You must face the age of not believing
Doubting everything you ever knew
Until at last you start believing
There's something wonderful in you
Dame Angela Lansbury, who died at her home today in Los Angeles at the age of 96, is perhaps best known today as Jessica Fletcher in the acclaimed TV series Murder, She Wrote and in the Broadway stage plays and musicals in significant parts that Hollywood never gave her. But well before that, the Irish-British transplant to America (she and her family left Britain at the height of Nazi Germany’s bombing campaign of her home nation) made her career as mostly a character actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She may not have been a major star billed at the top of marquees and movie posters during her time while contracted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), but she would come to be a recognizable figure to audiences of multiple generations – whether she might be playing a tough saloon owner with a belter of a singing voice, a schoolteacher just making ends meet, Elvis’ mother (despite a nine-year age difference), princesses and queens, the amoral and scheming wife of a political candidate, an emotionally manipulative mother, or a teapot matriarch.
She stepped onto a movie soundstage for the first time at seventeen years of age, while making Gaslight (1944) for MGM. Because she was still technically a minor, she had to be accompanied by a social worker while working on set. Despite this, director George Cukor and her co-stars (including Ingrid Bergman) treated her as equals, all of them recognizing right away her professionality and acting ability. Perhaps producers and studio executives might not have done the same, saddling her so often with character roles, but Lansbury – by all accounts – extended that same kindness Cukor and Bergman afforded to her to so many others over the decades, leaving a legacy that goes beyond whatever personal disappointments she may have had over the more considerable roles she never got to play.
Her distinction as Hollywood royalty came later in life, as our connections of Hollywood’s Golden Age are almost all gone.
Nine of the films Angela Lansbury appeared in follow (left-right, descending):
Gaslight (1944) – directed by George Cukor; also starring Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, and Dame May Whitty
The Harvey Girls (1946) – directed by George Sidney; also starring Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Ray Bolger, Preston Foster, Virginia O’Brien, Kenny Baker, Marjorie Main, Chill Wills, Selena Royle, and Cyd Charisse
The Three Musketeers (1949) – directed by George Sidney; also starring Lana Turner, Gene Kelly, June Allyson, Van Heflin, Frank Morgan, and Vincent Price
The Court Jester (1955) – directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama; also starring Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, and Cecil Parker
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – directed by John Frankenheimer; also starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, and Janet Leigh
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) – directed by Robert Stevenson and Ward Kimball; also starring David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall, Sam Jaffe, John Ericson, Cindy O’Callaghan, Ian Weighill, and Roy Snart
Death on the Nile (1978) – directed by John Guillermin; also starring Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jon Finch, Olivia Hussey, I.S. Johar, George Kennedy, Simon MacCorkindale, David Niven, Maggie Smith, and Jack Warden
Beauty and the Beast (1991) – directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise; also starring Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, and Bradley Pierce
Mary Poppins Returns (2018) – directed by Rob Marshall; also starring Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, David Warner, and Dick Van Dyke
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Hellverse AU! Let’s GO!
In this AU, Genesis Virtud is Queen of Hell. Never banished from Heaven, she actually fell on her own accord when she saw all the BULLSHIT that was gonna happen in the humans’ future if she or God didn’t do something. God refused to do shit so she decided, fuck it, she’ll do it herself!
Genesis is the first Angel to exist and the first to fall, hence her name being Genesis which means the ‘beginning of something’. She has almost all the qualities needed to be considered a goddess but isn’t actually one considering she doesn’t really have any followers. She can shapeshift into ANYTHING and she constantly shapeshifts to see what is happening around Hell to make sure it ain’t getting to messed up.
With her flaming crown and a thousand dollar smile, she is eccentric and charming and can be manipulative whenever she wants. She is not necessarily evil but she will commit mass genocide if her kids get hurt.
Speaking of kids, her majesty actually adopted several kids she found on while out on ‘patrol’.
Grace Virtud is the oldest of the Virtud kids and the first one to have been adopted by Genesis. She was found crying near her mother’s corpse after extermination day. She loves Hell History but whenever she talks about the Exorcists, she gets nauseous and starts panicking.
She is dramatic and alluring, sometimes having a rather… scary side. She is a hybrid of a Hellcat and a Succubus, meaning she can seduce people and hypnotize them and has the qualities of a cat. She will get distracted by laser pointers and will get high on catnip. She is protective of her stuff and has a very early bedtime, that being 7 pm. If anyone eats her leftovers, without asking, or makes to much noise after 7, she’ll rage.
Whitmore ‘Whitty’ Virtud is the second oldest Virtud and second child Genesis adopted. He was found while he was running away from an organization that was chasing him.
He is calm and passionate about music, and adores his mother. He will break reality if provoked and only Genesis is able to calm him down. Nobody really knows what Whitty is, considering he is an experiment, but they don’t really care. He is timid and always asks Grace if he can eat some of her leftovers when he hungry (he eats a lot!) and she usually lets him since he asked. He is always amused when he sees Grace acting dramatic or acting to her feline instincts. Although the scratches are not really welcome.
(Insert image of a Human Shadow the Hedgehog with horns or something :p)
Duncan ‘Shadow’ Virtud is the third oldest Virtud and the third to be adopted by Genesis. He was found in the streets after his family had been killed and he had to run away before they got him too.
He is a quiet and mysterious individual who doesn’t let himself be vulnerable to many, just his family and close friends. He is rather powerful, having speed that only a god could match and abilities no normal demon could have. Shadow is a demon but he is also an experiment like Whitty. It is currently unknown what type of demon he is supposed to resemble. Shadow is quite difficult to figure out, always having this cold exterior that not many can melt. While he doesn’t show it, he truly does care for his siblings, knowing if something were to happen to them, there would be bloodshed.
Benjamin ‘Bendy’ Virtid is the youngest Virtud and the last kid that Genesis adopted. He was found playing with a toy train in an animation studio alone.
Bendy is a playful and charming individual, having the form of the Ink Demon as well. Being an ink creature, he sometimes makes a mess if he is panicking or in distress. When he is, his mother will be there to comfort him. He often uses laser pointers so he can have a good laugh when Grace is chasing after it. He is the favorite sibling and has a cute mischievous face that let’s him get away with almost anything. And when I say almost, it’s because he will not get away with eating Grace’s leftovers or when he wakes her up after 7.
Genesis indeed tempt Eve to eat the Apple, not because she wanted to doom humanity, but because she wanted them to be independent and have them not listen to God. God got mad and took away her legs when she was in snake form but she just grew them back and waddled away.
Of course, humans thought it seemed gay that Genesis tempted Eve so they decided to change Genesis to be this demon called Lucifer. It was rewritten to be that Lucifer fell because of a rebellion. Gen was like ‘WTF?’ when she read the Bible and that particular scene.
These are Genesis, Whitty and Bendy’s heights compared to each other. (Didn’t know how to fit Grace’s and Shadow’s silhouettes, sorry-) Grace reaches Whitty’s elbow while Shadow reaches the tip of Whitty’s hand.
And that’s all for the Virtud family, the most OP family in all of Hell! Try and hurt one of them and you will be dead before next Extermination Day!
(Genesis and Grace belong to me. Shadow is from the Sonic fandom, Whitty is from FNF and Bendy is from BATIM)
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Watching Con O'Neill Content Day 8- 3 Steps to Heaven
Warnings for: Full Body Nudity, drug use, murder, torture, BDSM Imagery, forced kiss
Online this is classified as a Comedy by Rotten Tomatoes, which feels fair. When you google it says Suspense/Dark Comedy.
Initially, based on the premise, I thought this movie was just Vengeance Is Mine but Con plays one of the fuckers semi-responsible. I was not entirely wrong.
Full Spoilers Below! If you don't want my reactions, skip to the dotted separations at the end for the rating!
I've separated out parts where Con is on screen, and identified if a part of the movie takes place in a flash back.
--------------------------------------------------------------
PRESNET
Why did she pull the gun out in elevator the first place. Like. Idk man, seems like you could have waited.
Love the step-by-step instructions for gun assembly
Why is she just spinning in circles with a gun in her hand? How does that help train for anything?
PRESENT- CON'S SECTION
CON! I hate the facial hair, oh how I hate it. Just in combination with the short hair. Makes him look way older. Like, it probably fits the character- But like, if he fluffed it, or did anything besides letting it stay so flat-
Is he on something? The character Angel, not con. Clearly, he's going for paranoid criminal, and I love it.
You know what, I can enjoy this. 'Worried?' "Now that you mention it, yeah!' Sweet. That was a nice car they took.
If Con's look is interesting the man with a knife and a beaver on his head is something extra.
Con in a wife beater getting pinned and interrogated is surely something.
Hey look, he's allowed to laugh! Crazy how that works.
Angel just letting himself get driven around by her is very funny
She makes him close his eyes, and gives him a bullet. Babe. What the fuck does that even mean. You can't use a gun properly.
"I've met someone" Babe, you don't know her name. This is just Con in most of his roles, but Jesus. Never really noticed it was a trope of his until now.
Wife Beater+ Tighty Whitie's+ Cig is also surely a thing
Cocaine + waving a gun around. A winning combo
Angel- this makes 3 Con characters doing stupid shit with guns...Please lower the accidental kill count
"Oh," Carefully raises one finger, schusses the air "Gotta be quicker" Why am I loving this so much? This man has clearly never killed another person.
WHY THE MOUTH AND FINGER SUCKING CLOSE UP. He's licking up the trace of drugs on the table, but why was this the choice.
Wife beater+ Tighty Whittie's+ Cig+ white ROBE is amazing
Don't get too close to the balcony now babe, I know you're excited, you'll be thrown if in no time.
Did he give her his address? Why is she here? He's trying to lay low? Does he just think he needs to get laid and surely this woman won't murder his ass?
Angel stealing my actual fit. Jean button-up + blue Jeans in 90s fashion. Bastard.
Angel, sadly you aren't one of the Con characters our lead will run away with.
AHHHHHH hahahhaha that pistol whip. His dramatic fall. This fall vs ep9 OFMD is honestly a tie. Dramatic and extra as fuck.
They're both just anxious little purse dogs shaking so hard. Why? Calm down babe, you are literally holding a gun, and he's tied down in a chair.
Babe, it's been two weeks since your guy died and he's being hunted down for money. He probably doesn't remember what he had for breakfast the previous day, let alone your man.
(In the flashback for this one point)THOSE EARRINGS ARE OBNOXIOUS
Oh, good. The Beaver hair guy is back.
This is where our guy dies!
To be fair if I walked in and my target was already tied up, I'd also be very happy.
I didn't think there would be this much panting and grunting, especially from Angel.
"He's very gentle" Carefully pinches and lifts his chin. Oh, my stars. I'm clutching at my pearls. *pulls out notepad for my WIP*
I think we all deserve to be hoisted up into a bridal carry, and lovingly twirled around.
"Yeah he's lovely-" Exactly, Angel. Stop ruining the mood and get with the groove!
This is too good. Just throwing him around like a ragdoll! The dancing is a bit much, but they're having fun with it.
The two evil guys definitely explored each other's bodies. That's a proud boyfriend look if I've ever seen one.
She could be a real bud and just shoot one of them. They don't know where she is, and then Angel has an opening to attack...or not.
"you-puff" Shame on you Con, those aren't usually your lines in these kinds of movies.
And HE FLIES OVER THE RAILING-
Did they not want to kill him? Why do they look so shocked he went over the edge?
Whelp, RIP Angel, I genuinely enjoyed that. don't be surprised if this next section is shorter. (Editor Me here, oh I thought the rest of this movie would be boring...how I was wrong)
Vaguely depressed and murderous is also how I look in semi-cheap wigs.
They really did cast a good guy for a politician/'sex pest'. Looks like a few of my state's representatives.
Remember, every character in a British piece of media needs to have a name in the form of Eddie, John, Sam, or Harry.
"Well respected in 'women's' things" Why does Angel get to die and these fuckers roam rampantly.
(Helps adjust his tie) "You've hurt me Harry" Is every villain in this having a thing with their side character besides Con? Or am I just watching too many Queer movies?
OHH IT IS A GAY THING!
YEY!
I don't think slapping the head like it's a basketball is the done thing with blow jobs, but I don't have a penis. So who knows?
'Angel Farnam.' Wow. That is a name choice.
Love that he has a beard. Like, an actual beard to hide a queer relationship from the public.
TOES. EWWWWWW.
OH MY GOD. BELLY BUTTON? WHY? Fucking why? I'm more surprised seeing him finger his belly button than seeing his entire dick, which, is almost impressive for a movie to do!
How funny would it be if he died by falling down the stairs. '2/3 down, 1 to go!'
If he's not dead just fucking shoot him. I know you want info...but
ACTUALLY IF SHE JUST SHOWS UP TO PLACES AND EVERYONE DIES THAT WOULD BE AMAZING
If you look at this like you would a comedy, this movie becomes much better and more entertaining.
That isn't how putting peroxide on a wound should feel, why the fuck is he flinching over every tap?
Cold compress? It's a scrape! I'd be worried more about a concussion with a fall.
THE FUCKING TALKING WHILE THEY SET THE BED AND CLEAN IS SO FUNNY. That's the only editing in this movie that felt like it actually added something.
Why did she join in to the cleaning.
Love that he just wants to eat food when she clearly thinks they're going to fuck.
That was a gentle remote throw, don't know how it broke, 3/10.
You could have shot him almost at any time, now that a ton of people are waiting outside, you decide to care.
"Whore" "-Lying little whore" Hahahahaha. Its lame, but I love when movies do that.
(Seeing him fully bound in BDSM restraints) Look, Like What You Like, but this isn't safe with a stranger? Also, this room looks hard as shit to clean if fluids get anywhere.
If speech is a 'No No' in the dungeon there are toys for that.
"-I never panic". Angel would disagree, you panic all the fucking time. Speaking of Angel-
THE PAST
Izzy the spewer transfers across universes.
THAT ISN'T SAFE, don't reach around and try to swap drivers while driving.
Yes! Take all the drugs before you get pulled over, smart.
Their arguing is very just fucking funny. A lived weird friendship where things just keep going wrong. They're all tied into so many different criminal rings, but they found each other. This could be a prompt for a found family story.
(She took a ton of drugs because the cops are on their asses tryign to pull them over) "Do I look like I'm off my face!" "You're always off your face."
Everyone being high as shit panicking is so good. I've believed their weird friendship here more than anything else in this movie.
Love that they just kind of kidnapped this guy and now they need to deal with his corpse.
PRESENT
"Something I've always been bound up in!" Raises his hands, bound. That got a laugh out of me.
There are gags/toys for that babe, zipping up the mouth hole won't do shit.
Now that she knows all this stuff why doesn't she just shoot him
"Good Luck! God Bless!" He's fun.
At least she kept the key ring in eye sight for him.
This does play on the 'politicians are into kinky shit' thing, but eh.
She keeps on accidentally killing people. Fun.
(Weird shower scene) What the fuck? Who touches their body like that, is she getting off on this? It looks forceful and rough? What man directed this?
"I think he liked me." Sure? He liked you? Why does it matter that these people whose death you witness like you? It's not middle school, they're fucking dead.
"It was me, I was killing them. Sort of." Yes! I don't know why she only cares about them after they die.
What man directed this porn? I respect them not covering anything up I guess? I hope there's no creepy shit online where in interviews she felt like she was forced into these scenes.
The whole 'Multiple photos, that get snuffed out as they die' thing has grown on me, not going to lie.
Her removing her hat and seeing her hair fall down then lighting up a cig, to me, was more erotic than seeing her naked.
Are the 'criminal crew' all Queers? I know Angel was kind of homophobic and jerked off to lesbian porn but-
THERE'S QUEER WOMEN IN THIS? YESSSS!!!
"Lust came to the rescue?" What does that even mean? Are you planning on fucking her?
She's 40 which is still young, she's entering/in middle age. Just own any wrinkles you have, it's hot! So fucking weird that for feminine presenting people aging is seen as something awful, it shows experience! And you own a cat, and clearly have money! Live your life babe!
Her earrings are all choices in this. Those things could knock me out.
They don't film this shit for live TV, I don't know why they're so stressed about her being a few minutes late.
(Pulls bra on backward, snapping the clasp, twisting it right way round, pulling up straps and adjusting over chest) Most realistic scene of a woman putting on a bra in a movie.
Oh, to fondly be called Sweetie.
I want to be her: both of them.
Cocaine + Cigarettes + Alcohol. Uppers and Downers aren't great ideas. But she's having them.
They replaced her cause she's too old I'm guessing? Shitty.
"It wouldn't take much(to kill her)" So go do that! Why do you need a stroll to do the thing you were planning to do.
Strangulation feels like a choice you made when you have a gun.
(protagonist gets knocked out by a bottle when a criminal sees her gun) NICEE! She's been so dumb about pulling out the gun
Why is this such a Tom and Jerry routine
"Fuck you!" "All in good time" AHHHHHH. I've read this story before. We'll see how this one ends.
The PAST
Oh, my favorite crew of idiots. How did they evade the cops? They were just on their asses now they have time to pull over?
Con/Angel fireman carried that guy? Good for him!
"That's not very dignified!" "Well what do you suggest?!!""Stand him up!" They slum him over the railing. Idiots. I admire this crew of fuck ups.
Did they not check for a pulse? Like, even high most people could figure that out. If you can still drive, you can hold your finger up to someone's throat.
(Sees him slowly tip over the railing into the water) Okay, so it's kinda on them, yeah.
The PRESENT
Okay, so gun safety is to always assume a gun is loaded and safety is off. STOP WAVING IT UNDER YOUR NOSE
20? He looked mid 20s at least.
THE PAST (One of the earliest scene we see of them)
Doing drugs in a random Men's room is a choice.
Also, don't lick a public bathroom stall's TP Holder Angel, you fucking maniac.
I'm saying she wasn't invited cause they were planning to all fuck in the bathroom/do as many drugs as possible without her nose taking it all. Any other guesses?
I love Con in this so much. He's so unlike all his other characters it's just fun. Like a pissed-off high toddler that can only put a few thoughts together that arnt him being mad or horny.
"You're hair, it's so black!" "It's natural!" "Oh, Pa-lease" Angel said that last line, oh my sweet summer child, you confuse me so.
(the dead boyfriend and politician start getting handsy) No shit they had a thing going on there. They've been eye fucking every scene he's not passed out sick.
(She angles a mirror to see under a stall to watch a blowjob?) Mam, I wouldn't want to watch my friends fuck. Why are you so weird.
ANGEL 'COCK BLOCK' TO THE RESCUE. Look at that grin, he knew.
"I need some more(cocaine)." "Love? Affection? Punishment?" Sir, I have a whole discord full of Izzy Hands fans you can suggest ideas to. "I'll take the whole fucking lot." SIR!
Ohhh her boyfriend would entrap 'famous' queer people, take photos, and then blackmail/extort them. He deserved to die then, no sweat off their backs. (Also, how does evil lady know all this to tell our protagonist? Is she extorting Patrick now?)
Present
Okay, this is my 4th time seeing this woman naked. Why?
(Protag is tied down and evil lady whispered in her ear)This is...a scene.
Gross forced kiss. I had more fun when this was semi-playful banter but now its just sexual assault. Gross, director.
Mam, you didn't bring that many bullets. Why are you just shooting random shit.
She just leaves her alive?
Aww, I wanted her to kill him(the other extorting friend). If anything he also kind of deserves some of the blame.
Well, this whole plot was kind of for nothing. She got closer to the real plot and was able to realize how shitty her boyfriend was. If he was 20 then she's got to be close to that age. She has plenty of life to move on from this.
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Story: 5/10 Shit. No character in this movie had agency/impacted the plot. Everything was accidental. All the ways they were doomed weren't purposefully set up by the main protagonists.
She didn't actively plan for these deaths so they feel hollow. Angel sure, he was tied down by her, but he lives on the nth story, so in the 30-ish minutes he could have left he likely wouldn't have. He assumed it was safe. The politician was an accident, and the media lady still would have gotten replaced.
In OFMD it's fun when Stede Bonnet accidentally kills because we care about him. We know he doesn't mean to do this and it plays on the murderous pirate trope. In this movie, we only know she's hunting down her boyfriend's murders. That's all we know about her! One hour, and thirty minutes, she had no development.
This would be such a fun premise. A woman accidentally interrupts a crime 'friend' group and watches them fall apart. Yet they make it gross and weirdly give no one agency in this whole story.
I want to write this movie better. This premise could be rewritten for a fanfic...hmm....
Editing/Cinematography: 5/10 Keeping it out of chronological order ruined the movie. Some shit really bothered me. A director is a man who has only done other projects to this level. He also wrote this shit, so every gratuitously extra scene of our main actress naked was all on him. He wanted to see her fondle herself and oh boy did he get it.
Every scene of this nature just felt uncomfortable, and putting that forced kiss in at the end just adds to that. He's a perv who thought it was hot. The main actress's dead fish eyes during just added to the awful feeling I got. Sure, we got a 'blowjob' scene, but nothing was super explicit other than it happening. Sexual 'deviancy' felt like something to be ogled at in this movie. The straight/pure 'good' main character had to do away with these sinful yatta yatta, you've heard it all before. I can make this 1:30 minute movie into an hour movie if I cut it.
I wish we cared more about Angel getting caught by the men he owed money too. About Harry getting publicly outed and dumped. About Andrea getting replaced in her tv show. But we just don't. It just kind of happens.
Imagine if we told the backstory of her boyfriend's murder first. Then our main character shows up 20 minutes in, without knowing what the audience knew, to hunt them down! That would be so much more fun! And gives us a reason to care! I enjoyed the flashbacks in this movie and not much else.
There's a good movie in here, it just needs to be re-edited.
Every character besides Con: 6-7/10 I liked how fucked up everyone was, and most of my issues are with the writing. They acted with what they had, and they had shit. Somehow our 3 criminals come off as a weird trio accidentally, just through chemistry. I wanted a movie about them. The spare characters just seemed to try to have fun beside our protagonist. She did the whole dead eyes, getting justice thing. In the end, it didn't even fulfill her. Finding the truth did, not assisting in their downfalls.
Con! 6-7/10 Loved it: Once I accepted he was playing a goofy junkie, I was having a good time. The scene where she saves him after the interrogation was weird. It put me off his character for a few scenes. He was into her and tried to make a move, she told him he needed protection, and that whole story line was just dropped. WHY!
FLASHBACK ANGEL WAS FUN. I don't know the order they shot this, but currently, Angel felt like an always high junkie. Flashback Angel felt like the shitty friend who bullies the friend group and doesn't contribute to anything. When they fall apart he's panicking and loses all bravado. He's fun. I don't think I've seen a bad performance from him. The plot and writing just dragged it all down.
OVERALL: 5-6/10 Writing can kill a movie, and it murdered this one. Definitely the worst of the bunch so far. I enjoyed it, but in a 'cant look away sort of way', it was very fun to watch and just see the action unfold. So do with that what you will.
I'd recommend this movie if you're here for Con. If I wanted to watch this plot again, I'd just watch Vengeance Is Mine. Low B tier overall for movie+Con. Just above the projects where he has almost no time.
Looking at IMDB he did this after Dancing Thru the Dark and the same year as Scarborough Ahoy. How the ever loving fuck?
I would love to hear everyone's thoughts down below, including the usual suspects!
@mossiestpiglet @ivegotnonameidea @treesofgreen
Have an amazing day y'all!
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