#patty jenkins is my hero

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actor Ewen Bremner, born January 23rd 1972 in Edinburgh.

Bremner has worked with many of the most respected directors in world cinema, including Danny Boyle, Mike Leigh, Ridley Scott, Joon-Ho Bong, Werner Herzog and Woody Allen. Hen has established himself by creating unique characters in critically acclaimed films, as well as going toe to toe with many of Hollywood's biggest stars.

Ewen had worked widely in theatre, television, and film for years before being cast in his breakout role in Trainspotting, by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle. He was the first to be cast in the role of Mark Renton in Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre production but lost out to Ewan McGregor in the film version, instead he was handed the role of Spud Murphy and earned screen immortality with his character's infamous "speed fuelled" job interview scene.

Prior to Trainspotting, Bremner gave a striking performance in Mike Leigh's Naked, fellow Scot Susan Vidler played his girlfriend Maggie in this excellent film.

In 1999, Bremner received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a schizophrenic man living with his dysfunctional family in Harmony Korine's Julien, Donkey-Boy. Filmed strictly in accordance with the ultra-realist tenants of Lars Von Trier's Dogma 95 movement and starring opposite Werner Herzog, Bremner played Julien its eponymous hero, requiring him to assume an American accent. He then worked with director Michael Bay in his high-profile 2001 war film Pearl Harbor, proving his versatility once again by portraying the role of a wholeheartedly patriotic American soldier fighting in WWII. The following year, he stepped back into fatigues for a supporting role in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, while rounding out the next several years with roles in high-profile Hollywood releases such as The Rundown, Disney's Around the World in 80 Days), AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Woody Allen's Match Point, the comedy Death at a Funeral directed by Frank Oz, and Fool's Gold starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson.

This past few of years proved to be a busy when Bremner was invited to join the DC Universe in the Zack Snyder-produced feature Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins, co-starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. Ewen also reprised his unforgettable role as Spud in the highly-anticipated sequel to Danny Boyle's cult classic, T2: Trainspotting

Bremner appeared in the TNT Drama Series Will with Shekhar Kapur. The series told the story of the lost years of young William Shakespeare after his arrival to London in 1589 but only lasted one season. Other notable film credits include Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Perfect Sense starring again alongside Ewan McGregor, Great Expectations, Jack the Giant Slayer, and Snowpiercer starring alongside Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton. Further credits include Exodus: Gods and Kings, Wide Open Spaces, Mojo, Mediator, Faintheart, Hallam Foe, Sixteen Years of Alcohol, and Snatch.

In television, Ewen has worked on many acclaimed productions including David Hare's Worriker trilogy starring Bill Nighy for BBC, Jimmy McGovern's Moving On and also his Australian mini-series Banished, Strike Back for Sky TV, Dominic Savage's Dive, the Dylan Thomas biopic, A Poet In New York and the adaptation of Day of the Triffids for the BBC. Other noteworthy series appearances include portraying legendary surrealist Salvador Dali in the U.K. television drama Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali, and a guest spot on the successful NBC series, My Name is Earl, not to forget an early appearance in Taggart way back in 1990.

Latley Ewen has been one of a number of Scottish actors who are backing a campaign to reopen the Film House cinema in Edinburgh, he has a couple of projects on the go just now, Bluefish, which takes us around the globe to tell stories of people trying to break out of their bubbles of isolation, which I take to mean the Covid pandemic, he also has a film on the go called Roo, but there is nothing to report on that just now.

[wonderbatbvs]

Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman will always be my all-time favorite version of the character.

What Zack Snyder did with her in BVS & ZSJL is just masterfully done.

Diana is an absolutely unstoppable force, but we see how broken she is deep down in BVS & WW1.

Diana is just as broken inside as Bruce is in this universe, we see her become the iconic hero we all know & love after getting glimpses into her loneliness & pain buried deep down.

Diana's a very inspirational character & Zack Snyder shows that off in spectacular fashion while Patty Jenkins in WW1 showcased beautifully how loving & powerful Diana is.

I'll always wish we got more of Gal's Wonder Woman.

[thoughtfulfangirling]

2023 Reads

A new year means a new book list! I don't think I can top my 2022 count, but that's okay! I'm not totally sure what my reading goals this year will actually be, but I guess I'll sort it out on the way! XD For future reads, here's my 2024 list!

Four Treasures of the Sky - Jenny Tinghui Zhang

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass+

The Bear and the Nightengale - of the Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden

The Secrets We Keep - Mia Hayes

Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal - Patty Loew+

The First Sister - Linden A. Lewis^

The House of the Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury~

Fin Mac Cool - Morgan Llewlyn^

How Long 'til Black Future Month by N. K. Jemisin

Lavinia - Ursula K Le Guin^

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin*

Black Cowboys of the Old West: True, Sensational, and Littke-Known Stories form History - Tricia Martineau Wagner+

The Mysteries of Thorn Manor - Margaret Roberson%

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space - Amanda Leduc+

Her Majesty's Royal Coven - Juno Dawson^

She Who Became the Sun~ - Shelley Parker-Chan*

The Witch King - H.E. Edgmon^

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree*

Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin^

The Adventures of Amina El-Serafi - S.A. Chakraborty

Humankind: A Hopeful History - Rutger Bregman+

The Folk Keeper - Frannie Billingsly*%

Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens - (Suzy) Eddie Izzard+

Juniper & Thorn - Ava Reid

Upright Women Wanted - Sarah Gailey%

I Await the Devil's Coming - Mary MacLane+

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut~

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' Rights - Molly Smith & Juno Mac+

The Woman in White - Wilke Collins^

King of Battle and Blood - Scarlett St. Clair

Sarah - J.T. LeRoy^

The City Beautiful - Aden Polydoros^

Freshwater - Akwaeke Emezi

Always the Almost - Edward Underhill

All Systems Red - Martha Wells%

The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

Nevada - Imogen Binnie

A Dowry of Blood - S. T. Gibson

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli

The Second Rebel - Linden A Lewis

Get a Life Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert

The Hero and the Crown* - Robin McKinley

What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing - Bruce D Perry & Oprah Winfrey+^

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorne

The Eye of the Heron - Ursula K Leguin

Artificial Condition -Martha Wells%

The Kraken's Sacrifice - Katee Robert%

Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith*

Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells%

Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self Involved Parents - Lindsay C Gibson+

Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West's Most Notorious Woman Bandit - John Boessenecker+

The History of Wales - History Nerds+%

Ander & Santi Were Here - Jonny Garza Villa

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls^

Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire^

The Gilda Stories - Jewelle Gomez

Irish Fairy and Folk Tails - Various+

The Dead and the Dark - Courtney Gould

Haunted Wisconsin - Michael Norman and Beth Scott+

The Other Black Girl - Zakiya Dalila Harris

The Ruins - Scott Smith

He Who Drowned the World - Shelley Parker-Chan

Fledgling - Octavia Butler

Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend - Mark Collins Jenkins+

The Vampyre - John Polidori%

This is Halloween - James A Moore

Sorrowland - Rivers Soloman

The Lamb will Slaughter the Lion - Margaret Killjoy%

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Love Her or Lose Her - Tessa Bailey^

One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston*

The Last Hero - Linden A. Lewis

Lovelight Farms - B. K. Borison

Reindeer Falls Collection: Volume One - Jana Aston

Currently reading: One Last Stop (Audiobook to help me sleep XD)

Nonfiction is annotated by + A Re-read is annotated by * A book completed from the list below is annotated by ^ A Read with Empty will be annotated by ~ A Novella %

My current, loose and not that interesting goal for this year is to really work on the books I have current access to right now... at the start of this year. Because it's a lot XD This means books currently favorite in Scribd, on my StoryGraph 'to read' pile, or a book I currently own on my shelves. Main goal is at least one of these a month.

For my own personal reference, I'm putting a list of such books below to hold myself accountable.

Edit: Now the end of 2023, and here's a breakdown of my goal to read books I already had access to at the start of 2023:

I didn't read one a month per se, but I got more than 12 done, so I call this a win. These books are:

-Can't Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorn -The City Beautiful - Aden Polydoros -Finn Mac Cool - Morgan Llewlyn -The First Sister by Linden A Lewis (proceeded by the other two in the series) -Get a Life, Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert -The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls -Haunted Wisconsin - Michael Norman & Beth Scott -Her Majesty's Royal Coven - Juno Dawson -I Await the Devil's Coming - Mary McClane -The Kraken's Sacrifice - Katee Robert -Lavinia - Ursula K Le Guin -Love Her or Lose Her - Tessa Bailey -Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin -Nevada - Imogen Binnie -The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli -Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire -The Ruins - Scott Smith -The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller -Sarah - J.T. LeRoy -Vampire Forensics - Mark Collins Jenkins -What Happened to You? - Oprah Winfrey -The Witch King - H. E. Edgmon -The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

The books I did not get around to reading from this list are as follows: Black Water Sister by Zen Cho; Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye (o); The Book of M by Peng Shepard (o); Charity and Sylvia by Rachel Hope Cleves (o); The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (a); The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (s); Fallen by Lauren Kate (o); Fanny Hill by John Cleland (o); Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (s); The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea (s); The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham-Smith (o); Helping Her Get Free by Susan Brewster (o); The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang (s); Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (o); The Merry Spinster by Daniel Lavery (o); On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (o); The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang (s); Radiance by Grace Draven (a); Watching the Tree by Adeline Yen Mah (o); The Willows by Algernon Blackwood (s); Wings of Fire (o); Witches Steeped in Gold by Clannon Smart (o); The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid (s)

23/46 Whoa! That's exactly 50% of the books I had on my list! That's pretty cool! All in all, I consider this 2023 goal successfully done!

[smokeybrandreviews]

Death of the DCEU or Chekhov's Gunn

Henry Cavill is no longer Superman and is off trying to be a Space Marine. Wonder Woman III is dead because Patty Jenkins can't take criticism. Jason Mamoa is in talks to be recast as Lobo. James Gunn is writing a new Superman film based around Clark Kent and skewing younger for franchise longevity. The Snyderverse is finally dead and I cannot stress how happy I am to see it go. It's no secret that I am a Marvel Apologist. I think The House of Ideas just writes better characters. There is an inherent reliability setting your vigilante shenanigans in the real world, and giving those heroes very human flaws. Spider-Man is my favorite because Peter Parker was a nerd as a kid, who puberty hit like a truck being driven by a radioactive spider. Wall-Crawling hyperbole aside, that's kind of my life story. I'm not some solar powered alien who can punch the planet to dust or a billionaire victim of violent crime. I'm just a guy and most of my power fantasies are rather sardonic, grounded in the reality of my life circumstances. I dream of being able to pay for an ambulance ride and not have to take out a loan to cover it. That said, I don't mind DC's take on the Greek Myth and always enjoy when those characters are executed correctly in media outside of print. The DCAU is the gold standard for creating an interwoven universe and that version of Kal is easily my favorite. There is a real, earnest, humbleness; a concerted effort at creating character over spectacle, which made those shows endearing. The DCAU made me like Superman, which is a feat because i don’t like Superman. The Snyderverse had none of that. In fact, Snyder’s take on Superman is almost everything i hate about the character. There is nothing subtle or nuanced about what Zack Snyder does and it crippled that entire burgeoning cinematic universe from the start.

Snyder fell into the same trap so many other people do when they write Supes. He made him Jesus. It's a common error because of how powerful the character is. Dude is a literal god in comparison to us mere mortals and it’s easy to lift him into the heavens. Easy and lazy. Super-God is the cheapest way to approach the character and completely misses the point of Clark Kent. Superman is the alias. That’s the visage he chooses when he does his hero work. Contrary to the very poignant monologue in Kill Bill, Clark is not the costume. Clark is the person. Superman is the version of Clark he thinks the world needs, not the person he is. Kal-El crashed landed on earth as basically a newborn. He was raised in Smallville, Kansas by Jon and Martha Kent. He is a corn-fed, middle American, white boy, through and through. Kid can just spew plasma from his eyes. Like, let’s be clear; Clark still looks like Superman, even when he’s Clark. Dude is over six feet tall, and built like a straight up circus strongman, but he’s still JUST Clark. The core of Superman are those values Jon and Martha instilled into him as they raised him on their farm. It’s that humanity given to him, by his very human parents, which define the character and not his insane power set. Snyder never understood this. He never let Clark be Clark, he was always Superman. Clark blended in with human society for decades before donning the cape and none of that was ever really conveyed, even in Man of Steel. He was immediately this Savior figure, uplifted into the hallowed realm of deified legend. The DCAU Superman canonically still believes in Santa Claus, man! Zack Snyder would never! Something like that isn’t benefiting of his Jesus Allegory. It’s not tortured enough. It’s not edgy enough. But that’s the thing; Superman is soft as f*ck. Mans is straight ten ply, bud. You need those little character moments to make Superman relatable and Snyder never delivered those to us, which is kind of the entire problem with the Snyderverse.

I grew up in the Nineties. Batman: The Animated Series was a huge part of my childhood. It launched an entire, interconnected, television universe and it did it by telling compelling stories, riddled with spectacle, but based around characters and relationships. WonderBat is one of my favorite pairings but even the platonic interactions of Hawkgirl and Flash made for dope ass television. These heroes have powers that exceed reality and, somehow, they felt grounded. They felt relatable. They felt like people. Nothing about the Snyderverse is relatable, outside of Aquaman, and that's just because Jason Mamoa is playing himself but wet. People hate when I say this, but you build a cinematic universe the way Marvel did. That's how you make it a success. Iron Man was popular because Tony Stark was dope. It wasn’t about the armors, it was about the human piloting them. The best versions of Superman are dope because of Clark. It’s almost always the secret identity that makes the character, It’s what we, as the audience, can identify with. If your hero or whatever, has an alias, then it’s just that; An alias. It’s not who the character is, it’s just a means to an end. The only time this rule doesn't apply is with Batman. That asshole is always Batman. There is no Bruce Wayne but, even then, you can find a happy medium a la Kevin Conroy, rest in peace. Snyder is terrible at this sh*t. None of the films he's written, have a character focus. It's all juvenile, edgelord, spectacle and convoluted, superficial, allegory. Every one of them. Sucker Punch is a perfect example of this sh*t. None of those plot devices has a character. There is no growth in anyone. There is a resolution but, at the end of the day, they are the same exact people on the last page of that "script", as they were on the first and WB gave the reins of their greatest character IPs to this man? Snyder does do decent work when he has a focus. When someone is there to rein him in, hes a fantastic creator. hat did not happen with the DCEU and it shows. Basically this entire franchise is Sucker Punch but with Capes.

When the narrative isn’t his own, Snyder can deliver a glitzy, if vapid, product. Think 300 or Watchmen. Left to his own devices, we get sh*t like Batman versus Superman: Dawn of Justice or Army of the Dead. The worst thing about this, though? The Snyderverse could have still worked if they just took the time to build it out properly. I am no fan of Zack Snyder, at all, but his films are very much technically sound and, if I'm being honest, man has great ideas. It's in the execution of these ideas that Snyder fails. He can't get out of his own way, which is why he should have never been the Feige for the DCEU. He doesn't have the clarity of vision for that, which makes building a decade long narrative nigh impossible. Snyder can't see the forest through the trees and WB thought he could. I don’t understand why, his entire catalog of personal projects is a clusterf*ck of bloat and feature creep, but whatever. All of that is changing as the franchise has a new steward. Two, actually, but we’re only talking about one: James Gunn. James Gunn can write characters. That’s his biggest strength. Guardians of the Galaxy worked because those characters were strong as f*ck. The Suicide Squad worked because those characters were strong as f*ck. Tell me you knew who Ratcatcher II was before this film. Tell me you gave two sh*ts about Polka-Dot man before Gunn wrote him so well. Gunn can make Superman feel like a proper character and, more to the point, make Superman feel like Clark. Gunn is everything the DCEU needed and now he has the opportunity to prove it. The Snyderverse is dead. Long live the Gunnverse.

[smokeybrand]

Death of the DCEU or Chekhov's Gunn

Henry Cavill is no longer Superman and is off trying to be a Space Marine. Wonder Woman III is dead because Patty Jenkins can't take criticism. Jason Mamoa is in talks to be recast as Lobo. James Gunn is writing a new Superman film based around Clark Kent and skewing younger for franchise longevity. The Snyderverse is finally dead and I cannot stress how happy I am to see it go. It's no secret that I am a Marvel Apologist. I think The House of Ideas just writes better characters. There is an inherent reliability setting your vigilante shenanigans in the real world, and giving those heroes very human flaws. Spider-Man is my favorite hero because Peter Parker was a nerd as a kid, who puberty hit like a truck being driven by a radioactive spider. Wall-Crawling hyperbole aside, that's kind of my life story. I'm not some solar powered alien who can punch the planet to dust or a billionaire victim of violent crime. I'm just a guy and most of my power fantasies are rather sardonic, grounded in the reality of my life circumstances. I dream of being able to pay for an ambulance ride and not have to take a loan to cover it. That said, I don't mind DC's take on the Greek Myth and always enjoy when those characters are executed correctly in media outside of print. The DCAU is the gold standard for creating an interwoven universe and that version of Kal is easily my favorite. There is a real, earnest, humbleness; a grounded effort at creating character over spectacle, which made those shows endearing. The DCAU made me like Superman, which is a feat because i don’t like Superman. The Snyder else had none of that. In fact, Snyder’s take on Superman is almost everything i hate about the character. There is nothing subtle or nuanced about what Zack Snyder does and it crippled the burgeoning cinematic universe from the start.

Snyder fell into the same trap so many other people do when they write Supes. He made him Jesus. It's a common error because of how powerful the character is. Dude is a literal god in comparison to us mere mortals and it’s easy to lift him into the heavens. Easy and lazy. Super-God is the cheapest way to approach the character and completely misses the point of Clark Kent. Superman is the alias. That’s the visage he chooses when he does his hero work. Contrary to the very poignant monologue in Kill Bill, Clark is not the costume. Clark is the person. Superman is the version of Clark he thinks the world needs, not the person he is. Kal-El crashed landed on earth as basically a newborn. He was raised in Smallville, Kansas by Jon and Martha Kent. He is a corn-fed, middle American, white boy, through and through. Kid can just spew plasma from his eyes. Like, let’s be clear; Clark still looks like Superman, even when he’s Clark. Dude is over six feet tall, and built like a straight up circus strongman, but he’s still JUST Clark. The core of Superman, are those values, the humanity given to him, by his very human parents, Martha and Jonathan. Snyder never understood this. He never let Clark be Clark, he was always Superman. Clark blended in with human society for decades before donning the cape and none of that was ever really conveyed, even in Man of Steel. He was immediately this Savior figure, uplifted into the hallowed realm of deified legend. The DCAU Superman canonically still believes in Santa Claus, man! Zack Snyder would never! Something like that isn’t benefiting of his Jesus Allegory. It’s not tortured enough. It’s not edgy enough. But that’s the thing; Superman is soft as f*ck. Mans is straight ten ply, bud. You need those little character moments to make Superman relatable and Snyder never delivered those to us, which is kind of the entire problem with the Snyderverse.

I grew up in the Nineties. Batman: The Animated Series was a huge part of my childhood. It launched an entire, interconnected, television universe and it did it by telling compelling stories, riddled with spectacle, but based around characters and relationships. WonderBat is one of my favorite pairings but even the platonic interactions of Hawkgirl and Flash made for dope ass television. These heroes have powers that exceed reality and, somehow, they felt grounded. They felt relatable. They felt like people. Nothing about the Snyderverse is relatable, outside of Aquaman and that's just because Jason Mamoa is playing himself, but wet. People hate when I say this, but you build a cinematic universe the way Marvel did. That's how you make it a success. Iron Man was popular because Tony Stark was dope. It wasn’t about the Armors, it was about the human piloting them. The best versions of Superman are dope because of Clark. It’s almost always the secret identity that makes the character, It’s what we, as the audience, can identify with. If your hero or whatever, has an alias, then it’s just that; An alias. It’s not who the character is, it’s just a means to an end. The only time this rule doesn't apply is with Batman. That asshole is always Batman. There is no Bruce Wayne but, even then, you can find a happy medium a la Kevin Conroy, rest in peace. Snyder is terrible at this sh*t. None of the films he's written, have a character focus. It's all juvenile, edgelord, spectacle and convoluted, superficial, allegory. Every one of them. Sucker Punch is a perfect example of this sh*t. None of those plot devices has a character. There is no growth in anyone. There is a resolution but, at the end of the day, they are the same exact people on the last page of that "script", as they were on the first and WB gave the reins of their greatest character IPs to this man? Snyder does decent work when he has a focus.

When the narrative isn’t his own, he can deliver a glitzy, if vapid, product. Think 300 or Watchmen. Left to his own devices, we get sh*t like Batman versus Superman: Dawn of Justice or Army of the Dead. The worst thing about this, though? The Snyderverse could have still worked if they just took the time to build it out properly. I am no fan of Zack Snyder, at all, but his films are very much technically sound and, if I'm being honest, man has great ideas. It's in the execution of these ideas that Snyder fails. He can't get out of his own way, which is why he should have never been the Feige for the DCEU. He doesn't have the clarity of vision for that, which makes building a decade long narrative nigh impossible. Snyder can't see the forest through the trees and WB thought he could. I don’t understand why, his entire catalog of personal projects is a clusterf*ck of bloat and feature creep, but whatever. All of that is changing as the franchise has a new steward. Two, actually, but we’re only talking about one: James Gunn. James Gunn can write characters. That’s his biggest strength. Guardians of the Galaxy worked because those characters were strong as f*ck. The Suicide Squad worked because those characters were strong as f*ck. Tell me you knew who Ratcatcher II was before this film. Tell me you gave two sh*ts about Polka-Dot man before Gunn wrote him so well. Gunn can make Superman feel like a proper character and, more to the point, make Superman feel like Clark. Gunn is everything the DCEU needed and now he has the opportunity to prove it. The Snyderverse is dead. Long live the Gunnverse.

[blast0rama]

BLACK ADAM Bust: The End of the DCEU Begins Here

Oh boy, where to start on all of this mess.

Way back when Black Adam finally started its approach to the big screen after a fifteen year gestation period, I told my friends who I chat movies with, “Just wait. If this doesn’t go well, dude will lash out on Twitter. It’s what he did with Baywatch. It’s what he’ll do here.”

Then the movie came and went. 

How’d it do?

Well, it got a whopping 39% on Rotten Tomatoes.1 And it made $384.8 Million worldwide. Not quite the numbers I’d assume DC wanted, even given COVID. I can’t imagine dropping it on VOD after a month helped either.

Undaunted, Dwayne continued to Tweet about his big plans for the DC Universe on film, saying on October 24th that he was looking forward to “building the DCEU from here”.

And then this week, it got weird.

Variety posted an article about the state of Black Adam’s box office on Monday. Per them…

Box office experts believe “Black Adam” will stall out with less than $400 million globally, which is problematic since movie theater owners get to keep around half of those sales. Now, the movie stands to lose $50 million to $100 million in its theatrical run, according to the estimates of insiders as well as rival executives with knowledge of similar productions.

Not a rosy situation for the flick, especially with the new creative heads of DC Studios — James Gunn (who guided the Guardian of the Galaxy franchise, the Peacemaker series, and the Suicide Squad sequel to success) and Peter Safran (producer of many films, including Shazam, which Dwayne Johnson was said to refuse to be a part of as Black Adam) — inserted at the end of October.

So today, industry site Deadline got some weird looks for posting this decidedly more optimistic take:

There’s some snarking going on out there that Black Adam is poised to lose $50M-$100M, and that is simply just not true. Deadline film finance sources, meaning people who do this for a living and those close to the film, say this movie is bound to break even and be in the black.

Dwayne Johnson even took to Twitter himself about it, saying…

Waited to confirm with financiers before I shared this excellent Black Adam news – our film will PROFIT between $52M-$72M. Fact. At almost $400M worldwide we are building our new franchise step by step (first Captain America did $370M) for the DC future.

Did someone tip him off to the bombshell report coming from The Hollywood Reporter tonight?

Laying out specifics of what Gunn and Safran intend to do with the current DC comics film universe, we get the following damning quotes for the prior status quo, which itself has had multiple attempts to fix what it was since Zack Snyder started it with 2013’s Man of Steel:

Multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 is not moving forward and is considered dead in its current incarnation.

It is unclear how any future Wonder Woman movie, and Gadot’s portrayal of the hero, would fit into the new DC plan.

Also unlikely is a sequel to Black Adam.

Johnson hoped to carve out his own piece of the DC pie, but multiple sources say his playing up of a returning Cavill and his own involvement with DC may not be endearing him to the new management.

In a word? Ouch.

But it’s not all bad for those who enjoyed the prior films.

One part that the Gunn-Safran agenda seems likely not to touch, at least for now, is the Matt Reeves Batman universe in which Robert Pattinson dons the cowl of the Caped Crusader. Reeves is writing the sequel to The Batman, which opened in March 4. The filmmaker is also overseeing the launch of two Batman series that spin out of his movie, including The Penguin.2

I suppose to quote Dwayne’s favorite bit of Black Adam marketing, the Hierarchy of Power has indeed changed. And unfortunately, he’s finding himself at the bottom of it.

I’ll be the first to admit, Rotten Tomatoes is a terrible metric, but follow me here. ↩

I’m very, VERY happy about this. ↩

[goddesses-of-the-multiverse]

[oopsabird]

I would, and I cannot stress this enough, lay down my life for Patty Jenkins:

Chris Pine: “I want a big fight scene!!!!”

Patty, calmly spritzing him in the face with a spray bottle of Respect Women Juice: “down boy. stop that.”

[tahlreth]

OMFG Wonder Woman is Amazeballs

This is it - this is my new favorite movie. Everything I ever watch ever will be judged on this scale. Whenever I re-watch old favorites, they will forever fall short of this sheer masterpiece of awesome. Holy shit. I have no one to gush to right now, so I’m just going to do it here, because if I don’t I will explode. There will be spoiler-y stuff, so beware.

Okay, first - this movie made me cry FIVE TIMES. I have never cried so much during a movie in my whole life. Like, I don’t cry IRL, so I get a lot of that out during movies and books and songs and especially touching commercials, but it’s usually a one-off deal. FIVE. TIMES.

When the Amazons are first getting ready to fight the Germans with guns on the beach because I KNOW HOW THAT ENDS, OKAY, but they were still all badass and you can bet your life that they will now be fucking preparing for bullets and next time things’ll be different. Just as I had gotten myself calmed down and cheering their awesome fighting...

ANTIOPE WHHHHYYYYYYY

When Diana makes the charge across ‘No Man’s Land’ because OMFG, that was moving as fuck and I don’t care that I’ve seen men do it tons of times, this was fucking WONDER WOMAN and she did it because it was RIGHT and she and a rag tag group of men just did the impossible and I had so many emotions that I just can’t even express them properly. I sobbed and cheered and it was amazing.

When the gas was fired on the village and Diana goes and finds all the villagers she was just celebrating with like, a day before all dead. The confusion and anguish over why such a thing happened that Gal Gadot was able to portray broke my heart.

STEVE WHHHHHYYYYYY and then all the way until the end of the damned movie.

It’s been 20 minutes since I left the theater and I’m still close to balling. OMG. I’m used to superhero movies making me feel a little emotional, but mostly being full of fighting and badassery. Wonder Woman had all the fighting and explosions while also making me FEEL more than I think any movie ever has before.

Things I Loved, The Short List

Antiope’s scar on her shoulder. Like, this is one of the first times I’ve seen a heroic female character just showing her scar like it was no big deal. Even Natasha in MCU only really has the one, and she hides it and is all like ‘can’t wear bikinis anymore’ and it was only there for plot reasons anyway. Antiope is a fucking warrior, and she has no shame in the marks battle has left on her body, and I dunno. It’s just a little thing that is never commented on in the movie, which makes me love it even more. Antiope in general stole my heart, and I now belong to her, TBH.

The Amazons weren’t all tiny, stick-thin blonde women with big boobs. There was so much variety, and I found that both beautiful and believable. It was just great to see some muscular babes up there being all bad-ass without having to look like stereotypical movie-pretty woman. They were every single one of them absolutely stunning.

The scene where Diana walks in on Steve bathing and is just like ‘whatever’ about his nudity while he’s all flustered and worried about modesty. It was adorable, and that’s when I fell in love with him.

ETTA CANDY. Oh my god. I love her so much. I want a movie where her and Diana are all up in the women’s suffrage movement, and it’s just Etta helping Diana navigate being a woman in that time and place while Diana helps Etta get in touch with her inner Amazon, and both of them help each other through the loss of Steve. Charlie shows up often to serenade them for no reason at all.

Speaking of, the way Diana was like ‘Charlie, you should come because who else will sing for us’ just really got me. She’s seen how damaged he is, how he has so much trouble shooting, but she’s unwilling to just throw him away or say he won’t be any use on the mission. Him being there matters to her, and it was just a nice little moment.

Every moment between Diana and Steve. It was all so beautiful, and that he was the reason she almost went to the dark side and also the person that saved her was just... hng. Crying again.

Nobody had to take off their clothes to let me know that they were lovers. The ‘love scene’ was just handled so well, where you knew that they were emotionally close and finding comfort in each other, and there was no need to be all in the audience’s face with nudity. It was refreshing - there’s nothing wrong with a ‘fade to black’ after some intense gazing in to each other’s eyes, is what I’m saying. I don’t need to see the LI’s tearing off their clothes (or each other’s) to get the message.

Diana’s crisis of conscience where she was just DONE with humanity’s bullshit. Like, this is the first time she’s seen war and death like this, and to realize that it comes from something inside instead of being solely the work of an outside force had to have crushed her. Again, Gal Gadot here was remarkable. The amount of emotion that woman can put into a scene is awe-inspiring.

Everything. Just... everything.

Things I Didn’t Like, The List

Nothing. Fucking nothing. Usually I walk out of movies - even ones I love, even ones that are my favorites - with a small list of things I wasn’t happy with. Subsequent viewings make the list grow, and I’m sure that once I’ve seen Wonder Woman a few times, I’ll have some bones to pick. But right now? There is nothing that I am immediately unhappy with. I love this movie so much.

SO YEAH. Best movie ever. Like... sorry, but to me this just proves that women should be directing female-centric superhero movies. It’s not a slight against male directors or anything, it’s just... women and men frame things differently. I cannot imagine that a man directing this movie would have been able to capture the essence of Wonder Woman the same way. I cannot imagine that it would have made me feel so damn much if a man had been at the helm. Women know what women want to see - I’ll still go see the male superhero movies, but I want more where women are front and center, both as the stars and the people behind the scenes. Men have dominated the movies for a long time - it’s time and past to make some room for us ladies at the table.

If anyone wants to gush/scream about this movie with me, feel free. I needed to get this stuff out because I have no interested friends outside the computer. All my friends are dumb. XD But yeah, if anyone wants to talk about the movie I will happily oblige, now that I have finally seen it.

Now excuse me while I go scrape together another $10 so I can go see it again tomorrow.

[traya-sutton]

So WW84 is set the same year that Holding Out for a Hero was created which means if I don't get a single epic fight scene with Diana with Holding Out for a Hero playing in the background I'm gonna cry

[gffa]

FUTURE LUCASFILM PROJECTS REVEALED GET READY FOR PATTY JENKINS’ ROGUE SQUADRON FILM, AN AHSOKA TANO LIVE-ACTION SERIES, THE RETURN OF HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN AND MUCH, MUCH MORE.       Today at The Walt Disney Company’s Investor Day event, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced a staggering number of new films, series, and surprises that will expand the Star Wars galaxy like never before.

Rogue Squadron The next Star Wars feature film will be Rogue Squadron — directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman franchise). The story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.       “It’s been a lifelong dream as a filmmaker to one day make a great fighter pilot film,” said Jenkins. “As the daughter of a great fighter pilot myself, some of the best memories of my life are of seeing my father’s squadron take off in their F4s every morning, and hearing and feeling the awe-inspiring power and grace. When he passed away in service to this country it ignited a burning desire to one day channel all of those emotions into one great film. When the perfect story arrived in combination with another true love of mine, the incomparable world of Star Wars, I knew I’d finally found my next film. I’m extremely honored and excited to take it on, and grateful to Lucasfilm, Disney, and the fans for extending that thrill to me.”       “Patty has established herself as one of the top directors working in the film industry today,” said Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “She’s a visionary who knows how to strike the balance between action and heart, and I can’t wait to see what she does in the Star Wars galaxy.”       Lock S-foils in attack position: Rogue Squadron arrives in theaters Christmas 2023.

Untitled Taika Waititi Film       A brand-new Star Wars feature with acclaimed filmmaker and Academy Award-winner Taika Waititi is in development. “Taika’s approach to Star Wars will be fresh, unexpected, and…unique,” said Kennedy. “His enormous talent and sense of humor will ensure that audiences are in for an unforgettable ride.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi Last August at D23 Expo, Lucasfilm announced the return of Ewan McGregor in the iconic role of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi for a special event series on Disney+. Officially titled Obi-Wan Kenobi, the series begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where he faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. The series is directed by Deborah Chow, who helmed memorable episodes of The Mandalorian Season 1.      This will truly be a day long remembered, as it was confirmed that Hayden Christensen will be returning as Darth Vader. “This will be the rematch of the century,” Kennedy said.      “It was such an incredible journey playing Anakin Skywalker,” said Christensen. “Of course, Anakin and Obi-Wan weren’t on the greatest of terms when we last saw them… It will be interesting to see what an amazing director like Deborah Chow has in store for us all. I’m excited to work with Ewan again. It feels good to be back.”

Ahsoka After making her long awaited live-action debut in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano’s story, written by Dave Filoni, will continue in a limited series starring Rosario Dawson and executive produced by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau. Rangers of the New Republic Set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, this new live-action series from executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will intersect with future stories and culminate into a climactic story event.

Lando Everyone’s favorite scoundrel Lando Calrissian will return in a brand-new event series for Disney+. Justin Simien, creator of the critically-acclaimed Dear White People and a huge Star Wars fan, is developing the story.

Andor  Andor, a tense nail-biting spy thriller created by Tony Gilroy, is set to arrive on Disney+ in 2022. Diego Luna, reprising the role of rebel spy Cassian Andor from Rogue One, will be joined by a fantastic new cast that includes Stellan Skarsgard, Adria Arjona, Fiona Shaw, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, and Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma. Production kicked off three weeks ago in London.

The Acolyte Leslye Headland, Emmy Award-nominated creator of the mind-bending series Russian Doll, brings a new Star Wars series to Disney+ with The Acolyte. The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in The Clone Wars) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch — a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army — each possess a singular exceptional skill which makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. In the post-Clone War era, they will take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose.      The animated series will arrive exclusively on Disney+.

Star Wars: Visions Presenting all-new, creative takes on the galaxy far, far away, Star Wars: Visions will be a series of animated short films celebrating Star Wars through the lens of the world’s best anime creators. The anthology collection will bring 10 fantastic visions from several of the leading Japanese anime studios, offering a fresh and diverse cultural perspective to Star Wars.

A Droid Story As Lucasfilm continues to develop new stories, the intersection of animation and visual effects offers new opportunities to explore. Lucasfilm Animation will be teaming up with Lucasfilm’s visual effects team, Industrial Light & Magic, to develop a special Star Wars adventure for Disney+, A Droid Story. This epic journey will introduce us to a new hero, guided by legendary duo R2-D2 and C-3PO.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actor Ewen Bremner, born January 23rd 1972 in Edinburgh.

Bremner has worked with many of the most respected directors in world cinema, including Danny Boyle, Mike Leigh, Ridley Scott, Joon-Ho Bong, Werner Herzog and Woody Allen. Hen has established himself by creating unique characters in critically acclaimed films, as well as going toe to toe with many of Hollywood's biggest stars.

Ewen had worked widely in theatre, television, and film for years before being cast in his breakout role in Trainspotting, by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle. He was the first to be cast in the role of Mark Renton in Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre production but lost out to Ewan McGregor in the film version, instead he was handed the role of Spud Murphy and earned screen immortality with his character's infamous "speed fuelled" job interview scene.

Prior to Trainspotting, Bremner gave a striking performance in Mike Leigh's Naked, fellow Scot Susan Vidler played his girlfriend Maggie in this excellent film.

In 1999, Bremner received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a schizophrenic man living with his dysfunctional family in Harmony Korine's Julien, Donkey-Boy. Filmed strictly in accordance with the ultra-realist tenants of Lars Von Trier's Dogma 95 movement and starring opposite Werner Herzog, Bremner played Julien its eponymous hero, requiring him to assume an American accent. He then worked with director Michael Bay in his high-profile 2001 war film Pearl Harbor, proving his versatility once again by portraying the role of a wholeheartedly patriotic American soldier fighting in WWII. The following year, he stepped back into fatigues for a supporting role in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, while rounding out the next several years with roles in high-profile Hollywood releases such as The Rundown, Disney's Around the World in 80 Days), AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Woody Allen's Match Point, the comedy Death at a Funeral directed by Frank Oz, and Fool's Gold starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson.

This past few of years proved to be a busy when Bremner was invited to join the DC Universe in the Zack Snyder-produced feature Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins, co-starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. Ewen also reprised his unforgettable role as Spud in the highly-anticipated sequel to Danny Boyle's cult classic, T2: Trainspotting

Bremner appeared in the TNT Drama Series Will with Shekhar Kapur. The series told the story of the lost years of young William Shakespeare after his arrival to London in 1589 but only lasted one season. Other notable film credits include Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Perfect Sense starring again alongside Ewan McGregor, Great Expectations, Jack the Giant Slayer, and Snowpiercer starring alongside Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton. Further credits include Exodus: Gods and Kings, Wide Open Spaces, Mojo, Mediator, Faintheart, Hallam Foe, Sixteen Years of Alcohol, and Snatch.

In television, Ewen has worked on many acclaimed productions including David Hare's Worriker trilogy starring Bill Nighy for BBC, Jimmy McGovern's Moving On and also his Australian mini-series Banished, Strike Back for Sky TV, Dominic Savage's Dive, the Dylan Thomas biopic, A Poet In New York and the adaptation of Day of the Triffids for the BBC. Other noteworthy series appearances include portraying legendary surrealist Salvador Dali in the U.K. television drama Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali, and a guest spot on the successful NBC series, My Name is Earl, not to forget an early appearance in Taggart way back in 1990.

More recently Ewen has been in the, in my opinion, very funny series Our Flag Means Death, the film Canyon Del Muerto about the worlds first female archaeologist and the highly rated Freedom's Path, set in the US Civil War, it is due out soon.

[fan-demonium]

Diana Prince and Arthur Curry standing next to each other in that one scene is bi culture

[winchesterxxi]

jokes and pedro pascal stanning aside,

as a film student and lover, his character in WW84 is one of the most well written anti-heroes (or just character in general) I’ve ever seen in film. Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns and Dave Callaham did a remarkable job in writing such a complex character with very real and relatable motivations.

Maxwell Lord is a man broken by a system that led him to a business which he had the illusion of being profitable but that ends up leaving him on the brick of ruin. On top of that he has the added pressure of wanting to look like a hero in the eyes of his son. If you’ve watched the film you know that his primary goal wasn’t to be the supreme lord of the world (or whatever he was trying to do) but to not look like a failure in front of his son. 

Every time he is in the presence of his son Alastair, both characters have similar wishes - Max wants his son to be proud of him, and Alastair wants his dad to love him. This need for approval from both parts actually drives them away from each other as Max turns to the profit of his company because he thinks that being rich and successful is what’s going to make his son proud but actually ends up making him neglect his kid.

But he keeps thinking i need the oil and the money and the power and THEN I’ll be the most powerful man and he’ll be proud of me, EVERYONE will be proud of me and not regard me as a failure anymore. So, his wish to no longer be a failure turns into greed and greed turns into him being completely blinded by power.

He evolves from underdog (at the lack of a better word), to anti-hero, to villain (for the second to last part of his character arc) and then, after the climax of the film, he climbs down the ladder but no longer to the underdog position. He returns from his quest a transformed man that has a new perspective on life.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, in screenwriting theory is what we call THE HERO’S JOURNEY.

This man was supposed to be your common villain according to the trailer but Jenkins, Johns and Callaham deadass wrote him to be the hero of the film.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[oscar-isaac]

SAV’S 3K CELEBRATION → TOP MOVIES BY GENRE (as voted by my followers)

ADVENTURE ↳ WONDER WOMAN (2017) DIR. PATTY JENKINS

I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind. But then, I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. I learned that inside every one of them, there will always be both. The choice each must make for themselves - something no hero will ever defeat. I've touched the darkness that lives in between the light. Seen the worst of this world, and the best. Seen the terrible things men do to each other in the name of hatred, and the lengths they'll go to for love. Now I know. Only love can save this world. So I stay. I fight, and I give... for the world I know can be. This is my mission, now. Forever.

[sheryl-lee]

I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind. But then, I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. I learned that inside every one of them, there will always be both. The choice each must make for themselves - something no hero will ever defeat. I've touched the darkness that lives in between the light. Seen the worst of this world, and the best. Seen the terrible things men do to each other in the name of hatred, and the lengths they'll go to for love. Now I know. Only love can save this world. So I stay. I fight, and I give... for the world I know can be. This is my mission, now. Forever.

WONDER WOMAN (2017) dir. Patty Jenkins