#the adaptation of the musical showcases it as well even though they don't have end of the verses OR ofpd which are thesis moments.

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

thinking about how Les Mis is historical fiction that was written so soon after the historical event that inspired it in this Chili's tonight ladies

[izunias-meme-hole]

One Villainous Scene - "As You Can See, I'm A Lot Happier"

Tim Burton's Batman is not a perfect adaptation of the source in the slightest, but as a movie? As a movie its entertaining, its structured well, the direction is great, the set and costume designs were pretty good, and by god Jack Nicholson's Joker is almost perfect. Between his colorful exterior against the darker colors of Gotham, his terrifying nature being contrasted by how hilarious he can be, his over-the-top yet functional arsenal, the consistent showcases of both his insanity and his brilliance, and just how damn quotable he is. Overall, Nicholson's Joker is just an icon who steals the show, and that's shown perfectly in just One Villainous Scene.

For context, before this clown ever got his wide smile he was Jack Napier, a psychotic gangster with an expertise in chemistry and art. Napier was the right hand man to local mob boss Carl Grissom, though he had zero respect for the old man and fully intended on backstabbing his boss at some point in the future (and taking his girl too). Though unluckily for Napier, Grissom would set his ass up to be killed in the Axis Chemical plant by some corrupt cops. While the cops didn't succeed in killing him, Jack had a run-in with The Batman, which ended with a chemical bath and a face lift that we don't even see yet. Long story short, Handsome Jack had a really. Bad. Day.

So while Grissom is just preparing to sit on his ass and have a drink, Jack appears right in his room, covered in shadows. At first the old mob boss tries to fake innocence, but Napier already knows that he set his ass up and points his gun at Grissom before he could grab his own. Grissom then threatens Jack, but he's unfazed, saying that he's been "dead" and that it's therapeutic. And after Grissom tries negotiating with his former right hand man, Jack steps out of the shadows. With the way this scene has been shot, you would expect Napier's face to be completely deformed, but instead of a hideout and monstrous appearance, we're shown something far more unsetting as he shows himself.

"You can call me Joker... and as you can see, I'm a lot happier."

After Joker reveals his chalk white skin, green hair, blood red lips, and permanent smile to both the viewer and Grissom, he proceeds to gun his old boss down as if he's showing off in a shooting gallery while a mixture between a waltz and carnival music plays in the background. And once the deed is done, he throws his hat in the air, laughs to himself, and just treats it like it's another day in the office.

This particular Joker has a lot of memorable scenes, but in terms of setting the bar and giving viewers a small insight into the fun menace this clown is going to be for the rest of the film, its a perfect introduction that's stayed with me for a long time.

[444lpblue]

The Witch and the Beast - First PV Impressions

Director: Takayuki Hamana Character Design: Hiroya Iijima Animation Work: Yokohama Animation Lab

The day has come! The Witch and the Beast trailer popped out of nowhere while I was watching anime, and I had to pause to fully take in the trailer and the staff list. When I first saw Yokohama Animation Lab, I wasn't exactly happy. I have limited experience with their work, and in terms of anime studio years, I would say they're fairly new. They don't really have enough animes for me to fully grasp their style. I've only finished The Genius Prince from them and seen clips of 'The Great Cleric, which genuinely looks kind of awful, if I'm being honest. So, I was extremely anxious as soon as I saw Yokohama Animation Lab as the studio.

But the trailer footage was better than what I personally expected when I saw it. It still had some things that made me feel iffy, but there were also some genuinely good points.

I think the up-close shots look great. The facial structure and expressions match the manga extremely well, and you really feel like you're seeing the characters come to life. A lot of personality shines through in the close-up shots, from Guideau's intensity and craziness to Ashaf's enigmatic smile. The character design took me multiple rewatches to get used to, but I really did end up enjoying it a lot. I also enjoyed the music choice for the trailer.

The trailer was quite short, so we couldn't really judge the animation or talk about most things in depth, and so far I have no major complaints about it. However, I did want to talk about one thing.

I feel like some of the color choices in the trailer felt too faded or toned down, which betrays the complexity and detail of the scenes in the manga. The black and white frames in this shot feels out of place as they don't mesh well with the overall faded-out scene. I understand that they are aiming for a storybook aesthetic, but I believe they should have made these types of scenes denser in color, even vibrant, to create a contrast with the generally grim environment of all the scenes outside of them. The covers for the series serve as a good showcase of this, with vibrant scenes that are highly detailed and beautiful, complemented by dark shading.

On to the specific staff announced, for the character designs we have Hiroya Iijima, who I feel is mostly doing a good job. The faces of the characters seem to look very close to the art style of the manga. I do feel it's lacking a bit of flair that we've seen from his character designs in Afro Samurai, but I think it's still very good. I'm not extremely familiar with Takayuki Hamana and have never watched any anime he's directed, however from what I understand he tends to bring a group of animators with him, like Yuuta Kiso, who appears in a majority of his projects. I also hope he returns here, as he's a very talented animator. Now, back to Hamana. I've checked some of the openings he's done for Sorcerous Stabber Orphen in order to get a sense of his style, but none of them really impressed me all that much. I still can't get a good grasp on his style, and there's nothing indicating that he would do well in Witch and the Beast, in particular.

The most worrying part for me is likely the studio, Yokohama Animation Lab. As I've mentioned before, they haven't done much to show what they're fully capable of, and a lot of their animes currently out are rather subpar. However, this trailer does look better than a lot of the previous PVs I've seen. I am worried about how many animes they're currently working on, though.

The staff/studio worries me slightly; however, the PV, as short as it is, did look mostly positive, so I will be cautious but hopeful for this upcoming adaptation.

[haeminlgc]

2023 review

What were some of your greatest accomplishments this year and out of all of them, which one was the most memorable one for you?

"The most memorable accomplishment from this year would definitely be the musical that I managed to land a lead role in. It was most unexpected to say the least since I don't really consider myself a singer nor a dancer. The experience definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me grow as a performer. In the end I really enjoyed being part of it and perhaps in the future would like to participate in more musical works. As for some of my greatest accomplishments, I can't not mention being part of the Hogamnote project! It was my first real acting project and I think we did rather well as a team. It was fun to work with everyone and get feedback from the director on how to portray my character."

What area(s) do you think you’ve personally improved on since the beginning of this year?

"Because of the musical at the beginning of the year I know my singing and dancing have improved. Of course they can't hold a candle to the actual idols in the company or the trainees who have been training relentlessly for a long time but they're solid and won't embarrass me any time soon. I also think that my ability to host and be in front of the camera more naturally has improved since I started my personal channel. It's not super popular but it seems to have a pretty okay reception from those who are interested in what I do."

What are some of your personal goals for 2024?

"Ah, some personal goals? Well, for a start I'd like to get involved in more projects to really get my name out there and gain valuable working experience. So I guess my goal is to audition for everything that's in my wheelhouse? Oh, and I'd like to continue hosting my personal channel for the whole of 2024. I think it will help me become more confident and outgoing in showing who I am on camera."

Out of all of the actors/models, what do you think makes you stand out from all of them?

"That's a great question! And one that I don't have a concrete answer to. Everyone in our agency is so talented and hardworking, showing their best sides consistenly. Even though I often say I have a fresh image, I'd like to think that I'm quite versatile and can fit into a variety of genres and roles, small or large. So... my versatility and adaptability?"

Aside from your main career path (actor/model), are there any types of gigs outside of it that you would be interested in doing in the future?

"One rather new dream that I have--though it is still connected to my main path--is to be able to sing an OST for a drama or a project that I'm in. I have found that I quite enjoy singing and would like to showcase that for the fans more. As for other gigs... I think it would be fun to host something or interview others for a program."

[what-if-nct]

hiiii today's reminder is i watched the new Archies movie and it's simultaneously very bad and fun and visually interesting and has a few decent points it tries to make but emphasis on bad so very bad. it's blowing up because the leads are nepo babies proving talent skips a generation. everyone else in it has a pretty strong performance for a debut, but the main three are so unwaveringly bad throughout (I'll give Veronica her confrontation with her father, that was a decent performance, but the rest truly sucked) that it becomes damn near unwatchable. plus it's paced very badly, it feels like it could've been like 45 minutes shorter. and why they'd choose something as quintessentially American as the Archies comics to depict Anglo-Indian culture is beyond me. it ended up being neither english nor indian nor american, which might have worked in their favour if they didn't spend so much time talking about indian independence and patriotism and fuck the British except the ones that founded this town and whatnot. and the dancing dear lord. don't even get me started on how badly the dances were costumed. the 60s aesthetic doesn't work all that well on people with boobs, especially if you're giving them such big dance moves

… yeah i don't know why i watched it all the way through but i did so here we are

Hii, I havent seen it but due to it being an Archie remake I'm definitely going to trust your criticism but I might still give it a watch once i get Netflix i like to let nailed it episodes build up cause that's the only thing i watch on netflix. But yeah Archie comic remakes are very very hit or miss *cough* Riverdale*cough* I really want to know why though. Personally Sabrina the teenage witch is the best adaptation of the comics could be nostalgia or the 90s formula for movies and TV was just better. I personally couldn't watch the Netflix Sabrina past one episode my best friend said she didn't like the way witchcraft was showcased. And Sabrina the teenage witch wasn't in no way accurate but it was a fun twist on it. the craft is the most accurate depiction of witchcraft. Practical magic is kinda close though. And we've all seen Riverdale, and if you haven't good, don't unless you think Madeleine Petsch is pretty. That's the only reason I watched it. I really think remakes and adaptations should really be a once in a while thing. Like the mean girls one it's a movie of the musical based off the movie? What about just film a really nice version of the stage version instead of whatever's happening. Cause I liked the trailer but it just feels unnecessary? Also I personally prefer the movie Jawbreaker over mean girls. Which I think is actually the inspiration for mean girls cause it is way too similar minus the murder with a jawbreaker. But even if it's inspired it's still it's own stand alone movie with just a different plot just a similar idea. Why can't current movies do that. But the jawbreaker scene with Rose McGowan, her boyfriend and a popsicle was iconic. It inspired a Taeyong fic I wrote on my fic blog I never post on cause it's hard to write fics sometimes but I try there's so many unfinished ones. Also I can only write Taeyong and Jungwoo submissive and needy for some reason.

[robbyrobinson]

Five Nights at Freddy's 2023 (Review)

So, after 8 years, Freddy's is finally open for business.

Five Nights at Freddy's is the long-awaited adaptation of the horror game series by Scott Cawthon. Josh Hutcherson plays Mike Schmidt, a down-on-his-luck young man who, facing an eviction notice, takes the job working as a security guard at the broken-down Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in order to support his young sister Abby.

As someone who was a passive fan of the games and watched people like Markiplier play them, I will say that I really liked the movie. Jim Henson's Creature Workshop did a fantastic job bringing the animatronic band to life down to the tiniest detail. I feel the cinematography also showcased some of the panic-inducing paranoia that the first game was known for.

I also think the cast did good for the most part. Huctherson's grief over his personal loss was believable and his relationship with Abby is touching. Piper Rubio also does a very good job in her role as the young sister. Normally I would not care much for child actors, but her interactions with the animatronics is adorable. Vanessa... is serviceable, but I did have some problems there (though she can arrest me any time). And, of course, Matthew Lillard was such a ball in his role.

The music was also great with the opening being chilling as it compliments the events of the Missing Children Incident. The movie was also rife with Easter eggs and references which I liked.

As someone who was familiar with the games and kept up with them, I think it does the games justice. For everything else...

The movie suffers from writing and pacing. The film is 1 hr 50 min, but it felt like it was over too quickly. Definitely not something that felt like it took 8 years to get. Like there is one scene where Mike would be sleeping, then BOOM! Scary thing happens, he reacts, then it jumps to a completely unrelated scene. Instead of taking its time to breathe, the film appears to be in a mad dash to get to the end with some of the more emotional moments being not effective.

So... what I did not like and/or neutral on...

The film itself is not scary, sometimes feeling like an extended Goosebumps episode which is kind of funny considering the Tales from the Pizzaplex and Fazbear Frights books. While it hits the atmosphere of the game well, it kind of lacks an identity requiring you to be familiar with the games. Like it's just basing it off the popularity of the games rather than coming into its own.

I totally get the film was made for the fans in mind, which is fine, and as someone who knows about the franchise, I was satisfied. But I think the film could have done more to make the film accessible to everyone especially with getting some new fans. The worldbuilding was not great with some of its explanations for what things are being brief. For anyone who does not have the slightest idea what FNAF is, this film does it a total disservice.

===Spoilers; Turn Away if you do not want to see what happens===

As much as I loved Matthew Lillard here, he felt underused. It is of no issue with him, it's the screenplay's fault. I wish the film would have done something similar to The Silver Eyes where we have Afton giving Mike information on the run-down family entertainment establishment all while slowly building up that his character Raglan was William Afton. I would have even liked if Mike started to befriend Raglan and confiding in him his darkest secrets, which would make the twist of Afton being responsible for the death of his brother Garett even more effective as that betrayal would sting. But, we do have Vanessa already who does some lore drops here and there so I guess that'd be redundant.

Don't know about some people, but didn't actually mind how the springlock failure happens though Afton acting like some cartoon character with his reactions to getting impaled are kind of wonky, though since Lillard hams up his performances often, I guess it's a minor gripe. It's more his final line "I always come back!"

It's definitely a cool line hearing it being said after it being such an iconic catchphrase from the games, and even if it felt goofy, again I equated that with Lillard's hamminess. But, again, I feel the line falls flat on anyone not tuned in with the lore. Instead of being an intimidating, final threat of spite, a non-FNAF fan would be like "What do you mean you always come back? This is the first time I've seen you, I think."

Perhaps also having the Yellow Rabbit periodically stalking Mike would have also been good since that would raise the tensions. We also know little on Afton in this film, but since Lillard had signed up for a three-film deal, maybe more will be revealed in the sequel.

Vanessa also felt underutilized. Like I understand that she was someone who had her childhood destroyed by her sociopath of a father, but it made a lot of her previous actions completely confusing. Again, the film could have benefitted from flashbacks to further flesh her out as a character aside from the small "he really messed you up" note from Mike. Not helping is the film tipping into predictability. I defy you to say that no one saw Vanessa jumping in to intervene coming after she was all like "I can't go there, I just can't!"

That and the film should have made her being in cahoots with Afton more apparent. He rants saying that he wanted her to kill Mike if he was getting in too deep with unraveling the mystery, but... when was that ever the case? Vanessa acts super sus, but we have no real threads to follow to get the explanation. That, and him saying she was fixing a mess that she started was very interesting. I really wanted to know what he was implying: if we assume that the crying child is canon to this timeline, was she the one who perpetrated the Bite of '83 that made Afton into the crazy serial killer he would become, or was it just referring to this occasion where she did not kill Mike as he demanded?

My boi Golden Freddy was done dirty. He was intimidating which was good, but the film does a poor job at introducing him. GF is understood as being a "ghost" character of sorts who crashes your game, but the film never goes into the differences enough between him and the other animatronics. He can leave the pizzeria unlike the others and can open and close the doors at will, but we know so little about him. It does such a disservice, it is not surprising anyone not familiar with the series would be unable to tell the difference between Golden Freddy and regular Freddy further compounding on the confusion.

The tone also felt inconsistent at times. The kill at the beginning sets the mood well, and we get some of that mood later in the act. The animatronics massacring the crew Jane paid to wreck up Freddy's was horrific especially with what happened to Max, but then the animatronics are all cutesy with Abby (which, yeah, it was because Afton was influencing the animatronics somehow to lull Abby into a false sense of security before getting her stuffed) like with the fort scene. I am not.... completely against it because, while whacky, it reinforces the notion that the animatronics are not truly evil at heart: they are lost, scared ghosts of children who had their lives robbed of them. But Bonnie falling on his back is... kind of silly.

Of course, this is a result of the games being somewhat tongue-in-cheek with Scott being a master-class troll, but the humor doesn't really hit well and almost feels like a conglomeration of different scripts that were Frankensteined together. The who gets custody of Abby thing is also not helping matters.

The film appears to be at a total loss: it has to cater to a young audience since they play the games or buy the merchandise, but they try to push the envelope as far as they could for a PG-13 film, but doing so causes a total whiplash in tone. It does not know what audience it is trying to appeal to.

===Spoilers Over===

Despite it all, will say that I came out of the film finding it good. Not great, but nowhere near the trashfire some critics are making it out to be. But even then, I think the movie critics are not totally wrong in most of their points. The movie is flawed and only works for a select audience and maybe can be a gateway for kids to see more horror films and, since they are marketable characters, maybe the film acquired some new fans.

The film is an accomplishment having been in development hell for years, but I really wish that the film could have been better. I am not expecting Shakespeare in terms of writing as while good writing contributes to making a movie workable, it is not automatically making it "good." Much like the Super Mario Bros. Movie, FNAF 2023 is a simple, predictable story, which is not a complete knock on it as... well, both films had the fans in mind.

But with Mario's case, you have 40+ years and supplementary material to work with. FNAF had little to no story when it started off as a simple point and click survival horror game. While I am fine with a simple story, it could have been done so much better and more accessible for everyone besides fans.

[gayregis]

right away sorry if this gets too ranty I've just been Thinking lately and i feel like twn is such a good example of like. this idea that Real and Good film and television can only be made by Hollywood i guess? like there's even this polish saying that roughly translates to "you praise the foreign and don't know your own" which gets made fun of a lot but also. it's very true imo. like i still wonder what could've been if actual good polish filmmakers were entrusted with making a new witcher (1/?

and it would've been such a good opportunity for like. one showcasing that there Can be good art and entertainment made locally and two some genuine cultural exchange. like i know its too big of an idea for Capitalism™ but if there was a well made polish-language show on international Netflix like. idk i feel like maybe that could spark some interest in like broadening peoples horizons and changing their views on what fantasy looks like etc and its just frustrating that there wasnt even a chance

i really agree. i have been dreaming recently about what my ideal "visual adaptation" of the witcher would look like, and what i've come up with essentially is something like the polish audiodramas set to 2D animation by fans of the witcher. subs, not dubs, i guess?

audiodramas

gilthoniel1173 on youtube has uploaded many select clips of the audiodramas, translated them and set them to pictures. amazing work and i highly recommend this.

i really value the majority of sapkowski's prose, though there are faults with the witcher, his prose really has a marvelous quality to it and i am trying to think of a way to keep this intact. something like the audiodramas in which there are narration may be the best way to go, with subtitles so that

animation

it's the sort of thing i think about like, hey, if i had netflix's budget (approx. $70 to $80 million, [dies]), how would i make the witcher adaptation?

disclaimer: i hesitated to @ artists because i feel like it sends the message that i am saying, "hey you, specifically, should do this idea for free, also btw, i only see you as a witcher fanartist and nothing more :)" this is not my intention, what i want to do here is just want to bring light to these artists in the community and the work they have done, both witcher-related and original work (and i hope that i am in no way defining them as 'only-witcher' artists). additionally, this is in no way suggesting that i don't want to involve any artists i did not mention or that i do not adore the work of other artists in the witcher fandom, these are just the immediate two i think of when i think of animating the witcher.

i imagine it in the style of @paticmak , @astrolunos , @johix because they have done just such gorgeous art of the witcher... <3 (i hope everyone reading knows of these artists already, but if you do not, please check out their work and support!)

paticmak's cherry vodka, an original animation which you should watch: [x]

paticmak's witcher fanart: [x]

astrolunos' animations, including geralt and ciri from sword of destiny and yennefer and ciri from blood of elves: [x]

astrolunos' witcher fanart: [x]

johix's jadýrko, an original interactive story which you should check out: [x] [x]

johix's art (some ship and ns/fw): [x]

specific witcher pieces from these artists that i think about:

[paticmak / "The witcher drawings redraws and sketches"]

[astrolunos / slavic-inspired outfits]

[astrolunos / "yen and ciri’s room, ellander"]

[johix / geralt and dandelion at beltane (ship)]

other major inspirations in my dreams of this:

studio ghibli movies (spirited away and howl's moving castle)

independent animators like felix colgrave (double king)

laika studio animations (kubo and the two strings)

gobelins studio (sundown)

embracing the roots, introducing diversity

my main point in this section is that i believe the polish & eastern european culture of the witcher is essential to it, at the same time i also value diversity and uplifting people of color. i do not believe that these two concepts are in conflict with one another! a discussion simply needs to be held, which is something that netflix did not do because it had few eastern european voices on the set, and kept the voices of color it did have down.

something netflix failed to do is acknowledge the witcher's cultural origins... at all. really, at all. in the writing, in the dialogue, in the set design, in the character and fashion design... and they had the opportunity to do this. this is massively disappointing and thoughtless.

my goal would be to bring polish & other eastern european writers who are fans of the witcher to work through the prose to tell the story. i would also like to have female and lgbt voices in this because the witcher has some elements that are...! disconcerting, let's just say. as we saw with lauren, having a woman in charge doesn't immediately make things not misogynist anymore, somehow she added to the misogyny of the witcher. but i think this is still a step in the right direction. additionally, this writing process would NOT look like writing fanfiction. it would really be going through and working with the artists and translating the prose, deciding what should be kept and what should be left out (some things like forest gramps should be left out, wouldn't you agree?).

new scenes could be added, but they would just have to be done for a reason. i believe the 2002 hexer did this somewhat-successfully in scenes such as this one, in which they develop relationships between characters just that little bit more and add to the pathos of the witcher (which is quite direct and does not "loiter" upon many things!)

i would also really value the voices of set designers, fashion historians, food historians, and cultural anthropologists who are from + study poland & eastern europe because i believe the history and culture should be integrated into the witcher and appreciated, demonstrated in a positive and celebratory light to the world, without doing so in a cultural appropriation-like manner (in which elements are just taken without any knowledge of where they are from and what context they hold). also, yes, the witcher is not a historical fantasy - but its setting is inspired by history and it would be rewarding to see a visual fantasy universe that is not based in english culture!

i think the witcher community is really vast and holds many opinions... this is both a good and bad thing, because "the witcher fandom" includes both people of color and like, white supremacists. i will say that i wouldn't want the latter working on the project, just saying. i would like to see designs of color for the cast of the witcher (i have done a few but hesitated to post them, lol) and sensitivity readings, NOT just diversity for views like netflix performed, but diversity that empowers, makes sense, and isn't "people of color are in this, they are either white-passing or just there to support the white characters." ... i also would like to think about how we approach diversity, as in, designs/casting of color should not be relegated to insignificant or evil characters, the good protagonists could be people of color. i would also like to think about and avoid problematic tropes such as when white characters in a media teach and "civilize" a young person of color, or when "monsters" or non-human characters are cast as people of color... i think people of color should be given roles in which they are in control, powerful, desirable, and good. we need to think about the message we send. in the end, my goal would be "genuine cultural exchange" as you said.

additionally: i think involving jewish and indigenous (broad terms, but i mean them to be broad) voices specifically in conversations about writing would be significant because sapkowski made some decisions in the witcher which can come off as offensive to these groups in particular (regarding the parts of the story about elves, dwarves, gnomes, dryads, and specific characters such as yennefer and regis).

music

honestly, not many thoughts here! can we really get any better than the soundtrack of the witcher 3? cdpr has many faults, but their music is not one of them in my opinion.

afterthoughts

i was displeased to learn that alik sakharov left twn because of not being appreciated and instead being fought on his writing, but i feel a project like this would actually value input like his instead of kicking him out and citing "creative differences"

what is really the most significant thing to me is good writing and ciri's relationship with her parents, because i believe these being taken away is one of the things which was most painful about netflix's "adaptation."