#also what can i say? i like a biopic haha

[tiffanylamps]

Heyyyy do u have any wlw/GL film recs it can be dramas movies anything at this point im so desperate 😭

Hello!!!! Thanks for the ask! I love the topic haha. I'm going to give you 8 recs, I hope you like them! (synopses taken from imdb) The Handmaiden / 아가씨 (2016) A woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her

I don't think I've watched this movie since it came out, so my memory is a little fuzzy. I remember thinking it was brilliant and entertaining; I found the plot and characters to be compelling and I was really rooting for Lady Hideko to get a happy ending. The cinematography is so delicious, as is the romantic tension between the lead female characters. However, I did find the sex scenes to be a little... not to my taste but my opinion might have changed in the last few years

Colette (2018) Colette is pushed by her husband to write novels under his name. Upon their success, she fights to make her talents known, challenging gender norms

A Historical biopic about the life of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. It's another movie I haven't seen since it came out but I also enjoyed it. Although married to a man (who is also a dickhead), Colette has relationships with women, most notably, Missy, who is male presenting. (I don't remember if Missy's gender is ever defined in the movie, so I'm not sure if "women" is the correct term to use when describing them. I might be misgendering them as the real-life Missy, Mathilde de Morny, did go by Max/Uncle Max in their later years.)

The Favourite (2018) In early 18th-century England, the status quo at the court is upset when a new servant arrives and endears herself to a frail Queen Anne

Here we have another biopic, this time it's about the relationship between Queen Anne, Sarah Churchill, and Abigail Masham. I adore this movie! It's soooo fantastic to see queer women be so ruthless, cunning, terrible and desperate. Gosh, I love how love and ambition are depicted throughout. It's fantastic! All three female leads are excellent.

Atomic Blonde (2017) An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents

Charlize Theron plays a bisexual baddie in a spy action movie where she is hunted down by James McAvoy?? Yes please and thank you!

Shiva Baby (2020) At a Jewish funeral service with her parents, a college student runs into her sugar daddy and ex-girlfriend

This is one of my favourite movies. It is a horror dressed up as a comedy. THE INTENSITY is sooo unreal that it inspired me to write an original story! I love everything about it! Plus, YES to bisexual and sex-work representation!

Bend it like Beckham (2002) Two ambitious girls, despite their parents' wishes, have their hearts set on careers in professional soccer

Yes, the main character ends up with the male love interest. But this movie is still soooo queer! Jess and Jules are gay for one another, I don't make the rules! Kiera Knightley wanted them to be together and so did everyone else. If they ever made a sequel (which they should), it could be about them reuniting and getting together. I watched this movie soooooo many times growing up.... lol Calamity Jane (1953) The story of Calamity Jane, her saloon, and her romance with Wild Bill Hickok

Another biopic but this time, it's a musical haha. Okay, yes, Jane ends up with a man and yes, the real Calamity Jane was married twice in her life to men. But when I watched this as a child, it awaken something in me. The movie is so queer-coded, I could see it even as a little child who didn't know what queer was yet. I haven't seen it in over a decade, maybe more, but it left a huge impression on me. Plus, The Windy City and A Woman's Touch are absolutely certified jams. (side note: when I watched A Woman's Touch for the first time, I remember thinking that I wouldn't mind living in a cabin with my best "gal friend" 😂) Now for a TV show I watched growing up (when I was WAY too young to be watching something so adult) that made me feel the feels:

Sugar Rush (2005) 15-year-old Kim has just moved to Brighton and developed an earth-shattering, hormone-surging crush on her new best friend, Sugar

Coming-of-age/ sexual awakening stories aren't always my thing anymore, as I don't care to watch teenagers exploring their sexuality but I watched this when I was 10(??), and it was very important to me. It's not a very good show and is probably considered to be super outdated now, but I found it formative. Plus, when I was growing up, there weren't any (not from what I can remember) shows or movies with a lesbian lead wanting to be in an interracial relationship with her best friend. It's an important part of queer TV history. Plus, it has Andrew Garfield playing one of the wettest male characters ever lol

Thanks again and I hope you like my recommendations! 😊

[theclassicsapphics]

a little film review: Babylon

2.5/5

Okay, let me first start with some praise. Margot Robbie gives an excellent performance. I definitely could see the influence of silent film actress Clara Bow, among other troubled silent film stars. The way she was able to go from sobbing to channeling that sadness to being the “life of the party” within a second was honestly maybe the only highlight of the movie. The set design and cinematography was fantastic though, so props to those departments. I also want to praise Jovan Adepo as Sidney Palmer. The most poignant scene of the entire film, when he is presented with coal in order to make himself look darker in order to make the band seem not mixed, really showcased how truly fucked up Hollywood can be in general and no matter the “progress” they are saying they are making, there is always things behind the scenes that prove they very much are not progressing. I think that was true in 1927 and it’s still true today. The way Adepo so subtly gives in while also making a life changing decision after the scene, and the way he plays the trumpet with the coal on his face and the emotions, truly so good. They should have made him the main character and tracked his storyline the whole time instead of what they went with.

Now the criticism. Which will be heavy haha. The movie was waaaayyy too long. The ending, terrible. Right when I was like, “okay it’s about to end” it dragged on another 20 minutes! If I’m waiting for a movie to finally be over, it’s not a good one. I very rarely feel that way about longer films, but because the story was so all over the place and sometimes way too fantastical, it made for a drag of a film. Speaking of fantasy, it really irked me that the characters in the film were all fake and maybe partially based off of some people and then having one or two “real people” really would just take me out of the film. I would have much rather it go all in with a fantasy land of 1920s Hollywood or do an actual ‘biopic’ of 1920s Hollywood. There are so many crazy things that happened and went on during that time period, that the fact they negated a lot of those stories to tell the story they told in the film was disappointing. You have the Fatty Arbuckle scandal, the William Desmond Taylor murder, the weird overdose of Olive Thomas, the addictions of Wallace Reid etc. so many other storylines could have had the opportunity to be told yet Damien Chazelle decided to try and reimagine that time period with some true aspects, a lot of false aspects and overall, in my opinion, it fell flat and felt like it would never end. No fantastic performance was going to save the overall material unfortunately. But I will say besides the stellar performance by Margot Robbie, everyone did solid and honestly that was the only thing keeping me in the theater. The rest of it was pretty shit. So I say wait for it to come out on streaming if only for Robbie’s performance and the way it was shot, but if you’re looking for a portrait of 1920s Hollywood, just go watch a silent film instead.

[sussex-sweetheart]

Trust me a lot of people, think what happens in the crown it's truth. When it comes to Charles and Diana, royals can't say much cause their story is well known, through the many interviews/books they both corporate with. But when it comes to politics and royals 😬 the story that Charles was plotting against the Queen, it's really bad and I can understand why many British may be angry. Media at my country said that if crown says this it must be true.

I also don't like crown because it started so different from others with fantastic choices for actors, but since season 3 has become another Charles and Diana story. If they wanted a Wales story again they should start from late 70's and be only them. Now they have lost the main topic being the Queen but they have also lost a lot important things in their life's because somehow they must include the Queen. As Meghan said, for what thinks of being part of films like that in the future, we must remember that this industry cares for money. A divorce is much more drama than an elderly Queen, a bit sexist if you think that young Queen could be the main protagonist but not the old.

Agreed that there are people who will take it as fact, however that's not an issue specific to royalty. Every biopic or history based film is changed. Unless you really think Jack and Rose were on the titanic..... if you do, I really don't know what I can say haha

Why should royals get different treatment? Than everyone else?

Charles has schemed against the Queen though, he's the one who replaced her private secretary. Edward and Anne even supposedly voiced their distaste at it and said that this guy was a Charles yes man, not someone who had the Queen's best interest at heart, so...

The royals, Charles specifically, also didn't give a shit about the crown when it was focused on the young queen. Charles wasn't beating his drum over what happened in previous seasons, he only cares about his image.

He also hasn't spent one breath defending his son and daughter inlaw against lies from actual media sources that present themselves as news. He's a hypocrite.

At the end of the day, he can't stop netflix taking creative license with his life and netflix putting a little disclaimer in isn't going to stop those people who already believe it from believing it still. All this is doing is exposing how much of a man child he is and how he doesn't posses one ounce of the dignity his mother had.

[ethanbarkham]

Despite seeing Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Boogie Nights’ (1997) multiple times, I never thought that my most recent viewing would be the most enjoyable.

The evening started off by going to the Caley Picture House with Issac, Lola, Joe and Lachlan. We also bumped into Louie on his way out which was a good laugh. Once we got to the table, man we were there for hours. The conversation of film and episodic television kept us there for so long.

As a group we all had too much to say. Is Peaky Blinders all that good?, Jennifer Connelly’s Mum, Jordan Peele’s ‘Nope’, Biopics, The Bloody Research Dossier, Sopranos vs Breaking Bad, Stranger Things, Studio Ghibli, Tarantino, Coraline and our course in general. Man you had to be there. You had to be in the booth.

At some point during the conversation Boogie Nights was brought up. I can’t really remember why, maybe that pint of Guinness has wiped that memory away from me? I thought it would be a great idea to screen it back at the flat. Joe, Lola and Lachlan hadn’t seen it. This had me way too excited. I have always wanted to see a first-time reaction to Boogie Nights. Boy did I get it!

I am definitely safe to say Joe, Lola and Lachlan weren’t entirely sure on what they were in for because they weren’t. Haha. I must have seen this movie a dozen times yet. However, not until tonight have I came to appreciate how unusual the editing is, the exceedingly long but effective shots, the foreshadowing and just how hysterically funny the movie is. There was something about watching the film with an audience that made every laugh that tiny bit funnier.

Another thing to note is how dark the film transitions to in the last third. You are scared for the characters. When Burt Reynolds goes fisticuffs with Mark Wahlberg, I felt he was going to punch through the screen and have a swing at me! Burt’s performance really is underrated, especially when you consider his life and career at this point for him. Plus he didn’t even want to do the blinking film. But he did do it and aren’t we all glad he did.

In my opinion, Boogie Nights is one of those films that could of only be made then and there when it was. Right now, at this moment as I am writing this blog post too early in the morning, I can confidently state that the exuberance and aesthetic could never be captured the same away if it was done now. I also think no studio head would be nuts enough to take on the script.

Joe and Lola I think did like the film. I can’t wait to speak to them about it properly when I next see them. Lachlan will have an interesting take on it which I am also looking forward to because I promise his opinion will be different to time but that’s cool. That’s the fun of it all. Issac had already seen so it was fun to nod to each other when we were both anticipating something funny or scary or just awkwardness was to happen.

I really did like Joe’s comment “Ethan you were so excited for this, I thought we going to be watching something like Saturday Night Fever but no what the f—”. That’s a nice line. It’s how I felt after I had first watched it with my Dad a few years ago.

Nevertheless a good watch, good company, good times and goodnight.

Ethan.

[not-souleaterpost]

Napoleon and the positivity of negativity

So a few months ago, I wrote on how the Napoleon trailers sucked - cause they looked as if they made Napoleon into some generic comic book "epic" villian, like the blue guy from those Avengers movies people cried about to only forget about totally by now.

But then it turned out I was wrong - and people said it was worse - instead of a power fantasy it instead was a farce, basically making Napoleon into the biggest loser that doesnt weigh 300 pounds or more. I heard things like it was Anglo propoganda, that it Napoleon into a cerain word which I am tired of hearing on the net on yt videos with those poorly drawn white faces with various emotions of rage and mouth-openess, that it didn't even show any battles and claimed Napoleon was too dumb to win not by sheer luck, etc.

Oh also "historical inacuracy" - but I never cared bout that, cause I'm too smart- nah actually cause I'm too scatterbrained to remember enough details to be pedantic anyways.

So the question is - knowing all that I must not have watched the movie? Well I didn't, till a buddy wanted to go see it, rejecting my alternative suggestion of the Bob Marley biopic (someday…) And I thought "why not, lets see how shitty it is" And it started, me watching relaxed, with the lowest expectations, glib and cynical as if I was a 45 year old youtuber who can only make fun of other movies while giving up any artistic ambitions cause my intentionally bad movie was a bit too intentionally bad:

But then it started happening: Napoleon scared but determined, jumps on his horse, starts to ride on it only for the horse to get fucking shot with a canonball, Napoleon on the ground, literally shell shocked, his buddys saying "you alright", only for him after a moment of collecting himself, to run back into the battle, the frontlines and execute his cool anime plan.

Then I got what they (maybe) were getting at - the anime loser who becomes brave Napoleon, the Taxi Driver Napoleon, the internet shut-in Shizo Napoleon. Or the fight club Napoleon - cause Josephine at first was basically Marla or whatever her name was, just with less penguin's surfing around (well guess the dogs made up for that, French royals be crazy) But it wasn't then just some weird emasculation fantasy as you often see in the youtube comments on videos of cartoons that are made for kids - it kinda seemed at first, but then it genuinely became a kind of love story, one of two actually "baaaaaaad" people, who's ambitions turned into something real, even if twisted, and pathetic. The whole divorce scene with them crying - ofcourse one could read as "haha see how they are mocking Napoleon!" but what one felt was the genuine emotons and saddnes in them both.

And I could go on, but I ain't some 1million sub youtuber, so I cant just do summarys with vapid commentary - as Napoleon, I have to write something delusional and unhinged instead: So the thing is, if I went in, with no expectations, I probably would have missed all that - I would have been like all the whiners (no shade, I whine enough myself about everything, but its the best way of putting it):

"Oh Napoleon gets emasculated and controled by his wife who fucks the first guy she meets! Oh they are making him look scared and weird all the time cause they wanna make fun of him and people that think he was an interesting figure! Oh they have fake death counts to demonize him more than all the other royals who enslaved and killed people too!"

And I would have missed a movie that was pretty good. Not like a masterpiece, but compare it to that King Arthur movie by ol' Ridley from 2010 or whatever, this one atleast had some substance, had some artistic vision of reframing Napoleon as Raskalnikov while at the same time reconstructing him AS truly being bigger than life - cause you see how he struggles trough his weirdo excentrys, his various, as they call on here these day "neuro-divergencies" - but that he pushes thorugh them and makes himself magnetic - even if that magnetism pulls all them down into the same abyss…

So yeah tl;dr - Actually shitting on something is good cause either it is shit and then its justified, or maybe it makes it better once you got your expectations lowerd and preamptively delt with things which would have been devestating in the moment.

Also, I'm ofcourse being a bit tongue in cheeck, but if you still are angry or asking why I'm writting this instead on working on things I promised:

Yeah…Sorry

[pynkhues]

I feel very uncomfortable abt the Fred Astaire biopic given he absolutely did not want one to happen and was extremely clear about that. If it ends up happening I will 100% think less of everyone involved including Tom, it is a sign of extreme disrespect imo and Tom does not need the money it is just a fuck you I can do what I want, akin to spitting on FA's grave.

I think the problem with Tom Holland isnt his agent because lets be real, his agent and team are excellent. I think from interviews etc Tom is not that interested in film as an art form, doesn't seem aware of indie or foreign directors doing interesting work, and is pretty anti-intellectualism in general. So when he tries to "go indie" he tries to go for projects that seem gritty or interesting on paper, but end up flopping and coming across "THIS IS ACTING, TAKE ME SERIOUSLY." Tom has the power to approach indie directors he likes and get movies funded for him to star in like Robert Pattinson with Safdies, Claire Denis, etc etc. But Tom is not the type to know who Claire Denis is. He should work with someone like Jeremy Saulnier, that is my advice to him lol

I totally respect your uncomfortable feelings about it as a topic, anon! You're right, Astaire was clear about not wanting a bio pic on his life, because he - in his own words - never wanted to feel misrepresented, and any adaptation or exploration of his life as a result feels inherently disrespectful of that wish.

At the same time though - - I don't know. I guess I tend to have two questions about a bio pic, which is a) what is its purpose? and b) who's it for?

(Full disclaimer: I don't disagree with you - I just also have mmm, a mixed bag of feelings on the topic, I guess, haha.)

So let's talk a little about bio pics

Because it's an interesting conversation, right? They've always been a staple of filmmaking, both for better and for worse, and I do think they vary a lot as a genre. Some of them are naked mouthpieces for the individual or their estate, some are ways to enshrine or disparage an historical figure, some are about capitalising on a current popular trend, some are ways to explore a historical movement or era, to lend it greater understanding or cultural context through a particular person, or to keep an important figure from being forgotten or remembered in a way people with a vested interest might not want them to be remembered, and hell, sometimes I think a bio pic is just about telling an interesting story.

Does intent matter? Yeah, I think so, and I can understand why, in that context, intent can feel immediately malicious when the person a story is based on or inspired by was against the idea, but I don't necessarily think that's automatically the case.

I guess, in that sense, that brings it back to who a bio pic is for. I actually tend to think bio pics are at their worst when they're for the person they're about. Like, I enjoyed Elvis as a piece of entertainment, but as a bio pic it fails on more counts than it doesn't, in no small part because it was for Elvis. It was for his legacy, his daughter and grandchildren, his diehard, uncritical fans, and, in my more cynical moments, for Graceland too. It was about reinforcing a legacy instead of truly exploring it.

And exploring it is important. Good bio pics can help to shed more light and bring a deeper understanding to crucial moments and figures in history, and how someone wants to be represented or understood in that I don't think is entirely their decision. We don't exist in a vacuum; our stories, our histories, the roles we play in the world, aren't ours alone to dictate the terms of. We play roles in other peoples lives, from those who know us, and in the case of many public figures, those who know of them, and to make the decision unilaterly that our legacy can't be explored beyond us is I think both naive and potentially dangerous.

I don't know. It is complicated, and I'm not even saying that I'm entirely comfortable either with the fact that it's happening, especially given there are two Astaire bio pics in the works right now (ironically the other one's cast Jamie Bell, which is kind of funny from a Billy Elliot trivia standpoint), but like I said in my last post, I don't know if I believe that Astaire's wishes should stand so resolutely as others. After all, the law doesn't recognise that stipulation, and if it did, what would there be to stop other people using that as a sort of media gag to prevent critical bio pics that challenge the legacy of a public figure i.e. the counter point to Elvis being able to be this year's Priscilla?

I guess I'm saying that our histories might feel like a thread that belongs to us, but they're ones stitched into the fabric of time and of culture. They inform relationships and families, and in Astaire's case an artform and an industry, and to me, I don't think that means that he owes anyone more than what he gave in his lifetime, but I do think a version of his story lives beyond him - both in the lives he touched and the culture he influenced - and for better and for worse, that's not something he'll ever have complete control over.

Let's talk about Tom Holland

I agree and I disagree on this front - as a total cinephile, I truly feel the pain of him not having known who Pedro Almodóvar was in that one interview, haha, but I don't necessarily think that's an issue. After all, it's literally what he has an agent and a manager for. They should be looking at talent across the board and guiding him towards people they think he'd work well with, especially given he has worked with indie directors before - like, gosh, Kornél Mundruczó was the establishing director on The Crowded Room, and Antonio Campos directed The Devil All the Time.

But you're right - the projects aren't right, and I don't think that it helps that he doesn't seem to be well versed in cinema enough to be able to articulate what it is that he likes and doesn't like, and I also don't think that it helps that he skews young and doesn't really match the styles of the directors he's said he wants to work with (Tarantino in particular I think he doesn't fit the type for, but in looking up a couple of things to reply to your ask, I found out he did meet with Bong Joon Ho last year who I actually think could be a good fit for him).

I like your picks for directors a lot though! I think you're right about Jeremy Saulnier in particular. and while I'm not his biggest fan, I think Justin Kurzel could have a really interesting role for him in that sort of similarly masculinity-soaked indie vein. I also think (and gosh, these aren't even that indie these days, haha) Alex Garland, Karyn Kusama, Dan Gilroy and Marielle Heller would be interesting directors for him.

And while they're not indie, I do also think he'd do well in a Coen Brothers or a Baz Luhrmann.

But who knows at this point. He certainly runs the risk of being Peter Parker forever right now.

[realwaldojeffers]

thank you! not too much work left for me i hope haha

my first language is russian and i also speak a tiny bit of german! been too long since i practiced it though

thank you for recs on bowie and VU!! i'm far from an expert on them lmao so i'll listen to these albums! i've only listened to earlier bowie albums from the man who sold the world to diamond dogs i think. life on mars must be one of my faves, i remember having it on repeat for WEEKS last year lmao. i dreamed of getting hunky dory on vinyl but couldn't find it in my local record stores :( the same with many other bowie, UV and lou albums too, no idea why they're such rare animals here. a ziggy copy i have must be one of the best sounding records in my whole collection tho! do you collect physical media?

i love velvet goldmine too!! i love todd haynes' style and it really does kinda feel like an ao3 fanfic lmao. this kind of biopics must be my favorite, when they're unauthorized or loosely based on actual stories. do you have any favorite music biopics?

my favorite artists are the beatles and john lennon! and as for the third one ehh.. even though it's not classic rock i'll say lana del rey, ever since her new single came out i've been listening to it obsessively

i see you love beatles too, so i'm just gonna say my favorite albums by them are the white album and magical mystery tour! as for john, my absolute fav of his is walls & bridges, but i guess imagine would be a good place to start as it's his dreamiest and maybe... softest? while still showing some of his edgier sides of the early 70s. plastic ono band is close to my favs after W&B but it definitely can feel too unsettling, not without lighter parts though. his part of double fantasy is full of highlights too (i like yoko's songs too though!) ugh sorry i could talk about john for hours really lmao

and as for lana- since we're into classic rock i think ultraviolence is right up that alley. it sounds so timeless it could well fit into the 70s. my other favs of hers are honeymoon and blue banisters!

i wish i watched more music documentaries and concerts but it's often too hard bc i know i'll never get to experience it live 😭 i've seen the beatles' shea concert tho and it was good! do you have favorite live shows and docs?

Once again, srry that it took me forever to reply and omg it’s almost Christmas lol But I’m excited to finally know you btw

By this time, you probably are done with your work, right? I hope that is the case so you can finally have a nice winter rest

I also try to learn German too cause like I have been obsessed with so many German artists for so long, the obvious one is Nico 😂 and also I love Kraftwerk and Rammstein, but my knowledge in German is limited to the random odd of the language

I’m also a big fan of Bowie early work too, just not so much on his folkish day lol. Still, The man who sold the world gotta be one of the my most fav albums of all time. Hunky is amazing too! Life On Mars is literally one of the song that hooked me on to David. I’m not sure if you knew this but the song Queen Bitch from this album is literally David trying to do a VU-style songwriting. So basically the narrator of that song supposed to be Lou or smth lol So yeah another weird Bowie-Lou Reed fanfic vibe 😂

About Vinyl, all of my fav artists’ records are hard to find here too, except for Bowie lol he is everywhere for some reason so prob a good thing. But no one in Thailand seems to know Velvet Underground or Lou hahaha.

I don’t own much records cause they are tbh quite expensive for me. But I have Diamond Dogs, VU’s debut album, and Lou’s Coney Island Baby on vinyl. All of them are the best things ever! But I do collect a lot of CDs

I truly not very big on biopic but Nowhere Boys is very amazing in my opinion. I love that films very much. I see that you are a big Beatles fans, what do you think about the film? I’m not sure about the accuracy but I think it’s beautiful how they depict Lennon-McCartney friendship.

Omg! I love Lana too! She is one of my all time fav artists and songwriters! Her new songs are so amazing. I’m alway intrigued by her lyrics and the way she expresses them

I haven’t listened to all of the White Albums and Magic Mysteries but so far I love George’s guitar style in the White Album so much that it’s prob gonna be my new favorite Beatles album. Personally, Let It Be is my favorite album by them but I haven’t watch the Get Back doc yet so I might need to do that!

Thank you for your recommendation on John’s music! I have been interested in John and Yoko’s works for sometime now but didn’t know where to start. They are such an iconic artistic present of the past century!

You probably have psychic ability for sure cause recently I just put Ultraviolence on repeat lol. Also it’s just delighted me how she put Lou’s name in Brooklyn Baby >< For Kana, I also love Honeymoon and Norman Fucking Rockwell

For live concert, I think I watched a bit too much Bowie’s live tbh. But I just cannot resist cause his stage crafts are just one of the best and his shows are my comfort place. I think Ziggy’s live and Diamond’s Dog’s live (you can see those in Cracked Actors’s doc) are probably his best. My fav act is the one he did Hamlet with Cracked Actors. But the one that comfort me the most is the Glass Spider tour live tbh. It’s a pretty meh album overall but the live show are so great and late 80s Bowie is like a father figure to me so I come back to that all the time

Not sure if you’ve watched Hayes’ Velvet Underground documentary yet but it’s very good! It could be focus too much on the early years of the band at time and doesn’t go beyond the post-John era so much but still there are a lot of direct history to learn from the doc as it has John and Moe, as well as, everyone who involved with the band and New York avant-garde scene of the 60s. Still, I personally think it doesn’t talk enough about Sterling Morrison and completely dismiss Doug Yule which is a bit sad. But I understand where Hayes is coming from tho, having John as the strongest present of the band as the leading narrative lol. Also the film is a bit pro-John Cale cause well… Lou is dead 😐 so that is a head-up

Anyways, I hope you have a great holiday and cannot wait to know who you are!

Tons of love,

Tawan!

[a-froger-epic]

So, I was shown an interview with Roger yesterday and there were a few things about it which really stood out to me. It's from 2014 and to be found here, and when I have the time I'll translate the whole thing because it's in Spanish.

However, what really still blows my mind is that this link is to an Italian translation, and that translation is the most goddamn inaccurate translation I've ever seen! It's like they're not even trying. Behold, the original Spanish:

Interviewer: Do people like Barbara Valentin or Jim Hutton appear in the Freddie movie? Mack stated that Barbara was a bad influence, while Jim behaved well.

RT: The answer is yes, definitely, Barbara was important in a certain stage of Freddie's life, in Munich. You have to look at the good and the bad. I understand how Mack feels. She was a very bad influence. Is she alive?

Interviewer: No.

Roger: Yes, Jim was a good man. What didn't agree with me is that he wrote his book with the help of a reporter from the yellow press. They wrote it for money. I am not interested in books about Freddie and the band. One of the best, if not the best, is the one by Peter Hince. It describes the story how he saw it, a little compromised[1]. His book captivated me and was closer to reality than the rest of the books.

[1] - If any native Spanish speakers can help me out here, I know this is a clunky translation, but if I'm not mistaken Roger means to say that it's definitely Ratty's subjective view, right?

- - -

So that's the printed, Spanish version.

Now the translated Italian version on that site:

Interviewer: Do you think that in the biopic dedicated to Freddie there will also be among the characters Barbara Valentine and Jim Hutton? Mack says she was a negative influence on Freddie.

RT: I think so. Barbara was an important part of Freddie's life in the Munich period. I understand Mack's point of view. She was a bad influence. Is she still alive?

Interviewer: No.

RT: Jim was a good person, even though I didn't like his book, written for money. Generally I don't like this kind of book, but I appreciated the one by Peter Hince who told the story of life inside the band honestly.

- - -

🤯 What is the point in translating the interview in a way where half of his replies are missing?? The omission of the yellow press and the reporter in the second reply is particularly bad, as is the omission of the fact that Roger acknowledges Ratty's book is a subjective view point.

I mean, sources are difficult enough to wade through in the Queen fandom, but stuff like this only confuses everything further! If someone translated both the Italian and the Spanish version, they'd have two different versions of the same interview, which is so frustrating. 😫

Now, @obsessivelollipoplalala is already discussing Roger's comment about Jim's book on her blog so I won't rehash that here (however, I translated that bit for her in a rush yesterday and have corrected the translation since, sorry dear, haha, please take this updated version).

Other things which I thought were interesting:

- Wow, Roger has a really bad opinion of Barbara. I don't think I've ever seen him say so definitively that she was a very bad influence.

- Roger thinks Ratty's book is the best about the band, while also acknowledging that Ratty very much sees things from his own point of view. I find that utterly fascinating, considering how disliked the book is in fandom, usually.

The only thing I will say is that I think he's comparing Ratty's book to books about the band, rather than to Jim's book specifically, although he didn't make that very clear. But what he says is that he thinks Ratty told the story of life with the band, specifically, more honestly than other books Roger has read.

[salemorbit]

Fem! Botw Matchup please? I’m a Disabled Lesbian, she/her pronouns. I’m quite the Tomboy and most of my friends are boys, but whenever I get around a pretty girl I can barely speak I get so flustered and nervous. I’m a pretty good writer, and I can sorta draw too. I love Animation and Older Stuff like Elton John Music and Older Comedies (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Monty Python, Looney Tunes, etc). I also really like Biopics and Historical Films and such. I love video games, especially Zelda of course, and I’m pretty funny, witty and very soft when with someone I like. I can be pretty mature and polite for my age, and I rarely ever get angry, but I’m also a little silly at times and like to make bad jokes. I’m also very protective and hate seeing people upset. I really like swimming and taking walks in the rain. I'm also pretty muscular from working out, but I’m also very short (5’ at most). Thanks so much, I love your blog!!!

hey!! thank you so much for the request :))) also thank you!! i'm glad you like my blog hehe

i also feel that abt pretty girls LMAO

i hope you like it!

~~~~~~~

BOTW Matchup!

Based on your characteristics, I think you'd do best with.......

Mipha!

~~~~~~~

Girl....she adores you HAHA

Mipha was one of the last ones you met out of the Champion group, having already gotten along with everyone else

She was busy with the soldiers in the Zora Domain and was late to joining the group one evening while you were also there

When you saw her, you were at a loss for words and she found that very endearing HAHA

No one had ever really been flustered around her before, so she thought it was an amusing situation

She didn't make fun of it, though! She would never make fun of you like that

Needless to say, y'all hit it off pretty darn well

You loved learning about the history of the Zora from her and learning about all the lore that they had over the centuries

You also had a patience when dealing with the antics of the others that she loved; appreciating that you were slow to anger and willing to work with people rather than lose your temper

She also loves your humor that never fails to make her laugh, and the two of you have a few inside jokes that will always a crack a smile

It always makes her feel all tingly all over whenever she notices that you reserve specific behaviours just for her

Like the way your voice softens or how you explain things to her if things need explaining, she just feels all bubbly!

Mipha is typically very independent, but she is very thankful for the protectiveness that you have over her

If there's ever a battle that she's been in or will be in, you always make it a priority to make sure she's safe and well-stocked in recovery items so she has the least probability of getting injured

On the Fluff Side, you two love to spend days by the water together or walking through the Zora Domain in the rain

Being with you and then also the calming effect of the sounds of rain all around her just brings Mipha a peace that she cherishes

Mipha also makes it a point to accommodate to your disability whenever at all possible, but knows that you also know what's best for you so she tries not to fret too much

She listens and listens and listens and will never overstep anything because she cares about you so much!!

You also give the best hugs and squeeze her just right whenever you hug and she just finds such safety in your arms!! aw omg

~~~~~~~

thank you again for the request!! i hope you liked this :)

[going-there-and-back-again]

tagged by @theleavesoflorien

So sorry for the long delay on this, Marianne, and thank you so much for tagging me!! had to do some school stuff and time got away from me :)

1. Do you prefer writing with a black pen or a blue pen?

Black!!

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or in the city?

ahhh i don’t know! i’ve lived in a city for most of my life but went to university in a much quieter area so it’s really hard to decide! I prefer towns, I think (small city center, old buildings, hanging lights, but also nature and greenery and rivers and hills and trees 😍😍) 

3. If you could learn a new skill, what would it be?

Asdfhjkl there are so many things I want to learn !!! I can play the piano but I really wish I was better ✨✨. And languages! LANGUAGES. There are so many languages I want to learn it’s an entirely unfeasible dream but I just want to read everything and translations just aren’t the same as originals, you know? (including Elvish, obviously, because Quenya/Sindarin are just so beautiful and they actually just sound like what they mean, you can hear the feeling and I love that so much). I wish I could bake (I tried making pound cake with dried fruit and let’s just say I was disappointed 😂😂😂). And do origami. And art (I can’t draw to save my life, but I’d love to be able to. I keep seeing scenes from movies or just pretty landscapes or imagining things from books and I want to draw them and I can’t). On the flip side of the spectrum, I like read and learn new things about science, too. Biochemistry and plants and physiology and the like. Haven’t read that stuff in ages, and there is no need for me to read them now, but I enjoy it :)

4. do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar?

Nope! Tea only, and no milk or sugar 😊🍵 

5. What was your favourite book as a child?

Does 12 years old fall within the boundary of childhood? If it does, then Lord of the Rings 😆😆. Other than that, hmm, it’s hard to choose. Gaiman’s Ocean at the End of the Lane was the last ‘children’s’ book I read (it’s been 7 years; I still love it). In primary I had a huge mystery phase and loved The Boxcar Children and A Series of Unfortunate Events. And Narnia (though I didn’t finish the series) !! Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series was also one of my favorites 🌲👧🏻

6. Do you prefer baths or showers?

I like both :) Baths are a treat though, I usually just shower

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which one would you be?

Not sure...I think I once took a quiz and got ‘faun’? I want to be an Elf in Middle Earth most though! Or a hobbit 🍏🍊

8. Paper or electronic books?

Paper books all the way!! I read with a pencil in hand and if I can’t annotate it just doesn’t feel right 

9. What is your favourite item of clothing?

a baby blue cardigan with ‘I need sleep’ written on the back (story of my life??)

10. Do you like your name? Would you like to change it?

Yup, I like it! It means butterfly. My mom picked it because it was invented by Jonathan Swift for his book ‘Cadenus and Vanessa’ (she said ‘it has character’; do i have character??? who knows but it’s easy to come up with nicknames for my name which makes me happy)

11. Who is a mentor to you?

Don’t know if this counts, but I met a few people a couple years older than me through litsoc at uni and they really made me think/unknowingly taught me so much  

12. Would you like to be famous? If so, what for?

No - no fame no cameras just nooo :((( I just want to live my life

13. Are you a restless sleeper?

I’m more of a crash-and-sleep-so-deeply-I-can’t-hear-my-alarm person 

14. Do you consider yourself to be a romantic person?

...I have absolutely no idea

15. Which element best represents you?

Air, I think. Or bodies of water (the sea, lakes, rivers)

16. Who do you want to be closer to?

I don’t know...I hope to stay close to my friends; everyone says people drift after school/uni’s over and I really hope that doesn’t happen 

17. Do you miss someone at the moment?

My friends from uni. And just uni in general :((

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory.

Swingsets!! hahahaha

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten?

Don’t think I’ve eaten anything *that* strange before...

20. What are you most thankful for?

Family, friends, school, books, home

21. Do you like spicy food?

Can’t eat spicy food at all, oops

22. Have you ever met someone famous?

I’ve met a couple of authors! ohmygod if i was old enough to have talked to tolkien or tennessee williams though i would s-c-r-e-a-m (someone pls invent a time machine)

23. Do you keep a diary or journal?

I tried once, I think? I was in primary though

24. Do you prefer to use pen or pencil?

Pen now, but I annotate in pencil.

25. What is your star sign?

Libra, but I don’t do astrology.

26. Do you like your cereal crunchy or soggy?

Crunchy...why would you like soggy cereal??

27. What would you want your legacy to be?

asdfghjkl i don’t know. To have done some good, I suppose. To have been kind, and to have thought deeply and loved well. (ha you really see the lotr coming out here don’t you)

28. Do you like reading? What was the last book you read?

I like reading more than I like breathing I think . Am reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ (so so good)

29. How do you show someone you love them?

The little things, I guess?? Through actions. I rarely ever tell family/friends I love them outright

30. Do you like ice in your drinks?

Love iced drinks

31. What are you afraid of?

So many things (heights! bugs! rollercoasters!). and sometimes i just feel afraid, and if you asked i wouldn’t be able to tell you why (it’s just a feeling i cannot quite explain).

32. What is your favourite scent?

That smell in the air when autumn has just started but it’s warm, still, and you can smell the air changing and just the sense of something something coming -

33. Do you address older people by their name or surname?

Surname!

34. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life?

No idea...not in a drastically different way I guess. I would still want to study, and I’d want a job too. It’d just feel safer I guess - like I wouldn’t have to worry about buying a house or anything. And I’d definitely travel more 

35. Do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean?

The pool...the sea’s too salty

36. What would you do if you found $50 on the ground?

Take it to the nearest frontdesk type of place if that’s possible?

37. Have you ever seen a shooting star? Did you make a wish?

Yes! I was walking back from the library at 11:45pm or so and I was trying to get it on camera so I forgot to make a wish

38. What is one thing you would want to teach your children?

Understanding, I think - to be true to themselves, and accepting of others; to learn and to think, broadly and deeply; to make decisions for good reasons

39. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it?

Don’t really want a tattoo tbh

40. What can you hear right now?

Nothing much, it’s quite quiet here at night.

41. Where do you feel the safest?

At home, I think, or at uni.

42. What is one thing you want to overcome/conquer?

sometimes I feel like I can’t speak, like I’m not going to again for a very long time. it’s just a feeling, but still

43. If you could travel back to any era, what would it be?

I want to go to Imladris more than any era of this world 🍃🍃

44. What is your most used emoji?

Laugh-cry 😂😂😂

45. Describe yourself using one word.

Quiet, maybe? idk

46. What do you regret the most?

every embarrassing situation i’ve ever been in i guess? 😆

47. Last movie you saw?

The Tolkien 2019 biopic (the tcbs friendship was great; unfortunately the Tolkien-Edith relationship wasn’t portrayed well at all)

48. Last tv show you watched?

Modern Family haha (it’s my go-to comfort show)

49. Invent a word and its meaning

I think we need more words for smells! the smell of rain, the smell of the grass at night in early summer, the smell of early autumn 🍃

@shiremaiden, @fool--of-a-took if you guys want to do this, but it’s super long so no pressure at all :)

[joealwyndaily]

here are my initial thoughts on Harriet!!

overall, I loved the movie. I’m excited to see it again when it’s in theatres. I do agree with some of the criticisms but I also think a lot of reviews were overly harsh. I think a better biopic could be made about Harriet Tubman, it wasn’t as amazing as it could have been, but it was a very solid movie for me. I would give it 8/10 👍

the rest is under the cut because it’s long haha sorry

gonna start with Joe... I was honestly very surprised how much screen time he had. Other than Cynthia, I’m pretty sure he had the most screen time. That was a pleasant surprise! I couldn’t say how many minutes approximately, but it seemed like he was the second major character in the film. The whole relationship Gideon has with Harriet, you definitely get a sense that they have some kind of weird bond/connection. I do think that was well communicated. It could have been explored more, but how much time can the movie dedicate to that? That’s not the point of the movie, so while his character could have been explored more, I don’t think it was necessary or that anything was really missing with the character. 

his accent was on point, Joe really nails the accents! And once again, Joe created this whole aura about his character. You don’t see Joe at all. There were so many scenes, where the look in his eyes legitimately scared me or made me uncomfortable. He was completely believable as this evil person. He was violent and said some really terrible things but he wasn’t a caricature. He wasn’t a fully developed character, but there was a sense of humanity with the character and he caused emotional reactions from the audience. Which is good!! When Gideon did terrible things, the audience reacted. And not to spoil anything, but people like cheered when something bad happened to Gideon lol. He was an excellent antagonist in the story. It wasn’t too much or too little, I thought it brought a good balance to the story, to have Gideon as the antagonist. He was a very good villain !!! 

also, lots of horse back riding and close up shots of Joe’s face which was nice. I was thinking, wow I can’t wait to gif that haha

the one negative for me, they probably could have chilled on the amount of times Gideon says the n word. I honestly lost count how many times. I guess it’s authentic to the character and the time period. But like, personally, I really could have gone without hearing his character say it so much :/ 

anyway, another very strong performance I hope Joe is proud of. I’m proud of him :) and the fact he had so much screen time was a bonus!!!

but the best part of the movie was definitely Cynthia Erivo’s performance. She was truly amazing. The strength, the vulnerability she brought to the story. Her performance was very, very strong. I found it moving and emotional. She did justice to Harriet Tubman. Maybe the movie itself won’t get much awards attention (idk we’ll see) but Cynthia absolutely does deserve awards attention. She delivered every line with such conviction, and the emotion in her face and the humanity the character had. I thought it was a very powerful performance. 

the acting from everyone was very strong. Janelle Monae was fantastic!! 

and there was touch of humour that I thought was really well done. no matter how awful things are in life, there’s still funny moments. So I thought that was a nice touch. Overall I thought the movie was dynamic in the different layers of sadness, pain, action, humour, love etc. 

the biggest negative for me, and it might sound weird, but it was the score. When I read reviews talking about the score, it seemed ridiculous, how can the score be such a big deal? But like... it was too generic and way too dramatic and overused to the point that it was actually distracting. It was used in so many scenes and it wasn’t necessary. Trying to add emotion or drama but the emotion and drama was already there in what the characters were saying or doing... honestly, if the score had been different, the movie could have been stronger. That’s how distracting it was to me 

also, like I do think some things had too much emphasis on them, like Harriet’s visions. And some things could have had more attention. A bit more character development. And also, Harriet’s work in the civil war. I feel like that’s such an important part of her story, and it was kinda made into a footnote. 

that said, I do understand they wanted to focus more on her time as a younger woman, and developing that aspect of her story. Her time as a conductor for the Underground Railroad, that part of her story was explored the most. And there’s only so much time you have in a movie. I feel like Harriet Tubman’s story would best be represented in a miniseries because there’s just SO MUCH. It would be impossible to do justice to everything she accomplished. So I don’t wanna knock the film too much for that, because... it’s really hard to think how they could have fit much more and still have had any level of depth.

they made a choice of what to focus on and did the best they could with that.

and the whole formulaic thing, yeah sure, but again, i don’t think it’s as pronounced as reviews have made it out to be. And like I said before, the audience reaction seemed very positive and people were invested. I think it’s a movie for audiences, not for critics. The intention of the movie really feels like it’s to inspire audiences, the movie-going public. The women and girls (and boys too!) who are gonna see this movie ~ that’s who it was made for. And you feel that. Yes, it wasn’t the best movie ever, and they could have done more but overall it was very, very solid. And I’m happy Joe is a part of it :)

[voicedaily]

Hey, thanks for this blog! I see you post about the japan remake recently. I don't watch it yet, is it worth watching? How about Mo Tae Gu? Kim Jae Wook set a high bar so I don't want to disappointed with his japan counterpart if I watched it..

Yo! Thanks for stopping by. Of course, I have to keep making this blog active with content [laughs]. And right after season 03 is over, we’re lucky that Japan airs the remake of season 01 just in two weeks. As for your question, I plan to write a review after the series is over. The last episode will be aired on Sep 21.

But for short, I can say it’s worth watching. Well, the remake version of Kang Kwonjoo isn’t satisfying but It has much better, better storytelling than the original has. Jdrama always has the strength of story-wise better while K-drama tends to focus on conflict and sometimes makes the story draggy, and it happened too with Voice. I still remember I did grumble of some aspects in the original haha. But before you decide to watch it, I hope you don’t have the same standard because both Jdrama and Kdrama is naturally different in values. J-drama values more in a down-to-earth/realistic approach to visualize while K-drama tends to make beautiful cinematography with a higher budget. For example, the death of Hwang Kyungil and Nam Sangtae in the remake is more realistic for forensic points to camouflage it as suicide (so I don’t feel the cops are very stupid), the murder of Madam Jang (replaced with Inspector Okihara, equivalent with Inspector Jang character) also more make sense there that you can’t imagine how the culprit in the original did it all in short time and even carried the body outside from 2nd floor to his car on park area without being noticed by anyone; but you feel more chill and horror in the original when you saw a body is burned down, a room full of blood with eyeball taken out, and a body hanging on the tree right when you open the curtain. Same with the villain’s basement; the remake makes it dark, dull and dusty as what basement is used to be while the original made it bright so we could see the red blood stained clearly everywhere. 

This “realistic” vs “beautiful” also applies to their drama characters. I can say Korean people shown on TV dramas are better-looking than Japanese ones. I believe it’s a major influence on how Mo Taegu becomes the most stunning villain in Kdrama history. The beauty shots accommodate the perfect combination of the villain’s elegance character and the actor’s handsomeness despite the brutal murders and the amazing acting ability to be a psychopath. Probably those are the 15-30 extra minutes of visualization that the remake does not have (despite the fact of J-drama always having shorter episodes). But it doesn’t mean the remake version of Mo Taegu, Hongo Shizuku, is more lacking in his character. They rewrite their own version while still keep some aspects from the original as follows:

Mo Family runs a public transport company, Hongo Family runs a construction/civil engineering holdings.

While an image of Taegu having the ability to play grand piano as he loves classical music is only mentioned in Kim Jae Wook’s interview, the remake realizes it.

Shizuku is more independent than Taegu when playing a “game”, there’s no his dad’s secretary helping him to flee after he killed Hikari’s (Kwonjoo) dad and to abduct Toru (Daeshik), it hints he takes or abducted them all by himself before killing them in his basement. He also ordered Toru, all by himself and save his contact.

Taegu collects a suitcase of the victim’s hairs still on the bloody scalp (but then, I imagine his random victims on street are women because the hairs he collects are long), Shizuku collects a glass shelf of blood-stained kettlebells. In both of their collection, the name of our hero and heroine are written as he plans to murder them later.

The remake doesn’t include the demon aesthetic that Taegu sometimes underlined his murder as the words of God by citing a bible chapter written on the victim’s blood. Taegu also used other weapons to kill Sangtae (rope and knife). And there’s also a narration that he loves mutilating a body, too (implicit said by Sangtae that Taegu killed his dad that way, explicit when it was shown Taegu keeps the old lady‘s tongue and when Kwonjoo found Madam Jang’s crime scene). However, Shizuku is more consistent in his actions, he left the body in one piece and only collects the kettlebells he just used, whoever his victim is. 

Point 4 and 5 make me conclude that the original built Taegu like the star in a slasher/cult horror movie, it was so random (I’m sure even the genius Spencer Reid from FBI Behavourial Analysis Unit in CBS Criminal Minds series would hardly find the connection LOL) while the remake designs Shizuku more like a common serial killer with specific behavior as a crime/procedural series always use to be.

Now, as Kim Jaewook set a high bar, there’s no other counterpart to play the same character who represents the coexist of beauty and madness better than Iseya Yusuke. Both of them starts their career as a fashion model in catwalk and magazine when they were studying. Their physical appearance, their lean body structure and height, and their sexiness/attractiveness are very alike. You even almost can’t differentiate Hongo Shizuku with Mo Taegu when you see them in suit from their back. Well, Iseya Yusuke is as old as Jang Hyuk (born in 1976), so he might be not as handsome as Kim Jaewook in fangirls’ taste. But for acting ability, he’s still the perfect cast balancing Kim Jaewook for these reasons:

Both of them are graduated from the University of Arts. Kim Jaewook is from Seoul Institute of Arts, major in music. Iseya Yusuke is from Tokyo Institute of Arts, major in design. Tho’, Iseya Yusuke achieves his Master’s Degree and exchange program at New York University (major in film).

With that background, both of them aren’t just an actor, but more an artist. Kim Jaewook has a rock band and also plays in theatre as a foreign musician biopic, Iseya Yusuke directed a few movies that were invited to the international film festivals. 

Both of them are hardly known popular as TV drama star despite their talents. Kim Jaewook loves indie projects and took supporting role/second lead role in some TV dramas, it took 17 years after his debut that he finally pick a lead male role in popular TV drama genre, rom-com (Her Private Life, 2019). Iseya Yusuke is known better as a movie star, he also took various roles in historical dramas in public channel, it took 19 years after his debut that he finally plays for a commercial broadcast in a TV drama (Prison Princesses, 2017) more in comedic role.

Both ever performed in Korea-Japan collaboration movie. Kim Jaewook in Butterfly Sleep (2017) with Miho Nakayama, directed by Jeong Jaeun. Iseya Yusuke in The Tenor Lirico Spinto (2012) with Yoo Jitae, directed by Kim Sangman.

Both of them ever acted to make a passionate gay kiss scene in the movie. Kim Jaewook in Antique (2008) with Andy Gillet. Iseya Yusuke in Tonde Saitama (2019) with Gackt.

Nah, Idk whether this is the script one that wrote Hongo Shizuku like this below or that’s Iseya Yusuke himself who interprets his character differently from Kim Jaewook:

Remember the scene in the basement that Taegu could hear the sound of the people he murdered? Taegu felt haunted while Shizuku enjoyed it that he even made a gesture of an orchestra conductor conducting their haunting voice. And when his mother’s voice is echoing, yelling at him to not witness that his dad killed someone in the basement; Taegu felt like the trauma strikes him while Shizuku is bothered at first, but then he smiles and waves at her.

So… I think the original shows that Taegu still has a human side and weak point (although his murder methods are the most brutal among three VOICE’s villains) while the remake is like telling us that Shizuku’s madness level is at Kaneki’s level.

[shurisneakers]

hey any good movie suggestions? -action -romcom -fantasy -comedy asking for a friend haha thanks! have a good day/night. 😊

oh boy, when i get asks like this i blank out immediately, but here ya go! Spoiler alert: it gets pretty damn long.

Romance/ Comedy/ RomCom:

1. Crazy Rich Asians:Beautifully filmed, and extremely talented cast and such a gorgeously done idea. Not to mention, Henry Golding’s back muscles 

2. Yeh Jawaani Hai Dewaani (Hindi)I’m a desi and proud, so let’s go this way too. It’s so fun and bold and honestly such a change of pace from other Hindi movies. I’d die for Deepika Padukone and Kalki Koechlin

3. 2 Weeks NoticeI don’t think anyone really realised the sudden influx of Hugh Grant content on my account, but people who know me know i’m an absolute slut for his wit and charm. This is one of his funniest, without a doubt.

4. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Hindi)I’m not sure whether this goes under romance or comedy, but it’s one of my favourites anyway. Beautiful locations, their chemistry is amazing and great sub plots.

5. To All The Boys I’ve Loved BeforeLara Jean and Peter Kavinsky. I have feelings for both of them.

6. The Set-UpI honestly didn’t know what to expect while watching this, but it was so funny and I really loved it.

7. 3 Idiots (Hindi)Such an important movie for parents of kids studying in India and other countries where education is the utmost priority.

8. Bangalore Days (Malayalam)It’s probably not the best movie to exist, but it’s very close to my heart.

Fantasy:

1. Harry PotterYou can’t go wrong with an ultimate Harry Potter marathon. Even though the books are leagues above the movies, I still adore them for doing the best they can.

2. Pirates of the CaribbeanHilarious, smart, Elizabeth Swan. Need I say more?

3. The MCUAlthough watching all of them is highly recommended, some of my favourites include Iron Man 3, the Avengers, Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Civil War and Thor Ragnarok. 

Thriller:

1. Searching (2018)One of the best damn movies out there. It’s filmed entirely through different forms of technology, no real life acting and it pulls it off so well.

2. Drishyam (Malayalam)My native place is Kerala, and they produced this actual beauty of a thriller movie. It may not be the best you’ve seen, but I loved it.

3. The Da Vinci Code It mind fucked me.

4. Inferno It’s one of the movies that followed the Da Vinci Code and it made me actually want to get into Dante and art, but it unfortunately didn’t happen. Still a good movie.

5. Hush Okayyyy, I don’t think I ever screeched so hard while watching a serial killer movie. It screwed with me horribly but it was a great idea and they pulled it off well!

6. Talwar (Hindi)Oh boy. It’s based on a real murder of a young girl in Noida, and it explores all the different murder suspects and things that went wrong in the investigation.

7. Pink (Hindi)Powerful, and stellar performances by everyone on the cast. A serious must watch, especially with the movements that have started.

8. Kahaani (Hindi)Bro this was crazy and I’m sure all my Indian friends can vouch for this. 

Animation:

1. Into the Spider-Verse.Watch it. Watch it. WATCH IT. IT’S UNBELIEVABLY GOOD. SO. FUCKING. GOOD.

2. TangledThe love of my life, Flynn Rider has been ruining expectations for me for years now because he’s perfect and no one can match up to his standard. Probably my all time favourite movie.

3. CocoBeautiful animation. Amazing plot twists. Absolutely gorgeous.

4. Inside OutClosest I’ve come to actually crying in a theatre was when I watched this masterpiece.

Coming of Age/Self Realization:

1. Perks of Being a WallflowerIt dealt with trauma and depression the way it needed to be dealt with and really showed the ugly side of it.

2. The DUFFOne of the lighter movies on the list, but hilarious all the same :)

3. Dear Zindagi  (Hindi)Honestly one of the last few good movies to come out of Shah Rukh Khan now. So, so honest and refreshing about mental health in India.

4. Queen (Hindi)This inspired my mother to go to Paris where we promptly got pickpocketed and spent the next few days on a budget. It’s an amazing movie, and Kangana Raunat killed it.

Biopics:

1. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Hindi)This part is probably biased because I haven’t watched a lot of biopics outside of Indian ones, but Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was a knock-out. Farhan Akhtar deserves everything. One of India’s finest athletes, and the journey he followed to get to the top.

2. Neerja (Hindi)Goodness, there wasn’t a dry eye in the theatre by the time it was done. She was an air hostess working in the Pan Am flight that got hijacked years ago.

3. Bohemian RhapsodyUgh. Bright, fun, and then it got so dark it was crazy. Freddie would have approved of it.

4. Hidden FiguresThree women working for NASA. It was so empowering and absolutely amazing.

5. Dangal (Hindi)Ugh, so so good. It’s about three girls who were raised as boxers in India by their dad.

6. Hachi: A Dog’s TaleI felt empty after watching this.

I’m also throwing in a couple of TV show recs, in case you want something new to watch! 

TV Shows:

1. The Mentalist 

2. The Office

3. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

4. New Girl

5. F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

6. Jessica Jones season 1

7. Sherlock

8. How To Get Away With Murder

[sirfrogsworth]

Flag Fixation

Conservatives and the US flag really need to get a room. 

I don’t hate the flag. We have two vintage flags hanging up in the house. But the recent idolization of the flag from Rebuplicans has been almost disturbing. In the end, it’s just a piece of cloth. 

In the new biopic film about Neil Armstrong, the movie does not feature a scene in which the flag is planted on the moon. Mind you, the flag is in the movie. They show it several times. They don’t deny it exists. They just didn’t show them planting it. 

Conservatives are quite upset. It’s a national freakin’ tragedy apparently. I’ve seen dozens of comments where irate right-wingers are leaving tirades about how Hollywood hates America and the flag. 

The thing is... when Neil stepped out of the module he didn’t say “One small step for a man, one giant leap for the United States of America.” 

Yes, NASA is an American agency, but their philosophy has evolved over the years. They let go of their cold war competition against Russia and are now a global endeavor. I think not shoving jingoistic imagery in the film makes sense. It’s still very much an American film, but the space race was long ago and I’m not sure we need to focus on that aspect of history anymore. We can acknowledge it. Learn from it. But I think we can stop going “HAHA WE WON! TAKE THAT YOU RUSKIES!”

Another fun fact about the flag on the moon... 

Planting the flag was actually quite an awkward experience. Armstrong tried to stab the pole in the ground repeatedly while Buzz held the flag. It fell over and Neil had to jab it in harder. 

It was basically 2 minutes of... “Stick it in!” “I DID!” “STICK IT IN HARDER!” “I’M TRYING, BUZZ!” 

If they showed that in the film they’d probably have to speed up the playback and add Benny Hill music over it. I’m not sure depicting this process would have fit the epicness of the surrounding events. 

To make matters worse, when they launched from the moon’s surface, the thrust from the module blew the flag over. Neil didn’t stick it in hard enough. They say there is no sound in space, but astronauts swear in that moment they heard a cosmic sad trombone. 

ALSO... as some of you may know, the flag did not end up being an everlasting symbol of American Exceptionalism™. The intense sunlight has bleached the flag to a tattered piece of pure white cloth. It kind of looks like we surrendered to the moon now. And since we ended up planting 6 flags over the years, it looks like we sextuple surrendered. 

I really don’t get all of this flag outrage. The idea of symbols is to remind us of what they represent. We are not supposed to worship the symbols themselves. 

The achievement was landing people on the moon... not planting a flag. 

[sky-is-torn]

I don’t really celebrate Halloween, in my country it isn’t as big, but I did make Halloween cookies yesterday!! It was sooo fun to do. Do you have plans for Halloween? I looooved The Walk, it’s based on Philippe Petit's walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center!! Rocketman was nice too. Depending on what your definition of biopic is, I would also say 12 Years a Slave. As for Marvel, the exciting thing is mostly that there will be a ton of new superheroes in this phase, so getting to know them will me nice imo. And Harry Styles yes haha, I don’t think his role will be major though! I…. haven’t seen any Lord of the Rings movie, I’m sorry!! But the universe you described sounds super fun! Who is your favorite character of the franchise? 😊 As for hobbies or passions, I loooove to bake! It calms me down and it’s just a fun thing to do (and you get food as a result!) how about you?? 💌🥰

Ooh Halloween cookies, that sounds delicious!😋

I invited some friends over but Halloween isn't a big thing where I am either and we ended up just talking and eating sweets!

I've heard a lot of praise for 12 Years a Slave, I haven't taken the time to watch it yet but it's definitely on my "to be watched later" list!😄

I can't say for certain if you'll like LOTR, but if you get the chance to watch it one day you should try! There are a lot of different stories and characters and I think the theme is very relatable, in general!

I'm awful at choosing favourites but I think my favourite character is Faramir. I relate to him, his entire arc is very interesting and I like the fact that he's got flaws -- while Aragorn is absolutely amazing and badass but he's so perfect in many aspects that it's difficult to relate to him. Anyway, this probably won't speak much to you but I didn't want to spoil anything, in case you end up watching/reading it!

What about you, who's your favourite Marvel character?😊

Baking is such a cool hobby! What's your favourite recipe?

I like baking too! I love focusing on a recipe and what my hand are making, it keeps my mind blank for a while, if you know what I mean? But mainly, my favourite part of baking is sharing what I made with loved ones 🥰 sharing food isn't an official love language but it's definitely mine!

I also love writing! It's really a passion, I always have new book ideas and if I go a few days without writing, my mind feels full to the brim with creative ideas and I get antsy! It's also one of those hobbies that I can do anywhere: I can daydream about outlines while walking, listening to music, or on the bus...

I also love drawing, although I'm very self-conscious about the results (the perfectionnist in me always compares my drawings to drawings from more experiemced artists)

As for other hobbies, I have a lot of different interests! I play the piano, I listen to music a lot... I've taken up yoga and pottery this year, and both are quite fun! I also love learning new languages (I don't know anyone to practice with but it's fun to discover how the language works, it really opens the mind I think!) This summer I taught myself Italian, last summer it was Gaelic! And these days, I'm trying to figure out the Arabic alphabet!

(This has been sitting in my inbox for a while, sorry! This week is very busy for me, but I was very glad to hear from you!💕)

[cryptoriawebb]

My thoughts on “The Disaster Artist”

Oh, hai Tumblr

I won’t lie, I originally planned to review The Room before writing my reaction to the Disaster Artist. The more I thought about it, though, the more I didn’t feel I could do so, seriously. We all know it’s a bad movie. We know it’s quite possibly the worst movie ever made in the history of bad movies. We also know it stands apart from other bad films, in that it’s so bad it’s actually entertaining. Enjoyable. Dare I say “classic?” It’s the kind of movie you laugh and cringe and come away from quoting the rest of the night. The kind of movie you go into knowing full-well how awful it is and enjoying yourself, anyway.

I’ve seen a lot of bad movies, and The Room may very well be the only one I came away from with a smile on my face and laughter in my heart. I’d heard about and seen clips from it over the last couple of years, but I didn’t expect the full experience to be so…what it was. I’d honestly watch it again, I would. It’s something you want to share with others and be a part of, yourself. I joked with my friends that it might very well be “the Eighth Wonder of the World” but there is some loose-knit truth in that. It is a wonder. Fourteen years and still, people flock to it. They probably always will.

Where to begin my thoughts on The Disaster Artist. I was really impressed. I didn’t know what to expect going in—most everyone these days knows of Tommy Wiseau and his disasterpiece, The Room. If they haven’t seen it, they’ve at least heard of it, and if they haven’t heard of it, then they probably know someone who does.

There were so so many ways this movie could have gone wrong—everything from the humor to the narrative to Wiseau’s portrayal. I haven’t seen James Franco in a movie for some time, and I go up and down with his performances. I was a bit nervous when I heard he’d be portraying Wiseau, but the trailer looked promising (and admittedly I do find Franco attractive) so I figured I’d at least give him the benefit of doubt. Plus, I really wanted to see both Franco brothers on-screen, together. They didn’t disappoint! Nor did they read on-screen as brothers at all. Which is something I wondered about—if an audience member going into a movie knowing the co-stars were siblings would see them as such, regardless of the role. I didn’t, and I’m really fortunate I didn’t because these two gave quite the performance. Especially James.

Don’t get me wrong, Dave did a fantastic job as well; I genuinely felt his empathy and frustration towards his relationship with Wiseau and his career and the chaotic whirlwind around him. I’ve never read The Disaster Artist but I am definitely thinking about doing so, now.

James though, wow. I’ve never seen him in a role like this, ever. The dedication and commitment to this performance and this man practically oozed from him on-screen. He didn’t entirely look like Tommy Wiseau but he didn’t have to; everything else was spot-on. Biopics (can I call this a biopic?) can be tricky things: sometimes you feel for the person from whom the characters draw inspiration, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you understand their pain and passion, sometimes you don’t. This movie, however? I really felt for both Wiseau and Sestero. They read like real people chasing after dreams they didn’t quite know how to reach but wanted to, desperately. That’s a feeling I myself know well and I was pleasantly surprised by how strongly that part of me resonated with the film. Nothing felt cliché or threadbare; it was all very real…and real is not something I see often from Hollywood, these days. I mean, the first trailer on its own looked promising but trailers can be so deceiving, I didn’t want to get my hopes up beyond a certain point.

Thinking about it, I’m wondering if I in part felt that passion from the film because Franco’s own bled into it. From what I’ve seen, he was pretty invested in adapting not only the book but telling Wiseau’s story. If that was the case, it worked. It worked really well (what is that called? Method acting? Haha…)

This movie also had a fair amount of humor sprinkled in through the drama, particularly scenes involving filming The Room. Now, that could be because I’d just watched the movie for the first time, before, so everything was fresh in my head and the jokes and concerns from the “crew” as Wiseau dragged them through the process reflected thoughts my friends and I shared while watching it.  I can’t tell you how hard we all laughed during the “sex scenes.” Or, of course, the scene in the trailer.

I want to give a shout out to Seth Rogan, here. While not a major character in the film (I’d say more like “moderate”), nor in the most comedic role I’ve ever seen, he managed to be quite funny. Maybe that stems from the environment happening around him, the grounded and skeptic “wtf” voice pinned against Wiseau’s erratic eccentricities.

Also, I had no idea Efron was in the movie. At all. Not until I saw him out of character costume did I realize I’d witnessed him threatening the hell out of “Denny.” Honestly, I really loved how many recognizable actors played such small roles compared to what I usually see them in. This is especially true for the opening of the film.

I’m sure the actors featured received some pointers from Franco/the screenwriter; the way it was shot and how they spoke indicated memorized lines as opposed to interview response. That said, I’d like to think there was some individual honesty and truth in their introduction. I really do think it was the perfect opening, not only to The Room and Tommy Wiseau but the impact they both made. It may not seem like it at first but step back and think about this: how many bad movies gain such infamous status among superstars/well known Hollywood personas? Aesthetically, the scene was lovely as well. Sometimes all you need is flat lighting and a black backdrop to garner attention. An interesting choice, too, to go the ‘non-fiction’ route; normally I only see that in documentaries. I definitely think it added to the film as opposed to hurt it. I will say at first I wasn’t sure if these actors were playing characters or not—I figured by the time Kevin Smith showed up, they weren’t (super glad to see him included, by the way. He would be the kind of guy to talk to about a movie like this!)

Also loved the throwback to Malcolm in the Middle and Bryan Cranston. I know it was in there for a reason but the nostalgic in me still associates Cranston with that show. He’ll always be Hal to me and it was kind of nice to see, on-screen…even if it was a source of conflict for Dave/Greg and a could-have-been turning point in his own career. That hurt, that scene. I wanted so badly for Greg to take that chance, as someone who is very self-motivated and ambitious and can, at times, feel anchored by certain relationships. That said, I understand loyalty to friends and how tough it can be on the heart. On the one hand, you feel for them, maybe even hurt for them. On the other...you see the disaster before the train derails and it’s so hard not to leap off the tracks. I admire Greg’s decision, I do. It shows what kind of guy he is, I think, and more importantly, what kind of friend. I couldn’t help but wonder what his life might be life if he had taken that job…if he’s happy, being a part of this legacy or if there’s something more he wanted, out of reach, because.

Jumping tone for a minute here, my favorite part of the movie by far was the shot-for-shot remake scenes of The Room. Not only were the lines on par, but costume and direction, down to the smallest gesture: like heads tilting back or the way a character smiled. Most of these scenes weren’t even part of the narrative—they weren’t included during the “screening” part of the movie. You’ve really got to love something to take that much time and effort, and pay such attention to detail.

Maybe it’s just me but I feel all of this really speaks to not only the impression The Room has made on the world but also Wiseau’s own self-view. Like…that he marches to his own beat, or seems to, and these actors, however famous they are, aren’t untouchable. He can be like them and achieve what they did. Which is funny because—and I was talking about this to my friends—he kind of did. Everything in the movie, what he said and aspired to be, as Franco or otherwise, came true. He did achieve his dream, and his movie put him on an unforgettable map. Hollywood actors watch and talk about The Room (from the interviews I’ve seen, anyway.)  It’s become a phenomena, a movie so bad it’s actually good; even I’d watch it again and I can’t say that about any other bad movies I’ve seen.

One last thing: make sure you stay until the end of the credits. If you haven’t heard why, just take my word for it~