#honestly my favorite thing is drawing five million characters in a picture.

[jovaline]

I was like, "hmm, let me just make a really quick print for ECCC...." and somehow this escalated to drawing 10 of my favorite Marvel teens in one picture. 😂✨

From left to right: Gwen, Miles, Eli, Billy, Tommy, Teddy, Kamala, America, Kate, & Cassie! (Also Steve being a good boy.)

#gwen stacy #miles morales #kate bishop #america chavez #kamala khan #billy kaplan #tommy shepherd #Cassie Lang #eli bradley #teddy altman #young avengers #spiderverse #eccc #arielle draws #marvel #honestly my favorite thing is drawing five million characters in a picture.

[in-tua-deep]

tua s1 rewatch with my roommate

episode one (I forgot for the first episode oops):

I have been treated to pictures of a lovely cosplay of Klaus who won a cosplay contest my roommate was in !!

Klaus putting his arm in front of Five during the funeral fight is good shit

“I have heard like nothing about Vanya” “yeah that’s pretty much how she’s treated in show as well”

“I can see why he’s the fandom favorite” - about Klaus

“Istanbul is in the firST EPISODE?”

I forGOT about the “rapists can climb” line when he breaks into Vanya’s apartment omg but also like,, his dumb arm wound

Episode two:

HERR CARLSON

Aww baby fives first time travel his little smile. Baby. Baby boy. And the dawning horror in the apocalypse baby nO

Five: you got anything stronger

Also five: takes one sip and then fills up more, takes another sip, and then immediately puts it down ?????

The motel dude for hazel and cha cha just looks at them like “yeah these are serial killers” and just rolls with it

Also actually why tf doesn’t the commission spring for better stuff?? Why would they cut costs?? They time travel? They could game the stock market so hard ?????? Give the assassins their own rooms omg

Also why didn’t five like. Crush his tracker. Why did he just leave it whole and intact outside of the Griddys.

Forgot how much I love Agnes

(Oh man it is storming bad here it just BOOMED)

Also idk if Diego actually deserved that taser hmmmmm but also like,, communication lads five was literally right there killing people and Diego is like “hmm something is up here” like. Yeah Diego ur big brother “I can get my sibling in trouble for something” senses are tingling

Wow I really did repress all these Allison and Luther scenes huh. Also it’s still super cute that Allison read Claire moon books

Allison: dads heart gave out, which wasn’t how I was expecting to find out dad had a heart but it tracks

“SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE BEN... said with love 😘”

Did five actually sleep at Vanyas?? The sofa looks undisturbed but he had to wait for work hours to interrogate the meritech people,, five,, please sleep. The whole “IF YOU CALL ME YOUNG MAN ONE MORE TIME” interaction makes more sense with five on. Zero sleep.

I didn’t remember that Patch straight up knows about the umbrella academy oops. Like she clocks Diego as overcompensating for his childhood. Queen

Is that an umbrella adademy Diego cross stitch on Diego’s wall?? Did he buy that? Make it?? Did grace make it?

Vanya, walking into the academy: five??? five? pspspspspsps

Also like. Who was Vanyas therapist??? Clearly they did not help her

Aww the tow truck driver :(

I know the show wants me to dislike Patrick I KNOW,, and I think her fathers funeral is extenuating circumstance?? But still Patrick is valid for not giving an inch regarding his ex who mind controlled his child. Vanya didn’t really deserve Allison snapping at her but like. She had some good points. Allison arguably would have had to deal with vanyas book more than anyone else

Five smiling proudly at Klaus’s drama at meritech bless but also KLAUS DONT BREAK GLASS ON YOURSELF

Me, spotting Leonard: BASTARD

Love how everyone greets Diego in the gym and don’t question all his knives or anything like “yeah that’s Diego he lives here and loves knives :)”

Why could Leonard have not been like. A normal ass guy. Vanya needs friends who sympathize with her holy shit get this person some socialization

Pogo really did have to lead these kids by hand to the recording rooms because literally no one was super invested in reginalds ~murder mystery~

ahafahJAGSJWGAI MY ROOMMATE JUST SAID POGO IS THE BEST CHARACTER SO FAR,,,, I will probably never include pogo in my fics because I do Not Care About Him lmaoooo

Aww five does to see Dolores and being like “it’s been a rough couple of days :(“,,,,, baby,,,, but also tag yourself I’m hazel going “elastic wrist splint yesssssss”

Five I am begging you PLEASE get some sleep

OH FIVE SHAKING DIEGO IN THE APOCALYPSE TO TRY AND WAKE HIM UP OHHHHH OH :(

Episode 3:

my roommate is super faceblind which is an issue bc she identifies people mainly by hairstyle so seeing the s2 stuff on tumblr is tripping her over bc she keeps seeing diego and going ??? who is that again? bc she’s seen his longer hair

okay there is no way that the eggs that grace put in that pan are the ones that ended up on the smiley face breakfast plate,,, but also grace that whole scene was a mood honestly i would be like “okay maybe mom killed dad BUT he deserved it sooooo”

“what the FUCK” - my roommate about cha-cha’s shitty wound care where she holds a curling iron against her arm

i didn’t remember that five got shOT AT THE DEPARTMENT STORE did i just erase that from my memory?? i mean yeah it’s a graze but he stitches it up and then slaps a bandaid on it so he has a wound that needed stitches on his shoulder for the entire show ??????? is he okay???? that would make moving your arm,,, painful,,,,,

a bandaid just slapped over it i’m actively yelling

“Sometimes when I see a million gifs of a show before I watch I get really surprised when they talk but he is exactly what I expected” - my roommate, about five

“I noticed they’ve only really showed diego in really badly lit scenes so far” - my roommate defending her lack of ability to recognize diego

i’m still laughing about pogo literally having to point out the murder tapes and now allison and luther are investigating and just. allison is lowkey defending grace and i’m laughing

“why is he saying woodwork is embarrassing that’s like one of the most middle of the wood hobbies to have. you’re respectable to grandpas who used to carve wooden ducks AND twenty-year-olds who can’t make anything to save their lives” - my roommate on leonard peabody

“i think he’s already crossing some lines he’s met this lady ONCE” - roommate on leonard/vanya

five having flashbacks in the car :(

did allison and luther draw straws for who went to fetch which sibling?? allison was like “dibs on vanya” and luther was just like “aww :(”

five luther and klaus in the van - BOYS NIGHT BOYS NIGHT let’s go pick up diego

“the coat he’s wearing does have a nice swish to it” - roommate about klaus’s coat

luther being like “you’re just as messed up as the rest of us and we’re all you have” like luther,,, baby,,,,, you literally ARE all he has,,,,,, his family is the only thing he’s really cared about since he was thirteen and maybe before then :(

“I can’t tell if those are supposed to be cake or yeast donuts... i think extruded donuts are cake donuts but she said she lets them rise so maybe they’re yeast?” - my roommate focusing on all the things that i do not

sometimes i forget that hazel and cha-cha pretended to be private detectives trying to find a lost child in a potentially dangerous situation,,, five would be disgusted

“she shouldn’t get a vote” “i was gonna say i agree with you” “she should get a vote!!” this is peak sibling energy honestly i think i’ve had that exact interaction with my siblings voting for a movie or something

“hashtag android rights” 

“I want to be the tailor who gets a call one day that says ‘i want you to make clothes for a chimpanzee”

is it telling that only luther in the flashback didn’t really talk to grace at all,, i mean five didn’t either but i think he was gone by that point in the flashback ???? 

wait diego tells grace that she worked for him for thirty years,,, the kids are 29 and later it’s implied she was built bc vanya kept killing nannies when they were like four but maybe s2 clarifies that some more?? or diego just is rounding up

“that’s an interesting fabric to her skirt” - my roommate about grace’s outfit

forgot that hazel and cha cha broke the door to the manor busting in,, do they ever fix that?? we’re only at episode three do they spend the rest of the season with their door open to anyone on the streets

okay that bathtub is WAY too small to allow for klaus to be moving his elbows about like that underwater smh

“how is HE useful on mission??” my roommate about klaus

where is the SECURITY SYSTEM??? luther LITERALLY said that reggie was more paranoid and yet some assassin can just bust down the door and have unrestricted access????? he built a whole ROBOT but no security system????????

“maybe it was like,, practice for the kids? someone breaks in and they take care of it? wait no that doesn’t explain the thirteen years they’ve been gone?”

“why WAS he on the moon?” - about luther

“I want to see what she’s embroidering!!” about grace during the gunfight in the living room she’s absolutely ignoring diego getting shot at

what is a rope-a-dope,,,, diego yells “EVER HEARD OF A ROPE-A-DOPE???” at luther but like. no i haven’t. what does that MEAN diego

aww i forgot they played sinnerman, love that song

“what are you doing dude, rumor has it you’re not shooting at me that’s all you need to do” i mean. the roommate is not wrong. allison could just end the fight with a yell. i understand she’s pissed off and has rumor trauma but like cha cha is actively trying to murder them

how is luther not winning he literally has super strength. does hazel have super strength? just punch the man and knock him out jesus y’all suck at this smh

why is there such intense music we all been knew about luther’s strength - oH HIS BODY

forgot about that

is it allison’s fault that klaus got kidnapped because she didn’t literally just rumor them to give up?? like she literally has that power. she could have been like “i heard a rumor you left and forgot about us” it didn’t even need to be violent?? i understand she has rumor trauma but this i feel is allowable circumstances

diego showing his worry about vanya by getting angry which honestly i think all the siblings do that rip none of these idiots have even heard of healthy communication in their LIVES

you know,, i don’t think vanya can drive. she takes the bus. she took a taxi to leonard’s house. we see her walking a lot. does she know how to drive?? i imagine that the umbrella academy were taught bc of mission related stuff but,,, vanya wasn’t?? that’s just depressing tbh

#tua rewatch #i cannot beliEVE she likes pogo so much #pogo was complicit in the hargreeves abuse no i wont change my mind #i would be more likely to forgive him if he didnt keep mentioning how much reginald loved them #pogo fam dont say that #youre just going to feed luthers daddy issues #more to come #i cannot BELIEVE i forgot five got shot/grazed in the arm by a bullet #he slaps a BANDAID OVER IT #right after i said five is better at woundcare than cha cha with the curling iron #he just #slaps a bandaid on it #not even a big bandaid #that motherfucker

[minaminokyoko]

Pacific Rim: Uprising (A Spoilertastic Review)

This movie should be the ultimate lesson for Hollywood on why you shouldn’t just replace a director who has vision with someone who just wants to make a quick buck in a lazy sequel. My God, I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this utterly annoyed by a sequel. I mean, late sequels have a serious tendency to suck for many reasons: hiring different writers/directors from the previous film, changing the tone, removing important characters and awkwardly jamming new ones in there, relying on boring sequel clichés, or misunderstanding the entire reason why the first movie was a hit. Pacific Rim wasn’t a mega-hit stateside—it did $101 million domestically and did much better in the foreign market with an additional $309 million—but it was easily a fan favorite. Even if I had the full story on what went down between Legendary Pictures and the delightfully talented Guillermo del Toro, there is no excuse why Pacific Rim Uprising is such a pathetic pile of nothing. With del Toro, we had some excellent world building, a basic understanding of the premise, a loose but still adequate story, and characters that were easy to remember and enjoy. We also had a fun cameo from the incomparable Ron Perlman, a fantastic score, and some truly imaginative fight sequences of the Jaegers vs. the kaiju. I’ve said before that I think PacRim is a good movie, not a great movie, only because I felt you could have simply removed Raleigh entirely and focused on Mako and Stacker instead since they were both ten times more interesting and easier to connect with on an emotional level. However, after seeing this nonsense, I have a whole new appreciation for the first film, because at least it told a goddamn story and its characters had personality traits and arcs. Uprising is honestly an affront to what the first film established, not only for retconning things with Stacker’s forgettable son, but just botching every single enjoyable element from the first film.

I’ll get right to the point—yes, the Jaeger/kaiju fights are the main draw for this franchise. Even though I’m going to list why this sequel is godawful, a lot of people really just want to see it for the big fight scenes and that’s all they might want to take away from any reviews. Well, I’m here to tell you, I still don’t think Uprising is worth your hard-earned cash, because it’s frankly a bait-and-switch. The trailer shows you a monstrous kaiju made of three other kaiju, and that sounds amazing, right? Well, it’s intentionally misleading. If you want the full story, check below the spoiler line.

Overall Grade: D

Pro:

-Seriously, the only positive thing to note about this entire film is that the fight scenes were at least adequate. Not good, not great, adequate. When the fights finally do happen, there’s plenty of smashing, and the idea of the kaiju melding into one huge kaiju was at least a nifty idea. It was easily the only thing about the trailer that got anyone’s blood moving and could have built any hype.  However, judging by the movie’s poor opening weekend, enough people could tell something was off about it.

Cons:

-The trailer is misleading. How? Well, there are no kaiju in this movie until the last fifteen minutes. Seriously. They pulled a Huntsman sequel on you guys—promising something that only appears at the end of the fucking movie. All other times, you are stuck with the bland protagonists training or trying to figure out how the rogue Jaeger attacked Sydney. IIRC, there’s only the fight of Gypsy Avenger vs. the rogue Jaeger and then the end with all of them fighting. There’s a brief chase sequence in the beginning with Bland White Child and Stacker-lite, but it’s barely five minutes long and it’s just them rolling away from the full sized Jaeger like Sonic the Hedgehog. Look, if that still excites you, hey, go see it. But to everyone else who doesn’t want to feel ripped off, I’m begging you to sit this one out for this and many other reasons I’m going to outline below. There are only kaiju at the end of the damn movie. It’s Godzilla 2014 all over again—a magnificent creature that is advertised heavily as being in the film, but isn’t actually in the damn thing.

-The dialogue is so painfully cliché that you will roll your eyes so many times they might eject from your skull. Jesus Christ. I swear, it’s like they had a checklist of every action movie cliché they could think of and they made sure to check off every single one. Every line of dialogue in this movie is a sickening cliché. There is not one original thought. Not. One. Every character is flat and some form of a lazy archetype. No one gets any development. It’s Michael Bay-levels of incompetent writing. The movie couldn’t have been any worse written than if there was a room of chimpanzees hammering away at the screenplay. It’s just plain embarrassing. Every moment there isn’t a kaiju smashing something or a Jaeger beating wholesale ass, you will be in massive amounts of pain.

-The fights are mediocre. Remember how carefully staged the fight scenes were in the first movie? Hell, most of the time we can list them off the top of our heads because those fights were so damn memorable. We had the opening montage, the Knifehead fight, the two kaiju vs. the Jaegers, Gypsy Danger vs. Otachi, and then the final brawl underwater at the Breach. Each fight was staged well and paced well throughout the film. You didn’t have to wait too long between fights during the film, and it also entertained you with smaller bits like Mako and Raleigh training or the flashback to Mako’s childhood with that scary crab kaiju. Uprising is a bottom-heavy film, much like the equally terrible Jurassic World (God, talk about another late sequel that entirely misses the fucking point of the original property.) The only difference is at least Jurassic World had enough sense to deliver a powerhouse ending to an utterly stupid film, and Uprising doesn’t. The fights don’t have clever staging, great music, or very much creativity to them. After suffering through two hours with these annoying paper cutout characters, you should deliver the best damn fights we’ve ever seen, but no, they’re just standard hacking and slashing. Punctuated by the intensely annoying, shrieking helium balloon shaped like Charlie Day shouting inane dialogue in his squeaky voice. The fights have zero weight, too, because no one has a character, so you don’t give a shit if they live or not during the fight either.

-Like many terrible sequels, they kill off a main lead from the previous film in order to give the new protagonist some pathetic kind of Mangst. If there is one thing I am sure of, it’s that most fans of the original movie are going to be LIVID they dragged the actress playing Mako all the way back on set just to kill her fifteen minutes in. It’s just insulting. Mako was the fan favorite from the first film. Seriously, she has most of the fandom in her back pocket, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the immediate backlash is because the movie’s disgusting use of Fridging the main female lead from the first movie to make way for Bland White Child and Stacker-lite. It’s possibly the most insulting thing about the entire sequel. Mako deserved better. I’d rather she was out of the movie entirely, like Raleigh mysteriously is, than for them to kill her in such a cheap, stupid way. What a waste of a good actress and a great character.

-Making Charlie Day the villain. Yes, because nothing is more intimidating than a tiny man with the voice of Bobcat Goldthwait spouting dialogue so corny you’d expect it from an Austin Powers movie. Are you kidding me? Look, I get it, Charlie Day is a fan favorite so of course they were going to bring him back, but what the actual fuck made you think he should be the bad guy? It’s weaksauce. It sounds like they were just bored and out of ideas for the villain, as if the fucking kaiju or the Precursors weren’t good enough somehow, and just slapped this idiotic role in his lap. It’s such a bad idea. I hated his character in the first film and wanted him removed entirely, but at least he served a purpose. Here, it’s just lip service. Anyone who liked him in the first one is going to be pissed off at this random turn of the character with no indication of changing him back.

-Thin, boring leads. Let me be clear: John Boyega is not to be blamed for any of why this movie is failing critically and financially. The kid is talented and sweet and I want to pinch his cheeks and feed him apple pie in my kitchen. But he couldn’t save this film because of that rancid excuse of a script. Boyega is a darling on screen in almost everything else, but here, he has nothing to work with. Stacker-lite is just a cobbled together mess of leftover script notes from Chris Pine’s portrayal of Captain Kirk in the Star Trek reboot. He has nothing going for him at all. No motivation, no skillset, no charm. This character is completely empty inside. Bland White Child is the exact same as well; basically just every Little Miss Badass/Underdog stereotype only done amazingly poorly. She has nothing to offer the audience and while she has slightly more motivation than Boyega’s character did, it doesn’t mean anything. Then we have Generic Good Looking White Guy Lead, because for fuck’s sake, it’s not like it’s 2018 and we aren’t tired of seeing him, Generic Latina “We couldn’t get Michelle Rodriguez to do this bullshit so here’s someone else instead” Tits and Ass (who made me even angrier because normally when they have the Hot Latina Military Lady, she gets at least ONE badass moment, but this chick seriously serves no fucking purpose and is relegated to the laziest Hot Girl/Potential Love Interest role of all fucking time), Generic Cadets Who are Carefully Ethnically Diverse (you are fooling NO ONE, sequel; if you’re gonna bother to make them diverse, GIVE THEM ACTUAL CHARACTERS FIRST), Kick Butt Asian Lady (seriously, why the fuck did you cast this lady and kill off Mako? It would make more sense if Mako was in this role, like maybe Raleigh died in the Jaeger and she wanted to make automated Jaegers so no one would ever lose their partner again, there, ah fixed it, you morons), and finally Returning Cast Member Who Looks Tired AF But Needed the Money. It is a headache spending two hours with these characters. You don’t care about any of them and they have nothing to offer you. They’re just constantly stumbling around bumping into things and spouting dialogue from 30 years ago.

If you can overlook all of those flaws for the promise of Jaeger vs. kaiju fighting, have at it. Everyone else, don’t bother. If you’re that curious, wait until this hits a premium channel. I’m extremely glad I saw it for free, because I’d have been pissed paying $10 for this lump of expired crab meat. Save your money and go buy another copy of the first movie.

#Pacific Rim Uprising #Pacific Rim #movie review #film review #spoiler alert #spoilers

[aviationfiction]

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She is not fair to the human race. She is the cause for a war; serving as the undeniable demise of a million men. Her sun kissed skin gleams brighter than the finest gold and her intoxicating olive and honey eyes, serve as her weapons; weakening all who dares to stare into them for a lengthy period of time. Every aspect of her body is sculpted to perfection. She serves as a paragon of the higher power’s capabilities and showmanship. She is the personification of his excellency.

Yoooo this if I wasn’t blown away with the way he described her. Like I love reading from his pov because his words are like poetry. The way he describes and pay attention to every little intricate detail that is Autumn is absolutely amazing.

The way he looks at her is fascinating, especially because she doesn’t even know nor does she view herself in that manner. If Autumn could magically hear his thoughts, she’d either he baffled or embarrassingly amused by how enamored he is with her beauty. He notices every damn thing she does; even the things that wouldn’t matter to her or anyone else.

The bouncing of her ponytail was nothing in comparison to what was happening below her waistline and I nearly tripped myself as I purposely sprinted ahead of her to end the visual and cease those thoughts.

I laughed so hard tears where coming out. I can actually picture him doing this. Lol son Autumn had this nigga mind all in the gutter and I loved it, because he tries so hard for it not to go there. Especially with her.

He’s embarrassed by those type of thoughts because he doesn’t want to objectify her. That’s typical male behavior and he’s not trying to fall in line with that type of gawking but he can’t help himself. No matter how much he tries not to, he’s going to look and think about it. It’s natural behavior. He shouldn’t fault himself for that.

“No one’s home. My father’s in D.C. for something work related and my mother is out there for some type of summit or conference at Howard University. I’m assuming they’re most likely going to stay an extra day or two to do their romantic thing and return home. So yeah, it’s just me here today.” As we walked along, she snickered. “Why am I making it sound like I’m sneaking you in? I’m sounding so hot in the pants teen right now.” “Well. Are you sneaking me in?” I teased her and smirked when she widened her eyes at the question. She then lightly smacked her hand into my arm. “No. It just makes me think of the movie ATL when Lashonate’s character Tonya says to T.I.’s character Rashad look my momma not home, you want to give me a ride? And then Rashad says man your momma ain’t never home. You remember that?” I haven’t heard of the movie nor seen it. I knew Tip was into acting but I never had an interest in seeing him do it. I’d rather be a fan of his music; mostly the earlier work. This is the second time I’m hearing that Lashonte name from someone. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything she’s acted in before. “No. I’ve never seen that.” “My God, Dante. What do you watch when you’re at home chilling? You better not say House Of Cards either.”

For her to not only offer to cook for him, but for her to invite him into her home. Says a lot. That whole little exchange was so cute, because every time she finds out that Dante haven’t seen a movie or a tv show, baffles her, and I think that’s really cute that she’s tryna put him up on things.

She’s comfortable with him and she’s building a trust level with him that allows her to continue to allow him to come even further into her world. She trusts the respect that he’s shown her thus far and that’s what’s really important when it comes to those two.

I also love and find it hilarious how out of touch Dante is when it comes to films and popular culture overall. He really does live in his own little bubble. Autumn’s going to have to school him, because Stacey isn’t getting through to him.

Three reasons. Faith. I’ve always believed that we as human beings put a bit too much faith in God when it comes to every single thing. I don’t know why, but it felt like such a lazy approach. Around that time, honestly, I felt like I had nothing but him to cling to. It was the first time I put it all on him and firmly believed that he’d make sure I made it through it all in some type of way. I’m standing here and I’m functional so those blessings were gifted. The second is hope. I’ve been one hell of a pessimist over these past couple of years, so I had to work on becoming hopeful again. I’m still working on it but I’ve progressively gotten better. Lastly, myself. I don’t know what the hell the future holds for me. It scares me to think about it but I have to believe that everything’s going to work itself out positively for as long as I work on it.” “Faith. Hope. Self. I like and highly respect that. You know, a lot of people usually name their family or something completely outside of themselves as reasons for living and that’s cool but ultimately, I believe that you have to want to live for yourself before you can have the desire to live for anyone else. That falls right along the lines of needing to love yourself before you can attempt to love someone else.” “Exactly. You get it. It’s not a selfish way of thinking. It’s simply the way things should be.” Suddenly, she turned and swung open the fridge’s door to examine the contents inside. “You said French toast is your favorite right?”

This was so heart breaking for me to read. But for her to still be able to pick up the pieces and move on, had me yelling go sus. And I just think it’s so awesome that they’re both completely comfortable with each other to divulge things to each other that they normally wouldn’t.

Her strength is admirable and her ability to speak about it and be informative when it comes to his own story is beautiful. Her life is important and it’s good to know she realizes that and also that she’s found outlets to restore her faith in God and in herself. The rawness between the two of them is one of the driving forces of their friendship. The open honesty continues to draw them closer to one another and it serves as an outlet and escape from what does pain them in their individual lives.

“Yes. It’s just television sweetheart.”

I smiled so damn hard at this, even tho it was a slip up. I was like yes Dante

LMFAO! A slip up that had both her........and him shook!

When she caught him peeking, he was so damn embarrassed, but it was so cute.

My famous southern fried chicken, a vegetable omelette, and cinnamon French toast with a homemade bourbon peach sauce smothered over them.”

Well damn Olga I felt like I was watching an episode of Chopped lol. Shorty threw down in the kitchen. And for her to keep him company while he ate. And for it to seem so natural. I just love how comfortable they are with each other.

She made her time in Miami useful in that manner. Though it was to appease Andreas, her cooing skills do come in handy and Dante was able to get a taste of what she spend a lot of her leisure time doing. If he sticks around, one thing he won’t complain about is being hungry, because she’s sure to fill his stomach up upon request.

No. I was only asking because I wanted to know if you’d like to hang out with me today? I have a few things to do but it’s sort of a loose day for me. First I need to head home to freshen up and change. If you get ready while we’re here, you can just go with me. I have to stop by my office to wrap something up. What time is your appointment?” “It’s starts at five. It’s later in the evening because she’s coming into the office late today.” “I can drop you off. I’m supposed to check out a property around five thirty, so I can drop you off and pick you back up. Tonight, Diddy’s hosting a party at the club to celebrate some new flavor of Ciroc. It should be fun. He always brings a crowd and tons of special guests with him. Are you up for it?” Though I wanted to finish it all, I couldn’t eat another bite. After having swallowed down the last bit of French toast I had left, I tossed in the towel on the half of omelette and piece of chicken I had left.

Okay Dante I see you boy. Don’t wanna leave her. I was surprised she agreed tho. I kinda felt like she wasn’t thinking that would be doing to much, but obviously she’s more opened to them becoming better friends.

She’d already spoiled him with the breakfast and the company, so he wanted to keep that going for the remainder of the day. It’s surprising for someone who tends to always be by himself to desire an entire day worth of company, but again, that attests to how close the two of them are becoming and how much he already values her presence.

“And your closet damn near made me pass out. It’s amazing and that mirror that you have in there? Whew! Your closet is very Christian Grey.” “Very who?” I pressed send on the final e-mail that I needed to send over the Hakkasan group and glanced over in her direction. It was one hell of a gamble, but I was able to secure him an extended three year partnership with the group as a disc jockey and music consultant. He’ll be the resident DJ at Hakkasan nightclub once it has it’s grand opening, Wet Republic, and also at Omnia nightclub inside of Caesar’s Palace. “You’ve never heard of Christian Grey?” Her giggle was sheepish and her face suddenly turned a slight hue of red as her body shifted on the chair. “No. Who is he?” “Nevermind.” She couldn’t cease the laughter at my lack of information about whomever she was referencing to so I did what anyone would do. I immediately opened up another tab and typed the exact name into Google. When the results appeared, I clicked the first link available. “Christian Trevelyan Grey is the male protagonist of the trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey. To the outside world, he appears to be a handsome and attractive young man in the business world. However, he has a hidden face: he is adept of BDSM.” It was my turn for my face to flush in embarrassment as I skimmed through more of the synopsis about the man. Fredrick’s talked about his weird interest in BDSM enough for me to know exactly what it is and what it entails. Autumn couldn’t contain her laughter no matter how many times she attempted to do so and the smirk on my face was by followed my narrowed eyes as I pondered how she made the connection between myself and this character. “How is my closet very Christian Grey?” “Because it’s very sleek, masculine, and it’s filled with suits, dress shoes, and you have those pull out draws with your ties neatly folded inside of them. That’s how Christian is described. He’s a business man, just like you are.” “But why do I have to be compared to the kinky ass business man?” “I’m not saying that you’re kinky. I’m just comparing your styles in terms of business attire. I wouldn’t know if you’re into BDSM or not unless I asked Samira or that three month girlfriend from college.” “Or you can just ask me.”

I cackled so damn loud my coworkers were looking at me crazy. And for her to say she would only found out by asking one of his exs and for him to boldly reply or you can just ask me. Phew chile. I can picture Dante dominating Autumn or the other way around. Hell for the right person you’ll get kinky for them.

LMFAOOOOOO! Dante decided to test the waters with that response and he cannot deny that even if he tried to. He wanted to see just how much she’d flinch or if she’d actually go there and open up the floor for that invasive but obviously intriguing conversation.

You think Dante’s dominant in the bedroom? Hm. Her too? Well, you’re definitely right about people bringing out all the works when it’s with the right person.

“Okay, Google Images does you no justice. Don’t get me wrong, you’re beautiful in those photos, but damn, you’re fine as hell.”

I freaking love Stacey man. I just love her.

Stacey is a mess, but we have to love her. She can’t help but to be her loud and obnoxious self and that is by far what makes her so damn great. She makes Dante squirm and he needs that.

I’m not done with my feedback but I’m at work so I def will be leaving the rest later on tonight.

Thank you so much. I truly appreciate that and I’m glad you’re enjoying it thus far.

[sweetcron]

11-97

hhelllll yEAHHHHH HERE WE GO BABIE!!!!!!! THANKS FOR THE ASK!!!

i probably went too hard on all these but....one of my summer classes just finished and i was like yeahahhHhhahah

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?

totally depends where i am and how much time i have, but typically ill have yogurt & something small but sweet so i dont go insane

12. name of your favorite playlist?

god right now my favorite is handle without care, which is just stupid songs im into right now

13. lanyard or key ring?

lanyard, except i always get it caught on shit so typically i just throw my keys in my bag anyway

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

oooo hard one, my initial thought was sour gummy worms, but probably... either that or sour skittles. oh but fuck lemon & black licorice jelly beans together......im excited to have 0 followers & 0 friends tomorrow

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

percy jackson was dope. im trying to come up with another that i even read and frankly cannot

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

honestly i just sit like a fool all the time, but i like to be very reclined and almost horizontal, if im forced to sit more upright i like crosslegged or with my leg(s) pulled up to my chest

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

depends on the season or length of time, recently it’s been my black high top vans, usually it’s my docs. for a long time it was black converse.

18. ideal weather?

i like when it’s a little sunny, kind of overcast, but a little cold, like enough to wear layers but not suffer

19. sleeping position?

on my side, curled up, ideally holding pam(ela indestructable underworld), my adorable stuffed sloth

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

depends on what it is, but I have a planner sort of thing i really like for planning, a sketchbook/painting sort of notebook for more emotional shit and then my twitter that nobody follows and is private for really emotional shit

21. obsession from childhood?

i loved making like..dirt, water, and grass mixtures in an empty gatorade bottle. apparently this is not a common experience.

22. role model?

everyone to an extent, but also nobody. but to pin down a specific person, probably my therapist lol

23. strange habits?

i keep listening to shiny from moana? also i keep wanting to change my hair.

24. favorite crystal?

oh god, i love opal, but i dont know. most are pretty but some are awful. it depends, and id have to look at a million pictures for any resemblance of a legitimate answer

25. first song you remember hearing?

that’s so hard um. i dont remember very early but i do remember hearing crush, crush, crush by paramore and thinking ew crushes are gross even though i had a crush on a dumbass at the time, and welcome to the black parade and crying

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

warm, probably a concert but past that, walking around, going to thrift stores or record shops. 

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

a concert, again but past that going home, or getting a warm drink

28. five songs to describe you?

oh LORD!!!!! this is hard, but i did my best

1. caught in the middle - paramore

2. grow - muna

3. cool for cats - squeeze

4. cut my lip - twenty one pilots

5. tubthumping - chumbawumba

29. best way to bond with you?

share music with me, be vulnerable and share what is going on with you

30. places that you find sacred?

being in trees and being alone listening to music that means a lot to me loudly

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

i have a mustardy yellow shirt that’s got vertical lines that are raised from the shirt, and then a flared leg jumpsuit sort of thing that’s like plaid, with black and white and grey. then docs, and yeah i love that outfit. adore it. even better with a jean jacket with fleece lining.

32. top five favorite vines?

also so hard but after doing this i think im gonna throw up from laughing so hard

1. dancing puppet

2. get outta your mind

3. cat

4. WAY TO GO PAUL

5. krispy kreme

33. most used phrase in your phone?

that’s a great question, probably me asking people what to do with my hair

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

none currently, but always “meat, it’s what’s for dinner”

35. average time you fall asleep?

depends, but usually 10ish

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

probably some rage meme like brian or whatever

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

depends on what im doing, but usually duffel.

38. lemonade or tea?

arnold palmer babie!! but it depends, usually i’d say tea, i really like lemon ginger (especially pukka but its expensive)

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

i dont know if i’ve had lemon meringue pie, but lemon cake sounds better i think

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

i remembered this and it is entertaining, in middle school (i was...prolly 14? 13?) someone said “someone likes uuuu” to me and i was like. “......k” and they were like..... “it’s a giiiiiiirl” and i again, was like “.......k” and so literally, i fucking spent the rest of the class being like, hm! apparently i dont care. and thats how i realized that idc about gender when it comes to liking someone lol

41. last person you texted?

max, @laetan​. follow him if u dont i love him

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

women’s pant pockets are cursed. jacket pockets enlighten me, especially when there’s one normal and then one like, on top of that pocket but the entrance is horizontal. that’s my favorite.

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

all? but let’s rank them 

1. jean jacket, my absolute fav, i have like 5 jean jackets and it’s bad. i always want more

2. hoodie, with a jean jacket is even better, but COMFY!!!!

3. leather jacket, look like a badass with one piece of clothing!!

4. bomber jacket, dont have a lot but always make me feel cool

5. cardigan, makes me feel like an old lady, but also really comfy idk. even the worst is amazing

44. favorite scent for soap?

i love lemon, but any fruit is good. or like, vanilla

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

sci-fi usually....fantasy is usually too much and superhero is usually annoying. unless it’s spiderman. i adore spiderman

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

oversized soft t shirt and like, soft shorts/boxer things

47. favorite type of cheese?

GOAT CHEESE!!! also sharp cheddar and pepperjack

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

pear. i feel like i’m not talked about a lot but people like me and nobody despises me??

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

i really like “you can start over each day” and “only skeleton bones remain” (FUCKING CLIKKIE)

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

i feel like ive cried laughing so hard, or almost thrown up, but i dont know why, and that’s almost better

51. current stresses?

just general body things, appointments, school in the fall, graduating, etc

52. favorite font?

it depends on what im doing, but i love my own handwriting, i like times new roman, hate arial with a PASSION!!!!! brawler is nice but doesn’t bold well. handwriting fonts are cool too

53. what is the current state of your hands?

left hand’s nails is in silver glitter and right hand’s nails are blue/purple glitter. perpetual hangnails. still a hint of a scar from cutting my hand on a razor, and remnants of blisters from rowing

54. what did you learn from your first job?

that you can be kind and see change without changing the entire world, and that men are creepy as shit

55. favorite fairy tale?

i dont think i have one? max probably has a good one that i’d love. new ask game send me ur favorite fairy tales and ill read them and review them

56. favorite tradition?

my mom makes me a half birthday cake every year, it’s really cute and idk why it warms my heart

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

fuck dude, umm this is hard and also a lot

1. my extreme self hatred!!

2. my extreme concern for other people’s thoughts, just honestly like dressing and listening to whatever and not really caring, ill always care, just not as bad as i did

3. letting go of things and trying to grow because of pain rather than viewing it as a waste of time

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

uhhhhhghaghhaghdshaghdhsaghadshg i dont know this is hard

1. finding dope ass socks at thrift stores

2. thinking creatively and trying to make something stranger than others like it

3. i can draw p well???? i guess? i designed my tattoo does that count

4. winning contests. i won like, 10 last year? like wtf

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

recently it would be life’s a sham and then ur wow, in reference to life’s a bitch and then you die and also shamwow. so that. or just constantly referring to things as bad boys, like. dishes.

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

there’s different kinds? but ummmm i dont know, i dont want to google anime types. can i say like a miyazaki movie and be done with it

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

i dont know, can i do a song? bc i really like I’m alive in spite of me recently, also like this graffiti that i say that said 33 might mason men couldn’t put me back together again

62. seven characters you relate to?

oh boy, i asked my gf for help on some

1. nick miller from new girl

2. peter b. parker from into the spiderverse

3. dean mccoppin from iron giant for some reason

4. emile from ratatouille 

5. a mix of ben and leslie from parks and rec

6. a weird mix of chris and ron from parks and rec

7. rodrick from diary of a wimpy kid

63. five songs that would play in your club?

1. come down by anderson paak

2. send me on my way by rusted root

3. doses and mimosas by cherub

4. replay by iyaz

5. rap snitch knishes by mf doom

64. favorite website from your childhood?

WEBKINZ!!!!!

65. any permanent scars?

yeaaa got a lot, most prominent are on my legs, partially just stretch marks, and then the one on my forehead from when i got stitches

66. favorite flower(s)?

i love carnations, marigolds, roses, but really anything, fuck

67. good luck charms?

i don’t have any, i used to wear a bracelet my gf gave me but it broke. *insert gif of me trying to remember when it broke and if that’s when everything went to shit*

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

centipede jelly bean. worst thing ive ever had. it wouldn’t go away for a day even with eating other things and drinking water and chewing strong gum. horrible

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

i have no idea. truly

70. left or right handed?

i am right handed

71. least favorite pattern?

houndstooth, i really don’t like it for some reason

72. worst subject?

i am oh so bad at writing, it’s really hard for me. but honestly recently every subject is horrible.

73. favorite weird flavor combo?

this was mentioned before, but black licorice and lemon. i’ve only had it with jelly beans, so maybe it’s not as good in other formats

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

depends on what it is, if i think a migraine is coming then i take it pretty low, maybe a 4, otherwise i can deal with it up to like a 6 or 7, unless i’m needing to focus

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

i dont know when, but i do remember where. i was at a drive through bank in a rental car with my parents and brother in oregon, and i put the tooth in the lid of a plastic water bottle.

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

jalepeno potato chips are soooo good but, honestly, tots are the best. mashed potatoes are good too

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

depends on the direction it’s facing and climate, but i’m growing some ivy right now and it’s so pretty and cool. also a christmas cactus that my great great great grandma or something like that started and has been passed down!!!! and a ..... leafy boy

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

absolutely coffee from a gas station, i dont trust sushi

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

my school id because i’m smiling. i look stoned or dead in my id.

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

i didn’t entirely know what this meant, so i googled both and went oooooooo to jewel tones so. jewel tones.

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

i say both, i don’t know which i say more frequently because i live where there aren’t ....... lightning bugs. ore fireflies. whichever. lol

82. pc or console?

i dont game much, but i like my psp a lot, or like a joystick sort of sitchhhh

83. writing or drawing?

dRAWING FOR SURE!

84. podcasts or talk radio?

podcasts, i don’t listen to much of either

84. barbie or polly pocket?

can i throw in a third variable of bratz?

85. fairy tales or mythology?

either, but probably mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes?

depends on the kind, but i love frosting and cupcakes are fun, so cupcakes.

87. your greatest fear?

that i will lose everyone i love or push them away? eeeee

88. your greatest wish?

to be content and hopefully other people are content alongside me

89. who would you put before everyone else?

honestly my gf, max, and steph. and my mom. yeyeeeee

90. luckiest mistake?

oh god we could go deep or not. probably not. so like, buying pamela, my stuffed sloth

91. boxes or bags?

depends on the situation, but bags are fun, can put patches on them, plastic bags are boring and boxes are useful, help organize or carry lots of things

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

sunlight absolutely, i love it. i then would say lamps are better than fairy lights which are better than overhead lights. fuck overhead lights

93. nicknames?

for me? okay lets GO. delly, delly boi, dell, d, glen, glenjamin, glenny, yenaled. there’s a lot of weird/gross ones that i dont want to share.

94. favorite season?

fall in theory, summer in stability.

95. favorite app on your phone?

wasn’t this already asked? CAUGHTCHA

96. desktop background?

switches between 3 pictures around colorado that my gf took

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

five

98. favorite historical era?

good question, i honestly don’t know. can i say the 80s or 90s? if not like, before racism existed. yeah

#about me #ask #long post #THANK YOU #ask game #anon #was this too long #sorry #also i spent so long on this wtf?!?!?!?!???!?!!?!??!?!?!?!?!?! who am i #anonymous

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND November 16, 2018  - Fantastic Beasts, Widows, Instant Family, Green Book

I didn’t do too bad last week, although other than Universal’s The Grinch, the new wide releases got spanked by either bad reviews, bad marketing or general moviegoer ennui. That should change this weekend with the next movie in one of Warner Bros’ more successful franchises.

But before we get to that big release for the weekend, I want to give a little extra attention to the movie which is currently my #1 movie of the year, and that is Peter Farrelly’s GREEN BOOK (Universal).

Yes, you read that right, that’s Peter Farrelly of the Farrelly Brothers, famed for their low-brow comedies that began with Kingpin and There’s Something About Mary, and then petered out as the ‘00s turned into the PC word that it is today. Needless to say (but I’m gonna say it anyway), Green Book is a completely different beast – it’s a buddy road comedy set in 1962, as Viggo Mortensen’s Italian bouncer Tony Vallelonga (or “Tonylip”) takes on the role of driver and bodyguard for a black piano prodigy, played by Mahershala Ali, as he tours the racist Deep South.

I had already been hearing raves out of the Toronto International Film Festival (where it won the coveted People’s Choice award), but I wasn’t convinced until I saw the movie myself for the first time. I’m a little hesitant to say too much about the film, because part of the joy is just watching these two fantastic actors commit to each of their equally-compelling characters. Tony is a loud-mouth take-no-crap Bronx native who is just looking for a job to take on while the Copacabana club where he works is renovated. Dr. Don Shirley (Ali) is an educated, eloquent and well-mannered classical musician who can’t be more different from Tony.

As they travel down to the Deep South, Tony starts to see the racism that Shirley has faced his entire life—being invited to play at fancy restaurants and club where he’s not even allowed to use the same facilities as the wealthy and snobbish clientele. What’s amazing about their story (which is based on actual people) is that as you watch them arguing and eventually bonding (as happens in the best of buddy comedies), you find yourself relating to both of them, even if you have no direct connections to either.

Mortensen is such a charming and entertaining character that it’s hard not to love him, but the way that Ali makes you feel for the way his character is a lonely outcast, whether it’s around white or other black people, just makes this film such a unique experience.

I’m honestly shocked by what a great film Farrelly has made here, a joyfully entertaining piece of fictionalized history that does a better job exploring racism and the relationship between races. I thought Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman and Barry Jenkins’ if Beale Street Could Talk, but they also were needlessly preachy, whereas films like Green Book and The Hate U Give force you to think about these things without necessarily hitting you over the head. Frankly, I feel that we’ve gone backwards from all of the great inroads made in race relations in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, but it’s good to have reminders like this that there was a time when things were much worse.

So far this year, no other movie has had quite the effect on me in terms of entertaining and moving me. Green Book is not only the best movie I’ve seen this year, but also my favorite. Definitely go see this!

Rating: 10 out of 10

I’ll get to the rest of this week’s movies after the jump…

FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD (Warner Bros.)

As mentioned above, the big movie of the weekend is the next movie in the “Wizarding World” franchise that began with the eight movies based on JK Rowling’s popular book about boy wizard Harry Potter (as played by Daniel Radcliffe). This is also the first sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which Rowling wrote for the screen based on the Newt Scamander wizard character (played by Eddie Redmayne). The original Fantastic Beasts opened on this same weekend in 2016 to $74.4 million and grossed a more-than-respectable $234 million domestically, plus double that amount overseas, so it made perfect sense for Warner Bros. to want to continue the series, and it’s already been noted that they want to make five movies total.

The Crimes of Grindelwald is a straight-up sequel with Scamander travelling to Paris with his magical colleagues, played by Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler and Alison Sudol, to fight the evil wizardy of Grindelwald, as played by Johnny Depp. Characters played by Zoe Kravitz and Carmen Ejogo are also featured more fully, but the real draw might be that the movie introduces the younger version of Professor Dumbledore, as portrayed by Jude Law. This is probably Law’s most prominent roles in a while with last year’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword from Guy Ritchie being a box office dud, and it’s been seven years since Law made the sequel to Sherlock Holmes, also with Ritchie and with Robert Downey Jr.

Reviews for the Fantastic Beasts sequel have been mixed (at best), some of that due to the Johnny Depp factor, because Warner Bros. – who yanked Brett Ratner’s credit off their movies as soon as the #MeToo movement broke out – failed to read the room after the accusations against Depp from his former wife Amber Heard (who stars in the upcoming Warners movie Aquaman.) Even before that ugly affair, Depp’s star had begun to falter, although you probably couldn’t tell by last year’s movies with the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean grossing $172.5 million domestically and another $622 million overseas. Depp also appeared in Murder on the Orient Express, which also did well, maybe because his character was murdered pretty quickly in the film. Depp’s recent film with Heard, the long-delayed London Fields, was a big-time bomb last month, and it doesn’t seem like audiences are as interested in seeing him in movies. (Even Disney has decided to reboot Pirates without Depp.)

Still, there’s that rabid JK Rowling fanbase that has been kept fed with steady visits to the Wizarding World at Universal Studios, not to mention the Cursed Child stageplay which arrived on Broadway earlier in the year. The success of both ventures has shown that the Harry Potter craze has not died down without new books or movies based on them. (It’s also good to note that exactly half the original Harry Potter movies opened this exact weekend in November with openings ranging between $88.4 million and $125 million, and the latter was eight years ago when ticket prices were significantly cheaper.)

What else can I say? Well, there’s the IMAX factor which helps up the average ticket price for those going to see the movie. There’s the usual caveat about their being too many family films already in theaters with another one opening next Wednesday.

Essentially, there are a lot of factors that need to be applied to The Crimes of Grindelwald, but the fanaticism of the Harry Potter fanbase should endure over any negatives, including the reviews. With previews on Tuesday night (which will be rolled into Friday), this should still open slightly bigger than the first movie, maybe closer to $80 million than $70 million. Even so, it’s going to have a tougher road to $200 million with Disney’s Ralph Wrecks the Internet opening next Wednesday. (The original Fantastic Beasts dropped 39% in its second weekend against Disney’s Moana, and that wasn’t a sequel to a $189 million blockbuster hit.)

ED’s Review of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

WIDOWS (20thCentury Fox)

Offering the first bit of counter-programming against the Wizarding World juggernaut is the new movie from British filmmaker Steve McQueen, whose previous film 12 Years a Slavewon Best Picture about five years back. It grossed $56.7 million domestically with a strong expansion plan from Fox Searchlight that more than made back the movie’s $20 million budget, greatly helped by the $131 million overseas.

For his fourth film, an adaptation of Lynda La Plante’s recently-released novel, McQueen went over to the parent Fox, presumably to have an even bigger budget for his first heist film, which is just as star-studded as 12 Years a Slave. He also had help with the adaptation from author Gillian Flynn, whose own bestselling novel Gone Girlwas turned into a hit thriller by no less than David Fincher. The basic premise is that a group of thieves end up being killed in a heist-gone-wrong by the police after stealing $2 million from a local thug who comes to the wife of the gangleader to get the money back… or else!

McQueen’s latest has a lot going for it, not just the fact that it’s a crime action-thriller as opposed to a weepy historical drama about slavery – frankly, I’m surprised 12 Years a Slave did that well, but that’s a testament to the power of Searchlight.

Really, the biggest factor that will help Widows is its cast, which includes a number of Oscar winners, most importantly the amazing Viola Davis, whose amazing supporting role in Denzel Washington’s Fences finally won her that Oscar. That also grossed $57 million after a late December platform release, and if you put that next to the grosses of McQueen’s last film, that’s a pretty good barometer for Widows. (The biggest difference is that this is opening nationwide in 3,000 theaters rather than trying to build word-of-mouth.)

Davis’ husband is played by Liam Neeson, who has done his fair share of action-thrillers, and though he has a smaller role in this, his presence is still felt. After Davis, a lot of people will be talking about the performances by Brian Tyree Henry (star of the hit FX series Atlanta) and Daniel Kaluuya, the Oscar-nominated star of Jordan Peele’s Get Out last year and Marvel’s Black Panther. If Davis isn’t able to get African-American males into theaters, than these two guys should help.  There’s also Colin Farrell, the Irish actor who seems to be having a bit of a resurgence in recent years with roles in last year’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Roman J. Israel, Esq., neither huge moneymakers but Farrell received many accolades. (And of course, he starred in the original Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Davis’ partners in crime are played by Michelle Rodriguez from the Fast and Furious movies; Australian actor Elizabeth Debicki, who appeared in films like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and others but who really gives a breakout performance here; and the Tony-winning actor Cynthia Erivo, who just blew me away in Bad Times at the El Royale. Then there’s the parental units (of Farrell and Dubecki’s characters respectively) played by Robert Duvall and Jacki Weaver.

Just from that cast alone, it’s obvious why Fox is hoping this will be a good play for Oscar night, especially with the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody receiving mixed reviews and possibly only getting Rami Malek a nomination.

Widows should be a good counter-point to Fantastic Beasts and with few other movies (including Tyler Perry’s Nobody’s Fool) popping with African-American moviegoers, especially not males, I can see Widows bringing out a solid audience of those not interested in other films. I’m not sure it will quite make $20 million this weekend, but it should make a play for third place against Bohemian with $15 to 17 million. Its biggest hurdle is MGM’s sequel Creed II opening on Wednesday which may steal away some of its business, but word-of-mouth could make it a good alternative over Thanksgiving and in the slower weeks to come.

Mini-Review: I’m not sure I’ve ever been as surprised by the evolution of a director as I am with Steve McQueen going from his Oscar-winning work on 12 Years a Slave to Widows. Mind you, I was already a fan of McQueen from his first film Hunger, but I never expected he’d be able to do something like this.

Widows begins with a heist as Liam Neeson’s Harry Rawlings and his colleagues are in a van after a robbery, which cuts back to a quieter time between Harry and his wife Veronica (Viola Davis). It’s a fairly jarring introduction to the characters, especially the way McQueen films the demise of Rawlings and his gang.  The Chicago’s 18thward is in the midst of a heated political race between Colin Farrell’s Jack Mulligan, a second-gen politician, and Brian Tyree Henry’s Jamal Manning, who happens to be involved in the city’s crime sector along with his sadistic brother Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya). Turns out that the money Rawlings stole belonged to the Mannings, and Jamal threatens Veronica that she needs to repay his $2 million in a week or face the consequences.  Veronica turns to the wives of the other dead thieves (played by Michelle Rodriguez and Elizabeth Dubecki) to enact a plan for Harry’s next big job, which is to rob Mulligan.

Needless to say, with a cast this good, you’re going to end up with a number of brilliant performances. While Davis is a clear stand-out, Dubecki is also impressive as a woman used to being pampered who has to start earning her own living as an escort. Kaluuya is also quite a scene-stealer as the homicidal Manning enforcer, and I wish there was more of him in the movie. Brian Tiree Henry is equally good, and Colin Farrell continues to impress me, and the fact that Davis can be so memorable against so many other great performances (including her scene-stealing dog) shows her to still be at the top of her game. Robert Duvall and Jacki Weaver are also quite great without even having to try very hard.

On paper, this could have been a standard heist film, but McQueen thrives on the complexities of the story’s intricate plot to keep the viewer invested as we follow a number of stories at the same time. Where McQueen really thrives is at creating tension, from the opening set piece which leads to a slow-building thriller to the  point where the actual robbery is just as nail-biting as anything I’ve seen on screen this year.

From the very beginning, McQueen has DP Sean Bobbit shoot the film in such an unconventional way. For example, when Jack Mulligan is having an argument inside his limo with his wife, the camera remains outside the car as it drives, something that gets more uneasy as you realize that the camera is just going to stay there for a very, long time.

If you’re a fan of the heist genre, Widows delivers on everything promised by Ocean’s 8 earlier this year, a strong female-centric crime film that’s up there with what’s been done by men in the genre. In this case, McQueen may have clinched himself a second Oscar nomination with his brilliant work at pulling this amazing cast together into such a compelling story. Rating: 8.5/10

INSTANT FAMILY (Paramount)

If Green Book wasn’t opening this weekend, I would probably give this new dramedy from Paramount a bit of extra lip-service, because it’s also quite a wonderful movie. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have quite the buzz that the Peter Farrelly period comedy does (for reasons mentioned above).

This is the new movie co-written and directed by Daddy’s Home  director Sean Anders, and it once again teams him with Mark Wahlberg, the star of those two comedy hits. The big difference with Instant Family is that it’s based on Anders actual experiences adopting three kids, and it’s not a silly Will Ferrell comedy like the Daddy’s Home movies. That may or may not be a good thing when you realize that the first one of those movies made $150 million while the second made over $100 million, and that was just domestically. The sequel opened a little earlier in November to $29.6 million, and those kinds of returns guaranteed Paramount wanted to stay in bed with Anders, especially with Wahlberg as lead.

Wahlberg has built quite a side career for himself as an actor in comedies with hits like the two Daddy’s Home movies, and at least the first Ted comedy, which had him playing the straight man to a Seth MacFarlane-voiced stuffed bear. The original movie in 2012 did substantially better than its sequel three years later, but Ted 2still made $81 million domestically. Wahlberg’s real break into comedies probably began with his earlier teaming with Will Ferrell for Adam McKay’s The Other Guys, which also broke $100 million domestically.

Playing Wahlberg’s wife is Rose Byrne, the talented actor who broke out with comedies like Paul Feig’s Bridesmaids and Spy, and she recently starred in the Nick Hornby adaptation of Juliet, Naked (which you may recall is another one of my favorite movies of the year). The other part of the equation is popular actor Octavia Spencer, who has received three Oscar nominations, winning for The Help in 2012, a movie that co-starred Widows’ Viola Davis. She teams with popular comic Tig Notaro as adoption agency counselors, and the film also stars breakout star Isabela Moner, who co-starred with Wahlberg in the last Transformers movie, also for Paramount. So basically Instant Familyis keeping it all in the family.

I’m probably not going to review Instant Family since it’s been quite a few weeks since I saw it, but it’s a wonderful movie, a real crowd-pleaser – warm, sweet and funny with Rose Byrne being her usual wonderful self. The fact that it’s loosely-based on Anders’ own story makes it even more compelling, and I hope that people seek it out (not hard since it will be in 3,000 theaters across the country). This might be more of a sleeper that does better as people get into the holiday spirit, as it has a little bit of that in the story.

That said, I’m worried this will be hurt more by Fantastic Beasts than vice versa, and that might mean that it will have to rely on word-of-mouth to get it through the rest of the month. If no one goes to see the movie this weekend, then that’s going to be hard. Because of this (and how crowded the marketplace is), I could see this making between $13 and 15 million this weekend but maybe it’ll make its way to $50 or 60 million if it can get past the slew of Thanksgiving releases.

Also expanding nationwide into about 800 theaters is Matthew Heineman’s A Private War, starring Rosamund Pike as war journalist Marie Colvin, which I personally feel deserves at least another Oscar nomination for the Gone Girlstar. We’ll see if it expands wide enough and gets enough attention to get into the top 10, but I think it will end up somewhere in the $1 to $1.5 million range, not enough to get into it. There’s a chance Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased may expand further this weekend, as well.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this… UPDATE: Changing some of the numbers below, since actual theater counts have been released and many of the returning films (including A Star is Born) have lost way more theaters than I expected. Basically, theaters are dumping movies to open up screens for this week’s offerings as well as the new Thanksgiving movies on Wednesday. (Also, Widows is opening in fewer theaters than originally estimated.)

1. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald  (Warner Bros.) - $77.8 million N/A 2. The Grinch  (Universal) - $38.4 million -43% 3. Bohemian Rhapsody  (20thCentury Fox) - $18 million -45% 4. Widows  (20thCentury Fox) – $15.5 million N/A 5. Instant Family (Paramount) - $14.4 million N/A 6. A Star is Born  (Warner Bros.) - $5.3 million -35% 7. Overlord  (Paramount) - $5.3 million -48% 8. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Disney) - $4.7 million -53% 9. The Girl in the Spider’s Web  (Sony) - $3.7 million -53% 10. Nobody’s Fool (Paramount) - $2.8 million -58%

LIMITED RELEASES

We’re just one week away from Thanksgiving, which means we’re getting down to the nitty-gritty in terms of the first group of awards and nominations, which will take place in the weeks following Thanksgiving.

Apparently, the Coen Brothers’ Western anthology THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (Netflix)opened a week earlier than planned in three theaters in New York, L.A. and San Francisco. It would have been nice if someone from Netflix bothered to tell me, so I could have included it in last week’s column. Anyway, it will open in more theaters and be streaming this Friday, so I might as well write more about it, since I never got around to writing about it at the New York Film Festival. The title character is played by Tim Blake Nelson, but don’t get used to him, as he’s only the star of the first segment, which is also the best. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is very much an anthology film that allows the Coens to explore that genre further than they have in the past with a varied mix of stories of different lengths featuring a cast that includes James Franco, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Root, Tyne Daley and Zoe Kazan. The segment with the latter is the longest, and it takes a while to get going, but I especially liked the segment which starred Tom Waits, mostly by himself as a gold prospector. The movie will be streaming on Netflix on Friday, but I do recommend seeking it out in theaters, and in New York, at least, it will be playing at the IFC Center and the Landmark on 57thStreet.

Another New York Film Festival (and Venice) premiere is Julian Schnabel’s latest film AT ETERNITY’S GATE (CBS Films), which stars Willem Dafoe as painter Vincent Van Gogh and Oscar Isaac as Paul Gauguin, who become friends during Van Gogh’s days in the south of France. Rupert Friend plays Vincent’s brother Theo Van Gogh, and the film also stars Mathieu Amalric (from Schnabel’s earlier film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Emmanuelle Seigner and Niels Arestrup. Honestly, I wasn’t a particularly big fan of the film, which involved a lot of noodley shots of Van Gogh walking through fields ala Terrence Malick, but it does have some good moments and my favorite involved Dafoe’s Van Gogh having a philosophical debate with a priest played by Mads Mikkelsen.  Regardless, it opens in New York and L.A. (and possibly other cities) on Friday.

From this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Bill Oliver’s Jonathan (Well GO USA) stars Angel Elgort in a dual role as two brothers living separate lives inside the same body, taking shifts in who has control, something that becomes a problem when they both fall for the same woman, played by Suki Waterhouse.

Just when I thought I’ve seen everything, there’s also a documentary about Marie Colvin (the subject of A Private War) opening in New York and L.A. this Friday as Chris Martin’s Under the Wire (Abramorama) features actual footage of Colvin and photographer Paul Conroy sneaking into Syria in Feb. of 2012.

From Sundance comes Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Dweck’s doc The Last Race(Magnolia) that follows a Long Island stock car racetrack that’s being threatened by redevelopment.  It will open at the IFC Center in New York, the Monica Film Center in Santa Monica and in Seattle, but it will also have special screenings on Weds night in select cities – you can find out more about those special screenings on the Official Site.

After premiering at Doc-NYC, Ofir Trainin’s Family in Transition (Abramorama) will open in L.A. this Friday and in New York on Nov. 23. It shares the story of a family in Nahariya, Israel whose lives change after the father announces his decision to transition into a woman. This remarkably timely film definitely will make people change their minds about transgender people and what they (and their loved ones) go through after making that decision.

Opening on Weds at New York’s Quad Cinema is legendary documentarian Claude Lanzmann’s final film Shoah: Four Sisters (Cohen Media), which continues his series of interviews conducted in the ‘70s with four women from Eastern Europe who detail their experiences at the end of WWII.  The four segments – The Hippocratic Oath, The Merry Flea, Noah’s Ark, and Baluty-- It’s shown in two parts with each 2+-hour part featuring two of the sisters. The film should roll out to other areas over the next few weeks, as well.

At the Museum of the Moving Image, Syrian documentarian Talal Derki’s Of Fathers and Sons (Kino Lorber) will screen through December with Derki appearing on Friday night. For this one, he spent two years with a radical Islamist family made-up of a father and his two sons. It won the World Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year.

As far as this weekend’s genre films, you’ll be able to see Daniel Goldhaber’s thriller Cam in select Alamo theaters (as well as on Netflix—see below), but IFC Midnight’s offering this weekend is Duncan Skiles’ The Clovehitch Killer, which will play midnight screenings at New York’s IFC Centerand in L.A., as well as be available On Demand. It stars Charlie Plummer (All the Money in the World) as Tyler Burnside, a Boy Scout and church volunteer whose father (Dylan McDermott) is a community leader in their quiet Kentucky town, where ten women have been tortured and murdered by a psychopath known as Clovehitch ten years earlier. Tyler suspects his father might be that killer.

Other films out this weekend include David Levinson’s Welcome Home (Vertical/DirecTV), starring Aaron Paul and Emily Ratajkowski as a couple who end up in a love triangle with a handsome Italian who vies for her attention. John Travolta stars in the action thriller Speed Kills (Saban Films), directed by Jodi Scurfield, in which he plays a millionaire speedboat champ who also happens to be a drug trafficker. It co-stars Kellan Lutz, Matthew Modine and Jennifer Esposito and is in select theaters and On Demand Friday. Lastly, there’s Nijla Mu’min’s drama Jinn (Orion Classics) about a teen girl whose mother converts to Islam. It opens in theaters Thursday, but is On Demand on Friday.

Also if you’re an Atlanta-based genre fan, you might want to check out the Buried Alive Film Festival, which runs from Nov. 14 through 17, which opens with Joe Badon’s The God Inside My Ear and includes other features and shorts that haven’t played at many other festivals.

STREAMING

Besides the Coen Brothers’ THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (mentioned above), one of Netflix’s big streaming premieres this weekend is Daniel Goldhaber’s horror-thriller CAM (also playing at select Alamo theaters), co-written by Isa Mazzei, who used her own experiences as a “camgirl.” If you don’t know what that is, then good for you, you don’t regularly watch porn, but essentially, a camgirl is a sex worker who does things on camera for money. In this case, it stars Madeline Brewer (from Orange is the New Black) as a camgirl who wakes up one day to find out that someone who looks exactly like her has taken over her channel. I haven’t seen it yet (despite it playing many festivals), but it’s definitely on my list to see when it streams on Netflix Friday. As an animal lover, I’m also looking forward to the upcoming docuseries DOGS(Netflix), exec. produced by Amy Berg, director of great docs like Deliver Us from Evil, West of Memphis and An Open Secret. Also, if you’re a fan of the series Narcos, it’s back this Friday with Narcos Mexico, which takes place, you guessed it, in Mexico.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

This is a big weekend for the Metrograph, as they’re kicking off a number of retrospectives, probably in hopes those who have time off over Thanksgiving will venture down to the Lower East Side for a few of them.

First up on Friday is a screening of Joseph Mankiewicz’s The Barefoot Contessa, starring Ava Gardner and Humphrey Bogart, on a 35mm print, as part of the Academy at Metrograph series. This one is hosted by Karina Longworth, creator and host of the You Must Remember This podcast, signing copies of her book Seduction: Sex, Lies and Stardom In Howard Hughes’s Hollywood. There are two screenings of this on Friday night but 7pm screening is already sold out.

Also beginning Friday is a rare series dedicated to actor and filmmaker Bill Duke with films that range from his 1991 film A Rage in Harlem and 1992’s Deep Coverto films in which he appeared like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Commando (1985) and Predator (1987)to more recent films like Panos Costamos’ recent Nicolas Cage thriller Mandy. (Unfortunately, Duke himself will not be appearing in person as previously planned.)

On Saturday, the Metrograph kicks off a retrospective of Chinese filmmaker Wang Bingwhich just happens to coincide with Lincoln Center’s own Wang-Bing: The Weight of Experience (see below), both sponsored by the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation. The Metrograph’s series will include Fengming (2007)Three Sisters (2012), Til Madness Do Us Part (2013), Ta’ang  and Bitter Money (both from 2016). Warning: Most of his films run from 2 ½ hours to almost four hours.

On Monday, the Metrograph begins a series dedicated to the work of cinematographer Darius Khondji, a series that will include screenings of David Fincher’s Se7en (1995), Danny Boyle’s The Beach (2000), James Gray’s The Immigrant (2013) and The Lost City of Z (2016) and even Bong Joon-ho’s Okja (2017).  The series also includes three of Jean-Piere Jeunet’s films including his debut with Marc Caro, Delicatessen (1991), one of my all-time faves The City of Lost Children (1995) and of course, Alien: Resurrection (1997). This runs through Thanksgiving weekend, and it’s a great chance to see some of these films on the big screen.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The recently-renovated downtown theater continues its Ida Lupino 100 series through Thanksgiving, and those lucky kids who attend Film Forum Jr. can see Don Chaffey’s Jason and the Argonauts (1963).

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Friday there’s a Bruno Mattei double feature of Shocking Dark (1989)and Robowar (1988), while on Sunday, it screens the new 4k restoration of Wim Wender’s Wings of Desire (1987 – Janus Films).

AERO  (LA):

American Cinemateque’s other theater is in the midst of its Cinema Italian Style 2018 program featuring many recent Italian films making their North American premieres… but not repertory, so… next!

QUAD CINEaMA (NYC):

Claude Lanzmann’s Cinema of Remembrance continues to coincide with the release of Lanzmann’s final film Shoah: Four Sisters (see above).

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Doc-NYC is over, so it’s back to Late Night Favorites, this weekend showing Ridley Scott’s Alien(1979). Weekend Classicsis still taking the weekend off, but the Shaw Brothers Spectacularsthis weekend will be 1973’s The Blood Brothers. There’s two reasons right there to be in the West Village late at night this weekend.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

At midnight on Friday, you can see the late Wes Craven’s 1994 film Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER(NYC):

If you can’t get enough Wang Bing from the Metrograph’s retrospective, the Film Society is also commemorating the Chinese documentarian with The Weight of Experience, which will include his newest film, the eight-part Dead Souls, his debut West of Tracks (2002), as well as his single-shot film 15 Hours (2017). Wang Bing will be on-hand to discuss his films here, too, so I wish his handlers luck in getting him from the Lower East Side to the Upper West Side multiple times in the same weekend. (I do it a lot and it’s a pain in the tuchus.)

Also, to coincide with the master Japanese filmmaker Kore-Eda’s Shoplifters next week, the Film Society will be showing Six by Kore-Eda, including Maborosi(1995), After Life (1998), Nobody Knows (2004), Still Walking (2008), I Wish (2011) and Like Father, Like Son(2013). It’s a great Lway to catch-up before his Cannes-winning new film.

BAM CINEMATEK(NYC):

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, they’ll be showing Janus Films’ 40thanniversary restoration of Chantal Akerman’s 1978 film Les Rendez-vous d’Anna.

MOMA (NYC):

The midtown museum continues its Modern Matinees: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with The Exile (1947) on Thursday and Joy of Living (1938) on Friday. This series continues through December with weekday screenings at 1:30 PM.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The Coen Brothers Go West continues through the weekend with screenings of Raising Arizona,True Grit and Blood Simple. Also, I just want to give a shout-out to MOMI’s long-time creative director David Schwartz, who is moving on at the end of the month after an astounding 33 years (!), to be replaced by the equally qualified Eric Hynes. Maybe I should get out to Astoria before month’s end, huh?

That’s it for this week. Next week… Thanksgiving! It will be celebrated with the release of two anticipated sequels, Disney’s Ralph Wrecks the Internet and MGM’s Creed II, plus a new Robin Hood and other films expanding wide. Since most of them will be out on Wednesday, I’m gonna have to get crackin’ on next week’s column right away.

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