#there are amazing films out there

[respectthepetty]

In Short (Short Film Appreciation Post)

Because I'm loving the discussion about the lack of queer diversity in western mainstream media, I want to encourage y'all to support your local queer film festivals. They showcase international queer feature-length films and a wide variety of short films from marginalized voices.

To motivate you, let me present two shorts films:

Up first

F^¢k 'Em R!ght B@¢k

I watched this twelve minute short film last year as part of the screening committee I sit on, and I'm pleased it's finally available, for a fee, on several streaming platforms.

After a night of partying, Sammy's boss demands he take a random drug test, so he must avoid and outwit her to keep his job.

This is Sammy.

He doesn't smoke weed.

But he unknowingly ate weed butter when offered a delicious cake from a random guy he slept with.

This is his boss.

He catches wind of her planning to give him a random drug test, so since the system is fucking Sammy over, he plans to fuck it right back by taking two days of leave to figure out how to get out of it.

He tries everything to get the weed out of his system. EVERYTHING!

Even his best friend suggests using her pee instead.

Basically, Sammy is stressed, pressed, and systemically oppressed.

Yet with the help of modern technology, he realizes he can finesse his way out of this.

So looking like a million, he shows up for work the next day.

But in order to find out how he fucks the system, you gotta watch the short.

And let me tell you, the reason is beautiful.

The short features real-life queer rapper Ddm Ddm

But it also touches on workers' rights and community support.

In Short, it's hilarious, realistic, and all-around amazing.

Up next,

How Not to Date While Trans

Director, writer, and main character Nyala Moon shares a humorous take on dating while trans. This 13-minute short film is free on YouTube, but Moon currently has another short making the festival rounds called "Dilating for Maximum Results" and it's just as hilarious.

This heartfelt yet cutting comedy follows the dating life of Andie, a black trans woman, and the problematic men she meets along the way.

Moon's short is comedy gold, and a great part of it is due to her blunt depiction of being a trans woman.

In the short, she plays Andie, who is a transformer, which she explains is an insult to trans women, but she is trying to reclaim it.

She has a three-date rule before she tells a guy she is trans: coffee, dinner date, then the third date must be public in case he freaks out when she tells him.

But the second date is usually the hardest since she has to subtly quiz the guys without outing herself. It's like a game show, but the men don't know they are on it, and she stays safe!

But even when guys make it to the third date, there is still the chance they will run.

So the short discusses not only dating but random hookups.

Will she attempt the tried and true "nail and bail" or is she open for something more?

To find out, you have to watch it!

In Short, it shows all the ways trans women must navigate dating while also making sure Andie gets laid.

Once again, support your local queer film festival and watch some great films!

[ingravinoveritas]

New DW video diary from Georgia, and David once again cannot shut up about Michael...

[junkdyke]

I have officially graduated from college, bitchesssss!!

[petrovna-zamo]

Katya will be featured in the documentary series Raw & Real: The Truth Be Told

[panncakes]

"That fool died long ago, Tinn."

LAWS OF ATTRACTION (2023)

c. Richard Siken

[mikimeiko]

Nope (Jordan Peele, 2022)

[amaranthdahlia]

god i will never stop fawning over how absolutely SPECTACULAR afo vs bakugou was. genuinely one of the best fights in the entire manga in terms of art, the themes, the pararells, the gayness, the fight itself, and just. everything about it makes me wanna scream into my pillow and chew on it

[tinyclowndancer]

pspspsps porretta besties from the dark place who refused to bring this song to its end here's a little something for you. 🎙️

[ciderbird]

On the topic of alexander depictions in film or tv, do u have a favourite ? might be difficult for you to properly answer as he usually appears only briefly, but :)

He does mostly appear briefly in movies so it is hard to pick a favorite… in my opinion no version encapsulated him in all his… ‘range’ to put it nicely) He left quite contradictory impressions on people so it’s no surprise his on-screen portrayals are all over the place but I think they all have good aspects.

The 2023 Napoleon movie probably has my favorite appearance of the tsar so far. Everyone’s so eager to make him bald by 1807, it’s nice to see a version that shows why most of Europe was so charmed by him. He nailed that look of boyish innocence and I think he could have really shined with a better script.

I already wrote extensively my thoughts on Toby Stephens so I won’t repeat myself, but there’s this tendency (mostly with soviet movies) to portray Alexander as vain, weak, petty and kind of stupid (which… is not UNTRUE but he was not only that). But all bitchy versions of Alex get a point for sass

So notable exceptions to this are weirdly two Russian series from the early 00’s: “Poor, poor Paul” and “The Northern Sphinx” that portray Alexander at very different stages of his life but feel like organic extensions of each other because they really lean into that ‘sensitive tortured idealist’ part of his personality

“Poor poor Paul” in my opinion absolves Alexander of any sin a bit too much (and his relationship with his wife was WAY too perfect for how quickly that went downhill) but it’s still one if the few versions that attempts some deeper understanding of his personal conflict and actually takes him seriously

And finally the Northern Sphinx! The series picks up at 1818 after Alexander is already disillusioned with power, tortured by his past, and drawn to mysticism. I have only watched the series halfway through, but this might be the most complex analysis of him on screen so far. It shows him deeply disappointed by life and already past his prime, but it makes him no less compelling to watch. You really understand why people are so drawn to him despite everything.

Now this series is pretty obscure even in Russia and the quality of sound and footage are a bit… subpar (low-budget russian tv, duh) so the chances of finding a subtitled version are pretty slim. But if you are interested I recommend at least scrubbing through it, the main actor is quite good.

[deadpoetsmusings]

Catherine Called Birdy (2022) dir. Lena Dunham

[e-von-dahl]

Jere’s girlfriend watching him almost drown in a hotel pool:

[ingravinoveritas]

irvinis replied to your post "The fact that they made everyone leave the set..."

@ingravinoveritas correct me if I'm wrong. As far as I remember, M and D, as representatives of the old school, talked about “coordinators of intimate scenes” and so on. respecting boundaries as a surprising new trend? That is, they (as actors) didn’t really need to push everyone out the door.

martinsharmony replied to your post "The fact that they made everyone leave the set..."

do we know if there was in fact an intimacy coordinator used on this scene? I keep intending to check the credits. Also I love that it was a closed set because OF COURSE it was. It's an incredibly heavy scene - the heaviest in the entire series. So much emotion required from the actors. As actors, they deserve a closed set to get to the place they need to be in and exist there. I would say it was closed more for that then the kissing.

@irvinis @martinsharmony I'm not sure if it was ever confirmed whether an intimacy coordinator was used for this scene (either on the day of shooting, or in rehearsals beforehand). Intimacy coordinators are fairly standard on film sets these days as far as I know, but it sounds like it was only Rob (producer), Gavin (cinematographer), and Michael and David on the actual day. Which brings up so many questions about everything, like did Michael and David say they didn't need an intimacy coordinator, or was the kiss choreographed a certain way but then once the were kissing, just took off running with it ("it kept on going" was the exact phrase, I believe).

But I also wonder if the "This is happening!" moment almost went a bit like this...

That realization of that third thing that comes into being when Michael and David are together--and that would no doubt be even more powerful and noticeable in a deeply intimate situation like this. And if that is the case, then I would agree with your assertion @martinsharmony that perhaps the set was closed for more than just the kissing. Michael and David are professionals and superbly talented actors, without question. But it does make you wonder if they went to an intimate place emotionally--not just as the characters, but with each other--that was ultimately what necessitated that closed set.

We can't know exactly what Rob or Gavin saw in those takes that seemingly no longer exist (God, how I wish we could see them...). But even just this little insight that Rob has given is enough to make you wonder. So longing for the day when the SAG strike is resolved and Michael can finally tell us (mostly) everything we've been dying to know...

[daisythornes]

speedrun of things that cause me agony in the wondla tv series trailer:

whyyy did they have to make the sanctuary so sterile and minimalistic? the book sanctuaries had this charming clunky 70s sci-fi design to them – they were blocky and durable and Eva's was tangibly lived-in, even worn in some places, because that was the point! they were an experiment that outlived their usefulness, but people kept living in them & they felt like it. this feels like Kim Kardashian's creepy white torture house.

"this... is me." has this line not become extremely passé in trailers, like almost to the point of parody?

that is NOT Muthr. idk who that is, but she is not mothering. it's like they took her book design and stripped away anything that may have been even slightly challenging to the cocomelon-smoothed zeitgeist of current animation. she's just so... nothing. she doesn't even look like a robot so much as like.. the lame soul design from pixar's soul. book Muthr looked WEIRD, but you can see the ways in which she's literally a synthetic + superhuman recreation of a Mother Figure: her head shape mirrors the beehive hairdo, her big eyes are saccharine sweet, she has four arms bc she always needs to do a million things at once, etc. i get that this version of Muthr was probably way easier to animate, and i don't even think they had to stick to the original design 100% as long as they still did something interesting for her, but. they didn't.

rip Eva's sick as hell hairstyle. :( seriously, her complicated braids were so important. bc 1) they were an homage to Dorothy's braids in the wizard of oz, the book to which the whole trilogy is a love letter. 2) they immediately gave her a unique visual identity as a character. 3) they contributed to the world of Wondla feeling genuinely strange and foreign to our current one. 4) they subtly spoke to things like Eva's boredom and loneliness and all the time she had to herself.

the paltry mini braids and single low bun they gave her instead are WEAK. again, they didn't have to follow the books to the letter, but. they did kinda need to give us something more memorable and distinctive than this.

i mean... there is ofc the obvious question of why'd they make her 16 instead of going on 13 like she was in the books? but also, perhaps even more crucially, why does she look like a whole ass adult woman? wondla is very much a coming of age story, and it's really good at capturing the messiness of that experience in every way down to its character design. this Eva doesn't look messy, she looks like an influencer. also i hate that current disneyesque cgi character design.

her outfit's like... fine. but it was so fucking cute in the books. cute and ultra utilitarian, and unlike anything i'd ever really seen before. can't a girl have a vest with a funky collar, cool billowy balloon sleeves, and scrunchy knee socks? do yknow how many kids would want to be Eva for halloween if they simply gave her an outfit that looked cuter? they're leaving money on the damn table.

she wasn't done with her training for life on the surface in the books, and that was important. :/ not that anything could've really prepared her, but the fact that she was so young made her terror and anger all the more palpable. i guess i don't think it's inherently terrible for her to be a bit older in adaptation, but idk, at least let her retain that trial by fire/still kind of a scared kid quality that's integral to her arc.

the placement of the 'wondla' letters on the page makes no sense. it's meant to be the wonderful wizard of oz (or the wonderful wizard of oz by l. frank baum. i forget which, but ONE of those for sure), so by all accounts the l and a shouldn't be right next to each other like that, there should be more space between those two letters.

now i don't fully remember, but i super don't think that 'Eva find me' note was in the books. Eva would've been way more obsessed with it if it was. in the books, she doesn't know the 'wondla' page was actually left for her, it's just this strange anomaly she finds that gives her hope, but she sort of creates that hope herself. its origin is an honest to god mystery until the second book, and therefore, the meaning that Eva gives it is what really comes to define it.

it's not just that no one had seen a human in a long time, most aliens on Orbona had never seen a human at all until Eva came along. that's a big difference! though, this audio does sound chopped up from multiple sentences, so maybe disregard this.

i don't like that they gave away the 'Orbona was once Earth' twist right off the bat. i know it's not a wholly original trope in sci-fi, but this is a middle-grade/family series, and it straight up blew my mind to see as a kid that hadn't ever really read true sci-fi before. and Orbona is SO bizarre, and Eva is SO desperate to find other humans, that the reveal is extra jarring and bleak, and it creates such powerful tension. why give the impact of that away in the trailer?? why not just let people think she's stuck on an alien planet until they get the full emotional gut punch when they actually watch it for themselves?

where's the lake in Lacus? :/ that was... kinda the basis of Lacus' culture and design and all. like ok i see some water, but Lacus should be almost more water than village.

Otto's design!! why god why.

why is Otto furry, why are his eyes Like That, etc.

nooo, don't show the ruins of New York in the trailer, that's for the audience to discover in horror along with Eva.

also why does Otto (i think that's him talking at least?) sound like that? thumbs down.

what are the. uh. shark tale-looking creatures running on water. they're very shark tale-looking (derogatory). they don't look like they belong in this series?? like did this footage just get misfiled?

egads it's coming out at the end of this month. i'm gonna watch it of course. but the whole time i'll be thinking about what could've been. and i'll reread the books, too. >:|

[arctixout]

hair flick

[mikimeiko]

They Cloned Tyrone (Juel Taylor, 2023)

[agir1ukn0w]

FRANCIS LAWRENCE RELEASE THE EXTENDED CUT!!!!!