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greensparty · 1 year

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BEST DOCUMENTARIES OF 2022

Documentary as a genre can encompass any medium: feature film, TV mini-series, or even podcasts. Here are my picks for the best Docs of the year:

Honorable Mentions:

Meet Me in the Bathroom Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern

Nothing Compares Kathryn Ferguson

Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 Jamie Crawford

George Carlin’s American Dream Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio

The Beatles and India Ajoy Bose and Peter Compton

Freedom Uncut David Austin and George Michael

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, A Song Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine

Sidney Reginald Hudlin

10. Back to the Drive-In April Wright

9. Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres Suzanne Joe Kai

8. Is That Black Enough for You?!? Elvis Mitchell

7. Claydream Marq Evans

6. If These Walls Could Sing Mary McCartney

5. Stutz Jonah Hill

Jonah Hill sits down with his therapist for a doc about the therapist and his approach, that is insightful and thought-provoking.

4. The Pez Outlaw Amy Bandlien Storkel and Bryan Storkel

This profile of a man who smuggled rare Pez dispensers into America in the 90s and made millions is so crazy and outlandish you need to see it to believe it!

3. Moonage Daydream Brett Morgen

Morgen’s doc about David Bowie was made with the Bowie Estate and had some rare footage of the rock legend, but it was really the sci-fi approach to the subject that made this electric!

2. Good Night Oppy Ryan White

The inspirational story of Opportunity, the Mars rover that was expected to live 90 days and explored Mars for 15 years, was the big screen Event Movie of documentaries in 2022!

1. Last Flight Home Ondi Timoner

Ondi turned the camera onto her father Eli Timoner towards the end of his life with a cinema vérité account of the family confronting death. This went beyond a movie or a documentary and was truly an emotional life experience that was captured on film by one of the people experiencing it. Nothing but respect and admiration for Ondi and her brave filmmaking at such a time.

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stopandimagineloveforever · 2 years

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George Michael Freedom Uncut - Official Trailer

Opens on June 22, 2022

#george michael #George Michael Freedom Uncut #Movies #lgbt #May 2022

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passionforfiction · 4 months

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Recount of Documentaries I Watched in 2023

This year I also watched a couple of documentaries, mostly about actors and singers. They were really interesting. I also watched the documentary about Antonia, a student from the University of Puerto Rico who was killed during a student protest. I watched it with my dad who had been studying in that campus when it happened.

#antonia la estudiante de arecibo #escaping twin flames #menendez and menudo boys betrayed #sly #arnold #arnold swarchenegger #sylvester stallone #tina #tina turner #100 years of warner bro #WHAM! documentary #George Michael freedom uncut documentary #john lennon murder without trial #documentaries #timeless heroes indiana jones and harrison ford #gene kelly to live and dance

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don-lichterman · 2 years

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Sir Elton John: George Michael changed how music videos were done - Lenoir News-Topic

Sir Elton John: George Michael changed how music videos were done – Lenoir News-Topic

Sir Elton John: George Michael changed how music videos were done Lenoir News-Topic

View On WordPress

#cinema #Documentary #Elton John #George Michael #george michael: freedom uncut #music #music video #Naomi Campbell

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two-red-lungs · 2 years

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Sneaking Eddie over and making him stay quiet because your family is downstairs 😩

Ooh, and loudly playing Black Sabbath so your family thinks you're just listening to music but you're actually going down on the one guy they told you to stay away from

The hold this guy has on me is ASTRONOMICAL 😭

NO I LOVE THIS I LOVE THIS you rule bestie thank you for this

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel" (Eddie x Fem!Reader)

"Oh, you can absolutely have boys over." Your father had said cheerfully. Your eyebrows went up. He fluffed his newspaper. "...When you have a place of your own."

So going forward that was the rule. Stay straight-laced, even after you graduated: no boys, no booze, no drugs, no sneaking out. It was overbearing. You weren't blind. You had just kind of given in and accepted your life was really only going to get interesting when you moved out.

That was, until you met Munson.

You shut your bedroom door, locking it, and crank the speakers up until Ozzy is scream-singing about Lady Evil loud enough to drown out the television downstairs and your mother's phone call two doors down.

Outside your window, in the twilight semidarkness, a tall figure scrambles over your yard fence, falling into a rosebush. You snicker: it rights itself, skirting the kitchen window light with all the grace and tact of a rock-and-roll peacock.

Eddie presses his mouth to your windowpane, puffing his cheeks like a pufferfish, shit-eating giddy grin on his face when you pull an exasperated expression and haul the latch open.

He tumbles onto your bed with a grunt and you shush him, smacking his shoulder a few times.

Eddie just catches your wrist, grip going to your forearm, and drags you on top of him. The electric guitar picks up its wild, note-bending solo and you sink into his heat, broad chest and sturdy hips under you, mouth hot and wet. He tastes like skunky weed and gas station Lil Debbie's cakes.

He is your Dionysus, and he revels in the fact. It tickles him pink. He tries to give you everything in the world.

Even now, he's pulling a pocket-sized bottle of Hendrick's gin out of his coat pocket and pressing it into your palm, pecking you in the cheek with a smile, and rolling off the bed to tuck your desk chair against your door handle. Bobbing his head a few times to your choice of music, watching your take an uncut gulp.

"I thought your folks wouldn't let you play this stuff." He says softly, barely audible over the next track of thrashing drums and low bass.

The burn of booze is good: it feels real, more real than the stuffy Sunday family dinners and framed holiday photos. "They didn't, at first. But I guess the whole 'giving me no adult freedoms' really guilted them into letting me have this one thing."

He put a hand to his chest, moseying over and dropping down onto your mattress hard enough to nearly send you flying. "They'd flip if they learned who gave you the mixtape. Like, can you imagine your mom going all-" He pulls a monstrous face, making a loud gagging, aghast noise. It threatens to cut over the guitar.

You gasp-laugh and clap hands over his mouth, dragging him close to you. "Shut up!" You hiss, emphasis ruined by a smile.

His dark brown eyes glitter. "Make me, princess." He says, muffled through your fingers.

Then you're on him, like every Friday night. Sitting on his lap and lazily making out with him, his back against your wall still painted the same baby periwinkle from youth. In between long, slow, heated kisses you exchange drags on the blunt under the window. The smoke disappears up into the starry sky. Ozzy continues to rage.

He looks good like this, you decide. Red-cheeked under your weight, hands settled comfortably on your thighs, lips shiny and swollen from kissing. Just looking completely blissed out and fucking enchanted to even be here.

The tips of your fingers graze over the sparse start of his happy trail, visible over his heavy belt and top of his jeans. He sucks in a soft breath.

"Killing me over here, babe." He mutters, lips on yours, leaving wet spots down your chin, your neck. Not greedy, or aggressive. More his way of begging, than anything.

"Have you been naughty or nice this week, Munson?" You tease.

A slow, stupid smile. "Oh, so nice. The nicest. Helping old ladies, picking up litter and shit."

"Mm. You know what they say. Good boys get treats."

When you nose at his cock, half-hard and out of his jeans, his head hits the wall with a clunk. Your lips, your tongue, never fail to render him nonfunctional. He's murmuring words of praise and going completely stupid, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

And when he cums it's almost tender, how much he thanks you for it. How he buckles over on himself, all lithe limbs and long hair and a low, guttural moan punched from his chest.

A loud, insistent knock on the door. "Hon? You doin' alright in there? You sick?" Your dad's voice says through the wood. The knob rattles.

You freeze on the bed between Eddie's knees, smelling like sweat and weed and booze. "...Yeah. Uh, cramps! Bad period cramps, so bad." It drives him away insanely fast. When you look back, Eddie is wetting his lips with his tongue and silently laughing, shoulders shaking.

"What is so funny?" You hiss admonishingly. His silent laughs have devolved into cackles he smothers in a fist.

"Oh my god," Eddie chuckles, "He would have died on the spot if he came in here. Like, 'Excuse me, daughter, can you finish smoking weed and blowing the freak so you can put the dishes away'?"

"You are incorrigible." You scold him, going in for another kiss. He leans into it, deep and warm and salty.

Suddenly your world tilts and your head hits the mess of pillows. Eddie's already sneaking fingertips under your hemline. "Haven't you heard the neighbors?" He says sagely. "I'm a public menace."

With that he's pulling your bottoms off and rubbing hands up up, up, up your bare thighs until they meet-

"Oh. Oh, Eddie."

#On god i am down bad for this man #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things s4 #my writing #minors dont look

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firstkanaphans · 14 days

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genuinely what do you consider high heat then? boston and nick were fucking hard every episode, boston rode top to freedom in that car, etc etc. maybe you have a different definition of what that means

I wanted to wait to answer this until I had the results of that poll. 347 total people responded with the majority agreeing that they do not consider Only Friends high heat (54.2% said no, 32% said yes, and 13.8% selected “show results”). The biggest argument I saw in the notes for OF being high heat was some variation of “But Boston rode Top in front of both God and Mark Pakin. What more do you people want???” So I will attempt to answer that question here.

The problem, obviously, is that what someone considers high heat is entirely subjective, so I can only speak for myself, and for me, high heat isn’t just about the presence of sex in a narrative. It’s about how the narrative treats and frames those sex scenes.

The sex scenes in Only Friends are short, there’s little to no simulated nudity, and camera angles frequently come into play to lessen the audience’s presence in the scene. In higher heat BLs like LITA or KP, the sex scenes are intensely choreographed and often several minutes in length. They are given equal importance to any other scene. If the sex scene was not there or if it faded to black, you would lose plot and/or character development. Sex scenes in these shows are part of the narrative themselves.

There’s also just more realism in shows that I would consider high heat. For instance, in Only Friends, there are two separate scenes where Sand puts his hand down Ray’s pants and you are supposed to believe he is touching him. It is very obvious in both cases that he is not. And that’s fine! Maybe the actors weren’t comfortable doing more or maybe the network wasn’t comfortable showing more, but Porsche literally gave Kinn a foot job on camera, so…

I don’t have any hard and fast rules about what I consider high heat—it’s more about vibes than anything else—but considering Only Friends is able to be shown on YouTube uncut, it seems like someone out there agrees with me. To me, high heat would automatically earn an NC-17 rating. These are shows it would be inappropriate to show to young teenagers.

So while Only Friends is certainly high heat by GMMTV’s standards, I would not call it high heat in general. In fact, I don’t even think it’s the highest heat offering at GMMTV. The Warp Effect takes that one.

I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts because I’m sure someone probably has a more nuanced take than me, but I do wonder if maybe there’s a cultural aspect to this as well because some people seem absolutely appalled by the idea that anyone wouldn’t consider Only Friends high heat.

I would also just like to say that this is in no way meant to be a value judgment about whether high heat is better. I adored Only Friends. It’s just not the show I’m going to rewatch when I’m in the mood for something horny. Love in the Air takes that spot easily.

#now i want to rewatch lita #asks

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vespaer77 · 8 days

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Something hilarious happened tonight

So I updated my mods, and either I'm having an issue with one of them, or I'm having a fever dream.

OR.

I've installed a new holiday in Faerun.

The one where all the men take their d!cks out and paint them blue.

And really, I feel like I've been waiting for this day all year.

(Gratuitous d!ck p!cs below the cut)

Speaking of cut, Gale of course was first, in all his uncut glory:

Just... lettin' it all hang out. Doing its own somatic components. But it's okay. It's been painted blue. So it's fine.

Astarion, naturally (and oh so very naturally indeed) was not to be outdone:

He looks proud of himself, imo. And I'm proud of him too. Big step, lil' buddy!

And Wyll, the proverbial son of a diplomat, is always one to encourage the celebration of holidays. Even if it means d!cks out. But it's okay. It's painted blue. That makes it fine.

His pants aren't doing his full girth the justice it deserves (like the rest of the game), but look at that color coordination! Snazzy!

It's a little known fact that Boo loves exploring new and interesting cultural practices and ideas. He's something of an anthropologist. But because Boo is also famously shy, Minsc decided to join him in jumbo-sized solidarity. Well, not too solid-arity. (But it's painted blue, so it's okay.)

What a friend, what a guy!

Halsin, however, found the blue paint to be harmful to the environment, so he settled on the much more eco-friendly option of just rolling in some dirt and mud:

But it's okay. It's the freedom of nature's gifts. That makes it fine.

My old tav, a drow paladin named Quilfryn Baenund, dropped out of obscurity to pay us a visit and show us how they do things differently in the Underdark (and I mean this in a very literal and complete sense):

Shadowheart clearly wasn't going to indulge his nonsense until he told her that in the Underdark, it was really more commonly celebrated by the women, and was regionally known as Blue Bush Day.

And who was she to not stand by her man?

And because I know we all wanted to know, here's Gale in the Wavemother robe. Just because.

So anyhoo, happy Blue D!cks (or Bush) for Baldur's Gate Day, everybody! I hope you keep it real, I hope you keep it safe, and I hope you keep it real safe.

Because it's okay if it's painted blue. That makes it fine.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #astarion ancunin #astarion #halsin #halsin silverbough #minsc and boo #minsc #wyll ravengard #shadowheart #my screenshots #happy blue bits for baldur's gate day

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illiana-mystery · 10 months

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So I know many of you have been waiting for me to update my Fred fics for a while now and I'm sorry for that. It's sometimes hard to balance writing fics for two different actors that have a plethora of characters I like...

But I do have something to make up for that...

That being the draft for the current chapter of my Mike Hubble fic, The Roommate. Enjoy!

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"I'm back," she announced before he chuckled and picked her up. She squirmed a little bit, surprised by his boldness before he gave her a sweet kiss.

The bags she was holding fell from her grip and quickly, she kissed him back before he finally set her down.

"You're back just in time," he said as he let her in. "I just started making dinner."

Karima giggled as she put the bags down on the coffee table.

"What are you making?"

"Shepherd's pie," he quickly answered. "I'm making my mum's old recipe.

"Sounds delicious," she said as she walked back into the kitchen with him. He smiled at her and kissed her cheek before he said,

"Would you like to help me?"

"Sure!" she chirped before he passed her his cutting board that was topped with uncut onions, carrots, and mushrooms.

"Could you help me cut these?"

Karima nodded and immediately started to cut the carrots.

"How was your afternoon?" he asked after the next song on his record started to play.

"It was great. Stan and I actually met another jazz musician and his wife when we went to lunch. Oh and I met Cynthia. She's very sweet."

"Oh yeah. Cynthia is wonderful. I like her a lot more than my last clinician. She's much more patient and caring towards me," he admitted. "Where did Stan take you to lunch?"

"The Dusty Whistle," she nonchalantly said. And she was too preoccupied with finishing up cutting carrots to notice how uncomfortable Mike was hearing what she just said.

He was livid. He didn't even think Stan was still friends with Johnny.

"Why did he take you there?" he softly asked.

"He wanted me to meet his old friend. He told me that you used to play there."

"I did...a long time ago," he huffed. "So that jazz musician and his wife were just hanging out there?"

"Yeah, pretty much," she answered, finally realizing that he was upset by what she was saying. "He and his wife are from Ireland. Real sweet people."

"What are their names?"

"Marty and Sheila Healy."

"Marty? As in Martin James Healy Jr.?"

"Yeah, I guess so. You familiar with him?"

"Yolanda knew him. I met him once. Guess he doesn't remember me though."

"Oh, I see. Did you perform with him?"

"No. I went to one of his performances in Dublin with Yolanda. He was just as good as his old man. I actually have some Martin Healy Sr. records. But he fell to alcoholism like me."

"He told me," she quickly said. "Stan and I are probably gonna see him perform with his wife at the pub. She really wants us to come. I hope you don't mind..."

He just looked at Karima and lightly grinned before he said,

"Don't let me stop you from having a good time, Karima. I already told you I don't want to clip your wings. Enjoy the freedom you have."

"Okay," she softly said as she moved on to cutting the onions. "Marty told me he would love to see you...if you don't mind."

Mike shrugged.

"I wouldn't mind the company," he moaned as he started to cook the ground beef.

Karima took a deep breath and finally asked,

"Mike, what's wrong? Did I upset you?"

He didn't respond at first, instead he rubbed her back and then said,

"No, you just don't understand."

What did he mean by that?

Then the door opened and in came Stan. He calmly put his keys down on the counter and set his bags down before Mike glared at him.

And next thing he knew, Mike lunged at him and almost punched him before Karima managed to hold him back.

"What the hell, Mike?! Did you take your medicine this morning?"

"Yep. This is my sober anger," he grumbled. "You're a traitor, you know that?!"

"What are you talking about, mate?" he asked trying to regain his composure. Karima just stood over to the side by the fridge before Mike answered him.

"You're still friends with Johnny?!" he angrily asked before Stan looked over at Karima.

"Why did you tell him about our lunch?" he asked her.

"I didn't know it had to be a secret," Karima replied.

"I told you how he just threw me out like trash and you're still friends with him?! And what's this about a new jazz musician and his wife?! Did he replace me?!"

"He didn't replace you, Mike. It's nothing personal, it's just business. Johnny and Lisa still love you man, but you're still a liability. You remember what happened the last time."

"You always have to go back to that," Mike yelled before he slammed his fist against the counter. "I should have just died that day. Is that what you wanted?! For me to die so I wouldn't be a burden to anyone anymore!"

"Mike," Karima called out. He looked over at her and saw that she looked scared, but still concerned.

It broke his heart. And before he could stop himself, he started to cry before he clung onto Karima.

She was a little confused but still hug him tight and rubbed his back.

"Mike," she started again. "What are you talking about? Did you almost die?"

"I'm the reason Smokey Jo's was closed as long as it was. I caused Stan's sudden unemployment and he was still kind enough to take me in," he whined into her shoulder.

"I don't understand," Karima whimpered.

"Stan, can you let me talk to Karima alone?," he asked as he straightened up, with his hands still gripping Karima's shoulders. "I need to finally be honest with her."

"Sure thing, mate," he quickly said. "Actually, you can have the flat to yourselves again. I just needed to drop off Karima and these decorations. I'm due to play cards with Ken and Harry at Ken's place. Just keep the snogging to a minimum, please. I don't want to catch yall in the act."

Mike and Karima both rolled their eyes before he chuckled and left.

"I'm sorry about him."

"I'm used to it," he assured before he took a deep breath to explain himself. "Karima, I don't know how to tell you this...but I almost got your brother killed."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Remember how I told you that I was trying to win Jo back after I was released from clinic?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I later found out that she started seeing her current boyfriend. I was so furious that I assaulted him first and then snuck back into the club. I hid out in the basement and lit a picture of us on fire. Now keep in mind, I was intoxicated at this point. I relapsed hard and I was so out of it that I didn't realize that I caused a fire. And I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I ended up assaulting Stan's friend Harry too. I should have died that night, but Ken saved me. I wish he would have just left me there some days. But I deserve to suffer like I have. To be constantly reminded of everything I've done wrong and wallow in it..."

He kept his head down as he explained the whole situation. He just knew that Karima was gonna be disappointed in him, so he didn't even want to look at her. That's why he was so vague for as long as he was. He didn't want to lose her and he was risking just that by being honest.

Karima was a little taken aback and horrified by what he was saying, but she could also tell that he was very remorseful. He felt so guilty for everything he did to the people that cared about him the most.

And the fact that he finally had the guts to tell her made her feel more secure in their blossoming relationship. She wanted him to feel comfortable being honest with her. And this was the first step.

"I'm sorry I haven't been honest with you. I was just so worried you wouldn't like me anymore if you knew the truth about me."

Karima didn't verbally respond after he finished, instead she moved closer to him again and gently moved his head up so he could look at her.

His eyes were red and puffy from his crying and a few tears still left the slits of his brown eyes. The sight was hard for her to look at, but she still wiped his tears.

"It's okay," she said before she kissed his nose. "I'm not mad at you for being honest with me. I'm glad you finally feel comfortable around me to be honest, actually."

"You don't hate me?," he whined.

"No, of course not," she assured. "I already told you, Mike...you're not your past."

"You're much too good for me, Karima," he happily said before he took her in his embrace again and kissed her deeply.

She was caught a little by surprise, but soon went along with it, grabbing a handful of his thick hair while he gripped and pinched her butt.

Swiftly, their tongues met and curled around each other as their kiss progressed. Karima was melting in his sweet touch, moaning into his mouth as they continued.

Mike didn't mind though. He liked her willingness to kiss him and he held her ass tighter before he pulled away from her lips to catch his breath.

She whined, but then jolted when he slapped her ass. But she liked it and giggled, making the man even more excited.

"I think it's time to show you how much I've appreciated having you around," he seductively said after he turned the stove off.

His eyes soon moved back over to her and before she could even blink he scooped her up in his arms and brought her to his room.

Swiftly, he kicked the door shut and gently placed her on the bed before he shut the blinds and dimmed the lights.

Karima just watched him carefully, pondering what he meant earlier before she finally got her answer.

The wind was almost knocked out of her as he came back and basically plopped himself on top of her, capturing her lips again in the process.

She hummed against his plump lips, quickly inviting him to intertwine with her tongue again. He took the hint and did as she wanted, while trying to keep his balance on top of her.

He didn't want to crush her. However, she didn't mind and actually pulled him down closer to her with a tight grip of his hair in her grasp as her arms adorned his neck.

Her pulling made him purr and soon she was gripping her hips tightly as their desperate kiss continued.

---

There's gonna be more smut by the way. 😉😏 Stay tuned!

Taglist: @freddiefredfive, @writingkitten, @imwithyoutiltheendofthelinebucky, @goodoldcharley

#hope you enjoy #sorry for the delay #i need to get my writing schedule back on track #like yesterday #wip #current wip #work in progress #sneak peek #mike hubble #boon season 6 #fanfiction #fanfic #ao3 #ao3 link #ao3 fanfic #archive of our own #alfred molina

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wonderlandleighleigh · 10 months

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To the AO3 hackers I say this:

youtube

Smut!

Give me smut and nothing but!

A dirty novel I can′t shut

If it's uncut And unsubt- le

I′ve never quibbled If it was ribald

I would devour

where others merely nibbled

As the judge remarked

the day that he

Acquitted my Aunt Hortense

"To be smut It must be ut- Terly without redeeming social importance."

Por- Nographic pictures I adore

Indecent magazines galore

I like them more If they're hard core

(Bring on the obscene movies,

murals, postcards, neckties

Samplers, stained-glass windows, tattoos, anything!

More, more, I′m still not satisfied!)

Stories of tortures

Used by debauchers

Lurid, licentious, and vile

Make me smile

Novels that pander

To my taste for candor

Give me a pleasure sublime

(Let's face it, I love slime.)

All books can be indecent books

Though recent books are bolder

For filth (I′m glad to say) is in

The mind of the beholder

When correctly viewed

Everything is lewd

(I could tell you things about Peter Pan And the Wizard of Oz, there's a dirty old man!)

I thrill To any book like Fanny Hill

And I suppose I always will If it is swill And really fil Thy

Who needs a hobby like tennis or philately?

I've got a hobby: rereading Lady Chatterley

But now they′re trying to take it all

Away from us unless

We take a stand, and hand in hand

We fight for freedom of the press

In other words Smut! (I love it)

Ah, the adventures of a slut

Oh, I′m a market they can't glut

I don′t know what

Compares with smut

Hip hip hooray!

Let's hear it for the Supreme Court!

Don′t let them take it away!

#tom lehrer #ao3 #get the fuck off our archive you fascists!#Youtube

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greensparty · 2 years

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Documentary Reviews: The Beatles and India / George Michael Freedom Uncut

This week I got to review not one but two music documentaries:

The Beatles and India

There is a long history of documentary films about The Beatles’ connections to specific regions (countries, states, cities). I am a lifelong Beatle fanatic and I’ve seen documentaries about their history with Liverpool, UK; Hamburg, Germany; London, England; NYC, NY, USA; and even lesser ones like Benton, IL. The gist of all of these documentaries is showcasing how the region and the culture played a role in The Beatles’ history and the influence it had on their music. In 2013, I, myself, made a short documentary about The Beatles’ musical connections to Boston, highlighting the concerts they played in the city, connections to Boston musicians and radio outlets. Now, The Beatles history with India is getting the documentary treatment with the documentary The Beatles and India, which screened film festivals last year and is being released on blu-ray and DVD from MVD Entertainment Group this week.

movie poster

In 2018 journalist Ajoy Bose’s book Across the Universe: The Beatles in India was released. After the book’s release, Bose and co-director Peter Compton began making a documentary based on the book. In The Beatles Anthology (easily the most comprehensive Beatles doc ever made), they covered The Beatles visit to Rishikesh, India in 1968. I am a firm believer that if you are going to make a doc about The Beatles, you need to be shedding light on something new or else you’re just re-iterating what The Beatles Anthology and Compleat Beatles already covered. This is why in the last few years there are been some Beatle docs that try to look at parts of their history that haven’t been covered as much, i.e. Ron Howard’s The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years about their live performance, Peter Jackson’s The Beatles’ Get Back delving deeper into the Get Back / Let It Be recording, and Good Ol’ Freda about their secretary Freda Kelly. The Beatles and India is not trying to tell the entire history of the Fab Four, but just their history with India.

The 1965 Beatles movie Help! featured several Indian musicians and that got the attention of George Harrison. It lead to his friendship with Ravi Shankar. In the years that followed The Beatles began incorporating Indian instruments and musical styles into their own music, i.e. “Norwegian Wood”, “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Within You Without You”. In 1966, they made a stop in New Dehli, India. In 1967, at the peak of The Beatles fame, they attended Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi’s transcendental meditation seminar in Wales and became engaged with it. In 1968, the Fab Four and their wives and entourage visited Rishikesh to the Maharishi’s ashram. There was eventually a falling out with the Mahareshi (not a spoiler as this was public info from that era). But just the experience of that visit inspired several songs as well.

The Beatles, Mahareshi Maharesh Yogi and friends at Mahareshi’s ashram in 1968

As a documentary, this is really good at putting the region into the context of Beatles history. There are a lot of historians, authors, journalists and experts who are interviewed. However, the one thing that is missing from doc is Beatles music. It is not surprising that a documentary does not have the budget for Beatles songs, but it felt like something was missing. We’re seeing all of this archival footage and photos and hearing how this experience inspired “Dear Prudence” and this other experience inspired “Sexy Sadie” and we’re not hearing any of those songs. Also - the fact that they didn’t have any of The Beatles interviewed other than archival footage also felt like something was missing. They did get Pattie Boyd (George Harrison’s wife at the time), but everyone else was more historians and journalists, many of whom had terrific insight, but I was hoping for Paul or Ringo or someone else from their camp to comment further. Overall - this was a very well done doc, I just wanted more. As for the blu-ray itself, there’s an extended interview with Ajoy Bose, an Ashram map and production photos. Not a lot in the way of extras, but it is the doc itself that is front and center.

The Beatles and India is being released on blu-ray and DVD by MVD Entertainment Group this week: https://beatlesandindia.com/the-film/

3.5 out of 5 stars

George Michael Freedom Uncut

Just before his death at age 53 in 2016, singer George Michael had actually been working on a documentary about himself that was set to premiere in 2017. After his death, the project was put on hold. Co-director David Austin has completed the documentary George Michael Freedom Uncut and it is getting a one-night only theatrical release on June 22.

movie poster

As part of the U.K. pop duo Wham!, Michael became a superstar in the 1980s. Wham!’s 1984 album Make It Big that really put them on the map. It was one of the first cassette tapes I ever got (after Thriller, Purple Rain and Stay Hungry). They had a cool sing-along vibe to their music that is fun when you’re a kid like I was at the time. They performed at Live Aid and were the first Western pop act to perform in China. At the peak of their fame, Wham! broke up in 1986 and Michael began a solo career. His 1987 album Faith was one of the all-time great albums of the 1980s. A highly underrated album was his 1990 follow-up Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. He was so adamant about being known for his music and not his looks that he didn’t appear in any of the music videos. Even though I was into metal at the time, I kind of dug his solo music. He had such a great voice.

Michael in his prime in the 80s

This doc shows the progression from Wham! to the mature crooner he was towards the end of this life. An interesting device this doc does is showing various interviewees listening to some of Michael’s songs on vinyl and their reaction. While it was engaging to hear the likes of Elton John, Liam Gallagher, Mary J. Blige and James Corden unpacking the music and lyrics of some of his famous songs, it did go on a little longer than it should have. But what this doc got very right was Michael telling his story in his own words. He addresses being in the closet, his battle with his label Sony and his various scandals. The most powerful part was when he performed “Somebody to Love” at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert at a time when Michael’s partner was suffering of AIDS, as Michael performed at an AIDS benefit paying tribute to Mercury, who had recently died of AIDS. The fact is no one can sing like Mercury, but boy did Michael rise to the challenge and then some! Easily his greatest performance! The doc is not the most comprehensive as it definitely glossed over his career from 2000-2016. But it is Michael posthumously able to tell his story, which is worth hearing and seeing!

For info on George Michael Freedom Uncut: https://www.georgemichaelfreedomuncut.com/

3.5 out of 5 stars

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