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munchflix · 2 years

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FRIDAY THE 13TH TIER LIST

Munch: There's like....12 of these movies. This is gonna be long. And none of them make sense but that's okay because the plot is basically the same for every single movie. Jason shows up and wrecks some bitches and then he "dies" and gets resurrected by some magical means in the next movie, not unlike his counterpart Freddy Krueger.

Biscuits: I probably know these movies significantly better than Munch, sort of a role reversal of the last one. I'll preface this by saying I like most of the Friday the 13th movies, but are they good cinema? No. But most of them are enjoyably corny. Not all of them.

M: I think they gave up trying to be serious at some point. Maybe we can figure out where. PART THE ONE. A group of camp counselors trying to reopen a summer camp called Crystal Lake, which has a grim past, are stalked by a mysterious killer. But SPOILER ALERT it's not really Jason, it's his ma, Pam.

B: It is kinda boring. The first two are not like insanely bad because this early in the series they were still trying to take the movies seriously. It's probably a mid tier movie. I'd put it in B tier because we're gonna need room for the trash. M: We gotta rank it against ALL the other Friday movies, so I'd put it pretty high. It did have a couple novel things for it's time, the whole killer POV kills were really novel at the time. It did invent a lot of the tropes we now see. I'd go B as well.

B: It did have Kevin Bacon.

M: PART THE 2. Five years after the events of the first film, a summer camp next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is preparing to open, but the legend of Jason is weighing heavy on the proceedings. Jason comes back with a bag on his head but at least he's doing the murdering now. I don't remember what happened in this except how he died. But not really because he's implied to still be alive. This was the one with Crazy Ralph tho!

B: The harbinger! They had that whole mommy roleplay in the end where the main chick pretended to be Jason's mom in order to kill him. The second movie is kinda boring too. C tier? It's not the worst thing ever. It does introduce Jason as the killer.

M: Okay, C tier. PART THE THREE. Jason Voorhees stalks a group of friends who's just arrived to spend the weekend at a cabin near Crystal Lake. All these imdb blurbs are the same. Jason kills people. I have zero recollection of this movie. After reading the synopsis I still barely remember it.

B: It's got the weird guy who wanted to be Franklin from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but wasn't and the who kept playing pranks on people. He was really annoying and they gave him too much screentime. There's also a weird side plot with a biker gang that never comes to fruition. He does get the hockey mask.

M: I've seen every single one of these and this one is leaving the least impression on me so I'll say D tier. PART THE FOUR. After being announced dead and taken to a morgue, Jason Voorhees spontaneously revives, escapes from the hospital, and stalks a group of friends renting a house in the countryside near Crystal Lake. Jason dies for real but not really.

B: This is the one with Tommy who does cool things, and all the weird campers. Also Crispin Glover's incredible dance number.

M: Why is there a skinny dipping scene in like every one of these? Even the remake has one.

B: They don't need a good movie if they got female presenting nipples.

M: Tommy dresses up as Jason in the end though and then like hacks him in the head.

B: I don't know why so much of the movie follows that one horny guy.

M: They were stretching for plot, okay? Rank?

B: C tier? It's better than three.

M: PART THE FIVE. Still haunted by his past, Tommy Jarvis, who, as a child, killed Jason Voorhees, is sent to a secluded halfway house in the countryside, where the killing of a young man triggers a brutal series of murders in the area. Tommy gets another movie.

B: It's not actually Jason though it's a guy pretending to be Jason who's killing people because it was his son that got killed in the beginning. I actually like this movie, I know a lot of people don't because ooh it's not actually Jason but its high tier.

M: It was one of the better ones, despite it's lack of technical Jason, the plot is fairly cohesive and it actually has a plot unlike most of these. Is it as good as the first one? Better?

B: Better, A or S tier. It also has that really good Psuedo Echo song in it. M: S tier then. PART THE SIX. Tommy Jarvis exhumes Jason Voorhees to cremate his corpse, but inadvertently brings him back to life instead. The newly revived killer seeks revenge, and Tommy may be the only one who can stop him. So this one is amazing, he somehow like leaves a shovel in Jason and lightning strikes it and Jason comes back and Tommy is like 25 now. And the sheriff doesn't believe anything he says even though like 10 people are dead. And then he drags Jason to the bottom of the lake with a boulder and a chain and he's dead but not really.

B: I didn't find this movie very interesting, apparently, because I didn't feel the need to record it in my memory. I've seen all of these movies. I know I have. I remember most of them just not this one.

M: It's still not great though. I'd d tier that shit. I was already tired of the Tommy fuckin' storyline at this point.

B: I guess it's not quite as vividly, explicitly terrible as some of the other ones. C tier.

M: Okay. PART THE SEVEN. Jason Voorhees is accidentally freed from his watery prison by a telekinetic teenager. Now, only she can stop him. I love this plot so much.

B: This one is weird because they just introduce a girl with psychic powers and then forget she ever existed. Tommy is gone and they just stopped caring.

M: This plot is so out there though, it's one of my favorites of the series. She's being manipulated by her therapist and he's making her think she's hallucinating and she brings Jason back to life with her FUCKING MIND. It's batshit insane. There was the whole thing with her father too where she telekinetically kills him.

B: How are we gonna rank this movie?

M: On enjoyment? I liked this one.

B: We're obviously not ranking them on cinematic merit, are we?!

M: A tier. It's batshit insane, it's fun. It's not S tier but....

B: Okay. I liked Part 5 more.

M: PART THE EIGHT! Fuck yeah. Jason Voorhees is accidentally awakened from his watery grave, and he ends up stalking a ship full of graduating high school students headed to Manhattan, NY.

B: Jason takes manhattan but he spends most of his time on a boat. He's covered in LUBE the entire movie. It has that guy who looks like Dacre Montgomery for some reason. There's this girl and her uncle who looks like Bill Nye tries to inject her with drugs. Jason literally punches a guy's head off, he breaks a porthole with his head, he walks through a glass door, it's great.

M: The sewers are filled with toxic waste that fucking MELTS Jason and he roars like a dinosaur, it's fucking FANTASTIC.

B: This is my favorite of the series, personally. It's peak Friday the 13th. The filmmakers were like - we don't really need to try anymore do we? S tier.

M: Absolutely S tier. PART THE FUCKING NINE. Serial killer Jason Voorhees' supernatural origins are revealed. Yeah okay.

B: Jason is body jumping and there's a guy eating hearts and Jason turns into a weird little slug thing and crawls into a woman's vagingo. It does have the greatest 2 second scene in film history though, where a guy's head is "smashed" into a car door and it's so obviously just a bunch of blankets wrapped around each other and there's no blood or anything. It's hilarious.

M: The slug thing is a real thing that happens. This movie is batshit in all the wrong ways. It's gross and weird and fucking...what. I don't know. It makes Jason X look coherent. D tier. F tier. Z tier.

B: Toilet tier.

M: PART THE TEN. Jason Voorhees is cryogenically frozen at the beginning of the 21st century, and is discovered in the 25th century and taken to space. He gets thawed, and begins stalking and killing the crew of the spaceship that's transporting him. This one is also insane. Jason is frozen in space and they bring him back and they kill him again but not really.

B: They scan his brain and it's the size of a pea so they insult him and he falls on their magical healing table and gets upgraded. It doesn't take itself very seriously at all.

M: The fx are really amazing. The android girl gets beheaded and they just have the actress on her knees with someone's arm wrapped around her neck and the camera at arm level.

B: Some of the jokes do land, there is the hologram scene. There is one part where they make a joke about Jason's dick.

M: David Cronenberg makes a cameo in this movie though so bonus points there.

B: He should have directed it, that would've been amazing. Like all of these were done by different directors.

M: So were the Nightmare movies, except the first and last ones were both Craven. I kinda love Jason X though. It's way better than Jason goes to Hell.

B: It's significantly better than Jason goes to hell. I'd put it in A tier.

M: I'd vote B tier but I'm willing to compromise. PART THE FREDDY VS JASON. We already kinda did this but how does it compare to the other Friday the 13th movies?

B: Probably B tier in this one too.

M: It has better production value than most of these. Jason at least looked cool. PART THE REMAKE. Ugh. I hated this so much. It's so boring. It's so bland. All the attempts at humor fall flat, the acting is dull, it's just a mildly spiffed up rehash of everything we've seen. It's better than Jason goes to hell but barely. I'd still D tier this shit.

B: It's not that good. Jason is barely in it. That's kind of a trend in a lot of these. Not enough Jason. Low C high D tier. It's not good.

M: I think C tier is too much credit for this rehashed nonsense. I'm going D. Fuck that shit.

#friday the 13th #jason #jason voorhees #horror #tier list #review #voorhees #kevin bacon

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tcm · 3 years

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In Memory of Brian, Fred and Jerry by Susan King

I mourn the loss of Hollywood legends, especially those I have interviewed over the years. I broke into tears when Debbie Reynolds died four years ago, recalling our last chat together in 2016 when we did a duet of “Moses Supposes.” And I still haven’t watched TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (’62) since Gregory Peck died in 2003. I had the opportunity to interview the handsome Oscar-winner at his now torn down home in 1997 and 1999. He was everything you’d hope he would be – sweet, intelligent and funny. He also loved Bob Dylan. His last words to me as he walked me to my car were: “You are a most interesting young lady.”

In 2020 alone, I lost over 20 former interviewees including Kirk Douglas, whom I interviewed eight times between 1986-2017, and my beloved Olivia de Havilland, who I found to be delightful and a bit ribald in the two interviews I did with her. I got more than a little misty when Brian Dennehy, Fred Willard and Jerry Stiller died this year. They were supremely talented and made our lives a little brighter with their performances. And, they all were great guys and fun interviews.

Brian Dennehy

I interviewed Brian Dennehy, who died in April at the age of 81, several times in the early 1990s when I was at the L.A. Times. The former U.S. Marine and football player was intimidating at first sight. He was tall, burly and barrel-chested. He had a no-nonsense quality about him, and he spoke his mind. But he also was funny.

In 1991, discussing how hard it was for some actors to land parts after starring in a TV series, he noted “coming off a TV series is a tough deal, and you go into limbo land for a while, if not forever. Most actors go immediately to the ‘Island of Lost Actors’ and stay there. Troy Donahue is the mayor.” Dennehy never went to that island. Not with the complex and often memorable performances he gave in such films as FIRST BLOOD (’82), SILVERADO (’85), COCOON (’85), PRESUMED INNOCENT (’90) and as Big Tom in the comedy TOMMY BOY (’95).

He was nominated for five Emmys, including one for his chilling turn as serial killer John Wayne Gacy in the miniseries To Catch a Killer (’92).

I had one of the most extraordinary evenings at the theater in 2000 when Dennehy reprised his Tony Award-winning role as the tragic Willy Loman at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in the lauded revival of Arthur Miller’s masterpiece Death of a Salesman. It was a gut-wrenching performance that left me emotionally exhausted. He earned another Tony in 2003 as James Tyrone in the revival of Eugene O’Neill’s superb Long Day’s Journey into Night. And he never stopped working.

Shortly after his death, the drama DRIVEWAYS (2020) was released on streaming platforms. And it could be Dennehy’s greatest performance. He plays Del, an elderly widower and Korean War vet who sparks a warm friendship with Cody, the young boy next door. The reviews for the film (it’s at 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and Dennehy have been glowing. The L.A. Times’ Justin Chang wrote that Dennehy’s Del is as “forceful and tender a creation as any in this great actor’s body of work.” And Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times stated: “What we might remember most, perhaps appropriately, are Dennehy’s warm, weary features and rich line readings. In a lovely final monologue, Del advises Cody to avoid rushing past the experiences in life that matter, as they pass so quickly on their own. Much like the careers of beloved actors.”

Fred Willard

I first encountered Fred Willard as the clueless sidekick of sleazy talk show host Barth Gimble (Martin Mull) in the late 1970s on the syndicated comedy series Fernwood Tonight and its continuation America 2-Night. I quickly became a fan, and that admiration grew when he became a member of Christopher Guest’s stock company of zanies in such comedies as WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (’96) and BEST IN SHOW (2000). In the latter, he played the equally clueless dog show announcer Buck Laughlin who quipped in his color commentary, “And to think that in some counties these dogs are eaten.”

Willard told me in a 2012 L.A. Times interview that he didn’t think he was funny until he was an adult. “I always loved comedy growing up – Bob Hope, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye,” said Willard, who died in May at the age of 86.

Willard got a serious part in Tennessee Williams’ one-act in a summer theater group when he was in his 20s. “I was getting laughs on all the lines,” he noted. “The director got upset because the audiences were always laughing. I didn’t try to do it deliberately. Then I realized I would say things around people, and they would laugh. I didn’t mean to be funny. I have always been relaxed around comedy.”

Just as Dennehy, Willard kept working. In fact, he received an Emmy nomination posthumously for his hilarious turn as Ty Burrell’s goofball dad on ABC’s Modern Family. He told me he wished he could try to do more dramatic fare like in Clint Eastwood’s World War II drama Flags of Our Fathers (2006). Willard even called his agent to see if he could get a role in the movie. “Clint Eastwood’s people called back and said, ‘We love Fred, but we are afraid if he appeared on the screen, they might start to laugh.’’’

Jerry Stiller

Jerry Stiller was a real sweetie and also very thoughtful. He sent me a lovely thank you note when I interviewed him and his wife, Anne Meara, in the early 1990s. When I talked to him for his son Ben Stiller’s remake of THE HEARTBREAK KID (2007), Stiller sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers. Ditto in 2010 when I interviewed the couple for a Yahoo! Web series Stiller & Meara: A Show About Everything. I also received Christmas cards until Meara died in 2015.

Baby boomers remember Stiller, who died at 92 in May, and Meara for their smart and sophisticated comedy act, in which the majority of the humor came from the fact that he was Jewish and she was born Irish Catholic. They recorded albums, were popular on the nightclub circuit and did The Ed Sullivan Show three dozen times. They split up their act when musical variety series went away.

Both were terrific dramatic actors. In fact, I saw Stiller in the 1984 Broadway production of Hurlyburly, David Rabe’s scathing look at Hollywood, and he did a 1997 production of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters. Of course, Stiller garnered even more success in his Emmy-nominated role as Frank Costanza, the caustic father of George (Jason Alexander) on NBC’s Seinfeld (1993-98) and was the best reason to watch CBS’ sitcom The King of Queens (1998-2007) as Kevin James’ acerbic father-in-law

But I most remember that 2010 interview where Stiller and Meara bantered back and forth much to my enjoyment. Here they talk about Ed Sullivan:

Anne: I never liked him.

Jerry: You are out of your mind. You never liked him?

Anne: He scared stuff out of me. I am talking about Mr. Sullivan himself. I wasn’t the only one. There were international favorites throwing up in the wings—singers and tenors and guys who spin plates. It was live. We were scared.

Jerry: Ed Sullivan brought us up to the level that we knew we never could get to – him standing there on the right side of the wings laughing, tears coming out of his eyes and then calling us over and saying, ‘You know, we got a lot of mail on that last show you did.’ I said, ‘From Catholic or Jewish people?’ He said, ‘The Lutherans.’”

#Jerry Stiller #brian dennehy #in memoriam #Fred Williard #Ben Stiller #TCM Classic Film Festival #LA Times #Susan King #TCM #Turner Classic Movies #comedians #actors

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erictmason · 3 years

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The Road To “Godzilla VS. Kong”, Day Four

(Sorry for the delay on this one, Life proved just a bit too busy the other day to finish it; my “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” review is gonna be pushed back as a result too. But! No worries, on we go. ^_^)

KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017

Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Writers: Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly, John Gatins

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, John C. Reilly

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Technically speaking, Gareth Edwards’ “Godzila” from 2014 was the first entry in what is now generally referred to as “The Monsterverse”, an attempt by Warner Bros. Studios and Legendary Pictures to do a Marvel Studios-style series of various interconnected movies (and which, like most such attempts to cash in on that particular trend, hasn’t really panned out; “Godzilla VS. Kong” seems likely to be its grand finale as far as movies are concerned, the only two “names” it had going for it are Godzilla and Kong themselves, and even at its most successful it was never exactly a Powerhouse Franchise). But the thing is, when that movie was made, the idea of a “Monsterverse” did not yet exist; it was only well after the fact that Legendary and Warner Bros. got the idea to turn a new “Kong” project into the building block of a Shared Universe of their own that they could connect with the 2014 “Godzilla”, with a clear eye on getting to remake one of the most singularly iconic (and profitable) Giant Monster Movies of all time. As you might guess from that description, however, said “Kong” project also had not originally been intended for such a purpose; it would not be until 2016 that it would be retooled from its original purpose (a prequel to the original “King Kong” titled simply “Skull Island”) into its present form, which goes out of its way to reference Monarch, the monster-tracking Science organization seen over in 2014’s “Godzilla” and which includes a very obviously Marvel-inspired post-credits stinger explicitly tying Kong and Godzilla’s existences together.

The resulting film is fun enough, all things told, but that graft is also really, distractingly obvious.

Honestly, I wish I knew why I’m not, generally, fonder of “Skull Island” than I am. It’s not as if, taken as a whole, it does anything especially bad; indeed it does a great deal that is actively good. Consider, for example, the rather unique choice to make it a Period Piece; that’s decently rare for a Monster Movie as it is (indeed one of the only other examples that springs to mind for me is Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of “King Kong”, which chose to retain the original’s 1933 setting), and it’s rarer still that the era it chooses to inhabit is an immediately-post-Vietnam 1970’s. Aesthetically speaking, the movie takes a decent amount of fairly-obvious influence from that most classic of Vietnam-era films, “Apocalypse Now” (a fact that director Jordan Vogt-Roberts was always fairly open about), and it results in some of the movie’s strongest overall imagery (in particular a shot of Kong, cast in stark silhouette, standing against the burning sun on the horizon with a fleet of helicopters approaching him, one of a surprisingly small number of times the movie plays with visual scale to quite the same degree or with quite the same success as “Godzilla” 2014). It also means the movie is decked out in warm, lush colors that really do bring out all the personality of its Jungle setting in the most compelling way and, given how important the setting is to the film as a whole, that proves key; Skull Island maybe doesn’t become a character in its own right the way the best settings should (too much of our time is spent in fairly indistinct forests especially), but it does manage to feel exciting and unusual in the right ways more often than not. The “Apocalypse Now” influence also extends to our human cast, which is sizeable enough here (in terms of major characters we need to pay attention to played by notable actors, “Skull Island” dwarfs “Godzilla” 2014 by a significant margin) that the framework it provides-a mismatched group defined by various interpersonal/intergenerational tensions trying to make their way through an inhospitable wilderness, ostensibly in search of a lost comrade-is decently necessary. Though here we already run into one of those aspects of “Skull Island” that doesn’t quite land for me. Taken as a whole, it sure feels like the human characters here should be decently interesting; certainly, our leads are all much better defined and more engagingly performed than Ford Brody, to draw the most immediately obvious point of comparison. Brie Larson (as journalistic Anti-War photographer Mason Weaver), Tom Hiddleston (as former British Army officer turned Gun For Hire James Conrad), and John C. Reilly (as Hank Marlow, a World War II soldier stranded on Skull Island years ago) definitely turn in decently strong performances; I wouldn’t call it Career Best work for any of them (Hiddleston especially feels like he’s on auto-pilot half the time, while Larson has to struggle mightily against how little the script actually gives her to work with when you stop and look at it) but they at least prove decently enjoyable to watch (Reilly especially does a solid job of making his character funny without quite pushing him over the edge into Total Cartoon Territory). I likewise feel like Samuel L. Jackson’s Preston Packard has the potential to be a genuinely-great character; his lingering resentment at the way the Vietnam War played out and the way that feeds into his determination to find and defeat Kong is, again, a clever and compelling use of the 70’s period setting, it gives us a good, believable motivation with a clear and strong Arc to it, and Jackson does a really solid job of playing his Anger as genuine and poignant rather than simply petulant or crazed. But there’s just too much chaff amongst the wheat, too much time and energy devoted to characters and ideas that don’t have any real pay-off. This feels especially true of John Goodman’s Bill Randa, the Monarch scientist who arranges the whole expedition; the Monarch stuff in general mostly feels out of place, but Randa in particular gets all of these little notes and beats that seem meant to go somewhere and then just kind of don’t. Which is kind of what happens with most of the characters in the movie, is the thing; we spend a lot of screen-time dwelling on certain aspects of their backstories or personalities, and then those things effectively stop mattering at all after a certain point, even Packard’s motivations. A Weak Human Element was one of the problems in “Godzilla” 2014 as well, though, and you’ll recall I quite liked that movie. There, though, the human stuff was honestly only ever important for how it fed into the monster stuff; it was the connective tissue meant to get us from sequence to sequence and not much more. Here, though, it forms the heart and soul of the story, and that means its deficiencies feel a lot more harmful to the whole.

Still, those deficiencies really aren’t that severe, and moreover, like I was saying before, there’s a lot about “Skull Island” to actively enjoy. The Monsters themselves do remain the central draw, after all, and for the most part the movie does a solid job with that aspect of things. It does not, perhaps, recreate “Godzilla” 2014’s attempt to make believable animals out of them (even as it does design most of them with even more obvious, overt Real World Animal elements), but there is a certain playful energy that informs them at a conceptual level that I appreciate. Buffalos with horns that look like giant logs with huge strands of moss and grass hanging off their edges, spiders whose legs are adapted to look like tree trunks, stick bugs so big that their camouflage makes them look like fallen trees…the designs feel physically plausible (especially thanks to some strong effects work that makes them feel well inserted into the real environments), but there’s a slightly-humorous tilt to a lot of them that I appreciate, especially since it never outright winks at the audience in a way that would undercut the stakes of the story. Kong too is very well done; rather than the heavily realistic approach taken by the Peter Jackson version from 2005, this Kong is instead very much ape-like but also very clearly his own creature (in particular he stands fully erect most of the time), with a strong sense of Personality to him as well; some of the best parts of the movie are those times where we simply peek in on Kong simply living his life, even when that life is one that is, by nature, violent and dangerous. Less successful, sadly, are his nemeses, the Skullcrawlers; very much like “Godzilla” 2014, Kong is here envisioned as a Natural Protection against a potentially-dangerous species that threatens humanity (or in this case the Iwi Tribe who live on Skull Island, but we’ll talk more about them later), and while they’re hardly bad designs (the way their snake-like lower bodies give them a lot of neat tricks to play against their enemies in battle are genuinely fun in the right sort of Scary Way), they’re also pretty bland and forgettable, even compared to the MUTOS. That said, they serve their purpose well enough, and their big Action Scene showdowns with Kong are genuinely solid. Indeed, the movie’s big climactic brawl between Kong and the biggest of the Skullcrawlers has a lot of good pulpy energy to it (particularly with how Kong winds up using various tools picked up from all around the battlefield to give himself an edge), likewise there’s a certain Wild Fun to the sequence where our hapless humans have to try and survive a trek through the Crawlers’ home-turf.

Where things get a bit tricky again is when the movie attempts to put its own spin on “Godzilla”’s conception of its monsters as part of their own kind of unique ancient eco-system. The sense of Grandeur that gave a lot of that aspect such weight there is mostly absent here, especially; there are instances where some of that feeling comes through (Kong’s interactions with some of the non-Crawler species, for example, do a good job giving us an endearing sense of how Kong fits into this world), but far more often it treats the monsters as Big Set-Piece Attractions. Which is fine as far as it goes, it just also means a lot of them aren’t as memorable or impactful as I might like. Meanwhile, the way the Iwis have built their home to accommodate, interact with, and protect themselves from the island’s bestiary feels like a well-designed concept that manages to suggest a lot of History without having to spell it out for us in a way that I appreciated (I would also be inclined to apply this to the very neat multi-layered stone-art used to portray Kong and the Crawlers except that the sequence where we see them is the most overt “let’s stop and do some world-building” exposition dump in the whole movie). But the Iwis in general are one of the more difficult elements of the movie to process, too; it seems really clear there was a deliberate effort here to avoid the most grossly racist stuff that has been present in prior attempts to portray the Natives of Skull Island, and as far as it goes I do think those efforts bear some fruit; we are, at the very least, very far away from the Scary Ooga-Booga tone of, say, “King Kong VS. Godzilla”, and that feels like it counts for something. I just also feel like there’s some dehumanizing touches to their portrayal (in particular they never speak; I don’t mean to imply that Not Speaking equals Inhuman, but the fact that we are not made privy to how exactly they do communicate means we’re very much kept at arm’s length from them in a way that seems at least somewhat meant to alienate us from them), especially given their role in the story as a whole is relatively minor.

At the end of the day, though, all the movie’s elements, good and bad, don’t really feel like they add up together coherently enough to make an impact. And I think if I had to try and guess why, even as I find it wholly enjoyable with a lot to genuinely recommend it by, I don’t find myself especially enamored by “Skull Island”. It has a lot of different ideas of how to approach its story-70’s pastiche, worldbuilding exercise, Monster Mash-but doesn’t seem to quite succeed at realizing any of them fully, indeed often allowing them to get in each other’s ways. It isn’t, again, a bad movie as a result of that; there really isn’t any stretch of it where I found myself bored or particularly unentertained. But I did paradoxically find myself frequently wanting more, even as by rights the movie delivers on basically what I was looking for from it.

#king kong #kong: skull island #godzilla vs. kong #movies #theroadtogvk #review #ericthemason #my writing

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weskerfied · 3 years

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I know you did this recently but what’s your opinion on all the mainline games and why :3

I’ve done this from favourite to least favourite. I also didn’t include the original 3 as I either haven’t played them in a long time or because I gave up halfway through *cough* 2 *cough*

I know it’s such an unpopular game but it’s one of the only ones I can play over and over again without getting bored. Story-wise, chapter 5-2 to 6-3 is the only interesting part. If I want to play a game without putting in too much effort, or take last night for example; I got really sick of trying to defeat Miranda on village of shadows and I was getting so mad over it. I turned on 5 and chilled for a couple hours. I really don’t know what it is about this game Wesker but I’m so drawn to it.

I love 4 for so many reasons but nostalgia is the reason why it places higher than CV. I remember watching my dad play it when it was first released. I thought it was the creepiest thing😂 This was when they first introduced the action element into the games, unlike 6, it had just the right amount of action paired with creepy ganados and eerie music to make it still feel like a resident evil game. OH AND THE WHOLE COLLECTING TREASURE/SELLING IT IS MY FAVOURITE THING.

Code Veronica

Solid game. 10/10. I felt so accomplished after beating it for the first time (it took me like 20 hours 😂) It was so frustrating but in a good way, apart from the part where I got to Alexia and realised I didn’t have the magnum and had to restart. I looooved the cheesy voice acting aswell. Capcom please remake this game I will love you forever. I want remake cv Wesker.

1 remastered

Game remake done right. This one was👌🏻👌🏻 All I’m gonna say is Wesker in his stars uniform is what does it for me 😌

2 remake

I enjoyed this a lot. Slightly different from what I played of the original but I’m not complaining. Mr X was terrifying, birkin was sexy terrifying, the ivys were HORRIFYING. Can we please talk about how good the RPD looked and the stars office like wow 🤩

3 remake

It was so rushed and I’m able to complete it in under an hour so that’s a huge disappointment, but I guess it’s good if I want to do a speed run. Resistance was probably the best thing to come out of this game tbh. It wasn’t terrible it just didn’t live up to the hype. Also Nicholai? I hated what they did with him, and Brad. Nemmy was a letdown too. He has nothing on Mr X.

Village

This game was so beautiful, the scenery was amazing. Horror wise I’d give it a 4/10. The Benviento house was the only part of the game where I felt slightly on edge and I loved every second of it. It felt a lot more like resident evil than 7 did, it had 4 vibes and that’s what did it for me. I didn’t care for Ethan whatsoever until I finished this. I’m not gonna lie to you but I sobbed so hard at the end. Not quite sure why they felt the need to try and incorporate umbrella in it somehow because it didn’t seem right; umbrella died years ago, we don’t need anymore origin stories. (Although the Spencer letter at the end was cool I have to admit.) Dimitrescu is overhyped in my opinion but that’s okay, if she makes you happy then you do you. Heisenberg was cool but his boss fight was really dumb (I’m not just saying that because it took me 2 days to defeat him on village of shadows.)

Revelations 2

Creepy af. I feel like it’s underrated and I’m not even sure if you’d class it as one of the main games, but I loved Alex (prefer her newer design though) and I adore Franz Kafka which made it that much more enjoyable for me. I wasn’t a fan of the whole switching between two characters and the timeline really confused me at first. It would’ve been so much easier to understand if they’d done Claire and Moira’s campaign first, then Barry and Natalia. The ending opens up a huge amount of possibilities for a future game and I’d really love to see “Natalia” again.

You’d think this would be higher on the list as Rebecca is my favourite character, but no. Absolutely not. It was nice to have a prequel and see my baby get her own game, I just found it so boring, I hated Billy, I hated the switching between characters. I hated dropping items on the floor and having to trek back to retrieve them again. ITEM BOXES ARE A THING!! I played it once, then played Wesker mode (which was terribly done but Rebecca looked super cute) then I gave it to a friend who got the platinum trophy for me 😂

I liked the Bakers. Was an incredibly creepy game but lacked the resident evil vibe. I despised pretty much all of it, especially when Chris comes in with that stupid face. Capcom!! What were you thinking?!?! Lore wise, it’s good. Everything else just sucked in my opinion.

Too long. Too many characters. Too many different places. Not enough horror. Brain malfunction. 50+ hours it took me to platinum this. Simmons was a shite villain, Carla seemed pointless, Wesker suddenly has a kid? It’s almost comical.

Revelations

Speaking of comical, we’re onto my least favourite title in the series: revelations. I don’t really think it’s fair for me to give my opinion on this one as I only got halfway through the game before throwing it somewhere in my room for it to never be seen again. It was almost painful for me to play. It was nice to have Chris and Jill but the other two (Parker and whatever her name was) were so annoying. Then there was the two dudes who were just added for comic relief for absolutely no reason. I played Rev 2 before playing this one as I couldn’t get hold of it and I was super excited when I managed to get hold of a copy. Honestly it was such a waste of £25.

I didn’t realise how long this post was but thanks for asking!!

#resident evil #resident evil 8 #resident evill village #resident evil 4 #resident evil 2 #ask

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moltenhair · 4 years

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There’s been a lot of conversation on my dash lately about the Cass/Eugene parallels and... I may as well give my two cents

I didn’t mind that the show had a lot of movie callbacks... Until the final season was completely reliant upon them. The show up to this point could probably have been watched without someone ever seeing Tangled and still be enjoyable. But in season 3 they made it completely reliant on callbacks, references and visual recreations of movie moments and characters that it would be nearly IMPOSSIBLE for a casual viewer to understand what was happening.

But more than that this is what bugs me: Those moments being paralleled and referenced weren’t originally written to suit Cass’ character arc. Cass’ character (In season 3) centered around call backs to memorable movie moments rather than showcasing the actual character of Cassandra. Instead of letting her have her own special moments they added tons of references to other character’s dramatic moments. Eugene’s death, as an example, was a direct result of a long line of his choices that led him to the moment he gave his life for Rapunzel. His entire life had led to this moment where he chose to be a better person right at the end of his life. Cass just... fell over dead for no reason so they could recreate the ‘rapunzel cries over the corpse of a loved one’ moment. Instead of creating more memorable Cass moments that suited HER character arc, they kept calling back to the movie

A very egregious example (other than the death) is the line “You want me to be the bad guy? Fine... Now I’m the bad guy...” Eden delivered that line brilliantly. This was a big moment where Cass decided to go all-in into her villainy and that there was no hope for redeeming herself... There’s no turning back. She’s going to destroy everything she ever loved. .... Too bad her whammy of a line was a Gothel quote. She says Gothel’s famous line. They had a chance to do something really cool here, to leave a serious impact.. And they decided to wink to the camera with a movie reference. And these were moments Cass wasn’t even present for. So we can’t even believe she’s doing it on purpose to trigger Rapunzel. There is no reason she should be quoting Gothel word for word during (what should be) one of the most tense moments in the series.

These weren’t funny sight gags from the comic relief. These were moments the entire season depended on. This was- who Chris had decided- the character who needed to be the 100% central focus of the show now. This show was all about HER journey and how she was going to overcome this and how her relationship with Rapunzel was going to turn out. Instead of letting her have a serious moment of self discovery, genuine bonding, legitimate anger or her own significant lines... They made her moments callbacks and cliches. Instead of having unique relationship moments between the girls, they reused old relationship moments from Rapunzel and Eugene’s interactions. References did not belong here. But so much of what happened to Cass was based in references to more iconic moments that originally happened to other characters. Cass was robbed of ever having her own iconic moments in doing this.

It was as if they were saying that Cass’ character arc wasn’t strong enough to support itself on its own. There needed to be visual and verbal callbacks tied directly into her actions and arc in order to be effective. Cass in season three was like they put the original Tangled movie in a food processor, hit puree and then poured that grainy batter into a Cass’ shaped dish. It LOOKS like Cass, but it’s not Cass. It’s a mash of every character from the movie and maybe 10% of the character known as Cass from the first two seasons. A heaping helping of Rapunzel’s childhood, a whole bunch of Gothel mannerisms and constant talking about her, sprinkle in shot for shot recreations of Eugene’s greatest hits: Profit??

I got a lot of the same vibes from these blatant movie recreations as the live action Disney remakes.

It’s all about the IMAGE. It’s not about drawing out emotions or creating something new, it’s about the familiar image that the audience will see and relate to the feelings they had about the original. It doesn’t matter if the recreation doesn’t have motivation or a purpose for being there.. It’s THERE and that’s what matters. That it is SEEN. It reminds you of the original, and you liked the original, so that must mean you like the recreation. The original was acclaimed and praised, so that must mean recreating its imagery will automatically make this good without trying anything new. RIGHT?

But it misses out on the heart and soul of what made those original moments good. And the fact that the things being paralleled had actual relevance to the CHARACTERS the events happened to.

A word to the wise: If you’re going to make references to a previous (arguably more popular work), maybe don’t make them the central focus. It only draws attention to the fact that you haven’t got a leg to stand on without relying on how good the original story was to carry the new story along.

#long post #analysis

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miloscat · 3 years

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[Review] Umihara Kawase Fresh (PC)

The latest main instalment shifts the formula, with mixed results.

As I’ve been getting more into the Umihara Kawase series, the premise of Fresh interested me more. For one, there’s an actual story this time, with characters and dialogue! Also, rather than presenting a series of challenge rooms this puts the world in some kind of context, and has an open design. It’s sort of like the shift that happened with Super Monkey Ball Adventure, still the only one of those games I really connected with.

There’s parts of this approach that I really liked. Collecting ingredients is fun, although you end up stockpiling hoards of them in your bottomless backpack. They’re used to cook different food, more recipes for which unlock as you go, many of which give useful buffs (when I unlocked double jump I made sure it was almost permanently on). This ties into the health/hunger system, and it’s very nice not to die in one hit.

The game is still mission-based though, so you don’t really get to just explore the world. Also, many of the missions have you retreading over the same ground, so facing the same obstacles over and over can get dull. Still, the series’ central gimmick—the bouncy grapple lure—makes getting around a constant enjoyable challenge, and they’ve further refined it so it’s more possible than ever to pull off cool manoeuvres.

The story also gave me motivation to do every mission. There’s cute dialogue before and after each one with a series of adorable humanoid animals. There’s little relationship dramas, Kawase getting to know people better through her job as deliverer for the Return Pavilion, and the underlying intrigue of the seals and town’s history. Not to mention the mystery of why she’s there in the first place. To be frank, the game’s conclusion is a little vague and not everything is satisfactorily answered, but at least there’s a decent attempt at framing the character of Kawase and the strange dream world she finds herself in.

Apart from the 75 main game missions, there are time attacks if you’re so inclined and a set of much harder challenges, including remakes of the first and last levels of each of the three previous games. There’s also 7 missions each for the two guest characters: Cotton from Success’s series of shmups, and Curly Brace from Cave Story. It’s nice to have these cameos, and they have an extra ability each to shake up their playstyle slightly; you can also use them to mitigate the challenge missions, or even in main missions.

I bought the PC version, to avoid supporting Nicalis, but since their involvement is only with publishing the console ports Curly is only playable in those ports. They also did English localisation; the PC version only recently had one patched in, and Success’s effort is pretty unprofessional, a basic first-draft translation with no full-stops and those apostrophes with a space baked in. It’s fine though, it’s understandable. Either way you buy it is very expensive, so keep an eye out for a sale if you’re interested. And I do recommend it, as it’s probably the most accessible title in the series and the first one to feel like a full proper game rather than a charmingly odd tech demo (and I say that with a lot of love for the other games).

#umihara kawase #umihara kawase fresh #studio saizensen #review #pc

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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How Dead by Daylight Gave Slasher Horror Icons The Game They Deserved

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If you grew up a gamer in the ‘80s and ‘90s, buying a bad licensed game was a rite of passage. Sure, even young gamers could detect a bomb like Home Improvement: Power Tool Pursuit! for the SNES from a mile away, but at a time before game reviews were easy to find online, it was natural to hope that the new X-Men game might just be good enough to take a chance on.

The situation was especially rough for horror movie fans. I owned the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th adaptations for the NES and at least tried to finish them. It’s not that I thought they were good, but at a time when licensed horror games (not to mention major console horror games) were few and far between, the opportunity to face off against my favorite movie slasher was too enticing to ignore.

The industry eventually learned to embrace horror in a meaningful way that resulted in some all-time great gaming experiences, but the slasher movie icons of the day remained tragically underutilized. While original horror series like Silent Hill and Resident Evil expanded the storytelling potential of the medium, Chucky was reduced to starring in a Temple Run knock-off.

In the minds of many horror fans, the hope for a great game starring Micheal Myers, Freddy Krueger, or Leatherface lingered even as passable adaptations of those characters eluded us for decades. Where was the disconnect?

“I think it probably extends from the fact that they are two very, very different mediums and two very, very different ways of telling stories,” says Mathieu Coté, director of Behaviour Interactive’s hit slasher multiplayer game Dead by Daylight. “The reasons why slasher movies are so successful, and why they make you feel the way that they do, are extremely difficult to translate into gameplay mechanics. I think that probably that’s the root of it.”

The earliest examples of slasher movie games certainly support that theory. In 1983, adaptations of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween were released for the Atari 2600. They offered wildly different experiences (Texas Chainsaw Massacre saw you mow down victims for points while Halloween was all about evading Michael Myers), but each was so bad that you’d sooner be caught smoking weed while having sex at Camp Crystal Lake than playing either for more than a few minutes.

Even as technology and game design advanced past what was possible on the Atari and NES, slasher icons were still being butchered in ways that would make these killers proud.

“It often felt as if [licenses] were either tacked onto an existing product that didn’t fit or it was just shovelware where the attitude is ‘make a thing and put the name on it,’” Coté says. “Oftentimes the people holding the licenses, and again it’s a matter of those two mediums being so different, but the people holding the licenses to the movies, they know about movies. They don’t know about games. That can make things difficult.”

With Dead by Daylight, Coté’s team sought to capture the essence of the slasher movie and translate that into fun gameplay that actually made sense for the genre. The asymmetrical multiplayer title sees one player assume the role of a killer tasked with eliminating four player-controlled survivors trying to escape the terrifying scenario. Since its release in 2016, Dead by Daylight has been embraced as the definitive horror multiplayer experience.

Given how difficult it has historically been to make a slasher title, much less one featuring licensed characters, perhaps it should come as no surprise that Dead by Daylight’s origins can be traced to a much simpler concept that didn’t even start out as horror.

“There was a designer working in basically a silo somewhere making little prototypes, and one prototype that he made at some point was literally hide and seek,” Coté remembers. “It was one character that’s trying to accomplish a goal and there was another character that was very powerful. If he touched you, you’re dead.”

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An equally simple tweak would reveal the prototype’s incredible horror potential.

“We put cardboard in between [split screens] and went ‘Oh, my God. This is super fun,” Coté recalls. “The idea of creating a game in which you could play the fantasy of being the villain in a horror movie, that’s a longstanding one…if we put that with the fantasy of a villain in a horror movie, we have a winner.”

The idea of pairing the basic structure of hide and seek with a horror movie villain shows team’s vital understanding of what makes the slasher genre so entertaining in the first place.

“A lot of effort is put into these [villains], so of course they’re more appealing,” says Dead by Daylight creative director Dave Richard. “I think that’s why we started rooting for them, and we have this enjoyment and guilty pleasure of rooting for the villain. I think that we all have this inside of us at different levels. We’re embracing this macabre thing.”

The team’s fascination with the macabre would slowly turn their experiment into a fully-fledged horror game.

“The original prototypes showed survivors as literally beheaded silhouettes wearing different colored t-shirts with phrases like virgin, stoner, and jock,” Coté explains. “That’s something that Cabin in the Woods did very, very well, and the early prototype was based on those tropes.”

While Coté and Richard reference meta-horror movies like Cabin in the Woods and mockumentary Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon as early inspirations that helped them contextualize the genre’s key elements, they ultimately turned to foundational films such as Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when crafting the game’s environments, characters, and other design elements. In those early days, though, few believed that Dead by Daylight would eventually host some of the stars of those films.

“There were dreams and ambitions, but I don’t think there were thoughts,” Coté says. “We barely expected it to break even after a couple of months. When it started to really explode in the first month or so, we started looking for opportunities.”

The earliest of those opportunities happened to involve arguably the most important slasher of all-time: Michael Myers.

“We were lucky enough to get in contact with some very nice people who are the owners of the original version of Michael Meyers,” Coté explains. “Being able to get the rights to bring in that character and the original Laurie Strode into Dead by Daylight was kind of a big deal. It set the stage because it legitimized us in a certain way.”

For anyone who has followed the history of licensing rights and copyright law (not to mention the aforementioned history of slashers in games), the fact that the team was able to add Michael Myers as a playable killer must conjure an image of a developer clawing their way out of licensing hell with one hand while holding on to Myers with the other. Yet, it sounds like the process wasn’t all that complicated.

“I wouldn’t call it [licensing] hell,” Coté says. “Most of it is actually super interesting, and most of the licenses that we have…we’re dealing with people who get what we’re trying to do. The people who are, as I was saying earlier, more into movies than into video games, tend to trust us to do the right thing.”

Securing Michael Myers was one thing, but now that they had him, the team was faced with the same dilemma that had ruined even noble attempts at building games around these characters in the past.

“We first had to ask ‘What is the fantasy around that character and what is so interesting and unique about these characters?’” Richard recalls. “Of course, most of them have a weapon and they kill, but what’s their special sauce?”

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As Richard explains, Freddy Krueger has a “dream world” and a “fantasy that’s easier to get.” By comparison, Michael Myers is often portrayed as a guy with a mask and a knife. How do you translate that into a game in a way that makes him feel unique?

The answer to that question came in what Coté rightfully describes as a “stroke of genius.”

“I remember that meeting where we were talking about Halloween and how to make [Michael Myers] unique,” Coté explains. “They pitched us the idea of a killer that would just watch you. We’re like, ‘What?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, he’s just going to stand there and watch you,’ because that’s what Myers does in the movies. That’s what he does, but it’s an action game. People want to chase each other…We all thought, ‘Oh, you’re an idiot.’”

Yet, when Coté got the chance to actually play an early build of Dead By Daylight with Myers as the killer, he immediately understood what the team was aspiring to achieve.

“The very, very first version of the prototype I remember playing and repairing a generator and looking over my shoulder, and I see him standing on a hill and just watching me, and I go, ‘This is the creepiest thing I’ve ever experienced in this game,’” Coté says. “It’s super creepy, especially knowing it’s an actual other player right there. He could attack me right now, but he chooses to just watch me…that kind of thing made me realize the liberties we could take with the gameplay mechanics to really create something that would be unique and special.”

For the next few years, that’s exactly what the team did. They bent the rules of the game to incorporate other famous slashers. Freddy Krueger dragged Dead by Daylight players to dream world while Saw’s Amanda Young turned the game’s traps into a gambling proposition. Leatherface’s devastating attacks impacted a survivor’s ability to carry on and Ghost Face’s playfulness and humor distinguishes him from one of his major inspirations, Michael Myers himself. Through it all, the team’s goal was to stay true to the legacy of these characters and give them a proper home.

“I love Mortal Kombat, but whenever a character gets imported to Mortal Kombat, they all turn into martial artists,” Coté says. “When you put Jason in Mortal Kombat, he becomes a martial artist and he hacks people, and then he does a finishing move and it’s awesome, but that’s it. When you take Michael Myers and put him in Dead by Daylight, he’s Michael Myers.”

Of course, Dead by Daylight’s roster of killers doesn’t just include an array of adaptations. At launch, the game boasted three original killers: The Trapper, The Wraith, and The Hillbilly. The Trapper was, by the team’s admission, based on Jason Vorhees and The Hillbilly certainly resembled Leatherface. It was in The Wraith, a desperate figure whose pursuit of a job saw him become an unwilling executioner, that the team found their first truly great original creation.

“For us, it was important that one of the killers was inspired by more of a cultural idea, and that was The Wraith,” Richard notes. “You don’t see The Wraith archetype in movies. It really comes from horror culture and cultural monsters more than movies.”

That desire to explore every corner of horror rather than just retread film successes is a big part of the reason why Dead by Daylight’s original killers are among its most popular. In fact, the team draws inspiration from such a wide array of sources that it’s possible some players may feel the impact of these original creations more intensely than others.

“The Huntress is heavily inspired by Eastern European folklore and mythology,” Coté says. “For some of our players, especially Russian and Ukrainian players, they were immediately, completely freaked out because she’s humming a song that their mothers sang to them when they were a kid. It was really like it hit way too close for some of them, and it was great. It made them feel things, but for Japanese players or Brazilian players who had no cultural link to that, it was still an impressive and terrifying character because what scares people is visceral and universal”

While Dead by Daylight’s original killers stand tall against horror’s heavyweights, the game’s most impressive contribution to the slasher genre may just be its emphasis on the personalities and attributes of its survivors. Early builds of the premise portrayed survivors as Merrily We Roll Along rejects wearing self-identifying sweaters, but the game eventually began treating survivors with the same reverence as killers.

“Survivors have been the learning experience, to say the least,” Richard confesses. “When we created the original characters, we wanted them to have real stories and personalities, but also to be relatable. I’m going to say a word I don’t like so much, but it’s almost like they’re shells that the players can identify with and easily become.”

Dead by Daylight’s emphasis on the unique qualities of its survivors helped it outlive (pun proudly intended) other asymmetrical multiplayer games, but even Behaviour Interactive found itself having to reckon with some of the stereotypes that plague even the best slasher movies.

“The fact is that a lot of those [early character designs] are stereotypes that convey, let’s say, cultural tropes that don’t need to continue to exist in today’s society,” Coté admits. “For us, it was more interesting to create characters that feel like someone you could stand behind in a coffee shop and not blink because they’re regular people. They’re people you can relate to.”

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While Dead by Daylight’s roster of survivors features a few imports (such as Halloween’s Laurie Strode and Evil Dead’s Ash), the team reveals that “licensed survivors are much harder to find than killers,” largely because they still want the game’s survivor’s to feel overwhelmed by the stalkers. Coté specifically notes that it wouldn’t make sense for someone like John Wick or Arnold Schwarzenegger to be hanging helplessly from a hook. Yet, they also don’t feel like the legacy and value of a horror hero should be defined by their ability to play offense.

“All of them are serial survivors,” Coté says of the game’s characters. “They continue to win, which is impressive, given the challenges they face.”

Besides, as millions of fans who have shouted at the screen at a horror film can attest to, the fates of Dead by Daylight’s survivors really come down to the players themselves.

“We always wanted to make it so that if you die in Dead by Daylight, it’s because you did something dumb or you panicked and didn’t stick to the plan,” Coté says. “Obviously the killers are extremely powerful, but most of the time [survivors lose] because someone panicked or was careless and got cocky and didn’t make good decisions.”

The ability to test your mettle against a slasher legend is one of Dead by Daylight’s more interesting examples of meta brilliance, but its most notable meta mechanic is the presence of The Entity, the invisible hand that pulls characters from different horror universes into the game. It’s a subtle, yet vital, story component inspired by another horror legend.

“The main inspiration for The Entity was actually The Dark Tower,” Richard recalls. “Many of us on the team are fans of the work of Stephen King, and when we deep dove into The Dark Tower, it was a favorite. The way every book in the Stephen King universe links together and is tied up with The Dark Tower was the inception of the idea of The Entity.”

The Entity is the core component of the game’s surprisingly strong lore, which not only offers compelling backstories for nearly every survivor, setting, and killer but even adds a few new chapters for licensed universes like the Scream series.

In many other multiplayer games, that lore would be little more than an easter egg debated over on Wiki pages and fan forums. But in Dead by Daylight, the commitment to meaningful storytelling is a core component of the ambition which defines Behaviour Interactive’s mission.

“Every time we create more of our lore, we solidify what Dead by Daylight is and the universe around it,” Coté explains. “It’s not just to be able to bring in anything, but to be able to create a universe into which all of these things can exist and make sense.”

While the team’s commitment to lore may help bolster their pitches to rights holders, their commitment to ensuring that Dead by Daylight’s growth adheres to an internal logic also speaks to the team’s confidence that they can give nearly any slasher a home.

“I’d say that a few [killers] still elude our grasp, and it’s mostly due to the fact that someone thinks they can make a standalone game for them, or they are working on one,” Coté says. “Anybody who’s got a little bit of experience in video games can tell you that recreating the magic of Dead by Daylight and that sort of balanced chaos is a terrifying prospect. It’s certainly not a simple thing to recreate.”

There’s a sincerity to that statement which encapsulates so many of the reasons why Dead by Daylight was not only able to secure slashers and survivors who could easily star in their own games but do justice to them within the framework of an experience that wasn’t designed to accommodate those legends in the first place.

After all, if the bad old days of slasher games and adaptations were defined by limitations and indifference, then Dead by Daylight succeeds because it takes nothing for granted. Its team carefully crafted a scenario that invoked the pure pleasure of the slasher genre and then spent years studying the ins and outs of these characters and worlds in order to better understand what makes them work beyond the superficial pleasure of their mere presence. It’s an involved process that doesn’t work for everyone.

“We’ve had a couple of cases of people on the development team that, maybe after a year or something, they go, ‘You know what? I think I’ve had enough.’” Coté admits. “Especially 3D artists who keep looking at references of grizzly things all the time, and most of them, they’re just having a blast…but I’m thinking of one or two examples of people who were like ‘You know what? I need to go and work on something with unicorns and kittens.’ That’s fair. That’s absolutely fair.”

The amount of work that goes into a game like Dead by Daylight may ultimately scare off other developers who would dare give legendary slashers their own games, but as long as we have Dead by Daylight, at least a few horror icons will always have a home.

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“It used to be that we were hoping that people who hold the licenses to these legends would allow us to bring them into our world,” Coté says. “Nowadays, the conversations oftentimes revolve around asking them if they’re big enough to make it into the hall of fame that is Dead by Daylight…It’s the place for horror to come by and live.”

The post How Dead by Daylight Gave Slasher Horror Icons The Game They Deserved appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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tinygamertris · 3 years

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Cat’s Top and Bottom 5 Video Games of 2020

As with last year, I count only games that I played for the first time this year, regardless of the year they were released. All opinions are personal and all flames will be met with a hearty ‘fuck you’ and used to roast marshmallows.

5th Best: Outer Worlds

Goddamn this was a beautiful game. Bright and colourful, filled with character, dripping with sarcasm and incredibly insightful satire, Parvarti... There was almost nothing about this game that I didn’t love. It’s what Fallout could be again if only Bethesda had the balls, pretty much the diametric opposite of the bland yearly release FPSes like CoD, and every inch of it screams of a dev team filled with passion and creativity. The only reason it’s not higher on the list is because it was locked to first person when I played it and first person inevitably makes me sick sooner or later.

5th Worst: Seer’s Isle

This game isn’t bad as such. It’s very pretty and intensely mystical, with a plot that could have been remarkable. It’s what it promises but doesn’t deliver that killed it for me. I was promised a game with interactivity, where every choice I made impacted the ending, where my actions would determine who lives or dies. NOPE. What I got was a game that only holds up for one playthrough, because the moment you try to make good on the supposed varying plot you discover that it’s going to be the same thing over and over again with only two endings. At least it’s short.

4th Best: Ghost of Tsushima

Another ridiculously pretty game! It’s typical that in a year when the new consoles were released (oh what a clusterfuck that was) that the most graphically impressive game was on the PS4. The gameplay loop is a delight, allowing you to customise your approach to many situations, and the ability to challenge enemies to a duel to start a fight is buttery smooth and viscerally enjoyable. It’s only let down by the predictability of the main plot, to the point where I only did story quests when I ran out of other things to do and wanted to open a new area. Absolutely worth your time and money regardless, it’s a game that will make you feel like a badass samurai from the comfort of your own room.

4th Worst: South Park - The Fractured But Whole

This is a game where its strength is also its weakness: It’s like playing an episode of South Park. Much like the show, when it’s good it’s absolutely on FIRE, and when it’s bad it’s the most profoundly uncomfortable cringe I’ve ever experienced. In the end, all this game did was remind me why I stopped watching the series years ago.

3rd Best: Monster Keeper

A very recent Switch release, Monster Keeper earned it’s place with its simple but lovely graphics, its delightful Metroidvania gameplay, and the almost Pokemon-like pleasure of fielding a team of badass monsters to kick the asses of other badass monsters. When I’m not playing 1 or 2 on this list, I’m playing this game.

3rd Worst: The Last of Us 2

In almost any other year this would absolutely top my worst of list. This game takes everything that I thought was worthwhile about the first game (Joel and Ellie’s relationship, complicated morality, and fuck all else) and shoves it down the toilet and takes a great steaming dump on it. The fact that this game swept the game awards in a year with Ghost of Tsushima, Hades and the Final Fantasy VII Remake is disgusting and final proof that the awards are as corrupt as the industry they celebrate.

2nd Best: Elder Scrolls Online

I’ve never been much of an MMO player. I find the presence of other humans in my games to normally be a nightmare. But this long drawn out dumpster fire of a year got me watching a LOT of videos on YouTube, and when my favourite channels did a few challenges in the new Greymoor chapter, I decided to give it a go as a birthday present to myself. And good lord did it pay off! Elder Scrolls Online is bloody huge, bloody beautiful, allows you to choose the level of interaction you have with other people, and has some of the best NPCs I’ve ever met in any video game. Not to mention the wonderful friends I’ve made both inside and outside the game, who have made this year of lockdowns and crises worth living through. Love you guys.

2nd Worst: Deadly Premonition 2 - A Blessing In Disguise

Holy transphobia, Batman! Swery really made an idiot of himself with this game and his reaction to the backlash, and yet again in any other year it would absolutely top the list. Sadly, it’s 2020, and it gets worse.

Honorable Mentions: Best

Dragon Quest Builders 2 (For having the wonderful combination of Dragon Quest’s ridiculous sense of humour and Minecraft’s dedication to building cool shit), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (for being the pure and gentle escape that I needed during the first few weeks of total isolation), Portal Knights (Another game with Minecraft’s addictive building mechanics and delightfully ridiculous characters), Final Fantasy VII Remake (honestly it earns this through the Honeybee Inn scene alone).

Honorable Mentions: Worst

Astral Chain (apparently it gets good a couple of hours in but I can’t fucking get that far so screw it), Death Stranding (what did I even?), Sin Eaters (utterly incomprehensible to the point I couldn’t figure out how to get out of the first room).

Best Game of 2020: Hades

How could any other game top this list? Hades is truly the best game Supergiant has created yet, and considering how incredibly good their games are as a rule, that’s saying a LOT. The art is just *chef’s kiss* perfect, the characters are all filled with personality and voice acted with incredible talent and dedication, the gameplay is a delightfully chaotic rampage through the various levels of the Greek Underworld, Zagreus is possibly my favourite protagonist of all time, and every single aspect of this game is sheer delighful perfection. Thank you, Supergiant Games, for a truly transcendent gaming experience that will stay with me for years to come.

Worst Game of 2020: Cyberpunk 2077

This game should have had it all. It was made by darling publisher CD Projekt Red, it starred Keanu ‘Most Perfect Human Being’ Reeves, it had years and years of hard work behind it... And it somehow managed to be an absolute shit-show the likes of which I’ve never seen before in a lifetime of gaming. From the lighting that gave people migranes and actual seizures (thanks a lot you assholes it took me three days to recover from that migrane), to the disgusting crunch forced upon the dev team by shitty management, to the plague of bugs, to the returns controversy, to the patches not arriving until some time in January... Not even Fallout 76 failed this hard. This proves once and for all that when Jim Sterling speaks, the industry needs to FUCKING LISTEN.

#Cat Meows #Top 5 games #Bottom 5 games #Top 5 #Bottom 5 #2020 #What a dumpster fire of a year

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inhale-fandoms-exhale-asdfghjkl · 4 years

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Starkid Musicals Ranked

So I know I've done this before but it was quite a while ago and Black Friday has come out now so naturally I've had some changes in opinion. Also I've got nothing else better to do in self-isolation and I had plenty of time so i thought why the hell not.

I’m sorry for the fact that this post drags on a bit. I just really love Starkid if that’s not already obvious. Please keep in mind I wrote this at 3am so if it’s riddled with spelling errors or doesn't make sense, please bear with me.

This time I wanted to be really thorough in how i ranked the shows so i went through a few processes.

First I ranked each of the shows based on the writing, music, production, humour, costumes and the cast’s performances (which is really just criteria that makes a show great for me personally). For each category i gave them a score out of 10 which I then added up and each show what given a score out of 60.

The results of this were:

Hmb (53/60)

AVPS, Starship, Twisted (52/60)

AVPM & Black Friday (47/60)

The Trail to Oregon (46/60)

TGWDLM (45/60)

AVPSY & ANI (44/60)

MAMD (37/60)

Firebringer (35/60)

To be honest, i was quite surprised by some of these scores. Some shows were way higher or lower than i though they’d be but some were pretty accurate. However, i didn’t think these scores alone really reflected my actual personal opinions of these shows as a whole. There were a few shows with the same scores so I tried to figure out a way to kind of rank them by personal taste while still using the scores. Really all I did was I ranked the ones with tied scores.

HMB

Twisted

Starship

AVPS

AVPM

Black Friday

The Trail to Oregon

TGWDLM

AVPSY

ANI

MAMD

Firebringer

Now I definitely thought this list was much more accurate but I still felt a few shows were out of place. In particular, HMB. A good portion of the reason of why it got such a high score is purely for my love of the costumes. Therefore, I pretty much abandoned all the previous work I did and then just listed them based on my personal enjoyment of each show which actually isn’t too different. Because at the end of the day, no matter how high I score a specific criteria for a show, that doesn’t necessarily mean I enjoy other aspects of the show equally.

For each show, I go into a pretty lengthy description of things I love about the show, commenting on the writing, music, production, humour, costumes and the cast’s performances. I also give provide an MVP for each show which is just a specific cast member or two’s performances that I particularly like to or stood out to me. I also give my favourite song and scene of each show.

Also this is just MY personal ranking of each show based on things that I do or don’t enjoy about them. I absolutely love every single one of these shows, don’t confuse me being a little critical with some of them as hate or disrespect. Please understand that these are my opinions, which I am allowed to have just like you and I ask you to respect them even if you disagree just like I would respect yours.

So without further ado, this is my final ranking of Starkid’s musicals:

1. Twisted

In my eyes, this show is quite possibly the closest thing you will ever get to perfection. Whether it’s the soundtrack (BLESS YOU AJ HOLMES AND YOUR RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING SONGWRITING SKILLS) or the acting (DAMN YOU DYLAN SAUNDERS FOR MAKING ME CRY SO MUCH, IT’S REALLY NOT FAIR) or just Nick and Matt’s writing which let’s be honest is always amazing. This show perfectly balances both the comedy and dramatic elements of the story, which if I’m being truly critical, not every Starkid show does. It’s a ridiculously beautiful, heart-warming show but it never takes itself too seriously. It has this amazing ability to have you both laughing and crying at the same time. Aladdin is one of my favourite Disney movies and I have to say it’s an amazing adaptation, it’s legitimately better than Disney’s live action remake in my opinion. Like all of their adaptation/parody shows, Starkid is able to stay true to the original text while also making it their own which I think is what make their shows so unique and refreshing.

MVP: I mean I gotta go with Dylan Saunders. I know it’s an obvious choice but how can I not. I mean I can’t believe it took them five years before they have Dylan a lead role because let’s be honest he’s amazing and he absolutely nailed this fucking role. Not only does he perfect every single one of those heart wrenching monologues/scenes but like his comedic timing is perfect. But Jeff, Joe and Rachael are definitely honourable mentions.

Favourite Song: IF I BELIEVED. If you don’t believe this is the best song on the soundtrack then you can bloody fight me, alright. I’m getting emotional just thinking about this song, just imagine when I listen to it or worse, when I watch the scene.

Favourite scene: I really love the entirety of Twisted with all the other Disney villains but literally any scene with Achmed is very fun to watch.

2. Starship

So I explained this in my original ranking post but I’m going to say it again. This show holds an extremely special place in my heart. It was the first Starkid show I watched after initially joining the fandom through AVPM and AVPS. I honestly couldn’t tell you what my favourite thing about this show is or why I love it so much, I just do. This show was my favourite show (until Twisted was released) and I would literally watch it over and over again. I love the music, I love the writing, and I love every single one of the cast’s performances. I legit have almost close to zero critiques on this show. It’s one of Starkid’s best written and produced productions (I mean the set, the puppets, everything was on point). This is such a hilarious show with some of Starkid’s best and most iconic jokes and yet it still manages to be such a beautiful and inspiring show.

With all this being said, this show is so criminally underrated and I really do not understand why but I guess everyone’s got their own tastes and all but okay. You do you.

Also, just gonna go off on a tangent for a bit. This musical is what made me fall in love with the beautiful, amazing, talented Dylan Saunders. I could not believe that the same man could play the adorable and very loveable cutie pie that is Tootsie Noodles/Mega-Girl and the hauntingly charismatic Pincer who is by the way one of Starkid’s best villains. Yes I said it. Nonetheless 12 –year-old me was absolutely flabbergasted by this man’s talented and really had no choice but to fall in love with him. Apart from Twisted, this is most definitely Dylan’s best performance (Not that he has any bad ones. Let’s be honest, that man is perfect). Legit, I challenge anyone to try watch this musical and not fall in love with him. It’s literally impossible.

MVP: I don’t think I could pick just one, I mean they’re all so amazing. I’d probably have to go with Joey. I think Bug was a great character for him and really showcased his abilities, which have just grown exponentially over the years. It was great seeing him play a more serious role rather than his previously more comedic roles (Ron and Joey) while also getting to goof off a little bit. It’s so fun to watch him in this and I really don’t think he gets enough appreciation for this role. Oh and also Meredith is amazing in Starship. I absolutely love her as Mega-Girl and it’s my favourite role of hers.

Favourite song: The Way I Do. Bro the chemistry between Meredith and Dylan is off the charts and this song just shows it. I love everything about this song. It’s so beautiful, I can’t even. Also not too be too like generic but Kick it up a Notch is phenomenal and one of Darren’s best. Actually this show’s whole soundtrack is probably my favourite of the ones that Darren wrote.

Favourite scene: I don’t think I have a favourite but I love the scene with Junior and Mega-Girl where he calls her a toaster and all that. Some of Brian’s best acting and he and Meredith’s chemistry really is really present here. It’s not often you get to see these two play opposite each other so it’s fun and interesting to watch.

3. A Very Potter Sequel

As a major Harry Potter fan, it’s only natural that I hold the Potter series with the highest regard. Despite the fact that this show is a parody by a bunch of college kids, it literally is a better adaptation than a whole eight-part, multi-million budget film series and that’s saying something. How the hell did Nick and Matt write every single one of these characters more accurately and consistently than professional screenwriters and at times, JK Rowling herself? It’s very rare that you ever hear me say that a sequel (I guess it’s technically a prequel) is better than the original but here we are. Don’t get me wrong, AVPM is iconic™ but this show just somehow improved what AVPM already perfected. The plot was much more fleshed out and every single character was written so perfectly and also everybody was casted perfectly. If you follow me you probably know of my love for Remus Lupin and while his character is AVPS is written absolutely ridiculously, it is one of my favourite things about the show. In this show Remus is written to be like this total mess of a person, who is like homeless and just walks around the school half naked, covered in blood and forces a child to eat a dead deer and is just drunk all time and yet I can just totally accept it. Like if the movies had written Remus like this I’d be like “hmm no” but when Brian Holden does it I’m like “um yes this is amazing”. This is quite possibly Starkid’s funniest show, I literally cry of laughter EVERY TIME. Honestly this show is comedic gold for any Harry Potter fan. From anything that comes of Lupin’s mouth or the entirety of Umbridge’s character to Lucius’s dancing.

This being said, I can totally understand why anyone wouldn’t like this or the other Potter shows as much as the others or not think it’s funny if they’re not a fan as most of the humour is based on knowledge of the original series and obviously this for the other parody shows like HMB or ANI. Nonetheless I still think anybody could enjoy this show and its humour as Starkid pretty much has the same sense of humour running throughout most if not all of their shows.

MVP: Brian Holden. I don’t think I need to explain again. But also Tyler Brunsman and Joe Walker are scene-stealers too. Also Corey Dorris as Yaxley in this show is peak comedy.

Favourite song and scene: okay so these kind of go together for me for this show. The whole scene with Those Voices brings me to tears every time. I fucking love the whole marauders era so them showing Sirius Black seeing James and Lily in the Mirror of Erised is more than my heart can take. Nick and Darren in this scene is just *chef’s kiss* and then you add Brian Rosenthal harmonising in the background, well it’s enough to make any girl break and you bet it does every time.

4. Holy Musical B@man!

Oh my god this is just such a fun show and if it was a person, I would die for it. When I first watched this, I wasn’t that big of a DC fan at the time so I couldn’t fully appreciate it for what it was. It’s actually so amazing and it’s a real shame that it sometimes gets overlooked. Nick Gage’s song writing is actually amazing and I really love this soundtrack. I mean I literally get chills every time I listen to the end of Dark, Sad, Lonely Knight. You know which part I’m talking about.

Also can we talk about the costumes for this show? June really fucking outdid herself with this show, they are literally the best costumes out of the whole Starkid canon and you cannot tell me otherwise. Not only did she nail like the classic comic book character costumes like Batman and Superman, etc. while also making them her own but she also created completely original and amazing costumes like Sweet Tooth and Candy. I wish I had even a small percentage of that talent and artistic ability. Anyway this show is so hilarious and also so emotional at the same time it’s not even fair. I’m not a big fan of Batman or Robin and yet this show almost has me changing my mind. And honestly, Nick Lang deserves the fucking world, I absolutely love watching him act and it’s unfortunate he doesn’t do it a lot because he’s amazing.

MVP: Joe Walker. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching Joe play all of his over-the-top comedic roles but I particularly love watching him play a slightly more serious role like this, it’s really refreshing and I really think he knocked it out of the park. Also Jeff Blim as Sweet Tooth is one of my favourite Starkid characters. No joke, 12-year-old me was OBSESSED.

Favourite song: either Dark, Sad, Lonely Knight or Rogues are We.

Favourite Scene: the whole To Be a Man scene.

“Batman or should I say Butthead”

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh”.

If that’s not comedic gold I don’t know what is.

5. A Very Potter Musical

This show is and always will be Starkid’s most iconic show. I think it says a lot that a silly parody musical put on by a group of college students has been able to inspire a whole decade’s worth of beautiful, creative, crazy works of art which only continues to grow. This show was never meant to become what it did but how lucky and fortunate are we all that it did. I am so grateful that 8-9 (tbh I can’t even remember anymore) years ago I decided to watch a silly musical about Harry Potter because I cannot imagine my life without Starkid in it. No this show might not have the best set or props or costumes or sound/video quality (it was 2009 guys, give them a break) but it is absolutely amazing in every single way and that’s all I’m going to say.

MVP: fucking everyone. I mean I’m around the same age they were when they started all of this and I can’t even imagine being able to create something even remotely as creative and wonderful or having any kind of success as close to that any time soon.

Favourite song: I feel like I should go for a classic like Not Alone but I’m not gonna lie I’m a real sucker for Missing You.

Favourite scene: oh man I don’t know the whole show is so iconic. I don’t know how I can pick just one.

6. Black Friday

I’m sure some people would be surprised that this show would be so high on this list for a number of reasons. Mostly due to the fact that I’ve been known to be quite fond of, and pretty biased towards some of Starkid’s older shows. But I think that’s just because I’m really nostalgic for how the fandom was back 8 years ago when I joined. And also when I joined the fandom, HMB was like our TGWDLM. It was the newest show out and everyone was talking about it. And also this is the show I have been rewatching the most lately and vie literally had the album on repeat for the last month.

A lot of people don’t really like the new direction that Starkid has taken with this show and honestly I don’t get it. Yes, it’s considerably darker than their other shows and while they classify it as a horror-comedy, it doesn’t really have a whole lot of comedy. But in my opinion, I think that’s what makes the show so great. The main focus of this show is the characters – their pain, their desires, their struggles and I think any excess of comedy would just take away from what’s really important. I really love watching Starkid delve into this new kind of story-telling and I think they’re doing an amazing job with this Hatchetfield series. I think this show did such a great show of introducing us to all the new characters, developing their arcs and really establishing their role within the world of Hatchetfield while simultaneously blending them perfectly with the already established characters from TGWDLM. What I really like about this show and even TGWDLM is how the characters are written. They feel so real not as cartoonish as some of the characters in Starkid’s previous shows which are why the audience can really relate to these characters.

Also this editing and cinematography of this show is fucking amazing and unlike anything else we’ve gotten from Starkid over the years. The choreography is outstanding and the musical is phenomenal. This is easily Jeff Blim’s best work and I have a feeling some people might disagree with me on that. The music in this show is so beautifully intricate and the lyrics have so much depth and emotion which I just feel like TGWDLM lacks. I know some people have been a bit offstandish about the singing in this show and I guess I’d have to agree. The live vocals on the youtube version do seem a bit off but I just suspect some cast members may have been sick or maybe they were just having an off day (it happens guys, even to professionals). Also I love the additions of some new members to Starkids, everyone was absolutely great in this show. For some of these actors, the characters they played were completely opposite to roles that they’ve played in the past but they all nailed it – Joey, Jon, Lauren. My only complaint in terms of casting is that I wish they gave Jaime more, while she is often praised for her singing skills (rightfully so), she often gets overlooked in her acting abilities and it would be great to see her play a bigger role in the next show.

Also I get it, Santa Claus is going to High School is very hilarious and great but please don’t make it another Workin’ Boys thing. Don’t go demanding Starkid to make a short film for this too, let them focus on their other bigger and better projects, please.

MVP: this show had some of my favourite performances from many Starkids but if I had to say someone who particularly stood out to me it’s definitely Kim. Before Black Friday, I will admit I hadn’t really seen anything with Kim in it so this was a great surprise for me. I am literally in love with her voice; it’s one of the most beautiful things in this world.

Favourite song: Take Me Back. Dylan and Kim are just amazing in this song I can’t even explain how much I love it. I’m also a major fan of Feast or Famine and If I Fail You. Ooh and Made in America.

Favourite Scene: I really love the scene with Tom and Becky in the movie theatre but I also really love the whole What Do You Say scene, I think it’s hilarious. But I think my favourite is with the whole Black and White scene with the President, Wiggly and Wiley. One of Joey’s best performances in my opinion.

7. The Trail to Oregon

So on my last list, this show was considerably higher but, on my recent rewatch of the AVPM shows and HMB, I’ve realised how much I really love those shows and unfortunately TTO had to be downgraded. Don’t get me wrong, I still very much love this show. It’s one of the most fun shows to watch and has me smiling the whole time without fail. In saying this, this show also does an amazing job of adding in these beautiful emotional dramatic scenes that brings the audience to tears. At the end of the day, this show really is just about family and how important it is to love and appreciate them no matter how insane they are or how much they annoy you. I know Jeff is really beloved in the fandom but I still don’t think he gets enough appreciation for how good of a writer (both script and song writing) he is, as well as an actor. This show is so unexpectedly beautiful and I’m really grateful for Jeff creating this story.

I don’t really think this show gets enough credit for how good its production actually is considering it only has six cast members. This show is proof of how diverse, creative and talented all these actors really are. It’s such a different concept from their other shows and I think they executed it so well.

MVP: Joey absolutely smashed it, I’m sure it’s not easy having to play all these different characters and literally change between them in a matter of seconds while giving each of them their own separate, unique identities. Another performer I got to give credit to in this show is Rachael, When the World’s at Stake is an amazing performance and Corey is so funny to watch in this show. Grandpa is probably my favourite character as well as the son.

Favourite song: probably When the World’s at Stake but also Independence. I cannot possibly estimate how much time I spent trying to learn those lyrics and sing it at that speed and get it right but I finally got there.

Favourite scene: the whole scene when the Grandpa, Son and Daughter are hunting makes me laugh every time, it’s so funny. But there’s something about that scene with McDoon and Cletus that ends with them riding on the horse together that makes me crack up.

8. The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals

Okay so I know the last time I did this, TGWDLM was like no 5 or 6 but like it’s been like a year and a half and a lot of my opinions on this show have changed. I’m also aware that by the time the next Starkid show is out I’ll probably also have changed my mind about Black Friday but who knows. I am eternally grateful to this show for introducing me to the amazing Jon Matteson. In a matter of 2 hours, this man somehow became one of my favourite human beings in the world. His portrayal as Paul is just, I don’t even know but something about it just sticks with me and I absolutely love it. This concept of this show is actually so amazing and you really gotta give the Lang’s credit for being able to come up with stuff like this. A lot of the beauty of the show is that it seems like such a simple concept but if you really think about the implications, you can actually understand why it’s so terrifying. Production-wise, this show isn’t anything fancy in terms of set, costumes props, etc. But the lighting design is amaaaaaazinggggggg!

The soundtrack for this show is pretty great but if you’re comparing it to Starkid’s other scores, it’s not the best. I said it before; the music in this just lacks the depth and emotion that is so heavily prominent in the Black Friday score.

MVP: Jon Matteson for the reasons above. And also Joey’s monologue as Ted to Bill gives me chills every time.

Favourite song: I feel like as the show goes on the songs do tend to get more personal, detailed and emotional which I why I probably favour those over many of the songs in act one. Let it Out and Inevitable are two songs in particular that I love and definitely stand out to me.

Favourite scene: the whole Let it Out scene with Jon trying to resist the apotheosis. And also Lauren’s acting at the end of Inevitable is amazing. Her running around the stage, distressed is both so horrifying but also absolutely hilarious.

9. Me and My Dick

I mean I guess I understand why a lot of people don’t like this show but that doesn’t mean I can forgive the fact that it’s so underrated. Yeah the humour is a bit crude and I get that’s not everyone’s thing but literally this show is two and a half hours of pure golden comedy. Honestly, who thought a show about high school kids and their walking and talking genitalia could be one of the most wholesome and heart-warming things in the world. I don’t think anyone other than Starkid could pull of something like this which honestly says so much about them. These people come up with some of the most craziest, outrageous stuff and somehow turn them into beautiful, amazing works of art.

The soundtrack for this show is so freaking good man. And AJ Holmes is literally one of the most amazing and talented people on this earth. How the fuck does he write such good music? I need to know, it’s really not fair. And for all those people who complain that it took Corey Dorris ten years to get a solo, I urge you to simply watch MAMD.

This show doesn’t have the best production and the sound quality is not great but you know what? Fuck you. Because the acting is this show outshines all of that. The energy each of the performers has in this show is crazy and they are all extremely talented. Literally AJ as Joey’s heart is next fucking level. And Arielle is criminally underrated for her role in this. And Nick Strauss is a comedy king. I’ve said it before and will say it again; The Old Snatch and Flopsy are the most iconic duo.

MVP: AJ and Nick. Like I said. Next level and iconic™.

Favourite song: Listen to your heart. But also Even Though. And Finale is a certified bop.

Favourite scene: I love the scene with Dick and Flopsy but I don’t know if it’s my favourite. But one of my favourite quotes is when Dick is talking to Joey about Miss Cooter’s hair and Joey’s delivery of “on her vagina?” cracks me up every time. And honestly there’s not a lot that can beat Brian during Gotta Find His Dick just intensely repeating “Someone tell him where his dick is”. It makes me laugh so hard I really don’t know why.

10. A Very Potter Senior Year

Alright so let me take you back to 2012. I remember the day they posted the video announcing they were not only making another Harry Potter show but that they were bringing back almost every Starkid member. It was actually such a weird time for the fandom because it really did seem like this show was going to be the end of Starkid. When you watch the show, you can see that the actors are not only saying goodbye to Harry Potter and the characters that they had been playing for the last 3 years but also they were saying goodbye to each other. It was heartbreaking to watch then and it still is now 8 years later. 2012 me was absolutely devastated because I had only just discovered this fandom and I thought I would already have to say goodbye to something that become so special to me in such a short amount of time. Luckily for us all this was not the end of Starkid.

This show really holds a special place in my heart, for so many reasons. First off, it was the first Starkid show that I got to watch as it premiered. Second, I was still grieving the end of the Harry Potter movies and these musicals had kind of replaced that for me but then this was ending too. And third, it really just is the most perfectly executed ending to the AVP series.

This show makes me both laugh and then cry and then laugh again and then cry and laugh at the same time. In my opinion, it is one of the best written Starkid shows, on par with the other Potter shows and I think the only reason why it gets overlooked is the fact that it’s a stage reading rather than a proper production. But you know what, considering this show was literally put together in such a short amount of time and the actors literally had a few days’ worth of preparation, they still managed to put on an amazing show. I wholeheartedly believe that if this show had been a proper production, it would be pretty fucking perfect. The soundtrack for this show is probably the best out of all the Potter shows for me. Every one of these songs is a bop and I love them all so much.

Long story short, people need to stop sleeping on AVPSY and appreciate it more.

MVP: Joey Richter. I don’t even need to explain. Just watch Act 2 Part 11. Actually him in the entirety of Act 2. And also that delivery of “losers like us that’s who” just makes me cry every time. How did Starkid portray Ron more accurately in these musicals that WB did?

Favourite song: it’s a tie between I Was and I’m Just a Sidekick.

Favourite scene: The whole scene with the resurrection stone and Everything Ends. Absolute Perfection.

11. ANI

Like the Harry Potter shows, I can understand why people don’t like this show. If youre not a fan of the original text, you probably won’t like the comedy or understand the entire plot or whatever. And honestly that’s the only reason I put this show so low. I have very very little knowledge of Star Wars so pretty much all of the jokes and that go right over my head. However, I still find it very enjoyable to watch and most of that probably has to be credited towards the fact that it has a killer soundtrack and a pretty perfect cast. Also like I said with HMB, I love the rare occasion that we get to see Nick perform. This soundtrack, oh my god, it’s so amazing. Why do people keep overlooking it? I get that it’s different because it’s not the character’s singing it but like that choreography though. Clark Baxtresser has one of the most beautiful voices so you’ll never hear me complaining about a whole score of pretty much just his voice. But that’s just me. I hate how much hate I see for this show. Everyone worked extremely hard on this show, particularly Nick and Matt who wrote the whole thing and the lack of appreciation for it is horrible to see. It’s actually such a fun show, and you can tell the cast had so much fun doing this show because their energy is so great in this.

MVP: Nick Lang. Again, he deserves the world. And Chris Allen is incredible in every role he does but particularly this.

Favourite song: With My Own Eyes and Long Ago and Far Away. I just really love the vocals.

Favourite scene: Nick’s scene as Obi-Wan.

12. Firebringer

CoNtRaVeRsIaL oPiNiOn but sorry but I don’t like Firebringer. It’s not that I hate it. I’m just not really fan of it or its comedy – mostly because I don’t think it has any. I’ve seen people say that Twisted or MAMD rely too much on using swearing/ profanities for humour but honestly I think that’s more of the case for this show. That’s not to say that there’s not things I don’t like about it. Apart from HMB, this show probably has some of the best costumes. I can’t really fault Nick and Matt’s writing too much but I have to say this is some of their weakest work. I don’t think the plot as a whole is bad I just think there’s parts that don’t work for me or just don’t feel right. And I’m not really a fan of the characters and their development. I never thought I’d ever be able to say that I dislike any role of Meredith’s but honestly I find her character really unlikeable and I know people might attack me for that but it’s just my opinion. I like Zazzalil, I think Lauren did a great job, as always but I don’t know I just don’t think there’s any particular character or performance that really stands out for me in this show. If I’m being completely honest, I have only been able to watch the full run of this show twice, maybe three times and it has been a while since the last time I watched it but if I’m being honest I don’t see myself sitting down to watch it again any time soon. One thing I can definitely praise this show on is the female and LGBTQ+ representation, although that should go unsaid but even in 2020, seeing positive representations of female, LGBTQ+ or POC in media is still somehow refreshing and surprising and ain’t that just a little bit sad?. Another thing I can praise this show on is the music, I actually quite enjoy majority of the soundtrack.

MVP: Both of the Lauren’s. Lauren Lopez because she’s amazing in everything but especially in this, I’m so happy she finally got a lead role, she deserved it 100%. And Lauren Walker is just fucking hilarious. Why hasn’t she been in another Starkid show since?

Favourite song: probs climate change

Favourite scene: like I said, there’s really not a lot that stands out to me in this show so I really don’t know what to pick.

#i really just did all this for myself but i feel unproductive so I thought i'd post this #i feel a little more productive now #starkid #avpm #avps #avpsy #starship #hmb #twisted #ani #tto #tgwdlm #black friday #mamd #firebringer

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 5 years

Text

Anons wanted an explanation for the placements I had on my previous tier list, but upon going back and looking it over, I realized that I wanted to move a few characters around, so I ended up getting a new template and remaking it.

I wrote little bits about each character [yes, each one] below the cut, but be warned, it’s long.

“I love you so much that I would sell my soul to make sure you’re happy”

Lee Everett: Lee is a goddamn legend. He deserves to be at the very top. He’s one of the best protagonists I’ve ever played as in a game, his backstory is incredibly interesting, and his relationship with and dedication to protecting Clementine never felt forced and is one of the highlights of S1. Even now, having replayed S1 a million times, seeing him get bit and slowly become weaker and weaker as he refuses to give up on Clementine still breaks my salt encased heart. Watching him die in the end never fails to put that lump in my throat. I love him.

AJ: I love this kid. I was so worried that they wouldn’t do him justice when the game was announced and I saw the trailer, but I was floored by just how much I grew to love him. He feels like my kid, my responsibility and I want him to grow up strong and smart, but also human. His voice acting is terrific, and I think he’s one of the best child characters we’ve ever been given in video games. His relationship with Clementine rivals Lee and Clem’s relationship and that’s what I wanted. This kid earned his place at the top.

S4 Clementine: This Clementine is my absolute favorite. While I love all the Clementine’s across the four seasons, I feel like she truly hit her peak in S4. I fucking love her, I’m proud of who she grew up to be, and seeing her journey to this point only solidifies that she’s my favorite. She’s strong and stern, but she has her softer moments with AJ and Louis/Violet, and what else is there really to say? She’s Clementine.

Louis: ....Do I really need to explain this? I mean, c’mon. If you’ve been following me for a long time- shit, if you’ve only been following me for a few minutes, then y’all know how much I love Louis. I can say with 100% certainty that Louis is my favorite non-playable character across all four games. I’ve made numerous posts, answered over a hundred asks, written thousands of words about him. Everything about him from his character design, his personality, his traumas, his voice acting, his expressions, his relationship with Clementine and AJ and Violet and Marlon and everyone- He’s the best. I love him.

Rosie: Rosie is the bestest girl in the world. ‘nuff said.

“I fucking love everything about you.”

S1 Clementine: Alright, before y’all come at me with the whole “Why isn’t little baby Clem SS tier you monster??” let me explain: I adore S1 Clementine. She’s still in S tier, after all. However, after playing through these games several times over again, I realize that this really is just the beginning of Clementine’s character and her growth. She’s lovable, she’s cute, and I want to protect her, but she’s not... a compelling character? She doesn’t fully come into herself and develop a stronger personality until S2. Like I said, I still love her and I can’t deny the impact that she had on the characters and us players, but she’s not my favorite Clementine of the bunch.

S2 Clementine: I fucking love S2 Clementine. I’d actually say that she’s my 2nd favorite Clementine. I give S2 a lot of well-deserved shit, but she is the high point of it all. Something about her character is compelling to me, like how she’s stuck with a bunch of adults who underestimate her yet want her to do everything for them and she just... is so done with it hahaha. But her growth is what it really does it for me. We went from little baby Clementine who whimpered at a small cut on her finger to a Clementine who fucking sews her own arm up, covers herself in walker guts with barely a flinch, can shoot a gun with great accuracy and take down walkers like they ain’t shit, and can survive and make her own decisions. Also, her instant connection with AJ is great. Love it. Love her.

Javier Garcia: Yo, I love this beautiful man. This man is honestly the best part of ANF, and without him it would’ve been such a shitty game. I found his backstory as an ex-professional baseball player booted from the league for gambling a cool concept. He’s hilarious and charming, too. Honestly, he deserved a better game with better, y’know? The only reason he’s not SS tier is because of the writing and his nonsense with Kate when you don’t want to romance her. It makes it seem like he led her on and then was like “Wait nevermind lol” which is annoying, but other than that, he’s great. Love his relationships with most of the characters, and the ending he got was pretty good.

James: I don’t talk about him as much as I should because I find James fucking fascinating. If they ever made a DLC or a mini-game for twdg, I want it to be about James and his journey in finding and joining the whisperers, his relationship with Charlie, and how he escaped them. His views on walkers, his survival and killing skills, his past traumas haunting his every moment for fear that he’ll revert back to what he was, his extreme pacifism that ironically turns violent- just what a cool fucking character. And while he has his wild moments [cave scene, anyone? “Oh ouch!” hahahahahaa] he’s still one of my favorites.

Violet: Oh, Violet. She’s amazing. I love her so damn much. If there’s ever been a character that I see a lot of myself in, it’s her.... which is why I tend to be a little harsh with her sometimes, but I can’t deny that she’s one of the most well-written characters across the whole series. She’s not perfect [both she and Louis do have their tiny inconsistencies that I blame the writing for] but that’s a good thing. And while I don’t ship her and Clementine, I 100% get why a lot of people do. Their relationship is adorable and way more compelling than her previous relationship with Minerva.

“I love you <3″

Carley: My beautiful girlfriend... you were taken away far too soon. Carley’s one of my favorite characters from S1. I wish we could’ve had more time to explore a relationship between her and Lee, but what we did get is enjoyable. She’s a badass, and I will always love the moment she tells Lilly off for being a little bitch, even though it results in her death. Not a day goes by where I’m not salty about that one.

Molly: Molly’s a goddamn badass. She scales buildings like it’s nothing, she named her weapon Helga, and her backstory with Crawford and her sister is terrific. Also, she’s funny and I love her. That’s that.

Omid: This dude was literally a light in S1. He brought us some humor when we needed it [ “...You broke that dude’s face.” ] and his relationship with Christa was so sweet. Also, him and Lee bonding over being history nerds? Yes, please. It’s bullshit that he was killed off two seconds into S2 but hey... S2 had a lot of bullshit in it so... Justice for Omid 2k19.

Luke: *deeeeeeeep inhale* Big Brother Luke did not deserve that bullshit. Literally one of the best characters in S2 and y’all just.... did him dirty like that. And for what? To make room for Kenny and Jane? Bull. Shit. Luke was so damn good, and the only reason he’s not higher is because of what they did to him after ep3. He starts out so kind and supportive and seriously like a big brother character then SUDDENLY he’s stupid and “makes it” with Jane while walkers are trying to eat us and then he gets himself shot and then fucking dies and akjsjdlkjasdkjaslkjasdklerwedascasads-

S3 Clementine: ...So, here’s where y’all will probably get pissed. S3 Clementine is my least favorite of the bunch. Don’t get me wrong, I still love her and she is still in A tier, but... how do I explain it? She’s in her 13-year-old, emo/angsty phase and it’s hilarious when it shouldn’t be. There are moments where I do become emotional for her, like when David takes AJ away and Javi hugs her, or when Gabe dies and she’s saying goodbye, or when she gets her first period, y’know moments like that! BUT... then we have moments where Javi goes to talk to her and she’s all “HAVING PEOPLE IS GREAT AT FIRST BUT EVENTUALLY EVERYONE DIES” or when she straight up shoots that guy who gave her faulty bullets OR WHEN SHE’S LIKE “IMMA KILL ME A LINGARD” AND.......... it’s too much for me! I can’t take her seriously when she’s this angsty, even when I understand why she is the way she is. Again, to reiterate, I still love her but in ranking all four Clementines, she comes in last for me.... and I can already hear the shit that’s gonna be thrown my way haha

Conrad: The most underappreciated character in S3 and it’s nonsense. Don’t come for me, but this dude is my favorite npc in S3. I love Conrad, and I wish we got more of him. He does have his own little arch if you keep him alive through the end. His grief over Francine is heartbreaking and his downward spiral that leads him to act out and threaten Javi, Clem, and Gabe so that he can get his revenge is wonderful. And btw, he does apologize for pulling the gun on them and makes up for it in the future. And y’know what moves him up into A tier? The moment you let him kill Badger. One of the best kills of the game. I prefer it over beating the shit out of Badger myself.

Aasim: This boy is my son, and I’m sorry, but he’s really fucking cool. You’ve got this kid who was sent to Ericson for being a pyromaniac [according to Kent, it’s not actually mentioned in game] and grew into this guy who documents everything so that they’ll have a form of history to look back on and help not repeat mistakes. His banter with Louis is funny, and even though he gets fed up with Louis for not taking anything seriously, he still cares deeply about him given how he reacts when Louis loses his tongue. His crush on Ruby is adorable, too. I just love him, he’s great.

Marlon: Now, originally I put Marlon in a lower tier [the “I like your role in the story” type of tier] but upon reflection I actually find Marlon to be a compelling character. He’s high on the list because of how well he’s portrayed. Marlon has some of the best voice acting across all the games. There isn’t a single moment where I don’t believe what he’s saying, which says something. There are moments where Clementine will say something and I go, “Really? That’s the take they went with? Okay...” but not with Marlon. For only being in ep1, he played his part really fucking well. I won’t defend any of the shit he pulled because it’s awful, but I understand everything he did. He is a coward, a sheep hiding in a wolf’s coat, pretending that he’s got everything under control and putting all the pressure of a leader onto himself and it eventually breaks him. I know they killed him off to further the plot and show how ruthless AJ can be as a child growing up in the world, but I wish he survived past ep1 so that we could really get into the meat of his character. I’ll say it: I love him as fake-friend-to-full-on-antagonistic-character and his role within the story.

Mitch: I fucking love Mitch and the only reason he isn’t in SS tier is because of how goddamn dirty the writers did him. You give me this boy- this butterknife wielding, foul-mouthed, angry, hilarious, bomb-making boy and make me fall in love with him and THEN YOU KILL HIM OFF IN THE STUPIDEST WAY POSSIBLE. “Oh, lemme just run at the crazy lady with a knife and- OOF! It appears I’ve been throat stabbed bleh-” I’ve complained about this since ep2, but lemme say it again: Mitch had so much potential to be an amazing character but never got the chance to because we had to add to the death count and make us more afraid of Lilly even though it didn’t do shit because it was a reaction kill rather than one made out of malice.

Tenn: Tenn is such a tragic character for me. In my personal canon ending, he dies because he was “messing up again” and AJ shot him. This poor kid was so full of hope that the walkers would go away one day, he’s so genuine and never wants to hurt anyone, even if they’re trying to hurt him, and he’s so fucked up from seeing Minerva that he stops thinking and tries to go to her even as she’s being devoured right in front of him. Tenn is like this game’s Sarah, but done right. He deserved better, but he was a well-written character and I love him. His friendship with AJ was so sweet which makes it even more heartbreaking when he dies. Yet another terrific child character.

“I like you and/or your role within the story”

S1 Kenny: This dude is such a chaotic topic. I feel like 90% of the fandom has an incredibly strong opinion on him, and of that 90%, 45% of people absolutely love him and if you say anything negative you’ll get a boat to the head while the other 45% loathe him. Then you’ve got the 10% who don’t have such strong opinions, and that’s where I fall. I like Kenny, and I like S1 Kenny more than his S2 counterpart. He has a great arch throughout the season regardless if you’re his best pal or not. He has some funny lines, some emotional scenes. I’ll never forget the first time I played the scene where Kenny’s crying over Katjaa’s dead body while Duck is laying against the tree on the brink of death. And I definitely will never forget the part where he finds the boy in the attic. Overall, I like him and what he brought to S1.

Katjaa: She was really sweet and her death broke my heart. I don’t have too much to say about her, but I liked her a lot. She loved her family and met a tragic end.

Ben: Fucking Ben, man. This poor kid. Another character with wasted potential. I’ve mentioned this plenty of times before, but I wish we could get an alternative ending where Ben was the only one who survived and became Clementine’s new caretaker. There was so much room for growth. He just wanted to help out but kept screwing up and it’s just.... sad.

Christa: I’ll be honest, the first time I ever played S1, I didn’t like Christa. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way and I didn’t care about her as much as I did Omid. However, the more times I replayed it, the more I grew to love her. She’s strong but sweet, and you can’t deny how much she loves Omid. And while I wish we did get to know what happened to her in S2, I can live with it remaining unknown.

Chuck: As much as I like our guitar playing hobo friend who deserved so much more, I would probably put him a tier lower if it weren’t for the advice that he gives Lee on the train. Because of him, Lee stopped treating Clementine entirely like a little girl in need of protection and cut her hair, taught her to use a gun, and furthered their communication by building a plan together. Without Chuck and his wise hobo words, Lee might’ve fucked both of them over. Also, Chuck’s pretty badass with that shovel, he got a lot of chuckles out of me, but his death was off screen and disappointing.

Andy St John: Okay. Okay okay okay. Andy. He is so high here [and so much higher than his mom and brother] because to me, he’s the scariest of the St John’s. Why? Because he’s the most normal-appearing of the three. He acts and talks like any normal guy would. He’s someone that I could see myself running into in real life. He’s so good at hiding how fucked up he is from everyone, unlike his brother who you can just look at and go “hahahahaha no thanks” and his mother who’s character design is just awful. I find him to be the strongest of the three, the smartest and the most dangerous. And the final fight between him and Lee is amazing. I love how you can be so furious with him that you keep punching him even after the prompt goes away and then his face goes all purple and swollen. Easily the greatest antagonist in S1.

Eddie: This dude is the best character to come out of the 400 Days dlc. End of story.

Alvin: He gave me a juice box and that automatically puts him here. Real great guy but we didn’t get too into his character. Wish we could’ve, though.

Rebecca: She grew on me tbh. Didn’t like her in ep1 when she was being all pissy and all, but for the most part, she’s pretty good.

Mike: I will forever wish the writers went through with the concept of Mike being one of the guys who attacked Christa because then he could’ve had a better character backstory. Regardless, I still like him. He’s pretty funny.

Nick: Nick? Oh, you mean PURE WASTED POTENTIAL. I mean, they really did give us this super flawed but sympathetic and interesting character and kill him off-screen. They really did that. Honestly, S2 really pisses me off sometimes for the way they treated these characters. It all goes downhill once everyone escapes. Yeah, yeah, blah blah not everyone gets a meaningful death blah blah but y’know what? You can do better than that. I loved Nick and I was so excited to see what they’d do with him in the end but NOPE! Justice 4 Nick 2k19

Pete: What a good dude. He stuck by Clementine’s side even when everyone thought she was bit. Love him. Wish we saw more of him.

Sarah: Ha. Ha. PURE WASTED POTENTIAL 2.0. What else needs to be said? This girl had the foundation for a great character but again, NOPE! I really liked Sarah! I wanted to teach her to use a gun to protect herself! The loss of her father fucking broke her and it was hard to watch but I wanted more and just ahaklsdjlaskjdlkakjaskjsaadkljas ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

Ava: Yo. Ava’s a fucking gorgeous badass. Really liked her and how she was sweet on Clementine. Also, it’s interesting that she stuck by David’s side like that.

David: I have a lot of mixed feelings about David. On one hand, the complicated relationship between him and Javier is good, even if it’s a little bullshit at times. On the other hand, David’s an asshole. But he’s a great antagonistic character. I do love that about him. The shit with him and Kate was a little annoying, but only because they didn’t ever elaborate on anything. On what level was the marriage fucked? Was it straight-up abusive? What happened to David’s first wife? Why did Kate and David get married in the first place? I got questions! But, like Javier, I think David deserved a better game with better writing.

Jesus: This dude parkour kills walkers. Pretty fucking badass.

Tripp: I feel like I don’t like Tripp as much as some people. I like him fine, but I know a lot of folks gush about him. I think he’s a good dude, a little pushy with Eleanor, but he’s loyal and strong.

S2 Lilly: I fucking hate Lilly. I hate her so goddamn much. She pushes every wrong button with her bullshit “Where's our new recruits?? Lee would be so disappointed knowing he taught you all the wrong things! You’re one of my people now, Clementine” AND THE GODDAMN “Yes, Ma’am” SHIT. Nothing irks me more than every time someone from the delta acts like Lilly’s the baddest bitch and call her “Ma’am” I HATE IT AND I HATE HER. SHE KILLED MITCH. SHE KIDNAPPED MY CHILDREN. SHE DARES TO TRY AND HURT LOUIS LIKE HE’S NOTHING. AND I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER....... That being said, y’all are probably thinking “wtf if you hate her so much why isn’t she in F tier???” and that’s because no other antagonist in these games has ever gotten this strong of a reaction out of me. Lilly is a damn good antagonist. She’s not perfect, and there are definitely things I would change or add, but she does her job and makes me absolutely livid [yeah yeah I know ha ha ha ha] every time she’s on screen doing her bullshit. I hate her and that counts for something. She’s easily the best “villain” in the entire series.

Ruby: I love my funny little hot-headed medic. Ruby’s amazing and I love her.

Willy: This kid really grew on me. I thought he was weird and creepy at the beginning but I adore him now. His brotherly relationship with Mitch should’ve been explored more, and at times his voice acting is kind of jarring, but I still love him.

“You’re fine, I guess...”

Duck: He’s fine. I like Duck. I like the “what if” scenarios we’ve come up with surrounding his character, and his death always puts a lump in my throat, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to say I love him, y’know?

Doug: Again, he’s fine. He has some funny moments when you save him, and he’s got a cool little panda bear on his sweater but... yeah. He’s okay.

Mark: Oh hai Mark. He’s cool, and the reason he’s not lower is because the iconic moment of finding him in the hidden room with his legs chopped off choking out the words “Don’t... eat... dinner” forever haunts my nightmares.

Russell: I’m not a big fan of most of the playable 400 Days characters, but I think if I had to pick a favorite, it’s Russell. His backstory of being with the group that believed in the power of 7′s [I think it was 7 I dunno going off of memory here] was cool and his weird thing with Nate was fun and disturbing. He’s a pretty cool character.

Carlos: I’ve made posts about Carlos before and how I think he had a lot of potential, but looking strictly at his role in the game and I’m left underwhelmed. I did get a lot of shit for where I placed him in my previous tier because he was [and still is] above S2 Kenny but I’m not going to lie and say I like Kenny more than him because... I don’t. I just think Carlos should’ve been given more development.

Carver: A cool antagonist who was defeated waaaaaay too early in the game. They were doing a fantastic job at making me hate him with his treatment of Clementine, beating the shit out of Kenny, murdering Alvin and pulling all that shit with Rebecca, but killing him off so quickly didn’t make it feel as satisfying. Again, underwhelming.

Sam: This pup betrayed me and he ain’t no Rosie, but we played frisbee so he gets a C I guess

Gabe: Y’know, Gabe could’ve been so good. But every time I play through ANF, he ends up annoying me more than Ben. What does that tell you? He’s fine, but he could’ve been a lot better.

Mariana: I’m not so much “meh” on Mari because I think she’s sweet and likable! The problem is I don’t want to put her any higher because really? What did she do? She died horribly because Badger’s a piece of shit.

Abel: Meh this guy’s garbage. I only put him up a little higher because the scene with him in the basement is really good.

Brody: Brody is like the Mariana of S4 for me, just a bit better. I do like her. She had some development but her whole purpose was to die by Marlon’s hand and get the plot going. Would’ve loved to learn more about her, but I couldn’t give her anything higher than a C.

Minerva: Controversial opinion but........ I don’t like Minerva as much as a lot of people do. If I could be brutally honest, if I were ranking these characters solely on how I feel about them without looking at their roles in the games and character development, Minerva would be in E tier at the highest. However, I can’t deny how tragic and complex her character and backstory is. It’s similar to how I feel about Lilly, but different. I think she’s just so fucked up from the delta that she’s become a husk of who she was and it results in her constantly pissing me off with all her shit. Also, the bridge scene alone bumps her up. That shit was crazy in a good yet tragic way.

Omar: At one point, I forgot Omar existed until he got shot in the leg...... but he’s also God so y’know. I like him but I also had to make up my own little backstory for him so...

“Meh”

S1 Lilly: I don’t care about S1 Lilly in the slightest, she’s awful. They made her way more compelling in S4. And she killed my girlfriend which is bullshit on it’s own.

Jolene: If I could rewrite S1, I would’ve thrown out the Stranger and had Jolene be the kidnapper. As Danny said, “What a waste.”

Bonnie: She’s pretty disappointing, tbh. I didn’t like how the game help pushing her onto Clem and overall she’s pretty forgettable.

Vince: He’s okay, I guess. He killed a dude one time. And shot a guy’s foot off.

Wyatt: “Meh” hahaha Eddie was a cooler character than he was

Jane: I wish Jane had been the Molly of S2 and stayed gone after she left the first time. I like that she taught Clementine some useful survival tactics and that’s what puts her on this tier, but I think we all know how I feel about the whole Jane vs. Kenny thing by now so...

S2 Kenny: This Kenny actually moved up a tier because I fully took in everything he’s been through thus far and.... “Meh.” I don’t think he’s good for Clementine, I think she and AJ need a group like Wellington. I recognize that he’s a lot of people’s favorite, but like I said above in his S1 counterpart, I’m the 10% that doesn’t have that strong of an opinion on him. I’d much rather discuss other characters over him.

Sarita: Forgettable, really. Except for when you get the chance to cut her hand off. That fucking scream of hers is anything but forgettable, yeesh.

Walter: Again, mostly forgettable. His death was sad, and I do think he’s a good example of what happens when you’re too trusting in this world, but overall he doesn’t stand out to me.

Kate: I probably would’ve liked Kate more if her romance wasn’t so damn forced. She has some funny lines, but she’s also pretty selfish and fickle when it comes to a lot of things. And I will forever be annoyed at her inability to keep her mouth shut about her and Javi’s relationship [or lack of] in front of David.

“I don’t like you but you’re not the absolute worst, I guess...”

Danny St John and Brenda St John: I put these two together because they have the same issue: They’re fucking creepy. Where Andy was normal and deceiving, these two look like they want to cut my legs off and eat them. I think they’re much weaker in character than Andy was, even with Danny’s weird sexual fixation of his gun and Brenda talking about her husband.

Vernon: He’s not the absolute worst because I do feel a little sympathy for him losing his daughter, but everything else just makes me not like him.

Shel and Becca: Easily my two least favorite characters in 400 Days. I had no real interest in either of them.

Arvo: This guy. I didn’t put him in as the absolute worst because of all the unnecessary shit Kenny put him through. No wonder he wanted to get the hell outta there.

Clint: I literally couldn’t give a single shit about this dude or what happens to him.

Eleanor: I don’t like Eleanor. I found her annoying. Her one good quality is her want to help people, but that want didn’t do much to help Tripp now did it, Eleanor.

“The absolute worst”

Larry: Did you expect anything else? Fuck this guy.

Stranger: Worst final antagonist ever. You’re telling me I have to fight this Mister Roger’s tootsie pop? I’ll bet you $1 I can do it with one hand. Fuck this guy.

Troy: Fuck Troy. All he does is smack Clementine around and then get shot in the dick.

Joan: This lady is a laughably bad antagonist. The worst fucking “villian” jfc...

---

There ya have it. Do you agree, disagree? Maybe a character I found boring you really liked! Maybe you want to tell me why Kenny is the best/worst again! We can discuss it.

I’m always open to talking about these characters!

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skekteksfurby · 5 years

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Monthly Movies #3: August 2019

Ít’s that time of the month again! Time to look back on all of the movies/specials I watched in August!

Missing Link (2019): By the Ancients, this movie came out in 2019? It feels like years ago to me somehow. Maybe it’s because of weird sudden influx of Sasquatch/Yeti movies recently. I don’t know. Anyways, this movie was kinda okay? I enjoyed it fine. The animation was breathtaking obviously and Susan was a nice character. The main character is a bit of a problem for me because he’s such an unlikable and selfish jerk throughout a lot of the movie that his redemption kind of feels too late. There’s also some possible transphobic subtext in this movie I’ve noticed (and seen others notice, too) with how everyone keeps “deadnaming” Susan.

Coco (2017): What even can I say about this film that hasn’t already been said? It’s gorgeous, has amazing characters, a true heart to it, memorable songs, a twist villain that actually kind of works, wonderful world-building for the Land of the Dead... I just love this movie and it’s up there with some of my favorites of Pixar.

The Lion Guard: The Rise of Scar (2017): I remember so little of this. Like, I really like this show, but I just for the life of me cannot recall what happened in this special of The Lion Guard. I know Scar returns but, really, that’s it? I didn’t enjoy this special too much, that’s what I do recall, since I only gave it two out of five stars.

Savva: Heart of the Warrior/Hero Quest/A Warrior’s Tail (2015): Yes, this movie really has three titles. It’s a chaotic mess of a film, mostly in tone and character designs. I felt like it did have a good idea somewhere deep down inside this. The world and world-building isn’t too horrible and could actually be interesting with more fine-tuning and some rewrites. The character designs were also promising, and some of them were definitely good (the wolves, the Rickies, Savva, the dragon). Even the main message wasn’t too horrible. But the rest... not so much. The main villain, a three-headed ape, is simply comic relief and not really a threat. The comic relief was just over the top and all over the place in this film. It’s just a tone-deaf mess. Don’t even bother watching it for the wolf designs like I did.

The Croods (2013): I remember really hating this movie when I first saw it, but, honestly, I don’t get it anymore. Sure, Dreamworks has done the “overprotective father figure against another character that brings all sorts of new ideas with them”-trope before with Over the Hedge, but it felt new enough. The world this family of cavemen live in is nicely colorful and has tons of interesting animals. The characters weren’t anything new, but the rest held up well enough. The animation is good, though I never liked the human character designs in this movie much.

Hoodwinked! (2005): I’m saying what a lot of people have already said. The animation is utter shit, but the humor is so absurd it’s actually kind of hilarious. I laughed out loud quite a bit at this movie. So ultimately I do recommend it, if you can stomach the shitty visuals.

Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling (2019): I have like no memory whatsoever of the original show, but this special had a trans arc in it so I obviously needed to see it. I support Rachel Bighead so much. You go, girl. As for the special itself, it was pretty funny and had a good message. Nice animation that looks similar to the screenshots and clips I did see of the original.

Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus (2019): Come on, I had to watch this. It’s got Richard Horvitz in the role of an over the top small villain. As a Kaos fan I cannot pass up the opportunity. Now, for this thing, I also had no idea what the original show was about. I watched it when I was little, unlike Rocko, but never truly liked it or got it (probably was too young). The animation in this one was nice and I liked the voice acting, but the rest just became one big blur for me. It was really hard to keep my attention on this one.

Alpha and Omega: Dino Digs (2016): I present to you, the after-one worst movie I’ve seen all year until now. Funnily enough, the actual worst movie I’ve seen is also an Alpha and Omega sequel, except it’s the fifth. The only reason this one isn’t below Family Vacation is that FV was so unforgivably lazy with everything. It’s just a clip show with some new tidbits of animation added in between. As for Dino Digs, it’s every bit as nonsensical and bizarre as you expect, but not in the good way. The writing is lazy as shit, things just go unexplained forever, the animation horrible, the villains complete jokes and there’s... bird dance numbers. Enough said.

Dark Shadows (2012): It had some fun moments in it. That’s all I can say. The rest is just a blur of a memory by now. It has some vampires and werewolves in it, so that’s nice.

Speckles: The Tarbosaurus (2012): This movie/documentary focuses on a Tarbosaurus named Speckles and his struggles in life. I’ve been recommended this movie several times and, yeah, it was all right. Informative (though I don’t know if the information is still accurate) while also telling a story. Honestly, this movie is pretty depressing considering the amount of death in it. My main point that’s holding it back is the voice acting. The voices just sounded too forced and the acting wasn’t too great.

The Lion King (2019): Yes bitches I watched it in cinemas twice. I love this movie, I love the hyenas, I really like the visuals and music. The rest I’ve already said in my July Movie Thoughts when I first saw it.

The Angry Birds Movie (2016): It’s just really, really boring. A nice colorful world, but the rest is just such a drag to get through. Props for the animation, but not much else. I will give them credit for at least succeeding to make a movie out of something as small as a mobile game.

The Last Unicorn (1982): This movie is just really pretty to look at. It feels like an old painting come to life. I didn’t find myself caring particularly much about any of the characters, but the animation and visuals were definitely what gives it major points in my book. Just look at this one if you want a nice hand-drawn fantasy movie.

Beauty and the Beast (1991): This is a very good Disney movie. Belle and the Beast are wonderful characters, the animation is nothing short of spectacular, the colors beautiful, the villain genuinely threatening and enjoyable to watch... It’s just one of the better Disney movies if you ask me. It does still have some iffy stuff in it with how the Beast treats Belle at first and I’m actually not a fan of the songs in this one, particularly Be Our Guest. But other than that, this is a definite fave.

The Jungle Book (2016): I re-watched this one to see whether I prefer this one or The Lion King remake, since I both love them very much. I’ve ultimately come to the conclusion that I still like this one better, but The Lion King 2019 is a close second for sure. Beautiful animation on the animals and a remake that actually differs in the right ways from the source material and surpasses it by far.

Leafie: A Hen into the Wild (2011): A gorgeous movie that should get more recognition. A wonderful mother-son story that will tug on your heartstrings (especially the uncut ending). Perfect backgrounds and amazing animation. My only gripes with it are the completely useless subplot with the rooster and some of the gross-out.

Kayla: A Cry in the Wilderness (1997): Just a nice “kid befriends husky and ends up doing a sled dog race”-movie. I’m pretty sure that’s a genre by now? The simple story of a boy coming to terms with his father’s death and befriending a feral husky named Kayla in the process. Nothing really stood out about it.

Two Brothers (2004): A cute idea for a movie idea about tigers, but I really think they should’ve used less actual animals in it and more animatronics/CGI/greenscreening. It might not have looked as spectacular, but with the real tigers they did use I pick up on a lot of scenes that made me and, looking at the animals’ body language, the animals too, uncomfortable.

My Little Pony: The End of Flutter Valley (1986): This just should’ve been a special of the series instead of ten awkwardly cut episodes that form one movie/special. The way they paced it, especially with this being ten episodes, was just really awkward. This might work for shorter specials (two/three-parters), but not a flat out movie. The animation is average, the villains jokes (seriously, who thought it was a good idea to bring back the annoying as fuck witches from the original?) and the voice acting really grating.

The Lion Guard: Battle of the Pridelands (2019): Nearly forgot to put this one on the list because it doesn’t have a Letterboxd entry yet. But it definitely counts. I really enjoyed this special episode of The Lion Guard, actually. It may not be the strongest series out there, but season 3 definitely was much better than the rest. This special has a lot of what I wanted to see: nice songs, the cast aging up, more explanation as to what exactly Scar and his “mark of evil” are and Janja’s redemption arc. It still has some flaws. When Scar first said “Sisi Ni Sawa” in his threatening speech, it actually felt genuinely fear-inducing. But then he started to sing the rest of the song as he went on and it just became cringe-worthy. Also, as much as I love his character, Janja was too easily forgiven and redeemed. He literally attempted to murder two cubs in season 2. You can’t just suddenly come back from being an attempted child murderer and get forgiven just like that.

Frozen (2013): I don’t get the hate nor love for this movie. It’s nice. That’s it. Good animation and songs, but I don’t connect much to any of the characters. Also, hey, guess what? A twist villain that doesn’t work.

The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017): These Lego movies are just so damn good for whatever reason? While the animation is a bit different in this one (not everything, including elements like water, smoke and fire, is made out of existent Lego pieces anymore), it’s still really good. We also get some breathtakingly realistic cat animation on Meowthra. Lloyd’s arc also felt really heartfelt, and the villain was quite enjoyable.

Equestria Girls: Sunset’s Backstage Pass (2019): Eh, still not a fan of these Equestria Girls specials, sorry. While I thought this one was a tad better than the last few we got, I still do not care much about them. Pinkie was quite obnoxious in this one, which just irked the heck out of me.

Another month full of movies! See ya’ll in October!

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easybrieseymovies · 4 years

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Top 10 Movies of this Decade –– A Biased Reflection By Conner Miller

As this hellish decade draws to a close it only felt right to list the ten films that made it a little better. Do not expect to find all critical darlings on this. This is a place for my personal top 10 –– not Joker. Lettuce Pray:

10. Short Term 12 (2013) dir. Destin Daniel Cretton

Chances are you’ve seen Captain Marvel, Atlanta, Booksmart (more to follow), Brooklyn 99 or Bohemian Rhapsody. There’s almost no chance you’ve seen this intimate 2013 SXSW selection. Before Brie Larson was terrifying alt-right women haters and winning Academy Awards she portrayed Grace, a supervisor at a group home for troubled teens. Typically in indies like this one mid tier star is all the budget can afford. Director Destin Daniel Cretton took chances on barely known actors who used this film as a launching pad to stardom. Between Brie and Rami Malek alone there’s Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Actor. Add in LaKeith Stanfield of Atlanta and Someone Great fame, Kaitlyn Dever of Booksmart and Unbelievable and Stephanie Beatriz from Brooklyn 99 and you’ve got enough to make a Knives Out sequel.

The shocking thing is with the immense talent featured the film’s budget was under a million dollars. Larson’s performance as Grace is layered, empathetic and revelatory. She is one of the few actresses that lets you in without words. You can see the grief and longing to help her kids she mentors in her eyes. The relationship between her and troubled teen Jayden (the magnificent as always Kaitlyn Dever) forms the film’s emotional core. Grace and Jayden lean into each other and find their tribulations aren’t dissimilar. Cretton shows a deft touch in letting the actor’s play to their strengths and allowing the camera to be still and messy allowing the group home to become a character. The film crackles with humanity and everyone involved shines bright.

There’s not an excuse to miss this one. Hop on Amazon Prime and catch it!

9. The Social Network (2010) Dir. by David Fincher

Before their ill-fated runs as Lex Luthor and Spider-Man, Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield headlined this snappy masterpiece about your grandmother’s favorite app to share slightly racist boomer memes. While Facebook has aged like milk, the film has only grown more relevant. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s whiplash paced dialogue is the highlight here. There’s not a day that goes by I don’t try to work my “fuck you flip-flops” into casual conversation.

For a film about such a now mainstream app, there’s more weird shit to shake a stick at. Brenda Song (withholding calling her London Tipton) as a crazy ex who likes to burn trash! Justin Timberlake with a strange haircut as Napster founder Sean Parker! Not one, but two Armie Hammers! Early career Dakota Johnson! All of these welcome turns are grounded by Sorkin’s bubbling script. Even in limited screen-time each character’s dialogue is so unique they feel lived in and real.

For all of David Fincher’s acclaimed films, I find this one the most accessible. This isn’t Fight Club or Se7en. His most human film by far TSN takes everything great about Fincher and condenses it into one highly enjoyable package. Sometimes his films become meandering and Sorkin’s dialogue helps dial this in. The result is a film that feels dangerously ominous considering its 2010 release date. In some ways it feels the film that defines and bridges the distinctly different presidential administrations this decade brought.

8. A Star is Born (2018) Dir. by Bradley Cooper

On paper this film looked like a dead on arrival disaster. Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut? A fourth remake of a classic movie? David Chapelle in a dramatic role? This movie rose above the memes and truly kicked me in the teeth. There’s so much to love so hey let’s get another look at it!

Blistering hot take, but the cinematography in this film by Matthew Libatique might be the best of the fucking decade. When he shoots scenes with Cooper’s Jackson Maine the camera is frenetic and unsteady. As he begins to let Lady Gaga’s Ally into his life the camera grows steadier and symbolic of their bond. Nearly every wide shot in this film looks like a painting. The concert scenes are slathered in lights that make the viewer feel like they’re on stage with Jackson and Ally. Exhibit A:

Elite framing aside the songs in this film are eternal and will always loom on my Spotify waiting to strike. “Shallow” is the ultimate karaoke song and I will always attempt to howl Lady Gaga’s eternal AHHH AHHHHH AHHHH until I am lowered into the ground.

Parks and Recreation fans will be pleased to see Hippie Ron aka Sam Elliott in an utterly dominant supporting role as Jackson’s older brother. I still write angry letters to the Academy asking why he didn’t win Best Supporting Actor. I am very PASSIONATE about this film and it is on HBO. Grab a six pack and prepare to sob.

7. “The Spectacular Now” (2013) Dir. by James Ponsoldt

This originally was going to be Whiplash, but Tyler needed to take the floor on that as a young student living in Manhattan. We do stick with Miles Teller for number seven with one of god tier studio A24′s first hits: The Spectacular Now. Admittedly any film that features Brie Larson and Kaityln Dever already has me interested, but bias aside this truly is a beautiful ride.

Late film critic Roger Ebert famously gave this film a perfect 4/4 in one of his final reviews. I’ll do Roger one more and give it a 5/4. Between the grainy film stock, the small scale stakes and the authentic characters this film just feels achievable. There’s no beam in the sky or city to save, but the stakes feel just as dire. As the main character Sutter navigates alcoholism, love and trying to understand his parents you feel for him. He’s a proxy for which everyone in high school else felt. There’s a gentle innocence in how sweet the movie is. If it is ever taken off Netflix I will be ready to storm their server room.

6. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018)

You thought you were going to escape without a Marvel film and you were almost right. The various reboots and remakes of Spider-Man this decade all featured high and low points. This animated tale, however, was transcendent. Moving the character into animation and featuring a Spider-Man of color in the lead injected much needed life into the character. I never thought i’d see the day that Spider-Man won an Academy Award, but lo and behold deviating from a cis caucasian Spider-Man brought it home.

Between the film’s electric soundtrack, unique frame rate and snappy animation it truly is the closest thing to living in a comic book. Miles’ first swing sequence is by far one of the greatest scenes in cinema – animated or non-animated. The voice acting is superb and without a doubt this film will be heavily played when I have kids over Frozen. Another one right there on Netflix waiting for you to check out!

5. “Waves” (2019) Dir. by Trey Edward Shults

One of three 2019 selections on this list (it has been a hell of a year for cinema) Waves is by far the hardest film to find on this list. Despite an extremely limited release last month I was able to catch it in cinemas. I haven’t experienced a film that better captures the dynamic of a family. The vibrant colors of South Florida evoke shades of Moonlight as the viewer is introduced to son Tyler masterfully played by newcomer Kelvin Harrison Jr. We see him navigate his senior year of high school amidst the pressures of a girlfriend, competitive athletics and the constant weight of his overbearing, but layered father (a brilliant Sterling K. Brown of This is Us fame).

To say much about the plot is to spoil the film, but it is powerful to say the least. The film’s soundtrack is simply a miracle. The brilliant hues of neon and ocean pastels burn images in you mind as Frank Ocean, Kid Cudi, Tyler, The Creator and numerous other beloved artists weave in and out. This film literally has more than five Frank Ocean songs in it. If that isn’t convincing enough you’re on the wrong blog.

4. “Uncut Gems” (2019) Dir. by Josh and Benny Sadfie

Infinitely rewatch-able, this film is the closest simulation to living inside a pressure cooker. Adam Sandler plays the neurotic Howard Ratner with the conviction of man of his hair on fire. Even in the scenes he isn’t present his gravitas is felt in every frame. There’s really something here for everyone. Howard owes people money from his diamond store in Manhattan. As he ramps up his debt with a series of increasingly risky bets the viewer follows him night and day. Each time he seemingly as a way out the stakes only increase.

The frantic and gritty way the film is shot paired with its masterfully tense score have the film dialed up to 120 the entire runtime. It is the film equivalent of “Why are you so sweaty? I was watching Cops.” in Stepbrothers. This one just went wide release on Christmas so get out there before it leaves theaters.

3. “La La Land” (2016) Dir. by Damien Chazelle

Don’t let the infamous Best Picture swap with Moonlight fool you about the quality of this film. In his follow up to Whiplash, Chazelle takes command from the opening musical number on the overpasses of the 405 in LA. This love story of ambition between aspiring musician Seb and actress Mia has heart that few films have. It isn’t about boy meets girl. Similar to A Star is Born it is about finding the person you need to reach your dreams.

There’s few films with this level of direction. Each camera movement, lighting choice and story beat is tactile and purposeful. Emma Stone delivers a career defining performance and the Academy thankfully awarded her Best Actress. Every song on the soundtrack is an absolute banger and there’s really no excuse for not watching this one. A true gem even on my twelfth rewatch and four papers/presentations I gave on it in film school.

2. “Booksmart” (2019) Dir. by Olivia Wilde

These final two movies on the list exist on their own personal Mount Olympus. Olivia Wilde, in her directorial debut no less, creates an honest coming of age movie that’s actually a love story. Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaityln Dever) are honor roll students on their final day of high school. When they realize the kids who partied and didn’t study religiously also got into Ivy League schools they set out to correct that over one crazy night.

You really won’t find a sweeter or more hopeful film. Dever and Feldstein bring electricity to their roles and won’t fail to make you laugh and cry. In a news cycle filled with hate and fear, films like this are needed. A film that’s sexually, politically and morally progressive without getting on a soapbox is nearly impossible and that’s exactly what Wilde achieved with this instant classic. I literally only have a Hulu subscription to rewatch this endlessly. I also own two different shirts of Amy and Molly. Enjoy.

1. “Lady Bird” (2017) Dir. by Greta Gerwig

If you’re still reading this far you likely know me and know what’s number one. Gerwig’s Lady Bird is nothing short of perfection. A riveting and relatable story of titular Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson’s journey navigating her senior year of high school in Sacramento at surface, but really about parents and children. Between Sam Levy’s grainy cinematography that makes the film feel like a memory, Jon Brion’s understated score and Saoirse Ronan’s dynamo performance as Lady Bird there’s so much to love. You’re this far. You don’t need to read anymore. Take a breath, pat yourself on the back and let’s hope the next decade is even better. Also Lady Bird is on Amazon Prime. Don’t forget that.

(P.S Larry McPherson is the best movie dad of all time –– fight me.)

-Conner

IG and Twitter: @connerjmill9

#moviesofthedecade #easybreiseymovies #ladybird #booksmart a24 uncutgems lalaland moviereviews waves spectacularnow spiderman starisborn

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3w-writer-with-wings · 5 years

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3 and 19 for the salty ask?

3) Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

Not really. I think I like unfollowed 2, maybe 3 people in the last 4 years that I’ve been on Tumblr due to completely different reasons (I think one person kept spamming me, one would post a shitton of random stuff every day and it was too overwhelming for my dashboard and I don’t really remember the third one). Honestly, if someone has an opinion I don’t agree with, I rather listen to their reasoning since it is interesting to see something from a different perspective. I would only unfollow if they would pester me with it.

19) What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

FIRST GEN WAS THE BEST! aka. people who can’t shut up how great the first generation of the first series like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! and bash any other spin-off. I’ll admit it, when I was done with Duel Monsters, I hardly watched GX due to missing the old gang but eventually I grew to love the characters and story, especially Judai, Johan, Yubel and Jim. Same went for 5Ds. I thought Yusei was going to be this edgy, cool and always glaring protagonist, but he turned out to be the sweetest and smartest guy who deeply cares about his friends. I needed a while to get used to Yuma and Yuya, but once I really got into ARC V, I realized just how much development each spinoff got. VRAINS is still going strong and now that I’m rewatching the first series, I can see that it wasn’t as perfect and that there were things missing. I wouldn’t say it was the worst, but it is quite obvious that Duel Monsters were doing a lot of things for the first time. Spin-offs so got the basis and added more elements to new ones. VRAINS literally took everything that made the previous series great and put it together in a very well-written show. I have no doubt the next spin-off will incorporate the old elements that we know and love and add something brand new to make it unique. But no, people refuse to watch anything new and claim the first generation is the one and only without any other constructive argument. When I was cosplaying Yuya, I got several responses like “Why are you cosplaying that guy when you could be cosplaying someone from gen one? That way people could recognize you.” “Oh look, it is that Yugi-wannabe.” “I never watched anything past one gen. It is the best.” I cosplayed Yuya because he is a yugioh protagonist I relate to the most. I love ARC V and being Yuya was one way to show it. Still, that one other guy had a nerve to tell me off how bad ARC V was compared to first-generation EVEN THOUGH HE NEVER ACTUALLY WATCHED IT! Like dude chill, some people actually decided to go past their childhood nostalgia and gave new series a chance. I completely understand that people have preferences, but bashing new spinoffs just because you decided the first one is the best without an actual argument is utterly rude and unnecessary. A lot of people wish for a first-generation reboot like Sailor Moon, but what is really a point of that? Yugi and Atem got their conclusive end in Dark Side of Dimensions - Atem got his well-deserved rest and Yugi can now peacefully work on his new game without saving the world. With a new reboot, this ending will no longer be conclusive and will obviously be just a cash grab. That’s the charm of the new spin-offs. They continue to tell new stories with new elements and characters and to be honest, it is going really well.

Same goes for Pokemon. My favourite generations are Diamon&Pearl and XYZ, and I absolutely prefer Eureka/Bonnie, Citron/Clement and Hikari/Dawn to all other companions. I’m sorry, but Misty wasn’t as great as others praise her to be and Brock has been with Ash for three generations. Ash will likely always be the main protagonist, so it is nice if at least his companions get switched. I remember watching the 20th Pokemon movie, I Choose You and I really liked the idea of Ash having two new companions in an alternative timeline. But noooo, a whole lot of people weren’t having it. They claimed it felt like Misty and Brock were erased. Like duh, they weren’t supposed to be in it, how else are you supposed to represent the alternative timeline? Personally, I think Sorrel and Verity were really unique and would fit well as Ash’s companion. Verity was probably the first female pokemon trainer that ever travelled with Ash (other girls were either gym leaders, coordinators, performers and whatever Iris and Alola girls are) and her energetic and ongoing persona was really enjoyable, she kinda felt like female Ash. And Sorrel? I loved every single aspect of him. From his fear of losing pokemon and recovering with the help of Lucario to his dream of becoming a professor. And somehow the two of them got so much hate, simply because they weren’t Misty and Brock. This was likely the reason why that was their only appearance. The new characters in Power of Us make sense because they were all from that main city and the main story revolved around their insecurities and them learning how to make a step forward. Still Verity and Sorrel could still fit in there in some way. And the next movie? 3D reboot of the first movie! The first time I watched the trailer I was like “What even is this?” With so many Disney live-action reboots, it was just a matter of time before Pokemon would pick up the same idea. With over twenty movies, they are slowly losing ideas and with so many fans who demand nostalgia they went along with it. I’m yet to see that movie but from what I’ve seen, I fear it will end up like Lion King remake - a complete copy without a heart (kinda ironic since it is literally about clones). I miss the creativity and passion put in other movies, I mean, the staff members travelled the world to get inspiration and used real-life monuments, towns and cultures as a basis. Are they slowly giving up in those outrageous demands from loud fans?

To sum up, yes I dislike fans who insist something that came first was the best and don’t give the following the chance. I agree the spinoffs aren’t always the best (looking at you TMNT, Digimon and Beyblade), but I don’t in any way bash them. I will express my dislikes, but I will always provide a reason why and listen to people who indeed like it. Creators are pressured enough as it is and we should appreciate their work in any way we can.

#yugioh series #pokemon

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biscuitreviews · 5 years

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Biscuit’s Favorite Games

When it comes to a great game, there are a few factors at play. “Is the gameplay good? Is the story great? What cool memories do you have associated with the game? Did the game leave an everlasting impression?” All of these I feel are what help create a favorite game for a person.

Now normally people would countdown to their number one game and although I do have a number one game. There are many other games I enjoy as well and have left impressions on me that I carry with me to this day.

With that I’m not going to do a “traditional” countdown, but rather give my favorites before going to my all-time favorite (which for some of you shouldn’t be a surprise because I’ve gone on record with it a few times already). With that, let’s go over some of my personal favorite games.

Halo: Reach

I love the Halo series. I love the setting, I love the idea of you being a badass super soldier, and I love the soundtrack. I have more memories with the Halo series playing online with my friends and Halo: Reach for me has the best memories.

We would often get large groups going into big team matches and when we couldn’t get a large group we would go into the small team games and have tons of fun with either matchmaking or custom matches. There are many times we would stay up until 5 or 6 a.m playing Reach. Reach also spawned off quite a few inside memes with my friends, memes that we still quote to this day. With Microsoft’s recent announcement of Halo: Reach being re-released on PC, we’re looking forward to remembering the good times as we exchange teabags with a new generation of Spartans.

But aside from multiplayer, Reach also had in my opinion the best campaign. It was emotional, it had some amazing epic set pieces, it was challenging, and most importantly Noble 6 was your Spartan model from multiplayer which gave a more personal attachment to the story.

Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal

I was on the ground floor of the Pokemon Hype in the 90s. When the follow-up to the amazing Blue/Red/Yellow came out, many of use were ready to embark on a new Pokemon adventure in a new region eager to catch the new Pokemon.

It made great improvements from the original game, adding additional Pokemon types, a story with Team Rocket trying to make a comeback, and the biggest surprise of them all, going back to Kanto and fighting the Kanto Pokemon Gym Leaders. This made the world of Pokemon feel much larger and connected. Ever since then, it’s been a highly requested feature to have a previous region in another version revisited or ot have a nice dense post game. Although, revisiting regions has yet to happen since Silver/Gold/Crystal, each Pokemon game has been released with a good sizeable post game adventure to embark on.

The remakes HeartGold and Soul Silver are just as fantastic.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening

There are games that we complete at 100%, then there are games we complete until there’s nothing left. Devil May Cry 3 was the first game that I ripped apart inside and out in terms of content. I completed every single difficulty as both Dante and Vergil, acquired every skill, every alternative costume, and every challenge.

I did it because I had a lot of fun with the game’s combat and it was also my first Devil May Cry game. How I got the game was interesting as well. A friend of mine had Devil May Cry 3 and a relative of theirs gifted them another copy of the game for their birthday unbeknownst to them that my friend had the game already. They asked if I wanted their extra copy and that’s how I got into the Devil May Cry series. One day Devil May Cry 5, one day.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The Metal Gear Solid series is one of my favorite game series of all-time. The first entry of the series for the PS1 taught me so many things. In fact, the original Metal Gear Solid also greatly influenced my playstyle, which is emphasis on stealth.

Metal Gear Solid 3 was a great game that challenges your stealth skills. Not only did you have no radar, but you had to be more aware of your surroundings. Not only could you encounter guards, but you could potentially encounter wildlife in the jungle that could and will also harm you. You would also have to eat to keep your stamina up, wear the proper camouflage for the environment for optimal stealth, and you would have to heal injuries through various methods. All of these considerations added a new challenge to the stealth game to where the systems served as an extra layer rather than an annoying chore to keep up with.

Mega Man X4

This game was actually my first exposure to the Mega Man X series. I was already familiar with the classic series and I was eager to play this particular game and learning what the deal with having the X in the title was. It was then I learned that you could play as two different characters, the ever familiar blue bomber, which my 8 year old thought, “Ok, that must be a new model of Mega Man.” However, Zero was what immediately caught my eye, a robot using a lightsaber (which I would later learn it was called Z Saber) as an attack, sign me up!

The gameplay was super fun and there are slight differences in the story depending on who you play as. Granted it’s clear that this entry was catered for Zero rather than X, it’s still a really fun game no matter which character you picked. Similar to its predecessors, the game has also aged really well graphically.

Skies of Arcadia

To me, this is the perfect summer adventure in gaming. You’re a Robin Hood-esque air pirate who comes across a woman from a thought to be lost civilization. This was a turn based RPG where you had use the correct element on your weapon to effectively fight in battles. Not only that but there was also ship battles where you can engage in fighting other Airships.

It’s also a game that I feel constantly gets forgotten by Sega whenever they do Dreamcast collection releases. Skies of Arcadia is great and is one of the few games that I will 100% buy whenever it finally gets the HD remaster that it deserves.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

As far as the Legend of Zelda series goes I love every entry. There are a couple that I don’t like as much, but they still have qualities about them that I find enjoyable. Although Link to the Past was the first Zelda game I played, Ocarina of Time was the first one I would ever own and complete to 100%. At the time of its release it was a open area for you to explore with tackling temples and finding secrets. It also had a neat time travel mechanic with the story having some areas that would have effects on the future.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season One

This is a title that revived the the point and click adventure as well as popularize the episodic format. I got into this game during my Walking Dead craze and this game touched me in an unexpectedly emotional way. So much so I got teary eyed on the season finale and if a game manages to invoke such an emotional response within you, you know it did something right. I got attached to Lee and Clementine and the writing for the season was superb. Choices were respected and although there were many events that still happened no matter the choice, it was more reflected in the dialogue and for what Telltale was trying to accomplish, I thought it worked well.

Borderlands 2

Everyone that loves Borderlands 2, loves Handsome Jack and he’s an amazing video game villain. However, I do have a personal connection that cemented this as a favorite. This is a game that my wife and I would completely co-op with no handicap of any kind. What do I mean by a handicap. When it comes to playing co-op games on PC I am hopeless with a mouse and keyboard, where as my wife is completely running the show. Similar to consoles, my wife is hopeless with a controller and I’m taking point.

I used to not be much of a PC gamer. When I got a Windows 10 laptop my wife and I decided to get Borderlands 2 as Windows 10 allowed you to plug in a Xbox One controller without having to download any additional programs or anything. My wife was mouse and keyboard on her PC, and I was plugged in with a controller on my laptop and it changed everything. We no longer had to babysit one another, we could go into a camp of enemies and come out with barely a scratch on either of us. We even got to better understand one another’s playstyle and it complimented each other very well for an amazing co-op experience. Now I have evolved more into a PC gamer and have started playing so more co-op games with my wife.

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

This is a game that I’ve been replaying and going back through since I played it in 2016. The detail of how character dialogue reacts to your decisions is just amazing. Also the way you go about fighting monsters is amazing as well. You have to study them, research them in your bestiary, drink the appropriate potions, apply the proper blade oil, use the propers signs and bombs in the fight. It gives you the sense that you are preparing for a fight.

CD Projekt Red used a branching story writing program called Articy Draft. It’s a program I myself actually use in my day job. I’m constantly going back to this game and studying it to try to imagine how the writers wrote certain decision points and how it branched out within Articy. Making different decisions and doing quests in a different order are just some of the things I do to further study this game in how they approach it in dialogue with Articy.

All Time Favorite - Final Fantasy X

As I mentioned in a few of my posts Final Fantasy X is my favorite game. I love everything about this game: the story, the setting, the characters, the combat system, the sphere grid progression system and the soundtrack. The way that Square had the player go through the world and learn more about it was genius and allowed for a deeper connection between Tidus and the player. There have been other games that have done this method of relaying plot information to the player, but to me Final Fantasy X was the one that got it right.

One day I will review this game, but I have no plans to review it for a good long time.

Those are my favorite games! I’d love to hear some of your favorites as well!

#Biscuit reviews #Biscuit's favorite games #favorite game #favorite video games #video games #gaming #Final Fantasy X #Witcher III #Borderlands 2 #skies of arcadia #Telltale's The Walking Dead #Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time #Megaman X4 #Devil May Cry 3 #Halo: Reach #Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal #Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

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