#1972 Road Runner

[yz]

1972 Plymouth Road Runner with a 5.2L small block V8 (318 cu. in.). Ashland car show, September 2024.

Fujifilm X-T50 with XF 23mm f/2.0 lens.

[coolthingsguyslike]

[hififotos]

72 Road runner GTX

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1972 Plymouth Road Runner

[cosmonautroger]

1972 Plymouth Road Runner

[coolvintagecars]

Plymouth Road Runner 2-Door Hardtop (1972)

[diabolus1exmachina]

Plymouth GTX Concept  (1 of 1)

This is the only 1972 Plymouth GTX you’re ever likely to see because it’s the only one that was made. And it wasn’t made by Plymouth, it was made by Gary and Pam Beineke using formerly top secret images from the Chrysler archives. The Plymouth GTX is a muscle car that was produced by the Plymouth division of Chrysler Corporation from 1967 to 1971. It was introduced as a high-performance version of the popular Plymouth Belvedere and was marketed as a “gentleman’s muscle car” with good performance, but with a more luxurious interior and smoother ride than some of its more hard-edged counterparts. When it was introduced the GTX was available in two-door hardtop and convertible body styles and was powered by a 440 cubic inch V8 engine that produced 375 horsepower. It also featured heavy-duty suspension, power brakes, and a floor-mounted four-speed manual transmission as standard equipment.In 1968, the GTX received a facelift and a new optional engine – the legendary 426 cubic inch Hemi V8 that produced 425 horsepower. The Hemi was claimed to be the most powerful engine available in any American production car at the time, and it gave the GTX serious street cred among muscle car enthusiasts.Over the next few years, the GTX continued to evolve with various engine and styling updates. In 1969, the car received a new front-end design and a new optional engine – the 440 Six Pack, which featured three two-barrel carburetors and produced 390 horsepower.In 1970, the GTX received a completely new body style and a revised engine lineup that included the 440 Six Pack and the 426 Hemi, which was now rated at 425 horsepower.

Sadly by the early-1970s it became clear that the muscle car era was coming to an end, and by 1971, rising insurance rates and tightening emissions regulations had taken their toll on the high-performance car market in the United States.

For 1972 the GTX name was relegated to what was essentially only an option package, called the Road Runner GTX. Any Road Runner that was ordered with the 440 V8 received Road Runner GTX badging, and this continued until the model was phased out in 1974, in the dark shadows of the 1973 Oil Crisis.

There were rumors of a potential comeback for the GTX in the late 1990s however a production car never materialized.

The car you see here is the only one of its kind in the world, it’s a 1972 Plymouth GTX but as mentioned further up, it wasn’t actually built by the Chrysler Corporation. Each year the husband and wife team of Gary and Pam Beineke build one car. And not just any car, but a car that previously existed only in the Chrysler archives. They find original drawings and images of planned models that never made it into production, and then they painstakingly build the car themselves. Interestingly this work isn’t their full time job. Gary is an attorney and a registered contractor, and Pam is a registered nurse who works in the operating room. They call the series of cars that they have built “What If’s” – and they do it all on nights and weekends while holding down full time jobs.

The couple first came across the planned 1972 Plymouth GTX when looking over the uncovered archive items discovered by Steve Juliano. This car was designed by John Herlitz and it was far from just a stying exercise, multiple full scale models were made and it did seem for a time as though it would be the successor to the 1971 Plymouth GTX.

Sadly it was not to be. The perfect storm of increasing emissions restrictions and crash safety regulation combined with soaring insurance premiums on muscle cars resulted in demand dropping significantly by the early 1970s.By the time of the 1973 Oil Crisis, with its sky high gasoline prices, automakers were already focusing on smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles. The GTX name did live on for a short time, as part of the aforementioned Road Runner GTX package on 440 V8 equipped cars, but it was killed off as a free standing model after 1971.

Gary and Pam Beineke took it upon themselves to right this wrong. They sourced a 1971 Road Runner and set to work creating the car that Herlitz had designed all those years ago in the late 1960s. They poured over the images of the long destroyed models, and they were able to discuss their work with Herlitz her offered them guidance on what the production ’72 GTX would have looked like.

[mogwai-movie-house]

The Best Album Per Year for Sixty Years

No-one asked for it, of course, but I do like making lists, so here's me pondering what have been the best Long Players in the album artform the past 60 years. I originally tried to keep it to just one per year, but many years that proved impossible: when listing multiple albums I have tried ranking them with the one I feel narrowly edges out the others first, and I use lower case to indicate an album that is not at the same level as others on the list but was the best I've heard from that time.

Feel free to have fun with the list and make up your own.

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1962 Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan 1963 The Freewheelin' - Bob Dylan 1964 another side of - bob dylan 1965 Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan 1966 Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys / Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan / Revolver - The Beatles 1967 Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles / The Velvet Underground & Nico / Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme - Simon & Garfunkel / Safe As Milk - Captain Beefheart 1968 Astral Weeks - Van Morrison / The White Album - The Beatles / Bookends - Simon & Garfunkel / We're Only In It For The Money/Lumpy Gravy - Frank Zappa 1969 Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones / Abbey Road - The Beatles / In A Silent Way - Miles Davis 1970 Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel / Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon 1971 Imagine - John Lennon / Blue - Joni Mitchell / What's Goin' On - Marvin Gaye/ 2 - Moondog 1972 Exile On Main Street - The Rolling Stones / Discover America - Van Dyke Parks / Clear Spot - Captain Beefheart / Ege Bam Yasi - Can 1973 Raw Power - Iggy And The Stooges 1974 Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan 1975 Horses - Patti Smith / Discreet Music - Brian Eno / Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd / Velvet Donkey - Ivor Cutler 1976 The Ramones - The Ramones 1977 Low - David Bowie / New Boots & Panties - Ian Dury / Marquee Moon - Television / 77 - Talking Heads 1978 Music For Airports - Brian Eno / This Year's Model - Elvis Costello / Third (Sister Lovers) - Big Star / More Songs About Music & Food - Talking Heads 1979 Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division/ Fear of Music - Talking Heads / Into The Music - Van Morrison / Sheik Yerbouti - Frank Zappa / Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young 1980 Remain In Light - Talking Heads / Closer - Joy Division / One Trick Pony - Paul Simon / Common One - Van Morrison 1981 Faith - The Cure 1982 Thriller - Michael Jackson / 1999 - Prince / 4 - Peter Gabriel / Too Rye Ay - Dexys Midnight Runners / Big Science - Laurie Anderson / Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen 1983 Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits / Murmur - R.E.M. / Hearts & Bones - Paul Simon / Off The Bone - The Cramps 1984 Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution / Hatful Of Hollow - The Smiths / Various Positions - Leonard Cohen / Reckoning - R.E.M. / The Unforgettable Fire - U2 1985 Don't Stand Me Down - Dexys Midnight Runners / Rain Dogs - Tom Waits / Around The World In A Day - Prince & The Revolution / Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega / Hounds of Love - Kate Bush / Hunting High & Low - A-ha 1986 Parade - Prince & The Revolution / So - Peter Gabriel / The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths / Graceland - Paul Simon / Steve McQueen - Prefab Sprout / Blood & Chocolate/King of America - Elvis Costello 1987 Sign O The Times - Prince / The Joshua Tree - U2 / Strangeways Here We Come - The Smiths / Actually - Pet Shop Boys / Tango In The Night - Fleetwood Mac 1988 Irish Heartbeat - Van Morrison & The Chieftains / Green - R.E.M. / Viva Hate - Morrissey / The Serpent's Egg - Dead Can Dance / Surfer Rosa - Pixies / Naked - Talking Heads / Introspective - Pet Shop Boys / I'm Your Man - Leonard Cohen / Blue Bell Knoll - Cocteau Twins 1989 Disintegration - The Cure / Technique - New Order / Doolittle - The Pixies / Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan / Avalon Sunset - Van Morrison / Rei Momo - David Byrne / Behaviour - Pet Shop Boys / Candleland - Ian McCulloch 1990 Extricate - The Fall / The Good Son - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Songs For Drella - Lou Reed & John Cale / Jonathan Goes Country - Jonathan Richman 1991 Screamadelica - Primal Scream / Achtung Baby - U2 / The Bootleg Boxset - Bob Dylan 1992 It's A Shame About Ray - The Lemonheads / Henry's Dream - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Automatic For The People - R.E.M. / Good As I Been To You - Bob Dylan / The Future - Leonard Cohen 1993 Debut - Bjork / Dubnobasswithmyheadman - Underworld / Exile In Guyville - Liz Phair / Neroli - Brian Eno / Come On Feel - The Lemonheads / Zooropa - U2 / Vena Cava - Diamanda Galas

1994 Selected Ambient Works Vol. II - Aphex Twin / Toward The Within - Dead Can Dance / Let Love In - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Dummy - Portishead / Autogeddon - Julian Cope / Vauxhall & I - Morrissey 1995 Anthology - The Beatles / The Ugly One With The Jewels - Laurie Anderson 1996 Boys For Pele - Tori Amos 1997 Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space - Spiritualized / The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan / Vanishing Point - Primal Scream 1998 Up - R.E.M. / I'm So Confused - Jonathan Richman 1999 Play - Moby / I See A Darkness - Bonnie Prince Billy 2000 XTRMNTR - Primal Scream / All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2 / The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem / Kid A - Radiohead / KY - Lemon Jelly 2001 Vespertine - Bjork / Love & Theft - Bob Dylan / No More Shall We Part - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 2002 The Eminem Show - Eminem 2003 Room On Fire - The Strokes / The Man Comes Around/Unearthed - Johnny Cash / The Wind - Warren Zevon 2004 Has Been - William Shatner / How To Dismantle An Atom Bomb - U2 / You Are The Quarry - Morrissey / The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom / Smile - Brian Wilson 2005 Another Day On Earth - Brian Eno / Le Fil - Camille 2006 Modern Times - Bob Dylan / Surprise - Paul Simon / Love - The Beatles 2007 for emma, forever ago - bon iver 2008 vampire weekend - vampire weekend 2009 No Line On The Horizon - U2 / The XX - The XX 2010 show me the face - michelle gurevich 2011 Angles - The Strokes / So Beautiful or So What - Paul Simon 2012 Life Is People - Bill Fay / Old Ideas - Leonard Cohen 2013 Comedown Machine - The Strokes / Crimson Red - Prefab Sprout 2014 Ghost Stories - Coldplay / 1989 - Taylor Swift 2015 ★ - David Bowie 2016 Lover, Beloved - Suzanne Vega / Stranger To Stranger - Paul Simon 2017 American Dream - LCD Soundsystem / antisocialites - alvvays 2018 music for installations - brian eno 2019 weezer (teal album) - weezer 2020 rough & rowdy ways - bob dylan 2021 happier than ever - billie eilish 2022 dragon new warm mountain i believe in you - big thief

[strictlyfavorites]

1957 Chevrolet BelAir 009

1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302

1973 SD455 Trans Am

1969 Plymouth Road Runner 426 Hemi! 1

1969 Plymouth Road Runner 426 Hemi! 2

1970 Dodge Challenger, convertible.

1972 Dodge Dart

Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Spider 1939

Abarth Alfa Romeo 2000 Coupé 1954

762 Hemi.

[jacdurac]

1972 Plymouth Road Runner

[scotianostra]

January 15th 1948 saw the birth of one of Scotland's best long distance runners Ian Stewart.

Not your typical Scot, he was was born in Handsworth, Birmingham the third of six children of John and Mary Stewart. After the two eldest children (Carol and Peter) were born in Scotland, the family relocated from Musselburgh to Mary's native Birmingham in 1948, his father was Scottish and he chose to run for Scotland.

To many particularly of a certain age in Scotland, Ian Stewart is best remembered for his magnificent victory in the 5,000 metres at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. In front of his "home" crowd at Meadowbank Stadium, the 21-year-old defeated Ian McCafferty and two legendary world distance stars, Kipchoge Keino and Ron Clarke in a European record time.

The year before on 11th June 1969 at Reading, Ian and his older brother Peter became the first brothers in the world to break the four minutes barrier for the one-mile in a race won by fellow Scotsman, Ian McCafferty. Ian Stewart clocked 3 mins 57.3 secs, four-tenths of a second ahead of Peter.

Although he brought home a bronze medal from the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Stewart was deeply disappointed at both his performance and how the final had been run. On 8th May 1977 Stewart produced arguably his most remarkable athletics performance when he got away from the field in the first mile to complete the Michelin ten miles Road race in Staffordshire in a time of 45 minutes 13 seconds. Because the time was so unusually fast, the race organisers remeasured the course and found it to be the correct distance.

Three of the siblings won European Athletics titles, surely a remarkable fete in itself. His sister, Mary, also born in Birmingham, won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 1977 European Indoor Championship in San Sebastián. She represented England and won a gold medal in the 1,500 metres event, at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

[vladimir777sk]

📺 Top 50 Best Sci-Fi Movies that are a must-watch!

1. Interstellar (2014)

2. Children of Men (2006)

3. Jurassic Park (1993)

4. The Matrix (1999)

5. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

7. Arrival (2016)

8. Inception (2010)

9. Her (2013)

10. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

11. Ex Machina (2014)

12. The Martian (2015)

13. Oblivion (2013)

14. District 9 (2009)

15. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

16. Snowpiercer (2013)

17. Looper (2012)

18. Gravity (2013)

19. Donnie Darko (2001)

20. Moon (2009)

21. Minority Report (2002)

22. Primer (2004)

23. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

24. WALL·E (2008)

25. Coherence (2013)

26. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

27. The Terminator (1984)

28. Under the Skin (2013)

29. V for Vendetta (2005)

30. Serenity (2005)

31. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

32. Attack the Block (2011)

33. Sunshine (2007)

34. Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

35. The Butterfly Effect (2004)

36. Avatar (2009)

37. Monsters (2010)

38. Dune (2021)

39. Annihilation (2018)

40. Alien (1979)

41. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

42. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

43. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

44. The Fifth Element (1997)

45. The Iron Giant (1999)

46. Man of Steel (2013)

47. Tenet (2020)

48. Cloud Atlas (2012)

49. Silent Running (1972)

50. The Fountain (2006) Which one would you add?

[coolthingsguyslike]

[casbooks]

Books of 2023

Book 74 of 2023

Title: Elite Bastards Authors: Edward L Dvorak ISBN: 9781526789655

Tags: B-52 Stratofortress, FAC, M24 Duster, O-1 Bird Dog, US USA 101st Airborne Division - Screaming Eagles, US USA 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment - Blackhorse, US USA 173rd Airborne Brigade - 4th Bn, US USA 173rd Airborne Brigade - 4th Bn - D Co, US USA 173rd Airborne Brigade - 4th Bn - D Co - 1st Plt, US USA 173rd Airborne Brigade - 4th Bn - D Co - 1st Plt - 1st Sqd, US USA 173rd Airborne Brigade - Sky Soldiers, US USA 17th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 17th Cavalry Regiment - 3/17, US USA 17th Cavalry Regiment - 3/17 - D Troop, US USA 17th Cavalry Regiment - E Troop, US USA 199th Light Infantry Brigade - Redcatchers, US USA 25th ID - Tropic Lightning, US USA 51st Infantry Regiment, US USA 51st Infantry Regiment - F Co (LRP), US USA 51st Infantry Regiment - F Co (LRP) - Team 1/2, US USA 51st Infantry Regiment - F Co (LRP) - Team 1/3, US USA 51st Infantry Regiment - F Co (LRP) - Team 1/5, US USA 51st Infantry Regiment - F Co (LRP) - Team 1/6, US USA 51st Infantry Regiment - F Co (LRP) - Team 1/7, US USA 74th Reconnaissance Airplane Co (RAC), US USA 74th Reconnaissance Airplane Co (RAC) - Aloft, US USA ANG Army National Guard, US USA ANG IN 151st Infantry Regiment, US USA ANG IN 151st Infantry Regiment - D Co (LRP), US USA Combat Trackers - K9, US USA Fort Benning GA, US USA Fort Leonard Wood MO, US USA LRRP Team (Vietnam War), US USA United States Army, US USA USSF 5th SFG, US USA USSF Green Berets, US USA USSF Sgt Maj Mcguire, US USA USSF Special Forces, US USN SEALS, US USN United States Navy, USA AeroScouts, VNM 1968 Tet Offensive (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Battle of Dak To (1967) (Vietnam War), VNM Bien Hoa, VNM Bien Hoa Air Base (Vietnam War), VNM Bien Hoa Army Base (Vietnam War), VNM Cam Ranh Bay, VNM Camp Lindsey-Lattin (Vietnam War), VNM Central Highlands, VNM Cu Chi, VNM Dak To, VNM Dong Nai River, VNM DRV NVA North Vietnamese Army, VNM DRV VC Viet Cong, VNM Hill 875, VNM II Corps (Vietnam War), VNM III Corps (Vietnam War), VNM Iron Triangle (Vietnam War), VNM LBJ Long Binh Jail - USARVIS US Army Vietnam Installation Stockade (Vietnam War), VNM LBJ Long Binh Jail (Vietnam War), VNM Long Binh Post - Ammunition Depot (Vietnam War), VNM Long Binh Post (Vietnam War), VNM Nha Trang - 5th SFG Recondo School (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Arc Light (1965-1973) (Vietnam War), VNM RVN ARVN Army of the Republic of Vietnam, VNM RVN Chieu Hoi Program/Force 66 - Luc Luong 66 (Vietnam War), VNM Song Be, VNM Tuy Hoa, VNM US MACVSOG (1964-1972) (Vietnam War), VNM US MACVSOG Hatchet Force Teams (Vietnam War), VNM US MACVSOG Road Runner Teams (Vietnam War), VNM US USA 24th Evacuation Hospital - Long Binh (Vietnam War), VNM US USA 6th Convalescent Hospital - Cam Ranh Bay, VNM US USA Cam Ranh Bay - Replacement Depot, VNM US USA II Field Force (1966-1971) (Vietnam War), VNM US USSF 5th SFOB Special Forces Operation Base - Nha Trang, VNM US USSF Mobile Strike Force - MIKE Force (Vietnam War), VNM Vietnam, VNM Vietnam War (1955-1975), VNM Vung Tau, VNM War Zone C (Vietnam War), VNM War Zone D (Vietnam War)

Rating: ★★★ Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.LRRPs

Description: This is the quintessential first-person combat memoir of a special forces soldier at war. Edward Dvorak joined the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam in the summer of 1967. He then joined Company F, 51st Infantry, Long Range Patrol, Airborne. For Dvorak and his buddies of Company F, LRP, their real training started with the MACV (Military Assistant Command Vietnam) Recondo School at the 5th Special Forces Compound in Nha Trang, South Vietnam. That training culminated with an actual Combat LRP mission. If you lived through the patrol, you graduated. Dvorak would remain with Company F for 19 months going on dozens of combat patrols deep behind enemy lines.

[grigori77]

Movies of 2024 - My Pre-Summer Rundown (Part 1)

The Runners-up:

20.  ROAD HOUSE – ranked VERY HIGH INDEED on the list of great movies that really don’t need remaking, Doug Liman’s stab at turning 1989’s beloved original guilty pleasure action-fest into something a bit more modern doesn’t QUITE succeed, but it’s still a whole lot better than it has any right to be.  Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dalton is a very different beast from Swayze’s but he is the surprisingly warm heart at the centre of this deeply revisionist take.  Ultimately the old one’s STILL the superior film, but this is still a very admirable attempt.

19.  ARGYLE – while it ultimately fails to capture the charm of director Matthew Vaughn’s far more enjoyable original Kingsman film, this gloriously DAFT sort-of-meta adaptation of the popular espionage adventure novel is still a whole lot of fun.  Bryce Dallas Howard is charmingly nerdy as the author who discovers that the fictional adventures she writes about Henry Cavill’s titular master spy are actually VERY REAL, but the true star of this film is Sam Rockwell as one of the most unlikely action heroes out there …

18.  SIXTY MINUTES – Netflix’ razor sharp, super-trim real-time action thriller is a tour-de-force breakneck romp which is sure to provide a major breakout for French writer-director Oliver Kienle (Isi & Ossi, Two Hands).  Martial artist Emilio Sakraya shines as Octavio, an MMA fighter who ditches a match in order to attend his daughter’s birthday party, only to find himself fighting his way through various thugs as he races through Paris streets in a desperate bid to make it on time to avoid losing custody of his little girl.

17.  I.S.S. – sneaking in largely under the radar, this super-tense sci-fi thriller from director Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish, Megan Leavey) deserves a lot more attention than it’s likely to get.  The International Space Station becomes a microcosm for the world as the sudden eruption of nuclear war between America and Russia leads to a fraught standoff between the astronauts and cosmonauts in orbit.  If nothing else, this should be a star-making turn for its lead, Ariana DeBose (Hamilton, Schmigadoon!).

16.  GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE – 2021’s Afterlife may have been a clunky misstep in Sony’s attempt to soft-reboot the franchise, but this follow-up definitely gets things RIGHT back on track, delivering a much more interesting and original story and making the new generation of spook-wranglers a good deal more interesting.  It’s still a ways short of the quality of the original Ivan Reitman movies (or even the unfairly maligned 2016 movie), but it’s at least good enough to appease us the fans …

15.  SOCIETY OF THE SNOW – writer-director J.A. Bayona (The Impossible, A Monster Calls) retells the true story of the desperate battle for survival of the Uruguayan rugby team who crash-landed in the Andes in 1972, previously brought to the screen in Frank Marhsall’s divisive 1993 movie Alive.  This is a far more introspective and authentic film, and ultimately proves the superior cinematic account, lending a moving air of poetic beauty to an otherwise harrowing tale of loss and hard-won triumph

14.  REBEL MOON, PART TWO: THE SCARGIVER – once again, this is likely more of a placeholder than a true review, since I fully expect to give both movies a far more comprehensive once-over when the Director’s Cuts of Zack Snyder’s two-part overblown sci-fi space opera are finally released.  Suffice to say, this is already a MUCH better film than Part One, regardless of what the reviews are saying, so I can only imagine whatever we get in the extended version will only add flavour to what’s already a perfectly decent flick.  Honestly, I really LIKE these movies, even in their chopped-down condition they’re far more fun than we really expected them to be, and there’s no escaping the fact that, just like the first half, this is a genuine visual work of art, Snyder again proving that whatever else you might wanna say about him, he really is a master of visual storytelling.  We’ll just have to see how the proper FINISHED films turn out, whenever that is …

13.  DAMSEL – Millie Bobby Brown shines as a princess shipped to a far-off kingdom to wed a prince in order to save her impoverished land from succumbing to famine, only to discover she’s really being sacrificed to a ferocious dragon.  Following the Dragonslayer blueprint of playing medieval fantasy as pure survival horror, this taut suspense thriller from 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo does a really beautiful job of taking a classic genre trope and turning it on its head in winning style.

12.  ORIGIN – both adaptation and biopic,this moving drama from writer-director Ava Duvernay (Selma) tells the true story of journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) while also following her journey as she wrote her incredibly important nonfiction novel Caste: the Origins of Our Discontents.  The subsequent film is at once a powerful account of a woman’s struggle to overcome personal grief and a potent treatise on how centuries of systemic racism and elitism have created massive social divides all across the modern world.

11.  MONKEY MAN – Dev Patel makes his directorial debut while starring in this wonderfully bizarre action thriller about a poor boy living in Yatana while seeking revenge against the powerful men who destroyed the forest home of his childhood.  Touted as an Indian John Wick, this is actually a far more psychologically intriguing film than that, tackling weighty sociopolitical themes with powerful emotional and theological resonance.  That being said, the action sequences ARE genuinely spectacular too …

[rivertigo]

RACING CAR

when you turn off an old car that’s been running for a while there’s this smell that you can pick up on in the air. this hint of grape juice, like welch’s grape juice. and it stings your nostrils to breathe. After you go inside you wonder if the heater’s running because there’s still this stench in your nose, it’s the gasoline.

that car is older than you and your brother. it was dad’s old racing car (a 1972 roadrunner). you bring it out in late summer for the cruise. you look at all those old cars while kids on the side of the road scream and ask you to rev the engine. you park the car at the substation dad works at. It’s right on that street, you can see all the cars and your dad points out the ones he likes.

that road runner means something to me. It’s a symbol for everything I hate about my father. It’s loud as hell when you start it, and revving the engine sounds like demons screaming at you, telling you how you’re going to die. It scares you and it makes your heart beat as fast as it does when your father won’t stop yelling at you. It represents the hell you went through (and the hell you’re still in) of the constant repairs and projects. you’re not treated like any son or daughter when you work. you have a job to do. the shifts never end at home.

but one day it’s all gonna change. he’s gonna croak and that car’s gonna be mine. I’ll reclaim it. I won’t be scared of the noise when I’m the one making it. I’ll be in the driver’s seat, revving the engine and raising hell. When I work on that car it’ll be of my own free will, because it’s gonna be MY car. I’m becoming my own worst enemy but I’m doing it my way. I’ll be the one in control