#carla gugino my beloved | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hcpefulmarshmallow · 5 years

Text

I wanted to take some time out of our irregularly scheduled content to talk about something near and dear to my heart: Komaeda’s voice. Specifically, two of his character songs which I have been more eager to dissect than you know.

A couple of points before we begin:

These songs were not written by the same people who designed, scripted or even localised Komaeda, but rather his Japanese VA, Megumi Ogata. It has, however, been sanctioned as canon material, even released under the Danganronpa brand. Therefore, I will treat it with the same consideration that I do explicitly canon material.

The songs are, of course, in Japanese. I do not speak this language, so I’ll be going off the translations available on the DR wiki. If you do speak Japanese and you realise I’ve missed or misinterpreted something due to the language barrier, please let me know. Otherwise, as an English speaker, I’ll do my best with what I have.

My goal here is to reconcile his musical characterisation with his canon characterisation, as well as extrapolate whatever new things we can learn from these songs about our beloved boy. And if you’re reading this crazy long post and thinking, “wow, she’s reading way too into this,” ... yeah. That’s sort of the fun of it. My goal isn’t to challenge anybody, or shame anyone’s headcanons. This is just a weird niche hobby of mine.

Apologies for the lack of a cut. This much text, I felt, might be a little hard on some peoples’ eyes on my theme. It is tagged though.

Okay, onto the good stuff.

Zettai Kibou Birthday is, according to Megumi, a song about how Nagito feels on the “outside”. It contains a literal narrative and a metanarrative which is a word I like to use to sound smart, but in this case, just refers to an overarching interpretation that isn’t necessarily verbatim, but rather is represented, or is provided a structure, or is given meaning by the actual text.

In this case, the literal narrative is this: Nagito meets somebody on campus he was “born to meet”, and they have some sort of steamy rendezvous, and in amongst all the smooshing, there are several references to absolute hope. However, the song isn’t supposed to be a literal recount of events, but rather an expression of Nagito’s feelings; about hope, love, intimacy and connection. This is the metanarrative. The plot, if you will, is simply a presentation of that message.

While the song functions on a conceptual level and not a physical one, it interests me that sex is the medium through which he allegorises hope, intimacy and interpersonal connection. I think it’s also interesting that hope and intimacy are grouped together, as if to find one is to find the other. To quote Nagito himself, “Now that I’m on the verge of death, I’ve finally realised what I wanted all along: somebody’s love.”

Again, the song isn’t literal. It captures a feeling, likening that exhilaration and comfort of making a deep and impossible connection to the feeling of finding Ultimate Hope. And for someone who has been so lonely for so long, it makes sense he would find that hope in another person. Someone who isn’t afraid to be close to him in every possible sense of the word.

Now let me get it out there - I don’t expect a song like this to have explicit depictions of sex or anything. There is a fine line to walk when using the topic in media lest you be branded with a hard “lewd” rating, but there’s still no shortage of ways to use it without being explicit. Take, for instance, Carla Gugino & Oscar Isaac’s cover of Love Is The Drug. (Why the cover and not the original? Because I actually liked Sucker Punch, fight me.)

Late that night I park my car / Stake my place in the singles' bar / Face to face, toe to toe / Heart to heart as we hit the floor Lumber up, limbo down / The locked embrace, the stumble round / I say go, (and I say yes) / Dim the lights, you can guess the rest

The words describe literally what is going on, while still invoking the right mood and the emotions the characters in the song were feeling. It’s very well-balanced lyrically, especially with what Oscar and Carla’s performance brings to it. Contrast, if you will, with:

So lock up, mix up, cut up… key up, sex up, wrap up / I'll let you mess me up and indulge That's it, break up, use up, end up… hook up—because we're connected / The omen of hope after the worst disaster

If you look close, you can definitely see what’s happening in the actual narrative of the song. However, the details are more or less obfuscated under this layer of words that don’t really mean anything on their own. It’s more like a flurry of different sensations rather than one, tangible experience. These feelings he’s having during these experience are, in the next breath, directly correlated with connection, and then hope.

Nagito is a guy who works on the conceptual and the philosophical more than the literal. Even in canon, he’s heavily into symbolism. He likes to carry around Go stones because of what the colours represent to him. So this use of intimacy and word play to describe a significant bond between two people is remarkably fitting. What’s literally happening isn’t half as important as what is going on beneath the surface, and the way it makes him feel.

Like I said, it’s interesting that, of all the ways he could express hope and connection, this is the one he went with. I do believe that this also expresses an underlying attitude towards intimacy; that it’s something he only wishes to share with someone truly special. In many fan circles he is portrayed as a highly sexualised character, even though in the canon media, he is quite chaste, never taking any sexual interest in a situation that isn’t sexual; for instance, any of the many times Mikan falls over herself and winds up in a suggestive pose. (And nor should he, let me stress.)

And I can already foresee the counterargument that Nagito is gay, so of course he won’t enjoy seeing a girl’s underwear; and to that, I have two points. One is that, personally, I disagree. This doesn’t have to matter, but I headcanon him as bi or pan, possibly even demi. Either way, I don’t believe gender plays a major role in who he is attracted to. There’s no canon evidence to say who is “right” here (as right as anyone can be regarding fiction), but I don’t judge. If that’s your interpretation, you do you. The second is that, even towards the characters he is shown to be attracted to (namely, Hajime) his expressions of interest tend to be pure, for lack of a better word. Yes, there’s the joke about stripping naked on the beach, but I’m pretty sure that’s just a joke. He does tend to play a lot, after all.

And let me be clear -- there is nothing wrong with being a sexual person, or expressing one’s desire’s healthily. And certainly, Nagito has that side to him. He absolutely has sexual interest, urges and whatnot. It’s just not a highly key component to his characterisation. The point I want to make is: this song was a really good method to explore his feelings towards intimacy in a natural way, as well as provide more depth and context to attitudes he expressed in canon but couldn’t be explored to their fullest because, you know, it’s a story about murder, not Nagito’s feelings. The way he groups hope, love and sex as this euphoric thing, a singular whirlwind of emotions rather than separate happenings, is telling toward this desire he has for these things, the way he sees them as interconnected, and, with the way the song is so upbeat and uplifting, his hope that he can achieve it.

Nagito is someone who strongly believes in the idea that people are born a certain way, either hopeful or hopeless, talented or untalented. In short, destiny. And in this song, he speaks directly to the person he believes he’s destined for.

In the school campus at midnight, my heart throbs as I continue waiting "I was born for the sake of meeting you" I’II think at the moment

This song puts a tangible goal on this “Absolute Hope”, rather than the vague “overcoming Despair” thing he talks about all the time. Nagito really, truly wants to believe - and seems to believe - that his soulmate is out there, and it isn’t too late to make a deep and meaningful connection with somebody; someone who will be just as eager to reciprocate. Someone he can be unafraid with, captivated with, and with whom, he can experience that Ultimate Hope. It’s even in the title - the moment he meets such a person, is the moment true Hope itself is born. Something far stronger than what already exists in the world.

Zansakura, the companion piece to ZKB, is worlds apart in many ways.

It is, according to Megumi, how Nagito feels on the “inside”, the other side of the proverbial coin to ZKB being how he feels on the “outside”. Likely, this means that part deep within him he doesn’t let others see. This is present in the overall tone alone. While ZKB embodied in it that uplifting way which Nagito talks about Ultimate Hope, Zansakura is much more somber. ZKB echoes the Nagito we see through Hajime’s eyes; while Zansakura is more congruent with those fleeting moments we experience the game from his perspective, wherein he is even more down on himself. As we play through the Final Dead Room with him, we see that the excessive way which he berates himself out loud is nothing compared to the second-guessing and self-debasement that goes through his mind. It truly is a dark and melancholy place, which shows through in the slow, sad melody of Zansakura.

This one takes the imagery to a whole other level, relying primarily on the cultural and symbolic relevancy of cherry blossoms. I’ve written about all this before, so for the sake of those who have been around this blog a while, I’ll try to summarise as best as I can.

In Japan, Cherry Blossoms are symbolic of the ephemeral nature of life -- in other words, the fleetingness and impermanence of it all. In no small degree, the connection between the symbolism of Cherry Blossoms and life and death comes from the influence of Buddhist culture, and is embodied specifically in the concept of mono no aware. This can be translated a number of ways that all pretty much come back to the same idea of existing for only a short period of time. It’s used to describe the awareness of impermanence, the transience of things, and a sadness or wistfulness as their passing; and a deeper sadness about this being the reality of things. I know this seems boring and irrelevant, but please keep especially this last bit in mind, as it’s very important to the meaning behind this song.

The most popular variety of Cherry Blossom in Japan are the Somei Yoshino, which are almost pure white and tinged with pale pink near the stem. Although this song was written after the fact, I have to wonder if this was always intended to be part of the character’s aesthetic, because these colours are reflected in Nagito’s character design - specifically, his hair. Anyway, the Somei Yoshino typically bloom and fall within a week. Winter Sakura or Fuyuzakura begin blooming in autumn and continue sporadically throughout winter alone.

Though Cherry Blossoms are an important, and even iconic image for the country, most people are surprised to learn they don’t last for very long. For Nagito to compare himself to these flowers is to admit that he, too, is here to bloom for a short period of time. It’s also worth noting that Cherry Blossoms are considered their most beautiful, not as they bloom, but rather as they wither and fall. And all of a sudden, I’m reminded of all the times Nagito talks about attaining hope through despair, and how his life has only found meaning as he inches closer to death.

Yeah, I don’t like remembering this detail because it’s profoundly sad, but our marshmallow boy doesn’t exactly have long to live. He was given a year, at most, before starting at Hope’s Peak - and, at the end of the series, is presumably in his early-to-mid 20s. He’s beaten his own life expectancy, but not his illnesses.

The song starts in the most typical Nagito way I can think of:

“We can see again tomorrow", I laughed, short-lived cherry blossoms within my heart

As he always does, he laughs and is cheerful with others, even though deep down, he’s tremendously sad.

The song then takes us through this most beautiful and haunting imagery, of cherry blossoms in bloom after surviving a storm*, preparing to wither and fall; until at last they do, and as the flowers are carried away by the wind and water, a lonely, broken branch is left behind, wanting to bloom again.

(*The actual word used is ‘struggle’, however further down, the survival of a storm is mentioned, along with the flowers (aka hope) which will bloom after. The whole thing is a metaphor for his hope/luck cycle, is what I’m saying.)

He talks about this imagery as someone observing it (The storm of flowers, the sudden wind / I halt and open my eyes); again, with this idea of a metanarrative lurking beneath a literal one. He does, however, break the narrative to address (presumably) that same elusive “you” from Zettai Kibou Birthday:

To live an ordinary life, and die together with you / Oh, if that could come true

This seems so disconnected from the Nagito we know, who seems to have no interest in ‘ordinary’ things, and chases only hope. But as we’ve established, the place he most desires to seek hope is in another person. As he spends more time with Hajime during Island Mode, we know already that he admits to seeing hope in himself, and that he doesn’t necessarily take it as good news. But this line, right here, I feel embodies what this song is about, and what Nagito is all about.

Nagito is a very lonely person, desperate by his own admission for love and understanding. He knows he has little time left, and his prospects are...dim. Everyone he’s ever loved has either died or suffered at the hands of his luck, a force far beyond his control. And those who remain - namely, his classmates - either don’t like or don’t understand him. In ZKB - again, how Nagito feels on the “outside” - he expresses a hopefulness that there’s still someone he can love, who can love him, who he can experience that Absolute Hope with. But Zansakura has far more pessimistic expectations.

By breaking the metaphor to be straightforward and honest for a line, we get Nagito’s most core desire: to live a life with somebody; to love and be loved. Which, yeah, he’s already admitted to. For someone who’s been through so much, that probably seems like the most unattainable thing. Every time he gets comfortable, something invariably rips all that out from under him. And of that, he is painfully aware. Oh, if only that could come true - in other words, he knows it won’t.

Once again, do recall the concept of mono no aware. It’s not just an awareness of transience and impermanence, but also an intense, wistful sadness in the face of it. He knows he’s dying, and he knows he’s dying alone. But he’s not frustrated or angry, or even defiant. He’s not trying to fight it. As much as Nagito wants to hope for the best, deep down, he just can’t. He knows this is the reality, and he doesn’t have it in him to fight back. He’s just completely, deeply, helplessly sad.

In this song, Nagito’s life is represented as the petals that bloom for a short time, then fall; while he is the broken branch left behind; forgotten, wounded and unappealing; yearning for more time. Deep down, this is how he feels about himself. He is boring and unextraordinary, and yet (perhaps selfishly) he wishes that brief taste he has of being alive would last if only a little longer. He’s not quite ready to die yet, not until “the day this ordinary life is devoted”.

#meta;#( holy damn this went on #but i have been meaning to do this forever )#zansakura #zettai kibou birthday #long post/#( 2775 WORDS YO )

142 notes · View notes

bergeson-blog1 · 5 years

Photo

( CARLA GUGINO, 48, FEMALE, LESBIAN ) EMELIE BERGESON was a TAX LAWYER from SUNDSVALL, SWEDEN. but now that they’ve found themselves in 1457, they’re a COLLECTOR OF DEBT. SHE is known to be UNDERSTANDING & OPEN MINDED, as well as CUNNING & PERSISTENT. they DON’T plan on sticking around. little do they know that their ROMANTIC soulmate exists in this era, and they happen to look like ELIZABETH HURLEY, LOGAN BROWNING, NICOLE KIDMAN, UTP.

aka hey hello, i’m new. well, my name is bunny, not new lol. i’m so funny, not. anygays, i hope y’all go easy on me cause i never really know what exactly to put down in intros so here goes nothing !

｡･*･ﾟ☆ &&. RANDOM LIFE FACTS IN SORTA SPECIFIC ORDER —

raised and loved by not the standard household, emelie grew up with not one father but two named oliver & erik and her mother cecilia who adored their daughter as much as each other. however for many in the city sundsvall it was hard to get used to the idea of the poly amorous couple, it was very normal for emelie and anyone who pestered her about it in her childhood and teenage years she told off with ease.

art was emelie’s weakest strength in comprehensive school unlike math and science, the girl loved languages just as much as the pythagoras' theorem and skipped the 5th grade with ease. she excelled at all three national tests that were her best classes; swedish, math and english. emelie became known as the most intelligent student, representing the school at the age of 15 for a year until she graduated.

before she even started college, she knew she wanted to trade into her father erik’s footsteps and become a lawyer. and so she enrolled into upper secondary education and dove into the national science programme, in order to get as much credit for her college application as possible. those three years she focused on taking up finnish, norwegian, french, german & polish besides school in which she is all currently fluent in. unlike me, so don’t be too hard on me please.

at the age of 19 the pride and joy of the bergeson family got accepted into stockholm university, moved into a shared apartment with three other young girls who she shared a bright law foreseeing future with, the four became best friends for all the years college lasted.

with her endeared juris doctor (j.d.) in hand, a weeping family in front of her and her then best friends by her side, the brunette had her future envisioned, all in order by the amount of letters from law firms that were eager to get their hands on her that had formed on the kitchen table at home before graduation season even came around.

her father had been her first thought, of course, to come work for; but the slightest idea of mixing work up with her personal life, especially familial, frightened emelie too and for the first time; the once young girl now turned into a young woman faced a fear and anxiety attacks she had never faced before.

her life had almost been entirely written down, from the very start she went to preschool at the age of 3, to many years later, where she no longer had to study her ass off day in, day out. always around by her family, even when she moved to stockholm there wasn’t a weekend she visited them or the other way around. and the fact she had every opportunity in the world now to go work at any firm that wanted her, turned from dream into a nightmare. emelie’s fright of both working with her family or leaving them became a frightening thought too scary to voice, so much that instead of talking to her beloved parents, she shut them out.

her once best friends had already made their choices by the time emelie came to face her own sorted out dream and future job. they were out of the country and after meeting with a therapist for multiple sessions; the truth came out. her interest in france was bigger than ever, but her fear for losing her family like she lost her best friends was major. her anxiety attacks were diagnosed and discussed with her family.

long story short; it took her another three months to completely settle down in an apartment bordeaux, france, fully funded by lex-port, a law firm that focused on lots of areas including tax.

flashing many years forward; she’s been nearly everywhere in europe to visit clients for the corporate in person, has always put her job first over everything and only once thought of starting a relationship. but when it became clear she’d always put her job first, a relationship just wasn’t going to cut it for emelie. so her preference went from seeking love and romance to friends with benefits from time to time and one night stands with women only.

basically emelie is truly living her best life and doesn’t long for anything else in her life, not that she’s aware of at least, the awards she’s received over the years are stuffing the shelves to a point the eldest of them have to face the bottom of a box in the attic soon. in fact, she was preparing her latest speech for the very last time in her earbuds on her early morning run for the award show in the afternoon; piecing the last things together that made sense in the woman’s mind. some jokes here and there she could even crack a smile for at the crack of dawn. so ready to move the people she would be in a big room with in less than eight hours, she visualized everything to the point of the champagne that was bubbling in her glass.

except — none of that became reality. the moment she ran into parc rivière, the same route she took every morning, get a piece of quiet and breath of fresh air in the abandoned park this early, everything she expected to happen that day; vanished into thin air.

finding herself in 1457, england, we (she and i both) have got no clue what��s happening next, so stay tuned to the ic posts!

#ohqintro #/ does this make sense ?? probably not lol but here we gay.#for whoever actually read this mess; you're very loved by my gay arse and also very appreciated !

4 notes · View notes

alittleobsessive · 6 years

Text

It’s been a minute since I was so taken with something that I felt compelled to share my Thoughts, but such is the power of THoHH. (I’ve spent a lot of time reading other people’s takes, so I’m not sure I have anything original to add, but I will proceed stubbornly onward. Additionally, there’s a decent chance most of this will be about Theo Crain and Kate Siegel)

I love Theodora Crain so fucking much. I can’t express how sad I am at the idea that I don’t get to spend anymore time with her. I like the resolution of the show, and I don’t necessarily want a traditional second season, but I do think a spinoff with Theo is worth at least exploring.

I don’t think I would have responded to Theo the way I did if Kate Siegel hadn’t been playing her. She was absolutely fantastic; a lot of the acting was. I think that I’m especially happy for Kate for a few reasons: (1) As I acknowledged above, I fucking love Theo; (2) She’s in her mid-30s and she really hasn’t worked a ton, and she truly is fantastic, one of the top 3 performances on the show imo; (3) When you’re not as established as Emily Blunt, there can be a lot of judgment that comes with being cast in your husbands prestige Netflix show, and the fact that she has emerged from this as one of the most beloved characters, and one of the best performers on the show makes me so happy.

It is ridiculous how much the actors physically resemble one another, especially when half of them come from Mike Flanagan’s personal troupe of actors. I don’t know a ton about the casting process, but Carla Gugino, Elizabeth Reaser (and Lulu Wilson), and Kate Siegel had already worked with Mike and they really do look related. And with the exception of Luke, all of the adult and child actors look so much alike, and they’re all really fucking talented. It’s pretty absurd.

I want to know more about how Theo’s power works. Is how sensitive her powers are coextensive with the sensitivity a normal person’s skin would have to touch or pain? Or are her hands just more sensitive than the rest of her body, hence the gloves, while she leaves other parts of her body exposed.

Is she only capable of receiving visual images when she’s in Hill House, or maybe just with her family members, or do we just not see what she’s seeing as an adult?

Does she ever touch one of her siblings with bare hands as an adult? I don’t think so, but I’m not sure

I’m really curious about how Theo processes people and objects that give off positive emotions/impressions. I think it’s implied that she feels everything, not just negative things

@morningmightcomebyaccident has talked about the hug b/w Leigh and Theo, and it kind of fascinates me -- I think the most straightforward takeaway is that Leigh knows that, even if Theo is uncomfortable with most kinds of touching, she is comfortable with Leigh hugging her. It strikes me as implausible that Steve wouldn’t have discussed his siblings, his relationships with them, and his judgements about them with his wife. At some point, the words, “my younger sister Theo, doesn’t like to be touched” must have come out of his mouth, but Leigh hugs her anyway. Not to mention the fact that people that are uncomfortable with being hugged make it abundantly clear.

I like the idea that Theo liked hugging Leigh, maybe Leigh gave off some sort of safety, warmth, or security that was completely devoid of the sort of childhood trauma the Crains all suffered through

There are two other times I can recall seeing Theo look comfortable with casual physical affection, and they both happen at Nell’s wedding

She looks wildly comfortable with Stacy while they’re dancing (Is she less overwhelmed by a person after they’ve been physically intimate? Is this part of Shirley’s shock lol? Maybe she’s more shocked that Theo is being physically affectionate w/ her gloves off than she is that she’s gay). The other time is with Nell

Thinking about the relationship between Theo and Nell makes me desperately sad. The moment between Nell and Theo (and Steven I guess) is so sweet. There’s a second of surprise, and Theo genuinely looks a little vulnerable and chagrined, but Nell gets over her shock tells Theo she loves her, and zips up her dress. And there’s moment when they separate and Nell looks up at Theo with her enormous eyes, and then just tucks her head into Theo’s neck. And it just speaks to such a level of comfort between the two of them. It makes me wonder how close Theo and Nell were.

It’s pretty wild that Shirley and presumably Steve were just fully in denial about Theo’s abilities despite a all evidence that they were real

In conclusion, please write more fanfiction about Theo, I need it.

#thohh #theo crain #theodora crain #the haunting of hill house #kate siegel #apologies for the length #and for any repetition #I probably fucked up somewhere but I'm too lazy to re-read it

132 notes · View notes

tabloidtoc · 5 years

Text

TV Guide, June 10-23

Cover: Ziva back on NCIS

Page 1: Contents

Page 2: Ask Matt -- The Big Bang Theory, Sela Ward on FBI, Your Feedback, Coming Next Issue -- Stranger Things

Page 4: Your summer reading list

Page 5: Daenerys’s Last Word -- Emilia Clarke on Game of Thrones finale

Page 6: Good Medicine -- Dodo Heroes, Sweet Home Sextuplets, My 600-lb. Life: Where Are They Now?

Page 8: The Roush Review -- Big Little Lies

Page 9: Tales of the City, NOS4A2, Black Mirror

Page 10: Cover Story -- Returning Stars -- Cote de Pablo as Ziva on NCIS

Page 11: Pauley Perrette -- Broke, Jennifer Aniston -- The Morning Show, Patricia Heaton -- Carol’s Second Act, Jimmy Smits -- Bluff City Law, Matt’s New Shows to Watch -- The Unicorn, Stumptown, Batwoman, neXt, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

Page 12: If You Like That Watch This -- Blue Bloods and Tommy, The Following and Prodigal Son and Evil, Parenthood and Not Just Me, Veronica Mars and Nancy Drew, The Good Place and Sunnyside, Spinoffs of Your Favorite Shows -- FBI: Most Wanted, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Katy Keene, Batwoman, Mixed-ish

Page 13: The Biggest Timeslot Battles -- Bluff City Law vs. The Good Doctor vs. Bull, Emergence vs. New Amsterdam vs. NCIS: New Orleans, Perfect Harmony vs. The Unicorn, Sunnyside vs. Carol’s Second Act, Series Ending Next Season -- Modern Family, Supernatural, Madam Secretary, Criminal Minds, Empire, Arrow, Blindspot, Homeland, Vikings

Page 14: Summer’s Newest Game Shows -- Spin the Wheel hosted by Dax Shepard

Page 15: Press Your Luck hosted by Elizabeth Banks, Best Ever Trivia Show’s Ken Jennings, Hypnotize Me hosted by Taye Diggs with hypnotist Keith Barry

Page 16: Holey Moley, Card Sharks hosted by Joel McHale, Also Playing This Summer

Page 17: Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek has been a beloved presence in living rooms across America since 1984 -- here’s why perseverance matters

Page 18: What;s Work Watching -- Week 1 -- Pick of the Week -- Kevin Bacon on City on a Hill

Page 19: Monday, June 10 -- Hollywood Hair Hall of Fame on TCM, Kate Plus Date, Still a Mystery, Tuesday, June 11 -- OutDaughtered, Blood & Treasure, Soccer, Catch-Up Guide -- Pose

Page 20: Wednesday, June 12 -- Hilary Duff and Sutton Foster on Younger, MasterChef, First Responders Live, Married at First Sight, Queen Sugar, Krypton

Page 21: Thursday, June 13 -- Baskets, Golf, Major League Baseball, Friday, June 14 -- Carla Gugino on Jett

Page 22: Saturday, June 15 -- Lifetime turns Jane Green’s chick lit into movies -- Tempting Fate, To Have and To Hold, Family Pictures, Movie Pick -- The Hate U Give, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Love, Take Two

Page 23: Sunday, June 16 -- Endeavour, Giada in Italy, Picture Perfect Mysteries: Newlywed and Dead, The Good Fight, Soccer

Page 38: Streaming Guide -- Netflix -- Murder Mystery

Page 39: I Am Mother, BEATS

Page 40: Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, Prime Video -- Absentia

Page 41: Hulu -- Das Boot, The Joy of Painting

Page 42: New Movies Releases

Page 43: Series, Specials and Documentaries

Page 44: What’s Worth Watching -- Week 2 -- Pick of the Week -- Emily Deschanel on Animal Kingdom

Page 45: Monday, June 17 -- Meet the Mendozas on Grand Hotel, Raven’s Home, Whose Line Is It Anyway, The Late Late Show with James Corden

Page 46: Tuesday, June 18 -- Robin Givens on Ambitions, Hurricane Man, America Unearthed, Drunk History, The Detour

Page 47: Wednesday, June 19 -- Rocky Carroll on NCIS: The Cases They Can’t Forget, Just Roll With It, Rivers of Life, Yellowstone, Thursday, June 20 -- Family Food Fight, Reef Break, NBA Basketball

Page 48: Friday, June 21 -- Complete Guide to A.M. Concerts, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Billy Wilder in Paris on TCM, Saturday, June 22 -- The Three Stooges, Soccer

Page 49: Sunday, June 22 -- Darrell Waltrip on the Toyota/Save Mart 350, Close Up With the Hollywood Reporter, The Spanish Princess, Highwire Live in Times Square with Nik Wallenda, Apollo 11

Page 76: Cheers & Jeers -- Cheers to ABC’s salute to King Lear, Dead to Me, The Fix, Jeers to The Bachelorette, Stranger Things, Superstore

#tabloid #ziva #ziva is alive #ziva is back #ncis #cote de pablo

1 note · View note

novelconcepts · 10 months

Text

So, like. Obvious question time.

Is Carla the fucking raven?

#the fall of the house of usher #fall of the house of usher spoilers #carla gugino #carla bastion of doom my beloved #is it time once more for her to be the focal horror of a piece??#the mother. the storyteller. the raven????#(the horror in the first two is obviously Grief. I would die laughing if the horror of this was Actual Birds.)

15 notes · View notes

lesbianlotties · 3 years

Text

finding out carla gugino will be there just made me so excited about the new mike flanagan show!!!

#oh god now i'm so excited about tomorrow #please bring back more of my favorite ladies please #i wouldn't complain if henry thomas wasn't there...#i was going to watch it anyway but!!! carla gugino my beloved!!!

9 notes · View notes

doomonfilm · 6 years

Text

Thoughts : Watchmen - The Ultimate Cut (2009)

Some stories are almost too epic to bring to the big screen, becoming legends of development hell. Be they original stories or adaptations of beloved properties, it can often be difficult to turn a vision into reality. If you add to the fact that the vision is the adaptation of a comic property so beloved and groundbreaking that it is often considered one of the best novels (not comic books) of all time, you can imagine why it took Watchmen nearly three decades to make it to the screen, silver or otherwise.

It’s 1985, and things are tough all over in the United States. The Doomsday Clock continuously ticks towards midnight, signalling nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Keene Act has all but eliminated masked vigilantes, with heroes either becoming government sanctioned or underground operators. On top of everything, the world (criminal, vigilante or otherwise) is stunned by the death of the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), an equally beloved and hated superhero (and original Minutemen member) turned government operative. Curious about the circumstances surrounding the death of the Comedian, underground vigilante Rorschach (Jackie Eale Haley) begins investigating the possibility of a conspiracy to murder any remaining heroes, masked or otherwise. He reaches out to Nite-Owl (Patrick Wilson), who has taken over for original Nite-Owl turned tell-it-all author Hollis Mason (Stephen McHattie); Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), publicly revealed as billionaire genius Adrian Veidt; and finally, Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) Laurie Jupiter, successor to original Silk Spectre Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino), and her boyfriend, the all powerful Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup). As Rorschach peels back the layers behind the actions, he begins to uncover evidence of a conspiracy far beyond the scope that he or any other of the heroes, including the seemingly omniscient Dr. Manhattan, are able to do anything about.

This synopsis barely scratches the surface of what’s going on in terms of events and characters involved in this film. With such dense source material (including a handful of books that expanded the narrative and history of the original Watchmen series), it would be easy to feel overwhelmed or to get lost when deciding what to include, but for my money, Zack Snyder more than achieved what he needed to for Watchmen to be a success. I came into my knowledge of the film unfamiliar with the original comic series, and I found the story incredibly intriguing and full of depth. As I became more familiar with the series, it has provided me with a deeper appreciation of the film, including the controversial choice to not stay faithful in regards to the film ending in comparison with that of the comic. For the world that was set up in regards to the film and the way that characters are introduced/portrayed, the choice worked better to keep the film experience coherent and as ‘grounded in reality’ as it needed to be for the audience to stay connected throughout.

The ambitious re-cut dubbed Watchmen : The Ultimate Cut attempts to reintegrate the Tales of the Black Freighter sections of the original comic into the film, adding a bit of symbolic insight in regards to Rorschach and what goes on in his head. The sections are added in with additional footage shot to include characters such as Hollis Mason, the Knot-Top gang and a handful of other characters you see throughout the world of the Watchmen film, finding their way into the flow of the narrative without being too jarring or out of place (though some may be quick to point out the ease in which they can notice what was original and what was specifically made for the transition). The re-integrated material serves to pull the viewer deeper into the pit of despair that besets this film, illustrating further that even the most noble of ideas and plans may fall victim to circumstances far beyond our control.

Snyder and his trademark film flare works brilliantly in Watchmen. Fighting scenes are turned into a ballet of destruction. The slightly altered timeline and reality the film takes place in is filled with visual references and inside jokes that are further punctuated by spot-on casting and production design. Even though parts of the story are slightly altered for the film, the overall narrative hangs together and stays true to the source material, allowing the informed a deeper level of enjoyment while still allowing the casual viewer an immersive experience. Even the special effects work, especially the Dr. Manhattan effects or Rorschach’s mask, are executed brilliantly, giving a new level of experience to characters many have grown to know and love.

Jackie Earle Haley is brutally unsettling in his portray of Rorschach, giving full commitment to the idea that his costume is his true identity and his true identity a way to hide. Patrick Wilson brings the right amount of nerd charm to his role as Nite Owl, balancing wonderfully off of Malin Akerman’s forceful nature and aggressive sex appeal as Silk Spectre. Billy Crudup and his penchant for being a bit disassociated as an actor ended up being key to his portrayal of Dr. Manhattan. Matthew Goode perfectly plays both a superior air and an ability to make actions go unnoticed in his role of Ozymandias. Jeffrey Dean Morgan adds another notch to his ‘making over-the-top lovable’ belt with his choices and performance as the Comedian. Carla Gugino plays her dual roles of younger and older Silk Spectre with the right amounts of youthful boldness and older reminiscence required. Stephen McHattie knocks his ‘lovable old man’ mode out the park as Hollis Mason. All of the bit villains, historical and famous figures, and even the background actors that make up the world of the film hit their marks consistently, making the film as a whole easy to get lost in (in terms of experience).

When it’s all said and done, I would not be surprised if Watchmen held an extremely high spot in the pantheon of superhero films. My friends and I have often theorized on how the DCEU could possibly make themselves relevant and mind-blowing based on current happenings in the comic world, and we may have to sit back and see if they are bold enough to pull the trigger. If so, they’ve more than set the table with Watchmen.

#DOOMonFILM #ChiefDoomsday #ZackSnyder #Watchmen #GabrielByrne #JackieEarleHaley #PatrickWilson #CarlaGugino #MalinAkerman #BillyCrudup #MatthewGoode #JeffreyDeanMorgan #MattFrewer #StephenMcHattie #LauraMennell

0 notes

ethanalter · 7 years

Text

Inside 'The Perils of Punky,' the 'Punky Brewster' episode that scarred you for life

[Ed. Note: This post was originally published on Oct. 20, 2015. With Halloween approaching, we thought it was the ideal time to revisit an episode that kept you up nights as a kid.]

Hey…has this image been given you nightmares since your childhood?

How about this one?

Don’t worry; you’re not going crazy. You just had your mind warped by Punky Brewster as a child. That’s right, Punky Brewster: the otherwise adorable series chronicling the misadventures of a spunky orphan named Punky (Soliel Moon Frye), and her adopted father, Henry (George Gaynes). Exactly 30 years ago today, on Oct. 20, 1985, the beloved ‘80s series aired a two-part Season 2 episode that ventured into more horrifying territory than your average kiddie sitcom. Do a Google search for the episode’s title and you’ll find articles like “The Unexpected Horror of Punky Brewster” and “How Punky Brewster Traumatized a Nation,” not to mention Reddit threads where now-grown viewers share their memories about which scene freaked them out the most. (That first picture up top is a perennial favorite.)

“So basically, you’re saying that I scarred an entire generation?” asks Art Dielhenn, who directed “The Perils of Punky,” the terrifying episode in question. “I’m sorry! I wasn’t responsible — I was just taking orders.” Having already directed over 20 episodes of Punky Brewster prior to “Perils” (Dielhenn helmed the majority of the shows first two seasons, nearly 44 successive episodes in all), he approached it as he did any other installment. In fact, the only thing that really scared him during production was the thought of missing his deadline. “It was a challenging episode, and as the person tasked with getting it done, the size outweighed the task of making it scary,” he explains. “So it was a very different experience making it than the experience you describe having seen it.”

youtube

Actually, the first half of “Perils” isn’t so different from standard Punky fare. While on a camping trip, the titular heroine and her pint-sized pals — including chipper Cherie (Cherie Johnson), haughty Margaux (Ami Foster) and nerdy Allen (Casey Ellison) — get separated from their adult guardians and wind up inside a dank cave. While telling spooky stories to pass the time, the spirits of a Native American tribe approach them and charge Punky with the task of defeating an evil creature that lurks deep within the cavern.

Part 2 is where things get creepy, as Punky experiences a series of bizarre encounters that grow increasingly nightmarish as she approaches the end of her mission. First, she crosses paths with a man whose body parts are strewn in pieces around the cavern, leading her to christen him as — what else? — “Mr. Pieces.” (The fact that Mr. Pieces is played by instantly recognizable character actor, Vincent Schiavelli, just ups the weird factor. Dielhenn doesn’t recall the exact circumstances of Schiavelli’s casting or what it was like to direct a scene-stealer of his copious talents. “I doubt I had to do much,” he says, matter-of-factly.)

After that, the gang is set upon by a giant spider, which wrestles Punky to the ground, while Margaux, Allen and Cherie remain stuck to its web, screaming. Fortunately, Punky regains the upper hand and she dispatches her foe to the arachnid afterlife with a well-timed tomahawk blow.

Next up, the villainous spirit tests her lingering fears of abandonment, first by spiriting away her friends — replacing them with dancing skeletons or monsters with glowing red eyes — and then showing her a manufactured vision of Henry spontaneously deciding that he’s through being a dad.

But Punky endures these various trials, and finally comes face to face with the architect of her would-be destruction, a glimmery phantom with Freddy Krueger-esque claws and a sinister voice, provided by none other than series creator David W. Duclon. Although the ghost tries to break her spirit once and for all, it winds up withering in the face of her pluck. Punky saves the day and is promptly reunited with her friends and father. It’s also revealed that her whole quest has just been part of her campfire ghost story, although a final shot adds an “Or was it…?” sting to the proceedings.

youtube

Seen today, “The Perils of Punky” will likely inspire more laughs than screams, which is how Dielhenn characterizes the mood on set. “We always tried to make the set as fun and playful as we could for the kids. They would be going to school and then they’d come to set, and their buoyancy, kindness and desire for fun played into every scene.” One of those playful kids, Cherie Johnson, confirms his account. Now 39, the actress (and Duclon’s niece) remembers how her 9-year-old self cracked up. “I remember laughing at the spider,” she tells Yahoo TV. “I was on the spider web laughing with Amy and Soleil. We were like, ‘This is so lame.’”

The supernatural perils of “Perils” must have seemed extra-lame to Johnson considering that she and her co-stars were already seasoned horror movie fans. Every weekend, she’d have slumber parties with Moon and Foster during which they’d watch flicks like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Omen, while their parents cooked up big pots of blood-red foods like spaghetti and chili. “We would gross everybody around us out, but we were having the time of our lives,” Johnson says, laughing. “We were just different kinds of kids I guess, because we knew it wasn’t real. When we were shooting ‘Perils,’ we knew there was a props department, and we probably saw them making the spider and hoisting it up on its wires. So I don’t think the crew was worried about us being afraid. If anything, they had to be afraid of us trying to jump and play on it!”

Like Dielhenn, Johnson is surprised to hear that “Perils” left such a deep impression on viewers. “I’ve never watched it in its entirety,” she confesses, likening the experience of revisiting any Punky episode to watching home movies of herself in kindergarten. “My mother still has the molding of my head that was used for the prop with the red eyes. My brother put it on his face recently and I hadn’t seen it in thirty years, so I was like ‘What is that?!’” Johnson’s primary memories of the shoot are the days they filmed on location in the wilderness, before shifting back to the show’s soundstages on the NBC lot for the extended sequences within the cave. Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show was housed on the same lot and Johnson says that she and Frye would often run into celebrity guests at the commissary. “One time we met Cyndi Lauper, and she put us on her tour bus and dressed us up.”

Reflecting on “The Perils of Punky” thirty years later, both Johnson and Dielhenn now have the distance to recognize why it might have triggered youthful fears amongst its audience. For one thing, the episode spoke directly to one of the essential themes of the series and a primal childhood terror: the idea that your friends and family would reject and desert you. “That theme was explored in many episodes,” says Dielhenn, who went on to direct episodes of such sitcoms as Silver Spoons and Head of the Class, before seguing into his current occupation as a professional career coach. “Punky and Henry would have many conversations about wanting to be with her mother and whether Henry would accept her and does she feel safe. There was a fundamental honesty in the emotional life of the characters, and that’s what I liked about doing the show. I haven’t thought about ‘The Perils of Punky’ for thirty years, but scanning it again, I can see how it could have been impactful for kids. No question.”

“Perils” also remains a generational touchstone because there are so few episodes of children’s television that are quite like it, especially these days when so many family friendly shows got out of their way to avoid upsetting or offending young viewers and, more importantly, their parents. Johnson, who continues to act while also juggling careers as a producer and author, has a 14-month daughter and has observed first-hand how the genre has changed. “I think a lot of it is made for adults and not kids anymore. Our generation was exposed to more than this generation is; everyone is trying to shield their kids. [Children’s shows] don’t talk about serious subjects in the way that we used to. They’d probably be scared of doing something like ‘The Perils of Punky’ now because too many people would complain. But I think it’s funny that, 30 years later, this is what sticks in peoples’ minds.” Nice to know that we can all share a laugh about giant spiders, dancing skeletons, girls with glowing red eyes and boys with crooked teeth and lifeless eyes…

On second thought, no. Still freaked out.

All four seasons of Punky Brewster are available on DVD.

More Halloween stories from Yahoo Entertainment: MVPs of Horror: ‘Gerald’s Game’ star Carla Gugino on the scene making people pass out TV’s lost Halloween classics: 6 specials from beyond the grave Make a DIY ‘Spiderman: Homecoming’ suit from a few cheap items on Amazon

#_revsp:wp.yahoo.tv.us #halloween #_author:Ethan Alter #punky brewster #_uuid:d0fe9a18-b21f-3b2c-b920-ead7ff5d551a #_category:yct:001000086 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000AE7lXEAT #interviews

0 notes