#Brian Lowry

[veryslowreader]

The Truth Is Out There by Brian Lowry

Goodnight Sweetheart: "Careless Talk"

[thecraggus]

Brian And Charles (2022) Review

Brian and Charles explores and entirely unconventional and utterly beguiling friendship. #Review

[moviesandmania]

HE KNOWS (2022) Reviews of seasonal elf slasher

HE KNOWS (2022) Reviews of seasonal elf slasher

‘He knows when you’ve been good or bad, so be good for your own sake!’ He Knows is a 2022 American slasher horror film about a psychotic elf who returns after twenty years to terrorise a  small town. Directed by Steven Anthony Morris from a screenplay co-written with Kermet Merl Key The movie stars Kayla Kelly, Joshua Scantland, Julie Anne Prescott, Lynn Lowry, Brian Bowles, Seth Hacker, Shawn C.…

[albatris]

here are the books I'm getting rid of

please let me know if you'd like any :3 most of them I haven't read but some are double ups or just things I've inherited from others..... they are free to a good home!

I will have to ship them and I don't wanna ship a whole crate though so you can't just say "I'll take all of them"! just take the ones you'd like please

I'm in australia so depending on where you are I might ask you to toss me some dollars for shipping but then again I might not. I'm a mystery wrapped in an enigma

any that no one wants will be donated or going in my little free library, so no loss either way, I just thought some folks might want dibs haha

and yes I'm finally getting rid of Horrorstör my beloathed. you can take it but be warned. it's one of my least favourite books in the world

hey @albatris! you can reblog this post but no one else can

full list under the cut!

• Uprooted by Naomi Novik

• The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

• All The Rage by Courtney Summerd

• Asking For It by Louise O'Neill

• Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

• Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

• Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde

• Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

• The Imaginary by A F Harold

• Terrier by Tamora Pierce

• The Magic in the Weaving by Tamora Pierce

• Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

• The Giver by Lois Lowry

• Samurai Champloo Vol 1 by Masaru Gotsubo

• Ouran High School Host Club Vol 1 by Bisco Hatori

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

• Valiant by Holly Black

• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

• Wool by Hugh Howey

• Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

• 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

• Next by Michael Crichton

• Wildwood by Colin Meloy

• The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly

• The Three Secret Cities by Matthew Reilly

• The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly

• There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake

• A Small Madness by Dianne Touchell

• Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

• The Underdog by Markus Zusak

[warningsine]

Earlier this year, TIME wrote, "'Yellowjackets' — like so much recent TV about young women, matriarchy, and the mixed blessing of personal empowerment — also forces us to consider whether its girls might have been better off in the off-grid society they created for themselves." And given those themes, the friends I mostly discuss the show with, trading theories and memes over long message threads, are women. Some men I've tried to share the Showtime hit with have been less than enthusiastic, which has occasionally been mirrored in critics' responses, especially when the show first aired. 

It's unclear if their reticence is old-fashioned sexism, an unwillingness to engage with trauma and its aftermath, or something else perhaps related to the show's centering of women, girls and violence. Matthew Jacobs called the show "inessential" in his review for TV Guide, while Brian Lowry of CNN described it as "a disappointment" though its "stars still merit a look." 

Good news, men. A hero has arisen from the ashes of Flight  2525 (well, technically he arose from the smoldering home fires back in New Jersey, where he was left). He's ordinary and he's awesome. It's Jeff! And he's here to elevate white man mediocrity. Look out, guys. There's someone new, supportive and extraordinary just by being ordinary in town. 

"Yellowjackets," now in its second season, follows the high school girls of a champion 1996 soccer team whose plane crashed in the Canadian wilderness. The survivors turn to desperate measures to make it through the harsh winter, and the show follows two main threads: the 1996 woodsy trauma and what happens to all the survivors later as adults. Spoiler alert: they don't feel or do so great.

As the husband of our main Wiskayok star, Shauna, Warren Kole is Jeff. He runs a furniture store. He married his high school sweetheart. Well, technically he married the girl he was cheating on his high school sweetheart with. But he did marry the mother of his (possibly multiple) children. He married young and has stayed married in the face of difficulties. He has the floppy hair of a YA love interest (perhaps a nod to Shauna's teenage dreams), despite being in his 40s. Jeff is the definition of peaked in high school, the golden boy who never left town and never did much. He's also done everything. 

Jeff is every man. Specifically, he's every man in a TV show led by women. He's Dean Boland to glamourous criminal mastermind Beth Boland of "Good Girls," Rob to mayor Margot in "The Power." Jeff is not the main attraction. He doesn't get the teary, intense, Emmy-worthy speeches (that's Melanie Lynskey's Shauna). He doesn't get to wave the gun around (OK, that's Shauna too). He's not the action star or any star. His attempt to do crimes ended badly, and with him covered in glitter. Shauna thought he was cheating on her (Jeff would never), but he was simply fumblingly trying to blackmail her friends. It didn't end well. Nothing Jeff does ends well but he keeps on trying, the Energizer Bunny of husbands.

Jeff is a simple man. He works out at the gym. He's excited about making sales at work. When he gets upset, he deals with his anger by listening to Papa Roach alone in his car and violently air drumming. He enjoys eating dinner with his family, and when the women in his life, Shauna and defiant teen daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins) tell him things, he believes them. Jeff is a believer. His exterior of tanned, floppy commonness conceals a steadfast heart of gold. He's pure. If you tell him you're going to book club, he believes you're going to book club. Why would you lie to him? Why would you murder? (If you do, though, he's got you.)

Jeff supports his wife through an avalanche of devastating revelations. She had an affair. She murdered a guy. Not only does he not leave Shauna upon the news of her cheating, he doesn't leave after the killing either. He does what he can to support his family. He's read her teen diaries, trying to understand the most difficult and life-altering trauma of her life, which not every man would do or care to know about. That trauma includes Shauna eating his high school girlfriend. Again, not every man is going to get over that.

But Jeff's got Shauna's back. And in doing so, perhaps he understands more than any male character in recent memory: trauma changes you. Violence is forever. Shauna is the way she is (secretive, hypervigilant, occasionally violent and cold) because of the past, and the past is always with her. Jeff accepts her for who she is, not the idealized way she could have been if only those terrible events hadn't happened, if only that plane hadn't crashed and everybody got real hungry. Jeff is the evolved man, the ally who has done the work (reading the diaries! Burning the diaries! Cleaning up the murder/affair evidence!). 

He's willing to try new things, like strawberry lube. He's amendable to change, to doing the work. He wants it all to work out, and he loves Shauna because, as he says, she's the smartest woman he's ever met. Jeff is a blueprint for a way to be a good man. Rise himbo, rise. Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them wear sleeveless hoodies. 

[tsunflowers]

In middle school i was obsessed with this disney channel sitcom, lab rats, it was during this weird time wherr they were trying to make sitcoms aimed at boys so they were like. half silly laugh track and half action hero show

the main kid leo's mom marries. essentially elon musk, narcissism and all, and finds out that he has been secretly raising three bionic teenagers in his basement laboratory (he hid this from his new wife. she only found out because the kid got down there.) and he was not giving them holidays or birthdays he was just training them to be secret soldiers

uh and then leo's like WELL THEY SHOULD GO TO HIGH SCHOOL. so they go to high school

anyways at one point I think the props department got lazy because in one episode elon musk (I forget his character's actual name. but seriously it's just elon musk) pulls out a device from a box and it's the KUUGA ARCLE?

It's only shown for a second and I don't think this was meant to be an easter egg. but yeah kuuga arcle in my high stakes disney sitcom was unexpected

I have to say this show has a killer premise. love the idea of a guy keeping some superpowered teens in the basement and his stepson is like no they have to go to high school

brian lowry seems like a real buzzkill

love that it's specifically bionics and they use the word bionic? I thought we left that behind in the 70s

and I love that the arcle was there randomly

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@thealmightyemprex

"Fox TV and Marvel Comics decided. By summer of 1993, the show had been a runaway No. 1 hit for six months and we had completed writing the second season of scripts, bringing the total stories to 26. At that point, Fox committed to three more seasons (39 more episodes), and I, executive Sidney Iwanter, producer Scott Thomas, and director Larry Houston visited Marvel’s New York offices to brainstorm and discuss various characters and bits of storyline we would all like to see in the next 39 half-hours.

“Phoenix” and “Dark Phoenix” were at the top of Marvel’s list.

The only direct adaptation we had made so far was “Days of Future Past,” which we had suggested, and it and the two Phoenixes were the only direct adaptations we ever committed to. Every other story used bits and pieces from the books, but these were the “big three.” 

Primarily we focused on Jean Grey (who was going through the Phoenix transformation) and on those people who cared most about her. Secondarily, we focused on Xavier, whose connection to Lilandra brought the worlds beyond Earth into our stories for the first time.

When we looked at the many subplots in the books, we trimmed them away or bolstered them, depending on how they helped support these two central through-lines.

We were excited to do it because we had felt that we had underused her in the first two seasons and this gave us a chance to give her more screen time. Second, by now we had established that she was a kind of emotional center for the team–someone who could talk honestly with any of the others, who understood them–so we knew she would sustain a good story focus for our team of X-Men.

As a “children’s show for Saturday morning TV,” we were always aware of the tight limits we had on sex and violence–limits far tighter than the comics had.

Luckily, since we were focused on Jean/Phoenix and Xavier and Lilandra, adjusting secondary characters wasn’t a big worry for us. Also, we believe we got the intensity of Jean’s Black-Queen sensuality across in her dialogue and in Catherine Disher’s performance. Jean-as-Phoenix is so much bigger, more dramatic, in animation than Jean-as-Black-Queen that we never felt the loss.

First, we knew from the beginning we couldn’t have Dark Phoenix destroy an inhabited planet, so we worked with that disappointing limitation from day one. We hope we got across how deadly she could be. Second, we very much believe that killing Jean off would have been the proper heroic sacrifice for the story.

We didn’t for two reasons. First, we needed her for the remaining 20 stories–a problem in all comics and serialized TV.

And second, we’d had a convincing seeming-death in “Phoenix,” which was then revealed to not be Jean’s end after all. We didn’t want to repeat that.

We thought up the shared sacrifice of the rest of the team (10% of their lives–a handy cheat) as a way around it.

I wish I knew (and that they had asked us to help). Animated TV comics-adaptations and live-action feature comics-adaptations are similar but not the same.

The great TV critic Brian Lowry thinks animation suits super-hero-comics adaptations better than live action–something about suspension of disbelief. Mutants with super-powers are hard enough–then in these cases you add space aliens. You can get lost in the spectacle.

I believe that the recent Spider-Man animated feature was better than any of the live-action movies, most of which I enjoyed a great deal. When in doubt, keep the story simple and trust in the characters to propel the story (the movie Logan is a good example).

She asserted herself. As writer Mark Edens and I laid out the first, then the second season of stories, we kept coming back to needing to use her in scenes, often to reveal depths of other characters.

She was an emotional center, trusted, a glue that helped keep the disparate team together. Luckily, she was a true legacy character, so no one ever felt we were being intrusive by featuring her."

(Eric Lewald)

[ididsomethingbadly]

The fact that you're reading Brian Sanderson + two other people I talked to this month are also reading Sanderson books is probably a sign I need to read one soon. Also love pride & prejudice 1995!

Do you have any recommendations for shorter "easy read" sci fi / fantasy books? I've been in a long book slump and am trying to find something to pull me out.

Sanderson is a fantastic author! I read his Mistborn trilogy last year and I loved it so much! The ending of the second book is incredible and it's one of my all time favorites! His books are really long but they keep my attention through them all (except the first battle/fight scene of each book is always a little boring to me, but once I get past that I'm hooked, lol).

I'm not sure if you'd consider all of these short or not, but they're on the shorter end compared to like the 1000+ pages that some fantasy books can be, lol.

For shorter/easier fantasy or sci-fi books I'd recommend:

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (one of my top 10 favorites of all time)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Farhenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

The Giver by Lois Lowry

And this last one is a little weird because I'd only recommend part of it, but The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. It's a collection of short stories that all fit together to form an overarching story but can be read individually as well. I don't think I've ever actually read all of the stories because they kind of get less interesting as the book goes on, but I would recommend the first few stories (through April 2000: The Third Expedition) as I love those so much! The other stories aren't bad, they just don't have the same feel as the first ones, I don't think.

Book slumps are so hard! I hope you're able to find a good book to get you out of it!!

[gray-ace-space]

What's the last book you read and why did you (dis)like it?

i said in a previous ask that it was killing for company by brian masters and that i liked it a lot but frankly think it's cringe that it was the last one. so i'll go one book back, which, not counting my 100000 good omens re-reads, was the giver by lois lowry. i only read it cause a youtuber i like (big joel) made a video abt how dumb its movie adaptation is and i was like that actually sounds like a book i would love. and i did! it's what i would describe as hauntingly beautiful, it's so simple and poetic and i really like utopian dystopias so. would recommend

[cellythefloshie]

Random ask: pick one babe from every nhl team -🩵

Okay, not going to lie. I've wanted to do something like this for a while. This will be based on each team's 2022-2023 roster. (Maybe we do this every year after the trade deadline?)

Anaheim Ducks - Anthony Stolarz Arizona Coyotes - Shea Weber (LOL) Boston Bruins - Jeremy Swayman Buffalo Sabres - Alex Tuch Calgary Flames - Blake Coleman Carolina Hurricanes - Andrei Svechnikov Chicago Blackhawks - Taylor Raddysh Colorado Avalance - Gabe Landeskog ( I know he was on IR but he's the only one from that team I can tolerate rn ) Columbus Blue Jackets - Elvis Merzlikins Dallas Stars - Jake Oettinger Detroit Red Wings - Andrew Copp Edmonton Oilers - Leon Draisaitl Florida Panthers - Matthew Tkachuk LA Kings - Alex Iaffalo Minnesota Wild - Brandon Duhaime Montreal Canadiens - Josh Anderson Nashville Predators - Roman Josi New Jersey Devils - Brendan Smith New York Islanders - Matt Martin New York Rangers - Chris Kreider Ottawa Senators - Alex DeBrincat Philadelphia Flyers - Brendan Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins - Brian Dumoulin San Jose Sharks - Evgeny Svechnikov Seattle Kraken - Vince Dunn St. Louis Blues - Jakub Vrana Tampa Bay Lightning - Ross Colton Toronto Maple Leafs - Ryan O'Reilly Vancouver Canuks - Anthony Beavillier Vegas Golden Knights - Reilly Smith ( this one took me a while, really had to stare at their roster ) Washington Capitals - Tom Wilson Winnipeg Jets - Adam Lowry

[eppysboys]

You seem to know a fair amount about visual art as well as the Beatles, and I'm curious if you know any more about the individual Beatles's art collections? I obviously know that Paul is into Magritte and has at least one. I saw that Stella quote recently about Ringo collecting Condo. And I found out today that Paul has some John Bratby in his collection. I've done a bit of googling to try to get more info without much success. Are there any other artists that they are known to collect? And anything particularly interesting about them collecting those artists? Thanks!

Hey anon! Thank you for such a lovely question! This is by no means a complete list, just a starting point. I encourage people to add on to this post. I'll revisit it and add to it when I can comb through books again 👍

John:

(Brian had owned a few of Lowry's works, and encouraged The Beatles + Cilla to collect art as well.)

John had also kept some Stuart Sutcliffe paintings in Kenwood (Many Years From Now + other sources).

Other than that, I can't find too much about specific artists that John sort out just yet.

Paul:

Lots of history and love between Paul and de Kooning, which you can read about here and here.

"Paul's own taste in art and literature veered towards the proto-surreal. In art he was attracted to the dream landscapes of Giorgio de Chirico, Paul Delvaux and Salvador Dali and he admired the paintings of Max Ernst, but it was the work of Rene Magritte that gave him the most pleasure." (Many Years From Now)

"The Scottish-Italian artist Eduardo Paolozzi, one of the leading figures in the British Pop Art movement, had a previous connection with the Beatles: he taught Stuart Sutcliffe painting at Hamburg State Art College in 1961-1962, after Stuart left the Beatles to live with Astrid Kirchherr. Paul is still in touch with Paolozzi, who is occasionally to be seen at Paul's parties." (Many Years From Now)

"The whole of the offices of MPL Communications Ltd was beautiful with fabulous art… I was so taken with the Williem De Kooning tapestries in his inner office… I don’t suffer from envy but here, I have to admit, I was. These tapestries start at 3 million pounds, but I was not so in awe of the cost but in the glory of them. And that this young lad from Liverpool could own so much. But the first piece of art to startle me was a sculpture by the now Sir Eduardo Paolozzi: that was one of the big images that confronted me in Paul’s office, a Paolozzi sculpture, a stainless steel torso." Pauline Sutcliffe

There's also a section of his website: Paintings on the Wall, which have some lovely information about artists Paul is interested in and art history in general.

Ringo:

Ringo seems like a big collector, but I don't think he's really said much on the subject. So, you can look through this auction, which is full of very interesting art that Ringo owned at some point. It seems like he has a real fondness for pop art, obviously. Roy Lichtenstein pieces pop up all the time.

He also owns several of Yankel Feather's works.

And yes, George Condo is a big one. Here's an interview with Condo, where he mentions Ringo (don't yell at me about the 'John and Yoko were arty' tone 😂')

Rail: It would be a fantastic exhibition to put together. Before we conclude I also wanted to talk about your “simulated found objects.” 

Condo: Well, the idea was simple: could I create something so real that it would look like I found it? One day I was having a conversation with Ringo Starr, and we were talking about the song “I am the Walrus” by the Beatles, and I said, “You know there’s always been one thing I wondered about that song. When all of a sudden it sounds like a radio gets turned on, it sounds like 1920s music. It’s obviously the sound of the radio being turned on, and then you hear the orchestra and George Martin come back in.” I said, “Is that a piece of found music that John had and just inserted into this? Because I know John and Yoko were into that kind of thing.” Ringo said, “No, actually, John composed that piece of music to sound like he had found it." (source)

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

Do you give recs? I'm looking for some woke-free medias to consume (books particularly, but it can be anything)

It's hard to give recs without knowing your taste, but I'll try. Necessarily, many of these will be older things, so sorry if that bothers you

Books:

The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell (sci-fi)

The Nightside series by Simon R Green (urban fantasy/detective noir)

The Deathstalker series by Simon R Green (there are gay side characters in a few of the books, but the books themselves aren't woke. Just good sci-fi/space opera)

Any Conan the Barbarian story written by Robert Howard or Robert Jordan (fantasy)

The Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson (disclaimer I'm only up to book 4 out of 15 and the last book was published in 2020 so it may have gotten woke or started to suck later on, but right now it's pretty good and pretty pro-American. Alternate history action sci-fi)

The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher (urban fantasy)

Any Dune book by Frank Herbert or Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert (sci-fi)

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (only read the first three out of nine so same disclaimer as Destroyermen. Alternate history fantasy. Napoleonic Wars with dragons)

The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell (also the excellent film adaptations of the books with Sean Bean if you can find them. Historical fiction. You follow Richard Sharpe through the ranks of the British army during the Napoleonic Wars)

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (the grandfather of modern fantasy)

The collected works of HP Lovecraft (definitely not PC or woke. His cat makes an appearance in one of his stories. Horror)

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker (horror. Hellraiser was based on this novella. tentative rec because it's good, but there's a lot of mentioned sex and very liberal attitudes towards sex so I don't know if you'd consider that woke or not. The sex obsessed characters are the bad guys though)

Any of the pre-Disney "canon" Star Wars expanded universe books.

Any of the Star Trek books written by William Shatner (they're all a connected series though so read them in order)

If non-woke is your main criteria, I'd suggest giving the Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski a try. I personally hated the little bit of the first one I read, and I hate the Witcher series in general, but no one can argue that the Witcher is in any way woke, lol

Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher (fantasy)

Phantoms by Dean Koontz (also recommend the movie with a very young Ben Affleck, but if you rent it on Prime use headphones. Audio is all fucked up through a surround sound system. At least it was when I rented it a few years back. horror)

The Legend of Drizzt series (and the associated sub-series) by RA Salvatore (fantasy. I stopped reading at the Transitions series--books 20-22--because I personally didn't like them and the way they changed the characters and the setting, but YMMV. I'd highly recommend books 1-19 though. Great fantasy series in my favorite D&D setting, the Forgotten Realms)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (young adult book, but has a great message of individuality and anti-government)

Since you wanted books mostly I'll just breeze through movies, shows, comics and games with a few of my favorites:

Movies - Equilibrium, Lord of the Rings, pre-Disney Star Wars, Alien, Aliens, Predator, Predator 2, Hellraiser 1 + 2, Friday the 13th series, Halloween series, The Patriot, In the Mouth of Madness, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 + 2

Shows - Jericho, X-Files, Star Trek (OS, TNG and DS9 especially. Anything nu-Trek is easily skippable), Chernobyl, Avatar The Last Airbender, Lost (it's not confusing if you just pay attention!)

Anime - Fullmetal Alchemist (both series are good but Brotherhood follows the manga more closely), Death Note, Bungo Stray Dogs, Yowamushi Pedal, Ace of Diamond, Yuri on Ice (super gay but funny and heartwarming and not woke beyond the two male leads being stupidly in love with each other even if it's never mentioned explicitly), Street Fighter II V. Honestly most anime isn't woke at all, so just look around for things that seem interesting to you and you're probably good there

Comics - Batman: No Man's Land, Batman: Knightfall, Batman: Bruce Wayne Murderer/Fugitive, Batman: The Killing Joke, any Marvel Masterwork collection, any Dark Horse Alien or Predator or Alien vs Predator comic, Spawn. Special mention: Isom and the Rippaverse. The Rippaverse is a new shared comic universe created by Eric July, self-described anarcho-capitalist and contributor to The Blaze that's specifically designed from the ground up to not be woke and offer a customer first mentality. They promise that the various books they're planning on releasing will focus on story and characters, not politics or social justice crap. So far, only Isom #1 has come out, and I haven't gotten my copy yet, but most people who've read it seem to love it, and that one comic alone has already sold over 43,000 copies and made $3.7 million so early adopting is probably a safe bet.

Games - Metal Gear Solid series, Batman: Arkham series, Halo 1-3, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Greedfall, Dishonored series, Edge of Eternity, Metro series, Mafia 1+2, Elden Ring. Pretty much any game before the mid-2010s is a safe bet for non-woke, so like anime, you should just look at older games you think you might like, or their remasters, and go from there.

So that's my list. It's by no means complete, and there's no real order to the recs, so just look them up and see what, if anything, appeals to you. If you, or anyone else, want more specific recommendations or an opinion on a certain title or series that I mentioned or even ones I didn't, feel free to ask. I'll help if I can. Mostly what I read and watch are sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and things like that. I don't really read typical bestsellers or westerns or comedies. So I might be much help with those genres.

[annemariewrites]

List of all the books I’ve read

just wanted to keep a list of what I’ve read throughout my life (that I can remember)

Fiction:

“Where the Red Fern Grows,” Wilson Rawls

“The Outsiders,” SE Hinton

“The Weirdo,” Theodore Taylor

“The Devil’s Arithmetic,” Jane Yolen

“Julie of the Wolves series,” Jean Craighead George

“Soft Rain,” Cornelia Cornelissen

“Island of the Blue Dolphins,” Scott O’Dell

“The Twilight series,” Stephanie Mayer

“To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee

“Gamer Girl,” Mari Mancusi

“Redwall / Mossflower / Mattimeo / Mariel of Redwall,” Brian Jacques

“1984,” and  “Animal Farm,” George Orwell

“Killing Mr. Griffin,” Lois Duncan

“Huckleberry Finn,” Mark Twain

“Rainbow’s End,” Irene Hannon

“Cold Mountain,” Charles Frazier

“Between Shades of Gray,” Ruta Sepetys

“Great Short Works of Edgar Allan Poe,” Edgar Allen Poe

“Lord of the Flies,” William Golding

“The Great Gatsby,” F Scott Fitzgerald

“The Harry Potter series,” JK Rowling

“The Fault in Our Stars,” “Looking for Alaska,” and “Paper Towns,” John Green

“Thirteen Reasons Why,” Jay Asher

“The Hunger Games series,” Suzanne Collins

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Stephen Chbosky

“Fifty Shades of Grey,” EL James

“Speak,” and “Wintergirls,” Laurie Halse Anderson

“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Margaret Atwood

“Mama Day,” Gloria Naylor

“Jane Eyre,” Charlotte Bronte

“Wide Sargasso Sea,” Jean Rhys

“The Haunting of Hill House,” Shirley Jackson

“The Chosen,” Chaim Potok

“Leaves of Grass,” Walt Whitman

“Till We Have Faces,” CS Lewis

“One Foot in Eden,” Ron Rash

“Jim the Boy,” Tony Earley

“The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox,” Maggie O’Farrell

“A Land More Kind Than Home,” Wiley Cash

“A Parchment of Leaves,” Silas House

“Beowulf,” Seamus Heaney

“The Silence of the Lambs / Red Dragon / Hannibal / Hannibal Rinsing,” Thomas Harris

“Cry the Beloved Country,” Alan Paton

“Moby Dick,” Herman Melville

“The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings trilogy / The Silmarillion,” JRR Tolkien

“Beren and Luthien,” JRR Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien

“Children of Blood and Bone / Children of Virtue and Vengeance,” Tomi Adeyemi

“Soundless,” Richelle Mead

“The Girl with the Louding Voice,” Abi Dare

“A Song of Ice and Fire series / Fire and Blood,” GRR Martin

“A Separate Peace,” John Knowles

“The Bluest Eye,” and “Beloved,” Toni Morrison

“Brave New World,” Aldous Huxley

“The Giver / Gathering Blue / Messenger / Son,” Lois Lowry

“The Ivory Carver trilogy,” Sue Harrison

“The Grapes of Wrath,” and “Of Mice and Men,” John Steinbeck

“The God of Small Things,” Arundhati Roy

“Fahrenheit 451,” Ray Bradbury

“The Night Circus,” Erin Morgenstern

“Sunflower Dog,” Kevin Winchester

‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” Betty Smith

“The Catcher in the Rye,” JD Salinger

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Sherman Alexie

“Bridge to Terabithia,” Katherine Paterson

“The Good Girl,” Mary Kubica 

“The Last Unicorn,” Peter S Beagle

“Slaughterhouse Five,” Kurt Vonnegut Jr

“The Joy Luck Club,” Amy Tan

“The Sworn Virgin,” Kristopher Dukes

“The Color Purple,” Alice Walker

“Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Zora Neale Hurston

“The Light Between Oceans,” ML Stedman

“Yellowface,” RF Kuang

“A Flicker in the Dark,” Stacy Willingham

“One Piece Novel: Ace’s Story,” Sho Hinata

“Black Beauty,” Anna Seawell

“The Weight of Blood,” Tiffany D. Jackson

“Mulberry and Peach: Two Women of China,” Hualing Nieh, Sau-ling Wong

“The Weight of Blood,” Laura McHugh

Non-fiction:

“Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl,” Anne Frank

“Night,” Elie Wiesel

“Invisible Sisters,” Jessica Handler

“I Am Malala,” Malala Yousafzai

“The Interesting Narrative,” Olaudah Equiano

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” Rebecca Skloot

“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” Harriet Jacobs

“The Princess Diarist,” Carrie Fisher

“Adulting: How to Become a Grown Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps,” Kelly Williams Brown

“How to Win Friends and Influence People,” Dale Carnegie

“Carrie Fisher: a Life on the Edge,” Sheila Weller

“Make ‘Em Laugh,” Debbie Reynolds and Dorian Hannaway

“How to be an Anti-Racist,” Ibram X Kendi

“Maus,” Art Spiegelman

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Maya Angelou

“Wise Gals: the Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage,” Nathalia Holt

“Persepolis,” and “Persepolis II,” Marjane Satrapi

“How to Write a Novel,” Manuel Komroff

“The Nazi Genocide of the Roma,” Anton Weiss-Wendt

“Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz,” Lucette Matalon Lagnado and Sheila Cohn Dekel

“Two Watches,” Anita Tarlton

“The Ages of the Justice League: Essays on America’s Greatest Superheroes in Changing Times,” edited by Joseph J. Darowski

[denimbex1986]

'Cillian Murphy delivers a powerhouse performance in Christopher Nolan‘s acclaimed biopic “Oppenheimer.” As J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, Murphy cuts a striking figure in his suit and hat with his piercing blue eyes staring out through IMAX screens and into the souls of cinema-goers.

The movie is Nolan’s first-ever biopic and explores how Oppenheimer went from a troubled, homesick student at Cambridge University to the leader of the Manhattan Project and the creator of the atomic bomb, which was later dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Murphy’s Oppenheimer is a supremely intelligent man with political leanings and a brain that could consume anyone in the room with him. But he’s also a troubled man, burdened by the weight of what he is trying to achieve and aware that his creation will change the world — and not necessarily for the better. It’s a complex role and Murphy soars in it.

As such, Murphy finds himself at the top of our list of predicted Best Actor Oscar nominees for next year’s Academy Awards. We think that he will be nominated alongside Leonardo DiCaprio (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”), Colman Domingo (“Rustin”), and Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”). This would be Murphy’s first-ever Oscar bid but we think he will go one better than a simple nomination. We think he’ll win on his first try. Here are five reasons why that could happen.

1. Murphy has the support of critics

It’s important to have the support of critics. Sometimes, actors have the support of critics for their performance but not necessarily for the film itself (think Brendan Fraser and “The Whale” or Rami Malek and “Bohemian Rhapsody”). But critics love both Murphy’s performance and Nolan’s movie itself.

Brian Lowry (CNN) wrote: “A Nolan favorite featured in several of his films, Murphy delivers a career-topping performance. Oppenheimer became haunted by the morality of what he had midwifed, and his messy personal life and affairs coexisted with his beautiful mind – a duality the actor conveys in a way that overshadows the bigger names in supporting roles.”

Christian Holub (Entertainment Weekly) explained: “Cillian Murphy rises to the challenge with an absolutely absorbing performance… The actor has proved his leading-man bona fides elsewhere (most recently in the long-running Netflix crime series ‘Peaky Blinders’) and finally brings that side of his skillset home to Nolan. No question, the close-ups on Murphy’s face as Oppenheimer thinks through the 20th century’s thorniest problems are as compelling as the film’s atomic explosions, and as deserving of the biggest screen possible.”

And Dan Jolin (Empire) observed: “At the film’s pulsing nucleus is Murphy as Oppenheimer, and he is compelling throughout. Given the movie’s hefty import, you’d have expected him to infuse every ounce of his talent into this performance, and that is certainly evident from his every moment on screen.”

2. Murphy stars in a biopic

This is the obvious one. Academy voters LOVE biopics. Six out of the last 10 Best Actor winners have won for playing real-life people in biopics, including Will Smith for “King Richard” in 2022, Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 2019, and DiCaprio for “The Revenant” in 2016. Moreover, voters particularly love actors who take on major historical figures who left a great impact on the world. Daniel Day-Lewis won for playing Abraham Lincoln in 2013 for “Lincoln.” Eddie Redmayne won for playing Stephen Hawking in 2015 for “The Theory of Everything.” And Gary Oldman won for playing Winston Churchill in 2018 for “Darkest Hour.” These are titanic historical figures who shaped the world we live in today. Murphy as Oppenheimer would fit in right alongside that crowd.

3. Murphy fully committed to the role

Murphy’s silhouette in the role of Oppenheimer is one of the most striking cinematic images of the year — and his co-stars have recently revealed that his behind-the-scenes efforts helped to contribute to that. Emily Blunt, who plays his on-screen wife Kitty, claimed that Murphy ate only one almond a day in preparation for the role. While Murphy’s exact diet hasn’t yet been disclosed, Murphy did say this to The New York Times: “I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right. I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.” That shows a clear dedication to the role. Murphy also explained that he learned 3000 words of Dutch over one weekend for the role, too: “You break it down and say, ‘Alright, we need to work on this today.’ I used to set aside, ‘I’ll work on this for a week and I’ll work on that for a week.'”

Voters will appreciate this level of commitment to the role, as they have done before with past roles. They nominated Cooper in 2019 for learning how to sing and play guitar for his role in “A Star is Born.” They nominated Day-Lewis the year before that for learning how to sew and make dresses for “Phantom Thread.” They gave DiCaprio the win in 2016 for his extreme physical efforts for “The Revenant” and Matthew McConaughey won in 2014 for his weight loss for “Dallas Buyers Club.” And that’s not to mention Murphy’s accent for the role. There are too many performances to list that have included a stunning accent that has helped to lead to an Oscar nomination. Murphy could be next.

4. Murphy fits the bill of past stars who have won on their first try

Winning on your first try isn’t an easy achievement but it has been done before. Malek did it for “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Casey Affleck did it for “Manchester by the Sea.” Redmayne did it for “The Theory of Everything.” Murphy fits in with those guys — he’s a respected actor who has been around the block more than most realize and who audiences admire (this is particularly true of Murphy — he is cherished by “Peaky Blinders” fans). Then, all of those performers made a splash in dramatic roles that feel like their first lead roles in major movies and they steal the entire show. People came away talking about Malek when they watched “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Redmayne was the talk of the town after his performance in “The Theory of Everything.” And Murphy is the same. This wouldn’t be a gesture nomination. It’s a major piece of work that the academy might not be able to look away from.

5. It’s an easy way to reward a film they love

...Given the strength of competition this year, it feels like we could be in for one of those years where three, four, or five films are handed one, two, or three Oscars each rather than one picture winning seven, eight, or nine awards. That means that some films will be snubbed in certain areas. Now, “Oppenheimer” will likely garner a hell of a lot of Oscar nominations, including bids for Best Picture, Best Director for Nolan, Best Actor for Murphy, Best Supporting Actress for Blunt, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr, Best Adapted Screenplay, and a bunch of below-the-line nominations, too.

It remains to be seen how other films will be received but voters might want to give Best Picture to something else...

So, suddenly, 10, 11, 12, or 13 nominations could actually turn into zero wins.

But voters will want to reward “Oppenheimer” in some capacity and the obvious way to do that looks like Best Actor. It’s a powerful performance from a beloved actor breaking out in his first major leading role, it’s a film that is built entirely around Murphy’s central performance, and Murphy is the biggest takeaway from the film. In this early stage, it looks like “Oppenheimer” could be this year’s “Lincoln.” “Lincoln” was well-respected by the academy, earning the most Oscar nominations that year (12), including bids for Best Picture and Best Director for Steven Spielberg. However, the movie only won two Oscars — Best Actor for Day-Lewis and Best Production Design...'

[goalhofer]

2024 olympics Ireland roster

Athletics

Mark English (Letterkenny)

Andrew Coscoran (Balbriggan)

Cathal Doyle (Bettystown)

Luke McCann (Dublin)

Brian Fay (Dublin)

Thomas Barr (Waterford)

Christopher O'Donnell (Loughborough, U.K.)

Eric Favors (Haverstraw, New York)

Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport)

Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght)

Sophie Becker (Ballykelly)

Ciara Mageean (Portaferry)

Sophie Bideau-O'Sullivan (Melbourne, Australia)

Sarah Healey (Monkstown)

Jodie McCann (Dublin)

Sarah Lavin (Lisnagry)

Fionnuala McCormick (Wicklow)

Philippa Healy (Ballineen)

Kelly McGrory (Laghy)

Nicola Tuthill (Kilbrittain)

Kate O'Connor (Dundalk)

Badminton

Nguyen Nhat (Dublin)

Rachael Darragh (Letterkenny)

Boxing

Jude Gallagher (Newton Stewart, U.K.)

Dean Clancy (Sligo)

Aidan Walsh (Belfast, U.K.)

Jack Marley (Dublin)

Daina Moorehouse (Dublin)

Jenny Lehane (Ashbourne)

Michaela Walsh (Belfast, U.K.)

Kellie Harrington (Dublin)

Gráinne Walsh (Tullamore)

Aoife O'Rourke (Castlerea)

Canoeing

Liam Jegou (Huningue, France)

Noel Hendrick (Dunadea)

Michaela Corcoran (Montgomery County, Maryland)

Madison Corcoran (Montgomery County, Maryland)

Cycling

Ben Healy (Kingswinford, U.K.)

Ryan Mullen (Colwyn Bay, U.K.)

Megan Armitage (Tullamore)

Erin Creighton (Belfast, U.K.)

Mia Griffin (Glenmore)

Alice Sharpe (Cambridge, U.K.)

Kelly Murphy (London, U.K.)

Lara Gillespie (Dublin)

Diving

Jake Passmore (Leeds, U.K.)

Ciara McGing (London, U.K.)

Equestrian

Austin O'Connor (Mallow)

Cian O'Connor (Dublin)

Shane Sweetnam (Cork)

Daniel Coyle (Ardmore, U.K.)

Abigail Lyle (Bangor, U.K.)

Susie Berry (Dromore)

Sarah Ennis (Howth)

Aoife Clark (Dublin)

Field hockey

Kyle Marshall (Markethill)

Peter McKibbin (Belfast, U.K.)

Jonny Lynch (Lisburn)

Peter Brown (Banbridge)

Nick Page (London, U.K.)

David Harte (Ballinspittle)

Tim Cross (Melbourne, Australia)

John McKee (Banbridge, U.K.)

Matthew Nelson (Belfast, U.K.)

Daragh Walsh (Dublin)

Shane O'Donoghue (Dublin)

Sean Murray (Lisburn, U.K.)

Jeremy Duncan (Kilkenny)

Michael Robson (Belfast, U.K.)

Ben Walker (Glenageary)

Lee Cole (Shankill)

Ben Johnson (Waterford)

Golf

Rory McIlroy (Jupiter, Florida)

Shane Lowry (Dublin)

Stephanie Kallan (Phoenix, Arizona)

Leona Maguire (Cavan)

Gymnastics

Rhys McClenaghan (Dublin)

Rowing

Daire Lynch (Clonmel)

Philip Doyle (Banbridge, U.K.)

Fintan McCarthy (Skibbereen)

Paul O'Donovan (Lisheen)

Ross Corrigan (Enniskillen, U.K.)

Nathan Timoney (Enniskillen, U.K.)

Holly Davis (Bollincollig)

Alison Bergin (Cork)

Zoe Hyde (Killorglin)

Margaret Cremen (Rochestown)

Aofie Casey (Skibbereen)

Aifric Keogh (Furbo)

Fiona Murtagh (Galway)

Emily Hegarty (Skibbereen)

Natalie Long (Cobh)

Eimear Lambe (Dublin)

Imogen Magner (Ely, U.K.)

Rugby

Jack Kelly (Dublin)

Andrew Smith (Dublin)

Harry McNulty (Cashel)

Mark Roche (Glenageary)

Zac Ward (Downpatrick)

Chay Mullins (Bristol, U.K.)

Jordan Conroy (Tullamore)

Hugo Keenan (Dublin)

Hugo Lennox (Skerries)

Terry Kennedy (Dublin)

Gavin Mullin (Blackrock)

Niall Comerford (Dublin)

Sean Cribbin (Dublin)

Bryan Mollen (Glasthule)

Kathy Baker (Navan)

Megan Burns (Tullamore)

Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe (Dublin)

Alanna Fitzpatrick (Portarlington)

Stacey Flood (Dublin)

Eve Higgins (Kilcock)

Erin King (Wicklow)

Vicky Elmes-Kinlan (Rathnew)

Emily Lane (Cork)

Ashleigh Orchard (Belfast, U.K.)

Beibhinn Parsons (Ballinasloe)

Lucy Mulhall (Wicklow)

Sailing

Finn Lynch (Bennekerry)

Robert Dickson (Sutton)

Sean Waddilove (Howth)

Eve McMahon (Howth)

Swimming

Max McCusker (Harlow, U.K.)

Thomas Fannon (Torquay, U.K.)

Shane Ryan (Haverford Township, Pennsylvania)

Daniel Wiffen (Magheralin, U.K.)

Darragh Greene (Longford)

Conor Ferguson (Belfast, U.K.)

Grace Davison (Bangor, U.K.)

Victoria Catterson (Belfast, U.K.)

Erin Riordan (Whitegate)

Danielle Hill (Newtonabbey, U.K.)

Mona McSharry (Grange)

Ellen Walshe (Dublin)

Taekwondo

Jack Woolley (Dublin)

[blsm-m]

Rory McIlroy will face off against Patrick Cantlay on Sunday as the two try to catch Bryson DeChambeau in the final round of the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. McIlroy is due to play alongside Cantlay at 7.10pm BST, the first time the pair have been paired together since their heated argument with Cantlay's caddie, Joe LaCava, at the Ryder Cup in Rome last September. Northern Irishman McIlroy felt LaCava went too far in celebrating after Cantlay made a long putt on the 18th green and an argument ensued after McIlroy was restrained in the car park by teammate Shane Lowry. For a more accessible video player, use Chrome browser An infuriated Rory McIlroy confronted the US team's caddie in the car park after his round following an alleged "incident" on the 18th hole. "Yeah, it should be great," Cantlay said of facing McIlroy after shooting 70 in the third round. "I'm in a great position. This is a challenging golf course. If I can make a few birdies I can put myself all the way up. I'm really happy with how I played today and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."Sky Sports will show live extended coverage of all the final round action on Sky Sports Golf from 2pm on Sunday, with DeChambeau leading by three strokes on the final day and playing in the final group alongside Mathieu Pabon at 7.21pm BST. For a more accessible video player, use Chrome browser Bryson DeChambeau shot a 3-under 67 in the third round at Pinehurst on the second hole of the U.S. Open. Sunday Tea TimeAll times are BST, US unless otherwise stated, (x) indicates amateur 1230 SH Kim (Korea), Gunnar Breun (x) 1241 Matt Fitzpatrick (England), Jackson Suber1252 Brandon Wu, Austin Eckroth1303 Francesco Molinari (Italy), Ben Coles For a more accessible video player, use Chrome browser Francesco Molinari slid into the weekend with a hole-in-one on the final hole of the second round. 1314 Dean Burmester (RSA), Ryan Fox (NZL)1325 Sepp Straka (Germany), Martin Kaymer (Germany)1336 Grayson Sig, Cameron Young1347 Nico Echavarria (Colonel), Brendon Todd US Open Golf Live Sunday, June 16th, 6:30pm 1358 Justin Lower, Sam Bennett1409 Adam Scott (Australia), Brian Campbell1425 Matt Kuchar, Frankie Capan III1436 Adam Svenson (Canada), Harris English1447 Jordan Spieth, Kim Si-woo (Korea)1458 Max Glaserman, Sahith Teegala1509 Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley1520 Scottie Scheffler, Tom McKibbin (NIrl) For a more accessible video player, use Chrome browser We take a closer look at Scottie Scheffler's performance in the third round of the US Open and explain why it's not a good performance for the world number one ranked player. 1531 Brooks Koepka, Tim Widing (Sweden)1542 Nikolaj Hoygard

(Den), Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)1553 Isaiah Salinda, Christian Bezuidenhout (Russia)1604 Cameron Smith (Australia), Wyndham Clark1615 JT Poston, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)1631 Shane Lowry (Ireland), Zac Blair For a more accessible video player, use Chrome browser Shane Lowry recorded consecutive birdies with a sensational hole-out from a bunker during the third round of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. 1642 Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk1653 Denny McCarthy, Ming Woo Lee (Australia)1704 Neil Shipley (x), Luke Clanton (x)1715 Sam Burns, Stefan Jäger (Germany)1726 Brian Harman, Mark Hubbard1737 David Puig (Spanish), Thomas Detry (Belgian)1748 Akshay Bhatia, Russell Henry1759 Davis Thompson, Xander Schauffele1810 Sergio Garcia (Spain), Taylor Pendris (Canada) US Open Golf Live Sunday, June 16th, 6:30pm 1826 Aaron Lai (English), Tom Kim (Korean)1837 Corey Connors (Canada), Collin Morikawa1848 Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton (English)1859 Ludwig Aberg, Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)1910 Patrick Cantlay, Rory McIlroy (NIrl)1921 Mathieu Pavone (France), Bryson DeChambeau Monte Rosa This content is provided by Monte Rosamay use cookies and other technologies. To view this content you must allow the use of cookies. You can change your settings and enable cookies using the button below. Monte Rosa You can choose to allow cookies once or never. You can change your settings at any time. Privacy options. Unfortunately, we were unable to verify that you agreed. Monte Rosa Cookies. Please allow them using the button below to view this content Monte Rosa A cookie for this session only. Enable cookies Allow cookies only once Who will be the winner of the third men's major tournament this year? The US Open will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. The live broadcast of the final round will start on Sunday at 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the U.S. Open and more on NOW.