redfiona99

( Alexander the Great RPF: )

( Blade Runner: )

( Buffy the Vampire Slayer: )

( Doctor Who: )

( Harry Potter: )

( Miscellaneous: )

( Thor: )

( Torchwood: )

( Wrestling: )

And various other shorter lgbtfest fics, comment_fics and ladyfest fics (yes I will finish them all, some day)

3 to be moved into never going to finish pile, shaken unstuck = 1 (I will take what I get on that front)

You'll notice that these started in December.

My 2021 post with the most engagement is easy to spot, it was me posting this video:



Everyone loves ABBA.

Now, the reason for the delay is that, at the time, I couldn't quite do my yearly round up of the Tumblr porn-detecting bot's failures, because well, it didn't seem to have had any. I'd flagged 39 pornbots but hadn't had any posts flagged.

Then I found out that was because it was only letting me see the flagged posts on mobile (oh Tumblr, you and your terrible code).

Four posts were flagged and were immediately appealable (and were successfully appealed). They were:

Tiles of Tynemouth Priory - https://brightnshinythings.tumblr.com/post/161394830244/old-decorative-tiles-at-tynemouth-priory
Champions League Quarterfinalists - https://brightnshinythings.tumblr.com/post/158588617044/xavihernandes-uefa-champions-league-quarter
Canadian diver - https://brightnshinythings.tumblr.com/post/156506828129/roseline-filion-of-canada-dives-in-the-10m
Canadian decathlete - https://brightnshinythings.tumblr.com/post/156506573699/canadian-decathlete-damian-warner-prepares-for-an

Anyone else detecting an anti-Canadian pattern?

There were also some others that weren't directly appealable but I appealed them anyway. Because tumblr are *so good* at consistency, about half have been completely rejected without further examination because they just can't reinstate them while the other half have been accepted because they're completely safe for work.

( 9 accepted appeals, featuring 1 half naked man, fully clothed Alan Rickman and Tamsin Grieg, Catwoman, cartoon cats, and cycling )

The 13 unaccepted appeals are as follows:

Medieval bird pictures
A Willow from Buffy photo set, yes, she and Tara are in bed but they're completely covered
Queen Latifah next to the Empire State Building
Ladies of DS9 gifset
Maherhsala Ali Calvin Klein ad - see previous
Welsh tourism board poster
The Hannibal banana post
A Viola Davis photo shoot
Lego Batman gifset
A baby Blacktip Reef Shark
Brian Bendis doing awesome things
Baby fruit bat
Statues of horses
Statue of Lions

The animals continue to be the ones that disturb me the most.

I start with the usual disclaimer - this is not intended to be a best films list; this is a list of films I've enjoyed the most.

If you would like a more reasonable list, may I recommend postcreditmr on Twitter, we disagree sometimes but his reviews are always well-reasoned.

As a general summary of the year, I was impressed with the general quality of the films. While no film was a good as Jo Jo Rabbit or Away, both of which are exceptional and I would recommend to anyone, this year, the positives outweigh the negatives of all the films down to 13, and possibly I am just being about number 14.

I am applying my usual 4 criteria:

a – did the film do what it set out to do?
b – did it use its resources to its best ability? A £250,000 film is not going to have as good explosions as a £25,000,000 film, or it shouldn’t, and if it does, there’s something wrong with the £25,000,000 film. Basically, it's a technical merit score.
c – Intellectual satisfaction – does the film’s plot pull some really stupid move at the last moment? Does the plot rely on characters being more stupid than they are?
d – Does this work as a whole? Did it work for me? I am aware that this is the most subjective of subjective criteria!

With that, I bring you my top 10 of the year.

1 - Jungle Cruise/Boys from County Hell

Apparently I am not allowed to have Jungle Cruise this high just for the action scene set to an orchestral version of Nothing Else Matters.



But it's not this high just because of that, or because Emily Blunt makes everything better. It just works.

I am vividly aware of the film's flaws but I loved it.

Boys from County Hell is from the other end of the budget scale, but they used the money well - the opening was well done 'orrible. The sound design was particularly awesome. There's a moment, which I shan't give context to avoid spoilers, where you go "I know these people". It's got a sense of place and character that's exquisite.

I definitely recommend it for all your vampire film needs. It's a combination of the correct amounts of scary, funny and touching.

3 - No Time To Die

There is nothing wrong with this film, I just have a standing disagreement with the filmmakers about who James Bond is and who he should be. I did love the new 007 mind you.

4 - Monster Hunter

I only saw this after the offending scene had been cut. The rest of the film was good enough that I am annoyed that they were stupid enough to include it.

With regard to the rest of the film, it did lots of fun things with language, the SFX for the nasties was suitably gribbly and it stared Milla Jovovich and Tony Jaa. I am easily pleased. I've never played the games so I cannot comment on how closely it hews to the canon or if the film does it justice. The ending totally set up a sequel we will never get which is also annoying.

5 - Last Night In Soho

This one gave me difficulties.

It's original, has a very distinctive visual language and excellent soundtrack, production values and acting.

Trouble is that it just doesn't hang together.

It's basically a toss-up whether to put this here or after the swatch of superhero/superhero-type films.

6-9 - Snake Eyes, Suicide Squad, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Black Widow

They really are a clump.

Of the clump, I liked Snake Eyes the best. It could have done with a stronger actor in the lead role but all else was catnip for me. I think I have fallen for Storm Shadow again though.

Suicide Squad was the one of the four that made me cry. To avoid spoilers, it was *that* scene with Ratcatcher's father because I am Team Vermin and James Gunn apparently knows just how to stomp on my heart (no, I am never forgiving you for other spoilery thing, Mr Gunn [well played]).

Is it for the faint-hearted? No.
Could it have done with someone telling James Gunn "no" occasionally? Yes, hence why its so low on the list.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - I enjoyed it, I loved the style and some of the meta touches. Other bits I thought were overbroad, and one spoilery thing will thoroughly annoy me for some time.

Black Widow - I see why everyone else love it. The reasons I didn't are a mixture of my own narrative preferences, other things beyond their control (I was never getting my hella dark Rachel Weisz as Natasha's original handler who betrays her low-tech spy movie) and a couple of glaring "you (blanking) what?" moments.

10 - Dune

I wanted to love this. I would have settled for liking it. I think I read a completely different book to Denis Villeneuve.

The film was beautifully made, excellently directed, produced, visually FXed and soundtracked. And could have been half an hour short if they cut the 15 repetitions of every flashforward down to maybe 3.

Fuller reviews of these films, and the 4 others I saw in the cinema in 2021 to come.

Inspired by nwhyte, I am doing an end-of-year round up of my social media (ish).

I am starting with Reddit, just because I love the little collectable card they've given in their end of year round up.



It is apt.

( Alexander the Great RPF: )

( Buffy the Vampire Slayer: )

( Doctor Who: )

( Harry Potter: )

( Holmesiania )

( Marvelverse: )

( Miscellaneous Fandoms )

( Shakespeare: )

( Torchwood: )

( Wrestling: )

( X-Men: )

~~~~

Plus a couple of fics with no words, just a notepad file, and some very short comment-fic/lgbtfest fic starting points.

No fics moved into the "never going to be finished" folder, and nothing so unstuck that it's been finished, but a couple might have been shaken loose.

I really wasn't joking when I said a lot of this is 'I agree with Christopher Nolan'

The first film I saw in the cinema during the brief period of "not-locked-down" in the summer was Inception, because I felt the precautions were solid enough, and I wasn't going to pass up the chance to see Inception on an IMAX screen.

Totally worth it.

Admittedly, part of that was because I one of maybe 5 people in the cinema, so social distancing was simple. That might explain why film studios decided cinema releases weren't financially viable for the time being.

One of the most fun parts was watching the interview before the film which was Christopher Nolan talking about making Inception, and why he chose practical effects - as he suspected, yes, they have held up better than their CGI equivalents would have done - and the sheer glee-making thing of listening him talk about Hans Zimmer's score and using the same sound effects to describe *that* noise as the rest of us do. It was so much fun. I like that Nolan is an utter film geek, and loves cinema. I feel the same way.

It's not just films themselves. There's something I like about going to the cinema, the whole process. Possibly it's because my hometown didn't have a cinema from when I was 7 to when I was about 15 so seeing a film was always a treat. Or it could be that going to the cinema means there's at least an hour and a half where people can't expect to be in contact with you. I like the way the room darkens and the anticipatory hush. I like the ability to set myself aside for some time and be elsewhere. I like going with friends and watching the trailers to decide what we want to see in future. I like sharing popcorn and watching other people's reactions.

Even at my lowest, films in the cinema have been able to transport me away from everything, and watching them at home doesn't give me the same kick.

And I'm slightly worried that this will be the excuse companies use to switch to streaming only. I understand that some people prefer watching films at home, and I want them to have the possibility of doing that, but I don't enjoy watching films at home as much as I do at the cinema. It's just not as easy to lose yourself in the film's world, to see all the details and enjoy the full effect of all the hard work that goes into how a film looks and sounds.

So, about the films I did get to see in the cinema, and where I've ranked them.

I continue to use these 4 criteria:

a – did the film do what it set out to do?
b – did it use its resources to its best ability? A £250,000 film is not going to have as good explosions as a £25,000,000 film, or it shouldn’t, and if it does, there’s something wrong with the £25,000,000 film. Basically, it's a technical merit score.
c – Intellectual satisfaction – does the film’s plot pull some really stupid move at the last moment? Does the plot rely on characters being more stupid than they are?
d – Does this work as a whole? Did it work for me? I am aware that this is the most subjective of subjective criteria!

My top 4 films of 2020 are

1 - Jojo Rabbit - This is a masterwork. There is no aspect of the film that I can't heap heavy praise on - the acting, the writing, the soundtrack, the costume, the acting (I do not care that I am repeating myself). It is a fantastic, human, film that I can't praise enough.

2 - Away - other than wanting to know which sociopath thought that this was kid-friendly (it really isn't, it would have terrified me and caused nightmares as a child), I was blown away by it. It's an odd, slight film, but very effective. You have this real fear about what will happen to the protagonist.

(Yes, this post was delayed by me writing the Wikipedia article for it, because I have no idea how it didn't already have one. It's been submitted for review, and I will update the post when it is accepted. Update, it's here)

3 - Spies in Disguise - I can tell whether someone is going to like Spies in Disguise with one phrase. If "pigeon Bond girl" does not spark joy, you will not like this film. It sparked idiot glee in me and I enjoyed it a lot. It's a bit heavy-handed in parts, but it's a good film for when you want big stupid fun.

4 - Tenet - Tenet didn't work for me. But I enjoyed watching it not work. I want to watch it again, to try and make sense of it. It's a type of "didn't work for me" that I want to see more of, because it's original, not based on a work in another medium, it's not a prequel or a sequel and it's telling a fresh story.

Every film I saw in the cinema this year was worth watching. There might not have been a lot of them, but the quality was high. I would recommend all four to other people, with the caveats above.

Sadly the R script I normally use has failed out on me, so I have had to do it manually.

My top 9 tweets of 2020, measured by engagements:



All of them are replies to others, 2 of them are 2 replies to the same thread (is thread the right word for Twitter?). It does look like a reasonable summary of my twitter year.

I only saw 4 films in the cinema this year. I am confident that my ranking will not change between now and writing up my reasoning. Warning, at the moment my write up is mostly "I agree with Christopher Nolan about cinema."

My top 4 films of 2020 are

1 - Jojo Rabbit
2 - Away
3 - Spies in Disguise
4 - Tenet

( Alexander the Great RPF: )

( Buffy the Vampire Slayer: )

( Doctor Who: )

( Harry Potter )

( Miscellaneous Fandoms: )

( Holmesiana: )

( Torchwood: )

( Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: )

( Wrestling: )

( X-Men: )

~~~~

Plus a number of comment_fic, even shorter scraps of delayed lgbtfest fics and awesome ladies fest fics.

Unstuck = 5, well 4 and 1/2-ish.

Fics moved into the "never going to be finished" folder = 1

The reasoning behind my top 10 films of the year.

There was only one real stinker in the films I saw in 2019, Ad Astra, which was appalling.

I continue to use these 4 criteria for this round up:

1 – did the film do what it set out to do?
2 – did it use its resources to its best ability? A £250,000 film is not going to have as good explosions as a £25,000,000 film, or it shouldn’t, and if it does, there’s something wrong with the £25,000,000 film. Basically, it's a technical merit score.
3 – Intellectual satisfaction – does the film’s plot pull some really stupid move at the last moment? Does the plot rely on characters being more stupid than they are?
4 – Does this work as a whole? Did it work for me? I am aware that this is the most subjective of subjective criteria!

Ad Astra failed all 4 of these.

I'd say 8 and above of my top 10 pass one or more of these criteria.

My top 10 films of 2019 are:

1 - Blinded by the Light - It's not perfect, it's bit obvious, and heavy-handed in parts. But it's made with love and it perfectly captures *that* feeling of being alone in the world and suddenly, there's that band (or that singer) who is the only person who understands you.

2 - How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - I liked the art work, and the way they told the story they aimed to. I love Toothless in all his ridiculousness, and it also gets points for F. Murray Abraham's villain, who was excellent.

3 - John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum - L thought I'd love it, all well-choreographed violence surrounded by baroque nonsense and a delightfully morally ambiguous turn from Ian McShane. And I did. I am a woman of simple tastes.

4 - The Missing Link - I like Laika films. This just didn't quite work for me. Not quite sure why. I did love the Elder of the Yetis.

5 - Captain Marvel - Another one that didn't quite work for me. Probably for the same reason that Captain America didn't work for me. Excellent soundtrack mind you.

6 - Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw - In what's getting to be a theme, this didn't quite work for me. And while the stunt crew and the actors brought it, the continuity department and fact-checking teams really didn't.

7 - Gemini Man - While this did work for me, I am more than aware that it wasn't as good as the three films above it. I could have done without most of the technical tricks it used (except *that* one. *That* one was very good.) but there is a solid and interesting film somewhere under the top layer of too much SFX.

8 - Avengers: Endgame - This is the one where I am willing to accept that I am being mean when I rank it this low. Because the technical parts of this were excellent, and I cried when they wanted me to. I also respect that they had a story they wanted to tell and told that story. I like what they did with two of the main 6 Avengers, and I can live with what they did with another 2. But with one of Avenger, I have the same problem with the way they handle him as always, although this time they at least gave him a few scenes where he wasn't impossible (the problem is, as always, the disconnect between what they want me to feel about the character and what I do feel). But for the remaining Avenger, I hated what they did with him. I think it could have been done, and done well, even if it went against his character arc in his own 3 films, but they also chose to make him a joke, and I don't like that when he's my favourite Avenger.

9 - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Again, it didn't work for me (set design excepted, that worked) but it's less well done than the other films that didn't work for me. I'm not sure what story they were trying to tell. It's probably a bad sign that the bits of the film I enjoyed all featured bad guys.

10 - X-Men: Dark Phoenix - I think this one might actually have been bad, but it was better than the remaining two films I saw in the cinema last year. It seemed like they threw in lots of characters and then gave them nothing to do. It was a lot of set pieces barely strung together. Worst of all, the character they handled the worst was Jean, which given that it was supposed to be *the* Phoenix film is a very bad thing indeed.

Fuller reviews of those 10 films and the others I saw in 2019 forthcoming, only I am terribly behind.