Horses are good company -- The Witcher

The TV adaptation of Fallout is a rollicking good time, which is perhaps a weird thing to say when the source material is a post-apocalyptic, violent video game. And indeed this is very OTT violent and gory at times. But there is a lot of humor all the way through. The art direction is great and I liked the way the story unfolded. I loved the cameos from veteran comic actors like Dale Dickey, Matt Berry, and others. The cast is fairly diverse, with one non-binary trans person, several people of color.

In trivia news, the actor Johnny Pemberton, who plays Thaddeus in Fallout, is someone I went to 1st and 2nd grade with. This means nothing really but makes me smile!

Ahead of the Curve is a documentary on Netflix, about Franco Stevens, the founder of Curve lesbian magazine (fka Deneuve). It was just so NICE to see so many lesbians on my TV screen, talking about stuff that matters to our community (including various opinions on the word 'lesbian'). Franco is also disabled and talks about that some. Watching this makes me realize how rare it is to see people like me and mine on TV.

I watched a few things that had minimal flashing lights, yay.

The Pez Outlaw is a delightful documentary on Netflix about a regular guy who got into selling rare Pez dispensers to collectors. He was a "gray market" seller, not quite legal but not quite illegal. Very funny, quirky people, a good time.

Where the Crawdads Sing, also on Netflix but leaving soon. Kind of heavy subject material, dealing with abuse, abandonment, sexual assault, but from the perspective of a woman who survived these things, and made a life for herself that she loved. The Carolina wetlands that she lives in sustain her materially, intellectually, and spiritually. Some beautiful wildlife scenes in this! David Strathairn plays a kindly lawyer who defends our heroine from murder charges, after her ex-boyfriend is found dead.

She Said, a BOATS (based on a true story) about the journalists who investigated Harvey Weinstein. Again this is heavy subject material, but it focuses on investigative journalism, truth telling, and the hard work it takes to bring the truth to light. I enjoyed this a lot. Ashley Judd stars as herself, in a minor role. I Loved Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, and Patricia Clarkson, who all came across as very kind and competent.

Watching piece by piece:
The Expanse re-watch with a friend; we are in the final season!
Abbott Elementary
Game Changer
After Midnight
Star Trek: Discovery

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018), is an enjoyable, if predictable, romance, and is fairly non-demanding viewing. Our heroine is a commercially successful author in Post-WWII England who is looking for something more serious to write about. She starts a correspondence with a man who lives on the island of Guernsey, which was occupied by Nazis during the war. Some residents formed the titular society and made a family out of each other.

While there is mention of bad events, most are talked about and not shown, so this story stays fairly light and pleasant. There are some beautiful landscapes. The diamond in this story is a huge honkin' engagment ring (from the rich and obnoxious American suitor) that gets shown a number of times in close-ups.

All the Light We Cannot See, limited series, 2023, Netflix.

I went in skeptical but ended up really liking this story about a young woman, Marie-Laure Leblanc, in occupied France during WWII. It's such a low bar and yet they cleared it, they hired blind actresses to play child Marie and young adult Marie (Aria Mia Loberti), and that is cause for celebration. Hugh Laurie is amazing in this movie, playing Marie's great uncle. The story moves around in time and shows us a number of characters. I could have stood less of the Nazi nonsense and much less torture, and more of the beautiful interactions between Marie, her father (played by Mark Ruffalo), and other people in her life.

The story involves a MacGuffin in the form of a cursed jewel, which seemed very silly, but I suppose the plot needs to move along somehow. I really liked how Marie treated the issue of the jewel, which I won't spoil here but it was very satisfying in the end!

Summit Fever, a fictional drama about mountaineers in the Alps. This movie was Not Good but I couldn't tell you why exactly... basically i didn't care about any of the characters and they were all pretty flat. But I still enjoyed it because the cinematography was excellent. It was simply beautiful to look at, and the climbing interests me. A bunch of people die in this movie from avalanches and freezing to death etc.
I feel like the cottage industry of people who make mountaineering films, in general, are people who like cinematography. There is a little ode to the Super8 camera in this film.

Infinite Storm, fictional but based on a true story (BOATS), about a woman who rescues a guy off of a mountain she is climbing. Turns out I had seen this before but forgotten it. Well made but not actually beautiful to look at due to a gray color palette-- this seems to be a fad these days, the gray de-saturated look, and I hate it but clearly lots of film makers love it.... mysterious. She isn't a smoker but her house appears smoky.... weird visual choices.
It's an interesting story, and it's neat seeing a middle-aged, highly competent heroine rescuing a guy who is in an altered mental state and not particularly cooperative.

Here's the original article the movie is based on (they added more stuff for the movie).
https://www.unionleader.com/nh/outdoors/footprints-in-the-snow-lead-to-an-emotional-rescue/article_482a2e0f-e725-5df6-9e7c-5958bdb272e5.html

Uncle Frank 2020, dir. Alan Ball.

I really liked this drama about the gay uncle in a white Southern Family in the 1970s. The POV character is a teen girl named Beth who tells us, the audience, about her favorite uncle. Frank (Paul Bettany) is a college professor in NYC, and when Beth decides to go to school there, she becomes closer with him, and meets his partner Wally (Peter Macdissi).

When the family patriarch dies, the three of them road trip back home for the funeral. Frank is a nervous wreck and we soon find out why-- he has lots of unprocessed trauma. The rest of this film really gets into Frank's feelings and experiences and it was powerful to watch Bettany's performance. Macdissi was wonderful too, all the actors were exceptional. It's a serious movie but felt very much by and for queer people, and it had a hopeful ending. Worth looking up content notes (or ask me).

Some things on Netflix.

The Dads
A 10-minute doc that shows dads of trans kids who are trying to be supportive. This was nice but felt too short, like it's the opener of something longer.

Gender Agenda
A showcase of various gender-y comedians, put together by Hannah Gadsby. Loved this.

Heart Shot
A 20-minute fictional lesbian film, well made but didn't make a lot of sense because it felt like the opener to a thriller film. I'd love to see the whole film though! Features two young lesbians of color.

Long Shot
A short documentary about a man who was falsely accused of murder. His lawyer went the extra mile for him and got his case dismissed, using TV footage from "Arrested Development"-- a live shoot at a baseball game that just happened to have the defendant on camera. The arrest was really traumatic for this guy and it's luck and a good lawyer that got him free.

Blazing Saddles
I really enjoyed this and would have watched it sooner if I'd known how gay it is. Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little light up the screen, what a joy. Towards the end there is a song and dance number featuring men singing about bottoming, which they call "The French Mistake." This looked really good too-- film plus traditional and natural light! What a concept.

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari
A documentary about a disaster in New Zealand in 2019. People went on guided tours to an active volcano! For years! Then eventually it erupted and killed 22 people. Others were left with severe burns and trauma. This one has haunted me a bit. on the one hand, why would anyone take such a tour, but OTOH the companies doing these tours took advantage of naive tourists. One young man lost his whole immediate family. This was a disaster that was totally preventable. One thing I liked about this film was how it emphasized people helping each other.

Couple of movies that I do not recommend.

45 Years, director Andrew Haigh, streaming with ads on one of the free services.

I like this director's other work but this film felt like it was 45 years long. It's about 2 long-married white British people whose relationship is not so great. I did not care about them. I think this falls into the "family drama" genre, which is vehemently not my genre because I don't understand the and the people all seem unpleasant.

The Impossible, 2012, Netflix.

More white British people: This film has been rightly criticized among my circles for making a story about a devastating natural disaster in Thailand center on a white tourist family. I was curious because of my interest in survival and disaster narratives and how this film fits into the genre. I agree that this film is racist and classist-- it's so enraging when the reunited family, at the end, leave an over-taxed Thai hospital, get on a private plane to head to a hospital in Singapore... and there are empty seats on that plane. Like some other films in this genre, the plot reinforces the idea of the nuclear family as the central organizing principle of society. The best movies about disaster have a stronger message, one about collective care and helping strangers. There is a moment or 3 in "the Impossible" that get at this-- ones where the mom instructs her son to help others, "even if it's the last thing we do." But this message of helping others gets a bit lost as the mother gets more ill. It seems she is that force in this family.

What I will say in favor of this movie is that it is very respectful in the portrayal of children. Tom Holland plays Lucas, the eldest kid, and he does a great job with it.

This week is my birthday week, and (a couple days later), the 1 year anniversary of my concussion, so! Lots to celebrate. If you wish to celebrate with me here are some things I like!

Image descriptions. Fan art in general, but specifically for Andor, Black Sails, Star Trek, Reservation Dogs, The Expanse. Queer, trans, LGBT+ characters and people. Disabled people. Indigenous, Latiné, Black characters and people. Fat characters and people. (etc, you get the vibe). I like sexy and kinky fanworks and OT3/4s. (Right now fan art is more accessible to me than other fan works).

I like plants, flowers, nature. Horses, dogs, big cats like leopards. I like stories about survival and rescue. I like stories that emphasize community and collective action and people trying their best to do good in the world. I like whimsy, absurd humor, puns.

I of course love getting kudos and comments on my fanworks, which you can find at ao3 under sasha_feather.

Due to concussion, I have trouble with flashing lights, shaky or spinning camera, and things that require a lot of reading or concentration.

I also am perma-broke and have a hard time talking about it. If you would like to send me money I have all the apps / accounts, usually under user ID sandphin at gmail dot com.

I will also be pleased if you simply treat yourself kindly this week!

This post at Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/angelictroublemaker/743956230111903744/this-week-is-my-birthday-week-and-a-couple-days

My ao3 works page: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sasha_feather/works

I've been taking a bit of a social media / internet break, watching comedies and resting.

Just posting here to check in! I am doing OK. Grateful for my roommate, friends, dog in good health, lots of things to watch, heating pad for my back.

I have been watching a lot of low-stakes comedy of the "structured improv" variety, including TaskMaster, After Midnight, Game Changer, other shows on the DropOut streaming service-- "Dirty Laundry" and "um actually". Very silly and cheering. These are hitting the spot lately. I listened to an interview with Sam Reich (who is the boss at DropOut) and was very impressed with him.
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/06/1197954697/game-changer-sam-reich-dropout
(audio and text available).

I watched the first two episodes of "Wheel of Time," and i like it, but the violence / gore level is a little higher than what I am wanting right now, for instance dead animals. I'll probably keep watching anyways.

My roommate and I watched the first 3 episodes of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", a series starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. This show is a delightful spy / romance / action mashup, very well-made. The actors have great chemistry. The violence and gore level is again a little high for me but tolerable.

We also watched "Ava," a film I'd never heard of, starring Jessica Chastain and John Malkovich. I have a feeling very few people watched this movie, and it got negative reviews, but I enjoyed it. Ava is an assassin who has problems galore and I liked seeing her solve them with determination and violence. Even though this is about an assassin, the gore level is lower? It felt more stylized and the camera didn't linger on gross things. Also kind of movie/comic book fake, where Ava gets in these hugely physical fights and walks away with nary a scratch. Fun.

I watched about half of the most recent "Mission Impossible" movie, and I liked parts of it but overall it felt endless and exhausting so I turned it off. The car chase in Rome was fun, zany, well done, with good comic moments between Tom Cruise and Hayley Altwell. But there are these huge info-dump sections in between the action, where the characters are trying to explain the plot, perhaps to themselves because the plot makes no sense. To be clear, the plot needn't make sense in this kind of movie, people want action and gadgets, so when they kept on trying to explore an all-powerful AI and a secret key, that was exhausting. Being a vidder has changed my brain, I have a better understanding of editing and visual story telling, and the editing of this movie sucked. They kept showing the same still image while doing voice over of the mission instructions-- folks, you need to keep motion going and you can put a voice over track over literally anything. Give us some visual interest and cut the length of your film down. LITERALLY cut to the chase please.

I knew I was going to love these films, and I did, they were so beautiful.

Society of the Snow, Netflix.

This is based on the story of the rugby team that crashed in the Andes in 1972, a very famous incident. It is in Spanish; there is a quality English dub that I watched due to cognitive reasons.

(*If I try to listen to Spanish, my brain starts working trying to figure out what people are saying, and due to post-concussion syndrome, steam starts to shoot out of my ears and my brain makes a noise like metal on metal. I found it interesting that I was reluctant to watch the dub and had to "allow" myself to do it, a bit of ableism coming undone there. So anyways I watched the dub with captions also.)

This is a beautifully acted story about death and survival, a tough subject but an amazing journey, very affecting, gorgeously edited. The actors are Argentinian and Uruguayan-- a big improvement from the 90s American film version.

I was very impressed!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

The book is one of my all-time favorite novels. This film was not well promoted, I think due to the strikes? Which is too bad, and I hope it can find its audience beyond the theatrical release. Right now, possibly due to being new, it is rent-only at various streaming services.

The story follows Ari, a teenager in El Paso Texas in 1987. He befriends Dante, who offers to teach Ari how to swim. The story follows Ari as he slowly discovers his sexuality.

Beautiful, quiet, contemplative, really everything I wanted from this adaptation, I got. The young actors are unknowns and they are amazing. The director, Aitch Alberto, is a trans woman.

Superb!!