#also same for actors who get pregnant during a show. they should be pregnant on-screen and then they give birth irl and it's never addresse | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

girlsgonemildblog · 3 years

Text

Valley of the Dolls and Hollywood's Desire to Self-Protect

Poster from imdb.com

Valley of the Dolls (1967) tells the story of three young women working in show business in the 1960s. Originally adapted from Jacqueline Susann’s 1966 book by the same name, the screenplay was written by two women, Helen Deutsch and Dorothy Kingsley. The director for the film, though, was a man, named Mark Robson. The plot centers around three protagonists, Anne Welles, Neely O’Hara, and Jennifer North. Their stories connect and separate several times as they each navigate Hollywood, growing in stardom and fading into oblivion. All three storylines follow two themes, the role of women in the 1960s and the abuse of drugs by these women to deal with the pressures of their culture. The film largely stays true to the novel, but alters some important aspects in order to soften the critique that Susann originally proposed. Valley of the Dolls is an attempted commentary on societal demands on women in the 1960s, but is unsuccessful in its criticism due to continuing to perpetuate several misogynistic standards and Hollywood trying to alleviate itself of guilt.

Valley of the Dolls is one of few movies from its era that centers on multiple female leads without allowing for any male characters to come in and dominate the narrative. The story goes further than to just portray women, and even passes commentary on the harmful expectations put on them by society. There are messages about the workforce, body image, and marriage roles all present. Still, while the film may seem to have a feminist message for most of the plot, it falls short in its final moments. The two women, Neely and Jennifer, who are outwardly ambitious and more sexually promiscuous, are punished for their behavior, while the virginally pure and soft spoken Anne is the one who gets a happy ending, though not in the traditional sense.

The first woman to look at is Neely O’Hara (Patty Duke). Neely, the youngest of the three, is also the most talented and the most ambitious. While her two co-protagonists experience minor stardom, Neely becomes a full-fledged celebrity. As Neely begins her rise to the top, she is forced to work out, despite already being nearly rail thin. During her work-out montage, she even asks her trainer, “you call this acting?” This moment serves to show that for women, being an actor was not strictly about their talent, but also the way they looked. Working out is a part of the job for Neely because if she gains weight, people will no longer want to look at her and thus she won’t be able to be on stage or screen.

The affect of her ambition on her womanhood is also seen through the depiction of her first marriage to her hometown sweetheart, Mel (Martin Milner). When Neely gets her big break, she asks Mel to marry her, flipping the tradition of a man asking a woman. This is the first evidence of the gender role reversal that will be present later. In one scene, after Neely has made it and begun earning more money, the audience sees that Mel is now in charge of keeping house, a job typically meant for the wife at this time. The two get into an argument and Mel, sick of being bossed around by Neely, states, “I am not the butler,” to which Neely retorts, “you’re not the bread winner either.” The two get divorced shortly after. In the beginning of the movie, as Neely is about to be cut out of the broadway show, Mel gives her advice on how to handle the situation in a way that is both best for her career and best for earning money. Mel is more than happy to support Neely’s ambition when she is starting out and he is controlling her success. When Neely grows beyond his grasp, begins to overshadow him, and no longer needs him, the turmoil of their relationship begins. Mel’s male ego cannot handle having a wife who not only is not reliant on him, but who he is reliant on.

In contrast, Jennifer’s fatal flaw is not her ambition but her body. The audience is introduced to Jennifer (Sharon Tate) as she is scantily clad in a leotard with a giant showgirl headpiece on. Her first line is concern that she cannot walk, “I feel a little top heavy,” to which her director replies, “Dear, you are top heavy.” This is met by a chorus of laughter from the men in the room and clear distress from Jennifer’s face. Jennifer’s sin is simply her breasts and her beauty; she is punished for merely existing in her natural form. On the phone with her mother, she states, “I know I don’t have any talent, and I know all I have is my body.” She recognizes that she has no marketable skills, but with the way that society has commodified the female figure, she can use her natural assets to get ahead.

Jennifer’s plot line introduces the character of Miriam (Lee Grant), the sister of Jennifer’s husband, Tony (Tony Scotti). Miriam also manages Tony. This is interesting because all the other women in the film are controlled by men, but Miriam is not only not controlled by a man, but controls one herself. Jennifer, who seems not to have a manager, but operates as an independent, eventually is taken on by Miriam, emphasizing the way that Miriam acts as a male figure, controlling and dominating her world like men normally do. Miriam eventually sells Jennifer into porn. When Jennifer tries to protest, Miriam insists, “Tony wouldn’t know the difference.” Jennifer’s plea of “well, I would,” falls on deaf ears. Miriam views the world like a man, thinking only a husband should be offended by his wife’s immodesty, not recognizing that the woman is also a person with feelings about the exposure of her own body.

Jennifer’s whole life and career is based on her body. When she is diagnosed with breast cancer and must get a mastectomy, she states, “all I ever had was a body. All I know how to do is take off my clothes.” She is realizing that without her breasts, she will have no way of earning a living or supporting herself, as she has done her whole life. This drives her to suicide, deciding she would rather die than lose her body. The message of this scene is clear; despite the fact that society has deemed her figure the only thing that gives her value, her exploitation of it still must be punished by death. Women are supposed to surrender to the forces of the patriarchy, not use them to their own advantage.

The third protagonist, the redeemable protagonist, is Anne Welles (Barbara Parkins). Anne is introduced at the very beginning of the film through her own narration as she tells the listener that her family’s home has been around since the revolution, showing that she represents American tradition. The story of George Washington drinking from their well symbolizes that people like Anne are what give America life. This American idealization is what protects Anne throughout her career. As she enters the office for the first time to the slut shaming of a pregnant cat, the audience immediately knows that this place will not be very friendly to women. This is fortified when her boss tells her she is “too good looking” for her job and talks about getting her “broken in”. This is exemplifying the idea that beautiful women aren’t meant for work while also objectifying them by talking about women like they’re shoes.

Her romantic interest, Lyon (Paul Burke), who is also her boss, calls Anne, “barely pink” when he first meets her, admiring how young she is. He later tells her that jewelry is not for her, and that she should only be gifted flowers, specifically white ones. These are both attempts to preserve Anne’s delicacy, or “pinkness”. Diamonds and gold are too flashy for a soft spoken woman like Anne, and the white flowers clearly symbolize purity. Constantly throughout the entire film, the audience is reminded of Anne being special and unlike other “bad” women such as Neely or Jennifer. At one point Lyon tells Anne that no other girls compare to her because they can’t “stand up to her image”. Not her actual person or personality, but her image. Anne does not have actual personhood in the eyes of Lyon, but exists only as the idealized woman.

This is further exemplified when she becomes the Gillian Girl. The man who hires her says he wants someone known with Gillian exclusively. The idea here is they want her to be only an image of beauty and innocence; if she works with other brands or as an actress she becomes more than one-dimensional and people can discover that she may have flaws. Anne’s ability to maintain her image of perfection and purity throughout the entire film is why she gets to live happily ever after at the end, unlike her two counterparts. She returns to her hometown and lives out the rest of her life as the embodiment of American tradition.

This movie gets its title from the nickname that Neely gives the pills that she and the other two protagonists all become addicted to. The name, “dolls”, calls to mind a picture of girlhood and female adolescence, highlighting how young Neely is (only 17) when the story begins. Many movies of the 1960s, such as Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969) were depicting taking psychedelic drugs and having crazy trips. Valley of the Dolls shows a different type of drug use, the abuse of painkillers. Though the main characters are movie stars and models, their drug habit was likely more relatable to the suburban movie-going audience than that of Hopper’s characters. It was all too common for housewives to be prescribed “mother’s little helpers” to deal with what was condescendingly written off as “hysteria”. Another difference between these two movies is that psychedelic trips were portrayed as freeing, eye-opening experiences. In contrast, the painkillers are entrapping for the women and ultimately ruin their careers and end their lives.

The character who has the least interaction with the “dolls” is Anne. This is done to keep the idea of Anne as the “pure”, “good” character. The way she begins to take the drugs is interesting, though; she first picks up the bottle when she realizes that her long-term boyfriend, Lyon, is having an affair with her best friend, Neely. This serves two purposes. This first is that it shows that the pills are not used for pleasure, like psychedelics would be, but for numbing purposes. This also displays the corruptive force of Hollywood; it is not until the plot moves from New York to Hollywood that these women turn sour. Because of this city, Neely betrays her best friend and sweet, innocent Anne is driven to drug use.

Jennifer is seen taking the pills two times, twice as often as Anne is. The first time she takes them is when she learns about Tony’s illness. Again, they are used to numb emotional pain. The second time Jennifer is shown taking the pills is when she purposely overdoses on them to kill herself. This is the most extreme version of numbing difficult emotions a person can take, and the most obvious way that the movie could show that these drugs do not provide enjoyment but rather stop misery. What the “dolls” provide is nothingness, and Jennifer takes this nothingness to its maximum.

Neely is the character whose story is most entangled with drug use. She begins when her trainer gives her diet pills to slim her already thin figure. During this montage, the audience clearly sees Mel, the symbol of her pre-fame life, shake his head and tell her no, but she responds with a shrug, as if to say, “what’s the worst that could happen?” Shortly after, she tells Anne that she takes sleeping pills that are so strong, she has to take red pills to counteract them to wake up in the mornings, but then must take the sleeping pills again at night because the red ones have not yet worn off. Taking the pills is an endless cycle for Neely that will lead her to spiral to rock bottom.

In a following scene, Neely is seen being an absolute mess on the set of a movie, causing them to call for her husband to take her home because she cannot work under such strong influence of drugs and alcohol. When Anne and Lyon go to check on her, Anne lectures her about the danger of drinking while taking the pills, but Neely asserts that she must do so because it makes them work faster. This moment shows the desperation Neely has to stop feeling. Later on, after getting drunk in a dive-bar, having sex with some random nobody, and being robbed the morning after, Neely overdoses and nearly dies. Anne implies that this may have been intentional, despite Neely insisting otherwise. The audience is left to wonder.

During the third act of the movie, after Neely has gone to rehab and gotten clean, her older rival, Helen Lawson (Susan Hayward), brags about how she never needed pills like Neely did. Lawson claims her current sobriety is only temporary and Neely will eventually return to her old bad habits. The character summarizes Neely’s entire story with one line, “nothing can destroy her talent, but she’ll destroy herself.” Lawson’s words come true; Neely’s final scene sees her relapsing on opening night of the show she’s supposed to star in and being replaced by her younger understudy, the very thing she was afraid of. Her story closes on her drunk in an alley, screaming her own name.

To properly analyze this film, one must compare it to its source material, Jacqueline Susann’s novel by the same name. Though the movie stays true to the novel in most major plot points, there are distinct narrative changes and omissions that drastically alter the story. One of the most distinct examples of this is that Lyon refuses to marry Anne until the final scene of the film. In the novel, he marries her when they first reunite in Los Angeles. When he begins his affair with Neely, Anne is pregnant with their first child, which gives Anne a stronger motive to turn to the pills than she has in the movie. The book version of the two women are also much closer friends, which creates a more dramatic change in Neely’s character than in the film. Removing these two extremes makes Neely’s character arc less impactful.

Another aspect that was removed is Tony’s obsession with sex. An important part of Jennifer’s characterization is that she has always been made to feel that her body is her only source of value. This is added to, in the novel, by the fact that sex is the foundation for her relationship with her husband. This is only alluded to in the film with one line when they are walking in the park. In the novel, it is emphasized explicitly at multiple points. One of the reasons Jennifer chooses to kill herself rather than lose her breasts is because she believes she will lose even her husband’s love. The film likely made this change, as well as the marital change, to make the characters of Tony and Neely more sympathetic. While this goal is accomplished, it also softens the harsh realities that Susann was trying to expose in her novel.

One final difference between the film and novel is the ending. In the film, Lyon finally proposes to Anne and she rejects him, getting to move on with her life and live peacefully. She gets a happy ending. The novel ends with Anne and Lyon still married, her discovering that he is having yet another affair with a client, and her returning to the pills. This final note makes it clear that there are no happy endings for women in this city. The change is another example of Hollywood trying to show itself in a more flattering light than the one Susann placed on it.

Valley of the Dolls, the novel, was written by a female author as a way to condemn the mistreatment of women in the 1960s, specifically the mistreatment perpetuated by Hollywood on women in show business. The film adaptation tries to duplicate this commentary, but fails for multiple reasons. The first is that it chooses to save the “good girl” character. In the written work, all three stories ending in tragedy shows how no woman is safe from the effects of the patriarchy. Opting to protect the “pure” character alters the message completely so that it is no longer a criticism but a continuation of the idea that ambitious, promiscuous women deserve punishment and good, virginal women deserve happy endings. In addition, it omits important plot points that provide motivation for the characters self-destructive actions, such as Anne taking the pills for the first time and Jennifer committing suicide. By removing the catalysts, the characters are turned into cliché hysterical women. The film fails to adapt Susann’s novel correctly because it replicates the sensational bits while omitting the message. Unlike the book, the film serves only to entertain and not to critique.

50 notes · View notes

ladyonfire28 · 4 years

Link

Adèle Haenel: "And the fight against racism, is that a black thing?" (March 1, 2016)

Her raw talent and her unique personality are shaking up French cinema. With two Césars in her pocket, the actress from Les Combattants became an icon of auteur cinema in Les Ogres and soon with the Dardenne brothers. Interview with a thoughtful and shady feminist.

The first vision we have of Adèle Haenel when we enter the hotel room, where she has just been photographed, is that of a tall girl in denim and worn-out suede boots looking for cotton to remove her make-up. She says that it's too much, that it's not her, that we have to take it all away - this sticky femininity - and right away.

She announces her color: strong, fierce, temperamental, a little prickly, when, during the interview, she frowns and throws your questions back to you - always with great relevance. She is beautiful and abrupt, her adolescent brusqueness (even though she is 27 years old), gives the impression of robustness: a sportswoman with the shoulders of a swimmer but the face of a femme fatale from the inter-war period, green eyes and a pulpy mouth. This is an unprecedented combination in French cinema, which tends to be dominated by young first-time coquettes looking for contracts with luxury brands. We have never seen Adèle H. at the front row of fashion shows, her appearances on the red carpet - the playground of her fellow female cast members - did not stick in our memories, and that's good.

We've been keeping an eye on her since Water Lilies (2007), by Céline Sciamma, to whom she declared her love at a César Award ceremony. She won two of them, hands down: for Suzanne, and then, last year, for Les Combattants, an emblematic film that created a new image of a virile heroine in French cinema. Adèle Haenel, an icon of auteur cinema, was thrown at the heart of the system: she is the most coveted actress of the moment and has just finished in Liège The Unknown Girl, by the Dardenne brothers, who will inevitably be screened again at the next Cannes Film Festival.

You have to hear her talk about cinema, with her eyes fixed and uninterrupted flow, to understand how incandescent this girl is. In Les Ogres, a choral film by Léa Fehner that talks about the daily life of an itinerant theater that performs Chekhov, she plays Mona, actress and pregnant. The diary of this tribe that travels from city to city, a tent on their back, also draws a universal portrait of actors, truculent monsters full of love and violence.

Madame Figaro - Since the success of Les Combattants, you intrigue people...

Adèle Haenel. - I can see that the demand is stronger, but I'm not chasing after advertising and I don't intend to invade the public space. I think we have to remain discreet. Notoriety hasn't changed anything in my life and it certainly won't change my desire to make films following the same line.

What is that line ?

I make a film to carry a message. I can feel when a director has something to say. I feel something, a desire, a vibration. There is a thread, an intuition, a truth that imposes itself on me. I know what I have to do, I can feel it. It is both mystical and very rational. What is interesting is to come out of a navel-gazing, to rise up, to talk about people, to talk about the world. I like the idea that everything fits together collectively: feelings, economics, politics. A film is a common story, and I want to be part of that dialogue. A film must be in direct resonance with its time: cinema is today. I do things for now, and it's not up to me, to us, to decide whether a film is going to stay, whether it's made for eternity. I feel extremely responsible.

You feel very inhabited when you talk about cinema...

I have many other reasons to live, but, yes, I am deeply interested in the representation of things. How does cinema fit into society? Who is it for? Cinema is obviously a political act. For example, even the latest Star Wars is political. I was really relieved to see so many women and different skin colors: it means that everyone can be a hero and that feels good.

It is said that in the movies women are taking over...

It's an evergreen content. They make a big deal out of it, but if you look at the numbers, it's not so true: women are still in the minority. I can't be satisfied with that.

Do you feel the prevailing machismo that is associated with cinema?

I'm not going to waste my time and energy educating these people.

Is it easier to succeed in this job when you are a man?

Your question is a strange one. Either we point out superficial phenomena - the decision-makers are men, they have the money and therefore the power - or we debate a broader question: in what world are we evolving? And there, it's always the same thing. The world is cut in two: on the one hand, there is the man, the virile, all linked to superior qualities, and on the other hand, the lower part, the woman, the secret, the moods. Of course, all our representation is linked to this division. I often ask myself the following question: in a fair world, without discrimination, what is art? Art today is in dialogue with its time, so it does not abolish anything but is involved in the fight.

As we can't classify you, you have been labeled as virile...

I'd like someone to explain to me why people should always be defined. To be a woman, you would have to be a feminine woman, right? For me, it's redundant. I don't maintain any posture, I am myself. But the way people look at me doesn't bother me: make up your mind, there's no problem.

However, you embody a renewal at the antipodes of actresses on their first red carpets...

I don't know which ones you are talking about, but I will never be against other propositions from women. After all, they also are undoubtedly dealing with their inner truth. But then again, I don't want to comment on something that escapes me completely: the gaze of others. I realize that everything is complicated for actresses who are so solicited that they end up participating, willingly or unwillingly, in a kind of general cacophony.

Are you one of those ogresses that Léa Fehner describes in her film?

I've just eaten about twenty-five croissants, isn't that a clue? In Léa's film, there is an energy close to the one in Les Combattants: action as a solution to an era in crisis. Here, it's laughter and gluttony facing a personal anxiety and an era that values suffering. I think we need to wake people up, to make them understand that fatality is a terrible and disarming discourse. We are told that the planet is warming up, that people are being massacred, that entire populations are on the move. I am not saying that we are not powerless against this, but feeling concerned and responsible is already a first step towards action.

Are actors monsters?

I don't know and I don't care. I'm not here to tell people: I'm like this, I'm like that, I'm better than you. I don't have to deal with that. Why me? I don't know.

Yes, why you and not someone else? Actor, it's an elective profession...

What is an actor? Their hypersensitivity should not be overestimated. The key is courage. That's the most difficult thing, courage and sincerity: not hiding, committing yourself with what you have, with your face and your body, with everything, with no escape. We often say: "To be an actor is to be someone else" but above all, you have to accept being yourself. It's not the most well-balanced job on earth, but a healthy actor would be weird, wouldn't it?

Precisely, you are sometimes compared to... Depardieu.

There are worse critics. What I like about him is his poetic sensitivity, which is not fake at all. You can sense his love of texts. And then, come on, what an incredible freedom of acting!

Can you play everything?

I don't know. What I do know is that the feeling of comfort is dangerous. It would turn us into a small factory. As soon as I start a film, I don't sleep anymore. The first scenes are hell.

Is shooting naked a problem?

It annoys me. In all films, there's this double injunction from society or the audience: we actresses are asked to get naked but to feel guilty about it! But no guys, I'm not going to feel guilty so you can be fully satisfied that I hold this assigned place of the whore and the well-bred girl! The commitment I make when I make a movie is much bigger than that.

Your feminist side...

I don't have a feminist side, I'm a feminist simply because I want to exist.

Today, not all women are feminists…

So feminism is a girl thing, then? And the fight against racism is a black thing? It's not a power struggle or lobbying, it's not Pepsi against Coke. No, it's a fundamental question about humanity.

#adèle haenel #adele haenel #madame figaro #2016 #it's been a while since my last interview translation !#i've always loved that interview #don't think it was translated before but who knows aha #here you go anyway !#sometimes i translate things #les ogres

251 notes · View notes

papermoonloveslucy · 3 years

Text

REMINISCING

August 14, 1977

By Frank Swertlow, Chicago Daily News

BEVERLY HILLS - During the first years of television, Ed Wynn, the radio and stage comic, was trying to break into television with a half-hour comedy on CBS. (1)

One night, he invited a couple of second echelon performers to make an appearance: a comedienne, known as "Technicolor Tessie" for her blazing red hair, and a song-and-dance man, best remembered for hollering "babalu."

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were the couple, and they, like Wynn, were sampling the waters of the new medium. CBS had asked Miss Ball and her conga-drum pounding husband to develop a comedy show for television. Later, after months of thought and testing their ideas on the vaudeville circuit, the couple came up with "I Love Lucy," the misadventures of Lucy and Ricky Riccardo. (2)

It made its debut on CBS in October 1951. More than a quarter of a century afterwards, "I Love Lucy" easily can vie for the honor of television's most successful show. It was the archtype [sp] domestic comedy, the bumbling husband and his daffy wife. It gave birth to two other Lucy shows, a host of specials and a giant production company, Desilu.

"We spent months thinking about what we should do," Miss Ball recalled. "We didn't want to be the average Hollywood couple. Nobody would think you had any problems if you had a car and swimming pool and a nice house.

"Ultimately, we wanted a show in which people could identify with us. Everybody could understand what it was like to struggle for a buck. I was an ordinary, everyday, middle class housewife. I wore the same dress often. My husband worked and tolerated my mistakes. It was something that everyone could identify with."

With the debut of the TV series, Lucille Ball, the former Goldwyn girl who started her film career in the 1930s, had a new career.

"I never expected the show to go more than a year," said Miss Ball. "I wanted to do the show on film so I could use them as home movies. Who knew about television then? It was a no-no to do TV work. The movie studios were against it."

To Miss Ball, who was not a new face to the public, the impact of her show was incredible. "We went to New York on a trip once and we were unprepared for what happened. People rushed up and wanted to touch you. They knew you, and called you by your first name. I had been in pictures for years, and most of the time I was never identified."

If the movers and shakers of the film industry who gave Miss Ball her start during the 1930s were alive, they would have been shocked. To them, simply and kindly, Lucille Ball was a B-movie queen, one of the many second-line actresses who never attained star billing, but who was an important ingredient to the motion picture industry.

Unlike many performers who labored under the cruel studio system, Miss Ball fondly remembered her early years in Hollywood. "It was nice to be under the umbrella of a studio. You always had a poppa. I loved it. I loved being part of the business. I would have swept floors just to be in it."

Miss Ball, however, did not forget the tactics of the brutal and disgusting lords of movieland. Harry "King" Cohn, the ruler of Columbia Pictures, stood out. "He made the biggest dent in everybody. He was ruthless. He always had to take a devious route." (3)

Miss Ball, who is not exactly a pushover, laughingly recalled the time she outwitted the sly Cohn.

Miss Ball had received an offer to work in a Cecil B. DeMille film, but Cohn refused to loan her to the producer. He was being mean. Then, Cohn decided to drop her contract. To do it, he sent the actress a horrible script something that the trade called a lease breaker. "Oh, everybody was dying to play opposite John Agar and Raymond Burr," she recalled jokingly. "I was going to be a harum [sp] girl." Naturally, Cohn expected her to refuse and it would be the end of her contract. (4)

The savvy Miss Ball decided to do the film and collect her check. When she made this announcement there was an uproar. She coyly told her bosses: "Oh, I want to do the film. It's a wonderful film."

Meanwhile, Miss Ball, who had been trying to get pregnant for years, found out she was going to have a baby. Now, she was in trouble. If Cohn found out, he would break her contract. "I only told my mother and my husband I was pregnant."

Keeping her lips sealed, she went ahead with Cohn's film. "The wardrobe girl kept looking at me in my harum [sp] girl costume and saying, 'What's wrong with you, you are getting so big.' "So, I told her, 'Don't worry, I ate a big meal last night. Just put a little more taffeta on my dress.' Well, I finished the film and I collected my $85,000."

"Then I had to go to Mr. DeMille and tell him I couldn't do his film. I was pregnant. 'What,' he said. And I replied. 'I'm going to have a baby. 'Get rid of it,' he said. And he was serious.' She declined. (5)

While Miss Ball's career as a TV star is secure (she still has a contract with CBS) (6) she is not so certain about the state of the industry. Today, unlike when she started on the air, shows are yanked off the screen within a couple of weeks. This, she said, destroys performers.

"If a show is canceled, the actor takes the blame. He or she suffers for it. They suffer inside. The rejection - they failed. (7)

"I would fail. You can't protect yourself. It's out of your hands. It's always Lucy failed or Rhoda failed or Farrah Sauset Fawcett Sauset, whatever her name is, failed. It's rough." (8)

Even so, Lucille Ball, the red-haired girl from Jamestown, N.Y., would still be on top.

# # #

FOOTNOTES FROM THE FUTURE

(1) Ed Wynn (1886-1966) was a vaudevillian who hosted “The Ed Wynn Show” on television from 1949 to 1950. Lucy and Desi guest-starred on the show.

(2) ‘Riccardo’ is probably a misspelling of ‘Ricardo’, but it was also the way their surname was spelled on “I Love Lucy” in early episodes!

(3) Harry Cohn (1891-1958) was a much-despised executive at Columbia Studios. Lucille Ball once facetiously told Louella Parsons that she liked Harry Cohn too much to ever sign a contract with him. What Lucille meant is that Cohn had a reputation for being difficult. Despite that fact, a casting draught forced her to sign with Columbia in 1949.

(4) Lucille Ball had often complained to Cohn about the quality of the pictures she had been doing at Columbia. At the time The Magic Carpet was made, Ball was only obligated to Columbia for one more film, and Cohn had producer Sam Katzman, who turned out most of Columbia's low-budget "B" pictures, concoct a cheap Arabian Nights fantasy as a punishment to Ball for her constantly challenging him. More salacious writers insist that Cohn’s frustration with Ball was due to the fact that she would not submit to him sexually.

(5) The DeMille film in question was The Greatest Show on Earth, a movie set at the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus. Lucille was set to play the elephant trainer, a role that went to Gloria Graham. It was a film Lucille really wanted to do - but she wanted a baby more. Later in life, Desilu created a TV version of the film. Lucille also guest-starred as the ringmaster on “Circus of the Stars II” in which Lucie Arnaz was featured as.... the elephant trainer!

(6) Lucille Ball had started working at CBS on radio and was considered their premiere star. In 1980, after her television shows had ended, she signed with NBC, a partnership that yielded very little except that Ball was obliged to appear on Bob Hope’s many specials, something she frequently did anyway. Both CBS and NBC declined her final series “Life With Lucy” which producer Aaron Spelling finally convinced ABC to air.

(7) Although this article was written ten years before “Life With Lucy”, Lucille could very well be describing her own devastation when the series was cancelled even before all the initial episodes aired. She was widely criticized and the series often turned up on “worst show” lists.

(8) Rhoda refers to a character on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” that was played by Valerie Harper, a performer that appeared on Broadway with Lucille. In 1974, the character was spun off into its own eponymous sitcom which aired for four seasons.

Farrah Fawcett-Majors was a beautiful blonde actress and poster girl that burst onto the TV scene in the mid-1970s. A year after this interview, she was in the hit series “Charlie’s Angels” entering American iconography for her feathered hair and curvaceous figure the same way Betty Grable had in the 1940s.

#Lucille Ball #Valerie Harper #Harry Cohn #Farrah Fawcett #The Greatest Show on Earth #Life With Lucy #Cecil B. DeMille #The Magic Carpet #Lucie Arnaz #Gloria Graham #Desi Arnaz #Ed Wynn #1977 #Frank Swertlow

7 notes · View notes

invisibleicewands · 3 years

Link

Staged's Anna Lundberg and Georgia Tennant: 'Scenes with all four of us usually involved alcohol'

Not many primetime TV hits are filmed by the show’s stars inside their own homes. However, 2020 wasn’t your average year. During the pandemic, productions were shut down and workarounds had to be found – otherwise the terrestrial schedules would have begun to look worryingly empty. Staged was the surprise comedy hit of the summer.

This playfully meta short-form sitcom, airing in snack-sized 15-minute episodes, found A-list actors Michael Sheen and David Tennant playing an exaggerated version of themselves, bickering and bantering as they tried to perfect a performance of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author over Zoom.

Having bonded while co-starring in Good Omens, Amazon’s TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel, Sheen, 51, and Tennant, 49, became best buddies in real life. In Staged, though, they’re comedically reframed as frenemies – warm, matey and collaborative, but with a cut-throat competitiveness lurking just below the surface. As they grew ever more hirsute and slobbish in lockdown, their virtual relationship became increasingly fraught.

It was soapily addictive and hilariously thespy, while giving a voyeuristic glimpse of their interior decor and domestic lives – with all the action viewed through their webcams.

Yet it was the supporting cast who lifted Staged to greatness,Their director Simon Evans, forced to dance around the pair’s fragile egos and piggy-in-the-middle of their feuds. Steely producer Jo, played by Nina Sosanya, forever breaking off from calls to bellow at her poor, put-upon PA. And especially the leading men’s long-suffering partners, both actors in real life, Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg.

Georgia Tennant comes from showbiz stock, as the child of Peter Davison and Sandra Dickinson. At 36 she is an experienced actor and producer, who made her TV debut in Peak Practice aged 15. She met David on Doctor Who 2008, when she played the Timelord’s cloned daughter Jenny. Meanwhile, the Swedish Lundberg, 26, is at the start of her career. She left drama school in New York two years ago and Staged is her first big on-screen role.

Married for nine years, the Tennants have five children and live in west London. The Lundberg-Sheens have been together two years, have a baby daughter, Lyra, and live outside Port Talbot in south Wales. On screen and in real life, the women have become firm friends and frequent scene-stealers.

Staged proved so successful that it’s now back for a second series. We set up a video call with Tennant and Lundberg to discuss lockdown life, wine consumption, home schooling (those two may be related) and the blurry line between fact and fiction…

Was doing Staged a big decision, because it’s so personal and set in your homes? Georgia Tennant: We’d always been a very private couple. Staged was everything we’d never normally say yes to. Suddenly, our entire house is on TV and so is a version of the relationship we’d always kept private. But that’s the way to do it, I guess. Go to the other extreme. Just rip off the Band-Aid.

Anna Lundberg: Michael decided pretty quickly that we weren’t going to move around the house at all. All you see is the fireplace in our kitchen.

GT: We have five children, so it was just about which room was available.

AL: But it’s not the real us. It’s not a documentary.

GT: Although some people think it is.

Which fictional parts of the show do people mistake for reality? GT: People think I’m really a novelist because “Georgia” writes a novel in Staged. They’ve asked where they can buy my book. I should probably just write one now because I’ve done the marketing already.

AL: People worry about our elderly neighbour, who gets hospitalised in the show. She doesn’t actually exist in real life but people have approached Michael in Tesco’s, asking if she’s OK.

Michael and David squabble about who’s billed first in Staged. Does that reflect real life? AL: With Good Omens, Michael’s name was first for the US market and David’s was first for the British market. So those scenes riffed on that.

Should we call you Georgia and Anna, or Anna and Georgia? GT: Either. We’re super-laidback about these things.

AL: Unlike certain people.

How well did you know each other before Staged? GT: We barely knew each other. We’ve now forged a friendship by working on the show together.

AL: We’d met once, for about 20 minutes. We were both pregnant at the time – we had babies a month apart – so that was pretty much all we talked about.

Did you tidy up before filming? AL: We just had to keep one corner relatively tidy.

GT: I’m quite a tidy person, but I didn’t want to be one of those annoying Instagram people with perfect lives. So strangely, I had to add a bit of mess… dot a few toys around in the background. I didn’t want to be one of those insufferable people – even though, inherently, I am one of those people.

Was there much photobombing by children or pets? AL: In the first series, Lyra was still at an age where we could put her in a baby bouncer. Now that’s not working at all. She’s just everywhere. Me and Michael don’t have many scenes together in series two, because one of us is usually Lyra-wrangling.

GT: Our children aren’t remotely interested. They’re so unimpressed by us. There’s one scene where Doris, our five-year-old, comes in to fetch her iPad. She doesn’t even bother to glance at what we’re doing.

How was lockdown for you both? AL: I feel bad saying it, but it was actually good for us. We were lucky enough to be in a big house with a garden. For the first time since we met, we were in one place. We could just focus on Lyra . To see her grow over six months was incredible. She helped us keep a steady routine, too.

GT: Ours was similar. We never spend huge chunks of time together, so it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At least until David’s career goes to shit and he’s just sat at home. The flipside was the bleakness. Being in London, there were harrowing days when everything was silent but you’d just hear sirens going past, as a reminder that something awful was going on. So I veered between “This is wonderful” and “This is the worst thing that ever happened.”

And then there was home schooling… GT: Which was genuinely the worst thing that ever happened.

You’ve spent a lot of time on video calls, clearly. What are your top Zooming tips? GT: Raise your camera to eye level by balancing your laptop on a stack of books. And invest in a ring light.

AL: That’s why you look so much better. We just have our sad kitchen light overhead, which makes us look like one massive shiny forehead.

GT: Also, always have a good mug on the go [raises her cuppa to the camera and it’s a Michael Sheen mug]. Someone pranked David on the job he’s shooting at the moment by putting a Michael Sheen mug in his trailer. He brought it home and now I use it every morning. I’m magically drawn to drinking out of Michael.

There’s a running gag in series one about the copious empties in Michael’s recycling. Did you lean into lockdown boozing in real life? AL: Not really. We eased off when I was pregnant and after Lyra was born. We’d just have a glass of wine with dinner.

GT: Yes, definitely. I often reach for a glass of red in the show, which was basically just an excuse to continue drinking while we were filming: “I think my character would have wine and cake in this scene.” The time we started drinking would creep slightly earlier. “We’ve finished home schooling, it’s only 4pm, but hey…” We’ve scaled it back to just weekends now.

How did you go about creating your characters with the writer Simon Evans? AL: He based the dynamic between David and Michael on a podcast they did together. Our characters evolved as we went along.

GT: I was really kind and understanding in the first draft. I was like “I don’t want to play this, it’s no fun.” From the first few tweaks I made, Simon caught onto the vibe, took that and ran with it.

Did you struggle to keep a straight face at times? AL: Yes, especially the scenes with all four of us, when David and Michael start improvising.

GT: I was just drunk, so I have no recollection.

AL: Scenes with all four of us were normally filmed in the evening, because that’s when we could be child-free. Usually there was alcohol involved, which is a lot more fun.

GT: There’s a long scene in series two where we’re having a drink. During each take, we had to finish the glass. By the end, we were all properly gone. I was rewatching it yesterday and I was so pissed.

What else can you tell us about series two? GT: Everyone’s in limbo. Just as we think things are getting back to normal, we have to take three steps back again. Everyone’s dealing with that differently, shall we say.

AL: In series one, we were all in the same situation. By series two, we’re at different stages and in different emotional places.

GT: Hollywood comes calling, but things are never as simple as they seem.

There were some surprise big-name cameos in series one, with Samuel L Jackson and Dame Judi Dench suddenly Zooming in. Who can we expect this time around? AL: We can’t name names, but they’re very exciting.

GT: Because series one did so well, and there’s such goodwill towards the show, we’ve managed to get some extraordinary people involved. This show came from playing around just to pass the time in lockdown. It felt like a GCSE end-of-term project. So suddenly, when someone says: “Samuel L Jackson’s in”, it’s like: “What the fuck’s just happened?”

AL: It took things to the next level, which was a bit scary.

GT: It suddenly felt like: “Some people might actually watch this.”

How are David and Michael’s hair and beard situations this time? AL: We were in a toyshop the other day and Lyra walked up to these Harry Potter figurines, pointed at Hagrid and said: “Daddy!” So that explains where we’re at. After eight months of lockdown, it was quite full-on.

GT: David had a bob at one point. Turns out he’s got annoyingly excellent hair. Quite jealous. He’s also grown a slightly unpleasant moustache.

Is David still wearing his stinky hoodie? GT: I bought him that as a gift. It’s actually Paul Smith loungewear. In lockdown, he was living in it. It’s pretty classy, but he does manage to make it look quite shit.

#Michael Sheen #David Tennant #Staged #Staged 2 #Georgia Tennant #The tidy corner #we noticed it #Staged2 #SwedishFishAL

41 notes · View notes

leverage-commentary · 4 years

Text

Leverage Season 2, Episode 7, The Two Live Crew Job, Audio Commentary Transcript

Dean: Hi, I’m Dean Devlin, Executive Producer and Director of this episode of Leverage.

Amy: Hi, I’m Amy Berg, Supervising Producer and Writer of this episode.

John: John Rogers, Executive Producer and Co-Writer of this episode. Hold on. [Opens bee.] There we go.

[Laughter]

Dean: The beer has been opened.

John: The Guiness has been opened. Amy Berg where did this episode come from?

Amy: Well, I mean, when you have a show about a team of con men sort of- one of the first episodes that you think of is-

John: Yeah, it was like one of the first ones we broke- we talked about last season-

Amy: What happens when they go up against another team of con men? And obviously that's not something you really wanna, sort of, pull the trigger on during season one, so we sort of sat on it for a bit.

Dean: But we talked about it a lot in season one.

Amy: We did talk about it.

John: Yeah. But really you have to have your- part of the fun is having your characters and opposition- of people that make a difference, having the opposition of you need to know the characters really well.

Amy: You need to learn who our people are before we can bring in a new set of people.

John: Yeah, so it was a lot of fun putting together the different combinations and different variations on this- the evil team of evil Leverage.

Amy: Loves it.

John: Why the Gustav Klimt?

Amy: The Gustav Klimpt, now you're testing me and it's been a while, I believe this painting was called Higeia and it was technically destroyed by the Nazis in 1945. And it was sort of a choice to pick a painting that wasn't actually in existence, so we weren’t stepping on anybody's toes, saying that this was a stolen painting.

John: The likeless- the equivalent of likeness rights on paintings is an enormous pain in the ass so as a matter of fact, there's a statue of Lincoln in the park that's in the sequence later that we shot and then we had to get the rights to using that statute, even in the background.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Now that's very tricky stuff. Dean tell us about the fun of shooting this.

Dean: Well we wanted to try and keep perpetual motion and show two different attempts. Our team, which tries to do a low tech break in through basically just cutting through a wall through this cheapo office behind the high tech office, and then the daring team that actually chases the bullet head on.

John: Yeah. And there is our villain, Griffin.

Amy: Griffin Dunne.

John: Exactly.

Dean: I've wanted to work with Griffin my whole life. I remember seeing him in An American Werewolf Through London and just falling madly in love with this guy; I just thought he was amazing. And then when we went to do this episode, it was actually Tim Hutton who said, ‘What do you think about my pal Griffin Dunne playing this part?’ And it was just like a gift from heaven.

John: Oh yeah, we are all over that. And this is a lot of fun and we built a fake wall- And that is Tim's assistant, correct?

Amy: That’s that’s Elle, yeah.

John: That's Elle, Tim’s assistant, in her big screen debut with us tormenting her.

Amy: Indeed. And they're playing detectives Marlow and Archer who, as you know, is an homage to both Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald.

John: That's right.

Dean: And there's fun outtakes from that which will be in the gag reel.

Amy: Excellent. This should have a lot of gag reel footage.

John: It's also- to tell you what's weird is, Archer actually-

Amy: Was the name of Tim Spades partner in [mumbles]?

John: That's right. That's what the original reference was. That’s also Ross Mcdonald.

Amy: But Ross Mcdonald was inspired by that character in order.

John: Really?

Amy: Yeah.

John: I didn't know that. There you go.

Dean: Fans of the show In Treatment should know that this actress, Noa Tishby, is actually the Executive Producer of In Treatment on HBO.

John: That's right Noa is an Israli actress, she was in Israel, she saw the original show, she dug in, got the rights herself, brought it to America, and wound up executive producing the American version.

Amy: By the way, that's Wil Wheaton.

[Laughter]

Amy: Which is so awesome. And who cast Will Wheaton in this episode, John Rogers?

John: Well I technically cast him, but I believe you had the idea of hiring Wil Wheaton because I'm the one who actually signed the papers.

Amy: Thank you, I appreciate the credit on that.

John: Yes.

Dean: And I was so happy because Wil Wheaton and I actually used to play on the same hockey team together.

Amy: That's right.

Dean: And this was back when he was on Star Trek. And I was dumb enough to allow him to play goalie at the time and-

[Laughter]

Dean: And [Unintelligible]’s son took a slapshot that cracked his helmet open and gave him 17 stitches across the forehead.

Amy: You helped break Wil Wheaton's face.

Dean: And the producers of Star Trek called me screaming at me and forbidding me to ever allowing him to play on the team again.

Amy: Nice. Dogs Playing Poker, by the way, totally public domain. That’s why we chose that one.

John: There you go, there's a lot of variations of that, too, that’s right. And this is actually our little slam is not a part of the subtle on a lot of the CBS crime shows; just the sort of horrible-

Amy: Yeah, the over the top-

John: When we created Leverage, one of the reasons we did it was because so many shows were chasing serial killers. I think it was Chris Downey who said, ‘You know what? Serial killers are covered. Let’s chase rich white dudes in suits.’

Amy: I think they're done.

John: There's only ever been 10 and they've been caught 100 times. And that was Apollo Robbins. This is a great- this is one of Dean's signature roundy-rounds. And I was saying the other day-

Dean: An amazing steadicam shot.

John: I was saying the other day, we've actually learned in the writers room how to assign dialogue to make this easier.

Amy: Yeah.

[Laughter]

John: So rather than rewriting on the fly-

Amy: -we write towards the circle track.

John: Cause you can actually see. It goes- it's like triple play: it goes to Beth to Aldis to Chris to Tim and then back around again.

Amy: I love Parker; there’s always- always something secret going on, whether its secret nazis or-

John: Yeah well, we kind of establish it in The Day of the Hunter Job, Parker’s realm of knowledge outside of stealing is not good.

[Laughter]

John: Like, anything that doesn't involve stealing, she will believe it if the other team members tell her. Oh this is great. I remember we shot this day. Dean, tell us about this bit.

Dean: Well this was one where we actually went full circle because we came in, we rehearsed it one way and it felt really good, but then we started to feel like, ‘Gosh we're not doing enough.’ And so then we reblocked the entire scene so we could all do more and have more happen, and then we all paused and went, ‘You know, the first one was much better.’

[Laughter]

Dean: And that's what we went with.

John: Yup. What I think was part of what was driving that was because I was on set that day, ‘Do not touch the motion sensitive bomb.’

Amy: Thank you.

John: Was the fact that this was gonna be Gina's last episode, full day with the cast- And also, she really dug in on the fact that the character was going to die and it genuinely upset the cast. Like the cast was a little freaked out here; they got way- cause this is a very claustrophobic set, very claustrophobic scene. The way we usually shoot is we shoot longer takes. So we do the whole thing, like we’ve shot entire acts in one take at some point.

Dean: That's true.

Amy: Yeah. By the way, this bit with the pudding, I've known John for two years and this is the only time I've ever turned him on.

[Laughter]

Amy: I wrote this bit, and he read the act and he came in and he burst into my office and was like ’hahaha’.

John: Remember you didn’t use it you; had talked about it and-

Amy: That’s true. That’s true. I brought it up in dialogue, but I didn't actually employ it. They didn’t- Parker didn't actually use it.

John: I actually kicked in the door- the only time I’ve yelled at you-

Amy: Yeah, he yelled at me.

John: I kicked in the door and said, ‘How do you come up with instant pudding in a motion sensitive bomb and not actually use it?’ And so we had- and Parker, we had Parker do it. There's a lot of great acting in here, there's a lot of Gina digging in on, sort of, Sophie's past catching up with her. Hardison-

Amy: But this is a scene where it’s really easy to overwrite it, because your instinct is sort of to write to the emotion of this scene like Sophie could die. But the point is to underwrite and let your actors find the emotion between the lines.

John: That beat right there with Chris and Gina.

Amy: Yes.

John: There's a very nice recurring thing we try to do, which is, whenever it becomes something about killing someone, they go to Eliot because Eliot- because Eliot used to do that. And there's a nice moment there. I was actually there- oh look at that look. I love that look. Where-

Amy: Emotion between the lines.

John: Where basically Eliot signs off on the fact that she's probably gonna die and Gina and Eliot worked that out and it's just a lovely moment. Ahhh this is great, now how did we do this?

Amy: Gina just knocks this out of the park.

Dean: So Gina was very pregnant at the time, so we had to do a double for the wide shots, for the running, and Gina for the closeups.

John: Yeah, and then this is a miniature.

Dean: That's right. Well, the building is the actual building we shot at, but the explosion is a miniature that we shot at our parking lot that we digitally composited on top of it. Now at the time, people didn't know what we were gonna do with Gina's character because Gina was pregnant. So when we did this scene and we aired this episode a lot of people were really upset at this point because they actually thought we had killed her off of the show.

Amy and John: Yeah.

Dean: And early Twitters were very upset.

Amy: Were not favorable.

John: Were very angry.

[Laughter]

Dean: How could you kill her off the show? But then-

Amy: This was originally intended to be the midseason finale, which in that case, the fans would definitely think for sure she was gonna be gone for a while or forever.

John: Yep.

Amy: But we ended up adding two episodes to the end of the midseason run, so we did get to see her again.

Dean: I don't know what it is exactly, but for me, Parker’s performance- or Beth’s performance as Parker in this section here is reminiscent of some of the great comedians.

Amy: Yeah.

Dean: Because it's so subtle what she's doing. And a lot of this came out of Beth herself who said -

Amy: I rewrote this scene based on Beth's notes that you were so kind to give me, and it sort of- it made the scene like 10 times better. I don't even remember what it was originally, but-

John: She's trying to remember what her lines are to say as Parker and her eyes roll up like ‘what am I supposed to say’ and then she gets freaked out at seeing Gina dead and loses it.

John: And then she totally spirals out.

Amy: There's a lot going on in, like, 20 seconds; it's pretty funny.

John: And then Hardison having to go up and bail her out. And again, there's a lot of- there's a lot of stuff going on in the structure this year with Gina leaving, and just for that tempering and having us to accelerate that storyline- There's a lot of Hardison/Parker relationship stuff between the lines on all the shows, we just never made it an A plot, but you can actually see the relationship evolve over the course of the season, when you watch the entire season particularly, the second half. And of course Chris is wearing a bandana under his hat because that's when he had slammed his head onto the set.

Dean: In the previous episode.

John: Exactly.

Amy: Yeah, he’s got a giant scar on his forehead right now.

John: Beautiful cemetery up on a big hill in Portland, nice enough to let us shoot there. Beautiful, gorgeous location. And that's a nice bit of acting, too.

Dean: Yeah, just the little moment of him seeing her and then getting that shock of losing someone that he cares about.

John: Yeah, and just processing.

Amy: So far you've pointed out that your favorite moments are the ones where there's no dialogue, so I'm glad I could contribute to that.

[Laughter]

John: Well you wrote- no no, that’s right, I usually go back and write the stage directions, but you do a lot of the-

Amy: This- and so it begins, when John makes fun of me throughout the commentary.

John: I don't make fun of you, just when you take too much credit.

[Laughter]

Dean: This is the controversy.

Amy: I was taking no credit!

Dean: In this scene, the gravestone says Cathrine Klive, her actor name, and at the end Sophie Deveraux and a lot of people thought that was actually a mistake, but why don't you address that?

John: Well we were really- it comes up in the end. We really wanted- and this is sort of a meta structural thing - she wants to kill Sophie Deaveraux. She realizes Sophie Deveraux as an identity, as a life, is a dead end, and so she changes the tombstone so that she can eventually give up that identity. And it's interesting because what Sophie is- realized is that she's going down a dead end, and in theory she’s the current criminal and Nate is the honest man. Nate is also going down a dead end, but he's way too obsessive and blind to realize it.

Amy: Yeah.

John: And so by the end of the season, you’ll see Sophie is a lot more emotionally evolved than Nate is.

Amy: It's true. This is sort of the beginning of Nate’s spiral where-

John: Yeah, maybe the end of Sophie’s thing.

Amy: His priority shifts and, like, winning becomes more important than servicing the clients.

John: We just sort of tease in 206. Great scene between Griffin and- really that was kind of fun. Once we knew we had Griffin Dunne, a lot of these scenes became, ‘Alright, it's really just gonna be head to head.’

Amy: Yeah, yeah.

John: Yeah. It's just- we’re just gonna have the two of them- And the fact that they're friends was really helpful.

Amy: And this the promise of the premise when you do a crew vs crew episode. What you are promising to the audience is you're gonna have one-on-one faceoffs between the characters and their counterparts.

John: And this is part of the evolution of writing an episode, is when we were breaking this, we had a really hard time getting that up as fast as possible, and that's what you wound up- doing the inner cut break in at the opening. Because even though they weren't facing off at each other, we gave the audience the promise of the premise.

Amy: Yes.

John: And the beautiful Hyundai Genesis. A fine automobile.

Amy: A fine, fine vehicle.

Dean: Beautiful peel out.

John: It was nice. In a cemetery!

[Laughter]

John: There was a moment where I was talking to one of the actors, I looked down and realized I was standing on a civil war veteran’s grave. That was a little disturbing.

Amy: That’s classy Rogers.

Dean: I absolutely love the little makeup and hair choices of Gina in this scene, it's so 40’s noir.

John: Yes.

Amy: Yeah, yeah the hair.

John: The whole episode she's playing 40’s noir. And it was a really interesting look, and not one we can do a lot because of the characters she's played, but this was interesting; she's not playing a character ever in this episode except in the opening.

Dean: Right.

John: I kind of liked her in the cop outfit.

Amy: It's one of my favorite running gags in the entire series of the show. Parker just not entirely buying that Gina’s actually alive.

John: Yeah.

[Laughter]

Amy: ‘I'm not dead!’

John: Some part of her brain understands it, but the emotional center is so screwed up.

Amy: ‘I saw her in a coffin, ergo, she must be, in fact, dead.’

John: This is also great, is digging in on the fact that the whole ex-boyfriend/crew/guy who runs the crew she used to be with. And for a while, for like a minute and a half in the room, remember that character was Sophie's boyfriend for the whole first half of the season and this was gonna be the payoff, but we just never knew if we were gonna get the availability for that actor and we just couldn't risk it. And it also seemed a little dishonest she would hide that, so.

Dean: I love the Hardison line, ‘You saw other teams before us?’

[Laughter]

Amy: ‘No, just another Nate.’

John: ‘Just another Nate.’ That's- yes, this is a big family beat of looks back and forth.

Amy: Lots of looks.

John: Now how did you- I remember you were very, Dean, very big into designing the other team’s headquarters.

Dean: Yeah, well I really wanted to feel like a mirror of our headquarters. But in a believable way in that they don't have permanent space so they’re in a small space. But I was trying to mirror even screen direction-wise that one team is looking left-right the other team is looking right-left so that we can really feel like these are absolute mirror images of each other.

John: Yeah even the looks left-right and right-left match.

Dean: That’s right.

John: Yeah, no it's interesting. And there's Apollo Robbins, who we haven't mentioned yet.

Amy: Apollo Robbins! Yes, he's our technical consultant on the show. He is a master thief. But not anymore, he's a good guy now. I feel like I should point that out.

John: Yes we should. You can't hire him to do crimes.

Amy: When I say consultant, I mean he's not actually a thief anymore.

John: This is also great; this is also the Mona Lisa scam. Why don’t you explain the Mona Lisa scam since you’re a research freak?

Amy: Oh great, now I’m-

John: 1911.

Amy: Yes, 1911 there was a con man, I don't remember his name, but someone says it I think in this scene, where he created six forgeries of the Mona Lisa, stole the original, and then sold the six fakes on the black market to individual buyers as though they were the original and got six times the profit.

John: Some con and heist shows will just do that plot and act like they came up with it. [Coughs] Asshole! [Cough].

[Laughter]

John: Rather than mention the fact that this is something that really happened, that you should honor.

Amy: This is something that really happened, that I actually read about.

John: Also used the Doctor Who's: The City Of Death written by Douglas Adams.

Amy: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

John: There you go. This is something else we did a lot of, which was the process of elimination bit with the screens. Remember we did it in Hunter too? And it's just kind of fun because it’s kind of something from my physics background which is all about probability. And the fact that a series of educated guesses- it's kind of like our version of detective work.

Amy: Yeah.

John: You know, it's like crime detection, it's a lot of fun. And yeah, and now we're really seeing Nate start to spin out of control.

Amy: But this is what I would call dueling competence porn.

John: Yes it is.

Amy: This, and the third act where the teams are doing their jobs and doing them well.

John: Competence porn, by the way, is a term- I forget how it came about, but it's basically-

Amy: It's just a room bit.

John: It’s a room bit. It’s like, you know what? I just like watching people who are good at their jobs doing it, especially if they're entertaining. A lot of it was from 208 was watching Beth Riesgraf- in 208 there was an entire act that's a break in-

Amy: Oh yeah.

John: That’s Beth breaking into a vault. And when you're writing it, you're like, ‘Gosh, that feels thin,’ and then you're watching it and you're like, ‘I'm watching Parker break into a vault for 15 minutes and this is amazing!’

Amy: I could watch it for 40 minutes.

Dean: This is one of my favorite bullet time shots that we’ve done.

John: Yes, now this is- now remember this is all done not digitally- well we do it really. We freeze everyone in the background and the cameraman walks through it and we digitally speed it up. What is this space? This is the-

Dean: This is an actual museum in Portland that we turned into our space.

John: Yup.

Amy: Wasn't there a naked sculpture that you guys put a leaf on?

John: Yes, up in the upper level.

Amy: That's my favorite story.

John: Yeah. And then- yes, this is 4-way; this is not as insane as the one in the season opener.

Amy: But it’s still insane.

John: But this is a 4-way through about 100 extras.

Amy: I don't think Dean understands that we’re making television.

[Laughter]

Dean: Well, you know, honestly you don't even attempt a shot like this without a steadicam operator like Gary Camp.

Amy: Gary Camp is amazing.

Dean: He's a serious feature film guy. I mean, that was all one shot.

John: Yeah. That's stunning. And then you bring it back to Parker- and this is also fun, is the fact that we make fun in the show. And this was- even when we did tap out and some people were like, ‘Oh, you're making fun of Lincoln, Nebraska,’ when we had Sophie make fun of the food. We’re not making fun of the locations, we’re making fun of the fact that Sophie’s a little princess.

Amy: Yeah.

John: She's not someone who does well with things that- and the van, the van, actually, over the course of the second season becomes a character.

Dean: I love that she's says about how it smells a little whiffy.

[Laughter]

Amy: Which is a callback in The Future Job as well.

John: Yes, this is hard work, it smells like hard work. Yeah, Hardison's affection for the van.

Amy: Respect the van!

John: Respect the van, yeah.

Dean: Now this is actually the first scene where we’ll see the teams start to go head to head.

John: Yeah. Split up, call out your jobs.

Amy: This is the promise of the premise act, as we call it. And it's the Van Gogh that they're after, the Cafe Terrace At Night, I believe it’s called.

Dean: And this is a very important moment because it really established who Nate and Sophie were to the rest of the team. Nate being the one that makes the plans, but Sophie being the one who keeps them safe. And that had never been exposited before, and by doing that, it really set it up.

John: Boom! And then the parallel structure over to Hardison's opposite number, Chaos, played by Wil Wheaton, just four vans down.

Amy: Nice.

John: That was really inspired. They’re the most twin of the bunch. Oh, and this is amazing. This is amazing because that's all real time. That wallet never came off. This was this whole section we just gave to Apollo.

Amy: Yeah. He's like, what can you do? And he just basically-

John: And he took Beth aside and they came up with a bunch of- it’s like, you know what? We're just gonna run camera, you just do a bunch of you do you, man.

Amy: By the way, there was no one else we had in mind for Apollo. Even when I was like- when I came up with the concept, and then I also did the outline, I also called the character Apollo, hoping at some point we would actually cast him.

John: But was the Wil Wheaton character originally a girl?

Amy: In fact, she was.

John: Yes, that’s right.

[Laughter]

Amy: Yeah, it was- I believe it was a hot Latina-

John: Yes.

Amy: -that he was going up against, and then at some point, you know, in the casting process I turned to you and I was like, ‘You know, we've been talking about Wil Wheaton for something. Is this not the prefect role or not?’

John: And Noa Tishby rocking the dress. Noa was actually in the Israeli army. So that was kinda cool as we were looking at a lot of different actresses and Dean had seen her tape.

Dean: Yeah.

John: And it was like, you know, I wanna try a different ethnicity. I wanna try a different look, and brought her in. And what's great is she looks like she can take a punch, you know, that's a tough chick. And she really did great in the fight scenes and was a really- we got really lucky in this episode.

Amy: Oh yeah.

John: You know, we usually have to cast one big role; we cast five.

Dean: Right.

John: And they were all great.

Dean: Now this fight scene was-

John: Ok I'm gonna take credit for this one because nobody else is-

Amy: I wasn't gonna take credit for it.

John: No shadow on this, I had to explain this 9 times.

[Laughter]

Amy: Oh yeah, that’s right.

Dean: And this sequence was actually getting directed by Marc Roskin and you, John.

John: Yes, at two o’clock in the morning. But I will give Mark Franco big props for throwing the old 1970’s film look.

Amy: The film reel stuff.

Dean: I love it.

John: That is so great. The Shaw brothers look is that and this is the whole-

Dean: That's how they see- in their minds that's how they see fights, like the karate movies they grew up watching.

John: Yes. And this is based on two things. 1) a great story about samurais- I love that look that Chris did. Great story about two samurai who faced each other, knew each other’s skills so well they fought the entire fight in their head and walked away. And Warren Ellis’ character the Midnighter from The Authority comic book who has sort of the same thing. He does fights backwards in his head. Ah look at that, oh he's a great physical actor, too, it was really- it was nice, cause we cast Apollo, he's never done acting before, he'd never done TV before. And it's the one gamble on the whole show and he was fantastic.

Dean: And he totally pulled it off.

Amy: But he's just so damn charming, it’s like you, sort of, just believed from the beginning that he could do it.

John: Yeah, he's very dangerous.

[Laughter]

John: It's really- if he ever turned evil, we'd be in a lot of trouble.

Amy: Oh my gosh.

Dean: This next sequence, outside, while I had done the storyboards for it, Marc Roskin shot the hell out of it. And what we wanted to do was an homage to the great Western movies, you know, the Spaghetti Western.

John: Well this was the challenge, and we talked about this when we were writing it. It’s like, nobody does hacking in an interesting way. There's no way to do hacking in an interesting way.

Amy: Visually it’s- filming it is not effective.

John: So abandon trying to do it with the computers and just do the metaphor, which is two guys pitting each other’s intellects against each other, and make it text.

Amy: And it's much more interesting, look at each other than looking at screens.

John: Oh and that timing is great, look at this, it’s just fantastic.

Amy: This is so nerdgasmic.

[Laughter]

Dean: He even had that Spaghetti Western whistle.

Amy: Yeah. I remember the first cut it was only in there subtly and you were like, ‘Hey turn that up, man.’

Dean: Listen, I’m-

John: And look at the little holster move, too.

Dean: I'm all for subtly, I just want a lot more of it.

[Laughter]

John: Oh no, Wil knocked it out of the park in this. Did you know that he had been doing a bunch of shows and people have come up and asked him to sign his autograph as this character?

Amy: As Chaos.

Dean: That's great.

John: Somebody came up with the anarchists cookbook and asked him to sign it as Chaos.

Dean: And I love that Sophie can’t use a computer.

[Laughter]

John: Utterly useless.

Dean: She just closes it.

John: Well Hardison’s taught Eliot- and the look to the swords. We had so much fun coming up with different props in the scenes. And this was at 2 o’clock in the morning fight fight fight, you win. Fight fight fight, you win. And just- cause they had to learn the routines and we were banging it out in three sizes at a time, it was great. Then we shot the bird.

Amy: So many looks.

John: And this- you could run the entire Parker/Apollo scene without dialogue and you'd know exactly what's going on.

Amy and Dean: Yeah.

John: Actually-

Dean: She's a little bit the Harpo. You know what I mean.

Amy: She's the Harpo.

John: She's the Harpo, he's Groucho in that scene, it's very subtle.

Amy: Is that Chase? Was that Chase walking towards the camera? It looked a little like Chase.

John: No, no. And this is, again, one of the rules, one of the hard rules of doing these shows. These shows are very hard, is that it can't be a random obstacle. Whatever is your obstacle heading into the third or fourth act must either be a product of the villains plan which you've already set in motion, or something that the team has screwed up or succeeded too well. And not screwed up too often cause that means they suck. So-

Amy: You make it sound like we did something good on purpose. That’s awesome.

John: Yeah, every now and then. And this is just- I want-

Dean: We almost didn’t do this.

John: We almost didn't do, but this is the punchline to the bit, that they're so locked into each other-

Dean: I'm so glad we did it.

John: Yeah. I actually was ready to bail on it, you were like, ‘Yeah, you know what? Let's make time.’ And the little look, and he gives them a bunch-

Dean: A bunch of crazy idiots.

John: Yeah, exactly. Now this is great, Nate’s totally lost in the need to win at this point.

Amy: Oh yeah.

Dean: I love Parker saying that, ‘The people in this line of work are unstable; we can use that.’

John: Yes.

Dean: Completely not realizing that she's in that line of work.

John: Tapping the pad look at that and look at the look Chris- that's another thing.

Amy: ‘I'm totally helping.’ That's it.

John: Gina gives a little smile which I missed the first time I saw this show.

Amy: There's a lot of little subtleties.

John: And again, second season, you start pairing up things differently. Chris and Gina found a nice rhythm for Sophie and Eliot this year that wasn't there first year, just in the pairings. And we wound up working; it was nice. And this is- yeah, she killed a guy with a mop.

Dean: I love Hardison's jealousy about Chaos, the whole ‘ugh.’

Amy: ‘Chaos.’

[Laughter]

John: Cause, you know, and it's a great thing of acting on Aldis’ part, you know he's beat him. You know that Chaos has beaten him a couple times. He's really- he’s not a pleasant loser, Hardison. And the nice little fist tap for the Kobayashi Maru.

Amy: Nice little knuckle bump, Parker.

John: Yup. Well that was another one of the little subtle things, that Parker has plainly sat down and watched like all nine Star Trek movies with Hardison because it was just something he did on a Saturday, you know?

[Laughter]

Amy: Well she wants to see, you know, what normal people do.

John: Yeah, Hardison's probably a bad example of that.

Amy: I don't think that's right- the right choice.

John: There's not- you know-

Amy: I gotta say, I love Tim in this scene.

John: Yeah. He’s really mad.

Dean: This one, out of all the cutting back and forth, this was the trickiest because it had to match rhythm, intensity-

Amy: And dialogue.

Dean: -and dialogue.

John: That's right.

Dean: This was really tricky.

John: Line by line. And that was the tricky bit, too. We had to give both of them the entire script for each one so they could know what they were doing to each other. I think- did Griffin come down the first day and watch Tim?

Dean: I actually think this was Griffin’s either first or second day on the show.

John: That's right. Tim came down to watch- yeah, so he would know what he had done physically. There's a parallel structure even with the team. This was a lot of fun. But this is one of those things that looks really elegant, but scripting, it's a little chimpy. It’s like, once you know what you're going to do, this wrote pretty easy.

Amy: Ok, yes, but I'm gonna go on record in saying that this is the best third act we've ever done in the history of Leverage. I just love it so much.

John: Well, you know what? Again, this is something you sorta learn. We- you know what? You learn how to write the show while you write the show. This is when we really where we realize you only need to do one thing an act. We so tried to buff all the people and, ‘Oh look, at the incredible plot twist’ like, you know what? They're fun characters, they're good characters, let them do one thing.

Dean: Yeah, it's fun to watch them do their thing.

John: One thing every act.

Dean: And I love how they all started to get pumped up for it. On both sides, they are gearing up for game day.

John: This is a great act break.

Amy: Nothing about that act I dont like. And I had very little to do with it.

John: This is easily- this is one of my favorite shows of the season. Of both seasons.

Amy: Mine too.

Dean: And beautifully photographed by our great cinematographer, Dave Connell.

John: That's right, because we were shooting parallel; we were shooting inside the museum and outside. You were outside running back and forth.

Dean: Very intense.

John: And this is a lot of fun. All the security guys were great. Portland once again gave us a great, great acting pool.

Amy: Go Portland!

John: And then this was a lot of fun, was setting up the snarky dialogue and Aldis and Wil basically sat and sweated in their vans-

Amy: Yeah.

John: -for 6 hours. Cause Aldis is always going, ‘Nobody knows what it's like to work in the van’. That van is hot. So he was very glad to have a playmate.

Amy: Aldis had like one full day of shooting in the van and nowhere else.

John: Yeah, exactly.

Dean: I love the character Tim came up with here, that was great.

John: And Emily is actually the girl I went to prom with. That's where the name comes from.

Dean: Nice.

John: Yep.

Dean: Poor Emily.

John: Yeah I’m- hey!

[Laughter]

Amy: I said nothing. If you noticed, I stayed quiet and said nothing. I'm learning.

John: And Tim plays drunk, distracting guy an awful lot this season. This- and by the way, the security guard that talks him down is great, he's got a really great comedic beat. This, by the way, is a stunning sequence.

Dean and John: 10 millimeter lens.

Amy: 10 millimeter lens?

John: Down in the basement.

Dean: And look at this steadicam move - down the stairs!

Amy: Running down the stairs.

John: This is a guy walking!

Dean: And then whipping around, that is-

Amy: This is inhuman.

John: It really is.

Dean: For steadicam artists, they will understand how difficult that shot is.

John: By the way, I like the fact that we just locked Beth into the air conditioning system.

[Laughter]

John: ‘Are we gonna build one? No, there's one downstairs! Should we put Beth Riesgraf in moving machinery? If she's up for it.’

Amy: Not sure why we had to put the lock it, but that's ok.

John: It's a good look. And oh yes, it-

Dean: I think this is my favorite of all the air duct scenes, this is my favorite air duct scene.

Amy: This is actually-

John: Well like Two Horse- all of Two Horse where she was bitching while having to do it.

Amy: Oh yeah.

John: This is also- we built the most complicated duct system on earth for this.

Dean: Talk about the bird, because you were there for this.

John: Oh yeah, I- we thought the bird would be CG, much like, we thought we’d be on a CG roof the series premiere, instead we wound up in Chicago 40 stories up. Dean went and found a bird-

[Laughter]

John: -a North American Kestrel. He said it would be easier to shoot a real bird that was trained, and so if you go on my blog you see pictures of the bird, but that's the last thing we did that night, so at 2 am we had this bird in a box, which was really beautiful.

Dean: Yeah.

John: And-

Amy: No birds were harmed in the making of this episode.

John: No birds were harmed. It was a really beautiful bird. But yeah, the trainer was hiding right off screen to summon the bird to get it to fly across.

Dean: This was actually one of the most difficult fight scenes we've ever shot, mainly because of the small space they were in.

John: How did you get the camera up there?

Dean: We literally locked it onto the ceiling and just let it run for the whole day. And then hoped we had good material.

John: Oh cool. That everybody would hit their marks.

Amy: She's so intense, I love it.

John: And the- him switching back over to Hebrew, this was a lot of fun. Oh and ‘now I’ve got the lasers.’

Amy: ‘No, now I’ve got the lasers!’

Dean: His arrogance was just awesome.

John: The two of them were fantastic.

Amy: He’s almost too good at it.

John: Big thanks to Derek, yet again, for building a great interface that lets the audience know exactly what’s going on.

Amy: Derek’s our graphics guy, he's amazing.

John: Does all our computer stuff. And our security guards, you know, somewhat oblivious, but good guys.

Dean: That's just the oldest gag in the world that I love.

Amy: It flickers only when they're not looking at it.

John: You know what it is, it’s the Abbott and Costello, it’s the candle on Dracula’s coffin.

[Laughter]

Dean: And I love that.

John: I love that reveal.

Dean: And he comes in dressed as, and named as, Nate Ford. I mean, that is just fabulous.

Amy: He's with the insurance company, what?

John: It is a great little, ‘Fuck you,’ from that character.

Dean: And Tim’s look at him for doing it, it’s just awesome.

John: But this was the fun of the fourth- and this was really hard when we were plotting. It's like ok, in the fourth act they have to be good, but they have to look like they’re losing. And they have to look like they're losing so bad you come into the fifth act not knowing if they won, and then we have to somehow pull it out.

Amy: Yeah. This, by the way, the scene with the two of them talking with the bird cage, was one of the first images that popped into my head when we were breaking this episode. I just love this.

John: But this duct tape- cause here's the thing, we have to shoot this direction and you have to shoot them crawling off these directions. This thing was huge, a human sized hamster trail. Took up an entire ball room for that one shot. Great fight scene, and we had talked about this, and this is a lot steamier and sexier than originally pitched.

Amy: It's literally steamy.

John: Dean was all over- like ‘I'm going to fight. I'm gonna shoot the steamiest fight scene that we've ever had.’

Dean: I thought it would be interesting to do a fight scene as a love scene.

John: Yeah.

Dean: And so the fight is actually foreplay.

John: Yeah.

[Laughter]

John: And a dance. It’s really like a dance sequence. We used to always say fights are like dances because of the movement and everything, but you know, you took that very literally and everything, which was great.

Dean: Now, by the way, we've done lasers in several episodes before.

Amy: Yeah.

Dean: These are the best lasers we ever did by far.

Amy: It's pretty cool.

John: Yeah, and having them move, that was the key. It's yet another example of something that you think will be really hard, actually turns out to be a little easier and way cooler.

Dean: And way cooler.

John: Yeah.

Dean: And again, kudos to the effects artists. If you look carefully, you can see the lasers reflecting in her pupils.

John: Reflecting in her eyes. I know, that’s sick.

Amy: That's really hot.

John: That was really great. This is a big ‘they are screwed’ act out.

Amy: Oh my god, look at that!

Dean: That is so cool.

Amy: Why did I not notice that before?

John: And wet people fighting.

[Laughter]

John: You know what? We give you everything on Leverage.

Dean: Little sex, little violence.

John: And it’s good.

Dean: And now we were able to take the hat off cause we were able to use the real scar on his forehead finally in the episode!

John: Also kinda cool, Kevin, our stunt coordinator, had them fighting in Israeli military style. That they were both- they had both sort of picked up- we always had Eliot kind of fight in that style, but the fact that that would be her training-

Dean: And I love that these two are standing next to Honest Abe.

[Laughter]

John: And that's a great entrance. She's really got-

Amy: ‘Oohhh.’

John: She's got 3 great entrances this year.

Amy: Yeah, she does.

John: One I'm not gonna talk about.

Amy: Cause you haven't seen it yet.

John: You haven’t seen it yet. But the Annie Croy entrance in the season opener was one of my favorite Gina bits, and then that.

Dean: Fabulous. Gina absolutely brought her A game this season.

John: And yup, this is our double just whipping through this.

Amy: That was me.

John: That was you? I forgot about that.

[Laughter]

Amy: It's a secret skill. I don’t like to talk about it.

John: And that's the thing, that was footage of the gymnast whipping through those maneuvers with Beth popping up. The special effects people had to put the lasers through those moves to coordinate with- you know, ordinarily, you build these shots incredibly carefully. It was like, ‘No, here's the footage. Make it work.’

Dean: I love this old school crank.

John: ‘Can't hack a classic.’

[Laughter]

Amy: More competence porn.

John: More competence porn. Hardison- the staff will tell you the first year we had Christmas together, I got them all wind up radios and flashlights.

Amy: Yes.

John: I'm a big believer in emergency preparedness for the apocalypse.

Amy: He cares! He cares about us.

John: You mock.

Amy: Wants us to live through the world ending.

John: Well, you know. I play a lot of Left 4 Dead. I want to make sure my crew’s ready.

Amy: Alright, cool.

Dean: I love that - Parker not quite good at acting yet.

John: No. This is key, Parker can't do a long con. She can maintain it for maybe 4-5 minutes before her inability to mimic humans breaks down. And there we go.

Amy: By the way, this episode totally screwed my- the way I do story telling now, because I'm thinking as the criminal all the time.

John: Yeah.

[Laughter]

Amy: Like, it's terrible. ‘How would I break into an auction house? Well to control the motion sensors-’

Dean: I love this beat right here.

John: Yeah.

Dean: Like, ‘Ahh, screw the fight.’

[Laughter]

John: Well he knows he's won by this point, so it's just really-

Dean: And she's so turned on by the fact that he did, cause no one else has ever beaten her.

John: Yeah, that was a lot of fun, was the idea that people- it's, again, you respect someone who’s competent. And the hand- yeah the little look after the handcuff-

Amy: Wow.

John: He actually looks a little scared there.

Amy: I know, I know.

John: He's like, ‘I got you! Oh wait, what did I get?’

Amy: ‘Is it over?’

John: This is nice.

Dean: In the original longer version, they originally kissed and then fell out of frame.

John: I missed that! I missed the fact that they banged out a quickie during the middle of the con.

Amy: Uh, no.

John: Alright, fine. By the way, Christian loves the badge on the chain. Anytime he can have the badge on a chain, he’s the happiest man alive. And Hardison-

Dean: A little bit of improv-ing by Aldis Hodge here.

Amy: Indeed.

John: Aldis- and again, this pops up in the next episode, Hardison always goes a little too far. He's never able to quite control the- he’s never able to get out without pushing it too far.

Amy: Are you saying that's going to catch up to him at some point?

John: That will catch up to him. The very next episode matter of fact. And yeah, this was a lot of fun driving police cars around Portland at six o’clock in the morning.

Amy: I'm sure no one was alarmed.

Dean: Now young filmmakers, that little move there is to get on the other side of the line.

Amy: Oh yes.

John: What was that?

Dean: So we- after we established them coming out of the building the camera slowly tracks over to the other shoulder on both sides, so now we're on the opposite side of the line and all of their looks have now reversed from the previous scene.

John: You and your looks.

[Laughter]

Dean: But this allowed us to now do our car gag, because we couldn’t really blow up a car in this location.

John: At two o’clock in the morning.

Dean: So we had to whip-pan off of a look to a parked car, then later we blew up a model car and replaced it.

Amy: We did two miniature explosions.

John: I love this reveal. I love this look. It’s like, ahhh, it's like Christmas.

Dean: Bingo.

John: Yeah.

Amy: Always knew you were evil, Wil Wheaton.

Dean: And now the evil speech of evil.

Amy: The evil speech of evil!

John: The evil speech of evil! A crucial part of the- well, this isn't really an evil speech of evil. The evil speech of evil is usually when they are-

Amy: Yeah, it’s the evil griping of evil.

John: The evil speech of evil is just: define your behavior. He's straight up monologuing here.

Dean: This is a little bit more of the, ‘I would’ve gotten away if it weren’t for you meddling kids.’

John: Yes, exactly.

Amy: Are you saying this is a Scooby Doo?

John: In the original version of this, he pulls off the Wil Wheaton mask only to reveal he's still Wil Wheaton.

[Laughter]

John: But he wears a Wil Wheaton mask. You know what? We should've called Wil for this.

Amy: Oh my god, why didn’t we do that? Now we gotta record it again.

John: I know. Maybe- You know what? We’ll do one on iTunes with him.

Amy: We'll do a special one.

John: And we may be playing Dungeons and Dragons while we actually do the commentary. This is great now. This is tough. And talk about- we had a couple different endings for this episode in this particular scene.

Amy: Yes.

John: Go ahead.

Amy: I don't remember them, I just remember there were multiple endings. [Laughs]

John: We actually, for a couple different versions of the outline, had him lose. Had Nate and the guys lose.

Amy: Oh, that’s right.

John: And then our team conned them about the painting. And the moral was basically our team kinda sitting around, pissed off they lost, but they were still a family while the other team broke up. And it just didn't feel-

Dean: Wasn't satisfying.

John: It was one of those good writer beats- and that's why Dean’s actually a very valuable producing partner, because he's all heart.

[Laughter]

John: Seriously man, he’s- and he’s, ‘I don't feel it.’

Amy: And we have none.

John: And we have none, because we’re writers and our blackened little hearts are shriveled away.

Amy: And our dark souls.

John: It's very easy when you're writing a con and heist show to get a little too clever for your own good.

Amy: It’s true.

John: And Dean’s a very good barometer on, ‘You know, do I really-? Am I gonna be happy with this?’ And you know, he’s right.

Dean: I like a little fromage.

Amy: Well what were the reasons-?

John: No, not fromage, but just, you know-

Amy: I think one of the reasons we were gonna have them losing was that this was gonna be episode three or four, and then we had the wild thought that we would bring the evil team back for episode seven.

John: Yes.

Amy: And sort of do, you know, ‘We lost the first one, but we won the second one.’

Dean: There's the recall of your Emily story.

John: Yes, that's right, the little go to the dance with. No it's- oh and that's great.

Dean: Again, that was Apollo who came up with that idea.

John: Yeah, that they're picking-

Dean: A lockpicking race.

John: And also Beth tossing the lockpick into the air and catching it? After a week with Apollo, she’d really gotten disgustingly good. I think they're actually picking there.

Amy: Well Apollo has gone on record as saying Beth can actually be a professional pickpocket if she wanted to.

John: She's got soft hands.

Dean: And this is, again, one of those scenes where Christian shows you how good he is at comedy. How subtle he is when he realizes she may be the person who actually shot him.

Amy: Look at that look!

[Laughter]

John: Yeah.

Amy: His eyes widen just like a millimeter, but-

John: Yeah. And that was an improv, I think. ‘Y’all nasty’. He's supposed to just look at it.

Amy: That’s awesome.

John: And Griffin doing the Nate Ford, ‘I'm an honest man’ speech here, incredibly uncomfortably!

Dean: Well, we always want the villain to suffer and this is how he suffers.

John: He’s just sweating it out.

Amy: He's getting more satisfaction out of watching Griffin Dunne lose than he is from getting the painting back to the clients.

John: Which is something wrong.

Amy: Yes, that's not right.

John: Sophie's actually the moral center of this scene.

Amy: This is the episode where they, in a way, sort of switch roles. She becomes the honest thief, and he becomes-

John: They were a lovely couple. God, these actors were nice.

Dean: Just amazing local actors.

John: No, this was a lot of fun. And then, again, giving him just enough rope to hang himself with. And making sure that he's pissed off enough to come back in season three.

Dean: The other part of this scene I like is, it really shows how far Sophie has come, that she’s actually not just doing this, she’s actually, really- she’s drank the kool aid by now. She really believes in what they're doing.

John: To a little bit more than Nate at this point.

Amy: Yeah.

John: Yeah. Which, you know, and that- we really took the, ‘You killed Sophie Deaveraux.’ And the funeral was a late addition; that wasn't in the first outline.

Dean: Yeah.

Amy: No, it wasn't. That was something that we added later.

John: Yeah it was.

Amy: But that was an element of knowing we were gonna lose Gina and trying to set up an awesome departure.

John: Yup. And that bomb thing wound up being really- Because originally- it was originally a sort of investigatory clue path and then when we lose Gina it's like, alright let's scare the audience a little here.

Dean: How did you come up with this bit of how they tracked-?

John: I think that was some geek bullshit I had in the notebook, I’m fairly sure. Whenever it’s some tiny minutiae of how phones work, it’s you know-

Amy: Good old GPS.

John: Yeah well, you know what? I think at the time there were some protests about the fact that you couldn't turn off the GPS tracking in your phone, and it was- they were talking about a lot in England you being able to do that, so that just kinda stuck.

Amy: Well I imagine all this would-

Dean: There's Chase!

Amy: See, yeah, there's Chase. I knew I saw him at some point.

John: Is this-? Yeah, here we go. All these great local actors.

Dean: And I love the security guard; this woman is fabulous.

Amy: So much personality, only a few lines.

John: And again, this is one of those things where you are trying to come up with a really clever way to screw him and then you suddenly realize, no, it’s just a box full of paintings; there's nothing really subtle about this. You’re just going to jail forever.

Dean: But in a way, this is what makes it work. ‘This is the real one.’

John: We had a couple of different notes, too.

Amy: He lost by winning. Cause what he wanted was the paintings, and we gave him the paintings, but that’s what did him over in the end.

John: Another rule: the villain must be brought down by their own sin.

Dean: Now this, for me, is my favorite scene for a number of reasons.

John: It’s a good scene.

Dean: First of all, just the lighting. We got this at the perfect time of day.

John: Yeah, how'd we get the lighting Dean?

[Laughter]

Dean: We accidentally went over that day and somehow went into-

Amy: Oh accidentally?

John: Oh did the director somehow go over in the morning, so we just happened to be shooting at the magic hour?

Dean: It was odd how that worked out.

Amy: Oh interesting.

Dean: That we just happened to be in magic hour to shoot the romantic scene.

Amy: That is so funny.

John: What I love is the fact that you’d never work again as a director for boning your producer that bad, except you’re the producer?

[Laughter]

John: No, this scene is stunning.

Dean: They both knocked it out of the park on this day. And for me, it's weird to say it because I directed the episode, but this is the best almost-kiss I’d ever seen before. And it's really the way they did it.

John: Yeah. This was another one where it was like, set up the cameras, let the actors work.

Dean: This was also a callback to what happened in the episode at the school, because-

Amy: Fairy Godparents.

John: Yeah.

Dean: Cause in the Fairy Godparents that she had never really been honest.

John: Exactly.

Dean: And here she realizes she doesn't know who she is anymore because she's been so many other people for so long.

Amy: She got dumped because she wasn't being truthful with her boyfriend, and she actually recited all the names of her aliases, and this is sort of the callback to her having to bury them in order to move on.

John: Yeah, she's more attached to fake people than real people and it’s caught up with her. And this is the moment where Sophie Deaveraux becomes a better human being than Nate Ford.

Dean: And that red coat was totally Gina.

John: That was Gina. That's right, she came in with that she and Nadine went hunting for that. This is a great almost kiss.

Dean: Ow! Ow!

John: This was an Italian over. This is- what's that terminology?

Dean: It’s a French over. Rather than being in the front of them, you're over their backs and then this walk away.

Amy: The Italian over is you're drinking wine while you’re doing it.

John: And this walkaway was fantastic with that light right there!

Amy: Through the trees! It's so pretty.

John: You knew what scene was good when we were shooting it because I was watching it on the monitor and I turned around and all the local PA’s were standing behind us watching the scene and two of the girls were crying.

Dean: Yeah. It was awesome.

John: You just really nailed it. And that was going to be the summer season ender, 207, and wound up being still a great send off for that character. And really one of the best episodes of the two years I gotta say.

Amy: Yup, it's one of my favorites for sure.

Dean: For me it's almost like the two part season finale of one, season one, done in one episode.

Amy: Yeah, exactly.

Dean: So thank you for watching.

John: Thank you for watching.

Amy: Thanks everybody!

#Leverage #Leverage TNT #Leverage Audio Commentary Transcripts #Audio Commentary #Transcripts #Parker #Alec Hardison #Eliot Spencer #Nate Ford #Sophie Deveraux #Season 2 #Episode 7 #Season 2 Episode 7 #The Two Live Crew Job

66 notes · View notes

introvertguide · 4 years

Text

Gone with the Wind; AFI #6

Our next film for review is the classic epic drama, Gone with the Wind (1939). This movie was the big award winner from a year that is often considered the best year for movies in American cinema history. The film won 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress. Notably, the film also had the first win for a black actor with Best Supporting Actress going to Hattie McDaniel (although she had to get special permission to sit in the back of the room since the awards took place at a segregated hotel). All these wins came against competition like The Wizard of Oz, Wuthering Heights, Stagecoach and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Although this film is considered to be one of the best American films of all time, there has been a lot of complaints about the depiction of house slaves and slavery in general in this film. I want to discuss why it is still great and the takeaway from the film, but first a quick synopsis of the plot will help. This movie is almost 4 hours long, so it will be much more condensed then usual, and I relied heavily on Wikipedia and IMDB entries to summarize this particular film. I do want to do the standard...

SPOILER ALERT!!!! IF YOU ARE AMERICAN, THEN YOU SHOULD PROBABLY WATCH THIS FILM AS ALMOST A CIVIC DUTY!!! IT IS A MAJOR PART OF AMERICAN CINEMA HISTORY AND SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE EXPERIENCED!!! IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT, I IMPLORE YOU TO GO AND WATCH IT BEFORE READING ANY FURTHER!!!

In 1861, on the eve of the American Civil War, Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) lives at Tara, her family's cotton plantation in Georgia, with her parents and two sisters and their many slaves. Scarlett learns that Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), whom she secretly loves, is to be married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland), and the engagement is to be announced the next day at a barbecue at Ashley's home, the nearby plantation Twelve Oaks. At the Twelve Oaks party, Scarlett makes an advance on Ashley, but instead catches the attention of another guest, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). The barbecue is disrupted by news of the declaration of war, and the men rush to enlist. In a bid to arouse jealousy in Ashley, Scarlett marries Melanie's younger brother Charles before he leaves to fight. Following Charles's death while serving in the Confederate States Army, Scarlett's mother sends her to the Hamilton home in Atlanta, where she creates a scene by attending a charity bazaar in her mourning attire and waltzing with Rhett, now a blockade runner for the Confederacy.

The tide of war turns against the Confederacy after the Battle of Gettysburg, in which many of the men of Scarlett's town are killed. Eight months later, as the city is besieged by the Union Army in the Atlanta Campaign, Melanie gives birth with Scarlett's aid, and Rhett helps them flee the city. Once out of the city, Rhett chooses to go off to fight, leaving Scarlett to make her own way back to Tara. Upon her return home, Scarlett finds Tara deserted, except for her father, her sisters, and two former slaves: Mammy (Hattie McDaniel) and Pork (Oscar Polk). Scarlett learns that her mother has just died of typhoid fever and her father has become senile. With Tara pillaged by Union troops and the fields untended, Scarlett vows she will do anything for the survival of her family and herself.

(Little bit of a side note, this seems to be where several of the commenters on IMDB thought the movie ended as the phrase “ends with Scarlett vowing never to go hungry again” showed up more than once. This is the point of the intermission and the two halves are very different from each other, but this is by no means the end of the film. It is a very good time to take a break if you are watching it so I suggest taking more than the intermission time to stretch your legs. This is a really long movie.)

As the O'Haras work in the cotton fields, Scarlett's father attempts to chase away a scalawag from his land, but is thrown from his horse and killed. With the defeat of the Confederacy, Ashley also returns, but finds he is of little help at Tara. When Scarlett begs him to run away with her, he confesses his desire for her and kisses her passionately, but says he cannot leave Melanie. Unable to pay the Reconstructionist taxes imposed on Tara, Scarlett dupes her younger sister Suellen's fiancé, the middle-aged and wealthy general store owner Frank Kennedy, into marrying her, by saying Suellen got tired of waiting and married another suitor. Frank, Ashley, Rhett and several other accomplices make a night raid on a shanty town after Scarlett is attacked while driving through it alone, resulting in Frank's death. With Frank's funeral barely over, Rhett proposes to Scarlett and she accepts.

Rhett and Scarlett have a daughter whom Rhett names Bonnie Blue, but Scarlett, still pining for Ashley and chagrined at the perceived ruin of her figure, lets Rhett know that she wants no more children and that they will no longer share a bed. One day at Frank's mill, Scarlett and Ashley are seen embracing by Ashley's sister, India, and harboring an intense dislike of Scarlett she eagerly spreads rumors. Later that evening, Rhett, having heard the rumors, forces Scarlett to attend a birthday party for Ashley. Incapable of believing anything bad of her, Melanie stands by Scarlett's side so that all know that she believes the gossip to be false. After returning home from the party, Scarlett finds Rhett downstairs drunk, and they argue about Ashley. Rhett kisses Scarlett against her will, stating his intent to have sex with her that night, and carries the struggling Scarlett to the bedroom.

The next day, Rhett apologizes for his behavior and offers Scarlett a divorce, which she rejects, saying that it would be a disgrace. When Rhett returns from an extended trip to London, Scarlett informs him that she is pregnant, but an argument ensues which results in her falling down a flight of stairs and suffering a miscarriage. As she is recovering, tragedy strikes when Bonnie dies while attempting to jump a fence with her pony. Scarlett and Rhett visit Melanie, who has suffered complications arising from a new pregnancy, on her deathbed. As Scarlett consoles Ashley, Rhett prepares to leave Atlanta. Having realized that it was him she truly loved all along, and not Ashley, Scarlett pleads with Rhett to stay, but Rhett rebuffs her and walks away into the morning fog, leaving her in tears on the staircase. A distraught Scarlett resolves to return home to Tara, believing that one day she will get Rhett back.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While discussing this film with my mom, she mentioned that the film has had a different effect on her each time and she felt like it was because she was a different person each time she saw it. I have had the same experience and I find that rewatching the film is a good way to see how your own perspective has changed over time. I first saw this as a teen and thought Rhett Butler was a cold man who could could not forgive a suffering Scarlett who was trying to figure out her priorities during a trying time. In my twenties, I could only focus on the depiction of slavery and thought that people should not watch the film at all. In my thirties, I hated Scarlett and wished that she had died instead of her friend or the daughter because she was dramatic and made bad situations worse. I recently turned forty and watched it again...

I still find Scarlett to be dramatic and the cause of many of her own problems, but at the same time I would expect this from somebody her age (I think I finally separated the age of the actress from the age of the character) with her “Princess of the South” upbringing. I can’t really empathize since her life was much easier than mine, but I can sympathize after working with many rich teens who are spoiled and don’t know how to act in an emergency. I think I understand better about how the author of the book was trying to portray this plantation lifestyle as almost royalty and the slaves were like the 1850s Southern United States version of royal attendants. I find the language very cringy, but all of the house slaves at the O’Hara plantation have their place in the story. This is probably an accurate depiction of what somebody from the old South would want to glamorize plantation life as being to people living in the 1940s, and thus historically valuable. I find Rhett Butler to be somewhat similar to Han Solo: somebody who looks out for his own best interest but softens for good people and good causes. He seems to do good things except when he gets drunk and forces himself on Scarlett (marriage and sexual assault are not mutually exclusive). He is otherwise pretty faultless, but that scene drops him quite a few pegs in my eyes.

One thing that sticks with me each and every time is when Scarlett is working at the army hospital and the doctor wants her to help with an amputation. They have nothing to numb the pain and there is a young man screaming not to cut into his leg...I can’t even imagine yet I know that this was not even uncommon during the height of the war. I remember watching a documentary on the Civil War and a real photo showing a pile of amputated limbs at a makeshift tent hospital. The pile looked to have more than 100 limbs and I am sure they did not have enough morphine for all of these men. The best field doctors were said to be more strong and stoic than accurate since being able to saw through a man’s leg quickly was a major commodity. This horrifically honest portrayal of war in the midst of the Nazi threat and a couple of years before the entry of the U.S. into WW2 took courage. I was able to sublimate a little more during this viewing since there was no on-screen cutting. I also tried to imagine the man doing the voice over and screaming “Don't cut my leg!” in a sound studio. It helped. Another thing that I didn’t know during previous viewings was that when she exits the building and sees the hundreds of soldiers in the streets, half of the bodies on the ground are manikins. Look very closely at the middle picture above...half over those bodies are fakes.

I learned a lot from the extras that were with this movie since I borrowed my friend’s DVD box set. It was unexpected to me that the three slaves were my friend’s favorite characters (Pork, Mammy, and Prissy), since my friend is a black woman in her 70s and grew up during the Civil Rights movement when films that depicted slavery in this way were generally looked down upon. My friend said she was glad to see black actors at all from the era and the movement had to start somewhere. The actors seemed to be of the same opinion with Hattie McDaniel saying she would rather portray a maid and get paid like an actor than have to actually be a maid. Speaking roles for black actors were very few, especially in big budget movies, so there was not a lot of concern about the character being portrayed. This makes since, especially after the Great Depression. Having a role playing a stereotyped house slave still meant a great paycheck at the end of the week. I also liked that one of the things that Rhett Butler wanted and had difficulty getting was approval from Mammy concerning the courtship of Scarlett. Mammy was a slave, but she knew a lot of secrets and was not powerless.

My favorite character this time around was Melanie Hamilton because she is just a good person. She is not helpless and she doesn’t complain about her problems, she just handles her business and keeps supporting her family with a strength that I am not likely to truly know. I was saddened to hear that the actress recently passed away as, similar to her character, she seemed like a real survivor that would live forever. Apparently the actress, Olivia de Havilland, was not nearly as demure and liked to play jokes on her fellow actors. She also made a lot of fun about the age gap between Vivien Leigh and the actress playing Scarlett’s mother (there was a real life age difference of 4 years). Havilland also had the crew tie her to a chair that Clark Gable was supposed to lift her from and he nearly threw out his back.

It is a little surprising how much adversity occurred on set since there were a lot of injuries, actors who didn’t really like their character (Vivien Leigh described her character as a “raging bitch”), giant sets that were lit on fire so only one take was possible, and the portrayal of the South and slavery in a favorable light. However, like so many other films on the AFI list, it seems like the difficulties are what bonded the groups together to make classic cinema. It seems like a little adversity and strife can bring out the best in film makers.

So does this movie belong on the AFI list? Maybe more than any other movie ever made. It is the top film from the pinnacle year of the Golden Age of Hollywood. It is a historical drama about a singularly American topic based on an American best seller. I think a list about great American movies should probably start with films like this and go from there. Absolute classic. Would I recommend it? Yes, and I would actually recommend multiple viewings because your interpretation will change throughout your life. This is a superiorly good movie that should be viewed, no matter how it is interpreted. Just make sure to plan a break because this movie is epic in scale and in run time. Still totally worth it.

#gone with the wind #vivien leigh #olivia de havilland #clark gable #golden age of hollywood #classic film #american film institute #depictions of slavery #academy award winner #best picture #introvert #introverts

38 notes · View notes

talesofafangirlwithadvr · 4 years

Text

AUGUST PICKS!

And we’re back with another month wrap up! August involved a lot of TV watching (as per usual), but I feel like I watched a lot of things I’ve already talked about before (ex: The 100, Violetta). So it was a little bit harder to feature some new titles. I felt accomplished this month because I finished quite a few series. So, without further ado...let’s do this!

Spoilers!! But you knew that already :)

...

......

So I know I’ve spoken about some of these shows A LOT recently, but I still had to include them in this wrap up because they were a good amount of the month. (Even if they feel like they were so long ago.)

CURSED

This book to screen adaptation on Netflix following Nimue (AKA the Lady of the Lake) re-invents the King Arthur myth. It was an entertaining and enjoyable watch that makes me hope there’s a second season. There were certain parts that bothered me and I wish some characters had more time on screen, but as someone who likes King Arthur and fantasy TV I’d recommend it. 3/5 for me.

For more on my thoughts regarding the show check out my earlier post: **Spoilers** Featuring Cursed

DC’S STARGIRL

A show that I’ve often been documenting my reviews/feelings after watching each episode. (That’s how you can tell IT’S THAT GOOD.) While it was a bit slow in the beginning (mainly because of it having the quality of being on a streaming service-ending on a cliffhanger for you to binge the next episode immediately kind of feel), it picked up and has easily become one of my favorites for the year. (YEAH...I KNOW. I SAID YEAR.) You can check out my page for more specific reactions in my posts, but here are some of the moments that stick out to me the most when I think about season 1.

I can’t wait for season 2!!

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER

June doesn’t feel like that long ago, but because I started season 1 two months ago (and because of the world of quarantine) it feels like a long time ago. Especially when this show is only 18-20 episodes that are each about 20/25 minutes. For me, I enjoyed season 1, but not as much as seasons 2 and 3. I definitely watched the first season slower because of this. Once the Ba Sing Se plot happened I was very invested. I enjoyed most of Book 2 in the Earth Kingdom before this, but Ba Sing Se was definitely the best. I was so impressed that they put that into a kid show. Then again, there’s so much in this show that is well done and brings up such relevant issues to a younger audience. I loved following Aang, Katara and Sakka and enjoyed Toph’s addition to Team Avatar. Overall I think Uncle Iroh is my favorite character in the show. I loved all the wisdom he had and how he saw the best in Zuko the entire time. Their team up was great and I am so happy he got his tea shop in the end. His escape from prison was amazing. I love a good redemption arc and from the start was excited to see Prince Zuko’s (it’s one of the ‘spoilers’ I knew going in). I think it was really well done and I liked how they showed him struggling with it. The last agni kai between Zuko and Azula was such a beautiful scene and the music score behind it was so chilling. I love how they chose a slow, instrumental song to play in the background. It’s not what I was expecting and it was such an awesome choice. Overall, I really liked the music and have added it to my writing playlist. I’m really glad I decided to watch Avatar the Last Airbender.

From one binged show starting in June to another....

VIOLETTA SEASON 2

It’s crazy; you don’t think 80 episodes would go by that fast, but they do. Once you hit episode 50, I just zip by the rest in the season. So many of the plots get SO GOOD, you can’t help but watch so many episodes back to back (to back). For season 2, episode 75 was one of my favorites for the whole season. I love how some of the cast actually got to go to Madrid. (Even the intro music changed when they were there.) Diego really grew on me. I loved the added plot of discovering who his dad is! Feels very telenovela. Gregorio’s reaction was priceless-such great acting-and I loved how much it has changed his character so far. I’m excited to see where he is headed for season 3.

Leonetta forever! The reason they weren’t together was a bit weak, but I get they needed the love triangle. Overall the Leon/Violetta/Diego love triangle was a lot stronger than season 1′s (in my opinion). It felt better developed. I enjoyed a lot of the couples this season. Frederico and Ludi are a pair I didn’t know I wanted till it happened. Olga and Ramallo actually got a kiss!!! I loved hearing Ramallo talk about how Olga is the only woman in his life. So rare to see such emotions from him. Fran and Leon’s friendship was adorable. I loved their moments in Madrid. She was their #1 shipper. I know in the beginning I said there wasn’t a lot of music and performances, but as the season progressed we definitely got a lot of new songs (which I cannot stop singing). I miss my time at the Studio and hope the third season will be streaming on Disney Plus soon. I heard it could be September 18th so fingers crossed!!

THE INBESTIGATORS

Filling the void that was left by Little Lunch (and produced by the same studio) is the InBESTigators! A show that follows 4 elementary students who live in Australia and solve mysteries. One of the things I really loved about Little Lunch was how serious they made really trivial, kid-like things sound. I have often described it as an Office-like children’s show, where they talk about their problems directly to the camera and give several ‘Jim’ stares and glances to the camera. With the InBESTigators it’s a similar set up where our four sleuths, Ezra, Maudie, Ava and Kyle, relay a mystery they solved directly to us the viewer, while we watch in flashback. All of the mysteries are typical things that could happen in school or home; from overwatering a neighbor’s prize-winning flowers, packages getting stolen, a lost notebook or catching a cheater during a test. All of the kids are entertaining and funny. They each have a different dynamic that brings something to the team. Currently two of the seasons are on Netflix, and there will be a third season (but who knows when it will be filmed-I’m just happy it will eventually happen).

If you’re looking for a fun/light-hearted watch look no further. You’ll have a good time.

UNITED WE FALL

This ABC sitcom fits well on the network and like it would be on Friday nights, but has a stronger day in airing thanks to the pandemic. I hadn’t really heard much about the show and then BAM it was advertised. It felt like the network had it in its back pocket. Nevertheless, I am really enjoying it. The actors have a nice dynamic and it is very funny and relatable. I like how it represents a family with two different cultural backgrounds, but doesn’t make that the main focus of the show. Instead it is discussed naturally. Overall, I don’t know how many people know about it, so I wanted to share it as one of my picks for the month and suggest you watch it if you are looking for something both funny and optimistic.

DOUBLING DOWN WITH THE DERRICOS

I LOVE this family! As TLC is a network with predictable choices in TV shows, one about a family with multiples does not seem shocking. However, this is not your average family with multiples. At the start of the show, Karen and Deon have a total of 11 children (with only two of them being what they called ‘singletons’). They have twins, quints, and another set of twins (that would have been triplets). Her last three pregnancies were multiples and then she becomes pregnant with triplets. AGAIN! This family is considered a miracle because she had no IVF or anything like that for her conceptions. I love watching them because they seem like a great group to be apart of. They are what the epitome of family should be like. There is so much love. I know when my family watches the show we are all so impressed by how well behaved all of the kids are. People with half the amount of kids often have trouble teaching them to behave. I highly suggest giving the Derricos a watch. New episodes are now airing on TLC.

SOME LAST MINUTE ADDS....

I know Ben Platt’s concert has been available on Netflix for a while now, but I just got the chance to watch it this month. It was SOOO GOOD and I was upset when it was over. It felt so fast! I had already added a lot of his songs to my playlists, and after watching added the last few I had missed. Now I’ve been listening non-stop. I loved how his concert welcomed us so much into his personal life. The added stories in-between songs helped to see why he created that specific one. Watching the concert was a fun time and something you should consider if you are feeling down during quarantine.

Every Saturday night we try to watch a movie while we eat dinner. It’s become a new tradition since quarantine began and we were unable to go out to eat or to the movies. This week Jojo Rabbit was the pick. Going into the film, I didn’t know much expect, but that it was a comedy and I assumed a satire. What I didn’t expect was how dark of a turn it would take. It’s amazing how a film can have you laughing uncontrollably at the start and then have you crying at the end. This is definitely a film I could see analyzing in a film studies class. There was so much foreshadowing and moments where so much more was going on then what was shown on the surface. I think it did a great job making the viewer think not only about the time in which it was supposed to take place, but also our current world. I know it’s a good movie when it still has me thinking about it days later. I even did some research into it after watching. Definitely can understand the hype about it and will watch it again in the future.

When I was putting this list together I was just starting to watch Umbrella Academy. I know, I’m late to the party, but with the newest season coming out this summer I knew it was now or never. (I just had to finish some of the other stuff I was watching first.) Currently, I only have 1 episode left in the first season and am really enjoying it. I was pretty good about spoilers going into it, so a lot of it was new to me. I made some theories on who I thought would be the cause of the apocalypse and so far I am right. I am very interested to see how this season ends and get into the next one because I heard that the majority of people liked that one more. I’ll have a more detailed review in my September Picks, I’m sure of it!

8 notes · View notes

dwkinternational · 4 years

Text

DWK Podcast - recap

Mika Braun is the costume designer since the very beginning. She created the Look of the wild soccer bunch in the first, second, third and fifth movies. Her costumes influenced and even changed the book covers and the Illustrations of Jan Birck. When it came to the creation of your own world, she was a great teacher for Joachim Masannek.

She basically created the whole look of the wild soccer bunch, according to Masannek

He distinctively remembers their trial and error while trying to get a hairstyle for Leons character, because they wanted him to look like the real Leon and he and Jimi didn’t really look alike (They even tried to colour his hair blonde)

Joachim Masannek and Mika Braun first met at Samfilm

She originally was there for a meeting to talk about a different Movie that was going to be produced, but the people in charge didn’t think she was capable enough, she hadn’t brought her portfolio with her because it was all very rushed

When she met with Joachim however they instantly clicked, they got along great and knew what they wanted to make was going to be Mad Max for Kids. She did bring her portfolio with her this time but he didn’t even want to take a look inside

Because she had worked on a lot of projects regarding TV and advertisements he had a lot of respect for her previous work and felt like he couldn’t judge it as he had never made a movie before, only short films

To him it only mattered that they got along and that he had the feeling he could trust her since they were making something new that may have been made before, but not in that way

She also felt that they were eye to eye as she had also never done a movie for cinemas before. The whole process was not about her experiences and what she was capable of or not capable of, but about him developing this Idea and how they were adapting that together. To her that was so special about these movies, that you could see that everyone put their heart and soul into it

At least you saw it with the german crew. When they were shooting in Prag, they had a few problems. One of the Camera assitants just forgot that the camera was running and when Masannek reviewed the footage (back then it was on VHS) the take was 20 Minutes long.

Another example is one Woman in the costume department who always called people “Darling”:

They were searching for the kids helmets one time and the Woman kept saying the helmets are props and the backpacks are part of the costume, darling until Masannek got so fed up that he took the helmets once they were found and said “Look, darling. I’ll take your darn helmets now and put them into the darn backpacks and then its your problem where they are”

Braun says that that happens quite often during shooting in foreign countrys, because they have differently distributed teams and work with different systems

It just happened to Mika that she was baffled that the crew she was working in had no Parasols for the actors even in 40 degree heat or if it was raining, they didn’t care and said that its not their job. Even though in america for example they have a position (personl assistant) just for that. Or you have someone for directing assistance or Script or Continuity. But to her suprises like that are whats so nice about the job

During Masanneks last Movie Luliane Susewind they were shooting in Aachen but also in Belgium and he also had to learn a few things:

the first one was that the Makeup artist didn’t do the hair of the actors, they found out two to three weeks before the shooting started and had to hire an extra Hair stylist

the second things was that part of the crew just take three weeks of vacation unannounced and their replacement doesn’t have a clue about anything and Masannek showed up at the set one day and his costume designer was nowhere to be found and when he asked where she is he got told “Uh...shes on vacation”

Mika was very glad that the second wild soccer bunch movie was shot in Bavaria, not in the Czech Republic, because she was able to bring her team with her.

To the kids the shooting of the second movie was the most fun, but to Masannek it was the most exhausting to the point he thought he never wanted to make a kids movie again

He was like, well, the first movie was so exhausting and complicated and he wouldn’t have to work as hard with the second one.He worried that that movie wouldn’t be as good because he felt like he wasn’t putting enough effort into it and it didn’t seem as complicated

but then Mika Braun invited him to a flea market in Braunau and he thought it would be great to do something else than the movie for a day, he would find something nice to buy and she showed him a lot of nice stuff

that day Masannek found out what making a movie does to someone because he was going through the flea market but couldn’t see anything other than the movie and couldn’t focus on anything

although he did buy something that he found ten years later in his basement when he moved (it was around a 120 Whistles although he does not remember why he bought them)

They mentioned their Vision of Mad Max earlier and Sascha Heimanns asks them how they get from an Idea to the finished product, like the helmets they talked about or the necklaces

Mika answers that there is a whole development process behind everything. It starts with her reading the script and getting an Idea of what something looks like, she discusses that with Joachim who tells her about how they are basically all in black and have these logos, but everyone has their special thing and they search together for what fits best

She will never forget the discussion about Staraja Riba. Originally she thought that the witch was supposed to be big and terrifying like the thunderbolt giants, so that the kids would feel small next to her or no one would be afraid of her

Joachim insisted that she should crawl over the ground like a spider and in the end she thought it was good that they did it his way because it was the scariest thing in the whole movie series to her and that was one instance where they didn’t have the same opinion

The Staraja Riba thing was overall difficult to get righ tin the end

Because Buena Vista didn’t want the director to attend the test screening ( although he was present during the screening of the first movie and that went pretty well) Masannek was offended and they hired a different director who went to cut the scene differently. The producers said that the scene with the witch wasn’t believable or scary anymore and Joachim got to fix it

He thinks the bravest thing they did was the scene with the love letter and the glowing hearts, he originally wasn’t allowed to do that scene because it was a “boys movie” and the audience wouldn’t like it

They did a test screening for an audience that only consisted of boys without approval of the producers and the feedback was good except for the love letter scene which the boys didn’t like

Another thing that was difficult was the paint the actors had on during the scene where the bunch plays against the SV 1906. That originally took too much effort and time to do (because drawing the markings for everyone took 4 hours and taking it off took 4 hours also Sarah was allergic to the paint) but Joachim just decided they were going to do it anyways

Mika said that she appreciated the fantastical aspect of the movies, to try something that hasn’t been done before and that that was probably what the kids found so fascinating and fun

To her it was very special to work on it even though it was relatively low-budget

because of that for example they spent whole nights painting Logos on T-Shirts

Joachim said that she played a huge role in the evolution of the Logo itself, the first thing she put the minimalistic Logo on was the black shirt Maxi wears at the beginning of the third Movie

It was her idea to only put the eye and the teeth on there and that has been adapted for Merchandise ever since

Sascha asks why Mika hasn’t worked on the fourth and sixth movie

When they were shooting the fourth movie in Mai 2006 she was in Kenia to adopt her daughter and because she spent 7 Months there she wasn’t able to work on the movie

But she said Susann Bieling did a great job with that movie

She shared the 5th one with Andrea Spanier because her daughter was still so small that she felt like she wouldn’t be able to do it alone

These are some of her costume designs for the 5th movie, for Leon and Klette

They worked so well together that Mika sais she was spoiled afterwards and when she went on to another production it didn’t go as smoothly anymore

That production was Gangs, for which they also asked Joachim Masannek if he wanted to work on it, but he was in contract with Constantin Film for Wildernacht

For the sixth movie Mika was also unavailable due to another production she had already agreed to

Question:

Sibille 24 years old: She grew up with the wild soccer bunch and because they talked about the new series in the last podcast episode, she wanted to say that she thinks the idea is great. The bunch has been inspiring to her back then and thinks that the bunch is a great role-model with their creativity and bravery. She would be thrilled about a new series.

Answer:

The Procuders originally wanted to retell a story in the vein of the first and second movies but Joachim said he is sick of writing that fight against fat Michi over and over so they decided on something new

The story will take place in Berlin

The Kids will come from different social backgrounds

One boy will be the son of a Maori Woman, who came to germany when she was 17 years old and pregnant

His dad was a german tourist but he dumped his Mom

She currently lives in Marzahn and has her own Tattoostudio

The boy wants to become the best Goalkeeper in the World

hes very stubborn but a great guy overall

Then there is a girl whose Mother is a turkish Policewoman and she lives in an allotment garden

they hear about this hidden world of the wild bunch in which Kids can fight to do what what they believe in

The series will be called “Forever wild”

Its still rooted in what has already been established

there will be some characters from the movies but they will appear in a different way than how we know them

He said that the girl that asked the question is over 20 and that generation is exactly who they want to do the series for

Mika chimes in to say that back then the movies created a boom and more girls started to play soccer

She said its never wrong to challenge society and gender stereotypes

Joachim says that to him its very fascinating that times are getting more conservative and we are not living in a world anymore where little boys have to be raised by a woman

He said that the perspective of society is different right now with metoo for example and that its an exciting challenge to define what a role model is

To question what is a boy, what is a girl, what is a man or woman?

One family in the series he is planning consists of a native american father and a mother who is a descendant of the Aborigines

They live in Spandau and have an indian daughter and a son who is african

The parents take turns on who is leading the company and who is taking care of the kids, to them every job is equal and everyone has to take on some responsibility

Masannek says he notices even with his little Kids (his 9 years old daughter and his 2 years old son) that they already want to know what exactly a woman is or a man is

He wants his kids to develop freely and once they know what the stereotypes are they can decide to not support these stereotypes anymore

Mika Braun agrees that these topics are very important right now and that it is a responsibility of all creatives and all the tolerant folks to take on these kinds of topics so that the conservative ideals don’t take root

And thats it for Episode 29!

#die wilden kerle #Podcast recap #dwk international

3 notes · View notes

eivorswolfkissed · 5 years

Text

A Summary of the Season 6 bluray extras:

Gag Reel

Featurette Litchfield to the Max (interviews with cast and crew) | Part 1 | Part 2

Commentary for episode 8, "Gordons", with Sian Heder (director), Vega Santamaria (writer), Laura Gomez (Blanca) and Susan Heyward (Tamika).

They all love the theme song.

The new set made everyone feel claustrophobic. Not just the cast, but the writers and the crew, they didn't have the freedom to move around that the old Litchfield offered.

Sian felt like she came back to her family (she left the show after S3).

Daniela (Zirconia) broke her leg while kickboxing but her character was supposed to be injured in the other leg. She showed up on set with a cast on her opposite leg and there were a lot of discussions about how they'd deal with that and if the fans were going to notice.

Danielle was actually smoking that blunt (Sian: "not real, of course"), by the end of it she had tears streaming down her face, her throat was closing. The scene where they're stoned and dancing around was improvised by Danielle and Susan.

Susan and Danielle Brooks knew each other before OITNB, they went to the same art high school in South Carolina, and that translates into the relationship their characters have.

Laura Gomez also knew Selenis from theater, and that friendship translated on screen as well.

Alex coming into Piper's bunk, at first it was decided Laura had to stay by the door to abide by max rules, they tried to keep her with one foot by the door. (unsuccessfully lol)

The "I told you she was a wily no-goodnik" line was added by Jenji.

Taylor and Laura have developed such a great rapport over the years that by now their characters back and forth truly feels like they are an old married couple.

They switched a lot of extras because most of the times some of them looked like they couldn't even hurt a fly and now in max they needed people that looked tougher.

The writers' room enjoyed how well received Carol & Barb were by fans.

The Nicky and Blanca insemination storyline was the writer's way to try to get back at some of the fun they had at minimum where some of the old crew was always coming up with some hair brained scheme.

Sian had to direct Laura G and Natasha in the insemination scene right after Lionsgate made them spend an hour having sexual harassment training.

By this time in the season they missed writing scenes between Nicky and Red, it wasn't easy to get them together because of max, so that scene was a little moment to tide them over until Nicky and Red are able to cross paths again.

Matt Peters was stressed about the scene where he had to dance, so much that some of the writers asked Jenji and Tara to bring someone to give him dance lessons but Jenji refused, said everyone should come up with their own moves in that scene.

They didn't want to make Aleida's storyline of getting involved with a pyramid scheme a case of just "look at Aleida's bad idea", they wanted to show how someone who's struggling with employment or trying to make ends meet would look at it like a good solution and get all caught up in it.

The scene with Taystee and her lawyer was filmed in a real prison and there were times when a bell would ring and they had to stop what they were doing, close themselves into a room and duck, because actual prisoners were walking through that hall.

Sian Heder: "There's always been a line walked by this show where it's never been didactic, the fear of writing a prison show is that you're saying something about prison or you're basically offering a whole political commentary on the state of the prison system, and what the show's done so well is being incredibly entertaining and kind of back you into those issues without you even knowing you got there." She was moved by the speech, by the writing and Danielle's performance.

Vera, Sian and some of the actors got trapped in a real prison, they wandered off from where they were filming and ended up in gen pop.

There are scenes that are always surprising, because they take 1-2 pages in a script, but the actual shooting can take up to 12 hours.

One of the joys in the writing room during the development of season 6 was coming up with and writing new pairings.

The scene where Taystee comes out of her cell and asks Tamika if there's mail for her was supposed to be the last scene of the episode. But then Sian talked with Vera and asked her to switch the scenes and use the flashback to close the episode instead.

Tamika's line about her mom was something they talked a lot in the writer's room, they wanted to show Tamika had someone waiting for her, wondering where she is, and Taystee doesn't, and that could've been the life changing thing that sent them in two different paths.

The final scene felt like the most important scene and they wanted to show them going in different directions, it was the last moment Tamika and Taystee were connected and together and that was the moment where life would take them in different paths that were irreconcilable.

Commentary for episode 13, "Be Free" with Nick Sandow (director) and Brian Chamberlayne (writer).

Taylor got so comfortable that she fell asleep when they were filming the first scene for ep 13. It was an early call time and she'd fall asleep between takes.

It was Laura and Taylor last day of filming.

They had a lot of conversations whether to shoot above or underneath the sheet. Nick didn't want to because of the complications of having to shoot underneath the sheet, but Brian won that argument, they had to pull the bed out and place it in another space to be able to shoot underneath the blanket.

Uzo is unbelievable, she always does something specific that the writers are not expecting, but they love it and ends up being better than whatever they had pictured.

Brian was happy he got an opportunity to work with Laverne.

Nick and Brian got choked up several times when they were filming the trial.

The coffee beans scene: Laura and Taylor had a lot of discussions with Nick about that scene because so many different feelings needed to happen and they conveyed that beautifully. They were asking Taylor to hit a lot of different notes and she really pulled it off.

The "I can't believe you were gonna ditch all us poor losers without saying goodbye" was ad-libbed by Natasha

Nick thought Yael was a treasure in the wedding scene and they could always cut to her for comedy because she started crying from the moment they started filming, Nick knew her reactions were going to be gold

Nick as a director was a bit scared because the scene was so long, and there was so little action/movement and he thought he'd have a hard time figuring it out but the actresses carried it and it made it easy.

The wedding scene took 8 pages in the script (in this show one scene usually takes 2 or 3)

Laura and Taylor brought the weight of it, they knew it was a moment that was building up for so many seasons of watching Vauseman's relationship come together, and they carried it.

Natasha was so focused because she had the most dialogue and she had to lift the scene up, she killed it because she brought so many different levels (she made it funny but also brought a lot of feeling) to it.

Brian fel a bit overwhelmed at first, because he had to write three speeches for the scene, and it was for the main relationship between two leads that has been building up for years, he thought it had to be momentous & big.

Since the wedding comes in the middle of the episode, in a strange way it worked like a nice intermission from all the gang stuff and the heavy scenes with Taystee and her trial. Brian: "It was a nice moment between these two that you have been rooting for all along".

Nick and Brian were wowed by Taylor's acting during the vows.

It was nice to have Flaca and Cindy come in, because they wanted a bit of the OG crew, they wanted that feeling from the first few seasons of the old crew coming together and holding little events that was lost since they came to max because it's such a harsh environment.

Bottom vs. Bottom is an actual court case.

They loved the scene with Luschek and Gloria in SHU, Selenis was so powerful and so intense in her performance that they all were drained by the end of it.

Taystee's verdict: Danielle was given a standing ovation after they did the take that was used in the episode.

From the beginning of the season they knew they wanted to address the immigration detention center problem.

Yael was hysterical after they finished shooting the scene where Lorna's bleeding and being dragged to the infirmary, Nick had to hold her while she cried and told him that was an awful thing to have to imagine.

Brian felt so stupid for writing that, but it was a storyline they already had thought of before they knew she was pregnant irl

Shooting the kickball scenes was a nightmare because it snowed the day they were supposed to shoot, so they rescheduled for the next day but it rained at night, so the whole field turned into a swamp and it was absolutely freezing, Nick swore he wouldn't go back to Staten Island after that.

Uzo nailed the kick in every single take.

Brian was flattered that he was given the episode where Piper gets out because it's such an iconic moment in the series.

#oitnb #oitnb season 6 #oitnb commentary #long post #sorry for any typos #i skipped some stuff about the guards because who cares

60 notes · View notes

serbrienneoftarth · 5 years

Text

GoT 8x4 Jaime/Brienne Thoughts

Please have my still incredibly disjointed order incomplete ramblings post 8x4. My apologies for how I’m not even bothering to edit this, I’m sick of looking at it now lmao.

I am of course missing so many things, there is so much to cover and I’ll never manage to get it all in one go. I’m only going to cover Brienne and Jaime related things here, but I’m glad to chat about the rest of it outside of this post.

There are things I did not necessarily enjoy within the episode. I would have written it quite differently, but as a whole, I’m not as mad at it as I know much of the fandom is.

What I am irritated with is mostly due to the way things were written and presented rather than the actual series of events.

This is honestly part of the scenario that I have always said would be my want for a canon ending. While I would love a happily ever after, I have never thought that I was going to get it in any way. Realistically the narrative supporting anything of the sort isn’t going to happen. If they offer it, I’m gonna take it happily lol. But let’s be real, one of the two of them is likely to die by the end. They have always been heading in the direction to be together. But I have long since assumed that it would also be ill-fated.

My want for an end to their story has always been something along the lines of Jaime and Brienne briefly realising they wanted one another and being together for whatever amount of time during the war. I have always expected that Jaime would then go back to Cersei, not necessarily to either be with her or to murder her perhaps to try to convince her to give up or to aid in her removal from the throne. And then he’d possibly die with her, though not necessarily intentionally. Brienne would mourn him heavily, but she would understand that he couldn’t have stayed no matter what she said. And in mourning him she would come to find that she was carrying his child. She would lose Jaime, but she would have a physical reminder that he loved her once too. Brienne would then have the heir she hadn’t ever married for. The child would perhaps be legitimized a Tarth, though she would never deny who was her child’s father. And if she had Tarth to go back to she might, and if not she would spend the rest of her days at Winterfell.

I know. I’m used to that being an unpopular want for a ship.

*cracks knuckles* Let’s get into the events of the episode.

I’m incredibly pleased that Jaime and Brienne became canon in a sexual sense. I wouldn’t have written it the way it happened. But I have some thoughts on it as it is. The problem with television is that often times everything is cheapened for a laugh. And the way they presented it as Jaime stumbling in drunk does that. Though Brienne is far soberer than I think people assumed. And while some of the chemistry is missing between the actors in the scene, the fact that Brienne is confused and a little scared makes that a little easier to take. She is very bold in her actions in the scene, undressing Jaime and herself with really no hesitation. They’ve seen each other unclothed before, take care of each other, in the past and recently, that isn’t where hesitation would be anyway. She trusts his sincerity but is unsure of his intentions because for her it’s all very new. Until he lifts onto his toes to kiss her (which was also played for the laughs *sigh*), it wasn’t quite yet real.

Asleep in her bed, Brienne is quite content, and Jaime then looks restless. I’d expect him to be. Not necessarily because he regrets it. (Please note for all I know he is and canonically Brienne is terrible in bed lmao.) This is the first time that he’s been with a woman other than Cersei. For 40 years he has loved the same woman and never strayed. His relationship status is a recent change even if it’s been a long time coming. And Jaime still thinks that Cersei is pregnant with his child. (Is she? Who knows at this point. I’ve stopped guessing.) Perhaps it’s long enough later that he’s fully sober, woke up for a glass of water, and has a headache and feels guilty for how he initiated the whole thing. But regardless, I’d expect him to have a lot on his mind.

At this point, I’d almost skip commentary on Tyrion and Jaime’s conversation, but really Tyrion? A couple of days earlier he was respectful and then this episode he’s back to his drunken little beast persona. What’s she like down there Jaime? What sort of answer is he even looking for here? (Jaime: Like Highgarden. Tyrion: Super gay? Full of thorned bushes? Jaime: No, now that I’ve plundered it I’m back off to see Cersei.)

So here is where I complain about the shit was this show portrays the passage of time, it’s all over the place. But I’m going to say at this point now Brienne and Jaime have been lovers for weeks, a month, maybe more. At least by the time he leaves.

On Jaime leaving…

I fully expect to find out something has happened off camera, more than just Jaime finding out what he did from the raven that Sansa received. But until we know, it doesn’t yet apply.

Cersei has done something to anger Daenerys more than she had been, Jaime knows that Tyrion will not be able to temper his dragon queen and that Cersei’s life is likely now forfeit pregnant or not. And how can Jaime allow that to happen without doing something? Even if he doesn’t love her the same way now, even if he left, Cersei is still a woman he has loved his whole life and she is carrying his baby. He still loves her in some ways and nobody should expect him to be able to just turn that off with a switch.

And beyond that, he knows what she is capable of. I’m not going to call her mad, because I think she is smart and strategic and that people let their dislike of her colour their views of her as a whole. But she has limited things left to lose, and if she has to, she is capable of great destruction. And Jaime has always made himself invested in the city, he ruined his reputation for it.

We don’t know what didn’t get shown between Jaime and Brienne. But I don’t think he has ever told her about the baby. I don’t think Brienne would have even tried to stop him if he had. She tells him that he cannot save her and that he’s better than Cersei. But canonically she doesn't know Cersei or her life and what drives her to her decisions. And I personally would say Brienne would understand parts of her if she did. And anyway, I think that if she knew why Jaime needed to leave, beyond him pushing her away with ugly words, she might have said give me a half an hour, we’ll both go. It’s not that he’s leaving at all, but she knows that he’s throwing away his life to go. Brienne knows that if he leaves he’s going to die. But he doesn’t tell her anything and instead he pushes her away and breaks her heart and leaves alone.

Fuck, I half want Brienne to just tear out of Winterfell after Jaime and be like no, you're going back and that's fine, but you aren't going alone. I’d do it.

He was an idiot. But Brienne will always love Jaime even if he goes back to Cersei, if he dies or doesn't. And she will NEVER hold love against him. You don't get rid of love for anyone so easily. Neither one of them.

Jaime Lannister and his lack of honest communication jfc.

Maybe he did the best thing he thought he could for her, which was to make her hate him a little bit. Or maybe he just hates himself a little for it. For all he cannot be yet, if ever. He is still tied to Cersei and her fate, he’s not free yet.

I'd have preferred if he had said I love you in a clear conversation on screen, but I think he still doesn't trust that it can last either. That he can have happiness. Jaime was awake and watching her. Not with what I think are regrets for loving her, but just a lot of things he hasn't said. And things he has to do still. He's not free yet at all. He’s with her, but his head and his sense of duty are still somewhere else too. He had a taste of a normal life with Brienne, loving someone openly. Because I have no doubt that he loves Brienne and loves her still. But it couldn't last for him at that moment. So much remains unfinished. And now it might always be.

#jaime x brienne #got spoilers #got season 8 #{ otp; i dreamed of you } ♥♥ { brienne x jaime }#{ the name was a knife twisting in her belly } ☽☼ { jaime }#{ My father’s only son } ☽☼ { Brienne }#long post #1600 words of wtf bryn #i know #i'm so sorry i'm like this

22 notes · View notes

shirohcsbecausewhythehellnot · 5 years

Text

Home

Prompt: HI! Can I get a Shiro x female reader please. The plot will be that they are both actors for Voltron and that they're secretly dating. The whole cast of Voltron went to a convention and a bunch of fans during that convention asked if Shiro is in a relationship. Of course, since both Shiro and his girlfriend keep it low key he didn't respond because his girlfriend inst there. But then he talked to her about it then they revealed it during the convention meet up. All the fans go wild (1) Hey Hey! Can I request a Shiro x Female reader. Both of them are visiting his mother. And Shiro knows about reader and Shiros love for each other (and their married) but both of them are they to tell her news. Me personally, I think Shiros mother was a single mom so it can be like that in the story. So Shiro and reader during the day take his mother out where ever she wants to go. But after lunch, Shiro and reader reveal that reader is pregnant. Shiros mom gets emotional and happy for them. (2) So its about Shiro x Fem reader actor AU and how both of them are a couple and his mother approves of reader. In my opinion I think Shiro's mom was a single mom so can that be included in the story? Anyways since Shiro and reader are back from acting scene for Voltron, Shiro wanted to visit his mother in Japan and he wants to surprise her with something. Of course his mother is exited to see her son and her daughter in law so she clears her schedule to see them. The first week shiro,reader and his mother go out eating and do what ever she wants, becuase shiro and reader respect her and love her. After the first week, Shiro goes out with his mom and tells her that reader is pregnant. His mother is in shock and starts crying joyish tears. Once they get back home she hugs reader and tell her she happy for them. You can change the ending or whatever but It needs to be cute! THANK YOU (3)

Okay so this was a long-ass prompt and it was requested to me literally months ago. Not even kidding. ANON I’M SORRY! So I think that the person who requested me this was the same who DM’d me to add more detail (The last prompt) and so I just added the two together. If not, I’m sorry whoops. I guess you can request again once I open them. Also, this isn’t the first AU that I was requested but it was the first one I completed WOOT WOOT! *gives self lame high-five* Anyway, enjoy!

Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender

Pairing: Shiro x Fem!Reader

Genre: Actor!AU, Fluff?, Slice of Life

Word Count: 9,642

Warnings: I’ve decided to remove swearing as an official warning so no

“And… cut! That’s a wrap, guys! Great job!”

You heard applause from the staff as you and the rest of the group walked off the set. You had just finished filming the pilot season of Voltron: Legendary Defender that will air on Netflix not long from now. Being advertised on such a huge platform was going to give you a lot of street cred. This was going to be your first big break.

“This is going to be a hit, guys! I just know it!” The director enthusiastically walked up to all of you with a beaming smile on her face. You returned her smile before taking a sip from your water bottle. You noticed your boyfriend, Shiro, walk up to you. You smiled at him as well.

You two had met before briefly during auditions for previous roles but the relationship never went further than that. He was just the “hot dude in auditions” amongst you and your friends. That is until you were both cast for this show. You played as the stowaway engineer while he played as one of the Paladins. You were also each other’s romantic interests. Although, it was only hinted in the first season. And it wasn’t even intentional. Your chemistry was just so great on-screen that everyone agreed it would be a good idea to add a bit of romance to the, otherwise, action-based show. However, what the crew didn’t know, except for the cast who had their suspicions, was that the on-screen chemistry was a direct result of your off-screen chemistry after months of quick glances, flirting, and blushing. Neither of you was entirely sure how it started, you were just glad that it did. You two were just rehearsing a newly added scene between your characters in Shiro’s apartment which then lead to the day ending with the two of you naked and in his bed. You grinned slightly at the memory before locking your gaze with Shiro’s.

“Hey, you.” He said fondly. He had already removed his scar makeup and fake prosthetic, although his white patch of hair was still there.

“Hey.” You replied. You looked at your surroundings to see if anyone was watching before you reached up and planted a quick kiss on his lips. He looked at you amusedly before he grabbed your hand and sneakily brought you two behind the Black Lion prop that hid you from the eyes of others and kissed your lips deeply. You sighed softly as you wrapped your arms around his neck and brought him closer to you. You slowly parted from each other with a small smile and stared lovingly at each other.

“So I was thinking…” He trailed off with a grin.

“Yes?” You inquired.

“Well, we’ve been dating for a little over a year now…”

“Uh-huh.” You urged him to continue.

“And we’re going to be so busy once the pilot airs…” He said dramatically. You rolled your eyes.

“Get on with it already, Shirogane!” You said teasingly. He let out a quiet chuckle.

“I was thinking, while we’re free before the pilot airs if maybe we could go visit my mom? She’s been dying to meet you.” Your mind went blank for a split-second before it flooded with thoughts. Aside from what Shiro said about his mother being an angel, a part of you was nervous about meeting your boyfriend’s mom for the first time. Although, the bigger part of you couldn’t deny that you were happy Shiro wanted to show such an important part of his life to you. You squashed down your fears of the worst-case scenarios and beamed at him.

` “I would love to meet your mom, Takashi. I can’t wait.” A breath of relief left Shiro’s lips before he bent down and kissed you once again.

“That’s great.”

A week had passed since then and you were repacking your suitcase yet again for your trip to visit Shiro’s mother in Japan. You had just closed your suitcase when you heard the door to your bathroom open. You turned around only to be faced with a wet and nude Shiro. The only thing covering him was the towel wrapped around his waist. You didn’t even try to be subtle as you admired your boyfriend’s physique.

God damn, I’m the luckiest woman on earth. You thought.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Shiro said smugly. You only hummed in agreement. Your eyes trailed his form until they rested on the top of his head. His previous white patch of hair now replaced with a black one. Your eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh, my god! What did you do to your hair!?” You asked in shock. Shiro raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“I dyed it?”

“But why?” You inquired.

“Because it’s my natural hair color, Y/N.” He stated. You let out a little pout.

“But your floof…” Shiro sighed affectionately before he went up to you and lightly pinched your cheek.

“It’ll come back when we film the next season, don’t worry.” You sighed softly.

“Fine.” You grumbled. Shiro could only chuckle. You turned around to zip up your suitcase. It was then that he realized that you had just finished packing. Shiro wrapped his arms around your waist and hugged you to his chest as he rested his chin on your shoulder with a confused pout.

“You just finished? I thought you were halfway done before I got in the shower?” You rubbed the back of your neck sheepishly.

“This is probably the fifth time I’ve repacked, actually.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just nervous about meeting your mom.” You sighed softly and leaned into his embrace. “I don’t want to give a bad first impression. It’s bad enough that I won’t be able to have full conversations with her due to the language barrier.” You averted your gaze from his. You heard him sigh before he gently turned you around to face him. You slowly looked up and met his tender gaze.

“You don’t have to worry about anything, Y/N. She’s going to love you. And you can’t blame yourself for not knowing the language. You weren’t raised in an environment where you had to and she gets that.” He gently rested his forehead against yours. “You’re going to do great and everything is going to be just fine.” You let out a deep breath to calm your nerves before you nodded in agreement.

“Right, you’re right. I got this!” You said enthusiastically. Shiro smirked at your reply and stroked your cheek affectionately.

“That’s my girl. Now come on, we should go to bed. We have an early flight to catch.” You nodded and huddled under your covers as you waited for Shiro to dry himself off and get dressed. He soon joined you in the bed and immediately wrapped his arms around you in another comforting embrace. You snuggled into his hug with a sigh.

“Night, Kashi.” You whispered.

“Night.”

It was a little after 4 in the afternoon when your plane finally landed at the Narita Airport. Your nerves once again resurfaced and you even felt a little nauseous from it. You felt a big, warm hand gently wrap around yours. You turned to face Shiro.

“Relax.” He said softly. You slowly nodded your head and forced yourself to calm down.

Relax, Y/N, relax! You’re just meeting his mom, you don’t need to get worked up over this! What’s the worst that could happen? She doesn’t accept our relationship? She makes Shiro choose between us and obviously he has to choose his mother because come on, it’s his mother! Or maybe- You mentally shook your head to stop the pessimistic thoughts from filling your brain. Shiro told you everything was going to be fine, so it’s going to be fine. And besides, Kashi literally talks about how much of a sweetheart she is. Also, since she raised him by herself and he turned out this great, she’s bound to be just as great. You were too caught up in convincing yourself to calm down that you didn’t even realize that you and Shiro had exited the airport and was headed toward the bullet train to Osaka. You two entered the train and found your seats. You looked out the window as the train started to leave to soak in the sights of Japan. You felt Shiro’s hand lace between your fingers and you looked over at your boyfriend who was smiling at you softly.

“We’re really lucky we were able to get here right before the cherry blossom season started in Osaka. I really wanted to show it to you.” You beamed at him.

“Really? I can’t wait! I’ve seen the pictures online and they look so beautiful.” Shiro let out a little chuckle.

“Trust me, the pictures pale in comparison to the real thing.”

“I have no doubts about that.” Shiro hummed softly in agreement and brushed some hair behind your ear.

“I’m really glad that you’re here, Y/N.” You looked into his dark eyes that were filled with love and you gave him a warm smile as you squeezed his hand.

“Me too.” You murmured. Everything’s going to be fine. You thought.

After a few hours, you finally got off the bullet train and stepped out of the station. You took a deep breath of the slightly chilly air and noticed a hit of salt from the sea. But what was most significant, was the mesmerizing aroma of the street vendors holding various types of delicious foods.

“Everything smells amazing.” You said in wonder to Shiro. He smiled at your reaction in amusement.

“Osaka is quite known for its food. We even have a saying here, ‘kuidaore’. Basically, it means to eat until you drop.”

“Oh, I intend to, don’t worry.” He let out a little snort at your response as he hailed a taxi.

You finally made it to his mother’s house. It was a small two-story house wedged in between two others that faced the beach from a distance. You noticed the laundry that was hanging from the second story balcony and the flowers that decorated the fences and front yard. It looked very homey. You were admiring the exterior of your boyfriend’s childhood home when you heard the front door open. You quickly focused your attention to the petite woman exiting the house and unconsciously straightened your posture.

Shiro’s mother reminded you of him. She might be a bit short and her dark hair might be greying slightly at the roots but she had his warm smile and dark eyes specked with silver that was filled with the same strength. Her hair was tied back and she had an apron wrapped around her waist as a delicious scent came from the house. She was probably preparing dinner when you two got here. She walked up to the two of you, beaming, with her arms spread wide.

“Takashi.” She said lovingly. Her voice shook a little and her eyes were filled with unshed tears.

“Kāsan,” Shiro muttered before he dropped his bag at his feet and quickly walked up to her, engulfing her small frame in a hug. Your heart warmed at the sight of him being reunited with his mother. Her arms were wrapped firmly around his back and she patted it lightly before slowly parting from him. She placed a hand on his cheek with a smile filled with motherly affection before her eyes glanced to you. You again straightened your back as you held your breath.

“Is this her?” She asked, a hint of excitement lacing her voice.

“Yes. This is my girlfriend, Y/N.” He replied looking back at you with a small grin. You only stood there and smiled nervously as you wondered what they were talking about. Shiro’s mother fully detached herself from her son as she walked up to you and cupped your face with both her hands. She tilted your head from side to side as she looked at you with a scrutinizing gaze and you sweating anxiety bullets before she smiled yet again and hugged you firmly.

“Arigatō.” She whispered into your ear. Even though you lacked greatly in your Japanese skills, you were at least able to understand the meaning behind those words. Your body relaxed immediately and you returned the hug. You looked over her shoulder and smiled at your boyfriend who was staring at the two of you lovingly. Eventually, she let go of her embrace before she bent down to grab your luggage.

“Oh, ma’am. That’s fine, really. You don’t need to-” You stopped yourself short, remembering that she didn’t speak English and looked at Shiro with pleading eyes. He looked at you amusedly before he turned to his mother.

“Mom, you don’t have to. Y/N says she can carry it.”

“Nonsense! I’m perfectly fine. You two just had a long trip, you must be exhausted. I just finished dinner. I made your favorite.” His mother didn’t even bother to stop as she continued to walk into her house. Shiro sighed as he glanced at you and shrugged his shoulders.

“She’s stubborn.” He said. You grinned slightly.

“It must run in the family.” Shiro rolled his eyes and muttered for you to shut up before he bent down to grab his luggage and follow his mother into the house. You giggled slightly and moved to follow him before you stopped abruptly at the sudden wave of dizziness that washed over you. You pinched the bridge of your nose and took a deep inhale of air as you tried to steady yourself.

“Y/N, are you okay?” You looked up and saw Shiro standing at the entrance, his mother behind him, both looking at you with concern. You smiled warmly and waved your hand.

“I’m fine, just a little tired. Probably from the lack of sleep.” You reassured. Shiro sighed slightly in relief before he turned around to explain to his mother. She said something back at him while glancing at you and he turned around to translate.

“She said that it’s probably best if you take a nap to regain some energy.” You shook your head softly and looked at her gratefully.

“I’m fine, really. Thank you for your concern. I’ll regain energy from eating your food. It smells delicious.” You smiled gratefully at his mother. Shiro smiled as well while translating for you. You grinned at the moment where you assumed Shiro was complimenting your mother’s food for you when you noticed her raise her head in pride. Shiro’s mother spoke again with a grin as she entered the house and you and Shiro followed. “What’d she say?” You asked as you caught up to him. He glanced at you and smirked.

“‘Damn right.’”

“The food was delicious- uh, babe, how do you say that in Japanese?” You said quietly, reminding yourself, once again, of the language barrier.

“Oishī” He whispered back.

“Right, yes. Oishī, Shū…tome?” You said hesitantly, glancing at Shiro for confirmation that you said mother-in-law (after his mother insisted) correctly. He nodded at you with a smile and you returned it. Of course, the two of you weren’t married, yet. Let alone, engaged. But you couldn’t deny that you have been thinking about it recently. You were taken away from your thoughts and hopes for the future when you noticed Shiro’s mother stand up and begin to pick up the empty dishes. “Shūtome, I can take that-” You stood up quickly and stopped yourself mid-sentence when another wave of nausea washed over you. You leaned against your chair slightly and pinched the bridge of your nose.

“Y/N!” Shiro quickly stood up and rested his hand on your forehead. “You’re a little sweaty, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. I guess I just stood up too quickly.” You tried to settle his nerves with a smile but he still looked worried. You sighed and placed a hand against his cheek. “I’m fine, honestly. Don’t worry.” You looked up to see Shiro’s mother walk up to you too. You smiled at her reassuringly. “Daijōbudesu.” You muttered and turned to look back at your concerned boyfriend. “I’m just gonna go use the bathroom and splash some water on my face, okay?” Shiro’s eyes scanned your face before he relented.

“Alright. You know where it is, right?” You nodded and turned your back on the two of them as you headed to the bathroom as calmly as you could. When you turned a corner and was certain that you were out of sight, you quietly bolted to the bathroom, covering your mouth with the back of your hand. You had just barely made it to the bathroom before you coughed up your recently eaten dinner into the sink. You turned on the faucet to wash it away and to drown out the noise as it continued for a few more minutes. Once you were sure it was over, you washed your mouth with water and washed the sweat away from your face. You leaned over the sink and groaned quietly.

“Not again…” You muttered. This had been going on for the past few weeks. You’ve hidden it from Shiro because you didn’t want him to worry and because you needed to finish shooting the final episodes of your show. You were sure that it was just a stomach bug at first but they shouldn’t last this long. Your eyes snapped open. “Oh shit.” You whispered as you hastily pulled out your phone and checked your menstrual tracker app. You gasped silently in shock as you read the screen. You were over two months late. At first, you chalked up your first late period to stress from the shooting but by the time the second had been missed, you completely forgot about it due to the show. “Oh shit.” You said again. You looked up at your pale reflection as you tried to calm yourself down. “Okay, don’t stress over this, Y/N. This isn’t the first time you’ve missed more than a month. Finals week was always brutal to your cycle.”

‘Yeah, but you weren’t having sex during finals week.’ A little voice in your head replied. “That’s true.” You responded out loud. You started to panic. I can’t be a mom. Not right now. I don’t know if I’m ready! Plus, what’s Takashi going to think about this? Worst-case scenarios started popping up in your head before you mentally cut yourself off. “Okay, I think that we can all agree that we shouldn’t be freaking out over this until we take an actual test first.” You said to no one. You nodded to your self in agreement as you walked out the door and into the living room with a smile.

You entered the living room with the view of Shiro and his mother talking. They noticed you right away and Shiro’s mom walked up to you and cupped your cheek.

“You… okay?” She asked in hesitant English. You felt touched at the effort she was putting in to communicate as you nodded with a soft smile. She smiled back and grabbed your hand as she lead you to the couch. Confused, you allowed it at sat down next to Shiro. He put an arm around you and squeezed your shoulder lightly.

“Are you sure? I can take you to the doctor’s if you’d like.” You gave him a quick peck on the lips in response.

“Thanks, but I’m good.” You heard Shiro’s mother softly clear her throat and you returned your attention to her. She raised up both hands, fingers spread apart and made a small gesture.

“Wait.” She said. You nodded to let her know that you would before she walked off again. You glanced over to your boyfriend and he just shrugged his shoulders as you both waited for his mother’s return. Not long after, she re-entered the room with a couple of photo albums in her hands. You sat up straighter in excitement while Shiro groaned.

“Mom, we don't need to show her these.”

“Well, why not?” She asked.

“Because…” Shiro trailed off.

“Because?” She urged him to continue.

“It’s just embarrassing.” He muttered. Shiro’s mom rolled her eyes.

“Oh please! It’s just pictures of you as a child! Worst-case scenario, she sees a picture of you in the bath but what’s the big deal? She’s definitely seen more than that.”

“Mom!” Shiro gasped, mortified. You sat quietly in between the two of them bickering as you tried to stifle your laughter. Despite not knowing what was being said, you had a pretty good guess based on the photo albums before you, your boyfriend's flushed face, and his mother’s triumphant one. While the two of them went back and forth, you quietly picked up one of the photo albums and opened it. You started flipping through the pictures of Shiro’s childhood with a smile on your face. Shiro and his mother both noticed and Shiro sighed in defeat and reluctantly started looking through them with you. You landed on a picture of Shiro, no older than ten, in a baseball uniform, a band-aid and a little dirt on his face, and a wide smile with a gap from a missing tooth. Shiro’s mom pointed at it with a fond smile and held up nine fingers to tell you his age. You smiled in response as you continued to look through the album. You closed it and picked up another right away, the teddy bears on the cover indicated that these were his baby photos. You quickly opened it and let out a small squeal in delight.

“Oh my god! Kashi, you were so cute!” You turned to see your boyfriend with slightly flushed features as he averted your gaze.

“Kawaii ne?” Shiro’s mother asked. You nodded enthusiastically and continued to look through his baby pictures fondly.

I wonder if our kids will look like this? You asked yourself. You mentally shook your head at the thought. You intended to not think about it until you were certain and dammit, you were going to. You finished looking at the final page of the album and reluctantly closed it and picked up the last one. Most of the pictures were of him in middle and high school. The pictures of a younger and smaller looking Shiro being goofy with his friends made you smile the most as Shiro pointed them out to you and gave you a brief introduction on them. You remember a few of them that you and Shiro met when they visited you in LA, but most of them were strangers to you. You flipped the page again and another picture caught your eye. It was old. The faded colors and grainy filter told you that. And in the picture wasn’t Shiro but a young woman with a slightly older man. You instantly recognized Shiro’s mother for she barely aged a bit. She was probably in her early twenties and she was looking up lovingly of the man who was clearly of European descent. He met her gaze with a similar look.

“Hey, babe, who’s this?” You pointed at the man in curiosity.

“Who?… Oh.” You felt the mood drop instantly. You looked up and saw that both Shiro and his mother looked a bit grim.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to-” You were quickly cut off.

“No, it’s fine. That’s just… my father.”

“Your father?” You repeated softly. You looked at the man closer and noticed a bit of resemblance between him and Shiro with the facial structure. Shiro never talked to you much about his father. All you knew about him was that he was from Sweden and Shiro’s never met him. Other than that, he basically didn’t exist. You felt a small hand rest over yours and you looked over to Shiro’s mother. She was smiling sadly as she spoke to you in Japanese. After she finished speaking, you turned to look at Shiro for a translation. He looked over at his mother for confirmation that it was okay to repeat it and she nodded.

“She said that he was a professor at her college. And that they had a secret relationship with one another and that they were doing really well. But when she found out that she was pregnant with me and told him, he quit his job and left the country almost immediately because turns out, he was married and had a family back in his country. He’s probably somewhere in Sweden, the bastard.” He added angrily with a hint of hurt in his voice. You laid a hand on his shoulder and turned to look at his mom with an apologetic look. She smiled and patted your cheek.

“Daijōbudesu.” She said with an optimistic voice. She looked over to Shiro and looked back at you. Even though she wasn't communicating to you with words, you understood what she meant. ‘In the end, I got Takashi out of this so I don’t regret a thing. If anything, he’s missing out.’ You grinned and nodded in agreement.

Shiro’s mother tried to stifle her yawn as she glanced at her watch. You checked the time as well and noticed that it was around 11 o’clock at night.

“Hey, Takashi, it’s getting late. We should probably try to sleep and fight off this jet-lag.” Shiro seemed to have snapped out of some trance and nodded automatically. You got up from the couch and turned to Shiro’s mom. “Oyasuminasai, Shūtome.” You said hesitantly, praying that you bid her good night correctly, before walking up the stairs with Shiro.

“Oyasuminasai.” She replied.

You closed the door behind you after entering Shiro’s childhood bedroom. Bits and pieces of his past were shown through the things that he had in them. You looked over to see Shiro staring out the window silently. You frowned slightly and walked up to him. You hugged him from behind and rested your cheek against his broad back.

“Hey, you okay?” You asked. You heard him let out a big sigh.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just… bad thoughts.” He muttered.

“Sorry for bringing up those bad thoughts.” You replied, guiltily. Shiro sighed again before he turned around and returned your hug.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. If anything it was him. I mean, how could somebody do that? How could somebody just leave a pregnant woman who was carrying his unborn child alone without a good reason?”

“I don’t know Takashi. I don’t know why or how people do it. There are just some people like that in this world, unfortunately.”

“But still. If it were me, I wouldn’t leave. There is no way in hell I would leave. And yet, he did.” You felt yourself let out a little breath of relief that you didn’t even know that you were holding. You were glad to know that if you did find yourself pregnant, he would be with you.

“You’re not like him Kashi. You have a heart. And you do what’s right.” You felt Shiro hug you a little tighter.

“But… why didn’t he care?” He asked in a whisper. You felt your heart clench at the hurt in his voice. You pulled back slightly and cupped his face in your hands.

“Because he's a coward, Takashi. He’s a coward who doesn’t even deserve to know you anyway. You’re a better man in a day than he will ever be in his life. You’re better than him.” You repeated firmly as you tugged on his chin to look you in the eyes. “And he’s worse off without you.” Shiro stared into your eyes deeply and in silence, processing your words. He parted his lips, preparing to speak before he shut them. Finally, he let out a breath.

“You… you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, you know that?” You grinned slightly.

“That’s a given.” Shiro gently shook his head in amusement as he bent down to brush his lips softly against yours.

“I love you.” He murmured against your lips.

“I love you, too.” You replied. You two continued to softly caress each other lips before slowly parting from each other.

“Let’s get ready for bed. As you said, we should fight off this jet-lag.” Shiro said before leaving your embrace and unpacking both of your toiletries.

“Okay.”

It had just past 4 A.M and you still found yourself unable to sleep. Shiro had managed to doze off a few hours ago, hugging you close to his chest. However, you didn’t even feel the least bit tired. And by keeping to yourself in the quiet, the unwanted thoughts of a possible pregnancy started to resurface. You tried to block out the thoughts by shutting your eyes and trying to force yourself to sleep but eventually, you gave up and let out a silent groan in frustration. You slowly started to get up from the futon when you felt Shiro’s arms tighten around you.

“Babe, what are you doing? It’s the middle of the night.” He mumbled, sleepily. You turned around slightly and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

“I can’t sleep. I’m going to take a walk around the neighborhood.” You whispered.

“But you don’t know the area. I’ll go with you.” He replied as he started to get up. You quickly stopped him and gently pushed him back down to the futon. Luckily, he didn’t put up much of a fight.

“I’ll be fine. If I get lost, I’ll just use Google Maps.” Shiro cracked one eye open and looked at you curiously.

“Are you sure?” He asked.

“Positive. Now go back to sleep. I’ll be back within an hour.” You said as you kissed his lips gently. Shiro hummed in acknowledgment before his breathing quickly went back to a slow, steady pace. You smiled softly and ran your fingers through his cropped hair before getting back up and putting on a pair of jeans and a hoodie. You quietly walked down the stairs, hoping that you don’t wake up Shūtome. You sighed in relief when you reached the door. You slowly opened the door and picked up your shoes from the shoe-rack outside and slipped them on. You put the hood on over your head and started to walk off in a random direction.

You continued to walk in whatever direction you felt like before you halted in front of a Lawson. You noticed that it was still open so you decided to walk in and grab a quick snack. You nodded politely at the cashier who welcomed you before you started walking down the different aisles, grabbing snacks that you thought looked appetizing along the way. You were about to walk into the next aisle when something caught your eye. It was a small, pink box. You couldn’t read the words written on it but you could swear that it was a picture of a pregnancy test on the box. You quickly pulled out your phone and opened up Google Translate just to be sure. When the words on the screen matched the label on the box, you quickly reached out for it. Just before you were going to grab it, you hesitated.

Should I really be doing this? You asked yourself. I don’t know if I’m ready to know the answer.

‘It’s better to know now than having a random baby popping out of you and ending up on I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant.’ A voice replied. After a swift internal battle with yourself, you steeled your resolution and picked it up. You headed over to the counter and pulled out your wallet from the pocket of your hoodie. You quickly exchanged your money for the items and muttered a quiet “Thank you” in Japanese before heading out again.

You quietly entered the house again and tip-toed up the stairs. You placed the snacks in Shiro’s room before heading to the bathroom with the pregnancy test in hand. Once you were finished, you placed the test on the counter near the sink while you washed your hands. You set a timer for two minutes on your phone and turned away from the test. Seconds seemed like hours as you anxiously waited for the result. When you finally heard the soft chime from your phone, indicating that the timer was done, you slowly turned around with your eyes screwed shut. After some attempts, you picked up the test.

“Okay, Y/N. You got this. Just open your eyes on the count of three. One. Two…” You slowly opened your eyes and looked at the test. At the end of the stick, you saw two lines. The moment those lines hit your vision, every doubt, every fear or concern or hesitation flew right out the window. You were pregnant. And it was with Shiro’s baby. You were going to be a mother.

“…Three.” You whispered with a smile. Tears started to prick at your eyes as you let out a watery laugh. “I’m gonna be a mom.” You still couldn’t believe it. You rested a hand on your stomach, it was too early for a bump to be visible but you stared down at it lovingly. “Hello, little baby.” You whispered. You felt a tear slip down your face. “I’m your Mama.” It felt right having those words leave your lips. “I know you can’t hear me yet but I hope you know how much I love you already and I can’t wait to meet you. Wait until your Papa hears the news. I can’t wait to see the look on his face.” Happily, you left the bathroom and headed down the hall to Shiro’s room. You glanced out the window and saw the faintest hint of sunlight. You checked your phone and saw that it was ten minutes to six. You knew that you were defiantly able to sleep with this news so you decided to go for a walk on the beach in front of the house. You entered the bedroom and knelt down to look at Shiro’s sleeping face. You smiled warmly at the thought of the future before you reached out and gently shook his sleeping frame.

“Mmm.” He groaned sleepily.

“Hey… hey Kashi. Wake up.” You whispered.

“No.”

“Come on. Let’s go see the sunrise.”

“We can see the sunset. Let’s just stay in bed.” He muttered as he grabbed you and brought you down to him. You let out a little squeal of laughter as you playfully pushed against him.

“Please?” You asked cutely. When he didn’t respond you sighed and continued. “Please?Please? Please? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-”

“Alright, fine. You win.” He groaned as he regretfully pushed himself off of the futon. He slowly dragged his feet and changed into some jeans and a hoodie as well before you two set off for the beach.

You walked against the tides hand in hand, your shoes in the other. The chilly seawater tickled at your feet as the sun continued to rise, slowly, over the horizon. You two stopped walking soon after and sat down at the edge of the sea. You sat side by side as you watched the sun ascend.

“This is beautiful.” You said in awe.

“Yeah. You were right.”

“I always am.” You said with a grin.

“Shut up.” Shiro chuckled. You did as well as you continued to stare into the distance. Alright, Y/n. Now or never. You thought. You opened your mouth to speak, your eyes still set on the rising sun.

“Hey, Kashi?” You said. When you heard him hum in response, you continued. “I’ve been thinking.”

“About?” He asked.

“You know, about us. About our future.”

“Is it a good one?” He asked. Even though you weren’t looking at him, you could hear the smile in his voice.

“Obviously.” You snorted.

“So what is it that you saw in our future?” He asked.

“Oh… you know. The basics. Engagement, marriage…. kids.” You added softly. Shiro didn’t respond.

“Do you… do you want kids?” You asked hesitantly, daring not to look at him. Shiro softly cleared his throat before he answered.

“I mean, of course, I want kids. And I especially want them with you. Eventually. But with the show going on right now and our schedules, we can't possibly-”

“Takashi, I’m pregnant.” You blurted out. Everything was silent again. You held your breath as you waited for a response.

“…What?” He said in disbelief. You sighed softly and turned to face him. His face looked like if the word ‘shocked’ was created for just this moment.

“I’m pregnant.” You said again, quieter. You didn’t think Shiro’s eyes could get any wider but they did.

“You…” He took in a shaky breath and stood up and took a few steps into the ocean. The water soaking the ankles of his jeans. He didn’t seem to notice or care. You followed suit and walked up behind him. You placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Are you upset?” You asked. You knew that he wasn’t going to leave. His declaration from the previous night confirmed that for you. But you still couldn’t help but feel scared at the thought that he doesn’t want this baby. When his reply didn’t come, your heartbeat quickened. “Takashi?” You asked hesitantly.

“How long have you known?” He asked quietly.

“I had my suspicions but I just found out. When I went out for a walk, I bought a test and took it.” You replied.

“How far along are you?” You took a moment to think about it.

“If I’m correct…. then a little over two months.” You heard him let out a quick breath.

“Takashi? Are you upset?” You asked again, quieter now.

“Of course I’m not upset.” You heard him whisper. He slowly turned around and looked into your eyes with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. “How could I ever be upset. We’re going to be parents!” He said with a watery laugh as he picked you up and spun you around. You let out a little scream in shock before you laughed with him. He eventually stopped and slowly put you down, still wrapped around in his embrace.

“But you just said-”

“Forget what I said. I meant it theoretically. But now that I know that you- we,” He corrected as he placed a hand on your stomach, the bump still invisible. “are going to have a baby, I wouldn’t have it another way.” A single tear slipped down your face as you hugged him tightly. He returned the hug and let out a dreamy sigh. “I am so, so in love with you, Y/N.” He whispered into your hair.

“I’m in love with you, too.” You replied. You two gently pulled apart from each other and stared lovingly into the other’s eyes before you both slowly leaned in and kissed deeply. He slowly slipped his tongue inside your mouth and twirled it around yours. You let out a soft moan in delight as you pulled him closer. After a few minutes of loving kisses, Shiro’s body tensed and he immediately pulled away.

“Ah, shit.” He muttered. You looked at him curiously.

“What?” Shiro let out an exasperated sigh.

“I left it at the house. Had I known… wait here.” He said before quickly jogging towards the house. You stood there in shock as you watched his figure get smaller.

“O…kay?”

You waited for your boyfriend’s return, your feet splashing the water slightly. He couldn’t have been gone for more than a few minutes but it felt like hours. You soon heard footsteps and you quickly turned around to see Shiro running up to you, a little out of breath.

“I was going to do this when we went to go see the cherry blossoms, but I guess now is better than later.” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“What are you talking abo-” Your voice left your lips when you saw Shiro kneel down and pull out a box from the pocket of his hoodie. The sea water was basically soaking all of his jeans but his only focus was on you.

“Y/N, you didn’t know this, but I’ve been set on you for a while now. Even before we were official. When I saw you for the first time at one of our previous auditions, I knew that you were going to be a special part of my life. And when we got cast together for Voltron, I knew that I had to get to know you. And then after our first night… I knew that I was done for. That you were the one for me. I fell for you hard and fast and I couldn’t wait to ask you to be mine forever.”

“Oh my god.” You whispered. You felt your heart swell at his words.

“Every time I picture my future, you’re there, Y/N. You’re always there. And I know that we’re a little young and that we just got our careers off the ground but hey, we’re going to be parents now. Life is unpredictable.” He said with a chuckle. You laughed as well. “So what I’m saying is…”

“Yes?” You whispered.

“We’re going to have a baby soon…” He trailed off.

“Uh-huh.” You replied. Your smile widening at the familiar scene.

“And you’re the love of my life…” He said dramatically. You giggled slightly as you rolled your teary eyes.

“Get on with it already, Shirogane!” You teased, your voice shaking with tears. Shiro hummed in amusement before slowly opening the box and revealing a gorgeous ring. In the center, it held a round carbonado diamond that sat on a band of white gold. An intricate pattern was carved in the band and held smaller carbonado diamonds along with miniature crystals within. You let out a quiet gasp.

“Marry me?” He asked. His voice was soft and loving as he stared deep into your eyes. The dam finally broke and the tears spilled down your face. You couldn’t speak so all you could do was nod frantically before you finally found your voice.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course, I’ll marry you!” You sobbed. Shiro let out a small breath of relief before he stood up and gently grabbed your left hand.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do this.” He whispered as he slipped the ring onto your finger. You laughed in disbelief. You looked up and saw that a few tears slid down Shiro’s face as well before you quickly grabbed his face and crashed his lips against yours. You soon parted and stared at each other lovingly.

“We’re going to get married!” You squealed. Shiro softly kissed the tip of your nose.

“I know. And we’re going to be parents.” He reminded you as he looked down onto your stomach. You gently rested a hand over it and Shiro rested his hand over yours.

“I can’t wait.” You muttered happily. Shiro hummed in agreement. His eyes still focused on your unborn child.

“You’re going to be so spoiled, you know that?” He said to the baby with a smile. You giggled at his interaction with the baby.

“You’re going to be a great dad, Takashi.” You whispered. He finally looked up and smiled at you.

“And you’re going to be a great mom.”

“Speaking of moms, we should tell your mother.” Shiro gently shook his head.

“Not yet. Let’s surprise her.” He looked back down at your stomach. “Your Baba is going to spoil you rotten as well.” He chuckled.

“Baba?” You asked.

“It’s short for Obāsan. It means grandma.”

“Ah.” You understood. You looked out into the horizon and noticed that the sun was fully up. You checked the time and saw that it was a little past 7 A.M. “We should head back. We don’t want your mom worrying about us.” Shiro nodded.

“Yeah, okay.” You started to walk off when you felt a little tug on your arm. You turned around just before Shiro pulled you close and kissed you passionately. He slowly parted his lips from yours and smiled.

“I’m so happy.” You smiled back.

“Me too.”

You entered the house with Shiro and was greeted with the smell of steaming rice.

“I guess your mom’s up.” You said. He shrugged his shoulders.

“She’s always been an early riser.” You noticed his mother poke her head out of the kitchen and walked up to greet you.

“Ohay-” She stopped abruptly in her tracks. Her eyes focused on you. Or more specifically, your hand. She quickly ran up to you and brought your hand up to her face as she examined the ring. She looked up to Shiro with questioning eyes. When he nodded his head with a smile, she let out a squeal of delight as she crushed your body to her small frame. You let out a little laugh in surprise before you returned the hug just as forcefully. She removed herself from you and held your face in between her delicate hands. “Welcome!” She said gleefully. You felt yourself tear up again at her kindness.

“Arigatō.”

It was the last day of your two-week trip to Japan. You spent a lot of time with Shiro and his mother. You also got to meet some of his relatives and childhood friends. You and Shūtome had gotten really close over the past two weeks despite the language barrier. You had managed to get by with your minimal Japanese, her limited English, Shiro’s translations, Google Translate, and a whole lot of hand gestures. You silently vowed to yourself to become fluent in Japanese as soon as possible after what could possibly have been the thousandth time you or Shūtome called over Shiro for translation help. During the trip, you and Shiro sneakily went to the doctor who confirmed that you were nearing the end of your first trimester of pregnancy. You, along with Shiro and his mother decided to have a picnic in the park where the cherry blossoms were. Even though you and Shiro knew that it was probably best to share the news after your first trimester, you both agreed that you wanted to be there in person when you told her the news. And plus, you were going to head into your second trimester within the next week.

After you had found a decent spot to sit, Shiro set up the picnic blanket while you and Shūtome pulled out the food that you had made together earlier that day. You glanced up and admired the view of the cherry blossom trees that surrounded you.

“You were right, Kashi. The pictures pale in comparison to the real thing.” You said in awe.

“I know, right? You don’t see things like this in LA.” You hummed in agreement before pulling out your phone and snapping a few pictures. You noticed from the corner of your eye a pair of kids running around and playing with kites as their parents sat nearby. Your thoughts were once again brought back to the baby that was currently resting in your womb and you absentmindedly rubbed your hand against it with a smile. Shiro noticed your gaze and gave you a knowing smile. You returned it.

“So when should we tell her?” You whispered. Logically, you knew that she didn’t understand what you were saying but you couldn’t help but be secretive. Shiro rolled his eyes amusedly at your actions.

“We’ll tell her later. Let’s just enjoy lunch. You especially, since you’re eating for two.” You grinned slightly as you picked up a plate of food that Shiro handed to you. Ever since you told him about the news, he has even more attentive than before. Sometimes, you even woke up in the middle of the night to find him talking to the baby in hushed whispers. And now he will only sleep with his arms around you and hands resting protectively over your stomach. Sometimes you think that he’s being a little too cautious but you couldn’t deny that you found the whole thing really cute. You silently took a bite into the delicious food, glad that your morning sickness has been wearing off.

“Oishī?” Shūtome asked you. You turned to face her and smiled.

“Hai.” You replied. She returned your smile and continued to eat as well. You, Shiro, and Shūtome engaged in a limited, but lively conversation throughout the meal.

You all had spent most of the day at the park. Taking pictures with one another and admiring the cherry blossoms as they fell around you and into your hair. The sky was now bright orange and you turned over to look at Shiro with a knowing look. He nodded in agreement and turned to his mother.

“Mom?” Shiro called out.

“Yes?” She replied.

“There’s something that Y/N and I need to tell you.”

“Really? What is it?” A curious look appeared on her face as she turned fully to face the two of you. “Well…” He trailed off and glanced over to you. You smiled and gently grabbed Shūtome’s hand and rested it against your barely-visible bump. She looked at her hand that was over your stomach questionably before recognition flickered in her eyes. Her head quickly shot up as she turned to look at you then at Shiro.

“Takashi?” She asked. Her voice laced with hope. He nodded slowly with a smile.

“Yes, mom. Y/N’s pregnant. Nearly three months.” Shūtome gasped at her son's words before she turned to face you. She grabbed your other hand with her free one tightly.

“Baby?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Hai.” You responded. Shūtome’s eyes immediately filled with tears before she pulled you and Shiro in close for a hug. You both returned the hug and smiled at each other over her shoulder.

“That went well,” Shiro said happily.

Nearly three months had passed since your trip to Japan. The release of Voltron: Legendary Defender was a month prior and, like your director said, was a big hit. You had informed the cast and crew about the pregnancy and engagement and everyone congratulated you. You even noticed Lance hand Keith a twenty dollar bill in defeat. You grinned at the memory. You and Shiro were preparing to appear at Comic-Con. Your bump was extremely noticeable now so you wore an oversized sweater, despite the heat, to hide it.

“You ready? We don’t want to miss out flight.” Shiro asked. You turned and saw that he was heading towards you. You stood on your tip-toes and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Yup. Let’s go!” You said excitedly.

When you and the rest of the cast showed up for Comic-Con, you were all immediately swarmed by fans asking for pictures, autographs, even to just shake your hand. It was all very hectic. And you loved it. You couldn’t believe that in less than a month, your show had this much attention. Surrounded by fans, you looked over to Shiro who was surrounded by his own and smiled. The fans started to ask you and the cast questions and theories about the show. You were trying to be as discrete as you could when you felt a warm hand on your shoulder. You turned and saw Shiro smiling at the crowd.

“We would love to answer these questions for you. However, you’re going to have to ask at the panel. Where we have to be soon.” The fans all let out a collective sound of disappointment and you had to hide your smile behind your hand.

“See you later.” You said as you waved at them. You and the cast walked away from the fans and headed off to the panels.

“Hey, guys!” The director said as she walked up to you. “Did you see the fans? We’re swarming with them!” She exclaimed happily.

“We just experienced it first hand.” You giggled. The rest of the cast nodded in agreement.

“Well, anyway. We have to get ready. Our panel starts in an hour.” The director replied. You all went your separate ways to prepare.

Your panel finally started and the room was filled with fans. There was barely any room left for any of them to sit. You and the cast and the director greeted the fans enthusiastically while the fans returned it with the same energy. You all had a lot of fun talking about the future of Voltron and making the fans laugh with your bickering. Finally, it was time for the cast to ask the fans questions. A bunch of fans stood in a line, waiting for their turn. There were some questions that you could answer, couldn’t answer, could answer vaguely, or just made you laugh.

“Alright, next question!” The director called out. A bubbly girl, no more than 16, walked up to the mic.

“Hi! First of all, I just want to say that I’m a big fan! Especially, Lance’s character!”

“Why, thank you,” Lance replied smugly.

“So my question is: Do the cast know about the big shipping wars going on? Especially Klance?” Lance’s smug look quickly turned to one of embarrassment and you had to stop yourself from nearly spitting your drink from laughter. You heard squeals from the audience and you and the rest of the crew stared at Lance and Keith with amusement before you reached over and picked up a mic.

“Trust me, they know. We’ve read the fanfictions and we were all very amused, surprised, and a bit disturbed.” You said with a laugh. The rest of the audience laughed as well. “Maybe next time we should have Keith and Lance reenact some fan fiction.” You said teasingly. The whole audience erupted in excitement at the thought. Keith quickly grabbed a mic as well.

“Nope. Not gonna happen.” He said.

“Oh, come on! Everyone wants to see it!” You replied. You glanced back at the fans. “Isn’t that right?” You asked, holding your mic in the direction of the audience. A series of screams and agreements were heard as you glanced back smugly at the two actors, the rest of the cast stifling their laughter.

“N-next question!” Lance said in mortification. To his, and Keith’s relief, another fan walked up to the mic.

“Hello! I love your show!” They said enthusiastically.

“Thanks!” The director replied. The rest of the cast nodded in agreement.

“Adding on to the last question on shipping,” They continued. “Many have noticed the sparks happening between Y/N and Shiro’s characters. Will there be any more development in the future?” Now it was Keith and Lance’s turn to grin at you mischievously. You rolled your eyes and gave Shiro a playful look.

“I don’t know, Shiro. Will there be more development?” You asked dramatically.

“Well, I don’t know myself, Y/N. What do you think?” He asked back, just as dramatic.

“I think….” You trailed off, keeping the suspense. “That you all will just have to wait and see in the next season.” You said with a grin. You heard the audience let out a collective groan in mock-disappointment which only made you grin wider.

“Although,” Shiro quickly piped in. The audience’s focus was back to him. “that next season might take a while.” He said as he looked at you. The crowd immediately erupted in a commotion. Your eyes widened slightly before you smirked.

So this is how he wants to tell them? You thought. Alright, I’ll play along. You brought the mic closer to your face, your eyes never leaving his. When you were sure that you had most of the audience’s attention, you started to speak.

“Really?” You inquired. “And why is that, Shiro?”

“Well, we couldn’t possibly film the next season right now. Not with the baby and the wedding coming up.” The room got so silent you could hear a pin drop. It sounded as if there was no one left on Earth. Suddenly, all at the same time, the audience exploded.

“WHAT!?” You heard one say.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!?” Said another.

“OH MY GOD, I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT THIS IS HAPPENING MY REAL LIFE OTP AGH!”

“I KNEW IT! I KNEW THEY WERE A THING FOR REAL!” You glanced back at the audience before you returned your attention to Shiro. He shrugged his shoulders with a grin and stood up from his seat before pulling you up as well. First, he held up your left hand, showing off your engagement ring. Then he looked into your eyes for a silent question. When you gave him the okay, he slowly lifted up your sweater and revealed your very visible bump. The audience was destroyed at this point. You heard a series of congratulations and applause from the fans and you beamed at them with pride. Shiro bent down slightly and picked up the mic from the table.

“And I think that concludes the end of this panel. We hope to see you all again soon. Maybe even with the baby next time?” Said teasingly. The entire audience squealed at the thought. You rolled your eyes at his actions before you and the rest of the crew walked off, waving at the crowd.

“Wow, way to make a scene, Shirogane.” You said as you walked backstage. He shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

“What can I say? I’m an actor. I have a flair for the dramatics.” You snorted and shook your head in amusement before you pulled him down for a kiss.

A/N: She lives! For like a day lmao. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE YOU GUYS ARE HONESTLY THE GREATEST HUMANS!!!

~🐼

Masterlist

#shiro x reader #shiro headcanons #shiroxreader #takashi shirogane #takashi shirogane x reader #shiro voltron #voltron #voltron headcanons #voltron lengendary defender

54 notes · View notes

kaijuzilla · 5 years

Text

MOD REVIEW: Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019)

*This contain spoilers so if you want to avoid it then please do no continue reading this post.*

“Which of these Titans are here to threaten us, and which of these Titans are here to protect us...”

Where can I start.... The moment when I saw the trailer in college in spring time 2019, I was excited and hype for this film. And when me and my friend went to see it and got out:

THIS MOVIE IS AMAZING!!!

I really don’t get it whats with critics on this movie but as a fan and going all honest this movie is a good Godzilla movie! The director or the person behind this movie Mike Dougherty, took all the problems from the 2014 film, fixing it, added some awesome stuff, and this movie was born! Along with that we got Mothra who looks more insect appearance but still majestic beauty, Ghidorah who is freaking terrifying and making this the scariest and coolest Ghidorah, and Rodan who is on fire and is hot! Also he gives me a starscream vibe as well which everyone said same thing.

The plot tells that things are happening and citizens are blaming the Godzilla and Monarch for this disasters which they go on a riot to say that all of the monsters must be destroy. But Monarch refuses and wanted theses creatures to live because “they deserve the right to live” since they live here before us. Basically which one is here to live with us in harmony and which one is here to kill us. The people still think they should kill them but Serizawa still believes theses creatures are good on the inside and not monsters and wanted humans and monsters in a symbiotic relationship. Suddenly one of the scientist broke the Monarch code by releasing Ghidorah and is up to Monarch and Godzilla to stop the Monsters from creating disaster.

I also think the humans are actually alright in this movie than the 2014. But the 2014 film has one great actor who delivers it well but die later which kind of lost the character knowing them well because he’s like the most recognizable character and so does Serizawa. But this movie we learn about (some) of the characters more! Yes there are alot of characters in this movie and I think they’re all alright.

There’s also this Eco-terrorist group who wanted to free all these monsters from their cages and take their DNA for black market like those people from Pacific Rim. Also their goal got to success t release them all when Ghidorah calls all of them when crowned himself king. TBH do they even think that when these monsters are destroying every humanity they are gonna be kill too? Like really Ghidorah is the one that causes the planet Venus lifeless and you’re it’s next target.

One thing that got me like shock is that Serizawa assistants just die early int he film which just shock me alot. I kind of wanted to know about her character and why and how she became Serizawa assistant.

I’m also glad Mark Russell who is played by Kyle Chandler, who is a zoologist gets a character development in the film because from the beginning he hated Godzilla because he lost his son in the disaster of 2014 if San Francisco from the MUTOs (I’m not only one who notice those red military light guys falling from the sky from the beginning of the movie right?). Which close to end of the movie he learned that Godzilla is good and began to accept him. (Also makes me learn how alpha or hunting packs work)

Dr Emma Russel who played by Vera Farmiga, where her character is she is good (1) but she thinks she’s doing a good which made her the villian (2) thing but turns out bad so go back to being good (3). (1) she made this ORCA where it help control the titan by doing an alpha frequency thing which works on Mothra and Rodan and Ghidorah, (2) when she was caught by the Eco terrorist and see that releasing titans and radioactivity in San Francisco making plant life grow back which see human are infection decided to release and try release all titans to help restore balance to humanity and think this is what her son wanted (Ghidorah was second), (3) Ghidorah turns out to release all titans and controlling them all to destroy everything and learn that this isn’t good and Madison (her daughter) straight her out that this isn’t what will bring harmony or give what her dead son want to the world.

Did I mention there’s a prequel of this movie before it was released and it’s a comic? This is a same thing like Godzilla Awakening which we learn that Godzilla is an ancient apex predator that loves for many years that went to the center of the earth for radiation because the radiation on the surface of Earth is low. BUT THIS MOVIE TELLS US THERE ARE 17 TITANS/KAIJUS AROUND THE WORLD!!! They also involved in histories like mythology creatures (because they’re named after them or some) where it’s goes to saying that people sees them as gods. And this is reveled when Godzilla is laying to rest in this underwater city which is probably Atlantis? Where it show that people back then sees them as gods which is really cool and i want to know more about this. TBH if this happens in real life this could possibly happen in the past if these monsters exist.

One thing it’s very strange we see a bigger hunch spiky back Femuto again. It’s because we thought those babies and the two MUTOS are last of their kind from the 2014 film, and the Prime was killed in the comics as well. And this one isn’t pregnant which also bow down to Godzilla too. But I will say out of all Kaiju the Behemoth is the strange but one of my favorite kaiju design. Maybe because it’s a mammal and it’s so rare to see a mammal kaiju since it’s mostly Insects, Aliens, Amphibians, Birds, Fish, and Reptiles. We do see some on screen but in the novel tells us what the other titans are doing around the world. Surprising fact the Leviathan outpost in in Loch Ness meaning that Nessie is a kaiju or something!?

One thing that make the monsters amazing by their designs but also their facial expression which gives them more life and not Disney Lion King live action movie lifeless expression. We understand their emotion by their facial expression and not their voice.

We see Godzilla just showing intimidation to people and King Ghidorah who they both showing high level of intimidation! Also Ghidorah head that represent their personality are good and there’s reason why Kevin is the dumb one. Because the heart is on the right side of the body the right and middle get more blood to their brains while the left side aka Kevin get less blood in his brain (My friend explain this after the movie). And when Rodan got stab by Mothra stinger (which my friend also explain that Moths do have stingers IRL but never uses them because they don’t harm any creature and are like butterflies and bee hybrid like insects) he was showing that “anime pain gasp shock eye facial expression” because DAM right into the shoulder!!! Which then when he tries to challenge Godzilla for the throne he was like “aw hell sorry my king please forgive me I Starscream knee before you Megaton!!!”

Before I close to finish it off I want to say again Ghidorah in this film is the most scariest and terrifying monster of all time! The moment he survive the oxygen destroyer was so suprise he survive and Godzilla has a heart attack. The moment when Kevin head grows back after ripped off was just horrifying and just HOLY SHIT moment. Even seeing him as he crown himself the king now as he roar so lod showing the church is like we’re seeing the Devil begin the end life on Earth! Even when his history was meant to be erase and forgotten in the past is a surprising. Just glad they stick to alien and not bio genetic creature from the future that makes him look like a vampire furby baby face (I will admit the Dorats look cute).

Also one question....how dafug did the government military manage to make the Oxygen Destroyer. Yes it’s a prototype but if this is a prototype does this mean the perfect Oxygen Destroyer become Destroyah later on. Also you think the monster causes problem, that bomb kill alot of fish population right there! But during the film Serizawa sacrifice himself to save Godzilla by bringing the atomic nuclear bomb to blow up to help recharge his nuclear energy aka giving him some juice to make him stronger.

What make this movie fun is jsut there’s so many easter eggs in this movie! I spotted some but i bet there’s more somewhere that youtube explained see: Roidan is making nest at MT Fuji (Rodan movie), Twins and Infant Island (Mothra), Kong is poted and mention alot in the film which also leading to Kong vs Godzilla, Monster Zero, (again) The Leviathan is Nessie from Loch Ness, Mecha Kevin, 2014 sky falling scene, Mothra wing represent Godzilla eyes, Mothra egg after she die but chances maybe minilla or junior, A mysterious skeleton at Godzilla lair. That’s all i got so far. but idk if the sphinx would count because that is actually like a cancel 1998 Godzilla aka Zilla movie sequel.

What also surprising is that Godzilla and Mothra are actually a thing together! And tbh for the longest time I ship theses two (haven’t ship for a long LONG time)! it explain it’s a “symbiotic” relationship but still it’s cute.

Ok now the probably the best part of the movie is the monster fight scene. It’ss just so amazing what theses things can actually do on screens. Just when Godzilla and Ghidorah fight the third time they just charged to each other causing this huge shockwave boom that shook the sky! Rodan just peck the HELL out at Ghidorah when they first met! Mothra (again) Stab Rodan giving him the worst pain of his life on his shoulder! Kevin head ripped off! (Kevin nooooo), and the final part of the movie. Mothra Die from Ghidorah when protecting her Lamp Husband!

But the part when Godzilla when thermal nuclear aka BURNING GODZILLA!!! HE FUCKING BURNS THE WINGS ON GHIDORAHS WINGS LEAVING NOTHING BUT IT’S FINGERS THINGS!!! GHIDORAH TRY TO FIGHT BACK BUT IT’S NOT WORKING AND GODZILLA PULSES AGAIN DISINTEGRATE KEVIN AND RIGHT HEAD LEAVING THE ALPHA HEAD ALONE AND JUST CRUSH IT’S CHEST OPEN KILLING IT AND CREATE HUGE A EXPLOSION!!!!!!

Ok we’re at the ending a- OMG HE SURVIVED!? NOPE!!! GODZILLA RIP THE HEAD OFF AND SMACKING IT DOWN AS IT STILL ALIVE WHICH HE IS EATING THE NECK! TO FINISH IT OFF IT CHARGES IT’S ATOMIC BREATH AND SHOOT THE HEAD TO THE SKY!!!!

THIS IS WHY GODZILLA IS THE TRUE KING OF THE MONSTERS!

He fought something that could out class him and dominates it, No matter how must of a pain he’s in he still stands tall, he continues fighting and not retreat and rematch again (Gamera)!

That is the coolest death kill ever and turns out the spark from the mouth was actually a burp which is funny. Don’t believe me? go to Mike Dougherty twitter he tells everything about the movie.

Now the one part that makes me want to react with the other titans too which i feel like all Godzilla fans did too in the theaters because i got the same feeling to just wanting to bow down to Godzilla for some reason? Just when Madison (Mark and Emma daughter who is Millie Brown from Stranger Thing as Eleven) uses the ORCA to bring all titans to Boston. They all arrive seeing their king to be dead by Godzilla which looks liek they’re all about to challenge him, even Rodan look piss off for he want to fight for his fallen king death. He tells them to back the fuck down which Rodan being the Starscream dude he is bows down before his true king and so does (mostly) everyone, even the Femuto who is the natural enemies to his species bows before him! This turned all the titans good and help bring amazing impact around the world: Amazon Rainforests that was wiped out are growing back, endanger animals are off the endanger list, stabilized world sea levels from Antarctica, fish population rises too, etc...

Then there is the after credit where the leader of the Eco terrorist finds Kevin and is going to take his head. And also show many hits saying seismic activity at Skull Island and show cave painting of Kong and Godzilla fighting each other!

This is what “which titans is here to threaten us, and which titans are here to protect us.” from the beginning. There are two kings and one of the is a false king who call himself king and wants to bring destruction to everything it sees. Godzilla job as an apex predator is to bring balance to nature and humanity as a True King to the throne. If any one of them go out of Godzilla rules then they will be slap to their head.

So then that is King of the Monsters and it still a great film! I still can’t believe critics say “too much monster fight scene” and blah blah blah they don’t know what a Godzilla film actually is tbh! This movie did amazing and even thought there’s some problems it still make a good movie. I will give it an:

8 or 7 out of 10

If you want to watch this I would recommend watching old godzilla films which also count kong, mothra, and rodan before you see this film but for a quickie i would recommend Godzilla Awakening, Godzilla (2014), Skull Island: Birth of Kong, Kong Skull Island, and Godzilla Aftershock to get to know the movie and the Monsterverse. There’s also the novel too which holds more information that didn’t get on screen and it’s low price and it’s good. I really wanted to get off my chest and it just so good! i think next review I might do Endgame maybe?

#Godzilla King of the Monsters #Godzilla #kaiju #mod #mod review

5 notes · View notes