#aadarshinah watches

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The Old Guard (2020)

A fine justification. I’ve heard it so many times before.

I stumbled quite by accident on The Old Guard two weeks ago, as part of a crossover with another fandom. At that point I'd only heard of the comic as the inspiration for a movie that came out on Netflix shortly after I got rid of my account, but I was intrigued enough that I went looking for more.

Contrary to my usual order of things, I ended up reading a lot of the fanfic first - and then went looking for the movie. Unfortunately, it was only on available on Netflix - and such was my intrigue that after three days of wrestling with myself I reopened my account just to watch the movie.

And I was hooked.

Having just finished watching it for the third fourth time in a week, I have several strong feeling about the 2020 movie... many of which are similar to my feelings for Opening Fire, which it closely follows - and which I read for the first time the other morning.

First: Charlize Theron looks amazing with dark hair, and puts up a masterful performance as Andy. It took me a couple of rewatches to get the full depth of her character, but she is fascinating and I can't wait to see more of her in the next movie.

Second: Though closely following the first installation of the comics, the changes it makes from the source are ones that only improve the narrative. Giving us glimpses of Joe and Nicky's torture while they're being held by Merrick not only ups the stakes, but lifts the pair from a gay interracial couple we know little about to a gay interracial couple which we empathize with and who provide more than background color to the narrative. Having Nile meet Joe and Nicky before they're taken - and chose to come back to help them after leaving - also adds something that is missing from the comic. And the cold, immoral Meta Kozak and sleazy, bottom-line driven Steve Merrick are only improved as antagonists by the additional screen time. As are most of the characters. Booker's motivations admittedly feel clearer in the movie than the comics, though his speech is mostly the same. The slight changes of venue - Barcelona to Marrakech, a Paris safe house to an abandoned church - give events a more global, more historic feel and a more interesting backdrop - though I am curious to the chain of events that moved the climax from Dubai to London.

Third: I have very strong feelings about the first half of the movie and am vaguely indifferent to the second. It's not that I dislike the rescue and climax, but more that I want to know everything about the Old Guard themselves before the betrayal and addition of Nile to their number. And watching you can very much tell Booker is the baby of the group, stuck doing the things the others can't or won't - Andy gets a hugs in Marrakesh, Booker does not; Booker closes doors and opens gates and buries ruined gear - very much the youngest sibling despite his apparent age - and is a part of the group, but easily able to convince himself he's not. I could easily read a half a million words about the Guard and their dynamics, Merrick or no Merrick.

That being said, I feel the scene with the woman in the pharmacy patching up Andy's wounds is the heart of the movie. It hits the perfect tone for everything that the Guard has done - everything they stand for - in a way that doesn't feel preachy or overdone. Though my favorite scene by far is when they open the armored van to find Joe and Nicky sitting lazily amongst the carnage. The casual way Nicky flexes his fingers and asked to be released... well, it is a thing of beauty.

Also, I love that Nicky's hoodie in Sudan gives off a vague Crusader-like silhouette, especially when paired with his body armor. Subtle, but a lovely callback. Less lovely was my realization halfway through watch three that the actor who plays Booker looks exactly like one my coworkers, just with better hair and a French accent. I will never be able to unsee that now.

Otherwise... I'm eager to see what they do with the sequel, and hope they expound upon the various origins of the characters and the actions they've undertaken throughout history. I came largely for the Joe and Nicky - and rewound multiple times to delight in the subtle interactions between the two, happy to have a healthy gay relationship on screen that's played as causally as most heterosexual background relationships - and would love to see more. (Though, to be fair, I rewound and lingered on most of the quiet team dynamic establishing scenes. As much as I harp about plot, I fall in love with characters.)

There's definite rewatch value here - a solid four out of five - but also sections I'd fast forward though on any future rewatch. Even so, it remains one of the better comic book movies I've seen.

[redfurrycat]

🏌️‍♂️🇺🇸McShep Fic Recs🇨🇦💻

🇨🇦🏌️‍♂️💻🇺🇸McShep Goodies to Read🇺🇸💻🏌️‍♂️🇨🇦

Jumpers and Possessive Behaviour by DemiraWatson (orphan_account)  {T}

In the two weeks Derek had graced their team with his murderous presence they’d been involved with three major battles, two attempts at ritual sacrifice and Stiles had found himself at the mercy of the fucking Genii before Derek had burst through the doors and had a merry old time slaughtering the nuclear loving bastards.

When Life Hands You Werewolves by uraneia {T}

Four hours—that’s how long it takes after the Daedalus II drops off the new contingent of baby scientists and Marines before Rodney starts taking bets on who’ll be the first to get into Derek Hale’s pants.

* A month ago John's team rescued a former runner named Derek Hale. He's great to have on offworld missions--he's like a danger magnet; nobody else gets so much as a splinter. But there's just something different about him. John can't quite put his finger on it....

The Plan by LogicGunn

The Plan  {G}

Who better than the self-proclaimed smartest man in two galaxies to be the first addition to the team?

The Pursuit {G}

Five times John tries to ask Rodney out, and one time he doesn't.

De of Atlantis by escriveine {T}

Rodney’s been through Ascension and come out the other side, and no one else seems to get how much it sucks. He copes by trying to tell them anyway.

John had to help Rodney learn how to leave this plane of existence, then watch him die. Because that’s what you do for a, you know, friend. Since then, he’s had problems of his own.

Atlantis sees the makings of a love story.

Look, Listen, Learn by unadrift {T}

"You can be such an idiot," Jeannie snaps, and huh, this wasn't quite how she'd intended to start this conversation.

in these hands of mine by Hideous_Sun_Demon {T}

The team runs across a world in which soulmates exist, forcing John to confront some things that he would have much rather left uncovered.

A Little Nudge by BunnyBopper {T}

You can do this, Teyla told herself as she navigated her way through the winding maze that was Atlantis’ living quarters. Of course she could. Her skills as a diplomat were practically unrivalled. During her time spent both as the leader of her village back on Athos as well as here on Atlantis, she had lost count of the number of trade deals she had negotiated or peace treaties she had helped draw up. And, as a general rule, she prided herself on doing all of this while staying true to her principles. Honesty, openness, and trust: those were the things every negotiation needed in order to be successful.

Usually.

Because sometimes, very occasionally, Teyla had to resort to methods that were a touch more...underhand.

And sometimes—just sometimes—she was downright sneaky.

Inseparably Entwined by valdomarx {M}

When you go around touching mysterious Ancient devices, sometimes you end up bound to your team mate and unable to be more than 10 feet apart at any time.

Life on Atlantis is like that.

Proof by Contradiction by astolat {E}

What sucked most was the sinking feeling that McKay was handling the whole thing better than he was.

No Refunds or Exchanges by astolat {M}

It shouldn't have been that hard to get good help.

Ordinary Life by astolat, Speranza {E}

"So, uh," Wharton said, with a little nervous cough. "You're not so much his mathematician as you are his—mathematician."

Soul-Name by ami_ven {G}

Every person is born with a name on their wrist, but that doesn’t guarantee they’ll ever find their soul-mate.

Painted Blind by aadarshinah {T}

John rather thinks he would know if he and Rodney were dating.

Or: Idiots in love, take twelve.

BONUS/My two favourite Mcshep Fanvids:

Space Idiots - Rodney & John - Humor by Randommind Time

Sass Masters - Rodney & John - Humor by Randommind Time

[nimbleinquiry-blog]

Get to Know Me Tag Game

cI got tagged by two people @distinctivelibrarians and @omgbrainstorming !  I’m so used to my social media use being me in a corner talking to myself this is kind of exciting.  

Rules: Tag 9 people you want to get to knowThe Librarians and The Lost Lamp (Greg Cox), Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods (Rick Riordan), Percy Jackson Greek’s Heroes (Rick Riordan), Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (the Slytherin special edition by JKR), Max Havelaar (Multatuli - college stuff), Into the Wild (Jon Krakauer - same), Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen - excuse to re-read it again #947301 “it’s going to be in one exam of my course, I’m actually studying”) better

Relationship status: Old married, not official but we’ve been together for a really long time. 

Favorite Color: Blue and Red

Lipstick or chapstick: Chapstick, if anything at all.  I’m a big perfume fan, but most cosmetics just feel sticky and gross to me. 

Last Song I Listened To: I’ve been listening to this mix on repeat for like a year: https://8tracks.com/aadarshinah/we-will-be-i

Last Movie I Watched: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)  I am now absolutely sure that this was a huge inspiration for Leverage, particularly Nate and Sophie.  Totally worth watching. 

Top 3 TV Shows: The Librarians, Leverage, Stargate. I feel like it is unfair to the fandoms I was raised in not to mention Doctor Who and Star Trek.  I’m still trying to get into Discovery, and I’m sure it will happen. I’m super excited for the new Doctor

Top 3 Characters:  Eliot Spencer (Leverage), Daniel Jackson (St@argate), and even though Jacob Stone is my POV character, I’m going to have to go with Flynn who has the lovable trickster hero thing that I have always loved about Doctor Who.

Top 3 Bands: The Mountain Goats, Grimes, Zoe Keating, 

Books I’m Currently Reading: Skull Wars, fantastic book that puts the Kennewick Man controversy into historical perspective.  I try to read one book at a time because that way I actually finish things. The next book in the queue is The Information, and then either The Once and Future King or Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer.

Tagging:

@excaliburfeels, @kingdomkeeperofthelibrary @ezekiels

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Little Women (1994)

"I should have been a great many things."

There's something about the holiday season which always reminds me of Little Women. To this day I cannot hear "Ding Dong Merrily on High" without thinking of the 1994 movie.

I've watched the movie several times over the years, though not since I moved to where I now live some time ago. Which is odd, because it is a movie I truly enjoy as one of those rare adaptations that manage to distill the spirit of its source while still remaining a watchable movie. I'd even go so far to argue that in some respects the movie is better, avoiding most of the preachiness of the book without ignoring the essential Transcendentalism of the March family, which shapes the narrative in innumerable ways.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the 1994 movie is one of the rare movies which manages to transcend its source material - which is quite a claim, given the book it's based on.

I think part of the problem is I'm not really a fan of the book. I've been rereading it this week, needing something light, but realized about 50 pages in why I'd not much thought about it since first reading it in 7th grade: it's a product of it's time. It's pithy and enjoyable and well-written, but unfortunately digresses into moment's of the above-mentioned preachiness and little side-stories like the Pickwick Papers that aren't outright objectionable so much as annoying.

All that being said, I am a fan of this movie. Most of what I find annoying about the book has been cut out of the movie to streamline the narrative, or else is mentioned only in passing. All of the roles are incredibly well-acted, even if the actresses playing young and adult Amy look nothing alike except in the way all blondes look similar. Winona Ryder's Jo March will always be my Jo March, bringing the character to life in a way that's hard to articulate. She has just the right mixture of wildness and softness, and avoids being too much one or the other in a truly excellent way.

Or, to put it another way, I could watch this movie dozens of times more. After I finish this reread of the book, I'll probably never touch it again. Which is probably a matter of taste: the same year I read Little Women for the first time, I also read Lord of the Rings, which made a far greater impression. I grew up on Star Trek and, while I can appreciate 19th century bildungsroman with the best of them, it's not quite to my taste.

Which I guess is the takeaway. Although based on a post-Civil War novel, the 1994 movie works as both a well-acted, well-written period piece and as a coming-of-age movie for the generation that first watched it. Although firmly set in its time period, its message transcends time in a way the source material can't quite manage. I cannot recommend it enough.

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Revenge of the Sith (2005)

So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause.

I cannot remember when I first watched the original trilogy - sometime in third or fourth grade, I think, but possibly earlier. I grew up watching Star Trek, and, though I enjoyed Star Wars, I never quite had the same love for it. And then the prequels were announced.

Revenge of the Sith is the first SW movie I have clear memories of seeing for the first time. I was in HS and in the middle of one of the most intense exam weeks of my educational career when it was released... and so I didn't see the movie until some weeks later, after the school year had ended. I didn't anticipate much - TPM disappointed me and, while AotC was a solid move in the right direction, it wasn't enough to have me lining up at midnight for the sequel.

RotS was - and is - the movie that makes the prequels worth it. All of the problems of TPM and growing pains of AotC are bearable because of this movie. It's not perfect by any means (Padme's role largely being reduced to an incubator being one of many things a wilier script writer would have handled better) but close enough that I can't help but love and adore it.

Rewatching it's movie, it's clear that's it's not perfect - every second Padme is on scene is a second wondering where all her brain cells have disappeared to (who honestly agrees to run away with anyone after learning that he's helped to betray the Republic you swore to serve and lead a massacre of his entire order, from the eldest to the babes in arms?) and Dooku's quick death feels disingenuous to a fascinating character - but it's by far the best Star Wars movie of this century. It stands right up there with Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and, arguably, surpasses of A New Hope with ease.

The pacing is spot on. The dialogue is only occasionally trite and/or clunky. Everything works in a way that the sequel trilogy proves is hard to manage even with all the power of Disney behind you. The battle with General Grievous is everything I wanted from the battle with Jango Fett in AotC. The Revenge of the Fates is the lightsaber battle, and a worthy heir to the Dual of the Fates. Anakin feels less of a whiny teenager than a soldier with valid points - even if he's so mixed up in the head that he manages to betray every one of them by the end. And Obi-Wan continues to be practically perfect in every way.

...I could probably go on about how the older I get, the less I seem to respect Padme as a character. RotS highlights that these types of movies never know what to do with female characters, beginning with the fact she's the only female with a speaking role in this movie and ending with the fact that on her deathbed this supposedly strong, capable, stubborn, passionate politician chooses to ask if her treasonous, child-murdering husband is okay rather then what will happen to her children. (Or maybe she felt, being Obi-Wan, she didn't have to ask if they'd be taken care of. Maybe it was understood. IDK.)

...I could also argue about expecting someone to bring balance to the force and then largely treating someone as if they're incapable of basic tasks is probably not the way to go about doing things. The Council means well, but Anakin's slave upbringing for nine years outside of the Temple always meant he'd have different feelings and reactions to things than anyone else in the Temple. Understandably he has problems with attachment, but no one ever gave him an healthy way to deal with that - and though Obi-Wan obviously tried, his clear attachment to Qui-Gon and grief over losing him likely meant that the one example of healthy cooping mechanisms really wasn't all that healthy.

...Not that it's all the Jedi's fault. Anakin's habit of doing things and then expressing regret - meaningful or not - about them while the body's still cooling is hardly healthy. His inability to take responsibility for his own actions is peculiar for someone who wants so desperately to be recognized for his abilities, but understandable. Hell, the first thing he does as an adult is jump into an ill-advised marriage with Padme, who seems to make every decision in their relationship until she suddenly loses the ability to think at all with her pregnancy.

But all that said, that's why RotS is so powerful - it's a jumble of human problems and human emotions that just happens to be playing in the context of a galactic war. It's why the movie works. (It's why, when it took me three vodka gimlets to make it through TPM, even fast forwarding through the pod race, and one to make it through AotC, today's drink was largely forgotten.)

TPM gave us the setting. AotC gave us the plot. But RotS made us care, and empathize.

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Hercules (1997)

If. If is good.

After recently having gotten back into PJO via Lorixjake's excellent Reading Percy Jackson fics, I decided to try rereading the books for the first time in well over a decade. As chapter 54 of MoA includes a viewing of Disney's Hercules.... here we are.

It's cute. It follows exactly none of the 100 different greek myths it possibly could, but I love Hades. The music's pretty good too. My biggest complaint is the lack of sense that it makes for Hercules to give up immortality for a girl he "dated" for less than a day under false pretenses, but beyond that one pesky detail...

I'm not saying it will ever be my favorite Disney movie, or a movie I'll come back to this decade, but it's solid. And definitely doesn't need a live action remake - unless they can find the perfect actresses to be the muses. They make the movie.

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Attack of the Clones (2002)

Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?

I cannot remember when I first watched the original trilogy - sometime in third or fourth grade, I think, but possibly earlier. I grew up watching Star Trek, and, though I enjoyed Star Wars, I never quite had the same love for it. And then the prequels were announced.

I don't remember the first time I saw this movie either, but I do remember being allowed to see it again with my friends a week or so later - the first time I'd had that privilege. My clearest memory from that viewing is that my friends spent the rest of the school year calling me 3P0. Needless to say, my last few weeks at that school were not the most enjoyable.

On the whole, however, I've always enjoyed AotC. I'd never call it an exemplar of what a Star Wars movie should be, but it still works as a movie. Most of the problems which plague TPM - clunky dialogue, weird pacing, awful racial stereotypes - are missing, and while it's not perfect by any means, most of it's problems are limited to the fact that Star Wars never has been able to write a believable love story.

Oh don't get me wrong, there are other things wrong too:

As I grow older, I find myself more irritated that Padme is held up on a pedestal as the perfect martyr for democracy when she's never shown as willing to compromise - especially in her personal life - and is oddly combative for someone who claims to want only peace. (To say nothing of having Jar Jar Binks as a political aide - presumably for the last ten years - who is so ignorant of her political goals that he does the very thing she was nearly killed fighting against. It stinks of tokenism and problematic racial politics on Naboo.) And the fact that she seems to only decide to get into a relationship with Anakin after he admits to killing dozens of Tusken Raiders in anger is... a really weird choice.

For all Anakin is creepy boy stalker in the beginning - and oddly incapable of flirting for someone raised by Obi-Wan Kenobi - his plot arc at least makes sense. (Do I agree with him? No. Do I understand where his teenage angst is coming from, especially when fueled by a Dark Lord of the Sith who never should have been given such access to a minor to begin with? Yes.) His character shines when allowed to play off of Obi-Wan.

I adore Obi-Wan. He is perfect. The only thing I could ask more of from him is a more epic fight scene on Kamino with Jango, and a better showing against Dooku on Genosis.

(Does Jango know he's working with the former Jedi who killed his people and sold him into slavery? Was he willing to overlook that to kill all the other Jedi who didn't commit genocide? And on a completely separate note - is it creepy or romantic that Lars Senior bought Shmi, freed her, and married her? Did she only agree to the marriage to get her freedom? Was it freedom in name only and she was taken by the Tuskens in an attempt to escape? Was it true love and going on her entire enslaved life behind the backs of her masters while Lars saved up the money to free her, and she liked about Anakin's parentage so her owners wouldn't go after Lars for availing himself of her services without paying properly for them? Is Owen Anakin's twin brother smuggled out of the birthing room to freedom?)

But yeah. Attack of the Clones is no Empire Strikes Back. It never could be. Oh, it tries really hard with the Battle of Geonosis, but it steps too far out of the typical Star Wars comfort zone with its attempt at a love story to truly succeed the way the OT - or even TFA - does. (I'm almost tempted to think AotC and RotS would have been better served with the whole love story conducted from as if Obi-Wan's POV - never directly seen, but heavily implied with meaningful looks and dialog, and never actually confirmed until Obi-Wan realizes Padme's kids are Anakin's... Actually no now that I've said it I love that idea and wish they'd gone the route.)

All that said, AotC is a one vodka gimlet movie, drunk hard and fast at the beginning, as opposed to the three gimlet movie TPM was - solid enough for me to usually end up starting here when I decide to do a chronological SW rewatch every few years, but hardly more than that.

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The Phantom Menace (1999)

Remember: Your focus determines your reality.

I cannot remember when I first watched the original trilogy - sometime in third or fourth grade, I think, but possibly earlier. I grew up watching Star Trek, and, though I enjoyed Star Wars, I never quite had the same love for it. And then the prequels were announced.

I don't quite remember learning that the prequels were being made either - home internet wasn't a thing for us at the time, and even it was we were living in a place so out of sync with the rest of the world that Christmas specials wouldn't be on TV until around Valentine's Day. But shortly before TPM came out we moved across an ocean, and my father pulled us out of school the day of the release to see the movie.

I cannot honestly remember my first impression, only that for years Episode One was my most hated of all SW movies, largely skipped over in rewatches (if watched at all) and ignored except for 1) the gift that is The Duel of the Fates and 2) Queen Amidala's wardrobe.

And then, when I was meant to be studying for exams my junior year of college, I stumbled across @deadcatwithaflamethrower's excellent epic series, Re-Entry, which rehabilitated the prequels like nothing else. (Needless to say, I never did much studying for those exams or got much sleep that weekend. But it was well worth it.)

Even so, I think I've only watched TPM twice in the last decade, and thought that since 1) I've been getting back into SW lately and 2) have been shanghaied into Disney+ by my cellular provider, I should give rewatching the movies a whirl.

And what to say that hasn't already been said? It is, objectively, a terrible story in many places - poorly paced in the middle with some particularly clunky dialogue throughout. It's CGI has aged far worse than the much of the OT has. Jar Jar Binks is a regrettable stereotype (when he isn't intolerable altogether) as are most members of the Trade Federation. The military tactics displayed are abysmal on all accounts.

And yet.

And yet there is much to love about this movie - indeed, the prequels as a whole. Qui-Gon is an amazing Jedi Knight - although if we consider his actions in the Jedi Apprentice novels canon, a rather terrible human being between Xanatos' fall and the very last years of Obi-Wan's apprenticeship. He is what Jedi are meant to be embody, even if he mind tricks his way out of problems far too much for me to ever truly pleased with him. Young Obi-Wan is... you can feel the love he has for Qui-Gon (as a master or, if you've been converted by Re-Entry like I have, as potentially more) in everything he does, and I at least get the feeling that that love alone is what keeps his apprenticeship from being the speederwreck that Qui-Gon's was with Dooku. Young Anakin is a nine-year-old kid and all that implies, but you still want to keep his cheerful, naive, irritating, pure ass away from harsh reality.

Add in Padmé's wardrobe, the Duel of the Fates (both musically and choreographically), and subtle foreshadowing (Palpatine's costumes before he's elected Chancelor are made from the same fabric as the current Chancelor's!) and, well, you get something that time and distance has allowed me to love.

Even if it took three vodka gimlets to make it through the entire movie (skipping over the podrace in it's entirety).

In the end, I have to agree with this Insider article: The Phantom Menace is better than any Star Wars movie of the last decade. It is not without problems, but it at least knows the story it wants to tell. It may not always be the best story, and I may want to shake parts of it (who brings a child to an active war zone by choice? why did no one think any of Palpatine's actions were suspicious? if it was a-okay for the Naboo to elect a 14-year-old as leader of their planet, why were all their other leaders old and greying? why is Qui-Gon's first thought that a slave child without a father is born of the force instead of, as is more likely, the result of rape? why does he even care about Anakin's father? why does he put such faith Force prophesy and not Obi-Wan's Force-given prescience? when, if ever, did Obi-Wan et al find out Anakin is a freed slave - and why didn't Qui-Gon consider it important to note before the Council got all judgmental about Anakin worrying about his still enslaved mother?), but it is still a decent movie. Terrible when compared to OT, but I've definitely seen worse summer blockbusters.

In short: I will always fast forward through the podrace and will probably make myself sick rolling my eyes at Jar Jar, but for all my grumbling, TPM is a movie I will always come back to - two or three times a decade - and whose world building as produced enough fic to make up for most of its deficits.