#Sonny Craven

[heinouslyyourspod]

I don’t mean to alarm anyone but this labour of love is available now.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Weltschmerz is a German word that describes a feeling of sadness, weariness, or hopelessness about the world. It's made up of the words Welt, meaning "world", and Schmerz, meaning "pain".

[Thanks Ellen Geller]

* * * *

Put one foot in front of the other. Repeat.

November 16, 2024

Robert B. Hubbell

It was a tough week—on the heels of an even tougher week. A few Democrats are revved up and ready to jump back in the fight. But if my inbox is a reliable indicator, many (most?) people are still reeling from the losses on Election Day. They are bewildered, exhausted, tapped out emotionally and financially, and angry. You wouldn’t be human if you did not feel those emotions in some measure. Hopes were high, and the loss was unexpected. The disappointment was exacerbated by PTSD.

The president-elect has a feral sense that many Democrats are emotionally vulnerable. His cabinet picks are designed to rub salt in our wounds and deepen our sense of bewilderment. We must recognize that the ludicrous nominations over the past week are part of a strategy to dispirit and weaken Democrats—in hopes of reducing their resolve to resist his dark plans.

We cannot give in to the president-elect’s transparent ploy. Although I am not a fan of the Godfather movie franchise (no hate mail, please!), every American knows the line, “‘It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.”

Trump’s bizarre, anti-government nominations are not personal. They are strictly business—to Trump and to us. He is using them as an emotional cudgel against Democrats and a test of loyalty for incredulous Republicans. Our job is to defeat as many of the nominations as possible—thereby demonstrating that Trump is vulnerable and weak after his narrow win.

It is possible that Trump will resort to unilateral recess appointments by forcing an adjournment of Congress for ten days so that he can cram his unqualified, anti-establishment choices on the American people.

Doing so would be a mistake and would overplay Trump's hand. The officers would be branded as illegitimate leaders who could not make it through a Senate confirmation. More importantly, such a move would instantly convert Trump into America’s first (and last) dictator.

No other president has forced an adjournment of Congress, much less for the anti-democratic purpose of evading the Senate’s “advice and consent” role under the Constitution. Although lawsuits would challenge the recess appointments unilaterally engineered by Trump, the bigger point is that the move would drop all pretense of a president bound by the rule of law.

Whatever the Framers thought they were doing with the recess appointments and the adjournment clause, none of them believed those clauses could be manipulated to strip the Senate of its constitutional obligation to review presidential nominations.

If Trump manages to remove the Senate’s advice and consent role from the Constitution, he will sow the seeds of his quick undoing.

As I write, it appears that the nominations of Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and Robert Kennedy are in trouble—at least if they go through the Senate confirmation process.

We can help keep up the pressure by notifying our Senators and Representatives that we oppose the nominations of Gaetz, Hegseth, Kennedy, and Gabbard. See Jessica Craven’s Chop Wood Carry Water for a word script and link to phone numbers. Chop Wood, Carry Water 11/14.

There are two other themes that deserve mention as we head into the weekend.

The first is the stand-alone injury to women across America who hoped that the 2024 election would be a major step to re-establishing their status as equal citizens under the Constitution. Few opinion writers or journalists have mentioned that the re-election of Trump has dashed those hopes—at least for another four years.

Mother Jones has addressed the issue of the election’s impact on women in its article, Of Misogyny, Musk, and Men by Clara Jeffrey. The article runs under the sub-header “Women are not okay. We’re furious.”  

For all of the punditry analyzing the reason for Democrats’ loss on November 5, almost none of them mention the Trump campaign’s explicit appeal to sexism among young men. Any pundit who purports to analyze the reasons for Kamala Harris’s loss and does not list misogyny among the top three reasons is running cover for Trump—whether they intend to or not.

The second issue is the unrelenting tidal wave of pundit analyses that seek to assign blame for the Democratic loss. Spoiler alert: The reason is (allegedly) that Democrats are “liberal elitists” who ignored the working class.

The above analysis is both wrong and lazy. But even if it were accurate, it beggars belief that journalists and pundits are wasting their time assigning blame at the very moment that Trump “is slouching toward Bethlehem” in the manner of the “rough beast” in The Second Coming.1

If the above metaphor is too obscure for a Saturday morning, here is another: Imagine that we are on an oil drilling platform in the North Sea. A fire has started in the galley and threatens to engulf the entire platform. What is the better course of action? To argue over who is responsible for starting the fire in the galley or to work on extinguishing the fire?

It is appropriate and necessary to understand how and why Democrats fell short in 2024. But to do so at a time when we are stranded on a burning platform is suicidal. Assigning blame may fill column inches but it corrodes unity. The legacy media is failing us.

And yet, readers cannot resist the temptation to forward articles to me with the thesis, “Democrats are liberal elitists who got what they deserved.” I get a dozen such emails a day (often multiple duplicates of the latest from NYT or WaPo). I have received hundreds since November 5.

Amplifying such articles merely compounds the journalistic malpractice of the legacy media. We should not give them oxygen. They invite disputation and discord. They are inimical to our prime objective: Resist the efforts of the Trump administration to erode the rule of law.

Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter

[noloveforned]

no love for ned airs on wlur from 8pm until midnight tonight and we'd love it if you tuned in! as always, you can catch up with last week's show on mixcloud if you're reading this after the fact. there are even a couple extra shows up from earlier this year. i'm going to slowly keep adding the old shows but it could very well take a decade at this rate!

no love for ned on wlur – september 8th, 2023 from 8-10pm

artist // track // album // label the b-52's // rock lobster // the b-52's // warner bros. optic sink // summertime rain // glass blocks // feel it rocky // the jacket // rocky // lulu's sonic disc club senica // tychos // passing tide cassette // melted ice cream uppendix // stuck // bliss is solipsis cassette // discontinuous innovation jean mignon // moped with a gun // an/al cassette // xtro the lavender flu // dream girl // assorted promenades // mind meld pipe // lost and found // backstroke 7" // third uncle ratboys // making noise for the ones you love // the window // topshelf odes // underwire // me and my big mouth // merge christopher alan durham and the peacetime consumers // suburban girl // kicks or macabre // soft abuse the peacers // don't tell me that you've changed your mind // introducing the crimsmen // drag city wet tuna // party in the house (beat poetics: pornado version) // party phone extended play // feral child edsel axle // some answer // variable happiness // worried songs john krausbauer and patrick shiroishi // swing low // high life 7" ep // carbon james brandon lewis and red lily quintet // calvary // for mahalia, with love // tao forms irreversible entanglements // our land back // protect your light // verve mike reed featuring marvin tate // first reading- san francisco sky // flesh and bone // 482 music sam wilkes and jacob mann // yes it is // perform the compositions of sam wilkes and jacob mann // leaving noname featuring jimetta rose and voices of creation // hold me down // sundial // (self-released) raz fresco and nicholas craven // rearview // boulangerie // good felons real bad man and blu featuring c.l. smooth // the golden rule // bad news // rrc music co. jalen ngonda // come around and love me // come around and love me // daptone ovrkast. // seamless // reset! ep // do more heather woods broderick // admiration // labyrinth // western vinyl happy as you like // all we ever had // happy as you like // subjangle swansea sound // keep your head on // twentieth century // skep wax spirit fest // in our house // bear in town // morr music ruth garbus // waiting on the sun // alive people // orindal sonny and the sunsets // sit-ups // self awareness through macrame // rocks in your head

[gazellefamily]

RED EYE (2005) “Post-9/11 Plane-phobia by Craven The Hunter. Yeah first half is pretty Hitchcockian but crashes trying to land. Seeing Brian Cox play a NICE dad was bizarre. You’re expecting him to call his daughter “Pinkie” and then tell her to fuck off, but instead he’s just nice here. And RachMac, well, she’s like the chocolate chip ice cream of actresses. Like, yeah there’s def more interesting flavors out there but no one's gonna turn down a lick of that delicious basic.” -Sonny Gazelle

[classic80sand90smovieloves2]

Masterlist

A list of my old writing that you can request I revise

Song Prompts

Meeting and Dating Headcanons~

Pretty in Pink

Andie Walsh

Duckie Dale

Blane McDonagh

Steff McKee

Sixteen Candles 

Jake Ryan

The Lost Boys

Paul

Dwayne

Poly Lost Boys

Edgar Frog

The Breakfast Club

Brian Johnson

John Bender

Andrew Clark

The Outsiders

Sodapop Curtis

Dallas Winston

Two-Bit Mathews

Rumblefish

Steve Hays

Ferris Buellers Day Off

Cameron Frye

Karate Kid

Daniel Larusso

Johnny Lawrence

Dutch

Heathers

Veronica Sawyer

Jason Dean

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Jeff Spicoli

Brad Hamilton

Better Off Dead 

Lane Meyer

Weird Science

Gary Wallace

Wyatt Donnelly

Dream A Little Dream

Dinger Holfield

Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure

Bill S. Preston Esquire

Ted Logan 

Dating Poly Bill and Ted 

The Princess Bride

Inigo Montoya

Interview with the Vampire

Louis de Pointe du Lac

Children of the Corn

Malachai Boardman

National Lampoons 

Rusty Griswold (European Vacation)

Cant Buy Me Love

Kenneth Wurman

The Chocolate War

Jerry Renault

Archie Costello

The Mighty Ducks

Fulton Reed

Dean Portman

Adam Banks

Les Averman

Porkys

Brian Schwartz

Anthony ‘Meat’ Tuperello

Tommy Turner

Tim Cavanaugh

Mickey Jarvis

Just One of the Guys

Terry Griffith

Greg Tolan

Dead Poets Society 

Neil Perry

Todd Anderson

Charlie Dalton

Knox Overstreet

Steven Meeks

Earth Girls are Easy

Mac

Combat Academy 

Perry Barnett

Waynes World

Garth Algar

Austin Powers

Austin Powers

Toy Soldiers

Ricardo Montoya

Good Will Hunting

Chuckie Sullivan

10 Things I Hate About You

Joey Donner

My Bodyguard

Ricky Linderman

Melvin Moody

Stand and Deliver

Angel Guzman

Something Wild 

Ray Sinclair

Three O’Clock High 

Buddy Revell

Intruder

Randy

Young Guns

Jose Chavez y Chavez

Billy the Kid

Doc Scurlock

Dazed and Confused

Benny O’Donnell

Don Dawson

Kevin Pickford

Randall “Pink” Floyd

Fred O’Bannion

Mitch Kramer

Ron Slater

Shavonne Wright

Dogfight

Eddie Birdlace

Ladybugs

Matthew

Goosebumps

Sticks

Freddy Renfield

Twister

Robert ‘Rabbit’ Nurick

Stand by me 

Ace Merrill

School Ties

Rip Van Kelt 

Chris Reece

The Untouchables

Eliot Ness

The Godfather

Tom Hagen

(Young) Vito Corleone

(Old) Vito Corleone

Goodfellas

Henry Hill

Little Shop of Horrors

Seymour Krelborn

Newsies

Specs

Near Dark

Severen

Friday the 13th

Jason Voorhees

Scream

Billy Loomis 

Poly Billy and  Stu

Stu Macher

The Craft

Nancy Downs

Hocus Pocus

Max Dennison

Thackery Binx

Beetlejuice

Lydia Deetz

Adam Maitland

The Crow

Eric Draven

Ghostbusters

Ray Stantz

Aliens

Bishop

An American Werewolf in London

Jack Goodman

Sleepaway Camp

Ricky Thomas

Re-animator

Herbert West

Silence of the Lambs

Clarice Starling

Fright Night

Jerry Dandridge

Candyman

Daniel Robitaille

The Evil Dead

Ash Williams

Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Harvey Kinkle

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Spike

Full Metal Jacket

Sgt. Hartman

Joker

Animal Mother

Pyle

Preference~ the boys with an s/o whose ex stalks them

Grease

Kenickie

Labyrinth

Jareth

Total Recall

Douglas Quaid

Requested “Would Includes” and Imagines/Fics~

Darry falling for Johnny’s sister

Allison Reynolds dating a shy nerdy girl

Starting a family with Cameron Frye

Making out with Cameron Frye

Cameron Frye comforting you when you’re upset

Getting drunk with the Ferris Bueller crew

Gary Wallace dating a tall girl

George Mcfly with a dominant flirty s/o

Comforting and being comforted by Will Hunting

Will Hunting having a crush on you

Being apart of the good will hunting gang

Armand with a virgin s/o (including nsfw)

Lestat and Louis dating a girl who loves horror movies

Making out with Duckie Dale

Duckie Dale cheering you up

Cliff having a crush on you

Making out with Cliff

Making out with Bryce

Bryce having a crush on you

The Lost Boys with an s/o having an anxiety attack + fighting depression

The Lost Boys with a sweet and innocent s/o

The Lost Boys with a curvy mate

The Lost Boys fighting with their mates

The Lost Boys dating a shy short girl

The Lost Boys taking care of you when you’re hurt

Getting drunk with the Lost Boys would include

David x Laddies older sister

Making out with Edgar Frog

Being Married to Archie Costello

Going to the beach with Archie Costello

Making out with Archie Costello

Darrys girlfriend landing a job at a local cafe as a singer

Making out with Kenneth Wurman

Being Cindys friend and Ronalds crush

Harold Sherbico having a crush

Kim Kelly dating her polar opposite

Neil Perry dating an artist

Making out with Charlie Dalton

Jealous Charlie Dalton

Jealous Knox Overstreet

A study date with Steven Meeks

Spending the winter season with Neil Perry

Comforting Charlie Dalton after he gets expelled 

The dead poets walking in on Charlie and his secret, shy girlfriend 

Simon Boggs having a crush on Laneys friend

Faking It-Cindy Mancini falling for the girl who paid her to be her friend

Spike having a crush on you

Steff McKee having a crush on you

Marko having a crush on you

David having a crush on you 

Paul having a crush on you

Dwayne having a crush on you

Dwayne x vampire reader who dresses like Stevie Nicks

Making out with Keith Nelson

Meat having a crush on Peewees sister

Admit it- Mickey Jarvis and his future s/o having crushes on each other

Being a part of team USA and meeting Adam and Charlie

Dwayne Robertson having a crush on you

Sleepover with Bill and Ted (including nsfw)

Being pregnant with Ted Logans child

Starring in the schools Romeo and Juliet with Ted Logan

Ted Logan asking you to be his valentine

Spending Valentines day with Steff McKee

Spending Valentines day with Steven Meeks

Spending Valentines day with Keith Nelson

Spending your first Valentines day with Bryce

Wishing I Was Her (Nick Andopolis)

If You Want Out Just Say It (Ace Merrill)

Going on the Ferris adventure

Going on your own adventure with Cameron Frye

Making out with Randall ‘Pink’ Floyd

Travelling back in time with Marty McFly

Tommy Devito dating a chubby artist

Years Gone By (Michael Corleone)

Sonny Corleone dating his opposite

Phillipe Gaston x reader~ Fairy Tale 

Being Fulton's sister and Dating Dean Portman

Comforting Todd when he’s upset

Being married to Bill S. Preston Esquire

Being married to Ted Logan

Spending Halloween/October with Knox Overstreet

Making out with Knox

A will they, won’t they relationship with Seth Brundle

Falling in love with Edward Scissorhands

Dwayne Hicks with an Android!Technician s/o

Private Joker dating an artist 

Jareth falling in love with you

Being married to Matt Hooper and going to Amity

The way you make me feel~ John Bender

Being in a long term relationship with JD

J.D. with a chronically ill s/o

Archie with a chronically ill s/o

Making out with Ted Logan

Archibald Craven falling in love

Andy Dufresne falling in love

Nsfw Headcanons~ 

Group sex with the lost boys

Sam Emerson

Threesome with Obie and Archie

Armand

Archie Costello

(sub) Archie Costello

Obie

Johnny Cade

Cameron Frye

Duckie Dale

Blane

John Bender

Randy (Intruder)

Joey Donner

Kenneth Wurman

Keith Nelson

The Dead Poets Kinks

Knox Overstreet

Charlie Dalton

Steven Meeks

Todd Anderson

Neil Perry

Gerard Pitts

John Bender taking your virginity

Louis de Pointe du Lac

Dinger Holfield

The Lost Boys

JD

Randall ‘Pink’ Floyd

Benny O’donnell

Fred O’Bannion

Cliff

Bryce

Johnny Walker

George Mcfly

Brian Moreland

(sub) Perry Barnett 

Bill S. Preston Esquire

Ted Logan

Randy Meeks

Michael Emerson

Nancy Downs

Ray Stantz

Egon Spengler

Spike

Angel Guzman

Sgt. Hartman

Brad Hamilton

Douglas Quaid

Chris (night of the creeps)

Sonny Corleone with a shy, virgin s/o

George Mcfly getting jealous and being dominant

Grease Monkey (Keith Nelson smut)

Sins of the flesh and matters of the heart (David x reader + Dwayne smut)

[spaceaceathena]

nancy drew name meanings

so this is the work i’ve been doing over the past couple days, I want to give you guys a heads up that list will contain spoilers for some of the characters/games so please be aware of all of that. if this garners interest, i’ll do maybe the penvellyn family tree (that thing could not fit in here) or last name origins!

Main Cast

Nancy Drew: Grace (Hebrew)

Bess Marvin: god of plenty (English)

Georgia “George” Fayne: farmer (English)

Edward “Ned” Nickerson: wealth, fortune, prosperous OR guardian, protector (English)

Joe Hardy: god will increase (English)

Frank “Franklin” Hardy: free landowner (English)

SCK/SCKR

Jacob “Jake” Rogers: supplanter (Hebrew)

Daryl Gray: open, from Airelle (English, French)

Connie Watson: strong willed, wise (Irish)

Hal Tanaka: army ruler (English)

Hector “Hulk” Sanchez: holding fast (Greek)

Mitch Dillon: Who is like God, gift from god (Hebrew)

Detective “Steve” Beech: crown, garland (Greek)

STFD

Mattie Jensen: lady, mistress of the house, might in battle (Aramaic or German)

Richard “Rick” Arlen: brave ruler (English)

Dwayne Powers: swarthy (Irish, Gaelic)

Lillian Weiss: lily, a flower (English)

Millie Strathorn: industrious (German)

William Pappas: resolute protector, strong willed warrior (German)

Ralph Guardino: counsel wolf, famous wolf (Norse, English)

MHM

Rose Green: rose, a flower (English)

Abby Sideris: father’s joy (Hebrew)

Charlie Murphy: free man (Charlie)

Louis Chandler: fame, warrior, famous in battle (French)

Hannah Gruen: favor, grace (Hebrew)

Emily Foxworth: rival, wily, persuasive (Latin, Greek)

TRT

Professor Beatrice Hotchkiss: she who makes happy, bringer of joy, blessings (Italian, French, Latin)

Dexter Egan: right handed, fortunate, one who dyes (Latin)

Lisa Ostrum: God’s promise (English, Hebrew)

Jacques Brunais: supplanter (French)

FIN

Brady Armstrong: spirited, broad (Irish)

Joseph Hughes: he will add (Hebrew)

Nicholas Falcone: victory of the people (Greek)

Simone Mueller: god has heard (Hebrew)

Maya Nguyen: good mother (Greek)

Eustacia Andropov: fruitful, productive (Greek)

Sherman Trout: shearer of woolen garments (English)

SSH

Joanna Riggs: god is gracious (Greek/Hebrew)

Alejandro Del Rio: defender of mankind (Spanish)

Taylor Sinclair: tailor (French)

Henrik Van Der Hune: ruler of the home, lord of the house (Swedish, Danish)

Franklin Rose: free landowner (English)

Poppy “Penelope” Dada: weaver (Greek)

Prudence Rutherford: prudence, good judgement (Latin)

DOG

Red Knott: person with red hair (English)

Jeff Akers: pledge of peace (English)

Emily Griffin: rival, persuasive, wily (Latin, Greek)

Sally McDonald: princess (Hebrew)

Vivian Whitmore: lively (Latin)

Mickey Malone: who is like god (Hebrew)

Lucy: as of light (English, French)

Iggy: fiery (Latin)

Vitus: lively (Latin)

Xander: defender of man (Greek)

Yogi: one who performs yoga (Indian, Hindu)

CAR

Harlan Bishop: army land (English)

Ingrid Corey: beloved, beautiful (Norse, German)

Elliot Chen: with strength and right, bravely and truly, boldly and rightly (English, Breton)

Joy Trent: joy, happiness (Latin)

Paula Santos: small (Latin)

K.J Perris: Petros-> the rock (Greek)

Tink Obermeier: love (English)

DDI

Jenna Deblin: white shadow, white wave (English, Welsh)

Katie Firestone: pure (English, Greek)

Andy Jason: manlike, brave (Greek)

Holt Scotto: woods, forest (English)

Casey Porterfield: vigilant, watchful (Irish, Gaelic)

Dr. Irina Predoviciu: peace (Greek)

Hilda Swenson: battle (Norse)

SHA

Dave Gregory: beloved (English)

Tex Britten: from Texas (American)

Mary Yazzie: bitter, beloved, rebelliousness, wished for child, marine, drop of the sea (Aramaic, Hebrew via Latin and Greek)

Shorty Thurmond: a short person (American)

Bet Rawley: god is my oath (Hebrew)

Ed Rawley: wealthy spear, protector, guard, frend (English)

Sheriff Hernandez: son of Hernando (Spanish)

Dirk Valentine: famous ruler (German)

France Humber: free one (French, English)

Meryl Humber: shining sea (English)

CUR

Linda Penvellyn: beautiful, pretty, cute OR clean (Spanish/Portugeuse, Italian)

Mrs. Leticia Drake: joy, gladness (Latin)

Jane Penvellyn: god is gracious/merciful (English)

Nigel Mookerjee: champion (Irish, Gaelic)

Ethel Bossiny: noble (English)

Hugh Penvellyn: mind, spirit (English)

Mrs. Petrov: petros-> rock (Greek to Russian)

CLK

Emily Crandall: rival, wily, persuasive (Latin, Greek)

Jane Willoughby: god is gracious/merciful (English)

Richard Topham: strong in rule (English, French, German, Czech)

Jim Archer: supplanter (English)

Carson Drew: son of marsh dwellers (Scandinavian)

Gloria Crandall: glory, fame, renown, praise, honor (Latin)

Marion Aborn: star of the sea (French)

Mrs Farthingham: a house supplying food (Scottish)

Josiah Crowley: god has healed (Hebrew)

TRN

Lori Girard: bay laurel (English)

Tino Balducci: little, junior (Italian)

Charleena Purcell: free man (German)

John Gray: graced by god (Hebrew)

Jake Hurley: supplanter (Hebrew)

Camille Hurley: helper to the priest (French)

Fatima: captivating, shining one (Arabic)

DAN

Minette: star of the sea, love, will helmet, protection (French)

Heather McKay: evergreen flowering plant (Middle English)

Jing Jing Ling: perfect essence (Chinese)

Dieter von Schwesterkrank: army of the people (German)

Jean-Michel Traquenard: god remits (Hebrew)

Lynn Manrique: pond, lake, pool, waterfall (Welsh)

Hugo Butterly: mind (German)

Zu: knowledgeable and voracious reader (French)

Tammy Barnes (Minette): palm tree (Hebrew)

Noisette Tornade: hazelnut (French)

the n*zi will not be appearing on this list

CRE

Pua Mapu: flower (Hawaiian)

Big Island Mike Mapu: who is like god, gift from god (Hebrew)

Dr. Quigley Kim: descendant of Coigleach or maybe messy hair (Irish)

Dr. Malachi Craven: messenger of god (Hebrew)

ICE

Ollie Randall: olive tree (Latin)

Yanni Volkstaia: god is gracious (Greek)

Bill Kessler: resolute protection (English)

Lou Talbot: renowned warrior (French)

Guadalupe Comillo: river of the wolf (Spanish)

Chantal Moique: stone (French)

Elsa Sibblehoth: pledged to god (German)

Freddie Randall: elf, magical counsel, peaceful ruler (English, German)

Isis: throne (Egyptian)

CRY

Henry Bolet Jr.: house ruler (French)

Dr. Gilbert Buford: bright pledge/promise (French)

Lamont Warrick: the mountain (French)

Renee Amande: reborn, born again (French)

Summer: season, half-year (German)

Bruno Bolet: brown (German)

Bernie: strong and brave bear (German, French)

Iggy: fiery (Latin)

VEN

Colin Baxter: whelp, cub, young creature (Irish, Scottish, Gaelic)

Margherita Faubourg: daisy (Italian)

Helena Berg: light/bright (Greek)

Enrico Tazza: homeowner, king (Italian)

Antonio Fango: priceless one (Spanish, Italian)

Sophia Leporace: wisdom (Greek)

HAU

Kyler Mallory: bowman, archer (Dutch)

Matt Simmons: gift of god (Hebrew)

Kit Foley: bearing Christ (Greek)

Donal Delany: world leader (Scottish)

Alan Payne: precious (German)

Fiona Malloy: white, fair (Gaelic)

RAN - Her Interactive refuses to acknowledge this game and so will I.

WAC

Corine Myers: maiden (American)

Danielle Hayes: god is my judge (Latin)

Mel Corbalis: council protector (English)

Megan Vargas: pearl (Greek)

Izzy Romero: god’s promise (Hebrew)

Leela Yadav: play OR night beauty (Sanskrit or Arabic)

Rachel Hubbard: ewe, one with purity (Hebrew)

Kim Hubbard: of the clearing of the royal fortress (Old English)

Rebecca Sawyer (Nancy): join, tie, snare (Hebrew)

Rita Hallowell: pearl (Spanish)

TOT

Scott Varnell: from Scotland, a Scotsman (old English)

Debbie Kircum: bee (Hebrew)

Tobias “Frosty” Harlow: god is good (Hebrew)

Chase Releford: to hunt (French)

SAW

Shimizu Yumi: reason/cause, beauty; abundant, beauty; evening, fruit; tenderness, beauty (Japanese)

Shimizu Miwako: child of beautiful harmony (Japanese)

Shimizu Kasumi: mist, clear, pure (Japanese)

Nagai Takae: filial piety, obedience and large river (Japanese)

Aihara Rentaro: dependant on kanji used (Japanese)

Savannah Woodham: treeless plain (Spanish)

CAP

Karl Weschler: free man, strong man, man, manly (German)

Anja Mittelmeier: grace (German, Russian)

Lukas Mittelmeier: man from Lucanus (German, Greek, Swedish)

Renate Stoller: Reborn (Latin)

Markus Boehm: dedicated to Mars (Latin)

ASH

Chief McGinnis: son of Angus (Irish)

Deirdre Shannon: broken hearted, sorrowful (Irish, Gaelic)

Brenda Carlton: sword (Norse)

Alexei Markovic: defender (Russian)

Antonia “Toni” Scallari: priceless, praiseworthy, beautiful (Roman)

TMB

Abdullah Bakhoum: servant of Allah (Arabic)

Lily Crewe: lily, a flower

Jamila El-Dine: beauty (Arabic)

Dylan Carter: son of the sea, son of the wave, born from the ocean (Welsh)

Jon Boyle: God is gracious, gift of Jehovah (Hebrew)

DED

Victor Lossett: winner, conqueror (Latin)

Ryan Kilpatrick: descendant of the king, little king (Irish, Gaelic)

Mason Quinto: one who works with stone (English)

Ellie York: shining light (Greek)

Gray Cortright: color, black mixed with white (English)

Niko Jovic: people of victory (Greek, English, Slavic)

GTH

Jessalyn Thornton: he sees (Hebrew)

Clara Thornton: clear, bright, famous (Latin)

Wade Thornton: to go, ford (Anglo-Saxon English)

Harper Thornton: harp, son of the harper (Scottish, Irish, English)

Colton Birchfield: swarthy person, coal town, settlement (Old English)

Charlotte Thornton: free man, petite (French)

Addison Hammond: son of Adam, son of Addi (Old English, Scottish)

SPY

Alec Fell: defender of the people (English)

Bridget Shaw: power, strength, virtue, vigor, noble or exalted one (Gaelic, Irish)

Ewan Macleod: born of the mountain (Scottish, Gaelic)

Moira Chisholm: destiny, share, fate (English)

Kate Drew: pure (English)

Samantha Quick: listens well, as told by god (Aramaic, Hebrew)

MED

Sonny Joon: son (English)

Patrick Dowsett: nobleman, patrician (Latin)

Leena Patel: young palm tree, tender, delicate (Qunaric Arabic)

Kiri Nind: skin, bark, rind (Māori)

Jin Seung: rise, ascent, victory, excel, inherit (Sino-Korean)

LIE

Xenia Doukas: foreigner, outlander, welcomed guest, hospitality (Greek)

Niobe Papadaki: fern (Greek)

Thanos Ganas: immortal (Greek)

Grigor Karakinos: vigilant (Greek)

Melina Rosi: honey, god’s gift (Greek)

SEA

Soren Bergursson: severe (Scandinavian) 

Dagny Silva: new day (Old Norse)

Elisabet Grimursdottir: pledged to god (Hebrew)

Magnus Kiljansson: great (Latin)

Gunnar Tonnisson: fighter, soldier, attacker, brave and bold warrior (Nordic)

Burt Eddleton: bright, glorious (Old English)

Alex Trang: man’s defender, warrior (Greek)

MID

Mei Parry: beautiful (Chinese)

Teegan Parry: special thing, little poet (Cornish, Gaelic)

Olivia Ravencraft: olive, olive tree (Latin)

Judge Danforth: hidden ford (Old English) [Last name]

Lauren Corey: laurel tree, sweet of honor, wisdom (English, french)

Alicia Cole: noble natured (Germanic)

Jason Danforth: healer (Greek)

[thebeastofblackmoor]

Nancy Drew Asks- Send me a Suspect!

Since it seems everyone is cooped up at home, I figured I’d make an ask game of my own to help the Clue Crew combat boredom... Send me a suspect and rb!

Daryl Gray: What kind of car do you drive? Connie Watson: Are you a part of any clubs? Hal Tanaka: Have you ever cheated in school? Hector “Hulk” Sanchez:  Do you play any sports? If so, which one(s)? Detective Beech: Do you keep a journal? What’s in it? Mitch Dillon: Have you ever blocked your number and if yes, why?

Mattie Jensen: Describe the plot of the last TV show you watched. Rick Arlen: What’s your favorite kind of chocolate? Lillian Weiss: What’s the worst way you’ve ever broken up with somebody? Millie Strathorn: Would you consider yourself cluttered or organized? Dwayne Powers: Do you hold a grudge? Ralph Guardino: What is your job?

Rose Green: Do you talk with your hands? Abby Sideris: What is your star sign? Louis Chandler: What’s the oldest thing you own? Charlie Murphy: How many different places have you lived?

Dexter Egan: Did you get in trouble a lot as a kid? Professor Hotchkiss: Early bird or night owl (hoot hoot)? Lisa Ostrum: Do you speak another language? Jacques Brunais: Would you rather have a big or small wedding?

Brady Armstrong: What was the worst job you ever worked? Simone Mueller: Has anyone ever climbed out of your wardrobe? Nicholas Falcone: Have you ever been to a protest? Joseph Hughes: If you had to move away to live with family in another state, who would it be and where?

Joanna Riggs: What’s your favorite exhibit at the museum? Henrik van der Hune: Are you attracted to Henrik? this is a serious question I know a lot of you are or at least used to be.. what was the deal with that.. Alejandro del Rio: What country are you from? Taylor Sinclair: Do you have a nickname?

Red Knott: What’s your favorite animal? Emily Griffin: If you owned a store, what would it sell? Jeff Akers: Do you have any pets?

Harlan Bishop: Have you ever gotten into trouble with the law? Ingrid Corey: If you suddenly got a lot of money, how would you spend it? Joy Trent: Do you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist? Elliot Chen: If any, what kind of art do you do?

Katie Firestone: What is your favorite kind of sandwich? Holt Scotto: Political alignment? Andy Jason: Sharks or whales? Jenna Deblin: Starbucks or local coffee shop?

Dave Gregory: You got a steady back home? Tex Britten: Have you ever ridden a horse? Shorty Thurmond: Are you a good cook? Mary Yazzie: Have you ever had a secret relationship?

Linda Penvellyn: Are you married? Jane Penvellyn: Favorite mythological creature? Mrs. Drake: Do you have plants? Ethel Bossiny: What period in or piece of history fascinates you the most? Nigel Mookerjee: Do you scare easily?

Emily Crandall: When was the last time you stayed in your pajamas all day? Richard Topham: Have you ever seen a psychic? Jane Willoughby: What kind of accent do you have? Jim Archer: Are you good with money?

Lori Girard: Favorite celebrity? Charleena Purcell: What was the last book you read? Tino Balducci: Do you exaggerate stories?  John Grey: What’s the cheesiest TV show you watch?

Minette: Do you have any tattoos? JJ Ling: Most outrageous lie you’ve told? Heather McKay: Do you care about fashion? Dieter von Schwesterkrank: How many people have you dated? Jean-Michel Traquenard: Where do you do your best work?

Dr. Quigley Kim: Bugs: yay or nay? Big Island Mike: What’s your favorite meme? Pua Mapu: Have you ever been surfing? Malachi Craven: Do you take compliments well?

Ollie Randall: Have you ever been hunting? Freddie Randall: Do you like winter weather? Bill Kessler: Name a place from your childhood that holds a fond place in your heart. Yanni Volkstaia: Winter or summer sports? Lou Talbot: What did you major in or what would you like to major in, if applicable? Guadalupe Comillo: Did you have a “wolf phase” growing up?

Henry Bolet: Are you more goth, jock, nerd, or prep? Renee Amande: Do you have a secret stash of food in your room? Lamont Warrick: Do you have allergies? Gilbert Buford: Describe your best friend.

Margarita Fauberg: Do you prefer to spend time inside or outside? Helena Berg: What’s your favorite city in the world? Colin Baxter: Do you give a single shit about tesserae tiles?? Enrico Tazza: Favorite card game? Antonio Fango: Do you work in an office?

Kyler Mallory: Do you know much about your family history? Matt Simmons: Do you enjoy playing practical jokes? Kit Foley: Have you ever gotten into a physical fight? Donal Delaney: Favorite drink, alcoholic or otherwise? Fiona Malloy: What was your favorite toy as a kid?

Johnny Rolle: Favorite Halloween costume you’ve ever worn?

Corine Meyers: Did you get good grades in high school? Izzy Romero: Were you popular in high school? Mel Corbalis: Do you play an instrument? Rachel & Kim Hubbard: Do you have any siblings?

Scott Varnell: What are you really passionate about? Debbie Kircum: Are you a hard worker? Frosty Harlow: Do you like photography? Chase Relerford: Have you ever stolen from a store? Pa: Do you do any theater?

Yumi Shimizu: Would you consider yourself bossy? Miwako Shimizu: Are you timid or assertive? Takae Nagai: Do you have any traditions you honor? Rentaro Aihara: Are you technical-minded? I was gonna ask if you like puzzles but, um, this is the friggin clue crew

Karl Weschler: Are you a leader or a follower? Anja Mittelmeier: Have you or would you lie on your resume?  Lukas Mittelmeier: Do you like to cause trouble? Renate Stoller: Tell us the best story you’ve got.

Deirdre Shannon: Do you get jealous easily? Brenda Carlton: Are you just the fucking worst? (HINT: No, because you’re not Brenda) Toni Scallari: Do you talk about people behind their backs? Alexei Markovic: Do you break things often?

Abdullah Bakhoum: Do you have high self-confidence? Lily Crewe: Favorite board game? Dylan Carter: Are people inclined to believe you, even when you lie? Jamila El-Dine: Do you believe there are aliens on other planets?

Victor Lossett: Are you strict? Ryan Kilpatrick: What’s your favorite kind of candy? Mason Quinto: Do you consider yourself a logical thinker? Ellie York: What “percent scientist” are you? Gray Cortright: Would you work a night shift?

Clara Thornton: Tell us a story you haven’t told almost anyone. Apparently “have you ever accidentally gotten someone killed?” isn’t an appropriate question for tumblr dot com Wade Thornton: Do you believe in ghosts? Jessalyn Thornton: Do you think spending a night on a haunted island with your best friend sounds like fun? Harper Thornton: What’s your favorite book? Colton Birchfield: How would you get the attention of someone you liked?

Alec Fell: Are you especially witty? Moira Chisholm: Again, since “have you ever accidentally gotten someone killed?” isn’t gonna cut it, I’ll go with: What are your hobbies? Ewan Macleod: What piece of spy gadgetry would you pick if you got to take one home? Zoe Wolf: Do you like to break the rules?

Sonny Joon: Do you doodle? Patrick Dowsett: Are you a good swimmer? Leena Patel: How did you meet your best friend? Kiri Nind: Why did you dedicate your life to being on trashy TV? Do you watch reality TV?

Xenia Doukas: Which fictional character do you relate to on a personal level? Niobe Papadaki: Are you a good public speaker? Grigor Karakinos: If you had to make up a fake identity for yourself, what first and last name would you pick and why? Thanos Ganas:  Do you think you’re intimidating?

Elisabet Grimursdottir: Are you a cat or a dog person? Dagny Silva: What’s your sexuality? Soren Bergursson: If you were a villain, what would be your weapon of choice? Gunnar Tonnisson: What stands out about your physical appearance?

[trademarknickersoncharm]

i do not be craven your booty, but i do be craven to be included in cravengate so here i am making a fool of myself for the meme life —maggie (sending this on anon only because tungblor does not let us send things from our sideblog and i am here right now as sonnys-space-junk, not as my main blog)

MAGGIE OTKRJRJE

[teamdoofus]

If you had to pair nancy off with one char per game, who would you choose? (doesn’t have to be forever and ever. some people are obviously just ons material.)

WHAT A PHENOMENAL QUESTION

SCK: Daryl but I’m not happy about it

STFD: Lillian

MHM: Charlie

TRT: Dexter

FIN: Fight the power

SSH: Henrik

DOG: Ranger Akers

CAR: Elliot

DDI: Katie and Jenna they will not be separated

SHA: DAVE

CUR: Does Hugh count… if not Ethel can always top her

CLK: Topham 

TRN: FRANK does he count do the hardy boys count (if they don’t then I GUESS Lori) 

DAN: Heather

CRE: FRANK (Craven tho rly I have like an Essay about this)

ICE: unpopular opinion!!! YANNI 

CRY: Henry even tho he belongs with Bess how could you be so cruel to him Nancy honestly you’re the worst

VEN: does anyone else remember the collective thirst over nico petit back when this game was announced only for us to learn that he really isn’t even in the game aside from like blink and you’ll miss it scenes and also he apparently has 2 braincells? yeah me too. anyway the answer is Helena

HAU: ………. no one……………. ugh fine Kyler

RAN: no

WAC: MEL

TOT: SCOTT

SAW: Yumi 

CAP: Anja

ASH: ALEXEI

TMB: Dylan

DED: Mason

GTH: uh …………. Jessalyn

SPY: ALEC

MED: SONNY

LIE: GRIGOR

SEA: Dagny

[blackkudos]

Ving Rhames

Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American stage and screen actor. He is best known for his starring role as Luther Stickell in the Mission: Impossible film series and his supporting role as gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction. He also appeared in Jacob's Ladder (1990), Dave (1993), Striptease (1996), Don King: Only in America (1997), Rosewood (1997), Con Air (1997), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Baby Boy (2001), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Day of the Dead (2008), Piranha 3D (2010), and Father Figures (2017). He voiced Cobra Bubbles in the animated film Lilo & Stitch (2002). Rhames is a Golden Globe Award winner, as well as an Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee.

Early life and education

Rhames was born on May 12, 1959 in Harlem, New York City, the son of Reather, a homemaker, and Ernest Rhames, an auto mechanic. His parents were raised as sharecroppers in South Carolina. He was named after NBC journalist Irving R. Levine.

He entered New York's High School of Performing Arts, where he discovered his love of acting. After high school, he studied drama at SUNY Purchase, where fellow acting student Stanley Tucci gave him his nickname "Ving". Rhames later transferred to the Juilliard School's Drama Division (Group 12: 1979–1983) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1983.

Career

Rhames first appeared on Broadway in the play The Boys of Winter in 1984. He started out in film in Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs (1991) as Leroy, he watched over Kevin Kline as Secret Service agent Duane Stevensen in Dave (1993), and he played Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994). He also played the buddy of George Clooney in “Out of Sight” (1998).

Rhames played Dr. Peter Benton's brother-in-law on the TV medical drama ER, a recurring role he filled for three seasons. He played ace computer hacker Luther Stickell opposite Tom Cruise in Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible (1996). In 1997 Rhames portrayed the character of Nathan 'Diamond Dog' Jones in the popular film Con Air. and Muki in the Ice Cube film Dangerous Ground.

Rhames won a Golden Globe in 1998 for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film in HBO's Don King: Only in America. At the ceremony he gave his award to fellow nominee Jack Lemmon, saying, "I feel that being an artist is about giving, and I'd like to give this to you." Lemmon was clearly touched by the gesture as was the celebrity audience who gave Lemmon a standing ovation. Lemmon, who tried unsuccessfully to give the award back to Rhames, said it was "one of the nicest, sweetest moments I've ever known in my life." The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced later that they would have a duplicate award prepared for Rhames. That moment was #98 on E!'s 101 Awesome Moments in Entertainment. The New York Times lauded Rhames for the act, writing that in doing so he "demonstrated his capacity for abundant generosity."

Rhames appeared in Striptease (1996) as the wisecracking bodyguard Shad, Bringing Out the Dead (1999), then reprised his Luther Stickell role for Mission: Impossible 2 (2000). He played Johnnie Cochran in American Tragedy (2000), the ex-con boyfriend of Jodie's mother in the John Singleton film Baby Boy, portrayed a gay drag queen in the television movie Holiday Heart, contributed his voice for the character of Cobra Bubbles in Lilo & Stitch (2002) and the subsequent TV series, and played a stoic cop fighting zombie hordes in Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Day of the Dead (2008) remakes. Rhames has also appeared in a series of television commercials for RadioShack, usually performing with Vanessa L. Williams.

In March 2005, Rhames played the lead role on a new Kojak series, on the USA Network cable channel (and on ITV4 in the UK). The bald head, lollipops, and "Who loves ya, baby?" catchphrase remained intact, but little else remained from the Savalas original.

Rhames voiced the part of Tobias Jones in the computer game Driver 3.

Reprising his Luther role, Rhames co-starred in Mission: Impossible III (2006), had a cameo appearance in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), and played a major role in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) and Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), the fifth and sixth films, respectively. He is the only actor besides Tom Cruise to appear in all six Mission: Impossible films. It was announced that he would have a role in the Aquaman-based show Mercy Reef, however due to the integration of The WB and UPN for the new network, CW, Mercy Reef was not picked up. Rhames played a homosexual, possibly also homicidal, firefighter who comes out of the closet in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. He narrates the BET television series American Gangster.

In the 2008 film Saving God, he played an ex-con who is released from prison a changed man looking to take over his father's former church congregation in a deteriorating neighborhood. Rhames stars in Phantom Punch, a biopic of boxer Sonny Liston released directly to DVD as well as The Tournament portraying a fighter out to win a no-rules tournament.

Rhames makes an appearance in Ludacris's song "Southern Gangstas" on his album Theater of the Mind. Rappers Playaz Circle and Rick Ross are also featured on the track.

In 2010, he filed a lawsuit against the producer of a film titled Red Canvas, claiming that he had only been paid $175,000 of a $200,000 contract.

He filmed the movie The Red Canvas with Ernie Reyes, Jr. and UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard and Randy Couture.

In 2015, he filmed a series of commercials for The ADT Corporation.

Rhames is one of the narrators for UFC.

Rhames narrated the team introductions for the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI in February 2017.

Since 2015, Rhames's deep voice has provided the narration for numerous Arby's commercials, with the catchline "Arby's, we have the meats!"

[yiikesyikes]

Powered by Non-Existent Demand: My Favorite (and least!) Nancy Drew Characters!

1. Simone Mueller 2. Lori Girard 3. Quigley Kim 4. Deirdre Shannon 5. Lillian Weiss 6. Abby Sideris 7. Minette 8. Clara Thornton 9. Margherita Fauberg 10. Izzy Romero 11. Lamont Warrick 12. Ethel Bossiny 13.Emily Crandall 14. Charleena Purcell 15. Mel Corbalis 16. Nigel Mookerjee 17. Enrico Tazza 18. Kit Foley 19. Letitia Drake 20. Mattie Jensen 21. Brady Armstrong 22. Debbie Kircum 23. Dexter Egan 24. Renée Amande 25. Elliot Chen 26. Ingrid Corey 27. Anja Mittelmeier 28. Henry Bolet Jr. 29. Shimizu Yumi 30. Lukas Mittelmeier 31. Heather McKay 32. Big Island Mike Mapu 33. Guadalupe Comillo 34. Charlie Murphy 35. Bridget Shaw 36. Dylan Carter 37. Colton Birchfield 38. Daryl Gray 39. Jessalyn Thornton 40. Yanni Volkstaia 41. Jeff Akers 42. Rick Arlen 43. Jane Willoughby 44. Jing-Jing Ling 45. Bill Kessler 46. Malachi Craven 47. Jean Michel Traquenard 48. Millie Strathorn 49. Connie Watson 50. Linda Penvellyn 51. Dave Gregory 52. John Grey 53. Pua Mapu 54. Alejandro del Rio 55. Joanna Riggs 56. Hal Tanaka 57. Hulk Sanchez 58. Shorty Thurmond 59. Lou Talbot 60. Richard Topham 61. Brenda Carlton 61. Jamila El-Dine 63. Shimizu Miwako 64. Tobias “Frosty” Harlow 65. Corine Myers 66. Leela Yadav 67. Joy Trent 68. Colin Baxter 69. Ollie Randall 70. Nagai Takae 71. Kyler Mallory 72. Kim Hubbard 73. Jacques Brunais 74. Nicholas Falcone 75. Chase Releford 76. Helena Berg 77. Emily Griffin 78. Moira Chisholm 78. Kiri Nind 78. Leena Patel 78. Patrick Dowsett 78. Thanos Ganas 78. Xenia Doukas 78. Niobe Papadaki 78. Grigor Karakinos 78. Magnus Kiljannson 78. Dagny Silva 78. Elisabet Grimursdottir 78. Gunnar Tonnisson 78. Soren Bergursson 91. Rose Green 92. Beatrice Hotchkiss 93. Red Knott 94. Dieter von Schwesterkrank 95. Jenna Deblin 96. Katie Firestone 97. Mary Yazzie 98. Renate Stoller 99. Rachel Hubbard 100. Dwayne Powers 101. Jane Penvellyn 102. Tex Britten 103. Tino Balducci 104. Louis Chandler 105. Donal Delany 106. Jim Archer 107. Karl Weschler 108. Scott Varnell 109. Fatima 110. Ewan MacLeod 111. Henrik Van Der Hune 112. Ellie York 113. Wade Thornton 114. Alec Fell 115. Gray Cortwright 116. Victor Lossett 117. Joseph Hughes 118. Lisa Ostrum 119. Aihara Rentaro 120. Holt Scotto 121. Abdullah Bakhoum 122. Sonny Joon 123. Andy Jason 124. Harlan Bishop 125. Taylor Sinclair 126. Ryan Kilpatrick 127. Gilbert Buford 128. Lily Crewe 129. Alexei Markovic 129. Antonia Scallari 131. Pa 132. Detective Beech 133. Harper Thornton 134. Mason Quinto 

[oscopelabs]

Elvis, Truelove and the Stolen Boy: The Tragic Machismo of Nick Cassavetes’ ‘Alpha Dog’ by Amy Nicholson

[Last year, Musings paid homage to Produced and Abandoned: The Best Films You’ve Never Seen, a review anthology from the National Society of Film Critics that championed studio orphans from the ‘70s and ‘80s. In the days before the Internet, young cinephiles like myself relied on reference books and anthologies to lead us to films we might not have discovered otherwise. Released in 1990, Produced and Abandoned was a foundational piece of work, introducing me to such wonders as Cutter’s Way, Lost in America, High Tide, Choose Me, Housekeeping, and Fat City. (You can find the full list of entries here.) Our first round of Produced and Abandoned essays included Angelica Jade Bastién on By the Sea, Mike D’Angelo on The Counselor, Judy Berman on Velvet Goldmine, and Keith Phipps on O.C. and Stiggs. Today, Musings concludes our month-long round of essays about tarnished gems, in the hope they’ll get a second look. Or, more likely, a first. —Scott Tobias, editor.]

A decade before the presidency that elevated insults like “betacuck” and “soyboy” into political discourse, Nick Cassavetes made Alpha Dog, a cautionary tragedy about masculinity that audiences ignored. Time for a reappraisal. Alpha Dog is about a real murder. Over a three-day weekend in August of 2000, 15-year-old Zach Mazursky—in reality, named Nicholas Markowitz—is kidnapped and killed by the posse of 20-year-old San Fernando Valley drug dealer Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) with a grudge against Zach’s older brother. No one thought the boy would die, not his main babysitter Frankie (Justin Timberlake), not the girls invited to party with “Stolen Boy,” and not even the boy himself, played with naive perfection by Anton Yelchin, who played video games and pounded beers assuming that his new captor-friends would eventually take him home.

Cassavetes’ daughter went to the same high school as Nicholas Markowitz. The murderers were neighborhood kids and he wanted to understand how fortunate sons with their whole lives ahead of them wound up in prison. The trigger man, Ryan Hoyt—“Elvis” in the film—had never even gotten a speeding ticket. Prosecutor Ron Zonen hoped the publicity around Alpha Dog would help the public spot the real-life Johnny, named Jesse James Hollywood, who was still on the lam despite being one of America’s Most Wanted. So the lawyers gave Cassavetes access to everything: crime scene photos, trial transcripts, psychological profiles, police reports, and their permission to contact the criminals and their parents. Cassavetes even took his actors to meet their counterparts, driving Justin Timberlake to a maximum security prison to get the vibe of the actual Frankie, and introducing Sharon Stone to Nicholas Markowitz’s mother, a broken woman who attempted suicide a dozen times in the years after her son's death.

Alpha Dog, pronounced Cassavetes, was “95 percent accurate.” Which was part of why it got buried, thanks to Jesse James Hollywood’s arrest just weeks after the film wrapped. Cassavetes hastily wrote a new ending to the movie, but his problems were just beginning. Hollywood’s lawyers insisted Alpha Dog would prevent their client from getting a fair trial, and used the threat of a mistrial to force Zonen off the case. “I don't know what Zonen was thinking, handing over the files,” gloated Hollywood’s defense team. “It was stupid.”

The publicity, and the delays, dragged out the pain for Markowitz’s family, especially when they heard Cassavetes had paid Hollywood’s father an, er, consulting fee. “Where is the justice in that?” asked the victim's brother. “This just goes on and on, and I’m spending my whole life in a courtroom.”

The film, too, was pushed back a year from its Sundance premiere. Despite casting a visionary young ensemble—Alpha Dog was my own introduction to Yelchin, Ben Foster, Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, Amber Heard, and the realization that Timberlake, that kid from N*SYNC, could actually act—no one noticed when it slid into theaters in January of 2007. It wasn’t just the bad press. It was that audiences couldn’t get past that Cassavetes’ last film was The Notebook. No way could the guy behind the biggest romantic weepy of a generation make something raw and cool.

But he had. Alpha Dog is a stunning movie about machismo and fate, two tag-team traits that destroy lives. Think Oedipus convincing himself he can outwit the oracle of Delphi. But Sophocles’ Oedipus telegraphs its intentions, elbowing the audience to see the end at the beginning. Greeks sitting down in 405 BC knew they were watching a tale that came full circle. Every step Oedipus takes away from his patricidal destiny just moves him closer to it.

If you map Alpha Dog’s script, instead of a loop, it looks like a horizontal line that plummets off a cliff. For most of its running time, Alpha Dog could pass for a coming-of-age flick where a sheltered kid with an over-protective mom (Sharon Stone) taps into his own self-confidence, right up until the scene where he tumbles into his own grave. Audiences who’d missed the news articles about the case weren’t clued into the climax. Cassavetes doesn’t offer any hints or flash-forwards, not even an ominous “based-on-a-true-story.” (The film might have been more successful if he had.) Instead, he lulls you into joining the kegger, watching Zach crack open beer after beer as though he expects to live forever. “There’s a movie sensibility that the film doesn’t conform to,” said Cassavetes. “You don’t watch this film. You endure it.”

As Zach, his eyes red-rimmed from bong rips, not tears, is shuttled between party dens and wealthy homes, he’s given several chances to escape. He’s even revealed to be a Tae Kwan Do blackbelt who can jokingly flip his captor-buddy Frankie (Justin Timberlake) into a bathtub. But Zach stays put—he doesn’t want to get his big brother Jake (Ben Foster) in more trouble, not realizing that Johnny is too busy making nervous phone calls to his lawyer and his aggro father Sonny (Bruce Willis) to get around to asking Jake for the $1200 in ransom money.

Zach’s death is disorienting, almost as if Psycho's Marion Crane got murdered in the second-to-last reel. In a minivan en route to his execution, he innocently tells Frankie he wants learn to play guitar. “It bugs me that I don’t know how to do anything,” he sighs. Meanwhile Johnny assures his dad that there’s no need to call off the killing. “These guys are such fuck-ups, nothing's gonna happen,” he shrugs, a rare example of cross-cutting that defuses tension in order to make the shock of the gunfire even worse. Up until the last second—even after Frankie binds him with duct tape—a sobbing Zach still can’t believe Frankie would hurt him, and honestly, Frankie can’t believe it himself. And Yelchin’s own early death makes you ache for him to get a happy ending, which Cassavetes dangles just out of reach.

This is how evil happens, says Cassavetes. Masterminds are rare. Instead, people like Frankie can be basically good, but can also be panicky and passive and selfish. Shoving Zach in Johnny’s van was an idiotic impulse by upper middle-class kids, who flipped out when they realized the snatching could get them a lifetime sentence. There’s no honor or glory in the violence. Johnny, the cowardly ringleader, talks tough, but orders his most craven friend, Elvis (Shawn Hatosy), to pull the trigger while he and his girlfriend Angela (Olivia Wilde) get drunk on margaritas. And after the murder, one side effect is that Johnny can’t get an erection. When Angela tries to get Johnny in the mood in their hideout motel, the walls close in on him, suffocating the mood.  

Away from his boys, Johnny is weak. Surrounded by them, he's the king. Alpha Dog sets up a culture of animalistic dominance. Johnny’s rental house is basically a primate cage at the zoo, only decorated with weight benches and Scarface posters. All of Johnny’s boys jockey to be his favorite and tear each other down in order to bump up their own rank. Kindness is weakness. When a fellow dealer with the ridiculous nickname Bobby 911 cruises by to negotiate a sale, he snarls at a guy who vouches for him: “You don’t need to tell him I’m good for it, man!”

Elvis, the future shooter, is the lowest member of the pack. He can’t ease into the group without Johnny ordering him to go pick up his pit-bull's poop in the backyard. Why do they pick on Elvis? He owes Johnny a bit of money, but the source of the scorn is simply group think. No one wants to be nice to the outcast, and Elvis is just too sincere to be taken seriously. When Elvis offers to get Johnny a beer, the guys tease him for being in love with Johnny. When he says sure, he does care about Johnny, they twist words into a gay panic joke. Elvis can’t win—they won’t let him—so he literally kills to prove his worth, and winds up sentenced to death row, where the real boy, just 21 at the time of the shooting, remains today. Another life wasted.

Cassavetes humanizes the killers because he wants us to understand how their micro decisions add up to murder. Not just the gunmen. Everyone’s a little to blame. The kids who got drunk with “Stolen Boy” and didn’t call the police. The girls who told Zach that being kidnapped made him sexy. Even Zach’s older step-brother Jake, an addict with a twitchy temper who escalates his war with Johnny to a fatal breaking point. Neither boy will back down over a $1200 debt, and there’s an awful split screen call when Johnny dials Jake intending to bring Zach home, but Jake is so boiling over with anger, his Bugs Bunny voice shrieking with outrage, that Johnny just hangs up the phone.

The opening credits, a montage of the cast’s own old home videos, underline that these were young and happy children—the kind of kids people point to as examples of the suburban American ideal. Over a treacly cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” we watch these real life boys being cultured to be brave: riding bikes, falling off dive-boards, running around with toy guns, going through the rituals of young manhood, from bar mitzvahs to karate lessons. Yelchin—recognizably dark-eyed and solemn even as a toddler—grins wearing plastic vampire teeth.

It takes another ten minutes for Yelchin’s character to sneak into the film sideways in a profile shot eating dinner with his parents, played by Sharon Stone and David Thornton. His Zach is barely even visible as brash Jake barges into the scene to beg for money. They say no, Jake stomps out, and Zach finally makes himself seen when he runs after his brother, begging to go anywhere less suffocating. Zach’s mom loves him so much that she watches him sleep. “I’m not fucking eight!” he yelps. He’s 15—practically a man, in his own imagination—and desperate to get away, even if it means mimicking Jake, a Jewish kid who’s so scrambled that he has a Hebrew tattoo on his clavicle and a swastika inked on his back. Jake starts to say that he wishes his own mom cared about him that much, but as soon as he gets vulnerable, he spins the moment into a joke. “Boo for me,” Jake grins, and takes another swig of beer.

“You could say it’s about drugs or guns or disaffected youth, but this whole thing is about parenting,” grunts Bruce Willis’ Sonny Truelove. “It’s about taking care of your children. You take care of yours, I take care of mine.” He’s half-right—his parenting is half to blame. Sonny and his best friend Cosmo (Harry Dean Stanton) taught Johnny to bully his friends. Cosmo, looking haggard and hollow, mocks Johnny for having one girlfriend. “You gotta plow some fucking fields,” he bellows. “Men are not supposed to be monopolous!” Not that “monopolous” is a real word, and not that Cosmo fends off women himself, except in his own big talk.

Cosmo and Sonny’s own posturing gradually emerges as being more dangerous than Johnny’s because it's more integrated into society. They’re the type of creeps who rewrite the rulebook to suit them, and attack journalists who try to tell the truth. When a fictitious documentarian asks Sonny about his son's drug connections, the father shrugs, “Did he sell a little weed? Sure.” But when the interviewer presses him further, Sonny snaps, “I’m a taxpayer and I’m a citizen and you are a jerk-off.”

Cassavetes, of course, understands growing up with a father who left a giant footprint to fill. His father, John Cassavetes, the writer-director of Shadows and Faces and A Woman Under the Influence, was one of the major pioneers of independent cinema. He died when Nick was 30, before his son attempted to take up his legacy. “We never really talked film theory,” said Cassavetes. “My experience with my dad was more along the lines of how to be a man, how to be yourself, how to free yourself from what society tells you to do, how to release yourself as an artist.”

It makes sense that Cassavetes would make his own ambitious, and maddeningly singular film. And perhaps it even makes sense to him that fate has yet to give him the reward he’s earned. Alpha Dog deserves to be acknowledged as one of the most incisive examinations of machismo and the banality of evil. But like his fumbling criminals, he knows he’s not really in charge of his life. Admitted Cassavetes, “I'm not smart enough to really have a master plan for my career.”

[lushscreamqueen]

Wes Craven’s CHILLER on the Schlocky Horror Picture Show

July 27, 2008

OPENING: Hello, good evening, and welcome to the Schlocky Horror Picture Show. I'm your host, Nigel Honeybone. "Welcome To The Wooorld Of Tomorrow!" as corporate executive Miles Creighton is cryogenically frozen for ten years until a suitable liver transplant is found and revive him. Unfortunately, his priest informs him his mind and body have been reanimated, but his soul...well his soul is gone...forever! Isn't a "get well soon" card more traditional? Watch, if you dare, as cult horror director Wes Craven attempts to break into the glamourous Made-For-TV movie market with a 1985 chiller called...Chiller! Talk about generic labeling... BREAK: Coming up we have more unfeeling monsters without souls, then after the ads we can get back to Wes Craven's Chiller...brrrrrr! MIDDLE: Welcome back to the Schlocky Horror Picture Show. What do I think is the best part of Wes Craven's Chiller? I like the introduction title sequence, maybe because it was inspired by the 1982 John Carpenter film The Thing, and almost as much inspired by the blood test they used in the 1998 film The Faculty. Did I say inspired? I meant to say ripped-off. Through no fault of actor Michael Beck, Miles is just a generic unfeeling monster. It doesn't work well for a TV movie because it's too restrained. He doesn't really kill anyone. His worst crime involves forcing an old man to walk up a long flight of stairs and suffer a heart attack. The fiend! Oh, has that happened in the film yet? I wouldn't want to give away any important plot points, of course. Just pretend I didn't say that...I know, I'll talk about the actors instead. Beck is probably best known for playing gang-leader Swan in the excellent 1979 cult action film The Warriors, probably the high point of his movie career. Low points in his career include playing Sonny Malone in the 1980 musical roller-flop Xanadu, and Lieutenant-Commander Dallas in the 1982 action roller-flop Megaforce, which was so bad...(how bad was it?)...it was so bad he received a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor. He couldn't even win that. But more recently he can be spotted in television shows like JAG, Robin's Hoods, as the Mars-born terrorist-turned cyborg assassin Abel Horn in the Babylon 5 episode A Spider In The Web, and in Walker Texas Ranger, because you don't say no to Chuck Norris. So not promising so far, but then we have Jill Schoelen's sweet face to look at, so even if your intelligence is insulted your eyes won't be. Jill is much loved not so much for her movies but for her looks. In one Psycho-inspired scene, Miles is seen Peeping-Tomming...is that a word? Anyway, he takes a shufty at Stacy through a hole he drilled while she undresses. I can't fault the man for that, really. I'd probably be drilling a hole of my own, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. Jill can be seen in other schlocky efforts like DC Cab, The Stepfather, The Curse II: The Bite, Cutting Class, The Phantom of the Opera, Popcorn, and the 1993 sequel to When A Stranger Calls, and the cunningly titled When a Stranger Calls Back. Her roles in more than half-a-dozen low-budget horror films has earned her a minor cult following and raising her to the status of scream queen. Speaking of queens, Jill Schoelen also dated Brad Pitt for a while. They were engaged for about three months, but then she broke off the engagement for The Phantom of the Opera. I guess the best man won. It would be terribly amiss of me not to mention respected character actor Paul Sorvino as Reverend Penny, whose impressive career includes the 1970 cult film Where's Poppa?, Day Of The Dolphin, Oh God!, Cruising, The Stuff, Goodfellas, The Rocketeer, and was frighteningly convincing as Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone's Nixon. Sorvino also became a favourite of Warren Beatty's, and can be seen alongside Woggles in Reds, Dick Tracy, Bulworth and far too many others. He also fathered, possibly with Warren Beatty, Oscar winner Mira Sorvino. In Chiller, director Wes Craven uses a sledgehammer to make the connection between Miles being emotionally cold

with being physically cold as well. For some reason Wes thinks being cold and dead make you a heartless bastard, but that's just retarded. The metaphor is threadbare as it is, and he drives it into our heads as if nobody would be able to pick up on it on their own. Give us a little credit! Over the last three decades Craven has become an efficient, dependable film-maker who is obviously comfortable behind the camera, but there's no flair, no style, and very little imagination when it comes to horror. Freddy Krueger is really his only memorable contribution to the genre...everyone's entitled to one good day. Speaking of which, although Wes would never admit it, he and Friday The Thirteenth producer Sean Cunningham had worked together on the 1973 soft porn vampire comedy The Case Of The Smiling Stiffs, also known as The Case Of The Full Moon Murders, which means Freddy Versus Jason in 2003 was a thirty-year celebration of sorts for the two film makers. Try to find The Case Of The Smiling Stiffs if you can, I guarantee you'll find it more entertaining than most of their other efforts! But you can do that tomorrow. In the meantime I urge you to remain for the From-The-Freezer-To-The-Oven-To-The-Table excitement that is...Wes Craven's...Chiller! CLOSING: What the hell was that all about? At first Miles seems to be just your average sociopath who has no regard for anyone but himself. Then for the finale, his eyes suddenly become demonic and he's got super strength, lifting cops off the ground with one arm, and all that. My guess is that Wes Craven thought Miles just wasn't evil enough and made a last-minute decision to make him seem 'otherworldly' for the ending. It's these kind of efforts that makes "Made For Television" such a bad reputation. Both acting and direction are rather pedestrian, at best. Cold, you might say. Anyway, please join me next week when I have another opportunity to make your stomach turn and your flesh crawl with another lusting, slashing, ripping flesh-hungry, blood-mad massacre from the back side of the Public Domain on...The Schlocky Horror Picture Show. Toodles!

by Lushscreamqueen

[gazellefamily]

INVITATION TO HELL (1984, TV)

“Good as fuck. Yuppie-phobic nightmare that encapsulates 80′s materialism pre-THEY LIVE. A family moves to exclusive Silicon Valley town for employees of hi-tech company that’s designing a space suit to travel to planet Venus (?) Susan Lucci is a sessual succubus who gets them to all join the elite country club where the sauna is a doorway to hell. It’s all about, like, don’t worry about how good your furniture is at the expense of your family. Like, if you keep up with Joneses your kids will become demonic little assholes. Starring Punky Brewster, Bastian from NEVERENDING STORY, Robert Urich from ICE PIRATES, Delores from ROGER RABBIT, Frank Fontana from MURPHY BROWN. Wes Craven made a lot of movies no one remembers.” -Sonny Gazelle

“Also watched this one - Craven’s TV movies are a cut above. Lucci is luxurious like Gucci but far more deadly. It’s like...materialism, man? It’s a gateway to DAMNATION. The mechanics of “hell” here are very mysterious. It gets very hot? But your physical body doesn’t burn? Or at least Bob Urich’s doesn’t because he built a beta of Iron Man’s armor? But his family’s bodies ALSO didn’t burn? I mean he fishes them out of hell and they still have bodies, so I guess they didn’t? I mean it’s mystical I guess. Honestly I must be an asshole but the demonic redecoration of their house was WAY nicer and more to my taste. Bob reacted to it very negatively. I would ask to get my family back but keep the cool furniture.” -Tommy Gazelle

[mewtonian-physics]

okay so i may have gone overboard here sorry but here is a list of ones that i think would be quick and easy (though depending on your wardrobe you might need to buy things for some of them. i’m going with things that i think people might reasonably have but don’t trust my opinion on jackets because i practically collect those things so i have no sense of normal jacket levels)

-any of the sck characters except hulk because that jersey would probably be harder to locate, connie’s medallion could be tricky too but if you aren’t picky you can mess around a bit with that

-any of the stfd characters except ralph (the early games are great for this kind of thing because graphical limitations make it wise to have less complicated clothing)

-rose, charlie, abby might be a little trickier but still fairly doable

-dexter, lisa

-brady, nick if you know where to get the clothes (i do not), maya would be a bit harder because of the shirt but honestly her outfit is so cute i think it’s worth it

-alejandro, taylor if you’re willing to just go with any ugly tie instead of an exact replica

-emily

-out of everyone in car i think ingrid would be the easiest to pull off (the necklace would be harder) but joy’s outfit is super cute so depending on just how much time you have you could probably find the stuff for that without too much trouble (can’t guarantee price though, that coat looks like it might cost some serious $$$)

-katie, andy, holt if you can find the hat

-yeah if you’re looking for quick and easy just don’t go messing with sha. tex would probably be the easiest of the bunch but still

-maybe mrs drake? you could be ethel if you just moved really really really fast

-emily only wears one thing. emily is easy. 

-i’d say john or tino would be the easiest to pull off from this bunch. oh wait. fatima. no one actually knows what she looks like under that costume you can say whatever you want

-dieter maybe, jj definitely, she’s probably one of the easiest looks in the series

-dr craven, shrinkwrap yourself and you can get the frank look down easy

-hey no one knows what freddie looks like under all that bundling up

-no one in cry is easy

-colin, helena, most people probably don’t have easy access to carnivale masks so that is where we end

-kyler if you can get the headband thing, matt

-idefk. george? there’s no one in this game

-no one. they’re all in uniform. even izzy would be hard to pull off, and she’s the most dressed down of the bunch. maybe megan or if you wanted to cheat you could go with danielle. she’s probably in uniform too but no one can confirm

-scott, chase if you can find a good hat

-dress yourself up using yumi’s avatar program! that’s basically all i’ve got for you. miwako’s look would probably be a bit too time-consuming to put together and rentaro has that neat shirt.

-das monster

-george, deirdre might be a bit much could be fun though

-maybe dylan, abdullah, i straight up fucking forgot braid girl’s name but her if you can get the necklace or if you just don’t care

-ellie. just ellie. only ellie. 

-man if you had more time to get really tricked out this game could be so much fun to mess with. instead, jessalyn, maybe wade.

-if you conveniently have a green dress on hand, bridget

-yeah i don’t even remember who was in this except for sonny george and bess and they don’t work. did the cracker guy have a simple outfit? i don’t know i forget everything about this game the moment after i play it

-everyone dresses too cool in this game. maybe endgame nancy. or melina if you can find a good scarf.

-gunnar and alex

-joe if you can find a decent shirt. deirdre. judge danforth. lauren. i think that’s it but i don’t remember this game super well either

I need y’all’s help! Do y’all have any ideas for a quick Nancy Drew Halloween costume? My club at school is doing a trick or treat, and I want to dress up!

[docrotten]

The Dead Zone (1983) – Episode 153 – Decades of Horror 1980s

"The ICE... is gonna BREAK!" If someone told you they had a vision that the ice would break if you went skating, what would you do? Join your faithful Grue Crew - Crystal Cleveland, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr - as they checkout the ice in Stephen King’s The Dead Zone (1983) directed by David Cronenberg. Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 153 – The Dead Zone (1983)

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 153 – The Dead Zone (1983)

Johnny Smith wakes from a coma, only to find he has lost five years of his life since his car accident, and yet gained psychic powers. Foreseeing the future appears to be a 'gift' at first, but ends up causing problems...

IMDb

  Director: David Cronenberg

Writers: Jeffrey Boam (screenplay), Stephen King (novel)

Music: Michael Kamen

Producer: Debra Hill

Featured Cast

Christopher Walken as Johnny Smith

Brooke Adams as Sarah Bracknell

Tom Skerritt as Sheriff George Bannerman

Herbert Lom as Dr. Sam Weizak

Anthony Zerbe as Roger Stuart

Colleen Dewhurst as Henrietta Dodd

Martin Sheen as Greg Stillson

Nicholas Campbell as Deputy Frank Dodd

Simon Craig as Chris Stuart

Géza Kovács as Sonny

According to the 1970s Grue-Crew, David Cronenberg’s vision of The Dead Zone is one of the best, if not the best, film adaptations of a Stephen King novel. Cronenberg’s direction, backed up by a great cast, an excellent script, and a powerful score make this a winner in all aspects.

The Dead Zone is Bill’s pick and he label’s it one of his top ten favorite films. Crystal is all about Christopher Walken and she throws Brooke Adams some praise as well. The score by Michael Kamen is one of Chad’s favorites and he thinks this might be Walken’s best performance. Jeff identifies some scenes that were cut and is impressed with how the complex story in King’s novel is told so well in under two hours. 

If you haven’t seen The Dead Zone for some time, the Decades of Horror 1980s Grue-Crew think it’s about time you did!

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s is part of the Decades of Horror 3-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1970s. In episode 154, the 80s Grue-Crew takes a look at The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), directed by Wes Craven and starring Bill Pullman.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans:  leave them a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

Check out this episode!