Tag: penny dreadful

How MEN (2022) Disappointed Me

Sigh. Let me get the dumb jokes out of the way so I can get to the review:

  • A horror movie named MEN in the year of our lord 2022 – too easy
  • I mean the film not the gender HURRRRRRR
  • Gotta talk about the low-hanging fruit HURRRRRR
  • It gave me all the Rory Kinnear I ever wanted and more – SO MUCH MORE
  • I’d scrumble Geoffrey’s apples (well, maybe not his)

There! I had more but I’m tired. Note: I might not be at the top of my game right now with this viewing and review – I might revisit the movie in a few months to see what occurs then.

Anyway -Let me clear something further up – I didn’t hate MEN. I enjoyed it! I will own it when it’s available for purchase! I’ll break down what it did right and wrong in full later, but what you should understand now is that I am NOT hating on MEN.

MEN’s ad campaign set high expectations: there were blurbs like ‘GAME CHANGER!’, high marks from the Onion AV Club and other respectable review sources. I was expecting the film to do for discussions about the patriarchy what Jordan Peele’s GET OUT did for discussions about racism. Instead, it avoided that discussion and settled for being stylish and posing more questions than it answered.

There’s room for film that provokes conversation; it is refreshing to talk through concepts with other filmgoers, thereby expanding an otherwise solitary enjoyment to a group one. A24 does this time and time again, making (pleasant, sane) discourse all but necessary for their works. But MEN pushed right past that and brushed perilously close to incoherence.

As always, spoilers down below:

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My Caliban Cosplay

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you’ve seen mentions of me cosplaying as Caliban, aka John Clare, aka The Creature from Showtime’s Victorian horror costume party, Penny Dreadful. I just dote on him. I’ve even written fanfic, which I will not subject you to here. But I will blather about the costume I made and how fun it was to make!

If you’re not a fan of either PD or cosplay you’ll probably want to give today’s entry a miss, unless you’re just really, really bored. But I did have a lot of fun making it, so I hope you’ll stick around!

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“You’re some kind of Mime, right? Or Marilyn Manson?” ~ My coworkers at our company Halloween party

Head under the  jump for more pics and How I Did It!

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Penny Dreadful – Afterthoughts

At its best, the show had sharp characterizations, beautiful production, fantastic writing, and didn’t shy from horrific or challenging subject matter, be it supernatural or human in origin.

Recently, Penny Dreadful, Showtime’s marvelously dark and twisted paean to all things Victorian and bloody, ended after three seasons. EDIT: There seems to be disagreement among fans about why the show was cancelled, but some accounts I’ve read indicate that the creator, John Logan, intended for the show to span three seasons, and wrote it thus. This may not be the case. However it came to an end, the strange discordant ending and loose plot threads left many fans unsatisfied. It felt like a beautiful dream that ended just before the best part, and all I have now is sweaty just-woken confusion and an irate UPS person banging on my door.

For all that the end was unsatisfying (I’ve already written 4 fan fictions in two weeks with my preferred resolutions, because I had opinions), I still adore it. Today’s entry is going to sing the praises of Penny Dreadful, with a minimum of discontented grumblings. After all, it got so many things right!

This post will include spoilers. You have been warned!

Please, enter the Demimonde! 

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Stay Tuned!

I’m on my way to get frozen yogurt with friends. Or actually just watch them eat, since I can’t eat sugar and sugar-free fro-yo tastes like exisential ennui feels. Still! I’m out of the house!

I’m working on a big Penny Dreadful post for Thursday. I have over 1600 words, and am trying to get it into something other than the massive info dump it currently is.

In the meantime, please enjoy this bunch of fangirl stuff in honor of my current Imaginary Boyfriend, The Creature/Caliban/John Clare.

 

I have no explanation. This is just where I am this week.

And for your listening pleasure, the Calibaniest of Caliban Songs, an acoustic version of Rozz Williams and Gitane Demone’s Flowers. Rozz Williams was the lead singer for Christian Death, and was one of the grandfathers of the goth movement before he killed himself at 34. So, that. Anyway! Here’s the song! I think Caliban would enjoy moping to it.

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From Blake’s “Auguries of Innocence” 

John Clare on Tinder – “Favorite things: sitting in a darkened tunnel full of cholera sufferers and quoting Blake, being on the lowest rung of society, suffering (mine and trying to prevent yours), misinterpreting social cues”

Me – *FURIOUSLY SWIPING RIGHT*

THERE. All the fangirl is out. Except it isn’t – I’m planning to cosplay as John Clare at Orlando’s Spooky Empire convention, because the costume would be fun to make and I haven’t dressed up for a con in a long, long time. I went after work to a local special effects makeup studio and got some makeup, a bald cap, and some pointers from the shop’s owner. The black clothes I pretty much already have, I just need a coat, wig, and yellow contacts.

I’m in quite a cheerful mood lately. I’m on my way to get frozen yogurt with friends for someone’s birthday. Or actually just watch them eat, since I can’t eat sugar and sugar-free fro-yo tastes like existential ennui feels. Still! I’m out of the house!

Please tune in Thursday for an actual review of Showtime’s wonderful horror melodrama!

My Most Recent Accident

I watched a movie. At some point during an intense scene, I reached for my wine glass. I grabbed it a bit too hard, and it basically popped in my hand.

Folks who know me or who have been reading this blog for a while know that I am somewhat accident-prone. Happily, these accidents tend to be minor and only mildly life-threatening, leaving me with increased safety awareness, entertaining stories, and cool scars. Also, for all the accidents I’ve had, I’ve never had to get stitches or a bone reset, so I’ve been very fortunate in that case as well.

Remember how in last week’s post I said I’d stay inside, away from the fireworks, so I’d be safe?

It didn’t turn out so well.

Read on for a fun story about a drunken accident, and some mildly upsetting photos of hand trauma.

If that’s not your thing, the tl;dr is I got a bad laceration Friday night and got my very first ambulance ride and seven stitches. 

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