Movies I recently watched

[schneefink]

Finally starting to catch up on canons recently consumed.

Fatal Journey, The Untamed spin-off:
This wasn't really a movie for thinking, but I enjoyed it anyway. It increased my Nie brother feelings, so it did its job. During the final battle I couldn't stop thinking of Uchiha Madara's Susanoo, which made it even harder to take it seriously.


The Old Guard:
That was a very fun action movie :) I'm glad that so many people loved it, I really enjoy reading the many squee/discussion/meta/etc. posts.

I did wonder why Merrick's people left Booker behind, and yet I did not see the betrayal coming. I loved it, and how Andy reacts and also how Booker reacts when he finds out that Andy lost her immortality. And I was very glad that Booker didn't die, I find atonement storylines much more interesting.
Joe and Nicky were sweet.

Andy and Quynh's story is so tragic, ow. When Quynh gets dragged away to the coffin ;_; Speaking of though, Andy giving up searching for Quynh is odd. Apparently in the comics Booker didn't dream of her for some reason, which is easy to say happened in the movie as well because otherwise the others wouldn't have been surprised that Nile dreamed of her. So that would have made them think Quynh finally died, and then stopping the search makes sense. And/or maybe they thought that since an iron coffin would have rusted/corroded and eventually allowed Quynh to escape, the fact that she didn't also meant that she'd died; and they didn't know that the priest had been extra paranoid and there was an extra bronze layer, or something like that.
But as soon as Nile dreamed of her again they should have resumed. There's better technology for searches now! What's their excuse? (I really want the fic where Nile and Quynh slowly get to know each other via their dreams.)

Obviously capturing people against their will and torturing them is evil, but the idea of doing medical research on immortals itself is only logical. I don't know why Copley didn't just ask them? I could see Andy and the others having historical hang-ups about medical research, but still; and I'd expect at the very least Nile, who grew up in the era of modern medicine, to be open to the idea. Copley isn't wrong that it could help a lot of people. (Of course now it'll be much harder to convince them.)
(Sidenote, I realize that Copley's wall was meant to point out how every rescue by Andy and her team rippled outwards etc., but it almost came across a little as "saving these people was (especially) worth it because of their descendants' accomplishments" and that's gross.)

The vast majority of the fics already on AO3 are Joe/Nicky, but for me the movie pretty much already gave me what I wanted for that pairing, and it's everything else I want more of. Andy/Quynh, Andy&Booker, Andy&/Nile, Nile&Quynh, Nile&Booker, Booker&[Joe/Nicky]…


Knives Out:
A fun murder mystery with family drama elements. The only thing I was spoiled for was who the bad guy was, that still left plenty to wonder about. I liked Marta, and I liked the house – the house was pretty much a character, too. I think my favorite part was Marta's phone call with Meg, and how they each said the same thing and Meg suddenly realized that being on the other side feels less good.


On short notice (because I would have completely missed that it was happening if not for DD) I registered for con.txt yesterday, so I plan to watch three panels today and look forward to it. (Hopefully it won't be like yesterday evening, when the internet stopped working every two minutes.)

Comments

[shadaras]

I spent the whole final battle of Final Journey thinking about JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; as I haven't seen your reference, I'm not sure which of those is sillier, but I'm not sure the actual combat was set up well for seriousness. :)

With The Old Guard, I kept having the thought about descendants that's just "This is survivor's bias", because there's nothing to say that those same effects couldn't have come from the descendants of people they killed. Especially if the focus is on ordinary people/soldiers. I liked the idea, but it's still kind a conspiracy-theorist.

(also, hard same on just wanting all the f/f and gen fanfic; I love the boys but the movie satisfied me plenty.)

[schneefink]

Now that you mention conspiracy theorists, that actually fits well for Copley, because who else would find a few pictures of similar-looking people and jump to "they're immortals!" and spend years trying to find proof.

[sheron]

Ha, yes, the Fatal Journey definitely gave me a lot of Nie brothers feelings too!

[schneefink]

It also made me feel things about Jin Guangyao, but in a decidedly more negative way ;)

[sheron]

Heh, right, it's definitely a movie that makes revenge seem like a perfectly reasonable option :-) He didn't just kill NMJ, no he destroyed him (and other people of Nie sect) auuugh. Plus I really liked how Nie Huaisang protested the past traditions and NMJ judging who gets to live and who doesn't. It's so tragic in retrospect!

[schneefink]

Revenge was not only perfectly reasonable, but necessary to keep the sect safe. And if NHS wants to hurt JGY extra for what he did to his brother, I absolutely can't blame him.

[zdenka]

Me too! What JGY did to NMJ was bad enough already, but tricking Huaisang into playing the evil music against his brother was another level of evil.

[schneefink]

It's not only extremely evil, it also seems risky and unnecessary - it was already a difficult mission, and JGY already had plenty of opportunities to play for NMJ. So it seems like he just did it to be extra malicious.

[sheron]

JGY could expect that in any situation where NHS had to play music to aggravate an already angry NMJ, NHS would probably not live to talk about it. I think he didn't count on NMJ recognizing his brother, which is just such a tragically lovely little Nie-brothers moment.

NHS was already one of my faves before the movie, but it definitely made him even more interesting to me. I bet if JGY had seen him solve that puzzle in the ancestral home in 10 seconds flat he wouldn't have thought he was too useless to figure things out. But he never really knew NHS, he just gave him pretty gifts and things (in my opinion to aggravate NMJ further by encouraging NHS in ways NMJ didn't approve of)

[schneefink]

...of course. Somehow I hadn't made that connection before but it makes perfect sense. So basically JGY planned to make NHS make NMJ kill his brother. OUCH.
(So if JGY was planning to take out both NHS and NMJ, the Nie sect would have been even weaker, making it even easier for the Jins. And of course NHS realized that and that was probably one reason why he played up his helplessness when he became sect leader.)

he just gave him pretty gifts and things (in my opinion to aggravate NMJ further by encouraging NHS in ways NMJ didn't approve of)
Yeah, I'm sure JGY thought a rift between the brothers could only benefit him. Though it also seems like JGY never took NHS even potentially seriously - the way NMJ talked about NHS being the best at "astronomy"/sigils etc. it sounded like that was commonly known, so JGY definitely could have found out and could have realized that NHS wasn't as useless as he claimed to be.

[sheron]

Yeah, NHS realizing all of this over time (not just the realization that the music was wrong, but going through it all in his head and putting it together after NMJ's death) must have been absolutely crushing.

[kore]

or me the movie pretty much already gave me what I wanted for that pairing, and it's everything else I want more of. Andy/Quynh, Andy&Booker, Andy&/Nile, Nile&Quynh, Nile&Booker, Booker&[Joe/Nicky]…

+100 to that. Immortal murdery husbands were adorable, but I NEED Andy/Quynh and Andy/Nile. Nile & Quynh is also interesting!

[schneefink]

I would love for example fic where Nile dreams about Quynh after Quynh escapes the ocean coffin and searches for her without telling the others because since Quynh doesn't seek them out she realizes that Quynh might not want to meet the others immediately, or where she does tell the others and Andy immediately wants to find her but Quynh, who also dreams of Nile, doesn't want to be found and Andy has to deal with that.

[kore]

Andy immediately wants to find her but Quynh, who also dreams of Nile, doesn't want to be found and Andy has to deal with that

MY HEART. That would be amazing.

[schneefink]

Andy would deal so badly with that! Especially if it takes longer; after all, Quynh doesn't know that Andy isn't immortal anymore.

[kore]

Aaaaagh it hurts so good //child of the eighties

More seriously, it sounds like a Q/A reunion could be so full of tension and difficulties and re-learning each other and trusting again, and that is my catnip. I love it when people who've been fiercely loving in the past are wrenched apart and then have to deal with it later.

[schneefink]

I love it when people who've been fiercely loving in the past are wrenched apart and then have to deal with it later.
Yes that is excellent :)

[lannamichaels]

I love this idea. :D

[schneefink]

I do too, in all variations - like the one where Andy says she has to accept that Quynh doesn't want to see her or Joe or Nicky, but she shouldn't be alone, and asks Nile to be there for Quynh. And then it turns out that Quynh had already found Booker, so now it's the three of them, with Quynh being millenia older than the other two but with massive trauma and knowing nothing about the modern world.

[kore]

OUCH I love it!

I can see Nile starting to have serious reservations about this whole new gig, too, looking at Booker and Andy and Quynh and what they've been through.

[schneefink]

Oh man, and Nile deciding that this whole thing is not for her would really not help because as Booker found out, you can't stop being immortal even if you want...

[wrennette]

Speaking of though, Andy giving up searching for Quynh is odd.

this this this! i can see the reasoning if it's as you say in the source comic, but in the movie it didn't make sense since that wasn't there. it would have only taken a line for them to clarify that. especially because my brain really wants the storyline where andy is just obsessively searching the depths, learning and utilizing every new advancement in technology that comes along. and also of course finding quynh and the healing and comfort would be magnificent.

The vast majority of the fics already on AO3 are Joe/Nicky, but for me the movie pretty much already gave me what I wanted for that pairing, and it's everything else I want more of. Andy/Quynh, Andy&Booker, Andy&/Nile, Nile&Quynh, Nile&Booker, Booker&[Joe/Nicky]

i'm there with you on this. i love joe/nicky, and i've read some good stuff with them, but i want the other stuff too. and also with lykon who got like, half a second of screen time but just - he's andy and quynh's first son! i want to know more, and gods, the angst that losing him could generate!

[schneefink]

They don't even have to do it personally, they could have just mentioned that e.g. they own an ocean mapping company that is continuing the search, it's implied that they have a lot of money.

Oh yes, Lykon's death must have hit them so hard. (Imagine if he'd stopped supernaturally healing but survived, and they had years if not decades while he grows older and Andy and Quynh have to come to terms with losing him and one day perhaps each other...)

[wrennette]

yeah, there are lots of ways that could have worked in better. although i'm sort of slow on the uptake too, since it took me a while to realize that even though lykon died permanently first he was younger than andy and quynh.

[schneefink]

That must have made it even more unexpected.
I've seen timelines on Tumblr but tbh I was too lazy to check them in detail.

[wrennette]

yeah, i've seen a couple timelines too, which were a big help to me. especially because i've succumbed and started writing a short 'andy searches for (and finds) quynh' fic lol.

[schneefink]

Yay, I look forward to it :)

[kore]

Not to mention, Micheal Ward is freaking hot //forever in the shallow end of the pool

[wrennette]

agreee! listen, charlize theron being charlize theron is a significant portion of what made the movie appealing in the first place since i don't know jack about the source material. more attractive people thrown in is not in the least a deterrent!

[kore]

OH yeah, after Fury Road and Atomic Blonde, "Charlize Theron, action movie, closeups of her beautiful face emoting" alone is enough to get my ass in the movie theatre TV watching chair!

[zdenka]

Fatal Journey also gave me Nie brothers feelings! Especially when the Qinghe Jue theme started playing. I had a hard time taking the final battle seriously too (and some of the other CGI). But I enjoyed the movie on the whole.

[schneefink]

It was very hard to take that final battle seriously, and I don't think it was meant to. But then when NHS tries to calm NMJ down but because of JGY's trickery does the opposite and NMJ kills his right hand man, ouch.

[zdenka]

Yeah. :( I was sad about Zonghui -- I liked him! I did really love the moment when NMJ asked what happened to the people he killed in his madness and NHS lied without hesitation and said the saber spirit did it. NHS doing things like that is what makes him super interesting to me.

[schneefink]

Yeah, that was a good moment. I wonder if/for how long NHS blamed himself for "playing it wrong", or later for not catching it sooner, or for not stopping JGY's plans in time after he became suspicious of him (idk about the exact timeline and how long after the movie NMJ dies.)

[zdenka]

I don't think NHS was suspicious of JGY until after NMJ's death, though? Because the last scene of the movie shows NHS realizing the truth shortly after NMJ dies.

That's a good point about NHS possibly blaming himself for playing it wrong, though, ouch. :( I hadn't even thought of that.

[schneefink]

I thought that last scene took place shortly after the events of the movie, while NMJ was still alive? Both make sense (and I'm not sure which is more painful.)

[zdenka]

I'm pretty sure it's after NMJ's death. We see NHS crying and dressed in white for mourning, and JGY tells him "Restrain your grief" (which wouldn't make sense if NMJ was still alive?). There's also the on-screen text just before that scene which explains that NMJ died of a qi deviation -- it wasn't subtitled in the version I saw but I found later where someone translated it on Twitter. I don't know if I can find it again, though, because Twitter is terrible for searching. :(

[schneefink]

Ah, thank you :) (I originally assumed the grief was for the other disciples/friends who died on the mission.)

[zdenka]

Ah, that would be logical. I can see how it's unclear without the text being subtitled! And I apologize if I seemed rude in my earlier comment.

[schneefink]

Not at all! Thanks for clearing it up :)

[lannamichaels]

(Sidenote, I realize that Copley's wall was meant to point out how every rescue by Andy and her team rippled outwards etc., but it almost came across a little as "saving these people was (especially) worth it because of their descendants' accomplishments" and that's gross.)

Yeah, that also bugged me. It seemed kinda like it was trying to be like Andy Rescued Them Because Their Descendants Would Be Great, instead of a life itself being worth saving.

I'm also with you on being satisfied by what the movie had with Joe/Nicky and being much more interested in the other pairings.

[schneefink]

It kinda fits for Copley, who clearly isn't thinking entirely straight after the death of his wife, but then the others seemingly just accept it (to be fair, "you did more good than you thought" was something they really wanted to hear at that moment.)

[kore]

My husband murmured "....immortal people couldn't take the long view?" but I punched him in the arm and told him to shut up during the big moment and that it was meant to be Ironic.