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movie-magic · 3 years

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Loki: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 1

Loki has officially begun on Disney+, and Tom Hiddleston comes bearing plenty of Marvel Easter eggs in the premiere episode. Here's what we found.

The premiere episode of Loki is burdened with glorious Marvel Easter eggs, from potential future villain teases to skulking Skrulls. Even before the considerable success enjoyed by WandaVision and Falcon & The Winter Soldier, MCU fans were eagerly anticipating Tom Hiddleston's return as the God of Mischief. Now blessed with his own Disney+ solo series, Loki has all of time and space to bother, and the premiere wastes little time throwing Hiddleston from the Avengers' frying pan into the TVA's fire.

After using the Tesseract to escape The Avengers in Avengers: Endgame, Loki is swiftly picked up by the Time Variance Authority - a seemingly omniscient organization overseeing the entirety of time and space. Evidently not ones to take prisoners, Loki's fate at the TVA looks grim, but Owen Wilson's Major Mobius intervenes, handing the silver-tongued variant a reprieve. In the opening episode, Mobius successfully digs to the root of Loki's dastardly ways, breaking him down to (presumably) build him back up, all with the aim of enlisting Loki's services as an ally to hunt down an especially vicious variant murdering the TVA's Minute Men.

Loki's premiere is predictably heavy with exposition, and relatively limited in scope, mostly taking place within the walls of TVA HQ. Nevertheless, Michael Waldron (creator) and Kate Herron (director) pepper the 50-minute installment with an array of references to the Marvel comics, MCU history callbacks, and hints of the multiverse madness to come. Here's every Easter egg we discovered in Loki's "Glorious Purpose."

The Avengers Intro Sequence:

Loki's introductory scene is somewhat of an Easter egg itself, retelling the famous Tesseract heist from Avengers: Endgame. Much of the footage here derives straight from the 2019 box office behemoth, meaning no other MCU stars filmed additional footage or recorded new dialogue especially for Loki. With that said, a few extra Tom Hiddleston moments are spliced into the existing footage to show events entirely from Loki's point of view. The villain's Steve Rogers "search and rescue" gag is zoomed-in, and there's a closer shot of Loki waving goodbye to Hulk in the elevator, as well as fresh reaction shots during the Stark scuffle in the lobby.

An Iron Man Callback:

After commandeering the Tesseract in New York, Loki finds himself falling from the sky above Mongolia's Gobi Desert, landing unceremoniously in the sand below, and this scene might trigger a sense of déjà vu for longtime MCU fans. In 2008's Iron Man, Tony Stark escapes capture by creating a rudimentary suit of hi-tech armor. Flying to safety, the genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist also lands roughly in a remote desert. There's a symbolic correlation in how Iron Man marked the beginning of the MCU, while Loki is now ushering in a whole new chapter, and both begin with their protagonists in matching predicaments. Both characters also crash while evading incarceration, though only Loki immediately finds himself in chains once again.

"Burdened With Glorious Purpose":

As a man who rarely shuts up, Loki has plenty of wry MCU catchphrases, and one of his most famous would be "I am burdened with glorious purpose" from The Avengers. Disney +'s Loki premiere leans heavily into the line's popularity, with Tom Hiddleston repeating the quote on several occasions throughout the episode, the phrase becoming less sinister with every utterance.

The TVA:

The addition of the TVA to MCU canon was confirmed ahead of time via Loki's trailer and, sure enough, the paradoxical pen-pushers play a prominent part in the premiere. Although their motivations and methods are somewhat altered from the source material (as well as their aesthetic, which now sits closer to The Umbrella Academy's Commission), the TVA hails directly from the Marvel comic books. They were introduced by a 1986 issue of Thor that featured several time-hopping agents, one of which picked a random Earthling up for jaywalking.

A Skrull At The TVA:

Given their propensity to shape-shift and assimilate the forms of other races, it's not surprising that a Skrull might be lurking around the TVA's front desk. One of the MCU's green aliens can be spotted in the background as Loki gets marched in, and though it's not clear why the Skrull is present, the distinct lack of guards would suggest they aren't a variant. A timely reminder that Secret Invasion is right around the corner.

The Time Twisters:

As you'd predict, Loki tries running away. With minimum effort, Hunter B-15 (played by Wunmi Mosaku) clicks a device, and Loki is pulled back to where he stood moments earlier, effectively making escape impossible. These time twisters appear to be standard issue at the TVA, and have a vaguely similar counterpart in the Marvel comics called the Retroactive Cannon. Far more lethal than Loki's little clickers, these devices would rewind a person completely until they were unwritten from history. Like The Algorithm in Tenet, but less confusing.

Life Model Decoys:

For someone who spent many, many years unaware he was actually a Frost Giant, Loki probably shouldn't be shocked that some people don't realize they're secretly robots. Heading through the TVA's airport scanner, Loki passes the test with flying colors, though he remains perplexed by the idea someone could be unknowingly cybernetic, Loki's line is a nod to Life Model Decoys, which have appeared in both the Marvel comics, and Agents of SHIELD. These lifelike androids can mimic mankind so perfectly, the LMD itself isn't always certain of the truth.

Secret Wars?:

Whether you've accidentally arrived late for work, or just escaped a group of costumed vigilantes by seizing a glowing blue cube from the beginning of time, being labeled as a variant is confusing stuff. Luckily, the TVA has put together a short animation to fill quantum criminals in on the basics. The helpful Miss Minutes finally provides an explanation of the MCU multiverse, revealing how, long ago, separate timelines fought an inter-dimensional war for supremacy that almost resulted in total annihilation. Since then, the TVA has strictly maintained one single reality - the Sacred Timeline *echoes*. The history lesson bears some similarity to 2015's Secret Wars comic event, in which conflicting universes came together in Battleworld (the setting of the original Secret Wars), and attempts were made to streamline Marvel's sandbox.

The Time-Keepers:

The TVA's infomercial also confirms the organization are led by three Time-Keepers, who oversee the combined reality and dictate the proper flow of history. This big-faced trio were first introduced in the late 1970s, created from the sole remaining survivor of the previous universe's destruction. The mysterious overlords performed much the same function in the comics as they do in Loki, and possessed virtually complete mastery over time.

Kree And Nova's Attack On Titan:

As the animated exposition rumbles on, Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong) uses "starting an uprising" as an example of something the TVA might potentially frown upon. The corresponding image shows two armies clashing, with the blue folk on the left appearing to be Kree, and the force on the right possibly the Nova Corps. Based on the spiky ruins in the background, the battle is taking place on Thanos' home planet of Titan. In Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan confirmed the Kree and Nova Corps were at war for 1000 years - was the TVA involved somehow?

Nexus Events:

This week's lesson from Miss Minutes explains how stepping off one's designated path can create a "Nexus event," and spiral out of control to spawn countless alternate timelines that trigger another war. This word has cropped up several times in the MCU, first as an internet facility in Oslo (Avengers: Age of Ultron), and then as an antidepressant drug during one of WandaVision's fake commercials. The latter was most likely a reference to the Nexus of All Realities from the Marvel comics, which is essentially a gateway between every possible timeline. The TVA's Nexus events could take their name from the very same source.

The Timeline Diagram:

Throughout Loki's Disney+ debut, the TVA repeatedly use diagrams of a single flowing timeline with branches shooting off to represent unwanted deviations. MCU fans might recognize this from Avengers: Endgame, where the Ancient One drew something extremely similar while explaining the consequences of time travel to Bruce Banner. Perhaps Ms. One has visited the TVA herself once or twice?

Devil In The Church:

MEPHISTO. There, we said it. When Mobius asks a young girl who committed time crimes in 16th century France and the child points to a stained glass window depicting the Devil, Loki knew exactly what it was doing. WandaVision dropped several hints that Marvel's own Satan would appear, all of which proved fruitless, and Loki seems to be heading down the same hellish vein. Alas, there could be a simpler explanation. Mobius claims to be chasing an alternate version of Loki, and it's highly likely the child has mistaken the God of Mischief's famous horned helmet for the demonic horns of Lucifer.

Ravonna Renslayer:

Though her name isn't mentioned in Loki's premiere, Gugu MBatha-Raw's TVA judge is actually Ravonna Renslayer, who made her debut in a 1965 Avengers issue. In the comics, Renslayer is a human from the far future, most often a villainous figure associated with Kang the Conqueror. She certainly isn't a legal official sat behind a desk. One would imagine Marvel Studios has something more interesting in store for Renslayer further down the line.

Explaining Endgame:

During his TVA interrogation, Loki quite rightly points out that it was not he who meddled with the timeline. T'was those pesky Avengers who penetrated the Quantum Realm and disrupted the natural course of events in the aftermath of the Battle of New York; Loki merely picked up the Tesseract that fell at his feet. Unfortunately, this excuse falls on deaf ears, as Gugu MBatha-Raw confirms the Avengers' ambitious time heist was entirely sanctioned by the Time-Keepers. This exchange more or less clears up every single timeline wrinkle in the MCU, including Steve Rogers' reunion with Peggy, and Gamora from the past staying in the present. It's not altering time that irks the TVA; it's altering time in a manner the Time-Keepers haven't permitted.

Loki's "Wooing":

After Owen Wilson saves Loki from being "reset," the pair sit down for a more friendly conversation, but when Loki warns Mobius that cooperation isn't an option, the TVA officer retorts with, "even when you're wooing someone powerful you intend to betray?" Loki has betrayed a fair few people during his time, and Mobius' accusation could easily apply to Odin or Thor. Most likely, however, Mobius is alluding to Thanos here - a powerful figure Loki tried buttering up with intent to usurp him once the universe was brought to its knees.

Josta:

While not strictly a Marvel reference, it's worth noting that Mobius is a big fan of an ice cold Josta. Viewers of a certain age might not recognize this soda brand, but Josta is a genuine Pepsi product that was available in the late 1990s before being discontinued. An early variety of energy drink, there's evidently a few perks to hunting down timeline criminals. In Mobius' case, this includes sugary contraband.

Loki's Greatest Hits:

In a twisted version of It's A Wonderful Life, Mobius tries to change Loki by examining his choices in the past, present and future. Unlike the jaunty 1946 holiday classic, Mobius has access to a handy hi-tech screen which displays Loki's "greatest hits." The footage begins with the God of Mischief's defeat and arrest in 2012's The Avengers - perhaps not an entry Loki himself would've picked for the highlight reel. The screen next switches to Phil Coulson's death (which Loki definitely would pick), before moving on to images of civilian deaths from the Battle of New York, the gala eyeball removal scene, and the dictator speech, all from The Avengers.

D.B. Cooper:

More an Easter egg from real-world history than Marvel lore, Loki reveals the truth about D.B. Cooper - it was Agatha Loki all along! In 1971, an as-yet-identified man boarded a Boeing 727, held the aircraft ransom for $200,000, then parachuted out with the cash. Mobius' dive into Loki's past reveals that, thanks to a lost bet with Thor, the God of Mischief descended from Asgard to pull the plane heist himself as some kind of stunt. From Loki's hairstyle matching the real D.B. Cooper artist's impression to the smattering of bank notes left behind, there's an impressive attention to detail in this scene.

Infinity Stones In The Desk:

The Infinity Stones... Thanos would give his own daughter just for one. Entire worlds brought to their knees by their power. Humans turned into Gods at the merest touch. Gary from the TVA's HR department using one as a paperweight. Threatening Casey with a fishy demise, Loki finally gets his hands back on the Tesseract, only to discover even Infinity Stones are useless within the TVA's jurisdiction. To Loki's immense surprise, Casey's desk draw is chock-full of discarded Infinity Stones, most either of the Time or Reality variety (no surprises there). The scene essentially confirms that the power of these fabled jewels has led to more than a few timeline variant incidents over the years, but perhaps also undermines the once-unstoppable power of the Infinity Stones. Well, the Infinity Saga is over.

A 3rd Millennium Kang Hint?:

In its final scene, the Loki premiere might just be hinting at the future villain of Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. The MCU will soon introduce Kang the Conqueror, a major comic book baddie played by Jonathan Majors, and "Glorious Purpose" could represent the first step toward his arrival. Called out to 19th century Oklahoma, TVA agents find a piece of technology hailing from the 3rd millennium. Though it might be a coincidence, Kang hails from the 31st century, and is known for using advanced tech in his dominion of the timeline. The mysterious hooded figure is more likely a Loki variant than Kang himself, but since Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania and Loki both deal in temporal themes, it wouldn't be strange for the Kang foundations to be laid on Disney+.

- Screen Rant

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

#loki series #loki #loki odinson #loki show #loki spoilers #tv news #tv show #movie magic #mcu #marvel #movies #marvel cinematic universe #movie news #mcu phase 4 #news #disney+#tv series

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thorne93 · 4 years

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Unforeseen Chasm (Part 48)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count:4613

Warnings: Language, last part that deals with Ultron movie, reader fights bff, mind control, widow protocol reactivated, song for this part: Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Only two hours later, you got a call -- from Tony… This was either great news or really bad news.

“Hello?”

“You and Reindeer games busy?” he asked, his tone serious.

“No, why--”

“We’ve got a crack at Ultron, but we’re gonna need all hands on deck. I don’t like having to ask, but it may mean we can save Shannon. You in?”

“Of course, yeah, what do you need?”

“Be combat ready in five minutes. We’ll swing by to get you. We’re going to Sokovia, taking the fight to him.”

“Got it. We’ll be ready.”

You two hung up and you turned to Loki. “Get on your battle gear, we’re going to fight,” you informed.

He gave you a puzzled look but it quickly vanished when he followed your lead. He became clad in his old leather fighting gear, and you threw on the clothes Shannon had given you. A hooded robe, skin tight pants, and black t-shirt with boots.

The jet landed on the roof of your apartment and you two climbed in. No one gave you any warm looks, or nods of approval, except Clint. In fact, one face was new -- a dark red man, or… android? He had a stone in his head and he eyed you up and down with curiosity, and also… knowledge, as if he understood you. Suddenly, it dawned on you that he must’ve been what was in the cradle. Somehow, the Avengers gave him life, and trusted him enough to pit him against Ultron.

And clearly, the twins were now a part of this group, curiously enough. No one had taken the time to explain how or why they were here though.

Steve began his speech, and ultimately told you what your top priority was.

“Tony wants to take first stab at getting Ultron. The rest of us, our job is to evacuate the city. We find Shannon, we find what Ultron has been building, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. The people of Sokovia didn’t ask for this.” He took a moment to think, to pause. “Ultron thinks we’re monsters, that we’re what’s wrong with the world. This isn’t just about beating him. It’s about whether he’s right.”

And so it began. You landed just outside of the city, Wanda and Pietro got the civilians going, they began the evacuation and you tried to help, going to homes and apartments, encouraging people to leave. Letting them know the city was under attack. Clint found you and walked up to you as if he had something important.

“I’ve got the coordinates for Shannon, I figured you’d want to be the one to go get her. Take Banner with you in case it’s a trap.”

“What about the people?” you asked, frowning.

“We’ve got them. We’ll fight him. Go get her and then she can help us.”

“Thanks, Clint.”

He nodded. “Move your ass, kid.”

You smiled at him and ran off to find Shannon. She was in an abandoned church, where you dashed down the stairs, Banner right behind you.

“Shannon?” you whisper-yelled.

“I’m in here! He’s not here,” she replied making noises with some chain.

You immediately dashed over. “Oh thank God!” you said with a sigh of relief. “Hang on. Stand back,” you ordered. Shannon immediately backed up and you put your hand on the gate that divided you two. You charged the metal and blew it off the hinges. She ran out and hugged you tight.

“Hate to break this up, but we need to get back to the team,” Banner said from right behind you.

“You’re right,” you agreed, letting her go.

“Where are we headed and are people being evacuated?” She instantly got into Avenger’s mode. She started walking with you two through the way you entered. “What’s the situation right now?”

“City is being evacuated. There is some kind of core on the high ground, at the entrance of this church. We can’t tell what it’s going to do, but Ultron seems like he wants it,” you explained. “Tony’s going after him himself first.”

“Tony is doing what!? Is anyone else with him? Who told him it was okay to go on his own? He doesn’t know what Ultron is capable of.” She looked panicked and began scanning the area hoping to find the flying red suit of armor. “Give me a new mic to communicate with the team. I had mine taken by one of his bots.”

You fished one out of your suit and handed it to her.

“Thanks, Y/N. Alright, team it’s good to be back. Now give me an update. Cap, what’s going on?” Shannon flew off into the air to get a better look at things. “Tony, what is God's name are you doing trying to take on Ultron?” She turned to you and Bruce. Y/N, help the twins evacuate the civilians. Bruce, honey, I need my big guy to come out and help if you could.”

Bruce nodded and proceeded to remove his shirt and place it somewhere, turning to look at the two women, he winked at Shannon and began changing into the Hulk.

“Alright, big guy, go smash the robots,” she ordered the Hulk.

He smiled and ran off.

“I need to find out what he’s up to. Babe, what’s he hiding in the middle of town?” was all he said before it when quiet on his end.

“Damn it, Tony.” She shook her head and she flew back down to you. “Alright, Y/N, let’s go get ourselves a slice of this fight.”

“Sounds good to me,” you said with a firm nod.

“Shannon, it’s good to have you back. We’re in the middle of town, the twins are helping evacuate the people--” he got cut off while fighting a robot.

“The twins? As in the Maximoffs, they’re helping us now?”

“Yes they seem to have taken Clint’s words into consideration and have decided to help us,” Natasha responded from some other part of the town.

“Alright we’re heading over to the center and see if I can get any of the people out of there.” She flew back up into the air. “You’re welcome to join me or any of the other’s if you want, Y/N/N” Shannon waved at you to come up with her to the sky.

“I’ll go wherever you need me,” you responded into the coms. “Do we need combat or civilian evacuation? Someone tell me where you want me to go, and I’ll go.”

“Come give me a hand getting them on the carriers. I can only do so much with my arrows,” Clint says. “I’m near the hospital. There’s too many people to get evacuated from here.”

“On it,” you said quickly before launching off, using your powers to lift you off the ground. To your knowledge, Loki was fighting off robots near the church, using his illusions and tricks. Normally, you’d be worried for him, but a fight like this was nothing compared to battles he’d faced in Asgard. Not to mention, you couldn’t be your best self if you were too worried about him. So you put your faith in your beloved and found Clint. “You get the people on the boats,” you said before lifting your hands, your power extending from your fingers. The dark purple power electrified twenty bots at once, disabling them. “While I stay here and fight.”

Clint stared at you for a second, befuddled. “Looks like you’ve got it,” he said before running off.

You laughed slightly before going into battle mode, slinging robots with your power, charging nearby items and throwing them, electrifying anything flying above you.

After five minutes of fighting, all of the Avengers and you and Loki made it back to the main part of the church, asking Stark what the drill was. To this, he informed you the core was important. If Ultron got to it, it meant you lost. This was your ultimate mission now. All of you guarded it with your life, surrounding it, readying yourself for whatever Ultron had planned.

“Is that the best you can do?” Thor yelled as the last robot got destroyed by Hulk as he entered where the drill was located.

Ultron stopped trying to get close and in an instant called all his robots to where he was.

“You had to ask,” Steve remarked toward the god.

“This is the best I can do.” Ultron began saying, spreading his arms wide to show his army. He pointed to everyone around the drill, stopping right at Shannon. “This is exactly what I wanted, All of you against all of me.”

Shannon seemed to harden her gaze and began to walk towards Ultron and turned to face everyone else, her eyes were looking directly at you. There was something unreadable in her gaze. It confused you. You’d never seen that look on her face before.

“How can you possibly hope to stop me?” Ultron smirked, watching as everyone was confused as to why Shannon was moving away from them. “When your two strongest are going to fight head to head to survive.” He flicked his wrist and Shannon charged at you, completely emerged in the dark swirls of her powers.

Everyone was fighting off the robots as fast as they could to try and contain Shannon from doing damage to anyone.

Your eyes went wide as you tried to dodge her oncoming attack.

“Shannon, stop!” you screamed. Suddenly, deja vu hit you. You’d been here before, only before, it was Shannon begging you to stop attacking her and New York. You were brainwashed so what was making her… Suddenly it hit you… The Red Room. Her training had been a mixture of Natasha’s and the Winter Soldier’s. This would be hard to crack.

“Shan,” you begged, backing up, stopping your powers from attacking her. “Listen to me. You don’t want to do this. He’s in your head. Don’t let him win,” you pleaded. But she kept stepping towards you, forcing you to back up. You didn’t want to fight her. Not again. Why was everyone always trying to pit you two against each other?

Shannon kept quiet, only the slight grunt here and there from throwing her powers at you. Seeing as this was leading nowhere, she jumped and threw herself into you at full force, knocking the wind out of you. “Why won’t you fight me? Too scared because you’ll know I'll beat you?” She smirked and threw a punch after punch at your face, which hurt like hell. “You always were a pathetic little thing needing someone to keep you safe.” She laughed not even caring that she had gotten blood to come out of your mouth.

You closed your eyes in frustration before letting your body electrify itself, blasting her off of you. You stood up wearily. “Please… don’t do this.” You held your hands up, ready to defend yourself.

“Get up, Y/N.” Shannon stood up, not getting thrown too far. “GET UP!” She laughed. “What happened to us fighting to see who really was the strongest?” She ran towards you pushing you into the wall of the side of the church.

“I don't have anything to prove, Shannon,” you grunted, staring her down. You tried to push her off but she was just too strong.

“And why not? Aren’t you tired of living in everyone's shadow?” She kept pushing, causing the brick to crack around your body. “Show me those Asgardian powers of yours or are they really just those hat tricks your little Loki can do?”

Your eyes grew dark as you glared at her. “Tired of people thinking the wrong things,” you said with a huff before finally pulling some power. You put your hand on the bricks beside you, charging all of them and blasting the wall at her, effectively getting her off of you, but that was it. It only backed her up a few steps. You spit out some of the blood pooling in your mouth. “We don’t have to do this. You’re the strongest. There, I admit it,” you tried, holding your hands up in defeat.

Your eyes flashed to the team, they were all so busy fighting Ultron and the bots, they couldn’t watch you two as well. You just needed to keep Shannon on you if you could, or hopefully wake her from this.

Shannon brushed the dust off her face and hands. “Oh, Y/N, poor little Y/N, always so quick to admit things rather prove your worth. It’s no wonder Thanos was able to manipulate you so well.” Her eyes began to change to their milky white with swirls of red. Causing the sun to disappear.

Some of Ultron’s bots had shown up and had begun to grab ahold of you but they failed to do so.

“Shannon, no!” you screamed, lunging at her to knock the sense out of her. “Don’t!” you said, not thinking, only reacting. Your hand went to her head, all of your energy electrifying her scalp. At first, a scream ripped from her throat, causing Loki and Tony to both look your way. But then her senses overcame your power.

“You think your little shocks will stop me!? It’ll have to take much more than that.” She changed shape becoming Loki. “Love, please don’t hurt me.” His voice came out of her mouth, she laughed watching your expression change.

You knew it was a trick. She transformed in front of your very eyes. You could see your real mate across the field. Tears formed in your eyes. But Loki or Shannon, you couldn’t hurt the person standing in front of you. You took a deep breath and stood up, relaxing your shoulders.

“You’re right, Shannon. It is going to take a lot more to defeat you. And I don’t have it in me. So you’ll have to kill me. I’m not going to fight you.” You let down all of your guards, all of your defenses, going against every survival skill you’d picked up throughout your entire fucked up life. You couldn’t hurt or kill Shannon. Your power against hers, maybe you could slow her down, maybe you were a match for her -- but you didn’t want to be. Hurting her was not worth it.

“You’re no fun. Let’s kick things up a notch. If you won’t fight me like this, then let’s see if you will for the sake of his life.” She pointed to Loki as he was lifted up into the air by multiple bots. Shannon turned to him and was charging up her hands with electricity and there was black and red swirling smoke surrounding her. “Will you save his precious life, or will you stop me for the sake of making a good impression on the team?” Her hands began to close and Loki struggled to move and breathe. She was crushing his windpipe with the smoke.

As much as you wanted to fight it, you wanted to hold her off and save him, your brainwashing was still in there. All it took was the pained look on Loki’s face to fully trigger you. You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath, and when you opened them, a white purple glowed inside them.

You ran and hurtled over Shannon’s head, standing in front of her and blasting her back with your powers nearly at full capacity - dark energy and electricity slammed into her. The shock alone could’ve made her heart burst. The blast was enough to get her to let Loki go, but the bots still had him. You spun quickly, casting your energy to them, ripping them apart piece by piece, finally forcing him to fall to the ground. You ran to him, checking on him. He was gasping for breath. You knew Shannon wouldn’t be down for long so you looked back to where she was getting up.

Shannon took that moment that you were distracted to let Ultron know she could grab her. She saw you turn over to look at her but at that moment you were met with Ultron standing in front of you. He grabbed you by the neck and pulled you up and had her facing Shannon. “Now to end this at once. Finish her,” he commanded Shannon.

“With pleasure.” She got up and pulled out a gun from her thigh holster. “If you’d just fought me like you should have, your death would have been different.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Not everyone is made to be a hero, some are just martyrs.” She aimed the gun right between your eyebrows.

Just as she was about to squeeze the trigger, Loki manifested a dagger, flinging it towards Shannon. It only nicked her arm though, because Steve charged at her and slammed her into the ground.

“Banner! I need some help over here!” he shouted.

“Let me go!” Shannon screamed shocking the captain but it did nothing. “You can’t stop me. I will kill her!” She began letting her powers take control but they were no use, the shocks did nothing to him and she couldn’t take anything from him.

You electrified Ultron before slamming a spike you manifested into his cheek. He jumped back, letting you go.

“Steve, no,” you said. “I’m not worth it. Go save the civilians. Fight Ultron. Save the world,” you insisted as he struggled with Shannon. “I can hold her off,” you assured. But you weren’t sure, at all. Shannon playing fair - yes, she was a match for you. Red Room Triggered Shannon? Not so much. That Shannon had a no holds bar attitude, and could very well kill you.

All she could think of was changing into Peggy. “Steve, you’re hurting me, you promised to keep me safe.” She had tears running down her cheek.

It was enough for him to let go in fear that he had hurt her. Shannon took his shield and powered it up with enough volts to kill a pod of whales and threw it at him. He was thrown into Thor’s way.

“Looks like he can’t stop me now. Better run, little Y/N.” Her hands had swirls of fire that kept growing higher up her arms. “Fight me once and for all! Show me everything you’ve got!”

You raised your fists, letting out a breath of air. Just as you were about to unleash fury on her, Hulk came charging up, and grabbed her in his giant hands, pinning her to the ground. You ran up near him, your hands ready. “If I put any power into her, she’ll just use it on you,” you informed, standing beside Hulk. Your eyes scanned quickly for Ultron, but he was back, preoccupied with the rest of the team. At least you had that.

She was screaming, fighting Hulk. You knew he was powerful, but even Shannon could kick things up to the point of getting him off of her. You’d never done this before but you decided to aim your powers in a different manner. The energy trickled from your fingertips calmly into her head, slowly making her vision, hearing, and smell go, disabling her.

Shannon struggled to get the giant hand to let go, he seemed to flinch at the waves of electricity but she seemed to have lost the ability to keep shocking him. Frustrated, she tried her other powers but none of them worked. She tried looking around but her vision had disappeared as had her other senses. She stopped moving for a bit and stood completely still almost as if she’d become unconscious. Seeing her limp form in his hand, Hulk stopped squeezing too tightly, fearing that if he had hurt her too much the doctor would get mad at him.

“Boss, your wife’s vitals have dropped some and she’s gone unconscious,” FRIDAY told Tony inside his suit. He stopped everything he was doing and spun in the air to check on her. “She’ll be fine, but we gotta get Ultron or she won’t be.”

“Right,” he agreed, as much as he didn’t want to leave her. Ultron had sicced all of his bots on the team now, they were scattered, but now it appeared the core was the main objective. The city was already floating, and the team was working hard to figure out how to keep it from exploding and ending the world. There were boats loading the leftover citizens. Now that Shannon had appeared unconscious, you focused your energy elsewhere, deciding to help the team.

“Are you alright?” Loki asked, a bad bruise forming on his cheek.

“As soon as this piece of shit Terminator is dead,” you grumbled before ripping apart a few bots. Your sights set on the big man himself. “Keep him distracted,” you said before slinking off to go around the back of him. “Vision, keep him talking,” you instructed into the comms. Vision did just that, he kept him busy, kept him focused. While you snuck up behind him and began electrocuting him. He reached onto his back and flung you off, slamming you into a brick column. You groaned in pain but stood up.

Vision attacked him with his mind stone, casting a beam at him, while Tony hit him with the repulsors, and Thor lit him up with his lightning. You hobbled your way over to stand beside them, letting your dark energy and electricity pour out of you like a rushing river. His body began to heat up, and you could tell he was melting from the inside as you cried out in pain of trying to keep your power going at this level.

Finally, his form exploded -- but it wasn’t over yet. The bots were still coming. Wanda was manning the core, while the rest of the Avengers got people to boats to safety. You wanted to help, but currently, you were on the ground, panting.

A bot came up, one that Wanda didn’t see, because she was distracted by Pietro getting shot in the shoulder. He wasn’t hurt fatally, but at first she couldn’t tell. You raised your arm to fight him, but you were too weak, and he got to the core.

“No! Wanda!” you weakly shouted and she spun, killing it too late. The core was activated now.

You turned your head to Hulk, immediately. “Hulk, carrier, now! Wanda, get your brother and get out!” you shouted, using all your strength to get up. Hulk nodded and wasted no time picking Shannon up and launching onto a nearby carrier. Wanda ran off to find Pietro, and from what you could see, they made it onto a boat. Loki was already on a safety boat, you could see him from where you were at. A look of terror crossed his face as he realized you were still on the flying city.

“Steve, Clint, you two on a boat?” you asked weakly into the comms, out of breath.

“Yeah, where the hell are you?” Clint asked back.

“Just make sure Tony gets away from here,” you replied. “I’m finishing this.”

You stood up and killed the bot. Ultron wasn’t dead. He still had something out there driving that thing. You narrowed your eyes, about to fly off when suddenly the ground shook beneath you and opened up, causing you to fall in. A scream escaped your throat, you couldn’t help it. You were free falling between ground, rock, roots, and now, you hit the open sky. There wasn’t enough energy for you to fly, so you closed your eyes, waiting for impact - surprised when you were suddenly in someone’s arms.

In shock, you opened your eyes to find Vision.

“Vision?” you breathed. “But what--”

“I’ll find Ultron. Mr. Stark’s instructions were clear -- keep you alive.”

All you could do was frown, but he lowered you onto a boat, next to Hulk who was slowly turning back into Banner.

You took a deep breath, looking around at the Avengers, Shannon… They were safe. The people were safe...Loki was safe… that’s all that mattered.

The boats got onto the helicarrier, and the Avengers gathered around Shannon, who was still knocked out. At this point, you were terrified you’d done something wrong. You’d never disabled anyone like that with your powers and weren’t sure you’d done it right or safely.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, wincing at the sudden sunlight. All eyes were on her as she gasped and sat up.

“Gahh! What happened tell me? I didn't kill anyone, did I?” Shannon looked around, she was afraid that she’d hurt anyone, especially from the team. “Don’t come near me. I’m not sure I’m stable enough to be in contact with anyone.” She started scooching back and hit the back of a seat.

Tony, obviously worried about his wife, rushed to her and was looking everywhere for visible signs or injury. “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself in any way?” He started grabbing her hands.

“No! Don’t touch me,” she shrieked, yanking her hands away. “Please don’t come near me. I don’t want to hurt you.” She hugged her knees to herself.

“Shan,” you tried, kneeling, getting on her level. “It’s alright. You won’t hurt us. You’re not activated any more. You’d never do anything to us,” you assured, giving her a warm smile, trying to scoot closer.

“I don’t know that, none of us do. I can still feel it’s inside me.” Her hands shook as she tried to move her hair from her face. “I just need to be alone. If I need anyone Stevie can help.” She looked over at Steve pleading with her eyes.

“I’ll do whatever you need, doll,” he assured with a slight shrug. “Just say the word.”

“Thank you, Stevie. For now I’ll just go rest.” Shannon got up or tried to get up but she was too weak.

“Here, I’ll give you a hand.” Bruce went to help her get up. “Let’s get you to one of the seats.” He took her to her seat.

“Thank you, Bruce, I’ll get some sleep.” She buckled in her seatbelt. “Can I have some painkillers?”

“Sure thing.”

You glanced to Tony as you stood up, worry on your face. He thrust his head over his shoulder to signal he wanted to talk away from everyone. The two of you stepped far out of hearing distance.

“I had no idea she still had that shit in her. That protocol. Those… That trigger.” Tony shook his head, no doubt blaming himself.

“I didn’t either. I thought SHIELD got that out,” you mentioned. ‘What do we do? Tony, she looks like a wounded animal,” you said, pity in your voice. “She’s terrified to even look at us.”

“I know,” he noted before chewing on his lip, watching his bride. “What do you say we take her back to the X-Men? They were making some headway before, right?” he asked.

“Yeah. Her powers are still killing her,” you reminded. “Every time she uses them, and she just let a canon loose,” you remarked. “She needs to be healed.”

He nodded. “Yeah, no, you’re right. We’ll get the rest of the team back to the tower and then I’ll take her to the mansion.”

“We both will,” you asserted softly. “You’ll need to bring Bruce too,” you said.

“Banner? Why?”

“He comforts her. He’s been her primary care doctor. If you’re going to take Shannon there, she’s going to want Bruce by her side too,” you stated matter-of-factly.

“Okay, you, me, Banner, and Shannon will go to the mansion,” he corrected, with a bit of an eye roll.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List: @essie1876 @magpiegirl80 @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @iamwarrenspeace @marvel-imagines-yes-please @superwholocked527 @missinstantgratification @thejemersoninferno @rda1989 @munlis @thefridgeismybestie @bubblyanarocks3 @igiveupicantthinkofausername @kaliforniacoastalteens @feelmyroarrrr @kaelingoat-blog @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo @damalseer @heyitscam99 @yknott81 @sorryimacrapwriter @glitterquadricorn @xxqueenofisolationxx @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @bittersweetunicorm @alyssaj23 @sea040561 @princess76179 @thisismysecrethappyplace @sarahp879 @malfoysqueen14 @ellallheart @breezy1415 @marvelmayo @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @cocosierra94 @hardcollectionworldtrash @capsmuscles @marvelloushamilton @paintballkid711

Loki: @lostinspace33 @ultrarebelheart @lenawiinchester @esoltis280 @tngrayson @wangdeasang @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice

UC: @lokis-high-priestess

#unforeseen chasm #loki x reader #loki fic #Loki Laufeyson #tony stark x ofc #tony stark #tony stark fic #bruce banner #clint barton #natasha romanoff #steve rogers #vision #ultron #the maximoff twins

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nekoannie-chan · 5 years

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The place where we met

Pairing: Steve x Reader

Word count: 1668 words

Summary: You met the love of your life in the place you least expected, how important will that place become throughout your love story?

Warnings: None

A/N: This is my entry to the @omnomsauruswrites ‘s Omnom 1.1K Writing Challenge Celebration with the prompt:

"Tokyo"

I’m sorry, it took me so long, I was busy with some Ph.D. stuff.

My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistake please let me know and I will correct it.

I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics be posted in other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don’t steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other’s people. The only exception is the ones I gifted ‘cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and is not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Marvel’s characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

My other media where I publish: Wattpad, Ao3, ffnet.

If you like it please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

Steve remembers the place where you met, it was shortly after the attack on New York, and had a mission in Tokyo, Japan, however, it was going a little wrong, civilians were being threatened and there were already a considerable number of wounded; one of the enemies held you as a hostage, however, Steve had managed that nothing bad happened to you.

He had saved you, in gratitude, you invited him to a cafeteria, where they began to talk, you told him that you were in that country because it was where your grandmother was born as well as lived almost her whole life and as you were on vacation you go to visit her like when you were a child. You were surprised when he told you about the New York attack, in fact, you lived in New York and you gave him your address in case one day he wanted to visit you.

Shortly after you returned from your vacation, Steve and you started dating, a few weeks later he was finally encouraged to ask you to be his girlfriend.

When the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D occurs. You found it out from the news, that explained why you had not received any call or message from Steve, you were worried, the preliminary information was that he has died, you could not believe it, you did not want to believe it, within a few hours you received a call from someone who did not You knew in person, although your boyfriend had told you about him.

"Y/N Y/L/N?" Maria asked

“It's me… how bad is it?” you questioned, worry growing every second... "Not too bad, he'll survive but I think it's better if you were here, it was a very intense day and he will need you," Maria informed you.

"I'll take the first flight," you replied.

When you arrived at the hospital, you asked for Hill, she indicated to you where your boyfriend was and authorized that you could enter to see him when you entered the room Steve had already woken up.

“Excuse me, who are you?” Sam asked when he saw you.

"Okay, I know her," Steve replied before you could say anything.

Sam looked to you from Steve and vice versa several times, suddenly he understood what was happening.

"I'll leave you alone, I think you have a lot to talk about," he said before leaving.

"Thank you," you murmured.

Steve told you everything that had happened, in the end, you were hugging him tightly, you were afraid of losing him even if he assured you that he was fine.

Both had agreed to keep the relationship as a secret after everything that happened, he was afraid that HYDRA would go for you and take you away from him if they knew about your existence and his team ... He didn't want anyone to bother you or make fool of you, therefore the only one who knew about your existence was Sam but Steve always refused to tell him any details of the relationship.

The following year he asked you to marry, he was completely sure that you were the love of his life and you thought the same about him. You also planned to get married in secret, you had no family and your friends or at least you thought they were your friends many years ago they had betrayed you and since then you stopped talking to them, Steve for his part had a bad feeling, so they avoided making a Great celebration or public

When the problems with the Sokovia Agreements began, he immediately told you to ask you to leave the country and take refuge in your grandmother's house, he knew that if you stayed there and he continued to refuse to sign, the authorities would go for you and you would be their hostage to make him to do what they wanted and not what he thought was right. He also told you that as soon as things calm down or escape, he would reach you.

Several weeks later you met him again but he was not alone, Bucky accompanied him, Steve wanted you to meet his best friend, so Bucky and the old woman who lived in the house next door and had been the best friend of your grandmother were her only guests at her wedding after this Bucky returned to Wakanda.

The old woman knew you all her life, so she also considered you her granddaughter, since her family had practically abandoned her, they never visited her, so you and Steve chose to consider her part of the family, of course, she knew the identity of Steve but they trusted her because he would never give them away.

When he had free time you walked through the streets of Tokyo and used to avoid the most tourist sites to avoid being recognized, and loved to go down the streets, enter the sanctuaries and enjoy the sweets.

That night was her first wedding anniversary, with the help of the neighbor you prepared a very special dinner, you had very important news to your husband. The dinner was going perfectly everything was very romantic, you decided it was time to tell him the news

“Stevie ...” you felt too nervous.

He looked up when he noticed the nervousness of your voice, for a moment he feared you were going to give him the bad news.

"What's up doll?” he asked

"I have news to give you," you began to say.

Now he thought that everything between you and him was over, maybe you had been already tired of the situation and would like to be with someone who was not a fugitive.

"I'm pregnant," you finally let go.

"Are we going to be parents?" he asked surprised.

You nodded, his expression brightened, he was now completely happy, he had never thought that was what you were going to say.

“How much time?” he asked

"Two months," you said.

He hugged you carefully, he didn't want to hurt you, he felt like he was the happiest man in the world. He filled your face with kisses, now he would do everything to protect that little ting being growing inside you.

Finally, it was time for delivery, you gave birth to a very healthy girl, and happiness did not fit Steve. You decided to call her Sarah.

Although he continued to frequent Sam, Natasha and other members of his team, he never told them anything about you, the only one he knew was Bucky even though he didn't know little Sarah in person, but he knew her through photos that Steve show him.

Months later, while you were sleeping, Steve's cell phone rang, Tony's name appeared on the screen, Bruce told him what had happened and that they needed his help to deal with Thanos.

“What happened?” you asked sleepily.

"They need me," he replied.

"Is it serious?" if it was nothing important, perhaps I could ignore it.

"So it seems, I have to go," he confirmed.

"Try to get back safely, we need you,” you asked.

“I love you”

“I love you more”

The baby did not stop crying, you carried her, she was not hungry or needed a change, and rather what she wanted was her dad

"Dad is saving the world, he does this for you," you told the little girl.

You gave her favorite teddy, of course, it was one that Steve had given her, with that she calmed down, you put her in her pen and you sat on the armchair in the living room and you had a bad feeling, while you were afraid of never seeing your husband again.

After a while, you started to feel as if your limbs were falling asleep, you didn't understand what was going on, then everything went dark.

Thanos had achieved his goal, the only thing that went through Steve's mind was the question of whether something had happened to you, you also been victims? A few hours later he returned home, opened the door, started calling you, there was no answer, he entered the room, the only thing he found was his daughter asleep in the corral, there was no trace of you, he took the baby very carefully so as not to wake her up and that was when he discovered that part of his fear was had come true, tears began to fall down his cheeks when he discovered on the couch the pile of dust, he deduced that it was you.

“Y/N? Steve? ” the neighbor called.

"Here I am," he replied.

“What's going on?” she asked, she didn't understand what was happening either.

"We lost ..." was the only thing he managed to answer.

"Y/N too ...?" He couldn't finish the sentence.

Steve nodded.

"Take Sarah to a safe place, I'll take care of the house, don't worry,” she offered.

Steve accepted and thanked the lady, left Sarah with her for a moment to prepare a suitcase with some things she would need for the trip that awaited them, she put clothes and some toys

He took his daughter, he would go to the old Avengers base that was where everyone had met, he had to discuss what they would do and how things would be resolved and Steve also knew that he would need help with his daughter.

Steve entered the place, Sarah saw everything and hugged her dad tight, and she looked scared.

“And that baby?” Nat asked when he saw her

"She is my daughter," Steve replied.

“Did you get married?” Thor asked stunned.

Everyone looked surprised, they didn't understand the reason Steve had hidden it.

"And your daughter's mother?" Natasha asked.

It seemed odd that he didn't come with her too, maybe if the girl saw her mother she wouldn't be so scared.

Steve shook his head, everyone understood, he had also been a victim of Thanos and Natasha took Sarah's arms.

"We'll fix this for her," Nat said.

#omnomwritingchallenge1.1k #steve rogers #steve x reader #steve rogers fic

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jenjenpup · 5 years

Text

So I wasn't gonna write anything about this movie, move on and forget I watched it but I need to say a few things just because. Some people really loved the movie and by all means no one is stopping you. This is my own opinion, feelings and thoughts and I'm entitled to say them. Obviously spoiler warning for anyone whos not seen the movie.

This will be a list of every problem I had with the film.

I'll firstly talk about the writing.

Carol is used as a deus ex machina, a mere plot device whenever the writers have run out of ideas. Tony and Nebula are dying in space, guess who coincidently happened to fly by their ship and fly them down on earth. Then she disappears for the most part of the movie only to have her appear at the end of it toooo destroy a ship? Don’t get me wrong I love Captain Marvel and the whole women empowerment message they supposedly tried to pass but in the end Thanos just slaps her away and she stays down. Like. She was just a tool?

There are so many plot holes in the whole time traveling sequence I don’t even know where to begin. Loki is somewhere in some parallel timeline with the tesseract and we completely ignore that. Did this affect our timeline? Did his whole arc with Thor get deleted? Is he dead at the end or alive? Same thing with Gamora. She's dead. But is she? What about her timeline. She got snatched from her time toooo do what exactly. Her relationship with Peter is reduced to a joke, and we don’t even see her with the rest of the crew at the end. What about Nebula? She shot her past self, very lovely too, but shouldn’t she be dead? I have no clue how the time travel works. Im just basing this of off the grandfather paradox. If past Nebula is dead then so should present Nebula. But it may just be that shes dead on a different universe. Very open to interpretation.

Lets quickly mention the Ancient One cause it's bugging me. She has the time stone so she could see the future, as she said "You came 5 years too early" to Bruce when he was looking for Strange, meaning she can read into the future. Yet she somehow doesn't know about this whole apocalypse? Can she only see into a limited period of time, coincidentally right when Strange appears? Isn't she around for quite some time? I'm pretty sure she's 500 years old.

I'll move on to characters, which was one of the worst executed features of the film.

Natasha ends up sacrificing her life to give Clint the chance to live his with his family. We spent the whole film being shown how Clint changed to a vigilante who kills several people, criminals yes but still, and somehow ends up getting to live a happy life and not atone for any of this? Natasha spent her whole life trying to make up for the wrongdoings of her past. Not once has she lived a happy life, Clint got to have a family, he lived happy for several years with them, Nat did not. She shouldn't be the one to die.

Banner, as many others, got reduced to a mere comedy stan and was not explained how the two personalities just merged together. I have the least problems with his character cause "he found peace with himself" but it could've been executed better. In the end he was no fighter as Hulk was nor a genius as Banner.

Thor. I'm. Wtf. So. How do I explain this. When the first Thor movie came out I wasn't a big fan of his character. He was a spoiled prince, doing whatever he wanted, not taking into consideration to anything or anyone. Loki was a much better written character at the time. You could sympathize with him. As the movie progressed though Thor grew into a symbol of strength. He was the God of Thunder. Taikas film didn’t reduce him to a joke, the whole film was a comedy. It worked. His character progressed so much throughout the films. And it is so fucked up to see him like this now. All his scenes in the films are for comedic purposes or out of date pop culture references. I get what they were aiming for. A person mourning can vastly change. But not like this. He should've become secluded, easily angered, pessimistic even. His character arc shouldn’t end on him being an overweight alcoholic just for the shake of adding fortnite to the movie.

Steve. Again. His whole arc got snapped. Steve had found peace with his decision to leave his relationship with Peggy in the past the moment he crashed that plane in the first movie. He even got a new romantic interest along the lines, Sharon Carter. Erased. He ends up going back to be with Peggy. What about her timeline? Who cares right. I can't really explain how this isn't something the Steve I know would do. It's just tying up loose ends.

Lastly. Tony. I'm the most affected by his character fate. He spent his whole life miserable, orphaned at a young age, miserable with his own name as it had brought death upon others through his company, had PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks, couldn’t sleep because of his past, being suddenly given a daughter from the writers to give him a mid-happy time, while he was still blaming himself for everything that happened, and in the end he gave up his life. We were, explicitly shown, in the first avengers film, that Tony Stark, wasn’t selfish. He had taken that bomb and flew into that portal to save billions, fully prepared to die. He was sure he was going to die. He proved he had a heart. Multiple times. He did not need to die to prove it again. Personally, I was really invested in his character. I have a similar relationship with my father, my major is the same, I get anxiety like him, and generally I'm not Tony Stark but I had really seen myself in him. And life is full of suffering. It's so, so so wrong of a message to show that one can truly find peace when dead. What I want from a movie is to give me hope. Not this.

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wits-writing · 5 years

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Avengers: Endgame (Movie Review SPOILERS)

Avengers: Endgame, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo with a screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, has a clearly delineated story structures, basically splitting its story among three different genres to bring in so much of the scope that’s been built up in 21 previous movies. Even accounting for its three-hour runtime, how much payoff and experimenting with the character dynamics from throughout the MCU’s history has been fit into this one astonishes. Each segment has ways of managing tone and dealing with the finality at play that warrant discussing how they work on individual levels. I’m going to try something different by doing exactly that with this review, followed by highlighting my favorite performances in the movie. This will mean spoilers, but the stuff I want to discuss requires that and I won’t give away the biggest moments Endgame has up its sleeve.

Final Warning: If you don’t want to be spoiled on anything about Avengers: Endgame, turn back now but know this is a satisfying finale for everything the MCU has built.

[Full Review and SPOILERS Under the Cut]

Act 1 (Prologue/Post-Snap World):

The prologue of the movie effectively tells the audience what the movie will not be about. When Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) arrives at Avengers HQ after saving Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) from being stranded in space, Endgame goes through the motions of the most obvious follow-up to Infinity War. The heroes regroup with their new powerful ally to kick Thanos’s ass properly this time around with the intent to get the Infinity Stones and undo the Snap. Things get complicated with a revelation when they go to find Thanos on the idyllic planet he’s retired on after achieving his twisted idea of “balance.” The Mad Titan used his second act with the Infinity Stones to self-destruct them, so the Snap can’t be undone. After Thor kills Thanos in a swift act of rage, the Avengers are left with no solid idea of what their next move will be.

That’s when the next major reveal of Endgame’s premise occurs, it’s set five years in the future from where the prologue left off. The time-skip effectively jumps us into a new status quo the characters have settled into and how some have dealt with the Post-Snap world better than others. Some of the Avengers had more invested in the mission than others and either desperately seek a new one or completely close themselves off due to lack of purpose. Others have managed to find renewed purpose through rebuilding their personal lives, finding a sense of balance and moving on, even if guilt over being unable to stop Thanos has stuck with them.

This act represents the movie at its most somber and considerate. Even the humor that does manage to creep into this part of the movie is more subdued or the product of characters lashing out in frustration. We get the most time inside the heads of the characters in the opening stretch and we’re given a sense of what they still have to lose in the aftermath of their greatest failure. However, things shift gears into the second act, when the heroes get the chance to start making things right.

Act 2 (Time Heist):

Endgame starts reintroducing the type of fun that’s more expected from the Avengers movies by way of reintroducing the audience to Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), aka Ant-Man. He emerges from the Quantum Realm after the mid-credits cliffhanger from Ant-Man and the Wasp, but the five years only felt like five hours to him. After catching up on what he missed and reuniting with his loved ones, he decides to go to Avengers HQ with his revelations about the Realm and how they could use it to bring back everyone dusted in the Snap by tracking down the Infinity Stones throughout time. Which ends up meaning the Avengers taking a tour through the events of past MCU movies.

The buildup to the actual trips through time transition from the more dower tone of the opening by turning the middle of the movie into a heist. Like any decent entry in that genre, it begins by bringing the team together. This is where the last couple of heroes that haven’t made appearances in the movie yet make their return and they’re the ones in more amusing positions post-time-skip. Some of the team use this as a chance to pick themselves back up as having a new mission breathes new life into them. Others still have some heavy lifting to do in that area that has to wait until they’re already on the MacGuffin quest. They determine which times are best for picking up the Stones as efficiently as possible with the limited resources at their disposal.

Once the time travel begins, how much an audience member gets out of it will inevitably be tied to how much they have invested in the MCU as a series and the entries being revisited in particular. I can’t be impartial about how well this would work for the casual fan of these movies, since I’ve watched most of them multiple times over the years. It’s about as blatant as fan service can get and represents the movie at its lightest tone overall. Even if specific events aren’t being revisited, there are nods, winks and cameos from past characters aplenty to go around as Endgame pays tribute to every storyteller that’s added something to this universe. My personal favorite bits come from how the movie uses this time to answer retroactive questions of “what was X-character doing during Y-event”, especially during the part that revolves around the Battle of New York from The Avengers.

It’s not all jokes and continuity nods, since going through ones own past presents plenty of opportunity for self-reflection. Characters get the chance to see how far they’ve come, reexamine their regrets and bring relationships with other characters full-circle. The exact mechanics of what can and can’t be done in the past are loose but usually in service to the character arcs being brought to fruition. Since it wouldn’t be a heist or a time travel story without something going wrong along the way, this is also where the buildup for the final act of the movie occurs.

Act 3 (Final Battle/Epilogue):

If the second act was examining the MCU’s past compared to how far they’ve come, the final act is about showing off the full spectacle of what’s been built from that past. It’s a sight to behold as stories get payed off and called back, all while the scale grows to a level that makes the battles from even the biggest superhero movies of the last twenty years look miniscule by comparison. The cathartic execution of this battle is awe-inspiring and goes beyond anything else I can remember seeing in my life. All of it leads into the movie’s epilogue as the characters are left to consider what they’ve sacrificed to win the day. The final stretch of this movie emphasizes a sense of finality on par with the multiple epilogues from Return of the King. Even as the MCU inevitably continues after this, there’s a sense that the story that began with Tony Stark in a cave with a box of scraps has concluded.

The Characters:

Since Endgame’s mainly a conclusion for what began with Phase 1 of the MCU, the original six Avengers get the bulk of this movies character work. Keeping things focused to a core group of characters makes this movie ultimately feel more satisfying for them than Infinity War, where they were mostly a reactive force to Thanos’s machinations.

Tony’s presented as the one with the most to lose before they go on their time travel mission, since he’s put the most work into rebuilding his life after the Snap. When he’s first presented with the time travel plan, he dismisses it as a pipedream of a Hail Mary pass. His own desire to make things right eventually wins out and he’s the one to put the finishing touches on the devices that make their mission possible. He’s paired up with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) for the mission as it takes them on a tour of the intersections in their personal histories. Theirs is probably the strongest of the segments that makeup the second act of Endgame and serves as a worthwhile reconciliation for the two after their falling out in Captain America: Civil War.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has been stuck dealing with witnessing everything he ever defined himself by crumble with the weight of his failure to stop Thanos as his breaking point. He’s given up on any version of Thor he thought himself to be in the past, not the arrogant prince we first met him as nor the hero he became. He’s retreated from himself and that makes him the most reluctant to go along with the plan to fix everything. His depression is played partly for laughs and given signifiers of letting himself go like overeating and alcoholism. It’s likely a divisive decision to do this with Thor, but I enjoy the way it pays off. He also continues his great dynamic with Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) from Infinity War, which plants Rocket in the rare position of being the mature one in the situation.

Natasha (Scarlet Johannsen) spent the past five years actively throwing herself into mitigating the chaos caused in the wake of the Snap. She’ll take any problem as an excuse to keep herself busy rather than dwell on how her efforts to do the right thing as an Avenger added up to a zero-sum when it counted most. In the time between those dilemmas, she’s busy tracking down Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). He lost his entire family in the Snap and it broke him. He’s gone on an international killing spree of any major criminals spared from being dusted. The two reunite for the sake of the mission and are both prepared to give up anything to make up for the sins of their respective pasts.

Bruce (Mark Ruffalo) is probably the character there’s the least to say about. The position he’s in after the time-skip is amusing. He’s managed to make peace with his Hulk-side and now permanently hulked-out with a more affable demeanor overall that suits Ruffalo’s performance perfectly. It’s a fun decision, showing one of the characters taking the perspective granted by experiencing a cosmic tragedy to work through his personal issues but it leaves him with little to do but exposit about the plot mechanics of time travel. There are some great bits where he struggles to imitate the past-Hulk’s rage to stay incognito on their time travel mission that make this decision the most worth it.

Aside from the original Avengers, the character given the most material to work with is Nebula. The character and Gillan’s performance have been a consistently underrated aspect of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but the spotlight she’s given here makes her best showcase yet. The time travel segment ends up showing how far the character has come since her first appearance. It’d be difficult to discuss much more without going into further spoilers than I have already, but she’s definitely Endgame’s secret weapon for why it works as well as it does.

Conclusion:

Honestly, I don’t know what else to say at this point. Avengers: Endgame makes an effective celebration of everything the Marvel Cinematic Universe has built up. If you’ve read this far past my spoiler warnings already, you’ve either already seen it and made up your own mind or wanted more details about what the experience of this finale is like. This is a curtain call on eleven years of evolution for superhero movies as a genre and I’m happy I got to see it happen. Part of me will never believe they actually pulled it off, but they did and these characters have earned a permanent place in film history for it.

If you like what you’ve read here, please like/reblog or share elsewhere online, follow me on Twitter (@WC_WIT), and consider throwing some support my way at either Ko-Fi.com or Patreon.com at the extension “/witswriting”

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ty-talks-comics · 5 years

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Best of Marvel: Week of June 5th, 2019

Best of this Week: Meet the Skrulls #5 - Robbie Thompson, Niko Henrichon, Laurent Grossat and Travis Lanham

Earth has a way of changing everyone.

Of all of the races in the Marvel Universe, the Skrulls absolutely blend in the best. They act like us, laugh like us and even have families like us, but what happens when that family becomes more important than the mission? That’s what Meet the Skrulls asks us as we reach the end of the harrowing series.

Mirroring the happy beginnings of their mission, the rest of the Warner family, mother, Gloria, and her daughters, Alice, Madison and a presumed dead Ivy return to their family home. All is not good as it is engulfed in flame, leading to Gloria driving the family to a safe house just outside their city limits. Alice turns into a butterfly to complete her part of the mission while Gloria and Madison are reunited with their father, Carl, who tells them that their handler, Moloth, has betrayed them.

Meanwhile, Alice infiltrates the home of one of her highschool “friends” and tells her of her mission and that once she completes it, she will never show her face again. It’s distressing that things have gone so terribly that she’s willing to throw away her secret in a last ditch effort to salvage her mission, but that’s how the Skrulls are. They are focused on serving their homeworld and anything less than that is unacceptable in their eyes, especially for Alice who had been trying to become part of humanity for the entirety of the series.

At the same time, Carl begins to systematically incapacitate the rest of the family with stun guns, however Gloria catches on when he asks for a spot of tea from her that this is not her husband. She poisons the tea, but he detects it and they confront each other. Elsewhere, Iron Man arrives at a Stark Enterprises facility and questions how none of his staff knew that there was another floor/room that someone was using and how did a Skrull get in. Alice, posing as her friend’s mother, finds the body of her father, having been shot in the chest in the last issue. An unfortunate sacrifice to save his daughter, Ivy.

At the safehouse, Gloria and Moloth fight fiercely. Henrichon’s art reaches a new level of dynamic as limbs expand, twist and contort because of the Skrull’s shapeshifting abilities. Attacks and bodies look gross and everything is impactful because of the closed nature of the space they occupy. Not only that, but faces are expressive of the fury and betrayal that they all feel.

Moloth is disappointed in Skrull High Command and believe them to be weak and incompetent, choosing to betray them to another unknown benefactor and making the Warner’s take the fall for his actions. The Warners, Gloria and a recovered Madison are pissed and hurt that Moloth killed their father. Gloria rages and as she punches and kicks Moloth, it’s so very satisfying.

Moloth, however, gets the better of them and manages to hold them down with his limbs sort of taking the form of tree trunks, almost. He is dispatched when Alice returns, driving a car through the house and crushing him. He tells the family that the Skrull Homeworld will think that they’ve betrayed their home, that they can’t run, but Gloria tells him that that’s exactly what Moloth’s trained them for, turning her arm into a blade and killing him.The family then puts Carl’s body on a pyre and now have to live a life on the run while being pursued by Tony Stark and the Moloth’s unknown bosses.

I’ve been a fan of Meet the Skrulls since the first issue and I wish I had given it more love when it came to showing the books off because they are amazing. Robbie Thompson writes these characters in such a subtle way. The underlying love for each other is there, but it’s clouded by a cover of duty and a little bit of resentment in the first few issues due to the unexplained loss of Ivy sometime prior. Once it’s revealed that Ivy is alive and you think that the family may have happy ending, that feeling is immediately ripped away and replaced with grief.

These characters are soldiers in a never ending war, but they somehow managed to form a bond beyond the war. It’s even harder because they are an actual family, but adjusting to life on Earth and some semblance of freedom making them supposedly weaker humanizes them in a way that we haven’t seen from the Skrulls before.

Not to mention how beautiful Henrichon’s art is. Henrichon has done amazing art for Doctor Strange and New Mutants with lots of spectacle and style, but the way that he draws small moments... little moments of intimacy and smiles, sometimes panels with no dialogue whatsoever is spectacular. His faces are awesome and the feeling is palpable in each of them. The sorrow from Alice as her “friend” questions who she is, the shock as Madison and Gloria see “Carl” and the rage as previously mentioned.

Meet the Skrulls definitely deserves some acclaim. It’s a spy thriller, a family drama and an alien invasion story wrapped into one nice and neat package. The art is phenomenal and while it may not continue past this story, it’s definitely one worth reading. The characters are engaging, from the overbearing and mission focused Carl, to his loving wife who’s grown disillusioned to the mission, to the dutiful Madison and the wistful Alice who just wants to be as normal as the humans. It’s an emotional journey and the ending is as impactful as its beginning. High recommend.

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There aren't many other words to describe this issue other than EPIC.

Runner Up: The War of the Realms #5 - Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, Matthew Wilson and Joe Sabino

The War of the Realms is in full swing and the forces of Midgard are mounting their comeback! Thanks to the work of Shuri, communications are restored, allowing the various heroes of Earth to coordinate their actions, allowing for everyone to be teleported to areas that need them the most.

This leads to various amazing shots drawn by Russell Dauterman. The visual of Black Panther on a winged horse as Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight off the Angels of Heven is the background is stunning, Captain Britain and Captain America fighting off Dark Elves to the shores of France is amazingly inspiring and watching Wolverine be welcomed into the Warriors Three by Hogun and Fandral as he tears through Muspelheim's demons is brutal and hilarious.

Not only these moments, but the ones that are even longer look badass! Watching Volstagg return to his normal self as he dons the Destroyer Armor to fight Kurse is awesome because he shows that he'll never give up, even while suffering from his injuries against The Mangog. Frank Castle leading the Light Elves of Alfheim, wielding GUNS to fight the dark elves is AMAZING. And watching Captain Marvel and Roz Solomon team up to fight Dario Agger, giving him the comeuppance he deserves is so fulfilling.

While all of this war is going on, Thor is being ferried to the World Tree, Yggdrasil, by Daredevil. Surprisingly, it has been surviving on the surface of the sun as a seed of it was on Asgardia when it was being destroyed. To attain knowledge of how to win the war, Thor has Daredevil pin him to the tree in a fashion similar to when his father hung himself on the tree for seven years or so(?).

He returns in a series of shots, thunder rumbling as he crashes through the enemy forces, looking for Malekith. Hoping to mark the end of a rivalry that's been years in the making.

Because of the vast nature of this book and its extra size, there's so much to cover, but the main points are there. This is a Thor story, but it's a Marvel Event. An initial criticism that I had was that it did not feature Thor enough, casting him away to fight Frost Giants in Jotunheim for most of it, but honestly that's a good thing.

If Thor had remained, then we wouldn't have gotten the struggles that all of these heroes had to face while going up against Thor's magic nonsense. It's been a wild ride seeing Daredevil as The God Without Fear, seeing him use powers and a newfound sight to fight the forces of evil. Watching Frank Castle's profile raise CONSIDERABLY because of how integral to the War he has been is something else entirely. Most importantly, watching Black Panther coordinate everything alongside Lady Freyja cements him as a leader right on par with Steve Rogers.

When Malekith took Thor's arm back in 2014, no one knew that the villain would grow into such a huge threat this many years later, except for Jason Aaron. The War of the Realms is the culmination of everything that he's been building since 2012's Thor: God of Thunder. It's been a WILD and fun ride throughout and this penultimate issue has me salivating for the epic final confrontation between the Accursed and The Unworthy.

#comics #marvel #marvel comics #meet the skrulls #robbie thompson #niko henrichon #war of the realms #thor #thor odinson #malekith #jason aaron #russell dauterman #black panther #daredevil

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son-of-alderaan · 6 years

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SPOILER WARNING: reveals information about some of the script's themes and about a character's transformation that happens gradually throughout the film. Information is given about early plot elements, but no plot details are given about the end of the film.

Tony Grisoni has collaborated on a number of projects with Terry Gilliam. The pair wrote the script for Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), and then The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Grisoni and Gilliam performed a rewrite of Ehren Kruger’s script for The Brothers Grimm (2005) and wrote the script for Tideland (also 2005), based on Mitch Cullin’s novel. The pair also worked on scripts for Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel Good Omens and a project called The Minotaur, although neither of these scripts went into production.

Grisoni’s other feature films as screenwriter include Queen of Hearts (1989) directed by Jon Amiel, In This World(2002) directed by Michael Winterbottom, and Brothers of the Head (2005). In This World won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. He also collaborated with Samantha Morton, writing the script for her directorial debut The Unloved (2009).

The writer has also had considerable success in television, with credits including the outstanding Red Riding trilogy (2009) featuring Andrew Garfield, and the acclaimed Southcliffe (2013). His script for The City & The City, based on the novel by China Mieville, screened on BBC2 in 2018.

Grisoni was executive producer and wrote two episodes of The Young Pope (2016 - ), and penned Crazy Diamond (2017), the Steve Buscemi episode of Channel 4’s anthology series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams.

The writer spoke with Philip Stubbs about his work with Terry Gilliam on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in July 2017, just after principal photography had completed.

Philip Stubbs: Once Fear & Loathing had completed photography, there was a frantic postproduction. During the publicity for the picture in 1998, I remember that Terry said he’d been too tired to start anything else. I think it was towards the end of 1998 that he kicked off the Quixote project with you. Tony Grisoni: People remember Fear and Loathing very fondly, but what they forget is that, when it premiered at Cannes in 1998, it was a total disaster. I think that almost every trade publication trashed us. As a result, that had a huge effect on the distribution of the film. It was seen as being a failure. After going through the blood, sweat and tears that you shed to make the film, you can imagine how tough that must have been for Terry to have faced – guess what, this film is no good. Yet, over the years, students and schoolkids have made it a huge success, because it became the Friday night video.

It was a big seller in Walmart! Yes, huge. It became a very big home video seller, and then the movie became known as a great success. But at the time of its theatrical release, that was not how it was seen. The great and the good in the critical world saw it as trash. It was hard thing to take at the time.

So around 1998 he started talking about Quixote. He had a script from years before that he’d written with Charles McKeown. So we were having these conversations. Terry said, “I want to do something about this advertising executive. He’s really arrogant - he thinks he knows everything. He gets dragged into Quixote’s world. He goes back in time and he becomes Quixote’s sidekick.” Terry was talking about this, and I said, “But it’s not written down.” Terry then said, “It’s all in my head.” It sounded like a weird fusion of Don Quixote and A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain.

In fact Terry had spent six months working on Mark Twain’s novel just after The Fisher King I didn’t know that! So that’s where Terry stole it… now we know! In fact, this particular advertising executive, Toby, did bang his head, go back in time and meet Quixote. In the first drafts that we did together, it was split between the contemporary world - this advertising man making commercials, having betrayed any creative truth that he had, selling out to make commercials to flog cat food or whatever... He gets a bang on the head, and goes back to meet the real Don Quixote and then learns to become a servant to this crazed man. That was very much the early drafts. That balance and how you went into the Quixote world changed a lot, there was a moment I remember where he slipped into the contemporary world for a bit before being plunged back into the past. It very much played with that play between past and present.

In the middle of a previous script, he woke up in a hospital before going back to the world of Quixote. Yes, in one draft he woke up in a hospital. There were many different drafts, versions of this.

Casting your mind back to 1998, early 1999, when you put that script together, what can you remember about the roles you played? I’ve never worked with Terry where anything was distinct at all. Part of the joy is that it is play. What you have to do is to jump in and play. And it is hard play - you do it for a long time. I remember we’d act out scenes in a very natural way. We didn’t stand on a stage performing, but we’d just go through scenes and play different roles. Then we’d swap the roles we played.

By doing this, we understood the sense of the scene, the timing and how the jokes work. We would do that kind of thing, and I would go away with the material. I’d write and then send to him and then we’d meet up again and go over the script - that’s what we do.

Meanwhile Terry would say, “I had a go. I had a look at that scene and I’ve got a new version here,” and Terry would often say things like, “I managed to destroy the work that you did!” Joking aside, sometimes he has! But I say: well you’d better send it to me then. Toss the ball back. Then I have a look at it, and of course he hasn’t destroyed it totally, the destruction always brings a new idea or a new twist or an interesting take on something, or a new element. Then I incorporate that. We talk, we read the script, we have new ideas. I make sure I’ve got many notes, so I could go away and piece it together and do the writing and then come back and do some more. So it’s a very fluid process.

When it comes to putting a script together, the skills you bring in and complement each other, is there something that Terry specifically needs you for? I know that everyone likes the image of Terry being a crazed, out-of-control madman. But he’s not - he’s actually very disciplined. You can’t make a film unless you are disciplined. His take on a script is very, very good. He’s got a very good eye for a script. He understands structure of a script.

I’m in love with structure because I think structure is everything when it comes to a screenplay. It’s all about juxtaposition, it’s all about the transition from one scene to the next scene, and the meaning is in the middle, in that juxtaposition.

The film will be shot to shot to shot. The joy is the same in the script, going from one sequence to another. So to be really blunt about it, if you’ve got a really sad scene, you really want to come in with a very funny scene. The closer you put beauty and horror together, the better the horror works and the better the beauty works. The closer you put funny next to sad, the better the funny works and the better the sad works.

The other thing is that I used to be scared of writing dialogue. These days I really enjoy it. The biggest demon in dialogue is exposition of course. One of the biggest problems is the number of notes I get saying “Can we make it clearer?” In other words: can we tell everyone what’s happening? That implies that the executive understands, but he or she is worried the mass audience won’t.

The best dialogue you write is never about the plot. The best dialogue you write is about something else. The opposite of what’s happening. I enjoy writing that stuff very much.

Terry is a very visual filmmaker. Of course he is. But he’s also a chatterbox. He does a very funny thing with some dialogue: sometimes he’ll start talking non-stop. It’s very funny, very stream of consciousness, and it is great is to integrate stuff like that. I see the script as being my responsibility, that’s what I do. I’m the screenwriter. I want to pull everything back to me, write it and set it down.

This method makes him free to come up with ideas, to write something which is freed of the rigours of the framework of the screenplay, which we can then go over and explore. I can then try and integrate it all so that it works.

That addresses my next question: why does Terry need a collaborator on the screenplay? Because it leaves him freer to invent, when he has a collaborator to work with him? Well, I think that’s a really interesting point. I think what you are describing is the bigger business of filmmaking. A mentor of mine, the great producer - Tony Garnett - refers to filmmaking as being a social act, which it is of course. This isn’t just paying lip service like a great award ceremony where people say what a collaborative art it is - before they then take the gong…

The point is that it is an actual description of the business of filmmaking. It is a social act, and if I am writing a screenplay on my own - do I need a collaborator? Of course I do. It tends to be a producer whom I trust, whose notes are part of an ongoing conversation which is not just for that one film. Does Nicola Pecorini do his cinematography all on his own? Does a designer, a sound mixer, and actor?

No - none of us do what we do on our own. And we really are only as good as the people we are working with. And that applies to directing and screenwriting too. It’s about the dynamic between us all the time. It doesn’t need to be a fixed thing: one person can play the sensible one and the other person can be the irresponsible one. Then you can switch over - you can be free about how you play. It is about dynamic - you can’t have the same roles, because that’s when you don’t get anything interesting. So you need to challenge, offer up an alternative. It’s a debate. Does that sound too dull for you?

No, it’s fascinating insight! The way I work with Terry is unique - totally different from any other way I work. I think what you say about him writing with a screenwriter, partly yes there are many instances where he can be freed because - guess what - my main responsibility is the screenplay, that’s my job. But it’s not the only way it works. I might come up with an idea which is a bit off-piste, to which Terry might respond that it doesn’t really fit. We argue it out. He might have the final say - it’s his brand - but I will still argue. He enjoys a fight - as you may have noticed. The important thing is fluidity. You don’t stop.

Terry has said himself the two things you need to get films made is momentum and belief. If he had enough knuckles he’d have them tattooed on his knuckles! Those are the two things, the two requirements. That’s all to do with playing. And by playing you avoid the demon of fear.

Momentum and belief is what gets movies into production without full financing! Absolutely, and it’s also increasingly necessary. I can’t remember the last time I went into production on a feature film with a contract all signed and sealed. There’s always something slightly outstanding isn’t there? I think that’s one of the reasons we’re all moving to television.

There was a 1999 attempt to make the film that fell apart, but shooting started in the autumn of 2000. How happy were you with that script going into production? Then, I was very happy. With hindsight, I am not. The first thing is that anything that you wrote a day ago just doesn’t look as good. Anything, let alone something that’s from 17 years ago. At the time you think it’s something of complete genius. And then it doesn’t seem to be quite so genius a week later. You gain a certain objectivity, hopefully you get better. You have new ideas, new ways of putting something together. And after 17 years, you’re not the same person. It’s a very natural thing. Yet at the time, I thought it absolutely felt just great to be getting it out there on the road.

Over the 17 years, I think on average we probably rewrote the script twice a year, maybe more sometimes - depending on the possibility of the film going into production again. Whenever it looked like there was a chance, I’d get the phone call and it would be Terry saying, “It looks like we’ve got Quixote back together again… I read the script and it’s crap!” That would be his way of saying we’re on the road again, let’s have a look at it. 17 years on I think we’ve finally got quite a good script.

One of the big differences is that now there is no time slip: everything is contemporary. That was a very welcome decision in a practical way. It’s also a smarter move because it’s not such a literal thing. As a result of shooting in Spain, we can still have Holy Week; we still have interiors of castles; we still have period costumes for great extravaganzas. So we are in the contemporary world, but we can slip back into a more ancient world in a subtler way, in a way where the old world and the new world are combined.

The other thing was to find a more solid story for Toby, which is what happened to him in the past when he was a young filmmaker- how he was recreating the Quixote myth in Spain using people who are nonprofessional actors, people who had jobs, such as an old man who was a cobbler. A man who is losing his marbles and who becomes convinced by Toby that he is in fact Don Quixote de La Mancha. Therefore Toby feels a responsibility for what subsequently happens.

Toby’s guilt gives him a solid grounding for his transformation. Yes it does. It is interesting if you ask yourself what is this guilt about - because he made something, because he produced something, because people were affected, some people were damaged by what he did? It’s interesting that he has that guilt.

I think Toby’s guilt is about irresponsibility, but to be honest he’s talking about a much younger self. I think his guilt is misplaced to be honest. I don’t think he is in fact justified in feeling the guilt he does feel. I don’t think it’s a true thing.

Making a movie can shake up people’s lives, yet I don’t think that it destroys them. Far from it. Anything you do in this world can affect people. I’ve seen plenty of examples of people becoming involved in films from outside the film world, and it’s only been a good thing. It’s like running away with the circus. People can reinvent themselves; people can throw off an older life. It’s a responsibility because if you are part of this whirlwind, this crucible stirring, of course you are responsible. You can’t pretend that you’re not having an effect, but it is not necessarily a negative thing. In fact most of the time I don’t think it is a negative thing. I think it enhances the world. It’s a bigger world, though a more dangerous world. I would never say that Toby was involved with a cynical misuse of the Quixote myth, and now he’s going to suffer because he’s guilty. Now he may feel guilty, and he clearly does, but I think it’s misplaced. I don’t think he’s thinking straight about it.

The part that really captures me is the tenderness between Toby and Quixote. And I really like that part of the story which is developed throughout, really. Toby does start off to be an arrogant shit, but I really like his gradual taking on of serving Quixote, and what I like about it is – it is two characters of course, but it’s about Toby giving himself up to a crazy idea, something you can’t see, something that is bigger and more extraordinary than the world you touch and see. That’s what he’s really giving himself to. He’s allowing, he saying that he’s not everything. There’s a huge world out there that’s nothing to do with me, and I’ll be in second place to that world. That sounds very highfalutin but that’s what’s going on.

By the way, isn’t that partly the source of his guilt, his being self-centred? As Quixote says to him, “It’s always about you…. me, me, me,” he says. I do think that guilt is about him being self-obsessed. Toby thinks, “It must be me, I caused this.”… I’m not sure - perhaps his real sin is he never lived up to his promise.

Straight after the Quixote collapse you did some work with Terry on Good Omens… The collapse of Quixote and the collapse of Good Omens was a real blow. I started working with Michel Winterbottom actually around that time, and that became In This World. That was a different kind of filmmaking where we were going to people and asking them for their experiences, and making a film guided and informed by that. It was purposefully a different tack. It was in response to those two big collapses. Although Good Omens wasn’t as big a disaster as Quixote, we did a lot of work on that script. And I still feel it would make a really good film. I think we had a good script there.

Tell me about the backstory of Toby’s student film. First of all, remember that we had come through the collapse of Don Quixote, so what was happening there? A filmmaker was making a version of Don Quixote which then collapses because of a great storm. So that’s sitting there. Plus we’ve both had experience of being ambitious young filmmakers. These things are in the ether. Toby’s student backstory grew out of those elements. It’s not: here’s a new idea - we’re going to slap on, it was quite a natural development.

I remember writing the details of it – it just ran, it just went, it was very easy. It felt such a natural progression, but it didn’t come out of nowhere. It comes out of the fact that we are constantly talking about this film, this story and these ideas. I don’t think we ever mentioned: isn’t this like another mirror on what actually happened on the collapsed Don Quixote shoot? I don’t think we even said it.

We have a film where, guess what, we’re making a film with a version of Quixote but as a commercial, and it collapses. We didn’t say: just like in real life. You don’t have to say it. By analysing those things, it destroys them. You’ve got to believe in the story. It’s the story you go to, not the storyteller. You just need that belief in the story, keep going, don’t worry about whose idea it is, just do it.

The script is very funny. Nicola, who clearly was there when it was shot, said that what was shot was funnier than the script, He said that the moviemaking alchemy has made it a very, very funny film. What challenges were posed by having to write humorous dialogue? There are different types of films, and different film projects call for different kinds of dialogue. It’s both a curse and a blessing, working on what is going to be labelled a Terry Gilliam film, because that’s what’s going to happen. One of the freedoms you get is the way that people talk to one another can veer into quite sort of surreal comedy. It allows you to do that. And remember this is co-writing - it’s a to and fro’.

I remember writing Rupert’s dialogue, and really enjoying it because I didn’t plan to write comedy. I planned to write this particular character, and Rupert’s very controlling. He makes a living out of being as close to Toby as possible, as close to power as possible. He’s full of that, ingratiating himself to survive - a bit of a guru, and a fake. All of these things can only be funny if played to Toby as the straight man. Which is what happens - it comes out of character, it doesn’t come out of comic intent. The development of that of course depends on the playing of them - performers picking up on that particular dynamic between those two characters in this instance. And getting it and playing it to the hilt. That’s what happens.

(Tony jokes) Maybe Nicola’s English is not good enough to appreciate out brilliant script. What a cheeky fucker! What Nicola is saying is that his bit of filmmaking is better than my bit of filmmaking. I shall poison his vineyard!

Clearly Nicola is talking about what the actors brought to it enhanced it! Listen, I recently worked with Steve Buscemi. The big danger with Steve Buscemi performing the lines that you’ve written, is that you think: I’m a really good writer. Because you get someone like that, you get Adam Driver, you get these people - they take hold of the lines and make them theirs. It’s a beautiful thing. I always think that writers pretend, and actors become. So I’m very pleased and absolutely believe everything what they have done with this script can only make it better, and thank Christ for that. People can then say, “Really great writing!”

One scene I did see being shot was when Jonathan Pryce as Javier/Quixote and Adam Driver as Toby arrive horseback at the castle. Jonathan Pryce was terrific, the one scene he was particularly good at was trying to please Alexei, while at the same time apologising for Toby’s behaviour and also being angry at Toby’s behaviour. He did all of those things simultaneously. It was hilarious. He’s born to the part or what? What I’ve seen of Jonathan Pryce becoming Quixote is just sublime. People pretend that the writing stops when you go into production, and of course it doesn’t. It continues, and that’s what Jonathan Pryce has done because he has continued the writing of the film. That’s what’s so beautiful. What Nicola’s saying is absolutely right, of course it is, and it’s a great thing when that happens.

Now, did you ever think it was an impossible dream, and did you ever take Terry to one side, and say “Don’t you think it’s time, you’ve tried it 10 times, to be focussing on something else?” I never did say that to Terry, but I did think it. That is the truth. If anyone asked me, as they did on several occasions, “What about Quixote?”, I’d say absolutely we’re going to make it. Absolutely it’s going to happen. Privately, I visited the garden of Gethsemane more than once. That’s my confession. My joy of Terry turning over on the first day was only surpassed by my joy of him turning over on the last day. I’m very pleased for the man.

Did you visit the set of this one? No I didn’t. I stayed away from it. I think that’s why it’s turned out such a success! I almost went to the set, but I didn’t go in the end. It’s a funny thing, Terry used to phone up every now and again, and say something like, “We’re shooting a scene and they’re hiding under the stairs and I need some dialogue.” I said, “Who’s hiding under the stairs - what are you talking about?” He said, “Quixote and Toby are hiding under the stairs - just write something!”

We also had conversations about what song is Adam singing? Lots of little bits and pieces. These missives from the front now and again appeared, and I just loaded up some ammunition and sent it back.

We talked before about Terry’s wild imagination, so you could say that Terry resembles Cervantes’s character Don Quixote, but you also mentioned the side of structure and practicality that you need to get a film made. So to what extent does Terry resemble Quixote, that is, Cervantes’s character? If you watch Lost in La Mancha, we make a big thing of that, and I think we got it wrong. I really do. I think Terry has a love of Quixote, he has an understanding of this old man’s dreams which are so detached from the waking world - yet that isn’t Terry. You can’t make movies like that. Don Quixote would not - could not - make a movie.

So I think the relationship is way more interesting and less literal than a bunch of us, myself included, stated in Lost in La Mancha. It’s much more interesting. It’s a love for Quixote’s detachment from the world, a wish for it as well, but it’s the conflict that makes it interesting, the very worldly process of the business of making a film. You are freest when you are writing, because you’re furthest away from the reality, compared to when you are shooting. Time is limitless when you start writing, up to the point just before you start shooting. And then it reverses out.

It rains; someone falls off a horse; the scene wasn’t as great as we thought it was; we found a different way of doing that scene; everyone was pointing in the wrong direction that day - all of these things, these are practicalities. And Terry is very, very practical.

With analogue film, the actual film was literally physically clicking through the gate at 25 frames per second: every frame costs money. That’s what’s happening when you are making the film, just as John Boorman called his book Money Into Light. That’s the alchemy that’s happening, that’s the magic going on. You can’t be Don Quixote and make that magic. You have to be someone else.

It’s interesting about Terry Gilliam/Don Quixote, because I regret having bolstered that equation. It’s a bit lazy and not close enough to the truth. I think the reality is really fascinating: that tension between recognising the crazed dreamer that is Quixote and recognising that in yourself and at the same time embracing the very practical things that enable you to turn the dreaming into film. It’s a way more interesting equation. In the end the film is Quixote and we are all Sancho.

You mentioned some other projects you have on the go... I’ve had three things all shooting at the same time: there’s Don Quixote (Terry Gilliam), and one of an anthology of Philip K Dick short stories called Crazy Diamond, which Mark Munden has directed for Channel Four and Sony. A third thing is an adaptation of a novel called The City & The City by China Mieville, and that’s a four-parter for the BBC, which is directed by Tom Shankland. They are all now in the cutting room. I am now writing In the Wolf’s Mouth, which is a set of interlocking stories all set around Sicily in 1943. That’s with Andrea Calderwood producing.

#the man who killed don quixote #tony grisoni #terry gilliam #adam driver #jonathan pryce #long post

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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15 NES Games You Didn’t Know Were Censored

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The NES wasn’t just the home of some of the best games ever made; it was an almost miraculous device that delivered some of the purest and most wholesome moments of many of our childhoods. Of course, part of the reason why NES games were so wholesome compared to many modern titles is that Nintendo usually ensured they were heavily censored by the time many of us played them.

At a time before the ESRB and a global conversation about the impact of video game violence, Nintendo took it upon themselves to impose a strict series of content guidelines that almost all developers had to follow. Those guidelines (as well as regional content standards) resulted in some of the biggest NES games ever made effectively being “censored” in ways that many of us never knew about when we were young.

So if you can’t help but wonder how some of the best games of your childhood were secretly a little dirtier than you ever expected, join us for a look back at 15 NES games you didn’t know were censored.

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15. Ducktales

Wait, Ducktales was censored? Why would you ever need to censor Ducktales? Who would ever put anything into a Ducktales game that’s worth censoring?

The offenders in this instance were the coffins found in the game’s Transylvania level. In the original version of the game, the coffins were decorated with a cross. In the U.S. version, the cross is replaced with the phrase “R.I.P.” As we’ll see throughout this list, the change is consistent with Nintendo’s policies at the time regarding religious imagery in U.S. games.

14. Mega Man

The Mega Man franchise has actually been censored quite a bit over the years, but you’re not alone if you find it strange that the original Mega Man game had to be censored. After all, it’s a game with little story and seemingly no offensive elements. What is there to censor?

As it turns out, famous Mega Man miniboss Rock Monster was the problem. In the original version of the game, Rock Monster was called Yellow Devil, which actually makes a lot more sense in terms of the character’s design. However, it was ultimately determined that the word “Devil” may be too religious for Western audiences.

13. Punch-Out!

You probably know that Mike Tyson was eventually removed from Punch-Out! and replaced with Mr. Dream, but what you may not know is that the NES version of the game significantly altered another one of the original version’s most notable fighters.

The arcade version of the game featured a character named Vodka Drunkenski. As you probably guessed based on the name, Drunkenski was a Russian stereotype who drank heavily during fights. It’s not entirely clear if Nintendo had a problem with the character’s stereotypical elements, but they certainly had a problem with his substance abuse. The character was renamed Soda Popinski in the NES version of the game and was often shown drinking generic soda pop rather than alcohol (even if he still makes the occasional alcoholic reference).

12. Ice Climber

A lot of NES games were censored due to sex, drugs, and all the other things the parents in Footloose were worried about, but the reason for Ice Climber’s censorship is as unique as it is bizarre.

See, the original version of Ice Climber included enemy seals that you could hit with a hammer. Someone at Nintendo of America saw that and thought “Wow, that looks a lot like seal clubbing” and probably rightfully decided to change the seals to far more intimidating Yetis.

11. The Adventures of Bayou Billy

Some of the ways that The Adventures of Bayou Billy was censored make sense given the standards of the time. For instance, Billy’s girlfriend Annabelle wears more clothes in the U.S. version of the game, and additional scenes of violence (including an alternate game over screen that showed Billy reaching out to the player as he is dying) were removed.

Then you have the game’s ending. The original version of the game’s ending let you walk away from Annabelle and trigger a darkly hilarious sequence where Annabelle stands there confused and alone. In the U.S. version, you can only access the happy ending where the two get together. It’s not entirely clear if the change was the result of “censorship,” though that move does track with some of Nintendo’s other censorship decisions at the time.

10. 1943: The Battle of Midway

In a comparatively rare instance of an NES game that was censored in Japan but not America (or at least changed due to regional differences), 1943: The Battle of Midway’s name was changed to 1943: The Battle of Valhalla in Japan. In-game, the title is often shortened to 1943 (in both regions).

The reason for this change is probably pretty obvious to history buffs and anyone familiar with 1943’s premise. After all, the game sees you play as an American pilot tasked with shooting down Japanese aircrafts on his way to sink the Yamato battleship. That premise was obviously considerably more awkward in Japan, although it’s not clear why The Battle of Valhalla was chosen as the replacement name.

9. The Legend of Zelda

Here’s a weird one for you. In the Famicom Disc version of The Legend of Zelda, you could use an item simply referred to as a “Bible.” The name of this item was later changed to Book of Magic in order to remove a pretty obvious religious reference.

What’s really odd about this change is that the “Bible” reference only appears in the Famicom disc version of the game. The NES and Famicom version both use the Book of Magic name, though the latter’s Japanese characters still spell out “Bible.”

8. Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior

While later Dragon Quest games (especially Dragon Quest 3) were heavily censored in the West due largely to religious references, the original Dragon Quest (or Dragon Warrior, as it was known in the West) features an incredibly bizarre instance of censorship that has long confused players.

See, in Dragon Warrior, you encounter a character who tells the player they have no tomatoes to sell them today. An already bizarre line is made all the stranger when you realize that character offers the player a “puff puff” in the original version of the game. While the exact meaning of “puff puff” has changed and been debated over the years (it initially seemed to refer to a massage technique involving a woman’s…umm…nevermind), the idea of receiving a “puff puff” has since become a running joke in Dragon Quest.

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7. Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse

The early Castlevania games were usually censored over religious imagery, but Castlevania 3 stands out both for the sheer number of things that were censored and the things that strangely weren’t censored.

While the NES version of Castlevania 3 heavily targets instances of nudity (which includes putting clothes on nude statues and altering Medusa’s female form to something more nondescript), it actually features rarely seen instances of religious imagery in an NES game. You even encounter a giant cross at one point, though the “glowing” effect featured in the original version was removed in international ports.

6. Uninvited

Uninvited features so many instances of violence and religious references that it’s honestly amazing Nintendo even bothered to port the game at all. Needless to say, nearly every religious reference was removed for the NES version of the game and many of the more graphic descriptions of enemy attacks were edited to be less intense.

Interestingly, though, you still find a letter near the beginning of the NES version of the game that’s addressed to “Master Crowley.” Why is that so interesting? Well, it’s a clear reference to Aleister Crowley: the most famous satanist ever. That one seems to have slipped by the censors.

5. Deja Vu

Much like Uninvited, Deja Vu is such a comparatively “mature” game that it’s honestly a shock that Nintendo bothered to port it. Again, nearly every reference to gun violence, drugs, alcohol, and sex was either cut from the game or heavily edited, which is what you’d expect.

What’s interesting in this case are the things that Nintendo decided not to censor. For instance, there’s a prostitute in the game that isn’t referred to as a prostitute in the NES version, but you’re still able to hit and shoot her if you choose to do so. She’s also able to shoot you, though the graphic description of where she shoots you has been edited out of the NES port.

4. Final Fantasy

Many of the ways Final Fantasy was censored can be blamed on the usual content suspects. For instance, “churches” were renamed “clinics” (and the crosses outside of them were removed), and Medusa and Earth Medusa (who were both topless in the Japanese version of the game) were redesigned.

Then there’s the matter of the “Kill” spell (which is also known as “Death” according to some translations). While Nintendo obviously decided to not use the word “kill” for the Western version of the game, the fact that they changed the name of the spell to “Rub” really boggles the mind. I suppose it’s supposed to be short for “rub out,” but even that is an odd choice of wording.

3. Bionic Commando

While a couple of the smaller ways that Bionic Commando was censored are downright hilarious (including changing the line “Get the heck out of here, you nerd!” to “Don’t be hasty advance with caution.”), most of the game’s censorship revolves around Adolf Hitler.

Hitler is featured so often in the Japanese version of Bionic Commando that he even has a prominent place on the game’s original cover. In the U.S. version of the game, though, Hitler is changed to a generic dictator named Master-D. That version of the game also replaces every Swastika with an eagle logo and refers to the Nazis as “The Badds.” Sadly, this means that U.S. gamers also missed out on the original ending in which Hitler’s head explodes Scanners-style.

2. Maniac Mansion

It’s impressive that Maniac Mansion was ported to the NES at all given the game’s complexity and content, but it’s not a stretch to suggest that this is the most censored game in NES history. In fact, we could fill an article with every instance of censorship in this port. For that matter, we could spend an entire article talking about the very horny Edna and the many ways she was changed in the NES version of the game.

If you want to really appreciate just how heavily this game was censored, though, then we need to talk about “S.C.U.M.M.” That acronym stands for “Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion” which was essentially the engine used to design the game. However, the NES ports’ developers weren’t allowed to use S.C.U.M.M in the credits as it was too close to the word “scum” which Nintendo considered to be offensive.

1. Contra

Contra deserves to top this list not just because of the extent of its censorship but the fact that it’s one of the few NES games that was specifically censored in PAL regions.

Actually, in PAL regions, Contra wasn’t even called Contra. The name of the game was changed to Probotector and all human characters were replaced with robots. That includes Contra’s playable characters (Bill and Lance) who were changed to robots and renamed RD008 and RC011. Why were such extensive changes made specifically for that region? Well, they seem to be largely based on German content laws at the time that prohibited shooting people in video games, but they may also be related to concerns over Contra’s U.S. military associations.

The post 15 NES Games You Didn’t Know Were Censored appeared first on Den of Geek.

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cinema-tv-etc · 4 years

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I Am Tired of Films Like Antebellum

By Angelica Jade Bastién - Sept. 14, 2020

This movie had the opportunity to show a more dynamic side of slavery narratives, but it ends up reaffirming the very horror it is trying to critique

I am tired. I am tired of pop-cultural artifacts that render Black people as merely Black bodies onto which the sins of this ragged country are violently mapped. I am tired of suffering being the primary lens through which we understand Black identity. I am tired of being so hungry for Black joy and Black representation that scraps feel like a meal. I am tired of films about slavery refusing to acknowledge the interior lives of Black women even as their beings become tools for filmmakers to explore the horrors of the enslaved.

I am tired of thin characterization and milquetoast social messaging being the kind of representation Black folks receive. I am tired of films like Antebellum.

The feature debut of writer-director duo Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz is seemingly poised — with an overly serious demeanor — to provoke a reckoning. Especially if you ask its directors, who, in an introduction that preceded the version of their film I watched, prattled on about their lofty goal to “activate a conversation” that is “of and for this moment.” Instead, Antebellum reaffirms the very horror it’s trying to critique.

Beginning with the ostentatious opening tracking shot — snaking its way through plantation grounds, noting the hard work of the Black folks on the land and the white Confederate soldiers watching their every move — we are plunged into a world both strange and achingly familiar. A world of picked cotton and casual cruelty, prim southern ritual and uninhibited brutality. But there is something amiss about the plantation on which Eden (Janelle Monáe) is viciously abused and from which she continuously tries to escape. The first cue that things are far from what they seem is the appearance of a golden septum piercing glinting in the light on the face of another enslaved woman as she futilely tries to break free and is unceremoniously killed for it.

But before we learn anything about Eden’s reality, before we even know her actual name, we witness profound violence against her, first in a harrowing scene in which she’s branded. After 40 minutes of unrelenting torture in antebellum dress, the film turns on its axis. Monáe is reintroduced as Veronica Henley, a famous writer and activist of considerable wealth, with a doting husband and young daughter. Here, we get more detail about her lavish home than the actual characters who live there with her, the camera panning across the luxe interior and photographs of Veronica competing in horse-jumping events (a subtle gesture to what’s to come in the third act). At one point in this contemporary setting, Veronica says to a friend, “My nana used to say our ancestors haunt our dreams to see themselves forward.” The line suggests a multitude of fantastical pathways for Antebellum. Is this story like something out of Octavia Butler’s Kindred? Is the Monáe we saw before a figment of the memories of Veronica’s distant relatives? Is there something supernatural afoot? No. Instead, the filmmakers choose a more banal explanation. Her link to the plantation we witness in the first act of the film is less imaginative than that slip of dialogue suggests.

Antebellum ends up being a noxious tour of historic violence against Black folks in service of a story that has nothing novel to say about the obliterating function of whiteness and anti-Black racism. Lacking a strong point of view to grant interiority to its characters, its approach to horror and social commentary becomes deadened. On the level of craft, Antebellum assumes beauty — the film is obsessed with depicting the magic hour in all its sherbet-hued glory — is inherently rich with meaning. As a result, the world-building is slapdash, confusing obfuscation with intrigue. Antebellum is an artistic failure of two directors whose goals supersede their ability to meet them, festering with not only aesthetic and narrative failures but moral ones too: It implicitly argues that depictions of suffering are the best means of understanding what it means to be Black in America.

In the wake of Jordan Peele’s success with his first two films — the exploratory Get Out and the beguiling but messy Us — Hollywood has realized that horror is an apt venue for excavating the grooves of Black identity and the mellifluous, dynamic experience of what it means to be Black throughout the diaspora. There is Misha Green’s overwrought Lovecraft Country currently airing on HBO, as well as Justin Simien’s Bad Hair and Nia Dacosta’s upcoming reimagining of the 1990s Tony Todd classic Candyman. The genre, at its best, lets us explore cultural taboos and fears with an unvarnished alacrity. I still think it’s possible to do a horror film that explores slavery in this country’s history, but that requires a sure hand, a strong point a view, and an even stronger sense of history — none of which is demonstrated in Antebellum. It’s hard to create any tension when the characters are so poorly drawn and the world they inhabit has little internal logic. Sure, there are scant moments of tension, but they fizzle out quickly thanks to the inert dialogue and rank stupidity of the story (much of which I can’t get into without spoiling the majority of the plot).

White people in particular are rendered as caricatures who seem to get an erotic charge from the violence they inflict, including Jack Huston as the leering Hugo Meadows, a Confederate solider of great standing who supervises the plantation — which isn’t necessarily a misguided approach so much as improperly executed, flattening rather than revealing anything about the nature of whiteness and its emptiness in America. Whiteness is an oft-told lie that powers much of the world, yet Antebellum is neither cunning enough nor intellectually ambitious enough to explain such a truth. So the white people have no internal logic, no gravitas. They evoke neither fear nor overwhelming hate, mostly just boredom, except for Jena Malone, who comes the closest to striking the necessary chord by foregrounding white women’s toxicity. But her performance is undone by the odd dishonesty of the film — the N-word is never uttered, for one.

The idea of doing a slave narrative, even one wrapped in a twist that puts a Black woman at the fore, is a risky proposition, given that slavery period films rarely allow the interior life of their characters to rise above the physical and psychological pain they endure. Who even is Veronica? When we see her onstage at a public appearance in New Orleans, staring out at the beaming faces of so many Black women, she speaks in empty, progressive platitudes that make it hard to understand the work she actually does. (I lost count at how many times she shoved the word “patriarchy” into her sentences.) A strange grasp of class snakes its way through the story, too; it’s as if the filmmakers are drawing a line from the worth of a modern-day Black person to the intellectual/financial class they inhabit. (One of the more important deaths in the film is of a character who is only referred to as “professor,” but given no defining features beyond that.)

The effect is wholly distancing. It’s worthwhile to explore the pain and grit of moving through America while being Black, but that exploration shouldn’t come at the expense of the humanity of the characters. Janelle Monáe is entirely miscast; she has been charming in supporting roles like that in Moonlight, but here she lacks the gravitas and precision to make Veronica feel real. But I can’t blame her for not bringing to life what obviously didn’t exist on the page. Antebellum is ultimately a travesty of craft and filmmaking with a perspective that hollows out the Black experience in favor of wan horror.

https://www.vulture.com/2020/09/antebellum-movie-review-i-am-tired-of-films-like-this.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab

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Antebellum is a 2020 American horror film written and directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz in their feature directorial debuts. The film stars Janelle Monáe, Eric Lange, Jena Malone, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, and Gabourey Sidibe, and follows a modern-day African American woman who must escape from what appears to be a 19th-century Southern slave plantation.

Antebellum was released in the United States through video on demand on September 18, 2020. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized the screenplay and lack of nuance, although Bush and Renz's direction and Monáe's performance received some praise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antebellum_(film)

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The “Antebellum” Directors on Ancestry and Purpose

Antebellum is both jarring and polarizing, and that’s exactly the point. Written and directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, their debut feature film follows a modern woman named Veronica (Janelle Monáe) as she is seemingly transported to the Antebellum South, where she assumes the name of Eden as an enslaved woman. What unfolds is a horrific and surprising look at slavery through a contemporary lens. The film—which draws from a short story written by Bush, inspired by his nightmare—employs a level of violence that at times feels gratuitous, but as the writer/director duo notes, the horror is meant to trigger and disturb you. “We felt that it was necessary to put the mirror up to this country,” Bush says. “Look at it. Look at it because it’s happening right now. I’d rather for people to be somewhat triggered within the safety of their own homes than for us to continue to lie to each other and live in an open air shooting gallery every time I leave my front door.” Below, Bush and Renz discuss the urgency of Antebellum, casting Janelle Monáe, and the polarizing nature of their film.

https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/antebellum-gerard-bush-christopher-renz-janelle-monae

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#Antebellum #movie review #Christopher Renz #Gerard Bush

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theteenagetrickster · 4 years

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Job Interview: Producer Troy Taylor consults Mayor of R&B, Career-Defining Songs, Whitney Houston & Extra

Three-time Grammy Award-winning Songwriter, Report Developer & Vocal Arranger TROY TAYLOR that commemorates 30 years in the popular music field this year has teamed up with everyone fromBoyz II Men, Brian McKnight ,Tyrese,Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie , Aretha Franklin,

Mary J. Blige,

The O'Jays, Patti LaBelle, Toni Braxton , Trey Songz to Jacquees to call a couple of

. I overtook the hit-making tremendously developer to review the experience, his advocate Mayor of R&B, career-defining tracks, Whitney

Houston & even more ... TERRANCE: This year notes your three decades in the popular music industry. What has the quest felt like hence far? TROY TAYLOR:&It's been actually interesting I would certainly point out in a feeling. I went by means of a separation when I was forty and also I must additionally make that Trey Songz Ready album in the method of going

with that divorce, to ensure that was actually one of the most difficult aspect of it. I began as a partner in a developer duo gotten in touch with The Characters. In 2002, I ventured off by on my own and also started a manufacturing firm,Songbook Amusement.

It is actually been testing but because I enjoyed it so a lot, I've found out how to adapt to transform with the moments. TERRANCE: You have actually an initiative gotten in touch with Mayor of R&B. Speak about that and also the goal. TROY TAYLOR: So I developed this Mayor for R&B as a campaign to dedicate my encounter, my love for music, my affection for R&B to devoting it back to plans, arrangements, bridges. All the traits our company do not listen to in songs today, thus when I place it as a campaign, it just simply suggests dedicating on my own to this age group to reveal them the market value of these changes that creates R&B have the sense that we understand it to become. TERRANCE: What was your innovative involvement in K. Michelle's latest cd,

All Monsters Are Actually Human!.?.!? TROY TAYLOR: Well, some years back I made some of her Gold single people contacted"Can not Elevate A Guy "however ever since, it's resembled one of those points that, K. Michelle recognize that there's certainly not as well many individuals than may control her as well as pull the most ideal away from her without her intimidating all of them off therefore I'm none of those individuals she scares off simply or even in any way. It enables me to pull the very best out of her as well as so she often tends to finish up calling me since she knows I would certainly be able to obtain the most effective out of her.

TERRANCE: Talk about the brand new Dru Mountain single you produced gotten in touch with "What You Need". TROY TAYLOR: So I really Executive Produced the entire cd as well as our experts have a lot of incredible songs

."What You Need"is actually a tune that they experienced would be actually a good tune to start off along with simply off of it possessing the initial Dru Hill type consistency and also audio and it is actually a great track to blend in along with their extremely initial tune"Inform Me". Collectively, they as a matter of fact mix it belong that track, so it is actually just something they experienced will be excellent to start with. I performed a considerable amount of tunes on the project.

TERRANCE: What was it like dealing with Kevin Ross on his singular"Trait Got in touch with Passion". TROY TAYLOR: Well, Kevin is among my proteges actually. He utilized to become my artist when he was authorized to Motown as well as our company simply permitted him vacate, as well as permit him spread his wings out a little bit of bit extra to venture out and also do his very own trait, but he as well as I possess a friendship at the same time, so whenever he needs me I am actually regularly mosting likely to sympathize him. He possessed the tune, however with the method he videotaped it, I thought his vocals needed to be

stronger. TERRANCE: As a recognized Songwriter & Producer in this particular sector, what creates a song great? TROY TAYLOR: What makes a song excellent to me, is actually a tune that has the capability to take you no matter where you require to be when you require to go. If you wan na be actually satisfied, it may make you pleased. A good song ought to create you feel the emotional state of whatever it is actually claiming as well as it should have the capacity to be a soundtrack throughout your day to express whatever emotion you believe. TERRANCE: What are your five career-defining songs you possess created and/or produced? TROY TAYLOR: Certainly not in any type of certain order, it would be actually, of training program"Sugary food Lady"by Tyrese."Neighbors Know My Call"through Trey Songz, considering that there's no track in the background of songs keeping that title."The First Noel ", a Xmas tune that I created for Whitney, considering that it arrives each year. "Merely Came Right Here to Chill" through The Isley Brothers, due to the fact that Ron Isley is actually like some of my beloved, preferred

."Your Passion"by Boyz II Males, since that song was supposed to be actually for my album and also when I heard all of them vocalize, I provided it to all of them. TERRANCE: Which years in popular music you would claim determined you one of the most and why? TROY TAYLOR: It's gon na be actually a cross between the 70's as well as the 80's along with the

80's probably initially given that a bunch of music I grew on in the 70's I remember, however didn't analyze until the 80's. In the 90's I discovered just how a lot I found out coming from the 70's. TERRANCE: Where perform you see R&B entering the future? TROY TAYLOR: I believe it's gon na come back. It's visiting definitely be extra efficient, because the millennial age group is actually growing up currently, so they wish a lot more out of music. They're heading to manage it a little

better, since it is actually going to stand for exactly how they think currently.

TERRANCE: What are your ideas when you believe you do not receive the debt you should within this electronic songs age? TROY TAYLOR: It's worse right now than ever before, considering that there are no CD's or inlays to consider and also read. Thus now I have to turn to performing tags and as much as I do not like tags, I perform understand right now the usefulness of it, is for individuals to know that I worked with that song. I do not essentially like it, yet it's what I need to do. It is actually all portion of transforming along with the moments. TERRANCE: Everybody have their viewpoint of what excellence is actually. Exactly how would certainly you describe it? TROY TAYLOR: Results to me is actually when you're at

the factor where no concern exactly how challenging it acquires, you still discover a technique to smile. That is actually effectiveness. Given that when you can not, no issue when it obtain difficult as well as you can not locate a technique to grin and also to always keep progressing, then you're certainly not effective. When you possess something that you really love and also you are actually productive at it, when hardships come as they perform with everything, you tend to be attracted in the direction of the thought and sensation of results, you know?

I can't allow this break me, to ensure to me is what effectiveness is. TERRANCE: What was the experience like to win Dove Awards for your recent deal with Donald Lawrence & Koryn Hawthorne? TROY TAYLOR: That's amazing considering that I didn't see that coming given that I am actually an R&B fella, despite the fact that I grew up in Congregation. I carry out, do Gospel music however I still wouldn't have actually anticipated that to happen, to ensure that was

definitely, really excellent. TERRANCE: What was it like teaming up along with Whitney on" Unashamed "for the Merely Whitney ... album? TROY TAYLOR: Well, that was actually a definitely, really exciting track for her if you listen closely to the lyrics. It was a little bit of in advance of it 's time I would state. I likewise teamed up with her on her Christmas time venture which was incredibly

fascinating considering that I was able to audio document while I was partnering with her. I possess a great audio of our team communicating along with one another while I was actually collaborating with her which was actually tremendously funny to hear her in her aspect, only being absurd as well as only being Whitney. The very most essential and also most reputable thing is that it is actually for me only and also nobody worldwide possesses it, therefore in my masterclasses that I do around the globe, I have a segment where I play those sounds for individuals to listen to how she was. TERRANCE: One of my preferred Kenny Lattimore cds is Weekend break. What was it like teaming up with him about that task? TROY TAYLOR: Kenny is my individual. He's one of my closest pals in this particular songs field. Carrying out that venture was actually really excellent since it stretched him vocally. I performed like six tunes on that particular cd. I managed to really, truly, definitely press him right into little a lot more edgier functionalities as opposed to the smooth singing that he is actually made use of to.

" arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;'> TERRANCE: You teamed up with the late Tony Thompson formerly of Hi-Five back in '95 on his solo debut album Sexsational. Why do you assume that cd didn't live up to it is actually possible? TROY TAYLOR: I presume a ton of it concerned his psychological health and wellness. Mental health and wellness had not been a major package in the past, yet he was definitely enduring and had some psychological health issues that decreased him below performing each of things that he required to accomplish to advertise it as well as to be all that he needed to be.&That is actually from my viewpoint coming from at that time from what I observed. I just found an unhappy person that had not been actually right into it as he might've been actually. TERRANCE: One of the exciting points concerning the remake you made for Brownstone got in touch with "I Can't Inform You Why", is actually Maxee performs the lead vocals on the cd model and Nicci performs the top vocals on the single version. What led to that switch? TROY TAYLOR: That is actually an amusing one considering that I seemed like if you know the original Eagles song, it's a rather smooth song and it's rather relaxed. I performed an R&B variation of it, I seemed like Nicci is precisely the diva but I felt like Maximum's vocal fitted better. It became a little bit of political because in order for it to become a solitary as well as to have the Brownstone audio, Nicci will've needed to be actually the lead performer on it consequently for the remix they exchanged all of them out.

TERRANCE: There is actually an SWV gem you produced named "Shock Me". Refer to that. TROY TAYLOR: That is actually a song where I had each one of the group sing on. Of program Coko performs the lead, yet they all possess parts in it, you recognize what I mean? I thought that if you are actually a group as well as you could possibly all sing, then you must all of have parts. The track could finish along with the top vocalist taking it residence, yet despite having like Boyz II Men. Commonly Nate or Shawn would certainly begin it off as well as either will go next and Wanya would deliver it home. To me, that's what a group carries out. TERRANCE: And also talking, exactly how performed you associate with Boyz II Guys? I recognize you dealt with them on their Cooleyhighharmony and II cds. TROY TAYLOR: Once Again, I was an artist on Motown at some aspect dealing with my job. When I met them, I chose I failed to desire to be a performer given that it was extra delightful to become behind the scenes as well as performing what I really love, somewhat to become in face consequently after finding their effectiveness I determined I really did not desire to be a performer any longer. TERRANCE: Are actually there any forthcoming tasks that you are actually working with that you can tell our company regarding? TROY TAYLOR: Well, I'm always cleaning performers. I'm still a large follower of Performer Progression, so I constantly have performers under me who I am actually brushing and also focusing on. The following approaching point is the Dru Mountain job. I have actually been actually dealing with Queen Naija and also I'm operating along with Pink Sweat $, to ensure ought to be awesome. There is actually a tune arriving along with Lil Duval featuring Storage tank & Jacquees and it is actually heading to be actually super hilarious as well as it is actually a truly great R&B file and also gon na be actually really suitable for R&B. TERRANCE: Exists anything not reviewed you would love to show your fans, fans & the audiences? TROY TAYLOR: I 'd claim follow me as well as ready to elect me as your Mayor of R&B. When individuals inquire, what does that indicate? That only simply suggests to help me assist the original elements of what R&B popular music should possess. The reason why it's certainly not in a lot of popular music today is actually due to the fact that the kids do not know just how to accomplish it. They do not recognize how to make improvements. They do not recognize any kind of idea, so they just usually tend to keep it repeating given that it's secure.

This content was originally published here.

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tiredoftonkies-blog · 7 years

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1) I'm not sure Nat at least knew about the initial kill order on Bucky. I'm looking at the transcript for CW and at the site of the UN attack, she tells T'Challa that a task force would decide who would bring Bucky in. She then tells Steve to stay out of it which he relays to Sam. Sam thinks she might have a point. Then Sharon let's Steve know that they have orders to kill. It's like all this happens in minutes. I spent a lot of the movie wondering why it felt like Nat was deliberately left

2) out of the loop. All through the airport scenes, SJ plays it like Nat really didn’t want to be there and she’s a bit snippy with Tony too. It was like a huge chunk of the story in the middle was taken out. Another thing I was wondering, where were Tony, Rhodey and Vision during the UN signing? After the initial scenes at the facility, we don’t see Tony till after Bucky was brought in and Rhodey and Vision till the airport fight. For the pro accords side, it’s only Tony’s opinion that is

3) given weight. Too much of it. It’s like he’s the only signatory that matters. Actually, his is the only opinion given any voice to the entire movie. I’d have much rather had the focus be on Steve, Sam, Nat and even Rhodey’s viewpoints far more. Instead of a rational discussion between these characters, we got stuck with everyone playing second fiddle to Tony and reacting to his tantrums.

haha, i’m not sure i’d go quite that far (re: tony’s tantrums, lol), but it does feel like that at times, especially since tony got the more blatant emotional arc and, well, was clearly led by his emotions throughout the whole thing

the handling of natasha was so weird in some ways. i understand her reasoning for being team IM, especially considering her past and how much she wants to keep the team together. i disagree with their decision to sign the accords before negotiating them, but team IM does seem the most pragmatic choice for the long-term

yeah, she definitely didn’t seem to know about the kill orders on bucky, which… makes sense since she was in public at the time, not in superspy mode. she only acts like she knows everything, after all. i also totally buy her not really wanting to be there at the airport, since steve and clint are the people she’s closest to and she was there to arrest them. i think the main thing that bothers me is that it seemed like she was also initially unwilling to listen to steve’s explanation; natasha’s incredibly intelligent and the idea that she hadn’t already at least realized there was something fishy going on is a little ridiculous to me. i have a really hard time justifying her “do you really want to punch your way out of this” line especially

that’s.. actually an excellent question, i have no idea what the rest of team IM was up to at the time. i guess maybe they had already signed and didn’t think their continued presence was required?

since steve and tony are pretty much the ~leaders~ in every cw conflict, it doesn’t surprise me that their opinions were given the most weight, but it’s super annoying how tony got to explain so much of his side yet steve’s argument relied considerably on audience knowledge of the previous movies (as well as the problems with the UN.) to be fair, though, it wasn’t tony’s fault the initial discussion ended as it did, since steve only left because of the news of peggy’s death

i really wish vision hadn’t interrupted sam and rhodey’s argument because i’m so interested in how that might have gone. i wonder what rhodey’s response to sam accusing him of playing both sides would have been, and i just really wanted more of sam arguing since he obviously had strong opinions and i wanted to hear more of them and also i just generally want more sam always

#anti cacw #will be my new general tag for complaining about things in cap3 #that are not necessarily directly related to tony

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whatwhat--pregameup · 7 years

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tl;dr: it was worth EVERY CENT to go see Great Comet and I’m gonna be on those tour tickets if/when they go on sale

spoilers for things not on the album and things from other parts of War and Peace

Cast at this performance: Shoba Narayan (u/s) as Natasha, Brittain Ashford as Sonya, Grace McLean as Marya D., Lucas Steele as Anatole, Amber Gray as Helene, Nick Clark (u/s) as Andrey/Bolkonsky, Gelsey Bell as Mary, Paul Pinto as Balaga

Pre-Show:

- The lobby/hallways to the house look like a dingy back alley somewhere in Russia. After looking back at Dave Malloy’s Genius annotations, I realized that it was basically a recreation of his experience stumbling into a Russian club (which incidentally inspired a lot of the show)

- I was in a table seat on/in the stage, so we entered at the top of the stage through the huge doorway that gets used during the show. I was literally breathless when I walked in because I had a chance to look out over the entire theater and it’s…it’s just stunning.

- There’s Russian opera/folk music playing in the house, which is p cool

- So when the show starts, there’s an air raid siren (and I fought down the urge to go “SILENT HILL OH NO”) and most of the cast literally jumps out (there are TONS of hidden doorways in the walls) and runs around/through the audience.

- It was at this point that we got free potato dumplings! I think they’re only given to the stage seats? But they were delicious. - Paul Pinto (Balaga/hella people) was our dumpling deliverer and just a hella cool dude in general - my jaw practically hit the floor when I saw Amber Gray (Helene) walking around. holy hell if I didn’t know I was queer before then I SURE DO NOW

Prologue:

- the opening accordion note is REAL long and the first verse actually happens while Andrey is bidding farewell to Natasha and going off to war. He gives her a necklace. This is actually p important as a symbol but this also sets up Natasha sympathetically from the outset because you get to see her and Andrey together

- Shoba Narayan sings beautifully, is totally charming as Natasha, and incredibly sweet in person. I hope she gets to do all the things ever. <3

- HOW DOES THE ANDREY/BOLKONSKY QUICK CHANGE HAPPEN SO DAMN FAST??? I JUST SAW ANDREY ALL DRESSED UP FOR WAR GO THROUGH THAT DOOR?????? the costume department is doing one hell of a job

Pierre:

- not gonna lie I was a little skeptical of Josh Groban because he has That Voice, but rest assured, he DOES deliver “dear bewildered and awkward” Pierre.

- watching Old Bolkonsky, Dolokhov, and an ensemble member all playing guitar together was p great, especially with Bolkonsky hobbling away

- I could dedicate an entire post to little things that Lucas Steele did throughout the show tbh. Anatole is ALWAYS up to something, but for now I’ll just mention that he takes a lot of shots during this song and stumbles right by Pierre when he goes “you empty and stupid contented fellows”

- have I mentioned that I’m still 500% queer for Amber Gray while Helene just has this Look on her face like she’s just so tired of Pierre’s Philosophical Melodrama Hour

Moscow:

- Marya is noticeably less excited about Sonya arriving. Honestly 25% of Marya is just in Grace McLean’s facial expressions and mannerisms and she’s already a Large Ham on the recording so.

- Grace McLean gestured at our table when she said “faded and fading princesses”.

- Natasha does this little dance where she twirls around while humming to herself and it’s just…it’s so cute.

The Private and Intimate Life of the House:

- holy SHIT I need to take a minute to talk about Gelsey Bell. She actually plays a bunch of minor/incidental roles throughout the show, and the things she can do with her voice…holy crap.

- if you didn’t feel bad for Mary on the cast album then uh watching Gelsey will change your mind. especially for anyone who has experience caring for an aging family member.

- Natasha’s “I know they’ll like me, everyone has always liked me” got a healthy laugh from the audience

- one of the ladies at my table was the “cheap French thing” who Old Bolkonsky flirts with and it was hilarious.

- Paul Pinto (Balaga) also plays the butler/servant during this scene with this hobble and hunch, and he moved SO quietly that I legit didn’t notice him moving in between me and the woman next to me. but he served us shots (of water), which was p cool

Natasha and Bolkonskys:

- Natasha and Mary fetch stools and sit down at one of the tables right in the middle of the stage. silently getting people to scoot over is just as awkward as you might imagine, but also really funny to watch and adds to the general awkwardness of their interactions that later contributes to Natasha’s refusal

No One Else:

- aka the moment where Shoba Narayan slayed my whole existence

- the staging for this, I just. where do I even start. Natasha in the moonlight, singing to the audience, the gentle winter snow at the end, fuuuuuuck

- at “I feel like putting my arms around my knees”, Natasha was sitting on the steps on the other side of the stage, right next to a girl who probably wasn’t more than 12-13 years old. when she said “like this” and put her arms out, she did it like she was showing her how and it was THE CUTEST

- also you get to see Andrey reading her letters and Natasha desperately reaching out for him, and it…wow. man. my heart. it’s so much sadder in person.

- she also delivered part of the “maybe he’ll come today” lines to another audience member sitting next to her, like she was looking for validation, and I just….oh sweetie.

The Opera:

- Paul Pinto sighting: the guy who goes “welcome to the opera” and announces various characters

- Sonya jumps a little when Marya comes back in because she’s just so forceful

- EVERYONE points at Natasha for “Natasha smooth your gown” and her facial expression is kind of like “okay, geez”

- Sonya and Natasha holding hands and running around together is cute asf

- okay, having seen the opera in person, I gotta say…it’s still really hard to explain. but I’m gonna try.

- “act 1″ features 2 main singers (played by whoever plays Mary and Balaga) and two dancers (your featured dancers, basically). it’s basically opera by way of performance art and it is purposely weird. fun fact: Tolstoy was not fond of opera and straight up uses “pretentious” in the text of War and Peace (check it out here!)

- lights up after the first opera scene, Sonya was tilting her head to the side. same, girl, same

- something I didn’t quite pick up on the album: both Sonya and Natasha do the initial description of Anatole when the doors open. it’s hard to notice on the album and I didn’t really put it together until Natasha was like a few feet away from me

- when Anatole shows up, the bass is BOOMING. like, it shook the floor. as it should. and Lucas Steele’s poses on the beats, dear lord. and true to character, he was flirting with/eye-fucking audience members as he walked down the stairs

- 100% getting bowie vibes from Anatole tbh

- Lucas Steele has the most amazing blue steel face (approved by ben stiller, for the record), everyone else can go home. also his cheekbones tho

- towards the end of the opera, Natasha watches Andrey die (he gets dramatically opera-stage-murdered by two ensemble members who pull long red sashes). she’s visibly shaken by it and Anatole enters her box (giggity) right after that

Natasha and Anatole:

- when he seizes her from behind and kisses her on the neck, Anatole GOES IN. like, grabs part of her skirt and lifts it up partway. it’s, uh. something.

- I’m not 100% sure if it’s meant to be a real thing that happens, honestly?? I’m gonna have to check the text of war and peace again to be sure but the way it’s staged, I honestly thought it was something Natasha briefly imagined and then tried to pretend that she didn’t

- Anatole directed the “isn’t that so” to a male audience member with a little wink wink nudge nudge thing

- also, hello unwanted touching: he grabs her wrist at “it’s alright, Natasha, I’m here” and it doesn’t look like a wanted touch on those ~bare arms~

The Duel:

- OH MAN THIS IS SO MUCH FUN. another instance of getting free shots, and toasting with the cast

- IT TURNS INTO A RAVE. straight up. strobe lights and everything.

- Grace McLean has A Booty. Instance #2 of “if I didn’t know I was queer before…”

- and how do I know that? because she was wearing a catsuit and waved her butt in my face. and smacked it with a riding crop. 11/10 she can get it.

- also there was another dancer in the ensemble who danced up on the railing next to our table basically wearing leather that wouldn’t be out of place at folsom street fair. one of the ladies at my table was caught a little off guard but I swear to god in that moment I thought “eh this is nothing, I’m from San Francisco”

- Paul Pinto sighting: the duel announcer

- Pierre basically wins the duel because everyone is trashed. He’s so drunk that he stumbles and fires too early (giggity), and lucks out because he shot Dolokhov (who is also quite drunk by this point) in the shoulder

- based on my understanding of the album, I expected Helene to be a lot more sarcastic/cold at the end of the duel, but she looked surprisingly shaken. I’m not sure if it was because she almost lost her boytoy or because she would lose the material comfort/privilege of being married to her husband, but it was definitely interesting to see

Dust and Ashes:

- aka Josh Groban’s “for your consideration” moment for the Tony voters

- ok but for real I saw some glassy eyes in the audience during this one, and I totally get it. this song is beautifully written (”we are a god and angels weep” is out of Tolstoy’s writing, IIRC, and it’s brief but impactful) and it is a complete emotional journey. I, too, am ready to wake up.

Sunday Morning:

- when Natasha looks into the mirror, she’s positioned so that Pierre is right behind her, i.e. he’s reflected in the mirror. she really did see her future (War and Peace spoiler: Natasha and Pierre are happily married later on in the book).

- oh man, nothing like 19th century church to fan the guilt that goes with budding sexuality/a crush

Charming:

- ok so when this song starts, Natasha has just taken off her dress. She’s only in lingerie when Helene drops in. she’s literally exposed/vulnerable

- Natasha’s face when Helene tells her that Anatole is into her though!!! anyone who’s known a teenage girl knows that facial expression. it’s fucking precious

- Natasha goes from lingerie -> Helene’s fur coat -> her ball outfit (final chorus). she’s in her underwear for most of it, so make of that what you will

- a really important moment: Helene removes the necklace that Andrey gave Natasha (with some protest) and replaces it with a multi-string pearl necklace (and who wears multiple strings of pearls first…?)

- guys I’m unapologetically queer asf for Amber Gray (#3)

- at the very end, Natasha is copying Helene’s dance moves with her little dress swishes. it’s cute but also a nice little bit of symbolism.

The Ball:

- good god Shoba Narayan is an actual princess ok

- it’s interesting that Natasha and Anatole are actually dancing on opposite sides of a circular portion of the stage when Natasha’s describing their dance. you get a real sense of her inner monologue/the fact that the two of them are having somewhat different perceptions of what’s going on

- I’m actually kind of surprised at how many people listen to the album and don’t really register the fact that Anatole is blocking Natasha’s path/hurting her when he grabs her arm. pair it with the music and that already sounds like Bad Times, but it’s definitely Not A Good Thing when combined with watching Natasha’s reactions (she’s literally running from him)

- the sound when they kiss is the entire ensemble playing the rims of water glasses. Helene’s note is the longest.

- Anatole’s face when Natasha goes “but I love you” is hilarious and a pretty good hint (just in case anyone missed it) that he is not interested in her affections beyond an assist to get her into bed with him

- during the “I’ll do anything for you” exchange, Natasha is reaching up with outstretched open hands. Anatole has a closed fist. it’s a small thing, but it says a lot about the power dynamics at play

Letters:

- Anatole’s love letter to Natasha gets “sent” through the audience. It got a little held up and Natasha was desperately/frantically gesturing for them to move it along. eventually, a guy got up from his seat to hand it to her and he got a round of applause

- the second repetition of “a love letter”, Anatole does the hand motion for a woman’s figure (you know the one)

- Lucas Steele holding out every extended note just because he can.

- “just say yes” is delivered with Anatole holding Natasha by the waist/hips and kneeling in front of her.

- Anatole fist pumping after Natasha goes “yes! yes!” and lets go of him

- Anatole has this smug expression as he walks off at the end, and Sonya makes eye contact with him as she’s approaching. it’s a really small silent exchange but you can immediately tell that Sonya knows that something is up and isn’t having any of it

Sonya and Natasha:

- you know that text post about “you know you’ve become an adult when you watch the Little Mermaid and you’re like ‘YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HIM’”? yeah, that’s basically this scene

- Shoba!Natasha put so much sass into “I do not grasp the question” and “you don’t understand anything”. it’s little mannerisms like that that make her 100% believable as a teenager tbh. I swear I caught her rolling her eyes at one point and I was like “yep definitely made that face before”

- literally sitting between them during this argument is intense my dudes.

Sonya Alone:

- I’ll be honest, I have a habit of skipping this song on the album because it’s such a lull between the intensity of the end of the preceding argument and the beginning of the abduction. but in person…holy fuck.

- Brittain Ashford is everything in this scene. obvi still open to other actors’ interpretations, but her voice is just so right for Sonya’s raw sadness and determination

- this scene ends with Sonya reaching for Natasha, who just holds her letter and turns her head away, and my heart. augh my heart.

Preparations/Balaga/The Abduction:

- doing these all together because it just…happens

- Pierre is actually ptfo at the beginning of this scene (implied bc he was drinking); Anatole accidentally wakes him up on his way out, so his “ah Anatole” is actually sort of half-asleep

- I caught a glimpse of the first chair cellist grinning ear to ear once the ostenato part starts and I was just like “YEAH GIRL GET IT”. she was so pumped to do this sequence

- the patter in this is real and Nick Choksi fuckin kills it.

- also it was during this scene that he smacked a teacup (and it was a very nice looking metal one too!) down onto our table in front of me while listening to Anatole’s nonsense. he would later take my hand and make sure I used it to raise a glass during the abduction

- it’s very subtle but you can catch various ensemble members grabbing instruments and getting ready towards the middle/end of Preparations. Amber Gray caught my eye (obvi) because Helene basically goes and puts on a vest as soon as she’s out of the scene and gets a tom. Amber Gray playing the tom in the lead-up to Balaga is my aesthetic (#4)

- the shakers come out with the rest of the ensemble at the beginning of Balaga - we were given a basket and basically told to take one and pass it down. you’re allowed to keep them and I brought mine home with me :)

- Paul. Motherfucking. Pinto. Dude is full of so much energy that it is infectious

- it’s impossible to not sing along when people are playing instruments/dancing/singing right next to you

- got another round of shots before Pierre’s toast

- during the “it’s a russian custom” break, Anatole sat down next to two older ladies and hardcore flirted with them #BlueSteele

- so the “fur cloak” scene features a pizzicato violin soloist (who is wearing the fur cloak in question). she has tattoos on her hipbones that look like the holes on a violin that are highly visible with the outfit she has on. A+ casting right there

- Pierre does the ‘ding’. It was a great ‘ding’ and I am v proud

- Gelsey sighting: the maid

In My House:

- the shakers stopped IMMEDIATELY. Grace McLean has THAT MUCH PRESENCE.

- so she starts off this song with a smile, but it is through clenched teeth and utterly frightening. holy fuck I do NOT want to be in trouble for the rest of my life after that

- small fumble on “what is it to me”, but Shoba said it and corrected it so quickly that it actually worked because it sounded like Natasha had a case of Angrish because she was so upset

- another instance of “I am sitting in the middle of this argument and this is incredibly uncomfortable” because it’s so intense

A Call to Pierre:

- jesus christ do NOT piss off Marya D. but I love how it’s not just anger, there’s legitimate worry and panic. like, I get the feeling she’s about to cry just from all of the conflicting feelings leaking out of her eyes

Find Anatole:

- the lights go up when Pierre goes to the club, and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that it makes the table seats super visible to the orch/mezz audience

- Helene is in her lingerie when hiding/comforting Anatole. Considering their interactions throughout this show, that’s definitely on purpose

Pierre and Anatole:

- last instance of “sitting so close to an argument that it’s uncomfortable”

- Anatole “frowning and biting his lip” looks a LOT like a small child sulking during/after a temper tantrum. Also Lucas fumbled with the stool a bit and knocked it over which added to the whole tantrum/possibly slightly disoriented from Pierre shaking him thing

- Natasha’s poisoning is VERY obvious (which is obvi something you don’t get from the album alone). You see her coming down the steps with the arsenic and water and she is in the middle of the stage, between Anatole and Pierre when she goes through with it

- The Note. holy fuck.

Natasha Very Ill:

- Anatole is actually very slowly on his way out through the doors during the first part of the song. He disappears riiiiight about the time that the electronic parts stop (not a coincidence)

- There’s a lot of silent acting going on during the show, but I mention it here because what really struck me was Pierre comforting Marya during this scene.

Pierre and Andrey:

- Andrey is both noticeably changed from the war and heartbroken over Natasha. It’s no surprise that he can’t bring himself to forgive her, considering the state he’s in (minor W&P spoiler: he eventually does tho) Nick Clark's "never speak of that again" is more forceful than on the album - he basically shouted it. definitely got than anger

- I noticed Sonya holding Natasha in the background. not sure if they were both crying

- At the very end of this scene, Andrey goes and sits (well more like collapses into) the chair that his father sat in earlier in the show. and he ignores Mary (who looks so excited to see him, poor girl) on the way there

Pierre and Natasha:

- ok I felt my eyes starting to do The Thing during this scene. it is heartbreaking to watch frail, ill Natasha weakly walk down the stairs in front of you while clinging to the railing for dear life when you’ve been watching her dance/run/sing up and down them for the entire preceding show

- “I don’t know, I don’t know at all” hit me right in the gut. I thought I might cry, but I figured that with my dry-ass eyes, my contacts would take care of it…

- …and then The Line happened. I felt exactly one tear make it out (which is a LOT for my stupid dry allergy-tastic eyes). I also saw a lot of glassy eyes in the audience and heard a lot of sniffles

The Great Comet of 1812:

- so I was seated super close to the comet itself. it’s right over the center pit/Pierre’s salon and I was maybe a few feet from that, so it was amazing to watch it come down.

- it’s really hard to describe the comet chandelier but I can tell you that the “actual” comet is just one bulb, but when it happens, it is the single brightest thing in the theater. it’s also the final light to go out after the giant chandelier lights up and fades out.

- Pierre sits down to watch the comet at the very end which seems like a neat cue for the groban stans to stop staring at him and pay attention to the really cool thing that is happening

General/stuff I thought about later/stage door:

- something I realized after I left: Andrey wasn’t the family’s saving grace, Pierre was. within the bounds of the show, he saves Natasha and her family from disgrace and Andrey and Anatole’s lives (avoiding a duel and Anatole getting charged with bigamy). in the larger context of the book, he also saves the Rostovs from their financial issues because ends up inheriting his father’s title and money and Natasha marries him.

- “stupid child” really is a good descriptor for Anatole

- Or Matias, the music director, is practically a one-man show. honestly I’d see this again just to watch him jam out. his conducting is quite possibly the most entertaining, non-traditional conducting I’ve ever seen

- basically everyone besides natasha/sonya is part of the ensemble at some point outside of The Abduction sequence. and a lot of them play instruments (see: Helene on the drums, Dolokhov on guitar). it’s rad.

- Dolokhov has some srs eyeliner on his lower lashline - but only on the lower lashline (and nobody else does). I wonder if it’s supposed to be for preventing glare since he’s a “crazy good shot”

- there are a bunch of interactions between Anatole and Helene that are uncomfortably close for siblings (and Helene coddling him in her lingerie near the end of the show basically seals the deal). it’s a great nod to the book.

- Helene/Dolokhov/Anatole is as close to a canon OT3 as I’ve seen anything get in a long time.

- there are same-sex pairs of dancers throughout the show. I managed to spot 3 during The Ball, but there might be more.

- This show is what I wish our entertainment could look like all the time. colorblind casting, vibrant production, and so much fun.

- Josh Groban is the nicest dude. His publicist kept coming out to remind us that he didn’t have time to do photos since they were on their way to something else, but Josh insisted on signing everything that he could. I also happened to capture a pretty excellent little moment (here)

- Shoba Narayan was also super sweet! I’m gonna forever side eye the kid next to me who thought that “you sound just like Denee” was a good compliment tho

- Gelsey reassured a fan that Mary’s life does get better later on in the book

#great comet #natasha pierre and the great comet of 1812 #<333333 #shotasha #josh groban #I love this cast

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wittypenguin · 5 years

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Mystery Men (1999)

After watching over a decade of Marvel films, then watching the ‘Eastrail 177 Trilogy’ of films (which I’ll write a concluding review for in a few days), something that dealt with super heroes in a mocking but loving way seemed right up my alley! It even begins with a silly scene in an old age home being attacked by silly villains! Then… Wow. This is less silly and more… yeah, I dunno…

The cast is fantastic, with Greg Kinnear being perfect as Captain Amazing. It even has the look of an insane Batman film. Which makes sense, because a number of the sets used in the film are the same sets used in Batman Forever.

“SFX by Ghostbusters II” was the note I made at one point, and given that the main firm responsible seems to have been Rhythm & Hues, I wasn’t far off. I can’t quite tell if they were involved in the Ghostbusters sequel, but I wouldn’t be surprised, as the colour palette and stylistic approach is fairly similar, especially with the massive deus ex machina ending which… is… okay, I guess…? Really, it’s too little too late by that point.

There are some gags scattered throughout which are okay — the purpose of “A Fifth of Beethoven” hath finally been revealed as fight choreography music, The Shoveler’s physical business, Invisible Boy’s actual use of his power which saves the day (which I distinctly remembered from the trailers), the Herkimer Battle Jitney, the mocking of the Superman trope of his ‘disguise’ being his glasses — but it’s not enough to hang a movie on. There must be more to the original comic books’ material, but there’s no ‘there’ here in this film.

William H. Macy [left] as ‘Shoveler,’ Ben Stiller [centre, rear] as ‘Furious,’ and Hank Azaria [right] as ‘Blue Raja’

Invisible Boy’s introduction is over written. It’s got a good premise, and even the two lead-up scenes are solid (although the one in the diner could have been a bit tighter), but the scene where he explains his the limitations of his power spirals at least twice before landing. It’s a shame.

It’s really uneven. Given the comedic talent on hand — JANNINE GAROFALO, Hank Azaria, Ben Stiller, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Waits, William H Macy — it’s surprising how some of this is so… well, ‘infantile’ seems too dismissive, but it’s getting pretty close. When you have a ‘Super Hero’ who can pass wind on demand, you expect a certain puerility, sure, but some of the ‘gags’ are delivered with a 20-pound sledgehammer when all you need is a tack hammer. Apparently the shooting experience was fraught with strife, with various people trying to change the style of the comedy, and the director even declared at one point that they would never direct a feature again, as it was far too much effort and not enough satisfaction.

Eddie Izzard as “Tony P”

Mr Macy’s character gets nearly all of the best lines, for my taste, and he delivers them perfectly. Somehow his ‘Everyman’ face is perfect for someone as seemingly inconsequential as a hero wielding a shovel, yet still able to stirring statements which inspire his fellow crime fighters. My goodness, his career of medium-sized characters was something to which I very much aspired (when I still had hopes and dreams), and this could have been a fantastic demonstration of his ability to anchor an ensemble… had the writing been better.

There’s a couple of people woefully under-utilized, Lena Olin and Eddie Izzard in particular. Ms Olin’s character has a grand total of two lines in the entire film, but appears in more than a handful of scenes. Lord knows she’s capable of far more. Mr Izzard is similarly hobbled in speech, and seems reduced to doing physical comedy as ‘Henchman #2.’ He’s extremely good at the former, far more talented than the requirements of the latter, and neither task is seen enough in the story. Lordy.

I could also have used more of the auditioning super heroes, especially if their ‘super abilities’ were outlined. The names of some in the credits are quite promising. Additionally, more of the ‘Super Hero Boot Camp’ sequence with Wes Studi as ‘Sphinx’ would have been good, especially if the writing had developed past the gag based on the trope of ‘inscrutable Oriental aphorisms,’ which was really beaten to death before finally being moved past.

There’s a whole plot thread of romantic interest for Mr Stiller’s character which could have been taken out but for the old line about “I love you for you, not for your powers” thing which nearly worked. That same lesson was bing learned with Mr Macy’s character, however, and his marriage being saved by his saving the world has a better feeling of accomplishment than the other set-up, however. Certainly Mr Stiller’s character’s ‘ability’ of being furious might have been better developed as being, at best, ineffective, as it seemed oddly glossed over, given the rest of the gags being pounded into the ground. There are many things being given too much emphasis and too many being under-explored, one wonders if there was any consideration given to a ‘middle ground approach?’

Ben Stiller is quite angry… one might almost say he’s… ‘Furious’

There are also a couple of of cameos — including the director Michael Bay as a frat boy — which really serve no purpose beyond causing people to yell “WHO is in this…‽” which may have been the idea, as there’s little else to say for them. Merely because one can do something in a film doesn’t mean that one should do that particular thing.

Overall, it’s a sad thing, given the people involved. At one point, Danny Divito was considering directing and starring in the William H Macy role, but backed out of both positions when he realized the scope of the project. It’s possible he could have made things work, but not if he was acting as well; there’s too much heavy lifting to change what I saw into something worthwhile.

★★☆☆☆

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