#FINALLY A MEXICAN SUPERHERO
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All my favorite moments in blue beetle: a very long and silly list because this is my new fav movie ever (latinos on top fr)
The fact that the entire movie is low key a representation of how lost people can feel after they finish college and don't know what to do with their life.
How celebrated it is that Jaime is a first gen college student
As much as I loved him being from el paso, I love that he now gets his own city that it still deeply rooted in latino culture
How despite the fact that everything is going bad for the family, Jaime still tries to keep moral up and be positive
Jaime stands up for Jenny without thinking
How his persistence is what ends him landing up with the scarab, and subsequently keeping it out of victorias hands
Am I allowed to say his entire family? The scene where they're all pushing him to open to the box was so funny. Their dynamic felt so real, and it makes even more sense because apparently any time they were bickering it was improv.
How well the movie handled micro-aggressions against latinos. Like the receptionist didn't even attempt Jaime name, and how Victoria would never get her scientist's name right. They are subtle, but very real problems.
Maybe this was just me, but from the trailers I thought Jenny and Jaime already new each other, but I liked that they just met. It made their story more interesting.
The body horror route they decided to take with the suit was so cool.
The suit in general. I missed practical suits so much, and it just looked so amazing.
Another thing, that has already been talked about a lot but idc, is that I still am so in love that his family knows from the get go. Of course it wasn't really his choice, but I love how there is never any big secret, and they are constantly in the picture.
I know the Khaji-Da doesn't have as much personality compared to the comics, but the whole sequence where Jaime first gets the suit was so funny.
Notoriously in the comics the beetles were sent out to worlds to be the harbingers for their creator species to invade said world. I loved the small detail in the intro of the blue beetle crashing into the green beetle and then having a flash of electricity. I wonder if that was to hint at a malfunction, since the Khaji-Da never goes to evil with Jaime.
I love Rudy's truck. It's stupid but that's why it's so good.
The whole family debrief was was funnier than it should've been, and the beetle on Jaime spine looked wicked as well.
I thought it was interesting how much of a presence Ted Kord had on the movie, mainly because. of Jenny, but it was still there.
Every. Single. Latino. Reference. I could barely keep up there were so many good ones omg, the details were amazing.
For Jenny being an original character I thought she was done very well
I love how Rudy was useful and basically got them into kord industries.
I love the way we only see Jaime eyes in the suit. It's a different approach to what we've seen with masked heroes so far and I love it
How much they talked about the first two blue beetles, I thought adding that context made it better
They made it very evident how lonely Jenny feels, and I think her small emotional moments really paid off in the end.
I love how Jaime was so openly affectionate with both Rudy and his father, it's something uncommon with men in latino cultures and I loved seeing it.
The entire sequence where Jaime's house was being raided was so uncomfortable. And it was in moments like this were I thought Soto did a great job of weaving real world problems latinos face within a superhero movie.
The moment when Jaime's father had a heart attack, and Jaime was being dragged away, and his sister was screaming was just so heartbreaking and powerful. All of them were hurting so much.
I loved how active his family was, and how all of them immediately went to go rescue him.
Side note: the bug ship looked so cool and goofy and I loved it so much
How Jose was actually very curious about Jaime's connection to the beetle, but Victoria didn't care
The whole dream scene with Jaime and his father. I thought it perfectly mirrored their conversation from the beginning of the movie, and I thought it was incredibly moving. Not to mention I loved the detail of Jaime wearing the last outfit he saw his father in.
I loved that Jaime saved himself, but that his family greatly aided him. I thought it was a great metaphor for the fact that you can do things on your own, but having support can really make the difference
I thought it was so funny that Jaime absolutely refused to kill, and his family members did it was a smile on their face lmaoo.
I know it's cheesy, but I always love it in superhero movies when the main character finally accepts their destiny and it was a very cool moment for Jaime too. But I will say I think they did it with an interesting approach. For most superhero movies the big moment is the superhero finally deciding to go out of their way and fight the big bad, but in this movie he just finally fights what's right in front of him.
How once Jaime accepted himself as the Blue Beetle, Khaji-Da started speaking to him in spanish and adopted his ideologies, further proving their relationship is a two way street.
I loved that Khaji-Da stopped Jaime from killing Carapax, because he was justifiable angry, but he would've regretted it at some point
The low key plot twist of the locket Carapax had not being his wife and child, but being him and his mother. That was genius tbh.
I loved that Jaime had the iconic 2000s superhero half masked fight. This movie felt so 2000's but in the best way possible.
How the entire final act was circling back to the point of loving his family making him weak, but throughout everything we've seen, it's clearly the opposite.
I liked how once Jaime bonded with Khaji his mask would come on and off on command.
How Jaime started wearing his father's necklace in the ending :(
I loved the entire score so much, the synth wave vibe they decided to take was fantastic. I also love how iconic and recognizable they made blue beetle's main theme. Like the bum bum bummm that kept showing up was so good.
I really loved how they aged Jaime up to 22 as a newly college grad. I feel like superheros are always either 16 or 40 and there's never any in between, so it was nice to see.
And for my last point to a very long list: I loved that in the end Carapax helped Jaime and Jenny. Because the real villain was Victoria making them fight each other, and in my opinion that was such a powerful metaphor for latinos and any pocs
#blue beetle#blue beetle movie#jaime reyes#This movie means way too much to me#Like I have been so hyped every since I heard it was being made#Was literally there every step of the way#And im happy to say it completely surpassed my expectations#FINALLY A MEXICAN SUPERHERO#LATINO HEROS ON TOP
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i can’t even begin to describe what blue beetle means to me. jaime reyes is just a guy going through it.
#i showed my dad the movie tonight#before everything went sideways#and i can’t even begin to explain what this movie means to me#from me going through the oh is it ‘jamie or jaime’ bit#to the love of family and the culture he comes from#to his relationship with his dad#i am gonna just rant about this for years#also my dad finally getting to see a mexican superhero who is a BADASS#i want to kiss the movie makers on the mouth for this one#witch aunt talks✨
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Just got out of blue beetle
You should definitely go watch it if you haven't already I absolutely loved it
#blue beetle#man this is the first time in a long time I've cried at a superhero movie#this is such a love letter to Mexicans & latino resilience#it's my first time ever seeing a superhero movie centered around a family of Mexican immigrants & it was so strange#because ive finally seen my guilt & struggle of being the oldest first gen on the screen#& the struggles of my parents & grandparents & the sense of community#it was just beautiful man#im in love
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Aita for never making white ttrpg characters?
Title is a little weird, but I play a lot of ttrpgs with friends. I (M19) am white, so is all but one girl in our ttrpg group (F23), she’s Puerto Rican.
Anyways, all the games we play are rpgs based in the real world, whether they be urban fantasy or horror, they’re never in fantasy worlds. I like to explore different cultures, researching them and designing accurate characters for these games. I made a Bangladeshi girl for a MASKS: New Generations game who wanted to be the first desi superhero in America and was attending a superhero boarding school in upstate New York, I made half Iraqi/half Black boy in a homebrew power by the apocalypse game who was raised by his Chinese step-mother and was adopted into a giant extended family that took place in Brooklyn NYC, I made a black camp counselor for a Sleepaway oneshot, and I made a Mexican/Cajun boy for a Monsterhearts game taking place in south Louisiana.
For every character, I took my time and did days of research into backgrounds, cultures, and potential sensitivity issues. The last thing I want is to misrepresent a culture. The Puerto Rican girl in our group, let’s call her “Mary”, has never had a problem with my characters, but I’ve gotten comments from other players that it’s weird that I never play any white characters. I’ve made a white character twice; one for a Ten Candles game who was a 50 year old vet (and I miss him everyday, easily one of my favorite one-off characters because of his intense hatred of the Dallas Cowboys), and one for a homebrew 80’s slasher game who somehow because the first jock to be a final girl (He was too pure for this world, can’t wait to play his reincarnation in an ALENS game)
Our forever GM hasn’t ever had an issue with my characters, she even brings a giant variety of NPCs from all over to her games and makes the whole experience so much fun. The few times she’s made characters, they’ve always had great chemistry with mine and I’ve always had a good time
But, even with Mary’s and the GM’s approval, I still feel off about the comments of the other players. I love my characters, and the research I do for them helps me as a writer as that’s my profession atm. It seems like every time I propose a new character who isn’t white, I get asked “so what part of the world are they from now?” or “aren’t you German? Are you scared of doing a German character?” or other questions like that
I don’t play ttrpgs to insert myself into different fantasies, I play ttrpgs to explore new characters and new settings through different experiences. I don’t want to be labeled racist, but I understand if I’m coming off that way. If I’m voted the asshole, I’ll reflect and learn why. Commenters, deffo tell me how I can be better.
Anyways, AITA?
TL:DR, I’m white, I make primarily POC characters in ttrpgs, my group is annoyed and makes passive aggressive comments each time I do so. Aita for not making more white characters?
🔮
to find this later ^^^
What are these acronyms?
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Blue Beetle is likely the best DC superhero movie that I’ve actually seen. It’s not dark & gloomy for once, and it’s not a movie that’s been made about a million times before. FINALLY we get a new story.
I always thought Marvel was smart by starting their movie universe with Ironman, a character that no one really cared about, instead of a bigger hero. Sure it was probably because they’d licensed out the others already, but it gave us something new. It’s anticlimactic to start a movie universe with Superman. He’s the character who has the strongest powers—everything is downhill from there. Build up to that instead, and Blue Beetle is the perfect place to start. (Tho with the lackluster marketing I doubt that’s their intent.)
I liked the Blue Beetle comic’s storyline better than the film’s, and I like the comic’s southwest setting better as well, but this was a good intro to the character that leaves a ton to build on. There was nothing about the Reach or where the scarab came from yet, and they deliberately set up the possibility for the 70s Blue Beetle to show up in the next film. (“He was like Batman, but with ADHD,” or something like that*) The CGI was a little weak in spots, like maybe Warner Bros cheaped out on their Mexican hero, but the acting made up for it. The suit looks great—they really did Cully Hamner’s design justice here.
(Plus it even references Reagan & the CIA death squads, which I did not see coming, tho I did sort of expect the visual references to ICE raids, which worked.)
Go see it! I want a sequel.
[*Ok— here’s the exchange, thoughtfully provided by @luciohsohs —Uncle Rudy calls Batman a fascist, but says that blue beetle was cool and had a sense of humor. Jaime asks Jenny “why is his stuff (blue beetles) so—“ and Jenny cuts him off saying “why isn’t it nicer?” and he goes “no it’s like Batman but if he had ADHD or something?”]
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I really wanna talk about Blue Beetle and why it's so important to me. SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!
Ever since this movie was announced, I was excited because I have familiarized myself with the character of Jaime Reyes for over a decade now. My sister introduced to me to the character when we had our late night Young Justice marathons during a vacation in Mexico back in 2013. Eventually, we got to season 2, where Jaime was introduced. I remember when he would speak Spanish, I would say "Hey he speaks Spanish like us!" And sometimes my non-English speaking cousins would join us watching the show, and when he spoke Spanish, they were able to understand him. As time went on I kinda forgot about DC for a while since I was gaining other interests until Young Justice came back for its 3rd and 4th seasons(This is also your subtle sign that if you haven't watched Young Justice you should do that). Naturally, Jaime is still one of my favorite characters in the show. While I was still in my Young Justice hyperfixation, It was announced that a Blue Beetle movie was happening and even had some concept art shown. Me being the superhero loving Mexican nerd that I am, I was already hyped, and we hadn't even gotten a trailer yet. Then, on April 3rd of this year, the first trailer came out, and I was so excited. DC has been one of my special interests since literally as long as I can remember no joke one of the first shows I ever remember seeing was the original Teen Titans and so combine one of my special interests with one of the most important parts of my identity(my ethnicity) and an excuse to go to the movies? I was stoked. And so I finally saw it a couple of days ago, and I LOVED it. From the family dynamic to the music choices(La Chona in the beginning where Rudy was introduced was the most Mexican introduction ever and I love it.) and even a few references to Mexican culture I didn't expect, Blue Beetle was everything to me. Finally a movie centered around a Mexican family that wasn't afraid to go into topics like immigration and straight up racism towards Mexicans and those topics not taking up the whole story while also not stereotyping any of these characters and treating them like real people. These guys did their research, and it showed. During the part where Jaime comes back to Earth and starts saying something in Spanish, he's saying a prayer. I used to say that particular prayer a lot back when I was a kid, which is a good thing they added that in there because it makes relatable to someone like me. I really wanna make note of one of my favorite scenes from the movie. So after Jaime gets the Scarab and it attaches itself to him, he tries to find a way to get it off him. Once they go to Ted Kords' hidden lab and find out he can't get rid of it safely, he angerly walks out. His uncle Rudy follows him up to the roof. Rudy asks if Jaimes ok and Jaime apologizes for yelling at Rudy. Rudy then starts giving a really good talk about the family and how resilient they are. Then he says this. "I mean, look at your old man. He brought me here from Sonora....when I was 10." No joke, just ask @alextric-overload(Hey dude 😁) and my other friends who came with me, I legitimately gasped in that theater. Why? Because that's where my family is from. Never before did I ever imagine Sonora would even be mentioned in any media let alone a big screen superhero movie but I am so glad it was and I've said it before and I'll say it again: Never in my life have I felt so seen and so represented. The moment those credits rolled, I legit said word for word, "This! This is how you do representation. MORE. OF. THIS. PLEASE." This is why representation is so important because if we continue to make movies like this, more people like me can see themselves in media and feel the way I did. REPRESENTATION MATTERS! So please go support this movie if you haven't already, it's so worth it!
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hey guys: i ranked every smosh video
yes, every. single. smosh video.
(every main channel sketch from 2005-2017 + 2023)
here it is under the cut if for some damn reason you're curious
♡ ABSOLUTE FAVES ♡
Paranormal Easy Bake Oven
Sleepwalking Disaster
Mortal Kombat Theme
Food Battle 2006
Food Battle 2023
The Legend of Zelda Rap
Axe Murderer
Battleship
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Theme
Boxman's Girlfriend
Pokemon Theme
Ian's Birthday
Anthony Gets a Haircut
Pokemon Theme REVENGE
That Damn Neighbor
Assassins Creed 3 Song
My Dead Friend
Boxman 2.0
Boxman
Smosh Short 1: Dolls
Unitarded
A Very Hairy Situation w/Billy Mays
Anthony is Mexican
Left Handed
Magic Keyboard
Food Battle 2007
That Damn Yard Sale
Four Years Foreplay
Pokemon In Real Life
Stuck in a Toilet
My Mom's AMAZING Video
Sex Ed Rocks
Going to the Mountains
Stop Copying Me!
Cursed Magic 8 Ball
We Rule High School
Dixon Cider
Smosh the Movie
Real Death Note
Firetruck
I Broke My Foot
1 Hour Special
Ghostmates
Food Battle 2008
The Ultimate Shoedown
WTF! I'm Old!
Food Battle 2010
Dolls: 10 Years Later
The Real Party Song
Kiss Currency
PRETTY DAMN GOOD
Smash Rap
Molester Moon
Hand Bomb
Sleeping Pill Disaster
My Grandpa's Dirty Secret
Food Battle 2011
Quest for the Scooter
Smosh Found Dead
Garrett's Blog
How Not to Act on a First Date
Longest Staring Contest Ever
Extreme Sleepover
Hardcore Max
Real Voodoo Doll
He's Driving Me Crazy
First Person Shooters Suck
Drink Your Own Piss
Parents SuckWe're Stuck Together
We Finally Released Our Banned Video
Boxman for President
Cat Soup
I Caught Every Pokemon
Ian is Dangerous
Ian's First Girlfriend
Ian Gets Lucky
Manspider
Happy Cow
Food Battle 2012
Pizza Zombies
Food Battle 2013
Evil Fortune Cookie
Hardcore Max 2
Food Battle 2014
License Test
Toy Airplane
Food Battle X
Finger Guns
Google Glass SUCKS
My Mutant Rash
The NEW Smosh TV Show
That Damn Shower
EDITOR!
Camp in a Van
Sexual Sun
Every Smosh Video Ever
Addicted to Selfies
Hide and Seek
My Best Friend is a Robot
How Google's Space Ship Failed
Business Boy Emoji Curse
Human Pokemon Battle
Rejected Zelda Games
We're Stuck in Fan Fiction
I LIKED THIS ONE
A Hairy Situation w/ Billy Mays
Anthony's Death
That Damn Prison Break
Anthony's Resurrection
Evil AI Tried to Kill Me
We Summoned a Demon
Help I Became an NPC
Stranded
Transformers Theme
How Not to Make a First Impression
The Best Car EVER
Reunited?
The HauntingMale Model
Replacement Needed
Easy Step
April First
Evil Chain Letter
Power Rangers Theme
Life as Ghosts Ep 1-4
Crybaby
I'm Not Racist
Pokemon In Real Life 2
The BEST Bottled Water
Meeting My Identical Twin
I Killed the Tooth Fairy
Guys' Guide to Hugging Guys
My Real Pet Pikachu
Homeless Millionaire
The Ditto - Movie Trailer
Meat In Your Mouth
I Love Lou Ferigno
Anthony Poses for Playgirl?!
Vader and Me
Killer Teddy Bear
That Damn Punishment
Arm Wrestling TO THE DEATH
If Superheroes Were Real
Worst Twist Endings Ever
I'm Naked
Pokemon In Real Life 3
How to Cover Up a Murder
The World's First Internet Tutorial
Motion Games Suck
I'm Possessed By a Demon
Addicted to Honey Boo Boo Child
My New Best Friend is a Robot
My Weird Addiction
Food Battle 2013
Assassins Creed 4 Song
So Many Hickies
Guns Suck
My Morning Routine
Guy's Guide to Being Manly
Jurassic Pokemon
Magic iPad
21 Things I'd Rather Do Than Smoke
Netflix Rap
Video Game Items In Real Life
My Hot Online Girlfriend
Murder Party
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Hi bb, I hope you're having a good day. Today, I'm feeling pretty OK, not too bad.
So, this is random, but I just read in the trades (Deadline, Variety, Hwood Reporter) that Amazon is producing a Mexican, Spanish-language spinoff of the very popular, irreverent super hero series The Boys. Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal are in talks to executive produce it. Deal isn't finalized yet.
BUT -- you know what, I will send little prayers up for the next few weeks. PLEASE, Sr. Bernal y Sr. Luna, ¡Hazlo por las chicas! Since they have worked with him and they KNOW how good he is, please let them HIRE my baby! HIRE HIM! He'd be PERFECT. ::cries::
Okay, I just decided to come into your inbox and flap and wail about that just randomly.
May your week be as stress-free as possible and your weekend come quickly, bearing gifts.
Oh, wow!!! I've always liked how THE BOYS turned the idea of superheroes on it's head. But the themes were a really indictment on politics, corporate greed, and manipulation of the masses. I found it had more depth than I was expecting. Hopefully this will have all original characters since it's being described as a spinoff. 🤞🏽
Yes, anything to get our bae back in front of the camera doing what he does best. But I also hope he takes time to work on projects for his production company. Why can't he be like Samuel L. Jackson and be in every movie that's made. 😂
I'm really hopeful that 2024 will come with a lot more projects for Tenoch. And I do think something is in the works since there is evidence of him working out. 😉
Flap and wail away anytime you feel like it sweetie. And thanks for the declaration of a stress-free week. Pretty sure it worked. 😘
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Patreon Update (April ‘23)
Hello there everyone, hope anyone reading this is doing well. I totally meant to post this last Friday, but things have been super hectic and I completely blanked on it. Sorry about that!
Thank you for all of the support and love that you’ve given the Influencing the Influencer series and Dad, Be Careful What You Wish For over the last month! Those stories were really fun for me to make so it’s nice to pull them from the Patreon vault and see that y’all enjoy them as well.
Speaking of Patreon, here’s a summary of the stories I released there last month. If any of the following stories intrigue you, please feel free to click on the title so you can sign up for the appropriate tier to read it!
Finally In Front Of The Camera
This vault story was originally released in March 2022 for the Clarke tier. After a year of exclusivity, it's now become a $5 story.
For years, obese 76-year-old Ernest had been constantly bullied by his staff and the arrogant actors he worked with for his appearance. Although there weren't many actors he enjoyed working with, he loathed nothing more than having to work with the egotistical bully that is Frank Grillo. After an accidental electrocution causes them to swap bodies though, Ernest is eager to give the man some much deserved revenge and ridicule...
Tags: Body Swap, Humiliation, Actors, Muscle Growth, Weight Gain
Revenge of the Nerd (Part II)
For Britney Farmer, there's nothing worse than getting her weekend plans ruined... especially when the interruption comes from her pathetic class partner Mitchell. Despite her annoyance, she still opts to come to Mitchell's apartment so she can make her way to the evening's frat party. Unfortunately for her, Mitchell has a plan for revenge that will end up making her more at home with the frat...
Tags: Female to Male, Gender Change, Muscle Growth, Revenge
Sauna Swap (Part II)
While stuck in the sauna with his client, Alek is momentarily unaware of the fact that their bodies are slowly turning into each other. Upon the appearance of a hefty gut rather than his defined abs though, the personal trainer rushes to escape and figure out what's happening him as he continues to change...
Tags: Body Swap, Age Progression, Weight Gain, Muscle Theft
The Leader of Talokan (Part I)
Eager to have a tropical vacation far away from his quaint town, Henry opts to travel to Mexico upon getting an incredible deal at a five-star resort. Halfway into his trip though, the man finds himself in the middle of a battle between the Mexican army and a slew of blue-skinned warriors named the Talokanil. Upon getting caught watching the battle occur, the warriors hold the man hostage before forcing him to drink a special potion that change his body in more than one way...
In case anyone is confused - this is a story set in the MCU where Henry finds himself turning into the primary antagonist of the newest Black Panther film. Part two will follow the aftermath of Henry's transformation as it leads directly into the events of the movie.
Tags: Muscle Growth, Racial Change, Superhero, Marvel, Fan Fiction
The Body Shop (Part III)
Upon accepting Theo's offer to fully test out the female bodysuit, Peter finds himself desperate to take things to the next level. Along with this, Theo's true motives behind his assistance with Peter is revealed.
This is the final part of this smutty trilogy.
Tags: Bodysuit, Gender Change, Male to Female, Mental Change, Reality Shift
#male transformation#body swap#gender change#bodysuit#racial change#fan fiction#Age Progression#Patreon Update
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tiny appreciation post/insane rambling about Tom Bronson
re-re-re-reading JSA 2007. Tom Bronson is a good character, fight me. Everyday I claw at the air in rage for the many characters introduced into the JSA and then never given any more detail. There's just too many people in the '07 JSA, man. Too Many. Tom is unfortunately one of those comic characters that has a super niche fanbase and nothing to follow up on outside of JSA.
so, in light of me inserting him into the TAXONOMY!verse and putting the guy smack dab into the Battle for the Cowl and Bette Kane's radar - I'm just gonna gush a little bit about his first appearance. (and include some headcanons for the au).
Putting aside my favorite Old Man Trio, can I just say that I like how pretty the art makes Tom look? The first time I read this comic, I got a very James Dean/1950's bad boy vibe from Tom. I'd like to think it was a little bit intentional in order to parallel Ted Grant and his eternal Old Americanism. At least it's something I'll keep in mind.
Getting into the main post though, throughout his first appearance and the later fight with Vandal Savage, its made clear that Tom is surprisingly knowledgable about superheroes and the surrounding goings-on of them. He knows who Wildcat is (though obviously Ted is canonically an old hero, he has to be somewhat well-known) and he instantly recognizes Vandal Savage.
(sidenote: Ted looks like a stiff Barbie doll being thrown into the kitchen there)
I take the fact that he recognizes and correctly identifies heroes/villains as a point towards my "Tom is an observant and analytical person" hc.
Earlier on in issue #3, we see that Tom gets right to heart of things when talking with Ted and that he's quick to reach (somewhat right) conclusions.
Despite this, he doesn't really show it anymore as he quickly drifts into a side character spot as the comic run goes in. I choose to believe that Tom doesn't voice his thoughts to the JSA bc he doesn't know them well and he prefers to make snarky remarks in conversation instead of inserting himself into anything personal.
Later on in the series, Tom is reluctant to learn how to box and is shown to dislike fighting in general.
Given the whole estranged-dad-is a famous boxing champ thing, Tom probably doesn't like boxing specifically because of Ted. He says that he doesn't like fighting because of his were-cat form, which it's assumed that he would unconsciously shapeshift into whenever he got into conflict.
(sidenote: why is this the only time I see his inner monologue in comics *sob*)
This distinct trait of disliking combat, at least the personal fist-flying kind, is definitely something I'm including in the au.
Both Tom and Bette are chosen for the au partially because I like them, but also because they have distinct personalities and philosophies that clash with baby Damian Wayne who's coming fresh into the Bat-scene. There will be conflict as Damian will dislike and mostly abhor Tom's personal disdain for fighting. Tom doesn't seem to fight unless necessary and he canonically prefers to rely heavily on his powers to get out of fights. He's only shown getting more violent than usual after Grant Emerson's death, which is pretty reasonable. They were clearly fast and close friends.
Hooo boy Grant should not have died. Especially in Blackest Night, of all things. Despite my personal dislike of it though, I'm still flip-flopping between leaving him dead and then resurrecting him in the au - or just ignoring his canon death altogether. On one hand, I like Grant and I like their friendship so I want him to appear in the au somewhere (alongside Maxine). On the other, his death allows for a just a little bit of dramatic character development/detailing for Tom that lets me explain why he's not with the JSA and instead is in Gotham. Choices.....
Ending the post here with the final smorgasbord of headcanons and blurbs for the au.
he is Mexican-American, but distant from his roots because his mom raised him single and cut-off from her larger family.
he and Bette will enter a relationship. It came to me in a vision and I decided to implement it bc why not. Tom/Bette is bi4bi.
they start dating bc they both strike me as "why not?" type of people, but it develops relatively quickly after Damian enters the picture and they have to co-parent/watch over him as Gotham collapses in slow-motion around them
its shown in the background of some of the panels above that he's into music, specifically guitar and piano
so he will be in a band at some point
bc Alfred does not have the same relationship with Damian in the au, Tom is one who gives him/lets him keep the kitten
(also bc I don't subscribe to the "League of Assassins hate/kill animals" idea - Tom bonds with Damian over a mutual care for animals/cats)
Tom and Damian are a rocky pair, and it takes them longer to get along than Bette does with Damian
He treats Damian as the annoying little brother he never had, and their sense of humor kinda lines up
Tom fully encourages Damian’s sarcasm and rude comebacks
Believe me, there will be a scene where Tom unconsciously purrs in his werecat form and Damian definitely notices
adding to the maybe Grant stays dead part, I'm still iffy on whether to include a one-sided crush on Tom's part that adds to the angst
unlike Grant though, I'm definitely keeping Yolanda Montez alive
Tom and Yolanda have a semi-distant sibling relationship that's a little awkward bc of the age gap and differing experiences with Ted
Might also resurrect Jake Grant, I need the Wildcat family reunion
Ted and Tom still talk, and even though Tom doesn't stick with the JSA, he's still regularly invited to whatever gathering they have
Tom still keeps up with working out/a bit of training - but he focuses on defense and avoidance instead of out-right conflict
Tom got into heroism bc of Ted, but he stuck with it bc of Grant and Maxine
he does not have strict ideals or a drive to save the world, but he likes to focus on the small things and helps where he can
#tom bronson#wildcat#dc comics#flamebird-in-gotham au#wasp does a thought#justice society of america#justice society of america 2007#jsa#TAXONOMY!verse#tom bronson headcanons#dc#small edit: I will be adding alt image descriptions later!!!#Damian Wayne#is mentioned#Bette Kane#is also mentioned#dc's junk drawer appreciation
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So i finally watched BWBA (Season 24)
My very useless review of BWBA Season 24
Please make your own opinions. Don't be like me (way before this) and base yours off of everyone's else. That's why I put useless, because it is if you hadn't made your own.
Surprisingly, this season was in plain sight, as well as other T&F seasons.
Emily's Best Friend
I hated it. I still hate. Sorry, but the 2-12 interaction could not save it. I still love that moment though. To me, Emily is OOC.
Thomas' Fuzzy Friend
Wholesome filler episode with a ref to Thomas the Babysitter, which is one of my all-time favorites. I love it.
The Great Little Engine Show
Eh- i like the mention of the model engines. Don't have anything against it but it doesn't stick out. .3.
Thomas and the Forest Engines
I like it. :D I like the storyline about why certain engines are allocated to certain places.
Emily to the Rescue
Peak Emily moment. I love it but why did it take so long for her to get her number??? 😭 Oh, well. I still love it.
I love that bring out her caring aspect. It's like her intro episode. (I finally watched it and MAN, i wish I got that Emily growing up 😭 she just came off as a bossy big sister /neg)
Shankar's Makeover
Shankar's like me. /srs I like this episode for addressing situations like this. Stage fright, not wanting attention, and being someone who keeps to themself. Nice episode.
Nia and the Unfriendly Elephant
The references are nice. I love Nia's love for animals and her assignment to the park. Before, her job wasn't permanent. Also, Belle is here. I love her. I love them. I like it. :]
Until I watch all of Nia's episodes, I won't be commenting on how she supposedly repeats learning things from Kenya all the damn time.
However, I do have a problem with the argument being made. It feels like it dimisses that different cultures interact like this most of the time, bringing up the ways they handle certain situations. From my expierence, i hear where these differences come from all the time, even if I know the person well enough.
I just don't see the problem with Nia bringing up how things different are between her old home and Sodor. It feels relatable, despite the fact that I'm Hispanic (Mexican), and it makes sense.
James the Super Engine
I ADORE THIS EPISODE. I've talked about it before but in short, I love how James is portrayed. Could've EASILY written him as a hero who gave up and didn't bother checking up on Rebecca when she yelled for help. But no, they went the right way. James IS caring but considering the environment he's had to work in for so many years, you can see why he doesn't show it. But here, HE DOES.
And when he realizes that Rebecca is in trouble? Its his normal voice, whereas before, it was his superhero voice.
My honest reaction whenever i watch it:
Thomas' Not-So-Lucky Day
Eh- I think the lesson is pretty good about getting those good things by thinking positively and working towards them instead of letting luck be the decision maker.
Ace's Brave Jump
I dont care.
Nia's Bright Idea
W Nia for being resourceful and bringing things together. I like it.
Cleo's First Snow
I like it.
Sonny's Second Chance
I like it.
Thomas and the Inventor's Workshop
I dont care for Ruth but I like it. Its decent.
The Inventor's Bridge
That bridge is going to fall over but there's probably physics that I don't understand that makes it make sense. At the end though, i could care less.
Yong Bao and the Tiger
I've seen it before.
I initially didn't like it due to the dynamics of the story. Like why is a massive engine like Yong Bao shunting in the yard?
However, i like it more now. I can dismiss the dynamic.
Gordon and Rebecca, Coming Through!
I've talked about it before. Its confusing, especially with its placement. Would've worked better as the episode following 'Confusion Without Delay".
Despite this, i like their dynamic.
Gordon's behavior is tiresome. I usually ignore it but i've seen enough of CGI TTTE that im getting sick and tired out of it. I've heard that his character growth was forgotten but i havent seen enough to have a say.
Kenji on the Rails
Mixed feelings on this one because Hiro's leaving. :( Stop writing off my favorite characters.
In my second, I noticed Hiro's "konnichiwa" and got thrown off completely. Odd how they're JUST now bringing out Hiro's first language. I don't remember seeing this brought out before BWBA.
Not really a review because of that. I'm sour about it.
Cleo the Road Engine
Ah, the intro episode. I thought it was in season 23. Its just Thomas and Bertie rewritten but Cleo is avoiding her jobs. No, it somehow didn't destroy my liking to her.
Thomas' Animal Friends
I think its cute but Thomas would've straight up ignored Gordon.
Overall impression: Not as shitty as its made to be. It has its good moments and bad moments.
I'm so glad that I wasn't bombarded with fantasy sequences with this one. Those are just plain ridiculous, for the most part. In some episodes, it fits like James the Super Engine and Thomas' Animal Friends. The one in Emily's Best Friend made me cringe but I enjoyed it because its Edwad and Emily.
Listen, I'm desperate for 2-12 content, man, and I've been ignoring model era for a good while because I just dont want to.
Uh, that's it.
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Good news for once!
Followers may know my constant issues with trying to get folks to read my prose writing, but I am also a struggling SCRIPT WRITER!
So recently, I sent a theater script prologue and my concept art to one of my theater friends.
1) He loves it, especially the concept art! My constant problem of getting distracted with character sketches, costume design, and “IF THE OFFICIAL POSTER LOOKS LIKE THIS, IT WOULD BE SICK!” has worked out in my favor!
2) There are a LOT of characters if we want to do live theater. He counted a bit over forty names in the prologue alone, lol. I may need to turn this into an episodic/TV format instead, especially since I love pulling out the trope of “seemingly minor character IS NOT MINOR AFTER ALL, BITCHES!!!” and I was planning on rolling in a side-character from the prologue.
3) While I am rushing to finally finish a script that barely got touched in two years, there is now a second gay couple (a Mexican/Mayan weather mage and the Filipino North Wind). I want to balance this out with gay women of color, but since this is a superhero/gangster deconstruction piece, it’s VERY male-heavy. I may just have to make companion-pieces or, if this actually takes off, let the fanfic authors handle it.
4) He loved the mythology because this is heavily on the magical end of superhero stories. I was hoping he would, because we’re both Filipino and I’m pulling in Tagalog mythology, but I’m just so happy that being a mythology/folklore nerd has finally paid off.
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No. 7 on my list of top animated series for 2023: "Villainous"
youtube
I never expected that 2023 would be the year that Villainous, a Alan Ituriel's Mexican animated series also known as Villanos, would air on a streaming service. I had heard of this series, which mixes science fantasy, morbid humor, and comedy horror, before, but it was only available in Latin America and had not been released in the U.S., leading some fans to post their fandubs on YouTube. Those were no replacement for the official dub, which aired on May 23 of this year.
This series flips the script often employed in superhero fiction, similar to Helluva Boss. It focuses on the villainous Black Hat Organization, with intriguing camaraderie, contracted by other villains to "solve" their hero problems. This leads viewers to sympathize with the villains. The series mixes humor with violence and "course language" and pokes fun at itself. The season one finale has a "hero" being locked away for something a "villain" would do. The voice actors stand out. The themes of overcoming your inner dreams and lampooning popular Cartoon Network series, fit with entertaining characters, and wonderful character design and animation. Unfortunately, the cast is not very diverse and LGBTQ+ characters are non-existent. Hopefully, it gets a second season.
excerpted from "Burkely's Top Ten Animated TV Shows of 2023"
© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.
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A bunch of movies that didn't make my final films of the year – some of them are very good, mind (and one or two really aren't).
Godzilla Minus One
Very much not to be confused with the current US Godzilla movies, this comes from Toho Studios and not only goes back to the start, but the story is all about Japan coming to terms with World War II. Our central (human) character is Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) a guilt-ridden former fighter pilot trying to get by in bomb-flattened Tokyo. He acquires not one but two found families: a young woman and the child she rescued from the rubble, and the crew of the minesweeper he finds work on. The healing for both the material and psychic damage seems underway when a massive, mysterious creature – which Shikishima encountered during the war – reappears, only bigger and with new powers…
G-M1 is a talky film with sombre stretches (there are jokes, too), with lots of grief and guilt and trying to figure out how not to make the same mistakes again*. And, in between all that, we get a big stompy monster (this is mean Godzilla, not saviour Godzilla). The special effects do the job: you’re unlikely to be awestruck, but equally I didn’t spend any time wanting to chuck something at the screen as I often do with (say) Marvel movies.
Satisfying.
(*I was trying to think of other movies where I successfully guessed what was going to happen not so much because of plot tropes as ideology… the only one that springs to mind is the Robert Aldrich-directed Burt Lancaster & Gary Cooper Mexican-set Western Vera Cruz.)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
What were the odds, in the year of full superhero backlash, that there would be a critically endorsed Ninja Turtles movie? But here it is, and yes, it’s good. Essentially, TMNT:MM is (as far as I know) lo the first post-Spider-verse film, embracing the idea that comic-book adaptations can look drawn. This is 3D computer animation, but it’s not trying to look solid or clean, and so you don’t end up with Shrekian chunkiness. It’s weird and colourful and sometimes rather beautiful.
It’s a basic origin story: how did these strange creatures come to be, why do they regard a rat as their father, what other weird animals are lurking in New York? Well, for one, Superfly, a massive insect styled after Ron O’Neal’s Blaxploitation antihero and voiced by Ice Cube.
The movie leans hard into the ‘teenage’ part of the title - these are kids, cocky, confused, bored, trying to fit in and figure themselves out (often contradictory impulses.) The script is by Seth Rogen and chums, so doesn’t take itself too seriously.
There’s an argument to be had about whether famous faces deserve to be the voice leads in animated movies - surely specialists are better at the job and anyway, much of the time nobody recognises it’s eg, Chris Pratt. But here, I think the star casting works - as well as Cube, we get Jackie Chan being very endearing as Splinter the rat, a brief but perfect turn from Giancarlo Esposito and the ubiquitous Ayo Edebiri as April.
The soundtrack is ace - and maybe gives away who the target audience is: it’s a bunch of late 1980s/90s hip-hop standards.
The storytelling isn’t groundbreaking but the visuals are so good. One of the best surprises of the year.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves
Essentially: ‘You know that game the kids in Stranger Things play? The one people used to get beat up for been associated with but now movie stars boast about their expertise at? Let’s do a Guardians Of The Galaxy-style film based on that.’ So they did, and gathered a more-than-decent cast: Chris Pine*, Michelle Rodriguez and Hugh Grant, and send them off on some questing. The jokes do the job, the dialogue largely non-fantasy mode, Rodriguez does all the action and Pine is the Hannibal Smith-esque generator of plans (but w/tragic backstory). As this kind of adventure movie goes, it’s comfortably above average: not as good as the first Guardians, the first Pirates Of The Caribbean or Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, but better than most of the tosh out there.
*Brudenell Road’s most famous former resident!
They Cloned Tyrone
Strange things seem to be happening in the hood and a drug dealer (John Boyega), a sex worker (Teyonah Parris) and – reluctantly – a pimp (Jamie Foxx) team up to investigate. This is a comedy with sci-fi elements as well as things that would be horror if this had a different vibe. Maybe think of this as a much broader take on Jordan Peele’s Get Out or Nope or a less way-out Sorry To Bother You. Although it’s set now, there are nods to the Blaxploitation era (Foxx’s hair, various cars.) There’s a nice murky look to the night scenes, a tangible atmosphere and an excellent cast – so plenty to enjoy.
(Netflix)
Theater Camp
Fond and indulgent mockumentary made by a bunch of chums who grew up as theatre kids. Very familiar set-up: much-loved thespian institution (in this case, a summer camp) has its future under threat – will everyone rally round for a big show to save the day?
There are plenty of familiar faces here, particularly if you’ve seen Booksmart and The Bear (Molly Gordon, who is one of the directors, writers and stars of this links that terrific film and that excellent TV show.)
Ben Platt, who has become even more mocked and reviled in critical and showbiz gossip circles than his Pitch Perfect cast mates, makes the wise decision to write himself a largely dickish character to play.
Theater Camp mostly manages to be the right kind of silly – I enjoyed it a bunch.
(Disney +)
Bottoms
Extremely daft although reasonably fun comedy. Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri (who are both 28 years old and aren’t trying to fool you otherwise) play a pair of unpopular high-school kids who start a female fight club with the hope of hooking up with the cheerleaders they have crushes on. It’s very silly, gets a reasonable amount of mileage out of people punching each other and has plenty of decent jokes. Had me thinking of Rock ’n’ Roll High School more than I expected.
Three Musketeers: Part 1 - D’Artagnan
Yes, yet another version of the Dumas book. This one has the virtue of being actually French. The vibe is somewhat gritty: the fights include guns and punching rather than only elegant sword work. Many of buildings are actual historic buildings rather something fairly see-through cobbled together on a computer. We get Vincent Cassel and Romain Duris as Athos and Aramis, plus Louis Garrel as the king. I’ve never really got Eva Green but she makes perfect sense as Milady. What’s added (from what I remember of the book) is a conspiracy involving a war-hungry faction at court and the Protestant rebellion.* Anyway, this is a solid and satisfying period action movie.
*To be clear, the siege of La Rochelle is in the book - it’s what leads to that that’s new here.
Maestro
Are you intrigued by the idea of current movie stars attempted many-layered 1940s accents? How about a film half in the lushest of lush black & white and half in fairly authentic-looking late 1960s colour, also rather beautiful? Tidal waves of great, great music? Fully committed performances? Some genuinely extraordinary, including a scene where biopic slips into ballet…
Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic is wildly ambitious, and it succeeds more than I was anticipating. Cooper, as often, gives a better performance than I expect him to. Carey Mulligan is excellent as Felicia Montealegre, Bernstein’s wife, even if the accent escapes her occasionally. It looks and sounds incredible.
But? It’s a big film with a small story at its heart. Firstly, what happens to a marriage between two people in the arts when their careers have very different trajectories? 'Isn’t the only other film Cooper has directed A Star Is Born?', you point out correctly.
Secondly, what happens to that marriage if it begins with the acceptance that one of this pair is going to continue shagging other people, but once there are kids to consider that seems less cool and you don’t feel like trying to explain to your daughter why her middle-aged father is chasing young men around, especially because this is only the 1970s…
I’m certainly not saying a film needs to say big stuff. But Maestro has a scale and sense of importance that seems at odds with what it wants to talk about. We do get some scenes with Bernstein pronouncing about music in grand terms – and those are the worst parts of the movie. But other than hearing the tunes, we don’t really get much of a sense of why Bernstein was such an imposing cultural figure.
Credit to Cooper for acknowledging the pivot that most based-on-real-life stories take if they span a fair bit of time: things are fun, and then they are difficult. In Maestro, that fun part is not just in b&w, but the rules of space and time don’t apply. As we’re watching them, that’s clearly the case within scenes, but as we learn in the colour second half, things that you would have guessed took a couple of weeks took several years. All of that first part, it seems but is never stated, was lovely memories that edit all the tricky stuff.
Not a wholly successful film then, but one I’m really glad I watched and even a little regretful I didn’t see it on the big screen.
(Netflix)
Creed III
Better than Creed II, nowhere near as good as Creed. Michael B Jordan does a decent job as the director and introduces some interesting visual elements. There’s no Stallone, which I’m fine with. The issue is a classic genre film trap: how to get the main character back to doing the thing the franchise needs them to do, even though that’s a terrible choice. Weirdly, for once, if this was hyper-realism, that wouldn’t be a problem – legendary boxers clamber out of retirement and back into the ring the whole time, often repeatedly. But in this movie, Adonis Creed seems to have too much going on – as the beautiful, successful guy with a beautiful, talented family – and to be too smart to get himself clobbered again. True to life, but somehow implausible within this fiction.
(Prime)
Babylon
Damien Chazelle’s massive, noisy discursion on the history of Hollywood is a film I definitely enjoyed talking about – there was so much to debate. But it was probably more fun talking about it than it was watching the last two hours of the movie (maybe watch the two big set pieces at the start and then stop?)
Full review here
Air
Schlubby dudes sit around in dingy offices arguing about the details of a deal for a young athlete to endorse a shoe. Not a painful watch, but nothing that Affleck/Damon manage here convinces me that this is a story worthy of cinema and not a very long Nike ad.
Full review here
Barbie
On the one hand, most of Barbie was fun, and an impressive feat of multi-level storytelling (eg, the very niche joke at the expense of fans of 1990s indie band Pavement.) Could’ve done without the Will Ferrell and Rhea Perlman bits, but a billion-dollar box office movie taking the piss out of the patriarchy is a great thing.
On the other, as much as I want to celebrate popular art, in my heart I know I’d rather Gerwig was making films like Lady Bird or Mistress America. Much as I hope Boden and Fleck’s future work is more like Sugar or Mississippi Grind than Captain Marvel, and that Cate Shortland goes back to films like Somersault and Lore instead of Black Widow.
Ferrari
In some ways, this could be a companion piece to Maestro – another film about wife who has sort-of-tolerated the chronic infidelity of her giant-of-the-20th-century husband. Although, in this case, he's only cheating with women and by the time the film is set – the late 1950s – only one woman.
In Michael Mann's movie, Adam Driver plays Enzo Ferrari, Penélope Cruz Laura Ferrari and Shailene Woodley the mistress. These people, you may have noticed, are not Italian. Yes, this is a film in English in which the actors do accents to indicate they are speaking Italian (the bit players, confusingly, talk actual Italian). I'm generally not in favour of that approach.
This isn't a biopic, as such – it seemingly takes place over a few months as Enzo faces simultaneous work and personal crisis, linked by Laura, who was his work partner as well as spouse. Cruz is excellent value as the fuming, grieving Laura. Driver – has his hair ever been this short on film – is good too, and wears excellent suits. It looks lovely, too – whatever issues Mann had during the early digital switchover (Collateral?!) are long past.
But the ending just fizzles out, in a way that leaves me wondering (other than Cruz being entertainingly furious) what this was all about. And the big events just before that are handled in a way I found both clunky and kind of distasteful. (I feel you need to be at least somewhat careful portraying real-life tragedies on screen. And also announcing your characters bear no responsibility when with all things taken into account, they do.)
One of those films that I was very into when I was watching, but increasingly less so on the walk home.
No Hard Feelings
The sort-of-return of the once weirdly popular older-woman-deflowers-kid ‘raunchy comedy’ genre. This being 2023, the kid is a legal 19 but socially awkward, inexperienced etc (I mean, to be fair, there are a lot of people like that). Jennifer Lawrence plays the desperate-for-cash local who is hired by a Princeton-bound nerd’s parents to make a man of him. The film is well cast, and some of the jokes work… ‘the hey! we’ve all learned something’ stuff maybe less so. Pretty OK.
The Killer
Michael Fassbender plays a stat-bore hitman in David Fincher’s fan-boy-pleasing thriller. Some generally sane critics reckon it’s a blinder. I reckon it’s cliched, obvious and very grating. (Many of the arguments in its favour are based on the idea that it is Fincher taking the piss out of himself – to which I say, who cares?)
Starts well as Fassbender is patiently doing the tedious prep for a kill in Paris, but goes duff quickly once he’s off on the obligatory revenge kick. Fassbender’s American accent is horrible, the gags are thumpingly obvious and yet triple-underlined in case you didn’t get them the first time. I kept hoping against hope that one of Fassbender’s enemies would finish him off and we’d be done with all of this. Tilda Swinton is good but she only gets one scene. (Fassbender had a supporting role in Fincher’s bestie Steven Soderbergh’s somewhat similar Haywire, which – for my money – is way better.)
(Netflix)
Love At First Sight
Industry wisdom is the romcom is one of the genres people will no longer pay to see in a cinema but will consume happily on streaming. Netflix is notorious for putting out loads of them with TV-movie production levels. This is maybe one of their higher budget efforts? I saw it because Haley Lu Richardson was great in two of my favourite movies of recent times: Columbus and Support The Girls.
LAFS* feels like three different ideas chucked together. First, a high-concept romcom with lots of vibrant colours and some bollocks about fate and Jameela Jamil as the narrator who pops up in turn as a flight attendant, immigration officer, bartender, helpful passerby…** Secondly, your contemporary British comedy where the characters are all wearyingly eccentric (so many British films, whether comedies or thrillers, just try far too hard.) Thirdly, a melancholy film about two people in pain who make a connection on a transAtlantic flight. Unsurprisingly, these three ideas constantly undermine each other. (Oh, and the London geography is just distractingly nonsense.)
*The title of the book this is adapted from is The Statistical Probability Of Love At First Sight, which is a much better match for the theme and tone of the story.
**An idea seemingly nicked, as I’m happy to admit I didn’t know when I watched it, from Max Ophuls’ 1950 classic La Ronde, emphatically not a romcom.
(Netflix)
Documentaries
Squaring The Circle: The Story Of Hipgnosis
What was Hipgnosis, you ask? Hipgnosis was a little company that designed the covers of long-playing records, most famously for Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Its founders Storm Thorgerson and Po Powell were dope-smoking chums of the future members of (The) Pink Floyd in Cambridge (the city, not the university) who had enough photographic and graphic design nous to turn a favour for mates into a lucrative career.
Everyone in this documentary talks about how grumpy Thorgerson (who died in 2013) was: ‘He was rude to everyone,’ someone says. Now, as it happens, a long, long time ago I used to interview designers and photographers about famous album covers for a rock magazine. Almost all these chats happened over the phone… except for the one with Thorgerson about the Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. Thorgerson invited me over to his large, comfortable north-west London home and we sat drinking tea as he told me about how the LP sleeve had come about. As I remember it, he was an excellent host and I sat there feeling guilty about how bloody hideous I thought almost all of his work was and how unbearable his old mates’ music was. Maybe he’d mellowed by then.
Anyway, this documentary was made by Anton Corbijn, legendary rock photographer/terrible feature film director, which accounts for the interviewees being shot in elegant, flattering b&w. Corbijn’s movies are utterly humourless so it’s a pleasant surprise to find plenty of chuckles here. The heart of the film, indeed, is a series of tales from the mid-1970s in which the album shoots involve vast expense, effort, travel time and even danger… and afterwards everyone decides for all the record buyers will notice, it could have been done round the corner or just in the studio…
If you like a rock dinosaur, there’s a bunch here: Planty! Pagey! Macca! Gabriel! And the surviving Floyds, of course. Speaking of which, my big concern watching this was the presence of Roger Waters and Noel Gallagher, both extremely low-quality human beings. Fortunately, restricted to talking about album covers (both) and the early days (Waters) they are non-toxic.
Just why Gallagher is here is a different question. He has no connection to Hipgnosis – not as a client nor even (as far as made the cut) as a fan. He just talks about album artwork in general, including his daughter not knowing it was a thing that exists. So he’s effectively the cut-price Bono, here to provide uninformed vibes and enthusiasm – but as the man who shot U2’s most famous images, surely Corbijn could have got the real thing?
There’s a tradition of documentaries – which I think this fits into – that work two ways depending on how you feel about the subjects. If you think the cover of (say) Led Zep’s Houses Of The Holy is a great piece of image-making, here’s the inside story of how it came about. On the other hand, if you find the aesthetics of 1970s rock grotesque or funny, then this is an entertaining account of how completely everyone lost the plot as the cash (and coke) rolled in.
(Netflix)
Little Richard: I Am Everything
You can see why people want to make documentaries these days about Little Richard – he was black, he was gay, he did some drag early in his career and certainly had no truck with the 20th-century western version of masculinity. In 2023, if you want to celebrate a rock ’n’ roll pioneer, he’s more appealing than one of those white guys with their child brides. (Before we overtip the balance, it's almost certain that Richard also had sex with teenage girls when he was an adult, even if they weren’t his main area of interest.)
The big problem I had with this film – which got some rapturous reviews – is not its fault at all. What happened was that earlier in the year I had seen the BBC’s Little Richard: The King And Queen Of Rock’n’Roll, which has some of the same interviewees (plus Keef rather than Mick as their Rolling Stone), much of the same archive and – as the title suggests – the same contemporary take.
I Am Everything’s director Lisa Cortes does try to do some things to make this movie-like, including having clouds of glitter and bursts of high-speed nature montages. She also has some current musicians in to a play a few songs, almost always a bad move in a music documentary. There are some good academics etc here, but alas, if you’ve recently heard all this stuff, I Am Everything doesn’t add that much. But if you’re not familiar with this story, this is a great place to start.
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06. entry made discussing travel they’ve done or hope to do.
dear diary ... | accepting
**Will accept prompts from the list with the exception of Heartbreak & Anger, I've gotten many of those already XD
April 20th of 2018
Thailand
The Philippines
The Mexican Caribbean
Brittish Columbia
Scotland
Or… Should I make this entry about the places I want to visit but I will never because I suck? Nah, let’s make this entry about the places I could visit once I retire when I turn 120 years old.
Trust me future me, I’m writing this in good spirits despite the light sarcasm. I’m sure you and I have that in common, we like to make fun about ourselves.
Unless, you lost your sense of humor because you finally quit drinking and having a lot of sex.
I mean, I never took a vacation before joining the X-Men but you know quite well you did years later and it was a lot of fun. You wished it could happened often but this superheroing stuff is demanding, then there other things happening like your death.
However, then you decide it’s enough and after taking care of some business with your Father, Mastermind and some Space Pirates you get to have a lovely getaway with the spectacular Bess.
So yes!
Hello again future me, see? There is always hope, I am sure that by the time you read this, you already had visited at least two or three places from this little pretentious list.
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MY SUPER AWESOME THOUGHTS ON BLUE BEETLE 06
Finally finished it! I enjoyed every minute of it man, it took me about a week? Anyway, god I love Jaime so much, he was a fantastic main character.
I loved seeing his struggles as they were so on the nose of what someone in his position WOULD think. The fear of it all overshadowing any moment of "huh that was cool." God and just...those first issues were heart wrenching. He was gone for a whole year....his family's reactions OUUGHH and the flashback of how he lost said year. JAIME ON THE FLOOR REMEMBERING HOW AFRAID HE WAS TO DIE ALONE ☹☹☹ I loved the themes the run dealt with, the themes of death and what does duty mean to you. It was a super interesting read and one of my favorite things to see superheroes handle
Anyway...CHARACTERS, Again, Jaime fufilled his main character role so well, I don't think anyone overshadowed him. And he was too fucking relatable my god....like I can't even believe how much I could see myself in him. I really liked the fact that they never forgot to highlight Jaime's normality and the mundane things we wants and thinks of. Being characterized as kind of a nerd AND becoming a geek too because of Ted's notes....its so nice to see nerd Mexican rep 🙏🙏 I also found it charming that hes so small lol now that's fucking accurate. And the way he spoke was just, timeless. So on par with younger gen dialogue I thought he was so funny.
And moving on to the struggle to find his own identity in being a legacy hero without ever meeting the predecessors....that whole last issue was painful but in a good way. I really enjoyed it.
BRENDA AND PACO, I absolutely adored them, Paco only knowing Spanglish hes just like me fr AND BRENDA I really wish they showed her off more with her aikido but I also loved that she was the brains for a bit. And I loved that the friend group was well rounded! You could see how all three of them cared and loved each other it never felt like someone was shoved aside. And I loved that they were so ride or die and that Jaime immediately was like "omg guys there's a voice in my head" and they went "no fucking way what's it saying?"
JAIME'S FAMILY ☹☹☹☹ also so accurate I adored them... I liked that with all their love, they also weren't afraid to let Jaime know when he was fucking up without it being a whole big mess. Again, very accurate to keep the family unit so close but not afraid to call out shit within the circle. And his and Milagro's relationship...oml my brother and I fr
PEACEMAKER Loved that Jaime kept trying to make him his mentor and he WAS even if he denied it. I really liked the role he played here, I think it was a good thing to expose Jaime to the lows of cape life out the gate. The kinds of thoughts Khaji da would put in his head, the brutality of the Reach, and the choices he needed to make, I'm glad Peacemaker came out the gate to let him know the hard parts so Jaime was able to triumph through the bad.
HECTOR, NADIA, AND TRACI, I actually really Hector and Nadia! It was cool again to round out the cast with only Latinos and letting them be the guys in the chair ah I loved it. Hector was so goofy and I loved Nadia's "eccentricity." I wish Traci got to do more here or at least get to have more dialogue outside of her relationship with Jaime. I loved that she was the confident one in the relationship and that you can tell she's having fun with what she does. I'd like to read more of her own stories because in this run I felt she kindaaa bordered "manic pixie dream girl" but she also wasn't there enough for a final answer. My favorite moment with her was at Jaime's family reunion and she had all the babies that was cute.
And real quick, loved the rep of the Posse, they were allies but also did some shady shit and Jaime had to be like "hmm I'm friends with some strange people" just like my family fr 🙏🙏 (FORLEGALREASONSTHATSAJOKE)
ALSO THAT WHOLE ISSUE WITH THE TITANS WAS HILARIOUS I LOVED IT SO MUCH
Favorite moments in the whole run; every time Brenda called a girl hot, "YOU CAN'T CALL ME PENDEJO, YOU'RE VANILLA", Paco beating dentist Jaime, all the conversations Jaime had with his parents, Jaime kicking ass without Scarab and saying "Blue Beetles don't need powers!", Traci watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Anubis and Devil Dog lmao, "are any of you old enough to drink", and of course, "one behind this? Rich white guy, just saying."
The ART!!!!!! I ADORE HOW FUN BLUE BEETLE IS TO LOOK AT AHHH I LOVED HIS DESIGN AND HOW THEY DREW HIS EXPRESSIONS AND THE COLORS AND ALL THE DIFFERENT PEOPLE SURROUNDING HIM! THEY LOOK LIKE US, JAIME LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE MY BROTHER IN HIGH SCHOOL AND I LITERALLY HAVE A PIC WHERE I LOOK EXACTLY LIKE MILAGRO. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN TO ABSORB
I loved this run so much, definitely would and will be rereading it, 9/10
One last thing
I fucking loved that Jaime made this face all the damn time cuz I also make this face all the time so true bestie
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