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maxwell-grant · 3 years

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Might I please ask if you have an opinion of DRACULA? (Either the novel itself or the adaptations); having read both this novel and FRANKENSTEIN, I'm tempted to agree with the reviewer who wrote that one of these is a Classic and the other is actually Fun to read ... (-;

(Art by Cinemamind)

I completely understand the sentiment of "one's a classic and the other's fun to read" and I don't necessarily disagree with it. I don't read Frankenstein for fun, I read it because it's the book closest to me and it's heartbreaking to think about and it's got one of my favorite characters ever in it and it's got a stake in my soul I gotta renew every year. Dracula, however? Dracula is a blast and it boggles the mind as to how every adaptation can be so crushingly lesser in nearly every aspect. My hardcover edition with annotations is one of my most prized possessions.

It's interesting that people tend to talk about Frankenstein and Dracula like Frankenstein was cutting edge sci-fi while Dracula was archaic and folkloric, when it's really the other way around. Frankenstein is the story of an arrogant dipshit rejecting modern science and thinking to unearth outdated knowledge soon blossoming into a vicious cycle of savagery, where as Dracula is the story of an ancient predator adapting and trying to take over current society and fought by a ragtag team of upstanding citizens using modern tactics to stave him off and eventually fight him, desperately struggling to stay ahead of the curve as he wisens to their tactics.

This book was really ahead of it's time in so many ways. I could easily see excerpts of it, particularly the Demeter journals and Renfield's story, taking off as internet creepypastas or found footage horror films. Dracula's a story about a group of characters playing detective as they update their blog entries about the coming of an initially incomprehensible horror taking over their lives. It's a story that could work regardless of Victorian or vampire trappings, and we know this because Blair Witch Project and Marble Hornets are some of the biggest horror successes of the past decades, all of which follow the same general idea, except in Dracula, they don't just discover the true nature of the horror, they also start fighting back and ultimately destroy it.

Dracula's obviously a great villain, that goes without saying. I don't actually tend to take Dracula seriously much of the time because I'm very fond of comedy takes on Dracula and vampires, but that doesn't at all diminish his impact in the original book. He's barely in the novel for much of it which makes his every appearence Count, and the atmosphere as well as the many, many forms he can show up or be suggested at really help solidify what an incredible presence he can be.

He's the strange ruler in a foreign country, he's the kooky old man with weird customs, he's the creepy house owner tormenting a hapless guest, he's a barbarian who lives in nostalgia. He's the wind on your window, a dog on the street, a bat in your windshield, a storm on your ship. He's a predator in every way possible, he's a handsome aristocrat, he's a tragic victim of his own monstrous nature, he's a demon who threatens to consume all mankind, he's the fucker who assaulted your loved one and has to go down hard by machete right now.

Even if we just threw out the 124 years of Dracula's history out, we'd still have enough material in the book not just for a great villain, but dozens of great villains and characters who could take just about any of these traits and run with them. And still, the thing that really, really stuck out to me about Dracula wasn't him, it was the other characters

Art by Kiwi

Dracula's cast is so, so underrated, so unfortunately sidelined as a result of adaptations that only care about The Count and try to give him all the dramatic weight and characterization and sideline all the other characters as merely bit players. Stories that twist Jonathan into a useless fop or an active jerk on the idea that he's the "boring" one, that diminish Renfield's story into just being a hapless and insane goon of Dracula, that make Van Helsing the only character who's even capable of putting up a fight and make him a generic badass, that completely neglect Quincy Morris even though he's great and everyone who discovers him is aghast at discovering "holy shit there's a COWBOY in Dracula?" like yes, there is, and he's incredible and everyone should love him and everyone WOULD love him if only the adaptations remembered he exists.

Adaptations that completely sideline Mina when, and I can't stress this enough, she is the most competent character in the book, one of the greatest pop culture detectives, a wonderful and compassionate and incredibly strong and intelligent character and the main reason why they even managed to win against the Count in the first place, and arguably the closest thing the book even has to a protagonist or hero. I'm not gonna go too into it here but, even putting aside the sheer awfulness of adaptations that try and force a romance between The Count and Mina, seriously fuck off with that, why is it that pretty much every "official" adaptation has had considerably less feminist interpretations of Mina than the source material written in the 1880s? It's a complete travesty (and yes, I'm including LOEG Mina in this, anyone who likes the book and character could have done that concept better)

I enjoy aspects of Dracula adaptations, mostly regarding certain actors's takes on the characters like Bela Lugosi (the only saving grace of that movie, honestly, but rightfully considered the iconic performance), or Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. I very much enjoy the Dracula adaptation Orson Welles did because it at least tried to stay faithful to the book. But regardless of their individual quality, I don't have much to say about Dracula adaptations that try to adapt the book other than "WHY in christ aren't you just sticking to what's in the book? Do you not see how GREAT it is, all the great things about it that are just waiting to be rediscovered and loved by new audiences? STOP WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE DOING WITH MINA FOR THE LOVE OF GOD-"

So yeah I definitely got thoughts on Dracula. Utterly adore the book but thinking about how much of it's greatness has been lost in the adaptations kinda makes me a little angry. Of course, this doesn't extend to adaptations that tell different stories or just put Dracula into existing stories or reinterpret it. I love Nosferatu and Castlevania Dracula and Hellsing Dracula and Billy & Mandy Dracula and Sesame Street Dracula. Dracula's basically become a sub-category of monster in it's own right and there's no such think as too many monsters, or too many Draculas

I'm very glad that Dracula's public domain because it means not only can he just show up anywhere, but it also means that just about anyone can pen their own Dracula stories. Still, it would be nice if the other great characters of Dracula got brought along for the ride on a couple of those.

#replies tag #literature #monster tag #dracula #bram stoker #mina murray #jonathan harker #van helsing #quincy morris #i may have gotten a bit ticked off there

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italicwatches · 6 years

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Laid-Back Camp - Episode 01

Alright, we’ve got a fun little one. I’ve been trying to figure out where to squeeze this one in, and since I need a little more time before I can slam down some bombshells, now will work. It’s time for some more cute girls doing cute things, folks. Specifically, it’s Laid-Back Camp, episode 01! Here we GO!

-We begin, with actual camping. A crackling little campfire, marshmallows and hot drinks, a group of girls having fun out in nature. Looks like we’ve got a total of five, so we’ll presumably be meeting them properly over this episode and one or two more…

-Opening! It’s actually a quite clever little opening, with some solid editing and visuals. I’m not sure if it’s quite up to the level of some of the greats and legends, but it is really solid.

-And we’re back. On a lonesome road, with a girl pedaling along her little folding bike loaded down heavily with supplies strapped to the rear rack. No lie this is what I came for. You can do it, lonesome cycle girl! It’s through a tunnel, and she keeps going through some really pretty shots on the way. Tragically, the gorgeous mountains are lost behind some clouds today, so no perfect photo opportunity.

-Anyways then she runs into a png-haired girl sleeping on a bench. And promptly passes her by. Our proper protagonists-meeting will have to wait, because it’s time to check in and get some space at a campground. And we get the name Shima Rin! Rin who is here to camp, on her own, in the winter, on just a bike. It’s somethin’ else but really cool.

-And she plops down at a lake, where again I really have to note how nice some of these shots are. Like, usually a lot of these CGDCT shows go lazy with their background work, but this one clearly cares about getting it right. Also Rin explicitly comes here intentionally in the off-season so she’s basically solo. So out comes the tent, a tiny little one-person thing, her inflatable sleeping pad… A tiny little folding table and chair…You get the idea. But I’m also noting these because of how familiar a lot of these things are, and how careful the artists have been to really show them accurately and well. It speaks to a loving care that hobby-type CGDCT shows don’t always get the luxury of receiving.

-Episode 01! Mount Fuji and Curry Noodles

-Okay, campsite sorted, heating pad activated, and now Rin’s just going to kick back with a good book…Except it’s a little too cold to get by with just a pad and her…Does it still count as a shawl if it’s obviously a thick material intended for cold weather, or do they have to be more thin? I’m not entirely sure where the line on that goes. Anyways, seriously it’s like 5 degrees celsius, just a heating pad isn’t going to make it comfortable enough to sit and read The Mystery of Ancient Civilization X. A title that immediately tells us a lot about Rin here.

-Yeah she’s not having a good time. But a proper campfire is gonna be a pain, so she tries to hold out. ..Yeah that doesn’t last very long before she gets out into the woods and starts gathering fire materials. Dry pinecones and broken-off branches are the order of the day, as the anime even stops to give actual advice on good firewood. I am rapidly starting to see why this one so firmly got people into camping in Japan.

-Also, Rin consistently gets too many pinecones and too much firewood…And is a bit melodramatic with her wood-splitting knife. I like her already. …And then she runs into that pink-haired girl again when she goes to the bathroom. She has moved but is still just napping. Okay then.

-Anyways, fire! I will spare you the fine details of forming a campfire, though it is interesting that the advice here starts with burning kindling and adds the main wood to it. I was always taught to build the wood structure, bring in kindling, and then bring fire to the kindling. But anyways, even with all the troubles of a true campfire, Rin is comfortable at last. Now to get some water boiling, and get back to her book, right?

-Not right. Text message from a friend who gets sent a photo from the campsite. Takes photos, camps, cycles, little overdramatic, yeah I’m gonna like this girl. And all is calm, as she enjoys her day…

-Sunset comes and let’s cut miles away to a house, where another woman wonders when she’ll be returning…

-Back to the campsite after dark, where it’s legitimately pretty dark. Rin has to get out her lantern, and also has to brave a trip to the camp bathroom. This time, no pink-haired girl. Probably just day-trip—OH GOD HUMAN. THE PINK-HAIRED GIRL! So Rin has a panic and begins a wild and frantic sprint to the gate and front building, chased by the pink-haired devil!

-Okay things have calmed down and the girls are around Rin’s campfire. So let me walk you through what happened. Our pink-haired girl moved to the area just today. She went on a bike ride to try and see Mount Fuji. She got lost, then got tired, then fell asleep. She slept through the entire day, and awoke to pitch-black night without a single light to be found. And it is way too dark to dare ride back down without a proper light, especially through a series of dark tunnels.

-So, plan B. Call her folks? her phone seems, to be, gone. Also she is totally without a food and is slowly starving to death.

-…So Rin offers her a cup noodle. For 1500 yen. That’s…That’s just cruel. Especially since this girl only has 100 yen to her name. But it’s just a bad joke. So out comes the jet-boil style mini-camp-stove to get the water going, and Rin’s phone to make the call…

-Only one other problem. She moved, like, today, and so doesn’t remember the new number.

-Oh.

-Right.

-Shit.

-Her own phone’s number?

-Who remembers their own phone’s number in this day and age?

-It is a cruel joke, this life.

-But okay. Food, more wood for the fire. Warmth and comfort. And Rin experiences camping with an actual other person with her for the first time…And damn, that is not a cheap cup-noodle Rin gave her. That looks really good actually, and brings this poor rookie back to life! She’s adorable.

-And also we get into her head as she realizes Rin is here on her own, despite being a tiny little thing. Which even leads to assuming Rin is a fair bit younger than she probably is. But they get to talking, and it turns out that her town’s wayyyy down at the bottom of this hill. Which is why she rode so far, only to not see any…thing…

-Look behind you.

-God. Damn. The clouds parted, the full moon came out…That’s…Fuck. I don’t know which shot I’m going to use for this episode, now. Our pink-haired girl is just awed, as she sees Mount Fuji for real, and just takes it in…And that’s when her brain finally kicks on and she remembers her sister’s cell number!

-So yeah hard cut to the purple-haired woman from before having to apologize for the idiocy of her kid sister. And then drag her ass into the car to be taken home for quite a punishment. But not without leaving Rin w ith a thank-you gift for caring for the girl, an entire bag full of kiwis…

-Oh and now that this girl has her phone back and its number, she stops long enough to give Rin her contact info. Kagamihara Nadeshiko, such a strange girl…But just interesting enough for Rin to add her. And back in the car, Nadeshiko’s already asking her sister if they have any camping supplies at home. Something has sparked, in this plucky pink-haired girl.

-As the credits play, we see her normal day, setting out for class on her own little portable bike to the station, racing to her first day at her new school…And running past two of the other girls we’ll be meeting. Because she’s so dang excited. And missing encountering Rin by like two seconds.

-Also we have an after credits sequence, the Outdoors Club. Which leads to imagining a heated tent for winter camping. Except what they’re describing is just a particularly tall kotatsu. …Not that I wouldn’t winter-camp in a particularly tall kotatsu. That sounds like the best.

Okay so far every single character we’ve met is great. This is gonna be fun on a bun. We’ll see where it goes next time, and if it stays so fun, in episode TWO of Laid-Back Camp. Wait for it!

#where I watch #recap #anime #laid-back camp #yuru camp

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bananastagram · 4 years

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I’m fascinated by the large number of people who love Woman. I don’t get it at all. If you had to liken it to another song sonically, what would you pick? It sounds off to my ears always so maybe if I had something to liken it to, I’d get it? It bugs me that I don’t like it. p.s. Kiwi >>>> OA ;) - We can agree on ESNY. Also, I think you’re a Taurus like me and all lists by sign I’ve seen give us Carolina as our tune which... (for HS2 it’s Canyon Moon).

i’ve been trying to liken it to something else (i’ve been thinking on and off for a few days, sorry to make you wait lolz) but i think for me it’s more of a ~*~Vibe~*~ which is different for everyone certainly but for me it’s smoking a j and drinking red wine out of the bottle and dancing alone in a dimly lit room. kiwi is SO FUN live (arguably the most fun) but i think on a record only angel is like. again just a VIBE. for me it’s always about how i listen to the songs because i’m the protagonist of my movie, obviously.

i am a taurus (sun AND moon, today is actually my birthday!) and i think i know exactly what post you’re talking about it like. they clearly Do Not know us and i disagree entirely even if i liked the song. canyon moon passes my vibe check, i love it and accept it as my astrological assignment.

#anon #sorry this took awhile to answer #i was trying to think of what it reminded me of #does anyone know of anything?

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howlsmovinglibrary · 7 years

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I was tagged by @logarithmicpanda thank you!

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?

The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Knowles. I borrowed it off a friend when I was a bright and bushy first year lit student and literally haven’t touched it because I spent the next three years drowning in Chaucer and the last two years since graduating avoiding all classics.

2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next?

I’m currently reading the Spiritwalker trilogy by Kate Elliot, I’ve just finished Cold Fire and I’m about to start Cold Steel. After that I’m probably going to read Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty (locked room murder mystery IN SPACE WITH CLONES).

3. Which book does everyone like and you hated?

Throne of Glass lol

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, I’ve tried like, 4 times.

5. Which book are you saving for “retirement?”

In theory, Lord of the Rings. If I do the masters course I want to do, I’ll have to read it before then as it will definitely be a compulsory text, but if not, there’s…..so many fantasy books with female characters that I could read instead!

6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?

It really depends for me. Normally I’m very much a ‘no spoilers’ person – but if a book is going in a direction I don’t like (particularly romance wise), I may skip ahead just to prepare myself for inevitable disappointment.

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?

Oh my god for me this isn’t even a question. Definitely ‘interesting asides’. I love hearing about writers’ lives and writing processes. Like, I feel like the number of cats an author owns is *incredibly important*. And did you know the Strange the Dreamer was originally one book, and that Lazlo wasn’t the protagonist? Have you read N.K. Jemisin’s awesome interview of herself at the end of The Killing Moon? If I Was Your Girl also has a really interesting appendix that I think really puts the book in context. Gosh everyone should read acknowledgements literally everyone.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

Ooh this such a cool question!! I’m going to say Agniezska in Uprooted. There’s so many fantasy worlds I love but they’re all pretty shitty for women, at least Uprooted’s world isn’t! And if you know how the book ends, all of that scary middle section would be so much more chill.

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?

Clockwork Prince will always remind me of my university interviews. I stayed in Oxford for interviews for a week, and by the end I was exhausted and stressed. But the interviews finished on the day that CP came out, so I bought it on the way to the station, along with some super fancy chocolate, and then got on a train and read it solid for four and a half hours. (It’s a happy memory, because I got in!)

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.

My friend and I organised for Patrick Rothfuss to come to our university to give a talk about his Worldbuilders charity (and writing, obvs). The reason he could make it is because he was already at a fantasy convention in the UK at the time. But the fantasy con had given him too many freebies to take back to the US with him so….Patrick Rothfuss personally gave me 10 books, and heard me screaming like a fanatic when he left the room to get his taxi.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?

No, I haven’t, really :/ I’ve given a lot of special people books for their birthdays, though.

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?

Tamora Pierce’s Wild Magic series travelled all the way from the UK to New Zealand with me, and I took them everywhere – on the whale watching boat, to the Kiwi sanctuary, on a glacier……

13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?

Lol as an English lit student this is pretty much isn’t a thing for me. However, I read Beowulf for my university personal statement, as it was a compulsory first year text for the course I wanted to take, and hated it, but when I studied it in first year I freaking loved it.

14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?

I really want to hear the story behind this question because I have never found anything strange in a book. Are you ok, OP?

15. Used or brand new?

Whatever is cheapest, tbh.

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?

*crouches in protective foetal position on the floor and whispers* I have never read any Stephen King D: D: D:

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

Howl’s Moving Castle is this, for me. And Lord of the Rings (the films have more action, and less talk of trees).

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?

Fifty Shades of Grey because they can’t even show graphic sex in a movie like what else is left??????

19. Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, obviously.

20. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

@b00kstorebabe (although she’s not really on tumblr anymore).

I’m tagging: @theinkstainsblog, @nerdishfeels, @books-are-portals, @magic-in-every-book

#tag game #bookish questions #revive booklr #about me #book tag

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mattbrothersscriptwriter · 6 years

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My Top 20 Films of 2018 - Part One

Hello people, time to once again resurrect this defunct blog to ramble about some films again. You may notice a trend if you scroll back through.

OK so I saw a BUNCH of movies this year, thanks again in part to some fantastic arts cinemas, film festivals (well, Sundance London and Frightfest) and yet another banner year for Netflix original content. There were many I didn’t catch like A Star is Born, First Reformed, Aquaman, BlackkKlansman etc but for my FULL ranking of all 135 films I did manage to see, as always go to my letterboxd list here - https://letterboxd.com/matt_bro/list/films-of-the-year-2018-1/

Alrighty then, let’s kick things off:

20. A Quiet Place

As a writer who is hugely inspired by high concept ideas with a grounding in genre, it thrilled me no end to see this ‘elevator pitch’ of a thriller do so well, both critically and commercially. Set in a world where making the slightest noise means certain death from these horrifying, Starship Trooper looking motherfucking bug aliens, we follow a desperate family trying to survive and all the hardships that entails when communication is cut down to a bare minimum.

Of course, this film – which in the wrong hands with a lesser script could easily devolve into a Birdemic style mess – has a helping hand right out the gate in both the star power and gravitas of Emily Blunt and the assured (almost TOO assured) direction of co-star John Krasinski. Their performances ground the action superbly (along with the excellent, actually deaf newcomer Millicent Simmonds) and the tension can be cut with a knife for practically the entire runtime. Famously, people’s enjoyment of the film usually came down to how well behaved their cinema audiences were, which is perhaps the most cruellest of circumstances because the irony is that this is a film that simply must be seen with a rapt audience in a huge dark room… but the second anyone breaks the unwritten code of the cinema, the illusion is shattered. Luckily, within the first three minutes, my crowd were practically holding their breath to maintain the silence. And when I felt a sneeze coming on, let me tell you, that was maybe the scariest moment of the lot!

A tense thrill ride with a genuine ‘why didn’t I think of that’ premise, A Quiet Place is another runaway success for modern horror and I truly hope the inevitable sequels don’t fuck with it’s power.

19. Avengers: Infinity War

Inevitable spoilers for the ending of Infinity War below:

The blockbuster to end all blockbusters, this culmination of ten years of the MCU was a huge triumph, somehow managing to juggle a billion characters jostling for screen-time via some savvy scripting and a focus on a core combination of story strands; namely Thor’s personal journey of revenge, the last stand at Wakanda, Tony’s crew misadventures in space and Thanos being ingeniously positioned as the protagonist. For a mainstream Disney movie to essentially end with the villain winning, there were perhaps no bigger statement this year than the words ‘Thanos Will Return’ at the end of the credits, cementing the fact that while we thought we had been watching a fun, superhero greatest hits package, we’d actually been watching the story of an ambitious, driven individual overcome the odds and claim his victory over all those pesky superheroes. Yes, his plan might be insane but you have to hand it to him; he did it. He actually did it.

This being a comic book movie - with at least a further ten years of comic book movies to come - obviously means that what is done can always be undone but still, this climax provided such a stark (pun intended) resolution that it left half of my audience in stunned silence and the other half in tears.

Outside of the game changing finale, the film has a lightning pace and a whole host of fun set pieces, characters colliding (hello Rocket meets Bucky) and a real sense of... at least occasional... intimacy that somehow doesn’t get completely swallowed up by the spectacle.

18. Annihilation

Now here is a fascinatingly original sci-fi movie that I just was utterly transfixed and terrified by. Much like Jonathan Glazer’s mesmerising Under the Skin, this jettisoned much of the source novel (outside of the general premise and characters) in favour of a stronger focus on the things that a visual medium can really excel at, namely atmosphere, tone and deeply disconcerting visuals/sound design. I quite enjoyed Jeff VanderMeer’s book but this feels like a much more authored and singular vision. Book weirdness has been replaced by movie weirdness and it actually ends up feeling like a true adaptation and if any book truthers are upset, believe me it could have been so much worse.

A group of scientists, led by a stoic Jennifer Jason Leigh, including Natalie Portman, Gina Rodriguez and Tessa Thompson, venture into ‘the shimmer’, a baffling electromagnetic field surrounding a crashed alien meteor. Each has their reasons for volunteering for this suicide mission and they are soon faced with the simply unknowable machinations of this particular alien biology, leading to some incredibly memorable encounters, not least of which is a nightmarish mutant bear attack. The practically wordless finale is something I WISH I could have seen for the first time on the big screen.

Eerie, haunting and a miracle of mid-budget, practically distribution-less filmmaking, this is one I can see revisiting many times over and I continue to be obsessed over anything Alex Garland is involved with.

17. Anna and the Apocalypse

Now here’s a surprise. And a delight. And a goddamn joyful burst of sunshine in a bleak bleak world. I went along to see this at the Frightfest Film Festival in August and boy did it deliver. It’s a (*huge breath*) super independent, low budget, Scottish, high school, coming of age, zombie comedy… Christmas… musical! That’s too many things, I hear you say! And normally you may be right but this film has so much heart, so many breakout stars, so many ingenious, human moments, that it transcends the hurdles of it’s genre mashup trappings and actually works dammit.

The film follows Anna (a wonderful, future star in the making Ella Hunt) who falls out with her father (Mark Benton, the heart and soul of the piece) when she tells him that when school finishes, she’d rather go travelling than go to university. Dad being Dad, he’s appalled at the notion and though he clearly has her best interests at heart, their relationship has been strained since Anna’s mother died and this conflict soon gets ugly. Joining her in this teenage angst are her friends; John (Malcolm Cumming), her best friend who is hopelessly in love with her, Steph (Sarah Swire – who pulls double duty as the film’s choreographer) a gay American outcast, Chris (Christopher Leveaux) a struggling filmmaker and Lisa (Marli Siu), Chris’ girlfriend and talented singer. Together, they butt heads with the panto villainy of the hilarious, scene stealing, scenery chewing Paul Kaye as the maniacal headmaster Mr Savage. Then of course, comes the ultimate spanner in the works… a zombie apocalypse.

As the film pivots from charming high school/slice of life melodrama to genuinely threatening zombie horror comedy, we cannot forget about the musical numbers (!), which are all pretty uniformly catchy as hell, singalong ready and really fucking integral to the entire emotional arc. You start out laughing as Anna sings her way to school completely oblivious to the zombie uprising happening behind her but by the time she’s singing a powerful duet with her father during the finale, there won’t be a dry eye in the house either. It’s a credit to the consistent tone and solid performances that the whole thing doesn’t descend into an overlong sketch and it’s the core relationships that make you care and give weight to the heavier moments in the second half.

It’s funny, smart, endlessly rewatchable and bound to be a new Christmas staple but above all else, it earns it’s emotional gut punches, marrying showtunes with real, life or death stakes that the film doesn’t fuck about with or ignore. People die here, sometimes unfairly but that’s the key to a great zombie flick. And if nothing else, you’ve got bad boy Nick (a stand out Ben Wiggins) shepherding his gang of idiot lads lads lads as they gleefully smash zombie heads in whilst singing “when it comes to killing zombies, I’m the top of my class!”.

The year’s best kept secret and a real hidden gem. Seek it out.

16. Black Panther

Ryan Coogler man… Ryan fucking Coogler.

Fruitvale Station and Creed are both five star movies to me and while this foray into the Marvel machine didn’t quite hit those heights, I think he did the best job he could have in blending his own style, ethos and interests with another chapter in the MCU – a production line rather famous for (until recently) stamping out individuality in favour of the bigger, uniformed picture. Sometime around Phase 2, we were getting somewhat bland creative choices like Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) and losing auteurs like Edgar Wright (initially set for Ant Man) but after the success of the nutty, bold and gleefully anarchic Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s like the flood gates opened, Kevin Feige learned the lesson of diversity and taking bold risks in his directors and suddenly we had a mostly improvised Thor movie from idiosyncratic Kiwi Taika Waititi and then Black Panther.

Having introduced the character in Captain America: Civil War, this film was free to dive right in – and what a world we’re introduced to, one full of colour, afro-futurist designs and the grand daddy of Marvel villains (in my eyes) in the form of Coogler’s lucky charm, Michael B. Jordan, as Killmonger. Here was a man who believed himself abandoned and betrayed by his own people - his own family - who had massively different ideas about what Wakanda’s secretive technological advancements could do for other marginalised societies around the world. Of course, this being a comic book, his plan inevitably boils down to arming terror factions but in theory, it did address the imbalance and selfishness of the Wakandan people.

Outside of some dodgy super suit vs super suit CG fight scenes and some rather silly battle scenes involving rhinos, this was the most engaging and confident Marvel movie in some time, with the aforementioned B. Jordan and T’Challa himself Chadwick Boseman being supported by a whos who of incredible performers, from Letitia Wright and Lupita Nyong’o to Daniel Kaluuya and Andy Serkis.

15. The Square

This film killed me. It’s so very very dry in its humour and nearly every scene plays out in these often painfully long takes but it never fails in making every moment that bit funnier as a result, swinging right round from awkward to cringe back to hilarious again. From Christian’s (Claes Bang) repeated encounters with a very angry child to a deliriously off-kilter Elisabeth Moss fighting for control of a used condom, there’s a Curb-like immaturity to many of the sequences here that clash with the high brow, art world characters that populate it.

Not to mention one of the scenes of the year - period - as Terry Notary terrorises an elitist crowd of poshos, descending into performance art hijinks as he embodies a roaming Gorilla. Becoming genuinely threatening as the line between acceptable “art” and full blown menace gets increasingly blurred, the reactions (or lack thereof) from many of the crowd says much more than words maybe ever can.

14. Summer of 84

Another genre hit that I caught at Frightfest, this is the follow up to one of my favourite films of 2015: Turbo Kid. Directed once more by RKSS (the group moniker for François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell) the film seems to operate, at first glance, in the same territory as their previous movie (aka as a horror influenced, 80s throwback) but it is treated with a completely different tone. Whereas Turbo Kid is ‘Mad Max on BMXs made like an 18 rated Saturday morning cartoon’, this plays like a much straighter Stephen King style pulp thriller.

The comparisons to Stranger Things are inevitable (group of nerdy teenage boys, suburbia, bikes etc) but unfair. This story doesn’t wallow in nostalgia, rather it is played like a film from the 80s rather than knowingly about the 80s. Yes there are references but they aren’t shoehorned in and it doesn’t take long for the central mystery to take centre stage. A little bit Rear Window, it follows these goofy teenagers (all unknowns to my eyes, all equally brilliant and believable) who begin to suspect that their homely, cop neighbour (Mad Men’s Rich Sommer) is actually a serial killer. It’s to the film’s credit that the outcome of this central question – is he or isn’t he – teeters back and forth so well for so long... that by the time it nosedives into a nasty, pulpy final act - taking the conventions you’ve come to expect and beating you into the ground with them - your heart will be so far in the back of your throat that you won’t notice. And again, another classy retro score from Le Matos helps tie this all together.

A genuine change of pace from RKSS, despite the continued 80s fixation, and further proof that they have many more tricks up their sleeve.

13. First Man

Along with Ryan Coogler, Damian Chazelle is the other wunderkid whose career has been producing nothing but five star films for me (well, Whiplash and La La Land; I haven’t seen his actual debut). And First Man, like Black Panther, is another one that gets really close to perfection but falls slightly short. Having said that, I definitely think I like First Man a lot more than the general audience consensus. People have complained about its insular, intimate focus on a rather dull, introverted lead subject and the nauseating treatment of space travel but I loved both of these elements.

This is less a film about triumphantly going to the moon and waving a flag around and more about a grieving man who is so out of touch with his own emotions that he a) speaks to his own children as if he’s attending a press conference and b) is hurting so internally that rather than talk to anyone about the loss of his daughter, he’d rather make the dangerous, unprecedented, insane mission to a cold, dead rock about as far away from anyone as you can get. That feeling - of wanting to shut yourself away from literally everyone - is universal. The actualisation of it - man goes to moon - is personal. And made history. And having the foresight to connect that emotional journey of Neil Armstrong with the otherwise feel-good true story of astronauts (and America!) winning the space race is genius.

Add to that compelling supporting turns from everyone from Claire Foy, Kyle Chandler, Christopher Abbott and Shea Wigham, another dynamite score from long-time collaborator Justin Hurwitz and some nerve shredding rocket based set pieces and what you have is a fresh direction for Chazelle to take and one that I think we be re-evaluated in the years to come when his filmography expands to much more than just jazz-infused dramas.

12. Phantom Thread

This film is just gorgeous. A riveting character study of a supremely difficult man, Phantom Thread portrays a constant battle for dominance in a troubled yet surprisingly cinematic relationship. Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville give as good as they get from Daniel ‘this is my last film, I swear’ Day-Lewis, an undeniable acting giant who effortlessly breathes as much life into Reynolds Woodcock here as he did Daniel Plainview before, in his last collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson.

Beautifully shot with another fantastic score from Johnny Greenwood, this one really feels like old school movie magic, like a lost melodrama from the 50s but with a modern mentality bubbling underneath, ready to blow it’s top at the mere, ear-splitting scrape of butter on toast.

11. Widows

Who’d have imagined the director of Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave would be the one to team up with Gone Girl’s Gillian Flynn to deliver one of the best action thrillers of the year?

Adapted from the 80s TV mini-series and given a modern makeover, this film wastes no time getting right to the important stuff as Liam Neeson’s latest heist takes a deadly turn, leaving the widows of him and his crew to deal with the fallout of the failed money grab. Forced into desperate action to pay off their debts, Viola Davis leads this mismatched group of women into the belly of the beast. The cast in this thing is insane - even outside the main players (Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo) you have Colin Farrell, Bryan Tyree Henry (having one hell of a year), Daniel Kaluuya, Robert Duvall, Carrie Coon, Jacki Weaver, Garrett Dillahunt... not a weak link amoung them.

It’s clear that McQueen is a master storyteller and this is a supremely exciting and suspenseful thriller that if nothing else, adds fuel to my ‘Jon Bernthal shared universe’ fan-theory, haha. Imagine, if you will, that he plays the same character in this as he does in Baby Driver. In both films, he takes part in an opening heist and then disappears for the rest of the movie. In Baby Driver, as he’s walking off after a job well done, he says that if you don’t see him again, he’s probably dead. Cut to him joining up with Neeson on THIS job and promptly getting blown to pieces.

Boom.

COMING UP - star shaped earrings, reloading biceps, fish sex and a mutant pig

#top 20 #films of the year #films of 2018 #20-11 #a quiet place #avengers #infinity war #annihilation #anna and the apocalypse #black panther #the square #summer of 84 #first man #phantom thread #widows

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thesinglesjukebox · 6 years

Video

youtube

OCTOBER - 1000 EYES

[6.67]

I mean, hey, they're cheaper when you buy them in bulk...

Will Adams: I wish I enjoyed this more, as this is pretty much Melodrama if you substituted twenty heaps of synths for Jack Antonoff. As it is, "1000 Eyes" is able to grab your attention but doesn't offer any dynamics once you're in its fray. [6]

Katherine St Asaph: If you uploaded this to YouTube mistagged as a Melodrama offcut, you could get a nice pile of views. It's because of October's voice against the dark synthpop, obviously, but also the full-throated obsession of lines like "I want to make your brain my home." And for once the chorus intensifies the darkness, rather than backing off, the mistake too many songs make. [7]

Iain Mew: The goth and pop impulses don't quite meld and each end up sounding a little bare and awkward as a result. The slippery synth line could compensate for greater flaws than that. [6]

Ryo Miyauchi: The breathy, clipped syllables in the verses reference Lorde's old playbook, and so do the thunderous percussion booming behind the ghoulish synths. The labored care to her cadence cuts into the narrative at play, but the foundation of her goth-pop aesthetic is solid enough. [6]

Alfred Soto: The cascades of accumulating noise call Jesus & Mary Chain and Fever Ray to mind, but October, despite the colorless name, keeps her pop instincts on the hook; the sound effects work for the track. Is this desire? Oh, yes. [7]

William John: My partner is from New Zealand, and so I feel like I can say with some authority that Kiwis don't, in fact, all enunciate like they're recently recovered from jaw surgery and are reacquainting their mouths with movement. Nonetheless, my first thought upon clicking play was "oh, Fisher-Price Lorde"; her vocal tics now seem as pervasive in modern pop as those of fellow antipodean Sia. It's the chorus that renders any such comparisons facile. Here, the pace quickens, synths begin spiralling, the protagonist's eyes gain a murderous, thrilling glint, and the sudden bloom of melodramatics is mirrored by the melody's incessant, giddy ascendance. [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#October

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mimi-kurusu · 6 years

Note

BNHA ask: All of them you havent already done

hhhHHHHH YEEEES! ok this got really long so i put it under a read more!

1: What part of the anime/manga piqued your interest?tbh i watched it on a whim with one of my friends because we were bored and procrastinating on homework one night and we looked at the plot summary on crunchyroll and went “yeah sure!”

2: Did you think Midoriya would be a good protagonist in the first few chapters/episodes?yes!! immediately i loved him and only wanted the best for him; i have always thought that he makes a wonderful protag!

3: How do you think Midoriya’s conflict with Bakugou will end?not really sure! i just want them to be on good terms ;w;

4: What was your first reaction to Bakugou’s treatment towards Midoriya?i was not happy to say the least, but knew that his character would evolve :D

5: What do you think of All-Might as a hero?i love that man oh my god

6: Do you think that Midoriya deserved to get OFA?yes!!! are you kidding me??? he’s a good bean who just wants to help everyone!!

7: Aside from Midoriya, which character in the series do you think has had the most character development?iida and todoroki!!

8: Favorite unpopular character?i’m not 100% in-tune with the fandom so i can’t tell who is unpopular really so i may be wrong in saying mina and hagakure?

9: Favorite overall character?…. aizawa and uraraka

Pink: What are your main/favorite ships?midoriya/uraraka, midoriya/todoroki, aizawa/mic, kirishima/happiness and good fortune, endeavor/being alone and miserable forever

Blue: Do you have any NOTPs?any of the adults/any of the kids, endeavor/his wife or anyone else for that matter

Yellow: Favorite fanfiction about your OTP?i love all erasermic fanfics

Green: Any preferred rarepairs?not sure if they’re really rare, buuuut allerasermic, iida/todoroki, mic/all might, midnight/aizawa, aizawa/mic/midnight, midoriya/shinsou, uraraka/mina, kirishima/kaminari, jirou/kaminari, and jirou/momo are all very good and i love them

Purple: Do you have any works centered around your OTP?nah

Orange: Fluff or Angst?angst that ends in fluff is THE BEST!!!!

Red: What do you like the most about your favorite ship?the dynamics between the characters!

Turqoise: What do you hate about your favorite ship?canon can be unhelpful ;A;

Lavender: Does your ship get a lot of hate? If so, why?i’m not sure since i don’t really pay attention, but i certainly hope not? the fandom (or at least the small section i’m in) seems very relaxed about shipping!

Grey: Realistically speaking, will your ship ever become canon?one of them, maybe (midoriya/uraraka). i consider erasermic basically canon x3c

Pop: Do you think the “Dabi and Shouto are brothers” theory is true?i’m unsure, but it’s a good theory! it’d be really interesting, but dabi doesn’t look anything like shouto and the rest of the todoroki kids, so i’m on the fence :0

Indie: Opinions on the Traitor Kaminari theory?please no ;A; my heart can’t handle it

Punk: Opinions on the Traitor Kirishima theory?see above ;;;A;;;

Rock: What do you think of the “The doctor from Midoriya’s childhood is affiliated with the League Of Villains” theory? (in reference to this post)oh…. my god…. i’m stunned! i have never seen this particular theory before but WHOA WHOA WHOA! my mind is BLOWN!

Jazz: What do you think will happen now that Eri has been saved? look, i only know that eri exists because i am bad at blacklisting spoiler tags. i know she exists, but i have managed to avoid anything about her like her quirk, who she is in relation to everyone else, and what happens with her, so i’m not really sure! (i am not caught up with the manga since i mainly just watch the anime, btw)

11: Dekusquad or Bakusquad?both!!

12: Most underrated student?kouji hands down

13: Dadmight or Dadzawa?uhhh obviously BOTH! two dads are better than one

14: Whose quirk do you think is the most unique?aizawa, mineta, momo, kurogiri, jirou, midnight, sero, aaaand tokoyami

15: Aside from Midoriya, who do you think has the most potential to be #1 Hero?i believe in my kids and know they can all be great heroes, however, i want to say that iida, momo, todoroki, and bakugou are pretty high tier. as for who is #1 between them… it’s a good toss-up. :P

16: Should Mineta be replaced by Shinsou in the hero class?nah just add shinsou in. the more the merrier!! give aizawa more kids 2k18

17: Favorite student(s) outside of Class 1-A?shinsou and mei

18: Any HCs for the entirety of Class 1-A?each one of them has slipped up and called aizawa ‘dad’ once or twice. momo keeps a tally for each student in a notebook. hagakure, todoroki, midoriya, mina, and momo herself have slipped up the most. aizawa never flinches nor does he mind when this happens and is fully aware of the tally. he keeps his own mixed in with papers to grade and important files.

19: Do you remember their seating arrangement by heart?lmao nope (sorry kids!)

20: Which of the students do you think has the most potential to become a villain?i impulsively want to say bakugou, but when i actually think about it, i just can’t picture that?? the show (and manga that i’ve read) have made it a point to show and explain that he is a flawed, angry kid who does terrible things, but learns from people calling him out and losing and making mistakes and all that. so it just seems to whittle his characterization to bare bones by saying he might become a villain because of these things, ya know? so i guess the real answer is none of them XD

Techno: Favorite villain?kurogiri

Classical: Eight Precepts of Death or League of Villains?shhh i don’t know the first group so i gotta go with the league

Soul: Shigaraki or Chisaki?i don’t know who chisaki is but i absolutely do not want to choose shigaraki >>

Alternative: Most obnoxious villain?SHIGARAKI LMAO

Apple: Favorite popular HC?actual father dadzawa, esp when he adopts the kids with crappy family situations. c:

Strawberry: Who is your favorite pro-hero?aizawa, mic, all might, midnight, thirteen, gunhead, selkie

Banana: Which of the pro-heroes’ quirks fascinates you the most?mic’s!!! i relate!!! so much!!!

Cherry: Should Endeavor die like right nowYES. REST IN SMITHEREENS, ASSHOLE

Pear: What was your reaction to Todoroki’s backstory?i despised endeavor so, so much and wanted to adopt todoroki immediately. sorry endeavor, but he’s MY son now. it made me love that boy as much as i do and now i just want him happy and safe more than i did before learning his backstory

Kiwi: Should the BNHA girls get more spotlight/recognition?UH. DUH!!!!!!!!

Pineapple: What do you like the most about BNHA, as a whole?the wide range of characters!!! everyone is so cool and fascinating and there’s so many!

Watermelon: Dub or Sub?i love both! :D (tho i like mic’s japanese voice better since his entire thing with all the “YEAHHHHH!”s and other little english remarks he says makes more sense when he’s not already speaking 100% english. XD plus it’s higher and more… uhhh well, over-the-top in a good way!)

Coconut: How do you think Hokiroshi is doing, in terms of the plot?i love it so far! i’m having a great time watching and coming along for the ride and really look forward to season 3!

Blueberry: What makes BNHA unique from all the other shonen animes/mangas out there?the characters!!! both in design and personality and how the writing treats them, idk, it just feels different, ya feel?

#thank you for asking anon!!#i was dying to answer these!!!!#anonymous #bunnibabble

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