#fire island film review | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

brigidandair · 2 months

Text

So, I saw Damsel today...

**Spoilers and complete plot for the movie Damsel will be all over this post, so don't read if you care about spoilers. Also, this is based on one watch only, so if some timeline details are very slightly wrong, that is why, though the important parts I'll be discussing are not contingent on these details.**

I'm not usually one to closely review a movie, but this one left me with a lot of thoughts that kind of sum up a lot of my feelings about big budget movies in the past decade, so here I go.

First off, I did like Damsel. I enjoyed watching it. It was gorgeous to look at, and Millie Bobby Brown did a fantastic job with the role and script she was given. However, I was left feeling like there was something very important about the whole experience missing, and it took me a few moments to really put my finger on it afterwards. The plot was fine, if a bit predictable, and I did appreciate the focus on Elodie as a protagonist. I loved that the dragon was given a plausable reason to want to devour/kill princesses, and that the dragon wasn't slain at the end, even though the opportunity was presented. And oh my goodness, the costuming department did a phenomenal job.

What I want to do here is give a rundown of the plot, and to then give my thoughts, so if you've seen the movie and don't care for a rehash you can skip to the next set of dashes.

--------

So, basic plot: The film opens on a scene of a king and his entourage of knights are entering a sinister cave, where there dwells a fearsome dragon. The king declares that they will defeat the dragon, and his knights charge, but are immediately melted by the dragon's fire, leaving only the king. The king drives his sword into the ground, and falls to his knees, and the scene cuts away before we see what happens next.

Centuries later, Princess Elodie and her little sister Floria live in a kingdom that is beset with hardship. They are low on money and food, and their people are facing a hard winter. So when the king is contacted by the royal family of the kingdom of Aurea--a kingdom they had never heard of, but that seems to be very wealthy--with the proposal that Elodie marry the Aurean prince, the family immediately travels to Aurea to finalize agreements. Amongst the traveling party are Elodie, Floria, their queen stepmother, and the king.

Upon arrival in Aurea, Elodie is introduced to prince Henry, while the kings meet alone. However, when the king emerges from the negotiation chamber, his wife immediately notices that he seems upset and deeply disturbed, though he assures her that everything is in good order, the deal has been made, and their kingdom will soon have more gold than he ever dreamed of as compensation for their daughter's marriage to the prince.

The stepmother queen, sensing something is wrong, goes to Elodie and tells her not to marry the prince, but she has resigned herself to helping her people, even if it means marriage to a man she does not know. That night, she steps out ont her balcony and sees another tower, with another young woman doing the same, before the young woman's maid calls her back inside.

The next day, Elodie is married to prince Henry, and is told of a ritual that is performed after weddings up on a nearby mountain, that honors the trials of their ancestors. They travel up to the mountain, where Elodie is told of the story we witnessed at the opening of the film. When the ancestors of the Aurean people arrived on their island, it was inhabited already by a dragon, who set upon them, raining destruction for the insult of invading its land. Though the king was unable to slay the beast, he was able to broker an agreement. His people would be left alone if he were willing to sacrifice his three daughters to the dragon. So now, whenever a new royal heir is married, they make the trip up to the dragon's mountain, over the chasm that leads to its lair, to commemorate the sacrifice of that original king.

The queen motions to Henry, who then slices his palm, and once Elodie has done the same, they mingle their blood, symbolizing that their people have now become of one blood and line. The prince tells Elodie that, at this point, he is to carry her back across the chasm, and that she should close her eyes. But halfway across, he whispers that he is sorry, and then he throws her over the edge, down into the depths of the dragon's caves.

Elodie survives relatively unharmed, her fall having been broken by many roots and branches along the drop, but there seems to be no way out. Very shortly thereafter, she has her first encounter with the dragon itself, who epresses delight at the thought of getting to kill her, and Elodie is forced to run from the dragon's fire. She hits a dead end, and there she finds the body of the young woman she had seen the night before, half burned, and realizes that they were always ment to be sacrifices to the dragon. The dragon continues to taunt her, breathing more fire down the passage where she is trapped, but she notices a narrow hole in the cave wall that she manages to wedge herself through it, barely escaping and sustaining a severe burn on one leg. She rips part of her dress off, wrapping it around her wound, and continues.

From here, we get a lengthy series of scenes of Elodie navigating her way through the trecherous cave system, hounded at every turn by the dragon. She finds an area inhabited by bioluminescent slugs, which she gathers in another part of the dress that she tears off, to use as a lanter, and finally reaches a small cave where a princess before her has written on the wall that this place is safe, and that the dragon cannot reach there. Written on the walls are the names of dozens of other princesses that, over the centuries, have reached this cave before inevitably being caught and killed by the dragon. Next to the names is a rough map of the cave system, showing Elodie a passage marked with a sun, which she assumes is the way out. She takes time to rest here, falling asleep, but when she wakes up she finds her burned leg covered in the bioluminescent slugs. She tears them away in disgust, but notices that anywhere a slug has been, her wound has been healed. Her determination renewed, she continues.

Elodie follows the directions of the map, making her way to the presumed exit, but finds that there is no way down the sheer rock face. As some riders go by she screames to them for help, but the dragon appears and nearly kills her, forcing her to retreat back into the caves. In short order, she ends up in the cave we saw in the opening sequence, and Elodie finds a three broken dragon eggs, with the desicated corpses of the baby dragons that once inhabited them still in the debris. The scene cuts back to that opening sequence, showing us that before encountering the dragon herself, the king and his knights murdered the dragonlings as they hatched.

Elodie realizes that it was the king who had originally attacked the dragon, killing her only children, not that the dragon had been a tyrant. The only reason she had demanded three daughters was in recompense for the wrong that had been done to her. The deal that had actually been struck was that the humans could only be allowed to survive if, every generation, they continued to pay the same price so as to never stop feeling the pain of losing their children. The kingdom, however, has figured out a loophole. By taking princesses from other countries, they could simply mingle blood, fooling the dragon into thinking that the princesses were actual descendents of their line instead of girls that they only knew long enough to technically become part of their family before being sacrificed.

However, at this point, Elodie's father, having been overwhelmed guilt for selling his daughter, arrives at the caves to save her. Before he finds Elodie, the dragon shows up, killing the king's men and mortally wounding the king himself. The dragon resumes her search, and Elodie is given the time to bid farewell to her father as he dies, and he is given the opportunity to ask her for forgiveness, and to tell her to use the rope that they had used to enter the cave to escape. He tells her that Floria and her stepmother have a ship and are waiting for her. So Elodie forgives her father, and follows his direction, barely escaping as the dragon persues.

When the dragon realizes that Elodie has escaped, she begins to raze the mountainside, creating an inferno that is visible from the Aurean castle. The queen of Aurea sees the destruction, and takes action, going to the ship where Floria and the stepmother are waiting. She has her men kidnap Floria, cutting her son's hand and throwing her into the chasm in Elodie's place. When Elodie finally meets up with her stepmother and learns of Floria's capture, she immediately resolves to retrieve her sister, and she follows the same footsteps that she had taken before, returning to the dragon's main chamber.

The dragon, still set on getting Elodie herself and able to smell that Floria is of the same family as Elodie, sets Floria up as bait for Elodie, but Elodie sets up a distraction, drawing the dragon away. She goes to Floria, who has been injured by her fall into the chasm, and before they can get away, the dragon returns. Elodie takes up the sword her father had dropped before, and manages to position herself directly by the dragon's eye, determined to tell the dragon of how they have both been lied to. The dragon, however, does not believe her, and tey have a battle, where Elodie uses her ingenuity to trick the dragon into severely injuring herself with her own fire. As the dragon lay wounded on the ground, Elodie shows her the cut on her hand, and tells her that the dragon has only been perpetuating the violence that had so hurt her before, killing innocent daughters instead of exacting the revenge she had sought. The dragon tells her to end it, then, but Elodie refuses, instead retrieving some of the bioluminescent slugs and placing them on the dragon's wounds to heal her.

The scene shifts to another wedding, where the third and final princess is marrying the prince, unknowingly destined to become the last sacrifice. As the ceremony nears its end, Elodie, still in the rags of her own wedding dress, walks in. She gives a speech to those present, and tells the last princess to take her family and go. The queen declares that they are not afraid of Elodie, and she says that it isn't her they should be afraid of, right before the dragon arrives, killing the royal family and razing the castle to the ground.

In the aftermath, Elodie's stepmother is given rule of their kingdom, which now has all of the resources that Aurea once owned, and Elodie sails off on a ship, with the dragon flying beside her.

The End.

--------

So, what was wrong with this film? Plot-wise, nothing that would ruin it for me. It was a good story, and, like I said before, lots of fun to watch. But I was left feeling extremely empty. See, at its heart, this story was about the love and loss of children. The dragon was the last of its kind, left alone because of the unthinking cruelty of a king who viewed her as a beast, and cared not at all about the lives of her young. The dragon, though not innocent for all the dozens of lives she took over the centuries, was acting out of pain and loneliness, wishing only that that pain and loneliness be shared by those that inflicted it upon her. She was the one wronged, and the royal line of Aurea callously shunted their punishment off on the innocent and desperate. They did not deserve their prosperity, so the storyline had to lead to the breaking of that cycle, but the problem is that the film focused more on the retribution and that Elodie herself was badass than it did on any emotion.

And that's the big big thing. This movie left me empty because it was empty. Elodie was awesome, and she ended cycle of death, but we didn't know anything else about her. We get told she is clever, so that we don't question how her plans always end up working. We are told that she is capable, so that we don't question how she always manages to pull through. We are told that the prince is somewhat reluctant, but only barely, so that he doesn't seem too cartoonishly evil. We're not given enough to know the extent of his guilt, or enough to really know how complicit he is, or if it's really that his mother (who honestly is kinda cartoonishly evil) forcing the issue. It seems like we're supposed to kind of like him and feel bad that he doesn't want to kill these women, but it feels like it's only halfway suggesting the idea instead of developing aything. Elodie's stepmother is kind, but we are barely shown any of that, instead glossing over any real emotional connection in favor of action. She basically exists to give very heavyhanded foreshadowing, to tell Elodie when Floria is taken, and so they can say that Elodie doesn't have to be bound to royal duty after the death of her father, because there's someone else who can do it. And we're just told that Floria and Elodie are close. Floria seemingly exists solely as a plot device to make Elodie choose to face the dragon after her escape.

The glow slugs are a deus ex, somehow capable of healing life-threatening wounds on both humans and dragons in seconds, which seems to be just so they can pretend for a second that Elodie could really get hurt, but then have her in good enough shape to escape before her family leaves or the next princess is sacrificed. And also so that she can prove how badass she is by mortally wounding the dragon and having it at her mercy, but still have it up in moments, ready to come toast the real bad guys.

And Elodie's character is, unfortunately, also stuck with this same shallowness. She's intended to subvert the "damsel in distress" trope, and she kinda does...except that there are numerous times she is saved by pure luck, and the plotline of her having to go save Floria is just straight up doing the trope, just with a princess saving the damsel instead of a prince. I didn't even catch the names of the queen or king of Aurea, the prince's name (which is as bland as he is) is only spoken a couple of times, and the stepmother, who is arguably one of the more major characters aside from Elodie and the dragon, gets about 3 minutes of screentime and doesn't have a name that I can recall. Neither does the dragon, for that matter, though at least we get to see her more than the stepmother.

This is a story stripped down to its bare bones, and it's only as much of a huge shame as it is because there was real potential. I can't help but imagine how much better it could have been if given even another 45 minutes to help us understand and connect to our characters. I would have loved a real conversation with the dragon, getting to really feel her pain and experience the true cathartic acceptance and regret for what was done to her and what she did in response, instead of cutting away to the last wedding. I would have loved to see the dragon show any dimension of character other than anger and cruelty. I would have loved to see the prince wrestle with himself, or try to push back at all, or see the true struggle that Elodie's father experienced before he reached the conclusion that he'd made a mistake and needed to go save his daughter. Why did the ancestor king of Aurea choose to kill the dragon in the first place? It's implied by the end that the dragon was attacked unprovoked, but we don't really know. Was the dragon actually a hostile force that made them want to kill her, or was she simply there and the king wanted to eliminate a potential threat? Did no other princess ever try to talk to the dragon, espcially when they had a safe cave they could shout from, and the dragon conveniently seems to know when to immediately murder someone or let them speak for the plot? Why would the dragon continue to harbor such strong feelings for so long, and think she was truly achieving justice and exacting revenge when the humans were obviously thriving so?

And what do they plan to do from here? We know Elodie wants to travel and see the world, because she (once again) told us so, but is she doing that? And what of the dragon? We're told that she is the last of her kind, but how do we know there aren't any more elsewhere in the world? Is every gleeful murder of an innocent girl at her whim just forgiven and forgotten because she wasn't killing who she thought she was, and now centuries of hatred and bias has evaporated entirely, making her a friend of humankind? The ending could have been made better in seconds, should we have been given any kind of closure for either Elodie or the dragon in any way at all. Perhaps they're going off together to explore the world, to find out for sure if the dragon is truly alone or if there are more of her kind out there. Perhaps the dragon really does know, definitively, that she's the last, and so has decided to accompany the princess that ended the tragic cycle that defined her for so long, to keep her safe as she lives life the way she always wanted. Maybe the dragon has vowed to atone for her cruelty towards humans by going with Elodie, assisting the different peoples they encounter in their travels. Hell, even if a single narrated line was given that told us "and so they went on many adventures, and lived their lives to their fullest" it would be unsatisfying, but not as unsatisfying as the actual ending.

It just...it could have easily been vastly improved in almost every emotional sense. Caring about our characters, their motivations, their struggles, and the emotional heart of grief and loss could have made this a deeply moving film, but the focus was instead placed on the princess saving herself. And I get the desire to do so, the desire to subvert that trope, but a story can't be a full, satisfying arc with just that. It's the same problem we keep seeing with big budget companies and their attempts to cash in on social issues. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad for any progress, even if it is largely a soulless cash grab, because any progress, however small it may be, is still heading towards an eventual shift in social consciousness, and thus permanent change. But this film wanted to get the brownie points for having a badass princess who doesn't need a prince to save her, and so they ONLY cared about that. It wanted to show off its budget and CGI, and "subvert" the trope, but it missed everything about why women might want a capable subversion of these longstanding, sexist tropes.

A capable woman isn't solely defined by the fact that she is capable. The point isn't to say "I can do anything a man can," but that's what this film makes it out to be. Elodie, and the entire story itself, is stripped of literally anything but what it needs to be to keep the plot moving. The story keeps saying it's about Elodie, and how she overcomes the obstacles in her way, but at the exact same time, it doesn't care about her at all. It cares about appearing to care about her story, and it's so frustrating to see all that potential wasted on such soullessness. It's like having every piece of a puzzle, but the filmmakers only bothered to put together the edge pieces, threw the rest in the garbage, and called that good enough. So instead of a beautiful, satisfying picture, we're left knowing that the rest of the pieces exist, but that they'll never be put in their rightful places, and that the beauty it could have communicated has been wasted.

So yeah, I liked this movie, at least in that I enjoyed the concept and the actual watching of it to a certain extent, but I wanted to love this movie. I hate how good it could have been, and that if it were given the love and care it needed, it could have been made into so much more.

At the end of everything, a story isn't just a spectacle. It's sharing and exploring our lives, ideas, and humanity through imagination and creativity. The beauty of fantasy is imagining what people would do when put into extraordinary situations, or at least imagining the extent of ourselves we wish we could be. A story like this one can be fun once in a while, but a truly good story, one that you remember and carry with you, usually remains because it resonates with you. And it just really sucks that Damsel denies its characters of their emotional cores, because when you eliminate the emotion of a story, the viewers are denied a connection to the humanity that makes that story worth telling.

#damsel netflix #damsel #this was entirely unplanned and unedited #and basically just stream of thought to sort out why i feel the way i do about this movie #so feel free to ignore it #not kpop #review-y brigid

35 notes · View notes

mirsvintagesonytv · 2 years

Text

Soukoku headcanons from my Chuuya ADA AU

-Chuuya and Dazai actually get along really well now (after spending 2 years in hiding together), the bickering is simply theatrical because Dazai is a melodramatic piece of shit. The rest of the agency simply adapted to the yelling, although they were concerned at first.

-Whenever Kunikida reprimands Dazai, Chuuya will butt in like "yeah Dazai don't jump in the river" "yeah Dazai don't do that again or you'll get fired" with the most SMUG look on his face. Kunikida almost always shouts at Chuuya for this, to which Dazai will return the smug look

-While in hiding, with nothing else to do, they watched a shit ton of reality TV to pass the time. They once stayed up for 3 days straight marathonning Keeping up with the Kardashians and love island, and they both constantly make references and jokes about it. For example:

Ranpo, *complaining about the fact he's run out of snacks to Chuuya*

Chuuya, looking over at Dazai from across the office and grinning: KIM THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING

Dazai, who was drinking coffee: *spits it all over Kunikida across the table from him*

-Again, because they had a lot of free time on their hands in hiding, they watched a lot of movies. Chuuya is a film nerd now. And Dazai is pretentiously into music the same way. They clash a lot about it. Dazai will make fun of Chuuya's favourite movies and Chuuya will respond with something like "i dont want to hear anything from the person who unironically listens to Radiohead and The Smiths."

-Fukuzawa considered partnering Chuuya and Dazai, but quickly realised that they would get no work done and it would be unproductive as hell. As such, Dazai is partnered with Kunikida, and Ranpo practically begged to be partnered with Chuuya, since now he has his own personal battering ram with a powerful ability. Fukuzawa DEFINITELY regrets this sometimes (all the time actually) because Ranpo is corrupt (affectionate) and irresponsible with his newfound authority over such power, and Chuuya is just chaos personified (he gives the agency more bad reviews than Dazai, simply because he punches first, asks questions later, like one time he punched a woman in the face bc she was suspicious when all she wanted was for them to help find her missing cat)

-Chuuya, upon learning that Fukuzawa is a martial artist too, challenged him to a fight. It is one of the only times that he's gotten his ass absolutely HANDED to him, and since that day he has respected the president immensely.

-Chuuya tried to get Fukuzawa to teach him how to wield a sword, and Fukuzawa was like "no." because the mere thought of Chuuya with a SWORD is absolutely terrifying (I cant remember who originally wrote the post I saw that had this hc in it, but whoever you are, I love u and i've adapted it into my au which I will probably never get around to writing, so thank you.) Also to add on to that, he tried to spar against fukuzawa using a sword once because "how hard can it be?" Turns out, it is very hard. He learns this through accidentally smacking himself so hard in the head with his own sword (he'd applied his ability to it) that he gave himself a major concussion and had to be hacked apart by Yosano to heal it.

-Chuuya loves animals. Sometimes of he finds a stray dog or cat in the street he'll just bring it to the agency and walk in like "GUYS GUYS LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" It used to annoy the heck out of everyone (except Ranpo bc they are partners and he is COMPLICIT FR he helps Chuuya sneak the animals into the building lol) especially Dazai because of his hatred for dogs, but once they all see how happy Chuuya is they cant bring it in themselves to say anything because THE SMILE!!

-Leading off of that, one time a bird flew into the window so Chuuya brought it inside thinking it was hurt. Him and Ranpo spent 3 hours taking care of it and feeding it seeds etc. Dazai then tried to pick the bird up, and it got spooked, flying around the office and causing absolute HAVOC for another hour until Kunikida managed to catch it with his skill.

-Atsushi's dorm was originally Chuuya's, but because both Chuuya and Dazai got so used to each other being around during their two years in hiding, and since they're together, they'd always barge in on each other and end up crashing in each others rooms (mostly Dazai's). So when Atsushi joins the ADA, Chuuya offers to give up his dorm since he basically lives with Dazai anyways. Atsushi found a stash of wine his first night in the dorm and was very confused.

Again, Atsushi is just happy to be there honestly and he's so slay for that :)

886 notes · View notes

mrdarcygenderenvy · 3 months

Text

Recent Austen adaptations yelling

Ok I DID make this blog to review historical-set Pride & Prejudice adaptations (with an exception made for iconic B&P). But for everyone who was DEFINITELY WONDERING, yes I have also been storing away a lot of opinions about other recent Austen adaptations that I Must Tell Someone.

Fire island (2022)

A modern gay party cheesy rom-com P&P that genuinely made me laugh. Having seen some other (whiter) cheesy gay romcoms that were extreeeemely PG & playing it safe, I was pleasantly surprised.

Also Bowen Yang and his story just came across really earnest in a way I was into - would watch this man cry again, 10/10.

Personally as an extremely disabled british nerd (now tragically unable to travel and/or go to the club...) this gay scene is a long way from my queer scene. But I still had emotions, you know?

Kinda wanted more of the Mary analogue and generally just normal looking people (almost everyone is so ripped) but I appreciate that's how beautiful smooth people often look in mainstream american films, we can't have everything.

DARCY WATCH: I do not want to dress like this adaptation's chinos Mr Darcy. But Conrad Ricamora was generally great and very hot and awkward and understood the assignment. Good ice cream throw.

Emma (2020)

I know I know, it's pretty... but I don't think that's enough!!!!!

Lovely production, beautiful costumes, a candy wes-anderson cinematography that really suits the story, and it's fun to notice references to actual outfits and prints from the time but lads. LADS. UNPOPULAR OPINION TIME: Where is the chemistry???

You can’t make Mr Knightley a nice sweet boy (so funny to have cast a posh folksy singing man) and leave the plot the same and expect it to work!! Also I was personally pissed off that a lot of the promo/ ads for this made it look like ~forbidden love~ when it's the 2 richest white people in town getting together?? ? There's actually not even a class difference in this one, guys.

Basically this romance was nothing to me!!! I felt nothing!!!!!!!! WHERE'S THE DEPTH

I did like the bit where he lies down though. Relatable.

Also why are you drawing so much attention to the servants when you don’t seem to have anything to say about class...? 'Wow look how many servants they had! Anyway, they don't get any speaking lines'... it's 2020 guys!!! like what are we saying here. 'isn't it cool to think about how people were rich'??

kind of the point of Emma (character) is she's pretty superficial, but the story does not, in fact, have to be

Persuasion (2022)

Weeping softly into a pillow........ did you know this version meant a version with Sarah Snook and Joel Fry got cancelled?? we could have had it all

(standing on a table yelling) THE MODERNISATION WAS NOT THE PROBLEM WITH THIS FILM!!!

Honestly I actively liked all the entire secondary cast in this. Louisa and Mary were extremely charming fun takes to watch. ('I'm an empath' IS right for the character if you're doing modern jokes!!!) And nobody can deny this was a correct and powerful use of Richard E Grant.

Henry Golding was naturally great. Apparently he got offered the lead and took the villain instead, which DOES mean the villain is super charming and fun to watch which is... hard to match and.... kind of shows up.... the main man.

It's been said before but the main two were WOEFUL imo. I have no beef with the actors I just question the DIRECTION and whether anyone making this knew (or cared) why people... enjoy things.

Book Anne is the quietest gentlest loser and I LOVE HER and so does basically every Austen nerd. Making her a quirky wine-bath girl who's honestly just cruel sometimes fully stops the main romance chemistry and plot from working.

And it means the main boy is still like 'god I'm so horny for how KIND AND CAPABLE YOU ARE' which is just 100% no longer true. You can't transplant a personality in a romance but leave the plot the exact same and expect it to work. The chemistry IS the plot in a romance..........

you can't act morally superior to your siblings and still rate people out of ten.... also so funny to me that everyone else gets period outfits and hair whereas this protagonist looks like she just glanced at a picture of any time in the past and grabbed a couple shirts from primark. it doen't even look good or build character!!!!!

Anyway, not to be an elderly man like 'ohhh why does nobody care about character these days' but the reason something like Clueless works is because it has the heart of the story right, instead of just copying the surface level stuff.

#making all of these a single post which probably means nobody will reblog it ever. OH WELL #emma 2020 #persuasion 2022 #fire island #austen adaptations #full disclosure yes I was midway through making a queer regency romance GN whose plot is partly based on emma and p&p when i saw 2020 emma #so YES.......... i have strong opinions... possibly UNPOPULAR ONES..........#anyway if you enjoy the things i'm complaining about more power to you. I'M TOO BORING tO ENJOY THEM UNFORTUNATELY

22 notes · View notes

zalrb · 3 months

Note

"At best, the show serves as a constant reminder of how amazing the original Nickelodeon cartoon was. At worst, it makes M. Night Shyamalan‘s 2010 The Last Airbender film feel like a mercy because at least that poor effort was only 2 hours long. [...] This feels like a show made by an algorithm catered to the kind of fans that hate filler and side stories in animation and hates when characters make jokes. It tries so hard to be more adult than the source material that it ends up playing much safer and less complex than the cartoon made for kids!" (https://discussingfilm.net/2024/02/22/avatar-the-last-airbender-review-netflixs-adaptation-is-like-the-ember-island-players-but-worse/)

This review expresses exactly what I feel watching the series now, I'm still on the fourth episode and MY GOD how I want to see the animation again

Where’s the nuance? The complexity? The development? The humor? Everything is so explicit that it ends up being simple

And I think it's funny how Kyoshi told Aang that nothing would be easy for him, but then she makes everything easy for him and fights for him on the island, and gave the answers without him having to make an effort, she simply handed them over like lol?? Aren't things supposed to be difficult?????

LOL initiumseries sent me that review too and it perfectly sums up everything wrong with the live action. Kinder reviews have said that it isn't perfect but it pays homage to the original and captures its spirit and it's like, no it doesn't, it does a superficial acknowledgement of source material things like having Iroh say jasmine tea here and there and maybe Aang rides an air ball into a wall har har and one "my cabbages!" scream, but it absolutely missed the essence of the animation. And exactly?? Nothing is difficult! They even skip over Aang trying to learn how to fire bend?? But we can have a drawn out Bumi episode that misses the point of the original Bumi episode???

15 notes · View notes

thequeereview · 2 years

Text

Exclusive Interview: the cast of Fire Island on the queer icons & LGBTQ+ culture that's shaped them

Exclusive Interview: the cast of Fire Island on the queer icons & LGBTQ+ culture that’s shaped them

Ahead of tonight’s NewFest Pride world premiere of Fire Island, written by and starring Joel Kim Booster, and directed by Andrew Ahn, The Queer Review’s editor James Kleinmann spoke exclusively with Ahn and cast members Matt Rogers, Conrad Ricamora, Bowen Yang, James Scully, Zane Phillips, Torian Miller, Tomas Matos and Nick Adams about the queer icons and LGBTQ+ culture that’s shaped them. The…

View On WordPress

2 notes · View notes

rickchung · 1 year

Text

10 Other Films from 2022

1) X (dir. Ti West)

2) Pearl (dir. Ti West)

3) Bones and All (dir. Luca Guadagnino)

4) Causeway (dir. Lila Neugebauer)

5) Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (dir. Richard Linklater)

6) Confess, Fletch (dir. Greg Mottola)

7) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp)

8) Resurrection (dir. Andrew Semans

9) Vengeance (dir. B.J. Novak)

10) Bodies Bodies Bodies (dir. Halina Reijn))

1 note · View note

liamthemailman · 4 months

Note

The island saga at this point can be it’s own feature length film like the trailer would be fire…

[Camera flashes to a cork board with pins and string connecting imagines of people labeled MIA. Across from it is Lemon, observing the information with a steady glare as tense music plays.] “Just what in hell’s name does she want with them…”

[Lemon slams his hand onto the desk with his teeth gritted]

[Screen goes black before a sliver is out into view by King taking out a book from the shelf in front of the camera’s few. A wideshot of the room comes to screen as he walks off. King glances over to Valentino.] “You said you were briefly part of the scheme?” [Valentino simply nods as King walks over and grabs his shoulder tightly.] ”Spill what you know.”

[The screen goes black again until Sofia turns on a light, flipping through photos with me crossing out names.] “We lost our best way of getting King…”

[I mutter bitterly, sharply looking up to Sophia] “Well, I have another plan that may work even better…”

[Sofia starts to explain her plan as his words are muffled out by the screen fade.]

[Camera flashes to Khushi then Jokest3r then Teabagtoes, all with various looks of shock or disbelief on their face] “Give him back…”

[Khushi’s words have a subtle echo as the tense music crescendos to words on the screen saying “Revolutionary storytelling & plot” by New York Times]

[Camera shows Arjun desperately trying to escape before being tied back with a rope around him. Vincent looks at him and their captors fearfully while Mayvey has a scheming look on his face. Arjun’s hoarse yelling attempts continue into hysterics as the camera shows another review “Shows a dark side with new characters.” by Activision]

“We have to get out of here!”

[Queen’s voices pierced through Arjun’s slowly fizzled out yelling as she looks between Ace and Sofia with a serious gaze. Jack walks closer and hands a letter from King to Queen.]

“Hell. On. Earth.”

[The music becomes subtle, adding a clicking noise. Ace states each word coldly as the camera shows Lemon’s board again. He turns, looking at Sergeant Kennedy] “Are you sure we can even do this?”

[Kennedy asks with furrowed eyebrows] “Shiloh… he have to at least try.”

[Lemon responds before the camera flashes white to the screen, showing a series of shots while the music becomes louder than ever; Jack setting a match on fire, Roger crying as he gives Kennedy a gentle hug, King writing a letter, Ace laying in a boat, Jokest3r & Trabagtoes talking over coffee, & Valentino pinning a photo of “The Squad” to the cork board.] [The camera zooms into the photo before flashing to a gun in Sofia’s hand that is pointed to the camera. The music stops.] “I never wanted it to end this way.”

[She says just above a whisper before the camera goes black at the piercing sound of a gunshot. The title appears on screen as eerie music plays…]

THE ISLAND SAGA: GOOSE ISLAND

[A goose walks across screen before the camera cuts out.]

God that took too long to write…

Hope you liked my trailer from a VERY unprofessional screenplay writer This all seems a lot cooler in my head 💀

what the hell..

i dont know what i was expecting but i wasnt expecting a whole ass script. hello? i can tell you that this is so well put together. like its so vivid and i can picture it clearly?? like DAMN. you even have the sound cues n shit!!

from one unprofessional screenplay writer to another, hats off to you because SHEESH??? THIS IS SO COOL?? I HAVE THE URGE TO MAKE STORYBOARDS AND A SCRIPT????

im in shock. you dropped this into my inbox for FREE??? i dont know if you have any plans for the film or entertainment industry but you should actually consider being a writer LIKE WOAH. this much creativity has so much potential.

dont worry about things sounding cool only in your head. i was told that i was a madman while i was pitching my first short film in class and three months later it became the class favourite when the finished project was presented. so dont doubt yourself. you never know if your ramblings bring you places.

#mailman rants #im.#jaw DROPPED #holy SHIT #im speechless #*produces four paragraph rant*

12 notes · View notes

deke-rivers-1957 · 7 months

Text

Paradise Hawaiian Style Review

This is the final Elvis film that takes place in Hawaii. In fact, this could be considered one of the first Elvis film "remakes" as it's been claimed Colonel Parker wanted to recreate the success of Blue Hawaii. Similar to Blue Hawaii, real locations in Hawaii were featured during the film such as Coco Palms Resort and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

We immediately jump into the action by having Rick Richards on a flight. He was fired after flirting with a flight attendant. Since he has a bad reputation, he was only able to get a job in Hawaii. We immediately get the titular song, Paradise, Hawaiian Style over the opening credits. It's a quintessential song in any Elvis travelogue movie.

I absolutely love the shots of Hawaii. You get the idea that this actually has relevancy to the plot. Danny, played by James Shigeta, is actually Hawaiian. The use of a mixed race couple is accurate for Hawaii. There was no law against it, so it wouldn't have been controversial for Danny to marry a white woman.

While Rick is playing with Danny's kids, we get the next song, "Queenie Wahine's Papaya". This isn't Elvis' best work, but at least there's an established relationship with Danny's daughter, Jan. She actually gets to sing along with Elvis and does a pretty good job of keeping up with the fast paced song.

We get to see more shots of Hawaii that reflect the use of air travel. Even though Elvis himself doesn't fly the plane, we do see interior shots of the plane and Rick landing it. Unfortunately there are times where you can tell Elvis isn't on location. He just doesn't blend in with the background compared to on location shots.

One thing that shocked me is how this movie seemed to openly talk about how Hawaii is seen by Americans as such a tourist attraction. The natives who lived there would've had to appeal to these big businesses to make money. Even though this cultural talking point isn't the focus of the film, you can still see its influences by having Rick and Danny go into business themselves.

When they get to the club, I swear Marianna Hill playing Lani is dubbed by another woman. Her audio just doesn't sound like it was recorded at the same time as Elvis'. Also when she duets during "Scratch My Back (Then I'll Scratch Yours)" she doesn't sound good. The song in general just isn't good and grinds the film to a halt. I know Lani works at a club, but she just sings one song and then leaves with Rick. You can cut that whole song and nothing would be lost.

So by now we've established that Rick loves women in a distracting way. I admit that I appreciate how they made that such an integral part of his character that it actively influences the plot. If he didn't have such a bad reputation of flirting with flight attendants on the clock, he would've never been in Hawaii. It's unfortunate that he doesn't have any real character arc that addresses that.

It's clear that he wants to only hire a secretary because she's hot and not because she's qualified. Danny hiring Judy is a clear sign that he actually believes in her skills and wants Rick to stay focused. Danny cares about his business and wants to have people who can actually do the job.

More shots of Hawaii and this is the best part of the film. We get vocals from the Polynesian people as Rick travels. You really get the idea that Hawaii is important. You couldn't get these shots anywhere in the continental US. Of course there are goofs such as dialogue being clearly dubbed in. Like so bad that Rick is waving while saying "Hi" with Elvis clearly not moving his lips.

That being said, you immediately stop caring with the best song in the entire movie, "Drums of the Islands". My god. The visuals of Rick on a canoe just riding along the river as he sings is just beautiful. The land/seascapes are prominent and the Polynesian culture is heavily featured. Elvis isn't shoved in front of the performers. He's integrated into their act and letting these people perform an art that's been passed down for generations.

"A Dog's Life" is a song that exists. I have no idea how Elvis could possibly lip-synch all this having those dogs jump on him. Easily one. of the most stressful scenes in an Elvis movie. He lets go of the controls so many times, the dogs jump right in his lap as he's singing. A completely chaotic moment. If this wasn't a movie, these characters would most likely be dead. In universe, it's actually a testament to Rick's piloting skills that no one did die. Not just the passengers but literally everyone on the ground.

Naturally the one time Rick flies recklessly, he runs into the car of a government official in charge of aviation. Regardless of what actually happened, this guy's well within his rights to complain about what happened to him and his wife. These dogs weren't properly contained and that helicopter likely wasn't suitable for Rick to transport all of them anyway.

We get a Red cameo at the restaurant and a pointless fight scene. The tourist flirting with "Friday" was bad, but Rick sticking up for her makes no sense. Based on his actions in the movie, he's not that morally upstanding to be above unwarranted flirting.

As of this point, he has no actual chemistry with any women. He has more of a relationship with Jan (who is a child) than anyone else. Unfortunately, their 2nd duet, "Datin" is awful. It feels weird to watch a grown man explain dating to a child that isn't his. And in general, Jan's singing isn't that great compared to their first duet.

Not long after they land we get to yet another song, "House of Sand". If we cut "Datin" and went to this that would be fine. Unfortunately, this happens barely two minutes apart from each other. It feels so shoved in now because of how badly spaced they are. Also a problem with these types of songs is that they have no build up. There's no reason for these songs to be made other than fill up a quota. Elvis just bursts into songs at the most random intervals. If you cut them from the film literally nothing would change. With "House of Sand" you go right back to Rick flying in the air with one of his "love interests".

So we get a swimming scene where Elvis is conveniently covered up by a towel. It's so weird how he's covered up when both of the girls aren't. It's almost like the producers wanted to hide something. Yeah, it's obvious at this point that Hollywood wanted to hide Elvis' weight. The way they try to hide it is just so bizarre as you can still see his stomach anyway.

I hate Lani's character. She actively decides to mess up Rick and Jan's lives by throwing away the key in the sand. Lani literally got them stranded on an island with a child. If they never found the key, and Danny never knew where they ended up, they could've died. Rick's womanizing ways on top of her individual actions could've literally killed them. She is lucky that Danny didn't charge her and Rick with the endangerment of a child.

Sure she didn't know she would lose the key that way, but that was such a dumb and dangerous decision just because she wanted some sugar. As for Friday sticking up for Rick, I have no idea why she would do that. She knows first hand what his flirting ways are like. Just because he stood up to one tourist doesn't negate the fact that he's irresponsible. Danny if anything is the reasonable one and has the patience of a saint that he didn't press charges. They were out overnight and could've easily been out for longer if he didn't rescue them.

Friday chastising Rick is well deserved and if anything serves a bigger reason as to why their relationship makes no sense. Rick wanting to rescue Danny and risk losing his license for good, isn't enough of a reason to think that he's changed. As much as it shows that he can think of others it still doesn't change his womanizing ways. Compared to the dog scene from earlier, this rescue doesn't feel so tense.

All helicopters should have a first aid kit in the event that there's a crash, so it makes no sense for Danny to not have one. Even if Jan's only a child, he can still tell her how to make a splint. If this was such a tense moment as the movie wants it to be, the danger would be greater than this. There's more instances of dubbed in dialogue with 0 lip movement such as the end of this hospital scene.

Jan's solo song "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" is easily her best song. It's quite refreshing to have someone who isn't Elvis get a song all to themselves. And again Rick's flirting ways is getting the better of him. Even if he wants to be with Friday (which he never indicates more than any of the women he was with) he still needs to show that his flirting ways are over.

"Stop Where You Are" while shot differently than most Elvis songs, is also visually a nightmare. If you're watching this movie on a buggy site like DailyMotion and watch this movie for the first time, you wouldn't know if it's pausing on purpose or if it's the lag. I also have no idea why Rick's singing anyway since if he wanted to hide from the women, he did a terrible job. He was right on stage front and center. Naturally Rick's flirting ways catch up to him. He only gets away with it by paying them off. What a wonderful message/s. If you get in trouble with women you just promise to pay them off. Why does Friday like this guy?

We get an unedited shot of the different acts at the Polynesian Cultural Center and I love it. If a film was given permission to use that building, actually use it and the people who belong to that culture.

I also love how the government official is portrayed as a reasonable man. He knows that Rick saving Danny was necessary and is willing to make an exception. Now him being with Friday at the end makes no sense. It was so rushed that I don't think they even kiss at the end. The actual romance felt like so much of an afterthought almost like they knew we wouldn't care because the ending songs would be our last impression of the film.

"This is My Heaven" is a song that perfectly depicts Elvis' love for Hawaii. It's so beautiful and when combined with a reprise of "Drums of the Islands" makes it one of the best ending scenes in any Elvis film. The showcasing of the actual Polynesian performers will never get enough praise from me.

Like we actually get a break from Elvis singing to listen to them sing in their language. It's so beautiful to see them depict their culture without seeing Elvis shoehorned in the frame. The wide shot of the entire entourage performing is just so beautiful. It showcases that Elvis at this point isn't important, the people of Hawaii and the island nations are.

This film is so visually stunning that it makes the production errors even more noticeable. That being said, the amount of effort put into showcasing Hawaii and the Polynesian culture is incredible. Hawaii is an island state that doesn't have a White majority. For the movie to showcase this demographic breakdown in such a casual way for the time period is impressive.

There are flaws with this film that can't be ignored. However, when you have scenes that fully embrace the Hawaiian culture, that's a sign that this film actually tried. Because of those efforts, I'm giving this film a 7/10. If you like Elvis films, I would recommend watching this independent of Blue Hawaii so you don't compare the two. Even if you're not an Elvis fan, this movie still serves as a good insight of how Hawaii was viewed by Hollywood at the time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you so for much to @georgefairbrother for requesting this review. I know you also requested that I review Clambake as well and I will do that next. If anyone else would like to request an Elvis film or a film in general, please send them in.

#elvis presley #elvis film #elvis film review #film review #paradise hawaiian style #1966

20 notes · View notes

thewarmestplacetohide · 6 months

Text

Dread by the Decade: Island of Lost Souls

👻 You can support or commission me on Ko-Fi! ❤️

Source Material: The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells Year: 1932 Genre: Sci-Fi Horror, Creature Feature Rating: UR (Recommended: PG-13) Country of Origin: United States Language: English Runtime: 1 hour 10 minutes

Director: Erle C. Kenton Cinematographer: Karl Struss Writers: Waldemar Young, Philip Wylie Cast: Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Arthur Hohl, Kathleen Burke, Leila Hyams, Stanley Fields

Plot: A shipwrecked sailor finds himself on an island where a mad doctor is blurring the lines between man and beast.

Review: Provocative and strange, Island of Lost Souls raises ethical questions, before providing its own deeply unsettling answers.

Overall Rating: 4/5

Story: 4/5 - An intriguing exploration of science without morals and what it means to be human. Hampered some by the reductive portrayal of the islands' occupants and potentially racist undertones.

Performances: 4/5 - Laughton is a delightful mix of campy and sinister, and balanced well by Hohl's somberness. The rest of the cast is sympathetic, with Fields' arc being my favorite.

Cinematography: 4.5/5 - Gorgeous use of shadows.

Editing: 4/5

Effects: 4/5 - Well employed fog and fire.

Sets: 5/5 - A mix of real locations and sets, with the wild jungle encroaching upon Moreau's tidy compound reflecting his own melding of nature and science.

Costumes & Make-Up: 5/5 - The creature makeup for this film was very innovative. The one-hoofed man was especially great.

Film Fact: This movie was banned in many countries and was one of the most difficult restorations for the Criterion Collection, as it had been heavily edited for censorship reasons.

youtube

Trigger Warnings:

Misogyny (uncritical; of the era)

Moderate violence (largely off-screen)

Disturbing themes of animal/human experimentation

Body horror

Unethical medical scene (not graphic)

Torture and medical abuse (largely off screen)

It is implied that a character wants a woman to be raped

#Island of Lost Souls (1932)#Island of Lost Souls #Erle C. Kenton #American #sci fi horror #science fiction #creature feature #Dread by the Decade #review #1930s

13 notes · View notes

astoundingbeyondbelief · 1 year

Text

Kaiju Week in Review (December 11-17, 2022)

After the success of last year's Pacific Rim Ultimate Omnibus, Legendary Comics has launched a Kickstarter for a MonsterVerse Omnibus collecting Godzilla: Awakening, Skull Island: The Birth of Kong, Godzilla: Aftershock, Godzilla Dominion, and Kingdom Kong. It blasted past its funding goal on the first day. The Omnibus will eventually make it to retail, but naturally the Kickstarter rewards include some exclusives, like a slipcase and a different cover, as well as higher-tier bonuses like enamel pins and the ability to get drawn into the comics.

The biggest draw if you've already bought the five comics above is the debut of "Call to Action", written by Brian Buccellato and illustrated by Zid. Logline: "[S]et during the events of Godzilla vs. Kong, a Naval fighter pilot with a personal attachment to Godzilla is put to the test when his squadron is called upon to intercept the King of the Monsters." Well, I'm a sucker for mining drama out of incredibly minor characters, and Zid's the best artist these MonsterVerse comics have seen. If access to that story's all you care about, consider the $15 tier, which nets you a PDF of the Omnibus. K-D-M, who's proven to be a reliable source, is also saying that a number of the minor Titans (Na Kika, Amhuluk, Tiamat, and perhaps others) will receive Monarch bios as well. Those have been delightful sources of lore in the past.

Speaking of comics, @mekagojira3k published the first issue of his self-adaptation of All Your Ruins on WebToon. Read it immediately, it's gnarly as shit! There's a kaiju with crosses on its back taunting a mysterious masked figure and what I'm choosing to interpret as a nod to the Age of Giant Condor!

youtube

I couldn't wait for the Week in Review to post about this, but it merits repeating: The Asylum is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a Destroy All Monsters-style epic called 2025 Armageddon. (Insert scare quotes around "epic" if you wish.) Most exciting to me is the return of Mega Shark, whose series inexplicably ended in 2015 just as it and the Kaiju Renaissance were finding their stride. It's also playing in five fairly random theaters across the country until the 22nd (sorry, should've gotten this post out faster). The rest of us will have to hold off until the VOD release on the 23rd.

After it placed second in the last two Movie Monster Series fan polls, Bandai has thrown up its hands and given Super Mechagodzilla a vinyl, just in time for the 30th anniversary of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II next year. January 31st is the release date for that one. They also announced a third poll, this time allowing fan submissions to determine the 10 nominees instead of making the shortlist in a smoke-filled room themselves. Yes, that means Zilla, Bagan, and the Giant Condor are theoretically on the table (but no Godzilla incarnations allowed). All's you need is a Godzilla Store account to nominate a kaiju and eventually vote.

Finally, for you Dagahra fans out there, his first figure in ages is coming soon from the Kaiju Out of the Laws line. Shame those are so expensive.

youtube

Here's the teaser for the Kaiju No. 8 anime—and yes, it's going to be part of the Toho kaiju canon. I got caught up with the manga earlier this year and found it pretty enjoyable. An older protagonist is unusual for this type of story, and I like how he's constantly drawing on his experience cleaning up kajiu corpses after taking on the more glamorous work of fighting them. You also gotta admire the boldness of calling a metamorphosing character Kafka.

SciFi Japan has a first look at a film due next year called Kaiju: Island of Fire. The production company is based in Japan, but there's a lot of Hollywood talent in this one, including writer/director Andrew L. Phillips, who has a background in stunt acting. Inspired by 3Y Films, they've also brought back some veteran kaiju actors: Kent Gilbert (the swishy ship commander in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah), Chuck Wilson (the Futurian Wilson in same), Inge Murata (every Japanese kaiju movie that's needed a German since Monster X Strikes Back), and Tomoko Ai (Katsura Mafune in Terror of Mechagodzilla). No story details yet, although you can probably guess the setting. I like the suit design of what is presumably the anti-kaiju team too, at least from the back.

#godzilla #king kong #monsterverse omnibus #call to action #all your ruins #2025 armageddon #mechagodzilla #bandai #kaiju no. 8 #kaiju island of fire #kaiju #comics #toys #the asylum

58 notes · View notes