![Luke Cage: Moment of Truth [1x01] ✦ Watchalong Reaction & Review](https://img5.xaiju.com/storage/1/sa/th/d38796-019e7b8e-be26-76e5-9ede-4f7c0bb184b9.jpg)
Luke Cage: Moment of Truth [1x01] ✦ Watchalong Reaction & Review
Added 2024-10-04 00:00:08 +0000 UTCHello there! This reaction is available as part of my "Try Before You Buy" reaction videos here on Patreon. For the TV series that I react to at the Insiders tiers, I give the first episode out for free so you can experience it with me and see if you're up for joining us to continue! You must have your own copy of the episodes to watchalong as I do blur the episodes and have the audio muted. I leave a few seconds of it up at the start of each episode for syncing purposes. I am not allowed to distribute the entire episodes in my videos as this is illegal. Thank you for watching along with me!
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And my Marvel journey continues with a show I'm pretty hyped about! [Direct link here.]
Thank you so much for watching along with me! I'm so looking forward to your comments and thoughts!
✦ KL
Comments
i mentioned before the problems I heard about Intimacy Coordinators. I think the main issue is the title and job specification. Stunt coordinators make sure people are safe but they are not usually the fight choreography. Obviously on small films they might pull double duty. But fight choreographers will plan out a fight with stunt men and film it based on the script and initial talks with the director. After shooting a test run the choreographer edits it and shows the director. They discuss and it gets refined until the director is happy and then the actors are re trained in it. I would be fine with an Intimacy choreographer that did everything a fight choreographer did then I as the person in charge of the vision for the film can keep my vision and get all the kinks out ahead of shooting. And so that my actors are well prepared and know what is expected of them.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-05 03:44:29 +0000 UTCSo everything you, Rat, said would be on an unprofessional film shoot that isn't properly prepped. I haven't seen the Deborah and Jon podcast episode, it's in the playlist, but any intimate scene should be choreographed beforehand. This isn't show up on the day of and figure it out then, because that's where the problem comes in. There are a lot of inexperienced, "artsy fartsy" directors or wannabe Kubricks and Hertzogs that want to find the moment on the day. Intimate scenes should be prepped and blocked like fight scenes and dance scene. That means there should be at least one day where the director and the actors (and for some the DP) discuss how the scene will happen. Hand placement should already be discussed beforehand. In a fight scene, people can get hurt if the actors aren't prepared, good directors know this. When everyone is onset there should be no questions of uncertainty about what is or isn't about to happen. So to me Intimacy Coordinators are a bandaid for a larger problem where studios are hiring artsy directors and have shitty preproduction schedules. Which that falls onto incompetent producers. You see this sort of thing happen with Marvel movies where they hire obscure directors that won an Oscar but have no idea how to actually direct a large scale superhero film. Some directors have a style that does work for fight scenes and some that shouldn't be making films with sex/intimate scenes.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-05 03:37:43 +0000 UTCWell, I know that a lot of actors are happy about having them...because they also act as sort of a mediator between the two actors. In the podcast between Deborah Ann Woll and Jon Bernthal that I posted last week, she specifically mentions that it's helpful to her to know where someone is ok with being touched so that, once she knows the boundaries, it gives her freedom to work within them. I suppose, like with anything, there's always a chance of someone putting too much of themselves into the job...but if they're doing the job RIGHT, it should just be helping create what the director wants while the actors feel safe and supported and know what their scene partner is okay with. In a perfect world, the actors would feel comfortable voicing these things themselves...but not at sets are created equally...and sometimes folks don't feel safe to say "I'm really not okay with that."
Rat MacKay
2024-10-05 03:17:06 +0000 UTCI followed an intimacy coordinator on TikTok for a while and she was so kind and knowledgable that I couldn't imagine anyone having an issue with her on set, but it's possible that since the role is still so new, there are filmmaking teams who 1) Aren't used to them, and 2) Struggle to make room for their assistance. I believe she did make a few videos about conflicts that can arise and I know for a fact that part of her job is giving feedback to the directors. I can see this causing clashes where people are quick to blame the IC's. I also think every industry has people that are good for their role and people that aren't. Perhaps you'll get to work with one in the future and see for yourself what it's like!
kaiielle
2024-10-05 03:12:01 +0000 UTCI actually hate intimacy coordinators. Stories I have heard is they upset flow like agents and managers do on sets. I know I don't like anyone getting between myself and the actors. I know all directors work in vastly different ways but if the director isn't communicating from day one on what his or her vision is then an actor should be the one saying something just like they do for stunts. Some people equate stunt coordinators to be the same as intimacy coordinators. It is vastly different. Stunt coordinator does what the director says but makes it safe. Stories I have heard is intimacy coordinators are changing scenes based on their own sense of decency and interpretation of the script. Budget restraints stop stunts not stunt coordinator but intimacy coordinators have power to shutdown a shoot. At least that's the vibe I get from people I have spoken to about them.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-04 21:53:19 +0000 UTCI'm happy that now intimacy coordinators are now a thing. There should be someone on set to advocate for the actors and to act as a go-between for those scenes to keep everyone both comfortable and on the same page.
Rat MacKay
2024-10-04 21:37:48 +0000 UTCResponding to your comment about sex scenes. As a person who has directed two sex/sexual scenes, it is not fun. You try to make the mood light but there's not really fun. Just directing actors on kissing is a whole thing. How should they kiss, where should their hands go, how long do they kiss, are they moving around as they kiss? Details matter in these scenes and when you aren't detailed, that's when you hear stories of directors who let the actors figure it out and women feel like they are being sexually assaulted like in The Last Tango in Paris. If a person is uncomfortable talking about sex and sex related things it's going to be impossible to direct and act out these types of scenes. I had directed multiple fight scenes years prior and approached sex scenes the same way. They have to be choreographed and rehearsed. Obviously for sex scenes they are fully clothed and lots or lighting. On the day of you try and make the actors feel comfortable and especially make sure the actress feels safe considering there's about 10 guys all around with their different jobs, I can only imagine what the actors are feeling. I remember a story about Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigel for Knocked Up. Rogen basically told Katherine before the scene, "I'm sorry if I get aroused(boner) and I'm sorry if I don't get aroused." I always laugh at that because I know exactly what he means. I believe Katherine told him to please not get aroused. Anyway I know this has nothing to do with the show but just wanted to add that.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-04 21:10:24 +0000 UTCYea Luke Cage always felt real. Like you could run into him on the actual street.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-04 20:38:34 +0000 UTCThe deal with Mariah and Cottonmouth where she used federal money to help him expand his business is a very common form of corruption in cities. This sort of thing happens a lot here in my home town and in the neighboring New Orleans.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-04 20:36:23 +0000 UTCOrganized crime has mostly dealt with prostitution but included Alcohol in the 1920s, Gambling after that. Then in the 1970s when soldiers returned from Vietnam, many were addicted to heroin from the opiate in southeast Asia (an issue that plagued the region for centuries) and as the U.S. waged a war on central and south American countries that were thinking of going Communist, Cocaine emerged in the U.S. So organized crime turned to those two drugs. My point is that drugs are typically easy to distribute and cut down to make more profit where prostitution, gambling and the speakeasies always required buildings for people to gather in which opened them up to raids by police.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-04 20:33:30 +0000 UTCYes it is so so good. And Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro directed Blade 2. And Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel co-star in Blade 3
Carl Johnson
2024-10-04 20:26:50 +0000 UTCYes they were. As I have said the worst show/seasons sre better than the Disney plus stuff.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-04 20:23:45 +0000 UTCAnd every episode features a different artist and musical set by their band.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-04 20:20:55 +0000 UTCBut she lives on the edge and typically operates in midtown.
Carl Johnson
2024-10-04 20:20:01 +0000 UTCMight be better than the movies
C. J. Ramirez
2024-10-04 15:50:04 +0000 UTCLuke and Mack together would be very fun!
kaiielle
2024-10-04 14:44:15 +0000 UTCYeah I'm looking forward to seeing where they take him.
kaiielle
2024-10-04 14:43:51 +0000 UTCThanks for the reminder! Feel like that's never said nearly as much as in Daredevil. 😂
kaiielle
2024-10-04 14:43:48 +0000 UTCThat's fun!
kaiielle
2024-10-04 14:43:00 +0000 UTCThank you for clarifying!
kaiielle
2024-10-04 14:42:36 +0000 UTCInteresting first episode slowly getting us into the world of Luke Cage which is how it should be building story and characters and also throwing in an easter egg to Ironman 2, Hammer industry as the makers of the weapons in the deal. Should be fun seeing Luke become more confident as he grows to helping out people, my favorite things were seeing that guys arm break when he hit luke and the last guy... yah I didnt even like those guys lol. I want to see a side by side of Luke and Mack from AoS both of those dudes are buff i know luke is bigger but I still wouldnt want to mess with Mack .
Chris Elkins
2024-10-04 13:58:07 +0000 UTCLuke Cage villians in the comics are snake themed.
Christopher simeon
2024-10-04 11:29:41 +0000 UTCLuke is probably my second fave of the street level heroes from the Netflix shows. I think he's a lot like the average person would be if they woke up and suddenly had abilities. Sure, we all think that we would run right out and fight the good fight...but most of us wouldn't want the added attention (and potential target on our backs) that comes from being "other"... he's a lot like Jessica in that respect...just a lot more well-adjusted than she is.
Rat MacKay
2024-10-04 05:53:33 +0000 UTCJessica lives in Hell's Kitchen just like Daredevil.
David Fürstenberg
2024-10-04 05:40:29 +0000 UTCYep...this. As someone who lives in an area where water moccasins are fairly common, I have the occasional run-in with them on my ride to or from work. There's nothing quite like seeing what looks like a dark pile of clothes on a path at night and then seeing a pale mouth open up at you to make you long for the security of a car instead of a scooter! However, they usually want nothing to do with humans and I've never had one try to strike at me or anything, thankfully. (One did try to literally slither up onto the footboard of my scooter one time, but it was just crossing the road and I came up from behind and alongside it as it exited the grass and went onto the sidewalk...I think it just thought my scooter was some sort of obstacle to cross, not that he wanted to hitch a ride or give me a nibble)
Rat MacKay
2024-10-04 05:39:36 +0000 UTCFun fact: every episode title is a named after a different song from the pioneer rap duo, Gang Starr, who was influential in the golden era of hip hop in the 90s. Now I’m going to watch the reaction lol
Ray H
2024-10-04 05:26:31 +0000 UTC“Cottonmouth” isn’t racist. It’s a type of snake. Just like Diamondback… Although there are heavy racial undertones in the original comic. Luke was created during the era of blaxplotation films of the 70s, Shaft, Foxy Brown, etc... His counterpart, Iron Fist, was an attempt to capitalize on Kung Fu films like those staring Bruce Lee.
Warren Robinson
2024-10-04 03:05:45 +0000 UTCThey've been so good. I've been having a lot of fun!
kaiielle
2024-10-04 02:28:16 +0000 UTCThat shot was a good one, for sure!
kaiielle
2024-10-04 02:28:08 +0000 UTCI need to watch that trilogy one day!
kaiielle
2024-10-04 02:27:32 +0000 UTCThe marvel tv shows were elite back then
C. J. Ramirez
2024-10-04 02:21:07 +0000 UTCOkay, full disclosure, I never bought into the whole "attracted to bad boys" thing. I've always felt that was more of a rebellion issue or maybe deep down that person is bad themselves. But damn Theo Rossi is one bad boy that has my heart. Dude literally was a drug dealer that turned his life around, went to school, and started a whole acting career and now is a major philanthropist. He's proof you can change if you want to. There was a debate for a while whether Alfre Woodard's Mariah character was related to Charles Spencer's mother from Captain America: Civil War since they were both played by Alfre Woodard. It's down to fans to decide separately. As they say, everyone has a doppelganger. I LOVE the shot of the ganger's wrist literally breaking as he hit Luke. Amazing, amazing shot. Looking forward to reliving this season!
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2024-10-04 02:18:22 +0000 UTCYou should check out some pics of original Power Man and Iron Fist comics. This show does a great job of dodging the problematic mines of the origins of Luke Cage. No spoiling Iron Fist's ability to do the same. Also, such good music. in both honestly.
Christopher Smith
2024-10-04 01:01:28 +0000 UTCwanna let you know that the actor who plays Cottonmouth (Mahershala Ali) was actually cast in the MCU as Blade, which you did hear his voice in the post credit scene of Eternals. He has a solo movie coming up in phase 6 but it's been going through development hell for the past 5 years so we're all patiently and impatiently waiting for the MCU Blade reboot after the wonderful trilogy with Wesley Snipes back in the late 90s/early 2000s
Arti
2024-10-04 00:12:47 +0000 UTC
