#in the discourse around this movie

[cardinaldrama]

So I watched Possession (1981) last night and all these people analyzing the movie are calling it a "breakup movie" and saying it's "obsessed with division" like ? Did we even watch the same thing ? I get that they're both manic and that's kinda the point but Anna clearly states multiple times that she's not interested in Mark anymore. And in response he screams, cuts off her sentences, gets up in her space, does all he can to prevent her from going anywhere. Gee, I wonder why she wants to leave him. But the reason she can't is because there's a power imbalance, which is reflected in the filmmaking too; look at the contrast between the scenes of them in the apartment (claustrophobic, suffocating camerawork, the space is always a colossal mess) and the scene at the beginning where Mark is talking with those guys in that comically open, unfurnished room. He has so much more freedom than her. Someone in the movie confronts him about this, and he's all like "I don't want freedom". We also get a taste of the backstory when Heinrich's mom tells Mark that Anna came to Heinrich because of how Mark acts toward her. It's just so clear to me that Mark's controlling behavior is the instigator of Anna's madness, it's not some mutual clashing of personalities. The blueprint for ending the relationship is right there, the obstacle is that Mark literally won't let Anna leave him!! Is my reading of the film. And the film is so real for that, 10/10, but like what am I missing?

[goldfyshie927]

Absolutely baffled that people are comparing the Barbie movie not getting certain awards show noms as like an example of modern feminist issues. Sometimes movies are fun but not good enough for an award and that’s not an example of anything??? If Barbie is the pinnacle of feminism for you… I hate to break it to you but you’re stuck about 10 years behind the curve in understanding what feminism is really all about at this point. Please expand your a) understanding of feminism and b) movie watching views. There are plenty of amazing movies out there beyond Barbie, I promise. And plenty of resources to get you up to speed on feminism today.

[likeabxrdinflight]

I'm absolutely deranged over this sweeney revival and so sad it's closing because I think this might be the only iteration of the show where it's like. very obvious that this version of sweeney and mrs lovett are fucking. like that's pretty clear, right? in most renditions it's played like a largely unrequited thing, with mrs lovett attempting over the course of the show to get sweeney to love her despite the fact that he's utterly uninterested.

that was...that was not the case in this version. and the place where I think that becomes most apparent is actually in "a little priest," because I think this is where the transition takes place. prior to this the 2023 show is playing out broadly the same as usual, with mrs lovett focused primarily on getting sweeney to look at her for more than five seconds while sweeney is plotting his revenge. I'm not sure how annaleigh played it live, since I didn't get to see her take and haven't found any decent (publicly available) clips of her, but sutton made some interesting choices here where she's always got her hands hovering over sweeney but rarely does she actually touch him (this was most apparent to me during "my friends" and "wait"). it was like he was something she desperately wanted to hold but couldn't bring herself to yet. like he (or the tenuous bond between them) was made of glass and she was afraid to break him (and it).

that changes after "a little priest." because for the whole show up to that point, sweeney is, as in every production, completely uninterested in her. he seems to reject her advances, doesn't initiate much if any contact with her, and at most treats her as a business partner. but the second mrs lovett suggests her whole baking-people-into-pies scheme, that seems to change. suddenly he's holding her arms, pulling her into a dance, he grabs her face at one point- it was like this little flash of genuinely visible evil from her (which she normally tries to cover more than he does) suddenly attracts him in a way nothing she'd tried up 'til then had. and sutton as mrs lovett responds to this, and that seemed to be the motive behind her iteration of the character playing up the cannibalism humor and making all these jokes about who they could bake into pies. it's like she's suddenly gotten a dash of the affection from him she's been craving and now she's going to do everything possible to keep him laughing, to keep him focused on her and not the judge.

from that point on in this version of the show, I think they're sleeping together. do I think sweeney ever truly falls in love with her? no of course not, that's entirely against the point of his character. but I do think this version of sweeney has more affection for her than other iterations have. more than any other production I've personally seen, this one presented them as a couple, a real partnership, to the point that "by the sea" reads less as another attempt at seduction and more as a legitimate proposal made from one established sexual partner to the other. (the acting choices here also make it.......................almost impossible that they're not fucking I mean she...there's this whole thing with her feet and his suspenders and it's so funny but there's no way. there's no way they weren't sleeping together, just trust me.) and all throughout that song he reacts with the usual sort of annoyance that you'd expect for the character, but there were a few times I'm sure he smiled a little, I was close enough to see it- and whether that was aaron breaking character a bit or a legitimate acting choice I have no idea- but either way it made him seem a little bit fond of her, even when he was irritated.

some people might not like this, since it does sort of go against what was the original intention in the script, but I think it adds another layer of tragedy to the ending if they were genuinely together. because they were so close. they were so close to having some kind of life together, some kind of happiness that wouldn't ever replace the life sweeney had lost, that wouldn't ever replace lucy or johanna, but it could have been a life. maybe even a nice one (minus the whole murdering-and-baking-people-into-pies thing). but it can't ever be because it was only ever happening under false pretenses. because mrs lovett lied. she almost had everything she wanted, she almost had him, but she could only get it because of that one lie, and she loses it all because of that lie too. and that's ultimately her tragedy.

[xxc0mp4ctd1scxx]

I wish that who uses only "she/her" or "he/him" referring to Mizu kinda get the drip that Mizu isn't neither a man nor a woman.

That whoever is using only one of these pronouns is actually seeing that Mizu is kinda beyond gender shit, and any other category.

So when using those are all in a genderqueer/genderfuck way. When calling them girlfriend or man or bf is in an ironic way.

I really wish I'm not seeing people thinking Mizu is a woman just bc they are AFAB or bc "this trope is ant-women" terf's shit. Cuz I guarantee that Mulan (1998) and Blue Eye Samurai (2023) aren't being feminist in a simple "We Can Do It, too" way, but rather "See, gender roles are stupid and fuck you if you think that genderqueer people don't exist and people are only MAN or WOMAN."

Man, I really hate when people look at a genderqueer story and think only in binary. Adult Mizu could have been a woman if they really were one, cuz the point of they being perseved as a boy was only to be more difficult to find them as a kid, when their mom couldn't protect them with her hands or power, cuz she had none.

I think that when they were in the wife role, they weren't really performing it as a woman, but more like a duty commonly attributed to wife (more like my father being the cook in the house and a really good caretaker who is really considering and cute, and also being the dad figure, when my mom is in the finances business of the house and isn't the best caretaker of all times...) and for they mom respect and consideration, cuz they loved her and wanted to show their love, retributing by marry that guy.

But they were rejected by their mom and their husband, when being their own singular self. When showing they weren't the wife, neither the woman people thought they should be.

Yes, they suit a masc appearance and mannerisms, but it seem dehonest to call them a man. They really don't perform a man image.

Just like non binary transmasc or butches... We aren't really men just bc we are mascs. And we aren't really, by the book, women, solely by the fact we are AFAB.

Why? Cuz it is just like that. Gender isn't the binary we were thought and I wish everyone a really good search and thinking on genderqueer thesis and documents, already documented discussions and a read on "Butch Blues", a watch on "Tomboy", etc.

[stormingfrost]

guardians ages?

I have been a bit curious (and in desperate need of some fun facts about these characters) so have some canonical info about these characters ages and the frustrating inconsistencies in some of them (oh inconsistent lore, how I loathe you)

Sophie Bennett - she is 2 years old (rotg script and rotg movie novelization

Jamie Bennett - he is both 8 and 10 years old (the art of rotg and worlds of wonder)

Jack Frost - he is 14, 17, and 18 (and in the books, he can manipulate his age from 11 to 18) (William Joyce, Peter Ramsey, the rotg app, worlds of wonder, guide to the guardians, McDonalds profile card, book five of the Goc series, and William Joyce again)

Katherine - she grows up to be 25, and can manipulate her age from 12 to 25 (book five of the Goc series) she’s also dating Jack (which makes the scene of them arguing and him getting younger and her getting older just. So weird. Why, Joyce, why?)

Sandy - he is the oldest and wisest of the guardians (worlds of wonder, McDonald’s profile card, the art of rotg, and guide to the guardians)

North - in the goc books, he doesn’t know his age (book one in the goc series)

Tooth - younger than the wind but as old as the mountains and her implied age to be closer to whatever Jack is supposed to be (the rotg app, art of rise of the guardians, and the rotg script)

(Video description: a clip of the Filmmaker’s commentary. Peter Ramsey is talking over a clip of the movie when the Guardians collect teeth and Jack and Tooth interact. Peter Ramsey is saying ‘Jack and Tooth have a little semi flirtation, Guillermo Del Toro was always like, ‘come on, we got to give them a love story! Jack’s got to be a heartthrob, I urge you!’ End description)

[museofvoid-art]

shoutout to the mangle, gotta be one of my favorite genders

[cosmignon]

more tmnt mm thoughts: really appreciate leo having a big stupid crush on april if only bc the movie spends a good amount of runtime on emphasizing she's beautiful/pretty/radiant, as it SHOULD because her design is SO good

but also it is just very funny and cute to see all his brothers ragging on him at once while april gets to know them all better

[give-grian-rights]

i've gotten dropped into the DC franchise (primarily a handful of animated series) pretty hard, and i just fucking said to my self "god, i think nearly every portrayal of Barry Allen is great, he's literally such a great guy-" and then remembered that the character is currently being played in Cinema by a misogynist with kidnapping allegations

[cream-and-punishment]

Do movies really need to be great and insightful and "deep" or is it enough to have Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc solving his silly little mysteries while he wears his cute little outfits????

[marklikely]

like that l.a. times article is rightfully being dragged through the mud so maybe my complaining is redundant. but i think if you wrote "maybe barbie would get a nomination if she survived a mass murder plot" you should never be allowed to write again

[james-stark-the-writer]

finally watching Barbarian (2022) and this man has negative charisma tbh. incredibly funny to cast a man this good looking in a role like this.

[literaryspinster]

There is a fine line between wanting Black female characters to be shown in a soft, romantic, glamorous light, and implying that Black women who are poor, Black women who have suffered, and Black women who don’t live traditional lives don’t deserve representation at all.

[finexbright]

.

[hartwinorlose]

yesterday i commited barbenheimer and if you plan to do this, i suggest going Oppenheimer first, then Barbie

astoundingly, my favorite part of both films was the same:

the soundtrack

the production/set design

In both films, these were quite impressive

oppenheimer: i have come to the conclusion that oppenheimer was a not-very-interesting man surrounded by interesting circumstances. i thought the acting was all phenomenal, the cinematography was great. sound mixing could have been better. it is 3 hours long and really felt like it near the end. i thought the subject matter was well-handled and nuanced, and i really like the way it portrayed scientists. the ending conversation with einstein was one of the best parts of the film. i don't think this is a movie for everyone because it is so long and focused on such a depressing topic

barbie: i enjoyed this, especially the musical sequences. some of the jokes fell pretty flat; others really hit. will ferrell and the board members were a weak link - not even sure why they were in this. i thought ryan gosling and margot robbie were both show-stealers. the sets and fashion of this were AMAZING. i thought the core message was pretty solid for young girls, though it's not saying anything that's much of a revelation to older audiences

[butchyena]

i wish there was a more polite way to say “you are clearly being a contrarian for the sake of your own ego and only care this much because you feel personally slighted by other people’s enjoyment/opinions/engagement. clearly this topic is not for you so this is not a conversation we need to be having/i am uninterested in responding to devil’s advocacy”

[windmill-ghost]

My opinions on “AI”/artificially generated art is that there should be a universal basic income.