K-Pop: Idols are Humans

Promotional photo of (from left) Son Dongju (Xion), Lee Seoho, Yeo Hwanwoong, Lee Keonhee, and Kim Geonhak (Leedo). Copyright goes to RBW and ONEUS.

Hi! It’s Annie!

This is yet another one of those times where I had something different planned for today and had to change my plans because of some recent news. I do have a review for another drama I’ve watched incoming and I promise that will be next! But right now, this feels more important. There have been a couple of trends going around and a recent incident that I really want to talk in depth about because all of these things seem to pointedly ignore the same point I’ve been trying to make forever. Idols are human beings. They are not otherworldly entities who are somehow better or more perfect than anyone else. Just because they have a glamorous job does not mean that we are entitled to treat them as anything else but what they essentially are. And I think there are certain things lately that have strayed so far from this point that I’ve personally been more angry regarding this point with idols than I have before in recent memory. And that’s saying something. So let’s go over the recent drama with Kim Namjoon and a recent TikTok trend so I can rant about this some more!

A Monk???:

I’m pretty sure everyone has heard about this by now, but several news sites released a specific story about Kim Namjoon of BTS against his knowledge and consent. I have not read the article and, if you haven’t, please do not seek it out or read anything even if you come across it. If you have read it, well, I sincerely hope it was by accident. Kim Namjoon has made his recent delve into religion semi public as he continues on his journey to really find himself, which is an opportunity he hasn’t really been given for quite a while. On a reflective visit to a Buddhist temple; Namjoon confided in a monk. The monk then turned around and sold everything Namjoon told him in confidence to the press. Yes, a monk. Someone who trains in morality and is usually seen as trustworthy sold a story that this person was told in confidence to the press. I still can barely believe it. (Please note that this is not the time to go after all monks or the Buddhist religion.) Namjoon, who is pretty mild mannered, shared the fact that the story had been posted in absolute fury. Something that I cannot blame him for. I am also absolutely outraged. Namjoon has already expressed how exhausted he is with being famous and being recognized everywhere. As someone who has that level of fame, he has expressed that he hasn’t exactly known who to trust in the past. And then this happens to him. If you read that article because you wanted to or even translated it for other people to read; you’re, in a lot of ways, just as bad as that monk. Idols do not deserve to have their private information in the public just as much as you don’t deserve to wake up tomorrow and see all of your private information go viral. There is no excuse here. This was just plain inhumane.

Bias Lists:

And here’s my second part to this. I honestly could have created an entire post just based off of how angry I am that this is currently a trend on places like TikTok and Instagram. Is it ok to have a bias? Yes! When you choose your bias you aren’t necessarily choosing which member you like above the others. You’re choosing who you like based off of your personal interests and who draws you to them. This answer is going to be different for everyone. A lot of people also have bias wreckers, who are people that sometimes make you question your bias. A lot of people identify within K-Pop fandoms in particular based off of who their bias is. But while I think it’s ok to have these things, though we sometimes see issues with them as well, it is absolutely ridiculous to have a bias list. Because what you see as just a list of your personal preferences is actually a list of your favorite to least favorite human beings in a group. When you have a bias and a bias wrecker you aren’t choosing someone to go in a last or least favorite spot. But that has opened people up to the idea that it’s ok to make entire lists. And this also makes it so that the point of you having a bias or bias wrecker in the first place goes away. Picking someone that you’re just drawn to doesn’t feel like the point when you’re ranking every single person in that group. At that point you absolutely do have a favorite and are ranking your favorite to least favorite.

Idols aren’t fictional characters. I feel like many of the people who do this have been in fiction fandoms before and are used to being asked who their favorite and least favorite characters are. I know that I used to sometimes make lists of my favorite characters in certain shows or books that I liked. But these are human beings. We already have issues with some members being biased over others and some members of some groups having their personal merch sold out far before the personal merch of other members. And if you think that this never hurts the idols, you are absolutely wrong. Several members of BTS recalled a time where a few of them would never receive any fan mail and how much that hurt those members. How much more do you think it would hurt them if everyone started ranking all of the members of a group? There are also multiple groups with a vast variety of the amount of members to consider. Because of this, I often also have a problem when people say that they have a bias line in a group. Especially because these bias lines often include four or more members, which means that they’ll often only be excluding a few members. Again, this feels a lot more like choosing members that are your least favorite than choosing a member that you feel personally drawn to. I know this might fall on deaf ears, but it’s not ok to have a least favorite member of a group. Why? Because that starts getting into solo stan behavior. If you don’t support all of the members of a group, then you absolutely can’t support that group as a whole. And if you’re willing to call any member of the group your least favorite, I personally think that this shows a lack of support for that member. You wouldn’t sit down and rank your family members, so don’t rank idols either. It is not ok to start ranking human beings.

Idols are constantly stalked, torn down, or having their personal lives controlled or put on blast by the public. And I really think everyone who considers doing any of these things needs to consider whether or not they would be ok if any of these things happened to them. A lot of people justify their behavior by saying that by getting into an entertainment industry like this, the idols should expect this because it’s “a part of the job”. But none of these people seem to consider that maybe it shouldn’t be a part of the job. That maybe a job in the entertainment industry is another job and that nobody deserves to have their private lives exposed and shared with the world. And also that these people should be able to choose their own lives and the public should understand that all of them have emotions just like the rest of us. On the other end of this, we shouldn’t feel that they are perfect or will always make the right decision. Because again, human beings make mistakes. If you’re treating anyone in a way that you would not be personally ok being treated, then you probably aren’t treating that person like a human being. Idols are humans!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Disney: ‘Strange World’ Review

Screenshot from ‘Strange World’ on Disney+. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Studios.

Hey! Hallie here!

‘Strange World’ is the newest Disney animation film to drop on Disney+ and this one’s been a bit of a hot topic on social media. Unfortunately, it’s not because it’s receiving glowing reviews. It’s because most people didn’t know ‘Strange World’ existed until it showed up on the front of the Disney+ homepage. It was barely marketed at all, which comes across as suspicious considering its diverse cast and the inclusion of the first openly gay main character for Disney animation. And because of the complete lack of marketing that was done for this movie, ‘Strange World’ ended up being a major box office flop. But beyond the way Disney undermined their own movie, did ‘Strange World’ deserve the failure? In my opinion, no. This movie is extremely imaginative, includes so many likable characters, and is just gorgeous to watch. The story itself isn’t the most original or the cleanest story we’ve seen, but it’s still fun. I’ll get into my SPOILER review below, but if you haven’t seen this, I definitely think it’s worth a watch. We can at least show Disney that we appreciate it with Disney+ views.

What I Liked:

The Characters: Like I said above, the characters here are almost all extremely likable. I especially loved the family of three that’s at the center of the film. Searcher Clade, our main character, is really easy to sympathize with. This movie, much like ‘Encanto’, deals with generational trauma and Searcher is the first victim. He tries to be good dad, and in many ways he is, but he’s terrified of facing the adventurous qualities in his son that Searcher associates with his own father. It brings up old trauma, and though his controlling nature can be just as irritating for the audience as it is for Ethan, you understand why he can be overbearing. Then there’s Ethan Clade, our first openly gay character in a Disney animated film! Ethan’s crush on his friend Diazo is not subtle, nor is it hidden behind clever wordplay. It’s stated several times and Ethan’s always adorably flustered in his presence. It isn’t a major plot point of the movie, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s just nice to see an openly queer character having fun adventures while also happening to be gay. And aside from his identity, he has many other likable qualities. While he’s definitely adventurous, he clearly has a better respect for his environment and other people than Searcher’s father Jaeger had. Lastly, Meridian is the final person in this trio and my favorite character in the movie. She’s badass, has the most hilarious comebacks, and proves herself to be the most intelligent and capable person on the crew on multiple occasions. At first I thought they would leave her character behind once the action started, but as the exploration party was leaving without her she pulled off a daring rescue of the entire party and landed herself a position as the pilot. She’s so awesome. Along with these three there are perfectly lovable characters like Callisto, Splat, and Legend who add their own insanely likable flavor to the movie. Overall ‘Strange World’ has a solid ensemble cast.

The World: ‘Strange World’ is one of those movies where a group of adventurers leave the world they know and enter a fantasy universe. The fantasy universe here is gorgeous and extremely unique. The colors are vibrant and beautiful, and though all the colors used are bright, they don’t clash with each other. I really liked how the constantly moving and pulsing environment blended seamlessly with the creatures the explorers encounter. There are characters like Splat who appear more gelatinous and almost blend in to the more fluid background elements, but there are also giant bird creatures and tentacled monsters that blend in because of their abnormal shapes and bright colors. I also really loved the twist tied to this fantasy world. It’s revealed that the land the characters live on is located on the back of a giant turtle, which is recognizable from Chinese, Hindu, and Indigenous mythologies. Because of that, the unknown world they’re exploring is actually the insides of this giant turtle creature. While that might sound gross, all of the visual elements lend itself well to a whimsical representation of the lungs, stomach, and even blood cells of a living creature. The design for this world was done so well that when the characters put together that they’ve been inside a creature for the entire movie, you put it together with them. If for nothing else, I’d rewatch this movie for the beautiful animation that went into bringing to life this fantasy world.

Caravan Palace: In one scene Searcher and Meridian dance to “Lone Digger” by Caravan Palace, which is one of the best Electro Swing songs ever made. The movie instantly got points for using this song.

What I Disliked:

The Story: I didn’t hate this story, but it isn’t perfect. It’s most definitely not as unique as the visual elements in the movie. I like a good generational trauma film, but the way the movie unfolded wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before. It’s a typical ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ type of film, where a man encounters an abnormal environment while having to patch up a rocky relationship with the young boy in his care. Just add on some ‘Indiana Jones’-like animosity between another father/son duo and you have ‘Strange World’. What I’m saying is it’s an amalgamation of various adventure movies, and the only thing it does differently here is good female representation. There’s also the problem of Jaeger, who could have remained a backstory character for Searcher instead of showing up in the main story and I don’t think it would have changed the plot much. Jaeger wasn’t supposed to be likable for most of the film considering how terrible of a father he was, but his presence felt like more of an annoyance than an emotional staple of the film. The plot attempts to redeem Jaeger by pointing out how similar he is to Searcher (They really aren’t that similar,) and then having Jaeger help save the day. But the real heart of the film is obviously Searcher’s relationship with Ethan, and the emotional center of the film is Searcher learning to trust Ethan. That story could have just as easily been told without Jaeger’s unnecessary interruptions. Overall it’s disappointing to have such an imaginative movie rely on such an overused base story.

The Marketing: And we’re back to this. This movie could have done so much better if Disney actually marketed it. Instead, Disney allowed ‘Strange World’ to fade into obscurity. So much so that even the LGBTQ+ community didn’t know we’d be getting our first confirmed gay character until a few members of the community happened upon the movie. And because so many people didn’t see it, reviews wound up lower than they should have been because homophobes decided to complain about the representation in the movie with no one to argue against them. It’s ridiculous that we still live in a time where movies get review bombed simply because there are characters that represent more than just straight, white people. ‘Strange World’ isn’t the best Disney movie ever, but it deserved much more than it got. And I absolutely find it suspicious that Disney didn’t market a movie with so much representation.

Jake Gyllenhaal: This is all personal preference, but I find Jake Gyllenhaal to be a bit hit or miss. His performances can be quite wooden, and I found that that was especially true of his voice acting abilities. Physical acting choices really can’t save you when you’re just acting with your voice, and I didn’t find Gyllenhaal’s voice acting to be all that engaging compared to the other actors. But once again, that’s all based on my personal preferences.

If you’ve gotten all the way here and you still haven’t watched ‘Strange World’, I highly recommend you go and watch it! It’s fun, likable, and visually stunning. It might not be the most memorable animated movie of last year, but it definitely deserves some praise. I’ll at least be thinking about how much I love Meridian well into 2023. I hope this movie does well enough on Disney+ that Disney doesn’t write off the LGBTQ+ representation and the amount of people of color that were present. ‘Strange World’ is such an important movie to support and it’s sad that Disney might overlook the importance of it because of the lack of support so far.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop: Why I Love Kim Geonhak

Promotional photo of Kim Geonhak (Leedo) for the ‘No Diggity’ MV. Copyright goes to RBW and ONEUS.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Happy New Year! I don’t usually do posts like this unless it’s because of a birthday, but ONEUS is still so underrated. And while part of me wants to gate-keep this man, that is toxic behavior so I will do the opposite and gush about him. In a short amount of time he went from being just one of my biases to being one of my three major biases alongside Kim Namjoon of BTS and Jeong Yunho of ATEEZ. And I think one of the things that has propelled the entirety of ONEUS for me, not just Kim Geonhak (Leedo), is the very obvious close bond that all of the members seem to share. None of these members are shy about being affectionate and/or teasing each other. When you see them interact, there’s a level of comfort there between all of them that’s absolutely unmistakeable. It’s led to hilarious moments on camera of members terrorizing, biting, and chasing each other. As well as ensured that there is almost no footage of them that is not chaotic and does not involve them breaking into hysterical laughter at one point or another. There’s also usually some screaming involved. But that aside, Leedo drew me in because of the softness behind his incredibly intimidating first impression. So I’m just going to go into some of my favorite facts about Kim Geonhak that made him shoot onto my major bias list in record time.

His Idol Story:

Geonhak was a trainee with another company before he joined RBW. Not only did the company keep passing him by, but he ended up in a situation where he was betrayed by people he considered himself close to. Due to largely this and the cutthroat nature of the industry, Geonhak almost swore off being an idol altogether. When he was offered another chance at RBW, he worked himself to exhaustion at several points and almost was not involved in the final lineup for ONEUS. The original concept for ONEUS was more of an innocent and refreshing look and the company did not think that Geonhak would fit into the group because of his deep register and intimidating look. As the concept for ONEUS changed, the company gave him a chance and truly discovered just how marketable his deep register was. Because, let’s be honest, we all go crazy for how deep his voice is. Geonhak several times thought that he would never debut and I’m so glad that he was put into this group. I couldn’t imagine ONEUS without him!

His Connection with Kids:

Geonhak is known for his connection with kids and his passion for child education. In fact, he chose Child Development as his University major rather than choosing something related to business or the music industry like most idols do. When asked about his choice, he very adorably began talking about how much he likes kids and how much he does to try and understand them. The MV for ‘Come Back Home’ features a young boy who plays the King all of the ONEUS Knights are trying to protect. Geonhak bonded with the young boy on set and there’s even several pieces of footage from behind the scenes of the MV that show Geonhak talking to him while crouching to be at his eye level. In a variety show for ONEUS they brought the boy back to reconnect with ONEUS and so that the members could write him a song he could share with his friends when he went back to school after the pandemic. While a couple members set out to write the song, Hwanwoong and Geonhak were tasked with entertaining the boy until the song was done being written. This included, baking a cake with him, buying him snacks, and taking him to the park. Geonhak ends up pushing both Hwanwoong and the boy on the swings and pretty much baking the cake all by himself, but he looks delighted the entire time. And while the boy seems to view Hwanwoong as an equal; Geonhak takes up the role of parental figure including holding him at several points throughout. It’s all very adorable and he’s so soft with kids! It’s so cute!

His Protective Nature:

I’ll keep the explanation for this minimal, but Geonhak, along with the other members, was attacked pretty fervently after recent controversies because of his past connections. Several people accused him of being ungrateful, which was absolutely awful and had nothing to do with the situation. Geonhak also was the one to make the blatant statement about only talking about the five members of the group. I was extremely angry at some of the comments I saw about Geonhak, but he seemed to be far more angry about the comments made at the expense of other members. Geonhak directly addressed the bullying comments and was very stern about doing so. He came out and said that any harassment and refusal to listen to the members wishes to him meant that those people can’t call themselves TOMOON, or fans of ONEUS. This alienated a bunch of fans, but I am personally so glad that he did this. It should be an accepted thing for idols to defend themselves and their members and be able to communicate fan behavior that makes them uncomfortable. Bang Chan of Stray Kids has publicly come out to condemn fan behavior when some of their fans were attacking other fan communities. He was largely commended for this behavior by his fan base (not all of them), and I found the fan reaction to Geonhak doing this not as welcoming. But Geonhak took this blow for all of the other members. He never once asked people to stop harassing him, his statement was directly about the harassment of his members. And I have to agree with Geonhak. If you went after Geonhak for making this comment, I don’t consider you a TOMOON. We support our boys in this house and their opinions. The members of ONEUS are not babies and they are not being misled. Listen to what the members are saying personally or get out.

His Love of Skinship:

This one is pretty funny to me because first impressions made this pretty shocking for me personally. I thought Seoho would be a huge fan of skinship (or showing affection by hugging or otherwise draping yourself around someone else) and that Geonhak would be opposed to it. It turned out to be the opposite. This partly goes once again into the protective category, but Geonhak will step up and carry other members (particularly Dongju (Xion)) when they are too high up on a platform or just generally want to be carried. In one behind the scenes for an MV the members speculated on whether or not Dongju would ask Geonhak to carry him up a steep cliff and came to the conclusion that if he asked, Geonhak was soft enough that he would say yes. Geonhak is also constantly hugging other members and will sometimes chase Seoho with the threat of hugs because Seoho doesn’t like to be hugged. This has given them a Tom and Jerry type of dynamic that is always hilarious to watch.

His Dedication:

When Geonhak wants to get something done, he puts his all into it. This is particularly obvious when he talks about working out. Geonhak is known by fans and others in the music industry for being perfectly ok going shirtless. He has personally said that one of his role models is Wonho who is known for his particular physique as it isn’t super common in the K-Pop world. In order to keep up with his workout regimen, Geonhak has completely sworn off alcohol. He’s talked about how he sometimes is treated like he isn’t fun when he goes out because drinking is usually a big part of going out in general in South Korea. He still doesn’t really waver on that. But he also refuses to go on diets because he finds them dangerous. (This man has also said that he doesn’t understand why you need to eat vegetables.) He is known for exercising six or seven times a week as well. I know a lot of fans have been telling him to take a break sometimes, but I think that’s up to him. And this is me saying this fully aware that I have wrongly on this blog said several times that I want a group to take a break. I don’t remember who pointed it out (I think it was Bang Chan), but sometimes it’s actually better for an idol to keep going and sometimes working (or working out, in this case) is something that takes their mind off of other things. It’s really up to the idol. I know a lot of us were afraid after everything with BTS and it makes perfect sense to be afraid. But I hope that they have at least created a community where idols can say if they want to take a break. I don’t know, but I’m going to be more careful about saying that in the future.

His Support:

Geonhak has verbally shown his support for the trans community. At a fansign a fan expressed to Geonhak that he was soon going to be having a surgery as part of his transition journey. Geonhak told the fan that he was extremely handsome and showed genuine interest, including asking follow up questions. Of course, we don’t want to praise people for doing the bare minimum. But this was something that I really wanted to bring up.

His Soft Demeanor:

Other than looking after and even carrying Dongju, which he does all the time, Geonhak is known for looking after all of the members. Keonhee has stated that Geonhak looks after the members well and is kind of like a big brother to them all. Despite this he’s lamented that he often gets voted out first on games like ‘Mafia’ because his intimidating look makes him seem guilty even though he’s almost always playing an innocent. My first encounter with Geonhak was watching the ‘No Diggity’ MV and he looks like a straight up movie villain in that MV. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t intimidated. But I pretty quickly discovered how soft this man was after looking up some more stuff about the members.

These are just a few facts about Kim Geonhak that made me absolutely fall for this man. But there are also four other members of this group that deserve all of your love and support. Hwanwoong is like a human puppy that all children and dogs adore. Seoho has the voice of a literal angel and such a sassy personality behind it. Keonhee is a sunshine boy who always has the best jokes. And Dongju is the human embodiment of chaos in the absolute best way. You may see me do more posts like this in the future because this group is so underrated. I want all of their shows to sell out. Also, this is one of the main groups in the industry that embraces traditional instruments and visuals. It’s a unique style within the industry that adds an element of beauty to their music that no other group has. And though, as I said before, there is a part of me that wants to gate-keep this man for myself, I hope that this post will teach you a little more about ONEUS and get you interested in stanning the group! Maybe you’ll end up with this man or one of the other absolutely worthy members as one of your major biases too! They deserve it and if you want song or performance recommendations, you’ll definitely find posts here on this blog for that! But watch the traditional performance of ‘Same Scent’. You won’t regret it!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop: “HALAZIA” and ATEEZ Lore

Screenshot of Jung Wooyoung in the “HALAZIA” music video. Copyright goes to KQ Entertainment.

Hey! Hallie here!

Just like every other Atiny, I’ve been anticipating the release of “HALAZIA” for most of December. There was so much excitement not just for this song, but for what it might mean for ATEEZ’s current storyline. ATEEZ has been slowly and carefully crafting a huge story across all of their albums, and even across separate performances like the ones they did on the competition show ‘Kingdom’. “HALAZIA” promised to be a big part of the storyline, especially with the imagery of Halateez (Or the alternate versions of ATEEZ introduced in “HALA HALA”,) throughout the music video teasers. Now that the song and the MV are out there’s a lot to talk about and even more to speculate about. Before I go into the specifics of this song and its MV, though, I’m going to give a synopsis of the lore so far for the Atiny who haven’t read the notes in ATEEZ’s albums or don’t know much about the lore. My focus is going to be the notes because we’ve discussed the performances and MVs before, but I’ll try to clear up the basics for anyone who’s new here. Let’s get into it!

The Lore So Far:

The first part of the story begins with an introduction to each of the ATEEZ members as the main characters. They all have pretty depressing backstories. Hongjoong can’t spend any time with his real family so he views ATEEZ as his new family. Seonghwa was entranced with a girl who mysteriously disappeared. Yunho lost his older brother and latches onto Hongjoong as a brother figure because of it. Yeosang has a difficult relationship with his father and worries his father will cause problems for ATEEZ. Wooyoung and San are best friends, Wooyoung being the idealistic dreamer who lacks confidence and San the supportive friend in need of someone to talk to. Mingi is severely depressed and worries the happiness ATEEZ brings him won’t last. Finally, Jongho was a basketball player who can no longer play because of an injury. While the group is spending time together in the abandoned warehouse they call their hideout, Hongjoong dreams of Halateez, who somehow manage to send him and the other members to their universe with the help of a magical hourglass known as a Cromer. When Hongjoong wakes up, ATEEZ make the realization that they’ve crossed into a universe called Strictland where the government has outlawed human emotion, including music and art, as a means to control the population. While on the run from the government they’re saved by the Grimes siblings. The youngest of the siblings has had her voice taken by the government henchmen, the androids in white masks, so ATEEZ promises to get it back before they leave. The siblings then reveal that a man named Left Eye knows the location of the Cromer that can send them back home, but he’s trapped in hallucinogenic gas.

The group splits up, Jongho being the one to retrieve the girl’s voice while Yunho breaks Left Eye out of his hallucinations. With their promise fulfilled and the location of the Cromer revealed, they go to the prison where art, music, and anyone who protests the government are kept. There they come face to face with Halateez and realize that Halateez, the leaders of the revolution against the government, are the alternate versions of themselves. While Halateez reveals their plan to get ATEEZ to take over their revolution, Yeosang wanders off to find the Cromer. But his actions alert the androids to their presence, and Yeosang, feeling guilty, sends the other members of ATEEZ back to their universe at the cost of his capture. But the other members aren’t ok with Yeosang remaining behind in Strictland, so they locate the Cromer in their universe. They discover both that the Cromer sent them slightly back in time and that the Cromer of their universe is located in a museum. Unfortunately, a cult known as Sciensalvar has their eye on the Cromer as well. Yunho initially separates from the group because, as a result of being sent back in time, Yunho’s brother is still alive. But when Yunho sees ATEEZ’s fight against Sciensalvar starting to go south, he goes to rescue them. In the ensuing escape his brother gets run over by a car, the same way he died the first time around, and in a final conversation with his brother Yunho decides to return to Strictland with the rest of ATEEZ. The group then rescues Yeosang, Halateez, and everyone else the Strictland government had imprisoned, beginning their revolution. However, a major battle with the government, as seen in ‘Kingdom’, ends with the deaths of Halateez.

Cromer Powers:

Because this story is so reliant on the Cromer I just want to put a note here about what the Cromer can do so far. The Cromer can send people to different universes, but only on a full moon. Without a full moon it still has teleportation abilities, which ATEEZ and Halateez use to remain a step ahead of the government. It also has some kind of time travel ability. Even when there isn’t a full moon, the Cromer is always powered by the phases of the moon.

“HALAZIA”:

Before I get into the imagery in the MV and my speculations about what’s going on, this song is insanely good. “HALAZIA” starts with a more soft, mysterious feel that instantly hooked me. However, the tension throughout the song builds gradually in a way that feels extremely satisfying once you get to the chanting at the end. And the chorus is gorgeous and addictive, blending Jongho’s mind-blowing belt perfectly with the sweeter, more sultry vocals we get from Seonghwa, San, Yunho, and Wooyoung. And uhhh YEOSANG’S BARITONE? This man needs to show that off in more songs. I just about died. The rap verses in this are incredible too. Hongjoong opts for something more melodic that blends in seamlessly with the background while Mingi stands out with a more powerful flow. This is probably my favorite ATEEZ song of this year, and that’s saying something. As for the apparent meaning of the lyrics and the MV… I’m not completely sure. Lyrics like “We all try but we lose emotion” and “Getting used to the feeling of losing” make it seem like either the revolution is failing or has already failed, possibly because of the loss of Halateez. But then, there’s still confusion over whether the performance on ‘Kingdom’ where Halateez died already happened, or hasn’t happened yet in the storyline. As you can see, there’s a lot of confusing elements. And on top of that, this is a “spin-off”, so it might not be as connected to the main story as we think. Then there’s the imagery of the blue bird, which is brought up in the lyrics, is the name of the outro for this release, and explains the feather on the album cover. I believe the blue bird is the witness the album name refers to. But who is the witness?

My Theory:

Which leads me to my wild theory, because all we have right now is wild theories. My only theory is that this MV takes place in the future. It’s clearly a future without hope. It definitely looks like ATEEZ already lost the revolution based on the lyrics and the fact that the prologue describes a world that has already lost its gravity. From past MVs we know that gravity is effected whenever the Cromer is used and we also know that lightning is usually an indication that a Cromer is actively in use. Considering the lack of gravity, the amount of lighting, and the fact that Yunho appears to be literally sitting in a Cromer, I get the feeling the Cromer is important in this future. I actually think it fell into the wrong hands. The government killed Halateez and took the Cromer, overusing it to the point of quelling the revolution and destroying Strictland in the process.

I think San and the group pulling down the full moon are attempting to stop the Cromer from working by removing its power source. Jongho’s still holding a revolution/anarchy flag which makes me think that he’s still trying to get the revolution going. But everyone else is separated. Yeosang is in chains, seemingly back where he started when he first came to Strictland. And the other members are either paying their respects to Halateez, visiting places like where they first struck a deal with them during “Answer”, or actively rejecting them. Seonghwa seems like he may be mocking the Halateez scarecrow and Wooyoung burns a Halateez hat. Maybe it’s Halateez’s fault that the government learned how to use the Cromer? Either way, my big theory is that the four mysterious figures that appear at the end of the MV are the witnesses, and are using their own Cromer to time travel. I think they will then return to ATEEZ to warn them about this potential future. In other words, I think this future is what happens if ATEEZ isn’t prepared for Halateez to die. I do think Halateez will die like on ‘Kingdom’, but based on Hongjoong’s timeline for the albums, I don’t think they’re dead yet. And I think ATEEZ won’t be able to prevent their upcoming deaths, but I do think they will be able to protect the Cromer if they know what might happen if the government learns how to use it. But like I said, that’s just my personal crazy theory.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: ‘Love Between Fairy and Devil’

Promotional photo of Yu Shuxin and Dylan Wang for ‘Love Between Fairy and Devil’. Copyright goes to iQIYI and Netflix.

Hi! It’s Annie!

This C-Drama has been widely advertised by Netflix for a while and I saw praise for it all over a bunch of my social media, so I wanted to try it. I mean, in a lot of ways it seemed right up my alley. A timeless love story between a sweet flower fairy and a villain considered so bad that the thought of him ever breaking out of prison was considered unthinkable. Firstly, that gears it up perfectly for a grumpy/sunshine romance which is one of my favorite romance tropes. But secondly, it reminded me of all of the darker versus lighter dynamics in some of my favorite mythological love stories. Like Eros and Psyche or Hades and Persephone. So I knew I was going to have to try this one and I’m very glad that I did. Was it an absolutely perfect watch? Probably not. There were a few things that honestly disappointed me. But I feel like it absolutely blew me away in all of the places that really counted for the most part. The rest of my review will be full of MAJOR SPOILERS, so be warned. If you’re considering giving this one a try, go ahead! It’ll be worth your time, I promise!

The Heavenly:

The Male Lead- I always seem to like Dylan Wang in anything. He’s a really charming actor and he brings depth to whatever role he takes on. Dongfang Qingcang was the perfect male lead for this drama. I was worried that he would be too stoic or that we would eventually get one of those brooding storylines where he decides that he’s too dangerous for the main female lead. We never got any of that. Instead we got this beautiful arc that affected all elements of his character. He went from heavily relying on his power of hellfire and his hatred for his father to learning that he could be powerful by restoring his emotions and that sometimes there is power and goodness in feelings like pain. He went from being highly irritable to being the main form of support to many people and a giant caretaker. And his personality did not have to change completely for them to successfully complete this storyline. It was understandable and, frankly, touching. This is also another drama I’ve seen the male lead cry in, which I absolutely loved. I loved that this drama never shied away from showing his emotion and capacity for empathy.

The Female Lead- When the drama first started, I honestly felt like she was going to be annoying. She had this kind of high pitched and nasally voice and she acted kind of childish at times. But it was all part of the process and, after only a couple of episodes, I found her far more endearing than annoying. I loved her capacity for light, empathy, and understanding. And overall, I like how her tendency to indulge in those things taught the main male lead a better way of living rather than the male lead just remaining completely unaffected. I’m sure most of us suspected her of being the missing goddess much sooner than it was revealed, but I liked that it wasn’t revealed until the very end. I liked how innocent she was and how she also had to change to become more open minded about the moon clan. I also liked that the story very slowly showed her becoming stronger to the point where she could survive the moon clan punishment for three days in order to fight for her marriage with Dongfang Qingcang. I always love a romance where they let the woman fight for it too and I loved this character by the end.

The Romance- They didn’t set out to write a regular romance. They set out to write a romance that felt like it belonged in some form of mythology. Something that felt timeless and never ending. And they absolutely succeeded at that. The romance starts out very pure and the characters have to go through developing mutual trust, friendship, and then love. They are sometimes hit with drama that I thought could get a little on the excessive side, but in the end it all worked out really well. And though the kissing scenes are lovely, you’ll find that they can feel a little scarce; but they more than make up for that in other ways. They both fight for their relationship on multiple occasions to the point that they both die for their love at different points. (They come back to life, don’t worry.) They both are extremely lonely and a huge point of their relationship is curing the other of their loneliness by being together. (This is what reminded me most of Eros and Psyche.) The parts that really made me cry in this drama didn’t have to do with the character deaths, though I cried at those too. I sobbed when Dongfang Qingcang was trapped in his ideal dream with the fake Orchid after her death and made the decision to leave. When the fake Orchid started sobbing about the possibility of him having to watch her marry another man if he brought her back to life and watching him start to cry at that same possibility broke me. Then I sobbed again at the speech that he gave Orchid when he thought she was completely taken over by the goddess, where he told her that he respected her decision to marry someone else but that he’d never forget Orchid because she truly loved him when everyone else in the world either hated or admired him. I’m not ok after all of that. This romance was so touching and felt so raw that they made the audience feel it. And all of the simultaneous love and pain that went with it.

Side Characters- I was surprised at how good the side characters were. My favorite though was probably either Shang Que or Danyin. Firstly, Shang Que can shapeshift into a black dragon which is badass. But also, he was the most adorable character in the entire show. He was kind of like a puppy dog. Very loyal and so adorable. And there was always this sense of comfort when he came on screen. My only qualm here is that we only saw him morph into the black dragon once, which makes me wonder if the show had a budget problem for that animation. Danyin had a crush on Chang Heng, the second lead, for most of it. But she was a complete badass. I loved when she pledged herself as a brother to him at the end after having gotten over a crush and scolded him for gender stereotyping when he expressed confusion at this. Jieli was also a character that I enjoyed; I thought they did amazingly with the female characters here. I also ended up loving Xun Feng at the end of it even though I thought I’d hate him at first. He became such a great brother to Dongfang by the end and his unwavering devotion was admirable.

The Music- Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. I want it playing in my head forever. I loved the traditional music throughout the show. It made it feel even more ethereal.

The Visuals- The pastels and the gorgeous auburn trees made me swoon. I loved the way this drama looked. If I could choose a fictional place to live, I think I would choose Arbiter Hall after this.

The Hellish:

Body Swapping- I don’t think I will ever find a version of body swapping that I like. They only do it for a couple of episodes here, but I really didn’t enjoy it. And I especially didn’t like that they did the body swap at the introduction of Dongfang. The first time we see Dylan Wang act as any character in this drama, it’s him acting as Orchid in Dongfang’s body. Considering he’s such an intimidating and formidable character, this introduction was not at all what I wanted from an intro to such a badass character.

Inconsistent Powers- I understand that Dongfang lost his ability to use hellfire, but the amazing powers that he shows at the very beginning almost never come up again. I wanted to see more badass moments like when he shows up and protects Orchid when she’s about to be killed by the heavenly court. It was one of my favorite moments in the entire drama. I just wanted more of it!

The Villains- This has to be one of my largest concerns with the entire drama. There are three villains in the drama. There’s an ancient evil god that they don’t really have to deal with until the end, the Lord of the fairies, and the leader of the heavenly court. There were times where I forgot all three of these villains even existed and I could never find it in me to care about them or any of the storylines attached to them. Ronghao, the Lord of the fairies, has this whole backstory about how he was a blind beggar boy who froze to death one day and was saved and made immortal by his master. The entire time he’s trying to bring his master, the original goddess of war, back to life. But the character had almost no depth and I couldn’t care about his backstory or the goddess of war. There was nothing empathetic here to really hold onto and they don’t even really wrap up his story by the end. The leader of the heavenly court is just annoying most of the time. And the ancient evil god that pops up has no history or plot at all. He’s just there to make things harder for the main characters. I just wish the villains would have been better.

Chang Heng- I had absolutely no second lead syndrome here. I know that this is an unpopular opinion, but I thought his character was annoying. He couldn’t seem to ever accept that Orchid just wasn’t that into him after she fell for Dongfang. He was constantly set on marrying her and neglected everyone around him, including Orchid at times, to ensure that it happened. I have no idea what he even thought he was doing by becoming a mortal. He said it was for Orchid but he never gave a clear reason. I just thought it was badass that Danyin decided to go after him. If he would have left the idea of Orchid alone after she had clearly dumped him I might have liked him better. But he just felt clingy after a little while and I felt like his character could have been so much more than that.

Being a Couple- I talk about this so much. Probably so much that regular readers are sick of hearing it. But I want to see my couples just being couples. I think it’s cute. And this drama didn’t like to see this couple just being a couple; whether it was preventing them from getting married or cutting off the drama too soon. Seriously, there was no reason for them to have not gotten married when they were first planning their wedding. I would have loved for them to have been married for the rest of the drama, it wouldn’t have affected the plot much, and it would have made Dongfang’s dream make more sense. The whole plot point about her having to marry Chang Heng came to nothing and felt pretty pointless anyways. They should have been married by the end of it. And I really wanted to see a little bit of adorable married life that wasn’t just Dongfang’s devastatingly cute dream reality.

I loved this drama! I had a few qualms with it, but nothing super substantial. This is something that I could see myself going back to for the timeless romance and for the aesthetics. It was a gorgeous drama in every way it could have possibly been. It made me cry and it made me feel so incredibly single. Unfortunately, all the absolute best dramas remind me the most of my singleness! Seriously, go watch this and see if you don’t cry! But it all ends happily and is mostly a lighthearted and cute watch, so don’t worry too much.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Netflix Shows: ‘Glass Onion’ Review

Screenshot of Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’. Copyright goes to Netflix and T-Street.

Hey! Hallie here!

‘Glass Onion’ was probably my most anticipated film release of this year. ‘Knives Out’ is one of my favorite movies of all time and marks one of my favorite movie-going experiences because of how delightfully surprising it was. With such a well performed, written, and executed movie being its predecessor, I had really high expectations for the sequel. ‘Glass Onion’ definitely lived up to my expectations! I wouldn’t say it was as good as the first entry in this series, but it’s still one of the best movie mysteries I’ve ever seen. I managed to go into this without knowing anything about the plot, which I highly recommend if you can. Mysteries like this are always a lot more enjoyable when you go in knowing just as much as the characters. In other words, don’t read this unless you’re completely ok with spoilers or you’ve watched the movie. This is a SPOILER review! With that out of the way, I have a lot to gush about, so let’s get into this!

The Good:

Benoit Blanc: As always, Benoit Blanc is entirely too entertaining of a main character. Sure he’s a genius detective, but unlike characters like Sherlock Holmes, he’s relatable. He’s good at solving real mysteries but can’t wrap his head around games like ‘Among Us’ and ‘Clue’ because he isn’t “good at dumb things”. When he first arrives on Miles Bron’s island he’s uncomfortable, both confused by the practices of rich people and awkward around so many people he doesn’t know. He also spends most of the pandemic either in the bath, on face-time with his friends, or both. He doesn’t feel like an untouchable character, but rather someone you’d really want to know in real life. Plus, he was apparently friends with Angela Lansbury. How can you dislike him? But, as usual, his genius is just as compelling as his relatability. He’s kind to everyone he meets but he’s clearly the only one in this movie who’s capable of putting all the pieces of the mystery together. It was especially nice to see him up against someone he over-estimated, leading to one of my favorite mystery unraveling scenes. The entire time Benoit explains how Miles Bron got away with murder, he’s exasperated by how stupid Bron is. From the way he poisoned Duke with pineapple juice to stealing Benoit’s own idea for his attempted murder of Helen, Benoit spends the entire mystery reveal hilariously dissing Bron. But even before the film’s ending, it was even fun just to see Benoit solve the fake mystery Bron set up for his guests before the mystery game could start. Sometimes it’s just fun so see a character be extremely clever. Also, Benoit is officially confirmed as a gay character! It’s not entirely blatant in the movie, but Benoit does share a flat with his partner. Who happens to be played by Hugh Grant. HUGH GRANT. I just about died when he answered the door.

Helen Brand: While Benoit Blanc is an excellent character to follow on his own, Rian Johnson’s mystery films make a point of also centering a normal character who uses more attainable skills to help Benoit solve each mystery. This time it’s Helen Brand, the secret character Janelle Monae plays. Helen’s a surprisingly badass character. She discovers her sister’s death and instantly jumps to take down the group of culprits. Despite the fact that she knows Benoit’s plan to capture the killer will put her in danger, she agrees to join him on the island disguised as her sister anyways. And though she isn’t the best at pretending to be her sister, she’s really good at snooping around and finding good hiding places to listen in on private conversations. She even successfully plants a listening device on Birdie. This character benefits from having a good heart and genuine intentions. It’s easy to like her after the scene where she personally connects with Whiskey, a character most of the others write off as dumb. And it’s easy to sympathize with her when she destroys Bron’s glass mansion because of everything he did to her sister. I never thought I’d be so happy to see someone destroy the Mona Lisa. Plus I love a good character quirk, and like Marta’s tendency to vomit when she lies in ‘Knives Out’, Helen gains confidence and better snooping skills after she chugs alcohol. It’s a nice detail that makes you feel like you know the character well.

The Mystery: The entire concept of this mystery is given away in the title of the movie. Initially the mystery seems complicated. At first the audience is preparing to solve a completely different murder. The upcoming murder of Miles Bron, who’s inviting trouble by inviting a bunch of people who have vendettas against him onto a private island to play a murder mystery game. Once we learn of the real mystery, the death of Helen’s sister Andi, it’s only slightly less complicated. All of the visitors to the island have clear motives and the opportunity to have killed her, and Miles Bron is so obvious of a potential murderer that he would be easily blamed should Andi die, making him the least likely culprit. But ultimately the mystery turns out to be simple. The fact that Bron killed Andi hides in plain sight due to his inability to hide that he was at Andi’s house in regular conversation, his obvious hiding place for Andi’s reputation ruining letter, and his clear motives for wanting to have Andi killed. The fact that he would be easily found out never crossed his mind because he’s stupid, which winds up being enough to throw off Benoit and the audience. No one suspects him because everyone assumes he’d be smart enough not to murder someone he was just publicly in a brutal legal battle with. The clues that you pick up more and more as the movie goes on, and the ones that make you slap your forehead for not piecing together the murderer sooner, are his own idiotic comments. It’s a true Glass Onion, appearing complicated but in reality being quite simple. And, if you look back at ‘Knives Out’, it’s kind of similar. While Ransom isn’t as stupid as Miles Bron, he is the clear suspect. However, the mystery is laid out so brilliantly that you believe it can’t possibly be him until the end of the movie. This mystery is just as solid as the ‘Knives Out’ mystery and is rewarding in its simplicity.

The Bad:

Twins: This is a blog run by twin sisters so you know I have to complain about this. The real mystery of the movie is revealed with the twist that the character Janelle Monae’s been playing this entire time is Helen Brand. Why is this a twist? Because the audience up until that point believed she was Andi Brand, but Andi turns out to be dead and Helen, her twin sister, has been posing as her to help Benoit find answers. So yeah, the big twist is that one of the characters has a secret twin. This happens a lot in media and it’s almost never done well. It isn’t done well here either. Firstly these twin characters fall firmly into the “opposites” trope. One is a big business woman whose embraced posh culture, and the other is a small-town teacher who finds that culture silly. Which is irritating to see as a twin because twins have plenty in common, we just also have plenty of things we don’t have in common. Just like most siblings. Then there’s also the fact that both characters are portrayed by Janelle Monae, which is irritating because, despite how small the differences may look to you, twins always have physical differences. And, as a twin, it takes me completely out of a movie when twins look completely alike because they’re being portrayed by the same actor. These are just annoying tropes that always come across as cheap and overused to me. And the whole “secret twin” thing’s getting old.

The Ensemble Cast: I didn’t dislike this ensemble cast, but I didn’t like them as much as the first movie. I don’t think this group of friends worked together as a unit quite like the family in ‘Knives Out’. There was clear on-screen chemistry between every actor in ‘Knives Out’ as they portrayed a close but toxic family environment. They successfully worked separately from one another as warring parties competing for their own fortune, but they just as easily worked together as an intimidating force against Marta. The friends in this movie don’t feel all that close, nor do they seem very formidable together despite the fact that they all took down Andi together. Claire and Lionel seem to spend some time together, but only so they can express essentially the same motive to protect Bron. Birdie doesn’t interact much with anyone aside from Bron or her assistant, Peg, who isn’t even part of the friend group. Whiskey and Duke are only ever together or separately with Bron. In other words, they all have a good relationship with Miles Bron and barely talk to each other unless it’s convenient for the plot to group a few of them together. I just didn’t buy their close friendship, and there were a few scenes where some of the characters felt like a warm body to fill a scene rather than an important part of the friend group. To be honest, sometimes it felt like Kathryn Hahn and Leslie Odom Jr. were taking turns being the “voice of reason” without either of their characters serving much of a purpose besides. I could have done with a slightly more strongly written supporting cast here.

And that’s it! I had a few more issues with this one than I had with ‘Knives Out’, but the rest of the movie more than made up for them. I’m still over the moon that Benoit Blanc’s romantic partner is Hugh Grant. While the first movie had a better supporting cast and some genius ideas that can’t really be replicated in each movie, I still had fun with Benoit Blanc’s newest excursion. These are my favorite murder mystery movies of all time and I can’t wait to see what Rian Johnson cooks up in the next ‘Knives Out’ mystery. The third one is already confirmed and on its way!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Christmas: Has Grinchmas Held Up?

Promotional photo of Universal Studios at Grinchmas. Copyright goes to NBC and Universal Studios.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Merry Christmas! I don’t think we’ve actually talked abut Grinchmas and the holidays at Universal Studios Hollywood despite having been annual pass holders for years. Actually, this year is the last year that we have annual passes. Not because it isn’t affordable, Universal is definitely more affordable than Disney, but because we’ve gone there for so many years that the park is beginning to feel a little small to us. And the slight downfall of Harry Potter hasn’t really helped the situation much. Instead, starting next year we’ll be regularly attending LAs largest botanical gardens, which is one of my happy places, so I’m genuinely excited to go more often! And we are also hoping to save to spend a couple days at Disneyland, since that’s all anyone can afford now when it comes to Disney. But that aside, our last year attending Grinchmas was definitely a memorable and interesting one for a lot of reasons. And it did differ from my experiences at Grinchmas from previous years. So I’m going to go through my last visit to Universal’s Grinchmas and ask myself the question; does it still hold up?

Whoville:

The showstopper of Grinchmas is always the central area of Universal being transformed into Whoville. Usually they don’t have anything over there except for the occasional character meet and greet, but they completely transform it for Grinchmas. The space looks bigger and almost like it was always meant to be Whoville. If you stick around you’ll see plenty of Whos come out to greet guests. The Grinch is by far the best and most popular of them, so he always has quite the line. And as someone who has only seen him a couple times, I can tell you that the line was worth it every time. I didn’t feel the need to see him every year, but he was hilarious and I loved him when I did see him. Max has also always had a line, though his is pretty short. Max is a real dog who looks pretty miserable and I honestly just feel too bad for the dog to ever do that meet and greet in particular. This year marked the first year that Cindy Lou had a line and she wasn’t just wandering around; which is a great move considering how much she used to get mobbed! Along with her you have Martha May, the Mayor, the Baker, and a couple of other assorted Whos. They did used to have Cindy Lou’s brothers; but they have decided to forego all of the characters on stilts. While I miss the energy of the brothers, I think the stilts did prove to be a little much in such a small area. But I wish they would bring them back out without the stilts! My favorite Who personally is Cindy Lou’s dad, Lou Who. This is entirely because on a day where I felt a little weak due to the weather change, Lou came over to where I was sitting, warmed my hands in his mittens, and talked to me for a good fifteen minutes about the best types of Christmas cookies. It was very sweet! This year I only really saw the Mayor and Martha May, but they both looked stunning and I love that they walk around the entire area rather than have all of the characters stationary. It makes it feel more immersive.

Whoville Stage:

Every year a few Whos will make their way to the stage to perform. This has differed every year. For a few years they alternated between Martha May singing with a trio of backup dancers and a really good acapella group. This was by far my favorite of what they’ve done, but they have since dropped both of these acts. Last year they decided to go a bit more modern with a Who DJ, but it didn’t really go over very well and didn’t really capture the aesthetic of Whoville. It seems that this was a popular opinion of the act, because the DJ did not return this year. This year they have a few Whos performing mostly for little kids and naming a couple ‘Junior Holiday Cheermeister’. This also didn’t seem to garner that much of a crowd, so I guess I’ll have to watch some videos next year to see if they continue beyond the year! The centerpiece of Whoville is the giant crooked tree and the time of day that is most busy there is the tree lighting. The Grinchmas tree lighting is an entire show that slightly retells the Grinch and features all of the main characters. Though the show is around the same every year, there are always a few changes. We see the Grinch appear and attempt to steal Christmas only to be stopped by Cindy Lou every year and usually the show ends with some sort of iteration of “Welcome Christmas”. This year they added some elements from the original Grinch cartoon that were really adorable! I grew up with the original Grinch cartoon and I was shocked and so happy to hear a song from the original cartoon. I think this addition made this year’s my favorite, but the show is always similar and always worth it despite the crowds!

Hogsmeade:

There’s really not a whole lot of the rest of the park that celebrates Christmas directly other than Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade is already festively snowcapped all year; but the pinecone wreathes and extra lights make everything feel just that little bit more magical. The real centerpiece here though is the Hogwarts castle lighting. They have a special Christmas show projected onto the castle that’s absolutely breathtaking. It includes Fred and George advertising Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, paper mache Yule Ball attendees dancing together including a very large and adorable Hermione and Viktor Krum, house Quidditch players having a snowball fight, and adorable Hogwarts snowmen. It’s an amazing show and I personally like it even more than the tree lighting. While every past year I was standing somewhere in the back of the crowd, this year I was standing right in front of the castle at the very front of the crowd. I don’t think there’s a bad seat for the show, but there was something magical about this. And it was by complete coincidence that my sister and I ended up there too. We had been riding ‘Forbidden Journey’, the ride inside of Hogwarts, just before when it broke down. And I mean completely broke down. We were right under the Whomping Willow mostly on our backs for a while (really really not fun) before they rotated all of the cars to face the front instead of the side and we rode the rest of the way through with the lights on. You get to see how close together some of the screens are and how far apart some of the decorations are that seem like they’re right next to each other. It was interesting to see half props or set pieces because they didn’t need the full thing as it all wouldn’t have been in view. It was really interesting! But because it did take us a little while to get off of the ride, by the time we got out it was dark and the show was just starting. It honestly all felt magical and kind of surreal. It was an unexpected but really cool last trip to Hogsmeade for a while!

In other words, Grinchmas and Christmas time at Universal absolutely holds up! It has to be one of my absolute favorite Christmas experiences at any theme park. Though I did grow up with Christmas at Disney and I don’t think it’s quite up to par with that. I do miss the snowcapped castle, the chaotic Christmas Small World show, and the Disney characters in their adorable Christmas outfits. But it’s definitely close enough! And the lines are probably much much shorter. I do miss some of the Whoville acts from years before; but for the most part I feel like Grinchmas at Universal Studios Hollywood just keeps getting better with each year. It doesn’t really change that much, but the few small changes that they make do make a difference. Is it the best theme park Christmas out there? Probably not. But it is certainly a magical Christmas experience and I think I’m going to miss it.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Christmas: Why You Need to Watch ‘Klaus’ This Christmas

Official poster art for ‘Klaus’. Copyright goes to Netflix Animation, The SPA Studios, and Atresmedia Cine.

Hey! Hallie here!

Recently my family realized we burned through most of our must-watches for Christmas. Which means trying out new movies! I had heard only amazing things about this movie but kept forgetting about it each time Christmas rolled around. I’m so happy I remembered it this year, and I’m also extremely mad at myself for not remembering to watch it before. This is, quite honestly, one of the best Christmas movies I’ve ever seen and an excellent animated film in its own right. It’s unique, heartwarming, gorgeous to look at, and packs a surprising amount of emotional moments. Unlike my other posts of this type, this isn’t a review. I don’t have any criticisms to talk about to give this a typical liked/disliked format. So instead, I’m going to use this post to convince anyone who hasn’t given ‘Klaus’ a shot yet to take a chance on it this Christmas. It’s insanely good and it’s a shame that there are people who haven’t seen it yet.

The Story Is Original:

The story for ‘Klaus’ seems generic at first. It’s another Santa origin story, which we’ve seen in many Christmas movies before. But ‘Klaus’ is so much more imaginative than I expected. First, our main character isn’t the character of Klaus, but a postman named Jesper. Jesper’s sent to a village called Smeerensburg to send 6000 letters or else be cut off by his father who’s been funding his lavish lifestyle. But Smeerensburg is a delightfully ominous village made up of two warring family clans who spend all their time either playing potentially deadly pranks on one another, or outright fighting each other with sharp weapons. Then the character of Klaus is introduced, a lonesome woodsman who has hundreds of toys in his possession and, despite his scary appearance, immediately turns adorably emotional at the idea of giving the toys away to children who appreciate them. As the film goes on we get a cleverly thought out story made up of completely unique characters that slowly unfolds into the origins of sending letters to Santa. And beyond just giving us one origin story, ‘Klaus’ introduces crazy events, fun misunderstandings, and quick remarks Jesper makes himself that fill in other pieces of the classic Santa Claus stories we all know and love. The movie also takes its time to drive home its message about how easily acts of good will spread from person to person. Both the village and the characters change over the course of the movie simply because of selflessness, but the movie makes these moments of change both gradual and believable rather than beating the audience over the head with the message. ‘Klaus’ perfectly balances well known stories with original messages and ideas, and in the process becomes its own beautifully crafted classic.

The Characters Are Lovable:

‘Klaus’ is surprisingly deeply character driven for a Christmas movie. Jesper, our main character, made me immediately think of Kuzco from ‘Emperor’s New Groove’. He’s very spoiled and full of himself, but in a way that’s hilarious rather than irritating. As a result of his spoiled nature though, his initial motives aren’t honorable. He approaches getting children to send letters to Klaus as a clever ploy, exchanging toys for a ticket back to his life of luxury. He doesn’t care about the children getting toys, or that Klaus gets any sort of fulfillment giving the toys away. But beyond the surface of his selfishness is an aimlessness. He doesn’t see a future for himself and so he isn’t passionate about doing anything in particular aside from enjoying a materialistic life. It’s really nice not just to see this character begin to care about others aside from himself, but begin to see a direction for himself where he feels like his actions have purpose. Klaus is a similarly interesting character. At first he doesn’t even speak. It takes him a long time to warm up enough to Jesper to begin having conversations with him. And when he does, he has past trauma that makes it easy for one wrong move from Jesper to send him back into his shell. But that makes the unraveling of this character and his backstory that much more rewarding. Along with these two main characters we also get characters like Alva, a school teacher who, when she’s introduced, is selling fish because she’s given up on her dream of teaching. Her entire storyline involves her rediscovering her love of teaching, which in turn becomes inspiration for Jesper. And then there’s Margu, a little girl who doesn’t speak English but manages to be the heart of the film despite the language barrier between herself and the other characters. There isn’t a character you don’t adore once the film ends, and I’ll be thinking about them even after Christmas is over.

The Animation is Gorgeous:

I took one look at the animation style of this movie and knew that I wanted to watch ‘Klaus’. This film is one of the only traditionally animated films we’ve seen among recent major releases. 3D animation has dominated animated movies recently, but my favorite art styles for these movies have always been 2D. I was ecstatic when I saw that this movie was 2D, but beyond just that, it has a unique look to it. This movie uses volumetric lighting which allows for a more realistic change of a color on each character dependent on lighting and scenery, as well as other computer techniques that add depth to the look of the animation. The result is something that feels as magical and personal as hand-drawn animation, but with the fluidity of 3D animation. The characters have pretty, storybook-like designs with hilarious expressions, but they also have a depth to them that goes beyond typical hand-drawn animation. The scenery is dramatic and vast, all while keeping the look of an illustration in a Christmas book. And all of it boasts gorgeous colors. Though we spend most of the movie in Smeerensburg, where the main colors are gray and white, we still get places like the forest around Klaus’ home where light streams through the trees and gives a golden glow to the multicolored birds in the branches. And the characters themselves bring their own color to the movie, whether it’s the blues and yellows we see on Jesper, or the bright reds Margu and Klaus show off. ‘Klaus’ is, without question, a gorgeous film. I really hope we see more mainstream films going back to at least some hand-drawn animation because ‘Klaus’ only makes me want more.

In other words, make this a priority within the next two days. You won’t regret it. You might cry in front of your family. The end of this movie is a bit of a tearjerker. But it’s all because of the amazing story this movie tells. ‘Klaus’ is a triumph among Christmas movies. It manages to be something you’ve seen before told so differently that it’s nothing like anything you’ve seen before. And all of that aside, this movie is just an aesthetically pleasing movie to look at. Watching ‘Klaus’ is definitely going to be a holiday tradition for me and my family, and I hope those of you who haven’t watched it will find the same amount of appreciation for it as we did.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Disney: Beauty and the Beast 30th Anniversary

Promotional image of H.E.R and Josh Groban. Copyright goes to ABC and Disney.

Hi! It’s Annie!

This is what I was going to talk about for my last post when K-Pop, once again, swept in and stole the show. But there was no way I was going to miss talking about this. The 30th anniversary performance/movie for ‘Beauty and the Beast’ aired and this gained more popularity than any other anniversary performance that Disney has done before this. Specifically because this became widely accepted to be the live action ‘Beauty and the Beast’ that everyone deserved back in 2017. Now I’m not going to say that I didn’t enjoy the 2017 ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to some degree. Do I think it needed to have been made? Absolutely not. Disney really needs to stop with the live action remakes. But I like Emma Watson even though the casting proved to be completely wrong for the project. It would have been fine casting if they had wanted to do a more stylistic version of the story without the songs; but Disney wanted to do a musical. So it helps to cast professional singers and musical actors when that’s what you’re aiming for. In this version, Disney definitely knew that they were aiming for something musical. So the casting was not only great, it ended up being downright impressive! I’m going to go through the main cast of characters this time around and how they were improved. SPOILERS for the 30th anniversary special!!

Belle:

You can’t start this without Belle herself, and H.E.R made for an excellent Belle in a lot of ways. Firstly, I loved how she stood out for the opening number of ‘Belle’. Walking through the concept art for the town all around Disney Studios was an amazing idea and I loved that Paige O’ Hara was the bookshop owner here. I would not be able to think of a better cameo for her than this; it was just perfect. And the clear gorgeous voice of H.E.R really stood out, especially comparing it to its over-autotuned predecessor. H.E.R made herself a force to be reckoned with as Belle and her voice absolutely fit the part. She didn’t oversell or understate any of the songs and I absolutely loved the guitar solo at the very end with the stained glass guitar. I think my only qualm here was that she wasn’t given a whole lot of opportunity to act the part. I was personally kind of disappointed that the Beast’s transformation was not something that this performance attempted to accomplish and we didn’t get to see a whole lot of emotional acting from H.E.R. But with her acting in general it was a little more noticeable in certain places that she was surrounded by people who have done theatre in the past. Despite this, she made for an extremely memorable Belle and I loved the badassery she brought to the role.

The Beast:

When I heard they had cast Josh Groban as the Beast I practically squealed. Ever since the 2017 movie released, I’ve said that Josh Groban just should have been cast as the Beast to begin with. His version of ‘Evermore’ more than proved that he could knock it out of the park and I knew that Josh Groban had done musical theatre. Around then he even dipped his toes in Broadway in ‘Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812’ as Pierre. I have long held the opinion that he should have been the live action Beast. And they finally gave him his chance to prove that he would have absolutely owned the role. Josh Groban wore a giant Beast puppet for most of this. I saw a lot of people criticizing the Beast puppet and saying that it was ugly. I actually loved it. I loved that it looked intimidating and I loved how it operated. It was clearly a piece of puppetry mastery and, as someone who grew up in a hardcore Jim Henson family, I loved their commitment to the puppet. I also loved that Josh Groban was operating it from the inside and I loved peeking inside and seeing him completely act the scene with his facial expressions despite not having to because of the puppet. That was real commitment. And, finally, we got a full fledged production of his version of ‘Evermore’. I was worried that they weren’t going to include it because they were staying more true to the animated movie; but I was so glad that this wasn’t the case. And I loved seeing Josh Groban for even a little while outside of the puppet, especially if they weren’t going to give us the transformation scene. Which I am still very disappointed about. Could you imagine the puppet being removed to reveal a very regal Josh Groban? That’s all I wanted!

Gaston:

I loved Luke Evans in the role of Gaston, don’t get me wrong. But Joshua Henry stole the role for me. He was amazing. When they announced Josh Groban as the Beast, I knew he would be a standout for me. Joshua Henry seized the reigns and then shot right up there with him. I have seen my fair share of performances of ‘Beauty and The Beast’. Including one where Susan Egan came back to reprise her role as Belle with an extremely professional and impressive cast. Joshua Henry is the best Gaston I’ve ever seen. He completely blew me away! His Gaston was extremely charismatic for most of the show without being over the top. You could tell why an entire town full of people would fall in love with this man. And then when he came back for ‘Kill the Beast’ he turned completely intimidating. He embodied the role and made it so much fun to watch the entire time he was doing it. And I loved the additional notes they threw in there for him, because he hit all of Gatson’s notes so powerfully, all I wanted was for him to keep singing. And he also had a little bit of slack to pick up in my opinion, which I’ll get to in a second, and he more than shouldered that as well. Definitely the new best Gaston!

LeFou:

Most of this post is going to be praise, but I’m sad that I can’t give it here. Firstly, Luke Evans and Josh Gad are trained in musical theatre and were the best parts of the 2017 movie. So there really wasn’t anything to make up for here; we already had an amazing duo. Joshua Henry took his role and completely ran with it! Unfortunately, Rizwan Manji did not succeed in doing this with LeFou and I think part of this is because the cards were stacked against him. Disney made the very public and controversial choice pretty early on to put LeFou in a fat suit. There was no reason for this and it was honestly pretty upsetting. It was clear that they wanted him in a fat suit to make him look sillier, not because that was the original design of the character, and I thought we were in a society that was at least more aware of fat shaming. This addition was an awful choice and something that the actor had nothing to do with. On top of this it seemed like they were trying to force an impression of the original rather than just letting Rizwan Manji do what Josh Gad did and make the role his own. The result was an odd, unnatural squeaky voice that did not translate to singing well. LeFou was a massive misstep no matter how you look at it.

Lumiere:

I am a Martin Short fan, but when I heard he was going to be Lumiere I was a little hesitant at first. I don’t recall hearing him use a French accent before this moment, but he’s Canadian so I should have known he probably had one up his sleeve. He was amazing! Definitely the Lumiere that I’ve been waiting for! Martin Short had an amazing singing voice for Lumiere, was hilarious in the role, and had so much energy in it too. I beamed every single time Martin Short came on screen because he was so much fun to watch! I find that a lot of the time with celebrity-casted comedians it can feel like you’re watching the comedian just play themselves. This was not Martin Short in this role at all. He was committed to the character and he stole every scene he was in. Much like Lumiere in the original animated film. They could not have cast anyone better. He made me laugh so much and it truly felt like watching Lumiere come to life.

Cogsworth:

David Alan Grier was the perfect counter to Martin Short’s Lumiere and just as hilarious! Cogsworth can be a difficult role because he’s so serious and comedic at the same time. He has to be the foil to Lumiere’s more outgoing charm while also being just as funny and just as much of an odd character in his own right. David Alan Grier caught this balance for the character perfectly. I laughed so hard during ‘Be Our Guest’ when Lumiere began singing the slower part of the song and Cogsworth appeared with an oar as if they were in a boat. It set the perfect comedic tone for the scene. My only complaint here is that I wanted to see more of him! Though I understand to a degree. While Mrs. Potts and Lumiere both have songs; Cogsworth never really gets to be the center of attention in his own musical number. Still, David Alan Grier was the perfect choice for this role.

Mrs. Potts:

I was skeptical of Shania Twain in this role, especially after the recent loss of Angela Lansbury. It honestly didn’t feel right for anyone to play Mrs. Potts and I can usually be a little skeptical when they cast someone without a lot of musical theatre experience to fill the shoes of someone who has a lot of theatre experience. Shania Twain did much better than I thought and I was extremely touched by the way she payed tribute to Angela. Firstly, the Mrs. Potts costume was probably my favorite in the entire show. It was absolutely gorgeous! But Shania Twain also acted this role really well. She didn’t approach the role as her doing the role, she approached the role as Mrs. Potts. She had the whole motherly thing going for her from the get go and she seemed to understand the additional burden she carried for playing the character right now. I appreciated that immensely and I think she did an absolutely beautiful job.

Maurice and Chip:

I’m putting them in the same category because we barely got either of them. But they were perfect casting and I loved what we got from them. It was nice to see Jon Jon Briones here. Though it was a small role, it really made it feel as though Disney was taking the Broadway approach seriously. And I loved his brief interactions with the wolves. The wolf sequences were really cool to watch and I especially loved watching Maurice with the wolves because of how he acted the scene. Leo Abelo Perry was an adorable Chip and it was so sad that we only got about one scene with him. But he was perfect and seemed so serious about acting Chip as well!

The Dancers:

The dancing was really impressive and I originally really liked the idea of having the dancers represent the rose. But there were definitely moments where it wasn’t my favorite as much anymore. I loved the sequence with the petals falling off of the rose. I personally don’t think we needed them during ‘Evermore’ and sometimes it felt like the dance sequences were going on just a tad bit too long. But at the same time, it’s been really difficult for the theatre and dancing industries lately and I’m just happy Disney decided to give all of those dancers jobs.

There really aren’t that many gripes that I had with this one! I loved this performance of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and I know that it’s one that I’ll revisit. I never really have high hopes for the live streamed type of musical theatre specials. A lot of times I feel myself comparing them to the original sources and becoming disappointed because of things that they cut out or didn’t think about. But this was probably my favorite of those types of shows that I’ve seen. They didn’t try to cut any corners here, they just wanted to deliver a gorgeous show and that’s exactly what they did. I am such a huge ‘Beauty and the Beast’ fan, so much so that I’m currently thinking about getting a somewhat related tattoo, and I was so happy that I ended up loving this. So if you, like me, were skeptical and don’t know if you want to see this; give it a try! I will warn you that it is a combination of the animated movie and a live performance. This isn’t a complete Broadway production or an entirely new live action movie. But it is amazing and worth it all the same!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: We All Need a Mobius

Screenshot of Owen Wilson as Mobius in ‘Loki’. Copyright goes to Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios.

Hey! Hallie here!

I recently went back through some of the Disney+ Marvel shows for my ranking of Phase 4 shows, and ‘Loki’ managed to grab my attention again. It isn’t because this is my favorite Disney+ show, in fact I have a lot of problems with it, but there are so many things in this show that I fell in love with all over again on my recent watch. Mobius was definitely at the top of that list. I vividly remember being extremely skeptical when Owen Wilson was announced as a lead actor for the ‘Loki’ series. While Marvel definitely loves its comedic moments, Owen Wilson’s reputation tends to cover comedies of a completely different level. Especially paired with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, I wasn’t sure how that would work for the series. But here Owen Wilson walked the line between dramatic and comedic, all while selling a character whose wit is just as prevalent as his caring nature. Mobius is just a genuinely lovely character who treats Loki with nothing but respect and concern, and as a result gives off some of the biggest green flags in the MCU. This post is dedicated to the parts of Mobius’ character that are the biggest green flags, because we all deserve to have someone as unfailingly there for us as Mobius is for Loki.

No Judgement:

The first thing that strikes both the viewer and Loki about Mobius is how much he absolutely refuses to judge Loki for anything. And Loki’s done a lot of things he could be harshly judged for. Mobius even drops a joke about Loki brutally removing a guy’s eye during the events of ‘The Avengers’. But Mobius never once rubs Loki’s bad behavior in his face. When he’s discussing Loki’s past, Mobius only comments that what Loki did in the main timeline led mostly to his own failure and unhappiness. Whenever Loki attempts to manipulate Mobius by scaring him with his dangerousness, Mobius brushes it off without taking offense. The fact that Mobius met Loki’s insistence that he wanted to rule over all of space with genuine follow up questions blew me away. And when Mobius finally manages to convince Loki to look further into why he does the more nefarious things that he does, he offers gentle encouragement. Loki’s revelation that he doesn’t enjoy hurting people gets a soft “Explain that to me,” as Mobius’ response, and he even praises Loki for knowing himself. These are all examples from Loki’s first real talk with Mobius, but it’s definitely a trend that continues in the series. Mobius faces down every instance where Loki does something against Mobius’ wishes with simple acknowledgement, only ever snapping at Loki when Loki’s antics repeatedly get in the way of Mobius’ work. Likewise, whenever Loki decides to share either theories or personal beliefs with Mobius, Mobius always keeps an open mind, even when Loki’s irritating him. Mobius is the king of keeping a cool head and an open mind, and the lack of judgement that results from those things is so refreshing to see in a character.

Sincere Support:

At the end of Mobius’ first major discussion with Loki, Mobius immediately shuts Loki down when he calls himself a “villain”. His response is “That’s not how I see it,” and those words wind up giving us a huge hint as to how Mobius will treat Loki for the rest of the series. Mobius advocates for Loki to his superiors, sometimes lying to Renslayer’s face just so Loki can get the chance to prove himself that Mobius feels he deserves. Mobius doesn’t just think Loki can be helpful in his current case. Mobius thinks Loki can be morally good, and he gives him multiple opportunities to be. When Loki comes up with a lead Mobius gives him every chance to chase it. He goes as far as attempting to give Loki back his knives for a field mission, though it’s probably best Hunter B-15 took them away. Mobius only pulls his support from Loki after Loki betrays him by following Sylvie. But immediately afterwards Mobius tells Loki directly to his face that he believes Loki’s capable of anything, including being a good person. Mobius’ constant support of Loki has a very obvious effect on the way Loki develops as a character throughout the series. Loki’s self-confidence grows the more Mobius listens to him, understands him, and supports his attempts to change. One of their most memorable interactions in the entire show is Loki hugging Mobius in thanks, something that Loki would never have done to anyone before he met Mobius. We all deserve to have someone as unfailingly supportive as Mobius, and Loki certainly demonstrates that he benefits from it.

Patience:

If there’s one thing I admire about Mobius, it’s this man’s patience. Working with someone who’s constantly trying to undermine, upset, and manipulate you sounds like a nightmare. As much as I love Loki, I would rage quit if I was in Mobius’ shoes. Mobius keeps calm and stays patient at all times, not just for his own sanity, but because he has so much faith in Loki. In some of their first words to each other Loki accuses Mobius of mocking him multiple times, but Mobius very calmly brushes off Loki’s accusations and pays Loki a real compliment. When Loki steals Mobius’ salad to make a point and ruins his lunch, Mobius very obviously takes a moment to let his irritation go so he can understand Loki’s point better. He also gives Loki way more attempts at being helpful during the mission than literally anyone he works with wants him to because he feels it’s worth it. Mobius shows time and time again that, even when he’s being constantly disappointed, he’d rather wait for Loki to show him that he’s capable of being better than just shut Loki down and abandon him. And what makes this even better is that we do see Mobius completely lose his patience. After every instance of Loki betraying him his agitation and desire to quit is always very loud. But despite that, Mobius always makes himself slow down and rethink giving up. And that makes all the difference.

Mobius is kind in one of the healthiest and most realistic ways I’ve ever seen in media. He isn’t just generally respectful and nice to everyone all the time. In fact, I think seeing the moments where he struggles to keep his kindness are the most telling. There are many moments where he’s harsh with Loki, especially when it comes to Loki’s relationship to Sylvie. But Mobius always makes the conscious choice to put his frustrations behind him and just be there for Loki. He goes out of his way to make sure Loki never feels uncomfortable around him, never feels like a waste of space, and always has someone to lean on and talk to. He easily matches Loki in intelligence and wit, but he only ever uses it to challenge Loki and never to make him feel stupid. And, to Loki’s surprise, he’s never affected by Loki’s tricks despite how infuriating they are. Because Mobius isn’t easily shaken and feels Loki’s opportunity for growth is much more important than his own anger. I only hope that all of us can meet or have met a person who treats us with this amount of genuine care, because it always steals my heart every time I watch ‘Loki’.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie