#yes I rewatched Hellboy what of it

[auspicioustidings]

The 141 are all pretty pissed off that they're being told they need to go do a mission with NPC. They have never heard of this agency, but apparently National Pest Control are paid by the same government that pays them so off they go.

Honestly Price wonders if this is some pity party being thrown for them since they lost Johnny. It's been a year now, they all know that's the job and they all hate the idea of anyone treating the team like they are somehow delicate.

This team is actually who you've been assigned. You need the brawn for this next op to deal with the inevitable thralls and on paper these 3 are good at getting shit done and keeping their mouths shut. They don't believe you at first (obviously) about what it is National Pest Control really do, but then nobody ever does.

"Look, if you think hunting down a vampire sounds weird you're probably not going to like the reason I'm on this one. I can talk to ghosts which is handy when we're following a trail of drained bodies."

"Oh fuck off, the only Ghost you're talking to is me."

"Look, I don't know what a bampot is, but I'm being told you are one."

And thus begins a wild ride of 3 big military men, one spirit medium and the ghost who is frankly delighted that he can finally talk to someone again working together to hunt down all sorts of supernatural threats to the UK.

On one op you get possessed, like a ghost fully takes control of your body. You didn't know that could happen. Johnny didn't know that could happen. But now everyone is trying to figure out how it can be done because their boy deserves to stretch his legs in the land of the living for a few hours.

[outeremissary]

Top 5 angel or angel-adjacent characters?

OKAY so this was delayed by my computer restarting against my will and destroying the draft. It's okay :') I feel like my list is probably going to be lamer than expected anyway, haha. I suspect this will be a very lame list as well... the shameful fact is for all the time I spend looking at illustrations with angelic motifs, I don't spend much time with angelic characters in stories.

Tristian (Pathfinder: Kingmaker)

This game has some kind of malign influence on my life.

2. Gabriel (Constantine)

I don't think Constantine is a good movie and I did not enjoy rewatching it as an adult. It turns out the reason I remembered it as being a bit befuddling when watched as a child (I think I caught the back half on tv once?) is because it's just not very good. But do you know what was even better than the pristine memory burned into my mind? Gabriel. Gabriel. Gabriel is so unspeakably perfect on screen. So soft and imposing. So lethal and forceful. Beautiful when in that prim and proper suit, and a vision as a white clad warrior! That twisted philosophy of making humanity "worthy" of love... this had some kind of profound impact on my developing brain, I fear. As a side note, I think there aren't a whole lot of feathery wings that look good in live action stuff, but Gabriel's are actually pretty solid! It probably helps that they're not onscreen much, and not generally static when they are.

3. Angel of Death (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)

I'll be real with you, I remember borderline nothing about Hellboy II, which I last watched when I was 9. But do you know what I remember? The Angel of Death. I remember the Angel of Death so vividly that when my ex had proposed we watch Hellboy I got Really Excited about seeing the Angel of Death and finally getting some context on that vague memory. And do you know what happened? The Angel of Death isn't in the first movie! Betrayed! Bamboozled! And for the rest of the night my ex kept calling me an angelfucker because I was so vocally disappointed.

4. Satan (Devilman)

I'll be real with you, I absolutely saw Crybaby before any other Devilman related thing and this is ummm. Not insignificantly influenced by my feelings about long haired Satan. Anyway. I love a good Satan. Everyone loves a good Satan. I love the deep commitment Satan has to his/their chosen people (the demons) and how desperately he/they works to preserve them. I'm also a huge sucker for a good pyrrhic victory, so what I'm really hooked on is the sincere, pure affection that Satan then develops for one special human who refuses to be taken in and sheltered and protected and saved from the annihilation of humanity. The ultimate symbol of Satan's victory is the destruction of that precious connection, and that's all it takes to make it all feel like it was for nothing. What a pure heart! And then there's all the time loop stuff as well, which is Spicy

Anyway, all Satans are valid but I'm only including one pic, so enjoy long haired Satan.

5. The Wood Sprite (Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio)

This is mostly an aesthetic pick... the truth is that as a character I liked Death better. But like. What an aesthetic. Is it cheating to pick two del Toro designs? I resisted the temptation to add Death as well!

Still, it feels a more substantial choice is needed. Thus, I cheat:

5. 82 White Chain Born in Emptiness Returns to Subdue Evil (Kill Six Billion Demons)

White Chain is a fantastic character with a substantial character arc dripping with ye olde trans allegory (we love a good trans angel in this house). She struggles throughout the series with the conflict between what she understands to be her duty as an angel upholding cosmic law and her compassion for mortals and desire to protect them. Already an outcast among her peers, she fears further alienation. Her form has also been becoming steadily more human-like: messy, complicated proof of connection she's desperate to deny and her superiors wish to stamp out. Her struggle to grow into her own identity is one of my favorite side character arcs in the comic.

4. Satan (Devilman)

I'll be real with you, I absolutely saw Crybaby before any other Devilman related thing and this is ummm. Not insignificantly influenced by my feelings about long haired Satan. Anyway. I love a good Satan. Everyone loves a good Satan. I love the deep commitment Satan has to his/their chosen people (the demons) and how desperately he/they works to preserve them. I'm also a huge sucker for a good pyrrhic victory, so what I'm really hooked on is the sincere, pure affection that Satan then develops for one special human who refuses to be taken in and sheltered and protected and saved from the annihilation of humanity. The ultimate symbol of Satan's victory is the destruction of that precious connection, and that's all it takes to make it all feel like it was for nothing. What a pure heart! And then there's all the time loop stuff as well. Who doesn't love being eternally trapped in a purgatory of realizing one's mistakes just a little too late to avert them.

Anyway, all Satans are valid but I'm only including one pic, so enjoy long haired Satan.

Honorary mention purely so I can add pictures of her: Eniale

Comedy isn't really my favorite genre, so I didn't expect much of Eniale & Dewiela. But the characters certainly have a lot of charm, and Kamome Shirahama's breathtaking art does a lot to make every moment feel special in a very light hearted series. I have a very strong fondness for Eniale. She's just a little goofball. She's a terrible angel and doesn't work even half as hard as her demonic counterpart (and self-consciously notes that she's far less powerful). She means so well, but she's shallow, airheaded, and selfish, and just tends to cause as many problems as she solves. Despite that, she's incredibly sincere and passionate when it counts. I really love that. She's just a goofy lil scamp! She's a goofy lil scamp and she makes me smile. Also here are some pictures of her.

[soleminisanction]

What did you think of the new Batman movie?

I frigging loved it. It's my favorite live-action take on the franchise by wide, wide margin.

Quick personal survey to establish my baseline tastes: I unironically love the original 1966 series starring Adam West because it's campy and happy and never fails to put a smile on my face and also Burt Ward was a babe and both he and West were much better actors than they've ever gotten credit for. (Did you know they almost gave Ward the lead role in The Graduate? Did you know they offered West James Bond? That is so wild to me.)

My opinion on the Burton/Shumacher movies from the 90s is meh, leaning positive overall. I dig the design sensibilities but most of the acting and storytelling didn't stick with me. I've never felt the urge to rewatch them but I also wouldn't say I dislike them. I mostly appreciate them as the starting point for the original animated series.

I wanna say that my opinion on the Dark Knight trilogy started positive and then turned sour as time went on but in retrospect I never actually bothered to watch the last one, and when I saw The Dark Knight for the first time it was in a double-feature showing with Hellboy II and I came away from that knowing without a doubt that Hellboy was the better movie so yeah. I will say that, while I think that they ultimately just slapped a Bat-branding on a completely unrelated story and characters, I respect that they gave the version of Batman they wrote the only ending that actually made sense for him.

And the less I say about anything that Zack Snyder has ever touched, the better -- that is a man who wouldn't know a good superhero story if it shoved itself down his throat.

But The Batman, oh man. I loved The Batman. I felt so seen by The Batman. I came away from that movie practically skipping with joy, I couldn't stop thinking, "Yes, finally! Somebody who gets it!" There was so much to love about that movie, I don't even know where to start.

I guess, since I was already thinking about it, one thing that I really like is how Riddler's games all feel almost like something from the Adam West show? But dark, and twisted. Like that "flying rat" pun in Spanish, and the other pun-based puzzles he left around, those were all very much like how they'd be done in the Adam West show, only these had the bloody plot twists attached to them. The "thumb drive" gag had me cackling.

But like, I also really loved how well thought out the themes were. Like, if you're paying attention, the movie explains without ever really spelling it out how the broken, corrupted system of Gotham City created both Batman and the Riddler. It's not "hrr durr the masked hero invites masked super-freaks to come along too," that's been done, it's "this system, this city, is corrupt and broken, and that broken system led two broken men to take extreme measures, one as a hero ultimately driven by the desire to make things better and one as a villain consumed only by hatred and revenge."

Heck, it even explains why Bruce couldn't just throw money at the problem, like all the disingenuous people on Twitter always try to argue -- his father tried that. And the broken system not only corrupted his well-meaning efforts, it killed him to protect its ill-gotten gains. That is such good writing.

Speaking of the Waynes, I also loved the deep lore cuts and, more specifically, how deliberately they were used to establish the differences in this world to the people who were paying attention. Making Martha an Arkham instead of a Kane? Tommy Elliot's father being the reporter who was going to ruin her, a reporter that Thomas Wayne inadvertently got killed? That's good stuff. I can't wait to see where they take it in the sequels.

But the best part of all, for me, was Bruce's character arc and the fact that finally, somebody understood the assignment and showed the arc that, I believe in my heart, every Batman needs: the moment, or arc, or story, or whatever it takes, that moves Bruce away from being motivated entirely by his love for his parents and into to being motivate by his love for Gotham City, his chosen family, and his comrades-in-arms.

So yeah. Suffice it to say, I loved it, I bought the bluray, and I hope very much that they actually talk Warner Brothers into letting them give Battinson a Robin in the next one because his interactions with the mayor's son throughout the movie were adorable and they didn't even talk. I need to see this man taking care of a child. I need it.

[legacycarried-a]

WHO ARE YOU ?

name :  alek

star sign :  capricorn

height :  5′2

spotify shuffle :  all i want -daughter

ever had a poem / song written about you ? :  nope i don’t think so?

when was the last time you played air guitar ? : uhh last night

celebrity crush :  rachel weisz / brendan fraser the classic bi awakening

sound you hate and a sound you love ? :  unnecessary loud chewing/lip smacking/humming. sounds i love is my dog snoring, my favorite songs atm.

do you believe in ghosts ? :  yep, being friends with a group of actively practicing witches and haunted house enthusiasts i have witness/heard some shit

how about aliens ? : nah? i believe we’re not alone but  i believe in merfolk who are corrupted due to pollution so they might not look like ariel.

do you drive ? :  yes but i’m slowly getting back into it, i was in a really bad accident with my friend at the wheel in my early 20s that required me to do serious physical thearpy on and off until i was cleared to drive again.

what was the last book you read ? :  love & other disaster by anita kelly ( has a nonbinary lead and bisexual love interest. pls read if you are looking to broaden your list )

do you like the smell of gasoline ? : ick no.

what was the last movie you saw ? : hellboy the golden army ( celebrating its 14 year release todayyy )

what’s the worst injury you’ve ever had ? :   due to aforementioned car accident two of my toes were broken and my ankle was fractured.

do you have any obsessions right now ? :  replaying the life is strange series, rewatching arcane, playing dnd ( always )

do you tend to hold grudges ? :  selectively, it depends on the situation. therapist told me it’s okay not forgive to someone but to let go of things that may be hurting my health and no longer may be relevant anymore.

in a relationship ? :  possibly!

[mk-wizard]

Hellboy Films: Why animated did better than live action

Hello, friends

Many of you may not know this, but out of all the superhero comics, Hellboy is my favourite. What can I say? As a little girl, I was a misfit, so a misfit hero like Hellboy was right up my alley and the concept of someone being born to be bad to turn out so good because he had a loving father to show him the way is beautiful. My introduction to Hellboy was the first live action film in the 2000s and at the time, I liked it, but then I started reading the comics. Once I got to know the real Hellboy and series, the more I fell in love with the comics yet at the same time, the more I go to not like the live action films and not just because I found the sequel and reboot in 2019 bad. There are many problems with the three live action Hellboy films which rub me the wrong way and not simply because they are live action. Most superheroes started off as cartoon drawings, but were well done in live action, but Hellboy missed all the notes. Now as a mature adult woman who is experienced at storytelling as well as analyzing, I rewatched some of the live action and I took time to watch the animated films. The difference in quality is night and day (no pun intended and I will give links to the animated films because they are stunning). I will now tell you all where the animated films went right and how live action went all wrong.

1- Hellboy’s design was better in the animated films. - I am more than willing to be forgiving when it comes to taking artistic liberties. Sometimes, the results can be beautiful, but in the case live action Hellboy, it was all wrong and I have to blunt, we can do so much better with graphic design now than just simply taking a tall buff man, putting make up and props on him. I hate sounding mean, but both versions just look like a guy wearing a cosplaying as Hellboy. It would have been much better if Hellboy was completely and entirely CGI or perhaps even an elaborate puppet costume like the ones used in the Jim Henson films. It may sound like enough to give the hero red skin, a stone hand, horns, a tail, cloven feet (which are covered), amber eyes, pointed ears and be very tall. He STILL looks too human compared to the comic and compared to what movie makers can do, it’s lackluster.

Now, we turn to the animated version which did more than just the obvious. Hellboy isn’t inhuman looking just because of the said traits before. He is inhuman because of his proportions and shape especially his face. It is a confirmed fact that he is not just not human. He is ugly and animalistic looking. His features are the combination of a satyr and gorilla especially when you look at how thin his legs, jaw, shoulders, posture and so on.  Also, his eyes aren’t just amber. He has no pupils, no schlera (the white part) and no irises. The entire eye is nothing, but amber which makes them disturbing to look at. He cannot simply cover his face, tail and hand, then simply blend in. He cannot even wear most human clothes hence why Hellboy is always shirtless and his hooves are exposed. In other words, animated Hellboy looks like Hellboy.

2- The animated plot was clean, to the point with no filler. - While I admit the first live action film kept it pretty simple, I find that it still had a lot of filler and too much subplot. If you ever read a Hellboy comic, you will know right off the bat that Mike Mignola is a master at the art of pacing without fluff. Yes, he respect that character development and buildup takes time, but he doesn’t drag things. Ever. And he does not make everything so angsty either. Yes, he hints that the characters have issues, trauma, emotional pain and at times, depression, but he did so without making them into whiners. For the most part, the cast and hero would pick themselves up and do what they had to like adults. If anything, they were also each other’s emotional support and they don’t hate people. The animated version captured that completely and even showed us that the cast did not consist of malcontents who played the “poor me” card to death. In the beginning of Blood and Iron, Abe, Liz and Hellboy were happily talking about a bakery they had found once which reminds us that with all their hardships they do seek and accept joy in life even from something as simple as good pastries.

Moreover, the plot of the film was to the point with some amount of subplots, but without getting complicated and without the subplots contradicting each other. Everything had a way of coming together neatly and even though we did sometimes get surprises, they didn’t feel like filler. They felt like things that were always there, but now, we are aware of them. Most importantly, there was no cheap or silly selling point tactics like relationship drama or the stereotypical father-son bickering (more on this later). Hellboy is not that kind of story.

3- The subtle messages and morals in the animated films were deeper and better. - Being the mature adult I am now, I can say that the first Hellboy really was just Beauty and the Beast while using the Hellboy cast instead and it presented in the message in all of the outdated and bad ways. Don’t get me wrong, I find the idea of Hellboy falling in love romantic and I admit that underneath all of the darkness and action, everything about Hellboy comes back to love. However, it is not romantic love where the end all be all is to be accepted by humanity by getting into a relationship with a human, then turning into a handsome prince even if only metaphorically. The deeper and more important kind of love Hellboy tries to teach is self love how you are regardless how strange people deem you. If you have done something with your life and made something of yourself, then it is ok to be you and are already more loved than you realize. The other kind of love that has always been important to the series is family unity. You see, Hellboy, Liz and Abe are like siblings to each other and Prof. Bruttenholm is an incredibly loving father figure to all of them namely Hellboy who he raised since he was a baby.

He made the big red guy into the man he is today. In fact, even as an adult, Hellboy and Bruttenholm are a very sweet and kind father and son duo. They are not at each other’s throats, they don’t snark at each other or are incapable of agreeing on anything. There is no spite, there is no anger, there is no resentment and there is no ingratitude. There is only love and honestly, THIS is the love that ought to be showcased more in the films.

With that all said and done, the animated films also had their subtle deep messages which we not only understand clearly, but we also appreciate more. In the first movie Sword of Storms, it was all about finding a balance between persevering and knowing when to let go. In other words, keep doing what you must if it is still relevant and making a difference, but if it isn’t and is the reason you’re stuck, by all means quit. There are many roads to closure. In the second one Blood and Iron, it was clear from the beginning that the message was to not underestimate the elderly. They may not be as strong as they once were, but their experience and wisdom gets them and you out of tough spots. They have been through everything before and know what to do. By all means, aid them and help them, but don’t treat them like helpless babies. I also have to say that when I look at the messages the two animated films were telling us, they are not only clearer, but pretty underrated ones too. In the case of the live action films, the messages were muddled if not done before.

In short, I look at the animated films and I’m impressed. If another live action Hellboy does come along, I hope that this time, it will be done right and I really don’t want to see relationship, gore fests, snark or family drama again. Of course, this all my opinion and I would love to hear all of yours.

Thank you for reading and stay safe.

EDIT: Wouldn’t you know it? I forgot the link to all things Hellboy Animated. Here it is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellboy_Animated

[sindirimba]

@seren-pen tagged me to name my top 9 films and i like being included. this is a little tricky for me though because i'm not a big movie watcher. SORRY!

in no particular order:

1. Howl's Moving Castle - very much a comfort movie. i've put it on the fall asleep to countless times. it's such a lovely movie, visual- and storytelling-wise

2. What We Do In The Shadows - both because it's hilarious and also because i first watched it with my best friends, who live very far away, and so it's sort of a...what's a term like bittersweet, but 'hilarious but also it makes you a little sad'

3. The Old Guard - yeah it's made the list already baby!!! i've already watched it three times in like, a few weeks, which is extremely unusual for me. very well-done drama action with a lovable main group and plenty of opportunities to get weepy. my shit! i just did my third rewatch last night and had the same visceral "fuck yes!" clapping reaction when Nile tackled Martin Shkreli out through the window.

4. The Cuckoo (Кукушка) - a Finnish/Russian movie about two soldiers, a Finn and a Russian, who come upon a Sami woman's isolated farmhouse. it's really good! just a beautifully shot movie about human interpersonal relationships in the midst of war. i'd recommend it for the opening bit alone, where the Finnish soldier escapes from his shackles.

5. Day Of The Dead - i saw Day Of The Dead before i saw Night Of The Living or Dawn Of The, for some reason, so due to sheer timing this is my favorite of the trio. i love them all, but, you know. you always remember your first Romero. Bub, Rhodes' death, the somewhat hopeful ending. how gross and grimy everything feels. the real enemy was toxic masculinity all along, also the zombies. primo.

6. Alien - the best of the Alien movies imo. not a controversial opinion, just an opinion. the atmosphere is so good. and the cat lives.

help i'm starting to struggle

7. Hellboy (2004) - I actually haven't watched this in a while but am still happy to put it on this list because of how many times i have seen it in my life and how happy it makes me. also, again, cats are saved. that's important to remember. he saves a box of kittens. didn't actually start my thing for men with horns but it definitely helped!!

8. Mad Max Fury Road - wow i don't know where my head is that it took me this long to list this one. i think it's because it's sunday. anyway. i saw this after everyone (like i normally do) and it 100% lived up to the hype. everyone is so so good but of course charlize and tom are just (chef's kiss). i'm sad i only got to see it once in a theatre.

i give up now :\ my brain's stopped working.

tagging: @rob-anybody, @bossymarmalade, @fightingsail, @yiduiqie, and okay anyone else who wants to tbh!

[fairytaleslive]

Dobrý den again, I have another little question for ptak o. At 6:49 Skeleton shouts something to the dog, it sounds like "van". (yt, remastered version) Couldnt find such word in Czech. In German dub it is translated as "verschwinde" (go away). Whats the original word? I have now seen the film several times because of the excellent play of Karel Roden, and it seems to me the film is not as bad as I first thought. The Czech actors play well. The German men play wooden, T. Ruland (princess) is ok.

Hi again! :) (btw sorry for long answers! I can never stop myself when I start to ramble about fairytale films!)

To your first question: I can’t understand what Skeleton says either, lol! At first I thought he says “Ven!”, meaning “Out!” which would sort of make sense in the context. But no matter how many times I rewatch the scene, it sounds more as if he just does a weird roar at the dog – ”vrrr” is a sound of dog growl in Czech.

Oh yes, Karel Roden is great and seeing him in a fairytale role is a rare treat. He is extremely picky about his roles, especially in recent years, and often stars in international projects.

International fans might know him as a villain in Bulletproof Monk and Rasputin in the first Hellboy movie. Not to mention his roles in Lamberto Bava’s Dragon Ring, second Fantaghirò and Sorellina e il principe del sogno.

Karel Roden as villainous Skeleton in The Firebird (1997)

I think that all the actors did the best they could with the material they were given. From the Czech actors: I can tell you that everyone basically plays their standard roles, in which they are good at; I wouldn’t say that they had to try too hard to be believable (e.g. Langmajer plays the sleazy prince, cause he usually plays sleazy roles, even to this day; Roden plays a charismatic villain, as he always does etc.). Kudos to Marián Labuda Sr. who plays Skeleton’s henchman, he was one of the best Slovakian actors in history and yet he took such a thankless little role and managed to nail it! (I imagine he enjoyed it too cause he didn’t often get to play villainous roles on screen :)

Ondřej Brousek, who plays the hero’s brother (why, oh why did they add his character and then killed him off?), is nowdays more of a composer/musician than an actor. He composed music scores for e.g. fairytales School of Princes (”Škola princů”, 2010) or The Treasure (”O pokladech, 2012) among many others.

For me, it’s interesting to see Barbora Leichnerová (Elena’s maid Margita), as it was her last role on screen and I don’t think that she is still acting to this day. She is a lesser known Czech actress, but I remember her well cause she starred in several made-for-TV fairytale films in the 80′s.

Edit: I feel bad for not mentioning the presence of the legendary Horst Buchholz in my original comment! He was a great actor and I wish that he had more screentime as the King in this movie!

I’ve always liked Tina Ruland in both The Magic Pouch and in The Firebird. I think she was pretty and charming in both roles (more in The Magic Pouch since she had more screentime and personality there). And a big shout out to Dana Černá, one of my favorite voice actresses, who provided her Czech voice! (the Prince is voiced by another of my favorite voice actors: Zdeněk Hruška, who also provided his voice to Max Urlacher in The Queen of the Lake btw)

I think that one of the many issues this movie has, one of the biggest ones is how underused the Prince and the Princess are as a couple. (btw I had no idea they became a pair while filming this, thank you for the info!) Their meeting is pretty cute, love at first sight sort of works (*I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream* theme is probably copied from Sleeping Beauty 1959, but I am ok with it). Their chemistry seems alright to me. But then...they never really talk again and all their interactions become forced and wooden. They could have been an adventuring, villain-killing power couple but Elena is then pretty much reduced to a constant damsel-in-distress and the Prince always seems to need the help of other people/magic items to suceed in his tasks...

Like you said, this movie had a lot of good things coming for it. Personally, I think it’s a real shame that the screeplay and execution ended up being so completely superficial and without spark.

This is just my personal opinion, but I think that they should have given the job to someone else than director Vorlíček. Someone younger, with new, creative, original ideas, who would turn the source material into a fun fairytale adventure film....

Vorlíček was about 66 years old at that time and pretty much drained as a creator. I know I sound harsh, I really respect and love his works from 60–70′s, but after that, the quality of his projects started to decline and (judging from interviews he did in his later years), he often seemed to put the blame on anyone but himself and refused to admit that his latest films are trash (I’ve seen his sequel to Girl on the Broomstick and it must be one of the worst movies ever made)....

[jonathanraychapman]

Hellboy 2019 Movie Review - 3.5/5.0

So I really have mixed feelings - but mainly positive - on the 2019 Hellboy reboot.  I’m glad I finally bought and watched it.  I’m also sad that it didn’t get the critical praise that would have let them keep making movies based on Mike Mignola’s amazing work (although maybe they actually will make a sequel.. Who knows?).  I’m well-past pining for a continuance of the older movie series, so I’m not going to dwell on that.  Let’s talk about the movie we got here.  

First of all, I have no problems with the cast.  Everyone was up to the task and I actually kind of liked David Harbour as the titular character.  Milla Jovovich (and yes I’m absolutely partial to her) was actually pretty decent as the main villainess (The Blood Queen).  And I was pleasantly surprised at the rest of the crew.  No complaints there.  While the only real story arc going on is Hellboy’s I really did grow to love the other characters by the end (the new BPRD recruits).  I credit this mainly to the excellent casting and acting (the Osiris club members, Baba Yaga, Merlin.. all excellent).  

So the elephant in the room is really just the screenplay itself and how it compresses so much story material into a short movie.  It’s absolutely full of nods and winks to fans of the series - a tour de force (or greatest hits, if you will) of all the Mike Mignola / Hellboy main stories.  The problem with this is that it doesn’t really develop any of the plot points so that we - the audience - care, and it just comes off as a real mess in the end.  Sure, it’s visually amazing and full of action, but it’s also kind of shallow.  That’s not to say a non-veteran of Hellboy wouldn’t be able to get what’s going on.  But it might take reading some backstory (to see how stories were blended together) or maybe just multiple watchings to really appreciate what’s going on.

So this movie isn’t nearly as heavy as some of the Del Toro films and it does gain some rewatchability there.  It’s kind of like other pulp horror-action movies such as Hansel and Gretel (which my friends and I really appreciate for short gatherings).  I don’t think Hellboy was ever going to be a masterpiece film just by the nature of what it is, but I do think it would have been a much greater movie if they had simplified the plot, focused on some characters, and slowed things down.  Sure, we wouldn’t have gotten as much gore or action, but we’d have a more-solid movie.  But you know.. I’m actually completely OK with what we got here.  

[mcrmadness]

Saw again some weird dreams...

So just like the header says, some more weird-ass dreams coming from here :D The first part was mainly about Die Ärzte and then it turned into some sort of scifi-fantasy movie where I was the protagonist/antagonist/antihero and I was running away from bad or good guys and hiding in closets that had lots of bedsheets and stuff in them. So, here we go:

1. I think it started with me being just at home, browsing all my Die Ärzte files on my computer. I’ve collected quite a big “archive” of photos and videos and stuff over the years. In this dream I apparently was browsing my folder for Bela photos but for I also had there a subfolder that was named as “well done”, might have been in Finnish, not sure. Anyway, there was apparently some of my favorite Bela photos and actually every photo in that folder was created by my subconscious last night. For some reason, in that folder was also many REALLY GOOD Bela/Farin videos that’s existence I had forgotten (well because those also were created by my subconscious, they don’t exist in real life). This kind of dream if actually nothing new to me: I often see dreams of videos that don’t exist and I’m always watching them as videos so that I try and sometimes even can replay them. And it’s always as annoying to wake up from them :D

So in this dream was some Bela-interview from... not exactly sure if it was 2007 or what. But he had short hair, either black or dark brown. And this was like some sort of a festival area and behind him was a normal... fence, I don’t even know how to call that in Finnish :D Anyway, and behind that fence there was people, it was like a crowd in front of a stage, idk. And he was giving some interview when then suddenly someone ran from the crowd to him but was still behind the fence - and that was Farin, wearing sunglasses (I think it was early Spring) and he had a camera with him and he was really smiley and apparently on a good mood. Here they had some conversation of their own, I think it was about a jacket. I feel as if Farin was asking Bela to hand him his (Farin’s) jacket (this might have even been in German lol I’m slowly getting there with my language skills XD) that was on this side of the fence. But they also hadn’t seen each other in ages, I think. I feel like there was lots of happening but I no longer can remember that all, but lots of nice, small things I always look for when I see interviews about them. I think Farin went back to the crowd eventually. And when the interview ended, Bela was also going to the other side of the fence and on the left side there was a huge gate and he went there and Farin also walked there and then they hugged tightly because they hadn’t seen each other in a while.

Then I think I tried to rewatch this interview but it was something else and I noticed it only after watching it a while. This time Bela definitely had the 2007′s hair. And this video was basically filmed “by Bela” even tho it was also quite far away from them, in some sort of interview studio and it had nothing to do with the “first” video I just saw. From this one I mostly remember them AGAIN talking about a jacket. Farin wanted to borrow Bela’s jacket - which turned out to be bright purple leather jacket wtf :D Looked like what you can maybe buy from girls’ sections from these cheap clothing stores. And Farin wanted to wear/try on that jacket even tho Bela told him that that he doesn’t think the jacket is even big enough for Farin. This was again quite confusing. And it ended in Farin wearing a wig - long and black wig, and he was basically doing the same what Bela did in their “Serienklassiker” videos when he was playing the part of Lassie. I think Bela was sitting on a sofa, it was still an INTERVIEW IN A STUDIO and Farin was wearing black wig, sitting on the floor and rubbing himself against Bela’s knees like a cat as a joke and I heard someone saying in English “I think Farin wants to be Bela’s pet.” And THANK GODS this is where the dream ended!!!

Or. Almost. Next thing I see is me again being me but now it was like the setting for their video Bettmagnet, but instead of watching a video, I was in this room WITH them. The arrange was exactly the same except that now I was also sitting on this bed but just on the right edge. And There was two tv’s hanged on the walls, one right in front of us and one on the wall on Farin’s side. And I was watching DÄ interviews or videos with them. I don’t even know what we were watching but I remember this white text on a purple background (same color as the too-small-jacket from the previous part :DDD) and Farin wasn’t feeling so good about that and I don’t know what language he used but he said something like how it’s quite embarrassing to watch this now as someone is seeing it too, as it was always meant just as a joke and not that they would actually once watch it and see other people watching it too. (Yeah same everytime I need to watch something about or made by me while others watch.)

I have no idea what it was that we were about to watch but then there was an advertisement to something that looked like a handheld game console made into a shape of Batman logo and Bela had designed. I don’t know why but it made me laugh so much and then Farin either turned into my mom or asked me as Farin: “Are you laughing or crying?” And I just told him I’m laughing. And my mom was included because I actually once ad my mom to come ask me if I’m laughing or crying when I was alone in my room laughing, as sometimes my laugh does sound very, very stupid :D And I could hear my laugh so well in this dream, I wonder if I was actually laughing asleep...

2. Then I think this was a cool switch to another dream. I kinda dived into this “movie”.  Because this “movie” had a Batman logo, it was DC themed and then there was the name “Malcolm Merlyn” which I know mostly from the tv series “Arrow” but he’s also included in the LEGO DC Villains video game (yes I love LEGO video games :D). It was some kind of huge place with narrow hallways and lots of doors, bit like in a spaceship style but it was still on the ground on Earth and not a spaceship. I saw him lockpicking his way to somewhere but that’s all, I didn’t see him again and also only saw his back. I went to another hallway and I also tried to lockpick some door open but I was caught. Some woman came there to talk to me, saying things like “Did you really think you could get away like this? You shouldn’t have done *something* to your shoelaces as they gave you away now.” and I was just standing there, not moving or saying anything as I was not sure if she was able to see me or not. Somehow I felt like everyone in this place was bluffing me and talking to me as if they saw me but that they did not, and therefore they only talked to me instead of attacking right away. And if I attacked them, I’d give away my place. But I was not sure if it was like that or if they were just typical villains keeping a monologue before they act cos they think they have already won. ANd then they always fail.

Anyway, I think I then acted really fast. I don’t know what I did, maybe I attacked her or something but I sure as hell started running. This hallway  was like... there was huge pillars to it was like a “ladder” shaped bluprint. So I was running and hiding non-stop and these women kept coming and going, trying to capture me, and at some point I think I had the “belt” part of a bathrobe and I did something with it to get one of the women out of the picture.

While I was running, I heard a woman’s voice from the speakers as an alarm went off and she said how I was on the loose and information about me, I only remember her saying my real-life name and then that I speak Italian - which is not true. I don’t speak Italian :D I might want to learn it tho, because having relatives in Italy.

Then it kinda changed and now I was in a place that looked like a hospital of some sort. I was still running away and tried to hide into these closets but all of them just had shelves with besheets and pillows and stuff like this and I could no fit into the closets. I still hid in one of them but they saw me going there, and again it happened: this woman was standing at the door staring at me and talking how she sees me, but doing absolutely nothing about it and I still said nothing but just kept sitting there and didn’t move so they don’t actually see me. And when they least expected it, I acted and could escape them again. And then I run to another thing like this and could hide in the last closet, somehow could fit myself on the lowest shelf on all these pillows. But a little girl came to the door and said that she found me, but I said her if she doesn’t give me away, I’ll give her candy - which btw was the only time I ever spoke in this part of the dream. So she just stared at me for a while and then said “Deal.” gave me the pillow that had dropped from the closet and closed the door and shouted the women “There’s nothing!” and went with them. And this is where the dream ended.

I have no idea what this action movie dream really was :D It was also so weird because I don’t know if I was the hero or the villain even, or maybe an antihero. I did watch both Hellboy movies with my dad and sister couple of days ago but this dream had pretty much nothing to do with those movies. It also makes me think of a movie that I have never even seen yet and know nothing about, so I don’t know...

On the other hand, my head seems to hurt migraine-like every time I cough so migraine can also create some of the weirdest dreams.

[theabominableblogger]

Rewatching “In the Name of the Rebellion”

OK, once again, I had to split up the reactions between Parts 1 and 2 because I babble waaaaaayyyy too much while watching...

Part One

*Sabine playfully punches Zeb*  Yay!  More Sabine and Zeb being siblings!

*Hera’s squadron comes crashing in*  WELL SHIT

Oh, I like that shot of the landing gear coming out

*Hera lands the Y-Wing*  Another happy landing.

Oh she [Hera] has her S1 outfit on!

I DEMAND GHOST FAMILY HUGS GOSH DARN IT

HERA, HUG SABINE!

Aaaahhh Kallus!  Ahh he cleans up nice!

“How does Saw’s ragtag group have better intel than we do?”  “Because Gerrera has absolutely no qualms about how he acquires it.”  Kallus is not messing around!

Oh snap.  Totally forgot that Saw was the head of the rebel group whose Lasat mercenary killed off Kallus’ team back then.  Dang, no wonder he’s so pissed.

*slides Dave Filoni $50* Another Kallus episode would be nice...

“We don’t call it the Ghost for nothing.”  Heck yes

“What about Lothal?”  Ezra, not now.

Can we talk about Forest Whitaker and Genevieve O’Reilly in this scene?!?  Holy crap this is probably one of the best scenes in this show.  First time I saw it, it gave me chills.

Also, holy crap, the script is so good oh my gosh

Man, nobody’s happy

There’s been a lot of emphasis on Kanan telling Hera that he doesn’t need to see in order to figure out how Hera’s doing

I swear to God, if they kill off Kanan, I’m gonna-

I like this between Kanan and Hera though.  It’s a nice call back to their little conversation in “Ghosts of Geonosis.”

In fact, all these little callbacks to past episodes.... I love it

“I like abstract art; I just don’t wanna become it.”  Best line of the episode.  Right there.

*Chopper slams into the antenna face first*  Pfffftttt....

“What was that you said about how this could be worse?”  Ezra, c’mon, Murphy’s Law...

“Chop, give me comm control.  I’ve got an idea.”  Ezra no

“Is this some kind of a joke?  I am Commander Brom Titus.”  OH SHIT

The tagline for this episode should be “Slip ‘N Slide”

*Ezra waves at the Imperial cruiser*  Oh my God no

“We got two TIE Defenders coming in fast!”  Oh crap

All those Stormtroopers are dead

This canyon chase with all the fog is awesome

“Boy, I [Hera] must really trust you [Kanan].”  “I know you do.”  STOP

LET’S PICK UP THE KIDS

Freaking proton bombs?!?

Aaaand there’s one supporting Imperial villain [Brom Titus] dead

Two Tubes!

Even Saw refers to Ezra and Sabine as Hera’s “kids”

*mouths along to closing theme*

Part Two

I think Saw and Two Tubes’ ship is a U-Wing...

“The words you’re [Ezra, Sabine, and Chopper] looking for are ‘thank you!’“  Pfffttt...

For a moment, I actually thought Two Tubes is played by Seth McFarlane because he sounds an awful lot like Krauss in “Hellboy 2:  The Golden Army” but nope it’s actually one of the sound editors for "The Force Awakens”

They’re really amping up the xylophone use in this episode for the score

THE JEDHA SYSTEM!!!!!!!!!

THEY’RE TRYING TO HIRE A CREW FOR THE DEATH STAR

SHIT JUST GOT REAL

“Pretend you’re still prisoners.”  “We are still prisoners!”  Pfffttt.... that dude’s voice though oh my God...

I freaking love the detail that only Force-users can hear the kyber crystals

The sound they used is awesome

OH CRAP DEATH TROOPERS

Oh my Gosh Chopper!  “Well how about that?”

Man, this scene with the Death Troopers and the fog is also awesome!

Oh I like Saw using the Death Trooper body as a decoy

THERE’S A FEMALE DEATH TROOPER?!?  THAT’S AMAZING!  I WANNA SEE MORE OF HER!

She’s voiced by Jennifer Hale too!

“Alert Director Krennic and Imperial command.”  AAAAAHHH

THAT’S THE CRYSTAL FOR THE DEATH STAR!

Which begs the question:  how far along is the construction at this point?  S4 takes place shortly after S3, which took place in 2 BBY (so 2 years before the Battle of Yavin in “A New Hope”)

“Saw, you shot me [Ezra]!”  “Let’s be more precise:  I stunned you.”  Pfftt, I mean...

Oh snap Captain Slavin!

“Farewell, friend!  I [Saw] hope we meet again!”  Actually no

Quick question:  where’s Jyn during all this?

OK Ezra cannot take down a Death Trooper like that.  C’mon...

What the heck are those Imperial drone things?

Aaaand another supporting Imperial villain [Captain Slavin] dead

Tag yourself, I’m Sabine facepalming next to Ezra

There are a lot of callbacks to “Breaking Ranks” this season...

[clauseart]

I'm close to finishing all the Hellboy comics and holy crap why hasn't anyone tried to make a cinimanic universe out of Mignolas world?

Victorian Paranormal Detective, 1930s pulp super hero, Allies vs supernatural Nazis, and that's not even mentioning the B.P.R.D itself! Like I love Hellboy as a character he's probably my fav tiered old man hero. But I want them to dig into stuff beyond Seed of Destruction, because that is literally the tip of the ice-burg.

It sucks about Del Toro losing his chance to make Hellboy 3. In all honesty I don’t have the Hellboy movies, I think they’re cool in their own ways.(though I haven’t rewatched them knowing what happens in the comic books, so we’ll see if that lasts) But It also sucks that the studio literally waited for Del Toro to give up trying to make the third movie just so they could reboot it. Like seriously guys? will you stop fucking this man over and LET HIM MAKE U MONEY?

In any case, the fact that they’re casting actors to play characters from the B.P.R.D series has me both hopeful and worried. More worried since they didn’t seem to care if the prevalent Asian character (whose Japanese heritage leads to some pretty important character beats) was played by a white actor. Yes they kinda fixed that (once the dude graciously stepped down) by casting an Asian actor...well he’s Korean but fuck, I guess that’s progress. 

My point being what even IS this new Hellboy script going to be if Ben Daimio being a white dude wasn’t going to effect the plot?

My best guess is they’re going to be merging a bunch of stories and placing them before Hellboy left the B.P.R.D. Which is why Alice Monaghan is being cast,

I mean, it could work. I’m all for an AU where hellboy actually gets to meet Ben and Johann. (we already got the later in HB2) I’m also 100% on board with Katherine Corrigan being brought to the forefront.                            

[belegsghost]

Hi! I saw you reblogging Ola Gjeilo music and Hellboy stuff and think that you're great and that we should, you know, probably be friends. Also there's a "I just slew my husband whilst wearing my wedding gown" Lagertha on your blog so what's not to love (also your Lagertha tags are great c':).

AHHHHH yes definitely!! I love your blog so much it is just so lovely and great and too intimidatingly cool for me to approach but like you are 100% awesome and we should definitely be friends (also I’m so glad you appreciate my Lagertha tags I just love her so much idk what to do with myself) 

The Hellboy movies are probably my favorite superhero movies tbh (especially the second one) (which i really need to rewatch now!)

And I love Gjeilo so muchhh but I mostly know his choral stuff and need to listen to the rest! I’ve sung pieces of his in almost every choir I’ve been in and also programmed  his setting of Ubi Caritas in the choir I conducted bc it’s just SO PRETTY