Don’t Make Director’s Cuts A Thing

I was very surprised when a Synder cut of the 2018 DC movie Justice League was announced. While I didn’t hate the first version, I knew it could have been better, and this Snyder cut promised to do it all and more. But then I watched all four hours of it, and while it was more, I don’t think I can say it was all that. Between the weird colouring, the 20 minute dream sequence, the dumb timeline-messing save, and the random villagers singing, this version of the movie really made some wild choices that I’m glad the studio or apparent trash human Joss Whedon decided to remove years ago.

Me watching that dream sequence

The Snyder cut obviously took advantage of the at-home delivery by making it six parts over four hours, which is fine, but I think that a) you therefore can’t compare it to other movies because you got two more hours to tell a more fleshed out story and b) even if you edited it down to a reasonable movie length, this version wasn’t that much better. Parts of it sure were, like the explanation of the cubes or Cyborg’s story, but as a whole, I was disappointed. I kind of expected this to be like The Best Movie because it was hyped up to be Authenticly Snyder’s Untold Story and Undoing How Awful Joss Was, but I guess that’s on me for having a high standard. It was better, but it wasn’t worth the years of campaigning.

And that’s why I’m very wary of this new hype train of other directors cuts that may or may not exist. I know some of it is just memeing like this TikTok, but still. I’ve seen far too many headlines saying that there are hours more footage of some movie no one wants to see more of or that studios are considering doing more director’s cuts of other things or that fans are campaigning for other ones. It’s probably not true, but just in case, here’s my official statement: no thanks.

I won’t pretend to know how much involvement movie studios have in final plot or editing, but based on my limited knowledge and my eyes during Snyder Cut, I can’t imagine that this is a useful direction (pun intended) for the film industry. If a studio can’t deliver me the absolute best version of a movie the first time, then they gotta live with that shame and possible financial loss. You can’t just keep pumping out different versions to appease people. As they say, that’s show biz. Justice League may have been a special case because of the crisis in Snyder’s life during original filming, forcing Whedon has to take over, but for other movies that didn’t have something similar going on, I just feel like there’s no excuse.

And who is this even for? The fans? I have trouble believing that, because I feel like if fan satisfaction were the ultimate goal, they wouldn’t have given us garbage to begin with. Is it for the directors? Giving them their moment to shine? Unlikely. So I guess this just smells like a big ol’ cash grab.

The only version of a director’s cut I’m not opposed to is what Lord Of The Rings did. They had the extra stuff as an optional bonus DVD feature that didn’t negate the regular normal-length theatrical release. If studios want to give us that (though without DVDs, it’s just bonus content on streaming services), then sure. Whatever.

Director’s cut? More like cut that nonsense out before it starts please.

Thoughts? Did you enjoy the Snyder cut of Justice League? Is there a movie you want a director’s cut of?

 

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This Blog Is 6 Years Old!

I don’t really celebrate my blog’s anniversary (blogiversary, as some call it) aside from maybe a sappy tweet on the day, if I can remember (and usually I don’t). But this time I figured I would. Six isn’t even a fun milestone to celebrate, but so what? We still celebrate all human birthdays and anniversaries. I’m really proud of my blog, so today you get this post from me.

Though technically my blog turns six tomorrow. But I was due for a post today.

Last year when I was job hunting, my blog would come up a lot in interviews, not just because it’s a hobby but because I work in marketing/content creation, so it’s useful to talk about. One thing I always stressed when mentioning it was that I’ve done at least one post every single week. And when you think about it, that’s wild. Like, I’m so proud of that. For six years, throughout school, jobs, holidays, sicknesses, whatever else, I’ve still managed to get a post out each week, and I never had to resort to a really, really short one or resharing an old one to get by (though I’ve come close a few times!).

In the pandemic and during my time unemployed, still having a blog to maintain was great as a constant thing. It forced me to still do something ‘productive’ and allowed me to connect with people beyond my small real-life circle.

I’m also so proud of my attitude towards my blog. It’s healthy. Perhaps my most healthy hobby, actually. I’m realistic with my posts, my interactions, my goals, and I for the most part don’t get hung up on stats or other people’s successes. I know exactly where I stand. I think it’s so easy in the blogosphere to lose sight of why you started blogging or fall into some unhealthy mindsets, so I’m glad I’ve been able to kind of stay on my own path and do what makes me happy.

I’ve been able to write about so much and it’s been really cool to know that people enjoy it despite the randomness and will go out of their way to leave comments or tell me how much they like my posts. I don’t take that for granted at all.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say today. Yay me. Yay coolbeans. Yay you for reading!

 

That’s all for now!

 

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Monthly Look Ahead: April 2021

Well here we are in April. Spring has sprung and it’s nice to not feel the need to put on many sweaters every day, ya know? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still wear one sweater every day, but it’s usually enough.

Anyway, it’s not a busy month, but, like, what else is new. So here’s the very small list of things I’m looking forward to:

• On April 1st, the show Manifest begins its third season. I really enjoy this show, so I hope this new season is just as exciting as it was last year.
• The Men’s Curling Worlds start this month and then at the end of the month is the start of Women’s Worlds. I’ve very much enjoyed watching the Scotties, Brier, and Mixed Doubles this year, and always want to see more good Canadian curling. If you get TSN and are looking to watch good curling taking place in a nice Calgary bubble, tune in!
  
• Darren Criss has new music of some sort coming out. He’s calling it “a series of character-driven singles” out on the 9th, and I don’t really know what that means, but I’m excited to find out.

Aaaand that’s it. I guess I should be grateful that I actually have a routine this April considering last April I had literally nothing to do. I was applying to like one job a week since Corona slowed down posting so much, and I was playing Zelda games to fill my days.

What’s your April looking like?

P.S. I was on a call with friends when I wrote the majority of this post, so I said to them, “hey y’all, what am I looking forward to this month? I’mma crowdsource this blog post,” and here were their replies:

• “Doing hard drugs.” I feel like I should start with light drugs first, but thanks for the suggestion.
• “It’s my parents’ anniversary.” Not my parents, my friend’s parents. Who I’ve never met.
• “I dunno, isn’t there some curling you can watch?” Yeah, it’s already on the list.

Anyway, lesson learned. Blogging is a solo task.

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What I Don’t Blog About

I blog about a lot of stuff. I purposely made my blog fairly niche-less so I could write about anything, from serious thought-provoking topics to dumb rants. I’m so glad that I have an audience who accepts this from me because I love to do it and I love the freedom I have to do it.

But just because I am open and have written about a lot, it doesn’t mean everything is on the table. I don’t lie and I don’t censor myself that much, but I am very aware of how and what I present.

It comes down to readers. I know my mother, for example, is a reader of my blog, so I’ll avoid talking about things that will incite a conversation. Both my parents are kind of conservative and the kind of parents who will turn a joke into a lecture, so it’s just easier to avoid some things altogether.

I also have links/references to my blog on LinkedIn and my resume, and it often came up in job interviews, so I know that potential bosses and coworkers read it, so I do try to be, for the most part, professional and mature. Some stuff isn’t even bad per se, but I don’t want or need people I work with professionally knowing things about me or having the power to know things that don’t relate to work or align with the relationship. Example: I do occasionally drink alcohol and though I am very responsible with it and am always the soberest person at a party, I don’t need a boss knowing about parties I go to, even if it’s normal and reasonable for someone my age to do this.

And speaking of relationships: friends read my blog. I share posts on Facebook once in a while and I know some friends read my blog regularly. Therefore, I’m always sure to protect identities and careful that I’m not sharing anything that could cause conflict or awkwardness. One time I was talking to a friend about a guy I had a crush on. This friend suggested I blog about it as it was relatable and something I didn’t often talk about. I shut down that suggestion real quick because the specifics of the crush were too specific, and I couldn’t risk that as my blog was known to this guy.

Forever mood.

Then there’s also stuff I don’t share that protects my identity. While I do have friends and family read my blog, most of my readers are strangers all around the world, and that is really cool but also scares me. I don’t use my full name and I don’t post pictures of myself. While I know that I probably can safely as many do, and I know that not doing so does make some of you be a little skeptical of me, it’s still something I choose to do for my own comfort. So I am purposely vague on some details or just choose not to share certain things.

And as much as I am honest and don’t shy away from getting deep when I need to, I also sometimes worry if I come across as too whiny or too victimized when talking about things like friendships or life issues. I know I’m not the most positive person and sometimes my attempts at being real could be off-putting. I want to be relatable, but not annoying and not repetitive. So often some of the more serious posts get more edits than other posts just so my feelings aren’t as prevalent or boohoo-y.

Lastly, I stay mostly in my lane when it comes to politics or stuff like that, not that this blog is ever that political. I’m a white cis neurotypical middle-class female who has lived a pretty sheltered life and luckily hasn’t had many life struggles, so who am I to speak on anything outside of that realm when others more important have said it first and better. When I need to link resources from people who deserve to be heard more, I absolutely do. But for the most part, I stay away from ‘controversial’ topics. It’s just not what this blog is about.

Otherwise, that’s basically it. There’s still a lot of room for my nonsense and rants and reviews and thoughts. And who knows, maybe down the line, things will change. As I develop as a human and as my life goes on, some things I’m not comfortable diving into now may change. Who’s to say. Guess you’ll have to stick around and see.

 

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Negative Commentary For The Fun Of It

I watch a considerable number of commentary YouTubers. Some that I watch talk about specific topics and some just react to anything or will comment on a variety of things. I appreciate anyone who can get their point across well and do it in an entertaining, well-researched way. That’s why I spend a lot of time watching that kind of content, and that’s why I enjoy reading that kind of content in blog form too.

One YouTuber I watch is named Nick DiRamio, and he does a series called Clip Breakdown where he analyzes movies/TV shows/music videos and reacts to them and explains what they could do to be better. He’s very funny and smart, and I enjoy his commentary. Recently, he did videos on the music careers of Niki and Gabi De Martino (they’re twins and YouTubers, but you don’t need to know who they are. They’re not relevant to this post at all). Nick, with good reason, tore into Gabi’s messy music videos, but for Niki’s he prefaced his video by saying he overall liked her video style and her music, and throughout his commentary, he kept highlighting good things she did and how much he enjoyed them.

And for some reason, seeing a commentary YouTuber who has more positive things to say than negative took me by surprise. It got me thinking about the commentary genre. On YouTube specifically, since people are usually there for entertainment, it’s really easy to get cheap laughs by ragging on something objectively bad. It’s like why people purposely go watch bad movies because they can enjoy how bad it is.

I understand why these YouTube funny people do it because there’s literally an unlimited pile of bad/cringy things to make fun of, but I’m now wondering if there are lasting effects of this. Are people constantly looking for things to dislike or reasons to ruin a piece of media? Are people who do like things being made to feel bad for liking it? Are people unable to enjoy bad media? Are people becoming overall more negative because we’re used to everything being hated on?

In a similar sense, it’s like how in the news, there’s often a lot of bad news rather than good news. Obviously, that can’t be helped as much, but it is worth considering. How many people have built their careers off of being negative and tearing into things others made with (hopefully) love?

As a person on the internet, I’m thinking about my part in it too. I blog reviews on things sometimes, or I’ll Tweet out my thoughts on a movie, and while I won’t pretend that bad things are good just for the sake of it, I do think I’m overall mostly positive. Often when I talk about media, it’s things I love and want others to love too. Maybe I’d do more of the negative stuff if I was making bank from it the way YouTubers do, but who’s to say. To that point, I do think a lot of people who do this professionally do it because it works, algorithmically. But is it right? Let’s refer back to my lasting effects questions.

I’m not saying we should all stop watching things/YouTubers who are consistently negative or making fun of things, but I at least am being a little bit more conscious about how much of it I take in. And I’m also reminding myself that one person’s opinion doesn’t matter, and if some random adult on the internet says something I like (or liked, as often it’s children’s media that is getting torn apart) is bad, I don’t have to agree, nor do I have to explain why I don’t agree.

Do you have thoughts on this topic? I’d love to hear them!

 

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