#but the beating hearts of the story for me are my Be and Vue...and they...

[burinazar]

i keep thinking 'i want to jailbreak the san-ken into original characters, it's so neat when other people do that with their favorites, when will i manage to do that?' and then immediately realizing 'no ebil you don't actually WANT to do that at ALL even a little bit. the sentiment you are feeling is just It Would Be Convenient if I Could Do That.'

[blackarmyslave]

//déjà vu//

And once again, I’m late *sigh* Anyways, here’s Day 3 for Ray’s appreciation week! I honestly had no idea what to right josnxdjbvt

@ikerev-appreciation

➵ Theme: Spellbound

➵ Pairing: Ray/Reide & Alice/Charlotte (you’ll see~)

➵ Genre: Fluff

➵ Word count: 1350 words

A burning passion, raging worse than wildfires, consuming her very soul and drowning her heart in it. 

That would be figure skating for Charlotte.

Born into a family that had, in their own separate times and sport, joined the Olympics, Charlotte knew from the moment she could walk she’d have to decide on her own sport. Balance beam? No, she sucked at it. Archery? Oh, her aunt would be infuriated and just accuse her of being a copycat. Badminton? No, not quite. Athletics? Why, how she hated running.

Figure skating... now that was her match.

The moment Charlotte’s feet had a taste of skating shoes, she knew it was just right. Not quite tight like running shoes, and oddly warm against her soles despite being in the ice for hours. Well, of course it had made her feet go numb from the cold several times, but something about being in those particular kind of shoes made it much more... appetizing.

She drowned in the feeling of gliding across polished ice for hours, the sound of blades cutting through the thick frozen floor buzzing pleasantly in her core, soul dancing in sync with the piano music she’d skate to. For years and years on end, Charlotte trained and trained. Practicing twirls and acrobatics and leaps and telling a story through her every moment. From every tilt of her head down to how much she’d bend her body to the left of right, Charlotte learned how to make her heart dance.

Today, in the neighboring city’s skating rink, she drowned once more in her fiery passion. La Terre Vue Du Ciel was playing; a favorite piece of Charlotte, while she was practicing on how to nail to a Quad Salchow. It’s been going on for almost a week now and her progress was quite impressive for anyone - anyone but herself.

An impatient perfectionist, and frustrated with how many times she’d been doing this already, the girl momentarily lost focus. One foot landed rigidly and caused her balance to fall.

‘Ninth time this day,’ she growled at herself.

Charlotte pushed her blonde-brown hair out of her face and huffed. The pain of the fall ignored almost completely by her every muscle by now. Blue eyes normally filled with burning passion have now been replaced by hate - hate directed at none other than herself. Yet unbeknownst to her, a pair of green eyes half-covered by a mop of dark hair had been watching by the sidelines. He was wearing a simple enough outfit: jeans with a winter jacket and gloves, earphones plugged in one ear and blasting Green Day, silently watching the lone skater who was not contented by her crazy-high level of talent.

Well, not just that, actually.

Something about her seemed familiar to him. The moment he walked into the building, he’d been drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Her aura soft yet powerful, like a queen; elegant, unyielding, bewitching. The way she was bending her body as if she was effortlessly cutting through the wind, her fair hair flowing like ocean waves, every flick of the finger in perfect sync with every piano key... it grasped his foot and held him there in place before he can even take a seat. Her entire presence a magnet stronger than any other, forbidding him from looking away.

The only word to describe him: spellbound.

Right now, watching her try again once more, he found his own heart racing, rooting for her, silently wanting her to nail that jump she so badly craved for. With her every spin and every sway of her body, she seemed more ethereal, like a light that captivated him, and never had he been quite as frozen and confused as he was right now.

He definitely knew her. Something in the back of his mind had been screaming that. In some time, somehow, wherever that might have been. He was so sure of it.

Something abut her passionate blue eyes startled him, because it was like looking at someone he knew almost as well as himself. Her hair, a mix of brown and blonde, was so familiar like he’d stared at someone with the exact shade of hair color for countless times a day. Her skin tone, her petite body, how beautifully curved those eyelashes were... too familiar. So familiar it was spellbinding - and frightening, at the same time.

But how could he have forgotten such a person?

Could it be when he had visited London back in 2015? Or was she classmates with him back in middle school? Had they bumped into each other at the Louvre last month?

‘No, no..! Something else.’ They just didn’t seem right. Unconsciously, he began snapping his fingers, wracking his brain for an answer. Even just a clue. She was so familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Something, something...

“Oh my gosh. can your fingers be any noisier?”

“...Huh?”

He’d been pulled from his ocean of thoughts by a voice - a voice that was also too familiar. A voice that soothed and bothered him all the same. Yet he didn’t have much time to ponder. The skater was now just meters away from him, an irritated look on her face, perfectly pink lips forming a pout that he felt like he’d already seen before.

‘For real, this is freaking me out now. Just who is she?’ he thought.

“My bad,” he amended.

She looked at him from his boots to the single earphone plugged in his left ear, and her eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes mirrored his own; confused. With that affirming his suspicion of knowing one another, he couldn’t hold back a smile.

“You too, huh?”

She seemed to snap out of it, replying, “What?”

“You seemed familiar to me - very familiar. I was actually snapping my fingers ‘cause I was trying to remember where I’d seen you, but... nada. I guess you feel the same way, too?”

“Well... Actually, yeah,” she admitted after two beats, eyes softening from a steely, defensive blue to a calm one. Shivers ran down his spine. And this time, he knew it was from the way she looked at him and not the icy stadium.

“Do you know, then? Where we met, I mean.” 

“Doesn’t matter,” she shrugged. “If we both can’t remember, it was either unimportant or an unpleasant experience.” imma just hint at some angst here dont mind me

“Ouch. Sharp tongue, ain’t ya,” he smirked.

“Or you’re just a softie.”

For a long time, he left out a chuckle, green eyes narrowing to curve to a happy smile. It surprised both him and the girl. He’d never felt so relaxed around a stranger. And never had someone’s laugh make her heart twinge, like it was a sound her soul had been unknowingly searching for.

‘It’s official. I need to know who this handsome bastard-- I mean this little shit, is.’

“So, who might you be? Harry Potter? Ray Blackwell?”

His eyebrows rose. “Ray who now?”

“Just the black-haired, green-eyed guy Alice ended up with in the book Alice in Wonderland II.” Her blue eyes danced in amusement.

He just let out a snort. “Sorry, but I’m not a wizard nor do I know someone named Alice. The name’s Reide.”

“Fair enough. I’m Charlotte.”

A handshake was shared between the two, and although both hid it well, neither can deny that a spark electrified them. Not just their skin but also a part of their soul. Like how a once dormant part of them them came back to life without being aware that it was dormant in the first place. Messy and confusing, it had been, knowing they’d met before but not really remembering when or where. Both familiar yet a stranger in the other’s eyes at the same time.

But both were just contented right now, being simply comfortable with the other’s presence, and knowing their name - even if it’s only the first name. Who knows? Maybe Reide will visit the rink again, and Charlotte can talk to him. Maybe they’ll be friends through a bit of drinking.

Or even something more.

Like how it had been in another world, in another time.

[dfroza]

A photographic memory starting on may 1 of ‘11 with a view inside my former Saturn Vue and an Americano

a doubleshot of doubleshot coffee + water = fresh-roasted freshly-brewed americano

May 1, 2011 • Facebook

and a memory of words from that day:

maybe being single is better than being with someone- that way you never have to worry whether or not you're pleasing them-

but when you really think about it- that's a really selfish thought, because love is only love when it's shared-

so love is a sacrifice- and it's the most beautiful thing i've ever known

May 1, 2011 • Facebook

and then in ‘12 with a picture of a green apple where i was staying in Reseda, California and a picture of a pine Tree and flowers i noticed on a walk that day

followed by a scene on Lyon street in ‘15 with a good morning cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin from Nantucket bakery along with a shot of a G&L guitar. fast-forward to ‘17 with a turning of the calendar page at Grandpa Johnson’s house on Lafayette avenue and a first of may sky view and building at Spectrum health (Butterworth hospital)

along with a few more of my Facebook memories beginning with 2010

i like may, how bout you? i was born in may, way back when ipads were living in total obscurity, plotting to take over the world someday.

i think we are children, and by golly, we should bake a mud pie! heehee. sounds good to me!

sitting outside in a may 1st storm. listening to the drumbeat of rain on the windows.

it's warm again!

rinaldi's pizza is tasty. yes, tasty it is. the first flush of may is welcomed with a big hug of warm rain and mayflowers singing in it.

an amazing light "summer" rain is falling. 70° and gorgeous outside. peaceful, night sky. billions of eyes of expectation. awesome.

you've read my story, open for the world to see. one that unfolded in real-time, a heartsong from my book to your eyes. you, me and a tree.

hope is always floating in smiley-faced balloons, just waiting for hands to grasp their strings.

words are amazing things, when they come from a place that causes you to live them. from pen and ink scribbled on paper... to a living tree.

May 1, 2010 • Facebook

May they bloom like thunder and reflect like the moon

May 1, 2009 • Facebook

and a set of poetic memories starting on this day in ‘08

3. may

from there to here wave after wave drown me in this water it’s time to breathe it in through every pore of my skin fill my thirst quench these hunger pains

i’m listening to the roar of falling water and it’s beautiful i don’t ever want to be dry again spring rains are watering thirsty souls may they bloom like thunder and reflect like the moon

(may 1, ‘08)

15. open

open the door try to find things that run and hide sounds of people all around their songs i hear the sound of songs sung over me with words shaped like a melody trying to describe what’s really on the inside hearts beating a rhythm feels like a storm lighting up the sky with grace

(may 1, '09)

A. may, i have this dance

april hiding a shy dove in her cave when march gave way to her first day

but then i heard a shout! to come on out! i think it may have been the sun warming the icy thoughts from love once lost water melting into the ground the bitterness of the sea changing into something sweet a new beginning of flowers poking their heads through the door just to see if it really was warm out there

pleasantly surprised to find unexpected destiny dancing in the rain showers of april splashing around in puddles of laughter waking up to something like a childhood dream when life seemed so much more magical than simply trying to always prove oneself better than everyone else

because i’m not interested in climbing ladders into the sky just for the sake of appearing to be something i’m not when the only thing that matters is simply being who i was created to be and wherever that takes me is where i’m destined to be

as long as everything is kept real fake things just won’t appeal true love will be no stranger we’ll open our arms wide to each other embracing the first of may with a kiss one that will never end in bitterness

just the sweetness of honey drenched streams where we can get married to this dream and the only ladder we’ll climb is the one that leads straight up to the house in our tree

(may 1, ‘10) dfroza

[picturesinlove]

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT: a *super* unoriginal ‘best films of 2017′ list

In life, we’re constantly asked what we learnt from things. It’s one way of measuring a completely immeasurable experience. Most films are built on this- ’character arcs’- how do they change and grow? What do they learn? (That’s not a negative thing, just the mechanics of this stick out when it’s done badly). With that in mind, I asked myself, from everything I watched this year, what did I learn?

THE BEST 12 ‘FILMS’ of 2017:

The first thing I learnt- films and TV series have become indistinguishable. It didn’t happen solely this year, but 2017 is definitely the ‘flag in the road’ point. Films are increasingly designed so they can be watched on a small screen with headphones, and most TV should really be watched on a big screen with proper speakers. And TV is sort of the wrong word. Netflix isn’t TV. I don’t know what it is. Just Long Form Storytelling perhaps? It’s certainly becoming less and less episodic. More and more feel like 10 hour films split into 10 parts so you can digest it better. So, this list is really the best 12 *things* of 2017.

The second thing I learnt- how you watch something is almost as important as what you’re watching. What headspace you were in, what time of day it was, if the room was totally dark, if someone a few rows in front of you was talking through the movie, if you’d seen the previous instalments in the series, hell- even if you’d seen the trailer. It all adds to how you think about the film. So, on the list, I’ve included where I saw it.

12. THE DISASTER ARTIST (directed by James Franco)

True story about the making of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, the best worst film ever made.

I cried like I haven’t cried in years watching this. I don’t know what it was. Just something about the last act hit me so hard I couldn’t contain myself. And when you’re trying to contain yourself BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A SAD FILM AND YOU SHOULD NOT BE CRYING EVERYONE ELSE AROUND YOU IS LAUGHING PLEASE STOP CRYING it’s really hard to stop. It’s a story of ambition, heart and following your dreams no matter what.

Green screen! Lovely green screeeeen! Purely on an aesthetic level, whenever they’re shooting against that unmistakable, vibrant colour I just loved it.

You know when films do that thing and show pictures of the real people the film’s about before the credits so you can go ‘wow this film’s so accurate and got that detail right’?? This does a version of that, and it’s the only one that’s ever mattered/will ever matter.

The real Tommy Wiseau also has my favourite film related tweet of 2017:

Seen at BFI Southbank.

11. ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK SEASON 5 (created by Jenji Kohan)

The lives of the women at Litchfield Penitentiary, a minimum-security prison in upstate New York. (the annimalllsss the animalllls, TRAP TRAP TRAP till the cage is fulllll...)

This show is about everything the opening titles suggest- women, decisions and time. What’s striking about OITNB is the characters never serve the plot. Plot *is* character. It’s there to serve them. It gives us a framework to waste time with these characters, because ‘all they’ve got is time’.

Season 5 is brave in terms of content and form. There are thousands of people more qualified to speak about the content, so I’ll leave it to them. Form wise: Orange is the New Black is Netflix’s most watched show, and probably it’s major tentpole along with Stranger Things. It has a well-oiled structure. Each season takes place over a few weeks, each episode focusses us in on one character, complete with flashbacks that inform us how they ended up in prison. Season 5 tears that to shreds, setting it basically in real time over 3 days. When it works, it *really* works. There’s no looking away. You feel the grind of what they’re going through. It sometimes leaves them too much time to pad out and we get some boring side plots- but on ambition alone I loved it.

It’s the perfect continuation and accumulation of previous seasons in many ways. The characters you know and love are in extraordinary circumstances. It brings out sides to their personalities that you never knew were there, but fit perfectly. Where all the characters are situated within the prison after the inciting incident is the best use of character geography *as* character I’ve ever seen. Tonally the series has gradually been getting nastier and nastier for a while, but there’s a scene towards the end of this season which is so nasty and so long and REFUSES to cut away even though you desperately, desperately want them too. It’s raw. It hurts. It’s a scene the show has always been heading for tonally and building towards dramatically. 

Season 5 slots in just under 4 for me in terms of ranking them all- but it’s still damn good. One things for certain, 5 changed everything for OITNB. The game is different. 

Oh, and Nicky’s the MVP. 

Netflix.

10. BAD GENIUS (directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya)

Thai Heist-Thriller. A genius high school student makes money after developing elaborate methods to help other students cheat.

WHAT A FUCKING RIDE!! The most fun I’ve had in a cinema all year. More stakes in this than most ‘end of the world’ superhero movies. Genuinely unpredictable.

The filmmaking is so good it makes you forget plausibility is sometimes being pushed. Amazing set-pieces. Expertly choreographed. Form and content perfectly married. This is the best way to tell this story, like a Michael Mann thriller, a Steven Soderbergh Oceans-style heist.

Every character is so rich and textured in their own way. So fully realised. You’ve met them all at some point in your life. It’s whimsical, but painful and genuinely emotional when it needs to be. Never pulls it’s punches.

2 years time, there will almost certainly be an American remake… and it’ll suck so hard. It’s rooted in Thailand, the socio-economic situation of people, the time zones, the pressure to succeed, and honestly- just hearing it in Thai. 

SEE THIS FILM. SEE THIS FILM. SEE THIS FILM. SEE THIS FILM. If you take anything from reading any of this, SEE THIS FILM.

Seen at Vue Leicester Square.

9. NATHAN FOR YOU: FINDING FRANCES (directed by Nathan Fielder)

The feature-length finale of Nathan For You’s 4th season. It’s a show that’s difficult to describe without saying ‘trust me’.... but honestly, *trust me*. Nathan Fielder graduated from business school with ‘really good grades’. He offers outlandish solutions to solve problems for struggling small businesses. In Finding Frances, Fielder uses all the resources of his successful show to help an old Bill Gates impressionist track down his high school sweetheart. Trust me.

Nathan Fielder has accidentally and totally on purpose made one of the best documentaries of the last 10 years.

It’s funny how we remember things. Reality and fiction are blurred. Truth is irrelevant. What does real mean? Does it even matter if we remember it how we want to?

Laptop.

8. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (directed by Martin McDonagh)

A mother takes desperate steps to pressure local law enforcement to find her daughter’s killer.

Perfectly woven and layered characters. I fucking hate the phrase ‘the character arc’, but if I were teaching a class in it- I’d show this film.

A film about relationships, and every relationship between every character or creature or inanimate object is perfect.

McDonagh loves theatrical sensibilities. Nobody does grand, rich set-pieces quite like him… makes highly stylised situations feel real in the world he sets up.

I could have watched hours more of these characters interacting.

Seen at Embankment Garden Cinema.

7. BLADE RUNNER 2049 (directed by Denis Villeneuve)

Neo-noir, sci-fi sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1981 classic.

I’m not a fan of the original Blade Runner. I appreciate it! It’s beautiful! and groundbreaking! but I just find it so heartless and cold. I just can’t connect to it. The best sci-fis are amazing stories with really fun furniture (the gadgets, tech etc.) The original is too much furniture for me. In other words, I had no reason to like this one IP wise. 2049 takes everything that could have been interesting from the original and expands on that. The furniture is just that- furniture. An amazing setting that enriches and serves the story. Everything is there to tell the story. I left the cinema feeling I’d experienced something the way that everyone talks about experiencing the first one.

The most expensive art film ever made. I literally cannot believe this exists. I cannot believe they gave Villeneuve £185MILLION to make a 3-hour long, philosophical film that has no blockbuster tropes: no loveable rogue hero; no ‘off-beat’ quippy humour to keep you interested; no CGI extravaganza 3rd act; NO.FUCKING.SKYBEAM with floating garbage spinning around it that threatens to destroy the world and the heroes have to stop it before everyone in the world dies; no setting up 5 other already planned sequels in the franchise so nothing important happens in this one. It’s a rare type of blockbuster in 2017- one that trusts it’s audience is intelligent.

Denis Villeneuve really is the most exciting director working today. This is just further proof. Arrival (2016) still my favourite of his, but I’m almost more in awe of him for this. Taking such a well-loved franchise and doing something new with it in a way that still feels respectful of what’s come before. It’s his film.

The only use of Hollywood’s new trend of digitally recreating actors (ala Peter Cushing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) that will ever matter. THIS is how you do it well.

Gender politics (we’re gunna’ go there, SPOILERS AHEAD and I know my opinion doesn’t really matter or count for anything on this just thought it’d be silly not to bring it up, feel free to disagree, v. interested to hear what everyone thinks about this!!) Lots has been written about the treatment of female characters in 2049. Most apt example I can think of to explain how I feel- Taxi Driver (1976), there’s a cafe scene in which the camera lingers on some black characters for uncomfortably long in a kind of parading manner, a ‘look at how terrible these guys are’ manner... it’s very understandable why one could interpret the film itself as racist. I’d argue the film is completely aware of what it’s doing- it’s putting us in Travis Bickle’s eyes, who is a racist character. I mean, we’re literally in his head the whole thing, hearing what he’s thinking and seeing what he’s seeing... I guess what I’m saying is- ‘it’s a decision.’ It’s not an offhand random shot where the filmmaker’s own gaze comes through, it’s a skilfully planned decision to make us question and think about something, in Taxi Driver’s case- what kind of man Bickle is. The treatment of women in 2049 *IS* a decision. It’s not Villeneuve lazily commodifying women, it’s him saying a world where women are only a commodity is a fucking bleak one. It’s a world where real women have been rendered obsolete because the height of success in our society (the CEO of a large corporation), an egoistical white guy with a god-complex manufactures life so women aren’t necessary for continuing the human race, and creates holographic partners for everyday men so they’re emotionally fulfilled without having to engage with actual women. And it’s so horrible. I mean, is anybody happy in this film? Is the picture of the future this film paints bright? It’s a film about how the arrogance of men will destroy everything. And on a base story level, it’s literally about guy who thinks everything is about him... but it turns out to be about a woman. Perhaps it’s lazy for the film to make the decision ‘it’s a patriarchal world so all the women are prostitutes and are treated badly so we’re just gunna’ do that’, but I dunno’... I think there’s more going on. I think Villeneuve is too good for that. I mean his last film was literally about a genius female linguist being the saviour of the world and how a mother’s love is the most precious thing. Would he really do such a U-turn and make a film where the female characters are just objects to be gazed at? I mean- maybe?? If any other aspect of the film felt like it was the studio meddling with Villenueve’s vision I’d buy that... but it’s just SO his film. And I think he’s clever enough to know who the primary audience of this film is- geeky 20 year-old guys. He draws them in with the surface (and all too familiar) images of the female characters, and then turns all of that on it’s head. Just my opinion. Obviously I can never be completely impartial- very happy to be converted the other way. 

Seen at Picturehouse Central.

6. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (directed by Luca Guadagnino)

Somewhere in Northern Italy, Summer 1983, Elio’s life changes.

Sun-drenched Europe, the smell of warmth and twirling cigarette smoke, deep blue sky- pure, breakfast with a glass of apricot juice and an espresso, the sound of bike spokes spinning lazily.

I wish I could live with these people.

‘Later.’

The rawest and best final shot in the last 10 years.

Seen at Odeon Leicester Square.

5. THE BIG SICK (directed by Michael Showalter)

A Pakistani-born standup comedian/Uber driver and a grad student strike up an unlikely relationship.

MAGIC. The perfect retort to use when someone says ‘all rom-coms suck’. A genuine slab of gold that’s as funny as it is heartfelt. And it’s just SO the kind of thing I like.

I’m unbelievably bored of films and just art in general that’s terrified of being sincere in fear of being labelled sappy or over-sentimental. The Big Sick says ‘fuck you’ to that school of thought and goes for it. 

Comedy, romance and drama are effortlessly blended- sometimes all in the same scene. And it never feels off-kilter, mainly due to the amazing performances. Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Ray Romano, Holly Hunter and the rest of the cast always play the truth of the scene- not the humour, the romance or the drama, just the TRUTH of the moment.

The perfect antidote to the year 2017 in general.

Seen at Aldeburgh Cinema.

4. YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (directed by Lynne Ramsay)

Gulf War veteran Joe rescues children from trafficking rings.

This is a horror. And more terrifying than any jump scare, this whole film is populated by ghosts.

Deeply troubled, deeply disturbed. Beautiful. Precise. Scatter-brained. Focused. A violin strung too tightly, then played by a madman. How can something so stripped down and raw feel so symphonic and wholesome?

There are things in this that will play on loop in my head for the rest of my life. Images and sounds so seared into my brain they find me at the strangest of moments in a day, and I’m always left thinking about them for the rest of that day. It’s clever like that. Joe can never escape what he’s seen. 

Francis Ford Coppola famously told press at the 1979 Cannes premiere of Apocalypse Now - ‘My film is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.’

You Were Never Really Here is not about PTSD... it is PTSD.

Seen at Odeon Leicester Square.

3. LOGAN (directed by James Mangold)

Wolverine’s last outing.

I’m not a huge fan of superhero films. Most are fun. Most are also lazy. Few will survive the test of time. Those that will use all the tricks in their genre box and do something interesting with them, transcend- Rami’s Spiderman 2 (2004), Bird’s The Incredibles (2004), Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008)... and Mangold’s Logan. 

So aged. So weary. Everyone is tired. Tired of running, tired of fighting, tired of living. Like three sharp metal claws jaggedly tearing through flesh, nothing is polished about this. Bloodshot eyes, skin like leather. He feels so much regret. Like most real heroes, he mourns those he couldn’t save rather than celebrates those he did. And it’s eaten him up inside for the hundreds of years he’s lived.

Here I go talking about furniture again... but every piece of furniture (superpowers etc.) is there to serve the story (and here the characters are story). Like so many blockbusters and superhero movies fail to do, this film is about something other than the furniture... e.g. how do you tell a story about dementia that gives someone who hasn’t experienced a family member suffering from it *that* feeling of sadness, loss, embarrassment, empathy and frustration? You give it to Charles Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart), a character you’re use to seeing as the leader, who always has a clever plan up his sleeve and has the ability to control other’s minds. You give it to him, and you force everyone watch the person they respected the most have to be lifted into bed while screaming about fast-food. It’s heartbreaking. Complex. It’s actually about something other than how in superhero world teamwork saves the day. Every ‘plot point’ and moment tells us something about these characters, even to a fault sometimes. SUBTLE: Logan pulling them jammed claws the way an old boy down the pub with arthritis feels his fingers. UNSUBTLE BUT STILL INTERESTING: making Logan fight the only thing he’s truly scared of- literally the version of himself that blindly obeys orders.

Everyone is SO fucking real. Just *watch* the way Daphne Keen eats that bowl of cereal.

Would highly recommend watching the ‘Noir’ Black & White version. 

mild spoilers: It also features the best single edit of the year, from Laura stabbing the shit out of some dude to a flurry of scattered drum beats in the score... then that piercing animalistic roar rips through and all is silent... she spins.... from this:

CUT to this:

An empty forest, the roar echoes out... a low bass note tolls like a funeral. Something is coming. Help is on the way, but it’s an untamed, ruthless, violent help. He’s near...

No one single cut has ever given me chills like that before.

Seen at Odeon Leicester Square & Picturehouse Central (Noir version)

2. TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN (directed by David Lynch)

Agent Cooper’s odyssey back to the small town of Twin Peaks. The original series of Twin Peaks that aired in the early 90s is often cited as creating ‘prestige’ television as we know it today- your Game of Thrones’, HBO high-quality, Netflix and so on... 25 years later, David Lynch and Mark Frost have returned to kill it. 

Earth-shattering. Groundbreaking. An 18-hour film (split into 16 parts) so layered, so complex i’m not even sure where to begin... and most of what I have to say has probably been written by someone else much more eloquently. 

For the first 9 hours, I found The Return mostly frustrating. I love the original series so, so much (and the prequel film Fire Walk With Me is one of my favourite films of all time). When I hit hour 10, it was like all the clouds in my head suddenly cleared. I ‘got’ it. What I thought I wanted was all my favourite characters back again talking about cherry pie and coffee with that soft romantic filter. Lynch and Frost (the creators) knew I wanted that. They also knew I didn’t *really* want that... because, the original series will always exist. They knew nothing would disappoint more than a soft reboot. The Return is it’s own thing- within the universe of Twin Peaks, and... within the actual universe. Seriously, how can you categorise this? It jumps from screwball slapstick comedy to silent black and white existentialist horror to 10 minute live band performances... what is the point of even trying to categorise it?

On some of the individual parts: Part 3 is a low-fi, surrealist, near silent masterpiece. Part 8 is... ‘Pure Heroin Lynch’ and has already changed TV forever. Part 11 is the most satisfying instalment, fulfilling storylines from the original series in a measured and poignant way. Part 17 is the conclusion we wanted, sort of... Part 18 is the start of a new mystery, and one of the most haunting things I’ve ever seen.

Twin Peaks will change you life.

Seen on Laptop.

1. THE FLORIDA PROJECT (directed by Sean Baker)

In the shadow of Disney World, 6 year-old Moonee and her friends spend the summer playing around the Motels they live in, while her mother Halley struggles to find a new job.

Pastel bright colours. Every person has survived a storm. Explore the wasteland of failed corporate America. Become a child again. The endless spinning of helicopter blades, a constant reminder of what they can’t do- escape. 

Doesn’t ask you to like the characters. Doesn’t need to. Moonee has seen too much. Halley’s anger at herself and her life bubbles underneath every word and action, but she just doesn’t know how to fix it.

It is *SO* achingly beautiful it hurts. I find it hard to even watch the trailer without crying.

For the problems that face Moonee, honorary queen of The Magic Castle Motel, and the impending darkness that’s sure to come, she has the most powerful gift of all- finding hope where there is none. 

‘See, I took you on a safari.’ 

Seen at Odeon Leicester Square & ICA.

DISCLAIMER- things that are not out yet in the UK/I shamefully haven’t yet seen and would likely be on my list too: Lady Bird (further DISCLAIMER i would actually kill somebody to see this) A Ghost Story Raw Phantom Thread War for the Planet of The Apes Coco American Vandal Mindhunter

BEST SCENES:

The third thing I learnt this year- it’s impossible to talk about a specific scene in a film without spoiling it. So... SPOILERS.

The Stairway Fight - ATOMIC BLONDE (directed by David Leitch)

If someone could tell me what the fuck was going on in Atomic Blonde that’d be great but until then I’ll just marvel at how amazing the fight sequences are. Charlize Theron again puts herself at the centre of the progression of American action cinema following her iconic performance in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). From the first time we see her, lying in an expensive bath healing her wounds and soothing her bruises, we know at some point we’re going to see how she got them. CUE: The 15 minute stairway fight sequence, made to look like a single continuous shot. Leitch and Chad Stahelski (his frequent collaborator and director of the also brilliant John Wick: Chapter 2) are determined to show general audiences what good action scenes look like. This 15-min beauty harkens back to the almost dance like hospital shootout in Hard Boiled (1992), with the rawness and determination of a Children of Men (2006) tracking shot. Charlize Theron (as MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton) fights her way through swarms of henchmen over several floors of an abandoned block of flats, all the while trying to protect Eddie Marsan (who wouldn’t want to protect Eddie Marsan??) Every punch, kick and throw HURTS. By the end, she and the final henchman are so exhausted there’s a sense they might just call the whole thing off- but something pushes them on. Oh, and there’s a 5 minute car chase all part of the same shot to end. Also features the BEST LINE OF 2017. In retort to the final henchman strangling her desperately whispering ‘Take this, bitch!’, she turns the tables, stabs him up hard, then before delivering the final knockdown, pushes her nose to his and asks- ‘Am I your bitch now?’ She doesn’t wait for a reply.

The Eyeless Woman - TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN (directed by David Lynch)

Lynch’s best nightmare.

Train Hysterics - LAST FLAG FLYING (directed by Richard Linklater)

2003. A Vietnam veteran recruits his two oldest buddies, who he served with, to accompany him on a journey no one should ever have to take. 

I liked this movie a lot- just missed out on the top 12 list. The standout scene happens little over half way through, the characters sitting in a storage carriage of a train talking about losing their virginities. It’s the best ‘characters uncontrollably laughing’ scene since The Intouchables (2011). 

The Snowball epilogue - STRANGER THINGS 2 (directed by The Duffer Brothers)

Stranger Things season 2 was super mixed for me. I enjoyed it a lot. Kind of. 

The first series is a perfect little story, with a perfect beginning, middle and end. I god damn *love* it’s characters so, so much. The plot was simple remixed 80s nostalgia beats, but really just a vehicle for you to get to know Mike and Eleven and Nancy etc. Think about how much each and every scene was practically designed to reveal more about who they were. It was so beautiful. Season 2 however had wayyyyy too much plot which was obsessed with itself and how cool it was and as a result left characters with nothing to do. In other words, in Season 1 all the characters had something to do because the plot came from them, in season 2 characters were given plot roles... like, explain to me what Mike did all season before he saw Eleven again at the v end of episode 8?? What did Jonathan’s storyline tell us about him we didn’t already know? Sure, they don’t have to set up who they are all over again, but the best sequels never take for granted we love the characters- they give us new reasons to love them. 

It’s clear to see whose storylines had natural progressions from season 1 and they knew where they were going, and those they had to think of something because Netflix desperately wanted another season quickly. The only original characters season 2 really worked for were Steve and Will. ‘Steve The Babysitter’ was the perfect progression for his character- him voluntarily discarding his Alpha-Jock status, seeing it was all bullshit, now his caring side comes out. Fuck, think how much you disliked Steve all of Season 1 compared to how much you love and deeply want him to be ok at the end of season 2. THAT’s good writing. His storyline was perfect for his character, it kept giving us new reasons to love him. And Will. Holy shit. His descent into Reagan-level possession was the most engaging part of season 2. Basically all of the story came from him. And Noah Schnapp is so damn good. I think simplicity is the key. His story was unpredictable till the last moments, when you realise it was inevitable. It has a clear premise, unlike most of season 2. 

In the first, there were very clear overarching premises from the start- Will Byers is missing, Eleven has escaped from the Lab, the Demogorgon is on the loose. Simple premises that allow our characters to manoeuvre around... Season 2 doesn’t really have one other than Will is clearly still connected to the Upside Down... the Mind Flayer doesn’t really start as a concept till the penultimate episode... Hopper and Eleven living together maybbe?? but we’re not really given enough time with them. Everyone else is left with nothing to do, or something that doesn’t really serve their character... UNTIL THE LAST 15 MINUTES.

The Snowball epilogue was like coming to the surface after swimming laps underwater- I sort of enjoyed the laps but I’d rather just be able to breath. All the self-indulgent 80s nostalgia *plot* is done, and all the characters have interesting things to do!! Steve giving Dustin tips dropping him off, and then that longing look he gives towards the hall. Dustin realising ‘I don’t look like Steve Harrington’ after being rejected by every girl at the ball and dejectedly crying... and in comes Nancy to save the day!! Genuinely one of the most beautiful moments in anything all year (notice how we learn more about Nancy’s true nature in this one moment that anything else she really did all season??) Jonathan nearby keeping an eye on Will and being his helpful self taking the Ball pictures. Lucas ignoring what the rest of the group think about Max and asking her to dance. Will actually going to the ball, acting as normal as he can and dancing with someone!! Joyce and Hopper nervously wait outside and reminiscently share a smoke as they did in their highschool days- contemplating on how they probably won’t ever feel like they aren’t worried about their kids... and finally Mike and Eleven just having a bit of happiness for once- actually going to the Snowball together, a beautiful conclusion after speaking about it at the end of Season 1.

As each moment passed in this glorious sequence, I loved the characters more and more. They aren’t doing anything supernatural or life threatening, but the stakes feel SO much higher than they had all season. It’s real. They aren’t shackled with ‘advancing the plot’, they can just be themselves. And I loved it.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Time’s Arrow, Episode 11, BoJack Horseman Season 4 (created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg)

BoJack Horseman has been the most visually beautiful cartoon for a while now, it’s breathtaking season 3 silent underwater adventure Fish out of Water helped to gain it much appreciated wide applause. Time’s Arrow is a different beast. Genuinely horrifying. A mind cracked into a thousand pieces and glued back together into something resembling crazy paving. The animation is disturbing. Really disturbing. The nightmarish images running through the failing mind of an old woman with dementia. Images of her regrets, the neglect and abuse at the hands of her parents. Memories burn and melt away like plastic in a fire. The faceless humans and constant scribble over Henrietta’s face haunts me. Beyond the obvious sinister imagery, it means something. A puzzle with too many missing pieces to really make out what the picture actually is. And we’ll never really know.

It’s not the first thing that pops into mind when you think of ‘cinematography’, but Time’s Arrow is the best visual storytelling since... the previous season of BoJack Horseman.

BEST PERFORMANCES:

Cate Blanchett as various in MANIFESTO (directed by Julian Rosefeldt)

Originally a critically acclaimed multi-screen video installation in which Cate Blanchett plays 13 different characters, ranging from a school teacher to a homeless man, performing artist’s manifestos in 13 different scenarios. Part of the financing deal was Rosefeldt had to cut a 90 minute, linear version of the piece for a cinematic setting.

NO one could have pulled this off like she did. She’s running on adrenaline and pure bravery. She makes interesting choices at every twist and turn. How does looking at her never get tiresome? Every jump from character to character feels genuine. She blew my mind- I knew I was looking at the same person over and over again, but I also *knew* I was looking at 13 different people. 

A masterclass.

Kyle MacLachlan as various in TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN (directed by David Lynch)

2017 is the year of staggering ‘multi-character’ performances. Kyle MacLachlan’s involvement in the new season of Twin Peaks was basically the only thing anyone knew about it going in. And he is the heart of this season in so many ways. Returning to a character 25 years later must be a daunting prospect, but MacLachlan shows no fear. Not only does he play the pragmatic, joyful Agent Cooper we all know and love, he plays his steely, pure evil doppelganger Mr C, child-like amnesiac Dougie Jones and in the final episode... someone quite special. And he makes it look so damn easy. He is the fabric that holds together The Return.

THE ‘KIDS’ in EVERYTHING

2017 has been a bad year for Hollywood. Ultimately though, it will be looked back on as the turning point. THINGS CHANGE NOW. The old guard is running from their past scared. And they should be scared. Uma Thurman is coming to murder them all. There is no room left for the Harvey Weinstein’s, the rotting core of top-down abuse has been exposed. Brett Ratner can fuck off with his swaggering playboy image and terrible movies. 

What is truly uplifting is who is going to replace them. A new generation of pure, true artists that this year has shone a spotlight on.

The future is Brooklynn Prince and Bria Vinaite, stars of The Florida Project. The future is Timothée Chalamet, whose central performance in Call Me By Your Name is the realist, rawest thing ever. The future is Saoirse Ronan, the next Meryl Streep. The future is Daniel Kaluuya, who has finally gained world-wide recognition for his stunning leading performance in Get Out. The future is Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown and all of the kids from Stranger Things, who masterfully manage the horrific pressures of being thrust into the tabloid spotlight at the same age most of us just want to cry in our rooms. The future is Sophia Lillis and the rest of the Loser’s Club from IT (a film with the most oppressively terrible sound design ever yet they still manage to make it fun and watchable.) The future is Daphne Keen, the best on-screen cereal-eater who almost steals the film from Hugh Jackman in Logan. The future is Lucas Hedges, someone with rare human fingerprint over every word he speaks in Three Billboards and last year in Manchester By The Sea. The future is Donald Glover, the most creative, multi-talented young artist alive. The future is Caleb Landry Jones, who’s had maybe the most impressive year, with standout supporting roles in The Florida Project, Twin Peaks: The Return, Get Out and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The future is Tessa Thompson, the best thing about Thor: Ragnarok.  The future is Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong'o, all the team behind the upcoming Black Panther film, helmed by Ryan Coogler. The future is Barry Jenkins, director of best picture winner Moonlight. The future is Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver and Kelly Marie Tran, the new faces of the most popular franchise ever. The future is Alice Lowe, a force to be reckoned with. Writing, directing and starring in a feature film is difficult enough. She did all of that while heavily pregnant. Oh, and it was her debut feature. It’s called Prevenge and it rocks. The future is Ava Duvernay, a beacon of hope- cannot wait for A Wrinkle in Time, which drops early next year. The future is Sean Baker, the most empathetic filmmaker working today. The future is Patty Jenkins and Gal Godot who have revolutionised the superhero film and inspired a generation of little girls with Wonder Woman.  The future is Kumail Nanjiani and Zoe Kazan, who I’ll follow in whatever they do after The Big Sick. The Future is Jordan Peele, the most exciting new director. The future is GRETA GERWIG, mumblecore queen turned saviour of cinema.

So, what did I learn this year? Well, Agent Dale Cooper is certainly one of the best characters of all time. But most of all: amongst the darkness of everything that’s happened within the film industry in 2017... there’s hope.

The future is bright.

[dejaaalm]

Royalty Women’s Retreat: #loveyourself 

I attended our Royalty women’s retreat this past weekend at Lake Koronis. I loved and enjoyed every minute of it. I loved being away from my husband and kids, though, I had a few moments where I missed them a lot. I loved all of the fun conversations we had and staying up really late playing card games. I got to canoe and swim and be a kid all over again.

Our theme this year was #loveyourself. It sounds like a cliché; something most people already know how to do and the message seemed super simple. One thing I learned this weekend was to love myself spiritually. It’s okay to wear make-up and jewelry, work out to be in shape, and have fashionable clothes and bags. After all, we’re humans so the desire to have all of this stuff is going to happen. But what about our inner beauty? What about the unveiling beauty that God has instill in all of us? The beauty of a gentle, kind, and loving spirit.

Our guest speaker was Maile Vue (N.XF Tswv Vam Meej) from Hmong Peace A/G. She spoke about our spiritual inner beauty and understanding how that beauty can have a powerful, meaningful effect on others. It doesn’t matter how we look on the outside because it’s the spiritual beauty within that will speak to others. Our outer beauty will fade away. By the time we’re 60+ years old, we will all eventually look alike—we’ll start having wrinkles, dark circles, gray hair, gain weight, and etc.

We have to shift our focus to caring for our inner beauty. Beauty, by definition, is a combination of qualities that is pleasing to the eyes: form, shape, color, and senses. To put this in perspective, I think all flowers are beautiful but I would pick a rose over a carnation and a lily over a marigold. Why? Because a rose is known for being romantic, sexy, and sultry whereas a carnation is known for being the typical pick-me-up, last minute Mother’s day bouquet. And a marigold does not have the wonderful, pleasant scent as a lily does. I’m determining the qualities of a flower’s beauty based on what I can see, smell, and feel and what society has labeled it.

We do that to each other every day. We identify a person’s beauty based on their outer appearance rather than from within. God does not do that. In 1st Peter 3:3-4, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

How does one show their inner beauty? Prayer. Pray for God to give you understanding and to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Maile shared that when you allow the Holy Spirit to manifest within you, people will notice a change in the way you talk, act, and behave. People will notice this beauty and wander about where it came from or how to acquire it. We were made in God’s image and are his beautiful creation. A part of women comes from God. We were made to be beautiful, gentle, and fearful.

In Proverbs 31:30, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

Fearing God does not mean being afraid of him. It means to stand in awe of him. I found this explanation from biblestudytools.com:

To fear the Lord is to stand in awe of his majesty, power, wisdom, justice and mercy, especially in Christ – in his life, death and resurrection – that is, to have an exalted view of God. To see God in all his glory and then respond to him appropriately. To humble ourselves before him. To adore him.

We tend to be in awe of worldly power, talent, intelligence, and beauty. But these things don’t impress God because “His delight is not in the strength of the horse (mighty armies, worldly power) nor his pleasure in the legs of a man (human strength).”

But God delights in those who fear him – those who stand in awe of him – and instead of trusting in their own human abilities or resources, “hope in his steadfast love.”

I just remember God’s spirit tugging at my heart as I was listening to Maile’s sermon. It just seemed like a common message that you would typically hear but I felt the Lord speaking to me. It wasn’t about how I needed to change my ways, but it was about how God has been changing me this year and was revealing so much of his work through me already. I wanted to acknowledge and embrace that change.

A week prior to our women’s retreat, my family and I went to eat at a Chinese buffet. I promise, I won’t write a long essay on what happened at the buffet. Long story short, we didn’t receive good customer service so my sister, sister-in-law, and I decided not to tip. I did place $1 in the tip tray but was convinced by my sister-in-law that since we didn’t receive good service we should not tip. So, I put the money back in my purse. As we proceeded to leave, one of the waitresses walked up to my sister and demanded for tip. I intervened and explained that we didn’t tip because we did not receive good service. She was upset and started rattling the dishes from our table. I was embarrassed and mad at this point so I went up to the front and spoke with the manager. After we came home, my blood was still boiling so I wrote a massive review on the restaurant. The next day, I was calmed down but I started feeling guilty. The whole thing just wouldn’t leave me alone. My heart felt troubled. Finally, the next day, I prayed and let it all out. The Holy Spirit was convicting me and teaching me a very important lesson. God was teaching me that, similar to my situation, Jesus was treated badly. He was never serviced like a true king should have and he was accused of many things. At the very last minute, he could have walked away and said “I was not treated nicely, God, so I’m not going to be a living sacrifice for all.” But he didn’t. Despite all the beatings and hatred, Jesus chose to die for our sins even though we didn’t deserve it. I cried and repented. Later that night, I went home and deleted my review and apologized to my family for my actions and explained the conviction that was placed in my heart.

You see, I normally can shake this kind of thing off and not be bothered by it but I couldn’t this time. It was like I just went through a spiritual growth spurt and this retreat theme was so fitting for what I was going through. I want to focus more on being a gentle, kind, loving, and fearful woman. I can love myself by contributing more to my inner beauty so that others can see an overflowing abundance of the Holy Spirit’s fruits within me—Galatians 5:22-23. I want others to see me and think of my inner beauty.

[tessatechaitea]

Mother Panic #1

This could be the title of my autobiography.

Oh, it isn't a camping trip. It's a killing trip!

I don't like the cut of Fred's jib. He might make me acknowledge the thought I was trying to suppress so that my day isn't ruined. But I bet Violet has learned since this moment how to pull the trigger! I bet she's a real anti-hero killer since she has to be some kind of funhouse mirror reflection of Batman. You can't live in Gotham City and not be a reflection of Batman. Violet is approached by a reporter who wants to talk about her father's disappearance fifteen years ago. Okay! Now we're getting somewhere! Daddy Issues ahoy! Also probably Mommy Issues. And maybe some issues caused by Fred. It turns out Dominic is not the bearded guy Hemsley's Boy-Toy but his bodyguard. Apparently showing him his "art" was a test and Dominic failed because he tries to ditch Hemsley. Also, Violet is busy following Dominic so that she can kidnap his bodyguard who can lead her back to wherever Hemsley hangs out where she can kill him in private. Maybe. I'm making a lot of assumptions here because I haven't finished reading the story. But then Mother Panic steps in to save the bodyguard!

And a, um, rabbit shits in a, um, skull?

Don't think that last caption was me questioning that panel! I totally get it! It's so...so...profound! Such art. Man. Incredible! You get it, right? Of course you do! What kind of a dope doesn't understand the whole rabbit in an upside down skull thing! It's like a representation of fertility and mortality. Um, right? Each criminal beaten down by Mother Panic gets a subliminal picture to go with the pain. So one guy is all, "Ow! I'm like a tree that just got struck by lightning! Not as profound as being beaten like a bunny shitting in a skull but still painful!" Then the next guy is all, "Holy ouch! Seven arrows in a swan!" And the next guy is all, "Melting candles on a birthday cake! SO PAINFUL!" And the final guy is all, "A pink snake eating a rat! I got off easy!" Mother Panic knocks out the bodyguard so she can take her with him. But first she says, "Fuck the bat," because the kid thought she worked for the Batman. Later, Batman happens upon the scene and he wipes a tear from his eye as he asks Penny-One, "Why would somebody say fuck me? What did I do?!" Mother Panic (or Violet, of course) takes Dominic back to her mother's indoor gazebo where her mother spends her days singing. Her mother speaks in cryptic sentences that actually mean things if you're into poetically profound nonsense. Like me, of course! So good! And smart! Elsewhere, Hemsley pays a visit to Mother Panic's real nemesis, Gala. She's a criminal who does art crimes! Murderous art crimes! Who could have guessed?! I suppose I came pretty close to the mark in my initial summation of what I figured this comic book would be. But then it's not hard because it's obvious the Young Animal comic line is meant for pretentious pieces of crap.

Anything can be art if you have enough gall to tell people that it is!

Anybody can take a shit but it isn't art until somebody takes a shit and tells other people that it's art. Sometimes they explain the meaning behind the art so that people nod vigorously and say things like, "Right! Right! I totally see that! What a mind blowing piece!" And sometimes they don't explain it because what can you really say about a piece of shit that hasn't already been said by smarter people who aren't trying to fool everybody into believing you're profound. Mother Panic questions the bodyguard to find out what Hemsley's been doing. But he isn't blabbing his story or what he saw until next issue. Until then, I'll just have to be content with the back-up story, "Gotham Radio Scene One: 1621." In it, some radio talk show host is talking about how we're all holes and we just can't get enough dicks stuck in us to ever feel whole. But then he's shot live on the radio by some hooded guy who takes over the microphone and is all, "Thanksgiving." I guess the rest of his deep thoughts about the holiday will come next issue. The Ranking! I think I could enjoy this. But I promise I'll continue to be super cynical about it. Because that's my art! To see bullshit in everything. Tearing everything apart is my canvas! Destruction is my creation! I'm just a trite, cliché, petty write who doesn't know how to bare his soul to any other human being! I don't want to fill the hole at all. I just want to be bigger hole!

[drink-n-watch]

The first episode of GOH aired yesterday and here I am with a review already! Are you impressed? Don’t be it’s mostly pictures and I really don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up this schedule. But I was this week! Hourray for small victories.

I gotta say, last season’s Tower of God introduced me to webtoon fandoms and I am a little…intimidated at the thought of reviewing this series, as the following seems even more…passionate. Still we’re all friends here so let me tell you what I thought of the first episode of The God of Highschool.

I have to admit, tis series was pretty highly anticipated and after reading a whole bunch of tweets about how much better this adaptation was than Tower of God, my expectations were pretty high. And they got readjusted really quickly. The best way I can summerize my thoughts for those first few seconds is: I thought this show would have had a better budget. It’s not that the art is bad but it’s fairly traditional and pretty simple. It looks much more like an old school anime if that’s what you’re into but it’s not very detailed and light and shadows are rather dull. Also the CG is just not very good. Mostly obvious in the water but also noticable in background building during city chase scenes.

I will say this though, the art style and designs are way more faithful to the webtoon than ToG was, so there is that. But odly, the narrative isn’t exactly, I’ll get to that later, you’ll see what I mean.

We didn’t get that much in the way of exposition. A few short scenes tell us we’re in a world similar to ours but there something more going on. Something very powerful, I could even say godly! We are then introduced to main protagonist Jin in a short dream/flashback that shows us he had a somewhat sad past were he was isolated. Also known as standard shonen protagonist childhood. I should say that dream sequence was more visually interesting than the rest of the episode to me.

 We immediately learn that Jin is a spunky young man with a string sense of justice who will come to the aid of those in need (cough) when he decides to take a detour, despite being in a rush, to hel an old lady who got her purse stolen. In short order, we get a brienf introduction to Mira, an innocent looking youg lady who is actually a powerful swordswoman with a bit of a temper (i.e. main female supporting chara) and Han who is a very strong and stoic fellow with a good heart (i.e. sidekick). I know how snarky this sounds but these ae really the most common shonen archetypes out there. I’m going somewhere though, please bear with me.

You gotta understand that although episode 1 of The God of Highschool was giving me all sorts of déjà vue all over again (I had not read the webtoon but I did read all the way to the events of episode 1 before writing this review, out of curiosity) because of how many tropes it was embracing whole heartedly, I was still enjoying myself if a little mindlessly. The art wasn’t rally my cup of tea and the opening sequence reminded me a lot of Pet. I think I’m the only one who saw that show. But it was o.k.

And then that chase scene hit and I thought to myself, Oh hey there’s the budget!

It seems that detailed designs and seemless CG may have been sacrificed a bit in favour of high speed animation and considering just how much mouvement there was just in this episode, I gotta say, it was probably a good initiative. Once things got moving they hardly stopped and they moved a lot! I think I may have noticed a bit of jegged mouvement here and there, where it seemed like they may have skipped a frame or two but it was rare and considering how much action was present I can’t really blame the show. Besides, it really doesn’t matter as the camera work and framing during these dynamic scenes was just plain fantastic. Possibly some of the best motion framing I have seen in the past 5 years. It made the simplpe experience of watching a chase scene so exhilirating that I completely forgot about any misgivings I may have started with.

Also I laughed at the blatan product placement (lower right screencap above). It was just such tacky fun that I couldn’t help but admire the self aware nature of it.

Now when I say that the narrative of this first episode of The God of Highschool is less faithful to the webtoon that Tower of God was, what I mean is that the first episode of Tower of God was pretty much chapters 1 to 4 (I think maybe 6) of the webtoon. There was a bit of added material but it followed the narrative beats pretty closely. Whereas, just like the visuals of this first episode of God of Highschool are favouring action, so is the storyline. The webtoon opens with a lot more situating exposition and bacgrounds for the main characters, which have completely been skipped over in this first episode. I assume that it’s just a matter of reordering the narrative and we will get back to them in the coming weeks. And once again, I think that was a very smart move on the part of the adaptation. It really thre us in the thick of thngs and it makes me want to know what happens next much more than an establishing episode would have.

I should also say, the first few chapters of God of Highschool that I read were very well written. I can’ speak to how the actual story develops or anything like that but as an opener, this was some impressive stuff.

So sure, the designs aren’t really my thing. Backgrounds and mob characters are sort of boring. The colours are pretty average but none of that matters because the series abosultely shines once it’s in high mouvement and it’s almost constantly in mouvement. And yes both the characters and the establishing plot seem to be classic shonene tropes so far but that also doesn’t matter, because classic shonen tropes are super fun.

And that’s realy what my take away was from this first episode. I was fun! I don’t think I can ask for anything more. Did you guys watch this first episode? What did you think?

The God of Highschool ep. 1 – Anticipation The first episode of GOH aired yesterday and here I am with a review already! Are you impressed?

[coolcarmancollected]



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Terry Betts: a life in speedway





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It was 1979 and speedway legend Terry Betts had just quit the sport he loved at the age of 36.

The risks that first attracted him to the oval as a fearless teenager had become too great, a serious crash at Reading a sign not to push his luck too far.

He had a young family to think of, new priorities and a new life to look forward to after two decades of domestic and international success.

“After I swallowed my tongue at Reading I thought maybe it was a warning – this seems the time to give up,” he says at his home just south of Cambridge, squeezing into age-stiffened racing leathers for our photoshoot.

But he knew how easy it would be to get drawn back into the saddle, that the offers would come – and that he’d find them hard to resist.

So he systematically dismantled all the bikes he’d kept from 20 years in the sport, stored them away and kept his distance from the tracks where he’d made his name.

“When I packed up I made sure I had not got any bikes ready to race,” he says, just a few pounds off his racing weight at the age of 74.

“I knew what would happen – six months down the road someone’s going to talk me into riding, someone will come along with an offer and I would be doing it for the wrong reasons.

It was time to move on

“You’ve got to be serious about it, it’s not something you can play at. That’s when you will get hurt, when you’re not fully committed. I had a good run at it and it was time to move on and keep right away from it.”

And so Terry did, buying and running a garage and building his own home on the six acres of land that came with it.

But about 10 years ago, encouraged by his son, also Terry, it was time – and safe – to start rebuilding, to reconnect with the bikes that carried him to international stardom.

“It was long enough after I retired that I was not going to be taken back into it,” he says. “My son, who was only four when I stopped riding, was the one who encouraged me to do the bikes that were just sitting there going rusty.”

Of all the bikes he kept, the first to be restored and closest to his heart is the Jawa on which he won the 1972 World Pairs title with Ray Wilson in Sweden.

Bought with his own money for £491 at the start of that season, sitting astride the Jawa’s banana seat now and grabbing those wide handlebars throws Terry right back to the second golden age of speedway.

“It takes me back to travelling on the old ferry to Sweden with Ray, with the bike in the boot of a Mercedes, and coming back we had won the World Pairs,” he says.

“No-one had given us much of a hope. It was more or less expected that the Swedes were going to win it.

Biggest achievement in speedway

“It’s something I can always go and have a look at and remember being in Borås in Sweden with that bike. That was probably my biggest achievement in speedway.

“Selling it now is not something I would even consider. I can’t see the point unless I was on my last uppers, and Terry says he will always keep hold of it.”

Jawa bikes revolutionised speedway in the late 1960s, the Czech-made machines lighter and faster than the British-made JAPs (J A Prestwich) on which Terry started his career as a raw 16-year-old at Norwich in 1960.

“The advantage was people could go and buy a bike that, almost off the shelf, was capable of winning the world final,” he says.

“With a JAP it would take two years to learn how to ride it and two years to find out how to make it go. On a Jawa a lot of people could be competitive without it costing them a fortune.”

As well as the ‘72 bike, restored to as-new, as opposed to racing, specification, Terry still owns several other racing bikes, including the one on which he competed with a broken collarbone in the 1974 World Final, and the last bike he rode during his one season at Reading.

“They’re the ones that mean something to me, which is why I kept them,” he says. “Having done the ‘72 bike I thought I might as well put the others back together.

“The frames have all been away to be sandblasted and I’ve sorted all the engine bits out.”

The one bike Terry didn’t keep hold of was a JAP, so he decided to buy one instead, finally finding a 1940s example ridden by Australian champion Vic Duggan.

You couldn’t give them away

“I started with JAPs and always wanted one, but could not find one with an Erskine frame,” he says. “I got rid of mine years ago. You couldn’t give them away because no-one wanted them.

“This one came up owned by a guy in Kent. It had previously been on display in a shop window in Birmingham, and after he bought it he would take it to shows and let people see it.

“But he couldn’t ride it on the road and wanted to sell it. Now some Aussies have found out I’ve got it and are pestering me and want to buy it!”

Well-known throughout his career as one of speedway’s good guys, always happy to chat with fans and sign autographs, Terry remains as popular today as he was in his heyday, voted the best King’s Lynn Stars rider of all time in 2005 by fans of the club he served for 14 years.

Now, sitting at his dining room table with Sue, his wife of 53 years, looking out at the Jawa on the lawn, he takes me back to the very beginning when, as a nine-year-old, his father would take him to watch the likes of Jack Young and Freddie Williams at West Ham in the early 1950s.

The smell of the Castrol R

“I can always remember going there under the floodlights, and the smell of the Castrol R was just unbelievable,” he says.

“I decided that was what I wanted to do, something that was risky. It was a really dangerous sport and a lot of people got killed in those days, one or two a year. It was the thrill of the danger that attracted me to it.”

With no junior competitions, Terry would practice sliding an old BSA around the garden until, at the age of 16 – the minimum age for racing – his father bought him a JAP from rider Brian Meredith at Rye House.

“It was too big for us to go round the garden, so I learned to slide it on the perimeter track of an old wartime airfield that was not far from us,” he says.

“Then my dad took me to Rye House to a practice day. I’d never been on a speedway track, but I thought ‘this is easy’ because I’d learned to slide on tarmac. Mike Broadbank was running the session and he said to my dad, ‘who does he ride for then?’ Dad said, ‘it’s the first time he’s been on a speedway track’.”

Broadbank wanted to sign Terry there and then, but his father said it was too soon, allowing him to compete in an open meeting in a pair with Meredith.

“I crashed every race!” laughs Terry, who quickly found that sliding on your own was a world away from the helter-skelter sprint to the first bend of a competitive race.

Terry and his father began making the trip up the then single-carriageway A11 from their home in Old Harlow to Norwich to watch the Stars compete in the National League.

A star was born

It was there that a star was born, spotted while riding around the track after the meeting while the national anthem played.

Terry was invited to compete in the junior handicap race, and it quickly became clear the Norwich Stars had something special on their hands – a young tyro who would soon compete alongside established superstar Ove Fundin.

“I went off the gate and won my race, and the next week they put me 10 yards back and I won, and each week they put me further and further back but I kept winning,” remembers Terry, then still only 16.

“After that, they put me in the team, initially as a reserve.”

Terry’s increasing speedway commitments saw him quit his job as an apprentice mechanic at his local Vauxhall dealer.

“When I went to Norwich they gave me an ultimatum because I started having too much time off,” he says. “They said ‘make your mind up, are you going to do speedway or work here?’

“I thought, you only get one opportunity – I can come back and be a mechanic but I can’t come back and be a speedway rider, so I packed it in.

“My dad said he would back me for two years and if I hadn’t made the grade by then I was on my own. He was always of the opinion that if you’re going to be any good you will show signs in the first two years.

“My attitude was ‘I want to be a speedway rider and I am going to do it’. I loved the fact I could be getting paid for something I loved doing.”

It took far less than two years for Terry to prove himself.

To gain experience, he combined riding for Norwich with a spell at Wolverhampton in the breakaway, and booming, Provincial League in 1961.

“I was riding four to five meetings a week at both, but in 1962 they stopped you riding both leagues so I stayed at Norwich and became a heat leader,” he says.

Dudley Jones, writing on the Speedway Plus website, remembers watching an 18-year-old Terry take on a Southampton side at The Firs including world speedway stars Barry Briggs and Björn Knutsson.

Wild and often frightening lad

“Terry scored nine, including wins over Briggo and Knutsson – this wild and often frightening lad was going places – if he stayed alive!” writes Jones.

“With Terry in 1962 you never knew what to expect, or whether he would stay in one piece. In those days he was already the favourite of the teenies, and wore what appeared to be turned down wellies, with green and yellow (what else) football socks.

“As to style, I would best describe it as wind the throttle on and hold tight. It was at this time that I learned how to hold my breath for more than 70 seconds while I willed that Terry would stay on his JAP for four laps.”

Terry had the speedway world at his feet, but a row over money with Norwich nearly saw him lost to the sport for good.

“I went to Belle Vue and got a 15-point maximum, beating (former world champion) Peter Craven,” he says. “That’s when I started spending a lot of money having engines done and that’s when I started wanting more money.

“Norwich was really bad on engines, a really fast track which was blowing the old JAPs up – I said I’ve got to have more money or I’ll pack up.

“It was July or August 1963 and I said ‘look, I’m packing up’. They said ‘no you won’t, you love it’. I said ‘I bloody will!’ They took me to court and I got banned for a year, effectively because I didn’t turn up.

‘That’s me finished with speedway’

“I thought ‘fair enough, that’s me finished with speedway, I’ll go car racing’ and I built a saloon car and went car racing at Snetterton.”

The break from speedway had one happy side effect, however.

“He didn’t have speedway, but he got me!” says Sue, who met Terry at a pub in Epping during his speedway sabbatical.

“We probably wouldn’t have met otherwise, because I was never around locally,” says Terry. “On Saturday nights, instead of doing speedway or doing my bike, I ended up going to pubs and clubs.”

In any event, despite large crowds, the Norwich directors controversially sold The Firs stadium for development just over a year after Terry walked away, ultimately paving the way for his return to a new track in a glorious new era for speedway.

That Terry revived his career at King’s Lynn, at a run-down dog stadium on the Saddlebow Road, was entirely down to the persistence of one man – Maurice Littlechild.

With Cyril Crane, Littlechild took advantage of the demise of the Norwich Stars to bring speedway to the West Norfolk market town and port, not only taking the Stars name but their yellow and green jackets and various pieces of equipment, including the old floodlights from The Firs.

“Maurice came round and said ‘how do you fancy doing some open meetings in 1965?’” says Terry. “I said ‘King’s Lynn? Where the hell’s that?’

Maury was a real persuader

“I told him my dad had bought a garage at Dunmow and I was working there, so I couldn’t do it. But Maury was a real persuader, he said it would fit in because it was only once a fortnight.

“They were laying the track and Colin Pratt and myself went down there and we tested the track out. I still had the old JAPs I raced at Norwich and rode one in the very first open meeting in May 1965 at King’s Lynn.”

After more than a year out of the saddle, Terry won that meeting, and suddenly the word was out – Betts was back.

“It all went silly. All the tracks in the country wanted me to come out of retirement,” says Terry. “King’s Lynn wasn’t in the league then, but Maury said ‘next year we’re hoping to go in the league so don’t go signing a contract with anybody else’.”

Terry was loaned to Long Eaton for the 1965 season, a campaign interrupted by a broken leg after a crash at Poole – the plaster had only been off for three days when he walked down the aisle with Sue.

Didn’t that worry the new bride? That her husband, a mechanic when she met him, was about to rejoin a sport when the ‘new’ Stars were granted their league licence where risks to life and limb are an occupational hazard?

‘I’m not a panicker’

“I was worried, but he was never frightening like some of them can be,” she says. “I’m not a panicker, and most of the riders respected him so they didn’t try to fence him.”

“There are risks,” adds Terry, but then that was what attracted him to the sport in the first place. “I’ve had broken arms, legs, you name it, over the time. Arms and legs you can mend but I said if ever I started knocking my head I’d pack it in.”

The King’s Lynn Stars duly got their licence and, with the amalgamation of the national and provincial leagues, this was boom time for British speedway.

“It used to be jam packed – there’d be 10,000 people there,” remembers Terry. “We had to get there early and go in the back way to get in they used to be queued up so far.

“It was new and it attracted a lot of people. We were all in our early 20s and most of the crowd were too – everyone grew up with it down there, and I knew the spots where they all stood. People would be in the same place week after week – you knew where to look for them.

“They asked me if I could play football for King’s Lynn because of the amount of people that would turn up for charity matches when I was playing.”

During 14 seasons at King’s Lynn, Terry became a living legend at Saddlebow Road, earning international recognition at the 1966 World Team Cup, finishing fourth.

The following year, he was knocked unconscious by a bottle thrown from the stands while representing England in Australia, an incident that made national news at home and abroad.

It was November 11 at the Sydney Showground, and Betts had played his part in a thrilling 54-53 win for the visitors when one of the 30,000-strong home crowd hurled the glass bottle towards the track.

‘I thought a bomb had gone off’

“We’d won the first test and went out on the lap of honour,” says Terry. “I looked round to see where the other boys were and thought a bomb had gone off. Someone in the top stands had thrown this bottle and it hit me right in the side of the face and slit my eyebrow.

“I fell on the track. They thought I had lost my eye. I have no recollection of it beyond thinking a bomb’s gone off, bang, and the next thing I knew I was in hospital getting stitched up.

“In the crowd, it all kicked off. The crowd attacked him, and two off duty policemen said if they had not stepped in they would have killed him. After that the Aussies couldn’t do enough for me, everywhere I went.”

Terry was back in action just two weeks later, and rode in every round of the five-test series as an England team inspired by brothers Eric and Nigel Boocock returned home with a 3-2 series win.

By now, Terry had swapped the heavy JAP bikes for Jawas, buying his first from fellow rider Barry Briggs, who had secured the sole importer concession from what was then Czechoslovakia.

“You could only get them from Briggo,” he remembers. “He took the agency on them when no-one knew what Jawas were. If he found out you’d bought one in from Czecho, if you wanted any bits you could not get them.”

Although the crowds were bigger than they are now, and speedway riders were becoming big stars, they were still largely responsible for their own bikes, including transporting them from meeting to meeting.

Only the top guys had mechanics

“Only the top guys, like Fundin and Briggs, had mechanics, everybody else did their own,” says Terry. “In the early days you took one bike racing and that was it.

“The magneto would go on them, and you’d borrow someone else’s bike for the race. Colin Pratt was in the away team and he would borrow your bike – I leant my bike to various different people riding for the opposition.

“It was totally different. Now it’s like they’ve got a bike for every race.”

There were no trailers or transporters until riders started to receive sponsorship in the early 1970s.

“I remember removing the boot lid of an Escort and standing the bike in the boot. Howard Cole had a Mini and he’d sit his bike on the open boot lid and go all over the country,” says Terry.

“Then I had a Citroen DS. I used to take the rear window out, take the boot lid off, cut down the parcel shelf and put the bike in the back. When it rained we’d get wet feet.”

As well as the World Pairs title, Terry was part of the World Team Cup winning teams of 1972 and 1973, but it’s a less-heralded trophy that means as much as any world crown.

“One that means a lot to me was winning the first Littlechild Trophy at King’s Lynn,” he says. “Maury was the reason I came out of retirement. He was not a promoter to me, he was my best friend really and when he died in 1971, to win it was something that meant a lot to me.

“Maury brought speedway to King’s Lynn and was a big part of my life.”

Terry was granted a testimonial at King’s Lynn in 1975, and continued to be the heartbeat of the team until switching to the Reading Racers for a single season in 1979.

“After King’s Lynn I didn’t enjoy it,” he says now, with 649 meetings at Saddlebow under his belt. “Reading looked after me and paid me good money, but I was doing it all for the wrong reasons, and that’s not why I did speedway – that was a bonus.

‘I felt like a guest rider’

“I was at King’s Lynn too long to go and ride for somebody else. I felt like a guest rider and I was not enjoying it.”

For many professional sportspeople, retirement can almost feel like bereavement, an entire life of camaraderie and the buzz of competition ripped away overnight, to be replaced by, what, exactly?

“I was in speedway for 20 years, and it all went too quick really,” he says. “I loved every minute of it. It was brilliant, the fact that I could earn my living doing something I loved.

“Then you think ‘what am I going to do?’ All your friends are connected to it. All these people you see all the time and you’re not going to anymore.”

While building up his garage business, he tried his hand at team management at King’s Lynn, but it was no replacement for the thrill of racing.

“I did it because King’s Lynn were in a bit of trouble, but it wasn’t the same,” he says. “Trying to motivate riders – if you’re not motivated when you get there, if you don’t want to win, you might as well go home.”

Terry didn’t entirely keep away from speedway though, turning out in the Golden Greats meetings run by his great friend, Barry Briggs.

Rupert Jones, who had marvelled at the skills of the 18-year-old Norwich starlet all those years ago at The Firs, was in the crowd at Coventry in 1988, nine years after Terry retired.

“Terry was in a class almost of his own,” he writes. “He went round Coventry, after nine years away, as if he’d never retired. His times were league times, and his match with Peter Collins (who had retired only the year before) was great to see.”

For most of the last 40 years, though, Terry has been busy developing his business on the six acres of land he bought in 1979.

“I needed something to do for the rest of my life,” he says. “When I took the garage on it was a Leyland franchise employing seven blokes.

“I hated it! I had so much hassle, so I rented it out and started selling commercial vehicles.”

When the lease was up, Terry was refused permission to build housing on the land, so constructed business units to rent out, and at the same time started building his own house on part of the land.

‘We called it Saddlebow House’

Its name? “It was all down to Saddlebow Road, so we called it Saddlebow House,” says Terry, whose office is an Aladdin’s Cave of speedway memorabilia, photographs and trophies, including the yellow and green Stars bib he dons for our pictures.

Terry junior helps his dad dig out an old pair of boots and a vintage Bell racing helmet and, but for a few more wrinkles around those clear blue eyes peering out from beneath the visor, it could be 1972 again.

Slowly but surely, the bikes once put aside to keep Terry from temptation are being brought back to life.

And none is more special than the Jawa on which he now sits, smiling and reliving the glory of Sweden

[dfroza]

A photographic memory from march 10 in 2010 with a view of Trees

http://twitpic.com/17ri8m - let’s paint some leaves together!

March 10, 2010 • Facebook

and a poetic memory that day:

G. sing

if i frame my thoughts would you hang them on your wall? would you care to see the inside of me? is whatever hiding in there meant-to-be seen?

all i know is that my intentions are pure it seems love has moved in to stay and i welcome the company but my heart, it has a door you’ll find the key under the mat i put it there just in case the music is too loud for me to hear the beating of your heart

but i promise, if you have something to share i’ll be right here and i will listen i’ll take those beats and marry them to a melody and we can sing, we can sing

(march 10, ‘10) dfroza

and a few of my thoughts shared as Facebook memories:

wow, this day feels like a thousand at once, an adventure into history, just me, thinking, walking, dreaming. life is so interesting. love.

paint each day with what inspires the life in you to breathe. the colors may vary from day to day, but they’re all important in this story.

something about all of this just feels right. that’s all i know.

yeah, yeah, listening to some sweet old 50’s jazz

March 10, 2010 • Facebook

followed by a morning view of the space needle from the inside of my Saturn Vue on the morning of march 10 in ‘11 and a view that same day of a weathered shell i found along the shoreline of great lake michigan in march of 2010

and then the floorboards and my foot inside the Pike’s Place Starbucks in Seattle on this day in ‘11 where i picked up a cup of coffee, fast-forward to a bottle of “naked” wine in ‘16 in my room on Plainfield avenue

(all i do is write to you, love)