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pastel-peach-writes · 5 months

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Hiiii! I really loved your jealous Korra fic so i wanted to request one of my own. Im a sucker for enemies to lovers or rivals to lover so i was hoping you could do one for Korra? Could be that the reader is in an opposing pro bender team and they’re soon to vs the fire ferrets?

OOOO YES.

Fire Comes From Within | Korra x Reader

╰┈➤ PLOT: The rivalry between you and Korra should be recorded in history books. It started when she suddenly became one of the fire ferrets, then revealed herself to be the Avatar. It wasn't fair. You spent your whole life training to be a probender and now the Avatar was taking your rightfully owned space on the Fire Ferrets. With your match against the Fire Ferrets approaching, your team members and other probenders thought it would be nice to have a gathering before the big match.

╰┈➤ WARNINGS: Rivals to Lovers, Cursing, Not Proofread, No Use of Y/n, Two Parter, 3,000+ Words

PART TWO

⍣ ೋ Enjoy!⍣ ೋ

Nectar juice slid down your throat and slipped into your veins. The humid air underneath the party tent was sticky and smelt of cheap plastic.

There were many people around you, most conversing with themselves and your teammates. You sat at your table accompanied by dirty metal and porcelain dishes from dinner.

It was apparent you didn't want to be here. Why would you?

You didn't have friends on any other teams besides your own, you had to wake up early for training tomorrow, and the girl who took your spot on your dream team would soon arrive with her stupid smile and beautiful deep skin.

Tonight was the night of torture. Why couldn't anyone else see that?

"Hey, Lightning," an old colleague, Kei, greeted as she sat beside you. Kei used to be on the team you're currently on, The Element Mixers, but she was offered a spot on an international team. She obviously couldn't refuse. The pay was a lot better than what she had and the benefits were outstanding. "Whatcha doin' all alone? You know the party's over there, right?" she nodded her head towards the cluster of people. She laughed.

You shrugged as you swirled the nectar in your cup. "Yeah, so? I have no business being over there."

"Why's that?" she frowned, squaring her body towards yours. "You still feel like you don't belong?"

"No, I feel like I belong now," you sighed. You picked at the skin on your nails. The sweat on your palm combined with the condensation on the metal cup was making your drink slip out of your hands. "There's just someone here who I don't want to see."

Kei's frown deepened. She looked around the room, trying to find someone who would be unworthy of your love and greatness. There were some grungy people, but they were nice on the inside, so they were somewhat worthy of your love. Everyone else was colleagues Kei saw you with or your teammates. "Well, you mind telling me who?"

You threw back your drink, the nectar momentarily solving the itch in your throat. You haven't told anyone about your animosity towards Korra. How could you? She's the Avatar, a beloved icon for centuries, and you were hating her for selfish reasons. You don't even know her. You just know you don't like her.

"Someone from the Fire Ferrets," you confessed.

"Oh!" laughed Kei. "Well, luckily for you, the Fire Ferrets aren't even here."

"What?!" you exclaimed. In a normal setting, your volume would've caused others to turn heads, but with the loud chatter and music, no one batted an eye.

"Yeah," Kei laughed once more, "the Fire Ferrets were unable to some because of some arrangement the Avatar had prior, so they decided not to come altogether. I think Bolin said they were going to do something small by themselves."

You scoffed. Of course, you waste all your party energy on someone who's not even here. You could've enjoyed this party. You could've been the life of the party yet you decided to sulk and be angry. Why didn't your teammates tell you? How did Kei know?...

You glanced at Kei with a raised brow. At the sight of her colored cheeks, you had your answer. She had a little crush on Bolin. She probably got his number back when she was on The Element Mixers and never stopped talking to him since. You made a mental note to tease her about that later.

Right now, you had a party to leave and moves to train. Saying your goodbyes to Kei, you found your teammates and informed them of your updated plan.

They should be surprised that you wanted to leave the party early, but they're not. You loved to train super hard before a big tournament and knowing that you may be going against the Fire Ferrets, a team you have some weird stuff against, they should've seen your early dismissal coming.

"Just don't overwork yourself, okay?" your team leader, Guo, prefaced.

You waved him off with a huge smile on your face. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Pumped from last night's training and the amazing breakfast you've had with your teammates, you were ready to take on anything. You didn't even care you were fighting against Korra today. You had a few games before you went against her, considering if she even won her games before your match.

With your duffle bag slung over your shoulders, you laughed at a joke a teammate made as you guys walked into the training room. It was protocol to warm up before matches to prevent injuries, but your captain liked to get in early to have the training room to yourselves.

Turned out, the Fire Ferrets captain thinks smiliarly.

The smile wiped off your face when you laid your eyes on Korra's ponytail. The brown skin on her arms flexed as she punched punching bags and grunts came deep from her stomach.

"Of course, they're here early," you mumbled to your team. "It's so like Korra to flex and show off before the big game."

Guo and your other teammate Yi glanced at each other. "Uh," Yi said. "Looks like she's just training to me."

You scoffed, walking into the room and heading to the benches. "Yeah, right." You threw your bag onto the floor. The items inside your bag clattered and clanged against each other. You sat on the bench and shook your head as Korra moved on to her water warm-ups. "Just look at her. She thinks she's all that just because she's the Avatar."

Your teammates reluctantly came to your side. They sat on the bench and changed out of their shoes and into their workout shoes. They really didn't see anything out of the normal from Korra.

She was already practicing before the three of you walked in, so she had no one to show off to unless she wanted to show off to her teammates. But even then, she was so in the zone, your teammates were sure she didn't even notice y'all walking in.

As you approached the training floor, Mako and Bolin cut in front of you with scowls on their faces and their arms crossed over their chest. Mako looked scarier with his thin eyebrows and scrunched-up face while Bolin looked like an angry teddy bear.

You totally understood why Kei had a crush on him. He was totally her type.

"Can I help you?" you sneered.

"We heard you have some altercations with Korra," Mako spoke. "We wanted to make it clear that we would have none of that. Your personal business stays outside of the ring and disappears the moment you set foot into the arena."

You scoffed, pushing past Mako. "What Korra and I have is none of your business. You're not my captain, Hothead. I don't have to listen to you."

"Well, can you?" you swore you heard Bolin whine. "I can't stand the animosity on the court. Do you remember that one time Korra fought that guy and he almost lost his life? I don't want that to happen to you." Bolin eyed his brother. "Or us."

You let out one loud laugh. The laugh echoed throughout the room causing your team and Korra to pay attention to the conversation you were having.

"You think she's strong enough to make me cower during the match?" Okay, that came out douchey-er than you want to, but it's too late now. "Please. Just because she's the Avatar doesn't mean she's one of the greats in Probending. Just means she has an unfair advantage."

"Hey," Korra's voice boomed from a few feet away. "It's a well-known fact that I only use water bending to compete. Anyone would know that if they actually paid attention to the games."

"Sorry," you feigned a pout. "But I don't care about your games. I focus on what I have to bring to the table and improve my moves from there."

"So, you don't study your opponents?" Bolin questioned. With a slight smirk, Mako winced.

"That's not exactly the best tactic, Mixer."

You grumbled. Of course, you studied your opponents' moves. It was stupid not to know what you go up against. You were just trying to prove to Korra that you didn't care about her.

"Yeah," Korra chimed. She walked up to you, her arms crossed over her chest. Now, it was your teammates' turn to stand behind you like guard dogs. Mako and Bolin copied their stands but stood behind Korra. "That's not the best tactic and everyone knows you're obsessed with me. You don't have to lie to look tough."

You crossed your arms, squaring your shoulders to have a wider frame. "I'm not lying and I always look tough. I simply don't care about you so why would I study your moves?"

"To win," Korra snickered. "But it's fine. If you didn't study my moves, that means it'll be an easy fight because I've studied all yours." Korra stepped closer to you. You matched her move. "I know all your tricks."

"I highly doubt that," you whispered with narrowed eyes.

You tried with all your might to intimidate Korra, but every move you made triggered some sort of amusement in her. You could see it in her eyes, how they lit up when you tried to act tough; the corner of her lips would upturn into a smirk.

"I don't understand why you don't like me, Mixer," Korra took your lead in whispering the rest of your conversation. "I haven't done anything to you and we barely go against each other."

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out," you spat.

A satisfied hum came from Korra's lips. She leaned closer to your face, scanning your facial expressions and features. As she continued to gaze at you and you returned her gaze, your teammates stepped closer.

Mako and Bolin did the same, their eyes burning into your teammates.

Finally, after a slow and painful moment that felt like minutes, she pulled away. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. I'll see you in the arena, Mixer. Be sure to keep the crowd riled up for me. I can't wait to hear their cheers while I kick your butt."

With a laugh, she turned on her heels and resumed her training.

You let out an exasperated groan, turning your back to her and throwing your arms in the air. "I just can't stand her! She's so annoying and cocky. Like, who does she think she is?"

"The Avatar?" Yi spoke. She earned a glare from you, but she ignored it.

"Come on, Lightning, she was only like that because you started talking smack about her first," Guo attempted to rationalize with a hand on your shoulder.

You shrugged him off, another scoff leaving your mouth. "You don't get it. No one gets it. I'm going to beat her scrawny self–"

"–Scrawny?" Yi interrupted. Both you and Guo glared. She scoffed, putting her hands up in the air. "Come on, look at her! No one with thighs like hers and arms like hers is ever considered scrawny. You're insane."

The game against the Fire Ferrets was anything but easy. The matches before them went by like a breeze. No player was ready to feel the fire of your fury.

However, with the Fire Ferrets, you could barely make hits. The three of them were basically unstoppable. Maybe your conversation with them earlier riled them up more than you meant to. Rookie mistake.

Unluckily for the Ferrets, your team was just as fired up. Yeah, your team wasn't making any hits, but neither were they. There was a thick tension in the arena, even the announcers picked up on it.

"Oh, and another miss from the Fire Ferrets!" one of the announcers claimed. "I would hate to be you if you were missing this fight! While none of the teams are landing hits on one another, their determination is through the roof! It really keeps you on the edge of your seat."

"I really wish they would shut up," you told Yi as the two of you covered each other. Guo was too busy taking care of Mako to talk.

"Yeah, but hey, they're kinda entertaining."

An earth disk flew from the opposite side and made aim toward Yi's head. She dodged, Bolin exclaiming a sorry from the opposite of the court and then earning a scolding from Mako.

Guo took the opportunity to send a blast of water his way, causing the 6-foot something to fall onto his back and slide into the second ring.

You cheered Guo on. Finally, some minutes into the match, there was some action.

Since then, the action seemed to skyrocket. Hits upon hits kept flying by and landing on each target. Guo and Yi seemed to flip-flop between Mako and Bolin, but you had your eye on Korra and Korra only.

There would be an occasional blast of fire from Mako or some earth sent your way from Bolin, but you would send a string of earth discs their way to tell them to back off.

You wished you kept your mouth shut this morning. You've never seen such impressive teamwork from the Fire Ferrets. While your teammates were strong, Mako and Bolin were significantly stronger. Yi and Guo were out faster than the Flash.

No wonder you didn't make the Fire Ferrets. You weren't fit for them.

You spend half of your pro-bending career convincing yourself otherwise, but now, in the middle of a match, your reality was dawning on you and chipping at your heart until it broke and shattered into a million pieces on the arena floor.

You weren't fast enough, good enough. You didn't have the strength or dexterity as the Avatar. You hated to admit that, but you didn't. No amount of training will let you be as good as her and it was eating you alive.

Halfway through the second round, the Fire Ferrets won the first, your muscles ached. You were giving your all to Korra, letting your teammates pick up the slack against Bolin and Mako yet again.

Much like the first round, Yi and Guo were out within minutes. Now, unlike the first round, it was 3v1. At least in the first, you and Guo had wilted Mako down before Guo fell off and forced Mako to go with him.

Mako's fireballs and blasts caused you to sweat and your uniform to chafe as you kicked and flipped to avoid Bolin's and Korra's attacks. Your chest heaved, your breaths wheezy and coarse as you tried to defend yourself.

You could hear your teammates' cheers and Kei's encouraging words in your head. But no matter how cheerful their words were or how loud the crowd cheered for you to conquer, you couldn't do it.

This was your toughest fight thus far.

Your arms felt like falling off your shoulders and your legs were so heavy, you weren't sure if you could pick them up to walk.

A water whip to your gut pushed you into the second level. With the loud buzzer of a timeout, the Fire Ferrets cheered. They gathered around themselves, hugging and squeezing as if they won the match.

You scowled at the sight. Something inside your stomach quesed and churned. Heat spread throughout your chest while your teeth ground.

"You're okay!" Guo shouted. "Keep going! You got this!"

His words fell upon deaf ears.

The end was near and you had wished his optimism would die short in a fire. Could he just be real for a couple seconds? Would it kill him to tell you that you sucked and everything you've ever said and trained for would be for nothing?

Your eyes stung as you regathered yourself. You weren't sure if your eyes were stinging from tears or sweat, but that didn't matter now. You had a new game plan in your mind. First thing first, send Mako back. The closer his fire, the hotter it is. If you could send him to the second level, you would have some sort of relief.

The second part of your plan was to send Bolin back as well. Earth vs Earth was easy for you to figure out and Bolin excelled in short-distance combat. Sending him back would either tire him out or eliminate him altogether. You didn't care which one would happen first.

To handle Mako, you sent a few boulders his way along with pebbles to annoy. Mako did find the pebbles annoying, as predicted, and ended up in the second level.

You had a similar tactic for Bolin but didn't focus your earth elements to hit him but instead to push him back further and further to the second level line.

"Oh! And this is unexpected, but the single Elemental Mixer is taking on the Fire Ferrets alone!" the announcer from earlier well, announced. "The Fire Ferrets have to be the team to beat this year with the help of the Avatar and her training tactics."

You groaned, dodging blasts from the three of them still. "She is not all that cracked up she's made to be!" You sent slabs of earth towards Korra's direction. She used a thick string of water to slice the slab in half.

Why weren't you born a waterbender? She cut your slab so effortlessly, it was as annoying as it was impressive.

"Aw, whining about me again, little Mixer?" Korra taunted as she sent more water your way. It hit your shoulder and the liquid absorbed into your uniform, but the force wasn't strong enough to knock you into the third level.

"Shut up, Korra." You used pieces of rocks and slabs to make your own shield from the three's attacks. You were borderline fatigued. Even if your moves slowed Bolin and Mako down, Korra was still in the first line beating you up.

"I'm not sure if I want to." Korra used her water to wipe away your makeshift shield. Mako and Bolin went right back to throwing attacks.

They were getting tired too, their attacks were getting sloppy and barely hit you anymore.

"What happened to showing me up and winning?" Korra taunted. She sent a gush of water to your stomach, but you created a rock to take the hit. The water disbursed from either side of the rock and fell into the water below.

You threw the rock up then gave it a sidekick. The rock's pieces flew toward Mako and Bolin, but Mako used his fire to dissolve the pieces into ash. "You're not my priority right now," you told Korra.

"Oh, that's a shame because you're mine." Even behind her helmet, you could see her fake pout.

"Look, Korra, I'm not in the mood."

"Awh," Korra sent water ropes around your ankles. She flipped them, causing your ankles to cross in front of each other and send your stomach first onto the floor. "Because you were earlier. What happened? Got a change of heart?"

You really missed the days when your rivalry was one-sided. "Don't get on the Avatar's bad side". That was everyone's motto and warning to live by.

Why did you have to talk smack about her? Why didn't you have to challenge her and talk as if you were on the same skill level as her? You weren't. That was painstakingly clear now.

You couldn't even hear your teammates in the stands anymore. Was this how hopeless you were? You were acting so badly that your team lost hope? Or maybe they were so into the game that they forgot cheering was a part of the atmosphere. Whichever it was, it didn't matter anymore.

Your body was ripping at you, screaming at you to give up and you were going to listen to it.

Not bothering to get up from the floor, you send earth discs to their ankles. They hopped and scrambled over the discs. Your move caused Bolin to put himself in the third ring, but other than that, no one else budged.

As soon as you pulled yourself off the floor, Mako sent a blast of fire to your chest. You jumped back, putting you in the third ring and then finally to finish it off, Korra sent a strong gust of water to send you dropping into the water below.

You couldn't hear anything on your way down. When the cold water hit your hot body, it was like steam fled off your skin. It was over. The hard part was over and you didn't want to see or face anyone right now.

You stayed under the water as long as you could without worrying someone. Swimming to the surface, you could barely see Korra's ponytail bouncing up and down while she hugged her teammates.

Defeated, angry, and somber, you swam to the edge and went to the locker rooms to change.

By the time you showered and changed, all the sadness and defeat were replaced with annoyance and yet again, anger. You should've been the one to jump around with Mako and Bolin, celebrating your success in the finals.

You should be the one joking around with Bolin while Mako scolded the two of you for not paying attention.

Hanging out with them, training with them, and getting to know them was your dream and Korra had to swoop in and ruin it. She had to ruin everything.

Your feelings towards her were a mild dislike, but now, you hated her.

You, Lightning of the Elemental Mixers, hated the Avatar and wanted her to know it.

Part Two | WC: 3,612

#pastel-peach-writes #gender-neutral terms #pastel peach writes #gender neutral terms #lok x reader #lok fanfic #lok #avatar korra #the legend of korra #korra #legend of korra #korra x y/n #korra headcanons #korra fanfic #korra x you #korra x reader #tlok korra #avatar: tlok #tlok fanfic

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derekklenadaily · 6 months

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The New York Pops: 21st Century Broadway at Carnegie Hall Review

Last Friday night, I attended The New York Pops' performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City. When arriving into the building, you can sense how incredible iconic this building is, especially it was built in 1891 and it is now 132 years old. A six level tier of gold rimmed balconies enclosed the rotunda of the theatre with a beautiful glass chandelier shining above the red velvet seats below. Before the show started, we as audience heard the orchestra in their best clothing, warming up with their instruments, playing several notes from variety songs that was going to be performed. Then the music director Steven Reineke arrived to the stage, leading the orchestra to play the overture from Mel Brooks' "The Producers" the Musical. The orchestra and Steve delivered an outstanding performance that left us audience feeling extremely excited for the next two and a half hours.

After finishing a song, Steven welcomed us and introduced the next performer, Hailey Kilgore. Hailey is a Tony-nominated actress known for her role in 'Once On This Island'. She began her performance with a beautiful rendition of "All that Matters" from the musical 'Finding Neverland'. She then delighted the audience with a fun and energetic performance of "Fabulous, Baby!" from 'Sister Act' the Musical. Next, Javier Munoz (Lin Manuel Miranda's in 'Hamilton' and 'In the Heights'), joined the stage with Hailey. The duo performed a lovely rendition of "When the Sun Goes Down" from the musical 'In The Heights', showcasing their harmonious voices blending together. Before Javier sang "Proud of Your Boy" from Disney's 'Aladdin', he explained that the song holds meaning for parents and anyone with children. Next he finishes his singing segment of his performance with a heartfelt rendition of "Love Who You Love" by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty from the musical 'A Man of No Importance'.

Derek looked sharp in his blue tuxedo as he took the stage. His first song, "My Petersburg" from the iconic creative team of 'Anastasia', Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and Terrence McNally. It was absolutely glorious to listen to and watch, as he transformed into the beloved character Dmitry right before our eyes. He followed it up with a jaw-dropping and heart-wrenching rendition of "Perfect" from Alanis Morrisette and Glen Ballard's 'Jagged Little Pill'. He portrayed the character Nick Healy who is faced pressure with of his parents pushing him to be successful in academic and sports. Despite the show's short run due to the Covid pandemic, Derek's performance rightfully earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in 2021.

Tony Award Winner from 'Oklahoma', Ali Stroker joins Derek on stage, and they sang "You Matter to Me" from 'Waitress'. I really would love to see her and Derek together in another show on Broadway at some point in their career, their chemistry was so adorable for words. And I absolutely loved Ali's mind-blowing performances of "A Summer in Ohio" from Jason Robert Brown's "The Last Five Years" and Justin Paul and Benj Pasek's "Waving Through The Window" from 'Dear Evan Hansen". I couldn't believe how insane of her breath control she had while sitting in the wheelchair, and singing so ever effortlessly and so incredibly beautifully! My goodness! No wonder why she won a Tony Award. After her piece, the show paused for a fifteen minute intermission.

Once we came back from the intermission, the orchestra began to play the lively tune of the overture from 'Curtains' the Musical. After that, the four performers returned to the stage and sang a gorgeous rendition of "Purple Summer" from 'Spring Awakening'. Then it was Javier's turn to sing "Hurricane" from one of the most known shows on Broadway, 'Hamilton'. Once after he was finished, Derek joined him onstage - singing "Dear Theodosia" from Hamilton. It was so captivating and meaningful, especially now Derek has a little boy. Before Derek sang “Goodbye” from 'Catch Me If You Can', he told us the story where he saw a boot of Aaron Tveit in 'Catch Me If You Can' during its out-of-town run in Seattle, so Derek and his piano accompanist made an arrangement for his concert in Los Angeles. Marc Shaiman heard him singing this song via a Google alert and asked Derek to send a recording for as Aaron’s standby before coming to Broadway through a facebook message. With him alone singing solo pieces from each show, definitely made me wish that he would return to Broadway soon. Even though, he spent nearly 14 months on Broadway for his time as Christian in 'Moulin Rouge' (including his brief hiatus), the months went by so fast though! But I know most of us Derek fans and Broadway fans are waiting patiently now, it will be worth it once he returns with the show that is completely in his own creation, like 'Anastasia' and 'Jagged Little Pill' for example rather than replacing someone else in the show.

For Ali's final solo piece, she sang a hilarious song called "Diva's Lament" from the Broadway show 'Spamalot'. Through her rendition, Ali aimed to provide a sneak peek of what audiences can expect from the song, as well as potentially the entire show, which is scheduled to make its return to Broadway within the month. To commemorate Wicked's 20th anniversary, Ali and Hailey gave a stunning duet of "For Good" from the show. I would love see these duos in 'Wicked' in the future! Hailey gave a outstanding performance of "I'm Here" from 'The Color Purple' that left a lasting impression on the audience, resulting in a five-minute standing ovation. The chorus concert members of Susan E. Wagner High School joined Derek, Ali, Hailey, and Javier for an encore performance of "You Will Be Found" from 'Dear Evan Hansen'. The combination of their young voices blending with the quartet and the orchestra created a truly beautiful and such moving musical experience.

Overall, I really enjoyed the concert so much. It was awesome to go to see The New York Pops' concert, which featured a variety of Broadway songs from the early 2000's to 2023. It was amazing to hear different singers perform throughout the show. I know last year and even this year has been such a whirlwind but he had two amazing years, accomplishing so many goals especially making his debut at the Carnegie Hall. I am truly ecstatic to see where he goes from here with this ongoing journey with his life and career; whether it's a performance at iconic theatre, Broadway, television/films and etc. If you want to see or follow more updates on Derek, you can follow him on instagram - @derek_klena or on twitter: @DerekKlena

And if you want to follow us to keep an update on projects and career, follow us on X [twitter], Blue Sky, tumblr and instagram: @derekklenadaily

Sincerely,

Dani

#derek klena #broadway #ali stroker #javier muñoz #hailey kilgore #steven reineke #performance: 21st century broadway concert at carnegie hall #performances #review #dani**#ours**#carnegie hall

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passionate-reply · 3 years

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This week on Passionate Reply: We all know “Don’t You Want Me,” but the early Human League is a totally different beast, featuring a different line-up, and songs about killer clowns and wanting to be a skyscraper, on their debut LP, 1979′s Reproduction. Transcript below the break!

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums. In this installment, we’ll be investigating one of the most surprising debut LPs around: The Human League’s Reproduction, first released in 1979.

Pretty much anyone with a general understanding of Western pop will already know the name of the Human League, and associate them, rightfully, with their early 80s hits like “Don’t You Want Me.” For many, the Human League were the first genuine synth-pop that they had ever heard, and their work in the 1980s has been immeasurably influential in bringing the notion of electronic pop into the mainstream. But before they were hitmakers and game-changers, the Human League were a very different band.

Music: “Being Boiled”

“Being Boiled” was the first thing the Human League would ever press to wax, way back in 1978. In most respects, this track is everything that “Don’t You Want Me” is not: its pace is languid, its structure is shapeless and meandering, and rather than a simple and relatable love story, its lyrics offer us a strange and opaque condemnation of the tortures endured by silkworms during textile production. While fascinating, and endearing in its own morbid way, “Being Boiled” does not exactly scream “hit record.” The Human League were not only a different band in a stylistic sense, but also with respect to their personnel, driven by a creative core comprised of budding synthesists Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh. Prior to the release of the breakthrough album Dare, Marsh and Ware would abandon the group over creative differences, and go on to form Heaven 17 instead. It was vocalist Phil Oakey, and producer Martin Rushent, who would create the sound that their name is now so strongly associated with, and this early incarnation of the group is probably best thought of as an entirely different entity. This album, Reproduction, was their first full-length release, and is perhaps the best introduction to their pioneering sound.

Music: “Circus of Death”

“Circus of Death” had appeared as the B-side to “Being Boiled,” and was included once more as the second track on *Reproduction.* It has a lot in common with the other track it accompanied: a plodding pace, a dark and obtuse lyrical theme, and a sparse, fully electronic instrumentation. The Human League were among the first British groups to utilize a totally electronic sound, devoid of any traditional instruments besides the voice, though in this underground and more experimental context, it doesn’t present a threat to the status quo of pop the way that Dare would a few years later. Alongside fellow proto-industrial acts associated with "the Sound of Sheffield," like Clock DVA and Cabaret Voltaire, they dwelt on the fringes of good taste, crafting subversive music for subversive people. “Circus of Death” introduces us to a demonic figure called “the Clown,” who controls, and torments, human beings by use of a drug called “Dominion,” in a scenario that sounds a bit like Huxley’s Brave New World. It’s worth remembering that while younger generations are quick to think of clowns as icons of evil and terror, clowns were unironically beloved as bringers of joy for most of the 20th Century, and these early portrayals of clowns as killers were indeed shocking at the time. Preceding “Circus of Death,” and opening the album, is “Almost Medieval,” a track with some similar themes, but a rather different composition.

Music: “Almost Medieval”

While “Circus of Death” is slow and dirgelike, “Almost Medieval” showcases the more aggressive side of *Reproduction.* It opens the album with a starkly simplistic tick-tocking beat, reminiscent of an unaccompanied metronome, before bursting into its punk-like sonic assault--a musical representation of how seemingly predictable and deterministic machines can also create something outrageous and unexpected. The lyrics of this track seem pointed towards the past, with the narrator exclaiming that they “feel so old,” and as if they’ve died many times before. Juxtaposed against the thoroughly modern setting of an airport with tarmacs and jet engines, it might be taken as an expression of the horror a person from the past might feel if they were shown the world of the future, created by capitalism and high technology. While it isn’t very accurate, we have a tendency to think of the “Medieval” world as a barbaric, unclean, and uncivilized era, full of witch hunts, chastity belts, and the deliberate erasure of “ancient wisdom.” “Almost Medieval” turns that idea on its head, suggesting that perhaps our world is the one that’s truly barbaric. The image of its narrator, “falling through a rotting ladder,” can be taken as a rejection of the notion of a “ladder” of progress. Similar themes of open-ended symbolism, and the sorrow of modernity, can be found on “Empire State Human.”

Music: “Empire State Human”

Like “Almost Medieval,” “Empire State Human” is lively and faster-paced, with driving percussion. With its straightforward rhymes and repetitive structure, it readily encourages the listener to sing along, almost as if joining in some sort of ritual chant. It’s an idea that Marsh and Ware would return to in their Heaven 17 days, with tracks like “We Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thang.” “Empire State Human” was the album’s only single, and thanks to this exposure, and its (relative) palatability compared to the rest of their catalogue, it remains one of the best known tracks from the early Human League. “Empire State Human” makes its concept pretty clear, with less ambiguous lyrics and an easy to follow mix that brings Oakey’s voice to the fore: the narrator wishes to become a building, and a mighty skyscraper no less, which might rival the achievements of the Pyramids of the ancient Egyptians. While it is clear that that’s what the song’s about, what we do with this once again high-concept subject matter is up to us. I like to think that this is some kind of perverse commentary on the unnatural and alienating experience of urban living, which may come with the feeling that the concrete and rebar structures that surround us are more significant to our lives than the people who may live or work in them. City life is addressed more directly by the track “Blind Youth.”

Music: “Blind Youth”

“Blind Youth” is probably the most “grounded” track on the album, in terms of its theme, making pointed remarks about “dehumanization” and “high-rise living.” It’s tempting to think of it as a sort of parallel to “Empire State Human,” with a broadly similar musical backdrop, and a more literal expression of the theme hinted at more obliquely by “Empire State Human.” With its focus on the experiences of the titular “youth,” “Blind Youth” can also be contrasted with “Almost Medieval,” whose narrator keens about feeling old. Where “Almost Medieval” deals with the disgust an older person feels at the decrepit state of the human race, “Blind Youth” shows the demented, unthinking joy of the youth, who have grown up in an industrialized and urbanized world, and don’t know different--or better.

While there have been many classic underground albums whose covers aimed to shock and displease polite society, the cover of Reproduction is one of the few that I feel would still be seen as offensive, over 40 years later. It was allegedly the product of a miscommunication between the group and the illustrator commissioned to create it; the band requested a scene in which people are dancing above a ward of babies in glass-topped incubators, and the striking angle, which seems to show people crushing infants underfoot, is an unintentional aspect of the design. Unintentional or not, this crudely violent aspect dominates the final composition, and lends it vileness and immediacy. Like the lyrics of many of the songs, the combination of the cover and title can be interpreted a number of ways. Perhaps it’s a glib commentary on human reproduction as fun and games: we partake in the “dance” of courtship and sexuality, and babies drop beneath our feet. Or perhaps it suggests a contrast between life’s enjoyments, like dancing, and its stressors, like the responsibilities of parenthood. It’s hard not to see so many crying, seemingly distressed infants without becoming upset oneself, and I think the deep instinctual revulsion that this piece inspires is part of why it’s remained so resonant in its subversiveness.

As I mentioned in my introduction, the Human League have gone down in history chiefly for the music they made later, which has largely buried this early period as part of their legacy--at least in the public eye and outside of the dedicated diggings of motivated enthusiasts. If you’re a fan of what you’ve heard from this album, you’ll probably enjoy their 1980 follow-up Travelogue, as well as their EP, Holiday ‘80. Given the emphasis on long-form albums among music aficionados, EPs and their exclusive tracks are quite frequently missed, but Holiday ‘80 is a gem from this short-lived line-up, featuring the fragile “Marianne” as well as a cover of the stadium favourite “Rock ‘N’ Roll,” made famous by Gary Glitter. Thumbing its nose at everything the culture of “rock and roll” stands for, and transposing this hymn to its greatness into an abrasive and sterile lunar landscape of synths, this is one of my favourite covers of all time, and seems to prefigure how a very different Human League would later become the archnemesis of all that rock fans held holy. It was also one of very few tracks to be performed on Top of the Pops, and subsequently see not a rise, but a drop in the singles charts!

Music: “Rock ‘N’ Roll”

My favourite track on Reproduction is one that appears on its second side, unlike the other tracks I’ve talked about so far: “Austerity / Girl One.” Side Two of Reproduction is mainly focused on longer and more narrative-driven tracks, and this is no exception. Like the opener of the second side, “Austerity / Girl One” is a medley, albeit one of two pieces that are original compositions and not covers, as medleys usually are. This track’s story is both timeless and modern, a bit like a contemporary King Lear: the “Austerity” half deals with an aging father, incapable of understanding his children, dying alone and ignored, while the “Girl One” half puts us in the mindset of his daughter, a New Woman whose life is hectic, but also bleak. It’s a story that many of us will relate to, about people who try their best with what they’ve got, but still feel as though they’ve failed in life. Its simple, but effective musical backdrop of wan synth pulses allows the narrative, and Oakey’s evocative portrayal of it, to take center stage. That’s everything for today, thanks for listening.

Music: “Austerity / Girl One”

#music #great albums #album review #album reviews #human league #the human league

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 Review: Still Possesses Turtle Power After All These Years

Cowabunga all you happy people! I freaking love the Teenage Ninja Turtles. I grew up with it from Turtles in Time, which was my first video game, to the 2003 cartoon, which I covered the first three episodes of last month, and on to present day as I re-read the idw comics after finally reading the original eastman and laird run of mirage, and impatiently waiting for Shredder’s Revenge to come out after a LONG drout of no good TMNT games. I”m a fan of these heroes four, their dynamic as a family, the endless possiblities that come from it’s long history and ablitlity to go anywhere in any genre, and the wonderful goofy shit that happens when you have a franchise about mutant turtles learning ninjitsu from a rat and fighting a dude covered in knife covered samurai armor.

So with me finally covering the guys after almost a year last month and with a new movie set to debut at some point this year, I had the bright idea to revisit the FIRST TMNT movie after way too many years of not watching it. This movie is anear and dear to my heart: When I first started getting into the boys big as a kid with the 2003 cartoon, I badly wanted more turtles. But back then it wasn’t nearly as easy to glom onto some more of the sewer shock pizza kings: Streaming sites with all the cartoons on them weren’t all that accesable, dvd’s were expensive for the 87 cartoon, Mirage wasn’t reprinting the comics in any meaningful way and my local comic shop didn’t have any at all and I could only play the SNES when my brother had it set up on occasion like at our Grandma’s farm.

As you probably guessed though there was one exception: the original 1990 movie, which I got at Walmart for 5 bucks and haven’t let go of since. It was one of my first dvds and is still one of my most precious. Said film hit the spot just right as like my beloved 2003 series, it was a mildly goofy but still fucking cool adaptation that stuck closer to the mirage comics, even more than the 2003 series would, while taking a few queues from the 87 series. This film is as precious to me as the 2003 series and a with a brand new movie coming up, I figured it was the exact right time to dig into this classic: what makes it still good to this day, what’s fun to point and laugh at, and how the heck Jim Henson got involved in this. So join me under the cut as I take a look at my boys first theatrical outing and why I still love watching a turtle.

No One Wanted To Make This: Before we get into the film itself some background. As usual I struggled a bit, but thankfully found some help in the form of this Hollywood Reporter article. It’s a fascinating read worth your time, providing an oral history of the film from the people who worked on it.

The film was the baby of Gary Propper, a surfer dude and road manager for the prop comic Gallagher, aka that guy who used to smash watermelons but now has instead opted to smash what little’s left of his career by being a homophobic douchenozzle. He found an ally in Showtime producer Kim Dawson who’d produced Gallagher’s special. I don’t think there will be more of an 80′s sentence than “Gallagher’s surfer dude agent wanted to make a teenage mutant ninja turtles movie”. Propper was a huge fan of the comics, and with Dawson’s help convinced Laird and Eastman to let them option it to studios.

It may come as a shock to you but the road agent for a homophobic watermelon man and a producer at a niche cable channel wanting to make a movie based on an underground comic book about masked turtles at a time when the two most recent comic book movies were Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Howard the Duck, did not go well. Every door in Hollywood got slammed in their face, even Fox> Even the eventual backer of the film, Golden Harvest, a hong kong action film studio, took months to convince to actually back the film.

Things did not get easier from there: The films writer Bobby Herbeck had trouble getting a story agreed on because Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s working relationship had deteroiated horribly from the stress so naturally the two could not agree on a damn thing and argued with each other. Peter Laird made a tense siutation even worse by constnatly sniping at Herbeck and feeling he was a “Hollywood outsider infringing on his vision and characters”

Granted the script was apparently not great... but Pete still comes off as a pretnetious ass who views his weird indie comic as THE HIGHEST OF HIGH CALLINGS HOW DARE YOU SOIL IT. And continued to be kind of a prick like this throughout the rest of his time with the property.

Thankfully the film found i’ts voice, vision and director in Steve Barron. Barron was a music video guy who knew the producers and while reluctant, eventually dove into the project rightfully thinking the film would need to be a mix of the mirage comics and 87 cartoon, keeping aprils’ reporter job, the turtles lvoe of pizza and their iconic color coding from the cartoon but adapting several stories from the comics as the backbone of the film. The guys liked barron MUCH better and things ran smoother.

Barron also brought in one of the film’s biggest selling points and it’s most valuable asset: it’s triumphantly awesome Jim Henson costumes. Barron had worked with good old Jim on the music videos for Labyrinth, and while it took some convincing since the comics were violent as hell and that wasn’t Jim’s style, Barron eventually got him on board. This naturally doubled the budget, but given Henson’s costumes STILL hold up today and look better than the cgi used in the platinum dunes films... it was a good call. And this was brand new tech for jim, having to invent tons of new ideas and mechanisms just to make the things work, and said things still were absolute hell on the actors. Jim later ended up not liking the film for being too violent... which I find hilarious given how many muppets got eaten or blowed up real good on his show but regardless, I thank this legendary and wonderful man as without him this film WOULD NOT have worked. The costumes here look great, feel realistic, and you can’t tell the actors were dubbed much less horribly suffering in those suits. Much like Disney Land.

The film would get picked up for distribution by New Line, and despite i’ts weird as hell origins and the long shot it had.. the film was a MASSIVE hit at the box office, owing to a combination of Batman 89 the previous year having proved comic book movies can work for audiences, the cartoon’s runaway sucess, and a massive marketing campaign. The film made it’s mark. So now we know how we got here let’s get into the film itself.

What’s the Story Morning Glory?:

So the story for this one is largely cobbled together from some of the more notable arcs Eastman and Laird did before handing off the book to others full time as the stress of the company and the mounting tension with each other made it near impossible to work together on the book itself.

To Save time i’m just going through what hte movie takes from the comics plot wise now to save me the trouble later:The movie takes elements from the first issue (The Turtles, Splinter and Shredder’s backstories, Shredder being fully human and the main antagonist, Shredder’s design and the final rooftop showdown that results in Shredder’s death), second and third, (April’s apartment over her dad’s old store and the turtles moving in when their home is ransacked and splinter has gone missing), the rapheal micro series (A tounge in cheek way of cashing in on the Mini-Series craze of the 80s, a one shot by modern standards and something that’s tragically been underused as an idea as only TMNT and MLP have used the idea at IDW, Raph meeting casey and their fight with one another), the return of shredder arc (One of the turtles being ambushed and mobbed by the foot and then thrown though a sky light (Leo in the comic and Raph here), the turtles being horribly outnumbered by them, Casey coming ot the rescue and metting the non-raph turtles for the first time, and them being forced to escape when the place goes up in flames), their exile to northampton (April writing in a journal, casey working on a car with one of the guys and one of hte guys looking over hteir injured brother), and finally, their triumphant return which was very loosely adapted as there are no deformed shredder clones and shredder not being dead yet in this version was not brought back by a colony of super science worms.

So as for how this all comes together: Our story takes place in New York: A crimewave is high with muggings mysterious. There are a ton of phantom thefts going around and at most people have been seeing teens responsibile. And the police.. are at about this level of useful:

The only person doing something is April O’Neil, played by Judith Hoag. Hoag is easily the standout of the film, giving us a strong, confident woman with a wonderful sense of humor. She honestly might be my faviorite April O Neil, and given we’ve had some great ones with 2003, 2012 and Rise, that’s not something I say lightly. I honestly wish I’d recognized her in more stuff as she was both on Nashville and the mom in the Halloween Town films, and most recently was on the ScFy show the magicians. She’s a talented lady and i’m glad she’s still goin.

April is a reporter for Channel 3 like the cartoon, though for some weird reason her boss from the cartoon is replaced by Charles Pennigton, played by Jay Patterson, whose currently dealing with his troubled son Danny, played by Micheal Turney. Pennington is horribly useless at both jobs: At work he tries to ease April off calling out Chief Sterns, who refuses to listen to April’s evidence gathered from japanese immigrants that the crimes resemble similar ones in japan in favor of trying to get charles to shut her up. Danny meanwhile is a member of the foot becase his dad thinks shouting out him and talking about him like he’s not there and generally being a dipstick will actually do anything to help him.

I love the concept for the foot here. In addition to being a Ninja Violence Gang as always, they now recruit new members by finding kids without families or with troubled family lives and giving them a sense of family with the foot, and sweeting the bargin with a giant cave filled with arcade machines, a skate ramp and general late 80′s early 90′s kids goodies. Is it rediculous? Yes. Is it also clever as it gives Shredder an easy army of plausably deniable theives that he can pick the best out of to put in his elite that will be tirelessly loyal to him and him alone? Also yes.

So April being public about this stuff gets her attacked, which naturally leads to our heroes coming in, first in the shadows and later directly when April wont’ give up on the case and Shredder sends some ninjas to go shut her up.. which he does weirdly as the guy jsut slaps her and tells her to cut it out like he’s on a domestically abusive episode of Full House. Raph saves her, and we get the turtles origin.. though weirdly they cut it in half. We get the ooze portion but Splinter’s past with Saki, Saki’s murder of his master and his master’s partern Tang Shen is left for later in the film and the fact Shredder’s saki is treated as a big twist despite the fact the biggest audience for the film would be kids... and kids would’ve been familiar with the cartoon where the giant brain monster routinely screeches out saki at the shredder. Maybe Barron just thought he was an alcoholic I don’t know. It just would’ve made more sense to have it all at once and let the audeince put it together.

April becomes good friends with the turtles over a night of frozen pizza and camradrie, but the Splinters return home to find it ransacked, Splinter kidnapped by the foot, and are forced to Stay with april. Charles meanwhile tries to get April to backoff because he made a deal with the police to clear Danny’s record, without TELLING her any of this mind you, but I will save my rage on that little plot point for in a bit as Danny who he drug along sees the turtles and tells the Shredder.

So we get the return of the shredder arc as Raph goes through a window, our heroes fight valiantly, and Raph’s friend Casey who he met earlier shows up, the two having bonded as all true friends do.. by beating the shit out of each other ending with raph shouting DAMNNNNNNN really big and dramatically into the sky for some reason. The Turtles and friends escape with an injured raph from April’s burning second hand store. She had a second hand store it was poorly established and only there because she had it in the comics.

Our heroes retreat to a farm April’s grandma owned in Northampton, Massachutes, where Mirage was located at the time the original comics where they were exiled to the place were written and a location that has been a staple of the turtles ever since. The turtles slowly recover, lick their wounds, talk about who hooked up with who on gilligans island etc, before Leo connects with Splinter via meditation, who tells them to come back. Splinter also starts to connect with Danny and convinces him to swtich sides.. or at the very least squat in the boys old home.

The boys return home, find danny, and prepare, Danny goes back and ends up giving away the Turtles are home.. but the turtles are ready and in an awesome sequence kick the fuck out of the foot squad sent for them with some well prepared steam vents. Casey goes to get splinter since Danny told them and with Danny’s help, finds him, since Danny found out they were gonna kill him. Casey beats up Tatsu, shredder’s right hand man, and they get him out.

We get our final fight which is awesome up until the climax.. which is splinter casually tripping shredder with nunchucks and thier bloody history being kind of rushed and unsatsifying. Casey crushes shredder with a garbage truck, April gets her job back, more on that in a moment, she and casey hook up, and we end with the fucking awesome song T-U-R-T-L-E Power by partners in cryme. Seriously check it out it’s fucking triumphant.

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The song is just good.. cheesy? Sure but that’s half the fun. It’s the gold standard for movie theme songs for them and stacks up handily with the various animated series themes.. all of which slap. Okay... ALMOST all of which slap. Fast Forwards is aggressively medicore, which is doubly suprising to me since 4kids was REALLY damn good with theme songs. It was one of the three things they were best at along with finding VERY talented voice actors and setting japan based works in america because merica dammit.

The plot is very solid: It skilfully packed half of eastman and laird’s run on TMNT into 90 mintues while adding things like April’s job at channel 9, the way the foot recurited kids etc. The plot flows well for hte most part and apart from one annoying subplot we’ll get to never has a moment that feel unecessary or dosen’t pay off later. And the stellar plot and fun pacing of it helps boilster the characters that do work... and help paper over the ones that are so thin the’yd fall down a grate...

Our Heroes, Villains and Annoying Middle Aged Guys:

Yeahhhh character is hit and miss here. Some are rather strong, others are the bare basics for the character their adapting and most are just to serve the plot but some work some don’t, So let’s talk about it starting with our boys:

Raph is the most fleshed out of the turtles, being the main focus of the first 2/3 of the film, and having his anger be part of what SHOULD be a character arc, learning to temper it. And while granted MOST TMNT properties do this, to the point that Rise Raph is so loveable in part because his boisterous bruiser big bro attitude is a refreshing break from the usual grumpus we get. But at the time this hadn’t been done in every version but the 87 cartoon, so exploring it was valid.. but despite saying this should be a thing htey just forget about it and the most plot relevance he gets is going thorugh a window. He dosen’t really get a resolution.. his arc just kind of stops dead for the final half and it’s one of the film’s weaker points, one I only just now noticed on this rewatch. He’s still the most entertaining.

Leo is the weakest of the turtles. He really lacks a personality here mostly just being leader and while his spirtual side is touched on, it’s mostly a plot device. He’s just kinda the leader because he was in the comics to the point Partners in Cryme called Raph the leader. His role in getting taken out by the foot was taken by Raph, so he just has.. nothing to do for most of the film other than gripe at raph ocasionally and say orders. He’s probably the worst Leo i’ve seen outside of Next Mutation. I prefice that because after watching Phelous’ review it’s VERY clear those four are the worst versions of the characters, and no personality is still better than either having your team do nothing or yelling at them as your personality. I chalk this up to the Mirage Leo, and the mirage turtles to a poit being kind of bland. Not TERRIBLE characters, especially for the time, but not nearly as fleshed out or individualized as they woudl be in other adpatations, and with most traits LEo DID have, like his badassery flat out gone, he’s just.. nothing here.

Mikey and Donnie are a double act here with both sharing a brain. Interestingly instead of his normal genius character, Donnie is Mikey’s best friend and the two simply trade jokes and schtick together. The two are interchangable.. but easily the best part of the film and a lot of the most memorable gags and lines, from Ninja Kick the Damn Rabbit! to “Do you like Penicllin on your pizza”, are from them. Thier there almost entirely as comic relief but it works, with both clealry being more modled ont he 87 cartoon turtles, a move that helps lighten the mood in darker moments. Their just genuinely charming and it’s intresting to see such a diffrent version of Donnie, and other incarnations, specifically the 2003 and Rise versions, would retain the sarcastic edge.

Splinter is splinter. That’s about it, he’s peformed well and the puppet is amazing but he gets kidnapped a half an hour in and outside of influcencing Denny, more on that in a moment, and finishing Shredder he dosen’t do much but spout exposition. He’s not bad or anything, but he’s essentially a rodent shaped plot device. He was also puppeted by Kevin CLash, aka the guy who does Elmo. So there you go.

April on the other hand.. is truly excellent. This might be my faviorite April. Judith’s april nicely blends the cartoon and mirage versions: She has the cartoons energy and job, but the comics sheer will and casual nature. Judith just oozes personality and her April is just a joy to watch, from her breezy chemistry filled interactions with the guys to her confrntation with Chief Sterns, knowing she’ll get thrown out by the asshole. She’s confident, and even when afraid dosen’t back down to her attackers and even helps out during the sewer ambush. I mean it’s a pot on the head but still it’s neat. She’s easily the best part of the flim and the most fleshed out of the cast. The worst I can say is they kinda shove her store from the comics, Second Time Around, in there for no other reason than it was in the comics: It dosen’t come up until it’s needed for the foot’s assault on her place. But overall.. she’s just fantastic to watch.

Speaking of fantastic to watch, Elias Koteas is fantastic as Casey. Seriously he’s only second to the 2003 version in my eyes, getting the concept of a testorone filled average guy who decided to just go out and hit people with sports equipment after watching too much A-Team.. I mean that part of it’s not in this version but it’s implied, just right. Like judith, Elias is just really funny to watch and his big scenes, showing up just in time during the foot assault on april’s place and his fight with Tatsu are some of the best parts of the film, the former taken directly from the comics. This version isn’t without problems: His friendship with Raph, his most endearing aspect and one that has been carried throughout eveyr version Casey’s important, with the only exception so far being rise and we have a movie to fix that, is absent here. HE does save the guy, but they don’t really bond or anything. In fact he disappears for about half an hour after his big fight with Raph. But... again he’s just so damn entertaining, down to his JOSEEEEEEEEEEE Conseco bats (There was a two for one sale!).

Shredder is just a LITTLE better than splinter, if only because his actor projects a true aura of menace and I feel this version had some influence on the pants crappingly terrifying 2003 version. And the idea of the foot recurting teenagers like I said is a good one: He gives them home and a cause, they give him plausably deniable backup. And his fight with the boys in the climax is really awesome... the conclusion sucks but otherwise h’es okay. Not the deepest villian, but he has enough presence to be enjoyable.

His right hand man Tatsu, whose been adapted ocasionally since this and reimaigned as Natsu in the IDW comics, a female version, is also fine. He’s your standard grimacing goon but has enough presence to work.

So that brings us to the penningtons. Charles, april’s boss at the station and his son Danny who’s joined the foot as he feels his dad dosen’t love him. Charles..is about as interesting and likeable as a dog turd and is the worst aspect of the film. No debate there, he just sucks. He sucks so hard he’s classified as a black hole. The film wants you to see him as a put upon wokring dad whose frustrated with his son’s increased moodiness, skipping school and crminal undertakings and just wants to help him and loves him deep down. The problem is his actor’s delivery instead of concerned.. is just pissed. He just seems pissy and upset about the whole thing and comes off like he’s only mad about Danny doing this because he’s embarassing him and not because you know, it’s bad. When confronting Danny about stealing, he dosen’t consider MAYBE he’s part of a gang or needs help, but just wonders “Why are you stealing when I give you stuff”. Because, Dipshit, sometimes kids do crimes not because they need the stuff but because they WANT to, and because they want to act the fuck out.

The most he does for the kid is agree to try and get April to back off the police when Cheif Sterns offers to let Danny go and not put him on record in exchange for it. The problem.. is this makes him even MORE unsympathetic. While I do get wanting to help your child, I do and it’s a sucky position... he again should be sympathetic.. but he handles the thing so badly it sucks. He just tells april to ease off, with no reason given, then fires her when she SHOCKINGLY dosen’t give up taking the guy whose refusing to take her hard work seriously or actually solve the crime wave problem to task for his shitty behavior as ANY person facing a shitty, corrput cop would. She just wants to hold him acountable and get him to actually do something. He clearly knows her on a personal level too as he talks about his issues with his son freely with her, something you don’t do with an employee unless their also a friend on some level.

He could have TOLD april what was going on. She’d be furious at Stern’s naked corrpution and prioritizing shutting her up over actually solving crimes.. and thus put at least some of that energy into shutting him down or finding a way around it, going to the papers or something like that. Even in 1990 pre-internet, there were ways to get around Sterns blackmail and expose him so someone who’d actually do the job could get the job. Instead he just comes off as a selfish coward who rather than try and fight the guy blatantly abusing his power and using Charles own son as barganing chip, goes along with it because it’s the easier option to simply bow to him instead of TRY and stop this. And it’s not like he’s even going after a beloved public figure or someone who could hide behind his rep: Sterns was blatantly failing a crime wave, April had called him out on his failrues and coverups multiple times. The public was against sterns.. finding out he tried to blackmail the media into shutting up about him would PROBABLY end him... I only say probably not because the public wouldn’t skewer him, but because police tend to escape consequences for blatantly murdering someone on a daily basis and Andrew Cumo is STILl mayor over in new york, the same city this movie takes place, 31 years later, depsite EVERYONE asking him to resign over a long history of sexual harassment and a more recent but still horrible history of hiding death numbers. I don’t doubt people being stupid enough to ignore this or the bilaws with cops being stacked enough for him to get away with it, but just because someone gets away with a crime dosen’t mean you shoudln’t try and go after them in the first place. Fuck. Charles. Pennington.

Danny on the other hand is FAR more interesting and I think gets way too much flack when it comes to this subplot. Unlike his dad, whose dead weight, Danny is intresting: He provides a POV character for the foot’s MO in the film of taking in wayward teens, and his character arc is pretty engaging, slowly realizing the foot dosen’t care and that hte turtles are the good guys. HIs actor does a great job and while not the biggest presence, he’s not a bad addition to clan hamaoto and I wish other adaptations would find a way to use him. The pull between doing the right thing and his found family is a good struggle. My only real issue with his plot is the moviies flawed aseop about family. It tries to contrast shredder and his using the kids blatnatly with Splinter and Charles really loving their sons. And it works with Splinter and the kids because despite being a tad strict, Splinter clearly loves his sons and works with them to help them. The problem is ENTIRELY with Charles and Danny. As I said Charles love comes off as transasctional: He either thinks he can buy it or just expects it because he shot a bunch of goop into Danny’s mom after two minutes of disapointment. It dosen’t work with them because neither option is good for Danny. His father is neglectful, chooses throwing his jounralistic integrity out the window over talking to his son or his best friend about another way, and abrasive. Danny is no saint, he does do crimes, but it’s clearly a result of a shitty upbringing and the shredder and co actually offeirng him the love he desperatly craves. Danny goes to the foot because his dad is bad at his job but the film never adresses that and just expects Danny to go back to his dad because the plot says so. Danny would HONESTLY be better off with Splinter. No really. Sure he’d have to live in the sewers.. but he did so for a few weeks in the course of the movie. He’s fine down there. Splitner actually cares about him and took an intrest to him and knows how to raise a child. Let him become the fifth turtle. An aseop about family is not a bad thing: Loaded subject that it can be given how many outright abusive families exist, i’m one of the lucky ones who dosen’t have that issue, family is an important thing and can be a source of comfort and support. But this film tells you you should love and respect someone who does not love, respect or value you because he spent a minute in your mom’s vagina and that’s not how family should work and is outright dangerous to kids in an abusive situation. Love the film otherwise but fuck this aseop skyhigh.

Final thoughts:

Overall though.. the film is bodacious. It’s funny, well paced, has an awesome cast, and outside of a certain bald asswipe... it’s a really good superhero film. Is it the best i’ve seen? Nope. Not even close and character wise most of them are as thin as a wet paper bag covered in ranch dressing. But it’s still a fun as hell with awesome corepgraphy, a killer soundtrack, seriously the soundtrack is damn excellent and only didn’t get it’s own section because I didn’t have enough to say and some of the best effects work i’ve seen in a film in the turtle suits. If you haven’t seen it I urge you to check it out: it’s a breezy 90 minutes, it’s on hbo max and it’s a shell of a time. Will I do the next film?

We’ll see how this one does like wise and such, but I will be doing the rise film whenever it comes out this year. So look for that and keep possesing turtle power my dudes. If you liked this review subscirbe for more, join my patreon to keep this blog a chugging, comission a review if you have more turtle stuff you want me to cover, and comment on this. What do you think of the movie, what are your thoughts on the review, what can I do better, what other turtle stuff would you like me to cover/ Let me know and i’ll see you at hte next rainbow.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles 1990 #leonardo #raphael #donetello #michealangelo #casey jones #april o'neil #the shredder #oroku saki #new line cinema #golden harvest #film #90's movies #the 90's #partners in cryme #judith hoag

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rockhopsblog · 3 years

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Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN-- A New Hip Hop Legend

Whether tall tale, truth, or somewhere in between, 13 time Grammy Award winning rapper/songwriter Kendrick Lamar Duckworth’s rise to immortality is nothing short of a cosmic wonder. To go back to the beginning, let’s first take a look at his most recent solo project, 2017’s Album of the Year nominee and Best Rap Album winner “Damn”. The very last track of the album, “Duckworth”, tells of a saga that took place during the rapper’s infancy. The mythic-like storytelling follows the journey of his father, mother, and what would one day become the owner of the record label that propelled Kendrick into stardom. Kendrick’s father, “Ducky” supposedly worked at a chicken fast food restaurant, which “Top Dawg” Anthony Tiffith, proprietor of Top Dawg Entertainment, frequented. Tiffith was a notorious gangster on the block who aspired to be the first one from his neighborhood to reach the life of luxury. Tiffith went on to plan and subsequently rob the chicken place Ducky worked at, but spared his life because he had always given him an extra biscuit with his meals. Because of this decision, Kendrick grew up with his father around, helping to keep him out of the L.A. gang wars and keeping Tiffith out of prison so he could go on to found a record label. Things obviously could have gone very differently, but they didn’t. As Kendrick himself puts it: “Whoever thought the greatest rapper would be from coincidence? Because if Anthony killed Ducky, Top Dawg could be serving life, While I grew up without a father and die in a gunfight”.

Growing up in Compton, CA and making it out to be a success is no small feat. Throughout the years, one of Kendrick’s closest collaborators has been a rapper/blood gang member, Jay Rock, who too came from the neighborhood that Kendrick grew up in. Also a close friend of theirs- Schoolboy Q, a crip. Kendrick Lamar has been on the forefront of using his voice to unify people involved in gang violence and deterring those who may later fall into it. In 2015, Kendrick designed and released his signature shoe with Nike, aimed at the unification of people divided by the lifestyle that many of his friends and family became victims of during the tribulations of his youth. In 2007, a friend of Lamar’s called “DT” was gunned down by police for reportedly posing a threat, an event which seemed to Kendrick was all too common in his life. The silver lining, however, seems to be that there’s no shortage of the tales in Kendrick Lamar’s rap repertoire to depict the dangers and deeper meanings about the reality of gang activity, giving those steeped in that side of life hope for betterment and success.

In the early stages of Kendrick’s career, he was selected to be in one of the first XXL freshmen, an annual group of rappers recognized by the hip hop publication as up and coming artists. XXL’s freshman freestyles were new at the time, and Kendrick Lamar’s verse in the cypher was prominently featured online and the cypher itself is often looked back on as a classic among those available on YouTube. Those who initially viewed the freestyle session may have come looking for other, better known rappers, only to find themselves stumbling upon the discovery of a young Kendrick Lamar. Around this same time, he released his first official single, “HiiiPoWeR”, which was produced by the now prolific J. Cole. These two, in their own rights, have become widely regarded as today’s best hip hop lyricists for their hard hitting and meaningful bars. Rubbing elbows too with Kendrick was the now superstar pop sensation and rapper, Drake. Drake, a Toronto rapper, has helped launch several careers through featuring on their music because of his viral popularity. When Drake and Kendrick collaborated on Kendrick Lamar’s “Good Kid M.A.A.D. City”, Drake’s career was still in its early stages, but their song together certainly helped garner a mainstream appeal for the release at the time. All in all, it is clear to anyone doing some digging that not only did Kendrick work hard at refining his craft to become prolific, but that he was also met with great fortune in making the correct moves early on in his career to find the notoriety that he now enjoys.

Fueled by artists such as Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube, Kurupt and Eminem, Lamar has carried the torch forward from the 90s into the modern age of rap. During the famed “California Love” music video shoot featuring Dr. Dre and Tupac, Kendrick has claimed a small piece of hip hop legend by saying he was present in Compton, on the scene for the shoot. As a child, seeing such an idol and icon propelled his drive to follow in the footsteps of the greats of yesterday. In 2015, Kendrick sat down for an interview with the group N.W.A. who’ve had such classics as “Straight Outta Compton” and “Express Yourself”. In the conversation, Lamar said: “anything that I do, it always comes from what y’all done, I wanna get y’all take on my generation today and what we have as far as music”. In response, DJ Ren retorted “I like a few, I like you”. The metaphorical hand-off is evident, from O.G. approval to the strong impact in waves that Lamar has been able to produce from just four major label solo albums. From Anderson .Paak to Roddy Ricch, Kendrick has set out and proved more than he’d ever dreamed of.

Currently, Lamar has two triple platinum records as well as one platinum record which was maybe the most adventurous and critically acclaimed album, not only of his career, but of that decade. Rolling Stone magazine journalist Greg Tate called “To Pimp a Butterfly” a “masterpiece of fiery outrage, deep jazz and ruthless self-critique”.With songs like “The Blacker the Berry” and “Hood Politics”, the fabric of TPAB was woven to reflect the attitudes of a movement of racial justice and equality in a time of great struggle and oppression. Aside from exposing the brutalities of life as a black man in the United States, Lamar also presented the album as a platform to uplift and celebrate the accomplishments and great artistic devotions of black people from around the world. Many consider this album to be Kendrick Lamar’s magnum opus. He has shown that his work has staying power, and that his albums stand out among the formulaic pop-trap that reigns supreme on the radio. Perhaps TPAB has gone the farthest out of any other thing to help cement him as the king of hip hop and the greatest rapper of the generation.

With a back catalogue so insanely successful you’d expect Mr. Kendrick Lamar to be universally beloved, right? Well, not so fast. No inspection of Lamar’s career would be complete without the mention of his ground-breaking verse on the song “Control” by Big Sean. Kendrick decided to seize the moment coming off of his first platinum album by going after 11 of the biggest names in rap at the time, including: J. Cole, Meek Mill, Drake, Big KRIT, Wale, Pusha T, ASAP Rocky, Tyler The Creator, and Mac Miller. Many interpreted his lyrics in which he called out these artists to be a diss, but we now know that it was, in fact, Lamar’s intent to light a flame under these artists to create higher art. The people named on the verse were people Kendrick truly believed had the potential to create truly classic works, and his bar “I got love for you all but I'm tryin' to murder you” was aimed at them because of the intention to hype them up to work harder and realize that they weren’t inherently owed the popularity bestowed to them. The so-called “Control verse” made such a splash that even rappers who weren’t even named in the song made counter-disses to the single verse in the form of an entire song. Most notable out of these songs were Joe Budden’s “Lost Control”, Joey B4Da$$’s “Killuminati Pt. 2”, and Lupe Fiasco’s “SLR 2”. Despite the negativity spawned from this verse aimed to do good in the hip hop community, Kendrick Lamar’s twitter saw a 510% increase in followers just days after the dropping of the single. If there even was any “beef” to be had regarding this song, it is clear who the real winner was.

From the president of the United States claiming his favorite song was a Kendrick Lamar song at one point, to winning a Pulitzer Prize for 2017’s “DAMN”, the mile-high accolades of Kendrick seem almost too good to be true. However, of all accomplishments, perhaps his greatest is his influence on music. Not only has he single handedly put on several label-mates to the mainstream, but he has risen the bar of what it means to write a good rap song in this day and age. Not content with people who churn out 30 song albums as a money grab, Kendrick has shown that effort is important, that careful construction of art is important. Lamar has also been credited as reviving the importance of the hip-hop music video. It is clear during a listening session on Spotify or YouTube that so many troves of artists, young and old, are attempting to emanate the same X factor that Kendrick Lamar Duckworth has been so highly praised for, and rightfully so.

#kendrick #kendrick lamar #DAMN #maad city #tpab #rap #rapculture #hip hop #hiphop #music

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metalgearkong · 4 years

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Final Fantasy VII Remake - Review (PS4)

4/30/20

Developed by Square-Enix, released April 2020

Final Fantasy VII was the very first 3D polygonal entry in the Final Fantasy series released back in 1997. To this day, Final Fantasy VII is arguably the most influential and beloved JRPG of all time. When I was growing up I wasn’t a big fan of JRPGs yet. However my best friend(s)s for many year(s) were, and I experienced a lot of Final Fantasy (and other JRPGs) via osmosis. I played and completed the original Final Fantasy VII about 5 years ago, finally seeing what all the hype was about. The Final Fantasy VII remake was one of those highly anticipated titles that we thought would be a miracle if it saw the light of day, let alone being as good as it turned out. Finally, 5 years after the world got a taste of the teaser trailer we finally have the “final” product.

The reason I say “final” is because this is only part 1 of what I’m guessing will be 3 parts, extending and fleshing out everything about the original game in full current-gen presentation. Part 1 only covers the events of Midgar, about 5-6 hours of the original game (out of at least 40) and I finished the remake at about 34 hours. The developers at Square-Enix did a fantastic job making this remake feel like it still had a beginning, middle, and end, despite it covering such little territory from the original. Almost everything that extends the time, including dungeons, character development, side quests, and extra bosses was mostly executed very well. Only a handful of times did I feel like some of the mini-games and side quests were annoying or a waste of time (don’t even get me started on the giant robotic hand crane puzzle).

I had a tumultuous relationship with this remake to say the least, and my largest contention with the remake is the combat. I seem to be almost alone on this opinion, but hear me out. The combat could best be compared to Kingdom Hearts, only here, you can switch to different party members, controlling them directly. Also when using the in-game mini menu during a fight, the game will pause the combat allowing you to decide what to do with barely any frames passing by. Despite this remake’s tactical nature, whenever I had to fight more than 3 or so enemies at a time, battles would often turn into a frustrating muddle of a brawl. For example, locking-on has to be done manually, and then done manually again once that enemy is destroyed. Sometimes opponents can remove the lock-on by going invisible, digging below the ground, etc, and having to find a new enemy and manually lock-on again was annoying.

Tips I Wish I Knew...

Use Cloud’s “Punisher” mode whenever facing opponents with physical close-range attacks and counter often

Customize shortcuts for each party member in the Main Menu and make item usage, spell usage, and special ability usage uniform between all characters

Immediately click the right stick to lock-on to ANY enemy so at least you can start working on them

Take control of a healing or long-distance ally when facing multiple or difficult foes in order to see the battlefield better

Only attack a bit at a time so you have the best chance to stop, dodge, or block if an enemy begins their attack

Use the Multiply Materia (I forgot what it’s called) on a supportive spell such as shields or healing

The camera added to the frustration as well. Instead of phasing through physical objects allowing you to fully see the battle, the camera gets caught up on walls and objects. This leads the camera to “zooming in” and me losing sight of my character and the enemies. Any fight in an arena smaller than a gymnasium has this problem. By far the largest frustration I had with the combat was the cheapness of it. For example, if you begin a combo of normal attacks, there’s no way to interrupt your own animations in order to do something different, such as blocking or dodging. It seemed like the enemies were much quicker at attacking, and would smack you with a high damage attack with no way to avoid it. The game strives for a semi-hack ‘n' slash genre of combat, but the mechanics are far and away not responsive enough for the player to actually react to what they need to react to.

Casting a spell, using an item, or executing a special ability have long durations as well, meaning you can easily be cancelled by an enemy attack or at the very least take damage while an animation is playing out. I get that this is a strategic live-combat JRPG, but it lead me to so much frustration and rage I had to move the difficulty down to Easy because Normal just seemed to cheap. It’s a shame because the entire rest of the game is so damned good, I don’t know how the ball was dropped so hard on the combat system. Again, this seems to be my opinion alone because I haven’t heard this criticism anywhere else, which adds to the feeling of frustration for me because it makes me feel “not good enough” despite being a lifelong and daily gamer.

Not enough can be said about the character development and everything having to do with the narrative. Cloud, Tifa, and Barret have been iconic leads for over two decades, but compared to the ramke, they may as well have been cardboard cutouts. Every single cinematic is filled with amazing animation and cinematography, the likes I never expected to see. Characters look fantastic, sure, but the way they work off each other’s personalities and motives breathes new life into what was already considered a terrific game in terms of story. I like how Tifa has her reasons to hate Shinra, but is the most apprehensive about Avalanche’s terrorist actions. Barret comes off as a big meat head, but over time you see that he believes in every word he says. The music is also astounding as we not only hear familiar tracks, but many of the songs get several different remixes. Aerith’s theme in particular gets the most use and its variations make the biggest impacts, transforming what is normally background music into well defined leitmotifs used at all the right moments during the story.

Final Fantasy VII remake (part 1) is a dazzling, emotional, hugely impressive product. This is the the remake fans have only been dreaming about for many many years and I think it mostly pays off well. Virtually every aspect of this adaptation, including characters, music, locations, tone, enemies, and certain mechanics have been painstakingly recreated and reinvigorated to a successful degree that makes it all worth the wait. However, I am not a fan of the combat system and its such a strange thing to get wrong compared to how much of the game is so masterfully created. The additions to the story and lore (few that there are) also lead to unnecessary sections of the game, especially near the end, and has rightfully gotten a mixed reaction from fans of the original. I am desperately curious how the developers will sparse out the rest of the story in these remakes, beings there’s so much left to see and tell, but hope the combat system receives some polish and alterations before the end.

7/10

#ff7 #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #square enix #cloud #cloud strife #tifa #remake #2020 #barrett #aerith #final fantasy #review #game review #ps4 #incredibleexceptforcombat

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

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Though I know I should be wary

Still I venture someplace scary

Ghostly haunting I turn loose.

Betelgeuse.

BETELGEUSE.

Psycho Analysis: Betelgeuse

“It’s showtime.”

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Here he is, the ghost with the most, the bio-exorcist extraordinaire, the spook who has lived through the Black Plague (and had a pretty good time during it) and who has seen The Exorcist about a hundred and sixty-seven times (and it keeps getting funnier every time he sees it)! From the Tim Burton movie of almost the same name – his name is actually spelled like the star in the constellation of Orion, not like what the movie and the cartoon’s title says it is – Betelgeuse is one hell of a guy, an undead menace like no other. Between the performance from none other than Michael Keaton (which is not surprising since the guy was more of a comedic actor prior to Batman, which this film came out before) and the direction and style granted to him by Tim Burton in his prime, Betelgeuse has cemented himself as one of the most delightfully enjoyable jackasses in fiction.

Actor: I want to believe this is what convinced Tim Burton to cast Michael Keaton as Batman. In fact, I like to imagine this movie is why anyone casts Michael Keaton in anything, ever. Birdman? Spider-Man: Homecoming? Minions? All because of his performance here. He’s clearly having a blast, and he fills Betelgeuse with the sort of insane, depraved manic energy a sleazy undead conman should have. Keaton has apparently said this is his favorite role and he’s down to do the sequel if it ever gets out of development hell, and if he can still provide the same wacky performance as he did back in ‘88 I think we have nothing to fear. He is the glue that holds this film together along with Danny Elfman’s score. Case in point: most of Keaton’s lines were ad libbed. Think of all the hilarious deliveries, dialogue, and jokes that BJ spits out, and think if there had been someone else playng him. I don’t know if anyone else could have come up with anything funnier.

Motivation/Goals: Betelgeuse really seems like an agent of chaos, just doing what he does because it seems fun to him. He is just so gleeful about the prospects of killing people on the job, and he gleefully torments the Maitlands even while they ask for his help, sexually harassing Barbara at every turn and just being a real creep. Later in the film, he implies he really wants to get out of being undead, and so tries to coerce Lydia into releasing him, even forcing her to marry him in return for help freeing the Maitlands from accidentally being exorcised.

Really, the guy just likes to cause a ruckus. It’s not really expanded upon in the movie, and he’s just played up as a hilariously creepy jerkwad, but apparently the musical adaptation expands on why he does what he does. As far as the movie goes, though... yeah. He’s just a jerk. A really, really funny jerk.

Personality: Betelgeuse is like a sleazy used car salesman cranked up to eleven. He’s motormouthed, he’s unpleasant, he’s sleazy, he’s perverted, and he’s an incredible jerkass… and yet, you just can’t help but love the guy, because Keaton’s energy just shines through and makes him a jerkass in a lovable sort of way. It’s sort of the same principle as Gaston; he’s just so cartoonishly, hilariously over-the-top in how much of a pig he is that you can’t help but enjoy him, especially since he does get his just desserts in the end.

Final Fate: Betelgeuse tries to force Lydia into marriage, and poofs away the Maitlands to make sure they don’t say his name. But this backfires spectacularly: shrinking Adam allows him to drive a toy car into Betelgeuse’s foot, casuing him to drop the ring before he can seal the deal with Lydia, and poofing Barabara out onto the surface of Venus only serves to allow her to wrangle the Sand worm and have it crash through the roof and eat him alive. And then when Betelgeuse gets stuck in the waiting room, he ends up between the man with a shrunken head and the witch doctor who did it to him, and after stealing the witch doctor’s number, Betelgeuse finally is able to get a little head… just probably not in the sense he’d have liked it.

Best Scene: Once he says “It’s showtime,” all bets are off, and he really delivers on his promises to help the Maitlands. It’s actually kind of shocking that he holds up his ends of the bargains he makes; maybe people wouldn’t try and screw him out of his end of the deal if he wasn’t such a raging perverted jackass.

Best Quote: The guy is just a fountain of quality quotes, particularly when he rattles off his qualifications. But I really have to give it to one line, a line that absolutely baffles me as to how it made it into a PG rated film, which Betelgeuse says after kicking over a tree in the town model:

“NICE FUCKING MODEL!” This is then followed by him grabbing his crotch with cartoonish honking noises. It’s incredible.

Final Thoughts & Score: It’s really hard for me to not call this the definitive Michael Keaton performance, as far as comedies go anyway. He is just really throwing himself into to the role and having an absolute blast with it; there’s not a single moment with him that feels forced or tired, he’s just constantly putting all his effort into making this ghastly slimeball a likable antagonist, and boy does it pay off. To this day, Betelgeuse is a beloved and iconic character in Tim Burton’s filmography, to the point where the guy got his own cartoon show which is in and of itself considered a beloved cult classic. And as if that wasn’t enough, he got his own musical! It takes a special kind of villain to score a big musical gig; just ask a certain green witch.

The thing is, there isn’t much to analyze in the way of character here; he’s really just the way it is because it’s funny. The movie is a dark comedy, after all (though not the darkest comedy starring Winona Ryder that came out in ‘88). Hell, I think the most interesting thing to glean from him is how his most popular outfit, the one he wears all the time in the cartoon and is on everything from the posters to DVD cover, is actually only worn by him for about five minutes of screentime, with the rest of his appearances featuring him in what appears to be ratty, nasty old pajamas. I think part of why the stripey outfit became his signature style is because not only does it look cool, but he wears it for his big moment when he frees the Maitlands and really lets loose.

The other interesting thing to glean from Betelgeuse is how despite being a nasty, horrible person, you just can’t help but love the guy. He’s just so darn funny! Like I mentioned before, I think it is because in a lot of ways, he is like Gaston, who is the poster child for toxic masculinity. Betelgeuse is a slimy sexual harasser, he has no sense of personal space, and he tries to force a young woman to marry him; in real life, this guy would be a vomit-inducing psychopath who people would rightfully want hung out to dry, but here, in this film, he’s hilarious. I think that, much like Gaston, it’s the energy and fun pf the performance, and at least here with Betelgeuse it has to do with how utterly cartoonish he is and how everyone around him has the intended reactions. And, of course, he never really wins, even if he does cause a lot of mischief along the way.

I think Betelgeuse is the sort of magical jackass more fantasy films should aspire to have; there really aren’t many characters worth mentioning who are in the same vein as good ol’ BJ. With that in mind, I think he deserves a 10/10. I think he’s one of Tim Burton’s finest creations, the most lovable of rogues, a truly impressive phantom menace, and he really holds the film together. I long for the day when Michael Keaton’s dream comes true, and they finally make Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian or whatever other absurd concept they would do for a sequel if they decide not to got with Tim’s joke script.

All I can say for sure is: boy am I glad Burton and Keaton changed this from a straightforward horror film into a dark comedy, because I’m not sure I’d like to live in the universe where Betelgeuse was legitimately evil and tried to rape Lydia. Yes, this was really what the film’s original script was like. It just goes to show that sometimes it’s better to be funny than it is to be scary.

#Psycho Analysis #Betelgeuse #Beetlejuce #Beetle Juice #Michael Keaton #Tim Burton

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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CR Features Argues About the Best Opening Sequence of 2018

Anime Awards voting starts TONIGHT and WE'RE SUPER EXCITED! However we have gotten so loud with our individual opinions on who we think should win that we’ve been told to duke it out via written words instead of continually disrupting our coworkers (sorry fam).

We’ll hit each category by the time we hit the evening of Anime Awards! Today’s piece gets down to the nitty gritty of Best Opening Sequence, Best Ending Sequence, Best Animation, and Best Character Design. Let’s down to business!

Best Opening

Pop Team Epic from Pop Team Epic

youtube

The opening so nice you saw it twice every episode, and it was a banger every time. It wasn’t just the song, either--the OP was full of little things to keep looking for, so you never skipped it unless you were a total monster.

-Nate Ming

Black Rover by Vickblanka from Black Clover

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The music for Black Clover OPs and EDs has always been top notch, but Black Rover is on another level. The sequence put together by the animators is also the perfect combination of cool, goof, and heart. It’s probably the opening I’ll associate with the series forever.

-Peter Fobian

UNION from SSSS.Gridman

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This song, like SSSS.Gridman itself, made me so happy. It was light and deft, but somehow perfect for the opening of a show about kicking the crap out of kaiju. For a genre that can sometimes feel as tired as “robot man saves the world (and his friends),” this OP, along with the rest of the show, proved that SSSS.Gridman was going to pay a lot of tokusatsu homage, while still being a breath of fresh air.

-Daniel Dockery

Rightfully by Mili from Goblin Slayer

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I’ve been following Mili’s works since I played Deemo, and their songs always have a way of worming right in and refusing to leave. So when I heard that they were doing Goblin Slayer’s opening, it was a very welcome surprise! Mili delivers a powerful performance that has a calm, yet a very vicious tone to it. Combined with the opening visuals, it really ties it all neatly together to set the mood for the show.

-Nicole Mejias

Adabana Necromancy from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

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Dapper dancing zombies. Super sentai action scenes. Idol dancing. ZOMBIE LAND SAGA’s opening sequence somehow manages to straddle several disparate genres without losing its own unified personality. Set to the theatrical “Adabana Necromancy” performed by the main Japanese cast, main character Sakura’s defiant proclamations of chasing her dreams and the truly unprecedented amount of explosions meld into something strange and charming--a perfect fit for this series.

-Cayla Coats

Best Ending Sequence

Hibana from Golden Kamuy

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You always heard this one warming in the background as an episode would come to a close, and the striking imagery of “Hibana” just made me more excited for what the next episode of Golden Kamuy had in store.

-Nate Ming

Pulse from Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

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Although I’ve still got Hizuru Basho bumping in my head from Fall, no ED in 2018 was as much of a thematic masterstroke as Asobi Asobase. After a misleading opening giving the series the appearance of a serene high school slice of life and a very confusing episode featuring mean-spirited pranks and Hanako shrieking, the ending dumps you straight into hell.

-Peter Fobian

Book-end, Happy-end from Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

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I feel ya, nervous skeleton man. You had a hard day, and then you just go sit on the floor and read manga. And then you lay in the bed and read manga. What a beautiful life.

-Daniel Dockery

Hibana from Golden Kamuy

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Banger alert! This song is incredibly GOOD! Not only is this song catchy, but the lyrics are a pretty good representation to what Golden Kamuy is all about, with lines about an “erased destination” and “accepting everything, pain and all.” If you skipped this ending, I don’t even know what to say; it’s too good of a song to skip!

-Nicole Mejias

Pulse from Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

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Peter pretty much nailed it. After the fake-out cutesy pop opening, Asobi Asobase presents us with three middle school girls who make heinously ugly expressions and are just really, hilariously terrible people. The death metal anthem “Pulse” is a perfect fit for the horrible little nightmare children that comprise the show’s main cast.

-Cayla Coats

Best Animation

Violet Evergarden

You don’t really expect TV anime to look this good--and then it does, and you’re treated to gorgeous, theatrical-quality animation every single episode. I wasn’t invested in Violet Evergarden, but just witnessing it made it worth the watch.

-Nate Ming

Violet Evergarden

This one is really difficult to argue with. It’s Kyoto Animation on their absolute A game. The studio doesn’t often delve into fantasy but their backgrounds and character designs were breathtaking. Kyoto is always top shelf but they maintained damn near movie quality animation for the entire series run. Even their 3D integration was something to behold.

-Peter Fobian

Violet Evergarden

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LOOK AT HOW PRETTY EVERYTHING IS. Look at the backgrounds! And the shadows! And the way that the hair is animated! I know that that seems like a really small thing, but it irks me sometimes when everyone seem to have immovable Super Saiyan hair (though there’s nothing wrong with your hair, my beautiful shonen bro’s). Violet Evergarden was a bounty to look at.

-Daniel Dockery

Violet Evergarden

I’d be crazy to not pick Violet Evergarden for this category. I mean, just LOOK AT IT! Absolutely GORGEOUS and BEAUTIFUL animation! I initially thought this was a movie, but nope. Kyoto Animation weren’t playing any games when it came to showing off their amazing animation skills, and my goodness, was it ever a sight to behold! Just look at how they animated the characters’ HAIR! Amazing stuff!

-Nicole Mejias

Pop Team Epic

If you asked me two weeks ago, my answer here would have been Violet Evergarden for sure. But then my mind was changed when I saw our own Noelle Ogawa argue for Pop Team Epic’s stellar animation in this article. Pop Team Epic employs a wide range of animation styles--from 16-bit video game sprites to the horrifying, MS Paint-esque Bob Team Epic sequences to the use of unfinished storyboards seen above. The series is practically a showcase for experimental animation, and that suits the surreal humor quite well.

-Cayla Coats

Best Character Design

Devilman Crybaby

Akira Fudo and Ryo Asuka are some of the most iconic, memorable, and legendary characters in anime and manga, so seeing them (along with Miki, Siren, and the rest of the cast) get clean, modern redesigns for Devilman Crybaby was a real treat.

-Nate Ming

DARLING in the FRANXX

Just based no sheer amount of fan art, it’s hard to argue with this prediction. Masayoshi Tanaka has developed a well-earned reputation for his designs, in fact one of Atsushi Nishigori’s motivations for working with TRIGGER was the opportunity to work specifically with Tanaka. The character designs are great and so much work from accompanying DARLING in the FRANXX designs to multiple uniforms went into it. It’s probably my favorite part of the series.

-Peter Fobian

Hinomaru Sumo

There’s not a lot of amazingly intricate variety among the characters of Hinomaru Sumo. But I appreciate any anime where all the main characters look like they’d be equally at home being lackeys in a separate anime that get the crap kicked out of them in an alley by the Kenshiro-esque main character. Also, I love this show and so should you.

-Daniel Dockery

Cells at Work

Cells at Work is so beloved for the way it illustrates our hard-working cells as they work night and day to protect our bodies. Keep on kicking ass and taking names, cells! But on the other end of the spectrum are the threats and bacteria that invade our bodies, and some of them are depicted in very frightening ways. Remember to take care of yourself to avoid illnesses! Your cells are counting on you!

-Nicole Mejias

Laid-Back Camp

There wasn’t a show I watched in 2018 that had more effective character designs than Laid-Back Camp. Everything visual choice made about these characters conveys something about their personality. Nadeshiko’s downward-sloping eyelids and messy pink hair are the perfect compliment to Rin’s alert eyes and neatly tied up hair. These choices echo how the characters themselves play off of one another, and gosh, it’s just delightful.

-Cayla Coats

Anddd that's all folks! Check back in to see us argue about who else we think should win the rest of the Anime Awards categories. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites starting TONIGHT!

Do you have a super intense devotion to a 2018 show or character or want your opinions shared to the world about Anime Awards? Send us an op-ed in written or video form. The nitty gritty details are in here and you may get published in a future article!

Who do you think should win: Best Opening Sequence, Best Ending Sequence, Best Animation, and Best Character Design? Tell us in the comments below!

Ricky Soberano is a Features Editor, Script Writer, and Editorial Programming Coordinator for Crunchyroll. She’s the former Managing Editor of Brooklyn Magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @ramenslayricky.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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hellodelicatebouquettidalwave · 6 years

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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All Farewell, My Turnabout Review

Phoenix, Maya, and Pearl are invited to attend an awards banquet by Will Powers. The award goes to Matt Engarde, the star of the Steel Samurai’s successor series. Shortly after, the hotel where the event is taking place is put on lock-down as Maya is discovered to be missing. Juan Corrida, who has been in a fierce rivalry with Engarde, has been killed. Maya is being held hostage in order to force Phoenix to take on Matt’s defense. Nick thinks Matt is innocent, but the evidence is stacked against them with Maya’s life on the line.

What can I say about the case that is many fans’ favorite? At the heart of it is a serious moral dilemma. Engard may not have physically done the deed, but he is responsible for Juan’s death. While Phoenix would rather not have anything to do with him, de Killer has unfortunately planned for every possibility. Does Nick allow Engarde to be rightfully found guilty and sacrifice his friend’s life, or does he save her and let someone get away with murder? The player is actually forced to make this choice late in the second day of the trial. That would have been a heavy burden for Phoenix to bear if things had worked out differently, based on the bad ending. I can’t imagine how I would handle having to make this decision in reality; either choice has so much bad and good in it. There’s also the fact that if Engarde is found not guilty, an innocent person will take the fall.

The fact that de Killer is willing to go through the trouble to frame someone on behalf of his client shows his dedication to his principle. Honestly, he’s terrifying but in a very different way than Engarde. I’m also confident that I’m not the only one who found cross-examining him over the transceiver kind of funny. The sprites were a good visual gag, if nothing else.

Adrian Andrews is the other thing that makes this case so emotionally affecting. She’s just so fragile and vulnerable under the facade she puts up. Adrian’s pleas for Phoenix’s help when de Killer names her as his client are heartrending. It’s such a shame Celeste didn’t just see Corrida and Engarde as beneath her as they were, or at least turned to Adrian for support. Things would have been so different for them both if they had just left the actors to fight it out without their involvement. Though, I suspect Corrida would have wound up dead eventually.

Yes, Engarde is that horrible, it probably would have come to that. He very likely has some severe psychological problems-his breakdown is clearly not the first time he’s scratched his face. I was aware of Matt’s true appearance, and I still screamed when I finished his magatama sequence the first time. Taking Engarde down and having him beg for a guilty verdict is not only satisfying, there’s such a sense of relief knowing Maya is fase.

Of course, Phoenix doesn’t get there on his own. Gumshoe has some of his best moments in Farewell, My Turnabout. While he has some excellent moments in Trials and Tribulations, mostly in Recipe for Turnabout, this one feels more dramatic. He was in very real danger from de Killer when he went to collect the final pieces of evidence. Franziska had been shot and was very fortunate to have relatively minor injuries. (Or, maybe she’s also made out of whatever makes Phoenix invulnerable. Plot armor?) Then there’s the return of Edgeworth to the courtroom.

We finally have the Miles Edgeworth we will see throughout the rest of the series and love. His dedication to uncovering the truth truth is honorable, though...I find him slightly cold and detached at times. This won’t be the last time Edgeworth chooses not to treat a defendant or witness delicately. (The other one that would come to most fans’ mind would be Athena in Turnabout for Tomorrow.) Miles is also very tough on Franziska, which it seems is what she needed at the time. That’s fair, but I would expect a little more affection towards someone who’s like a younger sister to him. Maybe I’m misunderstanding their dynamic in Investigations, especially Turnabout Reminiscence. I’ll be discussing Franziska individually in my overall review.

There are several cameo appearances in this case, in addition to Will Powers from the beginning of the case. Lotta Hart shows up for the second time in this game alone, though they do foreshadow this in Reunion, and Turnabout. Oldbag is hilarious and not overused, with the breaking of her psych-locks being particularly funny. They add some much needed humor to a very bleak situation.

This case also has one of the most iconic Reminiscence variations, Steel Samurai’s Ballad. It’s almost painful to hear the beloved series’ theme song sound so sombre and express such pain. Plus, the return of the Great Revival! The one thing that surprises me about the music for this case is that Engarde does not have an individual theme; he may not be the big bad that appears in multiple cases over the course of a game like Dahlia and Kristoph, but I feel he deserves it.

In short, Farewell, My Turnabout is memorable in the best possible way. It asks you not only what you would be willing to sacrifice for the sake of justice, as well as how far you would be willing to go to save a friend. What did you decide?

#phoenix wright #ace attorney #justice for all #gaming #video games

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musicgoonmail · 4 years

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Wedding Cake

In This Edition

In this week’s edition, I share my most recent interviews, reflect on Instagram turning 10, and write on what I’ve been enjoying in entertainment. As always, I share what’s new with my book reviews and point you to the all of the new free eBooks around the web.

Even though the Southern California heat does not cool down, it is starting to feel like the Fall season in my mind. I think it shows in these longer newsletters that I love to write. Don’t forget that you can always let me know what you think simply by replying to this email. Thanks for spending your weekend with me here.

Interview: "Stop Taking Sides" with Adam Mabry

Instagram Turns 10

Godly Wisdom

Book Reviews

Free eBooks for October

More Free eBooks for October

Extended Play

Lightning Links

Playlists

Coming Soon

Weekly Review

Interview: "Stop Taking Sides" with Adam Mabry

Earlier this week I went LIVE on Instagram to interview author and Pastor Adam Mabry about his book "Stop Taking Sides." It was an encouraging conversation and I'm thankful for the opportunity. We talked about his book, his writing process, and publishing with The Good Book Company. He also gave some tips to writers. You can watch our interview on IGTV or listen on Spotify and Podcasts.

I have been interviewing my pastors and members at my church with my Walnut Commentary, Walnut Notes, and Unikoi Questions podcasts. It is a joy to serve our congregation in this way. Starting at SOLA Network and growing Dive In Dig Deep has allowed me to interview a wider group of people. On my website, I made a working list of the interviews I've conducted. I hope to get to do a few more before the end of the year.

Instagram Turns 10

Instagram turned 10 this week. As hidden features, they brought back the classic icons and added a private map and archive of your stories from the past three years. To access the icons, click on your profile icon on the bottom right corner, click the hamburger menu on the top right corner, click on the settings menu, and do a long swipe up. For the private map, click on your profile icon on the bottom right corner, click the hamburger menu on the top right corner, click on the settings menu, and click on the archive.

Instagram is, probably, the app that I spend the most time on. While it's afforded me a lot of fun, I know we can't deny that it is still dangerous. In a recent newsletter, tech writer Casey Newton spoke with Bloomberg’s Sarah Frier. He asked: "Of all the changes made to Instagram since then, which do you think has had the biggest consequences?" She answered: "The crucial change was the addition of stories. We usually think about it in terms of its significance from a competitive standpoint — like Instagram vs. Snapchat. I think it's actually more significant from the standpoint of Instagram recognizing that the immense pressure that people have to perform on Instagram, and portray their lives a certain way, is actually bad for growth. The anxiety that goes into deciding whether something is Instagrammable actually made people post less. Since they introduced stories, they’ve taken away some of that pressure. That’s what really brought them down their path to a billion users, and the ensuing conflicts with Facebook over whether they would cannibalize Facebook's success."

Even though Frier states that stories has taken away some pressure, I think there is still a performative aspect to sharing stories. We're crafting our image, creating our persona, and it doesn't always align with reality. And the dangers are more than what we create. It also includes what we consume. We can get jealous, greedy, assume the worst, and judge others. There's also the dangers of pornography and lust, emotional attachment and sliding into DMs for inappropriate relationships.

I have two points to make after sharing on this. First, I hope to reawaken us to the reality of the platforms that we use. To think of them in a sober way and to stay safe. Second, I want to remind us that our true selves aren't always reflected in what we share. I hope to show a better glimpse of my heart here in this newsletter, and I'll do my best to keep it real.

Godly Wisdom

I made another short sermon excerpt video for my home church, FCBC Walnut. I trimmed a clip from our youth pastor Kevin, grabbed a photo, added some effects, and made some music. Can you guess what song I played? Here is the main point: “Godly wisdom should move you to work towards future goals, hopes, and dreams while surrendering everything to the good and perfect will of God.” You can watch the excerpt on YouTube and IGTV.

October is Pastor Appreciation Month, and I took the opportunity to record a 2-minute video to thank our pastors. You can watch it on YouTube and IGTV. And in the most recent episode of our Walnut Women podcast, my friend Leslie asked Regina, Meryl, and Vanessa - who are pastor’s wives: “How can the church love and encourage the pastors and their families?” You can watch the 9-minute clip on YouTube and IGTV, and catch the entire 40-minute interview on YouTube.

Book Reviews

This week I published a total of 6 reviews. There was a good variety, including a book of articles compiled from Christianity Today through the years on American Evangelism and political engagement, some classic Christian books, a festschrift to Don Whitney (author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life), and Crossway's Unfolding Grace (with the accompanying Study Guide).

Unfolding Grace

Study Guide Review: Unfolding Grace

Grace and Glory by Geerhardus Vos

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

The Spirit of Holiness

Dual Citizens

Free eBooks for October

Monergism added two new eBooks this week: Assurance to All the Heirs of Promise: Sermons on Hebrews 6:18 by Thomas Manton and The Balm of the Covenant Applied to the Bleeding Wounds of Afflicted Saints by John Flavel.

Ligonier is offering for free the Luther and the Reformation video teaching series with R.C. Sproul and the ebook edition of The Legacy of Luther edited by R.C. Sproul and Stephen Nichols. And to further celebrate Reformation month, you can also stream the Luther Documentary for free.

Monergism: Assurance to All the Heirs of Promise: Sermons on Hebrews 6:18 by Thomas Manton

Monergism: The Balm of the Covenant Applied to the Bleeding Wounds of Afflicted Saints by John Flavel

Ligonier: The Legacy of Luther edited by R.C. Sproul and Stephen Nichols

More Free eBooks for October

This week, DesiringGod featured This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence. It is available to download for free as a PDF on their website. I consider it one of my top reads on marriage and I highly recommend it. The free eBook for the month of October from The Good Book Company is Time for Every Thing? by Matt Fuller. In this book, Matt Fuller shows how following Jesus frees us from the tyranny of the to-do list.

The October issue of Ligonier’s Tabletalk Magazine is on Covenant Theology, and this issue seeks to help readers better understand covenant theology by exploring its basics and the many ways it applies to the Christian life. The October issue of the 9Marks Journal is about Learning from Scripture and History on Pastoring in Political Turmoil. The October issue of Credo Magazine looks at the Nicene Creed and the doctrine of the Trinity. The Fall edition of The Master’s Seminary Journal opens with an editorial on how their new direction will be focused less on popular-level articles and more on academic papers. Check out the list below for more free recent reads.

The Good Book Company: Time for Every Thing? by Matt Fuller

Tabletalk Magazine: Covenant Theology

The Master’s Seminary Journal: Fall 2020

9Marks Journal: Learning from Scripture and History on Pastoring in Political Turmoil

Credo Magazine: The Nicene Creed

DesiringGod: This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence

The Gospel Coalition: 250 Theological Essays

Crossway and 9 Marks: How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics?

Crossway and 9Marks: Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church by John Onwuchekwa

The Gospel Coalition: 9 Free eBooks by D. A. Carson

Extended Play

Jess and I are having fun watching "Halloween" movies that aren't really Halloween movies. We watched A Bug's Life (because bugs are creepy) Monsters Inc (because monsters), Monsters University (because monsters again), and Beauty and the Beast (because of Beast). 1991's Beauty and the Beast is a classic, and rightfully so - the animation is beautiful and the songs are made for Broadway. It holds a special place in Disney history, and you can read about it on Wikipedia and watch the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty on Disney+ for your own insight and entertainment.

The podcast that impacted me the most this week was the Ask Pastor John episode: Why Do I Need to Read the Bible When We Have Bible Teachers Online? Today more than ever, Christians have access to a wealth of faithful Bible teaching online. So, why do we need to read the Bible for ourselves? Here is my takeaway quote: "Perhaps at the bottom of the problem is that our friend has so completely intellectualized his faith that the only category in which he thinks, the only category that’s going to profit him, he thinks, is the category of verbal explanation. There are a lot of people who think about sermons that way. They just think, “I need to know; I need some more information, some more explanation,” rather than also the heartfelt exultation that a lover has in reading the very words of his beloved."

Throwback: Trials are Tests

Article: Bach: A Theologian at the Workplace by Jonathan Camire

Podcast: Why Do I Need to Read the Bible When We Have Bible Teachers Online? by John Piper

Movie: Beauty and the Beast (1991)

TV: Community

Book: The Gathering Storm by Albert Mohler (Thanks, Endora!)

Music: Wedding Cake by Damien Jurado

Lightning Links

These quick hits are exclusive to my newsletter readers. Some struck immediately before writing this newsletter. I don’t necessarily endorse the positions or lives of these authors. Some may contain sensitive language. I find them all extremely interesting.

Instagram Turns 10: How the App Helped Democratize Art

‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ sets surprise holiday special

The Problem with the Inconsequential Quest

Asian Americans most likely to live in multigenerational homes. How Covid has taken a toll

Kelly Marie Tran on Why Quitting Social Media Was Her Best Decision Ever

Jiayang Fan’s Grub Street Diet: Jiayang Fan Misses Chinatown’s Muscadines “They’re like a summer-camp boyfriend. By August you think, I’m gonna have to part with you soon …”

Playlists

MUSICGOON: 7 songs I enjoyed this week.

SVRGNLA: Jess and I love these songs.

ETJ: Music that inspires my band.

DIDD: A crowd-sourced worship playlist.

TGIF: SOLA Network friends and faves.

This is FCBC Walnut: The songs we sing at church.

Coming Soon

I’m finalizing some lyrics to a new original worship song I want to sing at church soon, and I’m trying to squeeze some remote recording worship covers in with some friends before the end of the year.

I have some BIbles and children’s books arriving soon for reviews, and several Christmas books are also starting to be sent out. But before Jess and I start getting ready for Christmas, we’re excited to get Linus and Ark dressed up in their Halloween costumes.

Weekly Review

SOLA: Justin Giboney’s Both/AND Politics / When God Chooses Not to Give You Children / Why Do I Need to Read the Bible When We Have Bible Teachers Online?

TGIF: This I Believe (The Creed) / Stream the Luther Documentary for Free / Why Do I Need to Read the Bible When We Have Bible Teachers Online?

Book Review: Unfolding Grace

Book Review: Grace and Glory by Geerhardus Vos

Study Guide Review: Unfolding Grace

Book Review: The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

Book Review: The Spirit of Holiness

Book Review: Dual Citizens

Recommended Reading: Forgiveness Is Spiritual Warfare / The Church Is You, So the Church Will Be Like You / Folding Singles into Family in the Life of the Church / Sisters, You Have Permission to Lead an Ordinary Life

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tigerlover16-uk · 7 years

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I accidentally deleted an anon ask about whether GT or Super handled Piccolo’s death better. Whoops, sorry. I’ll just answer it in this post.

GT definitely had the more grandiose, quote-unquote “Emotional” death scene. It was beautifully animated and through the music and dialogue, especially that final goodbye, it really sold the tragedy of the situation.

But the context and everything around that death was terrible.

You can look up my “My Thoughts on the Baby Saga” For a full rant on this, but to cut it short, the Black Star Dragon Balls were an ill conceived contrivance and Piccolo sacrificing himself to deactivate them violates Z’s rules regarding the dragon balls, where the normal ones deactivated after Kami merged with Piccolo. Between that and a lot of other story beats, it felt like this situation was contrived specifically for the purpose of killing the guy off.

It really does feel like they killed Piccolo off JUST to be dramatic and for that one part in the next saga. Which is a TERRIBLE reason to kill someone off. If you want to kill a major supporting character, ESPECIALLY one as iconic and beloved as Piccolo, you need to do it in an appropriate manner and have their death mean something in the grand scheme of things, for how it affects other characters going forward and how the deceased characters absence changes the way things work for the overall story.

We don’t see anyone really mourning Piccolo after he dies, that one moment with Gohan crying out his name after Piccolo contacted him about his decision was all we got. We don’t see how the other characters cope with his loss afterwards. Even if it was brief and not enough really done with it, we at least saw Mr Satan feeling down in the dumps and doubting himself over Buu’s loss. No such thing from one of Goku’s best friends and Gohan’s honorary uncle.

Life just goes straight back to normal in the episode immediately after Piccolo’s death. No one really acknowledges him outside of Goku when he meets Piccolo in hell. Piccolo at least has some plot relevance there helping Goku get back to earth, though that repeated joke from the Black Star saga honestly just made him and Dende seem a bit incompetent and that they still needed Goku’s help to do anything to me.

And then Goku just leaves him in hell. And despite Goku casually mentioning he hopes the guy gets out eventually at the very end of the show, we never find out if Piccolo does. As far as we know, he could just spend the rest of eternity as the ogres whipping boy keeping the unruly villains stuck in hell in line.

And frankly, that’s insulting. The character gets nothing useful to do for half the series, shows up once and then immediately disappears after doing literally nothing of value at one point in the Baby saga, and then shows up at the end of that JUST to die, over a plot device that shouldn’t have existed in the first place. And then as a reward for all the character development he’s had to make him a good person and all the effort he’s put in to help keep the earth and even the universe safe over the years, he gets dumped in the deep dark pits of hell to rot just so Goku can be convenienced.

It’s incredibly disrespectful to Piccolo as a character and not a satisfying way to end his own story for people who were invested in him. It robbed him of any potential to develop further and be useful to the story, just to try and tug on people’s heartstrings while not respecting him or his legacy. It’s even worse since anyone who’d just tuned into GT because Z was such a big deal and hadn’t watched the previous series wouldn’t know who the heck Piccolo is or why his death is a big deal other than he apparently matters to Gohan. While him dying would be a big deal to people who had been following Dragon Ball for a while and knew his story, GT’s refusal to actually do anything with him just makes the death feel more hollow than anything for people who might not have watched Z.

It was just overall horribly handled and a slap in the face to fans of the character.

Super’s death scene for Piccolo in the RF saga wasn’t nearly as grand or had as much focus that made it dramatic like GT’s death scene, but it served it’s purpose for what it was. It was a shock moment at the end of an episode where Gohan was being tortured. It’s a cliffhanger that grabs your attention to make you want to know just what the heck just happened, it even shocked people who’d seen the movie and thought they knew everything that was going to happen.

And then we did see the impact that Piccolo’s death had straight after. It spurred Gohan into action again to charge up his energy enough for Goku to teleport him and Vegeta to earth, while we also got to see Gohan’s and the other characters shock and horror over Piccolo’s death, including Dende. We saw Goku being rightfully angry at Frieza and taking Piccolo’s body somewhere safe, showing his friend respect and then trying to reassure Gohan that they could fix things with the namekian dragon balls, showing that they all care enough about Piccolo to try and find a way to bring him back. And unlike the film where Goku was mostly just using the fight as an excuse for fun, in Super seeing the damage Frieza had wrought and especially Piccolo’s death made Goku take the fight largely seriously.

And yeah, they did bring him back afterwards. But instead of rendering his death pointless, Piccolo dying was one of the things that spurred Gohan to start training again, which that has slowly started to pay off with the Great Saiyaman two parter and now with the Universe Survival Saga, even if we only saw the training between them briefly. And his death also emphasizes that yeah, the Z fighters ARE risking their lives when they go into battle and that there are horrific consequences if they don’t pull through and save the day. It may not have been done as expertly well as with all the deaths in the saiyan saga, but they were adapting a movie with a plan already laid out for the next story arc. The writers did the best they could do with the situation.

It also helps that Piccolo got a lot more screentime before hand in Super. While he didn’t do a ton of plot crucial things, we got plenty of fun scenes to show that Piccolo has a personality and character to him, and that he’s clearly an important and close friend to the Son family and especially Gohan, so even someone who’d only watched Super or just the RF saga up to that point could still feel the weight of him potentially being killed off like that. Especially important since in Japan at least, there are bound to be kids watching a Dragon Ball show for the first time who wouldn’t know a lot about the previous shows aside from pop cultural osmosis since Dragon Ball is a pretty big deal. Context is a very important thing for selling these things.

So, yeah. GT may have had the grander death scene, but Super’s death scene for Piccolo served a better story purpose and wasn’t as insulting in the long run to his character, nor did it remove most potential for him for future stories.

#Dragon Ball Super #Dragon Ball GT #piccolo

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ghezalplusmovies · 7 years

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For roughly the entire month of August, my brother and I traveled all around Japan seeing the sights and scarfing down on some incredible food. While staying in Okinawa for a few days, we decided to venture to the local theatre to see what was cooking. Unfortunately, the two films I would be into rewatching, Wonder Woman and War For The Dawning Of The Rise For The Planet Of The Apes, weren’t out yet so we had a choice between The Mummy or the latest Pirates movie… We chose The Mummy and quite honestly, any bit of enjoyment I felt for it was due to the fact that I was vacationing in a foreign country.

(For those interested in my Japan adventures, scroll down to the end of this review!)

The eye thing was cool | Universal Pictures

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The Mummy strove to kick start Universal’s Dark Monster Universe by featuring Tom Cruise doing all the things that make Tom Cruise Tom Cruise. The end product results in Super Cruise teaming up with Jane Seymour after they’ve had sex once (and apparently fallen madly in love following it) and fighting an ancient force who I kept referring to as “Imhotep.” The film also stars Jake Johnson and Russell Crowe doing his best Dr. Strangelove impression. It is directed by Alex Kurtzman (People Like Us)

So I have certainly seen worse things in my life. Universal’s attempt at getting into the modern cinematic universe game unfortunately falls flat which is truly a shame because the premise of The Mummy is actually pretty interesting. I’m obviously aware that the iconically classic 1999 Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz-led film of the same name bares no cinematic connection with this one, however if there was some way to harness even half the fun & heart featured in The Mummy (1990) and shove it down the throat of 2017’s, I would’ve enjoyed it much more.

The Mummy | Universal Pictures

As I mentioned, 2017’s The Mummy is not the worst thing in the world to spend an afternoon watching. I can certainly tell the $125 million budget went toward the action set pieces and Tom Cruise’s attempt at being a roguish lovable scoundrel. These set pieces were visually pleasing and featured occasional bouts of humour which caused some nice sharp air being blown out of my nose. Sofia Boutella is easily the strongest aspect to the film, her performance as the mummy Ahmanet contained a (somewhat) clear motivation and during the sequences which asked for more out of her emotionally, she definitely went there. Virtually every other aspect, however, was a jumbled, cringey mess with an overabundance of expository flashbacks and so many goddamn jump scares the Paranormal Activity franchise probably sued.

I understand why Tom Cruise is cast in this, but for the love of Gods, I hate that he is cast in this.

We are beaten over the head with the idea that he is a character type I despise: the roguish and brazen wacky rascal who throws the rule book out of the window because RULES ARE FOR NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDS. Listen, if you’re in an ancient cave thing where you’re unsure what anything is or how valuable it has the potential to be, why not just take your weapon out and shoot at something… We don’t have time for being safe, damn it! Just shrug your shoulders and whip it out! While I love Cruise’s early works and actually enjoy the Ethan Hunt character in the Mission: Impossible films, The Mummy becomes unbearable at parts because of Tom Cruise. I get the foreign market appeal he brings and honestly, the film performed as well as it did because of Cruise’s name so I do not place any blame on the studio for making that creative decision… I can rightfully hate them for that decision but hey, studios gotta eat.

The secondary characters are serviceable but are really not that great either. Jake Johnston’s comical sidekick character from American Werewolf In London became mind-numbingly annoying as the film progressed and Russell Crowe who actually isn’t a terrible Jekyll/Hyde – He just kind of sleep walks his way through until the moment where SPOILER Hyde comes out and his constant need to beat himself out of it reminded me of a shitty impression of Peter Sellers’ legendary portrayal of Dr. Strangelove. END SPOILER

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb | Columbia Pictures

Annabelle Wallis… Man. She was given absolutely nothing to work with. I actually love her performance as Henry VIII’s third and most beloved wife, Jane Seymour in the Showtime series The Tudors. It wasn’t the most arduous of roles to prep for, however the chemistry she shared with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and most importantly, the sheer elegance she brought to that role still sticks with me even years after her character… departed (history spoiler: he didn’t behead Jane). Ever since then, I’ve been waiting for her to nab a role that showcases and challenges what she’s made of and this role as Dr. Damsel In Distress is simply not it. I don’t need every female character in an action movie to remind us that she’s an independent woman who don’t need any assistance because regardless how sharp your skills are, you may eventually need some form of help whenever a difficult situation arises. What I do need is for her to be treated like a human being whose hair and makeup become just a tad disarrayed when they’re in a car rolling down a hill.

If you take her character out of the film completely, virtually no form of story progression would occur because she’s used as that classic damsel who gets into trouble and oh look! Thank God our trusty handsome rogue is here to save her and progress the story! The entire final act comes slumping along because she consistently finds herself in need of assistance from Tom Cruise. You know, I do appreciate that her character was seemingly not having any of Tom’s shit during the beginning of the film, it stunned me when she actually stood up for herself when this dork of a man was running his mouth rather than her finding it endearing. Here I go, bringing up 1999 again but Rachel Weisz’s character of Evie in that film served a purpose beyond being O’Connell’s love interest. Their bond gradually developed as the film progressed, her intelligence was as vital a part to her as her beauty was and holy hell, was that beauty beautimous.

Side note: If you’re familiar with the Roanoke season of American Horror Story, you’ll know that one of the common complaints to come out of that season was virtually every scene where Queen Sarah Paulson‘s character would scream out “MATT! MAAAAAAAAAAATT!” Since her character was seemingly in danger at every turn. We’d constantly be hit with a screaming “MATT!” which eventually turned into a meme itself. The Mummy does a great job in containing its own MATT with Wallis’ character screaming out “NICK! NIIIIIIIIIICK!” at every single turn.

Alright let me wrap this up here, there were moments when I had to plug my ears a bit because the fast paced music suddenly slowed down and I knew a jump scare was imminent. I don’t want shitty jump scares in my action movies. I don’t want shitty jump scares in my horror movies. I think every film should be allotted one shitty jump scare and then it tries to find a way of making the movie scary without thrusting its erect audio into my ear drums. There are also some logical inconsistencies toward the final battle I couldn’t shake and if the Dark Universe is going full steam ahead with their already planned slate (STOP DOING THAT, MOVIE STUDIOS. STOP PLANNING YOUR 10 MOVIES WHEN THE FIRST ONE HASN’T EVEN GONE INTO PRODUCTION) they must try to do as much revamping as they can to avoid another gorgeously empty shell of a picture.

[Credit: Universal Pictures]

If you’re looking for a film with a great performance by Sofia Boutella and want to roll your eyes while watching CG porn, check out The Mummy (2017).

The Mummy receives 2/5 Matt Damon heads.

featured image credit: Universal Pictures

Japan 2017

As mentioned, my brother and I visited the amazingly stupendous country of Japan for about 29 days. The cities we visited included Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa Island, Nara, Kyoto, Kobe and I’m pretty sure that’s all. Major highlights ranged from feeding deer at Nara Park to feeding our faces with some of the finest cuisine I have ever had in my life.

The quick slideshow below shows a few pictures taken throughout our visit. Among the captivating places we visited, we journeyed to where Bob whispered a final goodbye to Charlotte at the Shibuya Crossing and also endured a sweltering day at Universal Studios Japan. If you have the means and are interested in stepping into a world of pure inebriation, make your next vacation be Japan.

6/5 Damon heads.

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The Mummy (2017): Brendan Fraser Deserves Better Than This (Review… In Japan!) For roughly the entire month of August, my brother and I traveled all around Japan seeing the sights and scarfing down on some incredible food.

#Brendan Fraser #movie reviews #Movies #Rachel Weisz #tom cruise

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