#The 2017 Black Hills Film Festival

[dancergurl3000]

Book review or book report. “Hollywood ending, how Harvey Weinstein created a culture of silence.” An essay.

I enjoyed this book. Ken Auletta from the New Yorker profiled Harvey Weinstein about 20 years ago in 2002, and found he had in fact attempted to rape Rowena Chiu at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. He pressed Harvey because he found out what he had done: he figured out that both his assistants: Zelda Perkins and Rowena were forced to sign these very binding Non disclosure agreements. Their settlements were in the six figures amount, but he couldn’t prove that he did this to pay for silence to ward off his wives. He put it this way to Ronan Farrow: “I knew he had done these things. I just couldn’t prove it!” So it was 17 years of Ken diligently working in a notebook and recording what he heard and saw. He wrote about Harvey’s trial in vivid detail, the thing he seem to know though I kept coming back to with his conversations with Ronan he says: “I knew of at least three women he had abused, five of which who were certified, I knew of the Zelda Perkins N.D.A, and I had the information already; I didn’t need the women to talk to me!” But unfortunately as he writes of the Harvey trial, the jury only convicted two or three of the five counts he was charged with: 1. Rape in the third degree; 2. Unlawful imprisonment of a minor, and 3. Rape in the first degree of unwanted physical contact, and false imprisonment and sexual harassment in the third degree mainly of his ex assistant Jessica Mann. To hear her account in the trial was harrowing but as Ken wrote, they really did everything to try and discredit her survival story of Harvey during cross examination but that the jury ultimately found Harvey guilty since he barely could keep himself awake during the trial, and did not testify in his own defense. To hear the jury tell it; they paint a picture of serious predation: “if you really are innocent of something you know you’re being accused of and know without a doubt you didn’t do it, why wouldn’t you take the stand in your own defense?” Why indeed I asked myself? Ultimately I think you could continue to convict him on his pattern of sexual predation: it went something like this from Rosanna Arquette: Harvey invites you up to his hotel suite at the Beverley Hills Hilton; he opens the door in his bathrobe naked, and then proceeds to rape you or try and attempt to rape you. We know of at least two women who stated very clearly that he was known to barge into women’s apartments that he knew of as his friends, but that you couldn’t prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. (Sorry Annabella Scoria). But you could prove that Harvey had such a pattern, we know of more than 85 women stating the very same thing: that Harvey invited you to his hotel room and instructed you to “come alone”, as a young actress or assistant, he would open the door in his bathrobe and be naked and attempt to rape you or full on rape you. He seemed to be a classic sociopath in the sense that if you tried to resist it would be stated that he would retaliate as Rosanna Arquette told Ronan Farrow after the story broke in 2017. The most chilling thing to hear was Chiu’s account, she says: “I don’t think anyone who was assaulted by Harvey doesn’t then spend the rest of their life looking over their shoulder.” We know of Black Cube workers tailing Farrow and Rose McGowan who literally befriended someone who was surveilling her. To me, what Jessica Mann said at the end of the trial hopefully ends any discussion of Harvey being anything other than a sexual predator: she says: “I’ll be relieved knowing that Harvey Weinstein will be behind bars, meaning everyone around him and he himself will know where he is at all times, and that will be my ticket to freedom and being able to sleep at night.” These are the consequences of power I believe. If you’re going to make it in Hollywood, being drunk on power makes it easy for you to not believe women are anything other than objects. But I don’t know. The scary thing about it is there are more “Harvey’s” out there. And hopefully they can be held accountable but I would argue that the people around them should have known better.

[wikiuntamed]

On this day in Wikipedia: Friday, 12th April

Welcome, καλωσόρισμα (kalosórisma), tervetuloa, chào mừng 🤗 What does @Wikipedia say about 12th April through the years 🏛️📜🗓️?

12th April 2022 🗓️ : Death - Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer (b. 1955) "Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, best known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. His numerous roles in film and television included voicing Iago in..."

Image licensed under CC BY 2.0? by Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA

12th April 2017 🗓️ : Death - Charlie Murphy (actor) Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (b. 1959) "Charles Quinton Murphy (July 12, 1959 – April 12, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. He was best known as a writer and cast member of the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Chappelle's Show as well as the co-star of the sitcom Black Jesus. He was the older brother of actor and..."

Image licensed under CC BY 3.0? by Timothy M. Moore at https://www.flickr.com/photos/photocology/

12th April 2014 🗓️ : Event - Great Fire of Valparaíso A fire broke out in the hills near Valparaíso, Chile, eventually destroying at least 2,500 homes and leaving approximately 11,000 people homeless. "The Great Fire of Valparaíso (Spanish: Gran Incendio de Valparaíso) started on 12 April 2014 at 16:40 local time (19:40 UTC), in the hills of the city of Valparaíso, Chile. The wildfire destroyed at least 2,500 homes, leaving 11,000 people homeless. An additional 6,000 people were evacuated from the..."

12th April 1974 🗓️ : Birth - Sylvinho Sylvinho, Brazilian footballer and manager "Sylvio Mendes Campos Júnior (born 12 April 1974), commonly known as Sylvinho (sometimes alternatively spelled Silvinho), is a Brazilian football manager and former player, currently coaching the Albania national football team. Formerly a left back, he began his career at Corinthians. He was signed..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0? by Steffen Prößdorf

12th April 1924 🗓️ : Birth - Curtis Turner Curtis Turner, American race car driver (d. 1970) "Curtis Morton Turner (April 12, 1924 – October 4, 1970) was an American stock car racer who won 17 NASCAR Grand National Division races and 38 NASCAR Convertible Division races. Throughout his life, he developed a reputation for drinking and partying. He also fought to form a drivers union, which..."

Image licensed under CC BY 2.0? by Freewheeling Daredevil

12th April 1823 🗓️ : Birth - Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian playwright and translator (d. 1886) "Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; 12 April [O.S. 31 March] 1823 – 14 June [O.S. 2 June] 1886) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 original plays, Ostrovsky "almost..."

Image by Vasily Perov

12th April 🗓️ : Holiday - National Redemption Day (Liberia) "The following are public holidays in Liberia...."

Image licensed under CC BY 3.0? by blk24ga

#OnThisDayInWikiHistory #WikiUntamed #GemsOfWikipedia #WikiWonders

[rolliwine]

I may destroy you nick kroll

I MAY DESTROY YOU NICK KROLL MOVIE

I MAY DESTROY YOU NICK KROLL SERIES

I MAY DESTROY YOU NICK KROLL TV

Trudeau said the show is a “wonderful, wonderful opportunity” to convince people to get help if they need it. The show was all about her life in the spotlight and mental illness. Margaret Trudeau, the mother of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is brought her one-woman show Certain Woman of an Age to Montreal on July 25-27 at Gésu. “What I love about Montreal audiences is that comics love them, and therefore they want to come back,” said Just for Laughs president Bruce Hills at the lineup announcement.

I MAY DESTROY YOU NICK KROLL SERIES

Nick co-creator of the Netflix series Big Mouth, performed on Jat the Olympia Theatre. She will return to host a gala at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on July 26, 2019.Īrmisen, formerly of Saturday Night Live and co-creator of IFC’s Portlandia, will perform Fred Armisen’s Comedy For Musicians but Everyone is Welcome Jat the Olympia Theatre.

I MAY DESTROY YOU NICK KROLL TV

Sykes is known for her stand-up and roles in movies and TV such as Black-ish and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Nick Kroll and Fred Armisenįred Armisen & Nick Kroll Saved Aubrey Plaza’s “Border” Screening – CONAN on TBS Nick, Wanda Sykes, and Fred Armisen are the latest big names added to the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal this summer 2019. The Broadway performance was filmed and released on Netflix in 2017. This show premiered on Broadway on September 23, 2016, and ran for six months to positive reviews. Nick alongside John Mulaney toured the U.S.in a show called Oh, Hello, with both in character as Gil Faizon and George St.

2006 – Cheap Seats without Ron Parker as Todd Lazarov.

2006 – Late Night with Conan O’Brien as Various.

2007 – Human Giant as Fabrice Fabrice, Various, Brolin DiBiasi.

2009 – Sit Down, Shut Up as Andrew LeGustambos (voice).

2010 – John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show – Himself.

2010 – Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time as Headmaster.

2013 – The Jeselnik Offensive – Himself.

2013 – Brody Stevens: Enjoy It! – Himself.

2013 – Comedy Central Roast of James Franco as Roaster.

2013 – The Greatest Event in Television History as Jeremy Bay.

2015 -Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Christopher “Tristafé” Micelli.

2015 – Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Agent Kendrick.

2016 – Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ as Graham Simon.

2017 – At Home with Amy Sedaris as Randy Fingerling.

2017 – Oh, Hello on Broadway as Gil Faizon.

2017 – 32nd Independent Spirit Awards as Himself (host).

2018 – 33rd Independent Spirit Awards as Himself (host).

2008–2011 – Childrens Hospital as Nicky, Dr.

2008–2012 – The Life & Times of Tim as Stu (voice).

2009–2010 – WordGirl as Reuben Grinder (voice).

2011–2012 – American Dad! as Dry Cleaner, Student, Andy Dick (voice).

2011–2015 – Parks and Recreation as The Douche.

2012–2016 – Comedy Bang! Bang! as Various.

2017–present – Big Mouth as Nick Birch / various voices2013–2015 – Kroll Show as Various characters.

2008 – Adventures of Power as Versatio Bakir.

2008 – The Negotiating Table as WGA employee.

2010 – Get Him to the Greek as Kevin McLean.

2011 – A Good Old Fashioned Orgy as Adam Richman.

I MAY DESTROY YOU NICK KROLL MOVIE

2017 – Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie as Professor Poopypants (voice).2019 – The Addams Family as Uncle Fester (voice).Very coldcoldcoolwarmhotwarmcoolcoldvery coldJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNowNow82%82%34%34%clearovercastprecipitation: 1.0 inprecipitation: 1.0 in0.2 in0.2 inmuggy: 0%muggy: 0%0%0%drydrytourism score: 7.6tourism score: 7.60.00. Click on each chart for more information. The hot season lasts for 3.0 months, from June 12 to September 12, with an average daily high temperature above 81☏. The hottest month of the year in Othello is July, with an average high of 91☏ and low of 60☏. The coldest month of the year in Othello is December, with an average low of 26☏ and high of 37☏.Īverage High and Low Temperature in Othello The cold season lasts for 3.0 months, from November 17 to February 17, with an average daily high temperature below 47☏. The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).įor each hour between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM of each day in the analysis period (1980 to 2016), independent scores are computed for perceived temperature, cloud cover, and total precipitation. Those scores are combined into a single hourly composite score, which is then aggregated into days, averaged over all the years in the analysis period, and smoothed. Our cloud cover score is 10 for fully clear skies, falling linearly to 9 for mostly clear skies, and to 1 for fully overcast skies. Our precipitation score, which is based on the three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for trace precipitation, and to 0 for 0.04 inches of precipitation or more.

#I may destroy you nick kroll

[brookston]

Holidays 10.1

Holidays

Armed Forces Day (South Korea)

Captains Regent Day (San Mario)

CD Player Day

Children’s Day (El Salvador, Guatemala, Sri Lanka)

Chuuk Constitution Day (Micronesia)

Cut Out Dissection Day

Day of Prosecutors (Azerbaijan)

Day of Teachers and Inspectors (Uzbekistan)

Feast of Penha (Brazil)

Fire Pup Day

Fiscal Year begins (US)

Foundation Day of the People's Republic of China

Ground Forces Day (Russia)

Guoqing Jie (China, Hong Kong, Macau)

International Day of Older Persons (UN)

International Music Day

International Raccoon Appreciation Day

Investiture of the Captains Regent (San Marino)

Kung Fu Day

Less Than Perfect Day

Lincolnshire Day (UK)

Little Golden Books Day

Model T Day

Monkey God Festival (Hong Kong)

Moving Day (NYC)

National Black Dog Day

National Book It! Day

National Day of the People's Republic of China

National Hair Day

National Lace Day

National Walk Your Dog Day

O’qituvchi va Murabbiylar Kuni (Day of Teachers and Instructors; Uzbekistan)

Pancasila Sanctity Day (Indonesia)

Popcorn and Tears Movie Appreciation Night

Postcard Day

Stone Fishing Ceremony (French Polynesia)

Tampere Day (Finland)

Teacher’s Day (Uzbekistan)

Umbrella Academy Day

Unification Day (Cameroon)

US-ROK Alliance Day (US and Korea)

Willy Wonka Day

World Ballet Day

World Paralysis Awareness Day

World Series Day

Yosemite National Park Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Coffee Day (Japan)

German Brewer's New Year's Day

Homemade Cookies Day

International Coffee Day

International Sake Day

National Pumpkin Spice Day

Pudding Season begins

World Sake Day

World Vegetarian Day

1st Saturday in October

Bed & Breakfast Inn Mascot Day [1st Saturday]

Cephalopod Awareness Day [1st Saturday]

Dachshund Day [1st Saturday]

Digital Scrapbooking Day [1st Saturday]

Inter-American Water Day [1st Saturday]

International Frugal Fun Day [1st Saturday]

Lumberjack Day (Calaveras County, California) [1st Saturday]

Madonna del Lume Celebration (a.k.a. Blessing of the Fleet; San Francisco, California) [1st Saturday]

National Play Outside Day [1st Saturday of Every Month]

Satyr's Day (Silenus, Greek God of Beer Buddies and Drinking Companions) [1st Saturday of Each Month]

Tarantula Festival and Barbecue (Morgan Hill, California) [1st Saturday]

World Card Making Day [1st Saturday]

Yakima Fresh Hop Ale Festival (Washington) [1st Saturday]

Independence Days

Cyprus (from UK, 1960)

Nigeria (from UK, 1960)

Palau (from UN Trust Territory status, 1994)

Tuvalu (from UK, 1978)

Feast Days

Abai (Syriac Orthodox Church)

Agnolotti Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

Bavo of Ghent (Christian; Saint)

Descension of the Lawyers Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Edward James (Christian; Blessed)

Festival of Juno Sororia (Ancient Rome)

Festival of the Rosary (Christian; Saint)

Fides (Old Roman Goddess of Faithfulness)

Fidharieus of Ireland (Christian; Saint)

Kalends of October (Ancient Rome)

Ms. Barrett (Muppetism)

Nicetius (Roman Catholic Church)

Oschophoria (Autumn Dionysus Festival, Greek God of Intoxication)

Pergolese (Positivist; Saint)

Plat (Christian; Saint)

Remigius of Rheims (Christian; Saint)

Romanos the Melodist (Christian; Saint)

Thérèse of Lisieux (Christian; Saint)

Protection/Patronage of the Theotokos (Eastern Catholic Churches)

Wasnulf (a.k.a. Wasnon; Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Abbey Road, by The Beatles (US Album; 1969)

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, by Gertrude Stein (Autobiography; 1932)

The Big Country (Film; 1958)

A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. (Novel; 1959)

The Devil’s Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce (Book; 1906)

Dexter (TV Series; 2006)

Fountains of Wayne, by Fountains of Wayne (Album; 1996)

Ghosted (TV Series; 2017)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, by Stieg Larrsson (Novel; 2009) [Millennium Trilogy #3]

Green Onions, by Booker T. & The M.G.’s (Album; 1962)

The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy (Novel; 1985)

Jackass (TV Series; 2000)

Kubla Khan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Poem; 1797)

The Last Hero, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2001) [Discworld #27]

Madame Bovary (Novel; 1856)

The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick (Novel; 1962)

Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka (Novella; 1915)

Midnight Love, by Marvin Gaye (Album; 1982)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles, by Agatha Christie (Mystery Novel; 1920) [1]

A New World Record, by Electric Light Orchestra (Album; 1976)

Night of the Living Dead (Film; 1968)

Redwall, by Brian Jacques (Novel; 1986)

Ringworld, by Larry Niven (Novel; 1970)

Selling England By the Pound, by Genesis (Album; 1973)

She, by H. Rider Haggard (Novel; 1886)

Surfin’ Safari, by The Beach Boys (Album; 1962)

The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter (Children’s Book; 1902)

Teaser and the Firecat, by Cat Stevens (Album; 1971)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Film; 1974)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (Late Night TV Talk Show; 1962)

The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot (Poem; 1922)

Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys (Novel; 1966)

007 in New York, by Ian Fleming (James Bond Short Story; 1962)

Today’s Name Days

Theresia (Austria)

Remigije, Tereza, Terezija (Croatia)

Igor (Czech Republic)

Remigius (Denmark)

Ragnar, Rain, Rainer, Raino, Rauno, Reinhard (Estonia)

Raine, Rainer, Raino, Rauno (Finland)

Ariel, Mélodie, Muriel, Thérèse (France)

Andrea, Remigius, Theresia, Werner (Germany)

Ananias, Romanos, Thiresia (Greece)

Malvin (Hungary)

Teresa (Italy)

Lara, Lāsma, Zanda (Latvia)

Benigna, Mantas, Mintė, Remigijus (Lithuania)

Rebekka, Remi (Norway)

Benigna, Cieszysław, Dan, Danisz, Danuta, Igor, Jan, Remigiusz (Poland)

Ariadna, Irina, Sofya (Russia)

Arnold (Slovakia)

Teresa, Teresita (Spain)

Ragna, Ragnar (Sweden)

Carter, Remington, Remy, Rhea, Rhiannon (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 274 of 2022; 91 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 39 of 2022

Celtic Tree Calendar: Gort (Ivy) [Day 1 of 28]

Chinese: Month 9 (Júyuè), Day 6 (Ding-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)

Hebrew: 6 Tishri 5783

Islamic: 5 Rabi I 1444

J Cal: 4 Shù; Threesday [4 of 30]

Julian: 18 September 2022

Moon: 36%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 22 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Pergolese]

Runic Half Month: Gyfu (Gift) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 9 of 90)

Zodiac: Libra (Day 7 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Gort (Ivy) [Celtic Tree Calendar; Month 10 of 13]

#calendar #Holidays

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 10.1

Holidays

Armed Forces Day (South Korea)

Captains Regent Day (San Mario)

CD Player Day

Children’s Day (El Salvador, Guatemala, Sri Lanka)

Chuuk Constitution Day (Micronesia)

Cut Out Dissection Day

Day of Prosecutors (Azerbaijan)

Day of Teachers and Inspectors (Uzbekistan)

Feast of Penha (Brazil)

Fire Pup Day

Fiscal Year begins (US)

Foundation Day of the People's Republic of China

Ground Forces Day (Russia)

Guoqing Jie (China, Hong Kong, Macau)

International Day of Older Persons (UN)

International Music Day

International Raccoon Appreciation Day

Investiture of the Captains Regent (San Marino)

Kung Fu Day

Less Than Perfect Day

Lincolnshire Day (UK)

Little Golden Books Day

Model T Day

Monkey God Festival (Hong Kong)

Moving Day (NYC)

National Black Dog Day

National Book It! Day

National Day of the People's Republic of China

National Hair Day

National Lace Day

National Walk Your Dog Day

O’qituvchi va Murabbiylar Kuni (Day of Teachers and Instructors; Uzbekistan)

Pancasila Sanctity Day (Indonesia)

Popcorn and Tears Movie Appreciation Night

Postcard Day

Stone Fishing Ceremony (French Polynesia)

Tampere Day (Finland)

Teacher’s Day (Uzbekistan)

Umbrella Academy Day

Unification Day (Cameroon)

US-ROK Alliance Day (US and Korea)

Willy Wonka Day

World Ballet Day

World Paralysis Awareness Day

World Series Day

Yosemite National Park Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Coffee Day (Japan)

German Brewer's New Year's Day

Homemade Cookies Day

International Coffee Day

International Sake Day

National Pumpkin Spice Day

Pudding Season begins

World Sake Day

World Vegetarian Day

1st Saturday in October

Bed & Breakfast Inn Mascot Day [1st Saturday]

Cephalopod Awareness Day [1st Saturday]

Dachshund Day [1st Saturday]

Digital Scrapbooking Day [1st Saturday]

Inter-American Water Day [1st Saturday]

International Frugal Fun Day [1st Saturday]

Lumberjack Day (Calaveras County, California) [1st Saturday]

Madonna del Lume Celebration (a.k.a. Blessing of the Fleet; San Francisco, California) [1st Saturday]

National Play Outside Day [1st Saturday of Every Month]

Satyr's Day (Silenus, Greek God of Beer Buddies and Drinking Companions) [1st Saturday of Each Month]

Tarantula Festival and Barbecue (Morgan Hill, California) [1st Saturday]

World Card Making Day [1st Saturday]

Yakima Fresh Hop Ale Festival (Washington) [1st Saturday]

Independence Days

Cyprus (from UK, 1960)

Nigeria (from UK, 1960)

Palau (from UN Trust Territory status, 1994)

Tuvalu (from UK, 1978)

Feast Days

Abai (Syriac Orthodox Church)

Agnolotti Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

Bavo of Ghent (Christian; Saint)

Descension of the Lawyers Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Edward James (Christian; Blessed)

Festival of Juno Sororia (Ancient Rome)

Festival of the Rosary (Christian; Saint)

Fides (Old Roman Goddess of Faithfulness)

Fidharieus of Ireland (Christian; Saint)

Kalends of October (Ancient Rome)

Ms. Barrett (Muppetism)

Nicetius (Roman Catholic Church)

Oschophoria (Autumn Dionysus Festival, Greek God of Intoxication)

Pergolese (Positivist; Saint)

Plat (Christian; Saint)

Remigius of Rheims (Christian; Saint)

Romanos the Melodist (Christian; Saint)

Thérèse of Lisieux (Christian; Saint)

Protection/Patronage of the Theotokos (Eastern Catholic Churches)

Wasnulf (a.k.a. Wasnon; Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Abbey Road, by The Beatles (US Album; 1969)

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, by Gertrude Stein (Autobiography; 1932)

The Big Country (Film; 1958)

A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. (Novel; 1959)

The Devil’s Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce (Book; 1906)

Dexter (TV Series; 2006)

Fountains of Wayne, by Fountains of Wayne (Album; 1996)

Ghosted (TV Series; 2017)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, by Stieg Larrsson (Novel; 2009) [Millennium Trilogy #3]

Green Onions, by Booker T. & The M.G.’s (Album; 1962)

The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy (Novel; 1985)

Jackass (TV Series; 2000)

Kubla Khan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Poem; 1797)

The Last Hero, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2001) [Discworld #27]

Madame Bovary (Novel; 1856)

The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick (Novel; 1962)

Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka (Novella; 1915)

Midnight Love, by Marvin Gaye (Album; 1982)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles, by Agatha Christie (Mystery Novel; 1920) [1]

A New World Record, by Electric Light Orchestra (Album; 1976)

Night of the Living Dead (Film; 1968)

Redwall, by Brian Jacques (Novel; 1986)

Ringworld, by Larry Niven (Novel; 1970)

Selling England By the Pound, by Genesis (Album; 1973)

She, by H. Rider Haggard (Novel; 1886)

Surfin’ Safari, by The Beach Boys (Album; 1962)

The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter (Children’s Book; 1902)

Teaser and the Firecat, by Cat Stevens (Album; 1971)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Film; 1974)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (Late Night TV Talk Show; 1962)

The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot (Poem; 1922)

Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys (Novel; 1966)

007 in New York, by Ian Fleming (James Bond Short Story; 1962)

Today’s Name Days

Theresia (Austria)

Remigije, Tereza, Terezija (Croatia)

Igor (Czech Republic)

Remigius (Denmark)

Ragnar, Rain, Rainer, Raino, Rauno, Reinhard (Estonia)

Raine, Rainer, Raino, Rauno (Finland)

Ariel, Mélodie, Muriel, Thérèse (France)

Andrea, Remigius, Theresia, Werner (Germany)

Ananias, Romanos, Thiresia (Greece)

Malvin (Hungary)

Teresa (Italy)

Lara, Lāsma, Zanda (Latvia)

Benigna, Mantas, Mintė, Remigijus (Lithuania)

Rebekka, Remi (Norway)

Benigna, Cieszysław, Dan, Danisz, Danuta, Igor, Jan, Remigiusz (Poland)

Ariadna, Irina, Sofya (Russia)

Arnold (Slovakia)

Teresa, Teresita (Spain)

Ragna, Ragnar (Sweden)

Carter, Remington, Remy, Rhea, Rhiannon (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 274 of 2022; 91 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 39 of 2022

Celtic Tree Calendar: Gort (Ivy) [Day 1 of 28]

Chinese: Month 9 (Júyuè), Day 6 (Ding-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)

Hebrew: 6 Tishri 5783

Islamic: 5 Rabi I 1444

J Cal: 4 Shù; Threesday [4 of 30]

Julian: 18 September 2022

Moon: 36%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 22 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Pergolese]

Runic Half Month: Gyfu (Gift) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 9 of 90)

Zodiac: Libra (Day 7 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Gort (Ivy) [Celtic Tree Calendar; Month 10 of 13]

#Holidays

[brian-in-finance]

Jamie Dornan stuck his fingers in the fireplace, fussing with a few stray flakes of ash, searching for something small to concentrate on so he wouldn’t have to think about the very big thing that was happening the next day.

“I’m just hoping to not have vegetables thrown at us, and calls for the guillotine,” the 39-year-old actor told me.

It was the day before Dornan’s new film, “Belfast,” an Irish coming-of-age story, would screen for the first time in the Northern Irish city that bears its name, a city where Dornan spent the first 19 years of his life. Around 1,500 people were expected to attend the premiere, and Dornan anticipated how that hometown crowd might feel about a movie set there: curious, proprietary and quick to pounce if “Belfast” made even a single misstep.

“We could get all the good reviews in the world, but what we really want is for people from Belfast to like this film,” Dornan said, fidgeting in his armchair. “So it’s going to be interesting tomorrow night. God, it’s going to be emotional!”

Those good reviews from the rest of the world weren’t just a hypothetical: Since its first screening at the Telluride Film Festival in late August, “Belfast” has received such fond reactions that many pundits consider it a front-runner for the best-picture Oscar. Drawn from the childhood experiences of the writer-director Kenneth Branagh, the film follows 9-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill), his beloved Pa (Dornan) and protective Ma (Caitriona Balfe) as they mull whether to stay in Belfast after their neighborhood erupts in sectarian violence.

“Belfast” is filmed in black and white, was directed by a five-time Oscar nominee and stars Judi Dench as Dornan’s mother; in other words, it’s a long way from the “Fifty Shades of Grey” franchise, a critically derided sex trilogy that made Dornan famous even as it hung a millstone around his neck. The last time Dornan went to the Oscars, as a presenter in 2017, his very presence was a sop to the viewing audience: Here was the handsome, frequently naked guy from an S&M blockbuster that most Oscar voters wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot whip.

And now, just a few years later, he may return to the ceremony as the star of their favorite movie.

I met Dornan in early November at Soho Farmhouse, a members club in the British countryside; he had driven in from the nearby Cotswolds, where he lives with his musician wife, Amelia Warner, and their three daughters. Onscreen, Dornan often plays solemn and steady, even though offscreen, he has a quick Irish wit and can barely sit still. He is also cheeky in a way that movie roles have yet to fully showcase: When we sat down by the fireplace and requested glasses of water that failed to materialize, Dornan joked that he considered making out with me “just for the fluids.”

Dornan’s eyes are so dark blue that they appear to be all pupil, lending his screen look an otherworldliness that his most notable roles take great advantage of. In the Netflix thriller series “The Fall” and in “Fifty Shades of Grey,” even when his lips curled into a knowing smirk, those eyes still kept some secrets, while in the recent comedy “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” Dornan’s eyeballs looked more like inky black dots, fitting for a movie that plays as a live-action cartoon. “Belfast” milks his ethereal gaze for all it’s worth: When Pa’s family is threatened, Dornan’s eyes widen, wounded, then harden into a stare.

“I think his screen presence is truly able to convey danger, both the concern about its potential nearness, but also his personal capacity to produce it,” Branagh wrote in an email.

Every time young Buddy looks at his Pa, it’s as though he is beholding the sun itself, and Branagh leans into that hero worship, shooting Dornan in black and white as a literal silver-screen idol who croons “Everlasting Love” in the movie’s centerpiece scene. Though Pa is based on Branagh’s father, Dornan has imbued it with characteristics of his own dad, a man he similarly adored while growing up.

Dornan warns me that he might cry if we discuss his father; he doesn’t, but it’s the only time he goes completely still. Dr. Jim Dornan was a renowned obstetrician and gynecologist and the president of the Northern Ireland Pancreatic Cancer charity, in addition to being Jamie’s biggest fan. He was so eager to see “Belfast” — his son was starring opposite Dench, after all — and then, in March of this year, he died of Covid-19. He was 73.

“He was the greatest of men, so kind and wonderful, and he gave so much time and honesty and respect to everyone he met,” Dornan said. “There’s elements that I hope have rubbed off on me, that I’m really trying to take on through for the rest of my life. And a lot of those elements I definitely tried to put into Pa, because I could recognize the goodness.”

Dornan was also eager to use what he had learned from being a father, things you just can’t embody until you experience them yourself. He recalled that in one of his first major roles, as a serial killer on “The Fall,” his character needed to dry his daughter’s hair after a bath; Dornan had not yet had children then, and he toweled the girl’s head so vigorously that the show’s creator had to stop him.

Dornan loves telling stories where he is the butt of the joke, a trait he considers uniquely Belfastian. “That’s sort of in our genes, to find levity in moments of hardship,” he said. And though he has now lived away from Belfast longer than he ever lived in it, so many things about the place remains innate.

“When you say ‘home,’ you still mean Belfast,” Dornan said.

DORNAN LEFT BELFAST just as he was about to turn 20, three years after his mother died from pancreatic cancer. He had spent that in-between time feeling aimless and drinking too much until his concerned older sister signed him up for a modeling reality show, as one does.

Dornan didn’t win the show, but after moving to London, he still rose rapidly through the ranks of male modeling, which is to say he posed with Kate Moss, dated Keira Knightley and was dubbed “The Golden Torso” by this very newspaper. Before that 2006 photo shoot for The New York Times, he remembers staying out all night. “I’d like to say I’ve grown up since then,” he said, “but I’m not sure I have.”

That isn’t quite true. Half the reason Dornan thrived as a model was because he didn’t care that much about it; his insouciance was the X factor that helped sell even the most ridiculous outfits and tableaus. But to succeed as an actor, you really do have to care, and you have to find it in you to keep caring even when you blow an audition, when you lose the role you would have killed for, or when you find yourself the object of public ridicule.

Dornan had always wanted to act but was afraid to start caring, so he stuck with modeling until it began to curdle. “I don’t find standing there getting your photograph taken interesting enough to do it for multiple decades,” he said. “If it satisfies you, and you can sincerely lie in bed going, ‘I feel great about what I’m doing,’ then great. But I just wasn’t. I was like, ‘This sucks.’”

Once he switched over to acting and began to let himself care, things got hard. His first audition was to play a count who catches Kirsten Dunst’s eye in “Marie Antoinette” (2006), and he booked the role immediately. But you don’t want to read a profile about a handsome guy who stumbles into success wherever he goes, and this isn’t that.

“I was so fortunate to start at that level, then I barely worked for eight years,” Dornan said. “It was this weird thing of being shown the carrot, and then the carrot’s taken away, and the crumbs are even taken away, and you’re going, ‘Jesus, wasn’t there a carrot here a minute ago?’”

He cast about for ages, trying to find a project that would stick, and even when he landed a series-regular role as the handsome sheriff on the ABC fantasy series “Once Upon a Time,” he was abruptly killed off after nine episodes. Dornan recalls his castmates celebrating the job security of a show that would run for seven years while he was ejected after three months, desperate to prove to himself and to the world that he actually had some worth.

But that’s when he met Warner, whom he credits with being a stabilizing influence on his life and career. And not long after they married, Dornan booked his murderous role on “The Fall,” a game-changing gig that put him on the radar of Hollywood casting executives who were searching for the right man to play a handsome sadist.

Dornan remembers how he regarded “Fifty Shades of Grey” as an outsider: Of course Hollywood would be eager to turn E.L. James’s kinky book series into a big-screen franchise, but he figured people would be lining up to trash those movies once they were actually made.

“Then, suddenly, you find you’re the guy in those movies,” Dornan said.

Did playing Christian Grey at least afford him a degree of finally-made-it career security? “No,” Dornan said, “because of the unique package that ‘Fifty Shades’ presented of being a much-maligned project, and the books being what they were — how loved they were by fandom, and how harshly criticized they were by critics. That’s unique in itself.”

Dornan knows that because of “Fifty Shades,” his most ardent fans are women and gay men; when straight guys ask for his picture, he can still sense their skepticism. “They’re always like, ‘It’s obviously not for me, I’m a straight guy, and I have a wife’ or ‘I have a girlfriend, and she likes you, that’s why the photograph’s happening,’” he said. “What have I done, three war movies? You’d think that might help my cause out a little bit with straight men, but probably not. I think you need to be in that comic-book world to really grab their attention.”

On that front, Dornan is trying and has been for a while (even before “The Fall,” he auditioned for Superman, a role he lost to Henry Cavill). To nab a superhero role now would offer him the chance to return to franchise films not as a newcomer desperate for a foothold but as an established actor who’s proved what he can do. And he knows that narrow path exists because Robert Pattinson has managed to walk it, seguing from “Twilight” heartthrob to indie-film star with such panache that he looped back around and used his newfound credibility to win the title role in next year’s “The Batman.”

“I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I feel like him and his people have played it really cleverly,” Dornan said of Pattinson, who is a friend. “Everything he’s done since ‘Twilight’ has been really smart and beautifully crafted, and those films aren’t financed on his name had he not been in these movies that made billions of dollars.”

Dornan is open about the movies he covets, and he has met with the Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige about donning a cape and tights. “I’m more ambitious than I’ve ever let on before,” Dornan said. Part of it is becoming a parent. “It’s like a necessity to deliver and provide, very caveman-esque: I must succeed for these precious little people. Also, since my dad died, it’s lit this extra fire within me, this extra burner of wanting to succeed.”

That desire isn’t to win the love he never got. “Dad would tell me that endless times every day of my life, so I’m not seeking that,” Dornan said. “But for some reason, since he’s gone, I have a weird thing of wanting to prove something to myself, to prove some sort of succession that is impressive.” And now that he’s channeled his own father, shouldn’t some other heroes be on the table?

A FEW DAYS after our time in the countryside, I hopped on a video call with Dornan to ask how his hometown premiere went. He told me that before his anxiety got better, it got so much worse.

“It was crazy; I really felt physically sick leading up to it,” Dornan said. For the half-hour until the screening began, as he sat in his hotel room surrounded by family and friends, he felt so nervous that he was unable to speak.

But once he walked the red carpet, took his place inside Waterfront Hall and began watching the movie, things changed. The audience hung on every word, and the energy was electric. And sitting among the people of Belfast, his own performance finally clicked into place: “It was the first time I watched it where I wasn’t going, ‘God, I hate my face. Why’d I do it that way? Is my nose really that bent? Should I not act anymore?’”

After the film ended and audience members came up to him for long conversations about Belfast and “Belfast,” Dornan realized he was actually living through one of the best nights of his life. It helped, too, that Branagh had used his introduction to dedicate the premiere to the late Dr. Jim Dornan.

“It kills me that he’s not able to go on this part of the journey with me, but life happens,” Dornan said. “As Dad would’ve instilled in us more than anything, you do just have to put one foot in front of the other and march on.”

A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 21, 2021, Section AR, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Jamie Dornan Comes Home to ‘Belfast’

Remember… we could get all the good reviews in the world, but what we really want is for people from Belfast to like this film. — Jamie Dornan

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #BelfastMovie #The New York Times #18 November 2021 #Belfast #Now in North America #Worldwide 2022 #Twitter

[stainedglassgardens]

Favourite films watched in 2020

In no particular order:

Katalin Varga (Peter Strickland, 2009) The Gleaners and I (Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse, Agnès Varda, 2000) Land of Silence and Darkness (Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit, Werner Herzog, 1971) Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012) The Return (Возвращение, Andrey Zvyaginstev, 2003) The Grand Bizarre (Jodie Mack, 2018) Transnistra (Anna Eborn, 2019) Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparues, Denis Côté, 2019) The Petrified Forest (Archie Mayo, 1936) Viy (Вий, Georgiy Kropachyov & Konstantin Ershov, 1967)

Complete list of all 323 films watched in 2020 under the cut!

January

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (Gurinder Chadha, 2008) Blade (Steven Norrington, 1998) Who Among Us! (Abhishek Prasad and Rebecca Kahn, 2019) Brotherhood (Meryam Joobeur, 2018) Disctrict 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009) Hair Love (Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver, 2019) Kitbull (Rosana Sullivan, 2019) Sister (妹妹, Siqi Song, 2019) Nuts! (Penny Lane, 2016) The Judge (Erika Cohn, 2017) The Ghosts of Sugar Land (Bassam Tariq, 2019) Amazonia (Dominic Hicks, 2018) Dearborn Ash (Hena Ashraf, 2018) Pineal (Jenny Rinta-Kanto, 2019) Headcleaner (Nick Scott, 2019) Rattlesnake (Zak Hilditch, 2019) The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2016) Skin (Audrey Rosenberg, 2018) The Banishment (Изгнание, Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2007) F is for Friendship (Shaya Mulcahy, 2016) Paradise Hills (Alice Waddington, 2019) Road House (Rowdy Herrington, 1989) Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria, 2019) I Believe in Unicorns (Leah Meyerhoff, 2014) Ghost Train (Lee Cronin, 2014) Troop Zero (Bert & Bertie, 2019) For the Love of God (Pour l'Amour de Dieu, Micheline Lanctôt, 2011)

February

Sitting Next to Zoe (Ivana Lalović, 2013) Dark Places (Gilles Paquet-Brenner, 2015) Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford, 2016) The Limey (Steven Soderbergh, 1999) Side Effects (Steven Soderbergh, 2013) Good Sam (Kate Melville, 2019) Anima (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2019) What Did Jack Do? (David Lynch, 2017) Fleur de tonnerre (Stéphanie Pillonca, 2016) Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019) The Field Guide to Evil (Peter Strickland, Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala, Katrin Gebbe, Yannis Veslemes, Ashim Ahluwalia, Agnieszka Smoczynska, Can Evrenol, Calvin Reeder, 2018) Devil (John Eric Dowdle, 2010) 37 Seconds (Hikari, 2019) The Falling (Carol Morley, 2014) Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓, Hotaru no Haka, Isao Takahata, 1988) Elena (Елена, Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2011) The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers, 2019) Baskin (Can Evrenol, 2015) In Fabric (Peter Strickland, 2018) Leviathan (Левиафан, Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014) Suffragette (Sarah Gavron, 2015)

March

The East (Zal Batmanglij, 2013) Solaris (Солярис, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972) Mamma Mia! (Phyllida Lloyd, 2008) There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) Io (Jonathan Helpert, 2019) The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (David France, 2017) A Bump Along the Way (Shelly Love, 2019) Color Out of Space (Richard Stanley, 2019) Divines (Houda Benyamina, 2016) Vanishing Waves (Kristina Buožytė, 2012) Mirror (Зеркало, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975) Zama (Lucrecia Martel, 2017) Swallow (Carlo Mirabella-Davis, 2019) Joy (Sudabeh Mortezai, 2018) Good Time (Josh and Benny Safdie, 2017) Quarantine (John Eric Dowdle, 2008) The Reflecting Skin (Philip Ridley, 1990) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017) Leto (Лето,  Kirill Serebrennikov, 2018) The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)

April

Queen of Earth (Alex Ross Perry, 2015) Black Christmas (Sophia Takal, 2019) Dogs of Chernobyl (Léa Camilleri & Hugo Chesnel, 2020) Firecrackers (Jasmin Mozaffari, 2018) Les Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2019) The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1981) The Daughters of Fire (Las hijas del fuego, Albertina Carri, 2018) The Fallen Idol (Carol Reed, 1948) The Wailing (곡성, Gokseong, Na Hong-jin, 2016) Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014) Sorrowful Shadow (Guy Maddin, 2004) Mistery Lonely (Harmony Korine, 2007) The Grand Bizarre (Jodie Mack, 2018) Zombieland: Double Tap (Ruben Fleischer, 2019) Waves '98 (Ely Dagher, 2015) Uncut Gems (Josh and Benny Safdie, 2019) The Last Séance (Laura Kulik, 2018) Too Late to Die Young (Tarde para morir joven, Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, 2018) Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015) Queen & Slim (Melina Matsoukas, 2019) The Holy Mountain (La montaña sagrada, Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973) The Chaser ( 추격자, Chugyeokja, Na Hong-jin, 2008) Made in Dagenham (Nigel Cole, 2010) The Color of Pomegranates (Նռան գույնը, Nřan guynə, Sergei Parajanov, 1969) Lost Girls (Liz Garbus, 2020) Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparues, Denis Côté, 2019) And Then There Were None (René Clair, 1945) Doctor Sleep (Mike Flanagan, 2019) Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943) Circus of Books (Rachel Mason, 2019) Catfish (Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, 2010) Wildling (Fritz Böhm, 2018) Delphine (Chloé Robichaud, 2019) The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Lewis Milestone, 1946) The Red Balloon (Le Ballon rouge, Albert Lamorisse, 1956) Nona. If They Soak Me, I’ll Burn Them (Nona. Si me mojan, yo los quemo, Camila José Donoso, 2019) The Lodge (Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala, 2019) Invisible Man (Leigh Whannell, 2020) Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, 1983)

May

A Russian Youth (Мальчик русский, Alexander Zolotukhin, 2019) Sicario (Denis Villeneuve, 2015) Fedora (Billy Wilder, 1978) LoveTrue (Alma Har'el, 2016) The Platform (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2019) Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres, Céline Sciamma, 2007) The Assistant (Kitty Green, 2019) The Half of It (Alice Wu, 2020) Tomboy (Céline Sciamma, 2011) The Last Man on Earth (Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, 1964) Beanpole (Дылда, Kantemir Balagov, 2019) Mommy (Xavier Dolan, 2014) The Fall (Jonathan Glazer, 2020) Girlhood (Bande de filles, Céline Sciamma, 2014) Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 1962) Marguerite & Julien (Valérie Donzelli, 2015) Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu, Céline Sciamma, 2019) This Magnificent Cake! (Ce Magnifique Gâteau!, Emma De Swaef & Marc James Roels, 2018) Romantic Comedy (Elizabeth Sankey, 2019) Transnistra (Anna Eborn, 2019) Eraserhhead (David Lynch, 1977) The Farewell (Lulu Wang, 2019) Emma. (Autumn de Wilde, 2020) Late Night (Nisha Ganatra, 2019) Charlie's Angels (Elizabeth Banks, 2019) Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (Cathy Yan, 2020) The Ancestors Came (Cecile Emeke, 2017) Suicide by Sunlight (Nikyatu Jusu, 2019) Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, 2018) A Perfect 14 (Giovanna Morales Vargas, 2018) Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist (Lorna Tucker, 2018) Free Radicals (Len Lye, 1958) Aniara (Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, 2018) Vivarium (Lorcan Finnegan, 2019) La Pointe-Courte (Agnès Varda, 1955) Diary of a Pregnant Woman (L'Opéra-Mouffe, Agnès Varda, 1958) Salut les Cubains (Agnès Varda, 1964) Uncle Yanco (Oncle Yanco, Agnès Varda, 1967) GUO4 (Peter Strickland, 2019) Atlantiques (Mati Diop, 2009) Sitara: Let Girls Dream (Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, 2019) Lions Love (Lions Love... And Lies, Agnès Varda, 1969) Živan Makes a Punk Festival (Živan pravi pank festival, Ognjen Glavonić, 2014) Plastic and Glass (Tessa Joosse, 2009) The So-Called Caryatids (Les Dites Cariatides, Agnès Varda, 1984) The Octopus (La Pieuvre, Jean Painlevé, 1928) Hyas and Stenorhynchus (Hyas et sténorinques, crustacés marins, Jean Painlevé, 1929) Sea Urchins (Les Oursins, Jean Painlevé, 1929) Bernard-L'Hermite (Bernard-l'Ermite, Jean Painlevé, 1930) The Sea Horse (L'Hippocampe ou "cheval marin", Jean Painlevé, 1934) Voyage to the Sky (Voyage dans le ciel, Jean Painlevé, 1937) Le Vampire (Jean Painlevé, 1945) Freshwater Assassins (Assassins d'eau douce, Jean Painlevé, 1947) How Some Jellyfish Are Born (Comment naissent des méduses, Jean Painlevé and Geneviève Hamon, 1960) Shrimp Stories (Histoires de crevettes, Jean Painlevé and Geneviève Hamon, 1964) The Love Life of the Octopus (Les Amours de la pieuvre, Jean Painlevé and Geneviève Hamon, 1965) Acera, or The Witches' Dance (Acera, ou le Bal des Sorcières, Jean Painlevé and Geneviève Hamon, 1972) Pigeons of the Square (Les Pigeons du square, Jean Painlevé, 1982) The Slumber Party Massacre (Amy Holden Jones, 1982) Jane B. par Agnès V. (Agnès Varda, 1988) The Cranes Are Flying (Летят журавли, Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957) Crystal Swan (Хрусталь, Darya Zhuk, 2018) Take Me Somewhere Nice (Ena Sendijarević, 2019) Microhabitat ( 소공녀, Jeon Go-woon, 2017) The Unforeseen (Laura Dunn, 2007)

June

Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 1997) Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine (Marion Cajori and Amei Wallach, 2008) Wodaabe: Herdsmen of the Sun (Werner Herzog, 1989) Bells from the Deep: Faith and Superstition in Russia (Glocken aus der Tiefe - Glaube und Aberglaube in Russland, Werner Herzog, 1993) We Are the Best! (Vi är bäst!, Lukas Moodysson, 2013) Olla (Ariane Labed, 2019) Return to Reason (Le Retour à la raison, Man Ray, 1923) Ghosts Before Breakfast (Vormittagsspuk, Hans Richter, 1928) Sissy Boy Slap Party (Guy Maddin, 2004) The Republic of Enchanters (La République des enchanteurs, Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, 2016) Sullivan's Banks (Sullivans Banken, Heinz Emigholz, 2000) Black Panthers (Agnès Varda, 1970) Asparagus (Suzan Pitt, 1979) America (Valérie Massadian, 2013) The Fall (Tarsem Singh, 2006) The Watermelon Woman (Cheryl Dunye, 1996) Douce Menace (Ludovic Habas, Yoan Sender, Margaux Vaxelaire, Mickaël Krebs, Florent Rousseau, 2011) Curling (Denis Côté, 2010) Trouble Every Day (Claire Denis, 2001) The Return (Возвращение, Andrey Zvyaginstev, 2003) Maillart's Bridges (Maillarts Brücken, Heinz Emigholz, 2000) Two Years at Sea (Ben Rivers, 2011) The Creeping Garden (Tim Grabham and Jasper Sharp, 2014) Homo Sapiens (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, 2016) A Radiant Life (Une Vie radieuse, Meryll Hardt, 2013) Shirley (Josephine Decker, 2020) Disclosure (Sam Feder, 2020) Baghead (Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, 2008) Lahemaa (Leslie Lagier, 2010) Closeness (Теснота, Kantemir Balagov, 2017) Touki Bouki (Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1973) Daughter (Dcera, Daria Kashcheeva, 2019) Human Nature (Sverre Fredriksen, 2019) 1 Dimension (一维, Lü Yue, 2013)

July

Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012) Something to Remember (Något Att Minnas, Niki Lindroth Von Bahr, 2019) Gegenüber (Ewa Wikiel, 2019) The Claudia Kishi Club (Sue Ding, 2020) Villa Empain (Katharina Kastner, 2019) Fata Morgana (Werner Herzog, 1971) Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder,1959) Breakwater (Quebramar, Cris Lyra, 2019) Y a-t-il une vierge encore vivante? (Bertrand Mandico, 2015) Virus Tropical (Santiago Caicedo, 2017) The Tribe (Племя, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, 2014) Integration Report 1 (Madeline Anderson, 1960) Tribute to Malcolm X (Madeline Anderson, 1967)

August

The Stopover (Voir du pays, Delphine and Muriel Coulin, 2016) Our Time (Nuestro Tiempo, Carlos Reygadas, 2018) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittman, 2020) Land of Silence and Darkness (Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit, Werner Herzog, 1971) Continental, a Film Without Guns (Continental, un film sans fusil, Stéphane Lafleur, 2007) Spaceship Earth (Matt Wolf, 2020) The Go-Go's (Alison Ellwood, 2020) First Cow (Kelly Reichardt, 2019) Light of My Life (Casey Affleck, 2019) Wadjda (Haifaa al-Mansour, 2012) Spinster (Andrea Dorfman, 2020) Love and Anarchy (Film d'amore e d'anarchia, ovvero: stamattina alle 10, in via dei Fiori, nella nota casa di tolleranza..., Lina Wertmüller, 1973) Shapito Show (Шапито шоу, Sergey Loban, 2011) Charade (Stanley Donen, 1693) Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942) Radioactive (Marjane Satrapi, 2019) Tabloid (Errol Morris, 2010) The Mourning Forest ( 殯の森, Mogari No Mori, Naomi Kawase, 2007) Lilya 4-ever (Lilja 4-ever, Lukas Moodysson, 2002)

September

The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent, 2018) Babyteeth (Shannon Murphy, 2019) Let the Corpses Tan (Laissez bronzer les cadavres, Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani, 2017) Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin, Wim Wenders, 1987) In My Room (Mati Diop, 2020) Katalin Varga (Peter Strickland, 2009) Les 3 Boutons (Agnès Varda, 2015) Somebody (Miranda July, 2014) Öndög (Wang Quan'an, 2019) Strasbourg 1518 (Jonathan Glazer, 2020) Mermaid (Русалка, Anna Melikyan, 2007) The Lighthouse (Маяк, Maria Saakyan, 2006) Phenomena (Dario Argento, 1985) That One Day (Crystal Moselle, 2016) Brigitte (Lynne Ramsay, 2019) The Wedding Singer's Daughter (Haifaa al-Mansour, 2018) Shako Mako (Hailey Gates, 2019) Carmen (Chloë Sevigny, 2017) The Summer of Sangailė (Sangailės Vasara, Alanté Kavaïté, 2015) Hello Apartment (Dakota Fanning, 2018) Seed (Naomi Kawase, 2016) Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (Halina Dyrschka, 2019) Matthias & Maxime (Xavier Dolan, 2019) The Gleaners and I (Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse, Agnès Varda, 2000)

October

American Murder (Jenny Popplewell, 2020) Hereditary (Ari Aster, 2018) Ghostland (Pascal Laugier, 2018) Triangle (Christopher Smith, 2009) The Amityville Horror (Stuart Rosenberg, 1979) The Visit (M. Night Shyamalan, 2015) The House of the Devil (Ti West, 2009) Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990) The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973) Coherence (James Ward Byrkit, 2013) Metamorphosis (변신, Kim Hong-sun, 2019) Errementari (Paul Urkijo Alijo, 2017) I Am a Ghost (H.P. Mendoza,2012) The Changeling (Peter Medak, 1980) Witching and Bitching (Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi, Álex de la Iglesia, 2013) Thirst (박쥐, Park Chan-wook, 2009) V/H/S ( Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence, 2012) The Autopsy of Jane Doe (André Øvredal, 2016) Overlord (Julius Avery, 2018) Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922) Viy (Вий, Georgiy Kropachyov & Konstantin Ershov, 1967) Amulet (Romola Garai, 2020) A Bucket of Blood (Roger Corman, 1959) The Wasp Woman (Roger Corman, 1959) Mother! (Darren Aronofsky, 2017) Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977) The Open House (Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote, 2018)

November

The Damned Don't Cry (Vincent Sherman, 1950) Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946) While the City Sleeps (Fritz Lang, 1956) The Man Who Wasn't There (Joel Coen, 2001) The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948) The Petrified Forest (Archie Mayo, 1936) Croupier (Mike Hodges, 1998) In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950) Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, Louis Malle, 1958) Key Largo (John Huston, 1948) Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) The Long Farewell (Долгие проводы, Kira Muratova, 1971) The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946) Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis, 1950) Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965) Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944) The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949) Dark City (Alex Proyas, 1998) Night and the City (Jules Dassin, 1950) Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951)

December

Nimic (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2020) Elsa la rose (Agnès Varda, 1966) Le Bonheur (Agnès Varda, 1965) Little Girl (Petite Fille, Sébastien Lifshitz, 2020) Cold Meridian (Peter Strickland, 2020) The Fiancés of the Bridge Mac Donald (Les Fiancés du Pont Mac Donald ou (Méfiez-vous des Lunettes Noires)) (Agnès Varda, 1961) Along the Coast (Du côté de la côte, Agnès Varda, 1958) Vic + Flo Saw a Bear (Vic + Flo ont vu un ours, Denis Côté, 2013) Zootopia (Byron Howard, Rich Moore, 2016) It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) Paddington (Paul King, 2014) Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton, 1947) High Life (Claire Denis, 2018) Paddington 2 (Paul King, 2017)

#films #watched in 2020 #2020 in review

[hollymbryan]

Blog Tour + #Review: CURSE OF THE SPECTER QUEEN by Jenny Elder Moke (w/ #giveaway)!

Welcome to Book-Keeping and my stop on the Rockstar Book Tours blog tour for Curse of the Specter Queen by Jenny Elder Moke. I loved this book and can’t wait to tell you all about it!

About the Book

title: Curse of the Specter Queen (A Samantha Knox Novel, Volume 1) author: Jenny Elder Moke publisher: Disney-Hyperion release date: 1 June 2021

A female Indiana Jones meets Tomb Raider when Samantha Knox receives a mysterious field diary and finds herself thrust into a treacherous plot. After stealing a car and jumping on a train, chased by a group of dangerous pursuers, Sam finds out what’s so special about this book: it contains a cipher that leads to a cursed jade statue that could put an end to all mankind.

MAY THE HAZEL BRING YOU WISDOM AND THE ASPEN GUIDE AND PROTECT YOU...

Samantha Knox put away her childish fantasies of archaeological adventure the day her father didn't return home from the Great War, retreating to the safety of the antique bookshop where she works. But when a mysterious package arrives with a damaged diary inside, Sam's peaceful life is obliterated. Ruthless men intent on reclaiming the diary are after Sam, setting her and her best friend, along with her childhood crush, on a high-stakes adventure that lands them in the green hills outside Dublin, Ireland. Here they discover an ancient order with a dark purpose - to perform an occult ritual that will raise the Specter Queen, the Celtic goddess of vengeance and death, to bring about a war unlike any the world has ever seen. To stop them, Sam must solve a deviously complex cipher - one that will lead her on a treasure hunt to discover the ancient relic at the heart of the ritual: a bowl carved from the tree of life. Will she find the bowl and stop the curse of the Specter Queen, or will the ancient order bring about the end of the world?

Indiana Jones gets a refresh with this female-driven mystery adventure, set in the 1920s, full of ciphers, ancient relics, and heart-stopping action - the first in a brand-new series!

Add to Goodreads: Curse of the Specter Queen (A Samantha Knox Novel, Volume 1) Purchase the Book: Amazon | Kindle | Audible | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | TBD | Bookshop.org

Advance praise for Curse of the Specter Queen: "Pure fun from start to finish. Curse of the Specter Queen is a delightful historical romp, riddled with cryptic puzzles, hints of romance, and an adventurous cast of characters. An ideal escape for fans of curses, magic, and mystery."—Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Caraval series “This lush, high-stakes, adventure tale has it all—a rollicking plot, a sweet slow burn of a romance, and a heroine on an epic journey filled with ciphers, curses, and twists that kept me guessing at every turn. A delightful read from start to finish, Curse of the Specter Queen is one of my new favorites.”—Alyson Noël, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortals “Apocalyptic curses, blood-chilling demons, and a centuries-old treasure hunt with a brilliant bookish heroine. Curse of the Spector Queen had me feverishly turning pages until I finally arrived at the epic conclusion.”—Livia Blackburne, New York Times best-selling author of Rosemarked and Midnight Thief

About the Author

Jenny Elder Moke writes young adult fiction in an attempt to recapture the shining infinity of youth. She worked for several years at an independent publisher in Austin, TX before realizing she would rather write the manuscripts than read them. She is a member of the Texas Writer’s League and has studied children’s writing with Liz Garton Scanlon. She was a finalist in the Austin Film Festival Fiction Podcast Competition in 2017 for her podcast script, Target. When she is not writing, she’s gathering story ideas from her daily adventures with her two irredeemable rapscallions and honing her ninja skills as a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Jenny lives in Denver, CO with her husband and two children.

Connect with Jenny: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

My 4-Star Review

I have been looking forward to reading this book since I first heard about it, and I’m so glad I did! What an absolute ride this was, so much fun to read. I absolutely love that it’s set in the 1920s, as I am a sucker for that time period, and you definitely would have a different story if it were set in the present (I mean, transportation and communications alone are so wildly different now). I loved the interplay between lifelong friends Sam, Joana, and Bennett, and there was just the right dash of romance amidst all the mystery and adventure. I just had a rollicking good time while reading this! I will absolutely be picking up a second Samantha Knox Adventure, and would highly recommend Curse of the Specter Queen to anyone who enjoys Indiana Jones, The Librarians, Tomb Raider, and the like. Pick this one up, you won’t regret it!

Rating: 4 stars!

**Disclosure: I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review of the book.

About the Giveaway

Three (3) lucky winners will each receive a finished copy of Curse of the Specter Queen by Jenny Elder Moke. This one is US only and ends 5 July 2021. Enter via the Rafflecopter below, and good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Tour

Here’s this week’s tour schedule, so you can follow along with all the great content!

Week Four:

6/20/2021 - Books Are Magic Too - Review 6/21/2021 - Star-Crossed Book Blog - Review 6/22/2021 - Book-Keeping - Review      **you are here! 6/23/2021 - The Momma Spot - Review 6/24/2021 - The Book View - Review 6/25/2021 - Momfluenster  - Review 6/26/2021 - onemused - Review

#curse of the specter queen #samantha knox #jenny elder moke #disney books #Disney #disney hyperion #1920s #archaeology #puzzles #codes #yalit #ya lit #YA literature #yalovin #books #blog tour #book review #bookreview #bookreviews #june 2021 #lets talk ya #new releases #new release #newrelease #young adult #histfic #rockstar book tours #book-keeping blog #BookKeepingBlog

[brudnopis]

Directors mentioned by name:

• Jean-Luc Godard • William Greaves • Christopher Nolan • Judd Apatow • Billy Wilder • Charlie Kaufman (meta!) • George Clooney (mentioned as a handsome celebrity, not a director) • Sidney Drew • Jean-Pierre Melville • Alain Resnais • Oscar Micheaux • Georges Méliès • Wes Anderson (later nicknamed Wanderson) • Martin Scorsese (later as 'Scorseso', then later as 'Marvin Scorsesso') • Quentin Tarantino (deliberately misspelled as 'Tarrantinoo') • Sidney Poitier (mentioned for his acting work in To Sir, With Love) • Alfred Hitchcock • Harvey Weinstein (mentioned as a terrible human being, he also happens to have directing credits) • William Dear (protagonist B. Rosenberg's film professor) • Paul Thomas Anderson (nicknamed Panderson, later mentioned as one of the Paul Andersons) • Jean Cocteau • Ron Howard (as 'Ronson Howard') • Giuseppe de Liguoro • Francesco Bertolini • Adolfo Padovan • Sam Shepard • Vsevolod Pudovkin • Tony Scott (in reference to A.O. Scott, possibly a tribute to the director) • Marc Forster • Zach Helm (as 'Zachary H. Elms', in reference to his Stranger Than Fiction writing credit) • Manolo Cruz • Carlos del Castillo • Lav Diaz • Juho Kuosmanen • Danis Tanovic • Koji Fukada • Thomas Vinterberg • Hannes Holm • Makoto Shinkai • Martin Zandvliet • Preston Sturges • Alec Baldwin (as a Baldwin brother) • Angelia Jolie (as married to Brad Pitt) • Russell Crowe (as 'Russ Crow', for "crazy blinking" in A Beautiful Mind) • W.C. Fields • Luis Bunuel • Alexander Payne • Francois Truffaut • Kurt Maetzig • Lana & Lily Wachowski • David Cronenberg (as 'David Cronenbauer', and later as 'Dave Cronenberg') • Robert Altman (as 'Bobert Altman') • Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne • Vittorio De Sica • Satyajit Ray • Bob Balaban (mentioned as an actor in B. Rosenberg's daughter's film, playing a fictionalized version of B.) • Jonah Hill (mentioned as the star of a hypothetical Charlie Kaufman film) • Warren Beatty • Michael Cimino • Diane Keaton (mentioned as who B. had a falling out over with Warren Beatty) • Duke Johnson • Art Clokey • Andrei Tarkovsky • Ray Harryhausen • Willis H. O'Brien (initially misspelled as Wallis O'Brian) • Andy Warhol • Hal Roach • Yoko Ono (mentioned in reference to her art piece 'Wish Tree') • Giovanni Pastrone • Richard Burton (referenced as one of Bettie Page's ex-husbands, which is false) • Goldie Hawn (President Donald J. Trunk has a signed photograph in B.'s dream) • Lin-Manuel Miranda (in reference to a fictional White House rap. Note: Lin's directorial debut is in production) • Mike Myers (in reference to Austin Powers/Dr. Evil) • Alexander Sokurov • Francois Ozon • Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck • Claire Denis • Dome Karukoski • Masato Harada • Jakub Paczek • John Trengove • Charlie Chaplin (mentioned for his "dapper insouciance") • James Cagney (an actor who wore lifts) • Burgess Meredith (an actor who wore lifts) • Al Pacino (an actor who will wear lifts) • Buster Keaton • Melvin Frank • Mike Nichols (as 'Michael Nichols') • Nicolas Cage (mentioned as star of Adaptation.) • Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle • Sofia Coppola • Jerry Lewis • Shawn Levy • Rainer Werner Fassbinder • Paul Reubens (reference to Pee-wee Herman) • Robert Downey Sr. • Werner Herzog • Steven Spielberg (as 'Steve Spielman', later as 'Steve Spielberg') • Frederick Wiseman • John Candy (reference to Uncle Buck) • Beyonce (a safe talking point) • John Carpenter • Stephen King (as author of Christine) • Antonio Campos • James Cagney (as star of Man of a Thousand Faces) • Ludmil Staikov • Burt Reynolds (as star of fictional Children of a Lesser God theatre production) • Gary Oldman (mentioned in reference to his performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour) • Carl Theodor Dreyer • Robert De Niro (incorrectly mentioned as star of Taxi) • Tod Browning • Alan Alda (reference to his character in M*A*S*H) • Ingmar Bergman • Ike Barinholtz • William Friedkin • Maya Deren • Samuel Fuller

Note: Directors most frequently mentioned throughout the novel are Jean-Luc Godard, Christopher Nolan, Judd Apatow, Charlie Kaufman & Wes Anderson.

TV shows mentioned:

• The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969–1972) • Blossom (1991–1995) • Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974) • The Bernie Mac Show (2001–2006) • Friends (1994–2004) • Grey's Anatomy (2005–present) • M*A*S*H (1972–1983) • Black Mirror (2011–present) • The Twilight Zone (1959–1964) • American Idol (2002–present) • Happy Days (1974–1984) • The Flintstones (1960–1966) • Doctor Who (2005–present) • Fox & Friends (1998–present) • Taxi (1978–1983) • Mad TV (1995–2009) • Trapper John, M.D. (1979–1986) • Bob's Burgers (2011–present)

Fictional films and TV shows mentioned:

• Herbert and Dunham Ride Bicycles (1896) [prologue] • Moutarde (dir. Rene Chauvin) • Gravity in Essence (dir. B. Rosenberg) • Ich Habe Keine Augapfel (dir. Heinrich Telemucher) • Untitled (dir. Ingo Cutbirth) • Help Me, Teach! (starring Robin Williams) • Teacher of the Year II (starring Robin Williams) • The Teacher Who Cared Very Much (starring Robin Williams) • Professor Salvador Sapperstein and the Sad Students of Salisbury High (starring Robin Williams) • Help Me Again, Teach! (starring Robin Williams) • I Am Your Teacher and I Love You (starring Robin Williams) • Jolly Roger (dir. Nunley, 1952) • Found Again (dir. Kertes Onegin) • Thyestes/Obliviate (dir. Tobleg) • 10th Birthday Party for Bobby [home video] • It's Tough Being a Teen Comedian in the Eighties! (dir. Judd Apatow) [#4 in B. Rosenberg's top 10 of 2016.] • Soy un Chimpance (dir. Unknown) • Untitled [orphan film festival film B. Rosenberg watches and describes in detail] • So You Want To Be a Funny Guy? (dir. Judd Apatow) • It's Not Appropriate to Punch Him (Cowlick) • Shrimp Coctail for Two [TV show] • The Doctor Is In[sane]! [TV show] • Who Shall Remain Nameless [hypothetical film directed by B. Rosenberg] • Dysgu i gi bach gachu (dir. Talfan) • Here Come a Coupla Fellas (starring Mudd & Molloy) • Ain't She a Corker, Boys? (starring Lucy Chalmers) • Abbott and Costello meet the Killer Robot From the Phantom Creeps [fictional film within Ingo Cutbirth's film] • Father Nose Jest (dir. Grace Farrow, B. Rosenberg's daughter) • A Coming of Rage Story (dir. Grace Less) [film within Grace Farrow's film above] • Dreams of Absent-Minded Transgression (dir. Charlie Kaufman) • Guns Blazing (dir. B. Rosenberg) [hypothetical film] • Woomin! (dir. Grace Farrow) • Woman of the Ear (dir. Sharon Old Bear) • Citizen Funny Guy (dir. Judd Apatow, a Citizen Kane remake) • The Notorious Vice Lords (starring Lance Farmer, who is an actual tornado) • What's Buzzin', Cousin (starring Rooney & Doodle) • What's Tickin', Chicken [hypothetical competing Abbott & Costello film in Cutbirth's film] • Mudd and Molloy Meet the Unseen Man [planned Mudd & Molloy film] • Fingerspitzengefuhl (dir. Sterne) [#5 in B. Rosenberg's top 10 of 2016.] • Hey, Timothy Gibbons, This Is Your Mother Calling! (dir. Judd Apatow) [#4 in B. Rosenberg's top 10 of 2017.] • Bad Luck in Bumfuck (starring Mudd & Molloy) • Mudd and Molloy Meet the 32 Foot Man (starring Mudd & Molloy) • Well Plastered (starring Rooney & Doodle) • Morons of Arabia [planned Mudd & Molloy film] • Scream Me to Sleep (dir. Egg Friedlander) • I Wake Up Sleeping [film within B's dream] • Willibald and Winibald [Hanna-Barbera TV show] • Pachinko (dir. Eisentstein) • Effluence (dir. Frederick Wiseman, 1978) • Quod Erat Demonstandum (dir. B. Rosenberg) • Issues at Hand (dir. B. Rosenberg) • Cave (dir. Plato) • Lumpy Mattress (dir. Mamoud, 1958) • Kitsui Kutsu (Tight Shoes) (dir. Kitagawa, 1997) • Hey, I'm Not Just a Towel Boy, Fellas (dir. Judd Apatow) • What A Sight! (directed by and starring Calcium, an ant) • Calcium Carbonate (directed by and starring Calcium)

#charlie kaufman #antkind

[letterboxd]

The Last Artists.

“From the outside it seems like this dream scenario… but the truth is it took years working on drafts and wondering if anyone would ever read them.” —Joe Talbot on The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

A love story to San Francisco, to one grand Victorian house in particular, and to a life-long friendship, The Last Black Man in San Francisco was many years in the making. And it paid off: Joe Talbot picked up the Best Director prize at Sundance 2019 for his debut feature, a story drawn from the life of his best friend (and the film’s leading man), Jimmie Fails. A close-knit family of creatives grew around the project, and became a vital support system for Talbot when his father had a stroke just weeks before the shoot. Since January, critical accolades for the film have snowballed. Most recently, it appeared in our ten highest-rated features for the first half of 2019.

Letterboxd reporter Jack Moulton took the opportunity for a lengthy chat with Talbot about his remarkable debut feature. The interview contains a virtual masterclass in first-time feature film development (and the persistence required to see it through), along with some never-before-seen images shared exclusively with us by Joe. Also: some plot spoilers, which we’ve left until the very end.

Joe Talbot and Jimmie Fails in 2014, photographed by Talbot’s brother, Nat Talbot.

Thanks for agreeing to a good chat with us. Are you on Letterboxd? We have our suspicions that you might be. Joe Talbot: Yeah. I love it. I found Letterboxd before we shot the movie. I use it to save movies to watch for later and look up movies people recommend. Occasionally I read the reviews of films I’ve just watched, they’re often really thoughtful.

Can we share your username? You could be the next Sean Baker. The one I have right now is more of a lurking profile so it’s not very formal. I made one that’s a little more presentable for you under my name.

Are you in San Francisco right now? I am. If you can hear my heavy breathing, I’m actually walking up one of the steeper hills that Jimmie and Montgomery crest in the movie and see the skyline. That’s what I do for every interview, I like to walk up the hill to put me in the film. Just kidding, this is the first time I’ve done it. I’m just walking with a friend and we’re about two thirds of the way up. Woo!

We’ve just published our halfway top 10 of the year. The Last Black Man in San Francisco is in second place, between Avengers: Endgame and Booksmart. How does this make you feel, and how do you cope with reviews (whether they’re full of praise or criticism)? Wow, that means a lot. I find the reviews informative, though have to admit I don’t read too many of them. In general, it’s great to know that there are people that love movies enough to get into debates and write passionately, either about how much they loved them or didn’t like them at all. Having platforms like Letterboxd and finding those communities online can be really great, even if they’re not made up of people in your city.

Given that the film has relatively low stakes—it’s not life or death, it’s house or no-house—what gave you confidence that audiences would connect to Jimmie’s story? I don’t know if we were ever confident. You never fully know. You hope that if you share something that has meaning to you then it will have meaning to others. That was our guiding light.

We finished the movie four days before the Sundance screening, so that was the first time watching it with any audience. I looked over at [Plan B producer] Jeremy Kleiner when the movie ended; he said “the tweets are good”. I looked around and realized the whole audience were on their phone as soon as the credits rolled.

I only had a short film play at Sundance before [American Paradise in 2017, also starring Jimmie Fails] so I didn’t realize part of our culture now is the need to immediately respond to something—but luckily they were nice. It will be much more anxiety-inducing going into my next feature now that I know how all this works.

We wanted to make something that captured the San Francisco that we grew up in and feel very strongly about. We’ve travelled to Chicago, DC, New York, LA, and Atlanta with the film and I was surprised to see how much people were connecting to it. In a way, Jimmie and I say it is unfortunately universal because it means the same things are happening everywhere.

This idea has lived with you and Jimmie for a long time. Can you talk us through the journey of the film? We’ve been informally talking about it for at least seven years and it’s gone through so many incarnations. We always envisioned it as the first feature that Jimmie and I would make after many years of making short films together. This story felt big enough in scope and there was a lot that we wanted to cover.

We wanted to tell a story about Jimmie and this Victorian home he once lived in and make it a valentine to the San Francisco we grew up in, that we see as being lost. We also wanted to celebrate all the wonderful people who are here that make this city what it is. That’s a big part of what we are afraid of losing: the very people that make San Francisco ‘San Francisco’.

An alternative poster for the film, illustrated by Akiko Stehrenberger.

We both lived with my parents for five years—we ran our operation out of the living room there. The first thing we did was shoot a concept trailer for Vimeo. It was a five-minute piece of Jimmie skating through the city telling his grandfather’s story, much like the [feature’s] opening sequence, though I filmed it hanging out of the side of my brother’s car.

Afterwards we got emails from people saying they wanted to help; they would become our core collaborators on the film. Khaliah Neal, Rob Richert, Luis Alfonso de la Parra, Natalie Teter, Sydney Lowe, Prentice Sanders, Fritzi Adelman, Laila Bahman and Ryan Doubiago. They spent years with us, hashing out the script over my parents’ kitchen table and working with us to create a look-book, run an ambitious Kickstarter campaign, write grant proposals and so on.

We felt like these oddballs—the last artists in San Francisco. You get a lot of noes along the way, having never made a movie before, so it was the emotional support that helped us persist through the difficult times. We were excited to be learning together, as a group of mostly first-timers, and were constantly making things.

Our look-book was very elaborate, thanks to our stills photographer Laila Bahman. We built it as a website and staged the scenes as if we were filming the movie, with costumes and heavy art direction. We knew people we pitched were probably seeing materials from other filmmakers who were further in their careers and probably better writers than us. We knew we needed to show the world of the movie so that executives’ imaginations wouldn’t be running off with thoughts of Michael B. Jordan or Donald Glover; that this is Jimmie and this is the plaid shirt we want him in and this is his Victorian. It’s his story.

That helped us get into the Screenwriter’s Lab at Sundance, but I didn’t get into the Director’s Lab, which I was initially bummed about because I really needed that experience. Our Kickstarter was very successful and those backers created a grassroots ground-swelling around the movie that pushed it forward, even though it was difficult in pitch meetings as we weren’t the most bankable pair in such a risk-averse industry.

In a last-ditch effort, my crew and I decided to do our own Director’s Lab instead. We felt if it doesn’t work now then that might be it for Last Black Man. I’d never made a proper short with a budget before but a producer named Tamir Muhammad, who had a short-lived venture within Time Warner called OneFifty, gave us the money to make what would become American Paradise. It gave the crew a chance to get in the trenches together before moving on to a feature, and show the potential of what we could do.

The team who’d assembled from our concept trailer years before all worked on American Paradise, from Khaliah Neal, Rob Richert and Luis Alfonso down the line. We worked with production designer Jona Tochet and even the sound team of Sage and Corinne (who would all go on to work on Last Black Man). In a city increasingly devoid of artists, we felt we’d found our people.

The short was different from Last Black Man, but features Jimmie playing the same character. After it played in Sundance it got the attention of Plan B’s Christina Oh. They took a big leap of faith on us, only having ever made that short. There’s not a lot of people willing to do that.

Khaliah, Christina and Jeremy approached A24 and we were in production two months later. From the outside it seems like this dream scenario of having the incredible indie studios Plan B and A24 behind us, but the truth is it took years working on drafts and wondering if anyone would ever read them. I think the extra time we had helped, because if we had the chance to make it two or three years ago, I don’t think we would have been ready.

Jimmie Fails and the creative team behind ‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco’ at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. / Photo: Sue Peri

What was the first movie you made with Jimmie when you were teenagers? The first half-decent thing we made was a movie that my brother and I co-directed called Last Stop Livermore. I am actually in it alongside Jimmie and that was my first and only time in front of the camera. I learned my place pretty early on.

Didn’t you have a cameo in Last Black Man? I swear I saw you. I did have a cameo. As long as I’m not speaking, I’m okay. But even then when I just had to look at Jimmie once it was very difficult for me to do. I needed four takes for that shot, ha ha. I’m much more comfortable on the other side.

Jimmie, however, was really good in [Last Stop Livermore]. We made it while I was in high school before I dropped out, and it got into the San Francisco International Film Festival. Like everything we do, it’s based on something that happened in real life when a friend and I felt like we were fish out of water, going off to meet some girls in the suburbs.

That attention the film got, however minor, encouraged us because until that point only our family, friends and my high school teacher had seen our movies. Oh and Jimmie still had a flat-top—just thought I should add.

The film features the most important house of the year [Editor’s note: at least until the rest of the world sees the Parasite house, designed by the great Namgoong]. How did you find Jimmie’s house and what made it the house? It took us over a year and a half to find the house. We combed the streets with my co-producer Luis Alfonso de la Parra and production designer Jona Tochet and knocked on doors. In hindsight, a more efficient way would have been to use Google Maps but this way we could see inside the houses.

Unfortunately, the interiors would usually be gutted and have IKEA furniture and granite table tops. As a filmmaker, it was depressing, but as a native San Franciscan it was heartbreaking because the details inside all these beautiful houses were destroyed. It’s a thing that a lot of real estate agents do when they flip houses.

We ended up going back to a house that I had driven past as a kid on my way to elementary school. My mom, my brother and I would pick out our dream Victorian houses on our family car ride since we couldn't afford a proper one. I went back to one of the houses that had always stuck with me. After we found that house, it felt like we had cast a major character in the movie.

When we first knocked on the door of the house that would become Jimmie's home in the film, an older gentlemen greeted us and within seconds beckoned us inside. As we entered, we found a home that had not been gutted, but instead had been lovingly restored. Jim, the homeowner, much like Jimmie, the actor, had spent more than half of his life working on the house.

He carved the witch hat you see in the movie shingle by shingle and did the honor of putting it on the roof himself. He fixed the organs you see in the film and built Pope's hole in the library. In many ways, he felt like the spirit of San Francisco.

As a now elderly man, we would have understood him declining our wants to film there -- or charging a buttload to help him in his retirement. Instead he welcomed our big crew into his house and charged us next to nothing. I still don't fully know why, but I can imagine he saw shades of himself in Jimmie's love for this Victorian.

In the years we spent location scouting, we would also meet people on the street that we put in the movie. Dakecia Chappell was working at a Whole Foods in the confectionery section, near a ‘potential Jimmie’s house’ around the corner and she was just really charming, so I offered her the ‘Candy Lady’ part in the film. We met the mover who tells Jimmie the homeowners are moving out late one night at a taqueria on Mission Street. This extra time allowed us to capture the little details of what our San Francisco is like.

Even after your major backing from Plan B and A24, was there a point on set where it felt like everything was falling apart? I’m sure there are directors that aren’t plagued by the self-doubt I had. I didn’t go to film school and I felt isolated in San Francisco since a lot of the filmmakers have left for Los Angeles or New York. I was feeling this imposter syndrome. You’re both really joyous and grateful that you finally have a chance to make a movie, but also feel the weight of the city and wanting to honor what’s happening to people there. In every stage you have big and little freak-outs. The only thing that got me through it were the people around me. They bring perspective when you might not have it.

A couple of months before we shot the film my dad had a stroke. He survived, thankfully, and he would say half-jokingly “I survived to see the movie”. My parents struggled as artists themselves in their lives and yet they created this loving home that allowed us to make the movie. I look up to my Dad a lot, so when that happened that was really scary, and it happened during the height of the pandemonium of prep.

By that point our creative collaborators felt like family and they did everything for us. They came over to my house, brought us food, did as much as they could to take work off my plate so I could be with my own family. That always sticks with me when I remember tough times. You could say it’s just a job, but they treated it like so much more. So while it sounds corny, I think the spirit which comes with people being so loving and kind becomes imbued in the film.

Very glad to hear your dad is okay. The scenes with Jimmie’s parents are so powerful; you really get a greater sense of his isolation. It’s amazing his mom agreed to be in the film as a fictionalized version of herself. How did you and Jimmie sketch those scenes? The scene with his mom is loosely based on something that happened. Jimmie was raised mostly by his dad and he’s very close to his parents now in a way that’s very different from the relationship that he had with them growing up. He and his dad have worked through a lot.

Jimmie Fails as Jimmie. This and the header photo are by Laila Bahman.

It’s hard to pack in all the complex details that makes someone who they are because you don’t have enough screen time to do that sometimes. These elements were pulled from the walks we’d take during the earliest developments when the idea was more informal and we’d talk about Jimmie’s family.

One story that Jimmie always recalled both humorously but also quite painfully was about the guy who had driven off in the car that he and his dad were living in at the time. We thought it would be funny if there was a character who never acknowledged that he’d stolen the car but claimed that he was still borrowing it. We knew Mike Epps would be the perfect person for that. It was a story that came from a kernel of truth but took on a life of its own.

Why was Jimmie’s dad pirating The Patriot, of all movies? The tonal juxtaposition made us laugh. Ha ha, it was in the public domain.

We loved the score. What are some of the soundtracks that inspired you while making the film? The Last of the Mohicans, The Day of the Dolphin, The Claim, Batman (and also the animated TV show’s score actually rivals Elfman’s), and Far From the Madding Crowd.

You’ve spoken in another interview about how you and Jimmie fear friendships like yours aren’t possible with the type of gentrification that’s going on. However, nowadays you can meet some of the important people in your life over the internet. Could the bonds we make online compensate for what’s being lost on the streets? I think the internet is a double-edged sword. It both brings people together that you could never have met, such as how many of our closest collaborators first found our concept trailer online. But I do fear it also plays a part in people developing shallower, less intimate connections. I have friends who I love who will go to events seemingly just to get a good Instagram photo out of it. I’m sure I’ve suffered from similar instincts. That scares me.

Montgomery adds so much tenderness and insight to the film. Given he’s Jimmie’s best friend and he’s also an artist, is he your avatar in the movie? How did the casting of Jonathan Majors inform the development of his character? Montgomery is actually not based on me. Jimmie and I have a friend from the Bay named Prentice Sanders who is one of the more original people we’ve ever met. His spirit influenced the first shades of the character. When Jon came on he took those early sketchings to a whole new level, creating his own backstory, mannerisms, and interests.

On the vanity in his room, Jon decided to put up Tennessee Williams, August Wilson, Barbara Stanwyck, Canada Lee, Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison as inspiration. He had a hand in every little detail. In fact, Jon and Jimmie became very close in real life. They still talk nearly every day.

Warning: the last section of the interview contains spoilers, including for the endings of both ‘Last Black Man’ and ‘Ghost World’. This is your last chance to back out…

How do you direct Jimmie? I imagine you can read each other’s minds at this point. Yeah, there is a weird unspoken connection between us, as we grew up together. Knowing each other for so long allowed us to be vulnerable around each other. As a director, inevitably there are days on set that are stressful, scary, and tense, so being able to go for a walk around the block together to recalibrate and feel present was helpful.

This film asked something much different than anything we had done before. We’d never written a feature script and most of our shorts were ad-libbed. Honestly, everyone broke their backs to make this. Cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra was a hero. Nobody phoned it in.

But more than anybody, we asked the most of Jimmie. There’s a scene where he’s across from his real mother and the bravery from both of them to do that set a tone that everyone on set sought to honor.

Joe Talbot and Jimmie Fails on the set of ‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco’. Photo by the film’s cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra.

Your collaboration with Jimmie has been so strong for such a long time. Is it a relief for you or maybe a sadness that this phase with him is nearly over? It doesn’t feel like it’s over yet, but I’m sure when it does there will be a little bit of sadness. The movie continues to sell out theaters on a Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco and opened in the little neighborhood theaters that indies barely make it into and it's playing alongside Toy Story. There’s a feeling in the city now that’s hopeful.

It’s been wonderful to witness because I feel like we’ve been working through our feelings about San Francisco in making the movie, and in some ways Jimmie leaving at the end feels a bit like us, how perhaps we can’t be here anymore. I’ve only ever lived in San Francisco my entire life but maybe it is time to go somewhere else.

However, in putting the movie out there I’ve seen so many more natives that feel like people I grew up with 15-20 years ago. People who I thought had been lost but are still out there, fighting to exist somehow through all the changes. I feel like part of me is falling back in love with San Francisco again and I think that feeling is going to go on for a long time.

A lot of people are contacting us saying that they left the theater and they just started writing their own scripts, or writing poetry, or sending us paintings that were inspired by the movie. In a city that is increasingly difficult to exist in as an artist and not always inspiring, this always means something to us.

On the film’s ending: to you, where is Jimmie going? Jimmie is going to start his legacy somewhere else—to fully be himself and start anew, following the footsteps of his grandfather. And it’s more fun to shoot it that way than have him ride away on a BART train.

One interpretation of the ending we’ve heard is that it was all in Mont’s head, and in “reality” it ended on a more tragic note. So some viewers felt it as hopeless, but you in fact intended it to be more hopeful? I think we wanted to leave it open to interpretation. I talked to Thora Birch [who has a small role in Last Black Man] about the ending of Ghost World, because that always left an impression on me. I interpreted it as a suicide when I saw it as a teenager and she had told me that she felt that way about it too, but there are also people who thought she was going off to art school. I feel our ending works in the same way.

I don’t see any interpretation of it as invalid, but what your relationship is to your city affects what you bring to it. Either way it’s a bittersweet ending, because it is a loss for Jimmie and Mont’s friendship, and for the city. Like, San Francisco doesn’t deserve him anymore.

Discover the films that inspired the look and feel of ‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco’.

#the last black man in san francisco #joe talbot #jimmie fails #danny glover #san franciso bay #gentrification #sundance #sundance2019 #letterboxd

[bereft-of-frogs]

If you are ever so inclined - I'd be very interested in your horror recommendations.

This got…probably more involved than you intended. :D It was a good procrastination tool/distraction from A Thing I didn’t want to do though, and I had fun revisiting some of these old trailers.

This ended up really long. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m like this.

“The New Golden Age”

[These are what I’m talking about when I talk about us entering in a new golden age - really genre bending, specifically out to subvert tropes, make social statements, and empower people who have been shut out by horror in the past.]

Jordan Peele - Get Out (2017) and Us (2019)

Ah, Jordan Peele. The master of the comedy to horror turn. Get Out was the most fun I’ve had watching a horror movie in a long time. I love how it really fits itself to classic tropes but subverts them by flipping the genre and race dynamics. (Daniel Kaluuya’s character embodies the ‘Final Girl’ trope.)

Us fucked me up. Like, woke up at 3am thinking about it, couldn’t really look at Lupita Nyong’o for a while. The remix of the song that plays over the trailer literally gives me goosebumps. It freaked me out, so much. That one is a genre bender - you think you’re watching one thing (a classic home-invasion type trope with some weird mystery to it) and then the final scene basically upends everything you thought you were watching. Fucked. Me. Up.

Ari Aster - Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019)

I’ve been talking a bunch about how much I loved Midsommar. It’s gorgeous visually, Ari Aster is so great at just letting things hang and letting tension build and build - and it was the first horror movie I think I’ve ever felt weirdly empowered by. Like, similar to when I saw Captain Marvel, I walked out of the theater like “is this how men feel all the time?” Hereditary is probably a better movie overall, not counting the fact that it was practically made for me. At its core it’s a grief drama, a phenomenal portrait of mourning…and it’s also really fucking scary. Those slow-tension building scenes are really used effectively in Hereditary.

I also think it’s interesting because Ari Aster is keeping pace with Jordan Peele, but did it in the opposite order. Hereditary is the genre-bender - you kind of think it’s a family drama/psychological horror for most of it, and then it takes a hard turn and makes you question everything you were watching. Midsommar is more on-genre norms - it’s essentially the classic ‘bunch of terrible people getting picked off one by one’ trope (I don’t know if there’s a better name for that), but by applying folk horror and really centering female characters as both pro- and an- tagonist, it does a lot of unexpected things.

Robin Aubert - Les Affamés (”The Ravenous”) (2017)

It’s a zombie movie, but it’s more than that. This movie is so layered. I saw it at a festival when it first came out and then we watched it again this year on St. Jean-Baptiste (Québec national holiday) because we wanted to be #OnTheme. (And to celebrate St. Jean-Baptiste without having to interact with crowds) and it kind of clicked what it was doing. It’s really about the absorbing of difference into the dominant, hegemonic culture and the struggle for marginalized individuals to survive. Robin Aubert has a couple others I haven’t seen yet, but have heard good things about and are on my list. I saw a critic call his main brand ‘pastoral terror’ (terreur pastorale) which I absolutely love as a concept.

Alex Garland - Annihilation (2018)

Some people might argue with me if this is horror or not, if it’s sci-fi, but I think it’s body horror. And it’s beautiful body horror! See this is what I’m here for. Body horror is not just gore - there’s not a lot of blood in this movie. Body horror is about distortion and the grotesque. There’s this one scene that still gives me chills when I think about it and Tessa Thompson’s final scene is beautiful body horror at its finest. (There was also a really similar scene in Midsommar, so I clearly know what I like.) The soundtrack is also phenomenal.

[I had a whole rant about the book series, which I hated, here, but it was getting long and derailing so I cut it out. the tldr is I hated the book.]

“Classics I actually Enjoy”

[I don’t always love what appears at the top of the like ‘essential horror’ lists, but these are the ones I think are worth it.]

Dario Argento - Deep Red (1975)

I really, really wanted to like Suspiria more, because the concept and Goblin’s score for Suspiria both appeal to me a lot more. But I had a lot more fun watching Deep Red. So far it’s my favorite of the giallos.

Richard Donner - The Omen (1976)

Classic. It’s so good. “It’s all for you, Damian!” Plus, I love any movie that comes with rumors of a curse.

Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho (1960)

I would classify most of Hitchcock as ‘thriller’ rather than horror, but Psycho is firmly psychological horror, and The Classic.

Stuart Gordon - Re-animator (1985)

I couldn’t really decide if I wanted to put this one. Especially because on a long drive my friend and we basically covered how this was really ripe for a remake because it’s flaws…did not age particularly well, especially re: gender and race. (But it could be so, so good. It could be an amazing commentary about consent and the use of marginalized bodies…but the original …is…not.) But I’m putting this on here because of body horror. They clearly hired dancers or choreographers to do the reanimated movements because they really lean into it and it’s great. It gets…heavily derailed at the end by an absolutely ridiculous gore climax and missing the opportunity to actually have a coherent storyline or a message of any kind…but they got the grotesque movements down.

Honorable Mentions: The Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, *sigh* Cannibal Holocaust (like…I don’t actually recommend anyone watch it. I’m glad I did, because it’s really important for how the ‘found footage’ genre developed, so it’s a piece of film history but like. Don’t actually watch it.), The House on Haunted Hill

“Random Others In Between”

Adrian Lyne - Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

You might recognize Jacob’s Ladder as the movie that more heavily inspired the first chapter of ‘dark underground//violent sky’ more than I had originally thought. I had originally been basing a lot of the tone and style on current trends in horror TV, but then I happened to watch Jacob’s Ladder while I was in the middle of writing the second half and was like…oh. Like, I knew I had been heavily influenced by Jacob’s Ladder and the ending, but I had forgotten about how the film differentiates between ‘reality’ and ‘dream’ - in that it doesn’t! And that was an effect I was specifically striving for when I was writing ‘dark underground’. It’s also just a really weird, trippy late-80s/early-90s movie set in New York when New York was still really dirty and that’s fun.

Hideo Nakata - Dark Water (2002)

This is my favorite Japanese horror film. I think it gets a little bit looked over in favor of some others (Ringu, Ju-on, Audition), but it’s my favorite. (Has a terrible American remake, so be sure to avoid that one. It comes up first when you google. -_-)

James Wan - The Conjuring (2013)

I did really like this first entry - the sequels are kind of aggressively meh.

Scott Derrickson - Sinister (2012)

THE DANGER IS IN THE VIEWING!

Honorable Mentions: Session 9, Se7en, The Ritual, It Follows, The Descent, The Hills Have Eyes (I just really like bright horror movies), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (for fun bonus pretension, you can also watch Requiem, and then when people ask you if you’ve seen The Exorcism of Emily Rose, you get to be like “Yeah, have you seen the German original?” though, technically, it’s that they’re both based off of the same true-story. it’s still fun to say), Hard Candy, Ils (Them), THE VVITCH (should only ever be pronounced ‘The Va-Vitch’ lol)

“The Parody Films”

[What is there to say? They’re great, so much fun.]

Joss Whedon - Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Remember back in 2012 when Avengers 1 came out, and then Cabin in the Woods came out, like, immediately afterwards, and we all loved Joss Whedon? We were so innocent back then.

Eli Craig - Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)

This movie is so pure. I love how they both play into and subvert the rural hillbilly tropes with the two main characters. They just want a vacation home! These kids keep killing themselves on their property!

Honorable Mentions: Shaun of the Dead, I was googling to confirm the year of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and I saw What We Do In The Shadows listed as horror paraody, but I would count that more as a Gothic mockumentary, but I listed it here because I love it so much.

“Documentaries”

Xavier Burgin - Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019)

This movie was so interesting! Highly recommend. I think Shudder is planning on producing more of these documentaries, about marginalized groups in horror, and I am Here For It.

Honorable Mentions: Cropsey/Killer Legends, Best Worst Movie

I think I’ll stop here and maybe someday do a separate one for books. And maybe TV series, but I’m having a hard time teasing out the line between mystery and horror because of how popular and kind of unique Nordic Noir is right now. It’s just hard to draw the line for TV.

But I’ll end by summarizing reading thoughts (in a more disorganized manner):

-I have two separate ‘complete tales and poems’ editions of Edgar Allen Poe - one to look pretty and one to annotate.

-If you come for my girl Mary Shelley I will come @ you. Once a kind of asshole-y friend once was like ‘Frankenstein is terrible because it was written by a teenage girl’ and, I swear to God, I almost fought him right there in the bar. The Last Man is also great.

-I also almost forgot how much I loved Dracula. The Harkers especially. (I once tried to read League of Extraordinary Gentleman and gave up with a rage-headache 15 pages in because of what they did to Mina.) (Ah yes, let’s make her a “Strong Female Character ™” by having her divorce Jonathan and almost be raped in the first 15 pages.) (Couldn’t deal with it.) (I’m sure I would in general like that series but I just had too much attachment to Mina Harker to get over it.)

-I physically cannot get through Lovecraft. I can’t do it. I’ve tried so many times, I know how important it is but I just. Can’t. Don’t want to. Won’t. Sorry.

-A lot of adapted books I tend to prefer the books they were based on. Some are kind of obvious, like I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, which is a way, way better book than the movie. (They changed the ending which undercut the actual message.) But others are still decent movies, I just tend to prefer the book. Like, everyone always puts Let the Right One In on ‘essential horror’ lists, but I actually liked the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist a lot better.

-Similarly, you may have noticed I put no Stephen King movies on this list - there are a few I really like, but I think they work better as complements to the novels. Misery and the original Pet Sematary (haven’t seen the new one yet) are my two favorite movies-based-on-king. The Shining is visually stunning by character-wise, wildly disappointing, so point to the novel for this one. (King also hated the adaptation for what Kubrick did to Wendy.) My general King recommendations are: Carrie, Misery, The Shining, The Mist, Insomnia

I’m having a bit of an issue with how male-dominated this list is. It’s partially my problem that I’m working on correcting (I’m at the point where I’m actively trying not to read horror books by white men anymore) and partially a general problem in the industry. It’s hard to get into an industry that for a long time unquestioningly based itself on violence against women and other marginalized peoples’ bodies. -_-  But yeah, I have a list of contemporary horror novels by women that I’m working my way through, and I’m trying to catch up on some older staples like Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter, and Octavia Butler.

UPDATE: After I finished compiling this list, I googled ‘Horror movies directed by women’ and there are a couple that I would recommend, I think they’re just not as visible. (Did not realize they’d been directed by women until this Google.):

Mary Lambert - Pet Sematary (1989)

Karen Kusama - Jennifer’s Body (2009)

Mary Harron - American Psycho (2000)

Lynne Ramsay - We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) (though I liked the book better)

This list was probably incomplete and I’ve probably forgotten a bunch of things I really like! It’s also only made up of things I’ve already seen/read (though it’s not comprehensive). If something’s not on here and you think it should be, lmk! It may be that I haven’t seen it yet and I’ll add it to my to-watch list. Always taking suggestions, especially for more horror (films or books) from underrepresented groups.

#veliseraptor #horror movies #fright night #this took a long time i need to go eat lunch now #ha i meant to break this off at a normal point but #alas

[siouxempirepodcast]

The 2017 Black Hills Film Festival

So, I promised myself for several years that I would attend the Black Hills Film Festival. Hey – I’m a storyteller. What better environment to be in to watch and hear the stories of creatives coming into our region? I also promised you, the readers of The Sioux Empire Podcast, that I would write about my adventures if I made it this year. So, I did go. Sort of. I attended one afternoon’s session. Okay, one film. I went to one film, “She Sings to the Stars,” a 1 hour and 40-minute feature length film by Jennifer Corcoran. My friend Ashley and I met up for falafel at Gyro Hub in Rapid and then headed over to the Journey Museum to take in this one film offering on a Friday afternoon. As we entered the theater, the previous filmmakers were finishing up a Q&A session with the audience. The film that had been shown, “West Virginia Stories” had just concluded and directors Preston Peterson and Jason Boesch were talking about some of the actors they had used in the 88-minute film, which centers around a coal-mining town in Appalachia. Apparently, some of their actors were professionals, but many were extras from around the locations they filmed in, including the parents of one of the filmmakers who each got some screen time. Although I didn’t get the opportunity to see the film, I was intrigued by it based upon the questions and answers that I heard.

Black Hills Film Festival

There was an emcee present, who fielded the questions from the audience to the filmmakers and as they wrapped up their Q&A session, he thanked everyone and announced a short break before the next film would begin. As Ashley and I settled into our seats, I noticed one striking observation: the entire audience, except myself and my friend, seemed to all be retirees. Everyone looked to be 65 years or older and, I believe, Caucasian. I made an offhand comment about this and then settled in to wait for the feature film that afternoon to begin. “She Sings to the Stars” is the story of three people coming together in the desert. A magician, traveling to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, whose car breaks down. An older woman, named Mabel, who lives in a rough house in the desert with her dog and Kachina dolls, and Mabel’s grandson who works in a gas station but wants to go to Hollywood and find work in the entertainment industry. The magician, who isn’t named in the film, is traveling with his pet bunny. When he runs out of coolant, he encounters the gas station attendant and tricks him into giving him twenty dollars of gas. But when he asks for coolant or even water, the younger man explains that there is no water in these parts. That everything has “dried up.” The magician continues on his way, finally breaking down outside Mabel’s home. She gives him a glass of water, but no more as water is truly precious in this climate. When his bunny goes into hiding in her home, the magician finds himself stuck at Mabel’s. The grandson eventually comes, bringing with him some much-needed water (although not enough for the radiator) and intending to take some Kachina dolls from grandmother, presumably to sell to tourists. When he sees the magician who owes him money, he becomes agitated and eventually is bitten by a rattlesnake. Ultimately the film is about the different types of magic that each character believes in and their close-mindedness to believe in the others’ version of magic. The magician doesn’t understand the prayers and songs that Mabel sings, quite literally to the stars. Nor does Mabel understand the magic of song and dance that her grandson (who is half Native and half Mexican) aspires to. But I wanted to write today about a different kind of magic – the magic of art itself. The reason that I was so looking forward to attending the Black Hills Film Festival was to be in a community of artists. It’s the same reason why I live where I do – I moved here nearly twelve years ago in search of just such a tribe to call my own. I’m a little bummed, frankly. Why does it seem like one of the most creative and artistic communities in the country isn’t particularly inclusive? Why are the only people attending the region’s film festival all older and, as far as I was able to see, white? After all, the Black Hills Film Festival is supposed to be celebrating our region and especially our Native American cultural experience. Why is the film festival held during the day, when most people are working or in school? Why is a full festival pass $50? Art isn’t supposed to be a privileged experience. Art is for the masses. Art shouldn’t be controlled or doled out as a reward, or out of reach. The experience of art – not necessarily the ownership of it – should be accessible and appreciable to all within at least a particular community. But here in Rapid City, I fear that elitism has suppressed the appreciation of art for those who probably need it in their lives the most. We have some lovely places here in the Black Hills where you can experience artistic works. We have places where you can listen to music, watch dancers, admire photographs and paintings and sculpture. But if the only people you’re with when you’re doing that are your peers, you’re missing something from experience. If everyone in attendance can afford a fifty dollar ticket (not just that they pay for it, but that they easily can) how many different perspectives are you going to get? And how much pleasure and meaning will you experience? When Art Alley first sprang up in downtown Rapid City, I think many of us thought this was an opportunity to bring disparate groups of people together for the sake of art. Tag artists and entrepreneurs and tourists and fine art majors all could, in theory, converge upon the alley to paint or photograph or just to stroll and enjoy. But Art Alley has become a pissing match. Either it’s open to everybody, or it’s not, and right now it’s not. I give a lot of credit to the folks who began this project, and I think there’s still an opportunity to open the alley to more freedom of expression. But without that freedom, that change, Art Alley is just another backdrop. I hope that the Black Hills Film Festival changes, over the next few years. Continue to focus on culling great film and bringing those filmmakers to our region, but find a way to get our citizens invested and involved. They did make one improvement in recent years, by expanding the locations into Rapid City (previously it was just based in Hill City) but let’s make sure the attendees having the greatest time are those who most need an infusion of art and cinema and storytelling and possibility in their lives.

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from The 2017 Black Hills Film Festival

#The 2017 Black Hills Film Festival

[iamebonybones]

Huge Delight Speaking With The Guardian’s 

Brilliant Nadja Sayej About The Upcoming New 

Album

Written by - Nadja Sayej

With a blonde afro and a London accent, Ebony Bones is a visionary artist who works across genres and disparate sounds. What sets her apart is that she writes, composes, produces and releases her own punk-inflected, alternative soundtracks, many of which are graced with dark pop undertones. Studying alongside Amy Winehouse Bones has been enlisted by Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander Wang to score campaigns and runway shows, and is also noted for her collaborations with Yoko Ono. With a forthcoming third album featuringThe Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra, Bones is a self-produced artist and one of a few women in the male-dominated production world. Making her one of the most prominent female producers and redefining voices in the music industry today.

Bones was born to an immigrant father from the Caribbean who ran a vinyl stall in Brixton Market in London, and her mother, a fashion agent for top fashion designers, including Moschino. She studied at London’s Sylvia Young Theatre School alongside classmate and friend Amy Winehouse. At 12-years-old, Bones was discovered by Oscar-winning actor Sir Mark Rylance, then the artistic director of the Shakespeare Globe Theatre, and enlisted for his production of Macbeth as the First Witch.

At 15-years-old, she starred as a rebellious teenager in the British TV show Family Affairs. Starring alongside Idris Elba, she stole the spotlight as the feisty young character - Yasmin Green. She garnered nominations for British Soap Awards as one of the longest-running actors on the show, which was syndicated globally, staring from 1998 to 2005.

Becoming friends with punk legend and drummer Rat Scabies, from 70s punk band The Damned, Bones began writing songs alongside Scabies in 2005, who gave the artist her eponymous stage name and taught her a DIY punk ethic and “trial and error” approach to making music. “It’s perfection comes from its imperfection,” said Bones. “In an age where human flaws are erased from music, the imperfect can be very striking.”

In 2008, Bones uploaded an anonymous demo to MySpace. The Orwellian-themed anthem “We Know All About U,” was premiered by BBC Radio 1 Dj Zane Lowe, as ‘Hottest Record in The World,’  garnering millions of radio plays and raving reviews, becoming the BBC’s most played record by an unsigned artist.

In 2009, Bones released her debut album Bone of My Bones to critical acclaim. With tracks like ‘W.A.R.R.I.O.R’, ‘Guess We’ll Always Have NY’ and ‘The Muzik’, the album was used for runway shows and campaigns by Yves Saint Laurent, EA Sports FIFA and various Citroën car commercials including the controversial commercial featuring John Lennon.

Photographed by legendary photographer Jean Baptiste Mondino for New York Times T Magazine, her concerts were heralded by the publication as a “riotous jungle-punk stage act”. Bones goes above and beyond with a high-watt stage presence, bringing a whirl of energy to the stage with her fashion antics. Known for her multiple costume changes, she can often be spotted donning designer pieces by Iris van Herpen and Manish Arora

Her music, however, isn’t the traditional punk trio. Pushing boundaries as one of the first and few female music producers to work alongside orchestras, there is a real cinematic feel to her work. Traveling the world collaborating with symphony orchestras from India and China she asks classical musicians to step outside their comfort zone to perform her unconventional compositions.

“It’s about changing people’s perspectives. By breaking down existing genre boundaries, my approach to music including collaborations with The Mumbai Symphony and The Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra, reimagines orchestral music while challenging the prevailing mainstream mentality, that classical music is an art form that can only be performed by, for and about white males such as Beethoven” said Bones.

“I’m always pushing myself into unknown territory, I enjoy the challenge of stepping outside my circumference and learning from other cultures. There’s always a huge risk of recording alongside musicians you’ve never met, and don’t even speak the same language. Will it work? will you be able to communicate? In many ways it could be a recipe for disaster but these are all the elements that drive me as a creator. Music is the galvanizing force that brings people together.”

In 2013, her sophomore album “Behold, A Pale Horse” was released on her label 1984 Records. Premiered by NPR, who described Bones as “a major player for years to come,” the apocalyptic inspired album was recorded in India at YRF Studios aswell as Miloco Studios, London and featured tracks alongside The Mumbai Symphony Orchestra, and The New London Children’s Choir on a playful cover of The Smiths' ‘What Difference Does It Make’.

With its stringed percussion and harmonious chants, Behold, A Pale Horse is said to have “jagging guitars, jungle-inspired drums, and fierce vocals that seem to taunt as they go,” according to SPIN Magazine. The Independent praised the album as “a beguiling blend of chants, afrobeat, and the darker end of post-punk,” the self produced album also featured contributions from Liquid Liquid’s Sal P for the remix of ‘Bread & Circus’. The video, directed by Al Pacino’s daughter Julie Pacino and Jennifer DeLia, was premiered by Jay-Z via his lifestyle website Life & Times, heralding Bones as a “producer with a wide variety of influences, inspiring others through that journey."

In 2015 Bones released Milk & Honey, Pt. 1, her debut EP, which included the catchy disco-punk track ‘Oh Promised Land’. The song was used by Ray-Ban for their summer campaign which also featured Bones. She then headlined ‘Pop-Kultur’ festival to a sold out audience at Berlin’s legendary Berghain venue, that same year. Speaking to The New York Times about music production, Bones explained “It was an ambitious thing; I saw a deficit of female producers, and it’s still that way,” she said, noting that every non-classical Grammy Award for Producer of the Year had gone to a man.

Catching the attention of Yoko Ono with her avant-garde approach, Bones was enlisted by the art legend to re-work her song ‘No Bed For Beatle John’, for Ono’s ‘Yes, I’m A Witch Too’, her first album in nine years. Released in February 2016, it was heralded by The Guardian as “a brilliant track produced by Ebony Bones that pairs Ono’s eerie falsetto with majestic horns.” Featuring artwork by designer Karl Lagerfeld, the song was originally recorded by John Lennon in 1969. 

                                             *   *   *

As a self-produced artist, Bones is one of a few women in the male-dominated production world, making her one of the most prominent female producers in a burgeoning feminist movement within the music industry today. Given that less than 5% of solo music producers are women, Bones alongside Grimes, Linda Perry and Tokimonsta were the few producers featured by HBO/VICE for their 2017 special. Her production is as important as the music itself, and her skills are informed by self-produced musicians like Kate Bush, Missy Elliott, Linda Perry and Lauryn Hill. “Gender and ethnic diversity are markers for many of the key things that make music and art vital and resilient,” says Bones. “However, with the frighteningly low proportion of female music producers, there is currently only one dominant voice that determines what we all hear, and what music gets made.”

Her highly anticipated forthcoming album Nephilim, released July 20th sees Bones continue to push her musical ingenuity. She makes her directorial debut with the breathtaking new video of ‘Nephilim’ released May 4th, which may possibly be her most stunning visual yet. Featuring collaborations with The Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra, Bones took time away from touring to write and produce the new album, recorded in Beijing, New York and London. Collaborating alongside the orchestra at Beijing’s Tweak Tone Labs Studio, the album explores several themes including censorship; the conspicuous kind in China vs the more insidious kind in the west; as well as the emergence of nationalism in the world, post-Brexit and post-Trump.  

Unafraid to break down existing genre boundaries, the songs on Nephilim have an otherworldly, futuristic sound. She demonstrates an electronic avant-garde prowess, with experimental jazz, a sophisticated symphonic sense, teamed alongside afrofuturist overtones. There is a real cinematic feel to Bones' productions, displayed on orchestral tracks like 'Nephilim' and instrumental passages like 'Truth or Treason' that serve almost as a soundtrack for a film.

Bones reached out to the orchestra following her collaborations with Yoko Ono and The Mumbai Symphony Orchestra on Behold A Pale Horse. “China boasts some of the worlds best classical musicians and it was an honor to collaborate with them. I sent the Beijing Philharmonic the scores I had composed, and they were excited for the collaboration,” said Bones, who was invited to perform at the World Exposition in Shanghai 2010, which saw over 73 million visitors.

“Many people asked about recordings in Beijing and censorship in China, and while I didn’t directly experience any, it got me thinking about all the ways in which censorship manifests itself in our culture,” says the artist. “It takes on covert forms, like who gets to speak and who doesn't get to speak, and all the ways we silence the voices of people we don't want to hear” said Bones. “Beginning with the theme of religious censorship, I made ‘Nephilim’ conscious of the fact that these were not subjects females usually write about.”

The manifesto-like lyrics in the punk-inflected track ‘No Black In The Union Jack’ begins with an audio clip of British Member of Parliament Enoch Powell’s notorious ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech attacking immigration in 1968. “This hate speech was so vile, it has never been broadcast in full,” said Bones. “It is one of the most incendiary racist speeches of modern Britain and this year marks it’s 50th anniversary.”

The new album also explores the emergence of nationalism in the world post-Brexit and Trump. “Xenophobia aswell as fear of immigrants and foreigners was strongly associated with support for leaving the EU; post-Trump and Brexit have created a hostile environment for immigrants, fanned by nationalist bile and scapegoating as displayed throughout these songs.”  

Bones expanded on the larger issue of censorship “While writing the album, I began thinking about how women have been erased historically and all the ways we silence the voices of people we don't want to hear,” she said. “While I have accomplished a level of success in my art, I am not ignorant to the fact that for the majority of women, and especially women of colour, invisibility, not being seen or heard is a through-line for most of our careers.”

The album was engineered by Grammy Award-winning masterer, Mandy Parnell of Black Saloon who also engineered Behold A Pale Horse. Bones enlisted a host of musicians for the album, including a horn section featuring saxophone legend, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown collaborator - Lonnie Youngblood. Among the new 11 tracks on the album, there is a stunning cover, of the Junior Murvin/The Clash classic ‘Police & Thieves,’ which is performed by The Bones Youth Choir.

Speaking truth to power, the afrofuturistic anthem ‘Kids of Coltan’ touches upon the subjects of neo-colonialism and human rights violations. “The song is about the culture of complicity, as I began thinking of the young child laborers who make our smartphones and electronic devices,” said Bones. “Modern day communication is built on coltan mining, by young children in the Democratic Republic of Congo. From picking cotton to picking coltan, I realised this is today’s modern slave trade, of which we are all complicit.”

From ‘Kids Of Coltan’ and ‘Police & Thieves’ to ‘I See, I Say’ and ‘What Difference Does It Make’, children are a constant theme in Bones’ work. “A child's innocence allows for greater perception. Kids tend to be good at expressing their creativity, but then as adults people tend to lose this as they grow older, it’s something we have to protect and nurture.”

The giant themes and futuristic sounds of Nephilim are a reference to Bones’ own avant-garde approach, and as science fiction author Philip K. Dick once said, “Artists have the capacity to accidentally predict the future, it’s in their essence as creators.” Bones proves to be a step ahead.

New single ‘Nephilim’ featuring The Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra is out digitally May 4th

Written by Nadja Sayej

Photo Credits:

Photo by: Antonello Trio

Hair: Ernesto Montenovo

Styling: Ramona Tabita

Make-up:  Elena Pivetta

#EbonyBones Bio Nephilim BeijingPhilharmonicOrchestra NewAlbum

[kickmag]

R.I.P. Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin died today at age 76 after an eight-year struggle with pancreatic cancer. Franklin’s publicist Gwendolyn Quinn said in a statement the iconic singer passed away at 9:50 AM ET surrounded by family at her home. In her five decades as the Queen of Soul she helped pioneer the genre, won 18 Grammies, was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and had her voice declared a national treasure. Her reworking of Otis Redding’s “Respect’ is considered one of the songs to exemplify the Civil Rights Movement. She had the most Billboard entries (73) for a woman until 2017 and had over 52 top 10 hits on the Hot R&B Sides chart now known as Hot R&B Hip-Hop Songs. Her commercial achievements matched her cultural relevance through the years. She sang at some of the most important events of the 20th and 21st century including  Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral, and inauguration festivities for Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Franklin’s gospel-rooted soul became synonymous with America, a home-grown creation admired and emulated around the world. A peerless singer and outstanding piano player, Franklin’s influence extended through the generations with Lauryn Hill penning “A Rose Is Still A Rose” for her in 1998. 

Franklin’s career started when she was a youngster singing in her father’s church. The Reverend C.L. Franklin was famous for being one of the first ministers to utilize radio broadcasts. His relationships with gospel singers Clara Ward, Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke had a huge influence on Aretha Franklin’s development as an artist. Her first album was a gospel one on an independent but by 1960 she was signed to Columbia where she recorded a string of successful pop and R&B hits. It is her time with Atlantic Records in the late ’60s when she made her legend as the Queen of Soul with songs like “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” “Chain Of Fools” and “Ain’t No Way.” 

In the ’70s, she asserted her power with the release of Amazing Grace which is the biggest selling live gospel album of all time and secular singles “Spanish Harlem,” Day Dreaming” and “Rock Steady.” It was during the ’70s that Franklin offered to post bail for jailed activist and intellectual Angela Davis and she told Jet magazine why: 

“My daddy (Detroit’s Rev. C.L.Franklin) says I don’t know what I’m doing. Well, I respect him, of course, but I’m going to stick by my beliefs. Angela Davis must go free. Black people will be free. I’ve been locked up (for disturbing the peace in Detroit) and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace. Jail is hell to be in. I’m going to see her free if there is any justice in our courts, not because I believe in communism, but because she’s a Black woman and she wants freedom for Black people. I have the money; I got it from Black people—they’ve made me financially able to have it—and I want to use it in ways that will help our people.”

Franklin worked with Curtis Mayfield in 1976 on the soundtrack to the film Sparkle which put her back on the R&B and Top 40 charts. Sparkle became a cult classic and so did the soundtrack because of Mayfield and Franklin’s genius collaboration. Franklin’s career was reignited in the ’80s with new sounds and collaborators. Luther Vandross and Marcus Miller wrote “Jump To It” for her and she had more success with the singles “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Freeway Of Love” and “Jimmy Lee.” George Michael and the Eurhythmics joined Franklin for “I Knew You Were Waiting For Me” and “Sisters Are Doing For Themselves” both were successful commercially and had videos that helped Franklin smoothly transition into the age of video. She also made a famous appearance in The Blues Brothers singing “Think” in the role of a waitress and wife. The younger generation became more familiar with her after she sang the theme song to the popular TV show A Different World. 

She released two albums in the ’90s with A Rose Is Still A Rose becoming one of her most sold. Lauryn Hill, Sean Combs, Mary J. Blige, Jermaine Dupri, Kelly Price and Babyface worked on A Rose Is Still A Rose. The singer seemed to accomplish the impossible in 1998 when she replaced Luciano Pavarotti at the Grammys and sang “Nessun Dorma” at the last minute and received international acclaim. 

Franklin continued to record in the 2000s and give memorable performances. She famously covered Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” for her Aretha Franklin Sings The Diva Classics album. Her performance at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2015 of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” honoring songwriter Carole King was another noteworthy moment. In these later years, she received honorary doctorates from Harvard, Princeton, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania. Her health issues caused her to cancel shows in recent times but she managed to give a free outdoor concert in Detroit last year. Franklin’s last studio album, A Brand New Me, which features archival vocals matched with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was released in November 2017. An all-star tribute concert for Franklin is scheduled for November 14, 2018, in New York City. 

#Aretha Franklin

[tachyonpub]

Happy birthday to the sensational Nalo Hopkinson

Nalo Hopkinson presenting a Hugo Award at Worldcon 2017 in Helsinki (Photo: Sanna Pudas)

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, the acclaimed Nalo Hopkinson spent her childhood in Trinidad and Guyana before her family moved to Toronto when she was sixteen. Her groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy, noted for diverse characters and the mixture of folklore, include the novels Brown Girl in the Ring (1998), Midnight Robber (2000), The Salt Roads (2003), The New Moon’s Arms (2007), The Chaos (2012), and Sister Mine (2013). Hopkinson’s shorter workers has been collected in Skin Folk (2001), Report from Planet Midnight (2012) and FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS (2015).

As an editor, Hopkinson has worked on many publications including Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction (2000), Mojo: Conjure Stories (2003), So Long Been Dreaming (with Uppinder Mehan; 2004), Tesseracts 9 (with Geoff Ryman; 2005), , People of Colo(U)R Destroy Science Fiction! (with Kristine Ong Muslim; 2016), and Particulates (2018).

Beginning with her first novel Brown Girl in the Ring winning the Warner Aspect First Novel contest, Hopkinson has garnered numerous awards. Brown Girl also won a 1999 Locus Award and that same year, the author herself won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her second novel Midnight Robber was a 2000 New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Skin Folk won the 2003 World Fantasy and Sunburst Awards as well as 2004 Gaylactic Spectrum Award (for GLBTQ themes in science fiction and fantasy). The New Moon’s Arms received the 2008 Sunburst and Prix Aurora Awards. Hopkinson’s superior editing skills were acknowledged with the 2006 Prix Aurora Award for Tesseracts 9 and a British Fantasy Award for People of Colo(U)R Destroy Science Fiction!

The movie Brown Girl Begins, directed and written by Sharon Lewis, serves a prequel to Brown Girl in the Ring. The acclaimed film garnered several awards including IndieFEST Film Award and Houston Black Film Festival Prize.

Hopkinson currently teaches in the Creative Writing department at the University of California, Riverside. In 2016, she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Anglia Ruskin University.

All of us at Tachyon wish the extraordinary Nalo Hopkinson a happy birthday. May those incredible and insightful folktales keep flowing!

For more information on FALLING IN LOVE WITH HOMINIDS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Chuma Hill

Design by Elizabeth Story

#nalo hopkinson #birthday #falling in love with hominids #particulates #brown girl begins #chuma hill #elizabeth story

[turtlereviews]

Culture and Media/October 2018

Summary: 30 movies, 10 books, 2 comics, 4 performances. This is the first month I think that really feels like what my ‘normal’ habits are. Not the film festival and the dance festival, but, like in terms of books and other movies.

Movies (film festival) (pt 2)

Citizen Jane (2018)

The Real Thing (2018)

Cielo (2018)

Mirai (2018)

Wild Relatives (2018)

Into the Okavango (2018)

Rafiki (2018)

Movies (cinema)

Anchor and Hope (2017)

Venom (2018)

Movies

Bleach (2018)

Alien (1979)

Escape from New York (1981)

Alien vs Predator (2004)

Hail Caesar (2015)

Predators (2010)

State Fair (1945)

State Fair (1962)

Valerian (2017)

the House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Next Gen (2018)

The Girl with all the gifts (2016)

Solo (2018)

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

The Babysitter (2017)

Gone with the bullets (2014)

The Conjuring (2013) 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)

The Lego Movie (2014)

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Katteprinsen (2002)

Books

Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile (1937)

Anna Day: Fandom (2018)

Hiromi Kawakami: The Nakano Thrift Shop (2005)

Patricia Briggs: Burn Bright (2018)

Caleb Carr: The Alienist (1994)

Dong He: Stjernelysregn 

Seanan McGuire: Down among the sticks and bones (2017)

Kido Okamoto: The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi (1937)

Sarah Tolscer: Song of the Current (2017)

Lonely Planet: Food Lover’s Guide to the World (2012)

Comic books

All-New Wolverine vol. 1 (2016)

Mystik U (2018)

Performances

Gunilla Heilborn & Kim Hiorthøy: Why I wear this shirt

Human Works: Carousel

Eisa Jocson: Princess

Marie Bergby Handeland & Morten Liene/Landslaget: Null

TVShows:

Currently watching: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Black Lightning, Miss Ma, Bon Voyage.

#Turtle reading #turtle watching things