u/someonesleeping

I've been reading and watching things about Marlon Brando recently, because of how adored he is as an actor, but as a dig deeper into his personal life, he was pretty shitty but also profound.

He was a very dedicated supporter Civil Rights movements, had relationships with MLK and the Black Panthers. Funding them with the checks he got from films. He was extremely outspoken -- more so than many actors of his time, on the rights of black and brown and indigenous people. The guy was radical and spoke with his wallet.

With that being said, he was also a profound piece of shit. He was horrific to women and his children, with rumours that he SA'd one of his children and proof that he raped a woman with butter on set. He seemed to have a fetish for indigenous women, to whom he would exploit and the list goes on and on.

This, dichotomy of a person seems so striking. How can someone be capable of so much good and so much bad all at once?

Aegon IV gave Daemon Waters Blackfyre and legitimised all his bastards, which brought on the Blackfyre rebellion and a further destruction and disfunction to the Targaryen line.

However, I do not believe that this was Aegons intention. In legitimising the Bastards, I believe Aegon IV was attempting to strengthen the Targaryen Dynasty. So that his son Daeron II, who Aegon IV saw as weak, would always have people around him to protect him and make sure he was a better king than him.

In giving Daemon Waters Blackfyre, Aegon IV was attempting to strengthen the realm. By giving the Targaryen ancestral sword to young Daemon, Aegon was wanting to show the realm that they had a great sword to protect them in the future. That the Targaryens were strong. I don’t believe Aegon ever intended for Daemon to be his heir, because for all the threats and il feelings he had toward Daeron he never disowned him.

Aegon IV just saw himself in his son and wanted to give him what he never had, a good support system to make sure he could be a better king.

But that all backfired because people have schemes and Aegon IV reputation poisoned any good he wished to have done. So we got the Blackfyre rebellion.

From my understanding of history there was no 'pro life' movement prior to the late 1960s, which originated in the late 1850s with the AMA (American Medical Association).

Prior to that I seldom historical reading on any pro life or anti abortion movements by the public -- even within the church.

I want to understand why there is a rise in pro lifers and what caused it?

*Spoilers for Prisoners (2013)*

Prisoners (2013) dir. by Denis Villeneuve is about the failure of faith.

The film is taken from a backdrop where systems meant to keep people safe are failing.

‘LOOMING NATIONAL CUTS THREATEN US ECONOMIC GAINS’ this, is one of the headlines seen on Detective Lokis computer as he's searching for addresses.

In the script, were are told how the community police are all but trash, beside Detective Loki and Captain O'Malley.

'CAPTAIN RICHARD O'MALLEY (CONT’D) After the last round of layoffs I got maybe two guys here who know what they’re doing, and both of them are in this room.'

Not to mention how the priest is a sex pest.

In the larger scale of the community, we understand how the failure larger systems can lead to personal failures -- especially when people attempt to uphold broken systems through mistruths.

Keller, as played by Hugh Jackman, wants to be a system that works and as a result -- does not want to acknowledge his failures. He wants to be someone who can be relied on and seen as reliable. His failure to accept that he is broken and that he needs help, sends him through a cascade of bad decisions which ultimately culminate with him being held hostage by the woman he attempts to intimidate. He need for control leaves him powerless and it is when he accepts his lack of power that he finds his salvation.

Keller losing his father at a young age to suicide and finding him that way, made him vow not to be the same broken system as his father -- and probably why he leans heavily into his faith. Holly Jones losing her child after having faith, is the reason why she and her husband decided to kidnap children and **'**wage their war against God'. These people have reasons for being the way they are.

Long story short -- When you are lost you are not alone. There are multiple scenes that emphasise the strength of community and communication to create understand and truth. To know you know nothing and to accept that it's not all waiting on you.

No matter how bad things get, there will always be people who want to help you and when you are in that place all you have to do is whistle.

I could go deeper on how Keller using a whistle meant for a child, is him coming to terms with his childhood trauma and needing help to move past it. Because for all this time he's been powerless too. Because he want to do everything on his own.

I could go onto the power of faith and needing something to keep you steady real or otherwise is okay. Loki, literally uses a saint as a stool to get out of the basement. Literally using the faith of others to help him get out of dark places.

Keller literally constructs his own church through his old home and makes Alex his messiah for deliverance who he beats and bloodies. A church made of lies and mistruth.

This film is so layered -- shout out to Aaron Guzikowski cause damn!

As many of you may know, there will be no disc arriving with Grand Theft Auto 6, whether you be digital or physical the game will come with a code to download the game digitally.

Which begs the question, what exactly do you get with the physical edition, an empty steel book case?

I'm a big fan of physical media and owning what I buy. I don't want to rent a game and have it until Sony says otherwise.

Best case scenario is we get a steelbook case with a map and swift kick up the ass.

Michael Townley

Michael betrayed Trevor and got Brad killed. It was Michael who forced Trevor into this life of crime and curated a way of life to keep him that way. Michael is at fault for the man Trevor is now, but instead of taking responsibility for that, he instead wants him dead.

To me, Micah and Michael are on the same level of personality. Trevor and Arthur were incredibly loyal and suffered because of their loyalty. Whereas one was punished Michael got to drive into the sunrise and get the happily ever after.

Why is Michael seen so differently to other Rockstar characters, whether it be Big Smoke or Lance Vance, etc. who end up betraying their group for personal gain. He, in my mind, is just scummy as the rest of them.

Michael Clarke Duncan or Gordon Kennedy as Lamb

Gordon Kennedy (6'4)

Michael Clarke Duncan (6'5)

Both actors so beautifully, hide behind their statures and play the gentle giant archetype so beautifully. If you've seen The Green Mile (Michael Clarke Duncan) or BBCs Robin Hood (Gordon Kennedy), they exude 'Lamb' in the opening chapters of the book.

Erin Kellyman as Shy

Erin Kellyman

Everytime I read Shy, I was remined of Erin's performance in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. She plays kind and ruthless as if they were the same word.

Riz Ahmed as Temple

Riz Ahmed

Riz Ahmed knows how to play inner conflict. His characters are always at odds with themselves.

Johnny Depp as Nicomo Cosca

Johnny Depp

Cosca is Captain Jack.

Edward Norton as Pike

Edward Norton

Reading Pike feed the birds and hearing him speak gave him an almost gentle nature, despite his apperance. It's beacuse of this I was remined of Norton's role in Kingdom of Heaven where he played Baldwin IV (the leper king).

That's all for now, I'm already 1/4 of the way through the novel. Who would you guys cast?

Bond is one of the most unlikeable protagonists I’ve ever read. His persistence and resilience is admirable, but he’s so, defeated.

He’s popping pills, being a racist, drinking, smoking, hating women, loving women and then hating himself.

A blunt instrument is the perfect description of him.

Overall, I just feel sorry for him, the books come across as more of a psychological thriller than an action adventure. He’s trapped and he doesn’t know what to do with himself.

SPOILERS for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (NOVEL 2005 and FILM 2007)

At the end of the novel and film now, ex Sherriff Ed Tom Bell is retired. He's given up his life of order against the chaos and doesn't know what to do with his time.

In the film, he asks his wife to spend some time with him with some activities or to just help around the house to which she denies.

In both film and novel, he tells us about a dream he had, one where his father gives him money and he loses it and another, where he meets a younger version of his father on a mountain, riding past with a horn of fire in the dark...

"And in the dream I knew that he was goin on ahead and that he was fixin to make a fire somewhere out there in all that dark and all that cold and I knew that whenever I got there he would be there. And then I woke up."

Both film and novel reiterate the idea that Ed Tom Bells not meant to give up, that there is still work to be done and he must do it. His wife tells him straight up that even though he's retired, he's not going to spend his life in the house all day and the dream ends as a bridge between reality. Ed Tom Bell is still riding in that dark, he must meet his father to carry that fire.

and make, like the stone trout "a promise"

In the novel, Ed Tom Bells father wasn't a law man he worked with horses, the film makes it so Ed Tom Bell comes from a generation of Sherrifs, which is why when I saw the film, the ending confused me. Ed Tom Bell isn't meant to be a hero, like his grandfather, he's not meant to preserve order, like his father and the trout all he's meant to do is help -- just help.

Chaos and order are both natural elements of existence, one cannot exist the other. Through destruction there is life and through life there is destruction so don't be on either side. Just know this, and help.

Ed Tom Bells work is far from over and both versions reiterate that.

"And I have to say that the only thing I can think is that there was some sort of promise in his heart. And I dont have no intentions of carvin a stone water trough. But I would like to be able to make that kind of promise. I think that’s what I would like most of all."

With all of time at your turn with pick from any performer at your choice, who would you choose to play the hell that is Frank Castle AKA the Punisher?

I recently got done watching Zacharias Kunuk's The Fast Runner and damn is it good.

After "discovering" Korean cinema, I'd hadn't really found another film like it to scratch that itch. Until, Atanarjuat.

The film, like the work of Na Hong Jin, Park Chan Wook and Bong Joon Ho, attempts to harnice this insanity of everyday life. The films part, family drama, comedy and action thriller all interpreted within that cultural lense.

Truly a fantastic film I recommend as many people go see.

*SPOILERS for Doubt (2008)

Father Flynn did it. He was molesting children at the school. Sister Aloysius was correct.

The doubt, isn’t meant to come from what Father Flynn did or did not do. But the doubt in a system Sister Aloysius had sworn her life to uphold.

At every turn that system fought against her in hopes of finding the truth. It used others as weapons to fight against her. That realisation, would sicken anyone.

Doubt is so much more than about the Church, I’d say it’s the best post 9/11 political thriller I’d ever seen.

How can you wilfully uphold a system, that protects itself from truth. That allows corruption and that does nothing to protect those who need protection.

Doubt and the Wire are the best duo I’ve ever seen and I think more people should watch them.

Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a damn good game, but what criticisms do you have of it and how would you like the potential sequel (fingers crossed) to improve?

I often wonder, how Frank would react to finding out that there are different versions of himself that have all been through the same thing. I think it might drive all of them to exterminate the other and the winning Frank to suicide.

Knowing that the tragic death of his family is something that has to happen, would probably drive him madder than he already is.

Add to that, the fact that there is a Vietnam War, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. The corruption of the American Government is never something that Frank can ever escape. It's through them that them that the Punisher was born.

The Punisher is the truest definition of an American Tragedy in my eyes, he encapsulates, all that is wrong with the American Justice System and through his wrath we see it's failures.

I'm re reading No Country for Old Men alongside the film, just to spot some differences' but that ending always leaves me a little smacked.

*SPOILERS AHEAD for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN*

I interpreted the second dream as Bell accepting this new life, that he can't be a "hero" and that's okay.

Bells father wasn't a law man, he treated horses and didn't finish college. Many would believe Sheriff Bell was the better man for being a "hero", but he doesn't quite believe it.

He see's his father lighting the way for him and I see it has hopeful, despite Bell's father not being a sheriff like his grandfather, he was still more to him than this world would know. He broke the mold of what he should've been and Bell is scared of that, being something other than he should. But he knows his father did it and all he has to do is follow that torch through all that dark.

What do you guys think? Am I on the money or do I need some more change?

I'm making this post as a counter argument to another made on this subreddit, some hours ago.

I say non of this in spite or ill will to the poster, but kindly fuck off.

Holding a piece of art to the standard that it itself set isn't complaining, it's criticism. Netflix's Daredevil, took superhero TV to another level. It was a show that wasn't afraid to deal with complex themes and subject matters in a way that was entertaining and true to the world they were building.

Now, don't get me wrong, Daredevil Born Again Season 2 is a damn good show, leagues ahead of Born Again Season 1. I can honestly, say that first episode, genuinely felt like a continuation of the original series and I was damn elated to be on that ride.

With that be said, as I continued the show, it's just hyped moments and aura. There's no overarching theme or arc for Matt to follow. The show just does things that happened in the comics which have no greater thematic implication. It doesn't feel like there's no greater thread attaching every action that happens.

For example, there's a massive moment in a court room at the end of the series. What was the greater purpose of this moment. How does this pay off in the overall tension of the series. It doesn't.

Now, go back to Netflix Daredevil in the 3rd Season, in the final episode with a moment not as significant but for more gut wrenching. It felt like a period to a sentence the whole series writing. Ask yourself, what exactly is Daredevil Born Again Season 2 trying to say?

I love Daredevil, I do but, I can't help but bring this feeling that it should've been better.

I don't know what exactly was happening behind the scenes, but it feels like there wasn't a strong narrative vision for this season that every episode followed.

and I sometimes worry at the acceptance, TV and Film viewers have at consuming art. I believe if a people are starved, they'll take what they can get. It doesn't matter if it has no seasoning or no flavour, as long as it's food, they'll be glad they got it.

Since people are starved in nearly every facet of their lives and it seems the world is going to hell, people will be okay with anything you give them, because it's there.

I've been replaying Red Dead Redemption II and every time I have I feel a greater more, mesmerised by the story of the indigenous Americans.

I used to believe Rains Falls, the older and wiser leader, was right -- to leave violence behind at to "endure".

But the more I play the game, the more I feel where Eagle Flies is coming from.

Honestly, ask yourself, would you rather die fighting for the right cause, or live your life and seeing everything you ever were, whimper away.

The Indigenous Americans have been dealt a terrible hand, they've lost almost everything and still have so much to lose. They're a malnourished minority, in a country that should've filled them for generations. It's no wonder, that nihilism and suicides are so prevalent among the youth.

I hope things get better for them, I really do.