#I am not saying that the movie The Truman Show is bad or that it normalizes this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

animentality · 9 months

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Have you seen Oppenheimer, and if so, should I see it? I, knowing nothing about the movie, just sorta assumed it was either history-related or historical fiction and never learned anything about it or mustered up the give-a-damn to give it a shot (I am not a history buff).

You know...

I saw it...and I generally liked it...but I honestly think that it was kind of messy.

Like here's the thing about historical fiction...most people are not atomic bomb/Oppenheimer experts.

So they don't know most of this stuff by heart.

They remember shit like the Manhatten project and they know jfk and they know truman. They know America dropped atomic bombs on Japan.

But oppenheimer the movie like...throws so much shit at you, without even bothering to give you the context?

Like I say this as someone who has a decent knowledge of American history...there were some parts that were so obscure historically and politically that I honestly didn't know why the fuck I should care.

They would shout out names nonstop, referring to real life people, but these names have no context. Then they'd continue to expound upon the politics of these names...but why would we know who Patton George Lucas and Terry Yasolfis Mayweather and Gary Frederick Friedman are, especially if they were not presidents, senators, or governors?

Like these are random ass administrative assholes and forgotten military figures and obscure political jackals, who weren't well known because they never achieved high offices...

And they were from fifty fucking years ago?

Why would the average film watcher know them unless they fucking studied up?

See I like historical fiction, but it has to make me care!! Give me context!!! Tell me who these people are and show me through drama!!! That's why we're watching a MOVIE and not a documentary or reading a Wikipedia article.

And the main problem is that the movie is 3 hours long and absolutely NOWHERE in it does it EVER give us a fucking year, a location, or even a damn university.

It just throws you at Oppenheimer and says this asshole is sad and he has a lot of sex and he's inventing a bomb.

And it's like...I did enjoy it, when I understood it...but it doesn't let you breathe much.

Like the parts that are great are the parts where you can figure out what's happening.

Oh look they're blowing shit up in the desert.

Or the endless cheating subplots. Or the politics of the classroom and the socialist tendencies right at the height of the McCarthy era.

That stuff was fun.

But the parts that are bad are like...Cillian Murphy talking very quickly about a military prick that he hates while the board that's reviewing his security clearance is talking about people that we never see on screen, who are literally just floating names to memorize.

It was like a pop quiz movie sometimes, and I found that off-putting.

It also flashes between time periods quickly and without easy transitions, just hard cuts, which can be really confusing and odd.

So I would recommend you not see it in theaters if you're not a history buff. Or specifically, a fan of world war 2 and Oppenheimer and know everything about atomic bombs.

Watch it at home so you can Google who Heisenberg is.

#oppenheimer

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reyyanfromartemisia · 2 years

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ABOUT TRUMAN SHOW

Top of the post you'll see a screenshot from Truman Show. Yes, as you think- the most impressive scene is the last one for me. In this scene, Truman steps into our real world. He is getting out of his small and perfect world. By the way, I liken this movie to Free Guy. Anyway, I call moments like this "moments of noticing". The moments you notice that there is a bigger or darker world than you live or think.

I think everyone has their "moments of noticing" or eventually lives that moment. My "moment of noticing" happened after reading some books. I noticed there is a darker world than I live. My parents gave me a world consisting of happiness, life, innocence, etc. but unfortunately, I woke up from my "Matrix" and started to see things clearly that were in front of me. All this was caused by a few books I've read and-of course- my "moment of noticing".

I am not saying there is no good stuff in the world-there is. I don't understand how good and bad things exist at the same time in the world anyway. But one cannot exist without the other, isn't it?

So do you have a "moment of noticing"? If yes and it's not too private, can you tell me?

#truman show #moments of noticing #our world

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gaymormonmike · 11 months

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Harper Lee

She wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, from the perspective of Scout, the 6 to 8 year old who tells the story. But we also get the adult Scout's point of view at times. Harper Lee admits the story is based on her life (Scout), her older brother (Jem) and her best friend who was based onTruman Capote, and her father (Atticus). The book makes an indelible record of the deep, rural south in early 1930's. As such, it is historial fiction and does, in detail, explain the people in rural Alabama in 1930's. I was in Florida at age 6 in 1950. Florida was similar to Alabama of 1935. I was a confused northern boy who could not understand segragation and why it was going on all around me. Thanks to the U.S. Air Force I was stationed in Montgomery, Alabama in 1961 for 6 months. Still not much difference from what Harper Lees descibes. I was angry, appalled and amazed at the open bigotry and what I would call apartheid that was happening. Protests were going on but the Air Force told us not to get involved. I, like Atticus, want to understand these people. Lee Harper's people had family that told them about the civil war, reconstruction and their personal experience with slavery. Atticus loves these naeighbors and family members. Even when he defends an innocent black man, who the jury knows is innocent, but condemn him to death, Atticus tries to explain to his children that they are not bad people. The movie and the play were focused on this trial and make Atticus the hero of the story. The book is more focused on the people of rural Alabama and the 3 kids trying to navigate its' wonders. The "N" word is used liberally by the adults. That was what I heard in the deep south, just used as a common everyday word. I also heard it in my neighborhood in the north. I am glad to say it was not acceptable in my home. Like the study and stories I have read about Nazi Germany, I think it is important to understand these people and how they got this way. The other unuusual aspect of the book, is that Scout is a tom boy to the point that she would be transgender today. Harper chose to keep her life private, but she never married, was a friend and collegue to Truman Capote, who was a totally out gay man. With the exception of her father and brother, everyone in the book is trying to turn her into a feminine girl. So, the stoy has profound meaning for me as I grew up in an era when being gay or different in anyway was not acceptable Roles of boys and girls were cast in stone and staying true to those models was imperative. You have these 3 children who are depicted as not being racists like everyone around them and that they each are different from anyone around them. Do they represent the new south that will eventually evolve? I did not see it in 1961. I saw small children being taught to hate for skin colors sake. I saw hatred for all Yankees. Since they liked me, they insisted I was a Southern boy and not the Yankee I kept telling them I was. To Kill a Mocking Bird is so amazing. It records the dress, speech, food, foibles, good and bad of a people that existed and still leave their mark on the world, as they influenced their children and grand children. I can only hope that the stories I leave my children and grand children make them better people who show love and acceptance to everyone, even if they do not understand or like their choices.

#queerstake harperlee tokillamockingbord books

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project1939 · 8 months

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(President Truman on the top, Dale Evans on the bottom left, Dale and Roy Rogers on the right.)

Day 4- TV and Radio

TV:

I Love Lucy, season 1, episode 14, “The Amateur Hour,” Jan 14th, 1952.

Roy Rogers, season 1 episode 3, “The Set Up,” Jan 20th, 1952.

Radio:

The Big Show, episode 43, January 13th, 1952

President Truman press conference, January 10th, 1952.

I watched Roy Rogers again, and this episode was much better. Two women rocked it! "Granny" was a 74 year old who dodged a bullet by rolling herself downhill with a huge pack of supplies on her back! She was not a typical Western damsel in distress. Nor was Dale Evans, the wife of Roy. She had a bigger role this time, and I promptly fell in love. She’s strong and charismatic and gorgeous and more than holds her own with all the men. I’ll watch more episodes for her alone!

The Big Show was a big hit with the Tallulah and Betty Hutton combination. Hutton was her sparkling comedic self- it really highlighted how stifled she was by the melodrama in The Greatest Show on Earth. She was promoting the movie on this episode, and Tallulah even mentioned that Betty had done a lot of her own stunts. The two of them genuinely seemed to enjoy cracking each other up. Tallulah: “Been to a three-ring circus? Darling I AM a three-ring circus!” Betty: “You’re treating me like I’m the wrong Betty!” (Referencing Tallulah’s long-standing feud with Bette Davis!)

The Truman press conference was fascinating. Every question was about the upcoming election, and the press corp was just as dogged to get the answers they wanted as they are in 2023. Some of the best bits:

What do you think of Eisenhower?-- “I think he’s a grand man and I have the utmost confidence in him and I gave him one of the most important jobs that his government has to offer....He's doing a good job, and I like him."

In 1948 you said there was no job you wouldn’t help Eisenhower get, including the presidency, do you still feel that now?--"I qualified IF Eisenhower ran as a Democrat. I hoped he would be a Democrat."

What does Mrs. Truman think about you running?- “I can’t say. I don’t know- you’ll have to ask her. She’s the boss.”

...And now a word from today's best sponsor- Beeman's Pepsin Gum! Maybe you can't walk and chew gum at the same time, but you can soothe your stomach and chew gum at the same time! Pepsin in the gum (like pepsid?) goes to work on stomach troubles as you chew! (Not a bad idea, actually!)

#project1952 #1952 #project1952 day 4

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beautifulgreenflowersworld · 1 year

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My First Grow

Introduction

I have spent 25 years as a "professional" customer service representative for corporations. This has led me to learn and obtain several skill sets that I think are important to cannabis cultivation. Such as discipline, no need for micromanaging-feedback in any form is always welcome, I love trying new ideas because I enjoy seeing HOW the process works. The other skill set is work ethic. Recently I had to educate an employer that when they don't provide a way to obtain I9, W2, proof of citizenship and Social Security number from a new hire for payroll and the employer requires that the new hire show up on site, is a violation of wage theft. Team player gets thrown around a lot. Yes I love to socialize, no I don't care for social media because social media interferes with my hobbies, painting, drawing, pyrography and cultivation. (That's not all either, I love to golf with my husband, movie fanatic and critic, not so much into TV shows but if you want to know, I love Star Trek. I'll talk more on that later).

I walked away from my career not because of the pandemic or anything like that. I walked away because I was tired of being disillusioned and grew to suffer from compassion burnout. Not the compassion burnout against customers, just burnt out trying to be the best. I left work more often than not feeling like I never accomplished anything and that is why I avoid that question in interviews. Don't speak bad about previous employers and my lack of feeling any accomplishments were ever done, well can lead to some bad feelers here and I am not here for that.

Needless to say, I tapped into my ancestorial roots. I come from a family of farmers from Russia. I'm a descendant of Volga Germans. Fun fact, Volga Germans are all over the mid west and I am a descendent of a family member who was questioned in the investigation of the Holcomb, Kansas murders, Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood about it.

I am also a conservationist-there is a science in being a conservationist and a cultivator. Its also an art form.

This picture for this entry is my drawing. Not one of my best but I have an eye for detail. I haven't gone to school to learn to draw, a few basic concepts in 8th grade and a semester of dropping out of Art 1, I learned on my own. One of many pieces. I actually have an oil painting I'm heavily detailing...coming soon <3

#cannabis cultivation

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dzpenumbra · 2 years

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10/11/22

Since it's already late... I have to set my alarm, one sec. Alright. I might as well just put today in direct bulletpoints without too much commentary.

I got a text from my landlord at 10:30 AM. About an hour after I finally fell asleep. Yep. When I'm feeling unsafe and like there's something weird brewing, I don't sleep. And full moons amplify it. I'm pretty much at a perfect storm here. So... I'm surprisingly doing well with it. I'm impressed with myself.

I woke up late. I slept well, which is good, a full 7 hours until like... 4 PM. Waking up at 4PM on a Monday is deeply depressing. I called my mom before I got out of bed. I wanted to connect with my brother and see if he wanted to do art while my landlords were inspecting the house. Then I could have music playing, it would create a privacy barrier for all of us. I could get some work done and have some good company.

I want to really lean into this statement. I had such a bad feeling about the outcome of proposing this completely normal, kinda fun sounding idea that I called my mom. I don't remember if I took a shower, I think I did actually. I think I did get out of bed and showered and called right after or something. I remember eating an apple, and yeah, my fingernails tasted like the essential oils I wear after showering when I was compulsively stress-biting them earlier.

I had this bad feeling lingering from yesterday, when i tried to get him to help me sort the place and clean a bit. My mom came over and helped, it was nice, it could've been a nice three person hangout kinda thing. But no. He told me Sunday was when he usually cleans his house, actually, so I guess his whole day was booked. I'm just... not gonna linger on that. I can see very clearly now what I saw at first glance. That's just inconsiderate. And negative. "I'm not going to do your chores, you lazy shit, I have my own chores." That kinda Scrooge mentality. I could feel it. I've felt it a LOT lately, from pretty much everyone in my life. I need help, I need to get away from these people. I'm starting to forget that people like me are still out there.

So much for limiting wandering thoughts... ugh... welcome to my brain.

I asked my mom if she could... let's call it "translate" for me. See, I've had it told pretty clearly to me recently, in therapeutic environments and in personal relationships, that I'm a very sensitive person. I talked about that at length last night. I have been told that when my emotions show up, especially difficult ones like fear, grief, panic, anger, those kinds of ones. Sith feelings. When those appear, people seem to just... not hear the words I'm saying. Like, I swear, to me it's like a movie - like the Truman Show or Twilight Zone or something, it's really surreal. It's like I could literally say "I love you" while I'm experiencing anger or fear and they just don't hear the words or sentiment under the emotion at all. They're just staring at that emotion like an infant locked in on dangling keys, or a cat staring down one of it's favorite toys. Maybe it's a primal thing, a survival thing? You see something deeply afraid or angry or in pain and you just... not even necessarily see it as prey, which I thought for some for a bit, but like... see it as a potential threat. What is more dangerous than something that fears for it's life? What's more dangerous than a hurt animal? What's more dangerous than a blindly enraged animal? And please, please, please remember - this is your daily reminder, fellow human - we are all animals.

I asked my Mom a question today during our 2 hour talk - "does my fear look really intense to you right now, like if you were in my shoes right now and feeling where I am, where would you put it out of 10?" She told me probably 8 or 9. I weighed in that I'm really around a 4 to 5, then the more I thought about it, corrected down to 3 to 4. I think that made things a little more clear. It's really hard to get across to people, but like... yes, I am feeling the same fear or pain or betrayal or anger as you. No, I'm not numb to it, clearly. I think it's very clearly obvious when I'm in a mood and that I'm experiencing it as fully as I am capable of at that moment. But my threshold is greater. Like... I tried to describe this in a journal a while ago... I have a much bigger gas tank on this. So I feel things at an amplified rate. And what I can feel is very strong, but I don't top out at 10 like they do, I go to like 30. So to them, my reactions tend to look like overreactions. Because why would I be at their 8 over someone blowing me off? Well... because their 8 isn't my 8, it's my 3. I hope I can find a simpler way to communicate that in the future, I think it's going to be a very important thing to build as a mutual understanding with whoever ends up being my partner.

So people tend to see these huge emotions and then just start shooting, or get skeptical, or suspicious, or freeze, or straight up run. You know, they panic. And my training to be able to communicate my complex feelings through my expressed emotions is for nothing. It's really goddamn hard to keep priorities through intense emotions, to keep universal good in mind, to keep control on being respectful when you're being disrespected, all that shit. You know, honorable shit, virtuous shit. We all know how hard it is to keep yourself the "better person" in an argument, especially when you're falsely accused or something.

So what I did today was I requested that my Mom advocate for me in my place. That she reach out and explain the situation to him, clearly and from a third party perspective. To explain how it's not about doing chores, its about being supportive of a family member who is going through what is essentially one of his biggest trauma triggers for the past 2-3 years, and not even having to talk him through it, just being in the room and sharing that space with him so he's not alone in that feeling. That's all. And that, if asked, he would gladly repay the favor.

My brother responded, in the message relayed back from my mom less than 3 minutes later, by accusing both of us of trying to control him and pressure him. My heart is just sinking writing this. Like... my thoughts are just draining out of my head like rain running down a window, and a fog of sadness is just rolling in. It's a quiet sadness. Like a cold Maine morning by the ocean at the crack of dawn, with the heavy, wet fog rolling in.

I think something happened. I'm guessing it's one of his old friends. My instincts keep saying this same name over and over, one of his friends that I never met, but gave my really cool Norse hammer drum key to - for some fucking reason, I really liked that thing and it was a gift to me. I think this guy fucked with him in the past, something about weed. I think my brother projected that same feeling of betrayal from that friend onto me in the past, and I think it broke our relationship. And I'm fearing it has returned.

Oh boy, this voice hasn't had a time to talk in a while. I can tell by the poetic imagery, this part of my psyche is one that got severely traumatized right after my breakup, not long after he was... reborn, I guess. This personality was shaped at this branch in the tree of my life, coming out of the loss of a relationship and several close deaths all in close proximity. Anyway...

I reassured my mom that it was okay, and that what she did was noble and... was my fault. That she felt what I feel most days. And that I am deeply sorry she carried that, and that I put her in that position. It hurt her. She felt a lot of bad things because of my request. I feel very guilty. But I need to start with this by forgiving myself. I didn't ask her to help expecting him to be like that at all. I feared, yes, but for myself. I never imagined he would project onto the messenger for the person he's projecting onto. I figured the messenger would be enough of a layer of separation for him to hear the words without immediately sniffing out my fear and feeling of betrayal through the microphone and prepping the mounted 50cal machineguns for "anticipatory defense". I forgive myself for this. My intentions were peace.

At this point... It's almost 9PM. I ironed out plans with my mom. She is going to come over and chill, I guess we're going to go through the floorplan of the apartment and figure out layout and storage and stuff. That actually should be really fun. Man, I should just make a 3D model of it in Blender or something, just fuck around with it that way. That'd be really cool. Technology these days, so sick!

Then I texted my landlord. Almost 12 hours after she asked me to set up a time. I apologized - I swear, I apologize almost every interaction I have nowadays... - and set a meetup at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon. They should only be around for a little bit, they said they have a Zoom at 5 or something. My mom is going to come over at 4. I have an alarm set for 2. It's 6:45 now. So... it takes usually around half an hour to an hour for me to fall asleep after this, so... like 6.5 to 7 hours sleep? Not horrible.

I wrote a letter to my brother. I wrote like 4, honestly. But the last one was... a better approach than the others. I mean that. I wrote a lot of "you can NOT blah blah". Just... accusatory and corrective. Pointing out exactly what he's doing wrong and just pleading he stop doing it. I got rid of all of it. Little by little. I don't disagree with my way of addressing it, and in person or over the phone, I would absolutely say those statements. But after typing through it, I listened to it back on text to speech... then cut out parts I didn't like or I felt were... unnecessarily emotionally pushy, I guess. I know he's sensitive to emotions and doesn't really know how to process them a lot of the time. By the end... naw, I'm gonna backtrack again. I got what I thought was a good draft. I looked up quotes on forgiveness and humility to pass along. I have a strong connection in my creative centers between humility and forgiveness, but I guess I never really sat down and tried to flesh it out very well, to articulate it. Like... forgiveness requires humility, but it also only works if the person being forgiven is humble too, you know? So humility is super important there, crucial, really. And I really was trying to communicate at the end of this that I was okay with forgiving this outburst thing, there's still time to work that out, but he really needs to apologize to my Mom.

While looking for quotes, I found a list of Bible quotes. I read through all of them. I love trying to decode the imagery of the quotes. I did this project a few years ago where I tried to translate Genesis into common speech, like... everyday talk. Like how I talk, into my language. I started looking at sentences, language structure, etc... in the way that I think... as images. Like apple conjures an image in your head. Instead of doing an example here, basically the analogy I was using at the time, what I was trying to recreate, was someone standing by a campfire, gesturing wildly, visually and telling a story using as few words as possible. OMG, like C3PO in Return of the Jedi telling Luke's story to the Ewoks. Nootch Vader. That scene. I started thinking of language like THAT. Like I was trying to tell this story to people who barely understood English. And when I read Bible quotes with that in mind, trying to really suss out the concept behind all these words and stitch together a little mental animation, things started making more sense to me.

A lot of the quotes were about forgiving your kin over and over and over. No matter what. Which is just... damn is it the hardest thing to figure out, honestly. Because at some points, it's abusive... and at some points it can become like a Stockholm Syndrome thing... and yeah, it's like... I don't know, I guess forgiving doesn't mean like... pretend it didn't happen. So yeah, maybe I just need to explore forgiveness more. But reading the humility and forgiveness stuff helped a lot, and it just reminded me that it's not really my job to tell him he fucked up. Or set the terms for him to repent to me or some shit. It's my job to tell my side of the story. Which I detailed clearly. And I got rid of most of the rest. Except for the part where I told him he should apologize for being harsh to my mom. I actually, very transparently self aware, leaned into that. I expressed that I knew it was harsh to say he needs to say he's sorry, but that she has been going through enough and didn't deserve it. He doesn't have to apologize to me for this, but he really should apologize to her. I risked confirming his fear of control by saying that, but if he's looking for excuses to deep six his relationship with his brother... he'll find one eventually. I can't let that blood be on my hands. She stood up for me, the least I can do is stand up for her.

So... I'm upset. I'm... kinda grieving again. It hit me hard. But I ordered some fabric pens, so I'm gonna just try to put some custom designs on one of my hoodies and see how it comes out. Inspiration comes from destruction. It's not the only place it comes from, but god am I glad it comes from destruction. Because if it didn't, destruction would be unbearable.

#diary #journal #stream of thoughts #spilled thoughts #online journal #stream of consciousness

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scribeoffate · 2 years

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28, 142, 80, 133 and 65 particularly together

Thank you for asking!

28: Favourite movie

The Truman Show

142: One of my scars, how did I get it?

About three years ago now, I was on vacation. I was boiling eggs. I was going to drain the pan and instead poured boiling water down the front of myself. My stomach is lined with scars from those burns.

80: What is my favorite word?

The Japanese word onegaishimasu is complex, versatile, and really fun to say.

133: Broken a mirror?

Yep. I am epic levels of clumsy. I've broken multiple otter box phone cases. Mirrors don't stand a chance.

65: Do I believe in luck?

Sure. Do I have the superstition that breaking a mirror will bring me bad luck? No.

questions

#ask game

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airyairyaucontraire · 3 years

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Thoughts about Godzilla v Kong (in no coherent order):

Kong had such expressive eyes! I particularly liked his look of “oh God this is so much worse than I realised and it was already so bad” when the glow of Godzilla’s atomic breath appeared under the water. Really good character animation I thought.

So Skull Island was the first King Kong movie to portray the indigenous islanders in anything like a positive light, and in this one we’re told that they were all just “wiped out” by the inclement weather except for Jia - so the Iwi who’ve lived there since time immemorial are just gone, but the Superior Modern Westerners came in and built the flippin’ Truman Show around Kong, apparently without him noticing. Didn’t like that!

Kong (throwing a tree): IN CASE I DON’T SEE YA, GOOD AFTERNOON GOOD EVENING AND GOOD NIGHT!

The sign language element was cute but also felt a bit like “Gorillas know sign language, right? Like Koko. Yeah.”

I liked Julian Dennison’s character but he was hardly the sort of kid to drive around blasting “Breaking the Law” on the stereo. Would’ve been funnier if he’d had something milder on and Eleven had given him a Look and changed it.

Eleven wore like a distracting amount of jewellery for her adventure.

A lot of the conspiracy theorist’s lines were too hard to hear amid the hubbub. I wanted to turn the subtitles on.

The fuck about the fluoride

I wish Bryan Cranston was still in these movies

Why was Kyle Fridaynightlights even still there, he was useless

Why couldn’t Zhang Ziyi be there did she die last time?

Conspiracy theorists aren’t really wacky fun any more (especially given he mentioned “lizard people” at one point which are just a scifi skin for Jews) but I don’t really hold the filmmakers responsible for not foreseeing Qanon

Why does only Kong get the vintage music needle drops?

I am SO ANGRY with the humans for taking Kong to Antarctica and not giving him mittens and bootees and a parka. HE WAS WET. THAT IS NEGLECT. IF YOU WANT HIM TO HELP YOU, THEN TAKE CARE OF HIM.

Why did Alexander Skarsgard say Kong had to go down to Hollow Earth because their fleet sank and and they can’t transport him back when they JUST airlifted him in after the sea voyage became too dangerous due to Godzilla? Take him to New Zealand. It’s close to Antarctica and we will love him and cherish him.

Who owned those ships and planes? US military or a private Apex fleet?

Poor Kong, he went all that way only to find Gorilla Moria and a cool axe

Of course a dwarf would really like that cool axe

I thought Tywin Lannister was in charge of Project Ghidora’s Head, where did he go?

King Kong in Hong Kong, enjoyed that

Very inconsistent during the climactic fight as to whether the city had been evacuated or not - or perhaps some people just wanted to finish their meals in a nice high-rise restaurant because it was really hard to get reservations?

That’s so how Frasier and Niles would die if a kaiju attacked Seattle

On the other hand I really liked the shot of chairs rolling around in a deserted boardroom as the chaos came closer. Reminded me of the Newton’s cradle that just gets plinked in Pacific Rim

The happy ending for Kong (featuring the Hollies!) felt abrupt, also is it just suddenly safe for humans in Hollow Earth?

Why did the mean lady have to be there just because she was the villain’s daughter? Nepotism AND sexism.

Obligatory “you people have too much money”

10/10 big monster fights, loud and smashy, the neon was fun

Explodey rocket ship thingy as kaiju defibrillator? Whatever, I would have preferred him to be revived by the Power of Love and/or A Child Believing In Him (CLAP YOUR HANDS IF YOU BELIEVE IN GIANT GORILLAS)

I did like the fact that what evidently made the difference to Kong when Jia was giving him confusing new information about Godzilla and what he should do was that she said, “Please, be careful.” Jia cared about what happened to him. Jia cared about him as a living creature and a friend, not just as a Big Strong Thing. It didn’t seem as if anyone else really did.

There was a chief grip on this movie called Chris Birdsong, I saw their name during the end credits and thought it was lovely

The end credits were not fun like the ones on King of the Monsters, they needed a fun song but they already used “Go Go Godzilla.” I can’t think of any King Kong songs offhand, other than “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” which only cited him as less bad than Leroy, making one wonder why they didn’t get Leroy Brown to fight Godzilla

Could’ve done with Mothra, I always like to see Mothra

Wasn’t that Godzilla anime that was on Netflix rubbish!

I didn’t need to go to the toilet during the movie so that was good

I had another thought to say that I have utterly forgotten

#king kong #godzilla

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introvertguide · 3 years

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Saving Private Ryan (1998); AFI #71

The next film on the list is one of the best films of any genre, Saving Private Ryan (1998). This is what I consider the best war film of all time despite how overwhelming it is to watch. Maybe it is because it is so difficult to watch, since the movie was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and received five trophies. Because of the ensemble cast and almost complete lack of women, the film was never going to garner much in the way of acting awards. Like the soldiers who they hoped to portray, these actors shouldn’t have expected much individual recognition. This movie affected me greatly, and I would like to delve into that after going through the story line.

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!!! BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE FILM, EVERYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY BE REVEALED AS FAR AS PLOT IS GIVEN AWAY BELOW!!!

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In the present day, an elderly man visits the Normandy Cemetery with his family. At a tombstone, he falls to his knees in anguish. The establishing shots showing the mass of grave stones is overwhelming from the get-go. The movie transitions from the graveyard to a landing boat at the battle of Normandy. Be prepared because it is about to get rough.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, American soldiers land at Omaha Beach as part of the Normandy invasion. Everything goes bad immediately as machine guns and mortars literally tear the landing soldiers to shreds. Soldiers are screaming for their mothers as they die on the beach. There is no going back into the ocean so the soldiers have run into the machine gun fire. Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) of the 2nd Ranger Battalion leads a breakout from the beach that makes it through to the German encampment. It is about 15 minutes of carnage and nobody will blame you if you want to forward through this until the action cools down. Elsewhere on the beach, a dead soldier lies face-down in the bloody surf; his pack is stenciled Ryan, S. It is at this point I would recommend taking a breather if you need one.

Continuing on, we are shifted to Washington, D.C., at the War Department (keep an eye out for Bryan Cranston with one arm), where General George C. Marshall learns that three of the four sons of the Ryan family were killed in action within a short time of one another. Daniel Ryan in New Guinea shortly before D-Day, Sean Ryan at Omaha Beach, and Peter Ryan at Utah Beach: all dead with letters arriving the same day for their mother. The fourth son, James Francis Ryan, is with the 101st Airborne Division somewhere in Normandy. After reading Abraham Lincoln's Bixby letter, which is meant to comfort grieving parents, aloud, Marshall orders Ryan found and brought home.

Three days after D-Day, Miller receives orders to find Ryan and bring him back. He chooses seven men from his company for the job—T/Sgt. Mike Horvath (Tom Sizemore), Privates First Class Richard Reiben (Edward Burns) and Adrian Caparzo (Vin Diesel), Privates Stanley Mellish (Adam Goldberg) and Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper), T/4 medic Irwin Wade (Giovanni Ribisi) and T/5 Timothy Upham (Jeremy Davies), an interpreter from the 29th Infantry Division. The group moves out to Neuville where they meet a squad of the 101st engaged against the enemy and both Ted Danson and Paul Giamatti show up. THe group searching for Ryan bump into a stranded French family who try to give over their children but a German sniper breaks up the party. Caparzo is killed by a German sniper, who is then killed by Jackson (who makes the most amazing shot that legends are made of). They locate a Private James Ryan (Nathan Fillion), only to learn that he is James Frederick Ryan. On the point of giving up, the Captain starts asking random passing soldiers and learns that Ryan is defending an important bridge in Ramelle.

Near Ramelle, Miller decides to neutralize a German machine gun position at a derelict radar station, despite his men's misgivings. It does not go well and the medic, Wade, is killed in the process. They take a German soldier that they name Steamboat Willie (Joerg Stadler) who gives up willingly and pleads for his life. The men are angry and want to kill the soldier since they can’t take any extras, so, at Upham's urging, Miller frees the surviving German soldier. Losing confidence in Miller's leadership, Reiben declares his intention to desert, prompting a confrontation with Horvath, who threatens to shoot him. Miller defuses the standoff by disclosing his civilian career as a high school English teacher in a small Pennsylvania town.

At Ramelle, they find Ryan (Matt Damon) among a small group of paratroopers preparing to defend the key bridge against an imminent German attack. Miller tells Ryan that his brothers are dead, and that he was ordered to bring him home. Ryan is distressed about his brothers, but is unwilling to leave his post. Miller combines his unit with the paratroopers in defense of the bridge. He devises a plan to ambush the enemy with two .30-caliber machine guns, Molotov cocktails, anti-tank mines, and improvised satchel charges made from socks. It is basically suicide so the bridge is wired to explode in case it can’t be held.

Now is a time to take a breather if you need one because it is about to get bad again. Elements of the 2nd SS Panzer Division arrive with two Tiger tanks and two Marder tank destroyers, all protected by infantry. The small American group holds off the force the best they can, Although they inflict heavy damage on the Germans, nearly all of the paratroopers, along with Jackson, Mellish and Horvath, are killed. It turns out that Steamboat Willie joined the group and he personally kills Mellish with a Nazi youth knife (it is horrible) and shoots Miller Captain Miller as he attempts to blow up the bridge. Miller crawls to retrieve the bridge detonator, and fires ineffectually but defiantly with his pistol at an oncoming tank. As the tank reaches the bridge, an American P-51 Mustang flies overhead and destroys the tank, after which American armored units arrive to rout the remaining Germans. With the Germans in full retreat, Upham emerges from hiding and shoots Steamboat Willie dead, having witnessed him shooting Miller, but allows his fellow soldiers to flee.

Miller tells Ryan to “earn this” before dying from his injuries. As the scene transitions to the present, Ryan is revealed to be the veteran from the beginning of the film, and is standing in front of Miller's grave expressing his gratitude for the sacrifices Miller and his unit made in the past. Ryan asks his wife if he was worthy of such sacrifice, to which she replies that he is. The final scene shows Ryan saluting Miller's grave and fades to the American flag gently waving in the breeze.

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I really have a hard time getting through this film without pausing and taking a breather. I saw the film in the theater when I was 18, so my friends and I were all around the age that these soldiers would have been that rushed that beach and retook France. It was truly terrifying. Now I am old and have back issues, so I wouldn’t be put on a front line, but the kids that I work with and care for would be the exact age to be caught in a draft and that scares me even more. The creative ways in which man finds to kill one another is the greatest threat to humanity.

The first two times I saw the film, I did not realize that it was the same German soldier that the group had captured who eventually killed many of the group we were following. It really changes the message in the end. I had thought that Captain Miller had showed his humanity showing mercy, but it turns out that this mercy is misplaced. Now it seems like Spielberg is saying that neither humanity, nor religion, nor innocence, nor skill, nor even intelligence can save a man in the heat of battle. The only way to live is to watch the back of your group and protect each other like family.

There was a little bit of a travesty that occurred at the Academy in early 1999, because this film lost out in the Best Picture category to Shakespeare in Love. This is the same year that also saw Saving Private Ryan, The Truman Show, Life is Beautiful, Elizabeth, and The Thin Red Line. There had to be something behind that because I wouldn’t consider the winner even in the top 5. Shakespeare in Love is considered one of the worst Best Picture winners along with Crash and The Artist. Oscars are not everything and this movie is one of the best examples of this.

When I say that some of the scenes from this movie are difficult, I really do mean it. There was a hotline set up for people who have PTSD that was triggered by the film. One of the actual members of the 101st Airborne, Major Richard Winters, was consulted about the occurrences surrounding the attack. He said that it brought up many memories that he had worked hard to suppress because he had been taught that war veterans couldn’t express the psychological pain of battle. He also said that it was an important film that revealed what war was really like.

On Veteran’s Day in 2001 and 2004, ABC aired the film uncut with limited commercial interruptions. Living in California, I was able to watch the film on both of those occasions and remember getting my girlfriend at the time to watch in 2004. The film has become like a memorial to Americans lost in the European Campaign during WW2, so I treat viewing as a badge of honor and understanding, no matter how difficult it is to watch.

This film is a pretty easy answer when it comes to the standard questions for the most part. Does this film belong on the AFI top 100? Of course. It is the new benchmark for which all American war films will be judged. It is historically accurate, it is beautifully shot and directed, and it leaves a lasting impression far longer than just about any movie I have seen. Would I recommend it? This one has an age warning. It is not appropriate for young children because the first and last battle scenes are nightmare fuel. Even worse, they are apparently very realistic. It is hard to recommend something that is so scarring, but it will keep people for glorifying battle. It is horrific and should be avoided as much as possible. And that is a lesson that I believe this movie teaches better than any other. So please give this movie a watch and feel free to take a break if you need it.

#tom hanks #saving private ryan #d-day #veterans #best director #1998 #war films #steven spielberg #normandy #introvert #introverts #matt damon #vin diesel #bryan cranston

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acommonloon · 3 years

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TL;DR

about last night's mperfect ending. After stops at three Louisville venues, each more fun than the last, we decided to get a nightcap in New Albany. We didn't manage to get a drink at any of four stops in that sleepy town but we did witness a police officer chasing a black man down the side of State Street. Still watching for a news report.

Alternately a night for Morgans

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D's niece's husband, J, is a sweet guy. He has almost no family of his own living in the area and his own family unit consists of an unruly teen (not his) a precocious 6 year old and 3 year old twins. It's a lot.

With that in mind, I always wait for him to contact me and he always earns his kitchen passes so when he texted me he had a free night out I was glad to hang with him. I only asked if he had a curfew. No sir. He's nearing 40 and regularly admits he wishes he could more often frequent the places D and I do, meaning bars and restaurants. I remember those days when self came last.

Our 1st stop was World of Beer. With 50+ taps and hundreds of bottles and cans sitting in glass front coolers directly across from the bar, it's one of my go to spots. J immediately set about building a flight of five small pours while I took my time picking one or two low gravity beers to sip since I was driving. They had two bartenders on this Wednesday night, Morgan was ours and our service was prompt and friendly. By the time we finished a plate of tots, loaded with melted cheese and fresh jalapeno slices I had our plan.

I hadn't been to Commonwealth Tap since before 2020. This small wine bar is in a movie set sort of town called Norton Commons. Think "The Truman Show." The houses were all built over a small number of years and though they are comprised of many different styles, with no two near each other being the same, they are on the same size lots and there is no variety in terms of weathering or decoration. Everything to plan. Unreal. Creepy.

I glanced at the wine list on a chalkboard noticing a Turley Zin at $18 and a Cotes de Rhone at $8. When the bartender asked what I wanted, I said, "Talk me out of the Turley and into the Cotes. He hesitated for a second and I said, "I want something minerally, earthy, not fruity." Like a Beaujolais Morgon or an Italian grown on the side of a volcano. Before he could reply, a guy sitting at the bar said we don't have that on tap. The Cotes is your best option and the bartender handed me a generous taste saying, try that.

I took the glass all the while evaluating the man who'd spoken up. He'd said "we" don't have that. He was alone at the bar except for us. I doubted he was just a bold regular, maybe drunk, who felt everyone benefited from his opinion, he wasn't drunk. Then he stood up and walked over the the wine racks. His search was one of familiarity and he pulled a bottle and sat it down on the bar next to me. Was he an employee or maybe a distributor on good terms with the staff? Then he began talking about the wine, about his many trips to France, and I suddenly I knew. "You're an owner here aren't you?"

He laughed and admitted he was. He introduced himself, Neal Morgan and for the next 40 mins or so he told us about himself and the bar. He told us about his wife, a pediatrician who worked for 20 years in Indiana and he went so far as to describe his Scottish heritage along with his general thinking about wines. When he said he was going a friend's house for a pizza party, I thought he was about to leave. Then he said he was going to take a kick ass wine but first he wanted me to taste it. It was a California pinot noir priced at $30 more than the first bottle he'd put down on the bar. It was fantastic! He gave us tasting notes and I admitted I couldn't perceive half of what he reeled off. I said he spoke like a sommelier and he laughed again and said he claimed he had a better palate than Kenny, the sommelier who worked for him. He thanked us for coming in and seemed sincere. When he left, J looked at me and said, "That was amazing." I laughed and said it was a Wednesday at a bar.

Before we left, I asked Rainha to make me a Penicillin and we talked about Scotch. She related how she introduced her brother to Scotch and now that's all he drank. We talked about how things were during the shutdown and I told her about a new place I'd been the previous Saturday. Outside, J exclaimed this was just the best time! He said he'd never be able to talk staff like that, let alone the owner. I said talking to industry people was one of my favorite things. They are so interesting and I think they find it refreshing when someone at the bar wants to hear about them instead of wanting to talk about themselves. Then I said, I know where we'll go next. Maybe Stephen is working.

Our next stop was at Cuvee Wine Table and Stephen greeted me at the door with a huge "Shane!" and a hug. If J was impressed with Commonwealth, I thought he should fasten his seatbelt. Stephen is a trip. Except, Stephen exclaimed I'm on this side of the bar now! To my quizzical look, he said he was the manager now. Amidst introductions, our bartender, Andie came over and introduced herself. She was tall, regally thin, and wore a colorful scarf on her head. She offered an engaging personality I perceived as professional banter but sensed alos she seemed to enjoy her job.

When I described what kind of wine I preferred, she said, "OOh how about a white?" Ooookay??? I thought to myself, this is going to be fun. Stephen came back as Andy set my glass down in front of me and asked, "What are we having?" Andie said, it's the Santorini. Stephen, a newly minted sommelier, immediately launched into an enthusiastic description about this remarkable wine from a Greek Island. He said it was so constantly windy, they braided the vine boughs into bowls to protect the fruit on the inside. I smelled it and it reminded me of a Sav Blanc but when I tasted it, I knew I'd found a new favorite. It had a salty savory aspect with more minerality than any white I'd had previously.

Andie was from Lexington and our other bartender, Heather, was newly arrived from the Nashville area. Heather was training behind the bar but seemed tres calm. At one point she asked us to wish her luck and I realized she was going to take an order. When she came back, I was a little surprised but delighted when J asked her where she was from specifically. It turned out they were from the same area and knew the same high schools and such. Great fun. When Stephen came and asked if we were eating, I said, "What am I having?" The cassoulet he responded immediately and then he tried to add in sweet breads but I insisted I was out on that. J selected a flatbread and when my giant bowl of white beans with pork and a small chicken leg came, I felt I'd got the better order. He admitted sheepishly he just didn't like beans and that was that.

I suggested we finish with a French brandy served in proper snifters and asked for a bottle of the Santorini to go home. It was full dark but comfortably warm walking to the car and J asked if I were up for one more on him. I suggested we go see Emily at Brooklyn and the Butcher. She made me a perfect drink in January and I'd been craving another ever since.

All the way to New Albany, J kept bringing up how much he enjoyed the two wine bars and how he hoped he and his wife could indulge in similar experiences when their children were older. He worried his wife didn't really like anything but sweet wine and was picky about that. I laughed and said D was exactly the same but she was game to hang out and recently started to appreciate ciders and frutied beers, and even some semi-sweet wines.

There were still plenty of cars parked on the street when we arrived at Brooklyn and the Butcher. I noticed there was no one at the hostess stand when we walked in but I breezed past into the bar. There were two women sitting at the bar and I was a bit disappointed when I realized the bartender wasn't Emily. I was even more so when she came over and apologized but said they'd closed already. I laughed and made a joke about the owner being an old man for closing so early then I realized who it was sitting at the bar. I asked, "Is that Emily sitting at the bar?" she said it was and I got up and walked over. We talked for ten minutes about my last visit and I asked her about her trip to Savannah. She kept apologizing for the bar being closed but I assured her I would be back. It was fine, we'd walk down to The Earl.

I got a bad vibe the minute we walked in. The bar was mostly full and there was only one bartender. He was wearing short shorts and took forever to get us a drink menu then never looked our way for the next five minutes. I suggested we go to Recbar nearby. There it was the same. The lone bartender, woman this time, was overwhelmed and though the bar was half empty she never looked our way before I lost patience.

Okay then. We were driving to my final option (so I thought) when I stopped at a light. J said, "Look at that! A cop is chasing that guy!" Sure enough through the sparse traffic I could see a black guy sprinting along the side of the normally busy road. His arms were pistoning up and down, his hands flattened into chopping motions like a track sprinter. Coming behind but steadily losing ground was a hefty police officer. He looked ridiculous and I can only imagine he might be thinking everyone watching thought he looked ridiculous. I wondered if he might pull his gun.

The light turned green then and I moved forward. That's when we spotted a car with the front passenger side crushed in where it had impacted the guardrail, on the opposite side of the road. There was a cop car with its lights flashing parked behind it. I couldn't see any activity around the cars as we drove past. About a half mile up the road we pulled into the parking lot of our 4th attempt to get a last drink. It was closed.

We laughed and decided we'd had enough fun. As we headed back towards the scene of the incident, sirens and flashing lights were suddenly all around us. I guess there was a manhunt. I weaved through parked cruisers while J counted eight more with lights flashing on side streets . Fifteen minutes later I dropped him off. He thanked me profusely but it nothing but what I like to do anyway.

20 mins later I pulled into the garage and for a second my heart did the little flutter it always does when I see D's car parked in its spot. Then I sighed remembering she wasn't home and wouldn't be for another week.

Just a Wednesday.

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lostnfinding · 3 years

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hi! i thought id do a little intro to me and my blog

please take a moment to read if you can :)

about me:

im astro/solstice/winter! you can call me sol if you want to. im nonbinary/genderfluid and currently use they/xe/it pronouns (tho im okay with any other neo pronouns, these are the ones i preffer). im pan oriented aroace. im 15, which means im a minor and you should treat me like one. also heres a list of labels i go by

i am extremely s*x averse and anything slightly s*xual makes me very uncomfortable at best. if you make any s*xual comment towards me you will be blocked.

i have ehlers danlos syndrome and pots, and mental illnesses, one of them possibly being DID/OSDD. im the host of a system, and from time to time youll see my headmates around.

i like history, musicals, cinema, music, books and animations. my favourite musical is watt, my favourite series are the owl house and shera, my favourite books are sick kids in love and aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe. my current favourite bands are sleeping at last and waterparks, and my favourite singers are dodie and cavetown.

i have a very song related memory and thinking, i associate things, memories, feelings and people with songs, so if we chatted for a bit ill probably end up associating you with a song. if you wanna know what it is just send me an ask!

im pagan, brazilian, white and im fluent in portuguese (native language) and english (second language)

i have a discord server! join if you want to, id love to have you there! but please be patient if all channels dont automatically show up, i have to verify you in order for that to happen.

my profile picture is a picrew that can be found here! amazing picrew, really recomend it, gave me a lot of gender euphoria. also it has cute animals so thats a plus, and pride flags! i always love pride flags in picrews

(i tend to ramble. a lot. sorry about that.)

dni:

anti blm, anti vax/anti mask, transmed/transcum, terfs, are/support p*dophiles/whatever theyre calling themselves today, lgbtqia+ phobic, anti mogai, anti neopronouns, pro life, exclusionist, climate change denier, prejudist agaisnt any religion, pro ana/ed, anti-anti, xenophobic, over 18 (unless i interact first), make content of/is/says anything on my triggers list (but the christian thing, i dont mind if youre christian just dont talk shit about other religions)

tag system:

posts that are okay to reblog unless stated otherwise in the tags: #astro rambles, #astros covers, #astros art, #theo writes

posts that you have to check the tags before rebloging: #astro rants

posts that are not okay to reblog unless stated otherwise in the tags: #*stress ball gets more stressed*, #astro vents

extra tags: #astro being soft n gay (usually my interactions with my qpp), #cute lil reptiles, #cute lil animals

extra info: i tag triggers "[trigger] tw"; my mutuals get their own tags based on their personality/inside jokes, if you want one, tell me; ask me to tag triggers if i forget to

my triggers:

(general tag is "geckos dni" or "dragon system don't look")

the phrases "you're faking it", "its all in your head", "its just anxiety", "you just have to have faith", "faith heals" and variations; someone being told they dont have an illness they do have; christianity/catholicism (especially saying theyre the "only right religion" or that they are persecuted); parent figts and divorce; money problems; any kind of abuse; nsfw and s#x; mentions of fathers/parents (specially if they are being bad parents); the song "every breath you take" by the police; the movie "the truman show"; conspiracy theories/mandela effect; bone marrow transplants; calling me (astro) a pet name when i dont let you, altho somethings/nicknames are okay; bitmojis; food/ed/weight/calories stuff; breaking promises, loud noises/yelling; being watched; having people we dont know/trust invading our space/privacy; "adults doing bad things"; repetitive pings; passive agressivness; maroon 5 songs from before 2016 (all but she will be loved and payphone); the words papai/papa/pai/variants; glasses with a half frame and strings holding it up; any mentions including jokes about dictatorships, specially taking peoples rights and people going missing; the A.I.5 and similar stuff; the military abusing power; elections being interrupted/blocked; nightmares/fantasy dreams (meeting fairies, flying, etc); being called s*xy or anything of sorts.

side blogs:

@maybeatiger - fandom blog

@theos-writing - writing blog

@our-welkin-world - system blog

@solsgalaxy - thoughts/aesthetic blog

#intro post #dont reblog #i was getting annoyed with my carrd so i decided to try this again :)

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thankskenpenders · 4 years

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So, about the movie...

At long last, a week after it came out, I was finally able to see the Sonic movie. The Daytona 500 being held across the street from my favorite theater and conflicting work schedules had been keeping me away, but now I’ve finally seen it. And it was...

Decent!

Which is way, way, way, way, way better than a movie with this awful premise has any right being. That’s for damn sure. I enjoyed my time at the theater. I don’t know how they did it, but they did it. If you like Sonic and haven’t already seen it, you will probably get a kick out of this film. If you don’t like Sonic (or Jim Carrey), there is very little in this movie for you

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to break that whole movie down. This will contain full spoilers for the Sonic movie

This movie kinda gave me deja vu because it’s set up so similarly to the Bumblebee movie. Both open with a slavishly faithful CGI sequence on another planet to ensure long time fans that the creative team gives a shit, but a conflict sends the title character to Earth. There, they form an emotional bond with the human lead as they’re pursued by the bad guys, who are working with the US government and tracking the energy signature of the title character. This setup worked extremely well for Bumblebee, because it’s so similar to the usual plot of Transformers. For Sonic, it was... a mixed bag. But it worked better than I expected

(This shot does not happen in the movie.)

That opening though, huh? Green Hill Zone looked great, and I was pleasantly surprised to see they did, in fact, use the Hyper Potions track from Sonic Mania in the actual film. (The piano rendition of the Green Hill theme used later was also lovely.) Longclaw was also interesting. I’ve seen one person bring up all the bird-themed ruins in Sonic 1 and 2 as a possible source of inspiration for the character, and I think that’s a valid take. And man, the echidnas! I wasn’t expecting that AT ALL. I guess that was probably the Knuckles Clan or something? I would never, ever picture them being alive during Sonic’s lifetime, but like... I guess Knuckles had to come from somewhere, right? If they do another movie with Knuckles, will the rest of his kind have died out?

Sadly, though, this sequence felt like it was over in a heartbeat. We barely see Sonic’s life on his home planet, and we’re expected to feel emotional over Longclaw’s sacrifice when she only gets like three lines before Sonic is sent to Earth. This is a common theme with the film--it goes for these big emotional beats that it just does not earn with its rapid fire pacing

Anyway, then we fast forward and Sonic’s a teen. This is actually kind of an interesting one if you’re constantly neck deep in Sonic Character Analysis like me, because it’s a pretty different take on the character. It’s hard to give them credit for doing something somewhat fresh with the character, though, because like... how much of that was intentional, and how much was just Hollywood writers trying to squeeze a generic action-adventure movie out of Sonic? (Honestly, it’s probably mostly the latter.)

The closest other piece of Sonic media to the movie would probably be Sonic X, a story in which Sonic isn’t really the protagonist. The Sonic of the anime is fairly emotionally distant. He cares deeply about his friends, and does nice things for them, but he’s totally fine with running off on his own for extended lengths of time, and he doesn’t really talk about his feelings. He’s not the character the audience is meant to sympathize with, but is instead this cool older kid who Chris wants to impress. This is pretty much in line with how Sega likes to depict the character. He cares about his friends, but he’s also cool with being a loner. It feels like he only runs into them incidentally, usually when Eggman is causing trouble, and then when the crisis of the week is taken care of he’s back to going on his own adventures. There’s a reason why one of his catchphrases is “long time no see”

The Sonic of the movie is the polar opposite. His main conflict is that he’s lonely and desperately seeks friendship. He’s also an overly-eager, extremely earnest goober. He literally flosses twice. (Which I loved.) I’ve seen him compared to Silver, and honestly, that’s not a bad comparison. I did like it, though! I don’t mind Sonic being a more emotionally open character, like he was in a lot of older Western media. I mean, he cried in like the second or third episode of SatAM

It’s just that, like many things in the movie, it feels less like a deliberate creative choice and more like a logical string of decisions to make when writing a generic action-adventure film for general audiences. Sonic’s the only one of his kind on Earth, so of course he’d be lonely. He has to have some sort of arc for audiences to connect with him, and if he’s gotta be accompanied by James Marsden for the whole movie, well, his arc’s gotta be about them becoming friends

I’ve gotta say, though: Ben Schwartz is great as Sonic. As much as I like Roger Craig Smith, I wouldn’t complain if he became the new main voice of the character. And thanks to the redesign, he looked great. I can’t imagine how nightmarish this movie would’ve been if Sonic wasn’t cute

My main fear with this movie, though, was that Sonic wouldn’t really be the protagonist. As a fan of Transformers, I know all too well that the cost of doing a full CGI character usually means that said character can’t really be the star of the film. Optimus and Bumblebee aren’t the stars of the Transformers movies--they’re supporting characters who are primarily present for the sake of the action scenes. The humans are the real stars in those movies, and the robots are barely even characters. I was terrified that Sonic would be the same, with the actual character I paid to see taking a backseat to James Marsden The Cop

I’m not quite sure if they struck the right balance there, but they did better than I worried they would. Sonic is central enough to the film and gets enough screentime that you can easily say he’s the protagonist. BUT there is absolutely too much of Tom and his family. The human cast is fine, the performances are fine, and there were a few good jokes, but every time the movie tried to get me to care about Tom’s life I was bored out of my mind. It’s just so trite and passionless. The other characters barely felt fleshed out at all, including Tom’s girlfriend (wife?) and Agent Stone. The little girl who gives Sonic the shoes had some cute moments, though

I do, however, love the part in which James Marsden is walking around in a San Francisco t-shirt, to remind us that he’s planning on moving to San Francisco... which then becomes the excuse for Sonic to think about San Francisco and accidentally send his warp rings there, which becomes the excuse for the buddy road trip aspect of the film. And as much as that was a focus of the marketing, the actual road trip part is like... maybe 20 minutes of the movie? There’s like three scenes with Sonic and Tom on the road and then they’re in San Francisco for act 3. The movie tries to act like they’ve formed this deep bond and I just did not give a shit. I don’t care about the cop. All Cops Are Bastards, and that absolutely includes Tom, whose dream in life is to join the extremely corrupt San Francisco PD

The whole excuse for Sonic having to sit in the passenger seat of a car going the speed limit for a good chunk of the movie is also, just. Stupid. If he doesn’t know where San Francisco is and time is of the essence, just... give him a map?

And then there’s Jim Carrey. I was worried about this one. The previews tended to highlight his most Jim Carrey Being Wacky moments, and as fond as I am of movies like The Truman Show and Bruce Almighty, that’s just. That’s not Robotnik. I was pleasantly surprised by the actual movie, though! I thought he was pretty good. I’m not sure what incarnation of Eggman I’d most compare him to, but like... it was close enough, and he was entertaining enough. I’d pay to go see another movie with him as Robotnik. Sure. (Especially with how he was looking at the end of the film.)

There were some other little interesting tidbits here with Eggman, although again, a lot of that is less “let’s do a new take on Eggman” and more “let’s do a marketable movie with Eggman in it, which requires us to explain some stuff.” Like him straight up just being a normal human from Earth, with none of the confusion present in the current “two worlds” canon of the games. Or him apparently being an orphan who was bullied in school, and who trusts machines more than other humans. It’s a safe way to depict the character in a Hollywood movie, but I thought it worked

The way they got to his nickname was kind of funny, though. Like, obviously they didn’t put Jim Carrey in a fat suit, and thank god for that. So instead of mocking his weight, the nickname is derived from the egg-shaped robots he uses. Which made sense, I guess. It at least felt logical for this incarnation of Sonic, who had annoyingly been calling Tom “Donut Lord” the whole movie, to make up the nickname “Eggman.” (Said robots, by the way, were a weak point of the movie to me. They just didn’t have that Eggman whimsy and felt very safe and very Hollywood. Honestly, though, if they had just made Robotnik’s ship grey and slapped some hazard stripes on it, it’d probably be fine.)

As a whole, I thought the humor of the movie was... okay. Sonic had a lot of good moments thanks to Schwartz’s great performance, as did Robotnik. There were just so many weird lines, like James Marsden telling Robotnik that he was breast fed, or the agonizingly long child trafficking joke with Sonic in the duffel bag. Stuff like that

The action was great, though. They definitely owe a lot to the Quicksilver scene in that one X-men movie (I forget the one), but they had a lot of fun with Sonic’s powers and it felt extremely true to the character. Seeing him do one of his Smash poses during the San Francisco fight was great. The action scenes were an absolute delight

And then the ending. Oh, that ending

So, I had already heard that Tails shows up in the stinger before I saw the film. And when I heard that, I expected it to be like, the classic Tails origin story. Maybe Sonic would return to his planet, and run into this precocious kid who decides to follow him around... but no! Not at all! Tails is already the Tails we know and love. He’s already an inventor, he’s already tracking down Sonic. I’m shocked that Sonic actually stayed with Tom instead of running off to have new adventures, but hopefully this is a sign that more characters will be brought into the fray if they make a sequel

And boy, they better make that damn sequel. This movie had a great opening weekend and a positive reception. They have no excuse not to. GIVE US SONIC AND TAILS GOING ON AN ADVENTURE

Other stray thoughts

Holy shit they put Sanic in the movie

The Sega logo animation meant that Kiryu from Yakuza was in this movie for a few seconds

The pixel art credits sequence, which featured both the Sonic 2 special stage and Get Blue Spheres as well as the Eggman logo screens from the Studiopolis Zone boss, was cute

The Saturn logo could be seen on the diagram of the other habitable planets

Robotnik had a label for “Badniks” on his circuit breaker. I wonder if the drones in the movie are intended to be Badniks, or if we’ll see actual ones if a sequel gets made

Also, was it implied that Robotnik committed war crimes for the US government

One of the government guys who I think only got one line was played by Garry Chalk and as such sounded exactly like Optimus Primal

I can’t tell if Sonic getting a red race car bed was an intentional shout out to the Archie comics or if it’s just a coincidence, but I loved it

A dude about my age wearing a Sonic Mania t-shirt literally stood up and clutched his head in shock when Tails showed up

After the movie a very excited kid got his mom to take his photo with the Sonic display in the lobby. Afterwards he was so excited that he flossed

I can’t believe they talked about Olive Garden so much

#tkp post #other media #sonic movie spoilers

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ambivalent-anarchy · 4 years

Text

Star Wars 101

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Warning: None

Reader has never seen a single one of Peter's favorite movies.

A/N- I really need to stop making new series lol, I swear this is the last new one for a while, at least until I finish some other ones.

Hope you like it!!!

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"In case I don't see you... good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!"

Peter watched you intently as you stared, wide eyes glued to each and every movement on the screen, even sniffling a bit when the credits began to roll. Really? The Truman Show was making you tear up?

"[Y/N], really?," he snickered lightly, wiping one of your cheeks and then showing you the wetness on his finger. He gave a teasing smile as he moved to take the DVD out. "I understood when you cried during the Titanic, but this is just The Truman Show."

"Don't judge me!," you scolded, cheeks quickly becoming red with embarrassment. "It was frickin' sad! The dude's been stuck in a tv show his whole life and he didn't even know it! That's freaky!"

"It's a Jim Carrey movie," Peter laughed. "How can you cry at a Jim Carrey movie?"

You rolled your eyes and turned away, trying to hide your growing grin. Who was Peter Parker to judge you on how you react to movies anyway? At least this was just a movie. Peter got flustered with everything in real life!

"-And a movie as crappy as this particular Jim Carrey movie too!," he smirked.

You turned around with a loud, overdramatic gasp. "What was that, Parker? Did you just call one of my favorite movies CRAPPY?!"

Peter turned from the DVD player with a small, innocent smile and nodded his head vigorously before sprinting away as he predicted that you would chase after him.

He was right.

"How dare you!," you yelled, quickly jumping into action. "Jim Carrey may be a bit of an overacter, but he's still AWESOME!!"

You were high on adrenaline, running after him with all you had, but it didn't take you long for you to realize that chasing Peter in his own house was a bad idea. It was his home. He knew it like the back of his hand. And you, however, did not.

You bumped into every other corner. The more you ran the more bruises you were probably getting. Until finally after hitting your hip on the kitchen counter, frustrated, you squeezed your eyes shut tight and yelled out, "YOU DON'T HEAR ME JUDGING YOUR CRAPPY STAR WARS MOVIES!!!"

You hadn't seen where he came from or how he got you, but in an instant, Peter was smack dab in your face. "What did you just say?"

Quickly coming to a stop, the corners of your mouth twitched upwards, knowing you'd just hit a nerve. "I said, you don't hear me judging your crappy star wars movies."

He stared, stunned, for a second. ".. you did not just say that," he whispered, more to himself than to you. He turned towards you. "You did not just call one of the best franchises in the universe crappy."

You turned away with a smirk before he gently grabbed you by your arm and whirled you back around. "[Y/N]. Star Wars is ICONIC!"

You rolled your eyes with a light giggle and turned to walk away before you were whirled around again. His eyes looked right into yours, his face holding an extremely serious expression, which of course was nothing but hilarious to you. "Dude, I'm NOT letting you leave this kitchen before you give me a valid reason why Star Wars is bad to you."

You sighed loudly. So he's holding you hostage now, is he? Well, two could play at that game. "Not until you tell me why The Truman Show was so bad," you shot back.

Unfortunately for you, Peter was ready with his reasons.

You stared, dumbfounded as he read them off. "Predictable. Took too long to get where it was trying to go. When it finally got there, it didn't give an actual satisfying ending! Did Sylvia find him after that or not?! And what point was the movie trying to make about the world anyway? That really wasn't clear. Also, I couldn't tell whether some parts were funny or them just trying too hard to be serious. Should I go on?"

"N-no no, you're good," you chirped, your voice cracking a bit. "Didn't know you were such a harsh critic, Pete."

"And your reasons?," Peter asked with a shit-eating grin. He knew you didn't have any.

You scrunched your eyebrows together and stared up to the ceiling. "Umm," you mumbled before you blurted out. "It just seems like classic NERD crap, honestly okay?!?!?!"

Peter dramatically threw his hand to his chest, as if he'd been stabbed. "Ah, you hurt me, babe. How could you?"

You rolled your eyes. "Can we just go back to watching movies, Pete?! My hip frickin' hurts." You shifted slightly while rubbing the your hip with your hand, trying to relieve the pain. Peter noticed and immediately the previous topic of conversation was dropped.

"A-are you okay?! C'mon, let's go sit down.."

You breathed a breath of relief. Thankfully, a dumbass situation stopped due to Peter's relentless helpfulness and need to be a gentleman.

An hour later and you were watching Mean Girls now, something both you and Peter could agree on, especially after he'd told you he'd never seen it before.

And how could he have never seen Mean Girls? It was ICONIC!

"Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen. It's NOT going to happen..."

"I don't like this Regina character," Peter mumbled as he reached for more popcorn.

"You wouldn't," you chuckled softly.

Peter Parker was a sap and an overall nice guy. Regina George was probably not a character that he would be caught fanboying over.

"I mean," he started again, squinting his eyes at the character on the screen. "Villain characters are supposed to be BADASS. She's just rude."

You threw your head back and laughed, ruffling his hair. "Only you would think that way, Pete."

"And this Cady character," he continued. "She can't honestly think she's doing all of this and is still a good person. How is she a proper protagonist?"

You rolled your eyes and smiled. You hadn't noticed until actually watching a few movies with Peter how much of a movie critic he was. And he took it seriously. "Okay, that's enough rotten tomatoes for one movie, Pete."

Peter shrugged, rolled his eyes, and laid back on the couch. "I'm just calling it like I see it."

He kept quiet after that, just giving grunts, hums, and muttering things at choice times.

When your favorite part came along, Regina getting hit by the bus, you bit your lip with a smile. "Oooh, wait for it," you said lightly slapping Peter's shoulder excitedly. "She's gonna get it."

"So don't act all innocent! You can take that fake apology and shove it right up your hairy-"

Just as the part you were waiting for came, Peter paused the tv.

Quickly, you turned to him, eyes wide. "What'd you do that for?!?! She was gonna get smashed!"

He turned towards you, narrowing his eyes slightly. "So you've never watched Star Wars before?"

You turned to face him. "What?"

"What you said earlier... You said that it seems like nerdy crap," he explained, piecing it all together. " Seems! Meaning that you don't know for a fact meaning that you haven't watched it!"

"Are we seriously still on that,?!" you teased, your smile widening. This whole thing was beyond frivolous to you.

"Well yeah, because it's one of the greatest series ever!"

"It's predictable!"

"It is known for one of the biggest reveals in cinematic HISTORY!"

"What, the 'I-am-your-father' scene? Yeah, totally predictable."

Peter's jaw completely dropped. "Wha- how?!"

"Y'know Vader in German means father, right?," you snickered. "His name is literally Darth father." You picked up a soda, shaking your head slightly. "But yeah, if you must know... I haven't seen Star Wars."

Peter stopped responding. He just stood up and stepped away silently.

"Are you seriously mad over this?," you yelled out, watching him with a frown. "It's just a movie..."

Was he brooding right now? Over something as dumb as Star Wars? Well, you certainly weren't gonna be the person to go after him.

You whipped your head back to the screen in front of you and unpaused the movie, waiting for your friend to come back to sit next to you. It was official, Peter Parker was a nerd bitch.

As the movie went on, eventually you'd forgotten that Peter was even gone.

"The limit does not exist!"

It sucked that he left, but still though, you wouldn't rather be anywhere else. Surrounded by popcorn, pretzels, fruit, fruit roll ups, and practically any snack you could think of. Endlessly watching movies on a Saturday morning. Well, technically it was the afternoon now. But you'd lost track of time by about the sixth movie.

However, there was only so much movies could do for you. As time passed on, it started to weigh on you. You'd come there to see Peter, not Mean Girls. But if there was one thing to get on a nerd's nerves, it would be Star Wars wouldn't it?

Ugghhhhh.

After much anticipation, you finally decided to go up to his room and talk to him.

You turned to walk up the stairs and was immediately collided with a big wall.

Well not a wall, Peter.

And not just Peter. Peter with a gigantic box in his arms.

"Sorry it took me so long, didn't mean to leave you waiting. I was just just trying to find this," he said, tapping the cardboard box with his fingers. "So did you finish the movie?"

"Yeah," you said, looking at the box. "What's in it?"

"Guess I'll finish it myself later then..." He pushed past you and sat the box on the couch.

"What's in the box, Peter?," you repeated, trying to get a good look at it.

"Oh nothing," he said dramatically, taking the Mean Girls DVD out of the DVD player. "Just what will soon be the best 25 hours of your life.."

"25 hours?"

Peter smiled. "That's how long the entire Star Wars trilogy is." He picked up the box cutter. "24 hours and 52 mintues actually, if you're doing the original editions of the original trilogy instead of the special edition." He turned back towards you. "You need a movie-cation and I'm gonna give it to you."

"A movie-cation?"

"Movie education, [Y/N]."

You held your head back and laughed. "Oh my God, Pete.."

He was on his knees in front of you in a second. "C'mon!! Please, it's the best. I promise you won't regret it!"

Ugh. This was it. You were gonna do this. Force yourself through 25 (24: 52, but who's counting?) hours of boredom just to please some guy that wasn't even your boyfriend. I mean, he was practically begging you. God help you.

"Fine! Fine.. I'll watch your lame nerd movie."

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@underoosjae @spn-assemble-seven @of-your-eyes-begonia-skies @parkerpeter24, @audreylovespidey706

#avengers #marvel #peter parker x yn #marvel fanfiction #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fic #peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker #peter parker fluff #peter parker imagine #peter parker oneshot #marvel fandom #marvel x you #marvel x reader

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stephenjaymorrisblog · 3 years

Photo

From Peoples Park to Echo Park

(Post- Trump era, Part 3)

March 26th 2021

By Stephen Jay Morris

It was Easter 1971 in Berkeley, California. I was visiting the Bay Area and I wanted to see the place where the students had fought the police. The park was small, maybe an acre; it looked like any other city park. A couldn’t-be-overlooked wooden sculpture of a giant clenched fist assaulted my view. Other than that, it was very nice and banal. Some kids with backpacks were attentively listening to a guitarist. He played a song I’d never heard of, “18” it was called. I really liked it. I asked who did the song and the guitarist said, Alice Cooper. I thought it was a chick. Boy, was I wrong!

By this time, the New Left was dying a slow death. Much has been written about the Peoples Park riot. Click here for more information. I wont rehash the entire history here, however, it was the strangest trip I’d ever been on. It’s recounted in my one of my manuscripts.

In the City of Berkeley, homeless encampments are protected by city ordinance. However, 500 miles south of there is a different story. Echo Park is an area northeast of Los Angeles where my mother grew up. She lived two blocks up the hill from the park itself. At the time, my grandfather co-owned a grocery store called, “Pioneer Market,” located nearby on Sunset Boulevard. Echo Park was a white neighborhood. How white was it? Well, my mom’s family consisted of the only Jews on her block. My grandfather wanted his two daughters to marry Jewish guys, so he moved his family to the Fairfax District, about 20 miles west. Success! They both married Jews, although my aunt eventually divorced her husband and my mom suffered with my dad for 50 years! But, hey—stick to your own tribe! (Sarcasm 101)

Now, Echo Park has a large Latino population and LGBTQ residents. The park itself is right next to the Hollywood Freeway. When I used to take the express bus home from work on that freeway, I would see that man-made lake to the left. It looked similar to that of another park, MacArthur Park, on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, only smaller. There were boats on the lake you could rent, just like at MacArthur Park. There are many old growth shade trees, perfect for picnics and just relaxing. There were grills for barbecuing, and bathrooms. The bathrooms were not very nice but, they were there should you really need them. On the park’s south side, there was a public swimming pool. In the distance southward, you can see LA’s downtown skyline.

Berkeley is a small university town. When the college administration threatened to tear down Peoples Park to build college dorms, word got around and, within hours, protests emerged. The protests soon became riots. That was when conservatives ran the universities. Today, conservatives still own the university, but liberals run it. Finally after a few years, the college left the property alone.

Los Angeles is a huge city, now run by Democrats. It used to be run by Republicans, until they got voted out of office because of mass corruption. Back in the 40s and 50s, Los Angeles had a massive transportation system known as the “Red Car.” You could ride an electric train car all the way from Pasadena to Venice Beach on that system. Then, the Republican city council acquiesced to the oil companies and auto manufacturers and destroyed the “Red Car.”

Now to the “homeless problem.” Because of Southern California’s mild climate, it is easier to be homeless in LA than, say, in Chicago. Most of the homeless are mentally ill, alcoholic, and/or drug addicted. Enter the COVID 19 pandemic, followed by the economic depression and, like an avalanche, it quickly caused average citizens to lose their jobs and businesses. Subsequently, their homes were foreclosed upon and/or they were evicted from their apartments when they could no longer make their mortgage and rent payments. These average, working class citizens became homeless.

There are hundreds of homeless camps in LA, many of them under freeway overpasses. There are homeless camps on Venice Beach and in public parks. One park, Poinsettia Park, was where I used to hang out when I was a preteen. East of that park, you could see the United Artists Studio movie sets stored behind their studio walls. That park is now a homeless camp. It looks like a Boy Scouts Jamboree.

Echo Park became a homeless camp. The city council representative for the area decided he wanted to clear out the park of encampments because of the many complaints he’d received. Since LA is a left-of-center government, they didn’t want to be seen as Fascists preparing to evict poor people into the streets, so, they found a loophole. “We’ll tell the public that we will be clearing out the park to do needed repairs. Having people there while the work was ongoing, would present a safety hazard.” Thus, under false pretenses, the City evicted the homeless from the park and fenced it off for construction purposes.

Millennial protesters showed up to protect the modern day itinerants from the heartless state. Homeless residents joined them. They practiced non-violent resistance by standing, their arms locked together, in front of a line of an LAP.D riot squad. They marched and chanted, but they were outnumbered. The homeless became nomadic.

A Lumpen proletariat like me knows that, when the Middle Class becomes unemployed and homeless, they are not worried about the “Red menace.” Do you really think that if they utilize the Protestant work ethic, they will, by free enterprise magic, ascend from poverty like superhero's? And, if they pray to Jesus, they will be saved? Fuck, no! What they will find out when they unite and become a revolutionary army is, that they will rise above property rights by targeting their true oppressors, the Ruling Class!

History, once again, is repeating itself. We now have another Eisenhower mixed with Truman in the White House. President Biden will be remembered, by history, as the savior of the USA.

It is a two party game. I am so sick of it! Republican bad cop and Democrat good cop. The pendulum will swing from left to right again and again until America has a left wing revolution. What is happening in Echo Park is happening globally.

#homeless #woke #anarchism #revolución #writers and poets #poets of tumblr #stephenjaymorris #american politics

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