This one was a nice, solid episode showing Kaz going from wanting to be a flashy hero to realizing he has to make the Colossus his home to be effective at his job. It was nice to see him doing the right thing in quiet ways that come at a personal cost.
I love how Tam good-naturedly ribs him and that she’s far too sharp to believe his admittedly terrible cover. I said before that Tam reminds me of Rey, but there’s a charming contrast in how Rey was all too eager to believe Finn’s equally terrible cover while Tam knows something’s up. It probably has something to do with Rey being a nerdy backwater hick while Tam’s been living and working at “a hive of scum and villainy.” She probably saw a thing or two being with Yeager’s crew, too. Tam and Kaz’s interactions throughout the episode felt like an extended
version of Rey and Finn repairing the Millennium Falcon.
Speaking of Yeager, Idc about his protestations about being above intrigue, the guy is Poe’s trusted contact and he’s way more deeply tapped in than he likes to let on. I wonder if his name comes from jäger?
Neeku saying he wouldn’t want to look under a Stormtrooper’s helmet had me laughing and makes me wonder if we’ll be seeing Finn at some point, especially since we’re seeing FO scenes. Speaking of which,
PHAAAASMMMMAAAAAAA I MISSED YOU, YOU HORRID BITCH
Also one of the pirates is actually in Stormtrooper armor? Probably got it off some sod they killed, but the red markings on it came across like an evil version of Finn’s blood-marked armor. This isn’t the first time we see repurposed Trooper armor in the ST timeline, see Agent Terex, and it helps give the feel of a post-war–very soon to be mid-war–world where there’s a surplus of found, bought, or “liberated” military equipment.
It appears the pilots of the Colossus aren’t just fancy sports stars but constitute its defenses as well. But why are there so few of them? Maybe wasting talent and resources in basically a blood sport isn’t the most conducive to the place’s long-term survival. Just saying.
It could be just the quality of footage I’m getting, but the animation looks terrible. The motions are generic and unconvincing, and the contrast between the 3D models and drawn figures is jarring. It’s a far cry from TCW and Rebels and has a low-budget look. It’s not unwatchable, though, and the stories and character are keeping me interested so far.
They made the show so. much. better in every conceivable way with a better story, more compelling characters and relationships, more diversity, better visuals (magical girl is EXACTLY RIGHT yes!!!), better worldbuilding… like this is such a massive upgrade I can’t even.
And look, I was an 80s girl. I loved She-Ra. I had a She-Ra figure, obviously, Glimmer, Angella, Frosta, She-Ra’s castle, and Mermista’s pool. I was a crazy fankid, okay? The show had great character designs and a simple, strong premise that lent itself to a lot of different adventures, both the canonical ones on screen and the increasingly embarrassing homoerotic scenarios I enacted with my figures as I hit puberty. She-Ra was fun and goofy and amazing, and I will always love it for the endless hours of enjoyment it brought my childhood self.
But the new She-Ra updates the story and characters in a new way. It explores the depths in the original premise that the original show never got around to. Adora’s brainwashing by the Horde and what led her to leave, Catra and Adora’s deep and conflicted feelings, the different ways they reacted to their abusive situation, Glimmer’s fraught relationship with her mother and her thirst to prove herself, Angella’s trauma from loss and defeat, the splintered politics of the realms, poking holes in the idea of a superhero solving everyone’s problems and emphasizing the need for everyone to fight together… I’m only four episodes in but my God this is great stuff. The characters may have gotten younger but the story is far more mature, and I’m blown away.
The new series makes me nostalgic in the best way: by bringing back the good memories but also updating the series with storytelling methods evolved for a new media environment. In the era of reboots and remakes She-Ra is one of the franchises that are doing it right.
Bruh religious or not there’s no debating that Dreamworks Prince of Egypt (1998) is a masterpiece and one of the most visually stunning works of animation of all time. The parallels between Yocheved and Miriam singing the River Lullaby as a tear runs down their cheek and the wind blows their hair in front of their face? Incredible. The use of hieroglyphics to show how Moses learned that his father ordered the Hebrew babies slaughtered??Ingenious. The duet between Moses and Ramses where the choir chants in the background while you watch the plagues destroy Egypt and Moses is begging Ramses to let his people go and Ramses refuses and it shows them facing each other and then side by side and then Ramses walking away while Moses stands firmly??? Intense. When Moses parts the sea and the Hebrews are walking between the water and lightning strikes in the background, illuminating the silhouette of a giant shark swimming in the wall of water???? Iconic. The entire movie is just absolutely breathtaking and that’s just tea
Dirty Computer is exactly the kind of story I was talking about when I said I wanted more simple and clear stories instead of ones that tried too hard to be clever and shocking and deep. The basic structure of the story is simple, and one could argue that the premise is not particularly new or original. Yet it leaves a lasting impact because it’s all in the characters, how they feel, how they relate to each other, how they change. You don’t get into the narrative because you particularly care about the mechanics of mindwipe technology in a sci-fi dystopia, it’s because you come to care about the characters and their lives. Like think about how stupid it would have been to waste time on the origins and workings of brainwashing technology instead of Jane’s suffering, Zen’s doubts, and what they meant to each other. The depth of the story comes from their emotions and relationships against the backdrop of a world that wants to tear them apart, not out some fiendishly clever narrative or setting element.
It is on this deliberately pared-down framework that the music videos add even more depth to the character and story. Each one of them excellent on its own with numerous references, satirical digs, and musical styles, in the aggregate the videos give us more insight into Jane’s character, the life she once had, her relationships, her feelings and sensuality and yearnings. They tell us what is being stripped from her. By letting us know who Jane is in beautiful and artistic imagery, symbolism, and of course music, it heightens the tragedy of her situation by showing us the nature of the annihilation she is being subjected to.
By using multiple narrative devices that added extra dimensions to the characters and situation, Dirty Computer took what is an old story of oppression versus freedom–which is not a knock in any way, all stories are old and the more honest one is about the old deep roots the better they get–and made it fresh and deeply impactful. It’s new media storytelling that succeeds by keeping to the rock solid fundamentals.
I am not only finished I’m on my first reread. Which is a bit unusual.
Not that I reread a story I liked, I usually reread stories I find even mildly enjoyable after some time has passed. I like revisiting familiar stories I enjoyed. No, what is unusual is that I started over right after finishing because I wanted the story with the full knowledge of what is going to happen and who everyone is.
Of course, it’s alright! 🙂 It was incredible! I loved it. John Cho’s acting was phenomenal and the twists and turns of the story were just out of this world. I was curious about the whole laptop cinema thing and it really did work well!
Very good to talk to you! 😀 Re the laptop cinema aspect, evidently John was going to turn down the role because he saw an earlier attempt at this kind of movie (I think by the same studio) and hated it. Director Aneesh Chaganty, who said he couldn’t think of anyone else for the lead role, sat down with him and person and convinced him to come on board. We’re lucky John changed his mind lol.
I think what really made the story work for me was that the emotional core of the story and the thriller plot flowed together so well. Another point is a spoiler so I’ll put it below a cut:
SPOILER FOR SEARCHING
SPOILER
S P O I L E R
The story that Detective Vick told about her son running a charity scam and her covering it up was one of the best examples of character foreshadowing I had ever seen. When I heard it I was like *blink blink blink* that’s… that’s not normal? Am I the only one who’s weirded out here, hello??
But of course David had other things on his mind and was still dependent on the detective’s goodwill so he didn’t press it. Also her saying she would deny the whole thing if he told anyone… I mean it was presented as a joke, but talk about your red flags. The next time I see the movie I want to look more closely at David’s reaction, I want to see if it made him as uneasy as it made me.
That story was the major reason my mind went back to suspecting Vick from time to time, though I was never sure and for about fifteen awful minutes I thought it had to be Peter. (Oh my God, what a bullet dodged. I was so relieved it wasn’t him, and also kudos for the depiction of Asian characters doing drugs in a non-criminal setting. And John’s acting at the news his daughter was dead? So many feels.) I felt so damned validated when it turned out to be Vick after all, because that pattern of using her position to cover up her son’s crime and help him avoid accountability had already been established.
I can’t add comments to @the-bi-writer‘s There Is No Redemption Here for whatever reason and asks are too short to contain my magnificent prose, so I’ll just put them here. This is for Chapter 6 (link):
Seeing how the description of Alia Ren in the last chapter scuttled my Keri Russell fancast I hurriedly replaced her with Naomi Ackie even though she’s probably too young to be a canon KoR. And then! This line:
“You have a weapon,” she hisses, responding to his thoughts.
reminded me of an amoral Maz, which in turn reminded me of Lupita Nyong’o, and that fancast upped the hotness factor of the battle SO MUCH that I’m tempted to change ships midstream 😂 So if this was not the image you had in your head while writing, I gift it to you in thanks for a great scene.
Anyway this duel was so neat!! I loved the decisive and deadly moves, the way the Force interacted with the combat movements, and even the ending with Lupita… er, Alia turning off her sabers midair. Her recruitment tactics are a bit sudden, but effective! Idk how much of a choice it really is, since Alia herself said it wasn’t optional, but I guess it’s more choice than Finn was ever offered before.
Continued for Chapter 7 of @the-bi-writer‘s There Is No Redemption Here, I’ll just go into stream of consciousness/liveblog from here. Spoilers, of course.
He shivers at the thought of [Alia Ren]
So did I, man, because TO ME SHE’S LUPITA NOW THIS WAS A MISTAKE
She clearly means to use him as a pawn in whatever game the Knights are
playing, but that didn’t mean that he, Finn, can get nothing out of
this.
I like how canny and shrewd Finn is here. He clearly knows the FO’s shenanigans all too well–he’s lived here all his life, after all!–and is adapting quickly to being swept into one of the Knights’ games.
He grabs a ration bar and a piece of fruit from the cafeteria – Rey
mentioned yesterday that she had rarely eaten fruit in her life, and
he’s been itching to bring her some
But he’s still so sweeeeeet *melts*
Finn strides to the bed, checks all her readings, and taps out
a quick note on the datapad. He leaves it on her bedside table, along
with the tangerine, so that the first thing she’ll see when she wakes up
is a delicious new fruit and a note from him.
Dude knows how to woo a lady, eh? I mean I know that’s not quite appropriate, she’s wounded and effectively a prisoner, and I know Finn would never take advantage of that. He’s just being nice! I look forward to their courtship beginning in earnest once Rey is back on her feet and has her bearings.
Her skin is light brown and her her eyes are dark and intense.
NOOOO MY LUPITA FANCAST um, maybe Nalini Krishan? I can imagine her as evil Barriss Offee 😂
“Your stance is weak and your strike patterns are predictable, but
that’s easily fixed. You just might be worth my time to train.”
Is faint praise a required skill for the FO leadership?
“You will guard the girl in the medbay for the rest of the day, and you will tell no one about this.”
“You’re no longer one of [the Stormtroopers]. I approved the transfer with Phasma this morning.“
So what’s the part that Finn isn’t supposed to tell, again? There’s no hiding that he’s guarding Rey in medbay, and his transfer is made formal now. Is it the lightsaber training he’s supposed to keep secret? The fact that he’s guarding Rey on Alia’s orders? That he’s receiving lightsaber training? But he’s already been taking out of the Stormtrooper ranks and formally with the Knights. Wouldn’t the training and the fact he’s acting on Alia’s orders be rather obvious?
“The hood’s deep enough to hide your face,” she continues, “and I expect
you to wear it in public at all times. In private, however, use your
discretion.“
I thought the Knights were masked? Or is that reserved for full Knights?
“It suits you.”
THAT’S NOT YOUR LINE LADY
She’s awake and sitting up, and smiles at him like the sun. “Hey handsome.“
Holy shit, Rey calling him “handsome” the last time wasn’t just the painkillers? (Or maybe she’s still on them, but she doesn’t seem nearly as knackered out as last time.) Attagirl, openly flirting in medbay. Finn has already done much to earn her trust–which is why Alia gave him this assignment, she watched the whole thing–and Rey still doesn’t know what the fuck is going on. It’s a good idea to make a friend and ally under these circumstances, and it doesn’t hurt if he’s cute as hell.
“You’re a guest of head of the Knights of Ren.”
An empty head, but head nevertheless. I think this line is missing “the” in front of “head.”
“I’m fairly sure you could request a pet bantha and they’d find a way to get you one.”
That’s Ben, the doting elder brother.
“He sits beside her on the bed, careful to leave a little space between them.
A gentleman, what did I tell you!
She hands him the datapad and their fingers brush, which makes his stomach do a funny little flip-flop.
Me:
He finds the meal app
The First Order–they have an app for that!
She inhales the food
Thanks for doing that to my heart, ya wanker.
The doctor’s eyes go wide when she sees Finn, and she immediately
drops to one knee. “Sir Knight,” she says, eyes cast to the ground.
“Doctor Noble, head of Starkiller Medbay, at your service.”
Finn’s eyebrows shoot past his hairline. Why was Doctor Noble…? Oh. Oh. He’s dressed like a Knight of Ren, because, well, he is a Knight of Ren now. Or an apprentice to a Knight, but that seems to count.
Huh, the KoR are due a lot of deference here, it seems. We don’t see personnel kneeling to Kylo Ren in the movies, but I can understand this as a formal “introduction” situation as opposed to an operational one.
Dr. Noble is interesting–she seems to be a good doctor doing her job, and she’s done much to mentor Finn, but she works on a freaking weapon of mass destruction. Not to mention she is likely directly complicit in the FO’s crimes and breaches of medical ethics, which are probably numerous. I guess she’s a good case of compartmentalization, and how evil institutions work on a day-to-day basis.
“Good work, doctor. I’ll…” he tries to think of how a knight might
talk, what they might say. “I’ll report back to Lady Alia that the girl
is in most capable hands.”
Doctor Noble breathes out a sigh of relief, and lets her hands relax again at her sides. “Thank you,” she breathes.
Yeah, Noble is working under a lot of fear, too. It’s how the FO works. That doesn’t excuse her collaboration, of course.
I can’t add comments to @the-bi-writer‘s There Is No Redemption Here for whatever reason and asks are too short to contain my magnificent prose, so I’ll just put them here. This is for Chapter 6 (link):
Seeing how the description of Alia Ren in the last chapter scuttled my Keri Russell fancast I hurriedly replaced her with Naomi Ackie even though she’s probably too young to be a canon KoR. And then! This line:
“You have a weapon,” she hisses, responding to his thoughts.
reminded me of an amoral Maz, which in turn reminded me of Lupita Nyong’o, and that fancast upped the hotness factor of the battle SO MUCH that I’m tempted to change ships midstream 😂 So if this was not the image you had in your head while writing, I gift it to you in thanks for a great scene.
Anyway this duel was so neat!! I loved the decisive and deadly moves, the way the Force interacted with the combat movements, and even the ending with Lupita… er, Alia turning off her sabers midair. Her recruitment tactics are a bit sudden, but effective! Idk how much of a choice it really is, since Alia herself said it wasn’t optional, but I guess it’s more choice than Finn was ever offered before.
I finished the first season of Seven Seconds and I loved it! There were a lot of twists and turns that gripped me, and the characters, particularly K.J. Harper the young assistant attorney character and Latrice Butler, mother of the slain teenager Brenton Butler, had amazing arcs. Joe “Fish” Rinaldi, the cop with a conscience, was solidly lovable as K.J.’s helper and replacement dad, while Isaiah, Brenton’s father, had a profound character arc of his own that moved me deeply. The villain characters Jablonski and DiAngelo had complex emotions and relationships, too, while still being vile human beings. They also blatantly left unfinished business for another season, and I really hope there will be one because this is good stuff.
If you’re looking for a well-produced and well-written, suspenseful social/legal drama with excellent acting and unforgettable characters, particularly with Black women’s personal journeys squarely centered, try this one out. It is not an easy show to watch and I imagine it’s even more so for Black viewers, but it swept me along with the narrative and characters and I personally enjoyed it.
Spoilers for Netflix Original Movie Set It Up (2018)
Tl; dr: It was bad. Don’t let Netflix fool you into thinking it’s actually about Lucy Liu’s and Taye Diggs’ characters.
Netflix sold me on Set It Up with a cover of Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs smiling at each other. By the time I realized that the movie wasn’t going to be about them and they were distantly secondary to the Zoey Deutch and Glenn Powell characters’ boring and predictable romance, I decided I might as well see the ending and whether this was really going to be as bad as it looked (it was). But hey, fuck me for wanting to see an interracial romance between two slightly-older characters instead of the usual young white people romance.
Also the Taye Diggs character was really… uncomfortable? He destroys his office and smashes his assistant’s laptop in a rage, the Lucy Liu character compares his gentleness and strength to Koko the Gorilla (??), he turns out to be cheating on the Lucy Liu character with his ex-wife, and near the end he goes to the door of the Glenn Powell character asking for a favor and has a drink splashed all over him.
I mean this character was well acted, and his realization that what he really wanted was to get back together with his ex-wife was more interesting character development than everything else in the movie put together. I’m not saying a Black character can’t be the bad guy, and the over-the-top and somewhat offensive characteristics might actually have worked if he had been explored better. But as it was he just came across as a scumbag, a dangerously violent one at that.
The Lucy Liu character doesn’t even get that much. She’s just a pale facsimile of the lady from The Devil Wore Prada, gets to be manipulated by her assistants into a romance, gets scheduled for a Brazilian wax she never asked for, gets cheated on, and ends the movie as alone as she began. Yay.
L.J.'s Obsessions 