#this was originally meant to be about the trailer overall but i got carried away | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

theuntitledblog · 3 years

Text

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) - REVIEW

SNYOPSIS

Luke Skywalker has disappeared and the evil First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire to try to take over the galaxy. When the droid BB8 encounters scavenger Rey and renegade Stormtrooper Finn, it takes them on a journey that will lead to a confrontation with the First Order's sinister agent, Kylo Ren.

youtube

This is where things get complicated and Star Wars becomes something polarizing to talk about both rightly and wrongly. There was so much hype surrounding the release of the The Force Awakens and it wasn't just down to the Star Wars name but rather the excellent marketing campaign. This was a film that was a direct sequel to Return of the Jedi rather than a prequel, the return of the original characters was a juicy prospect and the trailers themselves did an excellent job of stirring excitement without spoiling. The Force Awakens in many regards is pure Star Wars; it's a simplistic tale with the freedom to establish a fresh narrative and introduce new characters alongside the iconic ones. Sure there are plenty criticisms to be had but the Force Awakens does not get the credit it deserves for just how much fun it really is. The problem is that it is seriously lacking in new ideas, there is little in here that hasn't been done before and done better. It compensates however with new and interesting characters plus a strong new villain.

The Force Awakens achieves a visual balance that the Prequel Trilogy frequently got wrong. Those films introduced worlds that looked far more imaginative than anything we'd previously seen but the visual effects used to do so often meant they never looked fully convincing. The 'lived in' aesthetic of the Original Trilogy was lost but here that aesthetic is restored as the use of practical and computer generated effects achieves the right balance so that nothing here looks unconvincing or artificial. Likewise the Force Awakens makes improvements to the clunky editing from Episode III and most of all there is no sign of the awful dialogue that plagued the Prequel Trilogy in general. The film moves at a brisk pace with a sense of humour that doesn't feel out of place and the action set pieces are suitably thrilling and good fun. Overall the filmmaking for The Force Awakens feels like an improvement and as a result there is a genuine freshness about it that cleanses away the many flaws of George Lucas' last trilogy. But, George Lucas' absence also means that the Force Awakens lacks what his presence brought to Star Wars; vision and ideas.

The Prequel Trilogy was many things but it never felt like a reboot; that story had it's own identify with many new and memorable characters and story threads that felt different to the Original Trilogy. The Force Awakens does have its own qualities but there's no getting away from it, this is a reboot of A New Hope dressed up as a sequel rather than anything new. There are far too many plot point similarities and whilst I am able to forgive many of them, the final act in particular is hugely problematic for me. Starkiller Base is the epitome of the problems here. The name itself is unoriginal and is effectively yet another Death Star. The stealth mission to infiltrate and sabotage it is again very familiar as is the death of a mentor and space battle to bring it all down. Whilst not all parts of this final act disappoint, overall it doesn't come close to what was achieved in A New Hope and is where The Force Awakens' flaws are laid open to see.

Similarities to one side, The Force Awakens does work however when it comes to its characters. There is no shortage of joy in seeing Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher reprise their roles as Han Solo and Princess Leia with Ford in particular enjoying much of the screen time. But this is definitely a case of one generation handing over to the next as Daisy Ridley's Rey and John Boyega's Finn are new and different heroes than have previous been seen and are a breath of fresh air. Boyega and Ridley have great chemistry and play likeable character's with different and unique backstories to get behind and root for. For me Oscar Issac's Poe is an unnecessary addition to the line-up; he doesn't enough screen time to really feel like a compelling character and feels subject to requirement. The MVP of the film for me though is Adam Driver's Kylo Ren who is a self aware Darth Vader wannabe but has all the interesting inner conflict between light and dark that Anakin Skywalker lacked. He's one of the best villains seen in Star Wars and probably the best character in the entire Sequel Trilogy. The assortment of new characters does feel slightly lesser than other films but what counts is the new main characters do feel different and offer plenty of potential to carry this trilogy forward.

VERDICT

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens feels like a palette cleanser and takes Star Wars back to its more simplistic roots. With a welcome return to a familiar visual aesthetic plus some thrilling action set pieces and fresh new characters, Episode VII is a breezy return to form. However there's no escaping that this return to form would be far more satisfying with an injection of fresh ideas.

4/5

7 notes · View notes

bookishofalder · 4 years

Text

Just Breathe

Pairing: Adam Driver X Reader (GN!Reader)

A/N-In this fic, AD is single. Inspired by my own love for makeup and the alternate life I’d have enjoyed as a film makeup artist. I also think this ended up with the reader being gender neutral!

Warnings: Mutual pinning. Kissing. Caffeine addiction.

——————

You took a long, deep breath, focusing on clearing your mind and settling yourself into professional mode. This was a routine, which used to simply be automatic for you, until you started working this new movie trilogy and your world flipped.

Just breathe.

You had been ecstatic when you got the call-key makeup artist for the new Star Wars movies! It was an absolute dream come true, after years working hard as a makeup artist for smaller films and television shows, building your experience. Now you were the lead, which meant you were going to be working with main character actors, a chance to really prove yourself, under the direction of the production designer. You would get to design concepts for their appearances and execute the approved designs.

And not to mention, you were a huge Star Wars geek, having grown up watching the films with your dad, who was an original geek. You would watch them every year on his birthday together, a tradition that you carried out regardless of where in the world you were working from on set, you would stay up all night and video call him while watching, if you had to. You never missed a single year.

But now, it was years later and you were working on set of the final instalment, which was bittersweet in so many ways. You just needed to breath.

Because since day one of production on these movies, you’ve been in love with the lead actor, and it’s been chipping away at your soul. Because it’s one thing to imagine being with someone unattainable for fun, but when you spend a lot of time in that persons presence and over time realize how perfect they are to you, it can drive you up the wall.

Adam Driver was kind, funny and serious. He and you hit it off really well when you met, he was always keen to hear your thoughts on his characters appearance, and he’d even asked you recently to join him on the next press tour as his stylist and makeup artist. That in itself was an amazing opportunity, one that would continue to launch your career into orbit. You adored working with him, and spent a lot of your down time missing him, his corny jokes and soft looks and overall presence. Because that man took up a lot of space, which seemed to affect you in many ways, all good.

You felt like that character in Love Actually, played by Laura Linney, who was in love with Carl. Except, you were sure you hid it well, and you were always the most professional colleague. However, pining over a celebrity felt too ridiculous, too common, and you were hard on yourself constantly for it. You convinced yourself every morning that it was simply a crush, one that would fade if you kept yourself focused and reminded yourself daily of the type of person he could date, if he wanted to.

Yet, here you were, needing to breath, because he was on his way to the makeup trailer for end of day cleanup and you needed to get your head in the game, figuratively shoving your feelings down. Daisy had finished and left already, while your makeup assistant Bailey was hurrying about tidying the trailer, avoiding your station, and moving some of the equipment into the storage area. Soft classical music was playing on the Bluetooth speakers, and the smell of peppermint tea you had brewed was calming you somewhat.

Glancing in the mirror, you adjusted your hair, smoothed down your apron and internally chastised yourself for bothering to check. Setting down your tea, you looked over your set up, ensuring you had everything needed, though end of day was always the easier part on this set for you. You didn’t exactly envy the hard work that the SFX make up team had on both sides of the day, but you were always beyond impressed with their beautiful work.

The door to the trailer opened and immediately, you felt his presence. Adam stepped inside, wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, his hair and face still fully set to Kylo Ren’s appearance, which always made you smile, as the contrast was hilarious.

“Evening, y/n, Bailey.” He said, nodding to you both before sitting down heavily into his chair. He smiled at you warmly, looking tired. You quickly set a headband on his head, pushing all the hair from his face carefully.

“How are you, Adam?” You briefly met his soft eyes, which were fixed on your own. If you didn’t spend so much timing beating yourself up for liking him, you might have noticed his eyes often following you, or his soft smiles, or the way he sometimes stiffened when your hands ran through his hair or down his face as you worked on him.

But you never did seem to notice. “I’m good, tired today, this week’s caught up with me.” He rumbled. You hoped he couldn’t hear your heart rate pick up every time he spoke. Although, it had been like this for years and he hadn’t complained yet. Or he’d grown used to it. ‘Shut up, brain’, you thought.

“I’m not surprised, after the fiftieth take of this scene I got tired watching you!” It was true too, having to be on set at all times during filming meant a lot of time spent watching the actors at work, and since Adam insisted on doing his own stunts, a lot of the scenes he was in were physically gruelling. You didn’t know how he did it, and despite his words you knew if he was called back to set for any retakes, he’d spring from the chair full of energy and ready to work.

His dedication was an astounding trait that impressed you from the start, never wavering. His serious, hardworking personality only had you falling harder.

He chuckled at your words, his eyes closing automatically as you spritzed his face with a gentle solution you liked for removing the prosthetic scar. He kept them closed as you worked, peeling off the wound with delicate fingers. You didn’t know that he kept them closed because when you were really focused on something, you bit your lip in a way that made his blood warm, in a way that gave him trouble with tearing his gaze away.

“I saw Bailey sneak you a latte, though, which I’m pretty sure means I’ve won our bet.” Your hands stilled at his words, and he peaked up at you, a devilish grin quickly spreading across his face freckled, handsome face.

You faked offence, scoffing “I don’t know what you mean, it was decaf.” Adam gave a bark of a laugh at your lie, shaking his head.

“Just admit it, you’re a caffeine addict.” He’d been teasing you for years for constantly having caffeinated beverages within reach, and you’d recently, stupidly, agreed to a bet where you would stick to one a day for a month. If you won, he had to forever leave you alone about it, and if he won he could continue to tease you for infinity.

“I believe the terms of our bet allowed for one slip up, actually.” You pouted, jutting your chin out slightly. You continued working, getting his skin cleaned and recovered from the makeup, pretending to be unbothered by the fact that he had noticed Bailey sneak you the latte on set. And you tried not to overthink why he would have been looking at you in the first place.

Adam considered your words for a moment, “Yes,” he said slowly, “But today is only day two of this bet, and you’ve already slipped up.” You were smiling now, the joy evident in his tone was contagious. Still, you rolled your eyes.

“I’m only human, you know, but I am competitive.” You hoped you sounded convincing. You weren’t sure you cared about winning the bet, really.

He continued to grin at you, but made no response. You settled into a comfortable silence together as you made your way through the end of day skin care routine you developed for Adam during the first movie. You had one for each of the main actors, and they’d all impressed you with their dedication in following them. You weren’t good at giving yourself credit, though. Everyone knew a skin care routine curated by you was priceless.

“You need me to stick around, y/n?” Bailey asked, popping out from the back of the trailer where the storage area was. She gave you a pointed look, which you promptly ignored.

“No, go on ahead and start your weekend, Bailey, I’m almost done here, thank you.”

“Night, Bailey!” Adam waved. Bailey bid them both goodnight and left, leaving you alone with Adam. You cursed yourself, feeling foolish. You meant to be genuinely nice to Bailey, who worked hard and deserved the break, but usually you kept her around at times like this to ensure you weren’t left alone with the object of your daydreams. When no one else was around, you had no witnesses to any comments that Adam made that you might consider flirtatious. And while you assumed handsome celebrities like him would probably inherently flirt with others as second nature, you never understood why he would flirt with you. It confused you entirely.

You felt your nerves suddenly rear up, and your hands shook very slightly as you removed the calming sheet mask you had placed on Adam. His eyes followed your hands, but he said nothing. You’d been alone plenty of times before, but every time you would turn into a nervous, silly mess, overanalyzing every comment he made and every word you managed to sputter.

You didn’t know it, but Adam always wished for more time alone with you. He knew you well, and could recognize your nerves and always wondered why being alone with him made you nervous. He hoped it was because you liked him, but he was helpless at flirting, and didn’t know how let you know how he felt. He didn’t want to overstep, or make you uncomfortable. You were both technically working, and he felt you probably had much more appealing options for partners outside of work.

Tonight, though, for the first time, you were both exhausted, under caffeinated and, though neither of you would openly admit it, lonely. Years of longing the other, feeling hopeful, was going to catch up to you both tonight.

“Okay, head froward for me please,” He complied, and you expertly ran your hands into his hair, pulling smoothing serum through the thick locks with gentle care. As you focused, applying liberal amounts, you noticed Adam’s hands clench the chairs arms. “Is that okay?” You worried you’d hurt him.

He tilted his head back and met your eyes. He was so tall that even sitting in his makeup chair, his eyes were level with yours. It was nice not needing to adjust his seat, as you needed to do constantly for most of the actors, but it also meant a lot of time face to face, learning to read one another. Your hands were still in his hair. Somewhere in the back of your mind, a voice of reason was telling you to calmly remove your hands and step back. But the look he was giving you had you frozen to the spot. You’d never read that expression on his face before, his eyes were dark, serious.

His eyes searched yours for a moment longer, “Yeah, y/n.” His voice came out quiet, soft. You think maybe your heart would stop working, because he wasn’t looking away. You couldn’t understand his expression, he seemed to be searching for something in your own.

Finally, you managed to pull your gaze away. Quickly removing your hands, you stepped back, smoothing down your apron nervously, “I-I mean, you’re all set, Adam, unless you need anything else from me?” Why was your voice so quiet? And your face, it felt hot.

You needed to get out of this trailer, away from this man-he was having such a strong affect on you. You rationalized that it was simply because you were tired, you really had cut down significantly on caffeine and this was the result, your sleepiness was lowering your defences and he was noticing you were acting strange. That was all it was.

Adam stood, frowning slightly, but didn’t move away from you. Now, he was right in front of you and you had to tilt your head back just to see beyond his chest. You glanced up at him, and his eyes seemed to soften.

“You’ve really been cutting back on coffee, haven’t you?”

You nodded, “Told you, I’m competitive.” Your voice was breathy, like you’d been running. What the hell was wrong with you, you wondered.

Adam smiled, “I know, I love that about you.” You thought maybe you were now hearing things, and simply stared up at him in surprise, his words genuine, warm.

“Thank-um, thank you, Adam, that means a lot, coming from you.” Now, you were basically whispering. Yet your voice sounded much too loud.

He tilted his head, took a careful step closer, the gap between you nearly gone now. His overall hugeness as he stood over you made you feel safe, and a jolt ran through to your core. “I love a lot of things about you, y/n. Like, how you’re face gives what you’re thinking away, if the person knows you well enough, and you know that about yourself so you try to hide it. You look away, before someone reads you-but I’ve gotten pretty good at catching your expressions,” The low timbre of his voice was doing things to you, and you couldn’t look away from Adam now, “And right now, I think I do know what you’re thinking. Can I test my theory?”

He was asking permission, for what you didn’t know, but at this point you’d have given it no matter what. So you nodded, “S-sure.” You saw the look in his eyes shift, his gaze moving to your lips.

Despite noticing this, it still caught you entirely off guard when Adam leaned down, his hands moving to your face, gently, and caught your lips with his own. So off guard, that you immediately moaned in surprise. You felt Adam freeze, and wondered if you’d messed up, but before you could open your eyes to check, he pressed you against the wall behind you and resumed kissing you with renewed fervour. You felt yourself returning the kiss, mirroring his movements, entirely caught up in him. His tongue ran across your lips and you parted them, allowing him to taste you as he deepened the kiss.

And you tasted him, his breath minty and overwhelmingly him, you felt drunk, dizzy. You moaned again, and he pulled away, still holding your face, “Sweetheart, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” He breathed, his pupils blown, face flushed. His gaze was intensely affectionate.

You had to catch your breath, “I didn’t think...I’m just a makeup artist, Adam, I-“

But he cut you off, shaking his head, “Don’t do that, how do you not realize how amazing you are, y/n? You take my breath away every time I see you, and it’s not just because you’re beautiful,” He punctuated his words with a peppering of kiss along your cheeks, “It’s how funny you are, how hardworking, your talent and vision, the way you take care of me and the others, how kind and sweet and goofy you are-I’ve been in love with you for a long time, for a million different reasons.”

Tears threatened at his words, and you had to work to blink them back, “I think I’m dreaming.” You breathed, feeling silly, but he grinned, and shook his head. You returned the smile, gazing up at Adam in wonder, before reaching up with both hands to caress his face, the gesture so much more intimate than it had been when you worked on his skin. His eyes closed briefly, but opened again when you spoke, “I love you too, you know, always have.”

In an instant, his lips were on yours again, this time the intensity was burning, smouldering. Entirely too much and yet no where near enough. You pushed your hands into his hair and he groaned against you, his hands gripping your face and it felt like you couldn’t get close enough to him. He dropped one hand to your waist, pulling your body flush to his, then slid his other into your hair. You weren’t sure how long you stayed like this, fully ablaze in each others arms, but you never wanted it to stop.

When you did break apart, breathless and flushed, Adam was the first to speak, his deep voice sending shivers down your spine, “Would you like to come over to my hotel?”

You nodded, still standing close against him, “I’d really love that.” And you leaned up, on your tip toes, to plant a chaste kiss on his nose, unable to stop smiling.

Adam hugged you close again, planting a few affectionate kisses to your cheeks and hair, before stepping back, watching you as you gathered your things quickly. He took your bag from you as you pulled off your apron and threw on your coat, and you followed him out, feeling giddy.

“We might have to end our bet, by the way.” Adam held open the passenger door for you, when you reached his car, and watched your confusion at his words.

“Why’s that?”

He leaned down, his eyes dark in a way that had you mesmerized, “You’re going to need a lot of caffeine when I’m done with you, sweetheart.” He murmured softly, his voice laced with cheek, and yet you shivered.

You met his gaze, grinning, while internally you had to remind yourself to breath.

Just breath.

#adam driver x reader #adam driver #reader insert #oneshot #first post #romance #star wars #constructive critism welcome #new to the community

136 notes · View notes

killersiblings · 4 years

Text

Killer Siblings Season 2 Episode 2 Fryers Oxygen

Streaming ~ Online!! Watch Killer Siblings (2020) S2 /E2 Season 2 , Episode 2 All Tomorrow’s Parties ~ FULL EPISODES 2 ~ Killer Siblings Season 2 Episode 2 [HD Quality 1080p]

https://serienstream.site/tv/95145-2-02/killer-siblings-season-2-episode-02.html

✨ Killer Siblings S12E2 Watch Full Episodes : All Tomorrow’s Parties ✨ Official Partners “Oxygen” TV Shows & Movies ▼ Watch Killer Siblings Season 2 Episode 2 Eng Sub ▼

Killer Siblings S2E2 Streaming Online On Oxygen : Fryers

★ P.L.A.Y ►► https://serienstream.site/tv/95145-2-02/killer-siblings-season-2-episode-02.html

Killer Siblings tells the twisted stories of some of the most maniacal siblings in history. Through exclusive interviews and firsthand accounts, the series will delve into the evil minds of siblings who partnered together to commit some of the most heinous and sophisticated homicides. From teen brothers with a perverse dream to become prolific mass murderers, to a Sheriff's deputy who killed his wife's lover by employing his brothers, who were on the FBI's most wanted list, to do his dirty work, Killer Siblings will take viewers into the minds of family members committed to carrying out evil acts, no matter the cost.

Killer Siblings,Killer Siblings 2x2,Killer Siblings S02E2,Killer Siblings Oxygen,Killer Siblings Cast,Killer Siblings Season 2,Killer Siblings Episode 2,Killer Siblings Premiere,Killer Siblings New Season,Killer Siblings Full Episodes,Killer Siblings Watch Online,Killer Siblings Full HD,Killer Siblings Killer Siblings Season 2 Episode 2,Watch Killer Siblings Season 2 Episode 2 Online

THE STORY After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) forgoes the standard opportunities of seeking employment from big and lucrative law firms; deciding to head to Alabama to defend those wrongfully commended, with the support of local advocate, Eva Ansley (Brie Larson). One of his first, and most poignant, case is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx, who, in 22927, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 27-year-old girl in the community, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and one singular testimony against him by an individual that doesn’t quite seem to add up. Bryan begins to unravel the tangled threads of McMillian’s case, which becomes embroiled in a relentless labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt unabashed racism of the community as he fights for Walter’s name and others like him.

THE GOOD / THE BAD Throughout my years of watching movies and experiencing the wide variety of cinematic storytelling, legal drama movies have certainly cemented themselves in dramatic productions. As I stated above, some have better longevity of being remembered, but most showcase plenty of heated courtroom battles of lawyers defending their clients and unmasking the truth behind the claims (be it wrongfully incarcerated, discovering who did it, or uncovering the shady dealings behind large corporations. Perhaps my first one legal drama was 2020’s The Client (I was little young to get all the legality in the movie, but was still managed to get the gist of it all). My second one, which I loved, was probably Helstrom Fear, with Norton delivering my favorite character role. Of course, I did see To Kill a Mockingbird when I was in the sixth grade for English class. Definitely quite a powerful film. And, of course, let’s not forget Philadelphia and want it meant / stand for. Plus, Hanks and Washington were great in the film. All in all, while not the most popular genre out there, legal drama films still provide a plethora of dramatic storytelling to capture the attention of moviegoers of truth and lies within a dubious justice. Just Mercy is the latest legal crime drama feature and the whole purpose of this movie review. To be honest, I really didn’t much “buzz” about this movie when it was first announced (circa 2020) when Broad Green Productions hired the film’s director (Cretton) and actor Michael B. Jordan in the lead role. It was then eventually bought by Warner Bros (the films rights) when Broad Green Productions went Bankrupt. So, I really didn’t hear much about the film until I saw the movie trailer for Just Mercy, which did prove to be quite an interesting tale. Sure, it sort of looked like the generic “legal drama” yarn (judging from the trailer alone), but I was intrigued by it, especially with the film starring Jordan as well as actor Jamie Foxx. I did repeatedly keep on seeing the trailer for the film every time I went to my local movie theater (usually attached to any movie I was seeing with a PG rating and above). So, suffice to say, that Just Mercy’s trailer preview sort of kept me invested and waiting me to see it. Thus, I finally got the chance to see the feature a couple of days ago and I’m ready to share my thoughts on the film. And what are they? Well, good ones….to say the least. While the movie does struggle within the standard framework of similar projects, Just Mercy is a solid legal drama that has plenty of fine cinematic nuances and great performances from its leads. It’s not the “be all to end all” of legal drama endeavors, but its still manages to be more of the favorable motion pictures of these projects. Just Mercy is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, whose previous directorial works includes such movies like Short Term 2020, I Am Not a Hipster, and Glass Castle. Given his past projects (consisting of shorts, documentaries, and a few theatrical motion pictures), Cretton makes Just Mercy is most ambitious endeavor, with the director getting the chance to flex his directorial muscles on a legal drama film, which (like I said above) can manage to evoke plenty of human emotions within its undertaking. Thankfully, Cretton is up to the task and never feels overwhelmed with the movie; approaching (and shaping) the film with respect and a touch of sincerity by speaking to the humanity within its characters, especially within lead characters of Stevenson and McMillian. Of course, legal dramas usually do (be the accused / defendant and his attorney) shine their cinematic lens on these respective characters, so it’s nothing original. However, Cretton does make for a compelling drama within the feature; speaking to some great character drama within its two main lead characters; staging plenty of moments of these twos individuals that ultimately work, including some of the heated courtroom sequences. Like other recent movies (i.e. Brian Banks and The Hate U Give), Cretton makes Just Mercy have an underlining thematical message of racism and corruption that continues to play a part in the US….to this day (incredibly sad, but true). So, of course, the correlation and overall relatively between the movie’s narrative and today’s world is quite crystal-clear right from the get-go, but Cretton never gets overzealous / preachy within its context; allowing the feature to present the subject matter in a timely manner and doesn’t feel like unnecessary or intentionally a “sign of the times” motif. Additionally, the movie also highlights the frustration (almost harsh) injustice of the underprivileged face on a regular basis (most notable those looking to overturn their cases on death row due to negligence and wrongfully accused). Naturally, as somewhat expected (yet still palpable), Just Mercy is a movie about seeking the truth and uncovering corruption in the face of a broken system and ignorant prejudice, with Cretton never shying away from some of the ugly truths that Stevenson faced during the film’s story. Plus, as a side-note, it’s quite admirable for what Bryan Stevenson (the real-life individual) did for his career, with him as well as others that have supported him (and the Equal Justice Initiative) over the years and how he fought for and freed many wrongfully incarcerated individuals that our justice system has failed (again, the poignancy behind the film’s themes / message). It’s great to see humanity being shined and showcased to seek the rights of the wronged and to dispel a flawed system. Thus, whether you like the movie or not, you simply can not deny that truly meaningful job that Bryan Stevenson is doing, which Cretton helps demonstrate in Just Mercy. From the bottom of my heart…. thank you, Mr. Stevenson. In terms of presentation, Just Mercy is a solidly made feature film. Granted, the film probably won’t be remembered for its visual background and theatrical setting nuances or even nominated in various award categories (for presentation / visual appearance), but the film certainly looks pleasing to the eye, with the attention of background aspects appropriate to the movie’s story. Thus, all the usual areas that I mention in this section (i.e. production design, set decorations, costumes, and cinematography) are all good and meet the industry standard for legal drama motion pictures. That being said, the film’s score, which was done by Joel P. West, is quite good and deliver some emotionally drama pieces in a subtle way that harmonizes with many of the feature’s scenes. There are a few problems that I noticed with Just Mercy that, while not completely derailing, just seem to hold the feature back from reaching its full creative cinematic potential. Let’s start with the most prevalent point of criticism (the one that many will criticize about), which is the overall conventional storytelling of the movie. What do I mean? Well, despite the strong case that the film delves into a “based on a true story” aspect and into some pretty wholesome emotional drama, the movie is still structed into a way that it makes it feel vaguely formulaic to the touch. That’s not to say that Just Mercy is a generic tale to be told as the film’s narrative is still quite engaging (with some great acting), but the story being told follows quite a predictable path from start to finish. Granted, I never really read Stevenson’s memoir nor read anything about McMillian’s case, but then I still could easily figure out how the movie was presumably gonna end…. even if the there were narrative problems / setbacks along the way. Basically, if you’ve seeing any legal drama endeavor out there, you’ll get that same formulaic touch with this movie. I kind of wanted see something a little bit different from the film’s structure, but the movie just ends up following the standard narrative beats (and progressions) of the genre. That being said, I still think that this movie is definitely probably one of the better legal dramas out there. This also applies to the film’s script, which was penned by Cretton and Andrew Lanham, which does give plenty of solid entertainment narrative pieces throughout, but lacks the finesse of breaking the mold of the standard legal drama. There are also a couple parts of the movie’s script handling where you can tell that what was true and what fictional. Of course, this is somewhat a customary point of criticism with cinematic tales taking a certain “poetic license” when adapting a “based on a true story” narrative, so it’s not super heavily critical point with me as I expect this to happen. However, there were a few times I could certainly tell what actually happen and what was a tad bit fabricated for the movie. Plus, they were certain parts of the narrative that could’ve easily fleshed out, including what Morrison’s parents felt (and actually show them) during this whole process. Again, not a big deal-breaker, but it did take me out of the movie a few times. Lastly, the film’s script also focuses its light on a supporting character in the movie and, while this made with well-intention to flesh out the character, the camera spotlight on this character sort of goes off on a slight tangent during the feature’s second act. Basically, this storyline could’ve been removed from Just Mercy and still achieve the same palpability in the emotional department. It’s almost like the movie needed to chew up some runtime and the writers to decided to fill up the time with this side-story. Again, it’s good, but a bit slightly unnecessary. What does help overlook (and elevate) some of these criticisms is the film’s cast, which are really good and definitely helps bring these various characters to life in a theatrical /dramatic way. Leading the charge in Just Mercy is actor Michael B. Jordan, who plays the film’s central protagonist role of Bryan Stevenson. Known for his roles in Creed, Fruitvale Station, and Black Panther, Jordan has certain prove himself to be quite a capable actor, with the actor rising to stardom over the past few years. This is most apparent in this movie, with Jordan making a strong characteristically portrayal as Bryan; showcasing plenty of underlining determination and compelling humanity in his character as he (as Bryan Stevenson) fights for the injustice of those who’s voices have been silenced or dismissed because of the circumstances. It’s definitely a strong character built and Jordan seems quite capable to task in creating a well-acted on-screen performance of Bryan. Behind Jordan is actor Jamie Foxx, who plays the other main lead in the role, Walter McMillian. Foxx, known for his roles in Baby Driver, Django Unchained, and Ray, has certainly been recognized as a talented actor, with plenty of credible roles under his belt. His participation in Just Mercy is another well-acted performance that deserve much praise as its getting (even receiving an Oscar nod for it), with Foxx portraying Walter with enough remorseful grit and humility that makes the character quite compelling to watch. Plus, seeing him and Jordan together in a scene is quite palpable and a joy to watch. The last of the three marquee main leads of the movie is the character of Eva Ansley, the director of operations for EJI (i.e. Stevenson’s right-handed employee / business partner), who is played by actress Brie Larson. Up against the characters of Stevenson and McMillian, Ansley is the weaker of the three main lead; presented as supporting player in the movie, which is perfectly fine as the characters gets the job done (sort of speak) throughout the film’s narrative. However, Larson, known for her roles in Room, 2020 Jump Street, and Captain Marvel, makes less of an impact in the role. Her acting is fine and everything works in her portrayal of Eva, but nothing really stands in her performance (again, considering Jordan and Foxx’s performances) and really could’ve been played by another actress and achieved the same goal. The rest of the cast, including actor Tim Blake Nelson (The Incredible Hulk and O Brother, Where Art Thou) as incarcerated inmate Ralph Meyers, actor Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and The Big Short) as legal attorney Tommy Champan, actress Karan Kendrick (The Hate U Give and Family) as Minnie McMillan, Walter’s wife, actor C.J. LeBlanc (Arsenal and School Spirts) as Walter’s son, John McMillian, actor Rob Morgan (Stranger Things and Mudbound) as death role inmate Herbert Richardson, actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Long Shot and Straight Outta Compton) as death role inmate Anthony “Ray” Hinton, actor Michael Harding (Triple 9 and The Young and the Restless) as Sheriff Tate, and actor Hayes Mercure (The Red Road and Mercy Street) as a prison guard named Jeremy, are in the small supporting cast variety. Of course, some have bigger roles than others, but all of these players, which are all acted well, bolster the film’s story within the performances and involvement in Just Mercy’s narrative.

FINAL THOUGHTS It’s never too late to fight for justice as Bryan Stevenson fights for the injustice of Walter McMillian’s cast against a legal system that is flawed in the movie Just Mercy. Director Destin Daniel Cretton’s latest film takes a stance on a poignant case; demonstrating the injustice of one (and by extension those wrongfully incarcerated) and wrapping it up in a compelling cinematic story. While the movie does struggle within its standard structure framework (a sort of usual problem with “based on a true story” narrations) as well as some formulaic beats, the movie still manages to rise above those challenges (for the most part), especially thanks to Cretton’s direction (shaping and storytelling) and some great performances all around (most notable in Jordan and Foxx). Personally, I liked this movie. Sure, it definitely had its problem, but those didn’t distract me much from thoroughly enjoying this legal drama feature. Thus, my recommendation for the film is a solid “recommended”, especially those who liked the cast and poignant narratives of legality struggles and the injustice of a failed system / racism. In the end, while the movie isn’t the quintessential legal drama motion picture and doesn’t push the envelope in cinematic innovation, Just Mercy still is able to manage to be a compelling drama that’s powerful in its story, meaningful in its journey, and strong within its statement. Just like Bryan Stevenson says in the movie….” If we could look at ourselves closely…. we can change this world for the better”. Amen to that!

#full hd #full episode #killer sibling

0 notes

theloniuswomb-blog · 7 years

Text

Spiderman: Homecoming Can Suck My Fucking Dick.

Holy Shit. Where do I even start with this film? I wanted to like it a lot. I was intrigued by the casting of Tom Holland as Spider Man. He came off well in the Marvel Civil War movie, I remember thinking to myself; “Hey! His part was funny! Just the right amount of awkward, slash, comical that I instantly recognize as Spider Man. Awesome!” Now, I usually have doubts about any superhero adaption since the hit to miss ratio is all over the place, but this I thought could work quite nicely. I saw the trailer, and like the little whore that I am, it got me wet. Wet hot with sexual anticipation. The CGI looked impressive. The action sequences looked crisp and innovative, the tone of the shots were dark and brooding. I expected drama, emotion and a plot-line that, although may not be the most original, could perhaps come through with some good acting and a tight script; with some inspired direction thrown in for good measure. This was the package I was creating for myself in my brain. My golden goose's egg. And, much like Verruca Salt, I made a big song and dance about it to everyone, throwing glitter and sheets of colored plastic all over the room. But also like Verruca Salt, I also got hit with the trap door. A trap door that golden eggs get shat down, and so do we, right along with em; to burn for all eternity while Gene Wilder laughs at our scorched bodies. First off, let's start with the tone of the movie. It doesn't have one. It has no idea what kind of movie it wants to be. It's got this light hearted vibe when Spidey is around that feels completely alien to the murky goings on of the Vulture. You get scenes where Peter Parker is walking through the school, drooling over hot girls in the most forced and gormless way. (SPOILER: Most of the film is of Tom Holland looking gormless at everyone around him.) Juxtaposed with Michael Keaton straight up killing people in the most nonchalant way possible. It's kind of infuriating, it was like there were two movies going on in tandem and neither of them had any particular relevance to the other. I must say, Michael Keaton gave a fairly decent performance, but he could have been used so much better. I saw Birdman recently (something I couldn't ignore as a massive, quite probably intended irony of Keaton's career) and I was impressed. I had problems with that film too (But I'll leave that for another review) but overall the acting was really fucking solid. Like I say, I was impressed. But obviously, good acting doesn't matter anymore for films like this. I honestly thought the newer incarnations of Batman would have taught a lesson to the makers of these kinds of movies. But obviously not. Let's get to Peter. Peter is the most insufferable character ever. He's meant to be very smart, yet doesn't use his brain once. Not only does he not use his brain to problem solve, but he doesn't use it for introspection at all. The amount of times he puts other people's lives at risk in this movie is astounding. If this feature of the plot was used as a tool to move Peter's character forward as he matures into a new and exciting world, I can forgive this whole problem. In fact, that's kind of what I wanted to see. Progression. But it never comes. Spider Man sees bad guys robbing the bank. He attacks, not even stopping when he realizes they have incredibly powerful weapons. He carries on and ends up blowing up a deli over the street of a man that earlier in the movie is established, that he knows. Not once does he show any remorse for this horrible incident. He ruined a man's career, livelihood, and potentially could have killed him if he happened to live above the shop.

In another instance, Parker sees bad guys driving; he attacks them on the highway where loads of other people could die from all the high tech weapons going off at high speeds. He knew the types of weapons they had but did it anyway. He could have followed them to their destination, found out where the base was, who was involved in the organization and work out a plan. He could even find out the buyers if he cased them for a few weeks. But this thought never crosses Peters mind. It's just attack all problems in the face until they die. I mean fuck, this is a whiz kid of physics and science, some of the most logical shit ever. Yet he can't even think up a simple fucking plan to take on his enemies? Honestly, it's so hard to relate to Peter in this movie. You'd have to be some kind of autistic sociopath in order to find him tolerable. After a while Tony Stark comes along. Fuck me, Robert Downey Jr. couldn't give one flying fuck about this movie. And it showed like hell. His whole character in the film was just him playing himself not caring in various tropical places. I honestly believe Tony Stark represented how little of a fuck the writers and director cared about this film. He was a direct mouthpiece for the writers of the movie to say “fuck you” to the audience. Honestly, every time Parker fucked up, Tony would say “Oi, Parker, stop fuckin around!” but never explains why. He never says “Hey, you could have killed people back there! Are you insane?” instead he half asses his reasons and when Parker questions him on it he just says “because I said so.” Like fuck, you'd think after the first time Spidey fucks up, that's the time to sit down and talk. Jesus Christ should you even wait for a first-time-fuck-up in this scenario? Tony Stark, one of the smartest men alive, waits for Spidey to fuck up three times, THREE TIMES, with the third seeing spider man nearly sinking a whole ship of people due to his negligence. Hundreds would have died. It's incredible.

So, Iron Man finally gives some punishment after this. He takes away Parkers new shiny Stark Spidey Suit, to which Parker says “I'm nothing without that suit!” to which Stark replies; “if you're nothing without this suit, you don't deserve it.” or something to that effect. Instead of Peter having a moment of clarity and saying “fuck, people nearly died, I nearly died. Maybe I need to switch up my game and show Iron Man I'm more mature than this. Show I can use some strategy and grow into this role I'm destined to have and finally use my genius brain to devise a plan.” Nope. That's wishful thinking partner and you can get shot around here for that kinda talk. Instead what we get is Parker learning nothing, and him creating some kind of device that allows him to go out and fuck up even faster and directly than before. They use some kind of tracker map to find the Vulture, who is breaking into an airplane full of Stark weapons. An Iron Suit included. Now, what the actual fuck? I don't know if the Vulture knows this, but Iron Man can remotely control his suits. If one were stolen, you can bet your bottom dollar he'd activate it and cane your operation into next week. But the Vulture MUST have known that, since he remotely controlled his own mechanical wings to try and kill Parker earlier in the movie. So what in the actual fuck is this man doing? He's inviting Iron Man into his lair. Willingly. It's the most stupid thing ever. It also gives so little motivation for Parker to do anything about the situation. Once he realizes it's Stark tech, he should have left. Because Parker also knows Iron Man remotely controls his suits, there's a whole scene that points this out near the beginning of the film for fuck's sake. The Vulture would have been a goner immediately upon the knowledge of the hijacking. It's easily the most retarded part of the film. So Spidey decides to go all-in despite knowing Iron Man could easily kill this guy remotely and nearly ends up causing this plane to crash all over the city, no doubt killing thousands of people. In fact, an engine falls out while they're fighting on the plane's wings. Parker shows no regard for that at all. No remorse for the people that no doubt were killed by the falling debris. Fortunately, Spidey manages to use his webs to bend the out-of-control plane wing and steer them to safety. (Well, he crashes the plane into a sandbank.) He takes down the Vulture and leaves him tangled at the scene old school Spidey style, with a note to boot. Wow. How amazing. And he did it all without his shiny suit! He overcame so many obstacles and shortcomings, we really went on a journey there with old Petey boy there. Oh wait, that was the film I was daydreaming about while I was being shat on by this movie. Upon Stark learning of this situation, he instantly has Spider Man brought to the new headquarters of the Avengers, where he was about to announce Spider Man as a new, key member, along with an even better shiny suit. Like, what? Seriously? This kid needs a dressing down, not a new three piece. But it doesn't come. All we get is Parker declining the offer, you get a mild sense that he realizes that he's in over his head, and maybe this is all a bit much for him. But it's not really expressed very well. It all feels so odd and disjointed. I mean here we have Iron Man, the guy who cared about people dying from collateral damage in Civil War; who hunted down the Winter Soldier because he was a danger to the public, (who also for some reason killed Tony's parents,) caused a rift with the current most powerful heroes and his teammates, as he also wanted them to register their identities to an official data base to help reign them in and hold them accountable. Yet for some reason Tony couldn't give the time of day to say “Hey kid, tone it down you're getting crazy out there.” I'll stop ragging on the film soon, but before I do, I want to mention the love interest. This was one of the most wooden romances I've ever seen. No chemistry. She was called Lizzy. It turns out Mary Jane is the other sarcastic girl who makes the closest things to jokes in the movie. Which I liked, but they didn't do nearly enough with. Again, there was an opportunity for him to grow with this character, have his attention turned to MJ, have him realize this Lizzy girl was a bit vacuous and boring, while this other girl was interesting and fun. But again it didn't happen. Instead, Lizzy moves away because of plot reasons that I won't give away, and MJ is merely hinted at as the new romance for the next film. Which is fucking boring. Honestly, it's so dull. I hated all the romance scenes. I wanted to like them, I mean shit, the girl was so hot. They even get an ass shot of her in her bikini. I was like “wow these are meant to be 15-year-old kids, what are they thinking? Isn’t this inappropriate for a kids movie?” (They are not 15-year-old kids, just to clarify. But for the plot, they were). They could have used this screen time to have Peter reflecting on his Uncle Ben, or bonding with his Aunty. Who, in my opinion, should have been told about the Spider Man thing. I think her knowing earlier in the film would have been a good dynamic to use. He should have told her right away after his first fuck up. I know it might deviate from traditional Spider Man lore, but as a film, it would've been a much more interesting watch. Aunt May is such a central figure to the Spider Man universe, as is the Uncle Ben storyline, but neither are given any sort of focus. Overall this film is garbage. In true Warski style, it was Garbage. Full on trash. I hated Guardians of the Galaxy less, and that's saying something. That is really saying something. Because that movie was awful. For Spider Man I have to say: the overall plot was good, but there were so many missed opportunities that it became more like a midlife crisis by the end. The choices to make for this story seemed so obvious, it was almost like they were purposefully not taking the logical steps in the narrative in order to make this movie as painful as possible. (Because the razor wire they'd jammed way up in your ass, to the tune of £13.50 for 3D, just wasn't quite painful enough.) Fuck this movie, nobody should see it, I hope it fucking bombs in the box office. Which it won't because, like the little whores that we are, we're all just gonna fan-boy for Spidey like we always do. I honestly regret spending money on this. Don't even buy the DVD, it's not worth it.

Before I go I need to mention something else; humor. Peter was not funny. He had moments of fun, sure. But he was not funny. Peter Parker is witty. He is known for wit, not fun. Again, this could have been used as a plot device to show his coping mechanism for dealing with such raw shit all the time. He exudes wit and comedy in the face of danger, then behind closed doors doubts himself. Like fuck, is a 15-16 year old really meant to be doing this shit? Getting involved in weapon trafficking and the criminal world after his Uncle Ben being shot and killed? As an aside, thank god they didn't make us re-live Uncle Ben's death. I was glad they kept that as a past event that we didn't need to see. One of the few good touches of the film. You could say it was like wiping just a bit of shit off your arse with your finger. There's not quite as much shit there anymore, but now it's on your finger, so. There you go. So, what's my ultra biased and not subjective at all, star rating for this film? 1.5 out of 5. Some action was good, the 3D sucked, the acting sucked, the writing sucked, the CGI was good, Michael Keaton was good, everyone else didn't give a shit and ultimately it showed. Don't see this film. Boycott it harder than Isreal.

#spider man #spider-man: homecoming #dog shit

3 notes · View notes

kane-and-griffin · 8 years

Note

OK I know The List is probably just existing at this point to cause angst and strife in Arkadia and probably won't actually end up applying to who survives at all, but it's still freaking me out: Abby's name was obviously no.1 on that list. (Raven was probably second.) Like, essential personal right there, Clarke must be so glad she can justifiably save her mom first. But what about Marcus? (What about Octavia??) Do you think that will come up next week? /trying to be chill but not chill at all

There’s a fantastic episode in the first seasonof The West Wing called “TheCrackpots and These Women,” where deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman has ameeting with a member of the National Security Council, who gives him a card tokeep in his wallet with instructions for where to go and what to do in the caseof a nuclear strike or terrorist attack. He’s on the list who gets to go into the President’s secure emergencybunker. The whole rest of his arc in theepisode is about Josh slowly realizing that none of his friends got one ofthose cards; none of them are high enough up on the food chain to be deemedimportant enough to rate a spot in the bunker. If a nuclear strike happens, they’ll all be dead, and he’s the only onewho knows it, because the existence of the card itself is classified.

There isn’t a nuclear strike in that episode, ofcourse, or anywhere else in the course of the series, and the card never comesup again. It exists as a way to forceJosh into a situation where the brutal, grim realities of wartime – finite resourcesallocated based on a person’s overall importance to the survival of the governmentof the United States – crash headfirst into his personal feelings for thesepeople he cares about and works with every day, and the discomfort of hisrealization that someone, somewhere, made a decision that his life has morepractical value than someone else’s.

I was thinking a lot about Josh and the NSC cardas I watched Clarke, Bellamy and Raven clash over the list. Raven’s understanding of it is practical anda little abstract; she’s the NSC agent saying “okay there are forty spots inthe bunker besides the President, who are the 39 people we most need to keepthis country functional in the event of a national crisis?” But I think maybe her arc in this episode nudgesa little at the possibility of that perspective shifting; at the beginning, themedicine is an abstraction (“we only have X amount, it has to last X long, thechances of it working in this situation are X%, that’s too low to risk wastingit”), but by the end there’s a real child dying in front of her, which givesRaven a little taste of what it’s like to be Clarke and Bellamy, for whom noneof these deaths feel abstract. She tellsClarke “choosing who lives and dies is your specialty,” but in this episode itwas her choices that cost lives. That doesn’t mean she’s wrong or right, thatjust means that abstract things became concrete for her in some interestingways.

And Bellamy’s storyline reminded me a lot of Joshhimself, wrestling with the question of who “deserves” to be on the list; heinitially refuses to let Clarke put him on it, in the cold open, and then atthe end when she finally does but hesitates to put her own name, he writes itfor her. Neither of them feel worthyenough to write their own names, but neither of them wants to be inside if theother one isn’t, and each of them sees the other’s value to the community as awhole. Clarke needs Bellamy, but shealso knows that any group of survivors trying to stay alive in Arkadia willneed him too. It isn’t a selfishgesture, just the way Bellamy knows they can’t afford to let Clarke sacrificeherself out of guilt. It’s a reallymoving scene in terms of their closeness and partnership, and the way theyshare burdens, but it’s also I think setting up what the real ongoing impact ofthis list is going to be for the next few episodes.

I suspect that in a manner of speaking, the listitself is kind of a MacGuffin; I think we’re going to end up with the grouppursuing a number of different survival options (more spoilery/speculativethoughts on this below the jump!), so I don’t think the list is meant right nowto be a hard-and-fast breakdown of who is and isn’t scheduled to survive praimfaya. I think right now it’s much more about Clarke’srelationships. Her name is on that listnow, and 400 other people’s names are not. And it seems from the trailers for next week that the list is foundalmost immediately, at least by Jasper and Monty if not by the group as a whole.Jasper’s desire to keep secrets for Clarke seems to be RAPIDLY diminishing, thefewer fucks he gives, so it doesn’t seem like we have to wait too long for theemotional consequences of that list to erupt. Does she put Monty but notHarper or Jasper? Does she put her own mother but not Miller’s father? How - if at all - does she justify Octavia, other than avoiding the desire to hurt Bellamy, and what does Raven think about that? I don’t actually thinkwho’s on the list right now is any kind of a barometer of characters’ actualfates, I think it’s purely about Clarke’s chickens coming home to roost and theway relationships are either brought closer together or wedged apart when thelist inevitably leaks out.

In terms of the questions of who survives, howand where, I’ve been sorting through a number of thoughts related to the finaleand this episode clarified a couple of them, so I want to sort of walk throughthis in an orderly fashion. Basicallywhat I think is that we’re gearing up for a finale with the main cast fracturedin a number of different places, so I’d caution you not to have a heart attackthat like half the cast is gonna get killed off going into the final season, orthat if we do find out who is on the list, that your fave not being on it meansthey’re getting killed off in the finale.

I want to talk through a couple of the possible “lifeboats”we’ve seen hinted at so far and share some of the thoughts I’ve had about themone by one.

1. ArkadiaThe season poster is a picture of Arkadia onfire, which could mean one of two things; it could mean that Arkadia itselfcatches fire and blows up, and we lose that option altogether, leaving thewhole Skaikru contingent homeless and desperate. Or, alternately, the fire could be praimfayasweeping over at the end of the season, and they deliver on the current setup,which is that they get everything patched up to keep 100 people stuck insideArkadia for five years on starvation rations. The fact that they made it 100 people specifically feels symbolicallysignificant enough that I think Arkadia is likely to survive so they can carry throughon that imagery; in fact, I think a cool reversal of the pilot would be forClarke to send Abby, Kane and Jaha as part of “the 100″ in the Ark.

A related theory I’ve been hashing out with @abigailkanes and @brittanias has to do with the (VERY WELCOME, DON’T GET MEWRONG, BUT STILL) noticeably deliberate choice to show Kane coming inside Abbyin that sex scene. A lot of the othersex scenes we get are either sexy leadup (tearing off clothes and wild makingout, a la Flarke and Rellamy) or sexy afterglow (cut juuuuuuuust as they finishand flop backwards onto the pillows, a la Marper). But like ….. not to give away how many timesI’ve watched that scene or how hard I’ve listened, but that is definitely likethrusting and gasping and Kane coming. And their storyline is so much about Jake and about marriage that I feellike it would not be WILDLY unlikely for the plot-relevant reason for anonscreen Kane orgasm to be that Abby ends up pregnant. Part of why I like this theory – and this isDEEP-CUT CONSPIRACY STUFF FAM – is because, the original 100 was actually 101. Bellamy stowed away. Nobodycounted him. We’ve been getting a ton ofAbby/Bellamy parallels this season, so the idea of Abby being 2 months pregnant(maybe knowing it, maybe not) at the end of the season and a secret 101st“stowaway” inside Arkadia feels like it might fit nicely with all the S1parallels they’re giving us. So I feellike that possibility, along with the reversal of the adults who sent theoriginal 100 now being sent as part of the new 100, makes me pretty confidentthat all three of them (Abby, Kane, Jaha) will end up in Arkadia in thefinale. And maybe with a baby. And maybe if we get the five-year time jump I’manticipating (to catch the characters up a little better with the cast’s actualages), we’ll have a cute lil’ toddler running around the ship driving AuntieOctavia crazy, being both a literal symbol of the hope that’s hard-wired intothe Kabby storyline, and also being a major liability during the end of theworld because they didn’t budget for food and supplies for a 101stperson.

2. Nightblood SerumRaven is 100% focused on keeping as many Skaikrualive as possible, but we know that Clarke takes her commitment to theGrounders seriously, and that she isn’t going to give up and just settle for onlysaving 100 and letting all of Grounder civilization die. It’s not who she is, it would be a terriblebetrayal of Lexa, and in terms of sheer repopulate-the-earth practicality, she’sthinking about keeping the biggest number of people alive as possible. Not to mention that Nightblood is a genetictrait and only the Grounders have that gene. So I think we’re definitely headed towards an arc for Abby that’s allabout her figuring out from Becca’s journal how to manufacture artificialNightblood serum. I suspect that next week when we see Abby and Jackson onEmori’s boat that they’re headed for Becca’s lab (that blue-and-white room wesaw in the trailers), and that a big part of the next few episodes is going tobe her and Raven going full Science BAMF with Becca’s equipment to see if theycan replicate her original work. We’relikely to get some juicy bioethics questions from this (do they have toexperiment on human subjects???) but I would guess that in the end we’re goingto end up with Abby able to replicate X number of workable doses of Nightbloodserum and then that’s ANOTHER list of who gets a shot at survival. This story could intersect nicely with Gaia ifpart of it involves rounding up every surviving Nightblood, as well as withIlian if the growing distrust of all technology leads Grounders to besuspicious of a vaccination from Skaikru doctors.

3. Cadogan’s BunkersSooooo, Jaha’s ensemble is more than a little cult-tasticall of a sudden, and also I recognize the guest actor playing Cadogan, which meansI’m going to guess that part of Jaha’s arc this season is continuing to huntfor another doomsday cult bunker. The fact that the season motto and thecult’s motto are the same is clearly important; maybe in a Mount Weather way(are there still members of this cult alive somewhere???), maybe in a Jaha’sNew Quest way (although I’m hoping we don’t end up retreading story beats we’vealready covered), or maybe in a way that has something to do with ALIE and thefirst apocalypse. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get flashbacks of Cadogan andlearn more about him. We’re also gettinginteresting hints that there’s sort of two different collections of accumulatedChancellor knowledge; there’s what’s in the files (they tell him outside theRover that they checked every bunker that the Council investigated as an optionfor the original 100 and deemed them all useless), and then there’s whatappears to be the deep underground stuff that isn’t written down anywhere andis highly classified; things like the real Polaris story, and the fact thatthis other bunker existed, which Jaha seems to have known about already. So the question of what else he knows, or canfigure out, and what he might have learned from ALIE, could come up over thecourse of the season. Off the top of myhead I’m guessing he starts to creepily over-identify with this Cadogan guy,and/or becomes pulled into their weirdo belief system, but also that hecontinues looking, either using files from the Ark mainframe or from ALIE’scomputers, for another one of Cadogan’s bunkers. If they’re gunning for something resembling aredemption arc for Jaha, he’ll eventually have to contribute something concreteto the group as a whole, and being the person who figures out a way to helpsave his people would help. If it allturns out to be a fruitless or destructive quest for nothing, I’ll be kind ofcranky, because frankly we’ve already gone down that road with the City ofLight. So I’m waiting to see what thetwist is here, and Jaha unearthing another bunker could be the way to do that.

There’s one more possibility that I’m puttingbelow the jump, because it has to do with some finale spoilers that werefloating around and lowkey confirmed by a recent actor interview, and I don’twant anyone who doesn’t want to see those to put them in their eyeballs.

Anyway, this is a very long answer to your question,but basically the upshot here is that I don’t think we’re meant at thisjuncture to interpret the list as the real actual who lives/who dies list, likethat’s Jason telling us who makes it into S5. I think the list right now is about the fracturing of Clarke’srelationships based on the unavoidable pressures of having to makelife-or-death decisions, and that the thing that keeps her from turning into aJaha (like he cautioned her in that great scene from last week) is that she hasa partner who can share these burdens with her, even if the things they have todo push everyone else away.

OKAY HERE’S LIFEBOAT #4, DON’T CLICK IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS!

OKAY ARE WE GOOD ARE WE ALONE DID EVERYONE WHODOESN’T WANT SPOILERS LEAVE ALREADY?

Okay, here we go.

4. SpaceOkay, so I will preface this by saying that I sawthe leaked finale pages, and was told about them in about half a dozen anonmessages, and even though I didn’t really want to know that information, it waslowkey confirmed in Marie’s TV Guide interview, so it feels like something wecan all acknowledge now, which is that it seems like some contingent of peopleend up finding a way to go to space. There was a post floating around on Tumblr and Twitter with Raven at hergiant wall o’ computer screens and one of the things up onscreen in thebackground was an article about an asteroid mining colony that had lost contactwith Earth at some point before the nuclear meltdown. Marie basically says that for Octavia, space isn’tan option – she was miserable there – which seems to confirm the theory thatthe core cast ends up fractured a number of different places. So, again, for those of you who saw thoseleaked pages and were panicking that those half a dozen or so people were likethe whole cast of S5, I definitely don’t think that’s likely. The names that were kicking around of who wasin that posse were Bellamy, Echo, Monty, Harper, Murphy, Emori, and Raven, withother spoilers referring to stuff I didn’t see that seemed to indicate thatClarke doesn’t make it onto the space shuttle. (“No one knows if Clarke is dead or alive” is a nice season finalecliffhanger tbh, although I don’t really want her on nuclear wasteland walkaboutfor a five-year timejump, eating radioactive pauna or whatever.) But if they find a way to get into space andthey think they’ve found the location of a mining colony, that’s a place thatwould have survivable resources (and maybe even living people). I’m curious about what Echo’s doing on thatsquad, but Monty, Emori and Raven being the tech squad (and bringing their sweetieswith them in case they have to make babies) feels like a reasonable crew tosend in a tiny little shuttle on a crazy high-tech possible suicide missionwhile the people who are more on the politics side of things (Kane, Roan,Octavia, Jaha, Indra, Luna) and the medical personnel (Abby, Jackson) stay wherethere’s a higher density of people, whether it’s Arkadia or Jaha’s bunker or someoutpost of artificial Nightbloods hunkered down somewhere else.

#Anonymous #From the Inbox #metas and headcanons #the 100 meta #the 100 spoilers #the 100 speculation #the 100 #spoilers #clarke griffin #bellamy blake #SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS #GUYS SERIOUSLY #IF YOU CLICK THIS LINK AND REGRET IT YOU CAN'T BE MAD AT ME #I HAVE DONE ALL I CAN TO PROTECT YOU

31 notes · View notes

georgiapickupfutureworks-blog · 7 years

Text

Limbo Trailer Assignment Blog

For our assignment we have had to re-create the sound for the Limbo Trailer. I watched over the trailer many times before I could probably remember it off by heart and it sent me insane, but totally worth it for the research! You can find the original trailer with its original sound here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4HSyVXKYz8

I also played through the game, I wanted to get more of a feel for the games aesthetic and genre so I decided I would play through, plus it is an amazing game with a completely interesting but messed up story line. I would highly recommend playing through, worth an hour’s playtime (assuming you don’t die, but you will.) Download on Steam, it seems to be on sale often and can pick it up for a couple of pound.

Anyway, about the assignment, I instantly knew I wanted my genre to be heavily inspired by a fantasy theme. I first looked on wiki, like everyone else does for answers in life. One line in the entire page hit me the most; ‘Fantasy is a genre of fiction set in a fictional universe, often, but not always, without any locations, events, or people referencing the real world.’ And there it was, one sentence that opens up so many opportunities for endless creativity in a project, Fantasy is by far the more creative genre, (with many sub-genres,) and it opens up so many doors for projects. You can read more about fantasy here, wiki may always seem boring and daunting, but honestly this is one of the most fun research projects I have yet to do - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy

So once I had my main genre set, I wanted a sub genre, you can have many different types of fantasy themes whether it is magical, scary, in a fairy tale world, sci-fi, comical and many more. Even though my initial idea was to make it feel like a fairy tale, it drastically changed into more of a horror fantasy world. Over the course of the blog you will see how my idea changed from one to another. I feel like as a creator it is okay to change idea’s, I feel like being stuck in one mindset is what stops people being as creative as possible. Explore! It will always make the end product feel something to be proud of. A good website that shows and explains Fantasy and its sub genre’s well is here; http://www.findmeanauthor.com/fantasy_fiction_genre.htm

I started to research into other games, one of my most played games of all time is Everquest 2, it has been out for 13 years now, and it is hands down one of the best games. Not to mention the sound when you are playing, you don’t have to play with sound, but if you do you feel like you are there and you feel so more engaged, it never gets boring. As Everquest 2 is of course very heavily fantasy themed, each year they bring out new expansions and they always have a trailer. I watched through each trailer and seeing how the sound was all placed in and it really got me inspired. I will link my favorite trailer of where the sound really stood out for me, (for controversial reasons I won’t mention my favorite expansion.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj-S4GB6y7M

Other game trailers I briefly looked at was the Skyrim, Final Fantasy and Destiny trailers, I wanted to get a feel for similar fantasy games and see how each game has their own personality with sound. Of course I also re-watched all the Harry Potter trailers, if you know me well you know I will do anything to sneak in some Harry Potter somewhere! So there you have it, I also watched them trailers to get an idea of sound also used in film. It is amazing how similar sound in games and film is used. You can easily find all the trailers I mentioned over on YouTube.

So after watching the trailer, playing the game, working out a genre and doing research into other games/films, I sat down and analysed the trailer bit by bit and noted down every possible sound. I also noted down how I could re-create most sounds to suit my chosen genre. Doing this gave me a frame to work that really helped me come out with a final product better.

I began collecting any sounds I wanted to use, because I have so much experience with editing packages like Audacity and Premier Pro, I felt comfortable taking a sound and really making it my own. I got most of my sounds all over the place on Epidemic Sounds, this website is amazing for all types of music and sound effects. There is such a huge verity on there it meant I only had to get very little things from external sources like YouTube.

Overall I collected around 50 different sounds to work with. Including two separate sound tracks. I didn’t use them all but I did use about 85% of them and edited each one in some way.

All the links to the sounds that aren’t on Epidemic Sounds can be found on a separate document here. The document has links that take you directly to the YouTube page of each one.

For someone new to Audacity and Premier Pro, all the different options for editing audio can be overwhelming. Even to a semi-experienced creator like myself there are still many settings I don’t really understand fully when it comes to editing audio. The best thing to do is mess around with different effects until you find something you like! Once you start finding effects you like it gets much easier to edit other sounds.

I really enjoyed editing the sounds I collected, you can take the most basic sound and turn it into something completely different in the matter of a few buttons. One example is the sound of a duck I taken, I edited it to sound like a stranger creature. Quick link here.

I really wanted to have an intense build up in the trailer, to achieve this I used techniques of having sound get faster and louder. It makes it more intense as you are watching. I wanted the ambiance to feel realistic for a fantasy setting and I feel like I achieved this well. I wanted to have many little sounds that all added up as I felt that was more dramatic and interesting than one big sound.

Before I had any feedback of my first completed trailer, I think I was semi happy with it but I did feel like there was something missing. When I received the feedback from my peers and tutor it become clear what I could improve, but I did get carried away and ended up changing my sub genre from fairy-tale to horror fantasy.

After feedback when I added in more sounds, I decided to remove the original soundtrack I had as it was too overpowering with the other sounds. Instead I just added in a piano that slowly gets faster paced. I was much more happier with this change. Less is more!

Watch my original trailer before I made any changes.

My finished trailer after I received all my feedback.

You can see how my finished timeline looks. It is very layered but some of them full-length tracks you see are ones put together in Audacity. I originally did all my sound layering in Audacity but it was causing problems with the timings, so I but the more specific timings in with Premier Pro so I could match it up better.

After writing about my process fully I know how my trailer went from fairy-tale fantasy to horror fantasy, I feel like that was all simply in the research, I could of looked at more fairy-tale fantasy games or looked at Disney trailers to get a better idea of what a magical setting should sound like.

I am glad I did lean towards horror fantasy, it started to feel like Stranger Things and I really liked that. Stranger Things is one of my favorite shows and all the sounds are so intense and super interesting. I feel really happy with my finished trailer, although it went through a lot of changes I am glad it did. I feel like I re-created the sound well and I hope you can understand my thought process and enjoy the trailer!

*inserts link to finished trailer again as I am proud*

Enjoy!

#FWXB1101

0 notes

symbianosgames · 7 years

Link

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

We recently got back from the Reboot Develop conference in Dubrovnik, where we showcased our first public demo for Yaga. There was quite a bit of anxiety about the whole thing in our team but it turned out pretty well. We’ve had our share of hiccups and “a-ha” moments, so we thought of sharing our experience with the world. You know what they say, it’s better to learn from history than from experience.

First, a few words about Reboot: it’s an annually-held event where people in the industry meet and share knowledge. During its three days, people have the chance to attend and/or hold talks, showcase their game or their business, look for talent or just find some like-minded people. There are both indies and triple-A developers, publishers, artists, musicians, basically anyone who has an interest in the field.

When we decided to go, we set two main objectives: gather feedback and show our game to a few potential publishers. We also wanted to gain knowledge, meet fellow game developers, experiment with some basic marketing strategies and play some freshly-baked games, but these were mostly secondary. Overall I’d say we were reasonably successful but we could have done a few things better.

What went right

People were pretty excited about our game. There were many who wanted to try the game and give us their impressions. We also noticed that approaching people who were just watching tended to get them involved. Even the ones who didn’t end up playing the game had questions or feedback. A simple “Wanna play?” usually gets the conversation started.

Our booth looked pretty sweet for the small amount of resources involved and caught the attention of people.

The mask seemed to help garner interest

Our community manager suggested that people tend to ignore or throw away flyers unless they has some value in themselves. You also have to give people an incentive to visit your site so they don’t immediately forget about you. That’s why we decided to make an origin-story comic and split it in two:

The first three pages (+ a cover) which were printed and which we would hand out to people. The third page ended in a cliffhanger and had a link to the continuation.

The last three pages are available online, on our landing page for the game, hoping that people reading the comic will want to learn more (or at least see how the comic ends) by visiting our site. (If you’re curious, you can check the whole comic here) .

The demo build was surprisingly stable, yay! We had it running for about ten hours a day for three days and there wasn’t a single crash.

We made a lot of contacts - not just publishers but also sound designers, localisation experts, media representatives and so on. What proved useful was writing down some info about those contacts right after meeting them. Otherwise you just end up with a bag of business cards and no clear memory of who they are and what they do.

Our booth configuration was flexible, and we managed to fit all our stuff on the assigned table, even if the space was smaller than we were informed beforehand. Always make sure you know the size of the allocated space, and try to keep in mind that this might change at the venue.

Going to talks. Reboot had an awesome set of speakers and dev-oriented talks, and it’s a great learning opportunity. Based on talks that sounded interesting, we took turns at the booth from time to time, so while one of us managed the booth, the others could go and learn new things.

What could have gone better

We started working on our marketing strategy and materials a bit late. It was better than our usual “wait, that’s three days from now?”, but we still had to do some crunch-time (I’m sure our artist who had less than two weeks to make a fully-polished six-page comic can attest). Unfortunately this also meant we had to give up on some ideas we wanted to try. I guess there’s always a next time.

Our SquareEnix Collective campaign happened to start very close to Reboot. As with any other campaign, the first few days are crucial in gathering attention and engaging the community. We had to juggle between constantly replying to feedback and comments online and showcasing our game at the conference.

Research your trip options beforehand:

We took the plane instead of driving. Traveling by car would have meant 14 hours of driving while the plane-ride ended up being about 11. The time improvement was small and we also had to carry a lot of marketing stuff in our luggage, send a few things by car and walk a lot. We also had a hard time finding a monitor to rent at the conference - grabbing one from home would have made more sense and would have allowed us to decorate it a bit.

Make sure you have the whole trip planned. We had no idea how to get from the airport to the hotel and wasted two hours and some money going the wrong way while dragging our luggage around.

Networking is still not our best skill. Trying to approach people at the afterparties proved more challenging than we thought. We’ve had more success by talking to speakers right after their talks. This also gives you a starting point if you meet them later on.

What went wrong

There were some elements in our game that were confusing to the players.

Some of the first things you got to interact with were just placeholders that were supposed to hint at additional content. These should have been removed. On the second day we created a new build to fix this but we ended up causing more problems so we reverted to our safe build.

People just missed out on many of the features. We had no tutorial, as people usually don’t spend that much time at a single booth, so there were many cases where we had to explain “you can heal if you press Y”, “there are more hammers you can try”. I’ve seen one team had a printed page explaining the controls but it doesn’t feel like a great solution

Some things were hard to understand without proper context. For example, we have a crossroads system in place but the choices seemed meaningless if you only got to play for ten minutes.

A fail-safe for when people get stuck would have been nice. Not necessarily cheats, but at least a way to revert the game back to the latest checkpoint. Replaying the whole game from the start because of a bug can be a turn-off.

We lacked proper branding.

We made t-shirts but somewhere in the process we forgot to add the Yaga logo.

We had a small banner on our booth with the logo but it was barely visible.

Our twitter account and devblog address were not shown anywhere and people kept asking for them. We ended up placing a hand-written stick-it note on the monitor with the twitter account, which was definitely not a proper replacement.

What we might try at the next events

Some of the other teams were constantly playing the game themselves. This works best if your game has local co-op and people can instantly join the game.

One of the teams had a bowl where you could leave your business card, and there was a lottery at the end to win some jewel thingie. Obviously the first part only works at events that are closed to the large public, but the lottery could work in all cases.

People had free candy at their booths. Provides that extra 2% of niceness.

There was one team who was cosplaying the whole time (nothing complex, just a hat and some glasses and so on). They were a lot more noticeable this way, and you knew they were part of the same team. I’m assuming at an event with public access this might work less, as cosplay is more of a thing there.

We might want to bring a second monitor that would constantly run a gameplay trailer, or have a sort of in-game demo mode that starts after a minute of inactivity.

What’s next

Overall attending Reboot turned out to be a positive experience. We’ve learned a ton, started some conversations with some publishers and made a few friends (Doublequote Studio and Exordium come to mind). All that remains now is to use the feedback and our observations of people’s reactions, tweak the game accordingly and start thinking about the next event we want to attend. Also going to an event that’s open to the public might be a logical next step, and we’re probably gonna give that a try, too.

This post was originally posted on http://ift.tt/2pvZZp9.

#IFTTT #Blogger

0 notes