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tilbageidanmark · 3 years ago

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Movies I watched this week #69

Flee, a harrowing Danish animated documentary, nominated for Best Foreign Oscar in 2021 (and losing to ‘Drive my car’). It tells of an Afghan refugee and his gut-wrenching and traumatic odyssey to escape the Taliban and settle in Denmark. 8/10.

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A star is born, the 2018 Bradley Cooper / Lady Gaga version: Raging alcoholic mega star discovers a young singer, falls in love and destroys himself as her career takes off. I loved it, especially the sweet romance and chemistry of their relationship’s first act.

I then tried to supplement it with the 1954 Judy Garland / James Mason version, as well as the 1976 Barbra Streisand / Kris Kristofferson one (the one with young Gary Busey!) but couldn’t get into either one. So this will do for now.

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3 Swedish masterpieces by Roy Andersson (and one by Jan Troell):

🎦🎦🎦 There are these rare films whose very first frame overwhelms you with so much emotion and awe, it’s as if you fell in love for the first time. Roy Andersson’s 2019 About Endlessness is one of them. It starts with a shot of two lovers who float in the sky, flown out of a modern Marc Chagall. Then 31 short, static scenes follow evoking various moods; tragic, absurd, humane, perplexing. Some are very simple: An old, absent-minded waiter pours too much vine in a glass.... Three young women pass by a cafe and start dancing to the song on the radio... A man and his young daughter stop on their way to a birthday party so he can tie her shoes in the pouring rain... Etc. (Photo Above).

In the same style as his previous ‘Living Trilogy’, all segments were created indoors, with artificial, awkward stagecraft that haunts, and seemingly with no relation to each other. Many starts with a slow and sad female voice “I saw a woman who...”.

The copy I watched was in Swedish (naturally) with Dutch subtitles, but there’s sparse dialogue, so if anybody’s interested, the descriptions on wikipedia cover pretty much all the ‘actions’, and this copy will suffice.

Best film I’ve been waiting for all week!

🎦🎦🎦 “....The world is not made for lonely people”... Roy Andersson’s exceptional debut film, A Swedish Love Story (1970), a perfect romance of a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. Sweet, sensitive and absolutely beautiful. Completely different from his later years’ dour artfulness. 10/10.

(Copy is from YouTube).

I have now seen 5 of his 6 feature films (I can’t find a copy of ‘Gilliap’!), and I can easily say: He’s my absolute favorite film director.

🎦🎦🎦 After the failure of his 1975 Gilliap, Andersson gave up on cinema for 25 years, and instead earned a living as a successful director of advertisements. But in 1991, he directed the 15 min. World of Glory, in the same oblique style as all his later films. In the first shocking scene, a group of naked people are being executed in a gas van. But after that, one of the complicit silent witnesses, a drab and ordinary real estate man, goes on about his cheerless life. Bleak!

🎦🎦🎦 And one more: Jan Troell’s Maria Larsson’s Everlasting Moments is a 2008 Swedish true-story about a working class woman in the early 20th century, who wins a camera in a lottery and goes on to become a pioneer female photographer. Evocative, sentimental and nostalgic, it’s a beautiful feminist capture of eras gone by. 8/10.

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First watch: Jim Jarmusch’s 2003 Coffee and Cigarettes. 11 short stories told in static black & and white, about interesting people drinking lots of coffee, some of them smoking lots of cigarettes, and discussing life’s big & small mysteries.

Tom Waits for no one - as always he’s the scene stealer of this ensemble piece full of characters. 9/10.

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Bong Joon-ho X 2:

🎦🎦🎦 I have to admit that it took me 3 attempts in the last 2 years to finish Parasite, Bong Joon-ho’s masterful and wild class-war horror film. When the invading poor Kim family settled down at the rich Park’s beautiful living room, I got so nerve-racked of what’s in store for them, that I had to put this film on hold - twice. But today I was finally able to overcome my anxiety and complete it. I agree now that it was one of the best films from 2019 that I’ve seen. The class warfare and wealth inequality were the biggest themes of this uncomfortable, tense thriller. 8/10.

🎦🎦🎦 Okja, a disappointing fable about a brave fourteen-year-old girl who saves a mythical “superpig” she had raised with her grandfather in beautiful faraway Korean mountains. The lovable hippo-sized creature is like a SGI-generated Totoro and the first half of the film in lovely and promising. But the story about the evil corporate greed, industrial factory farming and animal rights activism is misfired and cliched. The only unique aspect is the cruel scene at the massive slaughterhouse that vicariously show the mass murder happening there, unusual for a mainstream film, and especially for one geared toward kids. 4/10.

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Maigret Sets a Trap (1958), an old fashioned French serial killer film with Jean Gabin as commissaire Jules Maigret. An outdated atmosphere and story, but shot in a crisp cinematography and on gorgeous studio sets.

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3 with Laurence Olivier (two with Leo G. Carroll):

🎦🎦🎦 Young Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine in Hitchcock's first American project, Rebecca, a “gothic” mystery from 1940. A fairy tale turns dark with murder, blackmail and clear lesbian intrigue. The most noticeable trait of the film is the relentless music which plays constantly over and under every single scene.

🎦🎦🎦 First watch: Wuthering Heights was my father’s 'Guilty pleasure’, and apparently he watched it many times during his old age. But why? It's a story of a poor, orphaned boy who was neglected throughout his life, and who sought love and revenge when he became wealthy. This part is clear. But what attracted him to the background of this particular landed English gentry?

🎦🎦🎦 “... Is is safe?... “ Marathon Man (1976), one of the great screenwriter William Goldman’s best-made movies, and another that can be re-watched again and again. Even the sadistic dentist torture scene. It was also one of the two films Olivier did in the 70′s dealing with aging Nazi war criminals hiding in South America.

With ‘Al Neary’ as “Karl” and ‘Chief Brody’ as the brother. 9/10.

🍿 A Cup of Coffee with Marilyn, a unique 2019 short (19. min) about Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci’s failed attempts to interview Marilyn Monroe before her death. Fallaci's probing interviews with Ayatollah Khomeini, Yasser Arafat, Kissinger and many of the world’s leaders of the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s made her “the most famous, and feared, interviewer in the world" (Italy recently voted to put her image on the Italian 20 euro bill). This ambitious short is a lush and condensed period piece, made by a 23-year-old woman with all young cast. Well done. 6/10. 🍿 2 Italian classics with Gian Maria Volonté and magnificent scores by Ennio Morricone:

After seeing the fantastic biography ‘Ennio’ last week, I decided to go back and try to catch up on the 500+ movies he wrote music for.

🎦🎦🎦 A Fistful of Dollars, Sergio Leone’s first Spaghetti Western and an unofficial remake of Kurosawa's Yojimbo. The first of Clint Eastwood’s ‘Man of no name’ trilogy. Morricone’s early suite, credited here as Dan Savio, was more engaging for me than the rest of this ritualistic film.

🎦🎦🎦 Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Elio’s Petri 1970 Oscar winner black satire. Volonté is a right-wing police officer, so obsessed with power, that he murders his mistress just to show that nobody will believe he’s the murderer. A killer film that would be so much weaker without the killer juxtaposition of sound and image.

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Kevin MacLeod is a very prolific composer from Green Bay, Wisconsin. He became one of the most heard composers in the world by releasing thousands of his songs for free under a Creative Commons copyright license (The most composing credits of anyone on IMDB, with 3774). Even I used quite a few of his melodies, when I created Adora’s cooking videos years ago. There’s so much of interest in the implications of what he’s been doing.

But the hagiographic documentary Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod is terrible. Uninteresting interviews with uninteresting friends, and banal explanations makes this a boring slog. 2/10.

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In my efforts to explore cinema from all over the world, I randomly picked Sweet face, my first Nigerian film. Unfortunately, it was a dull, lifeless story of a married couple, with wooden, expressionless performances and nil artistic merit. IMDB claims that this was one of 7(!) films the director, Kayode Kasum, made in 2020. This was not his best. 1/10.

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Timecrimes, a 2007 Spanish time-loop riddle. An ugly, low-budget and confusing mystery about an unappealing middle-age man who must relive the same sequence of events three times. I’m not sure how it popped on my radar, or why I finished watching it.

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(My complete movie list is here)

#movies

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blackkudos · 6 years ago

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Danny Glover

Danny Lebern Glover (born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist.

Glover is well known for his leading role as Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film series, The Color Purple (1985), To Sleep with Anger (1990) and Angels in the Outfield (1994). He also has prominent supporting roles in Silverado (1985), Witness (1985), Predator 2 (1990), Saw (2004),Shooter (2007), 2012 (2009), Death at a Funeral (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014) and Dirty Grandpa(2016). He has appeared in many other movies, television shows and theatrical productions, and is an active supporter of various humanitarian and political causes.

Early life

Glover was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Carrie (Hunley) and James Glover. His parents, postal workers, were active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), working to advance equal rights. Glover's mother, daughter of a midwife, was born in Louisville, Georgia and graduated from Paine College in Augusta, Georgia.

Glover attended George Washington High School in San Francisco. He attended San Francisco State University (SFSU) in the late 1960s but did not graduate. SFSU later awarded him an honorary degree. Glover trained at the Black Actors' Workshop of the American Conservatory Theater.

As an adolescent and a young adult, Glover suffered from epilepsy but has not suffered a seizure since age 35.

Career

Glover originally worked in city administration working on community development before transitioning to theater. He has said:

I didn't think it was a difficult transition. Acting is a platform that can become a conveyer for ideas. Art is a way of understanding, of confronting issues and confronting your own feelings—all within that realm of the capacity it represents. It may have been a leap of faith for me, given not only my learning disability (dyslexia) but also the fact that I felt awkward. I felt all the things that someone that's 6'3" or 6'4" feels and with my own diminished expectations of who I could be [and] would feel. Whether it's art, acting or theater that I've devoted myself to I put more passion and more energy into it.

His first theater involvement was with Conservatory Theater, a regional training program in San Francisco. Glover also trained with Jean Shelton at the Shelton Actors Lab in San Francisco. In an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Glover credited Jean Shelton for much of his development as an actor. Deciding that he wanted to be an actor, Glover resigned from his city administration job and soon began his career as a stage actor. Glover then moved to Los Angeles for more opportunities in acting, where he would later go on to co-found the Robey Theatre Company with actor Ben Guillory in honor of the actor and concert singer Paul Robeson in Los Angeles in 1994.

Glover has had a variety of film, stage, and television roles, and is best known for playing Los Angeles police Sergeant Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon series of action films, starring alongside Mel Gibson and Gary Busey . Later he once again starred with Busey in the blockbuster Predator 2. He also starred as the husband to Whoopi Goldberg's character Celie in the celebrated literary adaptation The Color Purple, and as Lieutenant James McFee in the film Witness. In 1994 he made his directorial debut with the Showtime channel short film Override.

Also in 1994, Glover and actor Ben Guillory formed the Robey Theatre Company in Los Angeles, focusing on theatre by and about Black people. During his career, he has made several cameos, appearing, for example, in the Michael Jackson video "Liberian Girl" of 1987. Glover earned top billing for the first time in Predator 2, the sequel to the sci-fi action film Predator. That same year he starred in Charles Burnett's To Sleep with Anger, for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.

In common with Humphrey Bogart, Elliott Gould and Robert Mitchum, who have played Raymond Chandler's private eye detective Philip Marlowe, Glover played the role in the episode "Red Wind" of the Showtime network's 1995 series Fallen Angels. In 1997, under his former production company banner Carrie Films, Glover executive produced numerous films of first time directors including Pamm Malveaux's neo-noir short film Final Act starring Joe Morton, which aired on the Independent Film Channel. In addition, Glover has been a voice actor in many children's movies. Glover was featured in the popular 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.

In 2004, he appeared in the low-budget horror film Saw as Detective David Tapp. In 2005, Glover and Joslyn Barnes announced plans to make No FEAR, a movie about Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo's experience. Coleman-Adebayo won a 2000 jury trial against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The jury found the EPA guilty of violating the civil rights of Coleman-Adebayo on the basis of race, sex, color and a hostile work environment, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Coleman-Adebayo was terminated shortly after she revealed the environmental and human disaster taking place in the Brits, South Africa, vanadium mines. Her experience inspired passage of the Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No-FEAR Act). As of 2013 the No Fear title has not appeared but The Marsha Coleman-Adebayo Story was announced as the next major project of No Fear Media Productions.

Glover portrayed David Keaton in the film The Exonerated - a real-life story of Keaton's experience of being arrested, jailed and then freed from death row.

In 2009, Glover performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States".

Glover played President Wilson, the President of the United States in 2012, a disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich and released in theaters November 13, 2009. In 2010, Glover participated in a Spanish film called I Want to Be a Soldier. In 2012, he starred in the film Donovan's Echo.

Planned directorial debut

Glover sought to make a film biography of Toussaint Louverture for his directorial debut. In May 2006, the film had included cast members Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Roger Guenveur Smith, Mos Def, Isaach de Bankolé, and Richard Bohringer. Production, estimated to cost $30 million, was planned to begin in Poland, filming from late 2006 into early 2007. In May 2007, President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez contributed $18 million to fund the production of Toussaintfor Glover, who is a prominent U.S. supporter of Chávez. The contribution annoyed some Venezuelan filmmakers, who said the money could have funded other homegrown films and that Glover's film was not even about Venezuela. In April 2008, the Venezuelan National Assembly authorized an additional $9,840,505 for Glover's film, which is still in planning.

Public appearances

Glover appeared at London Film and Comic Con 2013 at Earls Court 2 over 2.5 days during Friday 5th to Sunday July 7. He participated in a panel discussion in McComb, Mississippi on July 16, 2015. The event, co-sponsored by The Gloster Project and Jubilee Performing Arts Center, included noted authors Terry McMillan and Quincy Troupe.

On January 30, 2015 Glover was the Keynote Speaker and 2015 Honoree for the MLK Celebration Series at the Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI). Glover used his career and personal story to speak on the topic "Creativity and Democracy: Social Change through the Arts."

Personal life

Glover purchased a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) house in Dunthorpe, Oregon, in 1999. As of 2011, he no longer lived in Oregon.

On September 2, 2009, Glover signed an open letter of objection to the inclusion of a series of films intended to showcase Tel Aviv at the Toronto International Film Festival.

On April 16, 2010, Glover was arrested in Maryland during a protest by SEIU workers for Sodexo's unfair and illegal treatment of workers. He was given a citation and later released. The Associated Press reports "Glover and others stepped past yellow police tape and were asked to step back three times at Sodexo headquarters. When they refused, Starks says officers arrested them."

Activism

Civil rights activism

While attending San Francisco State University (SFSU), Glover was a member of the Black Students Union, which, along with the Third World Liberation Front and the American Federation of Teachers, collaborated in a five-month student-led strike to establish a Department of Black Studies. The strike was the longest student walkout in U.S. history. It helped create not only the first Department of Black Studies but also the first School of Ethnic Studies in the United States.

Hari Dillon, current president of the Vanguard Public Foundation, was a fellow striker at SFSU. Glover later co-chaired Vanguard's board. He is also a board member of The Algebra Project, The Black AIDS Institute, Walden House, and Cheryl Byron's Something Positive Dance Group. He was charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly after being arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington during a protest over Sudan's humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

Glover's long history of union activism includes support for the United Farm Workers, UNITE HERE, and numerous service unions. In March 2010, Glover supported 375 Union workers in Ohio by calling upon all actors at the 2010 Academy Awards to boycott Hugo Boss suits following announcement of Hugo Boss's decision to close a manufacturing plant in Ohio after a proposed pay decrease from $13 to $8.30 an hour was rejected by the Workers United Union.

On November 1, 2011, Glover spoke to the crowd at Occupy Oakland on the day before the Oakland General Strike where thousands of protestors shut down the Port of Oakland.

Political activism

Glover was an early supporter of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries until Edwards' withdrawal, although some news reports indicated that he had endorsed Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, whom he had endorsed in 2004. After Edwards dropped out, Glover then endorsed Barack Obama. In February 2016, Glover endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Glover was an outspoken critic of George W. Bush, calling him a known racist. "Yes, he's racist. We all knew that. As Texas's governor, Bush led a penitentiary system that executed more people than all the other U.S. states together. And most of the people who died were Afro-Americans or Hispanics."

Glover's support of California Proposition 7 (2008) led him to use his voice in an automated phone call to generate support for the measure before the election.

On the foreign policy of the Obama administration, Glover said: "I think the Obama administration has followed the same playbook, to a large extent, almost verbatim, as the Bush administration. I don't see anything different... On the domestic side, look here: What's so clear is that this country from the outset is projecting the interests of wealth and property. Look at the bailout of Wall Street. Why not the bailout of Main Street? He may be just a different face, and that face may happen to be black, and if it were Hillary Clinton, it would happen to be a woman.... But what choices do they have within the structure?"

Glover wrote the foreword to Phyllis Bennis' book, Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power. Glover is also a member of the board of directors of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank led by economist Dean Baker.

InternationalAfrica

Glover is an active board member of the TransAfrica Forum. On April 6, 2009, Glover was given a chieftaincy title in Imo State, Nigeria. Glover was given the title Enyioma of Nkwerre, which means A Good Friend in the language of the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria.

Caribbean and Haiti

On January 13, 2010, Glover compared the scale and devastation of the 2010 Haiti earthquake to the predicament other island nations may face as a result of the failed Copenhagen summit the previous year. Glover said: "...the threat of what happens to Haiti is a threat that can happen anywhere in the Caribbean to these island nations... they're all in peril because of global warming... because of climate change... when we did what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens..." In the same statement, he called for a new form of international partnership with Haiti and other Caribbean nations and praised Venezuela, Brazil, and Cuba, for already accepting this partnership.

Iraq War

Danny Glover has been an outspoken critic of the Iraq War before the war began in March 2003. In February 2003, he was one of the featured speakers at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco where other notable speakers included names such as author Alice Walker, singer Joan Baez, United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland. Glover was a signatory to the April 2003 anti-war letter "To the Conscience of the World" that criticized the unilateral American invasion of Iraq that led to "massive loss of civilian life" and "devastation of one of the cultural patrimonies of humanity". During an anti-war demonstration in Downtown Oakland in March 2003, Glover praised the community leaders for their anti-war efforts saying that "They're on the front lines because they are trying to make a better America.... The world has come together and said 'no' to this war – and we must stand with them."

Venezuela

In January 2006, Harry Belafonte led a delegation of activists, including Glover and activist/professor Cornel West, in a meeting with President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez, with Glover calling Chávez "remarkable". In 2007, the Venezuelan government allotted $18 million to Glover for a film about a slave uprising in Haiti with Hugo Chávez hoping "to mobilise world public opinion against imperialism and western oppression". Glover was also a board member of TeleSUR, a media network primarily funded by the Venezuelan government.

During the beginning of the 2014 Venezuela Protests, Glover shared his support to Chávez's successor, President Nicolas Maduro, calling members of his government "the stewards" of Venezuela's democracy. Glover also told Venezuelan government supporters to go fight for the sovereignty of Maduro's government.

Music

Glover has become an active member of board of directors of The Jazz Foundation of America. Danny became involved with The Jazz Foundation in 2005, and has been a featured host for their annual benefit A Great Night in Harlem for several years, as well appearing as a celebrity MC at other events for the foundation. In 2006, Britain's leading African theatre company Tiata Fahodzi appointed Glover as one of its three Patrons, joining Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jocelyn Jee Esien opening the organization's tenth-anniversary celebrations (Sunday, February 2, 2008) at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, London.

Honors and awards

Utah State University

In 2010, Glover delivered the Commencement Address and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Utah State University.

Starr King School for the Ministry

Also in 2010, Starr King School for the Ministry awarded the Doctorate of Humane Letters (Litterarum Humanarum Doctor), in absentia, to Mr. Glover. His call to humanity to see itself as the recipient of a legacy of caring and commitment that began with prior parental and religious communities and that it should carry on for the sake of those who will follow are in alignment with Starr King's values. Mr. Glover was awarded the doctorate specifically for his long history of passionate activism, including support for the United Farm Workers, UNITE HERE, The Algebra Project, The Black AIDS Institute, as well as his humanitarian efforts on behalf of the Haiti earthquake victims, literacy and civil rights and his fight against unjust labor practices. Mr. Glover is co-founder and CEO of Louverture Films, dedicated to the development and production of films of historical relevance, social purpose, commercial value and artistic integrity; we honored his commitment to using film to lift up and advance social justice issues, such as his then recently released project "Trouble the Water", a documentary about New Orleans in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.

Glover has had a close association with Starr King School through his role as guest lecturer in its course on Non Violent Social Change and lending his support and presence to events sponsored by Starr King's Masters of Arts in Social Change (MASC) program.

Deauville American Film Festival

He was also the recipient of a tribute paid by the Deauville American Film Festival in France on September 7, 2011.

Wikipedia

#Danny Glover #07-22

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keanuital · 7 years ago

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‘Point Break’: Kathryn Bigelow’s Action Film Remains a Kick-Ass Masterpiece

14th September 2017 marked eight years since the untimely passing of Patrick Swayze, and what better way to remember him than by taking a look back at one of his greatest movies, the action masterpiece that is Point Break.

Released in 1991, Point Break was the fourth movie from Kathryn Bigelow, who already had cult vampire favourite Near Dark under her belt, and would go on to Oscar glory with The Hurt Locker. The furious direction and Swayze/Reeves axis ensured Point Break‘s place as one of the best in the genre. It represented Keanu Reeves’ first foray into action cinema, a genre where he would come to make himself at home with popular turns in Speed, The Matrix trilogy and John Wick. But, at the time, he was something of a wild card as an action star. Swayze already had form in the genre, forging an enjoyable post-Dirty Dancing action niche for himself by way of Roadhouse, Steel Dawn and Next of Kin.

Reeves’ magnificently named hero, Johnny Utah, begins his first day at the FBI with his new partner Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey). Together they are tasked with solving a series of bank robberies by a professional gang known as the Ex Presidents. They hit banks quickly, dressed as Reagan, Carter, LBJ and Nixon. Pappas has a theory that the bank robbers are surfers, chasing waves around the world. Utah goes undercover to surveil the beaches and infiltrate the gang. He meets local surfer Tyler (Lori Petty) and forms a fast friendship with surf legend Bodhi (Swayze). As the friendship grows, Utah learns Bodhi is responsible for the robberies.

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Point Break hits a number of genre clichés and stereotypes head on – from the cop partnership with an old seen-it-all-before agent and a young, enthusiastic rookie, right through to the unnecessarily aggressive chief who doesn’t like the way the pair operate. But Point Break takes these action movie staples and perfects them. It arguably does them better than any movie has done before or since and never once feels predictable or tired. In fact, tiredness is not an option for any aspect of Point Break. It’s a celluloid representation of a pulsing adrenal gland. Don’t overthink it, just sit back and enjoy the kinetic orgy of stunts and action.

Although the action sequences are outstanding, if Point Break were juststunts it would never have achieved such longevity. The key to Point Break’s appeal is in both the acting and the characters; for an action movie, they are surprisingly complex. Bodhi and Utah are the same kind of person, only on different sides of the law, fostering a bizarrely competitive-yet-loving friendship that endures the pressures of their professional lives (FBI pursuit, enforced bank robbery, gunfights). Even when they are at fundamental odds with each other, they can’t hide their mutual respect.

Swayze is perfect as Bodhi, a bi-polar mixture of zen master and competitive asshole. He abhors violence, yet has no qualms wielding it or delegating it. His actions contradict the wisdom he expounds, particularly when it serves his own ends. But Swayze delivers his pseudo mysticism and impassioned philosophy against people driving to work “in their metal coffins” with such overwhelming charisma you almost want to quit your own job and go pick up a surfboard.

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On the surface, Utah is your typical clean cut, athletic golden boy. But he too stops at nothing to achieve his ultimate goal. In order to catch the bad guys he has no hesitation in preying on Tyler’s weakness – and this is before he even has a proper suspect for the robberies. Utah turns to deception JUST TO GET SURFING LESSONS! Reeves, too, is perfect for the role. Despite Utah’s questionable thought process, he’s so earnest it’s impossible not to think he’s in this for the right reasons. Reeves approaches Utah like a sort of gritty version of Ted from Bill & Ted, and so every time he opens his mouth he is a fountain of quotable dialogue: “I.am.an.F.B.I.agent.”

Of the rest of the cast, Busey restrains himself as Pappas and is all the better for it. Although, considering he has about as much impulse control as Utah, one might be inclined to question the FBI’s mentor-matching process. John C. McGinley essays another memorable character in FBI Director Harp, the ultimate in uptight by-the-book police chiefs, with a nifty line in scene-stealing dialogue and abusive hollering. The only female character, Tyler (Lori Petty), is there to pour verbal cold water on Bodhi and Utah’s dick-swinging machismo, but all it ultimately seems to do is egg them on. And Red Hot Chili Peppers fans might also get a kick out of seeing Anthony Kiedis playing a Nazi Surf Gang member and getting a surfboard smacked upside his head by a rampaging Swayze.

Worthy of special mention is the robbery chase. It is a masterpiece. Beginning in the getaway car, shaky backseat camera views put you right in the mix, sitting alongside the Ex Presidents as the FBI give pursuit. It feels lightning fast as cars skid and drift all over the highway, ending at a gas station with a petrol flambé. Utah then goes after Bodhi in an exhilarating foot chase through cramped alleys and suburban back yards. The camera follows as if a participant, and the improvised, desperate nature of the chase makes it feel like a reality cop show. There is a reason Edgar Wright lovingly referenced this sequence in Hot Fuzz: it is THE. ABSOLUTE. BEST.

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The logic pedants amongst you might point out that when we meet Director Harp he informs Utah that they catch criminals by number crunching and data analysis. This makes it all the more bizarre when the entire FBI bank robbery unit laughs at Pappas’ surfers theory, which he bases almost completely on number crunching and data analysis (robbery patterns and soil samples). But, Point Break doesn’t care about this stuff, and neither should you. If Point Break has any message to impart at all, then it’s clearly ‘act first, think later’. From Bodhi hitting a bank vault on a whim, to Utah and Pappas ruining an undercover operation because they failed to prepare, the characters are ruled by the id. They act on every impulse they have, and it’s finally epitomised in the boneheaded stupidity of skydiving without a parachute.

And while that all might well sound ridiculous on the page, when it’s up there on the screen it is dynamite. There is almost no accounting for how well everything in this movie comes together. Neither is there a plan for success, nor magical alchemy you can follow to replicate it. Put the same basic ingredients in a blender and what do you get? The Fast and the Furious, and nobody wants that. And talk about longevity, apart from influencing the likes of Edgar Wright and inspiring an unpopular 2015 remake, there was even a parody stage play, Point Break Live!

To be clear, the concept of ‘guilty pleasure’ does not remotely apply here, because there is nothing guilty about it at all. In some respects Point Breakis its own metaphor. It is the 50 year storm. It’s a plain and simple case of all the right elements converging together for a once in a lifetime tsunami of action movie perfection. If there’s a better legacy for Swayze to have left behind, or for anyone else involved in the movie for that matter, then it’s hard to imagine what that could be.

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#keanu reeves #patrick swayze #point break #kathryn bigelow

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hammerofthezods · 7 years ago

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Movie Review: Point Break

Point Break is a movie about these guys who are surfers and FBI agents and burglars. This movie has some way serious star power. The main good guy is played by Keanu Reeves who was also in a bunch of other movies like the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and The Matrix. The main bad guy, and sexiest character of all, is played by none other than everyone's hero, Patrick Swayze. Swayze is in a lot of movies where he plays a sexy guy like Roadhouse and Dirty Dancing and Red Dawn. In Roadhouse he beat up tons of people and had wall sex with this smoking hot blond chick. Gary Busey is also in this movie and he plays this crazy FBI guy who loves the shit out of meatball sandwiches. So what happens is that this guy named Johnny Utah, played by Keanu Reeves, wants to be an FBI agent. He goes to the FBI and they tell him that he can join them if he passes this test where he shoots things with a shotgun while it's raining. So Johnny does this and the FBI lets him be an agent. His first assignment is in California where he is supposed to investigate bank robberies with his new partner, Angelo Pappas. Pappas is played by Gary Busey. When Johnny gets to the FBI station in California, he eats a donut and then goes to meet his new partner who is swimming in a pool. Pappas sees the handsome young Johnny and is all like "What the fuck, man? This kid is going to totally suck at this because he's so handsome." Anyway, Pappas and Johnny are now partners and they go looking for bank robbers. The main bank robbers that they are looking for is this group of guys who dress up like US presidents and go to banks where they yell at people while using their guns to steal money. They rob tons of banks and are pretty good at it. No one has any clue who they are which pisses off the FBI greatly. However, Pappas has this hare-brained idea that the robbers are a bunch of surfers trying to raise money to go surfing. Everyone at FBI thinks he is dumb as shit and old so no one believes his theory about the surfing burglars. Johnny, however, is just a rookie so he has to act like it's a good idea. Anyway, in order to infiltrate the surfer gang, Utah goes undercover as a surfer. The first time he and Pappas go to the beach is just so damn funny. They walk around and act like total narcs. When Johnny goes into the water to learn how to surf, he makes this other surfer fall down. This guy gets really pissed and punches Johnny right in his face. The next day, Johnny goes back to surfing and almost drowns because he sucks so bad at it. While he's drowning, this girl saves his life and pulls him to the beach. She then yells at him for being such a n00b and makes fun of his big stupid surf board. The girl's name is Tyler and is played by Lori Pety who was also in the movie Tank Girl where I guess she played a girl tank driver (like that'd ever happen). Anyway, Johnny wants to have sex with Tyler so he watches her through binoculars when she comes off the beach. The she drives away and Johnny followers her to her job at a Dairy Queen. He also calls FBI and makes them look at her permanent record so he can know about her. Turns out that she's an orphan which gives him an "in" with her because he can lie about being an orphan as well. He walks into Tyler's work and orders shrimp and a Dilly Bar. When she looks up, she sees that it's the lame-ass guy from surfing and she gets pissed because he stalked her there. Then he tells her that his parents where run over by a train which, hahaha, what is this the 1800's? So now she kind of likes him and says that she will teach him how to shred on waves with his big dumb surfboard. The next day Tyler teaches Johnny how to surf and he just looks so damn terrible doing it. Everyone makes fun of him and he gets pissed. Then one time he finally surfs like a normal person and is very happy about that. When they are done surfing for the day, Tyler and Johnny walk back to the beach where they meet Patrick Swayze who's name is Bodie. It's very obvious that Bodie is the coolest surfer of all time because of his nice body and long hair. Then Bodie asks Johnny if he wants to play beach football with some other guys from a surfing club. Johnny says yes. Turns out that Johnny was a superstar QB at Ohio State, which LOL. Now everyone is playing football and scoring touchdowns and having a super time. This one time, Bodie keeps the ball on a sweep and runs down the beach. Johnny is all like "Nope" and hauls ass after him. After he slam tackles Bodie into the water, all the guys in the surfing club get really pissed because, hey man, we're just playing for fun here. Bodie then tells everyone that this is Johnny Utah from Ohio State and then they all love him because of that. Now they are all best friends. One day when Johnny is out undercover surfing, he runs into that one dude from earlier who punched him right in his face. This time, though, the guy brings a bunch of friends with him and they are so amped up to beat up Johnny real good. They start to battle and Johnny is doing pretty good and beats up a couple of them. Oh yeah, two of the surfer guys are from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers rock and roll band. I guess they got tired of making the shittiest music of all time and wanted to be in a movie. So after Johnny gets in a few good punches and kicks, the surfers start to win the fight. Just as we think they are going to murder Johnny right there on the goddamned beach, Bodie shows up and starts taking the fucking wood to these guys. This totally re-energizes Johnny who kicks more ass too. The funniest part is that while all this is happening, Pappas realizes that Johnny has been gone for too long so he yells into his walkie-talkie "WHERE ARE YOU JOHNNY? YOU BETTER NOT BE PICKING UP ANY BABES!" Hahaha. I laughed so damn hard when he said that. Then Bodie invites Johnny to a surfing party at his house. Johnny and Pappas totally think that the Red Hot Chili Peppers surfing gang are the bank robbers so they plan to go arrest them the next day. But first, Johnny goes to the party at Bodies house. At the party there are just so many babes and rock music. People are dancing and drinking alcohol and telling surfing stories. Then Bodie and his gang invite Tyler, who is also there, and Johnny to go night surfing. After they catch all of the waves for the night, Tyler and Johnny do it on the beach. When they wake up the next morning, Utah has to run to the bad surfer gang's house to arrest them for robbing banks. When the try to make the bust, everything just goes all to shit. There are people shooting all over the place and naked chicks kicking ass and all kinds of other stuff. Finally, the FBI guys get everything under control. Then Pappas points his gun at one of the guys and says "Speak into the microphone" which is really funny because he always says these stupid lines. It turns out that these guys are not the bank robbers because they are too busy selling meth. Everybody totally makes so much fun of Johnny and Pappas because they suck so damn hard at being in the FBI. So now it's early as shit the next morning and Johnny is lying in bed with Tyler. Then Johnny and his friends come over and say that they want to go surfing. While they are surfing, Johnny suddenly figures out that the robbers are these guys and he runs away to do some investigating. Then he goes and tells Pappas who doesn't believe him at first but finally comes around because he's a good partner and also because he kind of doesn't give a shit. The next day, Utah and Pappas go wait outside of the bank that is going to be robbed next. This is when the best part of the whole movie (possibly of any movie ever) happens. They're waiting outside the bank and Pappas says that he's hungry and tells Utah to go get him two meatball sandwiches because they are just so damn good. He loves them so much that as Johnny is walking to get them Pappas leans out the window of the car and says "Utah! Get me Two!". You have to watch this because it's just an awesome line. The guy just loves those damn meatball sandwiches. When Johnny gets back, Pappas starts to eat his lunch, but then they see that the bank is getting robbed. When the robbers run out with sacks full of money, Johnny shoots at them giving absolute no fucks about all the nearby civilians. Of course he misses, so now a car chase starts. They chase the robbers to a gas station where the robber dressed like Ronald Reagan makes a flame thrower and flame throws a bunch of shit. Then Johnny starts to chase Reagan and they run all over the city. This one time, Reagan throws and damn pit bull at Utah which is hilarious. Finally, they run down a hill where Johnny hurts his dainty little knee and has to stop running so Reagan gets away. Also, the guy dressed up as Reagan is actually Bodie. Later that night, Johnny is sleeping when Tyler finds his FBI gear and gets mad so she shoots the pillow next to him with a gun then runs away. Johnny is so sad and tries to call her a bunch but she doesn't answer the phone. Then Bodie comes over with the other surfers and tells Utah to get his shit because they're all going skydiving. At this point, Bodie and his gang know that Johnny is FBI and Johnny also knows that they know but nobody says anything and everyone just plays it all cool. So then they go skydiving and Johnny has a super time doing it. When they get back on the ground, Bodie tells Johnny that one of the other gang members has stolen Tyler and will only let her go if Johnny helps them rob a bank. Utah is pretty pissed about this because he'll get in tons of trouble so he says "I. AM. AN. FBI. AGENT!" which is just awesome. Bodie laughs at him and says "Sorry, bro. Today you're going to be a bank robber. And oh yeah, here's a shotgun to rob the bank with but it's not loaded because we don't like you anymore." Now they all go to rob a bank together. When they are inside robbing, there is an undercover cop there cashing a check, maybe his paycheck, and he starts to shoot at the robbers. He hits one and then somebody shoots the shit out of him. The robber that got shot dies and then everyone goes to leave. Before they run away, Bodie knocks Utah out by hitting him with a gun. When Johnny wakes up, all the cops are there and they go to arrest Johnny. Pappas shows up and punches the President FBI in the face and takes Johnny away. Johnny says the robbers are at the airport getting ready to go sky diving again so Pappas drives them there. When they get to the airport Pappas drops Johnny off and then goes to find a sniper spot to shoot people from. Johnny goes up to Bodie and tells him to let Tyler go. Bodie says "LoL. Nope!" Just then one of Bodie's friends finds Pappas in the sniper position and kills him but not before Pappas shoots the guy in his torso. So now, Bodie tells Utah that he has to go skydiving with them if he wants to get Tyler back. When they are up in the plane, Bodie give the guy that Pappas shot a bag of money and pushes him out the door and he dies. Then Bodie jumps out with a parachute. Johnny gets pissed because there are no more parachutes so he punches the plane. Then he decides to jump after Bodie without a parachute. So he jumps out and then catches Bodie in the air and gives him a big bear hug. So now they are hugging and falling to the ground and right at the last minute Johnny pulls the parachute cord and then they hit the ground rolling around and crying. Now the guy who stole Tyler drives up and lets her go. She runs towards Johnny and she's only wearing this sexy lingerie so you can kind of see her boobs. Then Bodie gets in the car and drives away with all the money from the bank. So now it's like a year later and Johnny is driving around Australia in a jeep. He also has long hair and a jeans jacket. He drives to the beach just as a big storm hits. He sees Bodie on the beach and starts to walk over to him. Then we see that there are a bunch of cops around and apparently Johnny is helping them capture Bodie once and for all. So, Johnny walks over to Bodie and says "You're under arrest!" Bodie is all like "Come on, bro. Just let me go ride this gigantic storm wave that I'll end up dying in because I don't want to go to jail." Because Johnny is now a surfer, he let's Bodie go die in the wave. After Bodie gets eaten by the big wave, Johnny throws his FBI badge away because he wants to be a full time surfer now. Then the movie is over. This movie is so damn good you guys. It has all kinds of cool shit in it. There's surfing and guns and chicks and fights and Pappas says awesome shit all the time. I highly recommend you watch this many times.

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wearetrashpeople · 5 years ago

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Found Footage Festival (CGP Minisode 10)

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On episode 11 of CGP, Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher of the Found Footage Festival take us through a history of public access! Emily Pineapple and Forrest the Keeper of the Canon are here to help get you up to speed about the FFF!

Links from the show:

1.) Mark’s First Night in Ikea: http://bit.ly/MarksFirstNightInIkea 2.) Mark Closes Ikea: http://bit.ly/MarkClosesIkea 3.) Mark’s Ikea Word Scramble #1: http://bit.ly/MarksIkeaWordScramble 4.) Mark’s Ikea Word Scramble #2: http://bit.ly/MarksIkeaWordScramble2 5.) Mark Ikea Word Scramble #3: http://bit.ly/MarksIkeaWordScramble3 6.) Mark Gets Annoying in Ikea: http://bit.ly/MarkGetsAnnoyingInIkea 7.) Mark’s Ikea Word Scramble #4: http://bit.ly/MarksIkeaWordScramble4 8.) Mark Gets Lost in Ikea: http://bit.ly/MarkGetsLostInIkea 9.) Mark’s Date in Ikea Part 5: http://bit.ly/MarksDateInIkeaPart5 10.) Mark Hitchhikes in Ikea: http://bit.ly/MarkHitchhikesInIkea 11.) VCR Party Live! Talking Gary Busey w/ Sam Seder: http://bit.ly/VCRPartyLiveWithSamSeder 12.) Swayze Dancing Clip: http://bit.ly/SwayzeDancing 13.) VCR Games: http://bit.ly/VCRGames 14.) Dirty Country Trailer: http://bit.ly/DirtyCountryTrailer 15.) She Makes My Peter Stand Up: http://bit.ly/SheMakesMyPeterStandUp 16.) Rachel Dratch’s Late Night Snack - Found Footage Files Pet Pourri: http://bit.ly/LateNightSnackPetPourri 17.) K-Strauss on Local News: http://bit.ly/KStraussOnLocalNews 18.) Chef Keith Compilation: http://bit.ly/ChefKeithCompilation 19.) Chef Keith Full Segment: http://bit.ly/ChefKeithFullSegment 20.) The Chop and Steele Saga: http://bit.ly/TheChopAndSteeleSaga 21.) Cat Montage: http://bit.ly/CatMontageVideo 22.) Glue Man: http://bit.ly/GlueMan 23.) Gas N’ Fuel Training Video: http://bit.ly/GasNFuel 24.) The Rejuvenique Face Mask Saga: http://bit.ly/TheRejuviniqueSaga 25.) The Tazapper Episode: http://bit.ly/TCGS-4 26.) Found Footage Festival Vol. 8: http://bit.ly/BuyFFFvol8 27.) Clips From Letterman’s Video Collection: http://bit.ly/LettermansVideoCollection 28.) Hail Satan: http://bit.ly/HailSatanMontage 29.) Winnebago Man: http://bit.ly/WinnebagoManTrailer 30.) Found Footage Festival Vol 9: http://bit.ly/FoundFootageFestVol9 31.) The Dundee Project: http://bit.ly/TheDundeeProjectTrailer 32.) Buy The Dundee Project: http://bit.ly/BuyTheDundeeProject 33.) Disney World: One Kid’s Opinion: http://bit.ly/DisneyWorldOneKidsOpinion 34.) How to Be A Real Man: http://bit.ly/HowToBeARealMan 35.) Computers: http://bit.ly/FFFComputers 36.) Special Delivery: http://bit.ly/SpecialDeliveryFFF 37.) Wild Chicago: http://bit.ly/WildChicago 38.) Rachel Dratch’s Late Night Snack - How to Be a Public Access Star: http://bit.ly/HowToBeAPublicAccessStar 39.) Santa Cruzin: http://bit.ly/SantaCruzinPublicAccess 40.) Spilly Chile’s Bowl of Rocks: http://bit.ly/GodstomperOnBowlOfRocks 41.) Geth on VCR Party Live: http://bit.ly/GethOnVCRPartyLive

See FFF Live!

1.) Austin, Texas on September 13: http://bit.ly/FFFinAustin 2.) Dallas, Texas on September 14: http://bit.ly/FFFinDallas 3.) Montgomery, Alabama on September 26: http://bit.ly/FFFinMontgomery 4.) Phoenixville, PA on October 11: http://bit.ly/FFFinPhoenixville 5.) Brooklyn, NY on October 12: http://bit.ly/FFFinBrooklyn

#chris gethard presents #found footage festival #CGP #public access

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kartiavelino · 6 years ago

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The popular, the expensive and the bargains: The celebs you can hire on Cameo

From $2,500 for a message from Caitlyn Jenner to simply $150 for a customized Gilbert Gottfried joke, there are greater than 10,000 stars accessible for hire on the app Cameo. The platform permits customers to e-book celebrities to report video extremely personalised messages for the whole lot from birthdays, to quitting a job, to popping out to at least one’s mother and father. Hottest is Ice-T, who for $300 a pop has been delivering eight to 15 feedback a day, which have been hailed as “heartfelt and real” based on not less than one consumer who employed the “Legislation & Order SVU” star by the app. Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee can be had for $350. Porn star Stormy Daniels is on the market for $250. For these on a finances, Ken Bone, the man in a purple sweater who requested a query at a presidential debate, can be employed for simply $20 buck. Right here’s a listing of the different luminaries able to develop into anybody’s personal spokesperson for a low value: REALITY STARS Caitlyn Jenner, $2,500“It was actually nice birthday present. My pal cherished it!” Mr. Fantastic, “Shark Tank,” $999“Manner higher than I anticipated.” Chris Harrison“The Bachelor” host, $475 Nene Leakes “Actual Housewives Atlanta,” $300 Bethenny Frankel“Actual Housewives of New York,” $275 Ramona Singer“Actual Housewives of New York,” $100 Sonja Morgan“Actual Housewives of New York,” $99 ACTORS Ruth Buzzi“Snigger-In,” $150 Ed Asner, “Lou Grant,” $100“You’re a gentleman and a real legend!” Ernie Hudson, “Ghostbusters,” $80“Hubbie loves the video! He completely geeked out!!!” Wesley Snipes, “Blade,” $500“Nicely price the value.” Billy Zane“Titanic,” $500 Ice-T, “Legislation & Order: SVU,” $300“heartfelt, and real!” Gary Busey“Beneath Siege,” common craziness, $325 Leslie David Baker“The Workplace,” $300 Anthony Michael Corridor“Breakfast Membership,” $200 Corey Feldman“The Goonies,” $122 Tom Sizemore“Saving Non-public Ryan,” $150 Sean Astin“Lord of the Rings,” $150 Jennifer Love Hewitt“Celebration of 5,” $150 Bella ThorneDisney exhibits, states of undress, $150 Brian Baumgartner“The Workplace,” $145 Gina Gershon, “Sure,” $125 Melissa Joan Hart, “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” $125“Seeing you attempt to pronounce my identify meant much more than you getting it proper straight away.” Ione Skye“Say Something,” $125 Tom Arnold“True Lies,” $100 Sherilyn Fenn“Twin Peaks,” $100 Billy Baldwin“Backdraft,” $100 Jim O’Inheritor, “Parks and Recreation,” $100“Jim gave Maygen the greatest [pep] discuss and she went out and aced her sommelier examination!!” Michael Rapaport, “True Romance,” $100“You gained’t discover a extra passionate particular person on Cameo who places his absolute all into the message.” Tommy “Tiny” Lister, “The Fifth Factor,” $75“I recognize what he’s doing, nevertheless it didn’t come out that good. Lots of studdering [sic] and studying instantly from textual content.” Mischa Barton“The OC,” $75 Cindy Morgan (“Caddyshack”), $40“You didn’t establish your self in the video (I’m guessing you simply forgot) which you in all probability ought to do every time. No huge deal!” PERSONALITIES Stormy Daniels, pornstar, presidential paramour, $250“You completely stole the present at my Dad’s 70th Birthday celebration. Nice job.” Blac ChynaSizzling mess, $250 Marla Maples, ex-Trump spouse, $102“Elegant, with breathtaking verve and fashion.” Omarosa, ex-Trump aide, $100“My mother cherished the video.” Bam Margera“Jackass,” $75 Kevin FederlineEx-husband of Britney Spears, $75 Carson Kressley“Queer Eye for the Straight Man,” $59 Backpack Child, who originated Floss Dance, $50“Was solely 5 seconds lengthy. Was dissatisfied!!” Perez HiltonWeb gadfly, $28.99 WHAT THE HELL? Patricia KrentcilThe “Tan Mother,” $100 Ron JeremyPornstar, $200 Dr. Sandra Lee a okay a Pimple Popper, $75“My spouse cherished it a lot and cried as soon as she realized it was actual!” George Jung a okay a “Boston George” Johnny Depp performed in him “Blow,” $65 Kato KaelinOJ Simpson neighbor, $55 John Kassir“The Crypt Keeper,” $50 Daniel LoganYounger Boba Fett, $50 The Unknown Comedian, $40 “Gene Gene the Dancing Machine is useless so who else ya’ gonna name.” Ken BoneThe man in a purple sweater who requested a query at a presidential debate, $20 Sideeye ChloeYouTube star, $20 Sam ColemanYounger Hodor from ”Recreation of Thrones,” $20 Gary the Snail from SpongeBob, $7 Burr Martin Selfiedad, Podcaster, $1“You deserve extra!” COMEDIANS Norm McDonald, $175 Gilbert Gottfried, $150“Love the Australian jokes!” Pauly Shore, $150 Tommy Chong, $105 Andy Dick, $99 Chris Kattan, $70 SINGERS Tommy Lee, Motley Crue, $350“Birthday shoutout out of your F—ING personal jet! You went manner overboard dude” Taste Flav, $250 Dee SniderTwisted Sister, $200 Joey Fatone, $150“My spouse was thrilled.” Bow Wow, $135 Downtown Julie Brown, MTV VJ, $125“Love how you WOOF WOOF WOOF at the finish.” Huge Freedia, $125 Ariel Pink, $100“Expectedly haughty.” Montell Jordan, $100 Lisa Loeb, $75 Grandmaster Melle Mel, $50“Completely blew his thoughts, may need introduced a tear to his eye.” ATHLETES Michael VickFormer Atlanta Falcons QB, $1,000 Brett FavreFormer Inexperienced Bay Packers QB, $500 Kristjan Sokoli“First Albanian participant in NFL,” NY Giants, $5 Terrell OwensFormer huge receiver, $350 Kyle TroupSkilled bowler, $15 Jose CansecoDisgraced former baseball participant, $150 Ryan Lochte, disgraced Olympic swimmer, $100“Simply confirmed the video to my husband and he cherished it. You made his birthday! Jeah Jeah Jeah!!” Karen ChenOlympic determine skater, $7 Jake The Snake RobertsWrestler, $100 Share this: https://nypost.com/2019/04/11/the-popular-the-expensive-and-the-bargains-the-celebs-you-can-hire-on-cameo/ The post The popular, the expensive and the bargains: The celebs you can hire on Cameo appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://kartiavelino.com/2019/04/the-popular-the-expensive-and-the-bargains-the-celebs-you-can-hire-on-cameo.html

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tvguidancecounselor · 5 months ago

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TV Guidance Counselor Episode 643: Judd Winick Returns

September 7-13, 1991

This week Ken welcomes Hilo creator Judd Winick BACK to the show.

Ken and Judd discuss how long they speak to each other, Gary Busey living in your attic, Bad Ronald, the dark times of 1991, Stephen Dorf, Janine Turner, Walter Cronkite interviewing dinosaurs, Summer's end, season finales, Northern Exposure, SCTV, Twin Peaks, story engines, a Joel Fleischman type, The Real World, Rob Morrow, Hollis, great characters, Young Riders, Treat Williams, Dead Heat, nude Meatloaf, a stage adaptation of Phantom of the Paradise, Sing Street, Ken's gift of a John Travolta workout book from his elderly neighbors, shopping around for what to watch, ballroom dancing, Police Academy V, Cast a Deadly Spell, Dennis Hopper replacing Fred Ward, acknowledging how crazy things are, a pre-irony world, COPS, bookies, Big Top Pee Wee, Batman '89, Hardware, comic book movies, Yo! Yogi!, Pro Stars, the premiere of Herman's Head, moving The Simpsons, The Adventures of Mark and Brian, Stern, Marilyn from Northern Exposure, Rob Morrow and Johnny Depp's roomie days, Graham Green, never thinking about Paul Bunyan, Full House, San Francisco, Big Brother Jake with Jake Steinfeld, The Lightning Field, ripping off Quantum Peak for Marvel's EX-iles, Sliders, 90210, Amityville the Evil Escapes, and the era of not caring TV.

Check out this episode!

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topbeautifulwomens · 6 years ago

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#Jillian #Clare #Biography #Photos #Wallpapers #beautyblog #eyepencil #halfindonesiajapan #happy #makeupvideos #painting #photomodel #presenter #pretty #worldstar

Jillian Clare is an exuberant, accomplished award winning young actress/singer originally from the beautiful Pacific Northwest. At five years old Jillian began singing and dancing on phase winning accolades and numerous vocal talent awards. Her acting career began when she was 6, entertaining audiences performing in a one person original musical titled ‘A Dream is a Wish’. Commercial work briefly followed, along with a lead role in the independent pilot, Bright Lights.

Since arriving in Los Angeles during the summer of 2000, Jillian has been busy lending her considerable talent to television and films. Her compelling performance portraying pre-teen ‘Abby Deveraux’ on NBC’s “Days of Our Lives” (1965), earned her the 2004 and 2005 ‘Young Artist Award’ as the Best Recurring Young Actress on television. In addition, she has searched in several commercials, several feature and short subject films, including, the blockbuster Spider-Man (2002), a starring role in the family film Quigley (2003) opposite Gary Busey, and the multi-award winning short, Chasing Daylight (2004). 2004 brought another dimension to Jillian’s career, with a hosting job on the Universal pilot presentation, All Access Pass, a refreshings magazine show geared toward kids and teens. In 2005, a new credit was added to her resume as she not only starred in but also executive developed the live action comedy pilot, L.A.F.I.T. She also co-wrote and recorded the theme song for the pilot.

Jillian continues to appear on-stage in both musicals and dramatic plays, something she holds dear to her heart. While working on the popular soap opera, she successfully juggled her ‘Days’ schedule to star as ‘Scout’ in Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird on stage at the West Coast Ensemble in Hollywood. Other stage productions include, Music Man, Annie Get Your Gun, Meet Me in St. Louis, A Christmas Carol and the original show, Meet Me at the Oak, a role that earned the young actress a ‘Best Child Actor’ award. During the 2000 Christmas season, Jillian played ‘Cindy Lou-Who’ in the live production of Grinchmas at Universal Studios in Hollywood. To date, she is the youngest performer ever hired at the theme park.

A favorite of advertising agencies, Jillian has done numerous national television and radio commercials. Her memorable work in a Children’s Tylenol commercial earned her a 2003 ‘Young Artist Award’ nomination. She has also provided voice work for the ABC hit series “Lost” (2004), the Disney channel, and the feature films Catch Me If You Can (2002) and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006).

Jillian is an avid singer and has been featured on numerous CD’s including the Soap Sessions 8 Christmas CD, several kids CD’s and the Hollywood Hooligans Christmas CD. She will next be heard on the new Hollywood Hooligans Pop/Rock CD, and will shortly be collaborating on songs with established and award winning songwriters for her debut LP.

Her passion is performing and protecting all living creatures. She lends her support to a variety of charitable causes geared in direction of children and her 4-legged friends. Jillian has an older sister, a darling niece, and an prolonged family back in the Northwest. She adores old Hollywood, vintage, cameos, giraffes, horseback riding, and her idol, Audrey Hepburn.

Name Jillian Clare Height Naionality Date of Birth Place of Birth Famous for

The post Jillian Clare Biography Photos Wallpapers appeared first on Beautiful Women.

source http://topbeautifulwomen.com/jillian-clare-biography-photos-wallpapers/

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christianmarkchristian · 6 years ago

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Girl Gone West

A Film is Born c h r i s t i a n c h r i s t i a n Mid 1990’s: 23 year old petite, sultry brunette Carole Bardwell, her 7th attempt to move to and stay in, L.A. having succeeded, meets Matt Damon & Ben Affleck at a dinner party, where the studly, rising Damon impregnates her... STOP What’s this? Yet another tabloid, #MeToo story of sexual assault? Another disgusting, obscene tale of lewd behavior, power, tears and woe?...another reason to boycott the annual Oscar Awards telecast? No. Quite the opposite. In fact, though such stories still abound (and always will) in Hollywood, its the opposite. Its a tale of incredible imagination. Its a story of people of faith, as well and it’s time that #wetoo “come out.” And about the Oscars: 99% of viewers might not understand why Oscar winners accept their award with weeping, joy and occasional bizarre behavior. As you read this story about the trials and travails of getting a movie made, you’ll get it. Granted, getting an independent film produced might not be as difficult as finding a cure for cancer...but close. This story records the unbelievable struggle of a married, then divorced couple to get a movie made. It’s dedicated to all people everywhere who have struggled or are struggling, to make a feature film. In fact, developing their project is one reason the couple is still close after divorce, sometimes even living together at times if it seemed good for the project. Regarding that... -a divorced couple living together was seen in 2012, as so unusual and even unhealthy, that a major cable news network actually cast the couple in what they pitched as a “News Doc” focusing on the phenomenon. After reading this, anyone should be able to understand why finally getting their movie made will be a cause for these two, to laugh, weep and dance with unbridled joy. An Oscar? Well that would be the possibly cause of a complete and total joy meltdown! And YES #WeToo can bring answers to the #MeToo problem but more about that later. Yes, Damon impregnated the beautiful young Ex-Texan not with human seed but with words, with the idea of a movie project. Damon had just finished a script inspired by his life called Good Will Hunting, a tale of breaking out of one’s own personal limitations, of the confines of “home” and going west to chase a girl and/or a dream. That tale went on to receive numerous nominations and awards. Here are just a few: Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Robin Williams. Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Matt Damon & Ben Affleck. Best Picture Lawrence Bender. Best Actor in a Leading Role, Matt Damon. Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Minnie Driver. Best Director, Gus Van Sant. Best Film Editing, Pietro Scalia. Best Music, Original Song Elliott Smith For the song "Miss Misery,” Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, Danny Elfman. Back at our Melrose dinner party, hearing young Carole’s struggle to move to L.A. no less than seven times, Damon half jokingly (but really meaning it), says “write a movie about it” and “call it 7 Attempts to L.A.” Carole went home that night and within days, began writing on 4” x 5” Index cards. Without sufficient knowledge of how to write a script, though, or having script writing software or even a typewriter, her movie-pregnancy eventually dies. Yet that baby will be resurrected; not just once but over and over, during the course of the next twenty three+ years. Damon & Affleck will collect numerous awards, star in and produce numerous films and rise to Superstar status. Bardwell will marry, (this writer) change her name a few times, divorce (this writer) move about twelve times, to various suburbs around Hollywood (finally settling there.) She’ll survive twenty three years in an oft-times cruel industry, working as a professional hand model while dreaming of being a working actress and making her movie. 1999-2002 The first script-resurrection began with meeting this writer at a Hollywood Bible Study. Evangelist/Motivational speaker Tim Storey packed out the Bel Age Hotel Banquet room, just off the Sunset strip, with the best and brightest of gorgeous, hip, stylish Hollywood. Charlie Sheen, Christian Slater, Gary Busey and Dyan Cannon were regular or frequent attendees as was nightclub owner Brent Bolthouse. It was there that this writer met then-Carole Bardwell and began a life-long friendship that would center on at last birthing the script-baby. (or “the script, baby!) A few short years after meeting, Carole, then Carolyn, took this writers surname, Christian and became Carolyn Christian. In the very first year or two of marriage, the two got busy writing the first draft of the script 7 Attempts to L.A. But it wasn’t until they had been forced to move from their dream Brentwood apartment, due to insufficient income and ultra high rents, that more serious drafts were written. 2 0 0 5 In San Fernando, CA., taking up extra work and sharing the two bedroom condo of an Avid Video Editor friend, “JAKE” they moved into high gear and first began to look at the 3 act structural challenge that Carolyn’s biography posed. Christian had been taught three act structure basics by a student of a famous film writer and director. Act one is where obstacles are introduced and situations are “set up.” Act two is where they reach crisis mode and Act three is where everything is resolved, “payoffs” happen and the dragon is finally slain. The challenge was that the couple was living in Act two, with no Act three in sight. How does one write a true story that remains unfinished? How does a true story of two people doing extra work, struggling to keep a roof over their heads, end up with one, or both, winning an Oscar? At the advice of a then-talent manager, Carolyn enrolled in the prestigious Baron/Brown acting school in Santa Monica. One of her acting partners in class, a young man with a bright future, took his own life. Carolyn was moved to take up the cause again. The script would be about suicide prevention. Her story was one of persisting through terrible hardship, loss, depression and pain and yet winning victory in the end. Her faith taught her that if she would just persist, trusting God, breakthrough would eventually happen. She and her co- writer, then-husband, dreamed of audiences that would include depressed or suicidal movie- goers finding themselves immersed in the shared mass experience of a movie that changes their mental state. Doubt, despair and sadness would be replaced with Faith, Hope and Love. It became more than a movie-it was a passion project, a MISSION. It was a burning question: if Doctors, Lifeguards & Police officers can save lives, why cant movies? Why not? Once upon a time, before the invention of the microscope, in the Netherlands in 1590, the idea of unseen microscopic creatures inhabiting humans and causing cause death, seemed crazy. Out of ignorance, people died from bacteria, germs and lack of sanitation. Is is possible that today, people dying from suicide are also victims of something unseen to the naked eye; something that promotes suicide, something that a story or an immersive experience might cure? Wild ideas indeed but no wilder than the world we live in and what wilder place is there than Hollywood, California? The decision was made to “write their own future” according to popular teachers of the time, Christian and otherwise. They wrote a third act using a rumored long lost relative “Belizaire the Cajun” who had left a fortune in a Swiss bank account, landing the couple finally, in a Limo, on the way to the Oscar’s. Incredibly, a Limo-driver friend was introduced to their lives and they became house mates with him in...

2 0 0 7 TARZANA Maybe showing signs of ADD, they veered wildly off-course when they found and adopted a street Tabby, inspired to pursue another script that another actor-Gary Busey had inspired, a modern-day Breakfast At Tiffany’s project, instead. -Or maybe they knew that a long lost rich Uncle story was way too predictable, not the way to end their story and it would take a few more years of hardship, to craft the perfect “happy ending.” THE MIRACLE HAND MODEL Amazingly, CeCe’s hands were discovered...in Church. CeCe had been raised in “hand raising” church traditions but at conservative Bel Air Presbyterian, her hands-in-the-air worship style stuck out like a...sore thumb. In February of 2007, a 30-something black friend, “Picasso,” who resembled Barack Obama, was sitting a few pews behind CeCe. He noticed her hands during worship because they were raised in the air among a congregation of hundreds of non hand raisers, who’s hands were kept at their sides or in their pockets. CeCe’s hands were flawlessly shaped, thin and graceful. Picasso, it turned out, often worked with Linda Teglovic, owner of the top hand modeling agency in the world, BodyPartsModels, in Beverly Hills. After church, Picasso gave CeCe a referral. Linda was blown away by CeCe’s hands, saying they “looked just like her top model, Adelle.” But alas the miracle was “not yet”- the fee for joining the agency was steep; around $1500 for photos and other signing fees. Some even said that fee’s for joining modeling agencies were “red flags” and to beware. Regardless, the couple was struggling financially yet again and certainly did not have $1500 for something that seemed at the time, like risky business. Both had made good money working for Barry Young, a commercial director friend but that job ended when Christian’s Mom needed in-home hospice care for the Leukemia which was soon to take her life. So, hand modeling, like the movie project, was shelved. 2 0 0 8 JUNE 26- CeCe’s Birthday! a year and a half later, CeCe’s bestie, a pixie wearing female Norwegian entrepreneur named Lena, handed CeCe a birthday card as they left an Encino, CA Starbucks. Stopped at the light, in the dark, with Christian driving, CeCe opened the card to find...a check for $1300! Inside, a note read “for your hand modeling!” CeCe’s Dad sent $300 to cover the extra fees, enabling CeCe to finally sign with BodyParts Models. Soon, her gorgeous fingers were seen tapping a Hewlett Packard Tablet in a commercial, shown during the annual Grammy Awards show! She was even booked on a Cici’s Pizza commercial where she made $3500 (before taxes and fees) in one day just to hold a slice of Pizza! But the REAL miracle happened back in the 1970’s, to four year old Carol. Her older half sister, Angie, arguing over their dog, slammed the front door of the house. Carol’s right pinky was caught between the door and the door frame. The bloody tip hung by a slender piece of flesh as Carol’s Mom held it together in the car, on the way to a local ER. The doc said that “it would most likely not function” if they sewed it back on and that discarding the tip might be the best course of action. Carol’s parents were both faith-filled Christians who trusted that God would be able to not just heal but glorify little Carol’s hands. It took thirty years but God did just that, using BodyPartsModels Agency. Unfortunately, although the hand modeling paid very well, the jobs were inconsistent. Forced to move again and again, the couple shelved the film project yet again, for a few more years, to focus on keeping a roof over their heads and on keeping the marriage together. 2 0 1 0 AUGUST An awesome DTLA PR job earned the couple $300 per day and got them into a beautiful Sherman Oaks apartment with Lena co- signing. But that job was lost after a year and a half, when the owner of the company decided to fire everyone instead of engaging in a labor relations dispute. Losing the job forced them to scramble to find $300 a day to keep them in their expensive apartment. Some months they succeeded and some months they did not. SAG Actors Fund, Bel Air Presbyterian Deacons Fund, unemployment, friends and family all helped but eventually the bitter struggle overwhelmed them. 2 0 1 1 September Ten years after marrying, the already strained relationship finally broke down completely. A triumphant, redemptive script based on Carolyn’s “real life” seemed like a joke when her life and her marriage, were ruined. Even Ben Affleck personally hiring Christian as a sketch artist at $200/day with his own trailer, for Oscar winning ARGO, couldn’t put things back on track. It was “too little, too late” for CeCe, who spent many a night just weeping in her bed, pondering the incredible devastation that divorce was about to bring. Christian too, suffered a deep depression when forced to embark on a months long couch surfing tour of several friends from Church homes. Married couple Pastors counseled Christian to accommodate CeCe’s request for “space.” Sleeping on the couch in an L.A. County therapist friends Los Feliz apt, he joked “most people only need your couch for an hour a week but apparently I need eight hours a day!” 2012 JANUARY Christian finds a job listing on CraigsList for CeCe who has experience cold calling investors from similar projects in the past. She gets the job and later that year, it will pay for her new Hollywood apartment. JULY Divorce final, a major “News” network casts them in a “documentary” about how the crash of ‘08 was causing divorced couples to live together. Bringing cameras into their Sherman Oaks apartment to film what they said was a “news doc” the show turned out to be a reality show where Christians buttons were intentionally pushed, to destroy his “zen” calm and foster ratings. OCTOBER Carolyn began to use the name “CeCe” from her hubby’s nick-naming her initials. The divorce final, CeCe moved out of their Sherman Oaks apartment and took a small, rent-controlled one bedroom in Hollywood, with a view of the HOLLYWOOD sign and the Observatory at Griffith Park. DECEMBER When the show aired a few days before Christmas later that year, Christian suffered from one of the worst shame based depressions he’d ever experienced but instinctively knew that there had to be a reason for it: -that making a movie that would save people from depression, it might be necessary to experience that same depression. 2 0 1 3 JANUARY Christian takes a job as “Chef” at ROAST a deli-market in Brentwood where he works 7am - 9:30 pm, 5-6 days a week, standing on his feet without a break, to keep the apartment. AUGUST- MORE UNEMPLOYMENT Tired of being on his feet for 14 1/2 hr days, standing next to a 600 degree oven while being yelled at by a hard drinking wanna-be Anthony Bourdain, Christian gives his two week notice in August, having found a job as a home PA for a questionable film project in Playa Del Rey. The welcome break of sitting down all day with a view of sailboats just outside the Marina is rudely interrupted after only a few weeks when Christian and his beautiful young Brit blonde co-worker are asked not to cash their checks. He and his co-worker friend quit. The restaurant wont take him back. His co-workers hubby, living nearby, banged daily on their employers door and eventually got his wife paid. Christian forgave his employers debt of $700 from that job. At the same time, CeCe and her co-worker friends, across town at the Raleigh Studio offices of “There Goes the Neighborhood” LLC, are shocked and dismayed to learn that their Film Producer boss is using money from investors retirement funds, to do coke, hire hookers and watch porn. CeCe, as Christian had done, quits after not getting several paychecks. She takes five pages of leads of investors and the Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) legal doc and quits the job without getting paid almost $9,000 in commissions owed. THANKSGIVING? Christian kept trying valiantly, to keep the expensive Sherman Oaks apartment but after just a year, he failed to find the income or a good room mate and was given a deal to move out without harm to his credit. A friend who was also being divorced by his wife (Lena, the Norwegian entrepreneur,) for the exact same reasons, offered the empty garage in the couples four-bedroom Panorama City house, a few miles up the road, for $400/month. Moving into an un- insulated, garage in a low income neighborhood, living amongst spider webs, during one of the coldest Thanksgivings in L.A., was a low point in Christians life -but things were still to get worse. CHRISTMAS? Just when he had found a temporary part time job in a friends restaurant in Winnetka, a 20 minute bus ride away, he was given the news that the house was going on the market. After finally settling in, he’d again have to move, without a job and with only a few hundred dollars in his bank account. Meanwhile in Hollywood, CeCe meets a British rising star who encouraged her to pick up the project again, that he’d like to read it. 2 0 1 4 “It can only get better...” MARCH The house sells, Christian has nowhere to go. CeCe reluctantly but kindly offers her couch and is rewarded almost instantly with a miracle job. Christian, tired of crappy jobs, bounced checks and couch surfing became pro-active and agrees to co- found an event company. ”CHRYSALIS HOLLYWOOD” planned as a 2-day Seminar/Bootcamp for newcomers who want to increase their savvy in Hollywood. Christian begins to receive a small monthly stipend from his Seattle area Christian woman business partner, whom he’d met on Facebook. Looking back, it might seem so incredibly sketchy. But at the time, the money-small as it was, convinced him that his partner “meant business. CAKE & EAT IT, TOO Even though she didn’t submit for it, even though thousands did, the director of CAKE picture-picked CeCe to be stand-in and photo double for the biggest female star on the planet-Jennifer Aniston, a six week job that paid around $8000. Both CeCe and Christian agreed that God had smiled upon her kindness in taking in her ex temporarily. MAY 7LA RESURRECTION CeCe meets an “English director woman” who wants to read the shelved script. The woman is impressed and says that with a re-write, she can possibly help get the script to “people.” Once again, the project is resurrected and now that Christian is crashed at CeCe’s, co- writing with her seems to justify the couple living together yet again.

JULY Christian now couch surfing in yet another friends apt, had finished planning CHRYSALIS HOLLYWOOD-a venue (L.A. Center Studios), a panel of guest speakers (including CeCe and her MTV VJ woman friend) photographers, promo postcards and a gorgeous web site he had designed and built-all for a few hundred dollars a month. Christian and his partner planned to split the profits 50/50 with Christian paying back the monthly stipend he was using to live on. Ahead of his time, Christian even accepted Bitcoin on the website. AUGUST 1 Dark Knight of the Soul. Chrysalis Hollywood partnership tanks when a new partner, a christian Hollywood producer suggests that Christian ought to be paid a living wage, for managing the project. At a Malibu meeting, Christians woman business partner agrees but a few days later, changed her mind, deciding that Christian ought to work at Starbucks, instead as he continues to manage the event. At the worst time of his life, CeCe insists that he move to what looks like a sketchy living arrangement in Pasadena at a friend of the producers home. Out of money, Chrysalis crashed, self esteem totally shot, he prays to God “take me out of this world.” An epiphany at the “Al Pastor” Taco Stand on the corner, where he is tongue-lashed by an enraged, 6’ 5” black man, upset at the recent Donald Sterling NBA revelations, changes Christians mind, renewing his will to live and restoring his joy. He has experienced, at a Taco Stand, what he has dreamed of accomplishing, in a movie. He now knows it can be done. SEPTEMBER CeCe is given a plane ticket back home to Houston, to visit her Dad and half sister. Christian, instead of moving, has the place all to himself for two weeks, promises to finally finish the re-write, this time adding a 3rd act inspired by the premise of a huge female star being abducted and CeCe, as her photo double, being asked to finish the film which leads to an astonishing rise to the Oscar’s. OCTOBER Deciding to do a “raise” like the ones she has experience doing in past jobs, CeCe asks Christian to create a 50 page “PPM” for 7 L.A., copied from the Private Placement Memorandum CeCe still had from her last boss. CeCe uses lead lists, Christian asks a few friends to cold call as “Fronters” and another to be a closer. Several attempts are made to raise funds by calling investors from the Dunn & Bradstreet lead lists but all the investors were burned and not about to get burned again. Zero dollars were raised; maybe a good thing at the time. Another lesson learned. THANKSGIVING The director of an A-list film starring Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper is actually impressed with the writing but passes. The creator of a wildly popular TV series was interested. CeCe and Christian are encouraged that the project is gaining traction. Someone from a Craiglist ad asks if CeCe and Christian would consider doing the film as a musical and is never heard from again. Years later, LaLa Land is released- a musical about an actress trying to make it in Hollywood. LAST HOURS OF 2014 Christian has an incredibly vivid dream where he meets Lindsay Lohan at a tiny Church worship service at an unknown SoCal location. 2015 January 7 A friend of CeCe’s from the Raleigh Studios job, calls out of the blue and phone-introduces CeCe to Michael Lohan- Lindsay’s Dad, who says he might be able to help connect the team to some major players. CeCe meets with a old friend from acting school who refers him to a young black guy, “Mr. RED Camera,” who offers to shoot the pitch trailer “for free,” which turns into a “$600 rental fee” because “the original camera is broken and in the shop.” At the same time, Christian is told of an older white gentleman, Dan, who might invest in the project. He meets CeCe and agrees to fund the pitch trailer, investing as a producer, $2000 towards that effort. FEBRUARY Deciding to try crowd funding, 60-something Berkley hippy director Barry Young,(Bedford Falls)-the guy who had fired the couple when Christians Mom was dying, in a kind gesture, shoots and edits a video for their Indie GoGo campaign. The 60-day effort fails to raise any money- but the ultra hip Miles Davis soundtracked video is universally praised as awesome! MARCH Mr. RED camera totally blows it, forgetting to turn on the proper camera setting after a miracle opens the door for cast and crew to shoot on location at the Dolby theater. Not knowing that the gaff can be fixed in post, the guy keeps making excuses, delaying and deleting footage when asked to produce footage or a rough copy of the trailer. JUNE Finally complete, the pitch trailer with RED footage looks impressive however the random clips are confusing because Mr. RED camera refused to include stock shots needed to fill out the story. The success of JOY and other similar films inspires CeCe and Christian to re-brand the script as a “female empowerment story” then again, as a “Cinderella story.” 2016 MARCH Finally, Some breaks! Christian is paid $5000 to write a Greek Film Comedy and moves to the West Side. SUMMER SETBACK “EJ” a middle aged black man, says “God told me that I was supposed to help” -create a shooting schedule and a production board, that would help get an insurance bond that would guarantee $300,000 to start pre-production. His connection- TOM, had worked with Spielberg on JAWS. After a month of EJ hanging out in CeCe’s apt all day, every day, doing alot of good work but arguing over details...it turned out that EJ was living out of his Mercedes. Eventually, his wild claims of being God became intolerable and CeCe kicked him off the project. With a web site, a pitch trailer, Barry’s awesome video and a script getting positive coverage, CeCe goes out to schmooze on a regular basis, garnering many pitch meetings with film professionals but none have yet to buy. CeCe meets AMIRA a gorgeous 30- something brunette actress who she sees playing the young version of herself in the film. With Middle eastern ancestry and exotic seductive eyes, Amira and CeCe are quite the team in schmoozing. Amira introduces CeCe to a woman who suggests the need for a PITCH DECK. Christian, now living in a Santa Monica Bungalow, takes a month or two to create a PITCH DECK and adds it to website. Its a huge job which usually pays around $3000 but he does it on spec, as usual, sowing more hours of blood, sweat and tears into the dream. More meetings, more parties. An Asian man has connections to WANDA, the massive Chinese entertainment conglomerate. The pitch deck is adjusted to include Chinese talent Bing Bing Lee. The Asian man emails the pitch deck to WANDA, who apparently passes without word.

Fall 2016 - LaLa Land is released while CeCe attends AFM. CeCe Meets Indie Film Producer “Paul.” Paul likes the script and promises a “50/50 chance it will go into production” if they hire another writer for yet another re-write. 2017. Spring CeCe and Christian are crushed to see so many of their elements in LaLa Land: Griffith Park Observatory, which can be seen out CeCe’s living room window, plays a key role as well. CeCe and Christian have been hiking in Griffith for years, dreaming of the day they “make it to the top of Mt. Hollywood.” Their script opens with a spoken word poem which references the “agony and the ecstasy, side by side, on the 405 (freeway)”; LaLa Land opens with a SoCal freeway dance number. CeCe and Christians relationship had a poignant ending over career and money; so did the lead characters in LaLa Land (rare and unusual choices for Hollywood movies) CeCe and Christian wrote about and had a fascination for, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Audrey Hepburn and classic Hollywood. LLL had a fascination for Ingrid Bergman and included a play written about her by the female lead. In another bizarre synchronicity, LaLa Land won, then lost, the Best Picture Oscar, which seemed ironic and possibly even karmic-there is no way they knew for sure. CeCe and Christians script climaxed in a bizarre Oscar moment. Was life imitating art or art imitating life? Christian posts on a facebook Hollywood writers group, looking for a 3rd writer. Around 5-7 are called in, for an interview at Christians place in Santa Monica. Randy, who was mentored by Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry, is picked. JUNE Randy is hired to re-write, does a bang up job in a month but his version is not yet quite Cinderell-esque enough. JULY Christian offers a plot outline for a present-day Cinderella story. Randy kindly agrees to start yet another re-write, framing it more closely in a modern day Cinderella plot outline. DECEMBER CeCe’s Dad, who had supported the project with regular financial provision for a year and a half, suddenly disappears. CeCe goes to the Hollywood station to file a Police report. A few hours later, her Dad calls- he’s driven all night to Houston and will no longer support her because his sister in Louisiana and an elder woman friend in Houston have poisoned his mind against her, Christian and the project, saying “the two are winos and the movie is a pipe dream.” 2018 June Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain become the latest celebrity suicide victims, harsh and sad reminders for CeCe and Christian, that the work remains unfinished. Randy, with a full time job on a movie, has still not yet finished a re-write. CeCe is interviewed by another beautiful young Texan coming to Hollywood-Holly, for her YouTube show “Higher Living.” Christian is present at the interview at CeCe’s apt, with Griffith Park out the dark window. He’s inspired by the question “have you written a book?” -and realizes that’s the ONE THING he and CeCe have yet to do. THIS IS THAT BOOK. Now back to the opening scene where one of Hollywood’s biggest stars stands “accused” -two decades later! -of impregnating a vulnerable, innocent young actress...with an idea. Why cant more sexually charged meet-cutes end up triumphant like this and not tragic, like Harvey Weinstein? Shifting topical mode here, from straight biography and story telling, to a little preachin’- after all, the entire project comes from a desire to share love and faith, with a oft cold, hard Hollywood that eats people alive... -sexual mores and attitudes tend to veer towards one extreme or the other: extreme legalism or extreme licentiousness. Both extremes are extremely...toxic, to human sexuality. The hijab and burkha is toxic legalism. In a good faith attempt to “protect” women, women are subjugated. The other extreme, the Hollywood extreme, veers too often into porn and nudity. In a good faith effort to “liberate” women, women are instead deified and objectified. Ironically, both cultures start out trying to help women but end up hurting them. (extremely) Lets face it, women have always been abused by Alpha males, since the dawn of time. But the “sexual liberation” movements of the 60’s, whole heartedly adopted and promoted by HOLLYWOOD, PLAYBOY, COSMOPOLITAN, ROCK & ROLL and other culture-makers, threw gasoline on the fire of male lust and sexual abuse. We sent abusers like Weinstein mixed signals and he merely conformed to them. He adopted a “pro-women” stance while abusing and terrorizing women. His idea of “pro-woman” was to fund abortion rights groups, clinics and politics. But is it possible that such a stance was merely an attempt to create a “free pass” -to abuse women? So it seems. So what’s the answer? How can we slow or stop powerful men from abusing vulnerable women? We can’t. It will never 100% stop on this earth. But we can slow it down and here’s how: Lets give a second look to perhaps the most iconic IKON in all of history. It’s the single most popular piece of Jewelry, the ultimate fashion statement and also the symbol of the most popular spiritual movement of all time: THE CROSS. Lets open our eyes and heart to a new way of understanding its mystery, it’s secrets. I would like to humbly suggest looking at the CROSS as “center” “cross hairs”, “target,” as “bull's-eye.” We like to say that we need to get “centered.” We talk about “heart” which is another way of saying “center.” We use word phrases like sweet spot- yet another way of saying “heart” or “center.” The fact is, Jesus being nailed to a cross was an invitation to all people of all times, to the perfection that exists only in the center, the heart, the sweet spot. Outside of that spot misses the mark, is out of balance and unhealthy. And we can see that with #MeToo. We as Americans and Westerners “missed the mark” by a mile. “Sexual freedom” has legitimized licentiousness and thrown gasoline on the fires of lust. At the same time, the other half of the world, seeing the rapes, the excess and the harm “the great satan” has done to women, missed the mark by a mile in the opposite direction, with clothing, rules and laws that attempt to control women. You may have your own personal opinion about which is worse and that’s probably based only on how you were raised. But its easy to see, if you open your mind, that neither culture is really helpful to women and that no sane, thinking woman would choose either, given the chance to actually think about it. There is yet another way of understanding the cross. Its the idea that few of us hit the mark. Its the idea that hitting the mark is not easy, it takes ALOT of practice. Its the idea that we actually have a FOCUS in a culture where “anything goes” or “all roads lead to God.” We have ONE SINGULAR TARGET/FOCUS but better than that, we have the understanding that most of the time, most people MISS that target, yet that’s no cause for condemnation, judgment or penalty. When an archer misses the target, they are not penalized for “bad behavior.” Instead, it’s “OK, grab another arrow and try again.” In philosophical terms, we call this “forgiveness” “mercy” and “grace.” Sexual liberation, like Archery, cant work unless practiced in a setting of mercy, forgiveness and grace. Powerful men, when they fall, deserve forgiveness if they are willing to apologize and make restitution for missing the mark. Women who are victimized, need to forgive themselves, because, its not their fault. Now, about “redemptive stories.”: Why are Church folk so insistent on “redemptive” stories and why is this author proposing them as another way of addressing the #MeToo problem? I realized that writing our story will help people understand CeCe and myself. I realized that part of what made our struggle so hard for the last two decades --the prime of our lives-- was that many around us- even well meaning people, didn’t “get us” and many even judged us. The two most common assumption/judgments people around us made, were: 1. We or I were somehow “lazy” or unwilling to work or unwilling to take “whatever jobs we could get.” And... 2. “They must have some secret sin that they are hiding that is causing all this trouble.” People entertained these thoughts, judgments and ideas because it made the world a safer place for them. No one wants to live in a place where “bad things happen to good people.” In our case, bad things seemed to happen over and over for a very long time. An “explanation” had to be found. Few are prepared to think that the world is really that harsh or that God doesn’t help good people-so these “explanations” were devised, to explain our woes. After all, we seemed like hard workers, like such sweet, kind caring people. We seemed like good tax-paying citizens. So how could we be going through such difficulties? While there may have been a grain of truth in these explanations, one can see from reading our story that one thing is for sure: we tried. We hustled. We did just about everything we were told to do, everything the professionals suggested and yet, during those years, we STILL managed to evade success at every turn. And I do think that being surrounded by well meaning people and not so well meaning people who are confused by you, who don’t get you or who judge you certainly can hinder or even block success. Don’t believe me? Look at Jesus: most people, not even his closest friends, his disciples, “got him” during his lifetime. They judged him, they thought he was crazy and ultimately, their judgment on him was a brutal death. But what happened after that? What transformed Jesus from a judged, crucified, mis- understood Rabbi into the most popular spiritual leader of all time? Of course, the bible says that the spirit of God accomplished that and that’s a great spiritual answer but in the natural world, it was a BOOK. “THE GOSPEL OF MARK” explained and transformed Jesus, the man and the reason for his life. Reading the book, people finally “got it.” Great books bring order out of a chaotic world. They comfort and explain. THIS BOOK is an attempt to explain this writer and his writing partner. And in the same way, MOVIES have that same narrative power, a power which too often goes un- used in Hollywood. Movies can help explain a world that seems to be spinning out of control, into chaos. In “real life” we witness horrible tragedy and cant make sense of it. Then we enter into a dark movie theater. Then light shines out of the darkness. The light brings ANSWERS and the answers comfort us. We leave, having been refreshed with new answers, having processed and understood why “bad things happen to good people.” (Three act structure, remember?) There is no better feeling than the “OK, now I get it” feeling. There is nothing greater (other than love) for a human, than to UNDERSTAND and to have WISDOM from repeated understanding. The more we understand, the wiser we become. Great movies can do all of this. We can “escape” a world of chaos and confusion and enter into a world of order and understanding. But it helps when the film makers are intentional about these goals and this is where the front lines of the Battle for the soul of Hollywood is being fought. It was in this culture war where Harvey Weinstein’s crimes were allowed and accepted “just because” “you know, that’s how he is.” If we don’t begin to re-center our culture and our movies, aiming for a sweet spot between legalism and licentiousness, nothing will change. We can no longer send men mixed messages that women’s liberation means women are “up for anything.” They are not. There is in fact, a very narrow target of what helps women and its called the “heart” or the “center.” In fact, we say that such a desire even comes from “the heart.” So, redemptive movies are “heart movies” that aim for a sweet spot between the excess of extreme licentiousness and legalism. Yes, they can be sexy. There can be hot babes in bikinis. Sex can be playful and alluded to. But there needs to boundaries. There needs to be an agreed upon, established “target,” a moral code of right and wrong. Damon’s encounter with CeCe, twenty-three years ago at this writing, was just such an encounter. Of course, sex played a part, a girl met a boy and they were attracted to each other; yet that didn’t need to end in abuse or licentiousness. Instead, it became a seed that has majestically grown into this book and hopefully, a movie. CeCe & Christian’s hope and prayer is that this story can serve as a witness that there is still hope: hope for a society where every sexual encounter does not have to end in a one night stand but maybe in something so much greater. In the words of John Lennon and Paul Mcartney ”let it be!” “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness She is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree, There will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see. There will be an answer, let it be. Let it be, let it be. There will be an answer, let it be. And when the night is cloudy, There is still a light that shines on me, Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.”

#book #books #biographies #movies #development

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analib2909 · 7 years ago

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The dancing competition show, which will not see Len Goodman come back to sit at the judges’ table with Julianne Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli, will return with Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews as co-hosts.

Dancing With the Stars revealed its season 21 celebrity-professional dancer pairings during Good Morning America on Wednesday. Celebrity chef and former cooking show host Paula Deen will make a return to television and try her feet at dancing for the fall season following her Food Network program cancelation in June 2013.

The absence of arms and legs didn’t stop him previously, and he remains the eternal optimist in the Mystery of the Mooil Rig. Now armed with a fortified exosuit, Brylcreem plays Colossus to the hero’s Wolverine, launching you toward key objectives, including a boss’ mouth. These scenes add thrilling forward movement; the more you hurtle at breakneck speeds, the more you want to keep going.

Welcoming these otherworldly guests is a new foursome comprising of two co-protagonists whose default names are Aurora and Luceus, the boisterous King Doric, and an skilled inventor named Isla. I have always admired the mainline series for defying traditional fantasy RPG party formations and archetypes and this new team could easily carry a mainline Dragon Quest installment. That’s a bold statement especially when Aurora and Luceus are two sides of the same coin. Their complementary personalities are best showcased during the cutscenes where your see Luceus’ analytical side and Aurora’s impatience to jump into battle. Aside from a momentary interlude where you’re forced to use one of the guest adventurers, you can have a wholly enjoyable time relying solely on these new characters while ignoring the rest of the roster.

It’s a varied cast where each warrior easily proves their worth over the course of a single battle. The only thing better than seeing 3D models of characters like Dragon Quest IV’s Alena and Kiryl is hearing them speak for the first time. Just as it was momentous to have voice acting in a Final Fantasy game in 2001 with Final Fantasy X, so too was the introduction of dialogue in Dragon Quest VIII ten years ago. Hearing much of the cast speak in English accents in Journey of the Cursed King created a rare connection to the Tolkienian roots of JRPGs. Having Yungus’ cockney accent reprised in Dragon Quest Heroes–by the original voice actor no less–only makes this reunion all the more special.

Such was the state of his mouth, that he could hardly speak; but mumbling something about his being willing and able to do what the captain.

This mingling of heroes from other worlds helps distract from the story’s laughably generic premise of light versus dark. Even the two co-leaders are named Children of the Light. The story starts off on an uncommonly cheerful note, even by Dragon Quest standards, where humans and monsters are happily co-existing. Due to a spell by a dark wizard named Velasco, the monsters are suddenly reminded that they’re supposed to hate humans. The ensuing chaos and unrest gives the game’s heroes more than enough to deal with, let alone reason to investigate why their non-human friends suddenly turned on them. It’s a good thing the story has its share of twists and guest character interactions to compensate for this otherwise plain narrative.

See the announced couple pairings below:

1. Actress Alexa PenaVega (Spy Kids) partnered with Mark Ballas

2. Singer-songwriter Andy Grammer partnered with Allison Holker

3. Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin’s daughter/Australian actress/wildlife conservationist Bindi Irwin partnered with Derek Hough

4. Actor Carlos PenaVega (Big Time Rush) partnered with Witney Carson

5. 10-time Grammy-winner Chaka Khan partnered with Keo Motsepe

6. Oscar-nominated actor Gary Busey partnered with Anna Trebunskaya

7. Vine star Hayes Grier partnered with Emma Slater

Nor, perhaps, will it fail to be eventually perceived, that behind those forms and usages, as it were, he sometimes masked himself; incidentally making use of them for other and more private ends than they were legitimately intended to subserve. That certain sultanism of his brain, which had otherwise in a good degree remained unmanifested; through those forms that same sultanism became incarnate in an irresistible dictatorship. For be a man’s intellectual superiority what it will, it can never assume the practical, available supremacy over other men, without the aid of some sort of external arts and entrenchments, always, in themselves, more or less paltry and base. This it is, that for ever keeps God’s true princes of the Empire from the world’s hustings; and leaves the highest honours that this air can give, to those men who become famous more through their infinite inferiority to the choice hidden handful of the Divine Inert, than through their undoubted superiority over the dead level of the mass. Such large virtue lurks in these small things when extreme political superstitions invest them, that in some royal instances even to idiot imbecility they have imparted potency. But when, as in the case of Nicholas the Czar, the ringed crown of geographical empire encircles an imperial brain; then, the plebeian herds crouch abased before the tremendous centralization. Nor, will the tragic dramatist who would depict mortal indomitableness in its fullest sweep and direct swing, ever forget a hint, incidentally so important in his art, as the one now alluded to.

[blockquote author=”DALAI LAMA” pull=”normal”]A given kill has the potential to drop a medal version of that respective monster. With the medal, you can summon that monster as an ally.[/blockquote]

But the third Emir, now seeing himself all alone on the quarter-deck, seems to feel relieved from some curious restraint; for, tipping all sorts of knowing winks in all sorts of directions, and kicking off his shoes, he strikes into a sharp but noiseless squall of a hornpipe right over the Grand Turk’s head; and then, by a dexterous sleight, pitching his cap up into the mizentop for a shelf, he goes down rollicking so far at least as he remains visible from the deck, reversing all other processions, by bringing up the rear with music. But ere stepping into the cabin doorway below, he pauses, ships a new face altogether, and, then, independent, hilarious little Flask enters King Ahab‘s presence, in the character of Abjectus, or the Slave.

It is not the least among the strange things bred by the intense artificialness of sea-usages, that while in the open air of the deck some officers will, upon provocation, bear themselves boldly and defyingly enough towards their commander; yet, ten to one, let those very officers the next moment go down to their customary dinner in that same commander’s cabin, and straightway their inoffensive, not to say deprecatory and humble air towards him, as he sits at the head of the table; this is marvellous, sometimes most comical. Wherefore this difference? A problem? Perhaps not. To have been Belshazzar, King of Babylon; and to have been Belshazzar, not haughtily but courteously, therein certainly must have been some touch of mundane grandeur. But he who in the rightly regal and intelligent spirit presides over his own private dinner-table of invited guests, that man’s unchallenged power and dominion of individual influence for the time; that man’s royalty of state transcends Belshazzar’s, for Belshazzar was not the greatest. Who has but once dined his friends, has tasted what it is to be Caesar. It is a witchery of social czarship which there is no withstanding. Now, if to this consideration you superadd the official supremacy of a ship-master, then, by inference, you will derive the cause of that peculiarity of sea-life just mentioned.

Tamar Braxton Joins Nick Carter, Chaka Khan & Andy The dancing competition show, which will not see Len Goodman come back to sit at the judges' table with Julianne Hough, …

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dethdealer12345-blog · 7 years ago

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Point Break (1991) Review

Hot Fuzz is great movie. Possibly Edgar Wrights best. And during the film our two heroes decide to watch cop movies.

"Point Break or Bad Boys II"

"Which one would I like?"

"No, which one first?"

Thus came the decision to watch Point Break and Bad Boys II back to back and like in the film I decided to watch Point Break first.

And man, what a disaster.

The film plays out like your generic cop drama, with characters yelling and screaming at each other instead of being characters. The only difference the movie has with dozens of equally terrible cop films is that it has a gimmick.

As the title implies, the film is about surfing. And when I say it is about surfing I mean it is about surfing, as the film spends what feels like thirty minutes of its 2 hours and 2 minute run time just showing shots of people surfing. Keanu Reeves watches surfers, he learns to surf, he surfs with friends. It drags on and on and feels like padding each time it is shown. And even worse than the surfing is the other, high-adrenaline sports the film shows in agonizing detail.

Especially when Keanu and crew perform a five minute sky dive dance.

Now don't get me wrong, the film is about those things, but they are not the focal point, or at least they shouldn't be. Especially when none of the actors have a clue as to what to do.

Keanu acts as well as could be expected from someone who also starred in Bill and Ted's Bogus Adventure, which came out the same year. Trying desperately to slide between calm and collected cop man and dude bro, it comes off as both hilariously terrible and incredibly boring.

The same can be said of Patrick Swayze's Brohdi, a surfer guru bank robber, who, do I even need to say more. The character sounds like something out of an Adam Sandler film and yet for some reason Swayze decides to play the character completely straight despite the fact that his face tells the audience he doesn't believe a word of what his character is saying.

To round out the cast we also have Swayze's supporting dude bros, none of which have any character beside 'Totally, dude, tubular, and whatever sill jargon the film makes them say." As well as a love interest who is prominent in the first half of the film, and disappears entirely from the second half so that Keanu and Patrick's characters can make lovey eyes at each other.

The film even includes a beach football scene reminiscent of the volleyball scene in Top Gun. And like Top Gun the gay undertones are palpable.

Leaving only the police chief and his partner played by John C. McGinley and Gary Busey respectively.

McGinley yells and hates Keanu, and that is all.

While Busey tries despite the brain damage he likely suffered a few years early. Which sadly makes him the best actor in the film, despite his limited scenes. And when someone who probably has brain damage is the best actor in your film, you know you have a problem.

With a terrible plot, bland, uninteresting characters, and drawn out subtly gay 'sports' scenes dragging out most of the film, the action must at least be good right?

As Simon Pegg's character in Hot Fuzz says

"Their is no doubt the film was a no-holds bar adrenaline filled thrill ride..."

Sadly he is horribly mistaken, and instead the line feels like it should have been said after Bad Boys II, especially the second part of the line when he mentions the amount of paperwork due to damage.

The action, what little there is, mostly consists of chases and Mexican stand offs, culminating in Keanu famously shooting his gun in the air and yelling 'aaahhh'. A scene which makes zero sense when you remember that you can shoot someone without killing them. A thing many action movies forget about when the character in question is not the main character.

Instead Keanu shoots away his bullets, and lets Swayze get away.

After that most of the side characters die, and Swayze surfs off into a raging storm, never to be seen again. While Keanu quits, for some reason.

Along the way Keanu's girlfriend is kidnapped, and it feels more like a way to remove a bad actress and to build up more on the gay love story.

As a Police Story it pales in comparison to many, and comes off as if the cop scenes were tagged on.

While as gay love story it refuses to go all the way.

Instead the film ends up dragging on for a little over two hours of pointless filler.

1/5

In a word the film is boring. Which is something that should never be said about an action movie.

#Movie Review #Point Break (1991)#Keanu Reeves #patrick swayze

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avanneman · 7 years ago

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James Franco’s The Disaster Artist: Hollywood Caught In The Act Of Kissing Its Own Ass

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Greg Sestero’s now reasonably famous book The Disaster Artist, co-written by Tom Bissell, is much better than Producer/Director/Star James Franco’s quite famous movie The Disaster Artist, each telling the story of the making of Tommy Wiseau's all-conquering cult classic, The Room. Book beats film! Book beats film! Book beats film!

Well, not necessarily, but the supposedly non-commercial Franco1 has taken a remarkable piece of material, the only in La La Land partnership of Tommy and Greg (played by James Franco and his brother Dave), and turned it into an unremarkable piece of Hollywood schmaltz, though it’s still pretty funny. Because anyone who could make an unfunny film about Tommy Wiseau would be—okay, I’ll go for it—would be less talented than Tommy Wiseau.

For Hollywood winners like Franco—and virtually anyone else who’s really “in the business”—both Sestero and Wiseau are “touching”—or would be touching if The Room had never reached the screen and, almost as important, if The Disaster Artist had never been written. If these things had not happened, Greg and Tommy would have stumbled through Hollywood like a latter-day George and Lennie2, so not getting it—Tommy the gigantic, misunderstood genius whose problem is that everyone does understand him, understands that he has utterly no talent, and Greg the buff, vacuous pretty boy whose career peaks when he gets the lead in Retro Puppet Master—shot in Romania, direct to video and seventh in the series—an actor so bad and so unknown that he can’t even be used as a punchline. “Gary Busey called. He wants his je ne sais quoi back”? Funny! “Greg Sestero called. He wants his je ne sais quoi back”? Say what?

No one of any importance would have known either man, but they all would have known “a Tommy Wiseau”, “a Greg Sestero,” that pathetic kid in acting class who would never shut up, who woke up every morning thinking “next year I’ll be a star!”, who never realized how achingly terrible he was, how utterly unsuited for the Hollywood shark tank, who never got eaten because he was never worth the eating.

Franco’s film gets about half of that, in particular when we see Tommy and Greg genuflecting at the scene of James Dean’s death. Dean is their Christ. He suffered for them! He died for them! Through His death they are transfigured! They must suffer as He did, and if they do, if they suffer as Christ, they will become as Christ, or rather, as James Dean. They will become stars! They will move others as He moved them! But only if they are worthy! Only if they dedicate their lives to the holy craft of acting!3

And so they did, and so The Room did get made, thanks both to Wiseau’s bizarrely bottomless bank account and his bizarrely bottomless ambition to make a film—the story of an utterly good man surrounded by betrayers and ultimately crucified by them4—which overcame even his almost bottomless ability to sabotage every aspect of his life, constantly driving people away with his naïve, unrestrained egotism but pulling them back in with his naïve, unrestrained neediness—and his naïve, unrestrained bank account.5

As I say, Franco gets about half of this, but he constantly interlards it with self-congratulatory Hollywood schmaltz. There’s an utterly gratuitous bit when one of the actresses asks the old lady playing Lisa’s mother why she gets up at five in the morning and drives across town so that she can spend hours waiting for Tommy to show up. “Because the worst day on a movie set is better than the best day not on a movie set,” she says, and everyone sighs in agreement. We’re making a movie! We’re in heaven! We are the stuff that dreams are made of! We are our dreams!6

It gets worse, naturally, at the premiere of The Room. In “real life,” as Franco tells us via text, The Room cleared $1800 over a showing that lasted two weeks (Tommy paid to keep the film in the theater for two weeks so that it would qualify for the Academy Awards), which means an average audience of about 50 a day, though Tommy paid for a full house for the premiere.

Rather remarkably, Sestero doesn’t tell us how the premiere went, but Franco isn’t so shy. He shows us the crowd roaring in delight at the film's badness, though in real life, since they had been paid to be there, one can wonder if that’s what happened. But Franco isn’t interested in what happened in real life. He’s channeling Hollywood’s vision of itself—as shown, for example, in Sullivan’s Travels, Preston Surges’ tongue in cheek take on the “genius” Hollywood director who wants to “make a statement” only to discover, while watching a rapt audience dissolve into happiness while watching a “Pluto” cartoon, that what counts is helping people forget their troubles. We make people happy, gosh darn it! And that’s pretty gosh darn good thing to do!7

Of course, Tommy’s not pleased to see the crowd laughing at his own crucifixion—that’s me up there on the cross, goddamn it!—but Greg rather remarkably, and unconvincingly, talks him down. They love it, Tommy! They love your film! You’re a star now, big boy, and everybody knows it! So go out there and enjoy it! And so, of course, the film ends with a delighted Tommy standing up there and proudly acknowledging the crowd’s standing ovation.8

The conclusion of The Disaster Artist is reminiscent of that of several other biopics of show biz outsiders, Tim Burton’s Ed Wood and Miloš Forman’s tribute to Andy Kaufman, Man on the Moon. Ed Wood, of course, is long dead, and so are the people who knew him. Tommy Wiseau, and his friends, are all very much alive. But Andy was dead when Man on the Moon was made, while those who knew him were living. Andy, unlike both Ed and Tommy, was talented—his early reading of The Great Gatsby was one of the greatest bits I’ve ever seen—but everyone who knew him, it seems, hated him. Yeah, Hollywood loves its oddballs. But, you know, Hollywood oddballs are like everything else in Hollywood. Don’t look too close.

Afterwords Woody Allen, not often accused of sentimentality, except about himself, pays tribute, in Broadway Danny Rose, to show biz losers, those sweetly but completely untalented misfits he met on the way up. Much of BDR is very funny, but Woody naturally has to “explain” to us at the end that all women are lying, betraying sluts—um, sort of like the message of The Room. Rent BDR and stop watching about ten minutes from the end. You’ll enjoy it much more.

See the movies, read the book Half the fun of The Disaster Artist is the lovingly recreated bad scenes from The Room, so why not just cut to the chase and see The Room itself? Also, read the book! Sestero may look like an original cast member of The Real Poolboys of Beverly Hills, but his book gives a remarkable portrait of a man whose longing to express his passion was at once utterly false and utterly real, a real-life Don Quixote who drew Greg's Sancho Panza along in a mixture of both admiration and pity.9 There's so much in the book that it should have been a mini-series, six to ten hours, to allow audiences to really marinate in Tommy's manifold weirdnesses, though, of course, the real story of Tommy's weirdnesses would not always be funny. As Sestero tells it, for both Greg and Tommy, the "key" film for interpreting Tommy's life is not Rebel Without A Cause but Anthony Minghella's 1999 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's ode to a homicidal shape-shifter, The Talented Mr. Riply.

Franco has directed short films and presented a variety of multimedia projects, including “Collage”, featuring live dance, theater, music, and poetry. He directed a 90-minute documentary on the early 20th-century American poet Hart Crane, which I haven’t seen. He’s published a book of short stories, has exhibited “installations” at art museums, has done just about anything and everything guaranteed not to turn a buck. ↩︎

Dunno if kids still have to read Of Mice and Men. Wiseau is an interesting combination of George and Lennie, both monster and mastermind. Fortunately, Greg never had to blow Tommy's brains out. ↩︎

The “center” of The Room comes when Johnny/Tommy cries out “You’re tearing me apart!” in explicit homage to Dean in Rebel Without A Cause. ↩︎

Tommy’s arms outstretched death scene is clearly intended as such, though Franco doesn’t emphasize it. ↩︎

Particularly touching is Sestero’s description of the famous rooftop scene that Tommy keeps bungling over and over again. He reaches out desperately to Greg for support. His whole life has been leading up to this point! If he can’t nail this scene, if were better he had never been born! Miraculously (as Sestero tells it), Greg saves him! “Thanks, man! I owe you! [beat] Your check bounced? You think I’m Santa Claus? Hey, bro! Go fuck a reindeer!” [Laughs] ↩︎

Anyone who’s read “the making of” accounts of classic films, ranging from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (unpaid cast and crew sweating through 14-hour days in the Texas sun while the one actress with tits sits in an air-conditioned limo) to Apocalypse Now (unpaid extras and crew starving amidst filth while enduring tropical monsoons) can doubt this. A lot of people got fired by Tommy and one can wonder if they ever got paid. Of course, anyone connected with a “classic shoot” will want to tell stories, but are the stories true? Truth in Hollywood? Say what? ↩︎

Other nits I'd like to pick: Franco's use of stirring, "Chariots of Fire" music whenever Greg and Tommy talk about their dreams. You don't have to tell us they're talking about their dreams, Jim! We can hear the dialogue! Also, some "star" perogatives: In the book, it's Greg who suggests driving to the site of James Dean's fatal crash. In the movie, it's Tommy. Also, Tommy does all the driving, though in the book it's almost always Greg at the wheel, with Tommy, a handkerchief over his face, zonked out in the passenger seat. ↩︎

Lots of films show the leads receiving a standing ovation. I’ve never believed in any of them. ↩︎

However irrational it is—and Greg can see how irrational it is—Tommy's boundless self-confidence always energizes Greg. Hey, maybe I can make it after all! And when Tommy's self-confidence flags, Greg panics. Say it ain't so, Tommy! Say it ain't so! ↩︎

#the disaster artist #The Room #tommy wiseau #greg sestero #James Franco

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kitseraph · 7 years ago

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1-60?

Whoever you are I fucking love you

1: Put your iTunes on shuffle. Give me the first 6 songs that pop up.

Monster Lead me Home-- Sara Hartman

Mambo No. 5-- Lou Bega

I am the Doctor-- Natl. Orchestra of Wales

Help our Souls Remix-- Nihils

My Heart is Full-- Miike Snow

Where’d you go?-- Fort Minor

2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

Dalai Lama, he seems like such a genuine guy and super kind...

3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

Tied around the chest to the headboard.

4: What do you think about most?

My boyfriend honestly, I’m always looking forward to seeing him next

5: Ever had a poem or song written about you?

I think I had a poem written for me before and it’s super sweet!

6: Do you have any strange phobias?

Not anything crazy strange.

7: What's your religion?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

8: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

Walking my dog or cat.

9: Favorite band?

Imagine Dragons

10: What was the last lie you told?

“My music taste isn’t bad!”

11: Do you believe in karma?

To an extent, yes, but I don’t base my life around it, I try to be good for the sake of myself.

12: What does your URL mean?

I always loved the idea of forests growing somewhere in space, and thought it made a cool mental image whenever someone saw it

13: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

Weakness- I’m extremely selfish and it clouds my judgments sometimes

Strength- I try to improve myself! I can’t do it without the help of so many important people in my life

14: Who is your celebrity crush?

John F Kennedy? I don’t really have one lol

15: How do you vent your anger?

I text usually, or throw my phone...

16: Do you have a collection of anything?

Rocks, sketchbooks, regular books, stuffed animals, cds, magic cards, dragon figurines... I think that’s it

17: Are you happy with the person you've become?

I’m happy with the person I’m becoming. I’m still working on me, but once I’m done, I know it’ll be someone I’m proud to be...

18: What's a sound you hate; sound you love?

Any high pitched noise right before humans can’t detect it makes me cry. I love the sound of rain and thunder though

19: What's your biggest "what if"?

What if I die and there’s nothing after death?

20: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

Ghosts, no... aliens yes

21: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

Right- wall/ clipboard Left- wall

22: Smell the air. What do you smell?

Old cat hair, electricity, and blood

23: What's the worst place you have ever been to?

In Germany I was dragged along to this party where everyone was smoking and left me with their stuff so they could get closer to the singer and at that moment I never wanted to go home more than then.

24: Most attractive singer/s of your opposite gender?

Uhhhhhh Brendon Urie I guess

25: To you, what is the meaning of life?

Make sure you have the best time possible, and live beyond death hailed as a good person

26: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

Yes, and I have only hit my dad’s bumper while backing up like within the first month of driving, i was going like 5 miles an hour or something, it only took off paint

27: What was the last movie you saw?

One of the new Star Trek movies.

28: What's the worst injury you've ever had?

broke my arm in preschool

29: Do you have any obsessions right now?

Everything fall related, I’m also on a religion kick but also not like finding a new religion or anything? Just studying them

30: Ever had a rumor spread about you?

Yes.

31: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

I used to but I’m letting go of them. Life’s too short to hold hate, better to move on and show them what they missed out on :3

32: What is your astrological sign?

Depends. If you’re on the outdated Babylonian system, I’m Cancer. If you’re on the 14 sign system, I’m a Gemini

33: What's the last thing you purchased?

Gasoline lol

34: Love or lust?

Love

35: In a relationship?

Yep, very devoted

36: How many relationships have you had?

It’s complicated, but ones that actually are counted by other people is two

37: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

Get to know them and talk to them when they’re bored and stuff? Who knows lol

38: Where is your best friend?

In Duluth

39: What were you doing last night at 12 AM?

On tungle

40: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

I think probably not...

41: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

Get the dog jesus christ, or at least point to it and get someone else to get it???

42: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

I would tell my significant other, I would spend the days with them and go see some of my favorite places, call people I love and tell them how much they mean to me, and I would be deathly afraid...

43: What's a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

Literally any Saint Motel song, or Awolnation song. They make me feel a lot of emotions but happy is always the biggest one.

44: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

For me, balance. I need some excitement, but also at the end of the day I need to have someone who knows me and trusts me.

45: How can I win your heart?

Just talk to me! Anyone who just holds a conversation with me!

46: Can insanity bring on more creativity?

That’s a loaded question. I think people from all different walks of life can have a creative drive in one way or another. Just depends on where you drive your ideas from

47: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

Letting him sit next to me and comfort me when i was crying on a bus

48: What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

“Everything is just a happy accident”

49: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "heart."

I love you with all of my heart

50: What's your favorite color/colors?

Good ole’ purple

51: What is your current desktop picture?

The picture of Andromeda Galaxy

52: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

I really don’t know honestly, there’s a lot of bad people in the world... psh

53: What would be a question you'd be afraid to tell the truth on?

What’s the most fucked up thing you’ve ever thought about?

54: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what's even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

Shapeshifting!

55: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

I went to a dance in 2015, that I would like to spend the last half an hour right before it ended.

56: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

Blue and white stripes.

57: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?

None at all

58: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

Austria please

59: Ever been on a plane?

I have, in fact, at least once

60: Give me your top 5 hottest celebrities.

Uhhhhhhhh lol

Benatoite Capitalism

Jerry Seinfeld

Gary Busey

Daniel Armbruster

and number one is a tie--

my two cats!

#ask meme #thank you so much jesus this took three hours #answers #very sweet of u :3 #Anon #ext love

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themedose · 7 years ago

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Such was the state of his mouth, that he could hardly speak; but mumbling something about his being willing and able to do what the captain.

See the announced couple pairings below:

1. Actress Alexa PenaVega (Spy Kids) partnered with Mark Ballas

2. Singer-songwriter Andy Grammer partnered with Allison Holker

3. Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin’s daughter/Australian actress/wildlife conservationist Bindi Irwin partnered with Derek Hough

4. Actor Carlos PenaVega (Big Time Rush) partnered with Witney Carson

5. 10-time Grammy-winner Chaka Khan partnered with Keo Motsepe

6. Oscar-nominated actor Gary Busey partnered with Anna Trebunskaya

7. Vine star Hayes Grier partnered with Emma Slater

Tamar Braxton Joins Nick Carter, Chaka Khan & Andy The dancing competition show, which will not see Len Goodman come back to sit at the judges' table with Julianne Hough, …

#Braxton #Dance #Nick Carter

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