#he's not getting icon status if he continues stunting the next five years | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alarrytale · 9 months

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I can't decide if Harry is in a better or worse place now regarding his closet. Sure he is so flamboyant and interacts with gay culture much more confidently whereas back in 1D/his early so career he was more subtle and shy about it. But back then he talked more freely about his attraction to men and now every interview feels so scripted. There's the queerbaiting backlash, his stunts getting worse and the growing list of PR girlfriends. But he's got to do stuff like MP, Coachella (very camp), Vogue etc. So I guess it's taking the bad with the good? I understand why he is stunting now, because he is at his peak and wants to make the most of it while he can. He's had a hugely successful album and tour. He's not quite icon status yet. Another 1 or 2 will do it to prove he isn't a 'flash in the pan'. But having said that, I'm so sick of it. I hate that we can't enjoy his content because stunts come with it. I'm looking forward to HS4 but know it's going to be promoted to be about Olivia or Taylor. I'm looking forward to him joining a new fashion house (Loewe?) but Taylor is an ambassador? so more stunts. Other than when he's on tour, the only times we see him is when he is stunting... and sometimes even on tour he is stunting. I'm so tired and feel like I might need to take a step back because it is messing with my mental health. Which is sad because I love him. Part of me wonders if he is 'headline trading' with the British tabloids because they have stories on him and can 'out' him. I noticed that a lot of his stunt content is exclusive to the Daily Mail and they're one of the worst tabloids for outing celebrities. So maybe he is providing them content so they don't out him. I don't know. I'll just be really disappointed if he is still doing this in his mid 30s. I'm not saying he has to CO but at least have an image change. Maybe show there is more to him than just 'dating' women.

Hi anon,

I think most of us have really complicated feelings about Harry right now. Your feelings are valid, and if it's impacting your mental health negatively, it's important to prioritise yourself. If this means taking breaks from fandom or Harry, then do that. You can come back anytime when you're ready.

I think Harry is neither better or worse off with his closet, it's the same as it's always been. The difference is he's gone from being a little bit gay and a little bit straight to being very gay and very straight. For fandom the highs are higher and the lows are lower. As he's grown bigger he's got to deal with more critisism, from both sides. He's playing the Hollywood games more than ever, and now with a smile on his face. He's overexposed and everyone is tired. It's been a long time since we've got a glimpse of Harry the person, the human. He's not relatable anymore and he's distanced himself from his fandom. That has consequences. The ig banter with Joe Lycett was great, but we'd never know about if it weren't for Joe. I'd kill for a 'forgot to turn on the dishwasher' tweet from him. I think things like that would heal the rift and the distance people are feeling towards Harry. It's especially important when he's stunting and people are down about it.

I struggle with the choices he's making and his priorities. I don't understand his goals properly and i hate the means he's using to get there. There are still ways to justify (some of) his actions, so i'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for now. I'm not a solo harry fan, or a fan of his brand, just a fan of him as a person, so i think this all is perhaps different for me than you. I'm able to look past his image (even though he's not giving us much incentive to do so as of late), but i wish his image was different so i could be a fan and not be embarrased to call myself one.

I don't know how long he's going to keep this up for, but i think it's going to become harder for him to balance it all, when he's trying to please everyone like he currently is. It depends on his ambitions and how much of his soul he's willing to sell to get there.

#he's not getting icon status if he continues stunting the next five years #i can tell you as much #harry image #solo harry

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tcm · 4 years

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Tip Top Tap: Great Tap Performances in Film By Constance Cherise

In my opinion, there is no conversation surrounding classic musical tap dancing in film without including the likes of the Nicholas Brothers, Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly. Over the years, there have been countless memorable dance scenes, and in compiling a list of the routines I felt were exceptional, I wanted to search further than my initial go-to's. Here, in no certain order are my not so obvious choices of remarkable classic musical tap-dancing performances.

The Nicholas Brothers: “Jumpin’ Jive” – STORMY WEATHER (‘43)

They are the incomparable Nicholas Brothers. Their bodies act like boneless structures, they leap through the air defying gravity and land in splits, consecutively. Just when you think the dance cannot get any better, they move to the next set, where the finale is literally and figuratively unbelievable. This is why Fred Astaire called this performance, “The best ever put on film.” If this is your first time seeing this sequence, I can assure you it will leave you shaking your head in pure amazement. Baryshnikov, Balanchine, Astaire and Kelly, were humble fans of the Nicholas Brothers, and all were in awe of their capabilities. Not only is this performance astonishing, according to the brothers, it was unrehearsed and executed in one take.

Judy Garland and Gene Kelly: “Barn Dance” – SUMMER STOCK (‘50)

Gene Kelly and Judy Garland...pure chemistry. This is not Kelly and Garland’s first dance number together. In fact, during their MGM career, they co-starred in THE PIRATE (’48) and FOR ME AND MY GAL (’42). Kelly is his normal effervescent self, performing his discipline in grounded masculinity. Garland, who did not arrive at MGM as a professionally trained tap dancer, matches Kelly move for move until Kelly performs his signature airplane twirl. Although Garland is the healthiest we've seen her in years at the point of this picture—as she recently completed a stent in a detoxification facility (note the measurable difference in her weight by the end of the film in the musical number “Get Happy”)—she remains as light as a feather. “Barn Dance” is a joyful, exuberant number and is reflective in the expression on their faces. SUMMER STOCK would be Garland's last film with MGM. It’s a fitting circumstance that Kelly would become Garland's final partner, as eight years earlier, Garland welcomed and mentored Kelly in his first film, FOR ME AND MY GAL, a facet of their friendship he would always remember.

Gene Kelly: “I Like Myself” – IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (‘55)

As if his SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (‘52) icon status, Hollywood good looks, voice and choreography skills weren't enough, Gene Kelly performs in a pair of roller skates in IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (‘55) and once again proves his genius. But, he doesn’t just roller skate. He performs with the precision and grace of a professional ice skater. No stunt doubles here, this is all Kelly (he did the majority of his own stunts). His performance is flawlessly intricate, and for Kelly, it seems as natural as walking. When he breaks into tap dancing, performing time steps and heel clicks, you start to wonder what can't he do? Twenty-five years later and with just as much stability, he would once again don a pair of skates while performing in the cult classic fantasy film XANADU (‘80).

Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly: “The Babbitt and the Bromide” – ZIEGFELD FOLLIES (‘45)

This is the first time Kelly and Astaire dance together on film (they would not dance together again until THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT, PART II, [‘76]). It is a clever vaudevillian-style number, allowing exactly enough time to showcase each performer's attributes, amusingly injecting instigation, to highlight their professional rivalry, concluding in an energetic finale. It is an excellent visual example of distinguishing their unique technique. Each is certainly at their best given their status and subsequent comparison. However, those who are true classic musical fans understand Kelly and Astaire cannot be compared. Although their dance styles are different, they are also equally extraordinary. Kelly's athleticism in juxtaposition to Astaire’s delicacy is perfectly matched.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: “I’ll Be Hard to Handle” – ROBERTA (‘35)

The pairing of Astaire and Rogers was destiny. This particular number was performed live: live music, live tap dancing, with no cuts and done in one take. If you listen closely, you can even hear Rogers’ giggle. It seems as if they casually blend into the dance, but of course we know this is not the case. At times, their movements are deliberately delayed and at others, they are kinetic. Midway, the two have an argumentative exchange exclusively through tap dancing. Rogers echoes Astaire tap for tap and their symbiosis is apparent. It is a lighthearted and carefree number, and as with all Rogers and Astaire performances, absolutely delightful.

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson: Stair Dance

Best known for his successful pairings with Shirley Temple, of which both were sincerely fond of each other, here he performs his famous stair dance. Bill “Bojangles” Robinson honed his craft from childhood, which eventually led him to become one of the first African American’s to appear in vaudeville without blackface and as a solo performer. Here, he uses his hands and his feet before climbing the steps, as if testing them to see if they are worthy enough to withstand his elegantly polished footwork. He continues to elaborate each pattern in growing confidence. His feet remain low, and at times it seems that he is standing still. Every tap is clean and sharp as each stair resonates with a different note. Robinson's genius is in creating a performance that is technically complex and elaborate, that appears as if it were commonly effortless.

#Tap dancing #old hollywood #classic film #musicals #nicholas brothers #Gene Kelly #Judy Garland #Fred Astaire #Ginger Rogers #Bill Bojangles Robinson #TCM #Turner Classic Movies #Constance Cherise

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nuefiction · 5 years

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Reborn/A song I wish u heard

“Reborn” is the fifth track from “Kids See Ghost” self titled album. The hip hop duo is made up of Kid Cudi & Kanye West. Two long time collaborators with a tumultuous and successfully creative relationship. This relationship that also birthed many memorable songs and albums that would define a generation, also potentially revolutionizing the sound of modern hip hop music. The two giant artist reunite to make a project that buries the hatchet and their demons. Their relationship and their singular journeys that lead them here is something I feel very instrumental to the tone of the project and their song “Reborn” is a beacon of the album that represents it all.

The road begins with the start of Scott Mescudi’s music career. In 2007 Mescudi moved from his hometown Cleveland, OH to New York City. With nothing more than $500 in his pocket, Scott was determined to get his rap career started. He moved in with a long lost uncle and began working at a BAPE store in the city. Legend has it that Mescudi & West would meet at the store accidentally when West set off a security alarm. Mescudi would assist with removing one of the security tags that was left on clothes. This was post Graduation Kanye West where at the time his star was shining the brightest. Nothing came of this exchange but it wouldn’t be the last time their paths would cross.

Scott unleashed A Kid Named Cudi on the world on July of 2008. The tape was acclaimed by the hip hop community. Cudi was praised for his unique rhymes and smooth singing voice that provided a flavor to his music that would lay the blueprint for many sounds to come in the next generation of hip hop. West would soon recruit the young artist to assist with hooks on Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 (2009) and later with the helm his upcoming album 808s & Heartbreak, one of West most polarizing and influential pieces of work to date. Cudi contributed to songwriting on many of the albums most memorable tracks such as “Welcome to Heartbreak”, “Heartless”, “RoboCop” & “Paranoid”. At the time 808s did not receive overwhelming acclaim as West past projects but the portrait West had painted was hard to break eye contact with. Kanye’s auto tuned, heartbroken lyrics colliding with 808 beats opened up another dimension of hip hop that would make genre more bulletproof and revolutionary than it was before. Ten years later it is looked at as a turning point in sound.

After a successful musical chemistry West signed Cudi to his label G.O.O.D. Music. After signing Kid Cudi started to create one of his debut if not his best album, Man on the Moon; The End of Day (2009) This album would also become a staple in the evolution of Hip Hop. MOTM came with an intergalactic, psychedelic- warped production that took you out of this world. Along with God like narration from at the time GOOD Music affiliate and Chicago rap legend, Common who guides Cudi and the listener through the album. The lyrical content covered included, depression, anxiety, loneliness and other introspective themes. Kanye would be there for production and writing further extending their creative relationship.

With the births of arguably two hip hop classics, the relationship changed as Cudi developed into his own artist and urban legend. Kanye became more of a musical icon that grew by the project. In the following year they continued to collaborate on hip hop staples such as Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010) & My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). In these triumphs that started this successful relationship there would be growing pains to muddy the waters. In 2013 Kid Cudi request to depart from G.O.O.D. Music, he recalls it as nothing more than a business decision. At the time Kid Cudi was getting his own label off the ground ‘Wicked Awesome” and preferred to put his creative energy toward its inception. This was difficult for Cudi at first since Kanye has always been a big brother to him. He was afraid of damaging their relationship with his departure. Following him leaving Cudi stated has nothing but love for the label. That same year West’s mind bending album- Yeezus was unleashed that summer, on the track “Guilt Trip” there’s an un-credited vocals by Cudi, which gets praise from fans and critics alike. Unbeknownst to Cudi, he was unaware of this and had mixed feelings of the record. He felt good that he was thought of from his ex collaborator and friend but it disturbed him that Kanye did not reach out. Cudi soon felt the vocals were used to coaxed his fan base for the record instead of calling Cudi in to work on the record like how they used to. This wouldn't stunt their creative relationship entirely, Cudi would assist West in creating his Yeezus 2016 follow up- The Life of Pablo. Creating fan favorites such as “Father Stretch My Hands pt.1” and lending back vocals to the Chance the Rapper arranged track “Waves”. This reunion to the surface shows the two back at the creative relationship that we once knew them for, thus it would open up another rough road in their relationship.

In late 2016 Cudi went on a Twitter rant seeming to aim at his competition in the hip hop landscape. Calling out self claimed “top five artist” who have writers crafting their hits. At this point in hip hop, Canadian rap superstar, Drake was faced with allegations of having a ghostwriter. This information was exposed by Philadelphia MC Meek Mill during a battle between the two, where a recording of rapper/writer Quentin Miller is referencing key tracks on Drake’s successful 2015 mix-tape If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late. Cudi went as detailed in his rant where he named Kanye and Drake together claiming he was aiming at them or anyone like them, while giving props to the younger acts he has inspired. West was on tour when these tweets surfaced and decided to respond in classic Ye fashion; ranting while performing on his “Saint Pablo Tour”. West feeling disrespected; claiming to have ‘birthed’ Kid Cudi’s career and sound and being responsible for his influence over today's hip hop.

Though the rift seemed to be a volatile one the collaborators reunite once again on the same stage they started on. In November of that same year Cudi came on stage during West’s Sacramento stop of his tour to perform “Father Stretch My Hands pt.1 and other classics between the two. Following their latest reunion Kanye West had to end his tour prematurely due to his wife Kim Kardashian being robbed in Paris and having nervous breakdown to due exhaustion. West remained out of the public close to a year until the spring of 2018, where he teased five new projects to be released from GOOD Music, one of them being Kids See Ghost which he would label he and Kid Cudi’s collaborative group. The album bloomed in what is being called “The Wyoming Sessions”. West rented out a private ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming where he would produce the five albums he teased in the spring. This was a similar tactic West used to make past classic albums such as 808s in Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Kids See Ghost was released on June 8th, 2018. The albums unleashed a sound of psychedelic-rock style rap music. The album is produced entirely by West with contributions from Kid Cudi, Mike Dean, Justin Vernon, Andre 3000, Plain Pat and others. The lyrical themes throughout the album dealt with depression, isolation, anxiety, redemption and freedom. This type of subject matter was common for Cudi but uncommon from West whom lyrics in the past mostly covered braggadocios claims of his status in hip hop, effects of stardom, also his past relationships and his childhood with his parents. The album’s creative direction positioned the artist in places where each of their strengths help the others weakness. Kanye with his production and vision help give Cudi the space to navigate and flourish as the artist he truly is. Cudi is lyrically creating a safe haven for Ye to express his trials and tribulations that all came in tow in the spring and summer of 2018. Cudi being a master of this realm musically emulates a creative embrace to help guide Kanye through the storm to come out the other side and alive along with cutting edge product for the fans consumption.

The song “Reborn” idealizes that the best. It’s produced by Kid Cudi, Plain Pat & Dot da Genius creating a warm and comforting production accompanied by Cudi’s distinctive and signature humming. If there was a song that felt like it was embracing you close this one would be a shoe in. Cudi opens the song “I’m so- I’m so reborn. I’m moving forward, keep moving forward, keep moving forward.” A mantra that is so simple but so compelling in the environment that ‘Kids See Ghost’ created. Between the two members both have gone through plenty since their last falling out to move forward from. In 2016 after the release of his sixth studio album “Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin” Cudi placed himself into rehab after dealing with severe depression and suicidal urges. In the same year West had to cut his Saint Pablo tour short due to exhaustion, extreme paranoia and depression still reeling from his mother's sudden death in 2007. Following those struggles in 2018 Kanye went on many manic rants that sprung some discouraging quotes such as “Slavery for 400 years?! That almost sounds like a choice!” In addition showing his support of the controversial 45th president, and sporting a MAGA hat to ensure his support. And with that support came much backlash from the public and fans alike. ‘Reborn’ feels like an emotional baptism, where Cudi and West lay all the cards on the table and come head to head with every demon that haunts them. And by the end of the song they create a sensation of levitation and a relief of freedom from being stripped from what has held them back to feel free to move forward. “Ain’t no stress on me, lord. I’m moving forward, keep moving forward, keep moving forward.” In this song came the best verse Ye laid down on all five albums he released that summer. He exposes most of the elephants in the room and gives answers to most of the trending tribulations he went through.

“Very rarely do you catch me out

Y'all done especially invited guests, me out

Y'all been tellin' jokes that's gon' stress me out

Soon as I walk in, I'm like "Let's be out"

I was off the chain, I was often drained

I was off the meds, I was called insane

What a awesome thing, engulfed in shame

I want all the rain, I want all the pain

I want all the smoke, I want all the blame

Cardio audio, let me jog your brain

Caught in the Audy Home, we was all detained

All of you Mario, it's all a game”

This albums inspires nuances of healing and growth. Both of the members of “Kids See Ghost” have been through their share of trauma, heartache, loss and immense pressure in the respective careers and have made classic hip hop music as an escape. This album becomes the perfect path to redemption and peace for them and anyone experiencing anything similar. I believe art and creation from one's soul can be a remedy for another. Creations can be the cure to help one not feel alone and knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel of suffering. This song did that for me personally in one of the hardest times of my life.

The spring of 2018 was a very anxious time for me. Every other person I either knew of or loved closely, I lost due to acts of god and sadly by their own hand. One of those lost ones was my younger sister; Jasmine Alyssa. I remember I was waiting on for a connecting flight to Georgia for her funeral. If there was any trace of hope or innocents in my body before that spring it was all gone by then. “Kids See Ghost” dropped that morning and I gave the album a listen to numb all the sorrow i was drowning in. I managed to do so with the first four songs until “reborn” started to play in my headphones. As the song played through I started bawling uncontrollably. It forced me to come in touch with every emotion I pushed away since the lost of my sister. I was crying not only because I lost her but because she wasn’t alive to hear this message. I knew she was suffering with a lot, some very similar to the artist. Though I know that a simple song can’t solve everything that’s wrong but in my own personal experience I know how powerful music can be. Art can be the teacher we all didn’t have but the lesson are always available to us if we’re lucky enough to stumble upon them.

I won’t lie to you or whomever this concerns. Everything this song inspires takes time and a long look inward. As I write this i’m not completely put together, i’m still broken in my best areas. But whenever I am close to the edge and see nothing else in front of me, I take this song and many songs like this to push myself forward to the person I want to be. Take the first step to the where I want to be, shoot my first of many shots at the dream I want to realize. If i’m lucky to be talking to anyone like my sister or Kids See Ghost, find what sparks your soul and use that as your fuel to push you along the road of redemption. Use that shine to remedy your pain and be the conduit to others who are hurting.

Be reborn & keep moving forward because we can’t do this without you

Until nXt time

/n(y)o͞o🦇XXI

#music #life #death #kanye west #kid cudi #kids see ghosts #essay #full circle #nuefiction #good music #review

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acsversace-news · 6 years

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Ryan Murphy hates the word “camp.” He sees it as a lazy catchall that gets thrown at gay artists in order to marginalize their ambitions, to frame their work as niche. “I don’t think that when John Waters made ‘Female Trouble’ that he was, like, ‘I want to make a camp piece,’ ” Murphy told me last May, as we sat in a production tent in South Beach, Florida, where he was directing the pilot of “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” a nine-episode series for FX. “I think that he was, like, ‘It’s my tone—and my tone is unique.’ ”

Murphy prefers a different label: “baroque.” Between shots, the showrunner—who has overseen a dozen television series in the past two decades—elaborated, with regal authority, on this idea. To Murphy, “camp” describes not irony but something closer to clumsiness, the accident you can’t look away from. People rarely use the term to describe a melodrama made by a straight man; even when “camp” is meant as a compliment, it contains an insult, suggesting a musty smallness. “Baroque” is big. Murphy, referring to TV critics (including me) who have applied “camp” to his work, said, “I will admit that it really used to bug the shit out of me. But it doesn’t anymore.”

We were outside the Casa Casuarina, the Mediterranean-style mansion that the Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace renovated and considered his masterwork—a building with airy courtyards and a pool inlaid with dizzy ribbons of red, orange, and yellow ceramic tiles. A small bronze statue of a kneeling Aphrodite stood at the top of the mansion’s front steps. In 1997, a young gay serial killer named Andrew Cunanan shot Versace to death there as the designer, who was fifty, was returning from his morning stroll.

The previous day, Murphy had filmed the murder scene. Cunanan was played by Darren Criss, a star of Murphy’s biggest hit, “Glee.” I’d visited the set that day, too, arriving to find ambulances, cops, and paparazzi swarming outside. There was a splash of red on the marble steps. Inside the house, Edgar Ramirez, the Venezuelan actor playing Versace, sat in a shaded courtyard, his hair caked with gun-wound makeup, his face lowered in his hands.

Now Murphy was filming the aftermath of the crime, including a scene in which two lookie-loos dip a copy of Vanity Fair into the puddle of Versace’s blood. (They sell the relic on eBay.) The vibe was an odd blend of sombre and festive; a half-naked rollerblader spun in slow circles on the sidewalk next to the beach. Murphy, who is fifty-three, is a stylish man, but on set he wore the middle-aged male showrunner’s uniform: baggy cargo shorts and a polo shirt. He has a rosebud mouth and close-cropped vanilla hair. He is five feet ten but has a brawny air of command, creating the illusion that he is much taller. His brother is six feet four, he told me, as was his late father; Murphy thinks that his own growth was stunted by chain-smoking when he was a rebellious teen-ager, in Indiana.

Murphy’s mood tends to shift unexpectedly, like a wonky thermostat—now warm, now icy—but on the “Versace” set he made one confident decision after another about the many shows he was overseeing, as if skipping stones. He also answered stray questions—about the casting for a Broadway revival of “The Boys in the Band” that he was producing, about a grand house in Los Angeles that he’d been renovating for two years. “Ooh, yes!” he said, inspecting penis-nosed clown masks that had been designed for his series “American Horror Story.” He approved a bespoke nail-polish design for an actress. A producer handed Murphy an updated script, joking, “If there’s a mistake, you can drown me in Versace’s pool!,” then scheduled a notes meeting for “American Crime Story: Katrina,” whose writers were working elsewhere in the building. Now and then, Murphy FaceTimed with his then four-year-old son, Logan, who, along with his two-year-old brother, Ford, was in L.A. with Murphy’s husband, David Miller.

“I never get overwhelmed or feel underwater, because I feel like all good things come from detail,” Murphy told me. It’s what got him to this point: the compulsion, and the craving, to do more. “Baroque is a sensibility I can get behind,” he said. “Baroque is a maximalist approach to storytelling that I’ve always liked. Baroque is a choice. And everything I do is an absolute choice.”

Murphy’s choices, perhaps more than those of any other showrunner, have upended the pieties of modern television. Like a wild guest at a dinner party, he’d lifted the table and slammed it back down, leaving the dishes broken or arranged in a new order. Several of Murphy’s shows have been critically divisive (and, on occasion, panned in ways that have raised his hackles). But he has produced an unusually long string of commercial and critical hits: audacious, funny-peculiar, joyfully destabilizing series, in nearly every genre. His run started with the satirical melodrama “Nip/Tuck” (2003), then continued with the global phenomenon “Glee” (2009) and with “American Horror Story,” now entering its eighth year, which launched the influential season-long anthology format. His legacy is not one standout show but, rather, the sheer force and variety and chutzpah of his creations, which are linked by a singular storytelling aesthetic: stylized extremity and rude humor, shock conjoined with sincerity, and serious themes wrapped in circus-bright packaging. He is the only television creator who could possibly have presented Lily Rabe as a Satan-possessed nun, gyrating in a red negligee in front of a crucifix while singing “You Don’t Own Me,” and have it come across as an indelible critique of the Catholic Church’s misogyny.

When Murphy entered the industry, he sometimes struck his peers as an aloof, prickly figure; he has deep wounds from those years, although he admits that he contributed to this reputation. Nonetheless, Murphy has moved steadily from the margins to television’s center. He changed; the industry changed; he changed the industry. In February, Murphy rose even higher, signing the largest deal in television history: a three-hundred-million-dollar, five-year contract with Netflix. For Murphy, it was a moment of both triumph and tension. You can’t be the underdog when you’re the most powerful man in TV.

On that sunny afternoon in South Beach, however, Murphy was still comfortably ensconced in a twelve-year deal with Fox Studios. On FX, which is owned by Fox, he had three anthology series: “American Horror Story”; “American Crime Story,” for which he was filming “Versace,” writing “Katrina,” and planning a season based on the Monica Lewinsky scandal; and “Feud,” whose first season starred Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis and Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford.

For Fox, he was developing “9-1-1,” a procedural about first responders. He had announced two shows for Netflix: “Ratched,” a nurse’s-eye view of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” starring Sarah Paulson; and “The Politician,” a satirical drama starring Ben Platt. Glenn Close was trying to talk him into directing her in a movie version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Sunset Boulevard.” Murphy was writing a book called “Ladies,” about female icons. He had launched Half, a foundation dedicated to diversity in directing, and had committed to hiring half of his directors from underrepresented groups. And, he told me, there was something new: a series for FX called “Pose,” a dance-filled show set in the nineteen-eighties.

It was no mystery which character in his current series Murphy most identified with: Gianni Versace himself. Versace was a commercially minded artist whose brash inventions were dismissed by know-nothings as tacky, and whose openness about his sexuality threatened his ascent in a homophobic era. Versace, too, was a baroque maximalist, Murphy told me, who built his reputation through fervid workaholism—an insistence that his vision be seen and understood. “He was punished and he struggled,” Murphy said, then spoke in Versace’s voice: “Why aren’t I loved for my excess? Why don’t they see something valid in that?”

[...] Murphy has long been a connoisseur of extremes and hyperbole, games and theatricality. He rates everything he sees and revels in institutions that do the same—the Oscars are a kind of religion for him. In Miami, at dinner with the “Katrina” and “Versace” writers, he played a high-stakes game in which he was forced to immediately choose one person in his circle over another; he demurred only when the choice was between Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson. His go-to question is “Is it a hit or a flop?,” and he asked it about every show that came up in conversation, as I observed him giving shape to “Pose,” from scouting locations to editing dance footage. (He has other stock phrases. “What’s the scoop?” is how he begins writers’ meetings. “Energy begets energy” explains his impulse to add new projects. “That’s interesting” sometimes indicates “That’s worth noticing” but just as often means “That’s infuriating.”)

[...] His multitasking benefits greatly from the freedoms of cable and streaming: he has zero nostalgia for the twenty-two-episode network grind of a show like “Glee,” in which “halfway through Episode 15 you had nothing left to say, the actors were sick, the writers were sick, and it was fucking oatmeal until the end.” He favors eight or ten episodes, often with a small writers’ room, as with “Pose.” He writes scripts for some shows, whereas for others he gives notes; on a few projects, like his HBO adaptation of Larry Kramer’s play “The Normal Heart,” he’s very hands-on. “We left blood on the dance floor,” Murphy said, affectionately, of his three-year collaboration with Kramer. “Versace” had one writer, Tom Rob Smith. But Murphy provided close directorial, design, and casting oversight, and he had a strong commitment to the show’s themes, particularly the contrast between Versace and Cunanan, two gay men craving success, but only one willing to work for it.

[...] In the meanwhile, Murphy had scored a ratings bonanza with Fox’s “9-1-1,” a wackadoo procedural featuring stories like one about a baby caught in a plumbing pipe. It was his parting gift to Dana Walden. “Versace” had been, by certain standards, a flop: lower ratings, mixed reviews. Artistically, though, it was one of Murphy’s boldest shows, with a backward chronology and a moving performance by Criss as Cunanan, a panicked dandy hollowed out by self-hatred. After the finale aired, a new set of reviews emerged. Matt Brennan, on Paste, argued that “Versace” had been subjected to “the straight glance”—a critical gaze that skims queer art, denying its depths. “Even critics sympathetic to the series seem as uncomfortable with its central subject as the Miami cops were with those South Beach fags,” Brennan wrote. Murphy was reading a new oral history of Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America,” in which, in one scene, Roy Cohn denies being gay because, he barks, homosexuals lack power: they are “men who know nobody and who nobody knows.” The line echoes one in “Versace.” A homeless junkie dying of aids tells the cops, bitterly, why gay men couldn’t stop talking about the designer: “We all imagined what it would be like to be so rich and so powerful that it doesn’t matter that you’re gay.”

#acs versace #ryan murphy #the new yorker #interview #article #may 2018

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ramajmedia · 5 years

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James Bond: 5 Reasons We're Excited For No Time To Die (& 5 Things We're Worried About)

The James Bond film franchise has been going strong since 1962. It has seen some dark periods where the films' quality dipped and its future was uncertain, but it always comes back stronger than ever. 2015's Spectre left the character in an interesting spot, and fans are clamoring to see where he goes in the upcoming No Time to Die.

Related: Bond's 10 Most Brutal Kills, Ranked

Fan interest is further piqued by the real possibility of it being Daniel Craig's last turn as the secret agent. With all the mounting excitement and mystery behind the project, now is a good time to detail five reasons to be excited for No Time to Die, and five reasons one should still be worried.

10 Worried: It'll Be Too Personal Again

There's nothing wrong with developing Bond as a character or making the action and conflict hit closer to home, but both Spectre and Skyfall dealt with Bond's personal life. The most recent film even gave him a close childhood connection to the villain. Not every story has to connect to him directly; sometimes it can just be a mission he does for Queen and country. Making the villain directly target Bond and his friends makes for some good drama, but it cannot be the solution every time.

9 Excited: Director

Sam Mendes directed both Skyfall and Spectre, and people often credit him with bringing the character back into the spotlight after Quantum of Solace's lackluster reception. He opted not to come back again, but the man replacing him is just as capable of making a great film. Cary Joji Fukunaga has already made a name for himself with hard hitting dramas like Sin Nombre and Beasts of No Nation. He's also credited as a writer on It. With this already stellar resume, there's no reason to think his take on Bond will be anything less than extraordinary.

8 Worried: It'll Still Do The Bond Is Old Schtick

Both Skyfall and Spectre deal with Bond's aging. The former does it on a more personal level, while the latter deals with the idea of secret agents as a whole in the age of information and mass surveillance.

Related: 10 Movies That Broke Their Franchise's Tmeline

Ignoring the fact that Craig played Bond on his first assignment in Casino Royale and then an old man during his third and fourth outings, it's distracting for each film to constantly remind the audience it is an old franchise. The movie should assert its relevance by simply being a fantastic viewing experience, and not by being a dramatic essay on why Bond is still important in the twenty-first century.

7 Excited: Returning Cast

Skyfall was a major shakeup for the cast, introducing a new M, Q, and Moneypenny. Spectre then established a new love interest for Bond in Madeleine Swann, played by Lea Seydoux. All of the previously mentioned actors are slated to return. Additionally, Jeffrey Wright will reprise his role as Felix Leiter, who was notably absent from the last two films. With so many returning faces, it won't seem jarring or confusing as they continue the plot in a way that hasn't been attempted since the Sean Connery films.

6 Worried: It May Be Too Serious

At its best, they are fun spy films brimming with explosions and adventure, while character development is hidden deeper within the subtext. It's not front and center in the older films, but exploring it through the more subtle moments is more rewarding. Skyfall and Spectre put the character front and center, and both have more dour tones than previous films. The new film can still explore the character and show him ways audiences have never seen before, but it can also be a fun thrill ride with more levity.

5 Excited: Rami Malek

Rami Malek's status in Hollywood has skyrocketed over the past two years due to his role in Mr. Robot and Bohemian Rhapsody. Now he's recognized for his talents the whole world over, and not just by fans of Michael Rappaport's short-lived sitcom, The War at Home.

Related: 10 Celebrity Biopics That Are Worth Watching

In No Time to Die he will play the villain, which will showcase a whole other side of his talents. Whatever his scheme and goals may be in the new film, he'll surely pull it off excellently.

4 Worried: Daniel Craig Is Getting Old

He's far from the oldest person to step into Bond's shoes, but the role is getting harder and harder for him to pull off with each film. This isn't simply fans' observations either; the actor has admitted the increasing difficulty in getting into shape as he becomes older.

Related: 10 Things From The Bond Films That Have Aged Poorly

He also does less stunt work than in the earlier films. While his performance is still top-notch in the role, his stamina may start affecting the action sequences.

3 Excited: Daniel Craig Is The Best He's Been At Bond

Everyone has their different opinions over which of Craig's Bond films is the best, but most agree that his performance in Spectre is the best he's ever been as 007. After four films, he really made the role his own, and doesn't seem like he has any doubts as to how to portray the iconic character. It's quite an impressive feat to take the reins of a role from legends like Sean Connery and Roger Moore. With No Time to Die, there's no place to go but up.

2 Worried: Christoph Waltz May Not Return

Christoph Waltz has already played a menacing, irredeemably evil villain in the past, and his turn as Blofeld lived up to his prior turns as antagonists. While much of the cast from the twenty-fourth film is coming back, Blofeld has not been confirmed.

Related: Hans Landa's 10 Most Menacing Quotes

In fact, all signs point to him sitting out the next movie. He was a highlight of the Spectre, so his absence in No Time to Die will be severely felt if he doesn't make an appearance.

1 Excited: Picking Up Where Spectre Left Off

The idea of Bond in an arch spanning several movies hasn't been done since the series first started. It's unfortunate that the films have all been separated by three and four-year gaps, making the wait arduous for longtime fans. No Time to Die promises to continue this trend and continue from where Spectre left off. Just how it will bring Bond back into the spy world is unknown, but we're sure the producers and writers came up with some innovative way to do it. Hopefully, it doesn't involve Madeleine Swann biting the dust.

Next: 10 Best Bond Movie Henchmen, Ranked

source https://screenrant.com/no-time-to-die-reasons-excited-worried/

#screenrant

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nightmareonfilmstreet · 7 years

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Let's Revisit 1990's FLATLINERS, Shall We?

New Post has been published on https://nofspodcast.com/lets-revisit-1990s-flatliners-shall/

Let's Revisit 1990's FLATLINERS, Shall We?

The upcoming sequel/reboot to Flatliners is due in theatres any day now. Despite not being a huge sequel buff, we’ll likely be front-and-center opening weekend; covering the film for an upcoming episode of our podcast; Nightmare on Film Street.

Before we dive headfirst into reboot territory, I always try to re-visit the original film beforehand. This time around, I figured I’d invite you all to join me. So, while we wait for Ellen Page to give us her best Julia Roberts impression, let’s head back to 1990, with Flatliners OG!

Meet Cute

youtube

Flatliners is a hybrid of sub-genres. It sits nestled between psychological Horror and Science Fiction. The film is directed by Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys, Phonebooth, The Number 23), and written by Peter Filardi (The Craft). The film boasts a pretty all-star cast by the 90’s standards, including many up-and-comers on their way to becoming household names. Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, and Kevin Bacon make up the core death-defying team.

The film was shot in Chicago in 1989 and released theatrically on August 10, 1990, by Columbia Pictures. It received one Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Editing in 1990 (Charles L. Campbell and Richard C. Franklin). The film currently holds a 49% Not-So-Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Synopsis:

An edgy, eerie supernatural thriller about medical students using their skills to try crossing over to the “other side.” After they’re revived, the students are haunted and consumed by what they’ve seen, as their fears, guilt and old memories take root in the physical world. This star-studded film may be remembered more for the tabloid frenzy, upon the film’s release, surrounding actors Julia Roberts and ditched beau Kiefer Sutherland.

Assembling the Team

Flatliners opens with Nelson Wright (portrayed by a mostly post-mulleted Kiefer Sutherland a la Lost Boys) bellowing the haunting first word of the film;

Today is a good day to die.

Hello trailer soundbite. Oozing a kind-of-threatening cool, Nelson convinces his team of fellow medical students to try some Frankenstein worthy experiments; causing medically induced brain death and reviving the lifeless candidate. For some reason, Joe Hurley (William Baldwin), David Labraccio (Kevin Bacon), Randall ‘Randy’ Steckle (Oliver Platt), and Rachel Manus (Julia Roberts) are all on board after some mild protesting.

These grave experiments intend to prove one thing; the existence of life after death. With Randy as their comedic videographer, they intend to replicate first-hand accounts of auditory and visual hallucinations of those that experienced a more naturally induced temporary state of death.

We as the audience are asked to suspend our disbelief a bit. We can either disregard the fact that an official scientific study requires thousands upon thousands of case studies and examples to even be remotely considered worthy of publishing as verifiable evidence.. Or, the film may intend us to be completely aware what they are doing is only under the guise of a ‘science experiment’. An experiment that serves as an umbrella for which they may hide the death-defying stroking of several young egos. I’m in the camp of the latter.

Flatiners Flatline

One after another, our smart-enough-to-induce-death but dumb-enough-to-try heroes all invoke a taste of the afterlife. Each experience something unique and personal to their characters. Nelson sees the vision of a boy he bullied as a child, Billy Mahoney. Joe experiences a more erotic afterlife. David sees Winnie Hicks, who he also bullied when younger. Each time they flatline, our team of medical students get more brazen. They increase the time before they attempt revival. The thrill of the task becomes almost an addiction. The more they defy death, the less they care of the consequences; increased chances for brain damage, expulsion from school, and oh yeah – DEATH.

New candidates hit the gurney. All the while, the previously flatlined begin experiencing very real paranormal encounters. Still a impossibly a child, Billy Mahoney taunts Nelson; finding him in street corners, appearing in his car. He grows more and more real each encounter, able to physically assault and attack him. Joe has an affinity for sexually assaulting women by videotaping them without their consent. His punishment is those very women from his past appearing in impossible places, taunting him while his Fiance remains unawares.

The men opt to keep these strange after-effects to themselves, and Rachel decides to go next. Because they’ve decided to set up shop in what is practically an abandoned warehouse; the power surges. They are unable to revive Rachel with the defibrillators. Time ticks by, and she heads dangerously close towards definitive brain damage. At the last moment they are able to bring back a heartbeat and Rachel survives. Her near-death experience is the most intimately personal. She experiences a vague re-enactment of witnessing her father’s suicide. These visions continue to haunt her even after she leaves the table.

Confront Your Demons

David decides to confront his demons in an effort to put an end to the hallucinations. He tracks down a grown Winnie Hicks and musters up a long overdue apology. David is freed from the taunting visions, a weight lifted. Joe is forced to come clean about his perversions to his fiance Anne, after she comes across his disgusting stash of videotapes. After Anne leaves him, Joe too is freed from his macabre visions. Rachel, consumed by visions of her father’s death, discovers he was addicted to heroin. She is then also freed in learning she wasn’t at fault in some way.

We learn Billy Mahone died as a child. It was directly a result of Nelson’s bullying; he and his chums chased Billy up a tree, where he accidentally fell to his death. In order to make his amends, Nelson flatlines for a second time. He has to apologize to Billy Mahone in the afterlife, for there is no other way to contact him. Alone, Nelson flatlines for 9 minutes as the team race to revive him. In one final attempt, David shocks Nelson – and the machines beep to life. Nelson’s eyes flutter, and he utters “Today wasn’t a good day to die.”

Thoughts on the Film

Flatliners is enjoyable in the nostalgic sense. We don’t get movies like quite like this anymore. (disregard the sequel, people.) The gritty, silly genre-warping films of the 1990’s soon made way for Action Adventure epics like Superhero films and ..are Transformers superheroes? Can they just be lumped into that category? Whatever, point made. Moving on.

Though a successfully executed story from beginning to end, the film has never been among my favorites. It straddles too close to the line of teasing something dark, and being lighthearted and funny. The tone is muddled. And because of that, this film never rose to cult status. It was as if after seeing David Cronenburg’s The Fly, the studio threw The Lost Boys into Telepod 3. Flatliners is the Brundlefly that came out.

Still, after not seeing this film for twenty years, the re-watch was enjoyable. All of the budding actors are climbing to the top of their game, and it’s a role unlike any other Julia Roberts has ever portrayed. Kevin Bacon is also surprisingly not an asshole in it? Which is a nice change after growing up with the weird and slightly-rapey Hollow Man.

A New Generation of Death Defy-ers

In just a few days, a new team will hit the cold slab of death. They will be joined by Kiefer Sutherland, lucidly reprising his role as a doctor – probably providing the young medical students with some ominous (and unheaded) warnings about playing with death. He may even utter an iconic phrase, should the franchise want to retain its iconic level of cheese.

The official synopsis reads:

In Flatliners, five medical students, obsessed by the mystery of what lies beyond the confines of life, embark on a daring and dangerous experiment: by stopping their hearts for short periods of time, each triggers a near-death experience — giving them a firsthand account of the afterlife. But as their experiments become increasingly dangerous, they are each haunted by the sins of their pasts, brought on by the paranormal consequences of trespassing to the other side.

Does that synopsis sound like it could be for the 1990 film to you? It sure does to me. I’ll be interested to see what more they bring to the operating table this go around. They’re going to need to pull something original out of that magician’s cap if this film is going to survive long enough to hit DVD shelves. Without seeing the film, it’s currently sitting on my 2nd most unwarranted film of 2017 list (behind The Mummy, of course). It’ll have to pull some major stunts to top my not-so-negative charts.

But, I wouldn’t hold my breath. (I seriously hope you’re getting all of the Flatline puns in this article.) My best guess is this film is designed with a younger generation in mind. They’re aiming to fill the seats with an audience that has heard of the original, but never watched it. It is likely the studios will throw those of us ‘Loyalists’ a bone with updated CGI effects during the lucid afterlife and the creepy, paranormal spooks afterwards. At it’s core though, I’m expecting the plot to repeat beat for beat. Lets all plan for a bit of a snoozer.

Flatliners, the sequel/reboot stars Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, Kiersey Clemons . It opens wide in theaters on September 29th.

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#ellen page #flatliners 1990 synopsis #flatliners reboot #flatliners recap #flatliners review #flatliners revisited #flatliners revisted #flatliners sequel #flatliners synopsis #horror news #horror review #julia roberts #kiefer sutherland #new horrro #nina dobrev

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toldnews-blog · 5 years

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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/technology/entertainment/chewbacca-fan-turned-fire-capt-reflects-on-actors-legacy/

Chewbacca Fan-Turned-Fire Capt. Reflects on Actor's Legacy

A Vista, California, Fire Department captain and lifelong “Star Wars” fan who famously dresses up as Chewbacca on his days off was hit hard by the death of actor Peter Mayhew, a man he said “was everything, for everyone.”

“It’s hard to put into words what Chewbacca meant to the [‘Star Wars’] community,” Vista Fire Dept. Capt. Samuel Craig told NBC 7 earlier this week. “He was the passion; the teddy bear; the loyalty. He was everything, for everyone.”

“When something bad happened on screen, you got the visceral reaction from him,” Craig added. “You got to see the raw passion and he really reflected what you saw.”

Mayhew, 74 – best known for his iconic role as Chewbacca in the “Star Wars” series – died April 30 at his home in Boyd, Texas. The 7-foot-2 actor was the man inside the Wookiee’s furry suit in five “Star Wars” films beginning with the original trilogy released from 1977 to 1983.

Mayhew put the Chewbacca suit on again in 2005 for “Revenge of the Sith,” and in 2018 for “The Force Awakens. The actor also voiced the character in cartoons and video games, and attended countless conventions, meeting fans at every turn.

One time, one of those fans was Craig.

For the fire captain, it was one of those moments in life that never leaves your heart.

Craig was wearing a life-size Chewbacca costume when he met his hero. Mayhew was impressed by the get-up and humbled to see the impact of his character on Craig’s life. They took a few photos together.

“He was so gracious,” Craig recounted. “It was a really great moment.”

Craig said he was raised on the magic of “Star Wars.” In fact, it was the very first movie he ever saw in a theater.

“My dad took me when I was young, on opening day, in 1977,” he said. “I still don’t know why he took someone that young to see the movie. Growing up, my entire life was about ‘Star Wars’ and Chewbacca was just always a favorite. He stands out; he was everything – he was the friend.”

Craig passed down his love of Chewbacca and “Star Wars” to his own son. He was able to take his son to the movies in 2015 to see “The Force Awakens.”

He also involved his son and wife in the making of his Chewbacca costume, which he has famously worn to San Diego Comic-Con International.

Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca in ‘Star Wars,’ Dies at 74

In 2015, the costume was a showstopper among Comic-Con fans who lined up to take pictures with Craig.

“Our whole family has a connection to the character,” he added.

The costume took the Craig family 18 months to make. His son was only 5 and 6 years old at the time of the crafty undertaking. Each strand of hair was painstakingly placed on the costume and colored to match Chewbacca’s appearance.

When Craig donned the costume at Comic-Con, he walked on 15-inch stilts, making him 7-foot-8 – pretty close to the height of the real Chewie.

“[My] Chewbacca costume is as close to screen-accurate as my family and I were able to make it,” Craig explained.

Today, when he’s not wearing his fire captain uniform, Craig continues to suit up in his Chewbacca costume, wearing it to community and charity events around San Diego’s North County.

In fact, he was on the phone setting up his next gig as Chewbacca earlier this week – for May the 4th, of course – when he heard news of Mayhew’s death.

He was crushed.

His son, knowing Craig’s love for Chewbacca, was worried about his dad’s feelings.

In Memoriam: Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca of ‘Star Wars’

Although Mayhew is gone, Craig finds solace in the fact that the actor’s legacy and all that Chewbacca stands for will never fade.

All fans need to do is turn on a “Star Wars” movie to feel the powers of Chewie.

“Peter Mayhew was this wonderful man, and that really comes out in the character of Chewbacca. If you watch the performances carefully, you can occasionally see when it’s a stunt person in the costume. Peter Mayhew’s personality really came out,” Craig explained. “That could’ve so easily been a character in a furry costume. So many of the mannerisms – so much of the heart – he really created a character where I don’t really even know if it was meant to be.”

“That’s what made it an endearing character,” he added. “It wasn’t the costume, it was the man inside the costume. For me, he was loyalty. He was this friend who stuck with Han Solo through everything. He really showed the best of what that world could be, which really had a lot to do with the actor that was inside that costume.”

Craig is far from alone in his love for Mayhew. The “Star Wars” universe is grieving.

Earlier this week, “Star Wars” cast members and devoted fans of the franchise mourned the loss of the gentle giant, and the joy his footprint left on their lives forever.

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class-of-its-own · 5 years

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GROWN MAN DRIFTING

A technique Erik has learned a long time ago makes him a definition of calmness. His number one rule in life is to control his breathing. When you see Erik, you see him breathing, - literally. Through his nose, then letting the air out of his mouth slowly, deliberately Erik is savouring each breath like it was a precious delicatesse. A precise exercise that allows him to take his time to choose his thoughts, his words and actions, and then to be present. Being present is his rule number two. I learned this in a disturbing way when I attended his 60th birthday reception at My Garage.

Class-of-its-Own's Max Noble spent a few days with the eight-time car stunt world record holder, making skid marks and stunts at Swedish race tracks defying the laws of physics, yelling "HELL YEAH!" and getting spiritual (gotta share the wisdom!) and figuring out if Erik W. has what it takes to become a grown man.

Already at My Garage’s parking slot I realize that this is Erik’s territory. The parked cars vary from the latest convertible Roll’s Royce to racing Ferrari’s with sponsor logos tagged in them in what I always found to be pure blasphemy, ruining godlike designed, iconic cars, taking attention away from what matters, the joy of seeing true perfection in a real life. But these cars are toys and My Garage is Disneyland for petrolheads. Erik is a eight time world championship in car stunts and loves drifting. Drifting is an act of art in motorsports where the driver aims his car at high speed at a wall, - sidewise and misses it, often with tiny little margins. Good drivers do it with a meter or half a meter margin, Erik’s stunts are counted in centimetres.

Drifting is not for the wussies, faint hearted chickens or those who are nursing, or pregnant, or may become pregnant. If you have any trouble experiencing any epic, you may not wish to witness or try to drifting, as it will make you a fifteen-year-old school kid, yelling “YEAAH”, high fiving your bud and possibly looking like you had just seen the saviour of the world appearing from the tire smokes, - in slow motion of course. It is juvenile, it serves no purpose what so ever than to mesmerise, hypnotise and blow your mind off. The parking place is full of circled tire skid marks from Erik’s stunts and I am excited to see what kind of cars are inside My Garage and to learn what kind of legend Erik W is.

Erik is not the first person I meet at the reception, nor the second or the third. In fact I couldn’t spot the man of the day at all the first five minutes. Then I see him far away from the podium and microphone, listening intensively to one of his guests talking. Erik looks directly to his guest’s eyes, not flickering, not paying attention to the eclectic scenery or to other people. He is completely present and the guest enjoys his attention. I should have learned this immediately, but I didn’t. Erik takes people in one by one. He respects each and everyone like she or he was his own grandparent. With love and respect in focused manner. He mannerism tells that “I am here with you. Now it is your time to open your heart.” One of the programs Erik does is called Hearttalk where he helps people to find and define their unique resources and how these can be used to create happiness and better life quality.

I find Erik later on at the bar, backstage that he seems to prefer, listening to another guest, and I decide to introduce myself finally, but the talk seems to go on forever. Erik has not moved an inch, not allowing me to get his attention. Erik is statue-like, not moving, hunching over bar desk, his back towards me and I am now very close to him, maybe 40 centimetres from him, within his very personal space, but he hasn't noticed me. I wait another minute or so, standing just next him, feeling stupid and I decide to tap his shoulder. I do three or so short taps on his right shoulder. Erik doesn’t react at all. This has never happened to me before. It is a rule, a survival instinct when something touches you from the blind ankle, you turn to look at the source of touch. But not Erik. I make a note that my taps very not light, but normal, firm taps, so it could not have gone unnoticed. I am baffled and I wonder for a moment if he had seen me before and I was not welcome. Maybe he was giving me the royal treatment and ignoring me? I should have known it better by now. Erik controls not only his breathing, his words, his actions, but also his reactions and most remarkably the universal human instincts. The fear of unknown, in this case me invading his personal space, has been programmed away and Erik’s mind was free to pay attention to his one and only chosen target at the moment. Erik lives focused life. Later on, when I was interviewing Erik, he said that he didn’t know who tapped his shoulder and he seemed baffled if it had happened at all. Erik is present.

Erik has as mentioned eight world records in stunts and that is impressive. And this was important to Erik in his past. To impress others. To understand Erik W we need to go back 50 years or so in time. “I know exactly when it happened. I was playing football with my friends and wanted to do good. Finally, I scored a goal and I thought that would impress my friends. But they booed and called me braggart. I didn’t understand it at all.” Telling this tiny little incident makes Erik still emotional. “My self-confidence was not high and I wanted to impress others.” Fear is a powerful emotion and I agree with Erik that most people let fear to dominate their thought processes, leading not to live their lives to their potential. Erik lived the life on the edge of fear of social disapproval and with a huge drive to impress the very same people, leading him to not to talk, but to perform in most dramatic and striking ways, driving a car 126 kilometers on two wheels and winning the worlds hardest motocross race Grand National, twice.

Erik is a bit of a mystery. He is reserved, yet welcoming. Erik's mind is built like turtle's torso, wearing an extremely strong protective shield, defined by slow, yet determined process and expressed with thoughtful curiosity when feeling safe or maybe it is just that he gives his dedicated time before reacting to outer impulses. He is not easy to read and I am more than happy, in fact, a bit relieved, to read his short facebook message about the first draft of this text that Erik had for review "Excellently written and with a sense to make it exciting - you are good my friend - would like to give you a ride in my drift car at Sturup race track". On Danish Championship day. I can see myself sitting in a custom made drift car next to the iconic stunt man, him being completely calm, counting his breaths and making the precise, calculated gear shifts, man becoming one with the machine, motor pushed to the extremes, me yelling terrified, excited curse words, trying desperately to keep some dignity and NOT to wet my pants.

To be continued...

Your true and loving portraitor,

Max Noble

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alarrytale · 9 months

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#he's not getting icon status if he continues stunting the next five years #I can tell you as much

Sorry what do you mean by that? I'm not disagreeing with you but not entirely sure what you mean.

What i mean is that i don't think history will take kindly to the methods he's using to achieve the icon status. And i think the methods will hinder him in getting there.

More and more people are opening their eyes and seeing his stunts for what it is. And stunting in general. It's so common now, and it's getting harder and harder to sell it. For the first time people said no to a stunt (holivia), and it didn’t achieve what it intended to do. I don't think it will ever be socially acceptable to stunt, and i think, with time, it's about to become even less acceptable. His legacy will be someone who faked his way to the top. It will tarnish his reputation. It will get better and easier when he comes out, but if he keeps the stunting up i think people will think of him as a attention seeker/socialite first (like a Kardashian) before they think of him as a musician, artist and songwriter.

I think and hope history will reward talented people who got where they are on their own merits, who took the long and hard road to the top while being themselves. I think history will look down on fakery, shortcuts and horse-trading etc.

#harry image #stunting #holivia for ts #also you're allowed to disagree with me!

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ramajmedia · 5 years

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James Bond: 5 Reasons We're Excited For No Time To Die (& 5 Things We're Worried About)

Related: Bond's 10 Most Brutal Kills, Ranked

10 Worried: It'll Be Too Personal Again

9 Excited: Director

8 Worried: It'll Still Do The Bond Is Old Schtick

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7 Excited: Returning Cast

6 Worried: It May Be Too Serious

5 Excited: Rami Malek

Related: 10 Celebrity Biopics That Are Worth Watching

In No Time to Die he will play the villain, which will showcase a whole other side of his talents. Whatever his scheme and goals may be in the new film, he'll surely pull it off excellently.

4 Worried: Daniel Craig Is Getting Old

Related: 10 Things From The Bond Films That Have Aged Poorly

He also does less stunt work than in the earlier films. While his performance is still top-notch in the role, his stamina may start affecting the action sequences.

3 Excited: Daniel Craig Is The Best He's Been At Bond

2 Worried: Christoph Waltz May Not Return

Related: Hans Landa's 10 Most Menacing Quotes

In fact, all signs point to him sitting out the next movie. He was a highlight of the Spectre, so his absence in No Time to Die will be severely felt if he doesn't make an appearance.

1 Excited: Picking Up Where Spectre Left Off

Next: 10 Best Bond Movie Henchmen, Ranked

source https://screenrant.com/no-time-to-die-reasons-excited-worried/

#screenrant

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