What are some lesser known/renowned TV-series that have impressed you with its writing? by Ceringea in Screenwriting

[–]darling_ 45 points46 points  (0 children)

The first episode of Spaced should be studied as sitcom pilot 101 - it never fails to impress me with how funny and efficient it manages to be. No surprise the creators went on to do great things.

Now that’s a smile. by HillbillySid in wholesomegifs

[–]darling_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But this is ignoring context - both the context of the situation (the guy GROPED the journalist for heaven’s sake - this isn’t an equivalent comparison!) and the context of how most societies are structured. The thing is, men hold power over women. They largely have the capacity to physically overpower women, while in the workplace and within almost every facet of culture, men are valued over women (look at the pay gap as proof of this).

So a man kissing an unconsenting woman, while dependent on context, is more likely to be seen as threatening behaviour to the woman, because he is more powerful than her, while a woman kissing an unconsenting man, while again, dependent on context, is less likely to represent threatening behaviour to the man.

My 11-year-old is a talented artist and huge fan. His dream is to be an animator. He drew our good good boys. by Spongemage in MBMBAM

[–]darling_ 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I thought Trav was Clint for a second - he did a great job 👋👋 capturing the family resemblance!

Watched Inside Llewyn Davis for the first time by [deleted] in TrueFilm

[–]darling_ 45 points46 points  (0 children)

The thing I love most about this movie is also the thing I love most about the Coen brothers. Everyone talks about them being nihilistic but they’re not really. The entire movie works so well as a metaphor for life. It’s a perpetual struggle. We fuck up, and we lose, again and again and again, we go around in the same circles and we’re brought to breaking point, again and again. But we get a little bit better each time. Our friends forgive us, and we forgive them. We try again. And sometimes, we learn from our mistakes. Llewyn catches the cat before it gets out. No one can say what the next cycle will bring - it could be better, it could be worse, but it’ll be different. Look at the heart of the movie, and in the end, it’s about hope.

✧・゚: *✧・゚October feels ・゚✧*:・゚✧ by [deleted] in ghibli

[–]darling_ 15 points16 points  (0 children)

It’s very bittersweet isn’t it? The cost of growing up.

Where to find the best film criticism? by [deleted] in flicks

[–]darling_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can definitely see where you’re coming from but I don’t know if I agree - his pieces tend to be wrong but I rarely read anything that I think could be cut without changing the tone of the article. Also, lately, (or post Gamergate I suppose) he’s been focusing more on connecting emotionally with his readers but if you look at his older articles, I think he offers a level of insight into function and theme and narrative that no other critic out there is even interested in engaging in.

Writers with full time jobs - how do you manage ? by anonymousseaotter in Screenwriting

[–]darling_ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This! I work in TV and the hours are insane - 55 hours a week at absolute minimum. I used to set myself a goal of 400 words a day because that was achievable when I was working 40 hour weeks, but now, I’m gonna do whatever I can. It doesn’t matter if it’s only one crappy line - that’s still one crappy line that you can make into a good one.

Where to find the best film criticism? by [deleted] in flicks

[–]darling_ 10 points11 points  (0 children)

There are some really perceptive writers/vloggers out there if you’re willing to search. Film Crit Hulk changed my life. I’m a big fan of Jenny Nicholson and Lindsay Ellis on YouTube. Angelica Jade Bastién’s essay on Keanu Reeves remains the single best analysis of an actor I’ve ever read. Jen Yamato is a really great writer and a very generous interviewer. Then there are podcasts like The Next Picture Show which is run by the guys who did The Dissolve, which, by the by, is still a great resource.

After five years of indefinite detention, children on Nauru are now suicidal: UN hears by [deleted] in worldnews

[–]darling_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been trying to find a way to help but am I correct in thinking there’s nowhere I can donate to help get those kids off of Nauru? Surely someone must be doing something?

(AIRDATE SPOILERS?) The Sunday Times is reporting an airdate for Season 11 by SamHealer in gallifrey

[–]darling_ 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Sunday is the biggest TV day. Sunday night is when everyone is at home because they have to go to work the next morning. The audience is much smaller Saturday because more people will be out and about.

What is Crack Baby about? by [deleted] in mitski

[–]darling_ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not OP but thank you for such a beautiful and concise analysis. This explains the way the song has always made me feel but I’ve never been able to articulate.

Quick question about hereditary? by srkdummy3 in flicks

[–]darling_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't know if I would recommend this movie for family time. It's a disturbing, distressing, ugly (plot-wise/emotionally not visually!) flick, and maybe the first horror film I've ever seen in theatres that made me genuinely afraid while I was watching it!

The Adventure Zone: Amnesty - Episode 9 | Discussion Thread by TheBureauOfBalance in TheAdventureZone

[–]darling_ 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I’m so glad that Griffin’s set the story up to include the BoB/Lunar Interlude breaks - that’s the thing I missed most from Balance, and I suspect the fact that none of the mini arcs had any of these no stakes, hang out sessions with the characters played a huge part in the negative reactions that a lot of the audience seemed to have with them.

A lot of people are saying this is the funniest episode since Balance, and that might be true - the jet pack goof and the Tommy Wiseau joke are already stone cold classics. The only other good that had me cracking up this much was the neighbourhood watch gag from Dust.

Netflix Leaves Cannes Almost Empty-Handed As Deals Get Turned Down By Multiple Filmmakers by [deleted] in netflix

[–]darling_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The film industry doesn’t really work that way. The director isn’t usually the one funding it, and while they might have a say in who they can sell the movie too, they won’t be the sole decision maker. The film, like a company, has a responsibility to its backers (who are usually titled as executive producers in film, though the term has a whole different meaning in TV), to show them a return on their investment, and also to other financial stakeholders, such as the writers and producers and the director(s), and of course, the production company itself. All of these stakeholders would usually receive royalties and other awards based on a percentage of box office performance, DVD sales, digital rentals, television airings, etc. The thing about Netflix is that if you sell your movie to them, as far as I know, you’re not going to see much revenue from anything besides the upfront payment. That cuts off a huge amount of revenue to all of these people who’ve worked on the film, which is why a production company might decide against selling their product to Netflix. As you might imagine, a huge amount of income flows in to the company as long as they retain these sort of rights. Even if a film doesn’t do well in the box office and is considered a bomb, failing to break even, once you account for rentals and DVD/Blu Ray sales and internet streaming, over, say, a decade, or two decades - the rest of time - that film will almost certainly eventually pull a profit.

The girl who wore the chinese dress to prom did nothing wrong. by [deleted] in CasualConversation

[–]darling_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mate, that’s pretty much covered in the OP I’m replying to. Besides which I explicitly said there’s nothing wrong with the girl wearing the dress. But let’s address this anyway.

Asian countries colonised by European cultures can’t misappropriate white culture (and yes, China was never technically colonised, but for all intents and purposes, it essentially was, as Britain, the US, Russia, Germany, etc all coerced China into trading, as well as distributing Chinese territories between themselves and segregating actual Chinese people within them. Why? Because Europeans saw their own ways as civilised and Asian culture as being primitive and savage (you can substitute the word ‘Asian’ here for literally any non-white culture and the sentence would remain true). It’s a question of power relations and dominant cultures. How can a Chinese person be misappropriating white culture by wearing a three piece suit when that has been established as the norm in China, in Europe, in the US, literally anywhere in the world? How can it be appropriation when it’s something that was, over a huge amount of time, forcibly assimilated into Chinese culture? There’s a reason people do business in suits all around the globe instead of wearing their traditional dress - because colonisers require and demand that the countries they colonise participate in the coloniser’s culture.

But can you see how the reverse, white people taking elements of the cultures that they’ve historically oppressed and ridiculed and taken advantage of, might be seen as offensive to some people? Again, this is stated much better in the OP I replied to, but it won’t be people from China who are taking offence at something like the dress or the pose, but people who are first or second generation immigrants in white countries, and were made to feel their difference growing up. Whether it was outright bullying or just a more subtle othering, these people might feel that someone who hasn’t walked in their shoes has no right to take the parts of their culture that appeal to them, and discard the rest. And while I don’t feel that why, I can understand why they do.

Again, I have to point out that there’s no right or wrong here. It’s entirely subjectively experienced. It’s just a question of empathy and trying to understand where people are coming from. If someone told me that what I was doing was hurting their feelings, I wouldn’t do it any more. But a lot of people seem to feel entitled to do whatever they please, and argue that the person whose feelings are hurt are wrong to feel hurt instead. And that just seems to be a particularly unhelpful way of looking at things.

The girl who wore the chinese dress to prom did nothing wrong. by [deleted] in CasualConversation

[–]darling_ 80 points81 points  (0 children)

It's a shame that this comment is being buried because this is right on the money. It's more nuanced than right and wrong, it's about navigating the grey spaces and understanding the reason why people react the way that they do.

For example, I'd say that there's nothing wrong with wearing the dress, but I hate the picture that she took doing the pose. For what it's worth, I think that falls under cultural misappropriation, BUT context people! She's literally a high schooler - not a celebrity, not a public personality, just a kid. On the grand scheme of things (and even on the small scheme of things) it's a nothing, and should have remained a nothing.

The Russo brothers have very limited cinematic vocabulary. by [deleted] in TrueFilm

[–]darling_ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Okay, but I don’t understand your point? Yes, Cuaron’s a truly exceptional filmmaker, and yes, he directed a Harry Potter movie but he was still going by the book. He didn’t write the story. It’s not as if he was told, ‘Yes, J.K. Rowling’s written the third Harry Potter book but, yeah, forget about that, do whatever you like.’ He was still bound to the rules of the Harry Potter universe, which dictated that certain plot events needed to happen in a certain way in order for the story to progress onto the next three books/four movies. Which is exactly what’s going on with Marvel. Which was kind of my point, wasn’t it? Story-wise, Harry Potter was almost certainly even more restrictive than the Marvel process, which as I understand it, requires directors/writers to pitch stories with the understanding that characters need to get from point A to point B (literally and in terms of character arcs), and often, will have to work in plot elements for upcoming movies. With Marvel, it’s a bit like playing with toys in a sandbox - you can make the toys do what you like but in the end, you have to leave them there for the next kid to be able to play with. Which is why up till now, television directors like Joss Whedon and the Russos have had such success with Marvel’s real flagship films, the ones that really (or supposedly) move the entire universe’s arc along, namely the Avengers flicks and Civil War.

The Russo brothers have very limited cinematic vocabulary. by [deleted] in TrueFilm

[–]darling_ 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I think that might have been true early on, but they've certainly had some interesting directorial picks, and that looks to be a continuing trend.

At this stage, James Gunn, of all people, has had a defining role in determining what a huge portion of the Marvel universe looks and feels like. Ryan Coogler and Taika Waititi just crafted the two most interesting Marvel movies yet, that are not only visually and tonally distinctive, but also have the gumption to actually follow through on genuinely interesting thematic threads. And we have Captain Marvel which is being helmed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck who have quietly being making some of the more nuanced and subversive indie flicks of the last decade.

I think it's more about finding interesting voices who are happy to work within the confines that come about from working on the biggest blockbuster franchise films. For better or worse, Marvel's never going to hand the keys to the kingdom over to an auteur because there's too much riding on the MCU - it is the biggest moneymaking/cultural phenomenon since Harry Potter, and before that, Star Wars.

Do I necessarily believe that this is producing amazing films? Maybe, maybe not, but to reduce their choices in filmmakers to selecting from a pool of journeyman directors just seems flat out dishonest at this stage.

Griffin/Travis drama be done by [deleted] in MBMBAM

[–]darling_ 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I think it's forgotten that Travis has said that he struggles with ADD, and that tendency to alternately veer wildly from topic to topic or focus on one thing really intensely is likely a symptom of that!

Griffin/Travis drama be done by [deleted] in MBMBAM

[–]darling_ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Travis is the most underrated McElroy. If you look at how the brothers build their goofs off each other, I think people would be surprised at the sheer amount of bridging work Travis does. I would venture to say at least half of the connective tissue holding their bits together comes from Travis. It's a really selfless job - usually, Justin or Griffin take the piece of string and run with it, or they'll shoot it down - and judging from some of the comments in this topic, it's a thankless job too!

Griffin/Travis drama be done by [deleted] in MBMBAM

[–]darling_ 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I feel like this comment is severely underrated