What's next on my list? Feast of the Seven Fishes

Unlike the typical Christmas review that I have, I did go off on a bit of a rant in this one, not about the movie, that 10/10, but about the holidays in general. So enjoy reading the last review of 2022! See you next year with a couple of lists and best of compilations.

There is more than a handful of beautiful Christmas stories out there, and in actuality, the best stories are usually the ones that do NOT want to show the magic of Christmas down our throats. I don't mind Hallmark movies, especially the ones that have real magic in them, I mean, life is f*cking hard enough as it is. But most of the time, the best movies I find, just take place around the holidays, they are not necessarily about Christmas, and honestly, this is the one holiday that, around the world, is impossible to ignore. It just is impossible to put aside, let it be because of endless number of Christmas movies that Hollywood shovels into our faces. But more about this in the next paragraphs, let us look at:

Feast of the Seven Fishes (2019)

Christmas Eve is coming, and the Oliverio family is preparing for the feast of the seven fishes, an Italian tradition, that even Italian Americans hold. Our protagonist, Tony Jr. (Skyler Gisondo) is struggling to decide what to do with his future, as he is dealing with an old girlfriend, a possible new partner, his families ideas on his life and his own turmoil over leaving or staying. 

I have a tradition of looking up what my favorite actors are up to, and clicking left and right on imdb, I ended up finding this movie, which did not really make it onto the typical Christmas movie lists, but I can tell you that it should definitely be up there. This year, more than others, I just had this blatantly clear realization that there is no escape from Christmas, it is EVERYWHERE. One my favorite movies, Mixed Nuts (1994), has a quote that I think I really only understood this year, as it says that during the holiday season we see our lives through a magnifying glass. And it really doesn't matter if you do not celebrate Christmas, because you know someone who does, you know Last Christmas by heart, every store BLASTS into your face decorations and mistletoe and well Hollywood Christmas movies are never ending. And, holiday here or not, you cannot deny that it is the end of the year: we look back or just wish for the next one to come and this stupid year to be over. 

So, coming back to the movie, as you cannot escape the holidays, it is my opinion to try to embrace it. I do not care much for Christmas this year, I have zero cheer, and I have been trying to force it on myself, because as said, it is unavoidable. And I found this movie by accident and it was a lifesaver.

I want to recommend to everyone to watch it, because the way it portrays characters from a small town might look stereotypical, but the pacing, the dialogue, the idea behind it, the struggles of immigration, the prejudice of families towards people they deem "different" is very spot on. The colors of the film perfectly bring to life the 80s. It is simple yet complex, and when researching Italian American communities and their representation, which is literally the topic of my dissertation, I was blown away by this movie, as it fits perfectly into the ones that were made and do portray the It-American experience in the USA in the 80s.

This Christmas season watch something original. Check out this movie instead of a boring Hallmark one, you will not be disappointed! 

Happy holidays to all who celebrate it, and wishing you all a simple festive season, especially to those who cannot escape the trickling lights and mistletoe showed into their faces. 

What's Next On My List? Cha Cha Real Smooth

After having had a long tangent on my writer's block (which you can read here!), I am somewhat ready to write a few reviews, not just because I enjoy sharing my thoughts, but because I want to turn writing into something that, without being cringy, sparks joy. 

Not to mention, that I also feel that there are some films out there that I really wish to write about, because I want to make sure that as many people as possible give them a chance. And one of those was: 

Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)

Let me get the summary from imdb: "A young man who works as a Bar Mitzvah party host strikes up a friendship with a mother and her autistic daughter." 

This summer I promised a review of this movie, and I don't want to push it off any longer. First of all, it was exceptionally good. Independent movies have not been on my radar as of late, mostly because very few got made due to covid, but also because of the ones that were bought by publishers, none interested me. In my view, there are two kinds of indie movies: one with an unbearable amount of pain, and those that just show us one chapter of someone's life. They have become repetitive over the years, and I could not bear the pain sometimes, or just the overall emotions the story wished to awake in me; while sometimes these chapters were just... blend. But this movie was anything but blend. Of all the things that I am going to praise, the first has to be the script:

"- What's it like being depressed?

- I don't know. It feels like... like you remember what better feels like and then you do things that you think will make you feel better but they don't. They make it worse. And the things that I'm really scared of doing are probably the things that will help me the most, but I just can't do them."

I loved this movie. It was just excellent. It got me hooked from the first scene. The colors, the music, the cast... it was directed and written by Cooper Raiff, who also plays the main character. This young man has an exceptional career ahead of himself. I have never cared much for Dakota Johnsson, but I had my eyes glued on her every single time she was on screen. Not only did she make this character hers, but the director knew exactly how to work with her. (So in retrospect I am blaming the directors she worked with, as she clearly has talent!) This is and will be my favorite movie with her. Her character Domino, had wonderful dialogues with the main character, Andrew, left me with my mouth open. The friend who suggested we watch it, actually found the movie through a quote from it. And that really hit for me, honestly, I have been collecting quotes from movies for as long as I can remember, and I should just start watching movies based on the quotes I find... That would be a great way to scan for movies.

"I feel like there are things that you just, like, don't say to me. And I can't tell whether you're, like, holding back a desire to be close or a desire to be distant."

I do have one criticism, which is something that is an old issue, something that always bothered me in romantic comedies from the 80s and 90s. Domino is about to get married, but she did not have a lot of chemistry with that man, more so with the main character. Obviously, the viewers are rooting for the main characters, but as we know the ending of the movie, it would have made much more sense to cast someone with whom she also has chemistry. And here is where my issue comes in, in all those romantic comedies the main characters were dating the "wrong" person before ending up with the "right" one. But it just made me mad, because why are you with that person?! Of course, a lot of times people are with the wrong person, so it makes sense that "life imitates art", but the fact that they have no chemistry with those people, does not make sense... because you need something that keeps you connected, something that stops us from breaking up with them, something that keeps telling us that we should stay. In this movie, at least, even if I felt that Domino and her fiancée were not the best of couples, the way in which he cared about her and her daughter, simply showcased how he was a great guy. The reasons why she was with him were clear and their wedding scene was very beautiful. I do wish that there would have been more chemistry there, especially because Dakota Johnson had chemistry with anything and everything in this movie... 

Before finishing, I also have to praise the child actors in this movie: I have seen far too many unrealistic depictions of kids behaving like 40 year olds when they are teenagers and it has been incredibly upsetting... but what makes this story even more compelling is its simplicity in portrayal of the young characters. Everyone acts their age, everyone behaves accordingly despite deep emotional moments: Andrew babysits Lola (Vanessa Burghardt), who is autistic, and the way she interacts with people also teaches the audience on how to act if you know someone with this kind of condition. And next to Andrew's little brother, David (Evan Assante), you could tell the social issues she has, but it is not something to make her stand out, but something that actually makes her like every other teenager who is discovering themselves and their feelings. And David and Andrew's interactions were incredibly wholesome. Andrew keeps giving help to David, but it is never misogynistic, or weird, or outdated. It is just healthy brotherly advice. 

But, if the only thing I can complain about is probably a deliberate choice to highlight the connection between the two main characters, then you can be sure that this is an exceptionally good movie. It really hit when I watched it, and have been recommending it to people who appreciate good independent movies. I can see myself rewatching this film as I think it will hold a different meaning to me at different stages of my life. It is incredible how the best of films can sometimes just fall into our laps, literally out of nowhere, or due to a weird strain of circumstances. But we need to be grateful, and I am definitely grateful for this film! I look forward to more films from this young director, I hope he wins every award available with this movie, and there will be more beautiful stories told through his lenses.

Until the next item on my list!

What's Next On My List? The Death and Life of Bobby Z

As a tradition, each year in memory of Paul Walker, I review a movie that he starred in as long as I run out. I miss him terribly still... he was truly one of my favorites. This is for you, happy birthday!

The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2007)

Tim Kearney (Paul Walker) is freed from prison for an exchange, where he has to impersonate a drug dealer by the name of Bobby Z. Having been a marine, Tim can handle himself, but people want both him and Bobby dead, and he has to find a way to get away from both. 

This film was not well received, but honestly, I had great fun watching it. Paul Walker is someone who was type cast in his life. Usually some kind of cop or undercover cop, or FBI agent, and so on, you know what I mean. Last year I talked about Meet the Deedles (1988), which was a very silly family movie, but he did a great job. Here, he is a dumbass who loses his temper quite often, and to get his life in order he enrolled in the marines. However, when life throws him a bone, he takes the opportunity. I liked that when there were no eyes on him, and he wasn't supposed to be a well calculated drug dealer, as Bobby Z, but his real self, Tim, came out, he was just a goofy guy. And Walker did a great job. More than anything, he was horrible at playing Bobby, and I liked that too, because why would a random marine be a trained actor? There were a lot of things that had to go right for him to get away with this impersonation, and most things actually go terribly wrong. 

This was definitely not the best movie I have ever seen, but for some reason, I cannot help but feel like it was not meant to be anything more than what we saw. It was great fight scene, and famous people acting together excellently. Olivia Wilde and Walker had wonderful chemistry. Wilde is slowly becoming one of the most prominent figures in Hollywood, and she is not only an outstanding actress, but a wonderful director. It is fun to see her in a more simple role and at the beginnings of her stardom. And yet, she really stood out in this cast of A-listers are well. Laurence Fishburne played an asshole, but he did a great job at it, and really, have you ever seen Fishburne be not good at his job? And the cast also includes Joaquim de Almeida, as a kind of antagonist, but really, deciding who is good or bad in this movie is quite hard. That said, de Almeida is fantastic: I adore this guy. Any role he does, any character he portrays, it keeps leaving me with wanting more. 

This is a straightforward action movie with some real A-listers. It is just a 90 minute run with great twists, in my humble opinion. Honestly, of all the movies I have left to see from Walker, this was a really pleasant surprise, and I am glad I waited to see it. I definitely recommend it.

I still have a couple of movies left with Walker, and as long as I do, I will make these yearly posts. I really miss this guy. Talking about him reminds me of all the incredibly talented people we have lost during the years, and how the world is slowly but surely going to shit and just... It breaks my heart over and over. But we are blessed again to still have the movies and songs and books they left behind.

Until the next item on my list!

To Write or Not to Write

It has been a while since I wrote a review. Any who read my blog know, that I stopped writing reviews weekly, because it was becoming too much. And I have also stopped writing for public consumption, because I was working on private projects. I needed this break. I have been using this blog the wrong way. As I forced myself to write I did not actually manage to do the writing that mattered to me. And yet, the main reason I wanted my blog to begin with was to make sure I keep practicing. 

And as I dealt with this dilemma, THE WHOLE WORLD WENT TO SHIT.

I keep passing most of the day feeling the need to yell "What the actual f*ck?!". It is one thing that my country is slowly but surely falling apart, another is just... everything else.

I live in a fairly OK part of the world, and I keep feeling like I am not allowed to be upset, I keep calling my own issues "first world problems", because there is always something worse happening out there so can I even be upset? Are we allowed to be upset? And if we are not, then why all these sad feelings? And how are we supposed to deal with these feelings, if we cannot even recognize them as legitimate feelings? 

This is just one of the many issues I have been dealing with.

I feel like the past two years will be written out in some very detailed psychological book about the various forms of depression that developed during quarantine and afterwards. Oh yes and the war, how could one forget when the neighboring country is literally on fire because of one asshole who needs to prove the size of his dick. Let us also not forget that climate change prevention is still ... lacking at best. I don't even think prevention is still possible, only slowing it down, maybe, but how, when the people in charge think that the planet heating up is a question of "beliefs". 

That's it, that is my biggest first world problem, all the men who are in charge are idiots. And I don't mean my country alone, I am able to read and watch the news, I can see radicals coming to power in countries, and the way we ignore real issues truly breaks my heart. The way the media works... we just learned nothing from covid, did we? Distances don't exist anymore, borders are just geographical, not political, and the definition of 'first' or 'third world' countries is utterly outdated. 

People are dying for nothing. Nothing.

... not to write then?

What is the fucking point? This too is another first world problem, isn't it? I can suffer from my little writer's block, I am allowed that. I have the luxury. Not all do and in fact, the never-ending feeling of helplessness is another one of the anxieties that blocks me from actually writing. 

And it's not like I have nothing to write... I am currently finishing my doctorate in American studies, focusing on Italian American representation in popular culture. For me to finish my degree is to write an around 200 page dissertation. I also had to write publications, which I have. But in a sit-down with my advisor she told me about a study that concluded that academic publications have on average 3 to 5 readers. So as the planet is slowly dying, and I am supposed to find the will to write 200 pages for a total of 3 people reading it?  It all seems... pointless. You get through years of studying, and unless you write 200 pages, you will never get a degree. I don't understand how this can still make sense in Hungary, when so many countries have systems that have stopped this completely useless practice of writing for the sake of writing for the sake of writing. One can very easily prove if they actually spent time on their research or if the half-assed their time in the doctorate program. 

... to write. 

That is the answer, as deep down in my core I love writing. But I never in my life imagined that I would find myself with this block in such a way, that my generation is going through the ---fifth or sixth--- once in a lifetime crisis. And that a 200 page research paper that only 3 people will read feels like the least important thing that I could possibly be doing. This blog, feels like the least important thing that I could be doing. It took me a whole month to write this one page . The struggle is truly real.

And as I am writing this I have to write down the hardest thing for me to admit: that I am not special. I never had issues with writing before, I have always met deadlines, I had this strong belief that I am at least good at this one thing. But the way my brain works... I have been intentionally sabotaging myself. And I promise that I am working on it. I need to break free of the chains in my head that come from wanting to be something more than I am. Because I should be, above everything else, happy with what I have. Happy with who I am. Happy to be alive.

That is the question. 

Thank you reader, for getting this far with me. I don't know when I am going to write next, the 'not to write'  is very strong with me at the moment. But this overwhelming anxiety is something that needs to be dealt with, sooner or later. I need to finish my dissertation. I need to keep writing reviews. I am a teacher, I share my knowledge, I open up debates about important topics, about culture, about life... And above everything else, no matter the fact that it takes a long time to type all of these out, I love writing. 

Stay tuned, for hopefully more, or if nothing else, wish me luck in finishing my stupid dissertation and coming to terms with not being special, just normal and embracing it. 

Blogger: Meeting New People, and What the Pandemic Took from Me

A couple of months ago a friend of mine asked "who even likes dating?" and I told them that I do. It's been a while since I've been on a date, of course, and looking for a partner can be quite difficult, trust me, I am so used to rejection myself from every faucet of life that I am planning to have it tattooed on my face. But there is something magical when you meet a new person. A lot of times it is hard to draw a clear line between the feelings that we connect to objects, but keep in mind what a new person brings with them:

• new music;
• new TV shows;
• new youtube pages;
• new books;
• new movies
  u new experiences.

I remember when back in 2014 a crush of mine suggested the album Helios from The Fray. That is one of those few albums where I still love every single track on it. Did it remind me of them for a looooooong time? Of course. But music lives on, trust me, it does. Two more people brought Stephen King and Margaret Atwood into my life. The starter pack, in both cases, were books that were over 600 pages. But boy I am grateful for the recommendation, King's 11/22/63 is my favorite book to date, and it inspired my bachelor's thesis; while Atwood's The Blind Assassin is a straight up masterpiece. Unfortunately, I also try to recommend these to other people, they don't seem to be as impressed with my taste, as I am with everyone else's, but I don't mind. I was enriched by the experience. It was yet another crush who helped me discover The Proclaimers, Faithless, and rediscovered my love for Placebo. (More so the recognition that they are my favorite band.) I will also never forget that April in 2017 when it was snowing here in Hungary and I was closed in a dorm room with Yuri On Ice! because I was told that it is a "must see!". I had immense fun with that as well, and it would help me later on have very good conversations about anime with friends I made along the line. I am simply saying that new impulses are good in a person's life. Especially someone like me, who gets bored with everything very fast. 

The opposites attract thing is bullshit, however, it is a great place to start if you want to be kicked out of your comfort zone. Even if you are an adrenaline junkie who cannot sit still, seemingly displaying ease at breaking out of the comfort, really, that is your comfort. Learning to slow down and sit down and listen is a hard task. And if you are not a narcissistic selfish little hermit, you too will be influenced by others. "I'll go to the moon and back for you." We WILL do a lot of things for others. Like read 600 page long books. And to dissect the idea of hating to date... I think it also depends on your perspective. Very rarely did I go about it by pressuring myself to make sure I get a second date - which I am sure is the primary feeling for most - it was always about getting to know the other person. 

Above all we are not just meeting people to date them, of course. Despite my idea for this entry having stemmed from that beautiful encounter among humans, I gotta say, I just like meeting new people. Here is where it comes to the experiences: two years ago I had the pleasure to attend a conference in Germany and it was probably my favorite trip in the 30 years I have been alive. It was like a big school trip without teachers - and isn't that the dream? There is something giddy and childish like about the joy of sharing things about yourself with your peers. It can be scary, of course, what if they don't like my Star Wars Lego collection? (Although, why be friends with people who don't like that?!) But as you get older you don't care what other people think and it is so much fun to find those who do! Those people will become your friends for life. Going back to the trip, I met a great group of people, and truly by chance: one goes to several conferences when seeking a career in the academics, and only a handful are memorable. This one exceeded every expectation and there was something magical about opening up to kind and wholesome strangers. And that can only happen if we take chances. And we go to conferences IN PERSON. Which to me, the least spontaneous person on this planet, is as hard as you can imagine. And having a coffee, a beer, or stopping to say hello to any of these people, or the ones I met during my 10 years at university was the highlight of every single day.

Then the pandemic hit... 

@kysscalamity

Primarily I caught myself reaching out to people from my past. Which was fun, because even if our roads went to different places, I was happy to know that many escaped this horrible disease. I find that as long as you accept that not everyone will answer you, I think that trying to reach out is one of the best things one can do. The biggest majority of people were more than happy to hear from me, and so many just wish to reach out and never do. 

• Take the time. 
• Write that message or pick up that phone. 
• Ask that question. 
• Include something about you. 
• Be honest. 

You never know what will come out of it! But there are reasons why certain paths diverted, and that is OK. It is hard when you crave to talk to people and they do not wish to talk to you. I think everyone knows that feeling, all too well. And that is why, perhaps it is so hard to reach out. But do not let that stop you, because I promise, you will be surprised. However, this only fits people you already knew, I am lucky, many like a phone call, a video call, but understandingly a lot of people cannot sit in front of their computer anymore after having been forced to do so by the pandemic, and we need to meet them in the middle. And it is one thing when you already knew them, but... 

... meeting new people online is hard for people who crave social interactions.

Let there be no mistake, this is not specifically a romantic issue, I think that making new friends is also incredibly difficult. First of all, in the new world, if you are not on the "apps", you have no chance of meeting people. It is also my experience that photo based apps are not the best, I have several friends who love me the way I am, but my picture does not get any traction. And the most difficult thing is that I cannot yet imagine a world where talking to people at a party would feel normal. Are you vaccinated? Are you a flat earther? Why do you think science is a question of belief? Who did you vote for... I know these don't feel like important questions, but they are. After the pandemic I feel like the world IS divided, and I tried to be as tolerant as possible, but I am also older, and I do not have energy for people that I am continuously going to have arguments with about issues I just know I won't change my mind on. But who knows, I might, again, new experiences. I think we need to normalize changing our minds based on new information. And there are so many little things that did not seem important before. Not to mention that having been closed off for so long I am unsure anymore how socializing actually works... so testing this on complete strangers online might not be the best way to go...

I will join the group of many enforcing that online communication is not the same.* To give you the easiest of examples, I love to compliment people. It is such a simple gesture and it can make someone's day.  It is very hard, however, to not come off creepy in writing... if that made you laugh, I'm glad, but you also understand my meaning. And I have run into this issue several times... But instead of finishing this entry off on a sad note, I want to conclude on a different one. We are all either introverted or extroverted, and yes, many of us crave social interactions, but SO MANY were finally allowed to go back to a place of comfort and work from there, interact from there, grow from there. Yes, it is scary sometimes out there, even someone as open and extroverted as me has had issues with opening up again and feeling comfortable outside (numbers are still high in Hungary, I feel more comfortable with my mask**), but it calms me to know that so many people are NOT forced to be in a social environment if that has been something they forced on themselves because that is how we built up our society. 

Yes, the pandemic took a lot from me, I am trying the apps, I want to get to know more people, I spent half a year abroad, I am not shy, small talk, big talk, I am here for it all. But not everyone is so open and we as a society need to start normalizing that quiet people DO NOT need to be loud. One day I will be able to go to party, a club, a conference and make new friends without the help of an online application, but for now that is not where I am, and I am lucky that these social situations are not forced on me until I am ready. Let us pass on the same courtesy to those who are finally thriving despite the changes brought forward by covid. 

I do have to add, that were it not for the advanced technology in internet, a lot of us would have gone insane. Keeping up a long distance relationship while barred from another with the borders being closed... where, it sounds silly now, with vaccines, and rapid testing, and home tests, but... it was hard. It ruined many relationships, and I witnessed that first hand. The older you get the harder break ups are. And that is something, that I do feel the pandemic took from me, and as a teacher I already struggle with a lot and just learning again and again and again to cope with people who want a new way of life and those who crave to go back to the "old ways", the pre-pandemic period is... is f*cking exhausting. Meeting new people has been my way of moving on from heartache, with new music, new films, new books, new experiences, but I have found myself riddled with anxiety and it has been just f*cking hard. 

Let us normalize talking about how hard this period has been. 

So, with that in mind, I am not sure what kind of depression is going to be associated with this period in our lives, just know that you are not alone, whether you suffered of gained something in these two years - and hopefully it will end soon and only be two bad years out of many -, because I cannot handle one more "once in a lifetime" crisis... Enough! Enjoy the holiday and let us all be grateful we are here now!

. . . . .

*Disclaimer, it might seem that I am blaming online communication for everything, and I am really not. The internet is not the reason we cannot communicate properly, just people are not taking enough time to figure out what works for them. Just on one hand I can count 5 different people with whom I talk in 5 different ways: phone calls, hand written letters (yes), messenger, video chat or voice messages. You just need to take the time to find what works for you and meet the other half way. You might write, but make sure you listen to their voice messages. The internet is here to help, the problem is with us, trust me on that. 

** Masks: girl, if you feel comfortable, keep wearing that shit. Nobody cares if they think you are crazy, at least no weirdos will come up and talk to you. My experience is that for 30 years my face and nose hurt immensely during the winter time and it finally doesn't. I am not taking it off even if the pollution in the air went down to 0, this for me is not even about the pandemic anymore. And second, we have these "flu seasons", and we live in a society that values you working even if you are sick. If I can put on a paper mask to protect my students and still work, I am going to do it from now on and teach it to my kids and students as well. There is a LOT we can learn from the past two years, let us not let it be in vain!

Blogger: So You Have Just Been Told You are Racist. What's Next for You?

A good couple of years back my sister showed me a song from the musical Avenue Q, entitled "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist", and the lyrics go:

"Everyone's a little bit racist

Sometimes.

Doesn't mean we go

Around committing hate crimes.

Look around and you will find

No one's really color blind.

Maybe it's a fact

We all should face

Everyone makes judgments

Based on race."

It is a catchy song, and well, it is, 100%, true. Many of us wish to believe that we are color blind, but we are not. Not to mention, that racism can be based on religion, sexual preferences and not just skin color. We just have a bunch of different names for it, but it all comes down to disgusting discrimination. And I am the first to admit that I have reservations based on stereotypes that have formulated in the country that I live in. I am white, yes, I am treated differently in the world, yes, I have been fortunate in many cases that have, one hundred percent derived from privilege. I know that. But as a woman I am also scared, almost all the time and always. That is something that we are taught at a very young age. Some of my decisions in crossing the road and avoiding certain kind of people is not always racially motivated, come to think of it, it very rarely is, I am just scared often. That said, I am no stranger to the reason stereotypes exist.

I am writing all of this down is because I do not believe that I am allowed to pass judgement on others if I do not own up to my own biases and my own lack of being color blind. But as a European born citizen, I cannot fathom to understand the hardships that the people of color had to endure. Or those whose families have been persecuted for one reason or another. Anywhere in the world. The only thing I can do is not make it harder for them. I can educate myself, I can speak out when I see others abusing their privilege, and I can learn to judge less based on stereotype and to see the person behind these false images.

Why are we talking about this now? 

You might have seen that they dared to cast a person of color in the new Amazon show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. There have been controversial casting decisions before in Hollywood, every once in a while this useless debate keeps coming up, and I am tired of it... If you don't like a person of color being cast just don't watch the thing, why do you have to go and ruin it for others?

Allow me to share just one small but useful advice, that might come in handy later on: THINK before you SPEAK. 

When people rallied against Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi (2017), I just lost my shit... there was nothing wrong with the casting or the chemistry on screen, and people could not stop it from making it a racial issues, just because the movie's bold story was "against" their nostalgic love of the first trilogy. This ultimately forced some actors in the movie to LEAVE social media. What kind of disgusting bullies have the power out there to ruin things for others. Are you proud of yourself, when you hear that you have literally caused a trauma to others? Do you pat yourself on the shoulder? You all, quite literally, disgust me. 

To quote one of my favorite youtubers, "They are movies about space wizards! (...) Why is everyone so angry? (...) And Yoda? I mean I love Yoda too, I love him a lot: he's a puppet. He's a fucking puppet. (...) We gotta chill out man, there's more important things in life." - Dan Avidan

Let us take a breathe. 

This is, somewhat, the book vs. the movie argument, as in, essentially, everyone is upset that what they imagined in their head is not the thing they can see on the screen. Completely lacking the empathy or, at this point really, the common sense to understand that the reading of a book is different for every person, meaning, if you are not the one making the adaptation, guess what, it will NEVER look exactly the way you want it.

________

So let us get back to the title of this entry, and the reason you clicked. If, this is not you, I am glad you visited us here, but if you recognize even a little about yourself, perhaps it is time to think some things over.

________

The first reason you are actually racist for hating a cast that is not 100% Caucasian, is because you lack the ability to think about the fact that you, as a white person, might imagine white people when you are reading a fantasy novel, but someone else, of any other heritage, will inherently imagine people of their own heritage as the main characters, unless the story or the author instructs them otherwise. 

The second reason, is trying to define something within historical reasoning when it is IN FACT FANTASY. IT IS A BIG FANTASY, IT IS NOT REAL. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH, THE LITERAL DEFINITION IS "the faculty or activity of imagining impossible or improbable things". SO THEY CANNOT BE ARGUED WITH PROPER ARGUMENTS, AS IT DOES NOT EXIST. THE LORD OF THE RINGS IS NOT REAL. If it is real in your head, in your D&D campaign, in your reading of the books, good for you, just got back to that and stop ruining it for others. It's wizards and dragons and people with pointy ears that live for a loooooooooooong time and they talk their own language. When you want to "defend" J. R. R. Tolkien's ideas and his writing you sound like an idiot! You know how we can all, internationally, no matter our age, come together and agree that literature classes are stupid, because a rose is a rose is a rose, and not some metaphor for death or life or whatever? That is who you are when you invent YOUR interpretation and you force it down other people's throats, you assume that YOUR reading is the "correct" one, you sound just as dumb as those poor literature teachers who are forced to teach what is in the text book. 

What you are essentially doing is admitting to your incapability to understand that other people have other experiences. You don't see them, you don't think of them, you call it "woke", without understanding the meaning of the word. You attack liberals for "cancel culture", and "fake news" and YOU ARE NOT MAKING SENSE. Use an urban dictionary, or speak to a person of color, or from different heritage, f*cking open up your mind to the possibility that you ---and I know this will be hard to read ---, that you are NOT the center of the universe.

I don't know if this writing will reach anyone, who needs to read it. You can "uhm, actually" me in the comments if you wish. But deep down, you should just look inward, see your own biases, own them, and afterwards just think before you speak. And if you do prefer your own casting, if you prefer the book, if you disagree with someone, just remember, nobody is taking anything away from you, you can go back to the things that you love and not pick fights with strangers.

Representation matters.

Inclusion matters. 

TV shows, films, books, and music WILL evolve. And you WILL learn to tolerate it. There is no more space for unfound racism in the world. There really is not.

Go watch movies and TV shows from before the 1970s if you don't want to see people of color or people of the same sex expressing emotions in prominent roles, and leave everyone else alone. 

Thanks for reading!

PS: If you are one of those people who approaches LGBTQ+ issues in television with the idea of "what am I supposed to tell my kids?", just know, that we all know that you are a little p*ssy, who is scared to have an adult conversation with your kids, and expect them to evolve into fully rounded people without you being inconvenienced. 

. . . . .  ________________ . . . . .

With the war in Ukraine going on right now, we are not going to ignore them, if you want to help and make sure that Ukraine prevails in this horrible illegal attack, you can read up about what you can do on the UN's official website here!

What's Next On My List? Escape Plan The Extractors

Welcome to the eight installment of #StalloneMonth, which I have to say, is my favorite time of the year! In February we look over the filmography of this wonderful actor, Sylvester Stallone, three-four movies at a time. This year I tried to keep a "prison" theme. So let us jump right into it!

Escape Plan The Extractors (2019)

Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) gets involved in a missing person's case, as the abductor is the son of his former partner, seeking revenge for his father's death. Breslin had him killed, after he betrayed him. Breslin loses his girlfriend to the altercation, but results in helping a man free his girlfriend and her party that was abducted by the same man to control a very rich man.

This is the hardest review to write because I did not enjoy the movie, but as I said in a previous entry, I am relearning my opinion on movies. Yes, many are not home runs, yet, there is a crew behind it that has tried to do their best. A lot of people involved in the project are not to be blamed if the script is not good. Now, I have been reading a lot of trivia as of late, and the quality of a movie can be ascertained based on how much behind the scenes information is shared on it. Now, I have found out that this movies began filming before Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018) (read review here!) was released. And quite frankly, despite having scenes at a prison, more precisely the historic Ohio Reformatory prison, where The Shawshank Redemption (1994) was filmed, but there was no interesting plan to infiltrate the prison, it was not even really functioning, and killing the villain was ridiculously easy. This movie did have more Stallone, which is my main issue with the second film, and overall the title is not "escape prison", but once again, the film had several new characters that fail to establish any contact with the viewer and I did not care for their story. Even Breslin's girlfriend, Abigail (Jaime King) had no more than six or seven scenes between two films with her partner, and thus failed in making us care. 

So watch it? I think you can skip it. I, as a devoted fan of Stallone will watch everything, and I can tell you that this was rushed unfortunately. The idea of a larger organization bent on taking down Breslin was quite intriguing, but casting decisions as well as some foolish revenge scheme overrode the initial ideas of this trilogy, if it is a trilogy. It will be interesting to see if there are going to be any additional movies in the series. But if I just get to see Stallone and Dave Bautista appear in the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie, then I am good to go!

That will have to do for this years #StalloneMonth. I just love watching his movies, and sharing them with you all. Even the ones that are not as impactful or of tha same caliber as some award winners are just good entertainment. And well, I'll do anything to have some Sly time in my yearly schedule.

Until the next item on my list!

What's Next On My List? Escape Plan 2: Hades

Welcome to the eight installment of #StalloneMonth, which I have to say, is my favorite time of the year! In February we look over the filmography of this wonderful actor, Sylvester Stallone, three-four movies at a time. This year I tried to keep a "prison" theme. So let us jump right into it!

Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018)

Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone)'s team is imprisoned in a super facility meant to defeat even the best of prison makers and escape artists, such as Breslin himself. The team plans to get out both the latter's protégé Shu (Xiaoming Huang), and to finally find out who has been trying to best Breslin over the years. 

I decided to use this poster, because the American one features Stallone and Dave Bautista on it, without any of the other actors, despite the fact that Stallone isn't a leading man, not really at least. And as much as I love Bautista, he is barely in it, so much so, that despite showing up for the final fight, I do not really remember what he did. For the longest time I thought he was gonna betray Breslin, and I am uncertain if that is what the writers were going for. And coming back to the poster, the biggest issue with this movie is in fact NOT ENOUGH STALLONE. The movie did absolutely nothing to make me like the main character, and that is not on actor Xiaoming Huang, as he clearly played the character as he was told to play. And we have seen hundreds of these kinds of movies, where the protagonist learns his lessons and we grow along with them, we root for them, but poor protagonist here did not seem to learn a single lesson. He just understood how his enemy was thinking and did the opposite long enough to escape. Really, until Stallone joins the game I was very unimpressed, unfortunately, not to mention that Jesse Metcalfe never looked better, and the movie did not make the best use of him either. This was a great cast, it is such a shame. Is the story the same as the first one? Sure. But the great cast does not compare to the banter between Stallone and Schwarzenegger. (I reviewed that movie last year, click here to read it!)

Watch it? You know, it is hard for me to be hard on bad movies too. This is not really a memorable film, and it is too bad, because with a couple more twists it could have been far more entertaining than the original one. The cast and the idea was there, that is for sure. We still have one more movie in the prison theme, so stay tuned for next week!

Until my next review in #StalloneMonth!

What's Next On My List? Lock Up

Welcome to the eight installment of #StalloneMonth, which I have to say, is my favorite time of the year! In February we look over the filmography of this wonderful actor, Sylvester Stallone, three-four movies at a time. This year I tried to keep a "prison" theme. So let us jump right into it!

Lock Up (1989)

Frank (Sylvester Stallone) is an inmate that gets transferred to a prison run by Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland), who has a personal vendetta against him. With six months left on his sentence, Drumgoole is determined to make Frank's life a living hell, furthermore, he tries to frame him for a larger crime, to ensure he spends his life in prison.

I did not know what to expect with this movie. While watching it I just felt anger... it was probably the intent of the movie, but I felt like I have my stomach is in a knot the whole time, and there was no real way of letting off steam, not even in scenes from the movie that were not part of the Warden's revenge scheme, as you feel something awful coming just around the corner. But whether you have seen it already or not, I do recommend that you look up trivia because the making of this film is fascinating. First of all, they filmed in a real prison, while the inmates were there, many of them are in the backgrounds in scenes, and were paid for their work as extras. Actually, some of the production got locked-in during the filming when the inmate count numbers didn't add up at the end of the day. Second, Sylvester Stallone was tackled repeatedly by some of the real-life prison's penitentiary extras during the filming of a football game that they played outside. The scenes themselves look tiring, I have no idea how long they shot those scenes out in the mud, but actually getting tackled is real dedication to the craft. Another wonderful piece of trivia is the following, according to imdb: "The movie was very well received in central Europe during the last echoes of communist oppression. The movie's title in Hungarian is: In the Prison of Revenge." I rarely talk about the background or the reception of movies, but last year I managed to watch a total of 365 movies, and I ended up reading a lot of trivia and I begun to have a new kind of appreciations for the making of movies. Even the ones that are not the best... I heard someone talk in a podcast about how nobody sets out to make a bad movie, and that is something we often forget and just think about a paycheck. However, even if this movie did not make my top 10 favorite Stallone films, it is still quite incredible in its making. So, final point, as you will see from the reviews I have lined up this year, this is not the only prison themed movie that Stallone starred in, one of them being the fantastic Tango & Cash, which was released in the same year! (Click here to read my review of it!)

So watch it? I think it is much better than some of the reviews and ratings suggest. I do not think it is re-watchable, purely because of the continuous tension in the film. Some like that feeling in their stomach, but for me personally this was enough once. I do with that justice would prevail in real life the way it does in movies. But it is sure satisfying when Frank finally defeats the warden!

Until the next Stallone movie on my list!

Discussion: Eternals Was the Justice League Movie I Always Wanted

Welcome to the first entry in my Discussion series! Please enjoy reading and join ... well, the discussion down in the comments! These posts will be small essays, debates, and analysis of various trends, TV shows, and of course movies. 

. . . . .

I grew up with Justice League cartoons. There are several out there, one better than the other. You would think that making any into live-action wouldn't be so hard. YOU WOULD THINK THAT. But here we are... 

I have not seen the Zack Snyder movies and I refuse to do so. Just from the trailers and accounts from my friends I can clearly tell that I will not enjoy them. These -very famous- characters are continuously misunderstood by this director and I am tired of it. If you like them, good for you. I will not go into a large rant about it, I have before, just read my review of Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) here! So let us move on to the movie that we are about to discuss. I will, however, draw a lot of comparisons with the live-action adaptations of the famous DC comics characters, as the title already suggests.

This is gonna be a thorough argumentation over all the things that this movie did right, so read on and add all the things you think of in the comments, I welcome the discussion! Needless to say, spoilers ahead.

The Eternals was released in 2021, based on the comics by the same name, with the first issue being released in 1976, created by Jack Kirby. It is about a series of heroes known as Homo immortalis, who, along with their enemies, the Deviants, were created by alien Celestials. As far as the premise goes, the movie followed the comics. First thing that is different from its DC counterpart.

The reason for my comparison, is that these Eternal god like creatures have very similar powers to that of the members of the Justice League, and YET we did not need a single movie in advance to introduce any of these characters. With a couple of time jumps and interactions the most important traits of their personalities were revealed to us. The DC version tried to copy the Marvel formula, forgetting altogether that most people have a very deep knowledge of the titular characters of DC comics. After one Superman (Man of Steel (2013)) we jumped to the larger group with a new Batman being cast and the addition of all the greatest villains, with the hope of these heroes working together cohesively without any real depth as to who they are and where they come from. The fans were both expected to know everything while the film tried to adhere to a much larger audience that did not know anything about these characters. You cannot have a film that way... with the Eternals, we have a closer look at a Celestial, but it is not the first time that happened in a Marvel movie, as the seeds were slowly and carefully planted.

The reason, I believe, that Eternals (2021) was not successful is because it did not hold any major twists. Marvel movies by now have a tendencies to reveal something last minute, something that is very logical once you re-watch the story (thus making you want to re-watch it to begin with), but they buried the lead just the same. Eternals was incredibly straightforward, and I ended up guessing the major plot points, and honestly, I did not mind. Marvel is good at twists, but DC isn't. It is not their fault, of course, major audiences WANT to be surprised, they want the story to twist and turn, and they expect the unexpected. In my experience of the DC movies I have seen, these twists come only with the sacrifice of major plot points, leaving holes behind. Holes that grow quite large as the stories progress. Eternals had a lot of foreshadowing, and thus you could perceive where the story was going, however, it was also the device that they used best to let us viewers connect to our main characters. I do not mind that I could guess the ending, I did so with every DC cartoon, but at least no plot points were sacrificed. I am so tired of movies that do not go anywhere... never in my life did I get up after seeing a Marvel movie and felt like it was a waste of time, even when the movies wasn't a 10/10. I wish I felt that way about DC movies...

Let us have a closer look at the characters. I, for one, have loved that the multiple award nominee actors were not the leading characters. They were wonderful additions to the cast, but I'll be honest, more of Angelina Jolie's Thena, or even more Salma Hayek's Ajak would have damaged the power dynamics in this group. I did, immediately fall in love with Gemma Chan's Sersi, and Richard Madden's soldier like Ikaris persona only broke in the third act, and it was a marvelous change of pace. Oh course, Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo stole the show, and I could watch him for hours and hours on end.

Let us talk about the most fantastic thing in this movie: inclusion. Despite being in love with the LGBTQ+ representation with Brian Tyree Henry's Phastos, as he did not feel like a token character, my real love was towards another character. Disney is already trying to include a more variety in its casting and storylines, starting from the Tusken raiders using sing language in The Mandalorian, and then the Hawkeye series also included a deaf and mute mobster, of all characters! Here we have Lauren Ridloff's Makkari who... dear god, was the best live action Flash I have ever seen. I am a HUGE fan of the Flash, he is my favorite DC character of all time. I still watch the CW series with Grant Gustin, although it is less impactful now, and I find, despite his talents, Ezra Miller to be the biggest miscast in television history, so let us disregard that. Of course, the Flash mantel was also worn by the great John Wesley Shipp, who did his best, but knowing what CGI can do today, there was still a long way to go. [I would also like to add that the Flash was voiced by wonderful actors over the years, and I would have liked any of them to try out for the live-action.] But, turning back to the Eternals, the best thing about Lauren Ridloff isn't just that she is deaf, but the fact, that not once in the movie did I ever feel like she was cast to meet a quota. All the other characters used some limited sign language and they interacted with her as if he disability was not there at all. And that is the kind of inclusion we need, the one that normalizes all of the things that make us different. Makkari was the best Eternal, I just loved her, the way she used her powers were breathtaking. When she fought Ikaris I just stared at the screen with my mouth open. It was the best directed fight scene among literal gods that I had the pleasure to see. You know, when they kept casting people who look nothing like the comic book Barry Allen/The Flash, it kept making so mad... although Grant Gustin's version is quite good, here we have a female superhero, who is half Mexican-American, half African-American, and is deaf, who looks absolutely nothing like the Flash and yet I have zero complaints. I am quite certain then, that despite the casting they are just ruining something extra when it comes to the live-action version of this character. But I could watch Makkari for hours on end, she was hands down my favorite part of the movie.

This movie felt like a DC cartoon to me, that is it, at the end of the day. I saw a team of heroes trying their best, fighting their battles, and in the end Batman fought Superm-- I mean the team had to fight Ikaris, because of his strong belief in the mission they were assigned on this planet. If I mentioned it, the DC comic books explain in such great detail the pain of the people in losing someone like Superman, and why, upon his return, he dons his black suit. There is a separate DC cartoon movie about the death of Superman, something I reviewed a few years back, you can read about it here. He is not just a fighter, he is a person. In this film, Ikaris, is a beloved member of the team, he does have his issues with the others, but he is loved and he loves. He betrays the others with pain, and that pain causes him to refuse to face the failure of his mission. He is a person with feelings. There is no question about that. The main reason I hated the new Superman is that there was only one single scene in the live-action movie adaptations in the past 20 years, where he showed actual personal growth and that was at the end of Man of Steel (2013), when he killed Zod, which is the scene most people hated. Ikaris is detached, somewhat, a real soldier, but I never question his humanity, despite him being a god-like creature just like Superman. 

I think, at the end of the day, someone from Marvel looked at the horribly long Snyder cut and thought to themselves "We can do a better movie than this." And they did. They really did. I am very excited to see where the Eternals go from here and I also plan to re-watch it soon to focus in on more details of the characters and their interactions.

One of the best things about this movie is that it did not just showcase the humor that we expect from a Marvel movie, but it did so by relying heavily on popular culture. First of all, you have both Richard Madden and Kit Harrington from Game of Thrones (2011-2019), now fighting over someone called Sersi; you have Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo who is a Bollywood star, and he references the never ending sequels to one character that is typical of many Indian movies; Kingo also calls Lia McHugh Sprite 'Tinker Bell', and if you are an avid fan like me, or just old as f*ck, you might have realized that Sprite has Julia Roberts' haircut from Hook (1991), where she did in fact play Tinker Bell. Finally, and as a best returning gag, many characters actually reference DC characters without the blink of an eye. In this universe Marvel heroes are real and DC characters are alive in the comic book format. I could think of nothing else to prove my point that someone just wanted to make a better Justice League movie. One that has no plot holes, one that has a cohesive team, despite their differences, one that treats their strongest member with respect and also fear, and one that, above all, puts human lives ahead of the objective. These heroes are meant to protect Earth, not have childish rants among themselves...

I invite everyone to see this film. We keep forgetting that the comic is also some 45 years old, because these characters have never been on the big screen, and we all were subjected to so many origin stories at this point, we think that a creative and unique spin on a story is impossible. And you know, it might be. However, there are some wonderful direct to TV Marvel and DC cartoon movies out there that I wouldn't mind seeing in a live action format, even if there are no major plot twists or unique intricacies that would make them stand out from all the others. I just want a good story, and that is what the Eternals was.

Join this discussion in the comments below, let me know how you felt about the movie, and share if you had any of the thoughts that I described above.

Blogger: Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts

I won't lie, in my opinion the advertising campaign for this reunion was not really great, unless the idea was to keep it secret as long as possible. In which case: success! Until the trailer came out I did not realize that is has been 20 years, and well, this universe is around us in many ways, from the books, obviously, the movies, the remakes, the musicals, the stage play, the continuation in the Fantastic Beasts (2016-) film series, the theme parks and the never ending line of toys and stationary. If I had a penny for every time I saw someone with a Harry Potter tattoo over the years, I would probably have the money to go the theme park! More than this I look forward to the 40th and 50th anniversaries, because I am very curious to see how many more generations will be impacted by this story one way or another. So, before reading my next paragraphs, I do recommend you check out the reunion first.

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2021)

I have a lot to say on the topic, but I divided it into subtopics, because I wanted to make sure not to miss anything. As I was watching the reunion, thousands of thoughts kept running around in my head. I am currently listening to several podcasts about old shows and they all reveal so many things about the emotional state of actors, that it is impossible for me to turn that off when I watching these kinds of reunions. So many more emotions go into it, as much as we would like to pretend that there are actors and then separate from them there are the parts they are playing, in reality, these get often mashed together. The best way to measure that is how fans keep acting as if the actors were in fact the characters they portray. And if anyone, child actors are constantly submitted to this kind of line blurring, as was the case with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. It was an interesting experience, sort of like an Actors on Actors interview series, rather than any other reunion I had seen. (As a matter of fact, this makes me wish they had not included James Corden into the Friends: The Reunion, but would have instead let the actors just talk to each other through the whole special.)

Book vs. Film

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know that I haven't read the books for the longest time. Honestly, my reptile phobia is still a major issues, so even when I watched the movies I needed somebody to be with me and let me know when I can look at the screen again. The fact that there was not enough creativity, despite the fact that this whole world is MAGICAL, from changing the stupid spiders and snakes into literally ANYTHING else, is a beef that I am just not willing to let go of. That having been said, the books have not been, for the longest time, connected to me in any emotional way, not in the way that the movies have been. I know that people did not like the movies, but I was never hard on them. I got to go to this magical place for two hours, enjoy the fantasy and the adventure, and return to my world any time I wanted to. This is something the actors did not experience, but I will talk about that later on. As a final note on the topic: the people who were writing the script also suffered from the plain and simple fact that there was yet no end to the story. If you compare this to other adaptations, there is no question about the fact that those movies that are made from major franchises that have concluded already, are much better received. The phenomenon that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone/the Sorcerer's Stone (1997) ended up being was quite unpredictable, and of course they wished to make it into a movie much before the seventh book came out. More than anything I am patient with the adaptations for this one reason, and if they were to remake these books, knowing the ending, the small details that lead up to the end conflict, the deaths and interactions that define the main characters, as well as the evolving romantic relationship among the leads. I actually will always look upon these actors as the incarnation of these characters, but I am open to any new adaptations, simply because this is a beautiful universe, and every time I see an adaptation, I just feel like I have the chance to look into another reader's mind and see their interpretation and it is fascinating.

Let's Not Forget J.K. Rowling

A lot of controversy is surrounding this woman right now, and I do not wish to add to that in anyway. I do not like her remarks and it is very important that we look at the amount of people one celebrity can touch with a tweet: there are consequences. That having been said, as I have not read the books for years, for me this universe is very loosely connected to its author. For me, Harry Potter is the actors that brought it to life, and the directors that helped them along the way. I cannot pretend that this author is not to be thanked for the fact that this universe was invented in the first place, and for that, I am grateful. It has brought so much joy to the people I love, and it brought about friendships, communities, trends that were, undeniably, beneficial in a society that loves to argue and to debate and, most of all, to hate online. Going to Hogwarts, either through the books, or the movies is something remarkable that people of all ages have experienced. However, because the movies have a much more important place in my heart, I did look forward to this reunion, and as such I really have no issues "distancing" myself from Rowling, as she was almost more of a name, then an actual person to me. I would like to emphasize how disgusted I am about her remarks, of course, I do not know if cancel culture will actual solve this one, because the problem with cancel culture is that it cannot really be applied in every situation, despite the fact that we keep doing it. We should have conversations about these issues, teach people of all generations about the consequences of their inflexible nature, and help them learn instead of "cancelling" them. This all having been said, I would like to add a small messages to all of those who looked up to Rowling and whose childhood was impacted by these books: I'm sorry. I am so effing sorry this is happening. I have had things from my childhood taken retrospectively because people out there can be quite shitty, so I know the pain. But, we go on. Just remember, be part of the conversation and do not just "cancel" without reflection: the only way to educate people is by talking about these issues.

The Reunion

I really loved this special. The reason for that is was a small documentary, but more than that, it was like a DVD special. AND I LOVE DVD SPECIALS! We all love to see the actors that conveyed the characters that meant so much to us to admit that it meant a lot to them too. Obviously most of these are built up to work up the nostalgia in us, to get us to feel things, and well, it worked with me. I do not think, actually, that there was one single dry eye in the house when Robbie Coltrane said: "The legacy of the movies is, I suspect, that my children's generation will show them to their children. So you could be watching it in 50 years' time, easy. I'll not be here, sadly, but... But Hagrid will, yes." We have, quite literally, grown up with these actors. They are all actually my age, my generation, and every time they talk about these movies and their experience it does feel like a class reunion for me. I am fortunate to live at a time on this planet when so many beautiful milestones in popular culture have embedded themselves in our history. Of course, the kind of fan service that most of these reunions are based on lately is not for everyone, but if you have seen as many DVD extras as I have, you can easily see the thoughts and the built up in the mind of the director, and appreciate it for what it really is: a glance behind the curtains. I cannot wait for the 30th anniversary, maybe we'll get some other actors to tell us more stories of their time at Hogwarts.

That is all I wanted to say. I would be very interested in everyone else's opinion on the reunion, so let me know in the comments down below! You know, I really wish that streaming services would add the DVD specials and the commentaries to their movies, really, that is the only and certain way to make sure that DVDs and Blurays become obsolete. I only buy them for the extras such as this special. 

Would you like to see a new adaptation? Or would you prefer they continue the Fantastic Beasts series (despite a whole new bunch of controversies and issues!)? I am very curious about where everyone else stands on these issues.

Thank you for reading, have a great day.