#Drone Award 2020 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

grigori77 · 25 days

Text

Movies of 2024 - My Pre-Summer Rundown (Part 2)

The Top Ten:

10. LAND OF BAD – Remember back in 2020 when I heaped praise on the harrowing deep sea horror thriller Underwater, the first proper studio movie from up-and-coming writer-director William Eubank, after he’d become one of my one-to-watch rising star filmmakers with his first two, definitively INDIE sci-fi movies Love and The Signal? I’m sure my regulars will … anyways, he’s shed the more outlandish genre trappings for his fourth feature, but none of his winning auteur flair, robust atmospherics and deft skill at crafting meaty action sequences, this time turning his already deeply assured artistic hand to cranking out a good old fashioned action flick, and the results are as impressive as previous showings. This one definitely has the strongest star power to date, what with the new Netflix Witcher himself, Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) putting in a typically solid action hero showing as Sgt. “Playboy” Kinney, a young US Air Force TACP officer who finds himself attached to a small Delta Force team braving Philippines jungle to rescue a captive CIA asset from an imbedded terrorist cell; Russell Crowe, meanwhile, chews the scenery as Capt. Eddie “Reaper” Grimm, the grizzled, OCD-riddled drone pilot assigned to provide overwatch and air support throughout the operation. Needless to say, when things go badly wrong and Kinney finds himself alone in the bush with angry hostiles hot on his heels, Grimm becomes his only hope for making it out alive … this is a typically big, loud and VERY dumb action-fest that wears its trope-heavy heart on its Star Spangled sleeve, but Eubank and The Signal’s co-writer David Frigerio keep things compelling and make it EASY for us to invest in the story’s well-rounded characters, while the cast are all on fine form, the two EXTREMELY capable leads ably supported by Heroes’ Milo Ventimiglia, American Gods’ Ricky Whittle and Hemsworth’s brother Luke (Westworld) as the Delta troopers, and Chika Ikogwe (Heartbreak High, The Tourist) as Grimm’s steadfast co-pilot Staff Sgt. Nia Branson. Of course, at the end of the day we don’t watch these kinds of movies for complex plots, Oscar-worthy performances or Shakespeare-level scripts – this is all about thrilling escapist action, big explosions and maybe even some deftly-executed, stylistic cinematographic eye candy, and Eubank and co DEFINITELY delivered on ALL those fronts, crafting a persistently white-knuckle rollercoaster ride that’s guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Subtle it ain’t, but this movie does EXACTLY what it promises to, and does it with STYLE.

9. THE IRON CLAW – Acclaimed indie filmmaker Sean Durkin has been making waves ever since 2011 with his complex psychological drama Martha Marcy May Marlene and its long-gestating 2020 follow-up The Nest, but his third feature is finally propelling him into BIG TIME star-power recognition with this intense, unflinching and emotionally devastating exploration of the haunting true story of the Von Erich family, who rose to stardom in the late 70s to ALMOST become the dominant sporting dynasty in American pro-wrestling, except for a persistent family “curse” which kept them from every truly achieving that coveted top spot. Rocked by a string of accidents and harrowing deaths, it’s a compelling tale of tragedy and heartbreak which writer-director Durkin has turned into one of the year’s most powerful pieces of worthy Award-bait (only to be unfairly and comprehensively SNUBBED across the board, particularly by the Academy). The story unfolds predominantly from the point-of-view of Kevin Von Erich (Zac Efron), the (sort of) eldest son of the family’s brutally overbearing never-quite-made-it veteran wrestler patriarch Fritz (Mindhunter’s Holt McCallany), whose dream is to be the greatest pro-wrestler of all time, only for his dad to continually pass him over for his brothers David (Trust’s Harris Dickinson), Kerry (The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White) and Mike (Superior and Two Sentence Horror Stories’ Stanley Simons) while he tries to fulfil his own dream of creating a wrestling-based media empire … only for compounded tragedy to knock the Von Erichs off their newfound pedestal just as they’ve reached it. Durkin has crafted a potent biopic of significant raw power, turning one of the darkest chapters of the dawn of modern pro-wrestling into two of the most heartbreaking hours I’ve spent at the cinema in a good long while, largely reining in any artistic flair and indulgence to instead let the challenging story and well-realised characters do the heavy lifting, and the uniformly EXCEPTIONAL cast definitely rose to the occasion. All four of the young actors playing the Von Erich sons are amazing here, particularly White, while Maura Tierney and Lily James help to keep the film from getting TOO overwhelmed by burgeoning testosterone as the boys’ gentle, devout mother Doris and Kevin’s opinionated young wife Pam; in the end, though, the film is soundly dominated by the two-handed lead fireworks from Efron and McCallany – Zac has NEVER been better than he is here, going above-and-beyond by COMPLETELY transforming himself physically while also acting his socks off in what must have been an extremely draining performance, while it’s nice to FINALLY see Holt get a role that can REALLY get him his amazing talents the recognition they’ve long deserved, sinking his teeth into a complex portrayal of a man who never quite made it for himself and is now determined to live that dream vicariously through his own children, no matter the cost to their wellbeing. The results are, ultimately, a very tough watch, but this is an incredibly well-made film that rewards those who are strong enough to tough it out, albeit one which is guaranteed to jerk a whole lot of tears out of viewers before the end credits roll.

8. DOUBLE BLIND – Every year there’s at least a handful of under-the-radar indies that really impress me enough that I’m willing to really champion them, and it’s particularly gratifying whenever I find one which blows critics and other audience members away as much as myself. Such it is with the feature debut of Irish director Ian Hunt-Duffy, a sneaky psychological horror thriller which has earned itself a coveted 100% Fresh Score from Rotten Tomatoes with its mixture of slowburn creepiness, burgeoning stress-driven paranoid terror and some particularly twisted mind-bending body horror. Millie Brady (The Last Kingdom, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies) makes for a compellingly believable rough-around-the-edges every-girl heroine as Claire, a down-on-her-luck young woman who enrols in a double blind trial for an experimental drug to keep from becoming homeless, only to become increasingly miserable as the compound she’s been injected with causes chronic insomnia in herself and her fellow test subjects. Then one of them suddenly dies in the most horrible way when her exhausted body finally succumbs to long-prevented sleep, and it quickly becomes clear that every one of them is now living on dangerously short borrowed time, while the pharmaceutical company they’ve been commissioned by is suddenly refusing to let them out of quarantine … Brady’s ably supported by a small but perfectly cast collection of acting talent, with Akshay Kumar (Pandora, Homeland) and Diarmuid Noyes (Borgia) particularly impressing as fellow sleep-deprived lab rats and Pollyanna McIntosh (The Walking Dead) as the trial’s put-upon overseer, Dr Burke, while Hunt-Duffy wrangles his potent cast through the increasingly nightmarish twists and turns of the harrowing script, crafted with similarly assured skill by fellow newcomer screenwriter Darach McGarrigle. Altogether this is an incredible debut by a couple of clear one-to-watch talents, and a nifty little uncut gem which deserves some sleeper hit status going forward. Definitely well worth chasing down and giving a chance.

7. LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL – Australian writer-director duo Colin and Cameron Cairnes exploded onto the indie horror scene with their delirious jet black comedy horror 100 Bloody Acres back in 2012, which proved to be one of the most enjoyably OUT THERE horror flicks I’ve EVER SEEN come out of Aussie cinema, and they continued the trend with similarly ingenious but significantly more serious deadly prank-show slasher Scare Campaign. Their long awaited Hollywood debut definitely plays itself dead straight, presenting a fictional faux-documentary presentation of a long-lost episode of fictional 1970s chat show Night Owls (together with “recently unearthed” B-roll footage of backstage events) in which struggling TV host Jack Delroy (The Suicide Squad’s David Dastmalchian) attempts to put his long-time second-place show (always outshone by The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson) at the top of the ratings board by capping his annual Halloween Special with a live interview with a demon supposedly inhabiting the teenage sole survivor of the bloody massacre of a Satanic cult. This is EASILY the scariest film I’ve seen this year (so far), a genuinely skin-crawling, spine-chilling piece of thoroughly queasy-making atmospheric horror that uses its period setting to perfect effect to not only give the unfolding events a convincing flavour but also pay off some particularly interesting era-specific themes and conceits. Even before the horror elements start to come to the fore the film is shot through with a palpable sense of lingering dread, building to a genuinely terrifying climactic unleashing of nightmarish proportions to rival the very classic genre mainstays, like The Exorcist and The Omen, that it’s clearly paying loving homage to. There are quality turns from a very game cast, particularly Ian Bliss (The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions) as one of the night’s guests, Carmichael Haig, a stage magician-turned professional sceptic, and Ingrid Torelli (Five Bedrooms) as Lilly, the supremely creepy overly-cheerful and polite vessel of demonic possession, but the film is definitely dominated by its lead, Dastmalchian turning in yet an astounding performance of perfectly pitched charismatic charm that hides an intriguingly affecting reserve of wounded vulnerability, powering the film’s horrifying events through to their genuinely shocking conclusion. Did I mention there’s also an enjoyably quirky turn from Michael Ironside as the documentary narrator? That’s just the icing on the cake for a truly perfect slice of horror cinema which, in a purely critical rundown, would likely top my horror cinema list for the year. As it is, this WAS one hell of a genre gem …

6. THE BEEKEEPER – David Ayer doing a big noisy action-heavy revenge thriller starring Jason Statham? That’s totally gonna be a clunky, cheesy guilty pleasure, right? It’s definitely what the trailer made it look like – imagine my surprise, then, when this turned out to be a surprisingly solid, meaty and, above all else, INTELLIGENT actioner which provides a far greater cerebral challenge than your average by-the-numbers exploitation thriller. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be THAT surprised – Ayer may have made the lowbrow likes of the first Suicide Squad movie, Bright (which I nonetheless didn’t think deserved ANYTHING LIKE the amount of hate it actually got) and the rightly derided The Tax Collector, but he’s also the director who brought us genuinely IMPRESSIVE cinema like Fury, End of Watch and the best movie Arnold Schwarzenegger’s done in a damn long while, Sabotage. This one definitely belongs in THAT camp, Ayer delivering with gusto like he always does on the action front but also investing a good deal more substance and emotional depth, due in no small part to the additional efforts of a deeply committed leading man and a thought-provokingly timely screenplay from Kurt Wimmer (Law Abiding Citizen, Salt and Ayer’s own Street Kings). Statham stars as Adam Clay, a beekeeper renting some farmland from retired schoolteacher Eloise Parker (the legendary Phylicia Rashad), who falls victim to an online phishing scam which sees her stripped of her life savings and the entire balance of a $2 million charity fund she manages, leading her to commit suicide in shame. Bad news for the scammers, though, when it turns out that Clay’s profession is merely a cover, because he’s actually a FIGURATIVE Beekeeper, an agent for a covert governmental security program SO SECRET that almost nobody even knows it exists, a genuinely LETHAL former special forces badass so highly skilled that he makes Navy SEALs look like National Guard, and he’s got the technological counter-terrorist knowhow to make tracking down these nefarious f£$%ers proper child’s-play. You can, of course, TOTALLY see where this is gonna go … even so, this is a film which genuinely keeps you guessing, never telegraphing its heavyweight punches and throwing in plenty of twists over the course of its surprisingly streamlined 105 minute runtime. As the star of the Expendables and Transporter movies, Statham can do this kind of action (anti) hero role in his sleep, but he really shows up in all the ways that count here, making Clay come across as a preternatural badass who nonetheless has some subtly nuanced layers underneath his seemingly bulletproof, tightly toned shell; The Umbrella Academy’s Emmy Raver-Lampman, meanwhile, helps keep the exposition from getting dull and keeps the unravelling mystery fascinating as Eloise’s acerbic yet dogged FBI agent daughter Verona Parker, torn between her duty to bring Clay in and her personal investment in seeing the people responsible for her mother’s death pay for their crimes, while Josh Hutcherson and genuinely living legend Jeremy Irons make for compellingly complex antagonists as tech billionaire Derek Danforth, the louche and reptilian owner of the company that covertly runs the online scams, and his extremely reluctant protector, suave former CIA director-turned security expert Wallace Westwyld. Altogether this is in an entirely different league than most of the action cinema I’ve seen Statham in over the years, Ayer and Wimmer helping him create his most interesting genre character TO DATE, one that I trust, given the film’s skilful sequel teasing and its deservedly MASSIVE box office performance, shouldn’t take long to return to the big screen, and I for one CANNOT WAIT …

5. LOVE LIES BLEEDING – Rose Glass made a suitably offbeat splash with her directorial feature debut Saint Maud back in 2019, a deeply twisted psychological horror about religious fervour … so her subsequence team-up with A24 made perfect sense to me. Even so, when I found out that her next project was a psychological thriller about lesbian bodybuilders I still had NO IDEA what to expect, certainly not from THIS filmmaker … and even now I’ve seen it (TWICE, in fact), I STILL don’t know QUITE what to make of it. This is a seriously WEIRD film, kind of like a postmodern LGBTQ version of Body Heat married to the bizarre existential extremes of Mandy, maybe, but I can’t deny that, while it definitely left me baffled, I couldn’t deny that it was also a deeply fascinating, thoroughly compelling and unapologetically SEXY film too, one of THE hottest thrillers I’ve come across in a good long while. Kristen Stewart and my girl Katie O’Brian (seriously, I’ve been a fan ever since Z Nation, long before she was in The Mandalorian and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania) are both ON FIRE, both metaphorically and VERY NEARLY literally, as Lou Langston, the very publicly lesbian manager of a cruddy Albuquerque gym in 1989, and new-to-town drifter Jackie Cleaver, an aspiring bodybuilder trying to make her way to Las Vegas to attend a competition in Las Vegas. The pair fall fast and VERY HARD in love, but storm clouds are already gathering as the FBI are sniffing round Lou, looking for her reluctant help in bringing down her local criminal kingpin father Lou Langston Sr. (Ed Harris), while Lou’s sister Beth (Jenna Malone) is suffering at the hands of her increasingly vicious abusive husband J.J. (Dave Franco), and one night everything comes to a head and their lives are thrown into utter chaos … this film has a much more complicated, overblown and downright TWISTED plot than it really has any need for, but this isn’t a film where the story is really THAT IMPORTANT, Glass and co-writer Weronika Tofilska instead concentrating most of their effort on the complex and morally ambiguous characters and their deeply unhealthy interpersonal relationships. Even the two lead protagonists, despite their powerful love, are definitely a much more toxic mess than the trailers made them out to be, but the way they’re played means we still can’t help rooting for them no matter WHAT they do – this is definitely THE BEST performance I’ve seen Stewart deliver to date, even putting her recent acclaimed turn in Spencer to shame, while I’ve been waiting so long for O’Brian to FINALLY land a role that TRULY fits her largely underrated talents, which this DEFINITELY IS, and their chemistry is genuinely OFF THE CHARTS, every one of their scenes threatening to ignite the celluloid, even when they’ve both got all their clothes ON; meanwhile the rest of the cast similarly impress, Harris particularly proving a suitably spooky villain as he plays it subtly charming and seductive, while Dickinson’s Anna Baryshnikov is supremely creepy as Daisy, an emotionally manipulative local lesbian who’s formed a particularly uncomfortable obsession with Lou. Steamy, unsettling, shocking and frequently downright NASTY, with a line in truly WEIRD hallucinatory escapism bordering on genuine body horror, this is definitely NOT a film for the faint-hearted OR the easily offended, but its many virtues FAR exceed any flaws it may display, meaning that Rose Glass has got another winner on her hands, while A24 have got another high profile ODDITY to further perplex and thrill their fans with.

4. ABIGAIL – My current horror movie of the year is TWO of my favourite things in the genre rolled into one – if there’s one thing I really CAN’T resist, it’s well-executed horror comedy, where a film is genuinely scary, but it doesn’t take itself OVERLY seriously, and has a real strong sense of humour. I’m also a real sucker for VAMPIRES (ahem). Put the two together and a movie has to try REAL HARD for me not to like it, so this one was pretty much guaranteed to get me on its side before it even started. Co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Opin and Tyler Gillett have been sneaking round the outskirts of my movie-fan radar for a few years now, having first proper popped up just before COVID with black comedy slasher Ready Or Not, before bringing the last two Scream movies into cinemas (I may have been underwhelmed by the fifth, but the sixth was definitely a major step back in the right direction). Not that I even realised THIS was from them until after the fact – I took it entirely for its own merits, drawn in purely by the intriguing premise and promise of equal part scares and laughs, and it did not disappoint, EASILY proving to be the best offering I’ve seen from them both so far. Scream’s Melissa Barrera stars as “Joey”, one of an anonymous crew of crooks brought together by sleazy criminal mastermind Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito) to facilitate the kidnapping of the eponymous young ballerina daughter (Mathilda the Musical’s Alisha Weir) of a local business rival. The job seems to go off without a hitch, and they settle in for a twenty-four hour wait in an isolated mansion before the ransom exchange, charged with keeping an eye on the girl … before one of them turns up dead in the worst way possible, and it dawns on them that there’s something truly monstrous stalking the halls of the house. Best not give away any more than that, ‘least not for those who didn’t get the twist pretty comprehensively spoiled by the advertising campaign … suffice to say that what unfolds is a blood-soaked, riotously entertaining blackly comic horror-show that kept me hooked right through a selection of effective twists to a particularly surprising climax. Barrera and the rest are clearly having the time of their lives here, everybody going all out with the material with more than one enjoyably ripe, larger-than-life performance to really impress (not least Dan Stevens, who chews the scenery with particular wild-eyed enthusiasm throughout), while this definitely provides a fitting farewell to one of the cast – “Dean” was the final role of Euphoria’s Angus Cloud before his tragic death last year, and he really did himself proud here. This is one of the most full-on visceral vampire movies I’ve seen in a while, rivalling last year’s horror highlight Renfield for gleefully disgusting practical effects, and while the scares here are VERY EFFECTIVE throughout, almost every sequence is nonetheless delivered with its tongue firmly planted in cheek, the directing duo never letting it get too (ahem) dark or depressing even when the blood really starts to fly. Those who enjoy their horror liberally laced with humour (like myself) will find this particular recipe to be all but irresistible, and as a result it’s gonna be a real tough act to beat before year’s end.

3. KUNG FU PANDA 4 – The Dragon Warrior is back once again for a long-awaited fourth adventure, and while there’s always room for more of my second favourite Dreamworks animated franchise there are strong indicators that this could well be it, and if it is, this would certainly be a worthy bow-out for one of my very favourite anthropomorphic movie characters. The eponymous martial arts master, Po (the boundlessly endearing Jack Black, as wondrously effervescent as ever), is at the height of his astounding abilities, and his crabby red panda mentor Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) thinks it’s time for him to take his place as the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace, while also choosing a successor to begin training as the new Dragon Warrior. Po, however, couldn’t be more against this particular idea, since there’s nothing he loves more than kicking butt and taking names (although he’s never been very good at the latter), so when it seems like his old foe Tai Lung (a welcome return for the great Ian McShane) has returned he jumps at the chance to investigate. Instead he discovers that there’s a new threat out there – a shapeshifting sorceress known as The Chameleon (Viola Davis) has taken control of the distance metropolis of Juniper City, making it her base of operations from which to launch her nefarious plan to reach into the Spirit World and steal the Kung Fu of ever master villain there. Po’s only hope of defeating her is to enlist the very reluctant help one of the city’s residents, a nefarious corsac fox thief named Zhen (Awkwafina) who may prove more of a handful than he bargained on … the series continues to fire on all cylinders with all prerequisite elements functioning exactly as they should – the franchise may have peaked with the second film, but they’ve maintained an impressive level of quality throughout, and this fourth entry definitely measures up very well by comparison, regardless of what some naysayers may have said. This is just as fun, amusing, ingenious, exciting and visually arresting as ever before, and rather than stripping away much of the fun by leaving the Furious Five out this time round, the story’s a good deal tighter and much more focused here, rightly focusing on the relationship that develops between Po and Zhen as they go from strangers to rivals to friends in very organic fashion. It certainly helps that the two leads have such strong chemistry – Black’s having as much fun as ever while his creation remains his adorably geeky self, while Awkwafina brings plenty of likeable sass and snark to proceedings, and they gel very well over the course of the film. Davis, meanwhile, creates a compelling villain with strong motives for her dastardly plot, while there’s quality support from returning voices like Hoffman alongside Bryan Cranston and James Hong as Po’s two dads Li Shan and Mr Ping, and series newcomers such as Ke Huy Quan, fresh from his post-Everything Everywhere All At Once success as Zhen’s estranged pangolin mentor Han. Granted, ultimately this feels like just a lot more of the same, but when the end results are still so consistent there’s no real room for complaint, and as far as I’m concerned the series is still as strong as it was when it started, from the gorgeous animation and inspired design to the exquisitely executed action and, once again, a spectacular score from Hans Zimmer, this time joined by regular collaborator Steve Mazzaro (the highlight here very much proving a truly WILD orchestral rendition of Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train during the film’s best set-piece). Ultimately, if this really IS it for the franchise, I think it’s a fitting place to call it a day, although I’m sure I ain’t alone in hoping for a little more, and there’s definitely a strong indicator where they COULD go from here …

2. CIVIL WAR – Alex Garland is a filmmaker I’ve been a big fan of since before he even WAS a filmmaker, back when he was just writing screenplays for the likes of 28 Days Later and Sunshine. That being said, he’s consistently blown us away ever since he covertly took the reins for 2012’s criminally overlooked Dredd (I’m definitely inclined to believe the rumours that he actually helmed that one himself, since it’s SO MUCH an Alex Garland movie), rightly wowing audiences with both ex_machina and Annihilation (Men was, ultimately, TOO strong and visceral an experience for me to really LIKE, but I can’t help admitting I was definitely IMPRESSED by it), so I was already onboard for this one even before the genuinely exciting first trailer starting making the rounds. But even if I hadn’t already known his work, I definitely would’ve been up for this truly fascinating premise – set in an uncomfortably believable near future (especially given where the current US political system looks to be heading), it follows a quartet of journalists as they travel into the war-torn heart of an America ravaged by a potent clash between the loyal forces of an authoritarian President who’s refused to step down after the end of his official term (Nick Offerman) and a coalition of secessionist states determined to oust him and his administration. Kirsten Dunst leads the cast with what might be the best performance of her career as Lee Smith, a cynical photojournalist with a fearsome reputation, joining her longtime work-partner Joel (Narcos’ Wagner Moura, effortlessly charming and lovably cocky as an unapologetic adrenaline junkie) in his quest to interview the President before he’s forcibly removed from Office; tagging along, meanwhile, are Sammy (a typically charismatic and stately turn from the mighty Stephen McKinley Henderson), a world-weary veteran reporter who’s just hitching a ride to the front lines of the conflict, and Jessie Cullen (Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny, sweet and naïve but with a deep reserve of feeling), a wannabe photojournalist who idolises Lee and is determined to prove herself to her hero, even if it ends up getting her killed. Through their experiences on the open road and the various events they witness, we watch this terrifying war unfold as it builds to its powerful endgame, moving from the wilds of Upstate New York to the streets of Washington itself, and it’s brought home in genuinely harrowing detail just what a nightmare this could well be if it really does happen. Garland’s certainly not pulling ANY punches here, clearly fundamentally aware of where we might end up if we don’t wise up REAL QUICK (although by this point I wonder if the warning might have come a bit TOO LATE), while also delivering an endlessly fascinating dystopian action thriller for good measure, packed with stunning explosive action sequences and at least one genuinely UNBEARABLE scene of proper pants-wetting pregnant implied threat (those who know will already know), all while making us really THINK thanks to a particularly shrewd and fiendishly subversive screenplay, and even offering up moments of incongruous aching beauty in the midst of all the chaos, much as he did on Annihilation. Ultimately this is a perfect demonstration of a master filmmaker reaching the very height of his powers, final confirmation, if it was even NEEDED any more, that Garland is one of the most original and challenging cinematic storytellers out there right now.

1. DUNE, PART TWO – As if there was ever any doubt, after the already amazing first part made its KILLER debut back in late 2021 … no, it was a foregone conclusion that the second half of writer-director Denis Villeneuve’s immensely ambitious adaptation of one of his very favourite books OF ALL TIME, Frank Herbert’s genuine game-changer space opera Dune, would be JUST as incredible as the first, and it thrills me no end that that entirely proved to be the case. After all, this is also MY favourite book of all time, if they’d f£$%ed it up I would have been more heartbroken than I could possibly imagine, so Villeneuve and co have made me a VERY HAPPY BUNNY INDEED. Picking up RIGHT where the first film left off, we return to the desert world of Arrakis almost ten centuries into the future, with young Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), now the Duke of an all-but-eradicated Galactic noble House, and his mother, the Bene Gesserit holy woman Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), are forced to hide among the desert tribes of the Fremen, hatching a desperate plan to take revenge on the monstrous Harkonnens and seize control of the planet, its massively lucrative trade in the obscenely valuable spice Melange, and, through it, the Galactic Empire in its entirety. To do so, Paul must use his growing prescient abilities to convince the Fremen that he is the Kwisatz Haderach, their prophesied messiah, but he is keenly aware that this means walking a deadly knife’s edge in order to prevent triggering an immensely bloody Holy War that will burn half of the known Universe … once again, Chalamet and Ferguson are the beating heart of the story, both acquitting themselves admirably throughout as they perfectly encapsulate the myriad complexities of their characters, but this time round they’re finally joined by Zendaya, barely glimpsed in the first film but now brought front and centre as the new emotional CRUX of the film in the role of Chani, the free-spirited and stubborn Fremen warrior Paul falls in love with as he learns to become a true denizen of Arrakis; other old faces return, meanwhile, with Josh Brolin bringing a roguish twinkle and a welcome sense of humour to proceedings as the exiled Atreides warmaster Gurney Halleck, and Stellan Skarsgård once again chills our blood as the repellent Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. More newcomers make their presence felt throughout, however, with Florence Pugh particularly standing out as Princess Irulan, the fiercely intelligent daughter of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken, nowhere NEAR the bum note some have made him out to be), although the true shining star among the new cast (beside Zendaya, at least) is Austin Butler (Elvis), enthusiastically sinking his teeth deep into the meaty role of the Baron’s viciously sadistic sociopathic nephew Feyd Rautha. Once again Villeneuve has done his dream project justice in EVERY conceivable aspect, continuing to pay truly REVERENT respect to the source material as he makes Herbert’s incredibly rich universe live and breathe on the screen, the peerless production and costume design, visual effects and cinematography never hitting a single off-note in any scene, while the screenplay perfectly translates the weighty themes, compelling narrative and shocking twists into a deeply involving cinematic tour-de-force that keeps you invested throughout its seemingly brisk and pacy run-time (this may be close to THREE HOURS LONG but it sure doesn’t FEEL like it), enthusiastically propelled along by another MASTERPIECE score from fellow Dune superfan Hans Zimmer. This is a truly MASSIVE cinematic event that leaves you awed by the experience while also drumming some EXTREMELY weighty ideas and themes into you, as well as perfectly setting up the inevitable continuation when Villeneuve gets his already in-development adaptation of the next book in the series, Dune Messiah, off the ground. I’m definitely looking forward to that, and I know I’m not alone …

#2024 in movies #land of bad #the iron claw #double blind #double blind movie #late night with the devil #the beekeeper #love lies bleeding #abigail #abigail movie #abigail 2024 #kung fu panda 4 #civil war #civil war movie #dune part two

1 note · View note

esonetwork · 2 months

Text

Timestamp #301: Ascension of the Cybermen & The Timeless Children

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/timestamp-301-ascension-of-the-cybermen-the-timeless-children/

Timestamp #301: Ascension of the Cybermen & The Timeless Children

Doctor Who: Ascension of the Cybermen Doctor Who: The Timeless Children (2 episodes, s12e09-10, 2020)

The story that broke so many fans.

Ascension of the Cybermen

In the depths of space, Ashad speaks of the Cybermen. The mechanical menace has finally been defeated after winning a billion battles, and after a reign of terror, the empire has fallen. But that which is dead can live again in the hands of a believer.

The adventure plays out in two stories: One follows our heroes on a refugee planet in the far future, and the other follows a mysterious man named Brendan in Ireland.

Brendan’s Tale—

In mid-twentieth century Ireland, a man named Patrick finds a baby in the middle of the road. He takes the baby home to his wife Meg, and together they report the incident to the Garda police. With no leads, they couple decides to take care of him until the parents are found. After a year, they adopt the boy and name him Brendan.

Brendan grows up, attends school, and learns to farm. He applies to join the Gardaí and is welcomed into the police force by the sergeant who met him as a baby. While on duty one day, Brendan chases a thief named Michael near a cliff. Michael pulls a revolver and forces Brendan toward the cliff. Brendan is shot and falls to his death, but by some miracle, he springs back to life.

Brendan attributes it to luck, but everyone else is confused and afraid. Nevertheless, Brendan is awarded with a commendation. Many years later, Brendan retires from the Gardaí and is faced by his father and his sergeant, both of whom have not aged. They take him to the back office where he is strapped into a chair and has his memory wiped while he screams.

The Refugees’ Tale—

The Doctor, Graham, Ryan, and Yaz follow Shelley‘s coordinates to a planet in the far future. The Doctor parks a half mile out and breaks the news of humanity’s near extinction at the hands of the Cybermen. They find the last remaining human settlement comprised of seven surviving humans. The travelers arrive just in time to help establish a defense against the arriving Cyberman fleet.

With the help of Feekat, Ravio, Ethan, Yedlarmi, Fuskle, and Bescot, Team TARDIS gets to work: Graham sets up a neural inhibitor system that can restore Cyberman emotions; Yaz builds a particle projector to attack the automatons with gold dust; and Ryan establishes a forcefield. Unfortunately, a swarm of Cyberdrone heads arrive and destroy the gadgets. They also kill Fuskle and an older woman.

The drones leave and the Doctor orders the survivors to escape in their ship. She tells her companions to join them since the TARDIS is too far away. She promises to find them after she holds off the invading force. As the humans escape, Ashad confronts the Doctor with two additional drones. The drones pursue the companions to the ship, and Ryan is left behind with Feekat and Ethan as the rickety craft takes off.

The Doctor prepares a grenade as Ethan distracts Ashad. Ashad calls Ethan’s bluff and kills Feekat, then tells Ethan to carry his message of the Cybermen’s power. The Doctor uses her grenade and runs with Ethan and Ryan to the nearby Cyberfighters. The group hotwires Ashad’s ship and rockets into space.

The refugees aboard the gravraft limp toward Ko Sharmus and a phenomenon known as the Boundary, which can teleport people to random locations in the universe. On the Cyberfighter, Ethan also sets course for Ko Sharmus. Ethan talks about his upbringing and lessons about destroying cyber tech. Ashad makes contact and threatens to destroy humanity, even if it costs him his imperfect life. He believes that he was chosen to resurrect the Cybermen, and the death of everything is harbored within him.

The gravraft’s systems fail, leaving the ship on emergency power. A series of collisions prompt Yaz to look outside and find a Cyberman graveyard. A ship sits dormant in the debris and Graham convinces the survivors to use their remaining power to board it. They succeed, but as the ship powers up around them, Ashad and his guards arrive in a Cyberfighter.

The Doctor’s craft arrives at Ko Shamus. The planet has a single temporary settlement, and Ko Shamus is the elderly man who maintains it. He is stunned to see living humans and explains that he helps survivors pass through the Boundary. He fled with a handful of others, but as the word spread, more survivors sought sanctuary.

Graham, Yaz, and the refugees explore the Cyberman war carrier. They reactivate it and decide to use the ship as a mobile settlement to rescue what’s left of humanity. Graham and Ravio explore the rest of the ship and discover millions of dormant, battle-ready drones of a new design. The pair runs from Ashad, returning to the control center as the team continues to Ko Shamus despite the threat. Meanwhile, Ashad begins the ascension with his new army.

The Doctor, Ryan, and Ethan investigate the Boundary. It manifests as a rippling sheet of purple energy. As the carrier approaches the planet, Yaz calls the Doctor and explains the situation. The awakened Cybermen rampage through the ship and the Doctor urges the humans to evacuate. Unfortunately, they are trapped.

Then the two stories come together as the Boundary clears.

Through the portal, the Doctor sees the Citadel of Gallifrey. The Master leaps through the Boundary and tells the Doctor that everything is about to change… forever.

The Timeless Children

The Master forces the Doctor to join him in Gallifrey. If she doesn’t, he will kill the humans. As she crosses the Boundary, the Cyberman carrier arrives at the planet. Once on Gallifrey, the Master gloats about burning Gallifery to the ground and then takes the Doctor on a tour of the ruins.

On the carrier, the humans hide in a storage area after Bescot is killed. Graham develops a plan to use Cyberman suits as disguises. The team sets to work removing the biological remains and disconnecting the neural nets. Meanwhile, Ko Sharmus shows Ryan and Ethan his limited weapons supply.

In the Citadel, the Master is notified that the Cybermen have reached the Boundary. He invites Ashad to join him on Gallifrey and to leave some Cybermen behind to destroy Ko Sharmus, Ethan, and Ryan.

Graham and Yaz take a moment to talk about what happens if they don’t survive. He is quite proud of her and impressed by her resolve. With a tear in her eye, she jokes that he’s not so bad either. As their team puts the plan into motion, Ashad is alerted to their presence. Ashad searches for the humans but cannot find them in their disguises, and he gives up when the ship enters the Boundary.

The Doctor questions why the Master would surrender Gallifrey to the Cybermen. He deflects, directing her to the Matrix instead. He is driven by an unbelievable truth that he discovered in Gallifrey’s history, and he traps the Doctor in a paralysis field so he can share that truth with her. He sends her deep into the Matrix with a promise that it will hurt.

The Master presents a history of Gallifrey. In the time before the Time Lords, the Shobogans were the native population of the planet. An explorer named Tecteun found a gateway on another planet, with an orphaned child at its base. Tecteun and the child explored the cosmos before returning to Gallifrey, where she ran experiments trying to determine where the child came from. One day, the child fell off a cliff, but instead of dying, the child regenerated.

This was the first time regeneration happened on Gallifrey.

On Ko Sharmus’s planet, the humans wage war on the Cybermen. Ryan takes out several with a basketball-shaped bomb, but the drones keep marching. Meanwhile, the carrier literally lands on the Citadel. Ashad meets with the Master and introduces the Death Particle, a device created by the Cyberium to wipe out all organic life. Ashad has purged the new Cybermen of organic components in preparation for his takeover of the universe, but the Master offers an alternative to fully robotic life. He accompanies Ashad while his consciousness remains with the Doctor.

The Doctor’s story continues as Tecteun experiments on the child, forcing the child to regenerate time and again. Finally, Tecteun cracks the mystery and injects herself with the solution. Tecteun regenerates. With this new technology, Time Lord civilization exploded with the Timeless Child at its core, limiting each individual to twelve regenerations.

The Doctor asks what happened to the Timeless Child. The Master tells her that she is that child.

Meanwhile, Ko Sharmus, Ethan, and Ryan continue their guerilla campaign. They take out several drones, but Ethan is eventually captured. He is almost executed, but Graham’s team destroys the execution squad. Ryan is surprised to see his friends.

Ashad and the Master arrive in the Cybermen storage bays. The Master uses his Tissue Compress Eliminator to kill Ashad and release the Cyberium. He absorbs the Cyberium and pockets Ashad to keep the Death Particle nearby.

The Doctor awakens on a vast green landscape. She struggles with the revelations but the Master promises his story is true. He continues the story with Tecteun and the child becoming part of a secret group called the Division. Despite the Time Lord philosophy of non-interference, the group intervenes in time when necessary. The vision flashes in parallel with Brendan’s story, then stops altogether because the files were redacted. It is impossible to tell how much was lost, but what remains was encoded with a perception filter that looks like Brendan’s story.

The Master wonders how many lives the Doctor has lived.

As the Doctor revives from her experience, the physical version of the Master reveals that he kept the corpses of every Time Lord he killed. He has combined the power of regeneration with the durability of the Cybermen.

He has created CyberMasters – festooned in Time Lord regalia and armed with the power of regeneration – and he leads them into a conquest of the universe. Meanwhile, the human survivors cross the Boundary and arrive on Gallifrey.

The Doctor’s mind swims in the Matrix’s redacted void when the Fugitive Doctor appears. The Thirteenth Doctor wonders about her life before their First, but the Fugitive Doctor tells her it doesn’t matter. They’ve never been limited by who they were before, and the Thirteenth Doctor has the power to stop the Master now. But first, she must harness the power of the Timeless Child to overload the Matrix. She unleashes the memories of the Doctor into the Matrix and blows out the paralysis field.

She comes to and finds her companions and the human survivors standing over her. The humans explain their plan to destroy the carrier, and the Doctor devises a plan to use the Death Particle to destroy the CyberMasters. The humans place explosive charges throughout the ship while Team TARDIS tracks down the Master. They find Ashad’s miniaturized form and the Death Particle, and the Doctor telepathically offers one last meeting with the Master in the Citadel.

Unfortunately, the bombs are activated early, so everyone has to run. The ship is destroyed as the Doctor ushers everyone into a TARDIS. She asks Ko Sharmus for a bomb – it only has a hand detonator – and explains her plan to unleash the Death Particle on Gallifrey. She sets the TARDIS for the twenty-first century and sends the humans to Earth.

The Doctor returns to the Matrix Chamber on her suicide mission. There she finds the Master and his CyberMasters. The Master goads her but the Doctor doesn’t fall for it. His revelations have strengthened her. She pulls out the bomb and mini-Ashad, but before she can pull the trigger, Ko Sharmus arrives. He sent the Cyberium into the past, and he takes the detonator as his penance for not hiding it well enough. As the Doctor runs for a TARDIS, the CyberMasters shoot Ko Sharmus and he detonates the Death Particle.

The new Cyber-Empire is dead.

The humans arrive on Earth and their TARDIS disguises itself as a house. The Doctor materializes on the refugee planet near her own TARDIS, and the TARDIS she used to get there disguises itself as a tree. Unfortunately for her, three Judoon materialize inside the TARDIS and arrest the Doctor, finally closing the cold case on the fugitive.

The Doctor is taken to a maximum security prison to serve a life sentence, and her companions have no idea if she survived.

It’s the most controversial story in modern Doctor Who history… and I like it just as much now as I did when it first aired.

I understand the complaints. Fans of most major sci-fi franchises don’t like to see things meddled with. From Star Trek to Doctor Who, the complaints remind me of the oft-memed scene from The Incredibles 2: “I don’t know that way. Why would they change math? Math is math. Math. Is. Math!”

But… here’s the reality check. Doctor Who has never been consistent with continuity, and there are several extensive parody lists on Reddit about how changes in the franchise have “ruined the show forever”. Yet, somehow, the franchise continues on even under periodic threat of cancellation (in various definitions of the word).

Of the complaints I have seen regarding the Timeless Child revelation:

“This change disrespects William Hartnell.” How? Show your work. Because his stories still exist (even in telesnap form) and are even being preserved in high-definition format. If anything disrespects the legacy of William Hartnell’s work on Doctor Who, it’s how “An Unearthly Child” won’t be available because of Stef Coburn’s efforts. Otherwise, Hartnell’s legacy as the First Doctor remains intact.

“This change removes the mystery from the Doctor.” If so, please explain the history of the pre-Hartnell incarnations. Because all I see is massive story potential for the Doctor’s time with the Division and the implications of whether or not the Time Lords deserve to come back at all. We already knew they were arrogant and self-righteous, but now we get some context behind the regeneration limit. I also look at the events of The Time of the Doctor and how the Time Lords view the Doctor with a different lens, especially after thirteen incarnations risked their lives to save Gallifrey from utter destruction. Those Time Lords either gave the Doctor another set of regenerations or unlocked the Timeless Child’s potential that they had previously tried to stifle, allowing the Doctor to be who they truly are. In the end, the mystery is still there, effectively fulfilling the so-called “Cartmel Masterplan.”

“The Morbius Doctors aren’t real.” To the contrary, it was Philip Hinchcliffe’s intention that they were previous incarnations. The dialogue is also pretty clear: “Back! Back to your beginning!” followed by the eight faces. What happens on the television screen is part of the official continuity unless retconned later, and showrunner intentions fall into that same category for me. Showrunners are in charge of the show’s legacy while they hold the reins. Fans don’t have that responsibility. Philip Hinchcliffe has even seemed amused that fans ignored the obvious in Morbius but readily attached themselves to the regeneration limits a mere four stories later.

“The Timeless Child isn’t canon.” We’ve already covered that. Unless retconned later, what happens on the screen during the show is official continuity.

Boiling it down, fans just don’t like the change. While that’s their prerogative, it’s also a personal choice. I don’t agree with that choice, but I respect it. We all need to remember that fan opinion is not continuity.

That said, it’s not all puppy dogs and marshmallows for me. I do have issues with the revelation.

First, is it even true? The revelation is provided by the Master, the man who massacred his entire civilization and is known for lying. Even if he is telling the Doctor the truth, is it based on his own interpolation of redacted events? Even with the Doctor having lives before the First Doctor, could the Timeless Child be someone else? Say, Susan, for example?

Imagine that storytelling potential. Taking Susan away from Gallifrey to protect her and remove some leverage from the Time Lords. Especially considering that Chris Chibnall’s screenplay suggests that the Time Lords who join Tecteun at the dawn of their society could be Rassilon and Omega.

10:27:40 INT. GALLIFREYAN CORRIDOR – DAY

TECTEUN walking down a corridor — at the far end, two Gallifreyan figures (with the collars up) in silhouette. We can assume these might be Rassilon and Omega.

I’d buy that. It would be a stronger story, leave some room for future work, and make the Doctor a bit more vulnerable in the future. It also provides a dramatic reason for the Time Lords to return. Note that the script says “assume” and that these characters were not credited on screen, so we can’t verify that it’s true.

As far as what happened to the Time Lords? I don’t like it. It feels disgusting, which makes it work dramatically. The fact that I physically recoiled from seeing Cybermen that can regenerate tells me that the Master is a villain of the highest order. While Missy had a path to redemption during Series 10, I don’t think this incarnation has a path back. He’s a monster.

I had a similar feeling toward Tecteun and her experimentation on the Timeless Child. She literally killed several incarnations of the child to unlock the secrets of regeneration for her own selfish desires. Yuck.

I also don’t like how the Timeless Child revelation was handled from a writing and production standpoint. The entire sequence with the Doctor in the Matrix was handled in a “tell don’t show” manner. I think it would have been better for the Doctor to experience Brendan’s story in A Christmas Carol format, then have the Master fill in the blanks in a much shorter manner. Having Brendan’s story in Ascension of the Cybermen was more confusing and probably made viewers more defensive from the start. A little rebalancing between the two episodes would have worked wonders.

Otherwise, I liked the balance of action and drama in this pair of episodes. The Doctor doesn’t have all the answers and has to figure things out with us. The companions get a huge chunk of the spotlight, and everyone has to use their wits and smarts to save the day. And Yaz getting some dues was a great thing to see.

In terms of franchise lore, there wasn’t much in terms of callbacks aside from what has already been mentioned. The Timeless Children does have the most extensive use of archive footage in Doctor Who at the time of airing. It’s also the first time clips from William Hartnell’s and Patrick Troughton’s eras were shown in full color.

It also features the first on-screen female-to-male regeneration.

Finally, for something to chew on, this adventure fulfills several elements of the Series Nine Hybrid prophecy: A hybrid creature (the Master and the Cyberium) stood over the ruins of Gallifrey and unraveled the Web of Time (the Master hacked into the Matrix and revealed the Timeless Child secret), and broke a billion billion hearts to heal its own (the slaughter of the Time Lords).

Probably not Chibnall’s intent, but a nice parallel nonetheless.

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

#Doctor Who #Thirteenth Doctor #Timestamps Project

0 notes

blueweave · 3 months

Text

India is undergoing major improvements to its road and bridge infrastructure through several initiatives and projects. The Bharatmala Pariyojana project aims to develop 34,800 km of highways and has increased construction speed significantly. Twenty Seven greenfield expressways are also being built. Rural roads development is gaining focus with the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana completing over 3.5 lakh km of rural roads. Upcoming initiatives like the Sagarmala project and Gati Shakti Master Plan aim to further optimize logistics and transport. New technologies like BIM and drones are also fast tracking road surveys and design.

Overview

It is a matter of pride for India that the second-largest road network in the world, which is 6.37 million kilometers in length, is our possession. In the last few years, there has been a dramatic rise in the country's highway construction speed from around 12 kilometers per day in 2014-15 to around 29 kilometers per day in 2021-22. The number of functional highways has gone up from 97,830 kilometers in 2014 to 145,155 kilometers today. On the other hand, the nine years of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) have seen the construction of more than 3.5 lakh kilometers of rural roads which have made all-weather roads free from all-weather roads connectivity to villages of India. The government's budget allocation for road infrastructure has had a rapid increase, now amounting to about ₹1.4 lakh crore in FY22-2023. Through the completion of strategic projects like the Atal Tunnel, the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge, and the Chenab River Bridge during a relatively short time frame, the government impresses the public with its inclusive governance and readiness to connect even the remotest regions of the country.

India’s Paving Innovative Developments in Road and Bridges Infrastructure

India is involved in the execution of highly ambitious infrastructure projects like the Chenab Bridge, which is the tallest arch railway bridge and is located near one of the highest altitudes, and an Indian Railway line that runs throughout its entire length. This bridge is a demonstration of the amazing engineering skills that Indians possess and is proof that a cohesive team, as leaders, can generate solutions that will in turn sustain the development of India.

The Indian government emphasizes infrastructure development and the government has developed schemes and policies within the framework of infrastructural development. The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) in 2019 is an initiative that enables governments at the national level to focus on social and infrastructure projects including energy, roads, railways, and urban development projects worth INR 102 lakh crores. The Centre and States have the next to equal share of close to 40% each and the private sector has a 21% share. NIP also takes advantage of the PM GatiShakti Master Plan, which intends to intensify India's logistics system. In the Indian Budget 2023-24, the Government of India highlighted the necessity of stepping up the amount of money spent on infrastructure and nearly tripled its infrastructure spending to 3.3% of GDP against 2019-20 expenditure. INR 75000 crores, which is a budget for 100 projects is crucial towards the development of the comprehensive multimodal logistics infrastructure.

As of the end of July 2023, Indians’ total length of national highways amounted to 146,145 km. This figure showed a 60 percent increase from the April 2014 level of 91,287 km. The government aims to achieve this by 2030 with 1.3 times more as compared to the 2020 value which makes it 185,000 km and with 1.6 times more as compared to the 2020 value it should make it 237,000 km by 2047. The Bharatmala Pariyojana, which is the nation's largest infrastructure project, envisages the development of about 34,800 km of national highways. There would be around 27,000 km of this awarded and about 14,500 km already constructed by July 2023 with a capital expenditure of Rs 10.64 trillion As well as this, the building of 27 greenfield expressways is ongoing with a capital cost of Rs 4.5 trillion. The feather in the cap, however, is the construction of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, Bangalore-Chennai Expressway, Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway and the one between Kanpur and Lucknow Expressway.

The emphasis given by the central government to the road sector is vividly illustrated in the uptick of Capital spending by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), which has gone from Rs. 0.31 trillion in 2013-14 to Rs. 2.59 trillion in 2023-24, with a 23% CAGR. Out of the capex of 50,000 crore rupees provisioned for the next financial year, about 60 percent has been allocated to the National Highways Authority of India or NHAI. In the last two years, the hybrid annuity model (HAM) share with 55 percent retained in projects awarding has been followed up with the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) constituting 44 percent. The government focuses on contributing to the BOT model which is intended to improve the quality of projects. Through this, it aims to increase the chunk of BOT projects from the current share of less than 5 percent to around 10 percent in the coming two years.

Key Initiatives and Their Impact

Bharatmala Pariyojana: This flagship program envisions an integrated network of highways spanning the nation. The project has significantly expedited the pace of highway construction, with India achieving an average construction rate of 37 km per day in 2022-23, a remarkable increase from 12.1 km per day in 2014-15.

Sagarmala Programme: Focusing on coastal and port-led development, this initiative aims to modernize India's ports, optimize logistics efficiency, and boost maritime trade.

Gati Shakti National Master Plan: This transformative plan promotes integrated infrastructure planning and implementation. Gati Shakti utilizes technology to break down silos between various ministries, enabling seamless coordination and accelerated project delivery.

Focus on Rural Roads: The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) has been instrumental in connecting rural habitations, providing much-needed access to essential services, markets, and opportunities for India's vast rural population.

Strategic Connectivity Projects: The construction of iconic bridges like the Chenab River Bridge (the world's highest railway bridge) and projects such as the Atal Tunnel have overcome geographical challenges, particularly in border and remote regions, thereby fostering national integration.

Source: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

Upcoming Expressways Projects in India

According to the report, aided by the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), rural road development has also gained traction, with rural roads accounting for 71 percent of the overall road network in India.

During the last decade, the Indian government’s rural road development projects have gained momentum and the authorities are currently engaged in rural road network development. This also is the case as the farmers, especially those who engage in the export market, depend on the rural roads that offer economic benefits like reducing the cost of production and time of transport.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) targets for two hundred thousand kilometers of National Highway Network to be finished by 2025. The aim is to construct the highest quality road infrastructure with the help of a plan-oriented and result-oriented approach. This year MoRTH plans to create an all-time high of 13,000 km of highway and to top it all, MoRTH is also setting a target to increase the speed of highway construction manifoldly. Many of the construction equipment players realize that the Indian market can be a future market for their equipment and solutions, consequently unveiling the latest solutions for road and highway construction. Humbly speaking, L&T's in-house development has been able to design and fabricate an entire set of equipment like Soil Compactors, Tandem Compactors, Mini Compactors, and Pneumatic Tyred Rollers.

India’s Infrastructure Strategy for Sustainability

Decarbonization is today a prominent topic in which sustainability is the key theme. Along with this, a lot of creative practices and techniques of road building are also being used in the Indian sector of roads that are aimed at reducing the environmental impact and improving the long-term viability of road projects. Among the alternatives to conventional aggregate materials are recycled aggregates, waste plastics, crumb rubber, steel slag, modified bitumen, geosynthetics, and fly ash, which are used to support sustainable development.

Modern technologies that involve the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM), precast construction, and virtual twins are taking root in highway projects. The government specifications providing 25% pre-cast concrete elements with the exceptions of foundation work for the national highway projects initiated within the 100 km range of the pre-cast concrete factories have been made mandatory. Besides the goal of reducing pollution, the approach is also to fasten constructing the project and beautify the area at the end of the construction. Besides, these firms are doing testing of robotics and automation in asphalt and concrete laying as well. Digital technologies are now an essential part of highway operation and maintenance, and the need for smart highway infrastructure increases along with the demand for connectivity. Electronic tollways, wireless sensors, and advanced traffic management systems are becoming a trend. The implementation of aerial differential GPS-LiDAR (light detection and ranging) drones for field surveys, and BIM (Building Information Modeling) for road design, have considerably fastened the pre-construction period.

These technologies like driver speed cameras, CCTV systems, and driving assistance systems are making road safety better. Energy-efficient lighting methods, LED street lights included, are being implemented to cut down on energy consumption and provide cost-saving maintenance solutions. These smart roads are not only conceptualized for energy generation but also they have a role to play in ensuring a greener planet.

Conclusion

In conclusion, India is making significant strides in road and bridge infrastructure development through initiatives like Bharatmala Pariyojana, Sagarmala Programme, and Gati Shakti National Master Plan. These projects aim to enhance connectivity, lower logistics costs, and position India as a global economic leader, with a focus on sustainability and innovative technologies to drive progress.

BlueWeave Consulting & Research Pvt. Ltd

+1 866 658 6826 | +1 425 320 4776 | +44 1865 60 0662

[email protected]

#Blueweave #consulting #indiainfrastructure #Modernizing

1 note · View note

delvenservices · 9 months

Text

Target Drones Market Growth Leaders & Key Findings

Target Drones Market by End-use Sector (Defense, Commercial), End Use (Aerial Targets, Ground Targets, Marine Targets), Application, Mode of Operation, Payload Capacity, Build, Target Type, Engine Type, Speed, Type, and Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South America)

Market Overview

The Target Drones market size is projected to reach a CAGR of 7.8% from 2022 to 2028.

Target drones are drones which are unmanned vehicles that are generally used for combat training against manned and unmanned threats, destruction tests on decoys that simulate behaviour of real threats, and testing and development of military systems. These offer a cost-effective substitute to equipment and systems used by military forces across various countries. Target drones are very identical to unmanned aerial vehicles.

The advantages offered by the targeted drones offered over the conventional drones are some of the factors that have supported long-term expansion for Target Drones Market.

Request Research Sample Pages: https://www.delvens.com/get-free-sample/target-drones-market-trends-forecast-till-2028

Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific is the most rapidly growing market and offers a huge opportunity for the industry, whose growth is driven by the increased defence budgets and expenditure along with the cross-border tension.

Competitive Landscape

Key Players

Airbus S.A.S.

BAE Systems plc

Denel Dynamics

Embention

Griffon Aerospace

Leonardo S.p.A.

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Qinetiq Group plc

The Boeing Company

To Grow Your Business Revenue, Make an Inquiry Before Buying at: https://www.delvens.com/Inquire-before-buying/target-drones-market-trends-forecast-till-2028

Recent Developments

In February 2020, Griffon Aerospace was awarded with a USD 50 million contract to for MQM-170 Outlaw by US Army.

Reasons to Acquire

Increase your understanding of the market for identifying the best and suitable strategies and decisions on the basis of sales or revenue fluctuations in terms of volume and value, distribution chain analysis, market trends and factors

Gain authentic and granular data access for Target Drones Market so as to understand the trends and the factors involved behind changing market situations

Qualitative and quantitative data utilization to discover arrays of future growth from the market trends of leaders to market visionaries and then recognize the significant areas to compete in the future

In-depth analysis of the changing trends of the market by visualizing the historic and forecast year growth patterns

Direct Purchase of Research Report at: https://www.delvens.com/checkout/target-drones-market-trends-forecast-till-2028

The Target Drones Market report answers a number of crucial questions, including:

Which companies dominate the Target Drones Market?

What current trends will influence the market over the next few years?

What are the market's opportunities, obstacles, and driving forces?

What predictions for the future can help with strategic decision-making?

What advantages does market research offer businesses?

Which particular market segments should industry players focus on in order to take advantage of the most recent technical advancements?

What is the anticipated growth rate for the market economy globally?

Report Scope

Target Drones Market is segmented into End-use Sector, End Use, Application, Mode of Operation, Payload Capacity, Build, Target Type, Engine Type, Speed, Type and region.

On the basis of End-User

Defense

Military

Homeland Security

Commercial

On the basis of End Use

Aerial Targets

Ground Targets

Marine Targets

Underwater Targets

Sea Surface Targets

On the basis of Application

Combat Training

Target & Decoy

Reconnaissance

Target Identification

Target Acquisition

On the basis of Mode of Operation

Autonomous

Remotely Piloted

Optionally Piloted

On the basis of Payload Capacity

High (>40 kg)

Medium (20 kg to 40 kg)

Low (<20 kg)

On the basis of Build

Newbuild

Converted

On the basis of Target Type

Full-scale

Subscale

Free-flying

Towing

Sporting

On the basis of Engine Type

Jet

Others

On the basis of Speed

High (> 250mps)

Low (< 250mps)

Who We Are

Delvens is a strategic advisory and consulting company headquartered in New Delhi, India. The company holds expertise in providing syndicated research reports, customized research reports and consulting services. Delvens qualitative and quantitative data is highly utilized by each level from niche to major markets, serving more than 1K prominent companies by assuring to provide the information on country, regional and global business environment. We have a database for more than 45 industries in more than 115+ major countries globally.

Delvens database assists the clients by providing in-depth information in crucial business decisions. Delvens offers significant facts and figures across various industries namely Healthcare, IT & Telecom, Chemicals & Materials, Semiconductor & Electronics, Energy, Pharmaceutical, Consumer Goods & Services, Food & Beverages. Our company provides an exhaustive and comprehensive understanding of the business environment.

+44-20-8638-5055

[email protected]

0 notes

stevecarell600 · 1 year

Text

Aviation High Speed Motor Market Growth, Analysis, Size, Trends, Emerging Factors, Demands, Key Players and Potential of Industry Till 2028

The global aviation high speed motor market size is projected to reach USD 3.74 billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.62% during the forecast period. According to a recent report by Fortune Business Insights™, titled “Aviation High Speed Motor Market, 2023-2028”, the value of the market was estimated to be USD 2.33 billion in 2023.

Information Source:

The sudden arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented upheavals in the aviation industry, shocking the aviation high speed motor market growth. The principal factor for the negative impact of the pandemic on this market is the revenue shortfalls experienced by motor manufacturing companies when major economies, such as India and Japan, underwent lockdowns from March 2020 onwards. Siemens, for instance, witnessed a 59.5% in its third-quarter earnings in 2020, triggered by the shutdown of its factories and plants.

List of Key Players Profiled in the Aviation High Speed Motor Market Report:

MGM COMPRO (Czechia)

H3X Technologies Inc. (The U.S.)

NEMA Ltd. (The U.K.)

Allied Motion Technologies (The U.S.)

Meggit PLC (The U.K.)

Pipistrel (Slovenia)

Xoar International LLC (The U.S.)

EMRAX d.o.o. (Slovenia)

Windings Inc. (The U.S.)

ARC Systems Inc. (The U.S.)

Siemens (Germany)

Safran Electrical & Power (France)

MagniX (The U.S.)

Sydney Seaplanes, Dante Aeronautical, and MagniX Announce Exciting Partnership

Dante Aeronautical, Sydney Seaplanes, and MagniX announced a path-breaking partnership in December 2020, under which the companies will co-develop the world’s first-ever Electric Cessna Caravan Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) program. Leveraging MagniX’s aviation high speed motor propulsion system, Dante and Sydney will convert the Cessna Caravan into a fully-electric aircraft that will be certified by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Set to be completed by 2023, the STC will position Sydney Seaplanes as an undisputed leader in electric aircraft operations, and Dante as the technology integrator, across Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.

Increasing Deployment of UAVs for Military Operations to Fuel the Market

Aviation high speed motors are the most important components in powering unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These aerial machines are being increasingly deployed by armed forces around the world for military operations in the context of national security, cross-border tensions, and growing terrorist activities. For example, in March 2021, the Indian Army leased four Heron UAVs from Israel Aerospace Industries to counter aggression by Chinese troops along the India-China border. Furthermore, defense agencies are also collaborating with aviation companies to build next-generation drones to enhance their defense arsenal. In February 2021, for instance, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Atomics to craft air-to-air combat drones under its LongShot program. Such prolific progress in UAV technology will spawn incredible opportunities for players in this market and elevate its potential.

Commercial Aircraft Segment to Occupy Commanding Position

In terms of platform, this market has been divided into commercial aircraft, general aviation aircraft, business aircraft, electric aircraft, UAVs, and helicopters. The commercial aircraft segment led the market in 2020 with a share of 22.50%, owing to the soaring demand for commercial aircraft worldwide. As a consequence, domestic airliners are rapidly procuring commercial airplanes from aviation companies. For example, in March 2021, United Airlines placed an order for an additional 25 jets from Boeing’s 737 Max fleet to prepare itself for a rebound from the coronavirus crisis.

By type, the global market has been segregated into AC motor and DC motor. Based on application, the market has been segmented into propulsion system, flight control, and fuel management system. On the basis of geography, the market has been classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World.

North America to Emerge as the Most Profitable Region for Market Players

North America is expected to lead the aviation high speed motor market share in the forthcoming period owing to the consistently high demand for domestic air travel in the US and Canada. This will make the region highly profitable for market players throughout the forecast period. In 2020, the region’s market size was at USD 0.61 billion.

The market for aviation high speed motors is anticipated to enjoy excellent growth prospects in Latin America due to the increasing tourist activities in Brazil and Argentina.

Partnerships with Startups by Key Players to Energize Market Competition

The leading competitors in this market are actively partnering with startups to develop and deploy aviation high speed motor units to power electric aircraft. These collaborations are significant as they are enabling key players to expand their product portfolios as well as solidify their presence in the market. Moreover, such partnerships are facilitating technology exchanges that can rapidly enhance the growth potential of this market.

Industry Development:

December 2020: MagniX was selected by the UK-based startup Faradair to power its proposed fleet of 300 electric aircraft. The startup aims at releasing its 18-passenger airplanes by 2026, which will be built in the UK itself.

#Aviation High Speed Motor Market

0 notes

sheetmusiclibrarypdf · 1 year

Text

New Born – Muse (sheet music)

https://rumble.com/embed/v2b7w14/?pub=14hjof

Muse

Muse is a British rock band formed in 1994, in Teignmouth, Devon. Since its formation, its members are: Matt Bellamy (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christopher Wolstenholme (bass, backing vocals) and Dominic Howard (drums). After the release of Black Holes and Revelations, Morgan Nicholls began collaborating with the band during live performances, taking charge of keyboards, samples, some choirs, rarely bass and lately second guitar. The band is known for its extravagant live shows, for fusing musical genres such as alternative rock, space rock, progressive rock, symphonic rock and electronica, also for Bellamy's atypical interests in global conspiracy, revolution, astrophysics, alien life, ghosts, theology and the apocalypse; themes that are reflected in his lyrics. To this day, Muse has released nine studio albums: Showbiz (1999), Origin of Symmetry (2001). Absolution (2003), Black Holes and Revelations (2006), The Resistance (2009), The 2nd Law (2012), Drones (2015), Simulation Theory (2018) and Will of the People (2022). They have also released three live albums: Hullabaloo Soundtrack (2001), which also contains a compilation of B-sides; HAARP (2008), which documents the band's performances at Wembley Stadium in 2007; Live at Rome Olympic Stadium (2013), a performance by the band in front of over 60,000 people in Italy; Simulation Theory film filmed in August 2019 in two presentations at the O2 Arena, and after a year, it was released in August 2020 for the IMAX cinema. Black Holes and Revelations earned Muse a Mercury Prize nomination and third place on NME's Best Albums of the Year list in 2006. Muse has also won a number of awards throughout her career, including five MTV Europe Music Awards. Awards, six Q Awards, eight NME Awards, two Brit Awards (awarded for 'Best British Live Act' twice), an MTV Video Music Award, four Kerrang! Awards and an American Music Award. MUSE were also nominated for five Grammy Awards, where they won in the best rock album category in 2011, for their fifth studio album The Resistance (2009), being also winners of the same award for Drones in 2016. Considered one of the bands of most popular and successful rock band of the last two decades, as of June 2016 they have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Part of the success of Muse resides in the great interpretative and compositional capacity of its members. It is a band known for encompassing and mixing various genres and musical currents. His original influences include artists such as Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Rage Against The Machine, Rush, Deftones, The Smashing Pumpkins, Jeff Buckley and Jimi Hendrix; in addition to the influence of classical composers, especially those of the romantic era, such as Sergei Rachmaninov, Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin. Additionally, Latin music has had a considerable influence on the band's sound. Subsequently, the band has been influenced by groups such as U2, Depeche Mode, INXS and Queen. Several critics made comparisons between the sound of Muse with the sound of the English band Radiohead, especially Bellamy's voice. Although he has stated that he 'doesn't really like' the music of the Oxford band and attributes the similarities to the fact that he and the Radiohead singer are notably influenced by musician Jeff Buckley. The newspaper La República published in June 2013 the clear musical influence and style of Radiohead on bands created in the 90s. Notably, Muse is almost ten years younger than the Oxford band, even Matthew Bellamy tried to imitate the voice of Thom Yorke, but both have different voice registers. While Bellamy's tone is sharper and more hurtful in the dramatic Tenor trait, Yorke's has much more nuances (denotes regret, anger, nostalgia) and fine expressions in the Tenor trait, for which reason the debate is always open. Matt Bellamy, who usually leads lead vocals, has been shown to have a forceful voice in both the chest voice and head voice registers. His falsetto reminds critics of great rock music vocalists like Jeff Buckley and Freddie Mercury. Read the full article

#sheetmusicdownload #sheetmusicscoredownloadpartiturapartitionspartitinoten楽譜망할음악ноты #spartiti

1 note · View note

fracto · 1 year

Text

“Árbol”

Manuel Enrique González Carmona

Manuel Enrique González Carmona ingresó “Árbol” en los Siena Drone Photo Awards de 2020, y ganó un “elogio” en la “categoría naturaleza”

1 note · View note

mosesneumann07 · 1 year

Text

Publications South African Nationwide Bioinformatics Institute

From the very beginning, Ms Sandi began to weave herself into the lives and fabric of the Kingswood household. Jessamy Pedro receives an Honours Award for Netball. The prizes awarded at Awards Ceremonies which are held every term form a half of the formal recognition of pupil achievement at Kingswood College. On this primary day of 2022, we wish each Kingswoodian, past, and present as nicely as our wider Kingswoodian family, what we hope shall be a cheerful, fulfilling New Year. And similar to that, a new chapter begins for our new Kingswoodians. We are so grateful that the Covid-19 pandemic has still allowed us to have fun and mark this momentous event in the lives of the households who've joined our faculty. Eric is a six-year-old Medicaid beneficiary who lives along with his single mom, Sarah. Taking Eric to the physician would imply Sarah would have to miss her restaurant shift to take a bus across city with Eric to the closest well being middle. Fortunately, she has different options. Rather than taking him to a clinic or doctor’s workplace, she makes use of an at-home diagnostic check to confirm his prognosis. Open and safe information platforms permit Sarah to confirm the prognosis, order the mandatory prescription, and have it delivered to their home by way of drone. You will be forever in my coronary heart. Not a day goes by without me excited about the unbelievable legacy you might have left behind. Dear Dr. Lison I want to convey my deepest sympathy in the passing of your wife, Gita Lison. It is all the time difficult shedding a liked one you've spent most of your life with. Wish we could be sharing a slice of cheese cake collectively. My life is so empty without you and my treasured furchildren. My sugar has gone up a lot life for me is very annoying. Lit Brady is looking after me properly hope you see him from above. Love you mother, can't imagine it's 4.5yrs you left me. Miss celebrating birthdays, yomtov with you. It broke my coronary heart to lose you, but you didn't go alone a half of me went with you the day God took you home. Another year without you pricey daddy. So many great memories packed into the 12 brief years we had collectively. Most of all I bear in mind your type blue eyes, your sweet tenor voice, and the total love you ha for mother and me. dr gregory hough south africa Steve Gardner retired from the Kingswood staff on the finish of 2020 having served as Business Manager at Kingswood for 15 years from January 2006 until December 2020. His contribution to the college was immense and underneath his astute steerage many adjustments and new buildings popped up on the Kingswood campus. However, Steve’s ardour for Kingswood was shared with his passion for golf, especially at his home membership, The Royal Port Alfred Golf Club. Daddy gave me my second name in illustration of you. I hope I make you proud everyday. We love and miss you and you are at all times in my thoughts. The greatest grandpa position model to a granddaughter who cherishes and loves u all the time and endlessly. Daddy, 61 years have passed since that fateful Sunday if you had the guts assault. I actually have missed you every day since then. Your Children and Grandchildren in Toronto and Cleveland. My valuable Mom, the memory of your love is at all times in our hearts and ..... Our beloved niece NOLA, all the time in our hearts. Dearest Dad, you may be at all times in our hearts and always remembered, lov ..... It has taken me years to search out you.

#dr gregory hough south africa #dr greg hough south africa #dr gregory #dr greg hough #greg hough #dr gregory hough #dr gregory images #dr greg hough images #dr gregory facebook #dr greg hough facebook

1 note · View note

mariacallous · 1 year

Text

For many within Chile and in its diaspora, the Chilean imagination is defined by memory: how it is created, how it is disappeared, and how it is passionately rekindled. This was thrown into stark relief during the October 2019 to March 2020 estallido social, or “social explosion,” when record-breaking anti-government protests overtook the country. Demonstrations were triggered by a 30-peso ($0.04) hike in metro fares and grew to target economic inequality, corruption, and systemic human rights abuses that date back to the era of dictator Augusto Pinochet.

For many protesters, those 30 pesos symbolized 30 years’ worth of social discontent that had been brewing since the end of Pinochet’s rule in 1990, when the country transitioned to democracy but kept many vestiges of the old authoritarian regime in place—including the Pinochet-era constitution and neoliberal economic policies, which entrenched many of the socioeconomic inequities seen in Chile today.

The uprising, which involved up to 1.2 million protesters at its peak, prompted Chile’s conservative president at the time, Sebastián Piñera, to institute a state of emergency and curfew as well as to deploy the military and police to quash the protests. Amnesty International documented human rights violations committed by Chile’s police during this time, including the deliberate use of excessive force against protesters. Weeks after imposing the state of emergency, Piñera called an October 2020 referendum asking Chileans to vote on whether the country should draft a new constitution. A resounding 78 percent voted yes.

The 2022 film My Imaginary Country, directed by Chilean documentarian Patricio Guzmán, is a poetic and epochal account of the estallido and its aftermath, culminating in the December 2021 election of millennial leftist President Gabriel Boric. Its storyline ends before the events of this past September, when Chileans overwhelmingly voted to reject the new constitution that had been drafted by a democratically elected constitutional assembly. But despite being filmed before this letdown for Boric and the far left, Guzmán’s work implicitly demands viewers look beyond it. Above all, My Imaginary Country underscores that the emotions conjured during the estallido are an enduring force that could sustain the fight for justice in Chile—whatever it looks like—for years to come. The constitutional defeat did not erode this movement, it merely reframed it.

Guzmán is one of Chile’s most prolific filmmakers. The 81-year-old has spent his career seeking to capture the Chilean spirit by chronicling the country’s most pivotal historical moments on screen. His 1970s documentary trilogy, The Battle of Chile, became a definitive account of how Pinochet overthrew socialist President Salvador Allende, and it put Guzmán on the map as one of the world’s most important documentary filmmakers. The opus only saw the light of day because Guzmán fled the country following his arrest and two-week interrogation in one of Pinochet’s most infamous prison camps. Guzmán smuggled his film to Europe and completed it in France, where he lives to this day. Despite living abroad, Guzmán remains deeply engaged with his home country: Ahead of the launch of My Imaginary Country, Guzmán was given a lifetime achievement award at the Santiago International Film Festival.

My Imaginary Country is a surprising departure from The Battle of Chile—both in execution and tone. The trilogy took viewers to the street level of the country’s violent political unrest, handheld cameras and all. But the latest work, filmed nearly one year after the start of the estallido, feels more like a polished retrospective ornamented with earnest narrations by Guzmán. Panning drone footage of protesters occupying Santiago’s Avenida Providencia captures the sheer scale and emotion of the social unrest, while interviews with protesters, assembly members, and political scientists—all women—ascribe humanity and dignity to those at the heart of the political movement.

Guzmán seems aware of these differences, and in his narrations he often compares the new film to his earlier work. The first revolution “was led by the political parties,” Guzmán narrates toward the beginning of the film. “Today, the movement is wary of the political parties and all of the institutions.”

It is those differences that both emboldened the anti-establishment estallido movement in 2019 and led to its swift burnout this year. In May 2021, Chile elected a 155-member, gender-balanced constitutional assembly to write a new draft constitution that was completed and presented to the public later that year. More than half of those elected to the assembly were independents with little or no political experience—among the delegates were “lawyers, academics, journalists, two actors, a dentist, a mechanic, a chess master and a bevy of left-wing activists,” the New York Times reported. Having such outsiders involved in the process may have appealed to the anti-establishment protesters, but as Chile-based journalist John Bartlett explained on FP’s The Negotiators podcast, it also complicated the assembly’s ability to reach political consensus on proposals.

The resulting draft was a lengthy 170-page, 388-article magna carta that would have, among other things, eliminated the country’s Senate, legalized abortion, required gender parity in government, granted protections to nature and animals, strengthened unions, and given Chileans more than 100 constitutional rights promising to care for them “from birth to death.”

These freedoms were ambitious even for a liberal society, and experts contend that the draft charter sought to push Chile leftward too hard, too soon. An economic study conducted in Chile estimated that the changes would have cost the country as much as 14 percent of its GDP if it passed.

Guzmán’s documentary offers some foreshadowing of the failure and disappointment to come: Toward the end of the film, 32-year-old constitutional assembly member and chess master Damaris Abarca candidly expresses some of her worries about the draft process, which had not yet begun.

“The worst [to happen] would be to lose faith in the convention and be left with the dictator’s constitution,” she says. “The second would be if far-right sectors of this country are re-established, like [they have been] elsewhere in the world.”

But Abarca’s fears were only partially realized. Chileans wanted a new constitution. They just didn’t want a country reconstructed beyond recognition because of it.

Guzmán’s film is at its weakest when he makes the same righteous declarations that drove the draft constitution’s demise. Near the beginning, Guzmán declares that “young people are planning something truly novel, without leaders or ideologies but united all the same.” Much of the work is filmed in Chile’s former National Congress building, which hosted the planning sessions of the 2021 Constitutional Convention. The building, once used by Congress until the coup against Allende, was declared a national monument during the Pinochet dictatorship, only to be reopened for the assembly to convene, “as if history was being repaired,” Guzmán narrates.

It’s hard to believe this sunny pronouncement to be completely true. Chile is rife with political, social, and economic divisions over how to move forward. Perhaps understandably, given his imprisonment during the dictatorship and enduring exile, Guzmán tends to over-romanticize the estallido, giving voice only to its most outspoken and idealistic leaders. The result is a passionate but incomplete picture of a movement that did not serve everyone in Chilean society.

But while pathos was at times a crutch for the film, it also conjured a specific Chilean disposition: The title, My Imaginary Country, is perhaps a nod to celebrated Chilean poet Nicanor Parra’s piece, “The Imaginary Man,” in which an imaginary man longs for the love of an imaginary woman. By shunning mainstream poetic conventions, Parra forces the reader to question the reality he presents and imagine something beyond what’s written. It’s through this allusion that Guzmán argues that today’s Chileans are rejecting the constructs that defined generations before them—in hopes that something new and cathartic can take root.

“I am anxious about the outcome of this struggle. Who will lose and who will win?” narrates Guzmán after the film’s opening scene. It’s a tension that remains in Chile—far beyond the rolling of the credits.

1 note · View note