Taus On Tv Shows - Blog Posts
this !!! this feels so very true to my experience, picking up the books on a whim just to learn about the movie all too late. and truthfully the movie was very pretty to look at in certain parts but the overall story just feels flat. and i very much agree laverne cox could've played davids mother and we might've gotten more substance from that. the whole movie feels like everyone in the writing room skimmed over the first book and that was it.
Uglies - Movie Thoughts
On a whim, I decided to start re-reading the Uglies series a couple months ago -- so imagine my surprise when I found out it was getting a movie! Said movie is now out, and it was interesting to watch with the book being so fresh in my head.
Overall, it's... eh. It's not a complete train wreck, the way most critics seem to want you to think, but it is fairly bland and uninspired. It's a very watered down version of the book. It also has the misfortune of feeling like yet another a Hunger Games wannabe, despite the original book pre-dating that series by several years.
Spoilers for everything under the cut.
What I Liked
Based on reviews, I seem to be in the minority here, but I thought the cast was pretty good. People seem to hate Joey King as Tally, but I thought she was fine. Brianne Tju is easily the best in the cast, stealing the whole damn movie as Shay. Laverne Cox also gives an excellent performance as Cable, though I do think she should not have been given that role for other reasons (which I'll get into later).
I've also seen complaints that the characters aren't ugly enough. They talk about how ugly they are and point out their specific ugly features, when they don't actually appear that ugly. And I think everyone complaining about that is completely missing the point. The "Uglies" aren't actually ugly -- they're just normal people, who've been conditioned to think their imperfect features are hideous.
I was honestly unsure how the Pretties would be visualized -- in fact, I wondered if the book would just be fundamentally unadaptable because of it -- but they did a fairly good job. I think leaning on CGI and unnatural affectations was the right way to go. All the Pretties have this uncanny quality to them that suits the story perfectly.
The overall production design was solid as well. I like how Uglyville is all gray concrete and muted tones, while New Pretty Town is shimmering golds. Then upon reaching the Smoke, all the colors of nature finally come through. I do think that could have pushed that last one a little bit more, but it still works well.
Apart from that, I don't really have much to shout out. It's competently written, well-performed, well put together. I know it doesn't sound like I have much praise, but it is a competent movie.
What I'm Mixed On
By far the biggest change from the book is Peris becoming a Special. And I'm torn on it. On the one hand, it does make him a bigger part of the story -- he's honestly not much more than an inciting incident in the book. It gives him and Tally a unique arc that's probably the strongest through-line in the story. On the other hand, the Specials as a concept are so under-cooked (more on that later) and the actor is so bland that it still doesn't quite land the way it's supposed to.
What I Didn't Like
The pacing of this movie is by far its worst issue. We are flying through this plot. There is no time for anything to breathe, for characters to develop meaningful connections, for the bigger moments to feel earned. Some things do make sense to condense -- Tally's journey to the Smoke would have been incredibly boring without her internal monologue, so condensing most of that into a montage makes sense. But I do feel we lost too much. That's where a lot of Tally's characterization comes out, where we can see her bravery and ingenuity -- none of that comes across in the movie.
A lot of important beats are rushed. Tally agreeing to help Dr. Cable is over in a flash. It feels like Tally's in the Smoke for all of fifteen minutes. Tally and David barely interact, so their relationship has no real stake. Everyone is kidnapped by Special Circumstances, and then rescued immediately after. I almost think a 5-6 episode mini-series would have worked better -- but that might have introduced the opposite problem, where everything takes too long.
The movie also has frequent montages that don't really work. It seems like they were trying to show the passage of time, but it just makes everything feel even shorter.
The beginning of the movie has an exposition problem, as well. It opens with a montage explaining the entire setting... before leading into several scenes that also explain the setting through dialogue. We get fed the same details about the surgery and the Rusties and the flowers at least three times at the start, and it gets grating.
As already mentioned, Tally is pretty severely underwritten. In the book, she has a distinct personality and a unique presence. In the movie, she's just the main character because she happens to be the main character. Her intelligence and resourcefulness are pretty much gone.
I also think changing her motivation for going to the Smoke did her a disservice. In the book, Tally goes to the Smoke so she can have her surgery, and because she's convinced herself that Shay needs her help. In the movie, Dr. Cable tells her that the Smokies have a weapon, and she will be saving lives by helping to find them. I think giving her a more selfless motivation robs her of her character arc. She always comes across as someone trying to help, who wants to best for other people, rather than someone who had to consciously learn that.
The Specials are barely even a presence. I'm not sure they were even directly called Specials. People who hadn't read the book would never realize that there was an entire separate status of person here. You never see their disturbingly beautiful faces or their terrifying strength. Considering how pivotal the Specials are to the overall story, especially in the later books, it's really odd not to see them properly established here.
Like I said, Laverne Cox gives an excellent performance as Dr. Cable... but I think they should have thought twice before casting a trans woman. It's not necessarily that there's a trans woman in the villainous role, but that there's a trans woman in the villainous role who specifically wants to force people to have surgeries to brainwash them. Like... did the optics of that really not occur to anyone? At all? I think Cox could have played David's mother, instead.
my ranking of tua seasons
1. Season 1
2. Season 3
3. Season 2
season 3 has the most rewatch quality for me even tho i think story wise season 1 is much better. season 2 was good and i really loved all the characters and development we got but (and this is based off my rewatch from last year bc i only jumped in at season 4 this time) it fell flat for me. though i would definitely watch again i would probably gravitate more towards season three on a casual watch and not a binge.
Here's a list of things I liked in s4 because I need more than one morbidly beautiful opening shot to give me a purpose in life:
Confirmation that Ben and Viktor were close as children
Proof that Ben's always had a mean streak in him, the brainwashing just made him seem like a saint
The concept of the time subway
Five's Deli
That scene with Diego spinning in the air with bullets swirling around him
Jennifer having a Filipina actress
Diego and Lila's daughter being named Grace
Klaus practically being Claire's other parent
Luther embracing the silly
Gene and Jean
my queer, neurodivergent ass when The Umbrella Academy ends with, "you were born wrong, every bad thing that has happened to you is your fault, and the only way the world can be good and safe is if you are eradicated from existence"
rewatching the magicians now is making me realize how kinda corny it is but i think it's cause the quality is so crunchy and they sensor the word fuck and not anything else. but also they just love to play and i love that for them.
i just tried to watch awkward, got to ep 5 and had to stop bc no way they gave jenna detention for pulling off some dudes shirt when SADIE TOOK A PIC OF HER BOOBS THAT GOT SHARED AROUND THE ENTIRE SCHOOL AND NOTHING HAPPENED.
decided for my mental health it made sense to not include s7&8 in my vampire diaries rewatch and instead start yet ANOTHER rewatch of the loml The Magicians
chat... i might actually just skip s7 & 8 of my rewatch and go straight to smth else.. i feel like the first time was good enough
omfg season 7 and 8 are literally such dogshit i actually cant i fucking hate this show
omfg season 7 and 8 are literally such dogshit i actually cant i fucking hate this show
the whole caroline & alaric kids always rubbed me the wrong way out of everyone that was THE WEIRDEST SHIT. actually makes me want to puke and them having to co parent makes me want to puke.
i've already decided that i want to adopt kids so it might be that but idk why no one ever thinks of adopting in TVD universe like why do you HAVE TO HAVE biological children?? ik there's a lot of special things that go into that but as a person who thinks you're gonna be a vampire forever why not consider that option instead of being like "i always wanted a family now i can't have that" LIKE YOU STILL CAN it just won't be exactly how you imagined it but that's life.
am i wrong for saying they should've let caroline have her year π ... like she obviously knew how to control herself and she was being bitchy bc her friends were being judgy. she went off the rails bc they did the one thing she asked them not to do. she was still around them, not causing trouble and just having fun after her MOM JUST DIED and the guy she liked basically told her he didn't like her back when she needed him to. i don't blame her for anything tbh and i think she was justified in killing people π€·πΎββοΈ
anytime anything happens to bonnie or caroline im like new torture technique just dropped ! π
i have a love/hate relationship with the idea that magic can't cure cancer like we have magical vampire blood that heals everything BUT cancer
watching katherine be so sad and desperate in elena body pmo bc why is nobody noticing ts... elena would not do half ts katherine is and evrryone is writing it off as left over damon feelings
when it comes to who ppl date in the vampire diaries the bar is in hell. elena w damon after he killed jeremy and did not know he would survive + admitted to it. caroline and klaus after he killed jenna, carol and STABBED HER IN THE STOMACH AND BIT HER???? tyler being with anyone in general after what happened w vicky π. i choose to believe bonnie just has standards and good morals for herself and that's why her relationships are few and far between.
prof shane w bonnie gives me extremely icky vibes like he's grooming her and im scared for her
sitting here watching the beginning of vamp elena arc and the blood stuff i wouldn't see it but the way she so blindly listens to damon all the time when she was NEVER like that and we all knew damons blood turned her.... chat why are we not connecting the dots???
and btw NO ONE IN THE HISTORY OF EVER COULD CONVINCE ME TO GO BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL
ngl the scene of elena and damon dancing tgt at that frat party and just feeling everything and having fun is exactly what i would be doing as a vampire
ngl the scene of elena and damon dancing tgt at that frat party and just feeling everything and having fun is exactly what i would be doing as a vampire
idk if i can look at lost the same way after the fuck ass way eko died
that whole inhaler situation was so.... π. sawyer is such a sad little man making multiple people put their efforts into getting him to give up smth that he knows he didn't have and then to try and spin it like "he had a bad childhood awwnn π₯Ί" i give absolutely no fucks abt his childhood and how he wants to be hated. he let shannon suffer and pushed people to act out of character and that kiss from kate... barf. all for what? and then he wants to get mad at kate for figuring out he wrote the letter because he decided to make bad life decisions.
yall are literally stuck on an island you ignorant, intolerant, selfish dickwad shell of a man and instead of ovarieing up and being a better person you decide to risk a woman's life bc you want yours to continue to be miserable???
i love all bobs characters in general however comma i think after so long there's always going to be things you dont like
back on this topic jimmy jr and tina are so πΎπ€§ππΎππΎ stinky fart relationship and it's jimmy jr's fault
zeke and jimmy jr give me tried dating in high school but ended up staying friends after
zeke and jimmy jr give me tried dating in high school but ended up staying friends after
i love how many conversations bob has with his food
dan humphrey is always complaining abt how he cant get good on his writing and it's literally because he 1. only writes abt himself and his relationship problems with serena and 2. all his writing gives fanfic and 13 year old could write a better story than him
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