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#i feel like the role of eric and the first film is what is holding up brandon lee's legacy like that was for Brandon only....
robotpussy · 2 years
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they announced this on april fools day so this better a joke, a prank and a LIE!
[PHOTO ID: A screenshot of the wikipedia page for the comic book series "The Crow". Highlighted in light purple is an excerpt from the section of the page that discusses film and tv adaptations of the comic book that reads:
"On April 1, 2022, it was announced by The Hollywood Reporter that the reboot is now in production with Bill Skarsgård will star as Draven and Rupert Sanders will direct the reboot while Edward R. Pressman and Malcolm Gray will co-produce as filming will begin in June 2022." /END ID]
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shortbreadly · 2 months
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which is your favourite saw film ? (mine is iii)
i’m taking that as an opportunity to rank them and go into detail
saw 2004 obviously. only film with adam (conscious adam anyway) only film with a decent amount of lawrence screen time since he’s in 3D for like five minutes. it’s the first one i ever watched obviously, and also i beat my friend playing snooker while we were watching it so good times
saw vi. INSANELY close with my third ranking but this gets the edge because it not only has a good trap plot but we also see hoffman get his face ripped open. and of course the ‘right now you’re feeling helpless' scene which is just amazing
saw v, like i said very close to saw vi. it’s got hoffman and strahm, like what else am i going to want from a saw film. also the glass coffin and the water cube are two of my favourite traps ever
then saw iii. amanda makes me so sad man and that film has made me cry (so have the majority of them for some reason). VERY good traps (the angel trap will always be a favourite of mine), and plus it's the only film with lynn
saw X, very good film. i loved the john and amanda bits and the idea of everyone just abandoning hoffman while the go to mexico is very amusing to me, i just wasn't that into the trap victims
saw ii. i know it sounds low on the list but honestly i love all of these films almost equally so that doesn't mean much. that being said, as much as i hate eric matthews as a person he was a fucking great character in the film and daniel as well was great (it's a crime i've never drawn him). also the plot twist at then end is brilliant, like i remember sitting with my mouth wide open when i first watched it
saw iv. first major roles for hoffman, strahm and perez so of course i love it for that reason. it's just that to this day i still find it confusing to follow, other than that it's great
saw 3D. yes i know it's not great and i hate bobby dagen with a burning passion, but credit where credit is due i did love lawrence's appearance and twist as well as hoffman acting like a rabid animal. the ending is very bittersweet for me and i choose to believe he lived somehow
i haven't watched spiral because i can't get hold of it, however i still believe it would probably be above the next one
i fucking hate jigsaw. i hate logan, i hate that none of the original characters bar john were in it (because if john was realistically at least amanda could've been), and also it makes no fucking sense. also why doesn't the cop guy have a skull when the lasers cut him open???
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nokalatte · 1 year
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To my fellow merms, with love
'But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.' 
With these somewhat somber words begins the live-action film The Little Mermaid. A much more tragic tone set for a film that originally swam colorfully and vibrantly into our hearts 34 years ago.  Within the first few minutes of the film opening -- it was clear this new take on the forbidden love story between man and mermaid would not disappoint.
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I was born the year the original Disney animated film came out and I suppose that’s why so many grown women my age are convinced we are mermaids ourselves. The film is a part of the fabric of my life and as my partner says, it’s basically my religion. For that reason, I went into the theatre cautiously optimistic and I believe that’s why I left absolutely elated. 
I’ve always loved that the film begins above the water, before diving deep down to the ocean floor. While some criticize the film for it’s lack of lighting under the sea, I found it simply to be true of real life. A big reason humans like myself are called to the sea is the desire to be a part of what lurks beneath the surface; where fish have supernatural neon lights to navigate the darkness. Like Prince Eric, I am curious to discover the unknown, just as Ariel desires to go where she is forbidden. 
Ever since the first trailer came out, most of us knew Halle Bailey’s performance would move us. But her angelic voice and wide eyes filled with longing from scene to scene captured me in a way I didn’t expect. As she finished Part of Your World, I found tears streaming down my cheeks. I turned to my cousin (a fellow ‘89 baby) to find that she too was crying. We then immediately started laughing at ourselves. How could we be so emotional at a song we’ve heard thousands of times? Was it overwhelming nostalgia? The realization we could see ourselves in this character? The magic of Disney?? Call it what you want -- the fact remains we were overwhelmed with emotion. And I fully agreed with my cousin when she declared, “the rest of the movie could be crap and I wouldn’t care.  Because that was beautiful”. 
I’m pleased to say the rest of the film was NOT crap. Far from it. Though it’s about an hour longer than the original, nearly every new scene and piece of dialogue seemed to move the story forward and deepen the connection between our two main characters. 
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While I could have done without Prince Eric’s solo ballad, to me, Jonah Hauer-King embodied the role perfectly. It’s as if Disney knew they were making this film as much for the adult women as they were for the young kids. The handsome, strong sailor who wants to do away with the boundaries between royalty and deck hands instantly had me hooked.  Through added dialogue between Eric and Grimsby, I could easily see what Ariel saw in him. 
The new song Ariel sings in her head as she’s suddenly among humans was a perfect addition to the story. It describes all the emotions running through her body; all the anxious excitement someone would feel when they finally make it where they longed to be. 
By far though, the best addition to the film is the discovery of Prince Eric’s whoseits and whatsits galore. The parallel between Ariel’s cave of collections from humans and Eric’s trove of treasures from under the sea was exactly what the animated version lacks: a deep soul connection between the two lovers. Ursula never stood a chance ;) 
Speaking of -- Melissa McCarthy does a fantastic job as our villain... but the actress playing human Ursula aka Vanessa -- Jessica Alexander knocks it OUT OF THE PARK! She’s only in the film for such a short time but she makes quite the splash. As the spell begins to unravel, her desperation and anger fully takes hold and I was actually a little scared!!
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Though we don’t get the big wedding boat rainbow and sendoff in this version, we do get a much more independent Ariel. She’s the one who figures out how to teach the prince her name. She’s the one who ultimately takes down the villain and just like in the original, she’s the one who convinces her father that not all humans are bad. Breaking barriers for sea creatures and humans just as Halle has broken a barrier by being our first Ariel of color. 
I thought I would be much more upset by changes and the omission of lyrics in the classic songs like Kiss the Girl and Poor Unfortunate Souls; but to be honest, I barely even noticed them. I’m almost embarrassed to have questioned decisions made by the one and only Alan Menken. I can honestly say In Alan, I trust! 
And also -- in Grimsby I trust!! I’ll leave you with this new quote from Eric’s confidant that truly struck a chord in me. A motto I will likely continue to recall when I find myself struggling with a decision in matters of the heart:
“Don’t be held back by what you think should be. Think of only what is”
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adamwatchesmovies · 3 months
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The Next Karate Kid (1994)
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The first film in the Karate Kid series not to feature Ralph Macchio has convincing performances and enough heart to make it the kind of sequel that’s not quite good but still possibly worth recommending to little girls. They might respond to it better than the original film. Maybe. Ultimately, all of the good in The Next Karate Kid is counterbalanced by its cartoonish villains. Combined with the all-too-familiar elements and you've got a film with limited appeal.
While reconnecting with the widow of an old friend, Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) is introduced to her granddaughter, Julie (Hillary Swank). To help the high schooler deal with the anger of losing her parents and the bullies at school, Miyagi takes her under his wing.
Let’s start with the pros. This is Hillary Swank’s first theatrical appearance in a starring role and she’s great. She and Miyagi have terrific chemistry - more than enough to make you forget about Danny once the plot gets going. She handles the fight and stunt sequences well. Morita also surprises us in the unusually numerous amount of scenes that call for Mr. Miyagi to fight. Though there are ultimately more missed opportunities than payoffs in this gender-swapped scenario, any scenes with Miyagi and Julie warm your heart. The two take an excursion about halfway through the film to a Buddhist monastery to deal with Julie’s anger and learn about the true ways of karate. I'd call it the best scene but for a different viewer, it might be the one in which Miyagi teaches Julie to dance to get ready for prom.
On the negative side, when the writing gets bad, it's so awful you'll start thinking things you were never supposed to think of. You’d expect a female villain to go up against our female protagonist, but no. The film’s most prominent baddie is Ned Randall (Michael Cavalieri). I wasn’t able to find out when he was born so I’m not sure how old he was during filming but he looks 30. With his gang of dudebros always harassing Julie, waiting for her in the dark and chasing after her during the school after-hours, he looks like a serial killer rapist. Grown men leering at Julie is a bit of a recurring motif throughout the film, which makes it even more uncomfortable. It’s like there are racists and abusive men around every corner: at the gas station, the bowling alley, the school…
Assuming that Ned is supposed to be roughly Julie’s age - and not some creep who’s been held back for the larger part of a decade - he would be placed second in the list of “most heinous characters” in this film. The gold medal goes to Colonel Paul Dugan (Michael Ironside). The man’s a straight-up psychopath; bullying Julie nearly as much as his head crony does and taking any opportunity to strike his students or break them mentally. At one point, Julie has started a bit of a relationship with a boy named Eric (Chris Conrad). While at practice with the Colonel, Eric is called away to speak to his mother (actually, Julie pretending to be his mother) on the office phone. The Colonel tells him if he leaves, he’s off the team. For taking a call from his mom? What? And he proclaims this in front of the school secretary. What sort of Ironside grip does he hold over this establishment that he can go around doing whatever he wants, including setting up late-night Mortal Kombat-style death matches with his students?
As a whole, The Next Karate Kid is unmemorable and unnecessary. There’s so much that could’ve been done with the fact that teenage girls are usually bullied in a very different way than boys, or Miyagi getting to care for a girl after losing his daughter years ago. Instead, there’s a subplot early on about Julie taking care of an injured bird that feels like it was added just to fill time and make this different from the original. Well, this is different alright; The Karate Kid is great. This is mediocre at best. (January 21, 2022)
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oceanspray5 · 3 years
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I need people to not talk over me or other brown people when we say we are absolutely GUTTED about the fact that Amita had to watch a white woman in brownface peform the stunts she TRAINED FOR!
Inej Ghafa was so important to us! To me! She is a badass brown girl who stays loving and compassionate despite the trauma she faces, she defends herself and she holds on to her faith and she falls in love and she puts herself first and has goals and aims and is unapologetically herself! She's so dynamic and real and flawed and human and perfect! She made me feel SEEN in a way no other character in fiction ever has! I finally felt like I could write about a protagonist like myself and be well received one day! I found out Amita was cast and how passionate she was about Inej in the same way we all are!
Amita put her heart and soul into Inej and we LOVE HER for it! She performed her role MAGNIFICENTLY and worked so hard to be able to do it. She reread the book multiple times! She trained for the acrobatics and the knife skills all on her own even before the show started filming! She gained literal scars because of how hard she worked! She gave Inej Ghafa her all because like us, she finally felt SEEN in a piece of media and wanted to do her justice and She DID!
And then we all find out that we now have to share Inej Ghafa with a WHITE WOMAN who did BROWNFACE and the showrunners and producers just let it happen?? That Amita had to be told that all her hard work wasn't enough and that instead of a brown stunt woman, a white woman was brought instead and she had to sit and watch HER character be performed by someone who doesn't even understand the importance of her?
It feels disgusting. Inej feels tainted. Like she isn't OURS anymore. Like she doesn't belong to us brown girls anymore when we had been waiting for her for so long!
And to know that Amita trained SO HARD and ended up having to smile through the pain when a white stunt double was donning her skin color to do a stunt a BROWN stunt woman deserved to have been given the opportunity to perform, even if Amita couldn't fit the requirements for whatever reason? Inej Ghafa belongs to the brown women. She deserved to be shared with only a brown woman as a stunt double. She deserved to be played by a fellow brown woman who understood her significance!
It's disgusting. It's appalling and I HATE everyone who had a hand in making this happen. My stomach roiled in disgust when I found out. I wanted to scream and cry. Amita was so brave for having to tolerate that happen and be unable to do anything about it. I am so proud of her but the fact is she shouldn't HAVE to have experienced that kind of racism as part of her job to bring Inej to life for us.
And on top of that, they made Zoya, another brown girl in the show, racist for absolutely NO REASON. It served 0 plot purpose. The show would have been exactly the same without it. This character trait didn't even exist for Zoya in the books.
Please do NOT talk over brown women when we say that we are tired and hurt and upset and angry! Please help us hold Netflix accountable because in no way is this okay! Netflix and Eric and Leigh have been toting Shadow and Bone for diversity points and meanwhile have been silencing their poc cast in the background and forcing them to watch as more and more opportunities slip by them. As they are told once again that what they can do is nothing compared to what a white person can do.
Amita Suman deserves better. Desi women deserve better. POC deserve better.
AND as a note cuz I've seen white people talk about this: we DO NOT want the show cancelled! Thats avoiding the problem! Not fixing it! We demand a better production crew. There are so many POC in this cast: Archie, Jessie, Kit, Sujaya and Amita have put their heart and soul into these characters despite the racism behind the scenes. They deserve to continue to play these characters they love and put so much hard work into bringing to life while the production crew that's being racist behind the scenes get sacked!
Edit: Non POC can absolutely reblog this! I made this post so people would know and so that the message about how not okay this is could spread. I encourage you all to please help raise our voices because some days it feels no one else cares but us, especially when it comes to desi people.
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scotianostra · 2 years
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Happy 90th Birthday Scottish actress Phyllida Law, born on May 8th 1932 in Glasgow.
I always love  announcing events like this where the person in my post has had as long successful life and career, and  Phyllida certainly falls into this category.
There is very little  about her early life except she was born in Glasgow, the daughter of Megsie “Meg” and William Law, a journalist, we don’t even know if  Phyllida has any siblings, the only comment she has made about her upbrining is  “When you grow up in Glasgow with a Glaswegian granny, you’re taught that pride is a wicked thing. I still feel a bit like that.“ The little we know is she grew up in Glasgow’s west end, just off Great Western Road, and when war broke out when she was just seven and she found herself evacuated to places such as Lenzie, in Dunbartonshire, and Skelmorlie, Ayrshire.
That gave her a love for the Scots countryside which means she now splits her life between her home in London and a family cottage in Argyll. Phyllida would fit in well with the Scottish & Proud ethos, in an interview she says:
“I’m passionate about my Scots heritage. How could I not be?  I can’t live without it. There’s no way I could live without those hills and it’s got to be the west coast. “I sometimes travel to Edinburgh then go up to Pittenweem or somewhere and I think to myself, ‘This isn’t Scotland.’ It’s a wonderful coastline but it’s not Scotland for me.
“When my parents lived in Glasgow they were always looking for a cottage to which they could retire. They found one in Ardentinney, so I visit that a lot.
She joined the Bristol Old Vic in 1952, from what I can gather she was first in the wardrobe department, the first pic shows her standing, from a 1952 photo. Heron screen acting credits start in 1958 and are very extensive, the pick of them are Dixon of Dock Green and a stint as the storyteller in the great children’s show Jackanory in the 60’s. It must have been during her time in the BBC’s children’s TV department she met her husband to be, Eric Thompson, they married in 1957, he went on to narrate The Magic Roundabout
Angels in the 70’s and of course Taggart in the 80’s followed, as well Thomson, the variety series hosted by actress Emma Thompson in 1988, Emma just happens to be her daughter. Heartbeat, Hamish Macbeth and Dangerfield in the 90’s, Waking the dead and Doctors in the noughties has kept her busy, now in her 86th year she has still been appearing on the small screen, in The Other Wife and New Tricks during the past 8 years. Film roles include She is known for her work on Much Ado About Nothing , The Time Machine and The Winter Guest.
Phyllida spends most of her time in Argyll in a house she shares with her actress daughter, Emma. The second picture shows mother and daughter receiving honorary degrees from The Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow in 2013. Her other daughter, Sophie is also a talented actress.
With Phyllida’s advance years she is classified as ‘extremely vulnerable’ category in the current climate, Emma, who spends most of her time in Italy, flew out from her home in Venice, just as the corona virus was starting to take hold in the country, arriving in Scotland in early March to look after her mother in her home on the banks of Loch Eck. Emma has a love for Scotland too and once said of the loch …
"I’ve played on its banks, picnicked on its beaches, swum in its chilly, unsalted depths, cycled round it, drunk it, got drunk near it, kissed in boats on it, got married near it and never wearied of it.”
When asked,  The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictions she answered
I’d take my best friend Mildew on a tour of the islands of Scotland, 
which of course id the correct answer!
The third pic is from 1998 when Phyllida was a mere 66 years young, it is of Emma and Alan Rickman  at The Winter Guest. Next up is with Emma again, this time at the 1993 Oscars.  The last pic is proud Mother with her two daughters. 
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alexskarsgardnet · 4 years
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New Interview & Photo Shoot!  Alex photographed by Johan Sandberg and interviewed by Timothy Small for L’Uomo Vogue (October 2020)!
Alexander Skarsgård: the photo shoot and interview for L'Uomo
BY TIMOTHY SMALL, JOHAN SANDBERG 25 SEPTEMBER 2020
Alexander Skarsgård is a really, really nice man. A Swede through and through, Alexander, or Alex, is a very down-to-earth gentleman who could definitely act as more of a big shot, considering he is also one of the most interesting actors in Hollywood right now, a town that, in true Swedish style, he once defined as “kind of silly”. After getting his first big break as the lead in David Simon's excellent Iraq War mini-series for HBO, Generation Kill, Skarsgård exploded in our collective imaginations as Eric Northman in True Blood, while also acting for Lars von Trier in the wonderful Melancholia. 
Since then, he has been a very buff Tarzan in The Legend of Tarzan, a mute bartender in future Berlin in Mute, a very dark killer in Hold the Dark, and a hilarious Canadian Prime Minister in Long Shot, as well as giving an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning turn in HBO's Big Little Lies. The self-defined “restless” 43-year-old is set to star in The Northman, Robert Eggers's highly anticipated third film, a “Viking revenge story” that Skarsgård himself was crucial in bringing to production – and, by all accounts, it seems like it could have all the right pieces to become a future cult classic. It certainly has that kind of hype.
L'Uomo Vogue:  The Northman is such an interesting project. I know it's important to you. It's also part of a growing resurgence of interest in the Viking era and Norse mythology and that sort of epic Scandinavian adventure. How did it all begin?
Alex:  It all started seven or eight years ago. As a Swede living in America, I realised there was a certain level of fascination with the Viking era and Viking culture – and this was before any of the Viking shows that have since happened. It made me realise that there basically had never been a real great epic Viking movie made, and I thought that that's what I wanted to do.
LV:  So how did the project kick off?
Alex:  I started having conversations with a studio back then, trying to crack the best story. All I knew at the time is that I wanted to make a big Viking movie. We had a couple of potential different starting points: we had a story about two brothers, and then one about the Viking travels down to Constantinople with the Viking siege of the city. We were looking for the right story, but I never really felt we were there. I knew the scope I wanted it to exist in. But what was the story?
LV:  And that's when you met Robert Eggers.
Alex:  Yes, like three or four years ago. We met about something else. I can't remember how, but we started talking about Vikings. And he was, like me, a huge fan of Viking culture and of that historical era, and I immediately felt he would be the perfect guy to direct this movie. And then we found an author and poet in Iceland, Sjón, who came onboard to write the screenplay – and they did a fantastic job, just cracking the story and the essence of it.
LV:  Sounds great.
Alex:  It's a real adventure movie, but it's much more. It taps into the culture, and the mysticism of the Vikings, it becomes more intimate and more personal. I didn't want it to be a generic “swords-and-sandals” movie. Robert is one of the best filmmakers out there. And the whole process is so much more gratifying than when you're quote-unquote “just an actor”. It's been truly extraordinary.
LV:  But then you had to halt production.
Alex:  Yeah. I was in Belfast, Northern Ireland, three months into prep on The Northman about seven days away from principal photography. Just gearing up, you know, getting ready to start a very long, very intense shoot -- a shoot that we were scheduled to wrap in July – and that's when the virus hit.
LV:  What did you do then?
Alex:  I normally live in New York, while my family lives in Stockholm. When the first wave came, I was on the fence: nobody really knew how long it would be, or what precisely was going on. So we shut down production for six weeks. The idea was to then see what would happen. I basically moved to Stockholm for four months.
LV:  How do you feel about this forced break from work?
Alex:  I had not been home for this long in... more than 20 years. It was strange. We were in a bubble; we were all healthy and safe. In a lot of ways, I had moments when I felt being surrounded by my loving family, feeling safe and loved, and taking a break from work, but then also feeling very guilty because I was, for the lack of a better term, being spared.
LV:  In the past, you've described yourself as being a nomad. Did you miss Sweden and the North?
Alex:  I realised how much I have been missing it. I go to Sweden regularly, but usually only for three or four days, maybe a week, tops. My father and two of my brothers are actors, so we're used to never being in the same city. We all travel all over the world. Maybe we'd get back together for Christmas. And I can really say that I had missed spring in Sweden.
LV:  Do you think we will change the way movies are produced?
Alex:  We're going to have to figure out how to shoot movies with dozens of crew members and hundreds of extras while still respecting social distancing rules. It's an unprecedented situation and everyone is scrambling to figure out the best approach. My brother was one of the first people who worked in our industry during the pandemic. He shot a movie in Iceland in the middle of the lockdown. The way they solved it is they split the crew into colour sections. So, hair and make-up had yellow armbands and the camera department had blue, and they had a “Corona appointee” on set who would call out, “Now blue go in!” and then “Blue, out! And yellow, in!” And then they would all do their job in turns. It was very military-like. Productions are already complicated, so we'll just have to add another layer.
LV:  How did you become an ambassador to the Clarks brand?
Alex:  To me, authenticity is very important. I don't want to endorse products I don't genuinely like. That's why I was excited when Clarks reached out. I've been wearing Desert Boots for 25 years. Also, I like to travel a lot. I like to explore new cities by foot. I want to be able to walk around comfortably in a classic, iconic shoe. I travel from movie set to movie set, and I often live out of a suitcase. And this teaches you to be frugal. Whatever fits in that suitcase, that's all I can bring.
LV:  Is that the Swede in you?
Alex:  Maybe. But we consume way too many things in this society. Also, you give things more meaning when you live with them, and when you go on adventures with them. Like, these are my boots. I've been places with them. And when they fall apart, I'll buy a new pair. If you have the right stuff to begin with, you don't need more.
LV:  Going back to The Northman, that really sounds like a dream project.
Alex:  It is. It will be a rollercoaster ride. I can't wait to get back to Northern Ireland and get back to the production. It's also a very physically demanding project, so I have been training for, well, since a few months before production stopped.
LV: In a way, getting into a role, getting on a movie set, acting through it, the whole process of making a movie is a bit like a little adventure. You have to prep, you have to travel, often with people you don't know, and you have to push boundaries.
Alex:  Absolutely! A huge part of the appeal of this profession is you get to travel, and you meet amazing, interesting people from all over. And the uncertainty, you know? What was it, 12 years ago, I was in New York, and I'd never heard of Generation Kill. And then two days later I was on a plane to the Kalahari Desert to be out there for seven months to shoot the series. And I'll never forget the feeling, sitting on that plane, thinking, “Two days ago I didn't even know about this project, and here I am on my way to Southern Africa to spend seven months in the desert with 200 strangers.” It's very exciting.
LV:  What a feeling that must be!
Alex:  And every single job is like that. Every movie is different. Your part, the tone, the energy, the people – it's always different. And for someone like myself, who has that kind of wanderlust, who's always looking on the horizon, it's very attractive to never know just what the next adventure might be.
October 14, 2020:  Updated with the full interview courtesy of our friends at the ASkarsLibrary (x).
Fashion credits:
Photographs by Johan Sandberg Styling by Martin Persson Grooming Karin Westerlund @ Lundlund Hair Amanda Lund @ Lundlund Stylist’s assistant Isabelle Larsson Digital Daniel Lindgren Production Madeleine Mårtensson and Olle Öman @ Lundlund
Read the full interview by Timothy Small and see the photo shoot by Johan Sandberg in the October issue of L'Uomo, on newsstands from September 22nd.
Sources/Thanks:  Interview:  Timothy Small for L’Uomo Vogue (x), Photos:  Johan Sandberg for L’Uomo Vogue (x), artlistparis.com (x) via artlistparisnewyork instagram (x),  luomovogue instagram (x) &  atomomanagement.com (x) via atomomanagement instagram (x), our caps from artlistparisnewyork’s September 23, 2020 insta story (x, x)
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calzona-ga · 3 years
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In her unauthorized book, Lynette Rice explores the stories behind some of the ABC drama's biggest moments, including — in this exclusive excerpt — the factors that led to McDreamy's shocking death.
In How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, author Lynette Rice recounts the ABC medical drama’s eventful 16-year history, revealing new details behind some of the show’s biggest departures. Included in the unauthorized, 320-page oral history (St. Martin’s Press, Sept. 21, $29.99) is a chapter that offers new insight into leading man Patrick Dempsey’s shocking exit in season 11 of the Shonda Rhimes-created drama. In the chapter, Rice speaks with Dempsey’s co-stars and exec producers who were present during filming of his final days on Grey’s Anatomy, and reveals claims of “HR issues” that contributed to the death of his alter-ego, Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd.
“There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him,” recalls exec producer James D. Parriott, who was brought back to the series to oversee Dempsey’s exit.
In more than 80 interviews with current and former cast- and crewmembers, Rice, an editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly, also explores the show’s early days, recounts the thinking behind some of its more polarizing storylines and offers exclusive details about the show’s behind-the-scenes culture.
“After 17 seasons, fans still can’t get enough of Grey’s Anatomy,” Rice tells THR. But what went down behind the scenes was just as dramatic as what viewers saw every Thursday. I’m excited for fans to read what I learned about those early days, along with what it was like to work for Shonda Rhimes, and why the drama was so freakin’ headline-prone.”
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Below, The Hollywood Reporter shares an excerpt — the full eighth chapter — from How to Save a Life, and tune in Friday to TV’s Top 5 for an interview with Rice about her book and the other big reveals she uncovered in her reporting for it.
(Reps for ABC, ABC Signature, Shondaland, and Dempsey declined comment on the reveals in Rice’s book.)
“He’s Very Dreamy, but He’s Not the Sun,” Or, How Grey’s Anatomy Loved — Then Learned to Live Without — Patrick Dempsey Ellen Pompeo may have played the titular role, but for many fans over many years, Patrick Dempsey was the real draw to Grey’s Anatomy. Some of it had to do with his celebrity: Dempsey was the most famous member of the original cast at the time of the pilot and brought with him quite a cult following from his 1987 movie Can’t Buy Me Love. But a lot of it was due to the way Rhimes wrote her McDreamy and how Dempsey depicted him. James D. Parriott I would say, “The guy would never say that,” and Shonda would say, “He’s McDreamy. He’s the perfect man. He would say that.” I’d say, “Okay. It’s your show.” Eric Buchman Shonda had a very clear idea of how important it was to keep Derek as this almost idealized love interest, not just for Meredith but for the audience. Naturally, the writers—especially writers who had been working on one-hour dramas for a while—were like, “Well, maybe have McDreamy make a big mistake in surgery and kill somebody. Or he develops an addiction of some kind. What is his deep, dark secret?” Shonda was very insistent: that’s not the character we do that with. Even when you find out he’s married, that was done in a very sympathetic way that kept him being a hero. He was wronged by his spouse and in spite of it all he was still gonna give his marriage a second chance. Stacy McKee Shonda was protective of McDreamy, but it was really with an eye toward being protective of Meredith. I don’t think the two were separate from one another. I don’t think she wanted to put something out there that maybe on the surface might seem a little frivolous. At its core, there was something really substantial that she wanted to say. She wanted to be very specific about the type of relationship values that she put out there. Tony Phelan I was in editing with Shonda once, and it was the scene where Meredith and Derek had broken up. He comes over and she’s like, “I can’t remember the last time we kissed.” And he says, “I remember. You were wearing this and you smelled of this …”
Joan Rater “Your shampoo smelled like flowers, you had that sweater on …” He described their last kiss. Tony Phelan Typically in editing you start on Derek, then you cut to Meredith for a reaction, and then you’ll go back to him. I noticed that we weren’t ever cutting back to Meredith. I asked why. Shonda said, “Because the woman in Iowa who’s watching this show wants to believe that Patrick is talking to her, and if you cut back to Meredith, it pushes them out of it.” In those special moments, we would just lock into Derek and let him do his thing. Joan Rater And he was a master at it. Patrick Dempsey He’s the ideal man, and that’s what Shonda constructed. There’s a projection [of him] onto me when you come in contact with fans, certainly with the younger and older fans. There is a certain amount of expectation. There is a responsibility to it. It made me grow, too. There were good qualities [of his] that you work on to obtain. Off camera, Dempsey was equally as charismatic to his fellow actors, crew members, and anyone who would come to visit the set. Lauren Stamile I was going in to meet him, and I remember I had this little cardigan sweater on and I took it off before I got into the room. Dempsey is one of those people—it’s almost like there’s a light shining around his body, and you feel like you’re the only person in the room. I got so hot and I remember saying, “Gosh, I would take off my sweater if I had one on because I’m so hot, but I took it off.” I was just babbling. He said, “You look nice,” and I said, “You look nicer.” I felt so awkward and he was so gracious and lovely. I was having a nervous breakdown. It’s like this “it” factor. I was like, God, whatever he has, I wish I had. I think it was very obvious how nervous I was, and he went out of his way to make sure he introduced me to everybody and made sure I felt comfortable, which he certainly didn’t have to do. But he did. Joan Rater He knew I had a giant crush on him, and he loved it. And when we’d go to table reads—I was an actress at one point in my life—they would always give me Meredith if Ellen wasn’t there. And I’d be getting my chicken tenders at craft services before the table read and he’d come up behind me and say, “Are you reading Meredith?” in my ear, like, so sexy. I’d be like, Oh my God. I mean, I could barely … I could not look at him. Tina Majorino I worked with Patrick a ton. I love him so much. We had a really great time working together. I think he’s such a great actor and he really made me laugh a lot. I feel like we had a good dynamic in scenes together, and it was always fun to play opposite him. Yes, he’s that charismatic in real life. Yes, his hair is that awesome. Yes, he is dreamy up close.
Chandra Wilson Patrick Dempsey will forever be known as Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy. Derek Shepherd is a permanent part of television history.
Norman Leavitt He is a big, personable guy.
Jeannine Renshaw We all love Patrick. Patrick is a sweetheart. If I saw him on the street, I’d give him a hug. I love the guy.
Mark Wilding I’ve always had a soft spot for Patrick. He really does try to do the right thing. Brooke Smith, who played Dr. Erica Hahn, remembers how Dempsey defended her when the decision was made to fire her from the show in 2008. Brooke Smith I remember calling him and saying, “Oh my God, they said they can’t write for me anymore, so I guess I’m leaving.” And he was like, “What are you talking about? You’re the only one they’re writing for.” Which at that time, it kind of did feel that way. But I guess someone didn’t like that. They gave me a statement [to release, about her departure] and I never said it. Patrick said that he actually took it out of his jacket on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and read the statement. He won’t let me forget it. He was like, “I defended you, see?” And it was true.
By season eleven, however, fans saw a disturbing break in MerDer’s once unbreakable bond. Six episodes had gone by without a peep from Derek, who was supposedly in Washington, D.C., where he had apparently made out with a research fellow. Fans began threatening to bolt if their hero didn’t return soon to Seattle. “I have never missed one episode,” wrote a fan on Dempsey’s Facebook page. “But I swear if [Rhimes] kills you off I’m done.” But there was a critical reason for Derek’s strange absence: behind the scenes, there was talk of Dempsey’s diva-like fits and tension between him and Pompeo. To help manage the explosive situation, executive producer James D. Parriott was brought back in to serve as a veritable Dempsey whisperer.
Patrick Dempsey [That] was the first year that I haven’t been in every episode. I [was] in every episode since the pilot— close to 250 episodes. That [was a] huge run. James D. Parriott Shonda needed an OG to come in as sort of a showrunner for fourteen episodes. There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him. He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people. The network and studio came down and we had sessions with them. I think he was just done with the show. He didn’t like the inconvenience of coming in every day and working. He and Shonda were at each other’s throats.
Jeannine Renshaw There were times where Ellen was frustrated with Patrick and she would get angry that he wasn’t working as much. She was very big on having things be fair. She just didn’t like that Patrick would complain that “I’m here too late” or “I’ve been here too long” when she had twice as many scenes in the episode as he did. When I brought it up to Patrick, I would say, “Look around you. These people have been here since six thirty a.m.” He would go, “Oh, yeah.” He would get it. It’s just that actors tend to see things from their own perspective. He’s like a kid. He’s so high energy and would go, “What’s happening next?” He literally goes out of his skin, sitting and waiting. He wants to be out driving his race car or doing something fun. He’s the kid in class who wants to go to recess.
Patrick Dempsey It’s ten months, fifteen hours a day. You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, “What are you doing on Monday?” And you go, “I don’t know,” because I don’t know my schedule. Doing that for eleven years is challenging. But you have to be grateful, because you’re well compensated, so you can’t really complain because you don’t really have a right. You don’t have control over your schedule. So, you have to just be flexible.
Longtime Crew Member Poor Patrick. I’m not defending his schtick. I like him, but he was the Lone Ranger. All of these actresses were getting all this power. All the rogue actresses would go running to Shonda and say, “Hey, Patrick’s doing this. Patrick’s late for work. He’s a nightmare.” He was just shut out in the cold. His behavior wasn’t the greatest, but he had nowhere to go. He was so miserable. He had no one to talk to. When Sandra left, I remember him telling me, “I should’ve left then, but I stayed on because they showed me all this money. They just were dumping money on me.”
Patrick Dempsey It [was] hard to say no to that kind of money. How do you say no to that? It’s remarkable to be a working actor, and then on top of that to be on a show that’s visible. And then on top of that to be on a phenomenal show that’s known around the world, and play a character who is beloved around the world. It’s very heady. It [was] a lot to process, and not wanting to let that go, because you never know whether you will work again and have success again.
Jeannine Renshaw A lot of the complaining … I think Shonda finally witnessed it herself, and that was the final straw. Shonda had to say to the network, “If he doesn’t go, I go.” Nobody wanted him to leave, because he was the show. Him and Ellen. Patrick is a sweetheart. It messes you up, this business.
James D. Parriott I vaguely recall something like that, but I can’t be sure. It would have happened right toward the end, because I know they were negotiating and negotiating, trying to figure out what to do. We had three different scenarios that we actually had to break because we didn’t know until I think about three days before he came back to set which one we were going to go with. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to negotiate his way out of it. We had a whole story line where we were going to keep him in Washington, D.C., so we could separate him from the rest of the show. He would not have to work with Ellen again. Then we had the one where he comes back, doesn’t die, and we figure out what Derek’s relationship with Meredith would be. Then there was the one we did. It was kind of crazy. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to negotiate his way out of it. It was ultimately decided that just bringing him back was going to be too hard on the other actors. The studio just said it was going to be more trouble than it was worth and decided to move on.
Stacy McKee I don’t think there was any way to exit him without him dying. He and Meredith were such an incredibly bonded couple at that point. It would be completely out of character if he left his kids. There was no exit that would honor that character other than if he were to die. Patrick Dempsey I don’t remember the date [I got the news]. It was not in the fall. Maybe February or March. It was just a natural progression. And the way everything was unfolding in a very organic way, it was like, “Okay! This is obviously the right time.” Things happened very quickly. We were like, “Oh, this is where it’s going to go.”
So that was that: McDreamy would die in episode twenty-one of season eleven, even though Dempsey was in year one of his recently signed two-year contract extension. Rhimes wrote a script that was befitting of her lead’s heroic persona: she began “How to Save a Life” by having Derek witness a car crash and helping the injured. Once it appeared everyone was out of harm’s way, Derek continues on his road trip but is suddenly broadsided by a truck.
Rob Hardy (Director) The paramedics leave. He’s there by himself. He’s having a moment. The nice music is playing, and all of a sudden, bang. It comes out of nowhere, which, you know, is how accidents happen. So as opposed to watching it as a viewer, we saw the accident happen through Derek’s perspective. Derek ends up at Dillard Medical Center, a hospital far from Grey Sloan and the talented doctors who work there. His eyes are open, but his brain is severely damaged. No one hears his plea for a CT scan; he can’t speak. To help keep the episode a secret, the scenes were shot in an abandoned hospital in Hawthorne, California, about twenty-two miles from the show’s home studio in Los Feliz.
Mimi Melgaard It was really hard on all of us because it was so secretive and we had so many different locations. We shot at this closed-down hospital that was absolutely creepy haunted. All the scenes there were so sad anyway, and in this yucky-feeling haunted hospital? It was really weird. His whole last episode was really tough. Patrick Dempsey It was like any other day. It was just another workday. There was still too much going on. You’re in the midst of it—you’re not really processing it. Rob Hardy Here’s a guy who’s immobile. Now you’re inside of his head. We were trying to make that feel scary from the perspective of a person who’s used to being in control, from a person who usually has the power of life and death in his own hands. But now he doesn’t have the ability to speak on his own behalf.
Samantha Sloyan When I went to audition, I didn’t recognize any of these doctors’ names. I assumed they were just dummy sides so people wouldn’t ruin the story line or anything like that. All we knew is that we were dealing with a man who’s been in a car accident. I had no idea that it was going to be Derek. I just figured I was going to be a guest doctor and that whoever this person was who was injured, was going to be just a character on the show. Once it became clear what we were working on, I was like, Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe this is the episode I’m on.
Mike McColl (Dr. Paul Castello) I signed an NDA before they would release the script to me. I was reading it in my house, and I was like, “Oh, my God.” I didn’t tell anyone, including my agents. I just said, “This is a really great booking. It’s a great role on Grey’s.” And they didn’t know anything until it aired.
Savannah Paige Rae (Winnie) The first scene I shot was actually the sentimental scene when I’m saying, “It’s a beautiful day to save lives, right?” I’m in the hospital room with Derek and talking to him. Even though I never watched the show, I recognized the value of the episode I was in and just really took it to heart. It was so special that I got to be a part of it.
Rob Hardy [Patrick] had a lot of emotions during the whole shoot, which evolved. I think when we first started, he was very calm and cool … the same Patrick that I remembered when I worked on the show a year or so before. With each passing day, he was a lot more emotional. A lot more was on his mind, and that would show itself in different ways. The finality of the episode and for his character was setting in. You’ve become a global icon on this show and then in five, four, three, two, a day … it’s over.
James D. Parriott Patrick was very cooperative and good.
Mike McColl When I met Patrick, he’s lying on a stretcher and we’re rushing him into the ER. I just introduced myself, shook his hand, and was like, “Man, I cannot tell you what an honor it is to be the guy to take you down.” He loved it. He could not have been nicer to me and was funny through the whole shoot. He was on the table in front of me there when I cut his chest open and all that stuff. He gave me a hug at the end. It was a real privilege to be a part of TV history in that way.
Samantha Sloyan I remember him being incredibly kind. They had his neck in a brace, and he’s strapped down to the board, so there wasn’t a ton of chatting. I remember him being really kind, but it was clearly intense for him.
Stacy McKee It was such a beautiful piece of storytelling. I knew this event was going to be a really sad, horrible event for Meredith, but I also knew it was going to be the beginning of such an incredible chapter for Meredith.
Dempsey completed his final hours of shooting on a rainy night. There was no goodbye party, no goodbye cake. Maybe that’s because some cast members were left out of the loop. James Pickens, Jr., told ABC News that the cast “didn’t know a whole lot. It was kind of on the fly. So whatever information we got, we pretty much got it kind of right before it happened.”
Caterina Scorsone (Dr. Amelia Shepherd) I didn’t get to say goodbye to Patrick when he left. I do think that helped, because I’ve been using the character of Derek in my internal landscape since Private Practice. Derek was the stability in Amelia’s life. He became a father figure after they watched robbers shoot their father. When he was suddenly gone from the show, we didn’t have that closure, so I got to play it out. She’s about to use drugs again before Owen confronts her in a way that she finally talks about her feelings about losing Derek. She doesn’t end up using.
James D. Parriott The day he left, that was my last day. There was a certain sadness to it, but I think he was relieved. I mean, I think it took a toll on him, too.
Rob Hardy I didn’t see other actors showing up and saying, “Hey, it’s the last day! Wanted to come and wish you well.” I didn’t get that. It was more the Patrick show. We were in the Patrick world, and then Ellen came, and there was definitely a lot of emotion that both of them had individually … not necessarily together. It was more so her being there on the day that he died. He had his own way of being with that, and the same thing with her. It was like two people who grew up together and … here we are. They had their own way of reflecting.
Patrick Dempsey I very quietly left. It was beautiful. It was raining, which was really touching. I got in my Panamera, got in rush-hour traffic, and two hours later I was home. Big news like this doesn’t stay quiet for long. Both Michael Ausiello—who left EW in 2010 to launch the news site TVLine—and Lesley Goldberg of The Hollywood Reporter learned two weeks prior to Dempsey’s final episode that he would be leaving the show. No reporter worth their salt wants to sit on a scoop—least of all one as huge as this—but Ausiello and Goldberg didn’t want to spoil the outcome for fans, so they agreed to hold the story until after the episode aired. I eventually found out, too, but in the nuttiest way imaginable: I was standing on the set of CSI: Cyber, watching Patricia Arquette talk about some droll techno-criminal. Unfortunately, the publicist also cc’d Dempsey’s manager and ABC publicist while trying to give me a major story, so I couldn’t immediately report the scoop. But I did use the information to successfully negotiate the one and only exit interview with Dempsey. Two weeks before his final episode, I met him and his publicist at Feed Body & Soul in Venice, California, for a story that would hit newsstands on April 24. He seemed a little shell-shocked and at one point choked up, but at the time he said nothing about how his on-set behavior may have contributed to his ouster. My editor, Henry Goldblatt, wanted to put him on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, but he couldn’t guarantee to ABC that no one would see it before the episode aired. Good thing we didn’t: some subscribers got the issue on the morning of Dempsey’s final episode— and one actually tweeted the story. Our PR department tried to get the tweets removed, but the cat was out of the bag: some fans found out early that McDreamy was about to be McHistory. Outlets like Variety reported how the story got out early, while our PR department released this statement: “We are surprised that an EW subscriber may have received their issue a day earlier than planned. We always try our best to bring readers exclusive news first. We would like to apologize to fans of the show that learned the news ahead of time.” Dempsey’s final episode was watched by 8.83 million viewers—the show’s largest audience since the premiere that season. Variety even pontificated whether the ratings boost was due to my exclusive with Dempsey.
Lesley Goldberg (The Hollywood Reporter) I’m used to working with networks to hold news as part of their efforts to guard against plot spoilers. But the way Patrick Dempsey’s exit was handled involved a layer of paranoia and secrecy that has been unlike anything I’ve seen in my reporting career. News that he was leaving, and his character being killed off, would have been a major story considering how big the show is domestically and internationally. However, it also would have meant spoiling the episode and, more important, damaging key relationships I’ve worked hard to build. At some point, publishing the news of Dempsey’s exit before the episode aired became an ethical question of what was more important—a big story and its subsequent traffic, which would have come no matter what, or the relationships and trust that it took years to craft. Ultimately, I still published early because EW subscribers received the issue with Lynette’s Dempsey interview before the episode aired.
Mike McColl The morning after Derek’s last episode aired, my daughter sent me a link that was on YouTube or Facebook or something. I actually pulled it up to look at it, and it was a Grey’s Anatomy showbiz cheat sheet. It asked the question “Who is the attending doctor who killed Derek ‘McDreamy’ Shepherd?” It included a photo that I posted from the set. I had on a bloody rubber glove and was in my scrubs and mask. I never obviously would have posted this before it aired. I posted it well after the episode aired, and I [captioned it] “McDeadly.” This writer said something like, “Kill McDeadly.” Maybe that’s why the producer didn’t choose a big-name actor to be the one who killed our beloved McDreamy! I want to be ultrasensitive to these hard-core fans because it means so much to them, and I certainly didn’t mean in that case to make light of it. It’s just, I’m an actor, and I recognize it for what it is. Is everybody clear on the fact that this is just pretend and Patrick knew he was going to be leaving the show? It was just like, “God. He’s okay. He really is okay.”
Peter Horton Derek was going to be there forever with Meredith because you went through a whole journey with them. That was incredibly fulfilling. So even if he’s not there, he’s there. I don’t think any of us really worried about that going away because by then you were so invested in it. The show can last as it has for years.
Patrick Dempsey Lots of people [miss him]. “It’s good to see you alive” is the comment I get. I’m like, “Yes, I’m very much alive in reruns.” People were really invested in that relationship. I knew it would be heavy. Very happy to have moved on with a different chapter in my life.
Samantha Sloyan The montage just killed me, when Meredith says, “It’s okay, you can go.” God, I’m getting choked up just thinking about it. The chemistry they have as a pair and the way they were able to build that and sustain it! So many of these relationships are, like, “Will they, won’t they,” and then it wears thin. They sustained it for the duration of their relationship on the show, and it’s just, I think, a testament to what those two created. It was just unbelievable.
Pompeo addressed Dempsey’s departure with a tweet that focused solely on his character, not on how she spent eleven years working side by side with him: “There are so many people out there who have suffered tremendous loss and tragedy. Husbands and wives of soldiers, victims of senseless violence, and parents who have lost children. People who get up every day and do what feels like is the impossible. So it is for these people and in the spirit of resilance [sic] I am honored and excited to tell the story of how Meredith goes on in the face of what feels like the impossible.” Meanwhile, fans futilely created a Change.org petition to reinstate McDempsey, while other, more desperate ones simply tweeted “We Hate You” to Rhimes.
Shonda Rhimes Derek Shepherd is and will always be an incredibly important character—for Meredith, for me, and for the fans. I absolutely never imagined saying goodbye to our McDreamy. Patrick Dempsey’s performance shaped Derek in a way that I know we both hope became a meaningful example— happy, sad, romantic, painful, and always true—of what young women should demand from modern love. His loss will be felt by all.
Talk about the mother (father?) of all postscripts: In November of 2020 Dempsey reprised his role as McDreamy in the season opener—but only in Meredith’s dreams. Stricken with COVID-19, an unconscious Meredith “imagined” reuniting with her husband on the beach. After talking exclusively to Deadline and saying how it was “really a very healing process, and really rewarding,” Dempsey would return for more beach-based episodes that would ultimately stand out as the best moments of season seventeen. “It was a second chance thing,” one ABC executive told me at the time. “Shonda likes a comeback. Also, they wanted him in their last season.”
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missbrunettebarbie · 3 years
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All the Barbie protagonists I know -from best to worst
I feel like starting with a disclaimer that this is just my opinion, which should be implied. Anyway, this list took forever because I kept switching them. Look I am bad at picking favourites. The top 3 is actually pretty interchangable.
1. Eden Starling (Barbie in a Christmas Carol) - I love her with all my heart and then some. I love her design, her backstory, her personality, how unique she is from every other Barbie on the list. (Whoever came up with Barbie as Scrroge is a genius that deserves an Oscar) The fact that I relate to her in some aspects makes her even more loveable in my eyes. Also I think she deserves #1 spot because out of all the characters on this list she's the one I sorted before even rewatching her movie -and the rewatch confirmed the sorting. She's that memorable!
2. Princess Annika (Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus) - I love her too: her determination,her cleverness, her bravery, her justified anger. The "Destroy Wenlock!" speech alone guaranteed her a place in top 3. The fact that she doesn't back down even in the face of impossible odds - or maybe especially because the odds are impossible, her relationship with Aiden and with Brietta and her passion for ice-skating make her a very interesting character. Annika is a powerhouse and her entire journey is *chef's kiss*.
3. Merliah Summers (Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 1&2) - I think what I love about Merliah is that she put herself first, in both movies. Her first priority was her career as a surfer and only later did she come to accept her role as a mermaid princess. Her relationship with her mother is also great, I love them when they get along and I also love them when they don't - probably my favourite mother-daughter relationship from all the Barbie movies. Merliah's initial skepticism, her putside the box thinking and her competitive streak are delightful. Also her and Kylie might my favourite ship in the Barbieverse.
4. Blair Willows (Barbie Princess Charm School) - A Barbie with actual money problems?! Of course I was soft for Blair from the very begining. Her dedication and love to her adoptive family made her an instant fave. I loved that once Dean Privet helped her with her lessons she did her damn best to graduate from the school. She had her clothes torn, was accused of theft and looked in a safe, yet nothing stopped her.
5. Mariposa (Barbie: Mariposa) - I always had a soft spot for her as a kid. Her desire for adventure -for escape- the way she felt like she didn't quite fit in, her love for books, the somehow-anti-social attitude made her a perfectly relatable character in little!me's eyes. The way she refused to believe the rumors and the stereotypes in the second movie makes her even better. I loved her friendship with Catania and her romance with Carlos was cute too. Also her design might be my second favourite after Eden's.
6. Ro/Princess Rosella (Barbie as The Island Princess) - This movie is a goddamn masterpiece and Ro is a huge part of why. First I cannot help but be impressed by how adaptable she is: not only did she survive on a deserted island for ten years, she thrived. And then she had the courage to leave the only home she knew to go with Antonio and find answers about who she is. My heart ')). Then there is the fact that she risled her own freedom to help save the animals or how she was ready to step back and let Antonio do his duty and marry Luciana despite the fact that she loved him. And the ending wjere she finds her mother and starts singing the lullaby? It is what had cemented my love for this film and this character.
7. Corrine (Barbie in the three Musketeers) - In a lot of ways I find her and Merliah very similar -they both have goals they want to achieve and are somehow selfish because of it in the begining- but I think Corrine is a much kinder person: remember when she got that violin bow for one of the girls as a way to apologize? It felt like such a character establishing moment. I love that she took no shit for anyone, even the prince, and never faltered for one second in her desire to be a musketeer.
8. Princess Genevieve (Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses) - In a lot of ways she reminds me of Blair as she's a quieter personality but forceful in her own way. The way she always stood up for her younger sisters, her love for dancing, her relationship with her father and the fact that she was so heart-eyes when it came to Derek -seriously I don't think any other Babrie was so smitten with her LI from the very first moment- made sure she'll have a place in top 10. The only reason why she's not higher is because I love the others more.
9. Princess Annelisse (Barbie as Princess and the Pauper) - I think my favourite thing about Annelisse is that she completely understood her duties as a princess and was ready to sacrifice her personal happiness for her people. I also really like how she never shied from using her royal status- even if it didn't really work- or how she still tried to help the other taylor with the work when she was thought to be Erica, pity she had zero skill. Her relationship with her mom is my second favourite after Merliah-Calissa. Also collecting rocks is such an unique hobby AND she's a cat girl. Of course I love her.
10. Erika (Barbie as Princess and the Pauper) - Another cat girl! And so snippy and unafraid to be herself. Her dynamic with Annelisse is gold: Erika had all the reasons to despise Annelisse but instead clearly ~bonded with her from the very first moment and went along with an insane plan just to help her. Not to mention, she's the first Barbie who explicitly said "I am gonna fulfill my dreams and have the guy I love; what's this nonsense about choosing only one?" and I have to appreciate her for it.
11. Rapunzel (Barbie as Rapunzel) - The fact alone that she is best friends with a dragon gives her major points in my books. Her love of painting and the way she used it as a literal way of escape? Go, girl! The fact that she refused to let Stefan tell her his name just to make sure Gothel won't find out? Impressive and so spiteful! And the disgust in her voice when she realized Gothel had kept her prisoner for years because her father hadn't married her? Perfect.
12. Kristyn Farraday (Barbie in the Pink Shoes) - I really liked her enthusiasm for getting to actually be the characters she didn't even get to dance in the real world, the way her mind immediately internalized the rules of the fairytale-esque world despite how insane it was and how she refused to conform to the rules. I see the movie as an exploration of Kristyn's creepling fear of failure and the pressure she felt as a proffesional ballet dancer and seeing her come out triumphant on her own terms felt really good.
13. Actress!Barbie (Fashion Fairytale and Fairy Secret) - Probably the most three-dimensional of the "real" Barbies. I think what I like most at her is her determination to save Ken in the second movie. What can I say, I love a Barbie-in-shining-armour. I also like that she knew when to step back and let others do their jobs - in fact she doesn't so much in the first movie, just motivates people. If I had to pick a Barbie to have as a friend, I think she'll be my first choice. She seems like a good listener and someone who knows how to solve problems.
14. Elina (Barbie: Fairytopia 1&2&3) - She is an interesting character and one whose stories I do like, but something never clicked for me when it comes to Elina. Buut, this doesn't mean I don't appreciate her desire to save everyone or how she never drowned in self-pity when she was the only fairy without wings.
15. Clara (Barbie in the Nutcracker)- Clara doesn't get the chance to do much, but I love the glimpses of her intelligence we see (how she figured out the Nutcracker is Eric) or how she longs for adventure and excitment.
16. Thumbelina (Barbie present Thumbelina) - I like that she's an inventor and that she is ready to use Mackena to save her home, but overall I found her unimpressive.
17. Liana (Barbie and the Diamond Castle) - I always had a grudge on her as a child on Alexa's behalf. I always felt like Liana dragged her down. This being said, Liana is still a super smart cookie and very devoted to her friends so she avoids being even lower on the list.
18. Princess Lumina (Barbie: Pearl Princess) - The most memorable things about her are how she loooved having a job and how she refused to condemn the woman that may have raised her but had also kidnapped her from her family. Now both these traits should make her an intriguing character, unfortunately the movie is pretty boring and it never taps into Lumina's potential.
19. Princess Alexa (Barbie and the Secret Door) - Look I relate to her: Lover of books? Check. Desire to escape your life full of rules? Check. Not good with people? Check. But Alexa's development was so weird, the movie was very boring and felt like it had no trajectory and it affected the protagonist a lot.
20. Odette (Barbie in Swan Lake) - She just...doesn't do much. I wish we have seen her more involved in her own story. Not to mention I really didn't understand why she was so afraid of being in the spotlight or how being turned into a swan helped her get over it.
21. Starlight!Barbie (Barbie: Star Light Adventures) - I think my opinion of her -and the whole movie- can be summed up in the world "meh". There is simply no spark of life here.
22. Teen!Barbie (Barbie Diaries) - I have such an overwhelming repulsion towards "unpopular" girls wanting the be popular. Especially since I cannot see what exactly is holding Babrie back from being happy? She seems to have everything (great friends, nice life, good grades and music talent!), but doesn't care about any of it. Not to mention, she's the only Barbie who has to settle for a guy that was pining for her while she only saw him as a friend and I resent that.
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#100 Song Lyric Prompts
No one specifically requested, but I wanted to do this so bad! Here we go...
“Will nature make a man of me yet?”- The Smiths, This Charming Man
“If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?”- Lynyrd Skynyrd, Free Bird
“When my time comes around, lay me gently in the cold dark earth. No grave can hold my body down, I'll crawl home to her.”- Hozier, Work Song
“I don’t think that we should be alone together, when we’re in a room you get my eyes, you open your mouth I’m hypnotised”- The Neighbourhood, Single
“She looks as if she’s blowing a kiss at me and suddenly the sky is a scissor”- Arctic Monkeys, That’s where you’re wrong
“You think you want to be alone, just wait until you’re crying on the shower floor” “They’ve got a pretty face, but they’ve got a pretty empty head.” “But how the hell do you fall in love, the last time I checked you can’t fall in slow mo”- LANY- The Breakup *There were too many good ones in this song, I couldn’t help myself*
“I know it’s mad, but if I go to hell will you go with me or just leave?” - Panic! At The Disco, Do you know what I'm seeing?
“I don’t know who’s protecting me, but we hit it off”- Drake, Sandra’s Rose
“Do me a favour and break my nose, do me a favour and tell me to go away?”- Arctic monkeys, Do me a favour
“Baby just came back around, said she needs time to explore, said I can’t love her no more”- The Neighbourhood, Baby came home
“Just one mistake, you say you’re not in love no more, but was it really love if you can leave me for something so innocent is this the end?”- LANY, Thick and thin
“You can have Manhattan, I know it’s for the best, I’ll gather up the avenues and leave them on your doorstep. I’ll tiptoe away so you won’t have to say you heard me leave.” “You can have Manhattan, the one we used to share, the one where we were laughing and drunk on just being there. Hang onto the reverie, could you do that for me?”- Sara Bareilles, Manhattan
“You don’t love me, big fucking deal, I’ll never tell you how I feel.” “I'll send my best regards from Hell”- Marina and the Diamonds, Starring Role
“I been writing these songs ‘bout how I can’t be with you. I don’t want to be a monster, but I’ve been here for days, drinking too much now I want you, can’t get you off my brain.”- Henry, Monster, Eng. version
“Change lives, get better, yeah that be the plan” “That’s why you see me winning, yeah, even after I lose”- Jay Park, Ask bout me
“Love is not looking over shoulders, Love is you should trust what I told you” “Love is not struggling to say I love you”- 6LACK, Disconnect
“All these people taking miles when you give them an inch, all these followers but who's gonna follow me until the end?”- Drake, Emotionless
“She’s in the rain, you wanna hurt yourself I’ll stay with you, you wanna make yourself go through that pain, It’s better to be held than holding on,”- The Rose, She’s In The Rain *Absolutely love this one, don’t @ me, I will die for the The Rose**
“Sex by the fire at night”- Bruno Mars, That’s What I Like
“I’ve got the good side of you, sent it out into the blue.”- Troye Sivan, Good Side
“Standing by the window, rain falling, I want to have you full in my embrace and tell you, even when I’m born again and love you, even then, will you be with me?”- KREAM, 선물 Gift *Translated*
“It all passes, Someday, For sure, Certainly”- RM, ft. NELL, everythingoes *Translated*
“Please stay as long as you need, can't promise that things won't be broken, but I swear that I will never leave. Please stay forever with me”- Sleeping With Sirens, Scene One- James Dean & Audrey Hepburn
“When you move, I'm put to mind of all that I wanna be, when you move I could never define all that you are to me”- Hozier, Movement
“Wake up and smell the coffee, is your cup half full or empty?”- Billie Eilish, come out and play
“Am I a bad person? Or am I just in pain?”- DEAN, Sulli, Rad Museum, Dayfly *Translated*
“Kiss me on the lips, a secret just between the two of us, deeply poisoned by the jail of you, I cannot worship anyone but you and I knew the grail was poisoned but I drank it anyway”- BTS, Blood Sweat & Tears *Translated*
“When the sun sets and darkness comes, I only remember your warmth, where the stars wrap around us. I’m going there, I’ll be there”- SEVENTEEN, Highlight *Translated*
“I don't ever wanna feel like anything I do ever had a fucking resonance or meant a thing to you.”- Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, I Hate You
“You can’t take this away from me, the way I hit the melody, the waves bring clarity, running through me”- Tom Misch, Del La Soul, It Runs Through Me
“It was a lie when they smiled and said you won’t feel a thing”- My Chemical Romance, Disenchanted
“The fog has lifted and things get clear, all the lies pass by like a reel of film. I hate you”- EXO, 내가 미쳐 (Going Crazy) *Translated*
“I’m sorry- no, I’m not sorry, I’m just getting started and my life’s a party”- DEAN, Eric Bellinger, I’m Not Sorry
“Ain’t it fun, living in the real world?”- Paramore, Ain’t It Fun
“Ready or not, we are coming back- yeah, we’re over, we can tell you ‘bout what you need. You can look it up when you’re older”- Evergreen, Cargo Cult
“You, you got so much potential, every moment spent with you I bet was always eventful”- Aminé, Kehlani, Heebiejeebies- Bonus
“Could you imagine the taste of your lips if we never tried to kiss on the drive to Queens? 'Cause I imagine the weight of your ribs if you lied between my hips in the backseat”- Halsey, Roman Holiday
“Forever isn’t for everyone, is forever for you?”- Arctic Monkeys, Snap Out Of It
“Wish you good luck being lonely, I’mma push red every time you phone me. You vow to be a memory”- Ella Mai, ft. Ty Dolla $ign, She Don’t
“I’ve been dazed and confused from the day I met you, yeah I lost my head and I’d do it again”- Ruel, Dazed & Confused
“I just want you closer, is that alright? Baby let's get closer tonight”- Paolo Nutini, Last request
“You have no idea how pretty you are when you wake from sleep, you have no idea how beautiful you look as you get ready for bed”- Zion.T, No Makeup *Translated*
“I was thinking I could fly to your hotel tonight, baby, ‘cos I can’t get you off my mind”- Shawn Mendes, Lost In Japan
“She's soothing like the ocean rushing on the sand, she takes care of me, baby, she helps me be a better man. She's so beautiful, sometimes I stop to close my eyes, she's exactly what I need”- Jeremy Passion, Lemonade
“And her lips are like the galaxy's edge and her kiss the colour of a constellation falling into place”- Arctic Monkeys, Arabella
“It's how you look, not how you feel. A city of glass with no heart”- Queens of the Stone Age, If I Had a Tail
“I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife”- Hozier, Take Me To Church
“Bitter and hardened heart, Oh, aching- waiting for life to start”- Keane, Bend & Break
“When you move I'm put to mind of all that I wanna be, when you move I could never define all that you are to me”- Hozier, Movement
“She said, ‘Baby, I'm afraid to fall in love, 'cause what if it's not reciprocated?’ I told her, ‘Don't rush girl, don’t you rush, guess it's all a game of patience.’”- Pink Sweat$, Honesty
“Share a casket with you, we’ll be buried alive, me and her playing truth ‘til the day we die.”- Granata Ft. Phoniks, You Dont Need Me
“And hope that I had survived yesterday, and today is jealous of tomorrow.”- Emeli Sandé, Breathing Underwater
“Heaven if you sent us down so we could build a playground for the sinners to play as saints, you'd be so proud of what we've made.” Stephen, Crossfire
“Tell me how do you cope with it? How do you sleep with yourself at night? How do you cope with it? How do you sleep with yourself at night?”- blackbear, make daddy proud
“If anyone looks perfect, you look perfect next to me.”- Nick Wilson, Obsolete
“When I meet you after time passes, I’ll know (you were my future), I’ll know (I was your yesterday). When I meet you after time passes, I’ll know (you protected me), I’ll know (I desired you).”- SEVENTEEN (Wen Junhui & Xu Minghao), My I *Translated*
“I need my sex n’ drugs, I need my money first, bless me with all my sins.”- Abhi The Nomad, Ft. Harrison Sands & Copper King, Sex ‘n Drugs
“Naked and fallin' in love, look here I got you. Safe where there's no one to judge, keep it insightful.”- Keiynan Lonsdale, Preach
“All alone, all we know is haunting me, making it harder to breathe, harder to breathe.”- The Neighbourhood, Leaving Tonight
“Now I see you get off of the subway, haven't seen you in months but it's okay. I'd forgotten but I feel the same, hate that I still wish you were...”- Claud, Wish You Were Gay
“A perfect stranger lying next to me, he's playing God with broken figurines. He keeps calling me his little queen and I believe.”- Jake Wesley Rogers, Little Queen (This song deserves way more recognition, make sure to give it a listen!)
“Hell is so close to Heaven, hell is so close to Heaven. Hold on don't look back, you know we're better- we’re better than that. Lost and thrown away, you know we're better- we’re better than that.”- Sleeping With Sirens, The Strays
“Alone tonight, I’m drawing my dreams across the sky farther than I can imagine- She wants it.”- CIX, Movie Star *Translated*
“Yeah I mixed words and some whiskey on the flight just to make sure I landed on time and I wrote me a song I could sing just in case I forgot everything.”- Marc E. Bassy, Last One I Love
“Don't ask questions you don't wanna know, learned my lesson way too long ago.” “Deadly fever, please don't ever break, be my reliever 'cause I don't self medicate”- Billie Eilish, my strange addiction
“And it's worth it, it's divine, I have this some of the time.”- Hozier, Cherry Wine
“And I realize you're mine, Indeed, a fool am I.”- Queens of the Stone Age, No One Knows
“Look in the mirror ‘til I forget everything I know, everything I did was just a way to make the time feel faster.”- Miya Folick, Stock Image
“Do you feel how I feel? Are you numb? Do you tread crystal waters, bound to be stung? Are you scared? If I see you, we're upon, will you dye your hair dark so you're no longer blonde?”- Isaac Dunbar, Cologne
“Tell me; To you I’m bad & hurtful. Because I’ve been busy, you’re hurting. Bad, bad, bad, I’m bad, bad.”- Crush, NAPPA (나빠) *Translated*
“Just for the record, the weather today is slightly sarcastic with a good chance of: A. Indifference or B. disinterest to what the critics say.”- Panic! At The Disco, London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines
“‘Cause you don’t say what you feel, I'm the one driving but you take the wheel. You wanna wait, 'til we're older, I'm the one who started this, but now I just want closure.”- Ieuan, Closure
“Our names carved in the pavement, sealed by what's left of our handprints, now. I told my mom, she'd love to meet you, but it's too bad she won't get the chance to.”- COIN, Malibu 1992
“I'm running outta time to hold you close, running outta time to be your man. I'm just lost in this moment, I've been zoning.”- blackbear, 4u
“Standing on your mama's porch, you told me that you'd wait forever. Oh and when you held my hand, I knew that it was now or never”- Bryan Adams, Summer Of ‘69
“I'll go out, grow my hair too long, sing your least favourite songs at the top of my lungs. I'll go out, kiss all of your friends, make a story and pretend it was me who made this end.”- The Vamps, Hair Too Long
“Getting my mind right, I'll wait 'til the time's right. I'm meaning to tell you why it's hard to sleep at night. There's nothing to fear now, girl, we should be here now. So why don't you hear me out?”- Jeremy Zucker, Ft. blackbear, talk is overrated
“We haven't spoke since you went away, comfortable silence is so overrated. Why won't you ever be the first one to break? Even my phone misses your call, by the way.”- Harry Styles, From the Dining Table
“Look overhead at the stars and the ocean, foggy emotions, moments, erosion. This supernova could cause a commotion, my minds of the notion, you'll still be my motive”- Ansel Elgort, Supernova
“I love that new dress you bought, yeah, you sure look nice. Heard you liked that new restaurant, you know, I've been there twice. And the way that you switch up your hair, all of the moments we've shared, strolling the streets back in Rome, oh, how I wish I was there. It ain't fair.”- Ruel, Face To Face
“Welcome to your life, there's no turning back. Even while we sleep we will find you acting on your best behaviour, turn your back on mother nature.”- Tear For Fears, Everybody Wants to Rule the World
“I'm wide awake, not losing any sleep, I picked up every piece and landed on my feet. I'm wide awake, need nothing to complete myself, no.” Katy Perry, Wide Awake
“If you don't realize, all of the things your life can do you will be left behind, swept up by the storm of those you knew.”- Meltycanon, thankful
“I always knew that we'd be by each other's side forever, now our time has come and I'd be satisfied if we died together. Yeah, our climate's fucked, we might as well enjoy the weather, our time is up and I'd be satisfied if we died together.”- Samsa, Anthropocene
“There's still so much to say, I'm faded, broken, pretending you're on the line, wasting my time. Sinking deeper, watching you spend your night, like I'll be fine and I'll be over this.”- NYK, Faded
“I’d rather go to hell, than be in purgatory, cut my hair, gag and bore me, pull this pin, let this world explode.”- My Chemical Romance, Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
“I reached for a shooting star, it burned a hole through my hand Made its way through my heart, had fun in the promised land.”- blink-182, Wishing Well
“Let go of your baggage, but don’t think I don’t understand it’s probably a challenge,”- Isaac Lewis, Fly
“It's been a long night in New York city, it's been a long night in Baton Rouge. I don't remember you looking any better, but then again, I don't remember you.”- John Mayer, Who Says
“They say that love kills, it ain't quite what it seems, don't be shocked when you lost what you called ‘meant to be’.”- StayLoose, Bryce Fox, Sociopath
“When they come for You, I will shield Your name, I will field their questions, I will feel Your pain.”- Kanye West, Ultralight Beam
“Two steps forward, one step back and it won’t be long til my heart attack, yup! And common sense falls second place to the way it feels when you kiss my face, yup!”- The Band CAMINO, 2 / 14
“Leaving empty souls when he avenged, evil spirits flowed, he drank the blood like lemonade.”- Morcheeba, Blood Like Lemonade
“Your smile will become a classic; the brilliance of sunlight, the haziness of the moonlight exist for the sake of promises.”- WayV, Moonwalk
Dear God, I hope you got the letter and I pray you can make it better down here. I don't need a big reduction in the price of beer, but all the people that you made in your image- see them starving on their feet.”- Lawless, Sydney Wayser, Dear God
“Down below, sandy, like the ocean floor, quiet, like I like it; here I'll never be alone.”- slenderbodies, anemone
“I love everything, fire spreading all around my room, my world's so bright, it's hard to breathe but that's alright- hush.”- Sub Urban, Cradles
“I'm telling myself, I'm telling myself, ‘I don't need you anymore’.”- Lia Marie Johnson, Cold Heart Killer
“So I moved to California, but it's just a state of mind, it turns out everywhere you go, you take yourself, that's not a lie. Wish that you would hold me or just say that you were mine- it's killing me slowly.” Lana Del Rey,  Fuck it I love you
“See, she knows that I love her, but I don't think she'll stay and she knows that I need her, but my love's lost its weight. Spend my days longing for something real, spend my days stuck in the way I feel.”- JOBA, Sad Saturdays
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philhoffman · 3 years
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“Works of art are of an infinite loneliness and with nothing so little to be reached as with criticism. Only love can grasp and hold and be just towards them.” -Rainer Maria Rilke
PSH, I love you. You would’ve been 54 today, which is unbelievable in so many ways.
When I first stumbled across your work, I never expected the impact you’d come to have on me. You’ve brought so much to my life in such a short time. I don’t think I ever really understood film, acting, what a movie could really mean to someone until you showed me. How much they can make you think or doubt or feel, how many genuinely, spontaneously happy moments they can inspire, the way they stick in your mind long after the credits roll and become a part of you. I’d never seen or felt anything like Synecdoche, New York and I’d never had as much fun as Twister. What a beautiful, transforming, heartbreaking, joyful medium. And no one could wield it like you.
Beyond the screen, you’ve taught me so much, more every day. You’re so, so strong, your entire life. “A saturnine curmudgeon,” John Patrick Shanley called you, “prone to sudden sunny moments.” You suffered and struggled and you created despite, or because of the struggle. It gives me hope that I can create and live and be despite, or because of the struggle, too. I’m a more compassionate person for having known you. I hope the things I’m doing make you proud, mean something to you. Thank you for giving me something to look forward to, a reason to smile or laugh or cry or feel human, for being you. I can’t put into words what it’s meant, the last few months. You’ve been around and I know it and feel it and am more grateful than you could ever imagine.
My only regret is that our paths didn’t cross sooner, that I didn’t get the chance to tell you these things in this life. One of your friends said that when we lose loved ones, they don’t leave us, and I know you’re not gone. But we still feel the incalculable, unfathomable absence. Addiction is a monster. There are people who don’t know what it’s like to watch a loved one go through hell or experience it themselves, and they can be cruel. You’re stronger than they could ever understand. You’re good enough, I wish you knew that. You did enough just by existing.
I hope you’ve found the peace you deserve, Phil. I hope you know how many lives you’ve touched, how many people love you, how much we love you—and always will.
The pain doesn’t go away. But your light—the intensity you brought to every role, the life, the second chance you gave to every character, the lives you’ve impacted and continue to touch—that will go on forever. That’s your legacy, Philip Seymour Hoffman. You’re alive every time someone watches Dusty sing along to Eric Clapton or Truman Capote sob before his murderer-friends or Caden put on the greatest play no one will ever see or any of your other prolific, meaningful, hilarious, heart-wrenching, human roles. And you’re alive every time we remember you as the beautiful person, father, partner, brother, son, friend you were. We celebrate your life every day, but especially today.
Happy birthday, Phil. We’ve been to the movies and we’ve seen how it ends. It’s a privilege to watch you. Thank you for everything, I love you so much ❤️
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cultofbeatles · 4 years
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parts of pattie boyd’s book wonderful tonight that involved george that stuck out to me:
pattie didn't have any of the beatles records at first and only bought please please me since she was going to be in their film 
“on first impressions, john seemed more cynical and brash than the others, ringo the most endearing, paul was cute, and george, with velvet brown eyes and dark chestnut hair, was the best looking man i’d ever seen.”
during a lunch break pattie and george sat next to each other and were both very shy 
george asked pattie “will you marry me?” and after she laughed he said, “well, if you won't marry me, will you have dinner with me tonight?” and she turned him down.
she deadass invited george to hang out with her and her boyfriend at the time.
pattie and george are both pisces.
once reshoots for the film were happening george asked pattie about her boyfriend, she said she had dumped him, and george once again asked her for dinner. she accepted this time.
brian epstein joined them for their first date.
they sat side by side and were too scared to even hold the others hand.
george got along great with pattie’s family.
pattie liked cynthia lennon but found her difficult to make friends with. 
“she wasn't like my friends, who enjoyed a giggle and some fun: she was rather serious, and often, i thought, behaved more like john’s mother than wife.”
there was a rumor that john and pattie were having an affair and pattie worried cynthia believed it. it wasn't true.
maureen cox (ringo’s girlfriend) was another beatles girl that pattie had a hard time being friends with. but said that she was “jolly and friendly, more relaxed than cynthia.”
pattie got along best with jane asher but saw her the least.
“i felt there was definitely a north-south divide among the wives and girlfriends. and i had the definite impressions that the girls from the north (maureen and cynthia) felt they has a prior clam to the boys.” okay shade, we see you. 
(talking about going on holiday with john, cynthia, and george) “it was a good way to split the group. john and paul were the closest in some ways and immensely creative together, but they clashed if they were in each other’s pockets for too long.”
george asked pattie to cut his hair while on holiday and one of the cleaners found his hair and kept it. 
(talking about george) “he was so beautiful and so funny.”
once a “weird looking man” tried to force his way into pattie and george’s house. pattie thought he was either a salesman or a jehovahs witness. it turns out it was paul in disguise. 
george said the only place he got peace was in the bathroom of his hotel suite.
pattie got a lot of letters saying that if she didn't leave george there would be a curse put on her.
 pattie’s cleaner was a male ballet dancer and “a terrific duster.”
pattie would count the days till george came back. once he jumped into the bed early in the morning to wake her up. 
those two would deadass not lock their doors and were surprised that clothes were going missing...what is with older generations and not locking their doors i -
george would be in the studio from 11 am - 11 pm. sometimes midnight. 
george’s mom loved when john would visit and would always ask him for an “upper.”
when john lennon is your drug dealer.
pattie wasn't a good cook but was optimistic.
“i loved listening to him (play guitar), loved the sound of the guitar in the house. sometimes i would start to talk and he'd be so deep in thought about the lyrics or the melody he was writing that he wouldn't answer. we’d be the same room but he wasn't really with me: he was in his head.”
pattie developed a kidney disorder.
(talking about the beatles dynamic) “in many aspects they were still children. they had few real friends apart from each other, and when they were asked questions they could answer as one - they were so much on each other’s wavelength. if one went to a gallery opening, they all went; if one bought a new car or new house, they all did. if one seemed in danger of taking himself too seriously, the others knocked it out of him.”
one evening george stopped the car and said, “let’s get married. i'll speak to brian.” they went to brian’s house, george went inside, and when he came back in the car he said, “brian says it’s okay. will you marry me? we can get married in january.”
briannnnnnn, is it my turn to get married yet pleaseeeee
pattie invited her absent father to their wedding but he did not come.
at the train station everyone left cynthia behind as she was carrying the suitcases and john was carrying nothing. peter brown had to go back and get her. 
pattie’s quote from the lsd in the coffee moment is hilarious to me. “you've just had lsd. it was in the coffee.” john lennon: “how dare you fucking do this to us?”
pattie and george didn't go to brian’s funeral in liverpool but george sent one single sunflower.
pattie stopped modeling because george didnt like it. and she felt like she lost a part of herself.
maureen was afraid of flies.
during the India trip, mia farrow told john that maharishi was inappropriate with her and john wanted everyone leave after that.
after India george and pattie’s relationship changed.
(talking about george) “some days he would be all right, but on others he seemed withdrawn and depressed. this was new: he had never been depressed before, but there was nothing i could do. it wasn't about me, but i found that my moods started to mirror his...so bad indeed, that at times i felt almost suicidal. i don't think i was ever in any real danger of killing myself, but i got as far as working out how i would do it: i would put on a diaphanous ossie clark dress and jump off beachy head.”
george became more obvious about his cheating. it hurt pattie.
george was gaslighting her.
cilla black was staying at george and pattie’s house and was uncomfortably close to george so pattie left. six days latter george called to tell her the girl was gone and she could come home.
“..but my ego was too fragile and i couldn't see it as anything other than betrayal. i felt unloved and miserable.”
“jane asher came home unexpectedly from new york and found another woman in the house, an american girl - and did what i should probably have done with george...”
george would start to talk about his feelings about paul or john but would stop bc he never wanted to admit that he felt left out. 
“we had once been so close, so honest and open with each other. now a distance had developed between us..”
(about yoko contributing to the beatles break up) “the four had never allowed anyone into the recording studios with them, but yoko not only sat by john throughout every session, he consulted her about the music they were making, which upset paul.”
during the let it be sessions there was a time with george and paul got in a fist fight and george left.
the same day john told George he was leaving the beatles, george’s mom told him she was ill and in critical condition.
i love that she vibe checked george. “he was bringing home bad vibes.”
george continued cheating and they continued arguing.
“my diary is full of entries about my unhappiness and the disintegration of our relationship.”
john came to visit george and pattie’s new mansion and said that it was so dark he didn't know how they could live in it, and george recommended that he took of his sunglasses.
eric clapton being a piece of shit and saying “if you won't be with me pattie i will become addicted to heroin.”
pattie said the only thing she had left was cooking and george took that away.
the couple was suppose to go on holiday together but george cancelled last minute bc he didn't want to go with her. he ended up going to spain.
“when i challenged him, he denied it and tried once again to make me feel as though i was paranoid.”
i'm not even...the whole fucking story of the george and maureen affair PISSES ME OFF more than i can describe. maybe i’ll make a whole other post but omfg i'm fuming. fuck them bothhhh. they deserve no rights.
george harrison, mere days before their wedding anniversary: “let’s get a divorce this year.” what an amazing new years resolution jerk.
ringo offered pattie a job.
when george told ringo about the affair pattie was so mad she dyed her hair red. 
george loved pattie’s little brother and was his role model but he wouldn't come to the man’s wedding even though he was invited.
the night pattie told george she was leaving him george came to bed in sadness and said, “don't go.”
“i'm going.”
george invited pattie to dhani’s eighteenth birthday party bc she “had to be there. she was family.”
george had become more of an older brother to her now.
pattie had learned about john’s death from eric clapton and immediately went to the beatles office in london to hang out with everyone there.
(after finding out about george’s death) “i couldn't bare the thought of a world without george. when i left him for eric, he had said that if things didn't work out, ever, i could always come to him and he would look after me. it was such a selfless, loving, generous thing to say and it had always been tucked away at the back of my mind. now that sense of security had gone.”
the last time they saw each other was when george called saying he wanted to visit her new cottage and see her.
pattie didn't go to his funeral nor did she go to the memorial concert that took place a year later. but she spent that day high on the mountains thinking of george. “i was happy to mourn him alone and in my own way.”
she would have dreams of george after his death. “oh george, it’s so wonderful that you are alive after all, this is so fabulous; i knew they had all made a mistake.”
and then she’d wake up.
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When I’m Watching You Watch Him
Jason X Reader
Mention of Dick X Reader
A/N: Got hit with an oldie but good song. Watching You Watch Him by Eric Hutchinson, just makes me feel all sorts of ways. Anywho, my friend was making me binge some of the animated DC films with her and this just kinda happened, my bad.
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I love you from the bottom of my heart
And that's not gonna change, but things look grim
Oh, Jason had it bad. Really, really bad. Just watching her do the simplest of things made him melt into a puddle. 
He had a slight crush on (y/n) before he died. And not to be dramatic or anything, but after all the care and time she had put into helping him recover he’s pretty sure she could hit him with a crowbar and he’d still put a ring on it. 
What did all those gen-z toddlers call it, simping? Yeah, he was kinda a simp for her at this point, and there was use trying to escape the reality of it. Everywhere his mind took him always brought him back to the same thought, (y/n). That’s fine though, he wouldn’t have it any other way. 
He was a man damned to eternal hell in the presence of a blessed angel from the highs of heaven. Well shit, this ain't gonna go well. 
When I'm watching you watch him
Christ, there she goes again looking at his goddamn brother. Dick fucking Grayson, golden boy himself, the first boy wonder. All eyes were only Dick as he told countless tails in remarkable detail at the large round table. She watched him from across the table, an unmistakable sparkle in those lively (e/c) eyes of hers. 
“C’mon (y/n) bring those pretty eyes this way,” Jason whispered quietly enough as to not be heard.
Both elbows of his elbows were on the table which was something that would drive Alfred insane. One hand tapped idly on the oak surface, and the palm of the other held his heavy head. His gaze focused on her, taking every feature, loving each and every bit of the angel before him. 
He knew he didn’t deserve her, but he couldn’t help but yearn for her anyways. Hell she deserved better than anyone in this damned family.
I give you the best a man can hope to give
He wants nothing more than to spoil her. And just when she thinks she’s seen it all he’ll surprise her with something new and filled with love. 
Jason would do anything for her, if only she would only let him. He could repay all the love she put into him at least ten fold.
But I'm not feeling brave
Chances are slim
Jason was a man of action, words were never really his forte. But, of course it was something his brother excelled at. Capturing every spot light within miles of his being, there never seemed to be a moment when attention strayed from the eldest.
Of course there was so much Jason wanted to say to (y/n). However, everytime he got the chance, her attention was always pulled somewhere else. And when she came back to ask him what he wanted to say, he would always brush it off, completely missing his shot. So all the things he wanted to say went unsaid. 
One would figure that literature would have maybe taught him something about wooing a lady, but alas, he is a hopeless romantic with no idea how to talk to his crush. 
When I'm watching you watch him
Today was the day of another gala Jason was forced to attend. That meant that he had to dress to impress, tux and all, much to his dismay. 
Jason of course arrives early to help Alfred prep with the rest of the boys. Which never ended well. When he opened the door he was greeted by the sadly normal sight of Damian attempting to choke Tim, and while most time he would have joined in the chaos, a dolled up damsel caught his gaze. 
(Y/n) was trying to persuade Damian to let Tim go. She offered him cookies, however, Damian was not fazed. 
God she was gorgeous, he thought. Lightly applied makeup on her already flawless complection, a dress complimenting her figure perfectly, hair topping it all off to complete the look. She was just, so her, and he loved it. 
Just as he was about to lend a helping hand in her efforts, Dick stepped in to physically separate the two boys. Jason could only watch as she blushed when that dumbass winked towards her. Damian, of course, ran to her glaring at Tim as he asked for the promised cookie. Dick laughed as she raised a questioning brow at the boy hugging her waist. Jason let out a sign, walking past them to the kitchen, occasionally glancing at her, desperate for her to return his stares.
Oh, what is left to learn
When he will let you crash and burn
Dick was quite the flirt, it wasn’t hard for anyone to figure out upon meeting him. He flirted with every single person, heck he would probably flirt with a dog. Jason shuttered at the thought. 
All Dick’s life he has been a player, toying around with others' feelings. A complete heartbreaker. It kills Jason to know that she could possibly become one of the many victims burned by his games. 
He never gives attention
But you still yearn
It's obvious to Jason that she was enraptured by Dick, falling for all his empty flirting. Or at least that’s how he saw it. If only she could see it the way Jason did. Maybe then her heart wouldn’t ache for someone who never who would never see her in a romantic way. 
Part of Jason is relieved that Dick isn’t into her. But still…. 
Where do I fit in
There she was sitting next to Damian who was fiddling with her fingers out of boredom. It was kinda sweet how motherly she was to him. And anyone could tell just how much that little demon spawn looked up to her. (Y/n) was someone Damian values above all others, even Dick. He was stuck to her side every moment he could be, only acting his real age around her. She just had that effect on him and Jason has no idea how she does it.
Every Wayne had a special place in her heart, just like she held a special place in theirs. The whole family was like her own, they were a family she never had growing up all alone in the streets of Gotham. 
The same exact streets he spent most of his childhood wonder around. Having a similar past made it easy for the two to bond. Exchanging memories of hardships and prosperities while laying on the roof of Wayne Enterprise, tracing out shapes made from glowing stars in the moonlit sky. 
When I’m watching you watch him  
Jason sat alone sipping whiskey from the canteen tucked in the inside of his coat pocket. He could just tell by the way she was looking at his older brother who was dancing between a crowd of ladies that it was going to be a very very long night.
God only knows why I still wait around
Except I hate to see you cry
He doesn’t understand how Dick could just ignore her loving gazes. Does Dick not understand that the woman Jason practically worshipped was crying out for his attention? What a dumbass, Jason thought.
And I need you 
But there are things I cannot do
If only Jason had the balls to go over there and ask her to dance. Steal her attention away from that play boy and focus it on the man who would die for her in a heartbeat. (Y/n) was his salvation, his savior from the twisted shadow that darkened all that good in his mind after being revived. 
Though his mind was screaming at him to comfort her, he physically could not approach her. Not even Jason himself understood what was holding him back, it was not pride, not masculinity, god knows he would scrap all of that for her.
Maybe it was fear, the fear of not being good enough. The fear of being rejected by her angelic self. 
Man, he sighed taking another swig of the bitter liquid, it was indeed going to be a long night.
And I want you
When he’s playing all his games
Jason watched her the whole night, even when she got her turn to dance with Dick. The sight really tore Jason to pieces. He would almost rather get beaten with a crowbar then watch that ever again. 
It was hard to pick between swooning over the smiles and giggles passing those luscious lips of her and punching the absolute shit out of Dick as he led her on. But, he chose to just let her be happy for the moment.
However that moment was short lived as people who stood idly on the side were pulling into the center of the room to dance. Every time someone tried to coax him over he would snap at them. That was until she held out both of her hands out to him, at first he shook her off. But, unfortunately for him, (y/n) was just as stubborn as he was and she was going to get him out on that floor even if it was the last thing she ever did. 
Puffing out her chest strut over to his isolated figure. Oh, how he wished she had not come over to him. Who the hell was he if he had denied the pouty expression on her face that was supposed to be a menacing glare. 
And it gets hard to tell who's the victim
Both of them danced the longest together which kinda pissed off the baby bat who wanted her attention oh so badly. Jason could give less of a shit thought, he was going to make the most of this moment. 
Two partner rotations had gone by as people swayed with the music, but he wasn’t quite ready to give her up. Life, like always, didn’t seem to want to comply with Jason’s wishes as she was swiped from him amongst the crowd as another person was thrown into him. 
The two youngest were quick to catch onto Jason’s dilemma. Tim felt kinda bad, the longing stares of a broken man really did a number on the sleep deprived boy’s heart strings. Damian pretended to not give two shits, he values Dick as an important role model, but even Damian knew that Dick was no good for his beloved Ummi. If Damian had to choose between the two, he would rather her go with Jason. 
When I’m watching you watch him
The cycle continued just as it had for months on end. Jason would look her way, but his gaze was never returned. 
Oh, what is left to learn to learn
When he would let you crash and burn
She would give her romantic affection to the eldest, just like she alway had. And in return Dick strung her along like a lovesick puppy on a loose leash. Never committing to her, but flirting just enough to keep her hooked on in his delusional version of love. 
He never gives attention 
But you still yearn
One day, Jason prays, one day she will look his way. Giving her even more love then she could ever hope for.
But, that day is not today, or the next day, or the day after that. All he can do is wait hopelessly from his spot.
Where do I fit 
Sometimes he wonders if she even sees him anymore. He feels as though he has become nothing but a forgotten memory filed in the back of that pretty head of hers. 
Jason can only hope that one day she will see him the same way he sees her.
When I’m watching you watch him
As of lately something seemed to be off. Her eyes weren’t as bright as they were. She carried herself in an anxious manner, constantly fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. 
It concerned Jason to no end. He had no idea why she was acting the way she was, and no matter how far he dug nothing came up. And it aggravated him that Dick ignored her strange behavior, it really wasn’t that hard for someone to tell something was off if they had been around her as long as the Wayne's have. 
Hell, even Damian took notice of her distressed figure. Her state caused the brat to cling to her hip even more than normal. Occasionally, Damian would send a glare the golden boy’s way as he approached the two.  Damian’s worried expression shifts to her face to Jason’s stares in a pleading manner. It was if he was asking Jason to do something. Fix her, help her, comfort her; do something dammit. 
God only known why I still wait around
Except I hate to see you cry
Imagine his surprise when the angel of his dreams shows up at his door in the middle of the night, tears staining the soft skin of her cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy, it's not hard to tell that she had been crying for a couple of hours.
One of Jason’s old oversized sweatshirts draped over her much smaller frame. She bunched up one of the giant sleeves, a heap of fabric gathered into the palm of her still covered hand. Using the sleeve she wiped her wet eyes making tiny splotches of the fabric darken from the salty liquid.
Oh God, he didn’t know what good he had done for her to show up at his doorstep, but he wasn’t going to question it. 
And I need you
But there are things I cannot do
(Y/n) was a sight for sore eyes, even in her grief stricken state.
Gathering her into his arms, Jason pulled her into the apartment quietly shutting the door behind her as to not startle her any further.
Jason had an idea as of why she was upset. Dick stood her up for their weekly coffee get together for the second time this month, opting to hang out with some whore he met at the gala the other month. 
It was pathetic really. Dick had no concern for (y/n)’s feelings and it made Jason’s blood boil dangerously close to the lip of the pot. 
And while this probably would have flustered him in any other scenario, leading to him awkwardly patting her back or something. But, there was only one thing going through his mind at this point. Comforting her. Making all her problems become nothing but a long forgotten memory. 
And I love you
Like a broken record plays 
But I’m a window pane
A phantom limb
No matter how much it hurt him to hold her so close, knowing that she didn’t return his fatal feeling, killed him all over again. However, he would suck it up to if it meant bringing a smile back to that gorgeous face of hers.
He’s a sucker for her, but at least he knows it. Jason might not be able to admit it in words, but he did his best to relay it through actions.
When I’m watching you watch him
“That woman was right, I’m just not worth it,” She whispered through hiccups. 
Jason’s eyes shot down to her in utter shock, his grip involuntary tightening on her frame, causing her to let out a small squeak. 
What did that filthy pig say to his angel? That gold digger didn’t have a clue what the word meant. Oh, Dick was in for it the next time he came around. 
“I don’t know what upsets me more,” Jason muttered gently, “the fact that she said that or the fact that you actually believe that bitch.”
Clearly his statement caught her attention. Glossy eyes pooling with salty tears threatening to spill over peered into his own. 
Fuck it, he thought, its now or never.
Taking a deep breath, exhaling hot air through his nose, he threw everything worry and doubt out the window and took his chances.
No matter how many times she tried to wipe her tears, they just kept coming as he spilled out all his thoughts about her. Telling her just how priceless she was to him. Jason made sure not to skip out on even the slightest of detail. His walls shattered, heart lying bare and utterly vulnerable before her. He, himself, couldn’t help but let a couple tears cascade down. 
Taking her other dry sleeve she brought it to his face, gently wiping the water droplets away as they fell. All this time she has been looking at the wrong man. Listening as Jason’s walls shattered rekindled those mushy feelings she had for him back before his Robin days. Back during the times when they could care less about the world as they fought the harsh world side by side. 
Those feelings she pushed down when he came back guns blazing. When he disregarded everything he once had, putting all his pain into the bullets in the barrels of his guns. Though she never gave up on him, it was hard for her. All he did back then was push her away, giving her the cold shoulder time after time again. Though all her efforts were kicked to the side and stomped on at the time.
Dick was the only one to comfort her back then. Maybe it was the comfort and reassurance that drew her to him all those times, but what does it matter anymore.
When I’m watching you watch him
Little did they know the two nosey pairs of eyes watching them through the window from a roof a couple buildings over. Binoculars peered into the living room where Jason and (y/n) rocked back and forth on their feet in each other's embrace. 
Smack!
Both Red Robin and Robin let of a high pitched yelp as the binoculars were swiped from their faces. They stared at each other with wide eyes of surprise, a heavy grunt brought them from their daze. Neither one of them wanted to look behind, acting like toddlers being caught doing something they knew they weren’t supposed to. 
To giant gloved hands extended palms up in front of their faces, a wordless demand to hand over the devices. Of course they did as they were told, but not without complaining and throwing a couple jabs at one another. The boys headed in the opposite direction to patrol the remainder of the city. 
Once they were out of sight, Batman put the binoculars to his eyes. A rare smile graced his rough feature at the sight of the two. Hooking the lenses to his belt he went after the bickering boys.
It was a start. It was their start. The start of something beautiful in the years to come. 
When I’m watching you watch him
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frozenhuntress67 · 4 years
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Fear of Falling *Johnny Depp x Reader*
You finally explain the truth of why you're afraid of commitment to Johnny, and what you reveal is a it of a shock.
Disclaimer: Deals with Actor/SO death, I also mean no disrespect to The Lee Family, Brandon, or Eliza Hutton and wish She, Shannon, and Linda well.
I sat in my studio pondering what I should do. Johnny asked me again why I was so afraid of commitment, I know he’s not mad at me because I’m not ready to get married no matter how long we’ve been together. But I knew after everything he’s been through lately he deserved to have an explanation to this. I sighed, getting up, and walking towards our bedroom. He stayed silent as I entered and walked towards my jewelry box. I pulled out a long chain containing two wedding bands and an engagement ring. He looked at me as I placed them in his hand. 
“This is why I feel like I can’t marry.” I said.
“Because of your parents?” He asked. I had always told him that they were my parent’s rings.
“They’re not my parent’s rings. They were mine and my former fiance’s. But we never married because he died in a freak stunt accident three weeks before our wedding.” I explained. I sat at the end of the bed and watched as he looked at the bands, each one was engraved with our initials. 
“B.L. & (Y/I) 1993 you don’t mean?” His eyes widened as he realized exactly who I was talking about.
“The very same. We met on ‘Showdown in Little Tokyo’. I was an assistant stunt coordinator. We hit it off instantly kind of like you and I did on ‘Pirates’ and everything seemed so perfect. People were finally starting to see him as Brandon Lee and not ‘Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee’. And then he was offered the role of Eric Draven in ‘The Crow’ and he was so excited.  Him and I loved James O’Barr’s graphic novel and I thought that he’d be perfect in it. I had to work on a different film at the time or I would’ve worked on it too. But then one week before his shoot wrapped I got a phone call.” I explained tears starting to well up and fall down my face. 
“(y/n) baby you don’t have to finish if you don’t want to, I know how the story ends.” He said taking me into his arms. 
“I have to, it’s been so long but every now and then I still think about it, I still think about him. If I don’t I’ll never want to. You deserve to know why I am so afraid of commitment. I love you so damn much and this part of me is holding back that love.”
“I don’t care if we ever get married. As long as you’re with me.”
“That’s what I love the most about you. But I need to do this.” I said. He nodded in understanding. “So I got a phone call from one of the producers. He says ‘Brandon’s had an accident you need to get down to the hospital in Wilmington.’ I get to the hospital and someone starts explaining to me what happened. I kind of drone everyone out until I see Shannon and she holds me so tight. She tells me they’ve done all they can. I ask her to take me to him. He was still alive on support and I just sat there and held his hand as they took away all the machines. Linda told me to keep the wedding bands she insisted on it, actually. But there that’s why I’m so afraid. I urged him to take that role, I declined to be a stunt coordinator and perhaps if I had been there I could’ve found the busted gun. And I never told you because I didn’t want you to feel like you needed to compete with a dead man when I love you so much and completely differently from how I loved him.” I looked up my (y/e/c) eyes meeting his beautiful brown one. 
“I understand (y/n/n), but none of that was your fault. The production cut costs and it was an accident. You are not cursed do you hear me? You can’t be because you’re one of the best things that has ever happened to me. And I could wait an eternity to marry you because I love you enough to let you work through your fears first.”He said holding me with all the love and comfort he could. 
“How did I get lucky enough to find you?”I asked with a small laugh and a sniffle. 
“Maybe there’s someone looking out for you somewhere.”
“Perhaps,thank you J, for listening I feel so much better now that you know everything.”
“Don’t ever think you have to hold something like that in. Not with me.”I nodded in agreement. “Now I’m going to run us a hot bath.”I smiled as he got up and handed me back my chain. I looked at it, I ran a finger over the engravings. I thought of Brandon and how he would want me to be happy again. Maybe it was finally time to accept that I can love someone else just as much as I loved him if not more.
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stylesnews · 4 years
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Harry Styles stans know the feeling of false hope. When it was announced last year that the singer-slash-actor was in the running to play Prince Eric in the upcoming live action remake of The Little Mermaid, we were gunning for him to say yes and sign on the dotted line. Alas, he didn’t in the end, focusing on touring his new album which would have overlapped with filming. But since the coronavirus hit, neither of those things have been able to go ahead. Halle Bailey — of Chloe x Halle — who was cast to play Ariel, is still cooped up in Los Angeles awaiting the green light for filming to kick off in London. Harry’s tour has been mostly rescheduled until next year. Everyone, quite frankly, has been fucked over.
Which was perhaps why we responded so fervently to the news that Harry may be making his first big-screen return post-Dunkirkalongside Brad Pitt, in an American indie titled Faster, Cheaper, Better by Nightcrawlerdirector Dan Gilroy. The rumour, spread unwittingly by a Spanish distributor, gave us hope. And then both Brad and Harry’s camps denied it and we were back to square one.
What we didn’t know was that these swirling rumours were mere decoys for a project that’s sent serotonin coursing through our bodies. Yep, actor Harry is back, baby! And he’s in Don’t Worry, Darling — a film directed by Olivia Wilde — playing Florence Pugh’s f*cking husband! Sweet Jesus, what did we do to deserve this?
Anyway, if this news is, well, new to you, then here’s a quick rundown of everything you need to know.
What’s it about?
So Don’t Worry, Darling has been doing the rounds in Hollywood since late last year. Though we haven’t read the script (the original is, apparently, out there on the internet somewhere), the gist is that it’s about a 1950s housewife living a run-of-the-mill, somewhat depressing suburban life in California. Stuck in a cycle of mundanity, everything is broken when the facade of her existence starts to crack, unveiling terrifying truths underneath. The original script, written by the Van Dyke Brothers, gained praise as part of the famous screenwriting Blacklist in 2019, a hotbed for new, unproduced projects. But it’s since had a partial rewrite, courtesy of Booksmart’s Katie Silberman — a move to make women an integral part of the production process.
Who does Harry play?
In the film, Harry plays Jack, the husband of the lead character. In the original script, he’s supposedly framed as something of a slight chauvinist, and is present in the film from start to finish. Quite how he’ll manifest in the new script is still to be seen. What we do know is that Harry is taking over the role from Shia LaBeouf, who dropped out of the project earlier this year.
Who else is involved?
The film’s original script, as we mentioned, was written by Carey and Shane Van Dyke, who came up with the concept for the film in the first place. But as the project has progressed, more people have come on board. New Line Cinema, who are set to fund the project, have brought a majority woman team on board. Olivia Wilde will, of course, direct the film in her first project since Booksmart. Catherine Hardwicke, known for directing Thirteen and Twilight, will be the film’s executive producer. On the cast side, Harry will be joined by Florence Pugh, who will play the lead, while Dakota Johnson and Olivia herself will both have supporting roles. Chris Pine is set to play a cult leader who lives in the same town. The project is still in its early stages, so expect more names to pop up as time goes on.
When does it come out?
This is the question on everybody’s lips, and it’s one we don’t have a solid answer to yet. The film isn’t scheduled to start shooting until a little later in 2020, which, depending on post-production, might mean the film could be ready for late 2021: if it’s Oscar chances seem high, maybe they’ll push ahead for a big flashy premiere at an awards-friendly festival like Telluride or Toronto this time next year. But there’s also a chance they could hold out until early 2022 and take things a little slower. With rona making scheduling a nightmare, the truth is we won’t know for a while. All we do know is that we’d like to pre-book tickets now please. Don't Worry, Darling is the only thing that can get us through the last few months of 2020.
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britesparc · 3 years
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Weekend Top Ten #498
Top Ten Movie Cameos
The first time I think I ever noticed someone cameoing in a movie was Steven Spielberg. I was watching The Blues Brothers, and there was this guy, who I was sure was Mr. The Berg. I must have seen him in some behind-the-scenes something or the other. But he was a director, not an actor, so it couldn’t have been him, right? Then years later I was reading Empire, and sure enough, I was vindicated. It was indeed the play mountain himself. But more on that later.
So, cameos, then. What is a cameo? Now, in my opinion, I think it really has to be small. Really, it should just be one scene – or even one shot. The smaller the better. I’ve seen people online refer to Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love or Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder as cameos, which is very, very daft, as those are clearly supporting roles – even if they are quite small (and remember, Dench didn’t win her Oscar for “Best Cameo”, she won it for “We Meant To Give You This Last Year”, which is a very important category in the Oscars). I also think the best cameos should be unexpected; a nice surprising treat. And usually they’re funny – the incongruity of seeing that person in this film. Because that’s the other thing: for a cameo to really work, the person cameoing has to be kinda famous. For instance, some might say that Ashley Johnson in The Avengers is a cameo, but whilst she’s obviously awesome and prodigiously talented, I don’t think she’s instantly recognisable enough (which, y’know, she’s mostly famous as a voice actor); also there’s nothing inherently funny or surprising about her role, she’s a waitress who’s saved by Captain America. It doesn’t feel like it’s saying anything to have Johnson play that role, other than I guess Joss Whedon wanted her in the movie (it’s actually funnier that her brief scene is referenced in Loki, because Kate Herron had the whole of the MCU to draw from in a montage, but chose to use an unknown character who’s in one tiny bit of one film, entirely because she’s a huge fan of The Last of Us – see, that is arguably a cameo).
So my rationale for what is and isn’t a cameo might seem complex or even arbitrary, but when has that stopped me in the past? And so, with no further ado, we now get deep into the weeds of it and celebrate my favourite movie cameos of all time. Oh, and there’s no Bill Murray here; I know, I know, it’s a really famous cameo, but, er, I’ve never seen Zombieland. Sorry.
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Stan Lee in Pretty Much Everything (2000-2019): I mean, who else? The absolute King of Cameos. Lee was a massive publicity hound all his life, and passed up no opportunity to get in front of the camera, so once big, proper movies were being made of his comics, he was right there, selling hot dogs in X-Men (2000), rescuing children in Spider-Man (2002), and then right through every MCU film until his sad death in 2019 (and even popping up in Teen Titans!). Hearing him tell Miles Morales “I'm going to miss him,” in Into the Spider-Verse chokes me up every time.
Carrie Fisher & George Lucas in Hook (1991): this has always been one of my favourites because unlike virtually every other entry in this list, you only know this if you’ve been told. But it’s funny and it’s sweet. When Tinkerbell takes Peter to Neverland, she flies over a bridge, where a silhouetted couple are seen canoodling. Her pixie dust falls across them, and they begin to float into the air. And apparently the unrecognisable couple are played by Princess Leia and the director of Star Wars. Which, I think you’ll agree, is pretty cool (Hook is really good for cameos).
Brad Pitt in Deadpool 2 (2018): having an invisible character offers plenty of opportunity for some good gags, especially in a Deadpool movie, but the real laugh in the film comes when the Vanisher is electrocuted and we get to see his face for a split second. And – ha – it turns out to be the hugely mega-famous Brad Pitt. It’s funny because he’s a massive star.
Martin Sheen in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993): it’s one thing for the movie to do an Apocalypse Now gag, as Charlie Sheen’s Topper Harley sails down a river on a military boat, but hanging a lampshade on it by making it cross over with Martin Sheen’s Willard from the classic seventies Vietnam epic is another thing entirely. And then both actors notice each other – ha, funny, they’re father and son in real life – and say in unison, “I loved you in Wall Street!”. Very on-the-nose all the funnier for it.
Steven Spielberg in The Blues Brothers (1980): well, I mentioned him, and here he is, a totally nonplussed-looking administrator bloke just merrily eating a sandwich. He’s frightfully young (I’m guessing he was probably about 32 or 33) and he’s got a big brown tache instead of his usual ‘Berg Beard, he’s dressed very smartly and he’s awfully polite. His demeanour is hilariously in stark contrast to the mayhem around him, and his public persona is also hilariously in contrast to the raucous and ribald mood of the movie.
Cate Blanchett in Hot Fuzz (2007): this is one I didn’t even notice till I read about it after seeing the movie. In a very funny scene where Simon Pegg’s Nick Angel chats to his ex-girlfriend Janine, she is head-to-toe in forensic gear throughout, with a mask covering her face, so all we see are her eyes. But the gag of it is, she’s played by the phenomenally famous Cate Blanchett. You get a megastar to do one scene but make her unrecognisable. So funny it beats Peter Jackson’s evil Santa.
Don Ameche & Ralph Bellamy in Coming to America (1988): this is another one I remember finding hilarious when I was a kid. Walking down the street late at night with love interest Lisa (Shari Headley), Akeem (Eddie Murphy) nonchalantly gives a huge wad of cash to some poor homeless bums. But it turns out that they’re played by Murphy’s old Trading Places co-stars Ameche and Bellamy – and they refer to each other by their character names from that earlier film. “We’re back!” declares Ameche, referencing the end of Trading Places, when their crooked broker characters were defeated and ruined by Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. It’s a great bit of shared-universe tomfoolery, and very funny for fans of Murphy’s movies. Oh, and speaking of Aykroyd…
Dan Aykroyd in Casper (1995): in 1995 it had been six long, bitter years without a new Ghostbusters film; back then, we could still hold out hope for a proper Ghostbuster 3. Sadly that never came to pass, but it was a very pleasant surprise when Ray Stantz himself popped up in Casper, of all things, fearfully running out of Whipstaff Manor in full ghostbusting regalia and declaring, “Who ya gonna call? Someone else!”. I mean, after facing down Gozer and Vigo and who knows what else, you’d think three sarcastic arsehole ghosts would be no match for him, but maybe the ‘busters were having tough times. Maybe this will all be backstory in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Maybe Cathy Moriarty and Eric Idle will return the favour and do cameos of their own. We can but hope.
Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, & Sam Neill in Thor: Ragnarok (2017): twenty years ago you could point to Goldmember as the, er, gold standard in multi-character cameo pile-ups. And while that is great – Danny DeVito giving the finger, Spielberg back-flipping – I think it’s been surpassed by this minor gaggle of stars hamming it up. Matt Damon – famouser than anyone actually billed in the movie – is An Actor Playing Loki. Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park is An Actor Playing Odin (whilst Odin’s actor, Anthony Hopkins, plays Tom Hiddleston playing Loki playing Odin – do keep up), and Thor’s Real-Life Brother plays An Actor Playing Thor. It’s all delightfully meta and hilarious.
Ollie Johnston & Frank Thomas in The Incredibles (2004): this one’s really sweet, and like the Hook cameo, would very easily slip you by. At the end of the film, after the climactic battle, two old men cheer on the superheroes – “That’s old school!” “Yep, no school like the old school!” – but what’s great is that they’re voiced by – and designed to look like – Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, the last two surviving members of the famous “Nine Old Men” group of Disney animators, who’d worked on many of the classic Disney films. This was Pixar and director Brad Bird giving a tip of the hat to the legends who came before them, and made all the sweeter by the fact that Johnston and Thomas (both sadly now deceased) were absolute best buds in real life. A cameo that educates and makes you think! How nice!
There you go. Sadly no room for any of the many great Star Wars cameos, from Daniel Craig through to George Lucas’ entire family. Oh well!
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