#the same kind of comedy as jojo rabbit

[idkaguyorsomething]

reading through mark twain’s catalogue of books will be like:

social stratification is so extreme that society will treat functionally identical people in opposite ways for merely believing that they have different origins, forcing them to either be crushed by or perpetuate the unjust system of government that began this whole situation.

even the most brilliant innovator who fights tirelessly to improve the rights of the people will face pushback from bigots resisting any kind of threat to their power that can manipulate the masses into giving up their rights in order to preserve the status quo.

local rascal plays a prank on his neighbors and starts a pirate club :D

discrimination and violence is baked so deeply into the foundations of society that children wanting to do the right thing will believe they are condemning themselves to hell by defying authority in favor of viewing oppressed minorities as humans deserving of rights.

[brucebocchi]

wrote something for facebook about my history with anime and journey towards born-again weebdom:

Something weird happened to me over the past year. Like a frog in a pot of increasingly hot water, I found myself way the hell into anime again, and at a level I don’t think I ever had been before.

Anime was always kind of in my periphery, especially with stuff like Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, and Sailor Moon blowing up in this side of the world. I was a fan of all three as a kid, plus I’d watch the odd show on Toonami and Adult Swim here and there, but I didn’t consider myself much of an anime fan beyond that. Especially not in high school, and if you went to school with “Naruto kids” like I did, you can probably understand why. I didn’t really seek it out.

About 10 years ago I decided to finally see what this Neon Genesis Evangelion business was all about and it rearranged my brain. I had no clue something like that existed before I’d even heard of Pokemon. I had to see what else was out there that I missed. I caught up on shows like Gurren Lagann, Nichijou, and Madoka Magica, and even followed Kill la Kill and the first season of One Punch Man as they were airing. From there, though, I kind of petered out again. I’d watch the occasional Netflix drop here and there, catch up on Jojo, and rewatch the Evangelion movies like they were recurring holidays, but that was kinda it.

Around this time last year, though, I randomly remembered a show that I loved as a preteen, one that I was just as excited to watch alongside DBZ on weekdays after school: Tenchi Muyo. It didn’t really have the lasting impact the other Toonami shows did, but I loved it when it was on (and let’s be real, that many beautiful anime women jam-packed into the same show was something of an awakening for my pubescent self). I decided to seek it out and see if it held up, and it mostly did! I ended up watching most of the franchise, or at least the parts of it that actually involve the main cast.

From there, I found a video essay on YouTube about one of the Tenchi sub-series that absolutely hooked me, and I’d be happy to share it. Anime became something of a YouTube rabbit hole for me, and I was inundated with recommendations for shows I’d either heard about and missed or that left a mark I wasn’t even aware of. Then I decided to finally play Persona 5. Then I decided to see what this Chainsaw Man business was all about. And what else was airing that season. That snowball kept rolling.

By my count, I’ve watched some 38 discrete anime series in the past year and change (plus another three that I started and am in no hurry to finish), and I’ll gladly list them if asked. Granted, anime seasons are short and a handful of them are spinoffs, so the number’s not as crazy as it might look on its face. It’s still a lot, though, and I would actually recommend most of them! I definitely stuck to some niches; I’d say at least half were comedies and there was plenty of action-oriented stuff in there as well. But it’s been really incredible just seeing how far it can reach as a medium to depict just about anything the human brain can conjure up.

Anime fuckin’ rules, y’all.

[filmforager]

Next Goal Wins: Review

David vs Goaliath

It would take someone pretty brave to tell a football fan that there’s more to life than the sport. This, after all, is a sport that determines the moods of fully grown men week in week out. However, that message is at the heart of Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, a plucky if conventional film that celebrates the highs and lows of the beautiful game - but mostly the lows.

Based on the true-to-life documentary of the same name, this is the story of American Samoa, a soccer team labeled worst in the world after a humiliating 31-0 defeat to Australia. Looking to reverse their fortunes, team President (Oscar Kightley) recruits disgraced Dutch coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), whose anger issues left him without a job in the MLS. His mission is to somehow get this team of lovable losers to score a single goal, while maybe learning something about himself along the way.

If you think it sounds a bit predictable, you’d be right. This follows all of the conventions of an underdog sports story to a tee, from the cheesy montage sequences to that star player who just needs a bit of a nudge in the right direction. Which would be fine, if the humour was a bit more adventurous. 

Written by Waititi with help from Ian Morris (writer of both Inbetweener films), the emphasis is mostly on broad comedy about how useless the team is, which kind of feels at odds with the film’s message that winning isn’t everything. Waitii has a history injecting absurd comedy into meaningful stories (Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Jojo Rabbit), but beyond a few funny details, there’s not enough to laugh at here. And that’s without talking about Waititi's misfiring cameo as an eccentric priest.

Where Next Goal Wins excels is when it goes down the sincere route. With a cast full of newcomers from the Samoan Islands, it’s hard not to be a bit swept up by the story of this likable bunch. Kaimana is the standout as transgender footballer Jaiyah, whose story lends the film some much-needed colour and pathos. Elsewhere, the film revels in exploring the endearing oddness of the islanders, many of whom have other jobs on the island - even if they lack the right equipment (one character uses his voice as a police siren). 

The idea of a white man heading to a developing country to discover himself is a bit icky, but Fassbender is engaging as ever as a man battling demons on and off the pitch - even if he does feel like he’s in an entirely different film. With a slightly sharper script, this could’ve been a proper crowd-pleaser.

Neither funny nor moving enough to truly satisfy, Next Goal Wins ends up with a middle of the table finish.

★★

[ceasarslegion]

I think part of the reason why i fucking hate the arbitrary no-nuance "x is ALWAYS problematic no matter what the context is" kind of rhetoric is because when you grow up jewish, you kinda see for yourself that thats not always the case

We have this style of satirical humor where we punch at our own level instead of up or down, so to speak. But it's directed, it's politically-charged. We use the same caricatures and stereotypes and bad jokes that our oppressors do, but in order to take power away from them. The idea is kind of that if you can laugh at something, you're in the position of power over it. And when your history is as bloody and oppressive and full of persecution as ours, there's plenty to make fun of

My ex, who we like to call a real NYC jew, and I make blood libel and lizard people jokes at and about each other all the time. Every other text conversation we have goes along the lines of "Hannibal has a kosher kitchen <3" "i dont think human meat is kosher" "no you see they dont say it in the show but all his victims are christian" "FUCK OFFF LMAOOBDNDBDKDH" ["0 days since our last blood libel" image]

Between anyone else, that exchange would look violently, vehemently antisemitic. But we're both jewish, which isnt to say that its not possible to be prejudiced against your own community, but you have to look a little deeper than the surface level here. Its already ridiculous to imply that hannibal lecter would have a kosher kitchen, which sets the tone and expectation that the rest of the joke should be taken with as little seriousness as possible. Now add in the millennia of history of jews using self-caricaturizing as a form of satire, because we're basically stealing it from our oppressors and saying "no, only WE can make fun of ourselves and we do it better than you!!" Like... the context is extremely, extremely important here, not just the surface level of the words being said.

Which is also why I think there were so many people who completely missed the point of films like The Producers and Jojo Rabbit. The comedy isn't there to make light of what the nazis did, it's to replace fear, shift the power dynamics, and to make the contrast with the serious parts even more striking in the case of Jojo Rabbit.

And growing up with this kind of culture around satire is why I really hate when gentiles refuse to look any deeper than the vague surface level when it comes to things like word usage and content. For the love of god, it's not that simple

[byneddiedingo]

Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi, 2019)

Cast: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Alfie Allen, Stephen Merchant, Archie Yates. Screenplay: Taika Waititi, based on a novel by Christine Leunens. Cinematography: Mihai Malaimare Jr. Production design: Ra Vincent. Film editing: Tom Eagles. Music: Michael Giacchino.

Taika Waititi's brilliant, queasy comedy Jojo Rabbit might be seen as a parody of the feel-good movie -- the ability to tack a happy ending on even a story about Nazism. Not that the end of Jojo Rabbit is, objectively regarded, happy. We're left with Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) and Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) as street orphans in a defeated Germany. But they're dancing, which is what Elsa wanted to do when the war ended, and that kind of makes everything right. Fortunately, our awareness that the film is a fantasia on dark themes, belonging in the category of movies like Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006) that fuse fairy tale elements and a childlike vision with real world horrors, is set early on, when we discover that Jojo has an imaginary friend, none other than Adolf Hitler (Waititi). And that the brutality of Nazis is being caricatured by actors like Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson. Jojo is a naïf in a hard and horrible world, which we see through his innocent eyes, just as we see Wonderland (a place of lunacy and cruelty) through the innocent eyes of Alice. It takes nothing away from the fine performances of young Davis and McKenzie, or from the darkly hilarious ones of Waititi, Rockwell, and Wilson, to say that the heart of the film, giving a performance that took my breath away, was Scarlett Johansson, who made beautiful sense of a role that shouldn't have worked at all: Jojo's mother, the secret resistance worker who tolerates her son's adulation of the Nazis while at the same time hiding a young Jewish girl in the walls of their house. We see her through three distinct points of view: Jojo's, Elsa's, and another that gradually becomes our own, and the outcome of her story, when these points of view finally merge, is heartbreaking even in the midst of the caricature of the real world that the film presents. The audacity of Waititi's movie has been likened to that of Life Is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1999), a movie I hated, so I can understand the critics who thought Jojo Rabbit went too far, that it didn't cohere, but I can't entirely agree.

[kingk8art]

hetalia rant

pls ignore how I won't use any proper punctuation or capitalization because my arms and fingers all hurt from volleyball :( Edit: My arm’s are better now so I’m actually using proper capitalization and punctuation (special thanks to my friends for proofreading and also Google autocorrect.) Special thanks to my friend for helping me out with writing this.

so i'm one of those people who joined the hetalia fandom like REALLY late, having first watched the anime in like 2017 or 18. Nevertheless, when I heard about how the anime was coming back in 2021 I was really excited!! I’ve been reading world stars lately but there’s just something in the hetalia anime that made me love it so much. the voice acting and how it’s animated and everything, it really brings the characters to life! out of curiosity I searched up hetalia on twitter. keep in mind that i’m pretty new to the fandom so i never really got to see the shipping wars, or really any toxic part of the fandom, since i wasn’t there when hetalia was at its peak.

What i saw was really different from what i expected to see. I kinda expected twitter threads hyping up the new season, or things like that but most of ones I found in the top section were hate comments about hetalia, and things about why it shouldn’t come back. I was reading these and I was like, wait why? Some of them actually made sense, and the others had flawed logic. Here are my rants on why hetalia ISN’T anti-Semitic or problematic (as of now).

Misconceptions About Hetalia

1. Hetalia is About Nazi Germany or the Holocaust

If you’ve actually watched the show/read the manga, it’s quite obvious that although some of the events take place during WW2, it never mentions Hitler, Nazis, the Holocaust, or anything like that. and there’s a good reason for it. In the first place, hetalia isn’t meant to be a serious comic. The manga only focuses on subjects like funny things that happened to historical figures/occurrences during a war, weird inventions; generally those kinds of things. It focuses on the cultural differences between countries, or wholesome moments in history (such as when two enemies stopped fighting on Christmas day to play soccer.) Hetalia itself is antiwar. Consider the main character himself: he absolutely hates fighting. I don’t see how hetalia can be anti-Semitic or pro-war at all. But what I will say is fucked up are those certain cosplayers that did the Nazi salute, posed in front of a Holocaust memorial, etc. But I can still guarantee that the MAJORITY of the fandom is not like this. Every single fandom has its bad apples, some more than others. It’s not right to generalize the entire fandom as anti-Semitic, racist, disrespectful shits.

Do people realize that Germany’s character in Hetalia isn’t Nazi Germany?  In the first place the Holocaust wouldn’t be Germany’s responsibility — the depictions of these characters are meant to portray the people as a whole, not their systems of law or government. It’s stated in the series that nations MUST obey orders from their “boss” (which probably refers to the country’s ruler, president, prime minister, or other leaders at the time. Nations can’t choose what their superiors do, or what those under that control do. Saying Germany is humanized Nazi Germany is like putting that label on all German people without considering factors like time period or representation. Hetalia characters are a mere representation of each country’s people, nothing else.

How does mentioning WW2 in a comedy make it offensive? There are PLENTY of movies, novels, and other kinds of media that take place in WW2 and yet are in the comedy genre. Ever watched Jojo Rabbit? If you thought Hetalia was offensive, have you ever watched South Park or looked at CountryHumans? I do get why some people dislike Hetalia, but why does it receive so much hate for something that was never in the series (or generally speaking, for the wrong reasons)? It may have flaws, but there’s a strong definition to what those flaws actually are. It doesn’t revolve around antisemitism or Nazism. 

2. Hetalia is Racist and Stereotypes People

Now this is a pretty controversial topic. Being a comedy about personified countries, stereotypes are really something that HAS to be used at some point to make the characters funny. But does that automatically make it racist? No. I saw this on a YouTube video comment section somewhere, but stereotyping (generalizing) that all stereotypes are ‘bad’ (or have negative connotations/associations) is literally stereotyping. Not all of the stereotypes are bad. Like the way Britain acts like a gentleman or likes drinking tea, which in a way, is a British stereotype. That’s not a bad thing, just funny to see in the show — played for comedy purposes, and not necessarily offensive.

Although Hetalia characters are sometimes influenced by stereotypes that revolve around the actual countries and represent the people in general, they DO NOT always represent what those country’s people are actually like. Also, I’m pretty sure the point of comedy about personified countries is to use some of those generalizations. Specifically, stereotypes that the Japanese have about foreigners. France is portrayed as a flirty man because in Japan France is known for being a “romantic country.” But that doesn’t mean that they think all French people are like that — it’s just a lighthearted joke. And now, Hetalia characters have grown to be more of their own character rather than simply a humanized country at its base. Despite being a personification, they’re like their own person, not just used to depict stereotypes. Just because a character has a certain personality trait doesn’t mean Hima believes that everyone from that country has the same trait. It’s not meant to be racist, and isn’t. 

What I Think Was/Is Problematic

As much as I love this show, there were DEFINITELY some problematic things that people tend to ignore.

1. Korea Controversy

As a Korean American, I have to say that I was quite disappointed when I learned about how Hima portrayed Korea in the manga. I won’t go that deep into this one since it’s not that relevant to what I'm talking about now, but it was definitely a HUGE problem and I’m glad that he was removed from the series.

2. Iron Cross on Germany

The iron cross that Germany wears in Hetalia (in every time period) is a military decoration that was used since the King of Prussia until the time period of Nazi Germany in WW2. Today, it’s considered a hate symbol, similar to and alongside the swastika. To be fair, it wasn’t just a decoration used purely for the Nazis, unlike several other examples of Nazi symbols and memorabilia, so I suppose it could be up to each person to judge whether it should pass or not, despite the surrounding circumstances — it isn’t up to me as part of the fanbase. But personally, I think it should have been removed/not used in the first place. I mean, it wasn’t that necessary, seeing all of the military uniforms drawn in Hetalia were simplified anyways. Perhaps it would be much less problematic if Hima didn’t draw the iron cross, and the same goes for the other presented issues.

3. Japanese Imperialism

The way Hima portrays Japanese Imperialism was pretty offensive in my opinion. An instance is the presentation of the Japanese invasion of Korea. It wasn’t just like how the colonies were under Great Britain’s rule. It limited much more of Koreans’ rights and was much more gruesome. I don’t know about anyone else and can’t speak for each individual, but as a Korean, portraying all of this as Japan merely patting Korea on the  head is fucked up. This ties to the controversy of Korea’s character. From what I’ve seen, Hetalia is pretty close to a rightist (in Japan, not the US) series. I won’t dive too deep into that, but rightist — or in Korean, 우익 — animes are animes that glorify their country’s past/country, or  use content to make fun of or criticize other nations. Actually, it’s probably much more complicated than that, but as of now I don’t know much about it. It mostly ties to the tension between Koreans and the Japanese, so if you’re not either, there’s not really much to worry about. But (maybe because I’m Korean) I found it weird that the manga seems to give every single character a bad/negative characteristic except Japan. I guess it’s only natural, since the creator is Japanese. But then again, France was basically drawn as a rapist/pedophile, but I have never seen a French person complain about it. Or maybe they just completely avoid Hetalia? If anyone knows about it, I would be glad to listen. Perhaps it’s just a bias that I have as a Korean. It could also be a cultural difference too, since we tend to be very patriotic.

4. The Title: Axis Powers

Although the main character is Italy, and the story revolved (emphasis on the past tense) around the 3 countries that were part of the Axis, Hima should have been more considerate with the title of the show, thinking about what the Axis Powers actually did during WW2. Just “Hetalia” would have been fine. But it also should be considered that when Hima started drawing the manga, he did not expect it to become a long-term thing or for it to blow up so much. Thankfully, only the first two seasons of the anime were titled as Hetalia: Axis Powers, and later seasons were titled more acceptable things, like World Stars (manga) or The Beautiful World.

5. Seychelles

Personally I don’t find a problem with there not being that many African/South American countries in the show. Africa’s country borders (and all of that related material) were very different from what they are today, and it would be really fucking hard for Hima to keep track of all of those while still writing good characters. And unlike Europe, Africa’s history was not transcribed much, and is a lot less-known. The problem with Seychelles was her skin color, which wasn’t accurate. But that’s since been fixed.

Is Hetalia Really Problematic?

My most straightforward answer for this question would be no, it is not problematic as of now. Something I realized while listing all of the aspects of Hetalia that I personally thought were wrong to put in was that most of them don’t exist anymore. Besides Germany’s iron cross, all of them were removed from the show. Korea was banned from the anime, and he no longer appears in any of the manga strips. The manga strays further and further away from topics like Japanese Imperialism or WW2. Most of the time in the manga, countries do not wear their military uniforms anymore, but stick to more casual clothes. The characters stray further away from stereotypes that Hima used to use as a comedic effect when he first started drawing. My point is: Hima learned his mistakes. Which only makes sense, considering all of the criticism he probably received when the series first started. I think that’s a good thing. Now back to what I was ranting about earlier. I don’t get why people are saying Hetalia shouldn’t come back! The new season is most likely going to be based off the most recent Hetalia manga series, which is Hetalia World Stars. If you’ve ACTUALLY READ THE MANGA AND DIDN’T JUDGE THE ENTIRETY OF HETALIA BASED ON ITS FIRST FEW SEASONS, you would know what World Stars is about. It’s about all sorts of things. My personal favorite strips are the ones about ancient Rome! It’s not just drawn to give readers a laugh but it actually teaches you some history. Other than Rome, the manga is also about the trends of clothes in certain countries/time periods, industrial revolutions, or just the interactions between the characters in general. I really don’t see how animating these would be harmful at all. The subjects don’t revolve around what a lot of opposers say/negatively connotate the series with. If you think bringing Hetalia back is a terrible thing to do because the fandom would return and start doing toxic/weird things, I really don’t know how to respond to that. The fandom already died out around the time the last season was released. Now newer fans will come around, and the former fans would return (hopefully) matured up. It's already been 5 years since the last Hetalia season aired, after all. And like I said earlier, toxic fans never represent the entire fandom. If you really hate the fandom that much, I recommend not getting involved at all.

[ahauntedcowboy]

I feel like I’ve seen all of the main films that Taika has written eg boy, wwdits, eagle vs shark, two cars one night, heinous crime, hunt for the wilderpeople (need to rewatch this!!!! Also I feel like it parallels Boy somehow? Idk I just feel like they are almost like cousins or siblings - in terms of the movies I mean not the characters), jojo rabbit, Thor. But I haven’t really watched any of the series he’s executive producer because I don’t really know how much involvement he has in it but also for example I’m kind of scared to watch the WWDITS tv series as I feel like I really love the vampires from the movie and that I won’t see them in the series (i know they do a guest appearance in one episode though!!) and same goes with Wellington Paranormal - like it’ll change my view on the movie which is one of my favourite comedy movies.

real talk i wasn't planning on watching wwdits show but then i did and it became one of my favorite shows ever (also the og vampires appear more than one episode!!! i think at least one episode per season) but yeah you should definitely give the show a try!!!!!

[dreaminpeaches]

Humble Pie AU Headcount!

Aye, here's a cool concept I saw from @paraesthetics

and @maddgicalgirl two really cool creative peeps who posted about their AUs for their paracosms, Memento Amouri and Zombie Lane! I don't have as many as them and they're not as cool as any of those but we go:

Humble Pie - OG paracosm, Beau, a former high school bully and star football athlete returns to his home town after flunking college, coming home brings back both nostalgic and bitter memories of his past, his memories haunt him so bad that they manifest into a alter ego of himself called "Stye" who makes a deal with Beau that if he can get at least half of the people he bullied to forgive him, then Stye will leave Beau forever, but if Beau fails Beau has to leave forever (either by running away, isolating himself from others even his friends and family forever so he doesn't hurt anyone else never to be seen again or ........), at the same time he finds himself falling in love with the new dorky girl in town

Bodyswap AU- this isn't really an AU more like a weird dream Beau has after eating some weird cake his little sister made for him and he was too nice to say no (it had glitter in it), the events only take place for about a day, but its basically a Kimi No Nawa (Your Name) parody just with alot of more comedy where Beau and Bonnie swap bodies, Beau spends the day in Bonnie's body as an angry gremlin woman, and Bonnie spends the day in Beau's body as a pretty boy. They both struggle with each other's usual tasks Bonnie struggles to fix cars and Beau having to wear a maid outfit, and doing anime dances on the spot while having to playfully flirt with a bunch of nerds at Bonnie's maid cafe job. Bonnie in Beau's body has more heavy moments because she can see Stye and meets him for the first time, Stye knows its not Beau in his body so he can't have as much "fun" toying with him as usual, but kind of with the "help" of Stye Bonnie is able to hop through Beau's memories (mostly his childhood ones), a lot of the memories stop halfway through or are purposely faded because how heavy they weigh on Beau's mind. Devin is the one who tries to research and help Bonnie and Beau get back to each other's bodies because while most of Beau's family welcomes Beau's brighter attitude, Dev is the only one who knows something is up.

Genderbend AU- In this AU Fem! Beau was a star cheerleader as a Regina George type of bully, telling lies, spreading rumors, and subtle causing chaos throughout the school while being seen as a beloved queen at the same time, she too flunks out of college, and returns with regrets, but as where Beau takes on a more punk cowboy aesthetic, Fem! Beau adopts a more gothic rockabilly witch aesthetic, Fem ! Beau always had an interest in witches/witchcraft since she was little (because her dad would read her a bunch of fairy tales and Fem! Beau always found the witches to be the more interesting characters in the stories) but was often made fun for it to the point where she kept it a secret, but now returning to her hometown, Fem! Beau decides to fully embrace her interest she dyes her blonde hair black and starts to study witchcraft in an effort to combat the bad vibes she's been feeling. Whereas original Stye is more of an evil Jojo Stand, Fem! Stye is more along the lines of a mix of Tomie and Junko Enoshima, she still enjoys toying with Fem! Beau and doing a noblewoman's laugh, the deal between them is still the same. Whereas Beau's bio dad left him, Fem! Beau's bio mom left her family and Fem! Beau has a really close relationship with her Dad, Lou , who works at the town's library as a libarian, he remarries a nice woman who tries to spend time with Fem! Beau by doing traditional girly activities (a thing that reminds Fem! Beau too much of her past self, but she still tries to grin and bear it), Fem! Beau works part-time at her step mom's boutique helping customers pick outfits and find the perfect outfit for them. Dev is the same tho, but Fem! Dev is a bit more into comics than games but still basically the same nerd (like Futaba from Persona 5), Fem! Beau stilll gives Fem! Dev advice on school and boys (but kind of subtlely telling Fem! Dev that most guys are pigs anyways), Carrie who is now Carter in this is a very rowdy but loveable little boy who is always seen with a cape and a wooden sword that his big sis made for him in shop class, he carries that thing with him everywhere and will fight anyone who's mean to his sisters. Like Beau, Fem! Beau loves her siblings to death and likes spending time with them

Beau has an interest in wild west media, Fem! Beau is more interested in stuff like Grease, Rebel Without A Cause, Bewitched, and West Side Story.

Male! Bonnie is mostly the same like with Dev is more into comics than anime, he has a bigger interest in clowns than mascots and wants to show kids that not all clowns are scary, he works as a children entertainer at a local fun center (like a Chuck E Cheese or Discovery Center), whereas Bonnie was taught ballet at a young age, Male! Bonnie was taught to play the piano, but he enjoys playing instruments like the keyboard, talkboxes, and one of those things that look like a musical note with a face on it (idk what they are call), he's trying to make a one-man-band performance to go along with his performance as a clown.

Whereas Bonnie and Beau meet a lot to work on Bonnie's car, Male! Bonnie and Fem! Beau met up a lot because Carter really likes to play at the fun center where Bonnie works, and when Male! Bonnie first saw Fem! Beau, he thought she was Raven from Teen Titans.

Bonnie and Beau's relationship is like Beauty and Beast, while Fem! Beau and Male! Bonnie is more like Jessica and Rodger rabbit.

Resident Evil Village AU: This one is basically Beau is Ethan, and Carrie takes the place of Rose, and that's it! To be honest, I didn't think how everyone else would fit in this AU (an older Dev might be Chris?? maybe), I just like the idea of Beau going through a ton of crazy spooky stuff to save his little sister, and would totally sacrifice himself like Ethan did at the end if all the chips were down, and older Rose is what I think an older Carrie would look like

Walking Dead (the game) AU: Same thing as RE but Beau lives through all the seasons with both of his siblings, I just dont really dig the idea of Carrie ending Beau like how Clem had to do with Lee (that's too much man), but I could see Beau trying to teach Carrie to defend herself during the apocalypse as she gets older he tries to distance himself a bit letting her be more independent but still nearby if she gets into trouble, I could also see Dev joining another group for a bit because he doesn't enjoy his brother bossing him around so much, he ends up returning but I could see tensions raising between those two in this situation, they would end up meeting Bonnie along the way, Beau would find her a bit annoying at first but end up catching feelings for her. I could see them making their own settlement, and trying to find other lost individuals.

[crash-cinematic-universe]

the Hotel Cortez and everything it contains

pairing: james march/reader

summary/request: hi!for the requests,can you do #2 from Fluff and #6 from Random w James P. March? - @gothqmzsasz

warnings: death ig

notes: i am tired. this took to long to write. i hope you like it and if you dont then Ill write you a 2 page apology. this is VERY short because it got deleted half way through and I couldn’t bring myself to write it all back.

ahs evan taglist: @lokiqueenofasgard

            You were dead. You had been for a while-- at this point, you’d grown used to the odd and empty feeling. Every day was the same, the fact that you didn’t need to sleep making the hours meld together like smudged paint. The Cortez was a beautiful place to die, the architecture immaculately crafted-- each pattern so complex and deliberate it was perplexing to look too closely. Beauty practically oozes from the walls-- but even beauty loses its appeal after a while. The walls made you nauseous, the complexity soon shifting into headache-inducing. With each passing day you grew more and more spiteful, negative-- hostile, even. James watched as your mood deteriorated bit by bit, guilt churning in his stomach with every snide remark that fell from your lips.

            To be clear; James wasn’t the one that killed you-- his protege John was the one to take your life. Nevertheless, he felt partially responsible for your demise. James saw you in passing while you stayed at the hotel, and he always remembered the cheery, kind smile that would be stuck on your face as he walked beside you in the hallways. He recalled the sound of your joyous laugh and the admiration in your voice as you told him about your life outside the Hotel Cortez. He hated the fact that he caused that joy and excitement you exerted to diminish to almost nothing. James became determined to lift your spirits once again.

            “Is there a reason you’re blushing like that?” You huff, James’s oddly cheery face somehow managing to test your temper. He sits beside you, his cane falling to the floor as he leans close to you.

            “I have something… fun to show you.” He says, his accent making it sound as if he was a shitty telemarketer. You rolled your eyes, refusing to let your hopes get too high.

            “There is nothing fun in this hotel, James. There is only the same, repetitive decay.” you sigh, kicking the air as you lay down on the hotel carpet. “I’m okay with death, I think, I just wish I would’ve died somewhere more… interesting. This place has lost all of its mystery and all of its appeal. Now it’s just a hotel.” Your words sliced through the man’s heart like razor blades, an overwhelming feeling of guilt overcoming him. He did this to you-- indirectly, sure, but it was still his fault. 

            “Darling, could you please stop being grumpy? It’s quite lame.” He mutters, pulling you to your feet. “I’m aware that your opinion of my hotel has gone from bad to worse, but it’s not all bad, I promise. I assure you, I tried to create something… interesting for you.” Admittedly, you fet a bit bad for your sour mood, but you couldn’t help it. 

            “Alright James, show me what you’ve done.” you say, following the man down the hallway. He’s oddly giddy-- excited, almost. It’s endearing, he’s trying quite hard to make death more enjoyable for you. He leads you down a long, narrow staircase you weren’t aware existed. Once you reach the bottom, James suddenly stops, worry written on his face.

            “Darling, I’m suddenly… I’m suddenly rethinking whether or not you’ll like this as much as I hope you will.” James murmurs. You’re quick to take his face in your hands, pulling his eyes to meet yours.

            “James, the fact that you’ve done anything at all is enough. I’m sure I’ll love whatever you’ve done.” He smiles and the worry on his face melts away. He turns around once again, unlocking a large wooden door to reveal a dark room. James disappears into the darkness, an unsettling silence in the room. 

            “Hey, James, you’re not gonna kill me again, are you?” You joke, your chuckle cut short as the lights turn on to reveal a large, white canvas screen against a wall, the floor scattered with pillows and comforters and old mattresses. “James what… what is this?”

            “You often tell me about your life outside of the hotel, and it’s not rare for you to go on long, detailed explanations of the films you enjoy. So I decided you should be able to watch these films here in the Cortez.” He grinned, and you were shocked to say the least. The gesture was so incredibly thoughtful and heart felt that you were almost speechless. 

            “James this is… this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you.” James simply nods before walking over to a projector directly across the room from the screen. 

            “The first film I acquired was a recent one-- I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s titled Jojo Rabbit, I believe it’s a comedy. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to join you in viewing it.” You sit comfortably in the middle of the floor, James sitting close beside you. For the first time in a long time, the Hotel Cortez stops being a hellish purgatory and starts being a home.

[vrancioaia]

Get to know me

Rules: complete the survey and say who tagged you in the beginning. When you’re finished, tag people to do this survey. Have fun and enjoy!

Tagged by  @lareinedususpense, thank you darling! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

1: Are you named after someone? It’s the name of the daughter of one of my mom’s favourite teachers. My mom loved the name and decided then that she’d name me the same (this was in primary/middle school for my mom).

2: When was the last time you cried? Today, while watching Jojo Rabbit.

3: Do you like your handwriting? Yeah, but it could be neater. It’s a mix of cursive and print writing.

4: What is your favourite lunch meat? Beef

6: If you were another person, would you be friends with you? I don’t know...

7: Do you use sarcasm? Yeah

8: Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.

9: Would you bungee jump? Not sure.

10: What is your favourite kind of cereal? Chocolate or berry muesli. Rarely, I might eat Chocapic or Cheerios.

11: Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Not really, if I can easily step out of the shoes, I don’t bother

12: Do you think you’re a strong person? So and so

13: What is your favourite ice cream? Stracciatella 

14: What is the first thing you notice about people? Looks, voice

15: What is the least favourite physical thing you like about yourself? My scoliosis

16: What colour trousers and shoes are you wearing now? Some grey shorts and red socks, no shoes

17: If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? Dark green

18: Favourite smell? The smell of the sea, smell of peonies, the way it smells after it rains

19: Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? One of my grandmothers

20: Favourite sport to watch? I don’t watch sports

21: Hair colour? Black/really dark brown

22: Eye colour? Green

23: Do you wear contacts? Nope.

24: Favourite food to eat? Spaghetti, what I add varies

25: Scary movies or comedy? Comedies!!!

26: Last movie you watched? Jojo Rabbit

27: What colour of shirt are you wearing?: White, with green and a tiny bit of red and yellow. The last three colors form a design of various leaves.

28: Summer or winter? Hmmm, both.

29: Hugs or kisses? Both

30: What book are you currently reading? I started reading “The Last Wish” by  Andrzej Sapkowski, cause I enjoyed the Witcher show too, but I haven’t finished the book.

31: Who do you miss right now? My friends ;-;

32: What is on your mouse pad? Don’t have one. Used to have, but I don’t really remember them. I think one had a compass on it?

33: What is the last tv program you watched? None. 

35: rolling stones or the beatles? Not sure... I’m not that familiar with either bands.

36: what is the furthest you have ever travelled? USA

37: Do you have a special talent? Not really...

38: Where were you born? Romania.

I tag anyone who’d like to do this!

[birdlord]

Everything I Watched in 2020

We’ll start with movies. The number in parentheses is the year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. Here’s 2019’s list. 

01 Little Women (19)

02 The Post (17) 

03 Molly’s Game (17)

04 * Doctor No (62)

05 Groundhog Day (93)

06 *Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (86)

07 Knives Out (19) My last theatre experience (sob)

08 Professor Marston and his Wonder Women (17)

09 Les Miserables (98)

10 Midsommar (19) I’m not sure how *good* it is, but it does stick in the ol’ brain

11 *Manhattan Murder Mystery (93)

12 Marriage Story (19)

13 Kramer vs Kramer (79)

14 Jojo Rabbit (19)

15 J’ai perdu mon corps (19) a cute animated film about a hand detached from its body!

16 1917 (19)

17 Married to the Mob (88)

18 Klaus (19)

19 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (19) If Little Women made me want to wear a scarf criss-crossed around my torso, this one made me want to wear a cloak

20 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (19)

21 *Lawrence of Arabia (62)

22 Gone With the Wind (39)

23 Kiss Me Deadly (55)

24 Dredd (12)

25 Heartburn (86) heard a bunch about this one in the Blank Check series on Nora Ephron, sadly after I’d watched it

26 The Long Shot (19)

27 Out of Africa (85)

28 King Kong (46)

29 *Johnny Mnemonic (95)

30 Knocked Up (07)

31 Collateral (04)

32 Bird on a Wire (90)

33 The Black Dahlia (05)

34 Long Time Running (17)

35 *Magic Mike (12)

36 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (07)

37 Cold War (18)

38 *Kramer Vs Kramer (79) yes I watched this a few months before! This was a pandemic friend group co-watch.

39 *Burn After Reading (08)

40 Last Holiday (50)

41 Fly Away Home (96)

42 *Moneyball (11) I’m sure I watch this every two years, at most??

43 Last Holiday (06) the Queen Latifah version of the 1950 movie above, lacking, of course, the brutal “poor people don’t deserve anything good” ending

44 *Safe (95)

45 Gimme Shelter (70)

46 The Daytrippers (96)

47 Experiment in Terror (62)

48 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (88)

49 My Brilliant Career (79) one of the salvations of 2020 was watching movies “with” friends. Our usual method was to video chat before the movie, sync our streaming services, and text-chat while the movie was on. 

50 Divorce Italian Style (61)

51 *Gosford Park (01) another classic comfort watch, fuck I love a G. Park

52 Hopscotch (80)

53 Brief Encounter (45)

54 Hud (63)

55 Ocean’s 8 (18)

56 *Beverly Hills Cop (84)

57 Blow the Man Down (19)

58 Constantine (05)

59 The Report (19) maddening!! How are people so consistently terrible to one another!

60 Everyday People (04)

61 Anatomy of a Murder (58)

62 Spiderman: Homecoming (17)

63 *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (95) Of the 90s drag road movies, Priscilla is more visually striking, but this has its moments.

64 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (92)

65 *The Truman Show (98)

66 Mona Lisa (86)

67 The Blob (58)

68 The Guard (11)

69 *Waiting for Guffman (96) RIP Fred Willard

70 Rocketman (19)

71 Outside In (18)

72 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (08) how strange to see a movie that you have known the premise for, but no details of, for over a decade

73 *Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (91)

74 The Reader (08)

75 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (19) This was fine until it VERY MUCH WAS NOT FINE

76 The End of the Affair (99) you try to watch a fun little romp about infidelity during the Blitz, and Graham Greene can’t help but shoehorn in a friggin crisis of religious faith

77 Must Love Dogs (05) barely any dog content, where are the dogs at

78 The Rainmaker (97)

79 *Batman & Robin (97)

80 National Lampoon’s Vacation (83) Never seen any of the non-xmas Vacations, didn’t realize the children are totally different, not just actors but ages! Also, this one is blatantly racist!

81 *Mystic Pizza (88)

82 Funny Girl (68)

83 The Sons of Katie Elder (65)

84 *Knives Out (19) another re-watch within the same year!! How does this keep happening??

85 *Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (10) a real I-just-moved-away-from-Toronto nostalgia watch

86 Canadian Bacon (92) vividly recall this VHS at the video store, but I never saw it til 2020

87 *Blood Simple (85)

88 Brittany Runs a Marathon (19)

89 The Accidental Tourist (88)

90 August Osage County (13) MELO-DRAMA!!

91 Appaloosa (08)

92 The Firm (93) Feeling good about how many iconic 80s/90s video store stalwarts I watched in 2020

93 *Almost Famous (00)

94 Whisper of the Heart (95)

95 Da 5 Bloods (20)

96 Rain Man (88)

97 True Stories (86)

98 *Risky Business (83) It’s not about what you think it’s about! It never was!

99 *The Big Chill (83)

100 The Way We Were (73)

101 Safety Last (23) It’s getting so that I might have to add the first two digits to my dates...not that I watch THAT many movies from the 1920s...

102 Phantasm (79)

103 The Burrowers (08)

104 New Jack City (91)

105 The Vanishing (88)

106 Sisters (72)

107 Puberty Blues (81) Little Aussie cinema theme, here

108 Elevator to the Gallows (58)

109 Les Diaboliques (55)

110 House (77) haha WHAT no really W H A T

111 Death Line (72)

112 Cranes are Flying (57)

113 Holes (03)

114 *Lady Vengeance (05)

115 Long Weekend (78)

116 Body Double (84)

117 The Crazies (73) I love that Romero shows the utter confusion that would no doubt reign in the case of any kind of disaster. Things fall apart.

118 Waterlilies (07)

119 *You’re Next (11)

120 Event Horizon (97)

121 Venom (18) I liked it, guys, way more than most superhero fare. Has a real sense of place and the place ISN’T New York!

122 Under the Silver Lake (18) RIP Night Call

123 *Blade Runner (82)

124 *The Birds (62) interesting to see now that I’ve read the story it came from

125 *28 Days Later (02) hits REAL FUCKIN’ DIFFERENT in a pandemic

126 Life is Sweet (90)

127 *So I Married an Axe Murderer (93) find me a more 90s movie, I dare you (it’s not possible)

128 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (67)

129 The Pelican Brief (93) 90s thrillers continue!

130 Dick Johnston is Dead (20)

131 The Bridges of Madison County (95)

132 Earth Girls are Easy (88) Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are so hot in this movie, no wonder they got married 

133 Better Watch Out (16)

134 Drowning Mona (00) trying for something like the Coen bros and not getting there

135 Au Revoir Les Enfants (87)

136 *Chasing Amy (97) Affleck is the least alluring movie lead...ever? I also think I gave Joey Lauren Adams’ character short shrift in my memory of the movie. It’s not good, but she’s more complicated than I recalled. 

137 Blackkklansman (18)

138 Being Frank (19)

139 Kiki’s Delivery Service (89)

140 Uncle Frank (20) why so many FRANKS

141 *National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89) watching with pals (virtually) made it so much more fun than the usual yearly watch!

142 Half Baked (98) another, more secret Toronto nostalgia pic - RC Harris water filtration plant as a prison!

143 We’re the Millers (13)

144 All is Bright (13)

145 Defending Your Life (91)

146 Christmas Chronicles (18) I maintain that most new xmas movies are terrible, particularly now that Netflix churns them out like eggnog every year. 

147 Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (18)

148 Reindeer Games (00) what did I say about Affleck??!? WHAT DID I SAY

149 Palm Springs (20)

150 Happiest Season (20)

151 *Metropolitan (90) it’s definitely a Christmas movie

152 Black Christmas (74)

THEATRE:HOME - 2:150 (thanks pandemic)

I usually separate out docs and fiction, but I watched almost no documentaries this year (with the exception of Dick Johnston). Reality is real enough. 

TV Series

01 - BoJack Horseman (final season) - Pretty damned poignant finish to the show, replete with actual consequences for our reformed bad boy protagonist (which is more than you can say for most antiheroes of Peak TV).

02 - *Hello Ladies - I enjoy the pure awkwardness of seeing Stephen Merchant try to perform being a Regular Person, but ultimately this show tips him too far towards a nasty, Ricky Gervais-lite sort of persona. Perhaps he was always best as a cameo appearance, or lip synching with wild eyes while Chrissy Teigen giggles?

03 - Olive Kittredge - a rough watch by times. I read the book as well, later in the year. Frances Mcdormand was the best, possibly the only, casting option for the flinty lead. One episode tips into thriller territory, which is a shock. 

04 - *The Wire S3, S4, S5 - lockdown culture! It was interesting to rewatch this, then a few months later go through an enormous, culture-level reappraisal of cop-centred narratives. 

05 - Forever - a Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen joint that coasts on the charm of its leads. The premise is OK, but I wasn’t left wanting any more at the end. 

06 - *Catastrophe - a rewatch when my partner decided he wanted to see it, too!

07 - Red Oak - resolutely “OK” steaming dramedy, relied heavily on some pretty obvious cues to get across its 1980s setting. 

08 - Little Fires Everywhere - gulped this one down while in 14-day isolation, delicious! Every 90s suburban mom had that SUV, but not all of them had the requisite **secrets**

09 - The Great - fun historical comedy/drama! Costumes: lush. Actors: amusing. Race-blind casting: refreshing!

10 - The Crown S4 - this is the season everyone lost their everloving shit for, since it’s finally recent enough history that a fair chunk of the viewing audience is liable to recall it happening. 

11 - Ted Lasso - we resisted this one for a while (thought I did enjoy the ad campaign for NBC sports (!!) that it was based on). My view is that its best point was the comfort that the men on the show have (or develop, throughout the season) with the acknowledgement and sharing of their own feelings. Masculinity redux. 

12 - Moonbase 8 - Goodnatured in a way that makes you certain they will be crushed. 

13 - The Good Lord Bird - Ethan Hawke is really aging into the character actor we always hoped he would be! 

14 - Hollywood - frothy wish-fulfillment alternate history. I think the show would have been improved immeasurably by skipping the final episode.

[thefilmfatale]

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Who says you can't laugh about the Holocaust? Certainly not Taika Waititi.

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople director’s latest film Jojo Rabbit, set in Nazi Germany with a fanatical Hitler youth at its center, is uproarious, funny, and anything but glib. The story follows 10-year-old Jojo Betzler (played by the effortlessly charismatic and magnetic Roman Griffin Davis), who idolizes Adolf Hitler so much that Hitler (played by Waititi) has become his imaginary friend, popping up like a proverbial devil-on-one’s-shoulder during random moments of turmoil to comfort and counsel our budding young Nazi. 

Jojo’s dedication to the cause is unwavering. Thanks to some imaginative Nazi propaganda, Jojo is convinced that his purpose is to exterminate Jews, whom he envisions as winged creatures that eat children and hoard anything shiny. Alas, after playing cavalier with a grenade at Hitler youth camp, Jojo suffers an accident that renders him unfit to keep training with the other children, including his best friend Yorki (played by the adorably precocious Archie Yates). He’s promptly sent home, where his angst grows due to being isolated from his Jew-hating peers. To add insult to injury, he discovers that his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) has been hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Outraged and beside himself with indignation, Jojo hatches a plan to get rid of the Jewish girl, seizing it as an opportunity to prove himself as a true Nazi believer to his peers. 

Jojo embarks on quite the character arc, and Waititi once again proves that he is a masterful director when it comes to working with children. His ability to elicit the purest, most delightful performances from child actors is amazing (just as he did in Hunt for the Wilderpeople), and the audience swiftly finds themselves endeared to Jojo and the rest of the cast. Performances from everyone were delightful, with Waititi allowing each actor (such as Johansson, Sam Rockwell, and Rebel Wilson) to bring their signature flairs to their characters. While the film is approached mostly as a period piece from an aesthetic standpoint (with costumes, set design, and color palettes largely faithful to the period), Waititi’s deliberate choices in making it anachronistic serve two purposes: to punctuate the satire, and to help make what should be a very sobering subject matter more approachable.   

The story, a loose adaptation of the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens, while quirky and sweet certainly doesn't shy away from the real horrors of the holocaust. It’s a tightrope walk to juggle humor and atrocity, but Waititi makes it seem natural. He also knows precisely how to tug at heartstrings without being melodramatic. Jojo Rabbit’s triumph is ultimately in its ability to treat the topic of ideological extremism with the ridicule it so often deserves while at the same time provoking interesting questions about why people get sucked into blindly following charismatic demagogues, entrenching themselves in hate-filled cults, and spouting toxic ideologies. The best part? Waititi does this with so much thoughtfulness and nuance, all while serving up an entertaining, poignant story. 

By the end of Jojo Rabbit, you’re not raising your pitchforks screaming about the injustice of the Holocaust—that would be rather trite. Instead, you’re reminded that humans are complex, multi-dimensional, and capable of both immense kindness and unbridled terror. It’s a celebration of people’s capacity to change their minds. More importantly, it’s a reminder of the beauty of comedy and how laughter can be the best medicine during turbulent times. 

(More—including spoilers—under the cut)

What I love most about Jojo Rabbit is the depth of each character and how there’s so much to dissect and unpack for each one. Beginning with Jojo—we learn that not only is his father far away, in danger, fighting somewhere on the frontlines, but that he also lost his older sister Inge. We’re never told in full detail what happened to her, but the main takeaway is that her death, coupled by the absence of Jojo’s father, were tragedies that may have propelled Jojo to seek out the philosophy of the Third Reich. It’s not uncommon for young fanatics to get swept into hate groups when they are at their lowest points. When you’re angry or feeling helpless and lonely, it’s easy to externalize your pain and find someone to blame, whether it’s an entire gender, people of certain ethnicities, or members of a different political party. It’s simpler, you see, instead of owning one’s problems and acknowledging that the world doesn’t revolve around you. By making boogeymen out of people who are easy targets, we assert control over the senseless things that happen in our lives. It’s a way to feel powerful.

When you’re young, there are so many things that are out of your control. You’re caught in this torrent of everyone else’s decisions—your parents, school, your peers, society at large—and you’re looking around, flailing and hyperaware, that you’re living what is supposed to be your life and yet there seems so very little that you have ownership of. That's Jojo’s story. Not only is he caught in the middle of a war, but he’s grappling with some seriously heavy shit: an absentee father, a dead sister, a craving for acceptance from his peer group and, ultimately, a longing for connection that is rooted in positivity rather that hate. 

At first that connection seems to be cultivated by his mother, Rosie, who is literally and figuratively the most vibrant character in the film. From her bold, striking fashion sense and rouged lips to her joie de vivre, Rosie is, to quote Mulan, a flower that blooms in adversity. Even during the bleakest of times, she finds ways to uplift her son, whom she can tell is hurting. Her bursts of energy, her ability to find excitement and enthusiasm even in the most mundane of things, her rally to dance in the face of tragedy—all were reminders that dwelling on hatred and sorrow, while easy and sometimes necessary, is a crutch in a balm’s disguise. We must always forge ahead and seek hope when all feels lost, like “staring a tiger in the eyes”, as Rosie would say. That’s why, despite the risks of being caught by the Gestapo, she housed a Jewish girl in her home. In some small way, she was doing her part in the resistance against a hateful movement. While Rosie says she’s never stared a tiger in the eyes, her act of defiance came at great risk to herself, and that’s true courage.

In one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film, Jojo is wandering the streets when he notices a bright, blue butterfly fluttering against the backdrop of hate-filled propaganda smattered on the city walls. He chases it wistfully and accidentally stumbles on the gallows in the middle of the town square. All the audience sees, hanging from the gallows, is a pair of legs with bright-colored shoes, and our hearts immediately sink. It’s Rosie. Waititi leads up to this shocking moment during a previous scene, while Jojo and Rosie are hanging out by a river. Rosie makes fun of Jojo for still being unable to tie his own shoes. She’s skipping gleefully on top of a concrete wall, with the camera trained low at Jojo’s eye-level, so the audience sees a shot of her shoes as she taps into a merry little dance. Waititi counts on viewers remembering this quiet scene to make what follows truly devastating. The effect is quite heart-stopping, and it’s impossible to want to reach out and give poor Jojo a hug as he cries out and wraps his arms around his dead mother’s feet. It’s then that Waititi makes his message known: Yes, there’s plenty to make light of in the world, but you can do this while also acknowledging that there’s plenty of darkness. It’s an impressive balancing act, and Waititi does it with so much wonderful exuberance and earnestness that it’s tough not to commend.

Viewers notice that the more Jojo focuses on the positive things in his life—his mother, his new Jewish friend Elsa—the less we see of his imaginary friend Hitler. And this is a deliberate choice by Waititi to prove a point: when you are consumed with hate, you’ll want to constantly keep feeding it because it’s comfortable and easy. As humans, we have a biological negative bias that we rely on as a means of survival. The very idea of entropy exists as a reminder that it takes more work to put things in order, to be good, to rise above, than for things to decay and distort and devolve. The more you fill your life with things that bring you joy, fulfillment, and contentment, the less you’ll rely on poisonous literature and toxic people. While this isn't exactly an epiphany for most of us, one may applaud Waititi for the inventive way he delivers this message.  

Another delightful character who, on the surface, seemed to be solely there for comedic effect, was Sam Rockwell’s Captain Klenzendorf, who’s tasked with whipping up these little rascals into Nazi-fighting shape. From the very get go, we sense that this man’s commitment to the Nazi cause is entirely for appearances’ sake. From his clandestine romance with his right-hand man (played by Games of Thrones’ Alfie Allen) to his soft spot for Jojo, the audience is led to believe that this man is merely pretending to be a hard-ass because that’s what you were expected to do, else be accused of treason to your nation. One could assume his affection for Jojo had something to do with being able to sympathize with the young boy after Jojo is relegated to doing simple jobs due to his injury (Klenzendorf claims he was benched from the frontlines because of an injury that led to him having a dead eye). But it’s toward the end of the film where we fully realize the totality of his character. In an earlier scene, Jojo is bullied by some older boys into killing a rabbit. They jeer at him as he wrestles with the decision to kill an innocent animal. He’s torn between wanting desperately to ingratiate himself into his peer group and staying true to the part of himself that’s kind, pure, innocent, and staunchly against needless violence. The music builds as we lean forward in our seats waiting to see what Jojo does. He decides on an act of mercy at his own expense, releasing the bunny and yelling at it to flee from danger. Unfortunately, before it has a chance to escape, the bunny is snatched up by one of the older boys, who wrings its neck in front of all the young boys to see. 

At first this seems like a scene that’s simply supposed to be an obnoxious display of bravado. But Waititi calls back to this scene towards the end of the film twice. Klenzendorf arrives at the Betzler household when it is being searched and ransacked by the Gestapo, who suspect Rosie has been aiding Jews. Jojo is terrified, not just to be discovered as traitors by the Gestapo but for Elsa’s (the Jewish girl they have been hiding who has now become his friend) safety. To get ahead of the situation, Elsa emerges from her hiding place and pretends to be Jojo’s dead sister Inge. When the Gestapo demand her paperwork, she shows them Inge’s old ID card. Klenzendorf immediately intercedes, grabs the ID from her hand and demands that she variate her identity by stating her birthday. Elsa stammers in response. “Correct,” Klenzendorf confirms flatly. The Gestapo consider this acceptable and vacate the premises, none the wiser. We discover immediately that Elsa had actually given the wrong birthdate, and Klenzendorf could have outed her right then, but decided not to. He was helping the bunny escape.

In another scene, when the Allied troops march into Germany and start rounding up all the Nazi soldiers, Jojo (who has a Nazi officer’s jacket on) is mistaken for one of them. He runs into Captain Klenzendorf, who creates a commotion by wrenching the Nazi jacket off of Jojo’s back and pushing him away, telling him to flee while yelling at him for being a dirty Jew so the Allies don’t execute him. It was an act of sacrifice from a man who recognized himself in the young boy. Klenzendorf saw Jojo’s gentleness and purity of heart and knew this kid needed to live. He released the bunny, stared a tiger squarely in the eyes—at the expense of his own life.

Jojo Rabbit, while certainly laugh-out-loud funny and full of amusement, is a moving story about heroism from a group of people who rarely ever get acknowledgment for their acts of bravery. These were Germans who defied their Führer and their Aryan brotherhood at great risk to their own lives. While these acts will never erase the horrors of the Holocaust, it’s a reminder that people are complicated creatures, capable of miraculous acts of mercy and horrific deeds of violence. It implores us to think about how some of the people that get caught up in hate groups are hurting deeply and just looking for something to blame their pain on. It definitely doesn’t excuse their actions or the bile they oftentimes spew, but it merely reminds us that behind every caricature is a human being in pain. 

Even if you see Jojo Rabbit and don’t think it’s that deep—you may say “Starr, it’s just a comedy about stupid Nazis, it’s not even a true story”. What is true about it is that we live in a world of grey, and while it may be simpler to put people in buckets of black and white, hero and villain, good and bad, more often than not we are all just hurting in some way. What’s true about it is that we have more in common than we have differences and ultimately, everyone regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, craves the same thing: freedom; Freedom from the burdens that we carry on our shoulders, from dead loved ones to strife and war. Freedom from the fear of persecution for being who we are. The freedom to wear whatever we want, screw whomever we want, and to dance like no one’s looking. 

[tays2centsonstuff]

JOJO RABBIT, 2019

synopsis: a young boy in hitler's army finds out his mother is hiding a jewish girl in their home.

director: taika waititi writers: taika waititi stars: roman griffin davis, thomasin mckenzie, scarlett johansson, taika waititi

genres: comedy | drama | war

country: new zealand, usa, czech republic language: english, german filming locations: czech republic

runtime: 108mins

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overall opinion:

oh lord. ohhhhh lordy. this one. I know what you think… a comedy / satire about world war II??? that sounds terrible and disrespectful, no?

yep, that’s kind of what I thought. so I went into «jojo rabbit» with skeptical thoughts, as did a lot of people I think, simply because a comedy about world war II, how funny can it actually be without being tasteless? but I love taika waititi and I knew both he and scarlett have jewish roots so that kind of told me it couldn’t be bad.

and oh boy am I glad I watched this. 

this movie made me laugh until it had me bawling like a baby. 

okay, first. this movie was nominated for 6 oscars: best picture, best supporting actress (scarlett johansson), best production design, best costume design, best film editing, and best adapted screenplay for which it won. I wish it would have won more (best picture and best supporting actress, come on). it’s such a unique movie in that it portrays one of the worst periods in human history in such a fun, light-hearted and at the same time sobering and poignant way. you laugh, then you’re shocked, then you smile, then you cry, ... this movie is an absolute rollercoaster. it has so much soul and the characters are phenomenal (rosie just captured my heart). I fell in love with all of the characters instantly.

the story follows johannes «jojo» betzler (roman griffin davis), a 10 year old boy living in nazi germany, who’s a proud member of the hitler youth. throughout the movie, his imaginary friend adolf (taika waititi) guides him and tries to influence him (as in, jojo tries to convince himself that he’s doing the right thing as a nazi). at some point he finds out that his mother rosie (scarlett johansson) who is secretly anti-nazi is hiding a young jewish girl (thomasin mckenzie) in their house. for safety reasons, jojo and the girl, elsa, decide not to tell rosie that they have met, and instead meet up in secret while rosie is at work. jojo can’t believe he «caught a jew», and tries to find out all kinds of information to then tell the other nazis to give them an advantage in the war. except everything turns into a completely different direction. 

man, what a ride. honestly, I think this is a movie everyone should watch. all the actors are phenomenal, especially roman griffin davis (this was his first movie ever) as jojo, taika waititi as hilarious satire-hitler, and scarlett johansson as jojo’s mother rosie. every single one of them deserved an oscar for their performance. it was simply beautiful to watch.

the cinematography and the colours were also amazing. the movie looked stunning, despite the sad topic it covered. I love how taika decided to use vibrant colours and stylish costumes to contrast the dark matter of the film. it works beautifully and gives it a very human touch – like there was more to life than just the war, even during this time.

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SPOILERS AHEAD, I would invite you to watch the movie first and then come back for the rest if it’s something that interests you. :)

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out of all the perfect characters I think rosie was my favourite. she is anti-nazi and handing out little notes against the regime, which you know from the beginning is a death-sentence. at home, whenever she is with her son, she is this happy-go-sunshine person, ever dancing, making jokes, pretending everything is fine, all to protect her son and the girl she so selflessly invited into her home, knowing it would kill her if they found out. I had to actually PAUSE the movie and recover for a few minutes when jojo walked past those shoes hanging in the air. I CRIED. she was such a loving character. one of my favourites, ever. in any movie or book. simply beautifully created. I want to be rosie when I grow up.

but in the end, I fell in love with all of them. jojo, who was just so sweet in his ways, how he was convinced hitler was doing the right thing and he was proud to be helping them, but in the end realised that «those jews» are just normal people. the bond he develops with elsa over the course of the movie is so sweet and touching. the way he writes those letters to her «from her boyfriend» who he didn’t know had died. he was trying so hard to make her feel safe and happy even though she was «the enemy». that said a lot about him and roman brings him across so well.

and elsa, the jewish girl, played by thomasin mckenzie, wasn’t just intent on playing the victim. she was funny, sarcastic and clever, giving the most absurd answers to jojo’s questions on his quest to figure out more about jews. it made me laugh even though the situation wasn’t funny at all. it took some of the weight from the topic which I thought was great.

honestly, this film has it all. a great story, great morals, phenomenal acting, funny moments, heartbreaking moments, beautiful cinematography, and it will definitely leave you thinking after the end credits.

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why it stayed with me:

the whole movie is such an emotional rollercoaster. it’s funny, it’s really sad, really intense, but then in the end… there is so much hope. 

the way taika waititi managed to tell a gruesome story in such a poignant way, you just can’t help but love what he’s done. I hate slapstick usually, especially about sensitive topics (like, I would rather die than watch borat which I turned off 15mins into the film), but this was done so well and with so much heart and soul. 

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favourite scene / moment:

the dinner scene with jojo and rosie. iconic. (39:40–44:00)

and when elsa and jojo are staring out the window at night and having a really sweet conversation.

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what I didn’t like:

nothing. it was perfect. although I HATED the fact that rosie died but I guess it was bound to happen.

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interesting trivia / fun facts:

both taika waititi and scarlett johansson have jewish roots. when taika, who is maori/jewish, was asked about why he chose to play the role of adolf hitler, he said «the answer's simple, what better 'fuck you' to the guy?»

one of taika’s reasons for making the film was the realisation that after world war II people cried that «we should never forget» but given the behaviour of «certain people in certain parts of the world», it felt to him like we are forgetting.

even though the spoken dialogue is all in english, all written or printed text in the movie is in german.

«I don't like the idea of seeing people hang,» taika waititi said, and that's what led in part to the reveal of rosie's death without showing her face. he added that seeing your dead loved one is an intimate thing, and that we didn't «have permission» to see what jojo saw.

in the scene where the boys burn books at the camp, tom waits’ «I don’t wanna grow up» is playing in the background. in 2009, scarlett johansson recorded an album with tom waits covers, which also features that same song. the album is called «anywhere I lay my head» and is available on spotify.

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favourite quotes:

[rosie and jojo come upon six people hanging from the gallows in the town square]

jojo: what did they do?

rosie: what they could.

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rating: 10/10.

this movie broke my goddamn heart and it had the audacity to do so while I was having a really fun time watching it! 

simply a must-see.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Best of 2019

What a year. By the time 2019 ended, I had seen over 130 new movies. It's actually probably closer to 150 but I lost count. There are a few titles I missed, such as The Dead Don’t Die, The Fanatic and Honeyland so obviously, this is not an all-encompassing, definitive list of 2019’s best, but it should give you a good idea of which films you need to check out if you haven’t already.

I usually like to save the #10 spot on my list for a movie that’s just for me. Normally, this would mean a giant monster movie, an off-beat creation nobody else saw, a comic book movie that spoke to my particular tastes or maybe a Canadian movie I know didn’t get the opportunity to shine like it should’ve. This year, that’s not happening. Trimming my list down to 10 was hard enough. I certainly wasn’t going to sacrifice one more to make it just 9. Let's dig in.

10. The Farewell

It’s been weeks since The Farewell and I’m still thinking about it. If I was put in the same position as Billi, I'm not sure what I'd do? Is it better to tell someone that's dying that their days are numbered, or should you spare them from that burden? Is it really them you’d be sparing, or is keeping the secret for your own selfish needs? Writer/director Lulu Wang asks serious questions about culture I had never contemplated before. There’s a lot for you here and even more if your family comes from mixed backgrounds.

9. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I heard some complaints about Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) not being the main character of this film by Marielle Heller, from writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. It was the right choice. The plot has a cyical reporter meet Rogers and through their relatively brief interaction, learn what we knew going in. It delivers a moving character arc without having to stain its subject with flaws we didn't want to see. The quasi-meta presentation is what elevates it into top-10 status. That extra touch means it does a lot more than simply re-iterate what we saw in the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?.

8. Knives Out

Knives Out is one of the most entertaining films all year. There are no profound moments of meditation, no earth-shattering realizations about yourself, just a mystery to be solved. All the suspects are so intriguing they could be the stars of their own movies. Put together in the same house as a dead body and you’ve got no idea who did it. Its screenplay is excellent. The twists are juicy. Everything ads up in a satisfying manner. Rian Johnson is already working on a sequel. I can’t wait.

7. Apollo 11

There are few holdovers from the list I made halfway through the year, which either says something about the strength of the second half of 2019, or the weakness of the first. Either way, you’ve got to see Apollo 11. It’s the closest thing to going back in time and being there when man landed on the moon. The tension and anticipation are overwhelming. Knowing what happened doesn't matter. The way the footage is assembled is nothing short of incredible. Why this documentary wasn't present at the Academy Awards is beyond me.

6. Uncut Gems

Adam Sandler should’ve been nominated for an Oscar. He wasn’t. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts it's because of his association with all of those brain-dead Happy Madison Production comedies. His history with cinema shouldn't matter. The movie is what matters. The fact is, this was the perfect role for him. It isn’t even that Sandler’s doing something different, it’s that he’s being used to his full potential. If you weren’t glued to the screen, eager to see what’s coming next, this movie would have you jumping out of the window screaming - anything to escape the anxiety the Safdie Brothers serve up with devilish grins.

5. The Lighthouse

Next on my list is The Lighthouse. Right away, the aspect ratio and black-and-white cinematography lets you know you’re in for something different. You have no idea. What I love so much about this film is the way it handles madness. At the end of the day, I’m not sure if I could tell you if Robert Pattinson’s character was crazy, if Willem Dafoe’s character was the nutty one, or if they both were. It shows you just enough to make you doubt your own sanity. It’s also unexpectedly funny, which makes it feel oddly genuine. In one scene, Robert Pattinson's Ephraim Winslow gets a hold of the lighthouse's logs. In it, his boss, Thomas (Willem Dafoe) recommends Ephraim be disciplined for masturbating excessively. Considering Thomas has been cavorting with some kind of tentacle creature up in the lighthouse (at least that's what I think I saw, I'm not so sure anymore), all you can do is laugh. What kind of loony bin is this turning into? One I'm looking forward to revisiting.

4. 1917

Shot in a way that makes it all look like one take, 1917 is a technical marvel. It hooks itself up to your circular system and steadily replaces your blood with pure, undistilled stress. As you're about to flatline, it stops and gives you a breather. A shot of a meadow untouched by the ravages of war; a reminder of what the soldiers are fighting for and of how utterly devastating armed combat is on humanity as a whole. Gorgeous cinematography, powerful emotions, magnificent production values.

3. Joker

Along with Godzilla: King of the Monsters (a movie they basically made for me), this was my most anticipated movie of the year. To get ready, I watched Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, two Scorsese films Joker director Todd Phillips drew a lot of inspiration from. For some reason, it seems as though many critics took offense to the similarities. Sometimes I understand differing opinions from mine. This time, I don’t. It’s a great film that warns of the dangers of letting people like Arthur Fleck (brilliantly performed by Joaquin Phoenix) fall through the cracks. Left unchecked, he discovers that by doing terrible things, he becomes a “better” version of himself. It’s not a drama. It’s a horror movie that spins the familiar Batman archenemy in a new direction but also stays true to the character. There are several scenes in this movie that are going to be permanently imprinted in my brain. Those stairs. Need I say more?

Runner-ups

Avengers: Endgame

Even if every single Marvel movie going forward is awful, this caps off the whopping 22-chapter saga epically. A couple of aspects bugged me enough that it could only manage to make the runner-up list but it's a terrific film.

Booksmart

The funniest comedy of the year. I think back to Amy and Molly using their hairs as masks and still can't manage to hold back a few chuckles months later.

Toy Story 4

This one was hard to cut. The only flaw I could find was that it isn’t on the same level as 3… even though they’re both 5-star movies.

Midsommar

I’ve heard the extended cut is even better than the original. I wish I’d had the chance to see it in theatres.

Jojo Rabbit

Audacious and heartfelt. I loved those scenes of Scarlett Johanson being a mom. Her agent might've dropped the ball getting her cast in Ghost in the Shell but she sure knew how to pick great work in 2019.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino brings us back to a time when Roman Polanski was simply a good director instead of a convicted rapist, movie stars were untouchable, and the death of someone’s wife under mysterious circumstances was nothing to raise eyebrows about. It’s not a movie that screams “here and now”. If anything, it’s regressive. That said, I cannot deny the experience I had watching it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing and I doubt even Tarantino could pull it off again. I wonder how many people went in knowing what happened to Sharon Tate like I did.

Marriage story

It’s nothing but raw emotion and powerhouse performances in this drama about two people you love going through a divorce. I always make it my goal to watch movies all the way through without any interruptions. Several times throughout, I was tempted to hit "Pause" so I could catch my breath.

Internet lists are everywhere. You know why, don’t you? They suck you in and when you get down to it, most don’t require all that much effort to put together. Except when I make them, apparently. These bi-annual lists always turn out to be difficult to put together. 2019's proved particularly arduous. I’m fairly sure that my #3 movie belongs there. Out of all the movies on this list, it’s probably the one I’m going to go back to most often. The other two? I’d say that technically, one may be better than the other but I think the other one is “more important” so that gives it the edge. What I’m trying to say is, they’re all winners and on a different day, I might even swap them around.

2. Little Women

I have only seen three of the seven silver screen adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s novel and I don’t expect any of the others to top this one. The secret ingredient to this one's success is Greta Gerwig. Writing and directing, she does so much more than merely translate the classic to movie form. She re-arranges the story to give the events a greater punch than they would if they were shown chronologically and puts a little more emphasis on a couple of key moments (that tear-jerking Christmas, for example) to crank up the emotion. She also makes it more modern without having to change anything about the setting or characters. Admittedly, the back-and-forth between the past and present is a little jarring at first - makes you wonder what Greta Gerwig could’ve done had she been given the de-aging budget Martin Scorsese was given - but that’s where the performances and costumes come in. It takes mere moments before you get what the movie is doing. I’ve said it already but it made me cry.

1. Parasite

To make this list, I didn’t go through all of my past reviews and check which ones were rated what. I thought back to which movies gave me the most vivid memories, which ones gave me the biggest reactions. I’m still not sure how I feel about the final final moment but there’s so much about Parasite that I admire. This would be a great one to watch with others just to see their reactions to the reveal about the bookcase.

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

AUGUST PICKS!

And we’re back with another month wrap up! August involved a lot of TV watching (as per usual), but I feel like I watched a lot of things I’ve already talked about before (ex: The 100, Violetta). So it was a little bit harder to feature some new titles. I felt accomplished this month because I finished quite a few series. So, without further ado...let’s do this!

Spoilers!! But you knew that already :) 

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So I know I’ve spoken about some of these shows A LOT recently, but I still had to include them in this wrap up because they were a good amount of the month. (Even if they feel like they were so long ago.) 

CURSED

This book to screen adaptation on Netflix following Nimue (AKA the Lady of the Lake) re-invents the King Arthur myth. It was an entertaining and enjoyable watch that makes me hope there’s a second season. There were certain parts that bothered me and I wish some characters had more time on screen, but as someone who likes King Arthur and fantasy TV I’d recommend it. 3/5 for me. 

For more on my thoughts regarding the show check out my earlier post: **Spoilers** Featuring Cursed

DC’S STARGIRL

A show that I’ve often been documenting my reviews/feelings after watching each episode. (That’s how you can tell IT’S THAT GOOD.) While it was a bit slow in the beginning (mainly because of it having the quality of being on a streaming service-ending on a cliffhanger for you to binge the next episode immediately kind of feel), it picked up and has easily become one of my favorites for the year. (YEAH...I KNOW. I SAID YEAR.) You can check out my page for more specific reactions in my posts, but here are some of the moments that stick out to me the most when I think about season 1.  

I can’t wait for season 2!!

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER

June doesn’t feel like that long ago, but because I started season 1 two months ago (and because of the world of quarantine) it feels like a long time ago. Especially when this show is only 18-20 episodes that are each about 20/25 minutes. For me, I enjoyed season 1, but not as much as seasons 2 and 3. I definitely watched the first season slower because of this. Once the Ba Sing Se plot happened I was very invested. I enjoyed most of Book 2 in the Earth Kingdom before this, but Ba Sing Se was definitely the best. I was so impressed that they put that into a kid show. Then again, there’s so much in this show that is well done and brings up such relevant issues to a younger audience. I loved following Aang, Katara and Sakka and enjoyed Toph’s addition to Team Avatar. Overall I think Uncle Iroh is my favorite character in the show. I loved all the wisdom he had and how he saw the best in Zuko the entire time. Their team up was great and I am so happy he got his tea shop in the end. His escape from prison was amazing. I love a good redemption arc and from the start was excited to see Prince Zuko’s (it’s one of the ‘spoilers’ I knew going in). I think it was really well done and I liked how they showed him struggling with it. The last agni kai between Zuko and Azula was such a beautiful scene and the music score behind it was so chilling. I love how they chose a slow, instrumental song to play in the background. It’s not what I was expecting and it was such an awesome choice. Overall, I really liked the music and have added it to my writing playlist. I’m really glad I decided to watch Avatar the Last Airbender. 

From one binged show starting in June to another....

VIOLETTA SEASON 2

It’s crazy; you don’t think 80 episodes would go by that fast, but they do. Once you hit episode 50, I just zip by the rest in the season. So many of the plots get SO GOOD, you can’t help but watch so many episodes back to back (to back). For season 2, episode 75 was one of my favorites for the whole season. I love how some of the cast actually got to go to Madrid. (Even the intro music changed when they were there.) Diego really grew on me. I loved the added plot of discovering who his dad is! Feels very telenovela. Gregorio’s reaction was priceless-such great acting-and I loved how much it has changed his character so far. I’m excited to see where he is headed for season 3. 

Leonetta forever! The reason they weren’t together was a bit weak, but I get they needed the love triangle. Overall the Leon/Violetta/Diego love triangle was a lot stronger than season 1′s (in my opinion). It felt better developed. I enjoyed a lot of the couples this season. Frederico and Ludi are a pair I didn’t know I wanted till it happened. Olga and Ramallo actually got a kiss!!! I loved hearing Ramallo talk about how Olga is the only woman in his life. So rare to see such emotions from him. Fran and Leon’s friendship was adorable. I loved their moments in Madrid. She was their #1 shipper. I know in the beginning I said there wasn’t a lot of music and performances, but as the season progressed we definitely got a lot of new songs (which I cannot stop singing). I miss my time at the Studio and hope the third season will be streaming on Disney Plus soon. I heard it could be September 18th so fingers crossed!! 

THE INBESTIGATORS

Filling the void that was left by Little Lunch (and produced by the same studio) is the InBESTigators! A show that follows 4 elementary students who live in Australia and solve mysteries. One of the things I really loved about Little Lunch was how serious they made really trivial, kid-like things sound. I have often described it as an Office-like children’s show, where they talk about their problems directly to the camera and give several ‘Jim’ stares and glances to the camera. With the InBESTigators it’s a similar set up where our four sleuths, Ezra, Maudie, Ava and Kyle, relay a mystery they solved directly to us the viewer, while we watch in flashback. All of the mysteries are typical things that could happen in school or home; from overwatering a neighbor’s prize-winning flowers, packages getting stolen, a lost notebook or catching a cheater during a test. All of the kids are entertaining and funny. They each have a different dynamic that brings something to the team. Currently two of the seasons are on Netflix, and there will be a third season (but who knows when it will be filmed-I’m just happy it will eventually happen). 

If you’re looking for a fun/light-hearted watch look no further. You’ll have a good time. 

UNITED WE FALL

This ABC sitcom fits well on the network and like it would be on Friday nights, but has a stronger day in airing thanks to the pandemic. I hadn’t really heard much about the show and then BAM it was advertised. It felt like the network had it in its back pocket. Nevertheless, I am really enjoying it. The actors have a nice dynamic and it is very funny and relatable. I like how it represents a family with two different cultural backgrounds, but doesn’t make that the main focus of the show. Instead it is discussed naturally. Overall, I don’t know how many people know about it, so I wanted to share it as one of my picks for the month and suggest you watch it if you are looking for something both funny and optimistic. 

DOUBLING DOWN WITH THE DERRICOS

I LOVE this family! As TLC is a network with predictable choices in TV shows, one about a family with multiples does not seem shocking. However, this is not your average family with multiples. At the start of the show, Karen and Deon have a total of 11 children (with only two of them being what they called ‘singletons’). They have twins, quints, and another set of twins (that would have been triplets). Her last three pregnancies were multiples and then she becomes pregnant with triplets. AGAIN! This family is considered a miracle because she had no IVF or anything like that for her conceptions. I love watching them because they seem like a great group to be apart of. They are what the epitome of family should be like. There is so much love. I know when my family watches the show we are all so impressed by how well behaved all of the kids are. People with half the amount of kids often have trouble teaching them to behave. I highly suggest giving the Derricos a watch. New episodes are now airing on TLC. 

SOME LAST MINUTE ADDS....

I know Ben Platt’s concert has been available on Netflix for a while now, but I just got the chance to watch it this month. It was SOOO GOOD and I was upset when it was over. It felt so fast! I had already added a lot of his songs to my playlists, and after watching added the last few I had missed. Now I’ve been listening non-stop. I loved how his concert welcomed us so much into his personal life. The added stories in-between songs helped to see why he created that specific one. Watching the concert was a fun time and something you should consider if you are feeling down during quarantine. 

Every Saturday night we try to watch a movie while we eat dinner. It’s become a new tradition since quarantine began and we were unable to go out to eat or to the movies. This week Jojo Rabbit was the pick. Going into the film, I didn’t know much expect, but that it was a comedy and I assumed a satire. What I didn’t expect was how dark of a turn it would take. It’s amazing how a film can have you laughing uncontrollably at the start and then have you crying at the end. This is definitely a film I could see analyzing in a film studies class. There was so much foreshadowing and moments where so much more was going on then what was shown on the surface. I think it did a great job making the viewer think not only about the time in which it was supposed to take place, but also our current world. I know it’s a good movie when it still has me thinking about it days later. I even did some research into it after watching. Definitely can understand the hype about it and will watch it again in the future. 

When I was putting this list together I was just starting to watch Umbrella Academy. I know, I’m late to the party, but with the newest season coming out this summer I knew it was now or never. (I just had to finish some of the other stuff I was watching first.) Currently, I only have 1 episode left in the first season and am really enjoying it. I was pretty good about spoilers going into it, so a lot of it was new to me. I made some theories on who I thought would be the cause of the apocalypse and so far I am right. I am very interested to see how this season ends and get into the next one because I heard that the majority of people liked that one more. I’ll have a more detailed review in my September Picks, I’m sure of it!  

[81scorp]

My top 7 movies of 2016 (and a bonus)

Hey kids! Its that time again! That day you`ve all been waiting for, when I talk about the movies I`ve seen in the cinema and rank them according to my own personal taste and bias!

Except this year there were some... complications. You might have heard about something called the corona virus, a pandemic and stuff like that.

This year I only had time and opportunity to see one movie in the cinema, not enough material to make a list of as you can see. So instead I`ll give you a list of the movies I saw in 2016! Now, if you`re wondering if I`ll do a list of all the movies I saw in 2015 I`ll have to dissapoint you.

I didn`t start keeping track of my movie going experiences until 2016.

(One of these movies came out 2015, and it even came to the cinemas in my country that year but I didn`t get to see it until 2016, so that`s why it`s on this list.)

M`kay? M`kay.

7: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Zack Snyder is good at making a movie look good but he is not a good story teller.

Man of steel had some shortcomings, but surely Snyder would learn from that and do better in the next movie that would help build the DCEU and lead up to Justice league, right?

Nope. Batman kills, Supes is sad, just like most of this movie, and I can`t really take Eisenbergs Lex seroius as a villain.

But atleast Wonder woman is not in the movie long enough for them to screw up her character, so there`s always that.

Overstuffed, not strong enough to live up to it`s own ambitions and uses up all the big guns in it`s climax instead of saving them for later movies. Snyder was not the right guy for these movies. He`s better suited for telling his own stories than others.

6: Suicide Squad

This one gets a better spot than BvS because I like it. I like that Batman was allowed to be Batman this time and not another one of Snyder`s broken antiheroes who are appearently obligated to kill people just because the plot says so. I like that we were introduced to characters that aren`t Batman, Superman or Wonderwoman for a change, the DC comics universe does have more characters than those three after all. I like that they weren`t afraid to introduce magic into the DCEU. I like that Harley Quinn, a character with potential, finally appeared on the big screen.

But the keyword here is "like". Just because you like something doesn`t mean that it`s good.

The plot is admittedly a mess. A mess I could follow, but still a mess. Some consider this movie worse than BvS because that movie at least had ambitions while this does not. Yeah but this was fun, and without ambitions it had one less area where it could fail.

Buut that`s not really an argument in it`s favor.

5: Dr Strange

I feel bad putting it this close to Suicide Squad on the list becuse it is much better than that.

Pretty standard MCU quality. Does not dissapoint but doesn`t excel either.

"Iron Man but on LSD" is an accurate description of the plot but also a very generalizing way of describing the movie. Cool set pieces, original ideas and a clever climax makes it different enough from most of the other chapters in the MCU saga churned out by the giant Marvel movie factory.

4: Star Wars: the force awakens (2015)

I didn`t ask much from the new Star Wars movies. I only wished for two things: Don`t mention Jar Jar or midichlorians.

Besides avoiding those obvious mistakes the movie also had good acting, likeable characters capable of delivering non-wooden dialogue, sets that weren`t completely CGI`d and a pretty engaging scene between Han Solo and Kylo Ren. Sure, it played it a little too safe by borrowing more than a few plot points from A new hope but other than that it did what a Star Wars movie should do.

3: Deadpool

The basic spine of the plot is not very innovative and a little old fashioned: boy meets girl, boy loses girl to kidnappers, boy gets superpowers and rescues girl. But what sets this apart from other movies that have used the same formula is the execution. It has a lot of comedy, raw violence and some self aware fourth wall breaking.

R rated superhero comicbook movies are few and rare. R rated superhero comicbook movies that break the fourth wall are even rarer, and thats what makes this movie intersting.

2: Captain America: Civil War

The MCU has always had a little problem with sequels. A few examples are Iron man 2 and 3 and Thor the dark world. Here`s were the Captain America movies are a golden exception.

Captain America: Civil war did not surprise me as much as Captain America: Winter soldier but it still gave me something to sink my teeth into.

It gives both sides good and understandable reasons to fight for the things they believe in and it introduced two new characters in a way that felt like it helped the plot instead of cluttering it.

It gives you some "Hell Yeah!" moments but also someting to think about.

And now...

Drumroll please.

My number one pick for 2016 iiis...

1: Zootopia

As usual, the movie that gets the number one spot on my list is an animated one that knows how to tug at my heart strings. I like when a movie gets me to feel someting but to get the number one spot on my list a movie needs to do a little more than that, and that`s what this movie did. It made me feel and it made me think.

Some tears, some laughs and a little commentary on todays society.

Here`s where my list would normally end, but this year hasn`t exactly been normal. Before I get to the one movie I actually saw in the cinema this year I`m gonna list some of the movies I planned to see this year but didn`t get the chance to.

Wonder Woman 1984

Onward

Sonic the hedgehog (I did see this one in 2020. On DVD. It was adequate.)

Scoob!

Birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of one Harley Quinn

The New Mutants

(Black Widow used to be on this list but since it got delayed to 2021 I couldn`t keep it on my 2020 list.)

And now...

Drumroll please... again.

The only movie that I saw in the cinema in 2020 iiis...

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

It is late world war two, we follow Johannes "Jojo" Bretzler, a 10 year old boy who believes in the nazi ideals so much that he has Adolf Hitler himself as an imaginary best friend.

Just when you think that we have made all the movies we can about WWII this movie shows that there are still are a few angles left that we haven`t tried.

Jojo Rabbit shows us not just how dangerous, but also how immature nazism is. The worst kind of immaturity, the kind that lacks any kind of selfawareness and believes that it is dead serious.

If I could to sum up this movie in three words they would be: Important, serious and funny.

And that`s my list, feel free to disagree.

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Deviation nr: 142

Written Stuff nr: 35 I usually post these lists at the beginning of the new year instead of at the end of the old one. But this year there was no point in waiting for any late December releases (for obvious reasons). I had already seen all the movies I could see. Let`s hope that next year is better.