#Designed by Patrick Byrne

[longwuzhere]

Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers: For the first episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the second episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the third episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the fourth episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the sixth episode's Easter eggs it's here

For the seventh episode's Easter eggs it's here and here

For the eighth episode's Easter eggs post it's here

For the ninth episode's Easter eggs post it's here

For the tenth episode's Easter eggs post it's here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

SPOILERS if you haven't seen this week's episode obviously

We start off the episode with this shot of Superman with the drawn on glasses. A good homage to what Lois did in the 1980 Superman II movie...

where she not only drew the glasses but also a full suit and hat on a picture of Superman.

Next we see Jimmy waking up and seeing someone debunking his conspiracy theories on Sub-Diego.

Sub Diego was an actual place in the DC universe before the New 52 reboot. In Aquaman #15 and #16 (2003) , shown here (W: Will Pfeifer, P: Patrick Gleason, I: Christian Alamy, C: Nathan Eyring, L: Jared K. Fletcher for issue 15, Nick Napolitano for issue 16). The underwater city is actually San Diego, but is buried underwater thanks to a tidal wave and makes its first appearance in Aquaman #15 (2003). There was a lot of casualties from this.

When we get to our title its "You Will Believe A Man Can Lie" a reference to the tagline for the 1978 Superman movie.

As seen here on the poster, it says "You'll believe a man can fly".

Next we see our villain, well one of the villains, for the episode, Heatwave.

In the comics Heatwave makes his first appearance in Flash 140 (1963) (cover art by Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson, and Ira Schnapp). Heatwave aka Mick Rory is a Flash rogue usually acting as a rival to Captain Cold aka Leonard Snart. In MAwS, their Heatwave shares the same last name and powers, but MAwS Heatwave is gender flipped. You might have seen Heatwave in the CW DC comics shows where he is played by Dominic Purcell in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

Lois, later in the episode, name drops Heatwave's name. Gotta be honest when Heatwave showed up I was like is that Rampage? Cuz the MAwS design looks vaguely like Rampage.

If she does show up in MAwS, I'll talk more about her in another post, but for now, Rampage aka Karen Lou "Kitty" Faulkner, makes her first appearance in Superman #7 (1987) (full page here: W&P: John Byrne, I: Karl Kesel, C: Tom Ziuko, L: John Costanza).

Steve drags Jimmy to film his debunking Flamebird videos and references Starro who I talked about here.

Lois, later runs around with the Daily Planet police scanner trying to catch Superman and the dispatcher reports that a robbery is in progress at McGuinness Luxe Garage.

This is a nice reference to Ed McGuinness who was the artist for Superman, Action Comics, and Superman/Batman in the early 2000s. If you've seen Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, then you'll know the movie takes inspiration from his character designs in the first arc of the Superman/Batman comic series. The Superman/Batman #1 (2003) cover here is done by Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines, and Dave Stewart. I like Ed McGuinness's pencils, very stylized.

Heatwave name drops Livewire and the Gazzo mod family. Both of whom I've talked about here and here respectively

Heatwave has been running away from Deathstroke here who has been taking our her crew. Notice that Slade Wilson doesn't have the half black half orange helmet yet that almost every Deathstroke depiction always has.

He, Amanda Waller, and the General who I totally think is General Sam Lane, Lois's dad, are fans of DBZ cuz of the scouters they're wearing.

Later in the scene we see the General again he's totally General Sam Lane. I'll talk more about him when we get a double confirmation through a name drop/reveal in a later post calling Amanda Waller, Mandy. What a fucking bold thing to say to Waller! Like damn! power move right there!

Superman and Deathstroke are fighting under a highway and we see the traffic is heading to Bludhaven!

Very good reference to my favorite character in all of pop culture, Dick Grayson aka Nightwing. Nightwing makes Bludhaven his city to protect. The city makes its first appearance in Nightwing #1 (1996) (the panel here - W: Chuck Dixon, P: Scott McDaniel, I: Karl Story, C: Roberta Tewes, L: John Costanza). Fun Bludhaven fact, its crime rate is WORST than Gotham! Also HIGHLY recommend reading the new Nightwing run cuz its fucking amazing! Won a few Eisner Awards (think the Oscars but for comic books) recently and I am not just saying that because I am a Dick Grayson fan.

Near the end of the episode, we see Lois willing to jump off a building to prove that Clark is Superman. A lot of discourse was happening online over this, but I do want to say this is pretty on brand for her to do.

In Superman II, Lois does something similar and Clark saves her. its just in MAwS, Clark flies to save her thus ruining the secret identity, while in Superman II, Clark does save her but he is still able to get away with it thanks to him playing it more subtly.

Don't know why people we're in such a fucking fit over something that Lois has done before.

In the after credits scene, Jimmy, who planned a sasquatch finding adventure with Lois and Clark, but they were dealing with their shit and Jimmy was by himself, decides to do the finding on his own and meets a giant gorilla. In the first episode Jimmy mentions an intelligent gorilla in France and my guess is this is Monsieur Mallah. You can read more about him here. If you made it this far down, I appreciate you taking the time to check this post out and if you want to see my other MAwS Easter Eggs posts - Episode 1 is here

Episode 2 is here

Episode 3 is here

Episode 4 is here

Episode 6 is here

Episode 7 is here and here

Episode 8 is here

Episode 9 is here

Episode 10 is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[scotianostra]

Scottish Playwright, writer and Artist John Patrick Byrne was on January 6th 1940 in Paisley.

John Byrne where he grew up in the Ferguslie Park housing scheme and was educated at the town’s St Mirin’s Academy before attending Glasgow School of Art, where he excelled. In his final year he was awarded the Bellahousten Award, the school’s most prestigious painting prize, and spent six months in Italy, returning a masterful and confident young artist. His work is held in major collections in Scotland and abroad.

Several of his paintings have hang in The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, the Museum of Modern Art and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. In 2007 he was made a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy and is an Honorary Fellow of the GSA, the RIAS, an Honorary Member of the RGI and has Honorary Doctorates from the universities of Paisley, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Strathclyde.

It was by no means an overnight success for Byrne, he was making a living designing book covers for publishers Penguin before recognition, Byrne has also designed record covers for Donovan, The Beatles, Gerry Rafferty, Billy Connolly, and The Humblebums as well as illustrations for the renowned Scottish writer James Kelman.

As well as his artwork Byrne was an accomplished writer perhaps best known as the writer of The Slab Boys Trilogy of plays which explore working-class life in Scotland, and of the excellent TV dramas Tutti Frutti and Your Cheating Heart.

In 2018 Byrne was named Scotland’s most stylish man at the age of 78 at the Scottish Style Awards in Glasgow, beating Outlander star Sam Heughan to the coveted most stylish male title, which was previously won by Richard Jobson, Robert Carlyle, James McAvoy and Paolo Nutini. Byrne, a good friend of comic, Billy Connolly Byrne said at the time he was shocked at the award saying “I dress like a tramp”.

The highlights the quintessential Scottishness of Byrne’s work, and his enduring humour and his focus on the frailty of human experience often lived on the edge of working-class communities. It is a richly rewarding show which underscores r give John Byrne a rightful place as one of Scotland’s finest and most prolific artists.

His most recent work has been murals - one for the ceiling of the King's Theatre in Edinburgh and another in Glasgow to mark the 75th birthday of his friend Billy Connolly.

During lockdown he worked with Pitlochry Festival Theatre to create a new play which was produced and performed remotely.

He and his wife Jeanine also collaborated on a children's book, Donald and Benoit.

Everything he did was drenched in colour. Without him, the world feels a less colourful place.

John Byrne passed away on Thursday November 30th aged 83.

Everything he did was drenched in colour. Without him, Scotland and the world feels a less colourful place.

[streetsofdublin]

ST PAUL'S CHURCH AS SEEN FROM THE SOUTH QUAYS

BETWEEN MELLOWS BRIDGE AND GRATTAN BRIDGE A Photographer’s Delight The South Quays’ relatively open space offers an unobstructed view of the North Quays, making it an ideal vantage point for a street photographer like myself. Armed with my Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, I captured the contrasting architectural styles: the grandeur of the Four Courts and the old Church On Araan Quay which is discussed…

[vm-global]

Back on site, the firetrap builder

THE builder behind the ‘firetrap’ housing estate in Kildare, where six houses burned to the ground in under 30 minutes, transferred €1.2m to his family and associates when he was made bankrupt in 2011.

Paddy Byrne, whose company Barrack Homes built the Millfield Manor estate in Newbridge, went bankrupt in Britain in 2011 with debts of €100m. He is one of only two Irish developers barred by the UK Insolvency Service from being a director of a company for 10 years.

The €100m debts included Nama loans that were originally from AIB. Now the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal that he is back at work again and helping to build houses for a new company owned by his sister.

On March 31, the Millfield Manor estate in Newbridge was the scene of a devastating fire in which six terraced houses were destroyed in less than half an hour.

Since then, separate engineers’ reports were commissioned by residents and Kildare County Council.

As recently as June 10, our sister paper, the Irish Daily Mail, revealed that the residents’ report had condemned fire-safety standards at the estate.

That report, by registered engineer Thomas English, found ‘major and life-threatening serious shortfalls and discrepancies and deviations from the minimum requirements of the national mandatory building regulations’.

It is not the first investigation of which Mr Byrne has fallen foul. An inquiry by the Insolvency Service in the UK revealed that he had sent €500,000 from a National Irish Bank account to his ex-wife, claiming this was a settlement to release him from any financial obligations to the marital home.

He also transferred €500,000 to the niece of a business associate, claiming this was a repayment of a loan, and he transferred €114,000 to his sister and €82,800 to a solicitor.

Because of this – and his failure to declare a house in the UK he owned – Mr Byrne is one of only two Irish developers who have been punished by the British authorities for filing false bankruptcy petitions.

In May 2013, Mr Byrne admitted his deception and accepted a nine-year extension to the oneyear restrictions normally applied to bankrupts. As a result, he is now banned from becoming a company director and from acting as a shadow director of any UK company until May 2022.

The Insolvency Service’s Allan Mitchell said: ‘They thought they could wipe these debts out in a year and move on. They transferred money to friends, relatives and associates – anyone but their creditors.’ But an MoS investigation can now link Mr Byrne to a development built by a company that is run by his sister and that operates out of the same depot as Barrack Homes did.

In December 2012, his sister, Joan, established a new propertydevelopment company using her married name, Joan Murphy.

Called Victoria Homes Ltd, the firm operates from Thomastown, Co. Kildare, and is now completing a development called Grange Hill in Rathfarnham in Dublin’s southside.

Four- and five-bed houses are already on sale at prices that range between €575,000 and €755,000, while further phases are still being built.

The website for the development states that ‘Victoria Homes is owned and managed by a team with in excess of 30 years’ experience in house building and property development’.

It says: ‘Victoria Homes Ltd have quickly forged an excellent reputation for building quality homes, built in a traditional style yet boasting all contemporary features all discerning purchasers demand.’

Although Joan Byrne/Murphy was a director of her brother’s Barrack Homes for just a week in 2011, she is known among those who have worked with her as a capable manager in the construction industry. Renowned in the past as an interior designer, she has never before been to the forefront of development projects to the extent that she now is at Victoria Homes.

The other owner and director of Victoria Homes – listed as a Patrick Murphy, with an address at Joan Byrne’s home – does not appear to have held previous directorships.

In its first and only set of filed accounts to date, Victoria Homes reported a gross profit of €119,000 and over €1m of ‘work in progress’ to the end of December 2013.

In addition to the Grange Hill development, Victoria Homes has applied for planning permission for a number of other developments in Dublin.

After receiving a tip-off, the MoS visited the Grange Hill development and photographed Mr Byrne coming and going from the site regularly over a period of weeks. He was observed staying whole days on site, and was among the last to leave after the site was locked up. He appeared to be directing work on the site.

Driving a luxury 2014 Range Rover Vogue worth in excess of €100,000, Mr Byrne appeared to be living at Ballinrahin House, close to Rathangan on the border of Offaly and Kildare.

The home is a luxury build on 26 acres of stud-railed paddocks with six stables and a 1.3km tree-lined avenue behind electric gates.

The property was on sale for €2.8m in 2009 but land registry records confirm that in November 2014 it was sold to Victoria Homes for a knockdown price of €484,000.

The MoS observed Mr Byrne coming and going from Ballinrahin House in recent weeks. Recently, we waited at the gate of the country residence to speak to him about his role at Victoria Homes.

However, when he saw us waiting, Mr Byrne declined to be questioned. Instead we left a note with our questions in the mailbox.

A mobile number pinned to the buzzer of the gate was answered by a woman who said she was renting the property and did not know Mr Byrne at all.

Mr Byrne’s sister Joan also declined to comment. ‘I don’t think it’s anything to do with you, what I do,’ she said when she was asked about Victoria Homes and her brother’s apparent role in the company. ‘My business has got absolutely nothing to do with you,’ she repeated when asked if her brother was a shadow director of Victoria Homes.

Ms Byrne also declined to comment when asked if she was the sister to whom Mr Byrne sent money prior to going bankrupt.

Asked about Mr Byrne’s Range Rover, parked in the drive, she said: ‘I don’t think that’s any of your business whose car that is.’ In addition to being a director and part owner of Victoria Homes Ltd, Ms Byrne is also a director of a number of other construction and property-related companies. At least one of these is planning a property development in Dublin.

Documents submitted to the Companies Registration Office show Ms Byrne alternates between using her maiden and married names.

Roberta Smith

[boyletimes]

Back on site, the firetrap builder

THE builder behind the ‘firetrap’ housing estate in Kildare, where six houses burned to the ground in under 30 minutes, transferred €1.2m to his family and associates when he was made bankrupt in 2011.

Paddy Byrne, whose company Barrack Homes built the Millfield Manor estate in Newbridge, went bankrupt in Britain in 2011 with debts of €100m. He is one of only two Irish developers barred by the UK Insolvency Service from being a director of a company for 10 years.

The €100m debts included Nama loans that were originally from AIB. Now the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal that he is back at work again and helping to build houses for a new company owned by his sister.

On March 31, the Millfield Manor estate in Newbridge was the scene of a devastating fire in which six terraced houses were destroyed in less than half an hour.

Since then, separate engineers’ reports were commissioned by residents and Kildare County Council.

As recently as June 10, our sister paper, the Irish Daily Mail, revealed that the residents’ report had condemned fire-safety standards at the estate.

That report, by registered engineer Thomas English, found ‘major and life-threatening serious shortfalls and discrepancies and deviations from the minimum requirements of the national mandatory building regulations’.

It is not the first investigation of which Mr Byrne has fallen foul. An inquiry by the Insolvency Service in the UK revealed that he had sent €500,000 from a National Irish Bank account to his ex-wife, claiming this was a settlement to release him from any financial obligations to the marital home.

He also transferred €500,000 to the niece of a business associate, claiming this was a repayment of a loan, and he transferred €114,000 to his sister and €82,800 to a solicitor.

Because of this – and his failure to declare a house in the UK he owned – Mr Byrne is one of only two Irish developers who have been punished by the British authorities for filing false bankruptcy petitions.

In May 2013, Mr Byrne admitted his deception and accepted a nine-year extension to the oneyear restrictions normally applied to bankrupts. As a result, he is now banned from becoming a company director and from acting as a shadow director of any UK company until May 2022.

The Insolvency Service’s Allan Mitchell said: ‘They thought they could wipe these debts out in a year and move on. They transferred money to friends, relatives and associates – anyone but their creditors.’ But an MoS investigation can now link Mr Byrne to a development built by a company that is run by his sister and that operates out of the same depot as Barrack Homes did.

In December 2012, his sister, Joan, established a new propertydevelopment company using her married name, Joan Murphy.

Called Victoria Homes Ltd, the firm operates from Thomastown, Co. Kildare, and is now completing a development called Grange Hill in Rathfarnham in Dublin’s southside.

Four- and five-bed houses are already on sale at prices that range between €575,000 and €755,000, while further phases are still being built.

The website for the development states that ‘Victoria Homes is owned and managed by a team with in excess of 30 years’ experience in house building and property development’.

It says: ‘Victoria Homes Ltd have quickly forged an excellent reputation for building quality homes, built in a traditional style yet boasting all contemporary features all discerning purchasers demand.’

Although Joan Byrne/Murphy was a director of her brother’s Barrack Homes for just a week in 2011, she is known among those who have worked with her as a capable manager in the construction industry. Renowned in the past as an interior designer, she has never before been to the forefront of development projects to the extent that she now is at Victoria Homes.

The other owner and director of Victoria Homes – listed as a Patrick Murphy, with an address at Joan Byrne’s home – does not appear to have held previous directorships.

In its first and only set of filed accounts to date, Victoria Homes reported a gross profit of €119,000 and over €1m of ‘work in progress’ to the end of December 2013.

In addition to the Grange Hill development, Victoria Homes has applied for planning permission for a number of other developments in Dublin.

After receiving a tip-off, the MoS visited the Grange Hill development and photographed Mr Byrne coming and going from the site regularly over a period of weeks. He was observed staying whole days on site, and was among the last to leave after the site was locked up. He appeared to be directing work on the site.

Driving a luxury 2014 Range Rover Vogue worth in excess of €100,000, Mr Byrne appeared to be living at Ballinrahin House, close to Rathangan on the border of Offaly and Kildare.

The home is a luxury build on 26 acres of stud-railed paddocks with six stables and a 1.3km tree-lined avenue behind electric gates.

The property was on sale for €2.8m in 2009 but land registry records confirm that in November 2014 it was sold to Victoria Homes for a knockdown price of €484,000.

The MoS observed Mr Byrne coming and going from Ballinrahin House in recent weeks. Recently, we waited at the gate of the country residence to speak to him about his role at Victoria Homes.

However, when he saw us waiting, Mr Byrne declined to be questioned. Instead we left a note with our questions in the mailbox.

A mobile number pinned to the buzzer of the gate was answered by a woman who said she was renting the property and did not know Mr Byrne at all.

Mr Byrne’s sister Joan also declined to comment. ‘I don’t think it’s anything to do with you, what I do,’ she said when she was asked about Victoria Homes and her brother’s apparent role in the company. ‘My business has got absolutely nothing to do with you,’ she repeated when asked if her brother was a shadow director of Victoria Homes.

Ms Byrne also declined to comment when asked if she was the sister to whom Mr Byrne sent money prior to going bankrupt.

Asked about Mr Byrne’s Range Rover, parked in the drive, she said: ‘I don’t think that’s any of your business whose car that is.’ In addition to being a director and part owner of Victoria Homes Ltd, Ms Byrne is also a director of a number of other construction and property-related companies. At least one of these is planning a property development in Dublin.

Documents submitted to the Companies Registration Office show Ms Byrne alternates between using her maiden and married names.

Gisela Boulware

[higherlearningtvshow]

Whistleblower from DOJ, FBI, DEA and DHS Exposes Shocking Roadmap of Foreign Control Over US Elections

DOMINION’S VENEZUELAN, CHINESE & SERBIAN ENGINEERS ARE SYSADMINs IN SWING STATE ELECTIONS & ALTER ELECTIONS, AS DIRECTED BY THE CARTEL DE LOS SOLES, CUBAN DGI & CCP, STORED ON HUAWEI SERVERS IN HK

People living in "Developed", "First World" countries during the past couple of centuries have tended to feel somewhat smug and superior to those living in "Developing", "Third World" nations, so it is hard for First Worlders to wrap their heads around the idea that Venezuela, with the help of Cuba and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have hijacked our nation and that they have similarly insinuated themselves into the elections of many other countries around the world, essentially overthrowing all of them, via the voting machines that they designed and that have now been in use for some 20-25 years.

Americans think Venezuela can't organize a ham sandwich, let alone overthrow the Constitutional Republic of the United Stated of America – but that is the short version of precisely what has happened (with the cooperation of corrupt US Government officials, of course), as explained, here by federal whistleblower, Gary Berntsen in this brief, head-splattering video that exposes the roadmap of foreign control over US and global elections.

Berntsen's story is echoed in tweets from the NationalFile, claiming that China paid for Fox's Dominion defamation lawsuit settlement, citing the following timeline:

• 3/26/2021: Dominion sues Fox News (News Corp) for $1.6 billion

• 3/21/2022: Murdochs, News Corp take $1.25 billion in loans, including $100 million from the CCP's Central Bank

• 4/18/2023: News Corp pays Dominion Voting nearly $800 million

• 4/25/2023: News Corp Fires Tucker Carlson

Patrick Byrne has also just posted a 46-minute video and PowerPoint presentation on how voting machines created by the Venezuelan government, in collusion with Cuba and the Chinese Communist Party have, thus far succeeded in hijacking the United States of America.

In his lecture, Patrick explains:

• The backstory on Hugo Chavez of Venezuela

• 1998-2001: The Bolivarian Revolution

• 2002: Counter-Revolution & Counter-Counter-Revolution

• 2004: The Failed Recall Election

• 2005-2013: The period where Hugo Chavez tightened his grip on Venezuela

• 1999-2024: The emergence of the mafia supercartel that has taken over Venezuela in the last generation

• How oil and elections are the two best businesses to be in and lastly,

• Who are the people behind the people behind this adventure?

Like Berntsen, Byrne says that the documentation to support this story is all located at StolenElectionFacts.com

Late-breaking news from Newsweek has it that Byrne has just fled the USA for Dubai, because the Venezuelan government (aka the Cartel de los Soles) has put a $25 million bounty on his head.

These criminals are likely unhappy with the recent video Patrick put out, detailing how the US Postal Service, in conjunction with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Democrat Party integrated 12-13 million fake mail-in ballots into the 2020 General Elections – in the Northern US, alone – with a similar operation in the Southern US run by Runbeck.

—> WATCH ‘SPLINTERING BABYLON’ FREE, NOW!

GARY BERTSEN TRANSCRIPT

Gary Berntsen: Hello, my name is Gary Berntsen. I'm a veteran of the United States Air Force and a retired Senior Operations Officer and Chief-of-Station of the Central Intelligence Agency.

For over three decades, I served in the US National Security apparatus, in various capacities.

Shortly after the attacks of 11 September 2001, I entered Afghanistan and commanded CIA paramilitary forces, helping seize the cities of Talaqan and the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul.

I was the driving force and architect of the Battle of Tora Bora. I held the position as Chief of Hezbollah Operation in CIA's Counterterrorism Center for several years and concluded my service in CIA as a Chief-of-Station in Latin America, combating narco-terrorists.

Approximately six years ago, a business associate and I began working together as whistleblowers for the Department of Justice, FBI, DEA and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Our target was the largest and most well-funded transnational criminal organization on the planet called the Cartel de los Soles, "Cartel of the Suns".

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The Cartel de los Soles is the Venezuelan government and is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, Minister of Defense Vladimir López Padrino, President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodríguez, and former Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence Hugo Carbajal, who was detained in Spain several years ago and extradited to New York. He is currently awaiting trial for narco-trafficking.

Venezuelan President Maduro has a US indictment and bounty of US $15 million for his capture. Diosdado Cabello has US indictment and a $10 million bounty on his head. At least six other Venezuelan cabinet members and senior officials are indicted.

In the last 20 years, the Cartel de los Soles has stolen $1 trillion US dollars from Venezuela's national oil company, PDVSA, and embezzled $500 billion US dollars from its national treasury. It not only has – but continues to produce and smuggle – 25 to 40 metric tons of cocaine every month, out of its country into the world.

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The Cartel del Sol is a $2 trillion transnational criminal organization and the most well-resourced criminal syndicate in history. Through bribery and investments of its funds, it controls a dozen countries and world leaders. It has massive investments in the US and European financial markets and institutions.

As we conducted investigations against the Cartel de los Soles and presented them, one after another to the US Department of Justice, we noticed and pursued leads from the Cartel's money-laundering operations to the world of non-governmental organizations and election companies.

After witnessing election irregularities associated with the 2020 US Presidential Election, we decided to direct time and resources to Cartel del Sol links to US and global election fraud.

After an exhaustive three-and-a-half-year investigation, it is indisputable: Smartmatic Election Systems was created at the direction of now-deceased Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, and its source code, the basis of its operating system developed jointly by Venezuela's Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) and Smartmatic, was designed to allow election results to be altered without the knowledge of voters and the public.

Additionally, the Venezuelan CNE holds ownership of Smartmatic's source code. Each time the Venezuelan CNE and Smartmatic update the source code, a copy of it is stored at the vault at the Venezuelan Central Bank.

In 2005, the European Union Electoral Observation Mission to Venezuela published a report, stating the Venezuelan regime owns Smartmatic's source code. The Venezuelan government signed that report as factual.

Smartmatic's first election in Venezuela was the 2003 Recall Election of Hugo Chavez. The CNE director at the time, Jorge Rodriguez, at the direction of the Cuban Directorate General of Intelligence, DGI, hired three Venezuelan-American computer engineers that were graduates of Simon Bolivar University, a Venezuelan university linked to the US University, MIT.

They had already registered a software company in Delaware and opened an office for it, in Boca Raton. The engineers, Antonio Mugica, Roger Piñate, and Alfredo Anzola, established Smartmatic at the direction of the Venezuelan regime, built the source code, and flew off to Italy to buy lottery machines from Olivetti to serve as election hardware. They succeeded in altering-up votes to ensure Hugo Chavez's victory in the recall election.

Secure in power, President Chavez decided to weaponize this capability beyond Venezuela's border. Smartmatic would enter into the US election market in Cook County, Illinois [aka Chicago] and the state of New Jersey for Democratic Party Primary races in 2006.

In 2005, Smartmatic orchestrated the purchase of Sequoia Voting Systems Inc, a US company. Sequoia was a company that had conducted elections in the US for over 100 years and had a 22% market share of the US electoral market.

Approximately 18 months later, the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, CFIUS, began investigating the ownership of Smartmatic, because of Smartmatic's Venezuelan connection.

Smartmatic immediately put its source code in the machines, in the Sequoia machines. Smartmatic tried to conceal its Venezuelan connection by hiring a former US Naval Officer, Jack Blaine, to set up a holding company, SVS Holding, to place its ownership of Sequoia in stock.

In December 2006, Smartmatic entered into an agreement with CFIUS to sell Sequoia in six months.

Antonio Mugica, one of the three original founders, then found a little-known election company in Toronto, Canada, Dominion Election Systems, that had only managed one small local election in Toronto. He arranged for Dominion to purchase Sequoia.

Dominion, owned by John Poulos, with that purchase of Sequoia would inherit the licensing agreement for Smartmatic's source code, the source code owned by the Venezuelan regime, i.e., the Cartel de los Soles.

To be clear, Smartmatic and Dominion would ultimately sign an agreement that provided Dominion with the US market and Smartmatic with the international global market. The only two exceptions are that Smartmatic does elections in Los Angeles County and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was an issue they ultimately settled in court.

In Caracas, in a building owned by the CNE, the Concejo Nacional Electoral, more than 100 software engineers, half in the CNE and half in Smartmatic, worked side-by-side. Their effort for more than a decade was to perfect the techniques of altering elections and defeating audit.

In 2018, Smartmatic publicly, and with the approval of the Venezuelan regime, broke with the regime, the Cartel de los Soles, because the Venezuelan CNE's theft of an election was so egregious.

The techniques of the source code and machine operate and conceal a theft of an election when the spread of the candidates is between three to five percentage points.

As sophisticated as the machine is, it can be defeated with significant turnout against it. The recent 2024 election in Venezuela was also so blatantly stolen and the machine could not conceal that massive spread, either.

In its place, a company called Xclay [?] took Smartmatic's place as the election provider in Venezuela. Allowing Smartmatic to exit Venezuela in this fictitious manner allowed the regime to retain its power and influence over the global electoral market.

Smartmatic built a production facility for electronic voting equipment hardware just outside Beijing, China, and then shipped the hardware to a warehouse in Taiwan. In violation of US Law, the hardware was marked as "Manufactured in Taiwan" and shipped to both Smartmatic and Dominion, for use in US elections.

Dominion Voting Systems manages elections in almost all the Swing States in the US, which determines who wins the Presidency. We have evidence and witnesses that can prove the source code operating the election machines of both Smartmatic and Dominion and other election companies are owned by the Venezuelan NARPA regime.

We have evidence and witnesses proving the machines are manufactured in the People's Republic of China.

Every citizen needs to be asking, "Where is the DOJ, FBI, CISA, and where is the CIA? Is anyone in the national security apparatus defending our democracy or enforcing the law?"

And if that isn't enough to convince you there's a major problem, Dominion, in an additional step to conceal its manipulation of US elections, moved its research and development and servers, which store Swing State voting information, to its office in Belgrade, Serbia!

Upgrade to paid

In the Belgrade office, Venezuelan, Chinese, and Serbian software engineers maintain system administrative status over swing state elections and alter elections, as directed by the Cartel de los Soles, the Cuban DGI, and the Chinese CCP.

The facility and its personnel are protected by Serbia's counterintelligence service. Swing State voter information is saved on Huawei servers in Dominion's Belgrade office. These servers are linked to Huawei servers in Hong Kong, China.

For years, the US National Security apparatus has identified Huawei and its technology as a threat to US National Security.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for cybersecurity and infrastructure, across all levels of government.

CISA has 3,100 employees and a $2.9 billion budget. In 2020, when faced with calls to address election irregularities, CISA did a conference call with Smartmatic and Dominion, in order to better able to address the public's concerns and assure everyone that there had been "No irregularities".

Yes, it's shocking. CISA decided to consult the criminals in order to respond to the American public's outcry.

In August 2024, three current and former executives of Smartmatic were indicted in Florida, in connection with bribery during the 2016 election in the Philippines. Among those arrested executives is Roger Peñate, one of the three founders and current President of Smartmatic. Roger Peñate paid $8.5 million in bail.

What the public will soon learn is that the bribery paid in the case was not to obtain a contract. The bribery was paid to alter election results.

We have the CNE source code, the source code employed by Smartmatic, Dominion, and others. We will surrender it to appropriate authorities.

Source code, like DNA, can easily be matched with other systems to prove that they are from the same family. In this particular case, it is a family of altering elections.

Two years ago, we briefed a senior FBI agent in Washington, DC. That agent, after seeing our three-hour presentation with corporate ownership documents, engineering specifications, and witness statements, told us to flee Washington, DC, that the FBI would actively work to destroy our efforts and seek ways to prosecute us, in order to stop our investigative efforts. That was a stunning moment, hearing those words from a 20-year veteran of the FBI.

Seven months ago, with our attorney, we briefed a US Attorney and two Assistant US Attorneys, Federal Prosecutors from the Department of Justice. The US Attorney told us he would forward the information to the Office of Public Integrity at the Department of Justice. That US Attorney followed up with us months later, to see if the Office of Public Integrity had contacted us. They never did.

Smartmatic, Dominion, and their media allies will immediately point to the fact that FoxNews settled with Dominion, paying US$787.5 million, and that Newsmax just settled with Smartmatic, this past week in a defamation case as "evidence of Smartmatic and Dominion innocence".

In FoxNews' case against Dominion, we briefed Fox News trial attorneys. Our lawyers were present when we did that. FoxNews corporate officers refused to be briefed directly for that case. They wanted plausible deniability.

FoxNews corporate knew we had significant evidence – and, more importantly, witnesses. When all the facts are known, Fox News executives and Board will have to explain why they went down on their knees for enemies of the US.

We briefed Newsmax's corporate attorney, as well. Though their settlement with Smartmatic is not public, any settlement with either company and their masters, the Cartel de los Soles, the Cuban DGI, and CCP, makes it more difficult for those of us trying to defend the country and our democracy.

I ask everyone to go to the website StolenElectionsFacts.com. Here, you will find articles and original source documents supporting the claim that Smartmatic and Dominion are employing a source code created and owned by the Venezuelan Regime, with hardware manufactured in China that alters election results.

I will follow with other videos and statements to inform and educate others.

Best-selling author, Ralph Pazullo has written the book, 'Stolen Elections, the Plot to Destroy Democracy'. It will be released in late October. Mr Pazullo interviewed my whistleblower associate and I and several of our key witnesses. This is a must-read, to understand one of the greatest crimes ever committed against the United States.

This is an assault on our democracy.

Again, go to the website StolenElectionsFacts.com. Look at the timeline, the documents, and the original sources that are attached. Thank you for your time.

God bless America. We go forward.

[montysworld]

ALEVE - double shift from Miles Jay on Vimeo.

Director: Miles Jay Production: Smuggler Exec Producer: Patrick Milling Smith, Brian Carmody, Allison Kunzman Producer: Luigi Rossi Cinematography: Jac Martinez Production Design: Caitlin Byrnes AD: Gareth Moses Editor: Ben Jordan - Work Editorial Post: Blacksmith Color: Alex Bickel Agency: Mullen Boston

[tonin-terets]

Red Bull – Kris Bryant Can from Animation.Monks on Vimeo.

RedBull . 2018

To excite Chicago Cubs fans about the limited-edition Red Bull Kris Bryant can, we produced a frame-by-frame animation showing the star in action. By making the animation as fluid and flexible as the man himself, we could resize and reshape it across all social platforms, striking the same impact every time. Translated through hand-drawn illustrations featuring the brand’s and Cubs’ distinctive colours, the animation captures the energy of both Bryant and Red Bull. To touch all bases, the video’s final frame sports the can’s Snapcode that unlocks a Bryant lens, hitting a homerun on the overarching Kris Bryant Can campaign.

Creative Direction: Juan Behrens, Nico Piccirilli Production: Jason Dolla Lead & Art Direction: Nicolas Piccirilli Design: Nico Piccirilli, German Di Ciccio, Pablo Cuello Animation: Sunil Sital, Patrick Brem, Declan Byrne

See more of our work and process by following us on instagram at: instagram.com/mediamonksanimation

[ajanik12]

COM-321-A: Blog 2- “Insidious”

Released in 2010, "Insidious" has established established itself as a spine-chilling horror film that has left audiences terrified. Directed by James Wan, the movie delves into the realm of the supernatural, blending psychological suspense and jump scares to create an unsettling experience for viewers. “Inisidious” has become an extremely popular work in the horror film genre as a franchise. The “Insidious” franchise is ahead of its time with the unique sequence of events and how each of the films intertwine and jump back and forth between the future and present.

"Insidious" follows the Lambert family as they navigate a horrifying ordeal that unfolds within the confines of their new home. Josh and Renai Lambert, played by Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, are loving parents who experience an inexplicable and disturbing event when their young son, Dalton, falls into a mysterious coma-like state. The parents are given no medical diagnosis for Dalton, and they are at a loss for what to do. Many of the haunting are and malevolent spirits are recognized by Renai, who desperately tries to convince her husband Josh that their home is haunted. Josh is seemingly in denial at first, until Renai shows a bloody handprint which she found on Dalton’s bed sheets one night when he arrived home from work.

As months have passed and these evil entities become more and more present in the home, the Lambert’s decide that they should pack their things up and move. However, the hauntings continue at their new home, and they are left with no option but to seek help from paranormal investigators led by Elise Rainier, portrayed by Lin Shaye. Elise reveals that Dalton's condition is not a result of a physical ailment, but a form of astral projection as she describes it in the film. Dalton's consciousness has traveled to a dark and menacing realm called "The Further," leaving his physical body vulnerable to spiritual entities. Elise explains that Dalton has been capable of traveling to “The Further” in his sleep for a very long time. Elise is able to see these entities in the real world and sees the demonic entity which is trying to consume dalton in his bedroom. As the Lamberts try to save their son and unravel the mysteries of The Further, they encounter terrifying malevolent spirits along the way. With Elise's guidance and the assistance of her assistants, Specs and Tucker, the family endures a long and frightening journey to rescue Dalton's soul before it's too late.

The characters in "Insidious" contribute to the film's emotional depth and intensity. Patrick Wilson portrays Josh Lambert with a perfect balance of vulnerability and determination. His transformation from a loving father to a tormented soul creates a sense of empathy within the audience. Rose Byrne delivers a compelling performance as Renai Lambert, effectively capturing her character's fear and desperation as she fights to protect her family from the supernatural forces in which they are haunted by. Lin Shaye's portrayal of Elise Rainier is extremely fascinating, as she brings both wisdom and vulnerability to the role. She serves as the bridge between the physical world and the alternate universe called “The Further.”

https://eprints.ums.ac.id/25032/9/publication_article.pdf

"Insidious" relies heavily on atmospheric tension to create an eerie and horrifying setting. Wan skillfully uses cinematography, lighting, and sound design to build suspense and unsettle the audience. The use of long, steady shots combined with the strategic placement of shadows and eerie background noises cultivates an atmosphere of dread. When watching the film, the first thing I noticed was the dark lighting. The film is recorded in some sort of grey and dark screen color which creates a feeling of unease throughout. The film utilizes sudden sound effects as the characters are about to experience a malevolent spirit which catches the audience by surprise. One scene that really stood out to me is the baby monitor scene, where Renai can hear voices coming from her infant daughter's bedroom. The way the camera zooms in on the monitor was extremely unsettling to me. In addition, the lighting of “The Further” creates an extremely unsettling feeling for the audience. The characters in the further can only see with a lantern, which is a bright blue color which perfectly contrasts with the pitch-black atmosphere. In addition, one of the most effective techniques employed in "Insidious" is the skillful use of jump scares. Wan utilizes abrupt sounds, quick camera movements, and unexpected appearances of evil entities to frighten viewers. These moments of shock and surprise heighten the intensity of the film, keeping audiences constantly on edge. The jump scares work perfectly with the atmospheric tension to create a rollercoaster of fear which lonely impacts the audience.

[scotianostra]

Happy 81st Birthday Scottish Playwright and artist John Byrne.

Born John Patrick Byrne on January 6th 1940 in Paisley, where he grew up in the Ferguslie Park housing scheme and was educated at the town’s St Mirin’s Academy before attending Glasgow School of Art, where he excelled. In his final year he was awarded the Bellahousten Award, the school’s most prestigious painting prize, and spent six months in Italy, returning a masterful and confident young artist. His work is held in major collections in Scotland and abroad.

Several of his paintings hang in The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, the Museum of Modern Art and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. In 2007 he was made a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy and is an Honorary Fellow of the GSA, the RIAS, an Honorary Member of the RGI and has Honorary Doctorates from the universities of Paisley, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Strathclyde.

It was by no means an overnight success for Byrne, he was making a living designing book covers for publishers Penguin before recognition, Byrne has also designed record covers for Donovan, The Beatles, Gerry Rafferty, Billy Connolly, and The Humblebums as well as illustrations for the renowned Scottish writer James Kelman.

As well as his artwork Byrne is an accomplished writer perhaps best known as the writer of The Slab Boys Trilogy of plays which explore working-class life in Scotland, and of the excellent TV dramas Tutti Frutti and Your Cheating Heart.

In 2018 Byrne was named Scotland’s most stylish man at the age of 78 at the Scottish Style Awards in Glasgow, beating Outlander star Sam Heughan to the coveted most stylish male title, which was previously won by Richard Jobson, Robert Carlyle, James McAvoy and Paolo Nutini. Byrne, a good friend of comic, Billy Connolly Byrne said at the time he was shocked at the award saying “I dress like a tramp”.

The highlights the quintessential Scottishness of Byrne’s work, and his enduring humour and his focus on the frailty of human experience often lived on the edge of working-class communities. It is a richly rewarding show which underscores r give John Byrne a rightful place as one of Scotland’s finest and most prolific artists, as seen in the artists work with the portraits of the late Robbie Coltrane, one of several he has made of the Big Yin, Billy Connolly and the pic of his former partner Tilda Swinton.

[streetsofdublin]

(via ST PAUL'S CHURCH AS SEEN FROM THE SOUTH QUAYS)

Built between 1835 and 1837, shortly after Catholic Emancipation, a time where Catholics gained increased rights to build prominent places of worship. Designed by Patrick Byrne, a significant architect of Catholic churches in Ireland during this era. He also designed St. Audoen's Catholic Church nearby.

[quicksiluers]

Organized in 1861 shortly after First Bull Run, The Irish Brigade’s nucleus was the 63d, 69th, and 88th New York Infantry. In the fall of 1862 the 28th Massachusetts and the 116th Pennsylvania were added, and the 29th Massachusetts served with it for a short time. It saw action in the Peninsular Campaign, at Antietam, Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Cedar Run, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, in the 1st Division of the II Corps. Reorganized in November 1864, with the 7th New York Heavy Artillery replacing the 116th Pennsylvania, it was by then no longer the old organization and certainly could not be truthfully designated the Irish Brigade. It had suffered over 4,000 casualties in killed and wounded, a total which exceeded the number of men enrolled in it at any given time.

Of the five men who commanded the Irish Brigade, three were killed and the other two wounded. Colonel Richard Byrne was mortally wounded at Cold Harbor; Colonel Patrick Kelly was killed at Petersburg; Major General Thomas A. Smyth died at Farmville; and Brigadier Generals Robert Nugent and Thomas Meagher were both wounded.

The most colorful and flamboyant of its leaders was the original commander and organizer, General Thomas Francis Meagher. Born in County Waterford, Ireland in 1823, he was described as ‘the counterpart of some rash, impolitic, poetic personage from Irish poetry or fiction.’ Son of a wealthy merchant, he was an active disciple of Irish liberty and participated in the various independence movements. In 1845 the British exiled him to Tasmania. Three years later he escaped and eventually made his way to New York City. At various times a lawyer, lecturer, newspaper editor, and politician, his flaming oratory had made him a favorite of the ‘Young Ireland’ group and he soon became the political leader of the Irish element in New York. At the outbreak of the Civil War he raised a Zouave company and commanded it at First Bull Run as part of the 69th New York State Militia. That winter he organized the Irish Brigade and President Lincoln appointed him brigadier general of Volunteers in February 1862. (x) 

The Fighting 69th by Mort Kunstler (x)

Fight’n Irish by Dale Gallon (x)

Raise the Colors and Follow Me! by Mort Kunstler (x)

Clear the Way by Don Troiani (x)

[judgingbooksbycovers]

One Foot in the Fade

By Luke Arnold.

Cover art is by Patrick Knowles.

Design by Matt Byrne.

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Cover launch: ONE FOOT IN THE FADE by Luke Arnold

We’re excited to launch the newest cover for the Fetch Phillips series! A world recovers from losing its magic in this brilliantly-voiced contemporary fantasy series by Luke Arnold – perfect for fans of Ben Aaronovitch or Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

AN ANGEL FALLS IN SUNDER CITY…

In a city that lost its magic, an angel falls in a downtown street. His wings are feathered, whole – undeniably magical – the man clearly flew, for all that he plummeted to his death moments after.

The mystery will set Fetch – in his quest to bring magic back to his beloved city – on a journey involving necromancers, djinn and shadowy secret societies. Fetch will search Sunder’s wildest forests and dingiest dive bars for the answer, and when he finds it, nothing will ever be the same again.

The new cover art is by Patrick Knowles, and was designed at Little, Brown Book Group by Matt Byrne.

Praise for this series:

‘Verve and charm in abundance’ Andrew Caldecott, author of Rotherweird

‘The first instalment of an effortlessly readable series that could be the illegitimate love child of Terry Pratchett and Dashiell Hammett’ Kirkus

‘[A] standout debut . . . winningly combining the grit of Chinatown with the quirky charm of Harry Potter, this series opener is sure to have readers coming back for more’ Publishers Weekly

‘This book was a marvellous noir voice; Luke Arnold has captured the spirit of the genre perfectly and wrapped it around a fantasy setting with consummate skill’ Peter McLean, author of Priest of Bones

‘Sunder City [is] an evocative creation, it has echoes of Ankh-Morpork, but also a broken melancholy all of its own’ SFX

Source: Orbit Book

[weclassybouquetfun]

Dec. 20, 2019 Oct. 9, 2020 Oct. 23, 2020 Dec. 18. 2020 Sept. 17. 2021 and FINALLY Feb. 11, 2022. DEATH ON THE NILE has finally disembarked into theaters.

The Good - Moved better than Branagh's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, a film I fought off sleep as I sat in the theater watching it. I loved all the changes Michael Green (HEROES, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, LOGAN) made from the original novel and previous films. -Kenneth Branagh employed Alexandra Byrne for MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS after working with her on THOR. This time around he went with one of my favourite costume designers, Paco Delgado (SPLIT, A WRINKLE IN TIME, THE DANISH GIRL).

I am rarely impressed by costume designers who do period pieces because they mostly just replicate the looks of the time or buy vintage pieces and feel that's enough. What I love about Delgado's work is that he makes the pieces wardrobe versus a costume. It's not a façade, he styles the actors in a way that the wardrobe truly feels in line with the personality of the character. Bouc (Tom Bateman) is well dressed, but a bit tatty in line with someone who is trying to distance himself from the conventions of background. - Sophie Okonedo as the saucy, smoky voiced blues singer, nice to see her in a role such as this.

- Seeing this fella back on the big screen!

The Bad N/A

The Not So Great -I give Branagh points for his use of panning and tracking shots to take in the large cast, but I have to deduct some for his use of close-ups. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and guess that, perhaps, he's replicating shots from other adaptations, but his close-ups seem incongruous to the scene at hand. -There's all this ink being spilt about whether films are too long and, personally, I love long films as long as it serves the story and not indulgent (::cough::Terrence Malick ::cough::). I think this film could have used another 15 to 20 minutes to spend with the characters. I would rather seem them all interact more versus the numerous shots of the poorly rendered Egyptian background. There are so many off-screen comments that Dawn French's character makes that really would have worked better on-screen instead of off-handed muttering. Branagh kept the slight comedic moments to himself when I think the humor by French's character would have served her, and by extension, Jennifer Saunders better and kept them from being background characters. -THE CGI!!! They real mystery of the film is why the "Transformers" film series can make Autobots seamlessly blend in with the shots and make you believe actual sentient vehicles are interacting with Mark Wahlberg or Josh Duhamel but DotN and other CGI laden films can't get the matte and overlays down so that the backgrounds look like someone's standing inside a Vue-Finder. -Patrick Doyle was once again hired to do the score but there is no standout piece like the beautiful track for 2017's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, "Justice".

-Armie has had to "step away" from several projects in the past year. A look at some of his replacements.

Miles Teller in THE OFFER, a look at the making of THE GODFATHER. This film would have had Hammer working alongside TED LASSO's Juno Temple.

Josh Duhamel who stepped in for Hammer in SHOTGUN WEDDING opposite Jennifer Lopez.

Dang, Armand, you could have worked with Lenny Kravitz instead of just commenting on his daugther's Insta

Will Arnett for NEXT GOAL WINS. It was thought that Hammer had a small role and that Taika Waititi would just cut him out. But apparently they decided to increase the role and Hammer, "unavailable" for reshoots, was replaced by Arnett. This offends me because other than playing GOB Bluth, what is the point of Will Arnett? Dan Stevens in the Watergate drama GASLIT (adapted from Slate's podcast SLOW BURN) with Julia Roberts and grumpy old man Sean Penn. Now this is a lateral move. I am a fan of Stevens and if Hammer had to lose a role, this is a good one to lose out to. He's a great actor, he's great fun and a very stylish man. And a polyglot who uses his fluency in German in the film I'M YOUR MAN. In GASLIT Stevens plays White House counsel John Dean. Armie, this quippy "Dean Eggs and Ham" mug could have been yours!

[mylifeincinema]

My Best of 2020: My Top 10 Films!

It’s time! What a weird, shitty year 2020 was. But hey, at least we had some good movies to keep us from going completely crazy. A quick reminder that My Top 10 Films aren’t necessarily my list of the ‘best’, or ‘my favorite’, but a mix of the two, taking both sides of the A&E into equal consideration.

Before we dive into things, here are some Honorable Mentions, all of which came very close to breaking into the Top 10: Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock; Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow; Christopher Landon’s Freaky; Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7; Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods; and Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man.

And finally, without further ado…

My Top 10 Films of 2020!!

10. Andrew Patterson’s The Vast of Night

This is a tight, simple, incredibly atmospheric sci-fi film. I loved almost every second, but especially Patterson’s choices throughout; from intimate long takes to sprawling tracking shots to jarring editing, he brings us into this quaint and quiet small town as if we were passers by stumbling onto these odd and eerie events right alongside these characters.

9. Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield

Incredibly likable, and chock-full of some incredible production design and a fantastic cast bringing to life these wonderfully enjoyable characters. I do have some slight issues with the framing device, and how inconsistent and awkward it occasionally feels, but mostly this is a crowd-pleasing adaptation of a major piece of literature.

8. Autumn de Wilde’s Emma.

Anya Taylor-Joy is perfect. And while Autumn de Wilde’s direction occasionally stumbles late in the second act, she nails the bigger moments and delivers on the heart as effectively as the humor. This is also further proof that Bill Nighy should probably just be cast in everything. All-in-all, this is the best adaptation of Austen’s work I’ve come across, yet.

7. Spike Lee’s David Byrne’s American Utopia

A very small number of Lee’s choices didn’t quite work for me, but David Byrne is a creative genius, and above all else, this is very much Byrne being Byrne… which is to say, absolutely brilliant!

6. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet

Probably the most Christopher Nolan movie of all Christopher Nolan movies. Plotted to a fault, and requiring a fair majority of the dialogue to be straight exposition, this time-bending sci-fi thriller puts on bold display all of Nolan’s strengths as a director and strengths and weaknesses as a storyteller.

But as long as Nolan keeps f*cking with time, I’m on board.

I had a blast with this one, and was a cinema-going experience I needed, at the very moment I needed it.

5. Pete Docter’s Soul

Creative, poignant, beautifully animated and acted, and a whole bunch of other traits we’ve come to know and love from Pixar. Is this the best Pixar film we’ve been gifted? No. But is it the best Pixar film (and animated film, period) we’ve been gifted in 2020? Definitely.

4. Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman

What a powerhouse late season ace in the hole. Emerald Fennell turns in a debut as unpredictable and excitingly dark as it is assured and technically sharp. And Carey Mulligan is probably at her very, very best (well, maybe behind Shame?) and that’s saying A LOT! The needle drops are as bizarre as the writing is sharp. It explores its themes without ever resorting to whining about them. And it all has a vicious bite.

3. David Fincher’s Mank

An incredible piece of showbiz cinema. Mank is a celebration of the rebellion behind the creation of one of the very best pieces of cinema to ever come out of Hollywood, and an introspective glance at the destructive nature of alcoholism and ego. Fincher weaves together a fascinating character study that skewers the political and creative hypocrisy of 1930s Hollywood while simultaneously reveling in its subject’s own hypocritical air of moral superiority.

2. Max Barbakow’s Palm Springs

I instantly fell in love with this one. Samberg and Milioti are very well matched, and bring emotion to the film while never letting its humor fall flat. It has a ton of fun with the time-loop formula and never gets too repetitive or sloppy. And it has some amazing moments for the amazing J.K. Simmons… so there’s that, too.

And The Best Film of 2019 is…

1. Paul Greengrass’ News of the World

Tom Hanks is a powerhouse, and the writing paired with Paul Greengrass’ direction makes for an intensely human western. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reactions to this one, but for me, everything worked perfectly.

Thank you for reading…

Enjoy!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

More of My Best of 2020…