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maandarinee · 3 years

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what are all the podcasts you listen to?

anon I'm so glad you asked

Since it is a pretty long list including synopses (stolen from the podcast feed or website because I'm Bad at summaries and in some cases it's been a while since I listened) I'm going to put it under a cut.

I've separated the list into "Complete" (either finished or cancelled) and "Ongoing" podcasts. Some have additional comments by me. Current favorites are marked orange. My eternal beloved are Our Fair City and Wolf 359.

Complete

ars PARADOXICA: "When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there's no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe."

Blackwood: "Five years ago, Molly Weaver, Bryan Anderson, and Nathan Howell started a podcast focused on the local legend of a monster called The Blackwood Bugman. Quickly, the investigation grew out of their control, as they discovered that, not only are the legends seemingly true, many people in Blackwood have turned up dead or disappeared without a trace." --> [this feels like the Blair With Project, but as a podcast. Didn't get a second season due to no funding, but it works as a standalone]

Dreamboy: "Dane, a spun-out musician spending the winter in Cleveland, Ohio, has two main goals: keeping his job at the Pepper Heights Zoo and trying not to waste all his time on Grindr. What he doesn’t expect is to get swept into a story about dreams, about forevers, about flickering lights, about unexplained deaths, about relentless change, and about the parts of ourselves that we wish other people knew to look for. Oh, and also a murderous zebra." --> [very NSFW; does cool things with music! Didn't get a second season due to no funding, but it works as a standalone]

King Fall AM: "...centers on a lonely little mountain town's late-night AM talk radio show and its paranormal, peculiar happenings and inhabitants." --> [cancelled after 100 episodes, ends on a huge cliffhanger]

Our Fair City: "A campy, post-apocalyptic audio drama." --> [I know the description sounds like nothing but just trust me, I love it so much]

Steal the Stars: "...is a gripping noir science fiction thriller in 14 episodes: Forbidden love, a crashed UFO, an alien body, and an impossible heist unlike any ever attempted."

Stellar Firma: "...a weekly Science Fiction, Comedy podcast following the misadventures of Stellar Firma Ltd.'s highest born but lowest achieving planetary designer Trexel Geistman and his bewildered clone assistant David 7. Join them each episode as they attempt to take listener submissions and craft them into the galaxy's most luxurious, most expensive and most questionably designed bespoke planets. However, with Trexel's corporate shark of a line manager Hartro Piltz breathing down their necks and I.M.O.G.E.N., the station's omnipresent and omniinvasive stationwide A.I. monitoring those necks to within 3 decimal places, they'll be lucky to make it a week before being slurried and recycled into raw human resources." --> [semi-improvised, I thought I'd have a problem with the improv bit because that's not usually my thing, but no, I absolutely devoured this]

TANIS: "...is a serialized docudrama about a fascinating and surprising mystery: the myth of Tanis. Tanis is an exploration of the nature of truth, conspiracy, and information. Tanis is what happens when the lines of science and fiction start to blur." [+ spinoff The Last Movie] --> [I have no clue what the hell is going on here]

The Black Tapes: "...is a serialized docudrama about one journalist's searc for truth, her enigmatic subject's mysterious past, and the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them both."

The Magnus Archives: "...is a weekly horror fiction anthology podcast examining what lurks in the archives of the Magnus Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Join new head archivist Jonathan Sims as he attempts to bring a seemingly neglected collection of supernatural statements up to date, converting them to audio and supplementing them with follow-up work from his small but dedicated team. Individually, they are unsettling. Together they begin to form a picture that is truly horrifying because as they look into the depths of the archives, something starts to look back…"

Time:Bombs: "...a new audio drama podcast about the hilarious world of bomb disposal. Ride along with EOD technician Simon Teller on the busiest night of the year for him and his team - when business is, quite literally, booming."

Wolf 359: "Life's not easy for Doug Eiffel, the communications officer for the U.S.S. Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. He's stuck on a scientific survey mission of indeterminate length, 7.8 light years from Earth. His only company on board the station are stern mission chief Minkowski, insane science officer Hilbert, and Hephaestus Station's sentient, often malfunctioning operating system Hera. He doesn't have much to do for his job other than monitoring static and intercepting the occasional decades-old radio broadcast from Earth, so he spends most of his time creating extensive audio logs about the ordinary, day-to-day happenings within the station. But the Hephaestus is an odd place, and life in extremely isolated, zero gravity conditions has a way of doing funny things to people's minds. Even the simplest of tasks can turn into a gargantuan struggle, and the most ordinary-seeming things have a way of turning into anything but that." --> [starts funny, turns very intense]

Ongoing

Alba Salix, Roya Physician (+ The Axe & Crown): "A witch, her apprentice, and her fairy herbalist treat the ills of a fairy-tale kingdom." + "Gubbin the troll tavernkeeper deals with his clueless new landlord, his shady niece, and some new competition."

Archive 81: "A found footage horror podcast about ritual, stories, and sound."

Arden: "A (fictional) true crime podcast about cold cases and the reporter and detective who try to solve them."

Brimstone Valley Mall: "The year is 1999. Lurking somewhere between Hot Topic and the food court, five misfit demons from Hell kill time inciting sin in a suburban shopping mall. When the lead singer of their band goes mysteriously missing, the demons only have two weeks to find him before they play the biggest gig of the millennium - or face the wrath of Satan herself."

CARAVAN: "First rule of Wound Canyon: No one who gets in, ever gets out. So when a brilliant, ghostly specter flies through the sky amid the rain and lightning, Samir stumbles off a steep cliff and into a hidden world, one in which demons, vampires, and all other manner of paranormal creatures take sanctuary." --> [also pretty NSFW and horny in general]

Death by Dying: "The Obituary Writer of Crestfall, Idaho finds himself deeply in over his head as he investigates a series of strange and mysterious deaths… when he is supposed to simply be writing obituaries. Along the way he encounters murderous farmers, man-eating cats, haunted bicycles, and a healthy dose of ominous shadows." --> [I had to stop listening to this in public because it kept making me undignified laugh and snort noises]

Desperado: "Blood magic, Voodoo magic, old gods, new gods: We've got it all! Follow the story of misfits from all over the world, as they try to survive and protect their heritage from modern-day crusaders."

EOS 10: "Doctors in space, a deposed alien prince, a super gay space pirate and a fiery nurse who'll help you win your bar fight."

Girl In Space: "Abandoned on a dying ship in the farthest reaches of known space, a young scientist fights for survival (and patience with the on-board A.I.). Who is she? No one knows. But a lot of dangerous entities really want to find out. Listen as the story unfolds for science, guns, trust, anti-matter, truth, beauty, inner turmoil, and delicious cheeses. It’s all here. In space."

Janus Descending: "...follows the arrival of two xenoarcheologists on a small world orbiting a binary star. But what starts off as an expedition to survey the planet and the remains of a lost alien civilization, turns into a monstrous game of cat and mouse, as the two scientists are left to face the creatures that killed the planet in the first place. Told from two alternating perspectives, Janus Descending is an experience of crossing timelines, as one character describes the nightmare from end to beginning, and the other, from beginning to the end." --> [absolutely harrowing horror]

Love and Luck: "...is a fictional radio play podcast, told via voicemails and set in present day Melbourne, Australia. A slice of life queer romance story with a touch of magic, it follows the relationship between two men, Jason and Kane, as their love grows both for each other and their community." --> [soft and gay, feels like a warm hug]

Potterless: "Join Mike Schubert, a grown man reading the Harry Potter series for the first time, as he sits down with HP fanatics to poke fun at plot holes, make painfully incorrect predictions, and bask in the sassiness of the characters." --> [the only non-fiction podcast on the list]

Primordial Deep: "When a long extinct sea creature washes up on the shores of Coney Island, marine biologist Dr. Marella Morgan is contacted by a secret organization to investigate the origins of the creature’s sudden and unnatural resurgence. Soon, she and a team of experts find themselves living on the research station The Tiamat, traveling along the abyssal plains as they search for answers far below the waves. But there are dangers in these ancient waters. Reawakened, prehistoric monsters are rising from the deep -- jaws wide and waiting, and in the darkness, something is stirring."

Red Valley: "No one at Overhead Industries wants to talk about defunct research station Red Valley, and account man Warren Godby is out of his depth. When he meets Gordon Porlock, a disgruntled archivist with a bag of tapes from the station’s last known occupant, they will begin a journey to the limits of experimental science, confront horror and trauma from the past, present and future, and try to remember the cheat codes from Sonic the Hedgehog 2."

Rusty Quill Gaming: "An actual play podcast following a mixed ability group of comedians, improvisers, gamers, and writers as they play through the extended, tabletop roleplaying campaign Erasing the Line, an original game world of the GM’s crafting." --> [took me a while to get into because I have trouble focusing on non-scripted things, but eventually I got really hooked on the plot and attached to the characters. This podcast is really fucked up at times if you think about it]

SAYER: "A narrative fiction podcast set on Earth’s man-made second moon, Typhon. The eponymous SAYER is a highly advanced, self-aware AI created to help acclimate new residents to their new lives, and their new employment with Ærolith Dynamics." --> [feels like Welcome to Night Vale but narrated by GLaDOS from Portal]

StarTripper!!: "Join Feston Pyxis on a road-trip through the cosmos, as he leaves behind his old life in search of the best and wildest experiences the galaxy has to offer!"

The Amelia Project: "...is a secret agency that fakes its clients' deaths, then lets them reappear with a brand new identity! A black comedy full of secrets, twists... and cocoa."

The Big Loop: "...a biweekly anthology series. Each episode is a self-contained narrative exploring the strange, the wonderful, the terrifying, and the heartbreaking. Stories of finite beings in an infinite universe." --> [I don't like anthologies, except this one]

The Bright Sessions: "Dr. Bright provides therapy for the strange and unusual; their sessions have been recorded for research purposes." --> [think X-Men, but with therapy instead of a school]

The Deca Tapes: "Recordings have surfaced of ten people that are locked into the same space together. We don’t know where they are, or if they'll get out. But the answers must be somewhere on these tapes."

The Silt Verses: "Carpenter and Faulkner, two worshippers of an outlawed god, travel up the length of their deity’s great black river, searching for holy revelations. As their pilgrimage lengthens and the river’s mysteries deepen, the two acolytes find themselves under threat from a police manhunt, but also come into conflict with the weirder gods that have flourished in these forgotten rural territories."

The White Vault: "Follow the collected records of a repair team sent to Outpost Fristed in the vast white wastes of Svalbard and unravel what lies waiting in the ice below."

Tides: "...is the story of Dr. Winifred Eurus, a xenobiologist trapped on an unfamiliar planet with hostile tidal forces. She must use her wits, sarcasm and intellectual curiosity to survive long enough to be rescued. But there might be more to life on this planet than she expected." --> [think The Martian, but on a water planet]

Unwell, a Midwestern Gothic Mystery: "Lillian Harper moves to the small town of Mt. Absalom, Ohio, to care for her estranged mother Dorothy after an injury. Living in the town's boarding house which has been run by her family for generations, she discovers conspiracies, ghosts, and a new family in the house's strange assortment of residents."

VAST Horizon: "Nolira is an agronomist tasked with establishing agriculture in a new solar system, but when she wakes up on a now- empty colony ship, the whole of her plan disappears. The ship has been set adrift, with numerous mission-critical problems requiring immediate attendance outside of her area of expertise. Nolira is aided by the ship’s malfunctioning AI, which acts as her confidant and companion during the fight for survival."

Victoriocity: "Even Greater London, 1887. In this vast metropolis, Inspector Archibald Fleet and journalist Clara Entwhistle investigate a murder, only to find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy of impossible proportions."

We Fix Space Junk: "...follows seasoned smuggler Kilner and reluctant fugitive Samantha as they travel the galaxy, dodging bullets and meeting strange and wonderful beings as they carry out odd jobs on the fringes of the law."

Welcome to Night Vale: "Twice-monthly community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, where every conspiracy theory is true. Turn on your radio and hide."

Within the Wires: "Stories told through found audio from an alternate universe."

Wooden Overcoats: "Rudyard Funn and his equally miserable sister Antigone run their family's failing funeral parlour, where they get the body in the coffin in the ground on time. But one day they find everyone enjoying themselves at the funerals of a new competitor - the impossibly perfect Eric Chapman! With their dogsbody Georgie, and a mouse called Madeleine, the Funns are taking drastic steps to stay in the business…" --> [one of THE funniest podcasts I have ever listened to]

#ask #anon #please talk to me about podcasts at all times #podcasts #podcast recommendations

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amandamazzillo · 2 years

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2021 Film Round-Up: Top Ten 2021 Films & 'New to Me' Films

2021 has been filled with so many memorable films including absurd comedies, campy horror, and heartfelt musicals. With so many films I have yet to see from this year, I know there’s something perfect and completely relevant to my interests that I haven’t seen. This blog will showcase my top ten 2021 releases as well as my top ten films from previous years that I saw for the first time, which includes some extremely unexpected entries.

2020 and 2021 have been years of nostalgia as well as discovery. I sought out familiar favorites—I watched She’s All Thatmultiple times and watched every episode of Big Wolf on Campus—and explored films I had been meaning to see for years. In 2020, I finally watched A Nightmare on Elm Street, a film of which I have been scared to see since I was a child. Quickly, Nancy Thompson became my favorite final girl, and I watched the entire series. The film felt both nostalgic and familiar as well as being a new experience for me. I remembered the time I hurried to another room when my cousins watched this movie when we were kids. I thought back to all the times I would fall asleep in the bathtub, causing the worry of my mother.

2020 also brought me to finally watch Lucky McKee’s May which has become one of my favorite horror films, as well as a film that is now on my short list of favorite films of all time: A Face in the Crowd. As a child, I passed by May in the blockbuster over and over, drawn in, but scared to ever watch the film. With A Face in the Crowd, I hadn’t heard of the film before my friend recommended it and told me Criterion was having a sale on the digital copy.

This desire to expand my vast cinematic library extended to 2021 where I watched more films I had been meaning to for years, as well as some I had never heard of before this year began.

Read More to see my top ten 2021 releases and my top ten 'new to me' films I saw this year.

Here is my top ten 2021 releases

1. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar – Director: Josh Greenbaum / Writers: Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig

Friendship is a beautiful and sometimes confusing thing. Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar wonderfully represents this unique relationship with its central characters. Barb and Star represent a specific type of friendship and time of life. Their characters instantly put a smile on my face and pull me into their wacky and wonderful world. This film goes for it. The absurdity of its humor is a breath of fresh air that was especially needed this year. The unique sense of humor, bright and colorful production design, and surrealism makes Barb and Star a truly unforgettable film. From the first moment, the charm of this film and its endlessly endearing characters caught me and never let go.

Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar is a fun film that never tries to push down its spark to appease a mass audience. You might love this film. You might hate it. But you can never say this film isn’t exactly what it wants to be. Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig are wonderful in their roles and wrote a creative and indescribable script that only they could truly bring to life.

I have already watched Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar multiple times and I will watch it many many more over the years. It isn’t often that you find a comedy film that connects so much with your sense of humor. This film added a bright spot to a challenging year. This film gives us kind upbeat characters and shows that everyone, no matter how cheerful, has their own problems they can overcome.

2. Malignant – Director: James Wan / Writers: James Wan, Ingrid Bisu, Akela Cooper

From the moment I saw the poster for Malignant, I was ready. This is it. This is the horror movie for me. Malignant is one of the most entertaining films of the year. There is so much to love from its opening credits recalling the opening sequence of Re-Animator to its twisty and amazing plot reminding us of the most ridiculous and spectacular the horror genre has to offer.

In addition to being an endlessly enjoyable ride through the world of horror, Malignant poses some important questions about autonomy. This film explores ideas of women not being in charge of their own bodies in literal and absurdist ways. Annabelle Wallis gives a stellar performance balancing the film’s emotional moments with its intense, unhinged ones.

Malignant shows domestic assault in a way which does not romanticism the situation or blame Madison for her misfortune. There is a fine line between showing moments of abuse and showing too much, where you can’t decide if the film wants to deal with tough issues or if they take pride in displaying the action. This is never felt with Malignant. The moment where Madison’s boyfriend abuses her is short and does not linger on the action, but lingers on Madison, showing that this film cares more about what this does to her than on showcasing the action on screen.

Malignant is a pitch-perfect mix of Basket Case and Drop Dead Fred, which is probably something nobody ever expected to say. This unexpected combination, along with its tense emotional moments, sets Malignant apart as one of the best films of 2021.

3. Shiva Baby - Director/Writer: Emma Seligman

Watching Shiva Baby is one of the most anxiety-inducing film watching experiences of my life and I am anxious on a very frequent basis. This film is tense and funny, balancing everything with a distinct style and tone that recalls the horror genre.

I was uneasy more during Shiva Baby than during most of the horror films I watch. Utilizing a tone similar to horror films for an intense, anxious comedy/drama is a wonderful way to build a world that brings the emotions we feel during tense moments in family settings to life. Inside, we might be dreading someone finding our phone more than we would imagining a dark fantasy that will never happen. The relatability helps build even more tension in an already tense environment.

When watching Shiva Baby, I realized how often comedy plots, especially ones focusing on playing off our anxiety and embarrassment can provoke a similar, frightening feeling as horror. Shiva Baby is a well-crafted film with memorable performances highlighting the uncomfortable and intensity of life. This film perfectly captures the feeling of being asked by relatives and family friends about what you're doing with your life in the form of a memorable, tense, and funny film.

4. Nobody – Director: Ilya Naishuller / Writer: Derek Kolstad

Bob Odenkirk is one of those actors I always want to see in more roles. My excitement when Nobody was announced was unparalleled. Better Call Saul is one of my favorite shows and being able to see Bob Odenkirk in a leading role in a film, especially an action film like Nobody, was the beginning of a perfect experience.

Well-choreographed and creative action is the perfect way to instantly energize me. Nobody works wonderfully to build its action scenes with unique and organic fights. Bob Odenkirk is the perfect choice to play Hutch, a seemingly ordinary guy with something hiding underneath the surface.

Nobody gave me one of my favorite cinematic experiences of 2021 through its intense and innovative action mixed with moments of humor, some of which came in the very same moments. Utilizing organic aspects of locations, such as factories and buses, is a great way to revitalize the action genre, creating memorable fast-paced and exhilarating films. When watching Nobody, I was engaged and thrilled from the beginning to the end.

Nobody does a great job of developing Hutch as tired family-man always narrowly missing the trash collection.

In a world filled with a recent collection of well-made action films, Nobody is a great addition to this action renaissance. If this is the Bob Odenkirk John Wick, when can we expect the Rhea Seehorn Atomic Blonde?

5. The Power of the Dog – Director: Jane Campion / Writer: Jane Campion – based on the novel by Thomas Savage

Jane Campion’s suspenseful western explores alcoholism and toxic masculinity through a story of transformation visually connected to the internally claustrophobic atmosphere in a vast landscape

The Power of the Dog is a tense film built in an endlessly open natural environment, exploring the limited and restricted lives of its inhabitants.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as Phil burrows under your skin, putting the audience in Rose’s place. There is a palpable dread every time she sees Phil, even when these glimpses come from her perch inside her bedroom through a window.

Phil spends his life trying to maintain his presence as a man. If he doesn’t feel manly enough, he takes this out on the people around him through insults and his foreboding presence.

Jane Campion’s direction perfectly captures how confined Rose feels in her own life through brilliant use of shadows and harsh light.

Rose—a widow living with her teenage son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee)—begins her relationship with George (Jesse Plemons) in brief moments of happiness. Her smile radiates as the pair grow close. By establishing this relationship with a few, short-lived moments of bliss, the darkness and dissolution hits that much harder. Rose, after starting her new married life with George, slowly falls into alcoholism. The film explores this in a naturalistic way, slowly showing her falling further into her addiction. Kirsten Dunst’s performance captures the anxiety and pain of her character through subtle moments which effectively displays the cacophony of feelings her character is going through as she loses control of her quickly changing life.

6. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain – Director: Will Sharpe, Writer: Simon Stephenson, Will Sharpe

Will Sharpe brought us the wonderfully haunting and darkly comedic world of Flowers, which aired between 2016 and 2018. With The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Sharpe as director and writer brings Louis Wain’s art and persona to life in this sparkling and beautiful film.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance highlights the eccentric personality of Louis Wain. The style of this film is so precise and surreal, knowing exactly how to bring this artist’s work to screen.

As someone who views Flowers as one of the best shows of recent years, I was anxiously awaiting this film. I loved Will Sharpe’s unique vision of what it means to be dark comedy and which topics you can explore within the genre. Flowers is a darkly beautiful exploration of depression and the family unit. With The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Will Sharpe once again examines dark moments in life with whimsy and love.

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain does a wonderful job balancing the story of the artist with showcasing his art, especially the most surrealist examples. The world around Louis Wain comes to life, showing how he saw the world and was able to create his unique vision of the world and the cats within it.

7. Slumber Party Massacre – Director: Danishka Esterhazy / Writer: Suzanne Keilly

If anyone asks me for my favorite horror movie quote, I will always refer to the exchange in the first Slumber Party Massacre film: “He’s so cold.” “Is the pizza?” This moment of teenage girls coming face-to-face with a mutilated pizza delivery man and then eating pizza over the dead body will always stay with me.

The Slumber Party Massacre franchise means so much to me with its feminism behind and in front of the camera. Every film in the original franchise is written and directed by women, and this new film keeps up that tradition, adding more women’s voices to the horror genre. Director Danishka Esterhazy and writer Suzanne Keilly bring new life to the Slumber Party Massacre franchise with this gory, funny, and very feminist slasher. This new version of that familiar story explores its feminist themes in new and exciting ways which highlight the feminism inherent to the slasher genre.

Slumber Party Massacre captures the tone and inclusion of the original film while creating a unique experience through restructuring and utilizing a somewhat meta shift to the story.

The original franchise often subverted the tropes of the slasher and this film is no expectation. Slumber Party Massacre subverts the male gaze which is frequent within the slasher by turning this toward the men in the form of the male characters having a slumber party pillow fight and an extremely foamy shower scene.

Slumber Party Massacre showcases creative kills and gory moments while highlighting sexist behavior in the form of villainous characters. Watching women succeed against people blaming them for the predatory actions of men offers a cathartic experience in this memorable slasher.

I absolutely loved seeing the guitar from Slumber Party Massacre 2 in this film. Those little nods were so nice and were not overpowering or distracting from the story being told.

8. Fear Street: 1666 – Director: Leigh Janiak / Writers: Phil Graziadei, Leigh Janiak, Kate Trefry

The covers of Fear Street books have a nostalgic hold on me, even if I don’t remember reading any of them. The art style brings back memories and before this film came out, I started journeying into this world that I seemed to glance over when I was younger. I talked to friends about the books and heard which parts of the franchise they loved the most.

When this film series came out, week by week on Netflix, I was excited. I felt the nostalgia but could also come in fairly open to interpretation.

The trilogy works well, exploring different subgenres of horror in each installment, much like the books jump between different subsets with their own style of horror.

Fear Street: 1666 plays wonderfully in the sandbox of witchy puritanical horror, allowing its cast to show their acting talents in a vastly different time period than their earlier characters. This works great to follow the ancestral line between installments.

1666 jumps from its titular time period back to the 90s, tying up the story with a twisty return to the time period where the trilogy began.

The trilogy as a whole explores horror and its tropes, but this installment works to bring everything together and gives new insights into the characters we grew to love through the other two installments (1994 and 1978). Relationships come together or grow more strained and in this, we see performances coming to their fruition, exploring every side of their characters, the expected and unexpected.

9. tick, tick…BOOM! – Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda / Writer: Steven Levenson based on the musical by Jonathan Larson

Throughout my time in high school, I frequently listened to the off-Broadway cast recording of tick, tick…BOOM!from 2001. This version revised the one-man show into a piece featuring three actors (Raúl Esparza, Amy Spangler, Jerry Dixon). My favorite track on this cast recording was the included version of Boho Days sung by Jonathan Larson.

Watching tick, tick…BOOM!, I was brought back to this moment in time. My memories of being in high school, knowing I want to be a writer and be able to express my passions for film, but not knowing how I would fulfil my dream. I still don’t know how I will fulfil my dream, and that made this film experience that much more difficult and moving.

Andrew Garfield’s performance as Jonathan Larson is one of my favorites of the year. tick, tick...BOOM! showcases the story of Jonathan Larson's life with memorable performances and an interesting visual style connecting organic and stylized performances. Garfield’s charm and energy were a perfect match for representing Larson in this film celebrating his music and his life.

tick, tick…BOOM! Brought me back to the times I would repeatedly listen to the songs. I felt like I was in those moments again with the added panic and pressure of my own experiences trying to create art and find my place within the world through my passion.

10. Spider-Man: No Way Home – Director: Jon Watts / Writers: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers

Sometimes a movie comes along that means so much and brings you back to a simpler time. Spider-Man: No Way Homeworks as the end of Peter’s high school trilogy in the MCU with the character growing and entering a new stage of his life. This film works as nostalgia to everyone who ever loved Spider-Man, but it also stands out on its own. The storyline focuses on it never being too late to help someone change into a better version of themselves and challenges what it means to be a superhero in the current MCU.

The MCU challenged the idea of people knowing the identity of their heroes in Iron Man. This film examines that same concept again, showcasing the dangers that come from everyone knowing the identity of Spider-Man.

No Way Home creates a strong repertoire between characters leading to organic moments of comedy. This film is an important stage in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, allowing us to see glimpses to a Peter that we want to see: barely being able to pay his rent, trying to survive on his own, yet still vowing to save his neighborhood.

As someone who grew up and got to know Spider-Man through Sam Raimi’s films, this is a soothing return to form with charming moments that were a blast to see after all these years.

There’s something special about seeing Peter fully become the friendly neighborhood spider-man in this film that makes it a remarkable experience.

The film gets me more excited for Sam Raimi’s return to Marvel as director with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

When I saw Far From Home, I joked that it, like The Evil Dead, is a film about a guy on a trip with his friends, who desperately wants to give the girl he loves a necklace, but keeps getting interrupted by monsters. I tweeted that the next Spider-Man film should flash to the future and show Peter returning to New York after years and years—like Ash returns to his hometown in Ash vs Evil Dead—everyone thinking he tried to murder his friends and being forced to work minimum wage in a big box store. These were jokes, but there is somewhat of a hold over Spider-Man for me. This character will always sit in my heart right next to my love for Sam Raimi’s filmography. He understands the character so well, and I am grateful we received a return to his version of this classic character with No Way Home.

Another thing I found somewhat delightful about No Way Home is how Doctor Strange seems to shift. He is no longer Sorcerer Supreme and maybe this has made him a little more flippant. Yes, he warns Peter about the dangers of casting his spell and stops when things go too far, but would he have started to cast it at all before losing that place in the Sanctum Sanctorum? I call this change, combined with the Doctor Strange of What If? summoning weak demons the ash-williams-ification of doctor strange and I love that.

Here is my top ten new to me films for 2021

1. Magic (1978) Director: Richard Attenborough Writer: William Goldman

When I first came across Magic, it was playing on one of Shudder’s live channels, and I was intrigued. I wanted to watch it, but I kept forgetting. Flashforward, the film is no longer on Shudder. I come across it on another streaming service. I know I cannot miss this opportunity again. I watch it and am instantly captivated. Anthony Hopkins performance as Corky wonderfully shows how his character loses his grip on the world and becomes increasingly connected to his ventriloquist dummy Fats. This is shown through their clothes becoming more similar as the film goes on until man and dummy are wearing the exact same outfits. And really, at this point, who is in control?

This film has so many powerful scenes, especially one where Corky is asked to not speak through Fats for five minutes. The scene stretches forward with uncomfortable silence until he explodes, fast and frantic, making Fats speak so quickly to appease the time he missed.

Magic is a film I knew nothing about until that fateful day on Shudder and goes to show how much this horror streaming service cares about curation and finding films outside what some assume to be all of horror. Even though I didn’t watch the film when it was on Shudder, I still attribute my finding the film to them. This is a psychological horror with strong performances and moments that will linger in your brain.

2. In the Mood for Love – Director/Writer: Wong Kar-Wai

Wong Kar-Wai’s In The Mood For Love is a beautiful film that I feel ashamed I had not seen before. In The Mood For Love explores the relationship between Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) and Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung) as they realize their spouses are having an affair.

The use of distance, even when Su and Chow are within the same physical space highlights the mystery of their relationship, making it that much more intense and emotional to view through the camera.

In The Mood For Love is a film composed of intimate moments in the form of conversations—and the silences that come with desire—, longing looks, and connection.

Watching In The Mood For Love, I was zoned into Su and Chow’s story. The silence hiding their desire added even more intimacy to their relationship.

In The Mood For Love brings me back to films where brushing hair is more intimate than a sex scene, where the unseen is more impactful than if everything was on display all at once clouding our senses.

Not showing their respective spouses and only hearing them creates another layer of intimacy as we see Su and Chow in moments focused on finding the intimacy within their silence.

Wong Kar-Wai’s In The Mood For Love is a beautiful film examining silence, intimacy, time, and distance in captivating ways which show just how beautiful film can be when true attention is taken to utilize this visual medium to its fullest potential.

3. Porky’s (1981) & Porky’s II: The Next Day (1983) – 1: Writer/Director: Bob Clark, 2: Director: Bob Clark / Writers: Roger Swaybill, Alan Ormsby, Bob Clark

One of my most surprising movie-watching experiences came in the form of Bob Clark’s 1981 film Porky’s and the sequel Porky’s II: The Next Day. During my time spent working on my thesis, I expanded my horizons in the form of the teen comedy, even outside the specific era I was using within my paper. I wanted to have a more comprehensive understanding of the genre. When I came to the Porky’s series, I was surprised how little of the film was focused on the objectification the franchise is represented by through poster art and general discussion of the series.

This series, primarily its first two films, are well-written and directed examples of what it’s like to grow up and challenge your ingrained bias. The film is set in the 50s, inspired by Clark’s own life experiences, and explores how high school sets people free to become the people they want to be, rather than the people their parents expect. The film heavily deals with leaving the prejudices of the previous generation behind and moving toward being more accepting toward those who are different than you.

Yes, the plot is about a group of teenage boys in Florida who each plan to lose their virginity. What makes Porky’s standout is how the film defines each character and gives everyone their own stories to showcase their growth throughout the film. Even in the moments most closely connected to its sex-driven plot are not all about showing naked girls. In the often-mentioned shower scene, we see brief glimpses of the girls, but the scene shifts its focus to the boys

In the first film, Tim (Cyril O’Reilly) must come to terms with his learned prejudice when a new student Brian Schwartz (Scott Colomby) arrives. Tim treats Brian poorly at first, displaying prejudice toward Brian because he is Jewish. Throughout the film, Tim realizes this behavior is ingrained from his parents and he begins a journey to unlearn this behavior and develops a friendship with Brian.

Porky’s II explores issues of sexual assault, racism, and extremist religious groups. This film includes the main group planning to expose the KKK and dismantle a corrupt local government. Like the first film, Porky’s II explores serious issues in the midst of its teen comedy, giving each character moments of character growth and introspection. The main characters further separate themselves from their racist and prejudiced parents showing that coming-of-age stories can be about more than just sex.

4. Ready or Not – Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett / Writer: Guy Busick, R. Christopher Murphy

Ready or Not brings a new twist to the familiar story of trying to impress your soon-to-be in-laws by combining horror, mystery, and a little bit classic screwball comedy. In the classic screwball, social class differences are often explored, usually with the woman as the richer half of the relationship. Ready or Not explores the absurdity of screwball and rich people traditions.

Like Society before it, Ready or Not views the rich as living lives completely separate from our own. In Society, the rich literally suck the life out of the poor. In Ready or Not, the rich perform arcane rituals through games to be played. The Le Domas family in Ready or Not made a deal with the devil to ensure their continued wealth and success.

Grace is set to marry Alex, but she must abide by his family’s unusual traditions before they can marry. Every new member of the family must draw a game card from Le Bail’s puzzle box. Her game is hide-and-seek, but in this twisted variety, the family must find and kill her before dawn in order to save themselves from death. This simple concept of a deadly game of hide and seek is taken to its full potential in this funny and atmospheric film.

Ready or Not grabbed my attention instantly and Grace quickly became a character I love and wanted to see succeed against this archaic wealthy family trying to murder her for their own selfish reasons.

If you are in the mood for a creative, beautiful, and funny horror film that doesn’t skimp on the blood, Ready or Not is a great choice. Samara Weaving delivers a scream-queen worthy performance as a badass bride fighting her personal battle of class warfare.

5. Raising Arizona – Director/Writers: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

When I watched Raising Arizona for the first time this year, I sent my friend a message and said I was about to watch a movie he probably assumes I’ve already seen. And after watching, I wonder why it took me this long.

Raising Arizona really is a perfect film for me. The style, performances, and screwball inspired story perfectly resemble me and what I love the most.

I mean, how could it take me this long to see a neo-screwball comedy starring Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter—someone I often watch in my favorite film, Broadcast News—in the dusty Arizona landscape? With my love of screwball, especially the traditional era, I am always excited to see films inspired by this unique genre.

Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage are wonderful together and play their characters with endless charm.

The visual style of this film is distinctive and recalls aspects of Americana and the American dream, even when that comes from ridiculous plans involving stealing a baby.

Raising Arizona is a funny, charming film with a strong visual style, delightful performances, and a unique sense of humor.

Finding my way to this film, after it sat on my list for years, brought a moment of happiness and clarity. I feel even more connected to my love of screwball and Holly Hunter after finally watching Raising Arizona in 2021.

6. Cronos – Director/Writer: Guillermo del Toro

Over the years, I have seen many Guillermo del Toro films—and will always remember his performance as Pappy McPoyle—but I had never watched Cronos. Rectifying this blind-spot in my film watching was a great decision. I am grateful I have now seen this beautiful and dark body horror fairy tale.

Cronos is a haunting and heartwarming film in equal measure. This is a film about the importance of family and needing to make a choice to protect your family or live a longer yet forever changed life. Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) finds the Cronos device and uses it on himself, quickly regaining his youth, but as the film progresses, he learns the truth behind this 450-year-old mechanical object that brought him renewed energy and health.

This discovery feels like a victory, but soon, a thirst for blood joins his list of side-effects. Aurora , his granddaughter, realizes something is wrong and wants to protect her grandfather.

What I loved so much about Cronos is how this story of body horror and blood-thirsty immortals remains focused on the importance of family and having love in your life. Is eternal life worth it if you pushed away everyone who loved you? Cronos tackles this issue with its unique blend of fairy tale and gothic horror.

Finally seeing Guillermo del Toro’s first feature film allows me a broader understanding and appreciation for his work.

7. Becky – Directors: Cary Murnion, Jonathan Milott / Writers: Ruckus Skye, Lane Skye, Nick Morris

I want to limit the amount of 2020 films I discuss in my pre-2021 list, but I need to talk about Becky. Horror is one of my most watched genres, and frequently I find myself calmly sitting, barely showing any reaction to the carnage on screen.

With Becky, there is a moment that stands out so much to me, one that kept replaying in my head after I saw this film. What surprised me even more was the inclusion of Kevin James in the scene that impacted me in this way. He plays Dominick, the leader of the neo-Nazi convicts terrorizing Becky (Lulu Wilson) and her family in their remote cabin. The especially visceral moment that kept replaying is when Dominick cuts off his own dangling eyeball.

After losing the rest of her family, 13-year-old Becky is left to defend her family’s home-away-from-home on her own. This film introduces a strong, resourceful teenager who does not give up, adding a worthwhile film to the series of strong women and girls in horror. Becky is resourceful and not afraid to fight. Lulu Wilson’s performance as the titular character is absorbing. We feel her pain and seeing her successes is exhilarating and gives Becky a well-deserved place in the final girl lineup, especially with the last shot of the film, showing how this experience has impacted her.

Becky is a horror film that isn’t afraid to get gruesome and violent, while maintaining a strong focus on getting to know its central character. Kevin James gives an unexpected performance exploring a genre and character-type so unlike his usual work.

This film, in addition to being a gritty horror with haunting performances, is partly responsible for me going down a Youtube rabbit hole finding myself watching various Kevin James short films on his Youtube channel such as Nature Planet and The Red Light.

8. Curse of Chucky & Cult of Chucky – Director/Writer: Don Mancini

In 2021, in preparation for the television series Chucky—which became one of my favorite shows of the year—I watched Curse of Chucky (2013) and Cult of Chucky (2017), both written and directed by Don Mancini who wrote every Child’s Play film and previously directed Seed of Chucky.

These two sequels set the franchise off in new and exciting directions with a strong visual style that highlights the darkness and lightness of Chucky and the Child’s Play franchise. There is a wonderful humor found in these two installments, which blends perfectly with the low-key moments of dread. There’s something scarier about a doll that you know is moving around, getting ready to pounce when you can’t see the steps it’s taking.

Curse and Cult of Chucky create a cohesive blend of absurdity and fun moments where Chucky is given free rein to be his pithy, expressive, colorful self with darker, more dreadful moments exploring the unease that comes from horror arising from seemingly innocent places.

These installments craft a lasting experience that displays all of the best aspects of the series and of Chucky as a character.

Fiona Dourif does wonderful work, expressing her range through the moments where she is Nica Pierce, trying to survive and save those around her from her wheelchair, as well as the moments where Chucky takes control. There is a remarkable campy energy to her performance once possessed by everyone’s favorite killer doll, creating a strong dissonance with her portrayal of Nica.

Curse and Cult of Chucky brought me back to this franchise with more love and made me that much more excited to watch the television series. Don Mancini’s directing of these installments felt like the perfect way to bring his characters back into our lives. Watching Curse and Cult of Chucky made me more excited to see Don Mancini return for the television series exploring characters and concepts introduced in these two films.

9. Time After Time – Director/Writer: Nicholas Meyer

Time After Time (1979) follows H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) in a time travel adventure following Jack the Ripper (David Warner) to modern day California. This is a film I have heard about for years, but never with any specifics. When my friend recommended the film to me, I was grateful. Finally watching this brought a somewhat wacky love story into my life.

Time After Time is a great example of the out-of-time love story that is so popular in the romance genre, especially in literature. This film uses the concept of H.G. Wells popular novel to create a twisty version of his relationship with Amy Robbins (, reimagining her as modern woman met on a journey through time. Time After Time was based on the premise of Karl Alexander’s novel of the same name.

Seeing someone from the past exploring a modern world is always a nice aspect of work in this genre. Time After Time plays up this aspect by finding the comedy of a visitor from 1893 eating at McDonald’s for the first time, but it also explores the darker side of the future. H.G. Wells finds modern San Francisco to not fit his idyllic vision of what the future should bring us, while Jack the Ripper views the violence of the modern world as a sort of haven. He feels like he finally found a place where he belongs.

Time After Time is a delightful film offering an alternative version of a real person’s life utilizing the staples of their fiction. The performances from Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen make this light-hearted romantic fantasy thriller one you will not soon forget.

10. Singin’ in the Rain – Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly / Writers: Betty Comden, Adolph Green

Singin’ in the Rain is a film I had seen certain moments from throughout the years, but I had never watched the film from the beginning to the end. This story is one I enjoy, especially in this musical form. In addition to the music being great, the film is also an interesting and humorous exploration of a specific moment in the history of cinema: the change from silent film to talkies.

Singin’ in the Rain offers insights into filmmaking in general and in this specific era through comedic moments and memorable songs.

When I watched this after years of having the film in my peripheral, I felt somewhat relieved that I saw this now, after I’ve spent so long studying and finding the passion I have for classic film. There is something charming to me about watching a film that in itself is a classic but looks toward an era of film even further behind.

Singin’ in the Rain makes you feel transported to Hollywood of the 1920s through beautiful production design highlighting the beauty of an era of black and white film with vibrant colors that feel fitting of that period.

When we are introduced to Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor), we are instantly thrown into this world of presenting yourself for an audience, separating your true past from what the audience expects from a matinee idol. While Don recites a probably well-worn speech about dignity, we are shown his stunt-man beginnings. The dissonance and humor in this moment drew me into the film and I knew from the very beginning that I would love it as much as I thought I would when I added it to the ever-expanding list of films I need to see.

Debbie Reynolds is perfect in this role and since watching the entire film for the first time, I have already gone back and watched it again multiple times. Her presence instantly brings a smile to my face no matter how bad a day I might be having.

Bonus Short Film: The Blind Waiter (1980) – Directors/Writers: Josh Becker, Scott Spiegel

When I watched The Blind Waiter, I shared it with multiple of my friends and said this might be the film I enjoyed the most this year. I said I might put it on my end-of-the-year list, so I knew I had to write about it, even if I decided against putting a short film as part of my top ten list.

This Three Stooges inspired comedy short starring Bruce Campbell, Scott Spiegel, Sam Raimi, and Rob Tapert. These names might give you the insight into how I ended up here.

After watching all the George Burns and Gracie Allen short films I could find in 2019—it was 10, but I found the 11thjust now—maybe finding this short and thinking about their three stooges inspiration will inspire me as I enter into my 2022 film viewing journey through revisiting the familiar and going beyond what I already know.

The Blind Waiter is the film that brought me the most joy in 2021. I laughed so much watching this and it gave me a deeper appreciation for the comedy found within The Evil Dead franchise. Everyone here does frantic and passionate comedic work. You can tell just how much fun they were having exploring their comedic explorations surrounded by friends.

If you want some fun wordplay humor and frenzied physical comedy, please take 17 minutes of your time to watch The Blind Waiter.

Exploring film, both new and old, throughout 2021 was a welcome addition to my film journey. I am looking forward to what 2022 has to bring in new releases as well as older films I find through friends, family, deep-dives, and curated collections.

#2021 #film #top ten #movie reviews #horror #marvel #comedy #top 10 #film blog #writing #blog #film reviews

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romantichopelessly · 4 years

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Not a Cinderella Story

This is my contribution to @dukexietyweek 2020! The prompt was Fairytales and I followed it... very loosely. This is also a bullet fic because I scrapped my plot no less than three times over the course of writing this.

Pairing: Romantic Dukexiety, Implied/Background Mociet

Words: 2072

Warnings: jealousy, misunderstandings, toxic behavior

Synopsis: When Remus, Roman and Virgil were young, they were inseparable. They always played pretend--castles and princesses and dragons. But everyone has to grow up. Things change.

----

Remus Sanders and his twin brother Roman have always been close. “Attached at the hip” some would say. Specifically, their mother, neighbors, and preschool teachers.

They always do the same things. They like the same juice. The same snacks. They play with the same toys, and they always laugh at the same things.

Their bond is unbreakable. They are the perfect duo. They never need anyone else.

Until they meet Virgil Storm.

They meet him early in their second grade year. Virgil is… a weird kid. He wears a purple jacket with cat ears on the hood in the middle of August. He doesn’t try to talk to anyone at lunchtime. He wears different colored socks and carries a lunchbox with cartoon spiders on it that says “Happy Halloween” even when it isn’t October.

He’s odd.

Remus loves him. And because Remus loves him, so does Roman.

The three of them make quick friends, underneath the tree on the playground, sitting in the grass and sharing easy smiles, as children do.

Roman suggests that they play a game that he and Remus invented all on their own--Knights and Dragons.

Virgil is quick to agree, because young children don’t have anything to worry about beyond silly games with their peers.

Remus believes that Knights and Dragons is a much more fun experience with three people. Sometimes Virgil is a knight, with Roman, and they both chase Remus around the school yard, giggling and waving sticks like they’re swords. And other times, Virgil is a dragon with Remus, and the two of them roar and yell and flap their arms like wings.

Virgil makes Remus laugh in ways that he thought only his brother could. Virgil laughs with him, not at him.

Of course, all good things come to an end, and soon, for the imaginative boy that was Roman Sanders, Knights and Dragons is not enough.

Knights and Dragons are boring in the eyes of a third grader.

Roman suggests one day that they add a princess to their game of Knights and Dragons.

Remus (rightfully) thinks that this is a very stupid idea. Princesses are for Disney movies and fairytales. Remus Sanders most definitely does not live in a fairytale.

But Roman loves fairytales. And Roman loves Disney. And, unfortunately, so does Virgil.

So they add a princess to their game. Oftentimes, this princess is played by Virgil, but sometimes Roman steps into the role. Remus is just glad that he gets to stay a big scary dragon.

That is… Until just a princess being kidnapped by a dragon and saved by a courageous knight is not enough for young Roman Sanders.

No, Roman wants more. Roman wants to emulate his favorite movies and his new favorite theme of said movies--

Romance.

So Knights and Dragons and Princesses turns into… Playing Cinderella.

There definitely wasn’t a dragon in Cinderella.

Remus is quickly shoved into the roles of the ugly stepsisters and stepmother. Don’t get it wrong! He loves playing the villain. He loves laughing maniacally and calling his brother funny names and getting away with it without punishment, because it was just pretend.

He doesn’t so much like sitting in the grass of his own backyard, watching while Roman and Virgil twirl around, holding hands and “dancing” to imaginary music while they “fall in love.”

It’s boring.

He’s almost glad when Roman’s phase of playing pretend Disney princesses ends.

Except that he can’t be. Because it ends with the three of them turning twelve and entering the dreaded halls of middle school. It ends with Roman joining the school theater club and making a whole bunch of new friends.

It ends with Virgil and Remus suddenly being left to walk home from school alone one day.

Despite his brother’s popularity, both Remus and Virgil are… outcasts of a sort. And since they just downgraded from a trio to a duo, their friendship is a bit more… strained. They still have the closeness of five years of best friendship, but there’s something… missing.

Cue Janus Duncan.

Janus is also an outcast. Janus is like a fairy godmother who comes in to save the poor outcasts at the last second, turning bleak days into wishes come true (if eating school lunch under the bleachers and snorting with laughter as they mix all the slushie options at 7-11 into one cup can be considered wishes come true), and wearing a super cool leather jacket that was two sizes too big, but definitely influenced Remus’s punk phase.

Because, oh yeah. They definitely both start their punk phases after meeting Janus Duncan.

Honestly meeting Janus really is a wish come true for Remus. A miracle among the comedy of errors that was his teenage years.

Because after about a year of Virgil, Janus and Remus being the perfect trio 2.0, Remus starts to… notice some things.

One thing is the way that his heart seems to inflate like a little balloon in Remus’s chest when Virgil smiles at him. The way that his guts squirm when Virgil laughs at one of his jokes, true and bright. The way that Remus catches himself staring at Virgil’s crooked smile, or his chipped nail polish as his fingers twirl around in his hoodie strings.

The second thing has… a lot of the same signs honestly.

Because Remus starts to notice how Virgil always watches Roman when he’s over at Remus’s house. The way that Virgil always smiles and waves at Remus’s twin brother when they pass one another in the hallway at school, his pale cheeks flushing a soft pink.

It makes a terrible, sickly green emotion curl in Remus’s stomach.

Jealousy.

So when Virgil tentatively brings up trying out for the school play, and asks Remus if Roman would mind running some lines with him, Remus does something he isn’t proud of.

He snaps. He tells Virgil that he shouldn’t try. That he won’t even make it. That he isn’t popular kid material. That Roman isn’t his friend anymore, god, Virgil, can’t you take a hint?

He watches it happen like he isn’t the one controlling his own body. He sees the shock take over Virgil’s features. The years of easy trust crumble before his very eyes as Virgil reels back in horror. He can taste the jealousy on his tongue.

As Virgil leaves, Remus knows that he is the villain of this story.

He can see it as plainly as if he had shattered Virgil’s dreams right in front of him, like so much of a shattered glass shoe on the palace steps.

That night, Janus comes over and lets Remus have it.

For about five minutes, before Remus breaks down and tells the truth to his now one and only best friend and lecturing quickly turns to comforting.

By the time that they start high school, the original trio has withered down to just Remus. The other two thirds are nearly distant memories. One a locked door down the hall, and the other three lockers down, speaking to new friends.

Anyone would choose the prince over the ugly stepsister. He couldn’t blame them.

The spring of their sophomore year, the school announces that they will be putting on a production of none other than Cinderella.

Roman auditions, of course. He gets the role of the Prince.

Virgil doesn’t audition, but he offers himself up for the role of stage manager.

Virgil and Roman’s friends Patton and Logan audition. They get the roles of mice, but they don’t seem at all upset by that fact.

Janus auditions. He gets the role of the fairy godmother.

Janus asks Remus to audition.

Remus refuses. He doesn’t want to play a campy version of the ugly stepsisters in front of the entire school. He may not care about this hell hole, but he isn’t going to make his remaining two years any worse than they have to be.

Janus drags Remus to rehearsals anyway. Kicking and screaming.

By some miraculous happenstance, Remus suddenly becomes the set designer for the show.

He may be imagining things, but he is pretty sure that that has something to do with what Janus, Roman and the director were whisper-arguing about in the first week of rehearsals.

Remus is grateful for it. Not that he plans on saying so. He still can’t bring himself to apologize to Virgil, but watching him from afar still brings those butterflies to Remus’s stomach.

One night, after rehearsal, Remus is putting the finishing touches on the carriage prop, which has quickly gone from inconsequential to him to his very own magnum opus. He’s just testing out its mobility when he hears soft laughter.

Naturally, he follows the sounds.

Stage left, hidden in the wings, Remus sees his brother, in full costume, standing across from Virgil, who is chuckling and gently smoothing his hands across the front of Roman’s costume.

Remus sees green. His old friend Jealousy curls around him like the dragon that he used to love to play.

He barely restrains himself from breaking the very set that he worked so hard on.

Funnily enough, that is progress.

The night before the play opens, there is a house party. Remus isn’t quite sure who is hosting, but the cast and company are the only people invited.

Remus doesn’t want to go.

Janus makes Remus go.

Begrudgingly, Remus has a good time. He has a good time drinking soda and watching the other stage hands tell stories about past productions. He has a good time laughing at Janus as he unsuccessfully tries to flirt with the boy in the bright blue sweater who plays a mouse.

He is still having a good time when the girl who plays Cinderella herself caps a plastic bottle and places it on the ground, calling for everyone to gather around for a game of spin the bottle.

Remus finds himself sitting between Janus and his giggly mouse boy, and some other techie who wears sunglasses indoors.

There are a few fun rounds. Roman has to kiss the girl playing the stepmother. One of the mice has to kiss Cinderella. It’s all in good fun.

That is, until Remus isn’t really paying attention and the mouth of the bottle is suddenly facing him. He blinks.

From across the circle, the studious looking mouse speaks up. “Janus clearly touched the bo-” The hand of one of the set designers covers the mouse’s mouth.

Remus blinks again. “So who’s the lucky bastard I’m making out with?”

All eyes turn to Virgil, who looks like a startled mouse himself.

Shit.

Virgil is up before anyone can say anything, backing away from the circle and spinning on his heel before making a beeline for the kitchen. Remus follows, standing up before his mind even catches up with his body. He sees Roman making to stand up too, but he holds out a hand.

Even after years of not being close, Roman can tell what he means without a word.

Remus follows Virgil into the kitchen and finds him leaning against the counter.

“Didn’t want to kiss the ugly stepsister that badly, huh?”

“What?”

“You… You know, Emo, like that stupid game Roman always made us play when we were ankle biters.”

“Wh- First of all, you and Roman are identical twins. You look exactly the same. That was just a game.”

Remus shrugs, as if he hasn’t carried that game and all it implied with him for the entirety of his teenage years.

“And… No. It wasn’t- I just didn’t want to kiss you in front of everyone.”

Remus pretends like that doesn’t make his heart shatter into a hundred tiny pieces.

Virgil seems to see it anyway. “I mean that I don’t want to… have my first kiss in front of all of them. It’s nothing against you, they just- they just all know about my crush.”

Virgil says it like it’s something stupid. Like being in love is something shameful. Like liking Roman Sanders isn’t something that literally everyone in that room except for Remus has in common.

“Your crush on my brother?”

Virgil looks at him like he’s the biggest idiot on the face of the earth.

He probably is.

Because he doesn’t see it coming for a second when Virgil steps closer, cups Remus’s cheek in his hand like he is made of something precious and priceless, and closes the gap to kiss him.

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timeless-hollywood-classics · 4 years

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Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi (December 11, 1922 – January 10, 2008), known professionally as Maila Nurmi, was a Finnish-American actress and television personality who created the campy 1950s character Vampira.

The daughter of a Finnish immigrant, Nurmi was raised in Oregon and relocated to Los Angeles in 1940 with hopes of being an actress. After several minor film roles, she found success in the Vampira character, television's first horror host. Nurmi hosted her own series, The Vampira Show, from 1954–55 on KABC-TV.

After the show's cancellation, she appeared in the 1959 cult film Plan 9 from Outer Space, directed by Ed Wood. She is also billed as Vampira in the 1959 film The Beat Generation, where she appears out of character and instead plays a beatnik poet. Nurmi also appeared in the 1959 crime film The Big Operator. She was portrayed by Lisa Marie in Tim Burton's 1994 biopic Ed Wood.

Maila Nurmi was born Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi in 1922 to Onni Syrjäniemi, a Finnish immigrant, and Sophia Peterson, an American of Finnish descent. Her place of birth is disputed: according to biographer W. Scott Poole in Vampira: Dark Goddess of Horror (2014), Nurmi was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. However, during her career, Nurmi claimed to have been born in Petsamo, Finland, claiming she was the niece of Finnish athlete Paavo Nurmi, who began setting long-distance running world records in 1921, the year before her birth. Public U.S. immigration records show her father's immigration at Ellis Island in 1910. Additionally, Dana Gould claimed in a 2014 public interview that he had seen Nurmi's birth certificate, which listed her birthplace as Gloucester, Massachusetts.

During her childhood, Nurmi relocated with her family from Massachusetts to Ashtabula, Ohio, before settling in Astoria, Oregon, a city on the Oregon Coast with a large Finnish community. Her father worked as a lecturer and editor, and her mother also worked as a part-time journalist and translator to support the family. She graduated from Astoria High School in 1940.

In 1940, Nurmi relocated to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career, and later in New York City. She modeled for Alberto Vargas, Bernard of Hollywood, and Man Ray, gaining a foothold in the film industry with an uncredited role in Victor Saville's 1947 film, If Winter Comes.

She was reportedly fired in 1944 by Mae West from the cast of West's Broadway play, Catherine Was Great, because West feared she was being upstaged.

On Broadway, she gained much attention after appearing in the horror-themed midnight show Spook Scandals, in which she screamed, fainted, lay in a coffin, and seductively lurked about a mock cemetery. She also worked as a showgirl for the Earl Carroll Theatre and as a high-kicking chorus line dancer at the Florentine Gardens along with stripper Lili St. Cyr. In the 1950s, she supported herself mainly by posing for pin-up photos in men's magazines such as Famous Models, Gala and Glamorous Models. Before landing her role as 'Vampira', she was working as a hat-check girl in a cloakroom on Hollywood's Sunset Strip.

The idea for the Vampira character was born in 1953 when Nurmi attended choreographer Lester Horton's annual Bal Caribe Masquerade in a costume inspired by Morticia Addams in The New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams. Her appearance with pale white skin and tight black dress caught the attention of television producer Hunt Stromberg, Jr., who wanted to hire her to host horror movies on the Los Angeles television station KABC-TV, but Stromberg had no idea how to contact her. He finally got her phone number from Rudi Gernreich, later the designer of the topless swimsuit. The name Vampira was the invention of Nurmi's husband, Dean Riesner. Nurmi's characterization was influenced by the Dragon Lady from the comic strip Terry and the Pirates and the evil queen from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

On April 30, 1954, KABC-TV aired a preview, Dig Me Later, Vampira, at 11:00 p.m. The Vampira Show premiered on the following night, May 1, 1954. For the first four weeks, the show aired at midnight, moving to 11:00 p.m. on May 29. Ten months later, the series aired at 10:30 p.m., beginning March 5, 1955. Each show opened with Vampira gliding down a dark corridor flooded with dry-ice fog. At the end of her trance-like walk, the camera zoomed in on her face as she let out a piercing scream. She would then introduce (and mock) that evening's film while reclining barefoot on a skull-encrusted Victorian couch. Her horror-related comedy antics included ghoulish puns such as encouraging viewers to write for epitaphs instead of autographs and talking to her pet spider Rollo.

She also ran as a candidate for Night Mayor of Hollywood with a platform of "dead issues". In another publicity stunt, KABC had her cruise around Hollywood in the back of a chauffeur-driven 1932 Packard touring car with the top down, where she sat, as Vampira, holding a black parasol. The show was an immediate hit, and in June 1954 she appeared as Vampira in a horror-themed comedy skit on The Red Skelton Show along with Béla Lugosi, and Lon Chaney, Jr.. That same week Life magazine ran an article on her, including a photo-spread of her show-opening entrance and scream. A kinescope of her The Red Skelton Show appearance was discovered in 2014. It is available as part of the Shout Factory DVD box set Red Skelton: The Early Years.

When her KABC series was cancelled in 1955, Nurmi retained rights to the character of Vampira and took the show to a competing Los Angeles television station, KHJ-TV. Several episode scripts and a single promotional kinescope of Nurmi re-creating some of her macabre comedy segments are held by private collectors. Several clips from the rare kinescope are included in the documentaries American Scary and Vampira: The Movie. The entire KABC kinescope, plus selections of the KABC pitchman who introduced the clips, is available in the 2012 documentary Vampira and Me.

Vampira and Me also features extensive clips from two previously unknown 16mm kinescopes of Nurmi as Vampira on national TV shows, including her starring guest spot on the April 2, 1955 episode of The George Gobel Show, a top 10 hit. The Vampira and Me restoration of the Gobel kinescope was documented in a 2013 short film entitled Restoring Vampira.

Examination of Nurmi's diaries in 2014 by filmmaker and journalist R. H. Greene verify longtime rumors that in 1956 she was the model for Maleficent, the evil witch in the Disney conception of the classic fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty." The Disney archivist subsequently confirmed these findings.

In 2007, the kinescope film of Nurmi in character was restored by Rerunmedia, whose restorations include The Ed Sullivan Show and Dark Shadows. The restoration utilized the groundbreaking LiveFeed Video Imaging process developed exclusively for the restoration of kinescopes. The restoration was funded by Spectropia Wunderhaus and Coffin Case.

A reconstructed episode of The Vampira Show was released on DVD by the Vampira's Attic web site in October 2007. The release imitated a complete episode by using existing footage of the show combined with vintage commercials believed to have been directed by Ed Wood[citation needed] and the full-length 1932 feature film The Thirteenth Guest.

Nurmi made television history as the first horror movie hostess. In 1957, Screen Gems released a syndicated package of 52 horror movies, mostly from Universal Pictures, under the program title Shock Theater. Independent stations in major cities all over the U.S. began showing these films, adding their own ghoulish host or hostess (including Vampira II and other lookalikes) to attract more viewers.

Nominated for a Los Angeles area Emmy Award as 'Most Outstanding Female Personality' in 1954, she returned to films with Too Much, Too Soon in 1958, followed by The Big Operator and The Beat Generation. Her best known film appearance was in Ed Wood's camp classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space, as a Vampira-like zombie (filmed in 1956, but released in 1959). In 1960 she appeared in I Passed for White and Sex Kittens Go to College, followed by 1962's The Magic Sword. The classic clip from Plan 9 from Outer Space featuring Vampira walking out of the woods with her hands pointing straight out was used to start the original opening sequence of WPIX Channel 11 New York's Chiller Theatre in the 1960s.

By 1962, Nurmi was making a living installing linoleum flooring. "And if things are slow in linoleum, I can also do carpentry, make drapes or refinish furniture", she told the Los Angeles Times.

In the early 1960s, Nurmi opened Vampira's Attic, an antiques boutique on Melrose Avenue. She also sold handmade jewelry and clothing. She made items for several celebrities, including Grace Slick of the music group Jefferson Airplane and the Zappa family.

In 1981, Nurmi was asked by KHJ-TV to revive her Vampira character for television. She worked closely with the producers of the new show and was to get an executive producer credit, but Nurmi eventually left the project over creative differences. According to Nurmi, this was because the station cast comedic actress Cassandra Peterson in the part without consulting her. "They eventually called me in to sign a contract and she was there", Nurmi told Bizarre magazine in 2005. "They had hired her without asking me."

Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but quit when the producers would not hire Lola Falana to play Vampira. The station sent out a casting call, and Peterson auditioned and won the role.

Unable to continue using the name Vampira, the show was abruptly renamed Elvira's Movie Macabre with Peterson playing the titular host. Nurmi soon filed a lawsuit against Peterson. The court eventually ruled in favor of Peterson, holding that "likeness means actual representation of another person's appearance, and not simply close resemblance." Peterson claimed that Elvira was nothing like Vampira aside from the basic design of the black dress and black hair. Nurmi claimed that the entire Elvira persona, which included comedic dialogue and intentionally bad graveyard puns, infringed on her creation's "distinctive dark dress, horror movie props, and...special personality." Nurmi herself claimed that Vampira's image was in part based on the Charles Addams The New Yorker cartoon character Morticia Addams, though she told Boxoffice magazine in 1994 that she had intentionally deviated from Addams' mute and flat-chested creation, making her own TV character "campier and sexier" to avoid plagiarizing Addams' idea.

In 1986, she appeared alongside Tomata du Plenty of The Screamers in Rene Daalder's punk rock musical Population: 1, which was released on DVD in October 2008. According to a Daalder interview on the 2 disc special edition of Population: 1, "There was a wild lady living out in back in a shed. Tomata befriended her and found out she had played Vampira".

In 1987, she recorded two seven-inch singles on Living Eye records with the band Satan's Cheerleaders. The singles, entitled "I Am Damned" and "Genocide Utopia," were both released on colored vinyl, the second one with a swastika on the label, and are extremely rare collector's items.

In 2001, Nurmi opened an official website and began selling autographed memorabilia and original pieces of art on eBay. Until her death, Nurmi lived in a small North Hollywood apartment.

Unlike Elvira, Nurmi authorized very few merchandising contracts for her Vampira character, though the name and likeness have been used unofficially by various companies since the 1950s. In 1994, Nurmi authorized a Vampira model kit for Artomic Creations, and a pre-painted figurine from Bowen Designs in 2001, both sculpted by Thomas Kuntz. In 2004, she authorized merchandising of the Vampira character by Coffin Case, for the limited purpose of selling skate boards and guitar cases.

In the early 1950s, Nurmi was close friends with James Dean, and they spent time together at Googie's coffee shop on the corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. She explained their friendship by saying, "We have the same neuroses."

As Hedda Hopper related in a 1962 memoir that included a chapter on Dean: "We discussed the thin-cheeked actress who calls herself Vampira on television (and cashed in, after Jimmy died, on the publicity she got from knowing him and claimed she could talk to him 'through the veil'). He said: 'I had studied The Golden Bough and the Marquis de Sade, and I was interested in finding out if this girl was obsessed by a satanic force. She knew absolutely nothing. I found her void of any true interest except her Vampira make-up. She has no absolute.'"

The 2010 public radio documentary Vampira and Me by author/director R. H. Greene took issue with Hopper's depiction of the Nurmi/Dean relationship, pointing to an extant photo of Dean and Vampira sidekick Jack Simmons in full Boris Karloff Frankenstein make-up as evidence of Nurmi and Dean's friendship. The documentary also described a production memo in the Warner Bros. archive citing a set visit from "Vampira" while Dean was making Rebel Without a Cause.

The Warner Bros memo was first mentioned in the 2006 book Live Fast, Die Young: The Making of Rebel Without a Cause by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel, who were given access to the Rebel production files. An interview Frascella and Weisel conducted with actress Shelley Winters also uncovered an instance where Dean interrupted an argument with director Nicholas Ray and Winters so he could watch The Vampira Show on TV.

In Vampira and Me, Nurmi can be heard telling Greene that Dean once appeared in a live bit on The Vampira Show in which Vampira, dressed as a librarian, rapped his knuckles with a ruler because "he was a very naughty boy."

The English Punk rock band The Damned wrote a song about their relationship entitled ‘Plan 9, Channel 7’ and can be found on the 1979 album ‘Machine Gun Etiquette ‘ ( Chiswick Records )

On June 20, 1955, Nurmi was the target of an attempted murder when a man forced his way into her apartment and proceeded to terrorize her for close to four hours. Nurmi eventually escaped and managed to call the police, with assistance from a local shop owner.

She married her first husband, Dean Riesner, in 1949, a former child actor in silent films and later the screenwriter of Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick, Play Misty for Me, and numerous other movies and TV episodes.

She married her second husband, younger actor John Brinkley, on March 10, 1958.

She married actor Fabrizio Mioni on June 20, 1961 in Orange County, California.

On January 10, 2008, Nurmi died of natural causes at her home in Hollywood, aged 85. She was buried in the Griffith Lawn section of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

#maila nurmi #vampira #classic stars #classic horror #classic hollywood #1950s hollywood #1950s women

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jeremystronggf · 4 years

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hi mia!!! can u give us some headcanons about Steve’s favorite movies/his movie taste in general? modern au too! love u!

han ily!!

okay so steve’s movie taste...right off the bat i think he looks for movies that are fun and enjoyable to watch! something engaging that he can enjoy with his friends because steve doesn’t seem the type to watch three hour long movies alone. so what i’m saying is. steve would rather fight ten demodogs then watch the irishman <3

i think to start we should look at what he is actually shown to like in canon so-

- risky business (1983). this came out in late august of 1983, so it was likely that he went to go see this with either nancy or tommy-and-carol. he sings old time rock and roll, gets raybans like joel and he and nancy dress up as joel and lana for halloween! so i think it’s safe to say he and nancy liked this movie! nancy had/has a bit of a crush on tom cruise (“your lover boy from risky business”) so steve probably obsessed over any movie w tom cruise bc of nancy and it seems like risky business was more of a steve-and-nancy thing rather than a steve thing! i think he has a soft spot for the movie bc it reminds him of nancy, but he probably hasn’t watched it since he and nancy broke up :-(

- the next time steve talks about movies is in s3 when keith asks him his top 3, steve’s under a lot of pressure and ends up saying animal house, back to the future and star wars. granted, the questions unexpected so i dont think steve had any time to think so his answers probably aren’t his genuine top 3, but still.

- the first movie he thinks of and the only one he remembers the name of is animal house which came out in 1978 when steve would of been about 12 years old. so i’m thinkin 12 year old steve and tommy h were probably in awe of this movie about a frat house and it stuck w steve ever since jhbksbk.

- from what we can gather from steve’s canon movie taste he likes raunchy comedies, things that are loud and easy to follow <3 but i also think he has a pattern of watching movies that the people he loves love <3

- so for example back to risky business, he knows nancy likes tom cruise so he suggests watching all the right moves which is something he thinks nancy would like. and the same with dustin, dustin likes star wars so steve watches it <3 it’s likely dustin made steve come over for a star wars marathon and steve fell asleep thirty minutes in, the only thing he remembers being the ewoks and harrison ford.

- and i like to think it’s the same with robin, he picks up the apartment, the hidden fortress and children of paradise and takes them back home to watch alone because he wants to see what robin sees. he wants to understand where robin is coming from and he wants to know her. so he watches them and maybe he can’t follow some of the plot. maybe he can’t make sense of the overall message of the movie or the characters motives. but he feels like he understands robin a bit better and her teary eyed smile, when he tells her in the morning at work, makes it worth it <3

- although robin has a more obscure, slightly pretentious taste in film. i also think she and steve like watching fun, campy movies together too! robin’s a theatre/band nerd so she probably ropes steve into watching musicals w her. i think they both go crazy go stupid over footloose and sing all the songs together <3

- i think steve watched fbdo with the kids and liked it! but he also got a sad, quiet feeling in his chest that he couldn’t decipher

- he watched the breakfast club when it came out, instantly saw himself in andrew, but he thought allison was more like jonathan then nancy. he decided to revist that thought later <3 he’s a slut for the indiana jones franchise and it just makes him fall deeper in love w harrison ford!

- i feel steve doesn’t have a very defined taste in movies, he mostly just watches whatever’s playing in theatres or whatever is a top seller at family video! steve, unlike robin and jonathan, doesn’t really have a very distinct taste in movies because he doesn’t really know what he likes! he knows what tommy used to like, what nancy liked, what robin likes, what jonathan (when they become friends!!) likes and what the kids like. and he likes all these movies too but steve doesn’t really know himself and since he had to basically reinvent himself, he hasn’t had a chance to find out who he is. let alone what his taste in film is...

- but robin helps him <3 steve and robin have movie nights nearly all the time and sometimes the party or jonathan and nancy (when they all become better friends) join in :-)

- as for modern au. steve probably watches or watched marvel movies (w tommy) </3, he probably watches romcoms when he’s alone (10 things i hate about you, you’ve got mail, notting hill, clueless, 13 going on to 30 etc) and i think he’s just loves romance movies a lot <3. he’s a slut for period romances (pride and prejudice, emma, sense and sensibility etc) and so is robin!

- i think steve and robin are okay w horror movies, like they have fun watching them and just make fun of all the characters! they both love romance! steve probably likes action bc there’s so much happening on screen but i think steve probably would say he likes comedy the most if you asked him :-)

- robin and jonathan probably would take him to see oscar nominated films and he’s probably been to a film festival or two but only bc robin/jonathan wanted to go. the whole time he asked when ‘barbie fairy princess mariposa’ was gonna play <3

- brings me to the absolute Fact that is. steve loves barbie movies, he goes insane for them <3 he used to watch them all the time when he was a kid until his d*d caught him watching one time and freaked out. banned him from watching, told him to go out and play some sports instead. so </3

- steve and robin went to go see cats (2019) while stoned out of their mind and it was one of their best experiences together.

- he ends up watching a LOT of movies in canon and also modern au bc of the video store and bc robin is a absolute film nerd <3 his favourites change all the time but he LOVES watching his friends fave films bc he feels like he’s getting to know them better when doing so <3

steve just loves people. and likes doing things to get to know them, or to feel closer to them <3 if you casually mentioned your fave movie to him he would probably go home and watch it :-) i think i’ve gone on like seven different tangents but yeah! steve’s only requirements for watching a movie is that it has to be fun, sexy and/or cool. if it is not at least one of them, steve doesn’t give a shit. he’s in it for the sexy. that’s it <3

#steve harrington #asks #nxncywheeler #this is so fucking long omg. msnsnvhjbv i talk to much evidently <3 #i don’t think this answered ur question so sorry babey <3 kndkxnbdb #my posts

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capesandshapes · 4 years

Text

The Last Resort: Chapter 5 (Adrinette)

Summary: After an akuma attack goes wrong, Adrien finally learns Ladybug’s secret identity and finds himself falling even deeper in love with his friend. He thinks he’s finally gotten lucky when she declares to him that she’s currently in the business of falling love with anyone but her previous crush… until that crush turns out to be him. Now Adrien has to somehow convince the girl of his dreams to fall back in love with him, while keeping his own identity a secret from her. Well, if there was one thing his father taught him, it was how to multitask. Chapter Summary: Don't Answer Your Phone, I Think This Might Be a Date The first half of Adrien and Marinette's date goes off with many a hitch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things in life do not often go the way you plan.

This was something that Adrien already knew firsthand and would rather have not learned over again. In fact, if there were a night for everything to go right, then preferably it would have been the one that he set to go on his first date with Marinette on. If the universe had any sense of kindness, it would have allowed him that. But it didn’t, because despite being a world-famous model and a professional superhero, the world often seemed to conspire against Adrien Agreste.

He’d spent the whole night researching movies, picking an obscure fashion film with a romantic subplot that Marinette would definitely be interested in. He’d picked the perfect time, the perfect theater, and the perfect clothes for said event.

But things could never really be perfect. Unbeknownst to Adrien, a Chef had lost one of his Michelin stars that night and would be akumatized half an hour before his movie would start. Beknownst to him, the chef’s akumatization would last up until the end of their film, and his special power would be firing shrimp scampi at the people of Paris.

The results of said akumatization were the following: A text from Marinette asking if they could reschedule the viewing to later that night (impossible, seeing as how he’d booked tickets to the movie’s last showing), and no less than five showers for Adrien. But he wouldn’t let it get him down, he couldn’t let this opportunity slip through his hands.

Which was how Adrien Agreste ended up sneaking Marinette Dupain Cheng into his home around 7:30, careful not to alert his father’s watchdog of an assistant as he snuck her into his room to watch some movies before the night was over. Even though the girl seemed excited, he couldn’t help but admit that this was one of the stupidest things he would ever do. The chat on his phone between Nino, Alya, and him reassured him of this fact.

“Wow,” Marinette breathed as soon as the door closed behind her, “and Alya said that my balcony was excessive.” It was an act, of course, Ladybug had been in his room more times than he could count. Still, he had to admire just how genuine everything sounded.

“What, you mean a rock-climbing wall, skateboard ramps, and a Dance Dance Revolution machine from Japan aren’t the usual?” He joked, earning him the slightest shoulder bump.

“Maybe amongst world-renown models…”

“Who would have thought that the international pretty boys club was a privileged few?” Adrien smiled, feeling a little more confident about his change in plans. “Couch is over there,” he informed her with a gesture towards it, “but movies are upstairs.”

“You pick out the movie, I have to text Alya,” Marinette shrugged, approaching his couch. “She’s having some difficulty with the homework.”

“Oh?” Evidently, Marinette forgot that there was no homework. It was obvious what she was up to, but he wasn’t too concerned about it. Sure, he thought that Alya would wait until after the date to begin texting, but considering the way she’d blown up his phone earlier that day, he wasn’t too surprised to hear that she’d been contacting Marinette as well.

Adrien quickly descended up the stairs to the second level of his room, making a beeline for the large section of DVDs that his library held. Thankfully, his father had brought a wide variety of movies for Adrien to watch, likely hoping that it would dissuade him from wanting to go outside. Of course, now that he went out whether or not his father wanted him to, the majority of the DVDs were unwatched. He scanned through them, mentally asking himself what Nino would do.

Nino had a taste for American movies, so his eyes drifted away from the French sorted titles and into the English ones. No one did movies like the United States, there were always massive explosions and exciting car crashes. Of course, Marinette wouldn’t really be into that stuff, and watching a romance movie felt like it’d raise expectations a bit. A comedy movie? He couldn’t imagine watching something like Shrek with Ladybug… Disney, then? Maybe something with big musical numbers?

Or a horror movie so she’ll snuggle a little closer, a devilish voice whispered in the back of his head; he could have sworn it sounded like Alya. She had suggested that they went to a horror movie at the theater originally.

“I mean, it couldn’t hurt,” he mumbled to himself, “not too scary, though.” He settled on a campy looking horror film, one with a cover that showed the killer right under the title so that there were no surprises.

Grabbing the movie as well as a nondescript comedy film, he leaned over the guardrails of the upper level to steal a glance at her. Strangely though, her demeanor had changed from the way she was just a few seconds ago, her body language tight as she furiously typed on her phone. Of course, he couldn’t see what she was typing from where he was, but he did catch a glimpse of the tight frown painted across her lips.

“Everything okay?” He asked, leaning a little bit further over the bars.

Marinette let out a yelp, accidentally smacking her phone to her nose.

“Marinette?”

“Of course!” She replied, looking to him with an overly broad smile that made him feel like she was anything but okay. “I think Alya’s just… Not understanding the context of the homework, so I’m trying to explain it to her. You know, like a good friend.”

“You’re a very good friend,” Adrien replied with a laugh. “Though I have to admit, hearing you talk to Alya about this assignment is a little worrying, I don’t remember getting any assignments lately.” He couldn’t resist teasing her. “Maybe I forgot?”

“Well, it’s one that Alya missed the other day.”

“That’s strange, I also don’t remember Alya missing any school lately,” he grinned, stepping down from the bars to descend the staircase.

“Well, you must not have realized. I mean, we sit behind you so…” Marinette attempted to look relaxed, but he could tell how uncomfortable she was with her lie. Her phone rumbled once more and her hand flew to it, pinning it against the wood with a nervous smile. What were they talking about?

“I actually look back pretty often, especially lately,” Adrien admitted, holding up both cases for her inspection as he exited the staircase. “Your choice for which movie goes first.”

Another buzz, Marinette gave her phone another slam like that would end the messages. “The one on the left,” she breathed hastily.

“Horror it is, then,” he muttered, approaching the tv and trying to ignore the way that she quickly picked up her phone, furiously typing to someone else. He sighed, locating his DVD player and opening the disk slot. It was a little disheartening to not hold her full attention on their first date, but he understood.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marionette’s eyes widen as her phone vibrated once more. Furiously, she stabbed the phone a few times.

By the time he’d turned around, however, she was holding the button to turn off her phone, visibly breathing heavily. Not exactly how he imagined that night going.

“S-sorry,” she stuttered.

“It’s fine,” he said, trying to push back the small tinge of worry that was rising in him.

Once the DVD was properly set up and play was pressed, he walked back to the couch, settling himself close to Marinette. She sat a little bit straighter as his thighs brushed against her, the pink on her cheeks providing just a little bit of relief to Adrien. She couldn’t be over him yet; there was still something there. Daringly, he shifted a little bit closer, his arm just about to wrap around her when--

Beep, Beep!

Blinking, he shifted and his hand reached for his back pocket. However, before he could even begin to approach his phone, Marinette’s hands laced through his fingers, her face painted a dark red.

“Don’t,” she mumbled.

“Marinette?” He asked.

Another beep and Marinette’s face turned darker if that was even possible.

“Marinette…?” He trailed off, looking down at how her then tightening hand. “I think you should let go, it might be something important.”

She sank into the couch, shaking her head wildly at him. “Don’t look at it, I’m begging you. Please don’t look at it.”

“I can’t just ignore it, what if it’s--”

“It’s not,” she interrupted. “Trust me, it’s not.”

“You don’t want me to look at the phone,” he acknowledged, taking in the mortified expression on her face. “Why, is it something bad?”

“Yes,” she grimaced.

“Embarrassing?”

She nodded.

He took her in, her tensed shoulders and pursed lips. He acknowledged the width of her eyes, the paleness to her skin, and the desperate way she clung to his hand. He saw all of it and he realized… He kind of liked it, just a little bit. Marinette was always nervous around him, of course, but he never really got to enjoy the effect that he had on her.

Knowing that she was Ladybug and knowing that Marinette would only put up with so much from Chat Noir, he sort of wanted to take advantage of his situation a little bit and watch her squirm. Was he a bad guy for that? Maybe but life was fun when you were bad every once in a while.

“I’m going to read it,” he announced, the corner of his mouth twitching. Marinette had just begun to launch into a long list of reasons why he shouldn’t do it, but curiosity would always win out when it came to Adrien Agreste.

A few things happened at once. Adrien’s free hand dove back into his jean pocket, digging his phone out. Marinette, seeing the danger, promptly reached for his wrist, attempting to stop him. And Adrien, not expecting the girl to be so bold with his civilian self, found himself tangled in her, his phone still in his hand but his body unable to bring it to his face.

Unbeknownst to Marinette, he was already pretty well versed in the whole ‘people trying to hold him down and take things out of his hands’ sort of thing. With what was likely a shit-eating grin, he took advantage of their situation, allowing himself to fall against the couch and take Marinette with him. His side flopped against the white leather, Marinette landing on his chest half a second later with a small squeak.

One glimpse at her flustered face and he couldn’t help but laugh, taking advantage of her nerves and managing to wrestle his hands out of her grasp. Triumphantly, he held his phone in front of his face, his thumb pressing against the on button only to…

“Hey!” He chuckled, bolting upwards as Marinette’s back fell against the couch, the prized phone in her grasp. Obviously, she had much to learn when it came to playfighting, such as never to let your enemy get you on your back.

Shaking his head to himself, he let himself fall on top of her. The splaying of his arms and legs ensured that he did not touch the girl, but effectively trapped her against the couch. Her eyes shut tight and her body wrapped protectively around the phone, she didn’t acknowledge him, except when...

PSH, another gust of air blew up Marinette’s nose. The girl’s eyes shot open, her limbs practically springing open and nearly causing her to drop the phone. The girl on the television screen screamed in the distance, but she couldn’t be experiencing even half of the terror Marinette was then.

“Boo,” Adrien breathed, his face lingering dangerously close to hers. It’d be so easy to bridge the gap and kiss her then, but somehow, he withheld.

Marinette released a whimper, her fingers flexing against the back of the phone.

Adrien glowed in response, another laugh dancing at the back of his throat.

He could have stayed like that forever, his green eyes gazing into her baby blues, her hot breath beating against his skin, the girl that he loved laying flustered beneath him. But Marinette couldn’t, that was evident. “It’s a joke,” she said, “Alya’s telling you a joke. Ha ha, it’s very funny but…” She shoved the phone towards his chest, obviously hoping that that would lure him away.

“You’re this worked up over a joke?” He asked, easily accepting the phone but not so easily pulled away from her. He sat back up on the couch, part of him noting that at least a quarter of the movie had gone by during their antics. Pressing his finger to the scanner, the phone unlocked.

“Well, it’s…” She swallowed, still laying on the couch beside him. “I…”

Hey Adrien, just trying to clear things up for Marinette here.

When you asked her to go out with you and spend time alone… That was a date, right?

He paled at Alya’s message.

“Crazy, right?” Marinette babbled beside him, her eyes glued to the ceiling as she didn’t dare move. “Absolutely insane.”

He couldn’t help the way that his heart dropped, and he couldn’t fight the way that his mouth grew dry. He stared so intensely at the message that it might as well have been tattooed inside of his eyelids. Was he stupid? Maybe a little bit, perhaps he’d gotten his hopes up too far and now Marinette would be rejecting both Adrien and Chat Noir. Just fun times between friends, that’s all this would ever be.

“Adrien?” She asked cautiously.

Give up, screamed the voice at the back of his head. That voice didn’t belong to anyone but himself, yet it felt like a chorus sung by the rest of the world. Still, he was a superhero, he was Adrien Agreste; and he was in love, that had to count for something.

“This is a date,” he readied himself for whatever would come next, “I’m trying to date you, Marinette, but you’re making it very hard.”

#my fanfic #adrinette #adrienette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #ml fanfic #mlb fanfic #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #again probably won't be updating other longform fanfictions on tumblr #but I keep seeing people reading my first chapters of this and liking it #so here #my shit doesn't normally show up in the tags tho #original content

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thestray · 3 years

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The 62 2020 Movies Releases I Watched During 2020 Ranked

Like the awkward title says, I’m going to rank (and talk about) all the 2020 movies I watched in 2020. This is not meant as any empirical list of what was best, it’s ranked by what I liked the least to the most, and my main criteria is what kind of impact it had on me and/or how much I enjoyed the experience of watching it.

Little bit about myself, I went to art school for animation, then after art school I went to a community college where I studied screenwriting. Never ended up pursuing either thing professionally, but I still write screenplays in my free time and read screenwriting books and listen to screenwriting podcasts. I'm the type of person that loves special features, seeks out behind the scenes information and director interviews, and watch youtube videos analyzing films. I love film, and thinking about film and talking about film and sharing the films I like, and maybe one day making films of my own, who knows.

Ranking and reviewing 62 movies was a more ambitious and challenging task than I anticipated, I rearranged this list swapping titles back and forth so many times, and then I’d remember a movie I forgot I watched and have to add that and figure out where it ranks. I started this on January 1st and am just now ready to post it on the 17th, I was still switching rankings right up until posting this. Even looking at it now there are some kinda want to switch but I’ve accepted that this is more or less arbitrary, lol.

The more I learn about film and what goes into creating a movie the more lenient I am about them. It’s not like I’m never critical of films, but I try to consider both the good and the bad of a movie instead of thinking in a binary of films are either amazing or trash. Some of these films aren’t great, but I typically still enjoyed them to some degree. Except Mulan, lol. I’m sorry Mulan. Speaking of Mulan...

62. Mulan

I'm going to try to say something nice about all these movies even if I didn't like them at all. So... I like the cast, and there are some nice visual moments. I actually was looking forward to this movie before reviews started coming out, it has 2 of the martial arts G.O.A.T.s in it, Donnie Yen and Jet Li, and also Jason Lee as the bad guy, so I figured it might at the very least have some decent action, but they were all underutilized. There’s not a single moment in the film where I felt anything at all. I think all these Disney live-action remakes are doing is making a case for how effective animation is for storytelling.

61. Color Out of Space

I heard a lot of good things about this movie, and it’s really cool visually, and I love Nicolas Cage always, but I really couldn’t get into it. I guess my main issue is that it starts off already too campy for any of to the Lovecraftian horror to really hit. It felt like a B-movie with great production value, and maybe that’s what they were going for? I really wanted to like this but I really just did not feel invested in anything going on, did not relate to anyone in the family, so I don’t think I got much out of it besides the cool visuals.

60. Bloodshot

I think the main flaw of this movie is that is that Vin Diesel was a producer on it, and Vin Diesel should be kept away from making creative decisions on movies. How Did This Get Made did a great podcast episode on this movie. It’s absolute nonsense, it has a couple of cool sequences and special effects in it, and Lamorne with a British accent is great, he’s the main redeeming value of this movie.

59. The Midnight Sky

It seems like this movie wants to be Interstellar, it’s structured in a very similar way, but it just didn’t quite have that same emotional punch. It looks very good, it’s well-acted, it has it’s moments.

58. The New Mutants

It's not as much of a trainwreck as people make it out to be in my opinion, I think the cast is good and it has some good character interactions, but it mostly suffers from the fact that it's way too predictable, from the beginning you're way ahead of the characters, and it doesn't help that they're in this confined setting so there's not a lot for them to actually do. But I appreciate the attempt at using mutants to do a horror breakfast club thing, good concept.

57. Vampires vs The Bronx

Vampires as a gentrifiers taking over the hood, great idea. Mero is in it, the brand is brolic. It was a fun set up, but it was neither funny enough or scary enough in my opinion. The vampires die so easily it's like okay whatever. It's like a really long Goosebumps episode.

56. Freaky

I don't think the execution lived up to the great concept, but Vince Vaughan was really great in those sincere moments playing a teenage girl. Horror fans will appreciate the gory kills. I'm not going to spoil anything but I do think there are some narrative issues that keep this from being stronger than it could've been. If you made the killer a creepy janitor at the school or even one of the teachers, then I think that would've created more interesting situations.

55. Eurovision

I love Will Ferrell, I even love some of his flops like Casa De Mi Padre and Kicking and Screaming, and even the House I think had a lot of really funny moments. This was definitely one of the least funny movies he's done to me. I think the director David Dobkin couldn't commit to being silly the way Adam McKay can cause there's a lot of this movie that just has no jokes, and the movie is over 2 hours long which isn't normal for comedies so you spend a lot of time watching unfunny scenes and extended musical numbers.

54. The Wrong Missy

I'm not a big fan of most Happy Madison movies, the jokes are very hit or miss for me. I'm a big fan of Lauren Lapkus though so I watched it to support her, and she plays an absolute psycho in this. It's so over the top it's like this character is not a human being, but I have to admit there are a few moments where she made me laugh pretty loud. I'd never watch this movie again, but maybe I'd look up certain parts on youtube.

53. The Platform

High concept dystopian sci-fi horror. Reminds me of the Cube. It's one of those things that makes you think about what you'd do in the same situation. It's a very on the nose allegory, so by the end of it my only takeaway was "Yeah, it really be like that."

52. Archenemy

Another high concept movie. Joe Mangienello is good in it, but Glenn Howerton and Paul Scheer are my favorite parts of the movie, it's fun to see comedy actors play bad guys. My main problem with the movie was that I did not find the teen character to be interesting or relatable at all, in fact he can be kind of obnoxious. In his introductory scene he's REALLY bothering this random guy minding his own business, not respecting his boundaries at all. Then the rest of the movie is about him exploiting a homeless man and being really pushy for likes on some app, and he doesn't really have a character arc. Also wasn't a big fan of the animated sequences but I forgive that knowing this was a low budget movie and those sequences were done by a team of just 3 people.

51. Power

Jamie Foxx is great. I think he makes almost anything he's in watchable to some degree. The idea of this movie is fun but I think the action sequences are kinda underwhelming, but Jamie makes it worth watching in my opinion.

50. Birds of Prey

This movie was all style and absolutely no substance. When your main character doesn't have a solid purpose or goal you're really just watching shit happen, and that can be okay if the shit that's happening is occassionally fun or funny, but it doesn't really make for a memorable story in my opinion.

49. Wonder Woman 84

The most panned movie of 2020 maybe? It's got flaws for sure and some narrative choices I just can't understand why they made. It has some fun performances though and I ultimately appreciated that our superhero wins not by using her fists but by appealing to goodness. I feel like you rarely see that kind of idealism any more. It may not be realistic but I think that's one of the things fantasy is good for, showing us a way things could be better to strive for. But yeah, the Steve Trevor things was fucking weird, why'd they do that? And neither Steve or Diana seem concerned with about this random guy's fate. I'd probably rate this film higher if they had Steve simply appear out of thin air, I mean why not? It's magic. But I loved Kristen Wig and Pedro Pascal in this. Pedro is performing with his whole body, did he film this after season 1 of the Mandolorian? Maybe being under that helmet for a season made him want to be really expressive. The films overall kinda campy but I didn't necessarily mind that.

48. Peninsula

Sequel to the already classic Train to Busan, this film decides the up the scale, which is what sequels often do, but I think it was a mistake in this instance. This is more of an over the top action movie than a character-driven horror film like the first. There's a climactic Mad Max-esque car chase scene that is almost entirely CGI. I don't think it was a bad movie, it's an okay popcorn flick, but it definitely doesn't live up to the original.

47. The Old Guard

In terms of action I don't think it did anything interesting, but I like how they explored how horrific and heartbreaking it would be to be immortal. Coming to terms with your own mortality is a tough thing to do, but we often don't consider the idea that death is a blessing we take for granted.

46. Sputnik

A Russian sci-fi thriller about a young doctor being tasked with trying to figure out how to separate an alien parasite from a Cosmonaut that's returned from earth. Good performances, creepy vibe, and lots of interesting questions about ethics. It has a sort of epilogue ending with a reveal I didn't quite understand the significance to the story, but didn't take away from either. Solid.

45. The Invisible Man

Fun sci-fi thriller about toxic abusive relationships and gaslighting. Elizabeth Moss is great in it and my favorite sequences are before her character actually catches on and you have moments where the camera is just focusing on a random place, very creepy and effective.

44. Sonic the Hedgehog

Personally I would've preferred a fully animated film taking place in Sonic's world. I don't know why they always feel like they need to make these movies about human characters and then spend a lot of time having to hide your CG character and having people do comical reactions to them. It feels very played out to me. BUT Jim Carrey is great in this, of course. Jim Carrey is the reason to watch this movie. He makes the movie. And it goes without saying thank God they changed that character design.

43. 2067

What I liked about this dystopian future is that the cause was basically everything. War, famine, ruining the environment, pandemics, just all our collective fuckery has resulted in a world where the human race is on the verge of extinction, plants are extinct, and oxygen is synthetic. Enter time travel, a young man is tasked with traveling into the future to bring back the solution to saving the human race. Very timely obviously. I liked it.

42. Monsters of Man

Some asshole tech bros let some killer robots loose on a remote southeast asian village as a trial run. It has lots of flaws but I give it some leeway because this is the first film of a guy who wrote, directed and was the cinematographer by himself, he didn't have a huge budget or much experience, so it's hard to expect perfection. My biggest criticism is that the film centers a white guy living in this village and some westerner medics, not the actual Asian people of the village. Could've been so much more of interesting commentary about racism and eurocentrism dropping these robots in a village of brown people no one will miss just for practice. That aside though I think it was a solid enough thriller and the robots looked pretty good.

41. Family Romance LLC

An interesting movie about a Japanese entrepreneur who has a business where he'll play whatever role in your life you need. Father, husband, coworker, etc there's a scene where someone even pays him to be scolded in his place by his boss. The main thrust of the film though is him playing the role of a girl's absentee father, pretends to reconnect with her and take her out on the town for activities. It's shot very documentary style, and there are a mixture of first time actors and non-actors. Sometimes there are long awkward conversations that feel just as awkward as real life. I really liked the premise, and the only thing that keeps it from being higher on my list is it doesn't have a strong enough conflict nor does it really have a satisfying conclusion.

40. Over the Moon

Directorial debut of animation legend Glen Keane, I really liked this visually. It was sufficiently enjoyable, but it doesn't have that emotional gut punch that Pixar or Disney films tend to have. But I guess cartoons don't NEED to make you bawl your eyes out to be good. I think there were some missed opportunities narratively, like I guess this is spoilery so just scroll ahead if you don't want to know, but she gains a step brother that she doesn't like and doesn't want to spend time with, once the adventure starts on the Moon they get separated very early on, and don't ge reunited until towards the end, but she somehow now cares about him and considers him her brother. I didn't feel like that was really earned, they should've been together throughout the adventure getting to know each other. But I otherwise liked the story aside from that nitpick. Loved the colors of this movie, almost everything in the moon world is luminescent which provides some nice visuals. Hope to see Glen direct more in the future.

39. The Croods 2

Nothing revolutionary but it has some solid physical comedy and great voice acting. All of Nicolas Cage's overacting is perfect for animation, and I liked Peter Dinklage as Mr. Betterman as well. There's a lot going on thematically but it all works pretty cohesively.

38. #ALIVE

Another Korean zombie thriller. I really liked this because I felt like as far as zombie outbreaks go this is the most realistic scenario. Once you realize what's going on you will just stay in your house rather than risk going outside and fighting zombies. But that poses the problem of a limited supply of food and water. The main thrust of the movie is not how this character survives though it's about him trying to retain his will to live. It's the perfect pandemic isolation allegory.

37. Love and Monsters

It looked kinda corny but I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I like Dylan O'Brien, I love Tom Holland as Peter Parker but I've always felt like Dylan O'Brien would've been a great choice too, he has a good everyman relatable quality. There's also a dog in the movie that I loved. Put a dog in peril in a movie and I will be on the edge of my seat guaranteed. It's a fun movie with some interesting creatures in it and a solid character arc for our main protagonist.

36. Extraction

I love the trend of stunt coordinators directing films. That's the main reason why the John Wick series is so good, and the reason why this also has some very solid action. Nothing crazy here in terms of story or themes, everything is an excuse for Chris Hemsworth to fuck people up and it delivers on that. There's one scene where he slaps around some kids attacking him that I found hilarious as well. Fully welcoming an Extraction 2.

35. Save Yourselves

A couple decides to take a break from social media and get away to a cabin outside the city. While they're disconnected from the world an alien invasion occurs, furry little basketball sized poofs. This movie was pretty funny. I'm a little ambivalent about the ending but I enjoyed these hipsters arguing about what to do about aliens.

34. Bill and Ted Face the Music

A most bodacious movie. Fun gags and a robot that steals the show. It's not as good as the first 2 but I don't think that's any surprise. I think it borrows a little bit too much from the previous films, like the collecting legendary musicians thing, could've done without that. It was a fun movie though, and the daughters really worked.

33. An American Pickle

Seth Rogen playing an orthodox Jew who's been preserved in pickle juice for 100 years and his modern day app developer grandson. I think this may be Seth Rogen's best acting role, as silly as this movie is he's kind of endearing as this character from 100 years aro, and as the grandson he's a lot more understated than he usually is in movies.

32. Tenet

Tenet! Is it controversial that this is not higher up on the list? I really like Nolan's films, actually been a fan since watching his first film Following in a film class. Nolan likes playing with time in his movies so it was inevitable that he'd do something that addresses it very directly eventually. I love the time travel genre and I think this is one of the most ambitious and unique approaches to it to ever done. I actually braved theaters to see this because I did not want to miss the opportunity to see it on the big screen. I did it as safely as possible and booked a reserved seating theater where I knew I wouldn't be sitting by anyone, had a mask, gloves, antibacterial gell on deck, sanitized my seat with wipes, etc, there only 2 other people in the theater all of us sitting way for from each other. Weirdest moviegoing experience I've ever had but glad I saw it on the big screen because the visual spectacle of this is excellent. The reason it's not higher on the list is because as conceptually cool as it is as I did not feel invested. Just on a story level having a character we know very little about pursuing a goal he knows very little about for no clearly defined reason makes it feel like... we're just watching events unfold as opposed to watching a character-driven story. There's a moment at the end that you can tell was meant to be an emotional moment, but I felt nothing. They try to introduce some emotional stakes with the female character, but idk, since it wasn't tied to the inciting incident it felt more like a b-plot than fundamental to the story. So it was a really fun cool looking puzzle, more like watching a cool Rube Goldberg machine, but not something I really thought much about after it was over.

31. Guns Akimbo

I really have been enjoying Daniel Radcliffe's post-Harry Potter career, he'll do some solid dramas he seems to prefer doing fun weird shit like Swiss Army Man, Horns, his role on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, etc. This is in that vein of fun weird shit, a guy who gets guns bolted to his hands and is running around the city in a robe trying to survive essentially a real life video game. A lot of the movies lower on this list had fun concepts but were lacking in execution, but this is one that is just as fun as the idea sounds, even more fun actually, it's funny, the action is good, and there are some great visuals. I found it all around enjoyable.

30. Let Them All Talk

Glen Close as a celebrated author who invites her nephew and 2 estranged best friends on a cruise with her. It's a very light-hearted movie with some underlying conflicts that the characters are afraid to address head on. Glen Close is great, obviously, she plays this pretentious self-important woman with affectations but is still likable and warm. It's a fairly pleasant almost slice-of-life until the 3rd act where everything comes together. To me it was a movie about communication, saying what you mean, saying what you feel, and those unspoken assumptions of what those around you are thinking or feeling about you. I know I can relate to the idea of wanting an apology from someone who might not even be cognizant of the fact that you feel slighted by them, or vice versa finding out someone's had a long standing problem with you when you thought you were cool. One sided grudges do no one any good.

29. True History of the Kelly Gang

I've heard of Ned Kelly, but I've never seen the Heath Ledge or Mick Jagger movies about him and I don't know much about him other than he's a famous Australian outlaw and something of a folk hero to some. The performances and cinematography if this are great. George MacKay from 1917 is the lead and he's amazing, sometimes vulnerable and soft, other times a madman. It spends a lot of time in his childhood and the child actor who plays Ned is great as well. It's gritty and sometimes surreal in it's imagery. From what I can gather previous films seemed to focus more on what happened with him and his gang, while this movie seems to focuses more on everything in his life that led up to him becoming who he is and forming that gang. Like a 3rd of the movie is spent in his childhood, and once the gang is actually formed things move at a pretty brisk pace, seemingly skimming over the exploits of the gang to the conclusion. The film feels very raw and gritty and very fuck the police which I always appreciate.

28. Lucky Grandma

A stubborn grandma in New York's chinatown gets her fortunte read and is told that she's going to be very lucky and come into a fortune, she then comes into possession of a bunch of money that belongs to a gang and she decides to try to keep it feeling it's owed to her by the universe. A funny crime drama with the unlikeliest of protagonists.

27. Da 5 Bloods

Spike Lee is an icon but he can honestly be a little hit or miss for me. I don't always enjoy every choice he makes, for instance he uses real footage of war attrocities in this, and it's really upsetting to see REAL people, including children, be killed, when you're not expecting that. I understand it's meant to be upsetting, but it does make the movie something I'll probably never rewatch. Spike Lee's films to me can also feel at times heightened to the point that it feels a little cheesy (Miracle At St Anna), and there moments in this that kinda took me out of it to be honest, but overall I enjoyed it. The performances were great, Delroy Lindo in my opinion is one of the most underrated actors of all time, he's just always good no matter what he's in, everyone else in it is good too, but of course I have to mention Chadwick Boseman who was great. At the end of the day it gave me a lot to think about in terms or race, war, America, forgiveness, trauma and so many other things.

26. The Devil All The Time

There's a LOT going on in this movie, maybe a little too much, it's like 2 or 3 movies smashed into one, but... I really liked it, and that's probably because Tom Holland is so good in it. Really liked Robert Pattinson in it too. I can’t really think of more to say about it say I won’t. Next movie.

25. Bad Education

A true crime movie about school district officiala who stole from the budget of a highschool. Hugh Jackman is great in this. I loved Jackman as Wolverine, but now that he's done with that I'm excited to see him other stuff cause he's always interesting to watch; The Fountain, Prisoners, The Prestige, he's always solid. I enjoyed this, it was done with nuance, it doesn't let them off the hook for what they did but it doesn't paint them as absolute monsters either. I really have to ask myself, if I could get away with stealing money that no one would miss... I don't know, I think I'd not do it out of fear not altruism, lol.

24. My Octopus Teacher

This is a documentary on Netflix about a diver who immerses himself in the world of underwater life and documents the life of an octopus. It's really beautiful, both in terms of visuals and in content. There's not a lot to talk about because it's fairly straightforward, but it was really fascinating to learn about this octopus and see the bond they mutually formed, and again I can't talk about how great this movie looks, it's like you're in a different world. This is something I could put in and mute while I draw just for the ambiance.

23. Kajillionaire

A quirky dramedy about a family of really obtuse poor scam artists. As absurd as their behaviour is I can totally imagine a trio of weirdos like this living in Los Angeles ( I can say that cause it's my hometown and where I lived most of my life. It's Evan Rachel Wood's best role, I never would've imagined her doing something like this but she's great as "Old Dolio". It's funny, at time sad but not in a hammy melodramatic way, and I feel it had the perfect ending.

22. The Gentleman

Guy Ritchie doing what he does best. It's fun, stylish, witty, has layers and twists and reveals. Everybody's good in it. It doesn't have anything poignant to say, but it's fun to watch the entire time

21. Run

A thriller about a wheelchair bound teen who suspects her mother is drugging her and tries to get to the bottom of it. You can tell this director is a Hitchcock fan because it definitely has that Rear Window vibe but takes it a step further, and in many ways it's even shot and paced like Hitchcock. The lead actress is actually wheelchair bound herself so it really adds to the realism of all the things she does in this film. Oh, and Sarah Paulson is the mom, when is Sarah Paulson ever not good?

20. Horse Girl

Alison Brie is an awkward neurotic woman getting over recent grief and a history of mental illness in her family, she starts to have weird dreams and then notices people from her dreams in real life, starts blacking out and having gaps in time, and starts to believe it's due to alien abduction conspiracy. Is she losing her mind or is it really happening? Alison Brie is really really good in this, and she co-wrote it too, it has a lot of moments where you really feel sorry for her or scared for her and you start to question what's real yourself.

19. Swallow

I found this movie really fascinating, it's like what if you turned one of those My Strange Addiction episodes on TLC into a movie. It's about this woman who ostensibly, at least from appearances, has the perfect life (at least by societal standards), she came from nothing and is now housewife to a rich successful man, and behaves almost like a Stepford wife. Then develops a compulsion to swallow inedible things, like marbles and batteries and thumbtacks, which is a real condition called pica. Its the kind of movie that gives you a lot to think about but no easy answers.

18. Time to Hunt

A Korean heist thriller set in the near future. A bunch of childhood friends rob the wrong person and have an Anton Chigurh-esque killer sent after them to retrieve the money and kill them. It's a really tense cat and mouse thriller with good performances. The ending seemed to turn a lot of people off based on a lot of youtube comments I read, but I didn't mind it. My only real gripe is that they set this in the near future but aside from some imagery in the beginning it doesn't seem to come into play that much, this all could've taken place in modern day or even the past with no alteration of the story. I think the future setting was more just for some social commentary that maybe went over my head a little bit because I'm not from Korea, but I think if they were going to do near future they could've added some futuristic weapons or something. But that's just nitpicking, while the future setting didn't add to the story much it didn't take away from it either.

17. Tigertail

As I get older one of my worse fears is making decisions that I will regret for the rest of my life, so this movie really hit home as a cautionary tale. It's a kind of quietly devastating movie. There's no huge tragic horrific even, just a huge miscalculation. Decades of your life of work and unhappiness go by and all you can do is wonder what things could've been. I also especially appreciated the cinematography and music of this film.

16. Mother

It's been a while since I hated a character this much, but this titular mother really pissed me off. She's a neglectful mother who only sees her son as a tool, but he sticks by her cause he loves her. It's definitely not a fun movie to watch, but it made me feel a lot and meditate on the idea of love and whether it in itself has innate value.

15. Call

I went into this movie cold, having no idea what it was really about other than that it was a thriller that revolved around a woman getting mysterious calls. I'm glad I had seen no trailers and did not know the gist of the plot becuase it went places I really was not expecting. One of the most fun thrillers I've seen in a while. So, I'm not going to talk about the movie but what I will say is that Jeon Jong-seo, who played the woman in Burning is in this, she was great in Burning and she's great in this. After watching it I googled her to see what else she's been in that I can watch and this is only her 2nd film. Apparently Burning was her first audition EVER and she BOOKED IT! Like, one a million success story right? But she deserves it cause she's great and I look forward to seeing what else she does.

14. Possessor

This was directed by Brandon Cronenberg, the son of David Cronenberg, big shoes to fill, and I think he's going to fill them fine cause this is already a cult classic in my opinion. The visuals in this, which look like they were mainly created with practical and in camera effects. There is some very graphic very realistic violence in this. The movie is about an assassin who works for an organization and uses some type of scientific process to "possess" people to carry out hits. When she's in a body for too long who's in control starts to blur. It's really fucking trippy, like a fucked up Black Mirror episode.

13. Borat 2

Been a fan of Sacha since the old Da Ali G Show days when Borat was just a side character. I'm amazed with out Sacha can stay in character the way he does, especially when later on in the movie he shelters in place with some Qanon conservatives with who knows how long staying in character. Maybe they'll reveal they were paid actors who knows, but whatever I fucking laughed a lot at this movie. There's a black woman in this movie that I hope to god was not an actress cause I loved her and her reactions so much. It was a breath of fresh air to watch something that's just goofy in 2020 because it wasn't a good year for comedy. As much as I love film sometimes I got a little fatigue from watching so many things with very heavy themes, this also had heavy themes it was satirizing, but also chimp pornstar jokes, so.. a fun time.

12. A Sun

A drama about a family's eldest son going to juvenile detention for his involvement in a violent crime. We see how his father, his mother, his brother and his pregnant girlfriend all deal with this. I found it very engaging. My only gripe is that there are some moments of levity where they use this really generic comedy music score it and it really takes you out of the film. No music at all is better than bad generic music. Other than that I really loved it and the ending is great. I really thought this would end up in my top 10 but the following films just had more personal relevance or were more fun to watch.

11. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

R.I.P. Chadwick Boseman, this movie is like an acting showcase for him, he has so many great monologues here, the ending really took the wind out of me. It's also packed with really still relevant commentary on race.

10. Onward

You already expect a Pixar movie to make you cry, but this came from angle I was NOT expecting and I bawled hard at this. This movie was so applicable to my life experience it's like they specifically engineered it to make me personally cry. Honestly there are better movies lower on this list, but movies are just like any other art, when a song touches you on a personal level it doesn't need to have complex instrumentation cause it's how it made you feel that matters.

09. Palm Springs

A comedy released during a pandemic about trying to find stimulation and meaning when every day is the same thing? Ya don't say! Another take on Groundhog Day, which at this point I feel like it's its on genre with the amount of times the concept has been done, but I'm not complaining, I typically enjoy a good time loop movie (or show; Russian Doll). I don't know what else to say besides that it's really funny and Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti are both charming and great in it.

08. Scare Me

This movie was funny, creepy, the performances were great, and it's just really unique and clever. Written, directed, produced, and starring Josh Ruben, who I know primarily does really idiosyncratic "impressions" on instagram. It's 2 people alone in a cabin telling each other scary stories, they don't cut away to the stories you just watch them act it out. 4 people in the cast, one location, and it still manages to be a fun ride of a movie and manages to touch on some good themes in the overall story. I really hope to see Josh Ruben direct more films because I think he's really creative.

07. Ride Your Wave

A romantic comedy about a woman trying to find joy and purpose in her life. I often go into movies very cold, so I didn't know much about what this movie was about, just knew that it was from an animation studio and director that I really respected. It's very beautiful, very grounded, until it's not. Kind of movie that breaks your heart so it can uplift you later.

06. Uncle Frank

I really did not expect a lot from movie, not that I thought it would be bad, I just thought it be your middle of the road movie. It's about a teenage girl who really looks up to her uncle who she learns is a closeted gay man, in an era where that was potentially dangerous to be. They go on a road trip home when his father dies and learn about each other and themselves, it sounds kinda cookie cutter, but it really surprised me. Paul Bettany is so very good in this, and it made me cry. Easy way to get on high on this list is to make me cry lol.

05. Children of the Sea

This film had to be in my top 5 because I'm an animation nerd and this is one of the most beautiful animated films ever. Ever. It's right up there with Akira and the Ghibli catalogue, and the works of Satoshi Kon, and all the Disney movies and everything else. It focuses on details and nuances in a really gorgeous way. The story is VERY ambiguous and gets very metaphysical towards the end, the climax is like watching an acid trip. It's about a girl who meet 2 young boys who have adapted to living underwater, and they form a bond, and then... uh... there's no way I can concisely explain it. The creator has said it's not supposed to be understood logical, instead it's supposed to be felt. There's a lot of symbolism and metaphor, it's very philosophical and explores themes of connection and the cycle of life. It's produced by Studio 4°C, which is my favorite animation studio because they really push the envelope, they're responsible for Mind Game, Tekkonkinkreet, and the recent Mutafukaz, and other, if you've never heard of any of those definitely look them up, they're unlike any anime you've ever watched before. Anyway, beautiful movie and the cryptic plot allows for you to rewatch it multiple times and take different things away from it. I can't wait to own it on blu-ray.

04. 37 Seconds

I saw this very early in the year and love it. It's about a young woman with cerebal palsy who is also an aspiring hentai artist trying to get laid. Her mother who takes care of her like a child smothers her, so it's not only about trying to get laid but trying to have some independence. Firstly the performance of this woman who actually does have cerebral palsy and is a first time actor is so natural and endearing, secondly there are things they portray with an uncomfortable amount of realism and awkwardness that it really draws you in to the nitty gritty of her reality and what it can be like for someone who is wheelchair bound to try to have sexual experiences. I like that there were 2 films this year about characters in wheelchairs that used unknown actresses that face the same things their characters do, it adds to the authenticity of either film. Films like this are why I think diversity in film is not just about doing something for the demographic you're depicting but also giving everyone else not of that demographic new unique stories and perspectives.

03. Soul

I guess spoilers if you haven't seen this because it's easier to talk about why I liked it if I talk specifically about the plot. I wasn't expecting much from this when the initial trailer dropped, it made it seem like it was going to largely take place in this imaginary soul place with these blue things, and for most of the first act it seemed like that's what it was going to be, but when they come back to earth and the story really starts I really started enjoying it. This movie tricks you into thinking the film is about finding or fulfilling your purpose, only to throw a curveball that living life in and of itself is the "purpose", and this movie resonated so much with thoughts that were already on my mind. I relate so much to Joe as a creative person myself with so many unfulfilled dreams, at 36yrs old, having to put many of my goals on the backburner just to survive, and generally having that feeling that I'm still waiting to live life because I'm not fulfilling my "purpose". Sure reaching for goals is great, but I think our culture breeds this idea that happiness is a destination, an accomplishment, a certain amount of recognition, a monetization of your passion. I really loved how the film depicted that there's a dark side to focusing on your passions and how it can become a source of stress and unhappiness. This movie is just about savoring life itself, which people have been expressing through platitudes since forever but this film illustrated it in a way that words fail at, and that's what makes film such a great form of art.

02. Sound of Metal

This movie had one of the best trailers of 2020, I couldn't wait to watch this movie. FIrst of all I love RIz Ahmed and think he's an underrated and underutilized actor, he's fucking amazing in this, he needs an Oscar nom FOR SURE. His frustration is so palpable and he feels so natural in this movie. It follows a metal punk drummer who loses his hearing and goes to stay in a deaf community to acclimate. One thing I think is absolutely brilliant about this movie is the sound design. I'm not deaf so I can't speak from any type of experience, but they try to replicate what going deaf sounds like, what the audiologist tests sound like, what hearing aids and cochlear implants sound like, it's very immersive. I almost think of it like a companion piece to Soul, cause I had almost the same take away, it's just coming from it at a different angle.

01. I'm Thinking Of Ending Things

Okay, so I’m going to have a lot to say about this movie.

Maybe a very controversial pick for my number one because so many people absolutely hated this movie, lol. I am biased given that I'm a huge fan of Charlie Kaufman, he's my favorite screenwriter, and his films have only gotten weirder and weirder, so I know to expect the unexpected when going into one of his films. I can understand how this would be an offputting experience if you're expecting the conventions of normal narrative structure. It was surprising and perplexing to me how this film unfolded but I've watched non-narrative and experimental films before so I was intrigued rather than frustrated. You think it's about a woman who is thinking of breaking up with her boyfriend as they head to meet his parents. Once we get to his childhood home things start getting surreal, and that surrealism just escalates to the point where you realize this film is not at all attempting to depict reality and doesn't even have any continuity. This is the most a movie has ever felt like one of my dreams. I don't know how other people dream but this was so much like every weird nightmare I've ever had where I feel trapped in a situation.

There's a scene where the family is talking about art, the dad says he hates abstract art because it takes no skill, he prefers paintings that look like photographs because that takes real skill, the son asks why make a painting look like a photograph when you can just take a photograph, the woman states she paints pictures of landscapes and tries to imbue them with a sense of interiority, capturing the way she feels, the dad asks how can a landscape be sad if you don't have a person in it looking sad. I felt like this was a bit of meta commentary on the film itself. After I watched this movies I had my own theories, I watched some analysis videos on youtube that confirmed a lot of my ideas and gave me insight on other parts of the film, I watched the film again and formulated more ideas, it's so dense with things to project meaning onto and interpret it. I went on instagram and ended up having lengthy discussions about what the film meant both with people who loved it and hated it. Everybody I spoke with had slightly different interpretations and takeaways. One woman who initially did not like it came away with an appreciation for it after we had a lengthy discussion about it's meaning.

All of this is why it's my favorite film of the year, not only did I relate to it on a personal level because I'm in a stage of my life where I'm approaching middle ages and afraid I'm going to end up like the guy in this film, but I can't remember the last time a film led to such meaningful conversation about life, death, love, mental health, loneliness, trauma, etc. So like the scene where they're talking about art, I think this movie is neither intended to be abstract or realistic, it's supposed to be imbued with a sense of interiority. I know I sound way pretentious right now, but I just really appreciated Charlie Kaufman for making something unabashedly expressionist and serving it up to mainstream audiences. I really feel like I grow as a person and an artist every time I watch one of his films.

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So there ya go. That’s it. That concludes this arbitrary exercise in ranking the movies i saw last year, thank you for wasting your time on this, lol. I think it was a very good year for movies.

If there was a movie you were expecting to see on the list and it’s missing I just didn’t get to it in 2020, I may do an unranked follow up list of 2020 movies I missed in 2020, maybe.

That’s it.

End of post.

Bye.

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