You mentioned Love never dies in one of your recent podcast episodes. I would love to hear if you have any more thoughts about that you would like to share here?
Oh little do you know.
@theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin and I first watched Love Never Dies when Andrew Lloyd Webber released musicals for COVID, it was instantly the most incredible thing either of us had ever seen and we watched it again as soon as Muffin came online the next day.
We have since rented it, rewatched it before the 48 hour rent period expired, and I think watched it a fifth time somehow though I don't recall the details for it. It's... very possible we watched it thrice that rent period. One of them was broadcast to the Rank Heresy discord server, so it did have a purpose, we just... also rewatched it...
Love Never Dies is the single funniest, most delightful, most entertaining and glorious musical we have ever seen. Everything about it, from the uncomfortable incest anthem, to TEN YEARS OOOOOOOOLD, to the nonsensical "Devil takes the hindmost!" leitmotif (thought I was having an English fail, but no, Muffin had no idea what that meant either), to the Phantom's great artistic vision being a Coney Island circus extravaganza where girls sing about swimsuits, to said extravaganza hemorrhaging money so Meg has to prostitute herself to keep the lights on, to Christine dying at the end and Ralph says to the child he raised, "Aight son, hope you like phantoms because you'll be living with one from now on. Kk bye", to ALW being so mad the ugly guy he projected on lost the girl that he wrote the whole thing in the first place (um actually Christine loved the Phantom so after the ending scene where she chose Raoul she actually ran back into the opera basement, made love to the Phantom, then ran back again to Ralph. It was a night of passion and the song about it will take ten minutes. Beneath a Moonless Sky, my beloved. Also Raoul is a stupid idiot who spent all his money and Christine regrets everything).
And yes, the above list was only going to be a few lines long but I couln't stop naming beautiful things I loved.
Oh my goodness, another thing I almost forgot (which is sayign something!): the Phantom finds out Christine and Raoul have a child, his immediate response is "Ah, yes, it would be a shame if something... happened... to that child..."
Proceeds to get the child on his own while his parents are distracted, only the child starts playing the piano... my god... the child is ten years old... MY GOD...
This is where we get the incest anthem, the Phantom drops the infanticide plans and starts serenading his son about the beauty underneath, a terrible intense impulse you must follow, and desires we deny ourselves, how his son will accept and embrace it, and... the lyrics are just so bad, alright, and the acting somehow made it worse. Watch at your own peril.
Wild fucking ride.
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Agent H's Movie Reactions
Ladybug and Cat Noir the Movie
A reimagining of how Ladybug and Chat Noir, and their secret identities Marinette and Adrien, met, fell in love, and saved the world
-I was trying so hard to make this a non-comparison reaction and judge it on it's own basis, but there's just too little in the actual movie and too much to actually say so here we go lol
-Truly I think the weakest part of this movie is just the script. The dialogue is so generic, it's almost soulless. It has to directly say what the characters feel at all times and has to give the most basic children's movie messages as the answer. For ex, that scene where she meets Tikki, and Tikki just speedruns the explanations is so bad bc like, the reveal of the power is an important part of any superhero story, and them speedrunning it is like "lol, we don't care, you know the deal, let's just move past it" which is bad for immersing yourself in the story
-Marinette is so generic here, it was annoying to me. And she keeps talking about her dreams and fears but what are your dreams and fears?? All she is just timid and awkward here (which makes sense why people are goo gah over this version)
-Personally, I don't like the idea that your old self is bad and you have to get rid of it but that's just me
-Marinette wears a tank top underneath the jacket??? she’s just like me fr
-That poll going around that was like, What was the message of the movie? I thought that was a joke and there was obviously a correct answer. But oh no. They genuinely just changed the message of the movie like every twenty minutes
-What was the point of making the Ladybug and Cat rivals if Ladynoir immediately solve working together like the second time they meet. And what does the "stronger together" mean, like was it making their superpowers literally stronger or was it just teamwork is better?
-Everyone just felt mean to each other? Like Adrienette/Ladynoir, but also like Marinette wouldn't be so mean to her dad? And Alya teasing her about being friendless? And Chat Noir could be seen as joking around but they don't give that impression enough, so he comes off as kind of just a jerk.
-Chat Noir is adorable until he speaks. I love that little arms-flailing run from the gargoyle in the church
-Also I need that dialogue scene of "I have nine lives, razor-sharp sense, etc." to be like a meme picture set please
-HE HAS LITTLE GLITTER ON HIS MASK :(((
-Yeah, I have no idea why Marinette likes Adrien other than he's hot when they first meet. (And I have no idea what his deal is. Why was he sitting lonely in the library? How does he know Chloe? How does he know Nino and no one else? No explanations!!)
I have no idea why Chat Noir likes Ladybug other than she saved his life. Like, okay, and? This movie seems to think that the only good acts is saving someone from danger, and all the million good tiny acts that the characters do in the show that fundamentally are a part of who they are isn't important
-Some of the Ladynoir banter was a little more banter-is-cool-right-right? than characters-actually-talking-and-bantering
-That being said, I AM NOT IMMUNE TO LADYNOIR
-The animation is gorgeous HOLY FUCK. I could watch these scenes all day. And I don't really mind, with some exceptions (ALYA. MARINETTE'S DAD), the character designs
-I did scream at seeing Luka. But upon a closer look, wtf did they do to him
-I liked Chloe's design in the promos, but I don't actually like it that much here, her hair is too stringy
-*Me cradling show!Plagg and whispering* "Who did this to you? Who hurt you like this? I will kill them all for you." (No, but seriously, No Plagg's galaxy design? The fart jokes? The not-caring-about Adrien?)
-I can't believe they've made me say this, but I think I prefer Hawkmoth's show design? His face is a little too expressive here (esp when Gabriel's really isn't), and it weirds me out
-I do think it's cute to have all the classmates and side character cameos
-There was some shots that just felt confusing, like I'm not sure where they wanted my focus to be
-Some of the back and forth scenes could've been edited a little sharper
-Hahaha, I like that they unnecessarily amped up the yoyo design
-If they were really doing such big-budget animation, they should've gone for it and given the characters new outfits and all each day. I'd pay for it
-I was THIS close to just skipping all the songs. And honestly I should've, they (except maybe the Ladynoir falling in love song?) didn't add anything to the story.
-I always love Lou singing for Marinette, but the contrast between Cristina's speaking and Lou's singing is SO BAD WHO APPROVED THIS
-Girl, you can't have a self-realization song in the middle of a fair on fire
-This movie owes me money for making me watch Gabriel sing. It was a fun song, but you owe me reparations
-"A she-ro!" Boooo! Negative points for trying too hard! Haha, Also Ladybug literally wasn't doing anything atm when Alya said that
-Nino having a crush on Alya is so cute
-Adrien sad boi hours
-“Evil Miraculous” Nooroo doesn’t deserve this slander :(
-Master Fu was, uh, a lot
-Also, they keep harping on, You have to save the world!! (Oh my goodness why was Tikki so serious) Which like makes me appreciate how the show smartly keeps it's stakes reasonable and contained to Paris bc that's such an easy pitfall for superhero genres to fall into
-Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t even save the day??
-Sheesh, and you guys were mad thinking season 5 finale gave Gabriel a redemption (which it didn't)??
-YES YOU ARE RIGHT ADRIEN WOULD CRY LEARNING MARINETTE IS LADYBUG
-WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE THIS ENTIRE FUCKING FANFIC MOVIE AND THEY DON'T EVEN KISS
-Look, Adrien deserves to tell his dad off, but this Adrien doesn't because it doesn't feel built up or paid off at all
-Dude. The reveal of Emilie doesn’t mean anything in this version of the story
-People who love the show will hate the movie and people who hate the show will love the movie
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