#i loved everything about this film

[ladyofriverrun]

I am not losing my daughter!

[warren-keplers-funk-band]

damn the more i think about the batman, the more i'm like shit that was a good film-

in the way that robert's batman is the most nuanced bruce that has ever been on screen, highlighting his fears and his flaws just as well as his strengths.

in the way that they exemplified his imperfections by showing the crimes that he couldn't stop, showing things he overlooked, showing him getting hurt, him having difficulty with the riddles, failing and having a man explode on his watch. he wasn't intelligent enough to solve the last riddle, he didn't have one last hurrah against the riddler. his shortcomings make him a far more believable hero. this, juxtaposed to his arrogance and commitment to 'being vengeance' creates a flawed perspective that inherently gives the film more depth and shows his opportunity for growth.

they effortlessly laid the bricks for his sensitivity to orphans and their struggles, meaning that any future adoption storylines in this verse won't come out of the blue.

they actually discuss bruce wayne's socioeconomic status in a way that's not only scathing remarks and throw-away humour but is actually relevant to the plot and in establishing his character. the way in which he conducts business.

they represented facets of bruce wayne that are largely overlooked in other media, such as his awkwardness. he's not a charming ladies man billionaire in expensive suits and holding parties at which he sweet talks reporters and coolly rejects mobsters- he's a greasy, socially incapable recluse who shies away from eye contact and conversation. he's not a roguishly attractive vigilante who seduces half of gotham with his action moves- he's a hulking presence in the corner of the room, mumbling about necrosis with a squeaky suit.

it's accurate to the source material. in terms of the gotham setting, the grey-washed, dirty streets, bruce's manor being a needlessly gothic and extravagant affair. in terms of the mobster situation, the almost charicature of a new-yorkian gangster in the penguin, over-exaggerated in a way that is so reminiscent of the comic books. the orange rim lighting and shot-reverse-shots that made it feel as though every frame could just as easily be a comic book panel.

the use of extreme flooding as the 'final enemy' of sorts was the perfect narrative choice for this film. not only was the concept of the sea wall collapsing and water rushing into gotham's streets visually breathtaking, the immovable, impending natural threat of such a force is great for developing character. a tidal wave is not something that the batman can punch through and stop through sheer will. but it's something bruce wayne can assist with the aftermath of, help fix gotham as a billionaire rather than as vengeance. this opens up the opportunity for him to re-establish his identity as a wayne, to come to terms with his discoveries about his father, and to make 'renewal' a positive term for him.

they show his character arc from revenge-driven to protector of gotham in a way that's effective, but not overwhelming. it's not rounded, it's incomplete. he blanches away when a civilian holds his hand, asks for a show of unity and protection that isn't just mindless violence. he has this self-hatred, this disbelief that he can actually help in ways other than punching and kicking. that means they can explore his character more deeply in future films, what this change means for him.

plus, it was absolutely stunning. the orange lit shots, the contrast, the rain. the car chase was effortlessly thrilling and beautifully shot. the cape in the wind was so needlessly dramatic and yet added so much batman flair that is actually quite typical of him. the scene with the flare where he's leading the citizens- fuck, it was so nice.

overall, bruce is incapable. his intentions are good, but he's a child, avoidant of his social responsibilities, self-assured in a way he hasn't earned. he's intelligent, but he misses things, he's too privileged to really relate to the poor, he isn't a persuasive or suave personality. he's honestly a bit of a mess, and that makes this film so fucking appealing in a way the others haven't been. the dark knight was a directorial masterpiece, but it was still an airbrushed translation of bruce wayne to mainstream, blockbuster cinema. matt reeves' the batman absolutely disregards maintaining bruce's reputation or creating an emotionally tortured, morally grey but ultimately effective and powerful hero. robert actually manages to portray more of an everyman character despite the role, because he's just so relatable. he's emotional in a way that doesn't just translate into anger, but into attachment to people around him, into sympathy, into love. he's patient, listening to alfred instead of running off like a teenager and causing a misunderstanding. he cares for civilian life. he cares about selina doing what's best for her, not what makes her like him. he's the ultimate contradiction, a combination of a deep and flawed humanity and his desperation for a stony façade.

um, i liked it. good film.

[filmnoirsbian]

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sound of the summer <3

[marisatomay]

i firmly believe kids should see movies that are just so cool that they rewire their brains and rock their shit they don’t have to be rated R or high art but show them a spider-man 2 (2004) or a mission: impossible (1996) and let it rip

[swordheld]

I've been wondering the same thing about beauty recently!!

oh, darling, isn’t it one of the most rewarding things; such an awe-filled and inspiring road to trek? the line in my hover is from mary oliver’s the swan:

and did you see it, finally, just under the clouds –   /  a white cross streaming across the sky, its feet   /  like black leaves, its wings like the stretching light of the river?  /  and did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?  /  and have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?  /  and have you changed your life?

the poem itself is so detail-oriented: light, form, movement, etc. there is so much attention to everyday beauty. it's especially meant so much to me lately, at the forefront of my practice, my thinking? i am thinking of ways to create a kind of accessible beauty - beauty that strikes you as a rememberance that you are alive and you are meant to be here to experience and feel and give; how it’s right in front of you. you see it everyday, you are seeing it right  /  now.

we are surrounded by beauty. it’s inescapable. it’s within you, and if you are looking for it, you will see it in moments that will blind you for years to come in every emotion, and it’ll light up the whole sky.

there is something to the symmetry of it, how beauty is made of these small moments of joy that build over time, and you feel it all rush over you like a tidal wave of light and emotion. sometimes that’s within music, or light, or a story, or anything you interact with. there are similarities, there, too: everything echoes something else (everything else? everything in one piece, one point of wonder, attention, love?) but nothing is the same. isn’t that something?

how it is something so integral to us  /  that it cannot be taken away. we have always found beauty. we have always shared it. it’s at the core of us.

nostalgia, warmth, love. everything is inspired and similar. everything is tangible and something we can hold on to. beauty feels, to me, like a relentless optimism. how there is hope even when it seems like grief is the only thing that will fit in our palms. how there are pieces of things that bring us back to ourselves, to the hope that dawn will come. i always find it the most palpable for myself in music or writing, and right now i am thinking of:

before the not-child’s not-howl, torrin a. greathouse:

i search for beauty  /  in the world as if i were new.  /  gather it in fistfuls. tongue the sun  /  -light. teeth against the buttermilk moon.

a little larger than the entire universe, fernando pessoa:

let’s pay attention only to where we are. there’s enough beauty in being here and not someplace else. 

field theories, samiya bashir:

what is a thing of beauty if not us?

drifts: a novel, kate zambreno:

i wish i had written of the weekend, its fullness, softness, its privacy, how liminal this waiting period, there still is beauty in all of this.

four seasons in rome, anthony doerr:

without habit, the beauty of the world would overwhelm us. we’d pass out every time we saw — actually saw — a flower. imagine if we only got to see a cumulonimbus cloud or cassiopeia or a snowfall once a century: there’d be pandemonium in the streets. people would lie by the thousands in the fields on their backs.

small kindnesses, denusha lemeris:

i’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs to let you by. or how strangers still say “bless you” when someone sneezes, a leftover from the bubonic plague. “don’t die,” we are saying. and sometimes, when you spill lemons from your grocery bag, someone else will help you pick them up. mostly, we don’t want to harm each other. we want to be handed our cup of coffee hot, and to say thank you to the person handing it. to smile at them and for them to smile back. for the waitress to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder, and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass. we have so little of each other, now. so far from tribe and fire. only these brief moments of exchange. what if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these fleeting temples we make together when we say, “here, have my seat,” “go ahead—you first,” “i like your hat.”

beauty is kindness and attention and holding on to to the idea that we are all here, really here, tangibly and emotionally, living as bright as anyone else. beauty is the exchange of those ideals, of searching for similarity and creating it even if we do not find it. it’s being both lighthouse and sea-ship. moon and every star beyond it; to be of so much light that you must give it away, light and warmth to everything else. 

it’s a kind of love, isn’t it? it’s love.

thank you for the opportunity to ramble about all the thoughts of beauty bouncing around in my head, sunshine! oh and of course, i can’t talk about beauty and exchange without including one of my favourites, a quote from kazuo ishiguro, in his nobel prize (2017) acceptance speech:

"but in the end, stories are about one person saying to another: this is the way it feels to me. can you understand what i’m saying? does it feel this way to you?" 

[themakeupbrush]

Sara Sampaio at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival

[pencilscratchins]

Peli Moto AND Din have been in Boba Fett I think you're legally required to watch it now /j <3

babes i have been watching it don't worry

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

D*sney has been so bashed and criticized for supposedly "programming" little girls into seeing themselves as nothing more than so-called "Damsels in Distress" that they now obstinately refuse to include a princess character being saved/rescued or helped by a male hero, having a male love interest and proudly embrace her more feminine side because, y'know, they are sKrONg INdepAndeNT WHameN™ that need no man to rescue them!!!! #girlpower #girlboss

[lesbiansforjackietaylor]

Younger me would be inconsolable about the doctor getting a sapphic relationship

[danidrawsstuff]

watching prince of egypt really reminds me of why i’m going into the animation industry in the first place

[ghoul-haunted]

[whattabuck]

Lana really said to Sense8 cast: "Netflix may have failed you, but I won't" and proceeded to cast them for Matrix Resurrections

[awfullysinfullyyours]

Me after seeing Dune today :

[dreamygeorgenap-archive]

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Quackity asking George what his stance with Dream is and George avoiding the question  This stream at 1:49:05 

[redwinterroses]

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[the-bensolos]

Everything everywhere all at once had everything, not only was this film a masterclass in original filmmaking and original storytelling it had something so many of us need right now a sense of unbridled earnestness and compassion. The crux of the film is all about love and kindness and compassion and seeing that desperation and hurt and loneliness in ones self and others and combating that not with violence or anger but with love and understanding and hope and joy and well everything. It heals generational trauma and looks past the now to see the whole, the all of it which is, if everything is pointless and has no meaning why not choose to look at the bright side of that and not the dark. Choose hope choose light choose happiness choose kindness because at the end of the day we are all humans why fight when we can love.