#Nicholas Newman

[soapoperamen]

Congratulations to Joshua Morrow for 30 years today as Nicholas Newman on The Young and the Restless!

[queer-cinephile]

30 Days of Classic Queer Hollywood

Day 28: James Dean (1931 - 1955)

"No, I am not a homosexual. But I'm also not going to go through life with one hand tied behind my back." - James Dean when asked about his sexuality

James "Jimmy" Dean was one of the most iconic actors of the 20th century. Despite only starring in 3 films (East of Eden (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and Giant (1956)), he is one of the most recognizable actors of his time.

This lasting fame is largely due to the fact that he died in a car crash in 1955 at the age of 24, just as he was reaching stardom. He became the only actor to receive two posthumous Academy Award nominations for Best Actor. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of the Classic Hollywood.

James Dean was a bisexual man. He had relationships with many women, including model Pier Angeli and actresses Liz Sheridan, Barbara Glenn, Ursula Andress, and Beverly Wills. He reportedly had private liaisons with men including Marlon Brando, radio director Rogers Bracket, writer William Bast, and director Bob Stevens.

He was relatively open about this with his costars and coworkers. Nicholas Ray, the director of Rebel Without a Cause (1955), is on record as saying:

"James Dean was not straight, he was not gay, he was bisexual... Jimmy himself said more than once that he swung both ways, so why all the mystery or confusion?"

[genimas]

Day 9- Sun

(I know the lineup is extremely wrong, but I didn't notice it until I finished inking)

Day 9- Underated fandom/ rare fanfom

(Randomly found out about Fantober and I was like 'eh what the heck')

[jazzplusplus]

1986 - Saxophone players / Saxophonistes - North Sea Jazz Festival - Den Haag / La Haye

Big Nick Nicholas, Johnny Griffin, Richie Cole, Stanley Turrentine, James Moody, Lee Konitz, Sonny Fortune, Flip Phillips, Joe Henderson, David Fathead Newman, Buddy Tate

[ggghoulish]

the weeds up through the concrete // traffic picking up speed // all my love and terror balanced there between those eyes

[cinemaseeker]

Let's Review: Saturday Night

Biopics, not unlike live TV, are a tricky tightrope walk.

The line that actors and directors have to toe is razor thin and always shifting beneath their feet. The sweat starts to bead at the very beginning of conception, when an actor is chosen to mimic, and more often than not resurrect, any given celebrity/historical figure/actual real person of note for any particular project. And the very act of mimicking the appearance and mannerisms of these people strikes at the very heart of acting itself, which can be described as the uncanny ability to completely transform oneself, both physically and mentally, into a different person.

In short, to convincingly create a character.

Biopics pose a particularly unique challenge, wherein the actor has to both create a fictionalized character that can work within a fabricated narrative structure while still recreating a non-fictitious person who is then expected to reenact events important to both the person and the world at large.

Scrutiny and criticisms (from both the general public and the people who lived it) are hardwired to the very DNA of this genre in a way that no other genres are. Not to mention all of the fans that come out of the woodwork when these projects premiere, who are always more than ready to shoot down and fact-check every fictitious addition/omission/discrepancy, beating every bush into oblivion.

It is very easy to screw up spectacularly (and very many have) but these projects can also be absolutely magical when you get it right.

It can be tricky enough doing justice representing one key figure in the world of entertainment. Now add half a dozen more. And we have an ensemble biopic, a creature that just adds more balls for us to juggle.

So now, really, a biopic chronicling the chaotic countdown towards the very first SNL live show is nothing short of catching lightning in a bottle. At the very last minute. Almost on accident. After every other conceivable thing goes very, very wrong. Only to become, somehow, very, very right in the end.

Like lightning, this film has a zappy, kinetic energy to it (helped in very large parts by the editing, camerawork, and Jon Batiste's exciting frenetic score) as it zips and weaves it's way around every square inch of 30 Rockefeller Plaza on the night of October 11th 1975, playing out in roughly real time from 10pm to 11:30pm (aka showtime). It doesn't hold your hand so much as roughly drag you up and down the studio, huffing and puffing as the unsinkable Lorne Michaels (anchored by an earnestly steadfast Gabriel Labelle) rushes to put out little fires that keep popping up all over the place (mostly figurative, one very literal).

You've got a ragtag group of untested comics with large personalities that occasionally bump against each other like bowling balls against pins; some of whom wonder what they, as real actors, are even doing there. There's an anarchic writer with SNL's first head writer Michael O'Donoghue (played by a magnetic Tommy Dewey) pushing back for artistic freedom against the prudish NBC censor (the hilariously sour-pussed Catherine Curtin) in a heated interaction that marks a particularly bright spot in both the film and the fast-paced, wise-cracking script. Then there's countless technical problems with both the sound and lights, not helped by bitterly rebellious crew who won't even help a pour guy lay down some bricks. And all of this in service towards a sketch comedy show that, having run for 3 hours in dress rehearsal (a dress rehearsal that wasn't even taped) that has to be severely trimmed down for primetime.

And of course, there are the NBC executives that are breathing down their necks, waiting for Lorne and the show to fail. A show that, even Lorne admits, nobody has really figured out yet. As he states in one of the film's best lines, he has the ingredients in mind, just not the amounts.

Not to mention the Alpaca.

Oh, and Andy Kaufman's there. As well as Jim Henson and his Muppets. Both of whom are brought to impressive, gangly life by Nicholas Braun (aka Cousin Greg from Succession) pulling double-duty as the unconventional comic and innovative puppeteer with an equally commendable, underperforming monotony that provides the perfect sounding board for everyone else to bounce their insanities against.

The entire ensemble and supporting cast collide and compliment each like a finely tuned jazz band, creating great conflict in the cacophony and allowing great soloists to shine through all the noise.

Perhaps the most obvious standout is Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase (I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way).

The natural physical resemblance always helps but Smith manages to effortlessly portray the egotistical smarminess of Chase in a way that's served him well in his other past roles.

This is the part of the review where I get to flex and say that I liked Cory Michael Smith before he was cool and btw I'm glad that he's getting bigger and better roles in his career. Good for him.

Shoutout to his kooky turn as Edward Nygma/Riddler on Gotham. Do yourself a favor and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

But if I had to pick a best supporting actor, I would have to give it to Matt Wood for his take on the late great John Belushi.

In any other movie, his part probably would've been much bigger (that's what she said). But all jokes aside he's wisely used rather sparingly, glaring at us from the background until he's brought in to punch up the tension with his explosive temper and mercurial demeanor. Your eye can't help but wander over to this strange little man who's obvious talent tips both the show and film's scales towards greatness, even as everyone can already see the deep shadow starting to darken the doorway.

One underappreciated aspect of the biopic is the opportunity it gets to lend voices to people who wouldn't otherwise get a chance to tell their side of the story. With all the big egos swinging their dicks around Saturday Night, the spotlight smartly tends to swing more towards Garrett Morris, the token black member of the cast.

You probably wouldn't have thought much about Garrett Morris before going to see this movie. But my hope is that after seeing this you'll go Google him and then hopefully Hollywood will finally give him his flowers. Played with indignant dignity by newly minted Emmy winner Lamorne Morris (no relation), Garrett rightfully chafes against having to play into limited black stereotypes, especially given that he graduated from Juilliard and performed on Broadway.

And finally, I would be remiss not the mention the incredible women of Saturday Night.

Like very much of SNL's history, the female cast members and writers, especially Lorne's wife Rosie Shuster (played with tender grit by the incomparable Rachel Sennott), have had to fight tooth and nail to make their voices heard. The film takes great strides to spotlight Rosie as the great unsung hero of Saturday Night, giving meat to a supporting wife role that far too often comes delivered bareboned. One of the very favorite lines in the film has Rosie desiring to be a writer rather than a wife and eventually choosing to go by her maiden name in the show's credits, her supportive husband by her side.

Although not the focal point of the film, their efforts do manage to shine brightly through the cracks, giving us glimpses into sketchwork that would lay the groundwork for future SNL superstars like Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph.

The fact that they get to do it while harassing former teen star Dylan O'Brien (aka Stiles from Teen Wolf) is just an added bonus.

But in all seriousness, O'Brien makes for a fun, buoyant Dan Aykroyd.

Without trying very hard, Saturday Night would've been able to give older viewers a shot of nostalgia for the early days of SNL while also giving younger generations a great first step back into learning about the early history of SNL, a show which is currently airing its 50th season and still going strong. The fact that it's also a great movie is truly an added bonus and a gift to the state of current cinema.

At the end of it all, Saturday Night is able to prove that while a biopic doesn't have to get all the facts right, it certainly has to capture the vibe. And it certainly does so, making us feel what it was like to be there in Studio 8H during a chaotic October night in 1975, where the Not Ready for Primetime Players were just trying to put on a show.

[theenchantress36]

I made a chart of all the relationships in SINF!

[dgct2]

Message In A Bottle (1999)

Dir. Luis Mandoki

[makethosenarratorsfight]

UNRELIABLE NARRATORS; SIDE C

Lloyd Allen Propaganda:

I'm genuinely not sure if this counts as unreliable but your honor, I love him. He's what is called a 'posthuman,' in his source, which is someone who can jump between narratives and change them by. Literally being a narrator. Specifically in the New Albion Radio Hour this is played with by him coaxing the main character (also a posthuman who isn't quite Aware of what she is) 'back into character' when she starts trying to break out of the story he wants to tell. Which is the entire destruction of the city New Albion. He eventually changes the plot to still be a tragedy, once that other posthuman starts meddling, but with her specifically being killed rather than the entire city falling. She still ends up defying it, though in the process her father and aunt die.

Josh Newman Propaganda:

well for one he's tricked into going against his sister and his narration supports this way of thinking. so yeah hes basically being manipulated for one whole book, and his narration reflects that. hes also death yeah can we talk about that

[three-two-six]

SINF Animatic alert!

After a month of hard work, I can finally present to you guys; a funny scene from a movie I like that I sacrificed all of my braincells for to make it SINF

Starring: John Dee, Virginia Dare, Nicholas Flamel, Josh Newman, Sophie Newman, Francis Comte de Saint-Germain

[amputeeblondiebattle]

[soapoperamen]

Joshua Morrow (Nicholas “Nick” Newman, The Young and the Restless)

[ashery24]

If Sophie is represented by the Moon and Josh by the Sun, Marethyu is by a Black Hole

[ronnola]

[morefictionlesslife]

I low-key (high-key) want to see Josh be Dee's apprentice.

In the books, Dee used, manipulated and tried to sacrifice him for his own gain and was very rarely complitely truthful.

The only time, he really saw Josh as a person worthy of being his apprentice, was at the very end. When Dee found out, that the missing pages were with Josh the whole time, he didn't get angry, he was just like "you played me? respect, you really are something".

Dee would appreciate Josh's chaotic, power hungry side as well and would even nuture it opposed to the Flamels, who wanted Josh to do only what they wanted and approved. Dee would see Josh as an equal rather than a child.

I feel like these two would make a great, powerful team, with Josh's human side along with his power and Dee's cleverness together with his knowledge.

And I would like to see it.

[readingabookmostofthetimes]

I'm starting to fear for Josh his life. He don't deserve to die