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Everything posted by Danny Franks
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The voice Josha did was pretty good, though. He sounded so old and weary. His performance in this episode really deserves award recognition. I don't think so. Muradin was just there to show that some Aiel really cannot handle seeing their history. Obviously, he has different blood ancestors to Rand, to a point, but each Aiel will have an ancestor who broke his or her oath. And go back far enough, maybe all modern Aiel are descended from Charn. He became a killer, it doesn't matter how. If it had been a clear accident, maybe there might have been a little leniency, but I'm not sure about that. Him immediately deciding to keep the spear but reiterating that a sword has no purpose but to kill was a shorthand way of showing that refusing to use swords is a remnant of the Way of the Leaf.
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Book to Show: Compare and Contrast
Danny Franks replied to Black Knight's topic in The Wheel Of Time
A couple of bits that kind of bother me - Alanna getting pin cushioned without another Aes Sedai to heal her. I worry that they're going to somehow have Bode Cauthon heal her, which just seems to be an egregious simplification of how using the One Power works. Egwene being good enough to find all the dreams she wants to see, after what seems like a few nights of practice (at most). Honestly, I like the messy, soap opera stuff with Lanfear. She's so vindictive, it makes me wonder whether she actually pulled Egwene into Rand's dream. If she did, that's amazing. The Whitecloaks burning Natti Cauthon will probably outrage some book readers, despite Natti never having a single line of dialogue in the books. The Whitecloaks in the show are obviously far more ruthless and effective than in the books, and they have to be, to be seen as a real threat. -
Sulky Aviendha and Cold Rocks Hold. Now I really feel like I'm in the Aiel Waste. The Aiel in the show are a lot less stoic than in the books, but that's not a bad thing at all. Aviendha: "Wetlanders do not share lovers?" Rand: 'You think I could convince my girlfriend that we should open up our relationship to the psychotic, mass murdering ex of my previous self?' Look, Rand, I know she's hot. But you cannot fix her. I'm not a fan of overly precious kids, so I shared Aviendha's disdainful look at Rand being so perfectly nice to Rhuarc's greatdaughter. I wasn't sure if Moiraine was a bit peeved that Lan was getting some attention, or if she'd just developed a bit of an addiction to playing with her ball. Turns out she's realised she's going to have to sacrifice herself. The dream world looks just like the real world. That's handy for the effects department. But something I realised with this episode - Egwene doesn't know who Lanfear is, or what she looks like, and she doesn't know Rand has even met her, let alone had a passionate love affair with her. I'm not sure I buy how quickly Egwene has learned to navigate there, though. But her seeing everyone's dreams was fun - Nynaeve as the Wisdom again, Elayne doing Titanic with Aviendha, Mat with his family, Perrin with his wolf and his falcon and then... oh dear, Rand, caught red... minded? I love how adept Aes Sedai are at politely slashing each other with words. Suian and Elaida were so nasty to each other. Really interesting difference in the worldly perceptions of them - Suian is definitely a "servant of all" type while Elaida is caught up in the power and prestige of the Amyrlin Seat. Nynaeve being a terrible sailor is perfectly Nynaeve. Elayne reading up on Tanchico and lecturing the others is perfectly Elayne. She's such a rule follower. Mat and Min just need to hook up. They actually work well together. In case we didn't have enough reason to dislike the Whitecloaks, they're wolfkillers and mother burners as well. Valda really is absolutely despicable, the epitome of lawful evil.
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Book to Show: Compare and Contrast
Danny Franks replied to Black Knight's topic in The Wheel Of Time
Right. It's nice that Mat goes to Rhuidean in the books, because there is a camaraderie between him and Rand that's welcome (although Mat is still secretly thinking of ways to get away from Rand for pretty much the whole journey). But he absolutely doesn't need to be there, if the twisted doorway isn't there. We know they've not abandoned the Aelfinn/Eelfinn because of Min's viewing of Mat hanged. Though my guess is they'll combine them so he only goes through one doorway. So it's just a case of putting the doorway somewhere else. In Tanchico, Tar Valon or Tear is perfectly fine. Thank you. The cudgel of "Judkins/the writers don't care about the source material" is beyond tired, and utterly disproven with every episode. There's no way they could not know and care about the source material to produce the adaptation they have. Because it's absolutely clear that they're thinking about how to adapt the entire story, rather than just adapting scenes or chapters or even books. They're having to think several books ahead with every decision they make, and you can't do that without knowing them very well. It's also curious that so many of the people who say that the writers don't care about the source material are often misremembering or selectively remembering the source material themselves. I will also say that, when it comes to Mat, it's absolutely clear that they want to do his book three storyline, which is very popular with book readers, but they don't want to do the book three storylines for anyone else. Which is fine, because book three is no one's favourite Rand, Perrin or Egwene material. -
I love that Elayne only looks slightly evil. But it remains true - being evil makes you hotter.
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Book to Show: Compare and Contrast
Danny Franks replied to Black Knight's topic in The Wheel Of Time
Adding Janduin to Rand's past lives was smart, to ensure that it's clear to the viewer what's going on. But man, I wish they hadn't had him kill unveiled. I have to assume some producer said that they needed Josha unveiled so people could see it was him. But we should never, ever see an Aiel kill when they aren't wearing their veil. That should be rule no.1 of putting the Aiel on screen. And then they had Lewin kill that bandit without his dust veil up. So those two choices really undermined the moment where Lewin raised his veil and signified that he was a new type of Aiel. The veil (to hide the shame of killing) and the refusal to touch swords are two remnants of the Way of the Leaf, which makes them such a tragic part of Aiel culture. I liked that they changed Sevanna's way of drawing attention from "look, boobs!" to a more striking and bonkers appearance. I don't like that they gave the Shaido black cadin'sor. Or that the Aiel in the Rhuidean flashback all had such different looks. I get that they want to show there are different clans, but the thing about Aiel is that they could always tell what clan someone was from, but no one else could. -
It's more that both the modern Aiel and the Tuatha'an are offshoots of the "true Aiel" who were entrusted with the tree saplings in the Age of Legends. Both broke their oaths to the Aes Sedai - the Tuatha'an by abandoning the caravan and the Aiel by abandoning the Way of the Leaf. I've always thought the Way of the Leaf is too extreme in its pacifism. Seeing your daughter or granddaughter kidnapped, probably to be raped, murdered or sold into slavery, and all you can summon is "we bury our dead and move on," feels practically sociopathic. And all those deaths were by cutting Moiraine's throat. Even in alternate timelines where it probably didn't happen, Lanfear is petty and vindictive enough to kill Moiraine as Moiraine tried to kill her.
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This episode adapted my absolute favourite two chapters of the entire series, and I think it was almost perfect. The history of the Aiel is something I've always cared so much about, as they're my favourite culture in the series and they're underpinned by such a tragic journey from the people they used to be to the people they are. The crystal pillars of Rhuidean being the test for Aiel who want to be chiefs, is so good - are you strong enough to face your history? And I've always found a delicious irony in Rand, a wetlander, being the Car'a'carn, and it being so much easier for him to face that history than for any other Aiel. For him, he experiences the suffering and pain and witnesses the transformation, but for Muradin it's all that plus an existential crisis that simply can't be endured. The Aiel exist as they are because they were oathbreakers. They were supposed to follow the Way of the Leaf, they swore to. All that's left of that oath is their refusal to touch a sword. I thought Josha did an amazing job as all his different ancestors, from the stoic warrior to the hobbit-esque peaceful Aiel to Mierin's acquaintance who didn't even understand the possibility of violence. Distinctly different characters, with different outlooks and attitudes and voices. The two real standouts - Lewin saving his sister, and being told by his own mother to hide his face, the face of a killer. And Charn, who was so sweetly admiring of Mierin Sedai and witnessed the Dark One breaking the fabric of reality (incredible effects and sound design on that). I could gush over it for hours. Other stuff - I really liked the turnings of Moiraine's life, and all the different things she apparently could have tried to do - bonding Rand, gentling Rand, killing Rand, swearing fealty to Rand, boning Rand, boning Lanfear. And they all seemed to end the same way - with her death. So how does she find the path to success? This is the first time Ayoola Smart has convinced me as Aviendha. The desperate statement that she's a Maiden of the Spear and the little look of agonised resignation when Bair broke her spears, and then the disdain for Rand and his tattoos. Sevanna looks ridiculous, I love it. Couladin is a moody, moody boy. Not sure about the wisdom of the Shaido wearing black. It doesn't seem like it would camouflage them in the desert as well as the Taardad colours. I really liked Natasha O'Keeffe's performance as Mierin. You could see the differences between her and Lanfear, she looks genuinely lighter and happier, and considerate of other people, but then you see the hidden grief over losing Lews Therin.
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Book to Show: Compare and Contrast
Danny Franks replied to Black Knight's topic in The Wheel Of Time
Min the scholar. That always seemed very weak to me in the books. She starts reading and it turns out she really gets this philosophy stuff, and she figures out that the turning of the Wheel means that the Bore has to be effectively undone. Okay. I mean, Herid Fel already figured that out but died before he could reveal it. And Rand doesn't even try to do that until he realises that destroying the Dark One won't work. My biggest problem with Min in the books is that she seems to exist to be Rand's crutch - the doting, devoted woman who always tells him he's doing fine and always defends him against criticism, even when he's absolutely off his rocker. And that is the side of her that most of the "Min is waifu" types latch on to - the loyal, devoted woman who follows her man wherever he goes and supports him unquestioningly. These are the same people who usually hate Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve because they're too bossy or too boring. And they're always the types who seem to read the series as a male power wish fulfilment, with no other level to it. They unironically say the end of Dumai's Wells is the coolest moment in the series. They love scenes where the women "get put in their place," by men. They are the worst of the WoT fandom. I get that RJ may have felt like that was a valid interpretation of what being a woman can be, and I suppose there are a lot of women who are like that (and a lot of men who would like them to be). But it makes Min the least interesting female character in the entire series, from my point of view. I'd be all for the show making her more interesting and independent, but I think what they've demonstrated so far is that she's actually superfluous. Pairing her with Mat has given her a slight reason for existing, but otherwise she lifts right out and nothing is changed. -
So Gaebril is actually Rahvin, using a complicated Compulsion weave to make everyone think he's been in Andor for years. Who could have seen that coming? I really like the bickering Forsaken. I've heard it said that, while the heroes of the Wheel of Time are in an epic fantasy story, the Forsaken are in a workplace comedy where they're always conspiring against each other, with varying degrees of competency. That one scene did so much to establish them as characters - Rahvin the ladies' man who thinks he can talk anyone around, Sammael as the belligerent, disagreeable jerk who wants to pick fights, and Moghedien as the lunatic in the corner who everyone fears might have a knife up her sleeve. Oh, and Lanfear thinks she's smarter and better than them all, and likes to show it. I do like that this show is giving lots of "women of a certain age" the opportunity to kill it in scenes together. Verin and Elaida snidely bitching at each other was great. But I fear Verin and Leanne are underestimating Elaida and her plans. Absolutely insane scenery again, for the Aiel Waste (or the Threefold Land). I think they filmed in South Africa, and it was worth every penny they spent. Lots of Aiel lore, and hopefully lots more to come. I liked the scene between Perrin and Alanna, about the losses they've both suffered. Interesting takes on grieving rituals, but that apple tree has grown very quickly. And interesting thoughts on Alanna and Maksim, where things clearly aren't rosy. Bain and Chiad really want to kiss an Ogier, don't they? But man, that smile Chiad gave when she put her foot on the bench across from Maksim... I'd definitely play Maiden's Kiss. And probably lose. Lord Luc is not how I imagined him. Very strange casting choice, but okay. Faile is absolutely how I imagined her. Very perfect casting choice. I guess Liandrin has given up what little subtlety she had, but her and her friends definitely went on a fashion-forward shopping spree before arriving in Tanchico. Rand, Lanfear is definitely leading you by the nose. And you're falling for it like an idiot, because she's really hot. Loved Mat beating up Galad and Gawyn. I've been waiting for that, and it absolutely lived up to expectations. Galad being such an overbearing "unhand her, you ruffian," white knight is perfect for him.
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My soapbox opinion about E.R. - They should have built the show around Susan, rather than around Mark and Doug. She was a very sympathetic, engaging character, and Sherry Stringfield played her with so much charisma and charm in those first two and a half seasons. Following her career progress, and the self doubts she clearly had, while she was trying to figure out how to be a mother to Suzy, would have been great television.
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Book to Show: Compare and Contrast
Danny Franks replied to Black Knight's topic in The Wheel Of Time
Episode 2 - I really loved seeing Compulsion work in real time, as Gaebril inserted himself into the memories of everyone. It's so creepy. That moment of blankness when Elayne meets him, before the memory inserts itself. And then he knows exactly how to interact with Elayne even though he's never met her before - joking effortlessly about Galad, knowing she likes to drink. There are so many levels to what he's doing with the One Power. It seemed like the scene with Elayne and Gaebril put the notion into his head that he could get rid of all Morgase's support system - Elayne, the brothers and Elaida, and have her completely isolated. I wonder if that's why she agreed to let Elayne stay, and not anything Elayne herself said. Galad and Gawyn are complete fuckboys. It's hilarious, and in keeping with the more modern take on sex and sexuality that the show has adopted. I guess Galad's ineffable sense of right and wrong won't quite be the same, which is fine. Him just being a stiff, self-important prick is more than enough. -
The locations in this show are absolutely incredible. That shot at the end, coming over the mountainside to see the desert beyond, was breath-taking. I didn't realise Olivia Williams was playing Morgase. That fits. I did know Shohreh Aghdashloo was playing Elaida. That really fits. "That war is over now. Because I won it." That's a hell of a line. Morgase is ruthless and clearly a smart ruler. The power struggle between a queen and the Amyrlin Seat was very cool to watch (especially a queen who studied at the White Tower). I did like that Morgase does seem to clearly love her daughter and not see her as a tool or just the furthering of her house. Pulling Elayne out of school would have been a big move, though. That girl needs an education! Galad and Gawyn are two handsome, obnoxious gits. Perfect. I love how stiff Galad is, and how obviously different he and Gawyn are from each other. The scene with them showing off for all the novices was hilarious. Mat being clearly envious was even funnier. Ryma Sedai was rescued from the Seanchan. That's good to see. I have to say, I really like the bold colours of the costuming, and they seem more vivid than ever this season. The yellows really pop. Bain and Chiad are quiet stars. They seem so curious and forthright in all their scenes. Egwene's mother's expression when she met Loial and the Aiel was a picture. Alanna and Maksim used the Ways without an Ogier? Of course Perrin thinks he can just make everything right by giving himself up. Aviendha won't stop throwing shade at Rand, and it's not the kind of shade Aiel value (book reader joke, there). Aiel hating swords is a very fun cultural feature in the books, and I'm glad for it to be introduced, along with the Aiel prophecies of the Car'a'carn. I realise in this episode that Egwene now has first hand knowledge of insane, murderous Rand, from her Accepted test, and that she's unlikely to ever be able to forget, no matter how much she tells herself it wasn't real. And we keep seeing these snippets of Rand being tempted by the One Power, the edges of insanity when he talks about it, and we realise that the future Egwene saw could be very real. The contrast of Egwene's nightmares of Renna to Rand's warm, happy dreams with Lanfear was great. And you're watching his dream thinking that maybe Lanfear isn't all bad, maybe she can be fixed... Then you learn that she's torturing Egwene, the "doe-eyed cow," out of jealousy and malice. And finally. Aiel. Lots of Aiel.
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Book to Show: Compare and Contrast
Danny Franks replied to Black Knight's topic in The Wheel Of Time
There's a line in The Path of Daggers that says something like, "in the darkness, they shared another secret together," that makes it sound like they're banging, but I really think RJ just meant that they took the chance to talk at night about Rand and their feelings for him. Other than that, I don't think there was really any gay subtext to their relationship. They literally adopt one another as sisters. Unfortunately, some people always interpret love between unrelated people as sexual. Egwene and Elayne both seem to think that Aiel sister-wives have sexual relationships with each other, because they both think of whether they could share a man and find it incredibly embarrassing to consider. But the Aiel themselves are vague on it, and I tend to think it just depends on the three people in question. But I do think the world has changed quite a bit since RJ wrote these books in the 90s, and as strange as Rand having three women read back then, it would be flat out unacceptable to most viewers of a TV show in 2025. So having the girls be into one another does make sense. But I really don't know how they're going to fit Min in, because she hasn't even met Elayne in the show (I've only watched the first episode of season 3) and has still only met Rand once. If it was up to me, I'd make a more radical departure and make Min and Mat a pairing, which spares us from having to pretend we like a woman who keeps other women as slaves, just because Mat likes her. I agree with all this, and didn't mind too much when Rand and Egwene tried to be intimate and she freaked out. It did feel like two people falling into an old, comfortable pattern but finding it didn't fit any more. But I didn't like the button to the scene, where she says she wants to try again, and it seems like they did end up having sex (I might have to rewatch to be sure, but that's how it played to me). The writers already have a very difficult needle to thread with Rand and his women, without dragging out his relationship with Egwene. -
Book to Show: Compare and Contrast
Danny Franks replied to Black Knight's topic in The Wheel Of Time
I liked the change to the bubble of evil - making it a construct that Lanfear uses to push Rand into action - because it just felt a bit... strange in the books. It makes sense when you understand the nature of the Dark One, but I don't think the show can pile on too many different shades of the same evil. Just make it simple. Not sure about Rand and Egwene. On the one hand, I really like how they're using it to highlight Egwene's PTSD and the lingering effects of being collared. But on the other, they need to make this relationship break cleanly and relatively painlessly at some point, especially as Rand is going to spend most of the season in the Aiel Waste with Aviendha. I really like Mat being more communicative about the memories, and actually asking Nynaeve for help. It shows remarkable growth from last season, but it also departs from an aspect of most of the book characters that would get very tiresome for most TV audiences - that people never communicate and explain what's going on with them and that they need help. Mat doesn't need to suffer and pretend he's fine. It seems like they're folding Semirhage into Moghedien, which makes a lot of sense for the creepy factor. Freezing someone's blood just to show how much it hurts is such a Semirhage move. -
I wasn't a fan of the opening scene, with the Black Ajah revealing themselves. It was clunkily written and executed, with lots of very theatrical walking about the stage. Too many very quick reveals for any of them to really land. I did like Leane beating that White Sitter to death with her staff, though. She's so badass. But there's no way that Alanna and her warders could face off against a whole group of Aes Sedai and almost defeat them. Jeaine actually enjoying the deaths of her warders was super fucked up. I like that. Rand already has a guard of Aiel Maidens. They don't seem impressed with him. I love that they completely ignored Moiraine's instructions to hide their weapons. Mat is just waving around the Horn of Valere, bragging about it as he gets drunk, and fantasising about Aiel women. And he's still accidentally using the Old Tongue. And of course he wants to play Maidens' Kiss. I liked Perrin trying to warn him. Also, the cuts on Mat's neck in his scene with Nynaeve told a story of their own. Seeing him open up to Nynaeve and talk about the pain of his newfound memories was really nice. I like characters who communicate with the people who love them. Perrin still seems quietly tortured, which is very on brand for him. I think Rand is slightly underselling who Selene is. But even knowing she's Lanfear, he seems half-smitten. I get it. And I really like the tension between Lanfear and Moiraine - antagonistic but she just can't help coming across as super horny. But Rand still trying to make it work with Egwene feels like trying to cling to the past, as Lanfear alluded to (not that she's jelly, of course). Egwene has PTSD, and it reminds me how well they pulled off her arc last season. Those scenes were so disturbing, and so good. I guess her Accepted testing is her way of trying to move forward, but I'm not sure it's going to work out that way. The costumes in Elayne's test were amazing. The three girls in ornate armoured dresses, Rand in a nice red coat and completely nuts. Give us more of that and less of the drab, nondescript shirts and coats. Ooh, a Grey Man! That was unexpected. I always like it when Lanfear looks worried, because you know things are fucked up. Bain is a woman of few words. "I go where she goes." Finally, I love how incredibly creepy they've made Moghedien. Ishamael was a really interesting, complicated villain, Lanfear may not even be a villain at all in the end, but Moghedien is terrifying.
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I like those casting choices a lot. I mean, Matt Damon isn't my first choice to play Odysseus, but I'm not against it. Anne Hathaway as Penelope makes a lot of sense, but believing that Tom Holland is her son will be difficult. As soon as I saw Charlize Theron, I knew she'd be Circe. I'm here for Lupita Nyong'o playing a vengeful wife who wants to get rid of her egotistical, self-centred husband. Funnily enough, this is a cast where I could easily see any of them playing gods of the Greek pantheon (Anne Hathaway as Hera or Athena, Charlize as Aphrodite), but Zendaya as Athena works.
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I'm watching Modern Family again and, god-fucking-damn it, Cam is unbearable even earlier on than I recall. Midway through season three, there's an episode where Mitchell wins an environmental law award and they put it on the mantelpiece. Next thing you know, Cam has dug out an old fishing trophy he won to put alongside it because he cannot bear someone else, even his boyfriend, getting recognition ahead of him. Not only that, but Cam adds a pedestal to his award so that it's taller than Mitchell's, and then gaslights the fuck out of him, calling Mitchell petty when he suggests Cam only dug this award out and put it up because he couldn't handle Mitchell having an achievement he was proud of. Is the payoff of this story Cam admitting he was being childish and insecure, and apologising? No. The payoff is Mitchell realising how childish it is to be upset about Cam feeling insecure, and learning that Cameron has a load of trophies hidden away that he didn't put out just to avoid Mitchell feeling inferior to his boyfriend.
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I finally watched this today. I'd been putting it off because I already knew the story and knew how depressing the movie would be. There's something about the Territory days of wrestling that's so fascinating - all these local promotions that were simultaneously big time in their area but full of carnies and seedy as anything. WCCW is one of those that's really interesting, because of the amount of talent there, and the mystique and tragedy of the Von Erich boys. The Sportatorium always seems like an iconic venue of those Territory days. The journey from the glory days to Kevin on his own was incredibly sad. Fritz was an abusive asshole, and far worse than this movie showed - he used the deaths of his sons to sell tickets for shows, for crying out loud. Some great casting in this movie - Fritz and David seemed incredibly well cast, Kerry and Kevin less so. I get why Efron wanted to play Kevin, the sole surviving brother, but he's so much more like Kerry (especially in this jacked form). Meanwhile Jeremy Allen White just didn't seem right at all. Kerry was a complete himbo - great looking, strong as an ox, but absolutely nothing going on between the ears. Honestly though, it was a little disappointing. The pacing was not good, and the other brothers weren't given enough time for their deaths to really resonate. I think the focus should have been less tightly on Kevin so we could see more of the other brothers, and the circumstances that led to their deaths. The quote from Kevin, "I used to have five brothers, now I'm not even a brother," hits harder than the version they used in the movie. I still don't know how I feel about them combining Chris and Mike into one character. They both had very different lives, and were tragic in their own ways - Mike was a very promising wrestler who suffered brain damage due to toxic shock syndrome, but was wheeled right back out there by his dad, and Chris as the youngest who wanted to be a wrestler but he was asthmatic and had brittle bones, so just couldn't do it.
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I think it was just built around Tarantino's violent fantasies about what he'd like to have done to the Manson Family to stop them from "destroying the innocence of Hollywood." I watched this movie a while ago, and couldn't believe it when I realised that was the point of the movie - all that build up, just for some slapstick and incredibly violent nonsense from a bunch of vicious idiots who are humiliated and dismantled by cool guy Brad Pitt. Funnily enough, a lot of the dark, gritty movies that people believe were made as reactions to the Manson Family murders are exactly the sort of movies I imagine Tarantino being a big fan of, growing up. Because the violence of Dirty Harry, Deathwish and Assault on Precinct 13 seem like they could have been big influences on Tarantino's moviemaking ethos.
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FilmNight: Movies you watched recently
Danny Franks replied to Rushmoras's topic in Everything Else About Movies
I half watched Jurassic World: Dominion last night. It's a terrible movie, and it's a shame that the original cast all came back for it just to do half-baked rehashes of iconic moments from the first movie. But the most interesting thing is that the special effects seem worse than even the original Jurassic Park. I don't know if it's just because I have such affection for the first movie, and the impact those effects had on me, but even the clear CGI shots in the original seem more detailed and with more attention to detail. How is that possible after thirty years of development in CGI? -
My girlfriend is watching Rivals, the adaptation of a crappy, 80s smut novel. And... ew. It seems the main romance is between a woman in her early 20s and a slimy womaniser who is older than her dad, and one of their first "tender" moments is him tucking her into bed like a child, after apparently proving he's a good man by not groping her while they danced together. It's the worst kind of "I can fix him" fantasising about bad boy "cads" who secretly have hearts of gold. Also, he's a Thatcherite politician who tells another woman "good girl" for saying she voted for Reagan. And there's a theme of lefties in the media needing to be put in their place by him. Of course, it was written in the 80s by a woman who grew up rich. Who else could be the hero?
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I've not been excited by Superman since I was about nine years old - I loved the Christopher Reeve movies (at least the first couple) as a kid, but as I got older I found the character boring and DC's approach to making movies was terrible (Zack Snyder is a hack). But all it took was that John Williams score kicking in to make me feel like a kid again. And this teaser really worked. It set the tone of the movie (I hope) as dramatic without being dark, fun without being a comedy. Yeah, I can see why people worry about the glimpses of so many other DC characters in a Superman movie, but it's just a case of getting the balance right. Except for Krypto, we can have as much Krypto as possible (I think James Gunn must have loved CGI Cosmo in Guardians, and wanted to develop it more). I like the casting - Brosnahan seems perfect for Lois, Corenswet certainly looks the part as both Clark and Superman, Nicholas Hoult should make a dastardly lex (Huzzah!).
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The definitive version of the prequel trilogy concluded with Mustafar Takes Los Angeles, at Dynasty Typerwriter: The best Obi-Wan and Anakin performances you'll ever see, across the trilogy, with a host of great names around them.
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Great Performances by Kids
Danny Franks replied to Wiendish Fitch's topic in Everything Else About Movies
Watching Jurassic Park for the millionth time, and I think it often goes unmentioned how good the kids' performances are in that movie. They could easily be a distracting, obnoxious presence (like the kids in the new Jurassic World movies), but they just behave like kids. Arianna Richards, in particular, has a couple of really great moments - the sheer panic and terror in her voice when she's telling Grant that "he left us! He left us!" and the look in her eyes when she sees the Raptor's silhouette as the kids are tucking into all the food.