot more meat on the bones – partly due to the three major plot threats - and more expansion was needed, instead of the opposite. But now to turn to some praise. The depiction of all of the principle criminals that feature, is very nicely done by Dicks, with evocative and entertaining back stories. I also appreciated how Professor Kettering was depicted as a virtual quack, and was made far less likable in general than the original TV version. Whilst the Doctor would not have wanted him to lose his life, (and especially in the manner he did), there is consequently a tinge of poetic justice owing to how this man carelessly helped the Master with his scheme, with nary a concern for wider society. As an audio book, this is a solid effort. Sound effects for the riots, the various high-speed vehicles, and the brutal gun shots, all manage to bring the right feeling of tension or excitement. As for the ‘Mind of Evil’ itself, the audio dressing used for this creepy monster/device is perhaps a little stripped-down compared to its TV counterpart, but still effective nonetheless in selling the threat it poses to both mental and physical well-being. Richard Franklin does fine work in the overall narration of the story. I found his takes on Jo and Benton better than his previous interpretations of these two roles, (which in the parent TV show were classic cases of the actor and character being very close indeed to one another). He is at his very best when breathing life to the self-assured Third Doctor, and of course to the very familiar Yates persona. The Brigadier gets a passable interpretation, but will always suffer in comparison to Nicholas Courtney's superlative voice. However Season Eight was a distinctly marked downturn in the character's initiative and general intelligence. (Whilst The Three Doctors had some infamous moments, it did not actually signal anything new at that point). As a result, the rather more lackadaisical take Franklin has on Lethbridge-Stewart is reflective of the change in depiction of this long-standing character in the show's history. --- SUMMARY: This story is entertaining and a definite change from the standard formula of many a Doctor Who tale. Whilst never getting to the dizzy heights of Inferno - or indeed a good handful of other Third Doctor stories - it is always worth a revisit. This digital and CD production is especially convenient for a person with some other tasks requiring attention, and likewise is a good listen when ‘on the go’. Thus, it ultimately succeeds as being a worthy alternative to one of the better stories, which featured the ‘Earthbound’ Doctor on increasingly prevalent colour television. http://reviews.doctorwhonews.net/2017/05/the_mind_of_evil_audiobook.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[paradisdefou]

I need to vent

Disclaimer: The last thing I want to do is to pick a fight with this. And as much as I hate having feelings and bad moods, there are days when I just feel really really sensitive and mad and angry and disappointed, and I just need to vent, to get it all out of my system. Just. I feel like a very focused ball of negative energy, and I literally just need to let it out. I just want to express my frustrations and talk about it.  

First off, I think this whole thing is just me making a huge problem. I’ve always been sensitive when people have vey very drastic opinions in comparison to mine, so I think I do have to work on not being really hurt by other people’s opinions and criticisms, because hey, everyone has the right to express himself. Some days I can handle and tame my own reactions, but right now, I just don’t know why am I having one of those off days when all my sadness just amplifies and skyrockets like crazy.

Frankly, I’m just sad (and on the verge of tears like wtf) on why the Bayverse gets so much flak and shit. On the one hand, I will admit that the plot can sometimes be not so good- I mean, right now, it seems like every other movie produced after the first TF live-action is simply a reiteration of a conflict that stems from past human-Cybertronian interactions. It was the Egyptians in ROTF (hey Sun Harvester located in the pyramids), then it was the Apollo moon missions that were actually meant to investigate the Ark on the moon in DOTM, then it was the dinosaurs in AOE, and now its the Medieval Ages and knights in TLK. And while I am not one to talk because I also rib and comment on any TF reincarnation, it’s just-

I came to learn about TF from the live-actions itself. I never would have learned about it, in fact, and I definitely wouldn’t be in the fandom if it weren’t for that first movie- I mean, I honestly can’t help it if I wasn’t born during the 80′s or when Beast Wars first came out, or when some other really good series first came out- the Bayverse was what really drew me in. And I’m sorry if I’m just a little sensitive about Bayverse, but it was my first TF experience- I’m a little sentimental and quite defensive of it because that’s where I started. It’s kind of like one of those memorable moments or experiences in a person’s life that inspires them to do something- like seeing your first play or ballet recital and then being inspired to act and do ballet itself. And even if you do stop for a while or stop altogether, it still holds a certain place in your mind and heart because for a while at least, it made you happy. Good or bad, it was still an experience.

For me, I don’t know- I’ve been jumping in and out of a few fandoms these past few years now- and my stays in these fandoms often wane and wax more often than I’d like to admit, but if there’s one thing about the box of TF figures (as well as the Allspark Almanacs, DVDs, and other TF paraphernalia sitting on my shelves), it’s that when I love something, I really do love it with my whole being. And it’s a source of nostalgia and happier days- and it’s something that keeps me happy too, or something that used to keep me going during dark times. (God knows how much TFA and TFP helped me during my early high school days.) And maybe I’ll jump out of this fandom and come in again after a few years, but it’s definitely going to be something that stays with me.

So, that said, I guess I’m just angry that the TF movies has such a negative or bad rep- it just seems like everybody hates the movies. I remember as a kid, as an 11 year old, reading on the Internet about how one critic described ROTF as (not the exact words, but something along these lines) “an experience of listening to a washing machine drone on for 2 hours, noisy and aimless”. And I felt so hurt and was so traumatized- and although it’s true that we make the choice to read or not to read, to click or not to click, and to accept or not to accept, the things that we hear and see around us, but- it just struck me. Like, how could you say that? As a kid, you don’t really care or mind that much about plot- I don’t know about you guys, but I just ‘oohed’ and ‘aaahed’ over all the cool cars, cool robots, and cool fight scenes. I wasn’t much for plot. Either way, that comment just stuck with me. And then over the years, whenever another TF movie would be about to come out, and it would be featured in a magazine or some sort, the commentary on it would always be negative. And I’d just get so angry.

And although this next part isn’t going to be that much of a parallel to my experience above, I remember earlier within this week reading about how one user came across a fellow TF fan, albeit much younger, and the fan was a little girl, and when asked about who her fave characters or series was (I’m not sure of the post, I can’t quite remember), she hesitated to answer or mumbled the answer because her fave was the Bayverse reiterations. It seemed like at some point in her life, she was probably given flak for liking the movies, and the user explained that the movies are actually a way to market the franchise on a global level, and it’s a way to introduce new fans, and even if the older audiences or other fans may not like it, one way or another, it’s how the younger generations more or less get to know about the fandom. “There’s more than enough room in the TF fandom, so please be gentle with our younger fans.” - I’m not sure if this was the exact line, because it’s hazy, and I can’t find the post anymore, but it’s somewhere along those lines. If you’re reading this, and you’re the author of this post, I am not, in any way, plagiarizing your post- I will be more than happy enough to cite your post as a source. I just can’t remember how I found your post. I’m sorry.

I’m not asking you guys to be gentle with me-

But then, I’m citing this post ^, because, and redirecting to my paragraph after the disclaimer- Of course everybody has the right to express themselves, and probably I just get triggered (is that the right term?) easily or am just really defensive or sensitive right now-

I guess I’m just so frustrated with the way TF is received. And of course, a large part of that has something to do with how it’s written. I guess, what I really want to say, is that-

Okay, I can’t remember (again) where I got this next bit, but I’ve read about it online or watched it on the Special Features disc, but I know that one of the reasons why Marvel and its movies are so successful is because the ones who are writing and producing it are also huge fans of the franchise itself, and so the movies are written and taken care of with such love-

I guess what I really want to say, is that- I just want someone who genuinely likes TF to work on the movie franchise itself. I just want someone to somehow turn its reputation and reception around. Marcel Proust once said, “When you work to please others you can’t succeed, but the things you do to satisfy yourself stand a chance of catching someone’s interest.” Not that I’m saying the people who currently work on it do it to please others, but I just feel like that TF would fare better if majority of the people working on it really love it. (Or maybe the people who are already working on it love it, and I’m just not aware. In that case, I apologize for being unaware, and ignore this post.) Again, disclaimer: of course the TF movies are successful, they’re one of the highest-grossing film franchises, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want to see it do well financially, and everybody who works on it are such passionate and high-profile figures, but the success I want to see is the general outlook on the movies themselves. And of course, not everyone will be pleased, because that’s impossible, but..

I just want to see the franchise do well.