Blog Posts!

23/NOV/24

WATCHED: (TV) Arcane - 2021-2024 dir. Christian Linke / Alex Yee

I can't believe League of Legends could create such a great show. I watched an episode or two when it came out (I have memories of being in my friend's utility lying on the floor talking about it...) but didn't get hooked. After the first act of season 2 came out, one of my friends sat me down to watch it all with them; we steadily caught up before the last episoded dropped. Oh my goodness. The creative team of the show all deserve awards as the art style and animation have to be the greatest of the decade. All the voice acting was superb too. I think watching each act at a time was how the show should be watched. My faves are Ekko, Savika and Silco. I ofc ship every ship there is (don't take this literally) but am pretentious so think the Jayvik transcends convential ideas of romance, those men love each other in a Hannigram kinda way. The lore of the world is really cool (again how did LOL do that?), which one of my friends has been educating me in, so I'm excited for the future projects set else where but. Zaun and Piltover are so visually exciting. The aesthetics and design are awesome but the detail that went into bringing them to life and to then destroying them in season 2! That beautifully arcane obliterated city! I could praise how the show looked for eons. The story did not disappoint either! I was certainly not let down by the finally or the way we got there. The attention to detail means that so much is scattered throughout the show and then tied up well - like the best D&D campaign of all time.

25/OCT/24

WATCHED: (Film) I Saw the TV Glow - 2024 dir. Jane Schonenbrun

So... I began this film at 7:30pm in my room (lights off, headphones on) at the insistence of a close friend. I've known about the film since it came out and vaguely knew it was a kinda horror that was a queer and trans allegory but oh. This hit so increadibly hard in a way that I'll struggle to articulate. When the scene that the gif I've used came on I ugly sobbed for a minute and half then sat vacantly watching the last 10 minutes, kinda like how Owen (Justice Smith) watches his TV. Also speaking of the cast Brigette Lundy-Paine with a mullet is something to die for, and now I want a queer mullet. I love the horror genre and this brand of horror was so cool! The visuals, horror or not, were all gorgeous. As was the soundtrack. The first song to open the film hit so hard as someone my age with the films I watched as a preteen. The whole nolstagia over it all was intense (not a 90s kid but the 90s aesthetic was something I was very familiar with, the Buffy font when The Pink Opaque has its opening credits made me so happy) and really added to way the past can be a way to escape or a thing to be escaped from. I need to rewatch it. The film is a very visceral experience that can only be felt first hand. And as a trans person I think its emphasised.

04/OCT/24

READ: (Paperback) In The Dream House - (2019, 2020 ed.) Carmen Maria Machado

I finished In The Dream House for the second time! This is my first reread since I initially go it in 2021. I can't quite remember exactly when I read it but I remember the lasting emotional impact on me. It's my first reread of a book since I started trying to take reading seriously and track my progress in 2020. I said that I wasn't allowed rereads within a short time (as I one reread the same book 5 times over 2 years) but I kept seeing the book on my self and had a nagging feeling. I couldn't remember any details of the book, just Machado's retelling and exploration of her abusive relationship, with the woman from the Dream House, through different narrative lenses. The way the story is told is so fasinating to me, how each "chapter" is a different literary devise or setting eg. Dream House as American Gothic, or Dream House as Deja Vu, or Dream House as choose your own adventure. When I first read it I think I was just out of my first relationship. And now being recently out of my third (all of which queer, as I am queer) I do feel differently about the book. The sense of dread I had reading the beginning chapters - whether from vaguely knowing what's to come or my own feeling about intimate relationships - was very visceral. The book it great at intertwining education with Machado's personal experiences. I definately feel it is an essential read, knowing that domestic abuse can look a certain way is different from the understanding I feel like one walks away with after reading this.

14/SEP/24

WATCHED: (Film) Clue - 1985 dir. Jonathan Lynn

Today I watched Clue for the 3rd time, with my friend Jono who has not seen it before, and it's been catapulted into being one of my favourite films of all time. Is is a "good" film? No. Does it make total sense? No. Is it funny enough to make up for these facts?... Not really. But I love it. The acting is so superbly camp without ever feeling forced to be over the top. The plot is convoluted, made even more so by the twists (spoilers ahead about this). And it just is so bad it's good. So many shots are held for a second too long or jokes are played too many times. Initially I thought that some of the jokes didn't age super well and I kinda agree but also it's so over the top that it's not serious, and it feels like actual those on the other end of the jokes are not the women, but the men. Love Mrs White! There are so many iconic lines or scenes and I adore the cast. I can't believe Tim Curry was the third choice to play Wordsworth!! The multiple endings is so fun to watch with someone new to the film as everytime just as they think it's finally over, you get the best reveals. I could go on and on about the hints dropped throughout the film about the twists and the fact that Mr Green is both a plant and a fruit but I shall stop here. Go watch it!

07/SEP/24

WATCHED: (YouTube) weird & kinda scary tokusatsu girls - hazel

I wathced this video essay on 05/SEP/24 and I loved it. The content is something I've never come across before. I'd never heard of V-Cinema before and certainly not seen these Power Ranger / Magical Girl heroines before. I really loved how the Hazel formatted and shot the video (I'm a big fan of her physical media collection her owning a box tv whilst shooting on an early 2000s sony camera) and that she seemed to go into detail about each topic but not drag anything out. Cool to know that some of these robot tokusatsus are still a thing and making music?! I gave watching Akiballion a go and although didn't get through much, as Hazel says, I think watching one of the short films with a group would be pretty rad - although I'm not sure how they'd think of me afterwards...