Day 16: stargazing
Masterlist flufftober 🎀
Reblog if you liked it!
You let out a sigh of satisfaction when you finished preparing the back of your father's pickup truck, after several minutes and a lot of effort to stretch the blankets enough. There was a mat, a duvet, sheets, and plenty of pillows so the two of you would be comfortable on the date you had prepared for your boyfriend. Spencer had told you about a meteor shower that occurred every ten million years and that on this occasion would be visible in the region, so he believed it would be a sin not to take advantage of the night to see it together and, in the process, spend a nice time between you. You seemed very excited about the idea and had prepared food to spend the hours that you were going to wait and, of course, a thermos full of coffee to share.
“How does it look?”
“It's perfect,” he replied happily.
He had been busy reviewing some celestial maps that he carried with him, under the light of a flashlight that you had in the trunk. You were in a remote section of the countryside and without all the light pollution of the city the stars could be seen in their maximum splendor, which had you completely fascinated. You had never done an activity like this and you knew how much Spencer was excited about astronomy, so the idea that he wanted to share that with you made you feel special.
You climbed up to the space you had arranged and he immediately imitated you, where both of you sat with your back comfortably leaning on a pair of pillows. You pulled a blanket to cover your legs and those of your boyfriend, who soon intertwined them to shorten the distance.
“I assume you know the constellations, right?”
"I do! At this time of year several can be seen. Like that one over there that is shaped like a trapezoid with a tail, do you see it?” he asked, pointing to a specific point in the sky. You had to admit that you weren't the best at finding shapes in celestial bodies, but you tried with all your might, until you finally understood what he was referring to “That's the Big Dipper, it's the third largest constellation and it's visible for all year round in the northern hemisphere, in addition to being one of the best known and most important in astronomical history. It has eight stars, one of them visible only in very clear places like this and they are called Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, Phecda, Merak, and Dubhe”
“There is a myth in Greek mythology about it, isn't there?”
“Yes, Greek mythology considered Ursa Major to be the bear that Callisto had been turned into by Artemis after being seduced by Zeus. Homer mentions the Bear in Canto V of the Odyssey, in which Ulysses tries in vain to be guided by her to return to Ithaca, his land”
“Wow,” you sighed, as you continued to look up to admire the stars your boyfriend was telling you about.
“When I was a child, I asked for a telescope as a birthday gift and this was the first constellation I learned because if you follow a line a little higher you can find the polar star… that one over there, do you see it?”
"I see it"
“That star serves to guide you because it always points north, so no matter where you are you can find your way if you find it. That way I imagined that whenever I was lost, I could come back home” he confessed to you, with a nostalgic smile on his face.
You stopped seeing the celestial sky to focus on him and you couldn't stop yourself from kissing him when you saw the sparkle in his eyes watching you with enthusiasm. The kiss was gentle and short, just as if you wanted to reward him for his eloquence, and then you settled under his arm with your head resting on his soft chest.
“You probably know a few thousand facts about the stars, or am I wrong?”
“I have never counted them, but from the books I have read I can assure you that it is an approximate amount”
“Well, we still have a few hours until the rain starts so start spitting them all out. I want Sagan to feel threatened in the afterlife by my knowledge of the universe at dawn” you joked and the soft laugh he let out above your head was like music to your ears.
Spencer talked and talked and you listened attentively to everything he had to tell you, only interrupting him to ask questions or to ask him to eat a little or try his cup of coffee. In the same way, you were changing positions as the hours went by, sometimes lying down, sitting, other times he with his head resting on your shoulder, and you even went so far as to sit on his lap, with your back comfortably against his torso while that he spoke kindly in your ear.
"You are tired? Bored?"
“None of that, love” you smiled. Right now you were lying in front of each other, with him absentmindedly tangling a lock of your hair in his finger “It's the most interesting date I've ever had in my life.”
“And it's going to get better, because it's the scheduled time for the main show,” he murmured in a theatrical voice, while he sat down and helped you with one hand so that you were in the same position.
He hadn't lied, because after a few minutes he saw the first star crossing the sky. You gasped in surprise like a little girl would, and your shock only intensified when another star sped past. Suddenly dozens of stars imitated the first ones and your smile grew as a new one appeared.
"Look how beautiful!" you squealed, shaking your shoulder excitedly at your lover, who was smiling the same way you were. “It’s wonderful.”
Spencer felt the need to hug you from the side to enjoy the view and the company at the same time, while you continued to look at the sky with fascination.
“We are experiencing a unique event in our space-time,” he whispered, the words slightly muffled by his lips in your hair. “And… I wanted to give you something equally unique.”
Suddenly you felt his hand take yours and then a metallic object sliding down your ring finger, forcing you to stop looking at the sky to look at him, with an expression of nothing but shock.
“Spencer, what—?”
“It's not what you think,” he hastened to say. You looked at the jewel and realized that it was a delicate ring that was completely smooth and silver in color. “It is a promise ring, it is used to… well, to promise a loved one that at some point it will be replaced by one that involves a greater commitment," he explained to you, suddenly becoming a nervous wreck "I thought about giving it to you today because I love you so much and I wanted you to know that I would like to go further with you, if you accept me”
"Darling…"
"Do you like it?" he insisted and you were forced to drown his fears with a prolonged kiss on the lips.
“Of course it does. I love you so, so much and you don't know how happy this makes me, I wouldn't want to be with anyone else in the vast universe. I'm serious"
That was enough of an answer for him and then you settled down again to enjoy the rest of the astronomical phenomenon, knowing that you would only be able to forget that night when the time necessary to witness another of those meteor showers had passed.
taglist: @navs-bhat @reidwritings @tricia-shifting14 @spencerslove @vivian-555 @r-3dlips @rhiannonhippiegirl @taygrls @simp4f1 @sdddoobydoobydoo @taintedstranger
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2019 Movie Odyssey
Welcome to the new decade, to the new year 2020.
This is usually posted on New Year’s Eve, but I was watching the final movie of the 2019 Movie Odyssey last night. For those of you who do not know, the “Movie Odyssey” refers to all films that I have seen for the first time in their entirety - no rewatches. We’re going to go in a different order this week, so some for-fun awards will be posted later this week and the 2019 Movie Odyssey Awards will be on Sunday, January 5. As I go through things like The Irishman, Little Women, 1917, and Parasite, I will be posting some very tardy “Best of 2010s”-related posts. Hey, I may be from the Greater Los Angeles Area, but those Hollywood theaters that show all those prestige movies are far from where I live. I don’t always get to see those movies in a timely fashion. I digress...
The number of short films I saw this year increased dramatically (from 2018′s number of 107 to 2019′s 166) because I was on the 2019 Viet Film Fest’s curatorial committee, in addition to the fact that Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is continuing to show a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) short and a Popeye short every Saturday morning except in Februaries, Augusts, and select holiday weekends. Developments in my professional life - and probably exacerbated by the fact I was on the Viet Film Fest’s curatorial committee and had to see many shorts and the presence of vacation and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup - saw a nosedive in the number of feature-length films and serials watched (108 feature-length films and serials this year compared to 156 last year). The total number of films actually increased, probably because of that uptick in shorts.
In addition to having the privilege of having seen many films made by and/or starring Vietnamese and Vietnamese from around the world and learning more about my heritage, I saw many more documentaries - in short and feature-length form - this year compared to others. But yet again this year (and we’re going to chalk this up to the clashes of professional developments at Viet Film Fest), there is a distinct lack of African and Latin American films for the 2019 Movie Odyssey. Knowing a handful of titles I have in the DVR, the former should be represented this year, but I have to make a better effort on searching for and finding films from Latin America.
Like every year, I thank all of you for being supporters of myself and for this old blog. I didn’t write too many Movie Odyssey reviews last year; if ever a Movie Odyssey review engages one person, that is a wonderful thing. So whether you have read, liked, reblogged, commented on, or shared a review, my thanks. And for those who have talked to me about movies we have both seen, are anticipating, or asking questions about something that appears on this blog, my thanks to you too. This blog, slower though it may be these days, would not be possible without you.
The 2019 Movie Odyssey has closed. With that, the 2020 Movie Odyssey has begun. The movies that comprised 2019′s are listed below. We began with an iconic American gangster film and ended with something different from the Czechoslovak New Wave.
As many of you know, all ratings are based on my imdb rating and half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here. A 6/10 is considered the borderline between “passing” and “failing”. Feature-length narrative films, serials, documentaries, and short films are rated within their respective spectrums. Without further ado:
JANUARY
Little Caesar (1931) – 9/10
Ventriloquist Cat (1950 short) – 6/10
Let’s Get Movin’ (1936 short) – 6/10
Mary Poppins Returns (2018) – 7/10
Modest Heroes (2018, Japan) – 6.5/10
Tit for Tat (1935 short) – 8/10
The Ascent (1977, Soviet Union) – 10/10
The Lost Chick (1935 short) – 7/10
Little Swee’pea (1936 short) – 6/10
Smokey and the Bandit (1977) – 7.5/10
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – 6/10
The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973) – 4/10
The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark (1980) – 4/10
Barney Bear’s ‘Polar Pest’ (1944 short) – 5.5/10
Hold the Wire (1936 short) – 7/10
Green Book (2018) – 6/10
Hell to Eternity (1960) – 6/10
The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West (1916 short) – scored withheld; film is partially lost
How to Play Football (1944 short) – 7/10
Gus (1976) – 4/10
BlacKkKlansman (2018) – 9/10
The Great McGinty (1940) – 8/10
FEBRUARY (2019’s 31 Days of Oscar)
Vice (2018) – 3/10
The Informer (1935) – 9.5/10
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) – 7.5/10
Late Afternoon (2017 short) – 8/10
Animal Behaviour (2018 short) – 7/10
Weekends (2017 short) – 8.5/10
One Small Step (2018 short) – 7.5/10
Wishing Box (2017 short) – 6/10
Tweet Tweet (2018 short, Russia) – 6/10
Lost & Found (2018 short) – 7/10
Street Angel (1928) – 7.5/10
Thousands Cheer (1943) – 6/10
Fantastic Voyage (1966) – 6/10
Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018) – 8/10
Madre (2017 short, Spain) – 7.5/10
Fauve (2018 short, Canada) – 7/10
Marguerite (2017 short, Canada) – 8.5/10
Detainment (2018 short) – 5/10
Skin (2018 short) – 7/10
Henry V (1944) – 8.5/10
Minding the Gap (2018) – 8/10
Black Sheep (2018 short) – 7/10
End Game (2018 short) – 7.5/10
A Night at the Garden (2018 short) – 7/10
Lifeboat (2018 short) – 7/10
Period. End of Sentence. (2018 short) – 8/10
MARCH
What Price Hollywood? (1932) – 7/10
Anastasia (1956) – 7.5/10 (31 Days of Oscar ends)
King of Jazz (1930) – 7/10
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) – 7.5/10
Captain Marvel (2019) – 6/10
The Chinese Nightingale (1935 short) – 6/10
The Spinach Roadster (1936 short) – 6.5/10
Ginger and Fred (1986, Italy) – 6/10
Wee Willie Wildcat (1953 short) – 6/10
I’m in the Army Now (1936 short) – 5/10
Officer Pooch (1941 short) – 6/10
The Paneless Window Washer (1937 short) – 7/10
Us (2019) – 8.5/10
APRIL
Rock-a-Bye Bear (1952 short) – 8.5/10
Organ Grinder’s Swing (1937 short) – 7/10
The Great White Hope (1970) – 6/10
The African Lion (1955) – 8/10
Yellowstone Cubs (1963) – 7/10
Shazam! (2019) – 7/10
The Flying Bear (1941 short) – 6/10
My Artistical Temperature (1937 short) – 7/10
Ocean’s Eight (2018) – 7/10
The Hick Chick (1946 short) – 6/10
Hospitaliky (1937 short) – 8/10
One Foot in Heaven (1941) – 8/10
MAY
Sons of the Desert (1933) – 10/10
Lonesome Lenny (1946 short) – 7.5/10
The Twisker Pitcher (1937 short) – 7/10
The Country Cousin (1936 short) – 7/10
Barnyard Babies (1935 short) – 6/10
Morning, Noon and Night Club (1937 short) – 6/10
Avengers: Endgame (2019) – 7/10
The Calico Dragon (1935 short) – 7.5/10
Lost and Foundry (1937 short) – 7/10
Detective Pikachu (2019) – 6/10
The Wild Country (1970) – 6/10
I Never Changes My Altitude (1937 short) – 7/10
Murder, She Said (1961) – 7.5/10
Farewell to Dream (1956, Japan) – 7/10
The Human Comedy (1943) – 7/10
A Better Life (2011) – 8/10
Booksmart (2019) – 7.5/10
The Goose Goes South (1941 short) – 6.5/10
I Likes Babies and Infinks (1937 short) – 6/10
The Hound and the Rabbit (1937 short) – 6/10
The Football Toucher Downer (1937 short) – 7/10
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) – 6/10
JUNE
A Rainy Day with the Bear Family (1940 short) – 6/10
Protek the Weakerist (1937 short) – 7/10
Rocketman (2019) – 7/10
The Rookie Bear (1941 short) – 6/10
Fowl Play (1937 short) – 6/10
Let’s Celebrake (1938 short) – 7/10
Hoài (Ongoing, Memory) (2018 short) – 7.5/10*
Pelvicachromis (2018 short, Germany) – 6.5/10*
Screen Time (2019 short) – 5/10*
The Bridge Between Vietnam Traditional Music and the World (2018 short, Vietnam) – 6/10*
Journey of Wanderers (2019 short, Vietnam) – 7/10*
Toy Story 4 (2019) – 8/10
The Homeless Flea (1940 short) – 6/10
Learn Polikeness (1938 short) – 6/10
Abandoned Ones (2017, United Kingdom) – 8/10*
Jasmine Lane (2019 short, France) – 7/10*
Cosmic Beauty (2019 short) – experimental film; score withheld*
Blue Noise (2018 short) – experimental film; score withheld*
The Undeniable Force of Khó Khăn (2018 short) – experimental film; score withheld*
Push (2018 short) – 7/10*
Sorge 87 (2017 short, Germany) – experimental film; score withheld*
Embarko (2019 short) – 5/10*
Tiger Child (2019 short) – 5.5/10*
The Wedding Dress (Áo Dài) (2019 short) – 5/10*
Thanksgiving (2018 short) – 7.5/10*
Little Father (Petit Père) (2017 short, France) – 6/10*
While I Breathe, I Hope (2018) – 7/10*
The House Builder-Upper (1938 short) – 7/10
Edge of Tomorrow (2014) – 7.5/10
Creed II (2018) – 7/10
JULY
The Garden of Mr. Vong (2017 short, Germany) – 7.5/10*
Made in Vietnam (2017) – 7/10*
The Mechanical Butcher (1895 short, France) – 6/10
Lively Pillow Fight by Children (1898 short, France) – 7/10
Win My Baby Back (2019, Vietnam) – 5/10*
In Full Bloom (2019 short) – experimental film; score withheld*
Flagged (2017 short) – 6.5/10*
An American Family (2018 short) – 6/10*
Two Paper Nightingales (2019 short) – 6/10*
The Kite Under the Rain (2018 short, Thailand) – 6/10*
Table Stakes (2019 short) – 6/10*
Alexa and May (2018 short) – experimental film; score withheld*
Tôi là thằng khốn (Miserasshole) (2018 short, Vietnam) – 4/10*
Influencer (2018 short) – 5/10*
Pure, Like Flower (2019 short) – 2/10*
Searching for the None (2018 short) – 7/10*
Hiệu (2018 short) – 8/10*
The Man with the Wooden Face (2017 short, Vietnam) – 4/10*
Finding the Virgo (2018) – 6.5/10*
Thạch Thảo (2018, Vietnam) – 6/10*
Tundra (2018 short, Canada) – 7/10*
The Colors You Can’t See (2019 short) – 6/10*
Touching the Moon: The Ngo Thanh Van Story (2019 short, Vietnam) – 5/10*
Cold Fish (Cá Đông) (2018 short, Vietnam)* - experimental film; score withheld
Gold (2018 short) – 5.5/10*
The Immortal (2018, Vietnam) – 6/10*
Le Van Khoa: A Lifetime of Arts (2018) – 6/10*
No More Than This (2019 short) – experimental film; score withheld*
Little Sunny (2018 short, Vietnam) – 7/10*
Song Lang (2018, Vietnam) – 8/10*
Roommate (2018 short, Vietnam) – experimental film; score withheld*
The Bloody Hand (Bàn Tay Máu) (2019) – 6/10*
Ephemeral (2018 short) – experimental film; score withheld*
New Year’s Dream (2019, Vietnam) – 5/10*
Sister 13 (2019, Vietnam) – 6/10*
The Moment (2018 short) – 5/10*
Ramadan (2018 short) – 7/10*
American Girl (2018 short) – 5/10*
Red Thread (2019 short, Canada) – 6/10*
Like an Old House (2017, Vietnam) – 6.5/10*
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) – 8/10
Walk Run Cha-Cha (2019 short) – 8/10*
Picking Things Up (Nối Lại Tình Xưa) (2019 short, Canada) – 6/10*
Seadrift (2019) – 7/10*
Big Chief Ugh-Amugh-Ugh (1938 short) – 4/10
I Yam Love Sick (1938 short) – 6/10
It’s Always There (2019 short, Vietnam) – 7/10*
Scandal Sheet (1952) – 7/10
Poultry Pirates (1938 short) – 5/10
Plumbing Is a ‘Pipe’ (1938 short) – 6/10
Tom Turkey and His Harmonica Humdingers (1940 short) – 6/10
The Jeep (1938 short) – 8/10
AUGUST
Pavarotti (2019) – 7/10
Overlord (1975) – 8/10
The Perils of Pauline (1947) – 6/10
The Moon-Spinners (1964) – 7/10
Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922, Germany) – 7.5/10
The Littlest Horse Thieves (1976) – 7/10
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) – 8/10
Design for Living (1933) – 7/10
Barnali (1963, India) – 7.5/10
The Whales of August (1987) – 7.5/10
SEPTEMBER
The Farewell (2018) – 8.5/10
Fun and Fancy Free (1947) – 5/10
Donald’s Tire Trouble (1943 short) – 7/10
The Uninvited Pest (1943 short) – 6/10
Bulldozing the Bull (1938 short) – 6/10
The Love Bug (1968) – 6/10
The Old Pioneer (1934 short) – 5/10
Mutiny Ain’t Nice (1938 short) – 7/10
La Pointe Courte (1955, France) – 7.5/10
The Happiest Millionaire (1967) – 6/10
The Art of Skiing (1941 short) – 7/10
Ad Astra (2019) – 8.5/10
Goonland (1938 short) – 8/10
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) – 6/10
Toyland Broadcast (1934 short) – 5/10
A Date to Skate (1938 short) – 7/10
OCTOBER
Joker (2019) – 8/10
Two Little Pups (1936 short) – 7/10
Cops Is Always Right (1938 short) – 7/10
Growing Home (2019 short) – student film; score withheld*
Come Again (2019 short) – student film; score withheld*
Hard (2019 short) – student film; score withheld*
Love Your People (Thường dân) (2019 short) – student film; score withheld*
Returning (2019 short) – student film; score withheld*
The Tree Surgeon (1944 short) – 6/10
Customers Wanted (1939 short) – 6/10
House of Usher (1960) – 7.5/10
The Wayward Pups (1937 short) – 6/10
Leave Well Enough (1939 short) – 6/10
Horror Hotel (1960) – 7/10
The School for Postmen (1947 short) – 7/10
The Hockey Champ (1939 short) – 7/10
Kuroneko (1968) – 8.5/10
The Pups’ Picnic (1936 short) – 6/10
Wotta Nitemare (1939 short) – 7/10
The War of the Worlds (1953) – 8/10
NOVEMBER
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964, Japan) – 6.5/10
Woodstock (1970) – 10/10
Happy-Go-Nutty (1944 short) – 7/10
Ghosks Is the Bunk (1939 short) – 7/10
Victor/Victoria (1982) – 9/10
Pain & Glory (2019, Spain) – 7.5/10
Honeyland (1935 short) – 6/10
Hello How Am I (1939 short) – 7/10
The Lighthouse (2019) – 8/10
Jour de Fête (1949, France) – 7.5/10
Ford v Ferrari (2019) – 8/10
Jitterbug Follies (1939 short) – 6/10
It’s the Natural Thing to Do (1939 short) – 7/10
Frozen II (2019) – 6/10
Little Cheeser (1936 short) – 6/10
Never Sock a Baby (1939 short) – 6.5/10
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) – 8/10
The Red Badge of Courage (1951) – 7.5/10
The Westerner (1940) – 8.5/10
Sitting Pretty (1948) – 7/10
DECEMBER
An Autumn Afternoon (1962, Japan) – 9/10
Little Buck Cheeser (1937 short) – 6/10
Shakespearian Spinach (1940 short) – 6/10
Bobby Bumps and His Pointer Pup (1916 short) – 7.5/10
Bobby Bumps’ Fly Swatter (1916 short) – 6/10
Bobby Bumps Gets a Substitute (1916 short) – 5/10
Bobby Bumps Helps a Book Agent (1916 short) – 5.5/10
Bobby Bumps Adopts a Turtle (1917 short) – 6/10
Bobby Bumps at Fido’s Birthday Party (1917 short) – 6/10
Bobby Bumps Starts for School (1917 short) – 7/10
Bobby Bumps, Chef (1917 short) – 7/10
Bobby Bumps. Surf Rider (1917 short) – 6.5/10
Bobby Bumps at the Dentist (1918 short) – 6.5/10
Bobby Bumps Caught in the Jamb (1918 short) – 6/10
Bobby Bumps’ Last Smoke (1919 short) – 8/10
Bobby Bumps in Hunting and Fishing (1921 short) – 5/10
Bobby Bumps in Their Master’s Voice (1921 short) – 7.5/10
Mama’s New Hat (1939 short) – 7.5/10
Females Is Fickle (1940 short) – 5/10
Knives Out (2019) – 8/10
Niagara (1953) – 7/10
Pitfall (1962, Japan) – 7.5/10
The Screwy Truant (1945 short) – 7/10
Stealin’ Ain’t Honest (1940 short) – 6/10
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) – 5/10
The Holly and the Ivy (1952) – 8/10
The Racket (1928) – 7/10
Knute Rockne, All American (1940) – 7/10
Jewel Robbery (1932) – 7.5/10
The Vikings (1958) – 6/10
Something Different (1962, Czechoslovakia) – 7.5/10
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