ThaOGDreamWeaver

Okay. So found an interview on Hollywood Reporter about this with Headland... ...yup, she's a Kurosawa fan, as well as wuxia movies, which is yer classy name for kung fu chopsocky flicks these days. That should mightily please The Great Beards, and plays into what we're seeing in this trailer. Not just that dress sense and some of the set aesthetics, but the confrontation with an unseen, super-powerful entity in a dense forest. Using the Rashomon multi-viewpoint thing is... well, it's what every movie and theatre kid wants to do as soon as they get their grubby little paws on a proper camera and budget. Kurosawa's an undoubted master, but that movie has been stolen, homaged and parodied by everyone from Ridley Scott to The Simpsons, via CSI, ST: TNG and even The Odd Couple. Done badly, it's slow, self-indulgent and overexplains. (Even by my standards). Done well, it lets you explore every angle of a story - and sometimes also lets the characters do it too, as they interact and discover more of the whole picture. That kind of plays into the point that m'learned coll' @biostem makes above. The Jedi we've seen and read about aren't all white hats, but some are True Believers, some are rulebound jobsworths, some try to do the best they can, and some... well, are probably just paying lip service to the whole thing. And from their point of view, the Sith, Dathomiri and even Imp scum often consider themselves the good guys too, particularly the ones that: feel the Jedi are too up themselves / restricting access to power / becoming corrupt (Dooku) don't want to follow the strict Jedi moral / emotional regimes (Anakin) feel that the universe would do better if it was more ordered (also Anakin), no matter the cost, for greater-good an'all that... (and that, incidentally, they should be the ones running it. And have neat outfits with kinky boots and black hats. Maybe with some skulls on. Skulls are fun. BTW, I know it's a meme, but just for once sit down and watch the whole thing.) Playing around with this in a SW context is one of the things that made Andor and its characters interesting. Particularly self-aware magnificent b***ard Luthen Rael - at least when put in the hands of a Proper Actor like Stellan Skarsgard. It's an obvious author's explainer speech, sure, but damn if it ain't good. Thing that may please folks from that article: as it was filmed largely at Shinfield just outside London - a brand spanking new UK studio complex, no less, built for exactly this kind of streaming series, as well as locations in Portugal and Wales (gotta love a disused quarry), there's no Volume, very little green screen and mostly practical FX and wirework. So it should look good.

Filoni is now Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm. So credited or not, it's his mystic hat on the line. About Headland: given I liked Russian Doll (I have high Natasha Lyonne tolerance), I'm hoping for some proper curveballs in the plot, but which should hold together.

So here it is. Feast your eyes, but do not let them deceive you... And now, enter the Dark Vergence of Wild Speculation and Spoilers...

Noisuf-X - Satisfaction

Mark Chestnutt - It Sure Is Monday☕🥱

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - (Come Up And See Me) Make Me Smile

There was a very odd rumour on the socials that the guy also had an OnlyFans. It’s been wiped along with the Insta, and X reduced to a single post. There is also a web address that now goes to a parking domain. Now I don’t know why a comic writer would have one of those, because [googles] they don’t… [image search] usually… look… oh. Okay. That was unexpected. Suffice to say that even operating a private social, regardless of content, can be career-limiting, especially working for the Mouse.

Small additional details:

It's certainly odd. I know Marvel/Disney are cutting back on D+ projects, so they might be only doing two seasons and then out, and just not telling the creatives still working on it to make sure they complete to time and deadline. Or DeMayo may have been actively fired-for-cause, but someone might come forward with the tea on that.

That'll be £35, please...

Slightly off topic, but a couple from my tarot deck project...

😻

Leaf - Wonderwoman

Lynyrd Skynyrd x Dre & Dogg - The Next Episode

BTW: I'm not sure this is the right venue for this, but a message from one of their staffers: It's not a great time to be on the market in audio right now - especially after Ek redlined a whole swathe of people at Spotify late last year. But if you happen to need some talent, drop me a DM and I'll pass along the message. x

Kinda sad. They made good podcasts - worked with them a tiny bit, and Ship-It Show! deserves a future for definite. The Roost unit by itself is also profitable and should find a good home. As for the TV shows: well, they're vastly more expensive to make, but don't earn nearly as much per user, largely because they don't fit "live read" ads as well, and were therefore very dependent on subscriber and YouTube monetisation. I'm not sure AT&T or Time-Warner ever really had an idea how to make them profitable after they took over Fullscreen, and once WB/D got hold of 'em... well, just another costline. ...also, big fan of Bauza.

Final trailer is up, and it just wants to liiight... a little flame in your heaaaart... (with a very large flamethrower)

Puddles Pity Party - Brain Damage / Eclipse

Still gutted that Daft Punk won’t reunite. I mean, they could have handed on the helmets to new members for generations and no-one would have known. Y’know, the Dread Pirate Robots.

Odd question: anyone got a good formula description for someone holding a Reaper type scythe? For another hobby project I'm working on (building my own Tarot deck...)

Yet another Bard, albeit with very high scores in the Destruction motivation. Which would make me some kind of Death-Folk or Country/Punk crossover Bard, I suppose...

Thanks. Have caught bits of Slow Horses, kind of gave up on Americans halfway through, and Informant has now been added to queue. Not heard of the Ipcress File remake, will take a look. On the movie front, speaking of spy movies - and making Henry Cavill look weird... ...it's a Guy Ritchie war movie. Sort of. For those of you who aren't history nerds, the title is Churchill's nickname for WW2's Special Operations Executive. SOE's ops weren't quite as colourful as the poster and movie make out, because they'd have stood out like sore thumbs. But they did come from all walks of life, and were trained to blend in, while working as assassins, thieves, spies and military advisors/trainers to Resistance groups. And their story does need to be told. If you're interested in this kind of thing, you can get the SOE's collected Training Manual on Amazon - including self-defence techniques, how to fling an exploding rat, and a field guide to burglary "compiled with the help of professional and patriotic criminal sources."

Decided to hop out to a random movie on Sunday, and that turned out to be Argylle. I think it's worth a watch (possibly on streaming), though spoilery notes ahead... On that note, I'm in the mood for a good spy caper (especially with my "Jayne Blonde" AC/AA Dominator running around Paragon). Anything good I should add to queue?

Interesting choice, is all. He's quite a versatile actor - yes, in cape world, we know him for Quicksilver (and Ralph Boehner...) and he delivered a pantheon of charismatic creeps in AHS:Cult. Haven't seen Mare of Easttown but heard that was good, and Dahmer isn't up my alley - but again, heard good things about his acting. He's got no particular schtick or associations, so you're really not going to know who or what you're dealing with. Re your spoilerbox, my thoughts: