If you want coherent writing, or just good writing in general, with interesting characters that make interesting choices, don't bother watching this. [try the original graphic novels instead]
However if you're fond of head-walling, or need to watch dumb and reckless people doing dumb and reckless things without logic to back it up with, go right ahead.
The story in itself is great, but that's no excuse since it's taken right from the comics. The show just messed it up - if I am to believe the readers, as I haven't read the comics myself yet. And I do trust them.
I only kept watching because I am a completionist, usually.
But really, nothing excused the try-hard lazy writing, not even, or especially not the way they're randomly trying to be inclusive by just throwing things out there for about a second (yet discarding those things right away each time), like poly, queer or non-binary topics. It's like they're trying to be like "hey if we make our show hetero-normative but kind of touch on a queer subject, like not hate it, then that makes us cool right? Maybe do the same thing with other topics, should get us more viewers right? Right???"
...
Naw.
I don't get Marty's deal here. We get this whole theme of marriages falling out and "really messing shit up", but he's just getting freaking spiteful, it is getting out of hand. Maybe he needs a good lay to chill him down a little. Don't like his sabotaging one bit.
I mean, the one thing we "know" is that he doesn't like to have a deal with Navarro and thinks it's safer if they stay as far away from him and the mafia as possible.
But I don't think that's all. He's been acting spiteful towards Wendy ever since season start, what with just saying no to her general ideas from the beginning and paying their therapist to vex her.
... I used to like him. :cry:
Thanks Ruth to telling him where it's at. Somebody not his wife had to. Him not treating her with the respect she deserves triggered this whole thing they're in now. Had she known WHY he didn't want to purchase another casino instead of just telling her right out "no" as if she had no say in any of their life, I'm sure she wouldn't have gone so far. Instead they have an almost marital war at their hands, because he is spiteful and shit at communicating. He says her decisions are risky? He should look at himself. And stop paying a therapist, he needs to hear the hard truths.
Little side note... Jonah losing control over the drone both when he overhears what the girls are saying about losing virginity, and seeing Ben buttnaked... is this foreshadowing he's possibly bi? :grimacing:Either way, I'm loving it. Lovely for them to end this much tension on a split second of humour.
Now they're trying to save the show by making people miraculously come to their senses and by sprinkling some sweet poly on top. Kudos.
But RE that whole "suicide with a plastic bag" thing. Now that we've seen how it happened... just reinforces how terrible the police force is working there. No signs of struggle? Really? He struggled quite a lot. But another plot hole seems to be how Nina is calling him right before entering his house and Ellie cuts off the call, right? I mean she could have pressed a silence button, but something about the reaction of Nina and the way Ellie handled it seemed to me like she actually declined the call. And declining a call while you're actually dead... doesn't seem suspicious? Plus his phone actually missing from the scene of the crime... not suspicious either? Wtf police. What the. Actual. F.
Same with how the kids had actually died... if they'd had an autopsy they would have realised they hadn't drowned. :rolling_eyes:
On a side note, how do you "keep watch' while they're inside someone's head. If Dodge suddenly showed up, what will they do? Jump into the door? Knock on it, "tiiiime tooo get ouuuuttt" or... uh... I guess you'll just stay exposed.
Of course taking the key back to the crown while you're off to get it is the best idea, because there's no way Dodge would be anywhere close by, and uh... major headdesk
I'm not convinced by the last episode. It's a bit too corn for my taste. I get you want to end a great show on altogether positive notes, but it all kind of rolls back to the cinderella speech. It's more like some kind of fairy tale.
What I did like, was the way that they got Faye out. The con was great.
From then on, it just went down the fairy-tale slope. All a happy family... ok, I'll take it. Louis getting married with Sheila and having their child the same day? With complications? Nyeh... Also the entire "there is no free room available" plot was empty and unnecessary.
As was the "I don't want to waste another second" by Harvey. I liked the rest of the speech, or more like, their vows later were nice enough, but what exactly are you wasting by not being married to the woman you love, YET, and just living with her as you do?
And then the whole thing about them marrying without Louis being there. That is something that normally would have hurt Louis a lot. We could blame him just having a daughter and going through the scare of maybe loosing both, while it turned out fine etc, but not even Donna or Harvey thought about that. Cheesy, and for the sake of their characters, unrealistic event.
Nice to have a little sum-up of the show together. And the "future" of Harvey and Mike together again, because for me, that is what Suits really is about.
And man, I miss those days with Rachel and Jessica. It really wasn't the same quality afterwards.
"First things first"...
Uhm how about duct-taping the bad guy or some shit especially since you don't know when they'll be waking up. No let's just keep her lying on the floor, nothing unsafe about that whatsoever.
Kudos til the non-binary line I suppose, but again the whole show is a bit too much on the tryhard-track for me to appreciate their "lets try and be inclusive" fully.
And I really can't with these kids. Last episode they (although it was an adult to be fair) brought the crown key RIGHT to both crown and Dodge, and now they're bringing both unconscious Dodge AND the fucking omega key TO the fucking door?! What the actual fffffff I just feel like hitting my head against a wall and cry until this episode is over. Just... 24 more minutes.
Just so much is wrong with this. Dodge most likely still duct-tape free (I'm a fan of duct tape plus everyone has that in their house, easy) under there, and now they're trying to open a door they have no clue what does to no-clue-what-end but Tyler is awful positive about that it WILL be an end "Let's end this"... you have no idea how this works, how do you suppose you will end it by opening an ominous door a fucking demon is really crazy about opening? And they all just cast away that odd thought about where the crown is, clearly it would have to have been on Doge, and how come there were no keys on her either, did they even bother to check? No, let's just wrap it up and toss it. And of course we don't get good camera-angles when the bullets fly out, we wouldn't want anyone to accidentally see what happens.
ARGH. I need to stop ranting.
Well after all this baiting for a second season we'll probably get one. Unless they decide to drop it, and I wouldn't be sad.
Not the worst but also definitely not the best.
The child actors in the beginning were horrible.
This comes off strongly as either a very low-budget marvels film, or a covid production. There were barely any actors to begin with, let alone female actors who’d pass any Bechdel or other test. But that wasn’t what I expected this film to do.
The story was a little rushed. There was little depth to it, like no real consequences for the outside world - just a singular story about a singular fate (expanded into two, three people) Another thing that makes it feel like they just tried to pump out “another one for the franchise, let’s slap a pretty face on it and it’ll sell ok enough”. There were a lot of moments that weren’t thought through, or plain silly.
Like the fight down in the subway - not only would there have been CCTV, there were a lot of witnesses that could have told the FBI already then that it wasn’t just ONE “vampire”.
Another thing is how Morbius apparently was highly suspected by the FBI, but they hadn’t tapped his phone or tracked him in any other way? Unlikely.
And what the heck is the other FBI agent trying to do by shaking the litter box of the cat, calling “Kitty Kitty”? That’s the dumbest I’ve seen in a while. Yeah sure, that’s how you attract cats. “Look, fresh litter! come kitty kitty!”
As well as Martine randomly getting scratched by an otherwise extremely docile cat. That’s just convenient eye roll material.
All in all, with a lacklustre story, it could have gone straight to Netflix and not been shown on the cinema at all. Still, it wasn’t as terrible that I regretted seeing it. I was mildly entertained. Wished the bits of humour had been more on point. The Venom joke was ok, but otherwise, it just felt mostly tired. Pretty, but tired. I don’t think many people would have gone to see it, weren’t it for Jared starring in it.
I love how Bloom isn't like "uh you're hot, I totally want you as bf" to Skye, but real down to earth about it: Sounds complicated, don't need that right now, thanks but no thanks.
I also love how the teachers/grown ups aren't looking down on the kids much as is so often portrayed, but genuinely caring. The headmistress didn't even try and keep up the "bullshit" when challenged and right out told Bloom the truth. That's real healthy.
When Muse starts stalking Sam, at first I thought maybe the thing with him is that she can't feel anything from him, hence the attraction. Like with Sookie and Eric... can't read vampires' thoughts haha! Interesting turn to find out he's actually Terra's brother. Who would have guessed! Also, he doesn't have an earthy name, like Terra said her family all does.
Adore that in the face of danger, she's actually the one solid as a rock, able to perform tasks while everyone else around her melts away. Puns intended. That makes her less flattering character traits (aka being a fucking chatterbox) a little more tolerable.
So Stella uses fear and anger to trigger magic, but when it comes down to it, and she's actually scared herself, she can't? Unreliable indeed. Seems like Aisha knows more about her than we do.
She doesn't use magic like a first year either. And with just a little floosh they kill a scary burned one? Hmmmmmmm. Not sure.
At first I thought, the whispering voices were something like Will'o Wisps or helpful spirits that guide Bloom, but now it seems like they're pulling her toward the Burned Ones. Interesting to hear Bloom say she felt a connection to it. Which has me begin to suspect that her being a Fire Fairy has something to do with... well... burned people. Maybe her family was the one creating them in the first place.
Aaaaand intrigues are rolling! Who the heck is "he"? A disgruntled fairy king? A ... non-fairy?
All in all, I find this show to be quite healthy so far indeed.
There's even moments with the more dubious characters.
Him suddenly my wanting to end the game right then is the biggest bullshit.
All of those people died for nothing. Or are their families getting the prize money?
Sang-woo was too desperate to giving up on the money anyway.
I felt like him being like “oh hey I’ll be a hero let’s just end the game” was such an insult to everyone’s toils and struggled up to then. Glad “218” chose to do the one valiant thing he did all game.
I should not be surprised to see him go back to being his useless scumbag self after the games, but seriously. You made a promise (well, not really, he almost made a promise) and had very big plans of what to do with the money, among other BE A FATHER TO YOUR KID, but no, zero character progression, reverted right back. I’m livid lol. He never deserved to win.
But then… the old guy. I had not seen that coming. And then suddenly all these theories at once in my head… he’s the very first winner. He’s the host. He’s always been in the games and won them all, or just inserted himself and as he got older, people started ignoring him… except for Gi-Hun.
Who proceeds to be pathetic and choose his selfishness over his family :upside_down: I’m so done.
Creepy child continuing to be creepy.
Glad Darri has a conversation with the landlady, although he’s a science person he must believe her somewhere, somehow. And hopefully “realise” his wife is in danger. Or suspect it at least.
Also wow Rakel, wow. I hadn’t expected that.
I find it peculiar how none of the Dopplers recognise themselves. I mean at least the Gunhilds could talk to each other and realise a lot of things.
The ravens are so ominous. Does it keep dying and being reborn, in an eternal cycle? At first I just thought it only happened once but it just died again. :thinking:
And something about Gisli is off. I don’t recall what his story was, but unless he just transferred it’s strange he doesn’t recognise Darri’s child or doesn’t know his story. Like, saying it’s a custody case. Living in the same town he should know their child died. And the thing about there being an alarm at the camp but him ignoring it makes me wonder whether Ása actually managed to warn the town but nobody listened……..
Also: Icelanders behaving like tourists, driving in dangerous conditions. And running out of fuel no less.
And wtf. This show is exceptional at cliff hangers.
So we know it’s not just the dead coming back, because of Gunnhild. But she kind of had gone back to Sweden so in a way she was “dead” in Iceland. But now Gríma…? Maybe it’s her before the trauma? Like a different version. Like they’re all different versions of themselves.
I was really looking forward to this, as the promise of what it could be is rather enticing.
I'm not entirely on board with the execution however. Seems like it might have been hyped up a bit too much.
I had some problems with for example, if you're out with your kid in the woods, you never know what happens, you might get into an accident, you HAVE to have a contingency plan. Like a document, a letter, that will explain to him how the world really works, and what the fuck money is, so that he wouldn't just throw it all away (which in itself I thought was stupid as well, after all it was in a box that was marked like a treasure, so unless Gus really is a stupid boy (and they didn't portray him as such), even if he doesn't know what it is, he'd have realised it has some sort of value. That he just tossed it all out made me cringe). The fact he didn't leave him anything like it, DESPITE going to the effort to hiding that box from him and making a treasure map is just a grave oversight and basically could have killed Gus. Ignorance in a world like that, as we soon see it, is deadly. So I have quite a big problem with that.
And I'm not really on board with how the characters are portrayed, they're a bit too comical. I suppose... if this is marketed for children, then maybe I can see why they would have made the first bad guys to appear seem so clowny. But I still don't think they would have HAD to do it that way. A lot of villains in a lot of PG stuff are really mean, even terrifying, and it works much better.
Well, the world is interesting, so I'll keep watching. It just didn't meet my expectations.
They've really got a thing about the whole "cutting off a scene and plunging into a completely different time". At least this time it's easy enough to follow.
Either way, found this episode to be quite a good one, all considering. Despite the many flaws.
Like the idea of the pirated train, although they should have known Wilford doesn't give a shit about anyone than himself, not Audrey either.
And where the fuck would Melanie go, there's no reason for her to take the sled out with all the stuff, realise Snowpiercer had an oopsie, and then just... not trust that people were fighting for her in any way. Also doubt that she'd just conveniently for the story had eaten up all her rations JUST before Snowpiercer was coming. Really convenient for the story, and kind of bullshit. Sure. Let's set up for Alex becoming a leader or something, someone completely new to the entire train. Or maybe she's supposed to be the "queen of the new world" or something.
So I guess, new season, off train, with Wilford coming back with a rage trying to eradicate them because he hates people not needing him to survive.
And poor Ruth... when she realised she's on the wrong part of the train. Also this was a bit "convenient"... why would she go THAT far back in the train when a de-coupling was going to happen? Doesn't make sense. Of course she'd miss it.
Well then, pirate train. Let's see whether you'll make another season or not.
And I thought where the last episode took us was already intriguing, but look what's happening here. Juicy.
Also really makes you wonder who steers the game. Seemingly, nobody at the beach, but it also just seems like whoever does, has full control over even what's going on at the beach. What could be more convenient now than to kill off most of that army that's been trying to find a way out of the game in one huge thing that targets only them?
I agree with how some actions don't really make sense anymore, but to be honest, there's always been some illogical ones in this show. I guess now that it's peaking, as with so many others, it just overloads into more craziness.
I find it interesting we get some sort of background story to the characters now, even if they don't necessarily make the hugest of senses. Like, if you got bullied as kid, you don't normally end up like the one who bullies everyone else. But then again, it's probably different if you get picked up by some gang members or yakuza in Tokyo with the purpose(?) to avenge yourself... or whatever. But still, I enjoyed the little views into their pasts. Especially "Hikaru's", that was beautiful and unusual.
Well, who do you think the witch is?
Following the "team's" logic, it shouldn't be anyone from the militia... Yet it being Aguni would make sense, as i guess a lot of us are suspecting him to be the Hatter's murderer. Plus, him being so passive during the hunt, just kind of overseeing it.
Then there's Chishiya, who's always been suspicious as fuck. I had suspected him as game master the first time they met him, then the suspicions were diverted (as his actions could well be justified by him being part of the beach), now I'm kind of suspecting him again. But as game master he wouldn't have to kill people on rooftops the way he did. (As a witch however, he might)
Somehow, we're all made believe the first scape goat and best friend of the murdered girl isn't it. Although it being 10 of hearts suggests a huge betrayal.
...
What about the murdered girl actually not being dead? Or it having been suicide or something? The way the show handles realism I'm pretty sure they allow someone to stab their own heart sufficiently with a knife. But... eh.
I guess I'll have to wait and see :upside_down:
Loved the prison episode, hated the rest of it.
I thought the Jack would be someone nobody suspected. I thought maybe it was the woman, because it was so quickly assumed that she was under his control, yet she could have just been acting. But when she died I realised, damn, there’s another one no one suspects.
I didn’t really get the way of communicating with the snacks. You can’t see your own mark, and each only got one snack. Would mean they told each other the marks before getting the snacks and then either getting their own suit or the suit of their partner, so the others could confirm it’s true or not. But if it weren’t true, what would they say? Plus in the end they started lying, had they also “conveniently” abolished their snack routine? :dizzy_face::dizzy:
Also, that’s the dumbest hunting scene I’ve ever seen. Disregarding that those bunnies would probably have scattered as soon as they first starting tossing each other around, why go through the “trouble” of trying to catch them this way… setting up a simple trap would have taken half the time. Even just bringing a big carton or blanket would have had bigger chances.
And the film maker just so finishing his 8mm film whilst basically dying AND getting it all ready for them to watch at the same time, uhm... what? Just after making a point it is analogue film, somehow it just magically converts from camera into ready-watchable material in a minute or so. :expressionless:
The tension in this episode was almost too much to bear. I kind of loved it but I also hated it somehow.
What a .. massacre.
Of course they'd shut them all off from the mainland, but still, what is the endgame? I had wondered earlier - either use the island as food, or make a vampire army. So I suppose it's army. But now there won't be any food left for them, so they'll have to go to the mainland to eat, aka "spread the gospel".
Maybe they'll say so in the next episode, but at this point it's really this big question of whether it's all just fanatism that just works very well for the "angel", or whether, in that story's reality, vampires really ARE angels, and the whole books and myths of christianity are really based off of that - vampires.
Well we had the one educated atheist already die off and choosing death rather than continuing the madness, but his opinion now sorely lacks.
The way I'm seeing it, is that this is a rather nice twist of how dangerous fanatism can be, in the "wrong" hands. It wasn't even ill intent to start with - Pruitt truly believed he had been blessed and it was all a gift from god. But when it arrived at Bev, with her fanatic mind... meeting the psycho bitch she is, that doesn't bode too well. So I think this is a story of "Fanatism going VERY VERY badly", but who knows. Maybe vampires are a gift of god.
I wonder whether they'll reveal who the "angel" truly is. I mean he never speaks, but somehow he and Pruitt etc are communicating. Otherwise why get dressed up and stand in front of the altar like that. And he found him in some ancient tomb...? Maybe he's one of the original apostles.
... Maybe he's Jesus. :upside_down: He has risen indeed. Sexy.
I watched this and the "remake" back to back, seeing how people complained about how the "remake" wasn't anything like the original (true) and how it was so awful in comparison (... I'll get to that).
All right.
First off, the composition and directing is incredible. Such neo noir vibes right from the start.
The musical score is crazy and loud. People must have complained in the theatres about three volume though. It’s so much louder than the spoken lines. This creates quite some dissonance, which I am sure is just about intended. And it seems typical Goblin.
The colours are impeccable though. That whole scene of the first deaths ... lovely. As it cuts to a blind man devoid of colours both inside and out - fantastic.
Yet already at this point I don’t see how people can actually compare the two, as they pretty much are two entirely different films. It's only that they took a general idea, and some names, and imho made a modern masterwork out of ... well, this.
The one thing I find comparable at this point, while the styles of directing are so different a comparison doesn’t seem fair, the acting is definitely better in the remake.
Yes, women screaming senselessly into the camera used to be a thing. Yes, "overacting" used to be a thing. But most of the characters in this seem like puppets rather than actual people, and that's a choice, not just "how the style is", as there's films of the same era, same genre, where it's done oh so much better.
A few points made along the way: spoilers here
- The original Blanc talks way too much and has way less charisma.
- The number of men is already disturbing and seems only be serving to distract from a plot (wait... there is one? ... Okay, sure there is one. But then cut to the new Suspiria, and there's a whole layer of plots. Come on, now.)
- I enjoy classical ballet far less than modern dance. And we get like, what, one or two scenes of them actually dancing in this one? DANCE is no part of the plot at all, while in New-Suspiria it DRIVES the plot.
- I do not appreciate how weak Susie is depicted versus that strong willed person she is from the start on the remake. Her first moments on the dance floor are basically “oh no I’m woozy I don’t think I can do this simple step” versus “I can dance this thing you’ve trained for for months and I will show you how good I am, rawr!”
- Depicting or alluding to the seemingly senseless abuse of both animals and the physically impaired is pretty bad taste.
While I can appreciate the film’s cinematography and have some minor understanding of typical horror genre shooting of the day, when it comes to the story and characters... excuse me, but no. They’re weak at best. None of the characters have any sort of strength of character, nor any personality worth speaking of, hence the happenings have no to little effect on the viewer as it’s impossible to relate to them. Other than an obvious perversity to enjoying lightly dressed female screaming in horror and flailing about helplessly, there’s little to no enjoyment to be won from this.
I can see how the original set in its own time frame could be a great? good? movie, but it wouldn’t do in our times whatsoever and as such, the “remake” has done an amazing job of retelling a similar story in a different context and make it both believable and gripping in a modern age (despite still being set in the 70s)
This one had me sit there with a raised eyebrow for the better half of the film and hope for a quick ending, while the new version had me pretty much glued the entire way.
When it comes to horror films around this era that I actually enjoyed, let's talk Phenomena. At least we have strong willed and smart characters, not annoying dimwits, in this one.
And the bad rep of witchcraft in this one to boot!
I think I need to watch the old Wicker Man to cure me of this disaster :joy:
So thanks for enlightening me of the "original Suspiria", but no thanks. There's way better classic films out there than this one.
Wow, that scene at the barn was incredible. All of it. The fight with Lila in itself was so intense, and I really feared for Allison. The whole thing with the handler, but something had to happen to stop her so I thought at first either one survived it or Harlan comes around and does something... And boom, at that point I had all forgotten about the Swede, fantastic cinematic deception here.
And the ending is so wonderful and bittersweet at the same time. I mean, it's mostly fucking heartbreaking. In a "I guess it had to be that way but wish it didn't fuck I hate life" kind of thing haha. I'm really happy about how Vanya is now a bigger part of the family, accepted, closer.
But so many sacrifices on the way. Sure, they saved the world, I guess. But for a fate. At least they've got each other, one could say.
The part at the end with the Swede and the bus ahahahah! It's like he's "Oh boy... here goes nothing" :joy:
I did suspect Harlan still having some residue of power. And I'm thinking, he's what like, 10 in in the 60s... so he would probably still be alive in their real time-line... Is that what season 3 is going to be about? In that case I'm not really expecting it to be the sweet "here-we-meet-again" as one would hope.
Love how Klaus took the hat. He's such a fashionista. "We actually succeeded at something?!?! That's incredible!" Bless you and your heart.
THE ENDING THOUGH
THE ENDING
YES
Sorry, but it just makes me happy when time-travelling is involved and people of COURSE mess up shit so nothing is as expected. Just... OH SHIT hahaha.
So looking forward to the next round, this one was incredible.
So many known faces in this. Good faces, even.
Steam Punk, set in the future where the ancients, aka we, destroyed the earth? What is not to like? If this is going to be a bad movie, at least it will be a REALLY GOOD bad movie.
But I mean, come on. The whole history is amazing. Food that hasn't gone off in a thousand years (yuck), the minions as things in a museum...
But I guess that's all from the books, and I only love it because I can't compare with the original. :grimacing: Good for me.
So after watching it all, I still don't hate it. In fact, rather the opposite. What do you want from an action movie other than this? I love the characters, even though 2 hours doesn't give them enough development, but how'd you do that in an action movie? And it has so much action. Beautiful worlds... a believable world-view... beautiful scenes... I don't see the hate.
He gets the girl AND the ship in the end, and she gets... the guy, and revenge? I also want to go where the wind takes "us", see the world. And someone to say "I'll go/come with you".
A true masterwork of emotions. I went into this knowing very little about it, and it struck me about as hard as I suspected it could.
What I didn’t know was how many themes there were that have always resonated with me. Their love was an obvious one. Cliffs, and the tale of Orpheus were less obvious, and thus striking from a blind angle. As was Sophie’s story. I could hardly look... until we were told to look. A very subtle mechanic, telling us to properly look, but it worked.
What can I say. There were so many moments. The camera, catching absolutely beautiful frames. As a photographer, I wanted to freeze the film so many times, take shots, but being in a theatre I couldn’t, and instead froze them in my mind as much as I could. Her gazing back from behind the shawl, at the beach. Her, regarding her as she wakes in the morning. The wilting flowers.
As a side note, the moment the women started singing, I was startled. I had not noticed any score before this moment so I suspected it must be voices, but it was so otherworldly at first I did not recognise them as such. Goosebumps.
Thank you for making this film.
Although I hurt, now, noticeably. Thank you.
Great film, in cinematography and storytelling, but I struggled with how much of an idiot they portrayed Gawain to be for most of the film.
Of course we wouldn’t have any story if he had listened closely to what the green knight had said and not taken the entire head off, subsequently pushing himself into the deepest pits of despair, believing his life would be forfeit if he went in the journey… but that also made the story.
What a weak character he starts out as. Silent even when the woman who loves him asks a crucial question. And too trusting of strangers in the wood… not even taking his sword when he runs. That was entirely too silly. Not at all convinced his journey makes him any stronger or better. Sure, he does find some courage in the end of the film, but not after having been a coward all his life.
Although a cool cinematographic trick, panning the camera around and showing his bones in the future, I’m so far confused as to what purpose it served. It seems a little useless. A moment of confusion and “oh is that it”, but then it’s taken back?
I liked the “are you real or are you a spirit?” - “what is the difference? I just need my head.”
As it becomes striking that he is on a mystical journey and this is not a common story at all, it was increasingly well received. The fox in his colours, the beautiful books, impossibly deep springs … I am not familiar with the original tale but I was suspecting him to have been the green knight and it being a circular story. At the very least for him to having freed the old and becoming the new. But it seemed like his mother had called the knight to begin with, so many questions arising as watching.
Be wary of promises where you exchange gifts. She might give him a child. I really wanted him to interact with the blind lady on his own. I wonder what she was all about. Was she symbolic him? Blind and mute?
Absolutely adored that the lady in the castle in effect made a photograph of him. That was terrific.
“Red is the colour of lust, but green is what lust leaves behind after, in the heart. In the womb”
Love how both Gawain and his fox were in a trap by the two in the castle.
A wonderful mystical journey and stunning images. Worth the watch.
Such perversity already in the first ten minutes.
It's really just a shit show of perversity at this point. Wilford the God, and all that.
As usually getting hung up on little details, but when Layton gets his ration... that huge block? Didn't they use to cut them up into tiny pieces in the tail, with everyone getting just a little mouthful per day or something? And he gets an entire block? That's more like a month's worth isn't it...
Anyway, I'm glad some people speak up to him. They have to, bit boring otherwise. I suppose he'd just freeze them all or put them under, but he can't really do that with the bigger portion or the train would stop working. People like him are so outdated though, the trope gets boring. Like Layton puts it... fragile, powerful men, they're the ones who fucked it up in the first place. Definitely outdated to have one in power now. Yet still, the show put us to that point. For what end? Down with the patriarchy, the "good guys" win in the end, let Wilford freeze to death, whoop whoop Layton/Melanie/Alex/Ben/Ruth/someone will lead and everyone will love them?
Also meh, because that's what we already had half a season ago, ah yes, at the end of the first, so all of this was kind of pointless so far.
Bit silly, aren't we, hiding behind glass doors from a man with a bat who just smashed a car with said bat? How in the hell did they think that was a safe option.
And there's so many eye witnesses to him by now, with him never changing what he looks like, yet they can't issue some sort of phantom drawing or make a press release or something?
Hmm... well given this is all in one day, police work probably doesn't move this quickly.
Despite the fallacies, I quite liked this one, had a few unexpected turns. With Jenny, and well... Twin brothers? Or something?
The only thing I was a bit underwhelmed with was Luther's tactic with him in custody. I mean... you got a guy there with dice who doesn't talk but seems to base all his decisions on a dice roll. Which... he doesn't seem to have figured out yet, dice + numbers in a book? Bit slow. But just in the event that guy CAN actually talk, why not just make it a game. I roll 1-3 you tell me who you are, I roll 4-6 I tell you who I am... something the like. Go get with the game man!
I can just say again how much I despise this "adults are truthful" vs "kids are liars" thing, and how much more power the words of ONE adult have. This has all blown up a bit too much. And the officials aren't doing their job right.
I mean, one guy saying that his daughter got diagnosed with something, first thing you ask for proof. With a bit of proof it would all just disappear, his whole web of lies. Like JohnB being a drug addict... and manipulative. Oh yeah? Ask anyone on the island who knows him whether he's either, and do a drug test.
Now I don't know how it would have gone down had the SBI guy been able to talk to Sarah on his own if she hadn't run. Maybe it would have gone down better.
I'm disappointed in how the pogues don't all just in unison say what really happened when the police find them. Once enough people say JB didn't do it, SOMEONE would have to start listening, yeah?
Ugh this is frustrating to watch.
Also the FIRST THING when Ward calls them and is all "turn around, I'll make it right" would be "Yeah then tell everyone the truth right now or we're going into the storm" The very first thing that would be on my mind.
The fact they keep calling it boat, like it’s a tiny dinghy.
And as if they’ve never seen titanic - when the water gushed in my second hand trauma hit.
And then suddenly the show skips several hours just like that, too.
The twist too, her believing Rufus had abandoned her and having so much rage about someone killing her mom, in the end it’s all the mother who did the abandoning.
—
All in all "Viktor" tries to deliver a good message, somewhere wrapped up in the story, and the show tries to deliver both that and the "but is that truly justified", but the last few episodes felt a bit anticlimactic, I'm not entirely buying the justifications.
Wasn't buying the "a few happy days in the snow" plot either, and wondered why the hell Imogene would, but ah, of course there was a bigger plot behind it.
I had wondered why the carts were rescued too.
I do like how they’re all one big team in the end. They could host a completely different show. Maybe they will, if season 2 becomes a thing.
And in the end, Imogene does put away the person who killed her mom, I suppose.
Well, the first half of the how was a lot more enjoyable than the latter, but I still did like it.
Nothing near as great as Only Murders though. Not even close.
A bit too obvious, including the few jump scares it had. Not scary at all. Annoying plot and characters. Figured out how to escape it way before the character did, and more effectively so.
What I found annoying was how bad Rose was at articulating herself and explaining the situation. Of course it’s a plot thing that people aren’t supposed to believe her, but then don’t make her a character that is supposed to be smart and articulate, make her a character that is believable as being somewhat dense. Not a therapist. Especially not a therapist, since she’d have known exactly what to say and not to say to not sound crazy. You don’t start with “I know this sounds crazy”.
And Trevor turned into such a red flag. The first scene he was so supportive, but then Rose goes through trauma and he almost immediately pulls away and removes himself as support system.
A lot in the movie was so unnecessary. Like, In the prison, when Joel says he’s not going to leave was unnecessary. It’ll increase trust if he does plus she could just tell him afterwards anyway.
Her keeping running or using weapons against a thing that has no body was annoying. Just stop running? What’s it gonna do if you just don’t run? It can’t kill its own host. It needs someone to spread so… yeah the cop out way to get rid of it is isolating yourself and just starve it out. Think of it as a parasite. Apparently it needs a new host every week or so.
A more effective way would be to isolate yourself somewhere and either do the heroic version where you k:asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol: yourself without anyone witnessing it, or you kill somebody without anyone witnessing it, and it can’t hop into someone else.
So Rose can’t kill anyone (also here the guy at the prison was misleading. He said that the only way to escape it is to kill someone while someone else is watching, but that will just pass it on), fine. Apparently she won’t consider the heroic option either. Ok isolation it is.
Now, had the film stopped after she’d set the house on fire, we would have a nice little message: face your trauma and you can overcome anything.
That doesn’t happen. Being a horror movie and all, I called it, especially Joel coming to “the rescue” and fucking everything up was an obvious plot, but still, ugh.
Speaking of the end though - maybe Joel managed to think further or realise this; but if he just were right stay with her as she dies, the chain would break. The film ends before we see what he does. We expect him to run, as he lacks that one piece of information/confirmation with the “killing someone”… but he could have figured all this out by himself.
My last words for this…
We all knew the cat was going to die, it was too focused on, but … what happened with the train?
That’s the question that remains unanswered.
For someone who did not grow up in an Elvis-family and only ever knew the major facts around him, yet no details, this experiences as an enjoyable theatrical experience.
I loved the angle of recounting it from the “bad guy’s” perspective, and the theatrical performance of him, he’s really reminded me of the Penguin from Batman rather an actual real life character – which works so well with how this story is feeding off of little Elvis’ comic book fantasies and riding on the “Elvis trapped in a web/cage” storyline.
The entire cinematography is bombastic and sensational – another thing that fits with the story they’re telling, but does give very little pause to the viewers.
I enjoyed Butler’s performance as Elvis. The way the film is centred around him but never really gives insight into him, like the elusive and untouchable rock star worked for me. We only really experience him through the eyes of others. He himself has very little of a voice unless he is on stage.
That said, it was enjoyable and I appreciate them “bringing Elvis back”, but it does have little rewatch value. Once you’ve seen it, you’ve seen it. I’m not hungering for more, I’m probably over satiated.
I don’t expect very much of marvel sequels, so all I expected was some strange goodness and a sweet little ca—cloak!
Which it delivered.
Personally I didn’t mind it was as long as it was, I barely noticed. It wasn’t quite as scary as some people said it would be.
I liked the whole “you make a mistake and they make you a hero, I make one and they make me a monster” thing, it’s been a trending social discussion. Which I don’t think they solved that well, because in the case presented in Strange, while Wanda was reasonable at first, she did try to communicate and no one really listened (or rather, no one believed her), it did make her a “monster”. She started out reasonable but during her entire dream walking processes she somehow lost it, to the point of seemingly not realising she didn’t just hurt a lot of people, but in fact kill them. So far removed from the Mother-Wanda.
I loved how much the dream walking as well as the travelling the multiverse was so close to actual Astral projection and shamanic journeys. Loved that.
And what I’ve always liked with Strange is how you can make a weapon out of anything, as long as you can imagine it. So I appreciated all the little “weapons”, although maybe they could have come up with more. The music scene with the notes I really liked though.
In the end, the “monster” was reminded of her humanity and did the right choice, but did that make her a hero?
(A statue of Wanda is what I’d like to see here but maybe there is one. My friend chased me out of the cinema before the extra bits so I’ll have to watch them somewhere :upside_down: will be disappointed if they don’t make Wanda a heroine though.)
Lovely film about family, “kin”, and friendship, with just a dash of crime, danger and sci-fi.
———
I enjoyed how little the sci-fi was, and how we don’t actually know what their story was. I enjoy open stories like these. Elijah will know some day, when he’s older. For now, he’ll just be waiting. Like us. In case they do make a follow-up. The lady from the FBI did say “We’re not done” though, so that might be a bit of foreshadowing.
I usually get hung up on when people do exceptionally stupid things, but here we had a nice balance with Elijah, who pretty much only did the smart things. Which is probably one of the things that would remind of Stranger Things - it not necessarily being the adults making the best decisions. Jimmy with his wasting of money, and going right back down a slippery slope of gambling… really? You’re technically free, and you’re going to waste the bit of money you have on hotel rooms that probably cost $500 a night and go to Nevada out of all places.
Ty wasn’t doing so much better - Jimmy’s counter part. Why he wouldn’t at least cuff Jimmy at the police station while going off to check in the noise is beyond me. There must have been tons of sets ready for use.
Loved the ending! In all ways. And yes, it was “pretty cool”.
First ten minutes or so: Tell me a man wrote the script without telling me a man wrote the script.
Well, it was obvious that Ryan didn't just kiss that girl. But let's lean back and unfold how toxic Jane is, once again. She made a huge deal out of the "just kiss" thing, as if he'd done the worst thing ever. Then he tried to tell her the truth after she made such a huge deal out of how important truth is (I agree, but not with the way she handles it), yet she kept continuously cutting him off.
NOW that it's out, she'll likely blow up again and blame it all on him.
People make mistakes, yet she's so dishonest about it herself. It took her so much to get over a "just kiss", of course Ryan knew that if she ever found out late, it would all go to hell. He tried to make right by her, she kept blocking him from it, so in the end he just rolled with it. I get that. Now it's likely going to go to shit again, but is anyone looking at how her behaviour is way more toxic and unhealthy than his? I hope Ryan gets away from her. And Jane gets cancelled. Just, no, lady. No.
I like the theme of a sceptic/cynic coming to a town that clearly seems to be all about the afterlife, and "giving in to temptation". I'm thrilled to see where this is going.
Anorexic weighing herself, entity smashing scale... Me: Aww... Such a kind ghost!
Watching this feels like the wife is the real ANYthing in the family. First he's like "she's the real believer" then he's like "she's the real artist". What else? Oh yeah, he's not a real professor either, not a real guy either I guess!
I did feel like the ending was a little rushed though. And sitting there thinking about the ending/resolution... Now I'm not 100% sure they said that "good wins", they definitely said that evil doesn't. Which I guess is true in a sense, the evil are damned, so ultimately they don't win. But the good didn't really "win" either. Sure, everyone will know about him being the bad guy, but a lot of good people had to die for it. So in the end... no one really wins. Which, I guess, is life.
"Evil spirits only commune with evil doers... and evil only thrives in a house it's welcome" ... Huh! I like this.
Jane better fix her typo in that article (or more like, omitted word). Oh yeah, I zoom in on that shit, want to see whether the writers of this show actually write good articles :joy:
That was such a weird place to pick up the Bold Type again, just after watching Bitten s2 where ... well, the thing happens with Logan. It was so weird suddenly seeing him here... as a fucking blind date lmao.
And Alex has been such a good friend to basically all of them, but he barely gets any screen time, and now they've made him some sort of "second choice"/third-wheel guy for Sutton? Ouch.
I don't see what the big problem with Natalie is. If you keep messing up your job and "still don't get it" after several explanations, you get fired. Just fire her if she can't fix it herself.
Also the "my friends are YOUNG"... not necessarily the word I would have used, but it's definitely one that works.
Can someone explain the applicable US laws to me here, I don't see why Sutton and Richard can't just take this to HR and report officially as dating, as usual in company policies I'm aware about?