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showoftheyear · 1 year

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Personal Opinion on Screen OD’s List

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VORN5I2oJe4

First proper list of the year, although it’s from a source I’ve never heard of! Let’s get into it.

First up we have Rings of Power. I didn’t hate Rings of Power, but I feel like watching it in any proximity to the films reveals that it’s pretty shallow. I enjoyed it the way I would enjoy a CW Superhero show, I don’t think it belongs on a best of list but what can you do.

Next up is The English, an Amazon western show starring Emily Blunt. I haven’t gotten around to it yet, it has relatively positive reviews and just came out super recently. I’ve seen some people think it has awards potential, probably because Emily Blunt is such a big name, plus it’s run by Hugo Blick, whose show The Honourable Woman got nominated almost a decade ago. Have you seen The English? Let me know if it’s worth watching!

Prehistoric Planet is yet another David Attenborough nature documentary, I don’t see a lot of these on year end lists but they do really well in IMDB audience rankings. If you like this kind of show, it’s probably great!

Next up is Pachinko, an amazing show, I’m kind of surprised it’s so low here. I really hope it does better on other lists. This show was really artful, amazing performances, and some really creative episodes.

The Sandman! I loved The Sandman, although I haven’t read the comics. I’m really glad to see it here, one of my favourite shows of the year. I’m glad it was updated to have more racial diversity and more queer characters, and I think the show just really sucks you in, I couldn’t stop watching. So excited for Season 2.

WeCrashed is a show I didn’t get to watch, and it got pretty negative reviews so I’m surprised to see it here. Let me know if you liked it and if you think it’s worth watching.

The Gilded Age is very, very similar to Downton Abbey. I wasn’t a huge fan, but I would probably watch anything with Audra McDonald, Christine Baranski, and Carrie Coon.

Night Sky is a sci-fi drama on Amazon, I don’t know anything about it beyond that it stars JK Simmons, who is always amazing. Let me know your thoughts if you’ve seen it!

Heartstopper is here at number 14! I’m so so happy to see it, it’s a show and comic that are very special to me. I’ve never felt catharsis the way I did getting to see the love story between Nick and Charlie blossom, and I’m so happy it’s getting so much critical attention. This is the gay romance I’ve been waiting my whole life for.

The Bear is a phenomenon and honestly has one of the best episodes of the year with Episode 7, a tight, 20 minutes in real time look into the chaos of the kitchen. Jeremy Allan White and Ayo Edebiri have such intense coworker chemistry that it’s always electrifying to watch them.

Very surprised to see Doctor Who here, but pleasantly surprised as I heard the regeneration special was fantastic. I’m way behind on the Whittaker/Chibnall era of the show, but this makes me excited to catch up.

Better Call Saul is, for me, the best show of the entire year, and putting it all the way down at number 11 is a bit criminal. The final season was so innovative, and the way it intertwines itself with Breaking Bad is like nothing else I’ve seen on TV. Like every other season, Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn hold the show together with they’re heart pumping romance, but Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, Michael Mando and Tony Dalton make the other side of the show just as intense. Heartbroken that this is over, I really hope it gets the recognition it deserves.

House of the Dragon is number ten and I know it’s going to do really well here but it’s not a show I’m very fond of. I’m a bit tired of the Game of Thrones “fantasy must be historically accurate but only when it comes to misogyny/racism/homophobia” model and this show hasn’t done much to assuage that. This article does a better job of explaining it than I could, but often HotD and GoT both go out of their way to make things even more misogynistic. This show is going to do amazingly at awards shows and on the year end lists, but I’m tired of it already.

Stranger Things is here at number 9, I was a bit mixed on it but I loved the use of Running Up That Hill, one of my favourite songs, and I thought the plot twist was pretty effective.

This is Going to Hurt is a show I keep meaning to watch, it’s an adaptation of a book about a doctor struggling to work with the underfunding of the NHS, the United Kingdom’s public health care system. Even though I haven’t watched this yet, I’m cheering for this show, both because the lead character is gay and because I like to see shows produced outside the US get recognition.

Julia is an HBO comedy covering the start of Julia Child’s cooking program. I didn’t know much about Julia Child before watching the show, but this show is a really excellent one to put on, relax, and have fun watching. It’s really comfy, and I think Sarah Lancashire and David Hyde Pierce are fantastic and fun actors. Lancashire really gets Julia’s mannerisms and accents. A really fun show.

The Dropout is about Elizabeth Holmes, who scammed her way into making Theranos, a biotech company. This show keeps growing and growing in my esteem as the year goes on, and I think the tension it captures is fantastic. Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews are also fantastic in it, Seyfried’s Emmy was well deserved. I expect The Dropout to be a huge success in year end lists.

Welcome to Wrexham is a documentary about Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying a soccer team in Britain. I really don’t know anything about this one, let me know if you’ve seen it what you think!

The White Lotus’s second season is here in fourth place, and I think it’s well deserved. I prefer it to the first season, and I really love this year’s cast, particularly Aubrey Plaza. The way the whole cast bounces off each other is magnetic, I can’t recommend it enough. Hopefully it sticks the landing in its last few episodes.

In third place is Bad Sisters, a show by Sharon Horgan who created Catastrophe. In Bad Sisters, the sisters of a woman with an abusive husband get together to plot how to murder him and rescue her. It’s really interesting so far, but I’m only on episode 2. I’ve heard a lot of good things and I expect it to do really well with British critics.

Second place is my biggest and most major disagreement with this list, Ozark. I feel like Julia Garner basically robbed everyone else at the emmys (most notably Jung Ho-yeon, Sarah Snook, Patricia Arquette and Rhea Seehorn, who all had amazing performances). I’ve never really liked Ozark, it feels like a cheap imitation of Breaking Bad, but even people who liked Ozark felt that the last season was pretty awful (and I agree). Screen OD assures us that the show isn’t “one of those shows with an unsatisfactory ending”, but I’d strongly disagree. Oh well. Every list is going to have one off choice, but I really really think Ozark and Better Call Saul should be swapped, especially because Better Call Saul feels like it’s pretty much just a much better version of Ozark.

However, I cannot have any complaint about the show in first place, Severance. Severance is a fascinating look at how capitalism makes life into a living nightmare for everyone, while also just being a fantastic and compelling piece of science fiction. Every character is fantastic and so is every actor. This deserves first place for the fantastic romance between Burt and Irving all on its own. If you haven’t watched it yet, get going! Or don’t, it’s a long wait until season 2, but I have a feeling this is going to be known as one of the best tv shows of the 20s when all is said and done.

#the english #prehistoric planet #pachinko #the sandman #wecrashed #night sky #heartstopper #the bear #doctor who #better call saul #this is going to hurt #welcome to wrexham #julia #the dropout #the white lotus #bad sisters #severance

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chadillacboseman · 2 years

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Mortal Kombat (1995), Spider-Man (2002), and Evil Dead (1981) for the movie asks 😁

OKAY I'm NOT saying that this was a formative part of my youth or anything, but I definitely ran around yelling "GET OVER HERE" at anyone and anything for like a whole year.

I still think that was peak Kano performance honestly.

This movie will always have a special place in my heart. For one, we have Willem Dafoe getting to be as fucking unhinged as he wants. For two, we have JK Simmons as Jonah Jameson, which was SUPERB JJJ casting.

I STILL watch this when I wanna see prime Willem Dafoe behavior.

LISTEN I JUST LOVE BRUCE CAMPBELL, BABY. HE CAN DO NO WRONG!!!

Also the part in Evil Dead 2 when the taxidermied deer turns to him and laughs has stuck with me for decades and every time I look up at my OWN taxidermied deer I get a little uneasy.

I just feel very strongly that Sam Raimi should be given gallons of blood, access to bruce campbell, and all the money hey wants to make whatever he wants.

#linds my beloved

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wigwurq · 2 years

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WIG REVIEW: BEING THE RICARDOS

And here we are. With only a few days to go before the Oscars, I actually forced myself to watch this. My mental health might be worse for it, but I consider this a personal and professional achievement. And the only achievement which should be associated with this movie though it would be more accurate to call this a hallucinatory fever dream which will test your will to live. I watched it so you will never have to. But what about the wigs? LET’S DISCUSS.

As we all know, Nicole Kidman is wigmaster’s enemy #1 and also someone who has brought me on terrifying wig journeys of coats, nonsense, and big little lies (twice!) I didn’t think I could mentally endure another such journey but I’m a garbarge person who couldn’t bear to see my Fire TV advertise this trash without watching it any more. We all have our limits!!!

Here’s the thing: THIS MOVIE IS A LIE! A LIE UPON A LIE UPON A LIE!! It claims to be a biopic but that is probably an insult to both biographies and moving pictures because it takes events from the lives of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz which occurred in real life over the course of several years - Lucy’s second pregnancy, being accused of being a communist, Desi being accused of being unfaithful, etc etc. This all happened at various different times but Aaron Sorkin shoehorns them into happening in one week for narrative purposes (?) but also presents this information in a mockumentary style which serves to promote all of this as actual facts. People play older versions of I Love Lucy staff and address the camera to perpetuate this narrative timeline of lies! LIES UPON LIES UPON LIES! This movie is the Human Centipede of biopics!

ANYWAY! Nicole Kidman plays Lucy even though she is 10-100 years older than the real Lucille Ball at the time of the event(s). As promised, her wigs are perhaps the worst she has worn in years?? LOOK AT THE PART IN THIS THING!!!! NO SCALP TO BE SEEN UNDER ANYTHING. TEXTURE LIKE IT’S STRAIGHT FROM HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE. THE WORST.

Apologies to Javier Bardem for being a part of this AT ALL.

The movie does manage to flash back from the “week” in which it takes place to show how Lucy and Desi met in the first place and established themselves in Hollywood. This movie really is La La Land in that it is absolute fantasy nonsense and also somehow worst than the 2016 movie of the same name. In the 40s (?) Lucy had this brunette fright wig and JESUS GOD NO. (Javier Bardem’s sleek pompadour is fine).

Back in the made up ‘50s, Nicole Kidman - who is using a regular Nicole Kidman pseudo-Australian voice to be Lucy off camera, and a shrill off-Brooklynease voice on camera (CHOICES!!) - is micromanaging the whole rehearsal process because THIS SHOW HAS TO WORK or else it’s maybe going to get canceled and she is going to get blacklisted? I dunno. The stakes are vague and since we know the result are also nonexistent! Also the writing is confusing, the movie is endless, the wigs are TERRIBLE. Along for this journey into the heart of darkness are JK Simmons and Nina Ariana as Fred and Ethel and look NOTHING LIKE THEM but it’s not like Javier or Nicole look remotely like Desi and Lucy so SURE!

ALSO! Alia Shawkat plays the one female writer on the staff (AND HER OLDER VERSION IS PLAYED BY LINDA LAVIN AND YES!!!!) Anyway, this wig is 50s housewife FINE and I would have rather watched a movie SOLELY about this character.

Instead we are treated to endless backstory about how I Love Lucy came to be which basically is told to us that Lucy lost her movie contract at RKO and had to make radio comedies instead and I made the grave error of trying to factcheck this timeline via IMDb and it is obviously ALL BLATANT LIES - BITCH MADE LIKE 30000 movies during the decade this movie would have us believe she had no film prospects! But why did I even bother researching? I knew this movie was a lie so that’s on me.

Whether on display on a radio soundstage, put into an updo, or hidden under a hat that looks like a delicious cinnamon roll, these wigs made me wish that this movie had been on the radio SO I DIDN’T HAVE TO LOOK AT THEM.

In the end, Lucy and Desi manage to remain a successful TV force (WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT THIS SHOW WAS SUCCESSFUL?) And though Nicole Kidman tried to gaslight me into liking her via wearing this really awesome vest and slacks set, there is no way in hell this movie had any viability of wurqing for me on any level and it actually managed to be somehow worse than I anticipated.

AND I HAVEN’T EVEN ADDRESSED WHATEVER MAKEUP/PROSTHETICS/HOODOO WITCHERY THEY USED TO MAKE HER FACE LOOK LIKE THIS! THIS!!!!! MAY THIS IMAGE HAUNT YOU FOREVER BECAUSE IT CERTAINLY WILL HAUNT ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIVING DAYS! HAPPY OSCAR WEEK!

VERDICT: DOESN’T WURQ

#wigwurq #beingthericardos #nicolekidman #wigmastersenemy #javierbardem #lies #humancentipede #horrors #NO

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cryptovalid · 3 years

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Invincible and the Mastery of Stakes

If you’ve been keeping an eye out for superhero media like I have, you’ve probably heard the buzz around the comic book adaptation ‘Invincible’ on Amazon Prime, created by Robert Kirkman.

If you haven’t seen the first four episodes, you really should. It’s one of my favorite reconstructions of superhero fiction. I’m not going to say it’s perfect, but it’s well-produced, phenominally paced, with a stellar cast and a great soundtrack, and an engaging whydunnit mystery surrounding likeable, relatable or at least fun-to-hate characters.

Invincible stars Steven Yuen as Mark Grayson; the son of Deborah, a human realtor voiced by Sandra Oh, and Nolan, a veteran alien superhero voiced by JK Simmons. When Mark inherits his father’s Superman-like abilities, he takes the codename Invincible to follow in his footsteps. He quickly learns that all his prodigious superpowers won’t help him achieve his goals if he doesn’t grow up fast. Especially because forces he knows nothing about are conspiring behind his back.

What Invincible -the show, not the dude- does best, aside from its central mystery and dramatic execution, is establishing stakes and delivering on the tension they build.

One of the persistent complaints about Superman as a franchise is that it’s boring because Superman will never lose, let alone die. He’s invulnerable. Invincible, even. As a show, Invincible shows us how much a character like that has to lose. The tension in this show is nailbiting, even though the main character is objectively one of the strongest, fastest and most invulnerable beings on earth.

There are so many threats to this young, overpowered boy. Go see for yourself. From here on there be spoilers. I haven’t read the comic and don’t want spoilers for episodes after no. 4, but I will be discussing some of the setups and payoffs in those early episodes.

Of course there’s the relatable, personal drama of high school love triangles, but I hate that stuff and so far, the real threat comes mostly in the show’s willingness to brutally kill off characters.

The death of the Guardians of the Globe is appropriately dramatic for several reasons. First, because it shows that Nolan could easily kill anyone on the show, and that we have no reason to doubt that he would. Suddenly, everyone is in extreme danger from the person they trust in most.

Second, because the deaths are appropriately brutal

And third, because they are appropriately tragic. These heroes are not just a parody of the justice league. They are not just here to show off how powerful Omni-Man is. They all had setups for future developments and arcs. They were the only heroes to effectively prioritize the safety of bystanders. Something that most superhero shows only focus on sporadically, but realistically takes most of their effort and time. Darkwing even almost dies sacrificing himself for a bystander. We love these people with their high-minded ideals, their relationship troubles, their little relatable vignets. We were so sure we would see them later. And when we do, it’s for the last time. We are asked to imagine what that would be like, only so it hurts more when Omni-man crushes their skulls beneath his gloved hands.

Fourth, and finally, these deaths feel permanent. This show feels like it’s building to a climax. It’s not meant to run forever. Sure, it’s theoretically possible that someone will clone these characters or resurrect Immortal, but that would never bring back the status quo. It would be a grim reminder of how existentially horrifying and futile their lives are.

But innocent bystanders are also a very important way to raise the stakes for an immortal superhero. We see how easily Mark can hurt, kill or simply fail to save innocent people by his actions and inactions, and we are made to care about it. Not just because Mark himself cares a whole lot, showing his anxiety and survivor’s guilt as real trauma, but also because we are shown their private conversations, their daily lives and relationships. We learn their names. So when they are saved, we truly care. And we know for a fact they could die. The show is not committed to making evrery death meaningful. The senselessness is what makes the death so traumatic, and a lot of superhero media tends to only highlight deaths are are meaningful or heroic in some way. Invincible reminds us that people die regardless of what they deserve, unexpectedly and with unfinished business. Even the imperialistic Flaxans deserve our sympathy, as they are eradicated by a wrathful God for the sins of their leaders.

That’s not even spreaking about the stakes involved in Mark’s hopes and dreams. This boy wants to save the world, like his father does. And from the very first episode we know that dream will turn to tragedy. This boy’s heart will break. His father is a killer and a threat to everything he loves. And he will probably try to convince Mark to join his side.

Even Mark’s life isn’t completely secure. I wouldn’t think it’s out of character for this show to end with the death of its main... character. We know that he’s not immortal, and there are other Viltrumites out there. I’m excited to know this series will have a finale, if only in the comics.

So despite the main character being as ‘overpowered‘ as Superman, Invincible shows us how the real stakes don’t rely on his enemies necessarily being stronger. Threaten his ideals, his sense of self, his support network, the people he cares about (or that the audience cares about), and I am invested in all those stakes.

Can’t wait for the rest of the season!

#mark grayson #Invincible #Invincible show #Invincible review

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smokeybrandreviews · 2 years

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: A Dead Polar Bear

I am a pretty big fan of Ghostbusters. Being an Eighties kid, that sh*t was a big deal for me. I loved the first film, like the second, and am okay with the “third” I say that hesitantly because the 2016 one doesn’t feel like a proper Ghostbusters flick. When Afterlife was announced, i lost my sh*t. The more i saw of it, the more i got that nostalgic feeling. Unfortunately, i missed it in theaters because, you know, the plague but it’s available for purchase. I for sure pulled the trigger on that sh*t! Finally, i can sit down and see why Ghostbusters: Afterlife has so much buzz.

The Outstanding

I am immediately hit with how homey this movie feels. That opening sequence is everything! It rivals the ghost librarian from the first and really feels like it belongs in this world. I mean, that sh*t hits you in the gut, don’t misunderstand, but it’s a fantastic opening that really captures the feel of the franchise.

The writing is really f*cking good in this. It’s smart, witty, and genuinely funny. This movie doesn’t have to try and be, it just is. It’s just Ghostbusters. Hell, I'd argue that the writing in this one, is better than the second and I'd have a strong f*cking case. I have to give credit to Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan for this. I am pretty sure Jason wrote the initial script and Gil just punched it up because this thing fits the previous two films perfectly and the Senior Reitman had a whole hand in making that thing become a thing.

The direction is on point. Jason Reitman did an exceptional job emulating his father’s style. Dude is an exceptional talent in his own right, mans gave us Juno, Thank You For Smoking, and Young Adult, but Afterlife is easily one of his best.

I love the effects, both practical and CG. It was nothing like 206 which, by comparison, is kind of just a bunch of neon colored vomit everywhere. No, Afterlife stays true to keeping the spectacle relatively grounded, only going bombastic toward the end but never cheaping out along the way.

This cast is solid as f*ck. There are no bad performances, for the most part. Thee are a few times where i was left wanting but the overwhelming majority of the acting is spot on. Carrie Coon continues to impress me and Paul Rudd never disappoints. Finn Wolfhard is arguably the weakest link in this cast but he still does a decent job with what he is given. Celeste O'Connor and Logan Kim are great editions and i look forward to what they do in the inevitable sequel. Of course, the original cast is as charming as they were thirty f*cking years ago. Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and Sigourney Weaver slide right back into the roles they originated all those decades ago. That mid credits scene, specifically, was a real treat. All that said, this movie lives and dies by the grace of Mckenna Grace.

I don’t know who the f*ck Mckenna Grace is. I’m approaching middle age and she’s less than, like, half my current age. I think she’s a Disney kid? Like, two generations removed from Zendaya and Hannah Montana? Which makes her three generations removed from that sh*t being appealing to me. That aid, she’s f*cking great in this role. She plays Phoebe with such believability, i was sure that Grace, herself, is on the spectrum. F*cking outstanding job.

Also, JK Simmons and Olivia Wilde are in this thing! They play Ivo Shandor and Gozer the Gozerian, respectively. Ivo was around for literally seconds but Wilde’s Gozer was amazing. She did way more than Slavitza Jovan in the first Bustin’ outing but, somehow, left me wanting. That h*t sucks because her Gozer is f*cking amazing.

I cannot stress how much this feels like a proper Ghostbusters entry. This thing has the heart of the franchise and really puts into perspective everything 2016 got wrong. You can literally watch the first two films and then this one, and there is barely a difference in tone and style, no break in continuity. It’s kind of amazing considering how far apart this thing is from the first two.

Seriously, watching this movie really puts into perspective why the 2016 attempt was so bad. That movie was not a Ghostbusters movie. It is devoid of the soul that made these films what they are. Sh*t is tonally and aesthetically wrong. The jokes don’t land and it relies to heavily on juvenile, slapstick, comedy. I mean, it’s funny to someone but to a fan of the franchise? Not so much. A fan would definitely watch that movie and be offended, especially when Afterlife executed so goddamn well. And I ain't even hate 2016 like the rest of the fandom. Watching Afterlife, though? I definitely get the hate. Its really bad how off the mark that movie turned out.

The Meh

The climax felt kind of rushed. From the second Gozer shows up, it’s like a slalom to the credits. It doesn’t feel as consequential as the first clash and just kind of jump cuts to the end. I mean, they wasted JK Simmons, man. How do you waste JK Simmons like that?? Sh*t is literally my only grievance with this movie. Everything else is brilliant.

The Verdict

Of course i f*cking loved this movie, are you kidding me? I love Ghostbusters! I’ve loved this franchise since i was a kid and always wanted a proper three-quel. Ghostbusters: Afterlife feels like the third movie we should have gotten decades ago if Bill Murray wasn’t such a f*cking dick. This movie does everything right. It does what these other “passing of the torch” films like The Force Awakens or Terminator: Dark Fate, botch so badly. Mckenna Grace is a fantastic protagonist for the future of the franchise and she has a strong supporting crew in Finn Wolfhard, Celeste O'Connor, and Logan Kim. The OGs really come through and add just enough nostalgia to really drive home that this is the third film, that this is the bookend to their trilogy but, at the same time, the start of something new. As a film, it’s very well made. Great pacing, fantastic directing, absolutely inspired script, and it’s genuinely hilarious. There is so much love and passion put into this thing, it’s hard to imagine it being anything less that exceptional. It fumbles a little bit at the finish line but recovered enough to really stick the landing and, hopefully, sets up for another sequel. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is everything 2016 isn’t and really deserve all of the accolade and hype it’s garnered. It’s a great film on it’s own but it’s a near perfect Ghostbusters movie.

#Smokey brand Movie Reviews #Ghostbusters: Afterlife #Ghostbusters

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discovisiondreams · 3 years

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Top 15 First Watches of 2020

I’ve never been good at staying current on pop culture, and that became especially pronounced in 2020. A year where most of the anticipated theatrical releases were pushed to VOD (and the price nearly tripled) meant that a lot of flicks I was excited for got added to the end of the “Maybe Someday” watchlist.

But in this strange year, I did manage to watch 245 movies- and 195 of those were first-time watches. Some were new, only available on the (virtual) festival circuit. Some were Criterion mainstays, films I’m horrified to admit I hadn’t seen before. But this year, when movies cemented themself as my biggest joy, I began to really track what I watched- including a “top 5 first watches of the month” roundup for every month. These top 5s weren’t ranked, and weren’t even based on technical ability, strength of dialogue, or critical acclaim. They were just the 5 I loved the best.

So without further ado, here are my top 15 of the year- one selected from the top 5 of each month, with some bonus entries thrown in as well. As a general rule, I only included features on this list- I was fortunate enough to catch shorts that streamed at Chattanooga Film Fest, Celebration of Fantastic Fest, and more, but to add them to the running would have made writing this listicle absolutely impossible.

HONORABLE Honorable Mention: The Holiday. Inspired by the fine folks at Super Yaki, I finally watched this Nancy Meyers classic. Why is it two and a half hours long?! Why is that two and a half hours so significantly lacking in Jack Black?! The scenes that Black is in, though, really shine. This one is going to be a Christmas mainstay in the Disco household (and not just because I spent money on the DVD).

15: The Love Witch (Honorable Mention, April). This one came highly recommended to me by friends of all sorts, and like most of my 2020 first watches, I’m deeply embarrassed that it took me this long to get to it. Upon finally watching it, on a rainy Sunday, I described the movie in general (and the color palette, specifically) as “sumptuous,” which is one of the most complimentary visual descriptors I can bestow upon a movie. The plot felt a little convoluted at times, but I still found The Love Witch incredibly enjoyable and am hoping to explore more of writer-director Anna Biller’s filmography in 2021.

14: The Guest (Honorable Mention, October). The Guest is one of the few movies I watched multiple times this year- and the only one I watched twice in one week. From the sultry industrial soundtrack selections to the numerous visual nods to Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The guest was Extremely My Shit. The casting here is truly tremendous- especially Maika Monroe, who was similarly brilliant in It Follows. Also of note: Lance Reddick, one of my current favourite character actors.

13: The Fast and The Furious (Honorable Mention, May). 2 Fast 2 Furious (and its bespoke theme song, Act A Fool, by Ludacris) came out when I was in the 6th grade. Do you remember the music and movies that entered the world when you were in 6th grade? Do you have an inexplicable zealous love for them? 2F2F was the only film in the Fast Cinematic Universe I had seen for a long, long time. Then I saw Fate of the Furious. Then I bought the series box set, as a joke?? And then, slowly but then also all at once, I genuinely started to love this franchise. Some of them are truly ridiculous. Some of them are genuinely bad. But the first one? The Fast and The Furious (2001)? Timeless. Point Break updated and adapted for the early-aughts, The Fast and the Furious walked so The Italian Job (2003) could run. Without The Fast and The Furious, Paul Walker would just be “the guy from Tammy and The T-Rex” to millions of casual cinemagoers. The cultural impact of The Fast and The Furious simply cannot be denied!!

12: Come to Daddy (Top 5, July). Honestly, this is the exact flavor of bonkers bullshit I’ve grown to expect from Elijah Wood, and that is not an indictment. Wood’s genuine love for genre film is evident here, in what can only be described as an uncomfortable film of family, reunion, and redemption. The tense and abrasive first half gives way to a surprisingly relieving wave of violence and exposition in this critically-acclaimed flick.

11: The Stylist (Top 5, September). The feature-length debut of writer-director Jill Gevargizian, based off her short of the same name, is female-led horror that pays homage to genre mainstays like Maniac and Psycho while still being decidedly singular. Not only shot in Kansas City, but set in Kansas City, The Stylist made my midwestern heart happy. This is one that I really, really would have loved to see in a crowded theater auditorium, were this year a different one.

10: In The Mouth of Madness (Top 5, March). Despite being the beginning of pandemic awareness, March was a slow month for me, movie-wise (even though it’s not like I had anything else going on??). But I finally made time for this Carpenter classic, and I’m so happy I did. I’ve long been fascinated by stories about stories, and the people who find themselves trapped within those stories, and this one is truly, in the most basic sense of the word, horrifying. Sam Neill proves that he belongs in horror here, making his role in Event Horizon seem like a natural fit. Also a highlight: noted character actor David Warner, best known (to me) as “Billy Zane’s bodyguard guy in Titanic,” who never ever fails to be unsettling.

9: Profondo Rosso (Top 5, April). Before this year, my only Argento exposure was Suspiria (which is phenomenal), but Deep Red goes off the deep end in all the best ways. The score (by frequent Argento collaborators Goblin) is truly groovy. The number of twists and turns the plot takes is kind of mind-boggling, but also delightful. Daria Nicolodi (RIP) is at the top of her acting game here. This quickly became one of my beloved background movies- if I opened Shudder and Profondo Rosso was playing on one of their live-streaming channels, it stayed on while I was cleaning or cooking or paying bills. Profondo Rosso is a must-watch for those hoping to get into giallo.

8: Crimson Peak (Top 5, November). This one was definitely not what I was expecting, but it was GORGEOUS. I loved the world immediately (a Del Toro trademark, to be honest). As a longtime Pacific Rim stan, it made my heart happy to see Charlie Hunnam and Burn Gorman reunited under Guillermo Del Toro’s vision.

7: Palm Springs (Top 5, August). I am not typically a time-travel movie enthusiast- but I am a sucker for witty repartee and Andy Samberg. This one made me ugly-cry, which I should probably be a bit more ashamed to admit. August had a lot of really great first watches, but the Hulu exclusive takes the cake due to its novel premise, some truly heart-wrenching reveals, and the amazing casting (is there anything JK Simmons cant do?).

6: Scare Package (Top 5, May). Is there any format I love more than the horror anthology? While there have been so many over the years (Creepshow, All the Creatures Were Stirring), Scare Package might be my favourite of them all. A variety of fun and inventive stories combined with a genre-lovers dream of an overarching narrative make this one a must-see- in fact, it was the whole reason I bought a pass to this year’s online version of Chattanooga Film Fest. There’s a cameo here that absolutely knocked my socks off (and continued to do so even on repeat viewings). While the scares here are honestly minimal, Scare Package is a great love letter to the genre at large.

5: Do The Right Thing (Top 5, June). Yes, it took me until 2020 to watch Do The Right Thing for the first time. The palpable tension, the interwoven stories of Bed-Stuy’s residents, all seem timeless. Giancarlo Esposito is, as always, a joy to watch.

4: Knives Out (Top 5, February). “It’s a Rian Johnson whodunnit, duh,” states the SuperYaki! T-shirt famously worn by Jamie Lee Curtis, star of Knives Out (2019). This one has received worlds of critical acclaim, I truly do not know what I could even hope to add to the conversation. I want more old-school murder mystery cinema.

3: The VelociPastor (Top 5, January). It should be testimonial enough that The VelociPastor beat out Miss Americana, Netflix’s Taylor Swift documentary, as the top pick for January- but in case it isn’t, let me end 2020 the way I began it; by evangelizing the HECK out of this movie. Written and directed by up-and-coming triple-threat (Director/songwriter/prolific cat-photo-poster) Brendan Steere, The VelociPastor is a true love letter to genre cinema, complete with a big wink to the criminally underloved Miami Connection. Alyssa Kempinski shines as Carol, a doctor/lawyer/hooker with a heart of gold. The VelociPastor premiered in 2019 but gained tons of attention in 2020 (thanks in part to YouTube sensation Cody Ko)- attention that it truly deserves. A sequel is rumored to be in the works, but mark my words, anything to come from the imagination of Brendan Steere will be worth a watch.

2: Dinner in America (Top 5, October). I genuinely feel sorry for the other movies I watched in October (there were a lot) (they were all SO GOOD). Dinner in America, which I caught during the Nightstream hybrid festival, was not at all what I was expecting. While the other features were all very solidly genre flicks, this was…. A comedy? A modern love story?? I’mn honestly still not exactly sure, but I do know I loved every second of it. I laughed. I cried. I threw my hands up in the air exuberantly (in front of my laptop, looking like a true fool). I did not shut up about this movie online for weeks. I told anyone and everyone that Kyle Gallner is the most underrated actor of my generation and I still believe it! Dinner in America, the story of a punk band frontman who unwittingly takes refuge from the police in the home of his biggest fan, was an unexpectedly heartwarming tale of family, young love, and arson. Watch it as soon as you can.

1: Promising Young Woman (Top 5, December). This last-minute debut from Emerald Fennell, originally scheduled to hit theaters in April of this year, finally made its way to the big screen on Christmas Day, and became the 2020 entry on my annual “Christmas Day Trip to the Theater” list.* Carey Mulligan is an icon and deserves all of the awards for this. The soundtrack is sublime. The casting choices are truly incredible. While I have no doubt that the general themes of the movie will be polarizing, I absolutely loved this one- I sat in my car in the theater parking lot for a WHILE, considering just buying a ticket for the next showtime- that’s how badly I felt like I needed to see it again immediately. I look forward to writing its inevitable Criterion essay.

*Nobody else in rural iowa was interested in seeing this movie at noon on Christmas Day. I’m shocked.

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spideychelleee · 5 years

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My Thoughts on FFH!!!

Alrighty ladies and gents let’s examine the roller coaster of amazingness that is FFH:

Holy crap WOW

I LOVED FFH, yes it was all over the place at the beginning but it was amazing soooo

I was not expecting that tribute to our fallen heroes at the very beginning but it didn’t upset me either Whitney is always a win

I love how they made the “Blip” or whatever tf it’s called comical after how depressing it was during Infinity War and Endgame

Peter’s plan. Jesus Christ. That was the most adorable thing. He is so gone for MJ oml and honestly I was worried about his crush being rushed but Jon made it work sooooo

May and Happy.

Peter cleaning the effing bathroom when he saw MJ was gonna use it next and then doing his effing hair omg comedy gold right there

Peter buying THE NECKLACE and knowing her fav flower ughhhhh😩

That scene between Spideychelle where she explains to him her new fav Italian word was genius FRICK

Peter hitting his head on that bell not once but twice made me audibly laugh our boy can’t catch a break

When peter told nick fury how he’s worried about his classmates JEEZ I love him

Mysterio was extremely charming ngl. I knew he was gonna have to be the bad guy but I actually loved him before he went all psycho killer mode

Peter “I just wanna go back on my trip and tell MJ how I feel and maybe give her a kiss” Parker. His little laugh when he said that made me die inside

When Peter accidentally knocked Flash out HA. I love when they really show Spider-Man’s level of strength

GO AWAY BRAD NOBODY LIKES YOU LITERALLY EW

“Meet you downstairs in 10 minutes. I’ll meet you in 5 minutes”

MJ and Peters Little Walk on the Charles Bridge. They COULDNT STOP SMILING. And MJ breaking out of her shell and showing peter how excited she was that she figured out 67% his identity

Our girl MJ tryna sneak a lil peak at Peter’s ABS. Girl I feel you

Peter breaking the seatbelt. Again I love it when they show his strength

THAT FIRST ILLUSION SCENE AND ALL THE ILLUSION FIGHTS WTF AWESOME

Peter saying “it’s not real” but then still diving after MJ when mysterio dropped her

That iron man zombie was not. ok. Mysterio.

When we all thought nick fury shot mysterio and the day was saved but then NOPE HERE COMES A TRAIN

Peter all beat up was precious and he doesn’t deserve this

I refuse to believe Peter watched porn but HA COMEDY GOLD RIGHT THERE

Happy really came through stitching peter up and then peter getting all angry and yelling but then IMMEDIATELY apologizing for shouting omg my heart he is so pure

That whole London fight scene was amazing. When peter grabbed a sign and something else I can’t remember and used it as a shield was so badass ugh

MJ and that mace. I love her

Here we go people

MJ telling peter she has trouble getting close to people. I love that she’s opening up to him they really did her character justice

Peter apologizing for the broken necklace. But MJ likes it better broken cuz poetic cinema and wow that’s deep. Especially with her closed off nature, the fact that they lost five years of their life with no say. Gawd

MJ stopping peters rambling with a KISS

“And you kissed me”

Peter nervously pecking MJs lips and standing on his TIP TOES YEP I SAW THAT

THAT THIRD KISS. Her hand on his neck. His hand on her arm. They are so pure someone help me

That holding hands at the airport scene and Peters little “awww thanks” when MJ said she pays attention to him

Ned and Betty being a typical and accurate high school relationship was amazing

Peter literally throwing and letting go of MJ while she is screaming at the top of her lungs in the very last shot

WTF WHO WHAT WHY DO THEY THINK ITS OK TO DO THAT TO PETER BENJAMIN PARKER. MYSTERIO I SWEAR TO GOD WTF MAN. WHY YOU GOTTA OUT OUR SMALL BOY LIKE THAT WTF IS HE GONNA DO. WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DO THAT

Jk Simmons is back and I almost kinda cried of nostalgia? I wasn’t expecting that wave of emotion to hit me but it did. I remember watching all of the Raimi movies as a kid and seeing spiderman 3 in the movie theaters as like a 7 year old and I got kinda emotional seeing him again idk

Omg WAIT I FORGOT ABOUT THE PETER TINGLE

I LOVED THAT RUNNING JOKE THROUGHOUT THE MOVIE

WHEN HE REDIRECTS THE GUN AWAY FROM HIS HEAD WITH HIS PETER TINGLE SHIT THAT WAS HOT

Anywho if you made it this far I love you thanks for reading.

#ffh #ffh spoilers #spideychelle #spider man far from home #sm:ffh #opinion #this is long lol #my read more wont work #or maybe i just dont know how to work it #personal #rant

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Funniest Guest Cast Characters

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Warning: contains Brooklyn Nine-Nine spoilers.

Brooklyn Nine Nine is one of the funniest sitcoms around thanks to its fantastic ensemble cast and just-broad-enough humour blended with almost-realistic cop show elements. But that great regular cast are supported by an equally brilliant array of recurring characters and guest stars. In this list, we’re celebrating the funniest of the show’s less often-seen characters, those guest appearances who’ve turned up once or twice to inject a fresh burst of comic energy into the show.

Note that we’re not counting regular recurring characters like Adrian Pimento, Madeline Wuntch, or Kevin Cozner, aka Mr Raymond Holt. If they turn up more than once a year, or in more than three episodes in one season, they’re off the list.

12. Adam Sandler, played by himself in Operation: Broken Feather, Season 1, Episode 15

Adam Sandler’s appearance as himself in Season One is beautifully self-deprecating as well as funny. His deadpan delivery of “I’m a serious person” is hilarious in just the right way – of course the real Sandler is, presumably, as serious and as complex as anyone else, but he knows his own public persona and just how to play on it in the right way to raise a different kind of laugh. The interest in antiquities, the planned film about the Russian Revolution, it’s all funny – and somewhat undercut, even more amusingly, by his taunting of Jake straight afterwards. The whole scene did help to flush out a criminal though, so it wasn’t a total loss for Jake.

Funniest moment: Admitting his “serious” Russian Revolution film features Kevin James as Trotsky, and a wife who doesn’t wear a bra through the whole film.

11. Geoffrey Hoytsman, played by Chris Parnell in two episodes in Season 2

When Jake’s lawyer girlfriend Sophia uses her boss as a transparent excuse to break up with him (by going on ‘pause’), Jake wilfully misunderstands and decides that the boss is the key problem, so he sets off to make the man like him. It all goes horribly wrong when Jake finds Hoytsman snorting cocaine in the bathroom, which Hoytsman claims he was doing accidentally while screaming loudly that Jake is arresting him to the whole room of lawyers. Sophia somehow still ends up blaming Jake – probably because she simply wanted to break up with him in the first place – and Hoytsman ends up returning to take Jake hostage and quite seriously threaten his life later in the season. Parnell’s over-the-top performance as a character who is, of course, high for much of the time, is what really sells the character.

Funniest moment: Sniffing cocaine off his collar in the middle of the police precinct.

10. Jessica Day, played by Zooey Deschanel in The Night Shift, Season 4, Episode 4

Back in 2016, both New Girl and Brooklyn Nine Nine were active Fox sitcoms, so the network decided to do a crossover event in which the New Girl characters travelled to New York City and ran into the 99. Most of the crossover scenes actually ended up in the New Girl episode, but Zooey Deschanel’s character Jess Day did make a brief appearance in the otherwise stand-alone Brooklyn Nine Nine half of the crossover. While the New Girl episode provided a lot more context for Jess’s feelings about New York and her stress level surrounding Schmidt’s mom’s car and the soup she’s carrying, her appearance as an apparently slightly nutty woman who resists Jake’s attempts to commandeer the car is an entertaining interlude during the half hour.

Funniest moment: Insisting that Jake’s oath to serve and protect applies to her soup.

9. Philip Davidson, played by Sterling K. Brown in The Box, Season 5, Episode 14

If this were a list of the show’s ‘best’ guest characters, rather than ‘funniest’, the top ranked would surely be Philip Davidson, played by Sterling K. Brown. ‘The Box’ is a tight, taught bottle episode that takes full advantage of Brooklyn Nine Nine’s hybrid status as both sitcom and cop show, and Brown’s Davidson forms a strong third of a triangle in this three-header with Holt and Peralta. It’s a really strong performance, but given that he’s playing a tough-to-crack murder suspect, not really the funniest, exactly. Still, he gets a good few laughs when appropriate over the course of a really engaging half hour of comedy/cop show crossover.

Funniest moment: When Davidson finally cracks, he cracks hard – his confession is equal parts triumphant, cathartic, and hilarious.

8. Karen Haas, played by Maya Rudolph in Coral Palms Parts 1&2, Season 4, Episodes 1&2

Maya Rudolph has a good line going in slightly weary authority figures (see also: The Good Place). Handling Holt and Peralta while they’re in witness protection is not an easy job and her exasperation at Jake’s refusal to accept his situation is well played. Haas is really funny, though, when she starts bringing her own issues into her official duties, clearly trying to get permission to cheat on her husband from someone, anyone – and Holt is happy to oblige.

Funniest moment: Whoever it is she wants to sleep with is “really young” – something that clearly shouldn’t be funny, but the face Rudolph pulls as she says it is what sells it.

7. Lin-Manuel Miranda as David Santiago in The Golden Child, Season 6, Episode 9

Miranda is marvellously smarmy as Amy’s too-perfect brother, her demanding parents’ favourite, who snubs popular culture and shows off by saving people’s lives (including Amy’s own husband). Amy’s delighted reaction when he’s arrested for cocaine possession and deep disappointment when he turns out to be innocent are highlights, but the funniest scene by far is the dance-off between David and Amy, in which both comprehensively demonstrate that dancing is not among the Santiago family’s many strengths.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine Remake Series Baffles Internet

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Funniest moment: David thinks elbows should form a bigger part of a dance routine than they really should.

6. Frederick, played by Nick Offerman in Ava, Season 3, Episode 8

Any time we meet Captain Holt’s friends and family, many of whom share his stoic, Vulcan-like demeanour, it’s always hilarious. JK Simmons as his old friend Dillman very nearly made the list, but he was just pipped to the post by Ron Swanson – sorry, Nick Offerman – as Holt’s ex-boyfriend. There’s a lot of crossover between Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine Nine among the cast and crew and Offerman isn’t even the only Parks & Rec alumnus to appear on this list, but he’s probably the one whose appearance most quickly calls to mind his earlier character. The idea that Holt’s ex-boyfriend is Ron F-ing Swanson is just genius. OK, Frederick lacks Swanson’s magnificent moustache (though he has a glorious beard) and he’s even more brusque and stand-off-ish, but he’s a perfect match for Holt, even more in their post-break-up mutual antagonism than we imagine they were in their relationship.

Funniest moment: His straight-faced insistence at the door that they have a “wooden-duck situation”.

5. Mark Devereaux, played by Nathan Fillion in Serve & Protect, Season 4, Episode 14

It’s always funny any time police characters in a cop show visit the set of a TV cop show, and for added meta humour, in this case the actor playing the fictional detective is played by an actor who works on a cop show (albeit as a non-cop character). Phew! That’s a lot of layers of meta. Nathan Fillion’s pompous star who apparently thinks playing a detective makes him a detective is very funny, and it gets better when it turns out that was a ruse to cover up his own petty criminal activity before he folds like wet paper. It’s just a shame we didn’t get to see more of him.

Funniest moment: Devereaux tries turning on the angry detective act from his show to cover up his own crime, only to be confronted with quite a lot more than a “shred” of evidence and fold immediately.

4. Eleanor Horstweil, played by Kathryn Hahn in Hostage Situation, Season 3, Episode 11

We heard a lot about Boyle’s ex-wife over the first couple of seasons, partly because Boyle was still living in her basement, hanging out with her new husband Hercules. We knew what sort of person Eleanor was when Boyle explained that he gets the beach house from December to February. When we finally meet her in the flesh, Kathryn Hahn does not disappoint – Eleanor is surely one of the most purely horrible characters we’ve seen on the show (and yes, we’re including all the murderers). She hits a 90-year-old priest with her car and then destroys Boyle’s frozen sperm, all with no apparent sense of guilt, and she largely gets away with it, too. But she does it all with a perfectly deadpan expression and carefree attitude, each horrifying act funnier that the last.

Funniest moment: She goes further than Jake ever thought she would when she “shoots a hostage” – i.e., throws some of Boyle’s sperm down the drain.

3. Seth Dozerman, played by Bill Hader in New Captain, Season 3, Episode 1

Bill Hader’s screentime on the show is relatively brief, but he is hilarious from start to finish, attacking the squad with every shouted command like he’s firing metaphorical bullets at them. It might actually have been really cool to see the squad try to deal with him as their Captain for more than one episode, with his extremely demanding requirements and very highly strung personality, but on the other hand, perhaps this is a joke that works better in small quantities. Any character whose dying words are “Tell my wife I love her work ethic” is probably a character better enjoyed for a shorter period of time.

Funniest moment: Both heart attacks are very funny, but the first (non-fatal) one just pips it for the sheer suddenness of it.

2. Caleb, played by Tim Meadows in three episodes in Seasons 5 and 6

Jake is shocked to discover his only friend in maximum security prison is a cannibal (though he would prefer to be identified as a wood-worker), having assumed everyone in protective custody was a wrongly accused police officer. Caleb is surely Brooklyn Nine Nine’s best streak of really, really dark humour – not only did he murder and eat nine and a half people, they were small children too. Every reference he makes to his “nightmare” past is sickly hilarious, and gets worse and worse every time, including a reference to his “skin suit”. But he really does care for Jake, even if he still kind of wants to eat him. The sheer audacity of the black humour surrounding this character is fantastic and always funny.

Funniest moment: Caleb shows that he has a softer side when he saves Jake’s life – but he immediately deeply regrets it and would not do it again.

1. Doug Judy, played by Craig Robinson in multiple episodes (one episode or two-parter per year)

Yes, we carefully defined a recurring character as someone who is either in more than three episodes or who appears more than once a year specifically so that we could include Craig Robinson‘s Doug Judy. It’s our list and we make the rules. There’s something twistedly beautiful about Jake and Doug Judy’s tender but tense friendship, even in the early years when Judy is constantly double-crossing poor Jake. The two of them have perfect comic chemistry, and each running gag in their friendship, especially their fondness for swaggering out in a new outfit or disguise, just gets funnier and funnier. Long may Doug Judy continue to turn up roughly once every twelve months to harass his long suffering best friend.

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Funniest moment: Having escaped yet again, Doug Judy leaves Jake a pre-recorded message in a karaoke booth – complete with a full hour of pre-recorded singing for Jake to duet with.

The post Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Funniest Guest Cast Characters appeared first on Den of Geek.

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nellie-elizabeth · 4 years

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Dillman (7x09)

We've got us a bottle episode, folks!

Cons:

It's weird that we had the reveal that Amy's pregnant, and then no forward motion on that plot point as of yet. I guess I'm just curious if they're telling people, or how much time has passed? It's unclear.

Pros:

JK Simmons! I love that guy, and he was hilarious as the titular Dillman. He's apparently the greatest detective Holt has ever worked with, which doesn't sit so well with Jake. He comes in, deduces the heck out of everybody, but it ultimately bested by Jake, who outs him about losing his job, and then by Boyle, who solves the glitter bomb case before Jake or Dillman can figure it out.

I just loved Dillman's deductions, the way he was so suave and sure of himself, and then the way he argued with his young manager at the craft store where he apparently works since he's been fired as a cop. And the button to the episode made me laugh, where Jake asks Holt who the new best detective is, now that Dillman has been dethroned, and Holt names some other person, who we've all never heard of before!

As befits a bottle episode, the story was really centralized on one key aspect, that of the mysterious glitter bomb, and how that affected everyone at the precinct. Jake is trying to beat Dillman to the punch in finding the culprit, trying to impress Holt so he gets assigned to a fancy new task force. Terry is just trying to get home so he can see his girls' recorder concert. Scully is covered in glitter, Hitchcock is worried about him. Lots of fun shenanigans with the whole gang in one place. One of my favorite smaller moments is right at the end when Terry says he lied to his wife about why he missed the recital, telling her that Rosa got shot. He asks Rosa to limp next time she sees his wife, and she's immediately game to do so. That made me smile.

The real beating heart of this episode is Charles and Jake's relationship. Turns out, the task force position that Jake wanted is actually one that Holt wants to give to Charles. At first, Jake is disappointed and storms off to sulk, but by the end of the episode, after Charles discovers the truth of the glitter bomb, he apologizes to Charles for not being more supportive, and not congratulating him. Boyle says he was going to turn it down anyway to spend more time with his kid, but ultimately Jake convinces him to take the position. I liked this, because the one-sided friendship of Jake and Charles got a bit deconstructed. Charles is just as blindly loyal as ever, but when Jake apologizes and Charles tries to let him off the hook, Jake won't take the easy way out, insisting that he's proud of his friend and that he should take the opportunity.

I think that's all for now! I love me a good bottle episode, and this one was a lovely little treat!

9/10

#review #brooklyn nine nine #brooklyn nine nine review #brooklyn nine-nine #brooklyn nine-nine review #brooklyn 99 #brooklyn 99 review

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imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs · 4 years

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Good lord, I liked Terminator Genisys!

What a strange thing are remakes and reboots. Fascinating in their inception, often trite in their execution, they can sometimes leave you wondering about the possibilities.

One such beast is the film Terminator Genisys, a film that’s not quite a reboot and not quite a remake.

I put the disc into my Blu-ray player knowing full well what critics and fans alike said of it. I put it in knowing Alan Taylor was the man behind the wheel (I did not care for Thor: the Dark World). I put in the disc having seen not just the first two Terminator films, but Terminator Salvation and Rise of Machines as well.

I put it in the player, pressed the “play” button, and in spite of all that…

I had a good time!

I was expecting a tedious money-grabbing ploy in the form of a bloated episode of a Game of Thrones rip-off to sneer at. And while the film was mainly made for the money (you can tell), I’d say about fifty-percent of it is enjoyable, the other half trite.

The basic plot is a liberal mix of the first two Terminator films: a man named Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) from the future goes back in time to protect a girl named Sarah Connor from a robotic killer from the same era in order to make sure her son, who grows up to be the leader of the resistance (Jason Clarke), is born.

Only this time, someone (it’s never stated who) has sent a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back to when Sarah Connor was a child as her protector to raise her and the whole future has changed.

Maybe that’s the reason people gave this movie such a caning? Time travel in story-telling often results in headaches unless it’s told in a linear or unchallenging way. Here, the movie posits the question of how would the story of an influential and well-known franchise change for want of a nail (the nail being a six-foot cyborg bodyguard).

It’s interesting, but it may have changed something people loved too much for them to be comfortable with.

Not that change is a bad thing. In spite of how resistant fandom is to change of any kind, harrumphing at even the most superficial, change can be refreshing.

But in Terminator Genisys, it’s only refreshing half the time and the other half of the time those changes barely make an impact.

For me personally, that was the film’s biggest problem; it never feels like anything solidly lands while the plot moves forward.

And boy, can it move forward.

In some moments, the characters are doing things too quickly or talking too quickly, all while important plot points pass right over the viewers’ heads. A scene between Sarah and Kyle where the two are talking about having a choice in the face of a dismal fate is delivered too fast for the audience to get a feel for them as people, or to let the weight of their actions sink in. We barely register Kyle and Sarah’s relationship, a relationship which probably should have had more scenes in this movie.

Another example is a hospital fight scene where the characters must face down a familiar face revealed to be an enemy. Here, we see Kyle Reese having to kill the man who was not only his friend, but his own son, after he has became a threat to humanity. This would have been a wonderful end to the movie, showing the rejection of a corrupted savior in the name of keeping Skynet from rising to destroy the world. But it comes too soon in the film, so it's just another CG stunt piece.

But are the characters worth the watch? Again, it’s a fifty-fifty split.

The man of the hour is Arnold, here playing an aging Terminator who was sent back to protect Sarah Connor. Unlike the unthinking killing machine in the first movie, “pops” is a rather brainy avuncular figure, one who has his share of funny moments.

The other major character of note is the main antagonist, outside of the obvious Skynet; John Connor, played by Jason Clarke. Clarke plays his role with a cool, smug charisma that can’t be denied, although some lines can come off a little…mechanical, shall we say?

Finally, there’s JK Simmons, as a new character, a tin foil hat man developed from a throwaway character in T1. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing a movie about this character or even another Terminator movie with this character in it. Simmons plays the role with both pathos and no shortage of wit and easily carries every scene he’s in.

Everyone else is just okay.

Jai Courtney is no Kyle Reese, but he doesn’t try to be.

Emilia Clarke is no Sarah Connor, but she’s not the Sarah Connor we knew.

And really, that’s the film’s final problem; it’s a Terminator movie.

Or at least not a Terminator movie as we knew them.

The cast, the crew, everyone put their heart into making this movie. Neil Spisak made some pretty interesting set pieces, and writers Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier received the blessing of James Cameron himself before pursuing this endeavor. The costume designer, Susan Matheson, shows ingenuity, but her work was the only part of the production I felt was a little underwhelming. The resistance uniforms feel a little too much like a staged production than real world clothing.

Everyone shows ambition, but a for all their striving, this film only resembles a Terminator movie. An R-rating probably would have helped with that, and maybe some connective tissue to bring it closer to the rest of the franchise couldn’t have hurt either.

Had this been a TV series or an original property, the reception might have been a little warmer. But if you watch it with little to no expectations, you’ll maybe enjoy it for as the earnest misfire that it is.

#Terminator #terminator genisys #Review #More under the cut #Spoilers

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smokeybrand · 2 years

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: A Dead Polar Bear

The Outstanding

The Meh

The Verdict

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ultrahpfan5blog · 2 years

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Retrospective Review: Spider-Man (2002)

So I started my rewatch of all the Spider-man movies in prep for Spider-man: NWH. Irrespective of whether Tobey and Andrew show up in that movie, at least the villains from all the movie will show up for sure. And that's worth a rewatch since I haven't seen these in a while. Completed watching Spider-man last night and it was a lot of fun. I remember the craze for this movie when it first came out. It was the biggest movie of its time. It was also my first real introduction to Spider-man. My inroad into comics were Batman: TAS, Superman: TAS, and the Burton/Schumacher era Batman movies. I didn't know much about Marvel comics or Marvel movies till then. Spider-man was really my first marvel introduction.

Rewatching the movie was a lot of fun. This film definitely is dated in certain ways. Some of the effects shots definitely look of its era, which is understandable. And there are some moments of intense cheesiness. Some of the dialogue, references, and events do make you roll your eyes and grin at it all, but its all in good fun. The film does an incredible job of the setup of Peter Parker. Peter's status quo in the school, his intense crush on Mary Jane, his complex friendship with Harry, and his relationship with Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Certainly, Uncle Ben is able to make a lasting effect in the series with not much screen time. A lot of that has to do with Cliff Robertson who manages to sell the heart of Uncle Ben. That famous line "with great power, comes great responsibility", could easily sound very corny but he sells it and it works to this day. And there's a reason, no other Spider-man movie has tried to use that line verbatim. They all know it will be compared to the original. The character dynamics what make the movie work. You feel that Aunt May, Peter, and Uncle Ben are a family unit. Peter and Harry's friendship is complicated but still has a trueness to it. There is the romance triangle with Peter/Harry/MJ. There is an earnestness to Peter's love for MJ. You want him to get the girl. Also, Peter's journey to discovering his powers is very much how you feel any teenager who has never had any power would react. There is a certain joy as he leaps from building to building and when he is able to beat up Flash at school. The pacing for the film is also pretty fast. It clocks in just under 2 hours. The action sequences are exciting and thrilling even now, despite some dated effects in some sequences. The finale fight is brutal. Probably the most brutal final fight that I had seen in a comic book movie till then. The villain is fantastic. More on that later. Also, it introduces maybe the greatest comic book casting, which is JK Simmons as J Jonah Jameson. I don't think I have ever considered anyone so perfect for the role they were cast.

The film isn't flawless though. It does have it share of issues. It does have more than its fair share of groanworthy dialogue. Also, the villain's overall end goal is not completely clear. Until the World Unity Fair, it was clear that Goblin was just getting rid of all of Norman Osborn's enemies. But after that, it just wasn't completely clear on Goblin wanted to happen other than to be rid of Spider-man as an enemy. Also, the Goblin suit is difficult to take seriously. To be fair, I'm not sure how any Goblin suit would possibly look because TASM2 Goblin look on Harry didn't look good either, but this did look very Power Rangers type and especially in scenes in daylight, it looked odd. On top of that, I have always had a bit of an issue with the portrayal of MJ in these movies. She really is just a damsel in distress. Also, her character does seem to be a lot about hopping from guy to guy, from Flash to Harry to Spider-man to Peter. She's also kissing Spider-man while she's going out with Harry. So the character doesn't have a whole lot to her other than to be the girl of Peter's dreams. In addition, while Spider-man 3 gets a lot of justifiable mocking for the scientists just ignoring an anomaly before turning on their experiment, causing Sandman to be born, Spider-man has one which is not dissimilar when the scientist just ignores the fact that one of their genetically modified spiders is missing, which ends up biting Peter.

The cast is uniformly excellent. As I mentioned, Cliff Robertson sells the hell out of a short role of Uncle Ben that remains in everyone's mind throughout the trilogy. James Franco is strong as Harry. While I do have an issue with the character, I feel Kirsten Dunst does a good job. I think she's probably at her most appealing in this movie out of all three. Rosemary Harris is a very heartfelt Aunt May. JK Simmons is just awesome and his rapid fire line delivery is absolutely dynamite.

Willem Dafoe is kind of this film's secret weapon. This film doesn't work if Goblin/Osborn doesn't creep you out. The fact that he does is entirely a credit to Dafoe because the film is actively working against him given his costume. But he somehow manages to make it work. He's also a bit sympathetic in the first half of the movie because the Generals and the Board of Directors of Oscorp seem to be actively trying to bring him down. As if there is some personal vendetta. But he does a brilliant job with the voice and the genuinely freaky facial expression changes. Its clear he's having a blast. I can't wait to see him in NWH.

Tobey Maguire as Peter/Spider-man is excellent in this movie. For me, this was the first Spider-man I have ever seen so the things that are not comic book accurate, such as his organic web shooters or the fact that he's not as talkative as his comic book counterpart does not bother me much. He does deliver earnest nerdiness and romantic devotion with a lot of ease. He is able to deliver emotional scenes wonderfully.

Sam Raimi clearly does an excellent job making this movie. He wasn't completely a novice at making superhero movies, having made the underrated Darkman over a decade earlier but certainly it was the first film of this size. He does bring some of his horror elements into the movie, especially when it pertains to Green Goblin. In terms of superhero origin movies, I probably rank just Batman Begins, Iron Man, Captain America: TFA, GOTG, and Deadpool ahead of this one. For me, this ranks at a 7.5-8/10

#spider man #spider-man #peter parker #normon osborn #mary jane watson #uncle ben #aunt may #harry osborn #j jonah jameson #tobey maguire #willem dafoe #james franco #kirsten dunst #rosemary harris #cliff robertson #jk simmons

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stevnharringtons · 6 years

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Is I'm not Here good?

I loved it! One of my favourite films of the year.

It really depends what type of movie you like best. It’s super introspective, and it examines the human condition. And it really explores this idea of like, are we predisposed to turn out a certain way because of what we are exposed to during our formative years, like is it inevitable that the choices we make will go down a predetermined path that mirrors what we saw growing up, or does each choice we make, open up a whole new set of potential outcomes. And there’s a lot of really lovely family moments, and really really heartbreaking moments, and moments that feel lonely, moments that make you laugh juxtaposed with moments that make you want to sob and it’s just. It’s a beautiful film, very very human, very rooted in people, and that’s the stuff I LOVE, like no hollywood blockbuster is gonna get my heart the way those films do. Having said this, a lot of that is to do with J.K Simmons and Sebastian who are just brilliant in this, like they are the stars of the film. Max Greenfield is weird casting for the role he plays, and Maika Monroe, Seb basically carries the scenes he has with her, she never really gave much. But the kids in it were both brilliant, the two best performances outside of JK and Seb. So not perfect but definitely enjoyable and thought provoking.

But if you prefer fast paced, action packed, spectacle type films, if you prefer big Hollywood to an indie, i don’t think you’ll like it as much. Like you may enjoy it if you’re going for a specific actor but i don’t think it’ll be a film you’d watch again.

#B answers #I’m Not Here #Sebastian Stan #nonnie

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makemeyoungmakemeyoung · 5 years

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youtube

Basically, this is my favorite show that’s being made right now. I’m doing it. I’m writing about it. I’ll try not to rant and rave too much or for too long. This show is a hard sell, but I’ll do my best to explain why it is just so damn good.

I guess I’ll start with the cast. Starring Will Arnett, Allison Brie, Aaron Paul, Amy Sedaris, Paul F. Tompkins, and Kristen Schaal, all excellent in their voice acting, all performing at their peak. This show is a tumultuous ride of ups and downs (mostly downs) and despite the inherent ridiculousness of the very concept of this show, manages to be one of the best portrayals of depression, addiction, and mental illness that exists today.

The reason I say that the show’s concept is ridiculous is because this is a cartoon show about a horse who is sad, and his adventures with his animal/human friends. In this world animals coexist with humans as equals, mostly for the sake of making many, many hilarious animal jokes. For example, Allison Brie’s character Diane is in a romantic relationship with a golden retriever named Mr. Peanut Butter. This whole strange concept adds to the surreality of the show, which is not scared to take its characters to strange and dark places. And it’s a beautiful thing to have your heart broken one minute and then get blasted by some ludicrous animal pun the next. Truly the Bojack story is tragic and relatable and the characters feel like real people and it’s not afraid to crush you on occasion. But it will make you laugh just as often as you feel sad or angry or frustrated with the titular character as he stumbles his way haphazardly through his life.

The characters are excellent, the animation seems basic at first until things start to get weird and you realize that a show like this would never have been possible if it were in a different medium. Though a graphic novel would be totally sweet. And the celebrity cameos! Though it’s tougher to recognize right away, this show has star power. Seriously google the cast list. It’s insane. JK Simmons, Patton Oswalt, Rami Malek, Maria Bamford, Abbi Jacobson, Lisa Kudrow, CHARACTER ACTRESS MARGO MARTINDALE, Matthew freakin’ Broderick, Ed Helms, Keegan-Michael Key, just to name like 1/6 of the crazy awesome cameos that this show has. God damn, it’s pretty mindblowing, really. And I know it takes time to get going, to really get into the bojack mindset, but stick with it. Watch all of it. It starts off good, and gets better and better and better, and after five seasons it has not slowed down a bit. This show is worth your time. I truly hope that you check it out. And then talk to me about it.

#bojack #bojackthoughts #netflix

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joshhutchsource · 7 years

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Josh Hutcherson shows his new face–

He tells us, exclusively, his plans to venture into the field of film directing, in addition to acting.

This article was translated for Josh Hutcherson Source by @vega-sheliak. Please credit if you repost.

I always wanted to be a director … It gives me the tools and space to create and it is something that is often more attractive than any paycheck, at least for me.“ - JOSH HUTCHERSON

Having starred in four ‘Hunger Games’ blockbusters; now, without Jennifer Lawrence or Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson finds a new way to stand out in the cinema. And to demonstrate the experience he has accumulated in more than ten years working, this young 24 year-old, is determined to cross the other side of the camera to follow the path of the greatest in film, as a director.

Have you gotten used to the title 'Josh Hutcherson, film director’?

I always wanted to be a director, and to mix with experienced people and to work with other young directors who I also admire.

Is it time to show the world that you really consider yourself a film veteran … at 24 years of age?

Since I was very, very young, they tried to keep me out of the movie studio, although I wanted to stay, which went against the schedule child actors had to follow. I wanted to learn all the elements of moviemaking. I was in the camera truck and nobody could find me, just because I was learning a little about the lenses or I was going to the scenery truck to learn how to build a studio, I was fascinated by the whole process. I was always a sponge, absorbing all the elements of a shoot. And now, I will be able to apply it.

Do not you feel too much pressure to sit in the director’s chair, being so young?

Yes, it’s a new challenge for me, to direct other people who I also have to act with, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve worked with many directors who also started as actors and those are also the directors that I like the most, because they always come with a story based on the character. And when I have to direct, I’m going to concentrate on the characters as well.

Read the full article under the cut. (This is a long one!)

Are you also going to work as an actor in the movie you are directing?

Yes. I’ll start with a short film, because they say it’s easy enough. You can act and direct at the same time. We’ll see what happens. But yes, I will act too. The title is 'Ape’, it’s a rather dark film, about a young man suffering from schizophrenia. It’s a very complicated story that ruins the family. It’s very dark, but it’s a genre that has always really attracted me.

Have you ever wanted to change the direction of any of your movies?

In any performance, one always wonders what would happen if we did something different, but we can’t say that because it’s disrespectful to the director. And now, I can say what I always thought, while still being respectful, of course.

With directing a short film, do not you also make much less than a real movie?

In this case, I have the opportunity to become the director so that I can add my voice to the project. It gives me the tools and space to create, and is something that is often more attractive than any paycheck, at least for me.

Does it mean that, at this point in your career you are choosing creative control over a million-dollar paycheck?

Exactly, yes. The good thing about film is to be able to make blockbusters to then have the opportunity to move away a little, and concentrate on something much more artistic that really matters to you, as a form of expression.

The idea is quite original, in Hollywood. Together with Indigenous Media, Josh Hutcherson plans to create a series of short films, with new directors, as an original way of presenting ideas to film studios about future films, instead of working only with the script and a list of possible actors. It is similar to television, where TV producers usually create a pilot episode so that after a TV channel gives the OK, they can produce the full series. And just as the idea of a movie, with a trailer, is being sold to us, Josh Hutcherson tries to sell to the big film studios the idea through the filming of the short version of the film.

Could you explain in your own words the idea of this new project?

I think it’s a very good concept. The idea is to take the script from a full-length and make a short version. And just after making it, the full-length would be produced, because it often takes years to develop a script, because people commit and then pull out. And after you realize it, ten years has passed since you got the script for a movie.

Is there an example of an important movie that has started with a short film first?

'Whiplash’ with Miles Teller (JK Simmons won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). They made a short film first. Only when people understood the idea, did they go forward with the movie. It’s also much easier to attract actors, producers, and get funding. It’s like an incubator to create a movie. I think it’s a great idea.

Is it also a way to find your own films to star in?

It’s hard to find roles that are interesting for my age range. I starve for them, that’s my Hunger Game. They keep offering me characters that are still in high school, or just fresh out of college, and I’m stuck in that bracket all the time.

Are you going to try to keep your adolescent fans or 20 year olds?

We definitely want to talk to that audience, which also exists in Turkey or Italy. It exists all over the world. We want to create human stories where people can identify beyond language and culture. That’s the good thing about film. Sometimes it works … but sometimes it doesn’t.

And from the point of view of a young director, what do you think about the debate about the lack of women like Jennifer Lawrence in the most important positions of the cinema?

I am very aware, and personally I want the film industry to represent a diverse group of people. And, at least one of the projects we have is by a woman. It’s good to have a woman’s voice, and it is necessary that the younger female screenwriters and directors have enough confidence to represent themselves in film and television. I say this, because it surprises me when I see that a female screenwriter or even on TV writer write a typical female stereotype, when there are so many interesting women in the world. The greatest achievements and also biggest mistakes…always have to do with a woman in your life.

Nothing can compare to the success of having played the role of Peeta Mellark in the 'Hunger Games’ series with Jennifer Lawrence.

Does it upset you when in Hollywood you hire a foreign actor for the role of an American character?

Well, there are enough Australians and British taking away my roles. But the accents are very difficult for any performance. That’s the truth. Having an accent doesn’t let you focus exclusively on acting. It is a challenge. And I think there are actors who do very well and others who don’t. I just think that the characters should be open to those who can interpret them the best way. If you are a British actor playing an American, or vice versa, whatever, what matters is that you feel authentic doing it.

Taking into account the idea of creating a short film to present a full-length movie script, have you ever finished one of your films and it’s turned out completely different than the original script?

I remember when we shot ’The Kids Are All Right’, we were at Sundance and when I first saw it, I was surprised when the audience laughed, because I thought we had made a dramatic movie. I had no idea that it was literally a dramatic comedy about a very strange family. When I read the script, it seemed like a drama on all sides. We filmed it as such, but when it was shown, the audience thought it was funny. I didn’t know if that was good or bad at the time, but I guess it worked.

What is the most fun thing about directing your own movie?

When the first scripts arrive. That’s the most exciting part, because there are so many. The Black List is an organization that collects these incredible scripts that have never before been produced and have an amazing library with great content from totally unknown filmmakers. I was surprised to see how good they were. And being a director for the first time, I also immersed myself into everything, calling my friends, people I worked with before, asking for favors to help me bring my vision to life. That part is really fun, too.

Now the actor stars in a half-hour comedy of 13 episodes, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. In the series, Josh Hutcherson is Josh Futturman, a depressed gamer who is strangely summoned to become a hero.

And the hard part?

The most difficult part is transforming the script of a feature film into a short film, keeping the tone and heart of the story, without the audience feeling unsatisfied.

Can we imagine a world of filmmaking where instead of paying fifteen dollars to see a two-hour movie, we can have a shorter version that costs much less?

I have many friends who literally don’t watch cable. They use other services like Netflix or Hulu. And when you can get that kind of content, you don’t need to spend too much money to generate a giant event where everyone has to go to the movies and pay $15 for a ticket plus another $3 for popcorn. It’s like getting to a new audience in a way, it’s interesting.

Does the emergence of new media like Snapchat or YouTube, turn the short films into a new system of cinema?

Short films, for me, were always a platform for true artistic expression and the best way to discover filmmakers. That’s the good thing. If I could get people to pay attention to young, fresh voices, that would be the biggest success of my life.

If this is a good way to reduce the risks, how come the film industry didn’t use this system before?

I don’t know, it’s interesting. I guess it’s because everything is still new, like Netflix or Amazon, so it’s something we’re also learning to use.

Are Netflix or Amazon the new film competition?

I know people in parts of the United States who love movies, but they don’t live near a movie theater. So they are forced to jump in the car and drive an hour and a half to watch a movie, when they can view Netflix at home. A few years ago, I had a movie that never had a huge release beyond 'On Demand’ (on cable TV) and some movie theaters. And in my mind, I thought it was a failure, but not because the subject wasn’t interesting, but because it didn’t really get exposure.

Josh’s popularity came in 2005, when he starred in 'Zathura: A Space Adventure’

What movie was the one that never got to theaters?

’Escobar: Paradise Lost’, the story of Pablo Escobar.

How big is the gap between the artistic side of cinema and the commercial profile, where today they make a film with the sole objective of raising millions?

Without being too philosophical or annoying, cinema began as pure art. They didn’t care about the money made…they filmed exclusively as a form of artistic expression. But when filmmaking became more popular, big companies realized they could make fortunes, like the Marvel world that is so lucrative, but in the end, it’s pure business. And now that there are new platforms, it feels like we can go back to the big reason why the films originally came out, trying to get a true artistic expression. That’s very cool.

So does media like Netflix and Amazon that charge less than the cost of a movie ticket to see an unlimited number of movies per month, help or hurt the film industry?

The reality is that there is no business model. And basically what we say, is that if we do something good, people will watch it. And now, that there are so many options, we will always be able to do that.

[source]

#josh hutcherson #ape #future man #article #side note–the author ages him at 23 #we updated that to reflect his age at the time of publishing

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plinys · 7 years

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@slamncram replied to your post

“i have determined what makes the difference between being redeemable...”

But what happens when the murder of said dog may or may not have been put into action due to outside factors (i.e. five years of gaslighting and conditioning)? Discuss. (I'M JOKING IT JUST SOUNDED VERY ACADEMIC)

okay but this is the thing, like this is what makes me so angry sitting here being like angry at how my fave baddies from legends of tomorrow basically have half of wards backstory each (and are way bigger fucking villains) but still end up being considered good guys on their fucking team like how does this happen? is it better writing? is it fandom being better? is it the fact that nobody killed a fucking dog

so for those of you that follow me for aos and dont know any lot (because its my new obsession) this will contain some lot spoilers

which is why its under a cut, also it got fucking long, if nobody reads this but chris i will still be content tho cause im upset

lets refresh what some brief bullet points we know about grant ward and how aos did him so dirty

has an abusive childhood (parents/older brother)

sets house on fire to try and kill his abusers fails and goes to juvie

gets busted out of juvie by hydra agent, gets dropped off in the woods, major gaslighting

may or may not have killed a dog

because hydra spy inside of shield

joins the team

caws fucks up aos plot reveals that he is hydra and kills hella people

drops fitz & simmons (cute nerdy scientists) into the ocean

gets captured by aos team, locked in glass box of doom

while depressed and in glass box told to kill himself by his romantic interest (for all of season one at least)

gets sold off to his abuser (older brother) - but then busts out and finally succeeds in kill his abuser (burns them alive)

hydra agents some more

dies

becomes possessed by alien demon thing

eventually gets blown the fuck up but was basically dead earlier and we just kept the actor around for some reason

(okay this is short but i tried to delete most of aos from my memory)

like - when we break this down as bullet points we can see this is shitty right?

now lets compare mick rory and leonard snart’s combined narratives from lot/the flash

(both) grow up in abusive house hold - abusive fathers in both cases i believe

(mick) has severely untreated pyromania, lights a fire in his house that gets out of control, and is so anxious about his family finding out that he doesnt tell them when he runs outside and they all burn alive

(mick is also briefly kidnapped by his future time traveling self right after this but we’ll assume he forgets this)

(len) is forced to commit crimes by his crooked cop father, eventually is forced to take the fall for one of them, and ends up in juvie

(both) meet in juvie, become bffs / partners for life / future husbands

commit a bunch of crimes together and basically just be hardcore criminals that break into places and steal things - oh and kill people, they def kill people

(also they basically raise len’s sister lisa during this time)

(len) steals/kills someone for a cold gun, so he can go from basic criminal to supervillian and fight the flash. literally kills hella people with the cold gun

mick gets the fire gun

mick also kills hella people

kidnaps cute scientist friend of hero caitlin snow and straps her to a bomb at one point just to be extra (tm) super villains

kidnaps cisco (the other nerdy science friend), forces him to make weapons, tortures cisco’s brother (like freezes his hands?!)

(len) eventually after his sister is threatened gets a chance to get back at his abuser and literally freezes his heart and kills him (in front of the fucking superhero)

and when superhero visits len in prison he is literally like “there’s good in you”

(both) get recruited to a time traveling team in which is basically a time captain, four superheroes, and these two villains

somehow this turns out to be the best found family combo in the fucking history of ever? like even tho they are baddies their bad skills are still put to use to help out with the mission and generally (at least len) is always considered to be part of the team in spite of the fact that they are super villains normally.

mick maybe sells them out to time pirates after their captain mentions that he was only brought along cause he and len are a packaged deal

len is forced to kill mick??? (or so we think for far too fucking long, even for someone just binge watching the series)

jk mick isnt dead he’s the bounty hunter working for their worst enemy (evil org) who has been hunting them since the pilot

as bounty hunter mick kidnaps len and is like “im gonna go back in time and kill your bby sister (aka the only person you love)” and like somehow in the span of this episode len is still like “dont kill him” to the rest of the team when he gets captured

gets put in glass box of doom on ship, and the team has like restorative convos with mick? wants to help him even tho he went evil and tried to destroy the team / threatened people that they cared about

mick is eventually given the chance to kinda heal and is brought back into the fold of the team and a full functioning member again even though he went extra bad for a bit there

one of them gets blown up and dies a fucking hero (also is probably not actually dead, but its been half a season and im not even fucking sure)

the other one is currently very depressed and not getting the treatment he needs for that, but ill fight those battles later.

so in summary for comparison

all three grew up in abusive households

mick and ward both burn their childhood homes down (but mick actually killed his family)

len & ward both have younger siblings they tried to protect from their abuser (but lisa actually likes len and theyre super close, where as you now aos....)

all three ended up in juvie (tho ward got broke out by garrett and that fucked him up good) (whereas mick & len meet to becomes criminal partners)

all three are bad guys (ward is a double agent) (while mick/len are major criminals and then super villains)

they all kill all kinds of people

they all hurt the fan favorite good guy scientist characters (mick & len with bombs and cold guns) (ward by dropping them into an ocean in a pod that shoulve floated) (i mean honestly like ward was the nicer one when you look at it like this)

all three kill their abusers (though micks was technically on accident)

all three get thrown in prison/glass boxes where their super counter parts come to see them (ward gets told to kill himself) (len gets told there’s still good in him) (mick gets help getting back to a stable mental state)

mick & ward both betray their found family team for their own person interests (and do get kinda shafted by this, like wards whole plot line vs mick’s time as a bounty hunter)

len & mick are both really bad guys that are given hero arcs (len is season one, mick in season one/two ish) and given a chance to redeem themselves while still being a-holes at times. (whereas ward gets murdered by his old team leader and gets possessed by an alien monster)

in LoT the character dies a hero. whereas in aos... you know how that goes

the thing that gets me is

the plot lines are so fucking similar

and like these characters have been around as minor characters/villains for two seasons of the flash, and then as main characters for a season and a half (so far) of legends of tomorrow

and the villain with an abusive childhood story line is just handled so much better over there. with the characters given chances to heal. rather than pushed off to the side and made worse and worse

and as someone who lived in an abusive household for far too long

getting to see the snarts story line (and mick’s too) is just such a relief after suffering through all that was aos okay

this is why im so angry.

#slamncram #replies #grant ward #mick rory #leonard snart #aos meta #lot meta #plinys meta

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