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I went to see Rocketman
2 min read
Since the comparison to Bohemian Rhapsody is inevitable- what with it being about the life of an LGBT icon in the music industry and all- let's get it out of the way: as a movie, it's better written and better executed.
I don't know anything about Elton John, so I don't know how much of the film was bullshit- well, "artistic licence", if you're diplomatic- but it was basically a pretty standard biopic. Very standard. It follows the formula beat for beat without a single deviation- extremely talented young man enters music industry, briefly struggles with cynical executive, has his big break and instantly rises to stardom, ends up on the road to personal destruction, only to have a personal realization that leads to him overcoming his personal demons and so on.
It was extremely, extremely predictable. Thankfully, the acting, atmosphere and music is just good enough to not make that obnoxious, although not by much.
The movie gets some points for honesty. Where bo-rhap was scrubbed clean of any dirt that might make it less family friendly, rocketman goes out of its way to show elton john as a fairly sad, lonely person; petty, neurotic and emotional.
Even so, it's much less engaging than bo-rhap, which despite its flaws ended on a high note (despite freddie's impending death).
2.5/5 it was okay.
I don't know anything about Elton John, so I don't know how much of the film was bullshit- well, "artistic licence", if you're diplomatic- but it was basically a pretty standard biopic. Very standard. It follows the formula beat for beat without a single deviation- extremely talented young man enters music industry, briefly struggles with cynical executive, has his big break and instantly rises to stardom, ends up on the road to personal destruction, only to have a personal realization that leads to him overcoming his personal demons and so on.
It was extremely, extremely predictable. Thankfully, the acting, atmosphere and music is just good enough to not make that obnoxious, although not by much.
The movie gets some points for honesty. Where bo-rhap was scrubbed clean of any dirt that might make it less family friendly, rocketman goes out of its way to show elton john as a fairly sad, lonely person; petty, neurotic and emotional.
Even so, it's much less engaging than bo-rhap, which despite its flaws ended on a high note (despite freddie's impending death).
2.5/5 it was okay.
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So I was thinking to myself this week, while coping with the horrors of adjusting to night shifts at work, about Bleach. Specifically, how I'd change the basic premise into something more sensible without going full berserk/game of thrones. More reasonable, but still with the same shonen charm.
The most basic problem starts with the protagonist, a 15yo rando with no experience somehow becoming a god tier fighter in a matter of months, because that's how shonens work for some reason. So I thought, what do you do to change that?
Well, you make Ichigo a young officer of the Gotei itself, naturally. And from there on, my imagination did the rest. So here's how I'd reimagine bleach, maybe as fanfiction if I ever got off my ass and wrote something for myself:
We've got Kurosaki Ichigo, bastard son of Shiba Isshin. He's still the son of Masaki, but the difference is that Isshin is the one that's dead; he's the product of an affair that wound up with him and his mother in the soul society from before he was born. As the son of a noble from a lesser house, and a bastard at that, he's powerful but resented by nobility, but still disliked by commoners for being noble (thus retaining his underdog status, while justifying his power level). Ichigo's a young officer, in his early twenties, up-and-coming but struggling with the weight of his ancestry and having to make it all on his own (the Shibas are poor and in low standing, and haven't been able to help much).
The villain of this story? Urahara Kisuke, because don't tell me he wouldn't make a better antagonist than Aizen "I planned everything that ever happens" Sousuke. Urahara Kisuke is the villain the gotei made, their sins come back to haunt them- a radical bent on destroying the Gotei for its corruptions, punishing them for exiling him when he tried to make the world a better place. Yoruichi supports him, although she regrets leaving Soifon behind. His own unit of companion warriors are the visored, a result of failed hollow experiments shoved under the rug. The entire first major arc (soul society equivalent) would be Ichigo pushing back against a hollow invasion while Urahara pulls the strings; the following arc would be a major conflict set up by Urahara wherein Ichigo would rise to prominence, all the while realizing that the organization he works for is actually corrupt.
The arrancar would be a third party which may or may not become a major player; initially led by Barragan, who is later usurped by Halibel.
The quincies would have several clans still alive, most of which are neutral in the conflict.
It'd focus a lot less on the world of the living and a lot more on the conflicts between various groups in the afterlife, with some politics and intrigue thrown in the mix as well. There might even be ryouka, but this time, they'd be led by Tatsuki.
Eventually, well- who knows where this could go? It'd come down to Ichigo making a choice about the Gotei, to either reject Urahara's vision or accept it. Either way, it'd be about making a better tomorrow.
That's as much as I got, random rambles over. Yea or nay?
The most basic problem starts with the protagonist, a 15yo rando with no experience somehow becoming a god tier fighter in a matter of months, because that's how shonens work for some reason. So I thought, what do you do to change that?
Well, you make Ichigo a young officer of the Gotei itself, naturally. And from there on, my imagination did the rest. So here's how I'd reimagine bleach, maybe as fanfiction if I ever got off my ass and wrote something for myself:
We've got Kurosaki Ichigo, bastard son of Shiba Isshin. He's still the son of Masaki, but the difference is that Isshin is the one that's dead; he's the product of an affair that wound up with him and his mother in the soul society from before he was born. As the son of a noble from a lesser house, and a bastard at that, he's powerful but resented by nobility, but still disliked by commoners for being noble (thus retaining his underdog status, while justifying his power level). Ichigo's a young officer, in his early twenties, up-and-coming but struggling with the weight of his ancestry and having to make it all on his own (the Shibas are poor and in low standing, and haven't been able to help much).
The villain of this story? Urahara Kisuke, because don't tell me he wouldn't make a better antagonist than Aizen "I planned everything that ever happens" Sousuke. Urahara Kisuke is the villain the gotei made, their sins come back to haunt them- a radical bent on destroying the Gotei for its corruptions, punishing them for exiling him when he tried to make the world a better place. Yoruichi supports him, although she regrets leaving Soifon behind. His own unit of companion warriors are the visored, a result of failed hollow experiments shoved under the rug. The entire first major arc (soul society equivalent) would be Ichigo pushing back against a hollow invasion while Urahara pulls the strings; the following arc would be a major conflict set up by Urahara wherein Ichigo would rise to prominence, all the while realizing that the organization he works for is actually corrupt.
The arrancar would be a third party which may or may not become a major player; initially led by Barragan, who is later usurped by Halibel.
The quincies would have several clans still alive, most of which are neutral in the conflict.
It'd focus a lot less on the world of the living and a lot more on the conflicts between various groups in the afterlife, with some politics and intrigue thrown in the mix as well. There might even be ryouka, but this time, they'd be led by Tatsuki.
Eventually, well- who knows where this could go? It'd come down to Ichigo making a choice about the Gotei, to either reject Urahara's vision or accept it. Either way, it'd be about making a better tomorrow.
That's as much as I got, random rambles over. Yea or nay?
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RIP tumblr
1 min read
So when first I heard tumblr was going to ban all porn, I was like,
"Okay, I'll miss the good porn out there, but I can see why. It's a sensible business decision for a company that wants to be more family friendly. I can respect that even if I disagree with it."
Then I heard about their draconian new policy of banything anything "salacious" (nice vague terminology they got there) and basically anything even remotely suspect is now banned. Especially female nips.
And I was like
"Yeah okay. Um. Nice knowing you, tumblr."
I'd like to say they were shooting themselves in the foot, but this is more like that one thing where you write a little note and then point the gun at your temple and pull the trigger. Boy oh boy am I glad I never got invested in tumblr now, because it would suck to be a tumblrist about now. My condolences to the poor souls who are.
I'll just let ProZD sum it up:
"Okay, I'll miss the good porn out there, but I can see why. It's a sensible business decision for a company that wants to be more family friendly. I can respect that even if I disagree with it."
Then I heard about their draconian new policy of banything anything "salacious" (nice vague terminology they got there) and basically anything even remotely suspect is now banned. Especially female nips.
And I was like
"Yeah okay. Um. Nice knowing you, tumblr."
I'd like to say they were shooting themselves in the foot, but this is more like that one thing where you write a little note and then point the gun at your temple and pull the trigger. Boy oh boy am I glad I never got invested in tumblr now, because it would suck to be a tumblrist about now. My condolences to the poor souls who are.
I'll just let ProZD sum it up:
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Bo-rhap: it delivers
2 min read
So I went to see the Queen bio-pic. I made sure not to get my hopes up too much because... well, it's my favourite band of all time and I'd hate to be disappointed.
So how was it? Basically...
It's overdramatized (if the band members fought as much and as often as the movie suggests, I don't ever think they would have stuck together, and there was no point where Freddie was on the brink of selling out his band either to my knowledge- his doing solo stuff was just a side project), corny and formulaic, but it delivers enough good acting and feelgood moments that it's a solid pass.
It ventures into glorification a bit- Freddie doing drugs is presented as something he does during his darkest, saddest, most indulgent, lowest point- when in reality, he probably did tons of drugs because it was fun. It's pretty PG-13, which is a shame because Freddie in reality was supposed to have thrown some pretty wild ass parties that probably weren't suitable for younger people.
It doesn't shy away from the gay stuff at all, which was a concern of mine, and it was kind of interesting to see the dynamic of the hero having to choose between the bad boy and the wholesome love interest who eventually redeems him- only they're all men.
The music is there, and if you're a fan of queen this should be plenty. Malek is not perfect (I'd still have liked to see Baron-Cohen have done the role) but he's damn good at imitating Freddie's style of speech and mannerisms even if he sorta looks like a cosplayer (compared to the other band members, who are portrayed in a noticeably more life-like manner).
3.5/5. Good shit.
So how was it? Basically...
It's overdramatized (if the band members fought as much and as often as the movie suggests, I don't ever think they would have stuck together, and there was no point where Freddie was on the brink of selling out his band either to my knowledge- his doing solo stuff was just a side project), corny and formulaic, but it delivers enough good acting and feelgood moments that it's a solid pass.
It ventures into glorification a bit- Freddie doing drugs is presented as something he does during his darkest, saddest, most indulgent, lowest point- when in reality, he probably did tons of drugs because it was fun. It's pretty PG-13, which is a shame because Freddie in reality was supposed to have thrown some pretty wild ass parties that probably weren't suitable for younger people.
It doesn't shy away from the gay stuff at all, which was a concern of mine, and it was kind of interesting to see the dynamic of the hero having to choose between the bad boy and the wholesome love interest who eventually redeems him- only they're all men.
The music is there, and if you're a fan of queen this should be plenty. Malek is not perfect (I'd still have liked to see Baron-Cohen have done the role) but he's damn good at imitating Freddie's style of speech and mannerisms even if he sorta looks like a cosplayer (compared to the other band members, who are portrayed in a noticeably more life-like manner).
3.5/5. Good shit.
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Queen's 10 best songs
4 min read
With Bohemian Rhapsody coming, I'm pretty excited- I'm going to go watch the film this weekend. In anticipation of this, I thought I'd list my top ten picks for Queen's overall best songs, according to my preferences. Without further ado:
10: No One But You
A wonderful and sad tribute to the greatest frontman in rock history, this shows Brian, Roger and John at their very best.
9: Keep Yourself Alive
Queen did some of their best work early on, and their first album was, albeit a bit rough, filled with excellent hard rock. The guitar riff on this track is one of the reasons I got hooked on their music in the first place.
8: Seven Seas of Rhye
Mixing a fast-paced piano track with a hard rock riff and Freddie's vocals, it's incredibly catch and brings in some of the best of the fantasy-themed ideas of their early rock.
10: No One But You
A wonderful and sad tribute to the greatest frontman in rock history, this shows Brian, Roger and John at their very best.
9: Keep Yourself Alive
Queen did some of their best work early on, and their first album was, albeit a bit rough, filled with excellent hard rock. The guitar riff on this track is one of the reasons I got hooked on their music in the first place.
8: Seven Seas of Rhye
Mixing a fast-paced piano track with a hard rock riff and Freddie's vocals, it's incredibly catch and brings in some of the best of the fantasy-themed ideas of their early rock.
7: March of the Black Queen
Before Bohemian Rhapsody, there was march of the black queen, a dark, complex, multi-segmented rock opera, fast-paced, hard and incredibly unique.
6: Prophet's song
The best song from A Night At the Opera (you heard me), this is the kind of epic, fantastical early heavy metal track that wouldn't have looked out of place on some of Dio's early work. Listen to the chorals, and be blown away.
5: Liar
Another track from their first album, "Liar" is an intense hard rock track that is impossible not to like, raw and artistic.
4: Sheer heart attack
As you might have noticed from this list, early queen was pretty metal. Although produced in the later era on the News of the World album, sheer heart attack was a return to the fast, hard rock roots queen first came from.
3: I want to break free
Glamorous and silly, this track is one of their most recognizable, and it's impossible not to enjoy it. There's a longing for freedom, carried perfectly through Freddie's incredible voice, that really resonates with people.
2: Stone Cold Crazy
Did you know Queen made the first thrash metal song? Stone cold crazy has been credited as thrash metal before thrash metal existed. This fast, high-octane track impressed Metallica enough that it's become one that they covered frequently during their tours.
And my favourite queen song of all time is...
1: Under Pressure
A collaborative effort with David Bowie, this is a beautiful song about supporting each other when times are hard, carried perfectly through the voices of two absolute legends.
And did you notice that Bohemian Rhapsody didn't even make it to my list? That's how good a band they are- their best known song, which is itself a masterpiece, is still not measuring up to the massive host of quality rock these four amazing artists produced. I'm not going to make honourable mentions, because I'd be here all day- let's just say that, as a fan, I'm pretty excited to see what the movie can do.
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