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cardest · 3 years

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Tennessee playlist

I’m going to Memphis! This is the mighty Tennessee - Memphis & Nashville playlist. You can’t tell the story of rock n roll without mentioning Memphis. Mississippi and Nashville, such a great history of music in this region. Chuck D hits things off with the ultimate introduction. Hit play here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1_X9nesbW37-9FNLiJWOQ1f

This playlist has it all. Soul, blues and rock n roll. We take a journey back to the beginning of country as well, with Nashville and finish up at Dollywood. Hope you dig it.

Tennessee - Mississippi - Arkansas

001 Henry Rollins & Chuck D - Rise Above 002 Clutch - Devil & Me 003 Paul Simon - Graceland 004 Isaac Hayes - Memphis Trax 005 Scott Walker - Thats How I Got to Memphis 006 AC/DC - let there be rock 007 Johnny Cash - Country Boy 008 Chuck Berry - Back To Memphis 009 Jay Reatard - Gree, Money, Useless Children 010 Lukah - Black Dragon 011 King Curtis - Memphis Soul Stew 012 Rosetta Howard & the Harlem Hamfats - Delta Bound 013 Nots - In Glass 014 Pere Ubu - Memphis 015 Loretta Lynn - The Pill 016 Howlin Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin 017 Rory Gallagher - The Mississippi Sheiks 018 Crime and the City Solution - Streets Of West Memphis 019 River City Tanlines - Met You Before 020 Johnny Cash - Going To Memphis 021 Al Green - Get Back Baby 022 Kim Salmon & The Surrealists - The Zipper 023 Booker T & the MG - Melting Pot 024 Pussycat - Mississippi 025 Boswell Sisters - Roll On, Mississippi, Roll On 026 Aretha Franklin - Muddy Water 027 The Cramps - Garbageman 028 HASH REDACTOR - Good Sense 029 Optic Sink - Personified 030 Angry Angles - Blockhead 031 Big Star - Thirteen 032 Memphis Jug Band - Going Back to Memphis 033 North Mississippi AllStars - K.C. Jones (On The Road Again) 034 Bass Drum Of Death - Bad Reputation 035 Today Is the Day - The Devil's Blood 036 Walk the Line Soundtrack- Get Rhythm 037 Jack White - Temporary Ground 038 Jerry Lee Lewis - A Damn Good Country Song 039 The Homemade Jamz Blues Band - Rumors 040 Saving Abel - Pine Mountain (The Dance of the Poor Proud Man) 041 The Oxford Circle - Foolish Woman 042 Bobbie Gentry - Greyhound Goin' Somewhere 043 Reigning Sound - A Little More Time 044 NINA SIMONE - MISSISSIPPI GODDAM! 045 Laurie Anderson - Hiawatha 046 Glen Campbell - Burning Bridges 047 Dolly Parton - Hillbilly Willy 048 Elvis Presley - Guitar Man 049 Blue Oyster Cult - Divine Wind 050 Sammy Hagar - Halfway To Memphis 051 Izzy Stradlin - Memphis 052 Johnny Cash - Run Softly, Blue River 053 Iron Horse - Unchained 054 The Cramps - Human Fly 055 Faces - Memphis 056 Jack Oblivian - Rat City 057 The Cooters - Bustin' Loose 058 Mott the Hoople - All The Way From Memphis 059 Dusty Springfield - Breakfast in Bed 060 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Tupelo 061 Chicago - Blues In The Night 062 Crossin Dixon - Guitar Slinger 063 Strummin' With The Devil - And the Cradle Will Rock 064 Stray Cats - Can't Go Back to Memphis 065 Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds 066 Suzi Quatro - Can't Trust Love 067 Lost Sounds - There's Nothing 068 Ike & Tina Turner ~ River Deep, Mountain High 069 Neil Diamond - Memphis Flyer 070 Julien Baker - hardline 071 The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Memphis Soul Typecast 072 Isaac Hayes - Groove-A-Thon 073 Otis Clay - Trying To Live My Life Without You 074 Tim McGraw - Don't Mention Memphis 075 Eric Burdon & War - Blues For Memphis Slim 076 Homemade Jamz Blues Band - Blues Train 077 Sweet Knives - I DON'T WANNA DIE 078 Cream - Four Until Late 079 Grateful Dead - Golden Road 080 Huey Lewis and the NEWS - Function At The Junction 081 The Cramps - I Was A Teenage Werewolf 082 Jesse Winchester_ The Brand New Tennessee Waltz 083 Dorsey Burnette - Tall Oak Tree 084 Field Music - Time In Joy 085 Jay Reatard - Blood Visions 086 The Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women 087 Quintron & Miss Pussycat - Block the comet 088 Al Green - Let's Stay Together 089 The Mountain Goats - Getting Into Knives 090 Johnny Cash - Tennessee Flat Top Box 091 Robert Pete Williams & Robert â€œGuitar" J. Welch - Mississippi Heavy Water Blues 092 MARY JAMES - MAKE THE DEVIL LEAVE ME ALONE 093 Ministry - Mississippi Queen 094 U.S. Bombs - Rocks in Memphis 095 Nazareth - Jet Lag 096 The Bar-Kays - Holy Ghost 097 Ty Segall - Despoiler Of Cadaver 098 His Hero Is Gone - Like Weeds 099 Jerry Lee Lewis - Memphis Beat 100 Generation X = King Rocker 101 The Doobie Brothers - Wild Ride 102 Bad Company - Whiskey Bottle 103 Black Stone Cherry - When The Weight Comes Down 104 Buddy Miles - Memphis Train 105 Memphis Slim - Rockin' The House (Beer Drinkin' Woman) 106 David Clayton Thomas - Wish The World Would Come to Memphis 107 Lost Sounds - Better Than Somethings 108 Alice Cooper - Ubangi Stomp 109 Tom Waits - Don't Go Into The Barn 110 Hank Snow - Music Makin' Mama From Memphis 111 Phil Ochs - Heres to the State of Misssippi 112 Reigning Sound - Your Love Is A Fine Thing 113 Pixies - Letter to Memphis 114 Bob Dylan - Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again 115 The Colorblind James Experience - Considering A Move To Memphis 116 B.B.King - Rock Me Baby 117 Carla Thomas - B-A-B-Y 118 Aquarian Blood - A Love That Leads To War 119 Nights Like These - Scavenger's Daughter 120 Rufus Thomas - Walking the Dog 121 Clutch - The House That Peterbilt 122 Lyal Strickland - O Arkansas 123 Don Bryant - How Do I Get There 124 The Sensational Barnes Brothers - Trying To Go Home 125 Squirrel Nut Zippers - Memphis Exorcism 126 Faster Pussycat - Tattoo 127 The Rolling Stones - Memphis Tennessee 128 Alcatrazz - Sons And Lovers 129 Evil Army - Violence And War 130 Deep Purple - Somebody Stole My Guitar (Purpendicular 11) 131 Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs 132 UFO - Natural Thing 133 Thunderbridge Bluegrass Boys - Tennessee 134 Confederate Railroad - Queen of Memphis 135 The Box Tops - The Letter 136 Jerry Lee Lewis - Night Train To Memphis 137 Reverend John Wilkins - Trouble 138 Phil Lynott - Kings Call (feat. Mark Knopfler) 139 Old Crow Medicine Show - Motel in Memphis 140 Candy Lee- Here in Arkansas 141 Pharoah Sanders - You've Got To Have Freedom 142 Molly Hatchet - Mississippi Moon Dog 143 Rwake - Crooked Rivers 144 CARL PERKINS & PAUL SIMON - A Mile Out Of Memphis 145 Eddie Floyd - Knock On Wood 146 Al Green - Talk to me 147 Mush - Eat the Etiquette 148 PJ Harvey - Memphis 149 EX-CULT - Clinical Study 150 Isaac Hayes - Mans Temptation 151 Lil’ Jon & Eastside Boyz - Rep Yo City 152 Rufus Wainwright - Memphis Skyline 153 Stray Cats - 18 Miles to Memphis 154 Amasa Hines - Earth and Sky 155 Joe Henderson - Back Road 156 Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash - Memphis Woman 157 Norma Jean - Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste 158 Fess Parker - Ballad of Davy Crockett 159 Assjack - Redneck Ride 160 Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth - Social Lube 161 The Replacements - Alex Chilton 162 Ann Peebles - The handwriting is on the wall 163 The Highwaymen - Big River 164 The Cult - Memphis Hip Shake 165 STEVE EARLE - Hillbilly Highway 166 The BO-KEYS featuring OTIS CLAY -Got To Get Back 167 Rush - Tom Sawyer 168 Class Of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming - Birth Of Rock And Roll 169 Hank Williams Jr - Memphis Belle 170 Sam Moore & Dave Prater - Soul Man 171 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Bloc Bloc Bloc 172 Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - Just Dropped In 173 Linda Heck - pictures of dead people 174 Carla Thomas - Sugar 175 Three Mafia 6 - Mystic Stylez 176 Osborne Brothers- Rocky Top 177 The Beverly Hillbillies Theme Song 178 Wilson Pickett - Barefootin' 179 Dolly Parton - Jolene 180 Charlie Daniels - long haired country boy 181 The Civil Wars - From This Valley 182 Jill Jack - Gettin' On In Memphis (The Elvis Song) 183 Huckleberry Finn and His Friends - Opening title 184 Dead Cross - Skin of a Redneck 185 Johnny Cash - I Never Picked Cotton 186 Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel 187 Isaac Hayes - That love feeling 188 Aretha Franklin - I say a little prayer 189 Little Milton - What Do You Do When You Love Somebody 190 Howlin' Wolf - Spoonful 191 Weird Al" Yankovic - Money For Nothing / Beverly Hillbillies 192 The Oblivians - I'll Be Gone 193 OT Sykes - Stone crush on you 194 The Mad Lads - Come closer to me 195 The Box Tops - Choo Choo train 196 Bobby Blue Bland - dreamer 197 Wanda Jackson - Rip It Up 198 Junior Parker - Love Ain't Nothin' but a Business Goin' On 199 The Nightingales ft. Tommy Tate - Just a Little Overcome 200 The Louvin Brothers - Satan is real 201 Overture "Big River" - (1985 Original Broadway Cast) 202 Ike & Tina Turner - Shake 203 Playa Fly - fly shit 204 Adia Victoria - Different Kind Of Love 205 Grateful Dead - Tennessee Jed 206 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Backwoods 207 Otis Redding - Tennessee Waltz 208 Nashville Pussy - The Late Great USA 209 The Paperhead - The true poet 210 Tomahawk - South Paw 211 Night Beats - Her Cold Cold Heart 212 Forest of Tygers - human monster 213 LOSS - All Grows on Tears 214 Charlie McCoy - Wayfaring Stranger 215 Dick Stusso - Modern Music 216 Eddie Noack - Aint the Reaping Ever Done 217 Jason & the Scorchers - Greetings From Nashville 218 Jasmin Kaset and Quichenight - A Single Right Word 219 Gospel Keynotes - Give Me My Flowers 220 WEEN - Scrape the Mucus off My Brain 221 Shannon Shaw - Broke My Own 222 The Jesus Lizard - Blue Shot 223 Eddy Arnold - Tennessee Stud 224 Clutch - Pure Rock Fury 225 Today Is The Day - Who Is The Black Angel? 226 Hank Williams Jnr - Tennessee River 227 The Dead Weather - Bone House 228 Every Mother's Nightmare - Long Haired Country Boy 229 Motley Crue - She goes down 230 Waylon Jennings - Tennessee 231 Dolly Parton - Down On Music Row 232 Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon - Lets Go Burn Ole Nashville Down 233 The Byrds - Nashville West 234 Sharon Van Etten - Every Time the Sun Comes Up 235 Bill Anderson ~ More Than A Bedroom Thing 236 Dottie West - Route 65 To Nashville 237 Intruder - The Martyr 238 Johnny Cash - Smiling Bill McCall 239 Lynard Skynyrd - Workin For MCA 240 The Everly Brothers - Nashville Blues 241 Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Elusive Dreams 242 Nashville Bluegrass Band - Im Gonna Love You 243 Ringo Starr - No-No Song 244 Hank Williams - Hey, Good Lookin' 245 The Lovin Spoonful - Nashville Cats 246 They Might Be Giants - James K. Polk 247 Commander Cody - Back To Tennessee 248 Wanda Jackson - Shakin' All Over 249 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Grand Ole Opry Song 250 Tomahawk - Flashback 251 Megadeth - Dystopia 252 Dolly Parton - Train, Train 253 The Clovers - One Mint Julep 254 Trampled By Turtles - Whiskey 255 Tom T. Hall - Nashville is a Groovy Little Town 256 Muddy Waters - I am the blues 257 Foo Fighters - Congregation 258 Pavement - Strings Of Nashville 259 Joe Ely - Tennessees Not The State Im In 260 Waylon Jennings - Nashville Bum 261 The Charmels - As Long As I Got You 262 Eve Maret - Do my thing 263 SABATON - 82nd All the Way 264 Halfway To Hazard - Welcome To Nashville 265 Nashville Pussy - Go Motherfucker Go 266 Indigo Girls - Nashville 267 Snarls - Walk In The Woods 268 Steeler - Cold Day in Hell 269 Strummin' With The Devil - Jamies Cryin' 270 spazz gummo love theme 271 The Cramps - Cornfed Dames 272 Saxon - Solid Ball Of Rock 273 Al Green - Tired of Being Alone 274 Soul Friction - It's Out Of My Hands 275 Today Is the Day - Wheelin' 276 Jackie Lynn - Odessa 277 The Jesus Lizard - Nub 278 Bully - Where To Start 279 Sonny Boy Williamson II - Lonesome Cabin 280 Tomahawk - God hates a coward 281 The Louvin Brothers - Knoxville Girl 282 Tom Waits - Jitterbug Boys 283 The Evil Dead Soundtrack - Bridge Out 284 Wanda Jackson - Thunder On The Mountain 285 Elvis Presley - Where Do I Go From Here 286 Booker T & the MGs - Back Home 287 Ezra Furman & the Harpoons - American Highway 288 Joe Ely - dream camera 289 Assjack - Tennessee Driver 290 Nashville Pussy - We Want A War 291 Dwight Yoakam - A Thousand Miles From Nowhere 292 Hank Williams, Jr. - Knoxville Courthouse Blues 293 ZZ Top - My Head's in Mississippi 294 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Honky Tonkin' 295 Dead Weather - Die by the Drop 296 The Black Belles - What can I do 297 Dolly Parton - Cowgirl And The Dandy 298 The Secret Sisters - I've Got a Feeling 299 Justin Townes Earle - Aint Got No Money 300 Tomahawk - M.E.A.T 301 Jex Thoth - The Places You Walk 302 Bill Carter - Road To Nowhere 303 Bill Dees (Roy Orbison back vocals) - Tennesse Owns My Soul 304 Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks 305 The Who - Whiskey Man 306 Hank Williams III - Crazed Country Rebel 307 The Lost Sounds - I Get Nervous 308 Big Star - September Gurls 309 ZZ Top - Whiskey n Mama 310 Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down 666 Isaac Hayes - Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic

Hit play: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1_X9nesbW37-9FNLiJWOQ1f

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the-literata-letters · 3 years

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reading list - historical fiction

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS MY OTHER READING LISTS.

✵ ACTIVELY UPDATING ✵

☐ AKILAN – Vengayin maindan ☐ ALENCAR, José de – Iracema ☐ ALENCAR, José de – O Guarani ☐ ALLENDE, Isabel – La Isla Bajo el Mar ☐ ANDRIĆ, Ivo – The Bridge on the Drina ☐ ATWOOD, Margaret – Alias Grace ☐ ATWOOD, Margaret – The Blind Assassin ☐ BARICCO, Alessandro – Seta ☐ BOYDEN, Joseph – Three Day Road ☐ BOYDEN, Joseph – The Orenda ☐ BUCK, Pearl S. – East Wind: West Wind ☐ BUCK, Pearl S. – The House of Earth Trilogy ☐ BUCK, Pearl S. – China Trilogy ☐ BUCK, Pearl S. – Dragon Seed & The Promise ☐ BUCK, Pearl S. – Pavilion of Women ☐ BUCK, Pearl S. – Peony ☐ BULGAKOV, Mikhail – The White Guard ☐ BURTON, Jessie – The Minaturist ☐ BUTT, Razia – Bano ☐ CAREY, Peter – Jack Maggs ☐ CAREY, Peter – Oscar and Lucinda ☐ CAREY, Peter – True History of the Kelly Gang ☐ CARPENTIER, Alejo – El reino de este mundo ☐ CATHER, Willa – Death Comes for the Archbishop ☐ CATTON, Eleanor – The Luminaries ☐ CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de – El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha ☐ CHATTOPADHYAY, Bankim Chandra – Durgeshnandini ☐ CHATTOPADHYAY, Bankim Chandra – Anandamath ☐ CHEVALIER, Tracy – Girl with a Pearl Earring ☐ CHOY, Wayson – The Jade Peony ☐ CHOY, Wayson – All That Matters ☐ CLAUS, Hugo – Het verdriet van België ☐ CLAVELL, James – The Asian Saga ☐ COETZEE, J. M. – Waiting for the Barbarians ☐ CONIGLIO, Angelo F. – La Ruotaia ☐ CONRAD, Joseph – The Rover ☐ COOPER, James Fenimore – Leatherstocking Tales Pentology ☐ COSTER, Charles De – La Légende...d'Ulenspiegel et de Lamme Goedzak... ☐ CRANE, Stephen – The Red Badge of Courage ☐ DAVIS, Lindsey – Falco series ☐ DeLILLO, Don – Libra ☐ de MADARIAGA, Salvador – El corazón de piedra verde ☐ DICKENS, Charles – A Tale of Two Cities ☐ DOCTOROW, E. L. – Ragtime ☐ DONALD, Angus – Outlaw Chronicles ☐ DRUON, Maurice – Les Rois maudits ☐ DUMAS, Alexandre (père) – The DÁrtagnan Romances ☐ DUMAS, Alexandre (père) – Le Comte de Monte-Cristo ☐ DUMAS, Alexandre (père) – La Tulipe Noire ☐ ECO, Umberto – Il nome della rosa ☐ ECO, Umberto – I'isola del giorno prima ☐ ECO, Umberto – Baudolino ☐ ECO, Umberto – La Misteriosa Fiamma della Regina Loana ☐ ECO, Umberto – Il cimitero di Praga ☐ ELIOT, George – Romola ☐ ELIOT, George – Middlemarch ☐ ENDŌ, Shūsaku – Chinmoku ☐ FARRELL, J. G. – The Siege of Krishnapur ☐ FARRELL, J. G. – Troubles ☐ FAST, Howard – Spartacus ☐ FOWLES, John – The French Lieutenant's Woman ☐ FRASER, George MacDonald – Flashman ☐ GEDGE, Pauline – Scroll of Saqqara ☐ GHOSH, Amitav – Ibis Trilogy ☐ GOLON, Anne – Angélique series ☐ GRAVES, Robert – I, Claudius ☐ GRENVILLE, Kate – The Secret River ☐ HAGGARD, Sir H. Rider – King Solomon's Mines ☐ HARRIS, Robert – An Officer and a Spy ☐ HELLER, Joseph – Catch-22 ☐ HIJĀZĪ, Nasīm – Khaak aur Khoon ☐ HILL, Lawrence – The Book of Negroes ☐ HOLLAND, Cecelia – City of God ☐ HOLLAND, Cecelia – The Lords of Vaumartin ☐ HUGO, Victor – Quatrevingt-treize ☐ HUGO, Victor – Les Misérables ☐ HYDER, Qurratulain – Aag Ka Darya ☐ IBÁÑEZ, Vicente Blasco – Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis ☐ IRVING, Washington – Tales of the Alhambra ☐ JENNINGS, Gary – Aztec ☐ JENNINGS, Gary – Aztec Autumn ☐ JENNINGS, Gary – Raptor ☐ JIN YONG – all works ☐ JOAQUIN, Nick – The Woman Who Had Two Navels ☐ JOHNSTON, Wayne – The Colony of Unrequited Dreams ☐ JOSÉ, Francisco Sionil – Po-on ☐ JUAN MANUEL, Don – Libro do los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio ☐ KADARE, Ismail – Gjenerali i ushtrisë së vdekur ☐ KANEKAR, Amita – A Spoke in the Wheel ☐ KAYE, M. M. – The Far Pavilions ☐ KENEALLY, Thomas – Bring Larks and Heroes ☐ KENNEDY, William – Albany Cycle ☐ KIDD, Sue Monk – The Secret Life of Bees ☐ KINGSLEY, Charles – Westward Ho! ☐ KRISHNAMURTHY, Kalki – Parthiban Kanavu ☐ KRISHNAMURTHY, Kalki – Sivagamiyin Sabatham ☐ KRISHNAMURTHY, Kalki – Ponniyin Selvan ☐ LEONARDOS, George – Palaiologan Dynasty series ☐ LITTELL, Jonathan – Les Bienveillantes ☐ LISS, David – The Coffee Trader ☐ LOWRY, Lois – Number the Stars ☐ MALRAUX, Georges André – Les Conquérants ☐ MALRAUX, Georges André – La Voie Royale ☐ MALRAUX, Georges André – La condition humaine ☐ MANTEL, Hilary – A Place of Greater Safety ☐ MANZONI, Alessandro – I promessi sposi ☐ MARTINEZ, Tomás Eloy – Santa Evita ☐ MASTOOR, Khadija – Aangan ☐ McCORMMACH, RUSSELL – Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist ☐ McCARTHY, Cormac – Blood Meridian ☐ MEHTA, Nandshankar – Karan Ghelo ☐ MICHENER, James A. – all works ☐ MIKSZÁTH, Kálmán – A fekete város ☐ MIN, Anchee – Wild Ginger ☐ MITCHELL, David – The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet ☐ MITCHELL, Margaret – Gone with the Wind ☐ MORANTE, Elsa – La Storia ☐ MORRISON, Toni – Beloved ☐ MORRISON, Toni – Jazz ☐ MULTATULI – Max Havelaar ☐ NEWTON, Nerida – The Lambing Flat ☐ NINH, Bảo – Nỗi buồn chiến tranh ☐ OKSANEN, Sofi – Puhdistus ☐ ONDAATJE, Michael – In the Skin of a Lion ☐ PATTERSON, James & GROSS, Andrew – The Jester ☐ PENNER, Sarah – The Lost Apothecary ☐ PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – Captain Alatriste novels ☐ PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – Falcó novels ☐ PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – El maestro de esgrima ☐ PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – La Reina del Sur ☐ PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – El pintor de batallas ☐ PHILLIPS, Arthur – Prague ☐ PHILLIPS, Arthur – The King at the Edge of the World ☐ PILLAI, C. V. Raman – novel trilogy ☐ POPE, Barbara Corrado – Cézanne's Quarry ☐ POPE, Barbara Corrado – The Blood of Lorraine ☐ POPE, Barbara Corrado – The Missing Italian Girl ☐ PRAMOEDYA, Ananta Toer – Buru Quartet ☐ PRESSFIELD, Steven – Gates of Fire ☐ PRESSFIELD, Steven – Tides of War ☐ PRESSFIELD, Steven – The Afghan Campaign ☐ PRUS, Bolesław – Faraon ☐ PUZO, Mario – The Godfather universe ☐ PUZO, Mario – The Family ☐ PYNCHON, Thomas – Gravity's Rainbow ☐ PYNCHON, Thomas – Mason & Dixon ☐ READE, Charles – The Cloister and the Hearth ☐ RENAULT, Mary – The Last of the Wine ☐ RENAULT, Mary – The Mask of Apollo ☐ RENAULT, Mary – The King Must Die ☐ RICHARDS, D. Manning – Destiny in Sydney ☐ RIZAL, José – Noli Me Tángere ☐ RIZAL, José – El filibusterismo ☐ RUSHDIE, Salman – Midnight's Children ☐ RUTHERFURD, Edward – Russka ☐ SABATO, Ernesto – Sobre héroes y tumbas ☐ SANGHI, Ashwin – Chanakya's Chant ☐ SANKRITYAYAN, Rahul – Volga Se Ganga ☐ SARAMAGO, José – Memorial do Convento ☐ SATYANARAYANA, Viswanatha – Veyi Padagalu ☐ SCOTT, Sir Walter – Quentin Durward ☐ SCOTT, Sir Walter – Tales of the Crusaders ☐ SCOTT, Sir Walter – Ivanhoe ☐ SHAN, Sa – Porte de la paix céleste ☐ SHAN, Sa – La Joueuse de go ☐ SHAN, Sa – La cithare nue ☐ SIENKIEWICZ, Henryk – The Trilogy ☐ SMILEY, Jane – The Greenlanders ☐ SOMOZA, José Carlos – La caverna de las ideas ☐ STEPHENSON, Neal – Cryptonomicon ☐ STIFTER, Adalbert – Witiko ☐ STYRON, William – Sophie's Choice ☐ TOLSTOY, Leo – War and Peace ☐ TOMASI, Giuseppe (di Lampedusa) – Il Gattopardo ☐ TREMAYNE, Peter – Sister Fidelma mysteries ☐ UNDSET, Sigrid – Kristin Lavransdatter ☐ UNDSET, Sigrid – Olav Audunssøn novels ☐ VARGAS LLOSA, Mario – La guerra del fin del mundo ☐ VARGAS LLOSA, Mario – La Fiesta del Chivo ☐ VIDAL, Gore – Narratives of Empire ☐ WALLACE, Lew – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ ☐ WALTARI, Mika – Sinuhe egyptiläinen ☐ WALTARI, Mika – Mikael Karvajalka ☐ WILDER, Thornton – The Bridge of San Luis Rey ☐ WOOLF, Virginia – Orlando: A Biography ☐ YERBY, Frank – Goat Song ☐ YOURCENAR, Marguerite – L'Œuvre au noir ☐ ŻEROMSKI, Stefan – Wierna rzeka ☐ ZIMLER, Richard – The Warsaw Anagrams ☐ ZIMLER, Richard – The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon ☐ ZUSAK, Markus – The Book Thief

#books #literature #reading list #what to read #fiction #stories #historical fiction #academia #give me recommendations

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colin-therightstuff · 4 years

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‘The Right Stuff’: Nat Geo’s Mercury 7 Drama Series Moves To Disney+ For Fall Premiere

EXCLUSIVE: National Geographic Channel’s upcoming series The Right Stuff will become a Disney+ original. The period drama, starring Patrick J. Adams and Jake McDorman, will premiere in the fall under the Nat Geo brand on the SVOD platform. Adapted from Tom Wolfe’bestselling nonfiction account of the early days of the U.S. space program, The Right Stuff is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and Warner Horizon Scripted Television.

The first Nat Geo Disney+ show, docu series The World According to Jeff Goldblum, also had been greenlighted for the linear cable network before migrating to Disney+ to become one of the platform’s original offerings at launch. The Right Stuff marks Nat Geo’s first scripted original series for Disney+. It will provide the platform with a high-end original drama series in the fall when streamers will feel the effects of the current coronavirus-related production shutdown with a dwindling volume of new originals.

The eight-episode The Right Stuff examines what would become America’s first “reality show,” as ambitious astronauts and their families become instant celebrities in a competition that could kill them or make them immortal. The two men at the center of the story are Major John Glenn (Adams), a revered test pilot and committed family man with unwavering principles,, and Lieutenant Commander Alan Shepard (McDorman), one of the best test pilots in Navy history.

At the height of the Cold War in 1959, the Soviet Union dominates the space race. To combat a national sentiment of fear and decline, the U.S. government conceives of NASA’s Project Mercury, igniting a space race with the Soviets and making instant celebrities of a handful of the military’s most accomplished test pilots. These individuals, who come to be known as the Mercury Seven, are forged into heroes long before they have achieved a single heroic act. The nation’s best engineers estimate they need several decades to make it into outer space. They are given two years. (Watch below a behind-the-scenes video featuring footage from the series.)

The rest of the Mercury Seven includes Lieutenant Gordon Cooper (Colin O’Donoghue), the youngest of the seven who was selected to everyone’s surprise; Wally Schirra (Aaron Staton), a competitive pilot with a gift for pulling pranks; Scott Carpenter (James Lafferty), a soulful man who was dubbed “The Poet” by the other astronauts; Deke Slayton (Micah Stock), a taciturn but incredibly intelligent pilot and engineer; and Gus Grissom, (Michael Trotter), a no-nonsense test pilot who eventually becomes the second man in space.

“This true story of scientific innovation and human perseverance could not be more timely,” said Courteney Monroe, president, National Geographic Global Television Networks. “National Geographic’s The Right Stuff is an aspirational story about exploration, ambition, determination and resilience and reminds us that human beings can achieve the extraordinary when united by a common purpose. This series provides a compelling behind-the-scenes look at the flawed, but heroic Mercury 7 astronauts and we are thrilled that it has found its perfect home on Disney+.”

The rest of The Right Stuff‘s ensemble cast includes Nora Zehetner as Annie Glenn, the wife of John Glenn and his childhood sweetheart who has a speech impairment that can sometimes make communication difficult; Eloise Mumford as Trudy Cooper, Gordon Cooper’s wife and an accomplished pilot herself, with her rocky marriage to Gordon providing conflict throughout the season; and Shannon Lucio as Louise Shepard, Alan Shepard’s devoted and long-suffering wife.

Patrick Fischler plays Bob Gilruth, a soft-spoken rocket scientist who is the partner of the more brash Chris Kraft, who is portrayed by Eric Ladin. They are critical members of NASA’s Space Task group. Danny Strong plays John “Shorty” Powers, NASA’s omnipresent PR man, constantly taking the astronauts on glad-handing trips; Josh Cooke plays Loudon Wainwright Jr., LIFE Magazine’s star reporter, who is tasked with writing the biographies of all seven astronauts and has the keenest look at what’s really transpiring.

“As our audiences around the world turn to Disney+ to find inspiration and optimism, we believe the true-life heroism of the Mercury 7 will showcase the tenacity of the human spirit and inspire a new generation to reach for the stars,” said Ricky Strauss, president, Content & Marketing, Disney+. “The wonderful team of storytellers at National Geographic, Warner Horizon Scripted Television and Appian Way have crafted a compelling and entertaining tale and we are honored to give it a global home as the first scripted Disney+ original series from National Geographic.”

DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson are executive producers, along with showrunner Mark Lafferty. Chris Long directed and executive produced the first episode. Will Staples and Howard Korder are also executive producers. Thelma Schoonmaker and Danny Strong are consulting producers. Michael Hampton shepherded this project on behalf of Appian Way and is co-producer.

“Tom Wolfe’s book brilliantly captured a critical moment in American history that really resonated with all of us at Appian Way and Nat Geo,” said Davidson. “Disney+ is the perfect partner to bring forth this story of what it takes to truly achieve something extraordinary, but also the personal costs of that ambition.”

Added Lafferty, “The Right Stuff evokes the wonder and awe of the moment we first escaped the bounds of our only home and ventured into the unknown. But the show is as much about who we are today as it is about our historic achievements. At a time when the world is confronted with significant challenges, this story reminds us that what seems impossible today can become the triumph of tomorrow.”

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#colin o'donoghue #the right stuff #the right stuff news

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gibelwho · 4 years

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Marathon #1: The Western Finale and Awards

My train to the Old West has returned to its station and therefore it is time to consider all the films screened in Gibelwho Production’s Western Marathon. Taking guidance from Filmspotting’s inaugural marathon, I watched 8 films in the Western genre, with production dates spanning 30 years, each with a unique representation of frontier life, good and evil, stunning landscapes, and the men and women who inhabit the Western tales. Each film has its own recap and review on this site, but when placed in contrast to each other, the narrative of a shifting genre emerges, reflecting the changes in society that are then mirrored in the depictions of the Old West. Here are the list of the films:

High Noon (Fred Zinnemann, 1952)

The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)

Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939)

My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946)

Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959)

A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964)

Winchester ‘73 (Anthony Mann, 1950)

The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)

As noted in my introduction post, the Western genre was not my favorite of the Hollywood Studio System - I’ve never fully connected to this classic American genre, so I was a bit apprehensive about starting this journey, but still determined to keep an open mind for the variety of films included in the scope. The Marathon certainly expanded my horizons - I had only seen two of the eight films (Stagecoach and High Noon) in film school, so most of the material was seen with fresh eyes. I knew the basics of the genre, but was ready to explore the themes in a deeper way with some classic examples from the genre’s biggest stars and directors.

One prominent troupe of the Western genre is the lone man standing up to forces bigger than himself, which held true for most of the films in this Marathon. High Noon leans into this idea in the extreme - where no one in the town will lift a hand to help Gary Cooper defend against the criminals returning to seek revenge. John Wayne - the signature figure of the entire Western genre - took offense to this portrayal of a weak and friendless sheriff and so teamed up with Howard Hawks to film Rio Bravo, crafting a movie about a sheriff devoted to his public office and surrounded by capable compatriots. Clint Eastwood, the man who took the mantle of the Western lone man icon from John Wayne in his Dollars trilogy, starting with A Fistful of Dollars, has neither integrity nor a sense of duty - but is simply out to make as much money as he can selling his services.

Despite their lone man status, the protagonists of the Western are always surrounded by men and women that round out the film’s supporting cast. The portrayal of women in particular was uneven throughout the eight films; most of the actresses infused their characters with a spirit necessary in order to live in the frontier towns, but the actresses were also dealing with scripts that were not always sophisticated or enlightened. A woman's place in society often was divided into parlor women, such as Chihuahua in My Darling Clementine or Dallas in Stagecoach, or sophisticated women from the East blessing their presence in the wild West, such as Clementine or Lucy from the same films. Helen Ramirez, the business woman and former lover of the town’s sheriff in High Noon, and the matriarch of the Baxter family from A Fistful of Dollars are perhaps the only women in the Marathon’s films that truly have agency over their lives, but even they are punished for that distinction, with Helen leaving town after selling her business and Mrs. Baxter losing her life during the Rojo’s attack. And within The Wild Bunch - there are literally no women of consequence who are even featured in the film. Depending on the decade of the film’s creation and the effort put in by the screenplay, there is a mixed bag when it comes to women’s representation in the Western genre.

The theme that does have consistency across all the films is the treatment of Native Americans - and when viewed through a modern lens, it is extremely lacking in equitable representation. Across all of these films, when Indians are presented on screen - they are always the enemy, their motivations or points of view are never considered or explored, and they are always presented as an Other. In Stagecoach and Winchester ‘73, roving bands of Native Americans are presented as the main threats to the white characters - and in the latter film, typical Hollywood institutional racism is on display as white man Rock Hudson is cast as an indigenous person. The Searchers is the most flagrant, also casting a white man as the tribal chief Scar, and its script is based on an assumed racist conception that a white woman is tainted (and even decayed to the point of hysterical mental illness) once exposed to a native tribe. Mexican and Mexican Americans are given slightly better treatment, oftentimes portrayed as allies, whether as saloon and hotel owners or even as part of the posse. In The Wild Bunch, the gang of rogues consider Angel a part of the team and even attempt an ultimately unsuccessful rescue from the Mexican military. People of color are not, however, the center of the tale, but always as side characters in service of the white protagonists.

Two sub-themes also cropped up in several of the films, the first of which deals with a prominent event in American history. Although these films were released within a 30-year period between 1939 and 1969 - their settings ranged from the 1860s to the 1880s (with The Wild Bunch as the odd film out, set in 1913); this put their narratives within a few decades of the Civil War, and while none of the films deal with this as a prominent plot point, the national war is part of the characters history and therefore affects the men’s interactions in the Wild West - where any man could have fought on either side of the war. In Winchester ‘73, Lin and his friend High-Spade join the US Cavalry in a fight against the Indians and as they part ways - the duo admit to the US Sergeant that they fought against each other during the Battle of Bull Run. The men shake hands and part as chums, apparently having moved past what they consider a brother vs brother fight. More contentious is the handling of the war in Stagecoach, where the traveling band bicker about the North vs South struggle - some refer to the South as the “Southern Confederacy” and others clap back that it was a “rebellion.” In keeping with the underlying point of view of white men prominent in the genre, neither of these scripts describe the war’s central fight as around America’s original sin of slavery.

Another sub-theme deals with the very real struggle of alcoholism amongst the backdrop of the frontier, where saloons are primary social settings and the alcohol flows freely. In Stagecoach, Doc Boone’s large consumption of alcohol is treated as a humorous character quirk during the first half, but when Lucy’s pregnancy demands a premature delivery, his constant inebriation becomes a serious threat to her and the baby’s life. In My Darling Clementine, Doc Holliday’s battle with tuberculosis is made worse by drinking alcohol, definitely whiskey and even the champagne that he orders as an alternative, yet he continues to drink throughout the film. Dean Martin’s stellar performance in Rio Bravo took on a newly sober man’s temptation of falling back into the bottle, bravely showing the devastating effects of battling the disease, but also how a community of support is immensely helpful for pushing through.

Spanning 30 years, the films included in this Marathon chart the shifting narratives within the Western, with the first few decades adhering to the original genre tropes, and the films in the last decade beginning to subvert those conventions as the societal conditions had shifted as well. The films from the early decades - Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), Winchester ‘73 (1950), High Noon (1952), The Searchers (1956), and Rio Bravo (1960) - for the most part adhere to the genre conventions established by the Hollywood Studio System, including the frontier setting, a lone man sheriff fighting against monumental forces, a white-centric perspective of civilization creeping into the wilderness, and a black and white moral code featuring clear cut villains. But as the years progressed into the 1960s and global culture changed, so too did the Western genre, with A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and The Wild Bunch (1969) demonstrating those changes in this Marathon. Featuring protagonists with a blurred moral code that didn’t fall neatly into the traditional ideal sheriff hero, as well as much more overt and excessive displays of violence, these films pushed the boundaries of Western narratives and forged new visual iconography, such as Clint Eastwood’s The Man With No Name’s hat and poncho from the Dollars trilogy. Looking beyond the scope of this Marathon, the shifting conventions have only become more prominent as the years followed the 1960s, with Westerns increasingly focused on previously marginalized voices of women and persons of color, more fully exploring the grey morality of life on the frontier, and pushing the sequences of violence to even more extremes.

And now - time for the Awards! The following categories were considered across the eight films screened:

Actor

Actress

Supporting

Screenplay

Song/Score

Direction

Best Picture

Actor:

Clint Eastwood as The Man With No Name in A Fistful of Dollars

Departing from the early Western genre conventions, Eastwood plays The Man With No Name as an anti-hero, an intelligent stranger that devilishly plays the two rival gangs against each other, but also reunites a family and saves his only friend in the town. As the role that provided his breakout stardom, Eastwood is the epitome of cool - calm, confident, devious, and the fastest draw in town. The shoddy ADR slightly detracts from his performance, but otherwise, it is clear why he stole the mantle from John Wayne as the Western star for the more modern age.

Honorable Mentions:

John Wayne as Ringo Kid in Stagecoach - Wayne in his breakout role is fresh-faced, earnest, and innocently in love with Dallas, the prostitute with a heart of gold. John Ford had to fight for Wayne to be cast in this film, and his determination was rewarded by Wayne’s standout performance amongst a strong ensemble cast. He infuses Ringo Kid with a breezy and bemused attitude, floating above all the petty grievances within the stagecoach’s occupants, and instead forges a genuine connection with Dallas.

Gary Cooper as Will Kane in High Noon - Cooper is a man driven by the undeniable fact that his old enemy will not rest until he seeks revenge and his slow realization that he will face the fight alone - without help from the town nor his wife. His performance is a compelling portrait of restrained fear and solid determination, all playing out on Cooper’s stolid face.

Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine - Fonda brings sophistication to his performance, balancing a desire for revenge, nervous flirtation with Clementine, and believable sheriff skills. He also leans in to the emotion of the cattleman turned sheriff living on the frontier - subtle and heartfelt when speaking at his brother’s grave.

Actress:

Katy Jurado as Helen Ramirez in High Noon

With a fierce and stellar portrayal of a powerful woman of color in a frontier town, Jurado defies the usual boundaries of both her character’s Western world and also the Hollywood Studio System in which she filmed the movie in 1952. Not only providing a contrast to Grace Kelly’s subdued sheriff’s wife, she holds her own against her white deputy boyfriend, her white business partner where she is a silent investor, and also to her old lover - the white sheriff who is standing alone to defend his town and his life. The screenplay gives Jurado the space to create a character that has depth and her performance matches that opportunity - she is electrifying and an inspiring visage of an independent woman of color onscreen - a rare sight for a Classical Hollywood film.

Honorable Mentions:

Angie Dickinson as Feathers in Rio Bravo - Given the difficult job to inexplicably and quickly fall in love with an aging and stilted John Wayne and also to make unreasonable decisions like staying in town despite the danger to him and any of his associates, Dickinson delivers a remarkable performance. Despite a fleshed out character, Dickinson as Feathers is subtle, cool, calm, feisty, and strong. She refuses to be taken by stereotype, visibly delights in the sheriff’s uncomfortable reactions to her flirtations, and commands every scene with Wayne.

Shelley Winters as Lola Manners in Winchester ‘73 - In a film that doesn’t focus on a set of main characters, but follows the journey of a rifle through the West, Winters does get a majority of screen time; unfortunately, she spends most of that time being passed around between inadequate men. She makes up for that by maintaining a certain level of sass, delivered as snappy comments, but she also finds space for emotional and subtle moments with James Stewart.

Supporting Actor/Actress:

Dean Martin as Dude in Rio Bravo

Playing against his star persona (a charming and suave crooner from the Rat Pack), Martin is almost unrecognizable as a man going through alcohol withdrawal, attempting to stay sober and also prove his worth to the sheriff, his posse, and himself. Martin is so vulnerable here, especially the scenes where he is struggling with drinking, but he is believable as a gun-slinger and also shows off his incredibly beautiful and smooth vocals.

Honorable Mentions:

Victor Mature as Doc Holliday in My Darling Clementine - Almost claiming the top spot here, Mature delivers a masterful performance, capturing the drama of a man filled with regret and bitterness. His face has a modern quality to it that stands out in the Western setting, but he employs it well, radiating so much emotional heft with just his eyes alone.

Thomas Mitchell as Doc Boone in Stagecoach - The Doctor starts out as the comedian of the stagecoach’s ensemble, constantly finding ways to drink the whiskey salesman's wares, and playing a drunk quite convincingly (oftentimes hard to do onscreen). Halfway through the film, however, Mitchell must turn his performance towards drama and emotion, sobering up to deliver a baby. He plays all shades of this character so well and won an Oscar for Supporting Actor for his efforts.

Screenplay:

Dudley Nichols for Stagecoach

From top to bottom, the screenplay for Stagecoach is a master class in plotting, dialogue, and assembling a compelling ensemble cast. The opening scenes provide a clinic in setting up all the individual stories for the characters who join the stagecoach, which feeds into their conflicts, as well as the danger looming over their journey. Ensemble pieces can be tricky to write, but Nichols infuses just the right balance between all characters, giving them each individual moments to shine, as well as natural conflicts that elicit revealing conversations within the coach and at their various stops. Despite its age, the script is teeming with life, is incredibly funny (clearly aided by some stellar performances), and even makes interesting choices around the action scenes - building up the tension to the final shootout, but not showing it onscreen. This is a fantastic screenplay that laid the foundation for a classic movie.

Honorable Mentions:

Carl Foreman for High Noon: This film is known for its commitment to time, setting a deadline for the villains arrival and constantly reminding the viewer of the impending crisis. This creates a slow burn towards the action, but the film doesn’t rush towards the climax; rather, it focuses on moments between characters and specifically explores their various motivations. The church scene is perfected down to the details, showing how men’s minds can be swayed by emotional speeches (one delivered by Thomas Mitchell, with another fantastic performance). The script is like an onion, with each layer moving the plot forward and revealing more of the character’s emotional journey.

Various Credits for A Fistful of Dollars - While the dialogue for this film does not particularly stand out, it is an honorable mention due to the structure and ingenuity of the plotting. The Man With No Name is incredibly intelligent and this is demonstrated by all the machinations of his playing the two gangs against each other. A story based on the Japanese film Yojimbo, this film has 5 writers credited on IMDB for the story and screenplay, but does not feel disjointed at all; rather, one is taken in by the clever tricks the gun-slinger does to outwit and take down the Rojos and the Baxters.

Song/Score:

Ennio Morricone for A Fistful of Dollars

This category has a clear winner with Morricone’s score - it is creative, daring (flutes in a Western?!), and incredibly engaging, uniting sound with image effectively. Working on a tight budget, Morricone’s restrictions generated a burst of creativity, crafting a tapestry of sounds that came to define the Dollars trilogy and heralded a new blueprint for the sounds of modern Western movies.

Honorable Mentions:

Max Steiner for The Searchers - I have known the main title music since before this Marathon, as it is included on the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra’s compilation of film scores, an album often in my rotation. Steiner’s music alternates between bold statements and lingering wanderlust, crafting a variety of shapes to match the various landscapes that Ethan and Martin travel through during their years of searching.

Jerry Fielding for The Wild Bunch - As the most recent film produced in the Marathon, the soundtrack feels the most modern of the selections. Fielding crafted a body of music that varies from faux patriotic snare drums in the opening sequence, to soft and romantic sides for the team’s down beat moments, to a high adventure score for the train robbery.

Direction:

Sergio Leone for A Fistful of Dollars

While it almost seems sacrosanct to not give John Ford the award, as he is basically the father of the Western, Leone's stretching of the genre in new directions in the spaghetti Western style is too good not to recognize. Leone’s shot composition (utilizing rules of thirds, depth of field and multiple planes, using buildings as framing devices, etc) is a more sophisticated filmmaking than the straightforward shots in the classic Westerns of this Marathon. Not to mention, his direction of the actors is stellar, especially working with Eastwood to define a new visage for the Western anti-hero. For all his fantastic work, the film is not flawless; the ADR sound and some confusing day/night scenes show cracks in the armor, but don’t take away from this masterpiece of vision and storytelling.

Honorable Mention:

John Ford for The Searchers - Despite my loathing for the blatant racism of the screenplay and stilted acting of John Wayne - the distinguished direction of Ford must be acknowledged; there is a reason why this film is considered a classic. The contrast between indoor and outdoor spaces to reflect civilization vs the wilderness and the types of people that inhabit each is conveyed simply through blocking and framing. Additionally, the Monument Valley that Ford was famous for shooting was never captured so beautifully in all of its various seasons. The film must be admired for Ford’s talent, despite its other challenging facets.

Best Picture:

Stagecoach

Despite the age of this film, it feels incredibly fresh and yet timeless. I’ve already touched on the excellent (and funny!) screenplay, Wayne’s star-making turn as Ringo Kid, and the wonderful ensemble cast (especially Thomas Mitchell as Doc Boone and also Andy Devine as Buck the stagecoach driver), but Ford’s direction must be credited as well; he skillfully navigates the cramped space of the stagecoach, reveals character work through blocking in the interior spaces, and films the Monument Valley for the first time in his career. And the film’s climactic action sequence is breathtaking and full of fantastic stunt work! Of course, the portrayal of Native Americans as a looming threat is problematic and is representative of the society and time period in which the film was made, but otherwise Stagecoach deserves its reputation as a classic Western and was the best of the films screened in this Marathon.

Honorable Mentions:

A Fistful of Dollars - After screening many classic Westerns in this Marathon, Leone’s film felt like a leap forward in terms of story, tone, and visual style. I’ve already praised Eastwood’s performance, the screenplay, Leone’s direction, and the incredible score by Morricone for these awards - and the final shootout is a good encapsulation of all these elements coming together. Visually stunning, with a subtle selection of background music from Morricone, featuring a grizzled Eastwood, and a surprise twist in the plot - it was making a statement that a new type of Western had arrived on the scene.

High Noon - This is such a meticulous film, revealing new layers with each scene, keeping viewers aware of the time structure, and carefully detailing the motivations of each character and archetype. As the antithetical film to Rio Bravo, the more emotional and lighthearted movie, High Noon is entirely serious, a tone driven by Gary Cooper’s performance of the slow realization of his fate - that he will be fighting alone for a town that he had defended his entire career. The film is essentially a series of character moments with a slow burn towards the final action scene that is both thrilling and realistic - a well put together Western film.

This Marathon was clearly a small slice of selections within an incredibly vast canon of films from a genre that is foundational to film history. Along the way, I have noted films that are related to the movies within the Marathon and hope to follow up on screening them in the future, to keep my education in this genre continuing. Homework from A Fistful of Dollars are to finish the Dollars trilogy - For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), watch Leone’s ultimate masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), and also to view Eastwood’s directorial take on the Western with Unforgiven (1992). Films in the same orbit as My Darling Clementine that deal with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the famous shootout include Tombstone (1993), Wyatt Earp (1994), and Gunfight at the Ok Corral (1957). AFI’s Top 10 Westerns include several that were not in this Marathon, including Shane (1953), Red River (1948), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), and Cat Ballou (1965). And finally, some Western films took their plots from Japanese films, so watching the source material such as Yojimbo (1961) or Seven Samurai (1954), which served as the basis for The Magnificent Seven (1960). Even these selections are just scratching the surface of this expansive genre.

So, after consideration of all the films screened in this Marathon, a deeper dive into the themes and manifestations of the Western genre - did my less than enthusiastic opinion change? While my appreciation for the breadth and depth of the genre’s films grew, this experience also helped further clarify my underwhelming feeling about the genre. As the setting is deeply rooted in the American West and the expansion of eastern “civilized” culture into the natural wilderness, this genre’s underlying theme has racist roots at its core - the thought that Native Americans and Mexicans must be cast aside for the white man (yes, man - as women are often placed in stereotyped roles as well) to become dominant. The different variations on this theme can be made into entertaining cinema, but I can’t help but feel uncomfortable with the underlying narrative of the entire genre. This Marathon only covered a 30 year timespan, from Classical Hollywood to just the beginning of the New Hollywood era, and as the years continued to progress and society developed more acceptance of telling stories with an expanded POV, different variations on the Westerns have been produced; in addition to the films I have noted above, I would like to dive into the more modern and revisionist Westerns, ones such as The Ballad of Little Jo (1993) and Woman Walks Ahead (2017) that tell the tales of the Old West from the women and native perspective.

Despite my trepidation of this Marathon’s topic, I did enjoy diving deeper into the genre and learning more about the Western’s shifting conventions. The next Marathon topic that Filmspotting took on has me a bit more anxious - as it is diving into the Horror genre. I typically avoid scary movies, so I will need to gather all my emotional fortitude to take on this next Marathon. We are transitioning from the gunfight in the center of town to the stalking of innocent victims at night. For now, adios amigos!

#High Noon #The Searchers #stagecoach #my darling clementine #rio bravo #a fistful of dollars #winchester 73 #the wild bunch #john ford #john wayne

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Every Upcoming Blumhouse New Horror Movie For 2021 and Beyond

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In just over a decade Blumhouse Productions has gone from a very smart agile indie to possibly the most significant horror production company out there. It’s slate is huge, it most quickly and cheaply, trusts in its creators and favours originality and genuine scares. Though the pandemic has meant certain release dates have had to move, or not as yet locked in, it’s clear the Blumhouse juggernaut is showing no signs of slowing. It has several film in production, with release dates set for 2021 and even more movies in various states of development.

We’ve rounded up the latest on all of Blumhouse’s upcoming horror movies. Note: we have not included TV, we haven’t included anything which is clearly not a horror and the projects which have been in development hell for many years are summarised briefly at the end. We’ll keep this updated so pop back for all your Blumhouse needs.

Image from 2013’s The Purge

The Forever Purge

Release date: 9 July 2021

This fifth installment of the The Purge franchise will reportedly be the last with creator and writer James DeMonaco promising a ‘really cool’ end to the series. This movie was originally scheduled for a summer 2020 release – filming wrapped in February 2020 – but dates inevitably shifted and now it’s aiming for Summer 2021. While DeMonaco wrote the script, the movie is directed by Everardo Gout who’s best known for his work on National Geographic series Mars. The movie stars Ana de la Reguera and Tenoch Huerta with Josh Lucas and Will Patton.

Welcome to the Blumhouse (second batch)

Release date: 2021 tbc

This imprint which launched in October and streams on Amazon Prime will get another four installments in 2021. The series once again aims to give a platform to upcoming and underrepresented voices. The movies are:

Madres

A pregnant Mexican-American woman and her husband move to a migrant community in California where she starts to experience strange visions and phenomena. Is it the legendary curse? Or is something more sinister going on? This is a first feature from Ryan Zaragoza and stars Tenoch Huerta (The Forever Purge) Ariana Guerra, Evelyn Gonzalez, Kerry Cahill, and Elpidia Carrillo.

The Manor

Residents of a nursing home are haunted by supernatural forces in this film from Soulmate director Axelle Carolyn. Barbara Hershey stars as a woman who’s recently moved into the home following a stroke who suspects malevolent beings are at prey and needs to convince everyone around her she doesn’t belong there at all in order to escape.

Black as Night

Teenage misfits battle vampires who are attacking New Orleans’ disenfranchised in this feature from Maritte Lee Go which sounds like it might appeal to a young female demographic as well as the usual Blumhouse fans. It stars Asjha Cooper, Fabrizio Guido, Craig Tate, Keith David, Mason Beauchamp, Abbie Gayle and Frankie Smith.

Bingo

Set among an eldery community in the Barrio of Oak Springs, Bingo sees a stubborn group of friends lead by the matriarchal Lupita who keeps them together a family, face their toughest threat yet when they discover their Bingo hall is to be sold to a powerful force. Gigi Saul Guerrero, who directed an episode of The Purge TV show and also a segment of Blum’s Into The Dark horror series takes the helm.

Halloween Kills

Release date: October 15 2021

Originally planned for October 2020, this follow up to David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween reboot (which was a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween) will now arrive in October 2021 to carry on the saga of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her family in their ongoing battle with Michael Myers. The previous installment was a smart addition to the franchise dealing with themes of PTSD in the wake of what Laurie experienced as a teen so we have high hopes for this. Blum has said the movie will be “Huge” and “Intense” and will feature returning legacy characters from the original.

Halloween Ends

Release date: October 14 2022

The third part of the reboot trilogy is planned for 2022 and will bring to a close this part of the saga. Ahead of the release of Halloween Kills it’s difficult to predict which direction part three will take us in but if IMDb is to be believed Laurie, her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and Granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) will be in a final showdown with The Shape.

Paranormal Activity 7 (as yet untitled)

Release date: 2022 TBC

Announced back in 2019, Blumhouse is supposedly planning a seventh installment to the found footage franchise, with Oren Peli the creator of the original Paranormal Activity attached to write. No plot details have been released yet and it’s possible the unexpected events of 2020 have affected plans for this. The latest in the franchise – 2015 Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension is the least profitable of the series but still grossed $79M worldwide from a budget of $10M.

Vengeance

Release date: 2021

This is the directorial debut of actor and comedian BJ Novak (who was one of the writers on the US version of The Office, where he also played Ryan Howard), which follows a radio host from New York (also played by Novak) who travels down South in an attempt to solve the murder of his girlfriend and discover what happened to her. The movie co stars Logan’s Boyd Holbrook as well as Ashton Kutcher and Issa Rae. The production began in March 2020 but was put on hold due to COVID19, but has started back up again and Blum says they’ve almost finished shooting what he describes as “a cool, offbeat movie”.

Five Nights At Freddy’s

Status: Pre-production

Currently in pre-production is this adaptation based on the popular horror video game franchise where a night security worker at a restaurant called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is terrorised by sentient and murderous animatronic characters who come alive after dark. The movie was originally optioned by Warner Bros with Gil Keenan to direct but is now with Blumhouse under Chris Columbus. Despite delays, Blum is confident this is still very much on the cards telling Inverse “”It’s still active. We haven’t quite figured it out, but we’re getting closer every day.” The videogame franchise featured several sequels and spin offs so if Blum and Columbus can make this a hit there’s every possibility for multiple sequels.

Wolfman

Status: Pre-production

After the massive success of The Invisible Man, long time Blumhouse collaborator Leigh Whannell has signed on to tackle another classic Universal monster with the Wolfman. This is one of the strangest but most exciting titles on Blumhouse’s slate with Ryan Gosling attacked to star as a man who is cursed after being bitten by a werewolf. Gosling is a massive talent, Oscar nominated twice, who is selective with his projects so we can only imagine the script must be something special.

Mother Nature

Status: Pre-Production

Announced back in May Mother Nature marks the directorial debut of Jamie Lee Curtis herself. An eco-horror co-written by Curtis and Russell Goldman who’s head of development at Curtis’ company Comet Pictures, this is the first film in a three year first look deal Comet Pictures has with Blumhouse. Details are scant but it looks like this will be themed around climate change. “I’m 61 and my motto now is: ‘If not now, when, if not me, who?’” Curtis told EW. Well quite.

Untitled John Ridley Paranormal Thriller

Status: Pre-production

Novelist, screenwriter and director John Ridley is set to write and direct this chiller based on this article entitled ‘Project Poltergeist’ which tells the true story of a young boy who is purported terrified by supernatural occurrences in a public housing project in the 1960s. “This is an incredible true-life narrative of a young man dealing with horrors – both paranormal and racially systemic — in a community that is scarred by hate, yet ultimately brought together by hope,” said Ridley, speaking to TheWrap. “I really appreciate Blumhouse’s commitment to telling stories that seek to entertain audiences even as it challenges them.”

Patrick Wilson in Insidious

Insidious 5

Status: Pitch

It’s been ten years since the very scary first installment of Insidious, one of the franchises that really helped put Blumhouse productions on the map, and the series shows no sign of disappearing into the Further just yet. A fifth film is apparently on the cards with star Patrick Wilson set to direct. The film will focus on the Lambert family ten years on as son Dalton prepares to go to college. “We’ve had a lot of luck with first-time directors who are actors, even Jordan Peele (Get Out) or Joel Edgerton on The Gift,” Blum told Den of Geek.

Caroline Ward in Host

Untitled Rob Savage project

Status: Pre-production

Sure the defining horror movie of 2020 has to be Host, a low budget indie written, shot and released in just 12 weeks during lockdown, a Zoom horror which perfectly captured the zeitgeist. After rave reviews, Savage and his team, screenwriters Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd and producer Douglas Cox signed with Blumhouse for a three picture deal. In typical quick and dirty style they’ve already begun work on the first of these features, which will reportedly be scarier and more ambitious than Host. Definitely one to watch.

Untitled Dracula project

Status: Treatment

Announced back in March, Jennifer’s Body and The Invitation director Karyn Kusama is attached to another Universal Monster project – a new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Kusama told the Kingcast podcast that it would be a fairly faithful adaptation which will lean into the idea of multiple voices and points of view to tell the story, and perhaps present a slightly different version of the Count himself. “I would just say in some respect this is gonna be an adaptation called Dracula but it’s perhaps not the same kind of romantic hero that we’ve seen in past adaptations of Dracula,” said Kusama.

Untitled The Thing Remake/Untitled John Carpenter/Blumhouse Project

Status: Pitch

January of 2020 saw rumours that Blumhouse was working on a new iteration of The Thing, based on the (relatively) recently unearthed longer version of the story the movie is based on Who Goes There?, by John W. Campbell Jr. – the longer version is called Frozen Hell. Though there are two separate entries on IMDb for this project they are clearly the same ‘Thing’ – the ‘Untitled John Carpenter/Blumhouse Project’ suggest the Halloween 2018 director David Gordon Green maybe attached.

Firestarter

Status: Script

This new adaptation of the Stephen King novel has been kicking about since 2010 but there has been some movement recently. Zac Efron has been cast in an as yet undisclosed role and Blum has promised a “faithful” adaptation. At one point Akiva Goldsman was attached to direct, then later Fatih Akin but as things currently stand The Vigil director Keith Thomas is the frame to re-tell this story about a young girl with the telekinetic power to set things on fire. There was a previous adap of this story released in 1984 starring Drew Barrymore and directed by Mark L. Lester, with a miniseries Firestarter: Rekindled broadcast on the sci-fi channel in 2002, so this sits within remake territory.

Untitled Elizabeth Moss Project

Status: Pitch

This is a proposed adaptation of Virginia Feito’s novel, Mrs. March, with Moss producing and set to star. The novel will be published in 2021 and has been likened to Shirley Jackson. According to the synopsis it follows an upper Eastside housewife “who unravels when she begins to suspect the detestable protagonist of her husband’s latest bestselling novel is based on her”. Moss’s Love and Squalor productions with partner with Blumhouse on the project

Also in development:

Blumhouse has a multitude of other projects at different stages of development many of which likely won’t ever see the light of day. Here what else has been mooted.

Mark Duplass in Creep

Creep 3

Status: Development unknown

Third part of the Mark Duplass/Patrick Brice series – reached script stage, last updated Dec 2016

Curse

Status: Optioned

Werewolf story based on a graphic novel, optioned April 2018

Devil’s Night

Status: Development unknown

Night before Halloween story, reached script stage, last updated July 2017

Families

Status: Development unknown

Cannibal horror, reached script stage in 2015, last updated January 2017

Fangland

Status: Development unknown

Dracula as an arms dealer. Script in 2009, last updated March 2017.

Intruders

Status: Script

Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola is attached to write and direct this domestic abuse thriller, last updated May 2018.

Movies

13 Best Blumhouse Horror Movies Ranked

By David Crow and 3 others

Movies

How Jason Blum Changed Horror Movies

By Rosie Fletcher

Invasion

Development unknown

A home invasion occurs at the same time as an Alien invasion. Script as of March 2018, last updated July 2020

M3GAN

Status: Script

Housebound director Gerard Johnstone is attached to this story about a robot doll who develops sentience, with Get Out’s Allison Williams attached. It reached the script stage in July 2018, but no news since.

Magic Eight Ball

Status: Script

This project about the kids’ toy has been kicking around since 2006 with the latest version of the script listed as June 2019. Currently Jeff Wadlow of Fantasy Island is attached

Sleepwalker

Status: Script

Alexander Aja who made Switchblade Romance is listed as attached to this, though there’s been no update since September 2017

Snapshot 1988

Status: Optioned

Mike Flanagan was attached to this adaptation of a Joe Hill story, though nothing’s been updated since 2016

The Black Phone

Status: Treatment

Another planned adaptation of a Joe Hill story, with Scott Derrickson attached. No updates since the treatment in 2017 though.

The Breathing Method

Status: Development unknown

The only story from Stephen King anthology Different Seasons not to be turned into a movie, Scott Derrickson was also attached to this, but there’s been no movement for years with the last update in May 2017.

Untitled Chris Hardwick/Blumhouse Project

Status: Pitch

Collab with comedian and actor Hardwick, no news since October 2017

Untitled Dee Rees Horror Project

Status: Treatment

Collab with Mudbound director, Rees, described as “ghost story centering on an African-American lesbian couple living in a small town”. No news since May 2017.

Untitled Jason Blum/Chris Morgan Project

Status: Script

This collaboration with producer Chris Morgan has been around since 2013, with the latest update April 2017. The synopsis reads “A group of students get in over their heads with their new technological invention.”

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archive-archives · 4 years

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Warner Archive October 2020 Releases

Coming soon to an online retailer near you!

NEW 2020 1080p master! DROP DEAD GORGEOUS (1999) Run Time 98:00 Subtitles English SDH Audio Specs DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 - English Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, 16x9 Widescreen Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration BD 50 Includes Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)

The Sarah Rose American Teen Princess Pageant is a beauty contest to die for! And that’s exactly what the contestants in Mount Rose, Minnesota, are doing. Ever since the vivacious-but-vicious former beauty queen Gladys Leeman (Kirstie Alley, TV’s Cheers) started pushing her charm-challenged daughter, Rebecca (Denise Richards, The World Is Not Enough), to win at all costs, the competition has been dropping like flies. Between exploding tractors and deadly hunting accidents, it’s a wonder the top challenger, poor Amber (Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man), has the courage to keep her tap shoes on. But after Amber’s mother (Ellen Barkin, TV’s Animal Kingdom) is injured in a suspicious trailer-park-beauty-shop bombing, Amber is determined to fight to the finish – and the battle between the good and the bad is about to get ugly! Experience plenty of mom, apple pie and all-American mayhem, plus a hit-packed soundtrack, in this breakthrough comedy that is “clever, fearless and loaded with wicked lines and touches” (Los Angeles Times).

NEW 2020 1080p masters! SPACE GHOST & DINO BOY: THE COMPLETE SERIES Run Time 420:00 Subtitles English Audio Specs MONO - English Aspect Ratio 1.33:1, 4x3 Full Frame Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration BD 50 (2) Special Feature: Documentary "Alex Toth: The Artist's Artist: The Journey of a Master Cartoonist" (SD)

Showcasing the episodes in the three-segment form as they originally aired, these stellar retro hits soar through space and time to deliver justice! First, intergalactic policeman Space Ghost navigates the cosmos in his tricked-out spaceship The Phantom Cruiser, battling villains like Brak and Zorak with his legendary suit and powerful wristbands. Then, Dino Boy teams with caveman Ugh and dinosaur Bronty to go primeval on the ancient menaces of their primitive home. And finally, Space Ghost flies again with more extraterrestrial adventures and thrilling takedowns. This dynamite compilation also features the dynamic six-part Space Ghost episode The Council of Doom. It’s cosmic entertainment for all!

NEW 2020 1080p master from 4K scan of best surviving nitrate elements! SERGEANT YORK (1941) Run Time 134:00 Subtitles English SDH Audio Specs DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English, MONO - English Aspect Ratio 1.37:1, 4x3 Full Frame Product Color BLACK & WHITE Disc Configuration BD 50 Special Features: Commentary by Film Historian Jeanine Basinger; Making of Featurette "Sergeant York: Of God and Country"; Classic Cartoon "Porky's Preview"; Vintage Short "Lions for Sale"; Theatrical re-issue trailer (HD).

Torn between religious pacifism and patriotism, Alvin York of Tennessee went on to become World War I's most acclaimed hero. As the simple backwoods farm boy who captured 132 German soldiers during the Battle of Argonne, Gary Cooper (handpicked by York) also won acclaim and his first Best Actor Academy Award®. Released in 1941 when the United States was on the brink of another war, this stirring adventure inspired thousands of enlisting men. Nominated for a total of 11 Oscars® including Best Picture, a winner for Best Film Editing and movingly directed by Howard Hawks, it tells of a religious man's moral crisis, heroics and subsequent return to the rural life he loved while refusing to capitalize on the adulation heaped upon him. An ode to patriotism and the human spirit, Sergeant York endures as one of Hollywood's finest hours.

NEW 2020 1080p master! REVERSAL OF FORTUNE (1990) Run Time �� 112:00 Subtitles English SDH Audio Specs STEREO - English, DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, 16x9 Widescreen Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration BD 50 Includes Original Theatrical Trailer (HD) and feature commentary by Director Barbet Schroeder and Screenwriter Nicholas Kazan

Did European aristocrat Claus von Bulow (Jeremy Irons) try to murder his wife, Sunny (Glenn Close), at their luxurious Newport mansion in 1980? Tabloids of the day had their opinions. “You have one thing in your favor,” defense attorney Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) told von Bulow. “Everybody hates you.” Written for the screen by Nicholas Kazan (Fallen, At Close Range), directed by Barbet Schroeder (Single White Female) and based on Dershowitz’s book, Reversal of Fortune is the acclaimed filmization of events that had all of America talking. For his precise portrait of icy brittleness, Irons won the Best Actor Academy Award®* as well as the Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics Awards. Think you know the truth? Until you watch…you have no idea.

NEW 2020 1080p master! SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO (1960) Run Time 143:00 Subtitles English SDH Audio Specs MONO - English, DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, 16x9 Widescreen Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration BD 50 Includes Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)

He led America’s battles against the Depression and the Axis powers – and won. But first Franklin Delano Roosevelt fought a personal battle against polio that would either destroy him – or arm him for greatness. This powerful film of Dore Schary’s long-running play is an intimate, admiring profile in courage. Ralph Bellamy reprises his dynamic Tony®-winning stage portrayal of the future President, and Greer Garson is his devoted, warbly-voiced wife, Eleanor. Both were uncannily true in their roles, and acclaim followed: Garson earned Golden Globe® and National Board of Review Best Actress awards, as well as one of the movie’s four Oscar® nominations. With exteriors filmed at Campobello and Hyde Park and interiors staged on uncanny duplications of the real-life Roosevelt homes, Sunrise at Campobello shines eloquently and movingly.

NEW 2020 1080p master! THE OPPOSITE SEX (1956) Run Time 116:00 Subtitles English SDH Audio Specs DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English, STEREO - English Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, 16x9 Letterbox Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration BD 50 Includes Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)

“I’ve waited a whole year to grow claws like these. Jungle Red!” One of film’s greatest lines belongs to a wronged wife who wins back her man with the aid of an aggressive shade of nail polish. First a hit play, then an all-star 1939 (and later, 2008) movie, The Women resurfaces here as the musical The Opposite Sex, complete with an all-star cast, lines dipped in acid wit, big production numbers and fabulous ‘50s couture in scintillating CinemaScope®. June Allyson portrays the betrayed woman. Joan Collins is the siren who steals her husband. And Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller, Agnes Moorehead, Charlotte Greenwood and Joan Blondell are assorted gal pals (true-blue and envy-green) who convince their demure friend to paint her claws – then use them.

NEW 2020 1080p master from 4K scan from best surviving preservation elements! WATERLOO BRIDGE (1940) Run Time 109:00 Subtitles English SDH Audio Specs DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English, MONO - English Aspect Ratio 1.37:1, 4x3 Full Frame Product Color BLACK & WHITE Disc Configuration BD 50 Includes Theatrical Trailer (HD) and Screen Director’s Playhouse Radio Program with Norma Shearer and Mervyn LeRoy (audio only).

Myra and Roy meet and fall in love on Waterloo Bridge during an air raid. Their love will be one of the war’s unspoken casualties. Heartbroken after Roy is reportedly killed in action, Myra turns to prostitution to make her way. The report, however, is false. Roy later returns from a POW camp, eager to begin life anew with his beloved. But Myra’s shattered spirit may no longer hold any room for happiness. Vivien Leigh plays Myra, at once winning and breaking viewers’ hearts in this exquisite melodrama. In a compassionate performance that was his all-time favorite, Robert Taylor is gallant Roy. Under Mervyn LeRoy’s astute direction, they make Waterloo Bridge a meeting place for lovers.

BLACK LIGHTNING: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (2018-19) Run Time 674:00 Subtitles English SDH Audio Specs DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 - English Aspect Ratio ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO - 1.78:1, 16x9 Full Frame Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration BD 50 (3)

Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is a man of many faces. A former Olympic athlete, respected educator and father of two, he’s also Black Lightning, superpowered protector of Freeland. But Jefferson is not alone. His oldest daughter, Anissa (Nafessa Williams), is a med student, part-time teacher and social activist. She is also the Super Hero known as Thunder, possessing invulnerability and super strength for as long as she can hold her breath. Jefferson’s youngest daughter, Jennifer (China Anne McClain), is a fiery teen who inherited her father’s athletic gifts but not his desire to be an athlete. Jennifer also inherited his powers. Her body generates pure electrical energy, and she possesses the potential to be more powerful than Anissa or Jefferson. Lynn (Christine Adams), Jefferson’s ex-wife, is fast becoming an expert in metahuman medicine. Together, the Pierce family fights the gang known as the One Hundred for the soul of Freeland.

BLACK LIGHTNING: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON (2019-20) Run Time 673:00 Subtitles English SDH Audio Specs DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 - English Aspect Ratio ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO - 1.78:1, 16x9 Full Frame Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration BD 50 (3)

Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), respected educator and father of two, is also Black Lightning, superpowered protector of Freeland. And he doesn’t fight alone. He is joined by his superpowered daughters, Anissa (Nafessa Williams), aka Thunder, and Jennifer (China Anne McClain), aka Lightning, as well as his ex-wife, metahuman expert Lynn (Christine Adams). Together, the Pierce family combats the ills eroding their city, including a menacing gang that calls itself The 100 and infamous gangster Tobias Whale (Marvin Jones III). Worse, Freeland has been plagued by government-sponsored experiments and drug trafficking, creating metahumans and addicts while making Freeland the target of a dangerous foreign power, Markovia. Fortunately, the family still has allies in their fight: former covert superspy Peter Gambi (James Remar) and Jefferson’s neighbor, the scrupulously honest deputy police chief Bill Henderson (Damon Gupton).

New to DVD

THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA (2020) Subtitles English SDH Sound Quality DOLBY DIGITAL SURROUND 5.1 - English Aspect Ratio ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO - 2.0:1, 16x9 Letterbox Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration DVD9

The HBO® series The Plot Against America, created by The Wire’s David Simon and Ed Burns and based on Philip Roth’s acclaimed novel, brilliantly imagines an alternate American history during World War II. Told through the eyes of the Levins, a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, the six-part limited series charts the political rise of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, a xenophobic populist who captures the presidency in 1940 and turns the nation toward fascism. Caught in the upheaval, the Levins learn that the violence threatening the lives of ordinary Americans is never more than a moment’s political provocation away. Winona Ryder, Anthony Boyle, Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector, Michael Kostroff, David Krumholtz, Azhy Robertson, Caleb Malis, Jacob Laval and John Turturro star in this powerful tale of intolerance and totalitarianism.

HEAD OF THE CLASS: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (1987-88) Run Time 587:00 Sound Quality MONO - English, DOLBY DIGITAL - English Aspect Ratio 4x3 Full Frame, ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO - 1.33:1 Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration DVD9

Howard Hesseman (WKRP in Cincinnati) returns as good-natured substitute teacher Charlie Moore for the sophomore season of this fan-favorite sitcom. Charlie is assigned to the Individualized Honors Program, a very different kind of class. The IHP students are so gifted that their teachers are expected to be glorified babysitters, but the unconventional Charlie upsets the applecart by deciding to actually teach! He guides his charges – classic nerd Arvid (Dan Frischman), overachiever Maria (Leslie Bega), debate dynamo Darlene (Robin Givens), Indian immigrant Jawaharlal (Jory Husain), child prodigy Janice (Tannis Vallely), too-cool-for-school Eric (Brian Robbins), chemistry whiz Dennis (Dan Schneider), academic Renaissance woman Sarah (Kimberly Russell), ultraserious Alan (Tony O’Dell) and ethereal bibliophile Simone (Khrystyne Haje) – through academic challenges and real-life problems alike.

#Warner archive #Warner archive collection #new to bluray #new to dvd

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ljones41 · 4 years

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Top Favorite Movies of the Decade (2010-2019)

Below is a list of my top favorite movies of the decade between 2010-2019:

TOP FAVORITE MOVIES OF THE DECADE (2000-2009)

1. "Django Unchained" (2012) - Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed this first-rate film about a slave-turned-bounty hunter, who searches for his enslaved wife in antebellum Mississippi, with the help of his mentor. Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson star.

2. "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016) - Zack Synder directed this superb and vastly underrated second installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) about supervillain Lex Luthor's efforts to manipulate veteran vigilante Batman into a pre-emptive battle with Superman, whom Luthor is obsessed with destroying. Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill starred as Bruce Wayne aka Batman and Clark Kent aka Superman.

3. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014) - Chris Evans starred in this superb sequel to his 2011 hit about the Marvel superhero, who finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy regarding S.H.I.E.L.D. and its old nemesis, HYDRA. The movie was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.

4. "Lincoln" (2012) - Steven Spielberg directed this excellent look at President Abraham Lincoln near the end of his presidency. Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones star.

5. "Man of Steel" (2013) - Zack Synder directed this excellent reboot of the Superman mythos, in which the Kryptonian superhero battles a nemesis from his father's past. Henry Cavill starred as Clark Kent aka Superman.

6. "Inception" (2010) - Christopher Nolan wrote and directed one of the most unique films I have seen - which told the story of a thief who uses dream sharing technology to steal and plant corporate secrets. Leonardo DiCaprio starred.

7. "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013) - John Lee Hancock directed this superb and emotional tale about author P.L. Travers and producer Walt Disney's tug-of-war over the development of the 1964 movie, "MARY POPPINS". Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks starred.

8. "Dunkirk" (2017) - Christopher Nolan wrote and directed this acclaimed look at the British Expeditionary Force’s evacuation from Dunkirk, France in 1940. Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance starred.

9. "Hidden Figures" (2016) - Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe starred in this Oscar nominated biopic about the true story of African-American women who provided NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions. Theodore Melfi directed.

10. "The Great Gatsby" (2013) - Baz Luhrmann co-wrote and directed this splashy yet entertaining adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel about a mysterious millionaire during the early years of the Jazz Age. Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton starred.

11. "True Grit" (2010) - Ethan and Joel Coen wrote and directed this excellent adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel about a fourteen year-old girl's desire for retribution against her father's killer. Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Hattie Steinfeld starred.

12. "Gone Girl" (2014) - David Fincher directed this outstanding and colorful adaptation of Gillian Flynn's 2012 novel about whether a man is responsible for the disappearance of his wife or not. Ben Affleck and Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike starred.

13. “Silver Lining Playbook” (2012) - David O. Russell wrote and directed this Oscar-nominated adaptation of Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel, “The Silver Linings Playbook”. Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence starred.

14. "The Avengers" (2012) - Joss Whedon wrote and directed this excellent blockbuster in which S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury forms a team of superheroes to save Earth from Asgardian villain Loki and alien invaders. The cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson.

15. "Wonder Woman" (2017) - Gal Gadot starred in this excellent movie about the D.C. Comics’ heroine Wonder Woman and her experiences during World War I. Patty Jenkins directed.

16. "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (2016) - Gareth Edwards directed this excellent stand alone film in the Star Wars saga about a group of Rebels who learn about the Imperial Galaxy's new weapon, the Death Star, and set about stealing the plans. Felicity Jones and Diego Luna starred.

17. "Rush" (2013) - Ron Howard directed this exciting biopic about Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda . . . and their rivalry during the 1976 racing season. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl starred as the two rivals.

18. "Solo: A Star Wars Movie" (2018) - This excellent STAR WARS movie set ten years before the Original Trilogy, told the story of the early years of Han Solo as a smuggler and criminal. Directed by Ron Howard, Alden Ehrenreich starred in the title role.

19. "Black Panther" (2018) - Chadwick Boseman starred in this excellent adaptation of the Marvel Comics hero Black Panther aka King T'Challa of Wakanda about the title character's efforts to maintain his position as Wakanda's king, while dealing with a vengeful relation. Directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler, the movie co-starred Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong'o.

20. "Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood" (2019) - Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed this excellent tale about a fading actor and his stunt double struggling to regain success in the film industry during the final year of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles. Oscar nominee Leonardo Di Caprio, Oscar winner Brad Pitt and Oscar nominee Margot Robbie starred.

Honorable Mention: "Incredibles 2" (2018) - This first-rate direct sequel to the 2004 hit Disney animated film follows the Parr family as they try to restore public's trust in superheroes, while balancing their family life. They also find themselves combating a new foe who seeks to turn the populace against all superheroes. Directed by Brad Bird, Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter and Samuel L. Jackson provided the voices.

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kevrocksicehouse · 4 years

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On this Memorial Day a remembrance in movies of the soldiers who fought in our most illustrious wars.

The Revolutionary War (1775-83): The Last of the Mohicans. D: Michael Mann (1992). Mea Culpa Ab Initio – I’ve never seen a good Revolutionary War movie (and I refuse to credit Roland Emmerich’s fraudulent piece of jingo). But Mann’s movie about a war thirteen years before 1776 will do since so much of it is about the bitter enmity between a pompous and arrogant British officer (Steven Waddington) and the Proto-American Free Man “Hawkeye” (Daniel Day-Lewis playing his first but far from last yank). It complicates matters that the Brit dies heroically to save Madeline Stowe (as who wouldn’t) while the “American,” (or harbinger of an undiscovered country we’re still striving towards) lives to fight another day.

The Civil War (1861-65): Glory. D: Edward Zwick (1989). The story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment an all-black regiment told through the experiences of an escaped slave (Denzel Washington, who richly deserved the Oscar he won) a gravedigger, and a free intellectual (Morgan Freeman and Andre Braugher respectively, who were even better). The final doomed battle is a (heroic) footnote in the war’s history but it allows Zwick to look through the eyes of soldiers who more than anyone, understand the freedom they are fighting for.

World War I (1914-18). Sergeant York. D: Howard Hawks (1941). There are quite a few great movies about WWI featuring Frenchmen (Paths of Glory) Australians (Gallipoli) and Germans (All Quiet on the Western Front). Most are pacifist, as would befit the bloodiest pointless war (wars have been bloodier or more pointless but not both) in history. We got into it on the tail end so it’s no surprise that the best American movie was a study of one of the most decorated war heroes of the conflict (Oscar-winning Gary Cooper) whose religious pacifism almost kept him out of the whole stupid mess. The movie skirts or ignores the irony of a man triumphing over his own conscience but it’s an insightful portrait of heroism nonetheless.

World War II (1939-45) The Story of G.I. Joe. D: Wellman (1945). The Big One. The Just War. The one where we were the good guys, freeing the world from the grip of an unspeakable evil, until a pair of mushroom clouds muddied the waters. For the most mythologized of conflicts, best to trust a film close to the source. Wellman’s movie, based on the writings of Ernie Pyle (a war correspondent of bottomless empathy, played WITH bottomless empathy by Burgess Meredith) and released just a little over a year from war’s end doesn’t romanticize these tired, grimy and fatalistic men slogging through Italy. None of them are presented as heroes (not even Robert Mitchum as a Captain whose devotion to his men is killing him) but by film’s end we have known uncommon valor.

The Korean War (1950-53) M*A*S*H. D: Robert Altman. (1970). Korea by way of Vietnam. While we were fighting in the latter country, this portrait of hip army doctors drinking, fucking and playing pranks (especially on pompous officers) to keep themselves sane while dealing with the bloody byproduct of the Korean “police action” became a counterculture hit. Then, when a TV series version that underlined and put exclamation points around its themes became an even bigger hit, people started to devalue the movie and its heroes’ Playboy-club sexism and elitism. It is true that more enlightened and moralistic eyes might see these guys as less than admirable. They also seem more than realistic.

The Vietnam War (1955-1975. We got involved in 1963) We Were Soldiers. D: Randall Wallace. It has been said that every war film is a pro-war film since no matter the depiction of horror or carnage, battle creates the kind of heightened and thrilling reality for which people go to movies. This film places us among the troops in a largely successful but costly attempt to gain control of a VC base camp (that almost immediately was recaptured after the troops left). After many acts of heroism and a spectacular display of American might we are led to ponder futility. And much later we see the commander (One of Mel Gibson’s best performances) find his men at the Vietnam War Memorial. If he isn’t thinking “What a waste,” he’s not thinking what we’re thinking.

Gulf War I (1990-91). Courage Under Fire. D: Edward Zwick. (1996). An investigation into whether Captain Karen Emma Walden (Meg Ryan playing the same part several different ways) should posthumously receive the Medal of Honor leads Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Serling (Denzel Washington) into a Rashomon-like inquiry that may uncover a war crime. The film gets at the kind of lightning-fast decisions that battle necessarily requires and how the stress and guilt of those decisions can cut deeper and leave uglier scars than the most painful wounds. Even in a conflict usually portrayed as a milk run.

War in Afghanistan (2001-present) and Iraq War (2003-present). The Messenger. D: Oren Moverman (2009). And finally this Memorial Day a movie about what we’re memorializing. Two men with a job. They go to a house, deliver the news that a loved one, a soldier has died. They then refer to grief counsel, mouth words of comfort but most importantly they bear witness and so do we. And if we can take away anything from this movie while admiring the stoic empathy of Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson (Each actor’s best performance) and the other actors showing us the many shades of shock and grief, let us take away that this is still going on. Eleven years from this movies’ release, this ritual, necessary and humane, hasn’t ceased. People are still coming to houses delivering bad news about people we’ve forgotten about fighting endless and forgotten wars. Have a Memorial Day.

#memorial day #we remember #revolutionary war #last of the mohicans #civil war #glory #world war i #wwi #sergeant york #world war ii #wwii #story of gi joe #korean war #mash #vietnam war #we were soldiers #gulf war #courage under fire #the messenger

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bigyack-com · 5 years

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The Best Movies on Netflix in India [February 2020]

In its efforts to win Oscars and please its 167 million members, Netflix has been pouring billions into movies recently, including projects from or featuring the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Martin Scorsese, and Michael Bay. One of those — The Irishman — racked up 10 nominations for the streaming service at the 2020 Oscars, though it failed to come away with a single prize. Netflix has also expanded its film efforts in India in the past year, announcing projects from the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. For now though, the strength of its catalogue is still the acquisitions. With over 3,500 movies, Netflix offers more choices than any other platform in India. To pick the best movies on Netflix, we relied on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and IMDb ratings to create a shortlist. The last of them was preferred for Indian films given the shortfalls of reviews aggregators in that department. Additionally, we used our own editorial judgement to add or remove a few. This list will be updated once every few months if there are any worthy additions or if some movies are removed from the service, so bookmark this page and keep checking in. Here are the best films currently available on Netflix in India, sorted alphabetically. 12 Monkeys (1995) Inspired by the 1962 French short La Jetée, a prisoner (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time to learn more about the virus that wiped out nearly all of humanity. Terry Gilliam directs. 12 Years A Slave (2013) Duped into slavery on the account of a job, Steve McQueen's adaptation of a free New York black man's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) 19th-century memoir is an incredible true story, and an important watch. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) In Stanley Kubrick's highly-influential sci-fi film, humanity charts a course for Jupiter with the sentient computer HAL 9000, to understand the discovery of a black monolith affecting human evolution. It's less plot, and more a visual and aural experience.

3 Idiots (2009) In this satire of the Indian education system's social pressures, two friends recount their college days and how their third long-lost musketeer (Aamir Khan) inspired them to think creatively and independently in a heavily-conformist world. Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement. 50/50 (2011) Inspired by a true story, a 27-year-old radio journalist (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is diagnosed with spinal cancer and learns the value of friendship and love as he battles the rare disease. Aamir (2008) Adapted from the 2006 Filipino film Cavite, a young Muslim NRI doctor (Rajeev Khandelwal) returning from the UK to India is forced to comply with terrorists' demands to carry out a bombing in Mumbai after they threaten his family. American History X (1998) In a film that's more relevant today than when it was made, a neo-Nazi white supremacist (Edward Norton), who served three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter, tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same path. American Hustle (2013) In the late 1970s, two con artists (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) are forced to work for an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) and set up a sting operation that plans to bring down several corrupt politicians and members of the Mafia. Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner star alongside. Andaz Apna Apna (1994) Two slackers (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan) who belong to middle-class families vie for the affections of an heiress, and inadvertently become her protectors from a local gangster in Rajkumar Santoshi's cult comedy favourite. Andhadhun (2018) Inspired by the French short film L'Accordeur, this black comedy thriller is the story of a piano player (Ayushman Khurrana) who pretends to be visually-impaired and is caught in a web of twists and lies after he walks into a murder scene. Tabu, Radhika Apte star alongside. Apollo 13 (1995) Ron Howard dramatises the aborted Apollo 13 mission that put the astronauts in jeopardy after an on-board explosion ate up all the oxygen and forced NASA to abort and get the men home safely. Argo (2012) Ben Affleck directs and stars in this film about a CIA agent posing as a Hollywood producer scouting for location in Iran, in order to rescue six Americans during the US hostage crisis of 1979. Article 15 (2019) Ayushmann Khurrana plays a cop in this exploration of casteism, religious discrimination, and the current socio-political situation in India, which tracks a missing persons' case involving three teenage girls of a small village. A hard-hitting, well-made movie, though ironically, it was criticised for being casteist itself, and providing an outsider's perspective. The Avengers (2012) Earth's mightiest heroes — including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk — come together in this groundbreaking Marvel team-up from writer-director Joss Whedon to stop Thor's adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his alien army from subjugating mankind.

The Aviator (2004) With Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes and Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, Martin Scorsese dives into the life of the aviation pioneer and film producer, who grapples with severe OCD while his fame grows. Awakenings (1990) Robin Williams and Robert De Niro lead the cast of this drama based on a 1973 memoir of the same name, about a doctor (Williams) who discovers the beneficial effects of a drug on catatonic patients, thereby gifting them a new lease on life. Barfi! (2012) Set in the 1970s amidst the hills of Darjeeling, writer-director Anurag Basu tells the tale of three people (Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D'Cruz) as they learn to love while battling the notions held by society. Beasts of No Nation (2015) With civil war raging across a fictional African nation, this Netflix Original focuses on a young boy who's trained as a child soldier by a fierce warlord (Idris Elba), and the effects it has on him. Before Sunrise (1995) In the first chapter of Richard Linklater's long-drawn-out trilogy, two idealistic twentysomethings, an American man (Ethan Hawke) and a French woman (Julie Delpy), spend the night together walking around in the Austrian capital of Vienna. The Big Lebowski (1998) A guy known as The Dude (Jeff Bridges) seeks payback for his ruined carpet after he's mistaken for a millionaire with the same name in this crime comedy from the Coen brothers. Less about the plot and more about a way of living. The Big Short (2015) Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, a look at Wall Street's penchant for self-profit in a vicious loop that caused the 2007–08 global financial meltdown. Birdman (2014) Alejandro G. Iñárritu won three Oscars including Best Picture for this tale of a washed-up superhero actor (Michael Keaton) who struggles to revive his career with a Broadway play. Known for appearing as if it was shot in a single take, it also starred Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Emma Stone. Blade Runner (1982) One of the most influential cyberpunk films ever made is about a burnt-out cop (Harrison Ford) who reluctantly agrees to hunt down a group of fugitive “replicants”, synthetic humans with a limited life-span who aren't allowed to live on Earth. Blue Valentine (2010) Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams lead this drama that shifts between time periods to depict a couple's courtship and how their marriage fell apart. Das Boot (1981) One of the most authentic war movies ever made chronicles the life of a German submarine crew during World War II, as they go through long stretches of boredom and periods of intense conflict, while trying to maintain morale in a capsule 10 feet by 150 feet hundreds of metres under the surface. The Bourne trilogy (2002-07) Technically not a trilogy, but the first three chapters — Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum — starring Matt Damon in the lead as the titular CIA assassin suffering from amnesia were so good that they changed the longest-running spy franchise of all-time: James Bond.

The Breadwinner (2017) This animated film follows a 11-year-old girl living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, who disguises herself as a boy to provide for her family after the father is taken away without reason. Uses wonderfully-drawn vignettes to stress on the importance of storytelling. Bulbul Can Sing (2019) Three teenagers battle patriarchy and the moral police as they explore their sexual identities in Rima Das's National Award-winning drama — and pay for it dearly. Das writes, directs, shoots, edits, and handles costumes. C/o Kancharapalem (2018) Set in the eponymous Andhra Pradesh town, this Telugu film spans four love stories across religion, caste, and age — from a schoolboy to a middle-aged unmarried man. A debut for writer-director Venkatesh Maha, featuing a cast mostly made up of non-professional actors. Capernaum (2018) In the award-winning, highest-grossing Arabic film of all time, a 12-year-old from the slums of Beirut recounts his life leading up to a five-year sentence he's handed for stabbing someone, and in turn, his decision to sue his parents for child neglect. Captain Phillips (2013) The true story of a Somali pirate hijacking of a US cargo ship and its captain (Tom Hanks) being taken hostage, which spawns a rescue effort from the US Navy. The Bourne Ultimatum's Paul Greengrass directs. Cast Away (2000) After his plane crash-lands in the Pacific, a FedEx employee (Tom Hanks) wakes up on a deserted island and must use everything at his disposal and transform himself physically to survive living alone. Castle in the Sky (1986) In the first film officially under the Studio Ghibli banner, a young boy and a girl protect a magic crystal from pirates and military agents, while on the search for a legendary floating castle. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Chupke Chupke (1975) Hrishikesh Mukherjee's remake of the Bengali film Chhadmabeshi, in which a newly-wedded husband (Dharmendra) decides to play pranks on his wife's (Sharmila Tagore) supposedly smart brother-in-law. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan also star. A Clockwork Orange (1971) Set in a near-future dystopian Britain, writer-director Stanley Kubrick adapts Anthony Burgess' novel of the same name, commenting on juvenile delinquency through the eyes of a small gang leader who enjoys "a bit of the old ultra-violence". Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Steven Spielberg's slow-paced sci-fi pic — which spent several years in development, being rewritten over and over — is about an everyday blue-collar guy (Richard Dreyfuss) whose humdrum life turns upside down after an encounter with an unidentified flying object (UFO).

Cold War (2018) Jumping either side of the Iron Curtain through the late 1940s to the 1960s, Oscar-winner Paweł Pawlikowski depicts the story of two star-crossed lovers, as they deal with Stalinism, rejection, jealousy, change, time — and their own temperaments. Company (2002) Inspired the real-life relationship between Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan, director Ram Gopal Varma offers a look at how a henchman (Vivek Oberoi) climbs up the mobster ladder and befriends the boss (Ajay Devgn), before they fall out. Dallas Buyers Club (2013) Refusing to accept a death sentence from his doctor after being diagnosed with AIDS in the 1980s, the true story of an electrician and hustler (Matthew McConaughey) who smuggles banned medications from abroad. Dangal (2016) The extraordinary true story of amateur wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) who trains his two daughters to become India's first world-class female wrestlers, who went on to win gold medals at the Commonwealth Games. The Dark Knight (2008) In the second part of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, regarded as the greatest comic book movie ever, Batman (Christian Bale) faces a villain, the Joker (Heath Ledger), he doesn't understand, and must go through hell to save Gotham and its people. Dev.D (2009) Anurag Kashyap offers a modern-day reimagining of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali romance classic Devdas, in which a man (Abhay Deol), having broken up with his childhood sweetheart, finds refuge in alcohol and drugs, before falling for a prostitute (Kalki Koechlin). Dheepan (2015) Winner of Cannes' top prize, three Sri Lankan refugees — including a Tamil Tiger soldier — pretend to be a family to gain asylum in France, where they soon realise that life isn't very different in the rough neighbourhoods. Dil Chahta Hai (2001) Farhan Akhtar's directorial debut about three inseparable childhood friends whose wildly different approach to relationships creates a strain on their friendship remains a cult favourite. Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Preity Zinta star. Django Unchained (2012) Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) helps a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) rescue his wife from a charming but cruel plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). Drive (2011) A stuntman moonlighting as a getaway driver (Ryan Gosling) grows fond of his neighbour and her young son, and then takes part in a botched heist to protect them from the debt-ridden husband.

Dunkirk (2017) Christopher Nolan's first historical war movie chronicles the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the French beaches of Dunkirk in World War II, using his love for non-linear storytelling by depicting three fronts — land, sea, and air — in time-shifted ways. The Edge of Seventeen (2016) In this coming-of-age comedy, the life of an awkward young woman (Hailee Steinfeld) gets more complex after her older brother starts dating her best friend, though she finds solace in an unexpected friendship and a teacher-slash-mentor (Woody Harrelson). End of Watch (2012) Before he made a terrible sci-fi remake of his own film, writer-director David Ayer took a near-documentarian lens to the day-to-day police work of two partners (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) in South Los Angeles, involving their friendship and dealings with criminal elements. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) An estranged couple (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet) begin a new relationship unaware they dated previously, having erased each other from their memories, in what stands as writer Charlie Kaufman's defining work. The Exorcist (1973) One of the greatest horror films of all time, that has left a lasting influence on the genre and beyond, is about the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her mother's attempts to save her with the help of two priests who perform exorcisms. The Florida Project (2017) Set in the shadow of Disney World, a precocious six-year-old girl (Brooklynn Prince) makes the most of her summer with her ragtag playmates, while her rebellious mother tries to make ends meet with the spectre of homelessness always hanging over them. Willem Dafoe stars alongside. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) In John Hughes' now-classic teen picture, a high schooler fakes being sick to spend the day with his girlfriend and his best friend, while his principal is determined to spy on him. Fruitvale Station (2013) Black Panther writer-director Ryan Coogler's first feature offered a look at the real-life events of a young California man's (Michael B. Jordan) death in a police shooting in 2008. Winner of two awards at Sundance Film Festival. Full Metal Jacket (1987) Stanley Kubrick follows a US marine nicknamed Joker from his days as a new recruit under the command of a ruthless sergeant, to his posting as a war correspondent in South Vietnam, while observing the effects of the war on his fellow soldiers.

Ghostbusters (1984) A bunch of eccentric paranormal enthusiasts start a ghost-catching business in New York, and then stumble upon a plot to wreak havoc by summoning ghosts. Gave birth to one of the most iconic song lyrics in history. Gol Maal (1979) A chartered accountant (Amol Palekar), with a knack for singing and acting, falls deep down the rabbit hole after lying to his boss that he has a twin, in this Hrishikesh Mukherjee comedy. Gone Girl (2014) Based on Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel and directed by David Fincher, a confounded husband (Ben Affleck) becomes the primary suspect in the sudden mystery disappearance of his wife (Rosamund Pike). GoodFellas (1990) Considered as one of the best gangster films of all time, it brought Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro together for the sixth time. Based on Nicholas Pilegg's 1985 non-fiction book Wiseguy, it tells the rise and fall story of mob associate Henry Hill, his friends and family between 1955 and 1980. Gravity (2013) Two US astronauts, a first-timer (Sandra Bullock) and another on his final mission (George Clooney), are stranded in space after their shuttle is destroyed, and then must battle debris and challenging conditions to return home. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) A bunch of intergalactic misfits, which includes a talking racoon and tree, come together to form a ragtag team in this Marvel adventure that needs no prior knowledge. Guru (2007) Mani Ratnam wrote and directed this rags-to-riches story of a ruthless and ambitious businessman (Abhishek Bachchan) who doesn't let anything stand in his way as he turns into India's biggest tycoon. Loosely inspired by the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. Haider (2014) Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespearean trilogy concluded with this modern-day adaptation of Hamlet, that is also based on Basharat Peer's 1990s-Kashmir memoir Curfewed Night. Follows a young man (Shahid Kapoor) who returns home to investigate his father's disappearance and finds himself embroiled in the ongoing violent insurgency. Her (2013) A lonely man (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with an intelligent computer operating system (Scarlett Johansson), who enriches his life and learns from him, in Spike Jonze's masterpiece. Hot Fuzz (2007) A top London cop (Simon Pegg, also co-writer) is transferred to a sleepy English village for being the lone overachiever in a squad of slackers. A blend of relationship comedy and a genre cop movie. Edgar Wright directs. Hugo (2011) In 1930s Paris, a boy who lives alone in the walls of a train station tries to figure out the mystery involving his late father and his most treasured possession, an automaton, that needs a key to function. Martin Scorsese directs.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) In the best of four movies, Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen is forced to participate in a special edition of the Hunger Games, a competition where individuals fight to the death, featuring the winners of all previous competitions. I, Daniel Blake (2016) After a heart attack that leaves him unable to work, a widowed carpenter is forced to fight an obtuse British welfare system, while developing a strong bond with a single mother who has two children. Winner of the Palme d'Or. I Lost My Body (2019) In this animated Cannes winner, a severed hand escapes from a lab and scrambles through Paris to get back to his body, while recounting its past life that involved moving to France after an accident and falling in love. In This Corner of the World (2016) Set in Hiroshima during World War II, an 18-year-old woman agrees to marry a man she barely knows in this animated Japanese film, and then must learn to cope with life's daily struggles and find a way to push through as the war rages on around her. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Directed by Steven Spielberg off a story by George Lucas, an eponymous archaeologist (Harrison Ford) travels the world and battles a group of Nazis while looking for a mysterious artefact, in what is now often considered as one of the greatest films of all-time. Infernal Affairs (2002) Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning The Departed is a remake of this original Hong Kongian film, in which a police officer is working undercover in a Triad, while a Triad member is secretly working for the police. Both have the same objective: find the mole. Into the Wild (2007) Based on Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book, Sean Penn goes behind the camera to direct the story of a top student and athlete who gives up all possessions and savings to charity, and hitchhikes across America to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Iqbal (2005) In writer-director Nagesh Kukunoor's National Award-winning film, a hearing- and speech-impaired farm boy (Shreyas Talpade) pursues his passion for becoming a cricketer for the national squad, with the help of a washed-up ex-coach (Naseeruddin Shah). The Irishman (2019) Based on Charles Brandt's 2004 book “I Heard You Paint Houses”, Martin Scorsese offers an indulgent, overlong look at the life of a truck driver (Robert De Niro) who becomes a hitman working for the Bufalino crime family and labour union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

John Wick (2014) In the first part of what is now a series, a former hitman (Keanu Reeves) exits retirement to find and kill those that stole his car and killed his dog. Less story, more action, with the filmmakers drawing on anime, Hong Kong action cinema, Spaghetti Westerns, and French crime dramas. Jurassic Park (1993) It might be over 25 years old at this point but watching the very first Jurassic film from Steven Spielberg — based on Michael Crichton's novel, which he co-adapted — is a great way to remind yourself why the new series, Jurassic World, has no idea why it's doing. Kahaani (2012) A pregnant woman (Vidya Balan) travels from London to Kolkata to search for her missing husband in writer-director Sujoy Ghosh's National Award-winning mystery thriller, battling sexism and a cover-up along the way. Khosla Ka Ghosla! (2006) After a powerful property dealer (Boman Irani) holds a middle-class, middle-aged man's (Anupam Kher) newly-purchased property to ransom, his son and his son's friends devise a plot to dupe the swindling squatter and pay him back with his own money. Dibakar Banerjee's directorial debut. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) A coming-of-age story of the young titular witch, who opens an air delivery business, helps a bakery's pregnant owner in exchange for accommodation, and befriends a geeky boy during her year of self-discovery. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Lady Bird (2017) Greta Gerwig's directorial debut is a coming-of-age story of a high school senior (Saoirse Ronan) and her turbulent relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf), all while she figures out who she wants to be through friendships and short relationships. Lagaan (2001) Set in Victorian India, a village farmer (Aamir Khan) stakes everyone's future on a game of cricket with the well-equipped British, in exchange for a tax reprieve for three years. The Little Prince (2015) Antoine de Saint-Exupery's 1943 novella is given the animation treatment, in which an elderly pilot (Jeff Bridges) recounts his encounters with a young boy who claimed to be an extra-terrestrial prince to his neighbour, a young girl. Rachel McAdams, James Franco, and Marion Cotillard also voice. A Little Princess (1995) Alfonso Cuarón directs this tale of a young girl who is forced to become a servant by the headmistress at her New York boarding school, after her wealthy aristocratic father is presumed dead in World War I. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) Peter Jackson brought J.R.R. Tolkien's expansive Middle-Earth to life in these three three-hour epics, which charts the journey of a meek hobbit (Elijah Wood) and his various companions, as they try to stop the Dark Lord Sauron by destroying the source of his power, the One Ring.

Loveless (2017) A Cannes winner about the social ills of life in modern Russia, told through the eyes of two separated parents who are drawn back together after their 12-year-old child goes missing. From award-winning director Andrey Zvyagintsev. The Lunchbox (2013) An unlikely mistake by Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox carrier system results in an unusual friendship between a young housewife (Nimrat Kaur) and an older widower (Irrfan Khan) about to retire from his job. Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro (1979) In legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki's feature debut, a dashing master thief enlists the help of a long-time nemesis in the police and a fellow thief to rescue a princess from an evil count, and put an end to his counterfeit money operation. Marriage Story (2019) Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver play an entertainment industry couple going through a divorce, which pulls them — and their young son — from New York to Los Angeles, the two different hometowns of the protagonists. Mary Poppins (1964) Based on P.L. Travers' book series of the same name, a disciplined father hires a loving woman (Julie Andrews) — who he doesn't know is capable of magic — to be the nanny for his two mischievous children. Won five Oscars, including best actress for the debutant Andrews. Masaan (2015) Neeraj Ghaywan ventures into the heartland of India to explore the life of four people in his directorial debut, all of whom must battle issues of caste, culture and norms. Winner of a National Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes. Million Dollar Baby (2004) An overlooked, veteran boxing trainer (Clint Eastwood, who also directs) reluctantly agrees to train a former waitress (Hilary Swank) to help achieve her dreams, which leads to a close father-daughter bond that will forever change their lives. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) With the organisation he works for disbanded and his country after him, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) races against time to prove the existence of the schemers pulling the strings in this fifth chapter. Introduced Rebecca Ferguson to the franchise. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) The legendary British comedy troupe mix their talents with the tale of King Arthur and his knights, as they look for the Holy Grail and encounter a series of horrors. A contender for the best comedy of all-time.

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Satire so cutting that it was banned for years in the UK and elsewhere, Life of Brian saw Monty Python turning their eyes on more long-form storytelling. The Life of Brian is the story of a young Jewish man born on the same day and next door to Jesus Christ, who gets mistaken for the messiah. Mudbound (2017) A Netflix Original, this World War II drama is set in rural Mississippi, and follows two veterans – one white and one black – who return home, and must deal with problems of racism in addition to PTSD. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) After his parents find out he has been pretending to be a doctor, a good-natured Mumbai underworld don (Sanjay Dutt) tries to redeem himself by enrolling in a medical college, where his compassion brushes up against the authoritarian dean (Boman Irani). Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Set in post-war rural Japan, a heart-warming tale of a professor's two young daughters who have adventures with friendly forest sprits. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Mystic River (2003) Three childhood friends reunite after a brutal murder, in which the victim is one's (Sean Penn) daughter, another (Kevin Bacon) is the case detective, and the third (Tim Robbins) is suspected by both. Clint Eastwood directs. Nightcrawler (2014) Jake Gyllenhaal plays a freelance video journalist with no ethics or morals who will do anything to get the best footage of violent crimes that local news stations love. A feature directorial debut for screenwriter Dan Gilroy. Ocean's Eleven (2001) In this first of Steven Soderbergh's trilogy, which features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his eleven associates plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos at the same time. Okja (2017) Part environment parable and part skewer of corporatisation, this underappreciated Netflix Original by Bong Joon-ho tells its story of a young Korean girl and her best friend – a giant pet pig – while effortlessly crossing genres. On Body and Soul (2017) A shy, introverted man and a woman who work at a Hungarian slaughterhouse discover they share the same dreams after an incident, and then try to make them come true.

Only Yesterday (1991) A Studio Ghibli production about a 27-year-old career-driven Tokyo woman who reminisces about her childhood on her way to the countryside to see her sister's family. Isao Takahata writes and directs. Paan Singh Tomar (2012) A true story of the eponymous soldier and athlete (Irrfan Khan) who won gold at the National Games, and later turned into a dacoit to resolve a land dispute. Won top honours for film and actor (Khan) at National Awards. Pan's Labyrinth (2006) In Guillermo del Toro's fantastical version of Spain five years after the civil war, Ofelia – a young stepdaughter of a cruel army officer – is told she is the reincarnated version of an underworld princess but must complete three tasks to prove herself. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) Emma Watson stars in this coming-of-age comedy based on the novel of the same name by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote and directed the film. Watson plays one of two seniors who guide a nervous freshman. Phantom Thread (2017) Set in the glamourous couture world of 1950s post-war London, the life of a renowned dressmaker (Daniel Day-Lewis), who is used to women coming and going through his tailored life, unravels after he falls in love with a young, strong-willed waitress. Pink (2016) A lawyer (Amitabh Bachchan) comes out of retirement to help three women (Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, and Andrea Tariang) clear their names in a crime involving a politician's nephew (Angad Bedi). Won a National Award. PK (2014) A satirical comedy-drama that probes religious dogmas and superstitions, through the lens of an alien (Aamir Khan) who is stranded on Earth after he loses his personal communicator and befriends a TV journalist (Anushka Sharma) as he attempts to retrieve it. Porco Rosso (1992) Transformed into an anthropomorphic pig by an unusual curse, an Italian World War I ace fighter veteran now works as a freelance bounty hunter in 1930s Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean. Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs. Queen (2013) A 24-year-old shy woman (Kangana Ranaut) sets off on her honeymoon alone to Europe after her fiancé calls off the wedding a day prior. There, freed from the traditional trappings and with the help of new friends, she gains a newfound perspective on life. Director Vikas Bahl stands accused in the #MeToo movement.

Rang De Basanti (2006) Aamir Khan leads the ensemble cast of this award-winning film that focuses on four young New Delhi men who turn into revolutionary heroes themselves while playacting as five Indian freedom fighters from the 1920s for a docudrama. Ratatouille (2007) An anthropomorphic rat (Patton Oswalt) who longs to be a chef tries to achieve his dream by making an alliance with a young garbage boy at a Parisian restaurant. From Pixar. Rebecca (1940) Alfred Hitchcock's first American film is based on Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel of the same name, about a naïve, young woman who marries an aristocratic widower and then struggles under the intimidating reputation of his first wife, who died under mysterious circumstances. The Remains of the Day (1993) Made by the duo of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, this based-on-a-book film is about a dedicated and loyal butler (Anthony Hopkins), who gave much of his life — and missed out on a lot — serving a British lord who turns out to be a Nazi sympathiser. Reservoir Dogs (1992) After a simply jewellery heist goes wrong in Quentin Tarantino's feature-length debut, six criminals – Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Madsen are a few of the actors – who don't know each other's identity start to suspect each other of being a police informant. The Revenant (2015) Leonardo DiCaprio and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu won Oscars for their work on this semi-biographical Western film set in the 1820s, which tells the story of frontiersman Hugh Glass and his quest for survival and justice amidst severe winters. Roma (2018) Alfonso Cuarón revisits his childhood in the eponymous Mexico City neighbourhood, during the political turmoil of the 1970s, through the eyes of a middle-class family's live-in maid, who takes care of the house and four children, while balancing the complications of her own personal life. Sairat (2016) In a tiny village in the Indian state of Maharashtra, a fisherman's son and a local politician's daughter fall in love, which sends ripples across the society because their families belong to different castes. Currently the highest-grossing Marathi-language film of all time. Scarface (1983) Al Pacino delivers one of his best performances as a Cuban refugee who arrives in 1980s Miami with nothing, rises the ranks to become a powerful drug kingpin, and then falls due to his ego, his paranoia, and a growing list of enemies. Se7en (1995) In this dark, gripping thriller from David Fincher, two detectives – one new (Brad Pitt) and one about to retire (Morgan Freeman) – hunt a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives. Secret Superstar (2017) Though frequently melodramatic, this coming-of-age story – produced by Aamir Khan and wife Kiran Rao – of a Muslim girl from Vadodara who dreams of being a singer dealt with important social issues and broke several box office records during its theatrical run.

Sense and Sensibility (1995) Jane Austen's famous work is brought to life by director Ang Lee, about three sisters who are forced to seek financial security through marriage after the death of their wealthy father leaves them poor by the rules of inheritance. The Shining (1980) Stephen King's popular novel gets the film treatment from Stanley Kubrick, about a father who loses his sanity in an isolated hotel the family is staying at for the winter, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and the future. Shoplifters (2018) Winner of the top prize at Cannes, the story of a group of poverty-stricken outsiders scraping together an under-the-radar living in Tokyo, whose life is upended after they take in a new, young member. Hirokazu Kore-eda writes, directs, and edits. Shrek (2001) A half-parody of fairy tales, Shrek is about an eponymous ogre who agrees to help an evil lord get a queen in exchange for the deed to his swamp, filled with enough jokes for the adults and a simple plot children. A Silent Voice: The Movie (2016) Based on the manga of the same name, a coming-of-age story of a school bully who tries to make amends with a hearing-impaired girl he tormented back in the day, after the tables are turned on him. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) Two people (Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper) with pain and suffering in their past begin a road to recovery while training together for a dance competition, in what becomes an unlikely love story. The Sixth Sense (1999) In writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's best film to date, a child psychologist (Bruce Willis) tries to help a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) who can see and talk to the dead. Snowpiercer (2013) Chris Evans stars in this sci-fi from Bong Joon-ho, which takes place in a future ravaged by an experiment, where the survivors live on a train that continuously circles the globe and has led to a punishing new class system. The Social Network (2010) The tale of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg gets a slight fictional spin, as it explores how the young engineer was sued by twin brothers who claimed he stole their idea, and sold lies to his co-founder and squeezed him out.

Soni (2019) A short-tempered young policewoman and her cool-headed female boss must contend with ingrained misogyny in their daily lives and even at work, where it impacts their coordinated attempts to tackle the rise of crimes against women in Delhi. Spartacus (1960) After failing to land the title role in Ben-Hur, Kirk Douglas optioned a book with a similar theme, about a slave who led a revolt — known retrospectively as the Third Servile War — against the mighty Roman Empire. Won four Oscars and was named as one of the best historical epics. The Stranger (1946) A war crimes investigator hunts a high-ranking Nazi fugitive (Orson Welles, also director) hiding in the US state of Connecticut, who is also duping his naïve new wife. Super Deluxe (2019) An inter-linked anthology of four stories, involving an unfaithful wife, a transgender woman, a bunch of teenagers, which deal in sex, stigma, and spirituality. Runs at nearly three hours. Swades (2004) Shah Rukh Khan stars a successful NASA scientist in this based on a true story drama, who returns home to India to take his nanny to the US, rediscovers his roots and connects with the local village community in the process. Taare Zameen Par (2007) Sent to boarding school against his will, a dyslexic eight-year-old is helped by an unconventional art teacher (Aamir Khan) to overcome his disability and discover his true potential. Talvar (2015) Meghna Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj combine forces to tell the story of the 2008 Noida double murder case, in which a teenage girl and the family's hired servant were killed, and the inept police bungled the investigation. Uses the Rashomon effect for a three-pronged take. Tangerine (2015) Shot entirely on iPhones, a transgender female sex worker vows revenge on her boyfriend-pimp who cheated on her while she was in jail. Tangled (2010) Locked up by her overly protective mother, a young long-haired girl finally gets her wish to escape into the world outside thanks to a good-hearted thief, and discovers her true self.

Thithi (2016) In this award-winning Kannada-language film, set in a remote village in the state of Karnataka, three generations of men reflect on the death of their locally-famous, bad-tempered 101-year-old patriarch. Made with a cast of non-professional actors. The Town (2010) While a group of lifelong Boston friends plan a major final heist at Fenway Park, one of them (Ben Affleck) falls in love with the hostage from an earlier robbery, complicating matters. Train to Busan (2016) Stuck on a blood-drenched bullet train ride across Korea, a father and his daughter must fight their way through a countrywide zombie outbreak to make it to the only city that's safe. Tu Hai Mera Sunday (2016) Five thirty-something friends struggle to find a place in Mumbai where they can play football in peace in this light-hearted rom-com tale, which explores gender divides and social mores along the way. The Two Popes (2019) Inspired by real life, the tale of friendship that formed between Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), the future Pope Francis, after the latter approached the former regarding his concerns with the direction of the Catholic Church. Udaan (2010) Vikramaditya Motwane made his directorial debut with this coming-of-age story of a teenager who is expelled from boarding school and returns home to the industrial town of Jamshedpur, where he must work at his oppressive father's factory. Udta Punjab (2016) With the eponymous Indian state's drug crisis as the backdrop, this black comedy crime film depicts the interwoven lives of a junior policeman (Diljit Dosanjh), an activist doctor (Kareena Kapoor), a migrant worker (Alia Bhatt), and a rock star (Shahid Kapoor). Uncut Gems (2019) A charismatic, New York-based Jewish jeweller and a gambling addict (Adam Sandler) ends up in over his head in this taut thriller, struggling to keep a lid on his family, desires, business, and enemies. The Untouchables (1987) With mobster Al Capone (Robert De Niro) making use of the rampant corruption during the Prohibition period in the US, federal agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) hand picks a team to expose his business and bring him to justice. Brian De Palma directs. Up in the Air (2009) A corporate downsizing expert (George Clooney) who loves living out of a suitcase finds his lifestyle threatened due to a potential love interest (Vera Farmiga) and an ambitious new hire (Anna Kendrick).

Vertigo (1958) Topping Citizen Kane in the latest Sight & Sound poll of greatest films of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's thriller about a detective afraid of heights who falls for an old friend's wife while investigating her strange activities continued his tradition of turning audiences into voyeurs. Village Rockstars (2017) A young Assamese girl of a widow pines to own a guitar and start her own rock band, but societal norms routinely get in the way. Rima Das writes, directs, shoots, edits, and handles costumes. Visaranai (2015) Winner of three National Awards and based on M. Chandrakumar's novel Lock Up, the story of four Tamil laborers who are framed and tortured by politically-motivated cops in the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh. Vetrimaaran writes and directs. A Wednesday! (2008) Neeraj Pandey's film is set between 2 pm and 6 pm on a Wednesday, naturally, when a common man (Naseeruddin Shah) threatens to detonate five bombs in Mumbai unless four terrorists accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings case are released. Wonder Woman (2017) After a pilot crashes and informs them about an ongoing World War, an Amazonian princess (Gal Gadot) leaves her secluded life to enter the world of men and stop what she believes to be the return of Amazons' nemesis. Wreck-It Ralph (2012) This Disney animated film tells the story of a video game villain who sets out to fulfil his dream of becoming a hero but ends up bringing havoc to the entire arcade where he lives. Zero Dark Thirty (2012) The decade-long international manhunt for Osama bin Laden is the focus of this thriller from Kathryn Bigelow, dramatised as and when needed to keep a CIA intelligence analyst (Jessica Chastain) at the centre of the story. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, and Abhay Deol star as three childhood friends who set off on a bachelor trip across Spain, which becomes an opportunity to heal past wounds, combat their worst fears, and fall in love with life. Zodiac (2007) David Fincher signed on Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. to depict a cartoonist's (Gyllenhaal) obsession with figuring out the identity of the Zodiac Killer in the 1960s–70s. Zombieland (2009) A student looking for his parents (Jesse Eisenberg), a man looking for a favourite snack, and two con artist sisters join forces and take an extended road trip across a zombie-filled America, while they all search for a zombie-free sanctuary. Read the full article

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sorrytobreakyourheart · 5 years

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On Why Pre-Afghanistan Tony Stark Isn’t A Bad Person ( while not a hero )

I know this is not something that a lot of people will agree with. I don’t care. I saw the first Iron Man a few times, and never, not even the first time, did I think he had ever been a bad guy. His MCU story is not a redemption arc, it’s about being better ( even while everyone tries to make you believe you are the most horrible person on Earth ) because you can. It’s about doing as much as you can, not because you owe it to anyone, but because it’s the right thing and you can do it. It’s about doing what you can, even if it’s not always what people want, even if it’s not always enough.

Sure, Tony can be rude, sure, he can not treat you with all the respect you think you deserve, but do you actually deserve to be treated with respect, are you actually respecting him back? Or have you already decided you are better than him, and therefore you don’t have to respect him but he definitely has to respect you?

Respect for the military

You can say what you want about him being disrespectful of the soldiers in the humvee, but the truth of what we see is that he succeeds at making them comfortable and tensing down ( which is, maybe, not the best thing to do when with people who are supposed to be alert and there for your protection, but that doesn’t make him evil, especially as they don’t seem offended at all ). He’s not only trying, he’s succeeding. They like him. And if they like him, maybe you should keep your criticizing of his character to yourself and acknowledge that they like him, and that’s all.

He’s even making a show out of himself, just to be sure they understand he’s not trying to be insulting.

(As for him having put Rhodey in the other humvee, I’d like to point out that sure, maybe Rhodey could have saved him, but what if he’d died too? What if Rhodey had been there with him, and killed next to him? Worse, what if he had survived, been taken prisoner, and used by the Ten Rings to get Tony to cooperate? I’m just saying, in the end, it wasn’t necessarily for the worst.)

Double-dealings

As for Obadiah’s antics with the Ten Rings and other under-the-table deals, yeah, sure, you can blame Tony for not having seen it, for not caring enough, for... except.

From the beginning of IM1, there are three people (maybe four with Happy) Tony is close to. Pepper. Rhodey. And Obadiah. It’s not a big leap to assume that he only trusts those four people. He’s not being overly trusting. We actually don’t even know if he is, or isn’t, irresponsible in his job (by which I mean, does he do what has to be done and cannot be done by anyone else, not does he know how to have a good time and not bend over for every single thing people think he should be doing just because they don’t actually know the real amount of things he has to do and how much he can realistically do without having a breakdown.)

So yeah. He trusted Obadiah. Like he trusts Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy. Four people. He’s not being overly trusting. Is it his fault that one of his surrogate fathers (with Jarvis) decided he’d rather be a warmongering asshole with no ethics ormorals? Is it his fault that he didn’t doubt one of the four only people he trusted back then? Maybe. But then how do you get away with latter blaming Tony for not trusting new people blindly?

Weapon Manufacturer

On top of that, you can say things about him being a weapons manufacturers and how it’s evil and horrible, and Tony not having ethics or morals, except we know he was against double-dealings, he was against selling his weapons to just anyone just because it got them money. he told so to Obadiah, and Obadiah mocked his beliefs.

I’m not the biggest fan of weapons manufacturers. There’s a french movie, Micmacs à tire-larigot, that tells the story of a man who lost his father to a landmine, and who got shot in the head by a stray bullet and survived but still has the bulet in his brain because taking it out is too dangerous. That movie tells how he gets his revenge on the two competiting french weapon businesses that made the two weapons which destroyed his life, not by being violent, but by tricking them into ridiculing themselves. He does it because they destroyed his life, like Wanda did, but he doesn’t do it violently like she did, and in the end, he mostly does it because when he goes and confront them, they laugh at his face. Because they don’t care. they don’t just dismiss him, saying, “what can you do”, they laugh at him.

I don’t believe weapons manufacturers are good people *because* they are weapons manufacturers.

But I also don’t believe they are necessarily bad people *because* of their job. Their job is necessary, because you can say peace and love all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that sometimes you need to defend yourselves, to defend others, and those you will go against will have weapons. That’s not to say you should always go to war first, but sometimes you will have to.

And I find it problematic to blame the weapon manufacturer when you benefit from his weapons, when you need his weapons. I find it problematic to blame the weapon manufacturer when you hail warriors like the Avengers. I find it problematic to blame the weapon manufacturer when you honor soldiers.

Steve’s shield was made by Howard, and it is a weapon. The Howling Commandos used weapons. Natasha and Clint use weapons. Rhodey and Sam were/are military. Wakanda has a military. And even those who don’t use weapons, still use violence.

But of course, blame the weapon manufacturer.

But then blame Shuri, too, because she is one for Wakanda. Then blame Pym Industries, too, because they are weapons manufacturers. Don’t only judge Tony for being a weapon manufacturer, when he’s not the only one, when the other heroes also use weapons.

Ares Award

You can say he was being disrespectful with how he didn’t come, and that’s probably true, but you also have to admit that it’s an award for his accomplishments as a weapon manufacturer first of all. So, what it is? Is he a monster for being a weapon manufacturer, or should he come and accept an award for being a weapon manufacturer?

As far as I’m concerned, I truly believe pre-Afghanistan, Tony isn’t ashamed of who he is, he’s proud of his engineering accomplishments, but he doesn’t think it’s something to be awarded for either. Which is why he doesn’t come, because it’s not something he feel proud (or ashamed) of. Because it’s not something he considers important.

But that’s speculations, that’s not canon, and I accept that you might not believe it.

It doesn’t change the fact that you can’t both blame him for not being there and taking an award for making weapons and at the same time say weapon manufacturing is a sin.

Casino

Oh, it’s terrible, Tony knows how to have a good time in between engineering bings.

+ Tony didn’t actually know that Rhodey would be the one presenting, so it’s not like he purposefully put him in an embarrassing situation.

Christine everhart

“He doesn”t respect her!”

...does she respect him? Not really, no. She insults him, she has no love for him, and you can argue whether or not she’s right to, but when someone doesn’t respect you you don’t have to respect them back (since there is no “back”). At least not on a personal point. It is normal to respect people as people, as in, you are an individual capable of thoughts and feelings, but that doesn’t mean you have to bend over backwards for them.

(”The Merchant of Death” nickname is something you should be ashamed of, sure, but asking that in public, as a member of the press, to a man who’s life is completely regulated by how the public and other people of power view him isn’t going to get you an actual answer. Because he can’t let it show, whether he cares or not, because when he does, he’s stabbed in the back.)

So, Tony doesn’t stay in bed to wait for her to wake up. What, they’re not a couple, and even as a couple you don’t wait for the other one to be up to start on with your life.

So, she’s not allowed in his workhop. Of course she isn’t. He has dangerous stuff down there, for himself and for basically anyone on Earth. If he let her in on the basis that they had a one night stand and she stole something you’d all be accusing him of being careless, like with Obadiah (like what happened with Howard and Dottie Underwood in the Agent Carter series).

So, it was a one-night-stand. Horrible. Casual sex is a sin. Please don’t forget that this mean you are also judging Christine here, because a consensual one-night-stand takes two people and neither of them were in it to start a relationship.

So, Pepper showed her the door. After she asked questions that were either offensive to Tony (he doesn’t value you) or to Pepper (you aren’t valuable). She wasn’t thrown out first time in the morning. And I’m sorry, but Christine is a big girl, she shouldn’t have needed to be shown the door at all, if what she wanted was to leave. And if what she wanted was to coax another quote of Tony after their Night of Passion, he definitely didn’t owe her that.

“The Bigger Stick”

Not necessarily the best or more thoughtful ideology, but it’s true that you wont dissuade bullies by being weaker than them. Now the question would be, do you actually have a reason to wave your bigger stick in someone’s face, or is it only that you are the bully yourself?

Doesn’t mean it’s bad. Doesn’t mean it’s good. It depends on what you do with it, and if it’s the most sensible option.

That also applies to the Jericho.

(We can say something about “find an excuse to fire one”, because people might take it like firing one at actual people for no good reason, but it can also be understood as firing one into the desert and let people see for themselves, like Tony is doing during the demonstration. But, as far as Tony can tell, it works. And that’s why he’s doing it. When confronted with the proof that it can go the other way, he stops weapon manufacturing.

Still not very eco-friendly, though.)

Pepper

An argument can be made about how Tony puts too much on her shoulders and not enough on his own. But at the same time we don’t really know how much he really does when he isn’t partying. We do know, on the other hand, that he does a lot of inventing, which takes time. That he is serious about his demonstrations, as he is going himself to Afghanistan, to demonstrate his weapons in the field corresponding to its possible uses.

He probably could have been better at this, but Pepper, in the end, is his PA. She is doing her job. This is what he hired her for. He isn’t being untowards, at that.

The Jet

Making Rhodey wait wasn’t great. But it is also his personal jet, and it’s obvious that he didn’t think Rhodey would have stayed standing for three hours. Maybe he should have known, but to him it wouldn’t have been a big deal if Rhodey had gone inside to wait for him.

Again, could do better, but ultimately not evil.

Also, people complain about the flight attendants dancing, and frankly, I’m like, what? They don’t seem to be forcing themselves, they aren’t half-naked, and they could definitely say they don’t actually want to and let the men to their drinks. If you really want to complain, complain that for X reason they shouldn’t look like they want to be dancing and passing time on this 12-hours flight, because it’s sexist or whatever, but not that Tony is sexist because everyone is obviously having a good time.

Also, saying a man can’t appreciate a woman’s form as long as it’s just appreciating and she hasn’t told him not to is very hypocritical if it’s not valid the other way around. Tony(/RDJ) is constantly appreciated on a physical aspect. If you want to complain, stop looking yourself.

+ The drinks. Tony has a point. They aren’t getting hammered (Tony isn’t, at least) and he is fresh-faced when they get to Afghanistan. The MCU never established that Tony had a drinking problem, only that occasionally he likes to drink. Therefore, it isn’t a canonical problem.

So no, I don’t think, and I never thought that Tony was a villain, on his way to become a villain, or that he has a villain origin story. He wasn’t a hero, but he wasn’t a bad man either.

You don’t have to like him. But please don’t be mistaken as to why.

And, if you really, really believe Tony was evil before Afghanistan, then I want you to admit that you don’t respect Rhodey and Pepper either, who were already his friends, who supported him back then, and on top of that had a hard time supporting him when he changed at first.

I’m not saying you can’t believe that. But admit what it implies..

#tony stark #pro tony stark #tony stark isn't a villain #never was a villain #MCU #iron man 1 #respect tony stark

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ferretrade · 5 years

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Avengers: Endgame spoilers below. MANY spoilers. Not super specific but SPOILERY.

MY ENDGAME THOUGHTS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

I feel kinda blah about how much thor gets played for comic relief now?

wow they really had to shoehorn some peggy love in there for that ending to work huh. which, honestly I wasn’t thrilled about because I feel like it invalidated a lot of what the (really great) agent carter did. in general I think a lot of peggy & steve’s arcs were supposed to be about mourning and moving on--and if you have to lay something on THAT thick to get it to “work” it’s probably not working. but uhhhh alright.

that said, sam!cap is a dream come true. (really looking forward to that sam & bucky show now)

meanwhile, they really... shorted bucky, huh? never really got a reunion with steve.

I know it’s not supposed to be funny but clint’s farm family still kills me every time.

have you ever cried at the word cheeseburger?

there were honestly a lot of good callback lines. and some great new ones. (that really is america’s ass.)

okay probably the worst thing in the whole movie for me was how they went “oh boy we sure loved killing one female character by throwing her off a cliff for a stone, let’s do it again!!” I’ve complained so much about how male dominated these films are and they always go back to treating the few female heroes there are like shit and then have a scene right after with 5 men on screen being sad.

and I know they followed that up with that cool all the lady heroes scene but 1) that felt... a little pander-y. like they were patting themselves on the back all “look, we have some pretty cool female heroes now!” (don’t get me wrong I loved seeing it, but marvel’s just barely working towards equal so no back patting) and 2) I’ve said before that it’s not just quality that matters, but quantity. comparatively, how many female heroes are there to male heroes? how much screen time do they get? how many lines? how many story arcs are devoted to them? if you look at these things, it’s not going to come out good.

I hope natalie portman got PAID. (@ marvel I’ll still never forgive you for wronging her because I know you must have and jaimie alexander who you definitely did)

not having dominic cooper as howard was a tragedy and I’m mentally editing the scenes in my mind to fix it.

there were some glaring “uhhh what?” plot hole-y moments that I can mostly sweep under the rug (see: why didn’t CM fly up and away instead of straight through in grabbing distance?)

the more I think about the time travel... the less it makes sense. I’m mostly willing to sweep that under the rug except for the steve part. that’s the one part that really makes my brain go BUT HOLD ON WHAT. and I know some very clever people have written possibilities about how it works, but y’all shouldn’t have had to.

wait back to peggy for a moment. tell me I’m not the only one who cracked up when steve was staring at her through the window. IT’S GLASS, STEVEN. SHE COULD HAVE SEEN YOU.

and now that I’m thinking about the soul stone again, it’s super messed up. why is that the only stone with a magical guardian and conditions to find it?

that sounds like a lot of criticism... but I did honestly like the movie over all. even if I have this weird desire to write some sort of fix it fic and aggressively rewatch agent carter.

#ferretalk!#avengers #avengers: endgame #endgame #spoilers #a:e #avengers spoilers #endgame spoilers #how many other ways can I tag this

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howardhawkshollywoodannex · 6 years

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The 2019 Oscars

I recently watched three lousy movies, and they're all nominated for Best Picture. I'd already seen spike lee’s lousy Black KKK Klansman, his first such nomination. As usual, the only points spike has to make are the obvious ones. Undercutting the historical parallels, his movie time travels to the earlier 70s so spike can take advantage of the biggest afros, and when the soul music was more to his liking.

Bohemian Rhapsody is nothing more than a cash grab for the surviving members of Queen, The reason for the movie is in selling Queen albums to millions of new American teenage fans. Nothing in the movie rings true. Much of what happens is contradicted by actual events that took place in chronological order. It's a PG movie of an X rated rock star lifestyle. Bohemian Crapsody. It will be no surprise when it wins for best editing. Here’s an 80 second clip that sums up the movie quite nicely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBzaRD9eWyk.

Roma is strictly for the critics and eager art house trendies anxious to praise a film for being "deeply personal." In two hours and 20 minutes, only four dramatic events occur, while the rest of the movie is the monotonous drudgery of humdrum everyday existence. We are expected to weep over the silent nobility and endurance of the poor working class despite the lack of even one interesting character. One observant critic wrote “I felt sorry for the dog.” The black and white photography is notably weak. If you've seen at least a few classic films, you’ll appreciate the often dazzling high contrast black and white images, but somehow the effect here is muted for remarkably low contrast. Many times I thought the film would at least look better in color.

A Star is Born is the weakest effort for Bradley Cooper who also directed and co-wrote. He has little chemistry with Lady Gaga, and in a concession to today’s pervasive political correctness, he repeatedly tells plain Jane Gaga how beautiful she is. Her songs are featured in her repellant way of beating every song into submission with an over-the-top wrecking ball style. Every concert performance includes non-stop uncontrollable audience cheering in the sound mix. Brad was fine in his singing bits, but unbelievable as a buffed and sun tanned alcoholic.

So I've seen five of the eight best picture nominees, and the only one that doesn't suck is Black Panther, which stands out by being average. I liked the costumes and makeup. Recent years have featured at least one good film - Birdman, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Three Billboards or Dunkirk, but I’ve seen nothing of quality yet this year. I haven't seen First Man, with Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, which I expect will be good, as the film was much criticized and was weak at the box office because Neil is not a likeable and traditional hero. Conservatives complained of a literal lack of flag waving.

Here's an article from Canada on the Oscar's long history of awfulness, with a relevant Howard Hawks quote.

https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/movies/was-there-ever-a-time-when-the-oscars-were-good

#oscars #2019 oscars #Oscars 2019

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thejokesonthem · 6 years

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Full article under the cut for those who can’t access the link.

The hatchet came later. Rocks were rare in the Red Hills of Kansas, where Carry Nation lived, so, when God commanded her to destroy establishments where alcohol was served, she gathered pieces of brick from her yard and wrapped them in brown paper to look like packages. On the morning of June 7, 1900, she walked into a saloon in Kiowa, told the proprietor to take cover, and began throwing her “smashers,” as she called them, at the mirror above his bar and all the bottles on it.

Later that day, Nation did the same thing at two other bars in town, though when her brick failed to break the mirror at one of them she hurled a billiard ball from a nearby pool table to finish the job. She was detained in Kiowa, but not arrested. Her first jail sentence came nearly seven months and many smithereened bars later, in Wichita. “You put me in here a cub,” she cried from behind the bars of her cell. “But I will go out a roaring lion and I will make all hell howl.” And so she did, switching from “smashers” to hatchets after her release, and getting arrested at least thirty more times for wielding them at bars from San Francisco to Coney Island.

Carry Nation’s wrath was a response to matters both private and public: she was furious at her alcoholic husband, and furious at the legal system that let men like him drink freely to the detriment of women, children, and society at large. Although her means were unusual and her desired ends unfashionable, she was representative of a recurring figure in American history: the woman whose activism is fuelled by anger. Such women are much in the news today, and much in the streets, too, although generally without the hatchet. Since the 2016 Presidential election, countless numbers of them have set out to make hell howl—by disrupting government hearings, occupying federal buildings, scaling the Statue of Liberty, boycotting businesses, going on strike, coming forward with stories of harassment and assault, flooding congressional telephone lines, raising a middle finger at the Presidential motorcade, and attending protests by the millions, sometimes carrying with them representations of the President’s castrated testicles and severed head.

In previous political eras, women like these would have been told to hold their tongues or act more ladylike. These days, however, we are being encouraged, at least in some quarters, to embrace our anger. A slew of new books are challenging the ancient notion that rage can be dangerous for both self and society, arguing instead that women’s anger is, as the respective subtitles of these books insist, their “power,” their “revolutionary power,” even their “superpower.”

Like any emotion, anger is easy to recognize but difficult to define. We know it when we see it, and certainly when we feel it, yet most definitions struggle to wholly capture it. Philosophers sometimes describe anger as a response to the feeling that something one values has been wronged or harmed. Biologists might explain it as a feeling of pain or discomfort or anxiety, accompanied by the release of hormones, like adrenaline, that increase blood pressure. Psychologists often classify it as a secondary emotion—one that follows from a primary reaction, such as fear or shame, and can take many affective forms, from tears to screaming to silence.

This definitional slipperiness inevitably haunts any effort to make anger into a political tool—what, exactly, is being valorized, an ethical objection or a rush of adrenaline? But one thing is clear: responses to anger depend, to a remarkable degree, on whether the person expressing it is a man or a woman. In “Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger” (Atria), the writer and activist Soraya Chemaly notes early on that women “don’t need books, studies, theories, or specialists” to prove how reviled our anger is. We are all familiar with the stereotypes whereby femininity demands the suppression of anger while masculinity rewards its expression, and whereby angry women are hysterical harpies but angry men—white men, at any rate—are heroes. Rather than dwell on how female rage is received, Chemaly presents a thoroughgoing assessment of its causes: an account, organized thematically, of the private and public abuse, bias, and discrimination faced by women.

The result is both relentless and revelatory. American women between the ages of eighteen and forty-four are nearly twice as likely as men to report feeling exhausted every day; women, if they have sex with men, have fewer orgasms than their male partners; they make less money than their male colleagues; of the thirty highest-paying job categories, twenty-six are dominated by men, while women dominate twenty-three of the thirty lowest-paying categories; female patients are treated for pain less often than male patients who present with the same symptoms; one in four women lives with domestic violence; one in five women has been sexually assaulted; and two-thirds of women have experienced street harassment, roughly half of them before they turned seventeen. Chemaly deftly balances these statistics with grim stories to illustrate them, so that the cumulative effect of reading her book is not merely to legitimize women’s anger but to render it astonishing that we are not even angrier.

All the facts that Chemaly musters were true before the most recent Presidential election, but in its wake many women are refusing to stay quiet about their experiences. Chemaly says that she is calling for a change in our cultural thinking on anger, gender, and politics, but in truth she is responding to one that has already begun. It was on display on January 21, 2017, the day of the first Women’s March, and since then has grown steadily more prominent, and strikingly more personal, with the #MeToo movement. Chemaly’s book has autobiographical passages—many of her female relatives get vivid cameos—but she chooses not to emphasize her own story. By contrast, the Rutgers University professor Brittney Cooper builds a manifesto mostly from memoir. “Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower” (St. Martin’s Press) considers African-American feminists from Michelle Obama to Beyoncé, but it is chiefly a chronicle of how Cooper learned to stop disguising and dismissing her own anger.

Cooper writes movingly about coming of age as a black woman in the Baptist Church and on the campus of Howard University—two bastions of black power and, in her experience, black patriarchy. She describes carrying around Audre Lorde’s “Sister Outsider” like a “feminist bible,” and it is mostly from Lorde that she derives her account of how rage can be made useful. Lorde owns anger the way that Monet owns water lilies; no one writing about the emotion today can ignore her address at the National Women’s Studies Association conference in 1981. Delivering “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism”—a title too often abridged at the colon—Lorde described the bigotry within the feminist movement, and then argued that anger was an appropriate response, because when “focused with precision it can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change.”

It was essential for Cooper to develop that focus, she says, in order to make use of her anger: “The clarity that comes from rage should also tell us what kind of world we want to see, not just what kind of things we want to get rid of.” Focus, of course, is really the ability to adjust our vision, measuring one thing accurately against another, and Cooper’s attention to the complex dynamics of anger is illuminating even for readers who don’t agree with the positions she ultimately takes. She weighs her desire to join the first Women’s March as an act of feminist solidarity against her anger over the long-standing failure of white feminists to make common cause with women of color. (In the end, she skips the march, but feels ambivalent about the decision.) She considers her frustration that President Obama did not send troops to rescue the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram alongside her wariness about “getting in bed at any level with the logics of patriarchy and militarism.” (Despite those qualms, she wishes Obama had done more for the girls, many of whom have still not been found.)

That sort of self-critical reflection is often missing from the journalist Rebecca Traister’s “Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger” (Simon & Schuster). Traister, who covered both of Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaigns, is a kind of feminist first responder who writes often and sometimes instantly about sexism in America. Her columns and profiles for New York magazine are astute accounts of the daily attacks on women’s rights, and the argument she makes in her book is partly one of accretion. Women’s rage, she claims, has long fuelled progressive social change, and the women galvanized by Trump’s election are part of a grand tradition of radicalism. Traister sees parallels between the participants in the Women’s March and the members of the National Women’s Political Caucus who protested when the press failed to cover their presence at the 1972 Democratic National Convention; between the gun-control activist Emma González and the labor activist Rose Schneiderman; between the men who demand smiles from women today and those who, in previous centuries, put women in branks (a metal muzzle, also known as a scold’s bridle, used to silence and publicly humiliate those who were forced to wear it); between the women of #MeToo and those who stormed Versailles during the French Revolution; between herself when she published an angry column and Rosa Parks who, as a girl, picked up a brick and threatened to throw it at a white boy who was bullying her.

Traister writes, “I had no idea how old and deep and urgent was women’s impulse to sometimes just let their fury out without a care to how it would be evaluated, even if that expression of rage put them at risk: in young Rosa Parks’s case, at risk of death; in my case, at risk of being mocked on the internet.” Of course, the Internet these days is very much real life, and abuse there can lead to abuse offline, but the problem with Traister’s comparison is that no semicolon can bridge the gap between those two experiences. That is, in fact, a problem with the book over all: juxtaposition is not a sufficient structure for a political argument. Traister focusses on isolated episodes of anger among progressive women of various races, classes, and eras, while failing to adequately reckon with crucial differences among the circumstances that provoked their anger and the ways in which they chose to respond to it.

But those aren’t superficial differences. They are critical distinctions that lead some angry women to be applauded while others are attacked, and that lead many rebellions to fail while only a few revolutions succeed. Traister writes that she does not wish “simply to cheer” anger, and acknowledges that the rage that fuels insurrections “has the power to burn them up.” But her case for ire is undermined by a rampaging elephant in the room: anger knows no political persuasion. For every Maxine Waters, there’s a Michele Bachmann; for every Gloria Steinem, a Phyllis Schlafly. At the same time that Chemaly, Cooper, and Traister were watching their own angry takes and rage-filled tweets go viral, Ann Coulter, Candace Owens, and Jeanine Pirro were watching theirs do the same.

This failure to parse politically inconvenient anger is, as Ogden Nash once put it, “a notable feat / of one-way thinking on a two-way street.” “Eloquent Rage,” “Good and Mad,” and “Rage Becomes Her” give little space to Sarah Palin, the women of the Tea Party, and the legions of women who—in what they, too, feel is an expression of righteous anger—lend their voices to the anti-abortion movement. All of the books do, however, acknowledge a fact that undercuts their attempts to valorize women’s anger: one of the angriest demographics in America before the 2016 Presidential election was white women, and the majority of them voted for Donald Trump.

That the words “President” and “Trump” came together anywhere outside of a Mad Lib is itself perhaps the most straightforward argument against anger as a political virtue. According to exit polls and endless postmortems, many people were so furious about immigration, the economy, the election of a black President, the potential for a female one, Black Lives Matter, the War on Christmas, and any number of other real and phantasmagorical issues that they voted for Trump. Was there ever a better example of blind rage?

That blindness is one of the oldest objections to anger. The ancients generally regarded rage as uncontrollable and violent; it led to bad decisions and endangered the well-being of individuals and collectives. The University of Chicago professor Martha Nussbaum shares that view, and, unlike Chemaly, Cooper, and Traister, she is not sanguine about anger as a political tool. In “The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis” (Simon & Schuster), Nussbaum acknowledges the seductions of anger but warns against its side effects.

“Anger is a poison to democratic politics, and it is all the worse when fueled by a lurking fear and sense of helplessness,” Nussbaum writes. That is true regardless of the angry person’s gender: it clouds the judgment of men and women alike, and increases the likelihood of error. Because the sort of insults and injuries that provoke anger can occur by accident, and because their causes can be difficult to determine, it is easy to get angry at the wrong person, or to settle for a substitute for the unavailable or unknown source. Even if we accurately identify the responsible party, Nussbaum argues, we can still err in assessing the severity of the transgression or in selecting an appropriate response. Anger, according to this view, is almost always retributive; even when it does not seek personal redress, it demands the suffering of others.

History is filled with examples of how easily anger can be exploited or manipulated, but Nussbaum summons from Greek tragedy an evocative illustration of how it can be redeemed. She tells the story of how, in the Oresteia, the Furies, vengeful beings that drip ooze from their eyes and vomit blood, are transformed into the Eumenides, beautiful creatures that serve justice rather than pursue cruelty. Athena establishes a system of law, and the changed Furies are part of its foundations. To Nussbaum, Aeschylus offers a metaphor for how individual passions can be tamed by reason and how collective anger can be converted to the cause of justice.

Of course, classical mythology is one thing and contemporary reality is another. Yet resisting anger personally and rejecting it politically is a crucial, if never fully realizable, duty of democratic citizens. That may seem like a reactionary message for a political era such as ours, but it is worth remembering that this age of rage was preceded, for progressives, by an era of hope, and that earlier injustices have been fought by political movements devoted to peace and nonviolence. Nussbaum cites Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela in her account of protest without payback. (The fact that all three are men does not, needless to say, reflect a masculine attraction to nonviolence but, rather, our failure to canonize female political heroes. She could have written as convincingly about Susan B. Anthony, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Clara Luper.) Nussbaum quotes King explaining that, though anger might have brought people to his protests, an essential task of the movement was to purify the emotion so that it could serve the cause of civil rights.

That belief came partly from King’s deep theological commitment to nonviolence. But it may also reflect a tactical awareness that people who feel, even erroneously, that they are losing power can be angrier than those who are seeking it. It is the deforming nature of anger to blur the boundary between unjustified and justified; if it weren’t, only the righteous would ever be angry. Instead, rage is most often forsworn by those who seem most entitled to it, and civility is demanded by those who least deserve it. The civil-rights marchers and the Freedom Riders were the ones with the calm clarity of the Eumenides, while their white neighbors were the ones who looked and sounded like the Furies.

All these authors are right to note that a major problem with anger is that some people are allowed to express it while others are not. That disparity was vividly on view during the recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Christine Blasey Ford calmly testified about being sexually assaulted in high school and her alleged attacker, the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, seethed and shouted at the senators, behavior that was applauded by conservative pundits and politicians as evidence of his innocence.

It was an upsetting display, and hardly one to make the case for the virtues of anger in the political arena. Indeed, the hearing suggests that, instead of encouraging rage from people who have traditionally been denied it, we might be better off defusing it in those traditionally rewarded for it—not only for the sake of our democracy but for ourselves. However efficacious anger may seem in the short term, even righteous anger is likely to be deleterious in the long term, to the individual body and to the body politic. Repressed emotions are dangerous, but, as countless medical studies have shown, sustained anger is both physically and emotionally destructive.

Women have every reason to be livid right now, and our anger should not be mocked, censored, or punished. But that does not mean it must be celebrated, or that hard-won efforts to manage anger and discourage aggression in the general population should be reversed. Tellingly, Cooper’s book concludes with a meditation on joy, a benediction of sorts that ends with a reminder: “What you build is infinitely more important than what you tear down.”

Anger is an avaricious emotion; it takes more credit than it deserves. Attempts to make it into a political virtue too often attribute to anger victories that rightfully belong to courage, patience, intelligence, persistence, or love. These days, we remember Carry Nation’s hatchets, but forget that she sold souvenir versions of them and used the proceeds not only to pay her own bail but also to support a shelter for the wives, mothers, and children of alcoholics. Nation’s anger accounts for only a sliver of her political activism; the majority of her life was spent in constructive rather than reactive efforts, and it was also spent in community with other activists, through the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Such solidarity, rather than the rage that occasioned it, feels like the secret subject of these new books. What is powerful isn’t so much women’s anger as their collective action. That is what has changed most radically since this past election, hopefully not in a burst of rebellion but in a revolution of lasting consequence. ♦ This article appears in the print edition of the October 15, 2018, issue, with the headline “Fighting Mad.”

#terf safe #feminism #radfem #terfs do interact

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