#my like one nit pick is that I feel this movie could have been edited down. but the animation is so good. i don’t care

[icterid-rubus]

Feeling really betrayed that no one thought to warn me the new Spiderverse is just part one.

[hannawatchesesc]

So hi! I wrote that rant few days ago, and decided to watch Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga just for… fun(???) This is my edited live reactions, and serious not spoiler free nit picking.

Here you go, so you don't have to watch it. These are in the order of appearances.

This is made with EBU???

Why the fuck Americans cannot play Europeans without terrible accents

Not really sure if Iceland has this terrible electric grid? If the power will cut if you use two keyboards and disco lights, maybe you should be worried about your infrastructure…

Picturing Icelanders as wool/fur dressing people living in the 1950’s, seriously.

Yep, for sure the Nordic way of life, living with your parents as 50-year-old.

I think these names aren't Icelandic

Iceland: whales, wool, fur, knitting, Vikings, glaciers, and icebergs. Elves. Lava fields. Northern Lights. So many jokes about being relatives and everyone knowing everyone.

I think only thing they forgot is Blue Lagoon and the football chant.

The after recording of the dialogue is terrible????

 

Ja Ja Ding Dong is really kinda good. It should have been in Icelandic, and it could have been "the iconic national winner which never qualified for finals, but everyone back home loves”.

What is that 1950’s buss? This movie makes Iceland seems like a third world country, not the 16TH RICHEST in the world based on GDP per Population.

People not caring about national final…

I'm going to die of second hand embarrassment.

I don’t understand this “Iceland is in the middle of nowhere, so they have never seen modern stuff” narrative. I’m surprise they didn’t travel to Scotland in Viking ship.

Like Icelandic people, have you seen minifridge and hotels before? Based on this movie, you haven’t.

There aren’t any pre-Eurovision things at all for performers.

Oh god I hate these accents.

Why they talk like toddlers all the time? It's like adult people in Europe don’t use adult vocabulary when speaking English. (Like, they just used word "club dancing"?)

 

I feel like this Russian song isn't really the song Russia would send...

I see the homophobia commentary, but he is so stereotypical Russian oligarch type of character.

Pls. Shouldn't there be a little more people in rehearsal? Press and audience maybe?

They haven't rehearsed at all? Have they sat at home for two three months doing nothing?

They just casually decided remix their song and start rehearsing it DAYS before semifinal.

No costumes, no staging, no choreography?

"Everyone hates UK so zero points" à THEY EVEN MADE A JOKE ABOUT THIS, AND STILL ESC IS HELD IN UK

I think Iceland has champagne glasses.

How they don’t know other competitors? Lars is supposed to be ESC superfan.

 

I this sing along part was kinda fun.

In the bigger context just a fan service kind of feeling, like “see, these people are legendary right, here you go, have Alexander Rybak for like 5 seconds.”

And why they started it with Madonna and Cher? Very Eurovision related. Not at all used for Americans to understand even something. How about using ABBA and Celine Dion if you wanted something familiar for US audience?

Think how amazing this could have been if they would have talked their own languages!

Mark "second hand embarrassment" as my cause of death.

These American tourists are like one jab on Americans, and rest of it is making fun of Europeans being mean to them.

This movie is sooooo slow

 

Why Scottish hosts are from Eastern Europe?

As a Finn I'm not going to accept that cheap copy of Lordi was representing Belarus, mixed with 2015 Belarus???

And as a Finn I can say for sure Wonderfour would never qualify from our National Final.

Didn't they read the rule book first? Anyone? I think you can find it in PDF in Google (you can)

The staging is so underwhelming. And this audience wtf?

As if they wouldn't stop the music when performer could be hurt.

I think it's almost insulting to say, that audience would laugh at anyone in Eurovision.

Lars is super selfish all. The. Time.

Nobody checked if they were alright after that accident.

 

This voting system? Spain, Italy, UK, Germany performing? Too many performers on stage? I though Finland was in this semi, but hey, I think they just guess starred and never made it to voting part even though they performed.

Did the Icelandic delegation just leave Sigrid alone in the green room?

How the fuck this movie can lasts 2 hours?

Now Switzerland and France are giving points, and they are not in this semi?

Russia was one of the countries in the scores, but he said that he wasn't performing in this semi?

He is going to die to hypothermia before reaching the shore. Water is super cold if they are dressed like that.

Aand after saying that. Why they are dressed like that? It's supposed to be May? They were dressed like in the middle of winter when they were in Scotland. Even Northern Europe has spring in May.

 

Where are modulations? Wind Machine? Pyrotechnics?

How Finland is now in on final, when they didn't qualify from the semi WHERE THEY PERFORMED? Or where they moved to another semi? Was firs SF overbooked?

I don't know if this final confession would be allowed in Eurovision

And suddenly they changed the song?

Thank you, Graham Norton, for pointing them being disqualified.

So they had rulebook after all.

And everyone is like well this super basic ballad is so touching. I can most definitely name 50 similar songs

Language change, why.

Also, this movie had one ballad. That is the most unrealistic thing.

 

End thoughts

This whole movie seems like unnecessary prolonged version of this America Is So Winning Eurovision Next Year from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. I can't even choose which one is more offensive.

Out of all European countries they chose Iceland and Greece (super popular tourist destinations), Russia (well you know US-Russia relations) and UK to be the center of the story. I guess it could have been Germany and France instead of Iceland and Greece to be more even more obviously “European”

Making the semi look at least somewhat correct could have been so easy. How it is even possible to mess that up so badly.

ALL EUROPEANS HAVE VERY STRONG ACCENTS!

Here is actor from UK, Sweden, and Greece! And all these Icelandic extras. Europeans!

Can we talk how problematic is the fact that 1) Will Farrell is 10 years older than Rachel McAdams (why Hollywood cannot cast actors that are same age and equally attractive?), 2) TWO attractive female characters are all over him like he’s the most amazing, charismatic and beautiful man in the Europe, 3) This movie isn’t passing Bechdel test

All the dick/incest/fart jokes are super American type of humour.

[ghostbustershq]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Trailer A Breakdown

“Troy, wondering what you thought about that new Ghostbusters trailer?”

Well, I’ve waited thirty years for this moment. Something tells me that my long-winded and verbose writing sensibilities won’t be able to convey my thoughts in a text message or 140 characters on Twitter. Welcome anyone that I’ve pointed in this direction. I’ve been waiting an awful long time for this. And that’s not to be dismissive of the wonderful experience and entertaining film we received just three short years ago. This is something different. But the same. Something new, but also something familiar. In one word?

Wow.

Quite a bit to unpack in a trailer revealing the first details on what has otherwise been a very tight-lipped production. Needless to say, the first real look at Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife blew me away. The direct sequel to Ghostbusters II looks to take some twists and turns, while incorporating the iconography and elements that made the original film and its sequel so popular in the 80’s. To be completely honest, it’s quite difficult to sit here and put into words my reaction to seeing a trailer for a movie I’ve been waiting 30 years to see. Excited doesn’t even begin to describe just how fun and exciting this trailer release has been. Not to mention just how special this film release will be.

But you’re not here for a review or my sentiments, you’re here for a breakdown to the trailer with a few comments and screen grabs.

Let’s do it, eh?

Hitting the Road

Right out of the gate, some stunning cinematography from Eric Steelberg on full-display here as a car full of teenage kids approach what appears to be an old mine elevator at the top of an incredible looking vista. Kids being kids, golden hour in full effect, it’s a lovely first introduction to the world in which this film will inhabit. Finn Wolfhard’s character Trevor answers a pointed question that his family has moved to Summerville because they’re completely broke. To the point that he’s getting a haircut at home by his own mother, Callie (played by Carrie Coon). We’re meeting a family on some hard times, forced to make a hard turn in their lives because of finances.

Grandpa’s “Creepy Old Farmhouse”

The family pulls up to a farmhouse and barn that looks like they’ve both seen better days. A giant barn with a collapsed roof and several silos surround a Gothic looking weather vein riddled house that may as well be out of the Addams Family. Dire circumstances have forced them to move to a family farm inherited from an, as of now, unknown grandfather. Phoebe (played by Mckenna Grace) gets out of the car with a look on her face that says it all. And those eyeglasses… well, we’ve all talked about who those look like they belong to at great length.

Something’s Amiss

Trevor’s tender moment with a new friend (Celeste O’Connor’s still as-of-yet-unrevealed character) is interrupted by the mine elevator they’re sitting on shakes violently and a green glow emanates from the mine below them. All is not picture-perfect Americana in Summerville as we’ve been led to believe. An entity explodes from the mine, escaping into the air and pushing the teenagers back in the process. That glimpse of our paranormal haunting kicks us into the studio and production company logos.

Bron Studios/Bron Media Logo

Interestingly, no Ghost Corps logo attached to the trailer. But there is a newcomer to both the trailer and the teaser poster released on Friday, Bron Studios. A Canadian company, Bron gets a logo right after Sony/Columbia possibly suggesting they’re a financial backer of the film or a large partner in some shape or form. A quick look at iMDB shows that Aaron L. Gilbert of Bron Media has been added as an Executive Producer to the film as well.

Earthquakes and Mr. Grooberson

Here’s our first real taste of how Paul Rudd’s character will factor into the film. He’s intrigued by Summerville’s seismic activities, given the fact that it doesn’t lie on a fault line, nor does it have any of the telltale signs of locations that should be moving and shaking. The protagonist family huddles under a table during a quake where we get a good taste of the film’s humor courtesy of Trevor with a quippy one-liner about the summer that they died under a table. So what is happening? Stay tuned. Also, admittedly I was too distracted by the beautiful lighting in the shot with Trevor to notice the symmetrical book stacking visual gag in the background until others pointed it out. Well played, set dec team. I’d expect there will be visual easter eggs like this throughout the entirety of the film.

Mystery Box Revealed

Following one of the quakes at their new home, Phoebe seemingly finds a loose floorboard and a sliding puzzle that has been left behind by their grandfather to hide the presence of a familiar ghost trap. Which Phoebe takes to school and shows off to her still unnamed friend, played by Logan Kim. The sight of a ghost trap tickles Mr. Grooberson, who connects it with the famed-Ghostbusters who saved New York City back in the 1980’s. The kids have no idea of the existence of ghosts, nor what occurred back in 1984 near Central Park. Grooberson is more than happy to educate them.

Jason Reitman Front and Center

After the ghost trap’s appearance, Jason Reitman (deservedly so) gets a card proclaiming the film coming from him as a writer-director hyphenate. The credit comes over an industrial space with a whole lot of Ridley Scott creep-factor going on. If I had one nit to pick with the trailer, it’s the producer in me that is concerned poor Jason’s credit never resolves with the “R” in Reitman not obstructed by the light blooming in the center of the frame.

A Free-Roaming… Something?

Right after Jason Reitman’s card, comes a panning shot across the same industrial space where a gelatinous blob is in the distance doing something. It’s tough to make out exactly what type of entity we’re looking at here, but it seems to appear (and move) like a microscopic organism or something found at the depths of the sea. Which I quite enjoy. A ghost that looks unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Also worth noting that the movements feel practical - there is weight and almost a rubbery movement to it just like the creature designs from the shop in the 80’s. Love it.

New York Was Like the Walking Dead

Mr. Grooberson shows Phoebe and Logan Kim’s character archival footage from the 1980’s where he remembers seeing the ghost trap utilized as a kid. The Ghostbusters were a phenomenon 35 years ago, but have been forgotten. As history tends to move on and generations aren’t impacted by the events of their elders, they’re learning about who the Ghostbusters were. Phoebe comments that her mother has never spoken of the events that took place in New York and that their father isn’t in the picture.

Of note, these two shots are incredible angles that I don’t believe I’ve seen before. Perhaps the result of Jason Reitman and his post production team digging into the mines and finding the original dailies and negative from the 1984 film for use in Afterlife?

PKE Readings and “Does This Pole Still Work?”

Phoebe seems to have found other Ghostbusting equipment and uses it to trace readings back to a makeshift shed. Presumably a continuation of the scene based on the editing, Phoebe slides down a fire pole (!!!) to a subterranean hidden space. She continues to follow readings on the PKE Meter, finding equipment including the orange piece of machinery taken from the original Ghostbusters at Columbia University, a Betamax recorder in the far distance, an oscilloscope, and a whole lot of fungi growing in jars. The camera pans over sample dishes of spores, molds and fungus collections, (subtly cued with Phoebe talking about picking through the rubble of her grandfather’s life) and then continues past a proton pack in progress of assembly.

Admittedly, this was the first moment in the trailer where I could feel my heart doing backflips. We’re seeing the past through Phoebe’s eyes and everything looks, feels, and sounds like Ghostbusters. I love it. This movie is about discovery, as we’ve heard over and over. To me, it feels a bit like we’re (the viewer - the broader public outside of us fans) are rediscovering our love for what made these movies so popular.

The Shoe Drops

This is where any other trailer would take the opportunity to pepper in the bass drops, kick in the soft-breathy cover version of Ray Parker Jr.’s theme song, or some other overused trope. But Ghostbusters Afterlife takes a pretty bold stance and tries something different. And to me, it really works. When Mr. Grooberson discovers that the ghost trap isn’t a replica and is, in fact a real ghost trap (and may be occupied still), he questions who Phoebe is, as there’s a cut to Phoebe’s hand grazing over a rack of flight suits revealing the name tag, “Spengler” barely having enough time to resolve before a smash to black.

In what is absolutely a stroke of genius of whomever is responsible for this wonderful trailer, Bill Murray’s line for the original movie as Venkman and Stantz share a bottle of Apricot Brandy talking about going into business for themselves takes on a whole new meaning: “Call it fate, call it luck, call it karma. I believe everything happens for a reason,” is said while - - to my ear - - a new rendition of the same Elmer Bernstein cue that plays under the scene swells.

A Certified Genius or an Authentic Wacko

After a “Next Summer” sell card, another beautiful Americana (c/o Calgary) vista of the Shandor Mining Company. Interesting, perhaps Ivo Shandor from the original film fancied himself an entrepreneur at one point before he became an architect? Or perhaps this is a result of his interest in metallurgy mentioned by Stantz? Perhaps he mined his own supplies for projects? Either way, I’m starting to think that Sumeriaville… ahem… sorry… Summerville might be following in a classic trope of some of the best horror stories. A town with an incredibly horrible secret. Warning signs don’t matter to Phoebe and Logan Kim’s character as they trudge ahead.

Hello, Beautiful

Meanwhile, in the narrative of our trailer, Trevor follows in Phoebe’s footsteps into the fields of the farm and finds something of his own: a beautiful (but a little rusty) 1959 Miller-Meteor Cadillac as the ground shakes again, something shatters through a row of school buses seemingly attacking Phoebe, and the town goes into high-alert. Amid the chaos, there’s a striking 20 frames or so of Phoebe staring into a horrifying fire pit of arms - lost souls? Something else? And immediately after that, Mr. Grooberson frantically tries to escape from a snarling beast that slams a foot on the hood of his automobile. Trevor’s Ecto-1 adventure continues as he turns the key and an homage that would make Laszlo Kovacs proud reveals the familiar license plate and front grill emerging from the garage and into the field for a joy ride. The ol’ Ecto has a whole lotta horsepower left in the tank.

Damn Right, This Thing Has a Gunner’s Seat

And that’s when the trailer hits us. What can and should be the most amazing surprise in the trailer (if not unfortunately spoiled for you by a few self-interested rotten apples with horrible cell phone photos) - this isn’t the Ecto we’re familiar with. Perhaps an explanation as to why it’s the ol’ Ecto-1, or maybe the car was always being changed throughout the duration of the Ghostbusters’ longevity, THIS Ectomobile looks to have been heavily modified for field work. Phoebe, with a thrower in her hand, swivels out into an attack position and we’re off to the races. The Ecto-1, with Phoebe in the gunner position, looks to be chasing the microscopic entity seen earlier in the industrial space - though some people have speculated that might be Slimer, I don’t think that’s the case. Either way… Dear Hasbro, take my money now. My goodness, what an awesome set-piece (and toyetic moment) that looks like it will be.

Everything about this movie speaks to me. It’s playing with my nostalgia. It’s also giving us something new and the promise of the next generation discovering the Ghostbusters both on-screen and off. The fact that a main character is named Trevor for some reason immediately made me think of my amazing former boss and now guide to the next generation of comedy Trevor Albert, who was a long-time friend and colleague of Harold Ramis. Phoebe’s an intriguing character and the friendship that we saw Mckenna Grace and Logan Kim develop via social media throughout the course of the production seems to have carried over to their on-screen performances.

Of course, noticeably absent are any of the original cast members. But, as the theme of this trailer and seemingly the movie as a whole is discovery and things slowly unfolding, I can imagine that moment will be saved until the absolute very end of the marketing campaign. If the cast isn’t kept in secret similar to Mark Hamill in The Force Awakens completely. To be completely honest, I don’t want to see another frame until opening day of the film itself. And if this is the only trailer they release, that would be a wonderful mystery box. Particularly for this Ghostbusters podcast host who would have to break another TV spot or trailer down frame by frame. I get the sense that the less we know and see about this movie before the first viewing experience, the better.

But most of all - - the iconography, the designs from Stephen Dane, Michael C. Gross, and so many other artists has carried over successfully and looks authentic. This is no replica, as the trailer blatantly tells us. This is the real deal.

[racefortheironthrone]

Have you seen Captain Marvel? Thoughts?

thoughts on captain marvel?

Have you seen Captain Marvel?

Have you seen Captain Marvel yet?

Given all your great People’s History of Marvel stuff lately, I assume you’ve been asked already, but any Captain Marvel thoughts you can share?What did you think of Captain Marvel?

Ok, ok already, I’ll write the post!

Full Spoilers Below

I really liked it! As solo origin movies go, it was definitely one of the better ones; personally I’d put it up there with Doctor Strange in how it deals with bringing some big new ideas into the MCU, while having way higher expectations than that film ever did. (Also, I want to plug my colleague @elanabrooklyn‘s podcast episode about the film, which you should listen to while reading this.)

Things I Liked:

I thought the amnesia/false memories plot was a great way to wrong-foot the audience who’re used to superhero origin stories (the good guys are the bad guys, the bad guys are the good guys, Vers is Carol) which worked hand-in-glove with the film’s broader thesis about gender: that male dominated institutions are not just going to try to exclude or diminish you, but also gaslight you about who you are, what strength looks like, etc. to get you to comply. “What was given can be taken away”/”““Don’t let your emotions override your judgments.” are the key throughlines here, a great example of how the writers are taking worn-out Hero’s Journey tropes and flipping them on their head. 

I really liked the twist on Mar-Vell. It makes the origin story less of an accident and more of a choice, and I’m always in favor of more active protagonists; there’s really no reason why the Space Alien Defector from Decadence couldn’t be a female scientist instead of a male warrior; and it both honors the original (that no one really cared about, tbh) and surprises the hardestcore of fans. Also having the light speed engine be the Tesseract is a good way to incorporate Captain Marvel into the broader MCU without needing to explain a brand-new source of wibbley-wobbly. 

The war metaphor. There was a lot of handwringing before the film about Captain Marvel being pro-military propaganda, because of the Air Force deal that had been worked out. As I suspected going in, the film is a very sneaky subversion of that, with the Kree Starforce being a very clear stand-in for the U.S. Military. The surface level analogy is that the Kree Starforce is a male-dominated institution that tries to gaslight and prevent Carol from reaching her true potential just like the Air Force tried to do, but it goes deeper than that. The whole first act of the film sets up the Starforce as Seal Team Six equivalents - a highly-trained special forces group, fighting an enemy explicitly described as terrorists, but trying to do it in an efficient/precise way that makes them the good guys as opposed to Ronan’s carpet-bombing Accusers - which is a narrative we’ve been conditioned to accept since 9/11 through films like the Hurt Locker/Green Zone/Zero Dark Thirty/etc. However, the second and third acts reveal that’s total bullshit. The Starforce try to kill civilians, do kill their own people to get their hands on military intelligence, and are perfectly happy to carry out the Supreme Intelligence’s imperialist total war, and their supposed commitment to precision and avoiding collateral damage goes out the window the moment it’s the least bit inconvenient. 

Seeing Carol Danvers in the Jamie McKelvie suit - fauxhawk and all - blow through an alien warfleet whooping with joy made me ferklempt a little. I think that moment will only grow with time as something on par with the first time that Iron Man does the superhero landing or “I’m always angry” as genuinely worthy of the term iconic. 

EDIT: Forgot about Goose. Cute, funny, and instantly wins over the cat-lovers in the audience. I imagine the dog-lovers out there will want a much bigger role for Cosmo in Guardians 3...

Things That Surprised Me

I was genuinely surprised at how good the de-aging CGI has gotten. Coulson looked slightly waxy, but there was a real performance in Samuel L. Jackson playing not just a younger Nick Fury but a younger Nick Fury who is very specifically Samuel L. Jackson in the Long Kiss Goodnight. I have no idea what this means for the future; are we going to see the original Avengers forever, just with more and more de-aging GCI slapped on them? If only for salary and contract reasons, I doubt it’ll go beyond the realm of cameos and secondary performances, but it’s a nice way to try to maintain continuity as the MCU ages into its second decade.

The Skrulls. I had thought that the anti-war message was going to be more of a Kree-Skrull War plague-on-both-your-houses thing, but turning the Skrulls into the equivalent of Syrian refugees totally blindsided me. It’s an incredibly gutsy move, and I’ll echo what @giveamadeuschohisownmovie said about the brilliant bit of culture-jamming that is casting it-bad-guy Ben Mendelsohn as “the lead villain” and Jude Law as “the wise mentor,” judo-flipping audiences with our own expectations about recent films, the hero’s journey, and how we should feel about aliens who look like the Skrulls and aliens who look like us. That being said, part of the reason why it’s a gutsy move is that it precludes a lot of possible stories: I don’t think you could do a Kree-Skrull war, or a Secret Invasion movie, or a Super-Skrull movie after this, given the way that the film deconstructed the entire notion of Skrulls-as-heel-species. 

Things I Could Have Used Even More Of:

While I totally understand the pacing reasons why they didn’t do this, I kind of wish there had been more time to do some road-trip banter between Nick Fury and Carol; give Nick a chance to introduce the alien to 90s music and fast food, crack some meta jokes about Pulp Fiction, etc.

I also could have used some more banter with the rest of the Kree team. I think some stuff got cut here, because there’s definitely some shots from trailers of the team walking down a hallway and staring down Ronan coming the other way that didn’t make it into the film. As a result, Carol’s team turning on her and her fighting back doesn’t have as much emotional weight.

Finally, and this is a really small nit-pick, but a bit more budget spent on the CGI during the Supreme Intelligence scenes would have gone a long way. Annette Benning’s dual performance was so good that the slightly dodgy mirror tendril stuff stood out in a negative way. Or just don’t do the mirror tendril stuff and double-down on the memory-warping or dueling beams stuff, which worked much better. 

[metalgearkong]

Spider-Man: Far From Home - Review

7/8/19

Directed by Jon Watts (Marvel Studios / Disney)

Spider-Man is my favorite super hero of all time, and I’m thrilled to see so much of the web head on the big screen in the past years. While Tom Holland isn’t my personal favorite Peter Parker, (that will always go to the original Tobey Maguire) he still does a fantastic job of being a version of Peter, and it works for this series. Far From Home is the first movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to take place post-Endgame, and I was curious how the story would handle the fallout after the big “snap.” The movie begins with Peter and his class on a trip to Europe, where they are attacked by a giant “elemental” made of water. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), appearing out of nowhere, and seemingly a good guy, swoops in and helps Peter defeat this giant water golem.

Of course, the most obvious thing in the world if you know anything about classic Spider-Man, is that Mysterio will become the villain, or is feigning from the beginning to be a good guy. Mysterio is one of the main members of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery from comics, cartoons, games, and other mediums. I’ve always liked who he has been as a villain (a special effects expert with a grudge) and was looking forward to seeing how they would interpret the character for modern screens. Peter struggles with living in the shadow of his mentor Tony Stark, but is given a set of his glasses equipped with the most powerful and useful augmented reality and AI Tony has ever made. The movie really pushes that Spider-Man is going to be the replacement Iron Man, something I never felt the series should go, as they are such different people with incredibly different powers (although they do have savvy scientific minds).

The first third of this movie is where it peaked. For once this time, I enjoyed the high school angst and comedy more than the big epic CGI-filled action. Holland and all the other young actors all have great chemistry and feel like good friends, at least for a film. Overall I identified a lot with the characters, mainly on a interpersonal level. The movie is full of tiny examples to keep them human and identifiable. The bigger picture, unfortunately, is still filled with nit picks I have with the MCU, including deus-ex-machina technology, and over reliance on VFX, over uses of bathos, and yes, sadly, a lame villain. Gyllenhaal plays an intriguing role at first, in his phase of pretending to be a hero. Once he reveals who he is to the audience, and goes on one of the worst exposition dumps I can remember, his character goes from having potential and mystery, to being a cackling and embarrassing Saturday morning villain.

Motivation falls by the wayside. His origins and goals don’t really have a personal connection to Peter, and simply feels like someone who has to be outsmarted and stopped. I also couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough of exactly what the true nature of the elementals were and how he was pulling off his illusions (but going into that may be regarded as small spoilers). It could work for a video game or comic possibly, but not a modern day realistic take on the Marvel universe. Although the stronger scenes of the movie with the most potential was when Mysterio began to mess with Peter’s mind and became more of a mental/psychological threat more so than a physical threat. More could have been done with it and I wish the movie took a more introspective route.

The music in the MCU has been hugely upgraded in recent years, utilizing much clearer theme music for heroes and events. The editing, camera work, and sound all flow together very well to make a good action-comedy, even if I feel like the action, nor the comedy always worked as well as intended. One of my biggest problems with the movie is how it treats the events of Endgame like a joke. The world simply calls it “the blip,” and society doesn’t seem to be affected by it as a whole. If half of the world’s population, including plants and animals, all suddenly evaporated, and the world had to continue on after such a tragedy, you could fill several episodes worth of a TV show just explaining the after effects of such an existential event. Everyone left over had to live 5 years knowing their loved ones and organic resources simply disappeared, an event more destructive than all the world’s tragedies combined, and this movie glazed it over like a mild inconvenience.

Far From Home is another charming entry to the MCU, and the film makers did a great job doing what they had to do. The main problem I have is sometimes this series being convenient for the sake of pumping out 3 movies per year. The MCU will likely never have a Logan, or something on that level. Few films in the MCU will ever have the gravitas of events such as in Infinity War and Endgame because the franchise is just too damned profitable to put many of the main characters in too much peril or danger. If hardly anyone dies ever, especially with the sort of action they are thrown into, tension dissolves faster than a “snap” victim. This is doubly true for the several character who have conveniently come back from the dead in order to serve more films/media. Far From Home is enjoyable from a character stand point, and while it does have good CGI, action set pieces, acting, and music, it still carries almost all of my nit picks of the series and doesn’t dive into the more interesting details of this world and the consequences of its events.

6.5/10

[waterstar2016]

How about Raphael x Reader His girl had a long day and only wants to hide herself under a blanket begging for it to be over. But as she comes home, he is waiting with a little surprise for her. I dont know maybe her favorite movie or book something in this case^^ You have free hand sweets thanks :) *hugs*

Here you go! This one flowed so easily. Thank you for the awesome request. I hope you like it *hugs*

This is SFW. Warning…fluffy…lol.

It was taking everything in her not to cry on the bus ride home from work. She was overwhelmed, exhausted and just plain fed up. Tucking her head further into her jacket she leaned in closer to the the barely cracked window, wishing she could open it further. Her senses chafing at the multitudes of smells that surrounded her. A woman’s rose perfume too strong, a man who was sorely in need of a shower and jackets that held the fragrant remnants of old cigarettes. Just a few more stops and she would be home.

She was grateful it was Friday and she didn’t have to see her place of employment for a couple of days. Normally, she loved her job, but this last week had tested her patience. Her boss was out of town and the guy who was acting as the general manager had a serious superiority complex. He had berated every decision that she made that week and requested draft after draft of the paperwork for the same account, nit picking at every single detail. Sighing, she finally got the bastard to sign off on it, two hours after she was supposed to have left for the day.

One more stop. She started collecting her things and realized that she left her cell phone at work. “Damnit!” She huffed under her breath, and a mother holding a small child across the isle gave her a disapproving shake of her head. She mouthed “Sorry.” to the woman, but all she got was an ice cold glare. All she wanted was her bed, mounds of pillows and her favourite blanket that her grandmother had crocheted for her when she moved away from home the previous year.

The worst of it was that not having her cell meant she couldn’t text him. She pulled the cord on the bus, signalling to the driver to stop. She grabbed her belongings and trudged down the stairs and onto the sidewalk. Wishing once more for her cell, she started walking the two bocks from the bus stop to her apartment. Maybe she could ask her elderly neighbour if she could borrow her phone to give him a call? Spirits buoyed slightly at the thought of a solution, she hurried home.

Knocking at Alice’s door she waited patiently for the sound of the shuffle of her slippers. Nothing. She tried again. “Please be home.” She whispered. After no response she finally admitted defeat and rested her head against the door and felt tears start to form in her eyes. Squeezing her eyes shut she accepted the fact that she would just have to wait until tomorrow to head back to the office and grab her phone. Regretting having dropped her computer off to the repair shop that morning she dug for her keys and slipped them into the lock of her apartment door.

Raphael heard her keys jiggling in the door and a muttered curse as she dropped them. He had been planning to surprise her since he talked to her the previous night. He hated hearing her sounding so deflated. Part of him wanted to take a trip to her work and have a nice little chat with that numbskull she had to deal with in this last week. Cracking his neck he shook off the feelings of anger that were bubbling up inside of him. He needed to focus on her. She finally opened the door and at the sight of her he immediately knew he made the right decision in coming tonight.

She gasped. In the middle of her living room stood a large figure. His broad shoulders and height making the space seem smaller then it actually was. She dropped her purse and lunch bag to the floor. “Raph.” She whispered. He smirked and she couldn’t help the smile that broke through on her face. His smirk was definitely her kryptonite.

Walking up to him he grabbed her in a one armed hug. Lowering his head he brushed his cheek against hers, his rough textured skin rasping against hers. “Heya, Tiger.” The sound of his deep gravelly voice chased the negative thoughts that were storming through her mind. She looked up into his green and gold eyes and smiled. “Raph, am I ever glad you’re here, I’ve had a hell of a week, that acting GM is a dick, I forgot my cell at work and…” He placed his finger on her lips and hummed in his throat. “I know this week has been rough on ya sweetheart. Are ya sure you don’t want me to talk to that Alex guy for ya?” He ran his fingers through her hair and waited for her answer. She knew he was serious, and just for a second she contemplated having Raph “bump” into him on his way home on a dark and stormy night. Chuckling at the thought she shook her head. “No, it’s alright Raph, as much as I dislike the guy he’s not worth the effort.”

Raph huffed. “Well, let me know if ya change your mind.” Leaning into his plastron she realized that he was only holding her with one arm. Cocking her head up at him curiously she asked; “Raph what are you holding behind your back?” He grinned down at her and handed her a brown paper wrapped package tied with red coloured twine. “Here, I got ya this.” Raph stood holding her gently at her waist while she eagerly opened his gift.

“Raphael! How did you manage to get this?” It was the first edition of her favourite authors latest book and when she opened the cover she saw there was a dedication on the first page. As she read it she felt like her heart had stopped.

“I used walked these city streets alone. I used to look up at the stars alone. I used to dream alone. Those days of being alone are now gone because of you. I now walk with you. I now stargaze and make wishes with you. I now dream of a bright and wonderful future. All because of you. Never forget that I love you. - R -”

With tears in her eyes she looked up at him, her eyes searching his. He lowered his head and spoke low. “I had April get this for me, her friend knows the author.” He looked sheepish for a second and then met her gaze. “I, uh, also asked April to get her to dedicate it to ya.” He chuckled quietly. “She’s the one that took what I wanted to say and turned it into something romantic.” Taking his thumb he brushed away the single tear that had managed to slide down her cheek.

Standing up on her tip toes she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Raph responded with eagerness and held her tightly. Pulling away from him she played with his bandana tails, and she heard the low churr in his chest. He loved it when she did that. Looking at the red material in between her fingers she sighed. “Thank you Raph, this is the most amazing gift I have ever received, and I love you too.”

Raph grinned. Picking her up he carried her into the bedroom and she laughed when she saw blankets and pillows that weren’t there that morning piled on her bed, creating a huge and sumptuous nest. On the nightstand were some of her and his favourite snacks. He gently laid her down and crawled in beside her. “Would ya read some of that book to me while I hold ya?”

Gone were the thoughts of the last week. They had been replaced by the thoughtfulness of this wonderful man that had appeared in her life. He may have been a giant mutant turtle, but he was her giant mutant turtle and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She nodded and giggled as Raph grabbed her by the hips, tucked her into his plastron, and rested his head on hers. She wiggled a little to get comfortable and opened the book.

She started by reading the dedication.

End.

[altalksaboutstuff]

Shantae and the Seven Sirens First Impressions (Insert I whip my hair back and forth joke here)

No spoilers?   Well ok, I'll try.   I suck at knowing what is or is not a spoiler though.   I'll give it my best go.

… or should I say my best Ret-2-Go! 

First some back story to frame this:

Shantae and the Seven Sirens is probably the game that I've been looking forward to playing all year and it was about a year ago now that we first got the teaser trailer/opening for this game too.   I've watched that trailer over and over. on my birthday I saw the Studio Trigger movie Promare and the Shantae and the Seven Sirens trailer (also animated by Studio Trigger) was shown with the other movie trailers.  Its really good, both the movie and trailer, so good that after seeing the trailer my wife asked me if the games were based off the anime (They didn't know that Shantae isn't an anime at the time.)   This was also after spending pretty much the whole summer of 2019 playing Shantae Half Genie Hero again and again.   I think I mentioned that on my last video game related post about that game, where I was essentially shilling for Wayforward for free.  

I'm typing this out on a keyboard on a Shantae and the Pirate's Curse desk mat.  

On my right by the mouse is a very enthusiastic Rotty Tops.  

My current wallpaper is Shantae.   

I like this series, a lot.   I think about this series a lot.   I hold myself back from going on tangents when talking to others except for Tumblr and perhaps one day I will make a Youtube video (previously I had made one out of my last post for Half Genie Hero but it won't render correctly. I think it is corrupted so I essentially have to make a new one, maybe at a later time)

Basically I'm a huge tool or as some others would say I’m a huge fan of the Shantae videogame franchise.

I could also write about how now how Games with Gold has Shantae and the Pirate's Curse available for download, since it is available to claim until June 30th, 2020 but I'll mostly touch on that game later.   Lightly.

I pre-ordered the physical version of Shantae and the Seven Sirens for the Switch, I got the Collector's Edition with all the bells and whistles and I was going to wait for it, but I caved.   I just couldn't wait for the release so I got the digital version on Xbox One back on May 28th, 2020.   I paid for the same game twice.   I don't do that often, I can't even think of any other time that I've done that except for maybe with remakes or re-releases, but never for a new game.   I think.   I justified it as the Xbox version has achievements that I can get to show off my digital e-Peen.   I also have digital versions of Pirate's Curse and Half Genie Hero on Xbox One while I have physical copies of the games on Switch but those digital versions were from Games with Gold.   While I did pay for the Gamepass Ultimate Service, $1 for three years, its not really the same thing.

Well the other day at around 3AM I finished my first play through of the game clocking in about 10 hours and 40 minutes and these are my first thoughts.

I think the most succinct comparison for this game to another is Tomba! For the Playstation One.   There's “comparisons” between the two – like Tomba! has seven evil pigs, Shantae has Seven Sirens, both are platformers and while Shantae is a Metroidvania Tomba! is … kind of one too, I guess?

The main comparison to Tomba! that I can think of being that you get directives with spoken keywords and you go to the corresponding area on the map to complete the objective and along the way you get power ups to better help you explore and fight bosses.     

Unlike the other Shantae games I've played, there isn't a real central hub.   I think that the first town you go to is supposed to be the de facto hub, Arena Town, on Paradise Island but they did away with that for a teleporter room to make fast travel easier.   You no longer have to talk to Sky to grab a flight on her bird but you feel like an outsider visiting these towns.   And hey, that makes thematic sense since you are visiting the island on vacation but the other games had that home HUB level. That feels like a weird point to mention missing when I played the game because for one it fits the universe a lot better and two it makes actual sense to do that but what I've come to expect in a Shantae game something about it just doesn't feel right.

I think that's the best way to describe this game, its not bad it just doesn't feel right.    A lot of this game just doesn't feel right to me.   This is my first take of this game and is why I wanted to specifically make this a first take and not a real “review” review.   I just to say that something about Shantae and the Seven Sirens feels off.   I don't know how else to describe it so I don't want to imply there's some kind of quick fix rather this is an issue with the heart and soul feel.   I've talked to friends when discussing media in the past – video games, movies, etc. and when dealing specifically with sequels and prequels -   I think that it's really hard to make a good sequel.   A game, movie, book, etc can be great on its own and sometimes even better than the original but how it fits in as a sequel can be its undoing or even a miss-step.   In that way its almost easier to make a new intellectual property.   You have to put enough of your IP in the game (or whatever media) so that it feels like it fits in the universe and that's the long and short of what makes this game not feel right.   To be fair this is very much a Shantae game.   You've got Shantae, Bolo, Risky Boots and the others, you've got familiar enemies, you have dances and genie powers, you collector heart squids to make heart containers and there's in universe references to things that happened in the previous game, heck you are there on vacation as mentioned you would at the end of Half-Genie Hero but I just don't feel that magic, that Shantae magic.   Its frankly kind of unfair to describe my biggest issue as a feeling and describe it in terms of magic.   How is that fair to say or any kind of constructive feedback at all?   Well I will try to break down and it is what I kind of missed from what I expected going into the game.

First thing is my problem with the transformations.   That Studio Trigger trailer (that I mentioned earlier) shows Shantae turning into a monkey.   Shantae even mentions how she can turn into a monkey at the beginning of the game.   But all those animal forms she had previously are gone.   Poof.  

That in and itself isn't a problem since this game does have new animal transformations that are pretty cool and satisfying to use like a Newt, a Tortoise, a Squid, a Gastro Drill (think a hermit crab that can drill through the earth/sand) and a frog but my dumb brain up until the end of the game was expecting to unlock some of her classic animal transformations.   Like I was expecting to fly around as the harpie and shoot up walls as the monkey and swim around as the mermaid in addition to dashing around as the Newt or barreling into enemies as the Tortoise.   These new forms sounded like they were going to be bonus: both in the sense of what Shantae says at the beginning of the game and how they are presented to you as gifts when you save the other half-genies.   Same with the dances.   This game has four dances that you acquire from Fusion Stones. The dances don't transform you into an animal but you get dances that do things like heal the surrounding environment and enemies or charge electrical devices.   And that’s neat, but more on that later.   That’s a positive.  I’m in my nit pick section now.

My next issue is: What does Shantae do? I don't mean the character in the avatar sense because you need someone to control, but specifically why am I Shantae?   You have your hair whip and the ability to dance but none of the power or transformations are yours.   I think part of the reason my brain was like “Cool, I can't wait to get the mermaid transformation to use in tandem with the squid triple jump” is because all the powers you get are borrowed from the other half-genies but it doesn't come across like you won't be able to later use your classic abilities. Is it another being on vacation thing, like Shantae just didn't pack her harpie form?   Other than Shantae being the main character of the series and possessing the ability to use magic as a half-genie, what is the reason why it is Shantae we are playing as?   What in particular is important about Shantae having this adventure?   I worry if I have conveyed what I mean here since it does sound a bit unclear.

I don't want to be too hard on Shantae and the Seven Sirens because this isn't just a Shantae franchise problem, to be fair, take Metroid for example.   In a typical Metroid game it starts with the protagonist Samus Aran tripping and she then will lose all her powers as they roll out of her and fall down a sewer drain for example.  

The idea that you were previously powerful canonically but have to start again at square one isn't always framed smoothly in video games but with Shantae and the Seven Sirens it makes it a point during a few times to tell you that your powers are all borrowed especially at the end.   But to go back and contrast that with a Metroid game - I feel like the power-ups still fit Samus Aran and are hers to use (until presumably the next game), and sure someone else could use them - they generally fit to what we understand the character to use for attacks and abilities.   I think that's why in this instance it sticks out so much in my mind.   I feel like any of the other half-genies could have done this adventure just the same.   Zapple could have gotten Fusion Stones and borrowed the other half-genies powers for example to save the day.   

At the end Risky tells you that she got Shantae specifically to go along as a contingency plan in accordance to what happens during the ending but like, what happens is ultimately a mistake involving one of Shantae's non-magical friends.   I assume from the towns that I visited in game that the other half-genies have non-magical friends too.   It wouldn't be a stretch for them to have a similar happen stance occur.   

The other big problem, and maybe this is a   for me problem, was Risky Boots role in this game.   Risky Boots just oozes a larger than life villainess personality - I absolutely love Risky Boots as a character.   In Half-Genie Hero though, Risky wasn't really in the game.   You thwart her in the beginning and she doesn't show up again until the end game.   In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Risky Boots is there for pretty much the whole game and you develop a really good frienemy rapport with her.   This was a hole that I thought that this game would fix but it doesn't … at least not really.

What you get is there is a lot more of Risky Boots on screen in this game than Half-Genie Hero (and you realize there was even more once you get further in the game) and yet it feels like there was a lot less Risky Boots in this game.   You see Risky Boots time and again and you have multiple fights with her (they are set up and paced like the mini-boss) and she will tell you something about why she is there.   But then run off, rinse and repeat.   There are also a few other moments where she shows up and at the end of the game but its an issue of quality over quantity.   Like you de facto see Risky Boots more in this game but its always in short doses to advance the plot.   She also has a moment at the end of the game (which is kind of lackluster in my opinion) that feels hollow.   Like she's there but not really and without spoiling too much its because she is unconscious.   I haven't played this game through a 100% and I assume that maybe she has something to do with the better endings that I haven't unlocked yet but first time through she feels like an afterthought to piece together what is going on with the Sirens more than anything.   Like, oh hey Risky Boots is in Shantae, remember?   Much like with Shantae, I wonder why is Risky Boots in this game other than that its because it is a Shantae franchise game?   It kind of breaks my man-child heart.

Also Jake Kaufman didn't do the soundtrack which kind of explains why none of the in-game tracks really got stuck in head.   I liked Arena Town and the Dungeons theme, Armor Town's music is ok too.   But while Half-Genie Hero and Shantae and the Pirate's Curse soundtrack really wowed me with noticeable tracks that stuck out, this was more “It's ok” with a few noticeably less meh tracks.

If I had to guess why this game feels the way it does, its this one review I saw on the Xbox Marketplace inadvertently nailed it on the head but I think what they found as a positive, I took as a negative.   Shantae and The Seven Sirens mixes Pirate’s Curse with Half-Genie Hero, but I think they took what was wrong and mixed it.   Its from a review by ExcitedData11 entitled Good stuff!

That is ultimately what I think lead this game to be what it is – it's trying to fix Shantae Half-Genie Hero by mixing in what it was perceived to be missing.   On the one hand, I totally get it.   When Shantae Half Genie-Hero came out it got some less than charitable reviews. Thankfully it was successful and overall praised by those fans who Kickstarted it.   Shantae Half-Genie Hero game was coming hot off Shantae and the Pirate's Curse which is to a lot of people – the best Shantae game.   And I honestly think that falls into what I was saying earlier – its hard to make a good sequel especially since the previous game in the series was the most beloved.   Its really hard to capture lightning in a bottle the same way again so they did something different.  

Now this is just my opinion (Duh! the whole thing is, but I want to re-iderate here especially since I'm extra talking out of my butt in this part)   but to me with Half-Genie Hero they didn't put as much emphasis on the story as with the Pirate's Curse, and in a way went back to the drawing board.   The in-game jokes about the game being a soft re-boot of the Shantae series specifically call this out - Shantae and the Half-Genie Hero was largely about who Shantae is and where did she come from?   Who is Shantae's mother?   What happened to the Genies and the Genie Realm? The games dances and transformations were all of Shantae's classic animal forms with some new things mixed in too.   

When I wrote earlier about Shantae and the Seven Sirens and how its a Shantae game but why does it have to be Shantae I feel like Shantae Half-Genie Hero in stark contrast HAD to be about Shantae, its all about her.   In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse I feel like it had to be about Shantae too, the real main character of that game was Risky Boots but her relation to Shantae as Shantae's rival was important to understanding Risky Boots.   Shantae is important in that way.   That's why in Shantae and the Seven Sirens, Shantae just being on vacation story continuity alone doesn't really do it for me.   Its also why Risky Boots wanting the power of the Island and falling back on Shantae as a contingency plan doesn't do it for me either.   Mixing what is wrong with Half-Genie Hero also mixed out part of what was right with the game.   

But at this point, I feel like I've been way to uncharitable to this game.   Its mean.   I'm kind of being a big meany and misleading you.   “Well why don't you just say it? This game must be terrible! -3000 out of 10!”

I feel like I'm saying this game is bad and pointing and prodding over essentially an intangible essence. This game is actually good but if I lead with just that and didn't say my other piece I feel like it would also be wrong.   Its super easy (and popular?) to just lay into a game as being bad on the internet.   This is the post video game review culture that we have for better or for worse from things like the Angry Video Game Nerd (the better) and Gamer Gate (the absolute worst.)   Despite my earlier comments - I did like this game. Really, I enjoyed playing it and I think over time as I replay it I will like it more and more or at least I assume that I will based off of my previous gaming tastes and experiences with this franchise in particular.

Like sequels, reviews are tricky.   For me I think I realized this when I was in the 5th  grade and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time got a perfect score from Gamespot.   It still kind of irks me but at the time I felt like that was big mistake, a HUUUGE mistake.   Especially now when looking back at the game, its faults are a lot more glaring but at the time I can now think –   This was a 3D Zelda, the first grand adventure of its time.   People were waiting for this forever it probably felt.   

In contrast I also think of games I really like that when I first played them I didn't really care for – namely No More Heroes.   I really enjoy revisiting that game and its probably in my favorite games of the 2000s decade but I first played it, meh.   I didn't really like it.   Now a days I could go on and on talking about it.

Tastes change, initial impressions change, where we are in the world changes things and our relation to media too.  I've seen a few reviews really laying into this game and then give it a 6 or 7 out of 10.   That is kind of bizarre but I also feel like maybe right?   Numbers seems inherently trivial to me now.   This game could be a 6/10 but it also feels like it could be an 8/10 too based off of my impression.   What I can say that is more concrete is that its good. I would recommend you play this game

Ok first impression is over -

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First off, though I want to say that the game mechanics are more streamlined for play.   I love the animal transformations but stopping to dance pulls you out of the game play and immersion especially since that is so pivotal to playing the game especially when more than one is used in tandem.   This also gives the other dances more of an ump especially since they have powerful effects on the stage/level/enemies.   In Shantae Half-Genie Hero you have the destruction dance that blows up the whole stage but it takes some time to get to.   With the dance function, you cycle through about 4 sets of possible dances to get to it.   You are essentially just waiting to use a really powerful move, which I feel like if you need to use it, you probably want to do it right away and in the meantime you are a sitting target.   You also have to wait to use the monkey transformation or harpie or mermaid transformations.   That's kind of a pain when you use them just to move around.   Its not long a long waiting time, its not like a load screen where you are doing nothing but still you have to wait.   Its a lot of waiting.   You had to wait to use anything.   The game does sort of correct that with a metronome power up to speed up the time between available dance cycles but you still wait.  

With only four dances total you still have to wait a beat to get to them but then all of them are available to use at once.   And outside of that as previously mentioned each one of the animal transformations is used in tandem with a button press and the environment.   While something like the frog requires water for use or sand for the Gastro Drill, you can also dash whenever you want as the newt or charge up and smash into things as the tortoise the same.   None of the animal transformations seem out of place or missed and they flow better this way with the game play.   I never once missed a platform, hit or moving around in any of the animal forms except on rare occasion which every time was from my own input. Shantae is a platformer too so ease of mobility is definitely something you want while you play.

Expanding on the point of mobility - travel between points on the map is also easier.   No longer do you have to walk to Sky and ask to fly to a location.   As you play you uncover warp rooms and you can warp at will to any of the open locations to fast travel around the island.   As previously mentioned I do miss the HUB town from Half Genie Hero but this is markedly an improvement that also thematically makes sense too.   While I miss Scuttle Town that decision was good.

I also like the characters in this game a lot.   Outside of the series mainstays (Risky Boots ♥_♥ ) we meet other Half-genies (Well... more on that some other time) such as 

Harmony 

Plink

Vera 

Zapple 

and ...Fillin (or Ima Goodgirl or … hmmm?)

I also have to say that I was totally de-lighted to meet Armor Baron.   Any adjective less than delighted undercuts this character and I absolutely had no idea going into this game that he was in it.  My reaction was pretty close to Skys in-game reaction.   Just trust me your going to love Armor Baron.

While the meetings with Risky Boots are less than my ideal, I really, really like how the fights play out similarly to how you fight Risky Boots at the end of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero.   It feels like a genuine Risky Boots/Shantae battle and I really like that level of polish.   Going back to my point of why is this a Shantae game and the difficulties of making a sequel this is really a tick in the good sequel feel column.   I just wish I felt this more.

Lastly when talking about characters and maybe this is a spoiler or not (Sorry. Maybe sorry?) Bolo is voiced by Ross.   More specifically the Newgrounds/Youtuber Ross O'Donovan also known as Rubber Ninja   (formerly Rubber Ross uhm... errr, I guess that's his Gameplay channel on Youtube now?   So maybe he is still Rubber Ross?) and also a former Game Grump.   I don't know Ross personally but from what I do know about his personality from reading his Tweets and watching his animations and videos from when he was on Game Grumps 

that is a perfect choice Wayforward.   10/10 and that's keeping up with all of the other characters voices too.   Christina Vee (Valenzuela) returning portrayal of Shantae and Risky Boots (and also Harmony) is also very good.   This series has always brought a lot of talent in that department.

Aesthetically this game is gorgeous, the high definition character sprites/graphics from Half-Genie Hero all return and there are new character portraits that look really nice like the next step in terms of polish.   Studio Trigger did the opening animation and the other in game cutscenes put together in house look really, really good.

This game is wonderful, truly.   I don't want you to take away anything else.   It is absolutely worth your time and you will have a good time playing it but it just misses the mark.   I would love to say that this game is Shantae perfected but its not.   Not yet anyways.   It is some combination of a step forward and a step back.   I think I still have more to experience and definitely more to say.   My first completion was way over the time limit for a notable clear time and I didn't complete the item collection 100% either.   I am reasonably sure that once I finish this game with a faster time, higher completion, on new game plus and a combination of all 3 of those criteria combined I will find out more about the story.   I'll get the “Good ending” -s and I'm also sure I will also get better and more efficient with playing the game. Maybe then some of my not great first takes will change too.   Shantae games (and Metroidvania games in general) get better with replaying and when you learn the in and outs.   I still have a pretty good memory of Half-Genie Hero even though I haven't played it in a few months.

Maybe I'm a sucker but I also want some DLC.   Give me a version where you play as Risky Boots (please, I miss her) and what could also be fun is a game from the perspectives of the other half-genies in game where you switch between them all at each point before they are captured and play a sort of soft redesign of each dungeon and boss and the end can be the lead up with a particular Siren.

There's a lot that I look forward to this game and this series future.   I plan to look up the achievements I missed and collect them.   I also need to go back and play the original and Risky's Revenge sometime too.   I would like to do a proper review of this and the other games in the future.

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a Speedrun of Shantae and the Seven Sirens that I have to go fail a few times.

(Note this post originally had pictures and GIFs for visual aid/jokes but after trying to post it about 5 times with no luck and coming back, I just deleted them all.  I’ve come back and edited some things that look weird and I think I’ve gotten them all, but apologies if I missed some.  WOMP)

[back-and-totheleft]

Languid, riveting and elegant

Whenever Oliver Stone makes movies about real people, he ends up in hot water. Whether the subject is Richard Nixon or Alexander the Great, there’s always some critic nit-picking about factual inaccuracies or perceived political agendas. Not this time. With “Chasing the Light,” the 73-year-old Oscar-winning director and screenwriter has finally found a historical figure he can portray with all the bias he desires: himself.

And yet, Stone’s 330-page memoir, covering his life and career up to his first milestone achievement — winning an Oscar for his 1986 Vietnam drama, “Platoon” — turns out to be a surprisingly sober and cleareyed portrait of a rabble-rouser as a young man. It’s sure to tick off some people, like the actor James Woods, who likely won’t be thrilled with the bit about his constant whining on the set of “Salvador.” But for the most part the Oliver Stone depicted in these pages — vulnerable, introspective, stubbornly tenacious and frequently heartbroken — may just be the most sympathetic character he’s ever written.

As one might suppose, some of the most riveting parts are set in Vietnam, where, in 1967, after dropping out of Yale, 21-year-old Stone volunteered for service in the war that would shape so much of his worldview (and provide the inspiration for “Platoon”).

For a screenwriter, Stone has a notably languid and elegant prose style — at times downright novelistic — even if some passages can be rough to read. “Full daylight revealed charred bodies, dusty napalm and gray trees,” he writes about the aftermath of a battle near the Cambodian border. “Men who died grimacing, in frozen positions, some of them still standing or kneeling in rigor mortis, white chemical death on their faces.”

What’s more unexpected, though, is how engaging a tale he spins out of his early family life in Connecticut and New York, particularly his odd-couple parents — dad a Republican stockbroker, mom a free-spirited French glamour puss, both cheated on each other — and how their divorce shattered his childhood. Even more than Vietnam, this war at home seems to have molded Stone’s psyche, scarring him with a suspicious nature that could go a long way in explaining his penchant for conspiracy theories later in life. “If my parents had truly known each other before they were married, they would never have united, and I would never have existed,” he writes. “Children like me are born out of that original lie, and living a false front, we suffer for it when we feel that nothing and nobody can ever be trusted again. Adults become dangerous. Reality becomes loneliness. Love either does not exist or cannot survive.”

But, of course, the real payoff here, particularly for movie buffs, is Stone’s account of his early struggles as a filmmaker. How, within the course of a few years, he went from being a 30-year-old cabdriver to one of the top screenwriters in Hollywood, then clawed his way to the director’s chair with mostly forgotten horror flicks like “Seizure” and “The Hand.” How Al Pacino (or “street Hamlet,” as Stone refers to him) betrayed him in the editing room of “Scarface” by wimping out during a battle over the film’s cut with the director Brian De Palma. How he originally considered Keanu Reeves for Charlie Sheen’s part in “Platoon” (until the future “Matrix” star turned it down because “he hated the violence in the script”) and later courted Tom Cruise to star in “Wall Street” (as well as Michael J. Fox and Matthew Broderick before finally settling again on Sheen). And then there’s Stone’s portrait of Woods, whose diva shenanigans on the “Salvador” set could fill a book on their own. “Jimmy had been yelling so much in front of the Mexican crew that he was suddenly and officially warned by the Mexican government that his behavior ‘as a guest in our country’ was ‘unacceptable,’ and that if it continued, he’d be asked to leave Mexico,” Stone writes of the actor who ended up landing an Oscar nomination for his part in the movie.

Stone’s own bad behavior has raised eyebrows over the years. Seemingly everybody in Hollywood has some sort of Oliver Stone story. Although he doesn’t delve too deeply into his drug use or sexual adventures (he writes about his ex-wives with warmth and respect), he doesn’t whitewash his excesses either. “Yes — and I’d also gotten intoxicated in Hollywood and drugged in public, with stupid, immature behavior,” is how he cops to his transgressions. “I’d flirted with and teased pretty women, sometimes in front of jealous men. I was at times rude, arrogant — yet I’d say colorful too, the kind of guy who you don’t know what he’ll do next.” In one startling passage, he even confesses to voting for Ronald Reagan in 1980.

His decision to end the memoir on Oscar night 1987 does feel a bit abrupt — there’s just so much more one wants to read about, from how Stone dealt with the backlash over his 1991 film “JFK,” to the controversy he stirred up with 1994’s “Natural Born Killers,” not to mention an explanation for that fawning 2017 Showtime interview series he did with Vladimir Putin (you know, the Russian strongman who’d just finished meddling in the U.S. presidential election). But, as the old showbiz saying goes, always leave them wanting more. And this book — “a story about cutting corners, improvising, hustling … about lying outrageously, gritting it out with sweat and tears … about growing up,” as he describes it in his introduction — neatly sets the stage for the possibility of that rarest of Stone productions: a sequel.

-Benjamin Svetsky, "Oliver Stone's Reel History," The New York Times book review of Chasing the Light, July 20 2020 [x] 

[a425app]

Interview 06

How are you?

Im good

What is your name?

Sarah Glinski

What is your age?

26

What gender do you identify as?

female

What are the things that have been on your mind today?

Video games/ what to bring to a social event – easter-themed friend gathering

What's been the most enjoyable part of your day so far?

Alive dinosaur – video games

Is there something your looking forward too?

Seeing husband/ been one week/ social event

What is the most important thing that matters to you at the moment?

Health habits – time for me, self-repair, nit procrastinating work. Spending time with family

Do you work? If so how many hours a week and what sort of job is it? / do you work on site or at home (or alternate location)

40 hr + 4

Teacher of math – high school

On site mostly + home + meet up with mentor person to discuss work – luch, coffee etc.

What are some things you like to do on the weekends?

Video games

Watch movies + shows

Paint sometimes

Do during weekend

Paint

What is your living situation like?

Apartment w/ two cats

Bottom floor so can hear neighbors

Quiet area, no suburban sounds

Occasional visits from husband

Is your living space organized to help you accomplish your tasks or goals, whatever they may be?

No!

Do you wish it was?

Yes, have made efforts toward it.

Something to help you work towards that?

Energy levels which  is why I am working of healt habits and self care

What are some of your goals for your daily life?

Remember to do things in app trying out

What king of app?

Noom, health habits: food looging, exercise, goals person, gives task to help toward goals: article to read

Taking up talking a work 15min a day

Back to 15 min a day pick up.

What are some of your goals in general?

Losing 60 pounds

Be able to not huff when walking up 20ft hill.

What kinds of chores did you do during childhood/adolescents?

Dishes, laundry, litterbox, occasional taking out garbage, cleaning bathroom

Would you say you actively seek out new things to try?

Like the idea of new things but have trouble with follow through

What are some things that make you feel proud of yourself?

Accomplishing of my goals

Resisting food temptations

Cleaning up the space

What activities give you the most satisfaction?

Taming t-rexes – video games

Playing with kitty cats

Doing small tasks aroung the apartment – getting a chore done

What kinds of things do you to relieve stress?

Video games

Often with other people?

Yes, with people in –game and a couple known people

Watching shows on hulu

Creative things – painting crocheting

Sometimes reading

What is something you wish you had more time to do?

Rest and recover like on the weekends

Clean the apartment so it feels more organized and a better space

What kinds of things take up most of your time?

Work

Laidry takes a long time to put things away properly, if I do do it properly

Dishes because I tend ti let things pile up

How do you feel after you have completed a task.

Happy with myself

“a word you might use” Satisfied

How do you reward yourself?

Playing video game and watching Tv show

Dpo you often use that to motivate yourself?

I endeavor to but do I actually

How much time do you take just for yourself?

Try to give myself like an hour everyday at least

What are the most frustrating aspects of your daily activities/ day?

Someyimes my timing isn’t consistent like sometimes having to stay at work longer than I ollaaning for so it disrupts my plans for the evening, whether their productive or not

What time of day do you tend to do your work/chores/ homework

Afternnon or early evening

What time of day do you feel the most alert

While I am at work 7:30 – 3:30, when I stay let til 5:30

Sometimes in the morning but that is a rare occasion

Sometimes when I get home, usually short lived

/happy

Probably the morning, probably the most optimistic time

Do you feel like you have a good balance between work and personal life?

I try to. O don’t do a lot lot social

Do you wish you had more social things?

Yeah.

How consistent is your schedule?

Wrok schedule is pretty consist except occasion stay late

Do certain things?

I try to, do thing right I get home most often

Can you describe a typical day for you from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed?

What do you think having a routine means?

Kind of a set schedule for doing certain things during the day or like if you have to go on autopilot you could, don’t necessarily have to think about things has you doing it.

Solike habit forming?

yeah

Do you have a daily/weekly routine(s)

Loose routine, not timed

Have a certin order of thing even if they aren’t at strict imes

If so, What are some of your daily/weekly routines?

Morning starts with getting up and feed cats, go to bathroom, get dressed, misc. tasks for getting ready for work or whatever errand I an runnign

What tools do you use to plan or remind yourself to do your routine activities?

Samsung not, check off list, don’t use regularly

7weeks - - habit trACKER

Tell it something you did or not tthatd day

Do you think having a daily routine would benefit you?

Overall yes, sometime my day isn not consistant and throw a wrench in the routine which can be stressful

Have you done any research / read articles about having a routine?

No

Search for healt apps?

Nojust found them and used them

How often would you say you search for things involving lifestyle: blogs, articles, magazines etc.

Once a mont, in spurt vs consistant basis

Would you be interesting in learning how to best establish and stick to a routine?

Yes.

What would that look like to you?

Noom app is meant for goals so maybe something that had mini articles to hekpwith small step so you don’t have to pick the steps but are still working towards an overall goal

Do you use technology for planning and/or reminders?

Phone.

Have tried bullet journal, not sustainable because of time it took to setup and keep it up

Planning events?

Yes

Any shared viewing or more like a calender?

More like a calendar

If so, what are your favorite tools/programs.

No,

Why are those your favorite?

What are some of your favorite apps to use?

Why those?

Helps keep in contact woth friends since moved aeay

Noom makes me supported wth my health  

How often do you use them?

Daily basis

Noom one likeing so far. I play game apps often. One that’s a informational app for video game.

Social media like faceook + messaenger

Do how those apps function or more what they do for you?

like what they do for me

If you could make a app for keeping track of a routine what would be some of the features you would want?

Like abilitiy to keep track when I did stick to my routine or at least parts

Move tasks around wioth having to edit like swipe versus having to type it.

Have you ever failed to stick to a routine? If so, why do you think that was?

Yes. / partly my own motivation. Hard ime incoprtiaing keeping trakc of my routine into my routine

Do you have any medical conditions that you think might affect your ability to stick to a regular schedule or routine?

Potential anxiety, put off things I don’t want to do.

Do you think your profession has an impact on your routine?

Yes. my time at home isn’t consistant and because of energy levels

To what degree do you think other people impact your routine?

Pretty decent amount. If someone was doin something with me more likely to do it

Prioty to social things over doing things I am supposed to do

Would you be more likely to do something if someone else was holding you accountable?

Yes

Accountability look like to you? What do you want them to do for you?

Help support me in why I am not doing something

Part of a team, doing things with me

If we came back in [x number of] years to have this conversation again, what would you like to be different?

Nothing, you were delightful

Would you want to change any answers?

Cooking is something I do on the weekends but during the weeks

Is there anything I’ve missed that you wanna tell me?

No.

Any questions?

No.

[movie-reviewer-perhaps]

BIRD BOX (spoilers)

Skip to the end for the not long winded recap!!!OK so i know that this movie is really popular recently but honestly to put it in simple terms... it TOTALLY SUCKS! Look, i’m not a working director or a film student or a movie critic i’m just a movie enthusiast so, disclaimer out of the way i know that i at least have to give credit where credit is due. Sandra Bullock and the two kids along with her love interest (sorry i don’t really know all of their names and its late) are good actors. they're trying their best with what they've been given and it turns out to be a pretty decent performance from them. Now for the flaming trash can that is the rest of this movie. let’s start with the script...this writing is so SO bad! every line of dialogue for the first 30 minutes is basically exposition with absolutely no attempt any sort of character building throughout the movie.  everyone is basically just one dimensional character tropes and aren’t given any sort of character traits besides their archetypes. because of this none of their actions seem to have any real weight or motivation behind them and it results in a fancy plot device instead of a character(not that there’s much plot either). Now on to the “monsters”. i put this in quotations because we are never given a clear idea of what they are, what they look like, what they want, how they work, where they came from, NOTHING! i don’t know how they expect us to root against antagonists when we are never given any sort of backstory or motivations to what they do, or even what they are. ive heard a lot of conspiracies and different explanations from the cast in interviews and no one really seems to agree about them?? most people go with they “they represent your greatest fears” route but this can be invalidated by the movie many times. for example by the reactions of some people like they old lady and Olympia. Also, by the fact that it seems to be physical and has to travel because they pop up in waves at specific times (see Tom fighting the unaffected dudes in the forest scene) and are not really a constant presence as fears would be. My last big problem with it is the ending. First off, the ending is not nearly dark enough for the tone of the rest of the film. And secondly, it really doesn’t solve anything??? they still have the problem of food, and since we don’t know anything about the monsters(other than they’re plot convenient) we don’t know how to beat them or how long they’re gonna be there because we don’t know their motivations. It actually leaves us in pretty much the same situation we were in at the beginning: a house full of people who need to survive with no clue about the monsters or each other and a limited supply of resources. I could nit pick more about the editing and cinematography-both are awful by the way- but that would be a little too mean skskksks 

FINAL THOUGHTS: doesn’t deserve they hype... 2/10. i’m open to changing it if someone can find a valid explanation for the monsters but as it is...it is absolutely NOT worth your time. feel free to discuss or message me about if if anyone ever finds this lmao -a movie nerd 👌

[brotherhood-of-okay-reviews-blog]

Movie Review

Chris' Movie Review Taking A Look Back Live. Die. Repeat. (A.k.a. Edge Of Tomorrow) (2014) Current Rating: 10/10 (Excellent) Original Rating: (95/100) Three things. One, I was going to see the Lego Batman Movie, and I still might, but due to some flat tires, that really messed up my schedule. Sorry for that. Second, back in the day, I used to rate movies out of 100. Thus the 95 score. Over time I decided that scale wasn't for me. So I simplified it and went to out of 10. It looks nicer and it's easier to rate movies that way. Lastly, when I first saw this movie in theaters, I was astounded. The film blew me away with its tight script, great action, and overall plot. The film was easily in my top 5 of 2014. So three years later, I've decided to pick this movie up again. And what do I think? I kind of gave it away in the beginning but here's my detailed explanation. Live. Die. Repeat stars Tom Cruise (Major William Cage), Emily Blunt (Rita Vrataski), and Bill Paxton (Master Sergeant Farrell). Plot Summary A war has broken out across Europe. An alien race has invaded earth and the humans are doing everything they can to fight back. Major William Cage is more of less a representative for the American military. He doesn't participate in combat and he never wants to. While visiting with the General of the British regime, Willam gets orders to be sent into the a war zone to give out reports. After being reluctant to go, William gets knocked out and stripped of his rank, thus becoming a private once more. After entering battle, William struggles to stay alive but then he's ultimately killed by one of the aliens. Catch is, when William dies, he resets the day. Now Willam must figure out how to harness this power and figure out how to defeat the alien race once and for all. Review Edge Of Tomorrow, that was the original name of the movie before they changed it, is a film that is creative, fun, serious, and lovable from the word "Go." The movie strives on it's script and actors to pull it through and it doesn't disappoint. For starters, the dialogue is hilariously, serious. The overall presence of the film is a mixture of drama and comedy. The movie takes death and makes it a funny factor. And while dying isn't necessarily amusing, the script knows how to use it comedically to take the edge off of the film. For instance, since William can't physically die, every time he screws up it would be almost unbearable to watch. But the film is able to take a death scene and make it lighten up the mood of the movie. Now there are serious moments throughout the film. As the movie progresses, William becomes more sedated. He's been through these series of events, God knows how many times, and he just becomes more and more sick of it. What's also great about this is that the movie never tells you exactly how many times William resets the day. You can only assume it's in the hundreds, maybe even thousands, but you're never entirely sure. And that adds up the suspense level because you're always thinking "At what point will Willam finally break down?" The movie does touch base on Willam's mental exhaustion with the duration of these events but it never fully dives into the stress he's under. You could take that as a negative but William has a reason to keep going, and that's Rita. Throughout the film, Willam becomes aquainted with Rita. She's a soldier that is considered one of the best. Willam finds her on the battle field and slowly progresses the relationship from there. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll say this, Willam basically falls in love with Rita. The only issue is, she never gets to remember everything he does for her. So it's a very one sided love story. Luckily, Willam isn't creepy about it. Another great factor is the editing. The movie could simply feel too long or the plot can become extremely jumbled or whatever else you can think of. But the film is edited and directed with the right amount of exposure to certain story elements. It doesn't linger to long every reset and it doesn't cut short the important factors. Everything is done just right. For some slight negatives I'll touch on the acting. Everyone in the film is good to great. But the slight discredit is the chemistry between Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise. This is a nit pick but you never really feel the two are connecting throughout the movie. Obviously you can fire back with "Well yeah. She doesn't recall any of the events." And yeah, that's my argument as well. I'm just going after Tom's acting a bit because, even though you see he's infatuated with Emily, you never truly feel it from his side. He seems more like a man who likes Emily but is too awkward to show it. Who knows? I might be seeing it all wrong but Tom's love towards Emily in the movie doesn't fully come across during the movie. Another attack is the ending. Again, I won't spoil, but I can see people not liking the conclusion. It's not that it's a bad one but some people could get in a slight uproar with it because it might create a loophole. Which is my last nit pick. I focused on the film to see if I could find a huge plot hole and I didn't come across one. I'm not the best at exposing loopholes though, so maybe I didn't see it, but if there is one, that might be a reason you don't enjoy the movie as much. Overall, Live. Die. Repeat is wonderful movie that's comparitive to the likes of the movie Groundhog Day and the anime Steins Gate (A tremendous anime, if you're into that entertainment.) The movie may have a loophole with its plot, the ending might not lineup up with your taste, and Tom's acting may feel a bit awkward at times. But the editing and directing are great. The script is tight. And the enjoyment you get from the film keeps bringing you back because the movie so enticing to watch. It's one of those films that, even though you know the ending, you still love every aspect of it and you'll keep coming back to it over and over. As usual, thanks for reading!