#watch the stage play instead it's a much more entertaining and creative adaptation | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thetirisfaltheatretroupe · 3 years

Text

Big Troupe Announcements! Big Troupe Summer!

Hello, everyone! Lord Atos Sunhart here! For those of you who aren’t aware, Fehl had stepped down last year from Troupe related duties due to her own life becoming much more demanding, and so I returned to the director’s seat once again. I’ve been back for about a year, but we’ve kind of laid a little low since my return due to a lot of restructuring and our desire to try a few new ideas out that are coming along slowly but surely!

We have some awesome projects in the works, some of which won’t be ready for some time, and some that we’re excited to bring you much sooner! But we can’t QUITE open the curtains for a peek just yet. Before anything, I’d like to make a series of announcements about some of our projects this Summer, starting with the most important one of all:

The Troupe Is Casting!

Looking at some of the last posts made on this ye olde tumblr I guess it’s not a surprise that the troupe is indeed casting once more. In the past, it was due to not really having enough active people to pull off a large show with, but now, times have changed a bit, and we’re looking for people to make our shows even better and more frequent than ever!

What we’re looking for;

* Any race/gender/faction! Yes, we hire Alliance as well! In the era of Discord and cross faction RP, there’s no reason we have not to. Though, we are overloaded on elves at the moment and would kinda love a tauren or any Alliance character

* Obviously the character should be a good fit for the group! We’re not really looking for a serial murderer warlock who tries to sacrifice our members to the great Murloc Gods at the first chance they get. We’re not too picky here, but there are some characters that just don’t work terribly well with our concept.

* Available to take part in events during most of our performing days, which tend to be weekends, starting around 6:00 PM server. We base all our event times on server time.

* Someone who, behind the character, is friendly, patient, and above all else, mature. The clear rule of “don’t be an asshole” applies in this guild (and I’ll explain what that means below), and we have a zero drama tolerance policy. We are all adults who pay a monthly subscription to a greedy corporation to play with their toys, I think the last thing we want is to relive middle school in our 20s and 30s.

* Someone with a desire to help make memorable, exciting events for others to enjoy. While we play the part of celebrities, and being in the spotlight is a lot of fun, ultimately we want someone who, behind the character at least, does it for the enjoyment of others and not for personal gain or clout. We’re not clout chasers. We are proud of how long we’ve been performing and how hard we work, but ultimately we do this for our audience’s enjoyment.

* Communication is important! We aren’t a hardcore raiding guild, and thus we won’t be upset if you tell us you have to miss a rehearsal night or have a family emergency.. But if you know ahead of time, we really want someone who will let us know they can’t make it to an event so we can plan around it.

Furthermore, it should be said that while we normally do not require a person leave their guild to join us, this time around we’re looking for more to wear the guild tag above their heads, at least for this recruitment effort. Above all of these, the most important key point is the ‘don’t be an asshole’ policy. In the past I didn’t think it needed to be explained, but things we’ve been through in recent months compels me to explain what I mean by this; no homophobic behavior, racist behavior, transphobic behavior, harassment, pedophilia and other such illegal and morally vile behavior will be tolerated in our guild, period. But I’m sure you’re asking, what’s in it for me? Well, the benefits of working with the Tirisfal Theatre Troupe are, but not limited to;

* Being part of a near decade-old (8 years this October) guild that through thick and thin has stood the test of time!

* Working alongside some extremely talented, fun, humorous, and creative minds!

* Getting to make people smile and be a positive part of the community!

* Taco Tuesdays. This is a lie, don’t believe me.

* Helping an already fun concept become even better as we grow and adapt to the ever changing nature of this game and its community!

* Adding “Actor/Actress” to your long series of titles in your TRP Profile. Maybe somewhere between “Lord of the Dance” and “Wrecker of your Shit”! Don’t be bashful, we know you have it in there somewhere.

So if you’re interested in being a part of the stage and bringing the uniqueness that is YOU into our ranks, please send an in-game mail to Atos on Wyrmrest Accord server (Hordeside), or show up for the open auditions at the dates, times, and location listed below;

Thursday, June 3rd 6:00 - 8:30 PM Portrait Room - Legion Dalaran

Friday, June 4th 6:00 - 8:30 PM Portrait Room - Legion Dalaran

Saturday, June 5th 6:00 - 8:30 PM Portrait Room - Legion Dalaran

We hope to see you there! And remember, because we’ve had this happen a few times; if you think you aren’t good enough, you’re probably actually amazing and far more talented than you think!

Anniversary Bash 2021 Officially Planned! With a Twist

Those of you who have followed us for some time are likely aware of our annual celebration we hold on the anniversary of our first major public performance! This has traditionally been held on the third Friday of every October, so that it lines up perfectly with Hallow’s End starting. While we have had on-off years, and even said in the past we would never do it again (Insert I was crazy that time meme here), it’s pretty clear that at least every other year we seem to take to it again with new ideas. Honestly, we LOVE these yearly parties, despite how much stress they put us under, and we’re going to announce it earlier this year just so people know; yes, yes there WILL be a bash this year!

Things are going to be a little different this year, though. This October will actually have 5 Fridays in it due to...well...the calendar! It conspires against us, dammit! Because the third Friday falls in place before the Hallow’s End events are set to start, we will instead be bumping it up one week to the 22nd. So, there you have it! Our Big Bash will be on the 22nd of October! We’ll be making a full announcement about it later this Summer, and honestly, I think folks are going to really like the fun we have planned for it. So if this is something you’re looking forward to early, or you just like making sure your calendar events are always filled out, please make a mark for

October 22nd, 2021!

Hellsqueal Squeals Again, Plus Winter’s Veil In July?

This Summer we’ll be getting back to our roots and bringing Hellsqueal back for another round. The Trilogy will rise again, and you won’t want to miss it! This time we’ll be performing it for our audiences on both sides of the factional fence and making some revisions to the script, but long time fans needn’t worry! Hellscream is still the same boisterous buffoon he’s always been.

Also, we’re bringing you an interesting new concept no one has EVER thought of before! ...well, okay, that’s a lie, but Greatfather Winter needn’t send me a lump of coal in my in-game mailbox for that one! The TTT will be hosting a Winter’s Veil themed party IN JULY! Don your gaudy sweaters, get ready to meet Greatfather Winter, take part in a sled race, and get ready to watch a completely out of season showing of It’s A Wonderful Unlife! Some lucky attendees may even receive a gift! The date for this and for Hellsqueal’s trilogy are yet to be announced, but they will be unveiled very soon!

Even though we never left, it feels good to be back at full strength again and pushing hard to give everyone the quality entertainment we pride ourselves on! Keep an eye out for our announcements this Summer - we’ll be hitting not only Tumblr when an event is ready to go, but the Blizzard forums and various Discord community servers! So please, have a fantastic day, week, month, even a year!

#tttevents #Wyrmrest Accord #WRA RP #Wow Rp #Hordeside events #alliance rp

16 notes · View notes

nitrateglow · 4 years

Text

Favorite film discoveries of 2019

Every year, my new-to-me favorites list always shocks me in some way. This year, the sheer amount of movies made in the 2010s on display is INSANE by my standards. Of course, most of the modern movies here are throwbacks or tributes to older styles of cinema, so maybe it’s not that shocking in the long run.

Another running trend this year: movies that are old but not as dated as we would wish. Many of the older films here deal with xenophobia and political strife in ways that still feel shockingly prescient today-- the more things change...

ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD (DIR. QUENTIN TARANTINO, 2019)

I never thought the day would come where my favorite movie of the year would actually be made after the 1970s, let alone by Quentin Tarantino. Then again, this movie is all about the end of Old Hollywood as well as a big love letter to the 1960s, so maybe it’s not that shocking a state of affairs. I adored this movie, the level of detail, the laidback yet elegaic vibe, the comedy and the relationships between all the characters. It was one of those movies where I loved even the scenes where nothing seems to be happening at all-- I mean, who knew Brad Pitt feeding his dog and watching TV could be entertaining?? But it is and I can't wait to see this one again!

INTENTIONS OF MURDER (DIR. SHOHEI IMAMURA, 1964)

Intentions of Murder has an insane premise, one that runs the risk of being tasteless: a housewife in a miserable, exploitative marriage is raped by a sickly burglar during a home invasion. Even worse, she can’t shake him, as he’s suddenly infatuated and wants her to run away with him to the city. And weirder still: her current existence is so miserable that she’s TEMPTED. While abuse and rape are grim subjects for any story, Intentions is actually about a woman coming into her own and finally standing strong against all these men trying to use her. It’s a weird blend of drama and dark comedy, a truly savage satire on patriarchy and class-snobbery.

JOKER (DIR. TODD PHILLIPS, 2019)

I went into this movie expecting to think it was overhyped and when I first left the theater, I was all ready to say “it’s good but not THAT good.” But it ended up haunting me for weeks afterward, and I found myself thinking about how everything just tied up so well together, from the grotty urban hellscape which serves as the setting to Phoenix’s brilliant performance. It reminded me a lot of A Clockwork Orange in how intimate it lets you get to this violent man while never pretending he is someone to be glamorized or imitated.

SIMON (DIR. MARSHALL BRICKMAN, 1980)

How do I even describe Simon? Alan Arkin is brainwashed by a group of overpaid intellectuals into believing he is descended from an alien toaster. Then he gets a messiah complex and starts gathering disciples as he rails against television, condiment packets, and muzak. It’s a little uneven at times, sure, but the satire is really inspired. The whole thing is like a combination of Mel Brooks, Stanley Kubrick, and Woody Allen’s styles, and it is quite hilarious for those who thrive on cult oddities.

PEEPING TOM (DIR. MICHAEL POWELL, 1960)

Though it came out the same year as Hitchcock’s Psycho and has been nearly as influential for horror cinema, Peeping Tom remains underseen by everyone save for film theorists. And what a shame that is, because this movie is more frightening than Psycho. Sure, that may be because Psycho is so predominant in popular culture and just so influential that it no longer has the same shock value, but there’s something about Peeping Tom that gets under my skin, something sad, even disgusting. I felt dirty after watching it-- and this is 2019!

MIDNIGHT MARY (DIR. WILLIAM WELLMAN, 1933)

Loretta Young got one of her juiciest roles in this pre-code crime drama. Her Mary Martin is more than just a good girl forced into criminal circles-- she’s a complicated creature, compassionate and desperate and lonely and bitter and sensual all at once. This movie is a fast-paced, beautifully filmed ride, cloaked in that Depression-era cynicism that makes pre-code Hollywood of such interest to movie geeks the world over.

WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD (DIR. WILLIAM WELLMAN, 1933)

Wild Boys of the Road is a quintessential Depression-era movie, relentless in its bleakness and rage. That the main characters are all starving kids only looking for work makes their struggles all the harder to watch. William Wellman is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors: his gritty style and compact storytelling are just perfect for a ripped-from-the-headlines drama such as this. And the “happy” ending has one little moment that just knocks any smile you have right off your mug. Absolutely see this.

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING (DIR. NORMAN JEWISON, 1966)

Sometimes, when you watch a movie only because a favorite actor is in it, you get subjected to pure trash like Free and Easy (oh, the things I do for Buster Keaton). Other times, you get cute gems like The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming, which, as you probably guessed, I mainly sought out for Alan Arkin. But the whole movie is hilarious, the best kind of farce comedy, populated by enjoyable characters and a sweet-tempered humanism that grounds the wackiness. While a little overlong, this movie is quite underrated-- and sadly, its satire of American xenophobia and Cold War panic is not as dated as we would like to believe.

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (DIR. ALAN J. PAKULA, 1976)

Who knew a political thriller where most people know the twist could be so intense and riveting? It’s about as nonsensical as feeling suspense when you watch a movie about the Titanic and hope the boat won’t sink-- but damn, it’s magical. All the President’s Men is real white-knuckle stuff, with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman projecting both youthful excitement and deep panic as they proceed with their investigation. It scarcely seems to have aged at all.

WHISPER OF THE HEART (DIR. YOSHIFUMI KONDOU, 1995)

There’s a scene near the end of Whisper of the Heart where the protagonist Shizuku shows the finished first draft of her fantasy novel to her first reader, the grandpa of one of her schoolmates. She weeps because it isn’t the perfect image she had in her head, despite how hard she worked on it, but the old man tells her that it takes polishing and discipline to make the work come to its full potential. Few movies about artists are so honest about how hard it can be, how unsupportive others can be in their demand that everyone be “practical.” As a writer who struggles to create and constantly doubts herself, this movie spoke strongly to me. I recommend it to any creative person.

THE PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (DIR. BRIAN DE PALMA, 1976)

I’d been wanting to see this movie since my high school phan days. Holy crap, is it WEIRDER than I could have ever imagined, a true camp masterpiece. I’m shocked it was never tuned into a stage show actually, but then again, we would miss those trippy camera angles and we wouldn’t have Paul Williams as one of the greatest villains of all time.

DUEL (DIR. STEVEN SPIELBERG, 1971)

When people talk about the best movies made in the “Hitchcock without Hitchcock directing” tradition, why is Duel so seldom mentioned? The scene in the cafe, packed with paranoid tension and tense camerawork, alone should qualify it. Duel is most known as the movie which put the young Steven Spielberg on the map. It’s quite different from his later work, grittier and less whimsical for sure. Even the ending seems almost nihilistic, depending on how you view it. But damn, if it isn’t fine filmmaking.

CAROL (DIR. TODD HAYNES, 2015)

This gorgeous throwback to Douglas Sirk melodramas is also one of the best romantic movies I’ve seen in a while. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara have the sweetest, tenderest chemistry-- it was like seeing Lauren Bacall and Audrey Hepburn as love interests in a film. Unlike Sirk, there is little in the way of ripe melodrama here-- everything is underplayed, aching, mature. And I can say this is an adaptation that is better than the source book: it just feels so much warmer.

12 ANGRY MEN (DIR. SIDNEY LUMET, 1957

All I can say is that this was every bit equal to the hype. Common movie wisdom says people sitting and talking in a room is going to be boring on film, but movies like 12 Angry Men prove this is not so when you’ve got an excellently tense atmosphere, an inspired script, and a stable of fine actors to work with. Like The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming, this movie has not significantly aged-- much to society’s discredit.

A STAR IS BORN (DIR. GEORGE CUKOR, 1954)

Another movie I went into not expecting to love as much as I did. When movies from the 20s or 30s tended to get remakes in the 1950s, I always find them too garish and big, victims of glossy Cinemascope and overlong runtimes. Compared to the lean 1937 classic original, I expected sheer indulgence from this three-hour remake. Instead, I got my heart torn out all over again-- the longer runtime is used well, fleshing out the characters to a greater degree. Judy Garland and James Mason both give what might be the best efforts of their respective careers, and the satire of the celebrity machine remains as relevant and scathing as ever.

BLANCANIEVES (DIR. PABLO BERGER, 2012)

Oh, it feels like this movie was made for me specifically. It’s shot in gorgeous, expressionistic black-and-white. It’s set in the 1920s. It’s a clever adaptation of a classic fairy tale. It’s as funny and charming as it is bittersweet and macabre. Instead of more superhero movies, can we get more neo-silent movies like this? PLEASE?

THE FAVOURITE (DIR. YORGOS LANTHIMOS, 2018)

I’ve heard The Favourite described as a “bitchy lesbian Shakespeare play,” but this description, while a little true in terms of general tone, does not get to the heart of what makes this film brilliant. More than love or sex, this movie is about power-- particularly the corrupting influence of power. And it corrupts not only morals but love itself. Innocents become Machiavellian schemers. Lovers become sadomasochistic enemies. Good intentions turn to poison. This certainly isn’t a happy movie, but it is moving and, strangely enough, also hilarious. I was reminded of the chilly, satirical world of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon more than once-- and for me, that is not a bad movie to be reminded of.

ON THE WATERFRONT (DIR. ELIA KAZAN, 1954)

Another classic that’s been on my list forever that I was delighted to find worthy of its reputation. It’s a classic tale of redemption and social justice, perfectly acted and shot. While I still prefer A Streetcar Named Desire as far as Kazan is concerned, this might be a better movie in the objective sense. Actually, more than even Brando, Karl Malden is the acting highlight for me-- he plays a priest torn between staying silent or truly speaking for the Gospel by demanding justice for the poor parish he serves. Just brilliant work.

KLUTE (DIR. ALAN J. PAKULA, 1971)

A perfect thriller, just about, and a great example of the “NYC is hell on earth” subgenre of the 1960s and 1970s. Jane Fonda is a revelation: she feels so real, not at all like a starlet trying to seem normal if you know what I mean.

KISS KISS BANG BANG (DIR. SHANE BLACK, 2005)

As far as subversive noir goes, this is the most entertaining. I would put it up there with The Big Lebowski as far as goofy takes on Raymond Chandler are concerned-- I don’t even really know what to make of it, but I laughed my ass off anytime I wasn’t going “WHAT???”

What were your favorite film discoveries in 2019?

151 notes · View notes

ohlayarfp · 3 years

Text

Film Review - Misteri Dilaila by Syafiq Yusof

Misteri Dilaila is a Malaysian horror thriller film that went viral in 2019. I rarely watch Malaysian films because when i do, it’s usually the same plot all over again. Drama, romance, action, comedy and everyone’s favourite, Horror. I feel like these genres are the usuals everywhere but what makes it unbearable for most of us Malaysians is how similar every story is. Rich boy meets a poor girl. Rich boy falls in love with her and when they get married the mother hates the poor girl. They fight and one day someone dies and the end. For horror, it’s just about some people getting haunted by a ghost that was sent by a close friend of theirs.

The thing I understand about the horror hype for Malaysians is how our culture is deeply rooted with mystical beliefs and as religious as we tend to be, ghost stories seem to intertwine with our faith for countless years. Personally, I believe in Asian ghosts more than the western versions. This is probably due to my own family having our fair share of sights into the world of the undead.

The reason why I chose to talk about this film is because of how disappointed I felt when I watched it. Unlike most Malaysian films, it had the potential to be a great one. The look of the film was far better than the usual ones we got and the story building had a Gone Girl vibe. What made me disappointed was the fact that while watching that film I was hopeful and excited thinking finally a Malaysian Filmmaker is making a psychological horror instead of those in your face jump scares.

The story is about a married couple, Jefri and Dilaila, who were spending their holiday together at a luxury vacation home in Fraser’s Hill. After a petty issue where they end up quarrelling at each other, Jefri discovers his wife went missing the following morning. Next thing he knows, a mysterious woman who also goes by the name of Dilaila shows up one night where she claims to be his wife. Adding more confusion is the supernatural occurrences that regularly haunts Jefri whenever he’s alone in the house.

Throughout the whole film, I was at the edge of my seat thinking that there’s finally a malaysian filmmaker that is about to introduce a character with a mental illness as the protagonist which would’ve justified his hallucinations of the ghost. Unfortunately, it was just like other films where there’s no actual context to the sightings, they were just ghosts being ghosts and haunting him for no reason. Well that’s for the 2nd version of the film.

Another fun fact about this film is that it went viral due to the alternate endings it has. When the film came out in the cinemas, people were surprised to hear that they had different endings when they discussed it with their friends. This was purely the filmmaker and his team’s intention. Different halls have different endings and this was meant to be a surprise for the audiences. It was a great marketing strategy and considered as a genius way of thinking for some people while some were mad that they were being ripped off.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

As a person that watched both versions, I was unsatisfied with both versions as both endings angered me. Nevertheless, I didn’t think it’s an absolute flop though. Both versions have the fair share of plot twists. The first version revealed that the protagonist we thought all along was the actual antagonist. He was the one that killed his own wife whilst every supporting character was a part of the police team that were acting to make him confess to his wrong doings. It was then stated that the hallucinations he got was a result of his guilt and him being under the influence of drugs all along.

The second version on the other hand is more mystical. The ghosts made more appearances in this version. The protagonist is still the good guy but the inspector that was involved in the case turned out to be a fake policeman and he was working with the imposter Dilaila. Towards the end, Jef found out that his wife has been dead a long time ago and the ‘wife’ he was holding turns out to be something else (this we never see on screen though).

Personally if i were to choose an ending, I would choose the 1st version as it makes more sense logically but I can understand why people love the 2nd Version. Malaysians and their thirst for horror films explains the statistics. But a famous film reviewer on YouTube (ZhafVlogs) once made an instagram poll and asked his subscribers to choose between the two versions and surprisingly it was a tie. This proves that the director made the right decision to come up with alternate endings.

*END OF SPOILERS*

The film then landed in a controversy within the next few weeks after the premiere. Someone noticed that the story was awfully familiar. It was then proven that the story was 90% similar to a few films from India, America, Russia and more. People were comparing it to a film called “Vanishing Act” and they were right.

As a film student, I am aware about the concept of adaptation so I personally see no wrong in the filmmaker’s act. However, I can understand why people are mad. The filmmaker went silent once news got out about him “stealing” the idea and “claiming” the story as his. But based on my research, I never found him claiming the story as his before. Although, he also never mentioned about him making a remake of the initial film as well. The filmmaker went silent for a long time and people kept sending him hate comments but soon died after a few months.

A year later, the issue was raised yet again by someone and this caused the filmmaker to finally speak up. He explains the concept of adaptation and how he was inspired by a scriptwriting book called Save The Cat which said that “A good artist copy, but a great artist steals”. He also states about there being so many films abroad that have the similar concept to an older film such as Fast and Furious with Point Break, Avatar with Pocahontas and Inception with Paprika. He finally came clean and stated that he was inspired by a stage play from France called “A Trap for a Lonely Man”. He then added his own twist by adding some horror elements knowing that it being the target audience favourite genre.

Also regarding the quote from Save The Cat, (in my opinion) I feel like what the author was implying is about ‘stealing’ stories from life. Not stealing the exact plot codes from other films. This is based on my understanding from the phrase which I assume Syafiq may have misinterpreted it.

He raised logical points from a filmmaker’s perspective and he also raised some issues about being pressured from his father (Yusof Haslam) and brother (Syamsul Yusof) who were well known filmmakers as well. He said that everyone kept on telling him to be better than his father and brother. Sadly, when he was at his lowest, even his family turned their backs on him and said that it’s fully his fault.

From my point of view, I was initially furious with him for not being able to defend himself by explaining about the adaptation because I feel like most Malaysian audiences are unaware about it. People assume adaptation is from book to film when it's more than that. I, myself, learnt that from film school. And I’m not entirely defending him as well, I’m still disappointed in him for not speaking up sooner. But I do empathise with him as well. The audience were quick to attack him. The film industry in Malaysia is not entirely in the best state for these past few years. So a film like Misteri Dilaila made everyone hopeful for more quality films like it only to be betrayed at the end when they found out that it wasn’t his own creative idea and a total rip off. I still feel like he did a good job with his visuals which was an improvement from the local films around that time.

Reading through the whole issue and looking at how this decision to “copy” the plot codes as he was inspired from the Save The Cat book has opened my eyes. As a filmmaker, I feel like i should always do research before starting on a project and the best thing is to always be honest with our intentions. If it’s inspired by a remake, then set it straight and give credit to the original piece. Don’t keep it to yourself. It is terrifying though, being in his state where everyone turned their backs on him, even his own family. He released a few films after that, saying that film is his job and that it is his source of income so as much as it may seem hard sometimes, life still goes on. Sadly, he received a lot of backlash and people lost their faith in him. People were being sarcastic and teasing him if the film was even his.Seeing that happened to him opened my eyes. People may let it slide but they’ll never forget. Once you screw up, people will remember and use it against you.

Pictures of the set:

Links to Film Reviews:

A Non-Horror Fan's Guide To Watching 'Misteri Dilaila'

https://rojakdaily.com/entertainment/article/6414/a-non-horror-fan-s-guide-to-watching-misteri-dilaila

Misteri Dilaila (2019) Review

https://www.caseymoviemania.com/2019/02/misteri-dilaila-2019-review/

Movie review: Misteri Dilaila

https://www.thesundaily.my/style-life/reviews/movie-review-misteri-dilaila-DJ649603

Link to news about the controversy :

Is Local Horror Film ‘Misteri Dilaila’ a Rip Off? Here’s What The Director Had To Say..

https://juiceonline.com/is-local-horror-film-misteri-dilaila-a-rip-off-heres-what-the-director-had-to-say/

Horror fans slam ‘Misteri Dilaila’ for ripping off Hollywood film ‘Vanishing Act’

https://www.malaymail.com/news/showbiz/2019/03/05/horror-fans-slam-misteri-dilaila-for-ripping-off-hollywood-film-vanishing-a/1729154

Clarification/Statement by the Director about the issue (in Malay);

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=649749852534594&set=pcb.649750949201151

1 note · View note

fuse2dx · 3 years

Text

November ‘20

Cross Code

Cross Code is a game that is trying so very, very hard. The story is based around your character being an avatar within an MMORPG, and its this kind of game-within-a-game setup that is used as a cheeky way to skirt the fourth wall and have its characters make snide remarks at certain design decisions, while also going full steam ahead with them regardless of the fact. Don’t think we didn’t notice, dev team! It plays out as a 2D top-down action RPG, but clearly has aspirations that extend far beyond this framework. Each of its environments is thoroughly layered with subtle verticality, with parkour-esque platforming having you constantly working backwards from your intended destination, and requiring meticulous attention to detail in order to find where it is you’re able to begin your elaborate series of jumps from. There’s a huge array of materials to gather and channel through traders and to craft into gear, and the combat they benefit is both precise and complex, requiring plenty of on-the-fly thinking as well as tight execution. As well as these set-piece battles, the game’s dungeons are full of puzzles that though smart in construction, are tough enough in isolation, and frankly brutal in their relentless frequency. One particularly ill-advised chapter has a series of three such dungeons in quick succession, and perfectly illustrates that just because you can, does not mean that you should.

On a more positive note, one thing the game does have in spades is charm. The sprite work is admirable; even though characters are a touch on the tiny side to be too effective on their own, their portraits and dialogue provide a solid emotive connection to them and the story that builds up around them. In all, it is a game that can be a lot of fun, and plenty rewarding - but the entire thing is overly long and far too regularly punishing. It’s tapped into a number of 16-bit action-RPG ideas well, but has perhaps unintentionally also managed to become the most masochistic presentation of these ideas to date.

Crimzon Clover: World Explosion

A game I’ve technically owned for years now, however the lack of a Windows PC has held me back from playing it - with this debut on the Switch finally granting me the opportunity though to get hands on. Although I’d gleaned plenty from watching super players decimate it before now, even my feeble credit feeding through the game’s five stages has given me plenty of additional appreciation for just how good it is.

It looks brilliant, with chunky, detailed enemies animated beautifully as they move about the screen. The music pounds along to an energetic beat, and the game keeps a solid pace all while plenty of bullets swarm around you in creative and considered patterns. Turning the tides with Break Mode is an incredibly satisfying way to take control of hairier moments, and while I can’t speak for every intricacy of its scoring system, I know that it’s developed by a team that demonstrably understands the value of these. What I can more reliably add to that discussion is that you’re unlikely to find yourself reliant on any one hook to find your fun though; even the most pedestrian appreciator of the genre should find plenty to enjoy. Thoroughly deserving of its regular appearance alongside the biggest names in the genre.

Holovista

There’s often a reasonable amount of scepticism that comes from some folks when you talk of gaming on a mobile phone. Flipping the conversation though, and instead to talk of one of my favourite advantages of the format, it’s great that a developer can lean on the familiarity and the personal connection that you have to the device you’re playing on. As a device that lives by your side 24/7 and increasingly encroaches further into every aspect of your being, Holovista leverages this connection amazingly, spinning its story in a series of interfaces that mimic how your phone acts when you use it yourself. Taking pictures and interacting with people in particular are key interfaces, and that are done in a way that neatly puts you right into the shoes of their character.

It begins with said character taking an interview for a new job that is hoped to herald a new tide of good fortune, and promptly introduces the circle of friends that are there to help with this and that celebrate alongside. As you learn more about the job, things slowly begin to get a bit weird, and then take a turn that is something akin to Black Mirror meets nightmarish introspection. Though not overtly unpleasant, there are some memorably unsettling moments along the way. Sensibly, it does have content warnings that offer some sound advice for those it might not sit so well with, but self-care does end up being a central takeaway from the game as a whole as well as for its cast. On the back of circumstances we’ll generically chalk up to this year’s being what it is, this ended up feeling like a lovely little palate cleanser - a considered refresh, thoroughly original, and a very worthy afternoon’s entertainment.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

One thing that’s always been great about Link’s Awakening came as a result of the technical limitations imposed by the Gameboy - that the Zelda format needed all the fat trimmed, while the mixture of puzzles and action were to be distilled down into their most potent and compact form. Even with the (entirely optional) extras they’ve slipped in with this remake, this still shines through in its design now, where it couldn’t be any further removed from the risks of overly long, dragged out pacing. A small overworld it may be, but it’s full of variety, secrets, and memorable moments. Dungeons are similarly economical with its good ideas - giving you new tools, laying out smart ways to break you into their use, and then letting you get on with things.

While the remastered music is also utterly charming, the real upsell here is the total visual do-over; its tilt-shifted cartoon aesthetic pushing each and every scene to look like a shiny, hyper-cute diorama. For all of the different visual styles that the series has dabbled with in the past, this one definitely feels like the right match for the light-hearted whimsy that comes through from the story and the characters. That’s not to say that it’s flawless either - the blurring at the screen’s edges can be overly intense at times, and the overall presentation does cause the performance to stutter and feel a little sluggish at times. I point at these things only given the bar is raised so - something unavoidable when you already know a game is a stone-cold classic from the off.

Astro’s Playroom

Coming pre-installed on your shiny new (and hopefully not scalped) Playstation 5 console, Playroom begins as a humble introduction to the capabilities of the Dual Sense controller. Touch control, haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and the like are introduced and may well generate some cooing and low-key positivity, however this enthusiasm is elevated by a mighty factor when the game truly begins and everything is put so deftly into practice.

It’s not a complex or particularly challenging title as far as 3D platformers go, with frequent checkpoints and no life counter in sight. Any mould-breaking to be done comes instead from the diversity in how you control various sideshows, with the entire kitchen sink’s worth of interface options being showcased as you climb into a monkey suit, blast off a rocket ship, bounce around as a pinball, and so on. All of these demonstrate ingenuity that could’ve easily gone awry, yet are quickly understood, and grounded in a level of both tactile and in-game feedback that maintains a natural feeling. The game’s worlds serve as virtual tours through colourful, fantasy depictions of hardware components that demonstrates an excellent level of both pride and playfulness, with fellow bots littering both the through-fare and the unbeaten paths, dressed up and enacting smart homage to generations of games and their characters, all while Playstation-themed collectables are doled out in tandem alongside smart, well-natured puns. It arguably borders on propaganda at times, such is the intense positivity. That said, the more extensive your tenure is with Sony’s platforms, the more likely it’ll dull your better judgement to this, instead letting slip a grin at what is essentially the grandest love letter to all things Playstation, and the warmest, most celebratory pack-in for a new console Sony could have ever hoped for.

The showcasing of new features and hardware aside, it’s also a subtle and unofficial coronation of Astrobot as Sony’s newest (and best) mascot. There’s been plenty of candidates in the past who’ve half-heartedly assumed to own the position, but it’s the silent, cheerful charm which makes Astro that much more of an endearing figurehead. G'wan the little guy.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

For someone that loves Suda51 and adored No More Heroes, my reaction to No More Heroes 2 on its original release was comparatively tepid. With a third game due next year, this re-release felt like the right time to revisit it and see it through, and although I found some things to enjoy, I certainly found plenty to remind me why I had bounced off it previously.

Roaming about in Santa Destroy between missions is gone, instead replaced with a short check list of destinations. While not a fan of the change myself, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing - though it does give a misleading impression of tightened focus that is very quickly lost as it lays out a spread of half-baked, and frankly clumsy mini-games. As well as being your prime source for money and upgrades, these do a lot to artificially increase the length of the game, and put simply, they’re just not fun enough to warrant this level of prominence. Even the main story has frequent moments where it veers away from the core 3D hack and slash gameplay, and again, these do more harm than good to the game’s flow.

The fighting underpinning it all has undoubtably been done better since by any number of titles, and though imperfect, it is still serviceable and enjoyable for the most part. Boss battles definitely hold the lion’s share of the game’s highlights, but there’s a few that also stick out with some poorly executed designs that tars its lasting impression. Shades do remain of the ridiculous, irreverent charm of the first game, although they are certainly more infrequent, and a more modern lens also brings into question just how sincerely we should take the sending up of Travis, when cast upon a backdrop of frequent fanservice. Not the best sequel then, but let’s hope 3 gets things back on track.

#cross code #crimzon clover #holovista #links awakening #astros playroom #no more heroes 2

3 notes · View notes

ozis-paradise · 4 years

Text

ØZI for Tatler

published july 3rd, 2020

[translated by me, proofread by @baobeejun]

Free like water, a born star! From Irene Yeh's son to the new king of popular music, the dazzling star you need to know: ØZI!

Bright red highlighted hair, equally red earpieces hanging around his neck. The boy with eye-catching tattoos is sitting on the make-up chair, skipping his feet while eating breakfast and he exudes a rebellious and free, yet delicate and pure atmosphere. Soon after his debut, he was shortlisted for six Golden Melody Awards last year and won Best New Artist. At the mention of his name, everyone will exclaime admiration and excitement, ØZI seems to have become a synonym of "cool" and "red" among the younger generation.

"I think I'm too rational, 100% rational, I should also be a little sentimental." This cool-looking artist was told by his agent that "his temper is very good, he most likely won't look angry." Isn't it a little unexpected for a rational rapper to be so talkative? Doesn't he also like to drink beverages with either honey or strawberry? Everytime ØZI gives a new answer, people have to reconstruct the imagine they already had in mind of him, contrasting to his appearance there is a vibrant and rich soul ready to stir trouble (in a "catching peoples attention" kinda way). Speaking of his definition of freedom, ØZI jokes "Freedom means that my agent won't call me, no work, blocking my agent's calls!" But in fact, the interpretation of freedom in his heart is somewhat aloof and mature: "Because society has a lot of rules, as far as I can tell, no-one is free; from family, love to friendship, they all have their own rules. But freedom comes from inner stability, it should be "like water", just then you're free. When it is placed in different containers, it becomes it's shape, it can adapt to every environment; to me, this state is freedom, because you can be free from restrictions and confined space."

When asked if he's free now, he mutters "Not necessarily, sometimes I get stuck when my inspiration runs out. It's been a little better lately, it wasn't like water in the second half of last year, instead it was more like ice cubes!" Last year was too busy to think, it was described by ØZI "like the mind is drying out". And because of his plans to go to the United States to relax at the beginning of this year - he didn't expect the immediate outbreak to happen - he got more time to produce, "I'm free now, I'm simply water now!", he smiles.

Living in a prominent family of performing artists - his mother Ye Ailing is an all-round entertainer, his father Chen Wenbin is a well-known photographer - ØZI's creative path can be said to be expected. Because his parents are both in the industry, he grew up in a musical environment ever since he was a child. But when it comes to his own creations, in fact, ØZI liked to draw as a kid. In Junior High, he liked to make and arrange music, in High School he began to write melodies, lyrics, from drawings to producing movies, "creations" of change because as a child, he liked to be "original" about this. He had six Music Videos, all on his iPhone. "At first, my dad said that there were a lot of problems with my Music Videos, so I was trying hard to improve, I learned about lighting and so on, just to prove that my Music Videos can look good, I wanted to get his approval!"

The requirement of children of celebrities is a blessing but it's hard to hold a grasp of it, it's difficult to excuse mistakes. The music world describes it as "to be born a Super Saiyan (means something like "Second-Generation-Star" because he's the son of famous parents). ØZI explains: "I was just lucky to be born into a musical family, I have enough space to be understood and supported. My dad knows what it's like to be a creator, my mom knows what it's like to be a performer. So I had the chance to train to become a Super Saiyan." It's a double edged sword, everyone was paying close attention when ØZI was nominated at the Golden Melody Awards. "After the rookie award, in addition to putting myself under a lot of pressure, I didn't change any of my creative motives and I'm very expressive. So if you don't get rewarded, you get mad at yourself." Maybe stress occasionally hinders his creative work, but at the same time, it's also a sign of determination to succeed and break through the golden sunken ship.

ØZI's first well-known Chinese song "Title" is about not being bind by anything, about wanting to have more freedom, more creative freedom for everyone. He's been making music for his "mission to internationalize Chinese Music" from the very beginning. "The internationalisation is something that not everyone can do, we listen to music from Latin America, Hip-Hop, K-Pop, it's all because of their atmosphere. For me, every artist has their own way of interpretating their culture. It's very important to let everyone know "Oh, that's C-Pop!"" And the new plans of ØZI will be followed by the release of some singles, a new album will also be released this year. He also revealed that he's working on three different projects at the same time now, experimental and core concept types. There's even a project that's "looking for the next stage of ØZI" trying to give his music a new image. "There will be a lot of music you have never heard from ØZI before, some experimental music, I can't reveal much!"

He's 100% rational when it comes to his family, but his sentimental tone betrayed him; when he talks about music, he becomes serious. Introducing his new tattoo is as exciting as being a little boy. His soul is free, but "ØZI" still has a lot of unavoidable restrictions.

"ØZI is the character I created, he's the embodiment of self-confidence, he has to be perfect. The self-confidence this character needs will be infused into my spirit, but this is only one part of it", he says slowly. With his high and straight nose bridge and the fine and smooth line of his chin, ØZI looks somewhat like his mother Ye Ailing; but he has taken off the label of being a celebrity's child, that used to stick on him tightly, a long time ago already. He's ØZI, free like water, a born star.

TATLER discusses with ØZI

What do you do to pass the time that make a perfect holiday?

Go to the beach of an uninhabited island alone or with a group of friends, lie on the beach and drink cocktails, read a book, maybe listen to music, sleep.

What do you like to do the most when you don't have to work?

Playing video games, eating, getting a massage, sleeping, watching Netflix.

If you could have one drink with an idol, who would it be?

Canadian Rapper/Singer Drake! So I can understand his logic of running his OVO Empire and see if I can absorb it and apply it on my own label.

Your motto?

The tattoo on my leg, it's a famous quote from "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises": "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

Who is your life idol? Why?

Christopher Nolan, the director of "Inception"! Actually, everyone who gives me inspiration for a period of time is my idol.

What would you recommend to watch on Netflix?

I actually watch anything, from serious "13th" to pure entertaining "Too Hot To Handle", I want to absorb different elements.

Please define freedom in one sentence?

Be like Water!

Which abroad city do you want to visit first after the ban gets lifted?

Greece! I went there for the first time when I was shooting the MV to "Paradise Island", and I thought I have to come back when I get the chance to! It has a peaceful charm between the island and the city, it has their own ancient culture and beach parties, everyone is very relaxed and the atmosphere is very cool.

Favourite drink?

Apple Milk or Honey Water, I like the Honey or Strawberry kind.

When your mood is low, what do you do to cheer up?

Playing video games, hanging out with friends, working out.

What games have you been playing lately?

The remake of Final Fantasy 7, the graphics have changed very beautifully.

#øzi #ozi #tatler taiwan #tatler #interview #translated #200703

6 notes · View notes

sophieakatz · 4 years

Text

Thursday Thoughts: “Cats” Is Not Bad

My dad was in a community theatre production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats years ago. One night, he came home from rehearsal still wearing his makeup – fur, whiskers, the whole shebang, all created with face paint. He quietly entered the house, and my siblings and I watched as he crept around the edge of the room, his eyes wide and his head tilted to the side in a feline sort of way. I was entranced. While of course I knew it was Dad, in that moment, he was a cat.

And then he looked me in the eye, and said “MEW!” in a goofy, high-pitched voice. We all laughed, the spell broken.

Years before that, my family attended a showing of Cats at a different community theatre. During intermission, while the audience milled about the theatre, several of the ensemble cast remained onstage – as cats. They sat at the edge of the stage and stared at us, still and silent and unblinking. They crawled up the aisles, brushing up against people’s legs. One came right up to my brother, who was holding his program out lazily, and WHACKED the paper with a paw, startling him. Another even jumped up onto my dad’s lap and lay there, purring, while my siblings and I gleefully pet the “kitty.”

For me, this is the magic of Cats. It taps right into the suspension of disbelief at the heart of all theatre. Cats allows you to forget for a couple hours that the people before you are human. For the duration of the show, they are cats. Cats who sing, dance, and wear ballet shoes, yes, but cats nonetheless.

My biggest issue with the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats is that it does not allow the viewer to forget that the performers are human.

I mean, they have human toes, for crying out loud! Human toes! And human hands, and faces! My eyes kept snapping to these details, latching onto them instead of the beautiful music. The wonderful makeup that transformed my father into Old Deuteronomy is nowhere to be found.

At the same time, all these not-cats have CGI ears and tails, twitching and twisting in uncanny ways that don’t go at all with the otherwise-human body. It’s as though the filmmakers couldn’t decide whether to go for realism or fantasy and ended up stuck somewhere in the middle, trying to do two things at once with a discomforting result.

This uncomfortable “two things at once” feeling permeates the film.

The film doesn’t seem to have a firm stance on what size objects are in this cat-run world. In stage productions of this show, the stage is covered with larger-than-life pizza boxes and boots to establish that the characters are actually cat-sized. But in the film, Mr. Mistoffelees in quick succession picks up a slightly larger-than-life hand of playing cards, a much larger-than-life red die, a pencil that is pretty much normal-sized, and a fork that is larger than the pencil but somehow not as large as the die. It’s like the film is trying to show a world in which cats are cat-sized in one moment and human-sized the next – two things at once – resulting in confusion.

And then there’s the matter of the cats’ clothing. Some of the cats wear clothes while others do not. This is, of course, a carry-over from the stage version, in which some cats wear fur-patterned leotards, while others have clothing items which symbolize the kind of fur the cat has. However, the film takes some bizarre twists on cat-clothing.

For example, in the stage production, Jennyanydots begins her number in a shabby coat which she later drops to reveal a fun, frilly, colorful layer of fur. In the film, we meet Rebel Wilson’s Jennyanydots as a cat with realistic orange-and-white fur – which she suddenly unzips down her front mid-number to show that she is wearing clothing on her real body underneath.

The film is trying to have it both ways – Jennyanydots is a real cat with real fur, but also a fake cat with fake fur, and more questions are raised than answered.

Bustopher Jones has always been a cat in a top hat and tuxedo, evocative of a cat with tuxedo-pattern fur. James Corden as Bustopher Jones starts out in a top hat and tuxedo. Then he takes off the tuxedo to reveal tuxedo-pattern fur.

Once again, the film is trying to do two things at once – clothing to emulate cat fur, and cat fur to emulate clothing. The result, however, is leaving the viewer with the impression that a grown man has just stripped naked in front of them in a PG-rated movie.

If you put animated animals in clothing, then the animals can become naked. Disney’s Zootopia recognized this to hilarious effect, but Cats does not seem to.

Idris Elba as Macavity looks excellent in his beat-up hat and coat, which give the theatrical impression of a creepy scarred-up cat. But this illusion is abruptly discarded when Elba, too, strips down naked. I ended up watching that scene through my fingers, as I had put my hands over my eyes.

It struck me early in the film that they could have – should have, even – completely owned the fact that these were cats.

Unlike stage theatre, which depends on practical effects and clever costumes, film presents the unique opportunity to go all the way into fantasy.

They could have completely animated the cats – four-legged and meowing! This would have avoided the nudity problem and rescued all the film’s animals, mice and cockroaches included, from the uncanny valley. Instead of doing two things at once, the film could have done one thing wholeheartedly, the one thing that film can do but theatre cannot.

And this is where 2019’s Cats is excellent: when it takes full advantage of the film medium.

Films are not grounded in a single location or time. The camera can jump-cut to anywhere! This is used to great effect in “Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer,” following the troublesome cats as they jump around the bedroom, dining room, and staircase, sowing chaos. Throughout the film, we move beyond the junkyard and are able to see the alley of trash cans that Bustopher Jones eats from (rather than the clubs themselves as the song implies – hilarious!) and the barge that Growltiger commands. I downright love how “The Ad-Dressing of Cats” is set around the Trafalgar Square lions – an appropriately grandiose setting. And the very best musical sequence in the film is “Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat,” which transforms Skimble’s tap-dance into the rhythm of a train, seamlessly transitioning the scene from the theatre hall to the train tracks.

Cats as a film also devotes time to character development in a way that the opera-esque stage show never has. Sure, you can research the backstories of all the cats if you want to, but the casual viewer never learns anything beyond what’s said in song. With just a bit of dialogue, Cats transforms Mr. Mistofelees from a cocky deus ex machina to an endearingly clumsy magician who finally, on this night, gets his first big break.

Another transformed character is Victoria. While originally a dancing role with no solo singing part, Victoria is reimagined as a newcomer to the Jellicle Ball, there to ask questions and be sung to. She is, in other words, the audience surrogate, a necessary figure in film. While Cats the stage musical addresses the audience directly throughout the show, fourth-wall breaks are something that a stage show can get away with more often than a film can.

A critique I’ve heard repeatedly about the film is how Judi Dench suddenly sings directly to the camera in the final number. For me, this was not a detriment. “The Ad-Dressing of Cats” is and has always been a song sung directly to the audience!

However, I can see why someone who was expecting a traditional film would be bothered by this. The film put a lot of effort into removing the other fourth-wall breaks by having the songs originally sung to the audience be sung to Victoria instead, so the sudden return to a device that works better on stage than in film is a bit jarring as, once again, Cats tries to do two things at once – to be both a film and a stage show.

I’ve been a fan of this musical for a long time. But given how many people were vehemently calling this a bad film, I didn’t expect to enjoy it.

But I did enjoy it. I enjoyed Cats.

The music is just as entertaining as ever. The singing and dancing is just as good as you would expect it to be given how much star power they packed into the cast. What’s more, watching this movie made me think of all the great experiences I had with the stage production, watching my father from the wings as he sang “The Moments of Happiness” and having staring contests with the still-in-character performers as a child.

When I critique a creative work, I think less about terms like “good” and “bad” than I think about the effect the work had on me. As I made clear in the first half of this review, a lot of the design choices in this film made me uncomfortable and took me out of the magic. At the same time, a lot of this film felt like coming home.

Cats is a weird and beautiful musical. It’s about cats who sing, dance, and address the audience directly. None of these qualities are inherently bad – far from it! Together they create one of the longest-running shows ever on Broadway.

Could the film have been better? Yes, I believe so. If it completely owned the fact that it is a film about talking cats, and if it focused more on doing one thing well than it tried to do two things at once, then Cats could have been an excellent film.

But Cats is not bad. It really isn’t. And this is this, and that is that, and that’s how you address a cat.

#cats #cats 2019 #cats musical #andrew lloyd webber #musical theatre #musical theater #musicals #broadway musicals #jennyanydots #bustopher jones #mr mistoffelees #victoria #film #reviews #thursday thoughts #critique #film criticism #suspension of disbelief

64 notes · View notes

animepopheart · 5 years

Text

Ranking Every Studio Ghibli Movie

Studio Ghibli's contribution to anime (and animation in general) cannot be understated. Founded by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki, the studio has produced many of Japan's most hallowed films, movies that are both critically acclaimed and monsters at the box office. In 1996, Disney partnered with Studio Ghibli to bring their movies to North America, developing a new audience that has since come to age; now, Ghibli is as much a part of American childhood as Pixar and Dreamworks releases.

On Anime Pop Heart and @beneaththetangles, we are commemorating the studio with Ghibli Month all September long! I’m kicking things off by ranking Ghibli's twenty-one releases, plus Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which is often honorarily included among the studio's slate, ranked from first to worst (including alternate viewpoints on a couple of the selections).

22. Tales from Earthsea

Miyazaki famously quarreled with his son, Goro, over the latter's ability to direct Tales from Earthsea, and indeeed, the final product feels like the result of a young man who was in over his head. The movie deserves its ignominious reputation, as it is inconsistent, poorly staged, and often terrible. It's a shame, too, for there are some strong elements to the film and enormous potential, with the outlines of an epic tale and compelling characters in Sparrowhawk and Cob (who are wonderfully dubbed by Timothy Dalton and Willem Dafoe, respectively)—it just never comes quite together and totally unravels at the end, resulting in the only bad film in Studio Ghibli's outstanding run.

21. The Cat Returns

Most Studio Ghibli films are family features, made for children. However, they still capture the imagination of youth and adults as well. The Cat Returns, the only "sequel" in Ghibli's film catalog, doesn't do the same however. It is purely for kids, and aside from flourishes here and there that speak of fantasy adventures and feature whimsical characters, fails to engage viewers of a certain age—maybe anyone older than about twelve. A neat companion piece to Whisper of the Heart, it's worth watching, showing to your children, and then giving away to parents who need better-than-average entertainment to busy their children.

20. Ocean Waves

At one time, Ocean Waves was considered a black eye in Ghibli's filmography, an overpriced television movie that wasn't all that good. In retrospect, the intial judgments were only partially right. Ocean Waves is very much a TV movie, melodramatic and small in scale. The animation, too, is sometimes shoddy, but more often than not it's far better than it has the right to be. Ocean Waves is lovingly made, and the characters are almost frustratingly sincere—and oh so early 90s. While on the lowest tier of the Ghibli scale, Ocean Waves is far better than a simple curiosity.

19. Arrietty

Like Poppy Hill before it, there's nothing terrifically wrong with Arrietty—it just lacks the magic of the great Studio Ghibli films, making it rather forgettable. It's also sometimes dull. While beautiful colors, a foreshadowing of the spectacular animation to come of Yonebayashi in Mary and the Witch's Flower, shine through in the film, and some of the action sequences are highly engaging, our hearts are never fully in it. Maybe that's because we lack a loving connection to many of the characters, particularly to the pensive Sho. A nice watch, but one that's lacking.

18. From Up on Poppy Hill

Much maligned for our lowest ranked movie, Goro Miyazaki returned from that entry with a stronger film, one that functions as an ode to historic preservation while presenting one of the studio's most lovely relationships—that is, until it gets a bit tricky, unfortunately begining to enter a zone unusual for Studio Ghibli, if standard fare for other anime. But that's a relatively minor issue in what's a perfectly lovely film that does well in evoking nostalgia in a movie that reminisces about the past and a Yokohama that no longer exists. Not every emotional moment hits as it should, but enough do to make the film Ghibli's best "date night" entry.

17. Pom Poko

Often criticized for being too over-bearing in its ecological message, Pom Poko's main issue instead is that it's meant to a collection of stories that to flow into one another, based on one group of tanukis' fight against urban development, but the movie doesn't feel cohesive, partly because there is no central protagonist. We only get to know each main tanuki so much, and none feel central to the tale—any could step in and play the necessary roles. Still, Pom Poko is unreservedly charming and often hilarious. It's also a peek into Japanese culture that we often don't get, a look at a country transforming in landscape and in values.

16. Ponyo

Why is Ponyo the low point of Miyazaki's output, the only film of his that doesn't attain the level of classic? It is wonderfully animated, bursting with energy and featuring a story that is never disingenuous and a heroine that is funny, cute, and breathtaking even. However, the film proved that Miyazaki was on a downward trajectory after Spirited Away. Repetition seen in Howl's Moving Castle was on full display in Ponyo, a new movie that too often feels like a rehash, featuring characters that other than the title heroine, fail to connect, and a story that is muddled and often just strange. Ponyo is a fun film and a better one after repeated viewings—the problem is that such defenses do not have to be made for any of Miyazaki's other works.

15. When Marnie Was There

The last feature film from Studio Ghibli to date is both quietly personal and a surprising risk. When Marnie Was There is the studio's first true mystery tale, and has a tone that's slightly haunting. The lead characters, also, are unusual for Ghibli—neither Anna nor Marnie are as embraceable as most of the heroines from Ghibli's past, but that seems be purposeful. What they demonstrate to us is not as much of "who we can be" but "who we are" and even so, how we can overcome. The creative energy of past Ghibli films is missing, but the replacement here by a surprising intimate tone in a modern setting is welcomed.

14. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

While this notoriously expensive film flopped at the box office, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya was well-received by critics, and for good reason. Adapting a famed folk tale, the film is animated in style befitting its origins, creating the sense that the viewer has fallen into a some traditional Japanese painting. But the movie is not as pastel as its colors indicate—the storytelling is bold. It doesn't sit in the past, instead feeling remarkably current in the fable of a princess imprisoned by seemingly everyone and everything, without ever feeling worn or heavy-handed. Mystical and fantastical elements are both woven into the foundation of the story and come alive in key moments, keeping the film compelling (for the most part) throughout its two hour+ run time.

13. Howl's Moving Castle

An underrated aspect of Studio Ghibli's brilliance is in how they often adapt already-beloved works. Adapted by the master, Howl's Moving Castle, based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones, is gorgeously animated and bold in both design and character—Howl and Calcifer, particularly, are memorable (and give strong emotional weight to the tale). While it suffers in comparison to its predecessor, Spirited Away, by being a little unwieldy, it remains a classic and an example of how well Miyazaki can bring themes and plot points across subtly (think of the flashback of Howl) in a movie that's otherwise fierce and larger than life.

12. The Wind Rises

From conception, The Wind Rises was a challenging film—how do you tell the story of the man who designed a fighter essential to Japan's WWI efforts, and show him as a patriot and dreamer without excluding the crimes of the nation, or making a film that goes against Miyazaki's anti-war values? It's difficult to say if he succeeds, but the film itself is beautifully crafted. The supporting characters here are less important than in other works, so it's vital that the audience admires Jiro Horikoshi, and we do—his character and positivity make him easy to root for, and dream sequences in the film both flesh out his thought process and keep us captivated. Once believed to be Miyazaki's last film, if it had been, The Wind Rises would have been worthy of that designation.

11. My Neighbors the Yamadas

The oddball in Ghibli's filmography, My Neighbors the Yamadas is presented through half-a-dozen or more short stories in the style of comic strips come to life, with animation that matches. The magic in the film is that the Yamadas are as over-the-top as the movie's aesthetic is, yet maintain an authentic feel. Think of some of the most popular family sitcoms of the 1980s and 1990s, but with an addition those shows could not feature—fantastical sequences that break in without warning and bind the ties of family further. We may not want to live like the clumsy Yamadas, but the heart of the family will make you consider whether they're the ones who really have it all together.

10. Porco Rosso

Studio Ghibli films share animation styles and themes, but one can never say they lack in variety when it comes to story. The tale of Porco Rosso is of an ace pilot cursed into living as a pig—but not to worry! He is still adored by women as he flies fantastic missions while running from fascists, pirates, and fame-seeking assassins. Porco is gruff and unattractive, but both he and the tale are sweet, as what's already a compelling story of WWI aces and dogfights is buffeted by grief, romance, and two strong heroines of very different types and roles. Perhaps the film with the largest range of opinion among the Miyazaki classics, Porco Rosso is nonetheless fantastic, and require viewing if you haven't watched it already.

9. Whisper of the Heart

Ghibli's most unabashedly romantic film is one of its most formulaic, but still among its best. The debut film by Yoshifumi Kondō, Miyazaki and Takahata's proposed successor before he died just a few years after the movie's premiere, is at once encouraging while also refusing to shy away from the melancholy experienced by children—and adults, too—when one doesn't seem to have what it takes to become great. In joy and sadness, Whisper of the Heart lets the kids at the center of the film be kids. They are at times stubborn, silly, and immature, and by treating them that way, the movie never drifts into something banal (with the possible exception of the famously abrupt ending)—it's a lovely lesson in growing up and meeting challenges, and a personal favorite.

8. Kiki's Delivery Service

The charm of Kiki's Delivery Service is two-fold—in the setting, a northern European-style town that is alive, forcing the events of the story through its residents, cozy cafes, and early 20th-century transportion, and in Kiki's journey itself. Her community's tradition of sending of young witches to live by themselves at the age of thirteen sets the story in motion, and Miyazaki captures the spirit of a girl that age perfectly—in all its confusion, energy, enthusiasm, and difficulty. Kiki is not a subtle character, but her growth is. When she takes to the air for the finale, Kiki isn't experienced enough to know if she can save the day—and so we cheer when she realizes what the rest of us already know, what we've all experienced ourselves, that it takes time and failure to mold us into becoming the hero.

7. Castle in the Sky

Miyazaki created classic film after classic film for decades, in a streak that started with Lupin III and ended, I'd argue, with Howl's Moving Castle. Often forgotten among the wonders is Castle in the Sky, a steampunk entry that is a joyous adventure, akin to Treasure Island but developed for an audience of both boys and girls. Sumptuous cloudscapes fill the screen, as do colorful characters with meaty roles, including a group favored by Miyazaki—pirates (in this movie, air pirates led by Dola, an older female). Reflective of Miyazaki's ability to master genres, Castle in the Sky again crosses fantasy and sci-fi in perfect proportions, underscoring an uplifting tale with an apocalyptic story line.

6. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Unofficially part of of Ghibli's canon, the success of Nausicaa, based on Miyazaki's own manga and exploring the ecological, anti-war, and feminist themes for which the studio's future films would be noted, launched Studio Ghibli. Nausicaa herself remains one of the studio's most iconic and compelling heroines, a physically powerful and feminine hero who must grow into adulthood very quickly while putting aside deep flaws to offer salvation to her people and land. The beautiful landscapes speaks to the epic story, better fleshed out in the manga, while reminding us that Ghibli films are giants not only in animation, but in fantasy and sci-fi realms as well.

5. Only Yesterday

How do you create an animated film about a twenty-something woman that waxes nostalgia while on a trip to the countryside, and at the same time make it entertaining and accessible? It's not an easy task, but Only Yesterday accomplishes it fully. Taeko, the protagonist, explains, "I didn't intend for ten-year-old me to come on this trip, but somehow, once she showed up, she wouldn't leave me alone." We experience her nostalgia for and complicated feelings about the past through a family that's genuinely flawed, while experiencing her visit to relatives in the countryside in the present, a trip that is subtly life-altering, one that pushes her to consider who she is and who she wants to be. Oh, and the film also features one of anime's most wonderful endings, set to a cover of a now-classic love song.

4. Grave of the Fireflies

It's a testament to Miyazaki's stature that the first three Ghibli films on the list are all directed by him, and also to the supreme talent of the other directors that their films rise above some of his other tremendous work. Directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder, the legendary Isao Takahata, Grave of the Fireflies is the most painful and emotional movie in the canon; it is also one of the greatest war movies ever made, using animation to deftly explore the how war victimizes children. Opening and closing shots, both of which express the uncaring nature of bystanders (and by extension, the world) toward children cause us to wonder what we really feel about the world's most vulnerable population.

3. My Neighbor Totoro

It's often said that nothing really happens in My Neighbor Totoro—but that's part of the magic of the film. A child's movie in all ways, including in the action, which revolves around a sick mother, a move to a new house, and a lost child, the film finds its center in a magical being that never says a word (Totoro only growls), and about whom many theories abound. If Totoro is a figment of Satsuki and Mei's imaginations, he is then similar to Winnie the Pooh, a necessary presence in the lives of a child character (two of them, sisters, in this case) who is growing up in a difficult situation, not to adulthood, but to the next step in the journey of life.

2. Spirited Away

Miyazaki has retired and unretired several times—when did so following Princess Mononoke, he returned with what is often considered his magnum opus, Spirited Away. At once deeply Japanese and completely accessible, the movie takes viewers on one of the most remarkable visual journeys ever put to film, a feast that never relents through its entire run time. Perhaps underrated is Miyazaki's decision to move the action away from the bathhouse for much of the final act, a quiet last leg that is key to Chihiro's journey, as well as for many of Spirited Away's supporting characters. Absolutely deserving of all love and acclaim.

1. Princess Mononoke

Studio Ghibli's finest film is also perhaps its most surprising. Visceral, violent, and conflicting, Princess Mononoke is no easy tale to absorb. There is no "good guy," not in the traditional sense, as Miyazaki explores hist favored ecological theme but through the lens of humanity struggling to survive in a world where they are just surpassing nature, the beast gods and goddesses who had previously ruled. It is an epic in the vein of films from decades before with vibrant and complex characters, ground-breaking animation, and an English voice track that is second to none. The studio's most intricate work, Princess Mononoke requires multiple viewings to fully appreciate.

All Studio Ghibli movies are available for sale, including many in special collectible editions. We encourage you to go check them out!

#studio ghibli #ghibli month #spirited away #my neighbor totoro #howls moving castle

155 notes · View notes

smokeybrandreviews · 4 years

Text

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Got Milk

I really hate musicals and plays and the like. Broadway is the worst. I was never a fan of Jersey Boys or Wicked or Les Miserables. I don’t care for the presentation of their plays or the ridiculously over-the-top music. I’m told that Hamilton is nowhere near as gaudy or abrasive as that more prominent fair. It skews closer to Sweeney Todd and The Book of Mormon than Phantom or Cats. God, how awful was Cats? There was a production filmed of the play early on. It was supposed to have a theatrical release but, instead, dropped on Disney+. Since it’s readily available, and I'm running out of new sh*t to watch, i figure why not give Hamilton a shot? Will it live up to the hype for me? Will it even come close to climbing my wall of prejudice against musicals? We’ll see.

The Good

I really like the diversity in this thing. Having so many colored faces, people who look like me, killing it on stage, was fun to see. I’m not a theater kid, i can’t stand it, but i absolutely know that sh*t is quite color deprived. Having Hamilton come through and murder everything so effortlessly while be so unapologetically black, was super dope.

Lin Manuel-Miranda as Alexander Hamilton was pretty good. Dude can’t sing like others on the cast but he has a flow that could give any Soundcloud rapper a proper run for their money. Dude ain’t Eminem or anything but, in regards to this role, he murders that sh*t.

Daveed Diggs is probably my favorite thing about this play. His Marquis de Lafayette was captivating and his Thomas Jefferson was just vicious. Dude has this energy that is rarely matched, which is a lot to say because the entire cast is definitely bringing their A game.

The Schuyler sisters, portrayed by Renee Elise Goldsberry and Jasmine Cephas Jones, were f*cking incredible. Each of their voices ere enchanting and the power behind their songs was enthralling. I was surprised by how well they executed, especially Goldsberry’s flow. Like, goddamn, ma got the shine!

The writing in this thing is mad clever. It takes a lot to make such dry subject matter, pop so fiercely. All of which was flavored with a hip-hop twist. I’m a sucker for lyricism and Hamilton actually has some of the best I've heard in a very long time. Plus, it does a miraculous job of making me actually give a sh*t about US history, even if it’s been neutered for mass consumption.

I must begrudgingly admit, the music in this thing is easily the best I've ever heard in a musical. I hate them so much but I've dated theater chicks and my family is super into these things, so I've seen my share. I almost always hate the music but Hamilton has an appeal that just kinds of worms it’s way into my psyche. It’s probably because I'm black and this sh*t is mad urban in a very real way. A lot of this stuff sounds like 90s R and B and 00s Rap. That’s, like, my sweet spot, musically. I mean, new wave and post punk, all day, but i grew up and came of age on that hip hop sound.

The camera work in this motherf*cker is amazing, i must say. For a production that takes place on one stage, one space, the way this thing is shot goes a long way to making it feel bigger than it really is. One of the things that i don’t care for about stage plays, is how small everything feels. They do little tricks to fool you into thinking there’s more depth with sh*t like dancing in the aisles or interacting with the audience or zip-lining in from a balcony, but it never frees you from the understanding that the production is wildly compact. The camera work and editing on this filmed play does exactly what live shows only attempt to pull off.

The Bad

This thing is very sing-songy. It's like one, big ass, rap. There is no properly spoken dialogue and that’s the sh*t which irks me about stage musicals. Tell me a f*cking story, bro, don’t sing it at me. It’s dope you own a rhyming dictionary but goddamn!

For all of the music and energy, the dance numbers are really subdued. I didn't expect Rent or Cats but at least something. This thing feels like way too much focus was put on the narrative and singing. I guess that works for the type of musical that it is but the sh*t has a mad boring visual component.

This sh*t is two and a half hours long and you feel every second of that sh*t, man. I don't know if this is considered a brisk run-time on stage but for film, it's a slog. Don't misunderstand, I don't mind a long movie as long as it's compelling. There is nothing compelling me with Hamilton.

It’s a play. Sure, it’s on film and has great camera work but it’s all on one stage. One set. One view. I wonder what this would look like if it was properly adapted to film but then i cringe because that would probably be terrible. It’ll definitely end up closer to what happened to the Phantom adaption rather than the Sweeney Todd flick.

The Verdict

I was pretty entertained. It didn’t quite conquer my hate mountain for musicals, but i didn’t dislike what i saw. It had clever production, a huge presence, and a lot of the music was pretty decent. Lin Manuel-Miranda does a fantastic job in the lead and as the driving creative force behind the whole production. Dude is a creative genius and i hope he gets to put his fingertips on more productions like this. Daveed Diggs is probably the strongest performer in this entire thing. He’s a little over the top at times, but fills his roles well. Overall, Hamilton is worth the time to experience but i don’t think it deserves all of the hype. This sh*t feels like a decent Broadway spectacle but it has benefited greatly from the atmosphere in which it was released. a massive, ensemble, production with a hip-hop edge, lousy with diversity, and lead by a person of color? That’s catnip for virtue signalers and there are a TON of those types all over the New York Upper crust. I’m not taking away from Miranda or the rest of the crew, I'm just curious how far this would have gone if it wasn’t so unapologetically black.

#Hamilton #Smokey brand Movie Reviews

1 note · View note

babbushka · 5 years

Note

If you don’t mind, how did you get started in film/what’s your film goals? I just graduated from film school and I’m kind of lost, so I like to hear what other people are up to :) your blog is great, thanks in advance!!!

Congratulations on graduating from school! May I ask what your focus in film is? I might be able to offer some advice/resources if you’d like them!

(I’m going to put this under a cut if tumblr would behave, just because this got quite long lol)

I come from a family that really values the arts and entertainment (my grandmother was a New York theater star, and my mother is a huge lover of film) so growing up I was exposed to a lot of ballets, operas, plays, musicals and films. I took dance lessons and singing lessons and did theater for a couple years alongside being in orchestra, just to give a bit of context for my childhood lol.

But I first got interested in making films when I was about 6 or 7 years old, when my mother gave me one of these Barbie camcorders for the holidays:

I’m 23 and to this day I still don’t really know how it worked because it was wireless in a time when that really wasn’t a thing?? Like that pink VHS tape would go into the VCR, and that pink box would get plugged into the back of the TV, and then whatever you recorded on the camera would be recorded on the VHS, but...I’m not entirely sure how??

I would stage incredibly elaborate short films (like, fighting epics where my brother and I would literally joust with our rocking horses), starring myself and my brother who was like 3 or 4 at the time and very willing to be a movie star. There was no way to edit, so I’d set the camera up for each shot, and stop the recording once the shot was done. Theni’d set up the camera for the next shot and start recording that one.

Once I filmed my grand movie, my brother and I would watch it and laugh very hard at the fun thing we’d made, and then I’d record over it with the next one a day later.

My mom had this list of films that she thought would be very important for me to watch, so every day after school, or at least like 3 times a week we would watch a movie together, and this sort of helped me develop my taste. We didn’t do so much of the analyzing or critiquing, just a fun excuse to spend time together and watch great films. The first movie i ever remember watching is Little Shop of Horrors, and to this day it’s got a very fond place in my heart :)

I took a bit of a break from film in school, and instead did a lot of theater and dance. It wasn’t until high school when I decided to go into film as a writer. I enrolled in a film program at my university, and during my time there it became very clear that I was cut out for directing, writing, and performing. I also really like editing, but writing/directing/performing were kind of My Thing.

My friends and I would try and shoot 2 short films a month, just for fun. Nothing serious or anything like that, just to get the creative juices flowing, you know? I worked as a script supervisor on a couple of short films, and I workshopped and edited scripts for about a year, and people still send me scripts to revise and make notes lol.

When I left film school, it was to go into an animation mfa program, but the more time I spent in the animation classes, the more I missed film. So I used my electives to take a shot design course and a screenplay adaptation course, and also a sound design course for film and television,which were things I’d never really had the opportunity to do during my time at the film program.

This was kind of like the best idea I could have, because it put me into contact with some of my favorite professors of all time.

Now I’m at a point in my life where I too am graduating and need to figure out what I’m going to do, because I sometimes feel very lost. What is most likely going to happen, is I’m going to see if my script professor (who is a very famous film producer) can set me up with some meetings with his producer buddies, to pitch some of my scripts and see if I can get them sold/hired as a writer for one of the big film production studios.

I’m also planning on asking another one of my professors who happens to be a successful sound designer, if he could arrange some meetings for me with Warner Brothers as a writer, because that’s where he is very well known.

Between the two, I’m hoping that I’ll get a job as a writer somewhere lol, but you never know what the future holds!

#Anonymous #cowboy answers

8 notes · View notes

smokeybrand · 4 years

Text

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Got Milk

I really hate musicals and plays and the like. Broadway is the worst. I was never a fan of Jersey Boys or Wicked or Les Miserables. I don’t care for the presentation of their plays or the ridiculously over-the-top music. I’m told that Hamilton is nowhere near as gaudy or abrasive as the more prominent fare. It skews closer to Sweeney Todd and The Book of Mormon than Phantom or Cats. God, cats. There was a production filmed of the play early on. It was supposed to have a theatrical release but, instead, dropped on Disney+. Since it’s readily available, and I'm running out of new sh*t to watch, i figure why not give Hamilton a shot. Will it live up to the hype for me? Will it even come close to climbing my wall of prejudice against musicals? We’ll see.

The Good

I really like the diversity in this thing. Having so many colored face, people who look like me, killing it on stage was fun to see. I’m not a theater, i can’t stand it, but i absolutely know that sh*t is quite color deprived. Having Hamilton come through and kill it so effortlessly while be so unapologetically black was super dope.

Lin Manuel-Miranda as Alexander Hamilton was pretty good. Dude can’t sing like others on the cast but he has a flow that could give an Soundcloud rapper a proper run for their money. Dude ain’t Eminem or anything but, in regards to this role, he murders that sh*t.

Daveed Diggs is probably my favorite thing about this play. His Marquis de Lafayette was captivation and his Thomas Jefferson was just vicious. Dude has this energy that is rarely matched, which is a lot to say because the entire cast is definitely bringing their A game.

The Schuyler sisters, portrayed by Renee Elise Goldsberry and Jasmine Cephas Jones, were f*cking incredible. each of their voices and the power behind their songs was enthralling. I was surprised by how well they executed, especially Goldsberry’s flow. Like, goddamn, ma got the shine.

The writing in this thing is mad clever. It takes a lot to make such dry subject matter, pop so fiercely with that hip-hop flavor. I’m a sucker for lyricism and Hamilton actually has some of the best I've heard in a very long time. plus, it does a miraculous job of making me actually give a sh*t about US history, even if it’s been neutered for mass consumption.

I must begrudgingly admit, the music in this thing is easily the best I've every hear in a musical. I hate them so much but I've date theater chicks and my family is super into these things so I've seen my share. I almost always hate the music but Hamilton has an appeal that just kinds of worms it’s way into my psyche. It’s probably because I'm black ans this sh*t is mad urban in a very real way. A lot of this stuff sounds like 90s R and B and 00s rap. That’s, like, my sweet spot musically. I mean, new wave and post punk, all day, but i grew up and came of age on that hip hop flavor.

The camera work in this motherf*cker is amazing, i must say. For a production that takes place on one stage, one space, the way this thing is shot goes a log way to making it feel bigger than it really is. One of the things that i don’t care for about play is how small everything feels. They do little tricks to fool you into thinking there’s more depth with sh*t like dancing in the aisles or interacting with the audience or zip-lining in from a balcony but it never frees you from the understanding that the production is wildly small. The camera work and editing on this filmed play does exactly what live shows only attempt to pull off.

The Bad

For all of the musical and energy, the dance numbers are really subdued. I didn't expect Rent or Cats but at least something. This thing feels like way too much focus was put on the narrative and singing. I guess that works for the type of musical that it is but the sh*t has a mad boring visual component.

This sh*t is two and a half hours long. And you feel every second of that sh*t, man. I don't know if this is considered a brisk run-time on stage but for film, it's a slog. Don't misunderstand, I don't mind a long movie as long as it's compelling. There is nothing compelling me with Hamilton.

It’s a play. Sure, it’s on film and has great camera work but it’s all on one stage. One set. One view. I wonder what this would look like if it was properly adapted to film but then i cringe because that would probably be terrible. It’s definitely end up closer to what happened to the Phantom adaption rather than the Sweeney Todd flick.

The Verdict

I was pretty entertained. it didn’t quite conquer my hate mountain for musicals, but i didn’t dislike what i saw. It had clever production, a huge presence, and a lot of the music was pretty decent. Lin Manuel-Miranda does a fantastic job in the lead and as the driving creative force behind the whole production. Dude is a creative genius and i hope he gets to put his fingertips on more productions like this. Daveed Diggs is probably the strongest performer in this entire thing. He’s a little over the top at times, but fills his role well. Overall, Hamilton is worth the time to experience but i don’t think it deserves all of the hype. This sh*t feels like a decent Broadway spectacle but it has benefited greatly from the atmosphere in which it was released. a massive, ensemble, production with a hip-hop edge, lousy with diversity, and lead by a person of color? That’s catnip for virtue signalers and there are a TON of those types all over the New York Upper crust. I’m not taking away from Miranda or the rest of the crew, I'm just curious how far this would have gone if it was so unapologetically black.

0 notes

odanurr87 · 6 years

Text

My thoughts on... Beauty and the Beast

Yesterday, I decided, on a whim, to watch Aladdin, one of my favourite Disney movies thanks in no small part to the catchy songs and Robin Williams' Genie. Since I had started on Disney, I figured why not watch some more? Thus I moved on to the 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast before concluding with the 2017 live-action adaptation. Which did I like best, the animated film or the live-action one? Overall, and perhaps quite predictably, I'd say I personally favour the animated version. This isn't to say the live-action adaptation doesn't do a few things good or better even, depending on your point of view.

For instance, I much preferred Kevin Kline's more subdued interpretation of Belle's father. He's an artist (that one's new) and inventor, yes, but he's not played as over-the-top as his animated counterpart (well, one could argue said crazy interpretation wouldn't work in the adaptation). He also has, to my mind, the stronger bond with Belle. Of course, precisely because he isn't played as extravagantly crazy as in the 1991 film this presents an issue later on, which I'll mention in due course.

For better or worse, the 2017 film decided to set a date and place for this tale as old as time as opposed to the original: 18th century France. Okay, maybe you could've guessed as much from the original (I personally couldn't, not 18th century at least), but the live-action adaptation does a more thorough job trying to faithfully reproduce the fashion, decor, dancing, and probably even construction (I'm not as learned, though I'd venture a guess they took some liberties with the castle) from that time period. Perhaps the most prominent example takes place right at the beginning, when we're introduced to The Prince as he's hosting a party only minutes before encountering The Enchantress (no, not that one).

This scene is supposed to show his character and backstory in a similar way to the animated movie. The voiceover narration is practically the same (with a few additions) but lacks the beautiful stained glass windows from the original and, in my opinion, suffers for it. If I'm allowed to be a little nitpicky, I'd say the intonation of the voiceover in the 2017 version lacks the emotion from the 1991 film that goes hand in hand with the music that plays in the background. Watch the two side-by-side if you want, or just look at how both narrators deliver that last line, "For who could ever learn to love a beast?" With the delivery of that one line, the 2017 narrator seems to wink at the audience, music cue and all, as if posing the question, "And you all know who that is, right? Say it with me... Belle!" The original movie simply did a better job with the intro (side note, Ubisoft's Child of Light uses the same narrative device to introduce and develop its story; I thoroughly recommend it). Plus, in a way, it spoils the surprise of seeing Lumière, Cogsworth, Chip, et al, become human again.

I’m sorry, 2017 version, but you simply can’t compete with this beauty.

Damn, I'm already giving the 2017 version crap. Quick! What else did I like? Um... I liked some of the things they did with The Prince. Given his aristocratic upbringing and the timing of his curse, it makes sense that he'd have an "expensive education" as he puts it, sharing Belle's passion for books in general and, as we later learn, adventure/romance stories in particular. I did not like how they tried to explain away how much of a spoiled jerk he'd grown up to be, but to each his own. The timing of the curse also brings its own set of problems.

In the original, The Prince is cursed at a very young age. In fact, he was just a spoiled brat kid when The Enchantress decided to teach him a rather harsh lesson in humility, one that would last a decade! In the 2017 version, it can't have been more than a couple of years between the events at the beginning and the lifting of the curse. Therefore, the adaptation has The Enchantress doing some memory alteration to the villagers so they'll forget their loved ones, something that on second viewing is hinted at when Belle greets Jean Potts at the beginning (I didn't make much of it at the time). I’m glad she only decided to curse The Prince. Can you imagine if she had decided to curse the village too? I'll admit that the adaptation does a better job at integrating the castle and the prince's entourage with the village. In the animated film, the castle seems to be something out of an old tale, completely disconnected from the world around it. However, many things follow from the timing of the curse, such as The Prince's inability to read in the original (arguably, he hadn't yet learned to) or his poor manners at the dinner table (not very convincing in the 2017 version considering The Prince's age and upbringing).

Okay, let's talk about some of the rest of the cast, shall we? Gaston was a walking contradiction for me in the adaptation. At first, I thought they were trying to tone down some of the more cartoony aspects of his character and even try to make him somewhat likeable, if no match for Belle's rapier wit. It made sense that he would offer to help Belle's father in order to score some points. It didn't make sense however, that he would stick out his neck so far as to punch him, tie him up, and leave him to be eaten by wolves. To my mind, this entire (extra) scene was done in order to set up the "Belle's father is crazy!" plot, only this time it is more likely Gaston did so in order to cover up his crime than to gain Belle's hand in marriage. As I mentioned earlier, up to this point, we'd been given no indication that Belle's father might be crazy or be viewed as such by the townsfolk so I guess this is the best way they found to solve that problem. Beyond this, Luke Evans' rendition of the character wasn't too bad.

Which one will be the Belle of the ball?

Concerning Belle... *sighs* I think Emma Watson did an acceptable job, but I don't think I ever saw in her the spark that I saw in the 1991 rendition of the character, not when she was on her own nor when she was with Beast. One could go as far as saying Emma Watson's portrayal of Belle wasn't very animated. (*runs away from the stage*) Seriously though, was it just me or did she wear the same expression on her face throughout? Perhaps I am being too harsh but I saw very little emotional range, better than a teaspoon but still.

Also, the singing. The singing is... I mean, it's not the only thing but... uh, how should I put this? If I didn't know what autotune was then, rest assured I do now (sorry, had to throw in some shade there). To be fair, the songs aren't bad, but I think they would work better (I could be wrong) if we could hear more of Emma Watson's voice, without all the sound correction. As it stands, sometimes the songs take me out of the experience. This is even more noticeable during pieces like 'Belle' where she sings along with other people who either don't use autotune or use very little of it.

Beyond these flaws, the 2017 version of Belle shows her doing some tinkering of her own, taking after her father. Perhaps it could be argued it's a sort of modern approach to her character? We certainly didn't see animated Belle's creative streak, rather she was busy reading about adventures on faraway lands (by the way, the village library in the 2017 film is a joke). 2017 Belle also shows some initiative like when she hatches a plan to escape the tower, although she never carries through with it. I'm not entirely sure why the writers decided to expand on her backstory with the plot about her mother. I feel it didn't add to her character and introduces a trinket that is never used again. Naturally, I'm talking about the book.

youtube

“Belle” song comparison. A pity it doesn’t go all the way to the end but the difference is already noticeable.

See, in the animated film, besides the rose, The Enchantress gave Beast a magical mirror he could use to see whatever he wanted to, be it a place or a person. One could argue it was an unexpectedly kind (yet somewhat cruel) gesture seeing as Beast would likely never see the outside of his castle again. Indeed, Beast uses it early on to spy on Belle. Later, Belle uses it to see her father and, lastly, she uses it to convince the townsfolk that the Beast is real. Thus, while it is introduced as a curiosity, it ultimately serves a (rather crucial) purpose. The same can't be said about the book.

In the live-action adaptation, The Enchantress also bestows Beast with a magical book that allows him to travel anywhere he wants to. Unlike with the mirror, this is an outright cruel gesture, as Beast would probably be hunted on sight if he went anywhere near other people. Worse, the only purpose it serves is to take Belle and Beast to Paris so the former can see the place where she was born and find out the reason for her mother's death. It is never again used or referenced, even when a perfect opportunity does present itself for it (when Belle leaves Beast to find her father). The worst sin that this magical book commits is, to my mind, that it's utterly pointless, adding nothing at all to the original story. I mean, they could've used it to hint at the end that Belle isn't settling for a married life as a princess/noble and instead is going to explore the world with Beast (now returned to regal form). They could've easily included a few lines that read something like this:

BEAST and BELLE say farewell to their guests. As they stand at the castle's entrance, BELLE ponders rather wistfully.

BELLE: Is this how it will be from now on? Throwing parties and entertaining guests?

BEAST: Well, it is true that nobility does entail certain social obligations...

BELLE braces herself. BEAST: But there are some perks as well. Did I happen to tell you about this book I own? It is very special, one of a kind actually. Perhaps you would care to read it?

BELLE and BEAST smile at each other and enter the castle hand in hand.

Forgive my poor attempt at hastily throwing together this ending, any writer worth his salt could do it much better. The point is that it would solve what I've come to perceive as THE flaw in the original 1991 movie, that Belle ultimately seems to give up her dream about having "adventure in the great wide somewhere." If you ask me, aristocratic life doesn't sound very adventurous, unless events take place around the time of the French Revolution. That would certainly be an adventurous time, deadly adventurous probably. However, and as I mentioned before, the book is never referenced again in the entire movie. This likely poses more of a problem for 2017 Belle as she is more of a tinkerer and forward-thinker (teaching little girls to read, the gall!), something that doesn't seem compatible with aristocratic life at the time.

Concept art for the sequel.

Enough about Belle. What else am I missing? Plenty. LeFou is anything but the village idiot in the adaptation, being smart enough to switch sides at the end. Also, I don't understand why people wanted to make his character gay? He wasn't gay in the animated movie and, in fact, there is very little to suggest otherwise in the adaptation. Lumière kind of steals the show but this isn't surprising considering he did the same in the animated film and probably has the most lines out of any of the enchanted characters in the movie, save perhaps Beast. I don't know how I feel about Ewan McGregor's accent though. His 'Be Our Guest' musical number is a nice variation, with some beautiful lighting effects, though it deviates a little from the dinner theme at times insofar the evoked imagery is concerned. Also, I can understand spoons in my punch, but feathers? That's pushing it. McKellen's Cogsworth has, unfortunately, less material to work with than he had in the animated film. Finally, I'd be much obliged if someone would enlighten me as to why The Enchantress needed to be in this film at all.

There are probably any number of things I'm forgetting to mention but this review has gone on for long enough. When all is said and done, I feel that the 2017 adaptation is trying to emulate the magic and charm of the 1991 film rather than recreate it. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the animated film can make certain creative choices that wouldn't work in a live-action adaptation. The 1991 film also benefits, to my mind, from its brighter (more cheerful) colour palette and, as I've mentioned throughout, better performances overall, especially where the relationship between Belle and Beast is concerned (the heart of the film, really). The 2017 film takes advantage from having access to superior technology (and budget), what makes for some impressive musical numbers, and it must be commended for its attention to detail as well as its attempt to bridge the (narrative) gap between The Prince's castle and the village, even though, in so doing, they create numerous issues of their own. I also liked how they pushed the drama a little further at the end, having the enchanted characters fully transform into furniture and cutlery. It was a particularly poignant and well-executed scene. In the end however, one must come out on top, and as far as I'm concerned, the 1991 rendition of The Beauty and the Beast remains the better of the two.

Of course, there's also the 2014 French adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. I wonder how that one will hold up?

#disney #beauty and the beast #belle #emma watson #movies #movie review

25 notes · View notes

charinar-bct · 4 years

Text

Omg, did I just blog?

Ok but for real though.

This is going to be a long one. (Lecturers, I’m sorry, I do this too much).

It ranges from before Level 4 Lockdown to this week(ish). Click to read more below!

So, big news. A global pandemic happened.

I’m not kidding! I haven’t blogged in an insanely long time mainly because things got crazy. Something to start off with is that working with BrightSide (previously Wiser) is no longer a possibility at least for this semester. As seen with the image below.

Understandably, the pandemic was/is(?) completely unprecedented – one of the most used words as of this year – and because of this everyone has had to alter their priorities and lifestyles (especially with lockdown). Although this message from BrightSide was disappointing because our Studio group was on the right track with working with them, it wasn’t unexpected because of how things had already been.

As a group, we tried our best to keep moving forward. During lockdown, even before semester restarted online, I’ve been having video calls with my group members Aurora and Nat to see how they were going in lockdown and ask about their opinions about our current scenario with BrightSide. In particular, I enjoy the reciprocation of resilience in this group; it’s healthy and makes us strong – because instead of wallowing in disappointment, we’ve already begun to brainstorm how to move forward and what new paths we may take to adapt and still challenge ourselves.

For the first day of online Studio, our group were still in a bit stuck as to what to do upon not working with BrightSide. Our project was completely focussed on working with BrightSide and their ‘no tech’ rule, so our main ideas were about creating a physical environment for our space. But since that can’t happen anymore, it would be interesting if we could somehow explore the idea of digital community spaces/environments. We spoke with Sangeeta who suggested that we find the “fuel for our project” – our core. Take away BrightSide and the physical space, we wanted to create a closer student community Sangeeta pointed out that at the very least, we already are in contact with our target audience. It’s just a matter of “how can we do with this?”

Well, we started with looking for possible references.

Distant Touch (Screengrabs seen above) is website created by Germán Greiner that allows you to go in an interactive musical room. Clicking around the screen makes different tones play and you can also hear the other person’s sounds and movements – the most exciting thing is when you and the other person click on the same spot as spark fly! It’s beautiful! It’s novel, and fun, although as a group, we would want something more purposeful than an interactive musical black-screen web page.

We also looked at r/place (seen above) which was an interesting reddit thread; the epitome of chaos ensuing from freedom of creativity. (Video of this actually in action is here: https://youtu.be/0QO0yZldC2M). It was very entertaining to see how the interactivity of the pixelated thread allowed for this chaotic visual to be created. Our Studio group want to create something digital, but we are lacking in programming skills. So this is an issue in the back of our minds. BUT!! From reflecting on these as well experiences last year, I was able to think of a new idea which I shared with the group.

If we wanted to create a closer community, which was distinctly separated because of the pandemic, the first and easiest place to start – rather than the whole university – would be the DCT community. Last year, Vaani created the “Test For A Treat” event where students were able to showcase their raw and unfinished projects in an open space on WG Level 3 to get as many random students and bystanders to give feedback and experience their projects at their different stages. Being creative students, we are normally used to being in a physical space and giving each other critiques, pitches, etc face-to-face with other fellow students and lecturers. Because of Lockdown, we’re not in our respective areas, our hubs/project spaces – we can’t walk around asking how people are going, if they can have a look at our prototype or processes, etc. and so what if we made it digital? What if we brought the space back digitally? Upon discussion, Nat and Aurora seem to like this idea, but I wanted to start with a different activity about this idea. I wanted us to think of the possible negatives first. As seen below: the main one being the ability to code the website that we want! We have since then named the idea “PitchedIn”.

Then we did what we thought were the positives of this project. (See below)

I believed that by doing this activity (which is something I have not done before with previous groups) we were able to get a sense of what issues we could run into and then the possible solutions for these problems. In this way, I think that we will be more aware of our limitations and issues but work on them to prevent these issues from disabling us from completing the project to the best of our abilities.

Nathaniel has been trying to gather academic references for our project (See here: https://natpeabct.tumblr.com/post/617972301602930688/rugby-pyjama-movie-night) while Aurora and I have been trying to suss out our Creative Workflows for this project. (See below)

We’ve also gotten the Statement of Intent, etc. done for PitchedIn too (As seen below)

Also just to put it out there we won’t be using ClickUp as what we’ve been using this far: We are now using Miro.I pushed for this because I believe that this is such an amazing website that allows for us to dump everything we need, everything that is necessary and it’s all in one place. It’s essentially like the T-Walls in studio – man. I wonder how it will feel once we’re back in our space. I feel like third year, our last year at studio was sort of robbed from us because of the pandemic – studio was more of a home than my own home because of BCT. Huh…but anyway, Miro is below!

I’m getting tired with typing now, so I will link Nat’s reflection on what we did this week, here: https://natpeabct.tumblr.com/post/617978030133067776/x-rated-cheese! Sorry Nat, I’ll pay you back promise, hehe. But from here on out, the group knows what our tasks are going to be that we need to have done by next Wednesday before our SCRUM meeting. Keep an eye out in this space to see how we go with online studio!

References

Greiner, G. (2020). RASK - Distant touch. Retrieved from https://live.driangle.org/distant-touch.html?fbclid=IwAR2yx_sbT8cGRmxjdlBS2piQky356eVnqMqD_05D5Qx5oDq_qa_3JPIly1c

Greiner, G. (2020). distant touch screen-grabs [Screenshot of Website]. Retrieved from https://live.driangle.org/distant-touch.html?fbclid=IwAR2yx_sbT8cGRmxjdlBS2piQky356eVnqMqD_05D5Qx5oDq_qa_3JPIly1c

2kliksphilip. (2017). /r/place screen-grab [Screenshot of YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QO0yZldC2M&feature=youtu.be

Peacock, N. (2020, May 6). Ella Fitzgerald. Retrieved from https://natpeabct.tumblr.com/post/617353673778069504/ella-fitzgerald

Racasag, C., & Agustin, A. (2020, May 7). PitchedIn general creative workflow [Flowchart and Timetable].

Racasag, C., Agustin, A., & Peacock, N. (2020, May 4). Positives and Negatives of PitchedIn [Blackboard Screen-grab].

Racasag, C., Agustin, A., & Peacock, N. (2020, May 13). PitchedIn Miro Board [Miro Screen-grab].

Peacock, N. (2020, May 13). X-rated cheese. Retrieved from https://natpeabct.tumblr.com/post/617978030133067776/x-rated-cheese

#ctec708 #sem1

0 notes

elisharaymondgibsonlma32 · 4 years

Text

History of ‘Heathers’

Figure 2. Performance picture from the Off-Broadway production of ‘Heathers,’ from ‘The Guardian,’ 2014.

In 1989, ‘Heathers’ burst onto screens, unfortunately it was not to everybody’s taste and was originally considered a box office flop.

‘Needless to say, not everybody in 1980s America saw the funny side. Heathers was not a box-office hit. “People were outraged: ‘How dare you make a comedy about teenage suicide?’ Well I didn’t make a comedy about teenage suicide,” says Lehmann (nobody in Heathers actually commits suicide). “There were plenty of people at the time who thought the humour was irresponsible, and that the choice of subject was not something that should be put up for satire and, you know, I just rolled my eyes and said the most horrific topics should be the ones that are best suited to satire.”’ (Rose, 2018).

In the absence of a regular crowd, Heathers was forced to take a back seat to other box office hits and as a result of this, the producers lost so much money that they halted future production.

‘If only more people had caught it in the cinema. Heathers made just $1.1 million back on its $3 million budget. It was the last film released by New World Pictures, which closed weeks after the film’s release.’ (Brady, 2018).

Despite its lack of success back in 1989, it was later adapted into a musical.

‘As well as capturing its time, Heathers caught something universal, then, but bringing it into the modern day has required some adjustments. Heathers: The Musical is a brighter, more optimistic proposition than the movie, with more of a female self-empowerment theme and less in the way of transgressive satire. The sexual assault incidents have been removed, fewer guns are waved around, Veronica no longer burns her hand with a cigarette in self-loathing. It hits the spot with fans, but others have likened it to “a mere Glee episode about suicide”.’ (Rose, 2018).

So in 2010, Heathers made its off-Broadway debut and it featured a few changes.

‘The movie’s pitch-black comedy has been brightened somewhat on its journey to the 21st-century stage, with the addition of musical numbers such as Freeze Your Brain (on the transformative properties of 7/11 slushies) and My Dead Gay Son (in which a double funeral becomes an anthem to inclusivity).’ (Rose, 2018).

In 2018, Heathers was revived in an off-West End production.

‘The show, which transfers to the West End in September, was raucously received. As a Heather would say, it was very.’’ (Rose, 2018).

Due to the success of the off-West End previews, Heathers finally achieved the recognition that many believed was overdue and deserved as it moved to Theatre Royal Haymarket in the West End.

‘Heathers: The Musical premiered in 2014 and will transfer to London’s West End this September.’ (Brady, 2018).

After it finished its run on the West End, it was announced that Heathers would be embarking on a UK Tour.

‘With music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy, the adaption has had productions across the world including a recent West End run starring Carrie Hope Fletcher. Produced by Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor-Mills, the musical is now embarking on its first UK tour for 2020.’ (Darvill, 2020).

There have been many productions of Heathers ranging from amateur high school shows to Riverdale and a TV series of the same name.

‘The musical is not the only recent repackaging of Heathers; there is also Heathers the TV series. Set in the present day, it is billed as “a satirical comedy that takes creative risks in dealing with many of society’s most challenging subjects, ranging from personal identity to race and socio-economic status to gun violence”. The show makes some drastic changes to the original set-up: the new Heathers of the piece are no longer all thin, privileged white girls; instead, one is a plus-sized girl, one is a black lesbian, and one is a genderqueer male (Veronica is white and blonde). Thus, the original film’s political satire is turned on its head. It was applauded by far-right commentators, which was probably not the intention.’ (Rose, 2018).

The TV show was cancelled due to a tragedy in America which clashed with its timing of release.

‘A TV reboot was scrapped by the Paramount Network last June following the Parkland shootings. In this new version, which is now expected to land with one of the streaming sites, Heather McNamara (originally played by Lisanne Falk) is now portrayed by Jasmine Mathews and is written as a black lesbian. Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty) is played by Brendan Scannell, who identifies as genderqueer and Heather Chandler (Kim Walker) is now played by Melanie Field – a plus-sized actress.’ (Brady, 2018).

The TV series may have been cancelled but Heathers lives on, it has inspired many adaptations.

‘In its absence, some of that Heathers legacy has percolated down through the generations, in teen movies such as Clueless, Mean Girls and Election, or this year’s Thoroughbreds, about two privileged white girls who coolly plot a murder.’ (Rose, 2018).

Many believed that Heathers was an inaccurate representation of High School but others worry that it is far too close to reality.

‘Now Lehmann wonders if we’re not actually living in a Heathers sequel: “I watch the American political news and I can’t believe how much it’s like high school!’ (Rose, 2018).

Figure 3. A poster advertising the ‘Heathers’ inspired episode of ‘Riverdale,’ from ‘Entertainment Weekly,’ 2019.

0 notes

anonsally · 7 years

Text

National Theatre Live’s Peter Pan

Last night, two of the other Hamlet roulette fans and I went to see the film of a performance of Peter Pan. One of my friends and I mostly liked it; SuperFan didn’t enjoy it as much but thought it had good elements. I’m sure it was better seen live in the theatre. The stage was large and deep, and the actors were using all of it (and the space above it), so having it flattened out on a screen meant that we were definitely missing something.

Aspects I particularly liked:

The whole thing was performed by adults, which worked on a couple of different levels. It was both fun and sort of weirdly disturbing to watch adults behaving like children--both in the sense of running amok and being creative and using their imaginations, and in the sense of rejecting any responsibility or mature handling of emotions. In particular, Peter Pan was played by a visibly middle-aged man (Paul Hilton).

It brought out some aspects of the source material that I’d sort of forgotten, or hadn’t really managed to put together: Wendy’s father is sort of a big baby himself--Mrs. Darling basically has to treat him like a fourth child. When Wendy and Peter play Mother and Father to the Lost Boys, they are not just playing at the most banal, stereotypically heteronormative idea of marriage; they’re also basically recreating her parents’ relationship. There is a bit of an implication that in fact, men do not ever really grow up--or certainly don’t want to--and that they expect or need women to act as their mothers, willing or not. Wendy initially tries to tell the Lost Boys that she can’t be their mother, but she does play at that role while in Neverland. But the part of this that she relishes is the telling of bedtime stories.

There was a lot of flying, done using the tools of aerial dance--which were referred to as “fairy strings” instead of fairy dust. I thought that was a very good way to adapt it, and one that retains a sense of possibility. That is, seeing the mechanics of how they flew allowed the audience to imagine that they themselves could also do it.

Captain Hook was a woman (Anna Francolini) in this production, and she was both terrifying and somehow sympathetic. There was a great scene at the beginning of the second Act in which she sang while putting on her outfit and wig and hook. It became clear that her fear of the ticking crocodile isn’t about the crocodile, it’s about Time. She is afraid of the passage of time, of aging; she hates Peter because he gets to stay young (and because he’s infuriatingly immature and cocky).

Tinker Bell was played by a sort of chunky man (Saikat Ahamed) speaking what seemed to be a made-up language. This was very charmingly done, though Tinker Bell only appeared in a few scenes.

The sibling rivalry between Wendy and John was played up quite a bit, and was pretty entertaining.

The play didn’t condescend to kids. Parts of it were genuinely creepy or scary or disturbing, but I think many (most?) children enjoy that, provided that the villains are defeated. And at the same time, there was enough irony and humor that appeals to adults, without making it less enjoyable for kids.

I wasn’t crazy about most of the songs, but some were effective. Some of the time it was frustratingly hard to understand the words.

The cast was reasonably diverse, which was great. However, a couple of possibly problematic things:

Nana the nurse-dog was played mostly anthropomorphically by Ekow Quartey (who also played Tootles and was very good; I recognised him from one of the Harry Potter movies). This was very funny if taken at face value, but there was definitely an issue in the fact that a black man was dressed in the clothing of a (female) servant, and playing a dog (being made to beg, etc.). My concern about that was somewhat alleviated by the fact that although Mr. & Mrs. Darling and two of their children were white, their youngest son Michael was black (John Pfumojena). But I still think it was problematic.

Tiger Lily’s ethnicity was vague--was she supposed to be Native American? The actor playing her was black (Lois Chimimba), and her face was painted, but Tiger Lily wasn’t part of a “tribe” at all. She lived in the forest with the wolves, and was portrayed as possibly friendly with Wendy, who loved wolves. Her being an “Indian” or Native American was never discussed. It was more like she was, like the pirates, a sort of “other” for the children to imagine being--or fighting against.

It’s possible that Tinker Bell was intended to evoke a jinni; I’m not sure how problematic this would be if so.

All three of these actors also played Lost Boys (Tootles, Slightly, and Curly) and pirates. Overall, I think I see this as an adaptation that attempted to solve some of the bigger problems with the source material, but that may not have entirely succeeded, and that may have introduced new problems.

The show was directed by Sally Cookson, who’d also directed the National Theatre Live adaptation of Jane Eyre, and there were moments when things were staged similarly. Some of the actors were the same, too; Madeleine Worrall, who’d played Jane Eyre, played Wendy in this, which made for a very nice meta reference: when the Lost Boys shoot what they think is a Wendy-bird down on Tinker Bell’s instructions, they realise immediately that they’ve made a mistake. One of them says “This is no bird”, which is both a direct quote from the source material and, since the same actor was in question, a clear reference to Jane Eyre’s line “I am no bird”.

There were also a few lines in which Captain Hook referenced Shakespeare, which I enjoyed.

#theatre #peter pan #adaptations #i'm white tag #Jane Eyre #(but only indirectly)

4 notes · View notes

peckhampeculiar · 7 years

Text

Reflecting on his success

Former Nunhead resident Charlie Stemp has been nominated for an Olivier award for his role in hit musical Half a Sixpence. He tells us why he’s loving every minute of his newfound stardom

Words: Emma Finamore; Photo: Luke Wolagiewicz

“Probably my first memory is being on the New Kent Road. I always knew coming into London that when I was near the New Kent Road, I was near home. It was those traffic lights.”

Charlie Stemp is talking in a building only about half an hour’s drive from those lights (or a 20 minute journey, if you take the Bakerloo line) but metaphorically speaking it’s a world away: the West End’s Noël Coward Theatre, where he’s currently starring in hit musical Half a Sixpence.

Born in Camberwell and living on St Mary’s Road in Nunhead as a child, before moving to Elephant and Castle and settling in Blackheath, Charlie is a true south-east Londoner.

The 22-year-old has been nominated for a prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for his role in Half a Sixpence – in the Best Actor in a Musical category – with the winner to be announced on April 9. It’s an incredible feat for anybody, let alone someone who says he hated dancing and drama when he first tried it at school.

Charlie went to a large secondary school with about 4,000 kids, but says it didn’t work for him – “I was just lost, it was a bit too much for me” – so he moved to a small theatre academy with about 60 pupils or so, above an Argos in Eltham.

“I was able to have much more of a personality,” he says. “But I was forced to do musical theatre – it was compulsory. I hated it at first, the jock straps and tights and ballet… I think I was told by society that dancing’s not for boys. Then I got over myself, once I realised it was OK to enjoy these things.”

Charlie can pinpoint the moment everything changed. He was in a dance class one day when a teacher came in and pulled the dance instructor to one side, pointing at him: “I thought, ‘Oh God, I’m in trouble’, like maybe I’d forgotten to put on the jock strap or something.”

He wasn’t – in fact he’d got an audition for Billy Elliot. He was cut in the first round for being too tall, but it was the beginning of his career. Charlie gave up rugby and judo – he was in the Team GB squad and fought for Kent – for tap class and dancing. “I never looked back really,” he says.

After GCSEs he headed to Laine’s theatre school in Epsom – “I loved it” – and landed a role in a pantomime at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford aged 18. Funnily enough, the first place he was paid to be on stage was the same theatre he used to watch shows every Christmas as a child (his nan lives nearby).

A year later, he landed a spot in Wicked in Victoria, and after that went touring the world with Mamma Mia!, surfing in Tel Aviv – “It was so hot, like melt your sandals to the floor hot” – exploring the Christmas markets of Luxembourg, seeing Portugal and France and making friends with pub landlords in Dublin. “It was just brilliant, I think I slept at one pub twice – they put me under the bar,” he laughs.

His Olivier nomination is propped up on the table behind us, but of all Charlie’s experiences so far he says the most exciting has been receiving a call from one of his heroes, Ian McKellen, on the phone just beside where we’re sitting. “I remember shouting down the phone to him, ‘Shut up, you’re not Ian McKellen?! No you’re not?!’” he says. “He was really lovely.”

Press night for Half A Sixpence comes a close second, as Charlie (and his mum) got to meet Barbara Windsor. “I’m a big fan, I love the Carry On films,” he says. “She said she thought I was amazing, and that was so lovely. I said, ‘Miss Windsor, thank you so much,’ and she said, ‘Call me Babs.’ I said, ‘Yeah I will, forever!’”

Despite clearly being over the moon about the Olivier nomination accolade, Charlie is keeping it in perspective. “It doesn’t feel like hard work that’s paid off,” he says, “because I’ve just enjoyed every second of it.

“When we started in Chichester [where Half a Sixpence had its first run] everyone loved it, we would get stopped in the streets, in this little conservative town. But then to bring it to London, and for it to run really well, that’s as much an achievement as the nomination, I think.”

He talks about the particular challenges of moving a production from a smaller town to the West End. “People expect more here, when you bring something to town. There’s an expectation that it’s going to be good. People – at first – are distant and reserved, and that’s not a negative, you just have to rise to the occasion.”

It’s something Charlie (and clearly, the theatre critics) believes the Half a Sixpence team has successfully pulled off, despite going up against and being compared to musical giants like Les Misérables, Wicked and The Phantom of the Opera.

“I believe our show is as good if not better, because we bring something to the West End that nobody else has: old fashioned British charm,” he says enthusiastically.

Despite being updated, the musical is firmly rooted in modern British history. Based on HG Wells’ 1905 novel Kipps, it centres around a humble draper’s assistant called Arthur Kipps (played by Charlie) who comes into money after a surprise inheritance.

As his new-found wealth propels him into high society, he must choose between Ann Pornick, the childhood sweetheart he left behind, and the beautiful and classy Helen Walsingham.

It was originally written as a vehicle for another famous south-east Londoner – entertainer Tommy Steele – in London in 1963, before hitting Broadway in 1965 and the silver screen in 1967 as a film adaptation.

“All the shows in the West End at the moment are just Broadway copies, shows that have done so well on Broadway that they just bring them over here and they do so well over here that they just keep churning out shows,” Charlie says.

“There’s always an audience for them, because everyone knows The Lion King, everyone knows The Book of Mormon. And that’s wonderful, don’t get me wrong – I’ve been in those casts and done those things and it’s so much fun.

“But to do something that you have created, and that you have been part of from the beginning is incredible. You feel so much more pride in it, because you’re an active cog in the machine instead of just doing exactly what the person 10 cast members ago did. It’s great.”

And the reviews seem to agree with him. His dad jokingly used to email Charlie all the bad reviews from the early Chichester days, and the good ones that had got his name wrong (“Charlie Stump” sticks out as a favourite) but he needn’t have worried – before long the rave reviews were rolling in, from both London and national papers.

The Telegraph called Charlie “one of those fairytale finds that’s the stuff of legend”, and said “in his elastic, fantastic company – and that of the terrific, 24-strong ensemble too – two hours whiz-bang-hurtle by”.

“For older generations it’s a classic that they can relate to, it’s part of their childhoods, and for younger people it’s just a bloody good show,” says Charlie. “The cast is incredible – two of my peers have already been nominated for Oliviers, both about four times each – and it’s such an ensemble show, so that’s great.”

The show features music from the late David Heneker – an award-winning writer and composer of British musicals – updated by Anthony Drewe and George Stiles, with songs about rain, garden parties and dreaming about pay rises in the pub.

Combined with a new story by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, it’s no wonder, really, that the show has been a hit in London. “We kind of have an ‘A team’ creatively,” says Charlie. “It’s the only show around with that Britishness, and we’ve brought it up to the 21st century.”

But it’s not just the production that’s proved a hit, of course – it’s Charlie himself. “I enjoy it, I really do, and so does everyone else,” he says, refusing to be drawn into talking about his own individual talents and treating the whole thing as a team effort.

“I think that’s what people like when they come to see us –we’re having so much fun, so they start to have fun – it’s our infectious happiness.”

And happiness is clearly the most important thing for him right now, in life as well as in his career. When asked what is next on the cards, Charlie says: “Honestly my motto is ‘just be happy’. I keep bugging my manager to be Bert in Mary Poppins, but I don’t mind what I do, as long as I’m happy.

“In this industry it’s so easy to forget that we only do it because we love it. We don’t do it for the money or the fame – we do it because we enjoy it. When money and fame happen it’s a bonus, but you do it because you love it. And I want to stay that way.” Despite all the “whiz-bang”, there’s a wise head on those young shoulders.

....................................

Half a Sixpence is playing at the Noël Coward Theatre on St Martin’s Lane and tickets are currently on sale up to and including September 2. To book call 0844 482 5140 or go to halfasixpence.co.uk

#charlie stemp #peckham #nunhead #half a sixpence #olivier awards

4 notes · View notes