#i hope she has theater work in her future projects cos watching this she really has the range and talent for it

[thefrsers]

Caitriona Balfe reads from "Prophet Song" | The Booker Prize

[greenhappyseed]

Things are getting dark in the BNHA manga, so I wanted to return to brighter times and do a post on Inko Midoriya and her many parallels with All Might. Their interactions are some of my favorites in BNHA, not as a ship (although I am multi-ship friendly) but as two adult humans with little in common and no overlapping life experiences that nonetheless become co-parents because of deep empathy and one determined kid with a knack for bringing people together. The canon Inko-All Might interactions are short, but they occur at critical points in the story and touch on almost all major themes of the series.

The main chapter where All Might and Inko meet starts with them depicted as adversaries, facing off for a fight. #1 hero vs mama bear! Except...they don’t actually fight. They talk through what they each want for Izuku and come to a mutual understanding. These characters really see and trust each other in a way that contrasts with the Todoroki “watch me” story. Before I dive deep, check out the difference between the beginning and the end of Chapter 97, because this art is everything:

Ok, now for the good stuff.

1. In a story about succession and what we owe future generations, Inko is All Might’s predecessor with respect to Izuku. If Nana Shimura gave him OFA and made him a hero, Inko gives him a second life and unofficially-but-actually-officially makes him a “dad.”

2. Much like how All Might can’t be the sole pillar supporting society, Inko can’t be the sole pillar supporting Izuku. The difference is that we watch Inko arrive at this conclusion in the span of one chapter while All Might and, uh, society, aren’t there yet. When Inko truly sees how much Izuku is driven to become a hero, and how much he NEEDS something she can’t give, she starts to back down. Unlike Endeavor, she knows her son’s future is not about her.

Izuku wants this so much he won’t stay with Inko and will “go wherever”.... and it’s almost like All Might will follow to help Izuku be that hero...

3. Speaking of, allowing Izuku to move out at 15 and having All Might “raise” him is an incredible sacrifice on Inko’s part. She’s unexpectedly “retiring” as an active day-to-day parent and letting go of the one thing she spent her life building and protecting. Trusting your life’s work in someone else’s hands is really, really hard, but she does it. (Can All Might?)

After the Overhaul arc, we see Inko acknowledging the progress Izuku has made, which includes All Might by extension (because she’s clearly thinking about him too). Seeing how Izuku can grow without her, Inko is slowly getting comfortable with her decision to “retire.” (Can All Might?)

4. Inko’s weight gain parallels All Might’s weight loss in that both characters neglect themselves to help others (parenting and hero-ing) and they PARTICULARLY ignore themselves when worrying about Izuku.

5. Izuku, Inko, and All Might all seem to know when people need a little saving. Starting with Inko...when All Might flexes into his iconic muscle form and performs dogeza (and then poofs down to his true form), he’s not merely apologizing — he’s showing deference to Inko. She has power over All Might AND she’s not sold on the bloody reality of her son becoming a hero, even if she supports his dream. From here, she could block the next symbol of peace. She could take away the child All Might loves. She could extract whatever she wanted from the longtime #1 hero. Just think about what some other, less charitable characters might do.

But Inko doesn’t take anything from All Might. Instead, Inko sees how much Izuku and All Might need each other (I mean, LOOK AT THEIR FACES when they think she’s saying no!!!). She moves to reassure All Might that Izuku needs him, that she doesn’t hate UA (even though she railed against the school minutes earlier), and that she doesn’t want an big, heroic sacrifice. Inko trusts he will help Izuku “walk a path” different from his bloody one. She just wants a happy child, and All Might is integral to that because these 2 boys are a bonded pair. Izuku lives for All Might and All Might lives for Izuku. All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall. Inko sees how deeply All Might respects and cares for Izuku, to the point that the next symbol of peace is secondary (unlike Endeavor, who is invested in Shoto carrying on his legacy above all else).

Oh hey, 200 chapters later, it turns out All Might IS willing to follow Izuku anywhere, because he just can’t be apart from his boy. And, after Inko and All Might built mutual respect in Chapter 97, we see in Chapter 309 that All Might is not afraid to cry in front of Inko and show his real concern about Izuku. (He doesn’t cry in Chapter 97, but he readily lets the waterworks flow in Chapter 309.)

Now, we don’t see Inko’s reaction to All Might beyond the second panel below, but we know she previously decided to trust the boys despite her own fears. It’s not out of character for her to trust them again. In fact, it’s kinda sweet to see them both reassure her [while still clinging to their dumb plans, sigh]. Izuku makes clear he’s not intending to sacrifice his life, and All Might won’t let Izuku go alone. Of course, both of these promises will be...challenged...in chapters 310+, but the intent is there and that’s all Inko can ask for (I mean, that was all she originally asked of All Might in exchange for her consent — no sacrifice + “look after” Izuku.)

Finally, note how All Might stands throughout the scene, projecting a large, protective presence because it’s his turn to give back. Izuku extends his hand to his mother; All Might extends his height above them both. For all of 309 he’s high above Inko and Izuku; in 97, he’s shown equal to or below Inko except the brief moment he looms over them just before kneeling to the floor.

6. Inko and All Might only interact twice in the manga, but both times are critical turning points between acts AND both times are shortly after encounters with villains — Shigaraki/AFO in particular. The first is in the immediate aftermath of Kamino and All Might’s retirement (literally, All Might retires at the beginning of Chapter 96 and he meets Inko at the end). The second Inko-All Might interaction is in the immediate aftermath of the war and jailbreak (Chapter 309). At a meta-level, Inko’s character page is at the end of Chapter 94, right after we see Izuku & Shigaraki with AFO saying “it’s your turn.”

Interestingly there are TWO earlier near-interactions in canon. The first is in the School Briefs light novel, taking place just after the internships/Stain arc and before final exams. TL;DR: There’s a Parents Day at UA that involves a villain kidnapping 1A’s parents (spoiler: it’s really a rational deception by Aizawa and the parents are in on it). But things go awry and Inko nearly falls into a fire pit for real. A playing-the-villain-but-actually-in-his-true-form All Might swoops in to save her, of course! Afterwards, Inko runs over to thank him, thinking she’s talking to a local theater actor. :)

Lastly, in Chapter 70, right after Izuku runs into Shigaraki at the mall, Inko and All Might are both near Izuku at the police station. However, neither one speaks to or acknowledges the other, and the art doesn’t even show them together. The closest we get is the bottom right panel:

Despite both All Might and Izuku knowing about these two near-meetings, neither one tells Inko. My head canon is that they do this to avoid embarrassing her — she’s obviously terrified when All Might visits her home, so All Might saying, “we’ve met but you didn’t know” would be impolite. Likewise, if she at all remembered All Might from the police station, she doesn’t say so. Kindness all around!

I don’t know if it’s likely, but I’m really hopeful that a “found family” with most (all?) of these characters will happen in the end (maybe with Shigaraki too??)....I enjoy them way too much!!

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with bugs

bugs has 40 stories at Gossamer. They mostly focus on Mulder and Scully, but there are also some goodies featuring Reyes and Doggett. I’ve recced some of my favorites of her fics here before, including The Link. She also co-ran WhyIncision, a fun, smart X-Files mailing list that dissected fics like a book club. Big thanks to bugs for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Not really. While I was still in high school, I started watching the then 20 year old OG Star Trek and became a Trekkie of a sort. Starlog magazine, James Blish novels and the other novelizations, and while I was working as a library page, I found fanfiction one day among the periodicals.  Who knows how fanfiction ended up as part of a library's materials, but there it was, this tattered mimeographed collection. The fic that had the most impact on me was one where Nurse Chapel wrestled a giant alien snake to save Spock's life.

So when I got into XF, one of the first things I did was look for fanfic, knowing somewhere out there, Scully was wrestling a big snake for Mulder.

That experience showed me the power of fandom, that even without the internet, how the second generation of Trekkies joined the original group to advocate for the franchise to be revived. I remember sitting in the theater for that first awful Star Trek movie, choked up with what we'd done.

Tragic backstory way to say, no I'm not surprised that a well-produced show like XF would beget future generations of fans, and that they'd be chewing their way through the fanfic archives still being maintained.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

I'm so grateful to the fandom. Literally formed the life I have today through the confidence it gave me. Many of my friends to this day are 'pocket friends' from the various fandoms I've been in, and the longest friendships were formed in XF. I learned how to write, both technically and finding my voice. I learned how to think analytically, more than any college courses.

The two most important things I took away were, write for yourself first and always, and shit ain't that damn important. In the end, it's a TV show.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

YIKES.  I came in at the Fight the Future summer hiatus, so the waning days of ATXC, then we moved to mailing lists, right?  Yahoo Groups was in there somewhere. Finally message boards. Live Journal rose up at the end of the run which began to fragment the fandom even before the show ended, along with the migration off our individual websites to Archive of Our Own, fanfiction.net and such. We went from group discussion platforms to 'come look at my blog for my thoughts'. It was different and I didn't particularly like it, but in the end, when I came back to fandom for a new show....I had to get a Live Journal. That's the most interesting part of fandom, that a platform doesn't mold a fandom; we use the platform and when it's no longer useful to us, we abandon it en mass.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

I've touched on that a bit, but to elaborate, I'm glad I started in the XF fandom. It had such high standards and I hope that I maintain those standards for myself to this day. These days, I don't usually have a beta reader, but that took a couple hundred posted fics to get to that point.

Having seen the same exact flamewars and divides and squabbles over and over, seen how the taste of 'fame' can drive someone to be rather unpleasant, has given me a much more 'whatever' attitude. It's sort of comforting when joining a new fandom to know what's going to happen next in its natural progression.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

There's a meme "I have a type," and XF definitely had that type, but it just took me a while to get there. I was away at college then working on the road when the show started, and wasn't home on Friday nights most of the year. My mother has always been a big sci-fi fan, so she actually was watching before me. I don't like scary things, and would leave the room if it was on when I'd visit her. I was home for Christmas when Christmas Carol/Emily aired and I remember standing tentatively just inside the room so I could flee if necessary, and watched Scully go through the wringer, and ranting, "What the hell is this? Why are they putting that poor woman through this!?" I also saw how the show was doing the big ship tease, and I was like, uh, I don't have time for this. Even by my 20's, I'd been done wrong by so many shows that I'd become bitter. But the first film trailers suggested they were actually going from UST to RST, so I figured I could give 2 hours of my time for that.  And yeah...but I was hooked, and WENT TO BLOCKBUSTER AND RENTED THE VHS TAPES TO CATCH UP....this interview is making me feel very old.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I've always been a shipper and have no shame in that, as I think forming and maintaining a relationship is the most conflict-ridden enterprise humans can attempt, and thus is the most challenging thing to write about. Like many fanfic writers, I'd 'told stories in my head' ever since I can remember about the characters from books, shows and movies. It was just a matter of then writing it down for the first time.

After I was sucked into the show and it was still the summer hiatus, I got on my first computer, dialed up that screeching modem, and went on Netscape to search for that fanfic I knew had to be out there from my Trek experience a decade ago. Like many people, after inhaling much of the delicious fics out there, I decided I can do that. I'm someone who's very methodical on my approach to something new, so I studied what worked/what didn't, the expected formatting, got a sense of the culture I was entering, acquired a critical beta reader, so when I actually submitted the first chapter to AXTC, I was calm and confident.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

I watch from the sidelines, with a vague little smile on my lips.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Yes, I have. Battlestar Galactica had a lot of Philes, but it was still a big step away from the very organized fandom in X-Files. Plus, with so many characters, there could be lots of little groups focused on their favorites. Same in the Downton Abbey fandom. Just a different dynamic.

On the other end of the spectrum, one of my most popular fics is in the Silence of the Lambs fandom which I've never been involved with any other fans or their fandom, if it exists. It just sits out there on fanfiction.net and chugs along with the reads. My current fandom is The Doctor Blake Mysteries which is tiny but mighty--the saying is, we're six people and a shoelace. It's shown me that it's not the size, not the 'fame' possible, but the passion that makes a fandom.

Sadly, at least at this time, I don't think there will ever be an experience like The X-Files heyday. It was such a golden moment of the rise of internet and home computer use by the general public, a large generation of educated women having the time to participate in fandom, and there wasn't the amount of 'noise' that is distracting us all now. I'm so glad that you're doing this exercise to record our thoughts. We've already lost so many of the OG folks. My first beta, Janet Caires-Lesgold; Trixie, way too young; Shari, also too young; Brandon D Ray, leaving his family too soon; and many more.

(Posted by Lilydale on March 9, 2021)

[letterboxd]

Play.

“When something is cute, it puts the audience at ease, and that builds the horror more.”

We talk to the team behind a new reboot of the 80s horror classic Child’s Play.

The new Child’s Play reboot is unique among reboots in that the series it is rebooting remains an ongoing concern. The original Child’s Play came out in 1988 and spawned no fewer than six sequels. Although the last two skipped theaters to be released straight to home entertainment platforms, the series has maintained an admirable level of quality and consistency thanks to the continued presence of original screenwriter Don Mancini, who wrote all seven movies and directed the last three.

He’s currently putting together a Chucky television show that continues the often innovative mythology of the features. But in one of those only-in-Hollywood situations, two separate companies currently own the rights to make Child’s Play films, and Mancini has nothing to do with the new film, which puts a modern spin on the Chucky story.

When the reboot was announced, Mancini threw a little shade on the film, apparently (and understandably) concerned that it would muddy the waters around his upcoming TV show.

Jennifer Tilly, who voiced Chucky’s girlfriend Tiffany in the gonzo fourth movie, Bride of Chucky, and co-starred as herself in the meta fifth movie, Seed of Chucky, also expressed her displeasure with the remake.

Mancini appears to have declined an executive producer credit on the new film, which was shepherded into existence by the top studio horror producers of the moment: Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg, who were also behind the insanely successful It and its upcoming sequel.

You wouldn’t know it from the original film’s poster, which seems positively ashamed of the film it was selling, but the conceit at the heart of the 1988 film existed as a direct response to heavily marketed dolls of the era such as Teddy Ruxpin and the Cabbage Patch Kids. The new film updates Chucky’s origin so that it similarly reflects a heavily marketed contemporary product: smart toys.

While the original Brad Dourif-voiced Chucky was, sorry, is a talking doll who became possessed by the soul of a serial killer, the new Chucky is an artificially-intelligent robot friend who turns murderous when his programming is tampered with. And he’s voiced by Mark Hamill.

Aubrey Plaza (Ingrid Goes West) stars in the film as Karen, a single mom who takes home a returned Chucky from the big-box store where she works and gifts it to her son Andy, played by Gabriel Bateman (who previously encountered a sinister doll in Annabelle).

Norwegian filmmaker Lars Klevberg directed the new Child’s Play, which was written by Tyler Burton Smith. Klevberg’s American feature debut, Polaroid (an expansion of his own 2015 Norwegian short), has yet to be released in the States due to the Weinstein Company’s ongoing problems.

Letterboxd caught up with Plaza, Bateman, Klevberg and Smith at this year’s Wondercon.

Aubrey Plaza as Karen and Gabriel Bateman as Andy.

What was your reaction when you were offered this film? Aubrey Plaza (Karen): I was so honored that they thought I could pull that character off and took a chance on me and, I dunno… Chucky is an iconic character in the history of film so I feel really lucky to be a part of it. I’m really excited about that.

I play a woman named Karen Barclay who is a single mom. Her son is named Andy and she’s kind of a young mom doing the best she can and struggling a bit but trying to provide for her son. She ends up giving Andy a toy for his birthday that starts to try to kill everybody, so… but Karen thinks that her son is kind of losing his mind. So she’s going through a lot.

And Chucky was on set while you were filming? AP: Oh yes, we did a lot of things practically, so the doll was there at all times.

What do you think fans of the original should expect from the new Child’s Play? AP: I think they should expect a total re-imagining of this character. I think the whole idea behind it is: how could Chucky be relevant right now? And the idea of making Chucky a smart doll is kind of brilliant and it’s a cool way to bring Chucky back into the theaters, you know? And show a whole new generation of people how terrifying that doll can be.

Is it tough making something that is cute also scary? Tyler Burton Smith (screenwriter): I think in some ways when something is cute or funny, it puts the audience at ease in a way, because they feel like it’s safe and I think in some ways that builds the horror more. When you feel safe with a character or with a product or with a thing, seeing that transform into something dark is a lot easier. Because you’re put at ease and then you’re fighting against that. So I think that’s kind of a fun dynamic shift in a way.

‘Child’s Play’ director Lars Klevberg (left) with cinematographer Brendan Uegama.

This is an R-rated horror with kids in peril—is it tricky to know how far to go with that? Lars Klevberg (director): Well, there are different levels, when you’re making a movie, of how far you wanna push it. When you’re dealing with a Child’s Play movie, when you introduce Chucky as a toy, of course there will be kids involved. We bumped up the age a little bit on this one, which I think was a smart move. Andy’s no longer eight, he’s thirteen. But we’re dealing with a movie that takes an object that everybody loves—a doll, a toy—which is in many ways when you’re young, it’s kind of your safe spot. And you turn that around and what you love and trust in your fantasy world when you’re young turns against you, so suddenly your fantasy world becomes very very real and that’s interesting.

Screenwriter Tyler Burton Smith.

This is a separate project to the original Chucky franchise, which is still going. How did having the original creator of Chucky vocalize his opposition to this film affect you, if at all? TBS: We love the original Child’s Play. We love Don Mancini. I grew up on Child’s Play, it’s just an awesome movie and we wanna make the best version of that possible. It’s unfortunate that he’s not more involved in this movie. It would’ve been amazing to work with him on this, but we love Child’s Play as a whole, we love him and just wanna make the best version of a Child’s Play film possible.

LK: With something like this, it’s an iconic IP, of course you think about it, but you get the script and you read the script and you connect to the story and the characters and for me as a director that’s where it starts. And you have to be able to separate that and just focus on what’s there on the page, which we did. Tyler has a big brain, and he was able to get in a lot of those things that made the first one successful. I kind of jumped on and went back and watched all the movies and I was amazed by how the atmosphere was still there.

What do you think the key differences are in this version? TBS: A big part of it is the doll in the original film was just a stationary doll that you played with and it had these lines that it would say, but otherwise it was just a doll. The idea of updating that and asking what this toy would be now, or five years from now in the future, the idea of a different kind of product that is more technologically advanced was definitely kind of at the heart of it, but definitely keeping a lot of the elements that made the original great.

When I figured out the direction they wanted to go I thought it was a great balance of being a tribute to the original and doing something new with the franchise at the same time. It wasn’t just an excuse to remake a movie, it felt like a lot of people who loved the original who wanted to do an awesome reinvention of that concept. I was a bit nervous at first, but once we found the direction for it, I was really excited. I think we found a cool fresh take on that film.

Gabriel Bateman as Andy in ‘Child’s Play’ (2019).

You dealt with practical Chucky dolls on set—did you ever get concerned they might turn on you? Gabriel Bateman (Andy): No, not really. I don’t know how much I can say but the animatronic dolls don’t really have all that much motion. But I mean, when I’m actually filming and the cameras are rolling, I feel afraid, because I’m trying to be the character, but as soon as the cameras cut, it’s the same.

You’ve been in a lot of horror, but you’re totally a kid. Have you ever seen any of the horror stuff that you’ve been in? GB: I don’t think there’s ever been something that I didn’t watch that I was in. I think I’ve watched everything.

Were you excited about the idea of being in a remake of Child’s Play? GB: I kind of figured out that it was Child’s Play from the [audition] side, so I watched it pretty early on, but I was really excited. A lot of my family were fans of the original trilogy before, so I was always familiar with it. So yeah, I was definitely excited.

What do you think Child’s Play fans will make of the film? GB: We’re not trying to take away from the original in any way. It’s just a re-imagination of Chucky as a character, so I just hope people can enjoy it as its own film, without comparing to the original.

‘Child's Play’ will be in theaters on June 20.

[aimeesuzara]

Questions from Maiana Minahal’s Students in English 272, “Filipino Women Writers”...My Responses

Dear students and readers,

I’m honored that you’ve read my work and are interested in these facets of my life and craft as an artist. I love the challenge of being given questions to write about. So, here goes!

1. What is the best thing that writing, performing, creating, etc. provides you? It seems you have many talents, how do each contribute to the person that you are? What do you love about each?  

I’ve combined a couple of similar questions here.  First, thanks to whomever has said that I have many talents; I’m flattered.  I do believe I was blessed with a variety of areas of interest and natural “talent” that I got to explore and develop in different phases of my life.  I even felt split about whether to respond to the questions in writing and using my voice and image (because I love storytelling and the voice).

First, what do I love about writing?  And perhaps writing, as opposed to performing or creating other kinds of multidisciplinary art (plays, collaborations with dance, music, etc)?  

Writing is most private; it’s also a place for confession because in many ways, it’s hidden, is behind a mask.  Writing can be on one hand too analytical, but when it’s the most powerful it can also be magic-making, enabling a metaphor to be developed and breathe, an image to vibrate and have scent and color; a scene and characters to come alive with dialogue, backstory, and motivation.  It’s a place of invention, slower invention that has no immediate impact except itself on the page - as opposed to live performance which is more of an improvisation and collaboration together with an audience.

Performance, then, is that other thing; I believe performance happens on the page, in that invention, as well, but if we’re talking about performing on the stage or at a microphone, it’s a collaboration among many elements: space (architecture, weather), time, other people / audience, circumstance.  It’s also very natural, an ancient throwback to the griots and oral historians and singers and spiritual leaders making incantations...it predates writing.  The body is a vessel with so many faculties, and this is the most exciting set of possibilities.  Should this line or this word be whispered?  Yelled?  Projected on the body?  Who is my audience when I perform?  Are you my audience?  Is my audience in the past, present or the future?  Am I in the past, present or future?  What am I able to bring to life right now, and even co-create with you a new circumstance within the present moment?  In theater and in poetry, even if it’s the same exact play or the same poem, each rendering is unique.  Did someone laugh at a different part?  Did someone cry?  Am I feeling the spirit of my grandmother that day?  Or my future child? Also, the voice is vibrational.  There’s a way in which, when we perform, we are contacting others through the voice, through the heat of our bodies; we share a space and time that never occurs again.

Creating multidisciplinary work - I’ll differentiate as projects that are collaborative, that may involve production elements such as video-poems, dance theater, or collaboration with musicians and filmmakers: this takes the Performance and the Writing to another level.  Now, let’s add other people who are experts in their own fields: choreographers, dancers, composers, emcees, filmmakers.  I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of these, in making projects such as a “Tiny Fires” poem collaboration (click for excerpt) with San Francisco State University’s Dance Theater, in which my poem was translated into choreography and the dancers learned all of the lines; a recent collaboration with Alayo Dance Theater called “Manos de Mujeres” in which I researched, interviewed and wrote about the lives of Cuban Women and the dance company danced and choreographed to my words; a recent project called “Water and Walls” (click to watch) in which we all wrote verses to music about a shared theme and a filmmaker worked with us to produce a video. These are all exciting ways for the writing to live and breathe and thrive in different ways, through different mediums.  When it comes to plays, I do not even perform in the work, but get to see talented actors bring the stories to life, with directors at the helm and production crew helping execute a vision.  It’s like giving birth...and seeing someone grow up beyond you, doing things you could not do...

2. What are some influences on your poetry/work? (I reworded this one somewhat; I hope it is still fine!)

I think I’ve answered some of this in the above, in a way.  I am influenced by many art forms, and can’t see it any other way. I’ve never sat well with only poetry or only words, which can be limiting, and often, as referenced earlier, can become too cerebral.  Words are meant to be released, like songs are meant to be sung.  I am influenced by my early exposure to playing piano and dancing ballet, and later playing percussion and dancing West African and Afro-Cuban and Salsa and a slight bit of Filipino movement.  I am influenced by the work I love to watch - other theater-makers, poets, dancers.  Music influences me deeply, and often I hear poems come to me like strains of music, with melodies and rhythms.  The natural world influences me.  And history. As you have seen in my book, I can get nearly obsessed with history.  The way it was written, the way it omits, the glimpses it gives us into the minds of people.  Who is heard and who is not; who is rendered silent in the writing; who needs to be heard, if even in imagination.  History excites me and leads me to get possessed.  Lastly, change-makers and activists, because I came out of that.  I first wrote most fiercely and performed my first spoken word poems because I wanted to tell the story of a little girl, Crizel Valencia, who died at age 6 of leukemia after growing up on a toxic wasteland left by the United States military.  I lived in her community and in her home and we drew together.  When she died, after making dozens of drawings of herself envisioning her community and her own survival, I felt possessed to write, and speak. So, spirits influence me too.

3. About the book, SOUVENIR: What was the inspiration behind the layout and style of your poems? For example, the use of different fonts and inclusion of outside texts like in your poem "Manifest Destiny 1980."  I really liked how you wrote and organized your book by using exhibits (like in the museum, there's a story for each object or subject) I find it very creative. What gave you this idea or how did you think of it?

Each poem definitely has its own inspiration, but I can focus on the one you mentioned, first.  In “Manifest Destiny 1980″ I was basically writing parallel realities - one in 1980 (my own personal story of migration across the country) and the one in 1803 of the Lewis and Clark Expedition - both which moved from East to West.  In mapping out my own family’s road trip from New Jersey to the small Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland) towns of the Pacific Northwest, where I remembered growing up with stories about Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea, I found that we followed similar route as Lewis and Clark. But, while our trip and our experience was about immigrants and their daughter adjusting and assimilating to White America, Lewis and Clark went to study and exploit the knowledge and resources, and the environment, of Native people.  We were subjected to being analyzed and studied and ostracized; they were, as well, but in the end were in the position of power linked to the destruction and removal of local people.  The parallel in the layout was meant to enable the two readings (top to bottom) and also one interrupting the other.

As for the exhibits: as you probably know, the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair (Louisiana Purchase Exposition) celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, which followed the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  In the 1904 Fair, Filipinos were displayed in living exhibits, forced to re-enact rituals (at far too many intervals, unnaturally, for show and even competition), eat, sit, and interact in the public eye, as the living conquests of the US Imperialists.  I realized that so much of our lives was and is performance as well - my parents needing to demonstrate their ability to work and function within the American context; my striving to fit in, disappear, or perform as the rare Filipino girl in often non-diverse environments.  Without being too literal, I was interested in how we can see our lives on display, and what is lost or gained in that performance.  And objects - what are the objects that are collected as treasures of war - including our own bodies?

4. In the poem, "My Mother's Watch,” did that situation really happen to you? If you do go back to the motherland regularly, does the profiling still happen to you today?

Yes; that poem is actually pretty true to life.  I wouldn’t have called it “profiling” in that I think that term carries meanings of power within a racist context such as the United States.  In the Philippines, it was more of curiosity, more of realizing that you could never really “go back” in a way that is simply nostalgic or “authentic” -- that once the departure from the homeland, and the living within the United States context occurs, we may appear similar in skin and features, we may be 100% the same as our relatives in some ways, but we are not because we have lost our native tongues, or cultural norms, or gestures.  And also - that I felt so much bigger and taller than other Filipinos speaks to the fact that many of our own relatives or people just like us back “home” had access to fewer resources and nutrition, whereas we were able to grow up on milk and in my case, packaged and microwaved foods.  Even in our bodies, we are altered forever.  There was an article/ interview about this poem here that may be of interest: http://www.lanternreview.com/blog/2011/05/31/process-profile-aimee-suzara-discusses-my-mothers-watch/

5. What was the hardest part of the book to write?

The whole thing was hard to write, but it was actually harder to write the “colonizer”/white man/government/military and scientific voices because they were so emotionless at times, so declaratory, and in many cases, so condescending, if not overtly racist.  To dwell in the language in which Filipinos were called “niggers” and “rabbits” and that torture of Filipinos seemed to be so much fun; or that Native and Filipino and Black people’s skulls and genetics were inferior (according to the scientific racism of the time); and also that so much of it seemed to ring true to today.  It’s much easier to write personal narrative, lyrical narrative.

6.  What do you hope for readers to remember the most?

I hope that readers can see themselves reflected in the glass of the museum exhibits.  That regardless of their background, they see how Filipino-American History is American History and not some niche piece of history, but actually demonstrated some of the most egregious cases of scientific racism and exploitation, the epitome at the end of the 19th century, of colonialism and imperialism.  I hope readers check out more of the history, and also reflect on themselves and where they come from.

7.  What is the most nerve wrecking thing about becoming a mother for the first time? (Congratulations by the way!)

I put this at the end because it feels, in a way, like a bonus question, but also something very relevant to our lives as artists.  Becoming a first-time mother involves putting everything aside - my writing, my teaching, my projects - in service of my health and the health and protection of the child I am going to birth.  I have birthed many other things: projects, plays and poems, but a human being -- this requires the most sacrifice and faith I’ve ever had to summon.  At the same time, I think it’s very important for you, readers, to know that as artists, our lives are our art, just as art is our life.  We never stop being one or another (people, mothers, playwrights, performers).  If I believed I would stop being an artist, I could despair, but if I were to stop being an artist, what kind of mother would my son have?  He deserves my full self.  So, while our time becomes more limited and we have to focus on the child, we do not lose ourselves; we simply change.

Thank you for your interest and I hope you’ve enjoyed my answers!

[lovehatemysme]

[Jumin x MC]

As soon as you woke up, you snaked your hands through the sheets next to you, only to be met with more cold sheets. You sigh as you missed the warmth used to be there. It was already the 5th day of Jumin’s  week-long business trip, usually you’d come along but you had errands to do and guests to meet for the next party.

“Meow~” Elizabeth purred as she jumped into the bed, curling herself at Jumin’s side of the bed. You stroked her hair and pulled her a little closer, “Yeah, I miss him too,” you whispered to her, sharing the sentiment feeling.

You glanced at the clock and saw it was 7:56, any minute now Jumin would be calling. It was a routine by now, whenever he was away he’d make sure that wherever he was he’ll call you when it’s 8am so his voice was the first thing you hear in the morning. One time it was on the afternoon there and he was in the middle of a meeting, but he excused himself just to call you. You scolded him but he just chuckled at you, saying how much he missed you and you just melted, forgetting you have to be quick at the call since he was in a meeting.

You decided to wait for his call before getting ready for the day, as if on cue your phone rang and without any hesitation you picked it up.

“Good morning love,” he said, you could feel him smiling with the warm tone he greeted you. You smiled and murmured  a good morning too.

“I have an excellent view here, it’s beside the bay. You’ll love the balcony, you could hear the waves and smell the fresh air,” his tone was getting lower and lower, “I wish you were here,” he whispered “I miss you”. It ached your heart, you wished you were there with him too but of course, there are things need to be done.

“I miss you too Jumin,” you whispered, “and so does Elizabeth. Here Elizabeth,” Elizabeth purred on the phone and you could hear Jumin chuckle and said an I miss you too to her.

Jumin started to tell you how the meeting went, that if everything goes well he could be home earlier. He asked what you wanted for him to bring home, “Hmm, just you would be enough,” you hummed to him. Even though you can’t see it, you know he smiled on the other line. You exchanged I love you’s before hanging up and getting ready for the day. 

--

It was already in the middle of the day and you met already with one of the guests, now you’re waiting on the hallway of the office for Jaehee to bring the paperwork for the party. Your eyes roamed around, admiring how neat and professional it looks. After all, it’s one of the biggest companies in the country. Your phone suddenly rang in your pocket, fishing it out you saw it was Zen who was calling. 

“What’s up Zen?” you said as soon as you picked it up. “Hey MC! Are you free tonight?” he was a little breathy, he must be taking a break from rehearsals you thought. 

“Yeah, I just have one more guest to meet at 4, why?” “Tonight’s the last full show of my musical, you said you’d watched, did you forget?” you felt guilty for forgetting you promised Zen you’d go, “Of course not! I wouldn’t dare to forget it. I’m gonna bring Jaehee along,” you chirped at him. “And there’s going to be an after party, don’t be late ok? I have to go now, the director’s calling us. Bye!” he hanged up without waiting for your response. 

When Jaehee showed up you told her that you’re bringing her with you at the show, she hesitated at first but when you said it’s going to be your treat and it was for Zen after all, she didn’t think twice. You became Jaehee’s theater buddy ever since you came, going to Zen’s shows and supported him. Sometimes it was her treat because you were such a good friend to her even though she’s an employee of your husband, and sometimes it’s your treat, especially when you know she’s stressed from work and being loaded with paperwork. 

After the meeting with the guest, you came back to the office to pick up Jaehee. You two talked about Jumin’s new project, you asked how it was going and if there was anything you could do to help. Jaehee told you that everything was going well and she didn’t want to add anymore works for you since you’ve been handling the party almost by yourself already. 

You glanced at your phone and somehow as if it was magic it suddenly rang, when you saw it was Jumin you quickly picked it up. “Hi,” you greeted him in a sing song voice, delighted to be able to hear his voice again. “Hello my love, I hope everything went well with the guests?” He inquired, sounding the businessman that he is. 

 "Yes of course, everything was already settled as well as the caterers. And oh, I let Jaehee go off early. I’m with her and we’re going to Zen’s-“ 

 "Zen?” his voice was low, and if you could see him you know by that tone he had a brow raised, questioning what you just said. 

 Jumin was rarely jealous, especially to Zen. When you asked why he said that it was a waste of time, emotion and energy to be jealous when he knows he’s the one you love, after all he’s the one you married. But he still has his possessive streak, when he was jealous, he’d take a day off and shower you with love, making sure you won’t forget that you are his and his alone. 

 And going to Zen’s musical was already a thing for you and Jaehee, sometimes Jumin comes with the both of you and sometimes not, depends on the workload he has to do. And he understands your support for Zen, he once did admitted that Zen was talented and said that investing in his career would be good.

“Yes, it’s the last show I forgot that I promised him I’d go, and there will also be an after party. Is that alright?” you asked, knowing he would hesitate to let you come on the after party especially after what happened when you first went to an after party. Zen’s male co-workers flirted with you and Jumin wasn’t pleased all night that he stood right next to you to glare at men who would come near you. 

You heard him take a deep breath, he was thinking. It’s okay, it’s alright. he thought, just an after party.  

“Jumin, it’s okay if I don’t-” “It’s alright. But please, bring at least one bodyguard, for the sake of my sanity, please.” You smiled as he let go of some of his anxieties, you know how it was still hard for him not to let his worries get to him, especially when it comes to you. "I will, promise," you said as you couldn't help your smile.  

--

The last show was filled with audience, Zen’s talent was getting more and more recognized as more girls were shouting his name at the end of the show and talent agencies offering him more opportunities. The whole cast received a standing ovation, even Jaehee who was focused on Zen commented that the musical was absolutely fantastic. As you promised, a bodyguard was present at the after party as you mingled with the crew and other guests.  Feeling a little sentimental, you went to the table at the end of the room, looking at the finger foods and picking the ones you like.��

“Did you like it?” you jumped as the voice came from behind, “Sorry,” Zen said as he too looked over at the food. “I did, you were amazing Zen! You all were!” you beamed, gushing how amazing the musical was, like always. 

“So... Jumin’s still not home huh?” he asked. voice low as he picked something. “No, but he’ll be home soon,” you looked around and the people were crowded at the center of the room. Laughing and mingling with one another.

“You know you don’t have to live like this MC, always alone, always being left behind,” Zen suddenly said, you looked at him and he was staring at you.

“Jumin’s such a jerk! He’s being insensitive and leaving you and just works all day, does he even take care of you MC? He doesn’t deserve you!” “Zen-”  “You’re so nice and always helping everyone but I bet he doesn’t even think about what you want he just thinks about him-,” “Zen!” you raised your voice and he stopped, biting his tongue thinking he went too far.

Zen looked down and you did too, looking at the floor as seconds passed by in silence. 

“You... you don’t know him like I do, Zen,” you said, fidgeting your hands. “He’s not a jerk, and... he cares about me, it was my choice to be left behind..” Zen was still silent, looking at you. “If I asked him to leave his work to be with me, he would at that very instant, believe me he really would, ” you smiled at the thought as memories flooded you.

You remember that one time you had a fever and Jumin immediately called the doctor, and when you were advise to rest for the day Jumin stayed by your side and nursed you even though you said he should go to work, he insisted on taking care of you. Jumin always had his own way of showing he loves you, and by now he knows your quirks, your silences and habits. You linger too much looking at a bag, a dress or a shoe, the next morning it’s already on your bed. You mention a place that’s nice to visit, presto, you’ll be having a trip there, whether be it on a resort on the countryside or a place on another country. Jumin would do anything and everything for you, and you know it, you just have to say it and it’s done. 

“but I understand that he has to do this, it’s a family company, and it’s for our future together. I know sides of him that you don’t know Zen... he’s great, despite his shortcomings he makes sure to make it all up, he’s... really amazing Zen,” you gave him small smile, and he smiled back at you as he rubbed his neck. “You’re really happy with him aren’t you?” he asked, “I am,” you replied as your smile grew bigger, “I really am.”

The party ended with everyone sharing their favorite scenes and telling stories that happened backstage, you said your goodbyes as well as to Zen, who was still embarrassed about earlier. When you got home, Elizabeth purred to greet you, you picked her up as you opened the door on your bedroom, the city lights on the windows illuminating the room. You felt sentimental, missing how Jumin would be on his chair with a glass on his hand at this hour, be he isn’t, he’s somewhere miles away from you, missing you as well. 

You lay down and put Elizabeth next to you, closing your eyes you recalled your argument with Zen. It was the first time he actually outburst like that, maybe he already drank too much, but at least now he won’t be as hot-tempered as before to Jumin... 

--

You woke up with a scent you know too well, still half asleep you moved closer, a hand held your head and pulled it close, the scent grew as you breathe it in, a smile forming on your lips. “You’re home,” you whispered, eyes still closed and head snuggle to his neck. “I am,” he whispered back, kissing the top of your head. “Everything went well, I closed the deal early,” he stroke your hair gently, “and how was your night?” Knowing full well that the body guard probably saw what happened, he’d tell Jumin of course. Not that you keep secrets, you just didn’t want the two fight anymore. 

You look up to him and cupped his cheek, brushing it with your thumb. “I think Zen was a little drunk... and..” Jumin’s brows furrowed, “he said some things.. about us,” you whispered, not breaking any eye contact. “What things?” he asked as he took your hand and kiss it, “please love, let me know,” 

“Well, you know how he always says you’re a jerk.. how you always leave me and how you don’t deserve me...” this time it was your brows that furrowed, Jumin stared at you, his eyes were tired but soft. Jumin always provided you with your needs, and even your wants. Whether be it a silly clip or a designer bag, he always wanted you to have only the best. Thinking about it now, maybe it wasn’t Jumin who didn’t deserve you, maybe it was you who didn’t deserve him. 

You put your hand again on his cheek, “If I could, I would always bring you with me MC,” he whispered. “I know,” you gently brushed his cheek,  “but if you ask me, I think I’m the one who don’t deserve you... I think I have more than what I deserve..” you whispered, tears threatening to fall down. 

Jumin pulled you close, he kissed your temple and stroked your hair, “Don’t say such things, you deserve everything MC and much more,” Jumin pulled you close, a hand at your back and the other at the back of your head. Your hands rested against his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart and his warm body. “Thank you Jumin... for everything. I love you,” you whispered underneath him. “I love you too, MC,” he said as he continued to stroke your hair. 

-

As soon as you woke up, you snaked your hands through the sheets next to you, feeling that he was a bit away from you, you snuggled closer, tangling your legs around his and embracing his warmth. “Good morning, love,” Jumin said as he stroke gently your back, you murmured a good morning too. You smiled as you tightened your embrace, glad that he’s home and right by your side. 

[thecostumeplot]

Bonus 1: Bridgerton

Please consult these links for accompanying images: Bridgerton 

Both  

Welcome to The Costume Plot.

Jojo

I'm Jojo Siu.

Sarah  

and I’m Sarah Timm. We're professional designers with a passion for costume design and the performing arts. Our podcast does contain spoilers. Accompanying slideshows for each movie are linked in the episode description.

Jojo

We hope you'll join us every other week as we delve into the wonderful world of costume design in The Costume Plot. [music]

Jojo

All right! Welcome to our bonus episode!

Sarah  

Surprise!

Jojo  

Extra episode this month. I'm really excited. We, of course, are trying to cover some smaller things around... you know, this is going to be our first of many bonus episodes, hopefully.

Sarah  

Yeah, this is gonna be a little more informal, like, not as much research. Just kind of a discussion about what we think. And of course, we're talking about "Bridgerton."

Jojo  

Yep.

Sarah  

We have-- I know that you said that people have been asking you. People have been asking me too, if we're going to cover it. So here it is.

Jojo  

[laughs] Yep!

Sarah  

You're welcome.

Jojo  

I know. It's finally here, the episode. [laughs]

Sarah  

Hopefully we're not too late in the game, I feel like it's still getting a lot of buzz. So I feel like we're right in the sweet spot to tell you about.

Jojo  

It is, it is. And like I'm-- you know, there's been so much other coverage of "Bridgerton." So this is certainly not going to be hugely different than maybe whatever else you were hearing...

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

...about "Bridgerton." But these are just kind of our thoughts as costume designers, as people who have been doing this for a long time. Just to kind of share, you know, instead of the bashing, maybe, that we've been hearing about the show. Talking a little bit about kind of... what are the purposes behind it? And how to really talk about design in an intelligent way. And maybe not so not spending so much time on the negative, I guess.

Sarah  

Yeah, I don't think we're gonna get too spicy, I don't think we're gonna have really hot takes about it. I think that...

Jojo  

Yeah.

Sarah  

...in general, we can usually find positives and negatives in pretty much everything and...

Jojo  

Very true.

Sarah  

...that doesn't mean that it's bad, or not worth our time.

Jojo  

Mmhmm. Before we get into that, I did want to make a quick announcement for our next month's episode, we are going to be covering our first musicals, which I'm super excited about.

Sarah  

Woohoo!

Jojo  

But one of the ones that we do want to cover is actually going to be "Meet Me in St. Louis." And the reason why we wanted to bring this up is because they do actually have online Zoom performances. So this theater, it's the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York, they're an off-Broadway theater, they do a lot of really great work. But for this particular production, they are doing a predominantly Zoom production. So it is going to be "live theater," but all over zoom. So I'm really excited about how this is going to be done.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

And excited to see this take, because this is a really great show. It's actually one of my favorites, it was one of the ones I did in high school.

Sarah  

Oh!

Jojo  

And I was really involved on like, every aspect of the production. So it has a really special place in my heart. But it's gonna be directed and adapted by Charlotte Moore. And I'm really excited, it's gonna be more of a costume-coordinated piece. But we're in talks with the actual theatre to just, you know... eventually we will get in touch with the lady who's going to be coordinating. But she's going to talk a little bit more eventually about some of the the work that she had to do on a zoom production versus what we would typically do on a live production.

Sarah  

Yeah. Yeah.

Jojo  

So if you get the chance to see it, it's completely free. They do try to ask for donations if you have the capability to give donations. But it is the... irishrep.org is their website, just look for "Meet Me in St. Louis." And you'll be able to get free tickets, and you just have to reserve your spot. They do have only a few remaining performances. So it's... January 31st is their most current upcoming one. And then they are also performing on February 3rd, the 11th and the 21st. So if you get the chance, please go and see that performance if you can, so hopefully you can kind of be involved with us. And that way when we go over the show in the episode, then you'll know what we're talking about.

Yeah, we're gonna have pictures, and the reason we got in touch with the theater is to see if they could send us some of their pictures. Because we were worried about whether we could take screencaps of the show, and if that would even interrupt our own enjoyment of watching it. Because it's not something that we can rewatch, I looked and it was like, you have to catch it. It's on YouTube Live, so you have to catch it at the exact time or you're gonna miss it. So...

Yeah.

Sarah  

...they were super nice and...

Jojo  

Yeah!

Sarah  

...seemed excited that we were featuring them, which is so sweet.

Jojo  

I know.

Sarah  

And we're hoping that the designer can answer a few questions before the episode, but if not, we definitely want to have her on for a future interview episode.

Jojo  

Yeah, definitely. What a great way to connect theater artists in this way, too.

Sarah  

Yeah. And I mean, I miss theater so much that I'm excited to talk about theater with people. So...

Jojo  

Yeah!

Sarah  

...that prospect is very exciting to me.

Jojo  

Very cool. So anyways, that's my little plug for next month. So hopefully, for our audience listeners out there, just be prepared to hear about "Meet Me in St. Louis."

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

And hopefully go and see it online.

Sarah  

Mine is much easier to access. I'm going to be covering "Hamilton." So I think a lot of people have seen it on Disney+, so just... you know, gird your loins. Prepare yourself. [both laugh]

Jojo  

It's going to be an exciting episode.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

So yeah, back to "Bridgerton." Just to give you a little bit of background about the show, for those of you who have not seen this yet, I wanted to kind of talk a little bit about the directors. Which, in this case, there were actually four different directors. So each of the directors took two different episodes each. We have Sheree Folkson, who has done the very obscure movie "The Decoy Bride," but it's got David Tennant in it. So any of you "Doctor Who" fans out there, she did that movie, which is great. Alrick Riley, who's done a lot of random episodes here and there for "NCIS," "How to Get Away with Murder," "The Good Doctor," "Lucifer." Julie Anne Robinson, who has also done kind of sporadic episodes on "Like Magic," "One for the Money," and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." And then Tom Verica, who actually does a lot of acting, he was a main actor in "How to Get Away with Murder" and "The Closer," and then he's directed a few episodes of "The Umbrella Academy," "Scandal," and "Private Practice." So these are all directors, obviously, that come with a little bit of experience. The other thing I wanted to mention too is that for the costume team for this show, it was a four person co-costume team. But it was pretty much headed by Ellen Mirojnick, who of course is known for work in "The Greatest Showman," and the newer Maleficent sequel. Victoria Quelch is one of the other costume designers, or co-costume designers. She's probably the most brand new costume designer. She doesn't have other projects under her belt, but this was a great way for her to get involved with a really star team.

Sarah  

Oh, yeah, this is making a big splash. So this is a good...

Jojo  

Absolutely.

Sarah  

...thing to get your name out there.

Jojo  

For sure. And John Norster, who's done a lot of assistant and associate costume designing, but he also worked on "Maleficent," he did "Aladdin," "Justice League," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," and also "Inception."

Sarah  

Ooh.

Jojo  

Among many others. And then John Glaser, who did a lot of TV costume designing, so he's done "Gotham," "Person of Interest," and "Brotherhood," also among many other listings. So just to give you just the sheer volume of these teams, because this show is humongous.

Sarah  

Yeah, it makes sense that the team is so big, because, well, they built 7500 costumes. That's what we've learned in our research. And I could tell watching the show, I was like, "They built ALL of this." Like, you can just see it, you know?

Jojo  

Yeah.

Sarah  

Except for stuff on background and stuff.

Jojo  

Mmhmm. And I think... I can't remember where I wrote it. Oh, here it is. So it took them five months for a team of 238 people to build the 7500 pieces.

Sarah  

Whew!

Jojo  

5000 costumes, full body costumes, were in front of the camera, and 104 costumes were for Daphne Bridgerton alone.

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

So like, the sheer amout of just volume...

Sarah  

Imagine how many fittings! Like...

Jojo  

It's insane. Like, they must have had to-- like, no one slept for these five months.

Sarah  

That's like a month of fittings.

Jojo  

Pretty much. And like, multiple fittings.

Sarah  

Crazy.

Jojo  

'Cause, you know, even though these these costumes are not-- not all of them are quite as incredibly crazy to build as, you know, say... Queen Charlotte's costume.

Sarah  

Oh yeah.

Jojo  

In the 18th century. But you know, it takes more than one costume fitting for a lot of these. Sometimes you don't get that and you just gotta figure it out. So it's pretty amazing what this costume team has accomplished in this short period of time. Because, you know, five months to some people sounds like a lot of time, but for that many costumes, it's... that's nuts. [laughs]

Sarah  

Yeah. Yeah. In my research, she said that she hired five cutters and two tailors just for the principles, which-- I'm not sure who counts as a principal in that case, but like... that's... that already seems like not enough people for that many costumes. [laughs]

Jojo  

I was gonna say, that team sounds so ridiculously small. For the amount of cost-- like, for 104 costumes for one of the leads alone? [laughs]

Sarah  

I know! Oh, it's just-- it's a real big-- like, it's hard to even wrap my mind around how big of an undertaking this show was.

Jojo  

Yes, yeah. So just to kind of introduce that before we really start talking about the costumes. Yeah, it's just, it's pretty insane. We did want to go over some of the designer's thoughts on this, because I think one of the biggest things that we've been hearing from a lot of other critics about the costumes is, of course, the historical accuracy.

Sarah  

Yes.

Jojo  

And there is nothing historically accurate about this show.

Sarah  

Well, the silhouette.

Jojo  

I shouldn't say... yes, I shouldn't say "nothing." [both laugh] I did want to read a really quick quote from one of the interviews with Ellen. She said her color palette was shifted, and this is paraphrasing, of course. But rather than doing the 1815, or 1811 to 1820, which is really the time period of the Regency era that we're in, she chose to be inspired by the more 1950s and 1960s silhouettes. And then she said one of the big inspirations was the "Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams" exhibition. And then she also had very specific restrictions and rules on set. So she banned muslin dresses, which, as you know from our last episode on "Emma," muslin dresses were very common for this time period. She totally did away with that because she felt that they were too limp. So a lot of the choices in fabric that she made for this show were definitely much more structured and not quite as light and... cottony, I guess, in feeling as as the typical muslin. And then she also got rid of bonnets.

Sarah  

Yes. Yeah, that's a that's a pretty big deal.

Jojo  

Yeah.

Sarah  

So you said that she she did 50s and 60s silhouettes? Because in the research I saw, she said she used the color-- that was the color inspiration.

Jojo  

The colors. Yeah.

Sarah  

Okay. Yeah

Sorry, colors, not the silhouettes. I have a quote here about the fabric. She said that silk and fancy stuff wasn't being imported from France like it usually was because of the war, which is why people were using cottons more often.

Jojo  

Mmhmm.

Sarah  

So it is very interesting to see Regency done in fabrics that aren't muslin, and you know, gauzy cottons and stuff, because that's what we're so used to. And I found it really refreshing. I think it's really vibrant and fresh.

Jojo  

Yeah. And I think a couple of her interviews talked a lot about her wanting the costumes to be really "accessible," was the word that she used. And, you know, "accessible" means different things to different people. But I think where she really saw that the most was with Lady Danbury, and Simon in particular. And we will be talking briefly about those.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

And of course, we're only really giving you a snippet, because, of course, this is our bonus episode.

Sarah  

Yeah, yeah.

Jojo  

We don't have the time to go through every episode of "Bridgerton." Because there's so many costumes!

Sarah  

That could be a whole season of podcast episodes, is like, every episode.

Jojo  

Oh, yeah. For sure.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

Breaking it down.

Sarah  

We're not doing that. [laughs]

Jojo  

So yeah, so we will talk a little bit more about what that accessibility really looks like visually. But yeah, it was just really interesting that she said that. And then the other thing I wanted to mention to you was just the fact that she really kept Queen Charlotte very accurate to the true Queen Charlotte, who decided to stay in the late 18th century silhouette. So apparently, the real Queen Charlotte did that in real life. And she wanted to honor that same idea by putting the queen and her court in all of these 18th century gowns, even though the rest of the lead cast is is mostly in kind of more Regency era, pushed about 20 years later.

Sarah  

I was wondering about that, because like, in my research for "Emma," I was talking about how people didn't want to be associated with the French aristocracy because of the revolution. And then I saw Queen Charlotte dressed in a Marie Antoinette silhouette. And I was like, "What?" [both laugh]

Jojo  

"What's happening?" [laughs] I think I had that same thought initially. So it's cool to hear what Ellen's thought process was behind that.

Sarah  

Mmhmm. Yeah. And I mean, her costumes were like, incredible. Obviously. All of them are incredible. [laughs]

Jojo  

Yeah, yeah. And I will say the other thing, and we've talked a lot about how much costumes can really affect different things when we change and shift color. And I think this show was a lot more about the color and the vibrancy than it was about historical period accuracy.

Sarah  

Yes.

Jojo  

Which, again, going back to that whole 1950s-60s color palette, that's exactly what she's done. She's really taken that and applied it over a period, you know, costume silhouette, and made it sort of more contemporary. Because that is kind of the trend we're returning to a little bit today, is we still see the 1950s and 60s as a very classic color and silhouette. So I think she did a really good job of marrying kind of a more contemporary style and emotion with that period, without making it seem too dated.

Sarah  

Definitely. I have a quote from her about sort of accessibility. She said, "The Shondaland aesthetic"--and "Shondaland" is referring to Shonda Rhimes, who's like the exec producer, right?

Jojo  

Mmhmm.

Sarah  

"...usually errs on aspiration, beauty and lusciousness in a way that makes the modern audience want to be in the story." So I think that's what the accessibility is. It's like, if you see a beautiful Regency gown, people like us will be like, "Oh, my gosh, I want it." But like, an average person might not feel that way. But when you bring it into 2020 with your fabrications and your colors, it makes people go, "Oh my gosh, I want to go there, I want to put on that dress, it's so pretty." You know?

Jojo  

Yeah.

Sarah  

So that's-- it makes the audience... it draws them in, in a way that strict period accuracy sometimes doesn't.

Jojo  

Mmhmm. And it's interesting too because, you know, we-- again, we're talking about color vibrancy, but I think about color psychology so much. And this-- the colors that she's chosen, and the textures that she's chosen to use, it kind of has that same feel as, you know... I mean, this is from a while ago, but that sweater that we talked about for Chris Evans, you know. It's things like that, where she's able to take the subtleties of the texture and color. And that's what draws the audience in.

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

Like, for some reason, I always think about this quote that like, you know, the McDonald's arch, the red and the yellow actually makes us salivate. And that's why people get drawn into McDonald's. And it's like, kind of the same thing, this vibrant color makes us sort of salivate over these costumes.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

And kind of get drawn in and get sucked into this world. So I think she's done a really good job of that. And I did want to at least point that out, despite the kind of all-over-the-place historical silhouette accuracy. Like, I think outside of that she's done a really great job.

Sarah  

Yeah. Yeah, we were talking about this before we got on mic, but a lot of the people who are talking about the costumes in the show make the whole discussion about the lack of period accuracy. And I think that kind of misses the point. Because the designer has straight up said that that's not what they were going for, so to act like you're sticking it to her by telling her that it's not accurate is just kind of beside the point. Like you're...

Jojo  

Right. Right. You've kind of missed the mark already.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

She straight up told us that that's not the point. [laughs]

Sarah  

Yeah, it's like, "Yeah, we know that." Like, let's talk about it in words that aren't those things, you know?

Jojo  

Yeah, that's not the language we're following here.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

So. So yes! I think we wanted to focus on, obviously, a very specific scene. And this is sort of later in the season. So it's not really a spoiler scene, but it is something that we felt like was a good representation of kind of one of the more party scenes, I guess.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

And we both focused on a female look, as well as a male look. And again, this is pretty casual. So we're not going as in depth as our normal episodes.

Sarah  

Yep.

Jojo  

But Sarah, why don't you start with your looks?

Sarah  

So yeah, we picked a specific episode. And we were talking about like, should it be the first episode? And then we were like, "We need people to know that we watched more of it than just the first episode." [both laugh] So we picked episode seven, because it has a scene that we both really like, which is the scene where Daphne goes to the married ladies' gambling night.

Jojo  

Mmhmm.

Sarah  

So I'm going to talk about Daphne's dress that she wears there. Because I think it's a fabulous example of everything we've been talking about. Specifically color wise, the Bridgerton family are all in these cool powdery blues, and Daphne really stays in that land for pretty much all of the show. So this dress is a satin, and I just really loved the... it's like a powdery blue satin, and I love the-- where's my...? There it goes. I love that surface decoration on it. And... what's her name? Mirojnick? Is that how you say it? [both laugh]

Jojo  

Yeah. Ellen.

Sarah  

Ellen! Ellen did a lot of hand beading.

Jojo  

Oh my gosh.

Sarah  

So I think that this one might be an example of that. Because it has these beautiful iridescent Aurora Borealis sort of crystal beads on it.

Jojo  

Guys, this is one out of 104 costumes...

Sarah  

One hundred and foooour.

Jojo  

...made for this actress. And this was hand beaded! So crazy.

Sarah  

I think it's a great-- this is a great example of what we were just talking about, where she did the period silhouette, but out of modern fabrics. And I actually have a picture of her in a fitting, from one of the articles, right here. Isn't that fun.

Jojo  

Ooh! That's great.

Sarah  

Yeah. I feel like with 104 looks, that many fittings, the actress just kind of feels like a mannequin at that point. [laughs]

Jojo  

Mmhmm.

Sarah  

I got a picture of the back too. It has a nice long train. I noticed a lot of trains in the show.

Jojo  

Yes.

Sarah  

And I was like, "Is that a thing that they did?" And I think it is, if you're just kind of around the house, or if you're going to a fancy occasion, you'd have a train.

Jojo  

Mmhmm.

Sarah  

Yeah, I really like this. Her hair is down, which is like... meh. You know. [both laugh]

Jojo  

Very natural, very contemporary.

Sarah  

Yeah. I want to talk a little bit about corsets, actually. I know this is not a picture of her in her corset. But I feel like it's a good time to sort of plug in this discussion that we want to have. And one of the first-- I think it's in the first episode, there's a scene of someone getting tight laced into a corset.

Jojo  

I think that's the opening scene.

Sarah  

Yeah, you might be right.

Jojo  

Yeah.

Sarah  

And I... this is where I'm gonna get a little spicy. [both laugh] I have a problem with, like, how corsets are portrayed in media. Because people nowadays think of them as this torture device, where everybody was squishing their organs and women couldn't breathe. And some people were doing that. It depends on the period, actually, like some of the ideal silhouettes had a tiny, tiny waist and some didn't. But to the women of the time, it was like wearing a bra. And most of them were not squeezing the daylights out of their own bodies. And it's not like a strictly unhealthy thing, to wear a corset. So...

Jojo  

Especially for this time period.

Sarah  

Yes.

Jojo  

I think that was one of the loudest things that I heard, was that that whole lacing situation would not have been appropriate for this time period.

Sarah  

Yeah!

Jojo  

Because, again, you're cinching in the waist in that image. And really, the silhouette at this time was not about the cinched-in waist.

Sarah  

Correct.

Jojo  

It was very much up at the empire, so...

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

...so that whole scene seems a little bit kind of illogical or irrational. Considering the dresses they're wearing.

Sarah  

It just contributes to the weird reputation that corsets have.

Jojo  

Yeah.

Sarah  

And I think it's a little bit lazy, because every period film has one of those scenes now. And it's like, show us something else.

Jojo  

Yeah. Do something different with that. [laughs]

Sarah  

Yeah. And then the other thing is the lack of chemise, which-- for those who don't know, a chemise is kind of is an underlayer that goes under your corset. It would-- it's kind of like a little nightgown-looking dress--slip--sort of thing, usually made of cotton, you know, really breathable and comfy. And it's to prevent your corset from, you know, rubbing or irritating you.

Jojo  

Mmhmm.

Sarah  

And this show also shows... I can't remember what character it is. But someone is taking off their corset and has like, full like bruises or blisters from it? And I was like, "Give me a break!" Like...

Jojo  

That's not accurate.

Sarah  

Where's your chemise?! [laughs]

Jojo  

Right. And if you think about it, the chemise kind of acted like, you know... I guess our modern equivalent would be like the men's undershirt, right?

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

It's sort of that inner layer of-- you have something underneath the outer clothes, because that's the layer that would also be your sweat layer, essentially.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

And that's what would be getting dirty and get rewashed over and over again.

Sarah  

Correct.

Jojo  

And then they wouldn't have to wash the outer layer as often.

Sarah  

Yep.

Jojo  

So the chemise didn't just function as an inner layer to protect you. It also was a very practical garment.

Sarah  

Yeah, it's like undies, it's your innermost layer. Yeah. So that's... that's our take on that.

Jojo  

That's our spicy level, guys. [both laugh]

Sarah  

That's as spicy as we get. And then I'll move along to Simon. He doesn't go to that gambling party because he's a man.

Jojo  

[laughs]

Sarah  

But I wanted to talk a little bit about his wardrobe broadly. I have a quote. The designer says, "He's traveled the world and has come back to London. So he brings with him another sensibility." And then also his sexiness was a big factor in deciding what he was gonna wear. And I think we can really see that in the fact that he rarely is wearing a stock, or a high collar.

Jojo  

Mmhmm.

Sarah  

His throat is pretty much always exposed. So the stock is like the tie... that ties... it's like-- usually it's white for men in this period. And it would wrap several times around their neck and then tie in sort of like a bow at the front. And he, if he's wearing anything, he wears sort of like a loosely knotted cravat, which you can see in this picture of him in the gray velvet outfit. And he, like-- I think there's a real sexiness to the fact that his throat is always exposed. I mean, he's beautiful to look at, so... [laughs]

Jojo  

Yep.

Sarah  

...and then I love the, you know, luxe-ness of the fabrics here. I love gray. And-- but he also, as sort of like a visual foil to Daphne, is usually wearing something warm toned to contrast with her cool tones. So he's usually wearing burgundy, or butterscotch-caramel colors. And in this one, he has a red little cravat thing. And I think that that's really effective because he's like, sensual, you know, and worldly. [laughs]

Jojo  

It's very much a passion color.

Sarah  

Yes, exactly. Yeah. So that's Simon. Did I...? Oh, I think I have one of him... there. This one is him in his shirtsleeves and a different vest. And it's like a brocade, sort of paisley pattern.

Jojo  

Mmhmm.

Sarah  

And it's-- once again, it's like his necktie is open and he's looking very-- sort of half undressed. But like, very luxurious, because the neckties are silky, and then the waistcoat is very rich looking too. So it's just like, you can see sort of the worldliness and also like, the money, and the sexiness, all in his outfits.

Jojo  

Yay!

Sarah  

I think that's all I have to talk about.

Jojo  

Nice and brief.

Sarah  

[laughs] Yeah. We're just, you know, breezing through it.

Jojo  

Yeah.

Sarah  

We don't want to be here forever.

Jojo  

And again, there's so many characters in the show that it's not possible for us to cover every single one of them with the time we have. But yeah, we did want to touch a little bit on some of the, you know, main leads. So I love that you focused on our two-- you know, there really are our two leads in this story.

Sarah  

Yeah. Yeah. All right. Do you want to tell us what you pulled?

Jojo  

Yeah! Okay, so let me share my screen. So I focused on some kind of more peripheral characters. But I love that the characters I actually focused on are basically like the support system for Sarah's two characters.

Sarah  

Mmhmm. [laughs]

Jojo  

Anthony Bridgerton is the brother, the older brother, of Daphne, who... he's kind of taken over the family now because the father's just not in the picture. And so he's kind of had to take on a lot of that burden. And then of course, Lady Danbury is the one that I did want to focus on first, and Lady Danbury in the same way is kind of the the familial support, who kind of raises Simon.

Sarah  

I love her.

Jojo  

Me too.

Sarah  

I wanted more of her.

Jojo  

I just... I love her character, and I just wish that they had incorporated her more. She just-- she's like, a no-nonsense character. Everything about her is very... I wouldn't even say "masculine" because she's very, very feminine the way she dresses, but just the way she carries herself is very masculine in a lot of ways. And so the dress that I focused on at this gambling party... she appears in, of course, that deep maroon that's very reminiscent of Simon as well.

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

And so I think Ellen did a really good job of really tying these families together by color.

Sarah  

Yes.

Jojo  

And that's really how she's separated each of the different worlds, and you really see the difference in class and status as well. So for Lady Danbury... let's see, I think the other picture is... yes, this is it.

Sarah  

Oh, I love.

Jojo  

And you never really see a full body picture of this, because this is film, but I love that this really does honor the Regency. One of the things that I really took into account was that they-- she's the only one at this party in full long sleeves. There's one other lady that I think is slightly older, and even she only had a quarter, like a three quarter sleeve. But Lady Danbury, as the host of this party, is the only one with the full kind of longer... and again, there's something very masculine about the sleeve that they've given her. And they've even kind of... what did I write? That they have a flared cuff on her sleeve, which you can't really see that well in this picture, but it's, you know, it's right at her wrist. And it's also actually even a little bit longer than her wrist, which I'm not really sure if that was like... what the intention of that was. It almost makes it look like it's too big for her? But there's something kind of masculine about the shoulder width that they've given her in this particular look. And then the fact that they've given her this really structured kind of pleated area that kind of like frames her bust. So again, this kind of very masculine, almost spencer jacket looking garment, or pelisse garment that we talked about from "Emma." That's worn over this really beautiful--same thing as Simon--that velvet kind of luxurious fabric for the dress underneath. One of the things that I did want to point out with her... it's interesting because even her hairstyle, it's sort of like a halfway between the Marie Antoinette kind of piled-up look...

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

...and the more natural look of Daphne and the more contemporary kind of Regency styling that they've chosen to give to this world. So she's-- it's interesting to me that she isn't quite the royalty character, but she's almost like the one step down from Queen Charlotte.

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

So there's kind of different hierarchies of who all these people are and what status they belong to, and what wealth bracket they belong to. So I wanted to focus on that. She again is also in those really warm kind of passionate colors, because I do also see her character as very passionate. So I really loved that. And I think they did a really good job of tying her in with Simon very well.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

And even though they're not in the scene together in this particular frame, you can definitely see the association between the two of them.

Sarah  

I want to say about that sleeve, I've seen that extended sort of cuff--that like sort of hits the knuckles--I've seen that happening. That's like a now thing, I think that they have added because I've seen it in like some high fashion menswear where like, it'll be like a blazer, like a tailored jacket, but then the cuff flares out at the bottom and like...

Jojo  

Right, right,

Sarah  

...goes past where it usually does.

Jojo  

It's like, intentionally longer.

Sarah  

Yeah. So that's a fun contemporary little touch.

Jojo  

Yeah. So this was a really good marrying of like, contemporary and, you know, that period.

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

What else did I write on here? Oh! Well, I mentioned the kind of wider, more masculine shoulders. I think one thing that was really interesting was I was thinking a little bit more about Joan Crawford from the kind of late 1940s. And sort of that same idea of like, the really broad shoulders on a very feminine silhouette. And I think that was some of what I was getting... I don't know if that was what Ellen intended. But that was sort of the same feeling I was getting from this, especially knowing that she kind of was utilizing 1950s and 1960s colors. And that she-- I think there was something in one of the interviews that mentioned her looking at the new Dior look of the 1947 era.

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

So just sort of bringing in even some small subtle details of that silhouette. You can definitely see that in this costume.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

And then to focus on Anthony... and like, you know, we've talked in the past about how interesting menswear is, in comparison to womenswear. And it's usually not... there's not... I don't want to say that it's not interesting, but there's not as much to talk about, I feel like.

Sarah  

Yeah, it's still pants and shirts and jackets. [laughs]

Jojo  

And I can't really say that, but even in this particular scene, you know, Anthony actually does feature a pretty standard tuxedo from that era, the Regency tuxedo, and it is a cutaway coat. One of the things that I do love about this is that in comparison to the luxurious velvets of Simon, he's certainly in more of a traditional kind of almost... it looks like wool.

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

I don't know if that's exactly what the material was. But just based on the images that we're seeing here. You know, it's a pretty traditional black and white, that's pretty standard for tuxedos of that time. And like, you know, they would have dressed really nice. And I think Anthony's family is still at a level of wealthiness that he can afford, you know, nicer fabrics. Not that they're not all wearing really nice fabric, but just sort of styled in different ways. He really does have his neck mostly covered for a majority of the time. And I don't think that has anything to do with not wanting him to be sexy, because he certainly sleeps around...

Sarah  

Right.

Jojo  

...quite a bit in the show as well. [laughs] But there's this sense of, he constantly needs to look put together. And there's this uptightness about his character because he basically has the entire family's reputation on his shoulders.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

So they've really kept him--his neck--really wrapped up in the scene. And again, kind of going back to that separating of him versus Simon in this scene. I think it's a really good juxtaposition of the two of them across from each other. Because he's so well done up with his stock and his ascot in place. Versus Simon, who I think in this scene, he's got nothing around his neck. So it's essentially just kind of open, and it's almost like a modern sensibility. When we think about the unbuttoned shirt, right...

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

...that's a more casual look for men, when they leave their chest open.

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

Versus when they have a fully done up button at the neck. So they definitely did that to separate these two men in general. I also love the shape of this vest, it is very Regency, and I think that's been obviously-- I think-- let me go back. [laughs] But I was gonna say, I really love that Ellen stuck to more of the traditional Regency silhouette for this, because I think this definitely looks much more Regency and much more close to the historical silhouette of that time for men especially.

Sarah  

Yeah, he looks so traditional too, and that makes sense with his character because he cares so much about the standing of his family, and their reputation, and adhering to tradition. So him wearing a more period accurate Regency thing makes sense, especially next to Simon, who is more modern and doesn't really care about that kind of thing, even though... I mean, he cares about his family, but not in the way of reputation or like...

Jojo  

Yes, definitely.

Sarah  

...tradition, or whatever.

Jojo  

It's very different priorities.

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

For sure. And then-- again, this is such a small detail, but the fact that he's got so many of those gold buttons, again, it's kind of a show of wealth. If you actually look at a lot of the fashion plates from this time period, his jacket is much more open than the ones that you typically see in that time period. Which... I don't know if it was just the designer being like, "Let's feature that thing." [both laugh]

Sarah  

Mmhmm.

Jojo  

Like, "We worked so many hours on this costume, let's do it." And you can't necessarily-- you don't necessarily see the color in this one. But there were a couple interviews I was looking at where you do get to see a lot more color for the menswear. And it is mostly like dark blues and navies, but they're very rich blues, that you see in other episodes of this season. This particular look is a little closer to the traditional black, but I do love that Ellen has thrown in some of those other deeper colors for menswear, and didn't just keep it all black tuxedos all the time.

Sarah  

Yeah. I like the blue that he wears. But I will say that I did not realize that all three of the white men were Daphne's brothers until several episodes in, because they're virtually indistinguishable from each other. And they all wear the same color. So I thought that some of them were the same person. I didn't realize there were three of them. Like... [both laugh]

Jojo  

So funny. Yeah. And I feel like they're kind of carbon copies of each other. I don't think there was as much of a distinctiveness between the three brothers.

Sarah  

Yeah. Toward the end, they develop more of their own personalities, but not at the beginning. At the beginning. I was like, "Wait, who's this one? Didn't we just see him?" [both laugh]

Jojo  

"Wait, they're NOT the same person?"

Sarah  

Yeah.

Jojo  

Yeah. So I think, overall, you know, obviously, this show was definitely one of those shows that you kind of get sucked in very fast. So that's why we wanted to cover it. But I think, you know, rather than looking at all the historical anachronisms that are in this... because, again, that is not the point of these costumes. I think just being able to enjoy how contemporary this is, and how Shonda has brought in a lot of the kind of diverse cast and the diverse... even the diverse culture that she's created in this world, I think is definitely the bigger point that we want to focus on for this show.

Sarah  

Yeah, I think it's a beautiful sort of like fantasy, you know? Because these-- it's based on books, and they're basically fantasy, bodice-ripper romances, and you want to be able to escape into that world. And I really like that the world she's created for us to escape into is so colorful, so diverse, so different and unique. And when's the last time a period drama like this made such a splash? I can't remember...

Jojo  

Yeah, it's very true.

Sarah  

...one getting this popular recently, so clearly, they have a winning formula happening.

Jojo  

For sure.

Sarah  

They're doing something right.

Jojo  

And they have eight more seasons left of this! So...

Sarah  

There's lots of books right?

Jojo  

There's gonna be plenty of material to cover.

Sarah  

Yeah, I like how it's sort of like a Regency era "Gossip Girl," basically. [laughs]

Jojo  

Yeah, I literally... when I started watching this, I was gonna ask my husband to watch with me and he was like, "Wait, so this is just 'Gossip Girl,' but set in the Regency era?" He was like, so disinterested. [both laugh] I was like, "Okay, you don't have to watch with me, fine."

Sarah  

Oh, man.

Jojo  

But yes, very much a "Gossip Girl" vibe.

Sarah  

Yes, yes. I mean, shout out to, like-- I have a couple of straight male friends who were really into it. So shout out to them, I hope they listen. Because they asked me if I was gonna cover it. So you better listen.

Jojo  

Yep, here it is! And that does conclude our episode, our little bonus episode of this. We're at 40 minutes!

Sarah  

Pretty good!

Jojo  

We tried to keep this short...

Sarah  

I'll trim some out.

Jojo  

...but pretty good.

Sarah  

And then it'll be like 35 or so. [both laugh]

Jojo  

Yes, exactly. So hopefully you've enjoyed our very brief coverage of "Bridgerton." It's a fun show to watch. It's easy to get sucked into, there's a lot that happens and now there's eight more seasons that are, you know, projected after this. So looking forward to that and more of Shondaland. So hopefully...

Sarah  

Yeah, it's a nice little escape from the real world for a while.

Jojo  

Definitely.

Sarah  

Watch pretty people fall in love. What could go wrong? [both laugh]

Jojo  

Exactly. In the Regency era.

Sarah  

Yeah. Beautiful.

Jojo  

Perfect. Well, thanks, Sarah!

Sarah  

Thanks, JoJo!

Jojo  

This was fun! And look forward to our musical theatre episode coming in next month.

Sarah  

Yep. Look forward to that.

Jojo  

Perfect.

Sarah  

And watch "Meet Me in St. Louis."

Jojo  

Yes.

Sarah  

Okay.

Jojo  

Thanks, guys.

Sarah  

Thank you!

Jojo  

We'll see you next time.

Sarah  

Bye!

[OUTRO]

Jojo:

Thank you for listening to The Costume Plot! You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thecostumeplot. If you have a question, comment, or movie suggestion you can email us at thecostumeplot@gmail.com.

Sarah:

Our theme music is by Jesse Timm, and our artwork is by Jojo Siu. Please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcasts.

[gretagerwigarchive]

THR Panel: 6 Breakthrough Performers on Difficult Directors and Working Without a Script

A conversation with Barkhad Abdi ("Captain Phillips"), Adele Exarchopoulos ("Blue Is the Warmest Color"), Greta Gerwig ("Frances Ha"), Kathryn Hahn ("Afternoon Delight"), David Oyelowo ("The Butler") and Olivia Wilde ("Drinking Buddies").

source to watch the interview: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/thr-panel-6-breakthrough-performers-660661

How did you get your start in the business? GERWIG: I kind of always wanted to be an actor. I wanted to go to a BFA program, but my mom wasn’t so keen on it, so I went to Barnard College and just did regular liberal arts. But while I was there I realized how hard it was to be an actor. [I decided] I really wanted to be part of theater or film or television, just storytelling with actors, and I didn’t care what job I was going to do, I just wanted to be a part of it. So I was writing and stage-managing. I had done a tiny part in a Joe Swanberg movie called L.O.L. I didn’t even do a part; the guy I was dating at the time used my voicemail messages in the movie. (Laughs.) So I really was not hired to act. But then I went to South by Southwest because it fell on my spring break, and I met Ti West and Mark Duplass and Andrew Bujalski and all these people who were so amazing and I was such a fan of their films. And Joe asked me, “Do you want to come live in Chicago and make a movie and live in a house?” And I said, “Yes.” I still had day jobs, and I was applying and getting rejected from graduate schools. And then, eventually, someone paid me to act on a regular basis. OYELOWO: In terms of Nigeria [where Oyelowo's father is from], generally, or certainly my dad’s generation, the idea of the arts is just so alien. It’s [all about] academia. [My father] had three sons: He wanted a doctor, a lawyer and an engineer. So I came in and said I wanted to be an actor and he just kind of laughed. And then, as it became more and more serious, the panic kind of set in of the reality of it. But I got a scholarship to go to the London Academy, and that was my in! [Imitating his father] “Oh, a scholar? We can tell everybody back in Nigeria you are a scholar.” So that was the way I whittled my way through that. EXARCHOPOULOS: When I was 8 I got a lot of energy, so my parents say, “You have to put this on something.” And I was like, “Maybe I should [take] improvisation class.” And one day I got the chance that, at 12, a casting director came and it started from there. I realized how much I wanted to be involved in it. And the deal with my parents was, “If you had pretty good marks at school, you can make a movie.” WILDE: I was a casting assistant, so I’ve brought coffee to almost everyone I’ve now worked with. (Laughs.) But I started out slowly and did TV and did movies, some big, some small. And it’s funny, I was telling Kathryn just now that I’ve been working for 12 years professionally, but I feel like I just started. That’s a weird thing that can happen in this business. You can have a lot of experience and then do something you’re really proud of and say, “OK, now I feel like I can call myself an actor and I’m doing what I want to do.”

Barkhad, Captain Phillips is your first movie. Your journey to the movies has probably taken you further than anyone here. ABDI: I was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, and by the age of 6 years old the civil war started, so we were stuck in that city for about a year. And after that, my mom found a way to get us out of Somalia and we went to Yemen. I started a new life there and lived in Yemen for about seven years. And then we found the lottery visa to the U.S., and we came to Minneapolis. One day, the auditioning call came on the local TV channel, so I went there for the audition. It was a huge crowd of people. I met some friends there. We created a group of four and we practiced. We finally got called to L.A. and we got the part.

Kathryn, you went to the Yale School of Drama. Were you envisioning a future as a theater actor or were you hoping for film? HAHN: I didn’t get to Yale until much, much later than most. I started when I was 27, which is kind of late in the game. I grew up in Cleveland -- we’re both Midwesterners [gesturing to Abdi] and I always, always wanted to do it. I did a children’s television show in Cleveland called Hickory Hideout, on which I talked to two squirrel puppets, Nutso and Shirley Squirrely. I later worked at the Williamstown Theater Festival forever and ever -- tore down sets and made no money at all -- and then accrued more debt with Yale. (Laughs.) So yeah, it took a really long time, but I feel the same way as Olivia,I feel weirdly brand-new, even though I’ve been doing it my whole life, really.

David, before The Butler you had worked with Lee Daniels on The Paperboy. How did you two connect? OYELOWO: He was going to do a film called Selma -- this was in 2010 -- and he had cast me as Martin Luther King, and we spent maybe a year-and-a-half trying to get that film off the ground. And in that time, when, for whatever reason, it just wasn’t coming together, he sent me the script of The Butler. And to be honest, I did not want to like this script at all because I was like, “No, no, no, we are doing Selma! I’ve been studying Martin Luther King, and that’s what we’re doing.” (Laughs.) And then he sent me this script and it just blew my head off. The Butler was really tough to get off the ground -- it’s a big hit now, but no one wanted to make it -- so, in the meantime, we went off and made The Paperboy.

Kathryn, Jill Soloway had never written or directed a feature film before Afternoon Delight. Did you have any doubts that she could do it? HAHN: I trusted her voice and her gut. It’s such a specific script. It’s just such an amazing picture of a time in our culture, and this weird little subculture of Silver Lake right now and these new parents. And, oh, I just begged, borrowed, and stole. I just trusted her, I really did.

Adele, what was your first encounter with Blue director Abdellatif Kechiche like? EXARCHOPOULOS: I was 18. And it was really not cool because he doesn’t speak a lot; he really just observes you, asks you to eat something because he loves watching people eat, so, you’re like, “OK ...” After this meeting, I was like, “I’m not going to [get] it.” And they told me, “Abdellatif wants you to come again.” During two months he was testing me and also he was making me participate with the casting. I was playing the role of Lea Seydoux, but she was already picked. But I wasn’t asking nothing because it was too weird to ask. And one day he told me, “You’re free. It’s you.”

Now a slightly less circuitous way to a part would be to write it yourself. Greta, you had previously worked with Noah Baumbach on Greenberg and then you two co-wrote Frances Ha. GERWIG: I had been acting a lot, but I hadn’t been finishing anything I was writing and I sent him all this material -- of just scenes, snippets of scenes or moments of things I thought belonged in a movie -- and he thought they were interesting and good, and we started writing it. It was a year of writing, off and on. I don’t know that I thought that we would ever make it into a film. I’ve had plenty of projects where I’ve written whole scripts with people and, you know, it doesn’t happen. Once the script was done, I almost wasn’t thinking about acting in it. I’m glad I did, but I had a moment of feeling like I wasn’t sure that I wanted to, because I was so proud of it and I didn’t want to, like, mess it up or anything. But I messed it up so good! (Laughs.)

One of the things with which Greta is very associated is the Mumblecore era. And a big part of that was Joe Swanberg. Olivia, what was it like making Drinking Buddies with Joe? WILDE: We had an outline that for a while Joe wouldn’t show me. He kept saying, “Once you get here, we’ll figure it out based on who you guys are and what your relationship to each other is.” And this [sort of thing] had never come my way before because I don’t think anyone would’ve thought I was capable of it; I’m not sure what made Joe think that I could, but I’m so glad he did. Because I was familiar with Joe’s work and had seen Hannah Takes the Stairs and L.O.L., I was like, “Oh, we’re all going to live in a house, and no one’s going to get paid, and we’re going to eat together and live together and that sounds so fun and we’ll just like, roll out of bed and shoot a scene, or whatever happens, happens!” I’d say the biggest challenge was learning to really trust myself to say something that was not funny or smart or relevant and have it be totally fine. GERWIG: When we made Hannah Takes the Stairs, and we all lived in a house together, there was this list by the door of things we needed, like, “eggs, milk” -- and then finally someone put “script.” (Laughs.) WILDE: I was panicking that we didn’t have a script. And then I heard that there was a secret script on set that Joe had and I was like, “There’s a script? We’ve got to find the script!” The funny thing is, people who know me watch the movie and they’re like, “Oh, it’s you! You’re just you!” And people who don’t know me are like, “You’re a great actor.” (Laughs.) But you being you is actually harder than it sounds.

Kathryn, a lot of people saw Anchorman and Step Brothers and began to think of you suddenly as a comedienne. WILDE: My fiance [former SNL castmember Jason Sudeikis] calls her the Meryl Streep of comedy. HAHN: Costumes, fake noses, fanny packs. (Laughs.)

But I would imagine it felt nice to be given the opportunity to do something different … HAHN: I really didn’t come out here and start in this world of cameras until I was like 30. And it was always a small part in a big, huge studio machine. So I spent most of my 30s feeling like a guest on somebody else’s set. When I did that small part in Anchorman, that really cracked something open for me as an actor, not just in comedy. There was something so anarchic about it, something lawless and just so rock and roll about the way [co-writer/director Adam McKay] approaches comedy. There’s something about the comedy world. I can’t believe I’m invited to that party in any way. But there is something in [Afternoon Delight] that I always knew was in there. It was different. It revealed itself to be a little darker than we anticipated.

David, in The Butler you play someone who ages from 17 to 68. Was that daunting? OYELOWO: No, it was the opposite, actually. I think initially Lee had conceived it as maybe two or even three actors doing it. I said to Lee, “Look, I want you to trust me with this. I think I can do it.” And he went, “Oh, OK? OK.” To the point whereby we were in New Orleans and we were doing camera tests to see if I could pass for 17 and all of that. And at the end of a day of camera tests, he goes, “David, you are lucky!” I said, “What? What?” “Because I had cast the young version of you and he is -- I have got to go and make a phone call!” (Laughs.) It always takes me out for a moment when you go from a young version of someone to another actor playing them. And I just felt if we could do without it, then let’s give it a go.

What is Lee like as a director? OYELOWO: He is not a respecter of persons at all. I mean, there were so many huge stars in that film and he was like, “You are effing up my movie! You better get it right!” He will take you to the monitor and go, “David, look at this: Fake! Genius! Oh my God, if you do that again in my movie, I will ...” But he is as hard on himself as he is on his actors.

Greta, why was it important for Frances Ha to be a black-and-white movie? GERWIG: I didn’t really know how limiting black-and-white was until we were trying to sell it. But shooting in black-and-white was sort of part of the spirit of the whole thing when we were writing it. I think Orson Welles said, “Black-and-white is an actor’s best friend. It makes you look like everything you’re doing is important.” And I was thinking about [La Strada and Nights of Cabiria star] Giulietta Masina, and her clown-face, and it’s so big. I feel like black-and-white responds to almost a clownishness that you can’t get away with in color film.

Adele, with Blue a lot of attention has been paid to the fact that there’s a lot of sex in the movie. Was that something that gave you any pause? EXARCHOPOULOS: Not really because I knew that he wanted to make a love story between two girls, but just as a love story -- something common. He told me, “I want to treat the sex scene like the other ones, like the food scene, like the school scene.” We laughed a lot during this sex scene because it was the first scene we were making together. So, introduce yourself naked, it helps, because there was no, like, shaking hands. You’re just naked and vulnerable. I think it was easier for me, because for me it was supposed to be my first relationship with a girl, a sex relation, and she was supposed to drive the act. So I was just like, let her do!

And that scene, which lasts six or seven minutes, took 10 days to shoot, right? EXARCHOPOULOS: But [not] 10 days [straight]; just some days, “OK, today is the sex scene.” We wanted to show how a sexuality can evolve. People pay a lot of attention for this sex scene, and I don’t understand why because this is just sex. You’ve got the impression during this scene that you are in the bedroom of two girls who love each other, and I can understand that sometime it’s kind of real because you’re really seeing two people eat each other, and it’s also about skin. But it’s like this.

Barkhad, you get the part in Captain Phillips, and you know Phillips is going to be played Tom Hanks. How was the first meeting? ABDI: When we first got there, we did some training and we were all excited to meet Tom. That was the main reason that I went to audition to begin with. So when we finished the training, it was like, “OK, now I want to see Tom.” And Paul [Greengrass] was like, “You guys are not seeing Tom until the first scene you actually see in the film.”

Where you raid the ship. ABDI: He said he doesn’t want us to be intimidated by Tom, so the first time in the movie we see each other, that’s [going to be] the first time we [the Somali actors] are seeing him. Looking back at it now, it was a great idea. We just had to forget about Tom and focus on the scene.

Adele, prior to this May, the Cannes Film Festival had never awarded its Palme d’Or to anyone but a film's director, but this year a Steven Spielberg-led jury gave it to you and Lea Seydoux as well as Kechiche. What has life been like for you since then? EXARCHOPOULOS: Sometimes I’m on the subway and I’m like, “What?!” (Laughs.) It’s strange to come from shadow to light in one year, everything changes. People change with you. You’re under lights and it makes you more fragile because you feel that people are going to judge you so much after your next movie. And I think it’s too bad because it’s important to fail, too, and to make a small movie, a big movie, a movie that’s not going to be seen. And so that’s strange. But the Cannes Festival was huge for the three of us.

Barkhad, what has it been like for you, like Adele, being thrown into the deep end? ABDI: Well, it feels good. (Laughs.) People recognize me on the street now. And as far as people back home, everybody’s shocked by it and I’m just trying to take it slow. I have an agent now and I’m trying to pursue this and see where I can go.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Home and Drive-In Edition June 26, 2020 – MY SPY, IRRESISTIBLE, THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS and more!

June comes to an end as we passed through the summer solstice over the weekend. The 4th of July is next week, and the opening of movie theaters in New York and L.A. is edging closer, yet it still feels like the summer of 2020 will be forever known as the summer that never happened. I’m not even sure if I’ll be trying to predict the box office until things settle down, and we get into some semblance of normalcy, and that may never happen if scientists are to be believed that COVID will return in the fall.

The big release for the week isn’t actually coming to theaters but to Amazon, and it might be the biggest movie to air on the streamer to date. As you may have guessed from the title, I’m talking about the STXfilms action-comedy MY SPY, starring David Bautista, which was one of the first movies to be delayed when COVID hit back in March, but that was after it was already delayed a number of times before that. The simple high-concept premise has Bautista playing super-spy JJ, who is demoted to keep an eye on the wife of a suspected gunsmuggler with his tech assistant (Kristen Schaal). No sooner do they start this surveillance mission, the woman’s 9-year-old daughter Sophie (Chloe Coleman) catches them and she blackmails JJ to teach her how to be a spy.

Yup, this new comedy from Peter Segal (Get Smart, Second Act) is as high concept as you can possibly get, and yet, and quite surprisingly, My Spy is rated PG-13, as opposed to be a straight-up kiddie friendly PG, but you can read more about that in my review.

Mini-Review: It seems like every potential muscle-bound action star has to have one of these movies in their filmography where they’re teamed with a young child co-star that inevitably steals all their scenes – I won’t bother to list them all. Former WWE star and Marvel regular, Dave Bautista, has a precocious co-star in Chloe Coleman, who is so delightful as Sophie you can easily forget that this is straight-up formula comedy  

I’ll be honest about the fact that totally unironically, I’ve been looking forward to seeing My Spy since I first saw a preview at Cinema-Con back in 2019. It was a bummer to miss the press screening in March, because it meant having to wait three extra months to finally watch it on my computer. Surprise, surprise, the movie more than met up to my expectations, as I found it funny, cute and from time to time, it even throws in a few unexpected surprises.

I’m definitely in the camp that Bautista hasn’t done anything particularly great as an actor outside playing Drax in the MCU, and JJ isn’t that much smarter or less muscle-bound. The set-up for his character to connect with Coleman’s Sophie is pretty obvious, but there’s no denying that Bautista and Coleman are so adorable and hilarious as an on-screen duo that it more than makes up for any of the misgivings one might have about what is meant as an accessible movie with mainstream appeal.  (In other words, this was never meant as an artfilm, so if you’re one of those snobby critics who gushed all over last year’s Uncut Gems, and you refuse to accept that there’s an audience for My Spy, then you’re a fucking hypocrite, plain and simple.)

Speaking of the F-word, I have to mention My Spy’s rating, which is not the PG one might normally expect, though it’s not due to violence or bad language or anything that awful that you couldn’t watch and enjoy this with your 8 to 10 year old. I felt I should get that out there in case any parents have misgivings.

Besides the main duo, there’s some nice added comedy from Kristen Schaal, as well as the seemingly obligatory gay neighbors, played by Devere Rogers and Noah Dalton Danby, who somehow manage to avoid stereotypes while providing a recurring bit of humor.

The movie starts getting a little predictable when Sophie pushes JJ to start dating her now-single mom, and things start losing a little steam as the movie gets away from the JJ/Sophie bonding and back to the actual plot, and that’s where the movie’s biggest problems lie. When the “villain” of the piece shows up, things get back into the usual formula that most will be expecting anyway. I will add that director Peter Segal seems to be particularly well suited at directing this, particularly when it gets into some of the action in the last act.

Sure, some of My Spy’s funniest jokes have shown up in various trailers, but turns out that it’s a fairly warm and funny movie that does its job in providing solid family entertainment.

Rating: 7/10

Jon Stewart returns to political comedy with his new movie, IRRESISTIBLE, (Focus Features), starring his former “Daily Show” correspondent Steve Carell as Gary Zimmer, the Democratic strategist who failed so horribly running the 2016 Presidential election. Undaunted, Zimmer hopes to revive the party by rallying behind a likeable everyman, Col. Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper), as he runs for mayor of the small town of Deerlaken, Wisconsin. It would seem like an odd decision but clearly, the Republicans know that Zimmer has something bigger planned so they send their own strategist, Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), to get behind the incumbent Republican mayor.

It’s pretty obvious this movie is probably more in Stewart’s wheelhouse than his previous film, Rosewater, but it also has more mainstream appeal and could help Stewart continue to get directing work in the future. Sure, there have been many similar political comedies like this that have tried to find the audience -- Bob Roberts, Primary Colours, Wag the Dog,Swing Vote -- but I’m not sure any of those came out when the country has been as divided as it is now.

It’s pretty nice seeing Stewart reuniting with Carell, who does a decent job in this fish-out-of-water comedy that mostly relies on how a DC bigwig might acclimate to a sociable smalltown – think Groundhog Day to the Nth level – which makes this comedy fall more into the vein of  Matt Damon and John Krasinski’s Promised Land, which I thought was a very underrated political film.

I’m a big Rose Byrne stan, and once again, we can see how delightfully funny she can be when playing such an awful person like Faith Brewster, but there’s quite a bit of fun awkward sexual tension between her and Carell. Another part of the equation is Hastings grown daughter, played by Mackenzie Davis, and most people watching this will probably hope this doesn’t go too far into that romantic realm, and thankfully, it doesn’t.

Irresistible may be a little predictable at times, but there’s a nice turn towards the end that makes up for some of the more obvious aspects of the storytelling, and Stewart certainly seems to be enough in his element to make this not too horrible an experience.

This week’s “Featured Film” is Peter Medak’s documentary, THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS (1091), about how Hungarian filmmaker ran into problems with Sellers while trying to make the 1973 pirate comedy Ghost in the Noonday Sun, an experience that almost ruined the filmmaker’s career. It’s kind of interesting for a filmmaker to take an in-depth look back at his own failures, but Medak’s story is particularly touching, only because it didn’t seem like he stood a chance when Sellers refused to show up on set and then brought in his equally eclectic best friend Spike Milligan to work on the script and create even more chaos.

Honestly, I have never seen Ghost in the Noonday Sun, but I enjoy a lot of Medak’s films that followed, including The Changeling and the excellent Romeo is Bleeding, so I went into this doc knowing that this incident didn’t completely kill Medak’s career, but obviously, it had a huge effect. It ends up being a fairly emotional film as Medak interviews some of the producers on the film as well as Milligan’s widows and others who were around during that period. He also learns new things about how he was dismissed from the project and used as a scapegoat for all the problems faced by the production, which began when the boat built for the movie crashed upon arriving in Cypress.  I generally like movies about the making of movies even when I haven’t seen the original movie, and Medak finds a way to offer some true sentiment and emotional insight into his tenuous relationship with Sellers.

Out now on VOD is Laura Holliday’s DADDY ISSUES (Gravitas Ventures), starring Kimberley Datnow as a Henrietta, a 20-something stand-up who has moved from London back to L.A. to take over the family business after her father dies and leaves her the company. She takes on this challenge in hopes of earning her now dead father’s approval.

I knew from almost the minute this started that I was going to hate this twee high concept indie that seems like so many other indie movies where the person putting it together had so many ideas but not enough actual story glue to hold all those ideas together. It’s fairly obvious from the slice of “Henry’s” stand-up set that begins this movie that she isn’t particularly funny. On top of that, she seems like another one of those spoiled and entitled Millennials who just isn’t happy unless she’s getting her own way. When the story quickly shifts  to L.A., and she’s surrounded by even more annoying Millennials, it gets even worse, especially because it feels the need to follow her best friend and housemate on their own journeys as well.

I have to say, as someone who didn’t automatically hate the recent Valley Girl remake, that Daddy Issues is infinitely worse, not only because it doesn’t have the fun musical numbers but just because it seems like such a precious endeavor that doesn’t seem like it will really be able to connect with anyone other than the filmmakers.  I found Datnow’s Henrietta to be so pathetic and again, not very funny, so getting through this movie was grueling, to say the least. At one point, Henri falls for an asshole named Hunter whom she had one date with. When that doesn’t work, she tries to reconnect with a couple other idiotic guys, but then she goes back with Hunter, and the whole time I was watching this movie thinking, “What’s the point? Are there really people this stupid and annoying on the planet?” (That’s rhetorical.)

Jon Swab’s RUN WITH THE HUNTED (Vertical) stars Michel Pitt, Ron Perlman and Dree Hemingway, and it will premiere On Demand this Friday. At first, it follows a young boy named Oscar (Mitchell Paulson), who commits a murder and runs away from home, leaving his childhood friend Loux wondering where he went after saving her from an abusive father. Oscar joins a band of misfit kids who pick pockets and commit crimes, but 15 years later, Loux goes looking for Oscar (now played by Michael Pitt).  

I’m not even sure where to begin with this indie crime-thriller that’s so flawed from beginning to end, it was tough to get through most of it.  The first hour deals with the younger Oscar and much of it deals with him getting in with a teen girl named Peaches and a young gang of hoodlums, led by Mark Boone Junior and Ron Perlman. It’s kind of interesting seeing Perlman playing the leader of a group of young pickpockets and thieves since he played the protector of those sorts of kids in one of my favorite movies, The City of Lost Children. That’s really the only thing those two movies have in common, as this feels like another poorly-realized attempt at… possibly modernizing Oliver Twist? (I mean, the band le by Pitt’s character are even referred to as “The Lost Boys,” so it’s obvious that Swab didn’t care too much about originality.

The sad truth is that Pitt has been fairly mediocre as an actor lately, after showing so much promise in his early days, and Run with the Hunted doesn’t really offer anything particularly new to what’s generally a pretty tired genre. Perlman is one of the better parts of the movie along with Isiah Whitlock (last seen in Da Five Bloods), and they have a fine scene together, but otherwise, the material is weak, and it leads to a dull and often outright dumb offering.

I still haven’t figured out what Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is, but apparently, it’s a spoof comedy starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams that will debut on Netflix this Friday. It also reunites McAdams with her Wedding Crashers director, David Dobkin, so I’ll definitely check it out, since it looks very funny. 

Mini-Review: I have to admit this movie seemed to come from out of nowhere. I really felt like I only started hearing about it when the trailer debuted last week, but otherwise, I had no idea that Ferrell had reteamed with his Wedding Crashers director and with that film’s romantic lead, Rachel McAdams. What this spoof comedy has going for it is that it combines a number of things I enjoy, including music and Iceland.

Will Ferrell plays Lars Erikson, one half of the synth duo Fire Saga, with his childhood friend Sigrit (McAdams), the two of them having the life-long dream of representing Iceland in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Lars also has to contend with his disapproving father, played by Pierce Brosnan, but in general, everyone in their Icelandic town thinks they’re awful. They seem like longshots to represent Iceland in the song contest but an unfortunate incident leaves them as the only option.

We might as well get out of the way the fact that this is essentially a one or two joke comedy that follows the formula of so many other Will Ferrell movies, including Blades of Glory, but if you’re a fan of his comedy, then you’ll probably enjoy his latest offering, which he also co-wrote and produced. When Dan Stevens shows up as the Russian competitor, Alexander Lemtov, who has machinations for Sigrid, it’s pretty easy to figure out where things are going.

Either you like what Ferrell does while in full-on “idiot mode” or not, and Fire Saga’s on-stage mishaps probably offer the biggest laughs. The other level of humor involves just how silly the actual Eurovision is, even though it’s obviously more of a European thing than it is something that Americans will understand. I’ve always loved Rachel McAdams, and I generally think she’s better when she’s doing comedy, as she makes for a great counter to Ferrell’s zaniness.

In general, the movie allows actors like McAdams, Stevens and Brosnan to goof around and have a fun time being as outlandish as Ferrell.  (Just watching Brosnan trying to pull off an Icelandic accent may be worth the price of admission alone.)

Make no mistake that this is not a small movie, and it’s quite a huge production when you consider all the enormous musical numbers representing the different international contestants. I could have easily seen this doing decently in theaters, although its 2-hour run time does seem a bit frivolous since there’s also quite a bit that could have been trimmed.

As much as Eurovision Song Contest leans heavy on its main overall joke about Fire Saga being quite inept, particularly Ferrell’s Lars, I generally enjoy this type of spoof of comedy even when it ventures into very predictable territory. In the end, Eurovision Song Contest offers as many laughs as Popstar: Never Stop Stopping, even if it’s not quite as heady as a movie like Walk Hard.

Rating: 7/10

Former lawyer turned filmmaker, Cam Cowan’s documentary, Madagasikara (Global Digital Releasing), takes a look at three women in Madagascar fighting for the survival of their families and education of their children amidst domestic political instability and the poverty that’s been caused by it. Cowan made his first trip to Madagascar in June 2014 and spent four years filming and doing post on the documentary which will debut on Amazon Prime and Docurama Friday after its festival run, but will be available platforms down the line.

The Blind Melon/Shannon Hoon doc All I Can Say (Oscilloscope) has the singer returning from the grave by compiling the many videos he filmed of himself between 1990 and 1995 before his death at the age of 28.  Co-directed by Danny Clinch, Taryn Gould and Colleen Hennessy, it will hit virtual cinemas as well as record stores and music venues this Friday.  (Not quite sure how that all works, but hey, I was never really a Blind Melon fan anyway.)

Coming to Virtual Cinema on Friday is Ina Weiss’ The Audition (Strand Releasing) that follows a violin teacher named Anna Bronchy (Nina Hoss) who finds talent within Alexander, a student at the music-focused high school, neglecting her own family in the process.

Opening in Virtual Cinema Friday through almost 50 arthouse theaters across the country, including Brooklyn’s BAM, is the British-Nigerian drama, The Last Tree (Artmattan Films) from filmmaker Shola Amoo, which received a number of awards at the British Independent Film Award after its Sundance 2019 World Premiere.

Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema will present Three Short Films by Sergei Parajanov (FilmLinc), featuring work by the Armenian-Georgian filmmaker that range from 1967 through 1988. FilmLinc will also premiere Bora Kim’s 2018 South Korean film, House of Hummingbird (West Go USA/Kino Marquee), a Berlinale prize winner set in that country I 1994, as it follows a 14-year-old through a series of romances and indiscretions.

Film Forum’s own Virtual Cinema will conclude its Alaistar Sim trilogy with the 1951 comedy, Laughter in Paradise, directed by Mario Zampi, as well as screen Zhang Yimou’s 1995 film Shanghai Triad, starring Gong Li. (There’s actually a lot of movies available via Virtual Cinema that will end this Friday, including two series of Kid Flicks shorts, so definitely try to go through the listings and catch what you can!)

This week also sees the third and final volume of Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All-Time with Volume 3 looking at “Comedy and Camp,” once again hosted by Joe Dante, John Waters, Ileana Douglas and Kevin Pollak. Some of the movies covered in this volume include Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Rock and Roll High School, Office Space, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Showgirls with guests that include Gina Gershon, John Cleese, Fred Willard, Jon Heder and many more. I really have enjoyed this documentary series, and if you’re a fan of movies that are just a little outside leftfield, this is a great addition to your library.

Available on DVD this Friday is the documentary No Small Matter (Abramorama), co-directed by Danny Alpert, Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel, which looks at early childhood education and how that has changed how kids learn, now at an earlier age than ever.

This week’s big virtual festival is the 25th Nantucket Film Festival, which will be running from June 23 – 30 with a combination of films and events like a number of “In Their Shoes..” talks with Norman Lear and screenwriter Eric Roth (both hosted by my pal Ophira Eisenberg), as well as one with improv comics, Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz, that one moderated by Michel Ian Black. Also, the Oxford Film Festival will screen two features virtually starting on Friday, Mindy Beldsoe’s The In Between and Braden King’s The Evening Hour, although the latter can only be viewed in Mississippi.You can get tickets for both on Oxford’s Eventive site.

Also this weekend, there are a few returning shows, but they’re coming to HBO Max only, and that includes the third season of Search Party and the second season of Doom Patrol, which originally premiered on DC Universe. So yeah, there’s definitely a lot to watch this weekend.

Netflix will also release George Lopez’s new stand-up special, George Lopez: We’ll Do It In Half on Saturday and the third season of the German series, Dark.

Next week, it’s the 4th of July weekend, and we’ll have more movies not necessarily in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[ruminativerabbi]

COVID-Diary, Week Eight

As we enter the—what is it, anyway, the seventh week of stay-home/lock-down or the seventeenth?—well, whatever week this is (for the record, it’s the eighth: Governor Cuomo’s original state-of-emergency declaration was on March 7), as we enter this interminable period of unsatisfying stillness (if it were only possible, I think I’ve become even less good at Zen-style quietude in the service of inward-directly insight than previously), as we move forward towards the great goal of beating this damned thing without actually moving at all, I think I’ve had enough. (My prose is suffering too: that last sentence is only theoretically possible because it clearly does exist, not because it should.) I think we all have. And so, as we enter the third month (that actually is correct) of doing something by doing nothing, of moving forward by remaining in place, of feeling daring when we venture forth to the grocery to buy a package of cookies or a tomato (I bought several just a few days ago and have hardly calmed down since—big, red, juicy ones too: delicious and hopeful non-poisonous, perfect for making into delicious and hopefully non-poisonous sauce), as we do this thing that Governor Cuomo wants us all to do to make our state safe—and our county and the tiny piece of it we call home and in which we once used to interact with our neighbors and friends in physical space rather than in the context of semi-real virtual reality (and who are we really kidding?) projected on our computer screens—as we stick to the rules of non-interaction with the world other than when we venture forth to buy staples (in an amusing aside, I actually went to Staples the other day and bought, among other things, a package of staples), as we do The Right Thing and make ourselves and each other, ideally, safe, we need to be more proud of this massive effort we have undertaken than we are irritated by the way it has impacted on our former lives, versions of existence in which buying a tomato was an ordinary and uninteresting chore instead of a daring and death-defying act of survivalism. I suppose my mood is coming through in my prose. And it’s true: I actually am feeling a little all-over-the-place these days. The sauce, by the way, was delicious, even if served—regretfully but also responsibly—on our last package of Pesach pasta.

It would be easy to be cynical as we try to do something by doing nothing. Are we, to quote myself, like demented warriors trying to break into a walled city by throwing snowflakes at its ramparts? Or—as we all prefer to think—are we doing precisely the right thing by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the actual physicians, nurses and health care workers on the front lines—those specific people for whose wellbeing and whose safety we pray daily on our Shelter Rock Zoom platform—are we standing with those people by in our own way doing our part to wrestle the pandemic to the ground and own it in the precise way it has so far managed instead to own us? Surely, that latter option must be the correct one. And yet there’s a little bit of me seated on both sides of that specific aisle. To speak wholly honestly, I suppose I don’t really know what to think. The numbers seem slightly encouraging just lately. But that has to be weighed against the fact that 337 New Yorkers died last Sunday alone of COVID-19, bringing the state-wide total of those lost to the pandemic to 17,303. By the time you read this, of course, that number will be higher. By hundreds.

And so I present myself this week in conflict…with myself: optimistic and pessimistic, hopeful and worried, fearful and (sometimes, although mostly not so much) fearless, cynical and incredibly impressed by what we have done in only a few weeks to adapt to a new normal that none of us saw coming.

I spent two and a half hours this week watching—and loving—the 90th birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim on youtube. (Click here if you haven’t watched dozens of Broadway’s greatest stars singing a broad, cleverly-chosen selection of Broadway’s greatest composer’s best songs and I think I can promise that you won’t be disappointed.) I’ve been a fan my whole life, or at least ever since the ten-year-old me was taken by my parents to see A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Mark Hellinger Theater. (That was not my first Broadway show, however—my grandmother took me to see My Fair Lady when I was even younger than that—nor was it Sondheim’s: West Side Story and Gypsy were both earlier, but Funny Thing was the first huge hit for which Sondheim wrote both the music and the lyrics.)

Sondheim is our national muse of ambiguity. Not by any means a cynic, his lyrics more than anything else express a deep sense of ambivalence about…basically about everything: about love, marriage, and relationships in general; about friendship; about the value of work; about the nature of art and artistic creation; about the power of music; about the inviolate nature of those human relationships widely deemed to be the ones that simply cannot dissolve in irritation or pique, or even in fully justifiable rage—the ones between parents and children, between siblings, between the kind of best friends who truly are each other’s soulmates, between lovers, etc. That’s what I hear the most clearly, for example, when doomed Tony, blissfully unaware that he won’t live out the day, sings out that he’s certain there’s a miracle due, one that’s gonna come true, one that he’s sure is coming to him even before he actually meets Maria. And it’s what I hear when the baker’s wife in Into the Woods, who will also not live out the day, sings about her decision to return to her husband after her brief affair with the prince, when she opts for “or” instead of “and” and decides to “let the moment go / don’t forget it for a moment though / just remembering you’ve had an ‘and’ when you’re back to ‘or’ makes the ‘or’ mean more than it did before.” And it’s what I hear when the maid sings out—I think I somehow understood this, by the way, even as a naïve twenty-one-year-old watching A Little Night Music for the first time—when she sings out that “it’s a very short road from the pinch and the punch to the paunch and the pouch and the pension / it’s a very short road to the ten thousandth lunch and the belch and the grouch and the sigh.”

None of those sentiments is at all foreign to me. You do make your decisions in life and then live with the consequences. You do eventually have to choose “or” over “and.” You basically never know what’s about to happen. And it really does all fly by in the flash of an eye.

But there’s also a different side of me, one that also keeps jumping out at me from the cupboard these days: the one of non-ambivalence, of commitment undertaken and maintained, of values somehow becoming more, not less, firmly held as I grow older. Someone sent me a video created by the Masorti Movement—the Israeli version of Conservative Judaism—in which are intertwined the words of the 126th psalm (“those who sow in tears shall reap in joy / those who go forth weeping bearing seeds for sowing shall return shouting with joy as they carry their ripe sheaves back home”), the words of Hatikvah (“as long as the Jewish spirit yearns deep in the heart…then our two-thousand-year-old hope to be a free people in our own land will be realized and not come to naught”), and the words of Saul Tchernikhovky’s famous short poem “Laugh, Laugh at My Dreams” (“Go, make fun of me for believing in humankind / for I even believe in you / and, indeed, for as long as my soul yearns to be free / I shall not sell it out for a calf of gold”). I’m usually a bit impervious to that kind of video, but I actually found myself moved—and incredibly so—by its sincerity, by the profundity of its single idea, and by the way it so perfectly framed the sentiments that co-exist in my own heart with the Sondheimian ambivalence about the universe referenced above. (To see the video for yourself, click here and you’ll see what I mean.)

Do I have to choose? This week brought more horribleness, more sickness, and more death. But it also brought us Yom Hazikkaron, the day of remembrance on which we recall the 23,816 men and women of the Israel Defense Forces who gave their lives in the defense of the State of Israel since statehood was declared in 1948, and Yom Ha-atzma·ut, the seventy-second anniversary of Israeli independence. My native cynicism dissolves in the contemplation of both those days and is replaced by a deep sense of purpose, commitment, and faith. There will always be a bit of Sondheim in my soul, which is probably a good thing. (I heard that. And, yes, I am being ambivalent about ambivalence. How amusing!) But, at least this week, I feel that part of me overwhelmed by other sentiments featured on my constellation of personal emotions, on my private zodiac—and faith and hope foremost among them—as I look out at the trees suddenly in full bloom all around and feel inspired to look neither to the past nor to the side, but to the future.

[blschaos3000-blog]

It is 3:28 pm overcast/cheetah is sleeping

Welcome to “8 Questions with……”

  This edition of “8 Questions” marks a first for me,interviewing my first professional athlete in rodeo rider Elle Rae Morris. This may surprise some of you who know me but I have been to few rodeos and yes,while we all pretty much rooted for the animals,you can’t help but respect how hard and dangerous the sport can be.     As Elle and I were chatting about her sport and her journey into acting,I was really impressed by her willingness to work hard for her goals. Being a professional athlete only comes with hard determination and dedication and by the pictures below,you can see that Elle Rae has both.    Her unique skills should come into play for her as Texas has a thriving indie Western film community and I can see many productions looking to cast Elle…she looks amazing and can ride like the wind. Add in she can shoot a gun and wear a mean cowboy hat and you have a instant star in the making!! But for now,let’s ride on over and ask Elle Rae Morris her 8 Questions!!

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself.

   My name is Elle Rae Morris, I grew up is a small town in central Maine, and have always had a huge adventurous spirit. I have always had what’s called “itchy feet” and love to move around. My family says I have a “Gypsy soul.” 

 What was it like growing up in your home? Did your family own horses?

My house was like Dr Doolittle but in real life. My dad had a license to rehab injured animals so we always had animals around the house. Whether they were squirrels, foxes, owls, or raccoons. We had them. My family always had horses. I can’t recall a time not being around horses.

What was your first horse like?

  My first horse was a real brat. She would always try to charge me in the pasture. Brandy my first pony wasn’t the best. The pony I had afterwards was amazing. Katie pony (named after my much loved babysitter) was the absolute best. She always outran the big horses. 

 When did you decide you wanted to ride in the rodeo? What steps did you have to make for this to happen?

  I always knew deep down I wanted to run with the big dogs, I met Miss Rodeo America as a child and knew I wanted to be involved. I later competed as Miss Rodeo Maine 2012 as a contestant for Miss Rodeo America 2012 and knew I was forever hooked on the rodeo and western way of life. Running barrels has always been a passion of mine. One day I hope to compete at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas as the prestigious Thomas & Mack Center.

 Can you describe what barrel racing is for us? Do you get to ride your own horse at races?

   Competing as a barrel racer is a huge thrill. It’s something that is all encompassing. It takes all of your time, all of your money, and 99% of your sanity. When you compete you use your own animals. Most girls train their own horses, it’s a sport devised with athletics, grace, daredevilry, and a complete lack of fear. It’s running at a stationary barrel at 45 mph. It’s a timed sport where it’s timed to a thousand of a second. Only the best progress. 

 What kind of special gear do you have to use and do you have sponsers that support you?

  Some barrel races choose to wear helmets, others choose to wear the traditional cowgirl hats. I am proudly sponsored by: rodeologbooks.com, rhinestone lipgloss, and Hammered H Co. 

 What do you do to keep in top physical condition as a professional rider?

   I do yoga every morning, and love going on long walks with my dogs. I also work my horses every day. I am a firm believe that you cannot expect your horses to not be in top shape if you aren’t as well. They can only give what you offer them in return. 

 How competitive is the rodeo circuit? Do the riders have “rivals” like in other sports?

  Rodeo is highly competitive. However rodeo is a family sport. Unlike other sports, rodeo thrives in family, and is one of the few sports that will have competitors actually strives to see “competition” succeed. Rodeo will cheer it’s competition.

 You have expressed interest into becoming an actress, What prompted this career change?

   I’ve always been interested in acting. As a rodeo queen, I’ve spent a lot of time behind a camera. This has been a logical shift in interest for me. I have booked several roles in films local to Texas since making the shift to acting.

There is a healthy indie film community in Texas,have you started to network or start the auditioning process yet? What kind of roles are you looking to land?

   I want to ultimately land roles that are challenging for me. Roles that stretch my current abilities as a actress. I want to grow as a actress and take on characters that are different from me as a person to truly grow. Last week alone I had 19 auditions.

 What are three of your strengths that you are proud of most? What are three weaknesses that you are working on?

  I am so proud of my abilities as a hardworking person, as a loving person, and as a artistic person. 3 weaknesses I’m working on is my stubbornness, my introverted tendencies, and my perfectionist attitude.

 What do you like to do when you’re not riding? Do you have any hobbies or activities you like doing?

I love to write. I have several works in the pipeline for books I hope to publish. I also love archery and competitive firearms shooting.

  The cheetah and I are flying down to watch you perform in a theater production but we are a day early and you are now playing tour guide for us,what are we doing?

  I would absolutely have to take you to North Gate. It’s a collection of bars unique to College Station, TX. Among them are the Dixie Chicken, Hurricane Harry’s, and Bottle Cap Alley! Bryan/College Station Texas is unique to Aggie’s. It has a unique charm that is all its own. 

       I like to thank Elle Rae for taking the time off her schedule to chat with us. Here I thought being a cheetah whisperer was pretty awesome but after looking at Elle Rae in action,I am seriously rethinking my stance. But rodeo’s loss is everyone else’s gain as Elle heads towards her new career on the silver screen.    I know one thing to be true and that is no one will work harder then Elle in chasing down her goals,she may be starting out but I know she will start making her mark sooner then later.

You can follow Elle Rae on her brand new InstaGram page. Keep track of Elle’s future projects at her IMDb page.

Miss any of the “8 Questions with……” interviews? You can catch up by going here.

Please feel free to drop a comment below,we love hearing from you all.

8 Questions with……..Professional rodeo rider/actress Elle Rae Morris It is 3:28 pm overcast/cheetah is sleeping Welcome to "8 Questions with......"   This edition of "8 Questions" marks a first for me,interviewing my first professional athlete in rodeo rider Elle Rae Morris.

[sheminecrafts]

Squad is the new screensharing chat app everyone will copy

Squad could be the next teen sensation because it makes it easy to do nothing… together. Spending time with friends in the modern age often means just being on your phones next to each other, occasionally showing off something funny you found. Squad lets you do this even while apart, and that way of punctuating video chat might make it the teen girl “third place” like Fortnite is for adolescent boys.

With Squad, you fire up a video chat with up to six people, but at any time you can screenshare what you’re seeing on your phone instead of showing your face. You can browse memes together, trash talk about DMs or private profiles, brainstorm a status update, co-work on a project or get consensus on your Tinder swipe. It’s deceptively simple, but remarkably alluring. And it couldn’t have happened until now.

How Squad screensharing looks

Squad takes advantage of Apple’s ReplayKit for screensharing. While it was announced in 2015, it wasn’t until June 2018’s iOS 12 that ReplayKit became stable and easy enough to be built into a consumer app for teens. Meanwhile, plus-size screens and speedy LTE and upcoming 5G networks make screensharing watchable. And with Instagram aging and Snapchat shrinking, there’s demand for a more intimately connected social network.

Squad only launched its app last week, but droves of Facebook and Snap employees have signed up to spy on and likely copy the startup, co-founder and CEO Esther Crawford tells me. Screensharing would fit well in group video chat startup Houseparty too. To fuel its head start, Squad has the $2.2 million it raised before it pivoted away from Molly, the team’s previous App where people can make FAQs about themselves. That cash came from betaworks, Y Combinator, #BUILTBYGIRLS, Basis Set Ventures, Jesse Draper, Gary Vaynerchuk, Niv Dror, and [Disclosure: former TechCrunch editor] Alexia Bonatsos. Next, Squad wants to let people tune in to screenshares via URL to unlock a new era of Live broadcasting, and equip other apps with the capability through a Squad SDK.

“People under 24 do video chat way different than people 25 and above” says Crawford. Adding screensharing is “an excuse for hanging out.”

Serious ideas are preludes to toys

Screensharing has long been common in enterprise communication apps like Webex, Zoom and Slack. I even called a collaborative browsing and desktop screensharing app my favorite project from Facebook’s 2011 college hackathon. But we don’t just use our screens for work any more. Teens and young adults live on the digital plane, navigating complex webs of friendships, entertainment and academia through their phones. Squad makes those experiences social — including the “social” networks we often scroll through in isolation. Charles and Ray Eames said “Toys are preludes to serious ideas,” but this time, it is happening in reverse.

Squad co-founders from left: Ethan Sutin, Esther Crawford

“The idea came from a combination of things — a pain we were experiencing as a team,” Crawford recalls. My development team is constantly sending each other screenshots and screen recordings. It seemed ridiculous that I can’t just show you what’s on my screen. It was a business use case internally.” But then came the wisdom of a 13-year-old. “My daughter over the summer was bugging me. ‘Why can’t I just show what’s on my screen with my friends?’ I said I think it’s not technically possible.” That’s when Crawford discovered advances in ReplayKit meant it suddenly was possible.

Crawford had already seen this cycle of tool to toy before, as she was an early YouTuber. Back in the mid-2000s, people thought of YouTube as a place to host videos about eBay listings, professional presentations or dating profile supplements. “They couldn’t imagine that if you let people just reliably and easily upload video content, there’d be all these creative enterprises.”

Use cases for Squad

After stints in product marketing at Coach.com and Stride Labs, she built Estherbot — a chatbot version of herself that let people learn about her. Indeed, 50,000 people ended up trying it, convincing her people needed new ways to reveal themselves to friends. She met Ethan Sutin through the project and together they co-founded FAQ app Molly before it fizzled out and was shut down. “Molly wasn’t working; it had high initial engagement sessions, but then they would drop off. Maybe it’s not the right time for the augmented version of you,” noted Crawford.

Crawford and Sutin pivoted Molly into Squad to keep exploring new formats for vulnerability. “What excited Ethan and I was this mission to help people feel less lonely.”

Alone, together

Squad recommends apps to screenshare

Squad worked, thanks to a slick way to activate screensharing. The app launches to the selfie camera similar to Snapchat, but with a + button for inviting friends to a video call. Tap the screenshare button at the bottom, select Squad and start the broadcast. To guide users toward the best screensharing experiences, a menu of apps emerges encouraging users to open Instagram, TikTok, Bumble, their camera roll and others.

People can bounce back and forth between screensharing and video chat, and tap a friend’s window to view it full-screen. And when they want another friend to see what they’re seeing, Squad goes viral. One concern is that Squad breaks privacy controls. You could have friends show you someone’s Instagram profile you’re blocked by or aren’t allowed to see. But the same goes for hanging out in person, and this is one reason Squad doesn’t let you download videos of your chats and is considering screenshot warnings.

What’s so special about Squad is that it lacks the intensity of traditional video chat, where you constantly feel pressured to perform. You can fire up a chat room, and then go back to phoning as you please with your screen displayed instead of your blank face (though the Android version in beta offers picture-in-picture so you can show your mug and the screen).

“There’s no picture-in-picture on iOS, but younger users don’t even really care. I can point it at the bed and you can tell me when there’s something to look at,” Crawford tells me. A few people, alone in their houses, video chatting without looking at each other, still feel a sense of togetherness.

The future of Squad could grant that feeling to a massive audience of a celebrity or influencer. The startup is working on shareable URLs that creators could post on other social networks like Twitter or Facebook that their fans could click to watch. Tagging along as Kylie Jenner or Ninja play around on their phone could bring people closer to their heroes while serving as a massive growth opportunity for Squad. Similarly, colonizing other apps with an SDK for screensharing could allow Squad to recruit their users.

Squad makes starting a screenshare easy

The startup will face stiff technical challenges. Lag or low video quality destroy the feeling of delight it delivers, Crawford admits, so the team is focused on making sure the app works well even in rural areas like middle America where many early users live. But the real test will be whether it can build a new social graph upon the screensharing idea if already popular apps build competing features. Gaming tools like Discord and Twitch already offer web screensharing, and I suggested Facebook should bring the feature to Messenger when in late-2017 it launched in its Workplace office collaboration app.

Helping a friend choose when to swipe right on Tinder via Squad

In June I wrote that Instagram and Snapchat would try to steal the voice-activated visual effects at the center of an app called Panda. Snapchat started testing those just two months later. Instagram’s whole Stories feature was cloned from Snapchat, and it also cribbed Q&A Stories from Polly. Overshadowed, Panda and Polly have faded from the spotlight. With Facebook and Snap already sniffing around Squad, it’s quite possible they’ll try to copy it. Squad will have to hope first-mover advantage and focus can defeat a screensharing feature bolted on to apps with hundreds of millions or even billions of users.

But regardless of who delivers this next phase of sharing, it’s coming. “Everyone knows that the content flooding our feeds is a filtered version of reality. The real and interesting stuff goes down in DMs because people are more authentic when they’re 1:1 or in small group conversations,” Crawford wrote.

Perhaps there’s no better antidote to the poison of social media success theater that revealing that beyond the Instagram highlights, we’re often just playing around on our phones. Squad might not be glamorous, but it’s authentic and a lot more fun.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://tcrn.ch/2syjEYI via IFTTT

[fmservers]

Squad is the new screensharing chat app everyone will copy

Squad could be the next teen sensation because it makes it easy to do nothing… together. Spending time with friends in the modern age often means just being on your phones next to each other, occasionally showing off something funny you found. Squad lets you do this even while apart, and that way of punctuating video chat might make it the teen girl “third place” like Fortnite is for adolescent boys.

With Squad, you fire up a video chat with up to six people, but at any time you can screenshare what you’re seeing on your phone instead of showing your face. You can browse memes together, trash talk about DMs or private profiles, brainstorm a status update, co-work on a project or get consensus on your Tinder swipe. It’s deceptively simple, but remarkably alluring. And it couldn’t have happened until now.

How Squad screensharing looks

Squad takes advantage of Apple’s ReplayKit for screensharing. While it was announced in 2015, it wasn’t until June 2018’s iOS 12 that ReplayKit became stable and easy enough to be built into a consumer app for teens. Meanwhile, plus-size screens and speedy LTE and upcoming 5G networks make screensharing watchable. And with Instagram aging and Snapchat shrinking, there’s demand for a more intimately connected social network.

Squad only launched its app last week, but droves of Facebook and Snap employees have signed up to spy on and likely copy the startup, co-founder and CEO Esther Crawford tells me. Screensharing would fit well in group video chat startup Houseparty too. To fuel its head start, Squad has the $2.2 million it raised before it pivoted away from Molly, the team’s previous App where people can make FAQs about themselves. That cash came from betaworks, Y Combinator, #BUILTBYGIRLS, Basis Set Ventures, Jesse Draper, Gary Vaynerchuk, Niv Dror, and [Disclosure: former TechCrunch editor] Alexia Bonatsos. Next, Squad wants to let people tune in to screenshares via URL to unlock a new era of Live broadcasting, and equip other apps with the capability through a Squad SDK.

“People under 24 do video chat way different than people 25 and above” says Crawford. Adding screensharing is “an excuse for hanging out.”

Serious ideas are preludes to toys

Screensharing has long been common in enterprise communication apps like Webex, Zoom and Slack. I even called a collaborative browsing and desktop screensharing app my favorite project from Facebook’s 2011 college hackathon. But we don’t just use our screens for work any more. Teens and young adults live on the digital plane, navigating complex webs of friendships, entertainment and academia through their phones. Squad makes those experiences social — including the “social” networks we often scroll through in isolation. Charles and Ray Eames said “Toys are preludes to serious ideas,” but this time, it is happening in reverse.

Squad co-founders from left: Ethan Sutin, Esther Crawford

“The idea came from a combination of things — a pain we were experiencing as a team,” Crawford recalls. My development team is constantly sending each other screenshots and screen recordings. It seemed ridiculous that I can’t just show you what’s on my screen. It was a business use case internally.” But then came the wisdom of a 13-year-old. “My daughter over the summer was bugging me. ‘Why can’t I just show what’s on my screen with my friends?’ I said I think it’s not technically possible.” That’s when Crawford discovered advances in ReplayKit meant it suddenly was possible.

Crawford had already seen this cycle of tool to toy before, as she was an early YouTuber. Back in the mid-2000s, people thought of YouTube as a place to host videos about eBay listings, professional presentations or dating profile supplements. “They couldn’t imagine that if you let people just reliably and easily upload video content, there’d be all these creative enterprises.”

Use cases for Squad

After stints in product marketing at Coach.com and Stride Labs, she built Estherbot — a chatbot version of herself that let people learn about her. Indeed, 50,000 people ended up trying it, convincing her people needed new ways to reveal themselves to friends. She met Ethan Sutin through the project and together they co-founded FAQ app Molly before it fizzled out and was shut down. “Molly wasn’t working; it had high initial engagement sessions, but then they would drop off. Maybe it’s not the right time for the augmented version of you,” noted Crawford.

Crawford and Sutin pivoted Molly into Squad to keep exploring new formats for vulnerability. “What excited Ethan and I was this mission to help people feel less lonely.”

Alone, together

Squad recommends apps to screenshare

Squad worked, thanks to a slick way to activate screensharing. The app launches to the selfie camera similar to Snapchat, but with a + button for inviting friends to a video call. Tap the screenshare button at the bottom, select Squad and start the broadcast. To guide users toward the best screensharing experiences, a menu of apps emerges encouraging users to open Instagram, TikTok, Bumble, their camera roll and others.

People can bounce back and forth between screensharing and video chat, and tap a friend’s window to view it full-screen. And when they want another friend to see what they’re seeing, Squad goes viral. One concern is that Squad breaks privacy controls. You could have friends show you someone’s Instagram profile you’re blocked by or aren’t allowed to see. But the same goes for hanging out in person, and this is one reason Squad doesn’t let you download videos of your chats and is considering screenshot warnings.

What’s so special about Squad is that it lacks the intensity of traditional video chat, where you constantly feel pressured to perform. You can fire up a chat room, and then go back to phoning as you please with your screen displayed instead of your blank face (though the Android version in beta offers picture-in-picture so you can show your mug and the screen).

“There’s no picture-in-picture on iOS, but younger users don’t even really care. I can point it at the bed and you can tell me when there’s something to look at,” Crawford tells me. A few people, alone in their houses, video chatting without looking at each other, still feel a sense of togetherness.

The future of Squad could grant that feeling to a massive audience of a celebrity or influencer. The startup is working on shareable URLs that creators could post on other social networks like Twitter or Facebook that their fans could click to watch. Tagging along as Kylie Jenner or Ninja play around on their phone could bring people closer to their heroes while serving as a massive growth opportunity for Squad. Similarly, colonizing other apps with an SDK for screensharing could allow Squad to recruit their users.

Squad makes starting a screenshare easy

The startup will face stiff technical challenges. Lag or low video quality destroy the feeling of delight it delivers, Crawford admits, so the team is focused on making sure the app works well even in rural areas like middle America where many early users live. But the real test will be whether it can build a new social graph upon the screensharing idea if already popular apps build competing features. Gaming tools like Discord and Twitch already offer web screensharing, and I suggested Facebook should bring the feature to Messenger when in late-2017 it launched in its Workplace office collaboration app.

Helping a friend choose when to swipe right on Tinder via Squad

In June I wrote that Instagram and Snapchat would try to steal the voice-activated visual effects at the center of an app called Panda. Snapchat started testing those just two months later. Instagram’s whole Stories feature was cloned from Snapchat, and it also cribbed Q&A Stories from Polly. Overshadowed, Panda and Polly have faded from the spotlight. With Facebook and Snap already sniffing around Squad, it’s quite possible they’ll try to copy it. Squad will have to hope first-mover advantage and focus can defeat a screensharing feature bolted on to apps with hundreds of millions or even billions of users.

But regardless of who delivers this next phase of sharing, it’s coming. “Everyone knows that the content flooding our feeds is a filtered version of reality. The real and interesting stuff goes down in DMs because people are more authentic when they’re 1:1 or in small group conversations,” Crawford wrote.

Perhaps there’s no better antidote to the poison of social media success theater that revealing that beyond the Instagram highlights, we’re often just playing around on our phones. Squad might not be glamorous, but it’s authentic and a lot more fun.

Via Josh Constine https://techcrunch.com

[alternance-web]

100 Colorado Creatives 4.0: Erin K. Barnes

Writer, blogger, Burrito Fairy and synesthete Erin K. Barnes. Barnes as the Illegal Pete’s Burrito Fairy.

Westword: What (or who) is your creative muse?

Erin Barnes: I tend to shine in the zany, offbeat projects. I’ve applied to, and been rejected by, countless corporate copywriting gigs. But right now I’m doing social media for an indie horror film, the Colorado-produced Apartment 212, and boy, does it feel good to wake up in the morning and write, “Do you like your coffee with cream, sugar or a side of #HORROR?”

When I had children, it cracked me open (excuse the graphic metaphor) creatively, and I was almost plagued with creative ideas. I thought I needed to act on each one of them. So I wrote them all down in a blog, which no one read, but it fused them all together in my brain so that a novel came out. At the same time, my Uncle Paul Hamerly, who is this extraordinarily successful entrepreneur, became my life coach. He helped me arrive at the notion that I needed to write my own novel.

In terms of people, I’m incredibly inspired by my children — and not just because they’re my children. They are legit inspiring. My daughter is like a real life fairy, floating around the house in my dresses and jewelry and monologuing to herself about super dramatic storylines. Both of my children make up words, as many children do, and it’s really fun for a writer to watch. One example is my daughter’s very specific word “excombilated:” It means when everyone is disappointed and tired, yet everyone refuses to go to sleep. We experience excombilation often in our household.

Which three people, dead or alive, would you like to invite to your next party, and why?

I’m going to name three people, and they are so amazing that you’re going to instantly know why I chose them. They require no preface, nor explanation. And it’s for this reason that I would choose them to come to my purgatorial-realm dream party: because they are so cool that on a cellular level, you just get it.

NUMBER ONE: Bill Murray. NUMBER TWO: Beyoncé. NUMBER THREE: Vince Kadlubek, CEO and co-founder of Meow Wolf.

They are all alive; I had a Bill Murray sighting at SXSW, and I met Vince Kadlubek at one of his own parties and have e-mailed with him before. If I can just track down Beyoncé, I think I really have a shot at making this party happen!

Barnes with her family.

What’s the best thing about the local creative community in your field — and the worst?

It’s hard to answer questions about my field, because like many writers, I’ve used my craft to get into other creative industries (like music, art, fashion and film). Ever since I had to close down the Donnybrook Writing Academy, I don’t hang out with as many writer friends as I want to.

So I’ll speak to the hybrid meshing of creative industries I am acquainted with: I love seeing comedians and musicians hanging out with artists and writers. I love that we cross boundaries of medium, or just drink beers together, and I want to collaborate more. I’m currently talking to a local musician about creating a soundtrack for my novel.

The worst thing about the creative community, for me, is that I couldn’t find organized support while writing my novel. In the music industry, there are nonprofits, conferences for networking, rad places like the Music District, resources and just really nice, helpful people to meet with bands and help them with their careers. Each time I found a nonprofit for writers, they’d take months to answer a question, because there’s just not as much interest. And the arts grants I applied for usually ended up going to large-scale theater troupes.

Thankfully, there have been countless individuals who’ve helped me through the process, read and re-read my novel, even donated money to my Patreon and encouraged me along the way.

How about globally?

As usual, I can’t stick to one creative medium to answer this question (I have synesthesia, can you tell?). I am in awe of the music being created these days. My husband is an audiophile, so at my house, we’ve been listening to a lot of the new Björk, MorMor, Lana del Rey (my kids LOVE her), CC Dust, King Krule, and my latest unexpected obsession is Lorde, because she is also a synesthete. Listening to her song “Yellow Flicker Beat” actually makes me feel yellow, black and tingly.

Music just continues to get better and better. The sheer multitude of phenomenal music being produced on a daily basis is staggering. I can’t even fathom where we go from here. I can’t even fathom what my children will be listening to when they grow up, since they like Dirty Projectors at age two and five.

Television has gotten so much better. Do you remember the days when you would waste your time by watching something as dumb as Friends? Now you have shows like Wormwood, which are genre-defying: an intriguing true-crime story, but the reenactment, which is usually filled with faceless actors, is so trippy and well done and stars Pete Sarsgaard. All rolled together in a collage.

I think some of the best art is going to come out of this time period. America, and many other countries in the world, are in a state of political turmoil. Yet luckily, so far, we still have the freedom of expression. I can’t wait to look back when we are old, and Emma González is president, and just explore all the art that came out of this time period.

What made you turn to writing in the first place?

It was therapeutic; I always had diaries. But I’ve always felt like writing came more naturally to me than talking. When other people and shiny things are surrounding me, my words get lost on the way out of my mouth. It’s a lot of what’s in my novel. I’m not sure if that’s just an introvert thing, or a neurodivergent thing. But I feel happy when I’m writing. It’s never felt like a chore. I write like I’m painting. I never have a problem with self-criticism. I have very low expectations of myself, and so I always exceed them.

What’s your best or favorite accomplishment as a creative?

Besides my human creations (my kids), it’s definitely my novel, Tintabula. I wrote it mostly over last summer, when I was in the midst of grappling with all the bad feelings that go along with living in our country right now. I was living too intensely in the problems and the activism. I decided to treat myself: I spent a lot of time at the pool, and I wrote something that I personally needed as therapy. I love to get lost in different worlds when I read novels, and the coolest part about it was that I had that same feeling as I was writing one, but this time, I was lost in a world that I had created.

You’ve come this far in life. What’s still on your bucket list? Getting my novel published would be a great start. I just began working with an amazing and talented agent, Nat Kimber at the NYC agency The Rights Factory.

I have several other books I want to write, including children’s books. I have great ambitions for my novel, Tintabula, not because I feel like it’s so important that it needs to be in all different formats. It’s because of my synesthesia; I can see how it would fit across other mediums. It has a lot of fantastical imagery. For this reason, I would love to see it interpreted into a soundtrack; I’m currently writing proposals to make it into a Meow Wolf installation, but I’m not sure if that will happen; and someday, I want it to be a movie.

Denver, love it or leave it? What keeps you here — or makes you want to leave?

I was actually forced to move from Denver because of rising costs. While my friends were settling for corporate jobs — smartly, I might add — my husband and I always worked in creative jobs; we got stuck in the very millennial problem of never graduating from those internship-style “proving yourself” low-pay jobs. At a certain point, you’re like, “I’m over thirty, I’ve been proving myself for ten years. When can I get health insurance?” When my daughter was a baby, we moved to New Mexico for almost two years. I kind of resented Denver during that period, and I loved living in New Mexico. But we missed Denver so much, and finally moved back when my husband got a “grown-up” job.

I’ve always felt like the people here in Denver are as interesting and talented as in a city like New York, but we’re smaller and more insulated. I remember the days when we couldn’t walk five steps at the Underground Music Showcase without running into a friend who has ten amazing projects up their sleeve. We’re going through a lot of changes right now, and I can see everyone’s concern with Nu Denver. But I hope that if we can stay involved and speak up, we can try to have some say on what our future looks like.

Who is your favorite Colorado Creative?

Erin Roberts from Porlolo speaks to my soul. She’s so talented, a true-blue artist, and you get the feeling that she’s going to be making music when she’s ninety years old. As her bio says, one reason she makes music is to get out from under the burden of seriousness. That’s what I was attempting to do with my novel. She is fun, funny, badass and does it all with two children, to boot.

I recommend checking out her new video for “Wasting Time,” which just came out. It’s a great song, and nothing is more satisfying in a pop song than belting out “I was a foooool.” Nothing.

What’s on your agenda in the coming year?

My daughter is starting kindergarten, I’m hoping to publish my novel, I’ll continue loving my work for Illegal Pete’s and Grasslands, and there may be one or two more books in the pipeline.

Who do you think will (or should) get noticed in the local arts community in the coming year?

I’m interested to see what the displaced journalists from the Denver Post layoffs will get up to.

My brand of creative writing hasn’t always fit in at newspapers, so if anything, I’ve only written for A&E sections of the newspaper. I don’t have a ton of experience working with seasoned journalists. But now that I’m working at Grasslands, I’ve had the pleasure to work with journalists like Ricardo Baca, Aleta Labak and Polly Washburn from the Denver Post/Cannabist, as well as Emily Gray Brosious in Chicago. They are truly the best people to work with! So thoughtful, communicative and on top of their stuff.

In this of all eras, when we’re seeing the fallout of our political climate as a direct result of the fallout of journalism (fake news leading to a large portion of the population believing lies), we’re also seeing the Denver Post staff lose large portions of their staff in layoffs. It’s incredibly disappointing and scary.

I’d imagine that a lot of journalists, like the Grasslands staff, are coming over to the creative side, starting agencies of their own and using their writing and photography skills in new capacities. I look forward to seeing what they will bring to the table; I hope that they can continue starting their own websites and outlets and agencies. I hope we can also continue to have journalistic coverage, but whatever they choose, I hope that the community supports them in any way that they can.

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[maepolzine]

A Month Offline: Life Lately

It's been a month since I signed offline. And I will admit it's been hard to stay off everything. And truthfully I came back online a few days ago so I could get things ready for this week. I did cave in and allow myself YouTube but only on the weekends. So I wouldn't be completely cut off from the world. But I wasn't allowed to watch anything involving drama, so basically I've just been watching gaming and music videos. As beauty videos often have drama and same with vlogs. I have no idea what's happened while I was away. I know what happened in world and US news but that's about it. And I don't know if I even want to look it up. And frankly I don't care to look it up.

Also sorry for the overload of "Is (BLANK) Cruelty Free?" I really wanted to write those posts but I know if you're not interesting in that kind of thing it's a little much. Since I'm back online those will be reduced to only on the weekends. I promise so everything will be more balanced again.

So what have I been up to? 

To start out September, I went to State Fair with my roommate. In the past my family only ever went for a few hours just to see one or two things then leave. But my roommate, always goes for the full day or just about. So I got to see a whole other side of the fair. However, it's still not something I would do all of the time. But I did learn there's a great deal on batteries, so instead of paying like $14 for a pack of batteries it's like $5 each if you get the coupon book. So I'm definitely going to keep that in mind for the future as that is a lot of batteries to last the year and saves a good chunk of money.

On Labor Day (9/4), I went to Canterbury Park to watch the horse and wiener dog races with my sister. Which was a lot of fun, I didn't bet on any of the horses but if I did I would've done really good as most of the horses I would've gone with ended up winning. However, I really just wasn't in the mood to bet. But it was still a lot of fun to watch the races. And watching the wiener dogs race was hilarious. If they did those kinds of races with mutts, Pixie would win. She is like a cheetah. Show her a tennis ball and she's ready to charge. There's no way to take her to an open field without her running at full speed after a tennis ball. Probably because she might be part whippet though I honestly don't know what her breed is. Her mom was a corgi but who knows what the "mail man" was that day. It ended up running prior to the champion round of the wiener dog races and we ended up missing the finale and the last horse race. Apparently there were 72 wiener dogs that raced at Canterbury Park, which was pretty cool. The winner of the wiener dog races was apparently a 17-pound dachshund named Carlie. Plus you have all the fun announcing and instant replays that they also use for the horse races. I'm going to try going more often next summer as it's a fun activity to watch the horse races.

And as you know in August, I accidentally dyed my hair black and I tried to fall in love with it. But the longer it was black, the more I hated it. I love black hair on other people but it wasn't something I was feeling for myself. I also seriously loved the red hair and felt like myself the most. So I got myself some color remover and more Arctic Fox hair dye to use after the color remover. And luckily the mass majority lifted to a orange/red color, so I quickly threw back on Poison from Arctic Fox then washed it out with oVertone extreme red. And we're never adding Transylvania (black) into the mixture ever again to avoid this diaster from occurring again in the future. I loved the oxblood but hell I'm not having the black come back. Now it didn't lift evenly and there were patches. But I can't afford to get it fixed correctly, but I'm happy with the result as it's red again. I also got myself a ponytail extension just for a bit of fun. I need to get a real set of dark red hair extensions so I can have long hair on days where I want that. But that will have to wait. Also, yes those are fake glasses. I need to get my real glasses updated and I'm debating on getting something along these lines as I love them to pieces!

Another thing I've been doing is watching a lot of Netflix. During the month of September I watched all of the following: Death Note Anime Series, Riverdale, and Beautiful Creatures. Rose and I also went to see IT at the theaters, which was really good but a few moments I would've changed the music. But other than that I seriously loved it, and not many horror movies I can say that for. I've also been watching a lot of Punk Goes Pop videos on YouTube since they fit into the rule of only gaming or music videos. And it's seriously one of my favorite things. Also along the lines of music, these are all the songs I've had on repeat during the month of September:

Out Loud by Gabbie Hanna

New Rules by Dua Lipa

1-800-273-8255 by Logic Feat. Alessia Cara & Khalid

Take it All Back 2.0 by Judah & The Lion

At work, a few things have changed. I've started taking on a lot of projects and implementations. Which I have been loving, as before I used to just help out with projects but didn't manage them. Now I get to lead them. And I have been in absolute love with it. It's different from what I was doing in the past, but that's a good thing. Not that I hated the other by any means but it's nice for a little change in pace. I don't know if I'm going to continue to lead implementations or if they are going to hire someone to take the position, but I really hope I get to keep leading projects for new interfaces, VPN tunnels, clients, etc. Oh and my boss, who was also my cousin's wife left as of today so I can foresee this month as being interesting. Especially since I'm taking all of next week off for Rose's birthday and just a mental vacation from work after three month's of my previous boss being on maternity leave and we were down to bare-bones at that time period. And another co-worker quit as well so yeah... I literally don't know what's going on anymore with work.

My depression phase of my bipolar disorder has past for the time being, but I don't know if I'm going to just be neutral for the time being or if I'm going to shortly be going into a hypomanic phase. Or if I already hit that and coming back down. I can never detect a hypomanic phase until way later. I used to be able to tell easily afterwards when I went on a spending spree or took on a lot of projects that I couldn't handle. But that hasn't happened yet... I also don't have any money to really do that so that's sort of impossible. I don't know. All I know I really should go back in to get medication and also have a general check-up, but it's either pay the co-pay or pay for gas so I can get to work. So I keep choosing the latter. Hopefully one day that will change. And yes I know I bought some makeup but I was already planning on that and it makes me happy. So as Pixie would say/do...

Ok I think that might be more than enough of an update. Hope you all had an amazing September and here's to an amazing October!

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Home Edition May 29, 2020 – I WILL MAKE YOU MINE, THE HIGH NOTE, HBO MAX and more!

Before we get to any potential theatrical releases – there aren’t many (if any?) this week  –  today is the day that HBO MAX launches! I hope to add it to the streaming section below, but since it’s a newborn baby launching today, it will get the lead in this week’s column…

Some of the HBO Max original programming at launch will include On the Record, the new doc from The Hunting Ground and The Invisible War directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, which looks at the story of music exec. Drew Dixon and her decision to be one of the first women of color to come forward about being sexually assaulted by Russell Simmons. I’ll freely admit that I haven’t watched this yet, but my friend/colleague Candice Fredrick did this amazing interview with Dixon and the other subjects for Shondaland, which you can read right here, and it’ll make it obvious why  (like Dick/Ziering’s previous docs), this one NEEDS to be seen, even if you don’t have a horse in this race.

Anna Kendrick will be starring in new romantic comedy anthology series called Love Life from Sam Boyd, each season which will follow a different person from their first to last romance. I hope this is better than Kendrick’s Quibi series.

On a lighter night, there’s a new series of Looney Tunes Cartoons, a series of 11 to 12-minute cartoon collections featuring all your WB favorites. While I was mildly dubious about new cartoons, apparently WB has been making these for a few years although they’ll now be migrating over to HBO Max. Some of the first toons will include a couple Porky Pig-Daffy Duck shorts: “Curse of the Monkeybird” and “Firehouse Frenzy”; another one called “Harm Wrestling,” pitting Bugs Bunny against long-time nemesis Yosemite Sam, and another Bugs one called “Big League Beast.” These new toons definitely have their own identity and charm and are pretty clever with wackier modernized cartoon violence ala “Ren and Stimpy” or maybe Adult Swim would be a more current reference. The series is exec. produced by Peter Browngardt, and I don’t think regular Looney Tunes fans (or cartoon fans in general) will be too disappointed by these offerings.

There’s also the Not Too Late Show with Elmo, which looks cute, but it’s definitely veering more towards the TV side of things than movies, at least for now.

Something rather strange and interesting happened leading up to this week’s “Featured Movie,” but it involves an introductory story: Just before the lockdown on March 12, I went out to see Emily Ting’s great new comedy, Go Back to China on its very last day in New York theaters. One of the actors in the movie, Lynn Chen, seemed vaguely familiar but I couldn’t figure out where from. Sometime after that, I started seeing a few tweets about Alice Wu’s 2004 film, Saving Face, which I thought I was one of the only people who knew about it, having covered it 15 or 16 years ago. This led to a Twitter conversation about Wu’s new Netflix movie, The Half of It, which made me realize that Chen was one of the two leads in Saving Face. One thing led to another and besides learning about Wu’s new movie, I also found out that Chen’s own directorial debut would be coming out soon. That movie, I WILL MAKE YOU MINE (Gravitas Ventures), is now available digitally and on DVD/Blu-ray. Got all that? Good. So that’s what I’m going to write about next.

Chen’s directorial debut is an interesting black-and-white romantic dramedy, but you really need to go into it knowing that it’s also the third part of something being labelled, “The Surrogate Valentine Trilogy,” based on two indie comedies directed by Dave Boyle. I did not know this the first time I watched Chen’s movie, which may be why I was so confused about the relationships between three Asian-American women with a musician named Goh Nakamura (who plays himself in the film). Once I watched the previous movies, Surrogate Valentine from 2011 and Daylight Savings from 2012, things became a LOT clearer.

Both those movies were quirky comedies mostly based around Nakamura’s day-to-day, but they also had romantic undercurrents with three different women over the course of the two movies: Lynn Chen’s best friend Rachel, “the professor” Erika (Ayako Fujitani) and fellow singer-songwriter Yea-Ming (Yea-Ming Chen, also playing a version of herself). It’s immediately clear that Chen’s movie is going to focus on the three women, but it my not be as evident who these women are or their relationship to Nakamura without having seen the previous two films.

The movie takes place five years after the previous one, so Chen is taking the Linklatter “Before” trilogy approach, at least in concluding the overall story with a few players from earlier movies also making apperances. Erika and Yea-Ming are still polar opposites with Erika’s moodiness being increased by the death of her father and having to care for her five-year-old daughter (Ayami Riley Tomine).  Yea-Ming is still single and ready to mingle, while Rachel is now married but she is still reminiscing about Goh, who she long ago put in the friend zone despite his feelings for her.

Both the previous movies were left hanging with no real answers, so it’s quite respectable for Chen to take the reins in trying to answer some of the unanswered questions. The general idea is that all these women are still thinking of Goh, and you’ll have to watch the movie to see which one he ends up with, if any. (Not too sure how I feel about all these beautiful women chasing after the mopey Nakamura, but like the “Before” movies, you’ll be quite invested after seeing the other two movies.)

Nakamura is an incredibly talented musician, songwriter and singer (as is Yea-Ming) but not a particularly expressive actor, especially in comparison to a seasoned pro like Chen. As a director and co-star, she does a better job getting a performance out of him than Boyle did, although her character’s arc is more about dealing with her cheating husband Josh. Chen maintains the quirky humor of the earlier movies without involving as much of the bro-ness of the characters around Nakamura. Putting the focus on the three women trying to discover themselves and figure out what they want in life just makes her film a far more enjoyable experience as a whole, especially as we get to see them interacting with each other.

I particulary like this movie on its own merits due to the very funny and talented Yea-Ming Chen (whose own musical project is called DreamDate). She clearly has the best chemistry with Nakamura, but I Will Make You Mine gains so much more knowing the characters’ history together, even if those relationships were not necessarily the focus of the previous two films. There’s no question Lynn Chen has a solid future as a filmmaker, as she takes the ideas and characters introduced by Boyle’s films to a far more emotional level. I recommend watching the entire trilogy, which hopefully Gravitas Ventures will put all in one place (like a collection of all three movies with a soundtrack CD?) someday soon. In the meantime, you can find out where you can watch I Will Make You Mine on the official site, so do check it out!

I had been pretty interested in Focus Features’ new film, THE HIGH NOTE, which will be available via PVOD this Friday, mainly because it was directed by Nisha Ganatra, who did such an amazing job with last year’s Late Night. This is a very different movie, maybe more commercial but also not quite as much my thing, which is odd since it’s set in the music business, which is almost definitely my thing.

Dakota Johnson stars as Maggie, personal assistant to legendary soul singer Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross from black-ish), but she would rather be a record producer. Maggie hs been practicing by doing an edit on a live album for Davis who is being drawn by her manager (Ice Cube) to take up a Vegas residency ala Celine. Soon after, Maggie meets Kelvin Harrison Jr’s David Cliff, an aspiring singer and songwriter who she decides to take under her wing, without letting him know she’s actually a personal assistant.

Written by Flora Greeson, her first produced screenplay, it’s almost immediately apparent this movie came about due to the success of the 2018 remake of A Star is Born, which did so well despite winning only a single Oscar for song.  There are a few hurdles the movie had to overcome right away, the first being my general “eh” feelings about Johnson as an actor, but then there are also serious credibility issues of a Hollywood personal assistant getting away with HALF the things Maggie does in the movie. There is definitely an aspect of the movie that reminded me of Working Girl, one of the movies that made Johnson’s mother (Melanie Griffith) a household name, but this sort of “everything works out for the white girl” just seems kind of stale and played and maybe a bit out-of-tune in this day and age.

The High Note is barely a drama and more of a romantic dramedy and while the songs are decent, there’s very little way that this can be deemed any sort of “musical.” There’s also the whole “white savior” thing in play where Maggie is there not only to save Grace’s flagging career but also trying to help David make it big. Harrison is as good as he’s been in almost every role, and that seems almost wasted among the other okay performances.

The thing is that The High Note did eventually win me over, oddly with a pull-the-rug-out twist that for some reason I didn’t see coming. There is a cuteness aspect to it that makes it palatable, if not always entertaining, but I definitely expected more and better from Ganatra for her second feature. It makes it that much more obvious what Mindy Kaling brought to the table as the writer/producer on Late Night.  

Next up is John Hyatt’s documentary SCREENED OUT (Dark Star Pictures), which is probably rather apropos right now as it deals with something very prominent and timely: our addiction to our devices. The movie follows Hyatt and his family who go through their own journey of dealing with screen addiction. It will be available in the US and Canada this Friday. I really couldn’t get too far into this movie, since I generally hate docs where the filmmakers turn the camera on themselves, and I’m not talking about Morgan Spurlock or Michael Moore so much, as those who make these movies about themselves without having too much to offer the viewer.

Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema adds two new repertory films this week: Philip Borso’s 1982 film, The Grey Fox, starring Richard Farnsworth (in a new 4K restoration) and Andrei Ujică’s 1992 film, Videograms of a Revolution.  Film at Lincoln Center’s own virtual cinema adds Mounia Meddour’s Papicha (Distrib Films) about a university student during the Algerian Civil War who is studying French with an interest in fashion so she defies religious conservatism to design dresses for her peers. The film won the César Award for Best Female Newcomer and Best First Film, and was a selection for the recent “Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.”

STREAMING AND CABLE

Netflix’s big launch this week is the new series from The Office (American version) creator Greg Daniels (his second new one in the last month!), SPACE FORCE, a comedy based on the Trump military initiative that reunites Daniels with Steve Carell. He’s joined by John Malkovich, Jimmy O. Yang, the late Fred Willard, Ben Schwartz, Noah Emmerich and more, so we’ll see if I like it more than the Amazon series, Upload. (Granted, I’ve only seen one episode of that.)

I’m semi-flattered that Hannah Gadsby named her second Netflix comedy special, Hannah Gadsby: Douglas, after me, but honestly, I’m one of the few people who never really understood the appeal of her as a comic. She just seems like a snarky Australian who just happens to also be a lesbian, but I dunno, maybe I’ll like this one more?

Fernando Frias’ Mexican teen drama, I’m No Longer Here (also on Netflix), is about a young street gang in Monterrey, Mexico who get into a feud with a local cartel, forcing the leader to migrate to the United States.

Also, I’ve heard good things about Andrew Patterson’s THE VAST OF NIGHT, which will be available on Amazon Prime, this Friday. It stars Sierra McCormick as Fay Crocker, a switchboard operator in 1950s New Mexico, who discovers an audio frequency that can change their small town forever. It sends Fay and a radio DJ named Everett (Jake Horowitz) on a scavenger hunt into the unknown.  This movie played a lot of genre film festivals last year after debuting at Slamdance, and I generally enjoyed it, since it has a very different vibe of other thrillers, even period ones. The two leads are so cute together in the film’s opening scene, you’ll definitely want to see where things are going, and the dialogue is particularly good. Maybe the movie isn’t as direct in its genre elements as others, but it goes to interesting places for sure.

Also, the We Are One: A Global Film Festival is supposed to start this week, running for a week from this Friday to June 7 with proceeds going to benefit COVID-19 relief funds with programming curated by a number of film festivals including Tribeca, the New York Film Festival, Berlin and others. You can see some of the programming here, and the festival will run starting Friday on the YouTube channel.

Next week, more movies (mostly) not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!