#and then Taika kept it after filming :(((

[poison-into-positivity]

gypsy taylor confirmed that the teal morning after robe was the one piece of clothing of Stede’s that Ed didn’t burn and kept as “some little memory of Stede” i am going to be SICK

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

01/26/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Renew As A Crew/Hoist The Ads; Cast & Crew Sightings; Queerties; Twitter Watch parties; Articles; Reasons to keep fighting; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonights Taika;

== Renew As A Crew / Hoist The Ads ==

Tumblr Post / Twitter Post /Instagram Post

Link to vote

==Cast & Crew Sightings==

While the sighting hasn't occurred yet... looks like Vico Ortiz, Nathan Foad, and Con O'Neill will all be attending Galaxy Con in San Jose on August 16-18, 2024 at the San Jose Mcenery Convention Center. Tickets available now. Src: _irene_adler on IG

One thing to note.. Chaos dad has been pretty consistent about reaching out every 3 days-ish lately.. I'm interested to see if tomorrow he shows up again. Just a theory.

== Queerties ==

If you're down, please vote for the Queerties each day! If you want to just vote for OFMD categories, feel free to visit: TV Comedy Best TV Performance Wanna help another Taika/Rhys verse Queertie? Vote for Kaimana for Best Film Performance in Next Goal Wins!

==Twitter Watch Parties==

Sadly, today #PirateOmens came to an end, but our friend @dandeebakes is already fast at work getting other cool Watch parties together! Please send them some love!

=HuntForThePirateHome=

HuntForThePirateHome Watch Party Starts Sunday Jan 28 at 3 PM EST, 12 PT, 8 PM GMT. Hashtags for that event are:

#HuntForThePirateHome

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

Thank you to @blueberreads for catching these trends on twitter during the Pirate Omens watch, definitely kept engagement up.

==LubeAsACrew==

#LubeAsACrew is back on 1/31/24 at 4PM PT, 1PM ET. Next up are S1 Episodes 5, 6, 7.

== How To Help ==

How To Help Save OFMD Task List - US How to Help Save OFMD Task List - Outside US

==Articles==

15 Things We’ll Miss About ‘Our Flag Means Death’

2024’s Canceled Shows, for Your Final Consideration

Relisting The Guardian's article from yesterday because they've opened comments, and it can help with engagement so feel free to comment on it now!

Also, @itsmfgames Has been kind enough to be keeping up a running list of Articles about the campaigns -- so if you have the time and want to go catch up on some articles, please checkout the guide below and visit this google doc for the list! It's been added to the Daily Renewal List for both US and Outside-US, so feel free to check it out there as needed.

== Reasons to Keep Fighting ==

Throwing in some great points from our tumblr folks regarding the cancellation that really helped me feel pumped today.

@celluloidbroomcloset's Our Flag Means Death was cancelled because it’s gay.

@queerly-autistic's break down on why Not All Fan Campaigns Are The Same.

@saltpepperbeard's reasoning for Clinging Onto Hope

@tulipseason's lovely reasons The Show Is Irreplaceable

== Love Notes ==

Alright lovelies. I have so many words to say about how great you all are, how much I love you (and I'm sure you're tired of hearing them), but I went back to work today after 7 days of being sick and now my brain is mush. So instead I'm going to put the text of one of my son's books in here because I think every one of us should feel loved like we were when we were 5.

On The Night You Were Born - By Nancy Tillman On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered, “Life will never be the same.” Because there had never been anyone like you… ever in the world. So enchanted with you were the wind and the rain, that they whispered the sound of your wonderful name. It sailed through the farmland High on the breeze… Over the ocean… And through the trees… Until everyone heard it and everyone knew of the one and only ever you. Not once had there been such eyes, such a nose, such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes. When the polar bears heard, they danced until dawn. From faraway places, the geese flew home. The moon stayed up until morning next day. And none of the ladybugs flew away. So whenever you doubt just how special you are and you wonder who loves you, how much and how far,  Listen for geese honking high in the sky. (They’re singing a song to remember you by.) Or notice the bears asleep at the zoo. (It’s because they’ve been dancing all night for you!) Or drift off to sleep to the sound of the wind. (Listen closely… it’s whispering your name again!) If the moon stays up until morning one day, or a ladybug lands and decides to stay, or a little bird sits at your window awhile, it’s because they’re all hoping to see you smile… For never before in story or rhyme (not even once upon a time) has the world ever known a you, my friend, and it never will, not ever again… Heaven blew every trumpet And played every horn On the wonderful, marvelous Night you were born

== Daily Darby / Tonights Taika ==

The gifs today are courtesy of our lovely @ofmd-ann who blesses us every day with gifs that make me swoon. Darby / Taika

Warning to all you gif makers, I'm gonna be bugging the crap out of you soon for permission to share on these recaps :P -- feel free to say no!

[londonspirit]

Inside Rita Ora and Taika Waititi’s Intimate, Never-Before-Seen Los Angeles Wedding

“She proposed to me, and I said yes instantly,” filmmaker Taika Waititi says of how he and singer-songwriter Rita Ora became engaged. While the pair first met at a barbecue in 2018 that Taika hosted at his house in L.A., it wasn’t until 2021, when they were both filming in Australia, that they began dating. Rita popped the question while the pair were on vacation in Palm Springs in the summer of 2022, and they planned an impromptu wedding to be held in Los Angeles a few weeks later, on August 4. “It wasn’t in London or in France like everyone reported,” Taika clarifies. “It was in L.A. with a small group of friends.”

“At our home!” Rita notes.

“Our address was…no, I’m just joking,” Taika says, laughing.

Over the past year, the two have gotten a kick out of the misinformation about their nuptials that has spread like wildfire across the internet. “It’s actually been quite entertaining for us to see the different stories people made up and all the while getting to keep it to ourselves,” Rita admits. “And, I love that we now get to share what really happened—and to do it on our one-year anniversary, no less!”

As far as the planning process goes, there wasn’t one: The entire event was dreamed up and executed in just two weeks. “There were about eight people there—just close friends and family, and parents on Zoom,” Taika says, noting he was particularly thrilled to have his best friend Jemaine Clement fly all the way over from New Zealand for the last-minute ceremony. “It was really us and my sister, Elena,” Rita says. “Elena to the rescue!”

The bride wore a Tom Ford dress and Lorraine Schwartz jewels for the intimate ceremony. “Tom Ford is one of my favorite designers of all time and favorite humans in general,” Rita says. “He’s now one of my close friends, and I adore and admire him so much. To get married in his dress was a dream come true. And because it wasn’t planned, I didn’t know if the right dress was even going to be in town, and I just took the risk and went to the Tom Ford shop, and they had it perfectly waiting with the veil, in my size, no alterations needed to be done. I mean, it was like it was meant to be, to be honest. And it just made me so happy.”

Sami Knight styled the bride’s hair in soft, loose curls, and Anthony H. Nguyen created a natural, glowy makeup look. Meanwhile, the groom wore Brunello Cucinelli (and received a touch-up or two from Rita’s makeup artist along the way).

For the ceremony itself, the couple kept things simple. “I wore my mum’s pearls that she got married in. My sister, Elena, put [the bracelet] on my wrist. It was beautiful,” Rita says. “My sister walked me down the aisle, and it was just really simple and blissful and calm and private and fun.”

“Yeah, it was beautiful,” Taika adds. “Just having close friends and not having it too big. We didn’t have table settings or any of the stressful things that go along with weddings, and it was nice to just have it super-simple. My daughters were there, and they made everything really fun and easy: I think just because we didn’t have the pressure of having caterers and all of these things, you know, people turning up late, and all of the different moving parts.”

“I felt really peaceful actually,” Rita says. “It was almost like another day. We just all dressed up and got married.”

After the ceremony, Rita and Taika went to their friend Guy Oseary’s house for a dinner party. “He was so kind to host us at the last minute,” says Rita. “We got a group of people together, and we just had a great time!” As a surprise wedding gift from a friend, an Elvis impersonator showed up to serenade them, before everyone danced the night away to a playlist of the couple’s own making.

A year later, they both are still reveling in newlywed bliss. “It’s still working!” Taika exclaims. “I can’t believe it’s been a year.”

“Same. I can’t believe it’s been a year,” Rita says. “It feels like nothing’s changed since the day I met him at the barbecue. It just feels so good to be with my best friend.”

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week #95

“Holy Fuckalukadingdong!...” Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, a fictitious auto-biographical rock opera that was very funny in parts, original and with crazy, drugged-out music numbers. Reminding of even better musicals like ‘Spinal tap’ and worst ones like ‘Tommy’ and ‘Wayne’s world’. With Dave Grohl as Satan. Jack Black is really something else! 7/10.

🍿

5 more with Marlon Brando: 

🍿 Re-watch: Brando’s breakthrough role in A Streetcar Named Desire. Adapted by Tennessee Williams from his own most popular play, it’s a 'Masterpiece Theater’ at its best. The damaged southern belle who lost it all, brute “Polack” Stanley Kowalski, the sweltering New Orleans heat, the ‘kindness of strangers’, it’s just perfect.

🍿 Guys and Dolls is my surprising best film of the week pick! A Joseph L. Mankiewicz musical, based on the stories by Damon Runyon, it reminded me of pastel-colored Jacques Demy bonbon.

From its opening titles, to the sexy Miss Adelaide And Her Alley Kittens number, and to Brando himself singing and dancing, it kept me enchanted for 2.5 hours straight. Brando establishes many of Vito Corleone’s mannerisms in super-cool gambler Sky Masterson personality. 10/10.

🍿 The Nightcomers, a pointless Victorian Horror made a year before ‘The Godfather’. Supposedly a prequel to Henry James’ ‘The turn of the screw’. Brando speaks in a fake Irish accent, and there’s no rhyme or reason to the sadomasochism, kinky bondage, voodoo, voyeurism and murders on the screen. 2/10.

🍿 Listen to Me Marlon is a very decent biography, based on the large trove of private audio recordings that Brando saved, as part of his psychoanalysis and self-reflective growth journey. Introspective and illuminating. 7/10.

🍿 So this was another chance to re-visit the operatic The Godfather, which I’ve seen 15-20 times or more, but not in the last two years. I wish I could see it again for the first time! It’s the Golden Standard of Modern film making - a perfect metaphor for American capitalism in every way. 10/10.

🍿 

Equinox Flower, Ozu’s first color picture from 1958. A simple family drama pitting an old-fashioned father against his daughter who wants to choose her own husband. My most pleasurable film experience of the week - I must bring in more - much more - Ozu into my life! 10/10.

🍿 

2 by English director Andrea Arnold:

🍿 Cow tells about the life of Luma, one female dairy cow, living on a smaller English farm. It is my kind of documentary, without commentary or soundtrack, or dialogue, seemingly even without a point of view. it just faithfully follows cow “No. 29″ from the first scene where she gives birth, through constant milking and chewing and more births, until the inevitable day, when the farmer who took care of her all these years, brings her to a quiet corner of the barn, and coldly puts a bullet in her head. 7/10.

🍿 Her 2003 26-minutes Wasp won the Oscar for Best Live Short that year (Over Taika Waititi’s ‘2 cars, One night’ which I saw last week). It tells a painful story about a young mother with four, count them, Four, toddlers, who leaves them hungry outside a pub, while she tries to hook-up with an old flame. Like ‘Cow’, it shows and doesn’t tell, an emotional glimpse into working-class hopelessness.

🍿

Different from the Others (”Anders als die Andern”) is a 1919 silent German film, considered to be the first sympathetic portrayal of homosexuals in cinema (long before Dreyer’s ‘Michael’). For a brief two years after the war, German laws allowed this new acceptance to be shown on film.

This historic film though was destroyed by the Nazis, and only fragments of one single copy survived. The 50-minutes version on ‘Internet Archive’ relies on many static shots and Inter-titles (in English). Interesting.

🍿 

3 More with Juliette Binoche:

🍿 Re-watch: Certified copy, my 5th by Abbas Kiarostami, and his first drama shot outside of Iran. A distinct “Art film” with an intellectual bent and a structuralist enigma. A British scholar and an owner of an art gallery meet in Tuscany for a mysterious day-long drive, during which small clues of their relationship emerge. Are they married? Do they dream their interactions? What is an original and what is a copy?

🍿 Summer Hours, my 5th by Olivier Assayas. After the death of their mother, blond Binoche and her two brothers have to dispose of the mother’s estate (which includes a beautiful house in the country full of valuable art, notably two paintings by Corot). It opens on a lazy summer, in lush French surroundings, full of nostalgic memories. But like the meandering camera movements, the story gets blurred and the subtext disappears. 5/10. 🍿 “La Binoche” was only 21 when she got her first starring role in Rendez-vous, the first of her many naked and erotic explorations. She plays a determined young actress who sleeps around in Paris, while honing her acting skills. 4/10. (Photo Above)

🍿

First watch: The film that Stanley Kubrick considered to be the most terrifying movie he ever saw (even more that his own ‘Shining’), The Vanishing (Spoorloos), an ominous Dutch horror-thriller (1988 version). The story of a woman who disappears is disturbing and unpleasant. It is told realistically, without usual horror tropes of jump cuts and gore.

I’m glad that I saw it without any advance knowledge of the story, and especially the scary, truly-shocking ending. No spoilers!

🍿

“....One of Us... One of Us...”

Re-watch: Tod Browning’s cult-classic pre-code true-horror Freaks. An unsettling, stark portrayal of real sideshow geeks and mutants, with actors the likes of which were never seen before, Siamese twins, dwarf siblings, “pinheads”, a bearded lady, armless and legless men.. Grotesque and exploitative of 'people with disabilities’ on the surface, it is still a compassionate exposure of the poor souls.

🍿 

The best thing about the new, superficial Don’t Worry, Darling is that it was mostly an all-women production. But in itself it was just a shallow re-telling of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ mixed with an updated ‘Stepford Wives’. The subjugated housewives living in a 1950′s Scientology-cultish Company Town was unoriginal and redundant. And then they tacked-on a ‘simulation’ angle which was even less interesting. 3/10.

🍿 

3 bizarre shorts:

🍿 The Turtle's Head (2014), my first by Ari Aster. A weirdly-balanced, absurd 14-min. short about a private dick a-la Sam Spade / Philip Marlowe, except that he’s a sleazy, old horndog and all he cares about is kinky sex. That is, until his dick starts shriveling. 5/10. 🍿 Happiness, by the amazing Steve Cutts. A brutal look at our modern world. All his videos are dark, apocalyptic, dystopian. 

🍿 The Bellies (2009) by Philippe Grammaticopoulos, a strange tale about a fat businessman who eats giants garden snails.

🍿 

"Dildoes! Anal intercourse!” 

The Witches of Eastwick, basically a mid-80′s Jack Nicholson male fantasy of sleeping with Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon at the same time. This disappointing horny little devil tried to play it as a pseudo-"Feminist” cautionary tale, and also on a Disneyfied Witches Brew trope, but didn’t translate. 2/10. (Photo Above).

🍿

Matinee, my first (and definitely my last) film by Joe Dante. Nuclear fears + B-movies of the 50′s + Cuban Missile Crisis + mad scientist mutation tropes = Fake 1962 nostalgia schlock. So badly-made it was hard to stay awake. 1/10.

I saw it only because the film-within-a-film Mant from it looked OK. But the rest wasn’t.

🍿  

The good nurse, based on a ‘true crime’ story of a male nurse who killed dozens, and possibly hundreds, of patients in New Jersey. Not my type of movie to watch, but it was directed by Danish Tobias Lindholm, who co-wrote some of Thomas Vinterberg’s movies (’The hunt’, ‘Another round’, 'The commune’) so it was directed in a slow-burn, un-sensational style. 4/10.

🍿 

So-Bad-I-Couldn’t-Finish-It-film:

The new, tired rom-com Ticket to Paradise. I thought that George Clooney sold his Tequila company for $1 billion, but he still need to take roles in empty, uninspired dreck like this? I gave it 58 min., which was at least half an hour more than it deserved.

🍿

(My complete movie list is here)

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

I wanna talk about the fact that Ragnarok seems to confused the concepts of "change" and "atonement" Like, Thor you realize all those Jötunns you killed are still dead, right? Did you guys do anything after Loki almost blew their up? Also I wouldn't say Odin changed so much as lied about how he got all his swag.

You know one thing that is not discussed and no one in the movie ever acknowledges? That all the weapons in the vault were destroyed along with Asgard which means the Casket of Ancient Winters is gone which means Jotunheim is doomed.

Ever since Odin took their Casket the realm started withering away and we all saw the state it was in when Thor, Loki and the rest arrived there. With the Casket they still had a chance but now that it's gone they will die alone and forgotten, something akin to what happened to the dark elves after Bor attacked them and poisoned the air and soil (and Thor murdered the last of them in TDW). Two realms completely dead and two species removed from existence.

And did you, at any point, hear Taika ever talk about that? Even when he kept saying that the movie was supposedly 'anti-imperialist' and that he was so proud to have made a film that tackled such an important issue... did you see any of that addressed in the movie? Nope.

The Jotuns killed by Thor are long forgotten, the fact that Loki is one of them is irrelevant because it only matters that he's a silly backstabber and the woman who spent decades committing genocide under Odin's rule is now slaving innocent people to be sold to the Grandmaster, something that is never talked about as if their lives didn't mean anything and she was entirely justified in her actions because she was struggling emotionally.

I hate that the supposed atonement only comes by killing people off, blaming Hela for everything and having Asgard destroyed. What are the characters learning at that point? Are they even learning at all? Yes, Taika took basically everything from them but that's so unsatisfying.

I wanted Thor to realize his father had been wrong, that his brother had been the victim of discrimination and racism that runs deeply in the heart of all the Asgardians, I wanted some accountability and for them to take responsibility. But instead of all that Marvel went the easy route: let's take everything from them and call it growth. But that's not enough.

[lovelyyy-luna]

fate {pt.2}

fandom: taika waititi x fem! reader

fic summary: new to the film industry the reader ends up head over heels for a certain Hollywood star Taika Waititi

chapter summary: taika asks the reader on a date, but she starts over-thinking. She gets locked in the bathroom, but he talks her down and helps her through it.

pronouns: she/her 

warning: overthinking?

word count: 1599

date: 

PART 1 | PART 2 |

masterlist

You both linger in the door frame and then you break it by yawning. “Well you need to get some sleep, gorgeous,” he takes your hand in his and kisses it without breaking eye contact.

He then walks straight across to where the other room is.

You were very confused, “Taika what are you doing?”

“What? Didn't I mention I was in the room right across from you?” The door opened and he smiled at you.

You laughed at the situation and went back into your room smiling.

Fate sure did have a way of making things obvious.

When he left, you went straight to bed. Even in your dreams, he was there.

You woke up to a light but rapid knock on your door.

You got up from your bed and looked through the peephole. It was someone that worked at the hotel. You open the door slightly.

“Morning, miss, I have your room service,” he said.

“I'm sorry, but I didn't order room service.”

“Oh well, maybe it was your boyfriend? It was a man on the phone who made the order.”

“I don't have a-” you were cut off from the door across from you opening.

“Sorry gorgeous, I didn't know what you wanted, but you look like a person who likes waffles,” Taika said.

You smiled at him and told the employee to put it in your room.

“Do you want to have breakfast with me?” you ask.

“Thought you'd never ask” he smiled at you and walked into your room. He tipped the guy, and both of you hopped on the bed.

The food he chose was excellent. The waffles were fluffy, and the bacon was crispy.

You put a movie on in the background, and when the two of you were done, he set the plates outside your door. When he came back, it looked like he was trying to speak, but he couldn't get the words out, and then he just blurted out.

“Have you ever been to the Santa Monica Pier?”

“Um yeah, I've been a couple of times.”

“Oh well, I wondered if you wanted to go with me,” he started rambling on, and you've never seen him nervous. It was pretty cute.

You stood up from the bed and calmly grabbed his hand, “Taika, I'd love to go. How about we get ready? I still need to check out, so I'll meet you downstairs in the lobby?”

“Sounds perfect, gorgeous,” he kissed your cheek and left your room.

You stood there for a moment in shock. Did he just kiss you? Are you about to go on a date with Taika Waititi?

After a few minutes of just trying to process what had happened, you slowly went to the bathroom and started the shower.

You put on some music and got in. Once you were done, you dried your hair, washed your face, and got some clothes on.

You started to pack your bag, and once you were done, you put your bag outside your door and did a quick once over of your room, hoping you didn't forget anything.

You headed to the elevator, and once you were in, you pressed the button to the lobby, and then the doors opened, and you walked towards the front desk.

The checkout was painless, and now you were just waiting for Taika.

You were shaking your leg up and down; you were nervous. The same thing kept going in your head, ‘was this a date?’

Then the elevator door dings, and you focus back to reality.

He looks at you, smiles, and goes to the counter. He was done, and you stood up, and before you could grab your bag, he held it like the gentleman he was.

You both head out, and he has the valet grab his car.

“Do you need to get your car?” he asks.

“Oh no. I didn't drive here; I just ubered. I live in the area.”

“Oh, nice. Do you want me to drive to your place to drop your bags off or go straight to the pier?”

“We can just go straight to the pier,” you said quickly because you didn't want him to see your place. It was a shitty LA apartment that was too small and cost way too much to live there.

“What? You don't want me to see your palace?’

“Um, it's just a mess, and it's out of the way. I wouldn't want you to waste gas.”

“Nonsense, we’ll just drop your bags off, so we don't have to worry about them being in the car.”

You both got in the car, and he started driving. You didn't want him to see your place, but he persisted.

You gave him the address, and once you pulled up, you told him to wait in the car.

He did so, and you got your bag out, walked up the stairs to the second floor, and opened your door. You put your luggage on the bed in your living room because your palace was considered a studio. You then grabbed your small back and put your everyday things in it.

“Wow,” his voice echoed, scaring you half to death.

“What are you doing here? I told you to wait in the car.”

“I know. I just wanted to see your place, and it is amazing. I love all these little knickknacks. And wow, you have a lot of plants and posters- oh my god, is that me?” you look at what he was pointing at, and it is a promo poster of him for What We Do In The Shadows.

Your face was beet red, “oh um yeah, it is. Let's go,” you grabbed his arm, but he didn't budge when you tried to pull him away.

“Hey, what's the rush? Why don't you want me to see the rest of your place?”

You take a deep breath, “It's just that you're rich and famous and live in a multi-million dollar mansion in the hills, and I live in a shitty apartment in the part of LA that is being gentrified. We are just two different people, and you should just go.”

And just like that, you got in your head ruining everything like you always do. You brought tears to your eyes and quickly walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind you and sitting on the closed toilet seat.

You always do this. When something good comes around, you always ruin it because you think you don't deserve it. You deserve it; it's just hard to tell your brain that.

“Y/N, please open the door. I'm sorry if I offended you,” he tried jiggling the doorknob, “please open it.”

You sniffle, “It's not locked. The door just gets jammed sometimes,” you get up and try to open it, but it is stuck. You wanted to open it with all your might, and so did he, but it wouldn't budge.

You lean against the door and sink to the floor, and he does the same.

“I'm sorry, Taika. Sometimes I just get up in my head and mess things up,” you said, sniffling.

“You didnt fuck anything up, Y/N. I know things in this industry are too much, but when im with you, I forget about all of that and feel like a normal person.”

You slide your fingers under the gap in the doorway, and he grazes his fingers on yours.

“Um, Taika, I really don't want to ruin this moment, but this door is really jammed,” you say lightly, chuckling.

You can hear him get up from the other side of the door, “Okay, let me try jiggling the handle again.”

He tried, and nothing happened.

“Um, go into my kitchen and get a butter knife in the drawer near the fridge,” you say.

He raids your kitchen and finds a butter knife. He puts the knife between the door and where the lock is.

After a few minutes again, nothing happened, “Um, Y/N, the knife is stuck in the door.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I've got an idea. Back away from the door.”

“Taika, I know what you're thinking. Just call maintenance or something.”

“I've got this all under control, gorgeous. Just back away.”

You go back into the bathtub, and then all you hear from the other side is Taika psyching himself up. Then with one swift kick to the door, it opens, and there are splinters of wood in the hair.

Seeing him doing that was, in all honesty, really attractive. You've never had anyone do that for you. He stood there in the door frame, breathing heavily.

He was looking at you, and you were looking at him. You walked over to him without breaking eye contact and hugged him. It probably wasn't something he was expecting, but even though you had known him for a literal day, you wanted to take your time with whatever this was.

You both decided not to go to the pier and go to Home Depot for a new door. It was his treat, and so you went door shopping.

You were walking down the aisle and trying to find the cheapest door, and you did. 

On the drive back to the apartment, you were listening to music, and you were getting hungry, and Taika knew and took you to one of his favorite food spots, Pinks Hot Dogs.

It was a rare occasion that it was almost empty. You both sat outside, and he ordered for you, he told you to trust him, and you did.

The sun was already setting, and it was a great atmosphere. You scooched closer to him once you were finished and put your head on his shoulder. It was just peaceful.

Then the moment was ruined when some people came up to the two of you asking for pictures and autographs.

He politely told them to leave, but you insisted that he please his fans.

You smiled at him taking the photos and talking to them. 

Whatever this was, you knew that it wouldn't be a normal relationship. Because this is Hollywood and the hills have eyes.

PART 1 | PART 2 |

♡please like comment and/or reblog♡ wanna be tagged? (X)

forever tags: // @fandomxreader // @mrspetxrs // @a-astxr // @alexxavicry // @livingandlivid // @goldenhxurs // @lovelyy-moonlight //

taika waititi tags: // @viago-lestrxde //

fate tags: // @viago-lestrxde // @real-actual-human-person // @a-queen-and-her-throne // @lostsoldieronahill // @quackcity67 //

[handsomelyhiddleston]

Sticky Notes - Tom Hiddleston x Reader

It all started on the set of Ragnarok. They hadn’t even started filming yet. Table reads, choreography, costume fittings, set development…The cast, crew, and even Taika started finding little notes.

Some were specifically to certain people…

“Your laugh is contagious. Thank you for making this set so down to earth and inviting.” You slipped that into Taika’s (the director’s) fanny pack when he left it on his director’s chair.

“I know how hard you’ve been working on your fight choreography, and I just wanted to let you know you absolutely killed it today!” You left that stuck to Tessa’s (Valkyrie’s) water bottle.  

Some you posted for everyone, like “I know that you all put such amazing effort and time into bringing this movie to life and I just want you all to know that it doesn’t go unnoticed.” That note was posted above a table full of ‘easy to grab’ snacks you laid out such as protein bars, fruit snacks, pretzels, and dried fruit.

This continued well into filming. Everyone had tried to figure out who was leaving these little daily encouragements. It got to the point that Taika started calling you Casper, as in “Casper the Friendly Ghost.” Every day at the start of filming he would say. “Come on guys. Let’s make Casper proud.”

Everyone had a theory. Most thought that it was actually Taika just trying to keep morale up. Taika accused Tom but took it back after some comment about the notes not sounding very British.

Your job on set was to cast extras. While you were present daily, you honestly only had to meet with Taika once or twice a day to make sure the next day’s cast extras were ready. You two fell into an easy rhythm working together and he started asking for your opinion on some other aspects of the set. One late afternoon, after an incredibly chaotic day of filming, Taika decided that he was going to scrap the entire scene and start it over.

He pulled out his phone and sent a text to you, Tom, and Chris. “Today can suck it. I’ve just watched the dailies, and something just isn’t right about that scene. Meet at mine in 30 so we can get ahead of it.” A few seconds later he added, “And for the love of God, someone bring some tequila.”

You laughed at his text, jogging to the trailer you shared with the other casting director. You changed into a pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt and grabbed your keys and wallet. You jumped in your car so you could make a quick trip to the Starbucks down the street since it appeared it was going to be a long night.

“One Venti iced coffee with milk and 1 sugar, one Grande Americano hot with cream and 2 sugars, one Venti hot latte with vanilla, and one Venti hot water with two earl gray tea bags and four sugars on the side. Can I also get one of the small kid’s milk boxes?” You heard the barista repeat your order back and pulled forward and paid.

When you got to Taika’s trailer, Tom and Chris were already there.

“Oh, bless you” Taika thanked you, taking the Latte from you.

“You’re the best” Chris said, taking the lid off of the Americano so it would cool off a bit.  

“Tom, I grabbed you tea.” You handed him the hot water and two tea bags, setting the sugars and milk next to him so he could make it to his liking.

“You’re too kind” Tom graciously took the hot water from you, noting that you grabbed his favorite kind of tea.

In Taika’s trailer there was a table with a bench on each side. Chris and Tom were sat on one side, leaving a space for you to sit next to Taika.

“Anyone grab the tequila?” you laughed, dropping your keys and wallet on Taika’s counter and sitting at the table with your iced coffee.

Taika grabbed the bottle and sat it down in front of you. “You’re already two swigs behind, love.”

“Bullshit” you laughed. “Prove it. Where are the shot glasses?”

“I said swigs, not shots” Taika smirked. “We don’t have shot glasses.”

“Look at how much is missing from that bottle. I just bought it.” Hemsworth backed Taika up.

You looked at Tom, knowing he would be honest with you.

“Hey, you trust Tom more than me?” Taika pretended to be offended.

“Tom always looks out for everybody. I don’t think he’d let me get two shots drunker than you fools.” You teased Taika, poking his side and sticking your tongue out at him.

“Watch” Taika said, putting his arm around your shoulders and looking towards Tom. “How many swigs did we all take?”

Tom laughed, “I’m sorry darling, but he’s telling you the truth.”  

“Fine, fine.” You opened the bottle and took three swigs, handing it to Taika. “Catch up, then.”

Tom started thinking about the compliment you had given him as he took his third swig of Tequila. He felt flattered that you felt that way, but it also reminded him of one of the notes he had found stuck to his trailer door.

“Okay, we need to re-block this whole scene. It just did not translate from script to screen…” The four of you worked on a few line changes and mapped out a better way to execute the scene for over two hours.

There was a bit of dialogue that Taika felt was getting lost that he really just didn’t want to let go of. “We may just have to mess with this tomorrow while we’re filming.”

“Or you could have Loki say it instead of Thor.” You suggested.

“Could do.” You could tell that Taika was thinking it over.

“Here you have Thor immediately going into another hard-hitting line” you explained. “If that line comes from Loki, it makes it less likely to get lost.”

“I think that will fix this problem too” Chris started underlining other parts of the dialogue.

“What do you think?” Taika looked at Tom.

“I mean, I personally think Loki has already evolved enough at that point in the script that it suits him quite nicely.” Tom explained in a way only Tom can explain.

“I agree” you said. “You guys make Loki grow quite a bit in this film and as usual, Tom is hitting it out of the park. I’m 100% confident he will have conveyed that message to the audience by this point.”

“Thank you for your vote of confidence.” Again, Tom was flattered. However, he was growing more and more suspicious that you were Casper.

“Always” you replied, smiling at Tom as you finished your coffee.

“Let me type this up and we can table read it.” Taika grabbed the papers and went to the other side of the trailer where his computer was set up.

“While you do that, I’m going to steal your restroom for a moment.” Chris stood, throwing his empty coffee cup away and closing the bathroom door. Chris joined Taika a moment later.

“Y/n?” Tom said, kind of quietly.

“What’s up?” Your elbows were resting on the table with your chin sat on your hands.

“Can I ask you something?” Tom didn’t want to bring it up in front of anyone. He didn’t want the notes to stop, but he had to know.

Tom looked a bit serious, but you didn’t know why. “Of course.”

“Are you…” He stopped, reaching his hand into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet. “Is this you?”

Your eyes went wide as Tom pulled a small stack of pink sticky notes out of his wallet, laying them down next to each other. There must have been 10 of them in total. You were touched that he actually kept them. Sometimes you felt silly leaving them for people not knowing if they appreciated them. You tried to play it off, laughing. “I thought those were from Taika?”

He pointed at one of them, reading it quietly. “I tried the tea you always drink. I don’t think it could ever replace my love of coffee, but I wanted you to know it pairs well with a good book.” He pointed to another note. “I know you paid for everyone to Uber home after our last night out. I just wanted to tell you I appreciate you. Thank you for always looking out for us.” You could feel his eyes on you as he moved his hand to a third note. “I envy your ability to capture a room. You’ve got an amazing knack for making those watching you feel whatever emotion you’re trying to convey.” When Tom’s hand moved to the fourth note, you heard Taika’s printer turn on.

“Put them away” you said, trying to stack them quickly. Chris started walking towards you and you grabbed the small stack you had gathered and put them in your pocket.

Tom put the rest back in his wallet. “What do you think?” he asked Taika about the changes he had made.

“I think tomorrow is going to be a lot fuckin’ better.” He passed the printed copies around after joining the two of you back at the table.

Tom’s line went over great, and the dialogue flowed much more smoothly. All of the other changes made the scene feel more natural. When Taika called it a night, Chris laid down on the couch refusing to go back to his own trailer.

“Can I walk you to yours?” Tom asked as you stepped out of Taika’s trailer.

The two of you walked back to your trailer in comfortable silence, tired and a little drunk. When you got to the door, you turned around and pulled the pink notes out of your pocket.

“Please don’t tell anyone?” You placed the notes in Tom’s hand.

“I didn’t plan on it” he replied, tucking them neatly back into his wallet.

“I feel silly now that someone knows it was me. Why did you keep them?” You had to ask. You assumed, at most, that people read them, smiled, and threw them away.

“Hmm…” Tom laughed humorlessly, his eyes focused on his wallet. “I think you’re doing a lot more than you realize when you leave your ‘silly’ little notes.”

His response caught you off guard. He almost sounded…sad? Serious?

“Y/n, I’ve had to work with actors and crew that have made filming a project miserable. Whether they were rude or critical or just an absolute diva, there is always someone to bring the room down.” He put his wallet away and looked you in the eyes. “I wish you knew how many of us have kept these notes. Taika has them in the glovebox of his car. The catwalk above the set is covered in notes you’ve left the crew. They’re stuck all over the mirrors in the make-up trailer so that the cast sees them first thing in the morning.”

Your eyes went wide. “What?”

Tom put his hands on each of your arms as if to ensure you were paying attention. “An encouraging word or a genuine compliment can change someone’s entire day, y/n. You have no way of knowing what life has dealt any of these people. They could be depressed or stressed out or wishing they hadn’t woken up that morning…and all of a sudden they receive a tiny bit of kindness from someone and it makes it that much easier to get through another day. Maybe even with a smile on their face.”

Tom wore a soft smile and even though you felt a bit overwhelmed, you couldn’t help but smile back. “Thank you for telling me that.” You moved towards him, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Please don’t forget it.” Tom pulled back a bit and pressed a quick kiss to your cheek. “I hope you get a good night’s sleep.”

“You, too.” You watched Tom walk away before slipping into your shared trailer.

Over the next few weeks, Tom had left you multiple green sticky notes with compliments written on them.

“You looked stunning yesterday”

“Thank you for still being a good listener when I go on rants about things you couldn’t care less about”

“Taika was bragging about you to someone on the phone. I just wanted you to know. I know sometimes you hesitate to suggest your ideas, but you shouldn’t.”

“I appreciate how much time you spend making this a better set to work on.”

“You are an incredible friend.”

You’d find at least one note a day and for every note he left you, you’d leave one for him. The two of you got quite a bit closer after he found out about your secret. You’d spend breaks on set together and often times wound up back in Taika’s trailer with him and Chris. You cuddled and flirted and shared more than a few loving glances, but you never went any further. It felt like it was turning into something more, but Tom was such a gentleman you couldn’t tell.

The note you found this morning, however, completely caught you off guard. The filming was almost done and everyone’s time on set was almost over. You had just sat down next to the director’s chair and opened your laptop. There, stuck to the screen, was a green sticky note. “Darling, would you please be mine?”

You looked up at Tom on stage only to find him already looking at you. He lifted his brow and tilted his head, waiting for your response. You couldn’t help but smile as you nodded ‘yes’.

Taika looked between you, noticing the interaction and intentionally teasing you. “Oi, what’s this then?”

Tom turned, trying to hide his grin by talking to Chris. You closed your laptop to hide the sticky note.

“Nah, I saw you two. Don’t pretend like I’m crazy.” Taika was still looking back and forth between you and Tom.

“Maybe you’re still drunk from last night” you teased, putting your laptop in its bag so you could retrieve the note later.

“Oh, sure.” He dropped it, knowing he’d bring it up tonight when you all gathered in his trailer.

The rest of the filming flew by crazy fast. You and Tom had decided that you would go stay with him in New York until the press junkets and interviews started. When the premier rolled around, you two were already publicly dating so you got to escort him down the red carpet. It had been just over a year since the two of you had started dating.

As the credits for the film started rolling, you felt like you were walking down memory lane. So many people go into making movies of this scale and watching all of the names roll by, one by one, really puts that into perspective. You’d met almost all of these people and worked closely with quite a few of them. As the credits came to an end, you saw that Taika had added an extra credit.

The last few “SPECIAL THANKS” credits were in order as listed…

“The filmmakers acknowledge the assistance of the New Zealand Government’s Screen Production Grant”

“The filmmakers would like to acknowledge the Yugambeh and Bundjalung Peoples of Australia”

“The director would like to thank ‘Casper’, Ragnarok’s own personal friendly ghost”

It had been a year since you’d written one of those notes and it caught you off guard. Tom put his arm around your shoulders, pressing a kiss to your temple. “I told you.”

You and Tom mingled amongst your friends at the after party. Taika was flying. He was so happy with how it turned out and grateful for such a positive response. Everyone in the cast was telling stories from filming and catching up with their friends. By the time you two got back to your hotel room, you were blissfully tipsy and exhausted. You slipped out of your dress and threw on a baggy t-shirt before washing your face and getting ready for bed. When you left the bathroom, you saw Tom sitting on the edge of the bed in his pajamas with a soft, warm smile gracing his beautiful face. He was wearing his glasses and his hair was a mess and he could not have been more attractive if he tried.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, pulling you to stand between his legs.

“Pretty good. How about yourself?” you put your arms around his neck and pressed your lips to his.

“I think there’s only one thing that could make me happier in this moment.” He answered.

You thought he was being a bit cheeky, so you replied with, “oh, yeah? I wonder what that could be.”

Tom reached behind him on the bed and pulled out a small box with a worn, green sticky note on top of it. He didn’t say anything, letting you read it. It was the same note he had left stuck to your laptop screen. “Darling, would you please be mine?” Only now the word “forever” was written at the bottom.

[mirkwoodest]

Universal truths in boy's own adventure

By MICHAEL BODEY THE AUSTRALIAN 12:00AM AUGUST 25, 2010

TAIKA Waititi is still pinching himself at the success of his second film, Boy.

He concedes New Zealand films don't do as well on their home turf "as, I imagine, many Australian films don't do crazily well".

Boy doesn't exactly scream "hit", being a coming-of-age story set in 1984 on NZ's rural east coast and starring an unknown 11-year-old.

But Waititi's film is the highest grossing local film in NZ history. Its box-office take to date of $NZ9.3 million ($7.4m) surpasses Once were Warriors and The World's Fastest Indian, both of which earned more than $NZ7m.

"In my head I thought around $NZ2m would be nice, twice what my last film [Eagle vs Shark] made, and it's just kept going and going," Waititi notes.

"The feedback and response by local audiences is something none of us really expected."

Boy has been a success because New Zealanders want to see themselves on screen, but its tone is more tragicomic, self-deprecating and relaxed than audiences are used to. It focuses on universal themes of family and the insecurity, clumsiness and wonder of growing up.

James Rolleston is the Boy, a Michael Jackson-obsessed kid living on a farm with his Gran. He idolises his father, Alamein (played by Waititi), a man he imagines is a deep-sea diver, a war hero and a relative of Jackson.

The reality is underwhelming: his itinerant and unreliable dad has been "in the can" for robbery and is little more than a rebel biker without a cause.

"Anyone who has a parent can relate to this idea of not quite understanding who your parents are or making up stories about them," Waititi says.

"Then there are the realities of who they are and their secrets and [realising] they're not superhuman human beings."

Global audiences understand the film, he adds, even if some are surprised to discover it's not a family movie. A Hawaiian festival director programmed the film before seeing it. "Halfway through he asked me, 'Just out of curiosity, is there much more swearing or violence?' "

Australians will find Boy sweet, raucous and lovably NZ, with its recognisable cultural references, language and intonations. It won the audience awards at the Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival this year.

The film upends certain cliches about NZ cinema globally, although Waititi is still smarting from one US review, in trade newspaper Variety, that accused it of misrepresenting Maori culture.

"[The reviewer] almost took it personally that there weren't ghosts and people in villages riding whales," Waititi says.

Waititi played against local expectations, too, after winning an Academy Award nomination for the short film Two Cars, One Night. "Essentially that was a dramatic short and people assumed after that I would go down the drama road and make typical New Zealand films, dark films about kids who die," he says.

"So I ended up moving away from that and trying to inject some quirkiness and comedy. Maori get pigeonholed into the idea they're spiritual and telling stories like Whale Rider and Once were Warriors, quite serious stuff, but we're pretty funny people and we never really have had an opportunity to show that side of ourselves, the clumsy, nerdy side of ourselves, which is something I am."

Waititi is something more than clumsy and nerdy. The 35-year-old has a background in painting and photography, having exhibited in Wellington and Berlin. His acting and comedy emerged on the side, as he performed with mates including Flight of the Conchords's Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, directed episodes of their US series and gave popular stand-up comedy shows. The semi-autobiographical Boy was the first, tentative screenplay he wrote as he mulled the prospect of being able to move from shorts to feature films.

"I kind of freaked out a bit, I didn't want to leap into it because the transition between short films and feature films is the same as short stories and novels," Waititi explains. "Some people just can't write a novel and some people can't make a feature film, it's just the way it is sometimes. Maybe I couldn't have made a feature film."

Now that one's settled, Waititi is in the enviable position of being able to juggle directing and acting. He has just finished filming a performance in the big-budget studio superhero film, Green Lantern, and expects a sequel to follow.

"Yeah, for my film work I'm in a good position in New Zealand. I could probably make my next film pretty easily," he says with honest understatement. "You're always fine until you stumble and then obviously it becomes harder. The acting thing crept up. I'm not sure how much attention I'll give it.

"I'm lucky my main job now is filmmaking, so it's not like I'm rushing off to LA to do all these auditions and desperately trying to be an actor.

"I think I'm a better filmmaker than actor, so I already know that. That's OK, I can handle not being a famous actor."

He remains unsure whether he can sustain himself as a filmmaker in NZ, even though he doesn't appear particularly rushed to take up any international offers.

He believes he can remain in NZ "if you don't expect what we all thought was the high life of a film director in the 90s when people were being paid squillions of dollars just to do anything".

The money in filmmaking has dried up; today it really is just like any other job.

"The glitz and glamour has gone and you get paid a normal wage to do a job that isn't extraordinary," he says. "So it's kind of fair. I think people were overpaid for what the job is, having fun and telling stories and getting all this cool stuff."

Waititi appreciates that the films he wants to make won't generate the fortune of blockbusters such as Green Lantern, but he doesn't want dedicate two years of his life to a project he's not passionate about.

"The stuff I'm passionate about is what I write, it isn't multi-million-dollar franchise movies," he says.

But with the success of Boy, could there be pressure to create a sequel or franchise out of its characters? Waititi looks across to Rolleston and raises an eyebrow.

"Maybe I'll just make this into a franchise, do the Truffaut thing and just keep hiring him until he's 40."

Boy is in cinemas tomorrow. SBS One screens Eagle vs Shark on Saturday.

[jazy3]

Free Guy Review

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

If you haven’t seen the movie Free Guy (2021) stop reading right now! Drop what you’re doing and go get yourself a ticket! You’ll thank me later!

I loved this movie! I saw it this weekend for the second time because it’s that good! I first saw the trailer on YouTube a while back and then when theatres reopened a few weeks ago I saw the trailer again and my interest was piqued. I had high hopes for this movie based on the fun looking trailer, the premise, the cast, and the sense of fun and escapism that the movie seemed to embody and it did not disappoint. It’s always nice when you have high hopes for something and it meets or exceeds your expectations.

Free Guy is just such a fun and joyous movie. Never taking itself too seriously, packed with lots of heart, cool cameos, full of gaming and pop culture references, and it’s fueled by a unique concept that is well executed. There are just so many things I loved about this movie! It was a ton of fun to watch and the actors clearly had a blast making it. During the movie I kept trying to figure out where I knew most of the actors from but couldn’t place them. When I got home, I googled it and I instantly realized why. The roles are just so different and the actors embody their characters so completely you lose yourself in the film and get completely sucked in. I was honestly so surprised when I figured out what I knew most of the actors from because the roles that they’re known for are so different from their characters in the movie. Their appearances, established ages, and even the accents are so different that I literally did a double take, but that’s what makes the movie so good! Because the main actors obviously didn’t need the paycheque they were just there to have fun and it shows. I think if the situation had been different and the actors involved had been desperate for money or took the role for some other reason it wouldn’t have worked. The film would have come off as cheesy, forced, cringeworthy, or just plain bad. Free Guy is none of those things. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as ‘Guy’ a bank teller in a video game called Free City, Jodie Comer whose best known for playing Villanelle in Killing Eve as programmer Millie Rusk and her avatar Molotov Girl, Joe Keery whose best known for playing Steve Harrington in Stranger Things as programmer Walter ‘Keys’ McKey, and Taika Waititi whose best known for playing Viago in What We Do in the Shadows as the Head of Soonami Studios and the film’s main antagonist and villain Antwan. Rounding out the cast are Utkarsh Ambudka as programmer Mouser and Lil Rel Howery as Guy’s best friend and bank security guard Buddy. In a nutshell, Free Guy is about a bank teller named Guy who finds out he’s a non-playable background character (NPC) in an open-world Grand Theft Auto style video game called Free City. Guy becomes the hero of his own story after meeting Millie, the girl of his dreams, and winning fans all over the world by racking up points by being the good guy and helping others. After leveling up and helping Millie escape a dangerous situation in the game, Guy wins her over and she falls for him thinking that he’s another player. But when the world that Guy knows and all of the people in it are threatened, he teams up with Millie to save his friends before it’s too late. In the real world, Millie enlists the help of her former programming partner and best friend Keys in a race against time to stop their code and all of the sentient characters from Free City from being deleted by Antwan the developer who stole their code when the game’s sequel launches. I love that the movie had a unique premise and didn’t overcomplicate things. There are so many movies that I’ve gone to see over the last few years with such excitement only to be disappointed. For example, I loved Wreck It Ralph, but was so disappointed by its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet. The trailers made it seem like it would take the premise of the first movie and move things into the online gaming world, and I was excited for that. Instead, the sequel left the premise of the first movie behind entirely and way over complicated the plot and the end result was extremely cheesy and disappointing. Free Guy’s strength is that it’s a self-aware movie made by self-aware people who are excellent at what they do. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, nor should it, and that allows the story to flow and the characters to feel real and genuine. The movie achieves that perfect balance between being entertaining and telling a cohesive and important story because while the movie never takes itself too seriously the people behind it are serious about what they do. This was very clearly a passion project for all involved, especially Ryan Reynolds, and it shows! As he’s spoken about in interviews and on Twitter, Reynolds called on a lot of his friends to be in Free Guy and help him out and the end result was fantastic! I loved all of the cameos! The Chris Evans cameo was by far the funniest and the Alex Trebek cameo got me right in the feels. When I saw the movie in theatres me and everyone else in the theatre gave a collective “awww” when he appeared on screen. Enlisting real YouTubers to show up as fictional versions of themselves to talk about Blue Shirt Guy’s popularity was a nice touch and you’ve also got blink and you miss it voice cameos by John Krasinski, Dwyane The Rock Johnson, Hugh Jackman, and Tina Fey. Channing Tatum appears as the avatar of player Revenjamin Buttons which for the most part was hilarious. One of my few criticisms of the film is that they went a bit overboard the avatar’s antics as Guy and Buddy are attempting to leave and it got bit a cringeworthy. But I know other people found it hilarious so to each their own. I love all of the little details and references in the movie. Just listing them all would be a post in itself. If you’re someone that loves pop culture references and Easter Eggs this is the movie for you. The characters are fun and believable, and you get attached to them quickly. The actors commit completely to their roles which is makes the humour, romance, and heartfelt emotion of the film work. You buy it. 100%. Something that I absolutely loved was that the characters felt realistic and that the dialogue, attire, and settings for each character really felt authentic. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a movie or TV show and walked away thinking, “The person who wrote that clearly never meet a kid, teenager, or twenty something in their life! That was so unrealistic.” The slang’s all wrong. The dialogue is so eloquent everyone sounds like they did Shakespeare in the Park last summer. You walk away thinking, “What the hell was that? No one talks that way!” What I loved about the characters in Free Guy is that they felt like real people you could actually run into or walk past on the street. I’ve read in interviews that in addition to the written dialogue the cast did a lot of ad-libbing and improvisation and the end result is both hilarious and relatable. The dialogue feels real because it is. The big exception to this of course is Antwan who is altogether off the wall and ridiculous. Antwan is such an outrageous, absurd, vulgar, and cartoonish character. He’s so fun to watch and the actors clearly had a lot of fun with his scenes! I’ve read that a lot of his lines with Keys and Mouser were improvised and I believe it. When he goes all Jack Nicholson on the servers? Lord. He’s such a great villain to watch. The characters that are established to be in their twenties like Millie, Keys, Mouser, and the other employees at Soonami Studios talk, act, and dress like they’re in their twenties. The actors that are in their forties are styled to look like they’re in their thirties and honestly, they’re in such great shape it works! I mean I was honestly shocked to find out Taika Waititi’s real age. I love how the costuming really fits each character and allows you to learn more about them. Keys’ clothing is your typical gamer chic which makes because as we learn from his interview with Millie coding is his life and what gets him up in the morning. From Mouser’s clothing we learn that he’s a sports fan, but also isn’t afraid to take risks like with that blazer ensemble he wears in his final scene at Millie’s apartment.

Millie’s clothing shows the contrast between her and her avatar Molotov Girl, and Antwan’s ridiculous coat enhances the overall wackiness of his character. Guy’s clothing tells us something too. He wears the same thing every day until he meets Millie in the game at which point, he starts deviated from his Free City programming and chooses a different blue shirt. I also really love that they put thought into why Keys needs to wear glasses. Something I noticed on rewatch is that Keys is far sighted which is why he has his glasses on when he’s looking at his laptop or computer and sometimes when’s talking to other people, but not when he goes to see Millie at her apartment or when he goes to get them coffee at the end of the movie. Another interesting aspect of Keys’ character that I noticed on rewatch is self-confidence is really something he struggles with in contrast to Millie and Mouser who are very confident. Millie is a genius programmer and Mouser is excellent at what he does, and they are both very confident in their coding abilities, but Keys isn’t despite being every bit the genius that Millie is. At the beginning of the movie when they first notice the issue with Guy Mouser jokes that Keys needs to be better at his job. In response Keys meekly says he thinks he’s pretty good at his job and trails off at the end. Mouser is just joking around, but because Keys lacks self-confidence comments like that hit him hard. Mouser is moving towards his own desk as he talks so he doesn’t notice how self-deprecating and uneasy Keys’ response is. In the interview from the indie games conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment, he brushes off the interviewers comment that he’s a genius and says Millie is the real genius because she created the AI engine and he just wrote the code to make it work. Later on, when Keys helps Millie get into the stash house, she calls him a genius and he tells her that as he’s currently sitting on a toilet stealing user code he doesn’t exactly feel like one. Millie responds offhandedly that he never does, but luckily, she knows better. When Keys realizes that Millie was right, and that Antwan did steal their code and their game worked he tells Millie they need to celebrate because once everyone sees their build she’ll be celebrated and she could win a noble prize. Both Millie and Keys are geniuses in their own right. The game wouldn’t have worked without both of their skills and Guy wouldn’t have come to life without both of them working together. Millie’s AI engine made his sentience possible, but Keys is the one who gave him hopes and dreams so that when he met Millie in the game, he came alive. When done right the settings we see tell the story just as much as the characters do and I love how realistic the settings in Free Guy look. The floor at Soonami Studios where Keys and Mouser work looks like a real office and I love that the desks have clutter and personal effects on them like real cubicles do and that they show Keys taking a box of his stuff with him as he leaves. The lobby with the moving water videos and Antwan’s massive but largely empty office fits perfectly with the obnoxious, zany, and over the top character that he is. I also love the contrast between Keys and Millie’s apartments and how those settings tell us a lot about each character and where they are in their lives when the film starts. When Keys comes home from work to find that Millie has broken in, we see that he lives in a stylish one bedroom apartment with an open concept kitchen full of stainless steel appliances, a large living room centred around an expensive wall mounted TV and entertainment system, with his computer and gaming station set up in the corner. On the walls we see artful clusters of black picture frames, through a partially open door we see a bedroom off to the side, the apartment is full of black and white furniture including a plush couch and nice lamps, and features a textured silver accent wall. All of which makes the fact that Millie managed to break in even more impressive because it is clearly an expensive apartment in a nice building. Keys’ style is minimalist and upper scale and based on what we learn about the events that took place before the start of the movie this indicates that Keys got the apartment and all of the nice stuff in it using the money he received when Antwan bought his and Millie’s game. In contrast, Millie lives in a bachelor apartment and spends her time in coffee shops ordering one single black coffee over four hours. This tells us that she kept her original apartment that she had from before the game was sold and is living off the money she got from the sale while she spends all of her time trying to find the proof she needs to win her lawsuit. When we see Millie’s place, we find that it’s cozy, full of plants, throw rugs, quilts, and comfy furniture. She’s got a bike in the corner, you can see her bed from the centre of the room where she’s got her computer and gaming station set up adjacent to the coffee table and the rest of the living room furniture. Her kitchen is smaller and full of wooden cabinets and her bathroom door has DIY multicoloured square panels on it. Keys and Millie’s apartments are very different and through these settings we see the contrast between where these characters are in their lives, their wealth, and their personal style. The song ‘Fantasy’ by Mariah Carey is featured heavily in the film and is guaranteed to get stuck in your head in the best way! Jodie Comer’s cover of it is amazing! It fits the moment where Guy makes it to the island that is Millie and Keys’ original build and shows it to the world perfectly. This movie made me appreciate Mariah Carey’s music in a whole new way and I can’t be the only way. After watching the movie, I went looking for the song on Apple Music, wound up listening to the Mariah Carey Essentials Playlist, and I’ve become obsessed. I knew some of her hits, but after listening to her music more I get why people love her so much. Her five octave vocal range is amazing, and her music is just so fun to listen to. The film has a really great soundtrack overall and I’ve had many of its song on repeat since I saw it. Something I really loved about this movie and the reveal at the end that Keys is in love with Millie and is desperate for her to notice, but she’s been oblivious the whole time is that they don’t do the supposedly nice nerdy guy whose really a jerk trope. So many movies do this where you have a nerdy male character whose unluckily love, looked over, or his love is unrequited, and we’re supposed to root for him because he’s a quote “nice guy”. But really, he’s not. He’s a jerk who feels slighted because a woman in his life doesn’t love him back or notice him and he feels as if she owes him something. The scene at Millie’s place where Millie tells Keys he looks cute when he brags, and Mouser encourages him to tell Millie how he feels is super frustrating to watch but it’s so important to Keys’ character. He asks Millie out for coffee and when she turns him down to jump back into the game, he doesn’t make a big deal about it even though Mouser wants him to. Instead he gets up and goes and gets her a coffee anyway. She goes to tell him her order, oblivious to the fact that he’s memorized it, he tells her he remembers, and goes to get the coffee anyway much to Mouser’s and the audience’s dismay. This is big because Keys clearly doesn’t want to be walking down the street by himself to get coffee. He wants to be getting coffee with Millie so that he can tell her how he feels to see if she might feel the same way, but when she turns him down he goes and gets the coffee anyway because he truly loves and cares about her and he values their friendship enough to put his own feelings aside and suffer in silence rather than lose her and what they’ve built. So, he takes the opportunity to get some air rather than continue to sit there in disappointment. Which is why he’s so confused when Millie runs after him and calls out to him from across the street. He doesn’t understand what she’s doing there. She turned down his offer to get a coffee and he already knows her order so why is she there? I love that they chose to make that scene non-verbal. I think if Millie had come out and made some big declaration of love it would have felt cheesy and overdone. But her running after him and silently communicating through her smile and body language that she understood and that she felt the same way was perfect. It was subtle and beautiful and perfectly acted. It also felt realistic to the characters because in real life when you’ve known someone a really long time and you’ve spent a lot of time with them you don’t always need words to convey what you mean. What Millie wanted to express in that scene was so big and so all-encompassing she couldn’t find the words to say everything that she wanted to say so she didn’t. She just stood there and smiled knowing that being the genius that he is he would understand. It’s like Keys says in their interview, words will fail you, but code never does. His coding worked and now she understands so rather than try and say it all and fail she just looks at him and smiles to show him that she finally gets it. She finally understands what he’s been trying to say to her all this time. And you can see the exact moment Keys realizes why she’s there. The moment where he goes from being confused as to what she wants to realizing that she saw the video and she knows how he feels and that she wouldn’t be standing there smiling at him like that if she didn’t feel the same way. When I watched the scene the first time around, I was anxiously clutching my nachos the entire time because when Keys ran towards her my immediate thought was, “Oh my god he’s gonna get hit by a car and they’re never gonna get to be together! Oh my god!” But then he didn’t get hit by a car and Millie ran out to meet him and for the first time in their relationship she met him halfway and they kissed and it was beautiful! I think because Free City had so much violence in it that’s where my mind went and I’m very glad they didn’t go that route. One of my only criticisms about the movie is that I wish they had stayed on Millie and Keys just a little bit longer. They kiss and embrace and then very quickly they cut to black. I wish they’d linger on that moment just a little bit longer because I love those characters so much and in the scene that follows where Guy and Buddy are reunited we see them hug and then walk away together to start their new lives and I wish we’d gotten just a bit more time with Millie and Keys. I also really loved the parallel between the different kinds of relationships within the movie and how platonic relationships are just as important as romantic ones. The reveal at the end about Guy being Keys’ creation and a love letter to Millie and her realizing she’s been loving Keys vicariously through Guy and them finally coming together and being on the same page is beautiful because from the very beginning the movie is full of clues, hints, and foreshadowing that all comes together at the end. Meanwhile, we see the friendship between Guy and Buddy and how important that friendship is to him because it’s something that he created on his own. His love for Millie is born out of the programming that Keys gave him, but his friendship with Buddy is something that Guy created all on his own of his own volition. Which is part of what makes Buddy’s death on the bridge so tragic. I cried when Buddy disappeared. Reynolds and Howery play their characters with such sincerity that his death pacts an emotional punch you don’t expect. I love that the security guards at Soonami are so moved by Buddy’s heroism and are so captivated by what’s happening with the live stream that Millie is able to sneak past them into the server room and stop Antwan from destroying what’s left of the game. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that during the final battle after Millie gets booted from the game and Guy has to fight Dude on his own the glasses he’s wearing are very similar to the ones Keys wears in the movie which I thought was a cool nod to Guy being Keys’ creation. This really is a movie in which you find something new every time you watch it. For instance, the second time around I noticed that the foreshadowing that Keys is in love with Millie, but she’s oblivious to it because she’s so focused on the game was really well done. In the video from the indie game conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment when asked by the interviewer about their chemistry Millie responds first and says that their friends, their relationship is completely platonic, and laughs off the idea that they have chemistry. In contrast Keys falters and is silent and then eventually says meekly that they’re just friends. Millie is looking ahead at the interviewer and to the side away from Keys as she’s laughing and so she doesn’t see Keys’ reaction. At the end of the apartment scene after Millie breaks in to ask Keys for his help, he tells Millie he cares about her and he almost says something else. It feels like he’s about to say, ‘I love you’ but then he catches himself and instead tells her that she needs to leave. When Keys visits Millie’s apartment to tell her that she was right and they’re sitting on the couch he reaches out and puts his hand on her knee and then snatches it back when he realizes he’s gotten too close. He wants so desperately to be closer to her and in his excitement, he gets closer than he normally would before realizing that putting his hand on her knee in that close proximity is not a platonic gesture. Millie is so caught up in the realization that Guy, the person she’s fallen in love with, is an AI and not a real person that she doesn’t notice. My heart broke for Keys in that scene as he realized that Millie had fallen for Guy and kissed him and was so upset about it and meanwhile, he was right in front of her desperate for her to see how much he cares. It must have just wrecked him to go home that night and realize that Guy was based on the lovelorn character he created and that Millie had fallen in love with his creation while at the same time being so oblivious to his real world affection for her. In the scene at Millie’s apartment after they’ve gotten the server from Antwan and Mouser encourages Keys to say something, I noticed on rewatch just how weak and meager Keys’ attempt to ask Millie out is. He stumbles his way through asking her to get a coffee and trails off at the end so it’s no wonder Millie doesn’t clue in that he’s trying to ask her out. And in Keys’ defence he sent her a whole video confessing his feelings for her and all of the little things he loves about her and then told her to watch it and he has no idea if she did or not. We the audience know that Millie only saw half of it, but Keys has no idea if she saw none of it, part of it, or all of it. He knows she got Guy to remember, but she’s also sending him mixed messages. One minute she’s saying he’s cute when he brags and the next, she’s turning him down for coffee to talk to Guy. From the outside it’s so obvious that Keys is in love with Millie, but she doesn’t see it because she’s always looking the other way, not paying attention, so caught up in the game, and too focused on their work to see what’s right in front of her. On rewatch one of the big things I noticed is that Keys is always on the edge of telling Millie how he really feels but he always stops himself because she brushes him or the idea off and because he’s scared of what will become of their work and their friendship if she doesn’t feel the same way. It’s a huge leap. If Millie doesn’t feel the same way it’s going to make their relationship incredibly awkward and could potentially destroy their partnership so Keys decides it’s better not to say anything or only hint at how he feels rather than run the risk of ruining everything. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that in the interview they give Keys says he thinks of himself as an author and that code is what gets him up in the morning and that he loves the ones and zeros of binary because words can fail you and let you down but code never does. At the end of the movie when Millie goes to talk to Guy in Free Life he tells her that he loves her and while he knows that’s his programming he’s realized that he’s a love letter to her and that somewhere out there in the real world is the author. Such a great callback. All in all, I can definitely say that Free Guy has been my favourite movie so far this year! Definitely my favourite movie of the summer. I went to see it twice in theatres and I’ve never done that for any other movie before. I’ll rewatch them at home sure, but I’ve never actually paid money to see something twice on my own. I’m very excited to see the sequel and my hope is that it will be just as good as the first.  Until next time.

[thezfc]

“I maintain that everything was fine during Ragnarok filming. Everything we saw coming from the set + Taika's Twitter/Insta supports that. Something changed between filming and Ragnarok reshoots/ComicCon, which overlapped.”

Nah. It started earlier than ComicCon. Filming for Ragnarok started in July 2016. Chris and Tom appeared in a panel together at Wizard World in August. They were a month into filming and Tom was 2 months into the SoT. If you watch videos of that panel, Hemsworth looks irritated and annoyed and like being on that panel is the last thing he wanted to do. Not saying that has anything to do with Tom, but you could see how Tom was nervous/anxious and working hard to compensate for Hemsworth’s lackluster appearance and responses. I remember thinking how uncomfortable it was to watch.

No one really had a clue why or what was up with Chris (this was the first appearance in a slew where he seemed really bored and done with Marvel promo). Some people said it was the travel, some people joked he was mad at Tom for dating Snake when he was dealing (at the time) with Liam dating Miley. “One crazy pop star was enough” kind of joke. Lol

It’s also clear that the whole “Loki/Tom is more popular than Thor/Chris” thing had started to get to Chris by then. He’d laughed it off before, even claimed himself as the president of Tom’s fan club, but something shifted between The Dark World and Ragnarok. And he’d finally found someone who agreed: Taika. Filming seemed to go fine, except for all the rumors that Snake was causing issues on set with security or whatever. I’m sure she was a distraction for both Tom and others on set, whether she was there or not. People were curious and there were probably fans around asking for her. But when promo came around Chris and Taika didn’t hide their disdain for Loki. They kept making it a point to highlight the fact that the name of the movie was Thor not Loki — which, yes true, but you could hear the sarcasm in their tone. Like “it’s Thor’s mocie, not Loki’s. Stop asking about Loki.” Taika referred to Loki as a goth orphan at one point and was just condescending about the character the entire time. Chris would laugh and go along with it, which is probably why it was weird when he and Tom were together.

I personally don’t like Ragnarok for many reasons, not just it’s treatment of Loki and his relationship with Thor. The movie completely wasted Cate Blanchette, Karl Urban, and Anthony Hopkins. And it seemed lazy writing to just kill off the warriors three. I don’t like Taika either. I think he’s annoying and narcissistic. While I appreciate the work he’s done in representation for indigenous people, it doesn’t detract from his very real need to place himself front and center.

As for Chris and Elsa’s marriage — yeah there’s a lot of talk about him cheating. They’ve said the same about Chris Pratt, that he’s cheated on both Anna Farris and his new wife with almost every leading lady he’s had. Elsa doesn’t have the best reputation in the industry as she’s kind of seen like a Black Widow of careers. She’s dated other actors, Adrian Brody among them (he gifted her a castle), and apparently those actors saw dips in their careers after being with her. It’s all speculation. They seem to spend a lot of time together in Australia — though that’s supposedly bc she wanted them out of LA. Because of Chris’s cheating. She hasn’t acted since her character was killed off in the Fast & Furious franchise so Chris has to keep bringing in those Marvel bucks. Time will tell I guess.

(Sorry for the long-winded post, Z)

Tldr 😆

[limenysnocket]

Cartoon Warfare

Summary: You and Taika are arguing over which you think the best Studio Ghibli movie is.

Warnings: Light swearing. Dropping another fluff on y'all.

A/N: Alright @honorarytenenbaum . Totoro Taika is among us. I plan to make this nice and soft.

“I can’t believe you would say that. I liked you before you said that.”

You roll your eyes at Taika’s wine-drunk statement. His cheeks are flushed with pink, and he has dramatically thrown his leg across his other. His red wine is sloshing around in his glass, and he may as well have taken the rest of the bottle, because very little was even left after you two got to it.

All the lights had been turned off except for a few candles in the kitchen keeping the house smelling good, while lit enough for two drunk adults to make their way back and forth for an endless amount of microwaved popcorn.

“Oh, come on, Spirited Away has to be one of the best Studio Ghibli films ever. I’m positive everyone has seen it,” you argue back with him, raising up your hands, sending a few pieces of buttery popcorn stuck to your fingers flying. Taika scoffs and sinks lower into his seat, just to make sure you were eye level with his Totoro stocking cap.

“I say that you’re wrong,” his voice gets a little higher and his head bobs side to side, to add some kind of emphasis to his speech. “My Neighbor Totoro has to be the best Studio Ghibli film of all time, and that is final. My hat says so. Plus, I don’t see any No-Face stocking caps that are as cool as mine circling the internet. So, ha!” He breathed heavily in your face, grinning wide. You flap your hands in front of your face to get rid of the smell, giggling to yourself.

“You are so making that up,” you huff, grabbing your phone and opening google. You frantically type in and search for any Studio Ghibli themed stocking caps that could be better than Taika’s. Sure, there were plenty to see, but there wasn’t a single No-Face stocking cap in sight. You feel the weight of his head nestle on your shoulder and a low, sarcastically whimpered hum leaves his lips.

“Aw, would you look at that,” he heckles in your ear and you squirm and squeal as he makes baby noises in your ear too close for comfort. He does two rounds of a sing-song voice, “My stocking cap is better,” off beat, and to a random tune. He leans back in his seat again with a nice, long sigh, and he tosses his arms over the back of his couch, not being too cautious about his wine glass. His eyes gloss over again and stare back at the screen. It was like he had forgotten how colorful, “Howl’s Moving Castle,” really was and he quickly became immersed in it.

You’re still scrolling through your phone, genuinely interested in finding a cute stocking cap so you and Taika could be a team, the next time someone decided to throw a random costume party. Taika lets out a longing groan when Sophie and Howl do something romantic. He sets his wine glass down and slowly lowers himself down on your lap, begging for your attention. He turns on his back and looks directly up at you when you lower your phone. His mustache wiggles side to side by his own devices and he smiles, looking drunk and adorable. You don’t have the heart to resist him, so you set your phone down and give him what he wants.

You hand slowly takes a hold of his cap and you slide it off, seeing the wild forest of curls. You set his cap down beside you and you just run your fingers through his hair. He looks so sweet as he closes his eyes and just hums with the feeling. “Best massage ever,” he giggles beneath his breath and sighs. You shake your head, laughing at his stupid pleasure. 

“You’re such a dork,” you whisper.

“Yeah, but you love me,” Taika grins back up at you, opening his eyes again, just to watch your expressions. He loved your pretty face. “You know what would make this even better, though?” he chimes in, reaching his large hand up and caressing your cheek. He smirks suddenly and pushes his lips out for a kiss, making a few smooching noises. You laugh, still petting his head, and you keep the hair out of his face for him.

He lifts up on his elbows just to be closer to you, and his lips meet yours once you bear through your breaths colliding. The kiss is sloppy, but you feel his sweet intentions through the wetness. His thumb still runs over your cheek and he slowly sits up, getting closer and closer to you until he is practically sitting in your lap. He doesn’t notice and neither do you, since you both never find the time to break away to watch the hell fire and flames going through the television screen and Howl is indubitably saving Sophie and his friends.

Your cheeks ran with red when he finally pulled away. He had a tough time pulling away, actually. It was followed up by many pecks and attempts at pulling you in for another long haul, but you would always turn you head the other way, giggling while he tried to hook your lips with his. Not long after, he had finally noticed the significant amount of weight he had sat on your lap, and he started giggling too.

“I think this situation turned a bit backwards,” he grinned. “See you’re the one supposed to be on my lap.”

You shake your head, eyes hinting with the faintest tint of orange from the television screen. “I think being the dominant one is nice for a change,” you stick your tongue out at him, and he attempts to nip at it.

“Ooh... kinky,” he smirked, obviously wanting to kiss you again, but you were quick to put your hand on his chest. You kissed his forehead.

“Your breath stinks,” you tease him. “You’re gonna have to eat a tictac, brush your teeth, or something... or, you could admit that Spirited Away is better than My Neighbor Totoro.”

He gasps, “Evil woman.” You throw your head back and cackle at him.

“You have to say it sometime,” you whisper, pursing your lips. “You’re lucky I don’t make you call someone and have you say it.”

“First off,” Taika points a finger at you, while getting up from your lap, “fuck you. Second, you couldn’t possibly get someone on the phone this late. Third, I’m gonna go brush my teeth, and I expect to have you in my lap and you make out with me, the moment I come back down stairs.”

You wave your hand at him while he slurred his way around the living room, stumbling slightly and using his phone for a flashlight to get up the stairs. You grab his Totoro cap and put it on, just for fun, and you lean back on the couch again, trying to catch up with the story on the screen, even though it’s nearing the end.

Heavy thumps indicate that Taika is heading back down the stairs. He’s rubbing his eyes and back with a pair of slippers on, instead of his lemon-colored socks. He flops down next to you on the couch and it takes him a moment, in his drunk state, to remember why he went to go brush his teeth in the first place. He pats his lap slowly. Well, it’s more like he slaps his lap twice to get your attention.

You smile, yawn and climb into his lap. You expect to be met with another sloppy kiss, but instead, he just tucks his face into the crook of your neck and takes in the deep scent of your skin. You smile into the air and just stare at the wall while he has his moment, hugging you close. “What happened up there in that bathroom, Taik?” you whisper.

“Well,” he breathes onto your skin after moments of silence, “I started missing you... then I can’t quite remember what happened after that.”

You slip your hand into his hair and scrub at his scalp tenderly, still smiling. “Did you even get to brushing your teeth, Mr. Waititi?” He just groans and buries his face deeper in your neck.

“I don’t remember that either,” he says, then lifts his head up. He leans forward. You know what he wants again. The kisses shared weren’t too long. Many whispers flew through the air, and everything was kept tender and wholesome. Although, a few things did walk a fine line.

He leans back slowly, putting himself flat on the couch. You squeeze in next to him, putting your back against his chest, knowing you both were too tired to get up to anything frisky tonight. He keeps his arms wrapped around you, brushing your hair away and placing random kisses to your cheeks, jaw and neck.

You were the first one to fall asleep, surprisingly, your eyes on the screen as Porco Rosso played and kept you entertained besides the tender kisses placed on your skin from time to time.

Taika has his hands on your stomach, rubbing it softly and wishing you sweet dreams. He buries his nose into your hair, nestling right under his cap that you were wearing, and breathes in deep. He cherished every moment like this that he shared with you. All the playful arguments and heated sessions made a storm rise in his belly. He was so in love with you, you didn’t even understand half of it. He would drive himself half-crazy just trying to write it down, or even find a single word to describe you. Leaving your side felt so painful, even if it was only for a few hours. It was like he couldn’t live without you.

Now, as you lay cuddled right up to his chest, breathing deep and sleeping softly, he snuggles up to you and closes his eyes to sleep.

“I love you...”

[jasmarie2600]

I finally watched Doctor Strange today after one of my friends kept bugging me to watch before we see the sequel, my short recap

And it was really awesome, and I’m pretty sure that Mordo guy is gonna be one of the villains in the sequel, since I guess he can steal other Sorcerer’s powers?? And now he hates Sorcerer’s too cause Stephen had to use the Multiverse to save them…like?? And also cause Stephen doesn’t want to kill people?

I really need to see Thor Ragnarok (I know little things about it and it looks hilarious)

We should have some Thor Ragnarok/Taika Waititi type humor movie for Doctor Strange cause I think it would be hilarious and showcase Benedict’s more humorous acting with Stephen

Also, Stephen and Christine 🤗💖 they’re so cute & sweet & soft together and I’m hoping they end up together in the sequel even though it looks like she’s getting married, I’m calling shenanigans (the whole hyphenating their last names thing was cute “Strange-Palmer or Palmer-Strange” and I’m FULLY expecting it to make a comeback when they eventually DO get together/married). Just hoping that Christine sees how sorry Stephen is for how he used to treat her and that he’s changed and isn’t the same person, cause I think Christine is afraid that he hasn’t changed or will revert back to how he used to be and that’s why she doesn’t want to end up with him again, so basically FEAR (also she probably thought Stephen was dead for 5 years too cause of the Blip and just decided she needed to move on so…..)

Some semi-explicit/mature content here (kinda?)

I didn’t see Eternals so idk, but I kept hearing it had the supposedly first “sex scene” in a Marvel movie?? So I suggest we continue that with either another Doctor Strange sequel or involve both Stephen & Christine somehow in another Marvel movie, it doesn’t even have to be explicit either, either have a prolonged make out scene or idk (we all should know how sex scenes work) or if Marvel does want an explicit one idk make a Deadpool type R Rated Doctor Strange film. (This is off topic and also a different fandom but, for anyone that saw The Suicide Squad from last year, the freakin supervillain sex scene with Harley Quinn and that random guy, yeah THAT) All we got from the first film (I will admit though it was freakin cute) was face holding and a kiss on the cheek 🤗💖 Also, Stephen & Christine’s obvious prolonged sexual tension!

[agentnico]

Free Guy (2021) Review

“Don’t have a good day, have a great day!”

Plot: When a bank teller discovers he's actually a background player in a brutal open-world video game, he decides to become the hero of his own story - one that he can rewrite himself. In a world where there's no limits, he's determined to save the day his way before it's too late, and maybe find a little romance with the coder who conceived him.

Last time I watched such a hyper-actively positive film I was seeing little LEGO figures jumping about on screen with Morgan Freeman hanging off a string in ghost form. Yes, The LEGO Movie shares a lot in common with Free Guy, not just in its opening sequence where Ryan Reynolds’s loveable Guy is starting off a perfectly good day every day with a nice cup of coffee and wishing everyone not a good, but a great day, goes to the job at his bank and goes back home, and rinse and repeat. But the character of Guy himself is basically Chris Pratt’s Emmett from The LEGO Movie - full of sunshine and innocence and taking everything that comes with child-like excitement and energy. You can also treat Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” song usage here like “Everything is Awesome” with how many times its played, but damn if it isn’t catchy! And the film comparisons don’t end there. You wouldn’t be faulted for seeing references to Ready Player One with all the cameos and Easter Eggs and pop culture references thrown in the mix, to The Truman Show based on the general concept and obviously certain video games such as Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row and even Sims due to the video game open world that the movie creates. 

Speaking of the video game open world that is created, you could tell director Shawn Levy and the producers went through a lot of effort to research modern video games and all the tiny little details and quirks that exist. For example it was a lot of fun seeing characters tea-bag someone they just killed to then a character glitching out and jumping into the wall repetitively or the obvious inclusion of Fortnite inspired dance jiggles. You also get cameos from various real-life game streamers such as Jacksepticeye and DanTDM, and I found an interview on IGN where those guys spoke about in regards to how Hollywood can never seem to get video-game-to-film adaptations right, and how they appreciated that the producers of Free Guy went to them and asked questions and actually showed interest in wanting to create a realistic feeling video game in the movie and getting the terminology right. Evidently unlike other video game adaptations Free Guy manages to succeed from the fact that it doesn’t need to replicate a specific game from real life. There are nods to certain games as I aforementioned, but otherwise they’ve created their own entire game and as such there is no expectation to impress a certain individual fan base. So in conclusion what I’m saying is that I guess Hollywood should stop trying to adapt film versions of popular video game franchises and instead do their own original stuff maybe? Then again I do want to see that Ghost of Tsushima adaptation come to life, so yes, I’ll just go and kindly shut myself up.

Taking the video game matter aside for the time being, I found Free Guy to be an absolute delight from start to finish. Well, to be exact from 20 minutes from the start to finish. Honestly when the film began I was concerned if the movie was going to turn out to be the typical “I live in a simulation” story, and though as a basis it is exactly that, there’s so much goodness thrown into the mix with funny jokes to the cameos (the cameos are to die for!) to the visuals to the music choices to the performances - the movie is such a joy to watch. Speaking of the cameos and pop culture references, Free Guy is also an interesting film outside of its narrative. This movie was in production during the time the studio that was behind it - 20th Century Fox - was being sold to a certain little known company called Disney. As such, you can tell after the studio’s transfer to Disney was complete, this film underwent some additional reshoots and last minute changes, mainly in the finale because there are certain surprises at the end of the movie that will be a geek/nerd’s wet dream and were only made possible after Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, now known as 20th Century Studios. Personally I still have my qualms about Disney being the massive conglomerate business giant that is buying out all the other studios, but not going to lie even I got excited and jumped up like a kid in my cinema seat when a certain something happened at the end of this movie. Luckily only my lovely fiancée saw me like this as she was sitting next to me, and yes, I’m certain that me revealing my true nerd colours definitely lost me some attraction points from her, but nevertheless I don’t care, the Easter Eggs at the end of this movie are real fun!

The entire cast is top notch here. Ryan Reynolds does his usual shtick that he’s been doing ever since he found success with Deadpool, however naturally here he’s kept PG-13 and not swearing every other breath. That being said, his charm and sarcastic charisma really worked for the role of Guy, and he presented himself as really loveable and naïve and it was impossible not to like him in this film. Jodie Comer in her role has also been getting humongous praise from critics and reviewers alike, and yes, the rumours are true, she shares great on screen chemistry with Ryan Reynolds and also is proper cool and badass as to be expected. That being said I was told by a certain someone that they know someone who knows someone who knew someone who spoke to someone who said that they worked with Jodie Comer on the set of Killing Eve, and this was just some behind-the-scenes worker, and apparently in their experience they found Comer to be a real diva and challenge to work with. So that’s now me here spreading some gossip for no apparent reason besides causing a little stir and now I can move on. Joe Keery has a much bigger role in this film that the trailers made it seem, and I must say the lad has really been doing well for himself ever since his appearance in Stranger Things. Whenever I’ve see him in anything since such as Spree or Death to 2020 he’s always been wonderful to watch. Here in Free Guy he’s no different, getting to play a character who at first comes off as a villain but then is revealed to simply be a guy working for the wrong person. Speaking of that wrong person, the villain of the movie is played by none other than actor-director Taika Waititi himself, and his role is really interesting seeing as he plays the owner of this big video game business company who only cares about money and sequels over art, which I found quite ironic seeing as this movie is distributed by Disney that’s all about sequels, remakes and reboots. Just saying. Also found it funny how even though this movie marks a little reunion of sorts for Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi, they don’t share any scenes together which was probably for the best, as last time they worked together Green Lantern occurred. Anyway, Taika is as goofy and over-the-top as you expect him to be, and I can see him being very divisive. You’ll either find him hilarious or super annoying. However both opinions would work seeing as he’s the villain.

Free Guy is an absolute cuddly crowd-pleaser full of casual mayhem and crazy ideas, and is sure to be a welcome boost of fun in a summer that naturally lacked bigger blockbusters due to what’s happening in the world right now. However nonetheless, this and The Suicide Squad have really made a point that cinema is back, hopefully to stay.

Overall score: 9/10

[londonspirit]

“There’s this queer pirates show. Go and watch it.”

Something like that started crossing my dash at the end of March. Only a few posts, but they continued, getting more enthusiastic every time I saw someone post about it (mainly looking at you @mylastvow​ and @atlinmerrick​).

I didn’t see anything about that show over on my Twitter (which usually is the reason for me to start watching something). But then again, I was still mourning the end of award season for Tick Tick Boom (also grieving a tough RL loss).

I wasn’t in the headspace for anything new just yet - especially not a TV SHOW (my brain’s weird like that the past two years - it’s either just new films or shows I know, very rarely I was in the mood to start sth new.)  

But then, on a normal Thursday evening the links for it crossed my dash (again) and I was like, why the hell not. You’ve got nothing else to watch, and since Tumblr seems to love it, there must’ve been something about it. 

So I clicked the first link. 

And it changed my life. 

First thing that struck me were the accents (I admit I expected English accents, not the insanely awesome mix of all sorts of accents.) 

Then there was the fact that it wasn’t a full on white show (which lately makes me wanna turn off things). 

And then there was Stede, swanning in like he does and I was like ‘okay, there's something strange going on - I like.’ 

And the second BB appears I was like ‘Oh hello, what’s happening here?!’ 

This doesn’t feel like a pirate show, not at all.  So I kept watching. 

(There’s soo many wonderful and deep analysis about the show so I won’t bore you with that - go and find them and you’ll see why exactly that show’s the most wonderful thing in the world right now and hopefully in the future we’ll see more like this!!!) 

Sadly I had to stop just after E5 to go to bed (yeah, NOW I do NOT know how I had the strength to do that after THAT episode! But I had to work and sometimes I can be a responsible adult.) 

I could NOT wait to get back home tho - and the second I was back I raced through the last five epis. 

My mind’s still blown away, and I knew I found something very very special!!! 

I did a full on rewatch over the following weekend, slower, appreciating all the amazing things, the acting, the sets, the STORYLINES, fucking everything! I was in love with every single thing. 

Naturally Tumblr (and then Twitter’s tags) helped deepen that love even more. 

And then it was all ‘downhill’ from there. 

Now I’m soo deep into that rabbithole I will NEVER come back out. 

I will defend David Jenkins until the end of times for coming up with it. 

I have deeply, madly and irrevocably fallen in love with Taika and Rhys (because I don’t do casual!)  (and in a less crazy way with the rest of the cast) and am working on my way to consume everything they made and will make! 

I haven’t laughed this hard or this much in a long time ( I'm pretty sure a therapist would have a field day with my mind right now, but it all makes me happy and helps to deal with harsh real life shit so I don’t care!). My face still hurts. Did you know that the back of your head can start hurting when you laugh too much? Right behind your ears?! Because it does! 

Anyhow. 

It’s funny: Taika’s been always around the past years, always at the periphery of my watching movies and shows, always been scattered around my social media for the things he did (mainly Marvel, of course, for me) and I liked him but I wasn’t in the headspace to appreciate his… well, everything. He was too silly, too all over the place for me. 

*shakes head at self* How fucking WRONG I was. 

Yes, he’s silly sometimes. Yes, even now he’s sometimes too much. But the more I watch and read and find out about him, the more I wonder how that man stayed as unique as he still is. 

That one’s too fucking special for the world he’s in. 

One just has to look past the exterior he puts on and you find one hell of a human, who’s kind and creative and intelligent and so painfully mindful of his surroundings, and I can only hope that the world will not break him and he can continue to be as incredible as he is. (He’s also fucking gorgeous! The HAIR! GUH! Those eyes and the deep deep crinkles when he laughs. The intensity on his face when he listens to something he cares about. I could go on but yeah…) 

A true fucking artist in every fucking way!!! 

So yeah, there will be LOADS more of him on my dash in the foreseeable future. I will keep yelling about the show and its incredible cast, and HBO better fucking renew it ASAP (and my country better gets its shit together and make it available over here so I can scream to my RL folks about it as well!!) 

What I wanted to say with this way too long, way too personal, post is

THANK YOU TUMBLR!

For once again pulling me into something that keeps me sane and safe and happy in a world that seems to want to break me. 

And now I shall go and spend my weekend with yet another deep dive into everything OFMD and TW!!! 

Laters!

[nikkoliferous]

you know i saw a interesting comment in a fic today about how throughout the first two thor movies we're shown that loki would be a better king than thor and so him being shown as an incompetent ruler in ragnarok was probably cause if he was actually a good ruler it would make no sense for thor to take over as king. Which, while we know isn't the reason TW made Loki a bad ruler, does give you food for thought. We know Loki never wanted the throne, but he was in a lot of ways more suited for it

He was definitely more suited for it! In the script and novel for the first movie, Frigga even reassures Odin when he expresses doubts about Thor’s readiness by reminding him that Loki will be there to essentially do damage control. So they obviously recognised that Loki was the more levelheaded and trustworthy of the two; Odin was simply more concerned with preserving his own legacy than with doing what was best for Asgard. And then of course, by the end of TDW, even Thor himself is recognizing this basic truth. But then, Taika was tasked with destroying everything he could about the previous films, so...

What really tickles me about TR, though, is that even while trying to paint Loki as an incompetent and lazy king, Taika really... fails at it? The only reason anyone would accept that framing is if they are literally incapable of any critical thinking whatsoever. Thor says Loki has been doing a poor job, but he hasn’t even been home in at least two years(!!), so how would he know? And by all indicators, Loki has actually been a really good king? He’s rebuilt and even improved public infrastructure after the attack by the Dark Elves; he’s kept Asgard out of any new wars and has withdrawn troops from the other realms, allowing them to regain some independence and fortifying Asgard’s defenses, which is especially important when he knows Thanos is looking for the Tesseract; he encourages less violent forms of entertainment by putting on plays. Even as some things (like the play and the giant ass statue) are OOC for him and even as the narrative tries to paint him as a poor king, all it really does is undermine its own message. Taika and all the pro-TR people who are convinced the movie is somehow anti-imperialist really need to explain how promoting the veneration of a violent conqueror and framing non-interventionism as a bad thing is actually a critique of empire.

[greensparty]

Movie Review - Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song / Thor: Love and Thunder

Got to review two films this week, one from Hollywood and one from Indiewood:

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song

There have been several documentaries about the late great Leonard Cohen, including 2005′s Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man and 2019′s Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, but now there’s a different type of doc about Cohen. Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song is about his 1984 song “Hallelujah”. Yes, the entire documentary is about this song!?! But before you wonder how much there is for a feature-length doc, it is very much a doc about Leonard Cohen because to understand the song and its many musical interpretations, you need to understand the singer / songwriter.

movie poster

Since Cohen’s death in 2016 at age 82, I have been lucky enough to review his posthumous Thanks for the Dance. His lyrics, his sound and most of all his amazing voice made him one of the great poets to emerge out of the 60s. I was never an expert on him, but after hearing his song “Everybody Knows” on the Pump Up The Volume soundtrack, he had my attention at a young age. I own his first few albums on vinyl and his double CD The Essential Leonard Cohen has accompanied me on many car trips. I was thrilled when I attended the Leonard Cohen exhibit at the Jewish Museum in NYC in 2019 and my relative cantor Gideon Zelermyer and his choir were featured in one of the multimedia portions (they appeared on Cohen’s final album You Want It Darker). While “Everybody Knows” is very meaningful for Gen-Xers because of Pump Up the Volume, “Hallelujah” might be his most iconic song.

Before directors Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine get into the 1984 song that appeared on Cohen’s album Various Positions, they get into his backstory. This does not pretend to be the most comprehensive documentary about Cohen, but it’s also not trying to be either. It is giving the viewer just enough context to understand the song and its release. The album was shelved by his record label in 1984 as they thought it wasn’t good. In the U.S. the album was released on a small indie label and barely made a dent. But over time, it was noteworthy musicians who were impressed with it. Bob Dylan covered the song live in 1988. In 1991, John Cale covered the song for the I’m Your Fan tribute album Hal Willner put together. In 1994, Jeff Buckley recorded a version for his one and only studio album Grace, which is possibly the most loved version of the song. Various other covers happened as well, but it was Cale’s version that appeared in Shrek that introduced it to a whole new audience. Since the 00s, it has become a staple of singing competition shows, where singers use the song to show their vocal range. 

I really dug this doc as it is more comprehensive about the song than it is about the artist. It is a bit long and for non-Cohen fans it might be For Fans Only. There was a point around two-thirds in where I thought the movie had made its final statement and was about to end, but then it kept going for about a half hour about Cohen’s career from the 00s onward and how the song became an important part of his live shows. From an editing standpoint, I felt it could’ve been more effective if they had Cohen’s last fifteen years or so and then showed the final statement about the song as the ending. But it certainly did a lot with the archival footage, interviews and live performance footage!

Sony Picture Classics has released Hallelujah in some markets and it opens in Boston on July 15: https://www.sonyclassics.com/film/hallelujah/

3.5 out of 5 stars

Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor is not exactly my favorite Marvel super hero, but he’s also not my least favorite either. I liked his first movie, 2011′s Thor. It was a good origin story. 2013′s Thor: The Dark World was fine. His appearances in all of the Avenger movies were fine too. But it was 2017′s Thor: Ragnarok from director Taika Waititi had a sense of zaniness to it that made it feel new and fresh. Since that film, Waititi has become the toast of the town, as a director / writer / producer / actor in film and television, including an episode of The Mandalorian. What really blew me away about him was 2019′s Jojo Rabbit, for which he won a well-deserved Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Waititi balanced so many heavy themes in a creative way in that WWII coming-of-age story. I included it in my Best Movies of the 2010s list. Now Waititi is returning to the MCU with Thor: Love and Thunder.

movie poster

Thor played by Chris Hemsworth has been hanging out with the Guardians of the Galaxy of late. But when his ex Jane Foster (the returning Natalie Portman) comes back as The Mighty Thor, they team up with Team Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Korg (voice of Waititi) to defeat Gorr the God Butcher (played by a gaunt and haunting Christian Bale), who has taken the children of Asgard. I’m leaving a lot of stuff out of this plot summary, but trying my best to avoid spoilers too.

With this movie there are plenty of sequences that are over-the-top, zany and kind of ridiculous. The Guns N’ Roses-heavy soundtrack (and the numerous references to the band throughout the film) only add to the over-the-top-ness of the action scenes. The genius in Guardians of the Galaxy is that it is about a team that has to save the universe, but they are sarcastic and it feels like its not taking itself too seriously. In this new Thor film, Waititi is trying to have his cake and eat it too, by being self-aware of how ridiculous it is at times, but being rather serious other times (i.e. one of the characters is dealing with stage four cancer). Sometimes that balance works, other times less so. Waititi is clearly referencing 80s action romances and he’s having a ball at it. It’s the creative moments like a small theater group in Asgard performing the story of Thor for the locals, where Waititi is elevating this to be more than just another MCU movie. The cast including Portman and Bale truly made this more it was on paper too. This is also an audience movie that is best seen on the big screen and with an enthusiastic audience. In the MCU, this is the best Thor movie so far, but it has some catching up to the ranks of Guardians of the Galaxy and the recent Spider-Man movies. 

For info on Thor: Love and Thunder: https://www.marvel.com/movies/thor-love-and-thunder

3.5 out of 5 stars