#which is not a criticism of either film it makes so much sense for both

[harleybarbarahandler]

im literally in love with the little cackle that harley does every so often in birds of prey… like it’s the cutest most unhinged laugh and it’s adorable

[mitch-the-silly]

hey!!!!

I’d like to request vox (I sense you like him a normal amount) x gn!reader headcanons where the reader is an overlord and is in charge of theatrical productions such as musicals, in which vox sees as ‘out of date’ and therefore detests the reader, but the reader is oblivious to this and is always seen trying to befriend him? I could see this as some good slow burn :)))

thanks a ton! 🎀

I DEFINATELY like him a normal amount :)

Anywho- Have to write for this guy more often and the second I saw this request, I knew I was gonna have so much fun writing this! Vox slow burn is literally my kingdom come-

ENOUGH SAID-

Vox x gn!thespianOverlord!reader

Cheery and old-timey, that’s how Vox viewed you. 

Truly, he only interacted with you because the musicals you produced for his films sold very well. But the world was begging and in need of more realistic movies and shows. Musicals just weren’t as interesting to him. So he always saw you as a luddite. Maybe not to the extent he saw Alastor that way. But your mannerisms and theatrics reminded him so much of his rival, so despite you having done nothing but benefitting favors for him, he kinda hated you on the lowkey. But who didn’t he hate at this point?

He at first found you extremely obnoxious. The way that, at times, people flocked to your theater productions instead of his movie premieres… 

Despite this, despite hating you so, you were always so kind to him. It baffled him truly, that you never caught the hint. 

The amount of time he’d rejected your invitation for coffee at your opera house should have already given the hint but you always figured he was busy (he was one of the most powerful overlords after all).

Every time a meeting was held, you spoke to him before and after the meeting. Always in such a friendly manner that made Vox smile awkwardly at you. He couldn’t outright tell you to stop talking to him, that would give off the wrong impression about him. So he would try his best to socialize with you without making you think you two were friends.

At times, you’d send him friendly gifts after collaborations. 

You’ve given him blue roses after writing a particularly famous movie musical that earned both you and him a huge amount of money. 

(He’d never admit it, but they made him feel special. He put them in a vase and kept them alive as long as possible.)

You definitely text him as if you two were friends. Which he always responds to very dryly, but you figure (again) that he’s probably too busy to put much thought to the text. Either way, you’re happy to hear back from him. 

He does ghost you on occasions, which you don’t take personally (much to his dismay).

You find yourself always speaking fondly of him and his image. Admiring him to some degree. The way he acts in front of everyone, you ought to ask him to try acting for a production! His skills impress you a lot. And you’ve told him before. Which, for a moment (and only for a moment), made Vox think you weren’t that bad.

Oh, what he hated the most… it had to be seeing your play advertisements plastered all over the city.

Hell, you would also go up to him and ask him if he could advertise your shows. 

You’d pay, so he couldn’t say no…

But the medium you expressed yourself with, oh how much he detested it!

Sometimes, out of courtesy (despite how much he detested you), he’d always accept the invitation to come to your Opera productions. Velvette liked to see the outfits the actors wore (and criticize them), and she always ended up dragging him along anyway. So he always ended up going when invited. 

This particular time, you were putting on a production of Phantom of the Opera. The actress who was supposed to play Christine/The Phantom got severely ill, and the understudy was killed in the recent extermination. So it was up to you to take matters into your own hands and save your production.

The second he saw you in that scene, his eyes shot open wide. He’d never seen you act before. Hell, you looked so good on that stage, that even Velvette’s heavy criticisms of the play’s costume wardrobe didn’t move him. 

And your voice! God… He’d wish someone that pretty/handsome would sing to him like that. Maybe it was the character you played and how they depicted them.

Matter of fact, he was paying attention to the plot this time. Unlike the other occasions. 

The fact that you were willing to jump in and play the part perfectly as if you’d been rehearsing it every day surprised him. You’d be perfect in one of his movies, he just KNEW IT!

After the production, you approached him. Speaking to him and thanking him for coming to see as you always did. 

The way he smiled at you was no longer full of false politeness. He now spoke much more freely with you. And it made you feel like you were finally important enough for him to have time for you! It was such a great feeling!

He didn’t want to admit how his perception of you had changed but let’s just say he began to plan more musicals. 

Velvette knew what was going on the second he stayed to talk to you a bit longer than usual. She made fun of him for DAYS.

He would begin to respond to your DMs with less dryness.

And he would accept your offers to drink coffee at the opera house (he’d deny them sometimes to not raise any suspicion on your side or from his fellow Vees). 

He would publicly deny any ties with you and would try his best to balance it out by telling Valentino just how “annoying” you were. 

Vox being the obsessive little man-child he is, would survey you. Or rather, jump in excitement the second you appear in the sight of one of his cameras. 

He’d set up a camera in your opera house just to see you directing rehearsals and even to see you practice.

He refuses to admit his feelings, but his fellow Vees are finding it hard to pretend they don’t know. Vox is… very obvious…

He begins sending you roses (yellow so he doesn’t make anyone think that he’s THAT obsessed with you).

He might start spiraling a bit when he sees any man approach you. But oh no, he had to keep himself together. You two were nothing, he didn’t like you! He only stayed close to you for convenience! …right?

Until he received another bouquet of blue roses signed off as “-Your Thespian Angel of Music”. 

Oh, he went nuts! He had to find the footage of you signing it off. And just as he suspected, you were bashfully smiling as you wrote the note.

He couldn’t! He simply couldn’t let this change his mind! But he didn’t have much time to think about the move you’d made, because you’d invited him for coffee soon after. 

Oh, he couldn’t keep himself together that time. Your smile, the warmth of your fireplace… it was all too much for him.

So it slipped out his mouth, he invited you to come over to his place and watch a movie. 

You gladly accepted and after agreeing to a date for this to happen, you two were set!

Of course, he planned for you two to watch a musical together. 

When you arrived at the V-tower, he was anxious to make sure that you were greeted properly. So he himself walked you to his area. 

Sideye from Velvette because she just knew that Vox inviting you was him admitting to them that he was definitely into you.

During the movie, he admits that he thinks you’re pretty cool and you take it as a huge compliment!

When you go home after the little date-not-date, he can’t get you off his mind! The way your eyes shone in the TV’s light, the way you paid careful attention to every scene. Oh, he was so stupidly in love with you.

So what did he do next? He spent his free minutes texting you. Sending you Envees (the hell version of TikTok) he thought you’d like and you sent him some back. 

He’d start advertising your stuff for free now! 

If it wasn’t already obvious to the Vees, now they knew he was head over heels for you.

Eventually, he got Velvette into thinking you weren’t that bad… Maybe she could put some more style into your shows.

After a few months of you talking to Vox and Velvette casually texting you, she was fed up with Vox’s obsessive giggling when he saw you in the cameras, so she told you. 

Yup. Velvette told you he liked you.

You were elated, to say the least. To be seen in a favorable light by such a powerful overlord was one thing. But to be the object of his adoration… Oh, you were more than happy.

So you set up another coffee date with Vox at your opera house.

To his surprise, you kissed him at the doorstep of your opera house.

It almost fried his circuit. The lights in your building flashed a bit and you could have sworn he was glitching in the middle of that kiss.

After which, your relationship was VERY MUCH PUBLIC.

Vox posted about your musicals almost every day.

He’s definitely the type to go to your practices and post you with a caption like “My Angel of Music”, “My Romeo/Juliet”, or “My Christine Canigula/Jeremy Here”. Something in reference to the lead or most adored role of the production you’re currently directing.

He’s corny as fuck in private-

He’d definately cuddle to watch whatever new musical you two just co-produced. 

He funds your shows and is kind of embarrassed to admit it, but he’d blow marvelous amounts of money on you if he could (he has to be smart about how he spends his money and the fact that he can’t just spoil you as much as he wants, destroys him).

He also hates to be caught accidentally humming along to your musicals. He claims to not care about those things at all (he knows the entirety of your repertoire by heart).

[dotthings]

Some tea from Richard Speight, Jr. about filming Cas’s testament scene has surfaced from DLC6. [x]

nothing cut from script to screen but they added things, such as Cas having to paint the sigil on the door and leaving the bloody hand print on Dean’s shoulder [my note: wbk about the additions during filming. There's still the matter of the spanish dub because the latam dubbing team felt a verbal I love you from Dean, made sense. And a few other lingering questions that have not actually been resolved and we may never know, but I'll go along. If Rich is happy with what was filmed and got to screen in the US, I'm glad. I love 15.18 either way. Rich's comments also goes to show how collaborative making tv is and how fluid the process can be.]

Rich said the scene wasn’t intended to be about Dean’s reciprocation, it was to give Cas his moment to speak his truth, to speak his love for Dean, and Cas didn’t expect an answer back, he just wanted to be heard, wanting Dean to know. [my note: makes sense to me, and it’s what I’ve thought about Cas pov. Cas pov not being the same as audience pov and what the story might need next and what Dean’s needs are. But for that scene, Cas feels complete. It also very much means the emotional story from Dean's side is not resolved. Dean wasn't given his chance yet, by creative design, perhaps because the only way they could get this greenlit at all is if it was only Cas who got to speak. We'll see what happens next.]

Rich saying because they did many takes of the scene with Dean’s emotional reactions, there are shots where Dean is crying more, or crying less. Editing put together different angles from different takes. [my note: the irony that naysayers are already trying to weaponize this to shut down the idea that anything got cut when per Rich himself, the facts on the ground are that the full range of Jensen’s acting for Dean’s response got reduced. No shade on Rich. But let's not erase or deny what was going on with Jensen's acting and how Jensen gave 110% and what wound up on screen was about 80% of whatever work Jensen did. Dean wept more than we saw, even before Dean was on the dungeon floor sobbing. Jensen’s performance as it stands is beautiful and powerful and full of emotion. It has taken an inordinate amount of hate and erasure, which is 100% cynical concern trolling to deny Dean’s feelings for Cas. More shots of Dean crying openly wouldn’t stop it, there’s no excuse for those responses. What’s there is loud enough. Only the most willfully cynical gaze could deny the love and anguish Dean showed.]

Rich said the parallel for John and Mary’s confession in TW 1x07 to 15x18 is a “coincidence” yet went on to talk about the trope of confessing love in a life or death situation and cited Leia and Han Solo among others [my note: it was also used again by an ep Rich recently directed in another piece of media I won’t say so I don’t spoil it. Also I’m laughing about how it seems he answered this. Total coincidence!! And spn 15.18 is like TW 1x07 is like Han and Leia and love confessions in dire situations is a common (romantic) trope. Pls, if anybody is taking away from this some kind of shutdown on creative recognition of the Destiel implications of it all, I don’t even want to know, I’ve had my fill of poor comprehension skills, poor critical thinking, and poor media literacy, oh my god]

Rich saying he was glad Cas’s words meant a lot to queer fans and that he feels it was important and a “bold” move that Bobo and Misha fought for. <3

So that's confirmation from director now, to add to writer intention, both actors, and an EP who greenlight Bobo's pitch for Cas’s testament as romantic. That is canon. That is a lock.

Cas's testament started out carefully padded into an “open to interpretation” zone. We have watched it be eased out of it and into the open.

I’m pleased it's openly acknowledged for what it is...and what I knew it was when the ep aired. I did expect it would be eventually, and would take some time. I’m glad it's here now.

As always, my appreciation for the work Rich, Bobo, Jensen, Misha did on 15.18 <333

[lemon-dokuro]

Yesterday, I watched Sound Holic's 2007 Touhou fan film, Touhou Project Side Story ~ Memory of Stars.

The plot is about Kaguya's father, the Moon's ruler, coming to take her and Eirin back. Makes heavy use of sci-fi aesthetics and is mostly set in space. Naturally, because it was released before Bogetsusho/Silent Sinner in Blue, all it had to go off of for the state of the Moon civilization and Kaguya's relationship to it were the 8th Touhou game and maybe Reisen's route/interactions in the 9th. It's a little interesting to see the creators' interpretation because of that, but... It was recieved very poorly by the japanese Touhou fandom in 2007 when it came out, you can even find comparisons to the infamous Cookie series. The reception is understandable — it really isn't good. I actually wouldn't call the story or the premise bad, they're just kitschy in a way characteristic of the otaku culture of its time, but they are ruined completely by the wonky presentation and especially the incomprehensible pacing. I don't want to recap it here because the anime isn't even that long or hard to find, but if I did, I'd have a fair bit of trouble. It feels like one of those 90s OVAs that tries to cram 4-6 volumes of a manga in about 40 minutes, so most things happen too fast to have an impact. There's a whole character that makes absolutely no sense because she has too little screen time and too little actually explained about her (Sphere Sieben, the redheaded space commander lady). Sakuya is there for a barely explained reason. Mokou comes out of nowhere in the middle (well, at least that had a point, ridiculous as it was). And considering this, bizzarely, the movie also has a lot of pointlessly drawn-out scenes where not much happens, like they were trying to pad out the runtime, even though there's a lot of substance they could have added. I have no idea what kind of constrains they were working with, but it's not like they couldn't have just written it more tightly. If not better, then, you know, at least. Even though I don't think the general premise and the story are bad per se, they are very unfitting for Touhou. The creators are obviously going for space opera aesthetics, which is a really weird fit for Touhou. They don't even really try to make it fit. Egregiously, Kaguya's presumably biological father, Luna Marius, has a sci-fi-ish western-style name for absolutely unexplained reasons. Of course, that kind of naming difference is not implausible at all, but it's a really weird creative choice, especially considering it's never adressed, not even in a throwaway line or anything. One could say it's emblematic of the work not compromising the conflicting aesthetics in any way. The visuals are often criticized for obvious reasons. They are great to me because I'm an oldschool doujin fetishist, but it's clearly all very stiff, mildly inconsistent, generally amareurish and feverishly oversaturated with bright flashing effects half the time. The backgrounds mostly consist of said effects. A lot of the animations are obviously reused. That being said, the original character designs are pretty well done. The bunny girl looks especially good, the artist absolutely nailed the early windows Touhou design style. Also, naturally, because Sound Holic is mainly a music circle, the soundtrack is decent. It's not remarkable, but there's nothing wrong with it, it's standard for 2007 Touhou arrange tracks. There's not much to say about the voice acting either — standard for doujin anime. The voice actors are inexplicably pretty well-known, but it's not that uncommon to see big names on the most random 2000s doujin projects. That's probably how these people become popular in the first place.

Well, what can I say overall. It's a weird little movie. I can't recommend it, but maybe you'll get a laugh out of it, or maybe you'll like the visuals as much as I did.

Also, that rabbit's names are both mochi types...

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Have you heard? Disney is making another Lion king, but this time, it's a prequel, and it's going to be about Mufasa's backstory. Which i think it's very interesting. i'm open to seeing how they're going to show/represent the movie. Even though it's coming out of nowhere? A prequel after all these years?

I've also seen a lot of criticism about the movie, even though it's not even out yet. A lot of fans are disappointed that Mufasa and Scar/Taka (interesting how they're using "Taka" instead of "Scar") are no longer blood related brothers, but instead, both are orphans which doesn't make much sense since in the original Lion king Mufasa comes from a lineage of royalty and gives Simba a speech talking about “great kings” and “let me tell you what my father told me” I'm open to new ideas and stuff but i don't know how to feel about it. Maybe it’s the nostalgia? This honestly feels like a cheap cash grab, and seeing how Disney has had quality control issues lately, it's either going to be a flop or not.

I'm just HOPING that they're NOT going down the "misunderstood villain arc" because I've had enough of it. if they’re going for the "Mufasa was adopted and usurper who took Scar's rightful place at the throne! Showing that Scar was right all along."

What do you think?

Oh, I’ve heard of it! I’m not that interested in watching though. I’ll probably just wait for it to come out while praying that TWST gives us free stuff in a promotional campaign and listen to some commentary or review channels give their takes.

According to Wikipedia, Mufasa: The Lion King is supposed to be a sequel to the 2019 live action adaptation, not the original 1994 animated film. The prequel film was confirmed in September of 2020, which isn’t that long after The Lion King live action movie came out. They’ve been steadily releasing new information about Mufasa, such as voice cast reveals in 2021, 2022, and April 2024. It was officially announced and title dropped in 2022 during the D23 Expo. It’s possible that the film took longer to make due to the pandemic and worker’s strikes that occurred between 2020 and now.

On the Scar/Taka thing, I believe “Taka” (I’ve also seen “Askari” in some sources) is Scar’s given name and “Scar” is a nickname Mufasa gave him following an incident in which Taka was as tricked and attacked by other animals, which was the origin of his scar. This information comes from The Lion Guard (a series I haven’t watched myself; this is what I was told by a friend who has). If Scar is being called “Taka” in Mufasa (and assuming The Lion Guard is canon), then that means Mufasa must take place prior to the brothers’ relationship souring and him getting his signature scar.

I watched the trailer and… the phrasing is quite odd??? Now Mufasa is “a lion born without a drop of nobility in his blood”. That implies he and Scar aren’t blood-related. In real life, that makes sense since it’s usually the strongest lion that leads the pack rather than the eldest. Scar has a line where he says Mufasa got the brawn whereas he got the brains, so it sort of supports this idea. However, making it so that Mufasa and Scar are unrelated orphans within the Lion King universe doesn’t make sense if you hold that up next to the already established lore. They imply multiple times that Scar lost his claim to the throne when Simba, Mufasa’s blood-related son, was born to succeed him. So royal blood of the king is important??? The only way Scar could take over was to eliminate those in Mufasa’s lineage. It’s possible that Mufasa’s speech to Simba about the “great kings” and his own father could be in reverence or to show love for his adopted dad or pack…? But that makes those scenes a lot less impactful. Additionally, part of the reason why Scar’s actions are so evil is because he committed fratricide. He turned against his own blood brother, then manipulated his nephew, whom he also shares blood with, into taking the blame. There’s something very visceral and cold-blooded about that—plus it adds to the Hamlet parallels.

Seeing as Mufasa is the titular character, I don’t think they’ll go down the route of intentionally making him the bad guy to Scar. Disney’s so shy about making its main characters morally grey or just bad people… though like you said, they might do it unintentionally because by writing Mufasa as an orphan, that means he’s an illegitimate ruler… meaning Simba is an illegitimate heir… meaning Scar killed/deceived those with no claim to the throne, so actually Scar was not in the wrong at all 💀 But technically it wouldn’t be Scar’s right to rule anyway because he’s not of royal blood either (since you said he's apparently also an orphan? I did not see this mentioned in the trailer though)??? Unless Scar is the one from a royal lineage and everyone else is just dead???

I think it’s still possible that we get something tragic between the two; blood does not determine everything. Mufasa and Taka could form a genuine brotherly bond that later falls apart. It doesn’t really make up for the retconning of current lore, but who knows 😂 maybe they’ll pull some of their old magic out and actually write a story that makes sense to lead into The Lion King. I’m not going to hold my breath though, the live action movies have never been that good to me 💦 I’m going to let the movie come out and speak for itself before I make any real judgments on its quality, as I don’t believe in jumping the gun (even given previous track records).

I wonder what this new movie’s lore would mean for TWST… Since Tamashina Mina was very inspired by The Lion Guard, that means (depending on how the film goes) Mufasa’s events could be retroactively integrated into TWST history?? It’s not a guarantee, but just something to consider.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hello Muffin and Vinelle! I have a question. How do you go about writing your dialogues? Is there a way to practice? I always struggle with that aspect of my writing and have no clue how to improve. Cheers!

Interesting question, anon, and I hope I can be at least a little helpful. As it is, I love dialogue, often my favorite part of writing.

Here's a few things I think of with dialogue.

Think About How People Talk

Think about plays, movies, and remember that while the characters see, think, and feel things what they hear is what the other person is saying. If they're participating in a conversation then they're responding to that conversation, to what another person said, how they said it, and not what they thought/things the character doesn't know.

People also speak differently than prose is written. They stumble over words, forget what they're saying. People speak in contractions unless they're a fucking asshole. People don't tend to monologue or if they do it better be a big moment/they're just weird like that.

Basically, when you're writing dialogue, keep in mind how people actually talk and the fact that in speaking with one another. Try to picture yourself sitting in the audience for a play or the set of a film, and you're watching the characters interact and following the flow of the conversation.

The conversation, whatever it is, should both sound correct (like what people would say) and make sense in that character A is believably responding to character B.

Think About How Characters Talk

How we speak is informed by who we are, where we are, and where we came from, this is true of everyone. The way a character speaks reveals not only their background but also in some cases who they want to be/what they're trying to accomplish.

And every character should have a distinctive voice that's informed by this.

Ideally, you should be able to follow a conversation of who is saying what if you had no speech tags and no descriptors. If you put the dialogue of Character A conversing with Character B you should be able to tell which is which.

Similarly, think about how they're saying something and why. Are they trying to impress someone? Are they putting on airs? Are they doing the opposite to fit in? Are they uncomfortable or at ease with their situation? Are they educated? Is English a second language?

A character should have a certain sound and you should know them well enough to know not only what they think like but what they speak like and if they're dialogue is sounding wrong in that it might be what they would say but now how they would say it.

Write What You Need, Not What You Want

Sometimes, it's very tempting as an author to just have the character say whatever you want to get across to the audience, or something they want another character to hear, because you don't know how else to do it.

It's tempting but don't fall into that trap.

Don't write what you want, what your point is, but write what the characters would say and try to find some other way to make that point or else let the point show in the subtext.

No character (well, unless it's a beautiful hilarious scene where someone's very drunk and sad) will ever say, "I love you, but I'm too damaged to say it properly because I'm a poor little meow meow!" You have to commit to what they'd actually say, even if it'd be much easier and you'd get to the 'fun' part if they just said what you wanted.

Think About What Works/What You Like

Be critical of your own work but also look to others for example. Was there dialogue somewhere you liked. If so, why? What was good about it? Why was it compelling?

I could throw out various authors here but off the top of my head I'm going to throw Hemmingway into the audience and particularly "The Hills Like White Elephants" in that it's a very believable compelling conversation between two characters we don't know but without either character telling us much information we somehow know exactly what the fuck is going on.

And Of Course... Practice

Keep writing, never settle, and improvement will be yours.

Any advice @therealvinelle?

[mamadarama]

Back to thinking about rare pairs whether it be platonic or whatever I genuinely think IzuMeru is so funny. You think these two would be neutral with each other considering how good HiMERU is at his job and how perfectly he does it. There should be nothing for Izumi to criticize but LO AND BEHOLD HiMERU is the one starting beef and while during Midnight Butlers it was justifiable, filming is tight and all. But they just. Kept at each other's throats afterward 😭

In whispering marina HiMERU is the one to crack through Izumi's lie and help him out, so the trip was worthwhile for their characters. Other than that, there's very few people HiMERU has any noteworthy connections with. He's especially protective and wants to be close to Kohaku, often pampering him which I think is bc Kohaku reminds him of Kaname (the hair, the uniform, the innocence and attitude). He's okay with Niki in a sense that he doesn't have to keep Niki on a leash as much as MOTHERFUCKING Rinne who triggers his fight response instantly. He's otherwise avoiding Jun, complex about Tatsumi, keeps Ibara at arm's length (not that he's mutually interested in connecting anyways)

And then I don't know what his deal with Izumi is. They just fight like street cats in a passive aggressive way. I love the way they pick fights with each other. Not as intense as RinHime but still petty and pretty funny like the enbies are FIGHTINGGGGG I could go on but I don't think people on this blog are too interested in either Izumi or Himeru so I digress. I love their beef.

Madayume 🍀 @umiedibles

lol yeah it is. himeru and izumi have a healthy rivalry and the way i see it himeru being so good at his job is a major part of the catalyst for it. theyre both models and izumi sees himeru as a threat . not to his career, but to his pride. hes one of the best models in es and hes familiar with all the other models and where they stand in relation to him. then himeru comes into the picture, just as talented and prideful as izumi , and suddenly he feels like his reputation is under siege . it was pretty bad in midnight butlers but after they got acquainted with each other and izumi had a general idea of what himerus deal was and realized he had no interest in displacing izumi, it became more of a healthy professional rivalry that encourages both of them to work harder as idols and models. himeru is the perfect person for this bc they think similarly and have similar personalities making it way easier to understand each other without talking , and thats why he was the first one to see through izumis bullshit in whispering marina. they arent exactly friends; they have a very professional relationship. they wouldnt go out for coffee together, but they will support each others work. part of a good rivalry is casual competition. the goal isnt to win or greatly surpass the other, its to repeatedly one up the other person. and that means if one of them is falling behind, the other will make an effort to bring them back up to their own level so they can continue being evenly matched. but also theres no denying that theyre similar enough personalities that if they try and talk to each other theyre gonna clash, and thats why theyre so passive aggressive when they interact .

[marzipanandminutiae]

Cabinet of Curiosities Opinions

Roland (Lot 36) is not a neo-Nazi and the hair wreath is not made from the hair of concentration camp victims.

I didn't think this needed to be stated, since he called the Wolmar family evil, which he definitely wouldn't have done if he agreed with them. But apparently some people see "German guy talking about Nazis" and assume he's one himself. Weird.

As for the hair wreath, such things were popular in the 19th century, not the 1930s-40s. I went looking and couldn't find any extant examples from that era. Given the presence of other antiques from that period in the storage unit, like the summoning table, it makes far more sense for the wreath to be an earlier family heirloom. At the very least, even if it WERE some perverse latter-day craft project made by Dottie or her mother or something, there would be no reason for Roland and Agatha to assume that. So they'd probably believe it was innocent even if it wasn't.

2. Emilia is an avenging angel sent to test people like Nick.

This is a bit more of a stretch, but bear with me. When he gives her the lock, she says (in Spanish) "What kind of man are you?" An understandable response to him being a racist asshole, but to me it sounds like she's saying it in a measuring way, as if she's really wondering. Later, in her final appearance, the light behind her umbrella gives her a halo effect. And condemning him to be devoured by a demon he set loose seems like a pretty fitting thing for an angel to do if she's seen that he's past helping.

(This take brought to you by: whiny pissbabies on Reddit going on about "well he's not THAT bad and even if she couldn't see the demon, she KNEW the loan shark was after him so she should have REALIZED he was in real danger and let him out!!! the clearly symbolic racial-, gender-, and class-disadvantaged person in this 45-minute fictional story is the TRUE bad guy here, not the man who was listening to a white nationalist radio show and agreeing with it!")

3. Stacy's coworkers (The Outside) weren't actually that bad.

She feels isolated from them because they have nothing in common to talk about. We never see them actively being mean to her; just not being her best friend- and nobody is obligated to befriend coworkers if they don't want to. They invite her to the party, so clearly they do think of her. Sure, the one lady reacts badly to being given a taxidermy duck for Christmas, but...taxidermy IS a pretty contentious gift. Not something I would spring on someone at all. Stacy was just doing her best, so I don't blame her either. It's just an awkward situation all around, that's nobody's fault.

I feel like the point is not "this woman's bitchy coworkers drove her to change herself." It's that marketing and the media cause women to be internally critical on a deeply harmful level, even if nobody else is actually being critical of us.

4. The Outside has themes of sublimated homosexual desire.

Stacy has a tense relationship with her hsband, idolizes the women at work who are constantly touching and stroking each other, and literally makes out with the feminine-looking Allo Glo creature in the basement. I mean. Come on. This one seems like a no-brainer to me. I don't think that's the PRIMARY theme, but it's definitely there.

6. Nancy (The Murmuring) had something to do with Ava's death.

One theory I saw online was that she'd rolled over on her while co-sleeping, since the ghost she mistakes for baby Ava appears in the bed next to her. I'd believe it, and it definitely adds another layer to her sympathy with the mother ghost- who I just learned is named Claudette in the credits. Even though I very much doubt she did anything that purposeful.

7. Alternatively, Ava was not a baby when she died.

Edgar and Nancy are both on the older side to be new parents (Essie Davis was 52 during filming, though the character is probably somewhat younger), and Nancy has clear experience talking to older children when she addresses the little boy ghost. Ava's death was recent, so while I suspect the intention is that she was a surprise baby to a couple who assumed they'd never have any, she could have been any age within childhood.

8. Ava was named after birds.

"Avis" means bird in Latin and her parents are ornithologists. It just makes sense.

[allycat75]

What is bothering me about "Red One".

Terrible movies are about as common as the lies our former president spews from his cracked and diseased face, so why is this one so different? I think when you start looking at something, you start seeing things you can't unsee. Kind of like when Brad Pitt decides to make a movie about the two women who helped bring down Harvey Weinstein, even though Mr. Pitt not only knew for years what he did after confronting him in the early 90s for harassing his girlfriend, ran straight toward him to produce his movies even though his wife at the time was traumatized and requested he not do it. But that is a rant for another day.

Overall, this movie just doesn't seem warm and Christmas-y. I almost feel forced to participate and enjoy it.

The Rock is a flim flam man, as many are in Hollywood, but the fissures are starting to show in his "nice guy" image. He is vulnerable to his fragile male ego and can't admit a failure, which only makes it worse. He created a real life villian of himself with the whole Black Atom/DC controversy that is so convoluted, the only thing I know is that if a woman had attempted these hijinks she'd be branded a hysterical, compulsive liar who should not insert herself in matters that don't concern her.

The marketing for this movie has already started with a lie- that it has tested "through the roof". Just the irony of being dishonst about a Christmas movie- maybe because they know this is already a big steaming lump of coal.

Here, the Rock's describes this gem of a movie:

Or I can just watch any of those movies individually and get sick of Dwayne Johnson playing the same character over and over in every movie, and enjoy Harry Potter and It's a Wonderful Life on their own. Truthfully, is that meant to sound good? (He also referred to it as a "joy bomb", and like most things he says I can only believe about half of it).

You know what also doesn't sound warm and Chrismas-y? This:

The film has been described as "a globe-trotting, four-quadrant action-adventure comedy, imagining a whole new universe to explore within the holiday genre." If you're wondering, "four-quadrant" refers to the four major demographics Hollywood is always looking to win over — males, females, people under 25, and people over 25. And Amazon evidently feels "Red One" will appeal to all four quadrants.

Yeah, let me take my four-quadrant family on opening weekend! So welcoming.

Also, both leads are over paid and need a hit as they have had some major, I mean major, debacles to overcome. And it is not great being known as profit poison at a time when there is much more scrutiny of the bottom line. I can sense the desperation of this cash grab oozing off of them.

Interestingly, only a few years ago CE was named one of the best bang for your buck actors. Now he can barely get work and no longer has an audience (he alienated his fans and the general public either doesn't know him, doesn't care, or thinks he is hella creepy). But he has said he wants to quit and smoke pot all day, so maybe Hollywood will call his bluff this time. Besides, I doubt they were able to get the best performance out of him, considering his life was beginning its implosion while filming, even if he might not have known the full extent of the eventual destruction at the time. The mindset he displayed wasn't conducive to authenticity and Christmas-y-ness.

Ok, I know we all want original content, but maybe I should have been more specific and added that it needs to be sincere, too. I hear nothing sincere when someone tries to describe "Red One". It doesn't help that this is home grown from 7 Bucks, Dwayne Johnson's production company. They probably looked at the material in an echo chamber and lost perspective. And as we have seen, The Rock isn't know for his humble acceptance of criticism. The following official description sounds like a nerd wanting to show up all the popular kids who made fun of him in high school ("See, I wrote a Hollywood script that is now a movie. Bet you wish you went to the prom with we now, Courtney!"):

Red One is a fire-breathing Christmas action movie that completely reinvents the holiday genre. […] Red One is a really fun original action film for both Johnson and Evans, and it’s a world building piece of IP which lends itself to potential sequels set around different holidays

Boy someone thinks highly of themselves! Already on the make to ruin other holidays. I saw somewhere they claimed this could be a franchise comparable to the "Lord of the Rings". Whoa, Nelly. Pump the breaks on that male privlege. You are embarrassing yourself!

It's this need for empire building, I believe, is what will crush "Red One". This forced joy, what many of us feel at this time of year, has takes away the true spirit and fun of the holiday season.

Well, we know CE can ruin Valentine's Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Looks like he is well on his way to doing the same for Christmas.

This has about 7 more months to play out and maybe I am wrong, but right now it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, like egg nog left out from last Christmas. So, I think the two leads better get their measurements in now for the suits they will be wearing at the 2025 Razzie Awards. Here are some ideas for their rapist-supporting stylist:

PS- And, by the way, what the fuck is with the name- "Red One"? Sounds like a horror film about an itchy rash that will destroy the world. The Rock is the only one that can save us, but decides there is too much division right now and isn't going to support the President, played by a sad, hollow Chris Evans.

[tzatairovic]

I'm sorry , but Anon is lying down. Those blogs are not just Tom fans. A few weeks ago was they were only covering Challengers press. They all kept up with her press interviews, and most of the blogs and anons watched the film. Before that, it was dune, and there was so much Dune content that was all what we were talking about. Now that it's Tom turn to shine, some anons are pissed for no reason, lol. Challengers and Dune are out, so why are you mad? Go watch them again and write about her performance, and then we can have discourse. You solo fans sometimes are so bitter for no reason. They are both talented and successful. We like them both equally. Tom going on stage is a big thing for him personally because he's worked hard, and praising him doesn't take away from Z's success.

On Twitter, Z gets a ton of support sometimes from ppl who also hate Tom. I know that isn't the majority of her fanbase, but because she was a child star, they are so entitled to her because she used to be so available to you guys, and imo that was a mistake. You guys font even read her interviews. I like these "tomdaya" blogs here because they are nuanced and have critical thinking, something other apps don't have. I'm sorry. It's a very herd mentality.

Jmo.

Well, I did say that I don’t believe what that anon said is true. Still, I maintain my stance that most of the blogs aren’t as described by that anon. I don’t want to generalize to all, as I'm unsure of who all we’re referring to, but the ones I follow definitely don't fit that description. But also, policing blogs just doesn’t make any sense since, as I've mentioned, you can simply unfollow if you don’t like what they post.

Regarding Z fans who hate Tom, I believe they're also a vocal minority, and to be completely honest, I think that the hate towards Tom coming from Z’s fans is often exaggerated on here. Whenever it's discussed, only two or three Twitter accounts are typically mentioned (from what I've seen, I don’t closely follow these convos), which is obviously a tiny fraction compared to the total number of Z fan accounts. And of course, there are probably Tom fans who don’t like Z too if you were to search for them. Personally, I really have no interest in giving either group my time and find both laughable at best.

[rageprufrock]

Just out of curiosity, now that things have developed, what is your current opinion of the BOC "crisis" situation? And what sort of action would you have advised in the face of a possible intentional smear campaign? Is silence still the best option, and does publicly bringing legal charges, etc. help or hinder in that case?

Not to mention you then have the incredibly public "surprise" announcement of another performer separating from the company ...

My instinct would be to say, "there is no crisis right now," because none of the noise actually breaks though to the signal ratio--like the production company is rolling along, concerts are happening, the movie is being filmed, etc. All of the other stuff is just that, noise, and irrelevant to them since the parties are no longer affiliated with BOC in a business capacity. This is where I'd counsel a client to practice forbearance: if you have the stones and the liquidity, you can grit your teeth and keep your head down long enough that you can get through almost anything. Most examples of this aren't great--see: any of the men who were rightfully canceled and now making their comeback after two or three years of silence--but this can also work well for people who just had a massively public disgracing and needed the zeitgeist to move on from having them be social media's main character of the day. (This is also why so much of the advisory on crisis comms is actually just to shut up, because doing so gives people the opportunity to forget about you, and someone else to put their foot in it and move the narrative along.)

But in truth, at this point, I don't think any of us know enough about what's going on to make any wise commentary--which is exactly as it should be. I should be forced to say, "who the fuck knows," when it comes to the inner workings of most things, because it's none of my business!

I'll say that Jeff leaving BOC was an interesting one, but that I most likely would have handled it the same way, and for a couple of reasons:

You can say you're a family, but this is still at its heart a business enterprise, and any one of them should be clear-eyed enough to look out for themselves first and foremost--people leaving to pursue their own projects or make transitions that make the most sense for them is inevitable, and we shouldn't act like it isn't.

That said, they're all trauma bonded from the whole experience of filming KinnPorsche, and clearly friends in addition to coworkers, and to have told them in advance of the show to give them private time to prepare would have seriously affected their performance at that final show, which I think would have been both a disservice to their fans but also unfair to them after all the work they'd put in.

Telling them several days or even weeks in advance--as surely this had been in the works for a while, with at least the seniormost members of the exec org knowing about the transition--wouldn't have worked either, because the more people know a secret, the less of a secret it is. Especially given the recent kerfuffle, it's critical to position it as a friendly departure, and to message it as a bittersweet but joyful next adventure, and not Jeff fleeing from the smoking remains of BOC. Given the timing of everything else going on, holding until it got the main stage at the closing event of their concert series makes sense: it feels deliberate, it feels intentional, it feels cooperatively planned, and it feels like they're sending off a beloved colleague and friend with all their best wishes, and on the biggest stage they can. It projects the right message.

All that said, no plan survives first contact with reality, so even if they've retained the most terrifyingly smart crew of publicists at this point, it still wouldn't protect them from the unexpected. In this case, the literal sweet baby angel child they're raising in that whorehouse being overtired and overamped and crying because his TV boyfriend is leaving and taking Barcode's coconuts with him.

[musicmakesthemovie]

"What Was I Made For?" A Look into Barbie's Most Tear-jerking and Overplayed Song

[WARNING: Spoilers for Barbie ahead]

If you've been alive and conscious for the last few months, you've at least heard of Barbie if you aren't one of the people who's been decked out in pink to go see what could, arguably, be called the Movie of the Year.

Even if, by some miracle, you haven't seen Barbie, you've probably heard Billie Eilish's song "What Was I Made For", which plays a pivotal, emotional role in the film. And you've probably drawn your own conclusions about the song, whether you're a fan of Billie's or not.

If you know anything about Billie Eilish, you know that she is no stranger to airplay and TikTok fame, and her most played songs tend to be earworms, played repeatedly until you're ready to pull your hair out. We've all been there.

So, it wasn't shocking when a friend, after seeing Barbie, told me how much he despised the song. I mean, he absolutely loathed it. His argument was clear: "It doesn't fit with the movie! 'Don't tell my boyfriend, it's not what he's made for' totally undermines the entire plot!"

Initially, I nodded in agreement. I like Billie's music, but did it really fit with the movie? Like every weekly hyper fixation, this required a deep dive. I researched how Billie Eilish came up with the song and what it meant to her. To my surprise, I found that it resonated beautifully with the Barbie movie. Let's break down the lyrics before delving into the song's musical significance.

"'What was I made for?' is...it's Barbie's voice...it's your voice...it's anybody's voice" - Billie Eilish Jul. 13, 2023 (Interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music)

The first verses are quite straightforward in their references. "I used to float, now I just fall down" alludes to Barbie's malfunctioning state, a central plot point in the movie. "Looked so alive, turns out I'm not real" reflects Barbie's mental conflict with realizing that she's just a toy; however, it could also be seen to reflect the other struggle Barbie faces: realizing that the real world is not the feminist, women-driven world she thought it was. Even as "Stereotypical Barbie," she senses that something's amiss. For her, it means that everything the other Barbies worked for has been lost. What's her purpose now? What was she made for?

Now, let's address the contentious line: "I'm sad again, don't tell my boyfriend, it's not what he's made for." At first glance, it seems like Barbie is concealing her sadness from her boyfriend as if she needs to put on a facade to shield him from distress. While this is partly true, there's a broader context that some miss. Barbie grapples with depression, a daunting experience for someone who has only known happiness. We've witnessed how it affects Barbie, both physically and mentally. In the film, Barbie lacks someone to confide in about her feelings, especially Ken, who's portrayed as having limited critical thinking skills. Barbie refrains from telling Ken because she understands he either wouldn't grasp it or wouldn't cope with the impact of her emotions. Thus, the song authentically mirrors Barbie's inner struggle to communicate her newfound feelings and her desire to protect others from her experience.

Another criticism my friend raised was that the music wasn't complex enough. The melody was too simple and the harmony was boring, etc. Here's where we delve into the technical side of the song, starting with the harmony or chord progression.

Firstly, Billie's song is originally composed in C major, one of the simplest keys due to its absence of flats or sharps, with a 4/4 time signature, making it rhythmically straightforward. The main progression comprises C-Em-F7, with an Am thrown in on the repeat of "What was I made for?" resulting in C-Em-F7-Am-Em-F7 until the beginning of the chorus, where the Dm and G chords are introduced.

So if we look at it as a numerical chord progression, it would look like this:

(verse) I-iii-IV7-vi-iii-IV7

and (chorus) ii-V-I-iii-IV

The most used chords in pop songs of a major key are I, V, vi, and IV.

So, what's the "iii" chord doing there? It's rarely used in recent pop music. The Beatles featured it in "Here, There And Everywhere," and Elton John in "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters," but it's uncommon. When we think of common progressions, it's typically I-V-vi-IV.

What's intriguing is that the dominant (V) chord is only used 3 times in the entire piece, with the final one being the very last chord as a Dominant 7th chord, which, in itself, is such a cool choice. The "V" chord naturally gravitates back to the "I" chord, and the addition of the 7th intensifies this desire to return to the home chord, especially since the expectation has been set for it to revert to C major, as it did twice before in the song. Thematically speaking, this choice reflects Barbie's longing for answers and a purpose. The last chord leaves you aching for something more.

Up to this point, we have a harmonic progression that may not be groundbreaking, but it creates compelling tension. So, what about the melody?

Billie's sung melody is quite simple when looked at on its own. All of the notes are diatonic (within the key signature), and the most complex thing is the few leaps between notes that are present. However, when the simple melody combines with the harmony, that's where the magic happens.

The interplay between the melody and harmony is where much of the tension lies. Billie often sings notes that are "unstable" or not part of the chord playing in the harmony, even though the individual notes are diatonic to the key of C major. This adds complexity and tension to the song. When we hear these notes that don't quite harmonize with what's playing underneath, our ears long for something less discomforting, like the warmth and safety of the tonic chord. In this case, that mild discomfort is what gives the song its potency and relevance to the movie as a whole.

If you want to take a deeper dive into the music theory behind the song, I highly encourage this website to get you started!

Q&A: Do you have a song from a film that you feel strongly about, whether you love it or hate it? Share your thoughts and why it resonates with you.

[liskantope]

I was thinking the other day about last words a movie character utters before their death, particularly in the Star Wars films, and it sent me on the following rambling train of thought. I hate cliche last words, and overall the first two trilogies do pretty well at avoiding them (I guess the sequel trilogy as well? I don't know the lines there as well, but I approve of Luke going out with "See you around, kid") with the stark exception of Shmi's last line being a drawn-out "I love you".

But two of my favorites are the ones from Episode VI: Yoda letting out his last breath on the enigmatic "There is another Skywalker" and then Anakin's final utterance being, of all things, "Tell your sister you were right". And I only recently appreciated the connection that both lines are referring specifically to Leia, and that there is even a similar gist to them: they can both be interpreted as implicit exhortations for Luke to bring Leia along with him into the Jedi arts.

And the interesting thing is that this winds up having little relevance in the movie (which in turn ends the original trilogy and even the six-part tragedy of Anakin Skywalker), because there's no time to get Leia into training as a Jedi or even to properly explore her relationship to the Force beyond being able to sense things and communicate with Luke over long distances. (I suppose that the early 80's was a more sexist time anyway: women were more likely to be recognized for their ability to communicate, intuit, and be sensitive rather than any capacity to duel with a lightsaber, do superhuman acrobatics, perform telekinesis, or acquire deep religious wisdom. So that didn't exactly help either.)

But what makes this much worse is that this was one of the few enticing threads left dangling by the first six movies that was just begging to be followed up on in a sequel trilogy, some of the only low-hanging fruit for sequels (which otherwise seemed to have mostly superfluous motives), at least to my view, and yet... the sequel trilogy just threw this opportunity away. Leia's a war general and can sense Luke at one point and did that much-derided Mary Poppins thing that one time. But I wanted to see her channeling ancient Jedi wisdom and wielding a lightsaber and making things move through the air. One of the only things I'll ever give J. J. Abrams or the disaster known as The Rise of Skywalker any credit for is that Abrams did briefly insert an explanation there as to why we don't see Leia performing as a Jedi: she was training soon after Episode VI and then quit after receiving a prophecy. But it comes across as an afterthought shoehorned in to address questions/criticism from fans (Abrams wrote the first in that trilogy as well but didn't seem to have considered such an arc for Leia then), and I would rather it hadn't been necessary in the first place.

[mrbensonmum]

TV Shows - 3 Body Problem V

At the start of the third episode, another dead scientist is found. I noticed that I really like Benedict Wong's new voice actor. It gives a clear distinction from his role in the MCU films. Usually, I’m not a fan of such changes, but in this case, it works really well.

The relationship between Will and Jin is explored in more detail here, which I appreciate because it makes what follows more understandable. In the book, I missed this a bit, even though the author touches on it, but I felt it was a bit brief.

When Auggie discovers the game and rushes to the others, I find what Saul says very interesting, or rather how he says it. It also becomes clear that Jin and Jack don’t fully understand the game’s objective yet. As a viewer, it seems obvious, but from their perspective, it makes much more sense. They don’t know it’s about the three-body problem; they see the game world just as the Trisolarian civilizations do.

Level two also shows that the civilizations are still focusing on the wrong priorities, a point made clearer in the book. Sophon (Tomoko) later explains this. The Trisolarians always focus on survival and realize very late that this isn’t viable and that they need to consider leaving their world. This is where the series could have emphasized the Trisolarians’ dire situation more. The number of civilizations before the fleet launch is only briefly mentioned. (I know this will happen later through Sophon, but it could have been built up a bit better for suspense.)

The games Clarence lists actually exist. Here are the Wikipedia links if you want to check them out:

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Jet Set Willy

I've been wondering if there’s an equivalent to Jin’s friend in the book, but I don’t think so. There is someone who leads a later operation, like Raj Varma, but I don’t think there’s a connection to Jin in the book.

Ah, now I remember what I wanted to write in the last post. The sound design is worth mentioning. The first time you notice it is when Vera plunges into the tank, but it stands out again in the third episode when Auggie tries to restart the nanofiber project, and the countdown begins again. It’s impressive both visually and audio visually.

What I also like about Sophon’s (Tomoko’s) portrayal in level three is how she floats. Usually, characters that float look like they’re suspended from their hips, hanging like a sack. But here, they did it differently. Either she wears a different harness, has excellent posture, or stands on a post and was then edited in. It looks different and superior, which fits her character perfectly.

I wish they had spent more time on communication and the differences between the two civilizations. (Scene on the Judgement Day with the old Michael Evans)

When Jack and Jin are invited (level four), it’s clear that while the characters in the series have the same traits as their book counterparts, some things are shifted. According to the book, Auggie should be the one to solve the game’s puzzle and go to the summit in London, since she is the series counterpart to Wang Miao, who did all this in the book. (Please don’t take this as criticism; I just enjoy noting these differences!)

Towards the end, Sophon (Tomoko) explains how the Trisolarians ventured into space and how humanity is involved.

Jin and Jack undergo a test to see whose side they’re on. We also see more of Tatiana, who in the book is just a bodyguard for Ye Wenjie. But the kindness of the Trisolarians, shown again through the little girl, doesn’t last long. Thomas Wade and Jin Cheng will learn much more later, which I’m looking forward to because it’s one of my favorite parts of the series.

We know the stakes, the characters involved, and the motives of various factions. But it only gets crazier from here in many ways.

Up to this point, there's a lot that is fascinating and exciting. When it’s later explained how some things came about or how they worked, it may lose some impact, but the explanation is even more fascinating. I find this incredibly exciting and a testament to a high degree of creativity in science fiction.

I found a quote from D.B. Weiss about the series' content and how far they want to adapt the books:

“We always wanted to get to the final page of the third book, and it’s really, really thrilling to us that we will get to do just that.”

This is reassuring, so I don't have to worry about the series ending abruptly or strangely. However, he also mentions that while there’s no episode list yet, there will likely be 8 episodes per season again. This feels too few, and I fear they might leave out important parts or alter too much.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many details available beyond the usual "What we know so far…" videos, which, in my experience, often show that the creators don’t know much and just produce useless content.

[bakerstreetbabble]

Let's talk about Watson...

One of the great things about Elementary and Sherlock, and even the Guy Ritchie films, is that the character of Watson has finally broken out of the Nigel Bruce mold.  Not to completely denigrate Nigel Bruce's contribution to Holmesian film history, but he made the stereotype of Watson as an old bumbler the standard for an awfully long time.  Watson ended up being a comic figure, almost the polar opposite of the brilliant figure of Sherlock Holmes.  But now we have Jude Law--brave, intelligent, handsome; we have Lucy Liu--a female twist on the character, but a brilliant detective in her own right; and possibly the best actor to ever play Watson, Martin Freeman, whose depth and nuance are really astounding.

And it's more than simply casting fine actors as Watson; the balance of Sherlock Holmes and his trusty companion has been restored.  In the canon, Watson is an essential element of almost all of the cases, and Holmes trusts him completely.  There is a mutual admiration between the characters that is wonderful. Not that Watson isn't sometimes critical of Holmes, though...I think the recent versions mentioned above have all grappled with Watson's frustration with Holmes.  Sherlock in particular has explored a very complex give and take between Holmes and Watson, wherein John becomes devoted to Sherlock as his friend, but is sometimes very angry with his callousness and his inhumanity.  In Elementary as well, Lucy Liu's Joan Watson can be highly critical of Sherlock, while he can be quite cruel to her at times; but the mutual admiration and trust are always there.  Jude Law's Watson seems to have a short fuse when it comes to Holmes and his idiosyncrasies, but he and Holmes still seem to respect each other.

After all, what do we know about Watson from the Conan Doyle stories? (We don't really know his middle name, but that's a subject for another time...) We know he was an army doctor, wounded in battle (in either the shoulder or the knee, or perhaps both.)  We know Holmes trusts him completely, so much that when the King of Bohemia suggests in "A Scandal in Bohemia" that he would rather talk to Holmes alone, Holmes says, "It is both or none."  We know that Watson is continually amazed at his friend's deductions; however, Watson never seems to have any problem following Holmes in his reasoning, and he certainly does an excellent job of recording those deductions for posterity.  We know that the two men are close enough friends that, even after the good doctor gets married, he still spends a considerable amount of time with Holmes, and always seems ready to drop everything to accompany him on cases.  And when it comes to the much publicized issue of Holmes's use of cocaine, Dr. Watson does not hesitate to make his displeasure known to the detective.  So it makes sense that portrayals of Watson on film and TV shouldn't distill the character down to a bit of comic relief.

I realize there have been other actors in the past who haven't followed Nigel Bruce's lead in their portrayals of Dr. Watson.  David Burke, the first Watson in the Granada TV series which featured Jeremy Brett as Holmes, was a particular favorite of mine.  But Brett's Holmes was so brilliant, I often thought Burke, and Edward Hardwicke, who replaced him, were often overshadowed a bit.  The lovely thing that's happened in the recent film and TV incarnations of Sherlock Holmes and Watson is that Watson, be it John or Joan, has emerged from Holmes's shadow, and gotten a fair share of the limelight. And interestingly enough, when Watson gets his (her) share of that light, Holmes shines all the brighter.

Nigel Bruce

Jude Law

Martin Freeman

Lucy Liu

[rainbowsky]

Hi Rbs, How is life?,

1)Which film is more successful for BoBo? "Born to fly" or "Hidden blade" based on box office collection ?Please mention nos if possible

2)Which film is more beneficial to bobo "Born to fly" or "Hidden blade" based on critical acclaim?

I think "one and only" will surpass the success of both the films because it will be more relatable to real life BoBo and it will attract lot of kids to theaters. That means many family audience = Huge box office success. What do you think?

Hi Anon... That feels like a trick question! 😅

Much of Canada is currently on fire.

I'd say life is difficult and depressing, and it often feels like we're living in the End Times, but I'm getting by. I hope you're well! 😊

As for your questions about DD's films, sorry Anon, that's not something I really care much about or put much thought into. I don't get into the business of comparing projects, comparing numbers, etc. I don't really think it says anything important, and this kind of thing often leads to toxic thinking/fandom.

DD's films are all important, they're all helping to build his career. They're all giving him a chance to show his acting skills, helping to draw bigger audiences to his work, helping him to make connections with producers and directors and audiences.

I think One and Only is probably going to be a big hit, because it will show DD in his element and give people who already love him from SDOC, etc. a chance to enjoy seeing him on the big screen. A film like this will have a very broad appeal, much broader than Hidden Blade (which was long, dark and violent) and Born to Fly (which was nationalistic and militaristic). I think it has a chance to potentially do well internationally, too. But a lot will depend on the film itself and if it's actually well made and has a well-written story.

I think it's great if we can support his films and celebrate his successes, but I'd just caution fans not to get too invested in box office numbers. While they are important to some degree, they aren't the the most important factor of his failure or success. They are one factor among many.

Rankings, ratings, numbers, etc. are one of the core aspects of toxic fan culture. This warlike, competitive culture that leads to comparisons, rivalries and vendettas - it's not something I want to feed and I hope other fans will have the sense not to feed it either.

And let's not forget that it's a knife that can cut both ways. If DD's numbers do anything less than what fans expect, it can turn against him and be used as anti material. So I'd caution people about hyping these things up too much.

Just enjoy DD, enjoy his films, support him and his films, and the rest will fall into place over time. He's on a path, and the road is long.

And if you do still want to dig into the numbers, Anon, that's your choice as well, but it's not something I can help with. Sorry!