#the unforgiven trilogy is just...... FUCK

[coreytaylr]

when youre listening to metallica and are suddenly BLASTED IN THE CHEST WITH STEDE BONNET FEELINGS

[lambergeier]

i just think more ya and genre fiction in general should have the balls of mr stroud's bartimaeus trilogy. wrap up your series not just with your young mc dead as a doornail but he's also: unforgiven for his crimes as an agent of empire; his death saves lives but does not itself end any oppressive systems (spirit summoning OR the terrestrial british empire); and frankly there's very little indication that either of those systems will get any better post-canon whatsoever! the british proletariat has thrown off their chains, but it's not looking likely that they'll do the same for the colonies! kitty may try to proselytize about human-spirit relations, but she's one woman against the world! i just don't think her chances are great! nathaniel's death saved a lot of people who will never thank him for it and exactly two people who would (edit: BUT CAN'T! BECAUSE HE'S DEAD!). it improves nothing about the world, just gives it the slim chance, in other hands, of some unlikely day getting a smidgen better. his morals are so totally absent by mid-book 3 that the major emotional revelation he comes to, building up across three books, the climax of his personal arc, is "oh fuck other people are also people too." he was fully unaware of that one prior. great fucking series. cry every time

[adotrevsleft]

Album ranking post #1:

Initial thoughts (May 1st 2023): this album and all of its songs have something to offer to any different type of audiences. However, these were clearly made for the fearnots and the fearnots only.

Final thoughts (June 23rd 2023): I still stand with the opinion that there is a variety in the album tracks and each song is different which leads to appeal to different types of people, so maybe it's not just for the fans. It mainly is, but not completely. However, there is a huge inconsistency within the album tha could have been better executed, also there was no reason to add the other songs wich were literally the same just adding a (2023 version). There was no reason. I know it was done so there wouldn't be a recording of garam but, girl was proven innocent like nearly a year ago, so what was the reason? But, it surely does make me excited for their next comeback, because this was the end of their trilogy, I believe, so I'm excited to see what they will be able to offer us next time.

Now onto the ranking - with a few words:

1) FEARNOT (between you, me and the lampost) - a beautiful song that is so highly underappreciated in the lsfm fandom, it's insane. I have been playing this song on repeat since release. Because who doesn't love depressing songs yk? Atm, I have to say that this is my favourite track from lsfm's discography so far. The emotion is felt through their vocals and that's probably why I instantly fell in love with this song. 10/10

2) Eve, Psyche and the Bluebeard's wife - so fucking catchy. Also on repeat. Tbh, when I first listened to it I was slightly unsure but it's amazing. But, I just know that "I'm a mess in distress, but we're still the best dressed, fearless say yes, we don't dress to impress" is going to stay iconic. 9.5/10

3) Unforgiven (feat. Nile Rodgers) - tbf, I was surprised no one was making a big fuss that Nile Rodgers was a feat in this song because when I told my dad he genuinely freaked out. People are comparing this to unforgiven constantly to the point in which the song seems to be unenjoyable, but really this song is something to be enjoyed by itself. 8.5/10

4) No-return (into the unknown) - just a fun little song. After listening it from their concert, I was super excited for this song. It was quite catchy for the first week but afterwards I got bored of listening to it. But, it is a really sweet song and I did genuinely enjoy it at one point. 8/10

5) Burn The Bridge - genuinely makes me want to fight my inner demons (I don't have inner demons dw, it's just a metaphor). This is an intro I can vibe to instantly. The other ones that were previously released were not as interesting, this intro sounds like the intro to a long story (in this case the album), it sounds like a proper intro and I have played it a few times because it does feel quite empowering listening to it. 8/10

6) Flash Forward - it is such a cute song. I haven't gone back to it a lot, but certainly is a great song. It really depends on the mood of that day for me to listen to this. Clearly, this was trying to be similar to good parts, but good parts was way catchier imo. Also, this is a song I would recommend to anyone who likes a chill pop song. 7/10

7) Fire In The Belly - just because this track is at the bottom of this ranking doesn't necessarily mean it is a bad track. I can see the reason people enjoy it, but for some reason I don't see it. People say it's like antifragile or that this should've been the title track, but imo this doesn't have the same power and statement that Unforgiven does, and is definitely not as powerful in execution as Antifragile either, that's why I heavily disagree with that opinion. But, it's not a bad song either. 5.5/10

Overall score for this album: 8.1/10

[makotokyoqoku-archived]

god not to go on about how the unforgiven i and ii are about being shaped and manipulated into being someone youre not--someone youve never been happy with, but its all youve known your entire life--and how, in the second part, not only are you seeking forgiveness for / to yourself but youve also found someone who understands your pain and is so... supportive of you. its a story about recovering from your past, about how powerful it is to have someone be there for you. its a story about hope and vulnerability and recovery, told in two parts.

[chiclet-go-boom]

in case you didn’t know

I’m really sucked into Star Wars right now in general and Kylo Ren in particular. You can’t have missed it, my entire blog is covered in black armor and tastefully done softcore porn of Ben Solo’s alter ego. But we’re down to less than 30 days to the last movie so I figured I’d better put this out there into the void before its too late and listen to it scream on the way down.

I love all the sequel characters. All of them. I think Finn is fan-fucking-tastic, I love Rey to pieces, I dig Poe a whole shit ton and adored his arc in TLJ. Adored. Rose is amazing (go tazer girl!), Hux is my murder-baby who ain’t getting no love, and Kylo Ren is, like... yeah. Hell, Holdo turned me around twice with how I felt about her and I ain’t forgetting it.

I am at once flabbergasted and proud of Rian for subverting Luke Skywalker’s story. Again, did not see that coming. Really struggled to come to terms with it actually but holy shit, the golden child of the first three movies is a person, with flaws? Flaws that cause untold damage, equal to and more than the redemption he originally brought? That Luke Skywalker was traumatized like the rest of us and fucked up because of it? That he died unforgiven by the person he wronged most? Holy shit. Have the bouquet of roses and the tiara, Rian. That really meant something to me. 

I liked The Force Awakens but I loved The Last Jedi if you couldn’t tell. Rian blew my socks off. Did not see ANY of that coming and I squealed excitedly at that final trailer like the rest of us goombas. How did we manage to get a trailer that looked like it showed damned near everything and pretty much showed nothing? Magic. That was fucking editing magic. Bless you magic editing woman in the background whom I will never know. 

Kylo Ren speaks to me on an emotional level that would take many paragraphs to touch on, let alone explore. 

I am beyond excited for The Rise of Skywalker. 12/10, already have my tickets for Thursday and Friday night showings. 

I have thought deeply about this and have come to the following conclusions:

MY REQUIREMENTS FOR TROS

Kylo Ren must choose to be redeemed*

Kylo Ren must live

THINGS I’D REALLY LIKE IN TROS

Rey and Kylo have some fucking unambiguous romantic ending. Is that a kiss? A clutch-hug just before a fight or in front of a double sunrise? Murmured words of love on the battlefield and a promise that might be impossible to keep? A SACRIFICE MOVE?! Don’t care, surprise me. Won’t die if it doesn’t happen but yeah, I want it bad enough to taste it.

Something more than 5 minutes onscreen with the Knights of Ren. I don’t expect they’ll spend much time on it, but I want it. I want to know more about this cadre, where they came from, who they are, if they’re loyal to Snoke, or the First Order or Kylo in specific (please be loyal to Kylo, please be loyal to Kylo).

Some really bad ass moves from Kylo. I don’t know. Crush a Star Destroyer or something. Give me something to squeal about and possibly touch myself over later. 

THINGS THAT I EXPECT WILL NOT HAPPEN BUT I WANT TO HAPPEN ANYWAYS

Gimme Stormpilot. I not so secretly wish for Poe and Finn to move beyond bro territory, although there’s nothing in TLJ that supports it as a viable canon relationship. But damn it, I want it anyways. 

Stormtrooper rebellion. Sue me, I want more Finns to find their way out.

* Kylo Ren can stay Dark, in fact, I hope he does. I don’t want him to have to drag his bleeding trauma back over that sith/jedi line in the service of forgiveness and redemption. I don’t really need the guy to go back to being Ben Solo, unless he truly decides he wants to pick that identity back up again. Acknowledge it, yes. Can’t escape your past, amigo. But be Ben Solo again? Don’t need it, that’s on Kylo to figure out (and if it does happen, I really hope it’s not a cheesy 4 second declaration of allegiance switching). But I do want him to realize how damaged he is, how much of it isn’t his fault but he still Did The Bad Things and start... working his way back from it.

So, we’re clear on this, yes? I have -expectations- of the last movie and I have deep feelings about all the sequels movies. 

(In the entire sequel trilogy, the only thing I am meh on is the standard cutesy animals. They’re cute. That’s what they’re there for. The exist for about a combined 3 minutes of “d’awww!” and I’m too old to really care but I appreciate that the plushies are likely doing well in the toy stores. If somebody bought me a little crystal fox I’d be fine with that but my world is complete without one.)))

[bansheefunk]

Just watched: A bunch of pirated DVDs I found around the house.

8 nov '18, night I haven't watch a DVD in years but somehow this bulk found a way to my home, mostly from my sister, I think she saw these movies on her laptop but I didn't had a way to even play them. My sister ditched her old laptop, I took it, installed Windows 8.1 and I released that I can use it as a media player with ease, immediately these old DVDs came to my mind so I decided to actually watch them for the first time. Having physical media on my hands after so long feels super nostalgic. actually interacting with the movie as an object is an unique feeling we've lost, I've yearned for it and this has made me so happy.

The Baron of Arizona (1950) I have to admit I saw this movie last week but didn't feel like writing anything about it. My first thought was "This is the count of montecristo but backwards" because it's about a man who organizes a complex plot to better his life but as the movie goes on this persists showing that his well being is ruining the lives of other people. Is not a movie that challenges the viewer but it's a ruse so outlandish it makes for it.

The Steel Helmet (1951) I should point out these criterion movies I have are from a collection of the early films of Samuel Fuller, Who is Samuel Fuller? I don't know really. This movie was produced while the korea war was still gong on and you can tell they could not film on location. I'm very undecided if this movie is propaganda or not, it may even be sincere on it's language of support but if it's not then it fails terribly, it's too soft on its criticism and makes no attempt to show the worst parts of war or trying to humanize the enemy. This movie bothers me, I don't want to think it's sincere propaganda but offers really little out of it. After watching this movie I decided to write these impressions, it's trip worth going across.

15 nov 18, night I Shot Jesse James (1949) I didn't work!. my computer wasn't even able to read it! Cue Family Guy skit about the goodness of physical then it doesn't work.

Heat (1995) My first reaction was seeing this movie's play time and going all '3 fucking hours!' in disbelief. When I finally sat to watch it I was very surprised, all these big name actors, how come I never heard of this movie before? Possibly because it was never on TV because of '3 fucking hours!' Soon enough I was very charmed. this movie is well made and there is no other way to put it, everything from the photography to the performances everything deliverers the right point, like eating food at the exact temperature that you like adding more to the experience. When I first started watching I didn't release this movie was from 1995 and there is nothing in the movie that sets it on such year giving an authentic atemporal feeling. Still there is something grand about this movie, like if this was the top of what hollywood schlock could aspire to be, this is still a crime movie after all but a damn good one and I feel bad I never saw it before.

20 nov '18, night Skyfall (2012) I'm not the biggest James Bond fan, I've seen some of the movies when they're on TV, saw casino Royale on theaters and I'm familiar with the lore. I'm not a casual but I can't spout mindless trivia. The movie was quiet long, two and a half hours but it was so well photographed, why does this type of schlock always look so good? This entry tried to be a game changer for the franchise, we get new characters in the old roles, new offices for the M16 and they try to give Bond some character, it's all acknowledged and it's so strange because on the Bond films I've seen they don't pretend the new actors took over the previews one. Giving Bond some depth really disgusted me, Bond has mostly been like Tintin or Link, a blank slate for the viewer but now that Bond is a scotsman from a wealthy family and an orphan I don't like him so much but beside that I can't hate this movie, it's just schlock for those who like schlock and doesn't try to e anything but schlock and I respect that. I also want to complain that once I was done with this movie the plastic bag where it came from was nowhere to be found, I'm frustrated about having to look up a freaking plastic bag just for this.

26 nov '18, night Max Payne (2008) When I started to watch this movie I thought it was good, the right balance of style, action, drama and grit. When I sat to watch the second half the sound started to go off but I fixed it switching the language but this cycled continued and the audio laster shorter and shorter times until I hat to sit on front of the laptop and changing the language each minute, it was awful and by the end when I got a montage of what we saw 20 minutes ago but with different cuts  felt offended, I felt like if the movie wanted to waste my time and overall any joy or good opinions I had were extinguished, maybe some other time I could had enjoyed this better but not I only feel a Family Guy gag mocking me for trusting a DVD that had lived in a plastic bag for years.

30 nov '18, night Serpico (1973) My first reaction to this movie was "What a fucking boomer and his boomer booms" but our main character grew on me and I started to empathize with him, he's a pure soul, too pure for this world but strong who fought for what he believed and for a better world, it's really a touching drama and hard to hate. A thing that fascinated me was the mise en scene, everything looks old, like if it was already old when the movie was shot but I know all that stuff was new I'm just used to see every prop after years and years of use. And I loved the way everything in the city looked, it felt like it had a sad story to tell. This is a good move that won me over after having a bad first impression.

5 nov '18, night Blue (1993) I started seeing this the night I finished Serpico, I thought I could watch the first 10 minutes but the dvd died before that, I thought I was set for another bad disc but few days later I tried again, skipped around and managed to get the movie running tho there are like 6 minutes missing at the beginning, I didn't mind them but as the movie went on I released that I missed something important stuff, I didn't got what it was supposed to be but the negative space stays with me. This movie is a damn good movie and there is no other way to put it, everything is too well done and the only thing I feel is left behind is the soundtrack but that is just me being tires of all soundtracks sounding the same but it's used so well it charms for different reasons. This is a very slow and thick character drama and examination, is the kind of movie I wish I could make, the kind of story I wish I could tell.

10 dic '18, night Red (1994) Is hard to talk about this movie, so many things go on yet it doesn't feel rushed or cramped, it a human story realistic but yet has that edge that reminds you it's pure fiction. Its a roller coaster of emotions but feels so serene. All honest I feel Blue is above Red but I can't wait to see white.

14 dic '18, past midnight White (1994) I don't have much to say about this one, it took me by surprise that most of it was in polish, I didn't expect one of these movie to be set in poland like this but still has ties to france. all the movies in this trilogy tell a human story that also has something that bents it and requires some suspension of disbelief, they're not fantasy but they're like a urban legend or a very distorted real account. Right now I think in order of quality they're Blue > White > Red which is also the order that came out, maybe watching them out of order really affected how do I think about them.

21 dic '18, night Cry baby (1990) When I saw the cover I expected a drama, a greaser crying just summoned he image of a post war hollywood drama like Blackboard Jungle, Picnic, The Lost Weekend or the obvious choice rebel Without A Cause. I pop the movie in and I'm greeted a a dumb comedy wrapped in some many layers of irony the core is completely lost, I can tell is a comedy but only one joke made me laugh, none of the songs stuck with me and overall the only thing the movie leaves on me is a slight ironic 50's nostalgia. When I was done with the film I told my sister about it (She own the DVD after all) and she said this movie was too tame for a John Waters film, the guy who made Pink Flamingos also made this and that was so shocking. This movie is just strange on the inside and the outside.

29 dic '18, night The Breed (2006) This movie is so bad it only survived by sharing a case with a good movie, I found this crap in the same case for two Clint Eastwood movie, I never heard about it before and after finally watching I can see why. Supposedly this is a horror movie but everything it sets out to be fails on its task, the first thing I found jarring was the photography, is very warm and mellow, in no point does this look like a horror movie and always looks like a romance or an R&B video. The second big issue are the dogs, the dogs are the monster of the movie and they just don't rub me in a bad way, the movie fails to show dogs in a scary or aggressive manner and some scenes that are supposed to be scary are actually kind of cute, these dogs are adorable no matter how much they bark, as the movie went on I released the dogs didn't stand a chance, tons of dogs get hurt or killed while we only get two humans dead and a third from an accident were a dog also died. This movie is bad, a legitimate 4/10, goddammit.

7 ene '18, night Unforgiven (1992) I can't say much about this movie beside that it's damn good, I'm unsure why but I think it has the right balance between, character development, action and drama but I may be wrong. Also the photography is very crispy I can't believe this movie is from 1992, I thought it was from 2002 the first time I popped the DVD in.

10 ene '19, night The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) Another really good movie. I'm very charmed by the sense of adventure, things happen out of nothing and some of them go away just like that, there is a sense of restlessness across the movie and that drives it, we feel the character's pathos and march with them without feeling the same danger and it's that chaotic feeling what makes this movie feel so human, things happen up and down like in life and not like in movies where things happen to move the story, the characters were the ones moving and things happened to them. Also both of the Clint Eastwood movies had several things in common, both start with Eastwood's characters as simple men who have to take arms for money and war respectively, both feature a younger sidekick who gets tired with the violence and an overall feeling that the violence we're seeing is not the way things should be, I'm sure these movies were packed together because of that and I really like that message. These are all the DVDs that are around the house, I should catch up with some cartoons now, I want to take a picture of the DVDs but as the moment I'm writing this I don't have a camera, it'll be a while before I can publish this.