#this is great like a lot of the military side of the cast’s subplots to the Hulk’s main plots have had to do with intense scenarios

[daydreamerdrew]

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #205

[cadyrocks]

Saw Love and Thunder. Mild spoilers ahead.

It was fine. Not Waititi's best work, not as good as Ragnarok, but definitely an enjoyable popcorn flick.

Suffers, like many Marvel projects, from a serious difficulty taking anything seriously. Like, I'm sorry, Thor getting in a fight with his magic axe because it's jealous about him caring about Mjolnir? It's so silly and absurd that it makes it very hard for the scenes that are supposed to be powerful or poignant to work. It's this constant tonal whiplash. In one scene, Thor is having an "argument" with his axe (me and the person I watched it with disagree on this subplot; she thinks it's so stupid it's awesome; I think it's so stupid it's stupid). In the next, our protagonists are being tortured by shadow tentacle monsters. In one scene, a child uses her stuffed rabbit to annihilate hordes of monsters (monsters we're supposed to be somewhat concerned about, mind you); in the next, multiple major characters are having a battle of rhetoric for the fate of the universe while slowly dying.

Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel managed this tightrope walk between lighthearted humor and heavy subject matter well. Love and Thunder does not, and suffers as a result. The individual scenes are all pretty excellent - I gripe about the rabbit scene in the overall structure but as an individual scene it's absolutely amazing - but they tend not to cohere very well, particularly with the "Natalie Portman has stage 4 cancer and is not handling it well" subplot.

On the level of individual scenes, I have to critique most of the fight scenes. For most of the movie up until the end of act 2, not a single fight feels meaningful or impactful. It's all Thor and Friends utterly demolishing endless waves of mooks and shadow monsters, none of which do anything resembling bleeding. Unless Gor is personally fighting, the stakes seem virtually nonexistent, and there's no drama. This is pretty funny in the opening fight scene, establishing just how much Thor out lasses the Guardians in terms of raw strength, but it just keeps happening long after it stops being an interesting setup.

So what does work?

Well, the "Thor is an emotionally unstable dick who his friends are entirely right to hate" opening is extremely well done. Gor is a great villain (who belongs in a movie that takes itself far more seriously) and owns basically every scene he's in. The beat where Thor gets stripped naked and Zeus's female entourage faints is just absolutely hilarious; yes, Chris Hemsworth is a very sexy man, glad we got that settled. The aforementioned bunny rabbit scene is incredible. While the cast talking up the movie as "super queer" is a very obvious lie, the few small gay scenes, particularly Valkyrie flirting with one of Zeus's entourage, are tasteful and fun. The ending is poignant and heavy and, again, belongs in an entirely different movie from the aforementioned (and genuinely incredible) bunny rabbit scene. Matt Damon's cameo is incredible.

More generally, Taika Waititi's direction shines through. The visuals are excellent and when the movie is allowed to be silly and camp, it looks, sounds, and feels incredible. The vibes are immaculate. Also, it's a bit of a cheap shot for the soundtrack to be mostly Guns And Roses classics, but I am nothing if not a sucker for badass action scenes set to Paradise City. Sue me. It works.

So yeah. Lots of excellent pieces that don't quite fit together, a lot of good actors putting in solid performances, a soundtrack that's just barely on the right side of cliché, no handjobs for the US military-industrial complex, Chris Pratt disappears from the plot after about five minutes, which is about as much Chris Pratt as I'm interested in tolerating these days... It's not bad! It's a perfectly serviceable blockbuster.

It's also gonna be the last Marvel film I watch for a good long while, because throughout the entire movie, I couldn't help but notice those little critiques niggling at me. It's impossible to take anything seriously when everyone's response to everything is witty quips. People don't actually talk or act like that, to an embarrassing degree. There's an attempt to raise the stakes by doing something truly horrific, but we never grapple with any of the consequences or tragedy of that event, and you could have replaced it with Gor stealing Thor's favorite irreplaceable Macguffin for all the impact on the story it ends up having. In other words: it's a Marvel movie, with all that entails. As lovely as Taika Waititi's sensibilities and visual direction are, the fact is we've been here before a few too many times.

As I watched the small city worth of people who worked on this thing roll by in the credits, I couldn't shake the feeling that the Marvel formula has, at long last, become stale. The committee design has run out of ideas. The crowning moments of awesome can't distract me from how shallow and incongruous the whole is. Your flying screaming goats are but yet another plaything in the infinite sandbox of bored, apathetic gods, and I don't care if this gets me uninvited from the Orgy.

[moviemunchies]

I’m sort of doing this thing where I’m reading books and keeping a log of it, and if there’s a movie adaptation I try to watch it before moving on to the next book in the series. So I’ve been meaning to get to Prince Caspian for a while now after reading the book.

This one’s weird because a large chunk of the Chronicles of Narnia fandom doesn’t like this movie very much. And I pretty much loved it since I saw it in theaters? It’s not as faithful to the book as the previous film, but that doesn’t make it bad. I’m still struck by the design of the film, which stands out from most fantasy films of the time (and many today), and it’s got a lot of action! That’s enough to make me dig a fantasy movie.

_Prince Caspian_ is the second installment of Walden Media’s Chronicles of Narnia film series and the sequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It’s also the last film in the series that was made by Disney, as they quit because they were disappointed by this one’s reception. Walden Media managed to get another studio to fund and distribute the third movie.

After a year in England, the Pevensies come back to Narnia to find that over a thousand years have passed. The country’s been conquered by the Telmarines who have driven the Narnia creatures into hiding, thinking they’d been wiped out. The Telmarine prince, Caspian X, is sympathetic to Narnians but didn’t know they still existed--that is, until he has to run from the palace and lead them in rebellion against his uncle who wants him dead to take the throne. The Pevensies are there to help of course, but Peter butts heads with Caspian (and his siblings) on how to best fight this war. And Aslan’s nowhere to be seen, except by Lucy, who can’t convince the others to follow that lead.

This movie does actually have a lot of content from the book, just rearranged or recontextualized. The Plot is completely reworked and I don’t mind that because a huge chunk of Caspian’s story in the book is being told to the Pevensies by Trumpkin--that would be a very frustrating way to tell his story in the movie. Some things, like the animals holding faith for Aslan when others don’t, is implied by the way scenes are done rather than outright told to the audience.

There are some things that are in both the book and movie, but the movie doesn’t quite explain what that’s about. The sparring match between Edmund and Trumpkin doesn’t really make much sense in the movie.

There’s also the attack on the castle. This sequence is invented entirely for the movie, and while it’s frustrating in a similar way that Finn and Rose’s subplot in The Last Jedi is, the book does mention the Narnians losing some battles and so actually showing that to the audience is fine. Also I like seeing the way they apply griffins and mice in the raid. That’s cool thinking and I wish to see more fantasy films think about how fantasy creatures might be used on military operations.

Also I really like the design of this movie? The Narnian side mostly keeps the same designs for their weapons and armor, but it’s a lot more worn down, and that makes sense because they’ve been hiding in the woods for a few hundred years. They don’t have new weapons. The Telmarines, on the other hand, look fantastic. For their culture, WETA Workshop was inspired by Spanish and Italian culture, so instead of longswords they use side swords and falchions, and their armor brings to mind a combination of Spanish conquistadors, Italian condottieri, and Japanese samurai. They look more Renaissance than medieval and I love it.

The cast is also matched up to that, with Spanish and Italian actors playing the roles of Telmarines. Ben Barnes is an exception, as he’s English, but he’s putting on his best Inigo Montoya impression as Caspian.

You know what? Let’s talk about this cast. Ben Barnes, back when he wasn’t just playing villains. I remember classmates in high school saying that he’s too old, but if he is that’s because the actor playing Peter is also too old. Caspian is supposed to be the same age as Peter, so I didn’t mind it here. I think he overdoes the whole “YOU KILLED MY FATHER” thing but I don’t think that’s Ben Barnes’s fault as much as he’s working with the Plot point that’s been sandwiched into the story.

William Moseley does very well in playing Peter as he’s written for this movie, the problem is that Peter in this movie is written to be an absolute prat. His whole arc in this movie is about learning that he doesn’t have to be in charge and to let Aslan take the wheel. This would make sense if his life experience was only what we saw in the last movie’s adventure, but we know that he apparently grew up in Narnia and became a successful and wise warrior king. So him being so full of himself here doesn’t make sense. I got over it, as I see what they were going for, deconstructing how a kid might feel after his time in Narnia, but it is very annoying and it makes Peter very unlikable.

Unlike Edmund, played by Skandar Keyes, who is absolutely THE SHIZ in this movie. Having learned his lesson from the last movie, Edmund is a cheeky wonder child who takes no crap from anyone. He doesn’t have that much of an arc in this movie, but he is great to watch, so I forgive it. He’s the guy who keeps his head screwed on straight when Peter and Caspian need someone to keep them grounded.

Anna Popplewell’s Susan is good? They still go with her being the “reasonable” one, albeit a little less uptight than in the first movie. They have this thing in the movie in which she and Caspian are definitely into each other and I don’t think that’s too out there--in the books Susan had at least half a dozen suitors when she was queen--it does mean that a lot of her character arc is dedicated to that, and we know that it goes nowhere. This one clearly implies that she’s having trouble holding faith in things she doesn’t see in front of her, and that’s a fascinating direction that doesn’t go quite as far in this movie as it could.

And Lucy. Georgie Henley as Lucy is still delightful. They removed and rearranged a lot of the material from the book in her character arc which is a shame, because I really like a lot of that stuff. As the one who still has the faith and wants to see the magic in Narnia when even the Narnians are giving up hope, she has to come across as sympathetic and believable. That doesn’t always work, especially when she does things like walk up to a bear that’s about to attack her, not realizing that it’s not talking (there ARE non-talking animals in Narnia, dear!). But for the most part she works in this movie.

You know Peter Dinklage is in this movie as Trumpkin? I find it odd that he made it big on a fantasy show that was billed as deconstructing usual fantasy tropes while heavily featuring sex and violence when he also starred in the film adaptation of a famously Christian book series and one of the giants of the fantasy genre. He does okay. I mean I like that Trumpkin is this grumpy guy who is cynical and tired of everyone and just wants to go home, but I don’t know if Peter Dinklage is acting or just… cynical and tired of everyone and wants to go home. It’s entertaining sometimes, but not brilliant.

And Warwick Davis is in this movie? He was in the BBC series as well, but instead of as Reepicheep this time he’s playing Nikabrik, the dwarf that is even more cynical than Trumpkin and hates all humans. It feels weird for me seeing him as a villain, though I know he’s done it before. I always had trouble with Nikabrik as a character because I always felt like him going full-on evil was… well, everyone seemed strangely unperturbed by that in the book, even if we had an idea of how we got there. In the movie I felt as if Warwick Davis does well in that you get him, and you get where he’s coming from, but not enough to agree. And other characters react to his turn in a way that’s appropriate.

Ken Stott voices Trufflehunter and he does not have enough to do in this movie. Trufflehunter is not that Plot-relevant in the book, but I always had the impression that he was an important character and one of the most prominent Narnians in the story. He’s okay here, but I really thought that he should be doing more in the story. Maybe the filmmakers didn’t think it would fit the darker tone they were going for, if there was a badger running around in many of the scenes? I don’t know, I wanted more.

We do, however, get quite a bit of Eddie Izzard as Reepicheep, which is fantastic because Reepicheep is fantastic. This mouse is amazing. There were some people very surprised that a mouse is going around killing people, but it’s a fantasy film, he’s a knight, and also it wasn’t as if the first movie didn’t have violence? I’m frustrated that the movies don’t go with the “talking animals are bigger than normal animals” EXCEPT with Reepicheep, because it’s pretty darn weird that all the other animals are ordinary-sized and the talking mice are the size of cats. But Reepicheep is very entertaining, very cool, and he’s great.

Sergio Castellitto plays a surprisingly sharp Miraz? Yeah, Plot-wise he’s generically evil, but I think that Castellitto makes him A) entertaining to watch, and B) convey that he knows that he’s the least popular guy in the room with the other Telmarine lords. The book version of Miraz has no idea that they’re plotting against him. Miraz in this movie does, and although he’s definitely not bright enough to realize exactly what they’re doing, by the end of the movie he knows that they’re happy to watch him die.

Pierfrancesco Pavino’s Glozelle, for instance, is barely a person in the book? He shows up to stab Miraz in the back. Here, not only is he not the person who does that, but the movie makes him very uncomfortable with the direction Miraz’s path to power is taking, despite remaining loyal until almost the very end. He’s a complex, conflicted character and I like him. 

And also noticeable is Damian Alcazar as Sopespian, a guy who doesn’t like Miraz, but is no more likable because of it. Because he’s obviously not doing it for any sense of the greater good, he’s doing it because he wants that power for himself. I don’t think anyone mistakes his motives or thinks of him as a secret good guy at any point in the movie, which I think speaks to the actor’s performance.

Liam Neeson is Aslan. He does great, though he really doesn’t have that many lines. Which is part of the point, that he’s not there for most of the movie, so it works, I think.

Also Tilda Swinton’s in this movie. There is some justification for it, but I think it was because she loved being in the first movie, and they loved having her in it, so they just brought her back.

I like fantasy movies with lots of action and sword fights and cool design choices. So no, Prince Caspian isn’t that faithful of an adaptation of the source material (though it’s more faithful than people give it credit for), and I do get frustrated with character arcs--mostly Peter’s. But I still really love this movie, and I have tons of fun every time I watch it.

[battlestar-royco]

here is part 2 of my sci fi recs masterlist! again, i could’ve gone on with even more recs but i decided to draw the line here. this set for the most part errs on the darker side, thematically, visually, conceptually etc. i personally find it super thought-provoking and intriguing but that’s just me. i highly recommend reading the tw under the cut if you’re thinking of watching, especially the matrix and space gothic slides. please view at your discretion <3

part 1/2

If you like WLW (um idk why I only made this slide based on identity; it just kinda happened lmao but I think it works):

Siren: (tw: parent loss, grief, thalassophobia) a mermaid surfaces in a cove town looking for her lost sister. Polyamorous relationship between a man, a black/indigenous woman, and the mermaid!!!! Environmentalism! As a person who has thalassophobia, I didn’t find this too hard to watch. There aren’t that many underwater scenes, thankfully.

Black Mirror: San Junipero: (tw: grief, but otherwise none that I recall; it’s pretty lighthearted) two women meet in a beach resort in the 80s and fall in love. Interracial wlw!

Orphan Black: (tw: suicide, infertility, rape implication, VB, language, drug use) a woman realizes she is one of several clones and uncovers an elaborate corporate conspiracy. This is one of my personal favorites with great rep of complex women of all ages and bodily autonomy. Several central queer characters and a black male secondary character!

Starfish: (tw: grief, a few jump scares and brief monstrous imagery, blood) after the death of her best friend, a young woman breaks into the deceased’s apartment and discovers a chain of music tapes that could save the world. Weird, subtle, and experimental. Not to sound like a surfer but you kinda have to allow yourself to be in the vibe. The main character and her friend were definitely a thing imo.

Annihilation: (tw: body horror, VB, disturbing imagery) a team of women scientists explore an anomaly that rapidly mutates genes. There are canonical and coded wlw and multiple (light-skinned) POC in this but the rep is short-lived. I put it on because although it should’ve been more ambitious with the casting, I think it breaks *some* ground for Hollywood sci fi with the all-woman team and more than one WOC. Wack ending though.

Mad Max: Fury Road: (tw: rape implication, violence) I think everyone knows about this one but: in the apocalypse, a woman breaks 4 younger women out of a harem. A badass car chase across the desert ensues. A bit light on plot/worldbuilding, but sooooo cool-looking and very thematic!!!!

If you liked STRANGER THINGS:

It: (tw: VB) don’t actually watch this lmao I’m serious. It’s really stupid, and not in a funny way. But I do think Stranger Things was inspired by this story overall. The modern It films are better but they’re also really kjslsklskls stupid? Stephen King in general is obsolete imo.

The Thing: (tw: VB) an alien that can take the form of others wreaks havoc on a scientific facility in Antarctica. It’s dark and vibey, but I feel like it’s just Alien in Antarctica with truly terrible special effects tbh?? Others feel differently. It’s also classified as sci fi/horror, so stay away if you’re easily scared! Not too good on representation.

Super 8: (tw: some language) a group of preteens witnesses an alien-caused train crash as they’re filming a home movie. Not diverse but I definitely think it inspired a lot of sci fi for the 2010s, ESPECIALLY Stranger Things. Not too scary either!

ET: (tw: it’s been a really long time since I watched so I don’t remember but it’s rated PG) I think everyone knows what this is about!

Alien: (tw: VB) truckers in space discover a deadly evolving alien. One of my favorite movies of all time! I love the aesthetic and the mood and worldbuilding so much. Ellen Ripley is one of the first Final Girls in the horror genre. I personally found this more of a sci fi than a horror movie but I’d say stay away if you’re nervous!!

Terminator: (tw: VB) a deadly android is sent to kill a woman who’s destined to birth the man who saves the world. Terminator 2 is way better imo because it centers on Sarah rather than the dudes saving her and trying to kill her. But it’s still worth a watch, you know, for the culture.

If you liked CONTAGION:

War of the Worlds: (tw: blood) pretty straightforward aliens come to Earth to take over. Sorry to rec another T*m Cruise movie but I really like the alien design and the apocalypsey feel of this one. Baby Dakota Fanning is in it too!

Falling Skies: (tw: VB, body horror, rape) alien invasion yada yada but the alien lore gets more interesting as it goes on. It’s kind of cheesy and yeah maybe I did discover it by looking up the iCarly boyfriend (and what about it??) but it’s nice to have on in the downtime. An Asian woman co-stars.

Knowing: (tw: blood) school students unearth a time capsule that contains a sheet from a girl who predicted all the tragic world events between 1959-2009. This is NOT a good movie but it’s SO hilarious to me because of the acting and contrivances. Fun to group-watch!!!!

10 Cloverfield Lane: (tw: VB, emotional abuse) a woman wakes up in a bunker to a captor who tells her that the world has fallen to alien apocalypse. I think this movie elevates the original Cloverfield in pretty much every way. Again, super tense and moody. The conflict revolves around whether or not the captor is being truthful.

Train to Busan: (tw: extreme VB and disturbing imagery) a man and his daughter are on a train when a zombie hops on at the last minute. It’s Korean with an all-Asian cast; Choi Woo-shik co-stars. I definitely wouldn’t watch if you’re scared of blood and gore. It’s very gross and violent.

12 Monkeys: (tw: ableism, violence) a man from the 2030s is sent back to the 1990s to prevent the plague that will end the world. I think the aesthetics of this are really cool but otherwise it’s not a favorite. But I think it appeals to people who like apocalypse and time travel stuff!

If you liked THE MATRIX:

Strange Days: (tw: rape, sex, nudity, VB, racism, police brutality) memories can be saved to hard-drives and sold on the black market for exorbitant prices. Very problematic and triggering presentation of rape, but young Angela Basset stars and there’s a condemnation of police brutality that’s still relevant 20+ years after its release.

Upgrade: (tw: ableism, VB, fridging) a disabled man installs an AI in his spine to help him move and investigate the murder of his wife. The premise is glaringly ableist and I feel weird even recommending it tbh but it’s got great visuals and a few good twists.

Altered Carbon: (tw: VB, weird interracial body switching, uhhh I haven’t finished this one IDK) in a society where human bodies are interchangeable, a man wakes up in a new body after 300 years of his mind being dormant. A Latina woman co-stars, two Asian characters in a subplot, a few other POC here and there as well. I think season 2 stars a black man.

eXistenZ: (tw: VB, anti-Asian racism, general weirdness? IDK it’s hard to describe. There are guns made out of bones and weirdly sexual visuals.) after someone tries to assassinate her, a video game designer and her bodyguard must play through her virtual reality game in order to save the only copy of the game.

Minority Report: (tw: VB, eye removal/insertion) all crimes are predicted and criminals reported before they are committed. The main character is preemptively accused of murder. This one is really white but it was one of the first movies that got me into sci fi. Early 2000s Colin Farrell <3.

If you liked WESTWORLD:

Humans: (tw: uncanny valley, objectification) androids are household helpers and public assistants throughout Britain until one day they start developing consciences. It hits a lot of the themes of Westworld without all the unnecessary pretentiousness, “edginess,” and “grittiness,” and it stars Gemma Chan and Colin Morgan!!

Blade Runner 2049: (^) an android is ordered to find and kill a human/android hybrid. It’s not without its issues but it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, right up there with Alien. So beautiful, so thematic, so thought-provoking (to me, anyway. I know a lot of people thought it was way too slow).

Ex Machina: (^) a man is invited to a private estate to help test the intelligence of an android. It’s kind of predictable imo but you know Oscar Isaac and Sonoya Mizuno are in it so we have to stan, and so is Domhnall Gleeson, for the SW fans! I like how isolated and quiet it feels.

I Am Mother: (tw: blood, gaslighting) after an extinction event, a young woman is raised by a lone android in a human repopulation facility until one day a woman knocks. It starts off slow and a bit generic, but I’m obsessed with the 2nd and 3rd acts of this movie---good acting, dialogue, and fantastic visuals. It has that same isolated feel as Ex Machina with only three characters, all of which are women/woman-coded!!!

If you liked ALIEN (space gothic):

Battlestar Galactica (2004-2008 reboot): (tw: genocide, war, colonization, VB, uncanny valley, rape, infidelity) space opera that follows humanity as it fights the ever-evolving and powerful enemy of their own creation: androids named Cylons. Um? I  L O V E  THIS SHOW SO MUCH and I truly do think it’s everything sci fi should be. There is a really unfortunate Miss Saigon-esque romance plot in season 1 and a lazily-written love triangle involving a black woman in season 3, but otherwise it’s one of my all-time favorites and I highly recommend. It’ll spin your mind and tug your heartstrings for years.

Black Mirror: Men Against Fire: (tw: genocide, war, nudity) soldiers in the near future protect citizens from mutant zombies, but one soldier starts experiencing strange hallucinations in the field. This is such an underrated Black Mirror episode starring a black man. There’s brief objectification of a black woman but it’s very anti-military and it has an interesting sterile aesthetic that reminds me of Alien.

High Life: (tw: rape, black holes/space anxiety, very disturbing) prisoners are given the option to join a space expedition and serve as experimental subjects en route to a black hole. Please please stay away if you are triggered by sexual violence of any kind. There’s almost no physical violence in this movie but it’s psychologically haunting imo.

The Faculty: (tw; VB, drug use) high schoolers discover their teachers are being possessed by an invading alien race. I LOVE THIS MOVIE LMFAOOOO. The cast is SO wild---Elijah Wood, John Oliver, Usher, Salma Hayek, Josh Hartnett??? And I’m probably forgetting more. The combination of the cast, the terrible dialogue, and shitty special effects is PEAK comedy imo. But bear in mind it’s bloody!!

Prometheus: (tw: body horror, VB, uncanny valley) a crew of scientists heads on a deep space mission to find the aliens who created the human race. A prequel to Alien, but I kind of view it as its own thing. Despite the plot holes, I love this movie too! It was one of my sci fi gateways and the visuals are stunning. It’s pretty gory though so if that’s not your thing stay away.

Life: (tw: extreme VB) a lesser Alien, but it provides all the space gothic tropes (jokey crew, shots of space, really pretty spaceship, everyone dies, creepy alien) with a well-known cast---Gyllenhaal, Reynolds, etc.

The X Files: (tw: a few episodes contain 90s racism, sexism, queerphobia etc but you can skip them) a lot of people have watched this so I barely have to explain, but it’s one of my favorites. Two FBI agents investigate multiple aliens and get involved in government conspiracies along the way. A good gateway!

A Quiet Place: (tw: child loss, VB, tension) I think most people know what this is about too. Alien apocalypse with aliens that hunt by sound. The daughter in the family is deaf, and so is the actress who portrays her. The representation of deafness was critically acclaimed.

[justmemorgane]

Time Frontier Agency

Hello !

In this post I’m gonna talk to you about my story, Time frontier agency !

TFA is a story I’ve been thinking about for a long time, but it never had a clear plot or defined characters.

In June 2021 I finally decided to work on it seriously, and decide what medium would be best to talk about it.

I settled on a visual novel with three different paths, allowing the player to experience all three aspects of missions: agent, pilot, and operator.

I started with a rough plot, then developed the characters and the subplots at the same time, to make sure everything made sense and was interesting.

Here are posts introducing the main characters of the story!

Felicity

Emerson

Dennis

Danna

Oliver

They're not very detailed, but I'll add to them as the story progresses.

TFA takes place in our universe but in the future. In the year 2027, a solar-system wide time travel ban was placed by the time agency, a UN branch responsible for preserving history and making sure time is safe.

After that, the time frontier agency was created to make sure any events that could change the past would be prevented or corrected. Time machines have since only been used by them, and attempts at changing the past are made by people from before 2027, which means it’s often the same people, and arresting them in the present has no effect.

The story takes place in 2032 and after, and the player is the main character. they can decide between jobs, and will have to face challenges to save the past!

I wanted this story to feel set in both the future and the past. Unless we make tremendous progress on the subject of time travel in the next few years, I don’t think we’ll have to ban it in 2027. (I guess we never know…)

I wanted the computers and all machines in general to have a retro feel, so I referenced computers from the 70’s and 80’s, with tons of buttons and dials. I also really like the idea of having bobbins of tape in some places.

For the time machines, I wanted them to be a mix between planes and rockets, to have a more futuristic look than the computers. I also took inspiration from concepts about future military planes, and some from video games.

The agency itself is a pretty small operation considering the influence they can have on the world and history as a whole. It might seem like a good idea to change the past in order to make the present better, but instead, it was decided humanity as a whole should learn from its mistakes and do better in the future. It was to ensure no one would change the past in order to make things worse. With modern-day technology, it’s not difficult to imagine how history can be changed.

The agency was founded by a historian, Dr. Monica Okoro, and a tactician, Percy Campbell. Together they crafted rules and important guidelines to preserve the past as much as possible while allowing the agents the freedom to act when they’re in the middle of a mission.

The division between pilot and agents was more a necessity than a choice. Time machines are incredibly complex to understand and even harder to pilot. Pilots go through years of training and testing before they’re fit to go in the past. Because once they’re in the past, they’re the only ones who can bring themselves and their agent to the present. And sometimes, it’s no small feat. In the beginning, when things were still being organized, many agents had to rely on their pilot completely to bring them back. If the pilot gets injured or dies, the agent is trapped in the past. Very advanced tracking technology was created to make sure no one got left behind. As with everything, it’s not completely safe but it prevents most situations.

Agents are historians before anything else. They’re obviously trained in espionage and combat, but their main interest has to be history.

In order to put things back like they’re supposed to be, it takes a special kind of knowledge. Becoming an agent takes a lot of work, but it’s also incredibly rewarding as it allows you to see firsthand what the past is like. Each agent has a specialty, a period they know better than any others, that they have a stronger interest or a particular love for. It’s in this period that they’re assigned most of the time, as it allows them to do their best work.

All agents need to be mentally strong, and they’re regularly assessed to make sure the job isn’t becoming too much. There were situations before, and now the agency is very careful, as it’s especially dangerous to see an agent turn to the bad side.

Operators are the ones who stay in the present. Their most common task is to assist pilots in their travels. The agency can communicate with each time machine at any moment, and help them with various commands and manipulations. Don’t ask me how, time machines are way too complicated for someone like me, who struggles with basic math. Good thing I’m writing this, and not creating a time machine.

Operators have the most accessible job out of the three, as you “only” need excellent abilities with computerS. no need to understand time travel in detail, or know every single person with an important role in a specific year and area. They’re also the ones who go through the most training and tests, to make sure they’re not compromising the security of the agent and pilots. An operator who wants to make a mission go wrong can very easily do so, and it’s important for the agency to keep everyone safe. Operators also need to have great adaptability, as they’re the ones who have to make decisions when time is at risk. If a time machine is compromised and about to return, do you lock it in the past? This means the agent and pilot will not make it back, but the present will be safe. Or do you let them come, and prepare a welcome committee to arrest them? Every day, operators are the ones making sure only the people who are supposed to come back do. No extra passengers.

I’d love to tell more stories in this universe in the future! Maybe even things that happened before the time travel ban… But for now, let’s focus on our little cast and what’s going to happen to them ~

Thank you for reading all this! You can find me on Twitter, where I’ll post more about these characters and what happens to them :)

[popculturebuffet]

Top 10 Thanksgiving Episodes

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody! Time to eat a ton, pass out, and watch MST3K and all that. And since I already covered most of the general stuff about how diffrent this holiday is in my Loud House Review, and to reitarate to anyone having a big, 20 or so people crammed in a room thanksgiving this year

For the rest of us like all of the big three of Holidays, thanksgivings also the time for some classic episodes of television. Granted most shows stick to one, with some exceptions like friends, roseanne and new girl, but most make their one count. Thanksgiving may not be as big as the holidays it’s sandwitched in between, to the point christmas is slowly but surely trying to swallow it whole, but it’s still a time for family, fighting, and food that brings plenty of opprotunity for greatness and even with a smaller pool, I stiill had signifigant trouble narrowing down my list to 10. But I stand by what I got it wittled down to. This is my top 10 thanksgiving episodes! And for my regular readers, there’s a suprising lack of animation but i’m more than willing ot go outside that and now’s the right time, asi’m currently having a black friday sale with reviews marked down by two bucks to just 3 dollars for an episode of any tv show. Yes it’s a shameless plug but since when have I ever had shame? So with that in mind let’s chow down, it’s my top 10 thanksgiving episodes!

10. Pangs (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Buffy is as a show I REALLY need to revisit. While lately, what with the abuse he did that we can’t get details on when making justice league or his you know cheating on his wife on and off over a decade, I’m not at all a fan of series creator Joss Whedon, Buffy itself is still a classic in my eyes. 

The tale of a teenager given the role of the Slayer, a chosen female asskicker given moderate super powers and the duty to defend the world from vampires and other ghouls. The show dealt with the usual teen superhero stuff, ballancing asskicking with saving the world and arguably codified the genre, to the point I hold it at least partially responsible for the bigger wave of teen heroes in the 2000′s in animation and comics. The show had smart dialouge, metaphors, mythology and a rich, and vibrant cast. Sure some things haven’t aged well like an adult vampire dating a teenager or the really dated ways Willow’s sexuality were handled, as groundbreaking as it was, from barely letting her kiss her girlfriend or be shown being intimate iwth her, or just entirley shutting out the posiblity she’s bisexual. But a few age wrinkles aside the show is still good and I still need to rewatch it and that includes our number 10 pangs, one of hte most memorable and well done thanksgiving specials and one fo the shows more comedy moments.  It’s thanksgiving, and Buffys mom’s going out of town, so she decides to hold thanksgiving at Giles place to bring her slowly drifting surrogate family together. Naturally given the way things usually go for our Slayer, she has a hard time of it as Willow chafes at celebrating colonolsim, Giles dosen’t get what the big fuss is about that or the meal being british, and Spike shows up looking for protection from season big bads the initiative, a secret military unit that’s chipped him so he can’t harm humans, so he has no way to eat and spends the mal tied to a chair. Oh and of course, a vengeful native american spriti from the chumash tribe has given Xander syphilis and killed a currator as revenge for his people’s suffering, so now Buffy has to fight a ghost bear if she want sa happy thanksgiving. Also Angel is back in town and being kind of a dick, but hey it leads to a good episode of his spinoff so whatever. 

Pangs is just a fun episode, not only does it do well by not ignoring american colonalisim, but it just has a fun energy to it as Buffy desperately tries to have a good thanksgiving, Spike instnatly proves his worth as an addition to the gang both chemstiry and comedy wise, and we of course get this classic moment. 

It had to fight it’s way onto the list, but pangs is a holiday dish worthy of sinking your fangs into. 

9. The Dressing (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) Speaking of nutty fun thanksgiving episodes.. this one is simply that. I love Aqua Teen Hunger force.. even if like a lot of comedy shows it drooped in later seasons, it still has it’s classics earlier on and even later on has a few gems. But on the earlier on side we have their utterly bonkers and delightful thanksgiving episode “The Dressing”, a sequel to the Christmas Episode “The Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from The Future”, which itself is an utter classic, but we’ll possibly get to that in december’s list. 

The Aqua Teens are having Thanksgiving with Carl, whose naturally onlyt here for the free food and staying outside. it’s also days before or after, with black colored frito pie,a t urkey, and whatever else their broke selves could scrounge up.  However, naturally, like Buffy a normal day for the Aqua Teens just isn’t complete without some weird shit happening, thanksgiving gets interrupted by the cybernetic ghost of Christmas past fromt he future, whose transformed himself into a turkey and wants to save their turkey so it can lead a rebellion in the bizzare hilarious distopian hellscape he comes from. This of course leads to him getting drunk, eating all their food and later showing up with a laser sock to murder carl after the episodes over. It’s just a fun time, a really funny episode and one of the teens more memorable outings. Not a lot to say here, it’s just really damn funny. 

8. Arnold’s Thanksgiving (Hey Arnold!)  Anoter classic I really need to revist but that more than earns his place here. Hey Arnold.. is easily one of the best animated shows ever. I say that with no hyperbole as it handled slice of life well while still getting dramatic when needed to, and is easily the gold standard for slice of life children’s cartoons to this day. And naturally it’s holiday specials were great, and I only r eally haven’t revisited them because they also hurt.. a lot. So unsuprisingly this one makes the list. 

IT’s thanksgiving and given how chaotic things are for both Arnold and Helga’s families, our heroes are miserable. Arnold would understandably like just once to have thanksgiving on thanksgiving, his family instead doing fourth of july due to his grandmother being who she is. And Helga naturally is ignored and mistrteated as usual since her sisters home and her dad and alchoholic mother ignore her as usual even when she’s not around. What i’m saying is while Arnold’s issue is understandable, helga always wins a “whose got the shitter life” contest. 

So the two flee to their teacher Mr Simmons, a character I genuinely loved and loved even more finding out he was gay as an adult, as he was a kind , supportive teacher who could be a bit softhearted but wasn’t afraid to step the fuck up when needed. But they find his thanksgiving isn’t much better, as his Mother and wont’ stop sniping at his boyfriend peter and clearly isn’t entirely comfortable with her son’s sexuality, his friend keeps snapping at peter and mooching off him, and his uncle.. well he’s just a loud asshole who wants turkey.. The kids naturally realize the meaning of the holiday, reconclie with their families who DID take genuine steps to make up for them being gone and missed them, all is well. It just shows nobody’s family is perfect, and is well done in that but also shows why thanksgiving has grown beyond it’s roots: It’s a day for families to get together and even if they may fight, recognize why they love one another. I also give the show balls for heavily imiplying a character is gay and not slapping a girlfriend on him or any of the usual bollocks: Simmons just very clearly is gay and it’s as transparent as the show could get at the time, with the show making it crystal clear years later with the revivial movie. Nice. We’ll have more servings of thanksgiving classics after the cut. 

7. Slapsgiving (How I Met Your Mother) Oh How I Met Your Mother. You started out really good but boy did that go downhill fast and land in a nuclear inferno didn’t it? But I can bitch about the How I Met Your Mother Ending some other time, and probably will. In the show’s prime before they decided to stick with an ending no one wanted anymore, it was pretty great and while season 1′s also impressive Thanksgiving outing “Belly Full of Turkey” was considered, there was ultimately one slaptastic king when it came to Thanksgiving: Slapsgiving. 

Naturally for this show Slapsgiving ties into the show’s suprisngly deep and rich lore: The season before this, Marshall and Barney made a “Slap Bet”, which is exactly what it says on the tin: A bet where the winner slaps the looser. And due to Barney prematurely slapping Marshall, Marshall got 5 penalty slaps to be dolled out whenever, one in that episode and another in a coda to another. For his next one though Marshall decided to outdo himself and set up a counter.. and it all comes down to thanskgiving.  So we get a good ten minutes of Jason Siegel making meancing slap based refrences while NPH’s barney cowers in fear before Marshall’s wife lily pumps the breaks on the bet as comissoner.. only to reconsider when Barney makes the mistake of tormenting Marshall over it, resuling in the inevitible, and in THE thanksgiving song. 

Basically it’s what happen when you give three really funny people a subplot together. Magic happens. The subplot is not bad either as a pre-totallyinsufferabledouchebag Ted hooks up with Robin again over lingering feelings and thanksgiving prep and the two have to deal with that... though it’s mostly funny for Robin’s new boyfriend, who Future Ted acknowledges is barely older than them, but admits to remembering as decrept old man, which results in a  30 something’s dialouge coming out of a very old man and me laughing very hard. A simple joke but one that really works. Overall a slaptacular good time. 

6. Two Turkeys (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

NINE NINE BITCHES! I’m honestly shocked I haven’t talked about Brooklyn Nine Nine on here already, but it’s easily one of the best sitcoms in recent memory, if not of all time. It has one of the best ensemble casts, great jokes and timing, yet still ballances things out with a sense of realisim beneath the madness> It’s also noticable for holding it’s officers more accountable than most real world police departments, to the point all scripts that were written up for next season were thrown out post George Floyd. It’s truly a joy to watch. 

So naturally they’ve had their share of Holiday episodes, with them easily having the best crop of halloween episodes since roseanne with their annual heists, and having some pretty damn memorable christmases, opening with this:

So naturally thanksgiving is no exception, with it’s last two being the best and it being a really hard choice wether to go with season 4′s “Detective Santiago” or this one. But as good as the other ep was.. this one inched it out for good reason. 

The episode’s split into two equally good, equally hilarious plot lines. In the B-Plot, the 99′s Captain Raymond Holt, one of the best characters in sitcom history and gay icon, and his husband Kevin take their annual trip to get a pie for Holt’s families thanksgiving and come back with the well crafted pie, even if both prefer their food nice and bland. But the pie go missing and Captain Holt procedes to hilariously drill into each of the other members of the 99 and uncovering holes int their previous thanksgving stories with Rosa’s being suprisingly heartwarming (She’s going to a humilating minons on ice show with her family because they reconnected in jail.. setting up the equally awesome “Game Night” episode where she comes out.) and Boyle’s being utterly pathetic as you’d expect (Cooking his son mac and cheese because he’ll eat nothing else and declaring him a “basic bitch”). The solution however ends up being heartwarming as the culprit is actually Kevin, who hated the pie.. as did Raymond who suggests just taking the drive anyway because they enjoy the silent ride there and back every year. It may be boring to us.. but it’s preicious and really sweet all the same.. as it is hilarous when Kevin treats this as a big endugence and seems turned on by that. What i’m saying is these men are couple goals and Marc Evan Jakcson was awesome long before ducktlaes.  The main plot is also great, as Jake and Amy, now engaged after this year’s halloween episode which is also , coincidentally, the series best, try to unite their families. It just goes about as well as you’d expect as Amy’s are type a control freaks, jake’s mom is a retired hippie school teacher and his dad is a human disaster area who has to be told to put on pants, cheated on his mom constantly, somehow got her back, and in general is barely functional on a good day. The families do bond breifly but things ineveitbly break down, hilarity and severed limbs insue and family comes together. IT’s just a funny, well done 20  mintues that’s also really damn sweet, with this plot ending with Amy’s dad accepting the chaos as that’s’ts what you do with family. Also jake naturally finds out he has a ton of step siblings as his dad was and still is a man whore. Happy Thanksgiving!

5. Bart Vs Thanksgiving (The SImpsons)

Let’s face it: if you follow my reviews at all you knew this was coming. While not one I go back to due to being an emotional kidney punch, i’d be doing this list a diservice if this classic wasn’t on there.  In a nutshell, Bart starts a petty fight with Lisa over her centerpiece that ends with it in the fireplace, Bart sent to his room till he apologizes, and Bart seething insiting he did no wrong. It takes a visit to the homeless shelter after running away, and ending up on the news, to realize what an ass he’s been and one nightmarish dream sequence later, seriously why do you think I don’t revisit this one that often? This thing has traumatized me since I was a kid and unlike the slap song I will not be showing it to you, has a heartwarming reconcliation with his sister on the roof. It’s just a nice, sweet special that gets the holiday just right and i’d expect nothing less from Golden Age Simpsons.  

4. A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving (Gilmore Girls) Another show I need to talk about more, Gilmore Girls is fucking awesome. The story of a woman who ran away pregnant at age 16 and built her own life for her daughter in the quirky town of stars hollow who finds herself reconnecting with her parents in present day against her will.. is really good stuff. Funny, heartfelt and really damn well acted with one hell of a cast, the show is part of me and I make no bones about that, so it’s big thanksgiving outing naturally belongs on here.  The premise is simple: Rory and Loreli end up having to go to four diffrent thanksgivings, which even for big eaters like them is a massive task, each unique and entertaining. The main event of course is Suki’s, where everyone’s faviorite chef agreed to let her husband cook the turkey.. of course with the plan to sneak in mid cooking and add her own touches. This gets foiled when Jackson and his family decide to deep fry the thing.. probably in part because Jackson knows his wife well and knows what she was planning. Though over the night while our heroines are at their other meals, it devolves into them deepfrying everything they can get their hand son including a shoe, and Suki getting plastered to tolerate it.  While not topping it the other meals and the sheer lunacy of four thanksigvings in one day, are still memorable: There’s the natural posh one at Richards and Emilys, the dour joyless one at The Kims where Mrs Kim forces the band to play the whole time and forces our heroines to eat food as joyless as Mrs. Kim, and Lukes for a nice round of Rory grappling with having PDA with her boyfirend Jess before resolving it at the end. Also dean’s a jackass. No one is suprised. Jess isn’t one at this stage in his character which is. Also Kirk adopts a cat that slowly pushes him out of his own house which works comedically becaus Sean Gunn is a national treasure. Overall a really good episode and if you have netflix and haven’t checked the series out, this is a good one to try out. 

3. The Thanksgiving Special (Regular Show) I already talked about this one in my top 11 Regular Show episodes so i’ll try to be brief. In a nutshell Mordecai and Rigby destroy thanksgiving and genuinelly feeling bad about it, scramble to win a thanksgiving bird from a Thanksgiving Song Contest, going up against an all star super group comissioned by Donald Trump. Yes really. Meanwhile Muscle Man and High Five Ghost go to get sides and the  rest of the park staff’s attemtps to get a turkey are thwarted by a bunch of thanksgiving reinactors who go unexplained in any way shape or form which given how rare that is for regular show, which usually has some sort of explination for the madness, just makes it funnier. It ends with a REALLY touching song, a fight on a blimp with outgoing president trump, and a truly heartwarming thanksgiving meal. All in all a nice special that combines the shows madcap nature with the genuine warm fuzzies of thanksgiving. 

2. We Gather Together (Roseanne) Another series I need to talk about more.. and another series where one of the creators has turned out to be a terrible human being. Seriously Roseanne Barr is is a terible person, she deserved to be removed from her show, and while the Conner’s isn’t GREAT it’s still FAR better without her. That being said I will still stick up for the original as she wasn’t the only one involved (indeed the aformentioned Joss Whedon worked on the show breifly and Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman Paladino not only worked there but later adapted one of Roseanne’s insane antics, making all the writers wear caps with a number instead of referring to them by name , to Gilmore Girls.). Her being a bad person even then dosen’t change the fact that the show is sitcom gold, one of my faviorite shows, and a true classic. And this episode helps showcase WHY. 

What makes this episode special, even among Roseanne episodes is it’s structure: While there are things going on it’s mostly a free floating day in the Families life and thus feels like your there with them through thanksgiving. It feels genuine, like past thanksgivings i’ve remembered: Everyone has their own stuff going on, they all eat, and there’s naturally a big blowup.. and one that eveyrone else ignores to eat which I can relate  to. That authenticity really elevates the episode and is why I seek it out every year. 

That’s not to say nothing happens, it just flows in and out like it would in a normal thanksgiving. Roseanne deals with her parents, a pre-abuser version of her dad and her overbearing nightmare of a mother beverly, and the inevetible blow up when Bev’s needling about Jackie’s life goes too far , prompting Jackie to reveal her new job as a police officer before bursting into tears, all to Roseanne’s annoyance. Rosie also moves them to a hotel despite an attempted guilt trip from her mom. 

Speaking of Mom’s we see Dan’s for the only time before the later seasons and the utterly terrible last season, a professional career woman whose moved on well from her ex and brought her new boyfriend there. Ed, despite some comptemplation over it is firmly accepting and instead starts flirting with the Conner’s friend Crystal. Dan, being overprotective because of his Daddy Issues, but ed cals him out on it “Being lonely is a hell of a lot for two people to have in common, you woudln’t knwo anything abotu that son, and I pray to god you never do” A great caper to a fantastic episode.. one I thought was going to top the list... THOUGHT is the key word here...

1. Turkey in A Can (Bob’s Burgers) This one is. Bob’s Burgers is one of the best things to come out of the 2010′s and i’ve fallen way too far behind on it, so I can’t say if any thanksgivings after thankshoarding top this one.. what I can say is this one is the gold standard for thanksgiving episodes, and is filled with great stuffing. 

Thanksgiving is Bob’s holiday. Being a chef he loves the chance to go all out, and really flex his muscles for his families when it comes to cooking up a storm, and it’s endearing when bob gets just as nuts as his family. But this year someone keeps flushing his turkeys down the toilet despite his best efforts, so while Louise hilariously tries to solve things to proe it wasn’t her (though it’s entirely fair they thought it was her consdering.. everything), while LInda, Gene and LInda’s flighty sister Gale try to write THE thanksgiving song. And while it’s no you just got slapped, damn if they didn’t succeed. 

Sailors in your mouth indeed. It leads to plenty of great jokes the best being the guy at the Deli Counter thinking Bob’s into him and bob not being sure how to respond, but being mildly recpetive. But the climax is what makes the episode as when Bob falls asleep we find his medication has been making him sleepwalk.. and thus put the turkey s int he toilet, as Tina’s desire to be at the Grown Up Table, itslef a REALLY funny runner as you’d expect, has him panicking internally and thus reliving her potty training. The episode ends with Bob letting her come to the adults table, and a rather heartwarming thanksgiving feast. All in all an excellent episode. It also leads to the chaos seen above whic hif htat’s not thanksgiving, I don’t know what is. 

Have a happy thanksgiving and check out my black friday sale! Until then there’s always another rainbow!

[latenightcinephile]

#734: ‘Gangs of New York’, dir. Martin Scorsese, 2002.

To start with some well-earned praise: Gangs of New York is not boring. It is a pretty good cinematic representation of the word ‘rollicking’. It is beautifully put-together, with art design and costume perfectly on-point, and a cast that has been chosen well for every role, from the major to the minor. Scorsese’s film is, however, irritating on a narrative level, and simultaneously feels like it’s trying to do too much and too little for its 160-minute runtime. It’s a film I would quite happily watch again, both in spite of and because of its narrative flaws - to pick it apart and see why it is so unsatisfying in its final hour, but just to bask in the things that Scorsese does so well here.

Generally, Scorsese’s films - and especially his crime dramas - are built around the character of the antihero. It’s pleasing to see the antihero break social norms and also to see him (and for Scorsese it is almost always a him) get his well-earned comeuppance as social morality reasserts itself through the text. The criminal is always damaged by his meteoric rise to success, and this damage makes it impossible for that success to be anything but fleeting.

Troublingly, a lot of films that feature antiheroes are also poorly-read by audiences, especially as these films are usually targeted towards younger men who identify more completely with the figures shown. This is not to say that portrayals of figures like Tyler Durden or William Cutting increase the likelihood of audience members following in their footsteps, but that identification, when it is easier in the short term, does not lend itself well to long-term reflection. On the face of it, Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) and ‘Amsterdam’ Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) are fascinating characters, especially in the way they use and justify violence. Often, though, the links between an antihero’s behaviour and their comeuppance is not drawn clearly enough to dissuade the audience’s identification or even to make it problematic to them.

Scorsese’s film also fancy themselves as being about American society in general, and Gangs of New York is perhaps his most explicit claim to this connection. Set during the Civil War, this film is both a celebration of and a criticism of the ‘melting pot’ of American society during the time, and it sets its composition directly around the tensions surrounding immigration. This analogy could be one of this film’s greatest selling points, but I don’t feel it quite works as Scorsese perhaps wanted it to - the film preserves its ambiguity perhaps too much, leaving itself open to the kinds of murky readings that usually accompany discussions of the antihero.

To make matters even more complex, Gangs of New York was scheduled for release shortly before September 11, 2001. While the reasons for its delay and subsequent 2002 release were not directly related to the political climate of America at the time, it’s very difficult to separate the film from that context (especially as the final shot, a time-lapse of the development of Manhattan Island, prominently features the towers of the World Trade Centre as part of the film’s closing image). Coupled with the film’s main track, U2′s ‘The Hands that Built America’, and the closing monologue by Amsterdam, it’s clear that Scorsese’s film is pitching the War of the Five Points as a moment that represents the development of the true American psyche.

The trouble is that the script isn’t particularly clear on what the development actually is. Let’s lay out the key elements of this metaphorical battle: on one hand you’ve got Cutting, an aptly-named butcher who represents what he calls ‘the Natives’ - white people who were born in the United States. Cutting’s side denigrates both black Americans and immigrants, chiefly Irish immigrants (but only because our POV character is Amsterdam). Cutting is the character most prominently associated with the old guard of the United States, reactionary towards anybody that isn’t immediately recognisable as ‘him’. As shown above, he is at one stage literally draped in the flag of the United States, delivering a monologue about “the spectacle of fearsome acts” being “what preserves the order of things”. This monologue answers several questions about Cutting’s character, the most important of which is the origin of his glass eye: Cutting removed it himself, associating it with cowardice following a fight with Amsterdam’s father, Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson). For Cutting, lessons are learned through pain, and the offending part is removed to teach those that remain a harsh lesson.

Facing down Cutting is Amsterdam’s gang, the Dead Rabbits. As a minority group themselves, the Dead Rabbits come to represent everything that threatens the old order of the United States, and for a time they are allied with the free black men of the North, as well as all those who are impoverished. Scorsese’s film makes the chief antagonistic act the killing of Amsterdam’s father, and so because Amsterdam is motivated by vengeance, a motivation that aligns itself well with Cutting’s worldview, it’s clearly the action we are meant to be approving of as audience members. Amsterdam is the POV character and the one who is ‘right’ by moral standards - his narration guides us through the film.

As well as this showdown, however, Gangs of New York has an extra plotline - the conscription for the Civil War. This complicates the film significantly, because it places both Cutting’s people and Amsterdam’s people on the same side, against the government. For Cutting, there’s no real internal conflict, but Amsterdam is in a bit more of a predicament. Scorsese’s film has to walk the line between demonstrating it’s on the right side of the Civil War but against the forced conscription of soldiers to fight that war - a position that’s easy to hold but hard to depict on screen without explaining it through dialogue. As it happens in Gangs of New York, it’s hard not to see the Irish immigrants as protesting a little too much - demanding both the right to be considered as American citizens and that only ‘true’ American citizens, the ‘Natives’, be sent to fight for the rights of others.

This is where Scorsese’s film begins to fall apart a bit - not so much that it becomes impossible to follow, but enough that the wheels make an audible grinding noise at the beginning of the third act. Were Gangs of New York just a film about Cutting and Amsterdam’s gangs fighting, it would be a perfectly clear and untroubling film - too anodyne to actually be great. If the film ramped up the conscription plot earlier, it would be better-integrated into the moral quilt of the narrative, but then the film’s scriptwriters would have to find something to add to that plotline without detracting from what exists in the main conflict.

One thing that would certainly help, though, is to expand the film’s cast of black characters. There is only one named black character, so incidental that I knew the actor’s name better than the character’s (Lawrence Gilliard Jr., by the way, playing Jimmy Spoils), who has fewer lines of dialogue than moments where he’s called the N-word. Normally I don’t expect much in this regard from Scorsese: he’s not a black man and comes from a school of filmmaking and is interested in a set of themes that relegated black characters to the sidelines. But here? Making a film set during the Civil War, where conscription is a major subplot? If your scriptwriters don’t put black characters in, Martin, you need to.

This is what makes the film infuriating towards the end, really: a lack of clear indication of how these three sides are meant to be interacting. The way the first two acts of Gangs of New York go, it seems that there are two ways of concluding the film: 1) Amsterdam kills Cutting, proving that a more inclusive American society is something to be desired, and then reconciling their identities as new American citizens with the issue of conscription, confirming or denying the necessity of fighting for others rather than for yourselves, or 2) Cutting kills Amsterdam, reaffirming the old racist order of the United States and subverting the traditional narrative of righteous vengeance. This ending would also potentially subvert the antihero identification with Cutting, by making his act of triumph unpalatable from a narrative perspective. Cutting can only win by killing the film’s narrator. Here, the reconciliation with conscription is less important: Cutting’s political position is strong enough that is doesn’t really matter what happens with the Civil War.

What Gangs of New York does instead is this: 3?) The final showdown occurs at the same time as a riot over conscription. The military coincidentally fire cannons into the prelude to the fight, scattering the forces and injuring Cutting. Rather than allowing Cutting to live in shame (an act of valour, as Cutting indicated in his flag monologue) or die in cowardice from his wounds, Amsterdam kills cutting. Several of the secondary characters, both on Cutting’s side and on Amsterdam’s, are killed in the riot, an action-packed sequence which is intercut jarringly with the relatively sedate and solemn interaction between Cutting and Amsterdam.

One of the characters killed in the riot is Jimmy Spoils, who is so thematically central to these conflicts that you would suspect he should have a more lasting impact on the film. The final sequence, though, is Amsterdam burying his father’s blade at the grave of Cutting, which feels like it relegates the whole question of race and the Civil War to a footnote in a story about Irish immigration. Which, to be fair, it kind of is, but then why have the Civil War going on at all here? Again, it’s a difficult balancing act and a complex set of themes and plotlines, but it feels like Gangs of New York couldn’t quite figure out how to weave these ideas enough to do them all justice. Amsterdam’s final monologue is emblematic of this even-handedness that doesn’t do the film any good:

“It was four days and nights before the worst of the mob was finally put down. We never knew how many New Yorkers died that week before the city was finally delivered. My father told me we was all born of blood and tribulation, and so then too was our great city.”

Gangs of New York is a beautiful and stirring film, sure, but delivered from what? What kind of city was born, and whose blood and tribulation paid for it?

[benmendo]

Captain Marvel Mendo review round-up (pt 1?)

Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos is so great, and a huge improvement and complete change from the comic original. He’s played many genre villains by now, from Star Wars to Ready Player One, but here he’s given perhaps his best yet. Much of the marketing focused on Jude Law’s Yon-Rogg, but Talos is the character people will remember long after the credits finish rolling. [x]

But the film’s MVP is without a doubt Ben Mendelsohn, resplendent in layers of lizardy prosthetics as the Skrull leader Talos but still sporting his indomitable Aussie charm. He’s given much more to do here than in his last high-profile Hollywood gig, Ready Player One, and appears to be having an absolute blast doing it. [x]

Mendelsohn's Talos will be a surprise to Marvel comics die-hards, but a welcome one – he's a far cry from a traditional MCU villain, but what he lacks in deviousness he makes up for in a genuinely charming sense of humor. He doesn't quite fall in line with other recent villains like Zemo with his devious plot and tragic past or Vulture with his take-no-prisoners family loyalty, but he's cut from a very similar cloth with motivations that stem from complicated, surprisingly nuanced places and give him a real depth of character. [x]

Mendelsohn, re-teaming with Boden and Fleck, plays the film’s chief villain, Talos, a shapeshifting Skrull (a new kind of alien plucked from the comics world) and manages to do something fascinating with the role. So many Marvel bad guys are anonymous, but Mendelsohn is the clear stand-out of Captain Marvel’s supporting cast—a darkly funny, world-weary lizard monster whose lidless eyes belie hidden depths. [x]

It’s a good thing that the Skrulls are more than meets the eye, because their leader — Talos — is asked to shoulder most of the film’s emotional burden. Giving the best performance in a movie that relies on its excellent cast to compensate for its empty characters, the ever-reliable Ben Mendelsohn elevates Talos into a genuine menace, first in his reptilian form and then as a Ben Mendelsohn-looking body snatcher once Carol escapes from his clutches and crashlands into Los Angeles circa 1995. [x]

However, by far the smartest creative decision is casting Ben Mendelsohn as head Skrull, Talos; not only does the villain also get some amusing comedic moments due to earthly inexperience, he’s also another morally complex individual that shows Marvel is continuing to step up their bad guy game. The only issue is that he’s not exactly well-written (after the movie you will probably question his motivations at various junctures of the story realizing that not everything adds up as soundly as it should), and that it’s mostly the acting talent of Ben Mendelsohn alone (he also gave an incredible performance working with the directors on the underseen Mississippi Grind) that gets you invested in his emotional character arc. This also might be heresy to state about Marvel’s first female-led superhero movie, but he’s easily the best character.

Further confirmation arrives that Ben Mendelsohn is doing his best to salvage a by-the-numbers origin story script when it becomes apparent that other subplots involving supporting characters don’t really register as anything substantial. [x]

Ben Mendelsohn steals the show as Skrull leader Talos, who becomes the film’s shapeshifting MVP thanks to signature “Ben Men” charms that are sweeter than the milkshake he’s seen drinking. [x]

A chase ensues as more Skrulls have landed looking for her, led by Talos, portrayed to perfection by Ben Mendelsohn. [x]

On the other side is Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos, the Skrull leader and primary antagonist. Even though he’s often hidden under an inflexible mask that wouldn’t look out of place on Doctor Who, Mendelsohn manages to do something different with this role, evading cliché and earning a pass for taking yet another big bad role. [x]

Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull leader Talos forces you to challenge your preconceptions without an ounce of contrivance. [x]

She also strikes up a fun rivalry with the wily Skrull commander Talos, played by a superb Ben Mendelsohn, who sells his full face mask of preposterous lime green prosthetics simply by acting as if he isn’t wearing any at all. [x]

Then Ben Mendelsohn shows up as a particularly crafty Skrull named Talos, and he starts stealing scenes from Jackson....  Mendelsohn and Jackson are both so funny, they’re basically worth seeing all on their own. [x]

Both Ben Mendelsohn's Skrull leader, Talos, and Goose the cat are also bound to be fan-favorites, though there isn't a lot that can be said about either role without spoiling too much of the plot. [x]

And a huge reason this movie works is Ben Mendelsohn, of all people. (I say “of all people” because, under his green Skrull makeup, a lot of people might not even realize he’s under there until they see the movie.) Mendelsohn plays Talos, the leader of the Skrulls sent to Earth to look for Carol. When I first heard he was cast in this role I was a little worried! All too often, great actors kind of get lost in these type of alien/villain roles – but Mendelsohn brings a humanity (Skrullanity?) to this role I was not at all expecting. And it’s no wonder why Boden and Fleck wanted to work with Mendelsohn here again. We are all better off as a society now that Ben Mendelsohn is part of the MCU. (We will talk a lot more about this role after audiences see the movie. There are a lot of surprises I wouldn’t want to spoil.) [x]

Mendelsohn provides another solid source of humor in the film. The CG-assisted Skrull morphing is a wonderful effect, tinged with body horror, but the physical Skrull prosthetics seem to have impeded their actors somewhat. Talos’ face might have moved like a demon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Mendelsohn imbues him with the charm of a fan-favorite Star Trek role. [x]

Ben Mendelsohn has been feeling a bit typecast in antagonistic roles (see Rogue One, Ready Player One), but brings a fresh, fun energy to the shapeshifting villain Talos. [x]

Ben Mendelsohn as the antagonistic Talos, for example, totally flips the script on your expectation for him, playing the character with the strength of a military leader, but also injecting him with a weird comedic wryness and attitude that changes the energy of each of his scenes for the better. [x]

She’s well-matched by an antagonist played by Ben Mendelsohn, sorry, meant to write BEN MENDELSOHN! The wonderful Australian actor has lately earned some good beach house money, I hope, with sniveling baddie turns in Rogue Oneand Ready Player One. His role in Captain Marvel is something different, and something special. We meet him as a Skrull with one accent, and then he’s a “human” with another accent. [x]

Last but not least, let’s talk about Mendelsohn. The Australian actor is clearly having the time of his life playing the shape-shifting Skrull, using the opportunity to shift between accents and personas at the flip of a coin. Mendelsohn seems to be the only one aware that he is in a movie about blue aliens fighting shape-shifting reptiles, and hams it up to the nth degree, chewing scenery like he was a starving man. His roughshod, Australian-accented Talos is an unexpected source of great comedy and heart, and a scene-stealer for every minute he’s onscreen. [x]

Ben Mendelsohn’s scene-stealing Skrull boss Talos is also quite the gem of an addition. [x]

And Ben Mendelsohn, as the Skrull commander Talos, makes some of the film’s most memorable choices. [x]

Ben Mendelsohn's Aussie accent is a little bit weird as the Skrull leader, Talos, but he brings some surprising layers to that character best left unspoiled. [x]

And as Talos, the shapeshifting extraterrestrial after Carol's secrets, Ben Mendelsohn emerges as Captain Marvel's secret weapon — a mustache-twirling villain with hidden depths, and a mischievous sense of humor to boot. [x]

[cheritsundere]

I need help...... I've finished 2 animes in the past week and now I have no idea what to do could you recommend something for me to watch please -shanon

I’m on it, Shanon!

Well, I’m not too sure what exactly to recommend, since I don’t exactly know your personal taste and there are few anime out there for “everyone”. However, I’m going to assume you have seen most of the shows on my blog, such as Haikyuu, Yoi, Bnha, HunterxHunter, etc. (if not, those 4 I mentioned are the ones I would recommend you to watch first)

I’m gonna say therefore that you like comedies/shounens/underdog and growth stories. If that’s the case I got a few recommendations for you and I list them in order of what I think you would like most/have the best qualties/etc.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood:

Although the original is good in a different way, Brotherhood is superior in most of the animation, plot, and character development. 

The story revolves around Ed and his younger brother Al in a world of alchemy, tragedy, and hope. After having lost very important pieces of themselves, they journey together after joining the military to hunt down the Philosopher’s stone: an ancient myth that could bring them exactly what they need. Follow along with their travels as they discover friends, a hidden ulterior motive to the military’s actions, and the true meaning of what is really important in life.

Pros: Good animation, Great voice acting in dub and sub, Al is literally the cutest, strong cast (female characters have great roles in this), interesting and engaging plot, satisfying conclusion

Cons: A little on the long side with 64 eps (still shorter than HxH but), a few running gags that might get a little stale after a while, some 1 dimensional villains??? Idk I’m reaching.

2. Assassination Classroom:

Middle school can be difficult when you’re stuck in a classroom with the lowest of the low when it comes to grades, motivation, and skills. Class 3-E isn’t even allowed on the main campus due to their labels as school delinquents. Enter a Killer Octopus who moves at Mach 20, is indestructible, and wants to destroy the world. 

Oh yeah. And he’s their teacher.

Pros: Comedy is on point, character designs are unique?, every kiddo in the class gets their moment in the spotlight for the most part, endearing characters from the students to the teachers, satisfying conclusion.

Cons: Animation isn’t the most “showy” and can be stiff at times, rushes towards the later half of the second season, some characters realllllly needed to be expanded upon, plot is kinda ridiculous??? but entertaining nonetheless.

3. Bakuman:

Man, you ever look at an anime and then go look at it’s manga and think: “Wow, I wonder what it takes to be a mangaka. Wouldn’t a story about 2 kids making and becoming published mangaka be interesting???” 

No. No one did. But man is it a good fucking story.

Meet Mashiro and Takagi, 2 middle schoolers with dreams to become published mangaka in Shounen Jump and their journey throughout life as they go through the joy and pain that comes with gambling their careers in the trade of manga.

Pros: The partnership of the two MCs will bring the biggest smile to your face ever (Honestly the first Brotp I’ve ever had), Romance is well handled in the series and brings butterflies to your heart??? LIKE IT’S SO PURE IT HURTS, plot is really fucking good for a show about kids making manga, THE SECONDARY CAST IS GOLD

Cons: 75 episodes, last season seems rushed??? Idk, You won’t get a lot out of this if you don’t like the MCs

4. Yu Yu Hakusho:

14 yr. old Yusuke Urameshi is about as “Keith” as they come, constantly ditching school, causing trouble, and getting into numerous fights everyday. This isn’t to say such a delinquent kid is full of no redeeming features though as, in a strange stroke of fate, he sacrifices himself to save a little kid by jumping in front of a car. Sadly though, the afterlife wasn’t ready for his death and as such they offer him a second chance at life by becoming a GHOST COP - er “Spirit Detective” and gaining his right to come back to life. Along the way meet his enemy-turned-best-friend Kuwabara as well as the demons Hiei and Kurama as they fight against evil spirits to protect the world!

Pros: From the creator of HunterxHunter, Fucking awesome plot and characters, Yusuke is literally best “cool kid” in existence and is actually just a big dork underneath that bad-ass exterior, childhood friends ship that actually ends up sailing, the english dub voice acting is hilarious and will make you have nostalgic flashbacks to your childhood, fight choreography is gorgeous and inventive putting you on the edge of your seat, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS GODLIKE

Cons: It’s a fucking old ass show so the art and animation might turn you off a bit it was the 90s what do you want from me, tbh this is the longest recommendation on the list at a whopping 112 eps but trust me it’s worth it, cheesy puns and humor that might make you cringe since it’s an acquired taste but if you like it BOY WILL YOU LIKE IT

5. Birdy the Mighty! Decode:

What happens when a super awesome badass female alien police cop accidentally kills a normal teenage guy like Tsutomu Senkawa? Well, she has to fuse their bodies until his can regenerate! Duh.

Join these two polar opposite characters on their journey to hunt down intergalactic forces that land on earth while having to keep up with schoolwork without anyone finding out their little secret.

Pros: Holy shit Birdy is such a great female character like I can’t stand it, animation is on point??? Like the fights are awesome, comedy is good tbh, for a “guy and girl sharing a body” thing it really is handled tastefully and is light on most fanservice tbh, uh??? DID I MENTION ALIENS???

Cons: A little unsatisfying with some plot points??? Like some story lines seem to not…go…anywhere, romance does feel a little forced with Tsutomu and his love interest but Birdy’s romance subplot is handled well for the most part, kinda lacklust ending but it’s mostly forgivable

Hope these helped Shanon and sorry I didn’t answer sooner!

[chloeismyspiritanimal]

A Cowgirl’s Story Review: 7/10

MAJOR SPOILERS!!

Okay first of all let me start with the negatives because while they were few and far between they were there. 

1. Pat Boone: I mean no disrespect to the elderly, but this man’s skin looked like leprosy had befallen his entire body. It was not only horrifying to look at, but as the most established actor of the cast you would think he would be able to actually act? His character added nothing but advice about G-d, which is of course okay... for one or two scenes. BOOOOI,  there was about 8 of them and all he could say was G-d will fix this in the most unmoving way. His character was as flat as a sheet of paper, and even then, the paper would have outshined him.  2. The writing in this is both a positive and a negative. There was definitely great one liners given to Bailee and Chloe, but some of it was a little cheesy. 3. IF SAVANNAH IS POOR WHY DOES SHE HAVE A $120 Mophie CASE? HMMMMMM ?   ( also on a side note, I have never seen so much iPhone action in one movie. Every single character pulled out their iPhone every scene and placed it in their back pocket. No matter what they were doing, it was ever present.  4. This movie definitely could have had a more poignant ending, but well get to the whole adding in a million storylines later .  Okay on to the positives :) 3.Now, I always thought Bailee was a better actress when she was young. On the fosters, she barely impressed me with her performance. But here,she carried the show. she laid the foundation for these relationships.  There was so much going on, and so much happened so fast but I really feel we saw her friendship with Chloe’s character start and end in a logical fashion. 

4.  now on to our baby Chloe.  Chloe had the most lines out of the entire film next to Bailee. She had an entire character brought to life scene after scene. She was never just a “bad girl”. She was a wholesome teenager whose father died and mother became an alcoholic. She acted out because she was losing herself. Chloe played the bad girl part beautifully but in a way that you could tell there was something more.  There was about 3  lines that didn’t come off the best , one being the “away, i would have fought for you”, and the second being one in the middle of the movie, I cannot remember what it is (might edit it in later). There was a third line that she said the word mistake but it came out like istake. Other than that she did not struggle and she held her own. The trailer clips are truly taken out of context, and when you see the full clips, you will see how much work Chloe put into her movements and her gestures. There was not a moment that Chloe maintained the “same expression” for more than five seconds. As the lines came out she moved with them and emoted with every word.  There were scenes that she could not have done better. When she nailed it, she really nailed it. Her scenes at the end dealing with her father’s death, and reading the letter he wrote to her family. I could hear it in her voice that she was channeling her great grandmother’s death. 

Another thing is In parts of the movie she is very soft spoken ( when she is dealing with her mother), I don’t know if that was a choice on behalf of the director as it was only when she was with her mother, but she loses her powerful tone. If it wasn’t a choice, I would have to say she needs to work on still being powerful during the scenes that require her to be miserable or depressed. If it was a choice, she played it nicely.  To her wardrobe and makeup, some looks were not okay such as the bright red lips or bright pink , but some of the looks were gorgeous and she looked amazing on film. 

5. There was also  a lot of comedic moments that really brightened up the film. From jokes about Savannah going to Alcatraz, to Savannah  convincing Dusty to commit burglary, there was definitely more than a couple smiles from me.  6. All in all, this movie was jammed packed with plot and character arcs. The pacing of this movie did not really make sense as it almost seemed like two separate stories from 1-58 minutes. But it was never slow. It moved along very  rapidly, while subplots were sort of forced on us. I understood the Islamaphobia and the alcoholism, but these topics were not really given enough attention. But again how could they, there was too much going on.  

Would I have loved it in the same way if I didn’t adore Chloe? I honestly cannot say yes or no objectively. But, what I can say is as a family military drama,  this is one for the books.