(no subject)

[sideways]

Feels like I blink and weeks disappear, lately. Nearly at July! Nearly holiday time!

In the meanwhile, there is media.

• Binged the Toy Story trilogy, which was a nice and easy bit of fun. Was anyone going to tell me Joss Whedon scripted the first film, or was I just going to have to suddenly notice that in the opening credits as an adult myself? I say trilogy, however, because I got about a third of the way into the fourth film before deciding it was the same kind of "so okay it's average" cash cow grab that had failed to delight me when they tried it on Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. Maybe just make new movies, guys? I dunno.

• On the upside, browsing Disney+ ended up with me rewatching and rereading Holes, which held strong as an awesome little tale. As a kid, I made up my own tune for the woodpecker nursery rhyme and you know what, turns out I can still remember it. I think I was in grade nine when they assigned the book in English, in part because it was the year the movie came out and we got to go see it as a field trip. By far one of the better adaptations in the world.

• The other end of the scale: I sat dead-eyed through the Artemis Fowl movie trailer and then silently moved on.

• Season 2 of Kipo landed and that has been my dinner viewing this last week. It's still very good! This season, to me, shone in demonstrating how it's possible to tell an old story - for honestly, there is nothing especially unique about the plot or the messages - and tell it well with heart, great characters, and a bit of personal flair. It's not Avatar: the Last Airbender... but it's not that far off, either. I did think Kipo herself took over the plot a little this season, and I hope the focus is rebalanced some in the third; but I still enjoyed seeing the gang so open and accepting of their friendships, and conflict was couched almost entirely in working together against outside forces, not interpersonal squabbling. Also, I can't stop singing Heroes On Fire. Send help.

• Realised I had some catching up to do if I want to meet my "watch movies outside my usual genres goal", so took a shot at Moonlight. I finished it, which is a step up from some of my other attempts to diversify my fictional intake (the problem with trying to watch things outside my interests: often I am not interested). I also feel like it wasn't a movie made for me, if that makes sense; it's not intended to resonate with me as an individual, and there was a sense of being a distanced, curious outsider to a deeply personal story as a result. It's been interesting reading the commentary by the writers and filmmakers.

• Haven't done much gaming lately, but I did muck around with Creatures Such As We on my phone. Cute and clever! I am still debating my own philosophical positions with myself days later.

• The Last of Us 2 is out and... I'm not racing to get it. I think I still want to play it someday, but ultimately it's not a game I thought needed a sequel, and I'm a bit over being disappointed by unnecessary sequels and clumsy adaptations.

• Conversely, I am ALL ABOUT the upcoming Miles Morales game, ohhhh!! I loved the first game, so I have considerable faith that they'll do well by him here.

Comments

[alaterdate]

The Artemis Fowl movie is so awful. Worse than I expected because it doesn't even stand on its own as a movie. Completely unwatchable! even if one doesn't care about its faithfulness to the book!

[sideways]

Which seems bizarre... it's not like the first plot would be difficult to adapt into a movie, surely? It's a pretty straightforward, self-contained adventure / heist plot!

[alaterdate]

They were hellbent on changing Artemis into the standard adventure movie protag. They never planned to follow the book :^\ Then it seems like they had a different movie and scrapped that before just stitching together scenes they had leftover.

[sideways]

If you don't want to tell that story then don't... adapt that story... :| Sounds like the development process was a right mess anyway if that's what came out, though.

[unavee]

Your thoughts about Moonlight were very interesting to me. Reading them made me pause and think about my response to the movie. The story and characters are so much outside my experience, but the storytelling style was completely the kind of thing I like, so hmm I guess that's what made it resonate for me? I should watch it again.

I'm saving the link for Creatures Such As We!

[sideways]

It was very strange to try and evaluate Moonlight, to be honest! It is, after all, an Oscar-winner and deservedly lauded for the milestones made in uplifting black and gay voices, so there was some anxiety surrounding the fact that my emotional response to it was mostly "yeah, that was fine". The cinematography was pretty. The actors did a great job. I wasn't bored. It was fine.

When I compared it to Little Women, which was another movie outside my usual genres that did provoke quite a strong response in me, the conclusion I had to come to was that to some extent I just lacked hooks to be hooked on. Moonlight is very much, and very specifically, about being black American, gay, and male, and the way those identities intersect. There is no wider plot, and remarkably few standard dramatics: the plot is that Chiron is a person, and he has experienced these things in these ways. If I were to watch a similar film about Indigenous Australians, I could at least go - this is my country, these are lives happening around me, this isn't about me but it is still, in ways, a story I am part of. In Moonlight I am an ocean away. I would scarcely know where to start in analysing it. I have very little context.

I'm not even a cinema buff :'(

So: it was fine. I'm glad I watched it! Given the recent surges and successes of the BLM movement, it was interesting, timely, and it made me think. It was also quiet, very slow, and very personal, and I sort of... don't think it particularly wants or needs me to have strong Feelings and Opinions about it. Like I could have them anyway, but it's not really the point. It wasn't made for me. My part in this is to simply watch silently, and go hmm.

(I did really love the way the three Chiron actors maintained subtle traits that carried so smoothly across the timeline that you had to fight to remember they weren't the same person. That was so deftly done.)

[unavee]

Your extended response about it was also a great read! You're right, this was a movie that expects the audience to understand the context and does not explain it. It made me think about all the random personal connections and background that provoked the response in me. And, oh yeah, intensely personal. I loved all the lingering shots on actors' faces, and the pauses in the small moments between different characters. It does give a sense of "here is something to experience, take it as you will."

[sideways]

It's personal enough that I half want to ask what in particular moved you, but with the allowance that it might be too personal for you to want to discuss, haha!

They used pauses so well O: It was such a quiet movie. I kept thinking about how others would have made a far bigger deal out of moments that, in this film, happened entirely offscreen.

[unavee]

I don't mind; it's not that personal, just random stuff that made me interested in the content. I had watched another of Barry Jenkins' films (Medicine for Melancholy) at an indie theater with my cousin (and I think he was there afterward for a Q+A session, but I didn't appreciate it enough at the time), and it was a good memory. It gave me some idea of what to expect. And around the time I watched Moonlight, I had read/watched a few accounts about drug use in urban and rural communities, so those were in the back of my mind. And then the rest of the appeal was just that the style and storytelling aligned with my tastes. As you mentioned, it was a very quiet movie, and stylistically, that just worked really well for me.

[sideways]

It was quite a frank presentation of urban drug use, wasn't it? Thank you for elucidating!

[amovingtarget]

SpiderMiles! I can't wait!

[sideways]

His powers are going to be so much FUN! And I love how they seem to be making the way he moves distinctly Miles.

[wheatear]

Trust me, you're missing nothing with the Artemis Fowl movie. Absolutely dire.

For what it's worth, I thought The Last of Us 2 was brilliant but I also know it's a very divisive game so your mileage may vary. I think the original worked great as a standalone story but the sequel very much stands up and is worthwhile in its own right.

[sideways]

I'm glad everyone is firmly quashing the small part of me that was like "maybe there would still be fun moments" re: Artemis Fowl, because so far exactly no one is saying that. Lol. I did glance over the review you wrote for it and... yeah. Yikes. No slowburn friendship between Artemis and Holly? Whaaaaat.

I think with TLoU2 I always had a bit of hesitation since the writer stated that the first story was about love, and the sequel about hate. I'm just not sure I'm up for a game about hate right now, yanno? I'm glad you enjoyed it, though! I don't doubt Naughty Dog's strengths in terms of animation, gameplay, and character work is still holding strong c:

[wheatear]

Yeah, TLoU2 isn't a happy game. If you're looking for something light-hearted or uplifting or inspirational... it ain't that. There's a glimmer of light in the dark but it's very, very dark. But yes, the animation, gameplay, character work: all top notch.