#its so quotable too

[can-we-die-now]

to simplify the problem

eliminate the man

~MPN

[tbhkquoteveryday]

Febuary 6:

"How d'ya like them donuts??!?!!"

Kou to Tsuchigomori, chapter 12

[thelaughingmerman]

The amount of references to Daddy Day Care I make vs the amount of people who know what I'm talking about are staggeringly different numbers.

[sophfandoms53]

Blue acts and talks so much like those ai live people on tiktok or even netflix original scripts and it pisses me off omg

[malaierba]

Karamatsu's iconic "I am a guilty guy, a sinful man" spiel is oddly Catholic

[yanqings]

Im gonna be honest with you all but prommy you wont kill me ok? anyways i cant stand that wwx poem bye <3

[angerygoomba]

affirm i will not quote a line from mr morale and the big steppers for my senior quote just because im listening to it at 1 am in the dark of my living room with my doggy as a questioning amab

[skitskatdacat63]

It's so impressive to me how Alien and Aliens are both really good horror movies that are equally incredibly tense/scary, but in practically the exact opposite ways. And ah man they really both hold up so well for being pretty old movies 🥺

[penginlord]

A Bridge too Far is one of the best and most underrated war movies for so many reasons, some of which I'll cover here just because it's a very good movie you should see. It both shows you the sheer scale of WW2, with massive paratrooper drops, artillery bombardments and tanks, while also showing the human side of the war with many small stories that relate too the whole, like the American corporal who threatens a surgeon to save the life of someone who earlier in the film he'd promised would survive the war. It cover so many perspectives, from that of high command preparing the whole thing, too intelligence officers, Frontline commanders and soldiers, to the Dutch resistance. It shows primarily the British side of the war too, which is unusual, but still shows the American side, as well as including a view from the polish brigade (and how poorly the British treat them) and even the Germans on the other side of the assault.

But what is it about? A Bridge too Far is about operation Market-Garden, a plan devised by British Field Marshall Montgomery involving the largest paratrooper drop in the entire war and around 60 miles of road and bridges in occupied Holland. The idea was too drop airborne units in occupied Holland to capture all of the required bridges on this route. Then an armored column would punch a hole through the German front line and make their way up the road, securing the captured bridges all the way to Arnhem, the final bridge across the river Rhine where they can then capture Germany's industrial heart, all within 2 (maybe 3) days.

A plan flawed at conception, and execution, as well as just being struck with some of the worst luck imaginable. (2 whole panzer divisions had recently been stationed in Arnhem to "rest from the front lines to prepare for Patton's assault", as well as the radios issued to the British paratroopers landing in Arnhem not working at all).

It's just a masterful film that just shows. . .war. You can feel the emotions of everyone as they experience everything in here.

You can feel the emotion of the Polish general when he says "when two people say 'I know what were going to do today let's play the war game', people die".

The final shot of the film is the most impactful to me, I've realized. It ties everything together. It's a simple shot of a Dutch family leaving Arnhem after it was destroyed in battle. There's no music, no commentary. Just one shot showing them walking away with nowhere left to go.

[victoriadallonfan]

Lets Talk: The Predator Franchise

About two months ago, I put my thoughts into my feelings on the Alien Franchise, and why I felt that they've been faltering so much.

It felt only fitting that I do the same for the Predator franchise, but I ran into a very curious thing... there's only one bad Predator movie.

A shocking statement, I know, but I'm not counting the AVP movie series (that's it's own separate thing). The Predator (film) is easily the only bad film in the entire series, but I'll get to that later.

First things first: lets talk about Predator (1987).

It's an all time classic, a great deconstruction of the 80's action film, with insanely quotable dialogue and memorable characters - not just the Predator itself, but all the human characters are easily recognizable.

Unlike the Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), Predator is not predominantly a horror film, nor is it emphasizing a tough topic such as sexual assault. It does HAVE horror aspects (the first time they find the skinned corpses is intensely unnerving, especially when they realize that this group of marines apparently lost all self-control and fired in all directions), and it does touch a bit on how the US government is using its own soldiers as cannon fodder to destabilize third-world countries.

But it's not really built to scare the viewer so much as to present a simple idea: what if these action heroes met a bigger, stronger, more advanced version of themselves? And the result is a near total party wipe.

Watching the original film, you realize that the Predator is depicted as incredibly unfair. The majority of its kills are it sniping someone from afar, rushing them when they aren't even looking (while cloaked), and doing a combination of the above. It would have killed Arnold while his back was turned, if the net trap hadn't been set in place.

Hell, it even kills a wounded soldier that Arnold is carrying, after Billy's "last stand" (that lasted mere moments at best, implying the Predator didn't give him the time of day).

(Also, speaking of Billy... he's psychic? Apparently?)

But yeah, the Predator depicted is not the honor clad warrior that some fans may stan (and some writers believe) but more like the equivalent of Counter-Strike hacker. The fact that it takes Arnold untold amounts of traps, ingenuity, and willpower for the Predator to finally face him man to man, no tech, no weapons is meant to be a testament to how impressive Arnold is.

Likewise, the Predator decides to blow himself the fuck up while cackling manically like a supervillain as he tries to finally kill Dutch, also opens him to showing that as alien as it is, it's remarkably human. A spite filled asshole of a human, but humanish nonetheless (amplified by him copying human speech on prior occasions).

It's a really great film about how alien life, if more advanced than our own, might see us as lesser people or outright livestock to hunt (keep a pin in that).

Predator 2 (1990) is often divided amongst fans.

Some hate the fact that it takes place in the "modern day" LA, instead of sticking to the blazing heat of the jungle (as the lore of the first movie implies that the Predator or a Predator visits at the hottest time of the season to create the local bogeyman figure), but this film does a fine job justifying the LA heatwave and honestly... the idea of keeping the Predator to one type of biome is pretty limiting. So I don't mind that.

As one can tell already, I don't think this movie is bad. As good as the first? No, it rehashes a bit too much for that. But it's still a fun and good movie.

And, notably, scarier.

But for context, Predator 2 is set in the far future of... uh, 1997 LA, where there has been open warfare between the LAPD and the Jamaican and Colombian Cartels. Like, not drug busts or stings, but actual warfare with armies of gangs and shit.

The late 80's and early 90's loved to depict LA as a dystopian hellscape where "law and order" was the only defense from total anarchy (as anyone who has ever lived in LA can tell you, racial tensions, especially between the public and police have not been good to say the least).

This entire setup is like a D.A.R.E nightmare or wet dream depending on who's asking.

(Also the Jamaican drug leader, King Willy, might also be psychic? This is the last time it's brought up, but man, I sort of wish we could see future plot lines where people are randomly psychic in these films.)

Anyways, the situation is certainly perfect for this Predator (named City Hunter to differentiate between Jungle Hunter), who takes to the city with a gusto. The difference in how the Predator is portrayed is fascinating, because the bare bones remain the same: he hunts people who are deemed as sport with alien technology.

Fitting with the ultra-violent theme of this film however, this Predator feels like a legitimately horror movie monster. Unlike the Jungle Hunter, City Hunter doesn't prefer to attack from afar, but rather ripping and tearing in close quarters combat, and when he does use ranged weaponry, it's stuff like spears, bladed discs, and nets that shred people into bloody messes.

And he's 110% a bigger asshole that Jungle Hunter: when the City Hunter decides to focus on our lead man, Danny Glover, he doesn't just hunt the man but psychologically torture him. He murders his partner - who is probably the least threatening human in the entire series - just so he can taunt Glover with his necklace at his own grave. He then copies the innocent words of a child just so he can use it as a creepy catchphrase when he decides to hunt Glover's other partners.

The iconic subway massacre perfectly exemplifies both aspects of the City Hunter. He interrupts a massive stand-off between armed civilians, gang members, and the police, just wading in and killing everyone indiscriminately as people frantically scream and claw over each other trying to escape.

(Speaking of, this film does have a LOT of fun having the Predator on modern sets. The above subway scene, City Hunter investigating a meat locker, and him performing emergency surgery in an apartment bathroom are all really cool).

Also, for being so divisive, this film creates a lot of Predator lore: the Predator won't kill (unarmed) children, he won't kill pregnant women, and he WILL kill the elderly if they are packing heat.

And this includes the trophy wall (with xenomorph skull - actually funny because we never see a Predator collect a xenomorph skull in the AVP films) and that the Predator tribe will honor and respect those who defeat their kind with a reward.

It does include that the government is aware of the Predator existence and tries to capture them, but this won't be a major plot line again until The Predator (2018) though it gets some tongue in cheek reference in Predators (2010).

Anyways solid film, lots of cheesey scenes and very tropey stuff that hasn't aged well (or aged in a way that makes it amusing). It's also that last movie that actually tries to be true horror, in my opinion. The rest of the films stick to Action with Gore, but Predator 2 is truly the last film where you feel like this was written to be a horror film.

Also, this film will be the last to really play into the world as being an overly dramatic action movie earth. It's all realism from here.

And then the film franchise will go quiet until 2004 and 2008 for the AVP films (that I won't cover here).

Finally, we get to Predators (2010), and obvious title call back to Aliens (1986) and I have to say, a pretty good trio of ideas: The human targets are actually kidnapped and dropped on a safari planet, there are multiple Predators with their own unique designs and gimmicks, and there is a internal war between the Bad Bloods (aka the Predators who break the "honor code") and the 'normal' Predator clans.

(It should be noted that Bad Bloods have been a thing for years in comics and books, but not really in the mainstream until this film introduced it to movie audiences)

I have to say, despite having a fondness for the film and loving the new ideas, this film is not as enjoyable as Predator or Predator 2. It unfortunately suffers from what I call 2010ism, where there's a lot of CGI blood/gore, a lot of lighting/shadows aren't natural in a horror sense, and the dialogue isn't memorable because it wanted to ditch the action movie dialogue.

The last part isn't necessarily too bad, and it even works with how Adrian Brody is portrayed as a cynical asshole who is purposely meant to be the opposite of Arnold in every way. But the most memorable dialogue is definitely from Walter Goggins (including his highly disturbing "bitch raping time" speech).

Also, it really wastes Topher Grace, Laurence Fishbourne, and Danny Trejo, along with the whole idea of a gang of multinational killers/soldiers/enforcers forced to work together. Not nearly enough time is given to them to bond as a team and have a moment where they show off how cool they are like Predator and Predator 2 did.

Coupled with the safari world being just... a jungle, it feels like a lot of good ideas with "safe" execution.

I don't mean to rag on the film, it's still very fun, and a lot of that is due to the Bad Bloods.

The idea of a particular group of Predators being so evil that they are even warring with their (smaller) counterparts is a great idea, imo, and these Bad Bloods are memorable for their gimmicks.

You had one who used drones as "falcons" to scan and scout out large tracks of terrain, another who employed alien "hounds" to harass humans like a fox hunt, and the leader who had a rapid-fire plasma caster that was overpowered as hell. They also employed other tech like alien bear traps, net traps, and voice decoys.

This movie definitely had the most advanced Predator tech seen on film at the time, making the Jungle Hunter and City Hunter look low tech by comparison, and I think also served to try and force the idea of the Bad Bloods being really "unfair" compared to others.

And of course, we get our first Predator vs Predator fight, which was suitably graphic and badass. Also, I liked that one Predator died by a human pulling a suicide vest attack. Idk, I thought it was pretty ironic considering that's what predators do when they are about to lose, and thought it was neat.

Ultimately, there isn't much else to say about Predators (2010), even though the film ends on a cliffhanger with more people (and aliens) being dropped on the planet. I enjoyed it, it had a lot of cool ideas, cool tech, and cool lore... but if the prior films could be compared to novels, this one felt more like a guidebook.

And now... eight years pass and we get The Predator (2018)

Where do I begin with this movie.

I guess I start with the obvious: it's bad. It's a genuinely awful movie with few redeeming qualities. I'd say it's on the tier of Alien: Resurrection, except this movie is actually offensive because of autism ableism (turns out that autism is actually the next step of human evolution and makes you naturally predisposed to using Predator technology).

And don't get me started on the sex offender controversy.

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. It's just that this movie... jesus christ, I rewatched it for this post, and it feels like a fever dream.

The Predator (2018) ultimately, is a film that looked at everything that came before it and said, "What if we did it all on a grander scale? And make it bad?" The plot is that a Predator is being hunted by an even larger, more powerful Predator, because it plans on harvesting humanity. You see, in this movie, some Predators use the genes of animals they hunt to improve themselves. The Super Predator as he is called, is a massive 10 foot tall monster that has turned his body into a super weapon, with technology built directly into his biology.

The Good Predator arrives on Earth to warn humanity and deliver a "Predator Killer" suit of Iron Man armor that will help humanity defend the Earth from the oncoming invasion force. The Super Predator wants humanity harvested because... autism makes them super geniuses.... and he declares that a 12 year old boy with autism to be the greatest Predator he's ever met... just because he has autism...

Look, I don't know how the fuck I'm supposed to describe the plot of this movie. It's just bad. It's stupid. At one point they turn a Predator hound good by giving it a bullet lobotomy.

It feels like this movie hates everyone. It hates the Predators, literally killing off the Good Predator not even halfway through the film. It hates the cast, because all of them are forgettable except for Olivia Munn and Super Predator, and it kills the mystique of the Predators because it has Super Predator monologue like an actual supervillain.

The dialogue is genuinely awful, the actors have no chemistry, and the comedy (oh yes, this film acts like a comedy on several occasions) is the definition of cringe. I would call it "ChatGPT writes Predator" but honestly, ChatGPT could do it better.

Let it be known that my words do not do how awful this movie is justice. You can only understand how bad it is by watching it, but it's absolutely NOT worth the time.

Is there anything good about this movie? Besides the Holiday Special on home release?

The effects are pretty good. We see a lot of high tech Predator stuff and that's always cool. I think this had the highest budget of any of the films and it shows.

There's an action set-piece where Good Predator escapes from a government facility and uses an M4-Assault Rifle which is badass. One of the best action scenes in the movie and a neat tie-back to the government investigating them.

The Super Predator is a cool concept and I actually enjoyed him for a large part of the film. I liked that he could just pick up a human like a toy and gut him like a fish before tossing him aside. I love the idea of a Predator that isn't a hunter, but rather a soldier sent in to fuck shit up, showing off the different tech. Really gives the impression that their society has different roles and tech for Predators beyond hunting.

I wish they gave him a helmet and didn't let him monologue like a supervillain.

And that's it. That's the good stuff. Nothing else matters. It says a lot that I don't think Super Predator or the autism plot has been accepted into lore in comics or books.

It's even been argued that this film was deemed non-canon because of how abysmal the reception was.

Suffice to say, after this awful film, fans were pretty low spirit. Which made it all the more surprising when Prey (2022) was released 4 years later.

There was a lot of drama about this film: the franchise is dead, why is the film so woke for including woman and minorities, how can any human expect to beat a Predator with a bow?

This drama is stupid and should rightfully be mocked.

Prey (2022) was a breath of fresh air for the franchise and I'd argue the best film in terms of quality.

It quite literally goes back to the roots of the series and does something that really elevated the film: it made the Predator symbolise something!

This film takes place in the 18th century on the Great Plains, following Naru the Commanche healer who dreams of being a hunter. Meanwhile, a young Predator - known as the Feral Predator for his aggression - is dropped on the planet for his first ever hunt.

Obviously, you can see the parallels between the two as Naru learns to use tricks and tools to handle her weaknesses, while Feral uses brute-force and high tech equipment to slaughter the animals and humans of the planet. The Bear hunt scene, where Naru is forced to flee from a bear and helplessly watch Feral kill the creature with it's bare hands (haha), thus condemning her in his eyes as not a threat is perfect character foil.

Also, he's such a piece of shit, cheating the moment he feels like his prey has the better of him. But in a good way that makes sense for his character.

But on the grander scale, the Predator represents colonialism. A secondary antagonist of the film are the French fur trappers, who have been skinning wild buffalo and depriving the commanche of their food source, openly compared to the Predator skinning animals/humans for trophies instead of resources.

It's actually a lesson Naru has to learn from her brother and mother, that to become a true hunter is about doing so to support a community, not just for ego and idolization.

Its no accident that the Fur Trapper leader dies when Naru sabotages his gun and Feral dies when Naru does the same to his gun as well, with both of them trapped and crippled without any means of escaping their demise.

This film finally moves to make the Predators feel like evil villains who are supremely selfish, much like the first 2 films emphasized (and the third film did to a lesser extent).

But talk of how amazing Naru is as a protagonist and how great the Feral predator is as an antagonist, the film is just good. The cinematography is gorgeous, the actors are great, the Predator effects and costume are terrifying, and lore wise, it does a lot to show that the Predator society is not stagnant.

They evolve over the years and it shows.

And my god are the action scenes incredible. The Predator vs Fur Trapper fight is probably one of the most iconic scenes in the entire franchise now, and for good reason.

Or Naru's knife fight massacre

All in all, this film really shows that the Predator films can be more that action films and... whatever the fuck The Predator (2018) was trying to be.

These films can be used to explore the history of humanity and symbolize concepts that deal with oppression, bigotry, and dehumanization.

The title of Prey - the focus on making the protagonists human - versus the Predator title is incredibly fitting.

While a sequel is left up in the air, we do have confirmation that a new standalone film - titled merely Badlands - is set to come out soon.

I can only hope they learned the right lessons from Prey and we can leave the horrid past of The Predator (2018) behind us for good.

[zepskies]

Hey! Just wondering if you could suggest some romantic/rom-com movies💖

Have a great day❤️🌼

Oh my goodness, I certainly can!! Thank you, bby! 💖💖

10 of my favorite romantic comedies:

(In no particular order.)

1. 10 Things I Hate About You

An absolute perfect movie. Dialogue, casting, story, romance, Heath Ledger, Shakespeare references, what more could a literary inclined girl want?

2. A Cinderella Story

Another gift from the early 2000s. Is it cheesy? Sometimes. Is it adorable? Absolutely.

3. He's Just Not That Into You

Hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, ensemble cast, but the endings for each couple are undoubtedly satisfying. Plus, my favorite rewind moment of all time:

4. Crazy, Stupid Love

Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Steve Carrell, Josh Groban cameo. Need I say more? (But it will also unexpectedly grip your heart with profound, tender moments.)

5. While You Were Sleeping

One of my favorite Sandra Bullock rom coms, of which there are many. (Honorary mentions: The Proposal, Practical Magic, Two Weeks Notice, and Miss Congeniality, though it's not really a rom com is one of my favorite movies in existence.)

6. You've Got Mail

A classic of classics in rom com history. Meg Ryan at her best, Tom Hanks at his. She's a small, independent bookstore owner. He's essentially Barnes & Noble, coming in to disrupt New York with corporate America.

7. Mrs. Winterbourne

A forgotten '90s Brendan Fraser must-see movie. He's the "rich playboy" type, she's scrappy and resourceful, pregnant by her deadbeat ex-boyfriend, and pretending to be the widow of Fraser's twin brother, who recently died in a train accident.

8. Crazy Rich Asians

Based on a book, top-tier casting, bad ass mother-in-law, bad ass heroine, a classy, handsome, Good Man™️ hero? Sign me TF up.

9. 13 Going on 30

Easily Jennifer Garner's best movie, but also Mark freakin' Ruffalo. They're adorable together, and this one's a classic in its own right, full of heart, back-stabbing bitches, and 80s music references.

10. My Big Fat Greek Wedding

It's one of the best, folks. Also one of the most quotable movies in movie history lol. As a kid, I remember really identifying with Toula, who feels too plain, too big, too "frump girl."

But Ian never saw her that way. He genuinely laughs at her jokes. He's patient with her and sees her beauty, inside and out. He also deals with a lot of crap from her family in order to be with her, with all the grace and gentlemanly poise a guy could have.

And Toula learns to love herself, fall in love for the first time, and challenges every expectation of her family to do so.

I have many, many more, but these are just a few of my favorites. What's yours?

Don't see it on this list? Drop it in the comments! 💋

[j4m3s-b4k3r]

The Darkest Of Angels

The latest instalment in the MAD MAX series, FURIOSA, is not as inventive as its predecessor, FURY ROAD. There are few moments to match the kooky joy of seeing the DOOF WARRIOR thrashing his guitar made out of a bedpan, atop a truck full of Taiko drummers in this movie. But FURIOSA delivered, and not in the ways expected. It is dark. A post-nuclear Dickensian western. A harrowing tale of an orphan taken to the Wasteland workhouse. With no inheritance to save her day, she wants revenge. There's plenty of George Miller’s signature kinetic storytelling. This isn't mere mayhem, but a thoughtful meditation on war, revenge, grief, and hope, told in 5 chapters.

1: The Pole of Inaccessibility

“Do Not Look Away, You Mustn’t Look Away.”

The tale begins in the “Green Place”, an EDEN hidden in the Wasteland. Instead of an apple, a peach is plucked by a little girl - a much younger FURIOSA. For the first hour, the titular character is played by Alyla Browne, who gives an absolutely riveting performance. Many of the traumatic moments that will shape the character are dealt with by this incredible young actor. 

Furiosa is soon kidnapped by the motorbike crazies that populate the MAD MAX films. Unfortunately for the goons, Furiosa’s mum MARY JABASSA is a veritable fury, and relentlessly hunts them down. Played by Charlee Fraser, the character isn’t in the story for long but she absolutely fizzes with intensity while she’s on screen. Leaving a white hot afterglow that lasts for the rest of the film. Unfortunately, she is soon dealt with by the villain of the tale. 

When we first meet DEMENTUS, he is clothed in white robes, like a desert messiah in his tent. Hemsworth’s performance is one of the highlights of the film. Dementus has a rural Australian accent, and a speaking style reminiscent of earlier generations. This may be lost on anyone without a small town Australian grandfather, but for me it had a chilling effect. At once folksy, familiar and terrifying. Most of the quotable lines from this film are from Dementus. He’s a bad egg, but eminently watchable. A Long John Silver of the desert.

2: Lessons from the Wasteland

"Who's got the goods? The bollocks, the testes to ride with Dementus?! "

Anya Taylor-Joy was arresting, and did wonders with a largely non verbal role. She was a strange choice for the role though. Alyla Browne believably played a child version of Charlize Theron, but Anya Taylor-Joy’s distinctive features and slight frame aren’t going to look like Theron in 10-15 years time. 

When Charlize Theron’s FURIOSA spoke with a north American accent in FURY ROAD, I accepted it as possible in Miller’s Wasteland. After all, we’d already learned years ago that way out in the middle of the outback, you might meet... TINA TURNER. So yeah, that accent made sense in 2015. However, we now know that Furiosa’s parents and childhood accent were both Australian. Then, she somehow acquires a North American accent growing up in the Citadel. Surrounded by Aussie War Boys?

George Miller deservedly gets praise for his imaginative visual world building and storytelling, but sometimes his world doesn’t make ‘sense’. I know that these films are best taken as kinetic & operatic comic books, taking place in a mythic world. However, inconsistencies sometimes break the spell, popping me out of the movie watching experience, to ask real world questions. 

However, Tom Burke’s Aussie accent was flawless, and his turn as PRAETORIAN JACK was wonderful. A stoic character, with as many wounds and losses as any other wretch in this misbegotten landscape, but who hasn’t lost the ability to be humane.

3: The Stowaway

“Didja see that? How they fought for each other, this little army of two? Where were they going, so full of hope?”

Each MAD MAX film thus far took us to a completely new part of the Wasteland. FURIOSA too shows us a new location, the Green Place. Experienced for mere moments, before being hauled to locations we’d previously seen in FURY ROAD. 

Though shown 15-20 years earlier, they looked exactly the same. Instead of seeing The Citadel only partially built, ruled by a younger Immortan Joe (perhaps not yet needing his mask, but already showing the signs of physical frailties?) characters & locations look as they did in a movie set 15-20 years later.The only character who shows the passage of time is Furiosa herself. 

George Miller takes big swings with these MAD MAX films, but in completely different ways with each one. FURIOSA is back to a revenge story, which is where the series began, but with a completely different structure this time. Ending on a dialogue in the desert, instead of blow-the-hinges off action sequence. After the excitement of what came before, a verbal showdown in the desert was anticlimactic for some. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, climaxing with jibber jabber instead of Leone’s gunfight. For me though, this ending (and Hemsworth’s speech) was one of the high points of the film.

The film has many images that stay with me - A time-lapse shot of a young tree growing from a discarded wig. A lizard eats flies buzzing around a skull in the desert, only to be crushed under a racing motorbike tire. Parasailing marauders attack a giant truck from the sky. The sadistically twisted villain wears a child’s teddy bear. Owned by a victim? Or his own children from long ago? What a grimly beautiful world this is.

4: Homeward

“There will always be war. But to get home, Furiosa fought the world.”

Some critics said FURIOSA was “an epic slice of myth-making”, while others called it “a joyless, pointless, pretentious and inartistic slog”. Generally though, critical response was effusive. 90% on Rotten Tomatoes with an 89% audience score. Interestingly, these action films are consistently rated higher by critics than by audiences:

FURIOSA: 90%/89% FURY ROAD: 97%/86%  BEYOND THUNDERDOME: 79%/49%  ROAD WARRIOR: 94%/86%  MAD MAX: 90%/70% 

Also interesting, is that FURIOSA’s audience score is the highest of all the 5 films. Stranger still is that this favourable response didn’t result in box office success.. There are many theories as to why this is so. Although some say that this is the best prequel ever, any prequel is by definition unnecessary. Perhaps those that focus on a sidekick character will have a harder time connecting with audiences. Especially if the franchise’s main character is a no show. (Likewise, SHORT ROUND: AN INDIANA JONES SAGA might tank at the box office too, if Indy only has a cameo of mere seconds.)

This gets to why an audience decides to go see a movie. Personally, I just needed to know that George Miller - a director I’ve followed since my teens - was making another movie. That’s it. I was already in line before I knew what it was about. But most people, even MAD MAX fans, lost interest when they heard the famous character wasn’t in it. Joe & Jane Public bond with actors and characters. Directors not so much.

5. Beyond Vengeance

“D’ya have it in ya to make it epic?”

Movies used to be cheap entertainment, that audiences could afford to take a chance on, but they are expensive nowadays. Especially with all the bells & whistles of IMAX and reserved seating. People have been burned so many times by gushing press luring them to lame movies, that positive reviews and ‘buzz’ are now simply assumed to be studio psyops. Flatly ignored. Instead, if it’s a film they are unsure of, many prefer to wait a few weeks and try movies at home, affordably. On the big screen TVs & sound systems bought during the pandemic.

Given FURIOSA’s poor box office, we may never get the 6th instalment in the MAD MAX saga; WASTELAND. Which makes me regret that George Miller hadn’t made that film before this one. FURIOSA isn’t my fave of the MAD MAX films, but ranks high in my personal list. A fantastic addition to this series, that deserved more success than it got, sadly. Seeing George Miller stretch himself, in this mythic world he has constructed over decades, is a true cinematic joy.

“To feel alive, we seek sensation — any sensation to wash away the cranky black sorrow!”

[someoneelsemaybe]

I need someone to match my freak but my freak is being unhealthily obsessed with spices. I just made the sickest most quotable analogy I’ve ever made comparing spices to colors and I have no one who will take this as seriously as me. That mccormick garam masala blend I picked up from my dad’s spice stock randomly has forever improved my culinary skills. The cumin and cinnamon are both such strong tastes that I associate heavily with certain dishes; cumin is burger and cinnamon is snickerdoodle, but the addition of cardamom… the coolness of the cardamom balances out the spicy sweetness of the cinnamon, making it recognizable for its true flavor disassociated from the deserts it is commonly used in. And this new flavor from the balanced cinnamon balances the cumin into a basic spice. The additions of coriander and black pepper just further add to the taste. Additive spice mixing is all I’ve been using, adding thyme flavors to red pepper flavors is all I’ve known. Garlic thrown in here and there. But now… now I’ve found the truth. I must continue forth—no. reconstruct my entire understanding of spice. using this new… subtractive spice mixing. Balancing is too powerful. I’m only calling it subtractive due to the analogy to light. I’ve been playing with crayons when light was there the whole time. I only needed the geniuses of the past—entire generations of spice knowledge from different regions, cultures, individual families—to properly propel my abilities. Now I must only piece together everything the I’ve learned. All of this because I got high from sniffing too many spices because I was trying to familiarize myself with them. Holy shit. I have truly become one with the flavors. I understand. The subtle intricacies. The differences between thyme and savory. How far from thyme oregano is. The truth behind chives. Cinnamon, cumin, cardamom. These spices shall forever be a symbol in my dishes. That of my discoveries today. I must experiment. The knowledge of light supplied by those geniuses. The garam masala blend from mccormick that is probably a gross oversimplification of what garam masala blends are actually like. I am sorry to those whose cuisine mccormick has made appetizing to the white people who buy them, but this knowledge has given me enlightenment. My eyes have been opened to the extent of seasonings. Pigments only reflect the light that is shown unto them, yet the pigments also decide what light to reflect. The flavors must be combined and balanced all the same in order to achieve the best taste. My brain is moving too fast. Once I’ve written a sentence I’ve moved on so far that I’ve forgotten what the subject matter is. I think I’ve calmed down. Highly recommend sniffing spices for hours. My breath smells of cinnamon despite only having smelled it. Save me. No dont. Let. Me. Cook.

[jedimandalorian]

According to the latest Star Wars Chronology, the years 9 ABY to 19 ABY are called the “Peace of the New Republic.”

It is likely that the Ahsoka series and its sequels and crossovers all take place in this time period, which means

1. Lucasfilm will have to retcon this chronology because Thrawn starts another galactic war.

or

2. Thrawn finds out that the Emperor he once served is dead and the Empire has fallen, so he goes home to the Chiss Ascendancy in the Unknown Regions.

and/or

3. The Nightmothers were just using Thrawn to get to Dathomir, just as Thrawn was using them to get back home to the main SW galaxy. Now that the witches have achieved their goal, they will betray Thrawn and/or he will betray them.

and/or

4. There will be an effort by the heroes of The Mandalorian, the Ahsoka show, and other members of the Ghost Crew to stop a war. There will be an armed conflict with little or no help from the New Republic, and the brave unsung heroes save the galaxy from a bigger war that could have happened but didn’t.

Likely character deaths or transformations: Thrawn. Ahsoka.

Possible romance arcs completed: DinBo, Sabezra.

Cultures reborn/transformed: Nightsisters, Mandalorians, Jedi.

New Master and Apprentice pairings: Sabine and Grogu, Ezra and Jacen.

These are the “Jedi Mandalorians.” (Yes, I have been thinking about this for a very long time. Look at my username.)

Mando by birth: Sabine Wren, who restores her Clan.

Mando by adoption: Grogu.

Mando by marriage: Ezra Bridger. 😏

What do you think? What are the other possibilities?

Am I crazy? Here’s my Ahsoka Season 1 Bingo card:

Tolkien references (too many to list here)

Jacen is Force sensitive.

Sabine misses Ezra. 😢

Thrawn does the unexpected.

Kanan reference (more than expected). 😢

Chopper is a menace (not as much as he could have been).

Hera misses Kanan (his photo is on her dashboard). 😢

“Snips” 🙌

Anakin flashback. 🙌

Rex lives. (They didn’t kill him off yet and we did get a cameo so that’s a win.)

Quotable Huyang (Don’t get me started.)

Ezra is still a dork (and we love him for it). 😂

Ezra is a badass. 🙌

Sabezra tease. (Just go look at the rest of my Tumblr.) 😍

Mutual pining idiots. (See above.) 😍

Clan Wren. (We got a mention. R. I. P. 😢)

Sabine painting. (We saw the mural, the loth cat doodles and the graffiti in Ezra’s tower and on Ahsoka’s ship.)

No Fenn Rau. (I still want to see him in live action, maybe in Mando s4.)

Clone Wars Flashback. (More than one!)

No Rebels flashback. (We did get many callbacks though. I’d love to see any of them cameo in Andor s2.)

Loth rat. (Not the animal, but Ezra being his usual chaotic streetwise self, such as impersonating a stormtrooper and stealing his helmet and armor.)

Loth cat. (Sabine’s adorable pet. 😻)

Loth wolf. (They are on the end credits star map and the Lothal Rebels mural. Howlers are also wolf-like.)

Run. (Our heroes did a lot of that.)

*******

So am I good, or what?

The Prophet of the Church of Ezrabine has spoken.

[wackpedion]

atcually im sending more characters i wanna see u talk abt them tell me abt stan or fiddleford or bill for the ask game

OKOK I JUST ANSWERED FOR FIDDLEFORD OKOKOKOKOKOKOK im so excited i love them. okok ok OK OK ok so from this ask game:

STAN

favorite thing about them

How he loves the kids soso much ouhho vh oh o my ghod Not What He Seems tear my heart out rn. like theyre his world its so... ouhgkhjhbjh........ makes me ill. the way he loves his family as a whole is SO important to me like like like like he values his family so much theyre his world the way he spent 30 years getting ford back GOD dont remind me of of the portal incident i cant hhhrrrr

least favorite thing about them

I suppose how stubborn he is with Ford but like, idk i get it man. hes been thro alot and the two are on rocky ground up until the end so ofc hes gonna act like that and hes not gonna be all that emotionally mature about it.

favorite line

goddd he has so many good lines hes so funny. "Soos, would it be wrong to punch a child?"

brOTP

fiddleford mcgucket i need them to be friends u dont understand. i need this so badly

OTP

ermmm No One ? ive seen some stanbill which i find funny but im not all that invested in it

nOTP

pinecest 👍

random headcanon

As kids he and Ford would often do the twin switcharoo as a fun kid prank, they thought it was the funniest coolest thing but they were actually very easy to tell apart past a first glance because they weren't all that good at lying and pretending (yet)

unpopular opinion

ig its only loosely stan related but roadside attraction should NOT have been aa episode with focus on stan WHERE IS FORD. THE EPISODE BEFORE THE BIG ONE THAT KICKS OFF WEIRDMAGEDDON AND THERES NO FORD!?!?!? kmsing kmsing but you already know how ifeel about it i told you all about it I Miss Ford. I miss my wife tails.

song i associate with them

LUSH BY MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE "everything i touch falls apart and i am left with nothingg everything i touch it turns to total garbage and i cant with and i dont know whyyyy!!!!" like like his insecurity about being the total screwup of the family, his many many failed businesses, the fact he broke fords project and also ended up pushing him into the portal, juistghfhbvhjhbb

favorite picture of them

i like him with his sailing outfit esp the the beanie its cute :3 and EEEE THE BROTHERSSSS <333333

BILL

favorite thing about them

whatever the fuck he has going on ford jesus christ what the fuck who let them get away twith this hello. hello. i cant elaborate cuz id just end up talking about billford forever but fjesuffucking christ

least favorite thing about them

Honestly sock opera didn't make much sense, like he wanted to destroy the laptop and journal cuz dipper was getting "too close", but the journal was needed to operate the portal which was what he Needed and Wanted. my best guess as to why he did that is cuz he didn't want them to find and go off the warnings Ford wrote esp in invisible ink but i dunno. perhaps its that the journals (esp journal 3) wrote of a way to destroy him, im guessing, since ford tosses them to dipper in weirdmageddon saying theres a way to destroy bill, but still. odd. Still my favourite episode tho!!!!

favorite line

"Fordsy, nobody else really gets you, do they? Without me, you'll always feel unseen, surrounded by dolts who don't recognize your full potential. You've always felt alone in a crowd, haven't you? Who else will give you this feeling again? Even if you got rid of me, you'd miss me. Admit it, you'd miss me."

"Reality is an illusion the universe is a hologram buy gold BYEEEEE"

"BY THE WAY IM SENDING SOMEONE TO STEAL YOUR EYES. THATS NOT A JOKE. I HAVE A FRIEND WHO WILL STEAL YOUR EYES."

"I have some children I need to TURN INTO CORPSES"

also. just his "Yello!" gag in the dreamscaperers. its so sutpid i love it

honestly UGHH hes so quotable i love like every one of his lines everytime hes on screen its a joy. any episode is a good episode with bill. hes such a good villain

brOTP

None reaally? I guess I would've loved more antics with the henchmaniacs, like that one deleted scene, I found them pretty funny

OTP

BILLFORD DO UE VEN HAVE TO ASK HHHHHGHH

nOTP

None I think, i guess fiddleford and bill but i said that already and tbh im mostly indifferent to it

random headcanon

iii havent fully cvuaght up on all the code and lore cracking of TBOB but from what ive picked up he had to take medicine as a kid which affected his eyesight? so my hc is that he has some lasting damage with his vision from that

unpopular opinion

yes the book of bill gave us bill euclydia dimension lore but no that doesnt ruin his character sure his backstory is sad but like. its not his focal point. it gives him depth and an explanation its GOOD. hes still the villain whos evil because! who does whatever he wants! for fun! a sad backstory and a charming villain whos motivation is Fun can coexist its not the end of the world

also this is directed at like One thing i saw on twt but He Would Fucking Not listen to msi oh my god he canonically hates synthesized music i hate you

song i associate with them

GOD i have a few ermm.... theyre like billford related tho so. hope thats cool. the one ive been obsessed with is New Invention by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME its SO GFUCKING THEM DUDE ITS SO THEM LISTEN TO IT. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! pls

favorite picture of them

every picture but ig if i had to choose him playing faggot piano for ford is up there

[dnphan]

you said burning questions so which is your fave pinof

aggh the age old question

i feel i really always have to to with the classic pinof 1 !! its so quotable and just so wholesome to be reminded of the start. also the editing style is in primeee condition and i love the lil cuts.

but!! pinof 9 is one of my favorites too. i feel like after pinof 2 they start to change their personalities for the camera, like you can definitely see how they try to make it more interesting for the viewers. pinof 9 i feel like is more for themselves and i appreciate that!!