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queenlucythevaliant · 2 years

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Have I pitched my Acts sitcom to you guys yet? I don’t think so.

Basically, I want a sitcom made based on the book of Acts with a combination of Christian and secular writers and creatives. Preferably a few of the Christians will have served as committee members in some capacity in their local churches. The goal, essentially, is to riff on the human messiness and frequent absurdity of the early church with good humor and some irreverence, but never with God or the Gospel as the butt of the joke.

Characters:

Peter is the young, energetic guy who suddenly has Administrative Responsibilities. He’s energized by his evangelism/discipleship work, but he’s always Tired and Unwell while trying to manage the leadership of the church.

John is overly affectionate. He’s always hugging people he barely knows, giving people really enthusiastic compliments, that sort of thing.

Luke is quiet and nerdy, maybe even a little nebbish. When he speaks, it’s usually to ask people vaguely uncomfortable questions “for his book.” If you want to go mocumentary style with the show, Luke’s interviews can be the framing device.

Paul is generally a pretty chill guy, but he’s super gung-ho about suffering for the Gospel. People are a little weirded out his wannabe martyr energy.

John Mark is really, really annoying in some way. Like maybe he’s always playing his original music on the lyre and he’s really bad at it. Maybe he’s really flakey and irresponsible and sort of has Jean-Ralphio energy. Paul, in particular, finds him really annoying and always looks absolutely miserable when they’re in a scene together. When Barnabas eventually suggests bringing John Mark on a missionary journey, the “sharp disagreement” is just Paul going “oh hell no” and walking straight out of the room.

Lots of women and people of different races represented, particularly as church members. Lydia should be a major character, although I don’t quite know what her personality should be. Rhoda (the servant who slammed the door in Peter’s face) would be a fun inclusion too. Racial diversity should at least reflect the actual ancient Mediterranean, although I don’t think I’d be super picky about which specific characters are which races.

Ongoing plots:

The organizational nightmares of running a church is a running theme. Basically just crib from the funniest parts of church government and organization. Things are poorly run and disorganized and people have different opinions and everything somehow still gets done. This stuff can have Parks and Rec energy.

Lots of conflict of personality issues, but also an increasing closeness between the Apostles and members of the church

Lots of missionaries getting run out of town in increasingly comedic ways. Like, I want Paul and Barnabas running out of Random Roman City #52 while getting pelted with eggs.

Lots of what I can only describe as late night theology. Like when you’re sleep deprived and discussing the deep questions of Scripture with your friends in the car, often arriving at weird conclusions. Lots of that kind of stuff. Also, in general, the characters talk about God the way Christians actually do-- casually, often humorously, sometimes irreverently, as an important part of life and not just a serious subject for Important Conversations

Paul’s Roman Citizenship is milked for all it’s worth. Yes, it gets him out of imprisonment and torture, but it also gets him out of like, minor municipal violations.

Episode plots:

Philip finds himself teleported to/from Ethiopia to convert the eunuch and, upon returning to Jerusalem, spends an episode getting startled by sudden movement (knocking things over, accidentally slapping people) because he thinks he’s gonna get teleported again. There’s a long scene where Philip tries to interrogate Peter and find out if teleportation is just like a standard Holy Spirit powerup or if it was a one-time deal. Peter’s just getting progressively more and more confused.

Saul’s conversion from Ananias’s perspective. He’s woken up in the middle of the night and told to go pick Saul the Murder up and take him home. He’s sleep-deprived and low-key freaking out and he hasn’t gone grocery shopping so he’s running around trying to find some food for Saul at 2am. Episode ends with Ananias collapsed sideways on his bed and Paul coming and pulling a blanket over him.

Extended physical comedy scene where they’re lowering Paul over the wall in the basket, but the ropes are uneven and he’s getting tossed from side to side and the guy at the bottom isn’t in place yet and they’re all trying really hard to be inconspicuous.

There’s a whole road episode where it’s just everyone cooped up on a ship or in the middle of the desert or something while they’re on their way to spread the gospel in a new city. They all get on each others nerves. Somebody goes a little bit stir-crazy and loses it.

The show shouldn’t be ashamed that it’s about people spreading the Gospel, but I don’t want lots of scenes that try to evangelize the viewer. We’re not trying to proselytize, we’re trying to make light of the human messiness that is life in the church. Embrace anachronism (I’d love to see some modern church potlucks, for example), but also lots of nerdy historical and Biblical/theological jokes.

There’s such a dearth of genuinely funny Christian entertainment, particularly that which (a) is entertaining to seculars as well and (b) actually embraces the Bible and not just some form of cultural Christianity. And Acts is right there! It’s hilarious! Top tier sitcom material! Somebody fund me.

@citrussunrises other friends, anything to add?

#make it happen #i could go on #for pages and pages #genuinely wish i were funnier i would totally crank out a treatment if i had the requisite skills #Jesus laughed #pontifications and creations #please feel free to add your own ideas!#Bible humans

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mx-piggy · 8 months

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Time for my weekly Futurama review. It's odd watching an Xmas episode two days after my birthday but it was definitely worth it. Spoilers ahead!!

I didn't think it would happen, but I Know What You Did Next Xmas has topped Children of a Lesser Bog for me. So far, this is my favourite episode of the revival. Johnny 2 Cellos said in his podcast with Toonirific Tariq (Cartoons That Curse) that this was his favourite episode of the first six. Considering how much I adored Children of a Lesser Bog (despite its expositional issues), I hadn't expected this to beat that episode quite like it did.

Just a head's up, this review is going to be a lot of 'I thought this thing was very neat', because I smiled for pretty much the whole duration of the episode.

I Know What You Did Next Xmas did pretty much everything right, especially considering this isn't from the show's original run. It's not up there with revival episodes like the Late Philip J. Fry (which comes to mind because of the very fun inclusion of the Professor's time machine), but it's certainly not far off. It has a really cool sci-fi concept in terms of the time travel elements, with the Professor going back in time to 'fix' Robot Santa, and with Bender and Zoidberg abducting Robot Santa and being the ones to save the day as a result. I'm not intelligent enough to figure out if any of this 'works', but I think it was cool. The humour was also very strong; I don't think it's the funniest episode of the revival so far, but it's definitely up there for me. And, the episode was really wholesome, which is surprising since the episode's A plot is Bender and Zoidberg kidnapping and trying to dispose of the body of Robot Santa.

Speaking of which, my favourite aspect of the episode was how incredibly sweet it was. Seeing the different families gathering together for the holidays was so lovely to see, even if we only got a couple of scenes with each of them individually. It was nice to see Fry spending the holidays with the Farnsworths because of how often he feels like he has no family seeing as he left his old one behind him in the past. The same goes for Leela; it's so lovely to see her finally get the family life she missed out on as a kid. The Kroker-Wong family gathering was really nice; it was fun to see them further explore the family dynamic with the kids. And, it was fun to see Hermes with his family, of course with them limboing. I also really love how the episode took the direction of everyone realising they'd forgotten to invite Bender and Zoidberg to their holiday celebrations, and actually wanting to spend time with them. The revival's been really good at presenting the characters like people who genuinely enjoy one another's company, definitely better than a lot of the Comedy Central episodes, which would sacrifice these heartwarming character interactions.

This revival's also been really good with continuity, in my opinion! It was a joy to see Kif and Amy's kids again, especially in the cosy setting that holiday episodes provide. The time machine was implemented really well. And, I really enjoyed the references to previous episodes, such as when the Professor was going back in time and it showed moments from (I believe) the Day the Earth Stood Stupid and Put Your Head on My Shoulders. I haven't seen Disenchantment yet beyond the first episode (I'll probably check it out once it's finished) but I still thought the cameo was neat. I also really liked the joke of the Professor saying he was going alone so no one would end up becoming their own grandfather (God, Roswell That Ends Well is such a good episode). I've seen people on here complaining that the revival is lazy in referencing or continuing from previous episodes of the show so frequently, but I really don't see the problem? Like, don't you want there to be a sense of continuity? It bothers me that a handful of fans have been thinking so uncritically about how the show implements topical elements and references to itself, but I digress.

If I had to nitpick, I guess I don't feel like Robot Santa had as much of a presence in this episode compared to previous episodes. It's a complaint I've had about characters like Mom or Zapp, where they don't feel nearly as much as scene-stealing as they used to. It could just be because of the overall different vibe of episodes from the original run compared to the show's various revivals. It's something I can't quite articulate or explain, but the Simpsons has the same problem. With the Simpsons seasons 2-8 and Futurama seasons 1-5, the episodes feel a lot sharper in their humour, if that makes sense? But, with episodes past a certain point, the humour just feels kind of dull and like it doesn't land as well; like Homer or Fry will say a half-funny line and then there will be some dead space that kills any humour. That's sort of how it feels, anyway. If you want me to elaborate on that, please feel free to ask me in the comments, a reblog or an ask. But, yeah, I thought the 'cookie' joke was funny considering how menacing Robot Santa normally is.

I'd love to see this revival focus on some more underexplored dynamics like Bender and Zoidberg because it was really fun seeing them together in this episode. They have such good chemistry due to their surface-level differences and inherent similarity. They're both incredibly sensitive and lonely individuals who crave friendship (which has some irony to it because robots are seen as being emotionless and Decapodians die when they reproduce, so in a way it's almost as if they're not made to have connections with others), but where Zoidberg is incredibly kind and openly tries to build connections with people, Bender is kind of a total jerk who tries to seem tougher than he actually is. Zoidberg's such a precious character and I'm hoping we get some more Zoidberg-centric stories in this revival. I'm also waiting for a Hermes episode, and possibly a Professor episode.

The song at the end was fun, in my opinion anyway. Definitely a good send off for Kwanzaa-Bot (I presume so, anyway).

I'm wondering if I missed something in the original run or the CC run, because they've made a surprising number of references to Leela drinking in this revival. Does anyone know what that's about? Maybe Leela's always been a drinker and I just don't remember it for some reason.

If I have any more thoughts about this episode because it was really that good, I'll make a follow-up to this post. As always, feel free to reblog, comment or send me an ask if you have anything you want me to elaborate on, or if there's anything you want to add!

#episode: i know what you did next xmas #hulurama #futurama #futurama spoilers

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hippiesolitude · 1 year

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Not that anyone asked, but I wanted to compile a list of my top 5 favorite episodes of Futurama and see if anyone else had a similar list :D

5. Godfellas - I mean, who doesn’t love this episode. Bender floating alone in space playing God is just way too good of a plot line. I especially love it bc of how dedicated Fry is to find him. Something about that is just way too wholesome.

4. The Late Philip. J Fry - This episode is just absolutely fantastic the entire way around. I think it is one of the coolest interpretations of time travel the show has done. I love the song, I love the way Leela thinks Fry stood her up and then died, and I love that they crack a 6 pack open to watch the world end. It’s just one of the best.

3. I Second That Emotion - This one I feel like is not on many people’s list, but something about it is just so great. Bender feeling actual human emotion really got me in this one. This was probably the episode where I decided Bender was my favorite character. Not only is it hilarious, but seeing Bender be vulnerable is really cool, and there’s a ton of funny jokes in it too. Fry screaming and then going “I burned my finger” is probably one of my favorite jokes ever.

2. The Honking - This was actually the first episode of Futurama I had ever seen. So, it instantly earns a place on this list. The insane amount of jokes in this episode earn it a high spot. The Shining references, Fry getting emo bc Bender picked Leela over him, Leela’s frozen meals joke, Bender being covered in transmission fluid instead of blood… the list goes on! It really holds a close place to my heart.

1. Hell is Other Robots - This episode I whole heartedly believe is the best Futurama has ever done. We are introduced to the Robot Devil, who is an incredible character, and see so much of the Beastie Boys; who I love. Not only that, but I think electricity addicted Bender is one of the funniest interpretations of his character ever. And then religious Bender… “who wants to come to my exceedingly long, un-airconditioned baptism ceremony” has to be one of the funniest jokes in the show. And to top it all off, the SONG!!!! I literally have the entire thing memorized because of just how much I’ve watched this episode. The way Fry and Leela work together to save Bender too is just too good. Overall, this episode is just incredible.

Some other runner ups include Silence of the Clamps, Lethal Inspection, and Ghost in the Machines.

I’d love to hear everyone else’s top 5!! :)))

#futurama

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irishseeeker · 3 years

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Since you’re answering asks about the show—how do you think they’re going to handle Bridgerton house in season 2 and going forward? When Anthony and Kate move in and the rest of them move to number 5, most of the Bridgerton kids still live with Violet (idk where Colin and Benedict live in the show…?) And since Bridgerton house was one of the main sets in season one, it would be jarring to suddenly have the main characters of future seasons be living in a house other than Bridgerton house.

So…do Anthony and Kate move in with the rest of the family? Do they allow Violet to stay there until the kids grow up? (side note the scenes between Violet and Kate about passing down the title of viscountess is gonna make me so emo) Will they decide to break my heart and have kathony live off screen at Aubrey hall during all future seasons so it’s not a problem? Am I thinking about this way too much? 🤣

Hi Anon! Hope you’re having a good day! That's such a good question and something I've thought a lot about.

Bridgerton House is definitely the most important set and the main place where they all have dinner and congregate and later this will be No.5 from S3. I think they’re going to increase the amount of scenes all the Bridgertons have together as those scenes are so popular from S1 and the show is about the Bridgertons after all! Plus Ben and Colin will be focused on big time this season to build up for their seasons. Bridgerton is such an expensive show they’ll want to use the same sets as much as possible and they’re already expanding a lot for S2 with Aubrey Hall, the Sharmas and probably a few more sets. A lot of Anthony’s scenes take place in his father’s office in the books and S1 and they definitely will in S2, so Bridgerton House is very important. I reckon we’ll see Kate, Edwina and Mary in Bridgerton House for tea or dinner with all the Bridgertons at some point as well pre and post engagement. Bridgerton House is where we’ll mainly see all the unmarried Bridgertons together, especially Hyacinth, Greg, Eloise and Francesca as that’s where we saw them most in S1 (excluding parties and balls) and there’s not a whole lot going on for them unless the smaller ones get more of a plot but I doubt that. We’ll definitely see more of Eloise everywhere like we did in S1 anyway as her plot will be her debut to society!

I’m kind of curious if they’ll show any of Eloise’s suitors and possibly one she actually likes? As she does get a few proposals over the years in her book but she has 0 interest in any of them. I reckon we’ll see her just being the worst, funniest debutant in the history of London haha.

I think they’ll definitely do the move to No.5 but not properly until S3. It definitely will be jarring but I’m thinking they’ll make it a plot line for sure to show the transition and sort of the emotional impact of it, leaving behind Edmund and their family home. I could see Kate and Anthony moving into Bridgerton House in the last episode in the final scene of S2 like a year later with Kate recovered from her leg injury and pregnant, to set the scene for S3 as most of that will take place in No.5 with Sophie and the Bridgertons. No.5 is important for S3. I also think we'll see Violet and the Bridgertons having a moment together before they leave their childhood home either at the end of S2 or at the beginning of S3, as that's going to be emotional for them, particularly Violet as she’s leaving the place she lived with Edmund behind.

TVWLM ends in 1814 and AOFAG begins in 1815, which is when Edmund II is born. I’m thinking Kate and Anthony's role in the first 2 episodes could be Kate's struggles to adapting to motherhood or as Viscountess now they're living in Bridgerton House or something like that. Anthony struggles too possibly? Moving in with the family is actually a really good idea as that would definitely result in some humour as they all could get very sick of each other? Or it would just make it easier for the writers and the show to have everyone together. They could move in with the Bridgertons first and then they could leave just before the time skip in AOFAG. I really don’t see them all living together as that’s not how the books do it but who knows! I just really hope Anthony and Kate have a good sub-plot in S3. I'm thinking the first episode of S3 will be mainly about Sophie's childhood and life (or they could do it in flashbacks but for Sophie it would make more sense to just tell her story at once to understand why she runs away) and it will end with the ball scene, so Edmund’s birth fits in perfectly around then before the 2 year time skip. The ball scene could even be episode 2!

This also will be the year Francesca enters society and marries John so John courting Franny & their engagement will definitely be a sub-plot in S3, maybe only for an episode or two or we might only get an introduction and then we see them married. This will happen before the time skip which I can’t see them avoiding as it just throws the entire time line off. Anthony will be relatively involved in that plot as well and so will Violet.

Daphne's role in S2 intrigues me as she won't have Simon so to see where she fits in and if she has a plot herself will indicate what's in store for Anthony, Ben etc when they're married after their seasons and if their spouses stay on. Although, they will have a bigger role than Daphne regardless as the brothers always have scenes together and are relatively involved in their brother’s love lives. I can see Phoebe leaving after S2 but I would like if they focused on motherhood for Daphne in S2 and possibly helping Anthony out with courting and his love life if she does end up going. It would be sad but hopefully she stays! She might not really be in S2 we won’t know for ages anyway!

The show is so expensive that I think they’ll minimize the amount of sets they have to set up or locations they shoot on and for S2, I’d be surprised if Ben and Colin aren’t nearly always in Bridgerton House. Benedict and Colin seem to be living in Bridgerton House in the show from what we've seen so far, they're always at the house and they return from balls to Bridgerton House. Anthony is the only one who doesn't live there but we never see his bachelor lodgings and I don't think we will until their wedding night, unless we seem some scenes of him brooding on his own and pining over Kate haha. I can see Anthony gifting Benedict My Cottage at some point in S2 to set him up for season 3 and to help him escape London, but in his book Ben has his own bachelor lodgings which I don’t think we’ll see until S3. I don't think we'll see Colin's bachelor lodgings until S4 as that's when he gets a place in RMB after returning from his travels. I think they'll want to keep Colin in the show as much as possible so any time skips that's when he'll be traveling like when they ended S1 with him going off to travel and then flash forward to a year and Daphne and Simon have their baby. So when he’s in London, he’ll always be at Bridgerton House or No.5.

Going by the first season, I presume there's going to be 8 episodes in season 2. I think Kate and Anthony will be married by episode 5 like Simon and Daphne were. That leaves 3 episodes of Anthony's 'I won't love my wife idiot' stage. I would love for us to get a full episode of their honeymoon in Aubrey Hall but I don't think we will considering the book didn't have it and we're going to get at least 2 episodes in Aubrey Hall anyway. I do think one of the post-marriage episodes will be focused on Kate adjusting to the role of Viscountess and her bonding and having some very sweet moments with Violet and the Bridgertons. I hope they'll focus on her insecurities and her struggles with how Anthony is behaving and just how society has been treating her. Especially when Anthony ran off to Aubrey Hall after their engagement and left Kate all alone to deal with the whispers? I hope they address that and he gets some slack for it. I think there’s going to be a good few scenes in S2 at the Sharma residence as well and a few balls, definitely one at Lady Danburys, so we’re in for an amazing season!

Who knows what will happen but I could see them using very similar sets for Bridgerton House & No.5 in future seasons so it wouldn’t be a big change. No. 5 will still be a big household if it has the 4 youngest and Violet and occasioanlly Colin and Ben. I’m still not so sure about Eloise’s book and on, I think the strongest and most popular books plot wise are Anthonys, Benedicts and Colins and everyone is hyped for them. Daphne’s did extremely well though with a weaker book (that was still good just not a favourite of mine) so I have high hopes for them to do all the Bridgerton’s books. What I think they could do is possibly combine Eloise and Francescas for S5? As they’re both taking place at the same time in 1824. Gregory’s book was okay but it could be a good adaption as there’s so much going on. Who knows! They’ve already included Marina and Philip so that seems like an indication they would love to do them all and plan to?

I really went on here (again, do I ever stop talking). I don’t know what anyone else thinks but I’d love to hear! I could talk about Bridgerton forever tbh and I really do need to get back to the many invoices waiting for me <3 hope you’re having a good day anon!

#bridgerton #hahaha I really could go on for hours #anthony bridgerton #kate sharma #eloise bridgerton #francesca bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #violet bridgerton #the viscount who loved me #an offer from a gentleman #when he was wicked #to sir philip with love #marina thompson #romancing mr bridgerton #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington

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neroushalvaus · 2 years

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downton for the blorbo meme 🌼

Thank you for enabling me gushing about My Show, anon! <3

blorbo: Well. Well. He is the character I think about when I hear the term "Blorbo from My Shows". He has bewitched me, body and soul. He is my current icon. He is a goddamn loser. I have loved him for six years. My love for him has once again struck me like a bolt of lightning. He will probably be the answer to most of the simlish words on this meme. He is Thomas Barrow.

scrunkly: Is it weird that all my scrunklies are literal children... Anyway, Sybbie, George and Marigold. They are my scrunklies.

scrimblo bimblo: I think Mrs Patmore is underappreciated considering that apart from being one of the funniest characters on the show (I accidentally wrote "hottest characters"... freudian slip much...), she is also a very interesting character and has an interesting (gay) dynamic with Mrs Hughes. Also! There can never be enough love for the actual gay icon that is Septimus Spratt.

glup shitto: Philip Villiers, the Duke of Crowborough with his ten minutes of screentime during which he tried and failed to manipulate mansplain malewife himself some goddamn pocket money. Him never being mentioned again was homophobia at it's finest. But tbh, Downton has many glub shittos for me since the show is so good at introducing good concepts and then abandoning them. Margie Drewe is my actual favourite character who never did anything wrong. Irina Kuragin is a milf supreme and I wish she pulled me out of a carriage by my hair. Thomas Barrow absolutely power bottomed the butler Stowell and good for him. Miss Wilkins and Sarah O'Brien got to know each other in the biblical sense.

poor little meow meow: Thomas Barrow. 101%. He is just so pathetic. I'm pretty sure he'd fall apart and cry if you told him you are proud of him. I want to lift his chin up with my gilded walking stick like he was a shivering victorian street urchin.

horse plinko: Tormenting Thomas Barrow is really fun! Sadly Julian Fellowes agrees with me!

eeby deeby: I send Sarah O'Brien to superhell for her extremely lesbian crimes. And you know, for using society's homophobia to get her former best friend fired. And also for attempting to kill her girlfriend in season one. But you know. I love to see a girlboss winning.

Send me a fandom and I'll tell you my blorbo etc!

#thanks <3 #everything a goddamn ordeal in area family #ask memes

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alixanonymous · 3 years

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Things That Got Me Through 2020: A Long List Of Random Recommendations

Hi! 2020 was awful but throughout it I found a lot of amazing things to get me through it. So just in case things get tough some times in 2021, here’s some wonderful distractions, amazing stories, and things that I just loved in general. Hope you enjoy any that you give a try! Also, I always love new suggestions if anyone has any!

BOOKS (Or actually just one book because I did not read nearly as much as I though I did)

- The Martian By Andy Weir (Sounds like it would be really depressing, actually one of the funniest books I’ve ever read! Can’t recommend more.)

WEBCOMICS (What a great year to discover WebToons I tell you)

- Lore Olympus By Rachel Smythe (Worth the hype in my opinion!)

- Let’s Play By Mongie (I enjoyed this much more than I could’ve imagined, my romance loving self squealed when reading certain parts.)

- SubZero By JunePurr (Amazing balance between romance and plot.)

- The Remarried Empress By Alphatart/Sumpul (Reads like a soap-opera, main character is my favorite type of female protagonist, smart, confident, and not ashamed of it, love interest is adorably infatuated and I live for it.)

- In the Bleak Midwinter; By Kat/Ali (I got sucked into this one. The world building is great, the world itself is so interest and I loved the premise.)

ANIMATED SHOWS (20 minute episodes came in clutch this year with my short attention span due to anxiety)

- The Dragon Prince (If you like animated series at all, you’ll like this I think.)

- RWBY (Season 1 is good, Seasons 2-3 are pretty great, 4-5 were not my favorites by any means, 6 is pretty good, Season 7 was sooo good!)

- Ever After High (Thanks @raesofmoonlight for the recommendation! Possibly the best character design I’ve ever seen. Watch it if you can!)

- Avatar: The Last Airbender (Zuko alone is worth watching the show, add in all the others, the world building, the humor, the writing, just watch it already if you haven’t yet.)

- DC Superhero Girls (Sometimes I think about this show’s version of Bruce Wayne and start cracking up.)

LIVE ACTION SHOWS (I’ve been so caught up in animated shows since March I forgot I watched some really good live action ones till right now)

- Galavant (A medieval musical. Pretty short episodes, hilariously silly, my favorite way to lose twenty minutes of my life at a time. If you’re not sold yet, how about this: They started the second season by singing a song about how they didn’t think they’d get a second season.)

- Anne With An E (Gilbert Blythe owns my heart and soul and wow the show is so much better than the typical teen dramas. Love the historical aspect too!)

- Jane The Virgin (I got so attach to this show’s character my goodness. Top tier writing I think.)

- The Umbrella Academy (This show is so freaking addicting. It’s never what I expect it to be and I love that. I love the music, I love the action scenes, I love the characters. Watching the second season now, wow the characters make you feel for them. )

MOVIES (I’ve never watched so many movies as I did this year so here are my favorites, although half are DC animated ones so sorry if that’s not your thing)

- The Martian (One of the best book to movie adaptations I’ve ever seen, Matt Damon was the perfect person to play Mark Watney. )

- The Entire DC Animated Movie Universe (My favorites are Justice League: War, Son of Batman, Batman v.s. Robin, Justice Leagus v.s. Teen Titans, Reign Of The Supermen, Justice League: Dark Apokolips War but I think it’s worth just watching them all in order. The characters are all so great. Most of them have amazing team dynamics.)

- Batman: Under The Red Hood (If you like Batman, you’ll probably like this movie or maybe you’ll hate how emotional it makes you either way.)

- Miss Americana (This is the Taylor Swift documentary. I actually just discovered how much I love her music and I found this to be super fascinating in showcasing how the media portrays female entertainers.)

MUSIC (I have this horrible feat or people judging my musical taste so if you do please do it silently)

- Taylor Swift (This year has really just been non-stop Taylor Swift for me. Her albums Folklore and Evermore in particular helped me come to terms and cope with 2020 as a whole.)

- Hamilton: An American Musical (I’m not even going to bother to sell this one, there’s no need to.)

- The Little Mermaid: The Musical (I like fairy tales okay and Alan Menken is a musical genius and I will fight anyone who’s says otherwise.)

YOUTUBE (This definitely needed it’s own category)

- Philip DeFranco (I got really overwhelmed with all the news this year so most days I decided to just watch his twenty minute show everyday and it really helped. Just a good way to keep up to date without getting overwhelmed.)

- Technoblade (Okay, real talk: MCYT took over my life since I discovered it in August. I could make a whole separate list of all my favorite minecraft youtubers but I decided to just put my favorite, the Blood God himself. You might consider it a sign of the times that my family and I watched The Potato War saga on the television on Thanksgiving. Highly recommend his whole Hypixel Skyblock series or just his Skywars Solos or everything he does actually.)

- BuzzFeed Unsolved (Great way to get a good laugh in and also learn about creepy cold cases and also aliens. The two host, Shane and Ryan are the best. Ghost in general are fun.)

- Tingting ASMR (Shoot! I almost forgot! A large portion of my sleep last year was due to this woman. I’m not really one for ASMR myself, I don’t really love whispering in general but I really love her approach and I find it super calming!)

Okay! I think that’s it. I hope some of these things bring some of you joy or peace. Please give me any suggestions you have. I am always open to recommendations. Happy New Year everyone!

#Recommendations #Book Recommendations #Movie Recommendations #Random Recommendations #So Long 2020

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michelles-garden-of-evil · 3 years

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Quiz: Which Desmond Hall Character Are You?

SPOILER WARNING FOR DESMOND HALL ARCS I AND II

Last week, I was going to work on finishing my next review, but then my muse pulled me aside and ordered me to write a Desmond Hall personality quiz while threatening me with a conjure doll and silver pin. Not every Desmond Hall character is in this quiz, only the ones that I thought would be the funniest to write. Enjoy!

1. You have just arrived at an ancient manor house enveloped in darkness that rests atop a sinister network of haunted caves. When you learn this, how do you react? A. Lie in bed for several days while writhing in agony. B. Accept it and keep myself busy while pining for my voodoo island home. C. Act insufferably smug, because soon the house will belong to me. D. Go search for creatures in the caves to alleviate my boredom and satisfy my compulsion to do random disturbing things. E. Barely react at all because the writers have forgotten that I have a personality. F. Swan around while talking to myself about how the manor looks like something out of a storybook. G. Wish that I could live there again, because I've been trapped in a trippy magical closet for months.

2. The daily newspaper arrives and the headline reads, "GIRL BRUTALLY MURDERED.” What is your response? A. Retreat to my bedchamber and panic loudly about how I hope no one discovers that I’m the murderer. B. Get the body buried and all evidence concealed. C. Observe a moment of silence for my former doxy, then promptly forget she ever existed. D. Cut out the photo of the victim's face, suspend it from a papier-mâché gallows tree, and display it prominently in the foyer. E. Feel moderately concerned for my safety, but not too much. My ghost boyfriend will protect me...maybe. F. Scheme to blackmail the killer into marrying me. G. Wonder, "Was that my brother again?"

3. Your hobbies include: A. Moping around the manor house in fancy suits and contorting my face as though trying unsuccessfully to relieve myself. B. Reciting dramatic monologues with bits of scenery caught between my teeth! C. Plotting murder, robbery, and the corruption of young maidens while sipping sherry. D. I wander. I visit. I'm here and there. I'm a kind of ghost of Desmond Hall. E. I used to enjoy rebelling, flouncing, and bickering, but I've lost my taste for those. Now I prefer hanging out with old people in a cottage that smells of strange spices. F. Talking to and stroking my sweet little snake. (By which I mean "reptile with no legs and a forked tongue." Get your mind out of the gutter.) G. Necromancy.

4. Your favorite foods include: A. Bubbly eggs cooked in champagne. Definitely not kippers. B. The cuisine of my native island, before the evil of THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES made all the plants poisonous and killed all the animals! C. My spouse's hors d'oeuvres--but only when I don't have to eat them off the floor. D. Sugar, strawberries and cream, and the very best...*checks Teleprompter*...butter. E. Muffins laced with magical herbs. F. The delicious misery of the man who tried to strangle me and of all the other women who want him. G. I don't eat anymore. I'm a ghost. Food passes right through me--literally.

5. What turns you on? A. A lover who is unpredictable but not murderously crazy, and who likes to wear lacy nighties. B. I would not know! I have not felt those urges in three hundred years! C. Money. D. Anyone from my preferred gender who actually wants to spend time with me. E. A ghost who behaves like Edward Cullen. F. Jean Paul Desmond! He is the sexiest male character in the history of television. G. Submission and unquestioning devotion. Also, lesbians.

6. What is your signature look? A. Highly flattering mod suits combined with an unflattering combover. B. A long black Victorian dress. C. A stodgy gray/green suit, which is probably in desperate need of Febreze after being worn three days in a row. D. Turtlenecks. E. Bleached blonde hair and faddish early ‘70s fashions. F. Long pointed fingernails, false eyelashes, and a creepy grin. G. I once hung from the ceiling with my shirt torn open. Does that count?

7. Everyone has a skeleton in their closet. What is yours? A. Although I want to reach out and help the beautiful young women who come to me, instead my hands reach out to kill! B. I single-handedly cursed my employer's family by signing his grandfather’s (misspelled) name on a pledge to the Dark Lord. C. I am a black widower. D. I used to participate in necromancy rituals with my dear cousin. E. I stole a piece of my mother's jewelry and sold it at a pawn shop. F. I am a priestess of the Serpent God. G. Funny you should mention skeletons. My closet has a literal one hanging in it.

8. If you had to guess, which of these personages were you most likely in a past life? A. A freebooter possessed by the Devil. B. Myself. C. Henry Seewald--who looks exactly like a toddler version of me--transported back in time via the 49th hexagram. D. Someone named Claude. E. A young girl sacrificed by a priestess who looked like my mother. F. Ophelia, if she were real. G. My great-uncle with the same first name as me, who was allegedly disowned for being a poet.

9. Your favorite Dark Shadows character is: A. Barnabas Collins. B. Magda Rakosi. C. Nicholas Blair. D. David Collins. E. Carolyn Stoddard. F. Angelique Bouchard. G. Quentin Collins.

10. What from 1970 Dark Shadows do you believe was most likely inspired by Strange Paradise? A. The character of Judah Zachery, who is highly reminiscent of THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES. B. The use of a retcon to completely change Angelique's backstory. C. The name Desmond Collins. D. The implied reincarnation in the Summer of '70 arc that (sadly) never got explored as much as it should have been. E. The subplot about Quentin falling in love with Daphne's ghost. F. The Leviathan cult's use of snake iconography. G. The carousel in Tad and Carrie's playroom.

If you answered mostly A, you are Jean Paul Desmond, richest man in the world and master of Desmond Hall. Tall, dark, and incredibly handsome in spite of his receding hairline, Jean Paul is the victim of two self-imposed curses, one of which causes him to strangle people when the Mark of Death appears on his hand (which is totally not a reflection of some repressed or hidden part of his personality, having formerly displayed megalomania and control freak tendencies on his island). When not under the effects of this curse, he is the living embodiment of charm and sweetness and attracts would-be partners like moths to a flame. Logically, the same must be true about you, because online personality quizzes are never wrong. ;)

If you answered mostly B, you are Raxl, daughter of the Priestess of the Serpent and winner of the Canadian 1969 and 1970 scenery-chewing contests. Far older than she looks, the Desmond family’s housekeeper may not be as loyal as she appears, depending on the whims of whomever wrote the plot outline for the final arc. She is an expert on all things occult and supernatural, from tarot cards to the Egyptian Key. Even after her retcon, she is awesome.

If you answered mostly C, you are Laslo Thaxton, husband of Ada (Desmond) Thaxton and master of Desmond Hall in the absence of Jean Paul and Philip. I would say that you are an unscrupulous, greedy Devil-worshiper like Laslo, but I’ve always hated those personality quizzes that make moral judgments about people just because they share some traits in common with the villain. Therefore, I’m just going to assume that you are most likely a decent person who only got Laslo because you happen to love money and Nicholas Blair.

If you answered mostly D, you are Cort Desmond, twenty-something cousin of Jean Paul and Philip. Eccentric and erratic but oh-so-adorable, Cort is a polarizing character loved by some fans for his good looks and (often unintentionally) funny lines, but hated by others for being somewhat of a spoiled brat. Like Hamlet whom he idolizes, he seeks justice for the death of his father, along with the inheritance his Dear Stepfather Laslo wants to steal from him.

If you answered mostly E, you are Holly Marshall--or, rather, what Holly has become since her creator Ian Martin left the show. Formerly a spitfire with a high IQ, a low boiling point, and a love for outdated slang, Holly has become a shell of her former self under the new writers. She spends more time unconscious and hypnotized than not; when she is conscious, she wastes her time pining after an unsuitable love interest who treats her like Edward treats Bella in Twilight. I hope this doesn’t describe you, because, if it does, you should seek help. Don’t be like Desmond Hall-era Holly!

If you answered mostly F, you are Agatha Pruitt, a young seamstress obsessed with Jean Paul. While the master of Desmond Hall has attracted many suitors, none are as strange or disturbing as Agatha, who blackmails him into letting her live at Desmond Hall after his failed murder attempt and proceeds to wreak havoc there along with the Serpent God (who may or may not be Raxl’s Great Serpent) whom she worships.

Finally, if you answered mostly G, you are Jean Paul’s brother, Philip Desmond (not to be confused with his cousin Philip Desmond, or either of the two Philippes des Mondes). A secretive figure largely mysterious even to his own brother, the handsome Philip dabbles in the dark arts and other mysteries, which ultimately leads to his disappearance into the caves beneath Desmondton and reappearance as a ghost. His character alignment is unclear--he may be evil, or just chaotic neutral--but one thing is clear: whoever messes with Philip has the Devil to pay.

#strange paradise #desmond hall arc i #desmond hall arc ii #dark shadows #quiz #justforfun #i'm cort by the way #although i thought i would be agatha because of my answer to question number 5 #a lot of people think of sp as a ripoff of ds #but in truth the copying and inspiration went both ways #case in point: the carousel which sp introduced several months earlier #also you're welcome for that bad ada subtitle

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Funniest Guest Cast Characters

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Warning: contains Brooklyn Nine-Nine spoilers.

Brooklyn Nine Nine is one of the funniest sitcoms around thanks to its fantastic ensemble cast and just-broad-enough humour blended with almost-realistic cop show elements. But that great regular cast are supported by an equally brilliant array of recurring characters and guest stars. In this list, we’re celebrating the funniest of the show’s less often-seen characters, those guest appearances who’ve turned up once or twice to inject a fresh burst of comic energy into the show.

Note that we’re not counting regular recurring characters like Adrian Pimento, Madeline Wuntch, or Kevin Cozner, aka Mr Raymond Holt. If they turn up more than once a year, or in more than three episodes in one season, they’re off the list.

12. Adam Sandler, played by himself in Operation: Broken Feather, Season 1, Episode 15

Adam Sandler’s appearance as himself in Season One is beautifully self-deprecating as well as funny. His deadpan delivery of “I’m a serious person” is hilarious in just the right way – of course the real Sandler is, presumably, as serious and as complex as anyone else, but he knows his own public persona and just how to play on it in the right way to raise a different kind of laugh. The interest in antiquities, the planned film about the Russian Revolution, it’s all funny – and somewhat undercut, even more amusingly, by his taunting of Jake straight afterwards. The whole scene did help to flush out a criminal though, so it wasn’t a total loss for Jake.

Funniest moment: Admitting his “serious” Russian Revolution film features Kevin James as Trotsky, and a wife who doesn’t wear a bra through the whole film.

11. Geoffrey Hoytsman, played by Chris Parnell in two episodes in Season 2

When Jake’s lawyer girlfriend Sophia uses her boss as a transparent excuse to break up with him (by going on ‘pause’), Jake wilfully misunderstands and decides that the boss is the key problem, so he sets off to make the man like him. It all goes horribly wrong when Jake finds Hoytsman snorting cocaine in the bathroom, which Hoytsman claims he was doing accidentally while screaming loudly that Jake is arresting him to the whole room of lawyers. Sophia somehow still ends up blaming Jake – probably because she simply wanted to break up with him in the first place – and Hoytsman ends up returning to take Jake hostage and quite seriously threaten his life later in the season. Parnell��s over-the-top performance as a character who is, of course, high for much of the time, is what really sells the character.

Funniest moment: Sniffing cocaine off his collar in the middle of the police precinct.

10. Jessica Day, played by Zooey Deschanel in The Night Shift, Season 4, Episode 4

Back in 2016, both New Girl and Brooklyn Nine Nine were active Fox sitcoms, so the network decided to do a crossover event in which the New Girl characters travelled to New York City and ran into the 99. Most of the crossover scenes actually ended up in the New Girl episode, but Zooey Deschanel’s character Jess Day did make a brief appearance in the otherwise stand-alone Brooklyn Nine Nine half of the crossover. While the New Girl episode provided a lot more context for Jess’s feelings about New York and her stress level surrounding Schmidt’s mom’s car and the soup she’s carrying, her appearance as an apparently slightly nutty woman who resists Jake’s attempts to commandeer the car is an entertaining interlude during the half hour.

Funniest moment: Insisting that Jake’s oath to serve and protect applies to her soup.

9. Philip Davidson, played by Sterling K. Brown in The Box, Season 5, Episode 14

If this were a list of the show’s ‘best’ guest characters, rather than ‘funniest’, the top ranked would surely be Philip Davidson, played by Sterling K. Brown. ‘The Box’ is a tight, taught bottle episode that takes full advantage of Brooklyn Nine Nine’s hybrid status as both sitcom and cop show, and Brown’s Davidson forms a strong third of a triangle in this three-header with Holt and Peralta. It’s a really strong performance, but given that he’s playing a tough-to-crack murder suspect, not really the funniest, exactly. Still, he gets a good few laughs when appropriate over the course of a really engaging half hour of comedy/cop show crossover.

Funniest moment: When Davidson finally cracks, he cracks hard – his confession is equal parts triumphant, cathartic, and hilarious.

8. Karen Haas, played by Maya Rudolph in Coral Palms Parts 1&2, Season 4, Episodes 1&2

Maya Rudolph has a good line going in slightly weary authority figures (see also: The Good Place). Handling Holt and Peralta while they’re in witness protection is not an easy job and her exasperation at Jake’s refusal to accept his situation is well played. Haas is really funny, though, when she starts bringing her own issues into her official duties, clearly trying to get permission to cheat on her husband from someone, anyone – and Holt is happy to oblige.

Funniest moment: Whoever it is she wants to sleep with is “really young” – something that clearly shouldn’t be funny, but the face Rudolph pulls as she says it is what sells it.

7. Lin-Manuel Miranda as David Santiago in The Golden Child, Season 6, Episode 9

Miranda is marvellously smarmy as Amy’s too-perfect brother, her demanding parents’ favourite, who snubs popular culture and shows off by saving people’s lives (including Amy’s own husband). Amy’s delighted reaction when he’s arrested for cocaine possession and deep disappointment when he turns out to be innocent are highlights, but the funniest scene by far is the dance-off between David and Amy, in which both comprehensively demonstrate that dancing is not among the Santiago family’s many strengths.

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Funniest moment: David thinks elbows should form a bigger part of a dance routine than they really should.

6. Frederick, played by Nick Offerman in Ava, Season 3, Episode 8

Any time we meet Captain Holt’s friends and family, many of whom share his stoic, Vulcan-like demeanour, it’s always hilarious. JK Simmons as his old friend Dillman very nearly made the list, but he was just pipped to the post by Ron Swanson – sorry, Nick Offerman – as Holt’s ex-boyfriend. There’s a lot of crossover between Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine Nine among the cast and crew and Offerman isn’t even the only Parks & Rec alumnus to appear on this list, but he’s probably the one whose appearance most quickly calls to mind his earlier character. The idea that Holt’s ex-boyfriend is Ron F-ing Swanson is just genius. OK, Frederick lacks Swanson’s magnificent moustache (though he has a glorious beard) and he’s even more brusque and stand-off-ish, but he’s a perfect match for Holt, even more in their post-break-up mutual antagonism than we imagine they were in their relationship.

Funniest moment: His straight-faced insistence at the door that they have a “wooden-duck situation”.

5. Mark Devereaux, played by Nathan Fillion in Serve & Protect, Season 4, Episode 14

It’s always funny any time police characters in a cop show visit the set of a TV cop show, and for added meta humour, in this case the actor playing the fictional detective is played by an actor who works on a cop show (albeit as a non-cop character). Phew! That’s a lot of layers of meta. Nathan Fillion’s pompous star who apparently thinks playing a detective makes him a detective is very funny, and it gets better when it turns out that was a ruse to cover up his own petty criminal activity before he folds like wet paper. It’s just a shame we didn’t get to see more of him.

Funniest moment: Devereaux tries turning on the angry detective act from his show to cover up his own crime, only to be confronted with quite a lot more than a “shred” of evidence and fold immediately.

4. Eleanor Horstweil, played by Kathryn Hahn in Hostage Situation, Season 3, Episode 11

We heard a lot about Boyle’s ex-wife over the first couple of seasons, partly because Boyle was still living in her basement, hanging out with her new husband Hercules. We knew what sort of person Eleanor was when Boyle explained that he gets the beach house from December to February. When we finally meet her in the flesh, Kathryn Hahn does not disappoint – Eleanor is surely one of the most purely horrible characters we’ve seen on the show (and yes, we’re including all the murderers). She hits a 90-year-old priest with her car and then destroys Boyle’s frozen sperm, all with no apparent sense of guilt, and she largely gets away with it, too. But she does it all with a perfectly deadpan expression and carefree attitude, each horrifying act funnier that the last.

Funniest moment: She goes further than Jake ever thought she would when she “shoots a hostage” – i.e., throws some of Boyle’s sperm down the drain.

3. Seth Dozerman, played by Bill Hader in New Captain, Season 3, Episode 1

Bill Hader’s screentime on the show is relatively brief, but he is hilarious from start to finish, attacking the squad with every shouted command like he’s firing metaphorical bullets at them. It might actually have been really cool to see the squad try to deal with him as their Captain for more than one episode, with his extremely demanding requirements and very highly strung personality, but on the other hand, perhaps this is a joke that works better in small quantities. Any character whose dying words are “Tell my wife I love her work ethic” is probably a character better enjoyed for a shorter period of time.

Funniest moment: Both heart attacks are very funny, but the first (non-fatal) one just pips it for the sheer suddenness of it.

2. Caleb, played by Tim Meadows in three episodes in Seasons 5 and 6

Jake is shocked to discover his only friend in maximum security prison is a cannibal (though he would prefer to be identified as a wood-worker), having assumed everyone in protective custody was a wrongly accused police officer. Caleb is surely Brooklyn Nine Nine’s best streak of really, really dark humour – not only did he murder and eat nine and a half people, they were small children too. Every reference he makes to his “nightmare” past is sickly hilarious, and gets worse and worse every time, including a reference to his “skin suit”. But he really does care for Jake, even if he still kind of wants to eat him. The sheer audacity of the black humour surrounding this character is fantastic and always funny.

Funniest moment: Caleb shows that he has a softer side when he saves Jake’s life – but he immediately deeply regrets it and would not do it again.

1. Doug Judy, played by Craig Robinson in multiple episodes (one episode or two-parter per year)

Yes, we carefully defined a recurring character as someone who is either in more than three episodes or who appears more than once a year specifically so that we could include Craig Robinson‘s Doug Judy. It’s our list and we make the rules. There’s something twistedly beautiful about Jake and Doug Judy’s tender but tense friendship, even in the early years when Judy is constantly double-crossing poor Jake. The two of them have perfect comic chemistry, and each running gag in their friendship, especially their fondness for swaggering out in a new outfit or disguise, just gets funnier and funnier. Long may Doug Judy continue to turn up roughly once every twelve months to harass his long suffering best friend.

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Funniest moment: Having escaped yet again, Doug Judy leaves Jake a pre-recorded message in a karaoke booth – complete with a full hour of pre-recorded singing for Jake to duet with.

The post Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Funniest Guest Cast Characters appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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warehouse13pod · 5 years

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Show Notes 104 "Claudia"

Knock, Knock, Agents.

At long last, Claudia has joined the Warehouse!

To listen to this weeks episode, click here or click play on the embedded player below.

Let’s kick things off! We started out this week with shout outs to our Patreon supporters. You could get a shout out too, if you support us on Patreon. Check out our Patreon here. (How many times can I type out Patreon before you click on our Patreon link? …Patreon)

P.S. We’re considering adding sending you actual fudge as a reward tier! Let us know in the comments if you’d be interested in that!

We also talk about seeing young Artie. Miranda questioned the darkness and bushiness of Saul’s eyebrows in the flashback scenes and thought they were, perhaps, a bit overdone. Turns out nothing could be further from the truth!

Check out those brows on young Saul Rubinek!!!!

I haven’t read any fanfic about the moment of glorious off-screen storytelling that was The Monkey Mission, so I can’t recommend any. But if anybody knows any good fanfic on the subject matter, I’m happy to update this post so I can link to it. Because, honestly, it’s one of the funniest moments of the show so far.

Anyway, on to the truly important stuff:

CLAUDIA IS HERE!

For those tracking our color theory of orange vs. purple, we did mention that there was a subversion in that, for the first time, something that seemed dangerous (Claudia’s handcuffs) glowed purple instead of orange, and it made us question whether or not Claudia was a “bad guy.” Spoiler: She’s not a bad guy.

Here’s a screengrab of that moment.

Miranda (and Eddie McClintock) gave us an amazing Actor’s Spotlight on Allison Scagliotti. She mentioned that she first saw Scagliotti as the character of Mindy Crenshaw on the Nickelodeon series, Drake & Josh. (For listeners and readers in countries outside of the United States, we discussed the enduring influence of Nickelodeon on mine and Miranda’s childhoods in the show notes for 103 “Magnetism”).

Here’s a younger Scagliotti as Mindy:

Miranda mentioned getting the proper pronunciation of Scagliotti’s name from Episode 21 of the podcast Let’s Talk About Me, Baby. That’s also where she learned that one of Scagliotti’s many artistic endeavors was time in the band Nice Enough People. She noted that Scagliotti had a starring role in the show, Stitchers and also that her work as guest starring roles in various TV shows goes under appreciated. We talked about the show Person of Interest in the show notes for our Surprise Interview with Eddie McClintock. Remember? That guy who is such a deep, intensely dark character that he even makes the lighting dark? You know, this guy:

Scagliotti guest stars on the 20th Episode of Season 2 of the show, titled “In Extremis” and does a really remarkable job. Here’s a screengrab of her in that role.

In the episode, Miranda and I also talk about how we were the exact same age as Allison Scagliotti when the episode aired. Here’s a pick of Miranda and I at that age making goofy faces for reasons neither of us remembers.

Moving on a bit, we talked about how cool the durational spectrometer was!!!!! For more information on real life spectrometers and what they’re used for, click here.

In that same scene, we learn that Pete’s sister is deaf, and that’s why Pete knows how to read lips. If you’re looking to learn how to lip read, here’s a website devoted to it.

We also talked a lot about the discussion of mental health in this episode. Miranda mentioned that young women in the Victorian era were often institutionalized for things that were incredibly absurd. She shared this list of actual reasons that women were institutionalized in the 19th century on Twitter.

Miranda got this list from here.

We’ve also mentioned in these show notes, several times, the Audible original podcast Stephen Fry’s Victorian Secrets. The podcast continues to be relevant to our own, as Episode 9 of the podcast focuses on the history of Victorian asylums.

We also wanted to be sure to mention that while we don’t know the statistics of how many people are voluntarily vs. involuntarily committed to mental hospitals, we do know that voluntarily committing yourself is a massive sign of personal strength and nothing to be ashamed of. Content warning for suicidal ideation, but here is a powerful first person account of a person who chose to check themselves into a psychiatric hospital that is well worth the read. Around the same time, we also discussed the well-documented fact that people who live with mental illness are much more likely to be the victims of crime than they are to commit crimes.

Miranda also talked about how Claudia’s bloody nose is similar to the one Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer used to get from using too much magic.

She also theorized that this occurs in science fiction when a character becomes physically involved with a force beyond their control.

Our awesome guest, Dr. Kathleen Crowther—who is also a fan of Warehouse 13, gave us some amazing information on Rheticus. She mentioned that he wrote poetry and had read one of his about the Beer of Breslau. You can find that poem and its translation here. She also said that his poetry could get quite racy and was based on or inspired by Ovid’s Art of Love. She also mentioned that Rheticus was a student of Nicolaus Copernicus and that they both believed in a heliocentric rather than geocentric model of the solar system. Revolutionary stuff! Get it? REVOLUTION-ary!?!?!?

Anyway, here’s some more information about Rheticus.

Miranda also gave a shout out to the person in charge of hair and makeup for this episode. That person is actually two people. Susan Exton-Stranks was in charge of hair and Marie Nardella was in charge of makeup. They both did an excellent job!

We also talked about how powerful it was that Drew Z. Greenberg—the focus of our Writer’s Appreciation Corner for the week—worked a beautiful story of same-sex love into the story which featured a real queer man from history (Rheticus) at a time when gay marriage wasn’t even legal in the United States yet! He talked a bit about his commitment to queer representation here.

Dr. Crowther also mentioned that the picture used to signify Rheticus in the episode was actually a picture of his contemporary Philip Melanchthon., who was one of Rheticus’ mentors and teachers at the University of Wittenberg. Also, related to his representation of a queer man of history, Crowther told us that one of his friends and, likely, lovers was Heinrich Zell, a German (Prussian?) painter and cartographer.

Then we talked about the heartbreaking scene where Claudia talks about her brother staying up to read her Maria Looney on the Red Planet. This is especially sweet, not just for the reasons we talked about in the podcast, but also because further research on the subject revealed that the Maria Looney book series was a spinoff of the Matthew Looney series which focused on Maria’s brother. So the strong brother-sister connection was present down to the subtext and research. It’s just so sweet.

We also talked about how we finally got to see Artie’s nice car, which friend of the show, @ElZilcho on Twitter pointed out was “Jaguar XK150” and adds that “The XK150 ran for four years, 1957-61” and was an interesting and offbeat choice. El Zilcho also was kind enough to include that they got this information (and the picture we shared below of Artie’s car) from the Internet Movie Cars Database, which is a wonderful database that I would never have even known exists otherwise! Thanks, El Zilcho!

We also mentioned that giving Artie a nice red car was an excellent nod to Giles doing the same thing for himself in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Artie’s Car:

Giles’ car was a similar red car. It is a Red 1987 BMW 325i Convertible that Buffy affectionately calls a “little two-door tramp.”

Picture of Giles’ car for comparison:

We talked about seeing Mrs. Frederic WALK THROUGH AN ACTUAL DOOR THIS EPISODE!

Alas, alack! I was unable to find a gif of this historic moment. She probably ordered Claudia to delete all evidence of this from the internet.

We talked a bit about the show framing Ben Franklin’s lightning rod as an artifact. Learn more about Franklin’s lighting rod here.

We also talked about how Mrs. Frederic uses the word “glean,” which Pete finds weird. I, personally, didn’t find the word that strange. But what do you think? Try incorporating it into your vocabulary. Here’s the definition of “glean” from Merriam-Webster.

We also talked a little bit about how sweet and vulnerable Artie was with Claudia. He immediately goes into Dad-mode and lets his guard down with her. It’s the first time we truly see Artie showing how much he cares about other people.

Later in the episode, Miranda changed my life by helping me realize that Rheticus’ compass is A PORTKEY!

That’s all I have for this week.

Hope you gleaned what needed to be gleaned from these show notes, Agents!

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treehoes · 6 years

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Ok so I saw Hamilton today (4-4-18) on broadway and here’s like a lil review of how amazing it was

•Alexander Hamilton- I was going through so much shock that i was actually there I don’t remember much but the placements of all the characters during the “me? I _____ him” was spot on

•Aaron Burr Sir- The guy playing burr made burr so sarcastic it was great

•My Shot- This is probably my least favorite song but like the bros™️ were hitting the table with cups and their fists and it was so cool

•The Story of Tonight -Very low key bros being bros drinkin

•The Schuyler Sisters- The “and Peggy” was so like hey what about me it was great. Also those girls are phenomenal like wish I was half as talented

•Farmer Refuted-I’m pretty sure thayne Jasperson was the og Samuel seabury and he’s on point like Hamilton was all up in his face and he just pushed ham away and moved his box in front of him

•You’ll Be Back- Ok so king George was a great singer but he sang kinda annoyingly and I thought that really portrayed king George

•right hand man- G-wash was so great honestly and the ensemble in this song was so awesome and on point

•A winters ball- Reliable with the LADIES

•helpless- Lexi Lawson is very different from Phillipa soo but she’s so talented and absolutely killed it also Hercules as the flower girl was the best creative decision ever

•satisfied- Um ok so like actually shook Mandy fricking Gonzales is so talented like at the part at the end she not only killed it, she stabbed it 27 times and drop kicked it to mars like it was a mouth drop open and they redid everything from helpless perfectly 11/10 one of the best parts

•the story of tonight reprise- Drunk Lauren’s is the best

•wait for it- Ok home slices you know how much I went off on how good satisfied was well, this was 100 times better. Burr was better than Leslie Odom by a lot he was the best in the show

•stay alive-There were British soldiers in the background it was cool also Charles Lee was funny cuz he’s a general WEEEE

•10 duel commandments-Laurens, who has just shot someone: fuck ya I just shot that bitch fuck him.

Me: I’m so proud of you

•meet me inside- Ham: im not your son

G-wash: that sound fake but ok

•that would be enough-Again, Lexi Lawson slayed as eliza like she was pregnant and still killing it

•guns and ships- Lafayette was mega fast like I know all the words to that song and I could barely understand what he was saying but he was still great

•history has its eyes on you- G-wash gave ham a sword and when he put it in the holder it made such a nice noise

•Yorktown- I love big group numbers like this the choreography was on point. Right before herc entered they were waving redcoats and he burst through them and it was awesome

•what comes next-King George went im so blue and all the lights turned blue I just really like that part

•dear theodosia-This is my favorite song on the soundtrack and I wish they did a bit more with it onstage cuz they kinda just stood and sat and that was it

•the part where Laurens dies that I can’t remember the name of- Ok this was so sad but herc and Lafayette were up on the top part with the same letter that eliza was reading to ham and I didn’t know that they did that and it made the scene a lot more sad

•non stop- Ham is so extra I love it. They had chairs to represent ham, john jay and Madison and they all faced backwards and when John jay got sick after writing five they flipped his chair around and they took away Madison’s chair when he only did 29 and Hamilton was sitting in the third chair and I just really liked the way they did that. Also when ham goes to burr in the middle of the night there’s a light that makes it look like burr is standing in a doorway and I just really liked that lil detail also non stop is the song that got me and my friend that i went with into Hamilton so it has a special place in my heart

•intermission- Umm pretty boring actually, 15 minutes of random dudes coming on and off stage making sure everything is ok, no singing or dancing 0/10 but here’s a photo of me at intermission

•what’d I miss- Ok so at the start of this, ensemble came out from different places and one of them came from the orchestra hole and I thought that was hilarious also this is 10x better on stage than it is on the soundtrack the ensemble was all on point doin their thing

•cabinet battle one- There was a mic drop and that’s all I wanted from this song and I got it

•take a break- Ok so Philip was great in this he was so nervous doing his poem and eliza was beatboxing like the true queen she is. And the beginning part made great use of the circle thing on the stage like ham was facing back when Philip and Eliza sang and then it circled him to the front and Philip and eliza to face the back I loved it

•say no to this- Spoiler, Hamilton didn’t say no. Also James Reynolds had a southern accent and I thought it was so funny

•the room where it happens- I said it once I’ll say it again burr was phenomenal like his lil dance was awesome this song blew me the fuck away

•Schuyler defeated- Idk what to say about this one except for I liked that Philip and eliza were on the balcony thing off to stage left

•cabinet battle 2- I love that these are rap battle but also epic rap battles of history is literally this cuz it’s a musical about history also when Madison said France it was so small it made it more funny

•Washington on your side- When they go OH the lights went big on the floor it was cool. Also “look at the bill of rights, which I wrote” I always thought Jefferson said which I wrote so since I started listening to Hamilton, I’ve had three tests/quizzes with a question on who wrote the constitution and the bill of rights and I always put Jefferson cuz of this line and I always got it wrong so fuck you hamilton

•one last time- I cried, g-wash was so good at the end of this song I can’t I want to hear him sing this every day

•I know him- When the lady whispered in his ear he was like what cuz like john Adams? That’s short bitch?

•the adams administration- Ham drops a stack of papers from the balcony and it hits the ground on a big beat and it was soo cool

•we know- Hamilton spills his soul out and Jefferson burr and Madison are like :o

•hurricane- I never really liked this song too much but The ham dude did it so amazing and the lighting looked like water and hurricanish

•the Reynolds pamphlet- Ok king George is in this and it’s the funniest thing ever cuz he’s all like I told you that you guys would suck and look! A very upper person had an affair

•burn- I’ve seen bootlegs of this song so many times but there’s nothing like seeing it onstage cuz it goes black at the end and all you can see is the fire from her lantern it’s beautiful

•blow us all away- I love Philips character cuz he’s such a kid and he’s great and talks a little fast

•stay alive reprise- I cried real hard during this, 11/10 death, would cry about again

•its quiet uptown- So sad lots of crying from the big tough looking guy sitting next to me. I really like how angelica narrates it I think that’s cute

•election of 1800- Ham: sad cuz of sons death

Everyone, chanting: choose you Bitch we’re incapable of doing it ourselves

But Jefferson did an I win dance when he was endorsed and burr was like wtf bro guess i gotta kill you now

•your obedient servant- When Hamilton writes a letter to burr it was 5 pages long and they had a different person deliver each page and the last girl had two and was doing a little dance to deliver them it was great

•best of wives best of women- Look at ham writing his note to next of kin, love your wife more she’s Lexi Lawson for Christ’s sake

•the world was wide enough- I cried even tho I knew he was gonna die. Hams part where there was no music was so dramatic and g-wash came on and hams Mom and Laurens/Philip it was so sad I loved it

•who lives who dies who tells your story

Thinking about this is gonna make me cry again but Hamilton was not in this number at all and I thought that was great cuz he’s dead but honestly fabulous way to end the show I’m shoooook

All in all it was a beautiful show, much more than I could have ever asked for. We had terrible seats but that’s ok cuz it’s Hamilton. The lighting and dancing and blocking was phenomenal I never really notice anything like that when I see shows but it was so good I talked about the lighting for 5 minutes straight and I don’t know jack shit about lighting

#hamilton #alexander hamilton #aaron burr #eliza schuyler #eliza hamilton #angelica schuyler #peggy schuyler #maria reynolds #james madison #thomas jefferson #hercules muligan #john laurens #philip hamilton #george washington

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sonofhistory · 7 years

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Ok, I want to know everything you thought when watching the musical. The songs, the characters, the acting. And omg, you look cute in the pictures with Jordan and Rory 💕

Thank you! The only thing that really messed up my night a tiny tiny bit was that I am near sighted so while I could still see tiny details and so forth, all the cast members faces were blurry, especially when it was dark, it was like a partial double and ahhh I had to squint on the see and sit on the edge of my seat–I was crying so it made it worse haha.

So about the cast: Ryan Alvarado (Hamilton) had spirit and he is a GREAT actor, but his voice doesn’t… sound like a Hamilton? If you know what I mean.

At first, I didn’t really like Julia K. Harriman’s performance too much but then we got to “That Would be Enough” and she had… the voice of a god damn angel and I completely fell in love.

DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON RYAN VASQUEZ. Oh my god, you know when you are speechless about something but you have so much to say? That is me. Ryan is NOTHING like Leslie Odom Jr.’s performance and oh my god, Ryan swept the whole show OFF OF OUR FEET. He was the light of my entire evening! He was incredible, absolutely my favorite. Leslie’s voice is soft like a angel and like he acts Burr kinda softly but Ryan?? He’s got this studious kinda serious lift to his voice but when he sings it was INCREDIBLE. Definently the best part of the entire show, he got a lot of laughs too because of how serious his voice was and tired it sounded when talking to Hamilton. Incredible performance. He just seemed like the real life Burr to me.

Okay, everyone’s been saying they love Emmy Ravier Lampman? and I did, but like… not as much as I thought I would. She was a great Angelica and she had such a mannerism of Angelica.

Isaiah Johnson was incredible as George Washington and that is ALL you need to know.

Jordan Donica… you will not believe it. Jordan got the most laughs on the entire show you will not believe it we all could not stop laughing it was incredible. Okay, him as Lafayette was absolutely AMAZING! He aced Guns and Ships and his jump was fantastic!! His French accent was impeccable and his facial expressions were AMAZING, his gestures… ahhhhh his everything! I met him at the stage door and I was so surprised with how modest he was about his performance because he was incredible and he deserves to know that. But now, onto Thomas Jefferson–you will not believe it. All he did was walk on stage–but the way he did it? Everyone started laughing IMMEDIATELY. He was so good, and he was so, so, so funny. He was amazing! He stole the show whenever he was on stage because he caught everyone’s eye. Incredible, amazing, a billion times better than I ever thought.

Mathenee Treco was a FANTASTIC Hercules Mulligan and James Madison. Just his acting was amazing! and his voice totally envelops the entire room.

Ruben J. Carbajal was so lovable?? Oh my god?? He was amazing?? The way he played John Laurens, all like war like and then displayed Philip Hamilton and just so childish you could almost believe it was a small child (hella tall one though) playing him.

My brother adored Amber Iman and that’s all you gotta know.

Rory O’Malley was incredible. He was amazing. He was fantastic. I was laughing my ass off every time he did even a slight movement and I know mainly everyone was laughing at his facial features and I am really sad I couldn’t see them but just he was so good and hilarious–it was my uncle’s favorite part (besides the orchestra).

Daniel Ching as Charles Lee had us all rioting, he was so good.

The opening number “Alexander Hamilton” was really, really great. Ryan Vasquez made it ten times better. The way the spotlight switched from person to person when they are going we fought for him, we died for him… had my mouth hanging open. Ryan did a really good job with acting Alexander Hamilton.

Aaron Burr Sir was so good I cannot take this. Aaron Burr was carrying a book when Hamilton comes up to him and just the way Ryan Vasquez did this like… studios thing was incredible. When Hamilton says that Lafayette’s pants look hot, Hercules Mulligan put his leg up on the table AND SLAPPED IT I WAS SCREAMING. When Lafayette stumbled over “anarchy” the entire theater was in a riot.

For both “The Story of Tonight” and the reprise Ruben’s voice was like an angel oh my god. In the reprise, Jordan started bouncing on his thighs and winking and all the adults in the room were loosing it because of how many weird sex moves he was doing.

The Schuyler Sisters was a good song but like,,, Emmy, Julia and Amber didn’t match up for some reason? Like they were a little out of sync on some parts. But believe me when I say that when Burr walked on and started following around Angelica everyone thought it was the funniest thing ever–he delivered his lines as if he actually was Burr and I am so happy he was on.

Farmers Refuted was hilarious. Like Hamilton keeps stepping in front of the box and to try and get the attention away, Seabury keeps stepping in front of him and acting all pissed off and annoyed. Then Hamilton steps on the box with him and starts waving his hand in front of the paper. When Hercules Mulligan said “oh my god tear this dude apart” I bursted out laughing it was that good–I wasn’t alone.

Right Hand Man was so, so good. Isaiah did a great job and I loved it! And like always, Ryan Vasquez made us all laugh when he got kicked out.

Julia did a great job at acting kinda childish for Eliza in Helpless which I highly enjoyed especially because Angelica is acting super mature.

Woah, Satisfied swept me off my feet. That was absolutely beautiful and amazing, Emmy stumbled over a bit of her lines when the quick part started but other than that, incredible and breath taking.

One of my favorites of the night was Wait for it. I had been waiting and waiting months to hear this song live and it still brings chills and tears to my eyes when I think of Ryan Vasquez’s awing performance. He went flat on the high note when all the ensemble jumps in and starts singing,, but other than that.. I would pay to see just that song again.

The first song of the night where I just melted into my seat was History has its Eyes on you. Isiah had the voice of a god damn angel and it was so beautiful and incredible.

I ALREADY TALKED ABOUT IT BEFORE BUT JORDAN DID MORE THAN JUST AN AMAZING JOB AT LAFAYETTE I WAS AWE STRUCK.

Definitely one of my favorite songs of the evening if not my favorite to watch was The World Turned Upside Down. Absolutely incredible, I am awe struck. Fantastic, amazing, I have chills just talking about it.

Alright, hands down my favorite song to listen to that evening was Dear Theodosia. It was so, so beautiful. I melted into my chair at Burr’s voice it was so beautiful, so so so beautiful. I really have no other words to describe how utterly beautiful it was.

The John Laurens song had me sobbing, that is all you need to know.

NON STOP WAS INCREDIBLE I HAVE NO WORDS PLEASE, PLEASE SPARE ME I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO SEE IT AGAIN. Hamilton and George Washington got laughs?? It was funny, it was amazing and ahhfdahfdhfffdf

Already, all Jordan did in What’d I Miss is WALK ON THE STAGE and everyone lost their shit. He was amazing and so lovable and you already heard all the rest. He kept looking at his own reflection in the top of his cane and acting like an arrogant asshole–it was so good, I was crying in laughter.

Cabinet Battle #1 was even better than I thought it was going to be. Jordan made it incredible and Ryan (Hamilton) did really good on this one too!!! Cabinet Battle #2 was AMAZING and when Jefferson says “did you forget Lafayette?”, Jordan said that in a FRENCH ACCENT. I was like woah… did he just.. I see you boyyy.

My aunt’s favorite was Take a Break–it wasn’t hard to see why. Ruben did such a cute Philip and it was adorable. Emmy and Julia’s voices?? Amazing!! It fit in so well together!!

Amber’s voice was even deeper than Hamilton’s in Say No to This and my brother loved her voice as I said before. Just so deep and melodic.

Alright, here we go… hands down… The Room Where it Happens was my absolute favorite to watch live. You think the music is powerful? You have NO IDEA when you see this song live. Ryan Vasquez did so well?? He went from level 0 to 100 in just five seconds and he is incredible!!

WASHINGTON ON YOUR SIDE WAS SO FUNNY SO MY GODD,,, Jordan pranced around the stage and it was so god damn funny!!!

One Last Time brought my tears… so many tears.. Isaiah had the voice of an angel and he hit all the high notes where they were supposed to be. Incredible.

THE ADAMS ADMINISTRATION WAS AMAZING. So in the song, Alexander Hamilton is standing on the back balcony and he scribbles off a large stack of papers before just DROPPING them onto the stage when he is about to call Adams a mother fucker.

Ryan Alvarado did amazing in We Know.

Okay, I was waiting and waiting and waiting for Hurricane. Hurricane is my most favorite song in all the album and I was waiting forever to see this. It was even more incredible than I though it would be you have no idea. In the eye of the hurricane? Everything paused, everyone is holding furniture and it moves so slowly and beautifully. Tears in my eyes, incredible.

THE REYNOLDS PAMPHLET WAS HILARIOUS. OH MY GOD, I mean you know historically it is sad, BUT JORDAN AND RORY WERE SO FUNNY. All these papers were flying all over the place?? You have no idea unless you see it but everyone was having a riot over Thomas Jefferson bouncing on the table.

Burn was amazing. Burn was probably my aunt’s favorite. I didn’t expect much live but oh man was I wrong. I was sobbing for Eliza and Julia’s voice was so beautiful.

Again Ruben, incredible performance in Blow us all Away. The guy who played George Eacker stumbled on his lines a little bit.

It’s Quiet Uptown was so… sad. I was sobbing my eyes out and I just cannot believe this?? It was so pretty and so sad and I just?? I cannot believe it. It was amazing, it was so beautiful.

The Election of 1800 was hilarious again, everyone had a riot over Jordan and Mathenee. Super, super good and of course Ryan again performed amazing as Burr. He was so believable. I loved it. One of my favorite songs to watch no doubt.

Your Obedient Servant was incredible. I loved it?? Hamilton and Burr did such an amazing god holy shit. It was funny but also so sad to watch because we all know what happens next.

I was sobbing through Best of Wives, Best of Women–that is all you need to know.

The World was Wide Enough took my breath away. Burr and Hamilton delivered such a beautiful performance. The only thing was that Ryan Alvarado’s voice didn’t seem… serious enough? Like… you know… you’re about to get shot and you’re contemplating you legacy, it just kind of ruined the mood just a slight bit. My favorite line of the musical is in there so I still loved it anyways. Ryan Vasquez delivered such a good job… his Burr was so believable and everyone I talked to adored him and what he did.

There was not a person who was not crying at Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story. It was such an amazing way to close, Julia’s voice was incredible and amazing–the voice of an angel. She stole the entire show with everything that she did. Her little gasp at the end? It was so god damn beautiful, I was actually with no words and I have chills–it was amazing. It was one of the best things I watched in the show. When Jordan said “and I tried” he sounded so sarcastic and he got laughs during such a serious song.

There you go, best night of my life alright.

#hamilton SF #flood pressles box #sincerely anonymous

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alexanderwrites · 7 years

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Thoughts Roundup - Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 15

“There’s Some Fear in Letting Go”

Nuance is key to the success of the great drama shows. There has to be nuance in the drama, and there has to be nuance in the way the characters feel and interact. The dramas that don’t reach the heights of Mad Men or The Wire are the shows that forget to give variations on their themes, or are too glib to remember that there should be more to drama than darkness. It can’t be all horrible, all the time. It can’t be darkness for the sake of darkness. There has to be something more, and the great shows remember that. Mad Men was a psychologically probing satire, but it was also one of the funniest and most quotable shows on TV. And like Mad Men, Twin Peaks has the capacity to be very funny, and often, profoundly beautiful. Lynch and Frost are intelligent enough writers to understand that beauty is no less profound that terror, and that joy no less powerful than fear. Instead of alternating between the two wildly, Twin Peaks - particularly in Part 15 - posits these two as a sort of yin and yang; two themes that cannot exist without each other. The happiest moments in the show were always shot through with yearning and melancholy - think of Cooper and Annie’s date in the canoe back in Season 2 and the aching sadness the scene is built upon - and Part 15 remembers this. But, the episode also starts with the most unashamedly hopeful, beautiful and happy moment to ever unfold on the show...

. Seeing Nadine walk up towards Big Ed with a shovel is a worrying site. Nadine is a kind and gentle soul, but the overwhelming air of unpredictable violence throughout this season did put me on edge through their scene. In ‘letting him go’, she’s not really going to smash him round that Big Ed Head, is she? No, of course not. This is Nadine, lovely Nadine, looking happy, healthy, and actually managing to find sage advice in Dr Jacobi’s rhetoric. The skies are blue above Ed, who is still a building of a bloke, a kind and gentle giant, to whom Nadine’s happiness is essential. It’s maybe basic of me to say, but I love lovely characters. Sure, an anti-hero can be great fun. But I love a sweetheart. What sets Twin Peaks apart is that, though evil has the capacity to live in the friends and neighbours of the town, there are people who are just good. Nadine and Big Ed are two of those people, and the scene is cathartic. I hope that Nadine really is as happy as she seems, and I hope that she isn’t hurt by all that has happened. She’s never been disingenuous, so lets hope her happiness is true. What comes next is the beautiful, perfect moment I alluded to earlier.

Big Ed and Norma had to end up together. That’s what you’d think with a more straight forward series, but with Twin Peaks nothing that feels like it has to be ever really is. But, with Otis Redding singing I’ve Been Loving You Too Long, you can sense this scene will give us what we want. And sure enough, Norma says no to her boring suit boyfriend, and walks over to Big Ed, who’s sitting alone, dejected at the counter after Norma has told him she has to talk to her boring suit boyfriend. I love so much that the second Big Ed walks in and tells her he’s free, she’s made the decision. She wants her Big Ed, and their embrace, in the Double R diner, with Shelly watching tearfully, punctuated by Big Ed’s “Marry Me?”, is spectacular. The moment lingers with shots of the forests looking gorgeous and green, and the skies looking blue and open, as Otis sings on. It is the most gorgeous and wonderful moment in any episode of Twin Peaks. And still, there is an air of wistfulness. They are older now, and he has been loving her for too long. Years have been missed out on, and Nadine doesn’t get to find what Ed has found. And yet there is beauty in her strength and her humanity. It is years of pain coming to a close, so it cannot be a clean, clear celebration - but it is still a celebration of sorts. Suddenly, you feel the town, and everything that makes it beautiful. The woods don’t seem terrifying, and there is no dark sky hanging overhead. It is just nature, and music, and love, and it’s such a pure distillation of goodness that you begin to think that any evil in the show really can be overcome. Lynch and Frost aren’t pessimists, they’re humanists. They understand the flaws and the badness, and yet they also revel in the goodness. They stop to appreciate the magic of trees, waterfalls, cups of coffee and old friends. It is one of my favourite moments not just in Twin Peaks, but in television in general.

. Just as the shots of the sky fade out, a new image fades in, and it’s of a dark road at night, with headlights trying to illuminate it. It feels almost like a direct attack on the previous images, if anything could ever harm them. Doppelcoop is back in the driver’s seat, and he’s on the road to Phillip Jeffries. I’m uncertain if the “Convenience Store” sign was visible when we last saw the building in Part 8, but this is where Doppelcoop turns up in Part 15, and the “Convenience Store” sign on it is clear now for what I believe is the first time. As well as meeting long-theorised characters this season, we are now meeting long-theorised buildings - and I don’t think i’ve ever been so excited to see a convenience store before. Doppelcoop stops in to pick up a kit kat meet Philip Jeffries, and the upstairs of the convenience store is just as terrifying as it was in Fire Walk With Me. The set design is impeccable, and there is a feeling of raw, wild electricity surging through this place. It quite simply doesn’t feel like it’s in our world (kind of like ASDA). Here we see the jumping masked man again, as well as two woodsmen who take Doppelcoop up some more stairs and out through a door which brings him to a motel - which looks uncannily like the motel in which Leland killed Theresa Banks. There, he is led by an old backwards-speaking woman (who immediately made me think of Mrs Tremond), led to Jeffries room where we finally meet him....in a....giant teapot? It looks quite similar to the big metal ship that Cooper stand on in Part 3, but this one holds Jeffries, who believes Doppelcoop is the real Coop and gives information on who Judy is. We find out that Doppelcoop (or Cooper, if Jeffries believes that’s who he’s talking to) has met Judy before, but that doesn’t narrow it down much.

By this stage, Doppelcoop is showing more desperation than he ever has before, and we are right there with him: WHO THE FUCK IS JUDY?? Jeffries, when appearing in the FBI HQ in FWWM claimed “we’re not going to talk about Judy at all”, and that was after he’d supposedly been on a walkabout through the lodges. Is Judy from a lodge? Is she the eyeless, chirping woman in the jail cell? I read that the noises she’s making are more akin to monkey sounds, which on repeat viewing is a lot more accurate - and lets not forget the monkey who said “Judy” in FWWM. Are we going round in circles now? Perhaps, but it’s a pretty fun and enticing circle. And as I said last week, the chase is the purpose. Doppelcoop gets one step closer to Judy with some co-ordinates, before being zapped outside of the store through a phone, The Matrix style. Can’t wait to see if he can do any bendy, bullet-time acrobatics in the next couple of episodes. And outside is none other than Richard Horne, who we categorically learn IS Audrey’s son, and has followed Doppelcoop because he thinks he’s an FBI agent, having recognised him from a picture that Audrey keeps. He gets a satisfying amount of shit kicked out of him by Doppelcoop before they head off together, heading towards wherever the hell Judy is. And, Doppelcoop’s “Las Vegas?” text to Diane places these events before some of the FBI’s scenes. As they drive off, the Convenience Store flickers in and out of reality like a lamp with a dying lightbulb, and suddenly it is gone. It’s a powerfully threatening image, and seeing the empty space where it stood makes it feel even more hellish.

. Pairs of people seem to be popping up everywhere in this episode - Ed & Norma, Doppelcoop & Richard, and Gary & Chantal. They’re a sort of Bonnie & Clyde who take delight in their killings, and they proclaim that America was built on killing, so why not embrace it? Their twisted logic - “things are already fucked, so might as well keep fucking ‘em” - has brought them on this journey, and they rationalise it with scary indifference, whilst still taking time out for the little things, like a pretty sky at night, or a tasty dessert. They are the flipside of Gordon and Albert, or Harry and Dale. Tonight Chantal snuffs out Duncan Todd’s flame. That sadly means no more of the great Patrick Fischler looking anxiously at his phone. I enjoyed him for the enigmatic mystery he was, and his inability to wipe Dougie out means that Chantal is stepping in to the arena. “One down, one to go”....

. Another pair, equally as fucked up as Gary and Chantal, are Gersten and Steven, whose scene is long and physically uncomfortable. I found it extremely hard to make out what he was saying, but that weird, Dark-Macaulay Culkin looking motherfucker seems to have done something bad enough for him to supposedly shoot himself after Gersten hides around the other side of the tree from him. She looks out into the trees and the sky, and this time it is unforgiving and scarily empty. There is nothing there for these two, and I wonder if that’s the last we’ll see of Gersten, the seldom seen sister of Donna. Just another glimpse into another life gone wrong in Twin Peaks.

. People whose most oft-repeated phrase this year is “This’ll be the thing that wakes him up” will surely have SCREAMED it in Part 15 - hell, even I whispered it to myself. It’s not just the Cooper jams a fork into an electrical socket (clearly a sign that he’s back to his old self. Which FBI agent doesn’t do that on the reg?), it’s that before this, he takes initiative in his actions: he turns on the TV, reacts dramatically to the film, then scrambles to turn it up or pause it. I was at a loss for why of all things that scene from Sunset Boulevard spoke to him, until I watched it a second time: the actor says the name “Gordon Cole”. That’s what Cooper is reacting to. He is right on the very edge of returning, and yes, maybe the fork in the socket really is the thing that’ll do it. He came out of the electrical socket, so who knows, maybe jabbing it with a fork will wake him up....somehow. Or kill him. Imagine that!

. Okay, what the hell is going on with Audrey. I don’t mean that in a negative way, I mean it in an exasperated and confused way. There is something so uncannily strange and stilted about her interactions with her husband, and while other storylines have developed and evolved, her three scenes have all taken place over the course of a half hour, and in pretty much just one room. They are still arguing about whether or not to go to the roadhouse. They are right on the edge of leaving, with their coats on, and their argument fires up once more and back into the house they go. It is a domestic nightmare, a claustrophobic, surreal play that they are trapped in, and I don’t know that we’ll ever get an explanation for it. Do we need one? Isn’t the feeling that the scenes elicit in us enough? Doesn’t the fact that we feel: frightened, confused, sick and trapped, tell us exactly what their marriage is, and how it feels?

. James haters rejoice: he gets the shit beaten out of him! Poor, sweet James. So naive, so sweet, so stupid. It was a bit of an overreaction of his ex’s new boyfriend to punch him square in his forehead just for saying hello, but it seems to be a general rule that if you’re going to hang out at the Roadhouse, you have to have unfathomable anger issues. Unless you’re James or the MC, who excitedly introduces not a band, but just the song Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top, which everyone proceeds to go nuts to. Fair enough! Cockney FistMan saves James from the attack, nearly kills one of them, and the two are sent to a jail cell, where Eyeless MaybeJudy is still making monkey sounds and BloodDripping MaybeBilly is still repeating everything. What a fun place to be! I’m wondering if Cockney FistMan will end up protecting MonkeyNoise MaybeJudy, and that the person that Andy is protecting her from is indeed Doppelcoop. It just fits quite neatly for me, but then, when is the show ever neat? Maybe the coordinates that Doppelcoop got for Judy will bring him to Twin Peaks, just as Diane’s might. Something huge is coming one of those nights, and the nights feel a lot darker now...

. Goodnight, Margaret. Goodbye, Margaret. What a haunting, chilling moment. I’ve never seen a goodbye to a character feel so sincere. The Log Lady was the soul of the show - it can, of course, exist without her - but she was like the moon that hangs above the swaying traffic lights, always watching, always there, whether or not you could see her. This was her story, really. This was her seeing everything - all the good, and the bad - and coming to terms with it. Letting go of it. There is some fear in letting go, but this isn’t the end she tells us. I can think of no television character more comforting to the soul than The Log Lady. She told us that one day the sadness will end, and asked whether love is the blood of the universe. She spoke of the nature of the world, and of humankind’s nature, and whether what she said was funny, sad or mysterious, it was always sincere. Watching her say the words “I’m dying”, with tears in her eyes, is simply unforgettable. She is simply unforgettable. I know so many fans of the show will want to thank her, and by her, I really do mean Catherine Coulson - because she gave us something even more than what the Log Lady was. She gave us something so genuine, and so human, that every moment with her is a treasure that we shouldn’t ignore.

And so, Hawk stands in the darkness of the meeting room and announces that she’s died. Lucy cries. Frank takes off his hat. The episode gives us time to breathe, to take it in, to cry if we need to. We see glimpses of the moon in the sky, and of her cabin in the woods, with the light inside being turned off. And soon after this, we follow Charlyne Yi on her hands and knees after two large men force her out of her seat. She is crawling through a sea of happy, dancing people - screaming and screaming at the sea of legs surrounding her. Lost, hurt, confused, angry. She is all of us, and nobody is listening to her. She lets out a guttural, primal scream that is a release of everything that has built up. Norma and Ed can take comfort in each other, but the Log Lady is dead and a storm is coming. Can Norma, Nadine, Ed, Shelly and the goodness of the world co-exist with the dark night owls that haunt the roadhouse? Moreover, can they exist without each other, or will they always be intertwined? I could not be more excited for the final 3 Parts, and after the last run of episodes, and their nuanced blending of so many satisfying elements, I think this really might be the best TV i’ve ever seen.

“You know about death. That it’s just a change, not the end.”

#twin peaks: the return #twin peaks #twin peaks spoilers #david lynch #kyle mclachlan #dale cooper #audrey horne #TV #TV Reviews

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ragsandmuffins · 7 years

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Musical Theatre Themed Ask

Okay, I’m gonna answer... all of these! (Because I have a paper to write and zero motivation. And also: musicals.)

Oh, and by the way, I’m going to assume that every “Broadway” is a “Broadway/West End” because Tumblr is a free platform.

1. What was the first musical you saw?

Mary Poppins, West End, 2006 (not 100% sure about the year)

2. What musical got you really into theatre?

Les Misérables - saw the film, started stalking the actors, you know how it goes.

3. Who was your first Broadway crush?

Aaron Tveit (he’s the main one) and Samantha Barks - like I said, stalking the Les Mis actors...

4. Name three of your current Broadway crushes.

Um... still Aaron Tveit? Plus Rob Houchen (Les Mis London) and Cleve September (In the Heights London and soon Hamilton London) - Also, I get “talent crushes” not physical attraction crushes.

5. Name four of your dream roles.

Only 4? Natalie Goodman, Enjolras, Maureen Johnson, and HERCULES MULLIGAN!!

(I can’t sing, act, or dance, nor am I a man, so...)

6. Favourite off-broadway show:

Heathers and The Last Five Years

7. Favourite cast recording.

Gotta be Hamilton, it’s just such a well-produced album. Bonus points for including nearly the entire show.

8. 2013 Tony opening number or 2016 Tony opening number?

2012? The Book of Mormon thing is just pure gold!

9. Favourite show currently on Broadway.

Broadway: I guess Hamilton - There are way too few that I actually know.

West End: Les Misérables forever!

10. A musical that closed and you’re still bitter about. Rant a bit.

In the Heights London! Though I can’t really complain, they extended their initially run several times and now they’ve cast my amazing Sonny as Laurens/Philip, so... But it was just so good!!

11. Best stage to screen adaptation?

Les Misérables. Controversial, I know, but I usually kind of hate movie musicals. With this one they did something new and different and I think it works. The Last Five Years is pretty good too, though it lost a lot in the adaptation (couldn’t be avoided).

12. Worst stage to screen adaptation?

Rent. I’m sorry, I love the show, I love the cast, but it all feels so staged and wrong and meh. Also, they cut Goodbye Love and left in fucking Santa Fé which adds exactly nothing to the plot!!

13. Favourite #ham4ham?

Gotta be the Schuyler Georges, but there have been so many great ones...

14. A musical you would love to see produced by Deaf West?

Oh, tricky... Maybe Next to Normal? That has a lot to do with people holding things in and failing to see each others’ struggles.

15. If you could revive any musical, which one would it be and who would you cast in it?

Not exactly a revival, but bring Next to Normal to the West End already! That show’s got a sodding Pulitzer. And London’s only a 2 hour flight away from where I live, not a transatlantic one, so I might actually be able to go see it.

Oh, and give Spring Awakening another chance, West End. Maybe adapt some American Sign Language into British Sign Language and...?

Also, maybe revive Rent, Broadway? (And cast Aaron Tveit as Roger... please?)

16. If you could go to a concert at the 54 below, who’s would it be?

That list would be waaaaaayyy too long...

17. Do you watch broadway.com vlogs? Which one is your favourite?

I’ve seen a few, but I don’t really watch them on a regular basis, so no favourites...

18. Make a Broadway related confession.

I really, really hate South Pacific. It was part of our American drama syllabus, as an example of a musical. Quite apart from the fact that I think it’s a godawful, sort of racist and sexist show (it’s from the 40s, go figure), it displays LITERALLY EVERY cliché about musicals!

19. What do musicals mean to you?

Hard to say... Apart from hours and hours of ALL the emotions, some awesome internet buddies (looking at you, @frei-und-schwerelos), I’ve got generally more interested in and knowledgable about theatre, which is a great asset when you study English. Musicals have also introduced me to a wide range of music I wouldn’t normally listen to and so many talented people I wouldn’t have known about otherwise...

20. Express some love for understudies and swings!

Okay here goes: I went to see the West End production of Memphis because of Killian Donnelly and then he unexpectedly wasn’t on that night - bummer. But then Jon Robyns just knocked it out of the part (and I only ever listened to Avenue Q and Spamalot because I watched clips of him when he was in those shows).

My first Thénardier was Adam Pearce and his version of “It was me wot told you so...” is the funniest one I’ve ever heard (he kind of went “No? Sorry, fair enough.”).

The second time I saw the show Adam Bayjou was Valjean and his Bring Him Home was one of the best I’ve ever heard (effortless high notes).

Also, Charlotte Kennedy was Cosette that time (she’s principal Cosette now) and her performance was so incredibly sweet! (She also brought some brunette power into the sea of blond that were Marius and Éponine.)

And Jordan Lee Davies was Bamatabois both times and he was great!

Oh, and my Christine from Phantom was the wonderful Lisa-Anne Wood.

21. Best Disney musical:

Mary Poppins - My first ever musical, fond memories, I still wear the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious shirt my dad bought me (11 years ago... didn’t fit then, fits now).

22. Which Disney movie should be made into a musical?

Uh, I don’t know. Tangled’s funny...

23. Which musical fandom has the funniest memes?

Hamilton and Les Mis. I mean, the Les Mis/Mean Girls crossovers alone...

24. Name a character from a musical you would sort into your Hogwarts house.

Well, the test sorted me into Hufflepuff (great house), but I know that I am a Ravenclaw (and, as we know, the hat listens to you). Okay, Ravenclaw... maybe Melchior from Spring Awakening?

25. Name a Broadway star you would sort into your Hogwarts house.

Ugh, that’s even harder! Sorry, no clue.

26. Best on stage chemistry?

Hmm from what I’ve seen live, Rob Houchen and Carrie Hope Fletcher were pretty darn amazing together.

From what I haven’t seen live, Jennifer Damiano and Adam Chanler-Berat, and Justin Johnston and Michael McElroy seemed fantastic.

27. A Broadway duo you love.

I’m gonna say Jonathan Groff and Lin-Manuel Miranda, but I’m not sure I understand the question...

28. What book, tv show, movie, biography, video game, etc. should be turned into a musical?

Umm... I don’t know. Supernatural sort of is a musical... A Lord of the Rings musical in the style of A Very Potter Musical might be fun. The Fellowship of the Sing? I’ll show myself out.

29. If you could make a jukebox musical, what artist or genre would you pick?

I doubt many people know her but: Vienna Teng. For three reasons (aside from me liking her songs): 1. Her songs tell stories. 2. She often writes from the perspective of “characters.” 3. Her songs are actual poetry!

30. Favourite role played by _________________?

I don’t get it. What am I supposed to put here?

31. What musical has made you cry the most?

I don’t actually cry often at musicals (internally I do), but It’s Quiet Uptown from Hamilton got me bad the first time. And I once listened to Next to Normal when I was already feeling like shit - bad idea! (Don’t listen to There’s a World when you kind of want there to not be a world, kids...)

32. What musical has made you laugh the most?

Probably Avenue Q and Something Rotten

33. Current showtune stuck in you head:

Well, you just put Hard to Be the Bard in my head!

34. A musical that has left you thinking about life for a long time or deeply inspired you.

Les Misérables... I haven’t spent a single week without thinking about that show (or, indeed, the book) since early 2013.

Next to Normal also gave me a lot to think about.

I keep discovering new little bits of genius in Hamilton lyrics. Also, I’m writing a paper on the early US for the second time in under a year and characters from Hamilton (otherwise know as historical figures) keep popping up. Seriously, I’m writing about the Whiskey Rebellion and every time I read Hamilton’s name my brain goes PAY YOUR FUCKING TAXES!

I’ve also thought quite a bit about Heathers and The Last Five Years, because both of them have had productions where they genderbended (genderbent?) a main character, which made me think about how it changes the story and why.

35. If you could perform any ensemble number , which one would you pick?

“If you could...” Are you implying that I don’t?! Come on, any theatre geek who claims never to have done a solo rendition of One Day More is definitely lying! Oh, and I rapped myself all the way through One Shot the other day and made only one mistake - one that Lin’s made before, so I’m proud!

36. Name a musical you didn’t like at first but ended up loving.

I don’t think that’s really happened... There have been shows where I thought “What in the holy hell is this?!” and ended up loving it. I mean, what in the holy hell is Avenue Q?!

37. What are some costumes you’d love to try on?

Give me that red vest! Also, let me play Enjolras! Yes, I know I’m a woman and can only hit that low “foooorm” when I’ve got a really bad cold, but fuck all that!

I’d also really like to try on Elphaba’s Act II dress, because it’s epic!

38. Favourite dance break.

Hmmm... I don’t really have one? The one in Cool and the ballet in Somewhere where they sort of replay what’s happened are pretty amazing (both West Side Story).

39. Favourite Starkid musical:

A Very Potter Musical is the only one I know... Sorry...

40. What’s a musical more people should know about?

Well, where I live, most people have heard of Cats, Phantom, and Mamma Mia and that’s about it.

But in general, I’ve never met anyone who’s even heard of Assassins (although many people who have met me have now heard everything about Assassins - I’m that kind of person).

41. What are some lines from musicals you really like?

Okay, this is gonna take a while...

"Can you remind me of what it was like at the top of the world?” (In the Heights)

“Oh, my friends, my friends, don’t ask me what your sacrifice was for.” (Les Misérables - internal Niagara Falls!)

“Here, put some hail into the chief.” (Assassins)

“But the sky’s gonna hurt when it falls. So you’d better start building some walls.” (Heathers)

“I’m not mad that you got mad when I got mad when you said I should go drop dead!” (Tick, Tick... Boom!)

“My God, in God we trust, but we never really know what God discussed.” (Hamilton)

“What doesn’t kill me doesn’t kill me.” (Next to Normal)

And just for fun: “Honest living, honest living, honest living, honest living,...” (Rent)

42. Name a Tony performance you rewatch and rewatch.

In the Heights, Next to Normal, Hamilton, and Spring Awakening (both versions).

#well that was fun #i'm procrastinating #theatre geek #musicals #just musical things #musical theatre

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ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is · 7 years

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the cognitive functions as musicals?

I know someone did this already with types as musicals so I’m going to take this in a wildly different direction, namely: I grew up mostly on 50s-60s era movie musicals, so that’s what you’re mostly getting. Also one light opera, one avant-garde opera, and one movie-only musical. Basically if you came here to see me say “your dom function is Hamilton” then you should have said so.

Ni: Patience by Gilbert and Sullivan (technically this is an operetta. I do not care very much). Patience satirizes the aestheticism movement that arose in Britain in the late 1800s, which argued that art should be about aesthetics and not political or social commentary. I think Gilbert’s argument of “fuck that” is very Ni.

(couldn’t find a gif from Patience because only hardcore nerds every put it on, so here’s something from Pirates of Penzance).

Se: The Music Man. Also considered: Guys and Dolls. Anything about fast-talking con-men with a good patter song, basically. I think The Music Man is the stronger movie; though it does have a critical shortage of young hot Marlon Brando, the singers are way better and I think it’s generally funnier.

Ne: Mary Poppins. Is this technically a Disney movie and not a stage musical? Arguably. Did you say stage musical? No. Do I think a film that’s all about shaking people out of a rigid routine and also exploring weird possibilities like walking into chalk drawings and making people fly, that also has songs sung by a famous Broadway actress, is appropriate as a musical representation of Ne? Yes.

Si: The Sound of Music. I think this and Mary Poppins serve as a great contrast, in that Julie Andrews plays a nanny/governess character who shakes a wealthy family out of a rut but The Sound of Music is very loosely based on a true story and is ultimately far more grounded in reality.

Te: Singin’ in the Rain, more for production than for the plot, though a lot of the plot is about trying to make an effective movie. The production, for those who don’t know, consisted of MGM basically looking through their back catalog of songs and saying “how can we make more money off of this” and then they made a fantastic movie that features some of the funniest lines ever and will forever be one of my favorites.

(I tried to find a gif of Lina saying “I make more money than - than Calvin Coolidge. PUT TOGETHER!” but I couldn’t so you get this)

Fi: Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It’s all about a search for love and identity and learning to accept the successes of others, and the stage play is framed as a one-woman show (unlike the film which is framed more as a tour - still very good).

Ti: So this is the only one I’ve never seen but I couldn’t think of a classic or not classic musical that really fit Ti. Einstein on the Beach is an experimental opera by Philip Glass about Einstein, but it doesn’t really have a plot, is about theoretical physics, and is five hours long and allows people to kind of wander in and out because it’s five fucking hours long. In other words it’s about a Ti dom and is pretty anarchic and the lyrics to the knee plays, which I have heard if not seen performed, are basically Gertrude Stein word salad (I sound very critical and I’m really not - I mean, I refuse to attend a 5 hour performance of basically anything but the music is actually really fascinating to listen to).

Fe: Fiddler on the Roof. This one is pretty important to me in that it’s basically required viewing for people of Eastern European Jewish descent (my mother said that when the film came out her parents let her miss a day of school to see it in theaters because representation of their parents’ lives onscreen was such a big deal), but it’s also very much about a tight-knit community and the dynamics. Oklahoma! is also in this kind of theme.

#mbti #cognitive functions #why are all hedwig gifs darren criss IT'S JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL'S SHOW YOU FUCKS #answered asks

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birdlord · 7 years

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What I Watched in 2016

Here are the movies and TV series I watched in 2016, some with commentary and some without. The number after the movies is the date of release, my faves are bolded, and rewatches are marked with as asterisk. Last year’s list!

01 Do I Sound Gay (14)

02 We are The Best! (13)

03 Hateful Eight (15)

04 Welcome to Me (14)

05 For Your Eyes Only (81) - I listened to a lot of back episodes of the James Bonding podcast early this year, which of course led to watching a bunch of Bond movies. Not all, and not in order, certainly.

06 She’s the One (96)

07 * Diamonds are Forever (71)

08 It’s Complicated (09) - I think it was an article about the kitchen design in this movie that led me to watch it?

09 The Natural (84)

10 * Anna Karenina (12) - Never having read the book I can’t REALLY speak to this movie but haha I kinda love its commitment to artifice.

11 About Time (13)

12 What We Do in the Shadows (14) - I did enjoy this, but wasn’t as taken by it as I thought I might be. Found the werewolves the funniest by far, so I wish they’d turned up more often.

13 The Abominable Bride (15) - counting this as a movie, it was the Sherlock xmas special and I recall exactly zero about it, so…..must have been amazing, right?

14 Wake in Fright (71) - Never Go To Australia

15 Hail Caesar (16) - I think I’d have to see it again to determine if the whole thing actually holds together, but at the time, it felt of a piece with the Coen’s cheerier output.

16 In the Heart of the Sea (15)

17 The Night of the Comet (84)

18 Laggies (14)

19 * Bowling for Columbine (02)

20 A Gentleman’s Agreement (47) - confessional, experiential journalism, but done by Cary Grant in the 40s. Ahead of his time/gender?

21 Barefoot in the Park (67)

22 Suddenly Last Summer (59)

23 Tangerine (15)

24 * His Girl Friday (40)

25 That Touch of Mink (62)

26 * Charlie’s Angels (00)

27 9-5 (80) - Holy shit, somehow I thought this movie was just a rah-rah, girl power story about a bunch of secretaries getting together and overthrowing their boss and yeah, that’s SORT OF it but it gets way way weirder in the final third.

28 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (88)

29 * The Addams Family (91)

30 * Addams Family Values (93)

31 Frida (02)

32 Bridge of Spies (15) - A E I O U and sometimes SPIES :O

33 Swimming With Sharks (94)

34 Sleeping With the Enemy (91)

35 Fatal Attraction (87) - Watched this movie and the previous one as part of an 80s/90s thriller weekend. These two are an interesting contrast to one another, being as the first is about an abusive husband and the second focuses on the most notable example of the “crazy ex-girlfriend”.

36 1 Cloverfield Lane (16)

37 The Man Who Never Was (56)

38 * To Die For (95) - This was a super fave of Teen Emily, who definitely identified with the Lydia character. Watching this time was a huge reminder than Illeana Douglas is a goddamn national treasure.

39 Trouble In Paradise (32)

40 Eraser (96)

41 * Flashdance (83)

42 * Notting Hill (99)

43 Gone to Earth (50) - Not the best Powell and Pressburger out there, but one takes what one can get, right?

44 Holiday Camp (47)

45 Never Sleep Again (10) - This is a four-hour doc about the entire Nightmare on Elm St series, and is the reason I watched Freddy’s Revenge a couple of movies down the list. It’s not a series that I have a particular attachment to, so I learned a ton.

46 Clouds of Sils Maria (15)

47 Mommie Dearest (81) - I’m not sure that I have enough appreciation for high camp to really get into this. There were some moments, but overall it’s a fine example of the kind of thing that is Not For Me.

48 Nightmare on Elm St: Freddy’s Revenge (85)

49 Inside Man (06)

50 Trainwreck (15)

51 White God (14)

52 * Sleepwalk With Me (12)

53 Amy (15)

54 * Meatballs (79)

55 Everybody Wants Some!! (16) - I found this a huge disappointment, and I’ve been a bit mystified by its positive reviews and inclusion on critics’ end of year lists. While D&C definitely has a “main character”, and we do follow him and his friends, other people and subsets of the high school are given serious time and consideration. Ultimately, I don’t think following this one dude tripping through a bunch of different college subsets was as illuminating. Plus, weak jokes.

56 * Dazed & Confused (93) - had to cleanse the mind-palate by watching the original!

57 Summertime (55)

58 The Money Pit (86)

59 Zombeavers (14)

60 Mistress America (15) - I am finding Greta Gerwig more and more charming, the more I see of her. Greta, let’s be friends!

61 While We’re Young (14)

62 The Invitation (16) - quite effective, very upper-middle-class bohemian LA horror film. I’ve heard some complaints about the final scene, but I thought it was an effective & clever way to show an expanding scope without an extra expense or sets.

63 End of Days (99)

64 Escape From New York (81)

65 Escape from L.A. (96) - Watched these two together, on the same night. They definitely should NOT be watched that way, given how identical the plots are. Unbelievably terrible ’96-era CGI in the second one, hard to believe that Jurassic Park was three years previous?? Gotta get that Spielberg money, am I right?

66 High Rise (16) - my only real disappointment in this movie was not being around to see the decline of the civilization - we jump straight from things being fine (if weird) and everything gone to heck. My favourite part is the decline, give me decline!

67 The Great Outdoors (88)

68 * Catch Me If You Can (02)

69 Little Darlings (80) - just your classic losing-virginity-at-camp story, but…wait for it….with GIRLS.

70 * Good Will Hunting (97)

71 Popstar (16) - diminishing returns, but some funny bits (mostly in the songs, not surprisingly).

72 Tarzan (16) - watched this with friends and relatives, at a drive-in theatre a couple of days after my wedding! It’s NOT a good movie, but it was a fun time.

73 Love & Friendship (16) - got completely obsessed with Tom Bennett based on his 100% rate of scene-stealing in this film. Sevigny feels utterly out of place - am I capable of seeing her in a period piece set before, say, 1975 without feeling weird about it?

74 The Night Before (15)

75 Ghostbusters (16) - So I know I was supposed to be charmed by Kate McKinnon, but her schtick just doesn’t work on me, for whatever reason. I was also really frustrated by the final fight scene of this movie - it had obviously been hacked up in editing, and wtf is up with punching ghosts instead of containing them? I’m glad this movie happened, and certainly a great deal of the criticism it came in for was deeply unfair, but it was distinctly disappointing to find that this movie just wasn’t that great.

76 Brooklyn (15)

77 Poltergeist (82)

78 * Before Sunrise (95)

79 Love & Basketball (00) - Effusive praise for this movie somehow came to my attention from all over the place this year, so I finally had to watch it.

80 The Man Who Knew Too Much (56)

81 * Road House (89)

82 Carol (15) - watching this FINALLY allowed me to fully participate in Today’s Meme Culture

83 * Out of Sight (98)

84 Happy Texas (99)

85 Red Rock West (93)

86 Weiner Dog (15)

87 The Trouble With Harry (55)

88 * When Harry Met Sally (89)

89 Jungle Fever (91)

90 Ocean’s 11 (01)

91 Star Trek Beyond (16)

92 Two For the Road (67)

93 * Seven Year Itch (55)

94 Maggie’s Plan (15) - like I said earlier about Greta Gerwig? I liked this one even more than Mistress.

95 The Dish (00)

96 Splash (84)

97 Desk Set (57) - watching this and the next were inspired by stumbling across a blog about depictions of librarians on film. I particularly hit on this one because I’ve always wanted to see a Hepburne/Tracy film, and never had (to my memory, anyhow).

98 Party Girl (95) - one of those movies I’d always noticed on the shelves at the video store, and never actually watched it.

99 * Young Frankenstein (74) - saw this in the theatre, Gene Wilder notwithstanding I…..don’t think it’s good. It’s only extremely intermittently funny, you guys! Plus, the Putting’ on the Ritz bit makes me uncomfortable (especially in audio-only form, which I heard TOO many times after Wilder died).

100 The House of the Devil (09)

101* The Witches of Eastwick (87)

102 The Borning (81)

103 * Shaun of the Dead (04)

104 Dolores Claiborne (95)

105 The Conjuring 2 (13)

106 In a Valley of Violence (16) - definitely watched this because I happened across an article about the movie’s dog star.

107 The Witch (16) - very effective in getting across the supernatural, natural, and social dangers of early puritan America, and Black Philip has entered my idiolect for any creepy animal/person/twitter feed.

108 * Wayne’s World (92)

109 What if (13) - riffs on When Harry Met Sally’s fundamental question of women and men being friends, and basically comes to the same conclusion. yawn.

110 The Martian (15) - I read the book as part of a book club last year, and finally got around to watching the film. Since I found the worst of the writing in the book to be those passages dealing with description, the movie was a lot less annoying to experience.

111 Sleepless in Seattle (93)

112 * Thelma & Louise (91)

113 Casino (95)

114 Other People (16) - wept several times. GOSH I love Jesse Plemons, he’s so hugely sympathetic. Would watch in virtually anything.

115 The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (43)

116 Primary Colors (98)

117 Edge of Seventeen (16)

118 *Die Hard (88) - loaded up the laptop with this and the next four xmas-set movies, for watching on planes and in airports, while we were on the road at christmastime.

119 *Batman Returns (92)

120 *Scrooged (88)

121 * The Apartment (60)

Theatre - 5

Drive-in - 1

All the rest at home or at friends’ homes!

TV SERIES

*The Office US S2-3

War & Peace (2016) - you bet your BOOTS I started the book after watching this. Did I finish it? Not even close.

Love (2016)

Better Call Saul S2 - this is a show I enjoy while I’m watching it, but I don’t particularly find it memorable. Why? Who knows. It’s still something I look forward to, but not a show that sticks with me.

Great British Bake off *S1, *S2, S7 + Xmas Specials - a eulogy for Bake-Off as it was. Pour one (pint of double cream, that is) out for what once was.

Broad City S5

Travel Man S1, S2 - I find Richard Ayoade so desperately charming, but ever time I’ve watched one of the movies he’s directed, I’ve ended up disappointed. This show is a bit hit or miss, depending on the guests he brings along, and the episodes definitely have a sameness to them, but if you find this guy even a sliver as entertaining as I do, it’ll pull you along anyhow.

The Night Manager - so looking forward to Hugh Laurie’s upcoming career phase as Bond Villain.

Cooked

Newsradio S1-S3 - I’d seen an episode or two of this over the years but never sat down to fully appreciate it. It’s making me miss Phil Hartman all over again, a fresh devastation, plus haha did u know Tone Loc plays a security guard on this show? It’s all true.

Lady Dynamite

OJ Made In America - I’ll count this as a series, since I didn’t watch it in the theatre. Still haven’t seen the other big OJ series of 2016, but I loved loved LOVED this. What impressed me the most is that, in spite of its 7 hour+ running time there were still aspects of this story that could have been expanded upon.

Silicon Valley S3

* Veep S1, S2

Catastrophe S2

Pulling - went back in time to get more Sharon Horgan in my life, since Catastrophe seasons are terribly short and far-between. I’d been aware of this show for a long time, and somehow wasn’t expecting it to be as near-devastating as it ended up being. What, did I forget what a British show was like?

Another Period S2

Difficult People S1, S2 - Another late discovery, but a great one. A fine example of just giving some funny people a show, and letting them just do their thing on it every week.

Fleabag - yes, I’m in for this, obviously. And if I wasn’t, the show designed itself to put me off, from the first moments. A wise move!

One Mississippi

Very British Problems S1, S2

Atlanta - I’ve got a bad feeling that this show’s deserved success will lead to surreal elements being deployed, but much less deftly than they were here.

Please Like Me S1-S4 - Tore through this entire series greedily, am now suffering until they make another season. Balances some very harrowing elements with comedy and an ensemble cast of loveable/terrible humans.

Divorce - Sharon Horgan’s writing minus her acting is a hollow empty shell, but hey, I’ll take what I can get, when I can get it.

The Fall S3 - I’d decided last year after S2 that I was done with this show, and yet, here we are, I was drawn back in.

The Crown

Insecure

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