"Last of US" HBO mini-series

[Andrew NDB]

(based on the video game series)

Pedro Pascal has been cast as Joel:

https://www.darkhorizons.com/pedro-p...OUQrqJgns7u1mU

And earlier today Ellie was cast:
https://nordic.ign.com/news/43588/hb...-star-as-ellie

Bella Ramsey, also from GoT.

I loved Bella Ramsey in GoT, but she doesn't seem the part. Neither does Pedro.

[Andrew NDB]

So it premiered yesterday. Decent. Though it seems like the only reason they got rid of spores (the infected now have tendrils that come out of their mouth and go into the mouths of the victims instead) was so Pedro wouldn't have to wear a gas mask even part of the time.

Pedro did a fine job and it works. Bella Ramsey is a great actress but -- and this sounds horrible -- she kind of has like a light dusting of "down syndrome face." They didn't need to get a lookalike from the game but I dunno. Not this.

[CyberCubed]

Haven't watched it yet but I don't know why they purposely chose an actress that looks absolutely *nothing* like Ellie at all. I mean is it really that hard to find a real life girl who looks very similar to Ellie? It almost seems like they purposely went with an actress with the exact opposite look. It really takes me out of it looking at the trailers and this doesn't seem like the same Ellie I played and protected in two games.

[Andrew NDB]

Here are the others who were up for the part and auditioned:

https://en.as.com/meristation_en/202...54_936782.html

Damn, I didn't know Kiernan Shipka tried out. A few years ago would have been better, though, as she's looking pretty adult now.

Looks like Kaitlyn Dever had the part for a while but lost it due to COVID delays and aging out. She was a pretty good ringer for Ellie!

[Coola Yagami]

Apparently Bella is 19, so I guess she has that Tom Holland/Zandaya thing where she's stuck looking like a kid.

Yeah, appearance-wise she's a horrible choice. From that article you showed us, the girl on the bottom middle of that grid flat out is Ellie come to life. But eh, you know Hollywood. The article is kissing Bella's ass and acting like 'omg, looks just like Ellie came to life' when no... no she doesn't.



But let's be honest. This is current year. We kinda have to give up on people even trying to get characters looking right. This proves that race-swapping isn't the only way one can horribly miscast someone.

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Bella Ramsey is a great actress but -- and this sounds horrible -- she kind of has like a light dusting of "down syndrome face."

I mean....

[Andrew NDB]

Nico Parker, who played Joel's now-black daughter, addresses the "toxic fandom":

https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/16/the-l...-row-18111773/

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Nico Parker, who played Joel's now-black daughter, addresses the "toxic fandom":

https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/16/the-l...-row-18111773/

They just can't help themselves.

[ChosenOne]

"Innovative in its inclusiveness"? The first game had one black character... Pretty ridiculous point to make a mountain out of a molehill. Nico was so damn good in the role, maybe even the best in the episode... Just take the win and move on.

[Sumac]

Tis idiots seriously act like before them, all characters were White and Straight.

It doesn't matter that Black characters were in the movies even back in the beginning of 20th century, nah, its all doesn't count. Ignorance of this retards is seriously astonishing, not to mention degrading to people who ACTUALLY accomplished something in the past, when Racism and Sexism were the norm, unlike nowadays.

But who cares about old Black actors, who were pioneers in the movies and White people who, despite common ideology at the time, helped them? Nah, doesn't count, hadn't happened. Its all starts now with our generation!!

****ing clowns.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

"Innovative in its inclusiveness"? The first game had one black character... Pretty ridiculous point to make a mountain out of a molehill. Nico was so damn good in the role, maybe even the best in the episode... Just take the win and move on.

Naw, they'll continue to grandstand and virtue signal. They can't help themselves. They don't even see the actress as a person, just her skin color. Just a prop to wave around.

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by Sumac

Tis idiots seriously act like before them, all characters were White and Straight.

It doesn't matter that Black characters were in the movies even back in the beginning of 20th century, nah, its all doesn't count. Ignorance of this retards is seriously astonishing, not to mention degrading to people who ACTUALLY accomplished something in the past, when Racism and Sexism were the norm, unlike nowadays.

But who cares about old Black actors, who were pioneers in the movies and White people who, despite common ideology at the time, helped them? Nah, doesn't count, hadn't happened. Its all starts now with our generation!!

****ing clowns.

Remember what they tried to do to Gone With the Wind? Hattie did more for the cause than all of them together ever will, I could watch a whole other 3+ hour movie of just her playing that character... And it’s almost like they resent her for it. Utterly insane, these people.

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

Remember what they tried to do to Gone With the Wind? Hattie did more for the cause than all of them together ever will, I could watch a whole other 3+ hour movie of just her playing that character... And it’s almost like they resent her for it. Utterly insane, these people.

Those idiots squeal about "culture appropriation", but they are the biggest appropriators of everything else, especially achievements of other people.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

"Innovative in its inclusiveness"? The first game had one black character...

I count 4. Marlene, Henry & Sam, plus the little black girl who Ellie fell in love with in the prelude chapter Neil retconned in (which made the other co-creator walk away from the franchise because she didn't create Ellie as a lesbian but Neil really, reallt wanted that).

It's interesting, also, in the new Last of Us Part I game. I'm looking at the side-by-sides of this version compared to the remastered version from years ago. They've actually gone through and race-swapped some of the Fedra guards. Just on a cursory glance, a black Fedra guy and an Asian Fedra guy are BOTH white guys now. Fancy that!

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I count 4. Marlene, Henry & Sam, plus the little black girl who Ellie fell in love with in the prelude chapter Neil retconned in (which made the other co-creator walk away from the franchise because she didn't create Ellie as a lesbian).

How could I forget Henry and Sam? Gonna be heartbreaking to watch that in live action. You're quite right, though. Please ignore my previous statement.

[Turo602]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I count 4. Marlene, Henry & Sam, plus the little black girl who Ellie fell in love with in the prelude chapter Neil retconned in (which made the other co-creator walk away from the franchise because she didn't create Ellie as a lesbian but Neil really, reallt wanted that).

That's complete bullsh*t. Neil Druckmann was the creative director and writer for The Last of Us. He created Ellie and went in that direction for her. I have no idea who you're referring to, but co-director Bruce Straley didn't leave Naughty Dog until he was done with Uncharted 4 due to Naughty Dog's horrible crunch culture.

[Andrew NDB]

I missed this entirely:

https://dailyhive.com/calgary/the-la...lberta-casting

So they're changing Sam to be deaf. Gotta check that box, now.

[Andrew NDB]

The latest episode is getting "unanimous" praise from critics. What is it? Well, it's the Bill part of the story.

Spoiler:

Except Joel and Ellie never even run into him in the present and he's dead before the episode begins. In the game you run into Bill, get caught up in one of his traps (in one of the game's most memorable sequences) and there's a lot of great back and forth between Bill and Ellie and at the end of the "mission" you find Frank, who Bill suspiciously and repeatedly mentions was his "partner" in the game (which I KNEW they would zero in on in the show), has hung himself and left a hate letter for Bill. In this, all of that is out the window and it's just an hour spent on Bill and Frank's love story in the past before they killed themselves. Meaning there is no point to this episode but to jerk some tears and virtue signal. Bill doesn't assist Ellie's journey because they never even meet now, or can ever meet.

Totally stupid, totally transparent.

[IMJ]

The show has been very watchable so far, but it has a lot of time and a lot of space to jump the shark. I'm just going to watch it as long as it's entertaining and as soon as it starts with the bull$#!(, I'll just stop.

[oldmanwinters]

So I never actually played the game/games or watched any of the show, but I've seen some folks take issue that the series romanticizes assisted suicide. Any legitimacy to that?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

So I never actually played the game/games or watched any of the show, but I've seen some folks take issue that the series romanticizes assisted suicide. Any legitimacy to that?

This latest episode, yes. Literally romanticizes it.

Spoiler:

Bill helps Frank kill himself and then takes the same poison himself to die. Frank tells him, "That's the most romantic thing I've ever seen."