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iheartbookbran · 3 years

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Anthony, Penelope, Marina and Colin deserved better...

Beware, rant ahead

Ok I wish I didn’t feel such strong need to continue beating this dead horse but oopsie, I will very much be beating it some more.

Like, my fave books of the Bridgerton series are Anthony’s and Colin’s books, so I’m seething about what they did with their characterizations, Anthony and Penelope in particular, because Colin’s only real sin was being boring, and if you remember how funny he’s in the books it makes me wanna fall on my knees and ask Chris Van Dusen whyyyy omg why would you do something like that to such a dynamic character. So yeah, Colin is boring af and a moron but at least he isn’t an asshole the way show Anthony and Penelope are, and I’ve seen people say that they can always be redeemed in future seasons, if we get them, but that’s exactly my problem, because they never had to be redeemed in the books, to begin with. Penelope more so than Anthony but let me begin by defending my boy.

Is he a jerk sometimes? Sure. Is he actively awful and uncaring towards those close to him, especially his family? Hell no, quite the opposite, in fact. Not to be controversial on main but in the books... he was right in not wanting Daphne to be courted by a man who he knew damn right had no intention of marrying her and as far as he was aware was only making her waste her time, and he was right in demanding Simon pay for compromising her honor. Could he have been more mindful of what Daphne had to say and listened to her wishes? Of course, but considering Simon and Daphne (both in the show and in the books) aren’t exactly masters in communication themselves, Anthony doesn’t come off as the biggest offender in that situation.

What he never did was force Daphne, or any of his sisters really, to do anything; if they didn’t like a guy then that guy was out of their lives no question asked, and he loved them enough to always have their best interests at heart, for his sisters and his brothers, to the point that even though he’s traumatized and thinks he’s gonna die young he’s still willing to get past that to do his duty and marry, because he doesn’t want to pass that burden on to his little brothers (so him deciding to leave all his responsibilities to Benedict so he can fck off with his mistress is... like, a choice lmao). In fact all the subplot with Siena felt like a choice on the writers part, like they truly liked Benedict and Sophie’s story so they just slapped it on Anthony so he could act all sad and sexy while they gave us foreshadowing with the subtlety of a warharmer that he’s ending up with Kate anyways (and that Benedict is ending with Sophie anyways too, so they would be using that storyline twice, unless they do make him bi and fall in love with a man, but maybe that’s too much of ask for this show), so what was Siena’s purpose in the story? Who tf knows not me.

Now Penelope, my god. Yes I know I joke Penny has never done anything wrong in her life, and I still love her, but she was wrong. Very much so. What she did was significantly worse than what Marina did, which I still don’t condone at all. Like yes, I still maintain that Marina tricking Colin into marriage was wrong (and I’ll go later on why that whole subplot was racist af), but what Penelope did could have not only ruined Marina and herself and her sisters reputations, but it was basically condemning an innocent unborn child to a life in the streets, that’s messed up. Even if Marina was rose-coloring her potential life with Colin and he might have grown to resent her, at least the baby would’ve been alright. And my problem with that whole subplot is that all of it was resolved so neatly, with Sir Phillip sweeping in to save the day so we don’t have to actually see what Penelope’s actions could have caused, but the implications are still very much there.

And I’m cracking my mind trying to figure out whether the showrunners just... really hate Colin’s book and Penelope as a character so they’re trying to inflict some kind of character assassination on her so they can get away with writing him off with another person without causing much outrage, or if they just thought there wasn’t enough ~drama~ or stakes on their book so they have to add them, and give him some kind of bullshit tragic romantic past to explain why he doesn’t want to marry, whereas in the books, the reason he doesn’t marry anyone is because he doesn’t feel like it, and that’s ok, there’s no need for every character to have a tragic backstory and to be riddled with angst; Colin is that character, he’s an easy going guy who’s just not interested in marriage until he falls in love with Penny AND THAT’S VALID, just because he doesn’t have the most complex motivations out there doesn’t mean he isn’t a compelling character. The stakes in his story after he discovers Penny is Whistledown are, as he points out, that she has insulted so many people there’s no way some of them wouldn’t want to retaliate if word came out, and he cares for her and doesn’t want her to get hurt (there’s also a dumb part about him being secretly jealous of her accomplishments as Whistledown, but thankfully he gets over that pretty quickly).

But while I am on that, it is true that Penelope wrote some uncharitable things about the mean people around her, but she never ever ruined someone’s reputation, let alone endanger the future of a child. Was she a bitch sometimes? Yeah, but she was also kind to a lot of people and her criticism was never unwarranted and never did more damage than maybe annoy a couple of girls like Cressida. I just hate the idea of this needing to turn into some sort of ~redemption arc~ for Penelope because, again, in the books she really didn’t have to make up for anything, definitely not to Colin, who was actually the one who had to do much of the heavy lifting in their relationship when he realized that he literally slept on her for years.

And now regarding Marina, like yes, she was wrong and I stand by that statement (but not as wrong as Penelope), but tbh I find it hard to be mad at her when they gave her such a racist storyline, as the scheming woc who gets pregnant out of wedlock and then tries to seduce the innocent white man, until the virtuous white girl needs to step up to save him. At least that’s what I thought initially as the writers intention, but honestly I’m not so sure anymore, I doubt they will continue to write her and Colin as a couple otherwise they would’ve bothered to show them interacting outside of her manipulating him and him acting like a bumbling idiot, the most sincere moment they had together was when he comforted her about the lie, but by that time this bitch (me) was empty and didn’t give a shit anymore. Literally all their other interactions where shown through Penelope’s POV to let us know she was sad, and Colin’s most significant scenes where again... with Penelope (because it isn’t as if he has a family and his own moments in the books outside of being an object for Penelope to pine after).

And as I said before, Marina had a—relatively—happy ending: married to a man she doesn’t love (just as she didn’t love Colin) but who will treat her right and care for her and her child in comfort. Is arguably a better ending than if she’d married Colin because now she doesn’t have to go through the trouble of explaining things to her new husband and run the risk of him resenting her forever. Phillip may not love her but he knows who he’s marrying and why he’s marrying her. That’s literally the same fate Marina had in the books, and it makes me wonder why, oh why would the writers do that.

Why create such a contrived plot to give a character who appears in one(1) chapter of an 8 books series then promptly dies, all at the expense of the characterization of one of the most beloved heroines of said books series? Why would you write this racist storyline for a character whose fate is dying? And now I’m horrified at the repercussions that can come with Marina committing su*cide like in canon, because the implications would be that Penelope would be responsible for it (and I hate the idea of blaming one person for the su*cide of another, fictional or otherwise, is harmful and we need to be careful with making such implications), which would make her even less redeemable or like, likable in general. Not to mention that would be like putting the final racist nail in Marina’s coffin by giving her that ending.

It makes me wonder, seriously, if Chris Van Dusen hated Romancing Mister Bridgerton that much, if he loathed the idea of writing a fat character finding love and getting sex that much. I just wanna know why lmfao.

#rant over #if i sound salty is because i am #like there actually were a lot of aspects i did enjoy but i just cannot get past this #though this rant helped me a lot to feel better so there’s that #tellmewhy.gif #anthony bridgerton #penelope featherington #marina thompson #colin bridgerton #polin #tagging them bc i rant quite a lot about how they ruined their relationship #enjoy the salt uwu #bridgerton #bridgerton netflix #bridgerton spoilers #meta #my meta

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almondscroissant · 3 years

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hey, sweet friend. how are you doing? how's everything going on with you? i hope you're doing great. just wanted to say hi and ask you for book recommendations lol since you won't send me the playlist i asked for 🙄 jk jk honestly take your time. i recently got back into reading again would really like recommendations. just tell me your favorite books or something. other than that nothing much happening with me. but thanks to you i am obsessed with sage green now💀.

💜💜💜💜💜💜

Akjdkfjskdk call me out for that playlist lmao. I will finish it one day, I promise!!!! 😅

But oooh okay, book recs I can do! And congrats on getting back into reading. I hope I can help you find something you love! I'm not sure if you have a preference for certain genres, but I'll just list different things I've read recently and enjoyed/a few all-time faves:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman: one of my favorites, even though I feel like the marketing absolutely tricked me lmao (Reese Witherspoon, i am looking directly at you ...) This book is so clever and quirky and heartwarming, but it also deals with darker topics and a character living with the effects of childhood trauma. (I can be more specific on the triggers if you'd like me to!) All that said, it's such a special book to me and the friendship is just the best <3

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall: so sweet!!!!! so funny!!!!!! so warm!!!!!

One Day in December by Josie Silver: a controversial pick dksjdks. Some people really don't like this one because there is a cheating element to it, but boyyyy the angst and boyyyyy the pining. I picked it up in the middle of a reading slump and I flew through it.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson: this book has my whole heart!

The Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman: it's a graphic novel series and it is so soft!!!!!

Ring Shout by P. Djèli Clark: Probably my favorite thing I've read all year. It's about a trio of Black girls in the early 20th century fighting demons/the KKK. The concept is so unique and it was very short but made me feel more than books twice its page length. 14/10 recommend!!!!!!!

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse: It's a fantasy inspired by pre-Columbian cultures in the Americas and it was such a ride!!!!!! (I also recommend reading this one while listening to the audiobook. SUPER FUN.)

Circe by Madeline Miller: big kill men energy. Her writing is unparalleled!

Legendborn by Tracy Deon: I just finished this one and while I have mixed feelings about the romance (I can just feel a love triangle looming and ksjdksjdksd), the story is so interesting! It's got mythology and magic and twists all over the place!

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune: just !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta (first book is Finnikin of the Rock): this is the first high fantasy series I ever read and it legit blew my mind?? I just fell in love with every single character and I knew the author was a genius (her book Jellicoe Road also blew my mind!!!!) but this really sealed the deal.

The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo: maybe you've heard of them lol. But I mean, they are a good time!!!! Also starring the two loves of my life: Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa.

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater: do not worry if you don't understand a single thing that is happening while you read this; it is the universal experience, it is part of the full scale hallucinogenic quality of the writing. Bonus factor: my son Richard Gansey III, the one character who, if I learned he was created in a lab to be unlikable to me specifically, I would not be surprised. (He's my fave.)

And some books I'm planning to read soon:

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

I'm stopping because I'll just keep adding stuff lol, but I really do hope you can find something here that appeals to you!!! 💖💖💖

#ALSO YAY SAGE GREEN!!!!!!#which books are your faves???#i know i left things out and it's driving me bananas dksjdksjd i'll add onto this if i can think of them!#but i truly hope at least one of these works for you!!! happy reading!!!!#anonymous

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deathvsthemaiden · 3 years

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ok wait after u sent me that ask i have to know ur top books!!! dw if u don't feel like it but i would love to hear them 🌷

This is so sweet and considerate! Thank you Eva, you gave me 5 so I’ll try to keep it to that # as well 💖🐰 off the top of my head:

🌷 The Stormlight Archive series, especially the second book, Words of Radiance. Stormlight is like 4 books + 2 novellas right now, and is projected to be 10 books and ???novellas eventually. And on top of that each main book is 1000+ pages and while you can read Stormlight on its own, most of the other books by the author, Brandon Sanderson, are part of this larger fictional universe called the cosmere. Each series takes place on a different planet, and if you are invested in the whole cosmere, there’s Easter egg references to other series in other series. So like! While I rec these books often, most people understandably don’t take me up on it wgshshh 🤭 Sanderson’s non-Stormlight books are all MUCH shorter but also much more flawed imo. Like I wouldn’t count him among my favorite authors were it not for Stormlight. anyway I’m a die hard fantasy fan so the length didn’t deter me, and I picked these up because a friend told me the world building in these books was genuinely unique instead of the typical very lazy maps composed of like. Fantasy Russia and its hostile mysterious neighbors Fantasy General East Asia and Fantasy Africa lol. and she was right! The world building is exquisite and refreshing and almost every character is canonically of color. They live in a society with an eye color based caste system and it’s.., so hard to sum up this massive series with four main characters and a ridiculous(ly fun) amount of plot lines, so I’ll cut this short and say 1) the first book, The Way of Kings, is highly expository but the ending is so so worth it, and if you enjoy the ending you’ll find merit in continuing with the series 2) Words of Radiance is my favorite book so far partially because I haven’t read the newest, Rhythm of War, yet, and also because it’s the book with the most scenes that solidified Kaladin Stormblessed (one of the main characters) as one of my favorites of all time. Another one of the best things about this series is how Brandon Sanderson portrays mental health in very natural ways, and it makes Kaladin’s growth so incredibly soothing to follow (I MEAN. He has low points that sometimes hit too close to home, but it makes you root for him harder) he really is just. Truly my definition of a hero, if we wanna get cheesy about it, and I had to pick one solid example. I love him so much this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg as to why 😭!

🌷Jane Eyre. Silly frivolous teenaged girl that I am this book swept me off my feet when I first read it and I condone every problematic aspect of it❤️ (I DONT ofc but like! I love drama and being played like a fiddle by narratives and the book delivered on both fronts! And it couldn’t have without its unsavory plot twist soooo 😙💖) (the hate this book and especially one specific character gets is funny to me just because like. Hate for the former (imo) usually stems from people taking the book too seriously while simultaneously missing the point (JE and du Maurier’s Rebecca (highly influenced by the former) are oft considered loose Bluebeard retellings for a reasonnnn!) and hate for the latter is usually just like. Warranted and then taken over the top like... he’s just a fake funny little man you guys :( and the book would’ve been boring if he wasn’t so twisted and out of touch and passionate ): not to mention I do personally in a mean ish way think it’s funny how for some people this character is one of the worst examples of men they can imagine. Like good for Them! I don’t want them to have lower standards for horribleness in people But also omg 🤭 it just reminds me of how... irony of all ironies, I’m semi frequently told I’m too harsh on real life men and then when I love twisted ones in books (for being funny and entertaining and good solid characters) I like. get the most interesting side eyes (whether figurative or literal) bwjswnhshe anyway I have nothing against Austen, I definitely enjoy her, but from what I’ve read so far, I prefer the Brontës a lot more... I need adventure! Show me horror show me rot etc etc❤️ also I’m. A stupid sucker so the fact that the book was Charlotte Brontë’s attempt to write a plain looking lady protagonist and to make her praiseworthy and virtuous and worthy of spellbinding romance makes me... 💗💓💕

🌷Keturah and Lord Death — Martine Leavitt. I haven’t seen it officially stated anywhere but to me it’s p clear this book is a retelling of/highly inspired by Godfather Death (the Grimm tale) Very simple, predictable but effective plot, and the characters are just. So much fun. From my url you can probably tell I love stories in which women (or anyone but you know. Death and the Maiden is its own trope for a reason) outsmart/face off against death. If they also k*ss, when done right, I think that’s swell as well.

🌷A Thousand Splendid Suns — Khalid Hosseini. By far the heaviest book I will mention in this ask, and I don’t rec it willy nilly for that and a few other reasons. It’s a forever fave to me because I read it at the exact right time in my life, where I was like... noticing a ton of things irl and things at home were tumultuous, and when I saw very similar things unfold in this book while I was being silenced and made to feel crazy by the adults around me, it meant so much to me to see reality as I was experiencing it in real time reflected back at me via this novel. The context of the story is wildly different from my own life and the stakes the characters face are far higher, and it is if I remember right mostly a novel about the horrors of war, which isn’t something I pretend to have any firsthand experience with, but! It was legitimately cathartic to read when I read it, and it especially meant a lot to me at the time that the author was a grown man. Not to mention how my mother is not and never has been a reader, and somehow the one and only book I ever managed to get her to read was this. Hilariously she got mad at me for only (“only”) reading depressing things (there’s... a grain of truth to that but she doesn’t need to know! 🤫) but also... she was hooked I could tell! (I got all tmi explaining this one gag I’m so sorry)

🌷A Slight Trick of the Mind — Mitch Cullin. Retirement-era Holmes! Holmes as an old man! A sad old man who keeps bees!! It’s the novel the movie Mr. Holmes was based off of (haven’t seen it yet) and I was not expecting it to get me all sentimental like it did 🤨😪 but anyway it’s like. A prolonged character study and explores some of the most interesting (to me, anyway) parts of Holmes that are only lightly touched upon in canon, like his occasionally huge follies when navigating his few close relationships and how he copes with them afterwards, his fatigue at the random injustice of the world, how he’s often mistaken both by characters that surround him and people irl as a man without feelings, etc etc. like there’s no Dr. Watson or Mrs. Hudson in this book, and the people he interacts with are almost entirely original characters, but as I listened to the audiobook it barely occurred to me to miss Watson and Hudson (I know! 😦) and the author’s original characters interacted with Holmes so believably that I sometimes forgot they weren’t ever Doyle’s. Def recommend to any flexible Holmes fan that’s not a total stickler for canon (though you don’t actually have to know much about Holmes to read this book and enjoy it! 🐝)

🌷Sleepless — Sarah Vaughn + Leila del Luca. I began with the longest book, so let me end with the shortest. It’s a 2 volume long graphic novel series and that it’s so short is the only long standing, legitimate complaint I have of it! Gorgeous art, really effectively written romance, a dark skinned girl who gets to be the proactive, lively protagonist and stunning, pined after love interest at the same time, a cast of characters that is majority of color, the perfect %-age of drama and angst etc etc. if you can find it via your library or online or smth, you can knock it out in one sitting and leave the experience eternally altered in the funnest way 👁👄👁

Honorable mentions: The Botany of Desire — Michael Pollan, Troubling Love — Elena Ferrante, The Girl from the Garden — Parnaz Foroutan

#asks #book recs #wasn’t sure if you’d read Jane Eyre before so I was vague abt it qgzhshshs #long post

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angelhummel · 4 years

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I’m just running thru these eps at lightning speed with no rhyme or reason. Thank u to the 4 people who actually read my thoughts and like my posts <3 Love you

Bad Reputation - This episode is hilarious. I was cracking up the whole way through. The only actual “cringe” part for me is Brenda Castle, she’s just annoying. The music sucks but that’s literally the point, and the performances are fun and hilarious. The actual plot with the glist is kind of dumb but idc, the episode is a fun time all around

Dream On - It’s an okay episode but I simply do not vibe with it. The Artie stuff is sad but also kind of weird. And I have to assume somewhat offensive to people who actually are in wheelchairs. The Bryan and Will stuff is funny enough but it’s like who cares. And Shelby is an awful person who belongs in jail and also the Jesse stuff with Rachel is gross and uncomfortable. Like it’s fun enough but as a serious episode, I’ll pass

Journey To Regionals - Really some of the best of the best. I cried my way through the whole episode. You know an episode is working hard if it makes me feel genuine emotion towards Will of all people. I hate Journey but can’t complain about the songs. It’s the best competition episode and the best finale episode out of any of them, hands down. It’s iconic and memorable for all the right reasons and one of the best episodes of what Glee is all about <3

Audition - I’m glad we get to see Sam but the rest of this episode is bleh. Will is an idiot and Rachel is annoying and the crack house thing was so stupid. Idk the episode isn’t good and also the music isn’t good either so what are we left with

The Substitute - This episode also just annoys me lol. Holly is cringe and Terri is just weird. Also Mercedes is annoying and she’s my fave so I don’t wanna see her like that. The music is okay but the fact that Holly focuses on Rachel and asks what she wants to do as if Rachel never gets to perform songs she likes?? Ok

New York - The second best competition episode and season finale episode. Just seeing all my babies in NY makes me inexplicably happy. The songs aren’t great but the overall vibe is impeccable. Even just the little things. Quinn’s dramatic scene, the Hummelberry moments, the girls pillow fighting, Klaine’s first “I love you”, the Brittana scene. It’s all just part of a wonderful ep. Also I cried through it too, though not as much as 1x22

Nationals - Okay so obviously to each their own but this ep is... not good. Ten minutes of contrived drama that doesn’t matter, 20 minutes of nothing but songs that don’t matter bc you know they’re gonna win, then ten minutes of gargling Schue’s balls for zero reason. Not a fan. I’m not gonna pretend anyone but Rachel or Finn had a genuine kind word to say about that man. Maybe in s1 but after s3?? No. And the songs were mostly meh. Paradise is great and I loved the whole Tongue Tied scene that was somewhere in there, but that’s about it tbh. It’s just boring and anticlimactic and yeah

Goodbye - It’s a good episode but people who would accept this as the series finale are dumb as hell. This whole season is so Rachel heavy while shitting on literally everyone else and the finale is the the culmination of all of that. Too many loose threads left hanging and I wouldn’t have been happy if the show ended here. Overall it’s probably my 3rd favorite season finale. Also I don’t like the music lol

The New Rachel - I guess it’s not awful. It’s probably my... 3rd or 4th favorite season premier? I always say I heart the NY stuff but when it’s just Rachel there... not so much. We get the first of several exact same scenes between Rachel and Cassandra. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. I love Brody, Unique, Marley, and Kitty. I hate the new Rachel competition. Love Kurt’s goodbye scenes both with Blaine and his dad. Only cried during those parts. Hate Brittany making jokes about scissoring and how Unique is Mercedes. Heard one, heard them all. The songs were all pretty middling, nothing special. I don’t mind the vibe change with the new group but overall the episode is pretty middling, nothing special

Homecoming - It’s a fun little episode but it’s like why are we hereee. It’s not what I want to be doing BUT I like seeing Kurt and Rachel and Blaine being educators and trying their best and being surprisingly good most of the time. I like the newbies but not so much right away. The songs are okay. Idk most of s6 is either trying and failing to recapture the vibes of s1, or just straight up referencing things that happened in s1-3 so the audience can fondly remember those times and maybe trick themselves into thinking they also like the new eps. Not working on me tho

#glee #angel watches glee #my thoughts

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xsecretblastsx · 4 years

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1x08 - Seventeen Candles

It took me longer than intended (again) but here’s the recap for this episode, which is another of my all time faves.

Once again posting under a break because this got way too long.

Thoughts I had while watching the episode:

The start of this episode is hilarious. There’s being melodramatic, and then there’s Blair Waldorf, guess that’s what happens when one surrenders their virtue to a self absorbed ass.

Seriously the way she describes the whole thing to the priest is so funny. Also 20 minutes? wow girl. Thank god he’s a total pig who will act as if it never happened... yeah

Vanessa? Serena. To be honest I wouldn’t put it past him

One wants to be open minded and be kinder and objective with characters I hated the first time around, but God Vanessa is so annoying

Blair coming out of the church, exchanging her little facinator for those glasses, “one week of danger” playing in the background is just one of those scenes that really got stuck in my mind, girl’s killing it

“Would you consider avoiding me over breakfast?” this is so one of my fave scenes of them, it sets the mood so much.

Nate’s parents are so patronizing

Remember when mp3 players were a thing?... somethings never change though, like parents having to deal with teens isolating themselves via earphones.

I still don’t like the Vanderbilt Ring, also llike “im not asking you to get engaged son, but please give your girlfriend this engament ring” and the way Anne say’s it, Nate’s mom is such a pro at emotional blackmail.

Blair jumping around in her room, thanking God because her boyfriend bought the diamond necklace, aww. Also this is so relatable, the jumping around obviously, not the diamonds.

I sort of have a soft spot for Chuck standing akwardly behind the door not knowing how to deal with his best friend..,this is such a disaster waiting to happen and I’m loving it

Smooth Chuc, hiding the little gift back before Nate notices it (gotta confess I didn’t notice he did this the first time around, oh the pleasures of a rewatch)

Typical, your best friend that never pays attention for once is catching up on the little facts, like you shouldn’t know he broke up with his girlfriend

Though... If the town car was waiting for Nate to take him to Victrola, and it’s Blair the one that ends up using, shouldn’t have Nate realized that Blair and Chuck saw each other last ninght

The good old days when Chuck cared only about three things “Money, the pleasures money gave him, and Nate”, and even then when he’s saying it, is already kind of a lie.

He may have his own agenda, but yeah regardless Nate did needed to put a stop with his parents

She’s been in like three episodes and she already has invated herself to like two UES parties already, wow Vanessa.

“you wish, no you wish” and then the butterflies!!!!! This is a scene that admitedly I’ve seen more than once already and I love it every time. Chuck’s a delight here.

The real first of one of those shared moments of Jenny and Nate... the fist tase I would said.

“Blair about Vanessa being like This is such a problem” you don’t know the half of it.

That little wage was so pointless, as if Chuck would have left Blair alone.

Watching them play guitar hero is making me so nostalgic.

“You didn’t tell her?” she may say it wiht a smile and innocent eyes, but no Vanessa, I don’t buy it, and it was bitchy.

You get grosser by the minute, and you get older” :’) also, that’s a really pretty cake.

Happy Birthday B! What a bitch

Nate finally growing some spine and putting a stop to his parents manipulations.

Seriously how pretty is that necklace. Also I’ve never really thought it but Blair probably wore that dress (which I love) and her hair up because her previous call to the jeweler.

Serena’s face in the end is prceless is just like “oh god no, what a mess”

I missed Lily

Honestly 1x07&1x08 are some of my favorite episodes in the whole series. And this rewatch hasn’t changed that. While 1x07 is in some ways the turning point of the show, this is the first episode that Chuck and Blair are one of the main plots, and since the start it doesn’t dissapoints.

One of the things I love about this episode is how teenage-ry it feels. The focus of the episode is typical teenage drama: break ups, hook ups, a bit of jelousy between the girlfriend and the best friend. Made me a tad nostalgic, and much more interested in the storylines involving the young cast. In part because I honestly don’t care about the Humphrey family drama, and by this point is obvious how shitty Nate’s parents are. Also there was no rufly which I’ve enjoyed a lot the past few episodes.

So, this episode is the one where the little animosity between Serena and Vanessa comes to an end, and it just shows that in the end Serena is very understanding and also really friendly, I do like that it never actually evolves into a catfight, seriously is a shame to see girls fight for a guy, worse if the guy is Dan Humphrey. There was also Nate and Jenny, which I enjoyed because this was the first real tease of what could be between them... it’s also the moment where Nate finally decides that the best for him and Blait is to break up, so far my main issue with Nate is that he lacked the nerve to really do what he needed to do, from breaking up with Blair to standing up to his parents, he does both this episode. Finally

Obviously Chuck and Blair were my favorite part or the episode. Lowkey is a very telling episode about how they see each other, and their eventual dynamic.

One side there’s Blair. Beyond how hilarious it is to see her confessing at church after sleeping with Chuck Bass, one line in her tirade is quite interesting: “he’s a pig who will act like it never happened”. If one thinks about what we been showed of Chuck so far this is in many ways a very logical conclussion. To Blair’s surprise he does no such thing: he seeks her out for breakfest and it’s clearly no interested in pretending it never happened, he’s actually embracing it, Blair wants to go back to how things were before; the only life she knows

Sure last night she realized that her relationship with Nate had reached it’s end, and that there was much relief in that because in many ways her failing relationship with Nate was a constant reminder of all her insecurities, and that relief led her to just be and do whatever, and what she did well that wasn’t on the plan at all. “No one of my friends would understand” and I guess in a way she doesn’t understand her impulses either, and Blair doesn’t deal well with change, and so she goes into denial mode, and that means gaining her boyfriend back.

And so the episode goes and we see her on and on trying to grasp to her Nate once more, and Chuck is constantly there telling her basically two things: 1) let’s do it again because what happened yesterday won’t leave my mind, and that’s weird and 2) accept reality, in this case you and Nate are done. She stubornly holds to her ideas until everything crashes around her, and once it does Chuck’s still there, and she finally sees him, listens and gives in. And just like the song last episode in retrospective is almost a preview of how their relationship is going to play out, their behavior this episode is also a preview of what ends up being a predominant dynamic their whole relationship, the details and circunstances are going to vary, but Blair’s going to hold with eveything she has to what she believes her life should be, the script she wants that it’s probably best without Chuck and him trying to prove her wrong and that best option is them.

Whereas Blair’s actions are consisten to what we know of her so far, Chuck’s actions doesn’t. So far he’s been a giant asshole to all the female population, a self absorbed womanizer who once he got wanted is like “thank u, next”. Sure he and Blair are close friends but still, to him sex is just sex and she knows how he is, that’s why he asked her if she was sure. That’s what we know and what we could have expected of him. Instead he seeks her out, and when he rejects him, he still doesn’t hesitate her and he goes out a buy hers the gift she’s expecting from her boyfriend. Who happens to be his best friend

From the episode where Nate gets tricked by Carter we learned how loyal Chuck is to Nate and that their friendship is really important to him. And yet he doesn’t hesite to try to stir him far far away from Blair, sure the advices he gives him is good for Nate but he says more in the vain of keeping Blair single rather than in Nate’s best interest. Chuck schemes,we know but up until now it was hard to picture him scheming against him.

The more interesting bit for me is however the first scene between him and Blair at the balcony; not only because it points to the fact that these characters are equals “you forget who you’re talking to, so do you” but mainly because of the answer he gives when Blair ask him if he likes her, he doesn’t denies it he even admits to having butterfies and sure he claims he is ashamed and suprised by it even bactracks a little but it’s a very quick admission anyway, and it makes me wonder the why of it. Why is he so eager to explore this? It’s not his style and if he wanted only sex he knows he could achieved that easily some where else

It’s obvious they had chemistry between them, and that in itself may be a good reason, but to me it’s probably because on some subconcious level he liked her even before this. It’s not that I picture him pining for her in the background for her waiting sadly for the day she dumped Nate, more like he was lowkey always fascinated by her, on the earlier episodes there is more than one shot of him in the background watching her closesly, with a knowing smirk and amused by whatever she did.

So there’s this girl he finds interesting, extremely atractive, and also a close friend that he gets along really well to the point of being the one he takes to see his first business venture, and know she’s unattached and he also enjoyed quite a lot having sex with her, and for the first time he really stops to think about it and it’s quite obvious there was something there, fluttering, he’s just noticing it now because he can.

That scene where he gaves her the necklace he has being somewhat in smarmy mode before but when he see she’s hurt he tries to make her happy and as honest as he can be, last episode when it was just a dare between friends he tells her she’s ten times hotter than the dances, this episode he says “something this beautiful deserves to be seen on someone worthy of it’s beauty” the diference in sentiment is amazing because now there’s feeling behind it, and it’s such an honest and tender moment, this is the moment when the posibilty of Chuck and Blair finally takes root in both their minds (also that shoulder kiss is one of my favorite details ever through the show)

For the longest time I didn’t believe he felt something for her pre limo, but the more I think about it especially the way things happen later, for him to be that into her since the first moment and how it hit him when things went wrong it had to be because it was something he had felt in some way for a time, he’s not surprised because he felt something for the first time, I think he’s surprised by how much and because he quite can’t believe it’s a possibilty, this something he never dared to really think about.

Random bits:

Silas was the creepy monk in the Da Vinci Code right?

They actually used the demo version of “one week of danger” in this episode, I’ve heard the actual finished one, but I’m ruined and prefer the demo one.

Search TM, because we can’t use google’s name

Falling like Britney at the VMA’s, it’s hard to think that was so long ago.

I love Serena’s dress, chic and comfy.

#gossip girl #gossip girl rewatch #gossip girl recap #chuck x blair #1x08 #seventeen candles

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cs-discourse · 4 years

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Reccomendations (V long sorry 😅)

I offer you all some shows to watch instead of hAzBiN hOtEL:

Epithet Erased (On YT I think. - Animation style is a little hard to get used to, but I love the chars and story line. Wholesome fun.)

Brooklyn 99 ( Netflix - please remember that real cops are not like this, it is a fictitious portrayal - the actors themselves donated 100,000 $ to support protesters against cops. Enjoy it but watch it as the fiction it is. Be aware that it’s copaganda.)

She-ra ( Netflix- we stan that lgbtq representation)

Avatar the Last Airbender (Netflix - Most of you have prbly already seen it but uh. If you haven’t, it’s pretty good. Definitely a lighthearted semi childish show.)

Daria (Crave - We stan unique poc representation. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59kp45/daria-jodie-landon-suburban-black-girl)

Adventure Time (Dailymotion -free- or Google Play - Just google best episodes and watch those ones. The ones with Marceline + PB are my personal faves.)

Magic For Humans (Netflix - Basically an interesting magic show. Fun activity: when I watch this w/ other ppl we try to figure out how he did the tricks.)

The Fresh Prince (Netflix - A classic. Still know the theme song by heart.)

Hilda or Kipo and the Wonderbeasts (Netflix - these two animated shows are new unique takes on fantasy adventures. )

IZombie ( Netflix - Basically a zombie detective, but better. Think Veronica Mars. -also a good detective show y'all should watch. *trigger warning: it’s a zombie murder show so it has some semi-realistic depictions of gore/brains.)

Disenchantment ( Netflix -The closest thing to Hazbin on this list. An animated show with dark humour without being racist or homophobic. *some animated gore that some people might find triggering. It’s been a while since I watched so idk exactly what.)

Final Space ( Netflix -like disenchantment, an animated show with an intended audience older than your average animation show. *again, animated gore.)

Mods, if any of these shows are homophobic/racist/otherwise problematic -(ignoring B99 which is obvious copganda. Again: It’s fiction. Do not -I repeat, DO NOT- look at it as a real representation of cops. It’s not.)- please say so. We not here tryna recommend problematic shows. Or, if you have any other reccomendations?

ps: I’m Canadian, so some of these shows may not be on american Netflix, or some of the ones that aren’t may be on it. Idk. Stay safe y'all. Oof way too long submission finally over.

if you like anime, here are things i watch:

blue exorcist - DEMONSSS (hulu and netflix im p sure)

scissor seven - its actually chinese animated, but its very well made and the production value goes up as the show goes on. i honestly rlly like the cliche anime backstory for the main char bc its also funny as hell (netflix)

saiki k - its like if one punch man was a teen who was also incredibly sarcastic. if you have adhd this shows p good for you too, it goes really fucking fast and you cant look away or youll miss something. its hilarious, go watch. (netflix)

also, some youtubers if youre feelin like that:

dream - minecraft youtuber, child friendly (not in the annoying way. just no cussing)!! hes like 5000 iq and holy shit his minecraft manhunts are insane. holds the mc speedrun world record POG. good coder, my fav youtuber right now.

hellfreezer - reading reddit stories youtuber. his voice is very nice, and videos are faily long. i use him as background noise when doing work.

TRO (the right opinion) - long commentary/rant videos on controversial topics/youtubers, like onision and yandere dev. sexy british voice ;)

mossbag - hollow knight lore and theories. i love hollow knight sm

penguinz0 - streams, commentaries, very short videos. one of the funniest men alive. absoultely incredicble. hes very quick witted and his insults make me scream laugh sometimes

joana ceddia - random life videos. full of personality! i love her honestly shes really chill but also gives off the energy of a thousand suns

pointcrow - gaming youtuber. makes a lot of insane challenge botw videos/zelda vids in general. he streams and then makes the videos.

jarvis johnson - makes videos like drew gooden/danny gonzalas do, but he is also a poc. his bids are entertaining and interesting!! i recommend greatly if you like shorter commentary videos.

.phe

my current faves are:

dorohedoro - anime about humans and wizards coexisting during a war against each other. the wizards hate the humans and curse them to experiment with their magic. all-powerful demons control the magic world behind the scenes. very graphic in regards to gore, some nudity on occasion. anime not finished adapting from manga.

hunter x hunter - anime about hunters who do just that-- go out into the world and hunt for whatever it is they want. examples include justice for their clan killed by genocide, a new family because the old one is a toxic group of assassins who believe you can’t have friends, friends to fill in for an absentee father, and a phd. somewhat graphic in regards to gore, especially so later on in the series. anime not finished adapting from manga.

what we do in the shadows - tv mockumentary series about vampires living in staten island. very funny but also VERY NSFW... lots of sexual references/content, gore and blood.

snowpiercer - tv fantasy series about the apocalypse in which the government fucked up and sent the world into a total deep freeze. 1001 train cars are all the life that remains on earth. VERY NSFW... sexual references/content, gore and blood. there’s also a movie adapted from the comic series by the iconic and incomparable bong joon ho on netflix which is good.

// Mod Peach

#cs discourse #submission

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pumpumdemsugah · 4 years

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are you reading/watching/listening to anything new or fun or interesting? i feel like you have good taste. also quarantine has left me empty for content. i just rewatched the watermelon woman and finished reading this greek mythology, circe, and im trying to actually read audre lorde's poetry and some more feminist academic texts but my brain... she's not that girl lmao.

i usually dont watch much but i watched something called Unorthodox and i really enjoyed it. Not really what i usually go for. Its based on the true story of a woman that left her orthodox Jewish community in New York.

Gentefied. Such a good show. Its about a Mexican family living in...California i think. Its does what shows trying to be ~diverse~ wish it could do. So funny. Me and my family watch it together. Im always laughing every ep. It discusses issues like homophobia and gentrification without being on the nose and cheesy in a YOU’RE LEARNING A LESSON TODAY. I love all the characters. One is a Mexican lesbian with a Dominican gf she’d had since childhood and they’re always kissing on each other and both of their families is accepting. My fave character has to be the guy that’s a chef.

Audiobooks ive listened to and really liked. I don’t listen to audiobooks if i hate the persons voice so lol

La Belle Sauvage by phillip pullman. Don’t remember why i decided to get it but i liked it

Invisible women by Caroline Criado Perez. It gives you facts and facts about structural misogyny but is still accessible and engaging

Testosterone Rex by Cordelia Fine. She spends the book debunking a lot shit including misconceptions that some feminists have but it helps to make a more compelling argument against sexism and also really interesting

The fifth season series by N.K Jemisin is really good but the last book was kind of...it made me wonder if something was going on in the life of the author cause it felt off and there was but i still recommend it.

I’ve been listening to audiobooks until i feel like reading again and if you pay attention it really does the same trick lol

#recs #Anonymous

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humboldtfog · 4 years

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Years of depression has prepared me very well for the current state of affairs which is weird but whatever here’s a list of my faves on netflix, if I’m missing something let me know cause now’s the time, right?

I'm kinda embarrassed by how long this list is but also kinda like fuck that, there have been very long periods of time where it was either sit and watch shows all day or lie down and stare at the wall in silence all day so I chose the former and it adds up and there's nothing wrong with that.

Glow (Badass ladies learn to wrestle, great 80s aesthetics and grrrrl power.)

Our Planet (Netflix version of Planet Earth, beautiful, cute, terrifying that we aren’t doing more to save us all.)

Bojack Horseman (Hilarious and “deep” critique of LA and celebrity culture for people who don’t care about LA or celebrity culture. Also very funny visual jokes about how if animals were also kinda humans, and lots of great jokes about cliches and tropes, puns, and weirdly rhyming and alliteration? I don’t know how to explain it just watch it.)

Father Brown (BBC, based on mystery novels about a priest who always meddles in police business and solves murders in his small English countryside town.)

Pose (The Ball scene in NY in the 80s, poc queer and trans writers and actors bringing their people’s stories to life. So much joy, so much beauty, but also NYC in the 80s so you will cry.)

Paris is Burning (Documentary made during the Ball scene Pose is based on.)

Sex Education (Such empowering representations of all walks of gender and sexuality, and actually very educational, like I would straight up show this in schools because everyone would be very entertained and would learn a lot more than they teach in a lot of schools.)

What Happened Miss Simone (Documentary about Nina Simone’s life, music and the activism the establishment/ government worked to suppress and used to blacklist her.)

Night on Earth (Low light camera technology has gotten hella good and they’re starting to learn stuff about animals’ behaviors at night that they’ve never been able to study before.)

Call the Midwife (Follows stories from the midwives that worked in the East End of London after the war, based on memoirs. Interesting look at the kind of life of poverty people led before there were many large hospitals or birth control, right as the British were implementing their universal healthcare program.)

The Great British Baking Show (Everyone’s so nice and everything looks so good!)

Atypical (Dramady about a high schooler with autism and his family, very funny and great representations of autism and how to be a good dude.)

Parks and Recreation (Just very funny and everyone knows it. Amazing ensemble cast, and they still keeps in touch through a group chat awww doesn’t that say something!)

Kim’s Convenience (Canadian comedy about family of first and second gen Korean immigrants that’s just a really solid funny modern day sitcom.)

Queer Eye (I feel like if everyone in this world could get a life makeover from these guys we just wouldn’t be here right now.)

Obvious Child (Jenny Slate accidentally gets pregnant and gets an abortion. It’s funny and it’s realistic, we’re not all Juno.)

Maria Bamford: the Special Special Special (Rad lady comedian not afraid to talk about her mental health and lack thereof and very vocal about the stigma surrounding mental health problems and I very much relate to. My favorite standup probably ever. I could make a list just for standup so message me if you’d like more suggestions.)

Monty Python (Flying Circus, movies, doc, ect. “The Beatles of comedy” is the cliche but it's true.)

Easy (Very unconventional non-narrative structure and editing, following random people in Chicago in a very real life feeling way. Different story each episode, but sometimes characters show up briefly in each other’s lives or return for a second episode.)

Everything Sucks! (High school nerds and lesbians and theater geeks in the 90s! I’m so sad this only got one season I rewatched it recently and it’s just so solid.)

She’s Gotta Have It (Revival of Spike Lee’s first movie, black girl magic, art world, gentrified New York, lots of sex.)

The Office (Classic, holds up very well, totally solid throughout, worth a rewatch. Also if you're a fan Jenna Ficher and Angela Davis are doing a rewatch podcast jsyk.)

Billy on the Street (Mindless game show for laughs, amazing gay comedian runs around New York yelling questions at them. I watch this with my dad and he can’t help but snort even when it’s “inappropriate” or “juvenile” so you know it’s good.)

Good Girls (Some lower middle class family ladies that are all about to be broke decide to rob the grocery store one of them works at, but they accidentally cross a gang that stored their cash there, so they gotta pay it back, and of course can’t help but get deeper and deeper into it. Very suspenseful like your heart rate will go up and stay up. )

Arrested Development (It’s just funny, as you've probably heard, but I'm telling you it just really is.)

The Laundromat (Tells the stories of a few of the people involved in the panama papers in different ways, explains in an entertaining way how money laundering works in a way that made it mostly make sense even to me. The rich get richer, and Meryl Streep is here to tell them to fuck off and pay their taxes.)

Russian Doll (She keeps dying and coming back to the same moment over and over and can’t figure out how to stop the cycle or why so kinda sci fi, very suspenseful, big cliff hanger ending, or rather no ending, and just found out season two filming is delayed because virus which is very annoying!!)

Dear White People (Show picking up where the movie left off, after a frat hosts a black face party and the ivy league college is forced to deal with racism.)

Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings (Stories based on Dolly songs. Very Hallmark channel, you will cry.)

Episodes (Show about two British writers making a version of their BBC show for American tv. Kind of meta, very funny, Matt LaBlanc plays himself and it's great.)

Dumplin’ (Fat girl grows up with a beauty pageant winning mom and enters one herself with the help of her late aunt’s Dolly Parton drag queen friends.)

Lunatics (Chris Lilley is the best character actor ever, all his shows are just him playing different parts and you seriously forget it’s all one actor, even when he’s playing teenage girls.)

Jane the Virgin (Prime time soap opera about a girl who is engaged and waiting until marrige and is accidentally inseminated with the only sperm sample of a man who’s had cancer so decides to keep the baby, very heavy on the soap opera cliches in a meta way but also that’s what it is. So good at first but after the first three or so seasons it gets too much tbh though.)

Zumbo’s Just Desserts (Australian Bake show but with just sweet stuff and pressure to be avant garde.)

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (Jerry Sienfeld goes out with funny people to coffee and lunch in fancy cars and they have funny conversations.)

One Day at a Time (Very very cheesy laugh track sitcom, like the kind of thing my grandma would watch, but it makes me so happy it’s doing a great job eplaining really woke concepts like queer pronouns and ptsd and addiction and white privilege to people like my grandma!)

Orange is the New Black (Good stories about very diverse characters, I’d say by starting it off about a upper middle class white girl it tricks privileged white people into watching and then encountering the more realistic stories of women who go to prison and how the system treats prisoners. Ending of season two is super solid and you can stop it there, season three is a really great critique of the privatization of prisons. I admit it goes on and on to the point that it’s stressful and after watching it spread out over years I can’t remember/ keep up with all the different story lines, though they’re all good stories to tell.)

Space Jam (Just saw while scrolling for more ideas this was added! One of the greatest sports movies of all time obviously.)

Bonus amazon prime shows, I try to avoid Amazon in general but these are just too good if you know a prime member who you can't convince not to give their money to amazon so they might as well give you their login (like yer dad).

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (A 1950s New York upper class Jewish house wife gets dumped and starts doing stand up, so funny, great actors, and they seriously transform NY back into another era.)

Good Omens (Mini series based off Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s satirical novel about the biblical apocalypse, very funny, very smart, very British, does the book pretty solid justice.)

There are other decent things that aren’t included, I’d say these are solid recs for a general list of genres all over the map without letting it get to a ridiculously unhelpful length. I feel like I’d be good at the “if you like this then you’ll also like…” so let me know if some of these are your favorites too and want personal recs for what to watch next based on a brain instead of an algorithm.

If you want to have a remote date and watch things together on video chat or one of those watch party sites or just tell me what to watch next here’s some stuff on my list I’ve been curious about or not sure about or don’t want to watch alone or have been putting off, and now’s the time right?: Strangers Things, I Am Not Okay With This, Black Panther, The Betty White doc, John Mulaney Snack Lunch Bunch, Dead to Me, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, A Wrinkle in Time, The Little Prince, Maniac, Wet Hot American Summer reboots, and a bunch of different standup specials from comedians I like.

#netflix #list #best #favorites #self #coronavirus #covid19 #2020

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killjoyreviews · 4 years

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Love By Chance Ep 1: Review

Ah, my first review on this account!

Today I am going to be reviewing a Thai BL series, Love By Chance.

Now this is going to be a review from a person who is rewatching the series.

Ep. 1 I think is one of my favorite episodes in the series, not because it's the introduction to the characters. In the first episode, it's important to see how the character dynamic works. And you see it as soon as the characters are shown. The minute they meet. Ae literally takes Pete (who Ae doesn't even know) to the hospital to make sure Pete is okay. Like Ae could have easily let Pete walk away and end it there. But no, dude took him to the hospital on his puny little bike, waited till Pete had been checked into a room, and even when he couldn't stay long, he wrote a note to Pete.

AE IS BEST BOY I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY

And considering Perth aka the actor of Ae was a newbie to BL, he performed so well in this and he has grown into such a wonderful actor (I'm so excited for Love By Chance 2 you have no idea)

But anyways, back to the review.

The way they approached the coming out scene was so refreshing. Ae just openly saying that he didnt care if Pete was gay made me let out a breath I didnt know I was holding. I've come across so many LGBTQ+ films and shows where they just didn't have the right approach when it came to this subject. But Love By Chance did everything I could ever want. Ae being super accepting and not pushing him to come out to his mom but telling him that he should before he is outed by someone else is something that needs to be done. Honestly if Ae had done anything differently, I feel that it would have just been out of character. The coming out scene between Pete and his mom was so touching and gosh again, it was something that needed to be done. I like how they addressed coming out during the first episode instead of it being one of the main plot points like in other shows.

Pete is the lovable puppy dog that you never wish to be hurt. He needs an Ae in his life. Someone to remind him that he deserves love and that he doesn't deserve to be treated badly. It's kind of endearing that Pete goes off on a tiny adventure trying to find Ae the day after he came out to his mom. And the fact that they found each other by eating at the same cafe. The excuses Pete tried to make in order to trick Ae into thinking that he wasn't here just for him was kind of funny to me. You could tell he wasn't very good at it.

I'm not shocked. Food is the connection between us all.

Ae taking Pete to things he’s never done was cute. Also the whole shuttle bus situation was super cliche but in the good kind of way.

Pond is a jacka$$ and I'm not afraid to say it. But he's a loveable jacka$$. He's just the right amount of dumba$$ery to offset all the drama that this show will have. His relationship with Ae is so funny and the way he goes about Ae and Petes friendship is interesting. You know this man is the number one Ae and Pete stan.

ALSO THE GIRL WITH THE RED HAIR IN THE CAFE. I LOVE HER.

Now let's talk about the soccer team.

I love how Techno, the coach who's supposed to be tough on his team, lets Ae off with a pass. I know he says that he's not biased but dude, you’re biased. Also can we talk about Can?

Can,that loveable idiot. The minute he showed up on screen, I had a feeling that he was going to be one of my faves. He still is.

Overall the episode was good. Laid a good foundation for all the plots and characters. By the end of the episode it made you want to watch more. But alas, I can't cram two episode reviews into one. That would be too much to read. So I will end it here.

#love by chance #love by chance rewatch #love by chance review

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incorrectinkheartquotes · 5 years

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That ask thing for Violante and Basta, my two favorites.

ooo nice characters. ty!VIOLANTEfavorite thing about them: her cunning and ruthlessness. she’s an extremely intelligent and ambitious girl and i appreciate so much how she’s allowed by the narrative to be those things without conditions. i’m not used to seeing female characters with such bold traits and hoo boy. she owns them.least favorite thing about them: her disdain/dislike/disinterest in jacopo. i understand why she doesn’t care about him, he’s the inevitable product of her forced marriage at a young age to a man who didn’t particular want anything to do with her, but it makes me sad to see how twisted jacopo becomes under only the influences of the adderhead and men he approves of. he’s only a baby.favorite line: i can’t pick yet! i hear there’s a lot of good content for violante at the end of inkdeath, so i’m still waiting to read that. i don’t feel like i pick another one over what’s probably gonna be her best quotes.brOTP: her and cosimo. i like the idea of both of them drifting together in mutual dislike of the marriage, and deciding to stop trying to force what they’re “supposed” to be and learn to just. coexist. and eventually become friends.OTP: violante/briannanOTP: violante/cosimo or, i guess considering those new tweets by cornelia, violante/black princerandom headcanon: she was never really in love with cosimo, just the idea of him. she’d been shut up her whole life, controlled by her father and never allowed to see very many people, and very very lonely, so of course the first time she gets away from argenta (though it was her being married off as a political tool) and sees a nice boy in general, and one who’s supposed to be hers in particular, AND is exceptionally good-looking on top of it, i think she just wanted so badly to have something or someone that she mistook her longing for real love.unpopular opinion: ehhh is there a lot of opinions on violante in general?? idk.song i associate with them: i checked my inkheart playlist doc and yes! i have a song for her there! Starring Role by Marina And The Diamonds. it’s how i imagine her point of view in canon during the brianna fiasco, or pre-series when she and cosimo first met.favorite picture of them: n/a

BASTAfavorite thing about them: not to be predictable but everything about him and dustfinger. i’m a slut for my faves having arch-enemies they simultaneously despise and fear and my love for that trope probably came from these two. also just the fact basta is so delightfully unashamedly awful, and his cruelty and anger and pettiness are Very Fun traits to see pitted against our heroes. basta is one of my favorite villains of all time and it’s because he’s so nasty. he’s one of those characters that leap off the page in how real they are, and that’s the best kind of villain.least favorite thing about them: ummm i had to think about it, but i guess his supposed lack of intelligence. not that i disagree with it being in character, and every character needs their strengths and weaknesses, but i like to see the damage basta can inflict and anything that impedes that (i.e. how easy he is to rile up and trick) makes me a little sad.favorite line: everything he says in that one scene in inkheart where he’s having fun terrifying dustfinger after resa’s been caught and her and dustfinger’s meetings are found out. oof.brOTP: does basta even like anyone other than capricorn??? i don’t think so. but his banter with flatnose and cockerell is funny.OTP: basta/his knifenOTP: haven’t seen a lot of basta ships, but basta/dustfingerrandom headcanon: hmm…that part of the reason he’s afraid of fire isn’t just because of past experience, but is fueled by his paranoia that someday, at some point, dustfinger might just work up an inch of spine and get his own revenge against basta. (and you can’t stab a fire.)unpopular opinion: i’m actually answering an ask about this soon that’s been in my inbox for a while!song i associate with them: ever since that one anon mentioned it, i can’t help but think of basta listening to arsonist’s lullaby by hozierfavorite picture of them: technically he was in The Movie™ but i HATE how they cast him. so n/a.

#ask #violante #basta

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grigori77 · 5 years

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2018 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 1)

30. MANDY – easily the weirdest shit I saw in 2018, this 2-hour-plus fever dream fantasy horror is essentially an extended prog-rock video with added “plot” from Beyond the Black Rainbow director Panos Cosmatos. Saying that by the end of it I was left feeling exhausted, brain-fried and more than a little weirded-out might not seem like much of a recommendation, but this is, in fact, a truly transformative viewing experience, a film destined for MASSIVE future cult status. Playing like the twisted love-child of David Lynch and Don Coscarelli, it (sort of) tells the story of lumberjack Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) and his illustrator girlfriend Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough), who have an idyllic life in the fantastically fictional Shadow Mountains circa 1983 … at least until Mandy catches the eye of Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache), the thoroughly insane leader of twisted doomsday cult the Children of the New Dawn, who employs nefarious, supernatural means to acquire her. But Mandy spurns his advances, leading to a horrific retribution that spurs Red, a traumatised war veteran, to embark on a genuine roaring rampage of revenge. Largely abandoning plot and motivation for mood, emotion and some seriously trippy visuals, this is an elemental, transcendental film, a series of deeply weird encounters and nightmarish set-pieces that fuel a harrowing descent into a particularly alien, Lovecraftian kind of hell, Cosmatos shepherding in one breathtaking sequence after another with the aid of skilled cinematographer Benjamin Loeb, a deeply inventive design team (clearly drawing inspiration from the artwork of late-70s/early 80s heavy metal albums) and a thoroughly tricked-out epic tone-poem of a score from the late Jôhan Jôhannsson (Sicario, Arrival, Mother!), as well as one seriously game cast. Cage is definitely on crazy-mode here, initially playing things cool and internalised until the savage beast within is set loose by tragedy, chewing scenery to shreds like there’s no tomorrow, while Riseborough is sweet, gentle and inescapably DOOMED; Roach, meanwhile, is a thoroughly nasty piece of work, an entitled, delusional narcissist thoroughly convinced of his own massive cosmic importance, and there’s interesting support from a raft of talented character actors such as Richard Brake, Ned Dennehy and Bill Duke. This is some brave, ambitious filmmaking, and a stunning breakthrough for one of the weirdest and most unique talents I’ve stumbled across a good while. Cosmatos is definitely one to watch.

29. THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB – back in 2011, David Fincher’s adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s runaway bestseller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo became one of my very favourite screen thrillers EVER, a stone-cold masterpiece and, in my opinion, the superior version of the story even though a very impression Swedish version had broken out in a major way the year before. My love for the film was coloured, however, by frustration at its cinematic underperformance, which meant that Fincher’s planned continuation of the series with Millennium Trilogy sequels The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest would likely never see the light of day. Even so, the fan in me held out hope, however fragile, that we might just get lucky. Seven years later, we have FINALLY been rewarded for our patience, but not exactly in the fashion we’ve been hoping for … Fincher’s out, Evil Dead-remake and Don’t Breathe writer-director Fede Alvarez is in, and instead of continuing the saga in the logical place the makers of this new film chose the baffling route of a “soft reboot” via adapting the FOURTH Millennium book, notable for being the one released AFTER Larsson’s death, penned by David Lagercrantz, which is set AFTER the original Trilogy. Thing is, the actually end result, contrary to many opinions, is actually pretty impressive – this is a leaner, more fast-paced affair than its predecessor, a breathless suspense thriller that rattles along at quite a clip as we’re drawn deeper into Larsson’s dark, dangerous and deeply duplicitous world and treating fans to some top-notch action sequences, from a knuckle-whitening tech-savvy car chase to a desperate, bone-crunching fight in a gas-filled room. Frustratingly, the “original” Lisbeth Salander, Rooney Mara, is absent (despite remaining VERY enthusiastic about returning to the role), but The Crown’s Claire Foy is almost as good – the spiky, acerbic and FIERCELY independent prodigious super-hacker remains as brooding, socially-awkward, emotionally complex and undeniably compelling as ever, the same queen of screen badasses I fell in love with nearly a decade ago. Her investigative journalist friend/occasional lover Mikael Blomkvist is, annoyingly, less well served – Borg Vs McEnroe star Sverrir Gudnasson is charismatic and certainly easy on the eyes, but he’s FAR too young for the role (seriously, he’s only a week older than I am) and at times winds up getting relegated to passive observer status when he’s not there simply to guide the plot forward; we’re better served by the supporting cast, from Lakeith Stanfield (Get Out, Sorry to Bother You) as a mysterious NSA security expert (I know!) to another surprisingly serious turn (after Logan) from The Office’s Stephen Merchant as the reclusive software designer who created the world-changing computer program that spearheads the film’s convoluted plot, and there’s a fantastically icy performance from Blade Runner 2049’s Sylvia Hoeks as Camilla Salander, Lisbeth’s estranged twin sister and psychopathic head of the Spiders, the powerful criminal network once controlled by their monstrous father (The Hobbit’s Mikael Persbrandt). The film is far from perfect – the plot kind runs away with the story at times, while several supposedly key characters are given frustratingly little development or screen-time – but Alvarez keeps things moving along with typical skill and precision and maintains a tense, unsettling atmosphere throughout, while there are frequently moments of pure genius on display in the script by Alvarez, his regular collaborator Jay Basu and acclaimed screenwriter Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things, Locke) – the original novel wasn’t really all that great, but by just taking the bare bones of the plot and crafting something new and original they’ve improved things considerably. The finished product thrills and rewards far more than it frustrates, and leaves the series in good shape for continuation. With a bit of luck this time it might do well enough that we’ll finally get those other two movies to plug the gap between this and Fincher’s “original” …

28. ISLE OF DOGS – I am a MASSIVE fan of the films of Wes Anderson. Three share placement in my all-time favourite screen comedies list – Grand Budapest Hotel, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou and, of course, The Royal Tenebaums (which perches high up in my TOP TEN) – and it’s always a pleasure when a new one comes out. 2009’s singular stop-motion gem Fantastic Mr Fox showed just how much fun his uniquely quirky sense of humour and pleasingly skewed world-view could be when transferred into an animated family film setting, so it’s interesting that it took him nearly a decade to repeat the exercise, but the labour of love is writ large upon this dark and delicious fable of dystopian future Japanese city Megasaki, where an epidemic of “dog flu” prompts totalitarian Mayor Kobayashi (voiced by Kunichi Nomura) to issue an edict banishing all of the city’s canine residents to nearby Trash Island. Six months later, Kobayashi’s nephew Atari (newcomer Koyu Rankin) steals a ridiculously tiny plane and crash-lands on Trash Island, intent on rescuing his exiled bodyguard-dog Spots (Liev Schreiber); needless to say this is easier said than done, unforeseen circumstances leading a wounded Atari to enlist the help of a pack of badass “alpha dogs” voiced by Anderson regulars – Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss (Bill Murray) and Duke (Jeff Goldblum) – and nominally led by crabby, unrepentantly bitey stray Chief (Bryan Cranston), to help him find his lost dog in the dangerous wilds of the island. Needless to say this is as brilliantly odd as we’ve come to expect from Anderson, a perfectly pitched, richly flavoured concoction of razor sharp wit, meticulously crafted characters and immersive beauty. The cast are, as always, excellent, from additional regulars such as Frances McDormand, Harvey Keitel and F. Murray Abraham to new voices like Greta Gerwig, Scarlett Johansson, Ken Watanabe and Courtney B. Vance, but the film’s true driving force is Cranston and Rankin, the reluctant but honest relationship that forms between Chief and Atari providing the story with a deep, resonant emotional core. The first rate animation really helps – the exemplary stop-motion makes the already impressive art of Mr Fox seem clunky and rudimentary (think the first Wallace & Gromit short A Grand Day Out compared to their movie Curse of the Were-Rabbit), each character rendered with such skill they seem to be breathing on their own, and Anderson’s characteristic visual flair is on full display, the Japanese setting lending a rich, exotic tang to the compositions, especially in the deeply inventive environs of Trash Island. Funny, evocative, heartfelt and fiendishly clever, this is one of those rare screen gems that deserves to be returned to again and again, and it’s definitely another masterpiece from one of the most unique filmmakers working today.

27. VENOM – when Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man saga came to a rather clunky end back in 2007, it felt like a case of too many villains spoiling the rumble, and it was pretty clear that the inclusion of bad-boy reporter Eddie Brock and his dark alter ego was the straw that broke that particular camel’s back. Venom didn’t even show up proper until almost three quarters of the way through the movie, by which time it was very much a case of too-little-too-late, and many fans (myself included) resented the decidedly Darth Maul-esque treatment of one of the most iconic members of Marvel’s rogues’ gallery. It’s taken more than a decade for Marvel to redress the balance, even longer than with Deadpool, and, like with the Merc With a Mouth, they decided the only way was a no-holds-barred, R-rated take that could really let the beast loose. Has it worked? Well … SORT OF. In truth, the finished article feels like a bit of a throwback, recalling the pre-MCU days when superhero movies were more about pure entertainment without making us think too much, just good old-fashioned popcorn fodder, but in this case that’s not a bad thing. It’s big, loud, dumb fun, hardly a masterpiece but it does its job admirably well, and it has one hell of a secret weapon at its disposal – Tom Hardy. PERFECTLY cast as morally ambiguous underdog investigative journalist Eddie Brock, he deploys the kind of endearingly sleazy, shit-eating charm that makes you root for him even when he acts like a monumental prick, while really letting rip with some seriously twitchy, sometimes downright FEROCIOUS unhinged craziness once he becomes the unwilling host for a sentient parasitic alien symbiote with a hunger for living flesh and a seriously bad attitude. This is EASILY one of the best performances Hardy’s ever delivered, and he entrances us in every scene, whether understated or explosive, making even the most outlandish moments of Brock’s unconventional relationship with Venom seem, if not perfectly acceptable, then at least believable. He’s ably supported by Michelle Williams as San Francisco district attorney Anne Weying, his increasingly exasperated ex-fiancée, Rogue One’s Riz Ahmed as Carlton Drake, the seemingly idealistic space-exploration-funding philanthropist whose darker ambitions have brought a lethal alien threat to Earth, and Parks & Recreation’s Jenny Slate as Drake’s conflicted head scientist Nora Skirth, while there’s a very fun cameo from a particularly famous face in the now ubiquitous mid-credits sting that promises great things in the future. Director Ruben Fleischer brought us Zombieland and 30 Minutes Or Less, so he certainly knows how to deliver plenty of blackly comic belly laughs, and he brings plenty of seriously dark humour to the fore, the rating meaning the comedy can get particularly edgy once Venom starts to tear up the town; it also fulfils the Marvel prerequisite of taking its action quota seriously, delivering a series of robust set-pieces (the standout being a spectacular bike chase through the streets of San Fran, made even more memorable by the symbiote’s handy powers). Best of all, the film isn’t afraid to get genuinely scary with some seriously nasty alien-induced moments of icky body horror, captured by some strangely beautiful effects works that brings Venom and his ilk to vivid, terrifying life. Flawed as it is, this is still HUGE fun, definitely one of the year’s biggest cinematic guilty pleasures, and I for one can’t wait to see more from the character in the near future, which, given what a massive success the film has already proven at the box office, seems an ironclad certainty.

26. SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY – the second of Disney’s new phase of Star Wars movies to feature in the non-trilogy-based spinoff series had a rough time after its release – despite easily recouping its production budget, it still lost the $100-million+ it spent on advertising, while it was met with extremely mixed reviews and shunned by many hardcore fans. I’ll admit that I too was initially disappointed with this second quasi prequel to A New Hope (after the MUCH more impressive Rogue One), but a second, more open-minded viewing after a few months to ruminate mellowed my experience considerably, the film significantly growing on me. An origin story for the Galaxy’s most lovable rogue was always going to be a hard sell – Han Solo is an enjoyable enigma in The Original Trilogy, someone who lives very much in the present, his origins best revealed in the little details we glean about him in passing – but while it’s a flawed creation, this interstellar heist adventure mostly pulls off what was intended. Like many fans of The Lego Movie, I remain deeply curious about what original director duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller could have achieved with the material, but I wholeheartedly approved Disney’s replacement choice when he was announced – Ron Howard is one of my favourite “hit-and-miss” directors, someone who’s made some clunkers in his time (The Da Vinci Code, we’re looking at you) but can, on a good day, be relied on to deliver something truly special (Willow is one of my VERY FAVOURITE movies from my childhood, one that’s stood up well to the test of time, and a strong comparison point for this; Apollo 13 and Rush, meanwhile, are undeniable MASTERPIECES), and in spite of its shortcomings I’m ultimately willing to consider this one of his successes. Another big step in the right direction was casting Hail, Caesar! star Alden Ehrenreich in the title role – Harrison Ford’s are seriously huge shoes to fill, but this talented young man has largely succeeded. He may not quite capture that wonderful growling drawl but he definitely got Han’s cocky go-getter swagger right, he’s particularly strong in the film’s more humorous moments, and he has charisma to burn, so he sure makes entertaining viewing. It also helps that the film has such a strong supporting cast – with original Chewbacca Peter Mayhew getting too old for all this derring-do nonsense, former pro basketball-player Joonas Suotamo gets a little more comfortable in his second gig (after The Last Jedi) in the “walking carpet” suit, while Woody Harrelson adds major star power as Tobias Beckett, Han’s likeably slippery mentor in all things criminal in the Star Wars Universe, and Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke is typically excellent as Han’s first love Qi’ra, a fellow Corellian street orphan who’s grown up into a sophisticated thief of MUCH higher calibre than her compatriots. The film is dominated, however, by two particularly potent scene-stealing turns which make you wonder if it’s really focused on the right rogue’s story – Community star Donald Glover exceeds all expectations as Han’s old “friend” Lando Calrissian, every bit the laconic smoothie he was when he was played by Billy Dee Williams back in the day, while his droid companion L3-37 (voiced with flawless comic skill by British stage and sitcom actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge) frequently walks away with the film entirely, a weirdly flirty and lovably militant campaigner for droid rights whose antics cause a whole heap of trouble. The main thing the film REALLY lacks is a decent villain – Paul Bettany’s oily kingpin Dryden Voss is distinctive enough to linger in the memory, but has criminally short screen-time and adds little real impact or threat to the main story, only emphasising the film’s gaping, Empire-shaped hole. Even so, it’s still a ripping yarn, a breathlessly exciting and frequently VERY funny space-hopping crime caper that relishes that wonderful gritty, battered old tech vibe we’ve come to love throughout the series as a whole and certainly delivers on the action stakes – the vertigo-inducing train heist sequence is easily the film’s standout set-piece, but the opening chase and the long-touted Kessel Run impress too – it only flags in the frustrating and surprisingly sombre final act. The end result still has the MAKINGS of a classic, and there’s no denying it’s also more enjoyable and deep-down SATISFYING than the first two films in George Lucas’ far more clunky Prequel Trilogy. Rogue One remains the best of the new Star Wars movies so far, but this is nothing like the disappointment it’s been made out to be.

25. AQUAMAN – the fortunes of the DC Extended Universe cinematic franchise continue to fluctuate – these films may be consistently successful at the box office, but they’re a decidedly mixed bag when it comes to their quality and critical opinion, and the misses still outweigh the hits. Still, you can’t deny that when they DO do things right, they do them VERY right – 2017’s acclaimed Wonder Woman was a long-overdue validation for the studio, and they’ve got another winner on their hands with this bold, brash, VERY ballsy solo vehicle for one of the things that genuinely WORKED in the so-so Justice League movie. Jason Momoa isn’t just muscular in the physical sense, once again proving seriously ripped in the performance capacity as he delivers rough, grizzled charm and earthy charisma as half-Atlantean Arthur Curry, called upon to try and win back the royal birthright he once gave up when his half-brother Prince Orm (Watchmen’s Patrick Wilson), ruler of Atlantis, embarks on a brutal quest to unite the seven underwater kingdoms under his command in order to wage war on the surface world. Aquaman has long been something of an embarrassment for DC Comics, an unintentional “gay joke” endlessly derided by geeks (particularly cuttingly in the likes of The Big Bang Theory), but in Momoa’s capable hands that opinion has already started to shift, and the transition should be complete after this – Arthur Curry is now a swarthy, hard-drinking alpha male tempered with a compellingly relatable edge of deep-seeded vulnerability derived from the inherent tragedy of his origins and separation from the source of his immense superhuman strength, and he’s the perfect flawed action hero for this most epic of superhero blockbusters. Amber Heard is frequently as domineering a presence as Atlantean princess Mera, a powerful warrior in her own right and fully capable of heading her own standalone adventure someday, and Wilson makes for a very solid and decidedly sympathetic villain whose own motivations can frequently be surprisingly seductive, even if his methods are a good deal more nefarious, while The Get Down’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is more down-and-dirty BAD as David Kane, aka the Black Manta, a lethally tech-savvy pirate who has a major score to settle with the Aquaman; there’s also strong support from the likes of Willem Dafoe as Curry’s sage-like mentor Vulko, Dolph Lundgren as Mera’s father, King Nereus, the ever-reliable Temuera Morrison as Arthur’s father Thomas, and Nicole Kidman as his ill-fated mother Atlanna. Director James Wan is best known for establishing horror franchises (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring), but he showed he could do blockbuster action cinema with Fast & Furious 7, and he’s improved significantly with this, delivering one gigantic action sequence after another with consummate skill and flair as well as performing some magnificent and extremely elegant world-building, unveiling dazzling, opulent and exotic undersea civilizations that are the equal to the forests of Pandora in Avatar, but he also gets to let some of his darker impulses show here and there, particularly in a genuinely scary visit to the hellish world of the Trench and its monstrous denizens. It may not be QUITE as impressive as Wonder Woman, and it still suffers (albeit only a little bit) from the seemingly inherent flaws of the DCEU franchise as a whole (particularly in yet another overblown CGI-cluttered climax), but this is still another big step back in the right direction, one which, once again, we can only hope they’ll continue to repeat. I’ll admit that the next offering, Shazam, doesn’t fill me with much confidence, but you never know, it could surprise us. And there’s still Flashpoint, The Batman and Birds of Prey to come …

24. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI – filmmaker brothers Martin and John Michael McDonagh have carved an impressive niche in cinematic comedy this past decade, from decidedly Irish breakout early works (In Bruges from Martin and The Guard and Calvary from John) to enjoyable outsider-looking-in American crim-coms (Martin’s Seven Psychopaths and John’s War On Everyone), and so far they’ve all had one thing in common – they’re all BRILLIANT. But Martin looks set to be the first brother to be truly accepted into Hollywood Proper, with his latest feature garnering universal acclaim, massive box office and heavyweight Awards recognition, snagging an impressive SEVEN Oscar nominations and taking home two, as well as landing a Golden Globe and BAFTA for Best Picture. It’s also the most thoroughly AMERICAN McDonagh film to date, and this is no bad thing, Martin shedding his decidedly Celtic flavours for an edgier Redneck charm that perfectly suits the material … but most important of all, from a purely critical point of view this could be the very BEST film either of the brothers has made to date. It’s as blackly comic and dark-of-soul as we’d expect from the creator of In Bruges, but there’s real heart and tenderness hidden amongst the expletive-riddled, barbed razor wit and mercilessly observed, frequently lamentable character beats. Frances McDormand thoroughly deserved her Oscar win for her magnificent performance as Mildred Hayes, a take-no-shit shopkeeper in the titular town whose unbridled grief over the brutal rape and murder of her daughter Angela (Kathryn Newton) has been exacerbated by the seeming inability of the local police force to solve the crime, leading her to hire the ongoing use of a trio of billboards laying the blame squarely at the feet of popular, long-standing local police Chief Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). Needless to say this kicks up quite the shitstorm in the town, but Mildred stands resolute in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds, refusing to back down. McDormand has never been better – Mildred is a foul-mouthed, opinionated harpy who tells it like it is, no matter who she’s talking to, but there’s understandable pain driving her actions, and a surprisingly tender heart beating under all that thorniness; Harrelson, meanwhile, is by turns a gruff shit-kicker and a gentle, doting family man, silently suffering over his own helplessness with the dead end the case seems to have turned into. The film’s other Oscar-winner, Sam Rockwell, also delivers his finest performance to date as Officer Jason Dixon, a true disgrace of a cop whose permanent drunkenness has marred a career which, it turns out, began with some promise; he’s a thuggish force-of-nature, Mildred’s decidedly ineffectual nemesis whose own equally foul-mouthed honesty is set to dump him in trouble big time, but again there’s a deeply buried vein of well-meaning ambition under all the bigotry and pigheadedness we can’t help rooting for once it reveals itself. There’s strong support from some serious heavyweights, particularly John Hawkes, Caleb Landry Jones, Peter Dinklage, Abbie Cornish and Manchester By the Sea’s breakout star Lucas Hedges, while McDonagh deserves every lick of acclaim and recognition he’s received for his precision-engineered screenplay, peerless direction and crisp, biting dialogue, crafting a jet black comedy nonetheless packed with so much emotional heft that it’ll have you laughing your arse off but crying your eyes out just as hard. An honest, unapologetic winner, then.

23. RED SPARROW – just when you thought we’d seen the last of the powerhouse blockbuster team of director Francis Lawrence and star Jennifer Lawrence with the end of The Hunger Games, they reunite for this far more adult literary feature, bringing Jason Matthews’ labyrinthine spy novel to bloody life. Adapted by Revolutionary Road screenwriter Justin Haythe, it follows the journey of Russian star ballerina Dominika Egorova (Lawrence) into the shadowy world of post-Glasnost Russian Intelligence after an on-stage accident ruins her career. Trained to use her body and mind to seduce her targets, Dominika becomes a “Sparrow”, dispatched to Budapest to entrap disgraced CIA operative Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) and discover the identity of the deep cover double agent in Moscow he was forced to burn his own cover to protect. But Dominika never wanted any of this, and she begins to plot her escape, no matter the risks … as we’ve come to expect, Jennifer Lawrence is magnificent, her glacial beauty concealing a fierce intelligence and deeply guarded desperation to get out, her innate sensuality rendered clinical by the raw, unflinching gratuity of her training and seduction scenes – this is a woman who uses ALL the weapons at her disposal to get what she needs, and it’s an icy professionalism that informs and somewhat forgives Lawrence’s relative lack of chemistry with Edgerton. Not that it’s his fault – Nate is nearly as compelling a protagonist as Dominika, a roguish chancer whose impulsiveness could prove his undoing, but also makes him likeable and charming enough for us to root for him too. Bullhead’s Matthias Schoenarts is on top form as the film’s nominal villain, Dominika’s uncle Ivan, the man who trapped her in this hell in the first place, Charlotte Rampling is beyond cold as the “Matron”, the cruel headmistress of the Sparrow School, Joely Richardson is probably the gentlest, purest ray of light in the film as Dominika’s ailing mother Nina, and Jeremy Irons radiates stately gravitas as high-ranking intelligence officer General Vladimir Andreievich Korchnoi. This is a tightly-paced, piano wire-taut thriller with a suitably twisty plot that constantly wrong-foots the viewer, Lawrence the director again showing consummate skill at weaving flawlessly effective narrative with scenes of such unbearable tension you’ll find yourself perched on the edge of your seat throughout. It’s a much less explosive film than we’re used to from him – most of the fireworks are of the acting variety – but there are moments when the tension snaps, always with bloody consequences, especially in the film’s standout sequence featuring a garrotte-driven interrogation that turns particularly messy. The end result is a dark thriller of almost unbearable potency that you can’t take your eyes off. Here’s hoping this isn’t the last time Lawrence & Lawrence work together …

22. WIDOWS – Steve McQueen is one of the most challenging writer-directors working in Hollywood today, having exploded onto the scene with hard-hitting IRA-prison-biopic Hunger and subsequently adding to his solid cache of acclaimed works with Shame and 12 Years a Slave, but there’s a strong argument to be made that THIS is his best film to date. Co-adapted from a cult TV-series from British thriller queen Lynda La Plante by Gone Girl and Sharp Objects-author Gillian Flynn, it follows a group of women forced to band together to plan and execute a robbery in order to pay off the perceived debt incurred by their late husbands, who died trying to steal $2 million from Jamal Manning (If Beale Street Could Talk’s Brian Tyree Henry), a Chicago crime boss with ambitions to go legit as alderman of the city’s South Side Precinct. Viola Davis dominates the film as Veronica Rawlings, the educated and fiercely independent wife of accomplished professional thief Harry (a small but potent turn from Liam Neeson), setting the screen alight with a barely restrained and searing portrayal of devastating grief and righteous anger, and is ably supported by a trio of equally overwhelming performances from Michelle Rodriguez as hard-pressed mother and small-businesswoman Linda Perelli, The Man From UNCLE’s Elizabeth Debicki as Alice Gunner, an abused widow struggling to find her place in the world now she’s been cut off from her only support-mechanism, and Bad Times At the El Royale’s Cynthia Eriyo as Belle, the tough, gutsy beautician/babysitter the trio enlist to help them once they realise they need a fourth member. Henry is a deceptively subtle, thoroughly threatening presence throughout the film as Manning, as is Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya as his thuggish brother/lieutenant Jatemme, and Colin Farrell is seemingly decent but ultimately fatally flawed as his direct political rival, reigning alderman Jack Mulligan, while there are uniformly excellent supporting turns from the likes of Robert Duvall, Carrie Coon, Lukas Haas, Jon Bernthal and Kevin J. O’Connor. McQueen once again delivers an emotionally exhausting and effortlessly powerful tour-de-force, wringing out the maximum amount of feels from the loaded and deeply personal human interactions on display throughout, and once again proves just as effective at delivering on the emotional fireworks as he is in stirring our blood in some brutal set-pieces, while Flynn help to deliver another perfectly pitched, intricately crafted script packed with exquisite dialogue and shrewdly observed character work which is sure to net her some major wins come Awards season. Unflinching and devastating but thoroughly exhilarating, this is an extraordinary film (and if this was a purely critical list it would surely have placed A LOT higher), thoroughly deserving of every bit of praise, attention and success it has and will go on to garner. An absolute must-see.

21. JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM – Colin Trevorrow’s long-awaited 2015 Jurassic Park sequel was a major shot in the arm for a killer blockbuster franchise that had been somewhat flagging since Steven Spielberg brought dinosaurs back to life for the second time, but (edgier tone aside) it was not quite the full-on game-changer some thought it would be. The fifth film, directed by J.A. Bayona (The Impossible, A Monster Calls) and written by Trevorrow and his regular script-partner Derek Connolly (Safety Not Guaranteed and JW, as well as Warner Bros’ recent “Monsterverse” landmark Kong: Skull Island), redresses the balance – while the first act of the film once again returns to the Costa Rican island of Isla Nublar, it’s become a very different environment from the one we’ve so far experienced, and a fiendish plot-twist means the film then takes a major swerve into MUCH darker territory than we’ve seen so far. Giving away anything more does a disservice to the series’ most interesting story to date, needless to say this is EASILY the franchise’s strongest feature since the first, and definitely the scariest. Hollywood’s most unusual everyman action hero, Chris Pratt, returns as raptor wrangler Owen Brady, enlisted to help rescue as many dinosaurs as possible from an impending, cataclysmic volcanic eruption, but in particular his deeply impressive trained raptor Blue, now the last of her kind; Bryce Dallas Howard is also back as former Jurassic World operations manager turned eco-campaigner Claire Dearing, and her His Girl Friday-style dynamic with Pratt’s Brady is brought to life with far greater success here, their chemistry far more convincing because Claire has become a much more well-rounded and believably tough lady, now pretty much his respective equal. There are also strong supporting turns from the likes of Rafe Spall, The Get Down’s Justice Smith, The Vampire Diaries/The Originals’ breakout star Daniella Pineda, the incomparable Ted Levine (particularly memorable as scummy mercenary Ken Wheatley) and genuine screen legend James Cromwell, but as usual the film’s true stars are the dinosaurs themselves – it’s a real pleasure seeing Blue return because the last velociraptor was an absolute treat in Jurassic World, but she’s clearly met her match in this film’s new Big Bad, the Indoraptor, a lethally monstrous hybrid cooked up in Ingen’s labs as a living weapon. Bayona cut his teeth on breakout feature The Orphanage, so he’s got major cred as an accomplished horror director, and he uses that impressive talent to great effect here, weaving an increasingly potent atmosphere of wire-taut dread and delivering some nerve-shredding set-pieces, particularly the intense and moody extended stalk-and-kill stretch that brings the final act to its knuckle-whitening climax. It’s not just scary, though – there’s still plenty of that good old fashioned wonder and savage beauty we’ve come to expect from the series, and another hefty dose of that characteristic Spielbergian humour (Pratt in particular shines in another goofy, self-deprecating turn, while Smith steals many of the film’s biggest laughs as twitchy, out-of-his-comfort-zone tech wizard Franklin). Throw in another stirring and epic John Williams-channelling score from Michael Giacchino and this is an all-round treat for the franchise faithful and blockbuster fans in general – EASILY the best shape the series has been in for some time, it shows HUGE promise for the future.

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