#but i think it would be more effective with the doa dynamic

[neonganymede]

Last night, I talked myself out of writing a one shot of the doa playing a horror game. Today, however~?

#I'm sleep deprived and capable of making bad choices #i deserve a fun doa one shot. as a treat. #the idea would work with skk too #but i think it would be more effective with the doa dynamic #the three of them playing decision based horror would be so chaotic

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

how would you do a percy jackson adaptaion?

okay, so I know this is a controversial opinion right off the bat: I really don’t think it should be an animated series.

A large part of the appeal of the series is that it’s a fantasy series set very very firmly in reality. Literally, apart from the camps, you could go to every location hit in the books. Riordan mentions specific streets, buildings and landmarks, and that was cool when I first read them. I remember being a kid and waiting for him to set a scene in a place near where I lived! I remember trips to New York and being able to envision an epic war happening in the streets. So I think any adaption needs to be live action just to keep that same feeling alive, while I’m not knocking on animation, I just feel like taking the story out of real life would make it loose a little of the charm. Like, the scene where Manhattan is completely frozen in time? It would be haunting to see that in real life, but I feel like it would be less impactful if it didn’t…you know…look real? The series should be done in a way that makes you truly feel like you could just turn a corner and walk straight into a snake woman going about her day. 

Now: another large part of the appeal of the series is how funny it is, but a lot of that…is Percy’s inner monologue. He doesn’t actually voice most of it, there was even a book where Annabeth described him as being quiet. So, I think the best way to work around this: make it Interview With A Demigod. 

Imagine it’s got an interview with a vampire-esque setup- and this even works because within the riordanverse, the books canonically exist because Percy sat down with a ‘camp scribe’ and had his quests recorded. So, like, this isn’t even entirely out of left field. But just imagine, a college-aged, maybe a little older Percy, I can see it so clearly in my head, he’s wearing a sweatshirt that at first glance looks like it says NYU but a trained eye will see it actually says NRU for a camp jupiter easter egg, he’s sitting in some dinky little diner (maybe it can even be a monster donut or something with a clever greek myth related name) with a guy who’s recording the conversation on some old-ass tape recorder that keeps acting up but they can’t record on a phone because of the whole technology thing. Every now and then it’ll cut back to them to get some great Percy thoughts out there. They open with older Percy saying the ‘look, I didn’t wanna be a halfblood’ and then explaining where he was when the whole mess started. Once he get’s to “was I a troubled kid?” the screen fades from older Percy to 12 year old Percy getting in a fight with Nancy and her gang, and the voice over says the ‘Yeah, you could say that’ part as we see him get threatened by the principal to behave on the field trip. Boom, we’ve got an opening. Lowkey….I’m seeing Jordan Fisher as older Percy, but I’m not 100% married to the idea. 

And before anyone tries to argue that showing an older Percy would spoil he’s not gonna die in last olympian- like, reading the books, we all knew he wasn’t going to die. It was a first person narrative and he was consistently speaking in past tense lmao like we Knew he was gonna make it. We still enjoyed the series. It won’t ruin anything.

I want part of the score of the adaptation to be instrumental versions of songs from the musical, I think that could be a sweet nod to that team. 

They really need to nail camp halfblood. I know that goes without saying, but in order to keep the pacing of the story decent we can’t spend as much time falling in love with it like we got to with the book. The book is like, 24 chapters and the quest starts at chapter 12- for a movie or tv show, that’s just gonna feel like it’s dragging. So, the insanity of the camp needs to smack you in the face right away, and then it needs to endear itself to the viewers quickly after that. Don’t try to ease the viewers (or Percy) into the mythology is real thing, rip it off like a bandaid. He’s on his way to meet Chiron and Mr. D for the first time and even if he’s not comprehending what he’s seeing, there’s nature spirits and harpies all around going about their day. Hestia waves at him and then disappears into the flames. Hecate kids can be seen casting a spell on the porch of the Hermes cabin. The Stolls are seen pranking some Aphrodite kids. He sees someone surely die on the climbing wall but then you hear a faint ‘I’m okay!’. The Apollo kids put a rhyming curse on another cabin. Pure chaos all before he gets the ‘so, gods are real’ speech. And then after that…show how warm Luke is to him at the cabin and at dinner. Show the kids all goofing off at the campfire and really make it clear that they’re children. Show the strawberry fields rolling in the wind and Percy sitting on the beach. The whole couple weeks where he’s searching for powers and learning greek and latin with Annabeth can be a montage. Make it clear how hurt and scared he is when he finds out he needs to leave.

It needs to really get you feeling how Percy’s feeling, every laugh, every tear, every moment of fear or confusion needs to shine clear through. Like…think of Spider-Man Homecoming, the Washington monument scene. All things considered, it’s not the most high-stakes scene we’ve ever seen in that franchise, and when it cuts to the kids in the elevator, they’re worried but not quite freaking out, but that scene feels very high stress to watch because the movie is good at getting the viewers to feel what Peter feels. A Percy Jackson adaptation needs a touch like that, because Percy’s a very emotional kid and that’s what a lot of the scenes hinge on.

Lowkey- I’d love it if the casts of both the previous movies and the musical had cameos or bit parts (the movie cast did Nothing Wrong, it was the rest of that team). It’d be hilarious to see, like, Jake Abel as the owner of the poodle, or Logan Lerman as Older Percy and the reporter’s waiter that keeps trying to get in on the conversation, or Brandon T. Jackson as a satyr who’s still stuck grooving out in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Kristen Stokes as a nature spirit, Chris as one of the ghosts stuck in the waiting room of DOA Records, just like any of those casts having small parts would be fun and sweet. 

There should be a lot of easter eggs for the bigger riordanverse. Promotions in the background for the new Tristan McLean movie. Gabe’s got a true crime documentary about the missing Grace children playing during his poker game. Mr. D is reading a paper about Rachel Dare’s father’s newest project. At some point while they’re still in New York they pass the Kane family’s mansion or whatever it was called. Annabeth keeps a picture of little her and Magnus on her nightstand. The barest of hints about the Triumvirate. Seeing kids in camp jupiter gear in some background shots, just out of notice of our main characters but implying the camps are going through similar problems (BITCH….if we got a titan’s curse adaptation…and we had a shot of Thalia in the foreground….but in the background we saw a blond boy in purple with a golden sword….well I would simply loose my Goddamn mind).

And show us how easily the mist lets things blend in, too- like, everyone thinks ‘Monster Donuts’ is just a normal chain, it’s just on an average street block, but if Percy looks through the window he can see who’s behind the counter. Show someone swindling some guys in a park and you have to look twice to realize he’s a gegeines. Like…how people are still trying to find all the background ghosts in haunting of hill house. I would LOVE to see a bunch of background monsters and mythical beings just going about their day as much as the mortals are while the gang’s questing. 

The effects need to be fun. The whole story needs to be fun, but one weird thing about the past movies are that like…in their attempt to make it gritty, none of the fantastical things happening on screen actually felt that exciting. We need bright colors and interesting choices, consistently cool action shots, a liveliness that makes you feel like you’re in the center of the action. I have absolutely no doubt Disney easily has enough funds to pull off great effects.

The characters need to be….in character lmao. Annabeth needs to be cocky and bratty with the skill set to justify it. Percy needs to be a sweetheart who pretends to be hardened because that’s what people assume he’s like. Grover needs to have dry humor and a Too Old For This Shit attitude whenever percabeth start bickering. Luke needs to be nice and friendly but in a specific way that you can look back after the betrayal and see he was trying to groom everyone. Sally needs to be loving, protective and strong. Chiron needs to feel defeated and determined at the same time. Mr. D needs to….be Stanley Tucci lmao

Also, I’d love if the adaptation could expand more on things that got brushed along in the books- Percy and Beckendorf’s friendship, Silena and Clarisse’s dynamic, make Nico’s crush on Percy a little more obvious, give Rachel some more development. One thing that haunts me about the books is Sally never found out that Gabe hit Percy. Absolutely they don’t need to make the abuse explicit, but I also personally feel like a lot of Percy’s mindsets throughout the series are somewhat a result of Gabe, and I’d like if that got, you know, acknowledged. Maybe in the scene where he figures out Gabe abuses Sally he could say ‘does he hit you too?’ or something to that effect. They could also go more into detail about Annabeth’s family, give Zoe some more depth….like the possibilities I’m screaming.

Okay this is already long and I’m getting tired but I can so clearly see a great adaptation in my mind….Disney please come through….It’s what we deserve…. 

#percy jackson #disney #rick riordan #pjo #hoo #toa #asks #molly mumbles

[aion-rsa]

Shameless Season 11 Episode 7 Review: Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake

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This Shameless review contains spoilers.

Shameless Season 11 Episode 7

“Why do you still all live together? You obviously hate each other.”

A tenet of Shameless that’s defined the series even more than its Chicago setting or lower class social strata is that the dysfunctional Gallagher family all live together in one crowded house. There are nearly ten people living in the Gallagher household at any given time and these close quarters are metonymic of the love-hate relationship between the Gallaghers that’s at the core of the series. 

This cramped lifestyle is uncomfortable and limiting in many ways, but it’s allowed them to become stronger and closer in the process. Shameless has previously handled this living situation as an enduring badge of honor for the Gallaghers, but “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” is the first episode that wonders if it’s actually codependent behavior and questions if the Gallaghers should still be living together after these eleven seasons. This important question causes different reactions in the entire family, which results in one of Shameless’ strongest episodes of its final season.

The biggest conflict that drives nearly all of the activity in “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” is Lip’s selfish proposal to sell the Gallagher home and the resistance that he faces from everyone else. It makes sense that this idea would have extremely limited appeal to anyone, so it’s reassuring to see the various Gallaghers come back at Lip with unenthusiastic responses, because why wouldn’t they! 

It’s actually kind of sickening to see Lip try to buy out his family’s votes with meager favors like preparing their favorite food. This is a major decision that’s going to change the rest of their lives, not a vote over what’s being watched for movie night. Digestible favors aren’t the solution here and Lip should really just listen to his family instead of focusing on the right way to flip them.

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Lip’s unscrupulous tactics become cruelly manipulative when he tries to sway the younger members of the family, like Carl, with the potential in their $20,000 buyout. That’s hardly enough for Carl to upgrade from the life that he currently has, especially after he just decked out the basement and made his living quarters more comfortable than they’ve ever been. It’s rough to watch Lip aggressively bully his family into immediately voting on the matter and then being resentful when the consensus doesn’t side in his favor. The fact that nobody else votes to sell the house should give Lip enough of an indication that this is something that his family isn’t interested in and that he should find another way to solve his housing and financial problem.

I was concerned over Liam’s future if the Gallagher house disappears and so it’s satisfying to see this episode explore Liam’s fear over this exact situation. Surely some family member would step up and allow him to live with them, but the fact that he doesn’t consider that and thinks that he’s on his own speaks volumes for how he currently views his family. He’s more comfortable with Kevin and Vee than any Gallagher. Honestly, Lip should volunteer to house Liam until he finds something else, considering that this is all his fault, but Liam could do better than them at this point.

No Gallagher is more opposed to Lip’s suggestion to sell the house than Frank. He sequesters himself and grapples with the possibility of losing this symbol that’s been with the Gallaghers for generations in a much more philosophical manner than everyone else. Frank has been possessive over his territory and this very home in the past, but it’s always been for selfish reasons whereas his motivation here is surprisingly tender and poetic. Now, that’s not necessarily the reason to keep a house, but it’s a much purer motivation than Lip’s reasons for wanting to sell it. 

Frank’s continued to watch his family grow up and move beyond him and this house is the one constant that’s been present in the majority of his life. This means even more to Frank now after his dementia diagnosis and he finds more of his world slipping away from him. In many ways, Frank needs to keep this house and this episode highlights that in a manner that’s graceful and natural.

The rest of Frank’s material in this episode is quite haunting even if he does playfully manipulate others with his fresh diagnosis as a new tool in his arsenal of cons. “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” finds another clever way to juxtapose Shameless’ final season with some of its earliest exploits. There are several installments where Frank has gone on a massive bender and spends the episode in a stupor as he attempts to find his way back home. 

There’s never been an element of fear in those past excursions, but it’s now genuinely frightening to see Frank out of his element in some foreign place as he struggles to remain composure and figure out where he belongs. Shameless is already getting a lot of mileage out of this and it’s making its limited time with Frank’s diagnosis work as opposed to a whole season where he’s lost and mentally in bad shape.

Frank barely manages to get home in one piece due to his failing memory, but new drama with Sandy makes Debbie learn something that she wishes that she could forget. More of Sandy’s guarded past comes home to roost and now there’s a child that’s also in the equation. Debbie actually manages to create a modicum of empathy for her character as she emphasizes the importance of not shirking the responsibility of parenthood. 

It’s helpful for Debbie to display some humanizing qualities in an episode where the rest of the Gallaghers explicitly shout, “We just hate Debbie,” but she quickly turns the situation around on herself by how she handles her feelings. It’s incredibly inappropriate for Debbie to get involved in Sandy’s custody battle and consciously ignore what both parents and the child are requesting in this situation. Debbie’s erratic behavior is all the response of her intense abandonment issues from Monica and even Fiona, to some extent. Debbie seems resistant in the area even if it’s something that the audience has been aware of for some time.

The other major relationship that this episode deconstructs is the recent encounter between Carl and Tish, which begins as DOA on account of the sexual assault component of it all, but takes a surprising turn by the end of everything. Carl lets Tish down in a gentle and caring manner that’s actually mature and seems like it will be premature, albeit responsible, conclusion to their time together. This is Shameless, so “mature” is a word that’s typically out of the show’s vocabulary. Initially, Carl’s stress over this scenario explodes in a humorous and inappropriate display at work, but then matters take a more realistic approach to this relationship. 

There’s a very sitcom-like aesthetic to a lot of “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake’s” storylines and like in most sitcoms, Carl and Tish’s problem is a case where clear communication would have solved everything. I actually love how this plot plays out where Tish is a decent, accomplished person who has valid excuses for all of her behavior. Similarly, Carl never initially accuses her of rape because he’s equally trying to act like a gentleman and minimize any unnecessary conflict in their goodbye. It’s a simple, yet surprising, resolution where Carl is actually the wild one and Tish is completely normal. It’s a welcome change of pace and it provides a nice taste of Carl’s awkward transition into adult relationships now that he’s growing up and entered this seemingly more responsible stage of his life.

Ironically, consistency has been good for Carl, but it’s something that’s been sporadic in this season of Shameless. The group dynamic in episodes has occasionally been unbalanced or felt unnatural, but there’s a very comfortable energy around the Gallaghers in this episode. Characters like Lip and Debbie become antagonistic and cause ripples throughout the rest of the family, but these moments of tension are explored in larger group scenes that benefit from the complete family’s dynamic. Mickey not even say something in a scene, but the fact that he’s there and offers an exasperated eye roll to Ian or Carl accomplishes so much. The beginning of this season struggled in this area, but it’s been a triumph across the past few installments and will hopefully continue until the season’s end.

This is a natural and effortless Shameless episode not just in terms of its character dynamics, but also its sense of humor. This installment is easily one of the funnier entries of the season and lands some legitimately hilarious gags. It’s always appreciated when Shameless can accentuate its strong comedic skills, especially since lately it’s embraced melodrama and quirky scenarios over direct jokes. 

“Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” is an effective reminder that this show can still be quite humorous and the moment where Frank is a bar that’s not the Alibi and gets tripped up over a Vee doppelganger made me laugh out loud. It also might be the last joke that’s made which stems from Frank’s dementia if the subject matter grows more intense on that front.  

Shameless embraces this lighter comedic energy the most with Ian and Mickey’s storyline, where they try to acquire some gay friends for themselves. This is fantastic right from the jump and it’s such a pleasant and affable storyline that it almost feels out of place in Shameless, especially eleven seasons in. Mickey struggles to make something as simple as a smile seem natural and it only gets more ridiculous as these two put themselves out there. 

Mickey and Ian both generate an awkward energy and it’s a major wakeup call to just how atypical the Gallaghers and Milkoviches are in contrast to the rest of Chicago. The craziest detail here is that Mickey becomes the more popular of the duo in the end and it’s a highlight to see him trading barbs and doing pile-ons as Ian tries to collect himself. Ian and Mickey’s behavior in their post-married life has been a bright spot in this season and this is the easily most enjoyable of their storylines so far. The two have been in such heightened scenarios that there’s a real charm to them doing something this normal and mundane. 

Once everything comes to a head in “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake,” Lip reaches a very dangerous place and he practically has a mental breakdown over the avalanche of selfish and misguided decisions that he’s made this season. Lip has been responsible for some seriously awful things, but “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” concludes with behavior that is so out of line and on par with any of Fiona and Frank’s worst behavior. A reckoning is coming and it might be too late for Lip to get a happy ending by the time that all of this is over. 

All of Lip’s foolishness crashes together in such a disastrous manner that you practically expect the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme to kick in. The most important thing that Lip needs to do is just face reality and know when to tap out rather than continue to dig himself deeper. This behavior was problematic when Lip was a single self-destructive alcoholic, but now he has a child and life partner and it’s not tenable any longer. Just live with her family, dude!

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“Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” is a satisfying episode that greatly benefits from a smart script that’s heavy in humor. This season of Shameless has gotten a little away from itself, but this episode turns to more grounded scenarios that are rooted in the characters’ backstories. It’s exactly what the series needs right now and as Frank loses track of who he is in a mental capacity and Lip loses sight of himself based on how far he’s fallen, it’s reassuring that Shameless has found itself and remembers what makes it work as it heads into the Chicago sunset.

The post Shameless Season 11 Episode 7 Review: Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[trellanyx]

Hiya! So i started watching Broadchurch bc of you (and sad scruffy david tennant tbh) and i jUST FINISHED SEASON 1 OMG ELLIE DID NOT DESERVE THE BS SHE WENT THROUGH I FUCKING KNEW SHE WAS TOO CLOSE TOO THE CASE IM AKSSJSJASKW anyways, i read that s2 didnt really live up to expectations from s1?? I was wondering what are your thoughts on it??? Can i watch s3 without watching s2??

Aaaay, my first conversion! I’m thrilled! And yes, Ellie deserves all the hugs after s1. As for s2 not living up to expectations, well, it depends on what your expectations are.

S2 is all about fallout, not only with Danny’s case, but Sandbrook too. It’s about the different and sometimes messy ways people cope with trauma, it’s about facing your demons (sometimes literally), it’s about intent vs perception, truth vs justice. It’s about the different ways people find closure (or don’t). It is, to me, an incredibly human season.

I loved it.

My sister hated it.

I’m going to put the rest of my thoughts under a cut for season 1 spoilers, BUT NO SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2. The tldr version is that I think s2 is worth watching, and it provides important context for s3, but you don’t have to watch it to follow along with the storyline.

Season 2 focuses on two things: Joe’s trial, and Alec trying to reopen the Sandbrook case. While Sandbrook is a delightful mystery a la season 1, this season focuses more on the characters and their interpersonal relationships. I’ll break down the reasons people like and dislike it, and you can decide for yourself. Again, I promise there are NO SPOILERS.

Dislike

So it’s no secret that the relationship between the Millers and Latimers took a HUGE blow when Joe confessed. If you didn’t like Ellie going through shit in season 1, then you might not like season 2 because this gets ratcheted up to 11. How could you not know, Ellie asked Susan, and now it’s her that has to answer the question. If you’re hoping for a lot of people to start off in Ellie’s corner at the beginning of the season, you’ll be disappointed.

 Joe’s trial is as brutal and hard to watch as you’d expect. The prosecution and the defense are damn good at their jobs, and it’s a no-holds-barred fight all the way down to the verdict. If you don’t like the idea of anyone defending Joe and putting a spotlight on everyone else’s dirty laundry, you may not like s2.

Sandbrook is a messy case. We already know this from Alec’s confession in s1, and seeing the effects of what it did to his mental and physical health. We cannonball down a rabbit hole as Alec tries to breathe life back into a case that is deemed DOA by everyone else. Sandbrook is a toxic and bitter case for everyone involved, and no one is anything less than 50 shades of gray (sorry, I had to). You may find the new characters intriguing, or you may find them too unlikable to bother with.

Everyone is going through grief and shock thanks to the trauma of Danny’s case and Joe’s reveal. They all process these feelings in different ways. Not all of them are sympathetic.

Like

No one acts like they do without reason. You may not like the actions, but the motivations are understandable and painfully, beautifully human.

Alec’s backstory is fleshed out and it’s heartbreaking in a way only the sweetest angst can be. You know the kind. Watching how much he cares, how hard he’s trying, what he went through and is willing to go through to get justice for Pippa and Lisa will make you love him even more than you do. He also goes through some great character development.

Ellie’s strength through this entire nightmare is a goddamn treasure. Even when she’s in pain, even when she’s screaming and crying, even when it feels like she’s utterly alone, she never stops fighting and she never sacrifices who she is, never turns into something twisted by bitterness and pain like Alec did. You’ll be so proud of her by the time it’s over.

Alec and Ellie’s relationship also gets development, and the power dynamic becomes more balanced. Alec softens, Ellie hardens. Even when every other character has turned their backs, Ellie and Alec are there for each other 100% of the way. He’s a support system for her, she’s a fighter for him. Alec is clearer about his respect and trust for Ellie, and Ellie gives as good as she gets when he starts on with his shit, in a way she didn’t (and couldn’t) in season 1. They’re a well-oiled machine by season 3, but it’s season 2 that assembles the parts.

Sandbrook is a good mystery. Whether you like it as much as Danny’s case is a matter of personal preference, but imo it’s a good story with good twists.

LGBT content. ;) Though for the sake of keeping expectations realistic, it stays subtext up until the finale. But what a finale.

I strongly recommend giving season 2 a try. It all comes down to preference. Like I mentioned above, the things I loved about it were the things my sister hated about it. You’ll also start of season 3 with a much stronger foundation than you would if you skipped 2. Definitely gonna be some moments of, “oh shit, when and how did that happen?”

If you want, message me off anon and I can tell you the s2 spoilers you need to know going into s3. But I 100% recommend watching s2 in its entirety. I wasn’t disappointed, and hopefully you won’t be either.

#broadchurch #asks #anonymous #my meta #i'm rewatching it with my friends and falling in love with it all over again #please give it a chance #i 100% understand why people either didn't like it or felt let down #let's face it s1 is a tough act to follow #but i think that's part of the problem #if people go in expecting s2 to be like s1 then yeah #it falls short #because s2 is very much its own thing #no less quality (again imo) but very different #s1 is about giving characters a problem #s2 is about how they handle it #some do it better than others #but humanity and trauma are never a clean line forward #and i wouldn't trade ANYONE'S behavior for anything #even if it's sometimes unlikable

[imdrunkandreviewingshit-blog]

Drunk Rant: Death Note

(Disclaimer: This review was recorded verbally, then transcribed. Drunk Idiot Reviews felt the need to revise much of the review for clarity’s sake, but the spirit and much of the language is kept intact.)

SPOILERS ABOUND

On Sunday night, I sat down with my good buddies on the various couches in front of the television. We mixed lemonade, vodka, and limoncello, because we are broke young adults who need to find simple ways to get drunk. And once I was at least seven or eight drinks in, we decided to watch Death Note.

Death Note is the latest original Netflix film, directed by Adam Wingard and starring Nat Wolff, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley, and Willem Dafoe. This movie was released in 2017 on what I assume the 28th of August. The movie is an adaptation of a Japanese light novel and focuses on a young man who controls the fate of anyone that he writes the name of into a notebook, leading to their death. This is Netflix’s latest attempt to break into the film market, which they have succeeded in at multiple attempts with Beasts of No Nation and Okja. However, this latest attempt at an an original film, a well-marketed film, is a failure.

Holy shit, what is this movie?

Before I get into this, let me tell you that I’m a big fan of the original Death Note series. I love…no, I won’t say I love the series. I very much enjoy the first half of the original Death Note. The dynamic between Light and L, both of whom seek their own form of justice, was very intriguing to me and made me really fall in love with it. Even if there were certain questionable elements that come along with the territory of anime. This movie really fails to adapt anything I feel is intriguing or interesting about the series. I don’t generally like to compare adaptations to the source material, as I feel directors should be encouraged to create their own work with the source as inspiration, but I feel it’s imperative to do when the movie is just this bad of a misfire.

Let’s start with Nat Wolff’s Light. In the original series, Light is your perfect student. He’s smart, charming, handsome; everyone loves him. And that’s kinda what makes him interesting, right? He has it all but he has that narcissism inside him that makes him sure he knows what is best for the world. And then he gets something that allows him to shape the world in his image. And for that reason, you really fall in love with him, though he’s a shitty person. Then L comes in with his strong moral code, he’s a genius detective who also wants to catch all criminals in his way. He just does it in a much more acceptable fashion. And that’s personally why L is one of my favorite anime characters, but I don’t indulge too much in anime because anime is fucking trash (Drunk Idiot Reviews would like to remind readers that this is not purely the opinion of the author but is indeed a verified fact, yet the writer does still watch anime). In this film, Nat Wolff imbues Light with a complete sense of unlikability. Light is a dork, Light is ugly, Light doesn’t really stand up for the common man outside of one time in the beginning.. He starts off with a vendetta against the person who kills his mother, but as soon as Light kills the murderer, this motivation is quickly forgotten and unjustified. It’s simply not enough to make you care about his mission statement or believe his convictions. It seems—no, it doesn’t even seem, he IS an edgy child who feels like he has a better sense of justice because he is a “high thinking individual” or something. And you know what? I don’t even blame Nat Wolff for this. I don’t think Nat Wolff is a  good actor, I’ll be real, but the writing is what fails him. Light is an edgy teen who shops at Hot Topic two out of the seven days of the week, and he should be treated as such. He should not be sympathetic in any way, shape, or form, and it’s kinda disturbing to me that this movie feels like we should somehow be rooting for him. So when one of the main forces in the Light vs. L conflict is this bad, how can the film even hope to live up to its source?

That said, one of the standouts is Lakeith Stanfield’s L. Stanfield imbues him with an honest feeling of what he was in the source, a detective with a righteous sense of justice, but the script fails him again. His sense of justice isn’t incorruptible; he leaks the names of low level criminals as bait for Light, and the film actually leads you to believe that L is going to kill Light in a very poor cliffhanger. Now, Lakeith Stanfield is a great actor, he’s wonderful in Atlanta, and he’s good here, but it just doesn’t work.

The biggest problem with this movie, over the script, over the acting, over the fucking sophomoric cinematography that makes you feel like you’re about to topple over with the amount of Dutch angles, is the pacing. The pacing in this movie is breakneck and is so herky-jerky that you might get whiplash. The transitions from-- I mean, in the first fifteen minutes, Light is going from a regular student to killing massive amounts of people. There’s no moment of hesitation, there’s no sense of guilt, he just fucking embraces it.

Part of the reason he is so receptive to it is because it’s foreplay. It’s the relationship between Light and Mia, it’s that he’s trying to impress her, and it’s working. Mia is a sociopath that seems to get off on seeing people die. He wins her over and makes her fall in love with him by killing some bully in front of her. It’s just really fucking gross. I won’t say I was disgusted but it made me pity Light. He’s a fucking loser with no problems, he has a halfway decent life, but whines and feels like he’s disadvantaged. And you know what, there was a chance for this script to make everyone more sympathetic, but they try to shove in almost a whole season of the anime plus their own original shit into one 90 minute movie, and it’s just laughable to me. The tone is really strange too. It really felt the need to amp up the horror elements, but this wasn’t a story that needed it or ever delivered on even one scare. As such, the gore, the music, the shots, they all feel just like useless toppings on a shit cake.

I like Adam Wingard. Until the release of this movie, I was defending Wingard, I wasn’t put off by Blair Witch, but this is even worse. And now it makes me question Wingard’s ability outside of satirical movies. Death Note almost feels like he wanted to satirize the original film by putting it in a modern western context, giving us a more typical troubled protagonist, and maybe kind of highlighting how enamored we are with our own judgments, but the only joke here is his own movie. 

I will say there were a few positives to the movie. Willem Dafoe IS Ryuk. Willem Dafoe is Satan to me purely on a looks and acting basis, and he works so well here. Ryuk is much more of a tempter in this than in the original, but I dig this interpretation of him. The mix of practical effects and CGI makes him such an incredible presence on the screen, and he is almost always clinging to the shadows. There are plenty of scenes where you won’t even notice him until you see the eyes or some spiky shit in the background.  Let me tell you, I think it’s pretty damn beautiful.

But unfortunately, one and a half characters don’t redeem an entire cast of terrible performances. I really don’t want to see Netflix try to do anything else with this.

You know what? Death Note wrote its own name in the Death Note. And the time for its perish was August 25th at about 8:00 pm or whenever it came out. This thing was DOA. See it if you’re drunk and like the series, it’s worth laughing at Nat Wolff’s weird ass screaming. Otherwise, don’t waste your time.

#death note #netflix #nat wolff #lakeith stanfield #willem dafoe #light #L #movies #film #movie review #bad movies #adam wingard #drunk idiot reviews #drunk idiot #film review #reviews #rant #sorry for the rant

[sportsminorityreport]

Is the Alliance of American Football DOA in the shadow of the XFL?

I read an article by Daniel Kaplan of the New York Sports Business Journal that reached many of the same conclusions I reached in my last article on the two upstart leagues, just, as one might expect, from a less wide-ranging more immediate analysis of the perception of those businesses in the business world.

It was quite a good read with real meat in the article unlike most “Do we really need another football league? I don’t want to cover it!! Let me cry about in public!” articles that are the norm, but still IMO an article in dire need of other perspectives, so let me weigh in on it. 

The XFL has a team in the NYC DMA. That means the XFL can have a swanky meet and greet in NYC, invite the press in to meet city officials from their announced cities and really blow the press away.

That’s what happened.  And the XFL will always have the ability to beat the AAF to death with this advantage. 

The XFL is in New York and LA. They control the “upstart league” narrative in the main Markets, which means they control that narrative in the national media.

In the article, a former minority owner of the Boston Breakers is quoted opining on how the cities selected make it appear the XFL is much better funded than the AAF.

It does.

The guy may be a friend of McMahon and very well  may be a plant to get that idea out there, but that doesn’t change the fact that that is view of anyone with a media background and some familiarity with competitive football leagues.  Unlike the AAF, McMahon is bringing NFL cities to the TV negotiations table. 

That perspective will be very, very damaging for the AAF as they wrangle for funding. Their sales pitch can no longer be effectively presented in a straightforward manner.

It “looks like” the XFL is going to kick their ass.

The AAF says the plan is to sink in $850M into their league over the next 5 years, but there is little indication anywhere near that amount of money has been secured. That’s where this was really damaging to the AAF. This is in many ways an attack on their fundraising ability, by bringing the AAF’s viability into question. 

The AAF can’t just say to an investor, “back me selling my apples” and expect success when it is plainly apparent the AAF is selling small green apples vs. a big, well known, presumed well financed player selling what they assume will be gorgeous red apples (may not be).

Any analyst, hired by an investor who doesn’t want to invest on purely emotional terms, will reach similar conclusions.

The AAF isn’t done before it has started.  Even their ability to secure investors on reasonable terms isn’t anywhere near totally gone, but they will need to modify their sales pitch in light of this and similar future articles out of the major metro areas that will be read by the business community that suggest the AAF is a bad investment.

The article goes on to note the XFL hired a research firm and has a report that suggests football fans were “more passionate about football” in NFL markets.

Now that is total bullshit as anyone knows who follows big time college football.

You really want to convince me that your average Dallas Cowboys fan is more passionate than your average Alabama Crimson Tide fan?  If so, I am going to pronounce your report total bullshit.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the XFL hired a notable firm to reach this conclusion and that information was disseminated to the business community in an article that any investor looking at the AAF is likely to bookmark and read over and over.

Perception is reality as they say...

(I do want to throw out that the whole concept of “where more passionate fans exist” is a total crap argument from the context of these leagues, who really are ---from my perspective --- blowing the front end of that.  The argument is a red herring to feed to potential AAF investors, potential fans of an upstart league, and media sources...... It also is a nice back massage to media and investors living in the large metro areas... “Who are the most passionate football fans in the world?  Oh you are, you little big city cuties!”...People like positive reinforcement.)

Should the XFL course correct a bit and actually draw crowds that approach the higher end of their likely reasonable window, they could outdraw the AAF even if the AAF had a shockingly strong start.  Afterall, Is it easier to put 30,000 butts into seats in a city of 4 Million or in a city of 600,000? 

If you draw 15,000 to see XFL games in DC vs. the AAF drawing 14,000 to see games in Birmingham (a much smaller city) which fans are really more passionate?

“Fan Passion levels” is a total BS argument that is ultimately irrelevant as presented. (Now passion absolutely matters in merchandise sales.... but the long and short of the whole “passionate fans” argument is that passion for a football team is earned over time.  

Just stating that passionate football fans exist in an area means nothing if they aren’t passionate towards your product.  (How well did passion work for the Ohio Glory of the WLAF?  How did it work for the Chicago Blitz of the USFL?)

The XFL also announced it’s plan to hire quarterbacks in the next quarter for up to $300K annually, build the teams, coaching staffs, and marketing efforts around them, and work the players for a full year prior to opening play.

There is a lot there.

What the XFL is doing in terms of basic direction there is very smart. (It actually somewhat parallels my own previously mentioned plan to take on the NFL.)

I think they aren’t going to be nearly as successful as they hope with sales as their strategy is currently laid out to the press.

But I think where they will have a lot of success is beating down the AAF with that strategy. 

If you were a bit of a minor name QB who couldn’t make an NFL roster and weren’t good enough to start in the CFL, would you rather be playing for peanuts in the AAF or for $200K a year with a roster, scheme, and coaching staff built around you? 

Which offers you more of a chance to shine --- the AAF model with NFL reject coaches demanding you conform to their ways or the XFL model that looks likely to build a system around you in which you have had success in the past?

The AAF QB pool has some talent, but little name brand recognition.  With the XFL’s announcement, that dynamic is not likely to change anytime soon.  

That will hurt the AAF.

Finally the XFL announced that unlike the AAF, they would not define themselves as a developmental league for the NFL.  This was an immensely smart move.

It is not the same as saying, “we are going to compete with the NFL” but it is the closest thing to saying that since the original XFL.

There is a value in terms of potential fan acquisition for everything you say about your league.  Let me throw out some made up numbers to explain what I mean.

If you say you are playing pro(-ish) football.... maybe 1% of football fans will listen to you.  If you play in the fall, that number might jump to 4%. If you play in the spring, it might stay at 1%.  

If you say you are a developmental league, that number might stay at 1% as that basically says to the fan “We don’t have any money.  You may not have ever heard of these players because we aren’t going to be getting the best collegiate playmakers or really anyone who is likely to stick on a pro-roster, we are going to be getting players who physically look the most like they might develop into NFL players down the road.”  It is hard to get excited about that product because it cuts off both your college fans and your pro fans.  Additionally, all your best players who interest the fans are not likely to stick around.

It you say you aren’t a developmental league, maybe you gain a shot at another 3% of the total football fanbase.  That statement says that you intend to try to keep your best players around. It gives you credibility with some fans (like me) on the front end and makes it more likely you retain fans from season to season as their favorite players return for future seasons.

(Now most alternative leagues fall short of saying they intend to compete with the NFL for similar reasons.  That appears to be the XFL’s position. They think if they say that,  they will lose more of the potential pool than they gain as a chunk of fans will think the league leadership is clueless and their business plan is suicidal.  I think that is a major mistake in thinking.  There is a general lack of respect for the efforts of spring football leagues.  I think having a clearly visible spine helps a lot more in that regard than it hurts. I think financially you should come to compete or you should keep your money semi-safe in stocks because you are going to lose your shirt in football.)

Now none of this means the XFL will definitely succeed and the AAF will definitely fail. 

You can almost hear a cockyness echoing through the words of the XFL in this article.  It may be a little early for that level of confidence. If the AAF has a PR man worth a damn, they could bleed out the XFL over that. The XFL is going to find ticket sales harder than they think and the AAF still has the advantage of going first and the opportunity to course correct.

[smokeybrandcompositions]

Growth and Dissent

I always find it funny when former SJWs regale us with their tales of conversion. Like, it’s always these crazy, super left, borderline fascists who, all of a sudden, have a epiphany that maybe their views are a little too extreme after actually having a goddamn conversation with someone who has opposing ideals. I just watched an entire YouTube testimony basically admitting to the fact that this particular person, a self proclaimed SJW, wouldn’t even hear a counter-argument to their beliefs. If you didn’t think like they thought, you were flat out written off as a bad person. That sh*t is wild to me. Who willingly closes their mind off like that? Why would you limit yourself and your thesis to such a small data pool? Who just flat out denounces avenues toward new wisdom and understanding simply because the new information chafes against their “beliefs”? That way of thinking is just too self destructive for me to understand.

I don’t consider myself an SJW. I don’t consider myself a feminist. I don’t consider myself a supporter of BLM or any other activist group like that. I find that the necessity for distinction of such things to be disgusting, that the necessity for splinter groups to champion basic human rights; Literally that black lives matter or that women should be considered equal in society to men or that discrimination is bad and should be fought against every time it rears it’s ignorant head, is f*cking ridiculous. Yes, i believe in a lot of the same things these people believe. Yes, i hold these beliefs as truths. Where we differ in those beliefs, is that i subscribe to the fact that these truths are be self evident, to paraphrase the Declaration of Independence. If you are a person in society, regardless of race, gender, religion, whatever, you should be treated with compassion, understanding, and respect. No one is superior to anyone else. Everyone is equal and should be treated as such. i feel like that’s not just common sense, but that it’s basic humanity.

I don’t understand how we get to the point that we criminalize people literally screaming out against a specific demographic who are unduly persecuted and killed by the very uniforms who are suppose to protect them, with terrifying regularity. The data backs that sh*t up, easy. you can walk up to 10 black people in the street, anywhere, and i guarantee at least 3 of them can tell you a story about how they were unjustly harassed by cops. That’s 3 too many and i’m more than certain that the real number is closer to 10 than anyone would like to admit.

I don’t understand how championing equality and rights has devolved into Tumblr vomit and PC persecution. The SJW movement started with the best of intentions. I watched it burgeon on Tumblr all those years ago but, over time, it devolved into a rancid nest of teeny-weenies who refuse to accept that life isn’t all gold stars and participation trophies. People suck. they don’t have to subscribe to your pronouns or 86 genders. It’s okay for people to disagree. That doesn’t mean they’re the f*cking devil. The fact that you won’t even engage them in intellectual debate basically makes you the same as the close minded bigotry you supposedly champion against. Ignorance is ignorance, however well intentioned.

And these third wave feminists? These Anita Sarkesian zealots? f*cking really? you’re out here trying to turn trolling into hate speech? You’re out here attacking video games like they have a detriment effect on the youth? you’re masquerading your rampant and obvious misandry as the repeated persecution of the female existence? Get the f*ck out of here! Of course there’s work to be done on equality, for everyone not just women, but when Harvey Weinstein is out here raping women for 30 goddamn years and you’re upset because of sex scenes in Mass Effect, you need to get your sh*t together. The boob physics in my DOA games or the fact that Princess Peach gets damseled in a 30 year old video game takes precedence over the fact that women are stoned to death for being raped in India or have acid thrown in their faces for turning down a date in Iraq, is f*cking absurd. Maybe focus on that stuff instead of narrative tropes that have been around since there were narratives. Seriously, if you’re pitching a fit over fictional depictions of violence toward women instead of trying to change the real life culture that facilitates and encourages actual violence against women around the world, your feminism is both hypocritical and useless. Particularly when sh*t like this can be easily addressed by, you know, f*cking parenting.

Look, i get it. We need change. I agree with that. I also agree that you can’t change some people. Sometimes, dynamic action needs to be taken to shock the system into acknowledgement. I understand that. MLK was considered a domestic terrorist at he height of the civil rights movement. Hell, a civil case won by his family basically had the FBI admit they assassinated the good doctor at the behest of Hoover way back when. Our government killed a man who just had a dream because social change was that terrifying to the establishment. But, also like the good doctor, i understand there needs to be a dialogue across the aisle for things to truly evolve. Shutting out a dissenting voice as ignorant without trying to understand why it’s so obtuse is a detriment to growth. Focusing on frivolous nonsense that can be addressed after the actual, real world issues have been addressed, is a detriment to growth. Nitpicking social constructs while the people who are being “championed” by these revelations of 20 year olds, are being slaughtered is f*cking stupid to me. Your pronouns or brand new genders or trans acceptance aren’t saving the lives of transpeople, they’re just muddying the narrative.

Equality is not a bad word. Progression does not have to be terrifying. Social evolution should not be so divisive. I get that there will be people on both sides who vehemently disagree but that’s the fringe. There should be more people closer to center, closer to consensus, than the loudest on the outside. There has to be more people willing to exchange ideas, to grow proper dialogue toward something better, not just personal agendas and fad-based beliefs. I have to believe that because, if there isn’t, then what’s the point of any of this?