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skullsandwineglasses · 3 years

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The Rebel Princess First Impressions (episode 16)

My first drama of 2021 and my first drama in 4 months.

AvenueX’s harsh review piqued my interest, especially when she mentioned the high production quality of the drama and the list of talent that was behind the production of the drama. So I went into this drama knowing nothing about the plot, having high expectations for the production, and no expectations about the characters because of AvenueX’s criticism. I’ve always respected Zhang Ziyi because of her dedication to the art and her legendary filmography, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan. I agreed with AvenueX; ZZY has an aura and elegance that’s meant for mature, cold characters, so I was wary of her playing a Mary Sue who’s innocent and doted upon.

I first saw Zhou Yi Wei when he played Zhao Liying’s classy, composed, protective, and rich older brother in My Glamourous Times. He’s not classically handsome, but there’s a measured confidence in the way he carries himself that exudes masculinity, and that’s also balanced by his more feminine qualities like his quiet, airy voice and his full lips. He also has an intense gaze that feels like he’s looking straight into the soul of whoever he’s speaking to.

I also watched ZZY and ZYW’s collaboration on I Am an Actor, so I knew that the chemistry would be there between them.

Okay, so enough preamble. Spoilers ahead.

First 8 episodes:

I didn’t mind ZZY playing a young teenager. Yes, it does take a bit of getting used to, but kind of like the CGI in The Irishman, but it very soon doesn’t become distracting and you manage to suspend your disbelief. I came in expecting the worse, like an exaggerated caricature, but ZZY actually pulls it off quite well. Since this is a coming-of-age drama, it’s a given that the first few episodes are going to be about a main character who starts off as innocent, naive, and carefree. I’d rather have the main actress portray these young scenes than to have a completely differ actress do this. The first few episodes are meant to anchor you emotionally into the drama and to empathize with the FL. If you introduced ZZY after 8 episodes, you wouldn’t really emotionally connect with her since the trauma that catapults the character into maturity was experienced by the younger actress. So for me, the age was a non-issue. I was concerned that it would be cringey, but it wasn’t. It’s called acting ffs. Why can people play older characters when they’ve never been older, but people can’t play younger characters, even though they were once that age. I forgot how pretty ZZY is though.

Sure, the FL is a Mary Sue, but I didn’t find her annoying. Maybe it’s because ZZY makes it work. Who knows. Essentially, everyone dotes in her, every man has a crush on her. She’s spoiled, she’s kind. She’s perfect. Her lineage is incomparable and powerful (even if a little incestuous). Not to mention a little corrupt as well. I guess she wasn’t annoying because she doesn’t try hard to be righteous. She has a privileged life and she’s just living with what she’s given. She only asks that she is able to have a love marriage instead of an arrange marriage. Typical, but understandable.

My complaint is that I didn’t feel any chemistry between her and Zi Tan, the second prince. Unlike Ming Lan and Yuan Ruo in Story of Ming Lan, Awu’s first love just didn’t capture the imagination. Maybe it’s because ZYW’s Xiao Qi stole the show from early on, which made it hard to jump on board Zi Tan’s ship.

Awu and Xiao only had a handful of interactions, but their chemistry is palpable (ZYW’s gaze is just....ugh swoon). They first meet that night at the festival where she unknowingly insults him and then he saves her and Zi Tan later that night. Then a couple episodes later, he saves her again when she falls off the roof during her escape from the crown prince. They only cross paths briefly 2 times in 4 episodes, and one of those times they weren’t even talking to ech other because she faints, and yet he’s totally taken by her. He’s a goner. But he know she’s out of his league, and so he keeps his feelings to himself, even though he can’t stop thinking about her and stays up at night staring at the moon remembering their 2 encounters. Talk about a slow burn. Insta love shouldn’t work, but again, it does here.

I like Xiao Qi’s character. He doesn’t speak much, he doesn’t emote much, but he’s not the typical cold, distant, irritable ML from idol dramas. Xiao Qi isn’t afraid to love. He’s tender, gentle, composed, and calm. The sexual tension between him and Awu from when he rescued her to when they consummate their marriage is through the roof. He takes on the role of a husband by taking care of her, entrusting her fully with managing his household, puts her above everything else in his life, and always takes her side. He closes the distance between them while still giving her space, respecting her, and waiting until she’s ready. Even though he initially thought of himself ill-suited for her, once they’re married, he slowly wins her over. Episode 13 is obviously my favourite because that’s when Awu finally warms up to him.

Honestly, this relationship only works because of the smitten looks that Xiao Qi gave her that night when they first met at the festival. Those few intrigued/amused looks carry this relationship for 13 episodes. And I love how he brings up that night again when he’s caring for her after he rescued her from Helan Zhen.

Speaking of Helan Zhen, I find it funny how it sounds like Helian Zheng from The Rise of Phoenixes, and it’s played by the same actor too (edit: NOT the same actor. This is Yuan Hong who played Jin Si Yu in TROP, and a more veteran actor than than the one who played Helian Zheng. Should have known that ZZY would pick Justin Hong who has much more acting experience. TBF tho, with the facial hair, they look similar) and has similar costuming.

In terms of the political storyline, it’s not bad, but it’s not great, so I see AvenueX’s criticism here. I haven’t watched too many political intrigues, but so far, nothing has been overly surprising or shocking.

The level of acting and production definitely lives up to expectations, although I have noticed some jumpy cuts. Some of the night scenes in the palace also look kind of CGI though, especially the sky.

General Song is great. The ML always has a loyal sidekick. The FL also always has a loyal maid, and a disloyal maid who betrays her. In this sense, the drama is quite formulaic.

It’s also nice to see Kara Hui and Angie Chiu act opposite each other. Angie Chiu is obviously speaking cantonese, and it looks like Kara Hui also speaks cantonese when she has a scene with Angie Chiu, maybe to help her get immersed into the scene.

Overall Impressions: My basic self is only watching this for the romance, which so far has been slow and minimal (but really good). Xiao Qi is completely absent in episode 16 unfortunately, which is about Awu gaining the respect of his army.

I do think this is a good spot to pause though. There’s no angst yet. Awu and Xiao Qi are at a good place in their relationship, even if they’re temporarily physically separated for now. Emotionally, they trust each other. It’s them against the world.

But I’m worried about the upcoming episodes. Based on comments from MyDramaList, it sounds like there are going to be misunderstandings by around episode 33ish, which I’m not happy about. I was hoping that it would be similar to Ming Lan and Gu Tingye’s relationship dynamic where they trust each other fully and there are no secrets or misunderstandings, and they work together against the antagonistic forces opposing them. But it sounds like the drama is going, to well, stir up drama between the leads.

I powered through 16 episodes in 2 days, and only 41 raw episodes have been released. Which means that I’ll probably catch up within the next few days, and then I’ll have to play the waiting game until the finale at the end of February. So I’ll just take a pause now before things ramp up and I get too attached and maybe watch something else before coming back to binge this.

#the rebel princess #上阳赋 #zhang ziyi #章子怡 #cdrama #cdrama rant #cdrama review #first impressions #周一围

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kosegruppaa · 4 years

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Who are your favorite characters and couples in elite? 😀

hi anon,

aah, honestly, i don’t know.

if you asked me before season three, i probably would have said my favourite couples were omander and guznadia. and characters probably omar, nadia and guzman? and maybe lu too? even though with lu (especially before season 3) idk how much i liked her as a person really, but just like i find her interesting and the actress is very good, so she’s definitely someone i love seeing in the show?? if that makes sense.

but after s3.. man. idk if i like anyone anymore tbh! guznadia, i guess! and my favourite character is probably nadia. and if i have to say more: lu, guzman and rebe? i think. even though i dislike things about those characters as well.

i find it a little hard to enjoy or connect with the characters at all, after season 3, to be honest. i just feel like everyone’s a rich asshole or a regular asshole, and like they *barely* like each other but still see each other “”as family”” to the point of covering up murders for each other?? idk, i think i maybe just don’t like the show enough to suspend my disbelief anymore, which makes the show pretty hard to enjoy.

#anon #thanks for asking!

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summerspn · 5 years

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Batwoman

2019 series > Ep 1-3

*sigh*

Okay here goes...I’m going to break it down for you:

The trailers & ads:

I was skeptical about watching this show as all the trailers for it were terrible.

As a woman I can honestly say each and every trailer made me cringe & go ‘stop!’. They were SO bad.

But, that’s not the actors’ fault. They’re given lines they have to deliver on & Ruby Rose seemed to deliver on those decently enough I suppose.

In the trailers, my biggest issue was the terrible dialogue & poor makeup/wardrobe.

The campy style Batwoman costume & the sloppy bat tattoos...ugh! Why would anyone think that would be appealing?!

Now, onto the show...

There is one & ONLY one reason I watched this show...my mom! I figured I had to give it a shot. But it was not because my mom like it. She in fact, hated it!

My mom, who loves everything from medical & criminal dramas, to shows about witchcraft & medieval times. She somehow even loves campy movies like Dark Shadows. She’s a huge fan of Wonder Woman (comics, tv show & recent movie). She loved the Captain Marvel movie. She is a comic fan and loved Batman & Batwoman growing up.

Yet, she hates this show!

After seeing videos & online posts ALL saying it’s because non fans hate the show because they’re bigots, that’s not true.

The show is awful - so I suppose the trailers were accurate.

My mother could care less what people do for their own pleasure- and like she taught us, “as long as no one’s being hurt & it’s consensual, who cares?”

So right now, just to paint you a picture, neither her nor I care about the lesbian storyline in Batwoman. I don’t care if she’s gay straight, bi, attracted to pumpkins etc. Have at it.

The reason I chose to watch this show is because my mother loves fun well written entertainment & sometimes just silly fluff to get her mind off reality. And as my best friend we have that in common. Our viewing tastes are very similar. So when my mom says something was terrible, it piques my interest (much more than those awful trailers).

The actors:

Most of the actors aren’t bad. Since Dougray Scott is in this I take it as a comparison amongst the others. If you don’t know who he is ...he was in Ever After, Desperate Housewives, Fear the Walking Dead, Hemlock Grove and a thousand other projects. He’s a good actor. However, in Batwoman he has a few mistakes with his accent & delivery of a few lines (much fewer mistakes than the rest of the cast).

But all the actors have mis-steps with their lines & delivery of the lines. Whose job is it to stop them & try again until it’s good? The director

Some actors aren’t as strong as others but after watching the show, I think the strongest actors are: Dougray Scott, Nicole Kang, & Rachel Skarsten. They seem to work with what they’ve got. Trying their best. But the dialogue!

There was a line about Kate Kane having mixed feelings for her sister & didn’t want her hurt because “Duh, feelings”. .... 🙄...she’s a medical student?? The writers gave the actor THAT to work with? Okay...um, they couldn’t have done a second draft and tweaked it? You didn’t find it needed a little more work? Like wrote this instead “it’s only natural to be conflicted...” which makes her sound intelligent. Instead, “Duh, feelings”?!

Unfortunately we come down to Ruby Rose. She’s not a good actress. She seemed to be more talented in the trailers than the actual show but that was because she showed something I like to call emotion.

What happened? Every single line RR delivers has zero affect. Even when she’s literally smiling there is no emotion in her eyes....what only makes her look psychotic. And she moves her eyebrows up & down sooooo much. It’s distracting.

However, she (like the other actors) does seem to be trying. With that said, if you can’t be pulled into the character or the actors’ take on them then it suspends disbelief.

I have nothing against Ruby Rose but knowing she was a model gives context. They work with their eyebrows a lot & any acting they do is for about 20 seconds of a commercial. It’s clear that RR is tackling the tv show like she would a modeling job. Only now she has a s****y wardrobe.

However, she can’t act. She is monotonous & sounds robotic.

I do think though that’s made worse by the director probably not pushing to do enough takes. Sometimes directors instruct actors to act a certain way which makes them sound worse.

Ie) Hayden Christensen acted beautifully in an old tv show where he played a victim of molestation. In Star Wars a Phantom Menace he was apparently told to act more annoyed then angry so voila he came across as a brat...

So I do wonder what influence the director had here.

The wardrobe/makeup:

Papa Kane, Leaders of the Crows, my man Dougray...yes he still looks good in his suits but he’s always shown wearing the same suit. Wardrobe actually helps tell a story especially in a show like this. But it’s like the budget is too small or the director forgot about anyone other than Kate & Beth.

Morning scenes, have him with a little extra stubble, some make up to look like he has dark circles under his eyes. Ruffle his hair. Have him sitting in a hideous vintage t-shirt while they have breakfast. Kate could see how awful he looks and ask “did you get any sleep?” Then they could talk about how worried he is for the city, Kate, or even thinking about Beth! Kate could see the shirt & go “didn’t I get you that?” And he says “yeah for my birthday” and she says “that was ten years ago”.Boom! Shows he loves his daughter & a tiny bonding moment. ...but this never happened.

Luke Fox. Somehow they took an attractive actor and made him look about 20 years older just by wearing glasses that belong to Angela from Who’s the Boss!

Give Luke some 2019 glasses that sit properly on his nose! And the same for the rest of his clothes. They don’t fit right. The show is trying to nerd him up but you can make people awkward, nerdy , or quirky without downplaying their looks. Have Fox wear jeans with his vests, or a fun t-shirt with a suit jacket etc.

Kate Kane. She has the worst wardrobe in the show! Though Batwoman’s suit looks tacky & campy...

Give Kate nicer clothes! They do not need to be expensive but they do need to give her a personality.

1) Plaid...why? Lesbians wearing plaid is a stereotype so WHY would this show advertising itself as modern & breaking the barriers have their main character wearing something so cliche? Makes zero sense. However, since plaid (aka tartan) is making a comeback in fashion they could have used it (if they really had to) in another piece of clothing. A scarf, gloves, shoes? (I actually have a pair of red plaid boots which are durable and adorable). Throwing on a plaid shirt is just lazy.

2) Her hair. Okay so if they’re going for the short-during-military-training look I get it but Ruby Rose has the same hairstyle in everything. I wish she’d just either grow it out or chop it all off. They could have had a scene where she’s fiddling with it in the mirror like she’s self conscious about the new do...showing human insecurities.

3) The leather jacket. Sigh... okay this is my personal opinion but I think the black leather jacket in shows is used too much. It immediately signals strength & a tough exterior right? Well literally everyone knows this. It’s not subtle. I mean I love how it was used on Supernatural where the coat had a history but it was tied into a backstory and eventually was used less and less. But the leather coat was used more in early seasons (which was as far as 15 yrs ago). Other shows always have the ‘bad boy’ wear the jacket. It’s so boring. I’d rather if Kate strolled you wearing a fun typographic shirt or a basic t-shirt and have an expensive belt because she has a thing for belts (subtly nodding to one Batwoman has to use).

There were many choices other than a basic plaid top and black leather jacket. Wardrobe decisions that could give the character/actor subtle layers or tools to work with. But that too was done lazily.

Set design:

Dark & gloomy? ✅

Isolated & abandoned feeling? ✅

Appropriate to the corresponding event... 🙈 not so much.

Ie) the bridge where the family’s car fell off. Whether it’s done with cgi or finding the right location, the bridge in question was generic. Now if the bridge was higher up and/or there were super super wild & crazy rapids maybe, just maybe we’d believe Batman thought Beth was a goner. But it was actual fairly tame so it made Batman look like he just saw the car hanging and go “hey my shift ended an hour ago” and walk off.

And,

The “secret” entrance to the bat cave is in Wayne enterprises? Wouldn’t that be hard to get to? I can picture Bruce hanging around in the garage waiting to go in...he starts over to the door, someone comes, he stops...ya know because everyone knows him...

It’s just weird. There were so many other options.

Special effects:

Some have been pretty bad so far. This is a CW trait. I don’t know if they separate the budget for the directors or not. Is it all one lump number or are they told ‘this is for the production & this is for the special effects?’. I wonder because other CW shows seem to have tiny budgets allocated to the effects. In any case, a show about super villains & heroes needs bigger budgets so it looks more believeable.

The writing:

The writing is just bad. Writing lines like “duh sisters” for a character who is supposed to be educated & intelligent seems ridiculous.

Question - if Bruce Wayne has family why didn’t he stay with them when his parents died? Or they with him? Is this a plot hole from the comics or just this show?

Unrealistic. Yes it’s a superhero story but we care less if the person has all their skills & abilities immediately.

My bff and I love superhero shows but we both had the same problems here as with Supergirl. She just had her powers & didn’t really struggle with them. I watched 2 episodes & was bored already.

Batwoman was so boring but I wanted to see if it got better. It hasn’t.

This show needed to spend episode 1 where she’s discovering how bad Gotham was without Batman & where he went. Is he doing a really long pub crawl? Saving people in another country/city? Dead? Kate shows zero concern for her missing cousin & for some reason, hates him.

Kate immediately knowing how to use the bat equipment with zero practices...how at the beginning she’s swimming in ice water for no reason and doesn’t get hypothermia?? That’s all very unbelievable.

Kate is written as Mary Sue. She knows all & has the most skills in the world! Why??? Okay so she was in the military so yeah give her a backstory of taking taekwondo classes or something but for her to know how to do Luke Fox’s job better than he does? Or where the cameras are at Wayne Enterprises...more than the security team?? And to know what the computer password is, okay... basically she has to be great at everything & the other characters have to be written dumb in order for Kate to be appealing. Why?

Bashing Batman...in a show based in the bat-universe. Terrible move. Kate doing this repeatedly makes us think she’s a villain. Not a hero.

Bashing everyone with male genitalia...makes Kate look like a pr*ck. You can hate certain men you’ve known but to constantly reference women as being superior to men...

1) negates equal rights. You can’t be equals if you act/think/say you’re superior.

2) any boys watching this show is going to feel like something is wrong with them.

3) it’s sexist.

Just like many of us women grew up hearing repeatedly that men were better at this & that...

4) male bashing IS spreading hate. STOP.

That is actually why (more than anything) I didn’t want to watch in the first place because of how the trailers made it sound like they were bashing a whole gender.

Too much too soon. Revealing Alice is Beth in the first episode? Why? Drag it out an episode or 2. Each episode is both boring and yet they try to cram everything into a single episode it’s bizarre.

Ridiculous scenarios. Like Batman would leave a child to drown. And why didn’t Beth/Alice just go home or contact the police...or anyone...when she got out of the water all those years ago? Why does Kate keep letting her sister go when the woman is a multi-murderer?!

Yes, Kate is still hung up on her ex but it was years ago & she was the one dumped. And Sophie is married so Kate is coming off like a stalker 👀

All of it makes Kate look unsympathetic & unlikeable. The show isn’t funny except when we hear bad dialogue. It’s trying to be overly dramatic like a soap opera but it still doesn’t work. I think that’s due to the writing & the directing.

Now don’t get me wrong, even with RR’s lack of acting skills there are ways of making it work...that weren’t done.

Keanu’s Reeves isn’t the most skillful actor but he tries. He’s good at certain things & sticks to it. He knows where his skills are. Yes he’s improved but he’ll never be able to pull off an intense dramatic role. So he sticks to what he’s good at. He’s also a good person & tries to talk openly & intelligently about things so he has people’s respect IRL.

Ruby Rose has been touchy & volatile about people criticizing Batwoman. That made me lose what little respect I had for her.

Awhile back I had tried watching this design show (yes I like those too) Love it Or List It Vancouver. The show was fine but the designer Jillian was being critiqued left right & Center on social media after the pilot episode for sounding like a child. She used phrases such as; “totally”,”for sure” , and used the word ‘like’ a thousand times... she really did sound like a valley girl. However, about 5 episodes later that was gone. She was speaking more eloquently and more grown up - which in turn made people like her more. She & the show worked to help improve her speech patterns so it wouldn’t be distracting. And the show has been around for years now.

My point? RR could have taken the criticism & worked with it. I get she’s probably upset as she worked hard but we all go through it. We all have a project of some kind at work that falls flat. We take the criticism & try to improve. RR could take acting lessons or at the very least, practice in the mirror.

Most of the other issues I’ve mentioned are a result of the awful writing, poor direction & likely some interference from the network.

What this show should never have done was act superior. That’s being a douche. Anytime I see or hear someone being arrogant like that I just roll my eyes and walk away (or in this case, turn the channel).

If anyone working for the CW and/or Batwoman reads this I hope you’ll take some pointers.

I like myself too much though to subject myself to anymore episodes though. I’m done. ✌️

#batwoman #tv serials #tv #tv shows #cw #ruby rose #dougray scott #elizabeth anweis #rachel skarsten #nicole kang #camrus johnson #gabriel mann #giles panton #meaghan tandy #kate kane #batman #batman bashing #woke #woman

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seeroftodayandtomorrow · 5 years

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tdb rewatch: The untitled Rachel Berry Project

German title: Das titellose Rachel Berry Projekt, which is about the same.

This is a nice season finale! A lot of fun things, although I have serious trouble in suspending my disbelief at the whole Rachel-show thing. Basing a whole show on one completely unknown actress? Having it be written by someone so...I have problems finding a word that fits that complete nutjob of a very untalented writer. And Rachel going to L.A, which means quitting her show and probably her prospects of ever doing Broadway again (yes, I know she does, but still), for doing a pilot? One episode of a series that might not be picked up? If this is the life of an actress, it’s no life for me.

But, well. I’m glad she listens to her friends and talks the writer into trying something less wacky and more genuine, but I wonder how we go from that to the trainwreck of a show we see next season.

So I don’t like too many conversations about love and trust in one episode. I know they’re important, and I know we’re all glad they happen (even though it’s the same - how do we get from there to next season? Although, I know how. Conversations and choosing to trust someone are not always enough, and daily life gets n the way of a lot of things), but I think too much is easily cheesy. And with the Klaine talk and the Samcedes talk, we’re into cheese territory. But, you know, in a general way, I’m glad they had these conversations.

I don’t like Samcedes breaking up. I agree that it is probably sensible - although, if he can deal with not having sex while Mercedes is there, why should that not work when she’s gone for a few months? Fear that he’ll turn into a sex fiend the moment she isn’t there to watch over him? but I have to say I like that he goes back to Ohio, although I’m gonna miss the Blam friendship. But I think it’s important to say that New York - or big cities in general - are not for everyone, and that not everyone dreams of eternal stardom. And I guess that one-time sexual harassment at the workplace is enough for Sam (he is so cute, though - she kisses him and he starts crying, she takes photos of him crying, and then he goes home and confesses to cheating?) It was enough for my son, in any case: during Girls on Film he went to his room and didn’t come back. I’m glad Mercedes tells him that isn’t cheating. I also hate that their friends are telling them to break up. Long distance relationships are hard, but they can work, and they can still break up if it doesn’t work out. Either way, it’s their decision, and the others could just shut their mouths about it for once.

Kurt...overreacts badly. I get that he has probably still trust issues, and it shows impressively that they still have problems. But,. really. I’m sure for a while Blaine thought they would break up over such a triviality. Although what I found funny was Kurt’s face when he comes into the room while Blaine sings All of Me. Like he thought, Oh no, Blaine is crying at the piano again, that’s not a good sign. But then there′s that thing that I like very much about Kurt: after he’s had some time to think, he has no problem apologizing and even admitting that the way he acted, he can understand Blaine lying to him. And I very enjoy his answer to Blaine’s “I’m the luckiest guy in the world”, because it breaks up the cheesiness.

I love American Boy. Not only for the performance, though that is great, but to think how far we’ve come. In the beginning of Glee, it was a Very Special Episode when a gay guy as much as touched someone, and now we have lines like “Don’t like his baggy jeans but I’mma like what’s underneath them”, from one gay guy to another, without anyone batting an eye.

So what’s with June? Does she really change her mind about Kurt or does she just not want to make a scene in front of an audience? She doesn’t keep sponsoring Blaine, in any case.

I love Pompeii, and the promise they give each other to meet in six months. But it’s very sad to think Kurt will be the only one who remembers that promise.

#tdb rewatch #tdb rewatch: the untitled Rachel Berry project #todaydreambelievers

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hoodlessmads · 5 years

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Bloom Into You Dub

My thoughts under the cut (super long):

Yuu – pretty decent

I don’t dislike Tia Ballard’s actual voice for the character, and while at first I thought her delivery sounded kind of off, it’s growing on me. Tia’s version of Yuu feels like a slightly different interpretation of the character than the one in the manga and the one by the Japanese voice actress. She’s a little airier, a little more…emotional? Not my favorite version, but it’s interesting. And I’m okay with that.

Touko – really good

So I love Luci Christian, I think she’s a fabulous actress and I adore her performances as many of my favorite characters in other anime. When I heard she was the voice for Touko, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the actual casting itself? Like I don’t necessarily think her voice fits Touko. Not that it actively DOESN’T fit her, but I’m just really used to the Japanese voice actress. But at the very least I knew she would give a stellar performance, and I could be relieved about that! Especially for a character like Touko, her actress has to have such a wide emotional range to be able to pull off all the different scenes that she’s in, so on that level, there’s almost no better choice than Luci.

But WOW, I wasn’t expecting her to actually SOUND like Touko too. I don’t know how she did it, but she actually sounds like Touko. She pretty much nailed the character. ACTING, dude.

Sayaka – good

The more I listen to her, the more I’m starting to really like her. This actress has really been nailing a lot of her lines and I think her voice quite fits Sayaka after all. Okay, you’ve won me over, lady. Well done.

Maki – really good

Okay I like….REALLY like Maki’s English voice?? Like a lot. I’m genuinely surprised by how much I love this guy’s performance. Not only is the casting perfect, but some of his line deliveries are just spot on. The whole “sounds fake but okay” scene comes to mind. Well done, Sentai.

Doujima – love

I think this is the guy that plays Tanaka in the Haikyuu!! dub, which I hated (not because of him specifically). It’s funny because this guy’s voice is so distinct and it’s hard to get used to at first, but the more I hear it the more he actually hella grew on me. And you know what, his tenor and delivery really do suit Doujima once you get used to it. I enjoy him quite a bit. He’s one of my favorite English performances to be honest. Wait, there’s lesbians in this show?! FO SHO!

Koyomi – unfitting casting at first but she’s growing on me

At first I couldn’t even tell it was Koyomi speaking because the casting was THAT unexpected for me. Nothing against Brittany Karbowski, just like the choice of casting her as Koyomi, of all people, who should have a much softer voice. But the more I listen to her, the more I can get behind this interpretation I guess. She may not have the most Koyomi-sounding voice in the world, but her voice does have that slightly raspy quality that suits Koyomi nicely.

Akari – good

Riko – good

Miyako – good

Rei – she’s okay…sounds a little too old

Hiro - good

Extras – not great but fine

Is that everyone? Okay:

Script – NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Removing honorifics and changing how the characters refer to one another creates RELATIONSHIP-ALTERING DIFFERENCES that affect the story.

THE WHOLE GAG of an entire scene later is how Touko is embarrassed by Yuu calling her by her first name, which she never usually does. How are they going to adapt this? All the humor and emotion of the original scene will be lost!

The humor in Touko asking Yuu if it’s okay to call her by her first name in front of others and Yuu is like “I’m pretty sure you’ve already been saying it”, the angst when Sayaka hears it for the first time, the humor when Doujima is like, “My name is Suguru!” and Touko just brushes him off. All of it? Lost.

Yuu’s angst when she wants to call Touko, “Touko-senpai” but she can’t because she can’t cross that line into the greater intimacy that she longs for? LOST

It’s lost.

Having Yuu call her “Touko” left and right in the dub, for this character, at this point in the story, is WAY TOO INTIMATE. To the point that I’m like actually blushing every time it happens because it’s so embarrassing. Like can you imagine? Yuu? Calling her “Touko” like it’s nothing?? O///////////O. DOKI DOKI!!! WOW cultural context changes things y’all. And the thing is that there is NOT A SINGLE GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR THIS that would make sense in English like they want it to. The script writers’ only real option is to keep the honorifics intact or it just won’t make sense.

What they actually ended up going with is this really unnecessarily complicated “nickname” thing that comes across as awkward.

Keeping honorifics intact in an English dub is not new or revolutionary. We have been using original honorifics in manga since the early 2000s with publishers like Del Rey and we have even been actually SAYING honorifics in English dubs since shows like Ouran High School Host Club, which pulled it off effortlessly back in like 2008. So I really do not understand why, in 2019, when anime fans are more familiar with Japanese culture than ever before, script writers still have this baffling and strange phobia of keeping these facets of Japanese culture intact for viewers. It’s funny because Luci Christian was even IN Ouran High School Host Club. She can be Honey-senpai but she can’t be Nanami-senpai? Like…why?

It takes 40 chapters of the manga, 7 volumes, after getting to know Touko and bonding with her and falling in love with her over the course of 8 months, for Yuu to finally get to the point of running to meet her, break down crying, and tell her she loves her over and over again. And do you know? What she calls her? In this incredibly intimate moment after months of build-up in their relationship?

SHE CALLS HER NANAMI-SENPAI.

“TOUKO” LET’S NOT JUMP THE GUN HERE

I legitimately find it BAFFLING why some English script writers don’t seem to think this is as important as it is? Like there’s a reason why whole scenes are built around this facet of the culture.

And if they are really so afraid of alienating English-speaking viewers that may not understand what a “senpai” is, then there are about a MILLION ways they could slip in a simple explanation, either through context in the dialogue or through…like, an honorifics card at the front of an episode. There are options. It’s not that difficult to understand. I promise. We were ALL there at one point, and I promise that it took us all approximately two literal seconds to grasp the concept of senpai = upperclassman. And like, we collectively as an audience, are aware that this is taking place in Japan, that these are Japanese high schoolers, which means that hearing them speaking English is by definition an abstraction of what they’re actually saying. We suspend our disbelief in this way already, and so adding Japanese honorifics back into an English-adapted script really isn’t a stretch at all.

Stop patronizing English-speaking audiences. It’s 2019.

The actual script - Changing the wording of certain lines like having Touko say “Kiss me” when she’s actually supposed to be saying “I want to kiss you.” This isn’t just simple semantics. In the context of this particular character, IT’S A BIG DEAL. Her whole thing is that she doesn’t want Yuu to love her or show affection towards her. At this point in the story, “kiss me” is something she would just NOT SAY.

Because like

Later on, in the supply shed, that’s why Touko is like, “This time, I want you to kiss me.” Because she’s never said that before. That’s why it’s a big deal.

Guess it’s not a big deal anymore???

No.

NO.

Scenes and Specifics

“I’d rather die…than hear any of that again.” I actually really like this line in the dub!! Before it’s always been translated as something like, “I’d rather die than hear those words,” as in, she’d rather die than be told something like that in general. It’s powerful enough that way. But the dub version takes it a step farther: I’d rather die than hear that again. It’s not just a sentiment, it’s actually a warning. Don’t ever say that shit to me again, or else. LMAO it’s even darker this way. It makes it even more of a punch in the gut for Yuu to hear something like that. You’re gonna have a bad time, Yuu…

and of course Luci’s delivery is great.

“Dear/honey/darling/say my name but more sweetly” – Sigh…don’t even get me started.

This is just a nitpick, but I don’t really understand why they decided to have everyone call Hakozaki-sensei “Teach” instead of just “Riko.” It would make a lot more sense, even in the context of this awkward dub with all the name changes, for them to call her “Riko.” Calling your teacher by their first name in English is just as disrespectful as calling them “Teach,” and it’s a lot more natural-sounding. No one says “teach” in real life? No one. But students DO refer to their teachers by their first name behind their backs ALL the time. Since they’re going for such an English feel with this dub it would just make so much more sense to do the same with Riko. It’s just…another inexplicable script choice.

Update: Doujima later says, “I love you, Riko!” in a line that’s actually funny. Thank you!

I can only assume the reason for the lack of honorifics is because they wanted all the characters to refer to each other the way that people do in English-speaking countries, so Yuu calls Touko by her first name and so on. Because that’s how we talk here. But even then, the way they did this is completely inconsistent. Everyone calls Yuu by her first name instead of “Koito,” and Touko by her first name instead of “Nanami,” but everyone calls Maki and Doujima “Maki” and “Doujima” even though those are their last names. Why? Shouldn’t it be Seiji and Suguru, if you’re going for consistency here? Or flip it and go last names all the time, so it’s Koito and Nanami? It just doesn’t make any sense. What exactly determines the fact that everyone calls Maki and Doujima by their last names, but calls Yuu, Touko, and Sayaka by their first names? Isn’t it really just because those are the names the fandom knows them by, not because of any in-universe reason? You see how this script choice quickly falls apart at the seams?!!

Doujima about the play: “Oh wow, there are lesbians in this show?!” Lmao. How meta. I see what you did there, show…

The super intense scene where Touko rehearses her lines and everyone’s like “Woah.” – It was goooood.

So TL;DR: the voices themselves are great, or at least good. And worth watching. There’s some really enjoyable scenes in English. But all of it, for me, is outweighed by the problems I have with the adapted script. It’s so unfortunate because I genuinely like a lot of these English voices, and of course it’s fun to listen to this beloved show in my native language. But GOD, the whole “Touko” thing really kills it for me. Am I being overdramatic? I just think it drastically alters…the viewer’s interpretation of their relationship. Maybe for some people it’s not that big of a deal, like even without the honorifics and the intimate nature of referring to someone by their first name, even if we do away with all of that, some people can still make the adjustment and view their relationship the same way. But for me it’s hard to make that adjustment, especially when so many important scenes hinge upon the use of names. If I were going to show this to a friend, I’d probably steer them away from the dub just for that reason? I don’t know. R.I.P Nanami-senpai…

I’m Not Done Yet Actually

I just want to elaborate once again on why I think removing “senpai” is so bad.

I said before that the difference is relationship-altering, and it really is, to the point where in a series like this that is so hyper-focused on the relationship between its two main characters, it almost changes the story.

Yuu calling Touko “Nanami-senpai” isn’t just some minor arbitrary nickname…it actually creates an extra layer of distance between them. The senpai-kouhai relationship is an institutional one based on respect. By its very nature, it lacks the intimacy of, say, two friends in the same year. In the dub, this aspect of their relationship is entirely removed. There are a couple of references to Touko being Yuu’s upperclassmen, but it’s hardly given the kind of attention that it is in the other versions. Instead, Yuu just calls her “Touko,” because, for all intents and purposes, in the English dub they’re just…friends. That’s what it feels like to me. It feels like there’s no real difference in the public face of their friendship than, say, Yuu’s friendship with Koyomi or Akari. Just two gals being platonic friends (but not at all). But this isn’t quite accurate! Yuu isn’t just Touko’s friend. She’s Touko’s kouhai, which means that on some level she feels an obligation to defer to Touko with the respect that she is owed as her upperclassman, even in like Chapter 40. You can even hear it in the way that Yuu speaks to her, quite naturally, with a greater level of respect than she does to her friends in the same year. Not just in the tone of her voice, but in using a more polite form of speech. (To be honest, I wasn’t listening too closely to what form of speech she uses with her same-year friends, so this isn’t necessarily just a senpai thing. It could just be because Yuu is a polite person. But let’s say for the sake of my argument that it is a senpai thing.)

When Sayaka says, “She’s my best friend, and your upperclassman. What else would she be?” she’s really giving a nod to an important aspect of how Yuu and Touko’s façade relationship is maintained.

On some level, Yuu is able to be so doting and so deferent to Touko’s wishes without Touko catching on to her feelings because she’s performing the role of kouhai. She’s not only a kind and selfless person, she’s a diligent kouhai assisting her troublesome senpai. Supposedly. You get the idea. Do you—?? This is important?? (I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still think Touko’s a dumbass for not knowing, when it’s obvious that Yuu develops feelings for her, but it’s much more believable when you have that extra layer in the relationship that could weakly explain why Yuu wants to help her so much.)

And again, having Yuu refer to Touko as “Nanami-senpai,” and viewing her as Nanami-senpai, creates that extra layer of distance that further separates Yuu from the kind of intimacy she desires to have with Touko. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a barrier, but it’s a layer. A layer that helps protect both of them, in fact, from things getting too intimate. This is delicate, subtle stuff that’s really hard to explain in words, but anyone who’s seen the Japanese version will know what I mean. That’s why there’s that scene in the donut shop where she wishes she could call her first name (still Touko-senpai, though). There is an important bridge between “Nanami-senpai,” Yuu’s upperclassman, and “Touko,” Yuu’s girlfriend/lover. The English dub version just makes the jump across that bridge without a thought.

Also, it’s kind of kinky? The upperclassman-underclassman thing in their relationship. It’s definitely a thing. Yuu knows it, you know she totally does. I don’t make the rules, okay.

TL;DR honorifics and names are really important, especially in this series. They shouldn’t have removed them. Watch the dub if you want, but also watch the sub and read the manga. Just to clarify, I really did enjoy the dub, even though the name changes are a deal-breaker for me. I don’t want it to seem like I’m just completely shitting on it because there’s a TON about it to like. A lot of the performances from the English voice actors were great and a lot of the lines in English were hilarious and/or awesome. The thing is that the Japanese voice track is ALSO incredible and has fabulous performances, but it doesn’t have that cultural barrier issue. So…while I’ll check out the dub for whatever comes next out of respect for the actors involved and their efforts, I’ll be mainly sticking with the sub for my own enjoyment. I tend to prefer Japanese voice tracks for anime that take place in Japan anyway, since that’s what the characters are actually speaking. It’s just a personal preference that helps me get immersed.

#bloom into you #yagate kimi ni naru #i dead ass watched the entire dub of this show #and i took notes #a lot of fucking notes

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dewbond-blog · 6 years

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Shallow Dive: Bakuman (Manga)

I am a firm believer in the “Sausage Principle” something that was brought up by ‘Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver a few years back. The idea is simple: If you love something, don’t find out how it’s made.

I love anime and manga, and I feel I love it even more because I do not know what actually goes into creating it. I have a faint idea, and if you are around the internet long enough you get a basic outline of how anime and manga are created, and while that is a whole other discussion that involves serious issues, I want to instead talk about a manga that quite possibly is the best glimpse into the industry we have.

Let’s face it, anyone who is a fan of the industry has had those youthful dreams of packing up your bags, flying to Japan and hitting it big as a mangaka (manga artists). Don’t deny it, you’ve had the idea, I’ve had the idea, everyone has had the idea. It’s the joyful dreams of youth and it’s wonderful, but during those dreams did we really have an idea of just how that industry works, and the time commitment it takes?

One such series does, and after the cut let’s take a shallow dive into the manga version of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s Bakuman.

Ohba and Obata’s names should be familiar to anyone who has been in the Shonen world for some time, as they are the writer and artist responsible for Death Note, long considered to be one of the best “gateway series” for people looking to get into the genre. Death Note’s impact on the Western fandom is significant and so it was a welcome surprise to see that both Obata and Ohba would be returning for new, very different series.

Bakuman is quite simply, a manga about making a manga, and it represents probably the most honest, open and revealing look into how Japanese manga is created, published and maintained. The story follows aspiring creators Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Tagaki as they navigate the cut-throat and work intensive life of creating a popular shonen manga series. Furthermore, Moritaka has promised his longtime crush, Miho Azuki that they will get married once his work becomes an anime, and she becomes the voice actress for the main heroine.

It’s a simple story, but it is also an incredibly interesting one, as again this is probably the only real look thousands of fans have gotten into an industry that is unknown to many outside of Japan. Instead of life or death villains, Mashiro and Takagi deal with things like meeting deadlines, difficult editors, creative differences, rival authors and balancing the intense pressure of being a serialized author. While there is a hint of a larger than life view of the manga industry being painted, and now and again the story feels it needs to create a “bad guy” for the sake of wrapping up a plot point, Bakuman is very much about the path of an artist, the dreams of youth and how you achieve them, and it’s very grounded look helps the series be as successful as it is. So your reception to the series is based very much in how interested you find a behind the scenes look into the manga writing world. This isn’t like Food Wars where the story doesn’t have enough confidence in just being a story about going to a cooking school and has to keep upping the ante. Bakuman is comfortable being exactly what it is.

However, the one major flaw (in my view) of the series that I feel I need to mention is that the overall storyline of the Mashiro and Miho romance. The start of the series paints them as innocent youths, who want to achieve their dreams and make a pledge to be together once they do. However as Bakuman takes places over years, chronicling their days in high school to their mid-late twenties, their plotline becomes more and more unbelievable as it goes on. The romance is pretty much forgotten for vast swaths of the story and only comes back right at the end of the series to wrap everything up. While that conclusion is fitting for the story, Bakuman very much falls into the same trap that other series have suffered from: The longer your story goes on, the stupider some of your plot ideas become. I had a very hard time suspending my disbelief that Mashiro and Miho would voluntarily choose to remain apart even after both of them achieve reasonable levels of success and that they are holding themselves to a promise made when they were kids. Is it a dealbreaker? Absolutely not, but during my time reading the series weekly, I found myself getting more and more frustrated and it remains a sore sticking point in what is otherwise an excellent piece of work.

Is Bakuman a 100% legit look into how the manga industry works? Probably not, but it IS the best attempt yet to show readers and fans just how manga is made, maintained and how the life of a mangaka is. The stakes are grounded, the characters are believable and the drama is focused on the art itself. Much like Black Cat before it, Bakuman shows up, says everything it has to say and then has the grace to exit the stage. Despite some hiccups involving the main romance, it remains one of the best short manga series produced in Jump, and something I would recommend to anyone who wants to see what life is like behind the writer’s desk. If you loved Death Note and wanted more from the authors, you should give this series a look and you might find yourself engrossed in its wonderful world.

#Bakuman #Mashiro Moritaka #Takagi Akito #Miho Azuki #Manga #Manga about making a manga #Shonen Jump #Death Note #takeshi obata #Tsugumi Ohba #shallow dive

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because-cur-non · 6 years

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For Eliza and McHenry- "It's chilly out here, you need a coat. Take mine"?

“Okay, so it wasn’t great.”

“James, I’m not going to lie to you.” Eliza rested her cheek on the knuckles of her hand, her elbow on the thick sheet of hard plastic covering their table. “I have seen high school plays better than that one.” The yellow lighting of the restaurant cast oddly diffused shadows, blurring them like the noisy chatter around them, and they tangled with one another on the rounded slats of bamboo covering the wall. She was trying not to smile too obviously and shadows caught at the corner of her mouth and under her eyes.

“It wasn’t terrible.”

“I never said it was terrible.”

“I probably wouldn’t pay to go a second time.”

Eliza laughed and McHenry grinned. The lights cast a flashing glare over his glasses as he nodded and gestured with his hands over the dregs of his bowl.

“The ending was okay. When the brother came back with the deed to the house. I mean, I was impressed that they actually bothered to make it look like they had dug it up. I think that was real dirt caked on it.”

“Don’t you think it was a little corny that he just found it, five minutes before they would have lost the property?”

“I don’t know. The pamphlet said it was based on a true story.”

“It did not.”

“It did,” McHenry insisted, digging it out of the pocket of his coat, hanging over the back of his chair. “Right here.” He held it out to her, unfolded to the relevant words. “See?”

“It says ‘Maybe,’” Eliza pointed out. She gently pushed it back towards him. “We all know what that means.”

“It means ‘maybe,’” McHenry argued. “As in, ‘probably, but we don’t want to get sued.’”

“It means that someone made it up and they’re trying to get us to suspend disbelief.”

“Yeah, sure.” McHenry raised his hand to flag down a waiter. “I’m choosing to believe.”

“Even if it was based in something real, don’t you think they took liberties with the source material?”

“Oh, definitely. There was that unicorn in the first act, remember?”

“That one didn’t bother me.”

“Seriously?” McHenry leaned back as the waiter took their bowls and promised to return with the check. “How was that more okay than the ending?”

“The daughter was the only one who interacted with it,” Eliza said. “And she was supposed to be in elementary school still.”

“Yeah, okay, that was a weird casting choice. That actress was taller than the one playing the mother.”

“She had a very high voice.”

“We should have hung around after,” McHenry said. “I kind of wanted to see if that was her regular voice.” Unable to hold her gaze for too long without feeling nervous he looked around the busy restaurant. A raucous table of six near them dominated the dining floor, and even as he watched calls of kanpai rang out and cups of sake were tossed back.

Eliza followed his gaze. “They look like they’re having fun.”

McHenry worried suddenly that this was said in comparison to their own night and he looked quickly back at her. Her expression was open and calm, however, the smile still lingering on her lips as she observed the room.

The waiter brought them the black book holding their check and McHenry took it.

“How much is it?” Eliza asked, reaching for her purse.

“I got it.”

“We can split it.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Next time.”

Eliza laughed and folded her arms on the table. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

McHenry was grinning as he found the cash in his wallet and put it down, adding a few extra dollars for the tip. He stood and put his coat over his arm. “Thank you for doing this with me.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?” Eliza got up as well, gathering her things. “You paid for it all.”

“I don’t get the chance to go out a lot,” McHenry admitted. “So, for that, thanks.”

“Don’t you do things with your teammates?”

“I’m really busy,” he said, leading them between the tables and to the exit. He started to motion to grab her hand but it was crowded and difficult enough already to weave their way out. “At least during finals week my classes aren’t meeting.” He held the door for her. She thanked him and stepped out into the December night, immediately shivering and pulling her jacket on.

“Did it get colder while we were in there?”

“Maybe. Here.” He held his coat out, his other hand awkwardly in his back pocket. “I’m already wearing a sweater anyway.”

“It’s fine,” Eliza reassured him, but then, seeing the hopeful look in his eyes, took it anyway. She draped it over her shoulders. “Thank you.” She saw the self-conscious way he nodded and ducked his head down and she smiled, folding her arms and starting off slowly down the sidewalk. He followed alongside her and she wove just closely enough into his personal space that it was clear that they were walking together rather than simply alongside one another. “So,” she said, stealing a slow glance at him, letting the smile stay light on her mouth, letting her gaze trace over the soft curve of his cheek, “you said that you’re not as busy during finals as you are normally?”

McHenry nodded. “Yeah.” He had to start that word twice to get it out. “Uh, I have a lot to do, but at least my schedule’s more flexible.”

“That’s so nice,” Eliza said. “I don’t have to be on campus tomorrow, either.”

Their eyes met and hers were lit with hopeful anticipation. An open invitation.

McHenry’s thoughts accelerated. He knew what he should do, or at least what he wanted to. He could invite her back to his place, check the time and tell her regardless of what it said that it wasn’t that late, ask her if she wanted to hang out, brush that strand of hair from the side of her face and kiss her, lie down with her on the couch– Fear slammed into that chain of desire, bringing him suddenly back to the open street and the cold night air with the same insistence that had kept his hands firmly gripping hers for hours the other night when they had kissed in her room while he wondered desperately what kind of girl he hoped that she was.

“Man,” he heard himself say. He took the word as his cue and ran with it, finding that he had a line he could play. “Good for you. I’m not as swamped as I could be, but I’ve still got a lab report due and I actually do need to go to campus to get one last set of data.” He could see that she wasn’t sure how to take that and he added, “But are you free later this week?”

Eliza nodded, slight disappointment assuaged by at least the repeated statement of intent to meet up again. “Sure. Let me know when you’re free?”

“I will,” McHenry assured her, not sure what on earth was going to change between now and then.

#revolutionary fuckboys #@tacticalgrandma is psychic #.....yeah I'm still working through my autumn-themed prompts WHAT OF IT

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thefilmsnob · 6 years

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Glen Coco’s Top 10 Films of 2017

Unlike last year, 2017 was a stand-out for the film industry. There wasn’t an abundance of undisputed masterpieces per se, but there were still more than enough excellent motion pictures that deserve recognition. As always, it killed me having to omit so many great films, but that’s just life I guess. You got your ups and you got your downs. Anyway, here are my picks for the ten greatest films of 2017. But first, I’ll list the runners-up and the traditional bonus track. There’s always a bonus track.

Runners-Up

-Blade Runner 2049 ***

-Get Out

-Kong: Skull Island

-Last Flag Flying

-Molly’s Game

-Phantom Thread

-T2: Trainspotting

-Thor: Ragnarok

***Blade Runner 2049 probably would make this list in another life. The thing is, when I saw it, I was very tired and frustrated and I found it hard to focus. Because of this, I missed some important plot details, so the whole time my brain was trying to catch up with the narrative. It never did and I was lost. This is a gorgeous-looking film with excellent performances, direction, cinematography, visual effects and production design. But, I can not, in good conscience, include it without a second viewing. I’m a fucking nerd.

And here are the top 10!

#10b. (Bonus Track) The Lost City of Z

Director: James Gray

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland

For a movie with a dashing lead who takes multiple expeditions into the Amazon rainforest to find a fabled lost city while facing perilous conditions from treacherous landscapes to hostile natives, The Lost City of Z has been seen by a total of zero people. That’s a shame. This is a movie that reminds us of pulp magazines and classic exploration films of old, promising mystery, intrigue and adventure. The film takes place over several years in the early 1900s and follows Percy Fawcett whose interest in a lost city turns into an obsession and whose multiple trips to find what may not exist threatens his family life and reputation. Directed by James Gray, The Lost City of Z is a refreshing antidote to the modern action film full of CGI and empty noise. The rich cinematography provides a natural and vivid look which amplifies the sense of danger Fawcett and his men must face. And Charlie Hunnam shines as Fawcett, pulling us into his world with his passion and charisma and even when disillusionment threatens these qualities, we remain invested in his struggle to the end.

#10. Mother!

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer

Mother! is undeniably polarizing and that’s understandable. Darren Aronofsky’s films aren’t meant for a mass audience and his use of surrealism can be frustrating at times, but it can also be deeply profound and Aronofsky is nothing if not ambitious. Mother! is perhaps his most challenging film but also one of his most mesmerizing. It starts out relatively calm as we see Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) living with Him (Javier Bardem) in a large country home in what seems like a tranquil existence, albeit with eerie undertones. Things get weird when unexpected guests arrive, played by Ed Harris and a deliciously chilly Michelle Pfeiffer. You think you’re in for a standard thriller until Aronofsky takes us down a wildly unexpected path. Never has a movie escalated so quickly and severely. Toward the end, it becomes a beautifully chaotic mixture of bizarre images and themes that blur the lines between reality and fantasy while grappling with topics from religion and death to the burdens of celebrity and motherhood. It’s a tumultuous journey, but if you suspend your disbelief and accept the mayhem, it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced.

#9. The Florida Project

Director: Sean Baker

Starring: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe

Rarely do movies focus their attention on the poor, uneducated and unfortunate souls we’re introduced to in The Florida Project. But writer/director Sean Baker has decided to observe the beauty and excitement in their lives. Brooklyn Prince, in one of the most impressive performances by any child actor, plays Moonee, who, along with her friends, makes the row of motels that line a street in Kissimmee, Florida her playground. It’s fascinating watching what these children get up to, from the innocent to the questionable to the downright illegal. But, Baker never judges; he merely observes the products of a sad reality. He highlights the joy in their lives while never ignoring their present struggles and the troubling future they probably have in store. Bria Vinaite gives an impeccably raw performance as Moonee’s mother, Halley, who drinks, does drugs, recruits Moonee to resell perfume to tourists and is no more mature than her six-year-old daughter. Willem Dafoe is the manager of the motel in which they reside who’s constantly solving everyone’s problems while unconsciously acting as a father figure at times without being unrealistically portrayed as a saint. Dafoe’s great here. But, it’s Moonee who shines at the end in one of the most emotional and heartbreaking scenes of 2017. Sadly, Moonee may not be destined for greatness, but Prince sure is.

#8. Dunkirk

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Fionn Whitehead, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh

Christopher Nolan is a master of creating spectacles that are as thought-provoking as they are thrilling and Dunkirk is no exception. With the help of Hans Zimmer’s relentless score and many turbulent scenarios, Nolan stresses the utter fear and desperation felt by hundreds of thousands of soldiers evacuating the beach at Dunkirk in 1940 while also highlighting the collective heroism displayed in the process. The film is split into three distinct yet interweaving story lines set on the beach, on the water and in the air, intercut expertly and involving a superb ensemble cast. Nolan’s wise omission of extraneous elements like generals strategizing in war rooms allows the movie to focus on the the event itself, making it a more urgent experience. Even with all the moving parts, we’re guided by Hoyte van Hoytema’s masterful camerawork; what could’ve been a disorienting jumble of images is, in fact, impeccably vivid and coherent, eschewing rapid-fire cuts. But, this is Nolan’s pride and joy and there’s no denying it’s a work of a man so unabashedly dedicated to his craft, one who’s created a breathtaking experience with such a sharp attention to detail that’s at once sweeping and intimate.

#7. The Post

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, every TV actor of the last 5 years

Calling The Post timely isn’t so much an opinion as it is a truism. The parallels between the deceptive presidencies of Nixon and Trump are so painfully obvious that the film couldn’t be timelier. Back in the Nixon era, the Vietnam War was the source of deception which led to the release of the Pentagon Papers detailing more than 20 years of admissions of the failing American war effort, contradicting previous information. The Post is the story of how some journalists decided to print this information, specifically Washington Post heiress and publisher Katherine Graham, Meryl Streep in an Oscar-worthy performance in which she masterfully and subtlety conveys the weight of responsibility on her shoulders regarding a decision with potentially disastrous consequences. Streep makes her anxiety increasingly palpable until it all comes to a head in a powerfully assertive speech. Tom Hanks is great as Post Editor-in-Chief, Ben Bradlee, who’s fairly aggressive about getting the big story and improving his reputation, though Hanks still lets us admire this gruff character for his fierce dedication to journalistic integrity. Also great are the countless TV actors from Bob Odenkirk to Sarah Paulson to, yes, David Cross. As usual, Spielberg does a workmanlike job on the film and adds that elegant, classic Hollywood sheen to the material. He avoids an abundance of exposition, keeps his focus on the human crisis of conscience and allows the proceedings to flow smoothly. This is a very important story about heroes who risked everything in the name of truth and freedom of the press.

#6. Lady Bird

Director: Greta Gerwig

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts

In her directorial debut film, Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig puts a fresh spin on the high school movie without relying on overly quirky characters, gimmickry or excess. Its breezy naturalism helps it transcend the genre with the stripped-down, straightforward and ordinary nature of the movie, paradoxically, making it so complex. A celebration of autonomy and liberation, Lady Bird follows the titular character (Saoirse Ronan) who feels trapped in a mundane life at an all-girls Catholic school in Sacramento with a mother (Laurie Metcalf) who’s mastered the art of passive aggression. But, Ronan turns Lady Bird’s normalcy into a thing of beauty and makes her an embodiment of perseverance in subtle ways. Metcalf is exceptional here too, often ruthless but always sympathetic as the overworked breadwinner of the family. But most of the praise should go to Gerwig, already a great actress and now directing with a gentle and pure touch, allowing the film to breath with little contrivance. She keeps her scenes brief and adds her unique observations and unorthodox comedic sensibilities to the dialogue which is authentic, witty and often shockingly hilarious. This is a smart and insightful film that’s all but devoid of flaws.

#5. Stronger

Director: David Gordon Green

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson

Once again, Jake Gyllenhaal has been snubbed by the Academy. In Stronger, he gives yet another magnificent performance playing Jeff Bauman, an underachieving Boston native who loses his legs during the Boston Marathon bombing while cheering on his ex-girlfriend, Erin (Tatiana Maslany), at the finish line. The movie recounts his rehabilitation as well as the accompanying emotional turmoil he and his family must endure. Movies like this have been done before but rarely with this much brutal honesty. Gyllenhaal is so convincing, making you feel his every ache and bruise; we’re heart broken just watching the poor man trying to enter his bathtub. He completely transforms in front of our eyes from an overeager and fun-loving young man to a bitter, often angry victim with impressive ease. Maslany is equally impressive, wrestling with a multitude of emotions from compassion to guilt to frustration to anger, often simultaneously, in this refreshing take on the ‘caring loved one’ role. In less competent hands, this would be a conventional TV movie full of cliches and sentiment. But David Gordon Green imbues his work with so much realism whether it’s the injury itself, the recovery process, the reactions from friends and family or Bauman’s mental state. It’s a truly inspirational film and meditation on heroism that actually respects its audience.

#4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Director: Martin McDonagh

Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell

Not only is Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri timely, but it has one of last year’s most original premises. Enraged by the lack of progress made by the police in identifying the person who raped and murdered her teenage daughter, Mildred Hayes, played by the force of nature that is Frances McDormand, takes action by renting three billboards near her home in Ebbing and posting messages calling out the police for their lack of competence and urgency, especially Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). Obviously, this starts a chaotic chain of events, crafted by writer/director Martin McDonagh, that deals with relevant social issues in a way that’s by turns tragic and shockingly hilarious. But, contrary to the marketing campaign, McDonagh’s film isn’t so black and white; he illustrates the complexity of the matter by exposing fault in all parties involved as well as the tragic consequences of their actions. McDormand shows us an utterly depleted woman with nothing but rage and a mission, making some of the most scathing remarks you’ll hear to anyone in her way, yet still able to sympathize when she sees her adversary in pain, like Willoughby who’s dying of cancer. Harrelson gives an incredibly poignant speech related to this that’s one of the films highlights. Sam Rockwell is also sensational as a racist scumbag of a cop who nonetheless embarks on a path of redemption. The ending is ambiguous. What happens is irrelevant. Whether you think Rockwell deserves redemption is also besides the point. What matters is that there’s a dialogue starting, progress being made and, indeed, something being done. In other words, there’s hope.

#3. The Disaster Artist

Director: James Franco

Starring: Dave Franco, James Franco, Seth Rogan

Apparently, James Franco might be a bad dude and shame on him if he is. But, I’m here to talk about movies and The Disaster Artist is a damn good one. Most of the credit should go to writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, anyway, for crafting an insightful, hilarious, yet oddly touching screenplay about the wildly misguided Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) who was responsible for The Room, one of the worst movies ever made. We’re oriented by Dave Franco playing The Room star, Greg Sestero, from when he meets the awful but ambitious performer, Wiseau, in an acting class in the late ‘90s through the early ‘00s which sees the pair become friends, move to LA to act, fail miserably and decide to make their own movie. Dave Franco charms as the wide-eyed optimist who’s accepting to a fault. James Franco, still maybe an ass, is great as Wiseau, capturing his voice and mannerisms perfectly, giving us a character who’s as delusional and jealous as he is free-spirited, also to a fault. Their relationship is charming in the beginning and no less intriguing when its threatened by one’s pride and the other’s loss of confidence. The story’s at its best when Wiseau is filming his dream project and we see his lack of talent and leadership grate on cast and crew, specifically Seth Rogen as Sandy Schklair, whose exasperation is priceless. But the film makers are wise to tease without deriding and actually give some credit to Wiseau for, when you think about it, the man accomplished more than most of us ever will, illustrated in a film about a film that moves effortlessly from start to finish.

#2. Wind River

Director: Taylor Sheridan

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen

If there’s any justice in this world, Taylor Sheridan soon will be swimming in awards and money for the man is responsible for the scripts of wonderful films like Sicario, Hell or High Water and now Wind River which he also directed. Few people are better at crafting profoundly entertaining commentaries on the dark and controversial pockets of America. With Wind River, he focuses on problems faced by those living on Indian reservations. The film seems like a recipe for a generic crime thriller starring Hawkeye and the Scarlett Witch until you remember Sheridan’s track record and the fact that Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen are actually great actors. After we’re shown a chilling prelude involving a teen girl running, and collapsing, in the snow in freezing temperatures without appropriate clothing, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Cory Lambert (Renner) finds the body and gets the narrative wheels in motion. Once rookie FBI agent Jane Banner (Olsen) arrives, they team up to solve the case that takes them to dark and twisted places. Sheridan let’s the film take its time to develop; it progresses clearly and logically, making it easy to follow along, unlike similar films. And unlike these films, you actually care as much about the people investigating the case as the case itself. Though used sparingly, Sheridan composes some of the most realistic and tense action sequences you’ll see. There’s one scene that’s almost unbearably intense but so utterly effective in making you feel the horror this community feels. It, like this film, gets under your skin and stays with you well after the credits roll.

#1. Call Me by Your Name

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg

If you consider just how many love stories have been written in the history of humanity, you might think it impossible to create another great one. But what director Luca Guadagnino does with a script from James Ivory is pure bliss. Not only will you fall in love with the characters, but you’ll also fall in love with the gorgeous, picturesque northern Italian countryside on display. It’s here, during a lazy summer of 1983, where an introverted, music-loving Italian-American teen, Elio (Timothee Chalamet), meets an older, classically handsome and outgoing graduate student named Oliver (Armie Hammer), forming a relationship that will change their lives forever. Elio’s father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an archaeology professor, invites Oliver to live with them for the summer to help with his research and although Elio initially is turned off by this ‘intruder’, gradually he forms an attraction. How the film makers deal with this attraction and eventual relationship is simply perfection. The way in which the two characters subtly feel each other out at the start feels so true to life and each subsequent step from attraction to bonding to seduction is equally realistic and even more entertaining.The film benefits from the actors’ fearless performances, especially that of newcomer Chalamet who’s a ball of pent up sexual energy. The movie ends with Stuhlbarg having an irresistibly touching discussion with his son, full of warmth and understanding, and a final heartbreaking scene, so simple in concept yet so emotionally complex. Chalamet takes your breath away here with an array of emotions parading across his face as Sufjan Stevens’ gorgeous ‘Mystery of Love’ plays in its entirety. It’s one of the the most entrancing endings to a movie you’ll see, capping off the best film of 2017.

#top 10 films #top 10 list #movie review #2017 films

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reactingtosomething · 7 years

Text

Reacting to Sweet/Vicious

Part I: Remember Fondly When 4th Meals Were a Thing and Breakfast at Night Reigned Supreme

The Setup: It started, as much does, with a tweet. That tweet was followed, as many are, by regret. Fortunately, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is a generous sort.

Robinson’s glorious but short-lived vigilante dramedy Sweet/Vicious was always on the list of candidates for an all-hands Reaction -- Miri started watching a day or two after Kris did, back in the fall, so Liz and Marchae added it to their (lengthy) to-watch lists -- but we didn’t put a timetable on it until our loyal reader @crazyhannibalthedaisiesslayer suggested it.

In this post (and its continuation, on Friday), we cover the first three episodes: “The Blueprint,” “The Writing’s on the Wall,” and “Sucker,” and many thoughts and feelings about campus sexual violence and related topics.

LIZ: First thing: I only had time to watch the first 3 episodes, although I wish I’d been able to see more!

Kris you here?

MIRI: Ok, that’s how many I rewetted!

MARCHAE: I watched 4

KRIS: GOSH DARN IT

MIRI: DAMMIT rewatched

hahahahahha insert gif here

So, Liz and Marchae, what did you think????

MARCHAE: It is oddly addicting

KRIS: Why oddly?

MARCHAE: I think because I used to work in student affairs and dealt with some of the scenarios so in that way it is weird to see a comedy/drama of this topic

LIZ: I am IN LOVE. I thought episode one was amazing and I am pretty much hooked. I am here for the message and the premise and i think every college campus needs these 2 ladies!

MARCHAE: however the characters are 100% engaging and you want them to win so hard...

I called my mom after episode one and was like should i feel bad for wanting to see the guys get beat up

LIZ: The way they show the victims of sexual assault and discuss their stories is just so real even though the show suspends our disbelief in other ways so much

MIRI: Marchae, I don’t think you should feel bad

How do you feel about how stylized it is? I love it, but I feel like it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea

LIZ: Rapists who are getting away with it 100% and ruining their victims lives? no I would not feel bad

KRIS: When I first saw trailers for it (while my old roommates watched MTV reality shows) I was like oh, man, I don’t know, this seems like it might be trashy and exploitative

MARCHAE: I do agree Lizzie... it’s weird because my brain wants this to be a straight drama

yet i am oddly satisfied with the moments of comedic relief

LIZ: I didn’t think the stylization was OVER THE TOP

MIRI: Yeah, it’s a hard show to sell but SO GOOD

LIZ: theres a lot of comedy

MIRI: I think it all works together beautifully

LIZ: agreed

I was pretty much in love

KRIS: I was almost upset at how good it was

MIRI: For me, the cold open of ep one says it all

KRIS: I had to text Miri immediately

LIZ: and then they were singing defying gravity in the car and i was like

KRIS: THERE’S A LEVERAGE WRITER

MIRI: You were definitely upset

KRIS: THE EMOTIONAL CLIMAX IS A WICKED SINGALONG

MIRI: THERE IS???

LIZ: yeah

MIRI: WHo?

KRIS: BRANDON MYCHAL SMITH FROM YOU’RE THE WORST

M Scott Veach

MIRI: Cool!

LIZ: oh end of sentence about defying gravity.. i felt like the show understood my soul

MIRI: Moment of appreciation for Brandon Mychal Smith playing SUCH a different type of comedy equally well

LIZ: ALSO.. it takes a certain type of weird ass show for all 4 of us to be VERY on board.. and I also like that about it

KRIS: He’s one of the only men who can say the word “bitch” and not make me a little uncomfortable

MIRI: True!

hahahahaha

LIZ: Is that Harris?

MIRI: Yes!

KRIS: Yeah

LIZ: I LOVE HIM

MIRI: Yay!

KRIS: One of the reasons I really wanted us to do 3 episodes was so you could see the start of his thing with Fiona

LIZ: What do you think about that?

MIRI: Is that the sorority girl?

KRIS: I like it!

Lemon as the one of us with the most first-hand sorority expertise what’s your general sense of the Zeta dynamic?

LIZ: I identify with the sorority characters who are actually smarter and much more .. defined as human beings than most would give them credit for or that they initially come off as

KRIS: (Harris gets crystallized so instantly with the line “I’m not saying I have sexual dreams about Ruth Bader Ginsberg... but I’m also not saying I don’t”)

LIZ: I mean.. I had several (male) friends and family members say to me when I joined my very small.. one of a kind local sorority.. “oh so you’re a sorostitute?”

MIRI: SUCH A LINE

LIZ: Yes i have a note about the RBG line

MIRI: UM that’s horrible and fuck them

LIZ: right, but that kind of mentality and characterization of college aged women who are friends with other women in the form of a sorority is so widespread

MIRI: The pilot honestly does SO much to characterize Jules, Ophelia, and Harris so quickly

KRIS: I do really like how they initially lean into the less generous expectations about sororities and then flesh out I think all of those characters in great ways

Mackenzie was a sleeper favorite for me

(the anxious redhead safety chair)

LIZ: this gives them facets.. like fuck what you thought about me and also.. I don’t have to not like to do my makeup or sometimes dress up for me to be a smart or valid female.

MIRI: I feel like Kennedy takes a little longer, but not in a bad way

Liz, you are amazing and I love you

LIZ: i don’t know many shows that give girls that kind of credit.. very legally blonde of this show..except Elle Woods was the exception there

MARCHAE: They have to save Kennedy (I say this not Having seen more than 4 epi)

KRIS: You will be pleased

MIRI: Definitely

LIZ: Visually, I am impressed with the shows set designs, makeup, and wardrobe

MARCHAE: I feel like they have to hold her close because of nick and Jules

LIZ: hold who close?

oh kennedy

MARCHAE: (Also back to thumbs on the phone)

KRIS: I LOVE the world-building, especially on what I assume is a pretty small budget

MIRI: I do love her moment when Ophelia tells her she has a very calming presence and she’s just like “I know"

LIZ: yeah i am also worried about her

KRIS: Lemon talk about makeup

MIRI: Yeah!

LIZ: ITS EXPENSIVE

KRIS: (please)

LIZ: what else?

oh as far as this show is concerned

MIRI: yes, world building

LIZ: Jules and Ophelia (yes to the names btw)

have such amazing looks and their hair is bouncy like they are comic book drawings, but their makeup isn’t like that (bc that would be fucking bizarre) and I love how the fresh rosy-cheeked and bright eyed look of Jules is enhanced with her makeup and Ophelia’s brows and eye makeup are dark and defined/ grungy at times, but she is also kind of sweet because they don’t cake her up or give her a heavy lip.. idk if that makes sense to anyone else

their eyes are so expressive as actresses

and then they’re important because of the ninja outfits

MIRI: That all makes sense to me and I would never have thought of it at all

KRIS: it is right on the edge of my comprehension

MIRI: Sidebar: SUPER excited for you to see more Orphan Black and discuss that makeup

LIZ: but I am pleased with the fine line between real world and cartoonish that the MUA on this show kind of stride beautifully to give them unique looks that foil one another and bring out their strengths and sometimes their faults

KRIS: Ophelia I think I understand best in this context

MARCHAE: YESS LIZ!!!

I do want to ask a question

LIZ: It is more subtle with Jules, because she is made to look more fresh, but I mean everyone on any show has lots of makeup on

ok done w makeup ranting/ observing

MIRI: What’s up, Marchae?

MARCHAE: *sorry liz...go on***

LIZ: oh no thats pretty much it

are you getting things in real time marchae? (with your computer)

MARCHAE: I wanted to chime in about wardrobe because it’s super similar to the way in which makeup is handled... and you definitely know who these people are and the kind of persons that this show is trying to share

MIRI: Ooh, please do!

LIZ: oh yes, the wardrobe feels almost theater like to me.. do you agree or am i wrong

MARCHAE: ( It was touch and go for a moment but me and my thumbs are finally #winning on the computer... I couldn’t take the tiny keyboard anymore)

LIZ: bless you for trying

MIRI: I never really notice Ophelia’s wardrobe that much, but the props they have for her are iconic and say so much

MARCHAE: I think it does... the show feels VERY comicbook-esq like I mentioned it reminds me very much in aesthetics to deadly class and there is another comic that focuses on a high school that I’m blanking on

LIZ: was this ever a graphic novel or comic book?

MARCHAE: but you get a lot in terms of wardrobe via colors that they use for these characters... Ophelia is almost always in darks, Jules in pinks and pastels

I quick checked and didn’t see it

KRIS: it was original to Jenn Kaytin Robinson

I mean she did a shit ton of research, and the producers watched The Hunting Ground and stuff

LIZ: nice..and yes I agree with the colors

MARCHAE: But these choices are interesting because they are almost opposite to the characters we meet in the show

LIZ: and the fact that Jules keeps her identity even as a vigilante with her pink backpack

MARCHAE: so Jules we meet as the original vigilante and she’s the one in the brightest colors ALWAYS in the show

LIZ: and then Ophelia has that car!

MARCHAE: that backpack is definitely our hint

MIRI: Because she’s trying SO hard to still be that girl

KRIS: Oh that’s so interesting. Jules is super dark and “damaged” and Ophelia’s ultimately a sweetheart.

MARCHAE: and Ophelia is always in darks

LIZ: right!?

MARCHAE: **taps nose at kris**

MIRI: I like that even when they put Jules in the Spitters are Quitters shirt, it’s light colored

MARCHAE: so its totally the opposite of what we see

in terms of how they are portrayed in their “normal life”

any who enough of my rant

LIZ: I find Ophelia to be much more innocent.. not because of being sexually assaulted, but because she is kind of playing catch up and barfs when she kills a guy and Jules obviously took this mission upon herself to become a kick ass fighter and to start doing something

MARCHAE: liz i absolutely agree

ophelia definitely the more innocent seeming of the two

KRIS: Ophelia’s so fucking great

MIRI: Yeah, Ophelia thinks of herself as So Hardcore but is basically a sweet 19 yr old with some abandonment issues

I love her

MARCHAE: and she tells you as much in her dialogue

LIZ: I love her!

MARCHAE: some is an understatement miri

KRIS: I loved the vomiting and I don’t even know why

MARCHAE: she has ALL the abandonment issues

LIZ: i loved that it was pink

MIRI: Because it’s pink!

KRIS: I guess the unexplained pink?

MARCHAE: the vomiting is AMAZINNNGNGGGGGGGGG

LIZ: yes

MIRI: It’s absurd and so totally the show

LIZ: hahahha

KRIS: wow we are ALL on a wavelength tonight

MIRI: But it is!

LIZ: like.. I don’t need to see chunky soup barf

i get it

MIRI: The show is 100% going to show you the puking

MARCHAE: i usually don’t want to see it at all period ever

but it works for the show

MIRI: But it’s also going to make it funny and stylized

MARCHAE: and that character as kind of a she seems hard core but is not!

OH OH

KRIS: LeBong James

MIRI: YES

MARCHAE: so my question and this was a thing that kind of made me curious

LEBONGGGGG

MIRI: She’s a nerd ❤️

LIZ: There is a lot of suspension of disbelief in this show.. not bc girls can’t fight injustices, but because of how they should’ve gotten caught and how Ophelias mad hacker skills save the day alot

LEBONNNGGGGGGG

MIRI: I feel weird being the only one who hasn’t said LeBong

MARCHAE: (THEY MURDERED SOMEONE CLUMSILY AND CHICA BARFED ALL OVER THE SCENE!!!!DNA MUCH)

there it goes

LIZ: Also the male assailants aren’t even cookie cutter like on other shows or movies

MIRI: I KNOW BUT JUST GO WITH IT

KRIS: Without spoiling anything I’ll say they’re generally really good about chickens coming home to roost

Maybe not DNA specifically? But the show is serious about Consequences

MARCHAE: so question... what institution do they go to where there is an assult like every freaking second

LIZ: they are all different and some are even charming (most are) and they have different personalities and hobbies.. like Nate is acting like a really good boyfriend to Kennedy so if we didn’t know what he’s capable of, we’d forgive his jerk reaction to her missing his football thing bc of his super sweet apology

MIRI: Well, it’s Darlington University, right?

KRIS: Well A) that doesn’t actually strike me as unrealistic but B) I got the sense of a “backlog” of assaults -- they’re using that wall, which was started who knows how long ago

MIRI: So it’s at least big enough to have masters programs

KRIS: not responding to like the student weekly or something

MIRI: True

LIZ: i mean i know so many people in so many schools (large, small, medium and very small) who all have sexual assault stories

MARCHAE: thanks for the wall reminder

LIZ: i didn’t find the number to be at all shocking

KRIS: yeah

MARCHAE: I think maybe again its the dissonance of this being a drama/comedy that has me a bit jarred

LIZ: maybe the number of guys that were turned in or reported seems high, but SO FUCKING MANY are floating around in my mind right now

MARCHAE: i dealt with lots (more than i have ever wanted to) but not weekly by any stretch

that definitely doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening

MIRI: Well, just because the show aired every week doesn’t mean it’s only a week in universe

LIZ: right

thats true

MARCHAE: thanks gang

MIRI: And Kris is right--they definitely go into past exploits some

KRIS: That wall, man

MIRI: It is BRUTAL and so effective

MARCHAE: yeah the reminder of the wall definitely does it.... i literally was like

DAMN this is INSANE and darlington should be shut the hell down

KRIS: I texted Miri something like “I never do this but there’s a pure drama beat that made me 😭😭😭😭”

LIZ: I wish every college had a wall

KRIS: and it was definitely Ophelia handing Jules the Sharpie

MIRI: He did and I treasure that text

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

LIZ: oh something that I meant to google.. could be such a coincidence

MARCHAE: UGHHHH

LIZ: at my college, in the same kind of font.. the party dorm/ suites were called “Reimert Hall” and they are like “see you at Leimert” spelled the same and then they show “Leimert Hall” and it is creepily spot on

KRIS: Huh

MIRI: Whoa

LIZ: not related to the wall

separate

MARCHAE: we did have a question from one of our readers and I promised I would bring it up to react to

LIZ: lol.. it is student housing but.. idk weird to me but maybe not to anyone else

MIRI: Yes, I want to talk about that!!!

LIZ: go for it! I don’t know the question

MARCHAE: about student housing or the question from our loyal reader

i get confused sometimes

KRIS: our loyal reader

LIZ: I’m assuming she means from the reader

MIRI: The question

yes

MARCHAE: BWHA

sorry

LIZ: mine was just a point thrown out and doesn’t really leave much to comment on haha

MIRI: Share the question with us, Marchae

MARCHAE: OH MY GRIEF I am typing then stop to read...

LIZ: I know.. Kris and Miri are too fast for me

MARCHAE: ok so the reader wants to know if we read Ophelia as bi

MIRI: Sorry!

KRIS: NO STOPPING the overlapping is half of our charm

MIRI: Omg Kris

LIZ: There was one thing that made me think that

MARCHAE: GO!

MIRI: Ok, I am deeply bi-ased (hahahahahah) so I want yawl to discuss it first

LIZ: hahaha

MARCHAE: STAP!

MIRI: 😉

MARCHAE: go lizzie

@miri you are my everything LOL

LIZ: Harris said something about her being with Jule (I’m having a brain fart and can’t remember if it is jules or rule..)

MARCHAE: her being with rules?

LIZ: and I think Ophelia was like “not like that” kind of blushing

jULE*

damnit

KRIS: For all of my striving toward wokeness I am generally still slow to pick up on, I guess, Sapphic vibes -- although being a social media-engaged Supergirl fan is training me better -- but I did also note that on my rewatch

LIZ: but it was a micro second kind of moment that made me think.. oh she dates girls too.. cool

so what do you think Kris

KRIS: This is pretty convincing to me:

http://wistfulwatcher.tumblr.com/post/154191025349/harris-has-most-definitely-seen-ofeefs-kissing-a

MIRI: Kris I offer my services if you ever need a consultant on this quest

LIZ: OHHH and PERSON yes thats smart

MARCHAE: AHHHHHHHHHHH

I didn’t even pick up on it!

MIRI: Ahhhhhhhh shit I didn’t even notice the person thing

MARCHAE: SWEET

i also think there is a lot of tension with Ophelia

MIRI: Ok, Reacting to Something officially rules Ophelia to be bi

Or pan, who knows

LIZ: I kind of also thought that was just a more interesting way of putting it.. like IS THERE A LIVE HUMAN JUST RIGHT THERE IN YOUR HOUSE?

MARCHAE: the writing and ACTING are smart like that

KRIS: And on my search for gifs to add to the post later, the scene in the cemetery -- “I think you’re amazing” -- seemed to be another touchstone

MARCHAE: yes!

MIRI: So when we got this question I was like “huh, are people seeing that?

Outside of shipping her and Jules?”

MARCHAE: but we also know that Ophelia doesn’t have friends

MIRI: But upon rewatch it’s pretty solidly set up

MARCHAE: so before the question i suspected that she was just kind of enjoying her new friendship with this person

LIZ: wait whats solidly set up

MARCHAE: she’s wanted that

LIZ: her being bi?

KRIS: yes

LIZ: just confirming

MARCHAE: then after the question we received not only did I pay more attention, but I think again there is definitely some tension

MIRI: I’m honestly so jaded from shows that like to dip their toe in the idea of something happening but will never go for it that I tend to only accept stated queerness

MARCHAE: and she might have a crush on jules!

MIRI: But it does feel very genuine and deliberate here

Which is lovely!

MARCHAE: agreed miri

LIZ: good!

K: consider it canon

KRIS: I think it was a writers room with only one straight man

LIZ: Im HERE FOR THAT

MARCHAE: That’s kind of awesome!

KRIS: (the past tense here kills me)

MIRI: I love it

UGhhhhhhhh I know

LIZ: wait

is it done?

forever

KRIS: I don’t think I’ve ever been so upset about a cancellation

LIZ: LAWD

MARCHAE: yup

LIZ: I CANT

KRIS: They’re shopping it to streaming sites

MIRI: Guys, sorry we’re making you fall in love with a cancelled show

LIZ: THIS FUCKING WEEK

MARCHAE: yeah i found out today

yeah

MIRI: OMG did we not tell you???

LIZ: *BREAK FOR EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN*

MARCHAE: i was PISSED OFF

LIZ: NO

I DIDNT KNOW

MIRI: I’M SO SORRY!!!!!!!

MARCHAE: and like this is why I DON”T WATCH TV

LIZ: This is the devils week. why not this too!?

anyways

MARCHAE: LOLOL

LIZ: also.. good girls revolt was amazing (to me)

MIRI: I loved it!

MARCHAE: also can i just have my moment for the fact that this show also digs into the issue of racism

LIZ: why can’t bad bitches get a win? why

yes

MARCHAE: and handles it kind of nicely

KRIS: That scene was surprisingly upsetting

LIZ: super upsetting

KRIS: I love that it’s the cop we saw be nice to Jules

MIRI: Yes! Let’s talk about that froyo scene

It’s so well done

MARCHAE: reminded me of trayvon martin

MIRI: And the other cop recognizing that it’s wrong, but not stepping up enough to actually stop it

MARCHAE: i also love that is it harris?

LIZ: like he was being racially profiled.. but he also had the one good thing he was looking forward to smashed on the ground

MARCHAE: yup

LIZ: yeah just kind of being like “sorry, but this is kind of what we do, i won’t stop it”

MARCHAE: it is heartbreaking and realistic

KRIS: That younger cop also comes back

MIRI: I’m glad that they played it very seriously

LIZ: ooo

MARCHAE: I was glad that he didn’t want to be seen as only one kind of black when he fought back with the paper editor as well

KRIS: This show has a really deep bench of minor-ish supporting characters

MARCHAE: they better had!

KRIS: MM I think that’s episode 4

On a lighter note I also really appreciate the importance of froyo to the world-building of this college town

LIZ: yes I’m not familiar

MARCHAE: YES

MIRI: Froyo continues to matter

As does pizza

MARCHAE: and dairy queen soft serve

LIZ: In college, we would plan a whole trek to froyo (we got one a few min away my senior year)

MARCHAE: GURL

MIRI: We once drove to Waffle House at 4 am in the snow

In South Carolina

KRIS: From earlier than I remembered, too -- Ophelia running away from Barton and running into a guy carrying a cup -- “Tart?!”

MIRI: where they can’t handle snow

KRIS: YES the pizza place

MIRI: Huh? What is the cup thing?

KRIS: of froyo

LIZ: Food culture in college .. is something very important and lets think abouthtat

MIRI: OHHHH

KRIS: Ophelia has no patience for Basic things, clearly

MIRI: Also that running away scene is great

LIZ: and by think of that .. I mean.. remember fondly when 4th meals were a thing and breakfast at night reigned supreme.

MIRI: Ophelia has a lot of opinions and I have a lot of feelings about her

KRIS: (I love Jules’s “I like sunsets on Instagram”)

LIZ: ophelia is hilarious.. i love her comment “she’s literate”

KRIS: Ophelia’s ramen diet

MARCHAE: LOL

LIZ: and also that girl [Fiona] trying to be sexy and saying “there are no drapes” so seriously

MIRI: Yeah I definitely want to see that girl eat a vegetable

LIZ: and giving up and being like “IM SHAVED” ahaha

KRIS: Lemon I laughed so loud at “She’s literate?” on my rewatch

MIRI: I love that girl!

MARCHAE: there are a ton of one liners

LIZ: yeah the popcorn for breakfast made even me feel like OH HONEY NO NUTRIENTS

KRIS: So real

MARCHAE: that’s usually my breakfast on sundays after i mop

LIZ: miri what are your many opinions about ophelia

MARCHAE: and i’m old

MIRI: WAIT

LIZ: my dogs eat better than I do so I get it

MIRI: Marchae eat real meals please I worry

LIZ: and you mop before you eat

MARCHAE: yes almost every sunday

MIRI: Ok back to my many opinions: as stated I LOVE HER

LIZ: i had a banana, fake chicken, vegan pasta and granola today.. that is kind of healthy

MIRI: I also really love her need to belong

MARCHAE: i eat popcorn, drink a pepsi and catch up on my shows

LIZ: her need to belong to who or what

KRIS: just in general

LIZ: I guess I am really new

MARCHAE: YES

KRIS: to have friends, to have a cause

MIRI: She’s obsessed with the idea that she’s this cool fuckup who doesn’t need people, but she needs people so MUCH

LIZ: I get that

MARCHAE: its evident from episode one almost immediately

LIZ: we all do! even when we aren’t good at.. people!

MIRI: She jumps head first into this insane vigilante thing

LIZ: MARCHAE

MIRI: and kicks it into a higher gear

LIZ: STOP DRINKING SODA

MARCHAE: i think it makes her so relatable too and you fall in love with her

LIZ: IT WILL KILL YOU

MARCHAE: (mostly only on SUNDAY AFTER MOPPING but WITH POPCORN)

LIZ: I know, she is the perfect.. not robin.. robin

MIRI: She hurts Harris so easily but would be devastated if she actually lost him

LIZ: yeah i love her apology scene to him

MARCHAE: but he loves her no matter what

MIRI: She thinks she’s beyond needing that sort of connection because she can’t have it with her mom

LIZ: just a girl standing in front of a boy.. asking for her job back

KRIS: Yes her bad-friend-ness is great

MARCHAE: *snap snap snaps fingrs*

MIRI: But she’s wrong

KRIS: Dammit Ophelia you know I can’t resist Notting Hill

MIRI: and she needs people so badly

Also she’s just hilarious and brilliant and I love her and Harris’s friendship so much

LIZ: her mom was so rude to her on the phone it made me sad especially because Jules doesn’t have a mom.. and I know those were really briefly introduced to me, but I’m sure those are important issues

MIRI: OH YOU JUST WAIT

On the subject of friendship, there are a ton of examples of girls being very affirmational to each other that really interest me

LIZ: I also love that Harris is.. presumably straight and is not afraid to love RBG or Notting Hill

KRIS: I’m so jealous you’re experiencing this show for the first time

MIRI: Because sometimes they’re played for laughs

But not most of the time

and I love that

MARCHAE: YES!

MIRI: Like, the high girls just need to hug!

LIZ: I wanted to be in the back seat of their car screaming along to Defying Gravity

MIRI: And sometimes Kennedy is a bit ridiculous with her goddess stuff

MARCHAE: i love your love for defying gravity liz

MIRI: But for the most part it is 100% genuine

MARCHAE: Kennedy is the most

MIRI: And so what I do with my friends

LIZ: yeah kennedy suggesting that shit to ophelia was HILARIOUS

basically like “HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO GOOP.COM?”

MIRI: kennedy is indeed the most

MARCHAE: I am so CURIOUS about what happens when Jules tells her

KRIS: That shot where I assume Fiona and Gabby are on a dolly when they enter Vinylton high on shrooms is perfect

MIRI: So I love that there’s drunk girl in the bathroom type compliments and Woke Freshman type compliments AND really genuine support for each other

KRIS: sorry I was just slow there

LIZ: i think that kennedy will eventually (i mean who knows since it is cancelled) be an ally and join the cause or at least be supportive in a protective way

MIRI: OH JUST WAIT

MARCHAE: if she does I may ink myself!!!

KRIS: I repeat, I am so jealous you’re experiencing this show for the first time

MIRI: It’s a very well plotted season and that is all I will say

MARCHAE: *hugs kris*

UGHHHH i’ll probably finish it this weekend

LIZ: hahaha kris I’m feeling like that repetition is to keep yourself from spoiling

KRIS: There is Jules-Kennedy closure, for sure

Yeah, so, we went really long, even for us. Find the rest of our Reaction here.

EDITED 20 April 2019: You can and should buy Sweet/Vicious on Amazon, Google Play, or iTunes. If you’re here because you just watched Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s Someone Great, maybe now’s a good time to renew calls for Netflix to add S/V to its library.

#sweet/vicious #juphelia #jules thomas #ophelia mayer #save sweet vicious #miri #liz #marchae #kris #tv #pilot #superheroes #miri is a mom friend #and liz is a daughter of physicians #hence the concern over marchae's diet #they're not wrong #robin's a bitch #feminism #reaction

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tmbacorbett · 6 years

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Promo Blitz & Giveaway: The Rockstar Series by Anne Mercier

Contemporary Romance

Part One – Books One thru Four

As with all the Rockstar books, this book contains mature content and may be deemed inappropriate for persons under 17 years of age.

Falling Down - (Rockstar #1)

I was twelve when I started crushing on him.

I was seventeen when I met him by chance and our connection was made.

Now here I am, twenty-three, and I'm one of the two actresses in the video for his band's latest single.

Jesse Kingston is a tall, dark, and gorgeous temptation I'm finding hard to resist. It ends up not being as simple as doing a job and going home. It can't be when he continually makes his presence known with his not-so-innocent touches and sexy words. There is no avoiding him and after spending so much time with him, I'm not sure I want to.

So, when he proposes a weekend together, knowing I should say no, I throw caution to the wind and instead I say yes. I'm going to ignore the warning signs and do what I normally wouldn't—I'm going to give in to my desire. I'm going to indulge my fantasies and give this sexy rocker what he wants and something he won't forget—me.

The only question is: Is one weekend going to be enough? Will our time end up changing this bad boy? Or will it end up changing me?

I recommend listening to the playlist whenever possible to get the full effect of the story (Listed at the back of the book).

DISCLAIMER!

If you're unable to suspend disbelief and escape to the Rockstar Land of Fiction, then this book probably isn't for you. This is NOT a dark romance. There will be MINIMAL angst or drama. There will be lots of laughs, frequent dropping of the F-bomb, and crazy monkey sex.

Amazon

Blush (Rockstar #2)

You know how people say they woke up in Vegas married and you're like, how the hell could that possibly happen? Who does that? Well, us apparently… and the press is having a field day.

Let's not even get started on the topic of my mother. Then there's my grandpa wanting to meet my new husband-- that's not scary at all. On top of that, we're heading out on tour and I'm a nervous wreck--factor in the fact that Jesse's newly changed marital status doesn't seem to be an issue for the groupies. Nothing deters them. Not even the fact that I'm standing right there when they proposition him.

I can handle the press, my mom, and even my grandpa. But the women who are ruining my current mood of "happy", well, they've got another thing coming. It's time to put these women in their place because nobody messes with my happily ever after.

Amazon

A Very Xander Christmas (Rockstar #3)

The first Rockstar Christmas. A short story—told Xander Style.

Amazon

Amplify: (Rockstar #4)

DISCLAIMER: This story contains grief, loss, sadness, darkness, light, happiness, angst, swearing, explicit sex, graphic violence, new beginnings, and soulmates. You may need tissues.

Sera

He’s my protector, my confidante. Then one night he became more. I want him, I need him, and, if I’m honest with myself, I love him. I just don’t know if he’ll ever see me as more than what we’ve always been: friends. I don’t want to lose him but it’s getting harder and harder to keep my feelings to myself. Should I risk it all or play it safe?

Cage

She’s my light, my saving grace. The night we came together I knew I could never live without her. I want her to be mine: my lover, my friend. Maybe, if I can get her to see past all the reasons why we shouldn’t be together, she’ll be my forever. It just might be time to turn it up and go for broke.

Amazon

About the Author

Anne Mercier is the author of the bestselling Rockstar, Forbidden Fantasies and The Way series. She was born and raised in Wisconsin and still lives there today.

She's an avid reader who gets inspired by reading the stories from her favorite authors as well as listening to various types of music. She is a huge fan of music, chocolate, fruit, desserts, autumn, M. Shadows, Avenged Sevenfold, and Milo Ventimiglia. Through her books, she is proudly creating new Avenged Sevenfold and Milo Ventimiglia fans one reader at a time.

Contact Links

Website

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube Video

Facebook Group

Instagram

Promo Link

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

Kobo

iTunes

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

source https://www.tmbacorbett.com/2018/08/promo-blitz-giveaway-rockstar-series-by.html

#booklove books read tmbacorbett

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barbosaasouza · 6 years

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Baobab's 'Jack' Merges Theater And Virtual Reality With Empathy

Baobab’s latest project, Jack, was one of the most talked about experiences at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. “Every morning it’s been 60-plus people on the waitlist to try it out,” a PR coordinator told me as I waited for the crew to be ready inside this oddly dilapidated man-made shack in the middle of Spring Studios in New York. “It’s so worth the wait, though. I’ve seen people be genuinely afraid or just start to cry. It’s very emotional.”

The VR experience is based on the classic story Jack and the Beanstalk, but the premise was the only thing that Jack had in common with the fairy tale. The setup was strange. I surrendered my bag and my jacket to the wooden post outside the room I was supposed to walk into and slipped into a backpack with the VR rig inside. I had no idea what was waiting inside for me. All I knew was that this was the Must See experience at the festival. Given Baobab’s exceptional track record with VR — two Emmy awards for INVASION and more recently, Asteroids — there was a good chance that it was going to be interesting, if nothing else.

I kept waiting for someone to hand me a couple of controllers. Instead, I was ushered into the room without any means of interacting with a digital space. At first, I did my best to take in my cartoonish surroundings, not paying much attention to where I was walking. I hit my head on a light-bulb hanging on a string, which may as well have been akin to a figurative light-bulb switching on inside of my cranium.

“Oh, this is all real,” I murmured to no one at all.

And it was. Well, about as real as mixed reality gets, anyway.

I walked over to the far end of the room where a hot plate burner was running and a kettle was sitting idle. I picked it up and placed it on the burner, where there was quite clearly some kind of heat source concentrated in that area. I walked back across the room, bumped my head on the same damn light-bulb (because it still hadn’t sunk in that my virtual world and the real world existed in the same capacities), only to be startled by a voice and a physical presence in the room with me. I suppressed a yelp.

In virtual space, she was a frog and clearly my character’s mother. I was speechless at first, unsure of how to interact with this Frog Mother. Would she respond to my input? Was this partially scripted or fully improvised? She asked me a question. I settled for silence. But she handed me a broom that I wasn’t sure what to do with, as if it were the first time I’d ever seen a broom or used one. But in this bizarre mashup of virtual meets reality, I was apprehensive. I took the broom, like a good Frog Child, and swept the virtual (and actual) shack.

“Oh Jack,” she said, beckoning for me to sit and listen to her.

Oh right that’s me, I thought and hastened to sit on a three-legged stool near a radio.

She proceeded to tell me all about her most treasured possession — the radio right next to where I was sitting — and how I needed to barter with the trader coming to visit our shack. Frog Mother had to go fishing so we would have something to eat. It was my responsibility to make sure I got the best deal I could for the radio.

“Of course, mom,” I said, letting myself melt into the roleplay. This was old hat for me, anyway, what with years of theater and the reams of pen and paper RPGs to draw on. I’ll play the Frog Child named Jack. “I’ll try my best.”

Frog Mother didn’t like that response. She admonished me and told me that she won’t always be around to take care of me and that it was time for me to grow up. This made me frown. No one has ever told me that I need to grow up, not even my meatspace parents. But I nodded, took the radio in my hands, and waved goodbye.

Good riddance to mean Frog Mom. I wandered around the room a bit more and approached the kettle, which whistled faintly as I approached. I took it off the burner and turned to the balcony outside the one-room shack. I didn’t dare get too close, as I wasn’t certain where the physical boundaries of the room started and ended. I was still too apprehensive to really test the limits of the technology, in case I broke something by accident. (Yes, I’m a terrible klutz.)

It would be entirely on brand for me to trip, fall, hurt myself, and potentially break something in a mixed reality experience.

I attempted to skillfully barter with the jocular trader as she docked her airship at my balcony, but was distressed when all I was offered was this strange magic bean. I mean, I told her that my mom would be so upset if her prized possession only netted a bean… but the trader was adamant that it was the bean or a rusty fork.

So, I took the bean.

Frog Mom was very unhappy with me. It hurt a little to have done my best with trading and have it not be good enough. I protested vociferously, reminding her that it was either the rusty fork or the bean. “And mom,” I found myself whining, “it’s magic. Come on, let’s see what it does.” She threw it out the window and I pouted. At almost 32, I pouted like an eight-year-old and sat back down on the three-legged stool, feeling hurt and a little huffy.

Until the special effects wind and rain started, that is.

The virtual room began to rumble and fall away, wind howled around my head and whipped at the objects in the room. It was hard to suspend disbelief when I knew that the room around me was actually okay (and firmly in reality), but experiencing those mixed reality effects made me grin. I lost sight of being Jack and was myself again, standing in the middle of the room, bumping my head on a light-bulb for a third time that day, and marvelling at the technology (and showmanship) required to put on such an engaging show.

I had the opportunity to catch up with Jack’s director, Mathias Chelebourg, and one of Jack’s producers with Baobab, Kane Lee, over the phone after the Tribeca Film Festival wrapped up. Chelebourg’s enthusiasm was palpable, even over the phone, especially as we talked about why he chose “Jack And The Beanstalk” as a vehicle to tell this particular story. It’s a story that’s hundreds of years old, rife with conflict and wonder. And while he could have used any fairy tale to bring his vision to life, he liked Jack.

Chelebourg acknowledged that it was a difficult task, bringing theater and virtual reality together. The project team worked on an accelerated deadline so that they could bring Jack to the Tribeca Film Festival, collaborating with Baobab from Paris starting in September 2017. Chelebourg considers Tribeca Film Festival to be the most innovative film festival in the world, which is part of why Baobab wanted to make sure that Jack planted itself in the VR arcade.

Lee pointed out that it was difficult to live up to the Baobab ethos of bringing the best virtual reality experiences to everyone in the world when the installation could only accommodate one person at a time. But he reminded me that the reason why they wanted to work with Chelebourg in the first place was his creative vision, so they’re not sure about licensing Jack out to theaters or theatrical production companies. They’re in the process of exploring distribution options for Jack, but nothing’s concrete at the moment. Instead, they’re focused on ensuring that Jack will continue to be the singular experience that it was at Tribeca Film Festival.

Part of the plan involves tapping Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o to play the Giantess in an upcoming episode for Jack. Both Lee and Chelebourg were almost gleeful with the promise of collaborating with such an acclaimed actress. And while there’s no confirmation as to whether or not Nyong’o will be available to physically participate in future performances at festivals, she’ll be lending more than her voice to the production itself.

Jack is a fully immersive experience, straddling the virtual and physical worlds in a way that I’ve never seen before. Chelebourg’s gift for visual storytelling and emergent narrative is stunning. Baobab’s eye for talent is equally astounding and the indie studio may very well see another Emmy under its belt by this time next year. More than anything, I’m truly excited to see what Part Two of Jack will look like.

This article is a preview of Greenlit Content's upcoming industry site, launching soon.

Baobab's 'Jack' Merges Theater And Virtual Reality With Empathy published first on https://superworldrom.tumblr.com/

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