(Editors note june 2026: Starting a new job and will have a lot less time for tumblr in the foreseeable future, so don't worry if I've dropped off the face of the Earth!)
Hi! Long-time lurker, first-time user. Mostly different fandoms, which will inevitably vary as time goes by (when naming and designing the blog it was evidently Revolutionary Girl Utena). The edits I sometimes make are also put on youtube under the same name :)
And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?"
Background and method under the cut!
Ok so I was listening to the #77 Q&A and Luke mentioned Remain in Light as one of his favourite albums. Now, I really like RYM, Talking Heads is one of my favourite bands of all time. A plan was hatched!
For reference, that's what the original album cover looks like.
I first found an attempt to restore the album cover without the red blotches. Then I took screenshots of sfth, matching the expressions on the cover as well as I could. To limit the search, and to get some stressful ambiance in the images, I sourced them all from Hot from the hip (and Hot from the Luke), specifically when trying Da Bomb (And the heat goes on, and the heat goes on!).
My reasoning for who's who:
Tom - David, person I can best imagine trying out the dance moves, strange lyrics and vocal delivery of David Byrne, pls get him in the big suit!!!
Aj - Jerry, joined the group a bit later and just seems like a super chill guy.
Sam - Chris, takes charge by introducing most shows/drummer setting the pace? Most tenuous of the links haha.
Luke - Tina, bass player and sole blond person.
I lowered the opacity of the images, then scaled, moved and cropped them to line up with the restored cover. I was surprised to see how incredibly similar Tom and David looked! I had some trouble with Luke, since the lighting was different here. I tried to correct for it but I know nothing about colour grading. Next up, cropping out backgrounds to replace them with the original blue, then manipulate the faces to get the right colour and contrasts.
After that, adding the red. I mostly used a block-shaped brush and eraser with changing parameters, a bit tedious but turned out ok. Lastly, the text. Original has the As turned upside down, so I also wanted to flip a letter that appears twice -> Ts get turned around here. For the lower text, I was having trouble figuring out what to put for Remain in light, like what is the equivalent of an album in this case? Decided on Fully Improvised, like in the title of their shortform videos at the moment.
Isn't it weird? Looks too obscure to me <- most people seeing this lol. But nothing is too niche on tumblr dot com!
I've been meaning to watch this for a while, really to see what the fuss is about and to give myself some cred as a "cinephile", a Swedish one at that (insanely ironic quotation marks there, I have not seen a lot of movies, and it's a slightly silly term). Somewhat to my surprise, I really enjoyed it! More thoughts under the cut (some spoilers, but I honestly don't think they matter much with this kind of film)
I thought it would be really melancholy and pretentious, and it is to some degree, but I found it to be quite beautiful and at times very funny. Some of that is unintentional humour due to the language and stylistic choices that you get from a film set in the 1300s and made in the 1950s, but some of it was clearly meant to be funny even then and mostly holds up. I don't know how much is lost in translation when watched with English subtitles, but the dialogue in Swedish is really great imo. I watched it with family and it's already become an inside joke to quote (with or without alteration) some of the lines, in the stilted, old-timey, theatre-esque voice used by a few of the characters. Others talk a lot more naturally! But the knight Antonius Block, and Death himself, sound a bit grandiose.
Apparently some critics at the time thought it was just a "filmed play", not really "cinema". I can kinda see their point, especially the indoor scenes, but I also thought there were lots of great shots that looked very filmic!
Another thing that surprised me was that the most iconic scene from the film (and honestly from Bergman's whole ouvre, and possibly Swedish cinema as a whole), the chess game on the beach, is pretty much the first scene! I thought that would be the finale
Death: love this guy, he's so nonchalant about it, not mean-spirited but still very menacing, sometimes on purpose. All his interactions with Block are great, but my favourite moment might be when he gets out the bowsaw for the actor in the tree. Like, that's cartoon shit! And it's both casual and solemn. Similarities to Discworld in a way, death is inevitable but not evil.
Antonius Block: not the most entertaining, but an intriguing character. His religious crisis feels very human, as does his bearing after being away on a crusade and seeing horrors for ten years, only to return to a plague-stricken homeland.
The squire Jöns my problematic fave <3 honestly not that problematic, I'm mostly thinking about one line, which you could read as a bit horrifying if time typical, or as grandstanding lies. He is a great foil for Block, he doesn't seek answers, he's pretty cynical, but he's up for a joke, and also acts with more kindness than Block on several occasions. His conversation with the painter is also great. Stor sanning!
The theatre troupe: (oh god I just thought of what would happen if you swapped in Legz Akimbo here, let's not go down that route just now). Jof, Mia, and Mikael are really the heart of the movie, and are great at it. I also think it's very deliberate that the symbol of good living is a family where the parents are nicknames for Josef and Maria, and the kid also has a biblical name. I think it's a "heaven is a place on earth" type of message, they don't act very devout but they appreciate the little things and love each other. Compare with eg. the flagellants, or the witch-burners, both on paper very religious, but they don't come across as very godly. The wild strawberries and milk, Jof's visions, really good stuff.
Plog and Lisa: not my favourite part of the film, the burlesque farce clashed a bit tonally with the rest of it imo. Plog did have some fun interactions with Jöns though.
The mute woman: most mysterious character? I was curious about her but still don't really know what her deal was. Almost shivers at the end!
The witch (accused): very striking performance. Block's thinking is fascinating here "I want to meet the devil, bc he if anyone should know about god". We don't know if she is possessed, believes she is, or pretends she is, but she's pretty haunting. Also, me with my modern brain knows she had her hair cut as medieval humiliation, but out of context, the pixie cut looks great.
Inspired by @vagueeyes recommendations (I still need to get to those!), I want to give an in9 comparison. I think fans of Merrily, Merrily could like this movie. Maybe it came to mind simply because both depict death as a character, but there are other similarities, for example I think Steve's and Diane Morgan's characters function similarly to Mia and Jof.
Well, first impression apart from beautiful artworks by @tealviscaria that is :P You asked about my thoughts, and in summary - I liked it!
First off, the scenery was beautiful and almost a character in itself. I love the shortcut of island=isolation in film and tv, it's simple but effective (see: the menu, shetland, that one time in killing eve)
Maybe an odd focus, but I really like the scope of the story. The runtime, cast, and locations were what they needed to be, nothing more and nothing less. I think this is a result of being based on and refined from a short film (which I haven't seen so can't directly compare), and also of being the vision of very few people who then realised it themselves. It has zero vibes of "story and comedy by committe" sometimes seen in big blockbusters.
The music, a genre I'm mostly neutral/hit or miss on, but I Iiked the songs! I'll make sure to give the album a listen.
Charles: amazing character, the balance of really annoying but charming, overstepping but not malicious. I can't say the emotional beats hit me that hard (definitely well-written and performed, just a time and place thing, more about me than mr. Key), but comedy-wise (ha!) he really tickled me.
Herb: also really entertaining, and good arc throughout the movie. First I'm seeing of Tom Basden, afaik, and I'm impressed! I tip my hat to the acting, singing, and writing.
Nell and Michael: well, I had to look up the name of the husband, so that tells you how small of a role it was 😅. Still, I think the actor did well with what he had. I read a comment somewhere that I agree with: while the puffin tour is clearly a plot convenience to remove him from the others, it does show some characterisation of him and Nell and their relationship -> it's very secure, neither of them think anything of her hanging out with her ex without him. Nell was a fine character (well acted and sung too), but not that interesting to me? It was pretty clear that she had moved on, had her life and family and was content with it. I do appreciate the decision to not have her return for the gig, I really thought she was going to but that would have been the neat, Hollywood-style way out.
Amanda: I am a big Sian Clifford fan, and this was no exception. Her wellmeaning manner and complete separation from modernity and pop culture was very endearing. While her role here was pretty small, and mostly in relation to Charles, I think they did a good job of implying that she also has a life and story of her own (her mother, her son, presumably a "lost love" as well). The "gig then fish, delish!"-moment was very cute 💞
Sidenote: I'm really debating whether to get letterboxd or not. I've seen a few movies recently that I would like to note down my thoughts on (and also just for keeping track of which movies I have seen), but I'm not excited about having to use yet another website. Also worried about feeling perceived, and having that impact my notes in a "gosh, I have to be funny/insightful/have the right takes"-kinda way. I use a physical notebook for my reading diary, so maybe that's the way to go here as well? But digital is easier for sharing with you lot on tumblr <3 Maybe I should just do a movie tag here on my blog.
Ah, thank you for writing this! I would reply just in the tags but it was getting a bit unwieldy, so I hope you don't mind a full-on addition:
Yes!! The landscape and all the details in furnishing and decorating the house were such an important part of the movie - like you said yourself, basically another character. The budget really made it come together in this regard. I like the short film, but this is clearly on another level :D
The relatively small scope of the story is definitely something I'm drawn to as well! The number of people contributes to the loneliness, but it also makes it that much warmer, if that makes sense. (And I mean, not quite the same thing, but these intentional limitations are also why I really enjoyed IN9 :))
Well, not that anyone would expect anything else from me, but I can't recommend the album enough! So beautiful. And even if it's not your thing, I think giving it a listen at least once might make you appreciate the movie just a little bit more, or at least extend that specific atmosphere of the movie for a little while longer :)
I don't think I have anything to add to Charles and Herb (or on the contrary, I have too much to say that it wouldn't make sense to write about it in this post :D) but I want to say a few words about Michael. I think he's a great character (his "kudos to you-dos" lives in my mind rent-free) and even though it's a small role, I really appreciate his presence there. I love the scene when he and Nell enter the house for the first time and the two of them with Charles are being silly, cracking jokes, while Herb stands aside, looking like he wants to die lol
I don't remember if I've ever made posts about this, but there's really only one big gripe I have with this movie, and it's Michael's scene towards the end where he's come back from the puffin tour and tells Herb what he thinks about him. I do like the scene in theory and Akemnji Ndifornyen's performance is perfectly fine too, but the writing.... I don't know, maybe there's something I'm not getting, but I truly don't understand why Tom and Tim wrote those lines. I don't think anyone can deliver phrases like "you're a joke" etc. without it sounding cartoonish and this moment just completely takes me out of the mostly grounded, realistic tone. And again, I think the actor does a great job and Tom's reaction as Herb is also very believable and the performance is good. However, I just can't take the words coming out of his mouth seriously...
I adore Nell's character, I've gushed about Carey's acting elsewhere, but I'm really fond of her simply knowing what she wants and when she realizes that Herb can't accept that the past is the past, she does the only thing she can - move forward. And she portrays so incredibly well the bittersweet nature of that relationship...
Amanda is just very lovely <3 Nothing much to say there :D
I'm really happy you gave the movie a watch and liked it <3 If you want to see the starting point as well, here's a link to the short film :)
Make yourself in this picrew + one song you've been listening to a lot lately + the most recent animal you saw outside + tag 4 people
Thank you for the tag @kookaburrito!
Song: Tattooed Love Boys by Pretenders! Not very representative of my own 20s so far, but Chrissie Hynde is SO charismatic in singing about the narrator's (possibly her own) escapades.
Animal: When I received this it was probably while passing some huge birds in a field, possibly cranes? I was driving so didn't get a great look but definitely majestic-looking.
Tagging @tealviscaria @vagueeyes @sixfiguresillery @dangerliesbeforeyou no pressure ofc, just ignore if you don't feel like it, or if you've done this already and I happened to miss it :p
The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025) first impression
Well, first impression apart from beautiful artworks by @tealviscaria that is :P You asked about my thoughts, and in summary - I liked it!
First off, the scenery was beautiful and almost a character in itself. I love the shortcut of island=isolation in film and tv, it's simple but effective (see: the menu, shetland, that one time in killing eve)
Maybe an odd focus, but I really like the scope of the story. The runtime, cast, and locations were what they needed to be, nothing more and nothing less. I think this is a result of being based on and refined from a short film (which I haven't seen so can't directly compare), and also of being the vision of very few people who then realised it themselves. It has zero vibes of "story and comedy by committe" sometimes seen in big blockbusters.
The music, a genre I'm mostly neutral/hit or miss on, but I Iiked the songs! I'll make sure to give the album a listen.
Charles: amazing character, the balance of really annoying but charming, overstepping but not malicious. I can't say the emotional beats hit me that hard (definitely well-written and performed, just a time and place thing, more about me than mr. Key), but comedy-wise (ha!) he really tickled me.
Herb: also really entertaining, and good arc throughout the movie. First I'm seeing of Tom Basden, afaik, and I'm impressed! I tip my hat to the acting, singing, and writing.
Nell and Michael: well, I had to look up the name of the husband, so that tells you how small of a role it was 😅. Still, I think the actor did well with what he had. I read a comment somewhere that I agree with: while the puffin tour is clearly a plot convenience to remove him from the others, it does show some characterisation of him and Nell and their relationship -> it's very secure, neither of them think anything of her hanging out with her ex without him. Nell was a fine character (well acted and sung too), but not that interesting to me? It was pretty clear that she had moved on, had her life and family and was content with it. I do appreciate the decision to not have her return for the gig, I really thought she was going to but that would have been the neat, Hollywood-style way out.
Amanda: I am a big Sian Clifford fan, and this was no exception. Her wellmeaning manner and complete separation from modernity and pop culture was very endearing. While her role here was pretty small, and mostly in relation to Charles, I think they did a good job of implying that she also has a life and story of her own (her mother, her son, presumably a "lost love" as well). The "gig then fish, delish!"-moment was very cute 💞
Sidenote: I'm really debating whether to get letterboxd or not. I've seen a few movies recently that I would like to note down my thoughts on (and also just for keeping track of which movies I have seen), but I'm not excited about having to use yet another website. Also worried about feeling perceived, and having that impact my notes in a "gosh, I have to be funny/insightful/have the right takes"-kinda way. I use a physical notebook for my reading diary, so maybe that's the way to go here as well? But digital is easier for sharing with you lot on tumblr <3 Maybe I should just do a movie tag here on my blog.
everyone i've talked to about this has been completely unaware so: if you didn't know already, there's going to be a solar eclipse, with totality or coverage of 90% or more in some places, over a lot of europe, on august 12th 2026. in the uk it will start just after 6pm, and the maximum will be at 7:13pm.
here is a map of the path of the eclipse (from timeanddate)
get eclipse glasses if you want to look at it. it is not safe to look at through sunglasses. ok informative post over o7
yess, incredible substance!! I started going on tangents in the tags but it got long enough to warrant a reblog with a text body ⬇️
Not all albums are created equally in this regard, of course, but it's SO satisfying when thought has clearly been put into the track list selection and order of songs. Some examples:
I know I keep yapping about Rosalía, but I must mention Lux. The first song, about the tensions of living in the profane world and thinking about a spiritual one, opens with "How nice to live between the two / to go to heaven and then back to earth / I'll love the world then god" and the last song, imagining her funeral, features a bridge with the lyrics "God descends / I ascend / we meet in the middle". I LOVE SHIT LIKE THAT!
Next up, Lorde on Pure Heroine, opens the album on "Don't you think that it's boring how people talk", ends it on "People are talking - let them talk" no notes, precise yet subtle.
Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay is cheating a bit, since it's basically a concept album, but the transitions between songs and the returning motifs are top notch. This culminates in "The ballad of Matt and Mica", where some melody and lyrics return from the first song, at the same time leaving the narrative of the album and stepping into the real world (Matt and Mica being names of the band members).
To mention a classic I'll say Ziggy Stardust (also a concept album, I guess those are the albums where the whole is more often considered?). The pained "give me your hands!" in Rock n' Roll Suicide is perfect for closing out the album, doubly so because it seems to maybe be a Shakespeare reference? In Midsummer night's dream, it's part of the closing lines, essentially asking the audience to applaud the performance.
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