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saltygilmores · 1 year

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Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls, Season 2, Episode 7 ("Like Mother, Like Daughter")

The episode opens with Rory and Lorelai insulting each other's taste in music.

LOL, poor Dido, what did she ever do to you Lorelai? #IWantToThankYouu

Dido reference AND a Discman in the first 5 minutes of the episode. Be still my little Millennial heart.

Rory sitting down to enjoy two slices of white bread with no filling (served on fine china) is one of my favorite moments from this series and another fine example of Rory's bizarre eating quirks. Given that in a previous episode Rory was practically eating a Thanksgiving meal in the cafeteria, this must be some sort of special theme day at Chilton. Prison Lunch Day. Or Public School Lunch Day. Rory's Two Slice Tuesday is unfortunately interrupted by the guidance counselor looking to have a little chat. GC won't say why she needs to see Rory but she needs to see her as soon as possible, then tells her this discussion is going to be long enough to make her late for her next class. I once again am envious of Rory's visible lack of anxiety/blissful naivete. I want to live in the clouds like Rory does. No "We need to talk, but not yet, and I won't tell you why, so eat your lunch and just let the anticipation stew the whole time" in the history of ever has had a good outcome but Rory is just smiling and strolling along her merry way and somehow not hurking up her Prison Sandwich. I had such a visceral reaction to this one-time, unimportant Guidance Counselor character that my review began to turn into something of a trauma dump and I had to reign it in, a bit. As a 12-14 year old whenever I saw a "counselor" or school psychologist approaching to "have a little chat" while I was alone (because I was being tortured by bullies and deeply depressed and these same psychologists were doing fuck all to combat it), and they would always use that same sickly sweet, phony, passive aggressive voice and language like this lady here. My fight or flight response would kick into high gear.

Rory Gilmore? OUR Rory Gilmore? Social behavior? Not Tristan? Or Paris?

Alright lady, you need to leave my poor friendless girl alone. Let her chill alone with her bread slices and fruit cup and her novels and let her listen to Dido on her Discman without interference.

Oh Lady, you did NOT just come for my girl's Discman. DISCMAN. Walkman is for CASSETTE TAPES. Lady: When we write recommendations to a University on behalf of a student, the student's social skills are a big part of it. Lemme get this straight, Rory is constantly being harrassed (and her sexual purity being bought into question) on a near daily basis by Paris, Tristan, Madelyn and Louise and so homegirl here decides she's better off chilling alone at lunch and it's HER fault and she won't get into college? Ayup, this is pretty much of a mirror of my own life in the same time period. Schools just did not give a fuckall about student's wellbeing and mental health and put the blame on innocent students like Rory. *more war flashbacks*

But in the real world, Rory would get eaten alive socially in a big college, so that much is true.

Alright lady. Kindly, from the bottom of my heart, lovingly...get bent. Rory: "Loners are those guys you see walking around wearing out of date clothing, they tend to carry a duffel bag, with god knows what inside!"

Lady: Loners come in all shapes and sizes, even pretty girls. Whoa, lady!!

Rory: I don't suppose there is a Walkman/ reading lunch time club I could join is there? Me: Form one and I'll join you. Us friendless losers trying to avoid passive aggressive guidance counselors need to stick together. Lorelai: What does she expect you to do? Rory: I guess that means going up to strange kids at school and saying "hey, mind if I awkwardly butt in where I don't belong and don't want to be?" My heart breaks for Our Rory Gil. Lorelai: Chilton is a cult! Yeah, maybe, but your beloved Stars Hollow is also a cult, which is compromised of many smaller sub-cults. Kirk Job: Car Mechanic

Lorelai: How dare she do this to you? Rory: It wasn't just her, it was Charleston's suggestion. Of course it was. These Passive Aggressive Counselors and their superiors making lives of their already miserable students even more miserable always worked in teams. I just want to point out again (sort of repeating myself here) that this lady did only minimal probing into WHY Rory might prefer eating lunch alone. Kirk: I couldn't help but overhear. I ate lunch by myself and carried a duffle bag and I turned out just fine. R&L:

Sure he's a grown man with night terrors who lives with his mother, but for a small town with limited employment opportunites Kirk somehow manages to find work whenever he needs it and seems content with his life (and eventually finds love), so don't despair girls. Lorelai wants to go down to Chilton to give PAGC and Charleston a piece of her mind, good luck with that. As I'm watching this show for the fourth time, I'm a jaded chain smoker and no longer blissfully naive and expecting that Rory will suddenly propel through the social stratosphere at PAGC's suggestion.

Portrait of author on her fourth Gilmore Girls rewatch.

I already know that by the time she graduates high school Rory has not made a single new friend at Chilton (besides Paris, arguably) OR outside of school in Stars Hollow, and I also know that by the time she graduates college Rory has still not made a single new friend besides Paris (who is more like her wife at that point anyway, and no I don't count those two bozos they tacked on in a desperate move near the end, Lucy and Hailey or whatever the hell their names were, who cares), and by the time she's 34 in A Year in the Life she still has not made one single friend that anyone is aware of. Okay, okay, fine, I guess we can count Marty as her friend. But my memories of what actually went on there are too fuzzy to opine on. Lorelai to Charleston: I'm here to talk about this ridiculous accusation that Rory is a loner and that's somehow a bad thing. Oh come on, how is it ridiculous, your daughter is absolutely is a loner and an introvert and she only has one friend, one she's known since childhood, but yes, it's not necessarily a bad thing as long as she's happy. Lorelai: I raised Rory to do what she wants, as long as it doesn't hurt someone else.

#JusticeForLindsay Rory could have had a nice new friend in Lindsay... Unlike most Chilton parents, Lorelai has to take precious time off from work at a real job to meet with HMC to discuss a pressing matter involving her daughter, but HMC instead admonishes Lorelai for her lack of parental participation at the school and pressures her into joining some dopey club with a bunch of dopey Chilton Moms. Lorelai leaves the meeting. Rory was barely mentioned. Lorelai goes home to Rory and embellishes a lie/jokey joke about how hard she fought HMC in Rory's defense (she did no such thing, because she was barely given the chance to speak by HMC).

Two Slice Tuesday With A Side Of Fruit continues. Ugh, there's Francie (Francine?) in the back. Fuck. I did not care for this dumb mean-girls/Puffs storyline they had going through most of this season. Another one of The Agonies I'm not looking forward to.

This must be the fancy table, where nobody is partaking in Two Slice Tuesday.

I think the Chilton administration should look into more pressing issues, like why this high schooler is a 45 year old named Patricia.

#gilmore girls #rory gilmore #lorelai gilmore #Denise Rewatches Gilmore Girls #Gilmore Girls Season 2 #every gilmore girls high school extra is over 30 #they don't fuck around at Chilton and leave people back #like mother like daughter #white bread #prison lunch

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mlobsters · 28 days

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supernatural s1e1 pilot (w. eric kripke)

because my brain is jacked up, i'm weirdly anxious about rewatching the show even though that's been The Plan for months. i watched 15x20 a week (plus) ago and every time i think about starting over at the pilot and writing them up proper like i did around s4-5 onward, my chest kind of clenches up and i look for literally anything else to do. i am worried about having feelings that i'm not prepared to deal with. which is fucking ridiculous.

hold onto your butts, this is gonna be a long fucking post

i've mentioned before that babies in peril is my number 1 hard stop on media -- i stopped watching killing eve mid-episode because of one and never went back to it (i intended to but never happened, brain weasels make everything hard.) so i know the very first time i tried to watch spn (several years ago) i almost turned it off because of little baby sam. that first attempt at watching i wasn't actually fully paying attention, i had it on while i was doing other things and so i missed all the character stuff and only saw it as kind of a mid horror schlocky situation so i never finished the first season back then. when i gave it another go in early 2023, i was giving it my full attention.

one thing this show always got? the cutest, happiest, sweetest babies. 10/10 would recommend

already freaking out how young everyone is and happy clean shaven john is extra wild

demon growl sound effect / padalecki's accent & jerk bitch moment

hey, it's the first instance of the demon growl noise when mary's burning on the ceiling! ooh i'm gonna be even more insufferable about the musical score and sound effects now that i'm listening for it from the jump

also i have called padalecki's accent/speech pattern the crispy r based on some tiktok i heard describing it that way - i associate it with california (but these clips are almost the opposite where the R is getting almost eliminated but not in the boston accent way), and i'd say maybe it was a choice but i think he spoke this way in gilmore girls too? but anyway, his Rs are just very different and it's a very particular and kind of subtle accent that definitely doesn't carry through the entire series ("bear it" in the second clip, the "sorry" in the third). i mentioned it when they had a clip of a moment from 1x10 as well in the pre-ep recap for 5x09

really well done and effective effects on that fire in the nursery

♥️💔

so this picture made it out of the lawrence fire (it was on mary's nightstand) but not the stanford one? i don't recall it being in the collection

i never really understood where sam was supposed to be timeline-wise in college, other than he must not have graduated because it was october? so there's me googling when you take the LSAT. so he could have (assuming it hasn't changed that much since 2005) taken it in june or october of the calendar year before he graduated. all right so that makes sense now that i think about it for more than 30 seconds. so he didn't finish his last year really of his bachelor's. and he's 22. i think in that alex irvine john winchester diary novel thing (don't think that that's considered canon but that's a whole other can of worms), it said sam graduated high school at 19 instead of 18 so i think that would make things line up (someone made a timeline that also includes everything in that novel but the post is loudly wncest dni so i won't link it). i do know it was just a mistake that the pilot said sam had been gone 2 years.

the ever useful canon discrepancies article at superwiki:

One of the most frequently debated potential canon discrepancies. Here are the facts: - In the 1.01 Pilot, Sam is about to be interviewed for law school, which could work on the assumption that he's just about to finish a bachelor degree (4 years). Dean also says that he hasn't spoken to Sam in "nearly two years." - In 1.03 Dead in the Water, Dean tells Sam that he spent "Every day for two years with Dad, while you were going to pep rallies." - In 1.07 Hook Man, Dean says "So this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" when they are researching in the library. - The original promo dates Mary's death to September 13, 1985, consistent with Sam being twenty and having been at Stanford for two years but out of step with everything else in the series. Eric Kripke acknowledged during a panel at the 2006 William S. Paley Television Festival that they made a mistake in the script -- initially Sam was meant to be 20, then they aged him up to 22, but neglected to change Dean's line from "two years" to "four years." Therefore, it may have been the creators' intention that Sam has been at college for four years.

this is gonna take me approximately forever to rewatch episodes 🤪

keeping my eye out for hands for drawing. have a general idea of getting something early seasons to go in the set with the 15x20 hands.

SAM Yeah? When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45. DEAN Well, what was he supposed to do? SAM I was nine years old! He was supposed to say, don't be afraid of the dark.

classic john

SAM Yeah, I know, but still. The way we grew up, after Mom was killed, and Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her. SAM But we still haven't found the damn thing. So we kill everything we can find. DEAN We save a lot of people doing it, too.

one thing i'm thinking about is how i definitely was under the impression that they really didn't know any other hunters until they start getting mentioned here and there (dropping bits of backstory about working jobs with xyz while sam was at school etc), and that they barely knew anything about demons. so i'm curious to see how much of that is me misremembering

SAM You think Mom would have wanted this for us? The weapon training, and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors. DEAN So what are you gonna do? You're just gonna live some normal, apple pie life? Is that it? SAM No. Not normal. Safe. DEAN And that's why you ran away. SAM I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I was gonna go I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doing.

classic john x2. i know it's the pilot, i know they're bombing us with backstory like they need to, but i'm just like. everything about this ends up being pretty essential to understanding them and how they were raised it's so much 😩

DEAN I can't do this alone. SAM Yes you can. DEAN Yeah, well, I don't want to.

excuse me while my heart breaks into little bits. i knew that line in 15x20 was a callback to this, and it was heartbreaking then too. well actually it makes feel slightly ill rereading that scene from the finale. too emotionally invested

DEAN It started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough. DEAN Then I get this voicemail yesterday. He presses play. The recording is staticky and the signal was clearly breaking up. JOHN Dean...something big is starting to happen...I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may... Be very careful, Dean. We're all in danger.

so he coulda like. told dean he was ditching him for his safety in this sketchy vague voicemail, but then of course we wouldn't have them chasing him down with quite the same mystery. it's just kind of comical.

like this post puts it:

spn season 1 is so funny. they made the main plot line finding sam and dean’s missing father. but like. the guys not missing. he’s just avoiding them.

i'm sure (i hope???) every rewatch post isn't going to turn into a dissertation like this. good grief

hey. i was gonna mention that music was quite inoffensive and not bad at all and was about give old jay a pat on the back, but no! it's christopher lennertz lol. my ear always knows. so that's the originator of the demon growl sound

SAM It's the greatest hits of mullet rock. DEAN Well, house rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole. SAM You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old. SAM It's Sam, okay?

i mean so many classic interactions i can't handle it. also, real shame netflix didn't/wouldn't get the licensing for the music originally aired. i have the blurays but i'm down a functional bluray player so here i am, watching on netflix with shitty replacement music yet again. that scene should have had ramblin man and back in black. travesty. back when they splashed out for the good licensed music (and i usually was on board with lennertz's selections)

the comment about them being a little young for federal marshals (also in their kinda scruffy clothes lol) and wikipedia says:

Marshals Service hiring is competitive and comparable to the selection process for Special Agent positions in agencies with similar duties. Typically fewer than five percent of qualified applicants are hired [citation needed] and must possess at a minimum a four-year bachelor's degree or competitive work experience (which is usually three or more years at a local or state police department).

so i mean, sounds like it's doable! barely. (i'm not even halfway through the episode lol)

stepping on dean's foot, smacking sam's head. very good sibling stuff

meanwhile we're gonna pop jackles in some bomb ass golden hour lighting so we can get his pretty, pretty face looking even prettier. lighting doesn't match any other part of the scene, but if you can get them lit up in it, we're using it!

SHERIFF Can I help you boys? DEAN No, sir, we were just leaving. As the FBI AGENTS walk past DEAN, he nods at each of them. DEAN Agent Mulder. Agent Scully.

respect to the og (that was the show of my youth and my forever otp and also my first impression of sam and dean's relationship was mid-run mulder and scully)

s1e1 r.d. call as sheriff pierce / the x-files s1e18 as sheriff daniels

oh! and this sheriff was a sheriff in an xfiles episode, that's even better! that's brilliant. love to see it

those jeans and before dean had his signature logger boots which i didn't apparently really notice until s6

DEAN Yeah, Troy told us about you. We're his uncles. I'm Dean, this is Sammy.

uncles??? lol

another thing i remember really liking is these random girls aren't like.. tv pretty makeup. they're just random gothy girls with stark harsh eye makeup and lipstick and matte heavier foundation. like real people do! it just makes it feel more grounded in reality to me when not everyone's makeup is tv-perfect

y'all. look at this! so i have talked a lot about the computer stuff, whenever there's a screen (in any show i'm watching) i'll pause and check out the veracity. teen wolf had laughably fake web page mockups. and one thing i do recall noticing in this episode was real webpage urls! and even in the printouts which comes later. which they did not do consistently in spn seasons after this at all until much later

classic. truly. more smacks and shoves. it's okay, sammy. i also am a little bit of a control freak especially when it comes to computer stuff. JUST LET ME DO IT.

DEAN Monday. Right. The interview. SAM Yeah. DEAN Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl? SAM Maybe. Why not? DEAN Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done? SAM No, and she's not ever going to know. DEAN Well, that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are.

dean's got a point there. which reminds me, did blurry wife know the truth? i remember there was some blurb about the story behind sam's kid having the anti-possession tattoo

wiki to the rescue

Though Sam's son has an anti-possession tattoo on his arm, there are no other signs of hunting in Sam's life after he leaves the Bunker. Jared confirmed at the November StageIt panel that Sam has not been hunting "in honor of Dean" because Dean wouldn't have wanted him to, but that Sam did tell his son about hunting and about his Uncle Dean, and that the decision to get the tattoo was Dean II's.

so probably yes?

(hands)

SAM And who's that? DEAN You're one of us. SAM No. I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life. DEAN You have a responsibility to— SAM To Dad? And his crusade? If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back.

oh, sam. these early days he was chafing so hard against what other people wanted him to do. also relatable. and if only we knew about mary🥴

sam enjoying dean's predicament

SAM Salt, cat's eye shells…he was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in.

cat's eye shells?? don't think that ever got mentioned again

LOL okay, so the url isn't perfect 😂 missing forward slashes and no underscores in domain names, but they tried!!

huh. another family picture i don't recall seeing again. kind of backwards, longer brown hair on supposedly dean and short lighter hair on supposedly sam

so did dean grab john's leather jacket at this point? since he showered and changed in john's motel room. i hadn't thought about that. huh

SAM You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful. I've never been! CONSTANCE You will be. Just hold me.

i know this comes up in fic periodically but i don't think that went anywhere, like the cat's eye shells

LOL i didn't remember that the woman in white resolution was her ghostly murdered children conveniently take her out

DEAN Hey, if we shag ass we could make it by morning. SAM Dean, I, um... DEAN You're not going. SAM The interview's in like, ten hours. I gotta be there. DEAN Yeah. Yeah, whatever. I'll take you home.

there's so many moments in this episode that i've seen in gifs and didn't realize were all from the pilot. but it's really interesting to me to see how like.. the show really kind of pushed how much dean needed/wanted sam and sam was resisting, and how i think it really set up dean as the more "likeable" character initially, along with showing off his pretty face and charm and all that. on a brain-characterization level, i always relate more to sam but i was definitely charmed by dean initially.

SAM Call me if you find him? SAM And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh? DEAN Yeah, all right. DEAN Sam? DEAN You know, we made a hell of a team back there. SAM Yeah.

the only thing that i think makes this episode not quite paced right is how they crammed jess dying at the end and the we've got work to do thing. it felt really rushed and slapped on. but other than that, what a great pilot. ranks up there with the hannibal pilot

#supernatural #spnwatch #spnrewatch #spn 1x01 #spn demon growl #christopher lennertz #spn musical score #hiky #spnhiky #the xfiles #r.d. call #spn clip #crispy Rs #eric kripke

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roleplayolyhedrons · 3 months

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Murder, Inc.

Author’s Note: While the following essay is goofy, a bit edgy, and focuses on the catharsis of violence, roleplaying games, for me, have always held a special place in my heart, something of a wake-up call compared to other games I’ve played. When you’ve played a tabletop roleplaying game, it’s hard to go back and play Chess with its bland player choices and resource management.

High school is the testing ground for our adult selves. It’s a time of hormones, acne, and going through the bureaucratic channels that make up public school education. For me, high school was all about gaming. I couldn't care less about the homework or sports. My high school experience was split between two high schools. I started high school in southern Colorado, where I played Mage Knight, MechWarrior, and Warhammer tabletop games at the local community center or high school or on a friend’s kitchen table. During the spring semester of my freshman year, I started attending school in Dulce, New Mexico. For the first few months, I had little to do to pass my time. To me, Dulce didn’t have much to offer.

Dulce is located on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. It’s this little no-name place in northern New Mexico, where the Archuleta Mesa towers over a semi-arid mountain valley. The town is centered around the tribal buildings and businesses, which hug Highway 64 like plaque on arterial walls.

What I knew about Dulce came from two sources: Our neighbors, Tom and Pam, found their dog, Dulce, in Dulce, New Mexico. They always retold the story when we visited their B&B. I also remember hearing about Dulce concerning cattle mutilations in the late-1970s. The cattle mutilations were Dulce’s claim to fame. The History Channel aired a documentary on the mutilations when I was younger, with the narrator pronouncing the town’s name as “Dulch-eh, New Mexico.” Locals claimed that UFOs or the government were responsible for cattle being surgically sliced and diced. Conspiracy theorists blamed it on the Dulce Base, a sort of Area 51 military base rumored to be located under Archuleta Mesa.

We moved to Dulce after my parents decided to end their nightmarish take on June and Ward Cleaver. My father kept the house and our animals in southern Colorado. My mother took the three of us kids to Dulce, where she worked as an underpaid math teacher. The first months in Dulce were pretty damned boring. We still went to school in Pagosa Springs. This required that we commuted every morning to Chromo, Colorado to catch a school bus at 6:00 or 6:30. We were back home around 4:30 or 5:00, only to eat, watch some T.V., and finish whatever homework we had before going to bed. This continued until my mother decided it was time to enroll us in school in Dulce.

My siblings loved Dulce. My brother played sports and worked for the school. He later told my mom that playing sports in Dulce kept him from dropping out of high school. My sister played volleyball, hung out with friends, and watched Gilmore Girls every day at 3 p.m. She liked Dulce because it allowed her to be independent of my father, who could be a real hard ass.

For me, Dulce didn’t have the stuff I was used to. My classmates weren’t interested in old-school games. They played Xbox and PlayStation. I preferred dice and paper to television screens and controllers. I spent the better part of two months dinking around the small apartment my mom rented from the school district. I’d come home from school and watch T.V., eating copious amounts of Cheerios and Frosted Flakes with copious amounts of milk.

My taste in extracurricular activities worried my mother. She wasn’t exactly in a stable state of mind when we moved to Dulce. Her marriage of sixteen years was coming to a fiery end, complete with a major custody battle waged by two different states. She pulled extra hours to pay for an apartment, the increased appetite of her children, and a divorce lawyer. Dulce, New Mexico was not home for my mother, who’d grown up in rural North Dakota. North Dakota was the land of nice neighbors and friendly faces. It also happened to be a place where your dollar went further. To my mom, Dulce was the closest place she’d come to living and working in a warzone. Student suicides, crime, and poverty were a permanent staple of Dulce, or so she told us. She wanted to keep her kids away from all of that. She wanted to keep us away from the despair that many locals experienced when living in Dulce.

My mother’s anxieties led her to find outlets for my energy. These included going to afterschool programs or practicing Jiu Jitsu with Mr. B., our family friend, and a high school history teacher. However, these activities weren’t exactly what I was looking for. It took a series of fistfights with my little brother and bending the shit out of a metal door to our apartment before Mr. Boucher told me to meet up with a guy named Howe. He said Howe knew of something that’d interest me.

Howe worked for the Jicarilla Apache Department of Education (JADE) and wore clothes that fit the likes of a Mormon missionary rather than a day-in and day-out video tech guy. He filmed official tribal events and lectures for the tribal government. Howe occasionally worked on the odd bits of computer and film equipment that he stashed away in his JADE office. Howe’s office in the JADE building was about the same square footage as a small dorm room. The office was filled to maximum capacity with computers, video equipment, shelves, and milk crates holding Howe’s gaming books. There was no organizing principle behind the clutter of computers, cables, and cameras. It was like a squirrel’s stashed-out nut collection, with odd pieces stashed behind cabinets or stacked on top of bloating shelves. He lived on the Reservation as well; he was married to a Jicarilla Apache woman and had a son who went to school in Dulce. Howe also belonged to an earlier generation of roleplaying gamers. His generation started playing socially conservative games like Dungeons & Dragons, escalating their gaming fix to the hardcore, morally ambiguous stuff such as Shadowrun, Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf, and Paranoia.

It was through Howe’s influence that I discovered the seedy underworld of old-school roleplaying games. They were the kinds of games my father warned me about. My father saw Dungeons & Dragons as a portal of evil that could possess impressionable minds. I have no idea where he got this idea. I am sure this opinion was lifted from the pages of some Chick comic, where evil Dungeon Masters corrupt the souls of innocent children. I ignored my old man’s warnings and decided to jump into the world of roleplaying games. I had nothing else better to do. Little did I know, I was giving up every afternoon to commit murder, armed robbery, and aggravated assault while having fun with it all.

The first game I played with Howe and his coworker, Dylan, was a homebrew version of Shadowrun. The game was a blank spot in my mind. I’d never heard of it, nor had I heard about things like cyberpunks and corporatocracies that filled the game’s rulebook. I wasn’t used to the game mechanics either. I spent the better part of two and a half hours creating my character from scratch, rolling dice, answering questions, and choosing traits, quirks, flaws, etc. This was not due to some overly elaborate character creation system imposed by the game’s rulebook. Howe liked modifying his roleplaying games, adding bits here and there, and stealing from online forums and fan websites. The final character sheet consisted of intricate formulas, lists, and spreadsheets that Howe used in his role as Game Master, a sort of storyteller with god-like authority over the game world.

There are two types of Game Masters. There are those Game Masters who take pity on their players and offer a helping hand. Story, all-around fun, and leisurely gameplay are key to these Game Masters’ modus operandi. Then there are those Game Masters who view their players as mere mortal playthings, who are to be bound and beaten in every imaginable way. Howe belonged to the second Game Master archetype. Howe’s gamemastering technique took a page from the “Monkey’s Paw.” Be careful what you wish for. He had a way of making fate, gravity, and the dice come crashing down on our party. His thugs were better equipped. The police were always a step ahead of us. Bullets hurt and so did explosions. Being captured or arrested meant brutal interrogations bordering on torture. Every roll of the dice brought silent prayers and paranoia-induced mutterings. High rolls were met with hollering—all-around jubilation and high-fiving. Low rolls brought pale faces and globs of sweat and hope that our characters hadn’t stumbled into the starry beyond.

The first gaming session started simply: Dylan and I were hired to steal some corporate tech for a faceless, nameless client of the shadows. However, this heist led to an accidental kidnapping and death, which precipitated several gun battles with corporate guns and police organizations. In turn, this led to higher body counts and more enemies.

As we moved across the post-apocalyptic United States, the bodies piled up like cordwood. Thousands died. Dylan and I were like a two-man meat grinder. People came in one end and bullet-riddled or mutilated flesh came out the other. It gave me a certain high that couldn’t be matched anywhere else. I kept going to JADE to get my fix of mayhem and destruction. On days we couldn’t meet, I felt like I was going through withdrawals. I needed to roll dice and kick ass.

We’d snuffed out a group of homeless with a one-two combination of foam grenade with an incendiary chaser. The people frozen in the foam didn’t have a chance. After killing off a group of homeless people, we’d stumbled into a fight with corporate security goons. The incident ended with our arrest and subsequent interrogation. The interrogation lasted half a gaming session and included various methods of torture conjured up by Howe. Based on that session alone, I can only conclude that Howe must have been an ex-Stasi or KBG agent in a former life. Again, it was his way of bringing down every force imaginable on our heads.

Another incident involved a brief gun battle with hospital security—and to this day I still have no idea what we were doing in the hospital. My character was attempting to toss a flash bang into the hospital waiting room, when Howe made me roll a handful of six-sided (D6) dice. My dice roll was low. Howe smiled and rolled a few dice of his own. He chuckled. Rolled twice more in secret. The whole thing ended with my character tossing an incendiary grenade into a nearby oxygen storage room. The hospital was leveled along with a nearby nursing home. Somehow our characters managed to escape without a scratch.

Our tour of death and destruction changed settings, as I grew bored of cyberpunk and asked Howe about moving on to something more exciting. This prompted Howe to change the storyline, tweaking it in a way to fit our demented gaming style. Our characters were kidnapped by aliens, who’d heard about our earthly exploits. They needed some Terran muscle to move in on their enemies. They wanted to capitalize on our ability to turn living beings into pounds of mutilated flesh.

The new setting was borrowed from a little-known game called Star Frontiers. Star Frontiers was TSR’s (creator and publisher of Dungeons & Dragons) failed attempt to create a serious space adventure. For us, Star Frontiers offered several new killing fields. New alien worlds became our shooting galleries, our explosive-laden playgrounds. Our intergalactic debauchery destroyed a dozen worlds, with each world destroyed in some unique, almost artistic way. One world was wiped out by a flesh-eating plague. Another obliterated by its sun. A planet consumed by supermassive colonies of nanite cells. Entire species were scratched out of existence. We stole spaceships and jettisoned crew members out of airlocks and into the hard vacuum of space. Mayhem, murder, and outright plunder became the name of the game. We were the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, coming to wreak havoc on mortal souls everywhere. We were the Devourers of Worlds, galactic meat grinders traveling between the stars.

The summer following my high school graduation put a damper on the daily game sessions at JADE. I knew was I going to start college in August. The college I was going to was some three hundred miles away, making it too far for regular gaming commutes. Something told me that the group needed to end the game with a bang—a campaign to end all gaming campaigns. I wanted a campaign that ended in a total party kill (TPK).

I told Howe about my idea. A TPK was in line with Howe’s sadistic gamemastering sensibilities. Thus, he agreed to end the campaign with a real blowout of a TPK. He began plotting out the new campaign’s general structure. This led to our characters being brought back to Earth in a stolen spaceship. It was the Welcome Home Tour. Our intergalactic shenanigans followed in tow. A coalition of vengeful aliens began an invasion of Earth, threatening to wipe out all humans. This was payback for our intergalactic killing spree.

With our weapons locked and loaded, we stole an alien capital ship that was about ten kilometers in length. This required a little finesse that was well beyond our usual method of greasing opponents or taking over enemy ships. We vented the ship’s air supply. This took longer than we had hoped. The alien invasion was successfully sterilizing entire continents of human beings and turning the Earth’s surface into molten glass. This prompted a last-minute decision to go out with a real bang. We steered the capital ship toward the Earth’s atmosphere, blowing away alien warships left and right. The ship’s systems started going critical. “Core containment breached.” We were leaking radiation like an old Russian submarine. “Critical core conditions imminent.”

Then boom. Nothing but a white searing light. A million-gigaton explosion obliterated the Earth’s atmosphere and everything on the surface.

When I started college in August, I couldn’t help but wonder how I was going to satisfy my gaming fix. I was in a new town and hundreds of miles away from the cramped JADE office, where I had spent countless hours gaming. I was surprised to find that others had the same interests. Some of my fellow students had the same needs for buffoonery and destruction.

I started a gaming group in my dorm hall by setting up shop in empty common areas. The group was a big hit. Four gamers turned out for the first gaming sessions. We were traveling across the galaxy, fighting the Wrath in our homebrew Stargate roleplaying game. We fought as guerrillas in a post-apocalyptic landscape. The bodies were stacked like cordwood. The blood ran in the streets. The dice clattered on top of tables, with silent prayers or mutterings under the breath of each player. I was transported back to that day when I came to Howe’s office in JADE. It was a euphoria I didn’t understand, nor did I care to. There was something about butchering imaginary people and destroying peaceful alien worlds

#ttrpgs #violence #gaming #roleplaying #rpg #roleplaying games #tabletop #ttrpg

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zalrb · 3 years

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OKAY. SINCE ANONS SEEM TO BE INTERESTED. HERE IS MY DAWSON’S CREEK 1X01 REVIEW.

@jayciethings IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.

1. I think the opening scene does a good job in establishing the central struggle of the season and it does it in 3 minutes: 1) things need to change and Joey wants them to 2) Dawson doesn’t see why anything has to change and doesn’t see what Joey is trying to say 3) burgeoning sexuality 4) Joey-Dawson friendship.

2. I also think the Joey-Dawson friendship is also established really well and it’s actually a time where dialogue and action work in tandem. They give a brief history/overview of their friendship: “you’ve been sleeping over since you were 7″ “i’ve seen you pick your nose, scratch your butt” while also showing them watch tv, playfight and ultimately end up sleeping in the same bed, like they did when they were 7.

3. I actually don’t find the dialogue as annoying right now.

4. I will forever be angry that they didn’t pay to have the original music with their scenes because Dawson’s Creek is not Dawson’s Creek without “I Don’t Wanna Wait”.

5. “He did it again, he grabbed my ass.” “Like you even have one.” Joshua’s delivery is perfect because it’s resigned and un-offended.

6. “I’m Jen.” “Oh right, the granddaughter from New York.” That actually isn’t clunky. It’s a good way to do exposition.

7. “You look different.” “Puberty.” LOL Joey Whitter sass.

8. Honestly, at least so far, Joey’s behaviour makes sense for a 15 year old girl who is in love with her best friend who doesn’t see her as a sexual being and then has to watch him salivate over The New Girl. No, that isn’t Jen’s fault but sometimes people on this site act like teenagers or adults for that matter don’t have messy and not-so-great emotions/reactions to things. Unless, apparently, they’re men who are rapists and serial killers, then the understanding is boundless.

9. It’s actually refreshing to hear “Mr. Leery” “Mrs. Leery” since teens in shows now just call adults by their first names, which I would NEVER do. I still can’t do that. If I had to address initiumseries’ dad it would be Mr...

10. I also think it’s funny that this dialogue is being made fun of but this kind of cadence and irony is the kind of thing shows go for now -- Riverdale tries to emulate this and I would argue Euphoria tries to do an edgier version of this. Like Nellie insulting Pacey, that kind of tone is what they’re trying to go for with Cheryl.

11. I’ll admit this is more fun than I thought it would be so far.

12. I LOVE WHAT’S EDGY FOR THE NINETIES. SHE IS IN A SUNDRESS. SETTLE DOWN.

13. “I have it on pretty good authority that mothers have excellent sex.” LOL Pacey, dick move.

14. Renting The Graduate, how on the nose.

15. THEIR CLOTHES ARE SO 90s.

16. The soundtrack pisses me off so much.

17. Oh Dawson. I knew so many self-important, I’m-so-deep-I-like-these-kinds-of-movies or -this-kind-of-music boys in high school. Like I find it so typical that he thinks his obsession with Spielberg would interest Jen.

18. Dawson taking Jen to his studio is like Klaus taking Caroline to sees his drawings.

19. Oh man, I remember being a kid and watching these teen shows with my cousin and seeing how Capeside High School was with everyone on a quad and throwing footballs and being like HIGH SCHOOL IS GOING TO BE LIKE THAT and my cousin just being like

20. I like how Dawson’s Creek is the whitest show and they still managed to have more Black extras than Gilmore Girls.

21. Dawson and Jen actually have a nice chemistry. But everyone is coming on super strong with Jen and she’s just kind of like, this seems normal.

22. The film teacher is a dick for no reason. I’ve had my fair share of dickish teachers but this is excessive right off the bat.

23. Lol poor Jen, she really is trying with Joey.

24. I like how a status of Joey’s class is the fact that her sister is engaged to a Black man *eye roll*

25. I don’t know of any school where teachers ate in the cafeteria with the students. In my school there were teachers who supervised the cafeteria but that’s it. Wow, I spent like no time in my high school cafeteria.

26. “I’m having a climax issue”

27. Tamara, Ms. Jacobs, you should be in jail.

28. I like how this school LOOKS like a school.

29. Ugh, a trans jokes. Ugh, there was so much of that in the 90s.

30. “Nothing has to change. We can talk about anything.” Honestly, from a screenwriting point of view, this is a solid pilot. I remember in a screenwriting class I took, we studied The Social Network and every 10 pages someone calls Zuckerberg either an asshole or a jerk or something in that vein as a way to reiterate a key part of the theme of the movie and while I don’t have the pilot script in front of me, DC does reiterate the theme of the season frequently without it being repetitive.

31. The dialogue isn’t as hyperbolic as I remember tbh. And I’m going to say it again, shows are aiming for this, even the one episode I saw of the Winx Saga, when they try to flirt about mansplaining, when she’s fighting with her mom about how she’s not a feminist, they’re trying for this. But DC manages to make it more natural and it’s because the Core 4 have a charm. Even if you hate Dawson.

32. Who is Dawson’s dad. Is he in something else?

33. No, I just think he looks like Dr. Cox.

34. Dawson’s rant about sex not being important is hilarious. Yes, Dawson, you’re just pursuing Jen out of intellectual and philosophical desire.

35. I like how Joey is supposed to be a tomboy just because she’s the only girl/woman in Capeside who doesn’t wear a sundress.

36. Poor Jen.

37. Joey is super dramatic, I get that, but I kind of love it because I’m going RELAX but the way I would to a teenager. Like CALM. DOWN. Also “all I do is understand” is something that we needed to see more of before that argument.

38. Dawson, you never ask anyone else any questions about themselves, lol.

39. “How can you say you were just renting a movie??” Pacey is such a fifteen year old and I do wish the show would just ... let him be one? And what I mean by that is Pacey is supposed to be the friend with the edge, the fact that he “pursues” Ms Jacobs is supposed to attest to that fact, it’s framed as taboo and yet they’re presented as being on equal footing, even the way her date moves to grab him out of his seat when the fact of the matter is, he’s a kid, and if the show didn’t actually make the Tamara/Pacey relationship a storyline and made it about another way teenagers have certain idealized perceptions of relationships or apply kid knowledge to adult situations which still makes them kids, it would’ve been interesting too.

40. Dawson is literally dressed in different shades of beige. If that doesn’t say everything you need to know about his character --- which is intentional. But like jfc man.

41. I love that they can’t say “masturbate” so she has to say “walk your dog” I LOVE THE NINETIES.

42. And you know what, after that question was asked, the sheer heartbreak on Joey’s face and the sadness in Dawson’s eyes is done really well.

43. LMAO SO ANGSTY. No one does angst like the 90s.

44. And legitimately, the ending of this pilot is great screenwriting because a change is noted, the beginning of the episode, Joey does end up staying the night, the end of the episode she leaves because they both realize it’s true that things are changing and yet Dawson answers her question about what time of day he masturbates and to who because they’re still Dawson and Joey. And that’s the way a pilot should be written.

OK. I’ve done it.

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coffin-flop · 6 years

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my mom’s usually up @ odd hours but she’s not tonight which sucks bc i miss my dad a lot, but nobody wants to hear Dead Dad Stuff, u know?

He had a pretty small nose and a very round face when he was healthier. My friends in high school compared him to Santa Claus, he loved to laugh. His laugh was often loud, sometimes too loud to be appropriate, much like my own. Every year at Chirstmas, he cleared off the entire dining room table (which always was littered in bills, mail, and weird trinkets/center pieces my mom put on it) to make 10-30 bags of dog treats/dog toys for his close friends & family’s dogs, he always kept a few extra in his truck in case he ran into dogs he forgot about/didn’t meet yet. He was very, very good with children and he loved to be around them. He was also a very talented cook, a lot of his recipes were inspired by growing up poor, but he was always looking on soup cans and pasta boxes for new ones (although he always left the kitchen a mess after cooking). He was more sensitive than he made himself out to be, he and I watched the entirety of Gilmore Girls together every day after school together over the course of a few years; we also watched Tyra’s talk show together as well as Charmed and Supernatural. He and I didn’t talk about feelings much, but when my friend got in a very bad car crash and was comatose (which led to his death, shortly after my dad’s), my parents came home to see me crying on the couch and my dad gave me the most comforting hug of my life, one that I still remember the feel of. He was very goofy too, one time he came home wearing a hat that had Goofy’s face on it and told me to send a picture to my cousin, telling her he’d join the Disney College Program with her. He loved my mom so fucking much, like a lot. It was beautiful to see, even if they weren’t perfect for each other. He was such a hard fucking worker, he worked himself to the bone, just trying to provide for us. He came home sunburnt and dehydrated the whole summer, in the winter he came home sick and shakey some days. He was a very good friend- since he was a roofer, a large amount of his coworkers were disabled pretty young, he would take me to visit them sometimes, just to cheer them up, I think he helped them financially too. He was so funny too- sometimes, when my mom and I were arguing, she’d go in the kitchen and be passive aggressive and he’d make a random joke to cheer me up, we’d both be cracking up and my mom thought we were talking behind her back and always got huffy, which made us laugh more. It was a little mean, but she usually ended up laughing along once we all cooled off. He had these really lame fucking tattoos that he thought were badass when he was young, I think one said “Lucky Irish” and the other said something like “Tough Guys Don’t Die.”

There’s a lot I don’t remember. There’s a lot I don’t have time to write about. There’s just a lot about my dad I miss. Once and a great while, we used to go out to eat together, just a way to get some time with just the two of us. We usually went to some kind of sandwich shop or a diner. I really want to do that one more time.

#personal #dead dad stuff #death tw

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crowdvscritic · 4 years

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crowd vs. critic // BEST OF THE DECADE (2010s)

Well, people, I tried. I really tried to whittle down the decade to 100 movies or fewer just like a good little Best of Decade list does, but here we are. That is, here we are at 144.

Maybe it’s because movies have meant so much to me this decade. When I graduated from high school in 2010, I loved John Hughes and Audrey Hepburn, but since then, film has cemented itself as my favorite art form. A few highlights in this journey:

Taking film classes at Taylor University, including a trip to the Sundance Film Festival in 2013

Writing for ZekeFilm starting in 2016

Writing about every new movie I watched in 2016

Watching classic movies while podcasting about Gilmore Girls pop culture references

Discovering my love for Turner Classic Movies, including taking their online summer course “Mad About Musicals”

Watching every movie nominated for Best Picture in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2019

Beginning a slow (very slow) but sure trek through every Best Picture winner in history

And, oh yeah— starting this little blog!

I left Snow White and The Huntsman wishing someone would review it considering how fun it was even though it wasn’t a great art. Then I thought, what if that person was me? I hope my writing and critical analysis has grown since then, but I still ask the same questions about every movie I’ve watched since then: What is the popcorn potential? What is the artistic taste?

This decade I also spent July Friday nights watching outdoor movies on Art Hill, hosted annual Oscars watch parties with dear friends, attended my first midnight premiere (The Hunger Games), paid extra for the reclining seats to celebrate my first job (Interstellar), and found a laugh break with my whole family during a stressful summer (Ant-Man and the Wasp).

So here’s a small tribute to the time I spent watching, discussing, and reading and writing about movies I watched these 10 years: 72 Crowd picks and 72 Critic picks. They’re the 144 films that moved me, made me laugh, or made the biggest impact on me, and they’re the ones I recommend most from the 2010s.

Crowd-Pleasers of the 2010s

1. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) – An acting tour de force you’ll still be thinking about days later. (#JohnGoodmanForBestSupportingActor) Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

2. The Age of Adaline (2015) - The color palette and costumes are dreamy, and the romance taking a back seat to Adaline’s personal growth is refreshing. On my Best of 2015.

3. Austenland (2013) – “This movie is for two kinds of people: people who love Jane Austen and people who think Jane Austen fans are funny.” – A paraphrased director Jerusha Hess. On my Sundance 2013 lineup. On my Best of 2013.

4. Ant-Man (2015) – All hail, Paul Rudd and his ability to make us care about ants. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2015.

5. Avengers: Endgame (2019) - An impossibly satisfying conclusion that seemed impossible when Iron Man came out in 2008. A peak in the superhero subgenre as well as ensemble films, action flicks, sci-fi adventures, and time travel comedies. On my Best of 2019.

6. Baby Driver (2017) – If you forced me to pick my favorite on this entire list, here you go. A modern musical that lights up every spark in my brain. On my Best of 2017.

7. Beauty and the Beast (2017) – My favorite of the Disney live action remakes. On my Best of 2017.

8. Before We Go (2014) – I’m a sucker for Boy-Meets-Girl-and-They-Talk-All-Night stories, and this one’s an aesthetic dream. Excellent pick if your flight is cancelled and you’re stuck in an airport for nine hours.

9. The Big Sick (2017) – You’ll fall in love with the treasure Kumail Nanjiani. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2017.

10. Black Panther (2018) – WAKANDA FOREVER. On my Best of 2018.

11. Central Intelligence (2016) – No complaints from me when the Rock and Kevin Hart team up. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

12. Colossal (2016) – The best quasi-superhero movie no one talked about this decade. On my Best of 2017.

13. Crazy Rich Asians (2018) – Three cheers for Awkwafina! On my Best of 2018.

14. Creed (2015)

15. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – Controversial Movie Corner: My favorite of The Dark Knight trilogy.

16. Finding Dory (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

17. Frozen II (2019) – Controversial Movie Corner: Better than the original.

18. Fury (2014)

19. Game Night (2018) - Come for the sharp jokes, stay for the clever heist plotting and a hilarious ensemble. On my Best of 2018.

20. Ghostbusters (2016) – I had the option to rewatch this or the 1984 version for Halloween this year, and I chose to laugh through this one. FYI, the extra 15 minutes in the extended version make a difference. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

21. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – Another modern musical. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

22. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

23. Home Again (2017) – Made of pure charm. Read ZekeFilm review.

24. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) The best of the best dystopian YA adaptation series this decade. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2013.

25. I Feel Pretty (2018)

26. Inception (2010)

27. The Intern (2015) – Insanely rewatchable. On my Best of 2015.

28. Interstellar (2014)

29. Juliet, Naked (2018) – On my Best of 2018.

30. Jurassic World (2015) – Doesn’t hold up to scrutiny on second watch, but a big spectacle on a big screen. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2015.

31. The Kings of Summer (2013) – My favorite from Sundance 2013. On my Best of 2013.

32. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) – A course-correction of tired spy movie clichés. On my Best of 2015.

33. Knives Out (2019) – On my Best of 2019.

34. Kong: Skull Island (2017) – Very rewatchable. Very relistenable soundtrack.

35. Late Night (2019)

36. The Lego Movie (2014) – I didn’t choose this movie, but I laughed so hard I forgave my friends for dragging me to it.

37. Letters to Juliet (2010) – Very corny. Very rewatchable for its Italian countryside setting.

38. Logan Lucky (2017) – Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, and Daniel Craig at their funniest. On my Best of 2017.

39. The Magnificent Seven (2016) – Sometimes you just want to see a bunch of movie stars tearing it up. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

40. Mary Poppins Returns (2018) – One of the most successful movies on this list because it knows exactly what it wants to be and then is that. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2018.

41. The Maze Runner (2014) – Let’s just forget those sequels ever happened.

42. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) – Fallout got the most attention, but I prefer the squad in this sequel. Bonus points for Jeremy Renner. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2015.

43. Moana (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

44. Monte Carlo (2011) – Wanderlust satisfied because it takes inspiration from Golden Hollywood fairy tales like Roman Holiday.

45. Morning Glory (2010)

46. The Muppets (2011) – Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh.

47. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016) – Even bigger, fatter, and Greeker than the original. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

48. Ocean’s Eight (2018) – The real heist? Eight funny ladies taking turns stealing every scene. On my Best of 2018.

49. Passengers (2016) - A near-perfect popcorn flick. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2016.

50. Paper Towns (2015) – Love me some Nat Wolff with an indie pop soundtrack.

51. Prometheus (2012) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

52. A Quiet Place (2018) – Where the best of commercial and critical filmmaking come together. On my Best of 2018.

53. Ready or Not (2019)

54. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) – Another entry in the Wanderlust Canon.

55. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) – Imperfect, but sticks the landing.

56. Shazam! (2019) – Read ZekeFilm review.

57. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) – Charismatic movie stars + flashy cinematography = A great time at the theatre (even when the projector fails in the middle of your screening and you have to start over).

58. The Spectacular Now (2013)

59. Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

60. Spy (2015) – I still can’t believe how much I laughed at this.

61. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) – The best Star War since 1980. On my Best of 2017.

62. Super 8 (2011)

63. Tangled (2010) – Controversial Movie Corner: Better than both Frozens.

64. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

65. Toy Story 3 (2010)

66. Warm Bodies (2013) – Who knew a zom rom com would become one of my go-to comfort foods? Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2013.

67. Wonder Woman (2017) – Anyone else almost cry in that No Man’s Land scene? On my Best of 2017.

68. World War Z (2013) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2013.

69. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) – Why I’d pick the X-Men over the Avengers most days. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

70. Yesterday (2019) – You know a movie captures its audience when most stay through the credits to sing “Hey Jude.” On my Best of 2019.

71. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) – Hello, my name is Taylor, and I declare Woody Harrelson a national treasure. Read ZekeFilm review.

72. Zootopia (2016) – Creatively and socially sharp. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

Critic Picks of the 2010s

1. 12 Years a Slave (2013) – There’s no beauty or redemption in this chapter of America’s story, but the beauty of this is it restores humanity to millions denied it in their lifetimes. Read ZekeFilm review.

2. 20 Feet From Stardom (2013) – On my Sundance 2013 lineup. On my Best of 2013.

3. 1917 (2019) – Who needs suplots? Or more than one camera? On my Best of 2019.

4. Ad Astra (2019) – Prayerful poetry + one of Brad Pitt’s best performances. On my Best of 2019.

5. American Sniper (2014)

6. Argo (2012) – CIA work: It’s just like makin’ a movie! Read ZekeFilm review.

7. Arrival (2016) - The best Hollywood has to offer. I left wishing I felt this way after every film. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

8. The Artist (2011)

9. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) – On my Best of 2019.

10. Begin Again (2013) – Adam Levine singing in Begin Again > Adam Levine singing in Maroon 5. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

11. The Beguiled (2017) – Sofia Coppola = Queen. On my Best of 2017.

12. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

13. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – Don’t @ me—I like this better than the original. On my Best of 2017.

14. BlacKkKlansman (2018) – Just when you think this undercover investigation can’t get riskier, Spike Lee finds another way to send your blood pressure rising. On my Best of 2018.

15. The Bling Ring (2013) – Sofia Coppola = Still Queen.

16. Boyhood (2014)

17. Brooklyn (2015) – I think that Saorsie Ronan is goin’ places. On my Best of 2015.

18. Circles (2013) – Love me some symbolism. On my Sundance 2013 lineup. On my Best of 2013.

19. Dunkirk (2017) – The freshest take on World War II since Schindler’s List. On my Best of 2017.

20. Fences (2016) – Denzel Washington and Viola Davis bring issues of race, class, gender, marriage, and intelligence to life in a story as relevant today as in the 1950s. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2016.

21. First Man (2018) – On my Best of 2018.

22. Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) – More proof Hugh Grant is just the best. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

23. First Reformed (2017) – I‘ve never heard a character pray in words so close to mine. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2018.

24. The Florida Project (2017) - For what this lacked in narrative momentum, it made up for in empathy. On my Best of 2017.

25. Get Out (2017) – I’m not one for horror, and I’m not one to watch the same film twice in one week, but this broke both of those rules. On my Best of 2017.

26. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

27. Gravity (2013) – Maybe my favorite Sandra Bullock performance. On my Best of 2013.

28. Green Book (2018) – Read ZekeFilm review.

29. Hacksaw Ridge (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic review.

30. The Help (2011) – Prescient of the decade ahead for its soon-to-be-superstar cast and a story reminding white people they should probably just shut up and listen instead of thinking they have all the answers.

31. Hell or High Water (2016) – A modern Cain and Abel story. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

32. Hidden Figures (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

33. I, Tonya (2017)

34. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) – Controversial Movie Corner: My preferred Barry Jenkins of the decade. On my Best of 2018.

35. Inside Out (2015) – “There’s inductive reasoning, there’s déjà vu, there’s language processing, there’s déjà vu, there’s critical thinking, there’s déjà vu…” On my Best of 2015.

36. Jackie (2016) – Changed my perspective on Natalie Portman. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2016.

37. Jojo Rabbit (2019) – Shows not just how ugly hate is but how winsome it can appear. On my Best of 2019.

38. Joy (2015) – An important film at a hard time in my life. On my Best of 2015.

39. The King’s Speech (2010)

40. La La Land (2016) – Already one of the Great Musicals. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

41. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) – Like a novel on screen. On my Best of 2019.

42. Les Misérables (2012)

43. Lincoln (2012)

44. The Light Between Oceans (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2016.

45. Lion (2016) – Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

46. Little Women (2019) – I don’t sob in every film, but one of the most realistic onscreen depictions of sisterhood will make me do it. On my Best of 2019.

47. Love & Friendship (2016) - Captures Jane Austen’s sardonic tone and her eye for silliness in social etiquette. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews. On my Best of 2016.

48. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Bananas, but the best kind of bananas. On my Best of 2015.

49. Marriage Story (2019) – A divorce story I want every engaged couple to watch. An Adam Driver/Scarlett Johansson acting show I want every film lover to watch. On my Best of 2019.

50. The Martian (2015) – Of all the fantastic space stories this decade, this is the most feel-good. On my Best of 2015 list.

51. Midnight in Paris (2011) – Another entry into the Wanderlust Canon.

52. Midnight Traveler (2019) – A documentary that feels more like flipping through a family photo album than reading a newspaper. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2019.

53. Molly’s Game (2017) – Sorkin Part 1!

54. Moneyball (2011) – Sorkin Part 2!

55. mother! (2017) - Exactly zero people on Earth can explain what this story means, but I think we can all agree we don’t deserve Jennifer Lawrence. On my Best of 2017.

56. Mudbound (2017) – A Greek tragedy set in the Deep South. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2017.

57. Parasite (2019) – A Southern Gothic set in South Korea. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2019.

58. Philomena (2013)

59. The Post (2017) – Hanks. Spielberg. Streep. Need I say more? On my Best of 2017.

60. The Report (2019) - Solely included here for the performance from Adam Driver, who elevated this so much he became one of my favorite working actors by the credits. Read ZekeFilm review. On my Best of 2019.

61. Selma (2014)

62. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) – I’m ready for more J. Law and B. Coop team ups in the 2020s. Read Crowd vs. Critic reviews.

63. Sing Street (2016) – Listen to “The Riddle of the Model” and you can thank me later. Read Crowd vs. Critic review. On my Best of 2016.

64. The Social Network (2010) – Sorkin Part 3!

65. Spotlight (2015)

66. A Star Is Born (2018) – Sometimes a film is everything you hope it will be. On my Best of 2018.

67. The Theory of Everything (2014)

68. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) – A needed dialogue with unexpected opportunities for redemption. On my Best of 2017.

69. Three Identical Strangers (2018) - Sucks you in with its stranger-than-fiction premise but keeps you because of its better-than-fiction characters. On my Best of 2018.

70. The Tree of Life (2011)

71. The Two Popes (2019) – On my Best of 2019.

72. Wind River (2017) – The story lead the way instead of its politics, which makes both more compelling. More of Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen in everything, please. On my Best of 2017.

Photo credits: All photos from IMDb.com.

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gilmoremovies · 7 years

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The Godfather (1972)

Date Watched: 21st January 2017

Referenced in: 1x17, 2x14, 2x16, 3x02, 3x11, 4x01, 4x04, 4x07, 5x09, 5x17, 6x02, 6x04, 6x05, 6x06, 6x10, 6x21, 7x18, Summer and Fall

Rating: ★★★★☆

So the Godfather is referenced 5 bajillion times (enjoy those references below the read more) and is a classic. I had extremely high hopes for this film and I did enjoy watching it. The acting was impeccably and it was really well shot. I think a little was taken away with the horse’s head scene because who doesn’t know about that scene... which was surprisingly the only spoiler I knew before watching. I had a little bit of an issue with the predictability of it, housemate said it was cause I’ve watched too many films but I called almost everything before it happened (apart from the the guy who got shot 5 times death I don’t wanna give it away). It just about made 4 stars although it was pretty damn predictable, the acting was truly amazing and the storyline was pretty interesting.

(Other GG Movies I’ve watched so far)

(Full references under the cut)

1x17, The Breakup: Part 2 (2001) Lorelai tells Rory that her Dean box (a bo full of his stuff) is gone using a reference from this film - sleeps with the fishes LORELAI: Honey, good night. RORY: Mom… LORELAI: Yeah. RORY: Far, far away from the house ok? LORELAI: Hey, it sleeps with the fishes. RORY: Thank you.

2x14, It Should've Been Lorelai (2002) Rory and Lorelai discuss the "leave the gun, take the cannollis" line. RORY: Where do you wanna sit? LORELAI: I don’t know. Um, how ‘bout this table with it’s unobstructed westward view of the wide cosmopolitan expansive Klump Street? RORY: Tempting. Do you know that on a clear day you can see all the way to the garbage cans behind Al’s Pancake World? LORELAI: Hm. Or we could sit in the corner - you know, the Mafia table so that no one can come up behind you and whack you with a cannoli. RORY: Whack you with a cannoli? Oh, because he left the gun and took the cannoli. LORELAI: You’re so my daughter.

2x16, There's the Rub (2002) Lorelai calls Emily's limousine "The Luca Brasi-mobile." in reference to Luca Brasi a character from this film EMILY: [they walk to the front desk] Hello, I’m Emily Gilmore. This is my daughter, Lorelai. BOBBY: Ah, yes, welcome to Birch Grove. My name is Bobby. I have everything all set for you. Do you have luggage? LORELAI: Yes, it’s in the Luca Brasi mobile out front. BOBBY: Okay, well, we can take care of that for you. Here are your room keys and a copy of all of your spa activities. You ladies are booked solid, I see.

3x02, Haunted Leg (2002) Lorelai mentions Clemenza, a character in the film, who kills someone in a car. LORELAI: I know, but this goes against every rule I have in the Gilmore survival guide. Number one – no running with scissors. Number two – no pageboy haircuts. Number three – never ever have lunch alone with a mother. SOOKIE: It might not be so bad. LORELAI: Saying yes to this lunch with my mother is like saying "Sounds fun!" to a ride with Clemenza.

3x11, I Solemnly Swear (2003) Lorelai describes scenes from the film when talking about Rory’s issues with Francie LORELAI: Do you want me to talk to her? You know, arrange a sit-down? RORY: No, thanks. LORELAI: Come on. We’ll have it in an Italian restaurant. You’ll get up, go to the bathroom – thanks – and come out shooting, and then I’ll send you to Italy. RORY: Well, I do wanna go to Italy. LORELAI: Two birds with one stone, my friend.

4x01, Ballrooms and Biscotti (2003) Lorelai and Rory plan to watch the film. LORELAI: Pizza at John's. Um, Sunday, pick up all the stuff you need for school, and then there's a barbecue at Sookie's. Monday is mani/pedi, facial, haircut, go to the psychic, and stock up for Tuesday, the day of all days - Godfather I, II, and III, with extra showings of the Sofia death scene over and over as long as the Mallomars hold out. RORY: The perfect day!

RORY: Well, I'm not ready. I haven't packed. I have things I need to get. We were supposed to watch the three Godfather's and Sofia dying over and over and eat our biscotti and - LORELAI: Okay, listen, calm down. We just need to revise our plan. RORY: We were supposed to have a week. LORELAI: Okay, tonight we stay home and pack. Tomorrow we get up early. We'll get all the stuff you need, and that will give us time to watch at least two Godfather's and a Sofia dying. We'll still have a partial day and a great biscotti night.

LORELAI: Okay, let's sit. God, Mr. Jet Lag wants to be my best friend. RORY: Well, do you wanna go home and rest? LORELAI: No. We have a Godfather night to salvage. Check the list.

LORELAI: I'm not going. I'll finish up all the errands. RORY: Really? LORELAI: Yes. You go and you eat really fast and then get out of there. Meet me back here 9:30, 10 at the latest, and we'll do Godfather I through "Monday, Tuesday, Thursday," and a quick Sofia dying. RORY: Deal.

4x04, Chicken or Beef? (2003) Lorelai and Rory discuss scenes from the film. LORELAI: I own my own business now, Rory. I'm gonna have to deal with tiny men like Taylor all the time. You can't go around yelling at people, no matter how historical they might be. RORY: Bummer. LORELAI: You have to learn to separate the personal from the business. RORY: Okay. LORELAI: Remember in The Godfather, Michael telling Sonny how he was gonna kill Tattaglia and Captain McCluskey in that Italian restaurant? He lays out the whole thing very calmly, very unemotionally, 'cause that's what you do in business. RORY: Yeah, but then he went and shot two guys in the head. LORELAI: Okay, but I wasn't describing that scene.

4x07, The Festival of Living Art (2003) Rory references Sonny's (James Caan) line, "Badda-bing, you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit." RORY: You are going to be the Renoir girl - end of story. LORELAI: How? RORY: Well, if they want an Anthea for "Portrait of a Young Girl Named Anthea," then they're going to have to have you for the Renoir girl. LORELAI: Well, look at you folding your laundry all haughty and powerful. RORY: Bada-bing all over his nice ivy-league suit.

5x09, Emily Says Hello (2004) Jackson speaks of threats from the film, specifically mentioning the fish on the doorstep, the horse head in the bed and "either his brains or his signature will be on the contract." [They arrive at Sookie's house – Jackson approaches them carrying a giant set of "stage scissors"] JACKSON: I came home from work, and I found these on the doorstep. What the hell is this supposed to mean? SOOKIE: Hon, maybe it's just a joke. JACKSON: No, this is not a joke. This is a threat. LORELAI: Yeah, those people at Butterick Patterns play pretty rough. JACKSON: This is the fish on the doorstep. It's the horse head in the bed. It's the "either your signature or your brains are going to be on the contract." SOOKIE: Jackson, calm down.

5x17, Pulp Friction (2005) Lorelai mentions, in passing, Connie Corleone's wedding day LUKE: You bring an enemy coffee cup in here on the day of our reconciliation. LORELAI [with a mobster accent]: At least I didn't ask you for a favor on this, the day of our daughter's wedding. LUKE: Get that coffee out of here.

6x02, Fight Face (2005) Luke mentions how Michael Corleone dealt with his brother-in-law. LORELAI: So, what do we do? LUKE: I'm gonna talk to TJ, but I'm gonna be smart about it, I'm not gonna spook him. I'm gonna be like Michael Corleone dealing with that slimy brother-in-law of his. Get a couple of tickets to a ball game, invite him along. And we'll talk about the beer and the hot dogs we're gonna eat. And then I'm gonna get him to admit that he did this. And then when we get in the car on the way to the ball park, I'm gonna put a rope around his neck and pull it till he's (pulls an imaginary rope) Dead! LORELAI: Wait, Wait! You're in the backseat? LUKE: Yeah! That's the best for garroting. Yes! LORELAI: No, he's gonna smell something fishy if you hop in the backseat especially if you're driving. LUKE: No, he's not that bright. It'll work! LORELAI: Why are you even buying the tickets? You could just sneak up on him and garrote him on the street. Save you the money.

6x04, Always a Godmother, Never a God (2005) Brian quotes "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" RORY: I'm just doing it as a favour for Sookie. BRIAN: Godmother, huh? (imitating Marlon Brando) Did you make her an offer she couldn't refuse? ZACH: (impressed) Dude! You nailed that! BRIAN: Thanks.

6x05, We've Got Magic to Do (2005) Rory says, "This is business; it's not personal." RORY: I really hate her! PARIS: They should die. RORY: I should probably give her a table. PARIS: What? RORY: Well, we have a spare table. We kept it open in case of something like this. I should give it to her. PARIS: But she doesn't deserve it. RORY: I know, but this is business. It's not personal. I should give her that table.

6x06, Welcome to the Dollhouse (2005) Kirk references the film when talking about getting on the wrong side of Taylor. LORELAI: But you and I talked about the street names only this morning! How could the Dragonfly already be off the map? KIRK: You know the old saying, cross the Don in the morning, sleep with the fishes in the afternoon. Plus Taylor has one of those really fast laser printers. LORELAI: This is not fair! The Dragonfly is a business in Stars Hollow! This is not right.

6x10, He's Slippin' 'Em Bread... Dig? (2005) Sookie tells her sous chef to "Godfather it up" after instructing him to add more garlic to the dish he is preparing. SOOKIE: Okay, where's the onions for my sauce? Who's my onion man? CARL: Right here, Sookie. SOOKIE: Okay, right here, Carl. I need them right there. Okay? Get the shallots in it. It's time. It's time! [She tastes a sauce.] Okay. Needs more garlic. Come on. Godfather it up for me. [To the woman chopping herbs] Good! Good, good, good. Good, good. Okay. If you can travel back in time and make me not make the veal and ham pate, I'd appreciate it. Talk me out of these things in the future, guys.

6x21, Driving Miss Gilmore (2006) Lorelai wonders if her parents had Clemenza hide a gun in the bathroom after they said they had lunch with Christopher RICHARD: Because there'd been a lot of tension between us about the tuition incident, and your mother and I thought it was time for a sit-down. LORELAI: A sit down what, did you get Clemenza to hide a gun in the bathroom first? RICHARD: We thought it was time to clear the air. After all, Christopher is Rory's father, and we wanted him to know there were no hard feelings.

7x18, Hay Bale Maze (2007) Rory compares Taylor to Don Corleone. LOGAN: And this hay-bale maze -- this is all Taylor’s idea? RORY: Yep. LOGAN: This is the same Taylor who is town selectman and owns two businesses. RORY: Yeah, he’s basically the Mayor of Stars Hollow and Don Corleone all wrapped up into one. LOGAN: That’s fascinating.

A Year in the Life: Summer (2016) Lorelai imitates Vito Corleone. LORELAI: [Imitating Marlon Brando as Don Corleone] My wife is crying upstairs. I hear cars coming to the house. Consiglieri of mine, I think it's time you tell your Don what everyone seems to know. MICHEL: What? LORELAI: It's from The Godfather MICHEL: Eurgh, not The Godfather again. LORELAI: It has a quote for every circumstance. MICHEL: You don't have a wife. LORELAI: It's not exact. MICHEL: And who's Don? LORELAI: Michel! MICHEL: I'm leaving LORELAI: [sighs] I'm out of quotes.

A Year in the Life: Fall (2016) Emily says, "I just upped and pulled a Bugsy Siegel and made them an offer they couldn't refuse." EMILY: D'you remember the house your father and I would rent every summer? LORELAI: Of course. EMILY: Well I bought it and it wasn't even for sale! I just upped and pulled a Bugsy Siegel and made them an offer they couldn't refuse. LORELAI: Ok I think you just mixed your mob metaphors but I appreciate the attempt.

#the godfather #gilmore girls #movie references #r2 #r2x14 #r2x16 #r3 #r3x02 #r3x11 #r4 #r4x01 #r4x04 #r4x07 #r5 #r5x09 #r5x17 #r1 #r1x17 #gg movie list

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