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wasteofpain · 5 months

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my convoluted review of saltburn

this movie left me with a lot of complicated and maybe contradictory feelings. it’s a very flashy and style-driven piece that really wins you over with its aesthetics. overall i enjoyed it but I had so many thoughts about it that i decided the only way to make sense of them was to try and write them down. for some reason writing things as if i was explaining them to someone else makes more sense than thinking, so welcome to me analyzing my own feelings about a movie i watched at 4 am.

saltburn starts out with the meek oliver as he arrives at oxford and inevitably has his eyes directed towards the center of the world: felix catton. felix is a charismatic handsome boy with generational wealth pouring out of every orifice, he’s a magnet of attention, everyone wants him and oliver is no different. after some unnoticed watching, oliver manages to grab felix’s attention by lending him his bike when felix has a flat tire, and even though felix’s friends aren’t particularly kind to oliver and his poor social and financial status, they start to build a friendship.

as their bond develops oliver becomes more and more obsessed with felix, becoming a sort of voyeur. he watches felix when he’s away and when he’s around, his admiration turning into boiling desire.

he wants

and he wants

and he wants.

oliver’s smothering presence eventually gets to felix’s nerves who starts creating distance between them, no longer entertained by the poor boy he socially adopted. oliver is heartbroken and tries to find solace in a girl also heartbroken by felix, but the girl leaves early after oliver is an asshole to her and he spends the night alone.

when he wakes up he receives some terrible news: his father died.

in a moment of vulnerability oliver goes looking for felix who welcomes him with open arms, the ever so kind felix now finding oliver interesting again. felix embraces oliver in these tough times, becoming closer to him as he learns more information about the boy’s troubling home life. at times, felix’s curiosity over oliver’s life seems as voyeuristic as oliver’s developing obsession, he hangs at the edge of his seat shaking with desire for more dirty details of this world that exists so far away from him. moved by a mix of this arousal and compassion for oliver’s poorness and addiction filled home, felix invites oliver to his family’s estate home in saltburn and after some insistence oliver agrees.

this is where saltburn really starts to become what it was building to, the previous arc functioning as a flirtation. oliver and felix becoming increasingly intertwined and oliver’s obsession establishing itself with it while from felix's point of view it seems mostly like the normal development of a friendship. this first part felt very intriguing, i felt like i was being courted by the movie and its infinite possibilities, which here really felt infinite, like this could lead anywhere no matter how dark.

in saltburn oliver meets the cattons whose curiosity isn’t accompanied by nearly as much kindness as felix’s. they probe and pull apart at every information he gives them in addition to what felix already told them, probably while salivating at the mouth. in this new territory oliver is more of a pet than a stranger in the nest and in this nest he finds: elspeth, the mother; sir james, the father; pamela, the family friend; venetia, the sister; farleigh, the cousin and duncan, the butler.

as oliver gets used to the place and it’s rules he begins to understand how to play this family’s game and slowly worms his way into their minds, convincing elspeth right after pamela leaves the estate that she was lying for compassion about her complicated situation, sleeping with venetia, creating disbelief in felix about farleigh’s honesty after farleigh tells him about seeing oliver and venetia together and eventually manipulating the family’s trust in farleigh so he’ll be kicked out.

in this chaos, oliver’s obsessive desire takes new highs. in between creating distrust and new narratives among the members of the catton family, oliver’s craving for the golden boy becomes voracious. sleeping a room away from the other one and sharing a bathroom, seeing him naked and being constantly aware of his body. this takes him to the more traditional understanding of voyeurism, much like an earlier scene where he watches felix have sex with a girl in his room, but this time it’s just felix. oliver watches through the slightly open door of their shared bathroom as felix touches himself in the bathtub and then waits anxiously for him to leave the bathroom. meanwhile, the water slowly goes down the drain.

oliver kneels on the tub, rubbing his face near the drain, eyes closed and completely lost in desire. he rubs, licks and drinks, slurping up any hint of felix’s cum in the bathwater. this moment of all consuming hunger representing a more definite dark turn to oliver’s desire that up to this moment hadn’t seemed to reach this level of carnal worship.

shortly after the halfway mark we arrive at the moment that best represents my contradictory feelings about this movie. in the morning of oliver’s birthday party felix takes him on a mystery road trip, a mystery for most of the way at least because as they arrive at a sign that points to his hometown it dawns on oliver that felix is taking him to see his mother. oliver is terrified but no begging stops felix’s kindness.

once they arrive, felix notes on the nice house and look it seems your mother has cleaned up her act. felix soon realizes that’s not the case, there was no act to clean up. oliver’s father is very much alive, his family may not have the sort of aristocratic wealth the cattons do but they’re very well off, they travel often and have other children contrary to oliver’s previous assertion of being an only child.

this twist divides very well what i think the movie excels at and what it fails at. oliver created an entire persona that would interest felix, he built a poor, traumatized and lonely boy who could get felix hard with his sad stories. he shaped an entire life story for the object of his affection. this the movie does very well and if it had done more of it i could possibly even say it did it perfectly. but when we arrive at its attempt at class satire the movie falls somewhat flat.

while revealing oliver’s lies works really well for the homoerotic obsession aspect of the movie, it makes the difference between him and the cattons feel almost insignificant, especially as the movie develops into darker twists.

once the two go back to saltburn felix desmisses oliver’s attempts at a conversation and demands he leaves after the birthday party.

the party is stunning, with its lavish debauchery and eye-catching costumes it sells very well its gothic inspirations. oliver in his all white outfit with deer antlers right after crying his eyes out in what is a clear moment of some sort of decision making. and felix in his white shirt and beautiful wings, looking like juliet from the 1996 romeo and juliet movie while rudely dismissing oliver.

i’d like to talk about the costumes for a moment because i'm a little obsessed with them. they’re not the most elegant but their themes are so interesting: oliver as not just the stag, an important figure of masculine horror, domination, man vs nature but also a sort of devil. oliver seizes felix from afar, cautiously following him as he leads a girl towards the maze, mainly the silhouette of his horns visible as he hunts felix through like an animal hunts its prey. and felix, the angel, the juliet, being hunted by a hungry creature. it rubs in the viewer's face felix’s constant position as an object of worship for all the other characters, but especially for oliver.

this to me is one of the best scenes in the movie. oliver seemingly drunk while acting like an animal as he follows them, getting lost and finding his way by paying attention to his prey's giggling, unaware of the thing after them, and eventually finding them mating. but oliver doesn’t pounce just yet, he watches for a couple seconds as he always does, before calling out felix’s name.

the girl leaves and felix is mortified but most importantly angry, reaching his limit. in a moment of confrontation, a breath away from felix’s face, oliver says: “i just gave you what you wanted, like everyone else does. everyone puts on a show for felix. so i’m sorry if my performance wasn’t good enough” and after felix fearfully tells him he should seek help, oliver continues: “no. no, i don’t. i just need you to understand how much i fucking love you. you're the only friend i've ever had, felix. i mean, doesn't this just prove how much of a good friend i actually am? how well i actually know you! i'm still the same person! yeah? i’m still the same person!”

this confrontation is ultimately where oliver’s obsession would always lead: finally seen for who he is as he tries to convince felix in a shaky voice that this is fine, that he should forgive him. it’s a beautiful mix of feelings coming from both of them. although felix’s desire for oliver never seems to leave the realm of the common homoeroticism ever present in cishetero male friendships, always seeming unaware of the tension between their bodies, in this moment it seems like something else exists among his current feelings of fear and disgust: lust. while still ridiculously close to oliver, he whispers: “i don't know what you are. but I do know you make my fucking blood run cold.”. he looks at oliver’s lips, similarly to how oliver had been staring at his the entire time.

giving up, oliver gives his champagne to felix as he goes to throw up in the corner. felix takes a defeated swig, no longer seeming angry, just defeated. “better?” he asks oliver who tells him to go fuck himself and walks out, making sure to let him know that he no longer cares what the other thinks.

when oliver wakes up it’s already noon and it’s chaos as everyone looks for felix. he walks around the house aimlessly and watches everyone running around and shouting felix’s name in search for him, until suddenly elspeth screams. in the middle of the maze is felix’s body as a dramatic orchestra plays in the background. it truly looks like someone killed an angel, we barely even see felix, it’s mostly his wings. there’s a stunning shot of his wings with the big statue and it’s huge horns in the middle of the maze looking over him, indistinguishable from the oliver of the day before who is now standing next to it (almost sitting on it), wearing felix’s robe.

while the cops are still looking at his body the family sits down for lunch, the parents attempt to have a normal conversation about the party while venetia and farleigh understandably break down. oliver is the only one who indulges them, making conversation about cake as the tension rises in the room with the interruptions from duncan about what’s happening outside and emotional interferences from farleigh until it blows up and oliver puts his little paws to use again, making farleigh be kicked out from the estate once more.

this scene, i feel, is one of the few that kind of succeeds at satirizing the cattons. they are mostly worried about appearing put together, the aesthetics being much more important than the severity of the situation, afterall, breaking down in raw grief is not particularly elegant. there’s a pattern throughout the movie of the catton parents always avoiding inelegant confrontations and feelings, for example, when farleigh is first kicked out because oliver framed him for stealing they pretend nothing happened, making small talk with smiles on their faces. although this scene succeeds when i pull it apart and analyze it, there’s still a glaring issue with it: although it is a powerfull scene, it happens after almost 2 hours of not satirizing the family nearly as much as they should be satirized for this scene to hit the way it was probably intended.

similarly, there’s a scene during the party in which farleigh rubs in oliver’s face that to oliver this is all some big dream but to him this is just his home and at the end of it all he’ll come back just as he has for the party, but for oliver this is all just gonna be an exciting memory. this scene falls completely flat since we now know none of this means much because regardless of if oliver becomes part of the family, he’ll be fine. he has well off supportive parents and attends one of the best universities in the country. there’s no weight to this scene when we think of the end goal as the luxury he seems to aspire to as a person who would hardly struggle without it.

it now becomes tremendously obvious the place from where this story was written. the director emerald fennell fails to look at these people and their absurd wealth with enough distance to satirize them without satirizing herself, as expected from an oxford graduate who may not come from an aristocratic family but who has been rich enough her whole life to be accustomed to extreme luxury and has most definitely spent her life with people like the cattons as close friends. in a buzzfeed interview she says:

“A huge amount of this film was about humanizing these incredibly inhumanly beautiful, rich characters and reminding us all that even if you were the richest person in the world or the most beautiful person in the world, you still had a bad St. Tropez tan, terrible extensions and really bad dye job. Or better yet, you had a cringe carpe diem tattoo and you were wearing a live-stong bracelet.”

when i read this i just proceeded to stare at a wall for 10 minutes. i think it perfectly shows the address where this attempt at a class critique lives in: right down the street. fennell tries really hard to satirize these impossibly rich people but loses herself halfway by constructing them so cautiously that it’s hard to find them nearly as interesting as she intends. like yeah they’re cruel in many of their interactions and by just the essence of their wealth and their fetishization of poorness but it doesn’t feel like fennell veers into it nearly as much as she should.

i fully understand that her intention is the everpresent desire, even in those of good enough financial configuration, to be part of the richest of rich and bask in the disgusting power they hold but it just feels like a privileged person trying really hard to perform an understanding of the eat the rich sentiment without involving herself in the narrative too deeply.

i will say that i think that farleigh’s place in the family makes a much more interesting critique. his whole life is paid by the cattons, including his education, and he is the only black person in the estate that doesn't work there. generally he seems to try his best to keep the peace with the family as to secure the life he and his mother lead and he becomes a character that oliver is in constant squabble with. he seems to be put in a position of outsider just as much as oliver is, maybe even more at times, even tho he is literally family.

when the topic of differing treatment is brought up felix gets mad at him for “making it a race thing” and says somewhat threateningly that “maybe they’ve done all they can''. farleigh is clearly in a much more vulnerable position in this family which makes it so he understands in a deeper level the privilege of being a catton, and in the end that makes a much stronger point about class than anything else.

we now arrive at felix’s funeral which feels like overall a series of performances of acceptable expressions of grief until oliver gets a moment alone at the grave. sobbing, he kneels on top of it, than lays on it. oliver embraces the grave as if it was felix’s body, eventually taking his shirt off in an attempt to feel felix as much as possible. in this ritual he caresses the grave, overflowing with want while symbolically stroking felix's flesh, now finally allowed to express what had before been met with disgust. his hands go lower until they reach what would be felix’s crotch, he rubs as if there was an actual penis there. oliver takes his pants off and while simultaneously moaning and crying he fucks the dirt right above felix’s buried coffin, desperately seeking satisfaction in an unfulfilled love but finding only frustration.

this scene encapsulates what i think this movie does very well because although very controversial, it perfectly demonstrates the insane obsessive love oliver has garnered for felix. he wanted him so intensely and he wanted every and any bit of him, so even after death he still desperately wants something of him, even if it’s the dirt he’s buried under. this amazingly dark and erotic representation of love and desire hits really well, it fits perfectly with the overtly erotic tone of the movie.

ultimately, i think the movie carries a lot of value for its pure perverted horniness in times of a call for purism in the media. from the scene drinking bathwater and cum from a drain, or the incredibly steamy one with venetia where oliver spreads her period blood on both of them while calling himself a vampire, or this one at felix’s grave, the movie explores an interestingly thin line between disgust and arousal. something which is also noticeable in the maze scene where felix seems to also desire oliver while being disgusted by him. and this eroticism isn’t only left to the more controversial scenes, it’s embedded in so many interactions in this movie, but most notably the ones between oliver and felix, venetia or farleigh. had this been the end goal of the movie it would’ve been much better as this is truly its biggest selling point.

before the movie derails out the fucking window there’s the scene that leads to venetia's demise. in the bathroom he once shared with felix, oliver stumbles into a drunk venetia in the bathtub who confronts him about his suffocating presence in the family. just like pamela, oliver has long overstayed his welcome but dissimilarly to her, oliver is much harder to get rid of. it becomes extremely obvious to venetia how strange oliver is and how obsessed he is with felix. she says: “isn't that his aftershave?… you are a fucking freak! i bet you're wearing his underwear too, aren't you? you disgusting little nobody. oh my god. you ate him right up. and you licked the fucking plate.”

venetia finally notices the extent of oliver’s meek and overtly polite façade and in a moment of weakness kisses back when he puts his lips on her, possibly as an attempt to feel close to her brother again. she stops in disgust of herself.

the next morning she’s found with her wrists slit in the bathtub.

from this moment onwards the movie goes a little crazy and i just started to maniacally laugh about it. sir james convinces oliver to finally go home after god knows how long he's been there after venetia's death and we are finally led to the conclusion of the movie.

a timeskip leads us to years after the horrible events of that summer. right after sir james dies oliver meets elspeth seemingly at random in a coffee shop and in the middle of small talk she flirts with him, hinting at the development of a romantic relationship. we are then brought to the present and shown who oliver has been talking to the whole time while narrating the movie: a bedridden and unconscious elspeth.

while he performs his grand villain speech about doing it all for the money and estate the movie shows you a series of montages of unseen moments of him architecting the “accidents” that happen throughout it's run that look right out of a saw movie, except here, contrary to how it goes in the saw franchise, it just feels like fennell thinks the audience is stupid.

the bits that make some sense are the ones of him manipulating the situation to get closer to felix early on in the movie, although even then i would have preferred the movie without them. scenes of him framing farleigh and putting poison on the champagne bottle felix drinks out of seem like a slap to the face.

does fennell think we as the audience haven't figured these events out by ourselves?

the bit of him leaving two razor blades behind for venetia in the bathroom feels like an attempt at a big shocking moment as well but all i thought was okay?? what does this add??

i will say this: there's one part that was very interesting to me and that's when he concludes his persistent self-inquisition about his feelings for felix. while several moments of felix from his point of view are shown, he says: “i wasn’t in love with him. i know everyone thought I was. but i wasn’t. i loved him. i loved him. by god, i loved him. but sometimes i... hated him. i hated him. yeah, i hated him. i hated all of you.”

oliver completely loses himself in reminiscing about felix while his expressions, line deliveries and the images being shown drive the melancholy very well. as he starts talking about hating felix he sounds more like he’s trying to remind himself of the hate than actually feeling it. i don’t doubt one bit of the hate he garnered for felix but it seems so wrapped up in his love for him that they’re barely different feelings. it is my interpretation that he was absolutely in love with felix but i think it’s too much for him even after so long so he created loopholes to make things easier. and, also, as it's established throughout the movie, oliver is a liar.

i know that for a lot of people it's a problem that oliver keeps himself in this weird gray area of confidence and repression about love and sexuality but i think it makes perfect sense for him as a person and i most especially think it makes sense how unsuccessful their relationship is. if oliver had managed to consummate their relationship with something like a kiss, the scene of him completely desperate and destroyed with grief trying to find some emotional satisfaction in felix’s grave wouldn’t have nearly as much weight. and despite the fact that the movie sometimes really loses itself when establishing oliver’s character, making him inconsistent at times, i feel like this works really well with the more shocking scenes some people have wrongly deemed as just for shock value.

in the conclusion of the movie, olivers takes the tube helping eslpeth to breath out of her mouth and waits as she dies, finally leaving saltburn to him. in triumph he dances completely naked around the empty estate to murder on the dancefloor (great song choice btw). fennell intends that we are left feeling somewhat victorious with oliver in his final dance but instead i feel nothing, this feels hollow. i don't feel like he got anywhere and all i imagine is this man feeling completely pointless in this big house all alone, slowly going insane as he re-lives one summer forever. what farleigh says to oliver in the party reverberates in my head: “...you know, it’s not for you. it is a fucking dream. it is an anecdote you’ll bore your fat kids with at christmas... oliver's once in-a-lifetime, hand job on a haybale, golden, big-boy summer... and you'll cling onto it and comb over it and jerk off to it and you’ll wonder how you could ever, ever, ever, ever get it back. but you don't get it back... because your summer's over.”

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i've been thinking about this movie way too much for someone who's currently at the end of the semester but saltburn just found a place in the corner of my brain and it won’t leave no matter how much i try to evict it. i criticized the shit out of it mainly because i really enjoyed it and that made ignoring the big problems with it really hard. overall i think it would´ve been so much better if it completely veered into the psychosexual homoerotic obsession and stopped trying to make critiques it can’t commit to. but i also feel like many of the critiques about it being completely vapid or queerbaiting are very silly. so again: complicated feelings.

saltburn also had a lot of potential in exploring the entitlement of many privileged people who aspire to power and wealth beyond what they've had access to and look at those who have it with a sort of envy that here turns into head turning desire. in oliver's little disney villain speech at the end he can't stop himself from overflowing with bitterness as he talks about how, contrary to the cattons, he knows how to work and therefore deserves what they had more than they did. it's definitely a much more interesting focal point for the movie than the weak route fennel ended up focusing more on.

generally i'm a person who likes to take the content i consume into my own hands and analyze it beyond the original intentions, so i'd like to add that i find very interesting to think of oliver as a pathological liar way beyond what we are shown, doubting his honesty about the plan he carried out. i think it's interesting to think of this plan as much more inconsistent than what he makes it out to be as he tells it. maybe at first he only wanted to be part of the luxury but not completely own it alone by getting rid of the cattons, maybe he wanted to become felix's biggest confidant and closest friend and consequently have the luxuries of the cattons shared with him more intimately. maybe the decision to kill felix was made from the very beginning but it was one oliver constantly grew to hesitate as he became more enthralled with him or maybe he only decided in that moment before the party when cries to himself after being told off by felix. i think it's all very interesting to think about and i'm glad saltburn gives me so much room to think and write an infinite amount of self indulgent meta analysis about it. the movie lingers a lot with you after finishing and is very rewatchable so i’m sure that will be happening.

#take a shot everytime i say overall or ultimately #meta #saltburn #jacob elordi #barry keoghan #oliver quick #felix catton

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oldtvandcomics · 7 months

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Happy Queer Media Monday!

Today: Nous Sommes la Poussière by Plume D. Serves

I found a book.

[Nous Sommes la Poussière as seen in the queer bookshop in Paris, with the shop's recommendation still attached]

Nous Sommes la Poussière is a French novel written by LGBT+ and autistic activist Plume D. Serves. It is a magic realism story about people affected by a disabling condition that causes electric dust to gather around them. As a form of “treatment”, they are made to wear special chains with a magnet that absorbs the dust before it can become a visible cloud, which end up doing more harm than good. The main character, Elias, is one of these people. (She is also a lesbian.) The book follows her from the moment that she really started to feel disabled over years of struggle with both her disability and her fight for social acceptance, until the activist group succeeds in repelling the very restrictive law forcing them to wear the chains. While doing so, it touches on many aspects of life with an invisible disability.

I feel like I’ve never seen my exact life experience as a disabled person this well reflected in any story. Plume D. Serves doesn’t shy away from the complexities and the nuances of being disabled and of the disabled community, or the way it intersects with other marginalized identities. I also appreciated how the thing that brings change in this book is relentless, determined community organizing.

Nous Sommes la Poussière is written in French by a French author, and has not yet been translated to any other languages.

I have done a review about it in French, if that is a version you’d prefer. Also, here is Plume D. Serves’ webpage.

Queer Media Monday is an action I started to talk about some important and/or interesting parts of our queer heritage, that people, especially young people who are only just beginning to discover the wealth of stories out there, should be aware of. Please feel free to join in on the fun and make your own posts about things you personally find important!

#sorry about the language thing #but sometimes I want to read something that ISN'T English #and those are even more difficult to find than English recs #or it's just me who doesn't know where to look #I've seen this book in multiple bookshops #but on Amazon it doesn't have a single review #I copy-pasted my French one so now it will once they accept it #but yeeeeeeah....#Such. A. Good. Book #books #canon disabled character #canon queer characters #lesbian characters #French books #livres Français #Nous Sommes la Poussière #book rec #Queer Media Monday #Hot French Autumn

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mydarlinginej · 10 months

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read my full review of thief liar lady by d.l. soria here.

“Happily Ever After” is a total scam, but at least this time the princess is the one controlling the grift–until her true love arrives and threatens to ruin the whole scheme. Intrigue, magic, and wit abound in this Cinderella fairytale reimagining, perfect for fans of Heather Walter and Naomi Novik.

I’m not who you think I am.

My transformation from a poor, orphaned scullery maid into the enchantingly mysterious lady who snagged the heart of the prince did not happen–as the rumors insisted–in a magical metamorphosis of pumpkins and glass slippers. On the first evening of the ball, I didn’t meekly help my “evil” stepmother and stepsisters primp and preen or watch forlornly out the window as their carriage rolled off toward the palace. I had other preparations to make.

My stepsisters and I had been trained for this–to be the cleverest in the room, to be quick with our hands and quicker with our lies. We were taught how to get everything we want in this world, everything men always kept for themselves: power, wealth, and prestige. And with a touchingly tragic past and the help of some highly illegal spells, I would become a princess, secure our fortunes, and we would all live happily ever after.

But there’s always more to the story. With my magic running out, war looming, and a handsome hostage prince–the wrong prince–distracting me from my true purpose with his magnetic charm and forbidden flirtations, I’m in danger of losing control of the delicate balance I’ve created…and that could prove fatal.

There’s so much more riding on this than a crown.

my review:

I impulse-requested this book after reading the summary. A new take on Cinderella where she and her family are con women? A very new take on the fairytale, and I couldn’t help but be intrigued. Thief Liar Lady reimagines the Cinderella tale and sets it amidst a world of magic dust and politics.

Everyone is enamored with the whirlwind tale of Lady Aislinn and how she bewitched Prince Everett at his birthday ball. What nobody knows is that this was all planned by Ash and her family so that she can gain a high position at court. Ash has secret plans even past that, but she first has to navigate her tenuous position at court, especially with her confusing feelings toward Lord Vance, the hostage prince of Eloria, a neighboring (and conquered) country.

Soria does a good job of taking the original skeleton of the characters and making them her own. Although Ash’s stepmother, Seraphina, planned this scheme, there are still the physically and emotionally abusive parts to their relationship that remain. However, I liked that her relationship with her stepsisters, Cecile and Adelaide, grows better over time. Sure, they hate each other, especially since Seraphina pitted them against each other, but over time they realize that they don’t have to do what she wants them to do anymore. Even Everett was fleshed out more as a character rather than the flat Prince Charming.

read my full review here.

#thief liar lady #d.l. soria #destiny soria #reviews #book reviews #booklr #mine #link #q

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watching-pictures-move · 9 months

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Movie Review | Risky Business (Brickman, 1983)

This review contains spoilers.

It goes without saying that Rebecca De Mornay is Next Level Hot in this movie, where hotness transcends physical appearance and becomes a character trait, but I think it’s worth unpacking what makes her character so fascinating. She’s initially presented as the ultimate version of a certain kind of fantasy, making her entrance like a Penthouse layout come to life, picture perfect pornographic allure, her dress fluttering in the wind blowing through the house before it’s cast off and she’s made love to in the den, on the stairs, on the couch while the American flag flutters on the TV. But what makes her compelling beyond an object of attraction is the extent to which she refuses to be reduced to a stereotype, even when consciously playing into them like in the above sequence. At times she’s sizing up the hero’s possessions, at other times she seems to genuinely be reaching out, and sometimes she’s doing both at once. “I'm really trying to be friends with you. But I'd appreciate it if you'd stop laying these little judgments on me, while you're leaning on your daddy's $40,000 car.” By the end, she’s schemed to make the hero a lot of money and maybe gotten him into Princeton, but maybe she’s also schemed to rip him off with the help of her pimp (Joe Pantoliano, chesthair and gold chains emanating sleaze from his open collar), and we’re not really sure the extent to which both are true. She keeps us guessing to the very end as to how much affection or even love she has for hero, how much she sees him as a mark or is put off by him. Prostitutes in movies are so often treated like case studies, that it’s thrilling to see such a character retain her agency and obfuscate her interiority. Nobody knows what she’s really thinking except for her.

The movie is also notable for an early role by Tom Cruise. We see the Last Movie Star these days, seemingly with the burden of commercial cinema entirely on his shoulders (after all, it was he who declared so forcefully “The movies are back!”) and carrying himself with almost pathological confidence, that it’s almost jarring to see him vulnerable, unformed but still with irrepressible magnetism. Playing a character ridden with enough guilt and shame about sex that even his fantasies are aborted, who seeks it out in moments of weakness. The movie is a study of the anxieties of a young white male in an upper class milieu, where Reaganite values are hammered home in every facet of life, from the protective attitudes taken by your parents around their fancy cars and glass eggs, to the Future Enterprisers club you’re “encouraged” to participate in because it’ll look good on your college application, to the Ivy League or bust mentality. Even the slobs get into Harvard, and when you bottom out, the lowest you can go is the University of Illinois. His friend Curtis Armstrong (whose casting is a reminder that this is still a boner comedy, even if it’s maybe the most stylishly directed and sharply written boner comedy ever made; the kid who plays Brain in Revenge of the Nerds also shows up, but alas there is no sight of Lamar Lattrell) offers some words of wisdom. “Sometimes you gotta say ‘What the fuck’, make your move. Joel, every now and then, saying ‘What the fuck’ brings freedom. Freedom brings opportunity, opportunity makes your future.” But the movie’s most cutting insight is that Cruise never truly does anything spontaneous, that would break free of the confines of his world and the values it reinforces. Even his big adventure involves the pursuit of wealth, and despite the potentially disruptive element in the form of the pimp, what he gets out of it is admission to Princeton.

It’s a world whose absurdities are presented with a certain matter of factness instead of the stylistic excess one would expect from the decade, absurdities which are only fully grasped by the characters who stand a little bit outside it. (The most blunt the movie gets in this respect is the flash of the American flag on the TV during Cruise and De Mornay’s first sex scene.) De Mornay, who seems to know better than Cruise how much everything in his house costs and how to materialize money from what’s at hand, likely because she does not come from means but has to navigate it as part of her job. “It was great the way her mind worked. No guilt, no doubts, no fear. None of my specialities. Just the shameless pursuit of immediate gratification. What a capitalist.” And a trans hooker played by Bruce A. Young, who sizes up Cruise’s desires pretty deftly. “It’s what every white boy off the lake wants.” One might expect comedies of this era to play the latter character as a punchline, but this movie instead grants her a certain dignity. The two worlds converge most thrillingly when De Mornay decides to bring Cruise along to make love on the L train. For him it likely feels like slumming. For her there’s a certain honesty to the milieu. She doesn’t have a sportscar. She has to take the train. This is maybe the one time she lets her guard down. And when they’re together, we see her looking down at him, and us along with Cruise looking up at her, enraptured. It’s an erotic highpoint of ‘80s cinema.

I had previously only seen this movie in pieces on TV, so the fact that it was playing at the Carlton Cinema for the low, low price of five Canadian dollars was a great excuse for me to revisit it. It was not the biggest screen (although I shouldn’t quibble for that price) and the theatre was almost empty except for my friend, myself and I think an older couple a few rows behind us. But in any case, it was nice to see it in such a setting, to have the Tangerine Dream music pulsing through the sound system, to soak in the erotically charged nocturnal atmosphere and neon-tinged cinematography, and hear the crackling dialogue boom through the speakers. “Porsche. There is no substitute.”

#film #movie review #risky business #paul brickman

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ash-and-books · 11 months

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Rating: 2.5/5

Book Blurb: “Happily Ever After” is a total scam, but at least this time the princess is the one controlling the grift—until her true love arrives and threatens to ruin the whole scheme. Intrigue, magic, and wit abound in this Cinderella fairytale reimagining, perfect for fans of Heather Walter and Naomi Novik. “A dazzlingly magical, thrilling, and inventive take on a beloved classic.”—Lana Harper, New York Times bestselling author of Payback's a Witch I’m not who you think I am. My transformation from a poor, orphaned scullery maid into the enchantingly mysterious lady who snagged the heart of the prince did not happen—as the rumors insisted—in a magical metamorphosis of pumpkins and glass slippers. On the first evening of the ball, I didn’t meekly help my “evil” stepmother and stepsisters primp and preen or watch forlornly out the window as their carriage rolled off toward the palace. I had other preparations to make. My stepsisters and I had been trained for this—to be the cleverest in the room, to be quick with our hands and quicker with our lies. We were taught how to get everything we wanted in this world, everything men always kept for themselves: power, wealth, and prestige. And with a touchingly tragic past and the help of some highly illegal spells, I would become a princess, secure our fortunes, and we would all live happily ever after. But there’s always more to the story. With my magic running out, war looming, and a handsome hostage prince—the wrong prince—distracting me from my true purpose with his magnetic charm and forbidden flirtations, I’m in danger of losing control of the delicate balance I’ve created . . . and that could prove fatal.

Review:

A Cinderella retelling except Cinderella is a morally grey spy who has enchanted the prince in order to take over the kingdom from the corrupt king.... the only problem is that she is falling for the wrong prince. In a world with magic, Ash is a girl who transformed from a poor, orphaned scullery maid into the enchantingly mysterious lady who snagged the heart of the prince... the supposedly Cinderella (complete with the orchestrated shoe and pumpkin rumors and incident). The entire romance between her and the prince was concocted by her stepmother and step-siblings in order to take over the kingdom and overthrow the king. Ash has been enchanting the prince, casting love spells and making him think he’s in love with her, she’s gotten to the stage where he’s proposed and the wedding is going to happen soon... the only wrinkle in this plan is the unexpected return of the hostage prince Varence “Rance”. Rance puts on the act of being a lazy, disinterested, and nonchalent prince.... but that’s all an act and he has definitely caught the attention of Ash. Ash finds that she can’t resist his charms despite being married to the other prince... can their love survive or will the kingdom destroy them both? This was definitely a unique take on the Cinderella story with having the Cinderella character herself being a morally grey spy, however there were some issues with this book as despite it being an adult book it felt very very young adult, and then there was the whole “first night with the prince” and being drugged and it was so non consensual and really really wasn’t necessary to the plot. The slow burn romance between Ash and Rance was meh at best, and while the ending wrapped everything up well, I just wish for a character who is constantly saying she was trained for the job of being a spy, yet constantly messing up, it felt just odd. Overall, it was a unique take on the story but it just missed the mark for me. Definitely give this a go if you like unique retellings of fairytales.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #book #thief liar lady

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buyersreviews1 · 9 months

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7 Minute Wealth Magnet: Unlocking the Secrets to Attracting Abundance in Your Life

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jworthingtonreview · 4 days

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Positive Reviews as the Lifeblood of Business Growth

In an age where digital word-of-mouth reigns supreme, the value of positive reviews for businesses is undeniable. Hirschi Companies, a burgeoning enterprise, has seen remarkable growth as a result of its stellar reputation online. This post will dissect the tangible benefits of positive reviews for Hirschi and reveal how any business can use this model to their advantage.

The Data Behind the Stars

Consumer behavior has shifted drastically, and potential customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Hirschi Companies’ growth is not just anecdotal; it is backed by tangible data and customer sentiment analysis.

Trust Magnets

Statistics indicate that around 93% of consumers report that online reviews impact their purchasing decisions. Hirschi has witnessed this first-hand. The company's Google rating serves as a significant trust signal for potential customers, nudging them towards a favorable brand perception and increased conversions.

SEO and Visibility

Positive reviews serve as golden nuggets for SEO. Hirschi’s skillful management of customer feedback has led to higher search rankings, increased traffic, and a substantial raise in online visibility. By organically integrating relevant keywords and customer jargon, Hirschi has become a magnet for organic searches.

Strategies Behind Success

Hirschi's rise to prominence didn’t happen by chance. It’s the result of a carefully crafted review management strategy designed to amplify customer satisfaction and turn positive experiences into powerful marketing assets.

Engaging With Your Customers

The majority of Hirschi's success springs from their active involvement with reviewers. By responding to each review, they’ve not only shown a commitment to customer service but have also enriched their online presence with valuable, relatable content.

Incentivizing Positive Experiences

Hirschi knows the value of a happy customer. Their referral programs and incentives for reviews — within ethical boundaries, of course — have encouraged satisfied clients to spread the good word. This has created a cascading effect of positivity, fueling the company's growth.

Navigating the Terrain of Negative Reviews

It’s a known fact that not all reviews will be positive. Yet, Hirschi’s exemplary handling of negative feedback has turned potential pitfalls into opportunities.

The Power of Constructive Criticism

Hirschi demonstrates the power of turning negative reviews into an asset. By using them as a learning tool and an opportunity to showcase their dedication to resolving issues, they’ve transformed skeptics into loyal advocates.

Transparency and Trustworthiness

The company’s policy of transparency in addressing concerns and the visibility of continuous improvement has solidified their reputation. Customers appreciate a brand that isn't afraid to acknowledge its mistakes and works hard to rectify them.

Leveraging Positive Reviews for Long-Term Success

The case of Hirschi Companies is a testament to the enduring influence of positive reviews. In the long term, they are a sustainable and scalable engine for growth.

Crafting a Positive Narrative

Hirschi’s strategy involves not just responding to reviews but actively crafting a narrative that weaves customer satisfaction into their brand story. By featuring positive reviews in marketing materials and on their premises, they ensure that every potential customer is greeted with a wealth of social proof.

Continuously Innovating

Lastly, Hirschi refuses to rest on its laurels. The company consistently innovates, using the insights from customer reviews to drive product development and enhance service delivery.

In the competitive landscape of business, Hirschi Companies' rise to success through the management of positive reviews is a model worth emulating. By prioritizing customer happiness, integrating feedback into your operations, and maintaining a diligent online reputation, businesses of all sizes can chart a course toward sustainable growth.

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ranjith11 · 8 months

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A book that makes readers throw money at you |SummitPressPublishers

A book that makes readers throw money at you|SummitPressPublishers Enter a realm of unparalleled literary brilliance with "The Fortune's Embrace: Unveiling the Path to Limitless Prosperity." Brace yourself for a journey where the written word becomes an irresistible force, captivating readers and compelling them to throw money at you in a display of unbridled appreciation.

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moneyallthetime · 16 days

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How To Overcome The Challenges In Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing offers a fascinating opportunity for you to earn an income by promoting products or services. Essentially, you choose a product you like, promote it to others, and earn a piece of the profit for each sale that you make. However, it's not without its challenges. One of the first hurdles you'll face is niche saturation. With many affiliates vying for the attention of a limited audience, standing out can be difficult. Competition is fierce, and distinguishing your offerings is more crucial than ever. Market trends and consumer behavior are continually shifting. Grasping these changes is paramount to your success. You have to become adept at reading your audience and predicting trends before they become mainstream if you want to stay ahead. Thankfully, your affiliate marketing journey can progress smoothly if you're informed and prepared. By understanding these challenges, you're already taking a critical first step towards sustainable success. Building a Strong Foundation with Quality Content Success in affiliate marketing often hinges on the quality of content you produce. Your goal is to create content that resonates with your audience, addressing their needs and solving their problems. High-quality content is the currency that buys trust, attention, and ultimately, conversions. Make no mistake, authenticity plays a critical role in affiliate marketing. If your audience senses sincerity in your reviews and articles, they're more likely to engage with your content and consider the products you recommend. Be honest about the pros and cons to maintain credibility and build a loyal following. Of course, content alone won't increase your search visibility. You need to optimize for search engines too, but without sacrificing content integrity. Incorporate keywords naturally, understand your audience's search intent, and create content that truly helps them. This is a fine balance, but when struck correctly, it can lead to sustained organic growth. Remember, as Google continually updates its algorithm, the shift towards rewarding valuable and informative content only solidifies. Prioritize doing your homework on SEO best practices, but let the value of your content lead the way. This approach fosters trust not just with your audience but also with search engines. Leveraging Social Proof and Testimonials Picture this: you're thinking of buying a new gadget. What's one of the first things you do? If you're like most people, you'll look for reviews. This is how powerful social proof is. In affiliate marketing, this is an asset you can't afford to overlook. Customer testimonials have a way of bridging the trust gap between a prospective customer's skepticism and the decision to purchase. They're the evidence that what you're promoting isn't just another product; it's one that has provided value to others. It's not about plastering random praise on a webpage, though. Authenticity reigns supreme here. There's a big difference between genuine feedback and that which feels forced or manufactured. So, encourage real users to share their honest experiences. Engage your audience through social media polls or contests that inspire them to submit their own content related to your affiliate offerings. This user-generated content works wonders for credibility and organic engagement. And here's some ACTIONABLE ADVICE: don't just wait for reviews to come in. Reach out to customers who have made a purchase through your affiliate links and ask them for their thoughts. This shows that you value their opinion, while also giving you material to work with. After you've built a wealth of authentic testimonials, it's crucial to use them effectively. Share them on your website, in your emails, and across your social media platforms. But always have consent to use your customers' words and images. Now, you've seen the magnetism of social proof in action, and it's time to consider how to tackle the next set of challenges. Taking on the technical aspects and crafting a winning strategy is key to staying ahead. Let's prepare to look at the tools and the know-how essential for making your affiliate marketing efforts more effective and less overwhelming. Strategies for Overcoming Technical and Strategic Hurdles Affiliate marketing is not just about choosing products to promote. It demands a strong grasp of technical skills and strategic planning. For starters, selecting the appropriate affiliate platforms and tools can make or break your marketing efforts. It's crucial to research and utilize platforms renowned for their reliability and user-friendly interfaces. Tools for tracking traffic, conversions, and sales are indispensable for understanding the performance of your affiliate campaigns. Developing a strategic plan is next. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your affiliate offers to mitigate risk and maximize potential earnings. Understand your audience demographics to tailor your strategies, and regularly inspect your analytics data to refine your approach. Stay agile. The digital landscape evolves rapidly, with algorithms and policies constantly changing. Regularly updating your knowledge and adapting your techniques will keep you competitive and protect your income streams. After addressing these technical and strategic concerns, I find the transition to the final point quite natural. There's no better time to introduce a valuable resource that can dramatically streamline the learning curve: Wealthy Affiliate. Elevating Your Affiliate Marketing Journey with Wealthy Affiliate I know how trying it can be to navigate the intricate world of affiliate marketing. You might feel like you’ve hit a plateau or that every step forward takes twice the effort. That's when enlisting help makes a profound difference—in steps Wealthy Affiliate. Wealthy Affiliate isn't just a platform; it’s a comprehensive program designed to assist aspiring and seasoned marketers alike. Here’s how it stands apart: Wealthy Affiliate provides a curriculum structured around up-to-date marketing strategies and insights into consumer behavior, ensuring you're always at the cutting edge. Joining Wealthy Affiliate means you're never alone on this path. You gain access to a vibrant community of marketers who support and challenge each other to grow. It's this camaraderie, coupled with round-the-clock assistance from experts, that can elevate your marketing game. But don't just take my word for it—countless success stories comes from the Wealthy Affiliate program. Members who once stumbled through trial and error now recount tales of refined strategy and amplified earnings, all thanks to the structured guidance and resources exclusive to the program. In conclusion, if you're earnest about mastering affiliate marketing and ready to take decisive action towards your goals, Wealthy Affiliate is a formidable ally. It’s an investment in knowledge, community, and ultimately, your success. TAKE ACTION TODAY, and watch your affiliate marketing challenges turn into milestones of your success story. Read the full article

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mdmonarulislam1 · 1 month

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The Art Of Simplicity (PLR) Review - Here's How To Own The Highest-Quality "Done-For-You" Product With Powerful Techniques That

Full Review : https://monarul-review.com/the-art-of-simplicity-plr-review/

The Art Of Simplicity (PLR) Review – Introduction

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