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gonzo-rella · 24 days

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Headcanons: Being Married To Old Man Ray Stantz

MASTERLIST | AO3 | KO-FI

Relationship(s): old man!Ray Stantz x gn!also old!reader (romantic)

Warnings: Possibly inaccurate science words, because I'm a simpleton. (Let me know if I need to add any)

(A/N: Here's my first Ghostbusters thing! I've got a few other Ghostbusters fics in the works, mostly Ray-based reader-inserts because I'm in love with him, but I've also got a Phoebe-centric character study in the works that's based on part of her storyline in Frozen Empire. By the way, I loved Frozen Empire! I've already seen it three times, and it's such a joy. I'll try to catch it a couple more times at least before it leaves cinemas. Anyway, I haven't included any explicit spoilers for Frozen Empire in this, so you're safe to read this if you haven't seen it yet. I'd love to write more old man Ray Stantz fics, especially something involving Phoebe. I'm really excited to write for Ghostbusters, so feel free to send in requests! I've only seen the movies, but I plan on watching the Real Ghostbusters at some point soon. Also, even though I took my mum to see Frozen Empire the other day, I still don't have anyone to talk to about this movie, so please feel free to talk to me about it!)

It’s evident that, even after all of these years, Ray is still madly in love with you.

The adoration with which he looks at you is clear as day.

Venkman has always loved to tease you both about how sickly sweet your relationship is.

He will make fake gagging when either of you are affectionate to one another when he’s around.

(He won’t admit it, but he actually finds your relationship to be kind of cute)

It’s not like either of you are overly lovey-dovey, especially now.

Ray’s naturally a very passionate and expressive guy, but he’s rarely mushy.

Still, you show one another how much you care.

I have this idea that your silent way of saying ‘I love you’ to each other is holding the other’s hand, stroking their knuckles with your thumb and smiling at them.

It just seems so cute to have this thing that you’ve been doing for your whole relationship.

Ray knows you like the back of his hand, and you know him just the same.

It’s almost scary how well you know one another.

I can imagine that there’s been a time that someone’s asked one of you a question, and the other has been able to answer it with ease.

I love the idea of Ray being with someone who’s not a scientific mind like himself.

So, if you’re not as knowledgeable about the supernatural as Ray, you’ll still have picked up on plenty of information against your will, and Ray will always be impressed with and proud of you when you manage to regurgitate or understand his ‘science-y word salad’ (as you have referred to it).

He will also find it very attractive when you talk supernatural or science to him, but he tries not to make it obvious.

His eyes still light up like he’s a kid on Christmas when he explains supernatural stuff to you or tells you about a new psychically charged item he’s bought, and you find it so endearing.

Also, I can imagine him practically forcing you to listen to Podcast’s podcast when he discovers it, and you both end up getting really into it.

As devoted as he still is to his work and his supernatural endeavours, spending time with you is his greatest priority.

He might miss being an active Ghostbuster, but the silver lining of it is that he gets more time with you than he ever used to.

Even if you both used to be Ghostbusters, it’s nice to spend time together that doesn’t involve being covered in ghost slime and shouting over nuclear accelerators.

If you’ve not got anything else to do, I think it’d be sweet if you kept him company in his store.

Phoebe and Trevor are your honorary grandkids and you and Ray are beyond proud of them, especially Phoebe, who you’re closest to of the two of them.

Phoebe will always remind the both of you of Egon, so whenever she does something particularly Egon-like, you will exchange a knowing glance, and when she’s gone you’ll end up reminiscing about your old friend.

If Phoebe or the other Spenglers ever want to hear about Egon, you’re both more than happy to talk to them about him.

Even in his golden years, Ray is still the same sweet, passionate, excitable man you married all those years ago.

Sure, the regular excitement that came with Ghostbusting is long behind you both, but you both cherish this quieter time together just as much.

#ghostbusters x reader #ray stantz x reader #ghostbusters #ray stantz #x reader #x gn!reader #x gender neutral!reader #x gender neutral reader #x gn reader #phoebe spengler

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thesunlikehoney · 10 months

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I've seen a lot of adults who weren't quite happy with Nimona. They didn't think it was funny, or they thought the ending was too simplistic, or they preferred the more nuanced way the comic handled the themes. And these are all valid complaints! I haven't finished the comic yet but it is a much more mature and complex story than the movie, and I know already it's had a bigger impact on me than the movie. But, you know what, I just watched Nimona with my twelve year old sister, and she adored it! She thought Nimona was a fantastic character, she laughed the whole time, she made us re-watch the scene with the squire and the demon baby.

She also gagged and made faces whenever Bal and Ambrosius were affectionate with each other, because she has been taught by our parents and her pastor that being queer is something disgusting and sinful. I actually had to pause the movie at one point and tell her to stop, because it was disrespectful.

Nimona was not made for queer adults. The comic was written for us, the comic tells our story. But the movie is a kids movie, made for queer kids, yes. But also made for kids like my sister, whose only exposure to queerness is a closeted older sister doing her best and gentle lectures from her parents on why the gays are going to hell.

It's simplistic and it's streamlined and it's not witty so much as it is silly and it's colorful and energetic and exaggerated-- because it's baby's first explicitly queer cinema! It's not an adventure movie with one (1) gay guy in the background, or some subtle queer coding. It's a movie about queerness, about otherness, about how sometimes it's not easier to be a girl. About how sometimes even when you follow all the rules your very existence is still a threat to society.

I hope my sister watches Nimona again. I hope she tells her friends at her Christian school how great a movie it is, even with the gay people. I hope when she is older she reads the comic, and re-watches the movie with new eyes, and thinks about the way she was taught to be disgusted by queer people. I hope she learns to look up to Nimona. I hope she learns to question everything.

#nimona 2023 #nimoma

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badmoonriiising · 8 months

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Regulus likes taking care of Sirius and Remus' kids.

Ever since he left his taunted old house, looked for his brother all over the country, and discovered he still had a family, things have been great.

He's the cool uncle. The one who takes the kids to the cinema every time there's a superhero movie premiere, spoils them with candies, and doesn't overthink about following rules. Perhaps his lack of firmness is the cause of his wallet being taken, his three nephews running away at the mall, and his desire to throw up.

He should've known better not to trust a teenage girl obsessed with fighting his parents over problematic boys and party permissions. Be aware of emo boys whose songs are capable of sending Walburga Black to the grave if she ever listens to one of them. And keep his eyes on the twelve-year-old kid who claims is a gamer and plays League of Legends of all things.

How is Regulus going to tell Sirius he has no idea where all his children are when he's supposed to be the one in charge?

"Are you okay?" someone asks when he's sure he's about to have a panic attack.

He's handsome, Regulus thinks. Then proceeds to mentally slap himself because that's the less important thing right now.

Is a man who appears to be around his age. Taller than Regulus, with a muscular build and a light tan. He wears a pair of square glasses shielding curious hazel eyes, and his full-toothed smile should be the star of a toothpaste commercial.

"Never been better," he lies, not liking people meddling in his business.

Regulus believes that's it. The stranger will keep going, ignoring Regulus' problems. He'll get to the bottom of this. He'll find his brother's children without having to tell Sirius and Remus what happened.

"Are you sure?" he continues. "You look white like a paper. Last time I got that pale I had serious stomach problems."

He has to bite his tongue in order to not snap at him in such a precarious situation.

However, the moment his eyes meet his there's something stopping him. Regulus is unable to target exactly what it is. Maybe it's because he sees real concern in his gaze. Or that the simple fact of not feeling alone in a moment of alarm is enough to keep his nerves at bay and reorder his priorities.

"Actually", he sighs. "You haven't seen any kids around, have you?"

Unfortunately, it turns out he hasn't. But he'll be more than happy to help.

Meeting James Potter at this moment, on the other hand, will end up giving him an unexpected as well as positive turn in his life.

#james x regulus #james potter #regulus black #sirius black #remus lupin #marauders era #marauders #harry potter #jegulus #wolfstar #microfic #black family #sirius and regulus #james and regulus #black brothers

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ivygrowsc · 2 months

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America Ferrera's breakthrough career

I just want to point out that this woman has delivered 2 cinematic, historical, browsing, impeccable speeches about the frustrations I feel about being a woman. And that actress of course is the one and only America Ferrera herself. Let's talk about her debut role in the movie — Real Women Have Curves. The 2002 independent film based on the play by Josefina Lopez is one of my all-time favourite movies I have watched in my lifetime. And if you somehow know this movie through another suspicious Greta Gerwig connection, I implore you to watch this. The movie was directed by Patricia Cardoso. At the time when it was released, America Ferrera had already filmed another movie but this movie debuted first putting her on the map. She was only 17 years old! Josefina López wrote the play when she was 18 years old. In 2019 it was the first Latina directed film to be included in the National Film Registry at the library of Congress. Taking inspiration from her real life, Josefina wrote Real Women Have Curves about Ana, mostly centered on her relationship with her mother Carmen, played by Lupe Ontiveros. This movie is touted, not only for its representation of women in their real bodies, it also delivered a warm and loving portrayal of Latina families and neighborhoods in Royal Heights and East Los Angeles. Again this isn't a time where Latinas, even today, are represented in a full and nuancent light. So to not only have this Latina family but to have them placed in East Los Angeles which has been criminally and stereotypically portrayed as "dangerous", really meant something and still means something today. And the message of that film being "there's so much more to me than my weight". I think this might serve as a comfort watch for many women around the world.

I don't understand how we were made to believe as children, that America Ferrera was the biggest woman to ever grace our tv screen. The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants is what I call perfection in cinema. If I ever will have a daughter in the future, she is required to watch this movie. Because every little girl needs to understand what sisterhood and what community is. I feel like girls today are not watching sisterhood displayed on television, or even in movies. It's always these toxic relationship, these toxic friendship — not to say that neither of those can't be toxic and bad, because even within this friend group they all have their own issues with each other, with their families etc. But it's not about the problems, it's how they solve them, how they come together. And I feel like this message should be displayed for the young girls today. And I just love how diverse the friend group is, because nowadays it seems like every teenager I see on tv are like the same skinny, white blondes. If you haven't seen this movie make sure to have a box of tissues nearby because it's going to make you cry.

The dark side of pretty privilige is, you don't get to be funny, intelligent, respected — you just get to be pretty. So I've just finished watching Ugly Betty, I fully recommend, and I realised the only female character who's actually respected within this show, is Betty. If you don't already know the concept, Betty gets hired to be the assistant to the chief. Because he sleeps with his assistants, they decide to get him an "ugly" girl so he won't sleep with her. But she's hired for Mode, which is kind of like Vogue/Cosmo type of magazine. So naturally she gets bullied. They treat her like crap because she doesn't look like the ideal Mode girl. But the crazy thing is, since none of the men want to sleep with her, they actually respect her. They start to treat her like a human being with ideas. Then she becomes one of the most liked people by anyone in their team. On top of that, all of these gorgeous women get treated like absolute crap. No one listens to them, their ideas are not heard, and they're not respected. So it leaves a very clear message: wether you are gorgeous or "ugly", misogyny will still hunt you down and it will catch you. For Betty, men don't look twice her way. They treat her bad from the moment they see her. Just because they don't want to sleep with her, they don't find her attractive. For the beautiful women in the show, like Amanda who is painted as the gorgeous blonde, men only want to sleep with her, and they don't see that she's smart. Go back to watch the show and you'll see how horribly the other women get treated compared to Betty (and they have some good cameos in this show).

As we are reaching the end, we can claim America Ferrera as "that girl". The term is, in my opinion, used for anyone who dresses like a fashionista and acts like the queen they are. But it's much more than that. I think, to achieve that title you have to be also impactful and encourage other women to be what they want to be. America really proved it by playing the Emmy Award winning role of Gloria in Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. I think every cis, heterosexual white male should be forced to sit down and watch this movie. The message behind the Barbie movie is about going from being a girl to being a woman. Barbieland is what our childhood felt like; we were safe, naive, independent and everything seemed perfect. The real world is what womanhood actually is. It's scary, sexist, there's pain and we're faced with so many challenges, while still being held to unrealistic expectations by society. "We mothers stand still, so our daughters can look back to see how far they've become". America Ferrera's speech about how hard it is to be a woman, really affected me and made me tear up in the theather. "It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong. You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass. You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean. You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood." America Ferrera the woman you are, thank you so much for helping me and other women to believe in theirselves. Happy international women's day! <3

#america ferrera #barbie #real women have curves #the sisterhood of the traveling pants #ugly betty #feminism #womens history month #international women's day #margot robbie #greta gerwig #movies #history

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lorz-ix · 4 months

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Peak spanish cinema

La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón (2003)

Alright this movie is insane and I can't really describe what it is, other than calling it live action slapstick, and saying it's based on a very long running and extremely popular spanish comic, and talking about how that comic was key in my formative years, how it inspired me as an artist, and in my sense of humor, but how it also contains a bunch of "problematic" shit because it was written by a very old guy who I still massively respect...

I remember watching this in cinemas when I was a kid, I must have been 7 when it came out, and it was an experience to remember, it even disturbed me in some ways. The humor is slightly more mature than in the comics I read, using more foul language and more adult comedy, which means it felt off back then, me being so young. But the truly wild stuff came during the last third of the movie, when actual drama starts to happen (not something that happened in the comedy-focused comics) and one of the lead actors really hams it up, selling everything that's happening to him really hard. For example, his mother gets kidnapped, and he's completely devastated. Even more stuff happens, something that I won't spoil, but overall it meant that my 7 year old self never forgot what I saw, with these goofy cartoon characters going through such an unpredictable amount of distress.

It's complicated, alright? You might watch it and not understand any of it, because its core audience has literally grown up and sometimes even learnt how to read consuming the source material, and that context is hard to replicate if you're not already into the comics. But I think that lack of knowledge might even be more interesting, because I can't imagine how watching something this absurd might feel.

Listen, I think the slapstick is hysterical, there's lots of practical effects used to recreate a ridiculous-looking cartoon aesthetic and the visuals alone have a shit ton of charm. If you want to watch something insane, this is it.

Mortadelo y Filemón contra Jimmy el Cachondo (2014)

So, you know how I said these characters are extremely popular in Spain? Surprisingly, only 3 movies have been made about them (though a couple of animated shows exist), and one of them is a terrible sequel that we don't like to talk about. Hell, there are a lot more videogames about them than there are movies, for some reason.

This is the last movie to see the light of day, and the only animated one, shockingly enough. Even more shockingly, despite positive critic reception and strong marketing, it underperformed on the box office, probably the reason why we haven't seen any follow-ups since.

It's a decently funny and very quotable comedy, at least for us, but I can't say if it stays as funny once it's been translated and the cultural context has been removed. I guess you would have to find that out yourself. Hopefully I'm not making a fool of myself by recommending it.

#lorz mediapost 2023 #movies #mortadelo y filemon

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silverfoxstole · 9 months

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Paul McGann: The latest twist in his tale

He's spent his career thinking on his feet, so it made sense to improvise his latest role, he tells James Mottram

Published: 20 October 2006 in The Independent

Every autumn, Paul McGann is given an annual reminder of his greatest role. Living in a university town like Bristol, "you can set your calendar by it," he says. "The new student intake has just come in, and they've drunk their first grant cheque and seen Withnail and I... and I know when they've seen it. They usually holler across the street." While Richard E Grant's flamboyant drunk Withnail was the character blessed with the lion's share of memorable quotes, McGann's more introspective "I" still had his moments. He grins at a recent reminder. "The other day, some kid had chalked on the pavement outside my house, 'Perfumed Ponce', with an arrow pointing to my front door!"

Now 46, it's refreshing to see McGann is not precious about the fact that his finest hour has just been commemorated this month with a 20th anniversary DVD. "It's actually very satisfying," he admits. "I can safely say, 'If I'd never done another movie, it would've been all right.'" Still handsome, with his Byronic brown curls, there's a sense of genuine gratitude in his soft Scouse accent. The son of a factory worker and a nursery school teacher, perhaps it's in the knowledge that a working-class childhood in Liverpool does not always lead to such a grand career as acting. The Catholic-raised McGann knows he's been fortunate: accepted into Rada, he got his big break in 1982 alongside his three brothers - Joe, Mark and Stephen - in the West End rock'n'roll musical Yakkety Yak.

"We all wanted to be movie stars," he recalls of his youthful days. "When I was a kid, about 11 or 12, we used to try and bunk into local cinemas to see X movies. Who doesn't do that at that age? This would've been 1972. Maybe an older kid would buy a ticket, then go and open the fire door and we'd watch this film until we were all thrown out. You'd see some hammy old thing, but now and again you'd see a great film - like Klute or Five Easy Pieces. I remember watching Jack Nicholson, maybe not understanding what he's up to but thinking I'd love to do that. He was engaging, charismatic - I was rapt!"

McGann was never going to be the next Nicholson, even if winning the lead in Alan Bleasdale's 1986 BBC drama The Monocled Mutineer boosted his profile. Unlike Grant, he never really made it in Hollywood. "What do they say? It's better to regret the things you have done than the things you haven't," he notes. When he did get cast in major productions, he spent most of his time on the cutting room floor. Almost entirely excised from Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, he saw his part for David Fincher's Alien3 truncated to an almost unintelligible degree and then he was unfortunate enough to appear in Queen of the Damned, the ill-fated follow-up to Interview with a Vampire. "Careers are what they are," he shrugs. "They don't make any sense at all when you look back. We're not in charge of them."

Fate certainly seems to have had a hand in McGann's CV. A knee injury in 1994 forced him to cede the lead in ITV's Sharpe to Sean Bean. Two years later came his one-off turn as Doctor Who, following on from Sylvester McCoy in a US pilot that was set to resurrect the series but ultimately never picked up because the ratings weren't high enough. "We made a pilot that didn't work," he says. "And it didn't work because it wasn't good enough." But given the success of the current revamped show, does he have regrets that he's likely to be remembered - in his own words - as the "George Lazenby of Doctor Who"? "It's impossible to regret. It could've been very different. I would've been there for five or six years... and I'd have earned a shit-load of dough. Life wouldn't have been the same but it didn't happen."

If there's a suspicion that McGann is not ruthless enough to play the Hollywood game, not least because Withnail and I anointed him with a cuddly image, he has set about changing that with his latest film, Gypo. An entirely improvised piece about immigration, he plays Paul, a racist father-of-three living in Margate. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Paul is the vilest character of McGann's career, beginning the film by violently objecting to his daughter bringing home a classmate who, it emerges, is a Romany Czech refugee. "I had to be prepared for him to be irredeemable," says McGann. "He is unremittingly miserable."

Fed on a diet of tabloids and Talk Sport, McGann says his character belongs with the "huge majority of these little Englanders with their easy assumptions. At one point, he talks about Africa being a big county - that's about the level of him." He adds that he didn't want to make him like some "Alf Garnett cartoon" and he doesn't - though he confesses to the fact that director Jan Dunn only came to the set with "broad notions" for the scenes. The rest was up to him. "There wasn't a script to discuss," he says. "That brought me out in a rash, to be honest. That was one of the reasons I thought I had to do this. I couldn't think of any proper, intelligent excuse to turn this kind of challenge down."

Telling the same basic story from three separate perspectives, Gypo is officially the first British film to be registered as a Dogme movie. Given that this manifesto, devised by the Danish director Lars von Trier to purify the film-making process by using only original locations, natural light and so on, is over a decade old, it might seem rather after the fact. McGann nods. "I entered it with a mixture of open-mindedness and healthy cynicism. I mean, they're having us on aren't they? Some of that stuff... c'mon! The more dubious claims for the process about truth and nebulous ideas about authenticity. I mean, what's that about? Films are artifice. We're telling stories on film. At the same time, when it works, there is a real tough immediacy and spontaneity to it, and a punch."

Both frank and funny, McGann is the perfect pub-mate - not least because he is so self-deprecating. Noting that his short-lived time playing Doctor Who has nevertheless given him a place in the show's pantheon, he recalls meeting legendary Time Lord Tom Baker. "We were in opposite voice over studios," he says. "This guy in the sound studio told me he was in, so I went and met him. He didn't have a clue who I was! I found it rather refreshing. He was very charming. He just thought I was some kid off the street. So I thought, 'Let's just leave it at that.'"

Yet as chummy as McGann is, it's doubtful if he'd ever fully open up - at least in interview. Dubbing himself "a miserable bastard at the best of times", laying bare his soul is unlikely to make him happy. Of his brothers, he says, "We get on OK. We get on fine." The last time he worked with them was in 1995's Irish famine saga The Hanging Gale, which the quartet conceived themselves. "The biggest obstacle is getting us all together," he grunts, when asked if he'd consider working with them again. He's better on his sons: 17-year-old Joseph is musically gifted, "one of those swines that can play any instrument", while 15-year-old Jake "has been making funny noises" about following his father into acting.

Such reticence can be easily traced back to the mid-1990s, when McGann had his one uncomfortable brush with the limelight. Caught in the street kissing Catherine Zeta-Jones, his co-star from period piece Catherine the Great, by a photographer, it caused a minor scandal and the press descended upon him and his family. While Joseph and Jake "were really spooked by it" - to the point that they now hate having their photograph taken - McGann admits the gossip "rattled" his relationship with his wife Annie, a former assistant stage manager turned interior designer. "I felt like a kid who was being bullied," reflects McGann.

Since Gypo, McGann has done what he's always done, and worked steadily. He recently completed the lead in Poppies, a film about a playwright who becomes obsessed with the fact his grandfather and two great uncles were killed in the Battle of the Somme that will receive its premiere in November at the Imperial War Museum. And he is currently filming a short produced by Zoë Ball entitled Always Crashing In The Same Car, reuniting with Grant for the first time since Withnail and I. "It's good when we're together," says McGann. "We're still mates. Our kids know each other. Very occasionally we're together in the same place - and then it's difficult to pay for a drink. I like that."

'Gypo' opens today

#i was looking for the tale of paul meeting tom for the first time #and found it by accident going through some old files #paul mcgann #interviews #doctor who #eighth doctor #8th doctor #tom baker #withnail and i #he told the story about the chalk on the pavement in a zoom interview a couple of years ago #it sounded as though it had happened recently but obviously not!

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chaos0pikachu · 2 months

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Hiya, finally got around to reading your post on the horror influences of DFF (thank you) and because it added immensely to my to watch list, I was wondering if you had any recommendations / resources for my current side quest.

Last week I watched both 1000 years old and Red Wine in the Dark Night and came across two very different vampires neither of which has fangs. And while that might still be a coincidence (n=2 is not a good basis) it was enough to make me realise that I do close to nothing about Thailand (and related) vampire lore.

While it is a blessing that we are going to have five thai vampire BLs this year, in this case it is actually a curse because any combination of keywords I can think of leads me to 1000 images of Boun staring at me with red eyes. And in this ONE instance, this is actually a complaint.

So, rambles over: Do you have any recommendation for thai horror / supernatural stories that feature vampires / blood sucking ghosts demons or the like?

Hope you are having a good day and happy watching :-)

Tbh I don't know a ton of Thai vampire movies specifically. My knowledge of Thai cinema tends to skew action or horror and even that I'm still a newbie. What's more frustrating is a lot of older Thai films aren't available for streaming and you gotta pirate them - which hey, I'm no stranger to that life either I'm an anime fan lmao - though Netflix has started picking up more Thai imports recently. That's where I watched The Whole Truth, Girl From Nowhere, Trapped 13 (there's a documentary and a drama also fuck Elon Musk), and part of School Tales.

[Netflix is so fucking annoying they have some of the best catalog for international media around but they're so god damn greedy]

As far as I know in regards to like, are there even Thai vampires in mythology/folklore the closest thing I could find was the Krasue:

"A Krasue, sometimes called Pii Krasue, is a spirit that haunts most of Southeast Asia. [...] The Krasue is delightfully gory, consisting of a floating head with entrails and internal organs dangling from the neck. They usually manifest themselves as attractive young women with bloody hanging innards and float about accompanied by an eerie glow. Sometimes, they even have fangs like a vampire." (source)

So I think it's pretty safe to say that, uh, the vampires in upcoming Thai shows are not taking from Thai myth lol but probably Japanese and Korean media.

Japanese takes on vampires which were all the rage in the mid-00s: Blood The Last Vampire (2000), Vampire Knight (2008), Blood+ (2005), Hellsing (1997 - 2008), Blood C (2011), Blood Hound (2004), Trinity Blood (2005) I'm noticing a lot of "blood" used in these titles.

Not that vampires aren't still a sub-genre in Japan, like gosh Seraph of the End was huge in 2013 and was a part of the small re-boom of anime/manga during that time period after the bubble popped.

Korea's also done vampires there seems to have been a bit of a boom in the mid-00s (Vampire Idol 2011, Immortal Goddess 2016) and then again recently (Kissable Lips 2022, Bite Sisters 2021, Heartbeat 2023). From what little I've seen in Korean media - I haven't watched either of the mid-00s shows - vampires tend to be more romance fodder, and treated like any other fantasy creature rather than something scary or demonic.

Which falls in line with the trailer for 1000 Days - which I have also not watched so correct me if I'm wrong and it's actually scary as fuck lmao - while Japanese vampire media ranges from romantic but more gothic or outright just for horror and action.

In my experience horror films from Japan, Korea and Thailand don't usually have blood sucking ghosts or demons? Not saying there's none, but most of the films I've watched the ghosts weren't like, of the blood sucking variety. They tend to be connected to curses left behind because of some sort of wrong done to the spirit in their past life.

Take, White Melody of Death, as an example which is a Korean horror film about a Kpop girl group. The curse that murders it's way through the characters is attached to the spirit of a character who died.

I really recommend this video on White if only b/c I adore Yhara's videos:

youtube

Even in The Whole Truth the spirit is more of seeking vengeance than like, to eat people. The concept of "demons" is different in various Asian countries than in an American/Anglo-Saxon context because of the differences in religious, and cultural roots.

Again, totally not an expert regarding all this, and I'm putting the rest under a read more for length but gonna talk a bit more about Japanese, and Chinese folklore (with sources!) under the cut. And I DO list some recs for general horror stuff I like.

Take the concept of "demon" for example:

"Yokai is not simply the Japanese word for demon, as is sometimes believed. They are the embodiment of a moment: a feeling of dread and bewilderment, or awe and wonder over an extraordinary event; or a strange sound or peculiar scent that demands an explanation; an ineffable phenomenon explained only by a supernatural entity. Little wonder then that the Japanese characters for Yokai are 妖怪, which taken individually could mean strange or alluring mystery!" (source)

You can see this reflected in Japanese media like the super famous Inu-yasha: A Feudal Fairytale by Rumiko Takahashi (Inuyasha when directly translated into English means "dog demon"). Where, in the story, there's a mix of demons both human like, creature like, and wide as far as individual morality goes - one of the protagonists, Inuyasha is a half-demon mixed with human it's a whole subplot of his character.

I've found this is more typical in the Japanese media I've engaged with. Like in Japanese horror like Dark Waters (2002) or Ringu (1998) they don't refer to the "monster" as a "demon" it's typically referred to as a ghost or spirit.

You can also see this in Chinese media like Yin Yang Master Dream of Eternity - where the protagonist is also a half demon I'm beginning to see a pattern in the media I like lmao - which makes sense since parts of Japanese folklore/mythology was inspired by Chinese mythology:

"Here, in his third book, Konjaku Hyakki Shui (Supplement to The Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past), Sekien finds inspiration in Chinese mythology." (source)

I feel like this is a long winded way of saying, uh, no I don't know any Thai specific movies about vampires or blood sucking demons. It seems like a fairly new genre exploration from what I've researched so far.

Anyway I can happily share some of my favorite Korean, Japanese and Thai horror things tho, but I really recommend others search themselves and explore the genre. Horror is so vast and flexible as a genre so there's a lot I haven't watched or maybe don't even vibe with that you might!

Perfect Blue, 1997, directed by Satoshi Kon - if you liked Black Swan you'd probably like this film if not more so, it's animated but it's such an amazing psychological horror film there's a reason Satoshi Kon's work has been so influential on media globally.

Girl From Nowhere, 2018 - I talk this one up a lot but I only like season 1 which imo is stronger conceptually, that said, a lot of folks liked season two as well! It has major Twilight Zone vibes, but with a central protagonist who is also a literal force of nature (is Nanno a deity, spirit, demon? No one actually knows and the ambigity is delicious) both seasons are available on Netflix.

Ringu, 1998 - I feel like even if you're a casual horror fan or the like you know of The Ring which is a 2002 remake of this Japanese horror film. I think the 1998 version is better if only because my beloved Hiroyuki Sanada is in it, tho as far as American remakes of Japanese horror films go, The Ring isn't a terrible one (the sequel is tho imo).

Hellsing Ultimate, 2006 - So there's an anime for Hellsing from 2002 that's okay, Hellsing Ultimate is a direct adaption of the manga and it's better. I recommend either reading the manga - the art is FANTASTIC - or watching Ultimate. Out of all three I prefer the manga if only because the art is so good, but if you want Dracula eating and fighting Nazis this is the story for you.

Vampire Princess Miyu, 1997 - this is partly nostalgia but the series is so beautifully animated and it's such a classic. The OVAs will probably be hard to find but if you can and you want some classic Japanese vampire stuff I really liked this back in my youth~~

God Child/Earl of Cain, 2005 - so this is a manga, and it's more Gothic horror than straight horror, but I'm adding it because Kaori Yuki's art is amazing, it's a very subtexually queer series, and it's very Sherlock Holmes meets Shirley Jackson in terms of story.

Train to Busan, 2016 - I am a HUGE zombie film fan love me some zombies and Train to Busan is in my top 3 easy. It's top down one of the best zombie films and the only one that tops it for me is the original Night of the Living Dead. The film has the tag team of Don Lee and Gong Yoo like are you kidding me?

I Saw The Devil, 2010 - This one is A Lot, but it stars Lee Byung-hun in one of his better roles and if you don't trust me watch Kennie JD's video on it.

The Guest, 2018 - This show was such an interesting mix of exorcism and shamanism. The scares were legit SCARY and the entire show was so unnerving, if you can handle slow burns and a good character driven ghost story I really liked this one.

#Alive, 2020 - Okay this feels like cheating cause it's not actually that scary like, at all lol at least not to me, but it's got zombies and the incredible Yoo Ah-In (there's also an American version with Tyler Posey that is unfortunately very bad).

Kingdom, 2018 - I am truly basic but it's SUCH a good zombie show!!! The thrills are amazing, and it had me and my Ma on the edge of our seats. It's not really scary to me, but like its a ymmv (zombies in general don't scare me lol they're just fun).

That's all I can think of right now, I know there's more in my head but I can't remember of them all lol and others that I've watched that I wouldn't really recommend - High School of the Dead, for example, is famous for it's "Matrix boobs" scene which is hilarious but not great cinema lmao - so I left a lot of stuff I know out.

This got long, sorry dude!

#chaos pikachu speaks #asks

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cupidsbower · 7 months

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Jawan: non-spoiler review

A more thoughtful review, now I've had a bit of time to think about it.

Shah Rukh Khan is the heart of the movie, so if you don't like his work, you probably won't like the movie.

Fortunately his performance is strong, and he easily carries it. The plot requires him to flex his range, which he does with confidence and charisma. He's rarely been in better form.

It might be billed as an Atlee film, but it's pretty obvious that this was SRK's dream project, and he put together his dream team to make it. I don't say that to dismiss what Atlee brings to the table, just that this project was clearly being driven by SRK's desire to tick off some of the things remaining on his bucket list. That pays off in a lot of ways, because SRK can afford the best, and that really shows on the screen.

SRK worked hard in Jawan to consolidate that he's an action star now, and he succeeded - I don't think anyone would argue it anymore. However, he didn't throw out all the old hooks. His scenes with Deepika Padukone are classic SRK, and so are the dance numbers. Zinda Banda in particular was a highlight. The song is an earworm, and the dance itself is both a spectacle given the number of dancers, and yet simple enough that even I could do it, with a bit of practice. The perfect crowdpleaser.

I don't want to spoil the biggest twist for you if you haven't seen the film yet, so I can't talk about my favourite aspect of SRK's performance in detail. I'll just say that for the last few years, he's been at his best when playing his real age, and that's true in Jawan as well.

There are good things other than SRK. Atlee's direction has all the kineticism of southern Indian cinema, and it's a spectacle that's a joy to watch on an aesthetic level. The soundtrack is fantastic. The special effects are world class.

I also like that this is mass entertainment that's not pretending to be anything else, but that it still touches on themes that are timely in India at the moment. I watched Raees just a few weeks ago, and there are obvious parallels. It's obvious that not everything along those lines comes from Atlee, even if the southern didacticism is on full display.

I do have one criticism. The plot was ambitious, and I give it points for that. I much prefer an ambitious plot that doesn't always work to a plot-by-numbers like Pathaan. However, Jawan's plotting sprawls all over the screen. That's sometimes a feature rather than a bug. It helped the film avoid some of the more obvious cliches. For example, I liked that the bad-guy's Evil Habit ended up not playing out in the way you'd expect. Anything that subverts a cliche is good with me. On the other hand, the plot was weaker than it needed to be. For instance, in a movie with so many women characters, I wanted more of them in the final act. There was still enough momentum to carry me to the end, but the ending was weaker than the rest of the film. Just a bit more cleverness in that final fight, tying it more effectively to the larger plot strands, would have made a big difference.

It was still a really great time, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. I hope they do make a sequel. I would happily watch more of SRK in this 'verse.

#jawan #shah rukh khan #review

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cxncordia · 4 months

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This new wave of Queer cinema worries me a bit.

I'm talking things like Saltburn, Fellow Passengers and All of Us Strangers.

It worries me because, while beautiful to look at, it's a beautiful package wrap around one very detrimental idea: gays are not okay.

I'm gonna spoil a bit here. Ignore the list if you haven't seen any of these movies:

Saltburn is the story of Oliver, a guy that at first glance is shown that is experiencing the worst crush of his life on Felix, a beautiful English boy that he just can't have... and thus he starts this strange journey to get him, only to reveal to us that it was never Felix whom he wanted, but the Saltburn state where most of the story happens.

Fellow Passengers shows a beautiful love story of these two men who keep on being lovers through the ages and shows the audience what it means to be gay through a moment in time very difficult, because as they deal with externalized homophobia, they deal with internalized homophobia.

All of Us Strangers, while I haven't watched it, I have read that the basic idea is that Adam (Scott) is a screenwriter who runs into Harry (Mescal) who seems to make him open up and become vulnerable. And then they seem to move back to Adam's house where his parents are still living.

Now, I don't want to extrapolate over something so silly and superficial. But it worries me that these are the new "wave" of queer cinema. Because underneath it all, the basic conflict is that being gay is somehow linked to these problems of internalized shame and regret. While not explicitly villainizing homosexuality, we don't have the counterpart on the industry. We don't have homosexuals we can look up to and when we do, they are wrapped in the police and government propaganda idyllic world that serves the powers to be. (yes, I'm talking about you, Tarlos).

And yes, that's true. We gay men go through shame and regret more punctually than straight men do: because the world was not constructed for us so we have to learn to navigate the fact that we "look" the part but we "aren't" the part. We become performatic and we fill the gap between ourselves and the very large mask we use with shame.

But straight men have something we don't: an array of power fantasies at the tip of their fingers where their sexuality is not even questioned, put into consideration or a source of shame. Some other factors may be questioned, but never their sexuality. Rebel Moon comes out in December 21st and it's a testosterone-filled action movie with male actors and male characters that have not their sexuality questioned in this imaginary universe. Aquaman 2 comes out around the same time and it also features straight masculine acting men who do not have to worry about one ounce on how gay they look.

And that's the problem.

Every gay media I watch that gets to the mainstream is "woe is me and I'm gay". Even stuff that's supposed to make you feel good (Heartstopper or Smiley) has that component of internalized shame. And I get it, many of us who have come now into economic power and who are main consumers lived a time where shame was the norm.

But it's time to stop that. And also, is time to stop telling the gays that come behind us that they have to suffer this.

It's been more than 20 years since I fist watched Queer As Folk (the British version with a twink Charlie Hunnam) and we are still dealing with the same tropes, the same stories, the same ideas.

Where are the hyper-masculine gay super heroes? Or even better yet: the fat and femme gay super heroes?

The romantic and endearing fantasy princes looking for their own prince?

The fantasy hero based on the monomyth who faces his father as a representation of the Patriarchy that has stomped on him?

Where are they?

I'm just... tired.

Tired that in 20 something years we still have the same shit and we don't seem to move beyond Queer as Folk and Brokeback Mountain type of stories. And when we do present something new they are bogged down and ignored in the corporate shitty streaming world that only cares about how much money it can pull out from our pockets. Like that supernatural show (Astrid and Lily Save the World) with two plus size lesbian main characters.

I mean, it's amazing to see Andrew Scott get it going with Paul Mescal, and to see Jonathan Bailey suck Matt Bomer's toes is a first... but I need something more. Something different. Something were the character's sexuality isn't questioned or a source of shame, but a worthy, proud, and unapologetic trait of the main character who also has fun in the movie.

I want joyful gay stories that celebrate my sexuality. I want simple gay stories. I want happy gays.

Isn't that what the term is supposed to mean in the first place?

#the dean had spoken

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momokodaisy · 7 months

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Like yeah, I know John had a wife, but sex still played no role in his films, just pure love. So it was disappointing for the first episode of ‘The Continental’ to have three sex scenes — one happening off to the side in the most lifeless 1970s New Year’s Party I’ve ever seen (people looked more shuffling than dancing), then young Winston has one mostly kept offscreen, so I though ‘okay, that’s a little better’, but then they have two detectives outright naked, showing their backsides and doing the act onscreen for a solid minute, and I was like WHY. This is the ‘John Wick’ franchise. You’re appealing to the wrong people here, we really don’t need to see that. It literally had nothing to do with the plot. And my non-asexual friend hated it too, so I know it’s not just an ace thought in this case. The opening fight was pretty good though.

So I have not seen any part of the Continental TV show, nor will I ever watch it, so I can't give my 100% Verified Critic TM opinions, and thus I will be going off your testimony, Anon. And uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah. It sounds exactly as bad as I expected it to be.

First, just for context for others who maybe haven't seen the films - sex is not at all a thing in JW quadriology. There are no sex scenes, John has no love interests, I don't even think there's an instance where a character catcalls or makes a reference to getting laid. The most sexually charged scene, arguably, is a quick shot of Ares touching John's butt during a patdown. Even the scene where a woman removes all her clothes is written and shot intentionally un-sexually charged as possible and is instead far more sad and tragic. So yeah, throwing sex scenes and sexually-charged nudity into a """""John Wick"""" tv series is. fuckin stupid.

The real problem here, though, isn't that the creators are making unnecessary sex scenes, that's a symptom of a bigger issue. The issue is that the show is not at all interested in what made the John Wick movies work. The John Wick movies are pure action camp, they are over-the-top depictions of guys fighting each other in brutal and violent ways, just done artistically. Rule of Cool is law, and that makes for some of the most stunningly gorgeous visual cinema to date. The JW films can be summarized as "pretty man in suit do murder" and as long as it looks good, that's all that it needs to be. Sure, Kolstad and Stahelski added some crazy worldbuilding that gets more and more ridiculous as the movies go, but again, this is just an excuse for Keanu Reeves to get in a black suit and pretend to shoot a fuckton of stunt guys. None of this needs to make sense. The world John lives in does not need to be logical or realistic, it just needs to service the next action scene. Because, let's face it, this is a classic Greek tragedy unfolding before our eyes, John nor anyone else is gonna have a character arc, there aren't subplots that need to be tied up by the end. We're just here for the spectacle. And that's ok.

However, we live in a disgusting timeline where studios feel the need to a make cinematic universe out of everything, so instead of just fuckin…. giving Kolstad or Stahelski or literally anyone the money and resources to make more projects, they try to come up with shit from an IP. And all Lionsgate really has going for it right now is The Hunger Games and John Wick, so they want something with JW franchise names we know. Hence, a backstory about Winston and the Continental, which literally?? no one asked for?? ever????? If anyone actually cares about Winston's original rise to power, or what John did to hide Sofia's daughter, or what exactly happened in the three-men-in-a-bar-with-a-pencil story, we fanfic writers have already gotten to work on that, I don't need a panel of executives doing that for me. And a part of the appeal of the John Wick underworld is that it's there, it exists, it's just how the world works, and we do not question it. The moment we start asking questions about how it works proves that we've lost the point, which is YO BRO JOHN'S SWORDFIGHTING THE IRON CHEF GUY WITH KATANA IN A GLASS ROOM THIS IS SO SICK

So. yeah. doesn't surprise me at all the sex scenes felt out of place and don't work for a John Wick spin off. Nothing about this premise works as a John Wick spin off. Put shit in, get shit out.

#this is a very small section of a full essay about john wick and ace coding and female gaze me and besties had #which i'd also be happy to talk about if anyone's interested #thanks for the info anon! sorry you had to suffer through that #john wick #sen thinks she's interesting #<-- new tag bc this isn't funny but just me rambling

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distant--shadow · 7 months

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get to know meme

lil thing where I'll give a bit too much detail so it fills its purpose, honoured honestly to be tagged by three of my favourite writers in this space @sharkodactyl, @unicyclehippo , and @astoriacolumnstaircase - anyone reading this should be reading their works instead.

favourite colour: brown(s), like a mid to a dark tone, i like them to have a bit of red involved. like our old-boy chet, I love the wood. my dream home would be all wood-panelled with built in inlayed and set back shelves and nooks a plenty and yeah just full of brik-a-brak. otherwise my favourite colours are navy blue and greens that are more mixed with blue than yellow, teals and emeralds and once again generally around the mid tones. green makes me very happy. moss and outdoors and all that.

currently reading: fic. haha. (suss my recommend reading tag) I did venture out to my (very) local queer bookshop and asked them for something that won't send me on a spiral if I'm already on one/provide some escapism and they reccomended river of teeth by Sarah gailey. anyone I've said about it to seems real enthusiastic about it, I am not well read at all when it comes to published things, tend to just get really into a few fandom authors works and picking them apart (rereading a lot) . still haven't started it but maybe I'll try take it out to the park in the next week or so. I'm dabbling in reading (and unfortunately writing) poetry thanks to @picturesofthegoneworlds and @blorbotomy 's influence, those mini books are fun to keep on you when out and about, poem or two on a tree stump or boulder with a grand vista and a brain that wants eyes on a phone screen.

last song: last song I consciously (not background music) listened to was:

youtube

I went on an early lord snow stint the other night because the air smelt crisp and there was a nice chill. they have remained my favourite heavy (as a broad term) band for a decade now.

I used to have music on all of the time, whether that be cd's at home or in my mp3 player (that I still take out with me) but these days I find listening more of an intentional activity and I prefer to have people just nattering when I'm at home and want background noise. think it's where my heads at and I've just got more sensitive to being overstimulated I guess. I was also pretty good at going to a live gig at least once a week before I did my back in, looking forward to getting into that habit again.

last series: I don't watch much stuff outside of critical role, least other than YouTube videos I'll put on whislt I'm drawing. oh wait yeah I ordered 3 seasons of xena on ebay because it's like a couple of quid a season and it is a real good comfort show and fucking amazing. I hadn't seen it since I was pre teen and it was on day time TV and I'd catch it on sick days. the amount of people I've brought it up to these past few months who've been so stoked to be reminded of it/eager to watch it with me is actually hilarious.

last movie: uhhhh God movies I watch even less. I haven't been to a cinema in over 12 years now, just not my thing, and it's funny caus my mum used to work in the film and TV industry and we had shelves and shelves full of VHS growing up (mostly bootlegged) and she can just ramble about pretty much any early era film up to the stuff from the 80s (when she was working on em) for days. never could sit through em, never felt satisfied with how the story went. guess that's why actual play appeals to me. but saying all this I did rewatch Bound for the first time since I was like 15 last month or so, enjoyed it a lot more than I did back then.

sweet/savory/spicy: savory all day. I am a salt fiend. I used to think I'd be fortunate enough to die from my salt intake. I'll put it on anything. cereal, toast, fruit. I think the other day I noted the one thing I wouldn't put it on, but I can't recall that right now honestly. it's gotta be decent salt too, sea salt or rock salt that has some texture and delicious flavour, I'm not fucking with that table salt shit. I carry salt with me in a mini mason jar everywhere I go, saves when you only have access to bland cold supermarket food. one of my earliest memories is when I was like 6 I had had my daily 1 glass allowance of squash/fruit cordial in my white Tom and Jerry printed beaker with the accordion bendy straw and so when I was pouring myself a glass of water from the tap I put salt in it caus I wanted flavour that would not show through the white translucent container. it's all been downhill from there, although I also, luckily I guess caus otherwise I would be really fucked, do drink a lot of water.

currently working on: myself and healing. hah. I never realised how much paperwork and phone calls came with this maintenance shit. I'm still out of work, and my mental health has taken a huge hit from not being able to do the things I usually would. so right now I'm just trying to keep everything together. I can draw again though, so sorry about that.

I never know who to tag in these things caus I don't think everyone wants to do them. so I'll go with this being open invite as always. hope anyone who read this far is having a good week, and sentiment is still there even if you didn't read this (unless you don't deserve my well wishes, then fuck you.)

#Youtube

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piracytheorist · 11 months

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What are your favourite movies? :)

On the top I think I'd put Chocolat. I haven't watched it in a few years, but I love so much about this film (soundtrack, set designs, aesthetic, CHOCOLATE) that my first and instinctual answer when asked about my favourite film is that.

Finding Nemo. This was the first (and one of the very few) film that I watched twice in the cinema because I loved it so much, and the first film that I bought on DVD with my own birthday money. I think it was the first film in general that made me go like "I like this not only because it's animated and more fun than the boring non-animated films the grown-ups watch all the time" and I was about 9 at the time. The story was touching, the soundtrack was beautiful, the colours and animation were fantastic... and I still consider it one of the best and most well-made films I've ever watched.

Going on on animated films, I also consider The Incredibles as one of the best films I've watched. This film is barely for children, when you consider how much actual violence, death, and mature content it includes. Every time I watch it, I have something new to love about it.

Treasure Planet is and always will be the best underrated film I've ever watched. I've seen youtubers complain about how it's not underrated anymore because everyone talks about it and excuse me sir do we see the Mouse promote it now? It's not even available in the Greek version of d+. Shut up.

I could go on and on about great animated movies I've watched but let's turn it to live action ones for any snobs out there

I've watched it only once, but I think 1917 rewired my brain in so many ways. It was one of the last films I watched in the cinema before they closed for covid, and it was such an experience watching it on the big screen with my cinema-loving sister (who had already watched it once before) that I feel it will be a legitimately lesser experience if I watch it alone on my puny laptop's screen. Anyway, I remember trying to watch another war film the day before and feeling sick to the stomach with the Murican propaganda and the war pr0n that when I walked out of watching 1917 I was like "That's how you make a war film." It is shocking and gutting without any fanfare and excessive use of shock factor; only realistic brutality of war.

Stardust. Oh boy. I would pay so much money for a game set in its world. Such beautiful world building, characters, story, I love it so much.

Honourable mentions to Moulin Rouge!, Mean Girls, Detective Pikachu, and Venom. There are a few other films that are more of a guilty pleasure but it's for another post XD

#nette speaks #films #lentachorum #ask and ye shall receive

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mogwai-movie-house · 10 months

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Asteroid City (2023)

Visually, compositionally, Wes Anderson is without peer, and any individual shot out of his latest film will make practically every other movie released this year look like a provincial teenager's first TikTok video. Everywhere you look the details are never-endingly exquisite and hilarious, and my eyes haven't experienced so much pleasure since the last Wes Anderson flick. He's the only director left standing that I will still pay to go to a cinema to see.

The downside is that the story itself is awkward, convoluted, flimsy and whimsical - flimsical, if you will - and it's often hard to follow or care about what is going on, especially in the larger story arc, which flits between a black & white 1950s TV production and the glorious technicolor of the main story. I would have been perfectly happy to have lost the needlessly distracting B&W sections, as they add very little in the long run, and sap the energy and pace of the rest. The clever story Anderson is trying to tell here could work, but he doesn't have a strong enough grip on all the narrative and character elements to convey it in a clear and emotionally engaging way, so there are parts that feel more of a private joke or a personal fancy than a work made for the wider world. It could be I'll think differently about that on further viewings, but I would still expect to find this is what weakens the film the most.

The ridiculously stellar cast is dazzling, but there's just too many famous faces here for one film to do them justice: newcomer Tom Hanks is a great fit but woefully underused, and something similar could be said for Steve Carell, Tilda Swinton, Matt Dillon, Jeff Goldblum, Margot Robbie, Hope Davis, Bob Balaban and Willem Dafoe, all of whom are most welcome sights, but simply aren't onscreen long enough to convey anything of real substance, and they all deserved more fleshed-out roles they could get their teeth into.

For the first time in a Wes Anderson movie there is some rather obvious diversity hiring in the casting department (presumably in order to meet the new qualifications for an Oscar), some of whom work better than others, but the returning Jeffrey Wright and Tony Revolori are both excellent, and Ethan Josh Lee is a good new addition to the family.

Bryan Cranston and Edward Norton get more screen-time than most, but the first feels like a walk-on guest spot in a TV sketch show and the other looks somewhat lost in the confusing shuffle. Jason Schwartzman is, of course, the perfect Anderson avatar, and Scarlet Johansson is, for the most part, very dependable too. Liev Schreiber fits in surprisingly well, and the running gags with his son Aristou Meehan are perhaps the funniest high points of the film.

-----

All in all, it's hard to know how to rate this: it's definitely one of the weakest Wes Anderson movies, but for all the undeniable flaws in narrative it still gives me more joy to watch than just about anything else modern cinema has to offer, and I think by December I might still regard it the best thing I've seen all year. So that's odd.

★★★★★★½✰✰✰

#film reviews #asteroid city #wes anderson

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adam-raki · 4 days

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I wanna have a quick rant about Adam (2009). Yes, there is a TL;DR at the end.

Now, I love this movie. It means a lot to me. It's probably very obvious due to the way that I've dedicated my whole account to it. Still, I think people tend to fundamentally misunderstand this movie - and I wanna talk about it.

Let me first say that it isn't perfect. A better movie would have, for example, employed an autistic actor (despite how much I adore Hugh Dancy's performance) and made various other changes that I will not be bothered to list. Is it a perfect representation of autism? No. But, is there a better representation out there? Personally, I don't think so. It's hard to define what 'good representation' is.

I've actually heard this reviewed as a 'bad' or even the 'worst' autism movie ever, which I think is an unworthy assessment.

A lot of criticism of this movie boils down to people just not relating to Adam's personal experience as an autistic adult - and that's fine. Having autism is such a diverse experience, and I can understand the frustration of the representation being almost exclusively cishet white men who like STEM (trust me, it infuriates me too). Still, some autistic people ARE like Adam, and that's also fine. Some of us don't find his character exaggerated at all (like me, who found the shot of his multiple boxes on cereal in the cupboard painfully relatable). A more varied set of autistic characters need to be seen in cinema... including ones like this.

But, the reason why I have a problem with this movie is also why I love it so much; it's uncomfortable. I haven't re-watched it in so long because it genuinely makes me upset. It's uncomfortable to watch Adam mistaken as a predator and watch the miscommunication between him and Beth (per the "were you excited?" scene and the fakeout where you think he's pestering her for sex, but he just wants to practice for his interview). It's uncomfortable to watch him continually shut down by the people around him. It's uncomfortable to watch him misunderstood, mistreated, and left on his own when his partner couldn't be bothered to understand him. It's raw and a little bit ugly.

Was this what the movie makers were going for? Honestly, I don't know. Maybe it really was meant to be a 'pity the autistic' movie for neurotypicals, but I think that would be reducing it to something that it isn't. Yes some of the scenes are jarring to watch. It's less so romantic and comedic than it is awkward and kind of heartbreaking. But maybe that's the point.

Adam 2009 is very much a product of its time. I mean, it's roughly 15 years old now so I wouldn't have expected much. Yet still, it manages to be nuanced, showing the flaws in both sides of Adam's and Beth's relationship and how it ultimately doesn't work out (literally, almost exclusively because of Beth, not Adam).

I'm not telling you if you should or shouldn't like this movie. I happen to really dislike a lot of movies that are praised by viewers and critics. I don't even particuarly find this movie to be all that impressive in the narrative sense - but it hits hard. At least to me, it's the most authetic experience of my own struggles as someone on the spectrum. I hate how accurate it is, and I hate how much I see of myself in Adam sometimes. It's difficult to watch. And I love it.

TL;DR for this - Adam 2009 is flawed as a movie, but many of its facets are misinterpreted as bad representation unduly. I think it's supposed to feel awkward and uncomfortable. Some of us on the spectrum relate to that and good representation can't possibly cover every single autistic experience.

Anyway - if anyone has thoughts on this, I would love to hear them! You don't have to agree with me. Just be nice (or I'll be upset).

#adam 2009 #adam raki #rant

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