#Welcome Back Mr McDonald

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[shihlun]

Koki Mitani

- Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald

1997

Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald 1997 ‘ラヂオの時間’ Directed by Koki Mitani

[glacialdeath]

@fortunescaling asked: 🕹📖🎥

GET TO KNOW ME, SEND ME A SYMBOL. 🕹 Video game you are currently playing 📖 Fave book 🎥 Fave film

;I JUST finished Rune Factory 3 special that came out last week! Very cute, cheesy and a fun time to revisit a good farm sim. :3

;I will confess that I can barely recall a book I've read or a particular favorite since I graduated (outside of fanfic >3>). Textbooks burnt me out lol. I do love a lot of visual novel games though! VA-11 Hall-A, which has very real characters, and 13 Sentinels, which takes nonlinear storytelling and sci-fi tropes to 1000, come to mind most recently.

;One of my favorite films is Welcome back, Mr McDonald. It's an old Japanese comedy about recording a radio drama that tickles my humor in ridiculousness just right.

[shiningwizard]

Welcome Back Mr. McDonald (Mitani Koki, 1997)

Textbook, precise, dynamic set 'em up and watch 'em fall comedy, but my come away was that it could have been better. There are some holes and wild jumps here. But really it's the paragon of what it is and it feels wrong to have been able to give pause and concentrate on the specifics on such a wild ride. Shame on me. Some great cameos.

[fridaypacific]

Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald on Letterboxd

A love story written by an ordinary housewife is going to be broadcast as a radio drama and almost everyone among the crew insists on changing various parts of the play to their liking. ×

[rafeandonlyrafe]

new neighbor

words: 1.4k

warnings: 18+ only, public sex, fingering, strangers, i guess like nyc au?

“well, you’re new.” the man smirks, making you jump. his height intimidated you from the moment he entered the elevator.

“how could you tell?” you ask, cheeks blushing. new york city is far different from the midwest town you grew up in, and you know you stand out like a sore thumb.

“small building.” he shrugs. “im rafe.”

you stare at his outstretched hand for a second too long before realizing that you’re meant to shake it, shooting your palm forward and greeting him. “i’m y/n.”

“you like my hands?” rafe waves his fingers once you let go, noticing that you can’t take your eyes off of them.

“i-no-im sorry.” you snap your eyes to the floor, looking at your shoes.

“its okay, pretty.” rafe smirks, moving closer to you as the elevator reaches your floor, doors opening to reveal the hallway, only two units per floor.

“this is… this is my floor.” you try to step around rafe, but his long fingers wrap around your wrist. you don’t even try to pull away, letting him keep you in the elevator while the doors slide closed.

“let me be a good neighbor and welcome you to the building.” rafe smiles, the corner of his lip quirking up.

“how would you welcome me?” you ask. this isn’t the typical baked good or houseplanet usually given.

“you like my fingers so much, how about i put them inside you?”

“rafe-i-no! i don’t know you!” you shake your head, cheeks no doubt bright red.

“come on, pretty. we’ll stay right here in the elevator.” rafe tilts his head to the side, enticing you even more as his hand skirts up your arm, fingers ghosting over your skin until he reaches your neck, tipping your head back to look up at him.

“can i kiss you?” rafe asks.

“i-yes.” you nod. you’re not sure why you agree, why you’re about to allow a complete stranger to kiss you on an elevator in a building you just moved into, but rafe is so handsome, its almost like you’re unable to say no.

rafe lowers his head instantly, lips pressing against yours. he keeps the kiss gentle until you start to move your mouth in response, and then things move quickly as he presses your back against the cold elevator wall.

you moan into your new neighbors mouth, gripping his shirt to keep him close as his mouth explores yours.

“are you wearing panties under this pretty skirt?” rafe asks, keeping your head cradled in his palm while his free hand plays with the ruffles at the hem of your skirt.

“yeah.” you nod. to be honest, they’re not even cute panties, having put on a simple pair of underwear, certainly not expecting anyone to see them. 

“perfect.” rafe smiles, blue eyes trapping you while his hand delves under your skirt, moving slowly up your thigh until his fingertips reach your underwear, wrapping around them and tugging down.

“step out, pretty.” rafe says as they head towards the floor. you lift either foot so rafe can pull your panties away from you, a wet spot right where your cunt is. rafe looks at them briefly before they get shoved into his back pocket, making your eyes widen.

“consider it your gift to me, a thank you for the orgasm i’m about to give you.” rafe says before pressing his lips against yours in another kiss, not giving you any time to think about the consequences of your actions.

“rafe!” you squeal out when the elevator begins to move, heading back down towards the lobby.

“its okay, baby.” rafe turns so his back is also against the wall, his hand now hiding behind your body to rest on your waist. “just relax. i’ll take care of you, don’t worry.” you nod, clenching your thighs together as the elevator doors open, an elderly woman using her cane to shuffle on.

“hello there, mrs mcdonald.” rafe says, reaching with his long arm to press what must be her floor, not even needing to step closer for the button to light up. 

“rafe cameron, sweetheart, is that you?” she squints at the man standing next to you through a thick pair of glasses.

“it is.” rafe nods, his voice soft. “and this is our new neighbor, y/n. she’s a floor below you.” “oh, hello sweetheart!” mrs mcdonald says, clearly using that nickname for everyone younger than her.

“hello.” you smile, about to speak more when rafes hand moves down your back to grip your ass over your skirt.

“its alright.” rafe leans over, his voice in a whisper. “she’s basically blind and deaf. she won’t see how flustered you are.” “o-okay.” you nod, leaning more into rafe, turning your head to press your face into his shoulder.

“when is your sweet sister going to visit again?” she asks, grabbing onto the rail on the wall as the elevator comes to a stop on her floor.

“wheezie? she’ll be coming out to visit next month. i’ll make sure she stops by.” 

“good boy.” mrs mcdonald smiles before heading out of the elevator, moving slowly. “nice to meet you, y/n!” “nice to… nice to meet you too.” you manage to call out before the doors slide shut.

“god, now where were we?” rafe turns so your body is being pressed into the wall by his. rafes hand moves from your ass to your front, delving underneath your skirt. his fingers brush over your thighs teasingly before he suddenly kicks your feet wider, fingers suddenly rubbing over your clit.

“holy shit!” you squeal, head pressing back into the wall.

“i can tell you’ve got a pretty cunt just from feeling it.” rafe says, running his fingers through your folds, feeling your wetness soaking your thighs.

“you gonna let me fuck you sometime right?” rafe questions, lips pressing against yours before you can answer. 

“yeah.” you nod, his finger pushing inside your cunt, feeling just as long as when it was shaking your hand earlier. 

“maybe not in the elevator though, eh?” rafe laughs, his chuckle sounding casual despite the way you are falling apart next to him. “i’m penthouse, by the way.” you shouldn’t be surprised, of course with his confidence and attitude rafe would be at the top floor of the building. 

“now how about i give that pretty clit some attention?” he smirks, twisting his hand so he can keep one finger buried in your cunt while his thumb circles around your clit before rubbing over it, making you whine.

“moan for me. no one can hear. the apartment next to mrs mcdonalds been empty for months.”

“fuck!” you squeal out as rafe begins to thrust his finger, keeping his thumb against your clit. you moan for him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders to keep yourself stable.

“there we go.” rafe smirks, moving faster as his free hand grabs the front of your shirt, tugging it down to get your bra underneath your collar, glad that you’re wearing a low cut shirt.

“let me see those pretty tits.” rafe reaches into your bra, pulling both your boobs out before leaning his head down, wrapping his lips around your nipple while his thumb and finger play with the other one.

“holy shit, rafe!” you squeal, thighs shaking as his fingers bring you closer and closer to the edge.

“cum for me. cum on my fingers.” rafe purrs out, his voice vibrating against your chest while he switches sides.

“yes! yes, rafe!” you scream out, reaching down to grip his wrist while your orgasm rocks through your body, wetness dripping onto the floor as rafe continues to rub you through it before easing his finger out of you, smirking while you breath heavily, eyes wide as he sucks the finger into his mouth, tasting you.

“put yourself together, pretty.” rafe says, glancing down at you. “you look like a wreck.”

you look down at your askew clothes while rafe presses the elevator button to take it up to the penthouse. you tug your bra back over your chest before adjusting your shirt, knowing there’s nothing you can do about the wetness dripping down your thighs without a towel.

the door dings as it opens straight up to what you assume is rafes front door. he steps out, letting out a sigh of a man happy to be home. you keep your back against the wall, still trying to control your breathing when rafe turns towards you. “aren't you coming?”

you burst forward with a strength you didn’t know your legs still possessed to beat the closing elevator doors.

taglist: @drewstarkeyslut @forstarkey @f4ll-for-you @dilvcv @drudyslut @jjmaybankswifes-blog @rafescokenostril @jjsmarijuana @seeingstarks @angelofcigs @cece45450 @babygorewhore @vanessa-rafesgirl @michelleisheres-blog @outerbankspov @drewstarkeyswifehoe @cutielando @kamninaries @buckyswhxre @rafeinterlude @bellbottombaby @deeaardiary @rubixgsworld @wearemadeofstardust0 @leighbronk @starkeysheart @pradabambie @tobesolovelysstuff @alexiskirkland @rafestar @brioffthegrid @juniebugg @magicalyoura @die4niyahhh @mysticallystilinski

[ohbabydollie]

currently imagining a jaded, deadpan lit teacher!schlatt. super intelligent, incredible teacher that all his students adore and love to learn from, but they all swear to god they’ve never seen him smile once

then comes along absolute ray of sunshine teacher!y/n, probably teaching some kind of fine art, and it is just like a moth to a flame. he cannot stay away from you!

you meet for the first time in the teacher’s lounge and he’s a little taken aback, he doesn’t know what it is about you but something makes his little brain flip a switch and it’s all sunshine and rainbows. not much longer after that, you start becoming friends, sharing cool little things about your interests or the subjects you teach.

he does a pretty good job of hiding these feelings from the kids, just because he wants to keep that side of him private from his students, but one day he slips up. you sneak in during a class of his during your free period to return a book he recommended to you. when you walked out, he had no idea that he was smiling but apparently the students noticed.

“mr. schlatt, were you just smiling?”

“finish your essay.”

also am i allowed to be 🥥 anon

ofc, welcome 🥥 anon

before you came along schlatt was the most obviously exhausted and stressed teacher, but his students loved him.

from stapling mcdonald’s job applications on failed tests to talking about his cats. his students very clearly loved him and adored him, but he just seemed so sad in a way, especially when one of them got him to talk about his dating life.

single, with multiple failed dates under his belt

then you transferred to the school after the last art teacher had quit.

he had heard about you from his students, the new young single art teacher making sure to emphasize on the single part, but he always told them to focus on getting their assignment done over focusing on the teachers dating lives.

he really didn’t care for you, probably would be done in a few weeks if you couldn’t handle how rowdy and rough some of these kids could be. he gave you a month at best.

then you came into the teacher’s lounge getting snack after snack out of the vending machine as he watched in silence. not out of judgement, but he was just mesmerized completely

the concentration on your face as you punched in number after number watching the snacks fall before grabbing a cardboard box to place it all in was all so adorable to him, he didn’t even realize he had been staring until you looked over at him with a big smile.

“hi, i don’t believe we’ve met!” you chirp, “i’m y/n the new art teacher” you say extending out a hand for him to shake. he politely takes it, giving you a semi-awkward smile

“i’m jay, i teach english in b103” he says feeling himself turn red

“oh wow! i’m only down the hall from you, my room is c102” you say parting from the hand shake and picking up your box “well i’ll see you around” you say pushing the door open

and just like that you were gone as soon as you came

and schlatt had a new goal in mind, you

the next period he had came back better than ever. his normally deadpan and tired voice had more excitement and life to it and his students noticed for sure, waiting until the lesson was over to pry into him, but they all got the same response.

“jus added a shot of expresó into my coffee this mornin” he says starting to grade the assignments from his last class.

they had assumed that was it, nothing more to it until the next week where he seemed to be radiating with joy, when they pried into him again all he said was, “jus had some coffee from my favorite spot this mornin, nothin else”

he hadn’t mentioned it was with you.

over the next few months they noticed more and more change, fixing his hair more often, wearing his nicer clothes and whatever he could to look better.

as a student asked “so who’s the lucky lady?”

you had walked in holding a book, causing the room to fall silent. you practically floated to his desk as everyone watched you.

“hey, thanks for letting me borrow your copy, it was really good” you say handing him the book

“oh..it’s no problem, anytime” he says softly as you smile

“ ‘kay, well i’ll see you later, oh and your glasses are a little smudged” you say heading to leave as he watches in awe.

once you’re out, he’s taking off his glasses, smiling to himself with a small chuckle as he cleans them off, basking in the moment, completely forgetting his students were there until someone speaks up.

“mr. schlatt, are you smiling?” he asks teasingly before schlatt immediately drops the smile and goes deadpan again

“finish your assignment before i fail you”

[luuvprincess]

✰࿎2࿎✰

Now playing Damage by H.E.R Sierra

"Don't judge but I find that my boss is just fine as hell mani you should have seen him. It was the tattoos that did for me girl." I said as we're in standing in the kitchen cooking dinner together while having a smoke session. "And bitch he had me blushing on the first fucking day!"

She laughed a little shaking her head at me. "Was it that bad?" She asked. I nodded my head aggressively.

"Yes girl I was losing my shit." I tell her. I walked over to the kitchen sink and poured the pasta noodles into the drainer to drain all the water out. "Where's my phone I needa show you what he looks like." I said reaching for my phone. I opened Instagram searching up Joshua Instagram and I showed her his pictures. "Damn girl you wasn't lying and this coming from someone who has completely different taste I can see it in my head now you freaking out because you by some fine shit." She said.

"Yes exactly and when I was helping his son with homework I caught him staring once or twice." I said.

"Hey what if he likes what he sees." She said as she looked me up and down.

"No he couldn't he's my boss that's not professional at all." "Girl so if he makes the move first then it's okay because clearly he won't give a fuck about that professional shit."

I moved back over to stove putting the seasoned chicken on the stove next to cook. Imani passed me the blunt. I took my few hits out of it passing it back to her.

"I don't know what imma do girl." I said shaking my head.

"Your gonna keep working and not let the first day of work get over you head." She said.

"You right I'm over exaggerating." "Yea you think." I rolled my eyes at her shaking my head. After dinner was done we sat down and ate watched the new Episode of Baddies. As I was eating I got messages from Joshua.

(1) iMessages from Mr.Fatu Mr. Fatu Mr. Fatu: good evening Sierra just wanted to make sure everything was all set for Saturday

Sierra: Yes everything is all set I emailed yours and Jeyvon's plane tickets Mr.Fatu: Yeet thanks Cece see ya tomorrow have a good night

Sierra: 😂 you welcome and you as well have a good night Joshua

"Who got you cheesing over there?" Imani asked.

"Girl nobody." I answered as I got up. "You done babes?" I asked pointing at her plate. She nodded her head, I took her plate to kitchen along with mines and washed all the dishes while she put the food away and we both did a little part of cleaning the kitchen then we went our separate ways. I walked to my bathroom so I could take a shower. After my shower I got dressed and got in bed I put something on Netflix while I did some work.

Sierranicole 10mins ago

🩵WEEK LATER🩵

"Hey baby how's it been out there?" My mom asked as we were on the phone while I was on my way to Joshua's house. "It's been good actually I just started my new job last week."

"Really? How do you like it?" She asked. "I love it ma it's really easy my boss he's super nice." I could hear her smiling on the other end of the phone.

"Well that's good baby. I miss you out here." She said.

"I miss you too mom tell Selena and Booda I said I love them. I gotta go I love you." I said.

"I love you my sweet girl be safe." She said. "I will mom later." "Alright I guess I'll talk to you later then." The call came to a end as I pulled up in Josh's driveway next to his all black 2025 cadillac CT4-V black wing. I collected my things before getting out the car as i walked up to the front I seen he was in garage working out. He had these pink hoochie daddy shorts, his gold chain with the match bracelet, no fucking shirt chest all out honey. He was looking to fucking good.

This man is so damn fine no no Sierra keep it professional

"What's sup Cece." Joshua says taking me out my deep thoughts. I quickly shoot him a smile before walking into the garage. "Hey I brought lunch." I said holding up a bag of McDonald's.

"Oh word. Let me go shower real quick." He said as we walked in the house. I followed behind getting a good view his tatted back.

What the fuck is happening to me

I sat at the kitchen island and I took out food the bag setting it all up and I just sat on my phone while I waited for him. Today I needed him to pick which style he wanted to do for Saturday night. Just as I was sitting there I got text from Jashawn which I haven't talk to him since the day I ended things with him.

(3) iMessage from Shawn 🚮 Shawn 🚮 Shawn🚮: you moved you ain't tell me Sierra. That's what we do now Shawn🚮: Why I had find out through my homie that you moved why you ain't tell me Shawn🚮: It's cool tho mama imma find you some way some how

Sierra🫧: First of all Shawn what I do with my life literally has nothing to do with you Sierra🫧: secondly tell your bop ass friends to stop stalking me for you Sierra🫧: and third your crazy 😐

Shawn🚮: I'm not crazy Sierra I love you there's a difference

Sierra🫧: Love? Nigga please you sure have funny way of show your love for someone 🤨 Sierra🫧: and again we done Sierra🫧: what we had it's dead Sierra🫧: It literally does not exist my nigga and with that being said get tf of my phone Shawn🚮: you got a lot of mouth girl watch when I see your ass again Sierra🫧: and watch when me and my new nigga jump you

"Damn you good?" Joshua asks as he walked in the kitchen with a fresh pair of clothes on. I looked up from phone at him. "I'm fine just had to let someone know about themselves sorry."

"Hey along as your good we good." He said putting his hands up in surrender. He took a sat beside me grabbing what was his. I opened my laptop pulling out the 3 different styles he had to choose from.

"Okay your designer crew emailed these over to me they want you pick which ones you want for Saturday." I said showing him the screen. He looked at the screen analyzing the 3 different styles he had to choose from.

"This one." He said point at the one in middle. "I like the idea they were going for with it." He said.

"Yea I was thinking the same thing." I said turning the laptop back towards me I sent them team a message tell them which one he had picked.  "So are you ready?" I asked .

"Hell yeah I'm ready been working hard for this." He said. 

"Waffle house on me when you win?" I asked.

"You had me at Waffle House." He said smiling from ear to ear. I giggled shaking my head. "Okay it's a deal then." I tell him sticking my hand out as we shook on it.

"How are you doing with everything?" He asked.

"With what?" I asked.

"Work and moving to a whole new state how's everything been?" He asked.

"I mean work fine my boss he's chill can't really complain when there's nothing to complain about." He smiled as I continued "And as for moving to a whole new state it actually feels good the only thing is I really miss my mom and siblings sometimes." I said.

"How many siblings do you have?" He asked.

"I have 2 one older brother and a little sister." I said.

"Well if you ever need a vacation to go visit family let know I understand that family is important and is always first." He says.

"Thank you that's very kind of you seriously." I said with a smile. Joshua

The way Sierra smiled at me had me feeling some kinda of way I ain't felt in long time. We just sat at the island for another 30 mins just talking about random things learning things about each other.

"My family huge I got 3 brothers one being my twin brother and I got a sister and if you wanna count Joe as brother because that's really what we see him as so that would make it 4 brothers and a sister." I tell her.

"Really wow." She said as she sipped her drink.

"My roommate is the next closest thing I have family we've literally been friends since the womb she's definitely sister to more than anything and then my other best friend is my sister in law she married to my brother and they actually have twins girls Brielle and Arielle." She said.

We continue talking for about a another 20mins before she was getting ready to head out. I helped her bring her stuff the car even though all she had was her bag I just wanted to be extra. She walked in front of giving me a fabulous view of that ass.

"Thanks Joshua see ya later." She said as she unlocked her car door she turned around taking her bag out my hand. She put everything in the back seat.

"Drive safe Lil mama text me when you get home." I said pulling her in for a hug. She hesitated at first to hug me back but then eventually hugged me then we pulled away. She got in the car and back out my driver way she waved before she sped off. I watched untiled I couldn't see her no more. I walked back into the house closing and locking the door. I walked into the living room and decided to just play the game. (1) iMessage from Sierra

Sierra: I made it home I'll see Monday morning

Joshua:  Yeet have a good night Sierra and see ya Monday don't be late

Sierra: 😂 gn Josh

HE LOST LAST NIGHT 🥲 it's okay bae you forever gonna be my number one champion 😘🩵.

But anyways I hope yall enjoyed VOTE and COMMENT. This was quick one I just wrote whatever came to mind I'm not gonna lie 😭.

Stay Jucey🫧🩵.

[katakosmos]

jasmine zabini / mary mcdonald

they knew each other before hogwarts. they lived on the same street, but they had never spoken: jasmine was three years older than mary, and she was only home during the holidays, because she spent the rest of the year at a distant private school. mary didn't remember its name. but, apparently, her father did, because as soon as mary received her letter from hogwarts, he ran out of the house and asked mr. zabini if he could speak to his daughter. he came back with a beautiful girl with long hair, who gently smiled at mary. the first words jasmine said to her were: "don't worry, i'll help you now."

mary deeply admired jasmine, not only because she was older and more skilled, but also because she was nice and understanding. jasmine was beautiful and popular, lots of boys drooled over her and all the girls were jealous of her. she was a model, and she worked for some magazine that mary always secretly bought just to look at her photographs. the real jasmine always smiled at her in the corridors, and the photographed jasmine always recognized mary when she turned the pages, enchanted.

jasmine taught mary many things: how to wear makeup and dress fashionably, who to trust at school, how to make boys fall in love with her, how to kiss. she taught her how to be beautiful, popular, and accepted despite her muggle born status. mary loved her, and she was incredibly proud to be her friend. jasmine always found time to spend with mary, even when she was with the "older girls".

and in the end, when mary erased every memory of hogwarts from her mind, she still couldn't forget jasmine. she searched for her, she found her; jasmine welcomed mary into her home as a "cousin". together, they learned how to really live. jasmine showed mary how to use her magic again: because, even if mary had forgotten the names of the spells, she possessed them within herself and she only had to recall them. together, they planned the murders of jasmine's husbands, and together they chose their next victims.

together they enjoyed their inheritances and built their home. blaise grew up calling mary "aunt." yet, sometimes, he saw her and his mum kissing in the kitchen while preparing dinner.

he never thought too much about it, though.

[kaufmann-6]

Today is Jason Grace’s birthday!! Our favorite blond superman, who we pretend didn’t die and is happy at his boarding school living a normal life for the first time, making friends and drawing temples for the camps, portraying his role as Pontifex Maximus.

Here are some post-TOA headcanons! Alive!Jason edition.

He and Annabeth have Iris calls every week to talk about his projects and she gives him artechure tips. They had a weird start but turns out they’re good friends!

Is Percy jealous of Annabeth being close to Jason now? Kinda, but he makes up for it Iris Messaging Jason all the time to prove he’s a better friend to Jason than Annabeth lol he’s competitive, especially with his girlfriend involved.

After a five minute scolding from Jason and the disappointed glare #7, Leo gets a big bear hug and him and Jason spend the following night watching a movie and throwing popcorn at each other. After that Jason starts Iris Messaging Leo once in a while. They don’t talk much in these calls, they like to hang while each does their thing. Jason draws and Leo builds stuff. It’s the nice kind of silence.

Piper isn’t the one who calls the most, but when she does, Jason and her talk for hours. He tells her about his drawing and she tells him about her dad and Shel. Jason is happy for her. They’re not as close as before, but they’re getting there and are happy.

Nico is definitely the one Jason sees more. He shadow travels to Jason’s room all the time. Sometimes Jason gets back from lacrosse practice and finds Nico sleeping in his bed. He’s so happy Nico trusts him now and they are friends! They play board games together and Nico annoys Jason into dropping his homework and sneak out to the nearest McDonalds.

Hazel surprisingly Iris Massages Jason quite frequently. She tells Jason stories from when they met for the first time and he helped her feel welcome at the fifth cohort. Jason still doesn’t have all of his memories, but they get closer each time they talk.

At first, Frank and Jason don’t talk much, but one day Jason called Hazel and she was busy with praetor duties, so Frank and Jason ended up talking about nonsense for an hour. After that, they call more and actually become good friends.

When it’s finally summer they all reunite at camp half-blood and spend week committing shenanigans after shenanigans. They don’t have a prophecy above their heads and for the first time, they can be actual teens and have fun. Chiron is tired and Mr D is secretly proud.

Jason is so happy to have this weird big family, he loves them.

Also, Thalia and Rayna showed up with the hunters and they had the biggest capture the flag game ever. The other cabins stepped aside to let the seven + Nico play against the hunters and placed bets on who would win, who was gonna be made a hostage first and who would win in a fight, Jason or Thalia? Clarisse and Will became rich among them all.

When it’s Jason’s 18th birthday, they throw a huge birthday party, making up for the fact that he was in a coma after Caligula tried to kill him on his 17th one, and also for his 16th birthday, that was the day Annabeth and Percy fell in Tartarus.

Jason is so glad that he has all this people around him. That is the best of all birthdays.

[handeaux]

Is There A Cincinnati Neighborhood That Has Never Claimed A Haunted House?

As the Eve of All Hallows looms, let us ponder an assortment of Cincinnati’s classic haunted houses of yore. This list could easily be doubled or tripled in length.

Steele Subdivision Poor Fred Limke met a dreadful end in 1916. A plasterer by trade, Mr. Limke lived on Witler Street in Cumminsville. He had been employed by a contractor working in the Steele Subdivision of Springfield Township on the border of College Hill. Mr. Limke’s body was found in the “vault” or privy pit, half-buried in “debris.” (Let’s stick to euphemisms, shall we?) He had not been seen for some time and the delay in locating his earthy and earthly remains was the result of this “vault” being located on the grounds of a haunted house. Vacant by then for many years, the house in question, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer [11 November 1916] had formerly been occupied by a restaurant and poolroom. Neighbors for some years had reported unnatural sights and sounds in the vicinity of the house.

“So firm are they in their belief the house is inhabited by a spirit that police could not persuade them to approach the vault in which the body was found.”

Perhaps. Perhaps it was the emanations from that debris which kept them away.

Dublin Street Down near the bottom of Eggleston Avenue, where the bloody Deer Creek once vomited into the Ohio River, there once was a quite destitute Irish neighborhood named Dublin Street. In 1903, the denizens of Dublin Street cowered in their houses after dark, afraid to venture forth because “Ginger” Ryan had returned. Ginger had been a giant of a man with a decidedly short temper. He drove an express wagon, drank whiskey by the quart and battered any poor soul who looked at him sideways. When Ginger died, there was great relief in Dublin Street and now, here he was, back again, his temper intact. The Enquirer [20 October 1903] reported that the ghost rose up one night from a manhole located near the spot where his old livery stable stood, bathed in a “ghastly glow” and fully recognizable by those who knew Ginger all too well.

“The spirit, they claim, wandered around the open mouth of the manhole. It went through the actions of ‘Ginger’ when he hitched up his horse and wagon when alive. It was in view five minutes and then disappeared into the manhole. The story spread with great rapidity that the ghost has appeared at a certain hour every night since. Many declare they have seen it, and all swear there is no fake about it. The ghost is the real thing, but nobody up there cares to shake the shade of ‘Ginger’ by the hand and bid it welcome.”

East End It’s all demolished now, but there once was a small riverfront community a stone’s throw upriver from Dublin Street, where a long-gone byway named Collord Street intersected Front Street. A Mrs. McDonald kept a small house there and rented an even smaller house behind it to a Mrs. Loescher. One night this tenant was awakened by a shower of stones and wooden paving blocks plopping onto her roof and porch. So loud were the impacts of these projectiles that a small crowd gathered to watch and determine the source of the onslaught. Rumors spread that it was the ghost of a Mrs. Ormston who was behind it all. Older residents claimed the McDonald family had cheated Mrs. Ormston out of $500 and that she had gone to her grave cursing that family. Others pointed to a spiritualist who had held seances in his house on the neighboring Kittall Alley, while another group hypothesized that it was all the doing of a Mrs. Walsh who lived on the nearby slopes of Mount Adams. After her death some years back, residents of Collord Street said they saw Mrs. Walsh floating through the air clad in white or appearing at their windows. Whatever the cause, Mrs. Loescher’s yard and porch were soon littered with bricks, branches and debris of all sorts. The police suggested that a gang of teenage girls were the real culprits, but they were never charged.

West End The rather tony neighborhood that once graced the far western reaches of Eighth Street, out between Cutter and Linn, disappeared under the interstate highway ages ago. The Cincinnati Tribune [31 August 1895] described the agitation of the occupants of a high-class boarding house on that block. Not only the residents, but the landlady herself, were awakened night after night by mysterious rapping sounds apparently emanating from the headboards of their beds. First in one room, then another, on this floor then that floor, the rhythmic knocking awakened all the sleepers in the house.

In addition to the violent rat-tat-tat, residents noticed that a door at the end of a long first-floor hallway would not stay shut. No matter how often they closed the door and ensured that it snapped shut, it would inevitably be found ajar just minutes later. That door led into the cellar, utterly unused for years. The floor of the cellar was clay and was covered by a layer of sand about a foot and a half deep. As it happened, some workmen were engaged in repairing a brick wall along the rear of the property and were using this sand in their mortar. As one of the masons jabbed his shovel into the cellar floor, he struck something that was neither clay nor sand. It was a human skeleton.

Investigation revealed that the building, now divided into multiple rooms, had once been the residence and office of Doctor Thaddeus A. Reamy, a distinguished professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Although the Tribune suggested that Doctor Reamy may have had something to do with the skeleton in the cellar, he was never questioned about the situation and the peculiar manifestations continued unabated.

Newport The Cincinnati Tribune [9 March 1894] carried the news of an unruly mob gathered in front of a house on Lindsey Street in Newport. The house had gained a terrible reputation a few years earlier when a little girl residing there died from choking on a toy balloon. The evening gathering had witnessed an apparition that seemed to have nothing to do with the tragic toddler. More than one hundred people crowded onto Lindsey Street to witness a ghastly sight in the front windows. It was a spectral hand, holding a flaming torch, passing from window to window, occasionally stopping to wave the torch in a threatening manner. Some observers claimed that the fingers of the ghostly extremity were covered in diamonds. A couple local men (it was not clear whether or not they had been visiting the nearby saloon) volunteered to investigate and barged into the house. They emerged to report they had seen nothing unusual. The crowd, incredulous, hung around for the next appearance.

Evanston The Cincinnati Post [28 July 1897] announced that a vacant house on Gilpin Avenue in Evanston was undoubtedly haunted by the ghosts of a poor peddler who, along with his infant child, were murdered some years before at that address. Each evening, the ghost of the peddler, carrying his baby’s ghost, wandered through the decrepit old building, accompanied by the requisite moaning and shrieking. The very next day, the Post published, well, not a retraction, actually – more of an explanation. The ghost story had been dreamed up by neighborhood parents, concerned about their children playing in the run-down dump. The stratagem worked. The children stayed away from the house and ran past it in fright.

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

End of month update - December (+ January 1st - 3rd)

Hello, all! This is the end-of-month update, where I post Tumblr’s current top four films that have received the highest percentage of “yes,” “no,” and “haven’t even heard of this movie” votes. Sorry for the delay on this one!

As of today, the top four films with the highest percentage of “yes” votes are:

Finding Nemo (2003) | Shrek (2001) |The Lion King (1994) | Toy Story (1995)

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) | Sausage Party (2016) | Pinocchio (2019) | The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011)

Finally, the top four films with the highest percentage of “haven’t even heard of this movie” votes are:

Faat Kiné (2001) | Zumiriki (2019) | Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (1997) | Now Add Honey (2015)

This top four changed through the new addition of Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (1997), which replaced Like a Cat on a Highway (2017).

That’s it for December’s end-of-month update! Remember that you can view last month’s update by clicking here. Additionally, you can view the full ranked Letterboxd lists of movies that have come up on this blog by clicking the following links:

This list is ranked from highest-to-lowest percentage of “yes” votes.

This list is ranked from highest-to-lowest percentage of “no” votes.

This list is ranked from highest-to-lowest percentage of “haven’t even heard of this movie” votes.

Remember to vote on the polls that are currently running: The Crowd (1928) | The Thin Man (1934) | Song of the South (1946) | The Outcasts (2017) | Beneath Clouds (2002) | Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) | Meet the Feebles (1989) | Evolution (2001) | Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) | High School Musical 2 (2007) | The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) | High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) | Apollo 13 (1995) | Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) | March of the Penguins (2005) | The Docks of New York (1928) | Gimme Shelter (1970) | The Singer Not the Song (1961) | Entertaining Mr. Sloane (1970) | Freaky Friday (1976) | Storm Over Asia (1928)

Polls will be back to their usual schedule tomorrow!

[droughtofapathy]

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby

Gypsy

November 21, 2024 | Broadway | Majestic Theatre | Evening | Musical | Revival | 3H 20M

Breaking my silence on attending the Gypsy first preview at last. So, let's start with some caveats and disclaimers. This was a first preview. And because George C. Wolfe does not have invited dress rehearsals, our show was the first time it was fully presented in front of a live audience. Kinks and all. And from an objective standpoint, there are a lot of kinks still to be ironed out. The great news is that this director is known for actually utilizing the preview period for its intended purpose. Changes are coming, and I cannot wait to see what happens.

Let's get the big question out of the way first: can Audra do it? Yes, she can. I don't believe singing the score in a more mixed/head voice substantially damages the character in any way, but I do believe it takes a considerable amount of active acceptance to see (and hear) past the initial shock. It's jarring. Obviously, Audra McDonald is not going to come out with a big brassy Merman. But neither were Angela Lansbury or Bernadette Peters. Because the material is so strong, it allows for a considerable amount of vocal versatility. I don't think she was there yet, and it's a lot to ask of her first preview. Especially in the early scenes of act one, she was almost jittery and gave the character a manic energy. She'll settle. She's going to find Rose over the next few weeks. Performance-wise, she was right on the money in the duets and trios, especially "Together, Wherever We Go," which was one of the night's highlights. She and Danny Burstein play off each other so well. He's already got Herbie down, which is no surprise. He was born for that kind of role. The scene where he finally leaves? Damn.

Audra's initial entrance will be one of the most transcendent moments in theatre history for me. She swept down that aisle and up those stairs just a single row in front of me, and I got teary-eyed. I didn't feel that same euphoria again.

A few moments came close. At some point in act one, just as Mrs. Cratchit answers the telephone and tells the big boss man that the act is having scenery troubles, we had to stop because we had some actual scenery trouble. It lasted less than six minutes (though some online accounts exaggerated by saying it was at least ten or fifteen. They're wrong.) Mylinda Hull played it off with comedic genius ("I'll call you back.") The strippers are show-stealing. That "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" number is perfection from start to finish, and I am deeply in love with every single one of those ladies. Mylinda Hull, my beloved. Lesli Margherita back on Broadway? Lili Thomas Asian Mazeppa? They did this for me. They've got it.

I think the rest of the supporting cast will eventually get it too. The one who has it more than anyone is that little Baby June. Talk about stealing the whole damn show. Jordan Tyson is fine, and I'll be interested to see how she improves as an actress in a few weeks. Joy Woods is also fine. I've never been especially impressed with her in anything I've seen. She has a lovely voice, no denying that, but she's so young and inexperienced and it shows in her acting and control a lot. Here, she's very good as a young wallflower Louise, but her strip transformation from girl to woman is lacking. Yes, yes, first preview, so all those awkward transitions and costume changes are going to be ironed out. I really liked the allusions to Josephine Baker. But the final dressing room confrontation just wasn't landing. By this time, the show was running really long from a mix of lagging scene changes and tech, and Joy's delivery was still very girlish. It felt like a fifteen-year-old throwing a tantrum because her parents said she wasn't grown yet. I'd like to see a lot more work to make her move to sophisticated stardom more obvious. Deliver the lines without getting shrill, ground it more, match Audra's acting.

I'm also not sure about the decision to stage "Rose's Turn" on the passarelle. I was in the front orchestra, no obstruction, possibly the best seat I've ever had. But knowing how deep that mezzanine goes, I cannot imagine how the sightlines were back there. This is the tour-de-force moment. She needs to have the whole stage to work with to be seen by everyone.

As for the rest of it, there's a lot of backstage tightening that's going to happen. For the first night, I could hear and see a lot of commotion in the wings. There are several set pieces that come and go, and it's loud. But that'll be fixed. The actual design of the show isn't really...I just don't know. I don't think the choices are bad, necessarily. They serve the story. But it's not dazzling? The lighting is pretty lackluster. The costumes could be bolder, bigger, better. Oh, sure. I know. It's not that kind of show. But there are definitely points where it could be. Joy's burlesque costumes should be giving more. I think Tessie Tura's butterfly costume is excellent, and Electra's lights are cute (but could be bolder). Mazeppa's is the weakest of the three, and in what's usually the leading stripper role, Lili Thomas does get overshadowed by her comedic genius costars. Lesli and Melinda know comedy like the back of their hands. Lili's voice is strong, but her comedy isn't natural like theirs.

It's been almost a week, and I still just don't know. It's too early for me to have any concrete opinion on what I saw because of how much everything is going to change and improve in the coming weeks. It didn't transcend for me, but that was a huge ask. The show basically sold out and grossed $770k over the first three previews. That places a full-week projection in the $2M range. And that's really good. The big question now is can it sustain that through June? Can it keep filling that massive venue and can these early kinks smooth into place in time for the busiest time of year?

Verdict: Unrated

A Note on Ratings

[superman86to99]

Superman #91 (July 1994)

"THE FALL OF METROPOLIS," Part 3! Superman vs. giant city-destroying robots, although the real villain in this story is… the greed of man. Specifically, one random LexCorp corporate climber called Mr. McDonald who, at the start of the issue, is digging through the ruins of a bank to look for a safety deposit box full of money. A homeless man (technically, everyone's homeless now that Metropolis got bombed, but he was already homeless) called Wild Bill tries to make polite conversation, but McDonald tells him to piss off. Even when the aforementioned giant city-destroying robots show up, McDonald is too focused on finding his box to get scared.

Meanwhile, Superman is shocked to learn that Lex Luthor is being kept in a fancy hi-tech medical pod while thousands of people injured during Metropolis' destruction are on the street. However, a doctor convinces him that this is actually necessary to keep Lex alive now that he's in a vegetative state, meaning he's conscious but can't move or talk. That last part is unfortunate for Lex and everyone around him, because if he could talk, he'd be screaming about the killer robots that he knows are heading directly this way.

The robots do arrive and hit Superman pretty hard, causing him to come crashing down right in front of Wild Bill and Mr. McDonald. Bill, who by the way is a friend of Bibbo's, thinks they should help "Sooperman," but McDonald is only interested in the fact that the fight broke part of the bank's vault, finally allowing him to reach his precious money box. It's up to Wild Bill to nurse Superman back to health using nothing but a juice box -- or at least I think that's juice. Maybe there was something slightly stronger in there.

(Note: Those panels make it look like Superman drank the juice and immediately flew off, but I need you to know he actually thanked Bill first and told him any friend of Bibbo's is a friend of his.)

After the revitalized Superman goes back to fighting the robots, Wild Bill hears a scream and sees a girl whose legs were buried under the rubble. He tells McDonald they should dig her out, but LexCorp Bro refuses because he's already on his way to use his box full of money to buy himself a cozy room in the only major building in Metropolis that wasn't bombed out, the Newstime Building. Again, Wild Bill helps the person in need all by himself (no juice for her, though, which is probably for the best...).

While fighting the robots, Superman finds out that they were made by Luthor to "prevent Metropolis from suffering the same fate as Coast City" in case of an alien invasion -- or, failing that, finish wiping the city out in order to "leave nothing for the conquerors." Given Metropolis' current state, the robots assumed it must have been invaded and went into "scorched earth" mode. The robots have now reached the hospital where Lex is and are about to give their creator a very ironic and very painful death, but Superman intervenes and saves him (and only feels a little bit sorry he wasn't too late). Instead of thanking Superman, Lex curses him out because he would have "welcomed death" now that he's a vegetable, seemingly forgetting that two pages earlier he was all "NOOOO!"

(Pretty sure he soiled his medical pod there.)

Once he's finished punching the robots into scrap metal, Superman starts relocating the people from the now half-destroyed hospital, plus Wild Bill and that girl he rescued, to… the Newstime Building, just as McDonald has finished bribing his way into it. McDonald is indignant that he spent all his money to get here and now there won't be any space for him, and even brags about being one of the "top dogs" at LexCorp who helped fund those impressive robots. Superman is unsurprisingly unsympathetic to his plight.

I'm assuming the crowd jumped on McDonald's ass one second after Superman left. As a general rule, it isn't very wise to brag about being responsible for killer robots in front of the people they just tried to kill.

Creator-Watch:

As with last issue, this one is guest-drawn by Brent "Kurt Busiek's Astro City" Anderson, since Dan Jurgens needed a two-issue break from drawing Superman to focus on drawing Superman and like 200 other characters in the upcoming Zero Hour event (it's kind of insane that it was only two issues, considering Zero Hour will have five in one month). As a kid, I didn't appreciate "the good Superman artist" (they're all "the good one," foolish child!!!) going away for two issues, especially since the cover credits promised a Jurgens/Rubinstein joint, but Anderson's moody style has grown on me over the years. More on him in Don Sparrow's Art-Watch section below!

Plotline-Watch:

I guess we're meant to understand that the other giant city-destroying robot that appeared in Man of Steel #35 and Wonder Woman #88 was part of the same LexCorp program, even though that one looked completely different and had a human brain inside it (Superman made no mention of anything like that in this issue, though it's possible he's just numb to finding human brains inside robots by now). I prefer to think that other robot was a leftover Cerberus agent awakened by the city's destruction. Seems like the sort of thing they'd come up with.

Wild Bill's role in this issue could have been played by Lois Lane's homeless friend (and occasional George Carlin lookalike) Charlie, if they hadn't killed him during the Clone Plague storyline. Or, going further back, by Jimmy Olsen's homeless friend Pete Shoemaker, if he hadn't been murdered by Brainiac. Hm, I think I know why Wild Bill never showed up again...

I was recently lamenting the fact that late '93/early '94 was the first time since Jurgens joined the Super Squad full-time that we didn't get a Very Special Dan Jurgens Christmas issue. '89/'90 had "Homeless for the Holidays," '90/'91 had the drunk driving story, '91/'92 had "Metropolis Mailbag," and '92/'93 had "Metropolis Mailbag II," all classics. Unfortunately, now that we're in constant crossover mode, there doesn't seem to be much space for little stories like that. This issue has nothing to do with Christmas, but I do feel like it could have scratched the same itch as those older one-off stories... if it wasn't set in the middle of a big storyline and didn't have to devote most of its pages to it, anyway.

Shout Outs-Watch:

Shout outs to everyone who joined our new newsletter (check your spam folder for that verification email if you haven't clicked it!) and double shout outs to our supporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Bheki Latha, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Sam, Bol, Gaetano Barreca, and Dave Shevlin! Become a supporter and get extra articles via Patreon or by upgrading to the newsletter's "pay what you want" mode!

And shout out to Don Sparrow too, whose section is up ahead...

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We start with the cover, and it’s a pretty good one, if a little generic—Superman battles an AT-AT like walking robot, firing its between-the-legs blasters at Superman’s cap, as he punches one of the legs. A pretty simple, if dynamic pose, and Jurgens’ Superman is always a welcome sight, particularly in an issue with a guest artist.

Speaking of the guest artist, Brent Anderson takes pencilling duties on this issue, and it’s a mixed bag.  The closest description I’d use of Anderson’s work in these pages is like a rushed Neal Adams.  There’s lots of great dynamic realism, but it gets a little loose in places.  That could be just that his style isn’t gelling with the scratchier, sketchier look of Joe Rubenstein’s inks, or it could be that it is loose like that at the pencil levels.  As the story opens we’re thrown into the rubble of Metropolis, picking up from Action #700 where Lex’s machinations leveled the city.  We get a full three pages of people we’ve never seen before (kudos to the art team for including the very ‘of its time’ line art shaved into Mr. McDonald’s fade!)...

...until the big 4th page splash, where the ED-209 looking battle bots descend on the rubble.  There’s a very Neal Adams-esque angle as Superman spies the onslaught from afar on page 7, which definitely stands out in a good way from the rest of the page. As with some previous fill-ins, Brent Anderson’s ability to draw realistically is almost a detriment—if he had a simpler style, the little errors might be forgiven or look less glaring.  But because he can really render, when the faces go wonky, they really go wonky.  Obviously the comatose Lex Luthor isn’t looking like a living magazine cover, but the asymmetry in the way he’s drawn here looks really eerie.

[Max: The Cryptkeeper comparison from a few issues back is even more apt now...]

Same as a few pages later, we see Mr. McDonald improbably find his safety deposit box full of cash, with a very wall-eyed expression.  Superman getting blasted by a high intensity ray is well done, particularly the grease pencil edges on the bolt hitting Superman.

Superman frequently has the yellow of his crest in shadow, reminding me of a later era where Superman dons black in the S in mourning.  The next best highlight comes in the splash on page 20, where Superman flies through one of the battle bots in explosive fashion. 

Strangely, the frenetic pace of the issue, with Superman careening wildly from one battle or rescue to another ironically leaves this reader a little bored.  It’s all action, sure, but it feels pointless, and a little repetitive after Action #700 had a pretty similar plot.  I know the fable of Mr. McDonald, and his cash being useless in a no man’s land scenario was supposed to be poignant, but I found it hard to care much about the story, even in a negative sense.  We’re supposed to cheer against this guy, I think, and be inspired by the rabbinical looking homeless man, but since this is just about the first we’ve ever seen of them, I just wasn’t interested. [Max: See, it would have worked better if that was Charlie!]  Making matters worse, when McDonald confesses he knows all about the robots as he designed them, Superman is happier to leave with a bon mot than he is getting McDonalds’ expertise on how to stop any further robots, or perhaps what might come next. 

SPEEDING BULLETS:

The angle that the robots are following a scorched earth policy in the wake of Coast City is at least somewhat interesting, but it does beg the question why so many programmers, like McDonald apparently went along with this plan.

Aside from a few wide shots later in the story, Metropolis is pretty sparsely populated as drawn here, which again diminishes the impact of the displacement caused by the missiles in Action #700.

Look, I don’t want to throw Cindee any shade, especially since she’s just a kid, but doesn’t it seem like she could have just moved those bricks off herself, one by one?  [Max: Maybe she's a junior reporter taking a page from the Lois Lane playbook to get an interview with Superman?]

I get what Superman is saying when he reacts to McDonald’s greed, but the sentiment is a bit weird.  Yes, Superman, the robots that killed and crushed are worse than the guy who tried to pay to get a better spot in the queue.

With Anderson and Immonen filling in pretty regularly month to month, it almost feels like these issues are auditions of a sort.

Though we do get an update on the “Lex is trapped in a dying clone body” storyline, the lack of the rest of the supporting cast is felt very keenly.  This issue might have felt a lot less like filler if we’d seen what Perry or Jimmy or Lois or Bibbo were up to.  Heck, the Bill character could very easily have just been Bibbo, though I guess then we’d lose the have and have not contrast between Bill and McDonald. [Max: Hmmm, I do like the idea of McDonald assuming Bibbo, who'd look particularly scruffy after spending time digging people out of the rubble, is a homeless person when he's probably richer than him...]

There something sweet—if weird—about Superman being revived with a juice box.  Better that than a Hostess Fruit Pie, I suppose.  

[tilbageidanmark]

MOVIES I WATCHED THIS WEEK (#192):

TRANCES (1981) is an infectious documentary about the influential Moroccan avant-pop band 'Nass El Ghiwane'. It's like 'The last Waltz' but in Casablanca. A must for fans of traditional Arabic music.

This was the first film that Martin Scorsese restored when he launched his "World Cinema Foundation" in 2007. My 4th Moroccan film. A transcendental experience [with one caveat: They gave amazing concerts to large, ecstatic crowds - and not a single woman in the audience!] This is the 9th film from the Scorsese's list that I've seen. I must remember to come back to it very soon.

🍿

(Another concert, but of a completely different kind: Andrea Bochelli's LOVE IN PORTOFINO. This is for the folks who like to sit in the square by the water when the evening falls, dressed in white cottons, sip white wine while eating fried clams or seafood pizza, while listening to Bochelli's frothy, sentimental baritone.)

🍿

POOL OF LONDON (1951), my 5th drama-Noir from mostly-forgotten master Basil Dearden. Sailors on leave and a jewel heist, as well as a sensitive interracial romance, the first white and Jamaican relationship in British cinema. Crisp on-location scenes and good character development.

Next: His 'The League of Gentlemen'.

🍿

I've developed an interest in the emerging sub-genre of 'Domestic Workers’, mostly movies from South America and Southeast Asia. Many of these are fantastic; 'Àma Gloria', 'The second mother', 'Lina from Lima', 'Roma', 'The maid', 'Ilo Ilo', 'The chambermaid', Etc.

But I did not expect for the documentary YAYA (2018) to emerge as the most touching of this week's movies. A young filmmaker in Hong Kong, Justin Cheung, turned the camera on his own family, to explore their relationship with the woman who took care of him the first 22 years of his life.

Philippine Au-pairs in Hong Kong are some of the most exploited and abused workers in the world. And while his helper-maid was not mistreated, she gave up her own life to take care of somebody else's kids. Recommended! 8/10.

🍿

FELLINI X 2:

🍿 (I have no idea why I never seen this masterpiece.) LA STRADA (1954), is the sad and poignant story of simple-minded Giulietta Masina, who was sold to 'brutish strongman' Anthony Quinn for 10,000 lire. She's a mythic, Chaplinesque 'Fool' who's being abused and mistreated as she joins him traveling round the countryside in their little freak-show. Until she dies of a heartbreak. Its tragedy is accented by Nino Rosi's sentimental score. 8/10.

🍿 THE MAGIC HOUR (2008), my second screwball comedy [After 'Welcome back, Mr. McDonald'] by Kōki Mitani, "The Best Japanese Filmmaker You've Never Heard Of". A failed bit actor gets a job to play a mysterious hit man, not realizing that the movie he's starring in is going to be 'real'. It's a lighthearted meta-film about making a movie, not unlike 'Day for night', but set in some seaport gangster-land. It's like 'Casablanca' but with a Nino Rosi like score. Includes a cameo of director Kon Ichikawa, the last before his death.

🍿

3 MORE BY KEN LOACH:

🍿 THE OLD OAK, the latest (and probably his very last film) from the 88-year-old socialist Brit. A warm and 'humane' story full of small and heartfelt emotions, it kept me in tears from opening to the end. Ordinary people who suffer in so many ways. The inhabitants of a decaying ex-mining town can barely manage to hang on, and now they have to deal with a group of Syrian refugees - "Foreigners!" - who had lost it all in the war, and are being repatriated to their midst. Loach's films are usually about working-class Brits who's been getting the shaft for generations, and sometimes retain their humanity. And so is this one. 9/10.

🍿 “First they called you a terrorist, they they called you a hero”.

11′09″01 SEPTEMBER 11 is an anthology film from 2002. Eleven filmmakers contributed each a segment of 11 minutes and 9 seconds with different perspectives on the World Trade Center attacks. Some of the productions were better than others. Ken Loach had a Chilean exile in London write a letter to the families of the victims with the story of the Chilean September 11 attack of democracy (1973/CIA/Kissinger/Pinochet). In the Iranian segment, a teacher in a refugee camp was trying unsuccessfully to tell her young pupils about the attack. A poor boy in Burkina Faso imagined that he saw Osama bin Ladin in the market, and that he can use the $25M reward money to help his dying mom. Claude Lelouch told of a deaf French woman who sits next to the TV, but misses the news because she can't hear it. A Bosnian woman goes to the scheduled demonstration about the Srebrenica massacre. Etc. A mixed bag.

🍿 TIME TO GO is his 1989 documentary, pushing for British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. I actually don't know more than the average laymen about Irish history, so I need to take a reading course about the "Troubles" and what brought it.

🍿

Another first watch: TRAINSPOTTING (1996). There were half a dozen films which I avoided until now, because I felt, rightly or wrongly, that they are too distressing: 'Requiem for a dream', Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia' (actually, all his movies), 'Salò', 'Funny Games' (both versions), 'A Serbian film', 'Kids', Etc. But now that I crossed 'Come and see' off this list, I also took a stab at this disgusting Scottish Heroin-chic shite-storm. Now I can say that I saw it too.

Well, I like Kelly Macdonald, and didn't expect her debut in an under-aged sex scene... Another plus, an appropriate use for Lou Reed's 'A perfect day'.

🍿

TIME PIECE, a terrific experimental 9-minute short by Jim Hanson which was nominated for an Oscar in 1965. A rhythmic masterpiece: "Help!" 8/10.

Extra: ROBOT (1963), another prophetic Hanson short, precursor to 'HAL9000'. I'm sure that both these films will be mentioned in his new bio-pic.

🍿

2 EARLY FILMS BY LINDSAY ANDERSON:

🍿 THE WHITE BUS (1967) told of a a taciturn young woman without a name who takes a double-Decker bus tour in a city without a future to experience some bizarre scenes without any rhyme or reason. It includes some surrealistic flourishes (A sudden tableaux of 'Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe', a fantasy about suicide, a long tour in the library where the pompous major keeps complaining about filthy books...). But what is the point of it all?

It was edited by Kevin Brownlow, and filmed by Miroslav Ondříček, But it will mostly be remembered as the film debut of one 30-year-old Anthony Hopkins, as a German Thespian reciting Brecht. 2/10.

🍿 O DREAMLAND (1953) is a macabre documentary short about a loud amusement park in Margate, Kent, and the multitudes of middle class patrons (and their many children) who visit it without much amusement in their eyes. It's melancholy and miserable and dour. 7/10. A fun Fair without the fun. (Screenshot Above).

🍿

"This guy is a one-man crime wave!"

FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE (1926), one of Harold Lloyd's most successful films. Including some great chase and slapstick gags.

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The first time I saw DEREK DELGAUDIO's IN & OF ITSELF, I was blown away. The next 2 or 3 times I thought it was great. There's something that compelled me to return to this Magician-"Mentlist" installation piece again and again. But after 4 or 5 times, i realize what he's doing, and his shtick is not as polished as f. ex. Derren Brown's. Yes, he has a few numbers that looks fantastic (A random audience member picks a random letter from a pile, and opens it to read a personal letter from her dying father... The final sketch where he "knows" what secret cards did each and every member of the audience had picked), but for the rest, he's mostly manipulates us with shaggy anecdotes and tall tales of personal pains. And really, they are not as profound as he wants us to believe they are.

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Hiroshi Teshigahara's HOKUSAI is a 1953 documentary about the woodblock artist, but a bit too old fashioned. I recently saw his 'The face of another', and should have watched 'Woman in the dunes' instead.

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THE SUITCASE was episode 7 of 4th season of 'Mad Men', the exact middle of the series (46/92). I've seen it numerous times, and it's still one of the most emotionally gripping. Jon Hamm will never be as perfect as he was as Don Draper. And it's pretty amazing that he and Peggy Olsen never even kissed, let alone sleep together. 10/10. Re-watch ♻️. [*Female Director*]

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"If there's one thing about me, it's repetition"...

My first by British comedian Steward Lee, his latest LIVE AT THE LOWRY came recommended by Hoots maguire, so here I am. Lee is a different kind of a stand-up: Dry, self-referential, erudite, and circular. His improvisations are jazzy. Recommended.

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2 ALTERNATIVE-QUEER ANIMATIONS:

🍿 THE FINAL EXIT OF THE DISCIPLES OF ASCENSIA (2019) is a strange - and weird - story made by one young Jonni Peppers. It is done very much in the aesthetics, and spirit, of Don Hertzfeldt's 'World of Tomorrow', although it's far from being that coherent. A confused young woman joins an all-women UFO-cult, which, like the Heaven's Gate dudes, eventually "ascends". It doesn't really have a clear message, but it has quiet a few moments of beauty. Peppers is working with Victoria Vincent, whose film 'A dog that smokes weed' I've admired. The two songs she plays are very pretty. [*Female Director*]

🍿 HOW TO FIND LOVE IN AN UNBECOMING AGE, a first film by a young lesbian about hot dating today. Could become a series. 7/10. [*Female Director*]

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3 MORE SHORTS BY FEMALE DIRECTORS:

🍿 3 MINUTOS (1999), a short Brazilian masterpiece. The phone rings in a kitchen, and the answering machine picks it up. A woman's voice is telling him that she decided to leave. Recommended. 9/10.

[This is actually the second film by Ana Luíza Azevedo I've seen. She co-directed 'Barbosa' with Jorge Furtado.]

🍿 LIKE TWENTY IMPOSSIBLES, my first by Palestinian Annemarie Jacir. A small Palestinian film crew is trying to cross a border checkpoint, and is subject to humiliating abuse by the Israeli soldiers. There were other films about the exact topic, the grinding brutality, the hopeless struggle just to stay human - "The cruelty is the point". And this was made in 2003, before the whole occupied territories turned into the big concentration camp it is today.

I promised myself that I will stop watching these traumatic films, and I will. But surprise! When the credits rolled, it appeared that this horrible true-to-life documentary was actually "Fiction"! The ugly film was so realistic, that it was a huge relief to discover it was "Only Art". 8/10.

🍿 THE INCREDIBLE THEFT OF CELINE'S BELOVED (2020), a cute French love letter to Wes Anderson. A 14 year old girl receives a surprise package in the mail. It's as if girl herself directed this story. 6/10. [*3 Female Directors*]

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2 EARLY SHORTS BY RIAN JOHNSON:

🍿 I started watching his heist story 'The Brothers Bloom', but couldn't finish it. Maybe I'll do it next week. Meanwhile I tried -

In BEN BOYER AND THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF AUTOMOBILE MARKETING, the voice of Carl Jung approaches a guy taking a shit with an archetypal explanation through the air-filter vent. The topic? The subconscious meaning of car brand logos. Made for $99 in 2001. With Pink Floyd 'Atom Heart Mother' score.

🍿 In THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DREAM ANALYSIS (2003) a young woman dreams somebody else's dreams. A student film that feels like one. 2/10.

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(ALL MY FILM REVIEWS - HERE).

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

If only [snark] the BRF welcomed service through gardening, slow food, bee keeping, crafting, jam, baking, hospitality, entertaining...

The Beckhams, Arts, CRAFTS, Fashion & Slow Food at Highgrove

From Rebecca English: "The Slow Food movement was founded in Italy in 1986 as a fight back against the rise of fast food.

Their Majesties joined guests at the reception where students and graduates from The King's Foundation training programmes will provide demonstrations on their work in sustainable fashion and traditional heritage skills, such as, millinery, embroidery, furniture making and fashion design.

The King, who has long had a passion for heritage crafts, set up his foundation in 1990 and it currently offers courses for more than 15,000 students as year and boasts partnerships with CHANEL, YOOX Net a Porter and The Snowdon School of Furniture.

The dinner on last night, Friday was held in honour of sustainable "slow food" and was also attended by the Italian ambassador to the UK, Inigo Lambertini.

The slow food initiative was launched in 1986 in the small Italian town of Bra when food writer Carlo Petrini took exception to the opening of a McDonald’s in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna, leading to widespread national protests.

It promotes the right to good, clean and fair food for all, and strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine.

Others guests include pioneers and representatives of the Slow Food and Fashion movements.

Now established in more than 160 countries globally, off-shoots include the Slow Fashion movement which encourages consumers to purchase fewer, higher-quality items that last longer. 

Their fashion industry, while hugely profitable, is one of the biggest polluters on the planet.

It promotes the use of local, seasonal cuisine through the consumption of regional plants, seeds and livestock. At the dinner Mr Tucci paid tribute to the King's Foundation, which he said promotes the King's vision of 'living in harmony with nature'.

He described how students excelled in slow fashion and slow food, which he described as 'two of my obsessions'.

Mr Tucci told that gathered of the importance of sharing food, which he described as a 'restorative, connective act'.It is also celebrating the best of sustainable 'Slow Food and Slow Fashion', boating a glorious home-grown menu showcasing the best of British produce, with a touch of Italian flair.

A reception was held from 7pm in a marquee in the gardens with canapés including Rare & Pasture 'Salumi', Tuscan style Paté and Coppa, Yorkshire Pecorino cheese Puffs and British vegetables Caponata, washed down with the King's own Highgrove Sparkling Wine."