#poor Viola Davis

[dasavvyexpert]

The writers clearly pulled Chameleon’s motive out of their ass

#kung fu panda #kung fu panda 4 #memes #kfp chameleon #spoilers #poor Viola Davis #wasted potential

[mswyrr]

@cyranozoned

This is so true though! I almost mentioned it and then decided to stick to book canon. But I love that part of movie canon - that the pretty, dangerous boy shows up to greet Lucy Gray in a skirt.

Collins keeps giving me boys who are like flowers? True love's boy, purehearted and fighting every moment despite everything to be good and kind, who is like a dandelion in the spring for Katniss. And Lucy Gray's femme fatale, a pretty boy who is like a poison rose. Too weak to pay the price for love and decency, even though he has enough warmth inside to want it, because he'd rather be comfortable, pampered, and have control.

I love it. Now she's done both sexist feminine archetypes (sweet, nurturing, socially sensitive Good Girl and savvy, poisonous, manipulative Bad Girl who proves untrue) but... with boys LOL Delightful!

As an aside, I think his behavior toward Dr Gaul at the end fits the femme fatale thing - he's writing her enticing letters, telling her what she wants to hear, being "seductive" toward her, even though he doesn't seem to be ideologically motivated. He's a weather-vane who believes and says whatever it takes to have the comfort and control he wants most. BTW the Gaul/Snow dynamic is going to get even more delicious now that they've cast someone as sexy as Viola Davis in the role, whereas in the book Gaul is just very very old. I'm going to come out of the movie shipping villain shipping Gaul/Snow I can feel it! lol.

It has that - bad girl choosing the rich man who can give her what she wants instead of the true-hearted poor boy who has only his good heart to give energy.

#replies #thg meta #my meta #coriolanus snow #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #volumnia gaul

[joesalw]

Olivia Rodrigo's shortlisted for an Oscar for Best Original Song. LFG!!! TS is gagging for that thing, imagine if she gets nominated and wins lol. The meltdown incoming. That girl could easily down the line go for an EGOT. She can make a documentary, host SNL or write a song for a TV series to win an Emmy and girlie pops has enough vocal and acting chops to star in a musical and go for a Tony. She's only gonna get better with time. I think Billie's gonna take it though. It would be the 2nd one for her. And Taylor's probably gonna go ahead and try to campaign her tour DVD for the Best Documentary next year (the eligibility period for this year ended on Oct. 2 and it also doesn't fall into eligibility rules).

The Special Rules Section, Part B, states: “Works that are essentially promotional or instructional are not eligible, nor are works that are essentially unfiltered records of performances.” -Variety

Wouldn't be surprised if the Academy caves in and changes current guidelines so the ratings go up. If they do, Beyonce's film also becomes eligible. I'm no Beyonce fan but I've seen both hers and Taylor's films and let me tell you, if there would be only 2 options to pick a winner, I'd blindly go for Beyonce's. The performance level is better, the cinematography and editing were better, sound was better, visual effects and lighting were better, styling was better, there was behind the scenes footage and a new song during the end credits. Taylor's film looked like it was done last minute and edited in a hurry on your mum's old laptop. No offense, babes but it wasn't your best work.

Ugh, the lady is so desperate for an EGOT that it's funny. You're no Viola Davis, JHud, Barbra, Liza Minelli, Rita Moreno, Helen Hayes or Audrey Hepburn. Those women are/were TALENTED. Well, Viola, Audrey and Helen Hayes don't/didn't sing but they won for spoken word aka voice acting. The only way for her to win a Tony would be writing a musical or a play. But to do that you have to have multiple writing tropes for more than 1 perspective. Her short film dialogues were trash, let's be real. I wonder what's gonna happen with her directorial Searchlight project. Sure, it'll make lots of money if we even see the day of its release but I doubt she'll be considered for any awards for that. The only options that'll happen are a. to get the ratings up b. for shits and giggles. The only theatrics she can pull off are her childish tantrums in the media and shocked expressions at award shows/TK's throwball games. And even for that she has to have some liquid courage in her system otherwise she's as bland and pasty as they come. Poor thing, even with all that money and fame she still has no rizz.

Anyway, 2024 is new gen's pop girls' year and you can't convince me otherwise. Dua and Billie have new albums coming, Olivia's going on tour, Tyla's on the rise. Hoping for the OR sweep at the Grammys as well. LFG!

p.s Dr. Bridgit Mendler's the main Disney girl

.

#olivia rodrigo #beyonce #anti taylor swift

[denimbex1986]

'...*BEST PICTURE*

Frontrunners Oppenheimer (Universal)...

*BEST DIRECTOR*

Frontrunners Greta Gerwig (Barbie) Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)...

*BEST ACTOR*

Frontrunners Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)...

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR*

Frontrunners Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)...

Major Threats Willem Dafoe (Poor Things) John Magaro (Past Lives) Matt Damon (Oppenheimer)...

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS*...

Major Threats Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) Viola Davis (Air) America Ferrera (Barbie) Claire Foy (All of Us Strangers) Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer)...

*BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY*

Frontrunners Barbie (Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig) Killers of the Flower Moon (Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese) Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)...'

#Oppenheimer #Christopher Nolan #Oscars #Cillian Murphy #Robert Downey Jr. #Emily Blunt #Florence Pugh #Barbie #Greta Gerwig #Killers of the Flower Moon #Matt Damon

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

PO THINGS

Opening this weekend:

Kung Fu Panda 4--The titular mammal, Po, has been promoted from "Dragon Warrior" to the more exalted status of Spiritual Leader, and is expected to find and train a replacement for his former position. But he'd rather not; he'd like to just keep having butt-kicking adventures on his own.

This entry, set again in a fairy-tale Chinese past inhabited by talking animals, has Po capturing Zhen, a light-footed cutpurse fox. The "Furious Five" of the earlier films is away on assignment, so the imprisoned Zhen talks Po into letting her serve as a guide on a quest to the distant lair of a villainous shape-shifting lizard, The Chameleon. See where this is headed?

This Dreamworks series has been at the less exhausting, more rewarding end of the CGI animated family flick spectrum starting with the original, back in 2008, and continuing with the first two sequels. It's hard to say if it will be sustainable from now on, but this fourth film, at least, keeps the streak going. The story deals in the usual kid-movie platitudes, but the lighting-fast yet precise slapstick sequences are exciting, and rise at times to laugh-out-loud funny even for adults.  

The voice cast in this film, as in the earlier films, is unusually strong too. Jack Black is exuberant as ever as Po, and is joined again by Dustin Hoffman as the red panda master Shifu, Bryan Cranston as Po's biological father and the great James Hong as Po's adoptive father (a goose, you'll recall). Ian McShane returns from the first film as a sinister snow leopard. New cast members include Ke Huy Quan as a pangolin bandit, and the mighty and menacing Viola Davis as The Chameleon. But the showcase new role is Awkwafina as Zhen; she fits the series like a glove.

In another pretty good touch: Tenacious D rousingly covers "Hit Me Baby One More Time" over the credits.

Opening today at Harkins Shea 14:

Pitch People--Back in the late '60s I was fascinated by the Veg-o-Matic, the infamous manual vegetable chopper sold on TV by Ronco; it's one of my earliest consumerist memories. After numerous appeals to my poor Mom, she wearily ordered one, and we quickly learned that it did not significantly improve the efficiency of her kitchen. Decades later my kid, around the age of eight, insisted on ordering a Snackeez, a drinking cup with a compartment for snacks at the top likewise peddled on TV. The speed with which she lost interest in it was ineffably heart-tugging to me; I could hear "The Circle of Life" playing in my head.

This documentary, directed by Stanley Jacobs, is about the people who have sold products of all kinds, with kitchen gadgets a special favorite, by "pitching" them; demonstrating them with a performer's panache. The art goes back thousands of years, no doubt--it's described here as "the second oldest profession"--but this movie's focus is on the American and British practitioners who took it from boardwalks, notably Atlantic City, to state fairs to shopping malls to TV commercials and later, after Reagan-era deregulation, to "infomercials." 

It's a brisk, amusing, revealing chronicle. Strikingly, many of the veterans we meet here are related to each other, members of the Morris family, with connections to the Popeil family behind Ronco (the credits pointedly declare that "RON POPEIL WOULD NOT GRANT AN INTERVIEW FOR THIS FILM"). They gleefully dissect the strategies for separating audience members from their money, but they don't seem contemptuous of them, and we're told that they truly believe in their products. In any case, they show a certain guileless pride in their performing skills. It's as if the entertainment value of their pitches should offset any disappointment in what they're selling.

Along with Arnold and Lester Morris, talking heads here include Ed McMahon, an Atlantic City pitch veteran before his TV stardom, and Wally Nash, a Brit whose effortless old-school pitch of the "hand-hammered wok from the People's Republic of China" I watched countless times on late-TV in DC. Re-watching it on YouTube I was amazed at how much of I could still say along with him; I wanted to buy one every freakin' time I saw it. 

Inevitably the extended footage of performances makes up the strongest passages of Pitch People. It's also hilarious when we see behind-the-scenes footage of an infomercial rehearsal in which the presenters break several demo models of a slicer before realizing that they're using it wrong.

Alas, a number of the pitchers featured here have left us, as this movie was made in 1999. It saw play at festivals back then but was not picked up by a distributor, and actually had to be restored before it could get a proper release, a quarter of a century after it was completed. There's a delicious and stinging irony in the fact that this movie about selling failed, until now, to sell. Maybe it needed a better pitch.

#pitch people #stanley jacobs #kung fu panda 4 #jack black #awkwafina #arnold morris #ed mcmahon #dustin hoffman #bryan cranston #james hong #viola davis #ian mcshane #ke huy quan #tenacious d

[destinyc1020]

Whenever you have a chance check Barry Keoghan's GQ interview. He has a very interesting and tragic background: he and his brother were taken away from his mom when he was 10 because she was a heroin addict. She died 2 years later. He grew up in foster homes until he was placed with his grandmother. He did youth boxing in his teen years and was not a good student but was lucky enough to get a few chances to act. You can see from the interview that he really is fearless. He talks about developing a movie about his childhood and wanting to make enough money to buy his grandma a house (he has acted in a bunch of movies but most have been indies and Saltburn is his first lead role)

https://www.gq.com/story/barry-keoghan-cover-story

Thanks Anon! 🥰

Yea, I've heard that Barry had a very difficult and tumultuous childhood growing up. 😔

Idk all of the details, but yea, I knew that he and his brother grew up in Foster homes. It's sad. 😔

You just never know what some people have been through before they became actors.

I still recall Viola Davis and her interview where she talks about growing up DIRT (and I do mean DIRT) poor, and remembering the rats sucking on her toes in bed at night. 😫😭

You just never know what some ppl have been through to get to where they are today. I admire that.

[fancysasquatch]

Just saw the new Hunger Games movie after obsessively consuming the book over the course of the past few days. 900+ word review below the cut. Spoiler warning for Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, obviously, but spoiler warning for William Friedkin's Bug (2006) too.

The short version of this is going to be that the movie works fine enough on it's own, but is very disappointing as an adaptation to a book I really enjoyed.

Before I start getting into negatives, I'll start with what I liked. The acting was overall fine. Jason Schwartzman was no Stanley Tucci as the tv host but he was still pretty good. Viola Davis knocked it out of the park as the mad scientist Dr. Gaul. Peter Dinklage didn't have much to do outside of one monologue at the end which was ruined by poor direction.

I also really liked the art design of the movie. The brutalist architecture was reminiscent of post-war Europe, particularly the Soviet Union. The military uniforms were sufficiently Nazi-esque without being tasteless. I saw a social realist-style poster in the background in District 12. The technology in the Capitol had a postwar Mid-century Modern aesthetic while in the poorer districts it looked like older technology from the 30s and 40s (including a video chatting device that looked like a candlestick telephone). Altogether it conveyed the idea that this happened decades ago, in relation to the original trilogy, and took place not too long after a major war. Very well done.

Now to get into the parts I didn't like too much. I'm still too much of a philistine to pay much attention to the directing/editing/cinematography side of things during my first viewing of a movie, but there were a few things that stood out to me. As I mentioned, Peter Dinklage has a monologue at the end which could have been very good it it wasn't filmed in flat shot-reverse shot with uninteresting framing, blocking, set design, and lighting. There was also a moment in the middle of the film which where the main characters have their last conversation the night before one will be fighting and possibly dying in the Hunger Games, but most of it is filmed in a profile shot of their faces leaning into towards the bars of her cage. The visual metaphor was a bit too on-the-nose, and the shot itself was framed in an awkwardly claustrophobic way.

That was all preamble though, and the bulk of this review is about the writing, specifically how they condensed a 500 page book into a 150 page screenplay. Obviously a lot had to be cut or shortened, and sometimes they did it well. For instance, the first minute or two covers several different page-long flashbacks which tell you all you really need to know. But some changes really hurt the pacing and even quality of the story.

The first part of the book covers the month leading up to the Hunger Games, but the movie condenses that down into a few days, so everything seems rushed because you have a week's worth of plot development happening in a single busy afternoon. The two main characters fall in love after meeting 5(?) times for a total of about 30 minutes. There was also a scene rewritten for no reason which was completely ruined, where a girl willingly sticks her hand into a cage of snakes she nows will attack her rather than admit to lying about helping on an essay (in the book she's tricked into it as part of a cruel test).

Almost the entirety of the Hunger Games itself was rewritten, although that's something I was fine with because it was different but not worse. The games as written would have been boring, and the version they had was a solid ~30 minute substitute.

The last section of the movie might have been butchered even worse than the beginning. A lot of that section of the book is Snow experiencing a simpler life in District 12, so when he gets a chance to go back to the capital there's a question of whether he chooses that life or his new life, which plays into the books themes of control and freedom. The movie barely shows his new life, so it's more of a question of whether he gets everything he wants in life or some girl he met two weeks ago he sorta likes.

The climax is also heavily bungled. Instead of his paranoia getting the better of him during one of his downward spirals, causing him to turn on Lucy Gray when he thinks she turns on him, she actually just turns on him. It's possible for a movie to capture losing your grip on reality like that, like the climax of Bug where the main duo feed into one another's mania until they burn themselves alive (that movie rules btw), but this movie didn't use any of the moviemaking techniques that . She also pretty unambiguously survives which is worse than the book, where her fate is left up to interpretation like the Wordsworth poem she's named after.

Just in general this movie suffers because it lacks the insight that came from the book being from Snow's point of view. We lose all of his internality, good and bad, so he's much flatter and less consistent. That theme of control vs freedom I mentioned runs throughout the book, but mostly in his internal dialogue, so in the movie we just get a few disjointed "this is what I believe" monologues from various characters that don't work as well.

To end on a positive note, I'll say there was one more change I liked. At the end of the movie, Snow's cousin Tigris very visibly sees Snow for what he is and is reasonably scared of him, which is better than in the book where they're all one big happy family.

#Hunger Games #ballad of songbirds and snakes #movie review

[thesullengrrrl]

tbosas thoughts lol

it's been a while since i consumed anything related to the hunger games. i remember borrowing the books from the university library and enjoying them very much, especially the first one! at the time, i never thought a book could feel like a mini series unfolding before me. cliffhangers were the best parts in every chapter.

i wasn't really hyped with this because i was looking forward more on saltburn, poor things, wonka and the like (which would probably be released here next year). fast forward to last saturday and i met up with a friend to watch it. i have a vague idea on what the film is about (it's about coriolanus snow and lucy gray baird that's it lol) but i'm glad i went in semi-blindly. i didn't read the book!

the length. i saw the actual book and i'm surprised they didn't chop it into two parts like its predecessors (hp, breaking dawn, etc). i'm glad about that because franchises can be so blatantly cash grabs these days. it was divided into three parts which was a little surprising since i have not watching something like that in a YA film (let me know if there are other YA that has done this). was it written in three parts in the book as well? the film was almost 3 hours long and we were glued to our seats. no breaks!

the acting. it's my first time seeing rachel zegler act and miss ma'am ate it up. i even forgot why the internet was angry at her. that singing scene when she was reaped? EAT YOUR HEART OUT, CAPITOL! tbh her singing made me feel a little little cringe but heyyyyyyy what do i know? the internet says it's part of lucy's character (she's part of a band for pete's sake, self!) she sings well and i hope i can hear her more in the future.

it's obvious how viola davis is enjoying her role and love that for her!!

peter dinklage gave us dystopian dr. gregory house (compliment) (morphling, vicodin...) and that picture of him with the rubber chicken. work.

my white boy of the month, tom blyth. chef's kiss. that man ate up his blond wigs and buzzcut and i never thought i'll have a crush on a blond man again after matthew crawley. his performance as snow made me feel what god intended: make me feel safe then push me from that beam-- snow landing on top of me with (my) blood on his hands.

sejanus...well, first of all, why suzanne? why the name? janus could've been fine already. (what's with names ending with anus!) we love our human rights king! josh andres rivera's take on sejanus is a breath of fresh air in the middle of capitol's cruelty and nonchalance to it. the anger that he gave to the character would make you wish for a better future for panem's children.

lucky flickerman. jason schwartzman did not hear "cut!" he heard "cunt!" and he gave us that. "smile. that's why we have teeth" is an instant classic for me. i could watch an entire compilation of his scenes on youtube for a whole day and not get bored.

last but not the least, hunter schafer as tigris? i totally get now why tigris smiled at the idea of katniss killing snow in mockingjay. you fed the boy, you dress the boy, and he fires you? fuck off, snow! snow melts anyway!

the costumes. it has a mixture of the elements of turn of the century america. influences from the 30s-50s are evident to the costumes and i love it. very different from the costumes in the hunger games trilogy. it added to the sense of separation from the earlier films. why is dean highbottom dressed like a monk? that ombre lab gown and docs of dr gaul? looooove. it looks so comfy and chic. snow's academy uniform? he looks so uwu baby girl cherub you can't do anything wrong you are an angel you look so trustworthy uwu bb

i enjoyed the movie. i had fun! the battle sequences made us hide behind our hands because it was brutal! we swooned on snowbaird moments and we laughed and we screamed. i'm so glad i watched it with my friend whom i haven't seen in a long time.

to be honest, i wanted to savor the story and characters more. i would have preferred it to be a mini series. i like little moments from books to be on screen and i've read that the film missed some of it (understandable). i might pick up the book if i chance upon a paperback copy. i'd like to know more about snow's inner thoughts since it was not shown in the movies.

with theories, mine is this: lucy gray escaped and lived somewhere outside panem, if such place exists in this universe. maybe a south america counterpart lol. then she went back as an old woman and lived as greasy sae. lucy and coryo did love each other but only for a brief period of time. they both needed each other at the time. that bonds people. however, maybe they prioritized survival over their emotions. lucy wants to live freely with her music and nature and the covey. coriolanus wanted money, power, and glory. probably coryo didn't realize her long lasting effect on him until he was old lol. she haunted him until his death and...that's good. he deserved it.

thank you suzanne collins for writing this and thank you to the cast and crew who breathed this book to life.

ps. if i missed some context or whatnot in the story or the characters i'm sorry, i haven't read the book yet. :-)

#tbosas

[bubervitch]

only about 100 pages into the hunger games prequel and i can already tell the casting sucks ass. the capitol ‘adults’ and faculty are generally fine, i think peter dinklage and jason schwartzman always knock it put of the park and while viola davis is a bit young for her part (as is dinklage) im excited to see what she does with it. I also think tigris was cast phenomenally, hunter schafer is perfect. but i think the casting for both snow and lucy gray were exceedingly poor, especially based off of recent stills and behind the scenes clips i’ve seen recently. i worry they give off more the image of a 2015 produced-by-bella-thorne disney channel original, than the ‘serious’ dystopian, gritty revolution image of the previous four.

#also i need to express how much i hate lucy gray’s name #it’s sooooo 2014 wattpad it’s unbearable #i read the books in elementary school and i forgot how genuinely good they are #and how dark and honestly quite realistic #the ballad of songbirds and snakes

[abnerkrill]

Peacemaker/The Suicide Squad for the blorbo asks!

hehehe yes thank u!!!

Blorbo: obviously abner krill my dearest beloved babygirl 🥰

Scrunkly: can I answer abner again I NEED to shake him in a jar and the cuteness aggression is real especially in his polka dot suit 😭 clown coded tbh. it’s adorable 😊 but my non-abner answer is Cleo, I adore her, she’s rly the baby of the team and of my heart, and her character design is sickkkkk

Scrimblo bimblo: okay economos rly grew on me as a character in peacemaker, I rly like him now!!!! he’s an insecure mess but I kinda like my men pathetic u know

Glup shitto: Sol Soria in TSS is so fricking cool and I think we as a fandom do not do enough to acknowledge that!!! yes girl kill the fascists!!!

Poor little meow meow: Adrian Chase has never done anything wrong in his life ever. i condone every murder and crime etc

Horse plinko: abner of course!!! I put him through torture at my every possible convenience. brings me joy and catharsis.

Eeby deeby: James G*nn deserves divine punishment I think. in terms of actual characters, Amanda Waller has GOT to stop being the cause of my favorite characters’ deaths, I will not forgive her for Rick and Abner :( at the same time the girlboss milf energy is strong and can I really fault Viola Davis for anything ever……. My answer would’ve been peacemaker but alas he HAS redeemed himself in my eyes… oh his shitty Nazi dad can go to hell 💕

send me a fandom

#trickfootgrog #the suicide squad #peacemaker #ask games

[militantinremission]

The Woman King: The latest example of 'Tricknology' at work

History is written by the Victor. We have to be mindful of this, whenever We see historical accounts of Our People. Slave Reparations have become a global conversation, & the descendants of European Colonizers, as well as those that benefited from Slave Labor are working feverishly to shift the narrative to Afrikan Tribes. Ultimately, They should be the ones to pay. There's some truth there, but Afrikan Chiefs & Kings received 'trinkets' (Rifles, Rum, Dashikis, ect...), while The Colonial Powers attained a Work Force that enabled them to control Global Affairs. Afrika is essentially Asset Rich but Cash Poor. Europe & America benefited from Slavery far more than Afrikan Kingdoms, & are therefore required to pay the lion's share of what is owed.

There are several problems w/ 'The Woman King'. To begin w/, it is historically inaccurate. Several Black Media Outlets have pointed out that Dahomey was a notorious Slave Trading State. They use Smithsonian documents, & historical accounts from 'The History Channel' & other sources to show how Dahomey not only traded Slaves to Europeans, they enslaved tens of thousands of their tribal rivals to fuel their domestic production. This notion of the Dahomian 'Woman King' being a Slave liberator, is Disney Magic. This may explain why it is failing @ The Box Office; during a time when it literally had No Competition. Antonio Moore of 'Toneralks' pointed out 'The Woman King's' average of $1,300/ Screen, compared to Black Panther's average of $18,000/ Screen.

My biggest issue w/ this movie, are the people behind it. This feat of 'tricknology', was the brainchild of Maria Bello. According to her, she was writing about 'Women's History'. She wanted to tell a 'Brave Heart' story set in Afrika. What We got, was a fantastical mix of Harriet, Black Panther & Braveheart- all rolled into one. It was written by Dana Stevens, & Directed by Gina Prince- Blythewood (of 'Love & Basketball' fame). Jason Black, of 'The Black Authority' did a dumpster dive into the background of these Women. Both of the Writers are White Women, & the Director is a Bi- Racial Black Woman raised in a non- Black household. The question arises: How can 3 Women w/ NO TIES 2 the Afrikan or Black American Experience actually write & direct such a narrative?

The obvious answer, is w/ Great Casting. 'The Woman King' is a $50M Production. The Cast includes: John Boyega as King Ghezo, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Thuso Mbedu, along w/ Viola Davis, as General Nanisca. NO ONE seems to be critical of the performances; the issue, is Maria Bello's 'narrative' itself. The only acting critique that i've seen, is in regard to Viola playing a teenaged Nanisca. Unlike David Kaluuya's portrayal of Fred Hampton, Viola is credible as an 'Amazon Warrior'. Most of the positive comments that I have read about this movie, are in regard to the performances. Even in the Social Media debates, supporters lean heavily on the Actors. This group has argued that 'The Woman King', is just a Story, why are We getting so worked up over a Movie? It's just entertainment.

Some have made claims that any critique of this movie, is part of a misogynistic agenda to undermine Women in general, & dark skinned Black Women specifically. Again, The Cast has been largely celebrated for their performance. This rhetoric plays into the 'tricknology' behind Maria Bello's Storyline. Ironically, Black Women have been the biggest critics of 'The Woman King'; Black Men are standing w/ their Women, but Black Women are making the most noise. When looking @ this movie through panoramic lenses, a few things come to light:

The blatant attempt to tug @ Black Women's heart strings w/ the story of an Afrikan Woman strong enough to stand up to the 'Dominant Men' of her universe- King Ghezo & the European Slave Traders. Black Women were expected to embrace this 'Historical Tale of Black Girl Magic' the way We embraced 'Black Panther'.

The inaccuracy of this 'narrative'. In it, The Oyo are solely blamed for trading Slaves to The Europeans. The truth is, Dahomey paid tribute to Oyo for the use of Porto Novo, before eventually defeating them. They controlled Porto Novo when the British Navy blockaded the Port to end Slave Trading in the Region.

Dana Bello presents Nanisca in the image of Harriet Tubman. She tries to convince King Ghezo to shift from trading Slaves, to trading Palm Oil; & later fights to liberate Slaves. There is no substantiation of this, but even if this is true, the narrative ignores the fact that Dahomey kept a large Slave population for their Palm Oil production & other industries. They were a Slave Economy.

Why this character? There is this emphasis on a 'Woman King', but isn't that essentially a 'Queen'? Elizabeth 1 & 2, Catherine 'The Great', & Victoria were ALL strong Women on the throne of Power. None were referred to as a 'Woman King'. Instead of focusing on a controversial figure like General Nanisca, why didn't Maria Bello & Dana Stevens look @ other Strong Women in Afrikan History? Hetshepsut was actually a Pharaoh (Shekem)- The ONLY female Pharaoh On Record. Queen Nzinga stymied The Portuguese. Queen Amina led her troops into battle. I understand the feminism behind a story about Amazons, but Nanisca is a flawed character. The Writers had to warp her story in order to tell it.

The ongoing effort by Hollywood to virilize 'Strong' Black Female characters. Wonder Woman, & now Nubia are how Amazons are classically depicted. General Nanisca doesn't fit this model. She falls into the societal perception of Serena Williams. No matter how feminine Serena presents herself, Society sees her like a female Mike Tyson- a Pit Bull in a dress. Maybe it's a Western view, but Black Women can be Strong, Powerful, Nurturing, AND [Very] Feminine. The Writer that puts those traits into a Black character will achieve that coveted 'Black Panther' reaction.

The pushback over 'The Woman King' has legitimacy. Black Filmmakers should be the ones telling Our Story. If Non Black/ Afrikan people desire telling ANY PART of Our History, a (collectively respected) Black Historian should be required to critique their screenplay. The pushback shouldn't stop w/ the Writer(s), Producers, or Director. The Cast Members should also be held to some account. Lupita Nyong'o was approached to do this Movie back in 2018, but backed out of the Project, after doing a documentary on The Agojie Warriors for The Smithsonian Channel. It's rumored that Lupita cried when she learned what Agojie Warriors did to The Yoruba. Viola Davis et al could've done their research.

As a Community, We have begun to question those who speak for Us. That should also be expanded to include those who represent Us in Sports & Entertainment. The current debate surrounding HipHop Music & Culture has some people saying that We need a vetting process. Entertainers that don't represent Us w/ respect & dignity shouldn't be supported. In the case of 'The Woman King', it shows a trend regarding the roles that Viola Davis chooses. I personally think that she is a powerful Character Actress. Viola Davis brings an intensity that few can match. She is the Cecily Tyson of Generation X. I put her on the same level as Cate Blanchett & Meryl Streep. That said, I must admit that I have struggled w/ some of Viola's roles.

I muddled through 'The Help', but 'How to get away with Murder' & 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' confused me. What were these characters trying to get across? How are these roles helping to frame a positive Black perspective in Society? I find myself asking the same question in regard to General Nanisca. How does THIS depiction help the global perception of Black/ Afrikan Women? I don't mean to dump on Viola Davis, but she's The Star of this lie. John Boyega has shown that like David Kaluuya, he's an 'Actor who just happens to be Black'. Viola acts like Sistah Gurl when she does interviews, so I think that she has some explaining to do.

Why would she play a role that would move Black Americans, West Indians, & Afro Latinos to cheer for the people that enslaved & delivered Us to European Slave Traders? THIS is the essence of 'Tricknology'. Meanwhile, Agojie Warrior Holloween Costumes are already being advertised to Our children.

-Black Girl Magic indeed.

#BoycottWomanKing #TellOurOwnStory #B1 #Tricknology #SubliminalWarfare #CAIDS

[loumands]

Some oscar nom thoughts:

1. I was 80% right with my predictions yesterday yay!

2. Everywhere Everywhere All At Once, Triangle of Sadness and All Quiet on the Western Front overperfomed and got almost all nominations they realistically could. Every major actor in EEAAO got in and seems like the Academy likes it more than expected. There were suspicions that it would be too weird for old conservative leaning members, but right now its chances of winning Best Picture look good

3. Babylon and Top Gun Maverick underperformed somewhat. Movies that were completely shut out include She Said, Decision to Leave and Nope (horror curse strikes again)

4. After two back-to-back years with a female filmmaker winning Best Director we have an all-male director category again

5. Paul Dano was this year’s Caitriona Balfe, pushed aside over a veteran actor in a small role

6. Things that made me happy: Brian Tyree Henry in Supporting. Paul Mescal and Stephanie Hsu getting in. The Batman in Sound and Makeup and hairstyling. Puss in Boots! Mitski an oscar nominee!

7. Things that made me angry: Whatever the fuck happened in the lead actress category. I will never again want to hear that oscars aren’t racist, especially against black people. Danielle Deadwyler and Viola Davis both gave phenomenal performances and were considered locks, and their spots went to Andrea Riseborough’s weird industy plant act and Ana de Armas’ poor wide-eyed imitation in an atrocious movie

8. Andrea Riseborough’s last-minute manufactured blitzkrieg oscar campaign actually working completely changes the game going forward. Turns out you don’t need to do careful year old award campaigns; you can just call your industry friends 2 weeks before the nominations and tell them to praise you on social media with copypasted posts and boom you’re in. We’re probably going to see campaigns like this every year from now on. I actually think it’s kind of hilarious and who says there is one right way to do campaigns (and they always include some level of manufacturing anyways) but it blatantly came at the cost of Danielle Deadwyler losing, Deadwyler being also a fairly unknown actress in a small movie. What is going to happen to people who don’t have connections like Riseborough? I don’t see people helping out black actors like Deadwyler like this

#sorry for being annoying about award shows it will happen again #keanu.txt #awards talk

[heywoodsays]

Actress: The Race to Watch

The nominees are:

Annette Bening — Nyad

Lily Gladstone — Killers of the Flower Moon

Sandra Hüller — Anatomy of a Fall

Carey Mulligan — Maestro

Emma Stone — Poor Things

This year’s best Actress race is the most hotly contested major award. It’s extremely exciting that the lead acting categories have turned out to be such exciting races in the last few years.

This year mirrors so much of what happened last year. The lead contenders split the Golden Globes, with one winning at BAFTA and Critics’ Choice (Stone), the other at SAG (Gladstone). One is a frequent nominee who’s already won an Oscar (Stone), the other a first-time nominee whose win would represent an historic moment for an underrepresented community (Gladstone).

But last year, Michelle Yeoh was the lead actress with more than 95 minutes of screen time (68% of the movie) in the most awarded film of the year. Lily Gladstone’s in 56 minutes (27%) of a movie that hasn’t picked up anything this season other than her awards.

She’s still the frontrunner, but only by a very slim margin as far as I’m concerned. I’m probably at 50.1 for Gladstone, 49.9 for Stone.

While the Academy loves to pat itself on the back for breaking barriers and honoring performers of color, it often falls short, as its largely white voting base often defaults to established white actresses. Think Meryl Streep and Frances McDormand both beating Viola Davis when she was favored to become only the second Black person to win Best Actress. Think Andrea Riseborough’s nomination over Danielle Deadwyler for last year’s Till.

There’s perhaps an outside chance that Gladstone and Stone could split votes, leaving a pathway for my personal choice — Sandra Hüller, who, despite being selected by the National Society of Film Critics over both Gladstone and Stone, hasn’t collected any other major hardware.

And while I admired the performances of Bening and Mulligan, they’re likely to extend their Oscar losing streaks to five and three, respectively.

Who will win: Lily Gladstone — Killers of the Flower Moon

But look out for: Emma Stone — Poor Things

Who I’d vote for: Sandra Hüller — Anatomy of a Fall

If I could add one more: Greta Lee — Past Lives

◄ Previous: Best Actor | Next: Best Director ►

2024 OSCAR PICKS | FEATURES AND SHORTS: International Feature | Animated Feature | Documentary Feature | Live Action Short | Animated Short | Documentary Short | TRADE CRAFTS: Cinematography | Film Editing | Production Design | Costume Design | Makeup and Hairstyling | Sound | Visual Effects | Original Score | Original Song | TOP CATEGORIES: Original Screenplay | Adapted Screenplay | Supporting Actor | Supporting Actress | Actor | Actress | Director | Picture | TOP 10 FILMS OF 2023

#movies #Oscar picks #Oscars 2024 #best actress #Lily Gladstone #Emma Stone #Annette Bening #Sandra Hüller #Carey Mulligan #Killers of the Flower Moon #Poor Things #Nyad #Anatomy of a Fall #Maestro #Greta Lee #Past Lives

[kameshwar]

Finished reading this book. An autobiographical account of an black woman who got successful in the field of theatres, films and TV shows in the US.

The kind of pains and trauma the poor black girl suffered from about 40-50 years ago remind me of the ordeals people like me from countryside had to suffer some 30-40 years ago in India.

The kind of social life and family life these people have in the US make me thank my luck for being born in India. The familial ties are weak and fragile there.

The support systems are limited. Same is the case now in India as well. Still, there is some decency in the system.

Viola Davis , born in a poor family, chases her dreams despite the hardships. She grew in a condition where she had no access to proper food, clothes and shelter. She could attend a government school and complete her college education on scholarship and loan.

She saw violence in the family. She and her siblings suffered from racial discrimination, sexual abuses, hunger, insults and scarcity all through their childhood.

Viola tells her story and in the process she tried to discover her own self. That is why she has titled the book FINDING ME.

It was a good read overall. For the sake of changing the flavor, it is good that you pick up a memoir/autobiography sometimes. You must not read loaded books on religion, spirituality and philosophy all the time. You must pick up a novel or a memoir or a biography in between.

#reading #books #writing

[diosa-loba]

.. and at the end of the day, women will still hate women.

because beyonce is dumb irl, a terrible songwriter who has a good body and is only successful bc she's light skin n practices dark witchcraft and she's really nothing compared to not aging well rihanna, that abused victim that went back to her abuser, but who is now a baby mama who settled for a broke, colorist ASAP Rocky, but taylor swift is a closet lesbian who always plays victim and a bitter nothing who clearly hates other girls. and megan thee stallion is an alcoholic hoe who only knows how to twerk to make up for her is trash rapping and she deserved to be shot. and that's exactly why cardi b sucks cos she has a terrible bbl and had to change her whole face to be pretty, but doja cat is a self hating racist who's rude to her fans and is only hot when she's thicc and wears lopsided wigs. zendaya is only considered pretty and a successful actor cos she's biracial just like h.e.r and tyla who are just industry plants with boring, forgettable music. don't forget about lori harvey the nepo baby who only is seen as arm candy to famous men because they need the pr .. also cringy singer j.lo and her attention starved pap calls, poor ben affleck, looks so trapped and miserable in a marriage with such a horrible woman, unlike that terrible dancer mariah carey, who has no sex appeal and is a fat, stuck up hater who thinks she's better than everyone .. oh she's only black when it's convenient to the black community. and like, there must be something wrong with halle berry if she can't keep a man, she got a nose job and she's really not the first black woman to be awarded academy award for best actress bc she's only half black, but viola davis is not considered beautiful enough bc she's dark skinned. but naomi campbell, ryan destiny and justine skye are all beautiful dark skinned women even though naomi is a super bitch with a white child and ryan and justine are nobodies so they can't represent black women. oh and lana del rey was hot until she was big and she made trailerpark sexy until her ass got a little too fat. and ariana grande .. black fishing to asian fishing, culture vulture homewrecker who clearly needs therapy and a sandwich, and kylie and khloe the ugly forever a baby mama pathetic, desperate sisters, but kim k, the scared to age porn whore who f'd up her face n body and is more boring than watching paint dry.

and amidst all of this, we still don't know these women. we cannot fathom the pain of having a public divorce, one where people choose sides and hurl insults at you until the battery on their phone dies. we don't watch them chase after sweet-cheeked children in tucked-away backyards or play board games, have glasses of wine or cups of tea and dance around with their best friends while their belly's ache in laughter. we don't know their marriages or relationships .. and we don't know their pains, traumas, insecurities or solitudes. we don't watch them unravel themselves, time and time again, preparing for the battle that we have made of their lives. they can never make a mistake. they can never cry. they can never be who they believe themselves to be.

and we take all of this and we go to work, we go grocery shopping, we walk in sunlight, we sit under the moon, we watch our favorite series and read our books.

so i close the gossip app. i try not to think about the endless women debating, arguing and insulting about how much they hate this age woman, that age woman, that skin color, this skin color, her body, that body, her hair, her face, her relationship, that side chick, that wife, that singer, that model, that actress, that famous man's woman. i try not to think about how much they would hate me if they knew me. and i think about how most of these women are probably quite lovely irl and their online personas are not who they really are .. they have insecurities the same as me and every woman i've known irl. yeah some of them may be just be haters, jealous and bitter, but most women just need to feel better about their shadows, if "such n such" public eye persona has "this fault". sometimes i join these debates, sometimes i defend, sometimes i post a funny gif, sometimes i've shared my experiences or things i've learned, but most times i'm silently lurking and keep my opinions to myself lol some of them women are unnecessarily brutal bullies.

then i come to tumblr 🖤 .. where it's cozy 🔥🌻

#all the first paragraph is what i have actually seen on such gossip site(s)

[kevrocksicehouse]

I have a confession. But first I want to emphasize that none of us is perfect, y’all without sin etc. Everybody has some secret shame that if exposed should be penalized with nothing more stringent than forgiveness. Except this. This is worse. Okay here goes (deep breath):

I DON’T THINK THERE WERE ANY OSCAR SNUBS.

Nope. Not even Barbie. Despite Greta Gerwig’s masterful shepherding of what is so far Mattel’s greatest movie, if Zone of Interest (which I haven’t seen yet) is a dog, I’ll give Jonathan Glazer’s place to May/December’s Todd Haynes. Ditto for Robie who was almost perfect (But what’s up with her still using the Harley Quinn accent?). If Nyad isn’t up to snuff I’ll just slide in Past Lives’ Greta Lee.

It was that kind of year. Lots of good movies and for a change most of them got at least some kind of Oscar nod. But. There were those orphans and also-rans that came up all the way short. No nominations. Let’s honor them, okay?

In other words, it’s time for KEVROC’S ANNUAL BEST MOVIES THAT DIDN’T GET EVEN ONE LOUSY NOMINATION list!

Asteroid City. Wes Anderson had a short-lived Oscar vogue in the last decade with  Best Picture nominations for Moonrise Kingdom in 2013 and  Grand Budapest Hotel in 2014, but this year the consensus was that this deadpan dramatization of the tension between postwar optimism and post-nuclear domination which defined the latter half of The American Century was just a collection of the director’s tropes instead of a humanist masterpiece. It should have been nominated if for no other reason than to give a push to “Dear Alien (Who Art in Heaven)” for the Best Song award it deserves. (But hey, Wes got a Best Live Action Short nod for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar).

A Good Person. Zach Braff’s directorial rep as the King of Emo, not to mention an early release date kept Oscar voters from this story of two addicts struggling not to relapse in the face of their lives’ biggest tragedy, that gave Morgan Freeman his best role in years and reaffirmed Florence Pugh’s status as the best actor of this decade.

All of Us Strangers. A simple dreamlike plot (a depressed gay man meets his soulmate, and simultaneously gets to see his long-dead parents) becomes a soul-wrenching mystical reverie brought to life by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell as the parents, Paul Mescal as the troubled soulmate and Andrew Scott, who gives a performance so exposed and vulnerable that if it went any further he’d literally shed his skin.

Monica. A trans woman (Trace Lysette) reconnects with her family and is taken for a nurse by her demented, homophobic mother (Patricia Clarkson). It sounds like Joan Crawford doing an Almodovar film but director Andrea Pallaoro goes for subtlety and nuance over camp drama in this quiet gem. Lysette should have been talked about more.

Air. This crazy-entertaining celebration of the marketing synergy of Michael Jordan and Nike got Oscar-overlooked because a whole movie devoted to a celebrity spokesperson deal is maybe just a little too on-the-nose. But it had great work by Chris Messina, Jason Bateman, a Macchiavellian Viola Davis and especially Matt Damon who might be too good an actor to ever win an Oscar for it.

Passages. Ira Sachs examination of why-good-people-love-irredeemable-pricks is a high point in the careers of Adele Exarchoupoulos and Ben Wishaw but was a breakout star vehicle for Franz Rogowski playing the kind of prick who has a one-night stand and is so smitten he can’t wait to tell his husband all about it.

Blue Beetle. You know the superhero movie is in trouble when this crackerjack film about a reluctant Latino champion of his family and community (and whose sidekicks include a Zapatista-veteran grandmother) could only find a fraction of the audience it deserved.  And the line “Now is when we cry” made me cry.

Strays. All apologies to Poor Things and American Fiction, but this profane and scatological tribute to couch-humping, trash-eating dogshit producing (and eating) canis lupus familiaris was the funniest movie of the year.

Bottoms. Even beating out this gloriously tasteless and bracingly absurdist tale of high school lesbians who start a fight club to meet chicks that would win the Jean Hersholt humanitarian award if they renamed it for John Waters.

Taylor Swift: The Eras tour. The Academy’s prejudice against performance films is understandable. Certainly the struggle against dictators in Uganda and Invaders in the Ukraine are more important than a superstar juggernaut’s latest step on her way to world domination. But I’m not the only one who became convinced that the juggernaut was a real (and major) artist. And flashing on the closeups of random fans experiencing pure ecstasy was as moving as anything I saw this year.

#kevrock #reccomends #oscar #for your consideration