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shadynalittlesketchy · 3 years

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A Guide to Vampire Media That Isn't Twilight, by Someone Who Consumes a Lot of It

I'm NOT here to bash Twilight, just provide some other fun bloodsucker media for y'all to enjoy :) if you have any recs of your own, hit me with those bad bois!

Vampire Diaries- "a girl is torn between two vampires" is the plot for like 2 seasons but then it improves significantly. it's definitely very CW, but a lot of the vampire mythology is very very cool. and it doesnt hurt that the entire cast is ridiculously attractive. a great popcorn show! CW for blood and violence, parental death, and dub-con scenarios.

The Originals- a spinoff of TVD, but you don't really need to have seen TVD to watch this. It centers around the 4 original vampires (original as in like, the first vampires ever created) as they navigate vampire and other supernatural politics in New Orleans. Much less "teen angst" and much more "evil ancient vampires trying to be civil at dinner without murder" vibes. CW for blood and violence, and lots of spooky occult stuff taking place in graveyards.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer- literally my favorite TV show of all time. In addition to some killer vamps (team spike ftw!), there's weird demons, warlocks, werewolves- anything you can think of. it has great LGBTQ+ representation for its time, tackles social issues, and has a healthy dose of humor. CW for violence, supporting character deaths, vampire sex that destroys a building, and sexual assault.

What We Do in the Shadows- I don't usually rec comedies, but this one is too good not to. Loosely based off of the movie, it follows a group of vampire roomates in Staten Island. It is hilariously funny, and mocks just about every vampire trope out there. CW for copious amounts of blood, vomit, some pretty crass sexual humor, and dead raccoons.

True Blood- vampires in Louisiana, in a world where everyone knows vampires exist. it checks off all of my boxes for morally grey characters and weird supernatural happenings. it's an HBO show, so TW for blood/gore, violence, and soooo much sex and nudity.

Carmilla- technically a web series, not a TV show, but whatever. its lighthearted lesbian vampires, based off of the very old novella of the same name. great if you like vampires without the scare factor. and its free to watch on youtube!

Movies

What We Do in the Shadows- the movie the TV show is based off of. vampire roommates in New Zealand. also very funny, but less graphic violence/sexual references. created by and starring Taika Waititi, of Thor: Ragnarok fame.

The Lost Boys- awesomely cheesy 80's cult classic feat. Kiefer Sutherland with a bleach-blond mullet. it's fun and weird and has a cool aesthetic. it also has the same kind of vibe as the Goonies. TW for gore, and one icky scene with maggots.

Thirst

South Korean vampire drama with dark, aesthetically pleasing religious imagery. The mc returns from a mission trip with intense cravings for sex and blood and struggles to hold onto his humanity. super angsty and dramatic in the best ways. CW for copious blood and gore, spicy vampire sex, and sexual assault.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

a surprisingly good movie! has a fun, steampunk feel to it, and a pre-MCU Anthony Mackie, which is an added bonus. vampires kill honest abe's mother when hes a child, so he grows up to be an axe-swinging vampire slayer AND the president. this is not a movie to be taken seriously, but it is an awesome popcorn movie! CW for parental death, blood/gore, slavery (it is set during the civil war), and children in danger.

Interview With the Vampire

it is about as gay as a movie can get without the main characters actually being gay. it's a long, drawn-out story about a vampire and his life from when he's turned in the early days of america, until the present. the vampire is played by brad pitt, and he shares lots of longing glances and homoerotic blood drinking scenes with tom cruise. it is visually spectacular, even if the story is a little long. CW for blood/gore, child death, and sexual content.

Bram Stoker's Dracula

starring winona ryder and keanu reeves! it follows the book fairly closely, although it is a very 90s movie. it is WILD, but a classic and a lot of fun if you like vampires, or really any kind of supernatural shenanigans. CW for sexual content, and blood/violence.

Books

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

non-traditional vamp book, by holly black (the same one who wrote the cruel prince). vampires live in fancy quarantined cities called coldtowns, and the MC ends up in one inadvertently. its a more dystopian/sci-fi take on vampires, but it still has a lot of traditional vampire fun thrown in, too. plus the cover is just gorgeous. CW for sex and violence.

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

probably one of the weirdest vampire books ive ever read, but in a good way. its about a group of housewives who start a true-crime bookclub, but begin to suspect that their new neighbor is a vampire. its a really good female empowerment story, and it also explores white saviorism. CW for sexual assault, racism, violence, and forced pregnancy.

Lost Souls

Poppy Z. Brite's books are like a punk-rock, gayer version of Anne Rice. lost souls has great queer rep, and is funny and weird and heartbreaking all at the same time. it's about the lives of vampires in New Orleans, but it's very unique and unlike any other vampire story out there. CW for blood/violence, sexual content, and sexual assault.

Dark Lover

this book is the peak of smutty vampire romance novels. I usually read books like this just for fun, but its actually well-written and has a compelling story outside of the smut aspects. It's about a half-vampire woman who teams up with a vamp to kill the slayers that murdered his parents. just ignore the fact that the love interest is named Wrath. CW for tons of smut, and blood/violence.

The Beautiful

I would describe this as a classic vampire story- romance between a human and a vampire in victorian-era NOLA, complete with costume balls, mysterious murders, and a secret supernatural club. CW warning for mild sexual content, and violence. (It's YA, so there's nothing too graphic.)

Love in Vein

A collection of vampire short stories compiled by Poppy Z. Brite, but written by a variety of authors. there's some really different takes on the vampire myth, and it's interesting to see it played with in so many different ways. just an fyi- it gets weird af and pretty graphic. CW for body horror, blood/violence, sexual assault, and sexual content.

Bonus! Mini playlist

Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde

Black No. 1 by Type O Negative

Cure by Darling Violetta

Blood in the Cut by K. Flay

Holy Water by Bad Company

Decode by Paramore

Uninvited by Alanis Morissette

I Will Never Die by Delta Rae

Devil Inside by INXS

Death of Me by PVRIS

Hypnotic by Zella Day

Cold Blooded by the Pretty Reckless

Savior by St. Vincent

Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads

Transylvanian Concubine by Rasputina

Virgin State of Mind by Ks Choice

How Soon is Now? by the Smiths

Red Right Hand by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

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doomonfilm · 3 years

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Ranking : Martin Scorsese (1942-present)

Of all the places in the world that seem to be hubs for creative energy, New York stands high on my personal list of favorites, and when it comes to iconic New York filmmakers, there aren’t many that can hold a candle to the prolific career of Martin Scorsese. His appreciation for films, art and music blasts off the screen with the same energy as his kinetic cinematography and vibrant editing. Once he established himself as a mainstay in the industry, his list of collaborators evolved into a who’s who of acting legends, both old and new. His career spans just over 50 years, and even his latest film (his 25th in his catalog) went head to head with other contenders for the top awards of the year.

To put it bluntly, there is Martin Scorsese, and then there is a long list of imitators and those influenced by his genius. To rank his films is a true test of logic, patience and decision making, but after a few weeks of catching the 7 or so films I had yet to see, I think I can stand behind this list as my definitive ranking (from least to most favorite) of a director I hold in the highest regard.

25. Gangs of New York (2002) An honest attempt at an epic flick, but at the heart of the matter, I simply don’t care about either side in the battle Scorsese presents us. Set in New York City in the mid 19th Century during the Civil War, we are thrown into a generational battle where the two key figures have different goals... Bill the Butcher stands as antagonist in his fight to maintain power and control, while Amsterdam is our protagonist charged with a mission of revenge. In the end, neither side ends up mattering, very much like my personal experience with this all flourish, no foundation exercise in style.

24. Bringing Out the Dead (1999) Nicolas Cage was gearing up for the run that most people know him for now during the release of Bringing Out the Dead : he was coming off of Golden Globe and Academy Award wins for Leaving Las Vegas, but was quickly leaning towards films of a more exploitation-based style. This film marked a refinement of his wild-man persona, while simultaneously being one of the last high-level actor/director combinations he would be involved in before his mad dash to accept every film and avoid bankruptcy. New York is captured in a mid-transition point between the darkness of the 1970s and 1980s versus the Disney aesthetic of the new millennium, and while heavy on the entertainment factor (as well as visually striking), there is ultimately not enough on this plate to push it higher up the list.

23. The Color of Money (1986) If you had to do a quick gander at the Scorsese list and pick the film that, on paper, screams Hollywood, it’d be hard to argue against The Color of Money taking that top spot. A soft sequel to The Hustler, Scorsese picks up the Fast Eddie story in the 1980s (an era that oozes out of each and every frame of this film), and yet, despite this legendary move, the film is ultimately the Tom Cruise show. Scorsese’s trademark dollying and trucking camera shots work beautifully in the context of this film, but in a story that shines bright, the star of Cruise ultimately outshines all that remains.

22. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) After a few exploitation-based projects, it seemed that Martin Scorsese wanted to provide a slightly different change in perspective, albeit one that still dwells in the darker corners of life. Rather than deal with the streets of New York or crime, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is a study on broken homes, single parenthood and domestic violence that oscillates between the view of the titular Alice and her young son. Harvey Keitel gives another strong performance as a Scorsese regular, while Ellen Burstyn shines in a transitional role towards more mature performances. Seeing Scorsese camera movements coopted into a more down to Earth story was refreshing.

21. The Departed (2006) Many people would have assumed that The Departed would be higher on a list of Scorsese films based solely on the cast... pairing Leonardo DiCaprio opposite Matt Damon in a tension-filled triangle with Jack Nicholson is a bold combination in its own right, but surrounding this nucleus with Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Corrigan, Anthony Anderson and supporting actors of that ilk creates a rich showcase of talent. Stylistically, everything you need is there too, as Scorsese proved time and again that films of this nature were his wheelhouse. That being said, the story itself, an adaptation of the 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, takes a few liberties in its adaptation that ultimately are to the detriment of the narrative. Kudos to Scorsese for putting this one together, and too bad for him that the choices of William Monahan knocked what could have been a mega-classic way down the list.

20. New York, New York (1977) New York, New York is one of the most unique offerings from the Scorsese canon for a number of reasons. Of all his films, this one is probably the one that can be considered a “style exercise” more than the rest, as it oscillates between obvious sets and real locations before blurring the lines between the two. Long gaps of time are given to fully executed musical numbers (a must when a talent like Liza Minnelli is involved), and traditional methods of songwriting and performance are given their due respect. The exercise portion, however, comes in the newer acting styles that are infused into the old school structure... improvisation and aggressive physicality are used to put a deeper, disturbing red tint on an era often presented through a rose-colored lens. While interesting at times, the nearly three hour run time of the film begins to wear on the limits of the style, which ultimate leaves the film feeling more like a personal indulgence than a statement on changing times. For the iconic title track alone (and the buildup to its release), this film is worth seeing, but in terms of its placement in the realm of other Scorsese films, it may have to grow on me a while to find a higher placement on the list.

19. Boxcar Bertha (1972) Originally, this film was much lower on the list, largely due to its chronological placement between Who’s That Knocking at My Door and Mean Streets seeming odd to me. Upon revisitation, however, it stands clear and present that this film served as an exercise in the process of directing and organizing a shoot. With its period-specific placement, ensemble cast and action sequences, it was bound to be compared to (and ultimately overshadowed by) the formidable Bonnie and Clyde, but Boxcar Bertha has a few key moments in it (including a stellar final action sequence) that places it near the middle of the Scorsese canon, even with it being his second film.

18. Who's That Knocking at My Door? (1967) For all of the refinement that Scorsese found in his second film, his debut film, the stunning Who’s That Knocking at My Door?, stands as testament to the fact that Scorsese brought his many gifts to the table from day one. What started as a student graduate film grew into a speculative project, only to find 25th hour funding that allowed it a festival run and a proper release. The film took many years to complete and release, to the point that keen viewers will notice Harvey Keitel’s boyish, soft good looks morph into the sharper, edgier intense profile we came to recognize in Mean Streets and the films that followed. The energetic cinematography, respect of film as a medium, stellar music choices, defiance of youth, toxic masculinity and realistic look at relationships are all here, making this debut a hidden gem in the Scorsese canon.

17. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Seeing Scorsese retread old stylistic ground (as opposed to infusing his style into newer projects) is an interesting take, and for what my opinion is worth, The Wolf of Wall Street feels like Goodfellas for white collar criminals. In theory (and, in some aspects of the film, in reality), the experiment does work, but ultimately, this film finds its placement in the middle realms simply because we are given infinite sizzle off of what amounts to a very thin steak. Goodfellas works because it is carried by the weight of omerta, but The Wolf of Wall Street focuses on a culture where status comes from self-appointed importance, which ultimately makes for an attempted redemption story for despicable people.

16. The Irishman (2019) Seeing actors the stature of Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino combine forces for a film is always a major event, but until 2019, those combinations have been limited to duos. When Netflix announced its intention to release The Irishman in 2019, people were not only intrigued on Scorsese’s take on the Jimmy Hoffa story, but seeing De Niro, Pesci and Pacino in the same film for the first time. For what it was worth, the trio lived up to all expectations, with the only bittersweet criticism being wishes that the three could have found a way to work together prior to the twilight of their careers. The historical drama is high quality, with Hoffa’s larger than life persona captured perfectly by Pacino, and bolstered by the dramatic chops brought to the table by De Niro and Pesci. The film is a tad on the long side, and the de-aging process tips into the realm of the uncanny valley due to the older actors’ physicality, but for a 25th film 52 years into an illustrious career, The Irishman must be recognized for the triumph that it is.

15. The Aviator (2004) Much like The Wolf of Wall Street, I avoided The Aviator for years simply because I have no interest or fascination with Howard Hughes. I was very much aware of his financial stature, his innovations as an aviator, his rocky love life and his personal demons that plagued him, but for my money’s worth, I was fine without seeing it presented on the big screen. In an effort to cover all the bases for a director I hold in high esteem, however, I made the decision to finally check out The Aviator, and for every element of the film I previously had no interest in, an element was presented that won me over. Cate Blanchett and Adam Dunn put on two of the strongest performances in the entire realm of Scorsese films, and the XF-11 crash sequence is possibly one of the grandest and well executed in any Scorsese film. Leave it to Martin Scorsese to make a powerful film about an individual I care nothing about and nearly crack the top ten with that effort.

14. Hugo (2011) Up to the point of watching Hugo, I knew nothing about it. About halfway through Hugo, I had to stop and look up how the film was received, as it was simply stunning, and sure enough, it was a monster in terms of award nominations and wins. I never would have pegged Scorsese as the type to direct a kid’s film, but in all honesty, that ‘kid’s film’ title is used as a façade for a love letter to film in general, and the groundbreaking work of Georges Méliès specifically. The look of the film is otherworldly, the energy is light, kinetic and infectious, and even a mostly slapstick performance by Sacha Baron Cohen yields surprising emotional depth when given the opportunity to do so. While just missing the top ten, Hugo easily stands as the number one surprise on this list in terms of pre-viewing expectations (of which there where none) versus post-viewing thoughts (of which there are many). Knowing that Hugo exists lets me know that one day, if I have children, and they want to know why I love film so much, I will have a film on the level of Cinema Paradiso to share with them and (hopefully) help foster a love of film they can call their own.

13. Casino (1995) For a time, this film stood as the last work containing the vibrant combination of Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, a trio of high energy creatives known for putting their all into their projects. Casino felt like a spiritual successor to Goodfellas, focusing on a lavish but secretive lifestyle with high stakes and even higher consequences. An instantly iconic movie, Casino felt like the end of an era in regards to gangster fare for Scorsese, opting instead for more challenging projects, adaptations of other books and films, or personal passion projects. It would be nearly 25 years later before Scorsese would touch similar subject matter or work with these actors again, but had Casino been the last of Scorsese’s so-called “gangster” films, I believe the world would have been happy with that.

12. Kundun (1997) To make one religious-based film in a career is a bold move to some, but I am hard-pressed to think of any director that made films on two different religions who didn’t explicitly make religious films. With that in mind, it is incredibly impressive that Martin Scorsese was able to make a film as moving and objective as Kundun after making such a bold take on religion as The Last Temptation of Christ. The film centers around the discovery, growth and eventual escape to India in light of growing aggression from China. In all honesty, I had my doubts as to whether or not the Scorsese style would work for this story, especially in light of the lack of cooperation from Tibet and China, but somehow, Scorsese’s amazing signature camerawork captures the unique spirit and essence surrounding the Dalai Lama. I’d heard of this film for years, but never got around to it until it was time to make this list, but I will almost certainly try to find a copy to own in the near future.

11. The King of Comedy (1982) What an odd left turn in regards of career trajectory for both Scorsese and De Niro. With three collaborations already under their belt (not to mention The Godfather II already being a well-established classic), it would have been easy to imagine the duo putting another notch on the gangster film genre belt. What we are given, however, is the yang to the yin of Taxi Driver : our protagonist is a statement on personal conviction and the trappings of instant stardom, our antagonist is a statement on star fascination and the high costs of celebrity, and our satellite characters directly reflect the toxicity certain fandoms can be capable of. Scorsese sets aside his normal flourish and camera moves for a mixing of film and video mediums, as well as a completely new sense of freedom in regards to the highly improvised nature of the film. Its influence on recent successful films like Joker is undeniable, but I’d argue that Joker lacks the heart, sincerity and realistic bite present in The King of Comedy.

10. After Hours (1985) Of all the “new to me” Scorsese flicks I finally viewed while preparing this list, After Hours stands as my favorite discovery of the bunch. I was marginally familiar with the film, both from my younger days in video stores and from friend recommendations, but for some reason, when Scorsese time arrived, After Hours seemed to never be on the docket. That oversight, however, will now be a thing of the past. This film feels like a personal challenge to Woody Allen in regards to how one should make a New York-based romantic comedy, and I’d be hard pressed to share any shortcomings or failures present in this comedic masterpiece. One of the few films that can be both a product of its era and a timeless classic, and one that should be much more recognized in the Scorsese canon.

9. Shutter Island (2010) Me hesitating or not getting around to Scorsese films seems to be a bit of a common theme here, but there was literally no excuse for me to take this long to get around to Shutter Island. Despite knowing the premise of the story (and even having the ending somewhat spoiled for me), I still found the impact of the final moments just as powerful as I imagine I would have going into this film blind. Some people will likely argue this statement, but in my opinion, this was the best Leonardo DiCaprio performance captured by Martin Scorsese. The asylum setting is wonderfully bleak, and the psychological horrors it infers create a vibrant playground for some of the most stunning visual symbolism that Scorsese has ever committed to film. Don’t be like me if you’ve not gotten around to Shutter Island yet, because it’s a thrill ride more than worth the price of admission, and a rewarding repeat viewer.

8. Mean Streets (1973) Mean Streets may have been Martin Scorsese’s third film, but for many fans, it was the first true indicator of the brilliance that was to come. A true New York film through and through, it not only presented fans with a stronger Harvey Keitel performance than Who’s That Knocking at My Door?, but it introduced the world to the palatable tandem of Scorsese and De Niro that would go on to lead to years and years of iconic performances. The use of altering aspect ratios is something that I wish Scorsese would have continued to use more often, but in all honesty, Mean Streets has style to spare. This the film that I love to recommend when people start ranting and raving about Goodfellas, and more often than not, it impresses those unfamiliar with it just as much.

7. The Age of Innocence (1993) Martin Scorsese’s love of film is widely known and well documented, but The Age of Innocence goes an additional step further by displaying Scorsese’s love of art. The film also is one of the most touching displays of unrequited love that Scorsese has committed to film, a slight alteration from his normal infusion of love stories trying to sustain in the surrounding chaos of gangs, crime, religion and so on. Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder all give standout performances in this masterfully directed film. If Gangs of New York was meant to be the definitive old school New York film in the Scorsese canon, then The Age of Innocence is the unintended definitive New York film from Scorsese, with some European touches thrown in for good measure.

6. Cape Fear (1991) Of the many, many iconic performances that Robert De Niro has given Martin Scorsese, I’d be hard pressed not to put his characterization of Max Cady at the top by a clear margin. Cape Fear was already a classic film adaptation of The Executioners when it was first released in 1957, but De Niro pulled two fast ones with his update : in terms of casting, especially with the aforementioned De Niro, Scorsese brought the harrowing story into a much darker, recent world, therefore increasing the tension by upping the ante for violent retribution, while at the same time, paying direct homage to the original by having Elmer Bernstein adapt the original Bernard Herrmann score. Juliette Lewis also provided a breakout performance in this modern day classic, and possibly the film that provided the most tense debate in terms of placement, as we will get into with the next film.

5. Silence (2016) Despite being one of the most recent Martin Scorsese films, this one’s limited release meant that I missed it during its initial run, and the lack of streaming service placement essentially erased it from my memory. I was certainly intrigued about watching it for this list, and it ended up being the last film viewed. Going into it, it felt like a sort of religious take on Saving Private Ryan, but it didn’t take long for the film to start dealing out much heavier cards in terms of faith, belief systems and cross-cultural contamination. The Last Temptation of Christ showed that Scorsese could find nuance and secular drama from a holy tale, and Kundun showed that he could make a religious icon a relatable human figure struggling to grasp his divine appointment. Silence is the work of a wise, steady hand, however, like some sort of cinematic parable or testament to faith in the face of crippling doubt and danger. Scorsese is certainly still moved by the idea of faith, and he uses Andrew Garfield to display this in some of the most powerful moments that he has ever created or captured for his films. For those who have not seem the film, this placement may feel a bit high, but I would not be surprised if, given time and proper amounts of reflection, it makes its way higher.

4. Raging Bull (1980) The placement of Raging Bull and Cape Fear was the biggest hurdle I was forced to overcome in the creation of this list. Robert De Niro is powerfully captivating in both films, though I would personally give his performance as Max Cady the nod over his embodiment of Jake LaMotta, but when it comes down to the brass tacks of it all, Raging Bull is ultimately the better of the two films. The raw, black and white look of LaMotta’s life already provides a gritty, unflattering portrait of a savage and uncouth man looking for beauty in the world, but that beauty he searches for appears in the boxing sequences with no apologies. The airy look, mainly caught by dynamic slow motion photography, works in tandem with the abrasive first-person views of the combatants, not to mention the direct nature of the combat itself as the viewer is often placed directly in the line of fire. The involvement of the real LaMotta within the film provides a nice button to the superb acting put on display by De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty and the numerous actors used to portray the opponents of LaMotta.

3. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Call it a trope if you like, but it feels like every great (or aspiring) director has a film in them that is driven by religion in some capacity. The Last Temptation of Christ is unique in this sense because it takes the story of the accusations, betrayal, trial and eventual crucifixion of Jesus and turns it into a deeply faith-based suspense thriller. Many of the familiar beats we know from the Bible are re-contextualized as visions, mystic tests of faith, carnal desires driven by lust, and nihilistic views infringing upon deep indoctrination. Willem Dafoe plays a Jesus that is bitter in his acceptance of his fate, Harvey Keitel plays a wonderfully opportunistic Judas, and Barbara Hershey plays a very modernized version of a woman forced to use her body for survival that is suddenly trapped between necessity and passion. The film hinges on the verge of becoming a soap opera without falling into the trappings that come with such high drama, and the walkup to the film’s amazing final sequence puts you in the emotional passenger's seat while Jesus takes the wheel and steers directly into his fate. A dramatically powerful yet brutally sincere take on an iconic, revered and sensitive subject matter.

2. Goodfellas (1990) Is there any original praise left to bestow upon this movie? To focus on the imperfections of this film is an act of futility, as they are mostly non-existent. Some of Martin Scorsese’s best examples of his iconic camera movement, editing techniques, still frames, writing gleaned from personal experience, soundtrack use, loose historical connections and dark humor are found within the confines of Goodfellas. If you’ve seen in actor in any television show or film that had any connection to the mob prior to Goodfellas or since, it is more than likely that that actor was in Goodfellas, even if only briefly. Using Henry Hill as both an outsider and insider perspective is a brilliant narrative stroke, as he can get close to the top, but can never have it all, making him essentially a fly on the wall bursting with charisma and personality. They highs are as epic as the lows are tragic, and for most people, it is the first film that comes to mind when the name Martin Scorsese is mentioned. This could have very easily been the number one film on my list, but anyone who has been visiting this blog with a keen eye for detail probably figured out my favorite Scorsese film the first time they visited the DOOMonFILM blog.

1. Taxi Driver (1976) Since the day that I started this film blog, there has been one image at the top of the page : Travis Bickle in the porn theater (with his face replaced by my logo) from the iconic Taxi Driver. There’s not a single element that I can put my finger on for this film, but there are certainly a number of elements that do speak to me : the isolation that Travis faces, the journal-like narration that drives the story forward, the hypnotic nature of both Bernard Herrmann score and the repetitive taxi cab shots and the vivid camera movements are all burnt firmly into my brain. Everyone that makes up the main cast for this film kills in their performance, and the ending of the film is not only a brutal one, but an ironic one in regards to where Travis lands in the eyes of those who make up the world of the film. Martin Scorsese has made more amazing films than some directors have made, period (amazing or otherwise), but for my money’s worth, none of them are as powerful or well put together as Taxi Driver.

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onestowatch · 4 years

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Amindi and Kari Faux’s “Love Em Leave Em” Is the Decade’s First Anthem for Ladies

Photo: Myai Anthony

A new decade has begun and this Capricorn season is ensuring that we utilize the New Year resolutions we set in 2019. Despite being a little over a week into January, there have already been a plethora of distractions, temptations, and heavy news announcements darkening our vision and causing us to lose sight of who we want to be and what we want to do to get there.

However, like striking rays of sunshine tearing through the darkness, Los Angeles-based beauties Amindi and Kari Faux have arrived bearing an infectious beat that doubles as a reminder to keep your eyes on the prize.

"Love Em Leave Em" is a meticulous soiree of rap, soul, reggae, dancehall, R&B, and Amindi's love for all things cinema. The song employs a message of self-sufficiency and success and uses the Versicolor music video—directed by Mariah Winter—to showcase a thriving Amindi recentering her priorities back onto herself. From the aesthetic display of the brightly dressed women in the video, contrasting with the plain black outfits of the men, Amindi choosing to admire herself in the mirror and focus on her money, and the emphasis on the ladies cruising around Los Angeles with their girlfriends, it's pretty clear that "Love Em Leave Em" is an anthem designed specifically for the hardworking ladies (Sorry, fellas!).

As she shared with Complex about the nature of the video:

"I wanted a cinematic representation of girls being about their money and prioritizing their bread in the same way boys do. I just love movies and I wanted this music video to feel like a short film with a happy ending for the girls and a not-so-happy ending for the boys. But who cares? This isn't about boys! This is about the money, about the bread, about bags."

The Jamaican artist is a rolling stone of creativity who is most certainly not going unnoticed. Her first globally recognized hit song "Pine & Ginger," with Tessellated & Valleyz, has been streamed over 25 million times and has topped both sales and trending charts in several different countries. In addition to global success, "Love Em Leave Em" is featured on the film Like A Boss, which features Tiffany Haddish, Salma Hayek, and Rose Byrne.

So ladies, if your 2020 has been clouded with distractions towards your goals of achieving your ultimate self, make sure you heed the advice of Amindi and Kari Faux. Chase a bag, not a man.

Watch the video for “Love Em Leave Em” below:

youtube

#Love Em Leave Em #Amindi #Kari Faux #hip hop #pop #R&B #soul #dancehall

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rocketdocket · 7 years

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Tag Yourself: Brideshead Revisited Edition

Sebastian: Gay af. Mommy issues. Does everything for the aesthetic. Terrified of becoming an adult. In love with his best friend. Has a complicated relationship with religion. Somehow ends up a priest and heralded as a saint even though he’s a problematic af gay alcoholic

Charles: troubled bisexual with daddy issues and money problems. Romanticizes the past and misses his gay youth. Artistic. Is only cool through his friends. In love with his best friend. Fucks his best friend’s sister. Atheist who has a come to Jesus moment in the ruins of his gay lover’s home

Julia: hot af. Catholic af. Fucks her brother’s lover. Marries for money.

Aloysius: soft, innocent, fluffy. A literal stuff toy bear. Too pure for this world and likes a good adventure.

Anthony Blanche: the gay friend. Infamous for being the Most Extra Flamboyant Unapologetically Gay Dude society has ever seen. Fucks a police man and then a guy who dies.

Cordelia: vague. metaphorical. spiritual af. Talks in Latin phrases sometimes. Literally no one knows what the fuck you’re saying. Is worried about the future of society even though she has no control over it

Celia: independent woman who gives no fucks. cynical. largely forgettable. has a lot of affairs. something about a cruise.

Rex: sorta a dick. ambitious. uses other people to get ahead in life. canadian.

#brideshead revisited #can u tell it's been years since i read this book #i'm sebastian and charles and aloysisus

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thesinglesjukebox · 7 years

Video

youtube

CHARLI XCX - BOYS [6.72] Who's looking for a good time?

Eleanor Graham: Video game noises will only ever be cute. They will never be evocative in the way that a synth line, a "woah" or even a "hey" can be. They may serve once or twice as punctuation but they cannot, aided only by a one-syllable word, carry a hook. But I do like the languorous glitter plod of this. And the sugar rush of bridge: "I was miles away, yeah!" I love to have fun, honestly. I'm just bitter because the video coerced me into a crush on [redacted]. [5]

Anthony Easton: The video is a masterpiece, a weaponized, high femme, millennial pink reworking of the ironic/not-ironic gender trouble of Collier Schorr -- made even more disturbing by finding out how hot I find Charlie Puth. The song, with its hint of Super Mario coins like a wink against capitalism, with the minimal drum beat like blood flowing from the heart to more southern regions, that laconic kind of delivery that suggests a louche moral decadence. Plus, how she sings the phrase ring tone, is almost as good, as ear wormy, as the perfect hook line of "I'm sorry, I missed your party." [10]

Nellie Gayle: 'I need that bad boy to do me right on a Friday/ 'And I need that good one to wake me up on a Sunday/'That one from work can come over on Monday night/ I want em all.' Never have the bubblegum archetypes of boy toys been so clearly joyously articulated as in Charli XCX's newest single. A pop star who clearly enjoys taking the piss out of that title (when once asked about why she liked her single 'Break the Rules' in an interview, she replied 'I like that it's so . . stupid'), Charli revels in the stereotypes of boy crazy, partied out girls. The many 'types' of girls have been outlined throughout the pop cannon - there are crazy girls, there are fun girls, there are dirty girls. In one way or another, Charli XCX has inhabited all of these personas for the sake of great, EDM-laced pop. In the video for 'Boys', she takes her own routine objectification (which she usually handles with amusement more than anger), and casually tosses it back to pop culture's finest dudes. Stormzy munches on some fruit loops, Joe Jonas licks his ice cream mustache, Diplo should presses some poodles. Saturated in bright colors, these visuals will come to mind every time you relisten to 'Boys.' It's a wink to gender roles that is cuter than it is inflammatory, and like all of Charli's best moves, it's best described as 'fun.' [8]

Maxwell Cavaseno: Functional to a certain level of flatness that Charli's wound herself around to the point that I'm never sure if it's her strength or her weakness. Still for the sake of all this melancholy gazing, and the spry little chip-tune punctuations, that bleakness serves as a complimentary sense of boredom, an audible fluster of the lips and sigh at something that feels more frustrating than it ever needs to be. Odd to find something so disappointed in itself could be so satisfying. [6]

Dorian Sinclair: Charli XCX sure is a chameleon, isn't she? There's a sort of dreamy wistfulness here we haven't heard from her too often, and with a different performer I suspect it could quickly become saccharine. But the wryness she brings to most of her performances is here as well, and that combined with the humour in the lyrics (and that adorable chiptune sample) has ensured that, since I first heard it, I've been busy thinkin' bout "Boys." [8]

Alfred Soto: Chirping wistfully like Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder, the synths and Charli XCX turn "Boys" into a tuneful flutter. Who wouldn't get wistful at the thought of absent boys or the boys we can't have? [6]

Julian Axelrod: Once you get past the instant-classic video (and lord knows I haven't) you realize "Boys" is a work of pop genius. The chorus is one of those brilliantly simple, universally relatable, deliriously catchy gems every songwriter wishes they'd thought of first. But the real magic is in the verses, as Charli reveals her thirst has left her friends out to dry. "I wish I had a better excuse like/I had to trash the hotel lobby" is such a perfect line, adding nuance and depth to both the song and Charli's party monster persona. (Which makes it all the more fascinating that she doesn't have a songwriting credit here.) The song becomes more resonant the more you listen: Who among us hasn't abandoned (or been abandoned by) a friend for some fleeting affection? That's what makes "Boys" so sublime: Like all great pop songs, it's really about friendship. [9]

Crystal Leww: Much fuss has been made about this music video, but the song itself is so dreamy, conjuring images of sunshine and grass fields. I am not sure if Charli XCX will ever get to be a huge pop star, but I don't care; her music feels so atmospheric and familiar, like it sits in the bottom of your stomach and wriggles through your brain and body. "Boys" has stuck with me for days, whisking me away from sweaty subway cars in the morning back to the weekend afternoons in the sun. [8]

Thomas Inskeep: I really hope that the viral popularity of this video leads to "Boys" going overground and Charli XCX becoming a real, big pop star in the US (I know that "Boom Clap" was a top 10 single three years ago, but that was three years ago), not only because she's one of our best purveyors of pop right now, but because "Boys" is relentlessly, charmingly cute. It's purposefully underproduced, and thus sounds very low-key and almost quiet, in a highly endearing manner. And besides, who of us isn't guilty of missing ______ because we were "busy thinkin' 'bout boys"? [8]

Joshua Copperman: A song about the female gaze and a video for the male gaze. Well, to quote a show that this might fit well on, it's a little more nuanced than that - there's nothing here that suggests that she's attracted to masculinity or manliness, unlike, say, "he's so tall and handsome as hell", and Charli's narrator is more in love with the idea of BOYS! than actual boys. (Swap out boys for "girls" and it's a Mary Lambert song, but that might be part of the point.) It's an interesting step after the #1 Angel mixtape managed to blend the PC Music stuff she was doing with something more accessible - this is full-tilt accessible, but with just enough edge from Charli's breathy performance to ensure that it stays true to her weirder side. [7]

Anjy Ou: I was surprised that Kero Kero Bonito didn't write or produce this - "Boys" hits that sweet spot between mainstream pop and Japanese bedroom pop that she's so good at, especially at the beginning. Charli, ever the pop chameleon, gives this sound her own self-indulgent twist, with lyrics about ditching a hard-partying lifestyle to swoon over her many suitors. Its blips are cute and sweet, and she cruises languidly through the song, like she wrote this the morning after while still in her pink cloud of peak crush. It would be a bit too basic for me, but someone set this song to a video of my favourite k-pop boy band and suddenly everything made sense. [7]

Katherine St Asaph: I mean, I too have had a crush on every boy, but this is just the languid parts of "Grins" severed from the exciting ones, or "What I Like" without the specificity and sex, or "I Don't Like Anyone" with trap vocals, Super Mario Bros. coins and emotional anemia. It's not that the older Charli XCX grows the less mature her music does -- that's too easy -- but the more detached she grows from anticipation or euphoria or danger, all those things boys can do. I suppose it's novel that the video's full of cutesy-alluring boys rather than cutesy-alluring girls to distract from a lack of substance, but there too, I prefer men. [4]

Stephen Eisermann: Anyone has ever felt "boy crazy" probably had the same mixture of nostalgia and anxiety while listening to this song for the first time. My first thought was immediately, "omg Stephen, don't overplay this song or say you relate, just be cool, even if this is a blog straight from your now deleted Tumblr," but it quickly became "damn Charli... you get me." Charli makes efforts to disguise or explain herself for this all too common phase and instead simply admits that, yeah, she was thinking about dudes. This willingness to be vulnerable, because yes, admitting you think about the gender you are sexually attracted to often is showing vulnerability, plays well against the quiet composition, and the bell/high pitched sound that plays after every time Charli says Boys perfectly sums up the feeling of butterflies that often accompanies those thoughts. All in all, a terrific effort and only made better by a simple yet colorful video that shows all the different kinds of boys we are attracted to, even if I could've done with a bit more brown goodness in the video. [8]

Will Rivitz: There's so much to love about "Boys," but I think the part most telling of Charli XCX's genius is the utter perfection of its chorus. It's quintessential Charli: though superficially inane, it captures in four perfect lines her bittersweetly self-reflective ethos. She doesn't really have any excuse for blowing her friends off -- she wishes she did, it'd make things a lot easier -- but the swell of life and love and just everything worth caring about got in the way, so she let things happen. It's a beautiful perspective, "stop and smell the roses" restated freshly and eloquently in the face of a neon facade Charli doesn't really care to hold up at the moment, the one people usually think of when they think of her. Charli XCX juggles personas adroitly, but I don't think that's so much a function of her skill inhabiting multiple characters as much as it is her skill at expressing the complexities of human experience as, y'know, complexities, as opposed to hammered-down stubs which fit a general narrative arc too cleanly. Here, she discards the party-girl aesthetic of Number 1 Angel for a more passive outlook, but the beauty of "Boys" is that the two attitudes never feel contradictory. No matter who a person is or what they act like, sometimes it's ok for their head to be in the clouds. [9]

Will Adams: That Charli XCX has done the hyper-crush premise many times before shouldn't be a deterrent -- it's where she excels. The problem with "Boys" is that it replaces the textured sonics of True Romance with tinny snares and overused GameBoy switch-ons and the ebullience of "Boom Clap" with the dead-eyed stare of "After the Afterparty." [4]

Edward Okulicz: Eh, I preferred it when Charli XCX was a whip-smart songwriter who made cool, indelible, effortless pop. Now her effort seems to end with the concept, because beyond its catchy monomania and shareable video, there's not anything else here. [3]

Jonathan Bradley: "Boys" wafts like a daydream: it's an insular and domestic song, a pastel doodle in a diary's margin or a decorated bedroom wall. Kitty Pryde knows how effectively these rough drafts can invoke the intensity of little infatuations. Charli's rough draft is very rough though, and the chiptune chirrups of "Boys" are aggressive in their flimsiness. It gets old to be reiterating this with each new single Charli puts out, but PC Music's conviction that it constitutes a clever deconstruction of pop to make a kind that sounds deliberately shoddy is not an interesting one, and Charli's embrace of their approach has squandered her talents. Here, she dials up her natural insouciance -- a playfulness fitting for the subject matter -- to the point it seems she can barely be bothered delivering the lyric. The performativity undermines the persona; this isn't a song about crushes on boys, but a song about Charli knowing how much we all want to enjoy a song about crushes on boys. [4]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: It took a dozen listens before I realized the song's ephemeral, almost nondescript nature works strongly in its favor. This is the sound of an instinctual sigh that appears while daydreaming, and Charli XCX captures that perfectly when she intonates "boys." The subtle details here -- the water samples, the ticking, the ringing phone -- never feel intrusive, thankfully. Which means that for these short three minutes, the fantasy never dies. [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#Charli XCX #Boys

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sanctus-rp-blog · 7 years

Photo

Tracey Davis | 22 | Dumbledore’s Army

Bloodstatus: Pureblood

Wand: Oak wood, 10", Dragon Heartstring, supple.

Career: Mediwitch (field)

Patronus: Doe

Boggart: Ball of green light - signifying the killing curse.

Previous House: Slytherin

Aesthetics–

After-rain scent, a good night’s sleep, fun evening at the pub with friends, crisp lines/geometrics shapes, slow ballad/jazz music, faded colours, muggle films, dessert tea, being made up/dressed up, piles of pillows, candle lit room.

Biography–

She was definitely her parent’s daughter, gaining their traits like it was her second skin. They raised her well- and it showed. Relatively an average magical family, they didn’t garner enough attention to draw positive or negative attention from the community. Her father was a Healer, and her mother was a mediwitch. Their work ethic and family values transverse to their daughter and son easily. Her family lived normal lives- neutral and living out of the spotlight. Her father was a Ravenclaw, and her mother was a Slytherin, no doubt the two houses always had a bond in their overlapping ideologies. She did not have a sad childhood - the most depressing thing was probably their family cat dying from old age, so really, she did live a fortunate life thus far.

Tracey Davis and her older brother Alec were both placed into Slytherin. He was a few years older than herself, but she was thankful for the company in first year, when she was rather wary of everyone, especially her housemates. It seemed that her house had a tendency to cause a Great Divide among students with loud and abrasive opinions that really meant nothing to her. Sure, she was from a Pureblood lineage, but it was never something her family put significance on. It was just something she was- as much as she was female, and a witch- it didn’t encompass her being and validate anything she did. While she did eventually warm up to some members of the Slytherin house, she also befriended several students from Ravenclaw, though she did not get too far past that for house unity. She’d heard of the antics several Gryffindors got to every single year, but stayed out of that stream of trouble. It was only truly in fourth year that she realized that Harry Potter was definitely a unique situation- after all, how else would there be four participants in a Tri-wizard competition?

While wary of a few friends in Slytherin, for there were times where she could sense something off with their behaviour, there was never anything offensively done to her so she tolerated and remained close with many of the Slytherins such as Sally Smith, Morag, Blaise, Daphne throughout her first few years in Hogwarts. Due to her studious nature, she also enjoyed befriending many Ravenclaws from a young age, even if they might not have necessarily trusted her in the beginning. But with persistence, if she wanted their friendship, she would earn it- much like she did with everything else in her life. In fact, Tracey did have a small crush on Anthony Goldstein, and that might have been one of the things her brain told her to proceed with reason, so she didn’t pursue that with too much aggression as that was mainly when she was much too young to be in a relationship- like twelve. Still, that didn’t stop her from not-so-subtly sit near him in class throughout the majority of second year. In due time, she would prove herself worthy friendly competition for grades, and worthy of Ravenclaw’s friendship and she was satisfied with her group of close friends.

Some may ask, was Tracey sorted incorrectly into Slytherin instead of Ravenclaw? No. She was perfect in her oblong space in the house of Green. If things had gone any differently and anything was misaligned, she could have cruised straight into the Dark Lord’s pack. Her drive and perseverance alone could be dangerous- the ‘conquer your fears of drowning by drowning until you learn how to swim’ sort of type. She might not be conniving in the way that others deem it, but she was smart enough to lay under the radar and look neutral on the surface, but truthfully, she was working for her own ideals and goals, no one else’s. It may not go hand in hand with what most of her housemate’s family values, and to her, they resembled a herd of sheep.

It was easy to slowly detach herself from the socialites, the students who began to disperse from the Dungeons to deal with ‘family matters’. In fact, her hobbies and habits throughout the years were a natural facade for her disappearing act- “excusable,” they stated. With age, it seemed that there was more pressure from families that were affiliated with the Dark Lord. She could sense the change within them, the bags under their eyes a physical indication, but internal cries were unheard. That was the biggest difference between them and she would never let herself get dragged down that road; she was not soft enough for any peer pressure or incentive. Truthfully, her friendship circle took a somber tone with every passing year as the students got older. At the same time while she and her friends began distancing from each other, her focus was moreso on her family. Tracey’s fourth year was Alec’s final year, and it was the first time she felt a strange distance between them. They had always been very close, but she didn’t know if it was her teenage awkwardness that had him avoiding her, or something else. He didn’t communicate as much, and did not return home for winter break that year- something her father casually passed as teenage rebellion, or more so, a boy growing into an independent man. While it was true that independence was instilled into them as an important quality, this felt more like abandonment.

Thankfully in fifth year, without feeling absolutely ignored from her brother, her focus turned solely to the structure of her life. Tracey’s favourite classes were Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Potions, and she dropped Divination after being told she had a strange aura of sorts. She was more practical than whimsy, swapping her course load back to focus on Arithmancy. Tracey’s favourite courses would come in handy when she went alongside Michael Corner to a meeting with the group that called themselves Dumbledore’s Army. Of course she was skeptical- Michael hardly even wanted to be there, and now here she gets dragged into this meeting just because he wanted to be around Ginny? No, thank you. Her intrigue was overrun by the accusations and harrowing treatment she received as the outcast within the meeting- for she was the only Slytherin in the entirety of the group. She didn’t think that would be a problem, but apparently it was. While her friends tried to keep her spirits up, it didn’t help because the mass majority still sent ‘waves of judgement’ towards her (oh heaven forbid, it was her 'strange aura’). After being forced to watch rather than participate in practice, Tracey halted the entire meeting to speak her piece. How dare they judge her upon her house when her actions in all of her five years in Hogwarts never had her treating anyone poorly, especially for reasons such as blood purism and being in another house? She and her family never did anything to sway any suspicion and she refused to be treated that way. She was no different than everyone next to her- even if she never felt the pains of being treated wrongly due to being a muggleborn, or a haughty Slytherin thinking they above them. She knew they were all equals until proven wrong by ability. And she had a lot of abilities to showcase and share. After the hiccup, most members of the group were agreeable in hesitant acceptance- something she was able to accept for now. If things did not change, then surely she would leave the group, no questions asked, no need to worry about betrayal from her telling the other Slytherins.

Seventh year was one her family was very tentative of, and wishing for their children’s lives to remain in tact, they requested that she stay at home. First off, she wanted to finish her education. Secondly, Tracey would not be able to forgive herself if she abandoned everyone for the sake of self-preservation. All those lessons alongside her new friends would be for nothing if she turned away now. When she didn’t catch her brother’s face on either side of the battle, Tracey only hoped it was because he was away for work, or something of the sort- it would crush her if he was on the other side. She avoided most of the news with the persecutions and Death Eaters, and was thankful his name wasn’t among the list of prosecuted and imprisoned. That didn’t mean he was entirely innocent, after all, Tracey would have to be an idiot to believe that the Ministry had caught every single minion on the street. But in her heart, she could only be hopeful, even if it meant she was lying to herself. Without concrete evidence, she would not accuse him of anything- that is, if she ever even ran into him again, because after the War, she and her parents have not heard a single word from him.

After returning to Hogwarts for eighth year to complete her education, she began moving from her time as a student into finding a position as a mediwitch, just like her mother. It might not necessarily be what she wants to stay with as her career; life might be more exciting as a Healer, or even a Hit Witch, but when the news of Death Eaters being released came around, Tracey was on high alert and couldn’t hesitate to think knew that at any moment, there could be a chance that she’d be tending to a lot of innocent victims as a field mediwitch instead. If need be, she would fight again.

Personality–

If Tracey did not have the natural talent for something, she was willing to work for it- if it was important to her. Tracey treated many factions of her life this way- friendship, class and grades, her career, and respect. She was never the smartest girl in the room, but she wasn’t truly there to compete in a serious manner with anyone else. In fact, she was her own hardest critic. Meeting her own expectations would sometimes have a negative effect on herself- such as when she took an examination, she would be sure that she failed, and would mentally beat herself up over it until she got her grades back. It would take time to teach herself that what was done, was done and she could only work on bettering for the future.

In other aspects of her life, Tracey was a nice girl. Genuine enough, especially among friends, but there was always a part of her that was skeptical of some others- a little tic that made her catch people’s auras. She honestly wished she took more divination classes in this part of her life, and she might catch up with that- it’s one of the biggest things she regretted not completing in Hogwarts, and all because she was offended by what the instructor said. But her personality was her core, and when she was offended, she could hold a grudge for a long time. If someone told Tracey they didn’t like her hair when she was seven, she’d probably remember forever. Only half-joking.

She’s a warrior for what she thinks is right, even if it doesn’t align with those around her. She is more than willing to cut off friendships, even if it hurts, because she cannot compromise her character in this way. If there is no cooperation between the two parties, it is better to be safe than sorry, and she would prefer not being a part of any relationship where they ought to keep their friends close, but enemies closer.

Connections–

Sally Smith - ex best friend Anthony Goldstein - childhood crush Astoria Greengrass - new friend Kellah Green - feels bad for

TRACEY DAVIS IS TAKEN AND PORTRAYED BY ELIZABETH OLSEN.

#harry potter rp #skeleton rp #hp rp #lsrpg #tracey davis #elizabeth olsen #taken #takenf #takenda

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inb4vaughn · 4 years

Text

Saddle Up for Austin and Horseshoe Bay

From chords to courses, a fine Swing & Song golf travel tune emerges from the Hill Country of Central Texas. Before scoring some tranquil time at the renovated Horseshoe Bay Resort, just 50 miles northwest of the city proper, the sharp spur will saddle up for a few days in diverse Austin, where you’ll find a rep beyond just the state’s capital city.

Known as “The Live Music Capital of the World,” Austin proves an audial and outdoor nexus, with all manner of stimuli to sate and serve visitors, from waterfront activities to tunes playing, well, seemingly everywhere.

Home and host to the annual South by Southwest (March 13-22, 2020) and Austin City Limits (October 2-4 and 9-11, 2020) festivals, the city is one of the country’s most unique cultural canvasses. A blue stamp in a red state, Austin matches a boom of headquarted tech companies, paired with one of the nation’s annual top-10 college campus enrollments at UT-Austin.

And the town is proudly weird.

To borrow from the Bard, a night out in downtown Austin’s drink and dine-laden Sixth Street is a Moveable Beast. People are everywhere: from boozy co-eds to strolling music lovers to football fanatics to hipsters, hippies, vagrants, vacationers, cowboys and Moms and Pops just out for a good time. Known to some as “Dirty Sixth,” as the clock turns toward the a.m. hours, there’s no shortage of mayhem to be found there.

Slick Rock at Horseshoe Bay Resort

But, amid the din, newcomers need know it’s among the most unique, head-turning mayhems the country has to offer, and Austin’s sounds, strums and song around every turn need be experienced.

For those seeking a slightly more chill amble, the up-and-coming Rainey Street is within walking distance of Sixth or—as the visitor will fast note—easily-accessible by electric rental scooter, a fun, easy, and slightly maniacal mode of transport.

Sporting a pair of thorough food truck courts (with a third soon on the way), Rainey is also amply bar-lined, though with a fresher flair and character, as several of the establishments have been converted from former residential properties.

Now for the swing after the sing: A 45-minute drive through Texas hill country, gently winding through comely mesquite, rock outcroppings, bramble and tucked-away wine vineyards, the winding path to Horseshoe Bay aptly sets the senses for wind-down resort time.

Ram Rock at Horseshoe Bay

Recognized as a provenance for the region’s golf growth of the 1980s, Horseshoe’s 7,000-acre spread is home to four courses, with its most magnetic amenity being of the natural variety, as the property sits beside 21 miles of constant-level Lake LBJ.

Back in 2012, the debut of Horseshoe’s stellar, members-only Jack Nicklaus-designed Summit Rock Course raised the bar for property-wide enhancements. In late ’15, the resort set in motion a thorough renovation plan for upgrades to its trio of Robert Trent Jones, Sr. public plays.

Today, $95 million later, a full resort renovation has the property on the upswing, with all-new guest rooms, suites and superb lakeside Yacht Club serving a savory Texas Two-Step for the golfing Austin visitor.

Apple Rock at Horseshoe Bay

“We see it a lot, with folks carving-out three or four days at Horseshoe; either capping the getaway off with a few nights in Austin, or hitting downtown on the front end of a trip,” says Anthony Holder, director of golf at Horseshoe Bay Resort. “And, up here, it’s a feeling of a slower, relaxed lifestyle; a place to enjoy time, but with all the modern comforts and amenities. With the renovation, just about every outlet, every area of the property has gotten some love and attention.”

From a play perspective, Horseshoe’s three publics received about $7.5 million of the renovation dollars, with improvements both aesthetic and tangible; most notably, segueing from the creation of Summit, all of the resort’s courses now roll with 007 bentgrass grass, a true rarity for the region.

“We certainly feel that it’s a nice marketing aspect for the property, in that you won’t find bentgrass with our main competition,” said Ken Gorzycki, director of agronomy at Horseshoe Bay. “Yeah, it’s a little more difficult and labor-intensive to maintain, but we think it’s all worth the effort for our guests and members.”

In concert with the greens, Horseshoe’s agronomy team—working with Robert Trent Jones, Jr.’s Austin-based senior project architect Mark Voss—conducted a host of enhancements, including new rock retaining walls, fresh fountains in ponds, leveled tees and upgraded irrigation systems.

The four-year project aimed to bring the plays close to the new Summit standard, while still keeping Jones, Sr.’s original design intents in-mind.

“When they had Robert Trent Jones, Sr. come out to design the courses, they chose him, as I understand it, because his style was less disruptive to the landscape and more about encompassing natural features,” said Holder.

The property’s original course, Slick Rock, debuted in 1972, and proves the most benign—and popular—of the plays.

“It’s the oldest of the courses, and the most traditional of the styles,” Holder says. “It’s a bit flatter, with large, protected greens. Still a challenge, with some fun holes. Slick gets the most play of any of our courses.”

Opened in 1981, Horseshoe’s Ram Rock Course proves headstrong, with elevated approach and continual, creek-lined holes.

“It’s what we call, ‘The Beast,’” laughs Holder. “Ram is considered one of the most difficult courses in the entire state; that’s the rep, even for pros. There’s some need to shape shots, and you need to be a long player to be able to take shortcuts. For the average-distance hitter, it will force you to position tee shots.”

More forgiveness is found on Apple Rock, which rounded-out the public tee sheet back in 1985.

“It’s a good combination of Slick and Ram,” Holder says of Apple. “It’s not as difficult as Ram, but it is our longest course, so if you tip-out at 7,000, it will give you a test. And, for the mid-handicapper, there are some great views to match with big greens and lots of bunkering.”

Travel tip: For the particularly driven player (say, the kind who may consider flying into Horseshoe’s own airport), it’s surely worth a word to try and get on Summit. Free of housing, sporting a gorgeous, natural flow and deserved of its lofty rankings by national and regions publications alike, the track is truly superior to its sister courses.

For those sated by the run of non-Summit plays (and, rest assured, they are quality), a Horseshoe visit in-full should pair golf days with some time on the water. Whether the trip style is of the Dudes, Couples or Family venture (the latter may be most recommended), the resort’s marina and Yacht Club scene match primo dining with a singular setting.

“With the sun going down over the lake, it’s as good as it gets,” says Holder. “It’s where I enjoy hanging out with my own family. It encapsulates that great view of the lake, with what we call ‘beach front’ properly, even though I guess it’s more lake front. We’ve got the pool with swim-up bar, and the huge hot tub.”

The on-site, 350-slip marina provides unique opportunity for golfers to couple the day’s turf time with water respite.

“We’re one of the only resorts that will let you bring your boat in when you’re staying with us,” says Zac Taylor, marina director. “It’s pretty common for a guest to come in, drop the truck and trailer with us, go check into the room, and we’ll load everything to the water for them.”

For family-style trips, Horseshoe makes it easy for Pop to go swing for a day while the youngsters enjoy some swim.

“We’ll have a lot of boat guest who go play golf,” adds Taylor, “and a lot of times, we’ll see golfers go head out and leave the kids here with us for tube rides.”

A full menu of lake experiences runs from pontoon rides to ski boats, wave runner rentals, sunset cruises, party yachts and fishing tours.

White bass and crappie prove the primary catch.

“Our fishing guide, his dad was our guide for a long time, so when you go out with our team, you’re pretty much guaranteed to come back with a whole sack of fish meat,” Taylor smiles.

From “weird” to wedge to water, this Texas tune is played in full with a two-step trip: going city mouse to country mouse flavors Austin in full, starting with the din of downtown singers and bookending the travel with Horseshoe’s ringer.

The post Saddle Up for Austin and Horseshoe Bay appeared first on Golf Tips Magazine.

from Golf Tips Magazine https://ift.tt/2suVJg3

#Golf Tips Magazine #golf irons #golfing tips #golf irons play

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planegypttours · 5 years

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Egypt Shore Excursions

Experience the aesthetic Pharaonic spirit with our EgyptShore Excursions Disembark From your Cruise then explore ancient Egypt spots where you will get back in time of the Pharaonic era, explore their culture, lifestyle, civilization and know more about their gods and goddesses.

Unleash your inner with Sharm El Sheikh Shore Eexcursions , try RasMohamed Snorkeling Trip and enjoy swimming and diving among colored fish and coral reefs, Feast your eyes by the natural beauty of the park through Ras Mohamed Snorkeling Trip and explore the history and culture of the region.

Experience the Mediterranean spirit along with the aesthetic pharaonic one with Alexandria Shore Excursions ,will help you explore Alexandria`s breathtaking destinations and will make you get back in time of the Pharaonic era, explore their culture, lifestyle, civilization and know more about their gods and goddesses, scout in gorgeous historical sites such as, the Catacombs of Kom el-Shuqqafa, Pompey's Pillar, the Roman Amphitheatre, Fort Qaitbey, The Library of Alexandria, Alexandria National Museum, Kom el-Dikka, and Cavafy Museum.

Get a ravishing tour to Pyramids of Giza, feast your eyes by visiting Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinus via Port said Shore Excursions, Besides the breathtaking view of the Sphinx, which is a body and a head of a king or god that symbolize strength and wisdom. Additionally, you will be entertained to attend our one-hour Sound and Light Show which is a great show that will take you back to the time of Ancient Egypt where the kings narrate their aesthetic pharaonic stories along with the Pyramids and the Sphinx being illuminated in multi-colored lasers and visual projections

Experience Safaga Shore Excursions to visit Temple of Karnak, Temple of Luxor, In our Overnight Trip to Luxor from Safaga Port you'll continue to the West Bank at the second day, visit Colossi of Memnon, Valley of the Kings; which has many tombs of ancient and powerful nobles, finally visit The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, daughter of Thutmosis I, Our Overnight Luxor Tours from Safaga Port also includes an optional trip to Sound and Light Show at Karnak Temples.

Plan Egypt Tours offering exciting Ain Sokhna Shore Excursions, therefore you will enjoy luxury cruise ships during your sailing at Ain Sokhna Port and immerse yourself with a lot of fabulous Tours to Pyramids of Giza, wonder at the amazing St. Anthony Monastery and St. Paul Monasteries, visit Egyptian Museum and more places from Sokhna Port with Ain Sokhna Shore Excursions.

2 Days Trip to Luxor from Safaga Port

Overview:

Once your cruise arriving safaga port, tee off to luxor to enjoy 2 Days Trip to Luxor from Safaga Port, Embrace Luxor Culture via 2 Days Trip to Luxor from Safaga Port, Visit amazing historical sites, Scout Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, and Colossi of Memnon, Finally return back to your cruise in safaga port.

Itinerary:

Day 01: Safaga Port / Karnak Temple / Luxor Temple

Plan Egypt Tours guide will pick you up from Safaga Port, He will escort you to explore awesome 2 Days Trip to Luxor from Safaga port, be witness for a fascinating tour to the East Bank, stare at the amazement of Karnak Temple with its glorious pillars hall, Karnak Temple dedicated to god Amon, his son Khonsu and Mut his wife, hear the story of Karnak temple and how Pharaohs built this glory temple since four thousand years, it was completed at the time Romans took control of Egypt, relax by having lunch at local restaurant, then walk through Luxor Temple built at the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, Ramses II and AmenHotep III built this temple as celebration for God Amun, at the end of this glamorous excursion Plan Egypt Tours guide will escort you to your hotel in Luxor, check in, night at leisure or enjoy optional tours to the Sound and light show at Karnak Temple, overnight in Luxor

Day 02 : Valley of the Kings / Hatshepsut Temple / Colossi of Memnon / Safaga Port

Once you wake up, get your breakfast at hotel, visit the West Bank in Luxor, beguile your eyes by visiting Valley of the Kings which astonished all travelers, it is unmatched experience with its incredible tombs (Visit will be to Three tombs only), Watch the glory of the architecture that Pharaohs were using to build their tombs, "tomb of Tut ankhamun available for visit with an extra fees", next tour to Hatshepsut temple, it is known also with the name of El-Deir El-Bahary built by Thutmosis daughter " Queen Hatshepsut" who ruled Egypt at the 18th Dynasty for about 20 years, Relax by having Lunch at Local Restaurant, Then focus on seeing the Colossi of Memnon, at the end of your Tour Plan Egypt Tours guide will escort you back to your Cruise in Safaga Port.

Included:

· Pick up from Safaga Port

· Air-conditioned vehicle Safaga Port / Luxor / Safaga Port

· 01 Night accommodation in Luxor including breakfast and all taxes

· 02 Days Tour in Luxor as mentioned at the above excursion to visit:

* Karnak Temple * Luxor Temple * Valley of the Kings * Hatshepsut Temple * Colossi of Memnon

· Entrance fees to the above mentioned sites

· English speaking guide included during your tours in Luxor

· 02 Lunches at local restaurants in Luxor

· A bottle of Mineral water to each person daily during Luxor tours

· All Transfers by air-conditioned vehicle

· All service charges and taxes

· Assist and Transfer back to Safaga Port to catch your Cruise Ship

Excluded:

· Entry Visa to Egypt

· Optional tours

· Tip

For more Egypt Shore Excursions

Mobile : +201033358596

E-mail : [email protected]

Web site: www.planegypttours.com

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jamessandersweb · 6 years

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Top Gun 2 Filming Begins With Cruise Back in the Flight Suit

BEGIN SLIDESHOW

Top Gun 2 filming begins with Cruise back in the flight suit

Tom Cruise has swerved back onto that Highway to the Danger Zone as the star Tweeted a picture from the first day of Top Gun 2 filming. No other cast besides Cruise have been announced yet. See Cruise back in the flight suit after 32 years in the gallery below!

RELATED: Exclusive: Joseph Kosinski Talks Top Gun 2

Joseph Kosinski, who previously directed Cruise in Oblivion, will helm the sequel, with Peter Craig, Justin Marks and Eric Warren Singer penning the script. Although the title Top Gun: Maverick floated around briefly, the film is currently without an official title.

A follow-up to Tony Scott’s 1986 hit has been in the works for quite some time, with Tom Cruise interested in reprising his role as United States Naval Aviator Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer previously outlined that the film will deal with the rise of unmanned drones and pilots becoming a thing of the past.

The original Top Gun was directed by Tony Scott and also starred Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards and Tom Skerritt. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Take My Breath Away” performed by Berlin. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Paramount Pictures has set a Top Gun sequel release date for July 12, 2019.

Are you guys happy that Top Gun 2 filming has begun? Let us know in the comments or tweet us your thoughts @ComingSoonnet.

The post Top Gun 2 Filming Begins With Cruise Back in the Flight Suit appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Top Gun 2 Filming Begins With Cruise Back in the Flight Suit published first on https://filmstreaminghdvf.tumblr.com/

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jesusvasser · 6 years

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First Drive: 2018 Audi RS 5 Coupe U.S. Spec

PHOENIX, Arizona – The process for activating launch control on the new 2018 Audi RS 5 is simple enough. Hit the traction control button until it’s in Sport mode. Notch the transmission into Sport as well. Apply your left foot firmly on the brake pedal, right foot on the gas to 2,500 rpm or so as the bi-turbos spool up. Lift off the brake, mash the throttle and then hang onto the perforated-leather clad, flat-bottom steering wheel as the 8-speed automatic furiously cycles through the gears, the digital tach reflashes green, yellow, red, and the exhaust snarls out of the blackened oval tailpipes.

With launch control, the new RS 5 boasts a claimed 0-60 mph time of 3.7 seconds—and it felt every bit that fast during our blastoff. Considering you have 444 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque from a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6 on tap for the 3,990-pound super coupe, it’s hardly surprising.

The 2018 RS 5 is one of the first standard bearers of the new-look Audi Sport division, which has reorganized the brand’s RS street car and customer race car efforts under one flag. Even better, we Americans are now finally getting RS cars as they come out, not just end-of-lifecycle scraps. The 2018 RS 5 is the latest new generation Audi Sport car to arrive here, following the TT RS and RS 3. And there’s more on the way. Bring ’em on.

Like all of Audi’s RS cars, the RS 5 was put through roughly 10,000 miles of hell on the Green Hell in a six-week span. Yes, it’s getting cliché as a test destination, but the Nürburgring is still one of the preeminent stretches in the world to help engineers properly set up a sports car, and you can bet the crews from Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm know how to use the Ring to their advantage.

That includes people like Matthias Noethling, the RS 5’s affable technical project manager. Noethling spent three years with the team shaping and honing the coupe. When he and RS 5 product manager Anthony Garbis start breaking down the finer points of the car’s optional Dynamic Ride Control feature, a mechanical setup which deploys air tanks to push hydraulic fluid crosswise to compress the car’s dampers when necessary, thereby helping to keep the car flat under hard cornering, you know there was some serious work done to make this car perform at a high level.

Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to sample the RS 5 anywhere near its limits on a route that cut through the scruffy and often spectacular desert landscape of the Tonto National Forest north of Phoenix. But the miles behind the wheel were enough to get a feel for a car that Noethling described as being designed for “maximum fun while being relaxing, too.”

Our fun run included dropping a couple of gears and slingshotting past slow moving traffic as the optional sport exhaust (part of the $3,350 Dynamic package, which also nets you red brake calipers and Dynamic Ride Control) sang its sweet baritone six song. While not the same tune as the high-revving 4.2-liter V-8 powering the previous RS 5, it’s still plenty satisfying.

Its twin-turbo 2.9-liter six is also available for the Porsche Panamera, because you know, VW Group. But Noethling pointed out there were some significant packaging challenges the team had to address in order to fit the engine under the RS 5’s shorter hood, in addition to a different crankshaft and other minor mechanical changes. The six is some 66 pounds lighter than the outgoing V-8, makes more torque lower in the rev range, and it’s more efficient (a class-leading 18/26 mpg city/highway). No, it’s not the eight, but do not misunderstand, this six is one bad mutha in its own right. For the forseeable future, the engine will be exclusive to the RS 5 in the Audi Sport lineup.

The Audi Sport team also claims that the eight-speed automatic hooked up to the engine shifts quicker than the last car’s seven-speed dual-clutcher, which wasn’t designed to properly handle the new engine’s 443 lb-ft, anyway. All we know is the new tranny upshifts, kicks down, and otherwise responds to paddle shifted inputs as well as or better than anything in its class.

Routing all the power to all four wheels is the RS-tuned Quattro system. All RS 5’s for the U.S. get the Audi Sport rear differential as standard equipment. The standard 40:60 rear bias setup can push as much as 85 percent to the rear wheels and 75 percent to the fronts through a self-locking Torsen center diff depending on the traction situation. The Audi Sport rear diff further augments the RS 5’s handling prowess by constantly measuring and delivering up to all available torque to whichever rear wheel needs it most. Combined with ride control, an RS-tuned ESC system, and a stout multilink front and link rear suspension setup, you better believe the RS 5 will handle. All this Quattro wizardry is designed in part to help mitigate the car’s 54:46 front/rear weight distribution.

After a quick pit stop at Theodore Roosevelt Lake and Dam, we started back toward the Valley of the Sun, all the while scanning the road ahead for Arizona Smokies. Wait, is that one up there? Better hammer the optional, massive 15.7-inch front carbon ceramic brakes (13.0-inch at the rear) with six piston calipers sprayed in a fancy gray just to be sure (the carbon brakes are part of a $6,000 Dynamic Plus package). In slow traffic the brakes take some getting used to as they will reach out and grab you. When you’re hustling they will whoa you down with furious anger.

There wasn’t a lot of hardcore curvature to the route, so we really didn’t get much of a chance to wrestle with the RS 5’s steering. It’s become something of a sport among auto journos to bag on Audi’s wheel feel. The RS team has attempted to address the carping by locking in a heavy feeling, 13.5:1 ratio when you select the Dynamic mode.

Under normal circumstances, the RS 5 was absolutely easy to drive slow or fast. Hit the Audi Drive Select’s Dynamic mode and the sport exhaust will make itself known, things definitely firm up suspension-wise, and you will feel (and hear) the road. Notch it over to Comfort and you could easily cruise all day in the heavily bolstered buckets, which also have several massage settings.

Once you’re in those stylish, stitched up leather seats (Nappa will set you back $1,500), you’ll be staring at an RS-specific version of Audi’s 12.3-inch virtual cockpit (a heads up display is optional), featuring those special performance gauges and other features including a lap timer. There’s also an 8.3-inch screen topping the center stack. The rear seats aren’t adult friendly, but they fold down, augmenting 11.6 cu-ft of cargo capacity—a pretty impressive amount space for a coupe. And as is the case with just about any new Audi, there’s a Wi-fi hotspot, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability, multiple safety features, and an optional Bang & Olufsen 3D sound system.

Audi has also taken hits in recent years for being too restrained with its exterior design aesthetic, especially when it comes to its performance models. The RS 5 is a move toward a more expressive approach, with an aggressive-look honeycomb grille (with Quattro stamped on the lower lip) and side vents, a slightly lowered stance, and with the Black Optic package ($1,500), you get 20-inch forged rims (ask for the milled five-spokers) and several blacked-out accents that add more visual punch. There’s also a RS 5-specific color called Sonoma Green (or Garbis Green, as it’s becoming known).

It’s no secret the RS 5 competes against the BMW M4 and Mercedes-AMG C63 coupe. It’s also no secret that both of those cars are rear-drive and by extension some deem them dynamically superior. But when it comes down to it, it’s about what a given car can do for you, what best suits your tastes. The RS 5 is the quickest to 60 mph in the segment, it can hang at the Ring, and from a day-to-day driveability, style, and features standpoint, we’re comfortable saying it’s every bit the match of the M and AMG.

2018 Audi RS 5 Specifications

ON SALE April 2018 PRICE $70,875 ENGINE 2.9L twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6/444 hp @ 5,700-6,700 rpm, 443 lb-ft @ 1,900-5,000 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 2-door, 4-passenger, front-engine, AWD coupe EPA MILEAGE 18/26 mpg (city/hwy) L x W x H 185.9 x 73.3 x 53.5 in WHEELBASE 108.9 in WEIGHT 3,990 lb 0-60 MPH 3.7 sec TOP SPEED 155 mph (174 w/ Dynamic Plus package)

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#IFTTT #Performance Junk WP Feed 4

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