#‹ dialogue ➝ k . austin . ›

[dietpepzi]

❛   hi   ,   i   missed   you   .   ❜   fem   begins   ,   timbre   light   as   she   enters   the   room   where   wilder   is   sat   comfortable   on   the   couch   ,   headset   on   as   the   male   plays   video   games   with   his   friends   .   kailani   lowers   herself   onto   his   lap   ,   thighs   at   either   side   of   him   as   brunette   presses   kisses   to   his   neck   .

[nepotizma]

❛ i’m wearing some nice new lingerie for you. ❜

[nepotizma]

' i actually haven't been comparing him to you , because i don't think about you anymore . i'm happy where i'm at , caden . my career is thriving , alex and i have just started dating and thus far , we have no issues . why do you have to bring me back into some bullshit 'cause you're bored of your temporary hook ups ? '

@nepotizm

❛ he ain't shit ! i know he's not better than me , i know that you miss me . ❜

[plutos-w0rkshop]

chap.3 - cornered communication

A/N: This story includes Polish dialogue from now on! It will still mostly be English, but due to the nature of some of the characters, they will be speaking in Polish. This language variety may possibly get larger as well. Please translate it yourself, if it’s not too much. I would recommend DeepL translator, which is what I use. I’M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT BTW…...

Word Count: 1.3k

Content Warnings: War mentions (breif)

It had been a few days since then. Vox was very slowly, but surely, lighting up to Austin, and that was good. Not necessarily friendly, but he wasn’t being blatantly rude anymore. That was a step forward. It was late at night, about 10pm by now. He and Vox were sitting together on the couch, but being sure to have a reasonable distance from each other.

This had fueled their forming peaceable relationship. It was surprisingly Vox’s idea, and Austin thought it was a good idea. He couldn’t sleep once again tonight, anyways. Maybe this could help.

He sat in quietness, the sound of the TV filling his hearing. A blanket had been draped around Austin, being sure to keep him warm.

He still didn’t understand what exactly happened. Vox told him he had died and was now in Hell, but why does he look like this? Wouldn’t he had stayed the same? It’s… odd, really. There seemed to be an intangible realization he couldn’t seem to get his hands on for this, as if taunting him for one’s own amusement.

He still hadn’t figured out this whole wing situation. They just appeared for a small bit, then disappeared into thin air. He probably seemed like a lunatic. Or, at least, that was how Vox was treating him. He seemed to be attempting to get them back though, he had thought they were pretty.. and soft.

"I’m thirsty," the aphid mutters, yawning.

"I don’t give a shit," Vox replies, before letting out a snicker and getting up. "Kidding. I’ll get you something."

He walks off to the kitchen, leaving Austin alone by himself. He continued watching TV, his interest peaked in the film. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde always interested him, he’s been latched since he was young. First introduced when he was around 5, very poorly attempting to read the heavy book that was in the basement. He doesn’t even know if he could read it now. He never went to school.

Vox returns back to the living room with a glass full of water, gently setting it down onto the table beside the couch. Austin stared at him and he swore he had seen his gaze linger on him a second longer than usual, but his head was likely just messing with him. He took his seat once again, leaning back as he stared at the TV. Or, technically right past it, at something on the wall.

Taking the glass, Austin grabbed a soft hold on the glass of water and brought it up to his lips, tilting his head back to allow himself to drink. He felt the cold liquid running down his throat, helping his what was about to be dry throat. He sat back up properly, silently promulgating his fixation on the film.

Vox snickered, staring over at him. "Do you like this movie or something?" he asked sarcastically; it was obvious the aphid was.

"Yeah," he responded, eyes not daring to leave the screen.

"Couldn't tell." The TV demon simpered, finding his reaction amusing.

The movie eventually had ended, and it seemed to go by quickly. Austin was barely awake now, though it was the middle of the day. He didn’t get good sleep last night. Vox side-eyes him, raising an eyebrow at his visible fatigue. "You good over there?" he spoke up.

"I’m tired.." he muttered, his eyes droopy. He looked back at the TV demon, meeting his gaze.

"…K. Lay on me and I’ll kill you," Vox scolds, scooting a small bit away from him. Deep down he really wouldn't care though, he's just iffy about it. Austin was concentrated on trying to somehow get the wings back. After a minute he actually felt them come back and instinctively wrap around his body, providing warmth. "Hm," he hummed softly; it felt nice. He felt secure.

Well, did.

A few hours ago he had gone out and away from the house, needing to work on the burning urge he had to find his brother, and whatever he and Vincent were. Vox instinctively was a bit worried, knowing he probably couldn't fend for himself out there yet, but didn't interfere with it. It was his decision after all. He just sent Austin off with a "good luck," and he was gone.

He was out in the city now. He was sure to take a weapon with him from Vox's house, and didn't really question why he had them out in the open. This was so-called Hell, he wasn't surprised either. He had the dark-colored, sharp switchblade tight in his clenched fist, signaling his mild alertness due to fear, his typical hubris personality now caught in his throat. At the very least, he knew how to fight like it was nobody's business.

He eventually found himself repeatedly circling the city, in no hopes of finding the only reason he left the comfort of shelter. He sighed lowly and his shoulders dropped, thinking he'd lost all of his hope. Maybe they had gone elsewhere. But... How? How would they not be here, they were both terrible people too. He dragged himself into an alleyway, slamming himself against the wall and sliding his back down against it, his head tilting down with both the force and his physical movements.

He felt like the poetaster that wrote his hell of a story. No matter however it was bound to end, it wasn’t going to be good. He would probably be alone for the rest of this helpless eternity. He wrapped his voluminous wings around his soft, exhausted body, trying not to start crying in front of what felt like a million people, despite being in a partially excluded area.

Whilst trapped in his own whirlwind of his emotions he felt a sudden tap on his shoulder, making his spiraling mind draw an abrupt blank. He slowly lowers his wing so he can look up, tears and mascara running down his face. Wait, is that…

"…Brata..?" he whimpers out in Polish, his voice weak from helpless sobs.

"Wiedziałem, że to ty." His face drops for a second upon hearing his brother’s signature voice; a deep, thick accented set of vocal cords. He would recognize that voice anywhere.

"BRATA!!" he squeals out, immediately pulling himself up while using his arm as a support. He quickly hugs him tightly, his fingers hugging at his relative’s clothing. "Tak bardzo za tobą tęskniłam, Casmir. Nie rozumiesz.." he mumbles, his tears turning into ones of pure, pure ecstasy.

Casmir’s arms wrapped loosely yet firmly around his younger brother’s body. He wished he was able to see him again for all of the rancid years he had spent down in this shithole, and now it was finally happening. 12 years later. Oh, how he'd missed him.

"Więc co u ciebie?" Austin spoke up, taking a step back and looking up at him. Casmir wasn't exactly as tall as Vox seemed to be, but it was still pretty damn close.

"Mm.. Radzę sobie dobrze. Ty?" he speaks back, continuing to speak in Polish. He didn't know English after all, he never went to America, and died while still in Poland.

"Radzę sobie dobrze… zwłaszcza teraz, kiedy widzę Ciebie!!! Tak bardzo za tobą tęskniłem…" practically squealing, he speaks excitedly, his accent prominent, as it usually is. Though this time, it's his Polish-sided accent. It was a bit odd having two, honestly.

Casmir simpered in silence as he stared down at the beaming demon in front of him, who was rambling relentlessly in the European language. He had his arms akimbo as he looked vacantly at the jovial sinner in front of him. It might've seemed like he was exaggerating, but in all honesty? He couldn't. He hadn't seen him since 1942, thanks to that stupid world war... and Zajac. The man he would never dare to call his father.

He didn’t even know how much until he found him again, flooded with a feeling of unadulterated happiness as he talked. Now Austin just had to get back to Vox, so he could be safe in the shelter of his home. Wait, but one issue… which way did he come from again..?

Tags

@roach-master / @throat0fdelusion / @zh4rkbyt3

[magentalightstudios]

Strange Darling 2024 Movie Scene | Willa Fitzgerald & Kyle Gallner

In this thrilling clip from the upcoming horror thriller Strange Darling, Willa Fitzgerald desperately hides from Kyle Gallner's menacing presence. As Kyle searches relentlessly to find and K I L L her, he chillingly taunts with the dialogue, "Hey Kitty, Kitty Kitty." This intense scene showcases the terrifying atmosphere and gripping suspense that defines the movie.

"The cleverest thriller of its kind" - Variety

Storyline: Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial K I L L E R’s vicious M U R D E R spree. "Strange Darling" promises to keep you on the edge of your seat with its unpredictable plot and haunting performances.

Release Date: Strange Darling arrives August 23rd, only in theaters.

Starring:

Willa Fitzgerald & Kyle Gallner

Written & directed by JT Mollner

Cinematography by Giovanni Ribisi

From the producer of Barbarian & Late Night with the Devil

About the Film: Strange Darling is a 2023 American horror-thriller film written and directed by JT Mollner. Starring Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, and Ed Begley Jr., the film is set to be released in the United States on August 23, 2024, by Magenta Light Studios.

Cast:

Willa Fitzgerald as the Lady

Kyle Gallner as the Demon

Giovanni Ribisi as Art Pallone

Barbara Hershey

Ed Begley Jr.

Madisen Beaty

Bianca Santos

Steven Michael Quezada

The film premiered on September 22, 2023, at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. In March 2024, Magenta Light Studios acquired U.S. distribution rights, scheduling its theatrical release for August 23, 2024.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Dallas Connection (1994)

The Dallas Connection is hilariously inept. In many ways, it’s got everything you want out of a "so bad it's good" action film. The performances are awful, with the title of “least convincing” constantly moving from one actor to the next. The plot is simplistic, bordering on idiotic, making it easy to follow even if you’re spending more time shouting insults at the screen than paying attention to what’s going on. The script contains gems like “I’d like to suck the polish off your toes” to keep you laughing. There aren’t a lot of action scenes but when bullets are exchanged, they usually result in some unconvincing dummies blowing up. Most important of all, it takes itself completely seriously, with several final act twists proving that some of the “mistakes” we saw previously were actually intentional. Only one thing prevents me from wholeheartedly recommending it to everyone. What is it? Read on.

A trio of beautiful assassins - Black Widow (Julie Strain), Cobra (Julie K. Smith) and Scorpion (Wendy Hamilton) - eliminate three of the four scientists involved in the creation of an advanced satellite system. To ensure Antonio Morales (Rodrigo Obregón) doesn’t fall prey to the same fate, special agents Chris Cannon (Bruce Penhall), Mark Austin (Mark Barriere), Samantha Maxx (Samantha Phillips) and Nicholas Lang (Roland Marcus) are sent to protect him.

Though the plot is easily summarized, it’s made to seem needlessly complicated. This is because of some equation that was split up among the scientists and then converted into microchips that need to be brought together so the satellite can be activated by a meteor shower. This will allow whoever uses it to detect any weapon on earth, anywhere - even underground. Huh? What? It makes no sense but doesn’t matter. The point is, we have a bunch of male scientists with something the evil people want. How do you get a man to hand over something useful? By seducing them, or blowing them up. Enter the trio of female assassins, all of whom are played by Playboy playmates. Like I always say, if you can’t be good, be sleazy and this movie takes that mantra to heart. Unnecessary shower scenes, prolonged sex scenes, a trip to a strip club and loads of inappropriate outfits make this the kind of movie that would be watched over and over by teenage boys late at night. It’s not quite as bad as Skyscraper, but it’s close. The most hilarious R-rated moment has to be a sequence set in a fancy restaurant. Mr. Morales begins fantasizing about what his bodyguard would look like in lingerie so of course we see Samantha Philips out of her clothes. They had to find some way to get it done… beyond the sex scene she had earlier.

While this obsession with the female body is hilarious and pleasing to anyone who might enjoy the female form… it might also be the one thing that won’t make The Dallas Connection fun for every crowd - especially if your group contains couples. Reportedly, Bruce Penhall’s wife was pretty upset by his enthusiasm in the hot tub scene. It’s easy to see why.

The ladies were cast primarily for their ability to dazzle audiences with their shirts off but the male characters aren't exactly Shakespearean all-stars either. One-liners that should have you cheering will instead make you groan, important dialogue is thoroughly unconvincing (and contains grammatical errors at least once) and everyone comes off as an idiot. It certainly doesn’t help that the story is full of inconsistent behavior - even if you take the twists at the end into consideration. You can spot a boom mike in the upper left corner of an early scene and the story will have you scratching your head. You’d think with the villains’ team being primarily composed of three “strong” women that Samantha would be the big hero at the end. She’s the only one that can’t be seduced, she’s the one that gets closest to Morales, and as the only woman on the team, she stands out. Except she’s a terrible agent. One punch and she’s down for the count - hardly a badass. You might say I was expecting too much but some of the reveals at the end are proper "Oh!" moments that force you to pause and think. Not much, but for a movie of this level, that counts for a lot.

Ultimately, The Dallas Connection is light on the action but makes up for it with the gratuitous nudity. At first, you'll say “Alright, I see what you did there” but it’s expected out of a film like this one. It’s what the poster is promising, after all. The third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. time the film finds a way to get the women out of their clothes are so absurd you'll be howling. Once in a while, it also switches things up with some bad performances, unconvincing dummies, lousy dialogue, and nonsensical writing. From my research, it sounds like this is par for the course for director Christian Drew Sidaris. If that's the case, I’m looking forward to seeing more. (March 26, 2022)

[artiesjam]

ginny and georgia watch for the first time because im terribly bored (Pilot)

RON’S A PUSSY OSJSNWNWN

i love this mother son relationship they have

ginny.

ginny this could’ve been a completely different time and place but go off tbh ‼️

is her entire storyline centered around her “struggles” as a mixed girl? PLEASE tell me this is not the case

i love maxine’s vibe

i just don’t care about marcus all that much

that’s the world’s most stupidest shirt ever aisiajaj

she acted like she knew the band. sighs.

CAN MARCUS STOP WITH THE SALUTES PLEASE

nevermind i don’t like maxine’s vibe

MAX PLEASE WHAT ARE YOU DOING

“was he on the highway? WAS HE ON A MOTORCYCLE??🤪😜🥰” when asking about someone’s dead dad

and there she goes.

i feel like max is my brain constantly

ginny being girlboss as always /hj

she’s really finessing the mayor into having lunch with her

okay yall seein what im seeing?? joe and georgia 👀👀

and then ginny sees her mom. hshsjwnwnsn

OH SHES TRYING TO GET A JOB.

and that failed miserably.

PEOPLE BETTER STOP PICKING ON AUSTIN >:((

ooo another flashback

im guessing that’s ginny’s dad?

he’s. kinda hot?

georgia ily

okay now we’re here with the wondertwins

max. i can’t tell if i like you or hate you

MARCUS BACK TF UP STOP

that made me so uncomfortable

and then again. with the fucking salute. im going to cry.

she stole his bike with the worst background music ever and then

KISSES HIMMMM?? ⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

and then ginny once again screams at her mom

i get her frustration i do but she really needs to lay down on the teenage angst

okay so her card keeps declining hmmm

HAHAHSJSNSN SHE JUST STOLE

she looks so good my lord

BREAK HIS NOSE GEORGIA. BREAK ITTTTT

how the hell did austin do that with ONE hit though

what do we do to bees? *sends kid into another dimension*

HUNTER <3

i like him so far he seems cool

please ginny don’t lead him on i feel like that’s where this is gonna go

does maxine like women? curious question because based off this dialogue im really starting to question

LORD HAVE MERCY GEORGIA PLEASE–

can she run me over

CAR PICNIC ‼️

i wish if my mom threw me a car picnic

“nobody likes you mom”

“i like you.”

“she likes me.”

hunter > marcus so far

i agree hunter wheeling backpacks are the root of all evil

THEYRE SMOKING THE WEED ALRIGHT GWHAHSH

i knew max was gay. I KNEW IT. I K N E W

“i framed him.” WHAT

“glad you didn’t ask me to play with your balls” HGNNNN WHAT 😀

that hug was so awkward

joe was just blackmailed oh-

i don’t think that’s how getting a job works but proud of her hsjanan

he c l i m b s through the window??

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS FUCKED UO LOVE TRIANGLE ITS THE FIRST FUCKING EPISODE

and i just know that hunter is going to be led on and treated badly

now they are making out

marcus.

what the hell js this dialogue

if i was the actor id be embarrassed as hell

im so done.

MARCUS IF YOU SALUTE ONE MORE TIME IM OFFING MYSELF /j

kenny what the fucking hell.

YES GEORGIA KILL HIS ASS

now that funeral scene makes perfect sense HAJSJSJS

what the hell ginny? what was the point of that

*angsty edgy walk away*

that was embarrassing ginny

so ginny’s mom is basically a world class criminal.

good to know

[grigori77]

2019 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 2)

20.  FROZEN 2 – so, another year, then, and once again Disney doesn’t QUITE manage to net the animated feature top spot on my list, but it’s not for lack of trying – this long-awaited sequel to the studio’s runaway hit musical fantasy adventure is just what we’ve come to love from the House of Mouse, but more importantly it’s a most worthy sequel, easily on a par with the much beloved origin.  Not much of a surprise given the welcome return of all the key people, from directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (who also once again wrote the screenplay) to composer Christophe Beck and songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, as well as all the key players in the cast.  It’s business as usual in the kingdom of Arendelle, where all is seemingly peaceful and tranquil, but Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) is restless, haunted by a distant voice that only she can hear, calling to her from a mysterious past she just can’t place … and then she accidentally awakens the four elemental spirits, sending her homeland into mystical turmoil, prompting her to embark on a desperate search for answers with her sister Princess Anna (Kristen Bell), ice harvester Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his faithful reindeer companion Sven, and, of course, living snowman Olaf (Josh Gad). Their quest leads them into the Enchanted Forest of Northuldra, a neighbouring kingdom, ruled by simple, elemental magic, that has remained cut off from Arendelle for decades, where they discover dark, hidden truths about their own family’s past and must make peace with the spirits if they’re to save their home and their people.  So, typical Disney family fantasy fare, then, right? Well, Frozen 2 certainly dots all the Is and crosses all the Ts, but, like the original, this is no jaded blockbuster money spinner, packed with the same kind of resonant power, skilful inventiveness and pure, show-stopping WOW-factor as its predecessor, but more importantly this is a sequel that effectively carves out a fresh identity for itself, brilliantly taking the world and characters in interesting new directions to create something fresh, rewarding and worthwhile on its own merit.  The returning cast are all as strong as ever, Menzel and Bell in particular ably powering the story, while it’s nice to see both Groff and Gad getting something new to do with their own characters too, even nabbing their own major musical numbers; there’s also a welcome slew of fresh new faces to this world, particular Sterling K. Brown (This is Us, Black Panther, The Predator) as lost Anrendelle soldier Mattias and former Brat Pack star Martha Plimpton as Yelena, leader of the lost tribe of Northuldra. Once again this is Disney escapism at its very best, a heart-warming, soul-nourishing powerhouse of winning humour, emotional power and child-like wonder, but like the first film the biggest selling point is, of course, that KILLER soundtrack, with every song here a total hit, not one dud among them, and there are even ear-worms here to put Let It Go to shame – Into the Unknown was touted as the major hit, and it is impressive, but I was particularly affected by Groff’s unashamedly full-bore rendition of Lost in the Woods, a bona fide classic rock power ballad crafted in the fashion of REO Speedwagon, while the undeniable highlight for me is the unstoppable Show Yourself, with Menzel once again proving that her incredible voice is a natural force all in itself.  Altogether, then, this is an absolute feast for the eyes, the ears AND the soul, every inch the winner that its predecessor was and also EASILY one of Disney’s premier animated features for the decade.  So it’s quite the runner-up, then …

19.  ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD – since his explosion onto the scene twenty-seven years ago with his runaway smash debut Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino has become one of the most important filmmakers of his generation, a true master of the cinematic art form who consistently delivers moving picture masterpieces that thrill, entertain, challenge and amuse audiences worldwide … at least those who can stomach his love of unswerving violence, naughty talk and morally bankrupt antiheroes and despicably brutal villains who are often little more than a shade different from one another.  Time has moved on, though, and while he’s undoubtedly been one of the biggest influences on the way cinema has changed over the past quarter century, there are times now that it’s starting to feel like the scene is moving on in favour of younger, fresher blood with their own ideas.   I think Tarantino can sense this himself, because he recently made a powerful statement – after he’s made his tenth film, he plans to retire.  Given that OUATIH is his NINTH film, that deadline is already looming, and we unashamed FANS of his films are understandably aghast over this turn of events.  Thankfully he remains as uncompromisingly awesome a writer-director as ever, delivering another gold standard five-star flick which is also most definitely his most PERSONAL work to date, quite simply down to the fact that it’s a film ABOUT film.  Sure, it has a plot (of sorts, anyway), revolving around the slow decline of the career of former TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo Dicaprio), who languishes in increasing anonymity in Hollywood circa 1969 as his former western hero image is being slowly eroded by an increasingly hacky workload guest-starring on various syndicated shows as a succession of punching-bag heavies for the hero to wale on, while his only real friend is his one-time stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), a former WW2 hero with a decidedly tarnished reputation of his own; meanwhile new neighbours have moved in next door to further distract him – hot-as-shit young director Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha), riding high on the success of Rosemary’s Baby, and his new wife Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie).  Certainly this all drives the film, along with real-life events involving one of the darkest crimes in modern American history, but a lot of the time the plot is largely coincidental – Quentin uses it as a springboard to wax lyrical about his very favourite subject and pay loving (if sometimes irreverently satirical) tribute to the very business he’s been indulging in with such great success since 1992.  Sure, it’s also about “Helter Skelter” and the long shadow cast by Charles Manson and his band of murderous misfits, but this is largely incidental, as we’re treated to long, entertaining interludes as we follow Rick on a shoot as the bad guy in the pilot for the Lancer TV series, visit the notorious Spahn Ranch with Cliff as he’s unwittingly drawn into the lion’s den of the deadly Manson Family, join Robbie’s Tate as she watches “herself” in The Wrecking Crew, and enjoy a brilliant montage in which we follow Rick’s adventures in Spaghetti westerns (and Eurospy cinema) after he’s offered a chance to change his flagging fortunes, before the film finally builds to a seemingly inevitable, fateful conclusion that Tarantino then, in sneakily OTT Inglourious Basterds style, mischievously turns on its head with a devilish game of “What If”.  The results are a thoroughly engrossing and endlessly entertaining romp through the seedier side of Hollywood and a brilliant warts-and-all examination of the craft’s inner workings that, interestingly, reveals as much about the Business today as it does about how it was way back in the Golden Age the film portrays, all while delivering bucket-loads of QT’s trademark cool, swagger, idiosyncratic genius and to-die-for dialogue and character-work, and, of course, a typically exceptional all-star cast firing on all cylinders. Dicaprio and Pitt are both spectacular (Brad is endearingly taciturn, playing it wonderfully close to the vest throughout, while Leo is simply ON FIRE, delivering a mercurial performance EASILY on a par with his work on Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street – could this be good enough to snag him a second Oscar?), while Robbie consistently endears us to Tate as she EFFORTLESSLY brings the fallen star back to life, and there’s an incredible string of amazing supporting turns from established talent and up-and-comers alike, from Kurt Russell, Al Pacino and a very spiky Bruce Dern to Mike Moh (in a FLAWLESS take on Bruce Lee), Margaret Qualley, Austin Butler and in particular Julia Butters as precocious child star Trudi Fraser.  Packed with winning references, homages, pastiches and ingenious little in-jokes, handled with UTMOST respect for the true life subjects at all times and shot all the way through with his characteristic flair and quirky, deliciously dark sense of humour, this is cinema very much of the Old School, and EVERY INCH a Tarantino flick.  With only one more film to go the implied end of his career seems much too close, but if he delivers one more like this he’ll leave behind a legacy that ANY filmmaker would be proud of.

18.  CRAWL – summer 2019’s runner-up horror offering marks a rousing return to form for a genre talent who’s FINALLY delivered on the impressive promise of his early work – Alexandre Aja made a startling debut with Switchblade Romance, which led to his big break helming the cracking remake of slasher stalwart The Hills Have Eyes, but then he went SPECTACULARLY off the rails when he made the truly abysmal Piranha 3D, which I wholeheartedly regard as one of THE VERY WORST FILMS EVER MADE IN ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY. He took a big step back in the right direction with the admittedly flawed but ultimately enjoyable and evocative Horns (based on the novel by Stephen King’s son Joe Hill), but it’s with this stripped back, super-tight man-against-nature survival horror that the Aja of old has TRULY returned to us. IN SPADES.  Seriously, I personally think this is his best film to date – there’s no fat on it at all, going from a simple set-up STRAIGHT into a precision-crafted exercise in sustained tension that relentlessly grips right up to the end credits.  The film is largely just a two-hander – Maze Runner star Kaya Scodelario plays Haley Keller, a Florida college student and star swimmer who ventures into the heart of a Category 5 hurricane to make sure her estranged father, Dave (Saving Private Ryan’s Barry Pepper), is okay after he drops off the grid. Finding their old family home in a state of disrepair and slowly flooding, she does a last minute check of the crawl-space underneath, only to discover her father badly wounded and a couple of hungry alligators stalking the dark, cramped, claustrophobic confines. With the flood waters rising and communications cut off, Haley and Dave must use every reserve of strength, ingenuity and survival instinct to keep each other alive in the face of increasingly daunting odds … even with a premise this simple, there was plenty of potential for this to become an overblown, clunky mess in the wrong hands (a la Snakes On a Plane), so it’s a genuinely great thing that Aja really is back at the height of his powers, milking every fraught and suspenseful set-piece to its last drop of exquisite piano-wire tension and putting his actors through hell without a reprieve in sight.  Thankfully it’s not JUST about scares and atmosphere – there’s a genuinely strong family drama at the heart of the story that helps us invest in these two, Scodelario delivering a phenomenally complex performance as she peels back Haley’s layers, from stubborn pedant, through vulnerable child of divorce, to ironclad born survivor, while reconnecting with her emotionally raw, repentantly open father, played with genuine naked intensity in a career best turn from Pepper. Their chemistry is INCREDIBLY strong, making every scene a joy even as it works your nerves and tugs on your heartstrings, and as a result you DESPERATELY want to see them make it out in one piece.  Not that Aja makes it easy for them – the gators are an impressively palpable threat, proper scary beasties even if they are largely (admittedly impressively executed) digital effects, while the storm is almost a third character in itself, becoming as much of an elemental nemesis as its scaly co-stars.  Blessedly brief (just 87 minutes!) and with every second wrung out for maximum impact, this is survival horror at its most brutally, simplistically effective, a deliciously vicious, primal chill-ride that thoroughly rewards from start to finish.  Welcome back, Mr Aja.  We’ve missed you.

17.  SHAZAM! – there were actually THREE movies featuring Captain Marvel out in 2019, but this offering from the hit-and-miss DCEU cinematic franchise is a very different beast from his MCU-based namesake, and besides, THIS Cap long ago ditched said monicker for the far more catchy (albeit rather more oddball) title that graces Warner Bros’ last step back on the right track for their superhero Universe following the equally enjoyable Aquaman and franchise high-point Wonder Woman.  Although he’s never actually referred to in the film by this name, Shazam (Chuck’s Eugene Levy) is the magically-powered alternate persona bestowed upon wayward fifteen year-old foster kid Billy Batson (Andi Mack’s Asher Angel) by an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou) seeking one pure soul to battle Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), a morally corrupt physicist who turns into a monstrous supervillain after becoming the vessel for the spiritual essences of the Seven Deadly Sins (yup, that thoroughly batshit setup is just the tip of the iceberg of bonkersness on offer in this movie).  Yes, this IS set in the DC Extended Universe, Shazam sharing his world with Superman, Batman, the Flash et al, and there are numerous references (both overt and sly) to this fact throughout (especially in the cheeky animated closing title sequence), but it’s never laboured, and the film largely exists in its own comfortably enclosed narrative bubble, allowing us to focus on Billy, his alter ego and in particular his clunky (but oh so much fun) bonding experiences with his new foster family, headed by former foster kid couple Victor and Rosa Vazquez (The Walking Dead’s Cooper Andrews and Marta Milans) – the most enjoyably portions of the film, however, are when Billy explores the mechanics and limits of his newfound superpowers with his new foster brother Freddy Freeman (It Chapter 1’s Jack Dylan Glazer), a consistently hilarious riot of bad behaviour, wanton (often accidental) destruction and perfectly-observed character development, the blissful culmination of a gleefully anarchic sense of humour that, until recently, has been rather lacking in the DCEU but which is writ large in bright, wacky primary colours right through this film. Sure, there are darker moments, particularly when Sivana sets loose his fantastic icky brood of semi-corporeal monsters, and these scenes are handled with seasoned skill by director David F. Sandberg, who cut his teeth on ingenious little horror gem Lights Out (following up with Annabelle: Creation, but we don’t have to dwell on that), but for the most part the film is played for laughs, thrills and pure, unadulterated FUN, almost never taking itself too seriously, essentially intended to do for the DCEU what Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man did for the MCU, and a huge part of its resounding success must of course be attributed to the universally willing cast. Eugene Levy’s so ridiculously pumped-up he almost looks like a special effect all on his own, but he’s lost none of his razor-sharp comic ability, perfectly encapsulating a teenage boy in a grown man’s body, while his chemistry with genuine little comedic dynamo Glazer is simply exquisite, a flawless balance shared with Angel, who similarly excels at the humour but also delivers quality goods in some far more serious moments too, while the rest of Billy’s newfound family are all brilliant, particularly ridiculously adorable newcomer Faithe Herman as precocious little motor-mouth Darla; Djimon Hounsou, meanwhile, adds significant class and gravitas to what could have been a cartoonish Gandalf spoof, and Mark Strong, as usual, gives great bad guy as Sivana, providing just the right amount of malevolent swagger and self-important smirk to proceedings without ever losing sight of the deeper darkness within.  All round, this is EXACTLY the kind of expertly crafted superhero package we’ve come to appreciate in the genre, another definite shot in the arm for the DCEU that holds great hope for the future of the franchise, and some of the biggest fun I had at the cinema this past year.  Granted, it’s still not a patch on the MCU, but the quality gap finally seems to be closing …

16.  ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL – y’know, there was a time when James Cameron was quite a prolific director, who could be counted upon to provide THE big event pic of the blockbuster season. These days, we’re lucky to hear from him once a decade, and now we don’t even seem to be getting that – the dream project Cameron’s been trying to make since the end of the 90s, a big live action adaptation of one of my favourite mangas of all time, Gunnm (or Battle Angel Alita to use its more well-known sobriquet) by Yukito Kishiro, has FINALLY arrived, but it isn’t the big man behind the camera here since he’s still messing around with his intended FIVE MOVIE Avatar arc.  That said, he made a damn good choice of proxy to bring his vision to fruition – Robert Rodriguez is, of course, a fellow master of action cinema, albeit one with a much more quirky style, and this adap is child’s play to him, the creator of the El Mariachi trilogy and co-director of Frank Miller’s Sin City effortlessly capturing the dark, edgy life-and-death danger and brutal wonder of Kishiro’s world in moving pictures.  300 years after the Earth was decimated in a massive war with URM (the United Republics of Mars) known as “the Fall”, only one bastion of civilization remains – Iron City, a sprawling, makeshift community of scavengers that lies in the shadow of the floating city of Zalem, home of Earth’s remaining aristocracy.  Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) runs a clinic in Iron City customising and repairing the bodies of its cyborg citizens, from the mercenary “hunter killers” to the fast-living players of Motorball (a kind of supercharged mixture of Rollerball and Death Race), one day discovering the wrecked remains of a female ‘borg in the junkyard of scrap accumulated beneath Zalem.  Finding her human brain is still alive, he gives her a new chassis and christens her Alita, raising her as best he can as she attempts to piece together her mysterious, missing past, only for them both to discover that the truth of her origins has the potential to tear their fragile little world apart forever. The Maze Runner trilogy’s Rosa Salazar is the heart and soul of the film as Alita (originally Gally in the comics), perfectly bringing her (literal) wide-eyed innocence and irrepressible spirit to life, as well as proving every inch the diminutive badass fans have been expecting – while her overly anime-styled look might have seemed a potentially jarring distraction in the trailers, Salazar’s mocap performance is SO strong you’ve forgotten all about it within the first five minutes, convinced she’s a real, flesh-and-metal character – and she’s well supported by an exceptional ensemble cast both new and well-established.  Waltz is the most kind and sympathetic he’s been since Django Unchained, instilling Ido with a worldly warmth and gentility that makes him a perfect mentor/father-figure, while Spooksville star Keean Johnson makes a VERY impressive big screen breakthrough as Hugo, the streetwise young dreamer with a dark secret that Alita falls for in a big way, Jennifer Connelly is icily classy as Ido’s ex-wife Chiren, Mahershala Ali is enjoyably suave and mysterious as the film’s nominal villain, Vector, an influential but seriously shady local entrepreneur with a major hidden agenda, and a selection of actors shine through the CGI in various strong mocap performances, such as Deadpool’s Ed Skrein, Derek Mears, From Dusk Til Dawn’s Eiza Gonzalez and a thoroughly unrecognisable but typically awesome Jackie Earle Haley.  As you’d expect from Rodriguez, the film delivers BIG TIME on the action front, unleashing a series of spectacular set-pieces that peak with Alita’s pulse-pounding Motorball debut, but there’s a pleasingly robust story under all the thrills and wow-factor, riffing on BIG THEMES and providing plenty of emotional power, especially in the heartbreaking character-driven climax – Cameron, meanwhile, has clearly maintained strict control over the project throughout, his eye and voice writ large across every scene as we’re thrust headfirst into a fully-immersive post-apocalyptic, rusty cyberpunk world as thoroughly fleshed-out as Avatar’s Pandora, but most importantly he’s still done exactly what he set out to do, paying the utmost respect to a cracking character as he brings her to vital, vivid life on the big screen.  Don’t believe the detractors – this is a MAGNIFICENT piece of work that deserves all the recognition it can muster, perfectly set up for a sequel that I fear we may never get to see.  Oh well, at least it’s renewed my flagging hopes for a return to Pandora …

15.  AD ASTRA – last century, making a space exploration movie after 2001: A Space Odyssey was a pretty tall order. THIS century, looks like it’s trying to follow Chris Nolan’s Interstellar – love it or hate it, you can’t deny that particular epic space opera for the IMAX crowd is a REALLY tough act to follow.  At first glance, then, writer-director James Gray (The Yards, We Own the Night) is an interesting choice to try, at least until you consider his last feature – he may be best known for understated, gritty little crime thrillers, but I was most impressed by 2016’s ambitious period biopic The Lost City of Z, which focused on the groundbreaking career of pioneering explorer Percy Fawcett, and couldn’t have been MORE about the indomitable spirit of discovery if it tried.  His latest shares much of the same DNA, albeit presented in a VERY different package, as we’re introduced to a more expansive Solar System of the near future, in which humanity has begun to colonize our neighbouring worlds and is now pushing its reach beyond our own star’s light in order to discover what truly lies beyond the void of OUTER space.  Brad Pitt stars as Major Roy McBride, a career astronaut whose whole life has been defined by growing up in the shadow of his father, H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), a true pioneer who led an unprecedented expedition to the orbit of our furthest neighbour, Neptune, in order to search for signs of intelligent life beyond our solar system, only for the whole mission to go quiet for the past sixteen years.  Then a mysterious, interplanetary power surge throws the Earth into chaos, and Roy must travel farther than he’s ever gone before in order to discover the truth behind the source of the pulse – his father’s own ill-fated Lima Project … this is a very different beast from Interstellar, a much more introspective, stately affair, revelling in its glacial pacing and emphasis on character motivation over plot, but it’s no less impressive from a visual, visceral standpoint – Gray and cinematographer Hoyt van Hoytema (who, interestingly, ALSO shot Interstellar, along with Nolan’s Dunkirk and his upcoming feature Tenet) certainly make space look truly EPIC, crafting astonishing visuals that deserve to be seen on the big screen (or at the very least on the best quality HDTV you can find).  There’s also no denying the quality of the writing, Gray weaving an intricate story that reveals far greater depth and complexity than can be seen at first glance, while Roy’s palpable “thought-process” voiceover puts us right into the head of the character as we follow him across the endless void on a fateful journey into a cosmic Heart of Darkness.  There is, indeed, a strong sense of Apocalypse Now to proceedings, with the younger McBride definitely following a similar path to Martin Sheen’s ill-fated captain as he travels “up-river” to find his Colonel Kurtz-esque father, and the performances certainly match the heft of the material – there’s an impressive collection of talent on offer in a series of top-quality supporting turns, Jones being just the icing on the cake in the company of Donald Sutherland, Liv Tyler, John Ortiz and Preacher’s Ruth Negga, but the undeniable driving force of the film is Pitt, his cool, laconic control hiding uncharted depths of emotional turmoil as he’s forced to call every choice into question.  It’s EASILY one of the finest performances of his career to date, just one of the MANY great selling points in a film that definitely deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time sci-fi greats of the decade. An absolute masterpiece, then, but does it stand tall in comparison to Interstellar?  I should say so …

14.  BRIGHTBURN – torpedoing Crawl right out of the water in the summer, this refreshing, revisionist superhero movie takes one of the most classic mythologies in the genre and turns it on its head in true horror style.  The basic premise is an absolute blinder – what if, when he crashed in small-town America as a baby, Superman had turned out to be a bad seed?  Unsurprising, then, that it came from James Gunn, who here produces a screenplay by his brother and cousin Brian and Mark Gunn (best known for penning the likes of Journey 2: the Mysterious Island, but nobody’s perfect) and the directorial big break of his old mate David Yarovesky (whose only previous feature is obscure sci-fi horror The Hive) – Gunn is, of course, an old pro at taking classic comic book tropes and creating something completely new with them, having previously done so with HUGE success on cult indie black comedy Super and, in particular, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and his fingerprints are ALL OVER this one too.  The Hunger Games’ Elizabeth Banks (who starred in Gunn’s own directorial debut Slither) and David Denman (The Office) are Tori and Kyle Breyer, a farming couple living in Brightburn, Kansas, who are trying for a baby when a mysterious pod falls from the sky onto their land, containing an infant boy.  As you’d expect, they adopt him, determined to keep his origin a secret, and for the first twelve years of his life all seems perfectly fine – Brandon’s growing up into an intelligent, artistic child who loves his family. Then his powers manifest and he starts to change – not just physically (he’s impervious to harm, incredibly strong, has laser eyes and the ability to disrupt electronic devices … oh, and he can fly, too), but also in personality, as he becomes cold, distant, even cruel as he begins to demonstrate some seriously sociopathic tendencies.  As his parents begin to fear what he’s becoming, things begin to spiral out of control and people start to disappear or turn up brutally murdered, and it becomes clear that Brandon might actually be something out of a nightmare … needless to say this is superhero cinema as full-on horror, Brandon’s proclivities leading to some proper nasty moments once he really starts to cut loose, and there’s no mistaking this future super for one of the good guys – he pulverises bones, shatters faces and melts skulls with nary a twitch, just the tiniest hint of a smile.  It’s an astonishing performance from newcomer Jackson A. Dunn, who perfectly captures the nuanced subtleties as Brandon goes from happy child to lethal psychopath, clearly demonstrating that he’s gonna be an incredible talent in future; the two grown leads, meanwhile, are both excellent, Denman growing increasingly haunted and exasperated as he tries to prove his own son is a wrong ‘un, while Banks has rarely been better, perfectly embodying a mother desperately wanting to belief the best of her son no matter how compelling the evidence becomes, and there’s quality support from Breaking Bad’s Matt Jones and Search Party’s Meredith Hagner as Brandon’s aunt and uncle, Noah and Meredith, and Becky Wahlstrom as the mother of one of his school-friends, who seems to see him for what he really is right from the start.  Dark, suspenseful and genuinely nasty, this is definitely not your typical superhero movie, often playing like Kick-Ass’ deeply twisted cousin, and there are times when it displays some of the same edgy, black-hearted sense of humour, too.  In other words, it’s all very James Gunn. It’s one sweet piece of work, everyone involved showing real skill and devotion, and Yarovesky in particular proves he’ll definitely be one-to-watch in the future.  There are already plans for a potential sequel, and given where this particular little superhero universe seems to be heading I think it could be something pretty special, so fair to say I can’t wait.

13.  STAR WARS EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER – wow, this one’s proven particularly divisive, hasn’t it? And I thought The Last Jedi caused a stir … say what you will about Rian Johnson’s previous entry in the juggernaut science fiction saga, while it certainly riled up the hardcore fanbase it was at least well-received by the critics, not to mention myself, who found it refreshing and absolutely ingenious after the crowd-pleasing simplicity of JJ Abrams’ admittedly still thoroughly brilliant The Force Awakens.  After such radical experimentation, Abrams’ return to the director’s chair can’t help feeling a bit like desperate backpedalling in order to sooth a whole lot of seriously ruffled feathers, and I’ll admit that, on initial viewing, I couldn’t help feeling just a touch cheated given what might have been if similarly offbeat, experimentally-minded filmmaker Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed, Jurassic World) had stayed on board to helm the picture.  Then I got home, thought about it for a bit and it started to grow on me, before a second viewing helped me to reconcile all everything that bugged me first time around, seemingly the same things that have, perversely, ruffled so many more feathers THIS TIME.  This doesn’t feel like a retcon job, no matter what some might think – new developments in the story that might feel like whitewash actually do make sense once you think about them, and the major twists actually work when viewed within the larger, overarching storyline.  Not that I’m willing to go into any kind of detail here, mind you – this is a spoiler-free zone, thank you very much.  Suffice to say, the honour of the saga has in no way been besmirched by Abrams and his co-writer Chris Terrio (sure, he worked on Batman V Superman and Justice League, but he also wrote Argo), the final film ultimately standing up very well indeed alongside its trilogy contemporaries, and still MILES ABOVE anything we got in George Lucas’ decidedly second-rate prequels.  The dangling plot strands from The Last Jedi certainly get tied up with great satisfaction, particularly the decidedly loaded drama of new Jedi Rey (Daisy Ridley) and troubled First Order Supreme Leader Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (Adam Driver), while the seemingly controversial choice of reintroducing Ian McDiarmid’s fantastically monstrous Emperor Palpatine as the ultimate big bad ultimately works out spectacularly well, a far cry from any perceived botched fan-service.  Everyone involved was clearly working at the height of their powers – Ridley and Driver are EXCEPTIONAL, both up-and-coming young leads truly growing into the their roles, while co-stars John Boyega and Oscar Isaac land a pleasingly meaty chunk of the story to finally get to really explore that fantastic chemistry they teased on The Last Jedi, and Carrie Fisher gets a truly MAGNIFICENT send off in the role that defined her as the incomparable General Leia Organa (one which it’s still heartbreaking she never quite got to complete); other old faces, meanwhile, return in fun ways, from Anthony Daniels’ C-3PO FINALLY getting to play a PROPER role in the action again to a brilliant supporting flourish from the mighty Billy Dee Williams as the Galaxy-Far-Far-Away’s own King of Cool, Lando Calrissian, while there’s a wealth of strong new faces here too, such as Lady Macbeth’s Naomie Ackie as rookie rebel Jannah, Richard E. Grant as suitably slimy former-Imperial First Order bigshot Allegiant General Pryde, The Americans’ Keri Russell as tough smuggler Zorii Bliss and Lord of the Rings star Dominic Monaghan as Resistance tech Beaumont Kin.  As fans have come to expect, Abrams certainly doesn’t skim on the spectacle, delivering bombastic thrill-ride set-pieces that yet again set the benchmark for the year’s action stakes (particularly in the blistering mid-picture showdown between Rey and Kylo among the wave-lashed remains of Return of the Jedi’s blasted Death Star) and awe-inspiring visuals that truly boggle the mind with their sheer beauty and complexity, but he also injects plenty of the raw emotion, inspired character work, knowing humour and pure, unadulterated geeky FUN he’s so well known for.  In conclusion, then, this is MILES AWAY from the clunky, compromised mess it’s been labelled as in some quarters, ultimately still very much in keeping with the high standards set by its trilogy predecessors and EVERY INCH a proper, full-blooded Star Wars movie.  Ultimately, Rogue One remains THE BEST of the big screen run since Lucas’ Original Trilogy, but this one still emerges as a Force to be reckoned with …

12.  JOKER – no-one was more wary than me when it was first announced that DC and Warner Bros. were going to make a standalone, live-action movie centred entirely around Batman’s ultimate nemesis, the Joker, especially with it coming hot on the heels of Jared Leto’s thoroughly polarizing portrayal in Suicide Squad.  More so once it was made clear that this WOULD NOT be part of the studio’s overarching DC Extended Universe cinematic franchise, which was FINALLY starting to find its feet – then what’s the point? I found myself asking.  I should have just sat back and gone with it, especially since the finished product would have made me eat a big slice of humble pie had I not already been won over once the trailers started making the rounds.  This is something new, different and completely original in the DC cinematic pantheon, even if it does draw major inspiration from Alan Moore’s game-changing DC comics mini-series The Killing Joke – a complete standalone origin story for one of our most enduring villains, re-imagined as a blistering, bruising psychological thriller examining what can happen to a man when he’s pushed far beyond the brink by terrible circumstance, societal neglect and crippling mental illness. Joaquin Phoenix delivers the performance of his career as Arthur Fleck, a down-at-heel clown-for-hire struggling to launch a career as a stand-up-comic (badly hampered by the fact that he’s just not funny) while suffering from an acute dissociative condition and terrible attacks of pathological laughter at moments of heightened stress – the actor lost 52 pounds of weight to become a horrifically emaciated scarecrow painfully reminiscent of Christian Bale’s similar preparation for his acclaimed turn in The Machinist, and frequently contorts himself into seemingly impossible positions that prominently accentuate the fact.  Fleck is a truly pathetic creature, thoroughly put-upon by a pitiless society that couldn’t care less about him, driven by inner demons and increasingly compelling dark thoughts to act out in increasingly desperate, destructive ways that ultimately lead him to cross lines he just can’t come back from, and Phoenix gives his all in every scene, utterly mesmerising even when his character commits some truly heinous acts.  Certainly he dominates the film, but then there are plenty of winning supporting turns from a universally excellent cast to bolster him along, from Zazie Beetz as an impoverished young mother Arthur bonds with and Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under, American Horror Story) as Arthur’s decidedly fragile mother Penny to Brett Cullen (The Thorn Birds, Lost) as a surprisingly unsympathetic Thomas Wayne (the philanthropic father of future Batman Bruce Wayne), while Robert De Niro himself casts a very long shadow indeed as Murray Franklin, a successful comedian and talk show host that Arthur idolizes, a character intentionally referential to his role in The King of Comedy.  Indeed, Martin Scorsese’s influence is writ large throughout the entire film, reinforced by the choice to set the film in a 1981-set Gotham City which feels very much like the crumbling New York of Mean Streets or Taxi Driver.  This is a dark, edgy, grim and unflinchingly BRUTAL film, frequently difficult to watch as Arthur is driven further into a blazing psychological hell by his increasingly stricken life, but addictively, devastatingly compelling all the same, impossible to turn away from even in the truly DEVASTATING final act.  Initially director Todd Phillips seemed like a decidedly odd choice for the project, hailing as he does from a predominantly comedy-based filmmaking background (most notably Due Date and The Hangover trilogy), but he’s actually a perfect fit here, finding a strangely twisted beauty in many of his compositions and a kind of almost uplifting transcendence in his subject’s darkest moments, while his screenwriting collaboration with Scott Silver (8 Mile, The Fighter) means that the script is as rich as it can be, almost overflowing with brilliant ideas and rife with biting social commentary which is even more relevant today than in the period in which it’s set.  Intense, gripping, powerful and utterly devastating, this truly is one of the best films of 2019.  If this was a purely critical Top 30 this would have placed in the Top 5, guaranteed …

11.  FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS HOBBS & SHAW – summer 2019’s most OTT movie was some of THE MOST FUN I had at the cinema all year, a genuinely batshit crazy, pure bonkers rollercoaster ride of a film I just couldn’t get enough of, the perfect sum of all its baffling parts.  The Fast & Furious franchise has always revelled in its extremes, subtle as a brick and very much playing to the blockbuster, popcorn movie crowd right from the start, but it wasn’t until Fate of the Furious (yup, the ridiculous title says it all) that it really started to play to the inherent ridiculousness of its overall setup, paving the way for this first crack at a new spin-off series sans-Vin Diesel.  Needless to say this one fully embraces the ludicrousness, with director David Leitch the perfect choice to shepherd it into the future, having previously mastered OTT action through John Wick and Atomic Blonde before helming manic screwball comedy Deadpool 2, which certainly is the strongest comparison point here – Hobbs & Shaw is every bit as loud, violent, chaotic and thoroughly irreverent, definitely playing up the inherent comic potential at the core of the material as he cranks up the humour.  Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham take centre stage as, respectively, DSS agent Luke Hobbs and former SAS black operative Deckard Shaw, the ultimate action movie odd couple once again forced to work together to foil the bad guy and save the world from a potentially cataclysmic disaster.  Specifically Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), a self-proclaimed “black superman” enhanced with cybernetic implants and genetic manipulation to turn him into the ultimate warrior, who plans to use a lethal designer supervirus to eradicate half of humanity (as supervillains tend to do), but there’s one small flaw in his plan – the virus has been stolen by Hattie Shaw (Mission: Impossible – Fallout’s Vanessa Kirby), a rogue MI6 agent who also happens to be Deckard’s sister.  Got all that?  Yup, the movie really is as mad as it sounds, but that’s part of the charm – there’s an enormous amount of fun to be had in just giving in and going along with the madness as Hobbs and the two Shaws bounce from one overblown, ludicrously destructive set-piece to the next, kicking plenty of arse along the way when they’re not jumping out of tall buildings or driving fast cars at ludicrous speeds in heavy traffic, and when they’re not doing that they’re bickering with enthusiasm, each exchange crackling with exquisite hate-hate chemistry and liberally laced with hilarious dialogue delivered with gleeful, fervent venom (turns out there’s few things so enjoyable as watching Johnson and Statham verbally rip each other a new one), and the two action cinema heavyweights have never been better than they are here, each bringing the very best performances of their respective careers out of each other as they vacillate, while Kirby holds her own with consummate skill that goes to show she’s got a bright future of her own.  As for Idris Elba, the one-time potential future Bond deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time great screen villains ever, investing Brixton with the perfect combination of arrogant swagger and lethal menace to steal every scene he’s in while simultaneously proving he can be just as big a badass in the action stakes; Leitch also scatters a selection of familiar faces from his previous movies throughout a solid supporting cast which also includes the likes of Fear the Walking Dead’s Cliff Curtis, From Dusk Till Dawn’s Eiza Gonzalez and Helen Mirren (who returns as Deckard and Hattie’s mum Queenie Shaw), while there’s more than one genuinely brilliant surprise cameo to enjoy. As we’ve come to expect, the action sequences are MASSIVE, powered by nitrous oxide and high octane as property is demolished and vehicles are driven with reckless abandon when our protagonists aren’t engaged in bruising, bone-crunching fights choreographed with all the flawless skill you’d expect from a director who used to be a professional stuntman, but this time round the biggest fun comes from the downtime, as the aforementioned banter becomes king.  It’s an interesting makeover for the franchise, going from heavyweight action stalwart to comedy gold, and it’s a direction I hope they’ll maintain for the inevitable follow-up – barring Fast Five, this is THE BEST Fast & Furious to date, and a strong indicator of how it should go to keep conquering multiplexes in future.  Sign me up for more, please.

[bountyofbeads]

We are African Americans, we are patriots, and we refuse to sit idly by

https://wapo.st/2ZfMStU

We Are African Americans, We Are Patriots, And We Refuse To Sit Idly By

By Clarence J. Fluker, C. Kinder, Jesse Moore and Khalilah M. Harris | Published July 26 at 6:09 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted July 28, 2019

This op-ed is co-signed by 149 African Americans who served in the Obama administration.

This post has been updated.

We’ve heard this before. Go back where you came from. Go back to Africa. And now, “send her back.” Black and brown people in America don’t hear these chants in a vacuum; for many of us, we’ve felt their full force being shouted in our faces, whispered behind our backs, scrawled across lockers, or hurled at us online. They are part of a pattern in our country designed to denigrate us as well as keep us separate and afraid.

As 149 African Americans who served in the last administration, we witnessed firsthand the relentless attacks on the legitimacy of President Barack Obama and his family from our front-row seats to America’s first black presidency. Witnessing racism surge in our country, both during and after Obama’s service and ours, has been a shattering reality, to say the least. But it has also provided jet-fuel for our activism, especially in moments such as these.

We stand with congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, as well as all those currently under attack by President Trump, along with his supporters and his enablers, who feel deputized to decide who belongs here — and who does not. There is truly nothing more un-American than calling on fellow citizens to leave our country — by citing their immigrant roots, or ancestry, or their unwillingness to sit in quiet obedience while democracy is being undermined.

We are proud descendants of immigrants, refugees and the enslaved Africans who built this country while enduring the horrors of its original sin. We stand on the soil they tilled, and march in the streets they helped to pave. We are red-blooded Americans, we are patriots, and we have plenty to say about the direction this country is headed. We decry voter suppression. We demand equitable access to health care, housing, quality schools and employment. We welcome new Americans with dignity and open arms. And we will never stop fighting for the overhaul of a criminal-justice system with racist foundations.

We come from Minnesota and Michigan. The Bronx and Baton Rouge. Florida and Philadelphia. Cleveland and the Carolinas. Atlanta and Nevada. Oak-town and the Chi. We understand our role in this democracy, and respect the promise of a nation built by, for and of immigrants. We are part of that tradition, and have the strength to both respect our ancestors from faraway lands and the country we all call home.

Our love of country lives in these demands, and our commitment to use our voices and our energy to build a more perfect union. We refuse to sit idly by as racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia are wielded by the president and any elected official complicit in the poisoning of our democracy. We call on local, state and congressional officials, as well as presidential candidates to articulate their policies and strategies for moving us forward as a strong democracy, through a racial-equity lens that prioritizes people over profit. We will continue to support candidates for local, state and federal office who add more diverse representation to the dialogue and those who understand the importance of such diversity when policymaking here in our country and around the world. We ask all Americans to be a good neighbor by demonstrating anti-racist, environmentally friendly, and inclusive behavior toward everyone in your everyday interactions.

The statesman Frederick Douglass warned, “The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful and virtuous.” This nation has neither grappled with nor healed from the horrors of its origins. It is time to advance that healing process now through our justice, economic, health and political systems.

Expect to hear more from us. We plan to leave this country better than we found it. This is our home.

Saba Abebe, former special assistant, Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, Energy Department

Tsehaynesh Abebe, former adviser, U.S. Agency for International Development

David Adeleye, former policy specialist, White House

Bunmi Akinnusotu, former special assistant, Office of Land and Emergency Management, Environmental Protection Agency

Trista Allen, former senior adviser to the regional administrator, General Services Administration

Maria Anderson, former operations assistant, White House

Karen Andre, former White House liaison, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Caya Lewis Atkins, former counselor for science and public health, Department of Health and Human Services

Roy L. Austin Jr., former deputy assistant to the president, White House Domestic Policy Council

Kevin Bailey, former special assistant, White House; senior policy adviser, Treasury Department

Jumoke Balogun, former adviser to the secretary, Labor Department

Diana Banks, former deputy assistant secretary, Defense Department

Desiree N. Barnes, former adviser to the press secretary, White House

Kevin F. Beckford, former special adviser, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Alaina Beverly, former associate director, Office of Urban Affairs, White House

Saba Bireda, former senior counsel, Office for Civil Rights, Education Department

Vincent H. Bish Jr., former special assistant to the assistant secretary of strategic program management, Department of Health and Human Services

Michael Blake, former director for African American, minority and women business enterprises and county and statewide elected officials, White House

Tenicka Boyd, former special assistant, Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Education Department

Tanya Bradsher, former assistant secretary for public affairs, Department of Homeland Security

Stacey Brayboy, former chief of staff, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Agriculture Department

Allyn Brooks-LaSure, former deputy associate administrator for external affairs, Environmental Protection Agency

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, former director of coverage policy, Office of Health Reform, Department of Health and Human Services

Quincy K. Brown, former senior policy adviser, Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House

Taylor Campbell, former director of correspondence systems innovation, White House

Crystal Carson, former chief of staff to the director of communications, White House

Genger Charles, former general deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Housing, Federal Housing Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Glorie Chiza, former associate director, Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, White House

Sarah Haile Coombs, special assistant, Department of Health and Human Services

Michael Cox, former special assistant to the assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs, Commerce Department

Adria Crutchfield, former director of external affairs, Federal Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Joiselle Cunningham, former special adviser, Office of the Secretary, Education Department

Charlotte Flemmings Curtis, former special adviser for White House initiatives, Corporation for National and Community Service

Kareem Dale, former special assistant to the president for disability policy, White House

Ashlee Davis, former White House liaison, Agriculture Department

Marco A. Davis, former deputy director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics

Russella L. Davis-Rogers, former chief of staff, Office of Strategic Partnerships, Department of Education

Tequia Hicks Delgado, former senior adviser for congressional engagement and legislative relations, Office of Legislative Affairs, White House

Kalisha Dessources Figures, former policy adviser, White House Council on Women and Girls

Leek Deng, former special assistant, Bureau for Global Health, U.S. Agency for International Development

Tene Dolphin, former chief of staff, Economic Development Administration, Commerce Department

Monique Dorsainvil, former deputy chief of staff, Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, White House

Joshua DuBois, former executive director, Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships; former special assistant to the president, White House

Dru Ealons, former director, Office of Public Engagement, Environmental Protection Agency

Rosemary Enobakhare, former deputy associate administrator for public engagement and environmental education, Environmental Protection Agency

Karen Evans, former assistant director and policy adviser, Office of Cabinet Affairs, White House

Clarence J. Fluker, former deputy associate director for national parks and youth engagement, White House Council on Environmental Quality

Heather Foster, former public engagement adviser and director of African American affairs, White House

Kalina Francis, former special adviser, Office of Public Affairs, Treasury Department

Matthew “Van” Buren Freeman, former senior adviser, Minority Business Development Agency, Commerce Department

Cameron French, former deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Jocelyn Frye, former deputy assistant to the president and director of policy and special projects for the first lady, White House

Bernard Fulton, former deputy assistant secretary for congressional relations, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Stephanie Gaither, former confidential assistant to the deputy director, Office of Management and Budget, White House

Demetria A. Gallagher, former senior adviser for policy and inclusive innovation, Commerce Department

Lateisha Garrett, former White House liaison, National Endowment for the Humanities

W. Cyrus Garrett, former special adviser to the director of counternarcotics enforcement, Department of Homeland Security

Bishop M. Garrison, former science and technology directorate adviser, Department of Homeland Security

Lisa Gelobter, former chief digital service officer, Education Department

A’shanti F. Gholar, former special assistant to the secretary, Labor Department

Jay R. Gilliam, former special assistant, U.S. Agency for International Development

Artealia Gilliard, former deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy, Transportation Department

Brenda Girton-Mitchell, former director, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Education Department

Jason Green, former associate counsel and special assistant to the president, White House

Corey Arnez Griffin, former associate director, Peace Corps

Kyla F. Griffith, former special adviser to the secretary, Commerce Department

Simone L. Hardeman-Jones, former deputy assistant secretary, Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs, Education Department

Thamar Harrigan, former senior intergovernmental relations adviser, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Dalen Harris, former director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison, Office of National Drug Control Policy, White House

Khalilah M. Harris, former deputy director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans; former senior adviser, Office of Personnel Management

Adam Hodge, former deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, Treasury Department

Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser, White House

Will Yemi Jawando, former associate director, Office of Public Engagement, White House

Karine Jean-Pierre, former northeast political director, Office of Political Affairs, White House

A. Jenkins, former director, Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Commerce Department

Adora Jenkins, former press secretary, Justice Department; former deputy associate administrator for external affairs, Environmental Protection Agency

W. Nate Jenkins, former chief of staff and senior adviser to the budget director, Office of Management and Budget, White House

David J. Johns, former executive director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans

Brent Johnson, former special adviser to the secretary, Commerce Department

Broderick Johnson, former White House assistant to the president and Cabinet secretary for My Brother’s Keeper Task Force

Carmen Daniels Jones, former director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Agriculture Department

Gregory K. Joseph II, former special assistant, Office of the Executive Secretariat, Energy Department

Jamia Jowers, former special assistant, National Security Council

Charmion N. Kinder, former associate, Press Office of the First Lady, White House; former assistant press secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Elise Nelson Leary, former international affairs adviser, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Kimberlyn Leary, former adviser, White House Council on Women and Girls

Daniella Gibbs Léger, former special assistant to the president and director of message events, White House

Georgette Lewis, former policy adviser, Department of Health and Human Services

Kevin Lewis, former director of African American media, White House; former principal deputy director of public affairs, Justice Department

Catherine E. Lhamon, former assistant secretary for civil rights, Education Department

Tiffani Long, former special adviser, Economic Development Administration

Latifa Lyles, former director, Women’s Bureau, Labor Department

Brenda Mallory, former general counsel, White House Council on Environmental Quality

Dominique Mann, former media affairs manager, White House

Shelly Marc, former policy adviser, Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, White House

Tyra A. Mariani, former chief of staff to the deputy secretary, Education Department

Lawrence Mason III, former domestic policy analyst, Office of Presidential Correspondence, White House

Dexter L. McCoy, former special assistant, Office of the Secretary, Education Department

Matthew McGuire, former U.S. executive director, The World Bank Group

Tyrik McKeiver, former senior adviser, State Department

Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, former assistant to the administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development

Solianna Meaza, former special assistant to associate administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development

Mahlet Mesfin, former assistant director for international science and technology, Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House

Ricardo Michel, former director, Center for Transformational Partnerships, U.S. Agency for International Development Global Development Lab

Paul Monteiro, former associate director, Office of Public Engagement, White House

Jesse Moore, former associate director, Office of Public Engagement, White House

Shannon Myricks, former specialist, Office of Management and Administration Information Services, White House

Melanie Newman, former director of public affairs, Justice Department

Fatima Noor, former policy assistant, Domestic Policy Council

Bianca Oden, former deputy chief of staff, Agriculture Department

Funmi Olorunnipa, former ethics counsel, White House Counsel’s Office

Elizabeth Ogunwo, former White House liaison, Peace Corps

[dietpepzi]

'   i   don't   know   what   you   want   from   me.   i   told   you   he   has   feelings   for   me   because   i   wanted   to   be   honest   and   have   you   hear   it   from   me   instead   of   someone   else   so   you   don't   get   suspicious   of   me   hiding   things.   i'm   distancing   myself   for   your   sake   and   to   help   him   get   over   me   but   i   will   not   cut   him   out   my   life.   he's   been   my   best   friend   since   we   were   kids,   i   don't   think   i'm   disrespecting   you   for   setting   boundaries   that   keep   everyone   happy.   '

[nepotizma]

❛ you looked like you were jealous. ❜

[letterboxd]

Helpers.

“I feel like after you have kids, everything else seems like it’s for f—king pussies. Everything else is f—king bullshit. You and your brunch—f—k you!”

Filmmaker Kestrin Pantera talks to Letterboxd about family, karaoke, improvisation and her new film Mother’s Little Helpers.

Of the many films that premiered at this year’s South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, Kestrin Pantera’s Mother’s Little Helpers, which played in the Narrative Spotlight section, had perhaps the most classically Austin feel about it.

As well as taking place in the Texan state capital, the film is heavily informed by a certain kind of bohemian nostalgia that permeates Austin.

Pantera also co-stars in the film as Sadie Pride, one of four adult siblings called home to Austin when their mother Joy (former Saturday Night Live cast member Melanie Hutsell)—an ageing folk rock hanger-on whose one claim to fame is taking the photo that adorns an iconic 70s album cover—is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Sadie’s siblings comprise the scattershot Julia (played by UnReal scene-stealer Breeda Wool, also a producer on the film), doctor-to-be Lucy (Milana Vayntrub, highly memorable in shows like Love and This Is Us, and to be seen as Squirrel Girl in Marvel’s New Warriors, if that ever happens) and wayward Jude (Sam Littlefield), who’s on house arrest.

Not one of the four siblings wants to be there for their mother, and they all still bear the very visible effects of being raised by a “cool” parent, one who isn’t done messing with their lives, even though she’s at death’s door.

‘Mother’s Little Helpers’ writer, director and actor Kestrin Pantera.

Pantera has a long history with Austin, having performed there in bands in her twenties, and through her business the RVIP, (a “mobile karaoke lounge housed inside of a customized RV that serves as equal parts transportation and entertainment—it’s called transportainment”), which would come to Austin regularly.

That local familiarity informs Mother’s Little Helpers to no small degree. The film is an authentic character dramedy that captures the contradictory frustrations of family relationships.

Pantera sat down with Letterboxd in Austin soon after the film’s SXSW premiere, and proved as cool in real life as her name sounds. Very few people could seamlessly drop into conversation that they used to play the electric cello, but with Pantera, it made perfect sense.

Mother’s Little Helpers concerns a topic that has made for some fascinating ensemble performances on film through the years—how modern day grown-ups interact with their parents. Kestrin Pantera: I think it’s so fascinating—how do you deal with a parent that wasn’t really a parent, more like your friend’s drug dealer? I remember the first time my mom said “cool”, because parents didn’t used to say stuff like “cool”. When my parents started talking like me when I hit my 30s, it was so weird. My husband’s family, who this film was inspired by, they were cool. My parents aren’t cool. What is it like having cool parents? Well, it’s a mixed bag.

So the real life elements of this story come from your husband’s family? We had been doing RVIP events in Austin for ten years, and [my husband] Jonathan’s dad, he was our runner. That was how I formed a relationship with this dude, he sang karaoke and helped move our shit in a truck. He would come to Burning Man with us, he was like this awesome cool dad. But then when he got sick, there was a lot of reluctance from his kids to come home, and I was like, “What the fuck is wrong with you? He’s awesome!” And then I was like, “Ooooohhh, maybe if he’s not your dad he’s awesome.”

Is that why the film is set in Austin? It was [also] inspired by when I had real life experiences in Austin. I used to tour in rock bands. In my 20s I would bring my electric cello out here and play shows and drink all day and party all night. There’s a fun charm to it. And my family’s from the south as well, so for me, homecoming and dealing with extended family lives in the world of the south. And it’s got that outlaw-country Willie Nelson vibe and ethos. Austin has just got that soulful vibe, it reminds you of the Allman Brothers, or Lynyrd Skynyrd or Tammy Wynette or Wanda Jackson.

Your co-stars are credited as co-writers on this film—is that to reflect the degree of improvisation? That’s a convention in filmmaking that I think I would like to democratize a little bit. It is really cool to just be like, “I wrote this—a Kestrin Pantera show”, as I did with my first movie [2014’s Let’s Ruin It With Babies], but that movie was improvised and everyone made up all their shit and I just took credit for it. Any movie that has improvised performances, the editor is really the writer. I wrote it, because I edited the pieces together.

I think every actor really wants to have input into their dialogue. So why not just have really good actors and let them say whatever the fuck they want and also give them credit for that? I wrote the outline, I wrote the story, I wrote the characters, I wrote their back stories, but then we all came together as a team and filled it with their own lives. Also, I conned them into doing a movie for very little-to-no money, so why not be generous with credit? I feel like improvisers should get a little bit more credit for the writing that they do. It’s not a manifesto, it just felt like the polite thing to do when these people were giving everything to me.

The cast of ‘Mother’s Little Helpers’ at SXSW 2019.

How smooth was the process of discovering the dialogue with the other actors as you went along? In my mind, I knew what was happening because I was thinking about the edit. And the actors were generally confused because they didn’t have that picture as clearly in their mind as clearly as I did, even though everyone had the outline and everything. Most of [the improv] happened on camera, and if someone said something that was wrong, I would just be like, “No, no, no, this way.” I would just side bark. We would shoot a really sloppy first take, 300 percent too long and everyone would be figuring it out as they were going along. But then we’d figure out the shape of the scene in that first take, and be like, “Keep that, keep that, lose this part.” I would always just be thinking about that master sequence in my [Adobe] Premiere timeline. People were really flexible.

Did you have existing relationships with all the actors? Everyone was my friend, except for Melanie, who I’d met once. Breeda and I would go to parties together. We all sang karaoke together in the RVIP Lounge, so that was our core “patient zero” relationship. Milana and I would do excursions with one another, we took a class together, Breeda’s just one of my favorite, weirdest people. And Dave Guintoli [who plays Sadie’s husband], I was in an acting class with when I first moved to Los Angeles. It was literally just having the balls to call the most talented people I knew and just hope that they didn’t laugh in my face.

A press release for this film stated the “production was helmed entirely by women”—was that by design? It was an accident. It just happened that way, and I loved it. It was directed and written by a woman, the camera department was led by a woman, all of our producers and production team were women, our post-supervisor, up until the home stretch, was a woman. Pretty much everyone behind the camera in any leadership role, was a female.

Hiring moms I think is the smartest thing to do because moms are really good at multi-tasking and keeping zen and dealing with big emotions while showing up on time, and like, delivering the shit. I feel like after you have kids, everything else seems like it’s for fucking pussies. Everything else is fucking bullshit. You and your brunch—fuck you! Obviously I wouldn’t be biased against hiring someone based on whether or not they have children. But I noticed that the moms were the most responsible and effective and showed up early and actually anticipated the needs of everyone in a way that I’d never experienced before.

‘Mother’s Little Helpers’ is currently seeking distribution.

[sounmashnews]

[ad_1] You will not hear "Yea Alabama," "Tusk," "Basket Case" or some other common songs from the Million Dollar Band on the Alabama football recreation vs. Texas.The band will not be touring to Austin, UA confirmed in a press release shared with The Tuscaloosa News. No. 1 Alabama faces No. 22 Texas on Saturday (11 a.m., FOX)."Due to the seating location and configuration of the visiting institution's ticket allotment at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, the Million Dollar Band will not make the trip this weekend for the Alabama at Texas football game," the assertion learn.ALABAMA FOOTBALL:Remaining Alabama football questions heading into Texas gameNICK SABAN:How Nick Saban transformed Alabama football — and changed a blueblood foreverThis is the primary time the band will not be touring with the soccer crew because the 2020 season, when attendance was tremendously restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.This is not the primary time there was dialogue about marching band seating places at Texas video games. Attention was dropped at LSU's band having to take a seat excessive up for a 2019 recreation.The contract language from the home-and-home deal signed in 2018 mentioned the visiting establishment's band seats should come from the visiting establishment's ticket allotment.The visiting establishment receives, per the contract, 500 complimentary tickets and should request as much as 4,500 further tickets on consignment."The Host Institution will provide information regarding the standard location of seats for a Visiting Institution's band members," the contract additionally states.The Million Dollar Band, which has existed for greater than a century, has about 400 members, in response to its website. This article initially appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why Alabama football won't have Million Dollar Band vs. Texas Longhorns [ad_2] Source link

[maxx-the-queer]

First of all, no <3 

Second of all: 

 Allison, & Lee, C. (2015). Too fat, too thin: Understanding bias against overweight and underweight in an Australian female university student sample. Psychology & Health, 30(2), 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2014.954575

 Anselmi, Vianello, M., & Robusto, E. (2013). Preferring thin people does not imply derogating fat people. A rasch analysis of the implicit weight attitude. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 21(2), 261–265. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20085

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 Elran-Barak, & Bar-Anan, Y. (2018). Implicit and explicit anti-fat bias: The role of weight-related attitudes and beliefs. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 204, 117–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.03.018

 Fikkan, & Rothblum, E. D. (2011). Is Fat a Feminist Issue? Exploring the Gendered Nature of Weight Bias. Sex Roles, 66(9-10), 575–592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0022-5  Hayward, Vartanian, L. R., & Pinkus, R. T. (2018). Weight Stigma Predicts Poorer Psychological Well‐Being Through Internalized Weight Bias and Maladaptive Coping Responses. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 26(4), 755–761. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22126

 Himmelstein, Mary S., PhD, Puhl, Rebecca M., PhD, & Quinn, Diane M., PhD. (2017). Intersectionality: An Understudied Framework for Addressing Weight Stigma. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 53(4), 421–431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.04.003

 Gluckman, & Hanson, P. D. (2012). Fat, fate & disease : why exercise and diet are not enough / Peter Gluckman & Mark Hanson. Oxford University Press.

 Lawrence, Kerr, D., Pollard, C. M., Theophilus, M., Alexander, E., Haywood, D., & O’Connor, M. (2021). Weight bias among health care professionals: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 29(11), 1802–1812. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.23266  Nichole Kelly, Margaret Osa, Gabriella Luther, Claire Guidinger, Austin Folger, Gina Williamson, & Elizabeth Budd. (2021). Feasibility and Acceptability of a Worksite Body Size Bias Workshop to Reduce Weight Discrimination. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 29, 195–195.  Nutter, Russell-Mayhew, S., Arthur, N., & Ellard, J. H. (2018). Weight bias as a social justice issue: a call for dialogue. Canadian Psychology, 59(1), 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000125

 Nutter, Russell-Mayhew, S., Alberga, A. S., Arthur, N., Kassan, A., Lund, D. E., Sesma-Vazquez, M., & Williams, E. (2016). Positioning of weight bias: moving towards social justice. Journal of Obesity, 2017(3753650), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/3753650

 Paine. (2021). “Fat broken arm syndrome”: Negotiating risk, stigma, and weight bias in LGBTQ healthcare. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 270, 113609–113609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113609  Pearl, & Puhl, R. M. (2018). Weight bias internalization and health: a systematic review. Obesity Reviews, 19(8), 1141–1163. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12701

 Phelan, Puhl, R. M., Burgess, D. J., Natt, N., Mundi, M., Miller, N. E., Saha, S., Fischer, K., & van Ryn, M. (2021). The role of weight bias and role-modeling in medical students’ patient-centered communication with higher weight standardized patients. Patient Education and Counseling, 104(8), 1962–1969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.01.003

 Rothblum, Solovay, S., & Wann, M. (2009). The Fat Studies Reader. NYU Press.

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 Senderowicz. (2014). Weight stigma towards job candidates on LinkedIn. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

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 Whitesel. (2014). Fat Gay Men. NYU Press.

If you're so certain that skinny privilege isn't real, then surely you'd have no problem becoming fat, right? Nothing would change in your life, you'd just be fatter.

You can be confident that you'd be treated the same way you always have been, in doctor's offices, on airplanes, in movie theatres and other public spaces, right?

Oh, and you'd so very easily receive the medical care you need, because doctors don't assume the cause of all your problems is your weight, because everyone gets the same fair treatment, right?

Obviously, you could expect to walk into a clothing store and find affordable, age appropriate garments in your personal style because there's no difference to the accessibility of clothing depending on your size, right?

You can eat whatever you want without judgement, because everyone knows that people should be able to eat without criticism!

People won't make snap judgements about your health or your lifestyle just by looking at you, and you won't be denied employment on the basis of your weight, because everyone is treated equally on this basis, right?

If all these statements are true, why are you so terrified of gaining weight? If thin privilege isn't real, why is there an entire industry that profits off the fears of people who don't want to look like me or who are told they have to change in order to be of value?

If thin privilege isn't real, why do you have a problem with being fat?

[anitabyars]

Charmed by You, an all-new steamy standalone Stark Security novella from New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner and 1,001 Dark Nights is available now!

Former vigilante-for-hire Simon Barré has one steadfast rule: stay far away from celebrities. Too bad Simon’s first assignment at Stark Security is to protect A-list actress Francesca Muratti. He can’t even turn down the assignment, as that would be violating his second rule—never fail a woman. Now he finds himself up-close-and-personal with a high-maintenance diva whose flash and sass drives him crazy—but whose touch he undeniably craves.

The world might believe that Francesca Muratti leads a fairy tale life, but the truth is far darker. For years, she’s kept a horrible secret about her best friend’s death. Now someone is threatening to kill Francesca if she doesn’t reveal all. She needs protection, but there’s no way she’s going to tell the sexy Stark Security agent what she did or why she’s being threatened. Which means that in order to survive and protect her secrets, Francesca must pull off the biggest acting job of her career: she’s going to have to let Simon close, but not let him see her true heart.

**For fans of J. Kenner's Stark Security series, Charmed By You is book nine in that series.**

**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**

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About J. Kenner

J. Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and #1 International bestselling author of over one hundred novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres.

Though known primarily for her award-winning and international bestselling erotic romances (including the Stark and Most Wanted series) that have reached as high as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, JK has been writing full time for over a decade in a variety of genres including paranormal and contemporary romance, “chicklit” suspense, urban fantasy, and paranormal mommy lit.

JK has been praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations” and by RT Bookclub for having “cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swoon for them.” A six time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award, JK took home the first RITA trophy awarded in the category of erotic romance in 2014 for her novel, Claim Me (book 2 of her Stark Trilogy) and in 2017 for Wicked Dirty in the same category. Her Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series (as Julie Kenner) is currently in development as a television show.

Her books have sold over three million copies and are published in over twenty languages.

In her previous career as an attorney, JK worked as a clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and practiced primarily civil, entertainment and First Amendment litigation in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, as well as in Austin, Texas. She currently lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and two rather spastic cats.

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My Review

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Charmed By You (Stark Security #7.5) by J Kenner published in the 1001 Dark Nights.

I was so excited to get another installment of Stark Security and as always this story was well written, entertaining with fantastic characters that pulled me in and kept me captivated from beginning to the end. It had the perfect combination of intrigue, suspense and romance.

Simon Barré first assignment with Stark Security is to provide security to A-list actress Francesca Muratti, after she receives a note threatening her life. And although it isn’t love at first sight, neither of them counted on their amazing chemistry.

But will Simon be able to keep Francesca safe without falling for the beautiful actress? You will need to read to get all the amazing details! You don’t want to miss this one!

Received a early copy and this is my honest review.

[starzpsychics]

Join us Live Dec. 27th. 2021 at 3:PM for an interactive podcast when Natalie Sist Talks Live With  Pastor Douglas K. Fletcher on StarZ Pschics Network Radio  http://tobtr.com/12044013