Art, Television, Cartoons and Movies...
Mar. 23rd, 2024 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Well, I submitted pandemic sunflower to the Brooklyn Art Museum Open Admission site. It's not really a contest - or it is - but the prize is being exhibited in the museum with a lot of other artists and having your work shown.
Took three hours to submit it - I had to write a few things, such as a project statement, approach to the work, art history, and something about the work. Also how I felt about Brooklyn, and how I felt about art - and its ability to change things. I'd repeat it here - but I've forgotten what I wrote and didn't save it anywhere. Kind of did it a little on the fly?
The gist was mainly that I'm an intuitive artist more than an intentional one. Been working on a couple of projects, one about sunflowers and flowers through the pandemic, one the many seasons of Greenwood Cemetery in the pandemic, and the people I see on the subway from memory.
I chose Pandemic Sunflower - because I decided the subway watercolors don't work well as a stand a lone, and the Sunflower does. I submitted the photograph that I took of it - with it saluting the blue sky.
I'll hear back in July - whether it was selected or not. I don't really think it will be - this is horribly subjective, and I've submitted a digital photograph. But you never know. It was a photograph that took a long time to get, and it is meaningful to me. But again, art is a subjective sport. I will state submitting the photograph is less scary than submitting the watercolor would have been for various reasons, both Wales and Mother agreed that I should submit the Sunflower instead because it is stand-a-lone, while the watercolors of the people kind of need to be seen together to fully appreciate, I think.
I'm proud of myself for submitting it. It's the first work of art that I've submitted to an exhibition in a very very long time, since I was a kid, actually.
2. Television
* Been binge-watching Resident Alien on Netflix, starring Alan Tudyk, there's two seasons of it available. Made it through about six episodes. They are about thirty minutes each and being Netflix, when one ends, the next one begins with barely a credits roll.
Set-up? An Alien crashes to earth, while attempting to drop a device that will exterminate the human race. But alas he crashes before he can drop it and its never activated. Now, he has to find it and activate it before anyone figures out he's there. So he takes on the form of a local pathologist and doctor, Harry (played by Alan Tudyk), who lives alone in a cabin by the lake. And tries to fit in while hunting for his device and trying to find a way to set it off, and then leave. But he keeps getting distracted by well having to fit in, playing doctor, keeping anyone from figuring out his an alien, and getting rid of the body of the man he killed and took over the form of...and he hates humanity. Think fish out of water tale such as Northern Exposure - except the fish out of water is an alien trying to destroy the human race, and failing miserably at it.
It's a comedy.
Started on Syfy, now on Netflix as well. Much easier to watch on Netflix.
* X-men '97 - Disney + - this is a reboot of the 1990-1996 Fox X-men Animated Series. I saw about two or three seasons of the 90s series back in the 90s. And it's really when the X-men became mainstream. Most people know about the X-men from the Fox 1990s series. (Ugh). The Fox 1990s series is not bad, it's actually better if you've not read the comics first. If you've read the comics first and remember them well - it will irritate you. The animation of the Fox 1990s series is on the clunky side (it was good in the 1990s however), but better than most cartoons. And the dialogue on the cheesy side. Cyclops is written kind of stiffly and not well at all. He's boring in the 90s series, the most interesting characters in the series are Rogue, Storm and Wolverine, Jean is kind of dull and poorly developed, as is Cyclops and Jubliee. Gambit is kind of edgy and creepy. That's the 1990s cartoon.
The 2024 reboot - or X-men '97 which was written and created by the (recently fired) Beau DeMayo is actually pretty good. And a vast improvement over the original. It has two episodes that have dropped. And it focuses on the late 1970s/early 1980s comics but - with big changes. Scott/Cyclops is written a tad better, as is Jean, Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Jubliee, etc. And they've brought back Morph. Xavier is gone, and Magneto is taking over.
What's odd is they fired the creator, and he's left social media entirely. Hasn't posted since the firing in early March, two weeks before the premiere.
No one knows why. Except he was posting semi nude pictures of himself - posing on Xitter - and well, he's Black and Gay. And it is Disney. But I'm hoping they had a better reason and guessing it was a legal one? No one knows, and no one is happy about it. The first two episodes were done well.
All the characters were written and drawn better, as were the action sequences.
On Beau DeMayo Firing and Where Things Currently Stand
Marvel is working towards rebooting the X-men films, and doing that through a reboot of the animated series, and the comic series - the X-men is its most popular flagship series, since it has the most diverse characters and the most diversified audience and ahem, appeals to women, LGBTA, trans, and not just nerdy heterosexual cisgendered fanboys.
And I foresee a Bridgerton rewatch in my future. Also the 3 Body Problem is on Netflix.
3. Almost forgot... Cillian Murphy forms a new production Company, Big Things Films
" EXCLUSIVE: Cillian Murphy, fresh off of the massive global success of Oppenheimer — and as he gets ready to debut Small Things Like These (in which he stars and he produced) as the opening-night gala of the Berlin Film Festival next week — has set his next starring and producing gig with Steve.
This adaptation of Max Porter’s novel Shy also officially launches Murphy’s production company, Big Things Films, with longtime collaborator Alan Moloney."
The article contains a discussion with Cillian and his producing partner.
Also Cillian is starting filming on a Peaky Blinders movie for Netflix in September.
This is the team that did Breakfast on Pluto, Intermission and Delingquent Season.
" An independent, story-driven company, Big Things was initially created to produce Small Things Like These, and aims to collaborate with singular filmmakers, writers, actors and directors, both new and established, who have something to say and are passionate about what they do. Big Things will collaborate with like-minded financiers, studios, distributors and streamers in both film and television.
The company will seek material in which Murphy will act, but not exclusively.
Projects will be designed to provoke, inspire and explore themes that take audiences to places that can sometimes be uncomfortable, but more often reveal core truths about who we are, regardless of genre or format, the partners say.
Meanwhile, Berlinale opener Small Things Like These is based on the Booker Prize-shortlisted novel by Claire Keegan with a screenplay by Enda Walsh. Murphy, Eileen Walsh and Emily Watson star in the story which takes place over Christmas 1985, when devoted father Bill Furlong (Murphy) discovers the startling secrets being kept by the convent in his town, and some shocking truths about his own life as well. "
So good news for Cillian Murphy fans.
Ryan Gosling is starring in Project Hail Mary - the Andy Weir novel adaptation, which I will most likely skip, because it has a friendly alien spider race in it. I can handle that in a book, I cannot handle looking at alien spiders on screen.
Sigh, it's that time again - off to bed.
Took three hours to submit it - I had to write a few things, such as a project statement, approach to the work, art history, and something about the work. Also how I felt about Brooklyn, and how I felt about art - and its ability to change things. I'd repeat it here - but I've forgotten what I wrote and didn't save it anywhere. Kind of did it a little on the fly?
The gist was mainly that I'm an intuitive artist more than an intentional one. Been working on a couple of projects, one about sunflowers and flowers through the pandemic, one the many seasons of Greenwood Cemetery in the pandemic, and the people I see on the subway from memory.
I chose Pandemic Sunflower - because I decided the subway watercolors don't work well as a stand a lone, and the Sunflower does. I submitted the photograph that I took of it - with it saluting the blue sky.
I'll hear back in July - whether it was selected or not. I don't really think it will be - this is horribly subjective, and I've submitted a digital photograph. But you never know. It was a photograph that took a long time to get, and it is meaningful to me. But again, art is a subjective sport. I will state submitting the photograph is less scary than submitting the watercolor would have been for various reasons, both Wales and Mother agreed that I should submit the Sunflower instead because it is stand-a-lone, while the watercolors of the people kind of need to be seen together to fully appreciate, I think.
I'm proud of myself for submitting it. It's the first work of art that I've submitted to an exhibition in a very very long time, since I was a kid, actually.
2. Television
* Been binge-watching Resident Alien on Netflix, starring Alan Tudyk, there's two seasons of it available. Made it through about six episodes. They are about thirty minutes each and being Netflix, when one ends, the next one begins with barely a credits roll.
Set-up? An Alien crashes to earth, while attempting to drop a device that will exterminate the human race. But alas he crashes before he can drop it and its never activated. Now, he has to find it and activate it before anyone figures out he's there. So he takes on the form of a local pathologist and doctor, Harry (played by Alan Tudyk), who lives alone in a cabin by the lake. And tries to fit in while hunting for his device and trying to find a way to set it off, and then leave. But he keeps getting distracted by well having to fit in, playing doctor, keeping anyone from figuring out his an alien, and getting rid of the body of the man he killed and took over the form of...and he hates humanity. Think fish out of water tale such as Northern Exposure - except the fish out of water is an alien trying to destroy the human race, and failing miserably at it.
It's a comedy.
Started on Syfy, now on Netflix as well. Much easier to watch on Netflix.
* X-men '97 - Disney + - this is a reboot of the 1990-1996 Fox X-men Animated Series. I saw about two or three seasons of the 90s series back in the 90s. And it's really when the X-men became mainstream. Most people know about the X-men from the Fox 1990s series. (Ugh). The Fox 1990s series is not bad, it's actually better if you've not read the comics first. If you've read the comics first and remember them well - it will irritate you. The animation of the Fox 1990s series is on the clunky side (it was good in the 1990s however), but better than most cartoons. And the dialogue on the cheesy side. Cyclops is written kind of stiffly and not well at all. He's boring in the 90s series, the most interesting characters in the series are Rogue, Storm and Wolverine, Jean is kind of dull and poorly developed, as is Cyclops and Jubliee. Gambit is kind of edgy and creepy. That's the 1990s cartoon.
The 2024 reboot - or X-men '97 which was written and created by the (recently fired) Beau DeMayo is actually pretty good. And a vast improvement over the original. It has two episodes that have dropped. And it focuses on the late 1970s/early 1980s comics but - with big changes. Scott/Cyclops is written a tad better, as is Jean, Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Jubliee, etc. And they've brought back Morph. Xavier is gone, and Magneto is taking over.
What's odd is they fired the creator, and he's left social media entirely. Hasn't posted since the firing in early March, two weeks before the premiere.
No one knows why. Except he was posting semi nude pictures of himself - posing on Xitter - and well, he's Black and Gay. And it is Disney. But I'm hoping they had a better reason and guessing it was a legal one? No one knows, and no one is happy about it. The first two episodes were done well.
All the characters were written and drawn better, as were the action sequences.
On Beau DeMayo Firing and Where Things Currently Stand
Marvel is working towards rebooting the X-men films, and doing that through a reboot of the animated series, and the comic series - the X-men is its most popular flagship series, since it has the most diverse characters and the most diversified audience and ahem, appeals to women, LGBTA, trans, and not just nerdy heterosexual cisgendered fanboys.
And I foresee a Bridgerton rewatch in my future. Also the 3 Body Problem is on Netflix.
3. Almost forgot... Cillian Murphy forms a new production Company, Big Things Films
" EXCLUSIVE: Cillian Murphy, fresh off of the massive global success of Oppenheimer — and as he gets ready to debut Small Things Like These (in which he stars and he produced) as the opening-night gala of the Berlin Film Festival next week — has set his next starring and producing gig with Steve.
This adaptation of Max Porter’s novel Shy also officially launches Murphy’s production company, Big Things Films, with longtime collaborator Alan Moloney."
The article contains a discussion with Cillian and his producing partner.
Also Cillian is starting filming on a Peaky Blinders movie for Netflix in September.
This is the team that did Breakfast on Pluto, Intermission and Delingquent Season.
" An independent, story-driven company, Big Things was initially created to produce Small Things Like These, and aims to collaborate with singular filmmakers, writers, actors and directors, both new and established, who have something to say and are passionate about what they do. Big Things will collaborate with like-minded financiers, studios, distributors and streamers in both film and television.
The company will seek material in which Murphy will act, but not exclusively.
Projects will be designed to provoke, inspire and explore themes that take audiences to places that can sometimes be uncomfortable, but more often reveal core truths about who we are, regardless of genre or format, the partners say.
Meanwhile, Berlinale opener Small Things Like These is based on the Booker Prize-shortlisted novel by Claire Keegan with a screenplay by Enda Walsh. Murphy, Eileen Walsh and Emily Watson star in the story which takes place over Christmas 1985, when devoted father Bill Furlong (Murphy) discovers the startling secrets being kept by the convent in his town, and some shocking truths about his own life as well. "
So good news for Cillian Murphy fans.
Ryan Gosling is starring in Project Hail Mary - the Andy Weir novel adaptation, which I will most likely skip, because it has a friendly alien spider race in it. I can handle that in a book, I cannot handle looking at alien spiders on screen.
Sigh, it's that time again - off to bed.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-24 06:13 pm (UTC)I do like the supporting cast. The relationship between Harry and Asta is an ideal platonic friendship, and it grounds Harry without destroying his essential weirdness. (I also like that the Native American population of Patience, Colorado is a big part of the series.)
If Resident Alien was just Harry interacting with irritating humans and navigating human culture, it would be perfect. (I love the "informational" comic strips in the credits.) But it also has this huge, increasingly dramatic plotline that tends to work against the comedy and vice versa. I don't want to give away s3 spoilers, but trying to squeeze certain characters into comedy bits tends to diminish their effectiveness.
Still, as long as Tudyk is given a wide berth to be funny, it's going to be worth watching.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-24 08:35 pm (UTC)>> But it also has this huge, increasingly dramatic plotline that tends to work against the comedy and vice versa.<<
Yup, that's the problem in a nutshell. And why I've struggled with it. It's a problem though with a lot of situational comedies - often the "drama" which isn't always organic to the situation will invade the comedy and drag it down. ie. The very special episode of Blossom syndrome, which isn't necessarily the case here - but kind of?
no subject
Date: 2024-03-24 10:46 pm (UTC)Even though it varied from the source material, the cartoons were generally well plotted and there was plenty of great superhero action.
I agree that Jean Grey was a bit of a drip compared to the comics version... but I liked Cyclops here! He was the solid field leader, the rock of the group. (He was a nice contrast to professional angst machines like Wolverine!)
Speaking of Marvel cartoons, I would highly recomnend Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur on Disney. Try it and let me know what you think.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-25 12:36 am (UTC)In the animated series they push the Wolverine/Jean/Cyclops triangle more than they did in the comics. Also, the Phoenix Story is different in how it handles it.
Characterization is ever so slightly off. It's better than I remembered it to be. Definitely. Also worth noting it's 1990s - so ahem dated.
X-men '97 is oh so much better in so many ways.