#like regardless of the fact that i think the knives out films are like. fun mysteries. they are not groundbreaking | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

brentwatchesmovies · 3 years

Text

Brent’s Top 10 Movies of 2019

Scorsese is probably my favorite living filmmaker, but I’ll be honest, when I heard that Scorsese was making this movie, and *how* he was making it (heavily digital de-aged actors) I was a bit skeptical. De Niro and Pacino haven’t been turning in interesting performances in quite awhile, and Pesci came out of a decades-long retirement for the movie as well. On top of that, the first trailer released did little for me. All that to say I was an idiot to doubt the master.

Scorsese returns to the crime genre that he re-invented many times over the years, this time with the eyes of a man in his 70’s, looking back on his life and career. The movie is very long, but in my opinion, it needs the length. The viewer needs to *feel* the totality of a life, and as is his intent with The Irishman, the *consequences* of this specific life. The final hour or so of this movie feels like a culmination of Scorsese’s career in many ways. The energy and entertainment of a crime/mob epic, with the fatalism and philosophical leanings of a movie like ‘Silence’. It’s a 3.5 hour movie that I’ve already rewatched, and actively want to again, so that alone ought to speak volumes.

Harmony Korine made one of my favorite movies of the 2010’s, the neon-soaked and often misunderstood ‘Spring Breakers’, so I was already in the bag for whatever he did next. When I heard it was a freewheeling stoner comedy where Matthew Mcconaughey plays a guy named ‘Moondog’ costarring Snoop Dogg, I reserved its location on my top 10 list.

This movie doesn’t have the empty heart at its core that defines Spring Breakers, opting instead for a character study about a ‘Florida man’ poet after his life pretty much falls apart. It’s basically plotless, stumbling from one insane, borderline hallucinatory sequence to the next, but I just loved living in the world of this movie. Beach Bum almost feels like a deliriously fun VR simulation of hanging out with Matt McConaughey and his weirdo friends down in the Florida keys. This is one that probably won’t pop up on many top 10 lists but I really adore, and will surely rewatch it a dozen times in the years to come.

Let the record show, I’ve been a huge fan of Bong Joon-ho since I first saw his monster movie/family drama ‘The Host’. Some time later, he went on to make ‘Snowpiercer’, one of my favorite movies of the last decade. All that to say, I think Parasite is probably his best movie, and a true masterwork of thriller direction. It also has his usual brand of social commentary and a script filled with darkness and humor, following a South Korean tendency to juggle multiple tones throughout, sometimes all in one moment or scene.

Parasite also follows a big 2019 trend of commenting on class and social dynamics between the rich and the poor. I think that’s part of why it’s done incredibly well at the box office (especially for a Korean language film), the fact that people can relate in a huge way, regardless of which country your from. Parasite is one of the most entertaining movie viewing experiences I’ve had this year and I’d recommend everyone check it out.

If you were to ask me what the funnest movie-going experience I had in 2019 was, I’d have to pick Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out’. Hot off making one of the best Star Wars movies ever made (don’t @ me) Johnson decided to make a passion project in the vein of classic Agatha Christie style murder mysteries, and the results are a total blast. Filled with clever twists and turns, weaponizing the structure of murder-mysteries against the audiences expectations, it stays one step ahead of you the entire time.

Aside from the clever mystery of it all, it’s the actors performances and chemistry that really sell this thing. Jamie Lee Curtis and Toni Collette are expectedly great per usual, and Daniel Craig is having the time of his life as Mississippi private-eye Benoit Blanc, but the heart of the movie is relative newcomer Ana de Armas. She brings an emotional weight and anchor to the movie that always keeps you emotionally invested amidst the terrible, money hungry backstabbing by the other heightened characters. I hope everyone sees this movie and Johnson is able to give us another Benoit Blanc adventure somewhere down the line, I’ll be there opening day.

Nobody makes an upbeat, feel-good movie like Ari Aster does! After last years light and breezy ‘Hereditary’ (which I liked a lot but didn’t totally love) he’s back with a completely riveting and emotionally draining (not to mention horrific) masterpiece. What I connected to most in Midsommar is the journey of Dani, played incredibly by Florence Pugh. The way the film portrays the relationship between her and her dog shit boyfriend played by the (usually) charming Jack Reynor keeps you invested in every twist, perfectly paced out over the movies admittedly long runtime.

I won’t get into spoiler territory, but where this movie goes in the end is what makes this a fully 5-star movie for me. After putting you through hell, like Aster loves to do with bells on, Midsommar ends in a euphoric, psychedelic orgy of music and violence that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Midsommar rules so hard and I can’t wait for whatever twisted thing Aster cooks up next.

One of my increasingly favorite brands of movies is a finely crafted, primo slice of dad-movie cinema, and James Mangold has made one with Ford v Ferrari. The story chronicles the partnership of ex-racer and designer Carroll Shelby and racer Ken Miles as they work to make a Ford that can compete in the 24 hour race of Le Mans. Bale and Damon are a blast to watch bounce off each other and the race sequences are pretty damn thrilling, combining (what I expect is) a solid amount of great VFX with practical racing to great effect.

I also didn’t expect it to have as much to say about the struggle to create something special by passionate people and not committees while also inside the very machine that churns out products on an assembly line. Just a random note, this original movie was just put out by 20th Century Fox, now owned by Disney but that’s completely unrelated and I’m not sure why I’d even bring that up??? Anyway, I love this movie and dads, moms and everybody else should check it out.

If you saw my list last year, then it must appear like I’m some diehard Mr. Rogers fan. I don’t really have many memories watching his show as a child, but what the documentary ‘Won’t You be my Neighbor’ and this film by Marielle Heller have in common is a shared fascination of his immense empathy and character. It’s only right that America’s dad Tom Hanks should play him, and I was surprised at the end that I was able to get over his stardom and accept him as Rogers. He’s not doing a direct impersonation, and I think it’s all the better for it, instead opting for matching his soft tone and laid back movements.

On a pure emotional level, this movie was a freight train. It didn’t help that the movie covers a lot of father stuff, from losing your own to becoming one yourself (2 big boxes on the Brent bingo card). Heller’s direction is clever in its weaponizing of meta/post-modern techniques, such as one incredible fourth wall break in a diner scene. It literally breaks down the barrier between Mr. Rogers, we the audience, and the films intent to make us feel something.

I cry a lot at movies, that much is well known, but it’s rare that a movie makes me weep, and this one did. Even thinking about scenes right now, days later, my eyes are welling up with tears thinking about the messages of the movie. Mr. Rogers and his lessons of empathy and emotional understanding have rarely been as vital and important as they are right now in our world.

Robert Eggers first film ‘The Witch’ from 2015 is one of my favorite movies of this decade, possibly of all time, so my hype for his black and white, period piece two-hander ‘The Lighthouse’ was through the roof. Even with sky-high expectations, it still blew me away. With dialogue reminiscent of The Witch in its specific authenticity to its era, to the two lead actors giving all-time great performances, It was one of the most entertaining film viewing experiences I had this year.

There’s something about both of Egger’s movies that I really keyed into watching this one: his fascination with shame and the liberation from it. Where Witch was from the female perspective, Lighthouse literally has two farting, drunk men in a giant phallic symbol fighting for dominance. It’s less a horror film than his first, but still utterly engrossing, demented and specific to his singular vision. I can’t wait to see 20 more movies from this guy.

This is another big movie of 2019, like The Irishman, where you can see the director looking inward, at what his films mean and represent. It initially caught me so off guard that I really didn’t know how to feel about it, but after seeing it again, it’s one of my favorites of the year, and probably Tarantino’s filmography overall. More akin to something like Boogie Nights or Dazed and Confused, letting us live with and follow a small group of characters, it mostly doesn’t feel like a Tarantino movie (until the inevitable and shocking explosion of violence in the third act, of course).

‘Hollywood’ is the most sincere and loving movie Tarantino has made, interested in giving us a send off to an era of Hollywood and artists that have been lost or forgotten (Some more tragically than others). In the end, the movie functions similarly to ‘Inglorious Basterds’ in it’s rewriting of history to give us catharsis. “If only things could have worked out this way.” Luckily in movies, removed from the restrictions of reality, they can. And once upon a time in Hollywood, they did.

Uncut Gems probably tripled my blood pressure by the time the credits rolled. A slice-of-life story about a gambler/dealer in New York’s diamond district, the movie follows Howard Ratner, played by Adam Sandler in easily the best performance of his career. Ratner is basically addicted to living at the edge of a cliff, being chased by violent debt collectors, juggling a home life and a relationship with an employee, and fully relying on risky sports bets to stay afloat. It makes for a consistently tense and unique viewing experience, expertly directed by the Safdie brothers.

Something that might not work for everyone but that I personally loved, is the chaotic way in which the movie is shot. What feels like loosely directed scenes, with characters talking over each other and multiple conversations happening at once, adds an authenticity and reality lacking from most other movies. It’s more adjacent to Linklater (thanks to Adam for the comparison) or Scorsese’s earlier films (also fitting, that he’s a producer on this). Following Howard Ratner as his life descends into chaotic hell was one of the best times I’ve had watching a movie this year.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

AVENGERS ENDGAME

DOLEMITE IS MY NAME

BOOKSMART

JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3

THE FAREWELL

AD ASTRA

#top 10 #movies #2019 #top 10 movies #midsommar #uncut gems #the irishman #martin scorsese

3 notes · View notes

babyyatusabes · 4 years

Note

Thoughts on Knives Out, if you’ve seen it? I really appreciated its commentary on racial dynamics, especially because it was so concealed in the marketing - all the trailers mostly featuring Chris Evans and such, which I think was a choice. So people would watch it and maybe *cough* leARN SOMETHING AND SELF REFLECT. That being said, I was frustrated but not surprised that so much press emphasis was on the white actors and not the absolute powerhouse that is Ana de Armas

I have seen it! Actually I was interested in seeing it when it premiered at tiff but I ended up getting tickets for other things. When I finally did see it I loved it! I’m a huge fan of movies with atmosphere and style to them (like Bad Times At The El Royale or The Gentlemen-- as long as there is substance as well) and I’m always looking for stuff that actually has something to say about society, so this film was right up my alley (though I do have to say, I guessed the entire thing).

I don’t remember what I thought about the trailers other than I wanted to see it lol and I personally haven’t focused on the press surrounding it because I prefer to form my own opinions about things when I can but I don’t have any doubt in my mind that they would prioritize white people like Chris Evans and Jamie Lee Curtis over Ana de Armas. She was really amazing in it, and no matter how much recognition she received, I know for a fact that she deserved more.

That being said, I think the film really did a good job of capturing the micro aggressions of the rich and the level of selfishness amongst even “nice” rich people. it sends a very clear message that there is really no such thing as a “nice” rich person (except perhaps Christopher Plummer’s character but he, in part, was using his kindness towards Marta as a way to get back at his family so). In the same way that Parasite does, this film shows that the rich cannot exist without having people on lower levels to raise them up (read: exploit) and once their position is threatened, any concept of kindness is out the window. Rich people are only as nice as they can be without it being at their own expense, meaning that maybe they’ll donate to a charity or “take care” of the help but the second kindness means giving up something of their own, they fight tooth and nail to keep what they feel they’re entitled to. I think a lot of people really don’t understand that in today’s age of celebrities and giant cooperations like Amazon and Walmart, but this film (hopefully) will open audiences’ eyes to the truth in a way that is more personalized and easier to understand.

Additionally, I think they did a great job of showing the immigrant experience and the micro aggressions non-white people face regardless of classism in subtle but realistic ways (like the fact that no one knew where Marta was from, assumingely because all latam is the same in their minds and she is not important enough to be remembered). Once again, I think the set up of the film lends itself to being easily understood by those who are not a part of a racial/ethnic minority and hopefully will start a conversation for people who had not previously considered these things.

sorry if I'm not making sense, I'm p tired lol but the point was that I loved the movie and of course people are gonna be stupid about it in relation to class and race but I hope that in general this movie has opened people up to having a conversation about these topics in a way that is easily understandable.

also its just a fun movie and a good mystery if you're not like me and can’t guess the outcome to nearly every movie I've ever watched adjfhksa so if you haven’t seen it, go watch it!

send me film asks, mutuals as or ask for personalized film recs

#ok I'm going to bed soon lol #hope I made sense!#I really did like this movie and would recommend it #asked #knives out #film #cinema #film review #?#effy

1 note · View note

hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 7 years

Link

“Spider-Man: Homecoming is the best Spider-Man movie ever, and it isn't even close.”

No it isn’t.

It’s not even the best example of filmmaking about a character called Spider-Man.

Vital plot points don’t really make much sense, there is fatigue from the MCu overall and on top of that it aggressively lacks substance and weight to it the way Spider-Man 2002 and Spider-Man 2 had.

As a film it’s fun but the best ever and it not being close?

But I expet nothing less from the blog that straight up claimed Brand New Day was awesome, the Spider-Man story could have ended after the Death of Gwen Stacy (despite you know multiple dangling plot threads) and that One More Day was great because we got young and hip Spider-Man back and the whole story makes sense because by making the dealto never be married there could never have been a deal to get unmarried therefore Spider-Man never made a eal with mephisto so shuttup and stop complaining about it idiots, enjoy Carlie Cooper and creepy Black Cat mask sex instead!

“To be fair, I don't think Tom Holland was the best Spider-Man — that's Andrew Garfield, who is much closer to my preferred version of Spider-Man (the late, college-age Steve Ditko version) than anyone else (Holland wins the prize for being the closest version to Ultimate Spider-Man. That's the thing. Spider-Man is open to interpretation. They all got a piece of him right.).”

So the OP’s preferred version is a version which existed for literally 8 issues?

Okay.

Also Holland might be relatively closest to the Ultimate version of Spider-Man…but only the Ultimate Miles Morales version.

“Nor do I think that it's the most groundbreaking of the Spider-Man movies, since that still probably goes to the first one with Tobey Maguire, which was mind-blowing at the time of release, but is horribly dated now.”

No art should ever be legitimately judged outside the context in which it was created. A movie not dating is nothing more than a bonus. It doesn’t make or break the film’s value because the standards of today are simply arbitrarily different to the standards of yesterday and the standards of tomorrow will be much the same.

“With context as to what the superhero movie would later become, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst look positively amateurish and incredibly underwhelming. (And whiny. Let's never forget whiny.)”

Yeah…fuck this guy.

Every character who whined in the first 2 films had legitimate reasons to do so.

But oh noes, they aren’t deadpan snarker badasses like RDJ’s Iron man therefore they must suck because…they act like human beings I guess.

“Context matters, though. And in the larger scheme of things when the history books are written, Tobey Maguire's first foray as Spider-Man will be remembered as the character's coming out moment, for better or for worse. Similarly, context matters when looking at creative choices made in a movie like this. And while I can't quite put into words why the movie fell short for me despite the fact that all the elements to make it successful were there, I can talk about something else regarding the movie, and that's the fact that it's one of the most racially diverse blockbuster movies in recent memory.”

So it’s the best Spier-Man movie ever but fell short for you….okay…

“So let's look at...

Racial Diversity and Bending in Spider-Man: Homecoming

by Duy

SPOILERS FOLLOW Spider-Man: Homecoming has a pretty damn diverse cast. Let's take a look at his main classmates Breakfast Club style.

So you've got Tom Holland in the middle playing Peter Parker. He's white. Over to his left is Zendaya, playing Michelle, is half-black, half-white, while in front of Tom is Laura Harrier, playing Liz, also half-black, half-white. Tony Revolori, to the right, plays Flash, and is of Guatemalan descent, while Jacob Batalon, who plays Ned, was born in Hawaii to Filipino parents. It's diverse. It's a step forward in Hollywood. It's wonderful. It also bugs me. WAIT, NO, HEAR ME OUT BEFORE YOU FIRE UP THE COMMENTS. All of these characters are named after a longtime Spider-Man character. It could be argued that since their last names are never given (except for one), they could be anything from callbacks to tributes to trolling methods on the part of the filmmakers. And that's fair.”

No it isn’t.

In an adaptation they should actually adapt the characters whilst respecting the spirits of them. Spider-Man is one of the best franchises ever. It doesn’t need OCs and it doesn’t need OCs’ who’re ‘references’ to the established characters who are on the whole richer and more movieworthy than them.

“All the same, I think there are missed opportunities here. Let's look at them one by one, in the order of the level of opportunity wastage. Tony Revolori plays Flash, the school bully. This is named after Flash Thompson. Flash Thompson normally looks like this: So now we've got a Guatemalan playing him who also doesn't play him as a jock. Instead, he's also another science nerd, who just happens to be the least smart out of all of them, and instead of threatening to beat Peter up or calling him "Puny Parker," he calls him "Penis Parker" instead. I'm cool with that. Look, racebending a 1962 comic just makes sense. You know what schools in the US were like in 1962? Segregated. That means white people and non-white people couldn't really interact. You know what a New York high school is like in 2017? Not segregated. That means Peter Parker's gonna have classmates of all races and descents, and if you populate a cast with racially diverse characters, but the only ones he interacts with are all still white, that just calls attention to the whole issue to begin with. You can't diversify without empowering.”

As for Flash being a nerd rather than a jock, that's cool too.”

No it isn’t.

Flash’s character is very much wrapped up in the fact that he I a jock. He’s a dumb blockhead with a good heart at the end of the day who learns to be more than that whilst still being nostalgic for his high school glory days when he peaked due to his athleticism and when life was much simpler because of that.

“The past decade and a half has seen a rise in the nerd bully, the type that torments you verbally rather than threatens you physically.”

Er, yeah…Flash was mostly a verbal bully in those Ditko comics this guy has claimed to have read. He wasn’t doing a Biff Tannen impersonation at all. He was mostly verbally insulting and humiliating Peter.

“See, for example, Gamergate, Kylo Ren, the villain in the last Ghostbusters movie, and the entirety of the internet. Are jocks vs. nerds still a thing?”

Yes I suspect nerds vs. jocks is very much still a thing actually.

“ The nerds kinda crossed the line the moment Revenge of the Nerds happened, and that was in 1984”

I grew up in the 90s and the 2000s so…yeah this is bullshit nerds really didn’t cross the line in 1984.

“Are jocks still bullies? I dunno, I'm old. But from the looks of the internet, nerds certainly are.”

The internet isn’t the real world.

Nerds can be bullies and so can jocks.

Flash being the latter is important to his character.

“Laura Harrier plays Liz, the girl Peter has a crush on. In the comics, this girl is Liz Allan.

Here's the thing: they've racebent Liz before, in the excellent Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, which I still think is the best Spider-Man outside of the comics medium. She's Hispanic in the cartoon, I believe, and half-black in the movie. And that's fine — the character of Liz Allan works regardless of race.

I think it's a powerful message when young kids watching Spider-Man see a white guy having a crush on a girl who isn't white — and an interracial one at that. Seeing examples this early on in life can only have a positive effect.”

Colour me crazy but…aren’t people just going to fancy whoever they are going to fancy?

Like…I don’t think any little white boys watching this movie are going to be influenced towards finding ladies of the same ethnicity as Laura Harrier more attractive one way or the other. “Zendaya plays Michelle. And at the end of the movie, Michelle says she prefers to be called MJ. I shouldn't have to remind readers, this is Mary Jane Watson: Now, she isn't "Mary Jane," she's Michelle. But the role is still there. She's going to be Peter's main love interest moving forward (unless we get someone showing up as Gwen).”

a) How do you know that?

b) Mary Jane’s role is more than just his love interest. By this definition Liz filled Mary Jane’s role.

“And if that's the case, it was pretty smart in this movie to establish her as someone with her own agency and her own personality rather than someone who gets in trouble and motivates Peter.”

Yes it was because that doesn’t pertain to the 616 comics version of Mary Jane nor the Dunst version as I’m sure you meant because you’re a narrowminded so and so who like the rest of the internet gets the knives out for Dunst’s version of the character regardless of how justified it might be.

“All the same, this bugs me, for two reasons. The first reason is this: Zendaya's Michelle is nothing like Mary Jane Watson, party animal with a troubled soul... but she could be. We know this from what Zendaya's done before. She plays a socially conscious, withdrawn, isolated person when Mary Jane is usually the exact opposite of all of those things. She's basically another character altogether. The "MJ" reveal just feels tacked on and unnecessary, and without value past the first time you hear it. And it closes the door on a future MJ that may actually be like the MJ from the comics. (Kirsten Dunst was not the MJ from the comics. Kirsten Dunst played Kirsten Dunst.)”

Do you know Kirsten Dunst personally in order to verify that?

“The second reason is that the character that Zendaya's "Michelle" is most like? A sarcastic woman who is both mean to Peter Parker and yet shows affection for him? That's actually a character named Michele. And she's awesome.”

Like I said…Brand New Day worshipper right here.

Michelle wasn’t awesome.

Michelle was a racist sterotype of Latinex women.

She was ‘the hot blooded latina’ sterotype taken to insane degrees because she

a) slept with Peter when he was intoxicated and didn’t know what he was doing (which you could at the very least argue is a form of rape)

b) vandalized his property when he claimed he’d been impersonated by the Chameleon which is an entirely reasomable thing for him to say given that they live in a world of superheroes.

c) Slightly tortured him with with food

d) Needlessly insulted him

e) Oh, and did I mention that in a scenario that wasn’t in the defence of herself, a third party and didn’t come from a place of justifed mental inhibition she punched him in the face!

Let me repeat that.

Michelle who is apparently ‘awesome’ assaulted someone.

Did I mention she was a lawyer too?

Fuck Michelle.

“I'm always of the stance that racebending is fine if there is no counterpart that already exists. In this case though, there is. (Side note: Zendaya playing Michelle is still a racebend, since Michele is a Latina.) And what bugs me about this is more from a marketing perspective: Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson became the big Spider-Man love interests by continued exposure.”

No.

Gwen became the big Spdier-Man love interest because she was positioned as that and was then immortalized when she died.

Mary Jane became that because she was a great character everyone loved and was then positioned as his love interest eventually marrying him.

“How can we possibly build more characters and the presence of those characters when we're still cycling back and forth between Gwen and Mary Jane?”

That argument is as fucking asinine as saying we can’t build in new Superman love intersts because we keep using Lois Lane.

Gwen and MJ aren’t just there via repetition.

They are massive important parts of the mythology.

“That's why fans get so resistant in the comics whenever Peter has a new love interest, the belief that it can only be one of those two.”

No fans get resistant because most of the new love interests suck shit and are never as good as Mary jane because they can’t be because she had 20 years of a developoing relationship with him preceded by 20 more years of development as his frined/confidant.

Again…it’s the same reason Superman is always with Lois Lane.

It’s not a legitimate basis for an argument to say Spider-Man should even have other love interests by this point. The ship sailed on that decades ago.

“But we don't give chances to other love interests, partly because Marvel doesn't give them those chances either.”

WTF did Carlie Cooper have if not a chance?

She existed for over 2 years as Spider-Man’s love interest.

Peter dated Felicia for over 2 years in the 1980s.

Fans gave characters chances half the time but those characters didn’t live up to those chances. The other half of the time they didn’t give the character a chance because in context the character didn’t deserve a chance.

Post-OMD every romantic relationship is 100% pointless UNLESS its with Mary jane putting things backt he way it was.

See Nu52 Superman/Wonder Woman another fine fucking mess people didn’t give a shit about because of how utterly asinine it was.

Spier-Man isn’t fucking James Bond and Mary Jane and Gwen aren’t optional interchanagable characters asshole.

“Jacob Batalon plays Ned. Ostensibly, this is after Ned Leeds. And this is Ned Leeds:

Ned's a reporter who didn't even go to high school with Peter. In the movie, Ned is his best friend, who knows who he is, helps him with Spider-Man stuff, and looks like Ganke.

Ganke is the best friend of Miles Morales, the second Spider-Man.

Seriously, why didn't they just name him Ganke? He's right there.”

Because they didn’t want to give Bendis royalties probably.

Also alongside Brand New Day worship this blogger seems to find zero problems with a Peter Parker story STEALING Ganke from Miles Morales.

Charming.

“Which brings us to Tom Holland, who plays Peter Parker. And he was great. He nailed high school/Ultimate Spider-Man, and got the right mix of humor and angst that that makes Spider-Man who he is. And that's fine. That's fair. “

No he didn’t and no it isn’t.

He could do that stuff if given the chance.

But he wasn’t.

Because the angst he had was over his Tony Stark worship and desire to be an Avenger rather than the horrible life mistakes he made and his desire to do right by his mother and the humour he was used in boiled down to slapstick bumbling.

That isn’t Spider-Man.

If you think that’s Spider-Man you need to re-read your shit because you are entirely wrong. Not even Ultimate comics Spider-Man was anything like that.

“But here's the thing. Peter Parker in high school classically is a loner, someone who makes sure no one knows he's Spider-Man, goes about things on a grassroots level, and doesn't let anyone — anyone — help him out. He's actually a bit of a jerk, honestly.”

Yes and no.

Yes he is a loner but no he wasn’t a jerk.

He was a typical teen but one who was understandably stressed out because on top of the typical trials of adolescence, he was trying to earn a scholarship, was getting bullied, was dodging bullets every night, trying to earn money to support his household oh and also dealing with HIS DAD DYING!

And the picture given to this part of the article doesn’t even SHOW him being a jerk!

“The thing is, there is a character named Spider-Man who grew up idolizing other superheroes, who has an overweight Asian best friend who helps him out as Spider-Man, and who is mentored by the Avengers, and that guy is Miles Morales. This should have been a Miles Morales movie. By concept, premise, and execution, everything about the movie screamed "Miles Morales" to me more than it did "Peter Parker," to the point where it felt like it was, in fact, a Miles Morales movie, except they wrote out Miles and dumped Peter in his place.”

That is true but this shouldn’t have been a Miles movie by design.

Nobody should have consciously tried to make this anything like a Miles Morales movie. “And that's the rub about this whole diversity thing right now. Whenever we applaud a movie for being diverse, we mean one of two things. We could mean it, as we did for Captain America: Winter Soldier or Spider-Man: Homecoming, as "a racially diverse cast with a white male lead." Or we could mean it, as is happening and will continue to happen with Black Panther, as "a cast that is dominated by one race." Both are well and good and unheard of even ten years ago on the level that it is now. But there's still something missing, and that's having a non-white character headline a blockbuster movie with a racially diverse cast. I will consider the battle for diversity won when we can see that type of movie in spades and not have to remark about how noteworthy it is. This would have been the perfect opportunity to do it. They could have written Peter as an older character to focus on later, one that's always been Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and just not heard of much, as he normally is in the comics where he isn't that well-known outside of New York City, while focusing on Miles.”

No they couldn’t.

The Netflix series all happen in New York city.

We the audience are supposed to know EVERYTHING about the MCU beyond the stuff that is behind the scenes or secret.

Saying

“Oh Spider-Man was there the whole time you just didn’t know about it” is a creative cheat of the highest order and makes no fucking sense because OF COURSE people in and out of New York were going to know about him. It’d be unrealistic for them NOT to.

Not to mention how actually Spider-Man IS known outside of New York.

As for making Peter older and focussing upon Miles this wouldn’t have worked for a million reasons.

But chief among them is that Miles doesn’t have the material necessary to eek out a film trilogy of his own. Most of his highly decompressed stories are rossovers and tie-ins that can’t work for film and the rest of them repeat beats from other Spider-Man and superhero movies.

You couldn’t even introduce Miles without telling his origin story which is exactly what helped kill the LAST film version of Spider-Man because Miles and Peter have incredibly similar origins.

Then you have the fact that it royally fucks the entire appeal of doing Spider-Man in the MCu.

The mass audiences DOESN’T WANT to just see any given kid in web spandex called Spider-man on screen with the Avengers they want it to be THAT SPECFIC kid from the previous five movies who’s worked his way into mass pop culture.

The audience impact and appeal is grossly diminished if you DON’T make it peter Parker.

Which doesn’t mean Peter himself must be white.

But it does HAVE to be Peter NOT Miles.

Peter who is, I’m sorry…like an egregiously better character than Miles in alsmost every way possible.

“And it could have been done, since we literally just saw it two years ago in Ant-Man, where the movie focused on Scott Lang instead of Hank Pym, the original, classic bearer of that mantle.”

Fuck me this stupid ass argument again.

NO you didn’t just see it get done in Ant Man.

In Ant Man Hank Pym was a SECRET super hero working behind the scenes.

That’s intrinsically different to the inherent nature of Spider-Man as a public crime fighter who is demonized by the media

And I’m sorry…switching out Hank for Soctt is also inherently different. Hank Pym’s deal is that he switched identities a lot and has a mental illness. The Ant Man mythology if you like isn’t as reliant upon HIM holding the mantle as it is for Spider-Man who’s whole history and mythology is built specifically around peter Parker and his personal life and relationships.

Because Peter IS Spider-Man.

And again, people didn’t get excited to see any given kid called Spider-Man onscreen with the Avengers. They got excited for it to be Peter specifically.

Let me repeat that again.

Introducing Miles into the MCU is NOT THE SAME THING AS HAVING TWO ANT MEN!

“And I get it, too. If this was the only time we're ever going to see Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I would want that Spider-Man to be Peter Parker. But if that's the case, I wish I could've seen a movie that felt more like Peter Parker than a Miles Morales movie where he's removed and replaced with Peter Parker.”

Finally something we agree on.

“That this didn't feel like a Peter Parker movie to me is a cranky old fanboy nitpick.”

That isn’t a nitpick that’s a legitimately massive problem with the film that fucks it over.

#Spider-Man #spider-man: homecoming #Miles Morales #peter parker #mjwatsonedit #MJ Watson #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #ned leeds #ganke lee #liz allan #Marvel Studios #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #Flash Thompson

11 notes · View notes

artificialqueens · 7 years

Text

Pride and Prejudice, Queens and Zombies - Emma

Hey! So, I am a bit nervous to post this, but hopefully you’ll like it. It’s a Trixya girl AU, set in the ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’-world (just like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but with zombies). If you haven’t watched the film or read the book, I’m sure it’s fine. As promised, there will be established Rajila and some Pearlet. Maaybe some more ships, we’ll have to see. Either way, this chapter is a bit short but they will get longer. Happy readings, my doves!

A long time ago, instead of the Napoleonic wars, a different plague terrorized London. The undead walked the streets, a hellfire unlike anything that had ever been seen before. They are feared by all, but can be killed by few. The few that can are exceptionally brave, and herein lies the tale of some of those chosen ones:

” Katya, come now my darling, we are heading out soon.”

Katya rolled her bright blue eyes at one of her guardians. Manila was lovely, she was, but the young Russian woman had no desire to be babied any more – and that just happened to be what Manila did best, that and worry constantly about her brood and their prospects of marriage. The state that London was in, all issues of sexuality had gone out the window. Katya had no reason to feel ashamed about the fact that she liked other women, but that was about the only thing she had going for her.

She had no idea as to why she had been left in England, all she knew was what Raja and Manila had told her. They had been saving children abandoned either by choice, or worse, by the demise of their real parents. They had found the then five-year-old girl in an orphanage, scared and lonely without knowing even a smidgeon of English. She still spoke with an accent, but Raja and Manila had been forced to teach her quickly so she could start her training. ‘God knows I’ve needed it’ Katya thought to herself as she wandered back to their cottage. Her curly blonde hair danced around her head as she marched down, hoping that Manila would change her mind and allow her to stay home from the Bingley’s dance.

As she opened the wooden door to their house and stepped in, Katya suddenly fell to the floor. A low growl emitted from her throat. “You son of a…” she muttered and got up, noticing the thin wire that had been stretched across the doorframe. Her sisters were getting on her last nerves these days; Violet in particular had been exceptionally irritating the last couple of days. Katya was aware of her affection towards Manila’s friend Pearl, but the young blonde had not paid her sister any attention so far – and that was the reason as to why Katya had suddenly become her favourite training object. “Violet, I swear to all that is holy I will murder you, you идиот!” she shouted, not caring whether her adoptive sister heard her or not.

“Katya please, we did not direct your language studies towards Russian so you could spout curses at your sisters!” Manila complained as she strutted into the hall Katya stood in, a hamper in her arms. “She already knows this about herself, I am simply confirming it.” Katya retorted and waggled her arched brows at the other woman. “Regardless, you need to get dressed immediately. We’re leaving in an hour.” Manila pointed towards the stairs, an impatient look on her fair features.

“I can go in this.” Katya looked down on her light dress, knowing before her adoptive mother had even answered that it was going to be an ‘absolutely not’. The dress had dirt stains on it, and something that looked like blood, but was from all the blueberries she had been munching on. Without sticking around to hear anything else from the older woman, Katya headed up the stairs and to her own room that she shared with her sister Max.

Her sister was already in there on the edge of her bed, a book so far up in her face that Katya started to wonder if she could even breathe back there. “Manila wants us to head out soon, want to skip it and go to the in-between?” Katya joked, only eliciting a mutter from her sister.

“You’re no fun.” Katya muttered as she got her dirty dress over her head and tossed it to the floor. On her bed, that was next to Max’s, was a deep burgundy gown. Katya was stunned, her guardians rarely indulged her bold fashion choices, but they were apparently starting to come around after all. She put the dress on and gazed down on it with a smile, the puffy arms ended just below her thin shoulders and it was cinched in just below her breasts; making the rest of the gown flow freely down to the floor. Her cleavage was given a lift in the plunging neckline, but it was slightly covered by some black lace that frilled across the rim. She felt like a million dollars.

After having put her long hair up into a messy bun, a red diadem placed over the do to please her sisters that always complained about her sloppy hairstyles, Katya headed downstairs with Max in tow. Violet, her other sister Fame and Raja were already waiting for them in the hallway, each of them with slightly nervous expressions splayed across their faces. “What?” Katya asked, uncertain if she wanted to know the answer.

“It’s a big day for us all. Young Mr. Donigan is supposedly looking for a companion. Manila is very excited, so I don’t want any of you to spoil this for her.” Raja announced, ending her sentiment with a grim tone in her otherwise easy going voice. Raja rarely indulged her wife’s ramblings, and often rolled her eyes at the tom-foolery that shrieked in and out of their estate; yet, Katya had never seen love like the one Raja had for Manila. They were constantly in a state of symbiosis, like magnets gravitating towards one another. Deep down, hidden underneath layers of entitlement and insecurities, Katya craved the sort of affection her guardians had for each other. “As long as you leave me out of it, mother.” Katya demanded, earning herself yet another stern look from Raja.

“Pfft, you act as if Mr. Donigan would even go for you. He’s got one too many bones, doesn’t he?” Violet retorted, earning herself a rough shove by her Russian sister. Soon enough, they were at each other’s throats yet again, forcing the rest of their sisters and both Raja and Manila to forcibly remove them from the house. As they arrived to the Donigan estate, Katya cursed her sister for scratching her dress and mussing up her hair, if she did spend time on her appearance, she would have preferred that it stayed neat for the remainder of this dreadful evening. “Unless you’re going to give me a massage that will take me to the heavens and past this miserable abyss, you can bugger off Fame.” Katya groaned as she felt her fashion forward sister fussing with her hair. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Fame mumbled and fixated one final curl on Katya’s head before she laid off.

—————————-

As grand as the estate was on the outside, it was nothing compared to the inside. Of course, given their current predicament, it was dark and gloomy – but Katya preferred it that way. She felt around her thin legs for the knives that were secured in harnesses, making sure that they were still in their place. She needed to be prepared, Raja always told her that the minute she let her guard down was when they would take you. Katya couldn’t let that happen.

“Please behave yourselves girls, or I’m going to make sure that you – oh look! It’s Mr. Donigan!” Manila interrupted herself, cheerfully waving at someone. Katya rolled her eyes, but stayed by her sisters’ sides. She felt anxious, hoping that something would happen so that she would at the very least not be so incredibly bored. Katya was deep in thought when she felt Max’s sharp elbow in her ribs, which brought her out of her self-induced trans and peered up underneath her brows. There stood a man that she instantly recognized as Dan Donigan, he was famous around their part of London – mostly for coming from such a rich family. Katya greeted him with a polite curtsy, and then gazed to his right.

A blonde woman stood there, a light pink dress covering her curvy physique. She had the most interesting bone structure that Katya had ever seen, her cheekbones were so carved that she nearly looked unreal. Her sharp, blue eyes met Katya’s with an unwavering glance. Katya couldn’t stop herself from staring at the woman, wondering what sort of mystery that befell her. There was something in the other blonde’s harsh eyes that made the Russian girl intrigued beyond belief. “Uh,” Dan cleared his throat, making Katya break their staring contest to look at the famous bachelor once more. “This is my cousin, Trixie Mattel. She decided to finally appease me and join our household.”

Trixie grunted in response, obviously not the slightest bit amused at being there. “Well, I am so pleased to meet you, dear. I am Manila, this is Raja and our adoptive daughters. We have Fame, Violet, Max and Katya.” Manila introduced all of them, pointing her quick fingers at each of them respectively. Katya smiled slightly at Trixie, unsure of what to say. “I hope you’ll enjoy the dance, you all look good and ready.” Trixie smiled at them, her polite demeanour not quite reaching her voice.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Katya asked, cocking one of her arched brows at the other woman. “I prefer more intellectual settings; it seems like the world is in enough peril so I could avoid these types of events.” Trixie quickly snapped back, making Katya cross her arms over her small chest in pure protest. She was never one to back down from anyone, and this bitchy blonde was not about to be her first.

“Well, there’s one at every party; the elitist thinking he or she is somehow better than everybody else.” She mused, making Trixie scrunch her face up at her. Dan, who had been staring at Fame, now sensed the tense situation and cleared his throat in order to draw attention away from the squabble between his cousin and the strange, Russian girl. “I think we have some more guests to find, have a nice evening!”

Just like that, Dan had dragged Trixie off, leaving Katya with an annoyance that proved hard to shake.

Their evening flew by uneventfully; Max had found herself a piano and was practicing a number by Bach. Fame spent her evening looking off into the crowd, hoping to catch just one glimpse of Mr. Donigan. Violet complained about Pearl to Manila, who seemed very uncomfortable with the conversation. Katya spent hers strolling around the side lines of the dance floor with Raja, both simply enjoying the company of one another. Now and again Katya would see the annoying blonde she had a spat with earlier, and sometimes the doll-like woman would look back. If it wasn’t for the fact that Trixie seemed like an absolute twat, Katya would humour the thoughts in her traitorous head that told her Trixie was an attractive woman.

Katya tensed up as she and Raja neared Trixie and Dan across the dance floor, the young woman was fairly certain that Raja had consciously led them there. “Why don’t you chat with Katya? She seems like someone that could actually keep up with you.” Katya heard Dan say, and then tried to fight off the warm sensation she felt in her stomach.

“Katya? Please. Any woman I’m with would have to look at least somewhat polished. Her dress is scratched up and her hair is a mess – who do you take me for, Dan?” Trixie huffed, prompting a deep pink blush to attach to Katya’s cheeks. She was utterly embarrassed, and it was not made any easier for her when both Dan and Trixie turned around to look directly at them. Dan looked exasperated, and Trixie had an unreadable expression on her face.

She didn’t feel like there was anything left to say. Katya simply mumbled something incoherently before swiftly turning around and storming off. She headed outside, knowing that some fresh air would do the trick. Honestly, who would even talk like that? Katya might not be the most pleasant person to be around at all times, but she certainly wouldn’t tear down at someone due to the way that they were dressed. ‘That woman is an absolute idiot, Yekaterina. Don’t let her get to you.’ Katya thought to herself, smiling as she saw one of her old neighbours near a carriage.

The old woman’s name was unfamiliar to Katya, but she did remember receiving a sweet from her once. The lady beckoned her to come closer, a fragile finger lifted in a stiff hook; as she drew it towards her own body, it seemed to Katya that the finger itself might be broken. That must be why it made such snappy movements. In a blink of an eye, it all made sense to her; this ought to have made Katya more nervous, but for some reason, it made the entire scenario even more intriguing.

The blonde edged closer until she was facing that red-haired woman, smiling nervously. “Hello, how are you tonight?” Katya asked, waiting patiently for a response. The woman just leaned in until her dark lips nearly touched Katya’s cheek before she replied in a hoarse voice:

“They’re coming.”

Katya backed up slightly, and was about to ask who was coming when…

‘BANG!’

A shot rang through the dark, and suddenly, the woman’s brains were splattered across Katya’s dress and the grass beneath them. She gasped, and looked around to spot the assailant. A woman in a pink dress lowered her gun, revealing a stern looking Trixie Mattel.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Katya exclaimed, throwing her arms down her sides in exasperation. Trixie strode up to her and spent all but one glance at the corpse that laid beneath them, before she turned her strong gaze towards Katya. “She was undead.”

“Of course, but she was hardly dangerous you idiot!” Katya continued, shaking her head profusely at what had just transpired. Trixie simply shrugged, making the Russian blonde even more irritated. She was about to snarl something malicious back at the taller blonde before a shriek was heard from inside the estate. “Seems like more of them came to join the party.” Trixie stated, her tone unjustly calm.

“You should stay here; things could get hairy in there.” Trixie continued as a matter-of-factly. Katya simply smirked at her before scrunching her dress up. Underneath many layers of chiffon laid several knives and a small pistol wrapped around her pale legs. Deciding to grab the machete she had tied on the back of her right thigh, she let go of her dress and fixed the layers before striding up to the estate once more.

——————–

Trixie looked at the older blonde in awe, not knowing what to make of her new acquaintance. She was, however, pulled out of her thoughts as their current predicament dawned on her. In a near distance, Katya’s sisters had pooled by her side – Trixie knew right then and there that she had misjudged her. Never underestimate a young woman on a mission.

#trixya #trixie mattel #katya zamolodchikova #au #lesbian au #pearlet #rajila #zombies #cisgirl au #rpdr fanfiction #zombie au #emma #pride and prejudice queens and zombies #jane austen au

31 notes · View notes

focalwriterworks · 9 years

Text

THE GUNMAN

Jeff Spicoli trades in his surfboard for some semi-automatic hand guns in this taut, Luc Besson style European thriller. Starring five-time Oscar nominated actor and winner of two Academy Awards, Sean Penn.

The Story: This is familiar story and movie plot material, maybe Jack Reacher (2012) is the most recent film I can think of, but countless other films where a hero is established, in this case Sean Penn's James Terrier, who eight years after an African mercenary killer-for-hire event is now being sought by an undisclosed enemy in what Terrier believes is retaliation, or revenge, for the actions he carried out on the job. People are out to get him, regardless, and he doesn't know who or why but uses all of his paramilitary resources and killer instincts to find out who and stop them before he, and a girl he once loved, Annie, played by Jasmine Trinca, are dead.

The Goods: About an hour in there's a highly characteristic move by what appears to make Terrier a smart man (until then I’m not sure just how smart, or stupid, he is, there’s just a lot of shooting, hiding and running). He discovers a rigged bomb in his hotel room, with trip wires waiting for him, which he’s able to quickly disable it, slip out into the open so they see him, re-enter his room to allow them to see the device not working and upon which he re-connects the bomb and uses against these guys as they try to muscle their way into his place. It's a well worked-out scene that plays quickly but is long enough to sink your teeth into, to watch and follow and enjoy as the scene takes its course. It's quite possibly the only redeeming thing about this film, and though it’s like one or two nifty scenes in Taken (2008), it's sort of an anomaly in movie-making these days.

Directer Pierre Morel was the cinematographer on a slew of Luc Besson films like The Transporter (2002) and Unleashed (2005), and camera operator on Taken and From Paris With Love (2010) which is why The Gunman feels familiar both in theme, character and action. Not a bad thing necessarily, but can this genre ever be too much? A change of location helps certainly as the action takes us to Barcelona, London, Africa and Gibraltar.

The Flaws: It's so similar to Neeson and Cruise films that it makes me think Penn did it just to be a) more relevant or b) because he needs the work. Not because he needs an Oscar. Which is slightly disappointing. I think the key to identifying with heroes is that we sort of want to be like them. Who wouldn't want to be Tony Stark, or Neeson's Bryan Mills, or Cruise's Maverick, or better yet any number of 007's. Unfortunately there's nothing here in Penn's character that makes me identify with him. While he can fight better than a lot of the dudes I mentioned, still, he lacks a certain manliness—maybe it's just stature—that says, hey, I'm a super-hero kind of guy you should be rooting for. And I think that's where a good speech comes into play. If you can't win me with the action, then tell me something stirring that I can walk away with.

We don't really get to know Terrier. Outside of running with a gun, shooting, using hand-to-hand combat. Maybe this is truly who he is. Annie loves him, but I can’t think hand-to-hand combat is why she loves him… she doesn't seem the type. She's a humanitarian worker. Helping poverty-stricken citizens of a small Republic of Congo town. Javier Bardem has a small part in the film, who also loves Annie. At times after about thirty minutes in The Gunman has a whiff of Against All Odds (1984), which if you see that '80's Jeff Bridges movie now it's awful (that movie in turn a remake of the classic noir film Out of the Past (1947)). The triangle of two men, and a woman they both love, it doesn’t work. But that odor soon passes and we get back into some gunplay. A chase, a hunt, some suspense. A hero stung with an ailment from his days as a hired hit man in a Tommy Bahama shirt that prevents him from being completely healthy…you can’t help but think of D.O.A (1988), Crank (2006), or any number of films where the hero will doesn’t die from the hands of bad guys will do so from some crazy trauma or ticking drug bomb.

Bardem’s character, Felix, a part of Terrier’s team back in the day, peaks with some kind of babbling incoherent speech that seems to be a cheap way out of this small part in the script, for Bardem. If you've ever heard or used the phrase in reference to actors, "he called it in," yeah, well that's the first and only impression I get from Bardem, and he did so from a 1990’s Motorola flip-phone. But I'll blame it on the script. Penn is an Oscar-winning actor whose nominations and wins are pretty much banked on strong monologues. We don't get any of that in this film, which is fine, but there might be some subconscious expectation of that. To see him running around with a gun, and knives, in doing what Tom Cruise does in Mission impossible films, doesn't give him much of an opportunity to deliver some choice words. In terms of balance, a term that Felix uses in a scene where he is flexing his refined, domesticated side in the business world, balance is what this film needs in terms of something more verbal to counter all this action. I imagine that's why many action films are just what they are, fun, mindless escape.

And it's why Die Hard (1988) still sets the standard in action films. The conversation between John McClane and Sgt. Al Powell, in that nice first break in the gun fighting action, in the first film, is the best example of slowing things down and getting to know the characters; letting the audience catch their breath.

The Call: Stow the dough. While the fist-fighting, knife play and gun-fire chases are thrilling it’s not something you’ll miss if you just wait a while for the rental. What makes one hero like John McClane, James Bond, Ethan Hunt, Han Solo or Peter Parker any different from James Terrier? It’s the fact you want to be these guys. Part of why we watch. We live vicariously. In The Gunman we don’t do that. Instead we just watch. And feel nothing. When Idris Elba appears very late in the film, for what amounts to be maybe ten minutes of screen time, he outshines and overshadows every single hard working thing Penn has done in this film—nearly two hours of it—by just standing there and saying a handful of choice words. And that’s the stuff, say, a James Bond like hero, is made of. Rumors are that Elba will be the next Bond. I look forward to that day. And that’s what The Gunman amounts to folks. A psalm for ten minutes of Idris Elba.

Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality. Running time is 1 hour and 55 minutes.

By Jon Lamoreaux

0 notes