#and also highlighting david's performance. which like. yes! i agree with this!

[aq2003]

archive dive #2: the comedy of errors (2000)

so this one is. A mess LMAO like god is it so fucking funny and entertaining in some areas but so terrible in some others. i was expecting some outdatedness, bc some of it is kind of inextricable from the source material, but some of it has to do with stuff purely on the adaptation side as well. this was still a very well done production on the technical side: acting, staging, pacing, tone, and costumes/music (with some exceptions). compared to as you like it, i feel like this production is really accessible in that you could show this to someone completely unfamiliar w/ shakespeare and they'd be able to understand everything. however there are some very problematic elements re: the setting and some side characters that really weigh it down looking at it now (which i think is helpful to know for anyone going into this blind!) and i think it's pretty worthwhile to dissect it with a critical eye. also: the audio for the cds gets super crackly esp for the middle of act 2 so if anyone else is visiting stratford maybe try the alternate archive copy

prev / archive dive tag / next

i find it interesting how different the antipholuses feel in terms of personality. the dromios are pretty similar but like. dt's antipholus of syracuse is sort of a funny weird loser that gets weak in the knees for any attractive woman he sees. anthony howell's antipholus of ephesus is like this humorless and kind of scarily violent man. and even though they're twins the former feels younger than the latter to me? also you can see the difference in their personalities in the dynamics w/ their dromios too; the syracusians feel more like brothers/friends while the ephesians feel like master and servant

the comedy of errors really is a whole play shakespeare wrote about your secret evil twin being real and fucking up your life except as the play rolls on it becomes clear to the audience you are the evil twin and your twin is just stupid and horny and cringefail

the biggest problem w this production is its really blatant orientalism that gets basically played for laughs/spectacle. specifically: the portrayals of the first + second merchants and the courtesan all kinda vary from "extremely stereotypical" to "racist caricature" (also i think the actor for the first merchant is white???). the courtesan was already a problematic character but adding that racialized element and how she's portrayed as this magically alluring, very sexualized woman that nearly every man in the play falls for... makes it worse, definitely. and also some bad choices being made re: the music cuz in act 1 the vibe seems to be "smooth jazz" (which i absolutely loved) and then for moments in act 2 when the syracusians are like "oh fuck this is a weird cursed land full of witches trying to tempt us", (and when they're being chased with swords by the second merchant and friends) the music shifts towards a middle-eastern-inspired sound and it's like. ok. free me

luce seems to be split off and made into an original character i think? bc she's a side character that kicks off the play and isn't dressed like a kitchen maid meanwhile dromio of ephesus' fiancé never actually appears. that's one way to try to solve the racism in the text i suppose but it is a shame the production had to cook up its whole separate category of issues outside of this

one thing i will give this production re: optics is how they lean really far into the implication that antipholus of ephesus has been cheating on adriana—this is what i thought when i was originally reading through the play (up until the bit where adriana gets reprimanded by lady abbess for being a hysterical paranoid woman driving her husband into insanity because she's constantly assuming he's being unfaithful). in this production though it's just straight up shown that antipholus of ephesus is cheating on her and her paranoia was completely valid and i think that was a really good choice. adriana even gets to slap him! she still absolutely needs to get a divorce though

dromio of syracuse speaking through an intercom to the ephesians in act 3 scene 1 was super fucking funny, i know in the original they don't see his face either but there's something about the way they did it here that made me lose it

i love the way the syracusians play off of each other, they are probably my favorite thing about the production. dt and ian hughes have a LOT of comedic chemistry together. like the whole "she is spherical" bit is real unfunny in itself but at the start of it where dromio says the line over and over again while david breaks character and says to the audience "got that?" and "calm down there's loads more of this to get through" made me genuinely laugh! (atennantcytoact has an audio clip of it here)

also the moment where antipholus of syracuse leans over on his dromio's shoulder and then dromio makes antipholus bend his knees so he can lean on him back (bc antipholus is so tall by comparison). really really good and i love it. communicates the dynamic between the syracusians v well

the sound effects for the golden chain. Lmfao

the "i buy a thousand pound a year i buy a rope!" line being repeated by dromio of ephesus over and over like it's a really funny joke that nobody understands absolutely killed me bc of how the actual folger annotation for that line was "dromio's indignant exit line has not been satisfactorily explained"

antipholus of syracuse is like "i'm not arguing with an attractive woman coming my way, whatever you say beautiful, please step on me" and antipholus of ephesus is like "i'm going to cheat on my wife and then i'm going to plan to domestically abuse her because i think she's cheating on me back"

a personal highlight of mine is antipholus of syracuse at the start of act 4 scene 3 where he's starting to freak the fuck out over everything that is happening. like it's so fucking funny. you poor thing, splashing water on your face. if you had a working braincell you would connect the dots. also makes great use of david tennant's talent for playing a character that is losing their fucking mind

also (shown in the image at the top of the post) dromio of syracuse's entrance in this scene to the funky jazz music wielding an umbrella and wearing the trenchcoat and sunglasses. it's so fucking good. i could watch it one billion times

i wish the audio didn't cut out when the syracusians came in with the swords because it looked like it was one of the best scenes in the play

the part at the end where the gang figures out what went down over the course of the whole story after discovering there are two antipholuses and two dromios was really well done. it was one of the least entertaining parts of the play when i was just reading it but seeing it play out was actually super fun, seeing all the reactions + the production fully leaning into the ridiculousness of the story/characters, was rly good

also the two sets of twins still getting mixed up by everyone even when they're standing right next to each other was such a good bit and it never got old

the audience "awww"ing at the hugs between the twins at the end... honestly, so true! i also felt a bit fuzzy at that! even for antipholus of ephesus! even if he is pretty terrible i'm glad he found his brother. maybe he can grow and change as a person after this, i have hope for him (adriana still needs to leave him though)

[lonslibrary]

things the netflix shadow and bone got right and wrong—my reaction to the show (🚨 contains spoilers, pls read at your own risk!!)

- to start on a positive note! the shadow and bone characters: i, like many others, didn’t care too much for shadow and bone with the exception of nikolai and am also half convinced a different person wrote soc judging by how little i enjoyed reading s&b compared to soc and crooked kingdom. however, i thought the show was enjoyable and got the characters spot on. alina was more likable, mal was not bland/douchey at all, and i thought ben barnes as the darkling hit every right note.

- highlights included genya and david; though they didn’t have too much screen time, genya was stunning and david was almost exactly how i imagined him when reading the books. i’ve grown attached to them, and yes, i’m pretending row chapter 20 doesn’t exist :-)

- cgi and costuming was also super impressive. loved the keftas, loved the crows’ outfits, and the stag, the fold, and all the grisha powers were really, really good.

- moving on to the crows, i will say i thought casting was some of the best i’ve ever seen throughout all ya adaptations, although i know there are some things that could have been improved, including the fact that danielle galligan, who plays nina, isn’t plus size (no hate to the actress, pls). however, all the reviews i read praised kit young and i could see very obviously why. his jesper was spot on—exactly as i had imagined in the books. i’m willing to bet kruge on the fact that he falls within everyone’s top 5 characters. loved his character in the books, and kit was perfect for him.

- amita was also a stunning inej. her knife/acrobatic skills were all there like i imagined and i thought she portrayed the character very well on screen. i was so invested in her menagerie backstory when reading so i was happy to see some of that get into the show as well.

- ok, now my thing about kaz: freddy carter’s performance was perfectly good! i had no issues with his acting, but i think the show, meaning the producers/writers, haven’t fully understood kaz. don’t get me wrong, the introductory scene with all the crows in ep 1 was fabulous. jesper shooting the coin, kaz’s cane being on screen first, inej’s silent appearance. i really enjoyed the grittiness of kaz, the way his bare hands weren’t shown once, his hair, his cane, how he sweat, etc. however, i thought they overdid it with the pekka rollins backstory, which i think could have been saved for later seasons, and i wanted non-readers to be introduced to a more brutal, calculating, brooding, and genius kaz. i know he isn’t like that all times, but i felt like he was kind of on the defensive(?) very often, raised his voice when it wasn’t needed, etc. i wanted more of his smart, scheming moments like when he double crosses the conductor. not sure how to explain it, but his character felt a bit off at times. maybe i’ve read the books too many times to the point where i’ve kinda made him in my head very specifically.

- nina and matthias: loved danielle and calahan’s performance, i know some disagree but i think the actors were also pretty spot on to how i imagined in the books. their lines most alike to the books as well so i loved hearing the quotes. i did feel that their relationship moved too quickly, though. i definitely feel like matthias would have taken up a bit more time than that to warm up and i know how it goes in the books, but on screen it felt really sped up to the point where i was like already?? i feel like with how much they put into the very little screen time they had, this could’ve been saved for flashbacks in season 2.

- the combination of the two series did worry me but it was pretty smooth! i liked where the crows went, how they kinda came together in the end, but i’m also glad that they’re separating after all. i’m so invested in seeing the soc and crooked kingdom storyline come to life exactly how it is in the books so i don’t want any more interference lol. i am worried about how the timeline is gonna work in season 2 because obviously the civil war has not ended, but i really liked how the last episode set us up for season 2. (also a random note, but the show was very dark lol i had my brightness up all the way the entire time)

- HIGHLIGHTS: milo the goat (mvp of the show), jesper tumbling the stable boy, all of jesper’s lines, really, the darkling’s office/room setting, genya and david’s one (1) singular scene together, the darkling’s kefta, the child actors portraying alina and mal, the way the stag’s bones connected alina to the darkling (super grotesque, but a good portrayal of her becoming his prisoner), the CUT omg, that one scene when jesper pretends he didn’t shoot on dime lions territory, the scene where the fjerdans attack alina in the forest, kaz avoiding the cut, kaz saving jesper from the cut, inej’s knife battle with the heartrender, kaz stepping in front of inej to face the volcra, FEDYOR AND IVAN omg, kaz’s “jes?”, queen baghra, the darkling coming out of the fold at the end with his monsters that are impossible to spell, and more i can’t remember after binging the show until 3AM.

- in conclusion, it lived up the excitement for sure, and i’m ready for season 2!! especially with the way the last episode ended. i’m very eager to see my faves, nikolai and wylan, and cannot wait to watch where the grishaverse takes us next.

do you agree or disagree with my thoughts? i want to hear everyone’s opinions!! feel free to drop comments below :))

[rebellionbeach]

HELLO apparently July 28th is the release date for Down to Earth therefore in honor of its 42nd birthday I wanna do a ranking of all the songs based on my personal preference of course. 

(I’m only doing songs from the original studio release sorry no Bad Girl or Weiss Heim but they’re both sexy ;))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwCsMQWkN3g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7YOM4gx3RE (spark don’t mean a fire aka the alternate version don’t worry it’s beautiful)

8. No Time To Lose:  Starting off this list we’ve got the second song off this record and it isn’t bad in anyway.  In fact, it’s very upbeat and energetic, especially with Graham’s absolutely stunning vocals.  However, compared to the rest of the list I feel it falls just a bit short.  The lyrics themselves are actually pretty dark looking at them with examples such as, “It ain’t no lie, you’re hurting and you don’t know why.”  Don’t know what Roger or Ritchie were going through but damn, anyway, musically the song is also very strong.  The guitar riff is addicting but I feel it’s the combination of, again, Graham’s vocals and Cozy’s monstrous drumming that gives this song so much energy.  Not bad at all from a song that’s at the bottom of a list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P17ct4e5OE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v0bDfZytwk (Russ Ballard version, it’s really good)

7. Since You’ve Been Gone: Listen, I know many may judge this choice but I didn’t put this song at the bottom because of one, the sentimental value it has, and two, it’s not a bad song at all.  Okay, it’s not the best as well but Russ Ballard made a beautiful song about heartbreak that is only made greater by this glorious lineup.  I’ve actually listened to Ballard’s originally version and while it isn’t bad, I feel that Graham really helped cement this song and really put Rainbow on the charts.  I especially enjoy the interlude section that drops into a sweet ballad type tone before dropping back into the chorus.  Graham’s versatile vocals are well-equipped to amplify this song to a new level and not only that but without this song I probably would have never started listening to Rainbow.  Although very commercialized and maybe too light to many, this song holds a special place in my heart and I do love it dearly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2XDORONuuY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmQBKq0d_-I (Cozy Powell mix, yes it’s exactly what you’d think it would sound like if the drummer was the producer)

6. All Night Long: The second real commercialized song on this album and honestly the last.  However, where it differs from the other is that this song still has big traces of that hard rock attitude that Rainbow had emerged into.  That simple yet beautiful riff that gets stuck in your head, Cozy’s powerful drumming, Graham’s powerhouse vocals, I mean what else do you really want from a song.  Just from that opening riff you feel that rush of just pure hard rock energy shiver through your body.  It really is just a fun hard rock song that, although may not be anything too complex, isn’t bad at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeVFTeXs1o8

5. Danger Zone: Danger Zone always stood out to me as a very interesting and different song.  Don is absolutely phenomenal in this song, especially his keyboard solo which Ritchie follows up upon to make a beautiful instrumental section.  I’d be remiss to not mention Graham who hits at some of his highest parts here.  This song really showed off the prowess of his full vocal abilities, hitting high notes with all the strength you’d expect from a hard rock singer.  The actual lyrics of the song are quite beautiful as well I believe.  Parts such as, “Don’t understand when you’re looking for a dame but it’s only a heartbreak away.  And you’ll learn, faking has no return.”  Really suspecting some mental instability from either Roger or Ritchie at this point...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8FcrH1lDeY

4. Eyes of the World:  Many may be surprised why this song isn’t higher up the list but trust me, I have good reasons.  Eyes of the World is definitely a highlight piece in this album and really is a final goodbye to the Dio era of Rainbow.  The subject manner is very of that era and really feels like it could have been sung by Ronnie.  I think to many this song helped alleviate the fears that Rainbow had gone fully vapid with it’s material (though we’ll see how that sentiment drags on throughout the next few years)  Don Airey truly deserves the limelight here for that incredible keyboard intro that just sucks you into that dark world of evil.  He really makes this song something truly special.  Cozy Powell is phenomenal throughout all these tracks but especially in this track where he’s at his home environment and just listen to the interludes between the chorus and verse, just incredible.  Then to our man of the hour, Graham Bonnet, he just absolutely kills it here.  He puts so much passion and emotion into the vocals that I find it strange how anyone could possibly still doubt him as a suitable vocalist for the band.  Ritchie’s solo here as well is probably one of my favorites off of this album just really makes this song something truly special.  I often like to compare this piece to the Gates of Babylon or Tarot Woman to Down to Earth with an incredible keyboard intro and other-wordly themes of evil and darkness that make it a classic Rainbow tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU__fm6QFvk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzQZoOvzzNo (Ain’t A Lot of Love In the Heart of Me, it’s brilliant and honestly parts are somewhat better than the final version lol)

3. Love’s No Friend:  I remember reading an article that talked about this song being Rainbow’s Mistreated.  That description always had stayed with me and while I partially agree with the statement, I also think this song is very different from the former.  Yes, both deal with heartbreak and emanates a grandiose sense of grievance from that sentiment however it differs in how that sentiment is delivered.  Mistreated, as stated by Blackmore, is really just a guitar song.  The relies both on David’s great bluesy voice that can conceive that anguish in his voice like no other vocalist can (love ya Dave) and Blackmore’s just heart-wrenching solo at the end which is probably one of the most emotional guitar solos I’ve ever heard.  With Love’s No Friend I find that it’s more of a complete package having all elements of the band contribute to the piece.  Not that but the lyrics are much more refined in this song.  I often find Mistreated’s lyrics very stale and boring since they’re basically just “I’ve been mistreated, I’ve been abused,” and the only reason they get away with that is because of David’s incredible vocal performances.  Trust me, Graham’s an incredible performer as well but these lyrics have much more substance to them and I feel just stands taller as a complete song.  Speaking of Graham, this is probably his strongest performance in the album.  You know what part I’m talking about if you’ve listened to this song but THAT part is just wow, that solidified him as one of my favorite vocalists of all time.  The entire song is really just a masterpiece and really just stands as one of the best Rainbow tunes in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1LvViMLKNo

2. Makin’ Love - Oh this song, how can I express my love for this song in ways that I haven’t already before.  Well if you didn’t know before, I put this as #5 on my top 5 Rainbow tunes and I still stick to it.  Let me just say, this is one of my favorite intros to any songs ever.  Don Airey is just magical in this entire album (and his entire career) but he especially shines here.  The simple yet beautiful little touches he adds throughout this song really makes it so much more profound.  That, once again, addicting Blackmore riff that just goes on throughout the song making the listener feel as if they’re going through a lonely yet sentimental walk down memory lane.  It kind of almost reminds me of one of my favorite Rick Springfield songs, Written In Rock, in that manner.  I guess I’m just a sucker for a pretty love ballad but man does Graham make it even better.  The man just had the perfect voice for these types of songs (please listen to Will You Be Home Tonight as an example) and he’s able to convey those vulnerable tones in his voice while maintaining that strong hard rock attitude like I’ve seen no other singer be able to.  I didn’t even mention the sudden shift during the pre-chorus that’s complimented with Cozy’s ferocious cymbal playing.  Overall, I’m just a sucker for a nice love song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRLHHftZEJA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eRLQyXzZ1Y (the live Alcatrazz version because Yngwie is a cocky little piece of work and gets his guitar unplugged for 1 minute of the song, Graham is a beast here)

1. Lost In Hollywood - The magnum opus, probably not only the greatest Rainbow song but one of the greatest songs ever written and produced.  I’ve already gone into detail about this song in my overall album review but just on first listening you can definitely tell that this song is something else.  The energy, the tempo, is almost seems rushing like they’re running out of time on the record to give everything they wanted to show to the listener.  The lyrics sort of remind me of Super Trouper (the Deep Purple one okay) if Super Trouper was an overdramatic and grandiose love ballad.  It’s obvious that the song is talking about the overbearing nature of becoming famous and the sacrifices one has to make to get to the mantle.  One of my favorite song lyrics of all time perfectly exemplify this through, “I’m gonna lose control, if I’ve been losing you to pay for rock and roll.”  They’re lost in Hollywood, not just the actual place but the lifestyle that befits every star.  I still think that Super Trouper as a song is a more profound piece on the effects of stardom as a whole but this song as well is beautifully written to talk about those themes in maybe not so personal manners.  The song really is just a beautiful showcase of the talents that were the Mark 4 lineup of Rainbow and stands in my eyes as one of the finest pieces of music ever created.

Yeah, I’ve probably over exaggerated enough.  Once again, I’m very biased here but I’m also speaking with my own tastes and experiences in mind.  Despite the constant lineup changes, Blackmore always seems to find the most top-notch musicians and I believe this lineup truly exemplified that.  It’s a shame that they couldn’t continue on but at least we got this album as a glorious reminder of what 5 musicians can do with enough talent and probably alcohol.

Also, the hallmark of all live performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5VPzJlUKVc

[orlafilmblog]

Film Genres – Critical Reflection

I would like to first off say how much I have loved this module, despite the large amount of stress it has inflicted upon everyone (you all better be relaxing over Christmas!!!) I have thoroughly enjoyed working with my group and I am so proud of Ben A, Ben Mc, Eilis and Sam for what they have helped create. All I do is sing their praises in my blog posts but that’s because they deserve it! Our overall work ethic and commitment was unfaltering from our very first meeting to the crit. Everyone brought their best to the table. I knew from that first time we sat down in a café together that no matter what challenges we faced, it would all be okay. Yes we definitely had our disagreements but like some sort of weird dysfunctional family we pulled through.

(my notes from our very first meeting :') )

Do I actually like the film though? In short, yes. I had always been tied to the idea since Ben first mentioned it; it was something new and exciting and ambitious to a level that I had never really tried before. I like the mother/son aspect of the story and I think we used our location to our full advantage. However, I definitely want to see a longer version. We had all the key elements there – good cinematography, cool production design (minus the cardboard sword), a strong narrative – yet I can’t help but feel we missed the mark. I believe a longer edit and many more hours in Protools could fix this. I would love to return to this project with a fresh set of eyes and ears. But oh well, it’s our own fault for being a little bit too ambitious with what we can fit into three minutes! It certainly doesn’t take away how proud I am of our final result, even if it isn’t perfect.

Onto the Crit…

I am super happy with all the feedback we received at the crit and I agree with the majority of it! I loved that people picked up on two of the main inspirations for the film: Dune and The Green Knight. From our original planning these had been inspiring our decisions. The word “ambitious” was thrown around a lot, with David B concluding his comments saying that it was a “pretty solid effort” which is true. We aimed high and partially delivered.

It was clear that the first section of the film was a lot less effective than the second. Lots of people said that there was too much crammed into a short space of time, leading to confusion around what was happening. I fully agree with this. Another 20 seconds probably could have solved a lot of these issues. The pacing of the voice over at the start also seemed off and too quick. This was something I was aware of when editing and I did try to break it up, however Ben and I felt having all the lines included was more important than leaving some breathing space. Looking back, sometimes less can be a lot more. Some people questioned if the beginning of the film was even necessary. I can see why it could have been cut, however I would argue that with some more time and love it does add a lot to the story and characters. The general consensus towards the second half was a lot more positive. The chase scene was called “immersive” which was nice to hear as we wanted it to be an edge-of-your-seat moment with everything rising to a climax. There is a lack of clarity around the moment when Henry starts running. Maybe some extra lines of dialogue or changes in performance could have shown why he suddenly backed out of the deal. There were also a few nice comments about the rise-up of the Devil, so shout out to Matt for being the only one on set tall enough to do it!

It was mentioned that the production design was a highlight of our film and that this also added to the immersion. Our location was key in helping us set the medieval/fantasy/horror tone, we really could not have pulled it off without access to the Vaults. I am pleased with the costumes and not many people seemed to notice the dodgy sword!

Our cinematography got really positive feedback which was lovely to hear as I know how hard the group worked on the ‘look’ of the film (I can’t take much credit here). The lighting in particular stood out, with people saying it was believable for the space. We used our motivated light source well and the transition into the red light was successful. David B commented on our use of camera movement which was reassuring as we spent a lot of time getting more complicated shots using sliders (and just sprinting down corridors). David L said he liked the concept of the visuals and that the framing was good. It was a shame about the focus in some of our shots, especially the one when the Devil is rising up. We had two takes of this (well technically three… but we didn’t hit record on one of them). The first take was in focus, however the way David falls into the corridor just didn’t line up at all with the next shot. It was glaringly obvious, so we sacrificed the focus in the hopes people would see it as an ‘intentional creative choice’. However, I agree with David B in that we will improve with time and practice: “it’s better to be adventurous now”.

The sound design received a mix of different feedback which I am appreciative of. I won’t go on about the score too much as I have already posted about it, however I just wanted to say thankyou so much to everyone that said nice things about it! I personally never want to hear it again but if it benefits the film then I guess that’s a good thing. Along with the score, the Devil voice/whispering was received well. My favourite part is when he says “KNEEL” which Zoe said was “very cool”. Juliet also said that the Devil voice “hit a sweet spot” which was great to hear as I really wanted to nail that part of the design. However, there were many failings within the sound. They were all problems I was aware of as well which was all the more frustrating. A large flaw was Henry’s dialogue in the Catacombs. When recording, I had the levels way too low (I’m not sure how or why but I have definitely learned from it). This meant in post I had to crank them wayyy up which made everything very static-y. I managed to find some plug-ins to fix this, however the voice still felt detached from the character. Zoe mentioned using de-reverb to reduce the ‘distance’ here which is something I will look into. On top of this, a lot of the Devil’s dialogue is unclear, especially during the chase. The music and atmos overwhelm the dialogue and a lot of important lines are lost. Like many other problems, a few more hours in Protools probably could have fixed this. I also need to get a better understanding of how to use the plug ins/audio suite to my full advantage as I feel I overused them in some places and underused them in others. I would have liked to have had a more dynamic mix in the chase (as Leo pointed out). Again, this is something I will revisit and experiment with. Originally we had planned to have the whispers following him, getting louder when he was closer and quieter as he gained distance. In the last 30 minutes of the edit we did chuck them in, however ended up taking them back out as there wasn’t enough time to perfect them. I am quite disappointed in myself for not doing a better job with the sound. I felt all the elements were there, I just didn’t quite nail them.

I have learned so much from making this project and I have made some great memories along the way. As I have mentioned a hundred times before, I AM SO PROUD OF MY GROUP THEY ARE ALL AMAZING AND SO TALENTED!!!!!!!! I am looking forward to seeing a longer edit if Ben Mc makes one as I think there is still a lot of potential with Catacombs of the Lost. I can’t wait to continue working next trimester.

Just quickly (because god have I rambled on for long enough) I wanted to say how much I adored all the other films. Wow you guys are good!!!

Dirty Work – Putting aside my biases towards the wonderful David Hall, I really loved this film and the atmosphere it created. I think you nailed your portrayal of the character (an example I brought up being the little adjustment of the knife on the table) and I loved your use of off-screen sound/space. Plus the reflection shot was just so cool, along with the red lighting at the end (what is it with David and red lighting in films?)

Cherry – First of all I thought the script for this was great and you could tell that the actors had been given some excellent direction. It was funny and suspenseful and it looked amazing! Some of those shots were just *chef kiss*. I loved the black and white, and I’m glad you couldn’t add the pops of red as I feel that would have taken away from the overall effect.

Sceptic – Damn Alex those whip-pans are something else! I had seen this film progress from a very rough cut to the final result, and what a result it was. It was so funny; the character of the Director was class. I thought the production design was really impressive – you literally had two separate films to design! You used your space really well to create a great film.

Pure Electric – This film was super ambitious, and I think it achieved most of the things it set out to do. It goes without saying that the effects were amazing (Bethany… how?!?!?!) but I could see everyone’s insane amount of talent throughout the film. The costumes were so cool and creative and your location was perfect. Eva, your sound design was incredible!

Subject #36 – I mean I don’t want to make you guys big-headed or anything but I thought this film was perfect. I didn’t notice any of the tiny mistakes until other people pointed them out, I was just so immersed from start to finish. You can see that everyone in the group was so committed to making an amazing film, and it paid off. ALEX PLEASE HELP ME WITH PROTOOLS!!! The sound of the monster was chilling, I felt unnerved for a good 10 minutes after the film had finished. I showed my flatmate and she hated it in the best way possible (she hates anything scary). Top-notch job guys.

Road to Nowhere – Please make more of this film! I want to see more because I loved it so much. The characters were believable and the story was really compelling. For some reason I really loved that it took place mainly in a car? Congrats on the match-cut by the way, it was really effective. The tension at the end was overwhelming and that last shot was so frickin cool.

Dreamer – I had no idea what to expect from this film because all I had heard was the group talking it down… but my god guys it was terrific!!! It was laugh-out-loud funny in the second half and even the cringey first half had a comedic warmth to it that is hard to create. The visuals were so pretty and you used the location really well within the story and the edit. The sound also stood out to me as a highlight of the film because of how well it blended in.

Okay okay I’ll shut up now but I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas! Looking forward to working with you all again soon xx

[alexcaldownapier]

Film Genre - Crit Reflection

Subject #36

Group 6 Final Film Genre Film

Written and Directed by Cal White

Cinematography by Bonnie Sanderson

Sound by Alex Caldow

Produced by Jenny Morrison

Edit and Makeup by Thomas Walker

Thanks to:

My whole group for their constant hard work and team spirit - always a pleasure to work with everyone. 

Everyone on the course who helped out with borrowing equipment, James Fox for helping with our location sound, Ben McMorran for helping with post-production and of course Samuel Duner for his excellent performance. 

All the lecturers and technicians at the university for guiding and supporting us through the process.

Onto the crit then. First thoughts:

I am really happy with our final film. As usual I was extremely nervous going in, unsure if we really had anything, but the big screen, big speakers and the audience atmosphere really helped me to enjoy it and see the film for what it was. I think overall, it’s a simple and effective horror/thriller that works well with creating mood and hinting at a wider story. I’m proud of my sound design work (despite some nit-picks) and I felt I organised my workflow well. I think the group worked well together and Cal’s direction held it all together well - we were always on the same page. It was great to hear all the happy responses from the class and the lecturers (shout out to James Fox, the “absolute yes man”). It’s always easy to lose sight of your film when you’re aware of every single issue within it, but yeah, was great to hear that people liked it :))). We walked out of the crit as a group, extremely happy with the film and how our individual roles were highlighted. Bonnie did a little celebration dance. Just a lovely feeling.

But now, onto specific critiques and notes.

The Class

Again, overwhelmingly positive, which was lovely. I also really appreciated James’ highlighting of the sound design and appreciation of the minimal atmos as a creative decision along with Rowen being disturbed by the baby sounds. I aim to displease. But then specific notes included:

More build-up of the crying throughout

Climax wasn’t impactful enough, the distancing of the monitor

Continuity issues

Unclear that there was another person in the room

Scientist eye close-up needs some more curiosity

I agree with the crying, it could’ve been hinted earlier in the film, but I stand by the main introduction being at that point as it is what drives the narrative/character forward. The distancing from the climax is something that was necessary for the budget of our film. We’d decided to stay back at this moment to preserve the effect of the film as any close-ups or high quality shots of the monster would reveal that it was just a wee boy in make-up. And again, there were conflicting reactions to this as a creative choice (Sofia fighting our battle for us - thank you!). The torch does switch hands in one cut, damn jack and his eagle eyes! The other scientist is a point I plan to work on with my next draft of the sound. I agree, it seems a little strange for him to speak to someone we have no idea even exists. I’m not entirely sure how to show the presence of another - maybe a subtle door opening as he scrumples the paper? And the final point about the eyes I also agree with - I think this is down to not being entirely sure when we were using each shot in the edit. I think originally, this shot was to be used as the subject is killed so was meant to communicate the indifference of the scientist. But yeah, all fair notes, some things to work on. The creative choices were taken both positively and negatively and the technical issues weren’t too glaring, so all in all, not too bad.

David Byrne

David’s focus was on the cinematography - great to hear how much he liked it (big ups Bonnie Sanderson). The moving lighting, racking focus and the colouring were all highlighted, great to hear. The LED in the monitor is a mistake that while, not glaringly obvious, is something we should’ve thought about on set.

David Lumsden

Very happy with the concept and final result of it (big ups Cal White). Due to David’s enthusiasm, we are going to keep developing the film, sending it into festivals, perhaps extending the script, etc. The shoes are a fair point, I love the idea of the bare feet for added vulnerability, although I don’t know how much you’d have to pay me to get my feet out on camera. This was due to them being the only shoes I had on set when I stood in for the actor and I like to draw on my shoes, like a child. Some extra shots of the monster would’ve been nice, Tom wanted to keep the monster reasonably hidden and the pace quick, but I do also think Bon and Cal got some great inserts that could be used well.

Zoe

Zoe, also very complimentary :))), but she does wants the start lopped off. I’m not entirely sure if I agree. These first notes make me a little confused. What is suggested is that we hear him be shoved into the stairwell minus the voices which is something I thought I had done (not the voices). My intentions for the opening is to extend the POV shot into the darkness at the start. I was hoping to communicate that he is being marched into this space and thrown to the ground, with the marching footsteps and the guards voice hinting to a group of people there with him. I do think I need to fill out these sounds a bit more, more clothes noises, a more brutal shove, but I think the intention was there. The bubbling I can understand. I had wanted something sciencey and strange, like bubbling pipes or beakers, in the atmosphere, but it doesn’t fit the office type space, it’s too laboratory and is also too loud in the mix. The edit as well, Tom and the group agree, it can be tightened up at specific points. And the final lines, do need a little more room and I’m going to try out swapping the “next subject” with the “it cried this time” as I think it would work well in terms of the narrative. It’s clearer to have there’s something new, let’s keep testing, instead of lets keep testing, oh wait, that’s new. 

Anyways, these are notes I’m going to keep in mind as we play around with the edit a bit more as a group. I think, for my sound design, that I need to be completely sure that each sound is motivated by the story and the world, and communicates what I want it to. The opening is something that intrigues me, did everyone else get that he was being marched into the stairwell, or does it just not come across? I find it hard to hear things objectively when I know what they’re meant to mean.

Juliet 

Just lovely to get the encouragement from sound specialists on my sound design!! So happy with the feedback. The footsteps changing space is something I agree with and I’m going to work on. I don’t think I spent enough time with the location sounds, just blending them together and using noise reduction. 

Leo

Again, just great to hear that he liked the sound design. I agree with the suddenness of the crying, I think a more gradual increase in volume and, again, an earlier hint of it, would go a long way in smoothing the progression of the narrative. And yeah, the baby noises need more processing, need to be more abstract and alien. And I agree, the fact that all the sounds are read by the audience for what they actually are, e.g. the purring, makes it seem a little lazy. I think I’ll play about more with the main crying track as it progresses, reduce it in the mix of all the monster sounds. As I said in the crit, my approach of the layering of sounds underneath is maybe a bit subtle and doesn’t really come across enough. I’ve gone into my approach a bit more in previous posts, but yeah, I agree, more weirdness!!!!

Overall, I’m just so happy with the response, was on cloud 9 the rest of the day. And hearing everybody in our group’s roles be highlighted and praised was lovely, a lot of us were in these roles for the first time and were really nervous but it was great to see how we grew into our roles throughout production. Cal’s direction kept us all on the same page and his vision was really clear; Bonnie was getting some gorgeous shots that fit the tone perfectly; Jenny worked so hard to have us all on schedule and with the right kit and Tom’s edit hits every beat excellently and the makeup exceeded all my expectations. Very proud of our group.

I’d love to go through my pro tools session with Zoe and the gang and get right into every decsion and technique. I really want to be good at sound design - I think it may be what I want to specialise in. I’ve had no experience with it before this module and I’ve had so much fun with it and learned so much. I found myself, during the crit, only really thinking about the sound in everyone’s films, it’s so at the forefront of my mind now in terms of how I think about film. Again, thank you to the lecturers for helping me get up to speed with sound after a tough first year. Very excited to move forward to next term.

For the other films from the class - excellent! Had a great time absorbing everyone’s amazing work. Big fan of the scripts of Pure Electric and Cherry, love the visual thrills in Catacombs of the Lost, had a lot of laughs with Sceptic and Dreamer, really appreciated the naturalism of Road to Nowhere and love the character work in Dirty Work. Sorry if I was mean with my feedback - I really did love everyone’s work! I felt like I was at a wee film festival, I got a lot from the experience.

Again, sorry for the length of the post.

I’ve had a great time this term, thanks to my lovely course mates and the always encouraging lecturers. 

Merry Christmas!

[amltdaily]

For a second consecutive year, the season finale of A Million Little Things ended with the question, Who hit Eddie? The incident, which left Eddie fighting for his life, was the big Season 2 finale cliffhanger. Tonight, Eddie received a call from a woman claiming to be the driver who hit him. And that was not the biggest Season 3 finale cliffhanger.

Once again, AMLT left someone’s life hanging in the balance; this time, it was music teacher/sexual abuser Peter Benoit. He was attacked at his doorstep by Gary, who put a bag over his head and dragged him inside. In an interview with Deadline, series creator/executive producer D.J. Nash discussed both shockers as well as the slew of other developments in tonight’s packed finale. Before we get to that, here is a brief rundown on some of the Season 3 finale highlights.

Gary’s assault on Peter was a culmination of the Sophie storyline, in which she decided to go to the police and file a report so Peter could not harm other girls. Holding the diary of another student of Peter’s, Layla, who had killed herself, Sophie was interviewed by the police, but the detective did not think there was enough evidence to charge Peter, and indicated that a text exchange between Sophie and Peter after the alleged assault might have undermined her case. Gary, who felt responsible as Sophie’s guardian at the time, did not take this well and kicked a trash can in the hallway of the police station.

Already reeling emotionally, Gary was further jolted when Darcy shut down his suggestion that they may start a family by telling him she did not want more kids after he’d agreed to follow her to Lenox where she was moving so her son can be close to his father. Gary then got into a heated conversation with Delilah, who blamed him for not protecting Sophie. That was after Delilah’s older children found out that she was planning to move the entire family to France, something the teens strongly opposed.

The next time we see Gary he was at his father’s, creating an alibi, leaving his phone and saying goodbye before he headed to Peter’s house. Thus, he did not get Darcy’s voicemail, in which she told him she had changed her mind about kids, praising Gary, who has been the MVP of the group of friends this season, helping everyone, from raising Delilah’s older children while she was in France to taking in Eddie and chaperoning his visits with Theo.

As Gary went all vigilante on Peter, Sophie went after her abuser by telling her story — and revealing his name — on Maggie’s podcast.

In other developments, Eddie and Katherine, who spent most of the episode arguing over custody, came to a workable solution at the end, just before Eddie got the surprise call from the woman confessing to being behind the wheel of the red SUV.

Regina closed the restaurant but not before feeding a young father who had lost his wife to Covid. Rome and their foster son Tyrell continued work on their documentary about systemic racism. It led to Tyrell reconnecting with his mother’s former partner who now has the job Tyrell’s mother was vying for before she got deported. Convinced that the ex-partner had turned her in, Tyrell confronted the guy, with Rome intervening to deescalate the situation. It turned out that Tyrell’s mom took her partner’s car to drive to a FedEx office to mail her son’s summer program application when she was pulled over by cops.

Here is the interview with Nash, in which he also discusses the main theme and mystery next season and what is next for all characters (Rome’s documentary will be a smashing success), reveals that he had considered having a major character die of Covid, teases the return of AMLT favorites and his plans for ending the series.

DEADLINE: Let’s start with the second biggest question at the end of this finale. It’s a case of déjà vu because at the end of last year’s finale, we have exactly the same question, who hit Eddie? What can you say about bringing back the mystery?

NASH: We were talking about bringing it back a few episodes before. The reason we didn’t is because it obviously would make a great cliffhanger, but we wanted to, this season, examine Alex’s dad, the reverend, and all those stories. But just when we got you to forget about who did this, the question resurfaces again, and I think that’s true to Eddie’s journey. Just when he is accepting this is my life, and this is what I’m going to do, and I actually am going to find strength in who I am now, it’s upended by that call coming in, and what we will watch next season is everything about Eddie tested by this call, his sobriety, his ability to be the person he wants to be right now.

You sometimes have a settled moment and you’re able to move on, and then something else happens that challenges it, and I think we see that in the finale with Sophie. She is more at peace with what has happened to her than at any point since it happened. She is going to Maggie. She is going from victim to survivor and retelling her story, but as that’s happening, obviously, Gary’s doing something over at Peter’s that’s going to challenge and threaten all that.

DEADLINE: We’ll go through all of those one by one but let’s finish with Eddie’s call. What can you say about the identity of the woman? Have we seen, heard her? I assume we haven’t because some fans would recognized the voice.

NASH: That’s right, yes, and we definitely treated that voice in post. So, yes, it does not appear to be someone we’ve seen. I don’t think that it’s Alex’s sister. It does not appear to be Eddie’s sister, Lindsay, and some of the fan-favorites of who could’ve hit Eddie seem to be off the table. It’s another person, and it sounds also like she has remorse. So, either it was an accident, or it’s something that she did that she regrets doing. It definitely feels as though she feels horrible that this has happened.

DEADLINE: So, you cannot say whether this was an accident or intentional? Why is she contacting Eddie now?

NASH: Yeah, I think I want the fans to experience it the way that the episode leaves it, which, it definitely, definitely feels like this is a person who has great regret for what happened and is probably reaching out, out of guilt. I think guilt is a huge theme that we’ve started to uncover this season. Obviously, it’s leading a couple people to make some not-so-great decisions in our finale, and it’s something that we’ll see our friend group struggle with. There’s healthy guilt and unhealthy guilt, and I think it’s important to draw the distinction between them.

DEADLINE: A tangential question. Why didn’t the police investigate and get to the bottom of that hit? They have access to street cameras. It seems like this this should’ve been resolved by now.

NASH: They did. If you remember, there was an episode where the detective calls and says that they saw a camera that was on a gas station nearby, and it wasn’t a pickup truck, it was an SUV. So, there is an investigation. I think a lot of these investigations… I know, in our own life, there was an accident that happened in our family this year, and I called to say, hey, can we see the street camera to see if we can identify exactly what happened, and we weren’t able to get that.

DEADLINE: I remember that, that’s how we ruled out Reverend Stewart as a suspect. So, can we rule out a connection to Alex backstory now? Can we assume that this is part of a brand-new mystery that is not related to Alex’s death anymore?

NASH: I don’t know that we can rule out, but I’m happy to rule that out for you, right now, yes. This has nothing to do with Alex and the boathouse, and that story and that chapter is behind us.

DEADLINE: One last question about Eddie. I know we discussed this before and said that because of the strength of David Giuntoli’s performance, you wanted to explore more of Eddie in the wheelchair, but is there a possibility that he might begin to recover and start walking next season?

NASH: Yeah. I really am so impressed at the way in which David Giuntoli is approaching this storyline, and his work this season as someone who is in a wheelchair, he’s playing him with just authenticity and true grit from the moment we wanted to tell this story. There’s two writers in the room who have parents who are physically challenged, and as you know, I’m one of them, seeing my dad go to law school blind; he went to law school when I was a kid, and he was 45. I think he wasn’t a dad that you might think someone would be, but he was probably always better, and I think we were really excited to see that strength and to see Theo experience his dad’s true grit.

DEADLINE: You didn’t answer the question. Is there any chance for him to walk next season?

NASH: I think there is as much a chance of him getting out of the chair as there really is for someone who’s in a chair to get out of the chair, which is, it’s really highly unlikely, and in telling that story, I think while that might be an interesting story turn for TV but I want to be really respectful of the community that we’re representing, and I think the likelihood that someone walks again and puts the chapter of a wheelchair behind them after the accident Eddie’s been through is really unlikely, and our show is all about authenticity. So, I can’t say with 100 percent certainly we would never have him have movement and feelings and maybe walk a few steps, but for right now, for this next season, he’s in that wheelchair.

DEADLINE: Okay. Now, to the bigger cliffhanger involving Gary. What exactly is planning to do with Peter and why is he doing it? Clearly, Gary is not going for a quick death.

NASH: Well, I think the why goes back almost to Gary’s childhood. His mom left, he felt this loss of family, and he has, so many times in his life, tried to re-create that. I think it’s one of the reasons went to 41 hockey games a year with a guy he met in an elevator, because he’s just that desperate to have a family, which is probably why he proposed to Maggie earlier than he would have. It’s why he is moving so quickly with Darcy, prepared to move to Lenox and wants to have a family with her. You look at Gary, and he’s like the greatest friend you could ever have, and I think the reason he is so giving is because he’s treating his friends like family because he doesn’t have that family that he once had. When he was taking care of Sophie, he feels like if he hadn’t circled back to talk to Peter, if he hadn’t convinced Peter to give Sophie another chance, she would’ve been out of his world, and because Gary circled back, he gave Peter a lot of the tools to groom her, and I think he carries tremendous guilt of it.

It’s one of the examples of unhealthy guilt that we’re going to follow into next season, and that, combined with Delilah saying she’s moving to France, Darcy, at least leaving him earlier in the episode as though she doesn’t want to have kids with him, he had nothing to lose. I think the anger he’s feeling, the guilt that is overtaking him, and then the nothing to lose attitude is the perfect storm for whatever it is he’s doing over at Peter’s.

In answer to your question of what is he doing at Peter’s, whatever he’s doing is premeditated. He went over to his dad’s and came up with an alibi, and he puts a bag over Peter’s head. It is Gary. It is Peter. That is a bag. He pulls him inside and closes the door. So, that is a mystery, and certainly the question that we’re following next season is what happened over there.

DEADLINE: Will the question be answered in the Season 4 premiere? Will you pick up where you left off in the finale, or will that be something that will be revealed slowly?

NASH: What we’re watching in the first half of next season is how did Gary go from kicking a trash can at a police station to putting a bag over someone’s head. We’ll uncover all of that, and it happens quickly. It’s not at a frustratingly slow pace. We will get to it, and we will learn exactly, is Peter alive or dead? We’ll learn that right in 4-01 and what the fallout is of all of that. It happens right away.

DEADLINE: Moving onto Sophie. For her, doing the podcast feels liberating, but would there be any consequences for her naming her abuser? Peter, he obviously has bigger problems right now with Gary, but will there be anything more to this plotline for Sophie or has she gotten closure by sharing her story?

NASH:  It’s a great question. I’m trying to be sensitive with every topic we do, but especially with this one, because it’s loosely based on something that happened to one of the writers in our room, it’s loosely based on something that’s happened to our community and to our world. I think since the #MeToo movement has been here, we’re seeing that there’s different stages that a survivor goes through, but moving from victim to survivor, one, is just acknowledging to someone that something happened.

The other would be acknowledging publicly that something happened, and then this huge step of saying and this is the person who did it. We’ve seen with some high-profile people the ramifications of saying that. It appears that Maggie was not aware that Sophie was going to single out Peter by name in the podcast, and she does, and what does that mean? What is the positive, and what are the potential negative consequences for Sophie of saying that? And all of that sort of power, strength, liberation that Sophie is having in reclaiming her story and reclaiming the power of her life, moving from victim to survivor, that is all potentially undermined by what Gary does over at Peter’s.

DEADLINE: What about Regina, Rome and Tyrell? By the way, another tangent. I have high school kids who are applying to a lot of summer programs, and all applications are done online, not via FedEx. Aside from that, will Tyrell be able to reunite with his birth mother or could he get adopted by Regina and Rome?

NASH: That’s really funny, Nellie, because when I was watching Star Wars with my wife, and she was like, you know, guns don’t make noise in outer space, and I was like, other than that, this is a perfect story, but that’s hilarious. So, I’m sorry, I was all fixated on that. I didn’t hear your question.

DEADLINE: It’s about whether the boy will be able to reunite with his mother. And you mentioned guilt, that clearly will affect Tyrell and the dynamic in his new family.

Nash: Yeah, 100 percent guilt is a big part of our series. He is feeling the guilt, and he now has confirmation that he caused his mother’s deportation. We worked very closely with Define American and with FedEx in bringing this story. I don’t think Regina and Roma will adopt Tyrell because he does have a mother, and she is alive and well. They wouldn’t want to offend her. He has a mom whom he can’t be near because of something he did, and how he processes that guilt, how they help the son that they’re fostering work through that. We saw him immediately want to run out and confront Kyle, and Rome trying to contain that, only to then have to chase after him. So, we’re dealing with someone who might let their feelings and emotions get the best of them, and so, how does Rome be there for his foster son and prevent him from making a mistake the way Rome’s other friend, Gary, did.

DEADLINE: Tyrell reuniting with mom this coming season, possible?

NASH: It’s certainly possible. I want the fans to see how the story plays out, but we did cast that mom, and she’s a fantastic actress, and we’re certainly hoping to see her again.

DEADLINE: Regina, she had a difficult, emotional arc this season, and now she lost the restaurant. Will she be able to revive her dream or owning a restaurant or is that part of her career over?

NASH: We really wanted to make sure, this season, that we tell the story of losing at least one person to Covid because, obviously, so many people were lost. There was a time in this writer’s room where we talked about potentially losing a recurring character or maybe even a series regular to Covid, and I think we felt like, honestly, we love these characters, we don’t want to lose them. That was really a big factor, and also, I think that we wanted to be authentic to the loss that people faced but at the same time not bring too much sadness and pain to that. The story was really deliberate. We wanted, as Regina is losing her dream and her restaurant, to put it in perspective, and earlier in the episode, Rome says ‘How are you doing?’, and she says ‘Compared to what?’

What we gave her for a story throughout the episode was a comparison, to have her realize that she’s doing better than she thought she was doing. Yeah, she lost her restaurant. Yeah, she lost her dream, and I think it’s really easy for us all, right now — I could say I haven’t been able to get to the stage this year, I haven’t been able to go out with friends, but compared to other people, we’re really fortunate. So, we wanted to have Regina have that moment where things are put into perspective At the same time, we also wanted to look at where we were at the end of last season compared to where we are this season. At the end of last season, Eve changes her mind, and Regina is denied the family she wants, whereas at the end of this season, despite losing her restaurant, she’s able to get through that because she is surrounded by her family, and Tyrell comes in and delivers this beautiful speech, and I think that is really the message of our series,. When you surround yourself with the right people, you can get through anything.

DEADLINE: Onto Delilah. Will there be an AMLT spinoff, Delilah in Paris, like Emily in Paris, or is her move doomed, or is she going but only with Charlie?

NASH: That’s what we’re watching. It really appears as though what this woman needs is a fresh start. It really feels like she was suffocating and didn’t even realize how much her level of pain was until she got to France and had a chance to step back and appreciate that. I think in Episode 3, as she’s leaving, buys a suitcase and was talking about how she hasn’t taken a trip without Jon. I think we were setting the table for her discovery in France, and we really wanted to tell that story.

Delilah has done many things in the series that make the fans question her, how good a mom she is, how good a person she is, and we wanted to make sure that we were telling her side of the story. So, that fight that she has with Gary really is that opportunity for us to hear that she went to France, it was supposed to be just for three weeks, and she was going to give her dad, who had memory loss, the last trip of his life, and then he fell, and yes, she was not there for some huge moments for her children, but that’s not out of choice. It’s because the pandemic happened, and so, we just wanted to humanize and continue that theme that I love, which is just when you think you know someone, you don’t.

DEADLINE: You didn’t say anything about her move to France? Is that happening, for her with/without her older children?

NASH: We really want the fans to see how that happens, but what I love about our series is just when people think, oh, it must be a card flip, maybe it’s not.

DEADLINE: Eddie and Katherine, they looked like they were starting to find a way to co-parent. How will their relationship evolve next season with that jolt Eddie got with the call? You hinted that he may relapse as a result.

NASH: I’m happy to say, because I think the finale, the story really depicts this beautifully, that they are not able to be there for each other the way the other person needs them to be, but they are determined to be there for Theo, and they are determined to not let the fact that they are divorced keep them from being the parents they want to be. So, we’re going to watch them have to navigate these very new waters for them, mostly separately, sometimes together, just trying to be everything to Theo that he deserves.

DEADLINE: Looking ahead to Season 4, you mention guilt as a theme, you mentioned the new mystery of the female caller. What else do you have in store? Do you have any other major themes and mysteries that you’re planning?

NASH: Well, certainly, we have what happened behind that door. We’re also following whether or not this family moves to France and if some of them do and some of them don’t and what’s the fallout of how that affects this family. We have the mystery of how did what happened to Peter affect what happens with Gary and Darcy, moving forward. We left the season with Maggie also aware that Gary wasn’t where he was supposed to be, and so, we’ll see how her awareness might affect the story.

We’re also seeing Maggie, who’s found her voice in this podcast, gain some notoriety, and that story is a story we’re tracking next season that has some very funny and fun actors, who are fans of our show, joining our series that we’re excited about, and then, finally, for Rome, his documentary is picking up, and we’ll see him have incredible success. We’re telling that story, and for Regina, her figuring out what the next chapter of her life is going to be and her relying on her friends, who have had to face similar questions, for support and love as she finds that next chapter. That will involve a return of some people who have been in our series before that we have been excited to come back.

DEADLINE: Covid limited your guest actor choices this season. Can you tease any favorites that are coming back? Jason Ritter? You also mentioned new guest stars. Would they be playing themselves as guests on Maggie’s podcasts or will they play characters?

NASH: Well, certainly, Covid has restricted us, and that’s we’re excited about some of the mystery of what happened and where we left things at the end of this season. That’ll get us through, hopefully, the quarantine part of Vancouver, which hopefully will lift before Thanksgiving, at which point, we will be bringing even more guest stars in. We have found, in the last couple seasons, that there are some more high-profile actors who are fans of our show, and I’ve had a conversation with a few of them about coming in and doing parts, and it’s incredible. In fact, there are people who I’m a fan of, and I’m like, you watch our show? That’s awesome.

So, we will see a couple of those people. I can’t say yet who they are, because those deals aren’t closed. In terms of the other part of who, who’s been in our show, who’s coming back, yes, there’s quite a few people who we want to have back. Again, it’s just a question of when we get to that point of the season, are they on other series that allow them to come hang out with us, but we put a pin in some pretty big stories going into season three because of Covid, and those are stories that could wait to be told, and hopefully, now, we can unpin them and bring them back, because we’re doing 20 episodes this year. It’s the biggest season we’ve ever had, and we want each episode to be special.

DEADLINE: Delilah had a love interest at the end of Season 2, played by Parker Young. He disappeared.

NASH: She did, Miles. Parker is on a series (United States of Al), so, that might be difficult to bring back. And maybe…she’s in France. Maybe she meets a guy or a woman in France.

DEADLINE: What about Ron Livingston? We heard him in the finale but will we be able to see him next season?

NASH: I would love to see him in this season. He and I talked about him possibly being in that finale, and for the amount of screen time I would’ve had him and for the amount that I would’ve had to have him quarantine. He’s got kids, and it didn’t feel like I could justify asking him to do that. He was awesome and willing, and I said to him, let’s wait for a future episode. So, I’d love to see him back. With where I want to go with our series, I know, for sure, he’s in it again.

DEADLINE: You have a very serialized show, and you’re going into now Season 4. Are you already mapping out a final arc? Do you know when/how the show is ending?

NASH: I knew what the last season of the show was when I pitched the pilot. So, that’s already mapped out. Every year, when we get together with the new writers, it’s the second or third day, the first thing I do is tell them is how the series ends. So, they’re all aware of that. They know what we’re building towards. What season that will happen in is a conversation that as soon as we get up and running, this season, I want to have with our partners at the studio and the network, just to find what we think is the best length of time to tell this story.

DEADLINE: So, you have the ending ready but you won’t know until the summer whether you should proceed with the idea or shelve it for next season?

NASH: I basically have about the six-episode last segment of our show, and that can fit at the end of any season. With us getting a 20-episode order, it doesn’t feel like that ABC wants this to be our last season. I think there are three things that are balanced, how our fans are and whether we still continue to get the numbers and the Live+ numbers that we get. I think the second factor is just the actors and their desire to keep telling these stories, but the biggest thing is me and the writers and us feeling like do we still have fresh situations that we want to put our characters in. At my heart, in my roots, I am a stand-up comic, and rule number one is leave the audience wanting more.

DEADLINE: How do you feel, do you have more stories? Can you do multiple more seasons?

NASH: There’s no question we have enough to do 20 incredible episodes this season.

[niralamba]

Xavier against Magneto

interview for GQ México, May 2019

link to the source below =>

In an interview, the actors James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender tell us about their participation in Dark Phoenix and their history behind the X-Men saga. James McAvoy has it clear, he is jealous of Michael Fassbender and the rest of the cast in the x-men saga. The reason is simple: he would have liked for Professor Xavier to have a suit too. One very showy, a superhero one, and yes, he is a little bit jealous. "Yes, a little, the truth is I would have liked to wear an attractive superhero costume, even so, I have the look of an action man with a turtleneck, which I like" says Professor X and his reflection comes after a decade to be in the skin of the mutant leader and when many point out that the mutant path has come to an end. Sometimes, memory fails and more with superheroes movies, because the first thing that comes to mind is the marvel cinematographic universe, the MCU monopolized our attention the recent 10 years, however, if we analyze it carefully, those who marked the pattern for the action genre of the 21st century was the mutants and they got it through the first X-Men (2000) by Bryan Singer. Dark Phoenix is the twelfth feature film of the franchise and the fourth installment of a series that continues to explore the origin of its characters. And also it would seem that it wants to play with our heads, what is known as a deja vu, why? Everything points out that the film is closing the circle of its era with 20th century fox before Disney takes control of the rights of the franchise and will do so adopting one of the most complex storylines among its fans, the dark phoenix created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne in 1980. Some years ago, the franchise of x-men first class (2011) managed to renew the popularity of the series thanks to the exploration of the origin of the enmity between Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr aka Magneto, generating more than satisfied viewers and with the expectation of seeing more thanks to the work of two actors who are not only the pillars of this story, but in recent years emerged as icons of Hollywood and world cinematography, and what better to chat with them about what it holds for this movie (and what the future may leave) A FAMILY MORE THAN MUTANT. If something they have in common the trajectories of McAvoy and Fassbender is that their natural histrionic talent has allowed them to diversify and not fall into an interpretation stereotype, from one film to another we see them in very different characters, disparate, for example: Michael looked futuristic and chaotic as David in Prometheus, while James showed off his talent in Split and Glass playing Kevin and his multiple personalities. But x-men has something special for them, something that motivates them to come back and repeat "I think it's a combination of several factors" says McAvoy "We all enjoy playing these characters as I do, I love this company of actors, here there's a true family that goes back 10 years ago and for which you feel a lot of loyalty and affection " In that sense, Michael agrees with that idea and delves into what it's like to be a fundamental member of this family. "I love the journey that has led to Dark Phoenix and I specifically wanted to return, because Simon Kinberg would direct, I wanted to do everything I could to make things turn out well, he is a fantastic collaborator and seeing him in the director's chair made me very emotional" says Michael, highlighting the fraternity that has been formed within the production crew, although it's not the only reason that motivates them. The depth of their characters, as they have evolved throughout the movies, in addition to the political and social settings where they are developed are also excellent pretexts. The mutant phenomenon within x-men brings to the table racial issues, class, social inequality, prejudice and the reasoning of these issues, through their characters is, in essence, the pillar of the franchise. Magento seeks to locate his race above the pyramid and Xavier appeals for equality with humans, but how do they develop in this new delivery? What evolution we will see from Magneto and Xavier? Michael answers enthusiastically "Finally he has become the leader of Cuba that has always lived inside him! (Laughs) He has formed Genosha, his own community: an independent state/nation where the mutants live in harmony, without being attacked and in where anyone who agrees to help can be incorporated, is a self-sufficient community, not locatable and that was the struggle of Erik during the franchise " For his part, McAvoy makes it clear that the professor also presumes a profound transformation "Charles may be the leader of a social movement, but now he is the leader of a political movement, I think that's what he looks like now. which justifies by saying that he is loyal to his principles, although it seems to me that he has forgotten that those principles only exist to protect his family and his species, Charles somehow has forgotten that" says James, almost in love with his character. It's true, Dark Phoenix's argument is one of the most popular and puts one of his allies Jean Grey in direct confrontation with them, a situation that drives the characters to join forces, rethink their current situation and evolve. "What I find most interesting about Charles is that he is not selfish and he is not very vain, he is very wise and his empathy is what drives him and his detachment and almost sacerdotal nature are what defines him. somehow that disappeared in the two previous films and returns in this one. It was something that I liked, I really enjoy exploring that notion of fallibility" James finishes. REVENGE TIME. In Latin America, Simon Kinberg's name may not be as popular, but he is a select member of the mutant family, he has written and produced previous installments of the franchise, such as Apocalypse, Days of Future Past and he also wrote The Last Stand. Now his revenge has arrived. On this occasion, Kinberg debuted as a director and his place in that chair was something natural for Fassbender who knows and appreciates him. "Kinberg was very relaxed, very confident, he seemed to be doing this for years, he is also a very intelligent man, he is the kind of person who doesn't speak unless he knows about the subject, he observes, he listens. That makes a great director" Says Michael. While James, in turn, points to the particular style that the director printed on his debut. "The interesting thing was his instinct to make the film something more subtle, based on the performance, we're still going to have a show, but that was his way of doing it, going down to make it look more real. of the emotional drama "says McAvoy. Added to the cast is the consecrated Jessica Chastain (Zero Gravity, The Help) and her participation, although she is not the star, is key in Phoenix's journey to this dark stage. She is one of the reasons for her unbalance, to keep her out of control. Although her skills in front of the camera were that this duo almost completely missed. "It was great that she joined," emphasizes Fassbender. "But we didn't have many scenes together, just a few moments in the final scene, she is present with Jean, so it was mainly through acting patterns that I interacted with her character" James is not left behind the anecdote. "I think we only have one scene together ... unfortunately! In fact, I have a couple of scenes with her character, but she was not there, sometimes, it was just a special effect, one of the reasons she says that she took the job was because she expected to meet and act with me, but barely and we crossed paths! " RISE OF THE PHOENIX. When Sophie accepted the role of Jean Grey, surely she knew that in her hands she had a vital character for this cinematographic stage who, incidentally, is considered by experts as the most powerful female figure in the Marvel universe. In Apocalypse, Phoenix only had a few flashes of its potential, although it made it clear that in this movie it would have greater strength. Fassbender, from the beginning of his participation, was more interested in the weight of the different female characters but clarifies that the conjuncture we saw today did not influence for this to happen. In fact, that was the original idea almost 10 years ago. "I think the seeds of female roles were present, Simon had some unfinished issues after The Last Stand, he wrote the script! So that was already there, and at the moment this happens, it seems to be in sync with what happens in the real world, but Simon has always thought this way, equality in everything, both for female characters, as for male ones ", he concludes. With the premiere getting close, the fate of Jean Gray along with Professor Xavier, Magneto and the rest of the X-Men will be solved, and Dark Phoenix will unveil us if it represents the end of this cinematographic universe that infected of emotion the audience, it also had inconsistencies and errors. In this last letter, we will see until the final credits. For now, neither Fassbender nor McAvoy knows what the future holds for what they consider as one of their most endearing characters. "As far as the X-Men are concerned, I've always said: If this is the last one, it's been great, we have new owners of the franchise and who knows what they're going to do? But if this is the last one narratively, it feels like a good ending " James concludes. goodbye mutants?

[asdamagicbiscuits]

Theatre Highlights 2019

My Top 11 Theatre Highlights and Moments of 2019 (in no particular order other than roughly chronological.)

Let's get stuck in!

Panto at the Palladium

So my first theatre trip of the year saw me head off to Panto land at the Palladium to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was great to see Danielle Hope on stage again and she was the perfect Snow White. Massive shoutout to Simeon Dyer who was ace as one of the Dwarfs in the show, it’s not everyday you get to see your pal on stage in their West End Debut, he did a brilliant job. The Palladium always delivers fantastic Pantos and I’m excited to see what their next one is!

Book Of Mormon

So Book Of Mormon was again one of those shows I wasn’t rushing to see, that is until Luke George went into the company. I had heard a lot of things about it and I was worried as I had been told if you get easily offended that I wouldn’t like it. I saw it and loved it. It was nuts and very tongue in cheek humour. Turn It Off is one of my favourite numbers in the show, the company are fantastic in it! Tom Xander as Elder Cunningham is pure magic. No other way I can describe his performance. He’s so cheeky and mischievous, the PERFECT Cunningham. Paired with Dom Simpson as Elder Price they are a dream team. You and Me (but mostly me) is such a joy to watch. It was also so lovely to watch Luke and see him on stage again. He is as brilliant as ever!! The Book of Mormon is playing at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London’s West End and it’s also on tour too!!!

Cursed Child - Year Three

I think I said this in last years post but Cursed Child combines two of my biggest loves Harry Potter and Theatre. The Year Three company were exceptional and I saw a huge array of covers. Martin Johnson, Danny Dalton, April Hughes, Jordan Bamford, Leah Haile and Susan Lawson Reynolds. I can remember all the shows when I got to see them and the little details of their performances. Also as #KeepTheSecrets is over I’m gonna talk about April as Delphi. I ADORE April as Delphi. Like hands down my favourite interpretation of the role. Delphi is so sweet and then BAMN. That switch is flicked and her true intentions come out but even then April brought such a warmth to her that I found myself really sympathising with Delphi. She’s just a very misunderstood character and I just wanted to give her a hug. On the other side April’s interpretation of Myrtle is ICONIC!!! That giggle she does in the moment after Scorpius ask if everything’s going to be okay? And Albus replies going of course it is. Pure brilliance!! Also I have to mention the fact I FINALLY got to see James McGregor as Draco. It happened gang. I don’t know how I managed to get to see him three times, still blows my mind as I was worried I wouldn’t get to see him once but I did. It actually happened. ‘Twas beyond brilliant in every sense of the word and well worth the wait, exceptional performances!

Shitfaced Shakespeare

Another fantastic season for those boozey Bard loving beans! The Taming of the Shrew and Hamlet in London and Midsummer Nights Dream on tour. It’s always a joy to see them perform on stage. For those of you who read last years Highlights I can confirm that I broke the curse. I got to see Saul Marron Compère THREE times!!! He also was the drinker for the show of Midsummer I saw in my hometown on the tour. It was lovely to revisit my first show I saw them do, plenty of laughs and so much fun! Bring on next season for more Shakespeare, laughs and most importantly - booze! 😜 haha

Venice Preserved/The Provoked Wife

Now my theatre highlights wouldn’t be complete without me seeing a show Natalie Dew was in. This year I got to see her in Venice Preserved and The Provoked Wife both at the RSC in Shakespeare land (Stratford Upon Avon). Both shows were absolutely fantastic and I gotta mention Sarah Twombly who really stood out in The Provoked Wife as Mademoiselle, stunning performance! I adored Venice Preserved so much I saw it twice! It was gritty, edgy and the whole production value was fantastic! It was also so good to see Nat in such a different role, it’s not everyday you get to see your stagey fav play a dominatrix. She was so badass, strong and the moment at the end of the play with the look the gave another character, I’m getting chills just thinking about it. Perfection!

Edinburgh Fringe

Each year my trip to Ed Fringe just gets better and better and this year was no different. I managed two trips this year and saw a whole host of different shows which were all incredible and I got meet some lovely people, both leafleting and chatting to a few of the actors before the show. I’ll leave a link to my Ed Fringe post so if anyone wants to check out what I saw give it a read - here. Massive shoutout to the Bodily Functions gang as they were super lovely, Friendsical cast, David Colvin was so lovely too, the Shitfaced Shakespeare and Showtime lot. I could go on. But I’m buzzing to see what Ed Fringe 2020 will bring!

The Indian Queen

When in France, go to the Opera? So this still links with theatre but I want to talk about Pierrefonds, it’s my blog so I can do what I want 😜. Firstly BIG shoutout to my friend Sej, the only person mad enough to agree to go to France with me to visit a castle and to see an Opera. So firstly Pierrefonds. I still can’t believe I got to visit the castle where they filmed Merlin. It’s been on my Bucket list for many years now so thrilled I finally got to tick it off. It’s a gorgeous place in the cutest little village ever, genuinely would move there if there was more theatre. 100% will be going back again and would recommend to anyone about going. I had a great time! The other part of my trip saw me go and watch my very first Opera, The Indian Queen! The Opera House in Lille is stunning, so so beautiful. Now I can’t comment on what happened at the beginning as I was raging at the subtitles being in French, it wasn’t until it was 10/15 minutes in that I realised it was all sung and spoken in English. (yep. I am that dumb and yes it took me that long 🙈) I loved how they had the screens move around in the background with the opera on. It had been prefilmed and all the actors were in costume whereas the actors were all in blacks performing it in front of the screens live. As a first venture into the world of Opera, wasn’t what I was expecting at all but I really loved it. It was also so great to see James McGregor on stage again too!! He’s very good!!

Fiddler On The Roof

Wow. Just wow. I was completely blown away by Fiddler On The Roof, the set was gorgeous and how the company went through the auditorium felt so natural. You really felt like you were in Anatevka and part of the community. The whole company were phenomenal!! Andy Nyman as Tevye delivered one of the best performances I have ever seen from any West End Lead. His vocals and comic timing were on point!!! Maria Friedman as Golde played really well opposite Andy’s Tevye, they are a formidable duo. I’m so happy I was able to see them on together. Molly Osbourne as Tzietel and Joshua Gannon as Motel really stood out, stunning performances. Hands down the best show I saw this year without a doubt and I wish I could go back in time and relive it!!

Mary Poppins

Now Mary Poppins is so very dear to me. The movie is an absolute classic, a timeless piece but I had never seen it live on stage before. I had my tickets booked since January when they went on sale and it did not disappoint when I finally got to see it in November. Charlie Stemp was a brilliantly charming Bert and Zizi Strallen was, excuse the pun, ‘Practically Perfect in every way’ as Mary. I sobbed my way through the show and when Zizi flew up over the audience at the end of the show I was in bits. The best way I can describe it is when you love something so much and your just full of nostalgia and emotion and that’s how it came out. Step In Time, Feed The Birds And Practically Perfect were all highlights for me. I have so much love for the whole company for delivering a phenomenal show and I can’t WAIT to return to Cherry Tree Lane once again next year. Although hopefully I will be able to get through the show without crying next time. Haha. Mary Poppins is currently playing at The Prince Edward Theatre in London’s West End.

Dear Evan Hansen

Now I had to be the only person in theatreland who wasn’t rushing to get tickets or proper hyped for it. It was one of those shows for me which I was like - I’ll see it eventually but I’ll let the rush of people pass and I’ll go when it’s all died down. Then the cast got announced and I was okay. I need to see it and I need to see it in previews as I need to see Rupert Young on stage again. Thankfully one of my best friends Johanna was desperate to see it when she was over in November and she managed to sort us tickets. (Thanks Chummy. You’re the best. Love you) It generally was such a phenomenal experience, the audience was so quiet and the only sounds you could hear were the quiet sniffs of people crying. You could hear a pin drop and I don’t believe I will ever experience anything like that ever again. That’s great Anne but why has it made it into your highlights? Don’t worry. I’m getting to that gang 😜 haha. The whole cast were phenomenal. Sam Tutty was flawless as Evan, I connected immediately with him. I was sold and invested from the beginning. The fact there is only 8 people on stage for the whole show blows my mind. Like WHAT?! Outstanding performances from all. In particular Mr Rupert Young as Larry. Now the only thing I knew about the show was that You Will Be Found closes the first act. That’s all I knew, didn’t read up on it or listen to the soundtrack before hand. I went in completely blind! Now You Will Be Found starts and I can hear people crying and I’m sat there thinking. This is great. I haven’t cried at this. Brilliant. The thing which broke me and had me sobbing was when Rupert Young broke down and cried during You Will Be Found. That is what got me and I can relate so much to it. How I view it is that Larry has delayed grief and that happened to me personally so it really struck a chord with me. I’m basically a convert and this is a piece of theatre everyone needs to see and I can see it running for a very long time in London. Dear Evan Hansen is playing at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End and if you haven’t already, GO BUY A TICKET!!

Rage But Hope

I was very lucky to be able to catch this show at Ed Fringe this year so I was thrilled I was able to make it in to see it again during its London run in November. I stand by everything I said before and it was fantastic to see the development of the piece, which is a current and important issue we all should focus on. The whole company delivers stunning performances and I adored the addition of Matt’s characters monologue. I felt it tied together what he said in a conversation with James earlier in the piece and it gave much more depth to his character. The Layla’s List monologue remained one of my favourite moments in the play and goes to show the importance younger generations have and that they are far wiser than their years suggest so not to under estimate them. Let’s preserve this world for many more generations to come. The writing is stunning and hats off to Stephanie Martin for an incredibly well written play. The scene at the end of the play was new for the London run and I felt it really hammered home the message. Tell the truth. Act Now!

So that pretty much wraps up 2019’s Theatre and what a year it was.

2020 - a New Year, a New Decade and I can confirm a lot more Theatre adventures.

Thanks for reading, make sure to come back next year for my 8th Theatre Highlights (that is MAD!!) to find out what I got up to!

Until next time, cheerio!

[letterboxd]

Humming.

Letterboxd nominates the top ten Tribeca 2019 premieres.

The Tribeca Film Festival has a famously eclectic slate, and the 2019 program continued this tradition in a year in which the festival achieved filmmaker gender parity across its three competitive sections for the first time. Now that the festival has wrapped, we are pleased to highlight the ten feature premieres that made waves amongst our members (and in the general media). See the list here, and read on for all the Letterboxd takes.

Swallow Written and directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis—Winner: Best Actress in a US Narrative Feature Film Haley Bennett, who constantly seems on the verge of a breakout that this film might actually provide her, won the top acting prize at Tribeca for her performance in this drama that sounds like something David Cronenberg forgot to make in the mid-90s. She plays a newly pregnant young woman who starts ingesting dangerous objects. A scene in which she ingests thumbtacks caused a Tribeca attendee to faint. Fair enough. Letterboxd member Bill Bria says the film “starts as a Polanski-esque take on mental illness, and blossoms into a character study of a woman taking control. Carlo Mirabella-Davis has an innate sense of composition, and Haley Bennett is compelling and nuanced.”

House of Hummingbird Written and directed by Kim Bo-ra—Winner: Best International Narrative Feature Film, Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature Film (Park Ji-hu), Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature Film (Kang Gook-hyun)

This South Korean film seemed to really grab audiences in its North American premiere at Tribeca, sweeping the International Narrative section at the festival’s awards ceremony. A coming-of-age tale about a teenage girl whose life is impacted by a new teacher, Letterboxd member Tyler Vary implores: “Completely blown away. Please go see this movie whenever you get the chance.”

Buffaloed Directed by Tanya Wexler Second-generation leading lady and Tribeca favorite Zoey Deutch (Flower, Why Him?, the upcoming Zombieland: Double Tap) stars in this film set in the not-often-portrayed world of debt collecting as Peg Dahl, a young woman who takes up the unenviable job of escaping her own debt. The character made a real impact on Letterboxd member nextbestpicture, who enthusiastically describes her as “a hustler, a go-getter, an entrepreneur and a perfect mixture of grit and intellectualism with the occasional vulgarity thrown in. She is a comedic force of nature in this crime film filled with style, wit and humor.”

Something Else Directed by Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella

Co-director Gardner also stars in this elevated indie genre movie that played in Tribeca’s Midnight section. He plays a man dealing with both a break up and a monster. Bill Bria became an instant fan: “Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella pick up the ‘indie relationship film with horror elements’ baton from producers Benson and Moorhead [who co-directed The Endless] and run with it. Hilarious, insightful, touching, and amazing jump scares. Gardner and Brea Grant hold the screen.”

Blow The Man Down Written and directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy—Winner: Best Screenplay in a US Narrative Feature Film

The Coen brothers comparisons are coming thick and fast for this drama about two sisters struggling to cover up a crime in a salty Maine fishing village. You had us at “salty”. Letterboxd member AGPerson observed: “Comparable to Fargo and Twin Peaks at times, this thrilling tale is small scale but has the impact of a cannon… packed with a full ensemble cast of women and backed by a great female filmmaking duo, it’s impressive that this serves as a debut.”

Dreamland Directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte

Margot Robbie stars in this period crime drama as an old-timey bank robber on the run who seeks help from an impressionable teenager (Finn Cole). Stalwart Letterboxd member David Ehrlich says, “Joris-Peyrafitte’s expressive direction and Margot Robbie’s sheer force of will are enough to endow the movie’s best moments with the same hope-and-a-prayer immediacy that its heroes take with them as they speed towards the southern border.”

Burning Cane Written and directed by Phillip Youmans—Winner: Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, Best Actor in a US Narrative Feature Film (Wendell Pierce), Best Cinematography in a US Narrative Feature Film (Phillip Youmans)

The great Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Suits) won the Best Actor award at Tribeca for his performance as a preacher in this searing debut from Youmans, the youngest ever director to play at Tribeca. There remains some debate over the film throughout our member reviews, but there’s no denying it’s made an impact. Danny writes, “Really love this. Youmans takes the Malickian style and does his own thing with it. Haunting and beautiful. I can’t wait to see what he does next.”

Plus One Written and directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rymer—Winner: Narrative Audience Award Writer/actor Maya Erskine, currently nailing it in her acclaimed TV series Pen15, and Jack Quaid (son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan) co-star as two friends who agree to accompany each other to a series of summer weddings. Audiences seem to be responding to the film’s old school rom-com vibes. Letterboxd member Chris Wilson says it’s “extremely charming and extremely warm and quite funny and Maya Erskine is so good”.

Come To Daddy Directed by Ant Timpson

Timpson, who produced culty horrors such as The ABCs of Death and The Greasy Strangler (and is a film programming legend in his home country of New Zealand) makes his directorial debut with this very dark, comedic thriller about a superficial young man (Elijah Wood) who finds himself facing mortal peril after reuniting with his estranged father (Stephen McHattie). Letterboxd member Cassie Jo Ochoa says it was “a hell of a rollercoaster to watch this particular father/son journey” and described the film as “violent, beautifully composed, decently acted, darkly funny and constantly shocking”. Look out for an interview with Timpson and Wood right here very soon. Meanwhile, read this deeply personal account of Timpson’s filmmaking journey (yes, we’re fans).

You Don’t Nomi Directed by Jeffrey McHale

According to McHale’s multi-faceted documentary, Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 highly addictive mega-flop Showgirls belongs in the holy trinity of campy cult classics alongside Valley of the Dolls and Mommie Dearest. McHale’s film examines the cult that has sprung up around Showgirls, and how it has been embraced by the LGBTQIA+ community. Letterboxd member Derek says it’s a “smart, entertaining, and funny documentary analyzing the fascination with Paul Verhoeven’s [film]”. Keep an eye out for a feature on McHale and the film soon, right here.

[douxreviews]

Gotham - ‘They Did What?’ Review

Gordon: "For Gotham!"

When FOX kicks the support beams out from under you and says that the narrative you had planned to normally span across a twenty-two episode season now has to be condensed down to ten episodes, I guess it makes sense that your last few episodes are going to feel more like a paint-by-numbers project as you struggle to quickly wrap up character arcs so that those characters in question can resemble their comic counterparts.

Any remaining characteristic that Gotham hasn't shown the genesis for is abruptly wrapped up here in 'They Did What?' - Oswald loses an eye and gets his monocle, Bruce summons a colony of bats, Gordon's daughter is named 'Barbara,' and Gordon gets his promotion to Commissioner. And there's really no weight behind any of these developments, they just sort of happen because... they need to happen. Last year, in Thomas Ijon Tichy's review of 'The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause,' he mentioned how there wasn't much of a thread that connected the plot points or character moments of that episode, "Things Just Happen." And that's mostly how I feel about this sudden conclusion to 'They Did What?', things just happen and there's no rhythm or flow to a lot of them.

Nyssa abducts Barbara instead of just killing her like she said she was going to do, and wants to raise Barbara's child as her own. Barbara manages to stab her in the gut but she still walks it off. Nyssa locks Gordon and Barbara in a room so she can make her escape. Gordon is able to kick the door down anyway. Bane's invasion overpowers and takes over the GCPD but instead of killing Gordon and Bruce like he said he was going to do, he takes a detour just so he can ambush Bruce and Selina in an alleyway. Bruce saves Selina by summoning a colony of bats because of course he just happens to acquire at the last-minute sonar equipment. The terrified refugees of Gotham City attempting to flee underground return to the surface anyway so they can stare down Bane and a firing squad. Nyssa escapes in Oswald's submarine alone even though it was stated two people are needed to pilot that thing.

For once, I don't know if the cobbled-together writing here can be blamed solely on the showrunners though because simply we just don't know if their intended 'vision' for Season 5 was meant to last an entire year before FOX cut their air time down to size.

If there is a highlight though for this episode (and there are several, mind you), it begins with where we began this year. The sequence of Gordon, Bullock, Oswald and Nygma suiting up and taking the stand against Bane's army in a dire effort to protect the GCPD I confess had me energized and eyes glued to the screen, and even if it's incredibly jarring that for some reason this sequence occurs in daylight while the standoff shown in 'Year Zero' was happening at nightfall, it's an absolutely energizing scene. Never mind the fact that Bane's army, which supposedly outnumbered the GCPD six-hundred to thirty-one, has the firing accuracy of an Imperial Stormtrooper, this scene had wit, it had rapport, it even had a little bit of heart (turns out Oswald loses his eye while defending Nygma), and it's oddly enough a nice depiction too of an incredibly dysfunctional group willing to set aside past grudges to defend in any way they can the city that is a part of them, that has had a hand in each of their upbringings.

I was a little skeptical at first of why Oswald would be wiling to come back and put his life on the line for Gotham City after going through so much trouble to leave it behind and start life anew elsewhere. But of course, Robin Lord Taylor's performance in the office-sequence across from Gordon completely convinced me, and as much as I love his chemistry with Cory Michael Smith, Taylor and Ben McKenzie are also a phenomenal pair when they get scenes like this one. In many ways, their portrayals of Penguin and Gordon have shown they can at times be inverted versions of the same individual, and by now have established this nice ebb-and-flow of knowing when to work together, and when they can be at each other's throats.

It's unfortunate that so late in the game Gotham is somewhat hinting at a redemption arc for Barbara because she's so endearing and likable when she's anything but a psychotic mob boss. I liked her character just fine enough for the first half of Season 1, and even though as a character, she's been through the grinder time and time again, but Erin Richards, like Taylor and Smith, just has that charm to her that makes her enjoyable to watch when she's spirited and vibrant as opposed to being so full of anger, venom and angst.

Shippers of Oswald and Nygma will probably seethe at the resolution to their arc until they're blue in the face, but I personally enjoyed it nonetheless. At the end of it all, Nygma's decided that he felt nothing, no hint of triumph, joy or euphoria, even when Gotham City is rejoicing for their salvation. The very city he put his life on the line to defend. Because it sickens him just knowing he had to associate himself with the civilian population that he considers intellectually inferior to him. Nygma relapsing into his megalomaniac egotistical persona is such a 'Riddler' thing of him to do, and it inspires Oswald to agree with his notion that they shouldn't have to ever think about changing who they are to please everyone else - they're criminal masterminds and if that's what fate has planned for them, then so be it. And as amusing as an on-screen visual it was, I don't think Nygma and Oswald secretly pulling blades on each other with the intention of double-crossing the other adds anything to this ending, simply because the scene succeeds in getting across anyway the notion that they're brothers-in-arms, and will be for the time being - blades or no blades.

Something I've been dreading for a while has finally reared its ugly head in this episode, and because we now know the series finale is actually a time-jump, there's no room at all left for Gotham to resolve it: the very reason Batman even exists in the first place. In the five years we have journeyed with Bruce Wayne on his quest to rise one day as Gotham's caped crusader, Gotham has forgotten to address two core aspects to what makes Batman... well, Batman. And those are why does Bruce Wayne/Batman need to work outside the law and why is Bruce's motif bats?

Rather than deliver on the indication that Bruce was going to be infiltrating and dissolving gang factions throughout the city this year, Bruce instead spends much of this season assisting the GCPD, and by the end of this season, not only is Gordon's lineup of cops shown to be capable of holding off Bane's army of grunts, but it is a mob of ordinary civilians that is able to coerce Bane's army into standing down and turning on Bane himself. In the end, we can't help but wonder then 'why would this city even need a lawless vigilante?' What has shown Bruce that the municipal government of the city is incapable of enforcing proper law and order?

And then there's the bat motif. "But Aaron, Bruce had a vision of bats and Batman back in Season 4!" I understand that, but that isn't enough. That silhouette with the signature bat ears poking up in Bruce's vision still needs a point of origin. In response to that argument, Batman cannot create himself. Otherwise, what is stopping Bruce from fashioning his cowl and armor to resemble just about anything he wants? The design and appearance of Batman is tied in many renditions of the character to Bruce's fear of bats themselves. Several times in the past it has been hinted by David Mazouz among others that Bruce's fear of bats would be a plot point explored in this series, but ultimately, that never came to pass. Yes, Lucius gives Bruce some tech that utilizes sonar which just happens to have a side effect of attracting certain animals, but at this point in the series, when we're so close to the finish line, this feels more than anything else like an afterthought as opposed to a development that will leave an impact on Bruce and something he feels is necessary to incorporate into his campaign of vigilantism.

I almost feel like my energy could be best utilized in other departments then commenting on what a trainwreck Gotham's interpretation of Nyssa Al Ghul is. Almost. For goodness' sake, the series itself seems to even have no concept of this character's identity because literally any quote delivered by a character concerning Nyssa contains what we already know - that she wants Bruce and Barbara dead, and she wants to destroy Gotham. Over and over again, that's spoon-fed to the viewer, like they're fussy children and Gotham is the mother trying to get them to eat their peas. For all her bluster that she is an 'Al Ghul' and that stronger people than Gordon and Barbara have tried and failed to kill her, in the end, she scampers off with her tail between her legs (unknowingly dog-napping Edward the bulldog in the process. That absolutely hurt me.), marking her as the final of many quite forgettable antagonists Gotham has had to offer. Do I even need to comment on the low blow that is this character threatening a defenseless infant with a dagger?

So in the end, Gotham City earns its salvation, Gordon gets his promotion, and Bruce pulls the "Dear John" letter trope from Season 3's finale and uses it to tell Selina that he's leaving Gotham City for...reasons. The real kicker here was knowing though that Camren Bicondova has evidently been recast as an older Selina Kyle for Gotham's series finale, which genuinely saddens me now knowing that a scene containing her realizing Bruce has also essentially walked out on her life is the last moment we have with this actress.

Aaron Studer loves spending his time reading, writing and defending the existence of cryptids because they can’t do it themselves.

[bbclesmis]

The Guardian: Les Misérables finale recap – beautiful, if interminable

This extended ending felt like it lasted several lifetimes, and exhausted the BBC’s fake blood supply. Still, let’s salute these stars for their heartbreaking turns in a strange show 

Spoiler alert: this recap is for people watching Les Misérables on the BBC. Please do not read on if you are not up to date.

Wow. So that’s it. What a strange and, ultimately, great episode, but boy oh boy did we take a long time to get to the end. It started with an unusual approach to revolution: “Smug marrieds and breadwinners, you may go home.” But it unfurled beautifully, if interminably. Here was a 75-minute bonanza which exhausted the BBC’s fake blood supply, the prop department’s collection of French street signs and Dominic West’s lifetime allocation of “woe is me” expressions. It all came good – or, rather, bad – in the end.

I tend to agree with commenters who suggested the BBC could have learned from War and Peace and given this eight or 10 episodes. But much of this latter part of the plot was taken up with revolutionary firebrands we don’t know or care about. Let’s protect our blood pressure and not get too annoyed about the fact that Jean Valjean just happens to find the barricade where Marius is, and that that was just the start of the coincidences. (“Oh who is this, mere yards away from Javert when he jumps into the river …? Why, it’s Thenardiers!”)

The highlight of the series? West as Valjean. Although David Oyelowo’s obsessive, brooding Javert comes a close second: “Everything I ever believed to be true … Everything I lived my life by … And he … He … No matter.” Oyelowo is one of those actors whose performance is so compelling that you feel as if the camera is zooming in on his facial expression even when it isn’t. He draws you to him. “If he lives, he intends to rob me of all my happiness.” “And yet you … Are you insane?” “No, I don’t think so.” I think we know you’re both insane by this point. The question is which one of you is more sympathetic as a human being. In the end, Javert just could not live with his own humanity. 

West should also get an award for acting in a sewage tunnel. This was incredible and terrifying but narratively (blaming Victor Hugo here) I just kept thinking, “For the love of magnificent trousers, has this man not suffered enough?” Still, his bestial roar of rage was astonishing. Wherever there’s a stink, Thenardiers is not far away. “You ruined my life. I had my own inn. Now I live like a rat in the shitty darkness.” Oh dear; we all feel like that some days, mate.

All the massive questions raised by Hugo had to be encapsulated in just a few moments. What does it mean to have everything you believe in vanish in a flash? What does it feel like to lose the one person to whom you have given everything? Why is the choice to be a good person such a lonely one? This series has been a difficult task for the actors to pull off. The scenes are short, sometimes only seconds long. The narrative moves at breakneck speed and ridiculous coincidences drive the plot constantly. To maintain the viewer’s suspension of disbelief is no easy ask. But they all rose to it brilliantly, inspired, I suspect, by West, who appeared to live and breathe that character. Valjean, we salute you and wish you the sweet sleep of angels. You were never a thief to us.

Least convincing romantic encounter

The bromance between Valjean and Marius took a while to warm up, but we got there in the end as Marius was dragged into the cellar. Cosette and Marius’ relationship became the focus by the end, but I still struggled to believe in it. The real love affair is the platonic relationship between Valjean and Cosette, which is a stand-in for what he felt for Fantine. There was a lovely moment when Marius’ grandfather insisted on suggesting that if only he were 15 years younger, he would be in with a chance. “What’s the matter? Can’t I be in love with her too? It’s only natural.” Try 70 years younger, my friend, and with a complete personality transplant.

The Gwyneth Paltrow onion for tears on demand

Broken Javert! Be still my beating heart. We didn’t have enough time to see Javert’s undoing because he jumped in the river, but this was an extraordinary moment. Long before all this, the scene with Gavroche jumping among the corpses was beautifully done and very moving. This was Marius’ finest hour. Of course, another parallel here: where Pontmercy was saved by Thenardiers, now the son of Pontmercy tries to save the son of Thenardiers. And the dead son (Gavroche) is carried away by the man (Valjean) who lives with his foster sister (Cosette).

I had the stirrings of a tear when Marius was brought home but, like so many emotional moments here, it was cut short. “You had to do it. You had to break an old man’s heart.” The weepiest bit, however, was easily Valjean in the garden with grey hair. “That’s because I’m going to die soon … Do you really love me?” Don’t die, Valjean. You said you were coming to England!

“Ecoutez et répétez!” Classic miserable lines

• “This barricade is made of more than just cobblestones and bedsteads. It is made of ideals, of hope, of love of our fellow men. We fight for the wretched of the earth and if we go to our deaths, we go to our deaths with joy.” Yes, yes, we get it. Now get everyone out of the pub and fight.

• “My darling, I’m now on the barricades with my friends. If I die, I die loving you.” Oh shut up, Marius. We all know Valjean is way more heroic.

• “Love. Agreed. I couldn’t be happier, my beloved child.” I could have been happier if this had been split into two episodes, but still.

• “Do you want the blindfold?” “I piss on your blindfold.” Says it all.

(x)

[dustedmagazine]

Voting with our ears: Dusted spends the rent on Bandcamp.com’s Voter Registration day

On September 25, Bandcamp.com held a fundraiser for the Voting Rights Project, seeking to raise both money and awareness around voter registration. For the day, all profits on everything you bought on Bandcamp.com went to this worthy cause. Dusted writers saw the opportunity to a) buy stuff and b) promote democracy and said, “Hell yes, we’re in.” Participating writers included Ian Mathers (who is Canadian!!), Justin Cober-Lake, Jennifer Kelly, Bill Meyer, Isaac Olson (who definitely wins) and Ethan Covey. Check out what we bought and then, for the love of god, vote. We’re depending on you.

Ian Mathers

IDLES

For various reasons I wasn’t able to shop quite as avidly as I did last time we got together for one of these, but I managed to make one impulse purchase of a record I hadn’t heard yet (but had transfixed me with its singles) and combine that with two long-awaited additions of old favorites to my Bandcamp collection (and my hard drive, after having lost track of the files in one move or another). 

IDLES — Joy As an Act of Resistance 

Joy as an Act of Resistance. by IDLES

As you might guess from the fact that it just came out at the end of this August, Bristol’s IDLES is the impulse buy of the three, one that so far has worked out just wonderfully. Having been recommended the mockingly anti-Brexit(/xenophobia) “Great” on YouTube and being drawn from the immediately bracing, invigorating likes of that to this album’s more openhearted ode to the greatness of not hating people you don’t already know, “Danny Nedelko,” and the more Protomartyr-ish opening track “Colossus” (the latter of which also probably has my favorite music video of 2018), I couldn’t imagine any band capable of those three songs would somehow whiff the rest of a reasonably-lengthed LP, and the often political, always heartfelt Joy As an Act of Resistance. proved me right. There are certainly places where it gets darker (particularly “June,” where singer Joe Talbot relates in heart-wrenching fashion his wife losing a child to a miscarriage), but the overall feel of the album can be summed up by Talbot barking repeatedly at the listener to “love yourself” over a careening, punkish anthem. The album title isn’t a piss take, which is a relief in itself.  

 The Silent League — But You've Always Been the Caretaker...

But You've Always Been The Caretaker... by The Silent League

Back in 2004 I first heard of the Silent League, as I think most people did, because frontman Justin Russo had been in Mercury Rev (for 2001’s All Is Dream, the last Rev record I can say I fully loved), and their debut, The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused was interesting, lysergic chamber pop with some proggy and/or post-rock elements. I lost track of them for a bit after that album and was surprised that when I heard about them again it was because of an entirely different musician I was a fan of. Shannon Fields, then of Stars Like Fleas and since of Family Dynamics and Leverage Models (the last of which made my favorite record of 2013 and which is, incidentally, about to return), maker of a ton of records I both love and think have been overlooked, let me know that he’d also been a contributor to the Silent League for quite a while and that with their then-current album, 2010’s But You’ve Always Been the Caretaker… he thought they’d made something that represented a bit of a leap forward for the band. Not only do I agree, but the Silent League’s swan song (to date) now represents one of the most frustratingly overlooked records I know of, 15 sprawling songs in any number of registers, styles and tones tightly packed into less than 49 minutes that, fitting the circular and slightly foreboding title, packs a bunch of richly interwoven thematic and sonic depth into what feels like a whole universe of popular music. There’s proggy/ELO overture “When Stars Attack!!!,” the sound of a glam rock band practicing a particular soulful jam down the hall and four walls away on “Sleeper,” at least one just perfect string-led “perfect pop” song in “Resignation Studies,” and literally a dozen other things here. And yet But You’ve Always… never feels scattered or showoff-y. It’s a whole world, dense and rich and worthy of being studied in detail for its brilliance. I was thrilled to see it on Bandcamp, not least because this is exactly the kind of record that could easily slip through the cracks. 

 Tamas Wells — A Plea en Vendredi

(PB024) Tamas Wells: A Plea En Vendredi by Popboomerang

It’s been over a decade, but when I was in university I am pretty sure I first heard Australian singer-songwriter Tamas Wells because I saw the song “I’m Sorry That the Kitchen Is on Fire” somewhere and thought the title was hilarious. To my surprise the song itself was gorgeous, a gently folky little waltz with Wells’ high, gentle voice, carefully picked acoustic guitar, a lightly hypnotic piano refrain, and sparing hand claps. I fell hard enough for it that even back when the internet wasn’t at all what it is now I tracked down Wells’ 2006 album A Plea en Vendredi and found a shimmering little suite of song, some as gnomic and vaguely unsettling in their implications as “I’m Sorry That the Kitchen is on Fire” (like “Valder Fields,” which is apparently a place where our narrator and others mysteriously regain consciousness, or whatever you can make of “Lichen & Bees”), some much more plainspoken (including the slight political bent running through “The Opportunity Fair,” “The Telemarketer Resignation,” and the gorgeous little instrumental “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Ruling Class”), all just as twee-ly beautiful and enrapturing as my initial exposure had been. At the time Wells was working in Burma on a community development project, and from what I’ve been able to find his moving around and focus on non-music work has occasionally kept his album on the back burner, although he’s found an audience at home and in Japan and China (and of course, sometimes as far as Canada where I ran into his work). He’s kept releasing records since, most recently 2017’s The Plantation on a small Japanese label, but even if A Plea en Vendredi was all I’d ever been able to find it’d still find a regular place in my rotation; even when things get a bit darker, on “Valour” and the closing “Open the Blinds” there’s something so soothing about Wells’ music and this particular set of gem-like miniatures has been a go-to album for me during difficult times ever since.

Justin Cober-Lake 

David Ramirez

Ashley Walters — Sweet Anxiety (Populist)

Ashley Walters // Sweet Anxiety by Ashley Walters

I’d been wanting to hear this one for a while. I first noticed cellist Ashley Walters on Wadada Leo Smith's America's National Parks, a remarkable album that I spent considerable time with while writing a couple features on it and Smith (including interviewing Walters). I was even more impressed after understanding what went into the work and seeing that ensemble perform it live. Walters writes of this album, “I seek to challenge your perception of what the cello, a stereotypically gentle instrument, is capable of,” and it's fair to say she succeeds. It's a demanding listen, more aggressive than expected, but Walters and her composers blend technical challenges with theoretical ones. At times, Walters cuts loose, and at times she works with tonality, often using nonstandard tuning to odd effect. Smith composed one of the brightest numbers here, making a nice shift in sound without lowering the difficulty level. Luciano Berio's “Sequenza XIV” provides the most interesting piece, not only for the actual performance but for the reconstruction work on the score that Walters highlights in the liner notes. This one's well worth a focused listen, and I'll need to give it quite a few more to properly process it.  

 The Beths — Warm Blood (Carpark)

Warm Blood by The Beths

In August, the Beths released one of my favorite albums of the year, Future Me Hates Me, a blast of pop-rock easily good enough to warrant going back, more or less, to the beginning, with 2016's Warm Blood EP. Both lyrically and musically, the group hasn't quite found its footing, but that says more about the focused energy of the full-length than it does about these five songs (including “Whatever,” which reappears on the album). The hooks are there now; the guitar on “Idea/Intent” represents the band as well as anything. The vitriol of that track fits in less well with the attitude the band generally puts forward, one that's self-reflective and confident without claiming to know all the answers. Some of the joy of the music is in Elizabeth Stokes' searching, but that's turned around on a track like “Rush Hour 3,” a comedic bit of come-on (and the rare track not written by Stokes). Warm Blood works as a nice look back at a band, but it's not just a history lesson — it's an enjoyable set that adds to the playlist of a group with only one album out. 

 David Ramirez — The Rooster (Sweetworld)

The Rooster EP by David Ramirez

I've been working my way backwards with David Ramirez, too, starting with last year's We're Not Going Anywhere (which didn't adhere to his previous folk-ish sound but did make me wonder why I hadn't found my way to the songwriter earlier). After spending time with the fantastic Fables, there was the live show that utterly sold me on him, in part because he has a bigger voice than you might notice at first, even in his sparser productions. The Rooster EP, a fitting complement to that album, feels like an ascent. His vocals are assured, even as he searches for clarity, or at least anchor points amid turbulence. Tracks like “The Bad Days” and “Glory” offer unrequested hope, and “The Forgiven” provides a meditation on performance, art, and faith that's central to his work. The five cuts on this EP have the gravitas of something bigger and strengthen my sense that Ramirez should be a songwriter that everyone listens to.

 Grand Banks – Live 8-25-2018

Grand Banks live 8-25-2018 by Grand Banks

Any sort of bonus shopping day provides a good excuse to support local music. This time I went with the latest release (such as it is) from Grand Banks, their live recording from August 25. The duo don't shy away from volume, but their focus on minimalist ideas and sonic experimentation makes for unusual experiences. Over this single 30-minute track, the pair builds with patience, even when developing a haunted-house sort of melody on the keys. The second half of the piece increases the challenge, with guitarist Davis Salisbury pulling an odd series of sounds out of his instrument (for the curious, you can try it at home with an electric guitar, a tuning fork, and a fuzz pedal, and probably some sort of sonic laboratory). The effects build on Tyler Magill's creepy keyboard work – maybe this one's an unintended seasonal release. The study in space and harmonics gives way to a chirpy conversation and surprisingly (in this context) guitar-like guitar moment before placidly drifting away, an apt conclusion for the performance.

Jennifer Kelly

The Scientists 

I bought five different records this time, mostly, but not all, falling somewhere in the punk/garage continuum. I liked them all in different ways, but the one that absolutely killed me was…

IDLES—Joy as an Act of Resistance (Partisan)

Joy as an Act of Resistance. by IDLES

This is Ian’s fault, really. He talked me into it. Plus, it turned up on the Bandcamp recommendation engine. Which, by the way, is just so much better than Amazon’s recommendation engine. (I see you like the Pixies. Wanna buy every Pixies album ever?) But turns out, they’re both dead on. Idles is vitriolic and literate like the Sleaford Mods but backed by a ripped-to-the-teeth full band a la Protomartyr. Yes, two of my favorite current bands in one, plus a whole other thing of jagged, jitter-drunk percussion and wind tunnel howl. There is a song called “Never Fight a Man with a Perm.” So glad I got to hear this. Score one for voter registration.

 The Sueves—R.I.P. Clearance Event (Hozac)

R.I.P. Clearance Event by The Sueves

Butt-simple garage rock from Chicago, punctuated by weird little intervals of found sounds. Beautifully unhinged and uncomplicated, it reminds me the most of Demon’s Claw and after that maybe the Hunches and then the Monks. I bought it partly because I wanted to get those “we have a new record” notices from Hozac, but they know what I like.

 The Scientists—Blood Red River 1982-1984 (Numero)

Blood Red River 1982 - 1984 by Scientists

Guess who got to see the Scientists last week? They were awesome. They played “Frantic Romantic” in the encore (which is not on this disc, by the way). I knew some of the early stuff from the Do the Pop compilation of Australian punk, but immersing myself in these clanking, droning, post-punk juggernauts was the best and most enjoyable concert prep ever. “Solid Gold Hell” and “Swampland” were my two faves, and they played them both.

 Mike Pace and the Child Actors—Smooth Sailing (Self Starter Foundation)

Smooth Sailing by Mike Pace and the Child Actors

This one, from the former Oxford Collapse frontman, was a little more Raspberry-ish power pop than I was expecting, but it’s growing on me. “Escape the Noize” is my go-to track, a lush jangle of melancholy, a tetchy bristle of palm-muting, then a sweeping swooning chorus. It’s about leaving the music behind, which Pace clearly hasn’t, and good thing.  

Onoto—Dead Ghost (Taiyo)

DEAD GHOST by ONOTO

Let me the first to admit that I haven’t gotten to the bottom of this one, a swirling, enveloping miasma of guitar tone, wrapped around confoundingly weird vocal samples. “Shake Well for the Eye,” is droned-out chaos that parts like fog for bits of mid-20th century menstrual advice (avoid vigorous exercise, horse-riding, skating, cold showers, hah!). Other cuts eschew narrative for slow moving landscapes of instrumental tone. The title track lets guitar notes hang for unmovable eons, with only sharp shards of harmonics to break up the endless vistas. As a straight through listen, the disc makes more sense as you go along, meaning, you have to adapt to its oddity and it changes you.

Bill Meyer

 Canary records

Kemany Minas and Garabet Merjanian — When I See You: From the November 1917 Recordings, NYC (Canary) 

When I See You: From the November 1917 Recordings, NYC by Kemany Minas & Garabet Merjanian

Various Artists — And Two Partridges II: From the Earliest Turkish-, Arabic- Armenian-& Kurdish-Language Recordings in America, Feb-Aug, 1916 (Canary)

And Two Partridges II: From the Earliest Turkish-, Arabic- Armenian-& Kurdish-Language Recordings in America, Feb-Aug, 1916 by Canary Records

Various Artists — Oh My Soul: Armenian-American Independent Releases, vol. 1: ca. 1920-25 (Canary)  

Oh My Soul: Armenian-American Independent Releases, vol. 1: ca. 1920-25 by Canary Records

Various Artists — Why I Came to America: More Folk Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora, ca. 1917-47 (Canary)

Why I Came to America: More Folk Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora, ca. 1917-47 by Canary Records

I buy stuff via Bandcamp fairly often, and my purchases are nearly always hard copies. Downloads may be convenient, but a record you can’t hold in your hands seems to me to be one of those bad 21st century ideas like a Trump presidency or an unrepentant frat-creep on the supreme court. But when Bandcamp puts its income behind a cause, I relent, and when I do, I buy downloads from Canary Records. These albums are all compiled from recordings made by Anatolian exiles who fled genocide, war and poverty to take their chances in the USA. Many of these recordings predate the first blues records, and collectively they make a case that our notions of what constitutes American music are needlessly exclusive. After all, why should the music of people who came here from the Ottoman Empire be any less American than people who came here from the British Empire?  

 Billy Gomberg — Live Sets 2016-18

live sets 2016-18 by Billy Gomberg

Well, there go the rules. This DL-only compilation of concert performances by one of my favorite ambient recording artists of recent years shows that the carefully wrought, ultra-deep atmosphere of his recent cassettes is no fluke.

 Various Artists — Two Niles To Sing A Melody: The Violins & Synths Of Sudan (Ostinato)  

Two Niles to Sing a Melody: The Violins & Synths of Sudan by Various Artists

Back on solid ground at last! This hardcover book + 2 CDs (there are also vinyl and DL versions) shows how sounds blur from one culture to the next when people live along the same rivers and coasts. These recordings from the Sudan blend the nimble rhythms and ardent longing of Arabic pop with just a hint of the sinuous melodic quality of Ethiopian popular music. 

 Tashi Wada with Yoshi Wada and Friends — FRKWYS Vol. 14—Nue (RVNG)

FRKWYS Vol. 14 - Nue by Tashi Wada with Yoshi Wada and Friends

If you’ve caught Tashi and Yoshi Wada in concert, you know that there’s no louder or more mind-melting drone that a drone that incorporates multiple bagpipes and alarm bells. This record puts Wada fils in the composer / arranger’s seat, and while it uses the same materials as those live performances, the music is much gentler. Sometimes you want to boil your blood, sometimes you just want to kick back and zone out. A portion of the proceeds from this record will go to the National Immigration Law Center.

Isaac Olson

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan

Toshiya Tsunoda/Taku Unami — Wovenland (Erstwhile)

Wovenland by Toshiya Tsunoda/Taku Unami

I bought this collection of chopped and screwed  field recordings on the strength of Marc Medwin’s review and the fact that Erstwhile dedicated their profits for the day to the Voting Rights Project. Pieces like “Park cleaning / Crickets chirping,” “In The Park”,  “From the rooftop, railway terminal station” are both ear-tickling and intellectually stimulating. The rest are more stimulating intellectually than auditorially.

 The Weather Station—S/T (Paradise of Bachelors)

The Weather Station by The Weather Station

I slept on The Weather Station in 2017 because the music didn’t grab me enough I wasn’t interested enough in the music to tune into the lyrics.  I’m not sure what compelled me to give it another try, but I’m glad I did. Songwriter Tamara Lindeman has crafted a compelling take on early adulthood in an anxious age, one that, once I started paying attention, resonated with me in a highly personal manner I haven’t felt or sought in years. The b-side is almost too subtle, but Lindeman is a sharp enough writer to bring it off.

 Red River Dialect—Broken Stay Open Sky (Paradise of Bachelors)  

Broken Stay Open Sky by Red River Dialect

This is another record where the words carry the music, which means, like The Weather Station, I initially passed it over only to connect with it in unexpectedly personal ways after honing in on the lyrics. While I loved the fiddling from the jump, it took time for the rest of Broken Stay Open Sky to grow on me, but grow it did. (Check out Eric McDowell’s review here).

 Ustad Abdul Karim Khan—Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (Canary Records)

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan: 1934-1935 by Abdul Karim Khan

Classical Indian vocal music is a complex, highly systematized artform that I can’t pretend to understand, so rather than take my recommendation that you should listen to these recordings, take LaMonte Young’s: “When I first heard the recordings of Abdul Karim Khan I thought that perhaps it would be best if I gave up singing, got a cabin up in the mountains, stocked it with a record player and recordings of Abdul Karim Khan, and just listened for the rest of my life”.

 VA—100 Moons: Hindustani Vocal Art, 1930​-​55 (Canary Records)

100 Moons: Hindustani Vocal Art, 1930-55 by Canary Records

A traditional performance of a raga can last hours. A 78 can hold about three minutes of music.

As such, the performances on this collection lack the the breadth and depth of a traditional raga performance, but they more than make up for it in intensity.

 Ross Hammond and Jon Balfus— Masonic Lawn (Self Released)

Masonic Lawn by Ross Hammond and Jon Bafus

Sacramento guitarist and improviser Ross Hammond (whose record with Hindustani vocalist Jay Nair  is also worth your time) teams up with percussionist Jon Balfus for a set of blues and folk inspired  improvisations that manage to feel spacious despite the dense polyrhythmic approach. Masonic Lawn’s improvisations are optimistic, wide-eyed meditations on Americana.

 Melvin Wine—Cold Frosty Morning (Roane Records)

Cold Frosty Morning by Melvin Wine

Old-time music, like most folk traditions that arose in relative isolation and pre-date the record industry, isn’t particularly well suited for album-length listening. That said, if you’re in the mood for scratchy, crooked, dance and trance tunes, West Virginia fiddler Melvin Wine is a great introduction to the distinctly non-bluegrassy mysteries of this music.  

Note: This recording features a minstrel tune titled “Jump Jim Crow”.  How we’re to deal with this in the modern, right-wing nightmare age we inhabit is a complicated question, so if you’re digging this music but that title bothers you (and it should), check out these articles by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Mechanic. 

 V/A—Usiende Ukalale: Omutibo From Rural Kenya (Olvido Records)

Usiende Ukalale: Omutibo From Rural Kenya by Various Artists

Like the Melvin Wine recording above, Usiende Ukalale exhibits a local folk style that evolved in relative isolation and is, for the non-local and non-expert, enchanting in small doses and merely pleasant over the course of a full album.

 VA—I’m Not Here to Hunt Rabbits: Guitar and Folk Styles from Botswana (Piranha Records) 

I'm Not Here To Hunt Rabbits by Various Artists

I reviewed this one back in May and I’ve listened to it so many times since that it was high time to buy it. Highest recommendation.

 Jess Sah Bi & Peter One—Our Garden Needs Its Flowers (Awesome Tapes from Africa)

Our Garden Needs Its Flowers by Jess Sah Bi & Peter One

This unusual gem combines the loping rhythms, slide guitar and harmonica of American country music with traditional Ivory Coast village songs. Its breezy Bakersfield meets Yamoussoukro vibe belies its anti-apartheid lyrics. Mp3s of this one have been floating around the internet for a few years, so it’s great to see it get an official re-release.

 Ola Belle Reed—FRC 203 - Ola Belle Reed: Recordings from the collection of Ray Alden and the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music

FRC 203 - Ola Belle Reed: Recordings from the collection of Ray Alden and the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music by Ola Belle Reed

From the indispensable Field Recorders Collective, this release documents a 1973 performance by Ola Belle Reed. Reed’s music exists at the nexus of old-time, bluegrass, early country, and gospel, but it feels wrong to box in the wisdom, humor, and generosity of spirit that shines through this release with anachronistic genre tags. Best of all is the Reed original, “Tear Down the Fences”: “Then we could tear down the fences that fence us all in/Fences created by such evil men/Oh we could tear down the fences that fence us all in /Then we could walk together again.”  Amen.

 Ragana— You Take Nothing 

YOU TAKE NOTHING by RAGANA

I don’t listen to as much metal as I used to, but while this fundraiser was happening, Brett Kavanaugh — case study in patriarchal resentment and mediocrity — got one step closer to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. Ragana’s raw, sludgy, anarcha-feminist take on black metal really hit the spot that day.

Ethan Covey

Weak Signal

Omit — Enclosures 2011-2016 (Pica Disk/End of the Alphabet)

Enclosures 2011-2016 by Omit

Clinton Williams, the New Zealander known as Omit, has been quietly releasing nocturnal electronic compositions of uncompromising quality for the past couple of decades. Enclosures 2011-2016, released jointly by Lasse Marhaug’s Pica Disk and Noel Meek’s End of the Alphabet labels, provides an overview of five years of Williams’ output in a 30-track, six-hour package, available digitally and as a limited 5-CD set. Omit has previously been anthologized on two compilations courtesy of the Helen Scarsdale label, Tracer and Interceptor. And past releases have popped up via Corpus Hermeticum and PseudoArcana, as well as — most prominently — Williams’ own Deepskin Conceptual Mindmusic imprint. Great listening, all, if you can find ‘em. For those curious to dive in without too much digging, Enclosures is ideal. Much of Williams’ genius lies in composing tracks that are edgy, yet beautiful, creepy and experimental, yet profoundly listenable. It’s forward-thinking electronic composition that checks a lot of avant-garde boxes without feeling like a task. There’s a subtle, krautrock propulsion to the best tracks — the opening “Turner,” the “Echo Dot” pieces — where the listener gets locked into the rhythm and time slows to an elegant crawl — like a soundtrack for night driving on an Autobahn upended.

 Weak Signal — LP1 (self-released)

LP1 by WEAK SIGNAL

Weak Signal are NYC’s Sasha Vine, Tran Huynh and Mike Bones. Bones has previously released a pair of strong albums of indie songwriting courtesy of The Social Registry. As a guitarist, he’s done time with Endless Boogie, Matt Sweeney’s Soldiers of Fortune and Prison. This album was a tip from Danny Arakaki of Garcia Peoples, and it’s a swell one, 30-minutes of slack fuzz pop bashed out with energy and swagger. The majority of the tracks strut by on solid riffs, backed by boy/girl vox that slide into chant-along choruses. Like new wave bled dry, leaving a beautiful bummer. The eight-minute “Miami/Miami Part 2” stretches out into a haze of increasingly rapturous guitar soloing, string screeches and a spoken word coda. Lotta promise here, for sure. Here’s hoping they stick around for an LP2.

 Raising Holy Sparks — Search For The Vanished Heaven (Eiderdown Records)

Search For The Vanished Heaven by Raising Holy Sparks

Seattle’s Eiderdown Records has been releasing some of the best contemporary psychedelia around, and the latest by Raising Holy Sparks is no exception. The project is the work of uber-prolific Irishman David Colohan, and is offered in double and triple cassette, as well as digital, versions. The “short” cut of the album is an hour and a half long, and the triple cassette and download versions stretch that to well over two hours. Per the credits, the album was recorded in somewhere around 40 different locations over four years. Colohan is credited with over 30 instruments and is joined by baker’s dozen of likeminded collaborators. What they deliver is, like most of Colohan’s music, long, slow and often eerily beautiful. “I Am In The Mountains While You Are In My Dreams” passes in its 23-minutes through Popol Vuh-style ambience, spoken word incantations that sound like Coil if they’d truly embraced the countryside and a whole lot of birdsong. It’s a good overview of the general proceedings — accented occasionally by louder blasts of synths, random percussion that sounds like drum machine presets and banjo-plucking krautrock. On paper, that sounds like a head-scratching combo, but it works. One gets the impression Colohan’s dedication and attention to detail is such that the grab bag of sounds weaves together into a surprisingly fascinating whole. Listen with attention and you’ll want to follow along as each stretch and segue unfolds. Oh, and as is typical with Eiderdown, bonus points for exceptional artwork, this time courtesy of Aubrey Nehring.

[snidgetsafan]

The Summer Solstice

Rating: T

Summary: After everyone has settled into their happy beginnings, Mary Margaret decides to rekindle the traditions of the Summer Solstice in Storybrooke. Despite her earlier reservations, Emma is surprised to find it's not that bad (but don't tell her mother)

And of course, her husband sees this as an opportunity to woo her. What kind of wife would she be if she denied him this pleasure?

On AO3

It all started one week before Valentine’s Day. During their weekly Sunday dinner at her parents’. Their discussion of the meaning of Valentine’s Day over the pot roast evolved into a comparison of the holidays in the Land Without Magic and the Enchanted Forest while they ate their slices of pie. Emma listened curiously, taking advantage of this glimpse into more pleasant aspects of the realm of her birth.

“And of course, one of the highlights of the year in my village was the Summer Solstice,” said David, his gaze lost in reminiscence.

“The bonfires,” remembered Mary Margaret.

“The free feast lasting all day,” added Killian.

“But it was nothing without the hunt for the Ludus flower,” interjected David, as if he were saying something obvious. It seemed to Emma as if only her mom understood the reference. She locked eyes with Killian, who seemed as puzzled as her.

“The Ludus flower? What are you talking about, mate? You don’t pick flowers for the Summer Solstice.”

“Of course you do! How could you find your sweetheart without looking for the Ludus flower?”

“Yes, David, how could you find them?” asked Mary Margaret, a sugary sweet smile on her face. While watching her father get out of memory lane and right into a tight spot, Emma decided to intervene.

“I don’t understand, what is this Lupus flower, and what has it got to do with the Summer Solstice, and finding a sweetheart?”

“It’s not Lupus, but Ludus, Emma,” corrected her mother. “And it used to be a big tradition in some parts of the Enchanted Forest: after night had fallen on the Summer Solstice, all the young girls and young men who were single went into the forest looking for the Ludus flower. There, if they found it, they shared it with a member of the opposite sex, who became their sweetheart for the duration of the Solstice.”

“So, like a Valentine?” Emma wanted to clarify.

“You could say that, although finding a sweetheart was only ever for the duration of the Solstice. After, if a maiden wanted her young man to continue wooing her, she gave him some flowers from her flower crown, as a symbol of her interest.”

“This seems mightily complicated, milady. All this ritual of having to find a certain flower, then having to traipse through the forest in the night in search of one specific person… We didn’t have to do that when I was a lad, you just went to the lass you wanted to court and asked her to dance with you at the bonfires.” Killian furrowed his brow, and added, “Also, I’ve never heard of the Ludus flower.”

Mary Margaret and David exchanged a mischievous look, and David turned towards his daughter and his son-in-law, “Well, that’s because you’ve never looked for it, have you?”

And that had been that for the evening. The conversation had turned towards other holidays, and Emma had pushed this conversation to the back of her mind the next day.

That is until three weeks later, when Snow had come unannounced to their house on a Saturday morning, knocking on the door and interrupting Killian and Emma’s breakfast. Killian went to open the door, while Emma tidied up in the kitchen. As her mother walked into the kitchen, a heavy yellow binder in her arms and an excited smile on her face, Emma got a sense of déjà-vu.

“Sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but it’s important.”

“You were not interrupting, Mom”, answered Emma, ignoring Killian’s expression in the background. “What can I help you with?”

“I’ve been thinking, since our conversation a few weeks ago, about the Summer Solstice. It used to be such a big celebration back home, why don’t we organize it here, in Storybrooke?” said Mary Margaret, putting her binder on the table, and looking expectantly at her daughter and her husband.

“I - don’t know Mom, I don’t know anything about the festival, even less about how to organize it-”

“Oh but that’s alright! I already did a little research, and prepared a to-do list for you and Killian, and -”

“Whoa, Mom, wait a minute,” interrupted Emma, glancing at Killian, who raised an eyebrow at her. “We haven’t even agreed to help, this isn’t something that can be decided on the spot like this.”

“You must also remember, Milady, that, as the law enforcement of this town, we have our own responsibilities towards the community,” added Killian, coming to stand next to his wife.

Mary Margaret looked crushed by their lack of enthusiasm, and kept switching her gaze from one to the other. Emma started to feel a little sorry for her, but she didn’t waver in her decision. Her mother needed to learn she could not make decisions for them without asking first.

Then she gave the fatal blow, looking down at her binder. “I’m sorry, I thought this was something we could do as a family, a project where no one’s life is at stake, for once. Oh well, Henry will be so disappointed,” she sighed.

Emma stiffened. Oh no, she didn’t. “Henry? What has Henry got to do with this?” It was her son’s week at Regina’s, she had seen him the previous evening for dinner at Granny’s, and he hadn’t mentioned anything about a festival.

“Well, before doing anything, I had to get the Mayor’s agreement, so I went to see Regina yesterday, and Henry overheard our conversation. He seemed pretty excited to learn more about the customs of what should have been his home. Well, if you two do not want to get involved, I guess he’ll have to make do with reading about it. But it would have been so much better for him to experience it first hand,” she finished, still looking down and shrugging her shoulders, trying to appear nonchalant.

While she had been speaking, Emma and Killian had locked eyes, which were growing in size by the second as they realized they had been played. Until suddenly, Killian had frowned, and looked back at his mother-in-law.

“Wait, I don’t understand why the fact we don’t help you organize the Solstice has to mean it should be canceled. I’m sure if you ask around, many citizens will wish to help you.”

“But it’s as you said, Killian. You are the law enforcement. And on a project of such a scale, what can we do if we do not have the support of the Sheriff’s Station?” Snow’s eyes were too wide to be earnest innocence, but she had a point. When husband and wife looked at each other again, they knew they had been defeated. Scratching behind his ear then rubbing his mouth with his hand, Killian said “Well, I’ll make some more coffee, shall I?”

On the day of the festival, Emma walked through the park just before sunset, checking everything was in place, as she reflected on the past three months. Her mother’s assumption that this project would be trouble-free had been a little hasty. While almost the whole town had loved the idea when it had been presented at a town hall meeting in March, squabbles had erupted here and there over various details. The most spectacular had been between Granny and Tony over who would be the official provider for the feast. The two restaurant owners had gotten pretty intense over it, making Emma glad Granny’s crossbow wasn’t anywhere near. Surprisingly, it had been Leroy who came up with the solution of organizing a potluck, thus preventing a feud between the two main food providers of the town.

Belle had fully embraced the project, and had scoured her library for all the information she could find on the history and traditions of the festival, teaming up with Killian and Snow to ensure that the festivities included all the communities present in Storybrooke. They had managed to synthesize all the traditions into one global event, that lasted from sunrise to sunrise. Thankfully, this year the Solstice had fallen on a Saturday, so almost everyone could attend without work or school getting in the way.

When he was not doing research in the library or accomplishing his deputy duties, Killian was also part of the committee auditioning and selecting the musicians who would play during the festival. Music and dancing were apparently a big part of the celebrations, so they needed to find bands or musicians to play around the bonfires. Henry and Regina were also part of this committee, and they had spent a few Sunday meals recounting the most disastrous auditions, the most trying being the one of a blonde former bard who refused to leave the room until he had played and sung his retelling of Hercules’ tasks - all twelve of them. The jury had valiantly gritted their teeth through his performance, but Regina had snapped when he had started screeching about Midas’ stables while plucking the cords of his out of tune lyre, and she had had to threaten him with a fireball for him to finally leave the stage, in a huff. Henry had told Emma while they were going home that apparently, the bard’s decision to rhyme “Hercules” with “feces” had been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Snow had done an incredible job at the school, transforming the festival into a learning opportunity for all classes. She and her colleagues had organized school trips to her and David’s farm so the youngest pupils could learn more about farming, and she had teamed up with Belle to share all the legends and stories surrounding the festival with children and adults alike. They had enjoyed this project so much they were thinking about proposing an elective the next year on the history and lore of the Enchanted Forest. The children had also occupied their end of the school year by crafting paper and papier mâché décorations for Main Street, which was now cheerfully bedecked in yellow, green and blue.

Emma was also quite proud of her role, even if it was not the most glamorous, or the most obvious. She had been tasked with the more practical aspects of the organization, namely coordinating with the town’s fire department and the town hall. She had been surprised to enjoy working with the Storybrooke firemen so much. Their Captain, Elliott Fafner, while a little clumsy at times, was a kind and competent man, who had helped her determine where to organize the bonfires, and had proposed the help of his team to help relieve Emma and Killian’s patrols after sunset.

David, between taking care of Neal and his farm, had temporarily resumed his role as Deputy in order to help her with the paperwork while Killian was otherwise occupied. She had enjoyed these moments with her father, as they rarely had the chance to spend time alone together since they had moved to the farm. Filing sessions had turned into long conversations between the two of them, and Emma was quite sorry to see these opportunities end.

The morning had been busy with mothers and daughters working on the girls’ flower crowns, either by picking wildflowers in the woods, or going to Games of Thorns to pick flowers or pre-woven crowns. As the day wore on, more and more girls and young women paraded in the streets, wearing colorful crowns and showing them off to friends and potential sweethearts alike.

Main Street had been closed off to traffic, and tables had been set up in the middle of the road. Almost the whole town had turned up at one point or another, Mary Margaret and David flitting from group to group, like the benevolent rulers they used to be.

Killian and Emma had been able to sit down for a while with their family and friends, and she had to admit, it had been nice to share this moment with the townspeople. Everywhere she turned, people were talking, laughing and sharing stories of Summer Solstices past.

But now it was the main event: when the sun set down, the hunt for the Ludus flower would begin, with the girls heading in the woods first, followed by the boys ten minutes later. The adults would gather around the several bonfires which would also be lit at sun down, and the revelries would begin. Killian and Emma would alternate patrolling to ensure no unapproved bonfire was lit anywhere in the city, and would keep contact with the firefighters monitoring the bonfires in the park, the woods and on the beach. The festivities would go on until sunrise, but Emma and Killian would retire to their home at midnight, remaining on call in case David needed reinforcement. She couldn’t wait to be alone with her pirate, they had barely seen each other all day, and they had been kept so busy all week that the only moments they had shared were their bedtime, where they were too tired to do anymore than fall asleep in each other’s arms.

Emma parked her Bug right behind Killian’s police cruiser, killing the engine and sinking back into the seat, sighing in exhaustion. This had been a long day, following a long week. She couldn’t wait to snuggle in bed next to Killian and be lulled to sleep by his heartbeat.

As she got out of the car, she couldn’t help but notice no light was switched on in the house. Was Killian already in bed? This was unlike him, he usually waited for her on nights she finished later than him. Then she saw that a soft light was coming from the living room’s window. Had he lit a fire in the chimney,despite the heat? Intrigued, Emma headed up the steps, and opened the door.

“Killian?” she called out, softly closing the door behind her. “Where are you?” She got no answer, but, as she stepped into the living room, she noticed the door to the porch was opened, and more soft light was spilling in from outside. Curious, Emma went to the door. A line of small candles lined the banister, leading towards the back of the house. What was her pirate up to? She followed the trail he had left for her, and as she rounded the corner, she gasped as she saw dozens of candles of all sizes illuminating the backyard, with Killian standing in the middle of the circle of light, looking at her expectantly with his arm behind his back.

Slowly going down the steps towards him, she looked him over, noticing he had taken off his jacket and vest, and stood in his shirt sleeves. Looking at her from under his lashes, he gestured towards the sea of candles. “Do you like it, Swan?”

“It’s beautiful. But… how? And why?” Tearing her gaze from him with difficulty, she gazed around the garden again. How had he found the time to prepare all this? He had been either with her or working all day long.

“Dave and the lad gave me a hand in setting everything up. And why? This is your first Summer Solstice, love,  I wanted you to remember it.”

Emma felt her heart swell. Her husband had managed to surprise her, and had involved her father and her son. Stepping closer to him, she put her hand on his chest, stroking the material of his shirt and gazing into his eyes.

“This is perfect, thank you.”

Killian laughed softly, leaning into her. “This is hardly all of it. According to my research, a good Summer Solstice needs a bonfire, music and dancing. Since I couldn’t light a bonfire in the garden, for fear of Fafner ruining the moment, I decided, candles it is.” As he took his arm from behind his back, Emma saw a small, simple crown of forget-me-nots gently swaying on his hook. “And apparently, flower crowns are a must for fair maidens in search of their sweethearts.” he finished, wagging his eyebrows.

Emma laughed, marveling at how much of a dork her husband was. “I’m hardly a maiden, as you can personally attest,” she said, raising her eyebrows and making him snort.

“As true as that may be, humor me, my love?”

“As you wish.”

Killian placed the crown delicately on her head, making sure it was secure, before stroking her hair and placing his hand and hook on her hips, softly kissing her cheek. Taking his hand from her hip, he rummaged in his pocket, and took out his phone, tapping until the first strings of one of their favorite songs played. Holding his hook to her, he bowed, never taking his eyes off her face. “May I have this dance, Swan?”

Smiling so hard her cheeks hurt, Emma took his hand wordlessly, and let him pull her in the circle of his arms. As they began to sway, she reflected on her day. While it had been arduous and sometimes frustrating work, the festival had gone without a hitch, and there was already talk of doing it again the following year. The search for the Ludus flower had been particularly entertaining, parents and friends speculating on who would exit the woods with whom. While some of the results had been obvious, it had been jarring for Emma to see Henry emerge from the woods with one of his friends from school, and join a group of teenagers by the bonfire. While she knew her son was growing up, and was far from the little boy who had knocked on her door all those years ago, it was still bittersweet to be reminded that he didn’t need her as much as he used to.

Killian twirling her away from him and back startled her from her thoughts. She raised her eyes to his and got lost in his gaze, the same color as her flower crown, until the end of the song. As the music came to an end, so did their dance. Reluctant to leave her husband’s embrace, Emma did not move away. Killian tilted his head, his smile seemingly permanently etched onto his face, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Stroking her jaw with his thumb, he slowly leaned down until their lips met in a gentle kiss full of affection.

When they separated, Emma fluttered her eyes open, not remembering closing them. She leaned her forehead against his, stroking the hair at the back of his neck.

“Thank you,” she said. “Although you did not have to go to this much effort to woo me. You know you won my heart a long time ago.”

Killian chuckled. “Can you blame a man for trying to keep the flame alive in his marriage?”

Emma laughed. “You’re right, you won’t always be able to rely on your dashing good looks, better to start preparing for the future.”

“Oi! After all the trouble I’ve gone through, this is how you thank me?” Killian said, faking outrage. “And I’ll have you know, whatever my age, I will always be dashing.”

Emma didn’t say anything, preferring to look at him mischievously. While she privately agreed with him, she didn’t want to stroke his ego. He knew he was gorgeous, and she couldn’t wait to see how he would age. She’d bet anything he would be the hottest silver fox in town.

The need to yawn broke through her musings. Her husband’s face softened, and he stroked her cheek. “Go to bed, love, I’ll put everything to rights here and join you soon.”

Not wanting to be separated from him, and to break this moment, Emma put out all the candles with a wave of her hand. She took Killian’s hand and started to pull him towards the house. “Done. Come on, let’s go to sleep.”

Emma did get her earlier wish of cuddling with her pirate, listening to his slowing heartbeat before succumbing to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she took the flower crown Killian had given her and took it down to the living room, where she pressed it between the pages of an atlas. In the following years, her collection would grow to include all kinds of crowns, from the simplest to the most elaborate. However, her favorite always remained the first one, which never failed to remind her of a slow dance in a sea of candlelight, and of the color of Killian’s eyes as he smiled down at her.

[poweredbydietcoke]

Favorite books of 2019

A *very* late continuation of my annual tradition … finally got a push to finish this in case you’re looking for book ideas while we find ourselves with plenty of extra time during quarantine. I read a little less in 2019, maybe because I’m working on something new (and have a new kid) or maybe just because I’m getting lazy as I get older? 48 books total, of which 4 were tree books and 23 were audiobooks—I did spend more time in transit last year (yes, it’s possible to listen to audiobooks and talk to ATC at the same time!), but it felt more productive. 

Without further ado, my favorite books. (affiliate links get donated to charity at the end of the year). I’ve included some highlights from Kindle books, but many of my favorites this year were audiobooks, where I haven’t found a great solution to highlighting (especially those I get from the library on a variety of crappy - but free! - services).

Destiny Disrupted, by Tamim Ansary - this was probably my favorite book of the year. I liked it so much I cold-emailed the author and invited him over for dinner, and we had a wonderful time with he & his wife and a bunch of friends. Fundamentally, the book is a history of the world told from the point of view of Islam; the point he makes, quite compellingly, was that there are really two (and probably more) different histories of the world, with the same facts, that just depend on your narrative. This is starting to play on a lot of things I’ve been trying to understand recently, including Ben Hunt’s Epsilon Theory and specifically, his idea of the Narrative Machine, and all of the theory of Common Knowledge that includes. And he does all this with an easy-to-read but well-researched writing style. If you like this one, I’m still working my way through his next one, The Invention of Yesterday, and so far so good.

A ruler can never trust a popular man with soldiers of his own. One day, Mansur invited Abu Muslim to come visit him and share a hearty meal. What happened next illustrates the maxim that when an Abbasid ruler invites you to dinner, you should arrange to be busy that night.

On the Sunni side, four slightly different versions of this code took shape, and the Shi’i developed yet another one of their own, similar to the Sunni ones in spirit and equally vast in scope. These various codes differ in details, but I doubt that one Muslim in a thousand can name even five such details.

Let me emphasize that the ulama were not (and are not) appointed by anyone. Islam has no pope and no official clerical apparatus. How, then, did someone get to be a member of the ulama? By gaining the respect of people who were already established ulama. It was a gradual process. There was no license, no certificate, no “shingle” to hang up to prove that one was an alim. The ulama were (and are) a self-selecting, self-regulating class, bound entirely by the river of established doctrine. No single alim could modify this current or change its course. It was too old, too powerful, too established, and besides, no one could become a member of the ulama until he had absorbed the doctrine so thoroughly that it had become a part of him. By the time a person acquired the status to question the doctrine, he would have no inclination to do so. Incorrigible dissenters who simply would not stop questioning the doctrine probably wouldn’t make it through the process.

If a man commits a grave sin, is he a non-Muslim, or is he (just) a bad Muslim? The question might seem like a semantic game, except that in the Muslim world, as a point of law, the religious scholars divided the world between the community and the nonbelievers. One set of rules applied among believers, another set for interactions between believers and nonbelievers. It was important, therefore, to know if any particular person was in the community or outside it.

Range, by David Epstein. Thomas Layton recommended this to me (he was reading a derivative work on how to coach basketball while applying this theory), and it was fun. The fundamental thesis is that you can split environments into “nice” and “wicked” learning environments. In nice environments, feedback is quick and accurate, and rewards specialization early (eg golf ... you can practice every possible shot by yourself). In wicked environments, feedback is delayed (if available at all), and the rules — let alone the situation — are fluid. This rewards “range”, or a variety of experiences (Epstein uses tennis as an example, but much of life is even more obvious). The return of the Renaissance Man (or Woman) — yay!

When I began to write about these studies, I was met with thoughtful criticism, but also denial. “Maybe in some other sport,” fans often said, “but that’s not true of our sport.” The community of the world’s most popular sport, soccer, was the loudest. And then, as if on cue, in late 2014 a team of German scientists published a study showing that members of their national team, which had just won the World Cup, were typically late specializers who didn’t play more organized soccer than amateur-league players until age twenty-two or later.

A recent study found that cardiac patients were actually less likely to die if they were admitted during a national cardiology meeting, when thousands of cardiologists were away; the researchers suggested it could be because common treatments of dubious effect were less likely to be performed.

Whether or not experience inevitably led to expertise, they agreed, depended entirely on the domain in question. Narrow experience made for better chess and poker players and firefighters, but not for better predictors of financial or political trends, or of how employees or patients would perform. The domains Klein studied, in which instinctive pattern recognition worked powerfully, are what psychologist Robin Hogarth termed “kind” learning environments. Patterns repeat over and over, and feedback is extremely accurate and usually very rapid.

...

In wicked domains, the rules of the game are often unclear or incomplete, there may or may not be repetitive patterns and they may not be obvious, and feedback is often delayed, inaccurate, or both.

When younger students bring home problems that force them to make connections, Richland told me, “parents are like, ‘Lemme show you, there’s a faster, easier way.’” If the teacher didn’t already turn the work into using-procedures practice, well-meaning parents will. They aren’t comfortable with bewildered kids, and they want understanding to come quickly and easily. But for learning that is both durable (it sticks) and flexible (it can be applied broadly), fast and easy is precisely the problem.

Programs like Head Start did give a head start, but academically that was about it. The researchers found a pervasive “fadeout” effect, where a temporary academic advantage quickly diminished and often completely vanished. On a graph, it looks eerily like the kind that show future elite athletes catching up to their peers who got a head start in deliberate practice.

Hilariously, predictors were willing to pay an average of $129 a ticket for a show ten years away by their current favorite band, while reflectors would only pay $80 to see a show today by their favorite band from ten years ago.

In the spring of 2001, Bingham collected twenty-one problems that had stymied Eli Lilly scientists and asked a top executive if he could post them on a website for anyone to see. The executive would only consider it if the consulting firm McKinsey thought it was a good idea. “McKinsey’s opinion,” Bingham recalled, “was, ‘Who knows? Why don’t you launch it and tell us the answer.’”

There was also a “perverse inverse relationship” between fame and accuracy. The more likely an expert was to have his or her predictions featured on op-ed pages and television, the more likely they were always wrong. Or, not always wrong. Rather, as Tetlock and his coauthor succinctly put it in their book Superforecasting, “roughly as accurate as a dart-throwing chimpanzee.”

Deep Work by Cal Newport - this was an easy listen while on a couple of long runs in Palm Springs during Indian Wells weekend, and definitely worth it. Like classics such as How to Win Friends And Influence People, there’s not a lot fundamentally groundbreaking here, but he articulates some really fundamental principles well enough that you stop and take notice and ask, “I know that ... why am I not doing that?” Now I just need to review my notes...

Age of Ambition, Chasing Fortune in China - Evan Osnos. I think Scott Cannon originally recommended this book to me, and it was fascinating. It’s a bit of a long, slow read but a lot of insight into China’s evolution over the last few decades. I’m not sure what I’ll do with this knowledge (or the many other China books I’ve read recently) but it feels important for the coming decades. If only I could learn Mandarin like Matt MacInnis 

Every country has corruption, but China’s was approaching a level of its own. For those at the top, the scale of temptation had reached a level unlike anything ever encountered in the West. It was not always easy to say which Bare-Handed Fortunes were legitimate and which were not, but political office was a reliable pathway to wealth on a scale of its own. By 2012 the richest seventy members of China’s national legislature had a net worth of almost ninety billion dollars—more than ten times the combined net worth of the entire U.S. Congress.

But unlike Zaire, China punished many people for it; in a five-year stretch, China punished 668,000 Party members for bribery, graft, and embezzlement; it handed down 350 death sentences for corruption, and Wedeman concluded, “At a very basic level, it appears to have prevented corruption from spiraling out of control.”

The Central Propaganda Department let it be known that reports that suggested a shortage of happiness were not to receive attention. In April 2012 my phone buzzed: All websites are not to repost the news headlined, “UN Releases World Happiness Report, and China Ranks No. 112.”

Over the years, the risk of being blamed for helping someone was a scenario that appeared over and over in the headlines. In November 2006 an elderly woman in Nanjing fell at a bus stop, and a young man named Peng Yu stopped to help her get to the hospital. In recovery, she accused Peng of causing her fall, and a local judge agreed, ordering him to pay more than seven thousand dollars—a judgment based not on evidence, but on what the verdict called “logical thinking”: that Peng would never have helped if he hadn’t been motivated by guilt.

At one point, Chinese programmers were barred from updating a popular software system called Node.js because the version number, 0.6.4, corresponded with June 4, the date of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

he vowed to punish not only low-ranking “flies” but also powerful “tigers.” He called on his comrades to be “diligent and thrifty,” and when Xi took his first official trip, state television reported that he checked into a “normal suite” and dined not at a banquet, but at a buffet—a revelation so radical in Chinese political culture that the word buffet took on metaphysical significance. The state news service ran a banner headline: XI JINPING VISITS POOR FAMILIES IN HEBEI: DINNER IS JUST FOUR DISHES AND ONE SOUP, NO ALCOHOL.

...

It didn’t take long for the abrupt drop-off in gluttony to affect the economy: sales of shark fin (de rigueur for banquets) sank more than 70 percent; casinos in Macau recorded a drop in VIPs, and Swiss watch exports dropped by a quarter from the year before. Luxury goods makers mourned.

Economists point to a historic correlation between “world’s tallest” debuts and economic slowdowns. There is no cause and effect, but such projects are a sign of easy credit, excessive optimism, and inflated land prices—a pattern that dates to the world’s first skyscraper, the Equitable Life Building. Built in New York at the height of the Gilded Age, it was completed in 1873, the start of a five-year slump that became known as the Long Depression, and the pattern repeated in decades to follow. Skyscraper magazine, a Shanghai publication that treated tall buildings like celebrities, reported in 2012 that China would finish a new skyscraper every five days for the next three years; China was home to 40 percent of the skyscrapers under construction in the world.

Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright & Bradley Hope - Mike Vernal told me to drop most things to read this, and he wasn’t wrong. A well-written account of the 1MDB scandal that I’d only vaguely followed, and tries to put it into context when it basically can’t … something like $5.XB stolen over the course of a few years.

Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky & Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain - I put these two together, both recommended by Robert MacCloy, because they’re quick and fun. I listened to both on audio and they were both “mindless” but interesting…sort of the inside baseball of both the hospitality and restaurant industries. Don’t use a UV light...anywhere.

Smokejumpers by Jason Ramos - recommended by one of our fire captain neighbors at Oxbow and figured it would be good to understand a little more about wildland firefighting … this took me down a long digression of firefighting books that were interesting but if you want one, this one’s fun.

American icon by Bryce Hoffman - great audiobook that Scott Cannon recommended about Alan Mulaly’s turnaround of the Ford. The single most memorable part — after a couple of years working on turning the company around, a reporter asked him what his priorities for the next year were, and he responded with the same three things he’d said from the beginning. The reporter said something to the affect of “I can’t write about that again, it’s boring, you need something new!” And Mulaly responded “when we’ve got these three things done right, then we’ll have something new. We haven’t finished them yet."

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou - my wife raved about this book after she listened to it, and it was all the rage, so I did too…and it lived up to the hype! Fascinating but managed not to be a tabloid-y gossip-y tale of excess so much as a “yeah, each individual step was only a little over the line, and look where it lead them.” A surprisingly poignant reminder about how “fake it til you make it” in Silicon Valley can be idealized until it’s not. This is the next generation in a line started by Barbarians at the Gate and continued by Smartest Guys In The Room.

[hmel78]

In conversation with Dave Oberle ...

A Gryphon, is a legendary creature with the head, talons, and wings of an eagle, and the body of a lion - they’re also a band from the UK who, following a lengthy absence, have returned from various personal quests, to once more bring forth their magical sounds to knights and maidens throughout our wondrous lands. What am I talking about?

Gryphon -  like the mythical creature which inspired the group's name - is a hybrid of astounding musicians, from varying backgrounds, whose aim was to fuse several different musical styles into their own original music.

The group formed out of the Royal College of Music in London, in the early 1970s. Whilst the founder members were studying classical courses, both had strong musical interests in other spheres ; fascinated from an early age, by medieval and pre-classical music, with a passion for everything from Church music to contemporary folk and progressive rock. This diversity of tastes and influences encouraged them to form a group with a 3rd member, who had predominantly folk and jazz-tinged tastes. For a short while they existed as a trio - playing in simulated medieval eating houses! - until ‘Gryphon's’ line-up was, for then, completed by the arrival of former rock band drummer, David Oberle, in 1972 ; securing his roles of lead vocalist, and percussionist.

From that point on, the group really took shape. Drawing initially on a nucleus of renaissance pieces and re-arranged folk tunes, they easily developed their own distinctive style. By the beginning of 1973 they had started recording their first album for Transatlantic: "Gryphon (TRA 262) - and, with that record's release, there was a great surge of interest in the group. 5 albums, and a number of high profile tours later, Gryphon were lauded in a wide variety of newspapers, had appeared on several major television shows, and performed the unique feat of appearing on BBC Radio's 1 - 4 (inclusive) all in one week!

All this served to highlight how ‘Gryphon's’ music was universally acceptable. It stimulated the interest of folk, rock and classical buffs alike, and delighted all age groups. And then ... they went away. But where did they go? Were they whisked away on some fairytale adventure?

38 years passed by before the band reformed to play live shows, and it’s taken them 41 years to release their 6th album, aptly titled “ReInvention”  (out now and available from all the usual places).

Sounds jumped at the opportunity to speak to Dave Oberle, who despite ‘Gryphon’s’ inactivity over the years, has certainly kept himself busy - he was a key member of  the original Sounds Magazine team , and went on to be a founder member of rock magazine Kerrang! He’s also a producer of heavy rock bands via his label Communique Records. We caught up with him, whilst he took a break from wandering the not so mystical realms of social media ... DO :  It’s a great thing, Facebook, for discovering who your fans are. We have a great number of under 25’s that have tapped into our music, and it pleases me hugely to see the rise of interested younger people in the progressive scene. It’s great for us to see what’s beginning to happen - kids are getting in touch with us as they’re discovering our records in their father’s collections, and loving it!

HR : So, you’re inspiring future audiences -  Are they musicians too?

DO : I think a lot of them are. I think Gryphons root fan base has always been musicians - without wanting to sound pretentious, Gryphons music IS musicians music. You have to have some understanding of music to appreciate what the hell we’re doing! I think it would be fair to assume that most people who follow us play an instrument, but you never really know ...

Over the years we’ve all agreed that we felt our music reached people who liked all sorts of music - we’re pretty eclectic ourselves - there are a lot of influences , right the way from rock through baroque,  medieval,  renaissance, blues, jazz, classical - everything you can think of in one huge melting pot.

HR : In the very beginning, what prompted you to combine traditional folk music with medieval?

DO : It started off - Richard Harvey and Brian Gulland met each other at the Royal College of Music. Brian was studying choral and Richard was studying early music. They both played in a classical music ensemble called ‘Musica Reservata’. Gryphon came together properly once Graeme Taylor, the guitarist , joined ; who’s influences were people like John Renbourn and that style of guitar playing ; then rather unusually they approached me to join them - bear in mind at the time I was playing in a heavy rock band. So bringing a heavy rock drummer into something like that was a little strange ... but it worked! The one thing that was missing, I think, was a solid rhythm. I had to adapt what I was doing to fit in - it was quite difficult for me to go from playing rock to playing 5/4, or 7/4!

We started playing in folk clubs, really because they were the most open minded to what we were doing and took us seriously , with our folk influence. Further than that we didn’t know what was going to happen.

HR : Quite - You were pioneers of the sound at that time ...

DO : Well there were bands around like Jethro Tull, Amazing Blondell, which were in a similar vein and leant towards folk with a medieval tinge, but we were certainly the first band to step into that area and bring in front of the general public.

HR : I can’t imagine that Crumhorns and Bassoons had ever been used in rock music before ...

DO : NO and probably never will be again! [laughs] I think the actual sound of Gryphon is what attracted people because nobody had heard instruments like that  - not quite true with the people who were interested in medieval music - they would have know what a Crumhorn was, but the average person in the street wouldn’t have had a clue!

I suppose it was a period of education for people who weren’t sure what was going on. Once the band got going I remember we did a concert at the Victoria & Albert museum in London, which was more like a lecture where we explained what the instruments were, and where they came from  - from there the whole thing just expanded ; suddenly medieval instruments became interesting, and people associated the sound with what we were doing, and it was a very different sound - it still is.

We were out playing recently and I was amazed by how many people come up who are fascinated by the vast array of instruments that we have on stage. Between the 6 of us in the new line-up we’re playing between 50 and 60 instruments. It’s a hugely diverse sound.

HR : The expanse of festival stage is really ideal then, when you have what is essentially a mini orchestra! Gryphon had had quite a hiatus before you reformed to play live - what inspired the reunion?

DO : When the band split up in 1977 we really just disappeared without trace as many bands did under the onslaught of Punk.

The idea of doing a farewell/reunion gig had been on the cards for quite a few years but it had never been talked about seriously. Finally he were all together one evening and it was decided that we should go ahead and just do it. It was 2009, and at that time we had nearly 200,000 hits on our website, so we thought that there was definitely something going on and that the support for the band was still very evident.

We decided on a London venue - Queen Elizabeth Hall on the south bank - and we managed to fill the place without any advertising. Then it all fell flat again because the various members of the band had other commitments, but our presence started to grow through social media from there, and in 2014 we decided to put our toes in the water again. In 2015, we did 6 shows all of which were brilliantly well attended, and in 2016 we were invited by Fairport to go and open Cropredy too - which was just perfect.

HR : It’s remarkable really, especially as you didn’t have any new music to promote at the time ...

DO : No. We were not in a position at that time to have a new album ready, so we decided that we would just go out and play material from the first 4 albums plus a couple of new dances.

HR : You’ve got quite a spectrum of musical styles to perform, but from a recording perspective, why did you move from acoustic to electric on the early albums?

DO : After “Midnight Mushrumps” when we got to “Red Queen”, we’d be taken on by Worldwide Artists  - which was run by Brian Lane , who at the time was managing YES, Rick Wakeman and couple of others. Rick was a friend of Richard and Brian’s from the RCM, and he introduced us to Brian Lane. Within a few weeks of being signed up, we were on our way to America to support YES.

During that time, we’d all been great fans of the prog scene, and the Canterbury scene - Caravan, King Crimson etc  - and whilst we weren’t pressured in any way, “Red Queen” was really our first step into prog ; using a lot more electronic instruments, and taking a bit of a step back from the medieval side of things - Brian was still playing his bassoon and we still used Krum Horns and recorders, but it wasn’t to such a great extent. Richard now had a great Rick Wakemanesque bank of keyboards surrounding him for a start, and we moved into a different phase ... “Red Queen” was the album that we toured the states with.

HR : I can’t imagine the magnitude of touring with YES - they were huge! DO : It was amazing! The response in America was great because we were so quintessentially English , playing all these really weird instruments, and so we went down a storm. We played at places like the Houston Astrodome, and Madison Square Gardens in New York. Definitely the highlights of my musical career would centre around those dates. We came back to the UK and did another leg with them here - probably 150 dates in all. It got to the point where we knew their music as well as they did, and for the last few dates of the American tour in the mid 1970s we would go onstage and join them for their encores, which was quite an experience.

HR : Given that exposure, and the fact that you’d already changed your sound for “Red Queen”, was it a conscious decision to move back to a more traditional sound?

DO : Sort of, yes. The album after “Red Queen”, was “Raindance” - there were still hangovers from “Red Queen”, but there were a lot more, I suppose commercial sounding shorter tracks - we’d been into doing 10 - 15 minute tracks, and suddenly we were producing 2 and 3 minute songs.

The thing about ‘Gryphon’, I believe, is that if I was to play all 5 albums to someone who didn’t know ‘Gryphon’, they would think they were listening to 5 completely different bands. There’s nothing that really specifically links the albums, apart from certain sounds, but in terms of composition and arrangement they are 5 VERY different albums. If you listen to the 1st and the 5th, there is no comparison - you’d be very hard pushed to say “Yes that’s the same band!”

HR : Does that mean that you’ve never labelled yourselves?

DO : We got labelled by other people .... I worked for Melody Maker and for Sounds, so I knew why it happened , journalistically - back then, things had to be pigeon-holed because if you didn’t fit in a pigeon-hole you didn’t fit, full stop. These days music is so diverse that you can’t put a band into a pigeon-hole, a band is what it is, but back then we were classed as “medieval folk rock”. Actually Chris Welch tagged us “13th Century Slade”!

HR : [laughs] that’s brilliant, but I probably shouldn’t laugh ...

DO : No, it took a long time to shake off! It was very funny, and a great thing for our PR guys, but we weren’t Slade. Having said that though, in the popularity stakes - our average audience did, and still does, range from Hells Angels to Nuns, and so far as I know we are the only band who have ever managed to get onto BBC Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the same week - which gives you an idea of the breadth of our audience, and even BBC 6 Music recently played the whole of “Midnight Mushrumps”.

HR : You have quite a few unique achievements to your name ...

DO : We have?

HR : Weren’t you the only band ever to play at the Old Vic?

DO : Ah, yes! The reason for that was - we were approached by Sir Peter Hall , who was running the National Theatre at the time and he asked us if we’d write the music for the Royal Shakespeare Companies production of “The Tempest” ;  which is where a lot of the music from “Midnight Mushrumps” came from. It was originally written for the RSC, but was adapted and is how “Midnight Mushrumps” came into existence. That was a huge honour, and a one off.

‘Gryphon’ are a bit of a one off really, aren’t we? I don’t think there are any comparisons - I seriously can’t think of anything that gets even close to what we are and what we’re doing. There have been a few copy cat bands along the way, and a few bands who have gone along similar lines but I still think Gryphon is unique, and all 5 of the albums are unique in their own way - but what it really comes down to, more than anything else is the standard of musicianship and composition - and now we’ve got Graham Preskett in the band too, who has played with everyone under the sun, and getting him onboard was a major achievement. He was Gerry Rafferty’s keyboard player and arranged all the big hits like Baker Street and Night Owl, and things like that. He knew Richard at college too, so there’s some old school stuff going on there, and he’s been invaluable in terms of helping to recreate the sound.

HR : That kind of chemistry is very important

DO : Oh completely. You have to have the right people in a band like ‘Gryphon’ or it wouldn’t work. And it does work. People are still playing the music, people are still interested, and really Helen, what proves it to us is the amount of people who came out to see us last year. I’m immensely proud of the band and the guys that I work with. Richard in particular, who’s gone onto write film music and work with Hans Zimmer, and worked in Hollywood with a lot of people - he’s an incredibly talented musician. It’s very strange, how a bunch of naughty school boys as we were back then, have all ended up being in prominent places in the music, and film industry.

HR : Is it not the naughty schoolboy edge that keeps it fresh for everybody?

DO : Absolutely! The other thing about ‘Gryphon’ is that it was all very irreverent and a big joke as we were concerned, certainly at 18 and 19 years old - but what is great is that feeling has carried on even after 38 years of not playing together. When we get back on stage we slip straight back into the flinging insults at each other, and it keeps the audience involved.

HR : 38 years was quite a break though ...

DO : [laughs] yes - yes, and mainly because everyone had gone off doing other things, there was no other reason for it -  it just wasn’t until 2 or 3 years ago that we could take up the gauntlet again. Richard had been out on the road with John Williams, the guitarist, who decided to retire from touring - and that was the first time that he was available, and with him being the front man, we could NOT do ‘Gryphon’ without him. He wanted to carry on playing live, because writing film music is actually quite a lonely existence, and the only time you ever get to hear what you’ve written is when the orchestra is playing it, and its being recorded, and then it’s gone. I think in every musician, whatever they do, there is a desire and a need to play live. It’s completely different to being in the studio where you can overdub, and re-record and correct mistakes - out there live, you’re exposed and what you produce that night is what you produce and that’s it - from that perspective for any musician, playing live is incredibly important. It comes and it goes. You create in that moment. If you’re lucky, when you try to record or film a live album, you’ll capture the essence of what you’re trying to create, but it’s tough, and can go really wrong! We played at the Union Chapel in 2015, and we filmed the 3rd movement of “Midnight Mushrumps”, which really gave people who can’t come and see us, a taste of what they’re missing!

Gryphon - “Magic Mushrumps 3rd Movement”, live at Union Chapel 2015 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYMK6tWbUOA

HR : Talking of studio albums - It’s been 41 years Dave ...

DO : [laughs] We’d been promising our fans for a long time, but because of various things going on for various members of the band, it’s just been impossible. I’m sure people think “but you’re musicians, you can write an album in a week and get it recorded” but with ‘Gryphons’ music we probably write about 3 minutes in a week!

HR : But it is here ... FINALLY! Are you happy with it?

DO : Yes we are.  We all think that it works very well. New material but with the feel of the old Gryphon. We have indeed ReInvented ourselves. A difficult thing to do after 41 years. Our fans have responded really well to it and we appear to be getting some good airplay and reviews.

HR : Was the material written over that vast break, or is it all pretty recent?

Most of the material is recent apart from “Ashes” which should have been included on the “Raindance” album but was rejected by the record company much to our annoyance. We have given it a makeover and are very pleased with the result.  The longest Track “Haddock’s Eyes” was written by Graeme and is based on the ‘White Knight’s Tale’ from Alice Through The Looking Glass. We have tried to re-connect with our ‘Alice’ roots and John Hurford who did the cover artwork and design was really helpful with this.

HR : Did you feel that it was important to stay true to ‘Gryphons’ original sound?

DO : I think that any band who forget their roots and where they came from are in danger of losing their way.  We did for a while after “Red Queen” so when a new album was finally discussed we felt it important to ourselves and our fans, to remain true to that original direction. You can hear it very strongly on “ReInvention”. It’s everything you would expect from a Gryphon album, Folk, Prog, Jazz, a strong medieval flavour, classical overtones and downright straight Rock.

HR : I have to say that I think it’s worth the wait, so Congratulations! And in the personal life of Dave - are you working on any new projects outside of Gryphon at the moment?

DO : No – Gryphon is taking up all my time at the moment. HR : You haven’t been completely off the musical radar over the years though have you -  can we mention your involvement with ‘Gandalf’s Fist’? They seem to be very popular ...

DO : Aaaaagh! ‘Gandalf’s Fist’. Yes!  I recorded vocal sessions for their “Clockwork Fable” album. Dean Marsh is a very talented young man, and I have great hopes for them - Even more so after Classic Rock Magazine voted them number 3 in their top 100 albums. That’s really quite an achievement, and I’m chuffed and quite proud to be involved with them. It was the first thing I’d been happy to put my name to in the past 10 years.

HR : Well, between them and Gryphon, you’re doing a sterling job at helping to keep the British prog scene alive so - thanks Dave!

DO : You’re very welcome. It’s nice to know that people are still following what we’re up to, after having taken such a long break. When you come back after that length of time, you’re never quite sure what’s going to happen. We could have leaped out there and ended up playing to 3 people, but we didn’t, and it’s nice to know that the music is still appreciated ...

HR : It’s called standing the test of time ...

DO : Which is more than we have! [laughs]

For more info, or to get your hands on a copy of "ReInvention", please visit http://www.thegryphonpages.com/

[vsplusonline]

Australia will be favourites: Steve Waugh thinks Tim Paine's side will prevail over India at home

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/australia-will-be-favourites-steve-waugh-thinks-tim-paines-side-will-prevail-over-india-at-home/

Australia will be favourites: Steve Waugh thinks Tim Paine's side will prevail over India at home

Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has picked a full-strength Tim Paine’s side to start as favourites when they take on Virat Kohli’s India in a series of 4 Tests later this year Down Under.

India will travel to Australia to play a highly-anticipated 4-Test series in late 2020 (Reuters)

HIGHLIGHTS

Last time Australia did not have the best batsmen: Steve Waugh on India’s 2018-19 victory

India do not have weaknesses too: Waugh

Like the way Virat Kohli is taking that challenge: Waugh on day-night Tests

As India prepare for the upcoming 2-Test series vs New Zealand, Virat Kohli’s team will have their eyes set on the World Test Championship final which will be played at Lord’s next summer. But to qualify for the final, India will need to not only prevail against the Kiwis but also come up with some spirited performance vs Australia in their own backyard later this year.

The 4-Test series scheduled right after the T20 World Cup is expected to be a tightly-contested one. While India won the last encounter Down Under 2-1, this time around, the hosts will be boosted by the returns of star duo Steve Smith and David Warner whose absence cost them dear the last time India visited these shores. That’s why former Australia captain Steve Waugh has tipped Tim Paine’s team as favourites to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“Australia will be the favourite I think. We know the pitches well and the day-night Test is going to be something relatively new for India. I like the way Virat Kohli is taking that challenge. If you want to be the best side in the world, you have to win away from home as much as possible,” Waugh told PTI.

“You can’t take away from India winning last time but Australia did not have the best batsmen. Marnus Labuschagne has come out of nowhere, the bowling looks much settled now. India do not have weaknesses too, so it’s potentially to be a great series, he added.

Earlier on Sunday, during the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) second Apex Council meeting, it was agreed to play one Day-Night Test in Australia during the upcoming tour in December-January later this year.

“Day-night Test will happen and we will make a public announcement-the second Test against England next year. Yes, against Australia also,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told reporters after the Apex Council meeting.

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