#Christie Whiles nudity

[flashfuckingflesh]

The Home Recordings of a Pure EVIL! "August Underground: Mordum" reviewed! (Unearthed Films / Blu-ray/DVD combo)

“August Underground:  Mordum” Limited Collector’s Edition! Uncompassionately deranged serial torture and murderer Peter Mountain is back.  Along with his maniacal partner Maggot and his depraved sister Crusty, whose also Peter Mountain’s girlfriend, the terrorizing trio videotape their exploits with no shame and with no end from no matter how mundane to no matter how gruesomely vile.  Rage and…

[deuterosapiens]

So, about six years ago (seriously? I whisper, suddenly aware of the passage of time once more), I had tried to read William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist. I never finished it because college and reading for fun do not mix. I read Perfume for the first time that year, loved it. Not important.

I'm very much not the same person now that I was then. I realized that when I re-read Perfume and discovered how different my understanding of Jean-Baptiste had become since I originally read it. Which, I suppose, is not the best segue into this, but whatever.

It is eight-twenty-nine at night. My kitten Pazuzu is trying to steal my microwavable burrito. I just finished reading The Exorcist.

I think it says more about me than it does Blatty's writing, but I found this novel quite beautiful. It stems clearly from Gothic literary tradition, combining elegant prose with religiously motivated horror. And of course, in true Gothic fashion, Godly tradition is upheld to triumph over evil.

In a world where horror films, and religious horror films, are a dime a dozen (this book alone has five films, a television series,and an upcoming reboot Trilogy to its credit, to say nothing of it having a literary sequel), it's safe to say that a modern reader is unlikely to find it too frightening. Hell, I can easily see a modern reader becoming extremely bored while reading it. It's not the book's fault that modern audiences have The Conjuring Universe to occupy their religious horror endeavors, twelve seasons of AHS, and enough horror-themed mini-series and full-length shows with more edge and more bite to them than anything an eighties' R-rating can shake its one full-frontal nudity shot at.

I can't imagine now what reading this was like then, just as I can't imagine what watching the movie was like, then. When it was the most terrifying film ever made, and the most terrifying novel ever written. Horror, in our modern world, is such a commercialized gore-fest that smaller, more thought-provoking slow-burn drama gets praised by critics, torn apart by audiences, and ultimately is forgotten.

That's not to say that The Exorcist asks too much of its reader. This book isn't asking you to sit down, think, contemplate humanity and the ramifications of consumerism or anything. It simply wants you to sit back and be, just a little bit, frightened. There's depth, of course. After all, a simple fright with no real substance isn't worth much to most audiences.

There's a wonderful conflict that makes up the backbone of this story. A bit of driving question, which the novel takes up quite a bit of time looking into: is it psychological, or is it Satanic? I find it amusing that audiences now will simply accept that possession is part of the narrative, will simply accept that "yes, supernatural events exist in this setting, and yes, all of this evil can literally be blamed on straight-up The Beast, The Antichrist, Satan himself," but perhaps it says something that audiences then needed a bit more proving before they would accept that.

There's a funny factoid about how the "it was a dream" ending for The Wizard of Oz came about as executives weren't sure that audiences would accept that, yes, Dorothy did go to a magical enchanted land and now some of the most profitable properties are fantasy world which offer no such conceit. Yes, Westeros is a real place. Yes, the Continent is real. Yes to Middle-earth and so forth.

Reading The Exorcist reminds me quite a bit of that. The audience must be shown that there is no other explanation for these events beyond the simple reality of demonic possession. If you are not expecting it, I can imagine these conclusions will be quite unsettling to the reader.

Dear holiest of Hellfires do I love Blatty's prose here. It's approachable and elevated. It expects the audience to be gripped by this investigation and does a damn good job of making sure exactly that happens. I'm sort of reminded of Agatha Christie but as I've only read Murder on the Orient Express and that was (damn, holy hell) ten years ago, I cannot claim to know how strictly correct that impression is.

Possessed Regan's dialog is unintentionally extremely funny now. Like a PG-13 impression of a Twitch streamer who's just discovered that the word fuck exists. It might have been unsettling to hear a twelve-year old talking like that then, it's hilariously expected now.

You know how absolutely no one is frightened of Bram Stoker's Dracula now, and yet it's still praised to hell and back as a horror classic because it is legitimately good, even if horribly dated and unintentionally quite funny? That's The Exorcist.

I might not read it again, because honestly, the film is the exact perfect adaptation, but I'm happy to have finally finished it once.

[zumpietoo]

Everything Wrong with White Lotus

My mom legit just asked for mah take....and, hilarious, I’d juuuussttt realiced what all I hate about it on the Max this AM and was gonna detail, anyway:

Total complete Agatha Christie ripoff. Except her shit’s good, with unexpected, verrryyyyyy dark twists fuckin’ everywhere. This? Nah

I have 1000000% no issues with watching shit about shallow, privileged people wallowing in their own, clueless bullshit and pretentions....FFS, Robert Altman is my favorite director! This? Ehhh.....rather than character studies, it’s just boring and shallow....unlike Altman, Mike White fails to make them compelling, intriguing or interesting....

REALLY obvious mysteries/death. Everything becomes pretty obvious.

Mike White casts an invariable (and invariably annoying, on and offscreen) “it girl” from younger skewed shows who we’re endlessly told, AGAIN, how amazing she is....she isn’t. This is for him (and other dudes) to feel somehow smarter while they’re jacking off. 

Some acting is good, a lot of it isn’t

Once again, runs with sex/nudity to be edgy....and it, too, fails.

In the end, predictable same old, for the middle aged male gaze....even when the middle aged males are being laughed at, cuz that’s a brodude move in and of itself....

[cellard0ors]

Fic: Made For You (2/?)

Had to repost since I couldn't figure out how to do titles on Tumblr's mobile app. Warnings for questionable content depending on your point of view - in other words, potential/possible infidelity.

Link slowly awakens to someone kissing him.

Not on his mouth, but at the small hollow where his collarbones meet, then the right side of his neck, the left.

They're soft, lazy, mesmerizing kisses that make him shift about on the cool sheets, drunk with sleepiness and the seeping joy that comes from sweet kisses to unusual parts of his body.

Is this Christy?

It can't be... because he now recognizes a gentle rasp that would hint to facial hair. He's still sort of asleep...this must be the reminents of some dream.

Has he been dreaming?

He must've been and the dream must have been a sensual one, because he feels long, coltish legs tangled with his own.

Someone is over top of him... someone heavy, but with a familiar, comforting weight...

"Rhett..." He sighs dreamily, rolling his hips up into his phantom lover.

God help him, he's had this kind of fantasy before. Rhett over top of him, kissing him, touching him - add-ons to the kind of positions they would occasionally find themselves in, when fake grappling like UFC fighters or some such silly thing.

Rhett never took it far enough for Link's taste (his sinful desires) and Link did everything within his power to bury such wants anyway

But here, within the privacy of his own subconscious, it's okay to play the scenario out. To imagine Rhett doing these things.

...he doesn't think it's a betrayal to Christy. He prays it isn't...

"Rhett?" Is asked in Rhett's identifiable gruff rumble, "Is that my name?"

Link's eyes snap open, a cold water sensation splashing over him even as he looks up into Rhett's shadowed face, "Come to think of it...that is what you called me, isn't it? When we first-!"

Rhett's words are cut off as Link struggles beneath him, reaching for a nearby table lamp. He clicks it on and there's Rhett.

...but not Rhett.

The man currently over top of him is naked as the day he was born and while he has Rhett's face and voice and body, he's... Rhett from about two years ago

His hair and beard are shorter, his face a little less lined and suddenly everything snaps back to Link. The mannequin, the whole pathetic scene on his part and now...

Link does his best to grab at the sheet, to cover himself, when he belatedly remembers he's the clothed one. It's this-this Rhett-equin turned flesh that's bare and he tosses the sheets towards him, voice high as he cries, "What on earth-!"

"Now just calm on down," the Rhett-equin returns in such a near pitch perfect imitation of his counterpart as to throw Link for several additional loops (as if he isn't already on about a billion of them), "I know this might be a bit much, but this sorta thing has happened before."

Link opens his mouth, whether to argue or scream, he's not sure, but it doesn't matter because the Rhett-equin looks as sanguine as his counterpart as he says, "Someone making a wish, filled with longing, and then a lil magic comes along and makes it happen - fills a vessel..."

Link lets out a high, twisty laugh, "So, what? I made a wish upon a star and you turned from a mannequin inta flesh and blood?"

At the Rhett-equin's nod he just lets loose another one of those weird laughs, "That's-? That's insane. This isn't wish fulfilment. This is-! This is-!"

He seems to struggle to say exactly what it is until he settles upon, "This is crazy! Madness! I done lost my gaw-durn mind and now-!"

Link's rant ends as the Rhett-equin presses a finger to his lips, effectively buttoning them shut, "Look, I been around a long time. Seen a lotta things. This ain't as crazy as you think."

Link's eyes go wide and he doesn't even know where to start. What does he mean? Has he been around a long time as a mannequin? As some sort of wish or spirit or-?

But then the finger leaves Link's mouth and it...starts tracing along his chin. Link swallows thickly, tries not to notice the way Rhett-equin's eyes have gone heavy-lidded.

How those eyes - those gorgeous, beautiful, perfect eyes - seem to capture his every movement even as the tip of his finger continues its journey along the column of his throat, down along his chest...

"Link," he purrs huskily, "You could waste time trying to figure out how this happened...all the lil in's and out's...or..."

He drags the last word with delicious intent as he looks directly at Link's mouth. Link feels...warm. Confused. Lost.

But more than anything else, he feels...aroused.

Maybe he's still dreaming.

Or maybe this is a wish come true.

Either way, he feels like he's outside of himself, floating and hot and numb as he hears himself speak, "No..."

He drags that word out much like Rhett dragged out the 'or', "No, I...I can't..."

Another swallow, this one dry and sound-barrier-breaking loud, "It's not fair...t-to Christy...to Rhett..."

"Thought I was Rhett," the once-mannequin returns cheekily, before murmuring, "Think of it like this - not that long ago, I was an inanimate object...if you used something like that to..." He pauses, clearly thinking it through before saying, "take the edge off...would that be unfair?"

"I..."

"If you had Rhett in this bed...if you had him like this," he gestures to his nudity, "What would you want him to do? What would you want to do?"

Link just...stares at him. Stares like he did the first time when he saw him through the shop window. As if, some how, some way, he just...knew. Knew this would happen and he feels dizzy as his own gaze drops to Rhett-eq...Rhett...Rhett's mouth.

"Think of me like him," Rhett breathes, as if reading his mind, "Go on. Do it."

"Rhett..."

"Use me, sweetheart," he begs so prettily, "Use me like you want to..."

Link feels as if someone is choking him. All the air is gone. His body is an exposed nerve - throbbing, pulsing...lustful...

"...no one..." Link's eyes take on a darker hue, a sinful one, "No one can ever know..."

"No one ever will," Rhett promises darkly and then one if his hands snatches out, rattlesnake quick, fingers digging into the hair at the back of Link's skull as he tugs him forward, locking their lips together.

It's hot and filthy and sublime and Link, for better or worse, let's himself go.

[kihaku-gato]

Random Webcomic Reccomendations

This post is dedicated to bringing to the spotlight several webcomics

(some would be considered webmanga but I’m counting them too since they are primarily presented on webcomic websites) which I’ve been enjoying that I hope can get more traction/fandom with this post. Due to my personal tastes I can say many/most have a sci fi or fantasy theming as well as some (definitely not all) have wlw as well.

Since this post will be quite extensive, I’ll first start with a “table of contents” for those who don’t want synopsises or ramblings, but instead just want titles and want to just check them out themselves.

Bybloemen

My Dragon Girlfriend

Sanguine

Straylight Tiger

Cariciphona

Amongst Us

Kiss It Goodbye

Mokepon

Seven Miles Down

UnDivine

Bybloemen

Hosted on its own website under hiveworkscomics

This is a historical semi-fantasy set during the infamous Tulip Mania period of Dutch/European history when people would pay an arm and a leg for even a single potentially valuable tulip bulb.

In this setting we follow two devils Basil and Ludwig and their avian familiars strut into the action, pretending to be foreign investors getting in on the tulip hype, probably to ensnare some desperate souls, all the while keeping man and beast alike from catching sus that they are not as human as they claim to be.

As of writing this the story is just starting up but is already making quite the unique statement. The distinct black and white artstyle is clearly holding homage to the historical “Woodcut” printmaking style in how it’s drawn, lined, and textured, which is a refreshing way to artistically state that the comic is “set in the past” w/o doing just grayscale or sepia tone that one is used to seeing for media set in historical times.

The interactions between the devils as well as the animals they can communicate with so far have been quite amusing.

If you don’t directly use hiveworkscomics for your usual webcomic browsing (so don’t get notified by it) they do have both a tumblr and twitter which frequently announce/link its updates. Bonus following their twitter/tumblr being you get to see occasionally “sketches” (I say that term very loosely) of the characters outside of the webcomic series if you’re into that.

 My Dragon Girlfriend

Available on Webtoons and Twitter

Fantasy alongside modern era setting. It is primarily a wlw webcomic series about a human girl named Christy who is swept off her feet by a dragon girl named Dani, semi-magical/mythical wlw hijinks ensue. It’s hard for me to pin its identity entirely, cause while I wanna say it’s a “Slice of Life” the webcomic is at the point where Dani is fighting a werewolf tooth and nail so it’s hard to pin. It’s clearly romance genre, as even if Dani and Chirsty end up together lickity split (a blink of the eye compared to the slow-burn of most romance stories) there are other wlw subplots going on with secondary primary characters which you’ll be routing for.

It has its steamy moments and implies sex but not so far as to show full-on nudity of the main characters characters. Though there is some nudity of some of the monstergirls such as the fawn girls on the other hand it does not beat around the bush with, but luckily takes the nudity in a natural non-sexual way Correction as of writing this; only the Twitter version shows nudity, they had to censor with bras on Webtoons cause it got flagged.

If you want it hotter/steamier, sign up to the artist’s patreon. It’s definitely a nice softish wlw webomic if you’re craving a lil monstergirl flavour.

 Sanguine

Available on Tapas and Webtoons

Full-on adventure fantasy setting set in a world where magic and mages have been persecuted to the point of going into secrecy.

It stars a cute red-riding-hood-like implied secret-royal (that was too much a mouthful) lady named Red, and a tall gorgeous beefy secretly mage lady named Morgan which Red has dragged into her shenanigans with.

It’s early to call this a wlw gem as of the current updates, but it is tagged as lgbt+ so take that with potential further wisdom.

This webcomic uses colour a fair bit to set its tone/mood, but otherwise has a very comfy/warm feeling about it somehow, like some of those old comics/webcomics/novels you would welcome to read while snuggled under blankets. Also the outfits are REALLY nicely designed, and I could definitely see some peeps having fun cosplaying many of these characters.

As the story slowly progresses I am holding with baited breath to how Red and Morgan’s interactions/relationship may or may not evolve, as I am totally an absolute sucker for “friendly/bubbly naïveish character dragging along the cool/grumpy don’t-get-involved character that has a hidden soft heart” trope.

  Straylight Tiger

Available on Webtoons and Tapas

WARNING- while infrequent this one has some blood/gore that will shake you up, though it puts it where it would be most sensible to. Lucky for you most blood in this series is not the usual human-red blood which tones the edge down.

It may have lots of fantasy elements but this one definitely holds its identity as Sci Fi. Set in a futuristic cyberesque city full of both good and bad superhumans (one group being animal shapeshifters and the other being elemental casters), there is an extremist cult out to wreck havoc in the city, so a company responds by recruiting a handful of individuals from all 3 races to make a secret task force to eliminate the threat.

The main character in this story is a secretly-a-tiger shapeshifter named Angeline.

This is probably the most visually colourful of the webcomics in my list and is really using it to charge up its stylistic sci fi setting. Best way I could compare it to; you know those glow-in-the-dark cyber avatars you occasionally see in VRchat? Straylight Tiger matches that visual energy. Of listed so far this is also the most action-packed webcomic on the list. I could almost call it a Trigger-like comic but luckily unlike Studio Trigger it’s not into going nuts on fanservice.

If you’re craving your superhuman sci fi action, this one should at least be checked out. I want to say there’ll be wlw at some point, but it’s too early to call, and if it does I would not expect it to be a major arc when it has larger fish for plot points to deal with.

If you’re craving wlw of at least mc and her weapons-savvy human friend, I highly recommend you checking out the artist Flying Frappe’s twitter to get some sating for you wlw cravings for the two.

 Caricophona

Available on webtoons as well as its own webcomic site

Tragic fantasy setting starring a supermagical woman named Veloice as she is hunted by an Assassin. I tag it as there is an undertone of death in some of the arcs, which give this colourfully magical world a more sombre tone. Among the webcomics on the list this one may be steepest when it comes to catching to speed of the world’s setting/rules/hierarchies but once you do you’ll hunger for this more.

I can’t entirely make a perfect comparison for it (Full Metal Alchemist is as close as I could compare and they are still as different to each other as apples and oranges) but it really has that rich nostalgic old manga style/world/tone to it, and its most welcome to as well.

The world building is rich, and Veloice is a mental/magical powerhouse even if at times she has a fragility about her. The fact she’s a Caricophona; magical beings which tend to either get persecuted or expire early at age from their own condition, definitely helps with giving her a almost “glass canon” energy about her.

While those points have definitely helped hook me in, the thing that tends to excite me the most in this webcomic is Veloice’s interactions with the assassin who’s been send to kill her, named Blackbird. The tension between them, the fact Blackbird both wants to toy with her, Blackbird’s somewhat flirtatious nature towards Veloice OMFG I EAT IT UP!!!! They have such a enemies to lovers feeling to them (though no, they are not lovers- we can dream though) which just gets you so excited.

I should also mention there are two other “primary characters” in the group. Two rich naïve kids ready to help Veloice however they can. You grow to like them (even if they hit tropes that may strike a nerve if you’re tired to their character type), but the mvp of this webcomic for character and interaction has to be Veloice and Blackbird.

 Amongst Us

Available on webtoons and its own website

Say you like Veloice and Blackbird from the previous webcomic, but find the hefty fantasy setting a bit too much, and you’re more for the romance? What if I told you the artist was galaxy brained enough to make a chiller AU? That is what Amongst Us is; a music college-set slice of life with a slow burn romance between Veloice and Blackbird. They’re dorky, their cute, and seeing some of the characters you’re familiar with in Caricophona in a different setting is nice to see.

In some ways Veloice is less proactive in Amongst Us but still feels very in-character of her. The webcomic would end pretty quick if Veloice were to get-to-the-point with Blackbird after all (granted with how we see them in the future together at the start of the webcomic it’s not like they have to be in a hurry anyways).

Seeing a wlw / slice of life set in a college setting rather than a high school setting is extremely welcome. Please, more of this.

 Kiss it Goodbye

Available on Webtoons

Slice of Life high-school beginnings of wlw romance. The artstyle is good, the characters are lovely. We know canonically that they end up together (as the webcomic starts with them in the future where they are a couple, as they begin to weave the story to their curious friends wanting to know how their romance came to be).

It’s not an unwelcome Slice of Life.

 BONUS / HONORABLE MENTIONS

 Mokepon

Available on h0lyhandgrenade’s website

I have honestly not read this one in a while and dropped it like, several years ago, but it was interesting and is still ongoing, so I had to mention it. Set in the Pokemon universe, it stars the main character who has been thrown into the pokemon trainer career while absolutely wanting nothing to do with it. Ends up becoming a rocket grunt which is an interesting change of perspective from many pokemon fancomics. It has old-nuzelocke energy though it is not a Nuzelocke. Be prepared for the brutality as you cry for the pokemon (especially his pikachu). The undying loyalty of his Charmander as he himself struggles with his position as a trainer/grunt is interesting. He is definitely not the usual pokemon trainer protag you’re used to.

 Seven Miles Down

Available on Webtoons

A completed oneshot psychological horror where a girl takes her submarine to the deepest unventured oceanic trench in the world. Tragic end, but horrors can be like that. The psychological nature of the horror is an interesting angle. The rounded cute style may throw you off but it works.

 UnDivine

Availabe on its own website via hiveworkscomics

This comic has since been cancelled from continuation, but is the webcomic to set me off in making this list, so it will still be mentioned in memory/tribute, and is the grand example of why you should interact with the webcomics you read as well as share them; there is a good chance they will not hold on their own without fan interaction and traction. Excuse me as I just use two full-on pages cause I’m wearing out on this list and browsing through tons and tons of pages for highlights wears a peep out.

Modern-set religious fantasy on an island where local their religion may be more than it seems. Stars a boy named Daniel, and Esther the Demon girl. From what can be gleaned the Demongirl knew the “god” of the island’s religion and was double crossed, so has a bone to pick with them and their “angelic” entourage now that she’s free when she got accidentally summoned by Daniel.

This webcomic loves its use of blood, but your grow used to it after a point. The setting is interesting, and its also cool to see how the “angels” are far from the usual “pretty human-like” in their true form and are instead more monstrous than you could say even the Demon Esther is.

A lot of what makes this comic interesting, outside of the “revenge against a god” main plot going on, is how messy the characters can be.

Daniel, Esther, and the one angel named Manual are all pretty interesting in how they interact with their roles that they’ve been put in and how they react to others, and are all very morally grey complex characters.

Daniel is an angst machine who tends to really wear himself out (though how he’s positioned/pressured by the world doesn’t help) and shoot himself in the foot a lot, and that’s even before Esther “turns” him into her lil monstrous pawn, not something you commonly see in main characters from the get-go.

Esther (the tall blondie) while being a Demon ready to get her vengeance on is in many ways naïve/childlike despite her powerful nature, and despite using Daniel as her pawn is shown to grow to have feelings/care for Daniel which is very interesting for “The Contracted Devil” position.

Manual…. We haven’t gotten to see a lot but it’s clear he’s meant to be the angelic hero position but its clear he does not like the position, and he also has a thing for a human woman named Rosamaria but we have not gotten to see why that’s the case.

This webcomic didn’t get the traction it needed to keep going, so was recently cancelled by the artist.

[thenewwei]

I’ve been wanting to watch a Peter Greenaway film since I had a conversation with a girl from Colorado in Barcelona way back in 2002 (she slept on the bunk above me in the youth hostel). Basically we were talking about erotic films that were on the sleazier side and she told me I should watch Greenaway as a “classier version” particularly alluding to his 1996 film The Pillow Book (1996). All these years and many indie films watched later, I finally got around to watching his first major release, The Draughtman’s Contract (1982). There’s actually no nudity in this, which probably makes the film’s sexual and class politics all the more insidious and disturbing. It takes place in the Jacobite era of England, after the Glorious Revolution, and the year 1694, that women finally got some landowner rights but where old fashioned notions like needing a male heir to continue one’s lineage were still the rage. It’s about an arrogant artist who makes a sexual contract with a married aristocrat to paint 13 angles of her property while her husband is away (seemingly to get away from their loveless marriage). The artist has strict demands because he is intent on painting exactly what he sees, yet the drama of the estate’s “court” is swirling around him and he doesn’t totally understand its complexities. It seems he has the upper hand throughout the film, yet ultimately we realized that’s not the case at all. The film’s plot is complex and demands re-viewings, but that’s what makes it so intriguing. It’s like an Agatha Christie mystery combined with historical drama and court politics. The costumes are intruiging and scary, the main character’s personal ticks are memorable. The film is as complex in terms of the perspectives one can view it with as the many angles with which the artist uses to try to capture the exact “reality” of the estate’s landscape. Looking forward to seeing more Greenaway films.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083851/

[cometsweepandleonidsfly]

"Game of Thrones" had a woman problem. And it always will. 

This isn't anything new. Against a backdrop of gratuitous female nudity and frequent rape scenes, "Thrones" has always struggled to fully define the women who play its game. It's had trouble with the men, too (character consistency is one of the writers' biggest weaknesses), after the final episode of the TV juggernaut, its mistreatment of the women who once made the series great will be remembered as its original sin. 

The last two episode of "Thrones" were a particular insult to some of its most beloved female characters. The remaining women (and those recently departed) have been ill-served by a mad dash to the finish line with little regard how to get there. Now that the smoke has cleared on the series, one of the many mixed morals of "Thrones" is that women are just too darn crazy. Groundbreaking, I know.

In this final season, "Thrones" has wasted Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), once its most engaging villain, giving her little screen time and an anticlimactic death. It also featured Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) expressing gratitude for enduring rape and torture; the death of Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel), its only woman of color; turned Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) into a sappy rom-com character more concerned with her lover's destiny than her own; and Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) hurried transformation into a "mad queen," as the woman who once freed thousands of slaves became a murderer of countless innocents because her best friend died, her boyfriend/nephew rejected her and she's angry no one loves her. And when it came time for Dany to meet her fate, it was as anticlimactic as Cersei's death, and shedied while begging Jon (Kit Harington) to take her back.

Dany's heel turn into megalomaniacal villain is one of the most controversial decisions in the whole series, perhaps even with the decision for Bran to rule Westeros at the series' end. Many fans felt that Dany's choice to murder thousands came out of nowhere, and while the writers planted seeds of her so-called madness over the years, foreshadowing isn't the same as character development. Sure, writers made her seem cruel over the years, but there has to be a reason why. Coupled with a scene in Episode 4 in which Varys (Conleth Hill) extolled Jon Snow (Kit Harington) as a leader just because he's a Targaryen and a man, and claimed that Dany is too unstable and too strong of a woman to rule, the writers seem like trolls who rant online about "crazy" ex-girlfriends.

Had the series taken time to make Dany's descent to villainy a slow slide instead of an air drop from 50,000 feet, it would feel more earned and far less stereotypical. Women don't have to be virtuous heroes to be great characters. They just have to make sense.

Cersei, Sansa and Brienne didn't make much sense this year, either. The smart, diabolical Queen Cersei turned into a spluttering mess in her final episode, which was a huge disservice to one of the series' best characters.

The Cersei who destroyed the Sept of Baelor would have had an exit strategy from The Red Keep during Dany's siege. The Cersei who almost committed suicide to save herself and her son from failure at the Blackwater never would have cried about dying in her brother/lover's arms. The Cersei who killed Robert Baratheon with a well-placed flask of wine would never have been dense enough to think her Lannister soldiers were so loyal and strong they'd defeat a dragon.

The Cersei we knew would have done more than stand still and stare off into the distance in her last hurrah. But the writers weren't interested in Cersei making sense. In Season 8, Cersei was a glorified roadblock to Dany's war crime. And so, in service of a hasty and ill-conceived plot, Cersei was dispatched as indiscriminately as she once eliminated her enemies.

In the middle of a race to the happy ever after finish line, the show somehow found time to get in one last turn of the screw when it came to the series' depiction of sexual violence. Sansa has been the woman abused most often over the years. The series drew its harshest criticism for the Season 5 storyline in which she married Ramsay Bolton and suffered repeated rape and torture at his hands.

To add insult to a very raw injury, in Episode 4 this season, Sansa expressed gratitude for her abuse, claiming it strengthened her. It's an offensive, inaccurate portrayal of trauma that undervalues Sansa as a character. But the writers had to justify that rape scene somehow, right? Sure, she got her own throne in the North in the end, but only after the lords of Westeros picked her robot brother to rule the other six kingdoms because he was the least objectionable man around.

The disservice done to Brienne is perhaps the most heartbreaking, considering her arc over the course of the series has been so strong, and Christie's performance so consistently brilliant. But the independent warrior spent most of the final season pining over a man, in a wild turn. Yes, it was nice to see Brienne's vulnerable side when she slept with Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), but the writers took it too far. She gets her dream job in the finale just like everyone else, now lord commander of the Kingsguard, but instead of writing her own history into the order's historical record, we see her update Jaime's. Brienne deserved better.

"Thrones" is just one big missed opportunity when it comes to women. George R.R. Martin's novels feature several complex and fascinating female characters, but many of the supporting women in the TV series have been completely wasted. The Sand Snakes were boring sex objects with whips instead of personalities. Yara (Gemma Whelan) popped up only when we need to be reminded that the Greyjoys exist. Fan-favorite Arianne Martell from the novels was cut out of the series entirely.

For 73 episodes and eight seasons, "Thrones" has credited just two women, Jane Espenson and Vanessa Taylor, as writers, with four episodes between them dating back to the show's first three seasons. Only one woman, Michelle MacLaren, has directed episodes (four of them), but not since 2014. It's painfully clear that "Thrones" was a series created by (and in large part written for) men.

Sunday's final episode was a mess for many reasons, but in particular it will be infamous for cementing the series' reputation for failing its women. We probably should have known "Thrones" would disappoint back in the very first episode, in which Drogo (Jason Momoa) raped his new wife Dany, which never happened in the books.

But as a TV series, the women are props for spectacle and shock just as much as the dragons and white walkers.

[wordynerdy]

It’s Gonna Be May Day

Today is the first of May, and after what seemed like an eternal April, it’s welcomed beyond the Justin memes. While May Day is not a widely celebrated holiday in the United States (instead better known for being International Worker’s Day), Europe still holds on to this traditional holiday in many different ways. It is exactly halfway to Halloween today, and the changing of seasons always calls for some good Pagan fun.

Today is celebrated as the beginning of spring as May Day, with many ancient rituals still being carried out, such as the May Pole and the crowning of the May Queen. If you’re in Germany, you might be celebrating today and last night as Walpurgisnacht, where festivities and fires are held to help keep away evil spirits, with the assistance of Saint Walpurga. In Ireland today, they’re celebrating Beltane, a Gaelic holiday which glorifies the creation of a new season with sexuality and fertility.

Basically, May Day is a time to look forward at the good that will be approaching, and we can all use some of that right now. So to help you celebrate, here is today’s Friday Five:

Five Movies You Can Stream Today in Celebration of May Day

1. Wicker Man (1973)

This movie is one of my all time favorites. It’s probably the most Pagan movie you’re going to find, and if you haven’t seen it you really should just stop whatever you’re working on and watch it immediately. That Zoom meeting can definitely wait. This is a horror movie, and while I don’t find it very scary, I’m desensitized to everything so take that as a warning. There is some violence and some nudity in this film. But the best thing of all about this film- Christopher Lee! My favorite performance of his of all time. Seriously, just watch this movie. And do not mention the horrendous remake. This is NOTHING like that movie, and we do not speak of it.

Wicker Man is currently streaming on Netflix.

Midsommar (2019)

Chances are, if you’re into horror movies or witchy movies or Pagan movies or Florence Pugh (which is basically all of us), you’ve seen this one already. I loved this very much, but when the lights came up in the cinema I said, “So that was basically Wicker Man.” Which is unfair of me, because there are a ton of differences. For one thing, this really IS a horror movie. It’s gruesome and includes lots of dub con-esque actions. Many times during the movie, I thought, oh wow, they DID that. It’s from the same people who brought you Hereditary, so if you’ve seen that but not this, you know what you’re getting into. (Hereditary, by the way, is also a good horror watch for May Day and is also available on Amazon Prime, but it wasn’t top five for me.) If nothing else, this film is gorgeous and there’s lots of eye candy for us bisexuals between Florence and Jack Reynor alone. Besides a TON of violence and gore, this movie also features nudity and language.

Midsommar is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Häxan

This one is taking it old school. Almost a century old, actually. It’s a Swedish documentary about witches, the occult, supernatural stuff, all the goodies. The film is silent, but there are English subs for those of use who don’t speak Swedish (me). More than anything, this film is a visual masterpiece, although it can definitely make you feel like you’ve had some edibles. Not saying this should be watched while high, but it might be a fun experiment. I claim no responsibility for anything that may happen in that circumstance, just FYI. As with everything on this list, this movie may be disturbing to some. It also contains some nudity.

Häxan is currently streaming on YouTube.

Agatha Christie’s A Pale Horse (2020)

This one is technically a mini series, but it’s only two hour long episodes, so that’s basically a movie. Based on the Agatha Christie book, this is a BBC version of the story of a woman who is found dead with a list of names in her shoe. What does that list mean? One of the guys on it wants to find out. There is a really awesome May Day festival that goes on in this film, and it’s very centered around witchcraft. There is an awesome mini-coven of ladies who steal the show in all their scenes. And lots of twists, of course. Be warned for muuuuurder and some violence and people being assholes. There’s a bit of nudity, too, thrown in for good measure.

Agatha Christie’s A Pale Horse is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

The Witch (2015)

This one has less to do with Beltane or festivals and is centered around being, well... a witch. And what that witch does to the people of this little village. Again, this is a horror movie, but I want to stress that atmosphere is everything for this one. I didn’t find it nearly that exciting the first time I watched it because it was in the daytime and I was multitasking (because if I’m ever doing any less than three things at a time I feel I’ve failed at life). However, if you can force yourself to do it, I highly recommend watching this at night with the lights out and doing nothing but watching the movie. It’s far more scary and enjoyable that way. This movie has the least gore and violence and nudity of all the ones on my list, but it is a high quality film nonetheless. Suspense is the game here, so if that makes your anxiety go wild, take heed.

The Witch is currently streaming on Netflix.

[tabloidtoc]

National Enquirer, November 18

Cover: Scientology buying Clearwater, Florida for $1.1 billion 

Page 2: Boozer Ben Affleck falls off the wagon big-time 

Page 3: Stars run for their lives as California burns 

Page 4: Brad Pitt secretly filmed shocking S&M home movies with Angelina Jolie and now he’s terrified the films will come back to bite him, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez turned up the heat on their relationship with steamy dates to strip clubs 

Page 5: Portia de Rossi spitting mad over Ellen DeGeneres and Jennifer Aniston’s kiss, Keira Knightley always uses a body double because she has a special clause in her contract that she doesn’t do any nudity 

Page 6: Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall got groped at Buckingham Palace by Sharon Osbourne but found the indecent incident hilarious

Page 7: Prince Harry is facing a wake-up call when he and Meghan Markle move to California with baby Archie

Page 8: JFK killed by five-man hit squad 

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Hilary Duff, Lance Bass and husband Michael Turchin, Lea Michele 

Page 11: Megan Mullally’s shocking leave of absence from Will & Grace came after Warner Bros. formally warned the demanding diva that she’d get pink-slipped if she didn’t get along better with her castmates 

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Tiffany Haddish, Drew Barrymore’s talk show may mean The Talk will be cancelled, comedy legend Carol Burnett is having a tough time attracting fans to her live stage show, Kylie Jenner has a record deal in the works after singing Rise and Shine to her daughter Stormi 

Page 13: Val Kilmer’s revenge tell-all will sling dirt on Christian Bale and Ben Affleck and Marlon Brando and detail his sex life with Cindy Crawford, Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks are dancing on the verge of a long-overdue romance 

Page 14: True Crime -- Jeffrey Epstein’s death wasn’t suicide 

Page 16: Tamron Hall admitted on her talk show that she facilitated drug deals while in college but producers cut it from the show, Britney Spears’ mother Lynne Spears killed a young boy in a car accident but never contacted his family to express her sympathy 

Page 17: Why Meg Ryan dumped John Mellencamp once more, Christie Brinkley blasts cradle-robbing ex Peter Cook, Hollywood Hookups -- Rita Ora and Andrew Watt split again, Demi Lovato and Mike Johnson split 

Page 18: Real Life 

Page 19: NeNe Leakes taunted Kenya Moore about her rocky marriage while RHOA filmed in Greece, grieving Duane “Dog” Chapman shared a social media tribute to his late wife Beth on what would have been her 52nd birthday, Jennifer Aniston says a Friends reunion is happening 

Page 20: Scientologists plot to buy Clearwater, Florida exposed to turn it into the cult’s Vatican 

Page 25: How to fix a fractured friendship 

Page 26: Health Watch 

Page 34: Why spoon-bending psychic Uri Geller believes Michael Jackson wasn’t a perv 

Page 42: Red Carpet Stars & Stumbles -- Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Wilde, Awkwafina, Alicia Vikander 

Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Jerry Bruckheimer and Ang Lee and Will Smith at the Taiwan premiere of Gemini Man 

[blackkudos]

Halle Berry

Halle Maria Berry (born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in the romantic drama Monster's Ball (2001), which made her the only woman of color to win a Best Actress Academy Award to date, as of 2016.

Berry was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood during the 2000s and has been involved in the production of several of the films in which she performed. She is also a Revlon spokesmodel. Before becoming an actress, she started modeling and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the 1st runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant and coming in 6th place in the Miss World Pageant in 1986. Her breakthrough film role was in the romantic comedyBoomerang (1992), alongside Eddie Murphy, which led to roles in films such as the comedyThe Flintstones (1994), the political comedy-drama Bulworth (1998) and the television filmIntroducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), for which she won the Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, among many other awards.

In addition to her Academy Award win, Berry garnered high-profile roles in the 2000s such as Storm in the X-Men film series (beginning in 2000), the action crime thriller Swordfish (2001), and the spy film Die Another Day (2002), where she played Bond Girl Jinx. She then appeared in the X-Men sequels, X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand(2006). In the 2010s, she appeared in movies such as the science fiction film Cloud Atlas(2012), the crime thriller The Call (2013) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

Divorced from baseball player David Justice and singer-songwriter Eric Benét, Berry has a daughter by model Gabriel Aubry, and a son by actor Olivier Martinez.

Early life

Berry was born Maria Halle Berry; her name was legally changed to Halle Maria Berry at age five. Her parents selected her middle name from Halle's Department Store, which was then a local landmark in her birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother, Judith Ann (née Hawkins), who is of English and German ancestry, was a psychiatric nurse. Her father, Jerome Jesse Berry, was an African-American hospital attendant in the psychiatric ward where her mother worked; he later became a bus driver. Berry's maternal grandmother, Nellie Dicken, was born in Sawley, Derbyshire, England, while her maternal grandfather, Earl Ellsworth Hawkins, was born in Ohio. Berry's parents divorced when she was four years old; she and her older sister, Heidi Berry-Henderson, were raised exclusively by their mother.

Berry has said in published reports that she has been estranged from her father since her childhood, noting in 1992, "I haven't heard from him since [he left]. Maybe he's not alive." Her father was very abusive to her mother. Berry has recalled witnessing her mother being beaten daily, kicked down stairs and hit in the head with a wine bottle.

Berry graduated from Bedford High School where she was a cheerleader, honor student, editor of the school newspaper and prom queen. She worked in the children's department at Higbee's Department store. She then studied at Cuyahoga Community College. In the 1980s, she entered several beauty contests, winning Miss Teen All American in 1985 and Miss Ohio USA in 1986. She was the 1986 Miss USA first runner-up to Christy Fichtner of Texas. In the Miss USA 1986 pageant interview competition, she said she hoped to become an entertainer or to have something to do with the media. Her interview was awarded the highest score by the judges. She was the first African-American Miss World entrant in 1986, where she finished sixth and Trinidad and Tobago's Giselle Laronde was crowned Miss World. According to the Current Biography Yearbook, Berry "...pursued a modeling career in Chicago.... Berry's first weeks in New York were less than auspicious: She slept in a homeless shelter and then in a WMCA".

Career

Early career

In 1989, Berry moved to New York City to pursue her acting ambitions. During her early time there, she ran out of money and had to live briefly in a homeless shelter.

Later in 1989, her situation improved and she was cast in the role of model Emily Franklin in the short-lived ABC television seriesLiving Dolls, which was shot in New York and was a spin-off of the hit series Who's the Boss?. During the taping of Living Dolls, she lapsed into a coma and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. After the cancellation of Living Dolls, she moved to Los Angeles. She went on to have a recurring role on the long-running primetime serial Knots Landing.

Her film debut was in a small role for Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (1991), in which she played Vivian, a drug addict. That same year, Berry had her first co-starring role in Strictly Business. In 1992, Berry portrayed a career woman who falls for the lead character played by Eddie Murphy in the romantic comedy Boomerang. The following year, she caught the public's attention as a headstrong biracial slave in the TV adaptation of Queen: The Story of an American Family, based on the book by Alex Haley. Berry was in the live-action Flintstones movie playing the part of "Sharon Stone", a sultry secretary who seduced Fred Flintstone.

Berry tackled a more serious role, playing a former drug addict struggling to regain custody of her son in Losing Isaiah (1995), starring opposite Jessica Lange. She portrayed Sandra Beecher in Race the Sun (1996), which was based on a true story, shot in Australia, and co-starred alongside Kurt Russell in Executive Decision. Beginning in 1996, she was a Revlon spokeswoman for seven years and renewed her contract in 2004.

Late 1990s–2000s

She starred alongside Natalie Deselle Reid in the 1997 comedy film B*A*P*S. In 1998, Berry received praise for her role in Bulworth as an intelligent woman raised by activists who gives a politician (Warren Beatty) a new lease on life. The same year, she played the singer Zola Taylor, one of the three wives of pop singer Frankie Lymon, in the biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love. In the 1999 HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, she portrayed the first black woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award, and it was to Berry a heart-felt project that she introduced, co-produced and fought intensely for it to come through. Berry's performance was recognized with several awards, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

Berry portrayed the mutant superhero Storm in the film adaptation of the comic book series X-Men (2000) and its sequels, X2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). In 2001, Berry appeared in the film Swordfish, which featured her first topless scene. At first, she refused to be filmed topless in a sunbathing scene, but she changed her mind when Warner Brothers raised her fee substantially. The brief flash of her breasts added $500,000 to her fee. Berry considered these stories to be rumors and was quick to deny them. After turning down numerous roles that required nudity, she said she decided to makeSwordfish because her then-husband, Eric Benét, supported her and encouraged her to take risks.

She appeared as Leticia Musgrove, the troubled wife of an executed murderer (Sean Combs), in the 2001 feature film Monster's Ball. Her performance was awarded the National Board of Review and the Screen Actors Guild best-actress prizes; in an interesting coincidence she became the first woman of color to win the Academy Award for Best Actress (earlier in her career, she portrayed Dorothy Dandridge, the first African American to be nominated for Best Actress, and who was born at the same hospital as Berry, in Cleveland, Ohio). The NAACP issued the statement: "Congratulations to Halle Berry and Denzel Washington for giving us hope and making us proud. If this is a sign that Hollywood is finally ready to give opportunity and judge performance based on skill and not on skin color then it is a good thing." This role generated controversy. Her graphic nude love scene with a racist character played by co-star Billy Bob Thornton was the subject of much media chatter and discussion among African Americans. Many in the African-American community were critical of Berry for taking the part. Berry responded: "I don't really see a reason to ever go that far again. That was a unique movie. That scene was special and pivotal and needed to be there, and it would be a really special script that would require something like that again."

Berry asked for a higher fee for Revlon advertisements after winning the Academy Award. Ron Perelman, the cosmetics firm's chief, congratulated her, saying how happy he was that she modeled for his company. She replied, "Of course, you'll have to pay me more." Perelman stalked off in a rage. Her win at the Academy Awards led to two famous "Oscar moments." In accepting her award, she gave an acceptance speech honoring previous black actresses who had never had the opportunity. She said, "This moment is so much bigger than me. This is for every nameless, faceless woman of colour who now has a chance tonight because this door has been opened." One year later, as she presented the Best Actor award, winner Adrien Brody ran on stage and, instead of giving her the standard peck on the cheek, planted a long kiss on Berry.

As Bond girl Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson in the 2002 blockbuster Die Another Day, Berry recreated a scene from Dr. No, emerging from the surf to be greeted by James Bond as Ursula Andress had 40 years earlier. Lindy Hemming, costume designer on Die Another Day, had insisted that Berry wear a bikini and knife as a homage. Berry has said of the scene: "It's splashy", "exciting", "sexy", "provocative" and "it will keep me still out there after winning an Oscar". The bikini scene was shot in Cadiz; the location was reportedly cold and windy, and footage has been released of Berry wrapped in thick towels in between takes to try to stay warm. According to an ITV news poll, Jinx was voted the fourth toughest girl on screen of all time. Berry was hurt during filming when debris from a smoke grenade flew into her eye. It was removed in a 30-minute operation. After Berry won the Academy Award, rewrites were commissioned to give her more screentime for X2.

She starred in the psychological thriller Gothika opposite Robert Downey, Jr. in November 2003, during which she broke her arm in a scene with Downey, who twisted her arm too hard. Production was halted for eight weeks. It was a moderate hit at the United States box office, taking in $60 million; it earned another $80 million abroad. Berry appeared in the nu metal band Limp Bizkit's music video for "Behind Blue Eyes" for the motion picture soundtrack for the film. The same year, she was named #1 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll.

Recent work

Berry received $12.5 million for the title role in the film Catwoman, a $100 million movie; it grossed $17 million on its first weekend. She was awarded a Worst Actress Razzie Award in 2005 for this role. She appeared at the ceremony to accept the award in person (making her the third person, and second actor, ever to do so) with a sense of humor, considering it an experience of the "rock bottom" in order to be "at the top". Holding the Academy Award in one hand and the Razzie in the other she said, "I never in my life thought that I would be here, winning a Razzie. It's not like I ever aspired to be here, but thank you. When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner." The Fund for Animals praised Berry's compassion towards cats and for squelching rumors that she was keeping a Bengal tiger from the sets of Catwoman as a "pet."

Her next film appearance was in the Oprah Winfrey-produced ABC television movie Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), an adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's novel, in which Berry portrayed Janie Crawford, a free-spirited woman whose unconventional sexual mores upset her 1920s contemporaries in a small community. She was nominated for an Emmy for this TV film. Meanwhile, she voiced the character of Cappy, one of the many mechanical beings in the animated feature Robots (2005).

Berry is involved in production of films and television. She served as executive producer on Introducing Dorothy Dandridge in 1999, and Lackawanna Blues in 2005. In 2007, Berry both produced and starred in the thriller Perfect Stranger with Bruce Willis, and starred in Things We Lost in the Fire with Benicio del Toro, the first film in which she worked with a female director, Danish Susanne Bier, giving her a new feeling of "thinking the same way", which she appreciated. Berry then starred in the film Frankie and Alice, in which she plays Frankie Murdoch, a young multiracial American women with dissociative identity disorder struggling against her alter personality to retain her true self. She was awarded the African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama.

Berry was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood during the 2000s, earning an estimated $10 million per film. On April 3, 2007, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Kodak Theatre at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to the film industry.

As of 2013, Berry's worldwide box office gross has been more than USD$3.3 billion. In 2011, she appeared in New Year's Eve. She played one of the leads in the film Cloud Atlas, which was released in October 2012.

On October 4, 2013, Berry signed on to star in the CBS drama series Extant. Berry played Molly Woods, an astronaut who struggles to reconnect with her husband and android son after spending 13 months in space. The show premiered on July 9, 2014. She served as a co-executive producer on the series.

Berry has served for many years as the face of Revlon cosmetics and as the face of Versace. The Coty Inc. fragrance company signed Berry to market her debut fragrance in March 2008. Berry was delighted, saying that she had created her own fragrances at home by mixing scents.

In March 2014 Berry launched a new production company, 606 Films, with producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas. It is named after the Anti-Paparazzi Bill, SB 606, that the actress pushed for and which was signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown in the fall of 2013. The new company emerged as part of a deal for Berry to star in the CBS sci-fi drama series Extant. 606 Films is housed within CBS.

Personal life

In February 2000, Berry was involved in a traffic collision and left the scene. She was charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run.

Relationships and marriages

Berry dated Chicago dentist John Ronan from March 1989 to October 1991. In November 1993, Ronan sued Berry for $80,000 in what he claimed were unpaid loans to help launch her career. Berry contended that the money was a gift, and a judge dismissed the case because Ronan did not list Berry as a debtor when he filed for bankruptcy in 1992.

According to Berry, a beating from a former abusive boyfriend during the filming of The Last Boy Scout punctured her eardrum and caused her to lose eighty percent of her hearing in her left ear. Berry has never named the abuser but has said that he is someone well known in Hollywood.

Berry first saw baseball player David Justice on TV playing in an MTV celebrity baseball game in February 1992. When a reporter from Justice's hometown of Cincinnati told her that Justice was a fan, Berry gave her phone number to the reporter to give to Justice. Berry married Justice shortly after midnight on January 1, 1993.

Following their separation in February 1996, Berry stated publicly that she was so depressed that she considered taking her own life. Berry and Justice were officially divorced on June 24, 1997.

Berry married her second husband, singer-songwriter Eric Benét, on January 24, 2001, following a two-year courtship. but by early October 2003 they had separated, with the divorce finalized on January 3, 2005. Benét underwent treatment for sex addiction in 2002.

In November 2005, Berry began dating French Canadian model Gabriel Aubry, whom she met at a Versace photoshoot. Berry gave birth to their daughter in March 2008. On April 30, 2010, Berry and Aubry announced their separation.

After their 2010 separation, Berry and Aubry became involved in a highly publicized custody battle, centered primarily on Berry's desire to move with their daughter from Los Angeles, where Berry and Aubry resided, to France, the home of French actor Olivier Martinez, whom Berry had started dating in 2010 after they met while filming Dark Tide in South Africa. Aubry objected to the move on the grounds that it would interfere with their joint custody arrangement. In November 2012, a judge denied Berry's request to move the couple's daughter to France in light of Aubry's objections. Less than two weeks later, on November 22, 2012, Aubry and Martinez were both treated at a hospital for injuries after engaging in a physical altercation at Berry's residence. Martinez performed a citizen's arrest on Aubry, and because it was considered a domestic violence incident, was granted a temporary emergency protective order preventing Aubry from coming within 100 yards of Berry, Martinez, the child with whom he shares custody with Berry, until November 29, 2012. In turn, Aubry obtained a temporary restraining order against Martinez on November 26, 2012, asserting that the fight began when Martinez threatened to kill Aubry if he did not allow the couple to move to France. Leaked court documents included photos showing significant injuries to Aubry's face, which were widely displayed in the media.

On November 29, 2012, Berry's lawyer announced that Berry and Aubry had reached an amicable custody agreement in court. In June 2014, a Superior Court ruling called for Berry to pay Aubry $16,000 a month in child support (around 200k/year) as well as a retroactive payment of $115,000 and a sum of $300,000 for Aubry's attorney fees.

Berry and Martinez confirmed their engagement in March 2012, and married in France on July 13, 2013. In October 2013, Berry gave birth to their son. After two years of marriage, and rumors of a separation, the couple announced they were divorcing.

Activism

Along with Pierce Brosnan, Cindy Crawford, Jane Seymour, Dick Van Dyke, Téa Leoni, and Daryl Hannah, Berry successfully fought in 2006 against the Cabrillo Port Liquefied Natural Gas facility that was proposed off the coast of Malibu. Berry said, "I care about the air we breathe, I care about the marine life and the ecosystem of the ocean." In May 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the facility. Hasty Pudding Theatricals gave her its 2006 Woman of The Year award.

Berry took part in a nearly 2,000-house cell-phone bank campaign for Barack Obama in February 2008. In April 2013, she appeared in a video clip for Gucci's "Chime for Change" campaign that aims to raise funds and awareness of women's issues in terms of education, health, and justice. In August 2013, Berry testified alongside Jennifer Garner before the California State Assembly's Judiciary Committee in support of a bill that would protect celebrities' children from harassment by photographers. The bill passed in September.

Public image

Berry was ranked No. 1 on People's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" list in 2003 after making the top ten seven times and appeared No. 1 on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" the same year. She was named Esquire magazine's "Sexiest Woman Alive" in October 2008, about which she stated: "I don't know exactly what it means, but being 42 and having just had a baby, I think I'll take it." Men's Health ranked her at No. 35 on their "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" list. In 2009, she was voted #23 on Empire's 100 Sexiest Film Stars. The same year, rapper Hurricane Chris released a song entitled "Halle Berry (She's Fine)", extolling Berry's beauty and sex appeal. At the age of 42 (in 2008), she was named the “Sexiest Black Woman” by Access Hollywood’s TV One Access survey.

Born to an African-American father and a white mother, Berry has stated that her biracial background was "painful and confusing" when she was a young woman, and she made the decision early on to identify as a black woman because she knew that was how she would be perceived.

http://wikipedia.thetimetube.com/?q=Halle+Berry&lang=en

[tigereye771]

Murder on the Orient Express

Kenneth Branagh? Agatha Christie? I’m in! Saw it today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I knew the storyline but Branagh managed to add some freshness to it. I was a little wary about his Poirot going in, but he did a nice job. A different take than previous Poirot but doesn’t stray too far.

I also realized afterwards it’s a movie with no sex, no nudity, no swearing and while it’s about a murder, minimal blood and violence shown. And the costumes and sets are first rate.

I highly recommend especially if you’re a Christie or Branagh fan.

[the-master-cylinder]

Lunch Meat (1987): SUMMARY Cannibals who roam the San Bernardino Mountains in search of victims! PAW & THE BOYS! BENNY, ELWOOD and HARLEY! Psychotic, meat-eating mutilators who get their kicks by ambushing young men and women, hunt them down, and cold-bloodedly. tear their bodies apart!

There’s HARLEY, who get his kicks by chopping off people’s heads with his AXE! There’s ELWOOD, his younger brother, who likes to DRILL HOLES in his victims with his PICKAXE! PAW’S favorite tool is his stainless steel MACHETE! He gets his thrills by tracking his prey down, taking a couple of swipes with the machete to draw BLOOD, and then likes to see them beg for mercy. He’ll move in with a chuckle and CHOP THEM UP into many pieces of BLOOD-DRENCHED MEAT and BONES to be thrown in TRASH BAGS and taken down to the nearest greasy spoon to be sold as lunchmeat!!!! Then there’s BENNY! Deaf and dumb and MANIACAL with an insatiable thirst for human blood and raw flesh!!!! BENNY does his best work with a shovel!!!!

BEHIND THE SCENES/PRODUCTION The film is the culmination of three years work and a virtually lifelong dream of its 39 year-old writer/director Kirk Alex. With a background that includes film school training, Alex had been making his living driving a cab. Eventually the frustrations of that job, and the passion to make movies, overrode the instinct to make a living and he sold his cab to raise the money to start filming LUNCH MEAT.

Alex is understandably reticent about discussing details that might affect the film’s value on the marketplace but it seems likely that it was shot on 16mm with a budget probably below $60,000. The film was made on a 14 day shooting schedule, most of which was haphazardly scattered over an almost three month period. “We’d shoot a couple of days here, a couple of days there,” recalled Alex. “Sometimes we’d stop because we ran out of film and had no money to buy more. Other stoppages were for schedule conflicts for cast or crew. The worst delays were for hassles from the law.”

Cast & Crew

Alex’s cast and crew frequently had to change filming locations due to run-ins with Southern California police or Forest Rangers. “The whole system is set up for big budget productions,” complained Alex. “If you’ve got a movie camera in your hand you’ve got to have a permit to breathe, and everybody is out to make a buck off you. I was supposed to have a police officer and a fire marshal on the set at all times, at $40 an hour. A piece! There’s city, state, and county permits you’ve got to have, insurance and lawyers and paramedics. I could have spent my entire budget without ever exposing a foot of film!”

Instead Alex opted for true outlaw filmmaking. He and his group would shoot in one location until the forces of the law showed up. They would feign ignorance of the rules and regulations and then leave, promising to return with the proper paperwork and cash. In reality they would simply move on to the next suitable location and go through the whole process again.

Surprisingly, few of the film’s problems arose from the cast. “They were all pros,” said Alex. “It was 95° to 100° every day we shot and they spent most of their time running around or falling down in the dirt. Sure, they complained, but they all kept showing up and doing their best.”

Chuck Ellis, who portrays the gargantuan, cannibalistic mute Benny, was the only member of the cast whom Alex knew before shooting. “I always knew Chuck was a fine actor, and his size creates an undeniable screen presence,” said Alex. “I think he did a great job as Benny. He manages to create some sympathy for this pathetic sub-human even while we’re watching him engage in some pretty barbaric acts on screen.”

One staple of low-budget exploitation films that LUNCH MEAT lacks is sex or nudity. “It wasn’t a conscious decision to leave it out,” said Alex. “I just didn’t see any place for it in the script and I wasn’t going to bring the entire film’s pace to a halt just to have some girl take her top off.” The film’s special effects, the backbone of any gore film, also suffered for the lack of time and money. “A lot of good effects sequences were dropped because they were just too time-consuming, or costly,” recalled Alex. “I think Lori Drucker and her effects crew did a real good job on the throat ripping that kicks off the crazies’ attack, and on the miscellaneous body parts. They could have done even more. It’s the classic story: all we needed was time and money.”

Post production of the film was even more protracted than its filming. Over eight months, in increments of a day here, a day there, were spent before the final project was ready to market. Many of the delays were in order to raise additional money to deal with the next phase of the postproduction chores.

Alex bypassed any thoughts of theatrical exhibition and shopped the film around to various video distributors. He had several offers, some of which appeared more lucrative than those of Tapeworm Video, but he felt he could trust its owners because they were struggling dreamers like himself. To date, LUNCH MEAT has sold over 2500 copies for Tapeworm. That’s a pittance in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of copies a blockbuster title might move, but it’s not bad for an unknown film, with a no-name cast. It is, in fact, Tapeworm’s top seller to date.

And hopes are high that things may get better still. The tape’s incredibly graphic cover, offering a wild-eyed Benny gnawing on a severed human arm, was an undeniable eye catcher but has proven too bold for many video stores. A new, tamer cover was eventually offered.

CAST/CREW Directed/Written Kirk Alex

Produced by Kirk Alex Mark Flynn Al Goodrum Robert Oland Pamela Phillips Oland Ashlyn Gere (credited as Kim McKamy) as Roxy Chuck Ellis as Benny Joe Ricciardella as Frank Elroy Wiese as Paw Robert Oland as Harley Mitch Rogers as Elwood Rick Lorentz as Cary Bob Joseph as Eddie Marie Ruzicka as Debbie Patricia Christie as Sue Ann McBride as Waitress

Slaughterhouse (1987): SUMMARY Lester Bacon is an old nut-case farmer living with his simple-minded, obese son Buddy. Both of them lament the fate of the old skilled hog farmer, now giving way to modern factory-type slaughterhouses. The father and son go on a killing spree against people who trespass on their property. In the opening scene, Buddy kills two teenagers, Kevin and Michelle, who are having some time alone in their car on a remote area of Lovers Lane.

The next day, Harold – Lester’s attorney, along with his law partner Tom and the local police chief, Sheriff Borden, visit Lester at his house to offer him $55,000 to buy his property, along with the closed-down slaughterhouse next door. Lester is told that the demolition of the slaughterhouse would create employment opportunities for many people in town, as well as get the county tax assessor off his back. Lester grumbles about Tom’s equipment and bad meat and says that he could do better with his hands, knives and fewer men. The sheriff tells Lester that the assessor’s office is foreclosing his property and he has 30 days to vacate it.

Meanwhile, Liz – Sheriff Borden’s teenage daughter – is with a group of high school friends planning to shoot a “horror video” and suggests that the area around the Bacon Slaughterhouse would be perfect. Her friends – Skip, Annie, and Buzz – wonder the whereabouts of Kevin and Michelle. Back at Lester Bacon’s property, his son Buddy takes Lester to a room and shows him the dead Michelle and Kevin. Lester is a bit unsettled, thinking that they’re neck-deep in trouble, but he tells Buddy that Tom, Harold, and Sheriff Borden deserve such a fate.

Deputy Dave, after being informed by the worried parents of Michelle and Kevin, checks out the docks and then goes to the slaughterhouse. He walks inside and calls for the two teenagers. As Dave finds a dead hanging cat, Buddy appears and kills him by shoving large metal sliding door on Dave’s gun-toting hand, chopping it off.

Lester then calls Harold to tell him that he has accepted his sales offer. Harold goes to the slaughterhouse where both Lester and Buddy kill him. Buddy then puts on the dead Dave’s blood-stained police uniform and goes for a drive in the squad car. Dave’s girlfriend, Sally, sees him driving past and waves, but Buddy chases her and runs her car off the road. She tries to escape on foot, but Buddy catches up to her and slices her neck with a butcher knife. When Tom arrives at the slaughterhouse, Lester lures him to the processing room, where Buddy drops him into a saw machine.

That evening at the Pig Out, a town dance, the power goes out due to a rainstorm, and many people leave. Buzz says it’s the best time for filming at the slaughterhouse. Skip then makes a $20 bet that the girls cannot last one hour at the slaughterhouse. Liz and Annie are dropped off at the place while the boys are sneaking around with masks used in Liz’s video. Elsewhere, Sheriff Borden finds Sally’s car with the damaged windshield and Dave’s patrol car with the door open. The sheriff then goes back to his car and calls for backup.

Back at the slaughterhouse, Liz and Annie realize that the boys are outside trying to scare them. Liz looks for a way to get behind the two guys and scare them instead. The boys split up and Buzz gets inside the building. Skip is at the window, and Annie laughs until Buddy suddenly appears and whacks Skip. Annie screams and runs, but Lester appears and grabs her.

Liz walks to the front door and sees that everyone is gone. At the same time, Buzz walks into a room, hears a noise and gets hit in the face by Buddy. Liz finds a hanging Annie (still alive), as well as the dead bodies of all the other victims. The father-son duo is there and Buddy grabs Liz. Meanwhile, Sheriff Borden learns that Tom and Harold have mysteriously disappeared.

Buddy and Lester hold Liz down on a table, and Lester says that a meat cutter like himself and Buddy have the skills like a surgeon. Lester slices one of Liz’s fingertips to prove to her that it is one of the most sensitive parts of the human body. When Lester turns and hears Sheriff Borden enter through the front door, Liz kicks Lester and runs away. She finds her father and runs to him. Buddy appears and the sheriff tries to shoot him, but he hits the blade of his meat cleaver. Sheriff Borden and Liz run outside into the rain. As Sheriff Borden pauses at his squad car door, Lester appears and stabs him in the back. Liz picks up her father’s gun and shoots Lester. She then helps the wounded sheriff into his car. She also gets the keys to start up the car, just as Lester rises and knocks at the car windows. She turns around, shifts the car into reverse, and runs over Lester, crushing his head and finally killing him. The sheriff tells Liz to drive away and radio for help. Buddy suddenly sits up from the backseat and swings his knife at Liz. She screams, and the film suddenly ends.

BEHIND THE SCENES/PRODUCTION Even before the new slasher movie Slaughterhouse  played in its first commercial theater, it was in the black. Slowly squealing its way around the country, the film was a testament to the new Hollywood, where independent companies outnumber major studios eight to one, and where home video and foreign sales can more than pay for a film’s cost. Slaughterhouse, for example, was sold to 60% of the foreign markets, including Germany, England, and Japan, before its domestic fate had been determined. Embassy’s Charter Entertainment is distributing the video cassette

It helped that the movie was made on a very tight budget; in fact, only fifteen full-time crew mcmbers were employed. As a result, writer director Rick Roessler was faced with the task of making up credits to increase the film’s prestige. The first two weeks of a four-week shot were done without any days off. and at that point, Roessler joked, they had to pick a few people off the floor and take some time off.

The film marks a major launch for American Artists, in which Roessler is one of three partners. The San Diego-based production company was set up four years ago primarily to produce films. The partners proceeded to work on other people’s movies until they could raise enough capital, mostly from private investors, for their own venture.

They even wanted to distribute the movie themselves, but felt they were not adequately prepared for such a challenge. Instead, they gave that job to Castle Hill in New York, which splits the grosses 50/50 with American Artists. “They don’t normally do horror films,” Roessler explained. “It worried me in the beginning. because I wanted to go with a company that knows horror films. New World wanted to buy it out for the ridiculous figure of $400,000.” Castle Hill’s involvement marks a continuing trend: prestigious “art house” distributors who are resorting more and more to handling low budget horror films as well. In their case, they put the name of a subsidiary on it. JGM Enterprises.

“The name of the game is you have to make a living, suggested Roessler. “I know I dug into our bank account heavily to help bankroll this film. I got into the horror genre not only because I like it but because there’s a base audience out there. Being horror fans, the one thing we didn’t want to do was absolute schlock. We didn’t want to do porn. You won’t see any gratuitous sex.”

One thing Roessler did play up was the comedy element. “We enjoy tongue and cheek stuff,” he said. “There must be a measure of comedy to make the film more horrific; otherwise, it would be too dull. Some films have so much blood, like EVIL DEAD, that they become funny.”

Roessler said he used the FRIDAY THE 13th series as an example of what he was trying to avoid. “It started out well, I think. The first one was low budget, and I think a lot of effort went into it. But look what’s happened to the character in the next five. It’s just gone blithering on they haven’t really identified who this guy is. The last one, six, was this huge slugger walking around with huge boots, whacking people for. I guess, no reason.

For Slaughterhouse Roessler developed his own character, Buddy, who in the ads is described as “360 pounds of Cleavermania” (in real life, Joe Barton, who plays him, is 372).

“With Buddy, what we tried to do was establish a character. He’s human he’s not some abstract. There’s hopefully some sentiment, some pathos in this character. Doesn’t say word one through the whole thing, and he’s the so-called star. He snorts like a pig.”

The film works as a sort of revenge picture, with Buddy killing those who provoke him or try to evict him and his father out of their condemned slaughterhouse. Thus, the title provides an ideal double entendre for the movie. The film has played in Detroit, Nashville. Denver. Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Phoenix, with other cities to follow. Roessler is expecting Embassy to be pleased with its release path. “Embassy put money into it because they want it to get out there. The best advertising for home video obviously is theatrical release, and the best theatrical release for home video is the one-week hit ’em and then leave, because not everybody gets to see it. The word gets around, and then they rent the video.”

Poster for Unproduced Sequel

Roessler said raising the money to make the film, over a period of eight months, was the hardest part of getting his project on the screen. “We put on presentations for several investor parties,” he said. “We went door-to-door. We made phone calls.”

CAST/CREW Directed/Written Rick Roessler Produced Ron Matona Joe B. Barton as Buddy Bacon Don Barrett as Lester Bacon William Houck as Sheriff Borden Sherry Leigh (credited as Sherry Bendorf) as Liz Borden Jeff Wright as Deputy Dave Bill Brinsfield as Tom Sanford Lee Robinson as Harold Murdock

CREDITS/REFERENCES/SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Cinefantastique v19n03 Cinefantastique v18n02-03

DOUBLE FEATURE RETROSPECTIVE – Lunch Meat (1987)/Slaughterhouse (1987) Lunch Meat (1987): SUMMARY Cannibals who roam the San Bernardino Mountains in search of victims! PAW & THE BOYS!

[dmitri-smerdyakov]

"Murder on the Orient Express" (2017) - Thoughts/Highlights

So, I’ve just come back from the cinema with my sister, where we watched the new “Murder on the Orient Express” film; it stars Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom Jr, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer and many others. I’m not a professional film critic by any means, so these are just my thoughts and highlights from the film in case anyone is interested.

WARNING: SPOILERS UNDERNEATH THE CUT

The film is amazing, holy shit, and I recommend that you all watch it! All of the cast are amazing in their roles, and there’s so much I want to talk about in this movie that I don’t even know where to start!

Firstly, I feel I should say that I haven’t read the book by Agatha Christie (yet – it’s now on my list) and I haven’t seen any of the other adaptations either: I wasn’t going in completely blind, however, as I had the film spoiled for me several months in advance by people on YouTube and then this weekend when I was working (an unfortunate consequence of working in a cinema).

I’m sure everyone knows this by now, but the passenger who is murdered is Johnny Depp’s character, Mr Ratchett/Casetti – so if you like Johnny Depp, watch the film. If you don’t like him, you can still watch the film.

There’s a moment where Willem Dafoe’s character complains of being seated with Dr. Arbuthnot (Leslie Odom Jr), who is black; Mary Debenham (Daisy Ridley) tells him that it doesn’t matter about “mixing the races” to which he disagrees by saying “you wouldn’t mix your white wine and your red wine” while gesturing to her drink. She proceeds to tip her red wine into her white wine, drinks a sip, and says, “I do love a good Rosé” before walking away. FUCKING LEGEND. WHAT A FUCKING BOSS.

We all know Judi Dench is amazing anyway, but it’s worth saying again; she’s amazing as Princess Dragomiroff, funny at times and serious/heartfelt at others (if that makes sense)

Kenneth Branagh made a pretty good Poirot (and that moustache was hilarious)

All the cast is amazing, I could spend all day talking about each individual cast member but I’d be here forever and never get anything done frankly.

Maybe because I knew the twist, I could recognize the pieces coming together as the film went on: they established very quickly that Ratchett was actually Cassetti, a criminal who kidnapped and murdered a 3-year-old girl (more on that later), and how each of the other passengers were linked to him – which gave them all a motive for murder.

The story is that Ratchett/Cassetti kidnapped a 3-year-old girl, Daisy Armstrong, and killed her even though her parents paid the ransom. Because he had the right connections, he was able to get off lightly and escape justice; Daisy’s mother was pregnant and went into premature labor, and neither baby nor mother survived. Daisy’s father shot himself out of grief. All of the passengers are connected to the family in various ways; the most notable two being Mrs Hubbard (who is really Linda Arden), a retired actress who was Daisy’s grandmother/Sonia Armstrong’s mother, and Countess (H)Elena Andrenyi, who was Sonia’s sister/Daisy’s aunt.

(MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: All of them did it so there’s no one person who’s guilty. They all stabbed him once – with the exception of Countess Andrenyi, who would have been the obvious suspect and so the Count did it on her behalf – so that none of them could know who struck the final blow)

Honestly? There were a few moments where I was like “the fuck?”; Arbuthnot shooting Poirot and taking all of the blame, Count Andrenyi’s rather violent temper at the tiniest of things (even if he is overprotective of his wife), Poirot telling the suspects to shoot him to keep the truth hidden, Mrs Hubbard letting the doctor stab her in the back (I mean, wow, they’re so desperate to keep the truth hidden), but they were only brief moments that didn’t really detract from the film overall.

On a slightly different note, I’m really glad that Lucy Boynton – who plays Countess Andrenyi – is getting more roles, especially in a film like this; for those who are unfamiliar with her, she played Posy in Ballet Shoes (with Emma Watson). I just think it’s nice that she’s in a film like this with so many big-name actors/actresses.

Other aspects:

The costumes: the clothing worn by the characters in this film are period-accurate and gorgeous. I especially loved the outfits worn by the Countess, which were glamorous and bright.

Cinematography: I actually really liked the use of certain shots, such as the overheard one of the corridor when they find the body (the only disadvantage was that we couldn’t see the facial expressions of the people seeing the dead body, but oh well). The shots of the train travelling were also beautiful, especially the ones where there were snow and ice. In general, the way that this film is shot was amazing.

Soundtrack: Surprisingly, I wasn’t paying too much attention to the soundtrack – I think I was so engrossed in the film that I didn’t notice much else. The music that played when it flash-backed to the actual murder was hauntingly beautiful, however, and I found myself grow slightly teary-eyed.

The film used black-and-white to show when something was in the past, which was effective and clear; I also loved the look of black-and-white, it made it feel like an old movie – like a film from the period it’s set in, perhaps.

Sex/Gore/Violence/Profanity etc. content:

The film is a 12A in the U.K., which means that under 12s can watch if they’re with someone over the age of 18.

There’s not really any sex or nudity. The widow says she knows what it’s like to have a man in her bedroom, but it’s nothing explicit.

I can’t remember any profanity being used in the film.

Even though there’s a murder, there’s not a great deal of gore involved; you see the body of the victim afterwards, and he’s got blood on his pyjama shirt where he’s been stabbed, but they don’t show him being stabbed (you see the faces of the people later, but not the knife entering the body). Poirot gets shot in the arm at one point, and you see some blood but not a lot. Mrs Hubbard is stabbed in the back but non-fatally; you see the knife is covered in a bit of blood when the doctor pulls it out, but nothing too gory.

Moderate violence; you don’t see the knife enter the victim’s body, but you see the faces of the murderers as they do it. A few fist fights but again, not too violent. Poirot is shot but not fatally, and you don’t see the widow being stabbed – just afterwards.

*

Overall, I really enjoyed the film; it was extremely well-made, with high-quality performances, amazing cinematography, and I highly recommend it :D

[goodailynews]

COOPER Hefner, the youngest son of late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, is set to take over the million-dollar business empire following his father's sudden death. He also stands to inherit at least a quarter of his father's $43 million fortune. .................................................................................................. [HOT] Fixer Upper Ending With Season 5 : ♫ https://youtu.be/JTguRatKTSo [HOT] Kendra Wilkinson Breaks Her Silence on Hugh Hefner's Death: ''Hef Changed My Life'' : ♫ https://youtu.be/HaIhr0A6OZw [HOT] Hugh Hefner Leaves Playboy Mansion One Last Time : ♫ https://youtu.be/5QZneeFMgjg [HOT] Where Hef spent his final moments : ♫ https://youtu.be/qhYK5C5AYp0 [HOT] 'Us Weekly's Famous Feuds' Reviews Elton John's Biggest Madonna Slams: Watch : ♫ https://youtu.be/bEMVdgBGxdM .................................................................................................. SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/Gd5aaC FACEBOOK: https://goo.gl/ybp8jQ TWITTER: https://goo.gl/o24hEF ✖ Follow GOO Daily News channel(SUBSCRIBE) to look for that. GOO Daily News - New videos evreyday! MONDAY - SUNDAY. Thanks for watching! Background music video is allowed by FreeBackgroundMusic. Please visit their channel to view more: FreeBackgroundMusic: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdbJ_mnXo5tf-4hVNgJ5Wg Thank you! .................................................................................................. ...[continued]... as never the problem because nudity isn't a problem. Today we're taking our identity back and reclaiming who we are.' Cooper has an older brother, Marston, and two half-siblings, Christie and David. Christie Hefner was previously involved with the family business, acting as chairman and Chief Executive Officer, until she stepped down in 2009. With a strong presence on social media platforms Twitter and Instagram, Cooper is keen to keep the Playboy brand fresh and current, while giving fans a glimpse into the Playboy lifestyle. One of the defining pillars of the Playboy Philosophy was and is the belief that intellectual content should comfortably sit next to *beep* http://pic.twitter.com/UkUCeVzgXO - Cooper Hefner (@cooperhefner) June 16, 2017 Hugh Hefner, who was 91, passed away in the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening. He died of natural causes. In a statement released following his father's death, Cooper said: 'My father lived an exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer and a leading voice behind some of the most significant social and cultural movements of our time in advocating free speech, civil rights and *beep*ual freedom,' he said Cooper, who currently serves as Chief Creative Officer at Playboy Enterprises. 'He defined a lifestyle and ethos that lie at the heart of the Playboy brand, one of the most recognisable and enduring in history,' Cooper added. 'He will be greatly missed by many, including his wife Crystal, my sister Christie and my brothers David and Marston, and all of us at Playboy Enterprises.' Growing up in the Playboy Mansion wasn't all wild parties and naked women, Cooper told the New York Post in April. 'When my parents were together it was very tame,' said Cooper. 'The parties turned into black-tie events,' he said, 'I believe at my mom's request.' His mother, Kimberley Conrad, was Hugh Hefner's second wife and Playmate of the Year in 1989. She and Hugh Hefner were married from July 1989 to Ma

[gothify1]

After many many series and plenty of guts, gore and gratuitous nudity, Game of Thrones  finally came to a close on Monday night, and we're more than a little sad about it. Somehow, we don't think the new series of The Great British Bake Off will quite fill the Westeros-shaped hole that will now appear in our lives. To mark the occasion, we've created our own Who What Wear dedication to the televisual behemoth that is Game of Thrones. If you haven't already noticed, the leading ladies of the show not only pack a punch on screen but also happen to look exceedingly stylish off the screen. For instance, how could we forget Sophie Turner's epic Las Vegas bridal pantsuit ? From Gwendoline Christie's green silken co-ord to Maisie Williams's checked tailoring, scroll down to see what our favorite Game of Thrones  cast outfits. Style Notes: A regular at the Miu Miu show, Gwendoline looked a million dollars in a minidress and feather-trim jacket from the brand. Style Notes: We have no words. The actress couldn't look further from her armor-clad alter ego in this photographic print Iris van Herpen gown.  Style Notes: Gwendoline ticks all the trend boxes with this green silken matching set. We also love her pop of color that comes from her lipstick. Style Notes: The International Woolmark Prize calls for a statement piece, and Gwendoline doesn't disappoint. Complementing her 6'2" stature, the actress stepped out in a graphic, loose-fitting gown. Style Notes: Now this is an outfit we can imagine re-creating this season. The high-waisted trousers are super flattering and look fab with Sophie's leather shirt. Bravo. Style Notes: We're getting plenty of '70s vibes from this off-duty denim look. Plus, we would like this floral base-layer in every color, please. Style Notes: Sophie makes a strong case for the LBD with this body-con Mugler minidress, which she wore to the X-Men premiere in Paris.  Style Notes: A thoroughly regal floor-grazer is fitting for the Game of Thrones premier. We like how Sophie has kept her accessories minimal to let the dress do the talking. Style Notes: Maisie looks so cool in this simple yet chic checked-blazer–and–black-jeans pairing. Definitely one to copy this weekend. Just swap boots for chunky sandals to adapt for spring. Style Notes: The actress rocks this season's animal-print trend in a statement snakeskin minidress. Kudos for keeping it down-to-earth with chunky boots and a cable-knit jumper. Style Notes: More checked tailoring, but this time in the form of a matching set. Worn with flat ankle boots (we spot a theme here) and a hairband, this is a look that'll work for all seasons. Style Notes: A khaki jacket and lace-up boots are the perfect foil for a pinstripe blazer and white shirt. Maisie looks so Paris Fashion Week–ready. Style Notes: Nathalie matches the flame theme so well with this fiery organza gown by Ermanno Scervino.  Style Notes: Classic, elegant and cool. Now, this is what we call an LBD with a twist. It's a tricky look to pull off, but Nathalie makes it look easy with black court shoes and a slick of red lipstick. Style Notes: Okay, this girl is clearly a dress queen, and this might be our fave so far. Nathalie attends the British Vogue and Tiffany & Co. party in a gilded, pleated midi, which she styles with a green clutch. Style Notes: Making a departure from her usual dress action, the actress gives plenty of "borrowed from the boys" cool in this black trouser suit. Style Notes: While others embraced dramatic, floor-skimming maxis, Emilia Clarke manages to still create plenty of impact with this off-the-shoulder red midi dress. Style Notes: Another checked blazer (we feel a trend coming on). This is a great smart-casual look from the actress that will work for so many occasions. Oh, and we want to steal her boots. Just saying. Style Notes: Emilia looks very summer 2019 in this floral prairie dress. We particularly love the ruffled neckline and puffed sleeves. Style Notes: This dusty-blue organza dream dress comes courtesy of Valentino (who else?) Despite the excess of frothy fabric, it feels a just a little Daenerys Targaryen—or maybe that's just us.

[wp-yahoo-style-1042-yahoopa-blog]

A Throwback Photo of Christie Brinkley and Alexa Ray Joel Was Deleted By Instagram

Christie Brinkley and Alexa Ray Joel. (Photo by The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Christie Brinkley has a bone to pick with Instagram. The supermodel mom was busy celebrating her return to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, this time with her two daughters, when Instagram censored one of her snapshots.

Over the weekend Brinkley posted a throwback photo in which she and oldest daughter Alexa Ray Joel — a small child at the time — were walking on the beach. The photo was actually featured in the 1989 Swimsuit Issue. It wasn’t planned, but Alexa Ray was on set playing nearby while her mom was shooting, according to Brinkley’s caption, when she decided to run over and give her mom a hug. Photographer John Zimmerman captured the moment and it made it into the magazine. The purpose of the photo was to point out that she and Alexa Ray are officially the oldest and youngest models to ever appear in the magazine. They are both appearing together this year — Alexa Ray at 31 and Brinkley at 63 years old — along with Brinkley’s other daughter, Sailor Cook, 18.

Isn't it a shame that a photo that others deemed iconic and to me was a beautiful loving artful moment, has been removed by people who have issues. And In 2017 I have to crop this photo to be able to post it … shame on you #Instagram for succumbing to pressure this is a photo of a mother and daughter and pure innocent joy! And to all my friends I'm sorry all your wonderful comments (over 400 of them!) were Lost. #censored #instagram #putitbackoninstagram @si_swimsuit @mj_day @instagram

A photo posted by Christie Brinkley (@christiebrinkley) on Feb 12, 2017 at 7:58pm PST

Sounds innocent enough, right? Well, the problem was that the 3-year-old was naked in the shot. Both of them are shown from the back. Brinkley was only wearing pants (but since the front of her wasn’t shown, nothing was exposed) but Alexa Ray’s baby bum was on display, much like the Coppertone girl.

The published photo caused drama back then — apparently, some people unsubscribed because of the nudity — and it’s still doing so today.

Instagram removed the photo, most likely because of reports that it was inappropriate due to child nudity, and Brinkley had something to say about it. She posted a new version of the photo, one in which her daughter’s butt is cropped out. “Isn’t it a shame that a photo that others deemed iconic and to me was a beautiful loving artful moment, has been removed by people who have issues,” Brinkley captioned the image. “And In 2017 I have to crop this photo to be able to post it … shame on you #Instagram for succumbing to pressure this is a photo of a mother and daughter and pure innocent joy! And to all my friends I’m sorry all your wonderful comments (over 400 of them!) were Lost. #censored #instagram#putitbackoninstagram @si_swimsuit@mj_day @instagram.”

According to Brinkley’s next Instagram post, the original image had over 9,000 likes.

And now Thanks to @people we now have the copy back but it's Alexa's perfect little pose , that serendipitous smile on pointed toes that we no longer have …a published photo that has brought me joy since 1980 no longer allowed to be viewed on #Instagram #instagramcensorship #censorhate #dontcensorlove #motherandchild @si_swimsuit @alexarayjoel @mj_day @instagram the photo had over 9000 likes at the time you deleted it and over 400 heartfelt comments Alexa and I loved.

A photo posted by Christie Brinkley (@christiebrinkley) on Feb 12, 2017 at 9:17pm PST

While we cannot know what people were writing on the original image, her followers are being very supportive with comments on the new photos, including a screenshot of the original caption. “Really instagram!?! Then they should delete over half the posts that I see … that was a beautiful picture that captured a lovely moment between a mother and daughter,” one wrote. “We should all make our profile picture of that photo #beautifulmoment #motherdaughter,” suggested another. “It is sad … people need to relax and not make a big fuss about everything,” said a third.

Of course, there were a few who disagreed. “Was not really beautiful … it was awkward and inappropriate good for instagram,” wrote one. Others are defending Instagram for doing its job. “I love you — but as a child victim of an adult perv, I understand IGs position. It’s a tough call. They are trying to be consistent and prevent exploitation.”

What do you think of Brinkley’s situation?

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