#it’s one of my favourite Shakespeare film adaptations ever

[poppletonink]

10 Things I Hate About You Review

★★★★★ - 5 stars

"But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all."

Katarina Stratford does not conform to everyone else's ideas of teenage normalcy: she doesn't wear things based on what's trendy, she likes indie rock music and feminist novels and most importantly, Katarina Stratford does not want to date. On the other hand, her sister, Bianca does want to date. After their father decides that Bianca can only date when Kat does, a boy named Cameron (who has a crush on Bianca) comes up with a plan to pay someone to date Kat.

I love the characters in this film so very much. Kat is a feminist icon who I've idolised ever since I first watched this masterpiece. Bianca annoyed me at first but the whole punching Joey in the face thing was very cathartic for me, so she increased her placement in my favourite character ranks. Patrick Verona is amazing, and all of the Kats in the world know that not falling for him is a very trying task. Cameron, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Patrick and yet he's extremely sweet and endearing - a hopeless romantic at heart (and a definite James Potter variant for sure).

It is safe to say that generally speaking feminism and rom-coms do not go hand-in-hand skipping down a flowery hill (what with most rom-coms being Chick Flicks, a controversial genre in the eyes of feminists everywhere). However, 10 Things I Hate About You manages to meld together these two assumedly opposing topics into an amazing masterpiece. It discusses a horrible idea formulated within society - that idea being that a woman cannot be in a relationship with a man, whilst retaining her status as a feminist. The irony of it is that feminism is about equality and yet we put this boundary between men and women, both of whom can be classified as feminists, and say 'No, you cannot date and wish for equal rights.' That's what is so wonderful about 10 Things I Hate About You: Kat Stratford is a feminist icon in her own right (what with her love of Sylvia Plath and riot grrrl bands, and her blatant "Well I suppose being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time" comment) and yet she is also the star of a rom-com. She's a feminist who simultaneously "gets the guy".

Aside from the amazing characters and the amazing feminist representation of 10 Things, one of the best things about it is its music. Music plays such a big part in 10 Things, from it playing to represent the character's emotions to Kat wanting to start a band. The soundtrack overall is amazing, with riot-grrrl bands galore and Joan Jett as the queen of rock 'n' roll. Without a doubt my favourite musical moment of 10 Things is Heath Ledger singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"- it's one of the most romantic moments and an important part of Kat and Patrick's journey.

In case it could not be gathered from my prior statements, this modern, feminist adaptation of Shakespeare's Taming Of The Shrew is one of my favourite films of all time - on par with the likes of Dead Poet's Society and Clueless. It's wonderfully witty, romantic and heartwarming, and furiously feminist all in one - and if that does not convince you to watch it, then I don't really know what will.

#10 things i hate about you #katarina stratford #kat stratford #feminist #romantic comedy #romcom #movie review #film review #10 things #kat and patrick #patrick verona #bianca stratford #cameron and bianca #films #film blog #review #cameron james #joseph gordon levitt #julia stiles #heath ledger #feminist recommendation #feminism #riot grrrl #riot girl #riot ghoul #annotations

[mostremote]

14, 15, 18!

14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick?

I mean. The Shivering Season. I think the chance of 88-year-old Sutherland and Lawrence starring in an erotic fanfic sequel to The Hunger Games is preeeetty slim but, like, maybe if they both get really drunk at a Christmas party, somehow stumble upon the fic, and decide to do an impromptu live read and someone films it… Well, I would certainly die happy.

15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters?

It varies! Lots of literary references, sometimes just random images, sometimes a lot of workshopping.

The Shivering Season: This is actually an extremely modified version of Richard III’s ‘the winter of our discontent’. Richard III was a text I wanted to draw from in writing tSS, which didn’t really happen in the end, and I tried out a lot of quotations but nothing worked. So I just messed around with the ideas of winter and time and unhappiness until we got to ‘The Shivering Season’, and I really like this title. It evokes cold, obviously, because it’s set in winter and also it’s about Snow. And ‘shivering’ because of the anxiety and sexual pleasure. It’s my favourite title I’ve ever come up with.

There Is a World Elsewhere: This is a quotation from Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. I’ve used it before but I thought it was fair game to reuse since Snow is literally named after the Shakespeare play. Pretty Little Beasts & The Rose Grew Stranger were just phrases that popped into my head. We Wild Creatures took a lot of workshopping. I wanted to convey the idea of fellowship in nature, while maintaining a sense of the predatory and animalistic nature of their dynamic. Coming up with this involved a lot of lists of synonyms and talking through possibilities until I settled on what I have.

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

From Pretty Little Beasts, Tigris & her cousin & his stillborn sister in bed together. Bleakest most rancid image I’ve ever written tbqh. haunts me.

“At bedtime, the baby would come out of the box, and the three of them made pretty bedfellows: Tigris, then Coriolanus, then baby. Tablespoon, coffee spoon, sugar spoon.” 

#thank you einzel!!!

[mistyintherivers]

'My Only Love/My Only Hate'

The course of true love never did run smooth...

One of my favourite film genres ever are the 'Shakespeare to rom-com' adaptations of the '90s/'00s, so I've been having a lot of fun writing this Julie and the Phantoms au combining inspiration from a bunch of Shakespeare plays, and the 1999 film 'Ten Things I Hate About You'

Chapter 1, 'Act 1, Scene 1' is up now!!

[more details below <3]

Main Pairings (in no particular order): Alex Mercer/Willie, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Flynn Taylor/Carrie Wilson

Characters: Julie Molina, Luke Patterson, Flynn Taylor, Carrie Wilson, Alex Mercer, Willie, Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer's Sister (her name is Steph in this), Kayla, Ray Molina

#I! LOVE! SHAKESPEARE! REFERENCES! #this is so silly and self indulgent and convoluted but I'm having a lot of fun #julie and the phantoms #jatp fanfic #juke #willex #flarrie #julie molina #luke patterson #alex mercer #willie jatp #flynn taylor #carrie wilson #reggie peters #my fic #that's a new tag for this blog omg

[akajustmerry]

Hey Merry, been thinking about Much Ado About Nothing. Had an inspired idea... Much Ado About Nothing starring Rose Matafeo and Nikesh Patel.

Also can you rate the adaptions that you have watched.

AHHHHHHHHH yes Erica!!! they would be SOOOOOOOO 🥺🥰😏 we need more adaptations where benedick and beatrice are poc (so far the only one I know of is the all Black production from 2019)!! okay so ranking:

2019 Shakespeare in the Park starring Danielle Brooks as Beatrice! I adore this version so much the line deliveries are so fucking perfect and the way the actors inject aave into the script is so fucking good. Danielle is my absolute favourite Beatrice 🥰

2013 production by Josie Rourke. Needs no intro, we love David and Catherine, the blue costuming motif, the staging!! It's perfect!!!!

Local production I saw in 2021. Feels weird to mention a production nobody can watch but alas! I got to see it in 2021 at the Sydney Opera House and the leads had insane chemistry but by far the best thing was that they changed the ending so Hiro doesn't marry Claudio and it was soooo galaxy brained 🥰

Much Ado About Nothing (2012). Dir. Don't Worry About It - I saw this when I was in high school studying the play and fun fact I actually really struggled studying Shakespeare in school because my English teacher was a piece of shit who didn't like me and didn't teach me to read it properly. But when I saw this movie.....everything kind of clicked? I remember sitting there like, "oh this is meant to be fun! It's meant to be SAID like words not read like a tragic poem" and it was literally the adaptation that kinda got me to understand how to like Shakespeare not just much ado.

Much Ado About Nothing (1993) - I just don't think Kenneth Brenaugh has ever had an interesting or compelling idea ever in his life and while this cast is stunning, the film itself sucks. Also he literally cheated on Emma Thompson

I've not seen them but would have killed to see RSC's afro-futurist production of it last year, and also National theatre Live's 1930s vibe one starring Katherine Parkinson just cos I love her <3

My dream production would be a lesbian production starring Pearl Mackie and Tnia Miller 🥺

#much ado about nothing #holly-mckenzie

[journeytogallifrey]

I'd love to know more about Everything That’s Meant. Celebrity & Actor AUs are one of my favourite tropes.

You picked that one because you knew it was my favorite, didn’t you? ;) First Good Omens AU I ever started planning - it has a 63-slide PowerPoint and almost 40k words written so far!

Aziraphale Fell is a classically trained actor known for powerful biopics, hindered by the insistence of his brother (Gabriel, head of Celestial Studios) that he stay in the closet. Anthony J. Crowley is known for playing flashy villains and wonders if a hero role will ever be in the cards for him. They’re cast in a series adaptation of Agnes Nutter’s Prophecies, Aziraphale as the angel Raphael and Crowley as the demon Asmodeus, but something feels off... until they realize one late-night rehearsal that it works better if they switch roles! (yes, it’s a roleswap AU within an actor AU lol) Now all they’re up against is a haunted set full of nefarious occurrences, not to mention their own growing feelings for each other, which exhilarate Crowley but terrify Aziraphale as the two become closer and closer.

Fun facts and excerpts under the cut...

Fun facts:

Past Aziraphale roles: SO much Shakespeare, historical/period dramas, Oscar-bait biopics, a heart-wrenching drama called House of Water, mentorly roles in YA genre films, children’s character Dr. Zed Imagination

Past Crowley roles: countless franchise villains with his trademark CGI eyes (Star Trek, Doctor Who, Tron, Avengers), the killer in the Hallows’ Eve films, a recurring villain role on a superhero show called Absolute Powers, some horror cult classics, a few charismatic Disney villains, voice work (the dragon in Goldbreakers, the car in Ride by Dusk)

They meet at a BAFTA afterparty after Aziraphale has given his statuette away

Crowley has trauma-induced photosensitivity from a fall at university. He got the snake tattoo to cover a scar on his temple. He does the makeup cover of it for roles by himself unless the makeup department prefers otherwise.

Aziraphale’s influential family started the angel-name tradition. His mother’s vengeful ex Luke started the demon-name tradition. Now it’s all over the industry, all the way to Hollywood.

Crowley is genderfluid. The tabloids keep spotting ‘mysterious women’ leaving his flat and speculating about why. They’re never right.

Some articles about them...

Excerpt One:

Crowley and Aziraphale shared a look.

“Eminently helpful,” said Aziraphale drily.

Crowley laughed. “No kidding. Why don’t we have a crack at the refreshments table before they take it all down?”

Aziraphale had been eying it all night, and of course Crowley had noticed. “Oh, yes, please,” said Aziraphale, rubbing his hands together and following Crowley over.

Crowley had not been prepared for the sight of Aziraphale eating a chocolate-covered strawberry. It was almost sinful, the red of it against those pink lips, the way Aziraphale closed his eyes as he took it in. It really was a shame no one ever cast him as the sexy lead. He could have pulled it off in a heartbeat.

Crowley had to think of something to say before it drove him mad.

“I loved you in Ordinary Saints,” he said finally, and then mentally kicked himself – sure, be a fanboy, that’s what he wants to hear.

But Aziraphale simply responded with a pleased smile. “Oh, really? I didn’t know you were familiar.”

“Cry every time I see it. Only tragedy I’ll watch, mind – usually I prefer the funny ones.”

“It wasn’t a tragedy. The couple lived happily ever after.”

“Yeah, but you died!” Crowley could feel his hands growing animated but couldn’t stop them. “After everything you did for them! Beautiful death, by the way, but really.”

Aziraphale’s smile grew wider, amusement dancing over his face. “No one’s ever quite defended me that way before.”

Excerpt Two:

“Is it all right that I call you angel?”

Clearly, Aziraphale had not been expecting that. He processed the question for a long moment, then shifted closer to Crowley in the dark. Of course there was still nearly half a sofa between them, but Crowley felt the movement tingling in his bones. “You know, I think it is,” said Aziraphale, hushed, like a secret.

“I don’t want to remind you of – of all that if you don’t…”

“But you see, it doesn’t make me think of that at all.” Aziraphale’s blue gaze turned to the ceiling, contemplative. “It only makes me think of Prophecies. And – and of you. And – you’ll think me silly for this…”

“Not at all,” said Crowley immediately.

“Well. It makes me think that, perhaps…” Aziraphale returned his gaze to Crowley. He had a habit of roaming it over the rest of Crowley’s face – lips, cheekbones, forehead. He seemed to take in Crowley’s expressions, despite the sunglasses, in a way few people ever had. And Crowley was good at communicating around the glasses. But Aziraphale picked up on nuances even beyond his wildest dreams.

Right now, though, Crowley didn’t want to force Aziraphale to do that. For the first time he truly thought about how off-putting it must be, staring back at your own reflection. He lifted the glasses up onto his head and met Aziraphale with his true eyes.

This earned him an intake of breath and a slow, wide smile.

“It makes you think…” Crowley prompted.

“It – right.” Aziraphale seemed to shake himself a bit and return to the moment. His face was wistful and a little awed as he looked back at Crowley, nothing but air between them. “When you call me… angel. That I might be… finally living up to what Mother wanted me to be.”

Crowley couldn’t help the tears that sprang to his eyes. He glanced away at the carpet, blinking them into submission.

So yeah, that’s the actor AU! Hoping to get it out in the next couple of months, but we’ll see. I appreciate anyone who read this far <3

#feraltuxedo #my posts #my answers #ask games

[plegdoctor]

"Suggest how you might resolve the staging difficulties inherent in a production of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt." if you get the reference I'd love you forever, but it's not the question for this week. Here it is: If you could change the way any movie/play/book was made, which one would you change? how?

I did Blood Brothers rather than Educating Rita, but that quote still jolts me because of how reminiscent it is of my gcse drama. Bad times.

I would change so so many films that are book adaptations. They very rarely get it right. And that might be because I’m something of a book purist (i.e my favourite pride and prejudice is 1995) but I get increasingly angry if a film just misses the entire theme/point of a book.

I’m going to go with the 2015 Macbeth film. I’m all for a little character discovery but they entirely fucked over Lady Macbeth and that makes me irrationally angry because Lady Macbeth is one of my favourite Shakespeare characters to ever exist. She is unapologetically unhinged, will do anything for power, and she goes against the female expectations of the time. And the film ruined her! They made the character who says she would dash her baby’s brains out (Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums / and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you / have done to this,") have a moment in a church where she like sees a child that she miscarried, or some other nonsense that completely erases a large part of her character.

(I once wrote an essay on this and sent it to all my English teachers. Purely for fun, which should show you how passionate I am about this shite adaptation)

I stand by that if they wanted Lady Macbeth to have some degree of vulnerability (which I still don’t want, but pop off) then they should’ve gone down the route of her father (“Had he not resembled / My father as he slept, I had done’t.”)

#I’m sorry I didn’t expect this to be so long #the question awakened something in me #Macbeth #Macbeth 2015 #glitterask Sunday

[grigori77]

2022 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 2)

20.  THE WOMAN KING – While Wakanda Forever was making a bit of a pig’s ear of things, this action-packed historical epic from The Old Guard director Gina Prince-Blythewood tackled broadly similar material and pulled it off without a hitch.  I’ve been fascinated with the intriguing story of the Dahomey Amazons for a while now, even before I got into Black Panther and the Dora Milaje they inspired through the MCU, so when I heard there was gonna be a movie about them I got REALLY excited, so I was already pre-programmed to love this movie. Y’know what I’m like around strong woman … anyway, the story here is of the Agojie, the all-female warrior elite of the West African sovereign nation of Dahomey, circa 1823, when king Ghezo (John Boyega), new to the throne and determined to bring his people out from under the oppressive shadow of the slave trade, begins to clash with their aggressive neighbours and the Portuguese slavers who stoke the flames of war in order to grease the shameful wheels of their business.  Boyega is, as ever, a noble and charismatic presence in the cast, but OF COURSE this film is dominated by the Amazons themselves – Viola Davis, it turns out, was BORN to play the role of Agojie General Nanisca, the army’s commanding leader, who’s forced to confront a troubling ghost from her well-buried past in the form of a new recruit, Nawi (The Underground Railroad’s Thuso Mbeda, a fiery and intense focus for the story’s driving narrative), a wilful young girl who dreams of becoming a mighty warrior rather than facing a life of drudgery in an ill-made marriage match; Captain Marvel and No Time To Die’s Lashana Lynch, meanwhile, essentially STEALS THE FILM from everybody else as genuine force-of-nature Izogie, a badass veteran fighter whose irreverence is matched only by her ferocity, and Sheila Atim (also from The underground Railroad) brings focus and stately grace to proceedings as Amenza, Nanisca’s close friend and trusted confidante. They’re a fierce and intimidating lot, raising merry hell in a series of explosively blood-soaked set pieces that stir the blood and whiten the knuckles, while the screenplay from Dana Stevens (Life Or Something Like It, The Nightingale) wears its standard historical adventure tropes on its sleeve, turning what could have become tired, rote cliches in the hands of a lesser writer into comforting strengths for all their familiarity.  Certainly Prince-Blythewood is on fine form here, clearly having as much fun crafting a stirring epic actioner as she did with her Netflix-based breakthrough, further cementing her status as an emerging blockbuster director of genuine promise.  I look forward to seeing what else she’ll deliver when the incoming sequel to The Old Guard arrives …

19.  THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH – this adaptation of one of my very favourite William Shakespeare plays is a particularly notable milestone in cinematic history, because for the very first time, writer-director Joel Coen has made a feature film without his ubiquitous filmmaker brother Ethan having anything to do with the project.  That being said, Joel’s always been such a dominant force on the DIRECTING side of the Coen Brother’s output that, if you didn’t know this, you’d never know Ethan was absent on this one, because it’s still EVERY INCH a Coen film. It’s also Denzel Washington’s first time working for either Brother, but he’s SO magnificent as one of the greatest fictional villains OF ALL TIME that you won’t have any idea WHY they never worked together before.  He’s absolutely MESMERISING as Macbeth, the doom-courting Thane of Cawdor, who decides to murder his way to the throne of Medieval Scotland after receiving a very tempting prophecy from a trio of creepy-ass witches right after a decisive battle sees him get one hell of a royal promotion – Washington sizzles and sears in every scene, whether he’s smouldering with pregnant understated menace or exploding with un-righteous fury as Macbeth is haunted by gruesome ghosts or egged on by his scheming, ambitious wife.  Coen-regular Frances McDormand matches him in every scene as the DEFINITIVE Lady Macbeth, particularly as she crumbles spectacularly once the guilt of what they’ve done starts to weigh her down; Brendan Gleeson is typically grand yet cuddly as ineffectual ill-fated King Duncan, while Harry Potter star Harry Melling continues to prove that he's grown up into a truly DYNAMITE star-in-the-making as his untested but prematurely put-upon son Malcolm, The Boys’ Alex Hassell is obsequious but complex as duplicitous young nobleman Ross, and Straight Outta Compton’s Corey Hawkins makes for a suitably strapping and dynamic Macduff (ALWAYS my favourite character in the play and EVERY adaptation).  Joel Coen has once again dropped a blinder on us, solo-effort or not, making Sakespeare’s text breathe in fresh and interesting ways while he weaves a beautifully bleak and haunting visual spell, unleashing compositions on us that recall the subtly unsettling weird mundanity of American Gothic art or the surrealism of German expressionist cinema, especially in the film’s very unusual interpretation of the supernatural, as well as framing the story’s bloody and decidedly non-glamorous violence with an almost clinical detachment which perfectly complements the gorgeously stylised world he’s built, all of it topped off with an unsettlingly lowkey atmospheric score from regular Coen collaborator Carter Burwell.  Thoroughly deserving all the immense acclaim it’s had heaped upon it, this definitely proved to be one of the year’s early surprises and one of its most downright exquisite works of art.  Most important of all, though, Joel’s taken what’s always been a definitive Shakespearean villain and turned him into one of the all-time GREAT Coen protagonists ...

18.  DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS – Okay, maybe I am being A LITTLE hard on this year’s MCU offerings, I’ll admit this one IS pretty great.  It’s not perfect by any stretch, but there’s no denying that it’s a PROUD example of its breed, and if I’m honest in some ways it’s certainly better than its titular character’s FIRST feature in the franchise canon.  Ultimately a HUGE reason for this undeniable success is the triumphant return to the Marvel stable of Spider-Man’s original big screen shepherd, Sam Raimi, who MAGNIFICENTLY makes up for the shortcomings of his frustratingly muddled and underwhelming third entry for the Web-Headed-Wall-Crawler with this far more solid effort.  Sure, it has its flaws and once again there are points where it’s clearly trying to do too much, but this time round Raimi manages to rein in the excess JUST ENOUGH to keep things consistent and coherent throughout, and the end result is one of the MCU’s darkest films to date.  2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home saw Benedict Cumberbatch’s former Sorcerer Supreme tackle the Multiverse for the first time, and now he’s got his hands full dealing with the aftermath as the emergence of ‘Verse-hopping teen America Chavez (The Baby-Sitters’ Club’s Xochitl Gomez), a young superhero with the ability to “punch” through dimensional walls sets all his hard-earned efforts to repair the damage spinning into chaos.  America’s been targeted by the Scarlet Witch herself, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), who wants to use her powers to tear through the walls between worlds so she can be reunited with her “lost” children after the tragic conclusion of Wandavision, but Strange takes issue with her methods, foreseeing nothing but darkness and ruin across the Multiverse should she be allowed to pursue her insane plan, which sets them at loggerheads with the fate of all existence in the balance.  Raimi’s presence in the director’s chair in lieu of original Doctor Strange helmer Scott Derrickson makes sense when you realise this is the MCU’s first true, full-blooded HORROR MOVIE, Marvel wisely bringing one of the greatest directors in the genre’s history onboard to usher in a pervading atmosphere of pregnant dread, chilling suspense and jolting terror to many of the set-pieces while one-time Avenger Maximoff has been ingeniously recast in the mould of a genuine horror movie MONSTER, frequently triggering some of the film’s most ruthlessly effective jump-scares.  As a result, while this movie does (just) pull its punches enough for its PG-13 rating, it’s DEFINITELY NOT one for the kids, and while it’s certainly got plenty of the ubiquitous MCU heart, spectacle and winning sense of humour, this is sometimes pretty dark, hard-hitting stuff.  (A good yardstick for you – remember that What If? Marvel Zombies episode?  It's very much like THAT.)  Cumberbatch is once again on TOP FORM as Strange, treading an admirably fine line between hero and prick as the erstwhile Master of the Mystic Arts navigates the murky waters between what’s right for the greater good and what he knows in his heart should REALLY be done, while Gomez is a phenomenal find for Kevin Feige and the other MCU bigshots, emotive, effervescent and often downright lovable as a simple teenage girl trapped by her unavoidable circumstances in the eye of a veritable hurricane of fate, and it’s wonderful to see Rachel McAdams return in more than one form as Strange’s one-that-got-away, Dr Christine Palmer, who brings an important grounding element to her scenes as the one entirely human anchor for the audience to experience all this craziness through, as well as the ever-reliable Benedict Wong as, ahem, Wong, once librarian at Kamar-Taj but now the CURRENT Sorcerer Supreme (because Strange got Blipped for five years), who’s just permanently done with all his shit, and always down to remind him not to be such a PRAT; there’s also a phenomenal who’s-who of supporting turns and cameos from new and returning faces I’d be painfully remiss in spoiling for anyone who wants to experience some of the Multiverse’s ingenious twists and turns, although I can say that’s it’s one of the film’s biggest momentary joys that Raimi even found time to get his old mate Bruce Campbell a fun little role in this too.  The real runaway star of the film, however, is Elizabeth Olsen, who does a beautiful job of taking a heroic mainstay in the narrative of the MCU and, through some VERY clever screenwriting and character development, twisting her into something dark, dangerous, sometimes genuinely terrifying and ultimately heartbreakingly tragic in her paradoxical sympathy (I swear, your heart breaks for Wanda even when she’s scaring the wits out of you).  Sure, at times this is glaring by-the-numbers MCU and there are times when it doesn’t quite work, but there are also moments of downright GENIUS on offer here, from some elaborately inventive action sequences (a scene involving music as a weapon is beautifully conceived), while the skill of everyone involved is certainly great enough to keep things on the right track and paper over the cracks when they DO appear.  Certainly Raimi’s firing on all cylinders here, producing what’s most definitely his best film since the heady days of Spider-Man 2, and it certainly does an admirable job of establishing the Multiverse in the MCU in the interests of opening the franchise up to much wider scope in the interests of moving forward into its future.  Maybe bringing him on again for another entry somewhere down the line might be a smart move for Feige and the boys if THESE are the kind of results he can deliver …

17.  HELLRAISER – I’ll admit, when I first heard they were making a new soft reboot movie adaptation of Clive Barker’s classic cosmic horror novella The Hellbound Heart, which of course spawned a much beloved cinematic franchise (even though it ultimately went off the rails after the third instalment, albeit with a few decent blips in the interim), I was deeply sceptical.  Then I heard that it was going to be directed by David Bruckner, who did such a phenomenal job with the spectacularly creepy horror flick The Ritual, and I started breathing a little easier.  Then I heard about some of the casting choices, and it sounded like they were definitely heading in the right direction … and then I saw the trailer, and THAT had me frothing in my excitement.  Needless to say when it finally arrived I POUNCED, and it did not disappoint me in the slightest, as you can see. XD  Thankfully this has followed the smart move of taking things RIGHT BACK to the start, although this time round they’re trying things a little different, introducing a new, richer narrative take that expands on the established mythology while also carving a fresh path for the future.  That being said, the classic ingredients are still present and correct – the lethal puzzle box, the Faustian pact, the Cenobites, it’s all there, and all handled exquisitely.  Odessa A’zion (Fam, Grand Army) makes for a plucky and determined but also compellingly vulnerable lead as Riley, a recovering drug addict who stumbles upon the cursed box after one bad night drives her to do something really stupid, but then things go from bad to worse when the device is triggered, the Cenobites come calling and her brother Matt (13 Reasons Why’s Brandon Flynn) is taken. Now she must solve the mystery behind the box’s ever-evolving puzzle in an increasingly desperate bid to find her brother and save her soul from unknowable, nightmarish torments, tumbling headfirst down a dark rabbit hole of twisted conspiracy and demonic vice spearheaded by monstrous nihilistic playboy Roland Voight (Goran Visnjic).  Your heart genuinely hurts for A’zion as she goes through hell, but she’s got some impressive steel in her when things get hard, while there’s interesting supporting turns from Adam Faison as Matt’s sweet, straight-laced boyfriend Colin and Drew Starkey (Love, Simon and The Hate U Give) as Riley’s twitchy enabling lover Trevor; Visnjic, meanwhile, brings his inherent edgy dark side to the fore as a suitably despicable, entitled villain, and the Cenobites are a spectacularly nightmarish bunch, especially Sense8’s wondrous Jamie Clayton, who brings us an intriguing and strangely sensuous new take on fan-favourite Pinhead.  The horror elements are, interestingly, somewhat stripped back throughout much of the film, Bruckner again clearly preferring to value atmospherics and plot-based intrigue over gruesome shocks and cheap jumpscares as we follow Riley while she delves into a suitably labyrinthine mystery, although when the film DOES decide to get scary it sure don’t pull its punches, delivering some truly twisted moments that are sure to please the hardcore faithful.  Gods know I was impressed throughout – no only is this a PHENOMENAL step back in the right direction for a franchise that’s been flagging for far too long, but it’s also a glorious tribute to the undeniable horror master who birthed the original.  Clive deserves to be proud, from the looks of this his baby is in very safe hands indeed.

16.  BULLET TRAIN – The award for the year’s most spectacularly OTT blockbuster went to the latest magnificently bonkers darkly comic action-packed thrill-ride from hot shit stuntman-turned-director David Leitch (the first John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw), which has a title which tells you pretty much all you really NEED to know about this going in.  Convinced? Then just go and WATCH IT, you won’t be disappointed, and there are plenty of neat little twists and turns in this that mean this is best watched going in good and cold (ESPECIALLY if you haven’t seen any of the trailers yet).  Still with us?  Well all right then … adapting Japanese author Kōtarō Isaka’s popular black comedy novel Maria Beetle, it follows a disparate collection of contract killers and a professional thief onboard a speeding Japanese bullet train who are brought into frequent violent collision by a series of bizarre events and the deadly machinations of a brutal legendary crime boss known as The White Death.  Brad Pitt is already well-established as a bankable action hero who can easily pull off the physical requirements of his leading man role here, but once again he shows us that what he TRULY excels at is COMEDY, winning us over with brilliant hangdog exasperation as Ladybug, the thief in question who’s long suffered from BIBLICAL levels of bad luck, hired to go onboard purely to steal a briefcase full of money, only to find his personal curse keeps throwing him into increasingly crazy confrontations while he’s desperate to just GET OFF THE TRAIN and deliver his ill-gotten cargo; Kick-Ass’ Aaron Taylor Johnson and Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry, meanwhile, are an unapologetically chaotic pair as Tangerine and Lemon, “twin” British hitmen who’ve been charged with rescuing The White Death’s son (Percy Jackson’s Logan Lerman) from kidnappers and returning him to his father, although their constant bickering quickly lands them in much deeper shit once Ladybug’s stolen the case-full of ransom money they liberated while they were at it; then there’s the Father (Snake Eyes’ Andrew Koji, hard-bitten and magnificently vulnerable throughout), who boards the train with the intention of killing the person responsible for putting his young son in a coma, only to fall foul of the devilish machinations of The Prince (The Kissing Booth’s Joey King, manipulative and frequently downright CHILLING in her sociopathic Machiavellian brilliance), a mysterious young woman plotting something truly TERRIBLE when the train reaches its destination; and finally there are excellent supporting turns from the likes of Deadpool 2’s Zazie Beetz, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock (wonderful as Ladybug’s much put-upon handler Maria) and the legendary Hiroyuki Sanada in a variety of rich and meaty roles I really couldn’t begin to get into because of, y’know, SPOILERS … needless to say Leitch and his crew are on comfortably firm ground to bring more of their patented overblown mayhem to bear in a series of explosive and frequently batshit mental set-pieces that also play beautifully into the film’s jet-black sense of humour – this is a story that SHOULD NOT be taken seriously for a second, and the hit-rate for the substantial procession of quickfire gags, skits and ingenious call-backs and references is one of the highest I’ve ever seen in an action comedy.  The end result is a work of pure mad genius, and despite the critical detractions (and somewhat surprising accusations of whitewashing given the author himself gave the adaptation his full blessing) this is about as close to perfect as an action movie can get, a precision-crafted masterpiece you need to pay close attention to since there’s so much going on and it’s all so intricately important because every brilliant little detail ALWAYS pays off in the end. This is BY FAR the most fun I had at the cinema all summer, some of the most fun I had with a movie ALL YEAR even, and I can’t recommend it enough.

15.  DC LEAGUE OF SUPER PETS – My animated favourite of the summer is a pretty interesting beast (yeah, I know, cute choice of words in this context, ha ha ha, etc).  I’m sure it was originally conceived as an amusing little distraction for DC Universe fans while their favourite properties’ futures are in such great upheaval on the big screen, but ultimately I think this is actually the one DC flick I’ve come across that most perfectly GETS the overblown hilarity at the centre of the whole property.  Certainly Jared Stern (who co-wrote The Lego Batman and Ninjago movies, here marking his second feature as a director after his debut with Netflix romantic comedy Happy Anniversary) understands this better than some, having expertly lampooned (and somewhat perfectly captured) the inherent truths behind the classic core members of the Justice League of America and their encompassing universe in a 105-minute animated comedy adventure that focused everything through the simplified viewpoint of Superman’s beloved pet dog Krypto. Dwayne Johnson (who got his own major DCEU debut when Black Adam hit our screens in the Autumn, for what it was ultimately worth) is a fine choice for the vocal role of the super-pooch in question, who finds himself suddenly de-powered and forced to enlist the help of a quartet of rescue pets who’ve just been “gifted” with superpowers by a tiny fleck of orange Kryptonite – Johnson’s Central Intelligence co-star Kevin Hart is Ace, an independent but loyal boxer dog who becomes super-strong and indestructible, I Love You For That’s Vanessa Bayer as PB, a Wonder Woman-fangirl potbellied pig who develops the ability to grow or shrink to insane degrees at will, Natasha Lyonne as Merton, an incredibly old, extremely near-sighted box turtle who inherits super-speed, and Rogue One’s Diego Luna as Chip, a neurotic squirrel who’s granted lightning powers – acquired by Lulu (Saturday Night Live legend Kate McKinnon), a megalomaniacal hairless guinea pig obsessed with Lex Luther (legendary stand-up comic Marc Maron), whom the shard grants terrifying telekinetic abilities which she uses to imprison the Justice League and kickstart her own plans for world domination.  Yeah … sounds pretty bonkers, right?  Thing is, anyone who really knows DC Comics knows how this really is pretty par for the course with a lot of DCU backstory, which is definitely something Stern and his regular co-writing collaborator John Whittington totally understand and definitely ran with here – the inherent batshit craziness of the premise is milked for all the comic genius it’s worth, with the film paying delightful homage to the JLA, the titular pets themselves and a whole raft of other brilliant little winks, nods and easter eggs along the way, while also ruthlessly lampooning the DC Universe with utmost love for the property itself.  The voice cast are all ON FIRE here, with Johnson and Hart again hitting it off magnificently as a thoroughly entertaining canine odd-couple, while McKinnon consistently steals the film right out from under everybody with her unabashed comic genius, and Lyonne is an absolute delight all on her own; the Justice League, meanwhile, are brilliantly realised in a delightfully skewed comedic take that nonetheless does them all (ahem) justice, pitched to perfection by the likes of John Krasinski (Superman), Jemaine Clement (a cracking piss-take on The Water Guy, Aquaman) and, best of all, Keanu Reeves (a glorious deconstruction of Batman at his broodiest).  The animation is some of the best CGI work I’ve seen from the Warner Animation Group to date, the set-pieces are definitely pitched for laughs but surprisingly well-done in pure action terms, and the humour levels really are full-on OFF THE CHARTS here, but Stern and Whittington have also wisely injected a whole lot of emotional heft and pure HEART into the film too.  The result is an animated feature that’s a thorough joy to behold, keeping you gripped, entertained and stuck in the feels right through to the end.  This is definitely a film anyone trying to make a GOOD DCEU movie NEEDS TO WATCH, because it’s about as true to the Universe as I’ve EVER seen a movie get … even while mercilessly spoofing it …

14.  BELFAST – Kenneth Brannagh’s an interesting duck.  As an actor, I love his work, he’s consistently impressed me over the years, blowing me away with some truly spectacular performances, whether in his favoured territory (essaying Shakespeare) or doing something fun and different (such as The Road to El Dorado), or even just providing some solid support to other stars in a smaller role (Dunkirk instantly springs to mind); as a director, on the other hand … yeah, the results have been mixed at best.  For every masterpiece like Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Thor or Murder On the Orient Express, he’s also brought us dreck like Dead Again, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or (gods help us) Artemis Fowl, and a fair amount in the middle ground that’s either kinda meh or actually not too bad if you just go with it (Hamlet, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and Peter’s Friends are certainly ones I actually kinda liked).  Approaching a new release, therefore, is always a trepidatious business, you never know what you’re gonna get … so you can probably imagine my surprise when his OTHER latest offering (JUST preceding the pretty decent Death On the Nile) ACTUALLY turned out to be the very best feature I’ve ever seen from him.  Then again, this is BY FAR his most personal film to date, Brannagh going RIGHT back to his roots with a semi-autobiographical story which is HEAVILY based on his own personal experiences as a boy growing up in the titular city in Ireland at the height of the Troubles, specifically the August Riots of 1969.  The film is told largely from the point of view of nine year-old Buddy (newcomer Jude Hill), the younger son of a small working class family living on a mixed denomination street, who find themselves in the middle of a powder-keg when anti-Catholic resentment starts to boil over in their neighbourhood.  His dreamer “Pa” (Jamie Dornan) is looking at the possibility of a brighter future for him and his family if they move abroad to greener pastures, but forceful and pragmatic “Ma” (The Beauty Inside and Ford V Ferrari’s Catriona Balfe) just wants to stay put, and both are forced to make hard choices that directly affect the family’s future as the Troubles start to impact their lives as a whole.  Dornan and Balfe are both exceptional throughout, Balfe in particularly shouldering a lot of the film’s heavy lifting with spectacular skill and undeniable talent, while Dame Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds warm our cockles and pluck at our heartstrings in equal measure as Buddy’s grandparents, two people who are clearly still deeply in love even in the twilight of their time together, and Merlin’s Colin Morgan brings a charged menace to proceedings as the film’s nominal villain, Billy Clanton, an up-and-comer in the local sectarian movement who wants Pa to join The Cause.  Buddy’s the undeniable beating heart of the film, though, Hill instantly showing he’s gonna be a star in the future as he essentially brings a young Brannagh to life, a deeply imaginative boy who loves movies and science fiction (especially Star Trek) but is struggling to find his place in the world and what’s going on around him.  The director shows as much skill with his writing as he does behind the camera, weaving a compellingly rich tapestry out of a deceptively simple storyline and bringing some genuinely palpable, fully realised characters to vital breathing life (although I guess he had STRONG inspiration to draw from), as well as paying frequent, loving respect to all the massive influences he’s drawn from over the years, from the films he grew up with (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and One Million Years BC among others) to the music his parents taught him to love (the soundtrack includes several gems from the great Van Morrison).  The resulting film is a powerful and rewarding experience, a clear labour of love which is equal parts dramatic, moving, heart-breaking, warmly funny and deeply inspiring.  Brannagh wins our hearts by wearing his on his sleeve.

13.  THE BLACK PHONE – I see now why Scott Derrickson pulled out of directing the second Doctor Strange film – he had to get what was ALMOST the horror highlight of the summer out of his system. Adapting Joe Hill’s short story with his Sinister co-writer C. Robert Cargill, Derrickson’s comfortably ensconced back in the genre he clearly resonates with best, crafting a fiendishly complex and spine-chillingly intense suspense thriller out of a deceptively simple premise that, at least on the surface, has been reworked more than once before on the big screen.  The year is 1978 (that’s when I was born!), and a serial killer is stalking the suburban streets of Denver – the Grabber, a mysterious man-in-a-van who kidnaps teenage boys who are never seen again.  His latest victim is Finney (For All Mankind’s Mason Thames), who wakes up in a basement with a defunct payphone on the wall before being periodically visited by the mysterious masked killer (Sinister’s Ethan Hawke) who repeatedly tries to involve Finney in his wicked, sadistic mind-games … only for him to be warned of his fate and coached on how he might escape by the spirits of the Grabber’s previous victims, with whom he communicates through the broken phone (yeah, I know it sounds like a bonkers premise but it’s portrayed in such an ingenious way you never once fail to swallow it hook, line and sinker).  Meanwhile his younger sister Gwen (The Mandela Effect’s Madeleine McGraw) is trying to find him with the help of her wildly unpredictable psychic dreams, despite the consternation of her troubled father (the incomparable Jeremy Davies) and the deep scepticism of the detectives assigned to the case.  Hawke delivers what’s definitely his most unhinged performance to date, taking his charismatic, likeable leading man persona and tearing it to shreds by investing the Grabber with an air of unpredictable menace and sadistic malevolence that frequently chills the blood even though he spends essentially the whole film with his face obscured by an intriguingly malleable demonic facemask; the two young leads, meanwhile, are both an absolute revelation, with Thames bringing an unbearably palpable uncertainty and vulnerability to Finney which makes his ultimate manning up so deeply fulfilling, while McGraw is a sweet but decidedly salty (and sometimes VERY SWEARY) joy in a rewarding turn which steals every scene she’s in; in the supporting stakes, Davies is enjoyably complex, a drink-addled bad-dad who nonetheless has a good heart beaten down by powerful personal tragedy which ultimately makes us root for him, especially when he finally starts to open himself up to the possibility that Gwen might actually be onto something, while Sinister and It Chapter 2’s James Ransome delivers a delightful crackpot turn as a local conspiracy theorist who thinks he’s got it all worked out.  This is a beautifully written film, skilfully realised by a marvellous up-and-coming talent of literary horror and then further refined by a true master of the genre on the big screen, Derickson constantly defying expectation as he throws perfectly pitched twists and turns at us before finally bringing the film to its nail-biting, piano wire-taut climax.  Far as I’m concerned this is the best film he’s ever made, and with his track record that’s an impressive feat – I can only hope this is a sign of even greater things to come from him in the future …

12.  KIMI – we were already getting movies about the COVID outbreak and the resulting chaos that the Coronavirus has wrought upon us around the world as early as late 2020, but for the most part it’s largely been small, under-the-radar indie stuff.  Now we’re starting to get BIG stuff, and the latest from Steven Soderbergh is one of the most impressive offerings I’ve seen to date.  Written by thriller cinema extraordinaire David Koepp (Carlito’s Way, Panic Room, Stir of Echoes), this is a spectacularly taut and blissfully streamlined suspense thriller that not only brings the impact of the Pandemic into sharp perspective, but also our growing overreliance on smart device technology and social media – altogether then, fertile ground for a socially-conscious filmmaker like Soderbergh, who essentially PREDICTED all the shit COVID just put us through with 2011’s terrifyingly prescient outbreak-thriller Contagion.  The Kimi of the title is the latest creation of the film’s fictional tech conglomerate Amygdala and its visionary CEO Bradley Hasling (Derek DelGaudio), an all-encompassing smart speaker which revolutionises the technology by taking the potentially controversial step of having live human moderators overseeing its operation instead of AI in order to cut down on potential voice recognition-based cock-ups.  The film’s main narrative focuses on one of these moderators, Angela Childs (Zoe Kravitz), whose long-standing social anxiety and agoraphobia have been immensely exacerbated by lockdown to the detriment of many aspects of her life. Then a routine review of some of her daily moderations uncovers something deeply disturbing – what sounds to her VERY MUCH like a break-in and the murder of a Kimi owner.  Under pressure from Amygdala to bury the information but driven by her own conscience and personal trauma from a similar incident, Angela decides to take matters into her own hands instead … this might be the best performance I’ve EVER seen Kravitz deliver (which is definitely saying something when we just saw her PERFECTLY embody one of my favourite comic book characters of all time), as she invests Angela with twitchy awkwardness but also fierce, unshakeable determination when faced with insurmountable obstacles, creating one of the most refreshingly compelling and resourceful lead protagonists I’ve come across in cinema, and since big chunks of the narrative are a one-woman show with many of her interactions with other characters playing out through phones and computer screens, this means she largely DOMINATES the film.  That’s not to say there aren’t other great performances in this – DelGaudio does a lot with quite a small part, while there are excellent turns from Byron Bowers (The Chi, Honey Boy) as Angela’s occasional casual friend-with-benefits, Terry, who wants to become something more to her, Devin Ratray (Blue Ruin, The Tick) as Kevin, a fellow shut-in neighbour, and Rita Wilson (Runaway Bride, The Good Wife) as Natalie Chowdury, an executive with Amygdala to whom Angela attempts to blow the whistle on her findings.  Soderberg and Koepp have crafted a spectacularly suspenseful thriller which expertly ratchets up the atmospheric dread of Angela’s situation from the slowburn scene-setting start to the fraught and harrowing climax, the film’s determination to keep its focus squarely on Angela meaning that we’re right there in the thick of it with her throughout all her anxiety, paranoia, terror and downright feral fight for life.  This is one of the best films either Soderbergh OR Koepp have delivered in a good while, and definitely one of the year’s top big screen thrillers.  Not bad for something which was inspired by and executed entirely in the midst of COVID.

11.  ENOLA HOLMES 2 – Back in 2020, while we were waiting for Guy Ritchie’s long-mooted but still conspicuously absent third Sherlock Holmes movie, we got a welcome surprise from another quarter – director Harry Bradbeer, taking a break from making TV shows like Fleabag with something a good deal more ambitious, and screenwriter Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials, Wonder).  Adapting the intriguing “AU” young adult novels of Nancy Springer, they brought her intriguing character to the fore, unleashing Sherlock and Mycroft’s previously unknown kid sister Enola Holmes upon the cinematic world in fine style in the form of Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown.  The resulting breezy, cheeky and enjoyably irreverent mystery adventure was, rightly, a major hit for Netflix when they released it in the middle of the Pandemic, so it was a no-brainer for them to order a sequel right away, and having had a ball on the first, Bradbeer and Thorne were HAPPY to deliver once again.  Better yet, the resulting sequel is JUST AS GOOD as its predecessor … after the events of the first film, Enola’s trying to carve out her own career as a sleuth-for-hire like her brother, but the inherent prejudices of Victorian society regarding her youth and, more importantly, GENDER are very much working against her … until she finds herself called upon to help a young matchgirl who wants to find her missing sister, and once again Enola finds that her seemingly simple case is, in fact, just the tip of a massive conspiratorial iceberg, one which also relates to her brother Sherlock’s own latest case, one which seems to be vexing him like none before.  Once again, it’s an absolute joy to join Brown on her adventures, the immensely talented ingenue perfectly portraying a fiendishly brilliant, naturally-talented mistress of detection whose frequent fourth-wall-breaking asides always tickle me; Henry Cavill, meanwhile, is once again clearly having immense fun as the most famous gentleman sleuth of all time, as well as getting to bring an intriguing new dimension to his portrayal as we see Sherlock revealing frustration and ennui for the first time as he has to deal with a mystery that just doesn’t make sense.  When they’re together they’re a joy to behold, and I truly hope we’ll get to see more of them working as a team in the inevitable follow-ups, while the other returning faces from the first film are all given plenty of time to shine in their own right here too, from Louis Partridge (Pistol) as sweet but quietly determined young Viscount Tewkesbury to Helena Bonham Carter as Enola and Sherlock’s wayward revolutionary mother Eudoria, while there are some equally talented newcomers to enjoy here too, with David Thewlis’ brilliant but hateful corrupt Scotland Yard Superintendent Grail particularly impressing here, while the film does a brilliant job of introducing a couple of other key characters from Arthur Conan Doyle’s pantheon for future instalments in suitably interesting ways.  As with the first film, this is a bright and breezy adventure that rattles along at an impressive clip, Thorne’s razor sharp script sparking and fizzing appropriately as the story unfolds, while we have plenty of fun following Enola as she navigates her world’s various social pitfalls and idiosyncrasies with her usual irrepressible determination and exasperation.  Once again, it’s also frequently LAUGH-OUT-LOUD funny, from Brown’s adorably playful narration to the perfectly observed social satire … that being said, there’s also a good deal of HEART here too, with the central story dealing with some very potent hot button subject matter which is as relevant today as when it was actually happening (no I WON’T say what, you’ll just have to watch it and find out).  Altogether this is another phenomenal instalment in an already brilliant new franchise, and one which EASILY rivals the other popular, established adaptations we already know and love regarding Conan Doyle’s more famous Holmes sibling, and I for one cannot wait to see what Bradbeer, Thorne, Brown, Cavill et al are gonna bring us next …

#the woman king #the tragedy of macbeth #doctor strange in the multiverse of madness #hellraiser #hellraiser 2022 #bullet train #bullet train movie #DC league of super pets #belfast #belfast movie #the black phone #kimi #kimi movie #enola holmes 2 #2022 in movies

[oatmilkovich]

90s romeo and juliet supremacy forever

okay, you didn’t ask for this at all but i’m just extra and going to give it to you anyway. 

one thing i will never understand is people disliking that movie — especially bc the only ‘consistent’ (eg over the years the handful of people i’ve met that say they don’t like it) surface level criticism i ever see of it is the fact that it’s the original elizabethan text set in modern day and that ‘doesn’t’ make sense.

how?! how does it not make sense 😭not to sound like i’m up some 500 year old man’s ass (except that i completely am) but shakespeare’s original language enhances the storytelling bc the words and praises he uses open the door to so many more ways of expressing feelings and emotions. romeo and juliet has some of the most beautiful dialogue and by placing it in modern day, it’s made so much more accessible because the context is so much clearer and relatable. (did anyone else watch the 60s adaptation with the zac efron look alike in school? love it, but why would you go w that one for teenagers to try and connect to the work) 

baz luhrmann’s adaptation is camp, unique and all over the place in the best way. maybe i’m biased because i’ve always loved baz’s slightly off kilter signature style, but he took a story we’ve heard hundreds and times injected it with a new lease of life. shakespeare’s work is and will always be timeless – his words will exist long after we are gone, but how often does an adaptation of a play get referenced and drawn from consistently in media? for example, jules’ halloween costume on euphoria or hell, the entirety of skam season 3. the fish tank scene alone is iconic enough to garner it’s own references! shakespeare was a punk of his day and i truly believe that it’s exactly what he would’ve wanted for his work – especially 500 years later. 

plus, we get great performances from harold perrineau as mercutio – his queen mab speech is legendary, claire danes – who was only 17 and kills it and john leguizamo as tybalt – who is one of my favourite actors ever. to top it all off we get 2 hours of 90s leonardo dicaprio delivering poetry in a hawaiian shirt and wielding a gun – like, what more could you ask for in life? is it his career defining performance? no, but it’s still a bloody good one and i’ll argue with anyone over how he alone is worth the film’s icon status. 

this isn’t even mentioning baz’s music choices and how they too have earned their own reputation. kissing you by diseree? young hearts run free by kym mazelle? quindon tarver’s rendition of prince’s when doves cry? and my personal favourite talk show host by radiohead that kicked off my love for the band at 13. one of my favourite aspect’s of baz’s personal style is making music and the soundtrack as significant to the story as the characters are – and he does it so explicitly well in this film. 

this is barely even scratching the surface of why I think this film deserves all the love it gets and how it is possibly the single most influential shakespeare adaptation... pretty much ever. i’m also a big believer that romeo and juliet (it’s one of my favourite plays and juliet is one of my favourite characters) gets misunderstood because of it’s reputation and that this is the perfect way to make his work accessible and fresh. anyways, if you unlocked a pandora’s box and if i don’t stop now, i probably won’t ever. in short: 90s romeo and juliet supremacy forever. 

#me: oh i'll get some writing done today before i head out #also me: does this instead #listen. i feel very strongly about baz luhrmann's work #and shakespeare #and leonardo dicpario #and romeo and juliet #so this is all very specific to me #asks #romeo + juliet #skam s3 #baz luhrmann #leonardo dicaprio #william shakespeare #romeo and juliet

[nevenabadr]

50 Shades of You! Tom Hiddleston X Female! Reader

Note: This is my first ever fanfiction for Tom Hiddleston. I have not written fiction for ages. English is not my first language.

Inspiration: this is inspired by:

“I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes.”

–Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

Word count: 2660

Warnings: Romance, sweet words, and smut–this is +21 and not for everyone.

Enjoy reading and please comment with your feedback. 💚

-------------------------------------------------------

During the summer Cambridge University was having a conference "Gothic Elements In John Milton's Paradise Lost." As you the young professor of literature, the coordinate manager suggested that the University alumnus could join for not just attending, but acting a piece of the tragedy. Amongst the candidates was the Classic department graduate and famous actor, Tom Hiddleston. 

You know that he might have scheduled issues or time conflicts, but you suggested the committee email him. To your surprise, he accepted the offer. 

 

The scene of choice was casting the devil out of hell.

On the stage during the conference eve, you did not have the perfect time to watch him, but you took a glimpse of acting from far.

He even caught your show and face attending the rehearsals.

The conference day was pressuring. You were trying to get everything right, in the middle of your so-close meltdown. A voice brought you to reality, "Hello, is this professor Y/N)?"

You turned to find the British handsome alumni smiling peacefully at you. "Yes, how can I help you?"

"Indeed, I am the one offering help." As he adjusted his glasses, I asked the committee manager to take upon some errant backstage. Maybe I can assist with the front ceremony?"

"Of course," you paused for a moment, "can you help me with the dinner's seats arrangement? My assistant is absent and I have to print and arrange them myself."

"Just show me a computer and all will be done."

Both of you took your time arranging an evening missing up some seats. 

 

"Here comes my name. You will be seated with the professors, of course!" He was busy putting name tags over the table.

"Oh! Don't remind me." You replied as if it is a conversation with an old friend and continued "the Classic department and Literature."

"They might start a war." Both of you started laughing 

"I have an idea." He took a tag from his table and moved yours next to his. "Now you will be with a friend"

The presentations finished, you had to go for the gym showers to change and wear your conference and dinner dress.

By the time you arrived, the scene from the tardy was about to be played. You took your place in the front seat.

Tom was playing Satan. He noticed that you were reciting the lines with him. He even almost smiles at you. Could not hold himself from looking at you in the front row while playing the scene of...

 

"All is not lost; the unconquerable Will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield; (And what is else not to be overcome?) That glory never shall his wrath or might Extort from me to bow and sue for grace With suppliant knee and deify his power, Who from the terror of his arm so late Doubted his empire[.] (I, 106–114)"

 

Your facial expressions captured his eyes, the movement of your lips and then the flame of your applause. 

At the dinner, he was interested to hear all about your work and writings. His eyes could not able to leave you.

 

By the end of the dinner, he walked you to your car, "this was lovely, thank you for tonight" 

You smiled at him, "thank you for accepting our invitation."

You shake hands and opened your car door like the gentleman he is.

"Would you like to go out with me, for a coffee? Books and coffee, maybe." He did not hesitate to ask.

"I would love to. You already have my number within the conference contact information." You raised an eyebrow and smirked.

As your car drove away, he knew he was up for an adventure.

Three months later, you are happily dating and sharing sweet kisses. He suggested a film marathon. Each week one of you chose a topic.

That Saturday's topic was Russian Literature and you had to add: "or inspired by it" 

"Excuse me, but Tolstoy has no comparison!" He grimaced

"Shadow and Bones, love!" You teased him, "it the Netflix adaption of the era" 

"After Anna Karenina, please," he sounded like an old professor.

"Alright then, deal." You tickled him and kissed his lips softly

Both of you enjoyed Anna Karenina, however, you were crying in his arms.

"That dreadful ending." 

He hugged you "Hey, Shadow and Bones will make it up to you, let me make extra popcorn." Once again, he kissed you.

He came back with popcorn that will at least survive three episodes. You snuggled between his arms.

"Look at Alexie, how he said 'Make me your villain.'" 

You were swooning as a fangirl.

"I beg your pardon, I am literally a villain," he complained

Oh! I would literally," stressing upon the last word, "let him have me"

His face was irritated and you not coming close to making love made him anxious, that you might not be ready. He never inquired about you.   

You caressed his tummy, "hey, a penny for your thoughts, sir." It sounded like one of the Jack the Ripper prostitutes, about which you have constantly been talking.

His voice evolved deeper and his eyes did not leave yours "your deepest sexual desire. What do you crave?"

Comparing to your age, you were nervous and inexperienced. "My life was spent between books. I..."

He did not let you continue speaking and took your lips between his drawing your body closer to him, uttering between his hot kisses "I am not just a villain" his lips made the earth move "I am a God" whispering against the sport skin of your nick " a king" his hands were moving down the same tomes his lips reached the line of your bosom whilst his hand slides prevailed touching down pussy and dug his fingers driving you till the edge.

"I want you," you whispered between your soft moans.

He neglected your cravings and maintained his rhythm, watching your complexion and closed eyes till you arched your back in awe.

You collapsed between his arms heavily breathing "that was extremely wonderful, but I need you"

He kissed your lips playfully. "you are a delicious girl, Y/N, but..."

You hashed him with a kiss that he pulled from "if your life was between books, I want you to write me your deepest desire."

"Darling, it was a series, Alexie is fictional." You wrapped your arms around his neck.

"Fictional or not, he is a man, you are paying for this." 

He was deadly serious "write me your longing."

You laugh "What? Like the 50 Shades of Y/N?"

He gazed into your eyes "aiming to please and punish you, darling, avenging my honour"

The next morning when you were with your family on Sunday's lunch, he opened an email titled "50 Shades of Y/A"

 

The content was as follows:

"You!"

 

He grinned to himself and determined to show her how fiction can become real.

Your week was busy. He had signed a new contract for a mini-series and was supposed to film soon.

Not replying to your email made you nervous, even went meeting for dinner. He was quiet about it. 

You checked your sent box millions of times to make sure it arrived. Still, you knew he was busy working, and you were busy with the finals coming soon.

Thursday’s dinner, nothing yet, nothing but gaggling and discussing your days and current reads. 

"Darling, we did not decide this week's marathon" 

He did not take his eyes off the menu "Are not you having a big family week, you should go" he was confident and calm. 

Deep inside you wanted to grab his neck and jiggle him, but for the lady you are and the restaurant, you were calm.

"Wonderful!"

The dinner was over; he drove you home, kissed you goodnight.

Saturday morning, a ringing at your door. Apparently, you received a package, a big one.

You kept thinking that some books might have come early from your publisher. Unwrapping it to a surprise satin 1950 coat with Ruby red entourage and black heels.

There was also a note, she recognised the handwriting:

 

"Wear nothing but this for your punishment. If other pieces were found upon your body, then fear my fury and vengeance.

Love, 

T"

 

So, it was her version of Mr Grey. But have you ever been ready to comply with anyone?"

Suddenly, a message arrived on your phone 

"Reminder, a black will pick you tonight at 8, don't disobey me, Princess."

Your heel clicked on the floor as a man dressed in an old fashion suit opened the car for you. The windows were blacked out, so you did not see where it was heading.

"Welcome, Princess," he greeted you as if you were royalty, "My master is awaiting your presence."

You took his hands. The place was carved out of one of your favourite dark fantasies, a mansion with gargoyles, dark lighting, and a vast garden.

You could not believe your eyes. Tom knew your deepest desires indeed.

But that is not the end.

The inside was as of a dark enchantment with deep red flowers and candles. The servant showed you the way to a dining room fit for a feast. Tom was not there. 

"My master requires you to await his arrival." The servant bowed and left.

You were like a child been left inside her favourite toyshop. The ornaments, the lighting, and even the shapes of the food. That aesthetic you only could dream of but never reach.

"Enjoying yourself already?" You turned to find your man dressed in a black Victorian suit. His face was shaved, shorter hair, no glasses. Just all of the handsome glory.

You took a step forward "no princess, I shall come for you"

He kissed your hand and then sat on the table's head, while it sat on the opposite side and faced you away indeed.

"Are you pleased, princess?" He raised his glass of red wine.

"Yes, my Prince." You smile.

"In here, you shall address me as your king." His eyes lit with fire, and his voice was harsh.

You played along and raised an eyebrow "my king."

"This is not a game, princess, you are my prisoner"

You dined quietly, as he did not drop his eyes from you.

"Enjoying yourself?"

You flirted "deeply, my king"

He left his chair and came closer to you, his fingers left your chain so you can gaze into your eyes.

He asked, "care for a dance?"

You smiled "I would love to."

You stepped forward and took his hand to a ballroom, just for you and him, the dark king.

The following piece of music was sensual and moving.

"The coat, princess, I want to see nothing but heels on your body,"

You obeyed the king, but for a tick. When you took it off, underneath it a short emerald green strapless corset dress tight upon the curves of your body and pushed your bosoms to their glory.

He grinned and his eyes darken "looking for further punishment, I suppose?" 

"Anything to please the king." You took his hand and kissed it. He did not expect it.

He turned furiously and the next song was romantic. He wrapped his arms around you once again, waltz, you sneaky woman, deserved joy before being punished.

Twirling you on the dance floor like the earth has no one but the two of you.

By the end, he carried you "to my chambers, little one"

You were nervous and anxious. What if he did not like what was underneath the dress?

He entered a candlelight room with a four-poster bed in the centre. The curtains of the bed were black and emerald. 

He laid you in bed, kissing your lips and playing with your hair. 

His breathing was heating against your skin.

"You won't miss that dress, will you, princess?"

He did not wait for your reply as he lifted a dagger amongst the layers of his suit and cut the corset down to the last piece of the dress.

You wore nothing else. You were lying exposed as he stood to look upon your naked curves for the first time. 

You spontaneously tried to cover your bosom and private parts.

"No, do not you dare" he was angry and you could not distinguish reality from fantasy.

You throw the rest of the dress away. Hands laying by your head and he stood there for a juncture, gazing at every inch of your body.

"Turn," he ordered angrily as if the soul of Loki took over him, "I said, turn" 

You nearly dropped tears "here my king" 

You felt the softness of his lips upon your delicate shoulders.

Kissing the line of your spine. He knows this will work like magic. You tickle from your back, now trying to lick you, taste you, slap you.

He flipped you to face him. You were sobbing. He could hear it under your moans.

"You are not a princess, you are not a queen."

He wipes her tears from her cheek "you are a goddess and I am your slave."

You giggled between your tears, wrapping your arms around his neck "my king"

"Your, slave" As his voice became softer, he hushed you with a finger.

He kissed every inch of your body. You were playing with his short blonde locks.

"Let me worship your bosom, my goddess" he kissed, licked and played with your nipples and cupped your bosoms gently.

Kissing down till he reached your pussy, "Let me worship your temple" as he licked your clitoris.

You were moaning loader now

“Not this time, my king I want you inside me."

"Alright, as the pleasure of my goddess, I shall obey." 

He adjusted his weight on you and asked, "wider for me, my goddess of beauty" 

You opened for him as he enters you for the first time. You let out a loud breath "are you alright" he took your hands between his.

"Continue, my king."

He is just thrusting himself gently inside you. Your moans filling the room 

"I am a villain, a king, a god, and a man"

Your hands were free to run along his back as he continued, "a man, no, a slave for my goddess"

You were moving with him and moaning louder, "my king, what else?"

 Thursinting himself harder and moving with a faster pace.

"My goddess, the sculptures of beauty," between his breathing and moaning "Da Vinci would not be able to capture your grace"

You were kissing as your nail dug inside his shoulders.

His last whispers as moving himself inside your pussy which was clutching around his manhood. He moved with pace, as you rocked your lap against him

"I will live in thy heart," kissing your lips as you bite his lower lip between your steamy breath. "Die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes.”

He was going faster now and you were in tremendous awe and your skin was heating up with your pleasure.

"Look at me goddess" you were closing your eyes as you become close to you your orgasm "look at me," he ordered 

"I love thee, Tom," you said as your pussy was clutching around his manhood and trembling underneath him. His enormous climax followed your orgasm. 

You were shaking. He used his hands to keep himself from crushing you with his weight.

He rested his forehead on yours till both of you caught your breath. Gently took you between his arms as resting on his side "and I love thee, Y/N"

kissed you and as you were falling asleep, yet muttered, "I made you my villain, did not I?"

He giggles, "I beg your pardon, your God, King, and lover"

You kissed for the last time of that night and snuggle between peacefully each other's arms.

----------------------------------------------------

Tag list:

@shafverani

@imsebastiansta-n

@brokenwitty

@221bshrlocked (awaiting your feedback)

@sinner-as-saint

@zemosimp05

@buckys-fairy

#marvel #fan fiction #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x you #Loki #loki fic #Loki Smut #tom hiddleston × reader #Crimson Peak #Thor #loki laufeyson #Disney Loki #tom hiddelston x reader #tom hiddelston imagine #tom hiddleston fanfiction #tom hiddleston fandom #tom hiddleston one shot #Tom Hiddleston OneShot #Tom Hiddleston x you

[entertainment]

Entertainment Spotlight: Bethany Antonia, Get Even

British actress Bethany Antonia plays Margot Rivers in Get Even, a new thriller series adapted from Gretchen McNeil’s Don’t Get Mad books. The show follows a group of girls who come together as DGM (Don’t Get Mad) to expose school bullies; when they realize they’re being framed for the murder of one of their targets, they set out to uncover the truth. Bethany spent her formative years in rural France, before returning to her hometown of Birmingham, UK, as a teen, and landing her first role in a short film of The Tempest for The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. She went on to land roles on TV in BBC’s Doctors and Channel 4’s Stath Lets Flats, and in the film Pin Cushion, which premiered at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. Bethany is an advocate for social justice issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement, LGBTQIA+ rights, veganism, wildlife conservation, and sustainable living practices. 

What kind of research did you do for the role of Margot? Had you read the books before taking the role?

I read both of the books! I read them once after my first callback for the show, and then again while we were filming. I absolutely love the books. There’s something so special about doing a series that’s based on a book and flying through trying to find out what’s going to happen to your character. Margot is also the only American in a British school, so I spent a lot of time thinking about her background and trying to piece together what her story was before we meet her as part of DGM.

Margot is described as shy, but she’s also the brains behind a group that seeks to stop bullying. What drew you to the role?

I got attached to Margot right off the back of reading the audition sides. Her character is everything I wished I’d gotten to see more of when I was younger. A young black girl who is shy, into gaming, and isn’t sassy or argumentative in a lead role? Sign me UP. I just adored the concept for the entire show. I loved the idea of these four teenage girls setting up a secret society in their school because straight away, I saw the bigger picture of what they were doing. It’s telling young girls to stand up for what they believe in and not to be afraid to take matters into their own hands despite living in a world that repeatedly tells them to do otherwise. It felt so empowering, and I was just so determined to be a part of it.

When you hear Black Excellence, what or who comes to mind?

Black Excellence for me is confidence. It’s power and resilience. It’s excelling in your particular area of the industry and leading by an example that others can follow. When I think of black excellence, I think of Michaela Coel, a woman who is completely changing the game in the industry right now. I have been a massive fan of hers since watching her first show, Chewing Gum, but I am so glad she is getting the global recognition she deserves off the back of I May Destroy You. It was one of the best pieces of television I have ever seen.

What role do you think film/tv/radio should have regarding social realities in Britain? What needs to change?

I think that every single form of media should be an accurate depiction of the world we live in. Any individual should be able to tune in at any given time and see themselves represented in some way, shape, or form. Anything less than that, and we have failed. We have been failing for a really long time in Britain. Tuning into the media has felt like an artist painting a blank canvas paint with little droplets of colour for effect for too long. We need to move away from the idea that the stories of white, straight, slim, able-bodied people are the only stories that need to be told, and start reflecting the realities of our country, which is so beautifully diverse.

How do you deal with a bad day, and how do you like to celebrate the good ones?

If I’m having a bad day, I like to do a complete reset: switch off from social media for a few hours, take a hot bath with a face mask or two, pamper myself, listen to a podcast or read a really good book, eat some of my favourite foods, and just take care of myself. Finding time to practice self-care for yourself is something I think is really important. So I do a complete brain reset and remind myself that tomorrow is a brand new day, and none of the day’s bad-day energy has to carry itself onto the next. I like to celebrate the good ones with my family and friends around me, making sure I’m really present and enjoying the moment, being grateful for whatever it is we’re celebrating.

Do you have any advice for young Black women looking to get into acting?

I’d love to get a whole room full of young Black women together and just tell them over and over again that they’re enough. This industry can feel impossible to break into for most up and coming actors, but for Black women, that’s especially true. It’s hard to envision yourself in a career that hasn’t been visible for you. Breaking down the door is only half of the battle. Once you’re in, there’s a million and one more challenges that come as a direct result of being a Black woman. I’d tell them to find confidence in themselves and their abilities, the kind of confidence that comes from within that nobody can take away from them, even if they have to fake it at first. I’d tell them to be proactive and take their careers into their own hands, to look into what they’re doing now and consider if it’s truly benefitting them for the kind of work they want to be doing. And finally, I would tell them to cling onto their love of acting with everything they have. Even if it feels like you’re not hitting the kind of goals you want to be hitting yet. Nobody can take your love of this craft away from you.

If you could choose any book that you’ve read to be adapted into film or tv, which book would you choose, and who would you play?

I read an amazing book recently called While I Was Sleeping by Dani Atkins, and I’ve not stopped thinking about it for weeks. It’s about this young girl named Maddie who wakes up from a coma thinking a few minutes have passed, but actually, six YEARS have passed. She was due to be married and have a baby, and she wakes up to find that her whole life has essentially happened without her while she’s been asleep. In my head, the whole book has already played out as a film over and over, with me as Maddie, ha! It could be so beautifully adapted.

Which song always manages to get you up in the morning?

“You Can Get It If You Really Want” by Desmond Decker. Every single time.

Thanks for taking the time, Bethany! Get Even is now streaming on Netflix.

Photo: Michael Shelford

#entertainment spotlight #blackexcellence365 #bethany antonia #get even

[lov3nerdstuff]

Hi Kay!

I just wanted to take a moment and say how deeply moving (and overall comforting) I find your writing to be! I've gone through almost the entirety of your masterlist twice in the past month alone and have found myself returning more often to the pieces of literature/poems your reference sometimes. (Especially that one poem by Benedict Smith! I've read a few more by him because of you and they're just wonderfully lovely 💛 so I'm eternally thankful to you for including it.)

I may be wrong in assuming, but I believe you may have studied/are currently studying a degree involving literature. I hope this isn't too foreward of me but I was wandering if you have any other works of literature that you'd recommend? (I'd love to read anything you recommend from poems to plays 💛) I'm slightly embaressed to say but the works I've read are quite limited to a highschool level and since I'm currently studying Pharmacy, there are very few people who can recommend me such moving works. :)

I also feel like I should apologise for writing such a large ask, so please accept this apology as well hehe 💕🥺

Sincerely,

Bek 🌻

Hey there Bek 💚💕✨

First of all... I'm incredibly sorry for how long it took me to reply to this ask, I know you sent it weeks ago and I'm honestly just ashamed of myself for only replying now! I've been taking a bit of a Tumblr break again, or rather a break from literally everything, and I guess not having written anything in a while made me feel guilty whenever I opened Tumblr, so... All I can say for myself really is that I'm sorry you had to wait so long! Again, I never ever ignore anyone, I promise! It just sometimes takes a while for me to reply 😅🙈

Now, I'm so happy to hear that you've been enjoying my writing! 🥺🥰 Hearing that it's comforting and inspiring to you is honestly such a relief and indeed does make me happy more than I can say 💚 It's so cool that you're checking up on all the references I make aaahhh 🥺🥺🥺 I love it 😁 You're always more than welcome, love! I don't think I could stop including references to literature, culture, history and the science around it even if I tried 😅☺️

And yeah, I did study classics and newer literature as a minor for my undergrad degree 😄 But tbh I still work with literally a lot even now (I'm in grad school for media and cultural studies) even though it's technically not something I've been properly taught ☺️ I'm just a nerd who likes to learn on her own, and with media and culture you can pretty much delve into almost anything you want 😂😅🤷🏻‍♀️

Now, it's not forward at all to ask me for literature recommendations! 😁😃 I truly love recommending stuff!!! I have a few up my sleeve, even though you've probably heard of a few already, for obvious reasons: A lot of what I truly enjoyed reading was something Tom Hiddleston has worked on in one way or another! It's truly a magnificent guideline for picking new literature... Just look up the literary origins of his films/shows/plays and you will be in for quality literature most of the time! I don't think I've ever mentioned it on here, but me reading High-Rise (JG Ballard) because I heard Tom would be partaking in the film adaptation was actually what sparked my love and passion for literature!!! Yep, it's that good. Now on to the recommendations though 😁(This... got rather long):

Plays

Anything by Harold Pinter really, but for obvious reasons you'll find a lot of additionally fun stuff for Betrayal, which is lovely and truly funny if you're in on the kind of humour btw

Medea by Euripides (a classic, but I love it nonetheless... You can find translations in almost every language) ((and pls stay away from Seneca's Medea, because ugh... Euripides is far better AND the og story, as much as anyone can say that for Greek mythology)

La Bohème by Puccini (I know, this is technically an opera, but if you read the libretto it's honestly just like a play... And if you're up for it, the og story is in prose and written by Henri Murger... It's better than the opera, but oftentimes more difficult to find) ((this one is hilarious and basically explains an entire cultural subgroup in the 19th century)

Faust by Goethe (many people hate it, but I LOVE this one!!! It's also been translated into any and every language, and it's so interesting philosophically!!! It's also referenced SO freaking often literally everywhere, and the operas and ballets based on it are always my fave) ((there's technically Faust I and Faust II, but you're good to go just reading the first one)

Anything by Shakespeare, obviously... Though I do love me my Hamlet like every other literature enthusiast (Yes, I can do that one famous soliloquy in act 3 scene 1 by heart as well...)

Poetry

Again, anything Shakespeare for the win, but I LOVE the sonnets and keep a copy of them with me most of the time (Yes, I own multiple copies of the sonnets...) ((My faves are 116 and 91, but there's always so much truth to be found in there!!!))

A lot of the stuff William Blake wrote is amazing, though you have to pick carefully with him if certain religious motives aren't your thing... I love The Tyger, which is an individual poem, and the collection of works called Tyger, Tyger which does have many good ones and a few ones that are a little more on the mediocre side

Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas (I know this one by heart as well... It's beautiful, and there's a version of Hiddleston reading it on YouTube, which gives you even more goosebumps than the poem does anyway)

Invictus by William Ernest Henley (same for this one, also read by the one and only) ((I love to read this when I'm feeling down or powerless))

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot (This is another wow piece with many quotable lines and truths... I love it a lot and keep coming back to it! It's also a great example of how literary modernism tried to condense the complexity and passing of time and history into a single frame that had to be intrinsically poetical in nature... As in, this poem could've been a short story in any other period, but modernists loved to make everything a poem so here you go)

Der Zauberlehrling by Goethe (This one sucks in all English translations I’ve found, poetically speaking, but in German it’s such a fun piece! If you’ve ever seen the Disney ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ with Mickey Mouse or listened to the orchestral piece by Paul Dukas, then this poem proves very useful in truly understanding either! But again, the English translation should only be taken for informational value... The German one is also worded hilariously)

Prose

Short edited by Alan Ziegler (This is a collection of short prose forms that honestly is a must for me... I love this book to pieces and have had it for years now! It’s an international anthology, so you’ll find more and less famous authors from all around the world represented with short stories, prose poems, short essays and just curious and interesting snippets of writing! I draw a lot of inspiration from this book)

High-Rise by JG Ballard (As mentioned above, I owe this book part of my personality... I don’t think I would be the same person without having read it. It’s not necessarily full of wisdom, but if you’re interested in a different kind of portrayal of the human condition, then this is the read you need to take a look at)

The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers (This is another piece that changed my perception of literature, even though this is a more ordinary and ‘fun’-value read... It’s one of my favourite books and it’s endlessly entertaining! So if the classics are a bit heavy for you, this one is perfect for casual readers as well! Its value really does lie more in the realisation of how fun literature can be, and the freedom you have as an author... So really, I could recommend everything by Moers, his style is amazing both in the German original and in the English translation. Yes, I’ve read both.)

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (This is comedic gold, stylistic gold and generally a bloody perfect book. Also a ‘fun’-value read, but it also does a magnificent job at showing you what you can do with literature, and how well-developed characters are supposed to be written)

The Penguin Book of the Undead (Penguin Classics) edited by Scott G. Bruce (This book is basically an education on fifteen hundred years of supernatural encounters and how culture wrote, used and perceived them. You get introductory texts for different periods and social groups, explaining how and why ghost stories were written and used, followed by passages of the prime source texts (eg. ancient necromancy shown on The Odyssey). Really, this book is just for cultural history nerds)

The Earthquake in Chile by Kleist (This isn’t necessarily one of my faves, but it has helped me understand what studying literature and culture can do for you. In case anyone remembers my insistence in Wicked Game that you gotta know what a pomegranate symbolises... this novella is such an instance where this knowledge would prove useful. Generally, it gives many opportunities to think about privilege and circumstance)

The Symposium by Plato (You’ll probably not want to read the entire collection of speeches tbh... But the concepts introduced mainly here and in some of Plato’s other work are well worth looking into! For example, the ‘double being’ introduces a concept that in modern fiction is called soulmates... Just sayin’)

#literature #lit rec #recommendation #literature recommendation

[akajustmerry]

hello merry!! love your work and i cannot wait to finally catch up on the pod when i have some time!! i always love reading (and hearing) your opinions on media and i would love to hear you talk abt much ado abt nothing and your favourite adaption of it!

thank youuu 🥰 my favourite is a big tie honestly because I obviously LOVEEEEE David and Catherine as benedick and beatrice in the 2013 one and the staging/prop work/costuming is ingenius and extra points to josie rourke for letting david be Scottish for that adaptation. my Scottish genes are always delighted to hear his natural accent BUT I NEEEEED MORE PEOPLE TO SEE THE 2019 VERSION.

the 2019 Shakespeare In The Park version of much ado with an all Black cast starring Danielle Brooks and Grantham Coleman as Benedick and Beatrice is so fucking funny. Their verbal jousting is DELICIOUSLY smooth. Especially their delivery of "against my will I am sent to invite you to dinner" sequence. When Beatrice overhears the girls talking about Benedick's feelings for her, Danielle hides in the audience and it's BRILLIANT!

Also, Danielle's Beatrice is my favourite I've ever seen anywhere, even miles more than Catherine's. I just adore the sincere loving rage Danielle gives Beatrice like when she asks Benedick to kill Claudio it's not even funny because you can feel how much she loves Hiro. the way Danielle plays that scene is so gut wrenching and it makes Benedick's "live well, love me and mend" just that much more beautiful because her pain is so real and the conflict of her feeling so happily in love with Benedick but so much rage for Hiro is sincerely portrayed I just adore her!!! Danielle is so fucking good I wish more people hyped up her 2019 performance 💕

Also huge shout out to the local production I saw in Sydney in 2020 which was not the most amazingly acted or staged BUT they did slightly rewrite the ending so that Hiro doesn't marry Claudio and tells him he's an ass, AND kinda hinted she and Don Pedro have a little somethin somethin and instead of a wedding they just all had a party to be like "finally benedick and beatrice stopped being idiots!" it was so great!

tbh I find something to love about all versions of much ado because i just love it so fucking much. like I even love the joss whedon film because that's the power of benedick and beatrice and that's the power of the fact that Shakespeare basically perfected the rom com with them.

#anon #much ado about nothing

[aquitainequeen]

I posted 19,202 times in 2021

774 posts created (4%)

18428 posts reblogged (96%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 23.8 posts.

I added 4,515 tags in 2021

#shadow and bone - 1062 posts

#ben barnes - 460 posts

#beauty - 446 posts

#cat - 400 posts

#on writing - 387 posts

#fashion - 376 posts

#art - 357 posts

#such beauty - 352 posts

#alina starkov - 346 posts

#inspiration - 329 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#in the english peasants’ revolt of 1381 apparently the mob marched while chanting ‘when adam delved and eve span/who was then the gentleman

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

The Truth, Terry Pratchett

517 notes • Posted 2021-08-29 20:51:54 GMT

#4

How did you approach the look and feel of the film? It has this gorgeous, almost painterly quality, and it looks almost like a piece of medieval art. Were there any particular things you looked at for visual inspiration?

Tons of things. We were never going to make a strictly medieval history film. There is no historical accuracy to the film whatsoever. It is completely a fantasy. But in terms of visual references, we looked at everything from Andrei Rublev, which is, I think, one of the greatest movies ever made, and which you could never make now. It would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but that was a great visual touchstone for us. We looked at Willow, the Ron Howard film, which is one of my favorite fantasy films of all time. We looked at a lot of '80s fantasy, to be honest, like Ladyhawke and Dragonslayer and Willow. Those were big ones for us because they were fantasy. They weren't tied to a specific time and place in human history, and yet they still felt like a grounded reality.

We looked at Hammer horror films, and then there was this Russian adaptation of War and Peace that had just been restored around the time we started prep. Criterion put it out. It's seven hours, and again, it's a movie that would cost a billion dollars if they made it today, but because it was funded by the Russian government in the '60s, they were able to pull it off. We probably shouldn't have used that as a reference point because it just meant we were biting off far more than we could chew. [Laughs] And then Kenneth Branagh's Henry V, we looked at that one a lot. A lot of Shakespearean references, especially that one.

David Lowery on his quest to make the marvelous medieval epic The Green Knight

597 notes • Posted 2021-07-08 20:09:55 GMT

#3

Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.... The friction tends to arise when the two are not the same....There is no more hollow feeling than to stand with your honor shattered at your feet while soaring public reputation wraps you in rewards. That's soul destroying. The other way around is merely very, very irritating.

A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold

1059 notes • Posted 2021-01-27 22:12:39 GMT

#2

Leigh Bardugo: Yeah, Shadow and Bone is basically going to be really high quality fanfiction of the books.

Me: Oh, she's surely exaggerating.

Kaz Brekker: *has a faceoff with the Darkling/Kirigan, evades and escapes him via use of a flashbang*

Me: she was not exaggerating

1947 notes • Posted 2021-04-23 16:33:42 GMT

#1

Some favourite staging moments in productions of Shakespeare plays:

Clarence actually getting drowned in a barrel of wine on stage in Richard III; it was a small barrel, they stuck his head into it as he struggled, pulled him out for an instant as he gasped for air and screamed, his head was wet and sopping, his face all red

Macbeth clutching his empty hands to hold an imaginary child, casting a clawed shadow on the wall

Ophelia ripping out hanks of her hair to give to people during her ‘flowers’ scene (obviously fake hair in real life)

Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing hiding from Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro, taking a swig from a can of beer that happened to be full of cigarette butts and spit-taking it all over Don Pedro and Leonato

who then awkwardly pretend to check if it’s raining

Angelo in Measure for Measure taking off a bloody cilice belt from around his thigh while saying ‘Blood, thou art blood’ 

Also a really good bit where Angelo shows up in a two way mirror later on when the Duke’s speaking to himself and cursing him; the Duke turns to point at the mirror and there’s Angelo, in the chain of office, pointing back, accusing the Duke as much as the Duke does to him

The moment in Julius Caesar where Brutus asks his servant Strato - who’s been sitting with his back to the audience and wearing a hat with a wide brim - to help him commit suicide; Strato stands while taking off his hat to reveal that he’s played by Caesar’s actor

(a collective gasp went around the theatre; really lent a whole new meaning to ‘Caesar, now be still. I killed not thee with half so good a will’)

After a frantic chase scene in The Comedy of Errors which ends with all the cast collapsed across the stage in exhaustion and the scenery itself falling to bits...a pair of underpants falls from the ceiling, and Dromio of Ephesus (who’d tried in vain to retrieve them at the start of the play) crawls over several other characters, seizes them and screams in triumph 

2152 notes • Posted 2021-02-23 22:19:19 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #I love that the Shakespeare one was the top one! #And the one about the 'really high quality fanfiction' was the second top #says a lot that the next three top ones are other people's content #'I have gathered a posie of other men's flowers #and nothing but the thread that binds them is my own' #montaigne

[pers-books]

What is your favourite Shakespeare play and why?

Oh dear... It’s never a good idea to ask me my favourite anything because it’s very rare that I have only one favourite!

So...

Richard II: because it was the first Shakespeare play I saw live. I did it for my O-level English Literature course (because, let’s not forget, I am an Old!). I was struggling with understanding it, then we had a school trip to the Theatre Royal in Bath where we saw the RSC’s production, and it stayed with me and made doing my O-level so much easier. I’ve since seen it live with David Tennant as Richard II.

King Lear: because it’s three women, three sisters, getting to show their strengths and weaknesses as both women and leaders. It’s fascinating and compelling, and pretty dark, too.

Much Ado About Nothing: I just love the witty banter between Beatrice and Benedick. The fact that I saw it on stage in London with David Tennant and Catherine Tate in the starring roles definitely does help.

The Merry Wives of Windsor: this is a bit of a cheat, because what I really love is the RSC’s musical version that they did starring Judi Dench, among others. Called Merry Wives the Musical (duh!) it’s full of rollicking tunes and humour. You can buy it on CD from the RSC’s shop and I recommend it.

Twelfth Night: Oh please! A young woman (Viola) disguises herself as a man after nearly being drowned in order to try to find her missing brother (who also nearly drowns) and then Viola has a woman fall in love with her. What’s not to love?

Hamlet: ghosts and revenge and one of the most famous of Shakespeare’s speeches all in one play. Also helps that I saw David Tennant in the principle role for an early 45th birthday present!

The Comedy of Errors: twin confusion! Twin twin confusion, since it features two sets of twins who were accidentally separated at birth and then each of one of the sets of twins ends up in Ephesus, where both of the other half of the pair of twins lives. Lots of mistaken identity and slapstick humour abounds. I’ve got the DVD of the BBC version featuring Michael Kitchen and Roger Daltrey playing each playing one set of twins and it’s a lot of fun.

 Bet you’re sorry you asked, now!

One thing I will strenuously insist upon is that Shakespeare is meant to be seen and heard, not read, so if ever anyone is struggling to read a Shakespeare play, I urge them to either see it live (if possible), or watch a filmed version, or failing that, listen to a full cast audio adaption. You will understand it better if you can hear Shakespeare’s language spoken (or sung!).

[Blow up my inbox]

#doctorjameswatson #Ask and you shall receive - possibly! #William Shakespeare #Plays

[gloria-gloom]

🎥 :1)

hey! i saw in your blog that you like shakespeare, so i’m suggesting my two favourite shakespeare related films that aren’t direct adaptations, tom stoppard’s rosencrantz & guildenstern are dead and greenaway’s prospero’s books! a small heads up on the second one though, it has a Lot if nudity but it’s so recurrent and not sexualised that the film feels like a neo classic painting. that particular greenaway is a bit hard to watch, so if you want something theatrical you could also watch the cook, the thief, his wife and her lover, but the heads up for nudity and violence stands.

and i could go the easy way and recommend you bobby deerfield or something because of the racing theme, but that’s just not a good film! yes al pacino looks fantastic in it, it’s on italian countryside and they use footage from actual f1 but objectively it’s not a good sports film, unlike one of my favourite sports films ever, peter yates’s breaking away! it’s a lovely and touching coming of age about a group of friends, one of them involved in competitive cycling, who’s also obsessed with italy and definitely has a tifoso energy.

mutuals send me a 🎥 and i will give u a movie recommendation based on ur blog n vibes

#ask

[swanqueensalad]

What's your top 10 TV series?

ooooooh! tbh this probably needs more thought but idc, so this is just 10 that i love, off the top of my head. also this is totally out of order because i can’t rly rank and compare these!

the office (us) what can i say. it’s basic for a Reason. my absolute god tier comfort show. 

she ra and the princesses of power aka the children’s cartoon that made me weep in a corner for literally 3 hours upon finishing it

GALAVANT i’m not even joking when i say this is one of my favourite things i’ve ever seen with my own two eyes. it is a SIN it got axed like it did. the world just wasn’t ready :(

Gentleman Jack!!!!!! it’s just. a stunning faultless masterpiece in every possible way. also it feels so specifically designed for my enjoyment i - 

merlin (bbc) more for emotional & nostalgic reasons than actual quality lmao, it aired when i was 8-12 and was my first true fandom, got me into the arthurian legends and medieval history which are two of my great loves to this day. it had dragons, swords, magic and most importantly katie mcgrath as morgana pendragon, my eternal love and gay awakening  

this is us i SWEAR i’m not actually a white suburban mum i just have a lot of emotions

the walking dead i said it ok. some seasons are absolute shite garbage nonsense, but the early stuff is just brilliant TV and carol & daryl are one of the most tender love stories i’ve ever seen and make me go too feral to not be included

ok just because it’s me and ik why you’re all on my blog, the FIRST few seasons of ouat (season three can stay but it’s on thin fucking ice) and also every scene that contained emma and regina. THAT was the stunning, powerful, interesting, well-constructed show i could analyse for years. somehow it also became the literal worst trash fire nonsense mess i’ve ever seen but we move 

vikings especially the early seasons and bc i have a lot of family mems and nostalgia attached lmao 

the hollow crown bit of a rogue one since this is essentially just all of shakespeare’s history plays filmed like movies but it’s like the greatest casting of shakespeare actors you could get and it’s just like someone fulfilled by greatest wish in making this 

special mentions to parks and rec, harlots, killing eve, downton (lol), black sails, the last kingdom, the mandalorian, first season of outlander only (it’s the ouat effect for me), his dark materials (bc those books Made my childhood and finally getting a Good adaptation hits DIFFERENT) and crazy ex girlfriend! 

#i rly do be exposing myself like this #this is a judgement free zone hahaha #tv shows #ask meme #rate ur top ten something ask meme #thanks for this tho i had fun!!!